372 
CRYPTOGAMIA. FUNGI. Uredo. 
This takes possession of the foliage, in shape of upright, short, elevated 
threads, black at the top, appearing scorched at the bases. It also covers 
the upper and outer parts of the stem, calyx, &c. for nearly two 
feet, seldom touching the seed, although it may stint it more or less by 
weakening the plant. Commonly distinguished by the appellation of 
the Blight. Sowerby.* 
Corn Blast. Purt. U. frumenti. Sowerby. Port. Puccinid graminis 
Pers. Hook, sometimes called Mildew 3 or Must . E.) 
(U. ca bliss. Sporules minute, enclosed in peridia of a brownish black 
colour, and filling the grain with a fetid powder. Pers# Hook. 
Fetid Blast. Inside the grains of wheat.f E.) When broken, it has 
a fetid smell. 
(U. longis'sima. Distinguished by a fine dust of a brown colour, im¬ 
bedded in longitudinal streaks in the substance of the foliage, 
covered by the epidermis, which it bursts on the front, and is 
visible by being transparent at the back. 
Sowerby 139. 
Long Blast. U. longissimci. Sowerby. Purt. Reticularialongissima. Relh. 
E.) This parasite not unfrequently infests Poa aquaiica growing in Lam¬ 
beth Marsh, and somewhat resembles the fructification of an Aspleniuvi. 
Sowerby. E.) 
* (In addition to the remarks contained in Note under Triticum , vol. 2, it may be 
here stated, that as the Abbe Fontana suggests, the orange-coloured and black stripes 
are most probably occasioned by different species of Fungi: and in reference to the 
opinion offered on high authority that the lean and shrivelled grain will answer the pur¬ 
pose of seed-corn as well “ as the fairest and plumpest sample,'” (see Sir Joseph Banks 
on the Blight in Corn,) the Editor, with due deference, ventures to dissent from an idea 
contrary to the analogy of nature, and which appears to rest chiefly on an experi¬ 
ment made with blighted wheat sown in pots in a hot-house, a temperature which pos¬ 
sibly excited a more exuberant produce than would have resulted from any ordinary 
mode of cultivation. The Rev. Mr. Tyson satisfactorily proves (see Month. Mag. vol. 
19. p. 35.) that seed thus injured produces a smutty crop, and if repeated, degenerates 
yet more and more. Mr. Marshall also (Month. Mag. vol. 19. p. 587*) argues in favour 
of fair and plump seed of the early kind, together with early sowing, as the most pro¬ 
bable means of avoiding this destructive evil. The practice of what farmers call clog¬ 
ging wheat, or steeping the seed in a mixture of lime and lye, is now acknowledged 
by many enlightened agriculturists to prevent in a great degree the tendency to smut 
or blight. Fields sown with corn so prepared, or without such precaution, unquestion¬ 
ably exhibit a remarkable difference in the crop. 
A still more simple remedy, for either kind of grain, has proved successful in Nor¬ 
folk, which consists in immersing the seed in pure water, and repeatedly scouring it, 
immediately before sowing. 
Mr. Lambert observes (Linn. Tr. vol. 4 ) that this calamity chiefly prevails in wet 
seasons, and that after warm rain the sooty appearance will suddenly become general, in 
which case the only chance of preserving the crop is to reap it immediately. 
In France a similar disorder ravages the ears of barley, oats, &c. occasioned by differ¬ 
ent species of Reticulariu , see Bulliard Champignons de la France, pi. 472. E.) 
-f- (Perhaps the most injurious to the agriculturist of all the tribe. It affects the 
kernel of wheat in a different manner from Bcticulnria scgctnm, notappearing externally, 
though its presence may be known by the somewhat smaller, yet inflated, appearance of 
the grain, and its darker colour. In the operation of thrashing the parts affected con¬ 
taminate the whole heap. Hooker. E.) 
