THE HEDGEHOG MUSHROOM. 9I 



hour. If potatoes are used as a crust, it should be 

 browned nicely before a quick fire. 



The same mode of procedure in cooking would 

 doubtless serve with other species of milk agaric, 

 although we have only tried the frying. If only two or 

 three specimens of Lactariiis are available for the 

 purpose, we have found it answer very well to cut off 

 the stems, and place the caps, gills upwards, on a 

 plate, put a piece of butter and a little salt and pepper 

 on each, cover closely with an inverted basin, and 

 place them in an oven for at least half an hour. 



XIII.— THE HEDGEHOG MUSHROOM. 



There is no safe way of passing through a work of 

 this kind without some allusion to technical distinc- 

 tions, or as we might state it, without some recogni- 

 tion of the correlation of scientific facts. Although 

 we are desirous of keeping the technicalities of science 

 as much in the background as possible, yet sound 

 definitions should underlie even popular treatises. 

 No further apology therefore is needed for pointing 

 out at once the essential differences which separate 

 fungi of the type now to be described from the 

 agarics and Boleti. In the case of the agarics it 

 has been intimated that the first essential is the 

 possession of parallel plates, or gills, on the under- 



