ON THE AMERICAN ESCULENT FUNGI. 



71 



Solatium atropurpureum. 



auriculatum. 



coccineum. 



ferox. 



jasminoides. 



Sollya heterophylla. 

 Sparmannia Africana. 

 Statice imbricata. 

 Stenocarpus sinuosus. 

 Stigmatophyllum ciliatum. 



Swainsonia Greyana. 

 Tacsonia manicata. 



pmnatistipula. 



Tabernsemontana coronaria. 

 Tetranthera ferruginea. 

 Thea Chinensis. 

 Tristania conferta. 



laurina. 



Viburnum Chinense. 

 Zizyphus mucronata. 



XVII. On the Esculent Fungi of America. By Dr. M. A. 

 Curtis, in a Letter to the Rev. M. J. Berkeley. 



Dear Sir, — You have asked me to give you my "experience 

 with the eatable Mushrooms of America." This will be most 

 satisfactorily done, I presume, in pretty much the same style in 

 which I would narrate it to you at your fireside. My experience 

 runs back only about twelve or fifteen years. Tou may remember 

 that, previously to this period, I expressed a fear of these edibles, 

 as I had grown up with the common prejudices against them en- 

 tertained by most people in this country. Having occasionally 

 read of fearful accidents from their use, and there being abun- 

 dance of other and wholesome food obtainable, I felt no incli- 

 nation to run any risks in needlessly enlarging my bill of fare. 

 Thus I had passed middle life without having once even tasted a 

 Mushroom. 



But as, under your guidance and assistance, my knowledge of 

 Fungi increased, a confidence in my ability to discriminate spe- 

 cies grew up with it, and a curiosity to test the qualities of these 

 much-lauded articles got better of timidity. And now, I sup- 

 pose, I can safely say that I have eaten a greater variety of 

 Mushrooms than any one on the American Continent. I have even 

 introduced several species before untried and unknown. From 

 the beginning of my experiments, however, I have exercised great 

 caution, even with species long recognized as safe and wholesome. 

 In every case I began with only a single mouthful. ~No ill effect 

 following, I made a second essay with two or three mouthfuls, 

 and so on gradually until I made a full meal of them. Fortu- 

 nately I have never blundered upon any kind that was mis- 

 chievous, although I have eaten freely of forty species. This is 

 due, perhaps, to my general acquaintance with species which 



