::■ 



£lie ^rras'urp of Statang. 



[trum 



RED. 2Ielo.noga.ster variegatus. — , WHITE. 

 Chccromyces. 



Apiilied generally, the name Truffle (or 



Trubs) comprises all the Fungi which 



belong to the natural orders Hypugcei and 



Tuberacei. We shall, however, treat it 



here as confined to the Truffles, properly 



so called, belonging to the typical genus 



Tuber, and the closely aliied genera Chcero- 



myces and Terfezia. 



The Truffles of commerce all belong to 



; the genus Tuber, of which several species 



; are edible; the English Truffles belonging 



'■ principally to T. cestivum, and the best 



• French Truffles to T. melanosporum. These 



l are black and warty externally, with the 



flesh variously marbled. The Piedinontese 



Truffles, on the contrary (which bear a high 



Tuber Eestivum. 



price, and are highlyesteemed'), aresmooth, 

 and within white more or less tinged with 

 1 pink. Truffles are in this country sought 

 for almost exclusively by dogs of a parti- 

 cular breed, but on the Continent sows are 

 used for the same purpose, and they are 

 raked up by persons who have a peculiar 

 knack in recognising the spots where they 



d 



Tuber aestivum (section). 



are likely to grow. In Poitou it is n com- 

 mon practice to enclose a space upon the 

 downs, sowing it with acorns, and when 

 the oaks attain size enough to shade the 

 ground, there is sure to be a crop of truffles. 

 All attempts have failed at cultivating 

 them in the same way as mushrooms. In 

 the South of France, indeed, truffles have 

 been procured in woods by watering the 

 ground previously prepared with water in 

 which the parings had been steeped ; but 

 no one has yet been able to prepare spawn 

 for sale in a form similar to that of mush- 



room-spawn. We believe, however, that 

 this will some time or other be accomplish- 

 ed. The late Mr. Disney made a serious at- 

 tempt at cultivation, but, unfortunately, 

 the truffles on which he experimented were 

 the refuse of an oil-shop, and were in slices 

 which had been dried by artificial heat. Not- 

 withstanding this, something like spawn 

 appeared, and it is to be regretted that he 

 did not continue his experiments with 

 better materials. Our English truffles have 

 not the fine aroma of the best French 

 truffles, but when properly ripened they I 

 are by no means to be despised, and they 

 always command a high price in our mar- 

 kets. 



Truffles require a calcareous soil, and 

 where that condition exists they are, we 

 believe, much more common than is usu- 

 ally supposed. Without the assistance of 

 a dog we have collected a couple of pounds 

 in a few minutes, in a locality where 

 truffles have never yet been sought for as 

 objects of merchandise. They are by no 

 means, as is usually supposed, confined to 

 beech-woods; but are found in England 

 sometimes amongst oaks without any ad- 

 mixture of beech, and they do not dislike 

 the neighbourhood of a few conifers. In 

 Somersetshire we have seen them so near 

 the surface as to be cut off by the scythe 

 every time the lawn was mowed. Besides 

 the edible truffles, which receive different 

 names from collectors according to their 

 degree of ripeness, there are several strong- 

 ly-scented or minute species, mostly with 

 an even bark, which are either not escu- 

 lent or too small to attract general notice. 



The large White Truffle belonging to the 

 genus Cliceromyces is too rare in England 

 to be of much consequence, but it isapoor 

 article of food. The African Truffle 'Ter- 

 fezia), is a much better esculent than the 

 white truffle, but is not equal to the Tuber 

 cestivum, though it has of late attracted 

 notice in Algiers from its abundance. We 

 have received numerous specimens of this 

 kind from Mogadore. A species of Hydno- 

 trya is sold abundantly in the market of 

 Prague. The Red Truffle of the Bath market 

 is a Melanogaster, and therefore belongs to 

 Hypogcei, not Tuberacei. [M. J. B.J 



TR D LO V~E. Paris quadri folia. 



TRTJM PET-FLOWER. A name applied 

 to various large tubular flowers, as tiiose 

 of Bignonia, Tecoma, Catalpa, Brunsfelsia, 

 Solandra, &c. 



TRUMPET HONEYSUCKLE. Caprifo- 

 lium sempervirens. 



TRUMPET SHAPED. Hollow, and di- 

 lated at one extremity, like the end of a 

 trumpet; as the corolla of Caprifolium 

 sempervirens. 



TRUMPET-TREE, or TRUMPET-WOOD. 

 Cecrop'ia peltata. 



TRUMPET- WEED. The name of a sea- 

 weed, Ecldoviu buccinoIis,be]cmgmg to the 

 natural order Laminariacew, and very com- 

 mon and well-known at the Cape of Good 

 Hope. The stem is often twenty feet high, 



