2 BULLETIN 175, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



use of technical terms or statements which would require for verifi- 

 cation the assistance of a compound microscope. By referring to 

 the appended glossary and with the aid of a hand lens, the amateur 

 collector can expect to recognize a large number of the fungi described 

 in these pages. 



For some years certain foreign Governments have been endeavor- 

 ing to teach their citizens the food value of mushrooms. All over 

 France, but especially in Paris, exhibits are given of desirable species. 

 In Rouen during the season, daily lectures, illustrated by many fresh 

 specimens, are prepared for the benefit of the country residents. In 

 the elementary schools of Saxony systematic instruction is given to 

 families and children, and a permanent exhibit of specimens is also 

 maintained. 



To judge from the statements of early authors, for many centuries 

 wild mushrooms have been eagerly collected and eaten, especially 

 in Germany, France, and Italy. Perhaps the only recorded voice of 

 absolute protest came from the ancient Hindus, who considered those 

 who ate mushrooms, "whether springing from the ground or growing 

 on a tree, fully equal in guilt to the slayers of Brahmins." Although 

 early history records the use of mushrooms and the high esteem in 

 which they were held by the ancients, it is true that their nutritive 

 value has been greatly exaggerated and is not high and that they 

 are not as life sustaining as meat, in spite of the frequent assertions 

 of enthusiastic mycophagists to the contrary. 



The mushroom most commonly grown and employed for canning 

 is Agaricus campestris, but not all canned mushrooms are of the 

 cultivated variety. In France there has been established a large 

 business in preserving wild species in that manner, and they have 

 for some time been for sale here. Tons of dried wild mushrooms are 

 also imported from China. 



Too emphatic a statement can not be made as to the absolute 

 impossibility of ' ' telling the difference between mushrooms and toad- 

 stools" by any of the so-called "tests." 



The only way to discriminate between edible and injurious fungi 

 is by studying each species from a botanical point of view. By 

 paying strict attention to certain constant features, as pointed out 

 by an expert, the acquaintance of several species may readily be 

 acquired during each season. It is well to look with suspicion upon 

 every mushroom which is not positively known to be edible. The 

 absolute necessity of eating mushrooms when perfectly fresh can not 

 be too strongly emphasized. 



In collecting mushrooms the plants should not be pulled from the 

 ground by the stem, but they should be lifted out of the earth by the 

 aid of a knife or pointed stick. By this means the form of the base 

 of the stem, a feature of great importance in specific identification, 



