THE ALDER. 
29 
seen beneath the Birch-trees one of the most striking of our 
toadstools, the Fly Agaric (^Amanita muscariiis), so-called from 
its use as the lethal ingredient in the making of fly-papers. 
From a bulbous base a creamy yellow stem arises, decked about 
half its height with an ample hanging frill. The upper side of 
the spreading “cap” is painted with crimson, over which are 
scattered flecks of white or cream kid — the remains of an outer 
envelope that was ruptured by the expansion of the cap, and of 
which the frill represents the lower portion. This species is 
really poisonous, and the Kamschatkans are said to make their 
vodka superlatively intoxicating by the addition of this fungus 
to it. On the trunk of the Birch may sometimes be found 
a large fungus named Polyporus beiulinus, whose root-like 
portion penetrates the bark and sucks up the sap. 
Birch-bark is used for tanning certain kinds of leather, and 
the peculiar odour of Russian leather is said to be due to the 
use of Birch in its preparation. The Birch agrees with the 
Beech in two respects — it is of little value for timber, but as a 
nurse to young timber-trees it is of considerable importance. 
Its name is from the Anglo-Saxon beorc, birce, and signifies the 
Bark-tree. 
The Alder {Alnus glutbiosa). 
Although the Alder is abundant by riversides and in all low- 
lying moist lands as far north as Caithness, it is not so generally 
well known at sight as the Oak, the Beech, and the Birch. It is 
a small tree ordinarily only thirty to forty feet in height, with a 
girth from three to six feet, though occasionally it aspires to 
seventy feet in height. This is when it is growing in moist loam, 
upon which rain or floods have washed down good layers of 
humus from woods at a higher elevation. If, with its roots thus 
well cared for, its head is in a humid atmosphere, the Alder is in 
happy case. If it has had the misfortune to get into a porous 
