THE MUSHROOMS. 



Many years ago Wilck and Munchau- 

 sen gravely wrote that the Mushroom be- 

 longed to the animal kingdom. Later 

 on they revised their opinions to the ex- 

 tent of referring all fungus growths to 

 the mineral kingdom. Doubtless, had 

 their lives been spared, good and suf- 

 ficient reasons would have been evolved 

 to remove the Mushrooms altogether 

 from bodies terrestrial, placing them 

 among the bodies celestial. Mushrooms, 

 however, have for centuries been more 

 or less of an enigma. They were popular 

 among the ancient Greeks and Romans 

 as an article of food, but ever since the 

 men of the agora and the forum feasted 

 with much uncertainty of consequences 

 on the "Pixi stools," no fixed rules 

 have been established by which the un- 

 scientific collector may be protected from 

 the deadly forms. Wilck and Munch- 

 ausen referred the fungi to the animal 

 kingdom because "when fragments of 

 them or their seeds were placed in water 

 animalcules were discharged which are 

 capable of being changed into the same 

 substance." It was thought that polypes 

 inhabited the cavities and reproduced 

 after the manner of corals. 



Mushrooms are plants. They occupy 

 a unique position, however, in the vege- 

 table kingdom. It might be said of these 

 "children of earth" that they toil not, 

 neither do they spin, inasmuch as Ihey 

 take no part in the busy life of the plant 

 world. Not possessing chlorophyll, or 

 the green coloring matter which is the 

 chief characteristic of the vegetable king- 

 dom, they are incapable of converting 

 inorganic into organic matter. Hence 

 they must depend for their sustenance on 

 the efforts of other plants. Thev develop 

 no flowers or seeds, but reproduce by 

 means of spores, which germinate if the 

 peculiar conditions essential to their 

 growth are present. 



The spores first assume the forms of 

 threads, forming a network known as 

 the mycelium. These in process of time 

 develop small, round bodies which in- 

 crease in size until either a stem is 

 formed, lifting the globular body above 

 the surface of the ground, or else, as 

 in the case of the puff ball, the spherical 

 mass appears without stems. 



When once developed, the plants as- 

 sume a multitude of forms, often dis- 

 playing a mimicry of other objects that 

 is at once astonishing and amusing. 

 Cups, umbrellas, shells, clubs, horns, 

 faces even, are among the effects pro- 

 duced, while the study of conic sections 

 is amply illustrated among the spheres, 

 hemispheres and cones of the fungoid 

 growths. 



While exceedingly beautiful in form 

 and color and in many instances whole- 

 some, it is well for the uninitiated to 

 class all Mushrooms with the many bril- 

 liant berries that are found in the woods. 

 Some are edible, others deadly in their 

 effects. The old, familiar advice given 

 as a rule for distinguishing the good 

 from the bad is conclusive but heroic. 

 First eat the toadstool. If death en- 

 sues, it is safe to conclude that the 

 species is deleterious, not to say deadly, 

 in its effects. On the other hand, if no 

 fatal consequences result, the particular 

 form may be added to the bill of fare. 

 Many people believe the silver and onion 

 tests to be infallible. Such, however, is 

 not the case. While it is true that poi- 

 sonous Mushrooms will discolor silver, 

 brass or onions, it is also true that harm- 

 less forms will produce similar results 

 by reason of sulphureted hydrogen which 

 is liberated when albuminoids decompose. 

 Furthermore, the odor test is not re- 

 liable. While edible Mushrooms have 

 an odor of fresh meal and the flavor of 

 hazel nuts, several of the poisonous 



86 



