CHAPTER XVIII 



INSECTS AND MUSHROOMS 



* T were out of place to recall my long rela- 

 ■*• tions with the boletus and the agaric if the 

 insect did not here enter into a question of 

 grave interest. Several mushrooms are edible, 

 some even enjoy a great reputation; others are 

 formidable poisons. Short of botanical studies 

 that are not within everybody's reach, how are 

 we to distinguish the harmless from the venom- 

 ous? There is a widespread belief which 

 says that any mushroom which insects, or, 

 more frequently, their larvae, their grubs, ac- 

 cept can be accepted without fear; any mush- 

 room which they refuse must be refused. 

 What is wholesome food for them cannot fail 

 to be the same for us; what is poisonous to 

 them is bound to be equally baneful to our- 

 selves. This is how people argue, with ap- 

 parent logic, but without reflecting upon the 

 very different capabilities of stomachs in the 

 matter of diet. After all, may there not be 

 some justification for the belief? That is what 

 I purpose examining. 



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