FUNGI. CHAP. V. 



or cap, which [its figure suggests, and may be ex- 

 emplified in Agaricus campestris, or the common 

 Mushroom. Its substance, like that of the stipe, is 

 spongy, or leathery, or woody, and its diameter 

 from a fraction of an inch to a span. Its upper 

 surface is generally smooth, but sometimes also 

 wrinkled or scaly, being frequently of a white or 

 yellow colour, but often of a beautiful red. 



GUIs. The under surface is furnished for the most part 



with a number of thin and flat substances, which 

 are attached to it by the one edge, and distributed 

 like the radii of a circle, resembling in their form 

 the gills of a fish, and designated by the same 

 name. Sometimes they are inserted separately; 

 sometimes in pairs or sets ; and sometimes they 

 inosculate and grow into one another. They may 

 be exemplified also in the Agaricus campestris, 

 in which they are inserted individually, and are of 

 a beautiful pink. The under surface of such as 

 have not gills is furnished with a multitude of 

 pores or tubes, as in Boletus; or with prickles, 

 as in Hydnum. 



Veil or Of the cap-bearing Fungi the greater r part arc 

 furnished with a fine, delicate, and cobweb-looking 

 membrane called the Veil or Curtain, attached on 

 the one hand to the circumference of the Pileus, 

 and on the other to the circumference of the stem 

 by which it is perforated, enclosing and protecting 

 the gills. It may be exemplified also in Agaricus 

 campestris, at least in an early stage of its growth. 



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