19 
38. We see the same thing in the common fairy 
rin<r,—those rings which we so well know, and which 
we find in meadows in the country. A fairy ring has 
a centre, round which there is a circle formed by the 
Toadstools belonging to it; first, one circle is formed, 
and then another. The reason is this,— that the 
seed of the original fungus was once a point, from 
which when it began to grow, threads radiated regu¬ 
larly by virtue of the centrifugal force of organisation 
already spoken of. The circumference of the organic 
circle thus formed is alone capable of producing Toad¬ 
stools, and it continues to do so, as it produces ring 
beyond ring ; until natural obstacles put a stop to 
the regularity of formation. 
39. The toadstool is very low in the scale of or¬ 
ganisation, but others equally imperfect still obey 
the laws of symmetry. 
40. We all know what Lichens are — that they form 
an inferior order of vegetation, in which we usually 
recognise neither beauty or symmetry. But in some 
cases they form a succession of cavities, so placed one 
within the other that we might almost, with a series 
of cups divided into lobes, form such lichens arti¬ 
ficially. The fiat lichens indicate the same symmetry, 
although in a somewhat different manner. They 
generally appear as a confused mass spread upon a 
stone or tree, but the intelligent observer sees that 
they too spread in the beginning equally round an ori¬ 
ginal centre ; that lobe balances lobe, and ramification 
ramification: equipoise and symmetry manifesting 
themselves every where. The reason why the na¬ 
tural beauty of their arrangement is so seldom ob¬ 
served is, that such plants are peculiarly liable to 
injury. Stones crush them, men tread on them. 
