264 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[October 1, 1870. 
nitrogen in albumen exists in the state of urea, while 
the remainder is in some other state of combination. 
ON THE DISCRIMINATION OF FIBRES IN MIXED 
FABRICS. * 
BY JOHN SP1LLEB, F.C.S. 
In the course of an experimental inquiry under¬ 
taken for the purpose of identifying the fibres enter¬ 
ing into the composition of mixed fabrics, the author 
was led to the discovery of the fact that silk alone, 
of all the materials ordinarily used in the production 
of textile fabrics, is soluble in concentrated hydro¬ 
chloric acid. The chemical properties of the silk 
solution so prepared were described, and a photogra¬ 
phic application pointed out by the author, who ex¬ 
hibited in this connection a matt paper print, which 
was stated to have been produced hi a much shorter 
time than that commonly required for an ordinary 
print on a plain salted paper. A hydrochloric acid 
solution of silk was used, which, being made as con¬ 
centrated as possible and neutralized by addition of 
ammonia, furnished a new organic chloride, particu¬ 
larly suitable for salting paper intended for solar 
•camera enlargements. For the purpose of identify¬ 
ing wool in the presence of cotton, flax, jute, etc., it 
is recommended to immerse the fabric or loosened 
fibres in a warm aqueous solution of picric acid, 
which dyes the wool of a bright yellow without im¬ 
parting any-colour to cotton. Thus, by treating a 
mixed fabric successively with hydrochloric and 
picric acids, valuable indications are afforded regard¬ 
ing its constitution. 
BEECH MORELS. 
BY M. C. COOKE, M.A. 
There are five or six species, forming a genus of fungi 
peculiar to the southern hemisphere, most, if not all, of 
which are available as food. These are the beech morels, 
or Cyttaria, first made known to science by the Rev. M. 
J. Berkeley. 
All the species hitherto discovered have occurred on 
beech-trees, each one, with but a single exception, on a 
separate species of beech. Their geographical limit is 
confined within a narrow zone, enclosed between the pa¬ 
rallels of lat. 30° and 60° S. Four of them are South 
American, two having been collected in Chili, one in 
Tierra del Fuego, and one at Cape Horn,'—one species 
being indigenous to Tasmania. 
Darwin’s Beech Morel (Cyttaria Fanrinii, B.) occurs 
on Fagus betuloides , in Tierra del Fuego. Small speci¬ 
mens, half an inch in diameter, are globose, but depressed 
above and below, so as to resemble a little button mush¬ 
room, strongly umbilicate below, with the edges of the 
umbilicus slightly puckered, and supported by a short 
brown stem, one and a half lines high and two lines 
thick, which proceeds from the umbilicus, and is granu¬ 
lated like shagreen, as if beset with a small black para¬ 
sitic Sphceria. The epidermis is tough, very smooth, 
and shining. A vertical section presents a brown fi¬ 
brous mass springing from the stem, which gives off on 
every side elongated radiating fibres, divided from each 
other by a dark line, but which do not easily separate 
from one another. The divisions of the internal mass 
towards the circumference are more minute, but well 
marked, and the epidermis quite distinct. In a more 
advanced stage of growth, when the balls are from one 
to two inches in diameter, the cups begin to appear, the 
* Read in Section B. of the British Association, on Friday 
September 16th. 
interior presenting in other respects nearly the same ap. 
pearance as before, except that the divisions are larger- 
They are formed beneath the cuticle, and are at first 
covered by a portion of the matrix. The cuticle becomes 
depressed, though still tough and thick. The hyme- 
nium is separable in a body from the surrounding sub* 
stance, except at the top. The cells or cups themselves, 
are ovate, lined almost to the top by the hymenium.. 
The substance interposed between the top of the cells- 
and the cuticle is gradually absorbed, and the cuticle 
itself becomes thinner and tightly stretched over the- 
cavity, and at length bursts and forms a membranous 
border to the irregular orifice. The margin appears to 
be a little reflected. The hymenium consists of very 
slender paraphyses, and abundant large, slightly flexuous 
asci, which contain eight sporidia, mixed with a few glo¬ 
bose granules. The asci at length become free, in which 
case they are generally slightly swollen at the base, and 
at last, in old specimens, there is scarcely any trace of 
them in the hymenium, which consists of paraphyses 
only. When the cups are quite formed, and perforated, 
the cellular arrangement of the contents of the balls has 
wholly vanished, and there are only a few faint radiat¬ 
ing lines in place of the regular divisions. The whole 
substance is composed of branched, more or less flexuous 
threads. Occasionally the stem is not at all distinct, and 
the general form less globose, probably from the indivi¬ 
duals having grown more deeply in the fissures of the 
bark. Mr. Darwin states further of them, “ They are of 
the colour of the yolk of an egg, and vary in size from 
that of a bullet to that of a small apple; in shape they 
are globular, but a little produced towards the point of 
attachment. They grow both on the branches and 
stem, in groups ; when young they contain much fluid, 
and are tasteless, but in their older and altered state 
they form a very essential article of food for the Fue- 
gian. The boys collect them, and they are eaten un¬ 
cooked with fish. Some of these balls remain on the 
trees nearly the whole year.” 
Bertero’s Beech Morel, Cyttaria Berteroi , B.—Of a 
paler colour than the last, from an inch and a half to 
three inches in diameter, not regularly globose, but 
lengthened at the base. Cups large, three-tenths of an 
inch or more broad; aperture more or less decidedly 
pentagonal, bordered by the revolute margin, which is 
split into portions corresponding with the sides of the 
aperture. Asci more slender and longer than in Dar¬ 
win’s Beech Morel; sporidia elliptic, smaller, separated 
by a granular mass. The flesh in the full-grown plant 
is mottled, consisting of branched, flexuous filaments. 
There are a few black granules about the base. On 
Fagus obliqua, in Chili. 
This species was first noticed by Bertero, and after¬ 
wards found by Mr. Charles Darwin, who says, “ I found 
a yellow fungus very closely resembling the edible 
ones found on the beech at Tierra del Fuego. Speak¬ 
ing from memory, the difference consists in these being 
paler coloured, but the inside of the cups of a darker 
orange. The greatest difference is, however, in the 
more irregular shape; in place of being spherical, they 
are also much larger. Many are three times as large as 
the largest of my Fuegian specimens. The footstalk 
appears longer ; this is necessary from the roughness of 
the bark of the tree on which they grow. They are 
occasionally eaten by the poor people.” 
Tasmanian Beech Morel, Cyttaria Gunnii , B.—This 
is found on living branches of Fagus Cunniughamii and 
Fagus Gunnii , in Tasmania. It grows in tufts or clus¬ 
ters on swellings of the branches, at first pear-shaped, 
and without any distinct stem, becoming afterwards 
more decidedly globose and hollow\ In size this species 
attains from one to tw r o inches in diameter, closely 
studded with the cups, which are numerous, and have 
broad, irregular orifices. The asci are rather short and 
cylindrical, each containing eight broadly elliptical spo¬ 
ridia. The hymenium very speedily becomes obliterated.. 
