MUSTARD. 



207 



mushrooms, of the cultivated sort, are firmer, and better for 

 pickling ; and in using cultivated mushrooms, there is evi- 

 dently much less risk of deleterious kinds being employed." 

 — Neill and Martyn, 



" Antidote to poisonous sorts. — All fungi should be used 

 vnth great caution, for even the champignon and edible gar- 

 den-mushrooms possess deleterious qualities when grown 

 in certain places. All the edible species should be thor- 

 oughly masticated, before taken into the stomach, as this 

 greatly lessens the effects of poisons. When accidents of 

 this sort happen, vomiting should be immediately excited, 

 and then the vegetable acids should be given, either vine- 

 gar, lemon-juice, or that of apples ; after which, give ether 

 and antispasmodic remedies, to stop the excessive bilious 

 vomiting. Infusions of gall-nut, oak-bark, and Peruvian 

 bark are recommended as capable of neutralizing the pois- 

 onous principle of mushrooms. It is, however, the safest 

 way not to eat any of the good^ but less common sorts, until 

 they have been soaked in vinegar. Spirit of wine and 

 vinegar extract some part of their poison ; and tannin mat- 

 ter decomposes the greatest part of it." — BotanisVs Com- 

 panion^ vol. ii. p. 145. 



MUSTARD. — Sinapis, — Of this plant there are two 

 species in cultivation, the black and the white ; annuals, 

 and natives of Great Britain. 



The following^ are Loudon's directions for the culture of 

 the white mustard, S. alba. For spring and summer con- 

 sumption, sow once a week or fortnight, in dry, warm situ- 

 ations, in February and March ; and, afterwards, in any 

 otber compartment. " In summer, sow in shady borders, if 

 it be hot, sunny weather; or, have the bed shaded. Gen- 

 erally, sow in shallow, flat drills, from three to six inches 

 apart ; scatter the seed thick and regular, and cover in thin- 

 ly with the earth, about a quarter of an inch. To furnish 

 gatherings in winter or early in spring, sow in frames or 

 under hand-glasses ; and when the weather is frosty, or 

 very cold, in hot-beds and stoves." 



Use. — " This species," according to Loudon, "is cultiva- 

 ted chiefly as a small salad, and is used like cresses, while 

 in the seed : when these are newly expanded, they are mild 

 I and tender; but when the plants have advanced into the 

 I rough leaves, they eat rank and disagreeable." " In Spain, 

 I and throughout the south of Europe, the seed of the white 

 ' species is preferred, for the fabrication of mustard^ because 



