INTRODUCTION TO CRYPTOQAMIC BOTANY. 367 



Sikkim, which is, perhaps, the wettest country in the world, 

 species abound which exhibit enormous dimensions com- 

 bined with great beauty. In many cases the distinctions, 

 though clear, are very slight between Himalayan and European 

 species, while many of them are decidedly the same. Agarics 

 ascend as high as Nova Zembla, and occur in Kerguelens-land. 

 Their abundance depends upon a moist atmosphere and suffi- 

 cient temperature. Most of the species are destroyed by frost ; 

 a few only, like Ag. velutipes, are capable of enduring it 

 without serious injury. In an economical point of view, the 

 Agaricini are of considerable importance. A few Marasmii, 

 Lactarii, Russule/}, and Cantharelli, are esculent, but their 

 numbers are not to be compared with the excellent species 

 produced by the genus Agaricus. At least a tenth of the 

 species are esculent, and a fifth may be pronounced as afford- 

 ing good if not agreeable food. Eussia, Germany, the South 

 of France, and Italy, with some other European countries, 

 . profit by the abundance of food they supply ; and if good food 

 were less abundant in England, there is no doubt that the 

 riches which lie scattered about would not be neglected as they 

 are. The prejudice against Fungi is so great at Paris, that 

 artificially raised mushrooms are almost the only ones of the 

 genus that are admitted into the market, and in London 

 the number is confined to about six. The only one which is 

 extensively cultivated is the common mushroom, a species 

 which occurs, under some form or other, in almost every part 

 of the world. Mushrooms have hitherto, for the most part, 

 been cultivated under sheds, or in caves and vaults ; but it is 

 now well ascertained that early mushrooms may be obtained 

 in the open ground, of at least as good quahties as those cul- 

 tivated at greater expense. I have endeavoured to introduce 

 an esculent species from Australia and South Carolina ; but, 

 probably from the specimens having been kept too long before 

 transmission, the spawn has never run. The consumption of 

 mushrooms in Paris is something enormous, and the whole 

 that appear in market are the produce of the catacombs. 

 Marasmius Oreades is superior to the mushroom in point of 

 flavour, and makes a most excellent catsup, as do also Ag. 



