thought to be the scenes of midnight fairy revels, are produced by the growth of different species of agaricus. As they exhaust the soil by one year's growth, their mycelium pushes into the richer portion around; and thus they extend the circle of their growth, furnishing by their decay a manure for the next year's grass, which is darker and denser in consequence. This is one of the many instances where exact observation has reduced the fanciful ideas of superstition and poetry to the less romantic but more satisfactory basis of natural causes.-Fungi have been classified in various ways by different mycologists. By the early writers they were arranged according to their external appearances; but as more exact means of observation multiplied, their microscopic structure became better known, and a nearer approach was made to a classification in consonance with their true affinities. From Cæsalpinus in 1583 to Nees von Esenbeck in 1817, the progress of knowledge was comparatively small for a period of nearly 250 years. But in 1821 appeared the Systema Mycologicum of Elias Fries, a work of the most learned and profound character, evincing a comprehensiveness and thoroughness far surpassing all that had preceded it. It is even now the great work to which all students refer, though since that time a host of observers have been exploring this obscure field, and collecting a vast array of facts concerning the laws which govern these minute organisms. Minds of the first class are engaged at present in the elucidation of their structures-Montagne, Léveillé, Tulasne, Berkeley, Desmazières, and many others. The latest system given to the world is that in the Rev. Mr. Berkeley's "Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany," which is essentially similar to that of Fries. The two principal divisions are: sporidiiferi, spores contained in special sacs called asci; and sporiferi, spores naked, not enclosed. These are again subdivided into 6 principal orders, all formed on the mode in which the spores are borne, viz.: 1. Ascomycetes (Berk.), spores produced in little sacs (asci), and formed out of the protoplasm they contain. This order comprises a vast number of the black, pustular growths, abundant on dead wood, bark, twigs, leaves, &c. They are generally formed of a mass of carbonized cells arranged in the form of hollow spheres or cups called perithecia. Within these grow the asci containing the spores, which escape either from a pore in the perithecium or by its breaking up irregularly. The basal cells bearing the asci are collectively termed the hymenium. Among these are the mildews (erysiphe) and the black mildews (capnodium), and the whole great tribe of sphæria. The truffles (tuber) also belong here. They are subterraneous, fleshy forms, whose substance is intersected by veins which are inward folds of the hymenium, covered by the expanding growth of the fleshy receptacle. The morels (morchella) and the helvella are carnose, bulky forms, which have their asci on the outer surface of a variously folded, wrinkled, and pitted

hymenium. The cyttaria is akin to these, of a sub-gelatinous consistence. These are all made up of compacted cells, forming horny, carbonized, or heavy, fleshy masses. 2. Physomycetes (Berk.), spores growing in bladder-shaped cells on the end of delicate, individual, scattered fibres, composed of cells applied to each other in a linear series. A small group comprising the true moulds (mucor). 3. Hyphomycetes (Fr.), spores naked, simple, or aggregated on the ends of fertile threads. These differ from the last in the naked growth of the spores. Here belongs the great host of minute moulds which cover almost every substance exposed to dampness with their floccose fibres. Nothing organic is free from their attacks. Their colors are sometimes extremely beautiful. To this order belong the mould of the potato rot (botrytis infestans), and many which induce decay in fruit (oidium), the bread and cheese moulds (penicillium, aspergillus), the rigid black moulds (cladosporium, helminthosporium), and the yeast and vinegar plants, which are submerged mycelia of penicillium. 4. Coniomycetes (Fr.), spores naked on the ends of filaments or vesicles; hymenium sometimes obsolete, sometimes contained in a perithecium. This order differs from the last in having scarcely any filamentous growth, and in having the spores produced in the utmost profusion, greatly disproportionate to the rest of the plant. It comprises an infinity of minute pustular forms, which infest the tissues of every variety of plant, many presenting to the eye but a mere speck on their surface. Here belong the whole family of rusts, smuts, and bunt (puccinea, uredo, ustilago, tilletia, acidium, &c.), which creep through the tissues of living plants, and finally burst forth on the exterior and fructify in dense, dusty masses, which cover their whole surfaces. Different species affect different organs, some being on stems and leaves, others on flowers and fruit. They are the scourge of the farmer, whose fields they devastate. The savin trees (juniperus) are attacked by a peculiar genus (podisoma), which bursts from their bark and swells under the influence of moisture to a gelatinous mass. It also occasions the globular excrescent growth called cedar apples, from orifices in which it protrudes in long orangecolored spurs, formed by the spores, tipping the aggregated mass of filaments. The black, irregular scars on apples are caused by the spilocaa fructigena. An extensive group of this order comprises those minute pustular forms which, resembling the true ascigerous fungi in many respects, differ in producing their spores on the ends of the filaments instead of being contained in asci. There is great obscurity overhanging this whole group. They exhibit themselves in so many anomalous forms that it is almost impossible to establish limits to genera which may be clearly understood. Writers on the subject record great numbers of genera, but hardly any two agree upon their characters, and the whole subject is burdened with an inhar

monious synonymy. New light has been shed upon the subject of later years by the observations of Berkeley, Léveillé, Tulasne, and others, who have pretty clearly established the fact that many so called genera are merely stages of growth of true ascigerous fungi. Some genera, such as erysiphe, are known to produce several different kinds of reproductive bodies; and Tulasne has carried his researches into this manifold fructification, showing that many ascigerous species are attended by processes (pycnidia) which produce minute bodies (spermatia, stylospores) differing much from true spores, and growing beside them, sometimes within the same receptacle. He has demonstrated that certain growths recorded as distinct species of different genera and orders are, in fact, different forms of one single plant, whose perfect state is ascigerous. If such be true of the few whose progressive growth has been followed, we may safely conclude that the whole mass of coniomycetoid species, or at least those of the suborder sphæronemei, may be arrested or non-developed stages of growth of higher ascigerous forms. Such being the case, the classification of this whole order of plants will one day need rearrangement. 5. Gasteromycetes (Fr.), mycelium gelatinous, floccose, or cellular, giving rise to a stalked or sessile peridium, composed of one or more coats; the spores borne on the apices of filaments lining the interior. This includes the whole tribe of puff-balls, as well as the subterranean fungi which look like truffles, but are dusty and smutty within. The peridium is generally of a rounded form, cracking in various ways at maturity, and giving forth myriads of spores like a cloud of dust. In some the hymenial tissue dries up at maturity, leaving the spores free (lycoperdon); in others it resolves itself into a fluid which drips from the elongated receptacle (phallus). In some it retains its form, after parting with its spores, in an intricated mass of anastomosing fibres (trichia, arcyria). The athalium, which infests the hot-beds of greenhouses, belongs here. The earth stars (geaster) are peculiar in the dehiscence of the outer peridium, which splits into segments and unfolds in a starry manner; it is also very hygrometrical, unfolding or closing as it is moist or dry. The little bird's nest fungus (crucibulum) is peculiar in having its spores in distinct masses at the bottom of its nest-like peridium, looking like little eggs. Sphærobolus stellatus has the remarkable power of projecting its sporangium to a great distance; the lower, internal part of the peridium is suddenly inverted at maturity, ejecting its soft sporangium, of the size of a mustard seed, several inches. The species of phallus and clathrus are notorious for the intolerable stench of their dissolving hymenium. 6. Hymenomycetes (Fr.), mycelium floccose, webby, giving rise to a distinct hymenium, borne either immediately on the mycelium or on special receptacles bearing the spores on gills, wrinkles, tubes, prickles, &c. Here occur the jelly-like exidia, so common

on trees after rains; the branching coral-like clavaria, abounding in our woods in autumn, all of which are edible; the corky polypori, bearing their spores in minute, compacted tubes beneath the receptacle termed a pileus; the boleti, which resemble the last except that they are fleshy, and of which many are eaten; the hydna, which bear their spores on the exterior of prickle-like processes; and, lastly, the agarici, which include the edible mushrooms and kindred forms, whose spores are borne on radiating blades beneath a cap borne up by a stem like an umbrella.-Mycology, as the study of fungi is termed, is among the most recondite of pursuits. Among the authors whose works are of principal value are Berkeley, Bulliard, Corda, Desmazières, Fries, Greville, Klotzsch, Kromholz, Léveillé, Link, Montagne, Nees von Esenbeck, Persoon, Schaeffer, Schweinitz (for American species), Sowerby, Tulasne, Vittadini. The principal American authors of the present day are the Rev. Dr. M. A. Curtis and Mr. H. W. Ravenel.

FUNGIBLE, a word supposed to be derived from the phrase functionem recipere, in the civil law. It is not much known in English law, but is often used in French and Scotch law, and has recently been introduced into American legal language. It is used to mean what we have no other word for, that is, res quæ pondere, numero, et mensura constant (1 Bell's "Commentaries," p. 255), or things which may be returned or replaced by any others of the same kind, in contradistinction from those which must be returned or delivered specifically. Thus money is nearly always a fungible, because so much paid in any way that is a legal tender satisfies a claim for it. But it might happen that A lent B certain specific coins, for a specific purpose, which were to be specifically returned; and these would not be fungibles. If one lent to another corn, or meat, or manure for his fields, to be used, and return to be made in a like quantity of things of like quality, they would all be fungibles.

FUNNEL, an instrument for facilitating the transfer of fluids into vessels furnished with small apertures, being of the nature of a pipe opened out into a wide conical-shaped mouth, into which the fluids are first poured, their discharge being through the small end, which is placed in an aperture of the vessel to be filled. They are also of great service in filtering by the support they furnish to the filter and its contents. For chemical purposes funnels of porcelain or glass are commonly employed; recently excellent funnels have been made of gutta percha, which are free from risk of injury by breaking, are easily kept clean, and are liable to be affected by but few chemical agents.

FUR, the thick, warm covering of certain animals, especially such as inhabit the lands or waters of cold countries, distinguished from hair by its greater fineness and softness; also, and most generally, the skins of such animals dressed with the fur on. Before being dressed by applications upon the inner side to keep the material soft, the

skins are known in commerce as peltry. Fur is used especially for winter clothing, for which it is well adapted not merely by reason of its important qualities of warmth and durability, but also on account of its great beauty. In all cold climates man has availed himself liberally of the warm covering with which nature has clothed the animals around him; but the wealth of the most favored nations has drawn to them the most beautiful furs, in whatever part of the world they are procured. Skins of animals were among the first materials used for clothing. Before Adam and Eve were driven from the garden of Eden they were furnished with coats of skins (Gen, iii. 21). The appearance of Esau is compared to that of a hairy garment (Gen. XXV. 25). The ancient Assyrians used the soft skins of animals to cover the couches or the ground in their tents (Judith xii. 15); and the Israelites employed badgers' skins and rams' skins dyed red as ornamental hangings for the tabernacle (Exod. xxxix. 34). The ancient heroes of the Greeks and Romans are represented as being clothed in skins, Eneas wearing for an outer garment that of a lion, and Alcestes being formidably clad in that of the Libyan bear (Virgil, lib. v.). The Odyssey also has occasional reference to the same costume. Propertius designates the earlier senators as pellati; but the Romans of later periods regarded the clothing as that of barbarous times and people, associating it with the habits of the rude Scythians and of the other savage tribes on their eastern and northern frontiers. But in the 3d or possibly the 2d century of the Christian era, fur dresses appear to have been in use and in high estimation with the Romans. They were introduced by the northern tribes, and were probably at that time prepared with much skill. Ancient historians make frequent mention of this kind of clothing in use by the people of various nations. Herodotus speaks of those living near the Caspian sea wearing seal skins; and Cæsar mentions that the skin of the reindeer formed in part the clothing of the Germans. Elianus in his history of animals, written in Greek in the 3d century, makes mention of the skins of the Pontic mouse, which were sent to Persia, and which were sewed together to form warm dresses. Plutarch speaks of Pharnabazus the Persian as reclining upon soft furs. Beckmann thinks that the term mus was applied as a general name for most strange small-sized animals, as the term bos with some expletive was to the larger ones met with in other countries; but while some think the earless marmot was commonly meant by the Pontic or Caspian mouce, he believes that the animal was the ermine, named probably from Armenia, to which country it was introduced at an early period from more northern regions. The fur of the beaver was in use, either in the skin or for manufacturing fabrics, in the 4th century; the animal was known as the Pontic dog. The sable of the far off regions of Siberia was not known till many centuries later; but it was the producVOL. VIII.-2

tiveness of that region in furs that chiefly prompted the Russians to its definitive conquest.-In the early periods furs appear to have constituted the whole riches of the northern countries; they were the principal if not the only exports; taxes were paid with them, and they were the medium of exchange. So it was in our own western territories in the latter part of the last century, and still continues to be among the Indians. In the 11th century furs had become fashionable throughout Europe. The art of dyeing them was practised in the 12th century, chiefly of a red color. In the history of the crusades frequent mention is made of the magnificent displays by the European princes of their dresses of costly furs before the court at Constantinople. But Richard I. of England and Philip II. of France, in order to check the growing extravagance in their use, resolved, in the crusade about the end of the 12th century, that neither should wear ermine, sable, or other costly furs. Louis IX. followed their example in the next century; and well he might when the extravagance had grown to such a pitch that 746 ermines were required for the lining of one of his surcoats. In these times the use of the choicer furs, as those of the ermine, sable, the vair or Hungarian squirrel, and the gris, also supposed to be a squirrel, was restricted to the royal families and the nobility, to whom they served as distinctive marks and badges of rank, and were for this purpose introduced into armorial bearings. These privileged persons applied them lavishly to their own use; and the fashion extended to the princes of less civilized nations, if it was not indeed originally adopted from them. In 1252 Marco Polo observed that the tents of the khan of Tartary were lined with rich skins, and among them those of the ermine brought from countries far north-" from the land of darkness." In 1337 the use of furs, which had become common in England, was prohibited by Edward III. to all persons not able to expend £100 per annum. The early trade of western Europe in furs was through the Hanse merchants on the south coast of the Baltic, who received them from the ports of Livonia. In the 16th century a direct trade was opened between the English and Russians; and a company of the former, protected by the czar, established posts on the White sea with a warehouse at Moscow, whence they sent trading parties to Persia and the countries on the Caspian. The czar sent presents of beautiful furs to Queen Mary and to Queen Elizabeth; but the latter prohibited the wearing of any but native furs, and the trade soon declined and was abandoned. Siberia was conquered by the Russians in 1640, and its tribute was paid in furs. This country also furnished large quantities to China; but the choicest kinds, the precious ermine of Yakootsk, the brilliant fiery foxes, and the best sables, were taken to Moscow and Novgorod for the use of the princes and nobles of Russia, Turkey, and Persia.-The early settlers of the northern

provinces of North America soon learned the value of the furs of the numerous animals which peopled the extensive rivers, lakes, and forests of these vast territories. They collected the skins in abundance, and found an increasing demand for them with every new arrival from the mother country. Trinkets, liquors, and other articles sought for by the native tribes, were shipped to Quebec, and forwarded up the St. Lawrence to Montreal, which became among the French settlements the principal trading post. The Indians were stimulated by trifling compensation to pursue their only congenial peaceful occupation. The French men, readily assimilating to the Indian habits, became themselves hunters and explorers. Of hardy constitutions, roving propensities, not deficient in courage, yet of mild and peaceable dispositions, they were admirably adapted to penetrate with safety among the strange tribes of savages, and to conciliate and secure the good will of these people, or manage them by their superior address. They carried moreover the fire water and the gewgaws which they well knew how to use to their own advantage. The classes of voyageurs and coureurs des bois, to which this trade gave rise, became the pioneers of all the new settlements, and to this day they continue to be the main dependence of the exploring expeditions sent into the distant interior. Unrestrained by law and beyond all control, they fell into excesses which the French government sought to check by restricting the trade, under penalty of death, to those upon whom it conferred licenses; but the same voyageurs were employed by the merchants into whose hands the licenses came. The latter fitted out expeditions of two canoes each, with goods to the amount of 1,000 crowns for 6 voyageurs, who were expected to return in a year or two with double the number of canoes and peltries to the value of about 8,000 crowns. In this case, the merchant being repaid his outlay, cost of license, and proportion of profits, the share of the voyageurs would be about 600 crowns each. To protect and control the trade forts were soon required in the Indian territory. That established at Mackinaw was not long in becoming an important central point, taking in some respects the place of Montreal itself. The English during this time had not been neglectful of their interests in securing a share of this valuable trade. Its importance early engaged the attention of wealthy and influential parties connected with the government of Great Britain, as Prince Rupert, the duke of Albemarle, the earl of Craven, Lord Ashley, and others. After a successful enterprise in which they had embarked they obtained from Charles II. in 1670 a charter of incorporation, giving to them full possession of the territory within the entrance of Hudson's straits not already granted to other subjects, or possessed by those of any other Christian prince or state. In this was in cluded the monopoly of all trade in these regions, and this was the origin of the Hudson's

bay company. The territory they claimed extended from Hudson's bay west to the Pacific, and north to the Arctic ocean, excepting that occupied by the French and Russians. They soon formed settlements upon the rivers which empty into Hudson's bay, and carried on their operations with great vigor and success. Though opposed by the French settlers and adventurers, who resisted their claims and subjected them to vast expenses and losses, the company in 1684 paid a dividend of 50 per cent., in 1688 the same, and in 1689 one of 25 per cent. In 1690 the capital stock was trebled without call upon the shareholders, and a dividend of 25 per cent. upon the new stock was paid. The company continued to prosper notwithstanding the persistent opposition of the French. Their forts or factories were extended further into the interior of British America; and their power was supreme throughout the country, and in great measure over the Indians whom they employed to collect the skins. Still their charter had never been ratified by act of parliament. In 1749 a question arose in parliament respecting their rights, which was decided in their favor. But the Canadians do not appear to have admitted their exclusive privileges, particularly over the large territories ceded by the French to the English in 1763. They therefore organized a company in the latter part of the last century, composed of some of the chief merchants of Canada, under the name of the northwest company. Their head-quarters were at Montreal, and their operations were carried on with great energy in the interior, extending to the rivers that flow into the Pacific, where they established factories about the year 1805. The annual meetings of the active partners were held at Fort William at the mouth of Pigeon river, on the N. shore of Lake Superior. Their clerks and servants, of whom the former were mostly young Scotchmen, and the latter Canadian voyageurs, amounted to about 2,000 in number. The company thus soon became a formidable competitor with the Hudson's bay company for the furs of these regions. In 1813 they acquired possession of Astoria on the Columbia, the settlement having been sold to them by Mr. Astor's partners in consequence of the war between the United States and Great Britain. The two companies were afterward involved for two years in actual war. In 1821 they united in one company, called the Hudson's bay company, with the privileges of the old company extended by act of parliament over all the territory occupied by both. The license granted on May 30, 1838, for 21 years, expired in 1859. Owing to the depreciation in the value of beaver skins and others of this class, which formerly made a large portion of the profits of the company, the renewal of the license is of comparatively little importance. The company, however, possess large establishments scattered from Labrador to the Pacific, and from the northern boundaries of Canada to the Arctic ocean, which are of no value for any other purpose, and which yielded

in 1855 a dividend of about 6 per cent. on a capital of £400,000. Their affairs in America are conducted by a chief superintendent (now Sir George Simpson), a deputy governor, and a committee of 7. They employ 25 chief factors, 28 chief traders, 152 clerks, 1,200 regular servants, and an indefinite number of natives as occasion requires; also a steam vessel and 5 sailing vessels, all armed. Their great sales of furs take place in the month of March, so timed as to be completed before Easter, and again in September, every year in London, and are attended by purchasers from the continent, from the United States, and other parts of the world. A great annual fair for the sale of furs, to which many are taken from London, is held at Leipsic, a famous mart in this trade.-The importance of the fur trade led to the early settlement of the western territories of the United States. The first organization for carrying it on was that commissioned in 1762 by Mr. D'Abadie, director-general of Louisiana, made up by merchants of New Orleans, under the title of Pierre Ligueste Laclède, Antoine Maxan, and co. La clède, the principal projector, conducted the expedition to St. Genevieve, Mo., arriving there Nov. 3, 1763. The same year he selected for the site of his establishment the spot now occupied by the city of St. Louis, and then gave it the name it has since borne. The place soon became of similar importance to Mackinaw and Montreal. The brothers Auguste and Pierre Chouteau were of his party, and they remained ever afterward in the country, connecting their name not merely with the history of the trade they established, but with that of the region itself from the time it was a wilderness till it became a populous and important portion of the United States. To this day the name commands respect among all the Indian tribes north and west. The vast Indian territories bordering the great tributaries of the Missouri and the Mississippi opened a boundless and almost unexplored field for the operations of the fur traders. Hostile tribes were often encountered, but none long checked their enterprise. The Rocky mountains served only for a time as a barrier to their explorations, their trading posts, before 10 years of the present century had elapsed, being established on Lewis and Columbia rivers. No other business was conducted throughout these regions but what was connected directly with the fur trade; agriculture and all the other resources of the country were neglected for this exciting and adventurous occupation. The furs, collected by long and tedious navigation in canoes and Mackinaw boats from the most distant sources, were run down the dangerous rapids of the streams, and laboriously packed upon the backs of men over the portages around falls, and past the shoals which the hardiest voyageurs might not navigate. Their market was then reached by another voyage of several months to New Orleans, where they were exchanged for a return freight of groceries; or in the other direction to the great trading post of Mackinaw,

whence the voyageurs came back with English goods, the returns from England in fact for furs taken to Mackinaw 4 years previously, and then boated down the lakes and the St. Lawrence to Quebec. The annual cost of the goods in the early years of the trade was about $35,000. This was doubled by the expenses of transportation from Mackinaw; but the profits were nevertheless rated at 300 per cent. During the last 10 or 15 years of the 18th century the value of the goods annually sent up the Missouri in exchange for furs was estimated to average $61,000. Little money was seen in these transactions; the currency was shaved deer skins. The average annual value of the furs collected at St. Louis for 15 successive years, ending in 1804, is stated to have been $203,750. The number of deer skins was 158,000; beaver, 36,900 pounds; otter, 8,000; bear, 5,100 skins; and buffalo, which is now by far the most important fur, only 850. The Missouri fur company was founded in St. Louis in 1808, consisting of the Chouteaus and several new associates. By this association an expedition was sent across the Rocky mountains under Major A. Henry, and the first post established on the Columbia river. The company was dissolved in 1812, and new associations of its members were formed the same year for continuing the trade independently of each other; but their operations were rarely extended beyond the Rocky mountains. This trade in connection with St. Louis was not renewed until the expeditions of Gen. W. H. Ashley in 1823 and 1824, who by extraordinary enterprise and perseverance succeeded in bringing to St. Louis, between 1824 and 1827, furs to the value of $180,000. He then sold out to the Rocky mountain fur company of St. Louis, and this association conducted for several years an extensive business, their parties running over nearly the whole of California and all the country about the southern branches of the Columbia. The dangers to which they were exposed from Indians and accidents were so serious, that of all the men employed from 1825 to 1830 lost their lives in the service. The other traders of St. Louis during this time were united for 6 years in the firm of B. Pratte and co., excepting the western department of the American fur company, a branch of his house which Mr. Astor of New York established in 1819 in St. Louis. His gigantic operations of an earlier date will be presently noticed. In 1834 this department, on the retirement of Mr. Astor from business, was sold to Messrs. B. Pratte, Pierre Chouteau, jr., and Cabanné of St. Louis, who conducted the business till 1839, when the still existing organization of P. Chouteau, jr., and co. was formed. For 40 years preceding 1847 the annual value of the trade to St. Louis is supposed to have been between $200,000 and $300,000, and the latter half of this term much more than the larger sum named; but it was of still greater importance in developing the resources of the wild territories west of the Mississippi, and opening these to the settlement of civ