46 



by his daughter, Miss H. C. Anderson. Twenty four of these 

 have been reproduced in color, none of which equal the superb 

 originals, though a few, like those of Amanita muscaria, Pholiota 

 adiposa, Boletinns pictus, and Phallus, approach them. Others 

 like TricJioloma personatiim and Clavaria formosa are too highly 

 colored and the defective reproduction of backgrounds in some 

 cases detracts from the good illustration of the fungus itself. The 

 work makes no claim to be coldly scientific but depends for its 

 technical descriptions on those who have originally made them. 

 As a piece of artistic bookmaking the Mushroom Book shows 

 superior workmanship. Fine quality of paper, excellent printing, 

 and plain but effective cover make the work attractive externally 

 and internally, while its clear and simple text is not aimed above 

 the heads of the audience to which it primarily appeals. 



In both works are occasional slips of the pen and verbal inac- 

 curacies which future editions will doubtless correct. Through 

 both it becomes clearly evident that the camera is the scientific 

 instrument by which we must attack the problem of bringing to 

 the laboratory the characters of the perishable fleshy fungi. 



But after all that is said, for the practical purpose for which these 

 books are intended, namely the enlightening of unscientific people 

 as to what are edible and what are poisonous fungi, none of the 

 American books yet touch the standard * set by the Germans at 

 half the price, where in place of attempts to force science on unsci- 

 entific minds, in place of heavy books adapted best for library 

 tables, we have fifty-six colored plates (nearly all of which are of 

 species as common in America as in Europe) put up in a form 

 adapted for the pocket and for work afield, with plain descrip- 

 tions of the fungi one is sure to meet with in the field and forest, 

 and with no entanglements of rare or new species or elaborate 

 keys and array of technicalities ; for after all the mycophagist 

 must learn edible fungi as he learns garden vegetables — by sight 

 — and then eat them by faith ! — Lucien M. Underwood. 



* Michael. Fiihrer fur Pilzfreunde. 8.25 X 5-5 X °-5 i n - Pp- xi+3 1 - With 

 56 colored plates with descriptive text opposite each for ready reference. Weight, 

 11 oz. Zwickau, 1897. Price, 6 marks ($1.50). 



