supposed to possess great
medicinal virtues.[AP] A species of _Polyporus_ (_P. anthelminticus_,
B.), which grows at the root of old bamboos, is employed in Burmah as
an anthelmintic.[AQ] In former times the Jew's ear (_Hirneola auricula
Judae_, Fr.) was supposed to possess great virtues, which are now
discredited. Yeast is still included amongst pharmaceutical
substances, but could doubtless be very well dispensed with. Truffles
are no longer regarded as aphrodisiacs.

For other uses, we can only allude to amadou, or German tinder, which
is prepared in Northern Europe from _Polyporus fomentarius_, Fr., cut
in slices, dried, and beaten until it is soft. This substance, besides
being used as tinder, is made into warm caps, chest protectors, and
other articles. This same, or an allied species of _Polyporus_,
probably _P. igniarius_, Fr., is dried and pounded as an ingredient in
snuff by the Ostyacks on the Obi. In Bohemia some of the large
Polyporei, such as _P. igniarius_ and _P. fomentarius_, have the pores
and part of the inner substance removed, and then the pileus is
fastened in an inverted position to the wall, by the part where
originally it adhered to the wood. The cavity is then filled with
mould, and the fungus is used, with good effect, instead of
flower-pots, for the cultivation of such creeping plants as require
but little moisture.[AR]

The barren mycelioid condition of _Penicillium crustaceum_, Fr., is
employed in country districts for the domestic manufacture of vinegar
from saccharine liquor, under the name of the "vinegar plant." It is
stated that _Polysaccum crassipes_, D. C.,[AS] is employed in the
South of Europe to produce a yellow dye; whilst recently _Polyporus
sulfureus_, Fr., has been recommended for a similar purpose. _Agaricus
muscarius_, Fr., the fly-agaric, known to be an active poison, is used
in decoction in some parts of Europe for the destruction of flies and
bugs. Probably _Helotium aeruginosum_, Fr.,[AT] deserves mention here,
because it stains the wood on which it grows, by means of its diffuse
mycelium, of a beautiful green tint, and the wood thus stained is
employed for its colour in the manufacture of Tonbridge ware.

This completes the list, certainly of the most important, of the fungi
which are of any direct use to humanity as food, medicine, or in the
arts. As compared with lichens, the advantage is certainly in favour
of fungi; and even when compared with algae, the balance