OF CURIOSITY, 1 8 x 
lichen ijlandicus , which in times of fcarcity ferves 
inftead of bread. A£t. Soc. reg. Sc. 1 742 . p. 154. 
The lichen prunaftri , or plumb -liverw or /, is 
ground to powder for the hair. 
The lichen puftulatus may be converted into 
a very black pigment. The very [mall lichens 
called leprofus , cover barren rocks, and makes 
them look pleafant j it gives birth to black 
mould, and confequently affords the firft de- 
gree of vegetative power. After all this can 
any one juftly fay that the knowledge of thefe 
plants is ufelefs ? 
The mujhroom kind alfo make a clafs of ve* 
getables by no means to be defpifed. One 
fpecies is ufed in amputations and hemor- 
rhages, and another is lately come into repu- 
tation for flopping the bleeding of arteries ; 
infomuch that the inventor of this ufe of it 
was amply rewarded for the difeovery. 
The trufle and phalli contribute to make our 
foups more delicate, and are commonly ufed 
at the tables of the great. Many mujhroems 
are eat by the Mufcovites and the inhabitants 
of other countries, but fome of them are a 
moft deadly poifon ^ fo that it is of the utmoft 
confequence not to commit miftakes in this 
part of knowledge. 
N 3 
There 
