6 A mil versa) •[/ A ddi 'ess. 



difficulty is to discover why it is the only known edible 

 Fungus in this country, and whence the prejudice arose 

 against the others. It is not the Fungus most easily recog- 

 nised. It would be much easier to make a mistake in 

 gathering the common mushroom than in gathering Lac- 

 tarins deliciosus, e.g., which could not, if once known, be 

 possibly mistaken for anything else. The dark orange juice 

 which it copiously exudes is an infallible mark of it. People 

 are afraid of being poisoned, and they are quite right. But 

 there is no need for their being poisoned. The mushroom 

 does not poison them, if they gather it in good condition, 

 and do not eat too much of it. Many other kinds they 

 would find as wholesome and as toothsome as the mushroom, 

 such as Agarlcas gambosus, the St. George's mushroom of 

 May; Agarlcas procerus, the ringed umbrella mushroom; 

 Ag. primulas ; lioletus edalls ; Cantharellua c i ba rlus, the 

 chantarelle of France, with its delicious scent of apricots 

 when drying; Ht/dnum repemdwm, very common in fir 

 woods, and easily recognised ; Marasmius arcades, the 

 champignon, or Fairy -ring mushroom ; Morcliclla escidenta, 

 the too rare morel ; Coprinus cumatus ; Helvetia cHspa } 

 and many others. These are continually kicked aside as 

 cumbering the ground, as ugly and noxious things, but it 

 is to be hoped that some day their worth will be more 

 generally known. In some parts of Europe the peasantry 

 find their chief diet in Fungi during part of the year, and it 

 is not in accordance with our national thrift to allow so 

 much valuable food to rot upon the earth. 



The question is very often asked, " How am I to know a 

 wholesome from a poisonous mushroom ( " and the only 

 answer that can be given is, that no general rule will apply. 

 An ardent experimenter in this direction told me the other 

 day that he ate every kind that did not burn his mouth 

 when raw. I am not sure that I should like to adopt that 

 rule myself. One ought to know the properties of a Fungus 

 before eating it. There are at least a dozen common Fungi 

 that are recognised as being wholesome and good, and any 

 one who wishes to eat them must first learn to know them, 



