which produce other cells with incredible speed, and the interchange of fluids on either side of the membrane is the cause of the fermentation. German yeast is formed of the dried globules. The Polyporus betulinus makes very superior razor strops, its substance containing minute crystals; the Polyporus squamosus is also good for this purpose, if cut from the tree in autumn, then flattened in a press, rubbed carefully with pumice, cut into slices, and each slice fastened to a wooden stretcher. The Polyporus fomentarius forms the amadou of commerce, formerly used only as "German tinder," but now applied by, at any rate, one medical practitioner in sheets to protect the backs of bedridden patients. Gle. ditsch relates that the poorer inhabitants of Franconia stitch it together and make garments of it. Polyporus ignarius is used as snuff in the north of Asia; Polyporus officinalis was formerly used as medicine, but is so employed no longer; Polyporus sulphureus furnishes a useful dye. Coprinus atramentarius may be made into ink; Amanita muscarius furnishes poison for vermin, and is an ingredient in some intoxicating liquors. Wood impregnated with the metallic-green spawn of the Peziza is of great value in the delicate inlaid work known as Tunbridge ware. A small fungus belonging to the Ascomycetes class, and known as ergot of rye, furnishes a powerful and useful medicine, though in the hands of the ignorant it is an extremely dangerous poison. Mr. Berkeley suggests that decayed fungus would form good manure. Such being the case, it would be well worth the trouble to let the laborers' children collect them, and throw them into a heap like dead leaves for leaf-mold. Thus even the poisonous species might be utilized. But to enable us to turn fungi to the best profit, we must learn to discern the good from the evil, and for this we must cultivate patience and close observation. General rules will not suffice us. The test of a silver spoon will not insure safety. Odor is a good guide; those smelling offensively must be avoided; those with savory or aromatic perfume are generally innocuous; but this test cannot always be trusted, for there are some poisonous and deleterious species which have no smell at all. Color stands for nothing, for the snowy whiteness which in some is the garb of innocence, serves others, as Dr. Badham says, as the mask for guilt. We shall do well to regard all milky fungi with suspicion, and avoid bringing them into our culinary experiments; also, we had better eschew those with a biting or acrid smell or flavor. We labor under a general impression that all fungi are poisonous except our common mushroom. This is very far from being the fact. Many species now despised form valuable articles of food, and the greater number of the rejected ones are innocuous, or only deleterious in a slight degree. Mr. Taylor proposes to make a collection of all the known edible mushrooms of the United States, of which descriptions will, from time to time, appear in the Monthly Reports of the Department of Agriculture. Types of the following families, orders, and genera are exhibited. Group A, from 1 to 39 inclusive, represents types of the orders and genera of the family Hymenomycetes. Group B, from 40 to 56, represents types of the order, and genera of the family Gasteromytes. Group C, from 57 to 119, represents types of the orders and genera of the family Coniomycetes. Group D, from 120 to 171 inclusive, represents types of the orders and genera of the family Hyphomycetes. Group E, from 172 to 184 inclusive, is miscellaneous, consisting mostly of types of fungi destructive to vegetation. 172. Ecidium cornutum, Pers. 173. Cranberry, long vine, New Jersey. 174. Cranberry, short vine, New Jersey. 175. Various varieties of New Jersey cranberries. 176. Uredo effusa. 177. Ecidium of the ash. 178. Black knot of the cherry, Sphæria morbosa. 179. American grape fungus, Peronospora vitis viticola (Berkley & Curtis). 180. Orange leaf, covered with black fungus matter. 181. Exhibits a microscopic view of the fungus on the orange and orange leaf. This fungus destroys the commercial value of the Florida oranges when they are affected by it. 182. Arctic red snow, a cryptogamic plant. (See Micrographic Dictionary.) 183, 184 represent abnormal growths on the foliage of the maple and other trees, formerly supposed to be a fungus, which was named Erineum, but they are now considered to be only abnormal growths. Group F, 185, consists of a series of photographs representing the connective tissue of the mammary glands of a scirrhus cancer. The object of the examination was to detect mycelium or spores of fungoid matter, if present, in the tissue. Portions of the cancer cells were treated with dilute boiling caustic potash until a thin film of it floated on the surface of the liquid. The film was next floated on a microscopic slide, and photographs made from it direct. In these preliminary experiments no fungus matter was observed. Group G, from 186 to 211 inclusive, represents the results of a series of experiments on textile fabrics, fibers, etc. Group H, from 212 to 320 inclusive, represents types of the family Ascomycetes. Group I, from 321 to 324 inclusive, Physomycetes, after Worthington Smith. Group J, from 1 to 29 inclusive, edible mushrooms, after W. Smith. Group K, from 30 to 60 inclusive, poisonous mushrooms, after W. Smith. 28 CEN, Group L, from 61 to 66 inclusive, represents drawings relating to pear-tree blight, showing sections, &c., of blighted branches. Group M, from 66 to 67, represents two branches of the foreign grape affected by the fungus Oidium Tuckeri. Group N, from 87 to 112, photographs of New England fungi. Group O, 70, represents a photographic view of the starch cells of a boiled potato. Group P, from 77 to 80 inclusive, represents photographs and drawings of the resting-spores of the potato fungus, lately discovered. Group Q, from 81 to 86, represents types of vegetable starch gran ules. INDEX TO VOL. II. The table of contents prefixed to each of the reports embraced in this volume will |