CHAPTER VIII 



EDIBLE AND POISONOUS FUNGI 



The edible properties of certain fungi is not a modern discovery. 

 The subject is alluded to in many of the most ancient records 

 known. The ancient Greeks were experts in the discrimination 

 of edible species. The custom, too, is cosmopoHtan, both civilised 

 and savage nations throughout the world indulge in the pleasure 

 of eating fungi, or in other words, are mycophagists. 



It may be well to state emphatically, and at once, that the 

 various rule-of-thumb methods, sometimes followed by very un- 

 pleasant, if not fatal results, for the certain discrimination between 

 edible and poisonous kinds of fungi are absolutely valueless. 

 Among such may be mentioned the old statement that all fungi 

 having a skin that can be peeled off the cap, as in the common 

 mushroom, are edible. This statement is not correct. Again, it is 

 said that if a silver spoon, placed along with the fungi when cooking, 

 turns black, it is a sign that such fungi are poisonous. This again 

 is not correct. Dr. Cooke's dictum on this point is as follows : 

 Eat them ; if you live they are edible ; if you die they are poison- 

 ous. This, however, is not practicable, hence the only reliable 

 advice that can be given is : learn to know fungi correctly by their 

 proper characters, in the same way that you recognize flowering 

 plants, and do not attempt to eat fungi until you are quite certain 

 you know them correctly. The help of a more experienced person 

 is of great value on such occasions. 



The very common opinion that there is but one edible fungus, the 

 common mushroom, or Agaricus campestris, and that all others are 

 toadstools, and consequently poisonous, is a mistake. In fact, 

 there are probably a much greater number of edible fungi growing 

 in this country than there are truly poisonous ones. The greater 

 number of fungi are what may be termed neutral, that is, they are 

 not poisonous, but for one reason or another are not edible, either 

 on account of their woody or leathery consistency, absence of all 

 aroma and flavour, or on account of their diminutive size. There 

 are at least fifty kinds of fungi, many of which are fairly abundant 

 in our woods and fields, that are not only perfectly safe to eat, 

 but at the same time are worth eating, on account of the decided 

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