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in which they have grown ; for many species which in 

 this country are considered highly poisonous, on account 

 of their intensely acrid qualities, and avoided as such, 

 are eaten with impunity on the Continent. Mr. Berkeley 

 mentions his having been informed by a gentleman of 

 great acuteness and observation, that in some town of 

 Poland, where he was detained as a prisoner, he amused 

 himself with collecting and drying the various fungi 

 that grew within its walls, amongst which were,many 

 reputed dangerous, and that to his great surprise his 

 whole collection was devoured by the soldiers. It is 

 well known, indeed, that even the esculent fungi of this 

 country are not always safe to eat ; the qualities some- 

 times varying very considerably according to the nature 

 of the situations in which they occur. The common 

 edible mushroom of this country has sometimes proved 

 fatal on the Continent, so much so that it is invariably 

 excluded from the Italian markets as most pernicious. 

 The most useful and innocent species become poisonous 

 when growing in damp, dark localities, such as old de- 

 caying forests and cellars, where there is little circulation 

 of pure air. The late Professor Burnett, in his Outlines 

 of Botany, very judiciously remarks, that "in certain 

 situations, truffles, morells, and common mushrooms are 

 nearly flavourless, while in others their grateful tastes 

 and smells are highly developed ; and in a similar way 

 certain fungi, which are eatable in one country or when 

 gathered from one situation, are deleterious when grow- 

 ing in another ; this difference depending upon the 

 greater or less quantity of poisonous matter formed, the 

 production of which may be favoured or suppressed by 



