CRYPTOGAMIA, 379 
that this colour ought to be described, where it is liable to 
such a change, not only in the perfect and vigorous state of the 
plant, but also in its mature and neart decaying state, tak~ 
ing its character from the former, Thus in several of the 
deliquescent Agarics, especially such as dissolve in decay 
to an inky liquor, the plants, when very young, have white 
Gills ; these become grey when the Seeds are formed, and 
black when quite ripe, and the plant dissolves in decay. 
, These circumstances may be properly noticed in the his- 
tory of the plant, but no one would think of taking its 
character from its yet but half unfolded state, any more: 
than from its state of decay ; such a plant, therefore, must 
be placed amongst others whose Gills are grey, 
The Srem is a less variable part than the Pileus; its 
shape, the proportions of its I to its breadth, and of 
both to the Pileus, afford tolerable distinctive marks, and 
its colours, though more changeable than those of the 
Gills, are, perhaps, rather more fixed than those of the 
eus, ; 
The Prrevs, or Cap, is the part of an ic the last 
to be attended to, and the least to be 4 ed on. Its 
shape is either conical, convex, flat, or hollowed at the top 
like a funnel ;* it is constantly yarying in the same plant, 
but is pretty uniformly the same in the same species when 
the plant is in am that is, when fully or nearly fully 
expanded, but before it exhibits symptoms of decay. 
The colour of the Pileus is often extremely uncertain, 
and in that case can no further be admitted into acharac- 
ter, than as it may serve to mark the varieties, 
The Viscidity, or clamminess on the surface of the 
Pileus and Stem, frequently obseryed in some Agarics, has 
been made a part of their character; but it is not much to 
be depended on; for in dry weather some of the viscid 
species shew no symptom of a moist or even adhesive sub- 
stance, and in a moist atmosphere, many, at other times 
dry to the feel, become more or less viscid, ; 
* (E.) represents a conical, (D.) a convex Piles. 
