The special character of my volume, then--the collateral consideration of the fungus as food--will be sufficient excuse for the omission of a merely technical discourse upon the structure, classification, and vegetation of fungi as a class--a field so fully covered by other authors more competent to discuss these lines of special science, and to a selection of whose works the reader is referred in the list herewith appended, to a number of which I am indebted for occasional quotations. A general idea of the methods of dissemination and habitats of fungi will be found in the final chapter on "spore-prints," while under the discussion of the "Amanita," _Agaricus campestris_, and the "Fairy Ring" the reader is referred to a condensed account of the methods of vegetation and growth of fungi sufficient for present purposes. Other references of similar character will be noted under "Fungi," in Index.
[Sidenote: =The pioneer American mycophagist=]
The most conspicuous disciple of mycophagy--almost the pioneer, indeed, in America--was the late Rev. M. A. Curtis, of North Carolina, whose name heads the bibliography on page 325. For the benefit of those of my readers who may wish to follow the subject further than my pages will lead them, I append the list of edible species of fungi contained in Curtis's Catalogue, each group alphabetically arranged, the esculent qualities of many of which he himself discovered and attested by personal experiment. The favorite habitat of each fungus is also given, and to avoid any possibility of confusion in scientific nomenclature or synonymes, the authority for the scientific name is also given in each instance:
LIST OF EDIBLE AMERICAN MUSHROOMS FROM THE CATALOGUE OF DR. M. A. CURTIS