71 



72 



Some of these rules are entirely unre- 

 liable and to others there are so many 

 exceptions that they are misleading and 

 practically worthless. The rules vary ac- 

 cording to the standpoint of the one pro- 

 posing them. One who considers the Com- 

 mon mushroom the only edible species 

 seeks to separate it from all others, and 

 says, "avoid all which have white gills 

 and a hollow stem." This rule precludes 

 the use of many mushrooms which are 

 just as good as the one it sustains, and 

 at the same time it is not definate enough 

 to limit the selection to the one intended. 

 Another, thinking of the Delicious lacta- 

 rius which has an orange-colored juice, 

 says, "reject all such as have a white 

 milky juice." This rule forbids the use 

 of several species of lactarius that are 

 no more harmful and scarcely less sapid 

 than the Delicious lactarious. Again we 

 are told by some one who has in mind 

 the poisonous amanitas, to "discard all 

 mushrooms that have a warty cap or a 

 membranous sheath at the bottom of the 

 stem." This would be a very good rule 

 if we might add to it the sentence, un- 

 less you know the species to be edible 

 and safe. The Orange mushroom, which 

 is deemed an edible species of the first 

 quality, has a membranous sheath at the 

 base of the stem, and the Reddish am- 

 anita has a warty cap and yet is not 

 only harmless but very good, so that the 

 rule which would forbid the use of these 

 species excludes more than is necessary. 

 The same may be said of those directions 

 which require the rejection of all mush- 

 rooms which have a viscid cap or an 

 acrid taste or whose flesh on being broken 

 quickly changes to a blue color. And as 

 to the old-fashioned silver spoon test, by 

 which it was thought that a silver spoon 

 thrust among cooking mushrooms would 

 be quickly tarnished if they were poison- 

 ous and remain bright if they were edi- 

 ble, that was long ago proved to be most 

 unreliable by a fatal experiment in which 

 several persons lost their lives because 

 the cook put confidence in it. We are, 

 therefore, fprced to conclude that no ab- 

 stract rule is at present known by which 

 the good can in every case be separated 

 from the bad. The only safe and reason- 

 able way to do this is to learn to recog- 

 nize each species by its own peculiar 

 specific characters. It is in this way that 

 we recognize the useful and esculent 

 species among flowering plants, and it 

 must be in this way that we select our 

 edible mushrooms. A little more care 

 may be necessary in one case than in 

 the other, because of a closer resemblance 

 in some cases between good and bad 

 mushrooms than between good and bad 

 flowerinf olants. The principle that is 

 to govern in this matter is the same in 

 both cases. The greater the number of 

 edible species clearly recognizable by any 

 one the greater the field from which he 

 may draw his supplies. If he is acquaint- 

 ed with but one species he should limit 

 his use of mushrooms to that one species, 

 unless he can avail himself of the more 

 extensive knowledge of some one else or 



unless he is willing to take the risk of 

 eating some poisonous or unwholesome 

 species. In a few instances it is possi- 

 ble to affirm of certain groups of species 

 or of certain genera, that no deleterious 

 species are known in them. Thus we 

 have in this state six species of moels 

 and no moel is known to be poisonous. 

 The same may be said of puff balls. *** 

 but there is not" absolute safety *** for 

 we know by experience that among the 

 amanitas that excellent edible species 

 in the same genus with and be closely 

 related botanically to dangerously poison- 

 ous species. Therefore, those rules which 

 say all morels, all puff balls, and all fairy 

 clubs may safely be eaten are too sweep- 

 ing, and would be better if modified by 

 the words, "so far as known." 



Many mushrooms have a farinaceous 

 taste or odor, or both taste and odor of 

 this character. Some have thought that 

 all species having this meal-like flavor 

 are edible, and indeed many of them are, 

 and no dangerously poisonous species is 

 known to have it. But occasionally a 

 species has this flavor combined with or 

 followed by a bitter or otherwise disa- 

 greeable flavor which would at least ren- 

 der the mushroom undesirable if not un- 

 wholesome. So that rules designed to 

 aid in the selection of edible species have 

 their exceptions and weak points as well 

 as the rules designed to protect us against 

 the poisonous species. There is, there- 

 fore, no escape from the necessity of ac- 

 quiring a knowledge of each species we 

 would utilize, sufficiently clear and ex- 

 act to enable us to distinguish it from 

 all others. * * * To anyone willing to 

 avail himself of the experience of others 

 and to apply himself sufficiently to learn 

 to recognize the species they have found 

 to be edible, nature opens a field produc- 

 tive of much paatable and nutritious food, 

 which is too often left to decay where 

 it grew. 



The general opinion is that mushrooms 

 constitute a very nutritious and sustairi- 

 ing diet. Chemical analyss and personal 

 experience indicate this. The former has 

 shown that in their dry matter they con- 

 tain from 20 to 50 per cent of protein or 

 nitrogenous material. They may, there- 

 fore, well be called a kind of vegetable 

 meat and be used as a substitute for ani- 

 mal food. Like other vegetables, they 

 are largely composed of water, Avhich is 

 from 80 to 90 per cent of the whole. Tn 

 consequence of this they shrink greatly in 

 drying and lose much weight. The pres- 

 ence of so much nitrogenous material in- 

 duces rapid decay and loathsome decom- 

 position in them. It should also teach 

 moderation in their use as food. A 

 hearty meal on mushrooms alone would 

 be about as reasonable as a dinner on 

 nothing but beefsteak, and might be ex- 

 pected to be followed by similar evil con- 

 sequences. * * * 



The substance of a mushroom takes the 

 name fiesh, though it is ouite unlike ani- 

 mal flesh in texture and appearance. Most 

 mushrooms have an expanded part called 



