Notes on Fungi. 165 



bad character in its name, and Agaricus excelsus has almost as 

 bad a report as Agaricus muscarius, whose narcotic qualities 

 are notorious, a single specimen being quite sufficient to pro- 

 duce a very unpleasant degree of intoxication, for which pur- 

 pose it is dried by some tribes in the north of Asia. 



The species of the section, as said above, are recognized 

 without difficulty, and without experience it is far better to 

 abstain from so insidious a group, for we are sure not to meet 

 with the true or white oronge, A. ccesareus and A. ovoides, 

 except in the far south. 



There is one small division to which the English Agaricus 

 megalodactylus belongs, which may prove a puzzle, because the 

 volva at length entirely vanishes, leaving the pileus smooth ; 

 but an examination of young specimens will at once decide the 

 matter, and will distinguish it from the second sub -genus 

 Lepiota, which derives its name from the scales (\e7rl<;), which 

 are so highly developed in most of the species. 



Now, as said above, there is a universal veil in Lepiota as- 

 well as in Amanita, but in the latter it is evidently quite dis- 

 tinct from the cuticle, however closely united it may be, while 

 in Lepiota it is completely confluent with it, and with it often 

 breaks up into scales. There is another character besides that 

 of the possession of a universal veil in which the two sub-genera 

 agree, which is, that the portion of the pileus which bears the 

 gills (hymenophorum) is perfectly distinct from the stem; 

 and it is with reference to the distance of the base of the gills 

 from the apex of the stem that they are said to be remote or 

 approximate, and not to their distance from each other, as the 

 student might at first suppose. 



The portion of the universal veil which separates from the 

 pileus leaves a more or less distinct trace on the stem, which 

 is moreover encircled with the partial veil, which is concrete 

 with the former or distinct, and either moves freely up and 

 down, or is permanently fixed. The ring is said to be superior 

 when it originates and hangs down from the top of the stem ; 

 inferior when it grows like a sheath upwards to the edge of the 

 pileus ; medial when its origin is distinct in neither direction. 

 In a few species, there is a viscid coat; and in these conse- 

 quently there are no scales on the pileus, though the stem 

 is occasionally floccose. 



Some of the species of this division are found occasionally 

 in great abundance, as the tall A. procerus, which has the 

 strongly bossed pileus covered with rough, coloured scales, and 

 the bulbous stem spotted like a snake. It is one of the 

 best of our Agarics, and yields an excellent, though not 

 abundant ketchup. It is occasionally sold in Covent Garden 

 Market ; and A. raclwdes, which is closely allied, but known at 



