554 
Ly  coper  don  Solidum. 
Am.  Jour.  Piiarm. 
Dec,  1876, 
trees.  Other  botanists  have  placed  them  among  fungi  ;  Gronovius 
and  Walter  in  the  genus  Lycoperdon  ;  Schweinitz  in  Scleroticum ;  Okur 
and  Fries  in  Pachyma.  The  latest  observations  on  the  subject  are  some 
which  were  submitted  to  the  Linnean  Society  by  Mr.  F.  Currey  and 
myself  last  year  (1861)  and  published  in  the  Linnean  Transactions. 
The  opinion  there  expressed  is  that  these  tuber-like  bodies  are  an 
altered  state  of  the  root  of  the  tree,  probably  occasioned  by  the  pres- 
ence of  a  fungus,  the  mycelium  of  which  traverses,  disintegrates  or 
even  obliterates  the  wood  and  bark.  This  mycelium  appears  under  the 
microscope  in  the  form  of  fine  threads  usually  more  or  less  mixed  with 
bodies  of  irregular  shape,  somewhat  resembling  starch  granules,  but 
which  are  apparently  celis  of  the  woody  tissue  in  a  more  or  less 
advanced  state  of  disease  and  distortion.  Nothing  is  known  of  the 
more  developed  form  of  the  fungus  represented  by  the  mycelium.  The 
American  Fuh-ling  has  been  examined  chemically  by  Professor  Ellett, 
of  South  Carolina  College,  who  has  stated  it  to  consist  entirely  of  pure 
pectin  of  Braconnot,  but  I  think  its  composition  deserves  some  further 
investigation.  I  find  that  the  pure  white  internal  substance  (which  is 
quite  insipid  and  inodorous)  is  very  slightly  soluble  in  cold  rectified  spirit 
and  in  cold  water,  and  not  more  so  when  boiled  in  water,  the  solution  in 
each  case  yielding  a  flocculent  precipitate  with  acetate  of  lead.  When 
boiled  in  a  weak  solution  of  carbonate  of  soda  the  substance  dissolves 
rather  more  freely,  and  the  solution  affords  a  scanty  gelatinous  precipi- 
tate (pectic  acid)  when  treated  with  an  acid,  or  (pectate  of  lime)  with 
a  solution  of  lime.  In  China  the  Fiih-ling  is  made  into  edible  cakes, 
which  are  frequently  sold  in  the  streets  ;  it  is  also  reported  medicinal 
in  a  variety  of  disorders.  In  America  it  has  also  been  used  as  an  article 
of  food,  whence  the  name  Indian  bread." 
The  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  for  1870  (p.  423J, 
in  an  article  upon  materials  used  as  food  by  the  North  American 
Indians,  has  the  following  notice  of  this  substance  : 
"  Tuckahoe  or  Indian  Bread  {Lycoperdon  solidum). — Two  specimens  of 
this  fungus  are  in  the  collection  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture — 
one  from  Nottoway  Co.,  Virginia  (fig.  1,  plate  10),  the  other 
from  Leroy,  Kansas  (fig.  2,  plate  eo).  These  singular  fungous 
growths  are  subterranean  and  parasitic  on  the  roots  of  large 
trees.  A  piece  of  root  is  often  inclosed  in  the  mass.  The  form  is 
irregularly  globose,  about  the  size  of  a  man's  head.    It  is  very  rugous 
