i8 



least half that number being of a first-rate quality ; Boletus 

 edulis is very good, nutritious, and wholesome, but Boletus 

 felleus must be shunned ; it has a bitter taste and pink 

 spores. The same is to be said of Boletus piperatus, which is 

 highly acrid — Boletus luridus, common and distinct enough 

 with its bright red under surface, and flesh turning blue 

 when bruised. Boletus satanas, a magnificent and rare 

 Fungus, is more virulent than the others, though not 

 perhaps so bad as its name would suggest, certainly not half 

 so bad as the beautiful, tempting, but terribly poisonous 

 Amanites. Boletus poison is irritant, and acts immediately ; 

 the symptoms are severe but soon subside and leave no after 

 effects. Indeed, the worst kinds, when dried, may be safely 

 stored and cooked. 



Other esculent non-agarics are the Chantarelle, looking 

 like a ball of gold, a well-known delicacy, which must be 

 also distinguished from its congener, the false Chantarelle : 

 Fistuliiia hepatica or " Liver " Fungus, which I have found 

 in Epping Forest, and which has been called the vegetable 

 beef-steak, its taste resembling beef in a remarkable manner, 

 it carries with it its own acid sauce ; it generally grows 

 on the oak. Then there are the Hydna, with spines in 

 the place of gills. The morell and the ti'uffle are both of 

 them well known ; and the giant puffball, often no larger than 

 an apple, but sometimes attaining the size of a child's head, 

 is very delicious when taken in a 30ung state, cut into slices 

 and fried in fresh batter. 



But I have said enough to show how much good and 

 nourishing food is stored up in these humble members of the 

 vegetable kingdom, and how much care and discernment is 

 necessary in attempting to use them for culinary purposes. 



