JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. I05 



according to the color of their spores. This is a very convenient 

 classification, and the color of the spores seem to be a much more 

 distinctive feature than the colors in flowering plants. 



I will describe a few of the commonest species. 



Amanita — Of all the gill-bearing mushrooms, the Amanita may 

 be taken as a type. They are among the most beautiful, the most 

 shapely and the most typical. They include some of the best of the 

 edible, and alas ! they include also the most deadly poisonous. 



The spores and gills are white. 



The most distinctive feature of the genus is the volva or sack. 

 This is a membrane that covers the whole mushroom at first, as the 

 shell covers the young chicken. As the pileus (or top) expands 

 this membrane tears in two, leaving a few patches generally adhered 

 to the pileus, but often faUing off later. The part of the volva left 

 in the ground incloses the end of the stem like a cup. This is the 

 most noticeable characteristic of the genus, although in some species 

 it is inconspicuous or almost wanting. This cup is generally left in 

 the ground when the mushroom is pulled up so that nothing is left to 

 distinguish it from such edible species as the Lepiota Naucinoides. 



The Amanita Phalloides aud its variety the Amanito Verna 

 are well called the " destroying angels." 



They are among the most beautiful of mushrooms and by far 

 the most deadly. I believe the great majority of cases of mushroom 

 poisoning is due to this species. The bad character of this one 

 mushroom has cast suspicion on all the mushroom family. 



The Amanita Muscaria, or Fly mushroom is also poisonous, 

 but not so deadly as its malevolent sister the Verna. It has a beau- 

 tiful scarlet or orange cap with a somewhat sticky cuticle. It is very 

 showy, The name comes from the fact that it has been used as a 

 fly poison. In Siberia the natives use it to produce intoxication. 

 The result of eating a small quantity of it is similar to that produced 

 by an excess of alcoholic drink, and the Siberian natives become 

 very dissipated with the use of it. Fortunately it is rare around 

 Hamilton, or else those who know where to find it wish to keep the 

 knowledge to themselves, a theory not at all in keeping with the 

 well known convival character of Hamiltonians. 



We now come to the King (or I should say, more correctly), 

 the Emperor of Mushrooms, the Amanita Caesarea. 



