Natural History of the Truffle. 397 



Enemies. — Man does not alone seek after truffles, which he 

 places on the tables of the rich ; both wild and domestic swine 

 are fond of this delicacy. In the woods of which these animals 

 are natives, man may save himself the trouble of endeavouring 

 to obtain truffles for his palate ; as, in this instance, they do not 

 share so fairly with us, as they did the acorns with our fore- 

 fathers ; they not only collect and root out the truffles in order 

 to eat them, but by turning over the soil, they prevent their 

 formation. 



The badger also, as well as the swincj is fond of truffles. 

 The gamekeeper, seeing the soil broken, often says : " A badger 

 has pricked, or has rooted, here." This expression, in places 

 where truffles are found, means, when translated from the 

 hunter's language : " Here a badger has eaten a truffle." The 

 red deer are remarkable for seeking and eating a peculiar 

 kind of globular fungus or truffle, which is called the hart- 

 truffle, hart-rut tniffie (Tuber cervinum), and they also consume 

 edible truffles; the roebuck, as I have been assured, is also 

 very fond of them, As domestic dogs are made use of in the 

 search for truffles, and sometimes eat them very greedily, it is 

 not to be doubted that the wild dog and the fox often dig for 

 them. Squirrels, mice, and red wood snails (Zyimax riifus), I 

 lately saw feeding upon this delicacy. 



Besides these enemies, many insects lay their eggs in truffles, 

 and dispose them to putrescence, or at any rate render them 

 useless ; because the larvae which arise from these eggs pierce 

 the truffles through and through, and impart to them a bitter 

 taste. Geoffroy observed two kinds of flies which pierce the 

 truffle, one blue or violet, the larvae of which dwelt in the sound 

 truffle, and a black one whose larv« inhabit the decayed 

 truffle. Morand, and Reaumur observed the larvae of another 

 fly, which is of a red brown colour. (See Memoir e sur les Vers 

 de Truffes^ et sur les Mouchcs qui en proviennent, par Morand, 

 Mem. de 1' Academic Royal des Sciences; annee 1782; Paris, 

 1 785 : and Reaumur's Memoir e pour servir a VHistoire des 

 Insectes.) Together w^ith these flies, I discovered a beetle in 

 truffles which pierces them in great numbers, making burrows 

 through them, which it continues in the earth. It is a species 

 bostrichus (Bostrichus Fabr. 5 Z)ermestes Linn.), and of the 

 size of the beetle that destroys the bark of the firs (Z)ermestes 

 piniperda Li?in.) ; but is nevertheless of a lighter red-brown 

 colour, has no hair, and no indentations on the wing-coverts. 



§ 8. The Use of Trtiffles. — Truffles are made use of as food ; 

 but not being found every where, they are consequently rare 

 and dear, and seldom appear except on the tables only of the 

 rich. They were known as a delicacy by the ancients, and 

 were especially esteemed amongst the Romans, as a dainty and 



