lxxii Journal of Proceedings.
fungus growths are very common on decaying fruit and leaves. The
fungus of ringworm is another very familiar example. Fairy rings, as
formed by Agarics, probably start from a single fungus which has grown
from wind-carried spores. The growth of the spawn of this single
fungus in the ground renders the spot where the individual grew unfit
to produce another fungus of the same class. The spawn then extends
itself from the central spot, and grows all through the winter and
following summer a circular patch in the earth. One year's growth
will give a circle of about six inches, and on the outside of this little
circle a small fairy ring of Fungi will appear the second year. When
this ring of Fungi dies it acts as a rich nitrogenous manure for the
grass, so that in the third summer a circle of rank fungus-manured
grass is seen. The grassy circle is often in strong contrast with
adjoining dead grass killed by the fungus spawn infesting the roots.
If circumstances are favourable the underground spawn will now keep
on extending itself for forty years or more, until at last an enormous
circle is made that may sometimes be seen on hill-sides from a dis-
tance of a mile or more. If an obstruction occurs a semi-circle may
sometimes result; at other times, when numerous rings grow near each
other in the same pasture, or on the same hill-side, various ogee curves
and wavy lines of rank grass, barren ground, and Fungi are originated.
The whole phenomenon of ring growth is comparable with a stone
thrown in still water. The stone is like the first few germinating
fungus spores, and the ever-extending rings produced by the impact of
the stone on the water are like the ever-extending rings produced by
the underground spawn of the fungus. Sometimes a large fairy ring
will appear in a place, as on a lawn, where no Fungi have been seen
before, and where no smaller rings have preceded the large one. This
phenomenon is caused by the first fungus being overlooked, and then
a series of seasons have followed unsuitable for the production of the
Fungi. The spawn, however, has been alive underground, and has
kept on year after year extending itself till at last a suitable season
arrives, and a crop of Agarics is the result at the circular margin of
the underground spawn.
"It must not be supposed that the Fairy Ring Agaric is the only
fungus capable of making a true fairy ring, for many Agarics and other
Fungi are capable of doing this. Puff balls frequently form fairy rings.
The St. George's Agaric, Agaricus gambosus, which grows in April, makes
very strongly marked fairy rings. The spawn of this fungus chokes the
grass in a remarkable manner, leaving the ground almost bare, and the
fungus itself is so fleshy and large that it manures the circle where it
grows in a most striking manner. Another very large fungus named
Agaricus geotrupus causes unusually large and bold fairy rings. The
Common Mushroom does not make rings, but a close ally, if indeed it is
not a mere variety of the same plant, vit., the Horse Mushroom, is said
to produce rings. If so, this should be one reason for making the two
Fungi distinct species. There is also an extremely small Agaric named
Hygrophorus niveus that I have seen growing in perfect rings only an inch
or two across. Some fairy rings are found in woods, and a notable
example is found in Agaricus fastibilis. This forms grassy rings inside
woods quite distinct from the drip of the trees, for the rings often envelop
several trees and many bushes in their circumference. Such rings, I
suppose, are the dancing places of the dryads, nymphs who also danced
and frolicked to the pipe of Pan. As far as I know, Fungi which grow
in circles have never been catalogued and distinguished from those which
grow in an irregular or sporadic manner. Some certainly can grow in a
line, for I once noted a number of specimens of Helvella crispa which