290 
SCOUTING FOR GIRLS 
kind. The story about cooking with silver being a test 
has no foundation; in fact, the best way for the Wood- 
craft Boy or Girl is to know definitely a dozen dangerous 
kinds and a score or more of the wholesome kinds and 
let the rest alone. 
Spore print. The first thing in deciding the nature of a 
toadstool is the sporeprint, made thus : Cut off the stem 
of the toadstool and lay the gills down on a piece of gray 
paper under a vessel of any kind. After a couple of 
hours, lift the cap, and radiating lines of spores will 
appear on the paper. If it is desired to preserve these, 
the paper should be first covered with thin mucilage. The 
color of these spores is the first step in identification. 
All the deadly toadstools have white spores. 
No black-spored toadstool is known to be poisonous. 
POISONOUS TOADSTOOLS 
i 
The only deadly poisonous kinds are the Amanitas. 
Others may purge and nauseate or cause vomiting, but it 
is believed that every recorded death from toadstool 
poisoning was caused by an Amanita, and unfortunately 
they are not only widespread and abundant, but they are 
much like the ordinary table mushrooms. They have, 
however, one or two strong marks: their stalk always 
grows out of a <€ poison cup ” which shows either as a 
cup or as a bulb; they have white or yellow gills, a ring 
around the stalk, and white spores. 
Deadly Toadstools 
All the deadly toadstools known in North America are 
pictured on the plate, or of the types shown on the plate. 
The Deadly Amanita may be brownish, yellowish, or 
white. 
The Yellow Amanita of a delicate lemon color. 
The^ White Amanita of a pure silvery, shiny white. 
The Fly Amanita with cap pink, brown, yellow, or red 
