PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 5 



pileus presents various forms, as fan-sliaped, kidney- shaped, 

 scmiorbicular [dimidiate) , and occasionally becomes attached 

 by the surface of the pileus ; so that the gills are superior in- 

 stead of inferior, and the pileus is then said to be resupinate 

 (Plate 10, fig. 1). 



The Gill-bearing Fungi are generally of a soft substance, 

 but they are not all so. According to the density with which 

 the cells or threads of which tliey are composed are packed, 

 they present various degrees of hardness, till they assume 

 even a corky substance, and are more or less persistent. The 

 common fairy ring Champignon, Marasmius Oreades (Plate 11, 

 fig. 5), is a familiar example of the first departure from the 

 common Mushroom type, and in consequence of its less watery 

 character, it is easily preserved in a dry state for culinary pur- 

 poses. The Dsedalea of the birch, Lenzites hetuVma (Plate 15, 

 fig. 3), a widely distributed species, gives a good example of 

 a still further hardening of the gills, while in that of the oak, 

 Dcedalea quercina (Plate 19, fig. 5), the substance is as firm 

 as cork, or, in parts, as hard as wood. 



There are a few Fungi in which the gills assume the form 

 of folds or veins, departing thus from the more common type. 

 The Chantarellc, for instance, Cantharellus cibarius, which is 

 such an ornament of our woods from its bright melon- like 

 colour and grateful odour, is a good example. The folds in 

 some species pass into mere veins, and in the very lowest the 

 fruit-bearing surface [hymenium) is all but even, thus paving 

 the way to a group which we shall have to speak of presently. 



In a few species there is a gelatinous stratum either exter- 

 nal to the pileus or inserted in the midst of the general mass 

 of its tissue ; but in general this element, which is so impor- 

 tant in one group, is but sliglitly developed, and never consti- 

 tutes the whole or major part of the tissue. 



