19* A G A 
d heap to ferment, with ftrong earth, and put under co¬ 
ver to prevent wet getting to it; the more the air is ex¬ 
cluded from it, the fooner the {pawn will appear; but this 
inuft not be laid fo clofe together as to heat, for that will 
deftroy the fpawn; in about two months after, the fpawn 
will appear, efpecially if the heap is clofely covered with 
old thatch, or luch litter as has lain long abroad, fo as not 
to ferment; then the beds may be prepared to receive the 
fpawn: th.efe fhould be made of dung, in which there is 
good (lore of litter, but this Ihould not be thrown on a 
heap to ferment; that dung which has lain fpread abroad 
for a month or longer is bell. Thefe beds fhould be 
made on dry ground, and tire dung laid upon the furface ; 
the width of them at bottom fhould be about two feet and 
n half or three feet, the length in proportion to the quan¬ 
tity of mufhrooms defired : then lay the dung about a foot 
thick, covering it about four inches with ftrong earth. 
Upon this lay more dung, about ten inches thick; then 
another layer of earth, frill drawing in tire fides of the bed, 
fo as to form it like the ridge of a houfe, which may be 
done by three layers of dung and as many of earth. When 
the bed is fmifhed, it fhould be covered with litter or old 
thatch, to keep out wet, as alfo to prevent its drying; in 
this fituation it may remain eight or ten days, by which 
time the bed will be in a proper temperature of warmth to 
receive the fpawn; for there Ihould only be a moderate 
■warmth in it, great heat dellroying the fpawn, as will alfo 
wet; therefore, when the fpawn is found, it fhould'always 
be kept dry until it is tried, for, the drier it is, the better 
it will take in the bed. The bed being in a proper, tem¬ 
perature for the fpawn, the covering of litter fhould be 
taken off, ar.d the lides of the bed fmoothed ; then a co¬ 
vering of light rich earth about an inch thick fhould be 
laid all over the bed, but this fhould not be wet; upon 
•this the fpawn Ihould be thriift, laying the lumps four or 
five inches afunder; then gently cover this with the fame 
light earth above half an inch thick, and put the covering 
of litter over the bed, laying it fo thick as to keep out 
wet, and prevent the bed from drying: when thefe beds 
are made in the fpring or autumn, as the weather is in 
thefe feafons temperate, the fpawn will then take much 
fooner, and the nmfiiroons v, ill appear perhaps in a month 
after making ; but thofe beds which are made in fummer, 
when the feafon is hot, or in winter, when the weather is 
cold, are much longer before they produce. The great 
(kill in managing thefe beds is, that of keeping them in a 
proper degree of moiflure, never fuffering them to receive 
too much wet; during the fummer feafon the beds may be 
uncovered, to receive gentle Ihowers of rain at proper 
times,; and, in long dry feafons the beds fhould- be now 
and then gently watered, but by no means fuffer much wet 
to come to them ; during the winter feafon they muff be 
kept as dry as pollible, and fo clofely covered as to keep 
out cold. In frofty or very cold weather, if fonne warm 
litter fhaken out of a dung-heap is laid on, it will promote 
the growth of the mufhrooms; but this mud not be laid 
next the bed, but a covering of dry litter between the bed 
and this warm litter; and, as often as the litter is found to 
decay, it fhould be renewed with frefh ; and, as the cold 
increafes, the covering fhould be laid, fo much thicker. 
If thefe things are obferved, there may be plenty of mufh¬ 
rooms produced all the year; and thofe produced in beds 
are much better for the table than any of thofe which are 
gathered in the fields. Abed thus managed, if the fpawn 
takes kindly, will continue good for feveral months, and 
produce great quantities of mulhrooms ;,from thefe beds, 
when they are deftroyed, you fhould take the fpawn for a 
frefh fupply, which maybe laid up in a dry place until the 
proper feafon of uling it, which fhould not be fooner than 
five or fix weeks, that the fpawn may have time to dry 
before it is put into the'bed, othervvife it will not fucceed 
well. Sometimes it happens, that beds thus made do not 
produce any mirilirooms till they have lain five or fix 
months, fo that beds ihould not be deftroyed, though they 
do not at firft .anfvvcr expectation ; for, 1 have frequently 
A G A 
known thefe to have produced great quantities of mufh¬ 
rooms afterward, and to have continued a long time in 
perfection. 
This praCtice of propagating mufhrooms by the fpawn, 
or the white fibrous radicles, which produce tubercles 
in the manner of potatoes, is the molt common. But they 
may alfo be increafed by the feed. When this method 
is ufed, the gills are cut out and put into the beds ; or 
elfe they are infufed in water, and the beds are fprinkled 
with tire infufion. In the fame manner any other fpecies 
of fungus may be cultivated ; and experiments have been, 
made on the boletus and phallus with fuccefs. 
AG AST, adj. [This word, which is ufually, by later 
authors, written agkajl , is, not improbably, the true word 
derived from agaze, which has been written aghajt, from 
a mifiaken etymology.] Struck with terror ; amazed; 
frighted toaftoniihment. 
AGATE, or Achat, f. [among the Greeks and La¬ 
tins, Ap/arr.s, and Achates, from a river in Sicily, on the 
banks of which it was firft found.] A' very extenfive ge¬ 
nus of the femipellttcid gems. 
Thefe ftones are variegated with veins and clouds, but 
have no zones like thofe of the onyx. They are compo- 
fed of chryftal debafed by a large quantity of earth, and 
not formed, either by repeated incruftations round a cen¬ 
tral nucleus, or made up of plates laid evenly on one ano¬ 
ther ; but are merely the elfeCI of one fintple concretion, 
and variegated only, by the difpofition given, by the fluid, 
they were formed in, to their differently-coloured veins or 
matters. 
Agates are arranged according to the different colours 
of their ground. Of thofe with a white ground there are 
three fpecies. r. The dendrachates mocca Jlone, or aboref- 
cent agate. This feems to be the fame with w hat fome au¬ 
thors call the achates with rofemary in the middle, and 
others achates with litrie branches of black leaves, z. 
The dull milky-looking agate. This, though greatly in¬ 
ferior to the former, is yet a very beautiful (tone. It is 
common on the (bores of rivers in the Eaft Indies, and alfo 
in Germany and fome other parts of Europe. Our lapi¬ 
daries cut it into counters for card-playing, and other toys 
of fmall value. 3. The lead-coloured agate, called the 
phajfachates by the ancients. 
Of the agates with a reddijh ground there are four fpe¬ 
cies. 1. An impure one of a flefh-coloured white, which 
is. but of little beauty in covnparifon with other agates. 
The admixture of flefh-colour is but very flight; and it is 
often found-without any clouds, veins, or other varie¬ 
gations; but, fometimes it is prettily veined or variegated 
with fpots of irregular figures, having fimbriated edges. 
It is found in Germany, Italy, and fome other parts of 
Europe; and is wrought into toys of lmall value, and of¬ 
ten into the German gun-flints. It has been fometimes 
found with evident fpecimens of the perfedt moffes bedded 
deep in it. 2. That of a pure blood colour, called hatina- 
chates, or the bloody agate, by the ancients. 3. The cloud¬ 
ed and fpotted agate, of a pale flefh colour, called by the 
ancients the cornelian agate, or J’ardachates. 4. The red 
lead coloured one, variegated with yellow, called the co¬ 
ral agate, or cor alia-achates, by the ancients. 
Of the agates with a yellbmi/k ground there are only two 
known fpecies ; the one of the colour of yellow wax, cal¬ 
led ccrachates by the ancients; the other a very elegant 
ftone, of a yellow ground, variegated with white, black, 
and green, called the leonina , and / eont'ejeres by the ancients. 
Laltlv, Of the agates with a greenilh ground, there is 
only one known fpecies, called by the ancients jajpackales.. 
Of all thefe fpecies there are a great many varieties; 
fome of them having upon them natural representations of 
men and different kinds of animals, ■ &c. Thefe reprefen¬ 
tations are not confined to the agates whole ground is of 
any particular colour, but are occalionally found on all 
the different f'peejes. Velfchius had in hiscufrody a flefh- 
coloured agate, on one fide of which appeared a half- 
moon in great perfection, reprefented by a milky femicir- 
