Fig. 189) were also employed for the same purpose,
as were also the sheets of "punk" formed from mycelium filling in
cracks in old logs or between boards in lumber piles. Sometimes
extensive sheets of this punk are found several feet long and a foot or
more wide. These sheets of pure mycelium resemble soft chamois skin or
soiled kid leather.

=Mushrooms employed for flower pots.=--In Bohemia (according to Cooke,
Fungi, etc., p. 103) hoof-shaped fruit bodies of _Polyporus fomentarius_
and _igniarius_ are used for flower pots. The inner, or tube portion, is
cut out. The hoof-shaped portion, then inverted and fastened to the side
of a building or place of support, serves as a receptacle for soil in
which plants are grown.

=Curios.=--The _Polyporus applanatus_ is much sought by some persons as
a "curio," and also for the purpose of etching. In the latter case they
serve as pastels for a variety of art purposes. The under surface of the
plant is white. All collectors of this plant know that to preserve the
white fruiting surface in a perfect condition it must be handled very
carefully. A touch or bruise, or contact with other objects mars the
surface, since a bruise or a scratch results in a rapid change in color
of the injured surface. Beautiful etchings can thus be made with a fine
pointed instrument, the lines of color appearing as the instrument is
drawn over the surface.

=Fungi for medicinal purposes.=--A number of the fungi were formerly
employed in medicine for various purposes, but most of them have been
discarded. Some of the plants were once used as a purgative, as in the
case of the officinal polyporus, the great puff ball, etc. The internal
portion of the great puff ball has been used as an anodyne, and
"formidable surgical operations have been performed under its
influence." It is frequently used as a narcotic. Some species are
employed as drugs by the Chinese. The anthelmintic polyporus is employed
in Burmah as a vermifuge. The ergot of rye is still employed to some
extent in medicine, and the ripe puff balls are still used in some cases
to stop bleeding of wounds.

=Luminosity of fungi.=--While the luminosity possessed by certain fungi
cannot be said to be of distinct utility, their phosphorescence is a
noteworthy phenomenon. That decaying wood often emits this
phosphorescent light has been widely observed, especially in wooded
districts. It is due to the presence of the mycelium of one of the wood
des