350 Notes on Fungi. 



species have pure coloured gills, which do not change their tint as 

 they grow old, while others are more or less defaced with reddish- 

 brown spots. One or two in either group are abundant in our 

 woods, but they do not recommend themselves to notice as likely 

 to prove good articles of food. Amongst the species which are 

 not viscid, the cuticle of the pileus (2) may break up into more 

 or less delicate threads or downy fascicles; it may be rigid (3), 

 and present granules or smooth scales ; it may be perfectly dry 

 (4), and though minutely silky at first, be quite smooth when 

 full grown, and neither floccose nor scaly ; it may be moist, 

 though not viscid in damp weather, as is the case in the remain- 

 ing sections, and spotted (5), where drops of water have rested, 

 or minutely cracked ; the substance may be spongy and absor- 

 bent (6), and greedy of water, though when saturated it does 

 not look semi-transparent, or when dry become opaque, or, in 

 other words, it is not hygrophanous ; while, finally (7), it may 

 be hygrophanous, a very important distinction. 



The section which contains the most valuable esculents is 

 the fifth, where the species are mostly of early growth. 

 Agaricus gambosus, which is the true St. George's agaric, 

 though a species nearly allied to the common mushroom has 

 been mistaken for it, is often extremely abundant in exposed 

 grassy pastures, after the first copious spring rains in April or 

 May, and is one of the best esculents in the subdivision. It is 

 much eaten on the Continent, though generally neglected in 

 this country, and one or two allied species are strung upon 

 threads and dried for winter use. The pileus, when fully 

 grown, if the weather is dry, has often a shining silky look, 

 and closely resembles a cracknel. Of this we give a reduced 

 figure, as it is highly characteristic of the subgenus (Fig. 2). 

 Agaricus personatus, commonly known under the name of 

 Blewits, belonging to the sixth section, is sometimes sold in 

 Covent Garden Market, and is occasionally eaten. It occurs 

 rather late in the year, remaining till the frost destroys, and is 

 often sodden with moisture, in which condition it is not worth 

 notice. It may be readily known from its very obtuse smooth 

 pileus, and the stem being more or less rough with down or 

 fibres, and prettily tinged with violet. Woodland forms are 

 sometimes of a brighter tint. It often forms large rings. In 

 the fourth section there are some interesting but disagreeable 

 species. A. sulfureus, which is remarkable for its sulphur-yellow 

 colour, has a decided scent of gas-tar, while A. inamoenus is 

 scarcely less unpleasant, though it does not seem to attain the 

 same intensity of odour with us as it does in Sweden. 



Agaricus carneus, a small species belonging to the fourth 

 section, which not unfrequently occurs in exposed pastures, 

 remarkable for its neat form and pretty pileus, of a tint between 



