When cut in half we see
they are filled with a pure white substance, like the inside of a young
puff-ball. This is quite a discovery. We must look in our books for its
name. It is not in our British manual, but we learn from Professor Peck
that it is called Calostoma cinnabarinus. Calostoma is a Greek word
meaning beautiful mouth, and cinnabarinus is taken from cinnabaris,
which means dragon's-blood. We are not responsible for the names given
to plants, but cannot help wishing that some might be changed or
shortened.
We could go on prolonging our search, and describe many wonderful fungi,
so easily found on a summer day, but as our object is to excite
curiosity and interest and not fatigue the reader, we will here pause,
and afterward arrange the descriptions of mushrooms in a separate
section. The ones we have described may be found in the Middle States
and in New England.
MUSHROOMS.
ANTIQUITY OF FUNGI.
Fungi have existed from early geological ages. They flourished in the
Carboniferous period, when the enormous beds of coal were formed, a
space of time that occupied many millions of years.
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