﻿OF 
  BRITISH 
  FUNOI. 
  69 
  

  

  the 
  stiff, 
  sharp- 
  edged 
  gills 
  not 
  being 
  milky. 
  It 
  con- 
  

   tains 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  best 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  worst 
  of 
  fungi, 
  

   viewed 
  in 
  an 
  alimentary 
  aspect, 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  

   brilliantly 
  coloured 
  of 
  British 
  species. 
  There 
  is 
  evi- 
  

   dence 
  of 
  the 
  little 
  interest 
  which 
  fungi 
  have 
  hitherto 
  

   possessed 
  in 
  the 
  popular 
  mind, 
  in 
  the 
  general 
  absence 
  

   of 
  vulgar 
  or 
  local 
  names 
  for 
  the 
  different 
  species. 
  This 
  

   may, 
  in 
  part, 
  be 
  accounted 
  for 
  in 
  the 
  similarity 
  of 
  exter- 
  

   nal 
  form 
  in 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  Agarics, 
  but 
  other 
  causes 
  have 
  

   had 
  their 
  influence. 
  A 
  mushroom, 
  a 
  toadstool, 
  and 
  a 
  puff- 
  

   nail 
  in 
  many 
  districts 
  will 
  comprise 
  the 
  entire 
  vocabulary 
  

   for 
  the 
  larger 
  kinds. 
  Had 
  they 
  been 
  pleasant 
  to 
  the 
  eye, 
  

   agreeable 
  to 
  the 
  nose, 
  or 
  of 
  reputed 
  miraculous 
  power 
  in 
  

   curing 
  the 
  ills 
  that 
  flesh 
  is 
  heir 
  to, 
  each 
  would 
  have 
  

   enjoyed 
  a 
  cognomen 
  by 
  which 
  it 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  recog- 
  

   nized 
  as 
  readily 
  as 
  the 
  dandelion 
  or 
  daisy, 
  heartsease 
  or 
  

   violet. 
  Returning, 
  however, 
  to 
  Russula, 
  which 
  we 
  

   cannot 
  characterize 
  by 
  a 
  more 
  popular 
  name. 
  Of 
  two 
  

   species 
  found 
  in 
  woods 
  which 
  are 
  deserving 
  of 
  notice, 
  

   one 
  (R. 
  vesca) 
  is 
  far 
  from 
  common, 
  and 
  the 
  characters 
  

   are 
  scarcely 
  such 
  as 
  could 
  be 
  described 
  without 
  fear 
  of 
  

   mistake 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  unscientific, 
  or 
  those 
  to 
  

   whom 
  the 
  plant 
  is 
  hitherto 
  unknown. 
  Had 
  our 
  space 
  

   permitted 
  of 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  a 
  figure, 
  some 
  of 
  these 
  

   difficulties 
  would 
  doubtless 
  have 
  vanished. 
  

  

  The 
  other 
  species 
  (R. 
  heterophil 
  1 
  1 
  '<(), 
  though 
  very 
  

   variable 
  in 
  colour, 
  is 
  so 
  common 
  and 
  well 
  known, 
  at 
  

   least 
  by 
  sight, 
  if 
  not 
  by 
  name, 
  that, 
  with 
  our 
  figure 
  

  

  