30 
foetid odour, but, on the contrary, were pleasant and decidedly 
fragrant. 
Again, what are we to say of the brown form of Amanitopsis 
vaginata, often met with in company with the grey form, the 
latter being in my experience exceedingly delicate in flavour, 
and was always eaten by myself, and my late friend, Dr 
Wharton, with great appreciation. This testimony cannot be 
given by me in favour of the brown form, which, when tested 
on two or three occasions, caused unpleasant symptoms in the 
gastric regions, and has since been discarded from the table 
On the contrary, a letter before me states “ personally, I con- 
sider A. vaginata by far the most delicious of our esculent 
fungi, and we eat with impunity the fulvous form just as much 
as the grey form.” Nevertheless Massee declares it to be 
“unpalatable,” and several continental authorities call it 
“suspected” or “not esculent.” At one time I contemplated, 
as a measure of precaution, to call the brown variety Amani- 
topsis fulva, as some continental mycologists have done, but 
fail to find any distinct morphological distinction, capable of 
diagnosis. 
I need scarcely multiply examples, save to allude, in passing, 
to a variety of Agaricus campestris, which is sometimes found 
in pastures, with a dark brownish pileus, the eating of which 
has several times been communicated to me by correspondents, 
to have produced unpleasant results. 
The suggestion which I would venture to offer. respecting 
these variations, is that some means should be taken, if possible, 
to ascertain whether the abnormal conditions found in these 
varieties can be attributed to any alteration in the chemical 
constituents of the soil in) which they were found, or any 
external circumstances which could transform such susceptible 
cellular organisms as Agarics from acrid to mild, or vice versa. 
In conclusion, I may remark, as a personal experience, that 
the specimens of Pstlocybe semi-lanceatus sent to me for 
report, on two or three occasions, when children have been 
poisoned by eating them, have invariably belonged to the 
variety which I have called cerudescens, in which the base of 
the stem becomes of an indigo-blue colour. Can it be that 
this variety only is poisonous, and that it is indicated by the 
blue colour, and, moreover, that this coloration results from 
some unknown external conditions, which alter the chemical 
constituents of the fungus. These appear to me to be problems 
which are worthy of solution. 
