EXPLANATORY. 19 



be a good cardinal maxim always to "cook without 

 delay." Like the caution on the physic bottle, 

 "before taken to be well shaken," it is homely but 

 wholesome. 



The question is often propounded, Is there no 

 general rule by which good or harmless fungi can be 

 distinguished from those which are deleterious ? Many 

 attempts have been made to answer this question, 

 but none of them are satisfactory, except the negative 

 one, to the effect that no rule can be laid down which 

 shall be of universal application in the discrimination 

 of dangerous fungi. The only safeguard is to become 

 acquainted, by means of well-defined features, with 

 some of the best of the esculent species, and by no 

 means to experiment with those which are unknown. 

 It is true that this process will entail the trouble of 

 learning something, but better far to acquire the 

 necessary elementary information than run the risk 

 of mishap. We have always protested against foolish 

 risks, and cautioned would-be fungus eaters against 

 cooking and eating any kinds which they do not 

 know unmistakably. There is no difficulty in 

 recognising all the best kinds by means of ordinary 

 intelligence and care, and, when once known, so as to 

 be distinguished from others somewhat like them, or 

 from all the rest, then there is no fear of error. Good 

 fungi have usually a pleasant mushroomy odour, a 

 smell of new meal, a faint scent resembling anise, or 

 no particular odour at all. Then, again, a fragment 



