﻿98 
  A 
  PLAIN 
  AND 
  EASY 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  stanching 
  of 
  blood, 
  and 
  was 
  consequently 
  dried 
  and 
  

   preserved 
  by 
  many 
  a 
  good 
  housewife 
  in 
  days 
  gone 
  by, 
  

   and 
  is 
  still 
  considered 
  by 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  antique 
  dames 
  of 
  

   the 
  past 
  generations 
  as 
  a 
  sovereign 
  remedy 
  for 
  a 
  cut 
  

   finder. 
  The 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  spongy 
  portion 
  as 
  a 
  tinder 
  

   must 
  also 
  be 
  reckoned 
  amongst 
  the 
  achievements 
  of 
  

   the 
  past, 
  When 
  burnt, 
  the 
  fumes 
  of 
  this 
  fungus 
  are 
  

   said 
  to 
  possess 
  a 
  stupefying 
  narcotic 
  property 
  ; 
  in 
  this 
  

   form 
  the 
  Lycoperdon 
  is 
  still 
  occasionally 
  employed 
  to 
  

   stupefy 
  bees, 
  so 
  that 
  their 
  hives 
  may 
  be 
  robbed 
  of 
  the 
  

   honey 
  without 
  danger. 
  Lately 
  these 
  fumes 
  have 
  been 
  

   proposed 
  and 
  recommended 
  as 
  an 
  anaesthetic 
  in 
  the 
  place 
  

   of 
  chloroform. 
  But 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  of 
  all 
  uses 
  is 
  

   that 
  of 
  food, 
  to 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  already 
  alluded. 
  

  

  Lycoperdon 
  ccelatum 
  is 
  another 
  common 
  species 
  

   scarcely 
  attaining 
  so 
  large 
  a 
  size, 
  and 
  occasionally 
  found 
  

   growing 
  in 
  rings. 
  The 
  spores 
  in 
  this 
  species 
  are 
  yel- 
  

   lowish, 
  whilst 
  in 
  the 
  great 
  puff-ball 
  they 
  are 
  of 
  an 
  

   olive-colour. 
  When 
  this 
  puff-ball 
  is 
  dried, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  

   employed 
  as 
  amadou, 
  first 
  soaking 
  it 
  in 
  a 
  solution 
  of 
  

   nitre, 
  and 
  afterwards 
  drying 
  it. 
  It 
  is 
  questionable 
  

   whether 
  in 
  any 
  stage 
  it 
  is 
  wholesome 
  as 
  food. 
  

  

  The 
  pear-sh;iped 
  puff-ball 
  (L. 
  pyriforme), 
  to 
  which 
  

   allusion 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  made, 
  may 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  clus- 
  

   ters 
  in 
  almost 
  any 
  old 
  decayed 
  stump. 
  It 
  is 
  small 
  

   and 
  pear-shaped, 
  as 
  its 
  name 
  implies. 
  If 
  good 
  for 
  food 
  

   at 
  all, 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  during 
  its 
  young 
  state. 
  

  

  The 
  remaining 
  genera, 
  Scleroderma, 
  Polysaccum, 
  

   and 
  dnococcum, 
  contain 
  no 
  species 
  of 
  general 
  interest 
  

   li 
  lias 
  been 
  stated 
  that 
  the 
  powder 
  from 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  