118 A PLAIN AND EASY ACCOUNT 



DISCRIMINATION AND PRESERVATION OP 

 FUNGI. 



IT may, perhaps, be anticipated, that some general 

 rules will be given to facilitate discrimination between 

 esculent and poisonous species. Unfortunately all 

 attempts at establishing such a code of regulations, 

 which shall be applicable in all cases, have failed ; for, 

 unless universally applicable, such rules are useless. 

 We remember to have seen the following example of 

 generalization, which would exclude several useful 

 species ; viz., "All that have the following characters are 

 poisonous : 



" I. Such as have a cap very thin in proportion to 

 the gills. 



" II. Such as have the stalk growing from one side 

 of the cap. 



" III. Those in which the gills are all of equal 

 length. 



"IV. Such as have a milky juice. 



" V. Such as deliquesce ; that is, run speedily into 

 a dark watery fluid. 



" VI. And lastly, every one that has the' collar that 

 surrounds the stalk filamentous, or resembling a spider's 

 web." 



If the second rule were always true, then the elm 

 agaric, Agaricus ulmarius, which has its stem excentric, 

 or near the margin of the cap, would be poisonous, 



