The Deadly "Amanita".

Our Edible Toadstools and Mushrooms
and How to Distinguish Them

A Selection of Thirty Native Food Varieties
Easily Recognisable by their Marked Individualities,
with Simple Rules for the
Identification of Poisonous Species

By W. HAMILTON GIBSON

WITH THIRTY COLORED PLATES
AND FIFTY-SEVEN OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR

NEW YORK

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

1895

THE WORKS OF W. HAMILTON GIBSON.

ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR.

SHARP EYES. A Rambler's Calendar among Birds, Insects, and Flowers. 8vo, $5.00.
HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS; or, Saunterings in New England. 4to, $7.50.
STROLLS BY STARLIGHT AND SUNSHINE. Royal 8vo, $3.50.
HAPPY HUNTING-GROUNDS. A Tribute to the Woods and Fields. 4to, $7.50.
PASTORAL DAYS; or, Memories of a New England Year. 4to, $7.50.
CAMP LIFE IN THE WOODS, and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap-making. 16mo, $1.00.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers.

All rights reserved.

"For those who do hunger after the earthlie
excrescences called mushrooms."—Gerarde.

Contents

Page
INTRODUCTION[ 1]
THE DEADLY AMANITA[ 43]
THE AGARICACEÆ[ 77]
THE POLYPOREI[181]
MISCELLANEOUS FUNGI  [231]
SPORE-PRINTS[277]
RECIPES[299]
BIBLIOGRAPHY[325]
INDEX[329]

PAGE
 1. The Deadly "Amanita"[Frontispiece]
 2. Mycelium, and early vegetation of a mushroom[ 45]
 3. Amanita vernus—development[ 49]
 4. Agaricus (Amanita) muscarius[ 55]
 5. Agaricus campestris[ 83]
 6. Agaricus campestris—various forms of[ 89]
 7. Agaricus gambosus[ 99]
 8. Marasmius oreades. "Fairy-ring"[105]
 9. Poisonous Champignons. M. urens—M. peronatus[111]
10. Agaricus procerus[117]
11. Agaricus (Russula) virescens[123]
12. Edible Russulæ. R. heterophylla—R. alutacea—R. lepida[131]
13. Russula emetica[139]
14. Agaricus ostreatus[145]
15. Agaricus ulmarius[151]
16. Coprinus comatus[157]
17. Coprinus atramentarius[163]
18. Lactarius deliciosus[169]
19. Cantharellus cibarius[175]
20. Boletus edulis[187]
21. Boletus scaber[193]
22. Edible Boleti. B. subtomentosus—B. chrysenteron[199]
23. Strobilomyces strobilaceus[205]
24. Suspicious Boleti. B. felleus—B. alveolatus[211]
25. Fistulina hepatica[217]
26. Polyporus sulphureus[225]
27. Hydnum repandum[235]
28. Hydnum caput-medusæ[241]
29. Hydnum caput-medusæ—habitat[243]
30. Clavaria formosa[251]
31. Various forms of Clavaria[253]
32. Morchella esculenta[259]
33. Helvella crispa[265]
34. A group of Puff-balls[271]
35. Spore-surface and spore-print of Agaricus[283]
36. Spore-surface and spore-print of Polyporus (Boletus)[285]
37. Spore-print of Amanita muscarius[289]
38. Action of slight draught on spores[291]

The Spurned Harvest

"Whole hundred-weights of rich, wholesome diet rotting under the trees; woods teeming with food and not one hand to gather it; and this, perhaps, in the midst of poverty and all manner of privations and public prayers against imminent famine."

C. D. Badham