Small fungi of ivory-whiteness are very common amongst grass on lawns in autumn. These are chiefly _Hygrophorus virgineus_, Fr.,[b] and although not much exceeding an inch in diameter, with a short stem, and wide decurrent gills, they are so plentiful in season that quantity soon compensates for the small size. Except that it is occasionally eaten in France, it does not enjoy much reputation abroad. A larger species, varying from buff to orange, _Hygrophorus pratensis_, Fr.,[c] is scarcely less common in open pastures. This is very gregarious in habit, often growing in tufts, or portions of rings. The pileus is fleshy in the centre, and the gills thick and decurrent. In France, Germany, Bohemia, and Denmark, it is included with esculent species. In addition may be mentioned _Hygrophorus eburneus_, Fr., another white species, as also _Hygrophorus niveus_, Fr., which grows in mossy pastures. _Paxillus involutus_, Fr.,[d] though very common in Europe, is not eaten, yet it is included by Dr. Curtis with the esculent species of the United States. The milky agarics, belonging to the genus _Lactarius_, are distinguished by the milky juice which is exuded when they are wounded. The spores are more or less globose, and rough or echinulate, at least in many species. The most notable esculent is _Lactarius deliciosus_, Fr.,[e] in which the milk is at first saffron-red, and afterwards greenish, the plant assuming a lurid greenish hue wherever bruised or broken. Universal commendation seems to fall upon this species, writers vying with each other to say the best in its praise, and mycophagists everywhere endorsing the assumption of its name, declaring it to be delicious. It is found in the markets of Paris, Berlin, Prague, and Vienna, as we are informed, and in Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Russia, Belgium; in fact, in nearly all countries in Europe it is esteemed. Another esculent species, _Lactarius volemum_, Fr.,[f] has white milk, which is mild to the taste, whilst in deleterious species with white milk it is pungent and acrid. This species has been celebrated from early times, and is said to resemble lamb's kidney. _Lactarius piperatus_, Fr., is classed in England with dangerous, sometimes poisonous species, whereas the late Dr. Curtis, of North Carolina, has distinctly informed us that it is cooked and eaten in the United States, and that he has partaken of it. He includes _Lactarius insulsus_, Fr., and _Lactarius subdulcis_, Fr.,[g] amongst esculent species; both are also found in this country, but not reputed as edible; and _Lactarius angustissimus_, Lasch, which is not British. Species of _Lactarius_ seem to be eaten almost indiscriminately in Russia when preserved in vinegar and salt, in which condition they form an important item in the kinds of food allowed in their long fasts, some _Boleti_ in the dried state entering into the same category.