History of the Fungi of the Kingdom of Naples

A horizontal ornamental rule is depicted.

Three years have passed, esteemed Colleagues, since you willingly inspired my first labor shown to you concerning a new species of Agaricus a type of gilled fungus among the fungi born under our sky (1); and the ardent zeal, which you then showed not obscurely regarding the knowledge of others, greatly spurred me on to pursue the work I had begun, so far as the sharpness of my unrefined mind was able, with new attempts and greater alacrity. Furthermore, I persisted in this labor to comply with your wishes, with the intention of exciting the skill of others in this matter rather than being led by a desire for celebrity and the acquisition of glory: whether I will achieve this fully and happily, I do not easily conjecture. For it is a matter of objects whose investigation is all the more pleasant for their wonderful form and variety of colors, especially if they are observed while still clinging to the maternal bosom of the earth; and for their very structure, which openly argues not for a trick of nature or the flaws of plants, but for the hand of the SUPREME CRAFTSMAN; yet it is more difficult for the remarkable number and excessive similarity among individuals: which certainly causes the greatest trouble even to those very much...

(1) Cf. Acts of our Academy, Vol. III. (Class of Physics and Natural History), page 121.