to examine it under the microscope. The little sacks (asci) then come out with remarkable distinctness. This structure is peculiar to many of the micro

Sphæria herbarum. a. Perithecium; b. Section of ditto, magnified slightly; c. Ascus, with uniseriate Spores; d. Ascus, with biseriate Spores and Paraphyses, × 320.

acopic fungi, which a little patience will enable you to find on the leaves of plants more frequently than you had imagined. If you are short of objects for the microscope you cannot do better than turn into

the nearest wheat field where the sicklier heads, covered with the black powder called "smut," will afford you microscopic fungi in abundance. The

Fig. 253.

Nostoc commune, nat. size.

Fig. 254.

Nostoc commune, x 320, showing bead-like Cells.

study of these minute but interesting forms of vegetation is more fascinating than people suppose. for many of them are among the most beautiful and elegant forms seen with optical assistance. Such

1

books as Cooke's 'Microscopic Fungi' will assist the student, not only in finding the objects, but by the numerous figures, in enabling him to identify them. And all naturalists are now agreed, that it is only by a more intimate acquaintance with the simpler forms of life that we can hope to rise to a thorough understanding of the complex structures of higher organisms. A not unfrequent object met with in our walks is a greenish gelatinous substance, once supposed to be the residue of a shooting-star! It is in reality one of those curious organisms called Nostoc, or Tremella (Fig. 253), belonging to the Algæ family. We have several species of them in this country, whose internal structure is very much alike in all (Fig. 254), consisting of bead-like threads immersed in gelatine. Here and there, when seen under the microscope, one bead or sphere appears larger than the rest, and these are believed to be concerned in the reproduction of the species. The Nostoc is especially abundant after rainy weather, sometimes so as to become a nuisance on our garden walks and lawns.

We conclude our necessary hasty notices of the objects to be seen during a country stroll by a reference to the larger fungi. You cannot fail to

observe them, for they grow almost everywhere. An old tree, however, is a splendid habitat, and here you may expect to find more than one kind. Out of other trees you see these fungi growing like a series of tongues overlapping each other. If

you examine the underside of these, you will find it covered with minute pores, resembling a sponge. This species (Polyporus) is not a bad article of food, if properly cooked; but to find out how to do this you must study such books as Dr. Badham's 'Fungi,' Mr. M. C. Cooke's 'British Fungi,' and the coloured charts of Mr. Worthington Smyth, showing forth at a glance the edible and poisonous species. The explanatory notes belonging to these charts are most useful, not only as showing how the edible species are to be cooked, but also as setting forth a practical experience in the determination of what kinds of fungi are poisonous and which are not, which entitles Mr. Smyth to a foremost place among bold investigators.

We have several hundred species of those kinds of Fungus popularly known as "Toadstools." We English as a rule only profess to eat one kind, which we dignify by the name of "Mushroom.” Unfortunately for our consistency, in the course of the year we really eat three or four other species, and that under the delusion that we are all the while sticking to our true mushrooms! In the brief space here allotted we cannot be expected to enter fully into the delineation of the several species, nor is it desirable, seeing it has already been done by our best fungologists. The young student, however, may find amusement as well as instruction in the examination of ordinary species of what he considers "toadstools." Those bearing gills are

called Agarici, whilst the stalked species which are perforated go by the name of Boleti. Young specimens of the former are covered over with a thin skin called volva. As the fungus grows, this is

Fig. 255.

B

Specimens showing the Gills, Rings, and Stages of Growth.

ruptured, whilst the growing stem carries a part of it upwards to form the annulus, or ring, to be seen just beneath the gills of the mushroom (Fig. A. 255).

One species of fungus is too good to be passed unnoticed. It is the Morel (Morchella esculenta,