52 A PLAIN AND EASY ACCOUNT 



afford no despicable dish, though perhaps not quite 

 equal to the common mushroom. Even when more ad- 

 vanced, they may be converted into a very passable 

 ketchup. This condiment will then be equal to the 

 majority of samples sold as mushroom ketchup, made 

 too often from a very heterogeneous mixture of species, 

 and not always before these have passed into a state of 

 decomposition. Whether prepared for the table or for 

 ketchup, it should always be remembered that the 

 sooner the preparation takes place after the fungi are 

 gathered the better. The plants have been blamed 

 "many a time and oft" for being unwholesome, or 

 affording an indifferent ketchup, when the blame ought 

 to have rested in the kitchen. (PL 11.) 



Closely allied to the Maned Agaric is another species 

 (Goprinus atramentarius) greatly resembling it in 

 appearance, except that the scales are absent from the 

 pileus, which in this instance is smooth and of a greyish 

 colour. It is extremely common about old stumps and 

 also in gardens, flourishing on the naked soil. This 

 species is often found in large clusters, and for all escu- % 

 lent purposes should be collected young. It has not 

 only a similar habit, but also similar properties to the 

 foregoing. When fully expanded and melting away in 

 inky drops, it is unfit for anything except to replenish 

 the inkstand. Popular prejudice is as strong against 

 fungi of this kind as against the gigantic frondose 

 polypori and the puff-ball, and one might almost as 

 readily hope to convince the labourer in agricultural 

 districts that flint stones are convertible into soup as 



