In the eastern half of Bavaria, on the borders of Bohemia, lies the so-called Bavarian Forest. This part of the country, although it boasts beautiful scenery, is seldom visited by tourists, probably for the reason that the charms of the region are little known even in Germany. This part of Bavaria has been in many ways untouched by civilization, and owing to its seclusion from the outer world some very strange customs are still in vogue, strongly reminding one of the Middle Ages. One of these strange customs, strictly observed by the population, is the way in which they keep alive the memory of their dead by the erection of what are called “totenbretter,” or “death-boards.” These are wooden planks cut in the shape of tombstones and roughly painted. Sometimes they bear also the image of a saint. They are erected--often in a row of thirty and more--on the roadside, in fields and meadows, near chapels and crucifixes, in the village streets--in short, everywhere; they are even nailed to houses and barns. They do not mark burial-places, as might be supposed. As soon as a person has died the corpse is put on a board, and there it lies in state until it is put into the coffin shortly before the funeral. These boards, then, are the so-called “death-boards,” and after the funeral they are cut into a suitable shape, and decorated with an inscription containing the name of the deceased, his age, and, in most cases, some lines of poetry. These short poems, which are, of course, meant in sober earnest, are occasionally very amusing. The boards are then stuck somewhere near the road, or in the fields, where they sometimes accumulate to an alarming number. In the poorer districts these boards are not always cut into shape and painted, but are simply deposited just as they are at the foot of some crucifix, where they remain untouched until they moulder away. It must be admitted that the custom, though interesting, seems open to objection from a hygienic point of view, nor is it very exhilarating for the tourist to be reminded of death wherever he may turn. [Illustration: BAVARIAN “DEATH-BOARDS”--THEY DO NOT MARK BURIAL-PLACES, AND ARE TO BE FOUND IN ALL SORTS OF ODD SITUATIONS. _From a Photo. by Kester, Berlin._] This wonderful fungus, found in the Garo Hills in Assam, has been supplied by Nature with a delicate network of fine translucent material, which seems to be intended to protect the stalk from the attacks of insect life. The head of the plant, on the other hand, is covered with some substance which attracts minute flies in great numbers. For further defence Nature has given this weird fungus the power of spreading around it a most offensive smell. [Illustration: AN EXTRAORDINARY FUNGUS--IT GROWS IN A NIGHT AND BY MID-DAY HAS ENTIRELY WITHERED. _From a Photograph._] The beautiful white tracery grows up in the night, commences to droop as soon as the first rays of the sun reach it, and by midday has entirely withered away.