ols
can be told from those that are wholesome. Although a skilled student of
the subject can almost at a glance determine which are poisonous and
which are not, it is hazardous in the extreme to consume those selected
by one who is inexperienced. As a matter of fact, for all practicable
purposes, there is only one species that is generally eaten,--the
_Agaricus campestris_, or meadow mushroom. This grows for the most part
in open fields, and in many parts of the world may be gathered in great
number throughout the warmer seasons immediately following rains. This
mushroom has also the great advantage that it is the only one of the
edible species that can be cultivated.

Just as we have only one common mushroom that is ordinarily eaten, there
is only one common species of these plants that is highly dangerous,--the
_Amanita phalloides_, which contains one of the most deadly poisons
known--and one for which we possess no adequate antidote. This mushroom
is very common, being frequently seen along the roadside, and at the
edges of fields; it also grows in forests, and is occasionally
encountered in treeless areas.

It presents a rather attractive appearance, being rather large, and
having a glistening white cap with a long stem, around which there
may always be seen a distinct collar; on carefully removing the
soil from around its roots, it will be seen that its stem is
surrounded just below the surface of the earth by a sheath-like
structure, the so-called "death-cup," which, together with the
peculiarities already mentioned, clearly stamp this mushroom as
being one of the most deadly of all known natural objects. In
addition to the rather inviting appearance of this toad-stool, its
flavor is agreeable, thus in every way insidiously inviting, it
would seem, the unwary to their doom. Less common than the species
just considered is another closely related fungus known as the
_Amanita muscarius_, or fly-agaric; this handsome mushroom presents
the same peculiarities of structure exhibited by the _Amanita
phalloides_, but differs from it in the fact that the tip of its
cap is scaly, and is of a reddish-yellow color. The fly-agaric is
quite as poisonous as its more common relative, and is equally to
be shunned. The reader should be warned that even handling either
of the fungi just considered may result in poisonous
symptoms--pr