THE BEECH. 



345 



at all stages of its growth buried beneath the 

 ground. It is black and warty ; white within^ and 

 marbled with dark veins. It possesses a strong 

 but agreeable smelly and is generally found by 

 dogs and pigs trained to search for it ; but, in 

 those countries where Truffles abound, in the 

 month of October (which is their season for 

 ripening), all the inhabitants repair to the woods, 

 slightly stirring, or rather scratching the ground 

 in those places which experience points out to 

 them as the most likely to contain the tubers. 

 The high price of, and constant demand for Truf- 

 fles, both in France and other countries, renders 

 this a very lucrative employment ; and experienced 

 hunters are rarely deceived in the places where 

 they make their search."* Berkeley {Eng, Flora^ 

 vol. V. part ii. p. 228) quotes an instance of a 

 poor crippled boy who could detect Truffles with 

 a certainty superior even to that of the best dogs, 

 and so earned a livelihood. 



Edible fungi are not peculiar to the Beech 

 woods of Europe. Darwin, in the narrative 

 quoted above, says, ^' There is one vegetable 

 production deserving notice, from its import- 

 ance as an article of food to the Fuegians. It 

 is a globular, bright yellow fungus, which grows 

 in vast numbers on the Beech trees. "When 

 young it is elastic and turgid, with a smooth 

 surface ; but when mature, it shrinks, becomes 

 tougher, and has its entire surface deeply pitted 

 or honey-combed. This has been named by Mr. 

 Berkeley ' Cittaria Darwinii' I found a second 

 species on another species of Beech in Chili, and 



* Loudon's Arhoretum Britannicum, 



