1901] Recent Publications 1 
This is believed to be the first report of its occurrence in New 
England. — EmiLe F. Williams, Boston, Massachusetts. 
[Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms Edible, Poisonous, etc. 
By George Francis Atkinson, Professor of Botany in Cornell Uni- 
versity; Ithaca, N. Y., Andrus and .Church, 1900; 275 pages, 200 
illustrations from photographs, besides colored plates and other 
figures. $3.00.]| 
Mn. ArKINSON'S book makes immediately a favorable impression 
by the number and excellence of its illustrations. They are from 
photographs taken by the author and represent over one hundred 
and fifty species as they actually look in nature lacking, of course, 
the color. ‘To color, however, it must be said, a beginner is prone 
to give much too great importance, not having any experience with 
its variability in these plants. "Thus it is no real disadvantage to the 
student to be forced to attend to details of texture and structure, 
such as the camera can faithfully record. Particularly is this true in 
the first steps of study, when attention must be paid to characteris- 
tics by which genera are discriminated, for in the acquirement of 
facility to distinguish one genus from another, color, except that of 
the spores, plays a small part. It is one of the objects of the author, 
as he states in his introduction, to present typical forms of nearly all 
of the genera of the gilled mushrooms, and he has succeeded admir- 
ably. His material is well chosen, and there is abundance of it, 
some common species, such as Agaricus campestris, Amanita phal- 
Joides, A. muscaria, and Coprinus comatus, being shown at different 
stages of development and in a variety of aspects. The few colored 
plates attempted are on the whole acceptable, but we can be glad 
that they are not more numerous. 
It is evident, however, from a study of Mr. Atkinson's plates, as 
it has been from the photographs of Mr. Lloyd of Cincinnati, that 
the camera can be relied on for more than generic distinctions. 
Except in a small percentage of cases a good photograph will pre- 
serve even the individuality of a species. To attain this object, care 
and skill must be shown in the collection and arrangement of mate- 
ral, as in Mr. Atkinson's work. With such photographs, for 
instance, as those of Hydnum coralloides, H. erinaceus, and H. caput- 
ursi, in the hands of amateurs, we may hope that the reports of find- 
ing ZZ. caput- Medusae will become much less frequent. 
There is strong inclination, then, to speak only in praise of Mr. 
