1396 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
nutritive value it is far inferior to the latter oil account of its poorer carbo- 
hydrate content. 
Fungi, therefore, cannot be ranked with the essential foods. At the same 
time they are not to be looked upon as absolutely worthless. They may be 
made to serve a useful purpose as food accessories. Their agreeable flavour 
renders them especially suitable as flavourings or for use along with other 
more nutritious foods ; variety and palatability are well-known to be import- 
ant factors in the question of diet. From this point of view, however, pur- 
chased mushrooms in this country are usually not an economical addition to 
the menu ; but where edible fungi can be gathered or obtained very cheaply 
they may take their place in adding variety to the diet. 
Too great care cannot bo exercised with regard to the use of edible fungi 
by persons not very familiar with the different species. The determination 
of species of Agarics, or gill-fungi, is by no means easy, and oven mycologists 
of some experience may sometimes bo deceived by close resemblances bet- 
ween edible and poisonous species. There is no test which can be used for 
the detection of poisonous varieties, and the soundest advice which can be 
given to the would-be fungus-eater is not to experiment unless he is abso- 
lutely certain of the species with which he r is dealing, and never under any 
circumstances to eat fungi which are not perfectly sound and unattacked by 
insects. In cases of doubt expert advice should be asked. 
As a class, they are hardly of much medicinal importance. 
It is better not to use them at all, since their use may lead to 
untoward symptoms from the difficulty of distinguishing the 
non-poisonous varieties from the poisonous ones. 
ALGiE. 
1375. Ulva latissima, Linn. The Broad Green 
Laver. 
Rah . — On rocks in the sea at Manora (Sind). Very widely 
distributed. Collected in Sind to a small extent in September 
and October. 
Frond 4-18 inches long, widely oblong, waved, and of a 
green color. Edges waved. 
Uses : — Said to be of value in scrofulous cases. (Murray.) 
1376. Porphyra vulgaris, Ag. The Purple Laver 
or Sea Silk. 
Rab. Manora rocks, between tide-marks. 
Frond thin and membranaceous, not laciniated as in P. 
