ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE EDIBLE FUNGUSES OF 

 HEREFORDSHIRE. 



By Dr. BULL. 



(Continued from Page 167 of the Volume of Transactions for the Year 1867. J 

 Read Mat 22nd, 1868. 



Since our last meeting in March, the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, the dis- 

 tinguished mycologist, has attended a meeting of the " Food Committee" of the 

 Society of Arts for the purpose of giving information on the subject of Funguses 

 as an article of diet. A full report of his observations and the discussions 

 upon them, is given in the Journal of the Society of Arts, for last Saturday, May 

 15th, to which I beg leave to refer you with much satisfaction. His opinion is 

 most favourable. " In many cases," he says, "'funguses will make a vei-y good 

 substitute for meat," and he "■ thinks there is no doubt that a great deal of very 

 valuable food is wasted and neglected." Throughout his observations he endea- 

 vours to combat the very great prejudice existing against them, especially, he 

 says, in Scotland and Wales, and then comments at some length on the several 

 species which he considers most useful and valuable. Prominent amongst these, 

 you will be glad to know, are the three which appear in the volume of the 

 Woolhope Club's Transactions for 1867, the Marasmius orcades, or Fairy-ring 

 Champignon ; the Lactarius (Miciosus, or Red-milk Agaric ; and the Agaricus 

 procerus, or Parasol Agaric. 



Amongst the instances given of the usefulness of agarics as an article of 

 diet, Mr. Berkeley says on the good authority of Dr. Curtis, of South Carolina, 

 that " dtiring the late unfortunate war between the Northern and Southern 

 States of America, when in the latter part of the time the people of the Southern 

 States were very much pressed for food, they found Funguses of very great im- 

 portance to them." He mentions again the case of a schoolmaster, a man of 

 intelligence in his own village, who informed him that at a time when he could 

 not afford to buy meat he kept his family for several months upon difierent 

 species of mushrooms. 



The subject has been so recently entered into at length before the Club that it 

 is not necessary at this time to make any further quotations from this interesting 

 paper. As our "Illustrations" of the several Edible Funguses are carried on it 

 will be very serviceable as giving the valuable opinion and experience of so 

 high an authority. 



