EDIBLE MUSHROOMS. 61 



GIANT PUFF BALL. 



Lycoperdon bovista. 



(Plate VII. Fig. 1.) 



Since we commenced the advocacy, in 

 tliis country, of the Giant Puff Ball as an 

 article of food, now thirty years ago, we 

 have made many converts, but have never 

 found a single instance in which it was not 

 highly approved when once tasted. Some 

 few enthusiasts have declared it superior to 

 any other form of fungus food. Occasionally 

 it may be found not larger than a double 

 fist, but usually as big as a man's head, 

 and, rarely, three feet in diameter. It occurs 

 in rich pastures and on the borders of corn- 

 fields in harvest-time, when it is of a creamy 

 whiteness, with a skin as smooth as a kid 

 glove. When cut the interior should be 

 of a beautiful snowy white, without any 

 tendency to turn yellow. As soon as the 

 flesh shows any sign of changing colour, 

 it is liable to produce derangement of the 



