﻿146 FIELD AND FOR EST. 



The phenomenon extended over an area of country two miles in length, 

 and half a mile in width. In a later communication Mr. N. says: 

 "They were in clusters, and where I gathered the specimens I had 

 simply to take them up by handsful ; the snow was literally covered. 

 They still exist in great quantities on fences, bushes, stones, &c, in the 

 vicinity where they first fell." 



Dr. J. G. Morris, of Baltimore, also reports a similar appearance 

 about ten miles north of Baltimore, about the same time, and last 

 season they were observed in numbers near Sandy Spring, Maryland. 



They are probably the Podura nivicola, which are found under the 

 bark of trees and in similar situations, as their food consist of decay- 

 ing vegetable matter. They do not fall with the snow, as is supposed 

 by many persons, but are attracted by it and suddenly appear upon it 

 in countless numbers, becoming at once conspicuous and interesting 

 objects. — Ed. 



Caution to Mushroom Eaters. — At a meeting of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, December 6th, Dr. M. C. Cooke read a com- 

 munication from Dr. R. Gerard, as follows : 



"As an item of mycological interest, I would state that in 1874 I 

 started a Mushroom bed in my cellar, and had an abundant supply 

 from spring till fall. Next spring (1875,) without renewing the ma- 

 terials of the bed, I planted new spawn, which I bought, as before, of 

 a seedsman. No mushrooms came, although the surface of the bed 

 assumed a whitish appearance, as it did in the first case. This spring 

 (1876,) the bed having remained undisturbed, I one day heated some 

 . water, and having added to it some aqua ammonise, I drenched the 

 bed thoroughly with it. In about a week's time some 'buttons' 

 began to make their appearance, but haviug no occasion to use them 

 just then I allowed them to mature, when, much to my surprise, in- 

 stead of having Agaricus campe-stris, I found that I had a large crop 

 of A. fastibilis. The bed was entirely covered with this poisonous 

 species, and not a single ' pink gill ' appeared. The cellar was a 

 closed one, and only used for storage purposes, and I cannot see 

 where the fastibilis came from unless the spores existed in the spawn 

 that was sold me. At any rate, it might have been the cause of a 

 serious accident had it been sold to a person unfamiliar with the edi- 

 ble Mushroom." 



Mr. W. G. Smith spoke of great external resemblance existing 

 between the two species, and stated that no fungus was'so commonly 

 mistaken for the true Mushroom as the dangerous Agaricus fastibilis, 



