INTRODUCTION 7 



siderable amount of fat. The following are its chief constituents, 

 as given by Professor A. H. Church : — 



In ioo parts. In i lb. 



Water 90*0 14 oz. 175 gr. 



Albuminoids etc 5*0 o oz. 350 gr. 



Carbohydrates etc 3*8 o oz. 266 gr. 



Fat "j o oz. 49 gr. 



Mineral matter .. .. '5 o oz. 35 gr. 



The chemical composition of the Champignon, Marasmius oreades, is 

 nearly the same. Several species are known to be highly poisonous 

 in all stages of growth, both cooked and uncooked ; those without 

 unpleasant taste are the most dangerous, as Amanita phalloides . 



Specimens of fungi for determination must be quite perfect and 

 fresh ; examples past maturity are useless. Young specimens should 

 be secured whenever possible, as some characters which are then 

 very obvious vanish as the plant advances to full growth. 



In the descriptions which follow the sequence is almost identical 

 with that of Fries's Hymenomycetes Europcei, 1874. This sequence 

 has been almost universally approved, and has been followed in this 

 country by Berkeley, Cooke, Stevenson, and in my supplementary 

 volume to Berkeley's Outlines of British Fungology. The large 

 collection of drawings, prints and dried examples of British Basidio- 

 mycetes in the Herbarium of the British Museum is arranged on the 

 same plan. 



The number before each species corresponds with the number in 

 my series of coloured drawings of British Fungi exhibited in the 

 Public Gallery of the Department of Botany, British Museum. 



The letters a b c used in the text refer to the drawings and speci- 

 mens in the British Museum. The letter a indicates that there is a 

 drawing of the species in the Public Gallery, b that there is a draw- 

 ing and c that there is a specimen in the Herbarium. 



The specific descriptions contain the salient distinctive characters, 

 which must be used with the generic and sectional characters. If 

 fuller descriptions of the Hymenomycetes are desired, Fries's 

 Hymenomycetes Europtzi (1874) and his Mo?iographia Hymenomycetum 

 Suecitz (1857) may be consulted; the Gasteromycetes are described 

 in greater detail in Massee's Monograph of the British Gasteromycetes 

 (1889) an d the same author's British Fungus Flora, vol. i. (1892). 

 Saccardo's Sylloge F?mgorum (1882-1908) may also be consulted. 



The names of species obviously introduced are printed in small 

 capitals ; introduced genera are distinguished typographically. 



The text was prepared and checked at the time when the draw- 

 ings were made, when living and dried examples, drawings, plates, 

 printed descriptions, and notes were before me. 



The dimensions give the typical size in inches of well-developed 

 examples as found in Britain, for which those given by Fries are 



