Insects and Mushrooms 



have lately shown us. As for the second half 

 of the Boletus, the half which I did not col- 

 onize with vermin, it remains compact, the 

 same as it was at the start, except that its 

 appearance is a little withered by evaporation. 

 The fluidity, therefore, is really and truly the 

 work of the grubs and of them alone. 



Does this liquefaction imply an easy 

 change ? One would think so at first, on see- 

 ing how quickly it is performed by the action 

 of the grubs. Moreover, certain mushrooms, 

 the coprini, liquefy spontaneously and turn 

 into a black fluid. One of them bears the ex- 

 pressive name of the inky mushroom {Copri- 

 nus atramentarius, BULL.), and dissolves into 

 ink of its own accord. The conversion, in cer- 

 tain cases, is singularly rapid. One day, I 

 was drawing one of our prettiest coprini {Cop- 

 rinus sterquilinus^ fries), which comes out of 

 a little purse or volva. My work was barely 

 done, a couple of hours after gathering the 

 fresh mushroom, when the model had disap- 

 peared, leaving nothing but a pool of ink upon 

 the table. Had I procrastinated ever so little, 

 I should not have had time to finish and I 

 should have lost a rare and interesting find. 



This does not mean that the other mush- 

 rooms, especially the boleti, are of ephemeral 

 409 



