_Bot. Char_. “Margin of the pileus sulcate, gills white, stuffed with cottony pith, fistulose, attenuated upwards, almost smooth; volva like a sheath. Woods and pastures, August and October; not uncommon. _Pileus_ four inches or more broad, plane, slightly depressed in the centre, scarcely umbonate, fleshy, but not at the extreme margin, which is elegantly grooved in consequence, viscid when moist, beautifully glossy when dry; epidermis easily detached, more or less studded with brown scales, the remnants of the volva, not persistent; _gills_ free, ventricose, broadest in front, often imbricated, white; _sporules_ white, round; _stem_ six inches or more high, from half to an inch thick, attenuated upwards, obtuse at the base, furnished with a volva, this adnate below to the extent of an inch, with the base of the stem, closely surrounding it above as in a sheath, but with the margin sometimes expanded; within and at the base marked with the groovings of the pileus, brittle, sericeo-squamulose, scarcely fibrillose, but splitting with ease longitudinally, hollow, or rather stuffed with fine cottony fibres; the very base solid, not acrid, insipid. _Smell_ scarcely any. It occurs of various colours, the more general one is a mouse-grey” (_Berkeley_). The perfect accuracy of the above description will strike every one familiar with this species. Vittadini speaks of it as a solitary fungus, but I have found it on more than one occasion in rings. Its flesh, being very delicate and tender, must not be over-dressed. When properly fried in butter or oil, and as soon after gathering as possible, the _Ag. vaginatus_ will be found inferior to but few Agarics in its flavour. AGARICUS VIOLACEUS, _Linn._ Subgenus 18. INOLOMA. _Bot. Char._ _Pileus_ from four to six inches broad, obtuse, expanded, covered with soft hairs, colour deep violet; _stem_ spongy, grey, tinged with violet, minutely downy, about four inches high; _veil_ fugacious, composed of fine threads; _gills_ deep violet when young, but turning tawny in age; _flesh_ thick, juicy. This is a handsome fungus, not very common, but plentiful where it occurs; it grows in woods, particularly under Pine and Fir trees, and may be dressed either with a white or a brown sauce. AGARICUS CASTANEUS, _Bull._ Subgenus 19. DERMOCYBE. _Bot. Char._ _Pileus_ slightly fleshy, convex when young, at length umbonate, chestnut colour, from one to three inches broad, glabrous; _gills_ rather broad, easily detached from the stem, ventricose, changing from light-purple to a ferruginous hue; _stem_ rather thin, from one and a half to three inches long, hollow, silvery, light-lilac or white; _veil_ delicate, composed of floccose threads; in _taste_, when raw, it somewhat resembles the _Ag. oreades_, but it has no smell.