The Life of the Fly 



taste should lead to suspicion of this ivory 

 dome ; but nobody seems to mind them. 



How, with such careless picking, are acci- 

 dents avoided ? In my village and for a long 

 way around, the rule is to blanch the mush- 

 rooms, that is to say, to bring them to the boil 

 in water with a little salt in it. A few rinsings 

 in cold water conclude the treatment. They 

 are then prepared in whatever manner one 

 pleases. In this way, what might at first be 

 dangerous becomes harmless, because the pre- 

 liminary boiling and rinsing have removed the 

 noxious elements.* 



My personal experience confirms the effi- 

 cacy of this rustic method. At home, we 

 very often make use of the ringed agaric, 

 which is reputed extremely dangerous. When 

 rendered wholesome by the ordeal of boiling 

 water, it becomes a dish of which I have 

 naught but good to say. Then again the 

 smooth-headed amanita frequently appears 

 upon my table, after being duly boiled: if it 

 were not first treated in this fashion, it would 

 be hardly safe. I have tried the blue-turning 

 boleti, especially the purple boletus and the 

 Satanic. They answered very well to the eulo- 

 gistic term of beef-marrow applied to them by 

 the mushroom-picker who scouted my prudent 



*A word of warning is necessary. Wliile the mildly 

 poisonous variety of mushrooms found in Fabre's neighbour- 

 hood may be rendered harmless by the treatment he de- 

 scribes, there are deadly varieties in the United States to 

 422 



