﻿OV 
  BRITISH 
  FUNGI. 
  33 
  

  

  it 
  is 
  nevertheless 
  welcome 
  at 
  such 
  an 
  early 
  period 
  of 
  

   the 
  year, 
  when 
  the 
  more 
  desirable 
  kinds 
  are 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  

   obtained. 
  

  

  Perhaps 
  our 
  word 
  mushroom 
  was 
  derived 
  from 
  the 
  

   French 
  moucheron 
  or 
  mousseron, 
  by 
  which 
  this 
  species 
  

   seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  designated 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  growing 
  

   amongst 
  moss. 
  In 
  France 
  and 
  Italy 
  it 
  is 
  so 
  highly 
  

   esteemed 
  that, 
  when 
  dried, 
  it 
  will 
  realize 
  from 
  twelve 
  to 
  

   fifteen 
  shillings 
  per 
  pound. 
  Its 
  capability 
  of 
  under- 
  

   going 
  successfully 
  the 
  drying 
  process, 
  gives 
  this 
  species 
  

   the 
  advantage 
  over 
  the 
  common 
  mushroom, 
  which 
  

   some 
  have 
  declared 
  it 
  already 
  possessed 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  

   its 
  flavour. 
  An 
  amateur 
  writes 
  of 
  it 
  thus 
  : 
  — 
  " 
  It 
  is 
  

   very 
  good 
  broiled 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  best 
  way 
  of 
  cooking 
  it, 
  is 
  to 
  

   bake 
  it 
  with 
  a 
  little 
  butter, 
  pepper, 
  and 
  salt, 
  in 
  an 
  oven, 
  

   on 
  a 
  plate 
  under 
  a 
  basin. 
  A 
  great 
  quantity 
  of 
  gravy 
  

   comes 
  out 
  of 
  it, 
  mingled, 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  a 
  good 
  specimen, 
  

   with 
  osmazome, 
  which 
  tastes 
  very 
  much 
  like 
  the 
  similar 
  

   brown 
  exudation 
  on 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  a 
  roast 
  leg 
  of 
  mutton/' 
  

  

  Agaricus 
  prunulus, 
  although 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  numerous 
  

   synonyms 
  of 
  this 
  species, 
  is 
  more 
  correctly 
  attached 
  

   to 
  another 
  esculent 
  fungus 
  hereafter 
  described, 
  and 
  

   which 
  has 
  a 
  greyish 
  pileus 
  and 
  coloured 
  spores. 
  

  

  Amongst 
  the 
  species 
  occasionally 
  sold 
  in 
  Covent 
  

   Garden 
  is 
  a 
  common 
  one 
  known 
  there 
  by 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  

   Blewits, 
  but 
  to 
  botanists 
  ;.s 
  A. 
  personatus 
  (PI. 
  11, 
  

   fig. 
  1). 
  When 
  mature 
  it 
  has 
  a 
  soft, 
  convex, 
  smooth, 
  

   moist 
  pileus, 
  with 
  a 
  solid, 
  som* 
  what 
  bulbous 
  stem, 
  tinted 
  

   with 
  lilac. 
  The 
  gills 
  are 
  of 
  a 
  dirty 
  white, 
  and 
  rounded 
  

   towards 
  the 
  stem. 
  This 
  species 
  scarcely 
  stems 
  to 
  be 
  

  

  i) 
  

  

  