June i8, 1S98.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
483 
The sores once started got no chance to heal, and 
rapidly grew to frightful proportions. Often one coidd 
smell a pack train approaching long before it was vis- 
ible to the eye, and when the poor creatures were un- 
loaded the sight revealed was sickening and repulsive 
to the last degree. In that wild rush- the kindlier feel- 
ings were put aside for the time being, and the ignorance 
and brutality that caused the suffering excused. Men 
had 110 pity on themselves— why should they spare the 
dumb brutes? 
At the inner end of the trail horses had no value 
worth mentioning. A single feed of grain would bring 
more money in the open market than a horse. Grain 
was sold and horses thrown in to close the bargain. As 
a result, starving was scientifically practiced. Horses, 
that had been fed up to the last were in demand because 
they were good for a day or two without feed. Death 
was a mathematical certainty, but by patient and in- 
genious cruelty much could be accomplished with the 
horses in the hours that remained. Each hour of life 
was made to count, and when the end came tlie horse lay 
just where he fell, but the goods had been advanced — 
so many pounds so many miles. Sentiment and the 
S. P. C. A. didn't count. 
I stopped one day to eat a biscuit and get a cup of 
tea in a tent four mifes from the terminus of the trail 
at Lake Bennett. The owners had two horses that in 
their critical judgment were "good for one more trip." 
It would^ have comforted those horses to know this esti- 
mate. They had been worked to the fag end, and had 
had nothing to eat for several daj^s except a very limited 
ration of bread. It was cheaper to buy horses good for 
single trips than to feed them grain or hay. 
The horses were packed, and one of the men started 
off with them, A hundred feet down the trail the wall- 
eyed Pinto turned and ran back to the little clearing 
where stood the tent. He had actively rebelled, a most 
uncommon thing, for at this stage of the game horses' 
spirits are almost invariably broken and they plod along 
and accept their task as it is beaten into them. The 
packer was surprised, and remarked as he rounded up 
the horse and started him down the trail again that he 
didn't think Jack had that much life left in him. But 
old Jack had only just begun. He seemed to have real- 
ized that things w^eren't being conducted just fair and 
square, and that his master was a dumb, obstinate creat- 
ure, who was doing all he could to kill a faithful friend. 
It was like Balaam's ass speaking. The horse showed 
plainh' enough what he meant, and the string to it. 
The second time he ran back he put his head in a 
hole in the cache in front of the camp made by the re- 
moval of some rocks, and it took all the men present 
to get him out and started for Bennett. Just as it seemed 
that he was safely off, he bolted a third time, and making 
a circle through the underbrush ran square into the 
tent, upsetting the stove, which was near the door, and 
scattering the dinner dishes in all directions. 
The ridge pole was knocked out and the tent half 
came down on his back and the smoke poured out of 
the stove, and j-et he stood perfectly still. He hadn't 
• acted from an ugl}^ motive to create confusion. He 
simply wanted to show that he was worked too hard 
and needed rest and food. I wish I could tell that the 
horse got what he asked for, or that death came then and 
there as a merciful release, but as a matter of fact old 
Jack carried his pack to Lake Bennett, and later in the 
day I saw him plodding along on the return trip. 
Rainy weather was the rule in White Pass, but rain 
never interfered with the occupations of the traih Men 
grew accustomed to the wet and mud, and developed 
into amphibious animals, sleeping at times in the rain, 
fording streams and wading through the slime of the 
trail. Horses were continually falling and blocking the 
trail. When they were driven in mud holes their owners 
had to jump in and help them on to their feet, making 
them rise with the packs still on, for it would have 
taught- the horses bad habits to remove the loads when 
they were down. It was rather unpleasant at first, but 
after a few mud baths one got used to it, and didn't 
mind being plastered from head to foot, provided he , 
could stilT see and breathe. Often you couldn't tell white 
men from negroes as a result of the mud. 
It was a trail that in most places would not permit 
two horses passing. Sometimes big horses would push 
by smaller horses, taking the inner side and forcing the 
smaller ones out of the trail, maybe to death at the foot 
of a precipice. Each horse and man interfered with 
every other horse and man, and progress at all times was 
verv tedious. It was no uncommon thing not to get 
back to camp till the middle of the night, the men hang- 
ing on to the horses' tails to keep from going over 
precipices in the impenetrable gloom of that sodden 
atmosphere. 
We avoided keeping our horses over night on the ex- 
posed summit of White Pass, and as long as we fed them 
both hay and grain they kept in good condition. One 
little white cow pony died as a result of a fall over a 
precipice, and we lost another of the horses because 
his teeth were too long and he couldn't masticate his 
food properly. We kept the others till the very last, 
when two more died, largely as a result of a too con- 
centrated diet. We could give them no hay, as owing to 
ilie fall floods it was practically impossible to get back 
-to Skagway, our base of supplies. We fed them all the 
oats they could eat, but they needed bulk as well, and 
gradually lost strength. There is a cottonwood growth 
in White Pass, and if I had known Avhat Mr. Grinnell 
has since told me of the food value of the bark from 
the smaller limbs I have no doubt we could have saved 
the horses longer. 
At the very last we purchased three more horses, and 
left these for the benefit of the remaining members of 
the party. T\vo of our original six horses still remained, 
but unfortunately all died, I believe, soon after our de- 
, parture. 
We made our last trip to Lake Bennett in a heavy 
snOAVstorm, which made it difficult work to follow the 
trail. Once we were completelj^ turned around in the 
blinding storm and on the back track toward our camp 
when we discovered our mistake. Few pack trains were 
moving that day, and the trails of such as were filled 
up almost as soon as made. 
Each man carried a pack on Ms- 'back in addition to 
the loads on the horses. All had *~".en awake since 3 
that morning, with only a few hours' sleep secured 
after a late return the night before. 
At Bennett the loads were unpacked, good-bys said, 
and the horses returned to the last camping spot in the 
jack pine woods near Shallow Lake. SheriiT remained 
to render assistance at the start. 
Our four 12ft. folding canvas boats were put together 
and loaded. Two of these boats were selected as freight 
boats, and in these were loaded hardware and the bulk 
of our provisions. Camp outfit, bedding, cooking utensils 
and supplies for immediate requirements were divided 
between the other two boats, which were to be the pas- 
senger craft. Each freight boat was covered over with 
a canvas tarpaulin, tacked to the gunwales, to keep waves 
out, and the passenger boats were decked fore and aft 
and provided with masts and gaff sails. 
The freight boats were attached to the passenger boats 
by short tow lines. 
It was after midnight when our preparations were 
completed, but the moon was shining brightly and the 
wincl fair, and we decided to start at once. We cotilcl 
not afford to run the risk of delay by head winds. 
J. B. BURNHAM. 
Mushrooms. 
BY GF.OROE F. ATKTNSON. 
These "Studies and Illustrations of Mushrooms" constitute 
Bulletin l.SS of the Cornell University ExperimeiU Station at 
Ithaca, N. Y., and are reproduced here by the courtesy of Prof. 
I. P. Roberts, Director of the Station. 
In cities and in the larger towns there is a growing 
number of persons wfto are able to recognize, with a 
fair degree of certainty, the plant which is usually un- 
derstood to bear the name of "the mushroom," and 
which appears chiefly during late sutumer and autmnn 
in lawns, pastures, and similar open places in fields. 
Another reason why so few are able to recognize no 
more than one is the general impression with many per- 
sons that there are but two species of this group, the^ 
"mushroom" and the "toadstool." That is, many per- 
sons have the impression that there is but one "mush- 
Foom," the one which is "pink underneath," while all 
the others are "toadstools." Still others believe that all 
the members of the mushroom family can be separated 
into two groups, mushrooms which are edible, and 
toadstools which are poisonous. But this is all a mis- 
take. There is no infallible test, like the "silver spoon" 
test, nor any set of characters which will enable one to. 
clearly separate these plants into two such groups.. 
There are quite a number of these plants which are edi- 
ble, a few which are very poisonous, a large number 
which are more or less indigestible, and a still larger 
number which have not yet been tested, and therefore 
their properties are not known. 
So nmch has been written in recent years upon the 
value of the edible mushrooms for food and the pro- 
fusion in which they sometimes occur, that there is a 
growing desire on the part of many people to avail 
themselves of this article of wholesome diet. But warned 
by the difficulties which beset the ordinary fungus hunter 
in determining the species of these plants which are to be 
found, as well as by the crop of fatalities recurring every 
season, brought forth through a mistaken mushroom 
identity, many are deterred from making use of the 
quantities of nourishing and inexpensive food growing 
within easy reach. When one has trained himself to 
recognize one or more of the common edible species 
with certainty, they can be collected and eaten with 
safety. But until this can be done it is well to give all 
a "wide fjerth." 
Here only three of these fleshy fungi are illustrated 
and described. Two of these are edible and are very 
common during Augu.^t and the autumn months in 
A. AGARICUS CAMl'ESTRIS. 
View of under side, showing stem, annulus, gills and margin of pileus. 
This plant sometimes occurs in great abundance, and 
the eagerness with which it is sought by those who 
know its value as a food or relish testifies to its im- 
portance as an article of diet. 
J!f the worth of mushrooms as food was properly ap- 
preciated, even by the inhabitants of small villages and 
of the countrjr. the ability to recognize several of the 
common species woirld not be difficult to acquire by 
those who would give an amount of attention to the 
B. AGARICUS CAMFESTRIS. 
View of under side of pileus, showing arrangement of gills. 
subject equal to that which they bestow upon some 
other natural objects. 
One reason why so little is known even of the com- 
mon species is because in many neighborhoods there 
is no one who .can recognize several of them, and thus 
impart the information concerning the kinds, and their 
prorninent characters, to others. A slight degree of in- 
terest in these objects, W'ith some observation as to form, 
the parts and the color of these fungi, with some one 
to whom the determination of the plant might be re- 
ferred for a few times, would at length enable many 
persons to recognize a number of the commoner spe- 
cies, just as they come to recognize the more common 
birds. 
lawns, pastures, and similar open places. The third one 
is a deadly poisonous one, and is here illustrated and 
described, not onlj^ because a majority of the fatalities 
from "mushroom-eating" are probably chargeable to its 
seductive appearance and virulent properties, but also 
because it is perhaps sometimes mistaken by the novice 
for the common mushroom. 
The Common Mushroom. 
■ {Agnricus cainpcstris, L.) 
Figure A is from a photograph of a specimen of the 
common mushroom (or pratelle) which has been pulled 
and is lying on the table. The parts are easily recognized 
and named. The stem (sometimes called the stipe) is 
cylindrical, or tapers a little toward the lower end. Near 
its upper end is a soi-t of a collar, usually termed a 
■"ring" (or technically an annuliis), which encircles it. 
This ring is very delicate in this plant, is white like 
the stem, of a very thin, satiny texture, and more or 
less ragged on the edge. 
The more or less circular expanded disk into which 
the stem fits is called the "cap" (technically the pileus. 
which is the latin for cap). The upper portion, of which 
we can only see the margin in this figure, is convex. The 
surface is usually white, though sometimes brownish, 
and usually is covered by a thin layer of very delicate 
threads, while the flesh or inner portion is more com- 
pact, and is white also. 
On the tmd>r side of the cap are numerous thin 
plates or "gills" (lamellae), which radiate from near the 
stem to the margin of the cap. These are shown in 
Figure B as fine radiating lines. They do not quite reach 
the stem, or when they do they are not attached to it. 
When the plant is very young the gills are first white, 
but soon become a bright pink color, and in age change 
to a dark brown. The substance of the stem is less com- 
pact at the center, but the stem is not really hollow, 
though in some instances there are slight indications 
of it. 
The parts of the common mushroom, then, are cap 
(pileus), gills (lamellae), stem (stipe), ring (annulus). We 
must bear in mind, however', that there are many other 
plants which possess just the same parts, but that they 
can be distinguished by the color, form, texture, etc., 
of the parts. 
At certain points on the strands the mycelium (or 
strand of minute whitish threads) grows to form these 
rounded bodies known as buttons. At first they are oF 
the size of pin heads, and soon increase to the size of 
bird shot, then peas, when a minute stem begins to 
appear with the button growing on its free end. This 
increase in size as well as the increase in the length of 
the stem lifts its head and the upper part of the stem 
from the ground, and it rapidly expands into the ma- 
ture mushroom. If we split several of these buttons of 
different sizes down through the cap and the stem, 
w^e shall see the curious way in which the gills and the 
ring are formed. The photograph shown in Figure C 
represents five of these stages, In the smaller ones the 
