ON THE AMERICAN ESCULENT EUNGI. 



75 



who was extravagantly fond of the common Mushroom, the boy 

 was greeted with the indignant exclamation, " Boy, I would not 

 eat one of those things to save your father's head !" When told 

 that they were eaten at my table, he accepted them, ate them, 

 and has eaten many a one since, with all safety and with no little 

 relish. Since that time our mycophagists eat whatever I send 

 them, without fear or suspicion. 



I have interested myself to extend the knowledge of these 

 things among the lovers of Mushrooms, and also their use among 

 those who have not before tried them. In the latter work I am 

 not always successful, on account of a strong prejudice against 

 vegetables with such contemptible names, and an unconquerable 

 fear of accidents. Yet, as in my own case, curiosity often con- 

 quers these errors. When away from home I have frequently ob- 

 tained ready permission from a kind hostess to have cooked a dish 

 of Mushrooms that I have found on her premises. It has rarely 

 occurred in such cases that the dish then tasted for the first 

 time was not declared to be delicious, or the best thing ever put 

 into the mouth. This latter phrase was once used in reference to 

 so indifferent an article as A. salignus. Indeed, I have found several 

 persons who class this among the most palatable species. To 

 such persons a dish of fresh Mushrooms need seldom be wanting, 

 as this one can be had every month of the year in this latitude. 

 I am induced to believe that the quality of this species varies 

 with the kind of wood it grows from, and that it is better fla- 

 voured when gathered from the Mulberry, and especially from 

 the Hickory, than when taken from most other trees. Its fit- 

 ness for the table seems also to depend much upon the rapidity of 

 its growth, those which grow slowly, as is the case with some of 

 our garden vegetables, being of tougher texture and of less deli- 

 cate flavour. A warm sun, after heavy rains, brings them out in 

 greatest perfection. 



I have several times been asked by persons eating Mushrooms 

 for the first time whether these things belong to the vegetable 

 or animal kindom. There is certainly a very noticeable resem- 

 blance in the flavour of some of them to that of flesh, fish, or 

 mollusk, so that the question, as founded merely on taste, is not 

 an unnatural one. But I was much struck with its propriety when 

 reading an article in * Eraser's Magazine ' a few years since, writ- 

 ten by the late Mr. Broderip, who therein says that Mushrooms 

 contain osmazome. If this be so, it accounts both for their 



