806 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. (VoL, XXXII 
fungi when in the button or unexpanded stage ; also, those in which 
the flesh has begun to decay, even if only slightly. 2. Avoid all 
fungi which have stalks with a swollen base surrounded by a sac-like 
or scaly envelope, especially if the gills are white. 3. Avoid fungi 
having a milky juice, unless the milk is reddish. 4. Avoid fungi in 
which the cap or pileus is thin in proportion to the gills, and in which 
the gills are nearly all of equal length, especially if the pileus is 
bright colored. 5. Avoid all tube-bearing fungi in which the flesh 
changes color when cut or broken, or where the mouths of the tubes 
are reddish, and in the case of other tube-bearing fungi experiment 
with caution. 6. Fungi which have a sort of spider-web or flocculent 
ring round the upper part of the stalk should in general be avoided. 
To these simple rules, the observance of which should prevent any 
case of serious poisoning, though, as the writer states, it need not be 
assumed that a fungus is poisonous when it is merely indigestible, in 
consequence of the way in which it is cooked, numerous exceptions 
are possible in favor of aberrant edible forms; but they are for 
experts, and the caution is worth heeding that “the beginner is, of 
course, under the necessity of following the rules implicitly.” 
Another recent contribution to the same subject, and likewise an 
outcome of work done in the first instance in connection with the 
United States Department of Agriculture, is Dr. Taylor’s Student's 
Handbook, illustrated by a considerable number of plates, some of 
them colored, and containing recipes for preparing and cooking 
fungi, in addition to the customary keys and descriptions. T. 
Natal Plants. — Under this title J. Medley Wood and Maurice S. 
Evans have begun the publication of a series of descriptions and 
figures, in quarto, of the indigenous plants of Natal, with notes on 
their distribution, economic value, native names, etc. The first part, 
recently issued, contains fifty figures and descriptions. 
Professor Weed’s Seed-Travellers? is one of the helpful little 
books designed to aid in nature-study, and if, as the author recom- 
mends, it is used in connection with observations upon the specimens 
it describes it can be made very useful. The illustrations, about half 
1 a Thomas. Student's Handbook “& Mushrooms of A merica, Edible and 
Poisonous. Washington, A. R. Taylor, 1897, 8°. 
2 poo Travellers, Studies of the Methods of ein iel of Various ese Seeds. 
By Clarence icine Weed. Boston, Ginn & Co., 1898. 12°, pp. 53» ff 
