MUSHROOM SPORE-PRINTS 287 



varying red, lilac, green, orange, salmon -pink, and 

 brown and purple, variously lined in accordance with 

 the nature of their respective parent gills or pores. 



Occasionally we shall look in vain for our print, 

 which may signify that our specimen had already 

 scattered its spores ere we had found it, or, what is 



more likely, that the spores are invisi- 

 invisible ble upon the paper, owing to their white- 

 prints ness, in which case black or colored 



paper must be substituted for the white 

 ground, when the spores will be beautifully manifest 

 in a white tracery upon the darker background. One 

 of these, from the Amanita muscarius, is reproduced 

 in Plate 37. If the specimen is left too long, the 

 spore-deposit is continued upward between the gills, 

 and may reach a quarter of an inch in height, in 

 which case, if extreme care in lifting the cap is used, 

 we observe a very realistic counterfeit of the gills of 

 the mushroom in high relief upon the paper. A 

 print of this kind is of course very fragile, and must 

 be handled with care. But a comparatively slight 

 deposit of the spores, without apparent thickness, will 

 give us the most perfect print, while at the same 



time yielding the full color. Such a 



Fixing print may also be fixed by our present 



the print method SO as to withstand considerable 



rough usage, by laying the paper upon 

 a wet towel until the moisture has penetrated through 

 and reached the gum. The spores are thus set, and, 

 upon drying the paper, are securely fixed. Indeed, 

 the moisture exuded by the confined fungus beneath 

 the glass is often sufficient to set the spores. 



