92 EDIBLE MUSHROOMS 



The application of the title "horse -mushroom" to 

 this last-mentioned species was generally supposed to 

 be referable to the same popular tra- 

 The "horse" ditions of which we see the analogies 

 mushroom in the names horse -weed, horse -nettle, 

 horse -balm, horseradish among the 

 herbs — the prefix " horse " referring to the element of 

 coarseness or rank growth. But in the instance of 

 the mushroom it bears a deeper significance, as this 

 ample cosmopolitan variety of the Campestris, which 

 follows the horse all over the world, from stable and 

 through lane to pasture, and which can only be 

 grown in the manure of this animal, is now generally 

 believed to be a secondary, exaggerated form conse- 

 quent upon the following conditions : 



The spores of the Campestris are shed in myriads 

 in the pastures. The grazing horse no doubt swal- 

 lows thousands of them, which, upon their return to 

 the soil under especially favorable conditions for 

 growth, vegetate into mycelium, and at length fructi- 

 fy in the full -formed mushroom. The dense white 

 spawn of this species may often be seen beneath the 

 manure in pastures where no sign of the mushroom 

 itself is yet apparent. 



During the writing of the present pages I have 

 received from Arizona a letter accompanied with a 

 sketch of a most astonishing mushroom, 

 A huge which my correspondent finds plenti- 

 variety fuHy prevalent in his vicinity, growing 

 in arid sand, even in an exceptionally 

 dry season. He claims that "it is deliciously ed- 

 ible," and he has partaken of it several times. His 



