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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GO SSIP. 



which causes the unpleasant effects, is at present 

 unknown, and is one of those points which have to 

 be worked out. As a rule, however, the wholesonie- 

 ness of the mushroom is well-nigh cosmopolitan. 

 Several years ago the late Mr. Thomas Baines, who 

 had travelled much in Australia and Africa, told me 

 mushrooms were always eaten when found in his 

 expeditions. Popular credence points to the un- 

 wholesomeness of those specimens grown under 

 trees or in woods, but this is in no way substantiated 

 by my experience. The possibility of distinguishing 

 an edible from a poisonous fungus by bruising with 

 a piece of gold or silver, has been repeated time 

 after time in all kinds of books, so that it is no way 

 surprisiug that a correspondent should ask, in a 

 recent number of Science- Gossip, whether there 

 be any truth in it or not. Many an excellent mush- 

 room has been rejected by the credulous housewife 

 because, when rubbed with salt and a silver spoon, 

 it has turned yellow ! The vast majority of mush- 

 rooms grown in my]district, upon the salt marshes 

 and elsewhere, turn most distinctly yellow when cut 

 or bruised ; but this is simply because they are speci- 

 mens of Agaricus arvensis, Shceff., the horse-mush- 

 room, and not A. campesiris, Linn. Eries, in his 

 " Hymenomycetes Europfei," p. 279, says of A. ar- 

 vensis, " caro alba, immutabilis "; but Mr. Berkeley, 

 in the " English Flora," says it may be known from 

 A. campesiris by its almost white gills when young, 

 and yellow stains when bruised. Most British fun- 

 gologists regard this change of colour as one of its 

 specific characteristics ; and thus it is really a proof 

 of the wholesomeness of the fungus. At the pre- 

 sent moment we do not remember any fungus which 

 changes colour in at all a similar manner ; in fact, 

 excepting one or two of the Lactarii, this particular 

 change is a very uncommon one. Agaricus arvensis, 

 the so-called horse-mushroom, is by far the most 

 generally eaten fungus in this country : it occurs 

 far more commonly, is much more abundant, and 

 attains a considerably larger size than A. campesiris, 

 the so-called true mushroom. They are equally 

 nice in flavour, and equally wholesome. 



In several books certain general rules are given 

 for ascertaining offhand whether a fungus may be 

 eaten or not : they are so absurd, however, that 

 botanists simply smile and never think of refuting 

 them. Who originally drew up this code I do not 

 know ; but subsequent writers have copied it more 

 or less implicitly. It is not exactly easy to see 

 whether these rules are intended for the discrimina- 

 tion of the mushroom from other fungi, or edible 

 from poisonous species generally. Perhaps the 

 most important of these canons is, that edible 

 species never change colour when cut or bruised. 

 We have seen how A. arvensis comports itself 

 under such conditions ! But there is a variety of 

 A. campesiris (var. rufescens, Berk.) which becomes 

 brilliantly piuk at the seat of injury ; and this]plant 



is one of the most savoury forms of the mushroom 

 we know. A. rubescens, P., assumes, as its name 

 implies, a rufous tint, especially where it has been 

 injured by insects. Lactarius deliciosus, Er., turns 

 from bright orange to a dirty green, and this alone 

 is sufficient to distinguish it from all its compeers. 

 The mere fact of a fungus changing colour to blue 

 cannot be regarded as an absolute proof of its toxic 

 qualities, for a friend of ours has eaten Boletus 

 chrysenteron, Fr., before he knew accurately B. 

 edulis, Bull. ; and during my noviciate I several 

 times partook of B. badius, Er., without any ill 

 effects whatever accruing. 



Another rule very commonly relied on is, that if 

 a fungus be pleasant to the taste, and its odour not 

 offensive, it may be eaten. But this is not only 

 a fallacious but an exceedingly dangerous guide. 

 It is quite true some fungi are intensely acrid, and 

 are irritant poisons ; but, upon the other hand, 

 Lactarius deliciosus, one of the very best of our 

 British species, as its name implies, when eaten 

 raw causes a very unpleasant amount of tingling of 

 the mouth and tongue. Ear more important, how- 

 ever, is it to remember that a fungus may have a 

 pleasant odour and taste, and yet be most virulently 

 poisonous. Mr. W. G. Smith was poisoned by 

 eating less than a quarter of an ounce of A.fertilis, 

 P., which had anything but a disagreeable taste. 

 Again, A. muscarius, L., has no acridity, neither 

 has A. phalloides, Fr., or A. Mappa, Batsch ; and 

 whatever may be the character of the two latter, 

 the poisonous properties of the former are well 

 known. It must be remembered that fungi may 

 be irritant, narcotic, or narcoto-irritant poisons, 

 and while it is possible to recognize an irritant 

 by the taste, a narcotic may be nearly tasteless. 



There is one way, and only one, by which edible 

 fungi can be discriminated from poisonous ones 

 with absolute certainty, and that is by a knowledge 

 of the individual species. As well might a code of 

 rules be laid down for the discrimination of whole- 

 some from poisonous fruits or vegetables, as for 

 fungi. People do occasionally mistake aconite- 

 roots for horseradish, or fool's-parsley for parsley 

 proper ; but we have no general rules drawn up iu 

 this case, neither do people become panic-stricken 

 and eschew the whole race of condiments because 

 of these unfortunate accidents. But if any mis- 

 adventure occurs from eating fungi, the whole race 

 are scouted and branded as the harbingers of death. 

 In this country fungus-eating is reserved for the 

 few ; but it by no means follows these few are ex- 

 perimentalists, far from it ; for the species they eat 

 have been known to be edible, and have been eaten, 

 by the initiated from time immemorial, in other 

 lands if not in this. Like other kinds of food, they 

 vary much in flavour, in the facility with which 

 they can be digested, and' in their nutritious 

 qualities. Certain excellent species cannot be too 



