[Gutenberg 18452] • Among the Mushrooms: A Guide For Beginners

This necessity for a simple guide-book has been felt by many. Let us give our own experience. We procured a list of works on fungi, and looked for some volume not too deep for our comprehension nor too costly for our purse. Among those we found were "Handbook for Students" (Taylor); "Edible and Poisonous Fungi" (Cooke), and a pamphlet by Professor Peck, "Mushrooms and Their Uses." This seemed to be the one that we could comprehend most easily, and so, armed with it, and another pamphlet by Professor Underwood, called "Suggestions to Collectors of Fleshy Fungi," which contained a simple key, we started out to make discoveries. We afterward procured some publications of Mr. C. G. Lloyd, which were of great assistance, and lastly a glossary published by the Boston Mycological Society, a necessary addition to our library. We found Professor Peck's book was confined to edible mushrooms, and it soon became too limited to satisfy our craving for further knowledge-it incited a longing to know something of inedible fungi. The rest is soon told. We were advised to get either a copy of Stevenson's "British Fungi" or of Massee's works. We did so, but found them too advanced to be readily used by the unlearned. Then the idea arose, How can we help others in their difficulties? This little book is the answer. It will not be of use to advanced students, they will only criticise and discover how much has been left unsaid; but the beginner is more easily satisfied with the extent of information gained, and if a taste for knowledge is encouraged the object of this book is attained. This explanation will also account for the use of simple terms. We find a tiny fungus which looks like a brownish bird's nest, with some miniature eggs in it, or a shining white mushroom, and we are told its name in Latin; it is described in terms meaningless to the ignorant, we lose interest, and our attention flags. We began for pleasure and recreation, but it became irksome and fatiguing, and the subject which might have amused us and helped to pass many an idle hour is put aside and abandoned. Yet this study is a most fascinating one. We all long for pleasant subjects of thought in our leisure hours, and there can be nothing more diverting and absorbing than the investigation of the beautiful and familiar plants around us. When we leave the bustling, noisy streets of a city and go into the quiet fields and woods the contrast is very great. A walk for exercise alone is often dull and tiresome. We cannot be assured of pleasant companions, nor is there always a fine view or picturesque scenery to reward us during our strolls, but there are plants to be found and gathered, and when these fail us, then the bright-hued mushrooms may arrest our attention. The discovery of new specimens, the learning their names, the knowledge of their curious organizations, will all add an interest to our lives. It will inspire us with a love of nature, and open our eyes to many objects of which we have before been unobservant. Besides this it obliges us to be accurate. Our descriptions must be exact or they are of no use. Let us imagine ourselves taking a stroll in the woods or down some shady lane, and see what we can find there. The golden-rod and asters adorn the roadsides, the odors of the sweet gale and scented fern are wafted gratefully to our senses as we pass along the lanes, and there, among the fallen leaves, at the very edge of the woods, peers out a bright yellow mushroom, brighter from the contrast to the dead leaves around, and then another, close by, and then a shining white cap; further on a mouse-colored one, gray, and silky in texture. What a contrast of colors. What are they? By what names shall we call them? Let us first carefully dig up the yellow one. We have brought a basket and trowel, and can examine them thoroughly. We must dig down deep so as not to break off the stem.