Some Mushrooms found in Canada. 163 



placed gills downward on a sheet of white paper and 

 closely covered for a short time, when removed, a print 

 of the gilled surface will be found on the paper, if this 

 has been previously covered with a thin coat of glue 

 and allowed to dry, before the mushroom is placed on 

 it, a permanent print will be obtained. If left un- 

 covered the spores are so light that they will be scat- 

 tered about or fall irregularly, and a blurred print 

 will result. 



The appearance of the Agaricus campestris varies 

 greatly, depending irpon the conditions surrounding its 

 growth. Sometimes it is quite white and again quite 

 brown, it may be smooth or rough, but the gills should 

 always be noted, being pink, brown or black accord- 

 ing to age. Its season is September and October, but 

 I have found it at St. Andrews as early as July. To 

 the brown or purple spored group belong Agaricus 

 arvensis, otherwise known as the Horse or Plowed- 

 Land Mushroom, a large and coarse species, Agaricus 

 plycomycus, and Agaricus silvicola, the two latter grow 

 in woods. The silvicola has a very thin smooth cap. 

 Hypholoma perplexum, which has a yellow cap tinged 

 with red and greenish gills, also belongs to this group. 



I shall now go back to the first or white-spored 

 group, called by all authorities Leucosphorae. 



Among the white-spored agarics are the Amanitas, 

 the earliest, most persistent, most abundant and most 

 pernicious of all toadstools, and which should be care- 

 fully studied that their characteristics may be 

 thoroughly learned and so one may know what to avoid. 

 There is no rule by which one may distinguish between 

 the harmful and harmless species, but we must learn 

 to know them as we learn to distinguish the poison- 

 ivy from other plants. 



The Amanitas start from a mycelium, as does the 

 Agaricus campestries, but the young button of the 

 Amanita is entirely covered by a membrane, as well 

 as having its cap attached to the stem by one. As the 

 plant expands this enveloping membrane breaks away, 

 one part remains attached to the base of the stem 



