LESSONS IN BOTANY. 



Groat crime* anJ yrtat 

 attended tli, Btrolutum. 



tives which are only used before their noun, the adjective is 

 pea ted before each : 

 De grand* crimes et do grand* 



exot'M ucooniputfUcrout la Btfvoln- 



(7.) Finally many adjective*, especially when they are used 



ronoo to persons, have a different meaning aoooi 

 they precede or follow certain nouns. They are the follow- 

 ing: 

 Una Don homtno, a simple, artless 



l'u brave homme, a worthy man. 

 Una certalne hiitoiro, a certain 



story. 



rn cher . nf.uit, a dear child. 

 I'uo commune voix, a unanimous 



voice. 



I'u cruel hounne, a tiresome man. 

 La dernlere anntfe, the last year 



(of a series). 

 Uuo fausse clef, a false key: a 



skeleton Jtoy. 



Un furieux mentonr, an excessive 



liar. 

 Un galant homme, a gentleman. 



Uu grand homme, a great man. 

 Le grand air, the air of good 



society. 



Le haut ton, a haughty tone. 

 Uu honnete homme, an honest 



Lo jeune Pline, i/oung Pliny. 

 Un malhoiinete homme, a dis- 

 honest man. 

 Mauvals air, awkward appearance. 



Un mediant livre, a poor book. 



Horte eau, neap-fides. 



Un nouveau livre, a new book 



(another book). 

 Nul homme u'est parfait, no man 



it perfect. 



Un pauvre historien, a wretched 



historian. 

 Uu plalsant homme, a ridiculous 



man. 



Un petit homme, a short man. 

 Mes propres mains, my own 



hands. 



Un seul enfant, an only child. 

 Uu simple soldat, a private so!- 



dwr. 

 Uu trlste homme, a pitiful man. 



Un unique tableau, a single pic- 

 ture. 



Un vilain homme, an ugly, un- 

 pleasant man. 



Une vraie histoire, a mere sfory, 

 a Jib. 



85. COMPLEMENT OP ADJECTIVES. 

 (1.) The complement of an adjective is a noun or a verb 

 completing or defining its sense. Between the noun and the 

 adjective comes one of the prepositions a, de, dans, en, sur, 

 etc. : 



Vn homme boa, o 



man (un hommo do Wen). 

 Un homme brave, a brav* man. 

 Une histoire cerUlne, a rtiialU 



itory. 



Une robo chore, an 

 Une voix commune, an 



voice. 



Un hommo cruel, a rnil num. 

 L'aunt'e dernlere, but year. 



Uno clef fausse, a key belonging to 



another locfc (the wrong key). 

 Un lion furieux, a furiout lion. 



Uu hommo galant, a man atten- 

 tive to (he ladies. 

 Un homme grand, a toll man. 

 L'air grand, a noble apjiearance. 



Le ton haut, a loud tone. 



Uu homme honnete, a polite man. 



Pline le jeune, Plmy the younger. 

 Un homme malhonnete, an un- 



polite man. 



L'air mauvais, malicious appear- 

 ance. 

 Uu livre merchant, a biting, caustic 



book. 



Eau morte, .stagnant water. 

 Un livre nouveau, a book recently 



published. 

 Un homme nul, a man who is but 



a cypher, a fool. 

 Un testament nul, a will that is 



void. 

 UnTiistorien pauvre, an historian 



without pecuniary meant. 

 Un homme plalsant, an agreeable 



man. t 



Un homme petit, a mean man. 

 Mes mains propres, my clean 



hands. 



Uu eufaut 86Ul, a child alone. 

 Un soldat simple, < foolish soldier. 



Un homme trlste, a sorrow/uj 



man. 

 Uu tableau unique, a matchless 



picture. 

 Uu homme Vilain, a sordid, miserly 



man. 

 Une histoire vrale, a true history . 



Cet homme est digue de louange. 

 Ce gdudral est digue de com- 

 mander. 



This man is worthy of praise. 

 That general is worthy to com- 

 mand. 



In the first phrase, louange, in the second, commander, is the 

 complement of the adjective digne. 



(2.) The complement is not indispensable to the adjective. 

 It is added to it only to give the latter a certain definite 

 sense: 



With a complement. 

 Cet homme u'ust pas content 

 de son flls. 



That man is not pltnud with his 



Without a complement. 

 Cet homme u'est pas content. 



That man is not pleased. 



LESSONS IN BOTANY -XL\ 



SECTION CXXIII.-FUMOI 



FUKOJ of the genus BoUtut differ from UKHW of UM 

 JforiMM in baring, instead of gill*, a MTUM of vertkal tabee, 

 aggregated under the cap and encircling the eteo. which look. 

 when ^n altogether, like a slice of fine sponge. BoUim tdultt 

 oir are the specie* meet in vogue, though several 

 others are innocuous and agreeable. Itolet** edvUs is a l-g 

 fangtu from u to seven inches aoroes ; it varies in ooloor 

 from light-brown to bronie, bay, deep-brown, etc. The tab* 

 are at flnt white, then yellow ; hvitly, of an olive or yellow. 

 green. The item is always thick and solid ; at first white, bat 

 changing to fawn-colour ; a l^jaotifally mapped or 



meahed with roticulationn peooliar to iteelf . This pecis* ftraii 

 to hare been well known to the ancient Roman*, and appear* to 

 bare been that called 8uill\u. " As to the beet Ttfmptr of 

 cooking lloletut edulit, this most be left to the taste of the 

 gourmand ; in every way it is good. Its tender and juicy flash, 

 its delicate and sapid flavour, render it equally acceptable to 

 the plain and to the accomplished cook. It impart* a relish 

 alike to the homely hash and the dainty ragout, and may be 

 truly said to improve every dish of which it is a finnstitiMslt " 

 So says Dr. Badham, and he is backed by other authorities, 

 who agree in stating Boletus edulit to be excellent eating. 



><m is another genns of this tribe, which affords good 

 food. Oar illustration (Fig. 307) represents Hydnum rtpandwm, 

 a tawny-red species, which occurs in woods of oak and pine, 

 growing frequently with others. This is the only f*fBhnt 

 species in the genus Hydt.um, and is said to have a flavour of 

 oysters. In this genns the under surface of the cap presents a 

 series of conical teeth or bristles. For this reason Hydnum 

 repandum is called in Italy Steccherino, or " the hedgehog." 



The genns Fistulina presents us with but one edible species, 

 Fistulina hepatica. This is that strange-looking fungus which 

 resembles in its early stages a huge nd tongue, lapped out at 

 us from the trunk of some oak or chestnut, far above our heads i 

 whence its vulgar name in Italy is Lingua quereina or Lingua 

 di castagna. In its later growth, it looks more like a lump of 

 dark liver than any other substance, whence its specific name. 

 One individual of this species is mentioned as nearly five feet in 

 girth, and weighing above thirty pounds. " No fungus yields a 

 richer gravy," says Badham ; " and though rather tough, when 

 grilled it is scarcely to be distinguished from broiled meat, and 

 has hence been called ' vegetable beef-steak.' " 



We must now turn to the second tribe into which our order 

 is divided the Clavati. This, which furnishes a vast variety 

 of our most interesting fungi, supplies, nevertheless, but one 

 genus, which contains any edible species. This genns is 

 Clavana, and all its species are esculent They are called 

 Clavaria from their simple clavato form. The whole genus is 

 exceedingly pretty; some of them growing on trees, others 

 clustering amongst grass. Clavaria rugosa is of ivory smooth- 

 ness, and of the purest white. It grows from two to two and 

 a-half inches high, is simply branched, but each branch is 

 curved. It grows in clusters, and gives yon an instant reminder 

 of a handful of the convoluted kernels of walnuts after they 

 have been delicately peeled for eating. Another yellow species 

 grows widely amongst grass, so as to quite yellow the surface of 

 the place on which it has taken up its abode. We have seen 

 on a bill at Tor, near Torquay, acres of ground on which yon 

 could not walk many yards without treading on clustered 

 masses of this pretty pale yellow Clavaria, which smells (as 

 does its white congener, Clavaria rngosa) so purely mushroom- 

 like that you cannot doubt of its good qualities. Cfavaria 

 coralloides (Fig. 308), pronounced by Yittadini to be most 

 delicious, is erect, white, with unequal branches tipped with 

 red or violet ; and Clavaria amethystina (Fig. 309), of a most 

 delicate lemon colour. The mode of dressing fungi of this 

 genus is to cleanse them well from earth, then meat them over 

 with a little butter over a clear fire, and strain them, throwing 

 away the liquor. After this, you must stew them for an boor 

 witL salt, pepper, chopped chives, and parsley, moistening with 

 a little plain broth, and dredging occasionally with flour ; whoa 

 cooked, to be thickened with cream and yolks of eggs. 



The third tribe, Mitrati, ranks under its banners two genera 

 which produce excellent food. The first of these, Helvella. gives 

 us two edible species Heh-ella critpa and Helveti 



