OBSERVATION OF COMMON FUNGI. 
22 
the younger plants search for the “ veil ” and determine, if you 
can, how it is formed, and what becomes of it in the mature plant. 
See if you can determine what causes the change in color of the 
gills from the young to the old plants. In plants where the gills 
are becoming brown cut the stem off from two specimens, placing 
the caps gill side down on white paper. Cover one of them with 
a tumbler or cup to prevent the movement of the air. In ten to 
twenty hours observe the effect on the paper. It is colored by 
the spores. Are the spores easily wafted about by currents of 
air? Dig up some of the plants from the soil and search for 
white cord-like strands attached to the lower end of the stem. In 
mushroom beds these white cords (“ spawn ”) are very abundant. 
Plants may be obtained during the winter in mushroom houses. 
They may be grown in cool greenhouses, or in boxes in cellars 
or basements. (See Mushroom Growing for Amateurs, Bull. 227, 
Cornell University Agr. Exp. Station, March, 1905.) 
There are several other species of Agaricus which may be 
looked for. The horse mushroom ( A . arvensis) in meadows and 
pastures. This is a white smooth mushroom, larger than the 
former plant; the veil is double, the lower portion appearing as 
radiating patches on the underside. Rodman’s mushroom ( A . 
rodmani) occurs along streets in cities, and has two rings on the 
stem. These plants also are edible. Several species occur in 
woods. 
The Ink Mushrooms. 
These mushrooms are very easily recognized because the gills 
deliquesce into an inky black fluid. Two large ones are not un¬ 
common on freshly made and manured lawns where they may 
appear for several years in succession. They occur also by road¬ 
sides or in open woods or groves. They appear in May and 
June, also in September and October, and are both edible. 
The ink cap (Coprinus atramentarius ). This grows usually in 
dense clusters of five to twenty or more individuals, or sometimes 
fewer. The caps are gray, oval, and about the size of a hen’s 
egg. Before the gills begin to deliquesce note that the edges are 
against the stem. Note the thin veil which is left as a thin, an¬ 
gular irregular ring-like narrow projection on the stem where the 
