USES. 87 
Transylvania, tons of it sometimes appearing in the markets. It 
does not possess that delicate flavour which is found in many 
species, and although extolled by some beyond its merits, it is 
nevertheless perfectly wholesome, and, when young and care- 
fully cooked, not to be despised. It must not be confounded 
with a very similar species (Agaricus euosmus, B.), with rosy 
spores, which is unpleasant. Agaricus tessellatus, Bull, Agaricus 
pometi, Fr., Agaricus glandulosus, Bull, are all allies of the fore- 
going, and recorded as edible in the United States, although not 
one of the three has hitherto been recorded as occurring in Great 
Britain. To these may also be added the following :—Agaricus 
salignus,* Vr., which is rare in England, but not uncommon 
abroad and in the United States. In Austria it is commonly 
eaten. Agaricus ulmarius,t Bull, is common on elm trunks, not 
only in Britain but also in North America, and is by some 
preferred to the oyster mushroom. An allied species, Agaricus 
fossulatus, Cooke,t is found on the Cabul Hills, where it is col- 
lected, dried, and forms an article of commerce with the plains. 
Another, but smaller species, is dried in the air on strings passed 
through a hole in the short stem (Agaricus subocreatus, Cooke), 
and sent, it is believed, from China to Singapore. 
The smallest species with which we have any acquaintance, 
that is edible, is the “nail fungus” (Agaricus esculentus,§ Jacq-), 
scarcely exceeding one inch in diameter of the pileus, with a 
thin rooting stem. The taste in British specimens when raw is 
bitter and unpleasant, but it is clearly eaten in Austria, as its 
name testifies, and elsewhere in Europe. It is found in fir plan- 
tations in the spring, at which season it is collected from the fir 
woods around and sent to Vienna, where it is only used for 
flavouring sauces under the name of “ Nagelschwimme.” 
Before quitting the group of true agarics, to which all 
hitherto enumerated belong, we must mention a few others of 
less importance, but which are included amongst those good for 
* Tratinnick, L., ‘‘ Fungi Austriaci,” p. 47, pl. 4, £ 8 
+ Vittadini, ‘‘ Fungi Mangerecci,”’ pl. 23. 
+ Cooke, in “Journal of Botany,”’ vol. viii. p. 352. 
§ Cooke, M. C., ‘*A Plain and Easy Guide,” &c., p. 38, pl. 6, fig. 1. 
