Botanists have classified Agarics by means of the color of the spores,
and it is the only sure way of determining to what class they belong. We
propose in this work also to enumerate the mushrooms according to the
color of the pileus or cap, and give a list, with a description of each,
after this arrangement. This, of course, is merely superficial, but may
interest and attract a beginner in the study of fungi. This list will be
placed at the end of the book.

The descriptions will be preceded by a classification according to color
of spores, some hints to students, and aids to learning which have been
found useful to others.

It is appalling to a beginner when he first reads the long list of names
of classes, genera, and species, as the latter are so closely allied in
resemblance. One has not always the time nor inclination to condense
facts for himself, nor to collect necessary information so as to
remember it most easily, all which has to be done in the absence of an
American manual or textbook. A great deal has been written for us, it is
true, by experienced botanists, but a general and comprehensive work has
yet to be compiled.

Before we begin our list of fungi, let us learn what a mushroom is, and
know something of its component parts. A mushroom consists of a stem and
a cap, or pileus. The cap is the most conspicuous part. The color varies
from white and the lightest hues of brown up to the brightest yellow and
scarlet. Its size is from an eighth of an inch to sixteen inches and
more in diameter. The surface is smooth or covered with little grains
(granular) or with minute scales (squamulose) shining like satin, or
kid-like in its texture. It may be rounded and depressed (concave),
elevated (convex), level (plane), or with a little mound in the centre