xxviii I N T ¿R O D U C T I O N.
My Sphcerta agaricifomua is alfo figured in the Flora Dank a, and 9
thus defcnbed : " Fungus difficultor alullum notorum generum referendus,
Jhpite exalbo hvefcente fuberofo fefquipolicari, pileo glandis farina fufca
cute fubcarnea paptlloja PonS ceUulorum carnis, mucellagine feu gelatina
reptetorum. It is figured on plate 54.0, but the pknt was fmall, and
its very fingular root not at all attended to. In the fpecimens which I
have feen of this rare plant, the Filei have frequently been twin, or
double on the fame Item. ' ' »
The~cunous Phenomenon of Elafticity, in "the feed-bearing filaments
in many plants of this order, as well as of the Filices, is truly
worthy of admiration; it is vifible tS the naked eye, in many of the
larger fpecies, and by the ufe of glaffes, in the mail minute.- Mr
E D W A R D ROE S O N , an'ingenious Botanift, oîDariington, in TH^
bilhopric^of Durham, has lately^communicàted to me an obfervation,
made by him, upon the Scarlet Clathrus, which may ferve to illuftrate
this curious operation of Nature: what he has written I will tranfcribe
in his own words.
t
p /e I have enclofed a fpecimen of a wonderful little plant. The ftalk
„ ab° u t a lme in length, bearing at the top a round head, about the
« v r rap/ e e d ' at t h e S vei7 tender, and contains a liquor like
m i i k ;r m t h a ( t
\° t they turn to a beautiful orange, colour, and-after that
^ to an olive. When mature, and fit for examination, I looked at a
I §r e a t many of them through- the explacator ; and fomPamongft them
„ Ju f t opt ing at the top : One 6f thefe I laid on the lalck in the
. ilider, and viewed it through the filver fpeculum. At the firft Lwas
I much furpnfed, to , fee a part of the fibres, that had got through the
« fuPture, moving like the legs of a fly when laid on its back. I then
„ £u r i t u; W l t h the point of a pin, and was furprifed ftill more, when I
^ law it had the appearance of a little bundle of worms entangled toge-
•J tiler> o r fibres all alive. I next took the little bundle of fibres quite
<£
an d the animal motion was then fo exceeding ftrong, as to turn
I hali round, firft one way and then another, and two or three times
it got out of the focus. Almoft every fibre had a différent motion
" fome
I N T R O D U C T I O N . xxix
" fome of them twined one round another, and then untwined again,
" while others were bending, extending, coiling, waving, &c. The
" fibres had many little balls adhering to cheir fides, which I take to be
" the feeds : I obferved many of thefe were difengaged at every motion
" of the fibres. I diftinguiihed many of the fibres, and they appeared
" under the lens as thick as a horfe hair, and were all exadtly of the
" fame length, which was to my appreheniion about two inches ; they
" were final!eft at each end, which, together with their vermicular
" motion, gave them the ftrongeft refemblance of little live worms.
" I examined many of them, at various times, and always found the
" motion precifely the fame; but ftrongeft when recent, and on the firft
" burfting. The feeds appeared like gunpowder finely granulated."
The fame, Phenomenon, obtains' in all thé Ferns; but moft beautifully
and maniJieftly in the-firft genus, thé Equifeti. There are many
v
cother plants, which ejedt their feeds, as the Cardamine impatience,
Impatience noli-metangere, & &c. but in thefe the operation is performed
by a differently conftrudted fpring.
I have throughout this work been as cautious as poffible in giving ,
references to Authors ; from a convidtion, that falfe references caufe the
grcateft confufion; they tend only to difiraSl, not to inform: And
whoever undertakes to trace them, in regard to the plants of this <
order, as they are given by thzFloriJioe, will feel the truth of what I
here affert.
In many inftances, where I found the plant under review agreeing, in
feveral particulars^« with the figure or defcription of fome approved
Author, ,.and yet differing in any one effential mark or character, I have
not chofe to apply the name or Jynonym of that author, but rather
to?give a name of my own, though but a temporary one; which the
future obfervations of me, or of my friends, may finally eijabliih or
rejedt. For the above reafon I forbear, at prefent, the-publication of an
Index Synony'mor-um to the whole work; which, though but in-an imperfeft