FUNGI 37 



cellent food that goes on every year in our fields and woods, the 

 teacher should not undertake the responsibility of giving this in- 

 formation without an accurate knowledge of the good and bad 

 forms. 



Our lessons are to be with the life of the plant. Some form 

 of the umbrella shaped mushrooms is good for the first lesson. 



The common edible mushroom is shown in Fig. 14. If this 

 or some similar form can be obtained in sufficient abundance, 

 allow each pupil to have a specimen. Have him examine all 

 its parts carefully. The stalk is called the stem; the expanded 

 portions is the wp; the ragged fringe running around the stem a 

 short distance below the cap is the ring; the thin plates under- 

 neath this cap radiating from the stem are the gills. These in the 

 younger specimens of the common edible form are pink, turning 

 brown and later black with age. Have the pupils slice the mush- 

 room through cap and stem to see the connection between them. 



The stages of growth from their first appearance as small 

 white balls to the adult form should be observed. It will then be 

 seen that a curtain covers the cap and gills, and it is the breaking 

 of this by growth of the containing parts which makes the ring. 



Direct the pupils to cut the stems of several close to the caps, 

 and place these caps, gill side down on sheets of white paper, and 

 place them where they will not be in currents of air. Alter some 

 hours or the next day the paper will show a beautiful deposit of 

 very fine powder neatly outlining the shape of the gills. This 

 powder is made of the spores which have been discharged from 

 the gills and the picture thus made is sometimes called a spore 

 print. As the spores of different species are of different colors 

 they may be taken on a sheet of glass and this placed over dark 

 or light colored paper to give the proper background for display- 

 ing the spores to the best advantage. 



This brings us to make a brief survey of the course of 

 the life of the plant. The spore is to this plant what the seed is 

 to higher plants being the part from which the plant starts to grow. 



