EDIBLE FUNGI. 147 



as safe and wholesome. In every case I began with only 

 a single mouthful. No ill effect following, I made a 

 second essay upon two or three mouthfuls, and so on 

 gradually until I made a full meal of them. Fortunately, 

 I have never blundered upon any kind that was mis- 

 chievous, although I have eaten ' freely of forty species. 

 This is due, perhaps, to my general acquaintance with 

 species that have been long used in Europe, and hence I 

 have made no experiments upon new species which had 

 not some affinity or analogy with them. 



" For instance, A. campestrisa.nd.A.arvensis being whole- 

 some, I did not doubt but that A, amygdalinus (a new 

 species closely allied to A. arvensis) might be safely at- 

 tempted, and it has proved equally safe and palatable. 

 Indeed, this may be regarded as the safest of all species 

 for gathering, as it can be discriminated from all others 

 even by a child or a blind person. Its taste and odour 

 are so very like those of peach kernels or bitter almonds, 

 that almost invariably the resemblance is immediately 

 mentioned by those who taste it crude for the first time. 

 This flavour is lost by cooking, unless the mushroom be 

 underdone. When thoroughly cooked I cannot myself 

 distinguish it from A. campestris. One or two persons 

 have expressed the opinion that they can distinguish it, 

 and that it is not quite so good. Others, again, are 

 equally positive that it is better. In the crude state I 

 deem it the most palatable of all mushrooms, as it leaves 



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