Massee : The Modern Me f hod of Study mg Agarics. 1 9 



found more convinciiii^ proof of the truth of his theory by 

 a study of the Aijarics, than that afforded by such g"enera as 

 CEnothera and Epilobium. 



At last I am approaching the modern method of studying 

 Agarics. The scheme of classification of the higher Fungi 

 devised and perfected by Fries is the one generally followed at 

 the present day, and although the distinctive features were seen 

 bv the naked eye, or at most those seen under a pocket-lens, 

 yet it is remarkable how generally accurate Fries was in the 

 formation of his genera, as shown when tested by modern 

 morphological and microscopic characters. Tiie same may be 

 said of Fries' species, which are in the majority of instances 

 supported by modern microscopic research. Of course there 

 are instances where minute spore characters, etc., show that 

 Fries had lumped allied species, which he himself would doubt- 

 less have separated, had the microscope been perfected as at 

 present, in his time. These remarks show that at the present 

 day we have unfortunately lost the power, to a very great 

 extent, of detecting those minute naked-eye characters which 

 were obvious to Fries and other observers of his time. At the 

 present day too many students depend almost entirely o\\ micro- 

 scopic characters, which at best have as yet to be proved to be of 

 greater value than naked-eye characters; both have their special 

 merits and uses as aids in the discrimination of species, but in 

 studving Agarics it must ever be borne in mind that many very 

 important points can only be seen by the naked eye ; points 

 which give great insight into the method of life of the living 

 plant, as quite apart from ascertaining its name, etc. 



In the latest work by Fries on the classification of the 

 Agarics, the very large genus Agaricns is divided Into primary 

 groups depending on the colour of the spores, as shown in the 

 mass when deposited on paper. This arrangement, as Fries 

 was very careful to emphasise, broke up a very large number of 

 species into groups, which on the whole made it easier to run 

 down any given species, while at the same time it widely 

 separated closely allied genera, as is Inevitably the case when 

 artificial characters are used as a means of quickly ascertaining 

 the name of a particular Agaric or other organism, vegetable or 

 animal. 



This division of the Agarics into purely artificial sections 

 depending on the colour of the spores alone, has been followed 

 by all modern mycologists, perhaps mainly as a quick means to an 

 end, that of ascertaining the name of a species, and the sections 



1903 Jaruiary 3. 



