in Greek and Latin Authors. 41 



sun." It is evident that he is speaking of the coval madre- 

 pores, the Agaricia (Lamouroux), or mushroom madrepore, 

 from the resemblance to the fungus, or agaric with its laminated 

 gills, which the people imagine to be a petrified fungus. It 

 is curious to note that this reference to the madrepore is the 

 only indication that the ancients noticed the beautiful form 

 of the laminated hymenium of the modern genus Agaricus • 

 the suillus is doubtless the Boletus edulis ; but there is no 

 notice of the porous hymenium which characterizes the genus 

 in any of the ancient authors. 



Athenseus quotes one more writer, Phanias, who wrote a 

 book on plants : " Some kinds produce neither bloom nor 

 any trace of generation by buds or by seeds, such as the 

 jmvk^, vSvov, Trrepk (fern), and e\i% " (Deipnosoph. ii. 56-59). 

 Between the time of Athenseus (a.d. 230) and the Greek 

 compilation known as ' Geoponica ' (yrj " the earth," and 7r6vo<? 

 "labour") there is an interval of some hundreds of years. 

 Neither the author nor the date of this work, which contains 

 interesting matter on precepts relating to rural economy, 

 is positively known. The date may be about A.D. 900. It 

 is curious to note that there is not a single reference to any 

 kind of fungus-plant in the works of the Roman writers on 

 husbandry (" scriptores rei rusticae "). In the ' Geoponica/ 

 xii. 17. 8, it is said that if any one has eaten a poisonous 

 boletus (ftcoXlTrjq (f)av\o<i),he must take as a remedy the juice 

 of cabbage. The " many-coated cabbage " was recom- 

 mended by Nicander, perhaps a thousand years before, and 

 probably the prescription continued more or less in vogue for 

 so many years. In another place (Geop. xiv. 24) myrtle- 

 berries are recommended as an excellent remedy against 

 poisonous fungi (0avaTO7rotb<; fivKi]<;). 



" In order to make fungi grow one must saw off the stump 

 of a black poplar and pour sour dough dissolved in water 

 upon the cut-off pieces. Black-poplar fungi soon appear; 

 but if you would have fungi to grow from the ground you 

 must select a spot of light soil on a hill where reeds grow ; 

 there you must collect together twigs and other inflammable 

 materials, and set all on tire just before rain is expected; if 

 the rain does not come you must artificially sprinkle the spot 

 with pure water, but the fungi thus produced are of inferior 

 quality." (Geopon. xii. 41.) 



One is here reminded of what Dr. Badham himself wit- 

 nessed at Naples. Here is his account : — " A third fungus, 

 which we have the means of producing ad libitum, is that 

 which sprouts from the pollard head of the black poplar 

 (Populus nigra, var. Neapolitana). These heads it is usual 



