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. 
