A CELLAR FUNGUS. 
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which this transformation is frequently observed. Although 
it has been met with, it is said, on native timber, it usually 
grows on deal, and especially on rafters. It sometimes occurs 
in great numbers under railway bridges, if these are made of 
wood, but it is more common in cellars, growing on the 
rafters which support the floor above. It consists of a stem 
and pileus, like the common mushroom, but of a pinkish hue, 
the latter bearing white gills on its lower surface. Now the 
gills of the Agarics have, as is well known, a tendency to 
turn away from light. But the stem of the Lentinus, from 
the necessity of its position, grows at first downwards, and 
if it developed the pileus at its end in the usual way, the gills 
would be turned upwards and therefore most likely to receive 
what light there might be. To avoid this, the stem curls 
round, and at last points upwards, describing a complete 
semi-circle, and thus placing the gills in the normal position. 
But far more frequently, if the cellar has but little light, the 
pileus remains undeveloped, and the stem, even after it has 
curled round, terminates in a sharp point. 
A more common and more complicated instance of this 
monstrosity, however, is found in Polyporas sqiicmwsus. This 
is the large coarse species so frequently found growing in 
tufts on old ash trees, though also on willow, elm, etc. It 
has a short, thick stem, invariably black at the base, and 
expands into a yellow pileus of the shape and consistency of 
a saddle flap, bearing on its under side a coarsely reticulated 
surface or mass of hexagonal yellow pores. It reaches an 
enormous size ; clusters have been found measuring 7 feet 
3 inches in circumference, and weighing 34lbs. But in 
cellars and other confined places, such as hollow trees, it 
often assumes a widely different form. In such cases it is 
usually the stem alone that is developed, although sometimes 
