ON THE ECONOMIC USE OF FUNGI. 15 



Going still farther away, we shall find that certain of their 

 indigenous Fungi are nsed as food by the inhabitants of Siberia, 

 Persia, Afghanistan, India, Cochin- China, Java, and elsewhere in 

 Asia. The Japanese and Chinese seem to employ many kinds. 

 The latter even import a tree-fungus from New Zealand and the 

 Pacific Islands, to the amount of several thousand pounds' worth 

 annually. The Australian blacks eat several kinds of Fungi, as 

 also do the Maori and Polynesian tribes. In Tasmania there 

 are several species used by settlers, a legacy left them by the 

 vanished aborigines. Travellers speak of certain mushrooms which 

 are consumed in Madagascar, South Africa, and again in Central 

 Africa. The Tierra del Fuegian regards a certain kind of tree- 

 fungus as one of his staple articles of diet. In South America 

 some appear to be made use of, and the Europeans who have 

 peopled the United "States find there many of the esculents they 

 knew in the old home. 



It is therefore evident that Fungi, of one kind or another, are 

 almost universally accepted as dietary articles. As a fact, the 

 chemical composition of the flesh of Fungi shows it to be admi- 

 rably adapted for human food, and indeed to contain the elements 

 necessary to nutrition in even a higher degree than any other 

 class of vegetables. More is the pity, then, that English people 

 should be so fixed in their prejudice against Fungi ! Tons innu- 

 merable of excellent food are sulfered to waste every year because 



of it. 



During summer and autumn our parks, pastures, woodlands, 

 and plantations abound with a profusion of esculent Fungi. The 

 neglect of this aliment is serious, when we reflect on the poverty 

 and want surrounding us. Though scarcity of food is less felt 

 at those seasons than in winter, it may be remarked that this is no 

 excuse for the national improvidence, since most kinds of edible 

 mushrooms may be stored by salting, pickling, di-ying, and so 

 forth. It is also to be noted that there are sundry abundant 

 kinds of superior excellence and flavour, best suited for the rich 

 man's table. If these were known, there would soon arise a de- 

 mand for them, they would become of commercial value, and 

 would give increased means of livelihood to a good many indi- 

 viduals. 



The fear of being poisoned by eating "toadstools" is a grossly 

 exaggerated apprehension in this country. It arises chiefly from 

 the singular popular incapacity for individualizing fungus species. 



