SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



57 



A SPRING MUSHROOM. 

 Bv Edward Step. 



"THF. twenty-third of April is dedicated to the 

 *■ memory of St. George. About that date 

 there begins to appear on downs and pastures a 

 noble fungus, to which, in consequence, the name 

 of St. George's mushroom lias been popularly 

 applied. Growing at a period when agarics are 

 rare, it affords a capital opportunity for those who 

 would like to eat other than the common mushroom 

 yet fear to run risks of mistaken identification, such 

 as may easily happen in Autumn when many 

 species are abundant. 



It is the Agaric us 

 (Tricholoma) gambo- 

 sns of Fries ; and 

 all who have 

 written upon the 

 pleasures of fun- 

 gus-eating, unite in 

 its praise. In 

 appearance it is 

 massive and solid- 

 looking, its stem 

 proportionately 

 short and thick, 

 and well able to 



AGARICUS GAMBOSUS, FR. 



bear the thick flesh of the smooth-skinned cap or 

 pileus. Its colour is uniformly creamy-white, or, as 

 Mr. Worthington Smith has, we think happily, 

 described it, " biscuit-coloured." Where it occurs 

 it will be found in large rings or segments of rings, 

 which get larger each year until they break up. 

 The individuals vary in size from three to six 

 inches across the pileus, which, when full-grown, 

 is somewhat flattened and cracked. When first it 

 makes its appearance from the soil, it is almost 

 spherical, the edges curled inwards (involute) and 

 tomentose. The flesh is soft, thick, and white. 

 The gills also are white, very numerous, crowded, 

 and connected with the stem by a somewhat 

 decurrent tooth. Spores white. 



The fungus has a strong odour which is generally 

 likened to that of new meal. Berkeley compared 

 it with the odour of Polyponts squamosum, to which 



P 



it is certainly very similar. Badham, who 

 strangely described this species under the name of 

 Agaricus prunulus, Vitt., says it is much appreciated 

 by the country people in Italy, who, besides eating 

 it fresh in a variety of ways, dry it and sell it at 

 from twelve to sixteen francs a pound. It is cut 

 into four or more portions, exposed to the air for a 

 few days and then threaded ; in the drying process 

 an additional aroma is developed, and this is 

 imparted to any dish in which portions of the dried 



fungus are included. 

 Badham men- 

 tions gathering ten 

 or twelve pounds 

 from a single ring 

 at Keston, in Kent, 

 and this record 

 has been much 

 quoted by sub- 

 sequent writers. 

 Eight or nine years 

 ago, I came upon 

 a monstrous ring 

 on Putney Heath 

 — not aperfect ring, 

 for a road cut off a slice — from 

 which one could have gathered 

 fifty or sixty pounds of this fungus 

 in good condition. I discovered 

 them at the right moment, and 

 apparently was the only person 

 who saw them that could appre- 

 ciate such a find, for when next 

 day I went for a second helping 

 I found the bulk of them had been 

 kicked to pieces. The ignorant 

 British public considers that any mushroom other 

 than those commonly sold in the shops, is dele- 

 terious to health, and should be destroyed. The 

 majority of these specimens were from four to six 

 inches across with very thick stems. That year the 

 ring had attained its maximum, and in after years 

 detached patches were all that could be found. 



The St. George's mushroom may be looked for, 

 not merely within the next week or so, but right 

 on until July. 



Although certain philosophers have used man's 

 cooking proclivities as a specific character separat- 

 ing him from other mammals, we can scarcely 

 regard gastronomy as one of the natural sciences. 

 Nevertheless, as the stomach is said to be the most 

 direct way to a Briton's heart, we will conclude 

 these notes with a brief reference to methods of 

 preparing gambosus for the table 



