342 
BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
writer on mushrooms and toadstools should be remembered : “ Any 
toad-stool with white or lemon-yellow gills, casting white spores when 
laid — gills downward — upon a sheet of paper, having remnants of a 
fugitive skin in the shape of scabs or warts upon the upper surface of 
its cap, with a veil or ring, or remnants or stains of one, having at the 
base of its stem — in the ground — a loose, skin-like sheath surrounding 
it, or remnants of one, should never be eaten until the collector is 
thoroughly conversant with the technicalities of every such species, or 
has been taught by one whose authority is well known, that it is a 
harmless species. . . . Safety lies in the strict observance of two 
rules : Never eat a toadstool found in the woods or shady places, 
believing it to be the common mushroom. Never eat a white or 
yellow-gilled toad-stool in the same belief. The common mushroom 
does not grow in the woods, and its gills are at first pink, then 
purplish-brown or black.” — McRvaine. 
The advice, “ Have nothing to do with any except those that are 
well known,” is safe. But there is abundance of good wholesome 
food going to waste every year for want of a little knowledge about 
the common species of fungi, known as mushrooms or toadstools, that 
grow in our fields and woods. Should not our Society make an 
attempt to help people to secure some desirable information on this 
point ? 
A recent book on the subject — Studies of American Fungi : Mush- 
rooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc., by Prof. Atkinson, of Cornell University, 
price $3.00, will be found attractive to the beginner and useful in 
determining the more common species. 
HYMENOMYCETES. 
A GA RIGA CEAE. 
Amanita muscarius, Linn. Poisonous. In woods, chiefly birch and fir. 
Common. 
Amanitopsis vaginata, Bull. Var. fulva, SchaefF. Yellowish. 
Var. livida , Pers. Leaden brown. 
Clitocybe infundibcliformis, SchaefF. Plentiful after rains. 
C. ochropurpurea, Berk. On clayey soil in woodlands. 
Collybia butyracea, Bull. Solitary and in clusters under coniferous trees. 
C. acervata, Fr. In clusters on decaying wood and among fallen leaves irr 
woods. 
Pleurotus porrigens, Pers. Wholly shining white. On stumps, chiefly pine- 
