USES OF FUNGI. 63 



induce dysentery here, is taken \A'ith impunity. Willdenow 

 informs us that for some weeks he lived on Fungi and coarse 

 bread, and enjoyed dui'ing tlie time the most excellent health. 

 It is, however, certain thai if the species were consumed indis- 

 criminately, without the use of neutralizing condiments, there 

 would be many fatal accidents. Even with care and know- 

 ledge, disasters may occur. Dr. Badham once suffered vio- 

 lently from simply tasting some of the spores of one of the 

 milky Agarics which he had collected ; and a fatal accident 

 was nearly happening to one of his friends from eating acci- 

 dentally a small piece of some Fly Agarics which had been sent 

 by him with a view of making a decoction to poison flies. The 

 schoolmaster in his parish was extremely ill on one occasion 

 from mistaking the tarragon-scented Agaricus Euosmus for 

 A. ostreatus, a species, it may be observed, scarcely worthy of 

 being the subject of experiment. 



Few species, however, have such virulent properties, and in 

 general the taste or texture of dangerous species is such as 

 render them unacceptable. The safest plan, where persons 

 venture on experiments, is never to try any which have a dis- 

 agreeable or forbidding smell, while those with a sAveet or fa- 

 rinaceous odour are generally safe ; never to use any species 

 except when perfectly sound, and to take care that they are 

 cooked in such a way as to secure their being tender and easy 

 of digestion ; and, above all, be their qualities what they may, 

 always to partake of them with moderation. If these rules 

 are attended to, and plenty of bread is eaten, there will be no 

 fatal accidents ; for it is presumed that those persons will 

 abstain altogether from their use, with whose constitutions 

 they never agree. 



The common Mushroom, the Traffic, and Morel, are im- 

 portant articles of commerce, but more especially the first, 



