MUSHROOMS. 27 



A brief ovitline of Fries's classification of the Agarics will iudi- 

 cate how the most prominent of these characters are seized upon 

 for a division into groups and genera. The Agarics proper, in 

 which the hymenium is closely connected with the tissue which 

 supports it, fall readily into five groups according to the color of 

 their spores, which are white, pinkish or salmon-color, rusty- 

 brown or ochraceous, dark or purplish brown, and black. Each 

 of these groups is divided into genera (called subgenera by Eries, 

 Avho placed all five groups under one genus, Agariciis) by differ- 

 ences in gross and minute structure. For example, among the 

 white-spored genera (Leiicosjwri) Amanita is known by its volva ; 

 Lepiota by its ring and free' gills, Armillaria by its ring and 

 adnate' gills, Tricholoma by practical absence of veil and by sin- 

 uate' gills, CUtocyhe by decurrent' gills, Collyhia by the involute 

 margin of the young pileus and by a cartilaginous stem, and so on 

 through the list. With the pink spored Agarics {Hijporhodii) 

 we run through the same category of structural differences, Vol- 

 varia corresponding to Amanita, Entoloma to Tricholoma, and so 

 on ; and the same thing may be said of the rusty brown spored 

 (Deromni), the dark brown spored (Pratelli), and the black spored 

 (Coprinarli), although in the last three groups by no means all 

 types of structural difference are represented. To avoid possible 

 confusion in nomenclature, it should be said that since the sub- 

 genera of Fries's original genus Agaricus have been raised to gen- 

 eric value, the old name Agaricus formerly given to each species 

 has been retained only for the species of Fries's subgenus Psalli- 

 ota. Hence what old-fashioned writers call Agaricus vmscarius, 

 A. procerus, A. equestris, A. sinuatus, etc., are now known, respec- 

 tively, as Amanita micscaria, Lejnota procera, Tricholom,a equestre, 

 and Entoloma sinuatum. 



Still other genera not included by Fries in the old genus Agari- 

 cus are included by Saccardo, and after him by ISIassee and others, 

 with the genera already mentioned under four groups, divided 

 according to spore color. Among these genera are Cortinarius, 

 distinguished by its arachnoid veil ; Coprinus, which deliquesces 

 to an inky liquid ; Cantharellus, with gills like swollen veins ; 

 Lactarius, with milky juice ; Lentinns, with tough substance and 

 serrate gills ; and others. 



1 The significance of these and other terms was made clear by lantern slides. 



