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FUNDY, BAY OF,

724

FUR

ventor persuaded a party of prominent men and women to make the trial-trip with him to Albany. His guests slept in hammocks hung on deck; Fulton, too excited to sleep, watched the machinery during the entire 30 hours. What were his thoughts as he listened to the businesslike chug-chug of the engine, the splash of the paddles, and watched the smoke and sparks from the pine-wood fire trail back over the dark Hudson?

The inventor leaped into instant fame, steamboats could not be built fast enough to satisfy the demand, nor one be made perfect enough to satisfy its maker. He busied himself with planning the Erie Canal besides, and became an authority on explosives. When the War of 1812 broke out, he was commissioned by the government to build the first steam naval vessel. While superintending the construction of this, he contracted a severe cold and died suddenly on February 24, 1815. His death was untimely, in point of years, but few men have lived so much to the purpose, or won so much deserved love and honor as Quicksilver Bob. See Robert Fulton and Steam-Navigation by Thomas W. Knox. See, also, FITCH, JOHN.

Fundy, Bay of, an arm of the Atlantic, separating Nova Scotia from New Brunswick. It branches at its head into two inlets, Chignecto Bay and Minas Basin, which are separated by narrow necks of land from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its greatest breadth is 45 miles, and its length, up to Chignecto Bay, is 140 miles. It receives the St. John and St. Croix Rivers. Navigation is made dangerous by the tides, which rush in with impetuous force, rising rapidly from 60 to 70 feet.

Fun'gi (fun'ji). In general, fungi are low plants (Thallophytes) which do not

contain chlorophyll, in contrast with the algae, which do. As a conse-quence fungi cannot manufacture their own food out of raw materials, as do the algae, and are dependent for it upon other plants or upon animals. In obtaining this food they have cultivated two habits. Some are parasites, that is, they prey upon living plants and animals, which are then called hosts. Some of the para-

GERM TUBES OF FUNGI Part of the surface of a leaf showing the cells of the epidermis (outlined by solid lines), with three stomata. sp, spf, sprt are three spores of a fungus, germinating. The germ tubes from sp and spr are entering stomata; that from sp" is penetrating the cell wall.

sitic fungi are very injurious or even destructive to their hosts. They may grow upon the surface of the host, sending suckers into the body as in the common mildews; or they may burrow within the body of the host, as in the wheat-rust. Parasitic fungi destroy an immense number of useful plants and animals and also many other plants and animals to which we pay no attention. Other fungi are saprophytes; that is, they use for food decaying bodies of plants and animals or the products of living bodies. For example, the common mushrooms use decaying vegetation; the common blue-mould grows on old bread, jars of fruit etc. Saprophytes in general are beneficial, since they are great scavengers. Some fungi may be either parasites or saprophytes as occasion demands. The body of an ordinary fungus is a more or less interwoven mass of delicate threads, called the mycelium (plural mycelia), the individual threads being called hyphse (singular hypha). It is the mycelium of the parasitic forms which spreads on the surface of the host or burrows into its tissues. The four prominent groups of fungi are the Phycomycetes, containing such forms as the black-moulds and downy mildews; the AscomyceteSj containing the mildews, blue moulds, truffles, cup-fungi and probably the yeasts; the JEcidiomycetes, containing the rusts and smuts; and the Basidiomycetes, containing the mushrooms, toadstools and puff-balls. See the names of these groups. JOHN M. COULTER.

Fur is the covering of certain animals, especially those that inhabit the lands or waters of cold countries. It is distinguished from hair by its greater softness and fineness. Furs are among the first materials used for clothing and also for covering couches and the floors of tents. They early became an important article of trade in Europe, and were used a great deal by the higher classes. One French king used 746 ermines for the lining of one of his coats. In North America there always has been a large trade in furs. Forts were established to protect and control the trade, and the great Hudson Bay Company grew up, which acquired control over a vast territory but now is a trading-company. The furs collected are sold at the great half-yearly sales of the company in London. The fur-trade has played an important part in the settlement of the northwest. One of the most prominent men engaged in it was John Jacob Astor, who founded Astoria. (See ASTORIA.) The purchase of Alaska in 1867 opened to Americans a new field for the fur-trade. The furs from this territory are mostly those of the fur seal, the otter and general furs, as those of the beaver, fox, marten and bear. The yearly value of this fur-trade is over $1,200,000, and the government receives a tax of over $300,000 for the taking of seals. The most fashionable and costly fur of all