140 EYE SPY 
quarter of an hour the tinted deposit is percepti- 
ble across the room ; and in an hour, if we care- 
fully raise the mushroom, the perfect spore-print 
is revealed in all its beauty a pink-brown disk 
with a white centre, which represents the point of 
contact of the cut stem, and white radiating lines, 
representing the edges of the thin gills, many of 
them as fine and delicate as a cobweb. 
Every fresh species will yield its surprise in the 
markings and color of the prints. 
These spore-deposits are of course fugitive, and 
will easily rub off at the slightest touch. But in- 
asmuch as many of these specimens, either from 
their beauty of form or exquisite color, or for edu- 
cational or scientific purposes, it will be desirable 
to preserve, I append simple rules for the mak- 
ing of the prints by a process by which they will 
become effectually "fixed," and thus easily kept 
without injury. 
DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING A MUSHROOM SPORE-PRINT 
Take a piece of smooth white writing-paper 
and coat its surface evenly with a thin solution of 
gum-arabic, dextrine, or other mucilage, and allow 
it to dry. Pin this, gummed side uppermost, to a 
board or table, preferably over a soft cloth, so that 
it will lie perfectly flat. To insure a good print the 
mushroom specimen should be fresh and firm, and 
the gills or spore-surface free from breaks or bruises. 
