MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 1031 



The natives of Lahore and Kashmir use the fungus in the form of pickles 

 or sauce. So far back as 1860, the Rev. Mr. Berkeley said that the Morel 

 was then an important article of commerce. He says that good " Ketchup " 

 can be obtained from various edible mushrooms. Morels also, says he, yield, 

 "when treated in the same way as mushrooms for " Ketchup, " an admirable 

 condiment. {See page 64, Berkeley's Outlines of British Fungology.) Loudon 

 refers to this fungus in his elaborate Encyclopaedia. So do Kerner and Oliver 

 in the History of Plants (English version, Vol. II., 1895, p. 682). The Morels 

 are designated as Saprophytic fungi, that is to say, fungi which grow on dead 

 and decaying organic matter. 



The several dried specimens of the Lahore Morchel now before you were 

 very kindly analysed for me by my former pupil and now my friend, Dr. A. 

 K. Turner, L. M. & S., Assistant Chemical Analyser of the Government 

 Laboratory, Byculla, Bombay. The following is the result of his analysis, 

 roughly speaking, in his letter to me, dated the 2nd instant : — 



Moisture „ 12-120 



Album, compounds ... ... 22*925 (containing N. — 3'668) 



Sugar 3120 



Starch Nil. 



Cellulose ... 12'000 



(Ash) Mineral matter 10-240 



Fat 4-800 



This analysis clearly shows that there is no starch in Morchel. It is there- 

 fore a puzzle to me why Sir George Birdwood has included this fungus, as has 

 been mentioned by him, under head " Starches " at page 262 of his highly 

 instructive work entitled "Vegetable Products of the Bombay Presidency. 

 (Bombay, 1865)". 



K. R. KIRTIKAR, Lt.-Col., f.l.s., i.m.s. (Retired). 



Andheri, Salsette, 6th March 1907. 



No. XXVI.— A FURTHER NOTE ON THE DISTRIBUTION 

 OF THE VARIETIES OF COBRA IN INDIA. 



In Vol. XVI., page 638, of our Journal, will be found a paper detailing the 

 distribution of the three varieties of Indian cobras as far as was then possible 

 from the 1,074 specimens received. The conclusions arrived at were that 

 Typica may be looked for in any part of India, more rarely in Burma, and 

 still more rarely in China. Cceca is the common cobra of the West part of the 

 Central Provinces and Central India and parts of the Frontiers. Fasciata 

 m eminently the Bengal cobra, and appears also to be the variety commonly 

 found to the east thereof in Burma and China, Since then (1st April 1905 to 

 31st December 1906) 68 cobras have been sent to the Laboratory, and notes of 

 six others bave been received from Major O. A. Smith, 27th Punjabis, Multan, 

 and Mr. E. H. Young, Ajmer. 



