On Mushroom Eating 191 



The Parasol comes, perhaps, next to it, but it is not common, 

 and may easily be mistaken. Others which are quite safe are 

 yet so rare that they are practically out of question. The shoe- 

 maker might, with better economy, stick to his last and earn 

 the wherewithal to buy a real beefsteak, rather than wander 

 about the woods seeking Fistulina hepatica, which, when found, 

 is very disgusting to the eye, and, even if fairly good, only a 

 very poor substitute for ox beef. 



The conclusions suggested cannot, perhaps, be better sup- 

 ported than by giving, without comment, a few citations from 

 the " Text-book of British Fungi," by Mr. Delisle Hay, a work 

 to which is prefixed as a motto, " To give and preserve to our 

 use the kindly fruits of the earth, so as in due time we may enjoy 

 them." 



Some of Mr. Hay's names are not wholly suggestive 

 of enjoyment. We will take them alphabetically : The 

 Archbane, the Beelzebub's Cushion (Boletus satanas), the 

 Bitterlet, the Burning Lactar, the Crocodile, the Destroyer, 

 the Destroying Angel, the Guilty Spirit, the Infamous 

 Clitocybe, the Leafbane, the Malignant, the Slayer, the 

 Medusa's Head, the Repellant, the Sickener, the Sickener's 

 sister, the Snake in the Grass, the Stinger, the Stinker, the 

 Turnover, the Yellow Reptile, &c, &c. 



Of the Lurid bolet Mr. Hay writes : " It is certainly eaten 

 commonly in some countries, and has been eaten here without 

 ill result. It seems evident then that the poison is easily 

 dissipated, perhaps by simple boiling. But fatalities have 

 been traced to this species." 



Of Boletus satanas : " Its principle is irritant and violent, 

 but, despite its name, it is scarcely so much to be dreaded 

 as some species of other genera." 



Of Lactarius plumbeus : " Dangerously poisonous, in quality, 

 like the preceding." 



Of Agaricus vermis : " Angelically beautiful, but demoniacally 

 poisonous." " It must not be mistaken for any of the white 

 spring esculents." 



