A FEW COMMON MUSHROOMS. 
19 
A Few Common Mushrooms. 
BY MARIA L. CLOUGH. 
The fervent heats of July and the warm, moist atmosphere 
of August bring into visible life a host of exquisitely formed and 
many colored organisms, generally called toadstools or, by bot¬ 
anists, fleshy fungi or mushrooms ; — the three terms being 
used synonymously here. They spring about us in lawns, and 
gardens, beside our streets, in old pastures and orchards, on 
decaying trees and in dense woods. 
The collection and classification of these fungi, with special 
reference to their use as food, is a fascinating branch of nature 
study and it is the aim of this paper to describe and illustrate 
three common forms of undoubted edibility found in this local¬ 
ity, as a first step in the study of Economic Mycology. 
A very large proportion of these fleshy fungi, which are not 
unpleasant to the taste or too tough, furnish delicious and nour¬ 
ishing food. On the other hand, there is one kind of mush 
room, the Amanita, of good taste and texture, which contains 
one of the most deadly of known poisons. The mushroom 
gatherer, therefore, cannot be too careful, and should make it an 
invariable rule that no fungus be eaten until it has been posi¬ 
tively identified as a well known edible species, and unless it is 
in a fresh and perfect condition. An eminent authority says : 
“ The dangerously poisonous specfes found in this country all 
belong to a single genus, the Amani- 
ta'e. About a dozen species of This 
genus are found. Three or four only 
of these are classed as poisonous and 
probably one, the Amanita phalloides, 
is responsible for most of the fatal 
accidents.” 
These poisonous mushrooms 
( Fig. i ) are of the common um* 
fig. i. brella shape, with the cap varying in 
diameter from 3 to 8 inches according to the species, with gills 
