THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



THE 



GRAY MEMORIAL BOTANICAL CHAPTER 

 OF THE AGAS8IZ ASSOCIATION. 



HOW TO STUDY AND PRESERVE 

 MUSHROOMS. 



BY C. L. SHEAR. 



The order Hymenomycetes includes 

 most of what are popularly called mush- 

 rooms and toad-stools. I find these are 

 very interesting plants, though they re- 

 quire considerable study for their de- 

 termination, and care in their preser- 

 vation. 



A general knowledge of their struct- 

 ure, development and relation to other 

 plants may be obtained from any com- 

 prehensive text-book in Botany. For 

 this study Bessey's "Advanced Course" 

 is excellent, but for their classification 

 and special study, some systematic 

 work is needed and this is still a de- 

 sideratum in American botanical litera- 

 ture. 



. There are, however, several good 

 works on the subject which contain de- 

 scriptions of a great many of our spe- 

 cies. One of the best and cheapest of these 

 is "British Fungis" (Hymenomijcetes,) 

 by Rev. John Stevenson, 8 vo., 2 vol., 

 published by Blackwood & Sons, Edin- 

 burgh and London, 1886. It costs about 

 six dollars. A valuable aid in deter- 

 mining the genera is "Generic Synopsis 

 of the Basiaiomycetes and Myxoinycetes" 

 by Underwood and Cook, which can be 

 obtained of O. F. Cook, Syracuse, N. Y., 

 for twenty -five cents. 



In collecting it is best to get, if pos- 

 sible specimen 3 representing three stages 

 of their growth. 1st, when the pileus 

 or cap is just commencing to spread or 

 break loose from the stipe, to which it 

 is usually held by a thin membrane 

 called the veil; and, when the pileus is 

 partly expanded; and 3rd, when the 

 pileus is fully spread and maturing. If 

 specimens cannot be procured in fhese 

 three stages of growth get the third if 

 possible, as this is the most essential in 



determining the species. 

 . As one of the principal characters in 

 determining the genus is the color of 

 the spores, it is necessary to make pro- 

 vision for this by collecting more ma- 

 ture specimens than you wish to pre- 

 serve. To collect the spores, take a 

 mature specimen, cut the tops off close 

 to the pileus and place the latter on a 

 white card or paper, immediately after 

 collecting. If the spores are colored 

 th ^y will, of course, show very nicely 

 on the white background. If they are 

 white, it will require close examination 

 to see them, and the pileus should be 

 transferred to a dark colored glazed 

 paper. 



The process of transferring the spores 

 will take from one or two hours to a 

 half or even an entire day, according to 

 the species. 



The spores should be preserved. A 

 good method is given in the Journal of 

 Mycology, vol. 5, page 163. It is sub- 

 stantially as follows: Dissolve one part 

 Canada balsam in four parts turpentine, 

 warming gently over a water bath or 

 free fiame. Spread this solution thinly 

 on the back of the paper on which the 

 spores are scattered, with a soft brush, 

 not so thickly as to overflow the spores. 

 In two to four days the preparation will 

 be dry enough to be safely kept between 

 papers and in four to six weeks quit a 

 dry. 



Inexperienced collectors sometimes 

 judge of the color of the spores from the 

 color of the lamellae or gills, but this is 

 very uncertain, as the lamellae of the 

 same species are often of different colors 

 at different stages of their growth. 

 Specimens should be studied as soon 

 after collecting as possible and be ac- 

 companied by notes regarding their 

 habitat, drawings, etc. 



At midnight I see into the universal 

 day. — Thoreaf. 



1 



