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colour, which passes gradually into that of a deep greenish-black. While
young, the exceedingly fine filaments o f which it is composed are very
laxly interwoven ; when mature, the whole becomes more compact, but
still o f a loose texture, and interspersed here and there w ith collections of
Httle granules about the size of Poppy-seed. These granules or pseudoperidia
are little solid bodies composed of a mass o f apparently broken
filaments, variously jointed, some o f them moniliform and fragile, and
intermixed with pellucid globose sporidia. The filaments of the thal-
lus or general mass, are branched, opake, very fine, and certainly jointed,
though it requires attentive observation to perceive the articulations.
In consequence of this plant being a pretty constant inhabitant
of old wine-cellars, it is natural to conclude it must have
been noticed in very early times; and we do indeed find it alluded
to as soon as plants of this nature began to attract the
attention of botanists. Before the Fungi were reduced to a
systematic form by the celebrated P e k s o o n , our plant was
thrown into the comprehensive genus Byssus, which formed a
kind of reservoir for all filamentous fungi of dubious affinity.
Even De C a n d o l l e considered them as so little understood,
that he thought it best not to part with so convenient a genus,
at least for the present. I t must he confessed, that P e r s o o n
with whom the genus Bacodium originated, brought together
plants having no real generic affinity; and in his late work,
the Mycologia Enropeea, he has erred still more in this respect.
F r i e s , on the other hand, is industriously studying these tribes,
and endeavouring to fix their generic characters upon better
principles. In regard to Bacodium, he follows the opinion of
Professor L i n k , excluding almost all P e r s o o n ’s species,
(“ paucissimag P e r s o o n h species ver*”).
Fig. 1. Racodium cellare, natural size. Fig. % Filaments as they generally
appear under the microscope. Fig. 3. Filaments very carefully examined.
Fig. 4. One of the pseudo-peridia. Fig. 5. The same divided. Fig. 6. The
appearance the pseudo-peridia present when broken down. Fig. 7- Sporidia :
magnified.
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