PREAMBLE. 17 



the colour to be more accurately determined. 

 The whole series of colour may be classed 

 in five groups — white, pink or salmon, 

 rusty-brown, purple-brown, and black. Of 

 course the shades will vary in most of 

 the groups, but especially in the second 

 and third. It is most important that the 

 colour of the spores should be determined 

 first of all, and then it will be less difficult 

 to discover the species to which they belong. 

 A great number of the species with white 

 spores are edible, but some are dangerous, 

 so that the colour of the spores is not a 

 test of quality. Again, most of the species 

 with pink or salmon-coloured spores are 

 suspicious, whilst two or three are excellent 

 food. Take, for example, the Common 

 Mushroom, which when young has the gills 

 of a beautiful pink colour ; as it becomes 

 older the gills darken, and when the spores 

 are ripe enough to fall, they are not pink, 

 but purple-brown. If an inexperienced 

 person finds a species of " mushroom," or 

 fungus of the mushroom type, with pink 



B 



