New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-16

OF al article which had been communicated by ne
TO the same journal nearly seven years previous
Mr.. Prang's venture. ! understand from hlin' was
not profitable one. nor Is II at al "''iS"'' '''
! me to define the caus,.
For years the curse Of this science mas "ee 'I''
writer who can take the various encyclopedias or
books Of reference. and make Tor magazine al
interesting article: editors and publishers cannot
distinguish such from an original cohUlDu'o"' anu
where the letter Is offered TO them tney iooN over
a catalogue into an index mi conciune 'ha' All
which is known has already found publication
Ny most elaborate study. that when ~ inc teSu-
mony of such men as Mr.. McIlvaine ana the late
head chemist for the Havemeyer rchneries' Mt
Paul Casamajor the first effor' 10 ses'esh'e
from the general term poisonous the i"'a,'S
connected with the Amanita family lh's a''io'e
like Mr.. Peck's work. an earlier one SUM- 'iat
Of DR. Curtis. OF South Carolina, found no market
whatever in this country, although since It's publ
cation abroad January. 1870 1t has been freely useo
In America. To my mind. there is no excuse lor
the very general ignorance on TINS great pranc"
of natures Kingdom. That every mushroom Is d 'odu
stool and every toadstool is mushroom Is the hrS
thing be learned Then that, as In all oihef pants
one must know exactly what one is using; nature
recogizes no such phrase as about the same
thing" An apricot is not n peach. nor Is cab
bage-head the same thing le;tuce-heac lhere
Is infalble specific charm which VIII uls-
tingnsk the poisonous from the esculeht Neeeta-
bes then why should there be in the large
vegetable kingdom of the fungi, embracing IN all
about 600 species? 1t seems TO me that this
should be nothing less than an anXiom; yet. 80
dense is the ignorance this subject that after
explaining 1t to Il person ] have had that same
Individual come to me with words Ike these;
What was that difference you explained TO me
some years ago between the mushrooms and the
toadstools; was it YOU that said that one of these
must peel or that you must always put a piece OF
~
is good reason for such ignorance as TINS,
step to the first book store AMI purchase a man
ual adapted to any stage in ones education; in inns
branch OF study alone one must import expensive
books from Europe which are il-adapted TO poPu-
lar needs.
Charles Il. Peck the state botanist Of New-York.
has done the most thorough and valuable work IN
classification which has ever been attc,Npteu III
this country, and his reports as iss'c. by the
Board of Regents contain much information in re-
gard to the esculcnf and poisonous mushrooms rs
| have not seen the manuscript OF the work lor
which an appropriation is asked. | am unapic 10
that II most certainly ought to hnd pupiish"r,
even at the public expense. regret 10 ma mat
Division Of Agriculture at Washington FOR lN' con,
tains the following falsehoods; ~ red-toipeh
pink stalk j. edible, while r"d-topped mush-
room. with white gills and white stem Is poison
Avoid mushrooms which on hruisng the gs
Weld a white milk; they are all poisonous. IT inc
edible I,oleii the flesh remains whit" when broken.
but turns quickly to a deep blue If poisonous: The
lactarius piperatus Is poisonous fungus The
United states Government is responsible for that
collection OF falschoods. and further the text OF lr
Taylor's reports is not original. but from the carry
the science in its infancy. ! think Mr. Peck
will with me- that the more such general
more viii Doe done 10 rivct the chains of ignorance
upon the people | have faith To believe that MI
Pecks work Will contain no such mi,@a tll state
Boston Mass. October 10. 1890.