656 
Mushrooms  and  Fungi. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\  December,  1896. 
I  pass  the  several  sub-genera,  containing  the  smaller-sized  species, 
until  we  reach  the  Pleurotus,  from  two  Greek  words,  meaning  a  side 
and  an  ear.  These  grow  in  clusters,  and  rarely  upon  the  ground  ;  the 
most  familiar  one  to  you  is  the  Ostreatus,  or  oyster  toadstool, 
which  is  very  common  from  early  spring  until  far  into  the  winter. 
It  is  especially  fond  of  poplar  logs,  and  the  stumps  of  poplar  and 
hickory.  It  grows  from  a  side  stem,  and  is  found  in  dense,  over, 
lapping  clusters,  very  closely  resembling  the  oyster  in  color;  the 
gills  are  white,  sometimes  slightly  tinged  with  yellow  on  the  edges, 
and  the  whole  plant  has  a  sweet,  spicy  smell. 
The  very  young  specimens,  or  the  old  ones  when  the  tough  part 
near  the  stem  is  removed,  make  a  delicious  stew,  but  require  slow 
cooking  for  half  an  hour.  I  have  frequently  found  large  clusters  in 
midwinter  by  following  the  tracks  of  cows  in  the  snow  upon  the 
West  Virginia  mountains,  when  I  noticed  them  leaving  the  main 
trail  of  the  herd.  They  evidently  form  part  of  the  Materia  Medica 
of  cows,  and  are  detected  at  as  much  as  the  distance  of  ioo  yards 
by  scent  alone ;  for  at  this  distance  from  the  main  trail  I  have 
noticed  where  cows  have  scented  them,  gone  directly  to  them  and 
pawed  them  up  from  under  snow  eighteen  inches  deep.  They  do 
not  eat  the  entire  fungus,  but  break  it  up  with  their  hoofs  and  scatter 
portions  of  it  over  the  snow.  I  had  a  similar  experience  near 
Springton  Forge,  in  Chester  County,  Pa. 
Cows  break  up,  in  like  manner,  the  large  Lycoperdon  giganteunu 
The  Pleurotus  ulmarius,  which  grows  only  upon  the  elm  tree  and 
in  the  autumn,  often  attaining  a  diameter  of  I  foot,  is  common 
where  elm  trees  are  plenty.  I  have  seen  the  trees  in  Boston  Com- 
mon loaded  with  them.  The  tender  parts  of  them,  after  long  cook- 
ing, are  reasonably  good ;  but  if  not  sufficiently  cooked  are  as 
tough  as  saddle-flaps.  None  of  them  are  poisonous,  several  are 
excellent,  many  are  too  tough  to  be  used  for  food.  There  are  over 
half  a  hundred  species. 
A  large  genus,  the  Lactarius  (from  lac,  milk),  is  known  by  its 
exuding  milk  when  the  stems  or  caps  are  broken.  Many  of  this 
species  are  esculent ;  none  of  them  are  poisonous ;  several  of  them 
are  large,  white  and  showy ;  with  two  exceptions  they  grow  from 
the  ground ;  they  are  found  in  the  woods  in'great  quantity.  There 
is  one  large  species,  the  Piperatus,  which  is  quite  common.  Oa 
tasting  it  one  is  disposed  to  think  that  spontaneous  combustion  has 
