fectly harmless species should be so seldom pic- 

 tured among the edible fungi in works upon this 

 subject. I have seen it figured only two or three 

 times, under the names Hypholoma perplexum 

 and S. sublateritius, with the mere mention that 

 it was safe to eat. Yet its season is one of the 

 longest, and it is so abundant and so widely dis- 

 tributed ,as to make the gathering of the more 

 commonly known but really rarer species quite 

 impractical. 



No one need fear brick-tops. When taken 

 young and clean, if they do not broil into squab 

 or fry into frogs' legs, they will prove, at any 

 rate, to be deliciously tender, woodsy sweetmeats, 

 good to eat and a joy to collect. 



And the collecting of mushrooms is, after 

 all, their real value. Our stomachs are too much 

 with us. It is well enough to beguile ourselves 

 with large talk of rare flavors, high per cents, of 

 proteids, and small butcher's bills ; but it is mostly 

 talk. It gives a practical, businesslike com- 

 plexion to our interest and excursions ; it backs 

 up our accusing consciences at the silly waste of 

 time with a show of thrift and economy; but 

 here mushroom economy ends. There is about 

 16 [ 241 ] 



