314 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 194 5 



Toadstools have been eaten from the earliest times. There is no ref- 

 erence to them in the Bible, but classical writers leave us in no doubt 

 that fungi were well known as peculiar organisms of strange growth, so 

 well known indeed that they were the subject of puns. Accidents 

 sometimes occurred and, as these seem to be specially noted, it has been 

 assumed by some that the use of fungi as food was regarded as too 

 dangerous to be indulged in. What is more probable was that fungi 

 were a common food, but accidents were especially noted because of the 

 difficulty of distinguishing between wholesome and poisonous species. 

 It was comparatively simple to get a knowledge of what plants and 

 fruits are safe to eat for they are easy to recognize again, they are last- 

 ing, and, even if annual, they are constant in their time and place. 

 Consequently they all had names. Fungi, on the other hand, are diffi- 

 cult to describe, and the fleshy ones are of irregular occurrence and of 

 short duration. For this reason we find rules for distinguishing be- 

 tween edible and poisonous species rather than names and descriptions. 

 Many of these rules are still current — "peeling," and the nonblackening 

 of a silver spoon being the most widely believed, and this throughout 

 Europe, possibly owing to their being repeated in the old herbals. All 

 are utterly worthless, even dangerous. There is only one real test. 

 Many have tried it, and as there are numerous records of experiments 

 which ended in disaster, we have a mass of evidence which relieves us of 

 the necessity of personal trial. 



It is only in Great Britain that toadstools are rejected as food. 

 Eighty years ago, five or six species were on sale in Covent Garden 

 Market ; but later only the mushroom, wild or cultivated, was displayed. 

 It is hard to account for the British prejudice against them. It has 

 been suggested that it is because of our high standard of living, or 

 alternatively because of the absence of well-wooded country : but these 

 do not explain the fear most people have of them. 



In Continental countries with hard and long winters, fungi are dried 

 and pickled and form a staple food while the frosts last; they also serve 

 in place of meat during religious fasts. In all Continental countries 

 fungi are sold in the markets, and many towns have special fungus 

 markets. Usually there is some sort of control, and the number of 

 species allowed to be sold varies from half a dozen to more than 300. 



Though in Great Britain the chief use of toadstools is as appetizing 

 additions to other dishes, they have a certain food value. There is 

 need of more precise information on this, for many of the old analyses 

 led to extravagant claims. Darwin recorded that the Terra del Fue- 

 gians eat no vegetable food except Cyttaria and a few berries, whereas 

 Lettow-Vorbeck recounts that when, during the East African cam- 

 paign of the War of 1914-18 the difficulties with food had reached a 

 most embarrassing stage, the German troops were able to carry on 



