INTRODUCTION 



plation. I would therefore beg the indulgence of 

 such of my friends as have awaited in vain for my 

 reply to their kind communications, even though the 

 future should bring no tidings from me. All of 

 these letters have been received, and are herewith 

 acknowledged : many of them, too, if I may be par- 

 doned what would seem to be a most ungracious 

 comment, for which the "dead-letter" office would 

 have been the more appropriate destination. 



I refer to the correspondence " with accompany- 

 ing specimens," the letter occasionally enclosed in 



the same box with the said specimens, 



Consider the which, upon its arrival, arouses a protest 



recipient from the local postal authorities, and 



calls for a liberal use of disinfectants 

 — a disreputable -looking parcel, which, indeed, would 

 appear more consistently referable to the health- 

 board than to the mycologist. So frequent did this 

 embarrassing episode become that it finally necessi- 

 tated the establishment of a morgue for the benefit 

 of my mushroom correspondents, or rather for their 

 " specimens," usually accompanied with the queries, 

 "What is the name of this mushroom? Is it ed- 

 ible ?" I have been obliged to write to several of my 

 friends that identification of the remains was impos- 

 sible, that the remnant was more interesting ento- 

 mologically than botanically, and begging that in the 

 future all such similar tokens shall be forwarded in 

 alcohol or packed in ice. 



" First impressions are lasting " and '' a word to 

 the wise is sufficient." I would suggest that corre- 

 spondents hereafter consider the hazard of an intro- 



