318 Fowler: Mycology in its Popular Aspect. 
have made the study of them full of interest to those who have 
indulged in it. And yet the botanists who study fungi are very 
few. How is it? Chiefly, 1 think, because the determination of 
them seems much more difficult than it really is. There are 
difficulties, no doubt (especially when species approach one 
another very closely), but this is true also of insects, and of 
flowering plants, such as Brambles, Hawkweeds, and Willows. 
ut by the exercise of careful observation, patience, and per- 
severance, most of these nga can be overcome, whether 
th ecies are so minute that the compound microscope is 
necessary for their see eae, or so large that you see them 
as you pass through the wood or the meadow. To the popular 
eye, many of these larger fungi appear very much alike; but 
there are differences in reality which may quite easily be seen 
by those who will take the trouble to examine them. People 
sometimes ask ‘How are we to distinguish between edible 
and poisonous fungi?’ Well, the only safe way to do so is 
to learn the characteristic features of each species, as you learn 
those of flowering plants. Some poisonous fungi bear a certain 
resemblance to the common mushroom, but there are also 
points of difference between them, just as there are between the 
poisonous plant called ‘ Fools’ Parsley’ and common parsley. If 
you know edible species when you see them (such as the Blewit, 
the Chantarelle, the Truffle, the Morel) as you know cabbages, | 
peas, and beans, you, of course, run no risk in eating them; and 
if you know poisonous species (such as the Fly Agaric, the 
Liberty Cap, the Wood Woolly Foot) as you know Monkshood 
and Deadly Nightshade, you, of course, take care to avoid 
them. In a word, it is not by any one character, but by a 
combination of characters, that you should be guided, if you — 
would proceed safely. If this plan oer more trouble than 
u care to take, my advice to you is—let them alone 
altogether, so far as eating them is anne Some have, | 
through carelessness, neglected to take it, and have found ~ 
out what mycology is in its wnpopular aspect. ee 
Others again, whose ideas reach beyond the gratification of — 
their palate, ask, when we meet with a fungus in our rambles, 
ow are we to make out what it is? Well, supposing you have 
a Handbook of British Fungi, you do much the same as in the 
case of flowering plants. Before using your book, you carefully 
examine the fungus, making sections of it if necessary, and 
then decide to which class, order, and genus it belongs, and — 
what species of the genus it is, by the help of your book. You 
will find that after a little time you will be able to dispense with 
. much of this L book work. ee as you say ata A bigest this 
: ‘ Nat tu 
ee hiince 
