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able neglect : "I have myself witnessed whole hundred- 

 weights of rich wholesome food rotting under trees ; 

 woods teeming with food, and not one hand to gather 

 it ; and this perhaps in the midst of potato blight, 

 poverty, and all manner of privations, and public prayers 

 against imminent famine. I have indeed been grieved 

 to see pounds innumerable of extempore beefsteaks grow- 

 ing on our oaks in the shape of Fistulina hepatica,; 

 Agaricus fusipes to pickle in clusters under them ; puff- 

 balls, which some of our friends have not inaptly com- 

 pared to sweetbread, for the rich delicacy of their un- 

 assisted flavour ; Hydna as good as oysters, which they 

 somewhat resemble in taste ; Agaricus deliciosus, re- 

 minding us of tender lamb-kidneys ; the beautiful yellow 

 chantarelle, growing by the bushel, and no basket but 

 our own to pick them up ; the sweet nutty-flavoured 

 Boletus, in vain calling himself edulis where there are 

 none to believe him ; the dainty Orcella, the Agaricus 

 heterophyllus, which tastes like the craw-fish when 

 grilled ; the Agaricus ruber and Agaricus virescens, to 

 cook in any way, and equally good in all ; these are 

 among the most conspicuous of the edible funguses." 



There are at least thirty kinds of esculent fungi in 

 Great Britain which may be safely used at table, and 

 are as good, if not better than the common mushroom, 

 which appears to be the only species whose merits are 

 at all appreciated. Agaricus Georgii, so called from its 

 usually appearing in this country so early as St. George's 

 day about the beginning of May though generally 

 rejected by housekeepers in the country as unwholesome, 

 is frequently sold in London, under the name of Whits- 



