376 CRYPTOGAMIA. 
may be seen the remains of a Curtain, then called a Ring. 
The Curtain and the Ring must be rejected in formir 
characters of Agarics, for the reason just now mentio 
and the Wrapper is not easily accessible, nor is it very 
often found, so that it does not afford much aid in the dis- 
crimination of the species. The Curtain and its remnant 
the Ring, are common to all our secondary subdivisions of 
Agarics with central Stems, but the Wrapper seems to be 
confined to. the plants with solid stems only; nor has it 
been found attendant even upon those when the Gills are 
decurrent, . 
The Stem of an Agaric is either solid, or hollow. 
The solid Stem is represented at (A.) the hollow Stem at 
{B.) When an Agaric is to be examined, cut the stem 
across about the middle, with a sharp knife, and it must 
immediately appear whether it be solid or hollow. Letit 
be remarked, however, that the solid Stem varies much m 
degree ; it may be as solid as the flesh of an apple, or as 
spongy as the pith of an elder stick, or a sun-flower stalk, 
but still it is solid, 7. e. there is no regular hollow rvad- 
_ing its whole length ; though the more mig hr 1 larger 
Stems sometimes’ shew irregular and partial hollow places 
from the shrinking of the pithy substance when the plant 
grows old, but this can never be mistaken for a regulaty © 
orm, and native hollowness, (B.) represents a hold 
Stem. The width of this hollow part varies much in dil- 
ferent species, and is by no means always proportioned to 
the size of the Stem; though it is uniform and regulal 
throughout its whole length, except perhaps at the bottom, 
— it changes to a root. This hollow is sometimes 
entirely empty, sometimes loosely filled with a pithy sub- 
stance, but its regularity is not affected by that. circum — 
stance. Next to the Gills, the Stem of an Agaric is the 
_ part least liable to variation. When its shape is not that - 
of a cylinder, its diameter, as expressed in the descriptions, - 
must understood igbe the diameter of its middle part. fe 
he Giixs are the flat, thin substances, found under- — 
neath the Pileus, and attached to it ; they are of a texture — 
evidently different from that of the Stem or the Pileus, they 
assume different colours in different species, and vary muc 
mm their respective lengths. Each Gill consists of two 
membranes, and between these the Seeds are formed. 
_ 
a 
a ee ; 
