b'Z OUTLINES OF BRITISH FUNGOLOGY. 



It is not, however, my intention to enter at length npon 

 the esculent properties of Fungi. To do so, would require 

 more spaee than I can command, and the work is done so 

 well in Dr. Badham's treatise on the subject,"^ and INIrs. Hus- 

 sey^s ' Illustrations of British INIycology,' that there is no 

 necessity for saying more upon the subject here.f In the 

 latter especially will be found some excellent receipts and a 

 vast variety of information, the result of actual experiment. 

 I am not, indeed, such an enthusiast on this point as my 

 lamented friends, but I am quite ready to subscribe to their 

 views as to the advantage which might be derived from the 

 use of many species. The accidents which arise in this coun- 

 try are very few, and generally due to the grossest ignorance. 

 It should, however, be observed, that it is not always the 

 poisonous properties of species that are to be questioned. A 

 man after a long day's fast, for instance, eats a pound or two 

 of Mushrooms badly cooked, and frequently without a proper 

 quantity of bread to secure their mastication, and is then 

 surprised that he has a frightful fit of indigestion. There 

 are, again, peculiarities of constitution, which will not admit 

 certain kinds of food, even of the most harmless description. 

 Some sorts of animal food — as pork, shell-fish, etc. — are ab- 

 solute poison to individuals ; and I have a friend who cannot 

 eat the smallest portion of an egg, however prepared, without 

 serious inconvenience. 



I believe a great deal frequently depends upon the quantity 

 of bread which is eaten with them. In countries where coarse 

 bread is largely consumed, raw vegetable diet, such as would 



* • The Esculent Funguses of England,' by the Rev. Dr. Badham, with 20 

 coloured plates ; 8vo. 



t ' Illustrations of British Mycology,' by Mrs. Ilusscy, with 140 coloured 

 plates ; 4to. 



