EDIBLE MUSHROOMS. 57 



SHAGGY CAPS. 



Coprinus comatus. 



(Plate VI. Fig. 2.) 



This is one of the best of edibles, and 

 common enough everywhere, especially on 

 waste ground and on building plots in 

 the midst of civilization. Gutter-boys 

 delight to kick it about, and consider them- 

 selves the benefactors of their race. It 

 generally grows in clusters, with a long 

 whitish, shaggy cap, contracted at the 

 bottom for a long time, but at length 

 expanded. The gills at first are whitish, 

 then tinged with pink — it is then at its 

 prime ; at length the gills turn black, the 

 cap expands, and finally dissolves away, in 

 a black slimy drip, like thick ink. In all 

 the species of Coprinus the gills dissolve 

 into an inky fluid when fully mature, and 

 the spores are quite black. There is a 

 strong prejudice against this species as a 

 "toadstool," but it is almost unequalled 



