REVIEWS. 
431 
it. Henceforth, assuredly, accidental poisoning by fungi should be made 
penal, for with the assistance of the beautiful plates and the excellent little 
volume before us, no such cases need occur. The author has spent a consider- 
able portion of his life in the study of our larger fungi • and his attention has 
not been confined to their botanical properties, but has been freely — indeed, 
in some instances, too freely — given to the consideration of their dietetic 
qualities. By this means he has acquired a fund of information, and a com- 
bination of different varieties of facts, such as no other English fungologist can 
be asserted to possess. This union of the structural and toxicological methods 
of investigating the larger fungi is just what was wanted by those who desired 
to extend the list of edible mushrooms beyond the one or two species now 
eaten. No better instructor, therefore, than Mr. Smith could be found, and 
with him as our guide we may fearlessly and agreeably indulge in fungi- 
dishes, which to the less initiated might appear not only unwholesome but 
even dangerous. The botanical or the gastronomic test, taken separately, is 
almost useless ; but in combination they are unassailable and trustworthy. 
We should be loath to eat a mushroom with which we were unacquainted 
solely because the botanist assured us, a priori, that its structure guaranteed 
its wholesomeness. In like manner, we should doubt even the man who, 
though ignorant of its structure, asserted from his general experience the 
good qualities of a fungus, for we should very naturally say to ourselves, 
this fungus may resemble those which he has frequently eaten, yet may be 
poisonous, for he knows nothing of its structure, and mere outward resem- 
blances are deceptive. But in the case of our author it is different. Every 
fungus which he states to be wholesome food he himself has eaten over and 
again ; and of the action of the poisonous species he speaks with an equal, 
though more painful, certainty, for on more than one occasion he narrowly 
escaped death through his gastronomic experiments. Of the plates which 
accompany Mr. Smith’s book it would be difficult to speak too highty. 
They constitute two large sheets, about 36 by 18 inches each, one being 
devoted to the poisonous and the other to the edible species. On these all 
the fungi are figured, of life-size and in the natural colour. We perceive, 
too, that the position of each has been so arranged that the mode of con- 
struction of the gills — a very important point in diagnosis— is distinctly 
shown. Whether we look upon these illustrations as the creations of the 
highest artistic skill, or as the expression of the most thorough botanical 
knowledge, we are compelled to confess that they are typical of excellence : 
they cannot be surpassed in beauty or fidelity. For the purpose of field 
work they are made (in a special edition) to fold and unfold like a map, so 
that they may be carried in the pocket, and employed, sur place , in the 
process of identification. The author’s introductory observations suggest 
many important points to the amateur fungologist ; and though they can 
hardly be styled scientific, they contain no inaccuracies. So far as the writer 
goes his statements are correct, and his remarks on fungus cookery we dare 
not pretend to criticise. We have derived both pleasure and profit from the 
perusal of this work, and as we desire to see it as perfect as possible, we 
would offer a few suggestions to the author, which we trust he may adopt 
in the first of the many editions his work is likely to pass through. There 
are two points in which we think Mr. Smith might add to the value and im- 
