ck rust which attacks the large South of Europe reed, _Arundo
donax_. This is in all probability the same species with that which
attacks _Arundo phragmitis_ in this country, the spores of which
produce violent headaches and other disorders amongst the labourers
who cut the reeds for thatching. M. Michel states that the spores from
the parasite on _Arundo donax_, either inhaled or injected, produce
violent papular eruption on the face, attended with great swelling,
and a variety of alarming symptoms which it is unnecessary to
particularize, in various parts of the body.[K] Perhaps if _Sarcina_
should ultimately prove to be a fungus, it may be added to the list of
those which aggravate, if they are not the primary cause of, disease
in the human subject.

II. What influences can be attributed to fungi upon animals other than
man? Clearly instinct preserves animals from many dangers. It may be
presumed that under ordinary circumstances there is not much fear of a
cow or a sheep poisoning itself in a pasture or a wood. But under
extraordinary circumstances it is not only possible, but very
probable, that injuries may occur. For instance, it is well known that
not only rye and wheat, but also many of the grasses, are liable to
infection from a peculiar form of fungus called "ergot." In certain
seasons this ergot is much more common than others, and the belief is
strong in those who ought to know something of the subject from
experience, viz., farmers and graziers, that in such seasons it is not
uncommon for cattle to slip their young through feeding on ergotized
grass. Then, again, it is fairly open to inquiry whether, in years
when "red rust" and "mildew" are more than usually plentiful on
grasses, these may not be to a certain extent injurious. Without
attempting to associate the cattle plague in any way with fungi on
grass, it is nevertheless a most remarkable coincidence that the year
in which the cattle disease was most prevalent in this country was one
in which there was--at least in some districts--more "red rust" on
grasses than we ever remember to have seen before or since; the
clothes of a person walking through the rusty field soon became
orange-coloured from the abundance of spores. Graziers on this point
again seem to be generally agreed, that they do not think "red rust"
has been proved to be injurious to cattle. The direct influence of
fungi on quadrupeds, birds, reptilia, &c., seems to be infinitesimally
sma