1396 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



nutritive value it is far inferior to the latter on account of its poorer carbo- 

 hydrate content. 



Fungi, therefore, cannot be ranked with the essential foods. At the same 

 time they are not to be looked upon as absolutely worthless. They may be 

 made to serve a useful purpose as food accessories. Their agreeable flavour 

 renders them especially suitable as flavourings or for use along with other 

 more nutritious foods ; variety and palatability are well-known to be import- 

 ant factors in the question of diet. From this point of view, however, pur- 

 chased mushrooms in this country are usually not an economical addition to 

 the menu ; but where edible fungi can be gathered or obtained very cheaply 

 they may take their place in adding variety to the diet. 



Too great care cannot be exercised with regard to the use of edible fungi 

 by persons not very familiar with the different species. The determination 

 of species of Agarics, or gill-fungi, is by no means easy, and even mycologists 

 of some experience may sometimes be deceived by close resemblances bet- 

 ween edible and poisonous species. There is no test which can be used for 

 the detection of poisonous varieties, and the soundest advice which can be 

 given to the would-be fungus-eater is not to experiment unless he is abso- 

 lutely certain of the species with which he is dealing, and never under any 

 circumstances to eat fungi which are not perfectly sound and unattacked by 

 insects. In cases of doubt expert advice should be asked. 



As a class, they are hardly of much medicinal importance. 

 It is better not to use them at all, since their use may lead to 

 untoward symptoms from the difficulty of distinguishing the 

 non-poisonous varieties from the poisonous ones. 



ALQM. 



1375. Viva latissima, Linn. The Broad Oreen 

 Laver. 



Hab. — On rocks in the sea at Manora (Sind). Very widely 

 distributed. Collected in Sind to a small extent in September 

 and October. 



Frond 4-18 inches long, widely oblong, waved, and of a 

 green color. Edges waved. 



Uses : — Said to be of value in scrofulous cases. (Murray.) 



1376. Porphyra vulgaris, Ag. The Purple Laver 

 or Sea Silk. 



Hab. Manora rocks, between tide-marks. 



Frond thin and membranaceous, not laciniated as in P. 



