INTRODUCTION 



of ''toadstool" with respect to edibility is 

 unfortunate, — ''mushroom" in this sense de- 

 noting any edible species, and "toadstool" 

 all the poisonous ones, or sometimes, indeed, 

 any of the fungi which are not eaten. With 

 this as our criterion we would collect and 

 assemble in the "mushroom" basket all 

 species as fast as they might in some way or 

 other receive our approval as edible, and 

 we would cast away as "toadstool" all un- 

 certain, untried, suspicious, or admittedly 

 dangerous forms. Mushrooms for A might 

 be toadstools for B ; or, to take a specific 

 case, there might be on the markets of 

 Munich, Germany, about fifty species of 

 mushrooms, since this number of edible 

 species is approved by the market authori- 

 ties ; but in Berlin, at the dictation of stricter 

 rules, or tastes, the number of recognized 

 "mushrooms" would be scarcely half that 

 of Munich. "Toadstool" is apparently be- 

 coming a nondescript term which might 

 well be abandoned in so far as it may be 

 the intention of indicating any natural or 



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