Australia has produced a number of luminous toadstools. Drummond found some striking forms near Swan River. He had noticed two species growing as parasites on the stumps of trees. Their appearance in the daytime did not attract particular attention; but at night they developed into veritable plant lamps, exceeding any thing that he had ever seen. One was about two inches across, and grew in clusters on the stump of a banksia-tree which was surrounded by water. When the little plant was secured from its miniature island home, it could have been used as a lamp for several successive nights, a newspaper being read by placing the agaric on it, the light illuminating the type in the immediate vicinity. As the plant dried, the light gradually diminished. [Illustration: PLATE XIII. LUMINOUS MUSHROOMS. LUMINOUS INSECT. (_Geophilus electricus._)] Later Mr. Drummond found a giant specimen that was sixteen inches in diameter and a foot high, a veritable chandelier. He says regarding it, “This specimen was hung up inside the chimney of our sitting-room to dry; and, on passing through the apartment in the dark, I observed the fungus giving out a most remarkable light, similar to that described above. No light is so white as this, at least none that I have ever seen. The luminous property continued, though gradually diminishing, for four or five nights, when it ceased on the plant becoming dry. We called some of the natives, and showed them this fungus when emitting light. The room was dark, for the fire was very low and the candles extinguished; and the poor creatures cried out, ‘Chinga,’ their name for a spirit, and seemed afraid of it.” A very attractive agaric, _Agaricus olearius_ (Plate XIII.), is found at the foot of olive-trees in Southern Europe. During the daytime the color is yellow, but observed at night it emits a brilliant blue light. Like the Australian species, it continues to emit light after it has been taken from the ground, the phosphorescence persisting for successive nights. So brilliant are the gleams, that they may be perceived at times before darkness sets in. Experiment showed that the light was extinguished when the temperature was below +90° to +6° C.; but the luminosity was not destroyed, as it re-appeared when the temperature was raised above this point. If kept some time in a temperature below freezing, it loses its light-emitting property entirely. It gleams as brightly under water as out; pure oxygen seems to have no effect upon it, and the most careful experiments fail to show the slightest elevation of temperature about the parts which shine. The light seems to emanate from the head (_pileus_) of the fungus, the _lamellæ_ of the latter, where the seeds are found, being the centre of the luminous phenomenon.