We have not space to dwell upon the grasses and fungi, though these are numerous, and some of them interesting. The _cochlearia_, or scurvy-grass, has often proved of great utility to Arctic explorers; and Dr. Kane on more than one occasion availed himself of its medicinal properties. Fungi extend almost to the very limits of Arctic vegetation. The Greenlanders and Lapps make use of them for tinder, or as styptics for stopping the flow of blood, and allaying pain. In Siberia they abound. Frequently, in the high latitudes, they take the form of “snow mould,” and are found growing on the barren and ungenial snow. These species are warmed into life only when the sun has grown sufficient to melt the superficial snow-crust, without producing a general thaw, and then they spread far and wide in glittering wool-like patches, dotted with specks of red or green. When the snow melts, they overspread the grass beneath like a film of cobweb, and in a day or two disappear. In Siberia grows the fly-agaric (_Agaricus muscarius_), from which the inhabitants obtain an intoxicating liquor of peculiarly dangerous character. It has a tall white stem, surmounted by a dome of rich orange scarlet, studded with white scaly tubercles, and in some parts of Kamtschatka and the northern districts of Siberia is so abundant that the ground sparkles and shines as if covered with a scarlet carpet. The natives collect it during the hot summer months, and dry it. Steeped in the juice of the whortleberry, it forms a powerful intoxicating wine; or rolled up like a bolus, and swallowed without chewing, it produces much the same effect as opium. On some, however, it acts as an excitant, and induces active muscular exertion. A talkative person, under its influence, cannot keep silence or secrets; one fond of music, sings incessantly; and if a person who has partaken of it wishes to step over a straw or small stick, he takes a stride or jump sufficient to clear the trunk of a tree! The Koriaks and Kamtschatkans personify this fungus, under the name of _Mocho Moro_, as one of their _penates_, or household gods; and if they are impelled by its effects to commit any dreadful crime, they pretend they act only in obedience to commands which may not be disputed. To qualify themselves for murder or suicide, they drink additional doses of “this intoxicating product of decay and corruption.”