ON THE ALTO-DOURO WINE DISTRICT OF PORTUGAL. 



145 



Fistulina hepatica assumes a great variety of forms. In its earliest stages 



it sometimes resem- 

 bles a strawberry. 

 Wh en more advanced, 

 it has often the ap- 

 pearance of a tongue. 

 Hence one of its con- 

 tinental local names 

 (Lingua di Castagna), 

 for it is known and 

 appreciated abroad 

 much more than it 

 is with us. " So like 

 a tongue is it in shape 

 and general appear- 

 ance," says an author 

 whom we have already quoted, " that, in the days of enchanted trees, you 

 would not have cut it off to pickle or eat on any account, lest the knight to 

 whom it belonged should afterwards come to claim it of you." It is a fleshy, 

 juicy fungus, with an undivided pileus, and, when cut, presents bright reddish 

 streaks, like beetroot. The Fistulina is very common on the trunks of old 

 oaks, and occasionally attains an enormous size. When old, it becomes 

 rather tough ; but in all its stages it affords an excellent gravy, and, when 

 young, if sliced and grilled, would pass for a good beefsteak. Specimens 

 are now and then met with, that would furnish four or five men with a 

 good dinner, and they have been collected weighing thirty pounds. The 

 liver-colour (whence the specific name, hepatica), combined with its streaky 

 interior and red juice, are sufficient guides whereby to recognise this species 

 under all its Protean forms. Owing to its juicy nature, it shrivels up, and 

 reduces very much in size by drying, and I doubt whether a good-sized 

 specimen cordd be dried effectually otherwise than in slices. No instance 

 of its being thus preserved for use has come under my notice, and I should 

 scarcely think it available for that purpose. 



ON THE ALTO-DOURO WINE DISTRICT OF PORTUGAL. 



BY H. P. T. BARRON. 



The growth of Port wine is confined by law to the so-called " Dernar- 

 cacao of the Alto-Douro," a narrow strip of land extending for about thirty 

 miles along both banks of the river above the town of Pego da Regoa. 

 This "demarcation" contains 178 parishes, or parts of parishes, 16,193 

 houses, and about 64,000 inhabitants. No other wine is, to this moment, 

 allowed to be shipped from Oporto. On this account, the wine grown here 

 vol. n. l 



