﻿24 
  A 
  PLAIN 
  AND 
  EASY 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  TRUE 
  AGARICS. 
  

  

  The 
  genus 
  Agaricus 
  bears 
  a 
  name, 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  

   which 
  is 
  involved 
  in 
  a 
  little 
  obscurity, 
  from 
  whence 
  the 
  

   Rev. 
  M. 
  J. 
  Berkeley, 
  the 
  prince 
  of 
  British 
  mycologists, 
  

   has 
  thus 
  endeavoured 
  to 
  rescue 
  it 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  " 
  In 
  all 
  books 
  which 
  profess 
  to 
  give 
  the 
  derivations 
  

   of 
  botanical 
  terms, 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  that 
  Agaricus 
  derives 
  its 
  

   name 
  from 
  Agaria, 
  a 
  region 
  in 
  Sarmatia, 
  or 
  from 
  

   Agarus, 
  a 
  town 
  and 
  river 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  country. 
  This 
  

   derivation, 
  at 
  first 
  sight, 
  seems 
  equally 
  absurd 
  with 
  the 
  

   parallel 
  drawn 
  by 
  Fluellen 
  between 
  Macedon 
  and 
  Mon- 
  

   mouth. 
  What 
  has 
  Sarmatia 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  toadstools 
  more 
  

   than 
  any 
  other 
  country, 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  found 
  everywhere 
  ? 
  

   The 
  fact, 
  however, 
  is, 
  that 
  the 
  original 
  name, 
  Agaricum, 
  

   for 
  so 
  it 
  stands 
  in 
  Pliny, 
  had 
  nothing 
  whatever 
  to 
  do 
  

   with 
  them, 
  but 
  was 
  applied 
  by 
  Dioscorides 
  to 
  a 
  peculiar 
  

   drug, 
  supplied 
  by 
  the 
  Pohjporus 
  of 
  the 
  larch, 
  which 
  

   was 
  obtained 
  principally, 
  if 
  not 
  solely, 
  from 
  Agaria, 
  but 
  

   which, 
  though 
  formerly 
  of 
  considerable 
  repute, 
  appears 
  

   now 
  to 
  have 
  gone 
  almost 
  entirely 
  out 
  of 
  use 
  in 
  regular 
  

   practice. 
  It 
  is, 
  however, 
  still 
  to 
  be 
  had 
  of 
  the 
  herbalists, 
  

   who 
  import 
  it 
  from 
  Germany, 
  a 
  form 
  on 
  Larix 
  siberica 
  

   being 
  obtained 
  occasionally 
  from 
  Archangel. 
  As 
  the 
  

   true 
  species 
  occurs 
  only 
  on 
  the 
  larch, 
  and, 
  indeed, 
  upon 
  

   very 
  old 
  trees, 
  it 
  is 
  confined 
  almost 
  entirely 
  to 
  places 
  

   where 
  that 
  genus 
  of 
  conifers 
  is 
  indigenous. 
  

  

  "Other 
  Polypori 
  have 
  often 
  been 
  substituted 
  for 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  larch, 
  and, 
  therefore, 
  the 
  name 
  Agaricum, 
  

  

  