Mould

Mould, or MOULDINESS, the common name of many minute fungi which make their appearance, often in crowded multitudes, on decaying or diseased plants and animals and animal and vegetable substances. To the naked eye they often seem like patches of fine cobweb, which are shown by the microscope to consist of cellular threads. Their structure and history are described in the article FUNGI, from the systematic part of which it will be seen that the popular name is applied to many very different forms—e.g. the common White Mould (Mucor mucedo), the Bread Mould (Eurotium Aspergillus-glaucus), the mould of fruit and jam (Penicillium glaucum), &c. See also DRY ROT.