AGA 



edge of the pileus, which is rent as the 

 pileus expands, and soon vanishes ; but 

 the part attached to the stem often re- 

 mains, and forms round it a ring 1 which 

 is more or less permanent, as its substance 

 is more or less tender. Of all the species 

 of Agaric, one only has been selected for 

 cultivation in our gardens, viz. the A. 

 campestris, or common mushroom, or 

 champignon. The gills of this species 

 are loose, pinky red, changing to a liver 

 colour, in contact with the stem, but not 

 united to it ; very thick set, irregularly 

 disposed, some forked next the stem, 

 some next the edge of the pileus, some at 

 both ends, and in that case generally ex- 

 cluding the intermediate smaller gills. 

 The pileus is white, changing to brown 

 when old, and becoming scurfy, irregular- 

 ly convex, fleshy, flatter with age, from 

 two to four inches, and sometimes nine 

 inches, in diameter, and liquefying in de- 

 cay ; the flesh white. The stem is so- 

 lid, white, cylindrical, from two to three 

 inches high, half an inch in diameter; the 

 curtain white and delicate. When this 

 mushroom first makes its appearance, it 

 is smooth and almost globular ; and in this 

 state it is called a button. This species 

 is esteemed the best and most savoury of 

 the genus, and is much in request for the 

 table in England. It is eaten fresh, either 

 stewed or boiled, and preserved, either as 

 a pickle or in powder; and it furnishes 

 the sauce called Catchup. The field 

 plants are better for eating than those 

 raised on artificial beds, their flesh being 

 more tender : and those who are accus- 

 tomed to them can distinguish them by 

 their smell. But the cultivated ones are 

 more sightly, may be more easily collect- 

 ed in the proper state for eating, and are 

 firmer and better for pickling. The wild 

 mushrooms are found in parks and other 

 pastures, where the turf has not been 

 ploughed up for many years, and the best 

 time for gathering them is August and 

 September. 



AGATE, a fossil compounded of vari- 

 ous substances, as chalcedony, cornelian, 

 jasper, hornstone, quartz, 8cc. These 

 different fossils do not all occur in every 

 agate, commonly only two or three. 

 There are different kinds of agate, as the 

 fortification, the landscape, the ribbon, 

 the moss, the tube, the clouded, the zoned, 

 the star, the fragment, the punctuated, 

 thepetrefaction, the coral, and the jasper 

 agate. No country affords finer agate, or 

 in greater abundance, than Germany : it 

 is found in great quantity at Oberstein, 

 \vhera several thousand person's are em- 



ployed in quarrying, sorting, cutting 1 , arw3 

 polishing it. It is also found in Prance, 

 England. Scotland, and Ireland, and very 

 beautiful in the East Indies, where, how- 

 ever, it is confounded with onyx. It is cut 

 into vases, mortars, snuff-boxes, and some- 

 times into plates for inlaying in tables. 

 Very handsome specimens are made into 

 seals, and the smaller pieces are used for 

 gun flints. It was highly valued by the 

 ancients, who executed many fine works 

 in it : these, however, are only to be found 

 in the cabinets of the rich. The collec- 

 tions of Brunswick and Dresdenarare re-* 

 markable for beautiful specimens of this 

 kind. 



AGATHOPHYLLUM, a genus of the 

 Dodecandria Monogynia class and order: 

 calyx very minute, truncate ; petals six, 

 inserted into the calyx; drupe somewhat 

 globular ; nut half five-celled, one seed- 

 ed ; kernel five-lobed. One species, viz. 

 A. aromaticum, a tree in Madagascar, 

 with an aromatic rufous bark. 



AGAVE, in botany, a genus of the Hex- 

 andria Monogynia class and order, of 

 the natural order of Coronariz : it has no 

 calyx : the corolla is one-petalled and 

 funnel-shaped ; the stamina are filiform ; 

 the anthers linear ; the pistillum is an ob- 

 long germen ; the style filiform ; the stig- 

 ma headed and three cornered; theperi- 

 carpium is oblong, and the seeds are nu- 

 merous. There are seven species, of 

 which we shall notice the A. Americana, 

 or great American Aloe, whose stems., 

 when vigorous, rise upwards of twenty 

 feet high, (one in the king of Prussia's 

 garden rose to forty feet,) and branch 

 out on every side, so as to form a kind 

 of pyramid, composed of greenish yel- 

 low flowers, which stand erect, and come 

 out in thcik clusters at every joint. 

 The seeds do not come to maturity in 

 England. When this plant flowers, it 

 makes a beautiful appearance ; and if it 

 be protected from the cold in autumn, a 

 succession of new flowers will be pro- 

 duced for nearly three months in favour- 

 able seasons. It has been a common er- 

 ror, that this plant does not flower till it 

 is one hundred years old : the truth is, that 

 the flowering depends on its growth ; so 

 that in hot countries it will flower in a few 

 years ; but in colder climates the growth 

 is slower, and it will be much longer be- 

 fore it shoots up a stem. The first that 

 flowered in England is said to have been 

 Mr. Cowell's at Hoxton, in 1729; but they 

 have occurred so often since that time, 

 that they are now scarcely considered as 

 rarities. Few of the variety with yellow- 



