Preface 



pleasure which an acquaintance with their habits and home life 

 may give. A great effort has been made not to sacrifice accuracy 

 in this attempt. 



The number of species of the fungi is so great that to de- 

 scribe them all would necessitate a book of huge dimensions, so 

 that it has seemed best simply to give a general idea of the 

 characteristics upon which the larger groups, the classes, orders, 

 and genera, are based, by describing some of the species in each. 

 Seven genera of the Spore-sac Fungi are illustrated with ten 

 species, and thirty-five genera of the Basidiomycetes with 

 seventy-three species, making a total of eighty-three species 

 represented by photographs in colour and half-tone. 



In addition a number of species are given in rough pen 

 drawings, with sufficient accuracy for identification, and many 

 species have been described without illustration. 



An effort has been made to describe the species in terms 

 intelligible to the average reader without constant reference to 

 an unabridged dictionary, and, whenever possible, the terms have 

 been illustrated by line cuts. 



Although the technical names necessarily used are a serious 

 hindrance to the popularization of the study of fungi, it has 

 seemed best, in most cases, to give only the Latin form of the 

 names of species, since, by so doing, there will be less danger 

 of confusing harmless species with those which are harmful ; and, 

 also, if their Latin names are adhered to, one will find it much 

 simpler to consult the scattered literature on this subject, as this 

 nomenclature is used by all naturalists of whatever nationality. 



That the pronunciation of names may be rendered as simple 

 as possible, each vowel has been marked long or short. These 

 vowel-marks are not necessarily indicative of the true syllabic 

 quantity, but are rather diacritical points denoting the popular 

 pronunciation by the English system. Each word has been 

 divided into syllables according to the accepted rules, and an 

 accent has been placed on the syllables to be accented. 



The author is under deep obligations to Professor Lucien M. 

 Underwood, of Columbia University, for aid and encouragement 

 in the work of this book, and for his cheerful willingness at all 

 times to assist in the search for material and in the work of 

 revising proof. 



VI 



