199 



E 1. Scleroderma vvilgare, Fr. B., pi. 15, f. 4 in part. Huss i., 

 t. 17. Common on downs and thickets. 



2. S. verrucosum, P. Grev., t. 48. Huss., i., t. 17. Chippenham. 



We have two out of four British species, a new species for this 

 country having been met with at the meeting of the W oolhope 

 Field Club in October, 1870, by Dr. Bull, of Hereford, viz., 

 Scleroderma geaster, Fr., distinguished by its thick peridium 

 bursting at th^ apex in a stellate manner. Vittadini places this 

 genus among those genera of fungi which produce their sporidia 

 ■within a sac or ascus, but it appears to us that he mistook the 

 usual granular or oleaginous contents of an immature ascus for 

 true sporidia ; if a fragment of a Scleroderma be examined in the 

 microscope at a very early period it will be seen that the spores are 

 formed upon basidia as in Lycoperdon. A notice in the "Gardener's 

 Chronicle" for December 24th, 1870, compels us to place a sign 

 indicating its edible quality, against Scleroderma vulgare, although 

 we have no desire to verify its properties ourselves. An article in 

 the " Food Journal" is to the following eifect : — " I was surprised 

 to have Sclei-oderma vulgare submitted to me, and to find that it 

 has been largely eaten, and pronounced very good. It is only in 

 the young state, of course, that any question could arise about it ; 

 when old it is filled with a mass of loathsome dust, like its allied 

 puff-balls. Under a false name it has been largely employed at 

 Paris instead of the truffle of Perigord, to adulterate the Perigord 

 pies, the quality of which was, in consequence, much deteriorated. 

 It frequently appears in the market of Mons, and is sent from 

 Belgium in great quantities to Paris. Some pains are taken to 

 guard it in its place of growth, by covering it with eai-th, until of 

 sufficient size, against the ravages of animals, especially of magpies." 

 Corda figures it under the name of Pompholyx sapidum, and 

 considers it superior to the black or white truffle. Dr. Bull, of 

 Hereford, says it is very dangerous at an early age. The wholesome 

 quahty of fungi appears to depend on local, or climatic, conditions ; 

 the same species may be deleterious or not, according to circum- 

 stances. It appears therefore that this species is dangerous when 

 very young, and loathsome when old, so that it must be caught just 

 in the nick of time to be serviceable for kitchen use. 



