218 
MISCELLANEA. 
TRUFFLES. 
This esculent grows in a sort of semicircle, something in the 
same way as mushrooms. They are principally found in plantations 
of young oaks, and lie just below the surface. In Touraine, and 
particularly in the neighbourhood of Arc-en-13arrois, they grow in 
abundance at the foot of fir trees, and sometimes even in gardens. 
Every year the truffle hunters apply to the proprietors of the woods 
for permission to exercise their calling. In the Ilaute-Marne they 
make use of small dogs trained for the purpose, and in the South, of 
a peculiar race of pigs. The education of the dogs consists in hiding 
under the soil a wooden shoe filled with earth, and containing a 
piece of a truffle and a piece of bacon. The smell of the latter attracts 
them and causes them to scratch up the shoe to get at the morsel 
of food. By degrees they confound the two scents, and cannot per¬ 
ceive that of a truffle without thinking of the bacon and digging up 
the earth. They are rewarded with a piece of bread whenever they 
discover a layer of truffles. The price of a well-trained dog is about 
lOOf. Sporting dogs are never trained for the purpose, as their 
instinct would lead them to hunt for game instead of truffles. When 
the trained dog comes on the scent of the truffle, he stops and begins 
to scrape up the ground. The hunter then digs with a hoe, and dis¬ 
covers the object of his search, and then, following the track in a 
semicircle, finds tliehed. After having collected all that lie in this 
semicircle, he turns up the ground, and clears away all the weeds— 
an operation which is called sowing the truffles. In the South, and 
particularly in the mountainous neighbourhood of Grasse, the truffles 
grow in abundance at the foot of the white oak, and there a race 
of exceedingly lean, lanky pigs are used, called hunting pigs, or pig- 
greyhounds. These animals show great skill in discovering truffles, 
which they dig up with their fore feet and snout. When they have 
once discovered the layer, they relinquish to their master the task 
of digging, and receive as a reward a few acorns, which they relish 
more than the underground delicacy. 
OBITUARY. 
We have to record the death of Mr. James Law, M.R.C.V.S., 
London, which took place February 15tb, ult. His diploma bears 
date June 20th, 1838. 
ERRATUM. 
On page 97> line 35,yt»r “insufferable ,” read “inseparable.” 
