Russula

“ A third species of Russula, with buff-yellow gills, is Russula alutacea, Fr., which is by no means to be despised, notwithstanding that Dr. Badham has placed it amongst species to be avoided. Three or four others have also the merit of being harmless, and these recorded as esculent by some one or more mycological authors: Russula lactea, Fr., a white species, found also in the United States; Russula lepida, Fr., a roseate species, found also in lower Carolina, U.S.; and another reddish species, Russula vesca, Fr., as well as Russula decolorans, Fr. ”

“ The flesh of members of both Lactarius and Russula contains groups of rounded cells, a feature unique amongst agarics and explains why in Russula the fruit-bodies, cap and gills and sometimes the stem are brittle and easily break if crushed between the fingers. The fruit-body does not exude a milky liquid when the flesh is broken. ”

“ The species Russula (Rigidæ) virescens, illustrated in Plate I, belongs to the tribe Rigidæ. In the plants of this group, the cap is absolutely dry and rigid, destitute of a viscid pellicle; the cuticle commonly breaking up into flocci or granules; the flesh thick, compact, and firm, vanishing near the margin, which is never involute, and shows no striations. The gills are irregular in length, some few reaching half way to the stem, the others divided, dilated, and extending into a broad rounded end, stem solid. ”

“ Easily recognised by the ochre-yellow cap, very pale cream-coloured spore-print and greying stem. Two other yellow-capped species of Russula are commonly found. R. claroflava Grove with yellow spore-print and blackening fruit-body which grows with birches in boggy places, and R. lutea (Fries) S. F. Gray which is much smaller, having a cap up to 50 mm and very deep egg-yellow gills and spore-print; it grows in deciduous woods. ”

“ The gills, with rare exceptions, are all of the same length, white or creamy in color, firm and thick, but very brittle, easily broken into fragments by a rude touch, a characteristic of all the group; spores, white. The stem is short, stout, and solid, and usually tapers towards the base. There is no vestige of a cup or veil at any stage of growth.
A fine specimen of the green Russula should measure five inches in diameter when fully open, but three inches is probably the average size. ”

“ 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.
The species of Russula in many respects resemble Lactarii without milk. Some of them are dangerous, and others esculent. Amongst the latter may be enumerated Russula heterophylla, Fr., which is very common in woods. ”

“ We must, therefore, in accordance with the law of priority, adopt the earliest name for the species, however much we regret having to discard the old familiar name of russula.
Although the central spot of the fore wings is subject to minor modification in size, shape, and colour, it is in the hind wings that variation chiefly occurs. In the male the blackish grey band on the outer area of the hind wing may be broad and complete, or it may be broken up by the veins into a series of bars ”

“ The spores are small, echinulate, almost round.
I have found the plants very generally diffused over the state. It is very coarse and uninviting. Its smell and taste are bad. Found from July to October. These plants are widely distributed and usually rather abundant.
Russula alutacea. Fr. The Tan-Colored Russula. Edible.
Figure 148.—Russula alutacea. Two-thirds natural size. Caps flesh color. Gills broad and yellowish. ”

“ Indeed, he may restrict himself to six of these species—the green Russula, Puff-ball, Pasture-mushroom, Campestris (meadow-mushroom) , Shaggy-mane, and Boletus edulis—and yet become a veritable mycological gourmand if he chooses, never at a loss for an appetizing entrée at his table.
In the group of Russulæ and Boleti alone, more than one conservative amateur of the writer's acquaintance finds a sufficient supply to meet all dietary wants.
A neglected harvest What a plenteous, spontaneous harvest of delicious feasting annually goes begging in our woods and fields! ”

“ The stem has a tendency to become thickened at the base, and turns yellowish when touched.
Var. rose ́ipes Sec., given by Massee, has been retained as a distinct species by Professor Peck, Rep. 51, and is described in place. R. pusilla Pk., 50th Rep., is closely allied to it.
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina. Common in woods and under trees in short grass. July to September. McIlvaine.
This little Russula is ubiquitous. It does not amount to much when other fungi are plenty, because of its very thin cap, but it thrives in all sorts of summer weather. ”

“ These are the Clitocybes and Stropharia, and many of the cup-fungi, while the Boleti take shelter in clay banks and hide in 29 every cranny and nook that they can find. Russulas are seen in open woods, rising out of the earth, also the Lactarius, which seems to like the shade of trees. The Cortinarius also prefers their shelter. The Coprinus loves the pastures and fields, near houses and barns, and dwells in groups upon the lawns. The Hypholoma grows in clusters on the stumps of trees. Marasmius is found among dead twigs and leaves. The white Amanitas flourish in woods and open ground. ”

“ Sometimes the Rusalky appear as girls seven years old, sometimes as maidens in the full bloom of youth. They cover their beautiful bodies with green leaves, or with a white shirt without a belt; and at Whitsuntide they sit on trees, asking women for a frock and girls for a shirt, whence women hang on the branches strips of linen or little shreds torn from their dresses, this being meant as a sacrifice to propitiate these water-nymphs. ”

“ The rusalki vary in size, as do all the spirit forms of Russian folk-lore. Sometimes they are spoken of as tiny beings floating in the cup of the water-lily; sometimes as huge female forms which haunt the cornfields and steal the grain of the peasants. When caught thus misbehaving themselves the rusalki are punished in effigy, straw figures, representing the robbers, being tossed about by companies of girls, who eventually cast them into the water. ”

“ The Rusalky are extremely fond of music and singing; and their fine voices lure swimmers to deep places, where they drown. The water-nymphs also divert themselves by dancing in the pale moonlight, and they inveigle shepherds to play with them, the places where they dance being marked by circles in which the grass is particularly luxuriant and green. Fond of spinning, they hang their yarn on trees; and after washing the linen which they weave, they spread it on the banks to dry. If a man treads on such linen, he becomes weak and lame. ”

“ Oh, no!" chorused Russ and Rose.
"Of course not. You're one of those folks, sir, that would kill an American eagle, too—the bird that is supposed to represent the best fighting spirit of this country. No, sir! this bird is going to have his chance. If we can heal his wounds, we will set him free again—hey, little folks?"
"Of course we will," said Russ stoutly.
"Yes, sir! we'll set him free," agreed Rose. "But when you do it I am going down to the stateroom. I think he is pretty savage." ”

“ Russel has become so familiar with the objects of interest in his adopted city, that he imagines his strangers to be equally familiar with them, and in no need of being enlightened. He is so far gone in the loss of his faculties, if he ever had any great quantity to lose, that a question must be proposed to him often and in many forms, before he comprehends it, and when he answers, you are not sure that he understood you, or that he knows any thing about the matter. ”

“ Before quitting the subject of water-spirits, I should mention that the nymphs and mermaids of our own and universal folk-lore are represented in that of the Slavs by beings known as rusalki, an entirely distinct species from the surly and malicious vodyánnuie. The latter are of the male sex, while the rusalki are all females, and frequently very beautiful. They employ their good looks unfortunately to the ruin of our race, too frequently luring young men to their doom, by enticing them into the deep waters and there either tickling them to death or else drowning them ”

“ While the above esculent species of Russulæ are being familiarized by the tyro, he must now be put on guard against a certain dangerous species of the group, which is sure to claim his attention, being especially fond of the good company of its cousins, and likely to do some mischief through its frequent disguise. ”

“ The South-Russian peasantry have from immemorial times maintained a firm belief in the existence of water-nymphs, called Rusalkas, closely resembling the Nereids of Modern Greece, the female Nixies of the North of Europe, and throughout the whole of Russia, at least in outlying districts, there still lingers a sort of cultus of certain male water-sprites who bear the name of Vodyanies, and who are almost identical with the beings who haunt the waters of various countries—such as the German Nix, the Swedish Nek, the Finnish Näkke, etc. ”

“ Deep in his throat laughed Sir Hugh.
“Before I yield her I shall take life from her, Subotai. And your men—they who live—will tell of the end of the Swooping Hawk.”
With pride, for it is not given to many men to bear a Rusudan in their arms, he advanced down the broad marble steps, his eyes menacing, his sword gripped firm, his shield covering the girl, her dark hair flooding over his shoulder. ”

“ The Greek slaves, trained to the lute and to gentler harmony, fidgeted and smiled, wishing to show their disapproval, but Lascaris relished the savage undertone of the gipsy song.
Many times had Rusudan repeated the song, and when she had finished she half closed her eyes, leaning her head against the marble pillar, thinking of anything but the whispering women and the glow of sunset on the yellow marble. It was months since she had quieted Hugh in his fever with that same song.
As she meditated she was aware of another singer, a man with a lusty voice, and none too sensitive an ear. ”

“ RUSUDAN stood by the couch, voiceless. The Arab leaned over the emperor, one knee on the couch, and touched his throat. He seized the chin of the struggling man and looked swiftly into the contorted face. Then he stepped back, glancing at the empty golden dish that had held the rice curry, and at the Georgian girl.
“No man may escape his fate,” he said calmly. ”

“ Rusudan rested her head on her arms, her lips half smiling. And then she caught her breath, hearing close behind her a groan that seemed to have come from an animal rather than a human being.
She looked around. The deaf mute still knelt by the couch holding the tray on her arms, but the eyes of the negro were rolling wildly, and on the couch Lascaris lay, tearing at his body with quivering fingers. ”

“ Pertell. "Well, I guess Russ has a good idea—we'll get a moving picture of them hiving the swarm. But what do the men make all that noise for?"
"Oh, there's a notion that bees will settle down in a bunch around th' queen, and not fly away if they hear a racket. I don't know whether it's true or not. Some folks spray 'em with water, and that usually fetches 'em."
Meanwhile Russ came out with the camera and began taking pictures of the odd scene. First he got pictures of Ruth, Alice and the teacher applying mud to the stings of the children. ”

“ There is a Great Russ hamlet and a Little {200} Russ hamlet; one with its centre in Moscow, as the capital of Great Russia; the second with its centre in Kief, the capital of Little Russia.
A Great Russ village consists of two lines of cabins parted from each other by a wide and dirty lane. Each homestead stands alone. From ten to a hundred cabins make a village. Built of the same pine-logs, notched and bound together, each house is like its fellow, except in size. The elder's hut is bigger than the rest; and after the elder's house comes the whisky shop. ”

“ Most of them now own their patches of land, or are buying slowly, by annual payments. They till the ground in summer, and in winter they weave with their own looms, spin with their own spinning wheels, feed the cattle in the barns, and slide the wood over the snow from the forests. It is not a bad kind of life. Compared to ordinary Russian peasants, the people are rich beyond dreams, and things went pleasantly in the Provinces till the hideous system [270] called Russification began just a quarter of a century ago, upon the accession of Alexander III.—“The Camel,” as they still call him. ”

“ Upon this great mass of rock the palace of the Chersonese had been built, its walls of yellow marble rising sheer from the slope of the stone. Here and there towers peered above the many roofs of the miniature city. Rusudan had heard from the Greek slave-girls, who seemed to know everything, that the rock under them had been honeycombed by the waters of other ages, and passages descended into its depths—passages that led to store=houses and other chambers where the torturers of the emperor kept their instruments. ”

“ Such laws have been repealed by edicts; yet many remain in force, in virtue of a wider power than that of minister and prince. No Russian would take his dose of salts, his camomile pill, from the hands of his brother Russ. He has no confidence in native skill and care. A Russ may be a good physician, being quick, alert, and sympathetic ”

“ They had considerable difficulty in reaching the road, and by that time the mysterious man was even further in advance. But they pluckily kept to the chase.
"There he is!" cried Russ, as they came to a turn in the road, and saw a straight stretch before them. "He hasn't gained so very much." ”