FAIRY

This name is given to irregular circles in pastures and lawns on which Agarics spring up, and which become much more verdant than the surrounding gra . They are caused by the centrifugal growth of the spawn of the Agaric, which radiates from a common centre, and bears the fructification, which is what appears above ground, only at the circumference. The verdure of the gra where these fungi grow seems to be caused either by their manuring the ground when they decay, or by the nitrogen they give off, which is an active stimulant to vegetation. The appellation offairr/ rings was given to this phenomenon from their being regarded as the places where the fairies held their nocturnal revels. [s. 1069]