THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



and the spores are born inside on threads, 

 and when the pufiFball is ripe, the skin 

 cracks and the spores escape like a cloud 

 of dust. 



In still another kind of fungus the 

 spores grow inside enclosed in a lot of 

 small sacs, each of which holds a certain 

 number. These fungi have to wait for 

 decay to set the spores free. The truffle 

 of England and France belongs to this 

 class. In a cross section of it the little 

 oval shaped sacs may be seen crowded 

 with spores. This fungus is round and 

 is buried several inches under ground so 

 that men have to dig for it, and often de- 

 pend on dogs to scent it out. In France 

 when a wide awake boy sees his dog 

 pawing industriously at the foot of a 

 tree, he is on the alert for truffles at 

 once, and will start to digging himself 

 for this marketable delicacy. 



The morel or American truffle as it is 

 sometimes called, has its spores imbedded 

 in the same way, although it does not 

 resemble its foreign cousin, for it grows 

 above ground. It is not so well known 

 here as in France and England. Al- 

 though there is not so great a delicacy as 

 the truffle, yet it is eaten quite freely. 



I have read that in Yorkshire the wo- 

 men that gather cowslips to make cows- 

 lip wine, took a few morels in the corner 

 of their baskets in hope of making an ex- 

 tra shilling. 



The only difficulty in cooking it is 

 that the earth is apt to get into the pitted 

 surfaces, and the morel has to be well 

 washed and dried in a napkin before it is 

 put on to stew, otherwise one is liable to 

 eat a considerable quantity of their al- 

 lotted peck of dirt, in one meal. 



This well marked and easily recogniz- 

 ed species grows commonly in some parts 

 of the country and is not found in other 

 places. It comes up in April and May, 

 and is fond of grassy places near streams. 

 There is no danger in trying it if one is 



fortunate enough to be where it grows 

 for it has no dangerous relatives that 

 parade in sheep's clothing trying to pass 

 themselves off as the genuine article. 



There is a very palatable substitute for 

 pan cakes or ^%^ plants, in some species 

 of the puff ball group of fungi. All the 

 species of puff balls or Lycoperdons are 

 edible, that is they are not poisonous ; 

 but some are not very palatable, for in- 

 stance those with warty yellow skins, 

 and those that are all inky black inside 

 can scarcely be considered tempting. 

 The giant puff ball is a delicious article 

 of diet. Puff balls must be gathered at 

 just the right time, however, when the 

 insides are white and fleshy for when 

 they have yellow stains inside they are 

 not fresh, and if they are cottony and 

 dusty it shows that the spores are formed 

 on their threads and they are too old to 

 be good. 



The giant puff ball will sometimes 

 grow to be 20 inches in diameter, but it 

 is then too apt to be like cotton wool to 

 make good tritters for any day in the 

 year except the first of April. The best 

 and most convenient size to cook is a 

 medium one about the size of an apple. 

 The skin should be removed and the puff 

 ball sliced, as one would a tomato or egg 

 plant, and then be dipped in batter or 

 ^•gZ^ and fried. 



One enthusiastic Italian mycophagist 

 says that when the puff ball is con- 

 veniently situated one should only take 

 a single slice at a time, cutting it off 

 horizontally and very carefully. It will 

 then go on growing, and one can have a 

 fresh fritter every day in the week. Pos- 

 sibly the Italian gentleman had a castle 

 in a ravine where the puff balls grew 

 thick about his kitchen door. Personally 

 I should hate to have to go up to the 

 Bronx every morning to cut my fritter. 



Before advancing to the more compli- 

 cated fungi that have pores, there are 



