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MINNESOTA SATE HORTICULTURAL SocIETY. © 39 
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preventive of such diseases is absolute cleanliness, both of person and 
premises. When in the room with a person having diphtheria, the handker- 
chief should be held over the mouth and nostrils. It will filter the air, 
keeping out a majority of the spores of the disease. 
Very few fungi are eaten in this country. Foods of all kinds are so 
plenty, that nobody thinks of resorting to ‘‘ toadstools.” During the war 
they were eaten by soldiers, sick, or tired of army diet. The ordinary 
mushroom is sometimes found in restaurants in large cities. But of the 
hundreds of species of edible fungi, some of them making the most delicious 
dishes known to the gourmand, scarcely half a dozen are ever eaten in the | 
United States. Besides the reason given, there is the other one, of danger. 
‘from poisoning if a wrong species is selected. One very frequently hears 
the inquiry, ‘‘ How can I tell the edible from the poisonous ?” There is no 
brief rule that will fit all cases. The edible species must be learned. We 
all know the difference between the woodbine and poisonous ivy, aconite 
and sorrel, nettles and pigweeds; we must become as familiar with the 
*<toadstools” as we are with the weeds. A few general cautions can, how- 
ever, be given. All fungi having an acrid taste, should be avoided; all those 
which turn blue when broken, those growing upon wood, and those baving 
a strong, unpleasant odor, are open to suspicion. The common mushroom 
(Agaricus campestris) may be known by the following characteristics: The 
gills or divisions of the under side, are first pink, then purple. There is a 
permanent ring or collar around the stem, (see figure,) and the spores are 
purple.* They may be obtained by cutting off the head of the mushroom 
and tapping it gen'ly over white paper. Mushrooms must not be sought in 
woods. The meadow mushroom (Agaricus arvensis) is found in open fields 
and pastures. It is larger than the common mushroom. Enormous 
quantities of these are eaten in England, France and Germany. In 
England, also, a species growing underground, called truffles, is much 
esteemed. In reality most of the fungi which are commonly known are 
edible. Tons of them are marketed daily in all the large cities of Europe. 
They are dried for winter use, and are made into ketchup in large quantities. 
At one establishment in London, twenty tons each week are received from 
different parts of England and made into ketchup. In times of commercial 
depression in England, when thousands of men, women and children are 
out of work, and therefore out of food, truffle hunting and poaching is their 
last resort. Fields in which they grow have to be guarded as closely as the 
game preserves. Trufiles ( Tuber aestivum) are found in loose soils, about a foot 
below the surface. They vary in size from that of a plum to that of a large 
potato. They are nearly black, with an irregular surface like a blackberry, 
which they may be saidtoresemble. The gathering of them gives occupation 
tomany people. Dogs, and sometimes pigs, are trained to find them. These 
peculiar fungi have a very agreeable flavor, which is not destroyed by cook- 
ing in any way. There is another very odd fungus found in Europe, called 
the ‘‘ beefsteak fungus” (Fistulina hepatica.) It is fleshy, juicy, and looks 
more like beet root than beefsteak. They are sometimes very large, and 
they are much esteemed by salad makers. 
Beside the use of fungi for food, several of them are useful in materia 
medica. The most common one is Ergot. This is the diseased condition of 
the seeds of grains and grasses. Ergot of rye is most commonly used. It 
* See Popular Science Monthly for May, 1877. 
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