INJURIOUS AND OTHER FUNGI. 89 



the cuttings, but about a sixteenth of an inch above the surface of 

 the soil. Another kind is quite white, in a thin layer and more 

 distinct. The condition of a bed affected with this fungus appeared 

 to him similar to that of a room so crowded with people that they 

 had not sufficient air. When planted wide apart, with plenty of air, 

 the cuttings do not appear so liable to injury as when crowded. 

 The fungus will go through a bed and kill the base of the cuttings 

 while the top is uninjured. 



Mrs. E. M. Gill said that her cuttings were entirely killed, top 

 and bottom. 



Mrs. Wolcott asked Mr. Hovey if he did not think that under 

 the web which he described, he could, with a microscope, find the 

 mycelium of this fungus. 



Julius A. Palmer, Jr., said that the remarks of the previous 

 speakers would convey the impression that all the fungi were ene- 

 mies of the horticulturist, but while some of them were destructive 

 of food, others were valuable for food. Among the latter is the 

 Agaricus ulmarius, a large white fungus, growing on the elm tree, 

 and which there is no danger of confounding with any poisonous 

 species. The Common in spring is covered with a little black 

 toadstool, Agaricus {Psilocybe) foenisecii, which is excellent food. 

 Any puff-ball that is white when broken open is not poisonous. So 

 late an authority as Dr. Curtis classed the Coprinus comatus among 

 the poisonous species, but it is generally considered harmless. 

 Among the known puff-balls there is not one of those which are 

 white when opened that is poisonous. If on cutting open a puff- 

 ]iall any trace of yellow is left on the knife, this is an evidence of 

 decomposition, and fungi in this state are as unwholesome as tainted 

 meat. In answer to an inquiry how he cooked puff-balls, Mr. 

 Palmer stated that he broiled them. 



James Cruickshauks said that he had been much interested in the 

 facts given us by Mr. Palmer, but he would recommend every one 

 to be very much on their guard as to what the}^ ate. When a 

 journejTQau gardener, he saw what he supposed to be some verj- fine 

 mushrooms. He took them in and broiled them, and ate a portion, 

 and a short time after he was, for two hours, as near being poisoned 

 as ever a man was who escaped. He supposed the hvn-tful charac- 

 ter of these fungi was due to their growing near pine trees. 



Mr. Palmer said that the eatable fungi are not marked by their 

 attractiveness, and mentioned a case where a family were poisoned 



12 



