Genus Coprimes . 1 3 1 
originally present in Coprimes , although the two oldest types 
are obsolete, so far as is known, at the present day. 
Throughout this paper, Coprimes has been spoken of as 
a genus ; and from a systematic standpoint it is perhaps best 
to continue doing so, although its diagnosis, as already stated, 
is much broader than that of any other modern genus : for 
example, we have combined species with free and with adnate 
gills respectively ; some species with a distinct universal 
veil, others without a trace of this structure, &c. ; the only 
common bond is the deliquescent gills. 
The section Melanosporae of modern Agarics is most 
closely allied to Coprimes , from which it is directly derived ; 
in fact, numerous species belonging to this group differ from 
Coprimes only in having dry, persistent gills and wind- 
dispersed spores. But, as would be expected, we find in the 
Melanosporae many species in which the gills show a more or 
less decided tendency to deliquesce ; as specific examples 
may be mentioned, Hypholoma hydrophilus , Bull ; and 
Agaricies campestris , L., the common mushroom. The genus 
Psathyrella , in the Melanosporae, is in the sum-total of its 
characters nearest to Coprimes. In the Ochrosporae the 
genus Bolbitiies approaches Coprimes in the ephemeral nature 
of its species, and in the partial deliquescence of the gills, but 
the spores are orange-brown in the mass. 
Finally, in the Leucosporae, the genus Hicitiela agrees with 
the simplest forms of Coprimes in the exceedingly thin flesh of 
the pileus, and in the gills splitting down the back ; but the 
gills remain dry. and the spores are disseminated by wind. 
In the descending series, Coprimes joins on to such genera 
as Montagnites with its three species, two of which are 
European, the third from Texas : Phellorinia , three species, 
S. Africa and Mongolia : and Gyrophragmium , one species 
from S. Africa. The two last-named genera have been 
located respectively in the Agaricineae and in the Gastro- 
mycetes by different authors, indicating that they are near 
the point of bifurcation of the two groups from the ancient 
subterranean basidiosporous Fungi, 
