4 
Colorado Experiment Station 
THE TRUE TEST OF EDIBILITY. 
The scientific way of testing the fungi one finds is to learn 
to know the species according to their botanical characters 
so that Jhe same plant can be recognized wherever it is met with. 
By acquiring this knowledge it is then possible to learn the quali¬ 
ties of the fungus by reference to books or bulletins on the subject 
or by submitting the matter to a botanist or other person who has 
this information. Any person with average powers of discernment 
may soon come to know several species of edible fungi at sight 
just as the different vegetables in the garden are recognized. This 
means that the botanical characters of these plants should be 
studied and that they be known by these characters rather than by 
some general and uncertain test or rule. 
FEW POISONOUS SPECIES. 
When compared with the large number of edible or harmless 
species of fleshy fungi which occur in our state, the number of 
poisonous or dangerous species is very small. Almost all of the 
latter, moreover, grow only in timbered places or in recently cleared 
woodlands so that there is almost no danger in using the species 
found outside of such areas. 
It is advisable, however, for persons who desire to gather the 
fleshy fungi extensively for food to learn to know the poisonous 
or harmful species as well as the edible ones. 
The only general test which has been advocated for persons 
who care only to know if a certain fungus is edible or not is the 
physiological test. This consists of tasting a very small fragment 
of the fungus without swallowing any of the juice. If no unpleas¬ 
ant symptoms arise within the next twenty-four hours, a slightly 
larger piece may be chewed and a part of the juice swallowed. 
After another twenty-four hours a still larger piece may be eaten, 
providing no poisoning symptoms appear. If a piece the size of a 
small pea is thus used, no serious results will occur even when a 
poisonous species is being tested, although symptoms of poisoning 
would be sure to arise if that were the case. While this method is 
perfectly safe when followed by a careful person whose imagina¬ 
tion is under good control, it is recommended principally for the 
person who possesses the courage to try any plant’s properties 
upon himself. 
THE NATURE AND GROWTH OF FUNGI. 
Mushrooms and toadstools belong to that great class of lowly 
plants known as Fungi. While they differ widely in size, struc- 
