may be prepared for the table in the same manner, as below: 
Select immature specimens whose flesh is yet pure white. 
Pcel away the rind and cut the flesh in thin slices, say } 
to $ an inch thick. These slices may simply be fried in butter, 
and seasoned to taste, or they may first be dipped in a batter 
made of beaten egg and then fried and seasoned. In this way 
they make a kind of mushroom omelet or fritters, that is very 
agreeable to almost all tastes. If preferred, the beaten egg may 
be thickened with a few bread crumbs or with crushed crackers. 
Some, who are especially fond of the common mushroom, fry 
the plain slices in butter, adding a mushroom or two to them to 
heighten the flavor. A group of the cup-shaped puff-ball or a 
single large specimen of the Giant puff-ball will furnish sufficient 
material for a meal for a large family. One correspondent writes 
me that he once found a Giant puff-ball so large that it afforded 
a good portion of the dinner of about 50 persons! 
There are a few other large species of puff-balls, ranging in di- 
ameter from 3 to 8 inches, which grow in some of the southern 
and western States, and which are probably edible; but a de- 
scription of which I omit because they have not yet been proved 
to be good. 
There are two puff-balls belonging to the genus Bovista which 
have been tested by Prof. William Trelease and pronounced by 
him to be delicate and excellent. The difference between a Bo- 
vista and a Lycoperdon is very slight and need not be discussed 
here. 
The Lead-colored puff-ball, Bovista plumbea, is about as round 
as a marble and not very much larger. Its diameter usually va- 
ries from half an inch to one inch. It is almost as white as snow 
when young and in eatable condition. Its thin white coat pres- 
ently becomes dingy and scales off in flakes, exposing a tougher, 
thicker rind beneath, which has a dull, dark, but perceptibly 
leaden hue, that suggests the name. It grows in pastures among 
short grass, or on naked ground, appearing with us from mid- 
summer to autumn. Old plants, with an apical aperture for the 
escape of the spores, may sometimes be.found in spring, but they 
do not much resemble the young edible plant. 
The other species, the Ball-shaped puff-ball, Bovista pila, is 
very similar to the one just described, in its shape and in the 
color of the young plant, but it is larger, its diameter being one 
and a half to two and a half inches. When.old, its rind becomes 
smooth, brown, or slightly purplish-brown, and almost shining. 
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