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I 
There is no order of the vegetable kingdom which 
we have been in the habit of anathematizing so unre¬ 
strictedly as the Funguses or Mushrooms. We always 
! have looked at one with the predetermined conclusion 
that it was poisonous, for in boyhood we w r ere taught to 
view every one as a Toad-stool, and nursery-imparted 
prejudices take a deep root and are not easily eradi¬ 
cated. Our repugnance to Funguses is a prejudice, but 
we hope and think we are not too old to vanquish it, 
! and we shall he aided in our effort by the collection of 
Edible English Fungi, exhibited by Mr. Brocas, of 
Basingstoke, at the Hampshire Horticultural Show, on 
the 20th instant, and for which he had an extra prize 
awarded. 
There were arranged on Mr. Brocas’s table fourteen 
; plates of Funguses, and of these twelve we had always 
hitherto estimated as deleterious, if not deadly, but the 
living refutation of our prejudice stood before us in the 
person of Mr. Brocas, who assured us that he had 
eaten of every species that he exhibited, and found them 
not only w r holesome, but exceedingly palatable. We had 
read Dr. Badham’s book upon these eatable Fungi; 
j we knew Mrs. Hussey, and M. Bocques were labourers in 
the same field, but we never felt before so convincingly 
the force of the old adage—seeing is believing. 
On Mr. Brocas’s table were Agaricus procerus, A. 
exquisitus, and A. deliciosus, which Sowerby mentions as 
luscious when cooked, flavoured like Muscles, brimming 
with gravy, and which Sir J. E. Smith and others testify 
is superior to our common Mushroom. Mr. Brocas 
also had Agaricus nebularis, A. orcella, A. comatus, the 
juice of which, when prepared, makes an excellent 
bistre for the water-colour painter; A. atravientarius, 
Boletus edulis, flavoured like Cocoa nut, B. scdber, a 
great favourite with the Poles and Russians, Helvella 
lacunosa, and Lycoperdon gemmatum. 
Now although Mr. Brocas may be readily able to deter¬ 
mine all these Fungi without difficulty, from those very 
like them,which are poisonous; and although Dr. Badliam 
tells us, and truly tells us, that “ in the vast majority of 
instances they are harmless,” yet there are too many 
instances of fatal mistakes for us not to say—let none 
be eaten but such as are unmistakeable with even 
ordinary caution. That caution is requisite needs no 
other proof than the fact that at Rome, where the poor¬ 
est classes feed upon the Fungi daily and profusedly, 
yet their every-day experience does not inspire them 
with the needful power to avoid the poisonous, so that 
the government have an inspector in the markets 
! “ skilled in botany,” to authorise the sale of Fungi, and 
j none ought to be vended there without having passed 
i the ordeal of his inspection. 
If several of our native eatable fungi have such un¬ 
mistakeable characteristics—unmistakeable by an un- 
scienced and ordinarily careful eye—they will be a great 
acquisition, for they are not only highly nutritious, but 
will render the commonest pottage relishing; and they 
are, at times, one of the most abundant of crops. In 
Moscow alone, .£8000 worth are sold annually; and in 
Rome more than 150,000 lbs. weight are yearly con- 
Noyember 27. 
sumed—an amount allowing about one pound annually 
to each of its inhabitants. 
To the consideration of our native eatable funguses, 
we shall recur on a future occasion, as Mr. Brocas has 
promised us some remarks concerning them; but before 
we put down our pen, we would direct the attention of 
our readers to this not only neglected, but too usually 
detested, tribe of plants; and we cannot do so better 
than by printing the following, which has been oblig¬ 
ingly communicated to us :— 
“ There are amongst them some that exhibit the finest 
colours of the vegetable kingdom; and many in symmetry 
of form rival the more gaudy of Flora's productions. They 
spring up, flourish, and decay, after transmitting their prin¬ 
ciple of vitality to a new race exactly similar to themselves, 
by means of seeds, which differ greatly in size, shape, and 
colour, as well as in their situation, insertion, and number. 
Some of them may be recognized by the naked eye, while 
others require the aid of the most powerful magnifiers to 
render them perceptible. Many of the fungi are inodorous, 
others diffuse a cadaverous smell which renders them 
exceedingly offensive, in others it is tolerably agreeable ; the 
Agaricus pratensis, for example, smells like almond kernels, 
the A.fragrans like new-mown hay; on the other hand, the 
A. murinus has au odour resembling that of mice, and the 
Phallus impudicus that of putrid meat. 
“ The taste of the fungi is as various as their smell: many 
are vapid and tasteless, and others, though not unpleasant 
at first, leave a disagreeable burning sensation in the throat, 
as is the case with the lactescent agarics. Many species 
are used by man as food; such are the mushrooms; others, 
however, are baueful when eaten, both to man and animals. 
Some constitute our most formidable enemies by attacking 
our houses and fields, which they destroy and blight. That 
most destructive evil the dry-rot is, by many, supposed to be 
occasioned by a parasitical fungus, the Murilius lachrymans. 
That this plant attends the disease is certain, but whether 
its vegetation is the cause or the effect of the dry-rot, is at 
least problematical. 
“ In summer and autumn, there are few plants that are 
not more or less infected by parasites belonging to this genus. 
On many species of gramma, particularly on corn, the blight 
or mildew is found caused by the Puccinia graminis: it 
attacks the leaves and stem, forming linear patches, at first 
of a yellowish-brown, and afterwards of a black colour. 
The TJredo caries, and segetum, or smut, prey on the grain 
of Avlieat, etc., and reduce them into a black soot-like 
powder. The leaves of the common bramble, tussilago, 
gooseberry, &c., are all subject to their attacks; and, in 
some seasons, they are productive of much mischief in our 
fields, and baffle the husbandman in all his attempts to 
prevent them. 
“ Finally, the Boletus fomentarius was long much used in 
surgery as a styptic, when applied to bleeding surfaces; but 
in the present state of that art, recourse is had to much 
more certain and efficacious means, and it is now used only 
as tinder, and known by the name of Amadou;: to prepare 
it for this use, it is stripped of its epidermis, beaten into a 
soft, spongy mass, and soaked in a solution of nitre or 
gunpowder. Macodium ccllare is one of the useful species, 
being employed for fumigating bees.” 
GARDENING GOSSIP. 
In answer to many applications, we thus prominently 
reply that Moore's Victory Geranium is to be found 
in several Florists’ Catalogues; for instance, in that of 
Mr. Henderson, of the Wellington Road Nursery, where j 
it is marked as priced eigliteen-peuce. It is of a strag- j 
gling habit, rather difficult to strike from cuttings, and j 
not a breeder. In an old-fashioned greenhouse belong- | 
ing to Mr. Young, a brewer atTwyford, near Winchester, 
a row of this Geranium is grown in pots on a shelf near 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
