16 ON THE ECONOMIC USE OF FUNGI. 



They are all confounded together in the mind, and are not re- 

 garded separately, each kind by and for itself, as are other plants. 

 An ordinary Englishman's only idea of gathering wild Fungi is to 

 make a heterogeneous collection of everything fungoid that comes 

 in his way, Put into practice this will obviously result in mis- 

 takes. Some deleterious plant will be gathered along with 

 wholesome ones, and a case of poisoning is the result. Then the 

 doctors will blame, not the stupidity or carelessness of the 

 gatherer, but the mushrooms indiscriminately, and the local 

 newspaper will contain a solemn warning against all sorts and 

 conditions of Fungi. 



The fii'st step towards dispelling public ignorance and appre- 

 hension must evidently be to drive the idea of discrimination into 

 the public mind. This can be best effected by no longer speaking 

 of "Fungi" or "Mushrooms" under those general designations, 

 but by popularizing the use of specific names, such as will be 

 found in other chapters of this book. When people become able 

 to familiarize their notions of Fungi with various titles, as they 

 familiarize trees with particular names, such as beech, elm, oak, 

 etc., these difficulties and dangers will vanish. The recognition of 

 the common esculents is easy enough to learn, once the mind has 

 grappled the idea of discrimination. On the Continent children 

 are taught to recognise those kinds of Fungi locally appreciated, 

 and they will select such and such a species, with which they 

 have become familiar, unhesitatingly from amid a thousand others. 

 Surely English children are as quick as those of the Black Forest 

 or Lorraine ! 



The information offered to the public is not mere speculation, 

 but Avell-attested fact; it is not the recent discovery of rash 

 enthusiasts, but the collected evidence of past ages and various 

 peoples. During the present century systematic botany has been 

 applied to Fungi, first by Persoon and his followers, afterwards 

 by Fries and the present school of mycologists. Though much 

 remains to be discovered, systematic classification enables us to 

 appreciate and make use of all that we do know. Our acquisitions 

 of mycological knowledge are no longer confined to haphazard folk- 

 lore, but can be tabulated and arranged, verified and corrected. 



There exists a curious notion whicli has appai^ently helped to 

 prevent a wider use of Fungi in this countiy. It is that there is 

 no certainty in the qualities of Fungi ; that a species Avhich is 

 wholesome eating in one country may, when growing in another, 



