THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIVE 

 VALUE OF SOME EDIBLE AMERICAN FUNGI.* 



BY LAFAYETTE B. MENDEL. 



THE collection and spreading of information regarding 

 fungi has lately received considerable attention. The efforts 

 in this direction have been confined for the most part to de- 

 scriptions of the common species, their peculiarities of growth 

 and distribution. Especial consideration has been devoted to 

 the variations among the fungi as regards toxicity ; but accur- 

 ate statements regarding chemical composition and possible 

 nutritive value are largely wanting. The following extract 

 from a recent monograph will serve to illustrate the current 

 opinions. In referring to the edible mushrooms, it states: 

 " The general opinion is, that mushrooms constitute a very 

 nutritious and sustaining diet. Chemical analysis and personal 

 experience indicate this. The former has shown that in their 

 dry matter they contain from 20 to 50 per cent of protein or 

 nitrogenous material. They may, therefore, well be called 

 a kind of vegetable meat, and be used as a substitute for 

 animal food. Like other vegetables they are largely com- 

 posed of water, which is from 80 to 90 per cent of the 

 whole. . . . The presence of so much nitrogenous material 

 induces rapid decay and loathsome decomposition in them. 

 ... A hearty meal on mushrooms alone would be about as 

 reasonable as a dinner on nothing but beefsteak, and might be 

 expected to be followed by similar ill consequences."! 



In view of the increasing importance of fungi as articles of 



* Eeprinted from the American Journal of Physiology, vol. I. 



t Peck C. H., Keport of the New York State Botanist, 1895, p. 113. 

 Cf. also Peck, Mushrooms and their uses, 1897, p. 4. For the source of the 

 statements quoted, Professor Peck has referred the writer to the Atlas of 

 Champignons, by Kichon and Rose, and to Les Champignons, by Cordier 

 both of which it has been impossible to consult. 



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