OUTLINES 



OF 



BRITISH FUNGOLOGY 



Kntrotiuctorg JSatter* 



CHAPTER I. 



PEELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 



Every one is more or less acquainted with the soft, fugitive, 

 variously coloured, succulent plants, which abound every- 

 where in our woods and meadows, and which are known 

 under the common names of Toadstools, Mushrooms, or 

 Champignons, according as they are objects of disgust or ad- 

 miration, from their real or supposed poisonous or nutritious 

 qualities. While therefore the former are, in general, kicked 

 on one side, or trodden down, the latter, in proportion to 

 the degree of knowledge possessed, are carefully gathered and 

 turned to use. There is, however, no general word in our 

 language which will comprehend even the whole of this group, 

 much less the vast tribe of plants which are classed with them 

 in every Natural botanical arrangement. Popular knowledge, 

 indeed, goes sometimes far enough to associate with them 

 some of the Fungi which grow on the trunks of trees, as the 

 nearly smooth Polyporus of the birch, and the scaly species of 



