84 BRITISH EDIBLE FUNGI. 



when perfectly cold cork well, or tie skins and paper 

 over them. Store in a dry place, and keep out the 

 frost. 



For ordinary use the fresh champignons may be 

 cut in small pieces, and seasoned. In this state it 

 may be added to stews, hashes, or fried meats, but it 

 should be added only a few minutes before serving. 



XII.— MILKY MUSHROOMS. 



A LITTLE experience in collecting fungi will soon 

 convince the student that there are important differ- 

 ences, such as he had scarcely expected to find, and 

 some of them so striking as to cause him to marvel 

 that they should for so long have escaped his obser- 

 vation. One of these is the fact that some of the 

 individuals with the external, and superficial, features 

 of agarics, with cap, stem, and gills, should contain 

 within them a profusion of white, or coloured milk, 

 which oozes out in drops whenever the fungus is 

 wounded. From this circumstance the section, or, 

 as botanists term it, the genus, has a special name, 

 and is called Lactarius, or milky mushrooms. In 

 some instances the milk is sweet and pleasant to the 

 taste, in others it is hot and peppery, causing the lips 

 to tingle. All are found growing on the ground, 

 mostly in woods, and a few are recommended as 



