900 
THE PRINCIPLES OF BOTANY. 
By Professor James Buckman, F.G.S., F.L.S., &c. &c. 
{Continued from p. 846.) 
In continuing our description of the Cryptogamia, or non¬ 
flowering plants^ it will be our duty now to explain the 
general principles connected with the structure and uses of 
fungi^ and the part they play in the economy of nature. 
Like the Algales, the Fung ales admit of divisions into several 
groups, the principles of which will be explained by the 
accompanying table : 
Natural Orders of Fung ales. 
Spores generally quaternate on distinct 
sporophores. Hymenium naked. 
Spores generally quaternate on distinct 
sporophores. Hymenium inclosed in 
a peridium. 
Spores single, often septate, on more or 
less distinct sporophores. Flocci of 
the fruit obsolete or mere peduncles. 
Spores naked, often septate. Thallus 
floccose. 
Sporidia contained (generally eight 
together) in asci. 
Spores surrounded by a vesicular veil 
or sporangium. Thallus floccose. 
6. Hymenoraycetes, Agariaceae, 
or Toadstools. 
7. Gasteromycetes, Lycoper- 
daceae, or Puffballs. 
j 8. Coniomycetes, Uredinaceae, 
; or Blights. 
9. Hyphomycetes, Botrytaceae, 
or Mildews. 
10. Ascomycetes, Helvellaceae, 
or Morels. 
11. Physomycetes, Mucoraceae, 
or Moulds. 
The first section of these, to which the term toadstool has 
been given, in recognition of the abhorrence in which too 
many of the species are held, yet contains a number of indi¬ 
viduals—and the list is daily increasing—which are acknow¬ 
ledged to belong to the greatest of our edible delicacies ; to 
these the popular name of mushroom has been given—a name 
derived from the French mouceron, and which is applied to 
all edible species just as toadstool is used as denunciatory of 
those considered as non-edible. However, as our knowledge 
of these plants increases, it is found that while most of them 
really contain highly poisonous qualities, yet that very many 
are highly nutritious, so much so that Dr. Badham wrote a 
treatise on esculent funguses, with the view of pointing out 
an abundant, yet all-neglected source of food, which he 
