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rOFULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
if sliced and grilled, would pass for a good beef-steak. Specimens are 
now and then met with that would furnish four or five men with a 
good dinner. The liver-colour and streaky interior are sufficient guides 
whereby to recognize this species under all its protean forms.” 
We agree with Mr. Cooke, that the fungi are deserving of a far greater 
share of public attention than they have hitherto received, “ as articles of 
food,” and we think that his book is well calculated to incite to their 
stud y. 
Speaking of the sub-genus Tncholoma, our author says : — 
“It is extremely probable that this group does not contain a single 
unwholesome species, and it certainly contains several with very fair 
esculent properties. The whole of these, and indeed, almost every species 
except the common mushroom, are characterized by the majority of our 
countrymen, as ‘ toadstools.’ Let us hope that such names, which were 
originated and have been perpetuated in ignorance, will soon become 
extinct.” 
We are afraid that the author will long have slept beneath the “ daisy- 
sod of Britain ” before this state of things will be realized. Nevertheless 
his book cannot fail to do good. There is truth in its pages, and the 
knowledge imparted by them is calculated not only to add new dainties 
to the table of the rich, but to enable the poor to provide nutritious food 
for their families when other means fail them, at certain seasons of the 
year. 
We have little doubt too, from the accuracy of Mr. Cooke’s previous 
works, that this volume on the British Fungi is a safe as well as “ plain 
and easy guide ” to these plants. He says that — 
“ The number of poisonous species has been greatly exaggerated ; but of 
these there are many, and the properties of a few are extremely virulent. 
We have always imagined it prudent to taste unknown species with 
caution, since we have learnt that some mycologists, having perhaps more 
enthusiasm than caution, have, from merely tasting very virulent species, 
suffered for some time afterwards considerable pain and inconvenience.” 
In default of general rules, our author recommends no one to experiment 
on species which are unknown, or which he has not pointed out as safe. 
“ It is not advisable to venture upon such as have a decidedly acrid 
taste in the raw state, unless they are known to be edible. One or two 
species which possess such properties when uncooked, are wholesome 
when dressed ; but there are exceptions to the general rule. If only such 
species are employed as we have described in the foregoing pages, and 
delineated in the plates, there is no fear of unpleasant results.” 
The author thus writes about his cookery of the Lycoperdon giganleum : — 
“ A gardener brought us a large puff-ball, equal in size to a half-quartern 
loaf, and which was still in its young and pulpy state, of a beautiful 
creamy whiteness when cut. It had been found developing itself in a 
garden at Highgate, and to the finder its virtues were unknown. We 
had this specimen cut in slices, about half an inch in thickness, the 
outer skin peeled off, and each slice dipped in an egg which had been 
beaten up, then sprinkled with bread-crumbs, and fried in butter with 
