M USH 
the countw-people, whofe romantic minds third: credulouf- 
]y after every thing that borders upon prodigy and fuper- 
naturality, have conftantly, and in all countries,connected 
the birth of the nrulhroom with the fables of the fairies. 
Without the ornamental pomp of leaves and the falten- 
ings of roots,. the fungus is a little being by itfelf, and 
widely different from all other plants. It has a fliield, an 
umbrella, a cap, a hood of various forms, according to 
the tribe to which it belongs. Its livery, alfo, may be 
looked Upon as a fair mark of diftinfition ; and, when the 
approach Of winter has defpoiled the trees of their luxu¬ 
riant boughs, and withered the tranfitory honours of 
Flora, the mufhroom then, with its variety of dyes and 
whimficality of fhapes, burfts from the ground to adorn 
the widowed green of the meadows, or the bare fides of 
the brown hills. 
i. Claffes and Families. —We fhall not enter here info 
the nonienclatural diviiion of the feveral fpecies of mufli- 
rooms. This has been fufficiently explained under the 
articles before quoted. We fhall, therefore, in this 
place, confine ourfelves merely to a few obfervations re¬ 
lative to the fliape and difpofition of the plant, in as far 
as it may be underftood, without the help of technical 
words by the learned, and felt with pleafure by all clafles 
of readers. To confider a natural object with its rela¬ 
tion to others, in order to find the bafes of a fyilem in the 
works of Nature, or to deferibe the ftibjeft according to 
its obvious appearance, habits, and fliape, conflitutes a 
difference fimilar to that which exifts between anatomy 
and phyfiognomy. Individuals are known by the lpecific 
diftin&ion of their countenances and features, not by 
their pedigrees ; and this is the reafon why Tournefort 
made, perhaps, more profelytes to the interefting ftudy 
of botany than Linnaeus. The firft deferibes the plants 
as to their common fhapes ; the cruci-formed, the bell- 
ihaped, &c. are more obvious to the paffing eye of the 
herbalift, than the hardly-perceptible and not-invariable 
number of antlierae and piflilla. The fimpleft way of de- 
feribing any objedl in Nature, is to pourtray the general 
appearance, if we intend merely to give a familiar and 
fufficient idea of it, leaving to the deeper refearches of 
the learned the more explicit tafk of entering into its 
elements and phyfiological conflitution. 
The moll common muflirooms,may be divided into four 
claffes ; the mulliroom properly fo called, the morel, the 
toad-ftool, or puff, and the truffle. Neither of thefe has been 
■decorated with the interfedlion and fantaftic entwinings of 
boughs and branches; no verdant leaves, no feented or 
variegated bloffoms, adorn the myfterious plant. Like 
man, and other animals, it is born naked, weak, and 
nearly ephemerous. Its habits of folitude, however, do 
not prevent a certain tendency to focial intercourfe ; for 
moft of them are gregarious, and fometimes fo clofely 
united, that they feem to hold to each other by the lower 
part of their Items. How admirable alfo is that curious 
union of individuals of the fame family ? Do they feek 
for fecurity in combining t’nemfelves into an union fo in¬ 
timate, that their congregated heads reprefent the well- 
known trjhido of the united bucklers ? Do they feel more 
happy in this difpofition, or are the drops of rain from 
above, and of dew from beneath, better received or 
glanced off by this curious contrivance ? Seldom do we 
meet with a fingle and folitary fungus in any part of the 
held. If not clofely arranged, they are fcattered at fmall 
diftances from each other ; and the families keep in dif- 
.tinft hordes, feldom intermixing with individuals of 
others ; as if the hand of Nature, dipping in feveral baf- 
kets of various feeds, had dropt here and there a fmall 
portion of each. 
Pliny was of opinion that they owed their origin to 
trees— -fungorum origo cx pHuita arborum, B. xxii. c. 23. 
They leek fo conftantly the neighbourhood of trees, that 
one might fancy they hold Hill fome connexion with the 
fair Hamadryads of the old mythology. They thrive belt 
under the extenfive lhade of their boughs, they enjoy the 
Vol. XVI. No. tin.. 
ROOM. 281 ‘ 
frig'us amabile, a fuitable coolnefs, under their foliage ; and 
grateful to the laft, when thefe fturdy fons of the earth 
have yielded to the axe and the faw of the woodman, the 
mufflroom-family gather themfelves, in mourning groups, 
upon the half-buried root, and feenvto deplore the lofs of 
their friends at the very place where once they obtained 
proteftion and flielter. 'It is really affe&ing to fee the 
number of them, crowding by each other, in golden array, 
of all lizes, till, darkening in colour, they themfelves fade, 
and mix at laft their brown and decayed remains with 
thofe of the chefnut or the oak, under whole green canopy 
they enjoyed the fleeting comforts of their fliort exiftence. 
Oh! that man, who is but an ephemerous mulliroom him- 
felf, would learn gratitude from the apparent thankfulnel’s 
of this humble plant, and not forget fo foon thofe to whom 
he is indebted for the comforts of his life ! 
The fungus marked on the Plate, fig. 6. a. is a repre- 
fentation of that fpecies ; and the fruit, fig. 6. b. exhibits 
part of the pulp and of the lacinice. The top or cap is of 
a bright orange-colour, decreafing to very pale yellow on 
the circumference ; the pulp is of a faint yellow, and the 
gills of an olive tint. The ftalk is brittle ; and the whole 
rank poifon. Why Ihould venomous qualities attach to 
fo pleafing an emblem of gratitude ? Mull’ the allegory 
extend farther, and bring the fad refleftion that too often 
ingratitude is a burthen, which poil'ons and deadens the 
merit of beneficence ? 
The mulliroom proper may be divided alfo into two 
clafles : the laciniated, or thofe with gills ; and the honey¬ 
combed. That thefe honey-combs and gills are organs 
of reprodudtion, many have aflerted, but none has been 
able to prove; although we find the words “ feeds in the 
gills” commonly added to the defeription ot feveral agarics. 
We fhould fuppofe them rather organs of refpiration, fince 
they reprefent fo clofely thofe organs in fifties. Yet the 
young ones feem deprived of this apparatus, fince it is not 
till after a certain progrefs of youth that they difplay it. 
Is there, as in the animal embryo, a circulation ot vital 
fluids ufelefs till a certain period ? Here the obfeurity 
thickens, and the curiofity of man ftarts again at difap* 
pointment. It mull be carefully remarked however, that, 
liefore the mufhroom has acquired a certain development 
of parts, the cap or buckler remains attached to the Item 
by a fort of pellicle, which, breaking at once the fkirts of 
the circumference, fets the head at liberty. Fig. 1 .a. 
and fig. a. a. will give a perfeft idea of this mechanifm, if 
compared with the fpecimens at fig. 1. c. and fig. 5. a. the 
relics of the binding pellicle are vifible at the ftalk of the 
laft-mentioned figure. 
Explanation of the Plate. —Fig. 1 .a,b,c. Here we have 
one of the fineft fpecimens of the fungus infundibuliformis, 
that elves or fairies ever produced ; and we may trace it in 
the different flages of its life : a reprefents the young 
plant with its head ftill enveloped in the cap like a fort 
of placenta, and adhering to the Hem by the pellicle above 
mentioned. Indeed it looks as if it had been carefully 
tied up by the handmaids of Nature’s nurfery. Before 
it appears above the ground, an epidermis of a light hazel- 
colour covers the top of the cap, and remains, till the 
attainment of full maturity, only on the apex; for in the 
lower parts, it flirinks up in fmall knots at the end of the 
feather-like fecond ftratum of the fkin. Nothing can be 
more filky than this fheep-bell-ftiaped cap. The colours 
and varied lines of the opal and mother-of-pearl adorn it 
down to the edges which divide in fringes of a purplifh 
tender fhade. The ftalk is white and downy, and the gills 
at firft white ; (fee fig. 1. b.) But, when age, that is, the 
fpace of two or three days, has withered this llately orna¬ 
ment of the green turf, then the lacinite acquire a deeper 
call, till they become entirely black ; and, as if wanting 
to infpire the vital air with more eafte in this decrepid 
ftate, the fungus curls them up, and prefeiits the fnape ex¬ 
actly drawn ad vivum at c. This family congregate on the 
fame fpot of ground at a very fmall dillan.ee from each 
other, and feem to enjoy the'green carpet of an extenfive 
4 C lawn, 
