INTRODUCTION 



I would agree with those who might maintain that no Introduction is needed 

 for this book on mushrooms. Nevertheless a word may not be out of place for 

 the inception of the work is out of the ordinary. Mr. Hard did not decide that 

 a book on this subject was needed and then set about studying these interesting 

 plants. He has observed them, collected them, induced many friends to join in 

 eating those which proved to be palatable and delicious really meddled for years 

 with the various kinds which are edible and otherwise, and then recently he has 

 decided to publish a book on his favorite subject. The interesting occupation of 

 photographing the mushrooms and the toadstools doubtless has contributed largely 

 to the determination culminating in the materialization of the treatise. 



If I have correctly apprehended the origin and the contributing causes, we 

 would expect this book to be different from the other books on mushrooms not 

 of course in scope and purpose ; but the instruction and suggestions given, the 

 descriptions and general remarks offered, the wide range of forms depicted in 

 word and picture, the whole make up of the 'book in fact, will appeal to the people 

 at large rather than the college student in particular. The author does not write 

 for the specially educated few, but for the mass of intelligent people those who 

 read and study, but who observe more ; those who are inclined to commune with 

 nature as she displays herself in the glens and glades, in the fields and forests, 

 and who spend little, if any, time chasing the forms or sketching the tissues that 

 may be seen on the narrow stage of a compound microscope. 



The book then is for the beginner, and for all beginners ; the college student 

 will find that this is the guide to use when he is ready to begin studying the 

 mushrooms ; the teachers in the schools should all begin to study mushrooms now, 

 and for the purpose they will find this book advantageous ; the people who see 

 mushrooms often but do not know them may find here a book that really is a 

 help. 



We might wish for color photography when the subject is a delicately tinted 

 mushroom ; but if with it we should lose detail in structure then the wish would 

 be renounced. The colors can be, approximately, described, often not so the 

 characteristic markings, shapes and forms. The half-tones from the photographs 

 will, we anticipate, prove a valuable feature of the book, especially if the plants 

 be most carefully examined before turning to the pictures. For half an hour the 

 pages may be turned and the illustrations enjoyed. That, however, would give 

 one no real knowledge of mushrooms. If such use only is made of the pictures, 

 better had they never been prepared by Mr. Hard and his friends. But if a 

 charming little toadstool, a delicately colored mushroom, a stately agaric, be 



(vii) 



