52 EDIBLE MUSHROOMS 



individual, in which the spots have assumed a 

 shrunken and brovi^nish tint. 



The consideration of this species is of the utmost 

 importance, as its beauty is but an alluring mask, 

 which has enticed many to their destruction ; among 

 the more recent of its conspicuous victims having 

 been the Czar Alexis of Russia. For this is another 

 cosmopolitan type of mushroom, common alike in 

 America, Great Britain, Europe, and Asia, in all of 

 which countries it is notorious for its poisonous re- 

 sources. It is commonly known as the " Fly-agaric," 



its substance macerated in milk having 

 Used as a been employed for centuries as an ef- 

 fly- poison fectual fly-poison. After the reader's 



introduction to the botanical character 

 of the Amanita, he would, presumably, be somewhat 

 suspicious of the present species. The suggestive 

 white or dingy fragments upon its cap, it is true, 

 would alone arouse his suspicions, but in the exami- 

 nation of the stem for the telltale volva or cup its 

 verification might be somewhat in doubt. It is for 

 this reason that the species is emphasized in these 



pages, as the Amanita muscarius, judg- 



its ing from the great dissimilarity of its 



obscure cup numerous portraits from all countries, 



would seem to be remarkably protean, 

 especially with reference to its stalk. The majority 

 of the portraits of this reprobate presents the volva 

 as distinct and as clean cut as in the A. vernus just 

 described, and the stalk above as equally smooth, 

 features which are usually at variance with the as- 

 sociated botanical description of the species, which 



