52 MYCOPHAGY. 



when bruised. That from the champignon is excellent, 

 but so strong that it requires to be used with caution." 



Even when confessing that he is not so enthusiastic 

 a rnycophagist as his friends Mrs Hussey and Dr Bad- 

 ham, Berkeley subscribes to their views as to the ad- 

 vantage derivable from the use of many species of 

 fungi. In fact, he attributes the injurious effects fre- 

 quently exhibited, not so much to their poisonous quali- 

 ties as to the gluttonous appetites of those devouring 

 them. A man, after a day's fast, eats a pound or two 

 of mushrooms badly cooked, and frequently without a 

 proper quantity of bread to secure their mastication, 

 and is then surprised that he has a frightful fit of indi- 

 gestion. Those desirous to practise salutary mycophagy 

 must partake of the tempting vegetable beef-steaks in 

 moderation, and eat plenty of bread along with well- 

 cooked and perfectly sound fungi. A half- rotten mush- 

 room spoiled in the cooking, moreover, is not " a dainty 

 dish to set before the king ; " and we may be sure that 

 it was not such an unsavoury morsel that, by Agrip- 

 pina's directions and Locusta's cookery, had the honour 

 to administer " the happy despatch " to the Emperor 

 Claudius. 



Knowing that perhaps no country is richer than ours 

 in excellent fungi, more than thirty species abounding 

 in our woods, we cannot but regret the popular unac- 

 quaintance with what Koques styles the manna of the 

 poor. In France, Germany, and Italy, funguses not 

 only constitute for weeks together the sole diet of 

 thousands ; but the residue, either fresh, dried, or vari- 

 ously preserved in oil, vinegar, or brine, is sold by the 

 poor, and forms a valuable source of income to those 

 who have nothing else to bring to the market. So 

 thoroughly ignorant of all this are we, that of our Scot- 

 tish readers we question if a dozen ever tasted a fungus 

 preserved in any of those various ways by which its 

 dangerous properties are greatly diminished. There is 

 some excuse for this. There is no British Inspector of 



