332 



VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



same time that the cap alters its form, and the upper 

 surface also changes colour. The latter circum- 

 stances distinguish it, in this stage, from the dark- 

 gilled toad-stool, with which it might otherwise be 

 confounded. 



Common Mushrooms, a, a, a, Agaricus campestrii. b, dgarictu 



Mushrooms of this species vary very much in size, 

 some being not more than two inches in diameter, 

 others as much as eight or nine inches, and a few 

 reaching to much larger dimensions. We are told 

 that, in some parts of the northern counties, one 

 mushroom was gathered which measured thirty-four 

 inches in circumference, and weighed one pound. 

 Another, measuring almost thirty inches in circum- 

 ference, weighed one pound one ounce ;* and a 

 third, thirty-two inches in circumference, and ten 



* ' Newcastle Courant,' Sept. 13, 1828. 



