654 
Mushrooms  and  Fungi. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I  December,  1&96. 
or  less  bulbous.  The  sheath  is  in  the  ground.  The  ruptured 
parts  remain  about  the  base  of  the  stem  as  a  volva,  unless  they, 
too,  are  evanescent  ;  in  such  an  event  there  is  a  remaining  stain 
or  a  mark,  showing  where  the  sheath  was  adnate  or  attached. 
The  scabs  or  warts,  the  ring  or  veil,  the  sheath  or  volva  are 
the  distinguishing  marks  of  the  Amanita.  They  should  be  kept 
well  in  mind,  and  a  let-alone  doubt  about  the  presence  of  any 
one  of  them  should  rule.  The  Amanitas  all  grow  upon  the  ground. 
Their  habitat  is  in  the  woods,  or  under  trees,  or  where  a  clear- 
ing has  been  recently  made. 
The  common  mushroom  never  grows  in  the  woods.  Remem- 
bering this,  the  collector  will  not  eat  of  supposed  mushrooms  found 
in  woods,  and  may  thus  save  his  family  the  unpleasant  necessity 
for  a  coroner's  inquest. 
Again,  the  gills  of  the  common  mushroom  are  pink,  or  dark 
brownish  purple ;  spores  purple.  The  edible  Amanita  have  the 
same  marks  as  the  poisonous.  They  can  be  distinguished  only 
by  accurate  knowledge  of  their  individual  appearance,  just  as 
you  distinguish  roses,  apples,  potatoes,  and,  without  hesitating, 
name  them,  noting  their  comparative  goodness. 
If  by  any  chance  a  species  of  toadstool  should  be  eaten  which 
produces  unpleasant  effects  within  three  or  four  hours,  one  can 
surely  know  that  one  of  the  minor  poisons  is  at  work ;  for  poisoning 
by  the  Amanita  does  not  exhibit  a  single  symptom  under  from 
eight  to  ten  hours  after  eating. 
So  much  for  the  Amanitas.  I  leave  the  genus  with  the  skull 
and  cross-bones  upon  it. 
Next  to  it  comes  the  sub-genus,  Lepiota,  from  a  very  crooked 
Greek  word,  meaning  a  scale.  It  is  closely  allied  to  the  Amanita, 
but  the  sheath  at  the  base  of  the  stem  is  always  absent.  The  volva, 
which  covered  it  in  youth,  is  concrete  with  the  skin  of  the  cap,  and 
remains  there  permanently  attached  as  scales,  warts  or  fuzzy  tufts, 
but  that  part  which  was  at  the  base  is  absorbed  by  it.  The  ring  is 
manifest ;  in  some  species  it  is  movable.  The  gills  are  white  and 
distant  from  the  stem,  which  rests  in  a  socket  in  the  cap  and  is 
easily  detached.  Many  of  the  larger  ones  are  delicious.  I  know  of 
none  which  appeal  to  the  pleasurable  senses  that  are  noxious. 
Some  are  too  strong  to  be  enjoyable. 
Most  of  the  species  grow  from  the  ground ;  several  are  found  in 
