ON THE DISCRIMINATION OP FUNGI. 11 



suitability to our needs, or otherwise, of each species separately 

 and alone. The qualities of one must not be confounded with or 

 estimated by those of another. As is the case in every department 

 of the Vegetable Kingdom, closely related species will be found, 

 one of which, if eaten, is wholesome and nutritive, and the other 

 quite the reverse. It is therefore necessary that, when we regard 

 Fungi, or indeed any other class of plants, from an alimentary 

 point of view, we should consider each species as a distinct and 

 separate entity. 



What has been implied by the use of the term Discrimination 

 will perhaps be now apparent. Whether one wishes to study 

 Mycology deeply and scientifically, or whether one merely desires 

 to make acquaintance with a few of the most prominent, common, 

 and useful Fungi, it is equally necessary to begin by causing the 

 mind to think of Fungi as a congeries of totally distinct plants, 

 and not as a mere confusion of forms radically much the same 

 thing. 



The reader who intends to pursue a really thorough study of 

 Mycology is recommended to master the details set forth hereafter, 

 particularly as regards the structural anatomy and classification 

 of Fungi. He may then, after acquiring all the information set 

 forth in this work, have recourse to others, ^ remembering that 

 study of this sort can only be efficiently pursued by conjoining 

 practice to theory. To those, however, who merely wish to acquire 

 some slight practical acquaintance with common Fungi, modified 

 advice is offered. They should endeavour to realize the distin- 

 guishing characters of the chief orders and genera, and should 

 practise interpreting descriptive terms. Some comj)rehension of 

 structure is, of course, needful in order to effect this, and the eye 

 should be accustomed to trace the distinctive characters of difi^erent 

 species. This will be readily accomplished by an ordinary intelli- 

 gence, and then the particular plants it is desired to recognise and 

 make use of may be sought for and easily identified from the 

 descriptions of them given. If recourse is had to plates or illus- 

 trations of Fungi, it should be borne in mind that hasty and 

 superficial comparisons are dangerous. There is no surer way of 

 identifying a hitherto unknown species than by carefully compar- 

 ing its several parts with a written scientific description. 



• 1 The following English works will be most useful to students : — Berkeley's 

 Cryptogamic Botany, and Outlines of Fungology, Berkeley and Cooke's Fungi, 

 Cooke's Handbook of British Fungi, Lindley and Moore's Treasury of Botany, 

 etc. 



