INTRODUCTION 23 



UNFAVORABLE SIGNS 



8. Boiling with a "silver spoon," the staining of the silver in- 

 dicating danger. 



9. Change of color in the fracture of the fresh mushroom. 



10. Slimy or sticky on the top. 



11. Having the stems at their sides. 



12. Growing in clusters. 



13. Found in dark, damp places. 



14. Growing on wood, decayed logs, or stumps. 



15. Growing on or near manure. 



16. Having bright colors. 



17. Containing milky juice. 



18. Having the gill plates of even length. 



19. Melting into black fluid. 



20. Biting the tongue or having a bitter or nauseating taste. 



21. Changing color by immersion in salt-water, or upon being 

 dusted with salt. 



These present but a selection of the more preva- 

 lent notions. Taken in toto, they would prove entirely 

 safe, as they would practically exclude every species 

 of mushroom or toadstool that grows. But as a rule 

 the village oracle bases his infallibility upon two or 

 three of the above " rules," and inasmuch as the entire 

 list absolutely omits the only one test by which dan- 

 ger is to be avoided, it is a seven-days' wonder that 

 the grewsome toadstool epitaph is not more frequent. 



I once knew an aged dame who was accepted as a 



village oracle on this as well as other topics, such 



as divining, palmistry, and fortune- tell- 



Absolute jj^„ g^jjjj ^j^Q a,te and dispensed toad- 

 worthlessness ° , . r ,1 1 1 



of above tests stools on a few of the above rules. 



Strange to say, she lived to a good old 



age, and no increased mortality is credited to her 



memory as a result of her generosity. 



