Iv. 
USES. 
Tue rigid utilitarian will hardly be satisfied with the short 
catalogue which can be furnished of the uses of fungi. Except. 
ing those which are employed more or less for human food, very 
few are of any practical value in arts or medicine. ,-It is true 
that imperfect conditions of fungi exert a very important influ- 
ence on fermentation, and thus become useful; but, unfortu- 
nately, fungi have the reputation of being more destructive and 
offensive than valuable or useful. Notwithstanding that a large 
number of species have from time to time been enumerated as 
edible, yet those commonly employed and recognized are very 
few in number, prejudice in many cases, and fear in others, mili- 
tating strongly against additions to the number. In Great 
Britain this is especially the case, and however advisable it may 
be to exercise great care and caution in experimenting on untried 
or doubtful species, it can only be regarded as prejudice which 
prevents good, in fact, excellent, esculent species being more 
extensively used, instead of allowing them to rot by thousands 
on the spots where they have grown. Poisonous species are 
also plentiful, and no golden rule can be established by means 
of which any one may detect at a glance good from bad, 
without that kind of knowledge which is applied to the dis- 
crimination of species. Yet, after all, the characters of half 
a dozen good esculent fungi are acquired as easily as the 
distinctions between half a dozen birds such as any ploughboy 
can discriminate. 
The common mushroom (Agaricus campestris) is the best 
