THE GENUS COPRINUS. 



As indicated by the popular names »Blækhat«, »Tintling«, 

 »inkcap« etc. the outward appearance of the Coprini differs very 

 markedly from the ordinary mushroom-type, and Coprinus was 

 recognized by Persoon and Fries as a distinct genus long 

 before the subgenera of Agaricus were raised to generic rank. 

 Still the Coprini are not absolutely separated from the genuine 

 agarics: Bolbiiius (which may be regarded as merely a subgenus 

 of Coprinus) naturally leads into Pluteohis and the Galeras of 

 the tener-lrihe. And the exotic genus Hiatula as well as the 

 Psatyrellas, each in their way, show certain affinities. In fact 

 considerable divergence exists as to where to draw the boundary- 

 line between Psatyrella and Coprinus. Thus Agaricus disseminatus 

 and impatiens, which Fries ranged in Psatyrella, Quélet considers 

 (justly, I think) true Coprini, while other modern authors retain 

 them in Psatyrella. 



Although the most characteristic feature of the Coprini is 

 the deliquescence of the gills, the microscopic characters are of 

 greater importance for the exact limitation of the genus. Many 

 of the smaller Coprini hardly do liquify, but all species present 

 the gill-structure peculiar to this genus. When examined by 

 low power the surface of a Coprinus-gill looks somewhat like 

 fig. I., the fertile basidia being separated by larger, sterile cells 

 (> paraphyses«), (conf. Schroeter, loc. cit. pag. 517). — This struc- 

 tural characteristic seems to be a reliable means to trace the 

 line of demarcation between Coprinus and Psatyrella, although 

 the line will have to be drawn a little otherwise than originally 

 done by Fries, as Psatyrella disseminata and impatiens show 

 the gill-structure of Coprinus. But as these species are also in 

 other respects decidedly coprinoid (f. inst. in having borst-like 

 cystidia on the surface of the cap like Copr. ephemerus etc.), 



