Natural History of the Truffle, 395 



numerously under the roots of the whitethorn (Cratae^gus 

 Oxyacantha), which shoots up with difficulty in thinly planted 

 woods and pollard districts, as under the oak. Single ones are 

 also found at the roots of other trees, and even at a distance 

 from all roots, under thin and not matted grass and similar 

 plants. That they are never found under apple, pear, and nut 

 trees, that where a truffle lies no grass or herbaceous plant 

 will grow, and that this is caused by the exhalation of the truffle, 

 as some maintain, is incorrect, and contrary to experience. I 

 have often been an eye-witness that truffles have been dug out 

 from under pear and apple trees, as also out of tufts of grass, 

 and soil covei'ed with grass seeds. 



In shady, moist, and fertile soil, truffles grow larger, and lie 

 nearer the surface, than in dry and barren places, that are not 

 shaded. In the first, they often rise with one half above the 

 earth, so as to be exposed to sight ; or they lie 1 in, or at most 

 2 in. deep, and grow to the largest size that truffles ever attain. 

 In the last situations, however, they are often dug out from the 

 depth of 6 in. and only as large as a hazel nut. But it is not 

 merely by the truffles rising above the surface of the earth, and 

 appearing to the sight, that they are discovered, there are other 

 indications that betray their hidden existence. In districts where 

 truffles of the sort described grow, the earth in certain places is 

 frequently arched up in the form of a hemisphere, having cracks 

 or clefts in it : one or more truffles are usually the cause of this. 

 An insect which pierces truffles and deposits its eggs in them, a 

 species of fly in considerable numbers, often continues where 

 truffles lie hid, and is, as I have often observed, chased away 

 by the search. Funke, in his Lexicon of Art {Kunst-Lexicon), 

 endeavours, though vainly, to deny this indication ; which, in- 

 deed, is of no use where truffles are sought for by the aid of 

 dogs. 



Truffles are sometimes found singly, sometimes a good many 

 together, in which latter case however, as may be easily sup- 

 posed, they are of different sizes, and are never so perfect, 

 as when only a single one is found, or a few are found together 

 in a favourable situation. Weidenbach, the most experienced 

 truffle-hunter in the neighbourhood of Carlsruhe, found last 

 autumn (1811), in my presence, under the roots of a white- 

 thorn, more than thirty truffles of different sizes, from that of a 

 pigeon's egg, to that of a bean. This, as he assured me, was 

 the only instance of his having found so many together. He 

 had never before found more than from twenty to twenty-two 

 together, in a practice of more than thirty years. 



In Piedmont and Upper Italy, truffles are said to be found 

 in stubble-fields, vineyards, and meadows. Whether this be 

 correct or not, I pretend not to determine. Notwithstanding 



