OF BRITISH FUNGI. 27 



Whoever has read Dr. Badham's " Esculent Fun- 

 guses of Great Britain " will not fail to recognize the 

 following observations : "I have this autumn myself 

 witnessed whole hundredweights of rich wholesome 

 diet rotting under trees ; woods teeming with food and 

 not one hand to gather it ; and this perhaps in the 

 midst of potato-blights, poverty, and all manner of 

 privations, and public prayers against imminent famine. 

 I have, indeed, grieved when I have considered the 

 straitened condition of the lower orders this year, to see 

 pounds innumerable of extempore beefsteaks growing 

 on our oaks in the shape of Fistulina hepatica ; Aga- 

 ricus fusipes, to pickle, in clusters under them ; Puff- 

 balls, which some of our friends have not inaptly 

 compared to sweetbread, for the rich delicacy of their 

 unassisted flavour ; Hydna as good as oysters, which 

 they somewhat resemble in taste ; Agaricus deliciosus, 

 reminding us of tender lamb kidney ; the beautiful 

 Yellow Chantarelle, that Kalon Kagathon of diet, grow- 

 ing by the bushel, and no basket but our own to pick 

 up a few specimens in our way ; the sweet nutty Bole- 

 tus, in vain calling himself edulis, where there was none 

 to believe him ; the dainty Orcella, the Agaricus 

 heterophyllus, which tastes like the craw-fish when 

 grilled ; the red and green species of Agaricus to cook 

 in any way, and equally good in all/' The faithful 

 remembrance and wholesome dread of poison lurking 

 beneath the cap of fungi, which have filled up pages 

 in the history of the past, mixed up with a little romance 

 and superstition, have combined to prevent the accor- 



