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OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



To any of you that may not know it already, I will 

 first say that the truffle is a sort of mushroom always 

 growing beneath the soil, more or less deep, never 

 in the open air. In shape it is quite different from 



ordinary mushrooms. It is 

 round and plump, varying in 

 size from that of a walnut to 

 that of a man's fist, has a 

 wrinkled surface, and its 

 flesh is black, marbled with 

 white. The truffle is the 

 best liked of mushrooms, es- 

 pecially on account of its 

 Truffle perfume. 



"To discover it under the ground, sometimes sev- 

 eral feet deep, sight is no guide, for nothing above 

 reveals the presence of the precious tubercle. Scent 

 alone will do the work. But however pronounced 

 the aroma of the truffle may be, it is not strong 

 enough for us to perceive it through a thick layer of 

 earth ; we must have recourse to the scent of an ani- 

 mal much better endowed in this respect than we. 

 The aid invoked in these circumstances is frequently 

 the pig, itself very fond of truffles and quick to dis- 

 cover them, guided merely by their odor. At the be- 

 ginning of winter, accordingly, the season of this 

 mushroom's maturity, the pig is taken into the 

 woods. Attracted by the odor that exhales from the 

 ground, the animal digs with its snout wherever the 

 truffles are concealed. But if allowed to finish its 

 work, it would reach the tubercle, which would im- 



