﻿OF 
  BRITISH 
  FUNGI. 
  117 
  

  

  dissolved 
  in 
  one 
  pint 
  of 
  water. 
  The 
  ratafia 
  may 
  then 
  

   be 
  preserved 
  in 
  well-corked 
  bottles 
  for 
  use. 
  If 
  this 
  

   process 
  has 
  nothing 
  else 
  to 
  recommend 
  it, 
  it 
  has 
  at 
  least 
  

   the 
  merit 
  of 
  being 
  rather 
  an 
  expensive 
  one. 
  

  

  Besides 
  this 
  the 
  following 
  species 
  are 
  also 
  indigenous 
  

   to 
  Great 
  Britain 
  : 
  T. 
  brumale, 
  macrosporum, 
  bitumina- 
  

   tum, 
  rufum, 
  excavatum, 
  scleroneuron, 
  nitidum, 
  puberu- 
  

   lum, 
  and 
  dryophilum 
  ; 
  but 
  of 
  their 
  esculent 
  properties 
  

   we 
  confess 
  ourselves 
  profoundly 
  ignorant. 
  

  

  Under 
  the 
  name 
  oiLycoperdon 
  nuts, 
  or 
  Hart's 
  truffles, 
  

   one 
  species 
  of 
  Elaphomyces 
  (E. 
  granulatus) 
  had 
  for- 
  

   merly 
  a 
  medicinal 
  reputation, 
  and 
  might 
  be 
  met 
  with 
  

   in 
  the 
  herbalists' 
  shops 
  ; 
  but 
  now 
  the 
  name 
  is 
  almost 
  

   unknown. 
  In 
  some 
  country 
  districts, 
  amongst 
  the 
  

   lovers 
  of 
  the 
  marvellous 
  and 
  antique, 
  it 
  still 
  bears 
  a 
  part 
  

   of 
  its 
  original 
  reputation, 
  and 
  occasionally 
  obtains 
  

   employment. 
  

  

  The 
  medicinal 
  substance 
  known 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  

   ergot 
  of 
  rye 
  has 
  a 
  fungoid 
  origin, 
  and 
  is, 
  indeed, 
  an 
  

   altered 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  grain, 
  caused 
  by 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  

   a 
  parasitical 
  species 
  of 
  Glaviceps 
  (C. 
  purpurea). 
  The 
  

   mycelium 
  of 
  this 
  parasite 
  traverses 
  the 
  substance 
  of 
  the 
  

   grain, 
  and 
  so 
  entirely 
  changes 
  its 
  properties, 
  that 
  what 
  

   was 
  before 
  available 
  as 
  an 
  article 
  of 
  food, 
  now 
  becomes 
  

   decidedly 
  injurious. 
  Bread 
  made 
  of 
  ergotized 
  grain 
  

   produces 
  a 
  form 
  of 
  disease 
  called 
  ergotism, 
  which 
  has 
  

   at 
  different 
  times 
  overspread 
  large 
  districts 
  on 
  the 
  Con- 
  

   tinent, 
  as 
  though 
  it 
  were 
  the 
  visitation 
  of 
  the 
  plague. 
  

   The 
  genus 
  Claviceps 
  belongs 
  to 
  the 
  order 
  Sphwriacei, 
  

   which 
  is 
  nearly 
  allied 
  to 
  that 
  which 
  contains 
  the 
  truffle 
  

  

  