958 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 312. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

 One Thousand American Fungi; How to select 

 and cook the Edible ; Mow to distinguish and 

 avoid the Poisonous; giving full botanic de- 

 scriptions made easy for reader and student. 

 By Charles McIlvaine, assisted by Egbert 

 K. Macadam, Indianapolis. Bowen-Merrill 

 Co., with 65 plates, 34 colored, and numerous 

 cuts. Large 8vo. Pp. 704. 

 The fashion of gathering and eating fungi, 

 which has suddenly become almost a mania 

 with many people in this country, has called 

 forth a considerable number of books and tracts 

 intended to aid those who have no previous 

 knowledge of fungi to distinguish between the 

 edible and poisonous species. As is seen from 

 the title, the present work has for its object to 

 make the subject easy for the reader and the 

 student. The first thing which the student 

 demands is good illustrations, which, in the case 

 of most fungi classed as edible or poisonous, 

 must be colored in order to be recognized at 

 once. Unfortunately the colored plates of Dr. 

 McUvaine's book are not satisfactory. Too 

 many species are often crowded together on a 

 single plate, the drawing is too sketchy and the 

 colors, which have a washed-out look are not 

 true to nature. The plate of Clitocybe illudens is 

 almost the only one of the colored plates which 

 is at all satisfactory and, were it not for the 

 names attached, in many cases expert mycolo- 

 gists would be at a loss to know what species 

 are represented. On the other hand, the pho- 

 tographic reproductions are excellent and, 

 where color is not an essential feature, serve 

 their purpose admirably. Plate 158, a good 

 picture of Phallus Ravenelii, is marked Phallus 

 impudicus, although the veil characteristic of 

 that species is wanting. 



Turning to the text, we are told that the 

 book is the result of ten years' labor and that 

 the author has added over six hundred species 

 to the one hundred and eleven edible species 

 enumerated by the Rev. M. A. Curtis. From this 

 long practical experience of Dr. McIlvaine he 

 must have acquired a large fund of information 

 valuable to the would-be mycophagist. It is 

 to be regretted that the author's style is 

 marked by an absence of simplicity and clear- 

 ness, and that he is given to repetition and to 



frequent side remarks in which sentimentality 

 rather than scientific accuracy predominates. 

 A serious fault, due rather to the lack of clear- 

 ness in writing than to any desire to misrepre- 

 sent, is the mixing up of what the author has 

 himself observed with what he has learned 

 from the writings of other mycologists and, in 

 too many cases, one who is not already familiar 

 with the literature cannot tell where the quo- 

 tations from other writers begin and end. One 

 would like to know exactly what has been the re- 

 sult of Dr. McUvaine's own experience, and that 

 is not always easy to find out. What is said about 

 Bolefinus porosus illustrates this point. That spe- 

 cies is a common and striking fungus in the east- 

 ern part of the country and when raw it has a 

 most disagreeable taste which promises little to 

 the mycophagist. One would like to knov^f what 

 has been Dr. McUvaine's experience with this 

 species. On turning to p. 403 we find only 

 the following statement : ' ' Fine specimens 

 were sent to me by Mr. H. I. Miller of Terre 

 Haute and Dr. J. K. "Weist, Richmond, Ind. 

 They were in condition to be eaten and enjoyed. 

 No disagreeable odor was perceptible." Does 

 this mean that Dr. McIlvaine ate the specimens 

 and enjoyed them ? His statement is certainly 

 not explicit enough to satisfy those who have 

 been nearly nauseated eating this fungus raw. 

 Whether a fungus is edible or not often depends 

 on circumstances and in any work intended to 

 instruct students the conditions should be stated. 

 To take Gyromitra esculenta as an example, Plate 

 VI. is a somewhat sensational representation of 

 a group of dangerous fungi. A small but very 

 red devil is sitting under the shadow of a large 

 skull reading a book called toxicology. In the 

 foreground is a very bad picture of Oyromitra 

 esculenta which, from its surroundings, the 

 reader would infer to be deadly. But on p. 

 547, in speaking of this species, we find the 

 following : ' Since 1882 myself and friends have 

 repeatedly eaten it. In no instance was the 

 slightest discomfort felt from it. It was always 

 enjoyed. ' Now the facts in the case of the Oy- 

 romitra a,re these : as long ago asl882Bostroem* 

 showed that an active poison exists in this spe- 

 cies, but it is soluble in boiling water and there- 

 * Ueber die Intoxication durch die essbare Lorchel. 

 Eugen Bostroem, Leipzig. 1882. 



