BOOK I. 



EDIBLE FUNGI. 



G85 



478 



SECT. XIV. Edible Fungi. 



4336. Only one species of edible fungi has yet been introduced to the garden, though 

 there can be no doubt the whole would submit to, and probably be improved by, cul- 

 tivation. All of them are natives of Britain, and may be gathered wild at certain sea- 

 sons, so that though they do not enter into the plot of the cottager, they are, or may- 

 be, enjoyed by him. In Poland and Russia, there are above thirty edible sorts of 

 fungi in common use among the peasantry. They are gathered in all the different stages 

 of their growth, and used in various ways : raw, boiled, stewed, roasted; and being 

 hung up and dried in their stoves or chimneys, form a part of their winter stock of pro- 

 visions. Fungi, however, are not equally abundant in Britain, owing to the general 

 cultivation of the soil ; and therefore the good sorts being little familiar to the cottager, 

 most of them are passed over as deleterious. Indeed the greatest caution is requisite in 

 selecting any species of this tribe for food ; and though we have given a catalogue both 

 of the good and bad sorts of mushrooms, we can advise none but the botanist to search 

 after any but the common sort (Agaricus campestris) as food. 



SIIBSECT. 1. Cultivated Mushroom. Agaricus campestris, L. and Sowerby ; A. edulis 

 of Bulliard. (Eng. Sot. Fungi, t. 1.) Cryptogamia Fungi, L. and of the natural 

 order of Fungi Gymnocarpi, Persoon. Champignon Comestible, Fr. ; Essbare lil'dt- 

 terschamme, Ger. ; and Pratajuolo, Ital. (Jig- 478.) 



4337. The mushroom is a well known native vegetable, 

 springing up in open pastures in August and September. 

 It is most readily distinguished, when of middle size, by its 

 fine pink or flesh-colored gills, and pleasant smell; in a 

 more advanced stage, the gills become of a chocolate color, 

 and it is then more apt to be confounded with other kinds/ 

 of dubious quality ; but that species which most nearly ' 

 resembles it, is slimy to the touch, and destitute of the fine 

 odor, having rather a disagreeable smell : further, the 

 noxious kind grows in woods or on the margins of woods, 

 while the true mushroom springs up chiefly in open pastures, 

 and should be gathered only in such places. 



4338. Use. The garden-mushroom is eaten fresh, either 



stewed or boiled ; and preserved as a pickle, or in powder, or dried whole. The sauce 

 commonly called ketchup (supposed, by Marty n, from the Japanese, kit-jap,) is, or 

 ought to be, made from its juice, with salt and spices. Wild mushrooms, from old 

 pastures, are generally considered as more delicate in flavor, and more tender in flesh, 

 than those raised in artificial beds. But the young, or button mushrooms, of the cul- 

 tivated sort, are firmer and better for pickling; and in using cultivated mushrooms, 

 there is evidently much less risk of deleterious kinds being employed. (Neill and 

 Martyn.} 



4339. Species. The following catalogue of edible and poisonous mushrooms is taken 

 from Sowerby's splendid work on English fungi. 



4340. General criteria of wholesome and deleterious fungi. Unwholesome fungi will 

 sometimes spring up even on artificial beds in gardens ; thus, when the spawn begins to 

 run, a spurious brood are often found to precede a crop of genuine mushrooms. The 

 baneful quality of the toad-stool {A. virosus} is, in general, indicated by a sickly nauseous 

 smell, though some hurtful sorts are so far without any thing disagreeable in the smell, 

 as to make any criterion, drawn from that alone, very unsafe. The wholesome kinds, 

 however, invariably emit a grateful rich scent. 



4341. Antidote to poisonous sorts. All fungi should be used with great caution, for 

 even the champignon and edible garden-mushrooms possess deleterious qualities when 

 grown in certain places. All the edible species should be thoroughly masticated, before 

 taken into the stomach, as this greatly lessens the effects of poisons. When accidents of 

 this sort happen, vomiting should be immediately excited, and then tne vegetable acids 

 should be given, either vinegar, lemon-juice, or that of apples ; after which, give ether 

 and antispasmodic remedies, to stop the excessive bilious vomiting. Infusions of gall- 

 nut, oak-bark, and Peruvian bark are recommended as capable of neutralising the poi- 

 sonous principle of mushrooms. It is, however, the safest way not to eat any of the good 

 but less common sorts, until they have been soaked in vinegar. Spirit of wine and vinegar 



