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popular review of that portion of animal and plant disease caused 
by minute fungi that I am going to put before you this evening. 
A fungus may be defined as a plant devoid of stem and leaves, 
consisting of elongated cells, or of rows of these united in threads. 
The spore, or seed, is the all important part, and for its pro¬ 
tection the fungi assume their various shapes. 
The little umbrella or pileus is covered with a thick skin 
entirely for the purpose of protecting the^ spores which are 
arranged underneath, either in the form of gills or as pores 
through which the seed protrudes when it is ripe. 
You may say, what is the use of these fungi? Well, you 
cannot look at these drawings without noticing that, like the 
flowers, they have considerable artistic value, and when you come 
to their more intimate study, you will find that they are all 
important in removing and changing putrescent vegetable matter, 
just as flies and rats remove putrescent animal matter. 
They have also edible properties, although they are not very 
nutritious. 
There are about 30,000 naked-eye fungi, with the general 
characteristics of which many of you are more familiar than I 
am. . 
The interest created by our fungus forages will soon lead, 
I hope, to a study of the life history of the microscopic as well 
as the naked-eye fungi. I would now point out that the soil in 
which the spore is placed is the next important matter. 
The fungi found in a beech wood are entirely different from 
those found in a fir wood, and the one which grows on the beech 
will not grow on the fir, and vice versa, and you will see that 
this matter of soil holds good when we come to study the micro¬ 
scopic ones. 
The spores of naked-eye fungi are carried, for the most part, 
first by the fungus itself, and the elevated position of the fungus 
is really for the purpose of raising the sporing portion above 
the surrounding leaves, etc. The stinkhorn tribe distribute their 
spores by a “ Jack-in-the-box ” method. One of the group, 
which has been seen to grow four inches in an hour and a half, 
elongates by the release of the compressed cells of its receptacle. 
Winds and water also carry the spores, and when we come 
to look at the animals which carry these spores, we find that 
horses, cattle, rabbits, squirrels, pigs, flies, wasps, beetles, birds, 
are among the chief agents. 
The digestive juice of the slug is the most important medium 
in which some spores will germinate, and when you think that 
birds are fond of slugs, you can see how these spores are carried 
from one place to an entirely different locality. 
Most naked-eye fungi have their spores arranged either in 
what is known as an ascus, a kind of little bag with as a rule 
8 spores ip it, or as a basidium, on which is placed 4 little stalks 
with the spore at the end. 
