IV. 



USES. 



THE rigid utilitarian will hardly bo satisfied with the short 

 catalogue which can be furnished of the uses of fungi. Except 

 ing those which are employed more or less for human food, very 

 few are of any practical value in arts or medicine. It is true 

 that imperfect conditions of fungi exert a very important influ- 

 ence on fermentation, and thus become useful ; but, unfortu- 

 nately, fungi have the reputation of being more destructive and 

 offensive than valuable or useful. Notwithstanding that a large 

 number of species have from time to time been enumerated as 

 edible, yet those commonly employed and recognized are very 

 few in number, prejudice in many cases, and fear in others, mili- 

 tating strongly against additions to " the number. In Great 

 Britain this is especially the case, and however advisable it may 

 be to exercise great care and caution in experimenting on untried 

 or doubtful species, it can only be regarded as prejudice which 

 prevents good, in fact, excellent, esculent species being more 

 extensively used, instead of allowing them to rot by thousands 

 on the spots where they have grown. Poisonous species are 

 also plentiful, and no golden rule can be established by means 

 of which any one may detect at a glance good from bad, 

 without that kind of knowledge which is applied to the dis- 

 crimination of species. Yet, after all, the characters of half 

 a dozen good esculent fungi are acquired as easily as the 

 distinctions between half a dozen birds such as any ploughboy 

 can discriminate. 



The common mushroom {Agaricus campestris) is the best 



