326 THE TRUE AND THE FALSE. 



lady said to me, the other day; a lady who knew something of 

 flowers, but nothing of cryptogams. " Take care ! " I replied, 

 taking from her hand the supposed prize ; " this is the false 

 mushroom ; and would suffice, if served up at your table, to 

 poison yourself and all your guests." 



I ought here to observe that my friend had narrowly escaped 

 death two years before, through regaling herself with a dish of 

 mushrooms of very dubious character. Among the symptoms 

 which she experienced, and which she described with medical 

 exactness, she particularly dwelt upon the cold sweats, accom- 

 panied by a sentiment of undefinable terror, which is nothing 

 else than the dread of death : it was the special symptom of 

 poisoning with an unwholesome fungus. 



Let us endeavour to make ourselves better acquainted with 

 this formidable enemy of epicures. You will have no difficulty 

 in finding it in any warm, close season, but especially in spring 

 and autumn. The toadstool thrives indifferently in the shade 

 of all the forest trees, but seems to prefer the oak and birch to 

 the pine and fir. A patch of soft greensward, at the foot of an 

 old oak, and in the neighbourhood of a "brawling stream " or 

 " tranquil pool," will generally be covered with fungi of this 

 description. The numerous synonyms attaching to it show how 

 greatly it has exercised the classifying spirit of our naturalists. 

 Some call it Agaricus muscarius, as if we should say J kill-fly 

 mushroom;" others, changing only the specific designation, 

 designate it Agaricus pseudo-aurantiacus, which signifies, 

 literally, " false orange," in allusion to the beautiful yellow 

 colour of the true aurantiacus. What is certain is, that our 



