others smooth
likewise, but a little oblong, as B; several of them a little broken, or
cloven with chops at the top, as C; others flitter'd as 'twere, or flown
all to pieces, as D, D. The whole substance of these pretty bodies was of a
very tender constitution, much like the substance of the softer kind of
common white Mushroms, for by touching them with a Pin, I found them to be
brused and torn; they seem'd each of them to have a distinct root of their
own; for though they grew neer together in a cluster, yet I could perceive
each stem to rise out of a distinct part or pore of the Leather; some of
these were small and short, as seeming to have been but newly sprung up, of
these the balls were for the most part round, others were bigger, and
taller, as being perhaps of a longer growth, and of these, for the most
part, the heads were broken, and some much wasted, as E; what these heads
contain'd I could not perceive; whether they were knobs and flowers, or
seed cases, I am not able to say, but they seem'd most likely to be of the
same nature with those that grow on Mushroms, which they did, some of them,
not a little resemble.
Both their smell and taste, which are active enough to make a sensible
impression upon those organs, are unpleasant and noisome.
I could not find that they would so quickly be destroy'd by the actual
flame of a Candle, as at first sight of them I conceived they would be, but
they remain'd intire after I had past that part of the Leather on which
they stuck three or four times through the flame of a Candle; so that, it
seems they are not very apt to take fire, no more then the common white
Mushroms are when they are sappy.
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