THE COMMON MUSHROOMS. 97 



would touch it. " It is reckoned one of the fiercest 

 imprecations/' writes Professor Sanguinetti, " amongst 

 our. lower orders, infamous for the horrible nature of 

 their oaths, to pray that one may die of a Pratiolo ;" and 

 although it has been some years registered among the 

 esculent funguses of Milan and Pavia (on the authority 

 of Vittadini), it has not yet found its way into those 

 markets. Mr. AVorthington G. Smith, in his " Mush- 

 rooms and Toad-stools/' qualifies this statement of Dr. 

 Badham. 



Agaricus campestris is not generally appreciated in 

 Italy, and indeed is seldom eaten, and never appears in 

 the markets, for the simple reason that there would be 

 no sale for it. There is an edict in existence ordering 

 certain fungi to be thrown into the Tiber, but it is now, 

 and has long been altogether effete; and whilst there is 

 an abundance of A. Caesar eus (avowedly the most delicious 

 of all fungi) for the markets of Italy, it is not to be ex- 

 pected the consumption will be given up for another and 

 little known species. 



The Modes of Cooking this Species. " The mushroom, 

 having the same proximate principles as meat, requires, 

 like meat, to be cooked before these become changed. 

 The Ag. campestris may be prepared in a great variety 

 of ways : they give a fine flavour to soup, and greatly 

 improve beef- tea; where arrowroot and weak broths 

 are distasteful to the patient, the simple seasoning 



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