HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



231 



fair intelligence, and he reasoned in this way ; the top 

 with its cavities is smaUer and of a paler colour than 

 that of the other, but that is accounted for by its 

 youth ; it also has a powerful odour, but a little 

 nutmeg, pepper, and salt, together with the process 

 of cooking, is bound to eliminate that ! Lactarius 

 ddiciosus and vole/n us are other cases in point, as they 

 are variable, and belong to the most deadly genus in 

 the family, with many members of which they may 

 easily be confused, notably quietus and nifus. The 

 "blue-foot," Ag. personalus, has not always a blue 

 stem, and in that state there are many which might 

 be mistaken for it, especially Ag. humilis, which, 

 though probably harmless, I have several times 

 gathered for "blue-foot." Ag. rubescens is another 

 variable and highly recommended fungus, but so 

 closely allied to some of the most poisonous sorts, 

 that neither plates nor descriptions will distinguish it. 

 It rarely has the scales on the pileus as shown in the 

 figures. In a book lying before me, I see the remark : 

 "It is easily identified by its trick of blushing." 

 Positively, I have cut and torn this fungus, and at the 

 end of four hours the blush has not appeared, although, 

 at the end of twelve, the flesh has become the 

 characteristic colour ; but — if specimens are to be kept 

 twelve hours before it can be decided whether they 

 are good to eat, I fear there will be a slight obstacle 

 to their becoming popular articles of diet ! A dozen 

 times, at least, have I mistaken Iiussida ftxtens for 

 Ag. vaginatus, and, as Mr. W. D. Hay remarks, 

 " there are some nasty species not unlike it." In- 

 stances like this might be multiplied, but I will not 

 weary the readers of Science-Gossip. There are 

 only two which I regard as sufficiently distinct to be 

 gathered by the uninitiated without danger, and they 

 are Coprinus comatus, and the large puff ball, and 

 they must be gathered at the right stage of growth. 



Is Mr. Addison correct when he states that the 

 mushrooms supplied in London are Ag. arvensis, 

 instead of Ag. campestris ? He speaks of the former 

 as a " black-gilled fungus ; " but my experience is that 

 Ag. arvensis is not nearly so black-gilled as the real 

 mushroom. Both are very dark in old age. Steven- 

 son says of Ag. arvensis — gills white, at length reddish- 

 fuscous ; and of Ag. campestris, gills whitish, then 

 soon flesh-coloured, and at length umber-fuscous. The 

 italics are his, not mine alone. The former species in 

 the Midland counties is known as the horse-mushroom, 

 and is certainly not regarded as poisonous as an 

 ingredient of ketchup. Mr. Addison does not seem 

 to distinguish between the French and English 

 truffles. Dogs are used to discover various truffles 

 in France, but I know not whether they would be 

 equally successful in "spotting" Tuber astivum 

 which, I may say, is fairly common in some parts of 

 Bedfordshire, especially in Ampthill Park, where they 

 are found when projecting above the soil, as they 

 frequently do. The gamekeepers are aware of their 

 properties and highly prize them. I am informed that 



Earl Cowper frequently partakes of a dish gathered 

 on his estate at Wrest Park. Last year in Ampthill, 

 in three hours, I collected seventy species of the 

 Agaricini, including several very rare sorts, and one 

 that had been found only once before. Fungus- 

 hunting is a most fascinating pursuit, for there is an 

 air of weirdness and mystery about the tribe peculiarly 

 its own, and the botanist who feels somewhat blase 

 at the end of a season of successful collecting in other 

 branches of the science will find this department 

 easily accessible, although one that will exercise all 

 his acumen and yet reward him for his efforts. I 

 trust these somewhat disjointed remarks will excite a 

 deeper interest in the Fungi among the wide circle of 

 the readers of Science-Gossip, in which journal I 

 should like to see more frequently their contributions 

 on the subject. 



J. Hamson. 

 Bedford. 



ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 

 By John Browning, F.R.A.S. 



THE weather was rather favourable for the ob- 

 servations of the total solar eclipse at most ot 

 the stations in Siberia, but unfavourable at the 

 stations near Moscow. Detailed accounts have not 

 yet been received. 



The " Astronomische Nachrichten" states that at 

 the time of the eclipse the sky was cloudy over all 

 the places in Germany at which observers were 

 stationed. 



Mr. E. Sawyer of Cambridgeport, U.S., has dis- 

 covered a new variable star in Canis Major. It 

 appears to vary from about the sixth to the seventh 

 magnitude, and has probably a period of about I day 

 l\ hours, but the observations made at present have 

 been too few to ascertain this with any certainty. 

 The place of the star is 7 h. 14 m. 21 s., N.P.D. 

 106 11'. Being the first variable star discovered 

 in the constellation, it will probably be known as 

 R Canis Majoris. 



Professor Tacchini has given a brief account of his 

 observations of solar phenomena from April to June, 

 in the " Comptes Rendus." The renewal of solar 

 activity appears to have begun about the iSth ol 

 April, after a lapse of a fortnight, without any solar 

 spots having been visible. In May and June they 

 kept increasing both in number and size. Between 

 the 14th and the 18th of May, a group of spots 

 formed near the centre of the disc, about 8° or 9 

 south of the sun's equator. This group passed oft 

 the disc and reappeared at the eastern side on the 

 5th of June. One spot was so large that it was 

 visible to the naked eye. In this great spot some 

 remarkable phenomena of the eruptive character 

 were observed. 



A comet was discovered by Mr. W. Brooks at 



