EDIBLE FUNGI. 



499 



(6) Horse Mushroom : Agaricus arvensis (Schaeff.). 



The Horse Mushroom, as it is often called, attains a large size, say 

 from six to ten inches in diameter, and differs from the ordinary Mushroom 

 in the smooth white pileus, and the gills, at first of a dirty white. It is 

 usually plentiful enough during the season at the shops of greengrocers 

 in all parts of London and suburbs. Found growing in meadows, it is 

 usually gregarious, and often forming rings or parts of rings of a con- 

 siderable size. Opinions are divided as to its value as an esculent. Some 

 call it coarse and strong and too full flavoured, whilst others, and not a 

 few, prefer it to the cultivated Mushroom. In country districts it is 

 collected chiefly for making ketchup, for which purpose it is acknow- 

 ledged to be superior to the common Mushroom. Amongst the adult 

 peasantry it is scarcely probable that any mistake is ever made in con- 

 founding either the one or the other with unsavoury species. When 

 cases of poisoning occur the victims are most commonly children, or 

 adults who have not been accustomed to a country life. The mycelium 

 seems to be perennial, since it may often be gathered year after year 

 from the same spot where it has once been found in profusion. This 

 species also is widely distributed, not only throughout Europe, but also 

 in Ceylon and Tasmania. 



(7) Bleeding Mushroom : Agaricus hcemorrhoidarius (Schulz). 



Another species of the true Mushroom kind ; it is one which is rarely 

 found, by roadsides, in woods, or under Oaks. The cap is often four or five 

 inches in diameter, and of a dirty clay colour, scarcely to be distinguished 

 from the soil on which it grows. This is clad with broad and closely- 

 pressed scales, and is not at all an attractive species in appearance. The 

 gills are at first of a rosy flesh-colour, becoming of a deep purplish- 

 brown. All parts of the plant turn red, as if bleeding, wherever bruised 

 or wounded, and by this feature it may be easily recognised. It was first 

 discovered, some years ago, in Hungary, and I have gathered it occasionally 

 in this country and found it to be excellent eating, and not to be dis- 

 tinguished when cooked from a good Mushroom. It seems to be sparingly 

 distributed through Europe, but has not been recorded elsewhere. 



There are some few other species in this group that are occasionally 

 met with, but, on account of their rarity, it is scarcely necessary to 

 enumerate them, except as mycological curiosities. 



(8) St. George's Mushroom : Tricholoma gambosa (Fries). 



The colour of the spores is a feature which should always be borne in 

 mind in discriminating the species of Agarics, and as hitherto we have 

 been concerned with purple-spored forms, so now we have to deal with 

 species having white or colourless spores. One of the most useful of 

 these, in a gastronomic sense, is the May Mushroom or St. George's 

 Mushroom, so called because it makes its appearance in meadows about 

 the time of St. George's day. In size and habit it resembles the 

 uncultivated Mushroom, but the top of the cap is smooth, the gills are 



