ut one thousand varieties of mushrooms (exclusive of small
or microscopic fungi) native to the United States; many will therefore
be found which are not represented on either of these plates. Those
here depicted are of three classes, namely, the Lycoperdaceae, or
Puff-ball fungi; the Agaricini, or Gill-bearing fungi; and the Boleti,
which last is one division of the Polyporei, or Pore-bearing fungi.

The following definitions are here given, and will be found
necessary:--

=_PILEUS._= The expanded disk or cap of the mushroom or toadstool.

=_GILLS._= The thin plates set on their edges under the pileus,
running to a common centre at the stem.

=_TUBES._= The spongy collection of pores which take the place of
gills under the pileus of a Boletus.

=_VEIL._= A web or membrane which extends from the margin of the
pileus to the stem when the mushroom is young, and thus encloses
the gills.

=_RING._= A part of the veil adherent to the stem, and forming a
collar around it.

=_VOLVA._= The sheath or wrapper enclosing the young mushroom, when
below or just above the ground; the remains of which are found in
the ring, the veil, at the base of the stem, and in the warty or
scurfy top of some varieties of mushrooms.

=_SPORES._= The reproductive bodies, analogous to seeds in some other
plants, found under the caps of the Agaricini and Boleti, and appearing
like fine dust when the cap is left for a time lying under-side
downward.

* * * * *

There are as many different flavors and tastes among esculent fungi as
are found in any other varieties of diet, and the very general
ignorance of this fact is a sufficient reason for the issue of this
work. Many persons claim to know a mushroom from a toadstool. This
means that there is one variety out of a thousand of which they eat
with safety, and it means nothing more. A person might as well select
one fish from the sea, and avoid all other members of the finny tribe
on the ground that there are poisonous fishes. It is strange that this
general ignorance is most apparent in the case of the English-speaking
people. The fungus eaters form a little clique in England, but the
majority of her people know nothing of this gratuitous offering from
Nature's storehouse. No country is richer in mushroom food than
America. Were the poorer classes of Russia, Germany, Italy, or France
to see our forests during the autumn rains, they would feast on the
rich food