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PERKINS LIBRARY
Duke University I^re Books
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THE
ESCULENT FUNGUSES
OF
ENGLAND.
A TREATISE
ESCULENT FUNGUSES
ENCxLAND,
CONTAIXIXG
AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR CLASSICAL HISTORY, USES, CHARACTERS,
DEVELOPMENT, STRUCTURE. NUTRITIOUS PROPERTIES,
MODES OF COOKING AND PRKSRRVTNO, ETC.
CHARLES DAVID BADHAM, M.D.
EDITED BY FREDERICK CURREY, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S.
TIuAAoL nfv ffrSXa fiffny/xfya iroAAa Se \vypd. — llOMER.
LONDON : LOVELL REEVE & CO., HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
1SG3.
pbinted bt
john bdwakd tatlob, little qxjkkn btbktt,
Lincoln's inn fields.
PREFACE
TO THE SECOND EDITION.
My lamented friend Dr. Badham having died since the first publication of this work, my advice was asked upon the sub- ject of the preparation of a new edition. It was wished that the text of the work shoidd be altered as little as possible, and that the price of the book should be materially lessened. The latter object could not be effected without reducing the num- ber of the Plates; but it appeared to me that some plates re- lating to details of structure might very well be omitted, as well as the figures of a few Italian species which, although interesting in themselves, arc quite unnecessar}' in a book on British Esculent Fungi. AVith the exception of the omission of the description of these latter species, and the addition of the description of two other species hereafter referred to, the alterations in the text are too trifling to require notice. With regard to the Figures in this edition, most of them are those of the former plates, somewhat reduced ; a few have been taken from the plates of Mr. Berkeley's ' Outlines of British Fungo- logy,' and a few from original and other sources.
By a re-arrangement of the whole, the reduction in the number of the Plates has been effected, and, at the same time, figures of all the Fungi represented in the first edition have been given, as well as of two other species not there noticed.
VI PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
I should observe, however, that by a mistake of the artist an extra figure of the Horse Mushroom has been inserted in Plate IV. instead of one of the Common jNfushroom.
The two species above alluded to which Avere not figured in the first edition, are Tuber asiivum and Helvella esculenta. The former must have been inadvertently omitted by Dr. Bad- ham, as it has long been known as abundant in certain parts of England. Helvella esculenta, although alluded to by Dr. Badham, was not at that time known to be a British species. It has since been observed near Weybridge in Surrey, where it occurs almost every spring. The plant figured in PI. XV. fig. 6 of the first edition under the name of Lycoperdon plum- beum, is not that species, but Lycoperdon pyriforme ; it will be found at PI. VIII. fig. 5. Dr. Badham states that all puflf- balls are esculent, but, judging from the smell of Lycoperdon pyriforme, I should much doubt whether it would make an agreeable dish. Lycoperdon plumb eum is ncJw better known as Bovista plumbea, and Lycoperdon Bovista as Lycoperdon gi- ganteum.
There is some confusion about the synonymy of the plants described by Dr. Badham as Agaricus prunulus and Ag. ex- quisitus. It is unnecessary to discuss the matter here, and I have thought it not desirable under the circumstances to alter Dr. Badham's nomenclature. They appear to be described in Mr. Berkeley's work as Ag. gambosus, Fr., and Ag. arvensis, Schaefi".
Dr. Badham's observations on the spores of Fungi must be read in connection with the note added by him at the conclu- sion of the work; and to those who are interested in that part of the subject I should recommend the perusal of the seventh chapter of Mr. Berkeley's ' Outlines of British Fungology/ and Tulasne's recent work, ' Selecta Fungorum Carpologia.'
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. Vll
Mr. Cooke, in his ' Plain and Easy Account of British Fmigi/ recently published, mentions some species as esculent which are not noticed in this work. I have however no ex- perience of their qualities, and must refer the reader to Mr. Cooke's book for further information. He mentions Mr. Berkeley as an authority for considering Agaricus rubescens as suspicious ; but, from long experience, I can vouch for its being not oidy wholesome, but, as Dr. Badham says, " a very delicate fungus."
F. C.
PREFACE
TO THE FIRST EDITION.
TO THE RIGHT REVEREND THE LORD BISHOP OF NORWICH.
My Lord,
I had two reasons for desiring that this humble perform- ance should appear under the sanction of your Lordship's name. Nothing could be more favourable to a Treatise on any department of Natural History, than the approval of one who has been so eminently successful in his cultivation of the same field.
But it is with much greater confidence that I dedicate a work, whose chief object it is to furnish the labouring classes with wholesome nourishment and profitable occupation, to a high functionary of that kingdom, which is distinguished from all others by recognizing the claims and furthering the interests of the poor.
I have the honour to be, my Lord,
With great respect, your Lordship's Obliged and humble Servant, C. D. Badham.
CONTENTS.
Page
ETYMOLOGIES 1
THE KANGE OF FUXGCS GROWTHS 7
OF THEIR GENERAL FORMS, COLOURS, AND TEXTURE .... 10
ODOURS AND TASTES 13
EXPANSIVE POWER OF GROWTH 14
REPRODUCTIVE POWER 16
MOTION 16
PHOSPHORESCENCE 18
DIMENSIONS 18
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 20
USES 21
MEDICAL USES 25
FUNGUSBS CONSIDERED AS AN ARTICLE OF DIET 27
MODES OF DISTINGUISHING 40
CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO THEIR PBODUCTION 47
FAIRY BINGS , 52
ON THE GROWTH OF FUNGUSES 53
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPORES, OB QUASI-SEEDS* . . 58
OF THE ANNULUS, THE VELUM, AND THE VOLVA 66
OF THE STALK, AND OF THE PILEUS 68
OF THE GILLS, TUBES, PLAITS, AND SPINES 69
METHODICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BRITISH ESCULENT FUNGUSES . 72
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES : —
Agaricus acris minor 120
Apariciis alntaccus 117
Agaricus atramentarius Ill
Agaricus campcstris ^^
Agaricus castaneus 143
Agaricus cotiiahis 112
* The word seed here, or wherever else introduced into the present work, is to be understood in its popular acceptation ; correctly speaking, spores differ from seeds in the absence of an apparent embryo ; but in a more catholic sense spores are seeds, since both arc germinating granules, producing each after their kind.
X CONTKNTS.
Page DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES^ — contuiuett .
Agaricns deliciosus 102
Agaricus Dryophilus 107
Agnricus emetlcun 1 18
Affuricus exquisitus 100
Agaricus fnsipes 141
Agaricns heterophyllus 113
Agaricus meUeus 139
Agaricus nebular is 108
Agaricus Orcella 129
Agaricus oreades 106
Agaricus ostreatus 121
Agaricus person atus 105
Agaricus p>iperatus 141
Agaricus procerus 88
Agaricus 2}runulus 85
Agaricus ruber 115
Agaricus rubescens 123
Agaricus sanguineus 120
Agaricus semiglobatus . . . ' ' 108
Agaricus ulmarius 140
Agaricus vaginatus 142
Agaricus violaceus 143
Agaricus virescens 116
Agaricus virgineus 145
Boletus edulis 90
Boletus lurid us 104
Boletus scaber 103
Cantharellus cibarius > HO
. Clavaria coralloides 135
Fistulina hepatica 127
Helvella crispa 130
Helvella lacunosa 131
Helvella esculenta 131
Hydnum repandum 126
Lycoperdon Bovista 138
Lycoperdon plumheum 136
Morchella esculenta . 123
Morchella semilibera 124
Peziza acetabulum 133
Polyporus frondosus 133
Tuber cestivum 145
Verpa digitaliformis 132
CONCLUSION 146
DESCRiniON OE PLATES.
Plate I.
Imu;. 1. Agaricus pnnuilus. ,. 2. Agaricus pcrsonatiis.
Plate II. Agaricus procerus.
Plate III.
Fig. 1, 2. Boletus ediilis. „ 3, -t. Agaricus lieterophyllus.
Plate IV. Fig. 1. Polyporus fronclos\is. ,, 2. Agaricus nebularis,
3, 4, .5. Agaricus exquisitus.
Plate V.
Fig. 1. Helvella lacunosa.
„ 2. Clavaria amethystiua.
,, 3. Clavaria coralloides.
,, 4. Agaricus deliciosus.
„ 5. Clavaria cinerea.
,. G. Clavaria rugosa.
Xn DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
Plate VI.
Fig. 1, 2. Boletus scaber. „ 3, 4, 5. Boletus luridus.
Plate YII.
Fig. 1, 2, 3. Agaricus comatus. „ 4. Agaricus oreades. „ 5. Agaricus Dryophilus.
Plate VIII.
Fig. 1. Cantharellus cibarius. „ 2. Tuber aestivurn. ., 3, 4. Hydnum repanduni. „ 5. Lycopevdon pyriforme.
Plate IX.
Fig. 1, 2. Agaricus atramentarius. „ 3. Agaricus melleus.
Plate X. Agaricus ostreatus.
Plate XI.
Fig. 1, 2. Agaricus Orcella. „ 3, 4, 5. Agaricus rubescens.
Plate XII.
Fig. 1, 2. Fistulina hepatica. „ 3, 4, 5. Helvella esculenta. ,, 6. MorchcUa esculenta.
INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.
No country is perhaps richer in esculent Funguses than our own ; we have upwards of thirty species abounding in our woods. No markets might therefore be better supplied than the English, and yet England is the only country in Europe where this important and savoury food is, from ignorance or prejudice, left to perish ungathered.
In France, Germany, and Italy, Funguses not only consti- tute for weeks together the sole diet of thousands, but the re- sidue, either fresh, dried, or variously preserved in oil, vinegar, or brine, is sold by the poor, and forms a valuable source of income to many who have no other produce to bring into the market. Well, then, may we style them, with ]\I. Roques, " the manna of the poor." To call attention to an article of commerce elsewhere so lucrative, with us so wholly neglected, is the object of the present work, to which the best possible introduction will be a brief reference to the state of the fungus market abroad.
The following brief summary was drawn up by Professor Sanguinetti, the Official Inspector {" Ispetfore dei Fuughi") at Rome ; let it speak for itself : — " For forty days during the
XIV INTRODUCTORY NOTICJ).
autumn, and for about half that period every spring, large quantities of Funguses, picked in the immediate vicinity of Rome, from Frascati, Rocca di Papa, Albano, beyond jNlonte Mario towards Ostia and tlie neighbourhood of the sites of Veii and Gabii, are brought in at the different gates. In the year 1837, the Government instituted the so-called Congrega- zione Speciale di Sanita, which, among other duties, was more particularly required to take into serious consideration the commerce of Funguses, from the unrestricted sale of which during some years past, cases of poisoning had not unfre- quently occurred. The following decisions were arrived at by this body : —
" 1st. That for the future an ' Inspector of Funguses,' versed m botany, should be appointed to attend the market in place of the peasant, whose sup- posed practical knowledge had been hitlierto held as sufficient guarantee for the public safety.
" 2nd. That all the Funguses brought into Kome by tlie chfferent gates should be registered, under the surveillance of the principal officer, in whose presence also the baskets were to be sealed up, and the whole for that day's consumj)tion sent under escort to a central depot.
" 3rd. That a certain spot should be fixed upon for the Fungus market, and that nobody, under penalty of fine and imprisonment, shoidd hawk tliem about the streets.
" 4th. That at seven o'clock A.M. precisely, the Inspector should pay his daily visit and examine the whole, the contents of the baskets being previously emptied on the ground by the proprietors, who were tlien to receive, if the Fimguses were approved of, a printed permission of sale from the police, and to pay for it an impost of one baioccho (a halfpenny) on every ten pounds.
" 5th. That quantities under ten pounds should not be taxed.
" 6th. That the stale funguses of the preceding day, as well as those that were mouldy, bruised, fiUed with maggots, or dangerous {muffi, guasti, ver- minosi, velenosi), together with any specimen of the common mushroom (Aff. campesfrU) detected in any of the baskets, should be sent under escort and thrown into the Tiber.
" 7th. That the Inspector should be empowered to fine or imprison all those
INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. XV
refractory to the above regulations ; and, finally, that he should furnish a weekly report to the Tribunal of ProTisions (// Tribnnale delle Grascie) of the pro- ceeds of the sale.
" As all fresh Funguses for sale in quantities exceeding ten pounds are weighed, in order to be taxed, we arc enabled to arrive at an exact estimate of the number of pounds thus disposed of. Tlie return of taxed jNIushrooms in the city of Home during the last ten years, gives a yearly average of between sixty and eighty thousand pounds weight ; and if we double tliis amount, as we may safely do, in order to include such smaller untaxed supplies as are disposed of as bribes, fees, and presents, and reckon tlie whole at the rate of six baiocchi, or threepence per pound (a fair average), this will make the commercial value of fresh Funguses very apparent, showing it here to be little less than £2000 a year."
But the fresh Funguses form only a small part of the whole consumption, to which must be added the dried, the pickled, and the preserved ; which sell at a much higher price than the first."^ Supposing, however, that with these ad- ditions the supply of all kinds only reached a sum the double ^f that given above, even this would furnish us with an annual average of nearly four thousand pou?ids sterling ; and this in a single city, and that, too, by no means the most populous one in Italy !t What, then, must be the net receipts of all the market-places of all the Italian States ? For as in these the proportion of the price of esculent Funguses to butchers' meat is as two to three, it is plain that prejudice has deprived the poor of this country, not only of many thousand pounds of the former but also of as much of the latter, as might have
* At from twenty to thirfy baiocchi, i.e. at about Is. 3d. a jiound. t The population of Komo is only 15-1,000; that of Naples, 360,000; and that of Venice, 180,000.
XVI IXTRODUCTOllY NOTICE.
been purchased by exchange, and of the countless sums which might have been earned in gathering them.*
* The Chinese present a striking contrast with oui-selves in the care which they bestow on their esculent vegetation. " Some days since, M. Stanislas Julien presented to the Academy of Sciences, at Paris, a Cliincse work, whicli merits a word or two of notice in the present circumstances of agricultural Europe. It is a treatise, in six volumes, with plates, entitled the 'Anti- Famine Herbal;' and contains the descriptions and representations of four hundred and fovu-teen different plants, whose leaves, rinds, stalks, or roots are fitted to furnish food for the people, when drought, ravages of locusts, or the overflow of the great rivers have occasioned a failure of rice and grain. Of this book the Chinese Government annually prints thoiisands, and distributes theivi gratuitously in those districts which are most exposed to natural calamities. Sucli an instance of provident sohcitude on the part of the Chinese Government for the suffering classes may be suggestive here at home. A more general knowledge of the properties and capabilities of esculent plants would be an important branch of popidar education." — AiJienceum, Nov. 16, 1846.
ON THE
ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
" Quos ipsa Tolon<ia rura Sponte tiJerc sua carpsit." — Virgil, " He culls from woods, and heights, and fields. Those untaxed boons which nature yields."
ETYMOLOaiES.
By the word /jlvki]';, rjro^ or ov, 6, whereof the usually re- ceived root, fLVKo^i [mucus), is probably factitious, the Greeks used familiarly to designate certain, but indefinite species of funguses, which they were in the habit of employing at table. This term, in its origin at once trivial and restricted to at most a few varieties, has become in our days classical and generic ; Mycology, its direct derivative, including, in the language of modern botany, several great sections of plants (many amongst the number of microscopic minuteness), which have apparently as little to do with the original import of /j,vK7]<; as smut, bunt, mould, or dry-rot, have to do with our table mushrooms. A like indefiniteness formerly charac- terized the Latin word fungus, though it be now used in as catholic a sense as that of fivKrj^;; this, in the classic times
B
2 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
of Rome, seems to have been confined (^yithout any precise limitation, however) to certain sorts vrhich might be eaten, and to others which it was not safe to eat. The
" Fungos colligit albos,"*
which occurs in Ovid's ' Fasti,' alludes to the former; the
" Svmt tibi boleti, fungos ego sumo suillos,"
of Martial, points to an inferior kind, but still esculent; whilst the w^ord not unfrequently designated, if not actual toadstools, at least very equivocal mushrooms; of which character w^ere those " ancipites fungi " presented by Veiento to his poor clients. Some melancholy etymologists, upon whom good mushrooms are really thrown away, would beget fungus out of funus, but Vossf judiciously rejects so harsh and forced a derivation, mentioning together with it others that are still more so.
The word Boletus, which now stands for a large genus of the section Pileati, was used in ancient Rome to designate that particular mushroom which had the honour, under Agrip- pina's orders and Locusta's cookery, of poisoning Claudius; in memory of which event it is now called Amanita Ccesarea, the Caesar's mushroom. It occurs frequently both in the poets and prose writers of those days, and was in high esteem, as we collect from Pliny, who, though no mushroom-
* There are three kinds of esculent funguses in Italy to which the epithet alhus might apply, viz. the Amanita alba, of Persoon, the Li/coperdon Bovista, Linn, (or common puff-ball), and Agaricus campestris, Linn, (our common mushroom). The first kind grows in woods, and the second in diy unculti- vated spots, whereas Ovid mentions these in conjunction with the Mallow {Maha), which grows in moist meadow-land ; it is probable, therefore, that he here alludes to the Fratajolo, or meadow mushroom, or to that variety of it called from its whiteness " boule de neige."
t Etymol. ad locum.
ETYMOLOGIES. 3
fancier himself^ calls this " Boletus optimi cibi." Nero, in playful allusion to his uncle's death, of which it was the occa- sion, designates it the 'food of gods,' ^pMfia Ocmv; and Mar- tial celebrates it in many a convivial epigram ; in one, for instance, where he asks his hard-hearted patron, "what possible pleasure it can be for his guests to sit at his table, and see him devour boletuses j" in another, '' gold and silver and dresses may be trusted to a messenger, l)ut not a bole- tus, {siibaudi) because he will cat it on the way." This is the only ancient mushroom which we at once recognize by the description of it ; " it originates," says Pliny, " in a volva, or purse, in which it lies at first concealed as in an egg ; breaking through this, it rises upwards on its stalk; the colour of its cap is red j it takes a week to pass through the various stages of its growth and declension." The sui/hia — probably the same as the modern porcino (a word of analogous import), which was, and is, eaten by men as well as pigs, and not always by these"'^ — was, according to Pliny, the fungus which most rea<lily lent itself to poisoning by mistake; a remark so far consonant to modern experience, that it is liable, without some attention, to be confounded with the Boletus lurichis, B. cyanescens, and others, which in their gene- ral shape and external hue resemble it, though it is not by any means certain that any of these species, with which it may be confounded, are themselves poisonous. f The word tuber, though it occasionally (as in Juvenal) meant the truffle, seems to have been used with considerable latitude. Thus
* Well-fed domestic pigs, ou the authority o a friend, refuse it ; but pos- sibly, in the absence of full supplies of corn, they mipht be less dainty.
t Yittadini assures us that the "slips of dried boletus, sold on strings, are as frequently from these kinds as from the Boletus edulis itself; notwith- standing which, no accident was ever known to happen from the indiscriminate use of cither."
B 2
4 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
the tubers said to spring up after those optatos imhres, those " long-wished-for showers of spring/' were, probably, not truffles, but puff-balls, which, at the season of warm rains grow with incredible rapidity, forming an esteemed article of luxury, not only in Italy, but also in India; whereas the truffle never makes its appearance in the markets at such times, nor comes up so immediately after rain. Tuber, like our ancient '^fusseballj" seems a common appellation both for truffles and puff-balls. What the ancients understood by hydnum is as little precise or discriminate as the last word ; for Theophrastus declares it to have a light bark, \ei6(j)\otov elvai, in which case it is a puff-ball, while the plant called vhvo<^i\ov, which is said to indicate the whereabouts of hydna in its neighbourhood, can only refer to the truffle. The truffle, however, which is now so much prized throughout Europe, seems not to have been known to the ancients, at least it is not described by them."^ That which the Greeks called misy, and the Romans the Libyan truffle,t was white and of very delicious flavour, whilst by hydnum (when this word really meant truffle) they usually designated a particular kind bearing a smooth red rind, and abounding in certain districts of Italy ; but having no chance against the black, nodulated tuber tuberum, the truffle par excellence, found in
* Dioscorides, who lived in the tune of Nero, says that pigs dig up " truffles" in spring. Matthiohis, in his commentaries, speaks of an inferior, smooth- barked, red truffle known to the ancients, to which the above remark of Dios- corides perhaps apphes ; certainly it does not apply to the black truiilc, which begins to come into the Eoman market in November, and is over long before the spring.
t The Thracians are said to have intended this same misy under the new epithet of Kipavi/iov, as though it were produced by tliunder, unless indeed, as in Theoph. lib. i. cap. ix., we shoidd read Kpaviov, in which case they meant the Lycoperdon giganteum, a fungus frequently as big as, and in the form of, the human head : whence its name of cranium.
ETYMOLOGIES. 5
such abuudancc in the vicinities of Rome, Florence, Siena, etc., and, above all, amongst the Nursian hills of Umbria, over against Spoleto, whence it is largel}'^ exported throughout and beyond Italy. Under the name Peziza, the ancients aj)pcar at times to describe, unconsciously, a Scleroderma or species of j)ufl-ball after it has evacuated its seed, when it presents a iiattened surface, and so far looks like a Peziza, with which, in fact, it has no connection. By Amanita, Galen intended some kind of esculent fungus, but we know not which ; this word has now come to have a more extensive import, and to designate, besides one or two species that are good, many of the most dangerous character. Whatever the ancient Amanita may have been, it was formerly in high repute ; Galen declares that, next to the Boletus, it is ujBXa- ^earaTOv to eat — in which good report of it he is abundantly borne out by the concurrent testimony of Nicander. What Dioscorides meant by djapiKov is another uncertainty, to resolve which we have not sufficient data; one thing seems plain, that it could not have been our officinal Agaric, for that grows upon the Larch, whereas his Agaricon grew upon the Cedar. Julius Scaliger amuses himself at the expense of Athenaeus for saying that Agaricus is so called from the country of Agaria, whence he would make out that it ori- ginally camcj whereas there never Avas such a country, his Agaria being, like our Poiatia, only another synonym for Fancy's fairyland.^'
• * WliocTcr has time to waste on the unprofitable speculations of the ancients concerning the parentage of funguses, and would like so to waste it, may con- sult Pliny, lib. xvi. cap. 8, lib. xxii. cap. 23 ; Hist. Nat. Dioscorides, lib. iii. cap. 78 ; Athcn.Tus, lib. ii. iu the Deipnosophisti ; and after tliem Galeu, Clusius, Porta- (Villsc, lib. x.), Imperato (Ilist. Nat.), etc. The first really philosopliical treatise which ascribes their origin, like that of other plauts, to seeds, was published by Michcli, at Florence, in 1720.
b ESCULENT FUNGUSES Ol' ENGLAND.
The words champignon aud mushroom have both a French origin^ though^ like the corresponding derivatives from the Greek aud Latin, they too have come to signify things different from "what they originally designated ; champignon, for example, of which champ would seem to be the root, is generic in France. The ' Traites sur les Champignons' of BuUiard, Persoon, Paulet, Cordier, and Roques, are treatises of funguses in genere ; whilst in England we restrict the word champignon to one small Agaric, w^hich, as it grows in the so-called " fairy-rings," is hence named Ag. oreades. Again, there can be no doubt that our word mushroom (which, as contradistinguished from toadstool, is so far generic) comes from the French mouceron (originally spelt mousseron) , and belongs of right to that most dainty of funguses, the A. prunulus, which grows amidst tender herbage and moss (whence its name), and which is justly considered, over almost the whole continent of Europe, as the ne plus ultra of culinary friandise. It abounds in various parts of England, being everywhere trodden underfoot, or reaped down, or dug up as a nuisance, while the rings Avhich it so sedulously forms are as sedulously destroyed. The very odour which it exhales under these injuries, which the French call " un parfum exquis aromatise,"* and the Italians, " un odore gratissimo,"t is in England occasionally cited to its disadvantage in confirmation of its supposed noxious qualities. Thus, while we use the Avord mushroom, which is the proper appellation of this species, for another (very good, no doubt, but wholly unlike it in its botanical characters, flavour, and appearance), this neglected, and ignorantly neglected, species, finds itself deprived of its rightful name, and proscribed as a toadstool. The origin of this last word, toadstool, which makes them scats or thrones
* Eutiiics. t Vittadini.
ETYMOLOGIES. 7
for toads, docs not quite satisfy mc, I confess, though there be doughty authorities for it in Johnson's Dictionary and in Spenser's ' Faery Queen' !
*' The grisly todestool grown there mought I see, Aaid loathed paddocks lording on the same ;"
and, though an anonymous Italian authority dechares that, in Germany, they have actually been seen sitting on their stools,* still, even in Germany, it must be admitted that they do not use them as frequently as we might expect, had they been created for this end. In that most grisly and ghastly waxwork exhibition at Florence, representing a charnel-house filled with the recent victims to a raging plague, in every stage of decomposition, the toad and his stool are not forgotten ; but the artist, who had here to deal with mat- ter, and to consult what it would bear, has not put his toads upon these brittle stools, lest, giving way, both should come to the ground; he has been content to convert them into toad-umbrellas, and to spread them as an awning over their heads.f
THE RANGE OF FUNGUS GROWTHS.
The family of Funguses, in the comprehensive sense in which we now employ the term, is immense. Merely catalogued and described, there are sufficient to fill an octavo volume of nearly 400 pages of close print, of British species alone; altogether, there cannot be less than 5000 recognized species at present known, and each year adds new ones to the list. The reader's surprise at this will somewhat diminish, when he considers, that not only the toadstools which beset his walks, whether
* ' Trattati dei Funghi.' Roma, 1804.
t Have not both the words Tode and the stool called after him some ety- mological, as they have imdoubtcdly a fanciful, connection with the word tod, death ?
8 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
growing upon tlie ground or at the roots of trees_, belong to this clasSj but that the immense hordes of parasites which feed at his expense, and foul, like the Harpies, whatever they may not actually consume, belong to it also.
For the single mushroom that we eat, how many hundreds there be that retaliate and prey upon us in return ! To enumerate but a few, and these of the microscopic kinds (on the other side are some which the arms can scarcely em- brace) : the Mucor mucedo, that spawns upon our dried pre- serves ; the Ascophora mucedo, that makes our bread mouldy {'' mucidffi frustra farinse""^) ; the Uredo segetum, that burns Ceres out of her own cornfields ; the Uredo rubigo, whose rust is still more destructive; and the Puccinia graminis, whose voracity sets corn-laws and farmers at defiance, are all fun- guses ! So is the grey Monilia, that rots, and then fattens upon, our fruits; and the Mucor herbariorum, that destroys the careful gleanings of the painstaking botanist. When our beer becomes mothery, the mother of that mischief is a fungus. If pickles acquire a bad taste, if ketchup turns ropy and putrifies, funguses have a finger in it all ! Their reign stops not here ; they prey upon each other ; they even select their victims ! There is the Myrothecium viride, which will only grow upon dry Agarics, preferring chiefly, for this pur- pose, the Agaricus adustus ; the Mucor-\ chrysospermus, which
* Juvenal.
+ Few minute objects are more beautiful tban certain of these muceclinous fungi fungorum. A common one besets the back of some of the MussuIcb in decay, spreading over it, especially if the weather be moist, like thm flocks of light wool, presenting on the second day a bluish tint on the surface. Under a powerful magnifier, myriads of little glasslike stalks are brought uito view, which bifurcate again and agam, eacli ultimate twig ending in a semilucent head, or button, at first blue, and afterwards black ; which, when it comes to burst, scatters tlie spores, wliicli are then (under the microscope) seen adhcrmg to the sides of the dehcate filamentary stalks like so many minute limpets.
THEIK EXTENT. 9
attacks the flesh of a particular Boletus ; the Sclerotium cor- nutum, which visits some other moist mushrooms in decay. There are some Xylomas that will spot the leaves of the Maple, and some those of the Willow, exclusively. The naked seeds of some are found burrowing between the opposite sur- face of leaves; some love the neighbourhood of burnt stubble and charred wood; some visit the sculptor in his studio, growing up amidst the heaps of moistened marble dust that have caked and consolidated nndcr his saw. The Racodium of the low cellar^ festoons its ceiling, shags its walls, and wraps its thick coat round onr wine-casks,t keeping our oldest wine in closest bond ; while the Geastrwn, aspiring occasion- ally to leave this earth, has been found suspended, like ]\fa- homet's coffin, between it and the stars, on the very highest pinnacle of St. Paul's. J The close cavities of nuts occasion- ally afford concealment to some species; othei's, like leeches, stick to the bulbs of plants, and suck them dry ; these (the architect's and ship-l)uildcr's banc) pick timber to pieces, as men pick oakum ; nor do they confine their selective ravages to plants alone, they attach themselves to animal structures,
* Vide the London Docks, passim; where he pays liis unwelcome visits, and is in even worse odour than the exciseman.
t " Sir Joseph Banks having a cask of wine, rather too sweet for immediate use, he directed that it shouUl bo jilaccd in a collar, that the saccharine it con- tained might be more decomposed by age ; at the end of three years he directed liis butler to ascertain the state of the wine, wlien, on attempting to open the cellar-door, he could not effect it, in consequence of some powerful obstacle ; the door was consequently cut down, when the cellar was found to be com- pletely filled with a fungous production, so fii-m, that it was necessary to use an axe for its removal. This appeared to have grown from, or to have been nourished by, the decomposing particles of the wine, the cask being empty, and carried up to the ceihug, where it was supported by the fungus." — C/iambers's Journal.
X Withermg found one of these plants on the top of St. Paid's Cathedral ; the first he had seoi !
10 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
and destroy animal life ; the Omjgena equina has a particular fancy for the hoofs of horses and for the horns of cattle, sticking to these alone ; the belly of a tropical fly"^ is liable, iu autumn, to break out into vegetable tufts of fungous growth, and the caterpillar to carry about on his body a Cordycejjs larger than himself. The disease called Muscadine, which destroys so many silkworms, is also a fungus {Botrytis Bas- siana), which in a very short time completely fills the worm with filaments very unlike those it is in the habit of secreting. f The vegetating wasp,J too, of which everybody has heard, is only another mysterious blending of vegetable with insect life. Lastly, and to take breath, funguses visit the wards of our hospitals, and grow out of the products of surgical disease. § Where, then, are they not to be found ? do they not abound, like Pharaoh^s plagues, everywhere ? is not their name legion, and their province ubiquity ?||
OF THEIR GENEEAL FOEMS, COLOUES, TEXTUEE, TASTES, SMELLS, ETC.
What geometry shall define their ever-varying shapes ? who but a Venetian painter do justice to their colours ?^ or
* Sporendonema Muscce.
t " When healthy caterpillars are placed within reach of a silkworm that has been destroyed by the Botrytis, they, too, contract the disease, and at last perish." — Chamhers's Journal, October, 1845.
;j; A species of Poli/strix is affected, whilst alive, with a parasitic kind of fungus, called Spharia, which grows out of it, and feeds upon it.
§ Several of the French surgeons have given recitals of cases where, on re- moval of the bandages from sore surfaces, they have found a collection of fun- guses growing upon them, generally about the size of the finger (Lemery) ; one of them adds, that having reapplied the wrappings, a second batch came out in the course of twenty-four hours, and this for several days consecutively.
II For an accurate description of these funguses, the reader is referred to the excellent work of Mr. Berkeley.
\ These, beaulil'ul, but flcctuig as beauty's blush, generally perish withui a
FORM, COLOUR, ETC. 11
what modifications of 'soft' and 'hard' convey an adequate knowledge of all their various erases and consistencies? As to shapes, some are simple threads, like the Byssus, and never get beyond this; some shoot out into branches, like seaweed j some puflf themselves out into puff-balls ; some thrust their heads into mitres;*^ these assume the shape of a cup,t and those of a wine-funnel; J some, like A. mam- mosus, have a teat; others, like the A. clypeolarius, are um- bonated at their centre; these are stilted upon a high leg,§ and those have not a leg to stand on ; some are shell-shaped, many bcll-sliaped, and some liang upon their stalks like a lawyer's wig;|| some assume the form of the horse's hoof, others of a goat's beard : in Clathrus cancellatus you look into the fungus through a thick red trellis which surrounds it. Some exhibit a nest in which they rear their young,^ and, not to speak of those vague shapes,
" If shapes they can be called, that shape have noue Determinate,"
of sucli tree parasites as are fain to mould themselves at the will of their entertainer (the fate of parasites, whether under oak or mahogany), mention may be made of two, of which the forms are at once singular and constant ; one exactly like an ear, and given for some good reason to Judas {Auricula
few hours ; but I have seen some which, after a potting of 2000 years, retained their original hues unblemished, for they liad been potted with the town of Pompeii, and arc preserved with the other frescoes upon its waUs.
* Tlic Mitrati are not a very uimierous class, of which the Morel may be taken as the tyjie.
t The Ciqndati, so called in consequence.
J A . pipera tiis. § A . procerus.
II Agaricus comatus, in allusion no doubt to which Plautus says of the Lord Chancellor of his day, " Fungino genere est, capiti se totum tegit," — that his wig was so long as to liide his whole person.
^ The Nidularias do so.
12 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
Jiida), clings to several trees, and trembles when you touch it ; the other, which lolls out from the bark of chestnut-trees {Lingua di Castagnd) , is so like a tongue in shape and general appearance,"^ that in the days of enchanted trees you would not have cut it off to pickle or to eat on any account, lest the knight to M'hom it belonged should afterwards come to claim it of you. The above are amongst the most remarkable of the many Protean forms assumed by funguses; as to their colours, we find in one genus only species which correspond to every hue ! The Agaricus Casareus, the A. muscarius, the A. sanguineus, assume the imperial purple, the A. violaceus a beautiful violet, the A. sulphureus a bright yellow, the A. adustus a dingy black, the A. exquisitus, and many others, a milk-white ; whilst the A. virescens takes that which, in this class of plants, is the rarest of all to meet with, a pale- green colour. The upper surface of some is zoned with con- centric circles of diffeVent hues ; sometimes it is spotted, at other times of a uniform tint. The bonnets of some shine as if they were sprinkled with mica ;t these have a rich vel- vety, those a smooth kid-like covering stretched over them. Some pilei are imbricated with brown scales, some flocked with white shreds of membrane, and some are stained with various- coloured milks secreted from within. The consistence of funguses is very different according to their sort, and the epithets of woody, corky, leathery, spongy, fleshy, gelatinous, pulpy, or mucous, will all find fitting application to some of them. Occasionally a fungus is secreted soft, but hardens by degrees into a compact and woody texture.
* The surface is rough with elerated papillae, tlie structure fibrous, the flesh softly elastic, the colour bright red, looking hke the tongue in the worst forms of gastro-enterite, with which its cold clammy surface when touched oilers no correspondence.
+ A. micaceus.
ODOURS AND TASTES. 13
ODOUES AND TASTES.
Both one and the other are far more numerous in this class of phiuts than in any other with which we are acquainted. As to odours, though these be generally most powerful in the fresh condition of the fungus, they are sometimes increased by drying it, during which process too some species, inodorous before, acquire an odour, and not always a pleasant one. Some yield an insupportable stench ; the Phallus impiidicus and Clathrus cancellatus are of this kind. A botanist had by mis- take taken one of the former into his bedroom ; he Avas soon awakened by an intolerable foctor, and was glad to open his Avindow and get rid of it, as he hoped, and the Phallus toge- ther. Here he was disappointed ; " sublatH causa, non toUitur cfTcctus," the foetor remaining nearly the same for some hours afterwards. A lady, a friend of mine, who was drawing one in a room, was obliged to take it into the open air to com- plete her sketch. As to the Clathrus, I have found ten minutes in a room with it nine too many : it becomes insupportably offensive in a short time, and its infective stench has given rise to a superstition entertained of it throughout the Landes, viz. that it is capable of producing cancer — in consequence of which superstition the inhabitants, who call it Cancrou, or Cancer, cover it carefully over, lest by accident some one should chance to touch it, and become infected with that horrible disease in consequence.* Batsch has described an Agaric t of so powerful and peculiar a smell, that before he could finish his picture (for he was drawing it) a violent head- ache made him desist, " vehemcnti afficiebar capitis dolore." Of the others, some are graveolent in a savoury or in an un- savoury sense. This smells strong of onions,J that of cinna-
* Tliorc. t Agaricus narcoticics, Batscb, Fascic. vol. ii. pi. 81.
J A. alliacevu.
14 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
mon,* from which it takes its name ; the A. ostreatus [auct. nost.) most powerfully of Tarragon ; A. odoratus, Q.nd the Can- thareUus, like apricots and ratafia (Purton) ; Boletus salicbms, " like the bloom of May" (Abbott) ; the A. sanguineus, when dry, savours of a stale poultice ; A. piper atus, of the Triglia, or red mullet ; the Hydna generally give out a smell of tallow ; moulds have their own smells, which are mouldy and musty ; some exhale the smell of putrid meat, many the odour of fresh meal ; the spawn of A. 2»'unulus and of the puff-balls {Lycoperdons) exhale an odour similar to the perfect plants ; but the Pietrafunghaia, filled with the spores of its own Poly- porus, is without smell. When fresh, there is scarcely any perceptible odour in Boletus edulis or B. luridus, nor yet in the A. Ccesareus when recently gathered. A word about their tastes will suffice : with so many smells, they must needs have flavours to correspond, and so they have ; sapid, sweet, sour, peppery, rich, rank, acrid, nauseous, bitter, styptic, might be all found in an English ''gradus" (though at present, I am sorry to say, without any lines from poets in whose writings they occur), after the word 'Fungus.' In a few, generally of an unsafe character, there is little or no taste in the mouth while they are being masticated, but shortly after deglutition, the fauces become dry, and a sense of more or less constriction is apt to supervene, which frequently continues for some time afterwards.
EXPANSIVE POWEE OF GEOWTH.
Soft and yielding as vegetable structures appear to the
touch, the expansive force of their growth is almost beyond
calculation. The effects of this power, of which the experience
of every one will furnish him with some instances, are perhaps
* A. cinnamomcus.
EXPANSIVE POWER OF GROWTH. 15
nowhere more strikingly exemplified than amidst the ruins of its own creation. Coeval with many old brick fabrics of earlier times, perhaps embedded in the very mortar which holds them together, it may Im'k there for centuries in quiescence, till once arousing its energies, it continues to exert them in cease- less activity ever after. It has at Rome planted its pink Valerians on her highest towers, and its" wild fig-tree in the breaches of her walls ; nor are the granite obelisks of her piazzas, nor the classic groups in marble on her Quirinal mount, entirch' exempt from its encroachments. A con- spirac}' of plants, one hundred strong, have loug ago planned the destruction of the Coliseum ; their undermining process advances each year, and neither iron nor new brickwork can arrest it long. That old Roman cement, which the barba- rians gave up as impracticable, and the pickaxe of thcBarberini had but begun to disintegrate, will, ere the lapse of another century, be efTectually pulled to pieces by the rending arm of vegetation. Here, as erst in Juvenal's time, the mala ficus finds no walls too strong to rive asunder, no tower beyond the reach of its scaling, no monument too sacred for it to touch. In the class of plants immediately under consideration, while the expansive effort of growth is equal to what it is in other cases, its effects are far more startling from their suddenness. M. BuUiard (to cite one or two instances out of a great many) relates, that on placing a Phallus impudicus within a glass vessel, the plant expanded so rapidly as to shiver its sides with an explosive detonation as loud as that of a pistol. Dr. Carpenter, in his ' Elements of Physiology,' mentions that "in the neighbourhood of Basingstoke a paving-stone, measuring twenty-one inches square, and weigliing eighty- three pounds, was completely raised an inch and a half out of its bed by a mass of toadstools, of from six to seven inches in
16 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
diameter, and that nearly the whole pavement of the town suffered displacement from the same cause." A friend has seen a crop of puff-balls raise large flagstones considerably above the plane of their original level ; and I have myself recently witnessed an extensive displacement of the pegs of a wooden pavement which had been driven nine inches into the groundj but were heaved up irregularly, in several places, by small bouquets of Agarics, growing from below.
EEPEODUCTIVE POWER, Funguses have a remarkable power of re-forming such parts of their substance as have been accidentally or otherwise re- moved. Vittadini found that when the tubes of a Boletus were cut out from a growing plant, they were after a time re- produced. Where deep holes have been eaten into these plants by snails, such holes, on the Boletus attaining to its full growth, are partially refilled. If the tender Polyporus be cut across, the wound immediately sets about healing by the first intention, leaving not even a cicatrice to mark the original seat of the injury. The Lycoperdons {Bovista), which are often accidentally wounded by the scythe, have the same faculty of repairing the injury, remodelling afresh the parts that may have been excised from them.^
MOTION. In a recent work on ' Insect Life,^ I have discoursed some- what at large on the insufficiency of any kind of movements as proofs of sensation, quoting, amidst other evidences to this effect, certain remarkable movements in plants. Some of the present family exhibit the phenomena of insensitive motion in a remarkable manner, and might have been added to the
♦ Fries.
MOTIOX. 17
list already cited in that publication. Mr. Robson has given us a very interesting account of the movements he observed in the scarlet Clathrus, Avhich is here transcribed in his own words. It is interesting to notice how an unbiassed observer uses the very terms to designate the movements of a plant which would have been minutely descriptive of those of an insect : — " At first I was much surprised to sec a pai't of the fibres, that had got through a rui)ture in the top of the Clathrus, moving like the legs of a fly when laid on his back. I then touched it with the jioint of a pin, and was still more surprised when I saw it present the appearance of a little bundle of worms entangled together, the fibres being all alive. I next took the little bundle of fibres quite out, and the animal motion was then so strong as to turn the head halfway round, first one way and then another, and two or three times it got out of the focus. Almost every fibre had a diflerent motion ; some of them twnicd round one another, and then untwined again, whilst others were bending, extending, coiling, waving, etc. The fibres had many little balls ad- hering to their sides, which I take to be the seeds, and I ob- served many of them to be disengaged at every motion of the fibres; the seeds appeared like gunpowder finely granulated." Instances from other authors abound. " An Helvella injiata, on being touched by me once, threw up its seeds in the form of a smoke, which arose with an elastic bound, glittering in the sunshine like particles of silver."^'' "The Vibrissca truncorum, taken from water and exposed to the rays of the sun, though at first smooth, is soon covered with white geniculated fila- ments, which start from the hymenium, and have an oscillating motion. "t The PiloboluK, of which so accurate an account has been given us by the great Florentine mycologist,^ casts,
* Bolton. + Persoon. % Micheli.
C
18 ESCULENT rtJNGUSES OF EXGLAND.
as its name imports, its seeds into the air ; these also escape with a strong projectile force from the upper surface of Pezizas, tbe anfractuosities of the Morel, and from the gills of Agarics."^
PHOSPHORESCENCE. Several kinds of funguses, and the spawn of the truffle, emit a phosphorescent light ; of the first, the Agaricus oharius, not uncommon in Italy, is sometimes seen at night, feebly shi- ning amidst the darkness of the olive grove. The coal-mines near Dresden have long been celebrated for the production of funguses which emit a light similar to a pale moonlight. Mr. Drummond describes an Australian fungus with similar properties; and another very interesting one, an Agaric, is noticed by Mr. Gardner, in his ' Travels in Brazil.'f
DIMENSIONS. Most funguses do not present great anomalies in their size,
* These last, placed in a wineglass, over a sheet of white paper, frequently disperse the seminal dust over a ring of twice the natiu-al dimensions of the Agaric.
f " One dark night, about the beginning of December, while passing along the streets of the Villa de Natividade, I observed some boys amusing them- selves with some luminous object, which I at first supposed to be a kind of large fire-fly ; but, on making inquiry, I found it to be a beautiful phospho- rescent fungus, belonging to the genus Agaricus, and was told that it grew abundantly in the neighbourhood, on the decaying leaves of a dwarf jDalm. Next day I obtained a great many specimens, and found them to vaiy from one to two and a half inches across. The whole plant gives out at night a bright phosphorescent light, of a pale greenish hue, similar to that emitted by the larger fire-flies, or by those curious, soft-bodied, marine animals, tlie Fyro- somce ; from this cu'cumstance, and fi'oni growing on a palm, it is called by the inhabitants ' Flor do Coco ;' the light given out by a few of these fungi in a dark room, was sufficient to read by. It proved to be quite a new sjjecies, and, since my return from Brazil, has been described by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley under the name of Agaricus Gardneri, from preserved specimens which I brought home." — Travels in the Interior of Brazil, 1846.
DIMENSIONS. 19
but retain nearly the same dimensions througliont the whole course of their being; some few species, however, seem to have a faculty of almost indefinite expansion. The usual size of a puff-ball, as we all know, is not much larger than an egg, but some puff-balls attain to the dimensions of the human head,* or exceed it. INIr. Berkeley quotes the case of a Poly- porus squamosus, which in three weeks grew to seven feet five inches in periphery, and weighed thirty-four pounds ; also of a Polyporus fraxineus, which in a few years measured forty-two inches across. Clusiusf tells us of a fungus in Pannonia, of such immense size, that after satisfying the cravings of a large mycophilous household, enough of it remained to fill a chariot ; this must have been the Polyporus frondosns, to which Polyporus John Bapt. Porta;]: also alludes as that called ffaUinace^ by the Neapolitans, which is so big, he says, that you can scarcely make your hands meet round it, "brachiis diductis vix homo complecti possit;" he had known it attain twelve pounds weight in a few days.|| Bolton,
* Hence it was called Kpaviov {vide Thcopb. Lib. vol. i. cap. 9) by tlie ancients. Ccsalpinus describes it under tbe name of Peziza, and reports that it is common in tbe woods of Pisa, wbcncc men gatber to cat tbeni. We read also, in an ancient ItaUan writer (Cicinelli), that tbe environs of Padua produce enormous pufl'-balls, of wbicb one (unless this author was given to p'iffing) measured not less than two feet across, in one direction, being upwards of a foot and a half in its least diameter. It was big enough, he says, to have written on its rind the celebrated inscription attributed by Dion Cassius to the Dacians, which they presented to the Emperor, " in quo scriptum erat Latinis Uteris Burros sociosque omnes cum hortari ut domum rcverterctur pacenique colcret." Other autliors also (Alph. dc Tuberibus, — not trullles, but puff-balls, — cap. xvii. ; Imperato, Hist. Nat. IIol. vol. xxvii. cap. 5) sjicak of pulT-balls of sixty and one hundred pounds weight.
t Hist. Plant, vol. ii. p. 275.
X Villfe, Lib. vol. x. cap. 80.
§ By this word, however, the vulgar generally understood the Caniharellm eibarius.
II This species, which is somewhat rare in England, occurred in abundance
C 2
20 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
in 1787, found an Agaricus muscarms, which, "after the removal of a considerable portion of its stalk, Aveighcd nearly two pounds ; " Withering, an A. Georgii, " which weighed fourteen pounds," and Mr. Stackhouse another of the same species in Cornwall, " which was eighteen inches across, and had a stem as thick as a man's wrist ; " and I lately picked in the park at Buckhurst, a Boletus edulis which measured twenty-eight inches round its pileus, and eight round the stem, and a few days later a B. pachypus, the girth of which was thirty-two inches.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION.
Of all vegetable productions these are the most highly azotized, that is, animalized in their composition — a fact not only evinced by the strong cadaverous smell which some of them give out in decay, and by the savoury animalized meat which others afford at table, but on the evidence of chemistry also. Thus Dr. Marcet has proved that, like animals, they absorb a large quantity of oxygen, and disengage in return, from their surface, a large quantity of carbonic acid; all however do not exhale carbonic acid, but, in lieu of it, some give out hydrogen, and others azotic gas. They yield, moreover, to chemical analysis the several components of which animal structures are made up; many of them, in addi- tion to sugar, gum, resin, a peculiar acid called fungic acid, and a variety of salts, furnish considerable quantities of albumen, adipocire, and osmazome, which last is that principle
this year (1817) in the neighbourhood of Tunbridge Wells. I found four speci- mens of it on the oak-roots in the Grove, one of which rose nearly a foot from the ground, measured considerably more than two and a half feet across, and weighed from eighteen to twenty pounds ; the other specimens were of much smaller dimensions.
USES. 21
that gives its peculiar flavour to meat gravy. The Polyporus sulphureus is frequently covered with little crystals of the binoxalate of potash;^ the Agaricus 2)iperati(s yields the acetate of potash,t and it is probable that other funguses of which we have as yet no recorded analysis will, on the institution of such, be found to contain some new and unex- pected ingredient peculiar to themselves. AVhcn these several substances have l)ccn duly extracted from funguses, there is left behind for a common base the solid structure of the plant itself; this, which is called fungine, is white, flabby, insipid in its taste, but highly nutritious in its properties. If nitric acid be poured upon it, an immediate disengagement of azotic gas takes place, and several new substances arc the result : a bitter principle, a reddish resinoid matter, hydro- cyanic and oxalic acids, and two remarkable fatty substances, whereof one resembles tallow, the other wax. If dilute sul- phuric acid be poured upon this fungine, no change ensues ; but if muriatic acid be substituted, the result is a jelly.
USES. The uses to which funguses have been put are various, and, had the properties of these plants been as extensively investi- gated as those which l)clong to the phanerogamic classes, they would probably by this time have proved still more numerous : some, as the Polyporus sidphureus, furnish a use- ful colour for dyeing ;| the Agaricus atramentarius makes ink ; divers Lycopcrdons, of which other mention will be made presently when we come to speak of such species as are escideut, have also been employed for stupefying bees, for stanching blood, and for making tinder; their employment in the first of these capacities, seems to have escaped the
* Robert Scott, Act. Liuu. Soc. vol. viii. p. 202. f Dufresnoj. % Roques.
22 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OY ENGLAND.
observation of the accurate author of ' Les Jardins/ who has
mentioned the others : —
" Ce puissant Agaric, qui du sang epanche Arretc les ruisseaux, et clout le sein fidele Du caillou petUJant recucille retinccUe."
The ' caillou/ alas^ like the poet who struck this spark out of it^ is now obsolete; but amadou is still in vogue, being employed for many household purposes ; in addition to which, a medical practitioner of Coveut Garden has of late been in the habit of using extensive sheets of it to cover over and .protect the backs of those bedridden invalids whose cruel sufferings make such large demands upon our sympathy, — for the alleviation of which so little is to be done ! — as it is more elastic than chamois leather, it is less liable to crumple up when lain upon, and on this account has been preferred to it by several of our metropolitan surgeons of eminence ; some employ it also as a gentle compress over varicose veins, where it supports the distended vessels without pressing too tightly upon the limb. Gleditsch relates, that the poorer inhabitants of Franconia stitch it together, and make dresses of it; and also that the Laplanders burn it in the neighbourhood of their dwellings, to secure their reindeer from the attacks of gad- flies, which are repelled by the smoke ; thus " good at need," it really deserves the epithet of ' puissant,^ given to it by Delille.^
* Amadou is largely used in Italy, where it is called esca ; the Latins likewise knew it by this name, though their more common appellation for it was fomes; the Byzantine Greeks hellenicized esca into v(TKa, which was their word for it ; the ancient Greeks called it (wnvpov. Sahnasius teUs us how it used to be made in his time, which indeed was the same as now : the fungus was first boiled, then beaten to pieces in a mortar, next hammered out to deprive it of its woody fibres, and lastly, being steeped m a strong solution of nitre, was left to dry in the sun. It appears, on the testimony of the anony- mous author of the article "Fungo" in the 'Dizionario Classico di Medicina,'
USES. 23
The Pohjporus squainosus makes a razor-strop far superior to any of those at present patented, and sold, ^ith high-souud- iug epithets, far beyond their deserts. To prepare the Poly- jiorus for tliis purpose, it must be cut from the ash-tree in autumn, -when its juices have been dried and its substance has become consolidated; it is then to be flattened out for twenty-four hours in a press, after which it should be care- fully rubbed « ith pumice, sliced longitudinally, and every slip that is free from the erosions of insects be then glued upon a wooden stretcher. Cesalpinus knew all this ! and the barbers in his time knew it too ;* and it is not a little remarkable that so useful an invention should, in au age of puffing, adver- tisement, and improvement, like our own, have been entirely lost sight of. Impcrato employed and recommends it as an excellent detergent, with which to brush and comb out the scurf from the hair.
The Agaricus mnscarius is largely employed in Kam- tchatka, in decoction with the Epilobitim angustifoHwu, as an intoxicating liquor. f The Laplanders smear it on the walls and bedposts of their dwellings, to destroy bugs (Linn.); and
that it is also eaten when young ; hut I cannot speak of it from jiersonal ex- perience : — " In prima et;\ mangiasi colto di fresco affcttato e condito d'ogni mode; specialmentc nolle provincie di Bclluno ed Udine, o salasi per la quadragesima."
* " Di questo fungo serTavanosene i harhieri in camhio dolle strugghie dette piu volgarcniente code/fe, attc a far riprendere il perduto filo a loro rasoi."
t "This is the 'Moucho more' of the Russians, Kamtcliadalcs, and Koriats, ■who use it for intoxication ; (hey sometimes eat it dry, hut more commonly immersed in a hqvior made from the Epilohiiim, and when they drmk this liquor, they arc seized with convidsions in aU their limbs, followed with that kind of raving which accompanies a burning fever. They personify this mush- room, and, if they arc urged by its effects to suicide, or any other dreadfid cmne, they pretend to obey its commands ; to fit themselves for premeditated assassination they recur to the use of the Moucho more." — Rees's Cyclopadia, urf. '^Affaric."
24 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
Clusius relates, that it is sold extensively in the market at Frankfort, to poison flies ; for this purpose, it is either cut into small pieces and thrown about the premises, or else boiled in milk and placed upon the window-sills ; in either case it is vastly inferior in efficacy to that celebrated "mort aux mouches," the impure oxide of cobalt, that is, to the arsenic which this contains. The above are a fsAv of the uses, exclu- sive of the esculent or medical ones, to which funguses have been puf ; it is fair, however, to notice that they maintain a debtor, as well as a creditor, account with mankind, in which the balance seems to be occasionally quite against us ; those that are most injurious are generally', as has been already stated, of the microscopic kinds ; whereof some attack young plants still underground, emulgiug them completely of their juices, in consequence of which they perish ; others, like the corn-blights, permit the plant to attain maturity before they begin their work of destruction, and destroy it just as it is beginning to fructify.* The fearful epidemics to which grain so infected has given rise are well known, though it is still a matter of question whether the ergoted corn owes its unwholesome qualities to the injury which it had sustained from the blight, or to the blight itself. Though the mischief produced by parasitic funguses be unquestionably great, this occasional and very partial evil is more than compensated by the much greater amount of good accomplished solely by their agency, in the assistance they afford to the decomposition of animal and vegetable tissues, which has procured for them the name, not unaptly applied, of " nature's scavengers."
* In such cases the minute fungus is probably absorbed in ovo and dis- seminated with the sap through the plant ; as this ascends from the root, it remains undeveloped however till the com is in ear, at wliich time it finds in the nascent grain tlie necessary conditions for its own development.
MEDICAL USES. ,lO
This decomposition they effect by assimilating, through the medium of their radicles, the juices of the decaying structure in which they are developed, loosening thereby its cohesion, and causing it to break up into a rapid dissolution of its parts. ^
MEDICAL USES.
Of the funguses formerly em})loycd in medicine few are now in vogue; the ergot of rye still keeps its ground, and in eases of protracted labour, when judiciously employed, is valuable in assisting nature when unequal to the necessary efforts of parturition. Another fungus, formerly much in fashion, tiiough now put on the shelf, seems really to deserve further trial ; I mean the Polyjyorus suaveolens (Linn.), which in that most intractable disease, tubercular consumption, surely claims to be tried when there are such respectable authorities to vouch for its surprising effects, in cases where everything else had been notoriously unsuccessful. f Sartorius M'as the first to prescribe it as a remedy in phthisis, and its employment with this view, since his day, has at various times been prreconizcd on the Continent ; the dose generally recommended being a scruple of the powder two or three times a day. Of the cases published by Professors Schmidcl and Wendst {which have an air of good faith in their recital, well entitling them to consideration), I abridge one as an example, though the others are not less interesting; and
* Tlie mischief thus producccl by drv-rot may be arrested by steeping; the affected timber in a solution of corrosive sublimate, whicli, forming a chemical union with tlie juices of tl>e woody fibre, piwents tlieir being abstracted by the dry-rot, that would else have maintained itself and spread at their expense.
+ A reputation that revives may not be so good as one that survives, but the very fact of such revival shows that the good opinion formerly entertained was not altogether groundless.
26 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
while it is certainly to be regretted that the absence of stetho- scopic indications should prevent our having any positive evi- dence as to the precise condition of the diseased lung, or of the nature of the secretion expectorated, still, even supposing them to be simple cases of chronic bronchitis, with marasmus the efficacy of the remedy is scarcely less striking or instruc- tive. " A young man, tetat. twenty-one, was seized at the beginning of autumn with inflammatory cough and haemo- ptysis, which were partially subdued by V. S. and the ordinary antiphlogistic treatment ; but the cough, coming on again with renewed severity during the winter, was accompanied with the expuition of glairy mucus, which was sometimes specked with blood. Towards the spring the young man had become much thinner, and was continuing to waste away; the expectoration also had changed its colour, and had become fetid and green; his nights were feverish and disturbed; he had no desire for food, and ate but little; his ankles had begun to swell; he had copious night-sweats and diarrhoea. A teaspoonful of an electuary of the P. suaveolens in honey was given him three times a day, and nothing else ; and, ex- traordinai-y as it may appear, under this treatment the sweats speedily began to diminish Avith the cough, and after a three months' continuance of the medicine the patient entirely re- covered/'*
The Polyporus laricis, the so-called Agaric of pharmacy, is a powerful but most uncertain medicine, and has been also recommended in consumption. I once administered a few grains of it in this disease, when violent pains and hyperca-
* Enslin was in the habit of uniting this Polyporus with Peruvian Bark, and obtamcd from it the happiest results : " Omnium milii arridet connubium ejus cimi cortice Peruviano" — to which "connubium," no doubt, some of its good effects are to be attributed.
AN ARTICLE OF DIET, 27
tharsis supervened, which lasted for several hours. MM. B. Lagrange and Braconnot found it to contain a large quantity of an acrid resin, to which it no doubt owes its hypercathar- tic properties. To judge from this single case, which, how- ever, tallies with the experience of others, I should say that this fungus was, in medicine, to be looked upon as a very suspicious ally.* The A. muscarius has also been used in medicine. Whistling, so long ago as 1778, wrote on its healing virtues, in Latin, recommending its powder as a valu- able application with which to sprinkle sanious sores and excoriated nipples. Plenck gave drachm doses of it internally in epilepsy, and, together with Bcrnhard and Whistling, attests its success. It appears that the Phallus mucus in China, and the Lycoperdon carcinomale near the Cape of Good Hope, are used also by the inhabitants of those countries as external applications for cancerous sores. The Phallus, rubbed upon the skin, is said to deaden its sensibility, like the narke, or electric skate.
FUNGUSES CONSIDEEED AS AN ARTICLE OF DIET. If all the good things ever said about the stomach since the days of Menenius Agrippa, or before his time, could be collected, they would doubtless form an interesting volume ; Arctaeus has somewhere quaintly, but not unaptly, called it the " house of Plato ; " in another place he speaks of it as the " seat " (as if Kar^ ^^o^h^) " of pleasure and of pain ; " and so it is indeed, and it has moreover a notorious tendency, when provoked, to cool our charity and to heat our blood ; its
* Hallcr relates, that the inhabitants of Piedmont are in the habit of swallowing a small piece of this Agaric, when they have drunk with their water some of those small leeches in which it abounds. Bomare mentions of this same Agaric, that the iuhivbitiuits of Balcu use it in powder to heal blaius in their cattle.
28 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
sympathies by nervous attachments^ both of " continuity ^' and of " contiguity/'^ with the other organs of the body, are extensive and complicated ; no Avonder then that it should have enlisted ours in its behalf, and that few of us would offend it wittingly, though by indiscretions we do offend it continually.
In the ''sensual philosophy/' of the French school par- ticularly, the stomach has received marked attention, ranking in that country as the most noble of the viscera.-\ Even in those republican times when no other rights were held sacred throughout France, the privileges of the stomach were re- spected; when men found that they might get on quite as well, or better, with a bad heart, but that they could not get on so well without a good digestion, it is not so much to be wondered at if they made idols of their bellies, established a School of Cooks to rival the School of Athens, and became famous for " those charming little suppers in which they used to set the decencies of life at defiance." J But if in France far too much attention has been paid to the culinary art, too little attention has surely been paid to it at home ; for the art of cookery, properly understood, is not only the art of pleasing the palate, but the stomach also.§ In France, the dinner is the thought of the morning, and sometimes the business of the day, but in France everybody dines ; in Eng- land, where the word ' dinner ' never occurs till it is announced,
* Hunter.
t It is tlie Frenchman's heart ! " J'ai mal au coeur " means, as every one knows, in tlie French tongue, not ' I am sick at heart,' as it professes to say, but ' I am sick at stomach ' !
;|; Walpole.
§ The phrase " I hkc it, but it docs not Hke me," which one sometimes hears at table, having a reference to some particular idiosyncrasy of the party who makes the remark, docs not invahdatc the truth of tliis general pro- position.
AN ARTICLE OF DIET. 29
a few wealthy men dine well, the middling ranks badly, and the poor not at all. Not that even the poorer orders generally want the necessary materials for such repast ; they frequently consume more butcher's meat than is consumed by their Con- tinental neighbours ; it is simply that they want skill in pre- paring it. If it be scanty, they cannot tell how to make the most of it; if it be homely, they cannot tell how to improve its flavour by uniting and blending with it a certain class of inexpensive luxuries, which, though they grow everywhere throughout the country, arc everywhere neglected. Touching the wholesomcncss or unwholesomencss of these, I have now a few words to address to the common-sense reader; that is, to him who prefers feasting upon funguses to fasting out of mere i)rejudicc. Formerly men used to refer such questions as this to their physician ; they would
" Try what Mead or Clieselden advised."*
intending, perh.aps, to take some little poetical license with it afterwards. Aberncthy, on the anecdote of the oysters and oyster-shells being duly substantiated, would have been ostra- cized from polite society in those days of decorous etiquette, when, as medical men affected to be more dientereumatic with the insides of their patients than any of us now pretend to be, they must needs have been far more affable when consulted on such cases than we of the present day might be; though they did not therefore always answer the same question in the same way ; one, for instance, " Le medecin Tant Pis,'^ would fre- quently proscribe the very things that his rival, " Le medecin Tant Mieux," had just been recommending. AVhen men
* Pope. Mead, if anybody, ought to have been good authority on the subject of tb.is particular diet. He had written, ex professo, upon poisons ; and the Florentine mycologist Micheli had dedicated several newly-discovered funguses to him. He was therefore both a Toxicologist and a Mycologist.
30 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
came to find they must either give wp some favoimte article of food or else give up the anathema pronounced against it, they generally preferred the latter course, and were sure, to use a medical phrase, to " do well " if they did so ; whilst a few wretched hypochondriacs, adopting the other alternative, and living strictly en regime, became only the more hypo- chondriacal for their pains.
None but a determined theorist* would nowadays think of prescribing diet for the stomach of a single patient, far less for all those of a polygastric public ; neither does an en- lightened, self-educated public, that can read Liebig and thoroughly appreciate its own case, hold out much encourage- ment for such advice. The day is past without return for long-winded prose epic on indigestion; a livelier mode of dealing with the subject oi non-naturals, in the shape of novels and romances, has won the public ear. Broussais' five-act tragedy of * Gastro-Enteritis ' t has received its last plaudits ; already has Crabbe's euthanasia to this class of authors attained its full accomplishment : —
" Ye tedious triflers, Truth's destructive foes, • Ye sons of Fiction clad in stupid prose,
O'erweening teachers, who, yourselves in doubt, Light up false fires and send us far about,
* " No thought too bold, no airy dream too light. That will not prompt your Theorist to write ; No fact so stubborn, and no proof so strong, Will e'er convince him he could argue wrong." — Crahbe. + Broussais divides inflammatory dyspepsia into Jive parts or acts. That Leach of leeches, whose word once passed for more than it was worth, came at last to see himself and his sangsues utterlj^ abandoned, and to have the mortifica- tion of lecturmg in his old age to empty benches. " Quantum mutatus ab illo " of less than twenty years before, and who had been the cause of as much inno- cent bloodshedding as Napoleon liimself, and used to kill his patients that his leeches might be fed !
AN ARTICLE OF DIET. 31
Long may the spider round your pages spin,
Subtle and slow, her emblematic gin.
Buried in dust and lost ui silcnee dwell,
Most potent, dull, and reverend friends, farewell ! "
No article of diet was ever half so roughly handled as the fun- gus. What diatribes against it might be cited from the works of Athenaeus, Dioscorides, Galen, Pliny, the Arabian phy- sicians, and all their commentators ! What terrible recitals, too, of poisoning from some few species have been indus- triously circulated, and the unfavourable inference drawn from these, been applied to the whole tribe — a mistake which some •writers, even in modern times, have perpetuated. Thus, Kirker votes the whole '/ a family of malignants; "* thus too Allen and Batarra pen unsolicited apageSjf and warn us, in an especial manner, to beware of them ; while Scopoli includes in his very definition of a fuugus, that it is of a class of plants which are always to be suspected, and which are for the most part poisonous. Tertullian, with more of epigram than of truth, makes out, that for every different hue they disj)lay there is a pain to correspond to it, and just so many modes of death as there are distinct species; | to all which, and a great deal more similar rhapsody and invective, tens of thousands of our Continental neighbours in the daily habit of eating nothing else' but funguses might reply, in the words of Plautus —
" Adcone me fuiss^o funffum ut qui illis erederem ?"
Those who abuse funguses generally do so from prejudice rather than from personal experience, objecting to their flesh as being heavy of digestion, and to their juices as being more
* " Fungus qualiseuuque sit semper maligmis." — Kirker, Lib. de Pest. + " Apage ergo perniciosa istha?c guise blandimenta." X " Quot colores tot dolores, quot species tot pernicies."
32 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
or less prejudicial to health. Some say they are too rich, others of too heating a character. These objections are for the most part without foundation, as those who eat them can abundantly testify. To quote the authority of one or two medical friends on the Continent, formed on large personal experience, in favour of the excellence of this diet. Professors Puccinelli of Lucca, Briganti of Naples, Sanguinetti of Rome, Ottaviani of Urbino, Yiviani of Genoa, are all consumers of funguses. Vittadini, whose excellent work on the esculent kinds of Italy is without a rival, himself eats, and gives us ample receipts for dressing them. In France, a similar ser- vice has been rendered to the public by Paulet, Persoon, Cordier, and Roques, * who have severally published excellent treatises on the various kinds fit for food, as they occur in the different provinces; whilst the influence of the last winter has been the means of introducing several new species into the Parisian markets, thus causing them to be very generally known. Not to multiply individual testimony needlessly, let that of Schwsegrichen suffice, who tells us, that on seeing the peasants about Nuremberg eating raw mushrooms^f he too, for several weeks, restricted himself entirely to this diet, " eating with them nothing but bread, and drinking nothing but water, when, instead of finding his health impaired, he rather experienced an increase of strength.'^ Vegetior evasit ! as the inscription at Rome relates to have been the case with
* M. Roques gives at the end of his treatise on funguses a long Hst of his mycophilous fi'iends, including in the number many of the most eminent medical men of the French capital — if medical men are more carcfid of what they eat than their neighbours, which, however, is exceedingly doubtful.
+ "To eat raw mushrooms" was a proverbial expression among the Greeks, as is shown by the passage which Athena'us quotes out of a play of Antiphancs, called the ' Proverbs' : — "£701 "yap &j/ riiv x/jxiTipuiv (pdyoi/xi t», /ttuKrjros u/xovs ai)TiK &v (payuu SoKdw.
AN article: of diet. 33
St. John when he emcrgccl, after one hour's cooking, from a caldron of boiling oil. In a word, that which has been the daily bread of nations — the poor man's manna — for many centuries, cannot be an miwholcsome, much less a dangerous food.* Funguses, no doubt, are a rich and dainty fare ; and so whatever objections apply to made-dishes in genere may apply also to these, which, while they contain all the sapid and nutritious constituents of animal food, have however an advantage over it — viz, that while they are as rich in gravy as any butcher's meat, their texture is more tender, and their specific gravity less. Touching the general question as to the wholcsomeness of made-dishes, it might perhaps be stated as a rule, to which there are many exceptions, that the more we vary and combine food, the better chance there is of our digesting it. t "You must assist nature," Hippocrates says,
* Those who themselves know better, smile to read such psissages as the following, which is to be found in old Gerard's ' Ilei'bal' : — " Galen alarms that they (/. e. funguses) are all very cold and moist, and therefore do approach imto a Tenomous and mothering facidtie, and engender a claunny and pituitous nutri- ment ; if eaten, therefoi*e, I give my advice uuto those that love such strange and new-fangled meates, to beware of liclting honey among thorns, lest the sweet- nessc of the one do not countervaiUe the sharpnesse and pricking of the other. "
t A life of labour, no doubt, will make tlic sorriest fare sit more lightly on the healthy stomach, than the most dainty viands which have been received into an organ that is weakened and goaded by a life of dissipation and excess ; but this docs not prove sorry fare to be more wholesome than that of a richer kmd. No ! Dysjiepsia is a cbsease of tlie rich ; not because they live upon the fat of the land, but plainly because they indulge in too large a quantity at a meal. Let the peasant and the lord change places for a week ; place the healthy rustic at the rich man's table, and Dives agaui at the other board, what would be the results to both ? Would not the poor man, think you, find indi- gestion in ragoAt, fricassees, truffles, with light wine ad libitum to drink witli them ? and would not the rieli man find tliat the fat pork and hard beer were worse poison than any of the made-dishes, against which he has been so lavish in his blame ? In general, no doubt, to be " the happiest of mortals — to digest well " (Voltaire), men should look more to the qnanium and less to the quale of what they eat ; but they should pay some attention to tliis too.
D
34 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
" by art. You must vary your viands and your drinks. INIusic would tire if it were always to tlie same tunc, so also does a monotonous regimen tire.^ Cooks therefore make mixed dishes, and he who should always make the same dish would deservedly pass for not being a cook at all."t And though Sydenham, in apparent discordance with this, recom- mends one dish for dinner, it is quite for another reason. Plain food may indeed suit some stomachs, but good cooking suits all stomachs ; and when Seneca Avrites, that " there arc as many diseases as cooks,^^ Roques takes him up properly by replying, " Yes ; as bad cooks." The rule for every dinner, plain or compound, is to dress it well — " that which is best administered is best ; ^' and good cooking, thus understood as the art of improving and of making the most of a thing, is a matter of equal importance to both rich and poor. It is a safe rule, I believe, and one recommended on good authority too, if men wanted authority on such matter, to eat what they like, but not as much of it as they likc.f Nine-tenths of
* *Hj' Se iravra oixoia. iroiTjatj ovk fX*' T€p;|/ir. n.A. A. 10.
t That I did not always hold such an opinion as the above, to which I have
smce given in my adhesion, the following ode to Eupepsia, written in the days
of theoretical inexperience, will sufficiently testify. I am now convinced tliat
Hippocrates was right ! —
Happy the man whose prudent care lie dinos unscathed, who dines alone !
Plain boiled and roast discreetly bound ; Or shuns abroad those corner dishes ;
Content to feed on homely fare, No Roman garlics make him groan,
On British ground ! Kor matclotte fishes.
Sound sleep renounces sugared peas ! — Then let not Vcrey's treacherous skill.
No nightmares haunt the modest ration Nor Vt'four's, try thy peptic forces ;
Of tender steak, that yields with ease One comes to swallow many a pUl
To mastication ! Where many a course is !
From stews and steams that roimd them play, AVith mushroomed dishes cease to strive;
How many a tempting dish would floor us. Nor for that trujfled crime inquire,
Had nature made no toll to pay WTiich nails the hapless goose aUve,
At the pylorus ! At Strasburg's fire.
X Heberden wisely left it to his patients, except in acute cases of disease or when they Avere gluttons, "to cat what pleased them, finding that many apparently imfit substances" (which funguses are not) " agreed with the
AN ARTICLE OF DIET. 35
dyspeptics become so from overfeeding. " Nauseosa satietas non ex crassis et pravis solum, sed ctiam boui succi alimentis provcnit." Even Paracelsus, though an undoubted quack, might give some people a hiut : " Dosis sola facit ut venenum sit vel non j cibus enim vel potus qualibet quantitatc majore ?cquo assumtus venenum fit." Dyspeptics are willing to enlist your sympathies in their behalf by telling of the delicacy of their mucous membrane, just as young countesses descant with more success on the extreme susceptibility of their nerves; nor is it always kindly received, if a well-wisher should remind them that their sufferings may not after all have been the fault either of their stomach or of the dish which they blame, but of their own indiscreet use of both. Whilst it is an acknowledged fact on all hands that infants are overfed, and that all children overfeed, men are by no means so prone or willing to admit that gluttony is perhaps the very last of childish things that they are in the habit of putting away from them. Thus, then, though funguses are not to be considered unwholesome, they are, like other good things, to be eaten with discretion and not a discretion. " If you live an indolent life, are a sybarite in your heart, or should some violent passions (choler, jealousy, or revenge) be dealing with you, take care in such a case how you eat ragouts of truffles or of mushrooms ; but if, on the contrary, your health be good, your life temperately prudent, your
stomach merely because they were suitable to its feelings." Wliy quote Abernethy? — but that good sense, backed by personal experience in such matters, are always worth quoting — who says, " Nothing hurts me that I eat with appetite and delight ; " or Withers, unless for a Uke reason, who is " of opinion that the instinct of the palate, not misguided by preconceived opinion, may be satisfied, not only with impunity, but even with advantage." It is the rule by which the brute creation is taught to shim its poison and to choose its food : to a considerable extent, it should be ours also.
D 2
36 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
temper even, and your mind serene, then (provided you like them) you may eat of tliese luxuries without the slightest apprehension of their disagreeing with you.'' M. Roques adds, and with truth, " it is the wine, surcharged with alcohol, of which men drink largely, in order, as they say, to relish and digest their mushrooms and made-dishes, that disagrees with the stomach, and that will, ere long, produce those visceral obstructions, and those nephritic ailments, at once so grievous to bear and so difficult to get rid of." ^ If the reader shall retain one word of the following homely lines, and that word the last, so as to remember it in place, he will owe us no fee, and it will save him many a bitter draught : —
Lies the last meal all imdigested still ?
Does chyle impm-e your poisoned lacteals fill ?
Does Grastrodynia's tiny gunlet bore,
Whore the crude load obstructs the rigid door ?
Or does the fiery heartburn flay your throat ?
Do darkUng specks before your eyeballs float ?
Do fancied sounds invade your startled car ?
Does the stojit heart oft wake to pulseless fear ?
Your days aU listless, and yoiu' nights all dream,
Of Pustule, Ecchymose, and Emphyseme ;
Till nithless surgeon shall your paunch explore,
And mark each spot with mischief mottled o'er ;
Does all you suffer quite surpass belief?
Has oft-tried soda ceased to give relief?
Has bismuth failed, nor tonics eased yom* pain ?
Have Chambers, Watson, both been teased in vain ?
In case so cross — what cure ? — but one : Refrain !
But the objection against funguses is generally of another kind : many persons who like good living too well to be afraid of the new introduction of a luxury which is to bring new dyspepsias for them in consequence, fear lest, whilst indulging in this "celestial manna," this /Spw/xa 6eo)v, they should * Koques, ' Traite sur les Champignons. '
AN ARTICLE OF DIET, 37
meet with the fate of tlie Emperor Claudius^ and prefer re- maining vivi to the chance of becoming divl before their time. Now there is really no just ground for this fear; the esculent fungus never becomes poisonous, nor, conversely, the poisonous variety fit to cat. In Claudius's particular case we must remember that Locusta medicated, and Agrippina cooked, that celebrated dish, in which the mushrooms, after all, were but the vehicle for the poison. As to the general fact, though cultivation undoubtedly produces considerable changes in the qualities of this, as in those of other classes of plants, they are never of such a kind as to convert that which is esculent in one locality into a dangerous food in another. " Coelum noii animum mutat;" ov yap rhv rpoirov aWd toy tottov fxoyov /i.eT7;'XXa^a.* That the mushroom is not quite so wholesome when cultivated as it is in the meadow,t in a state of nature, cannot be doubted ; J and that many persons have suffered, both in France and England, more or less gastric disturbance after eating those taken from hotbeds or from dark foul iniaerated places, is certain ; that mushrooms also in decay, when chemistry has laid hold of their tissues and changed their juices, have produced disagreeable sensations in the stomach and bowels, is not to be questioned ; finally, that the idiosyncrasy of some persons is opposed to this diet, as that of others is to shell-fish, to melons, cucumbers, and the like, must also be ceded : but none of these admissions surely meddle with the question, nor go any way towards proving the assumed fact, viz. that a mushroom ever changes its nature
* -Sschines.
t " Pratcnsibiis optima fungis Natura est." — Horace.
\ Locality has a great effect upon almost all that we eat : our very mutton varies in different counties ; compare the town-bred gutter-fed jioultry of London with that of twenty miles around ; fish vary, the tench out of diiferent ponds are different ; fruits vary with the soil ; are potatoes everywhere the same ?
38 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
and becomes poisonous like the toadstool.^ It has been nnwarily asserted, that becaiisc the people of the north are in the habit of employing in their kitchen the Agaricus musca- rius, which is known to be poisonous in the south, this points to some remarkable difference in the plant depending on dif- ference of locality. It is to be recollected, howe\^er, that this very same fungus, if taken in sufficient quantity, without the precaution usually adopted of soaking it in vinegar before cooking, has produced fatal accidents, of which we read the re- citals in various mycological works ; and only not more fre- quently because the plant, being generally well steeped in brine or acetic acid, is in most cases robbed of deleterious principles, the only residue left being pure fungine, which is equally innoxious and the same in all funguses whatever. It is moreover worthy of remark, that though the common mush- room [Ag. campestris) varies considerably both as to flavour and wholesomeness (circumstances attributable in part to the varieties of soil in which it flourishes f) , other funguses, on the contrary, being mostly restricted for their alimentation and reproduction to some one particular habitat, do not present such differences. The Boletus edulis, the Fistulina hepatica, the Agaricus oreades, the Ag. procerus, the Ag. prunulus, the Ag.fusipes, the Cantharellus cibarius, etc., are, in flavour and other sensible qualities, just the same in Eng- land as they are in France, Switzerland, or Italy. Thus the
* Persons liave fancied themselves poisoned when they were not ; indigestion produced by mushi-ooms is looted upon with fear and suspicion, and if a medical man be called in, the stomach-piunp used, and relief obtained, nothing will persuade either patient or practitioner that this has not been a case of poison- ing. " You have saved my life," says the one. " I think you will not be persuaded to eat any more mushrooms for some time," says the other : and so they part, each imder the impression that he knows more about mushrooms than anybody else can tell him.
t It grows not only throughout Europe, but iu India also.
AN ARTICLE OF DIET. 39
objection to eat funguses on the ground of their presenting diftcrcnccs depending on those of the locality uhcre they grow, applies principally, if it applies at all, to the English mushroom, of which no housekeeper is afraid, and by no means to those species the introduction of which into our markets and kitchens forms the main object of this treatise.
Besides the foregoing objections to funguses on the general ground of their supposed indigestibility, or else the more par- ticular one of their not being at all times and in all places the same, a further and weightier one, as it is commonly urged, is the alleged impossibility of our being al)le to dis- criminate, with certaintj^ the good from the bad ; an objection Avhich derives much of its supposed weight from the apparently clashing testimonies of authors respecting the same species, ■who not unfrequently describe, under a common name, a fun- gus which some of them assert to be esculent, some doubtful, and others altogether poisonous in its qnalities. Such dis- crepancies, however, have already in many cases been satis- factorily adjusted, whilst a more minute attention and cor- responding improvement in the pictorial representation of species is daily diminishing the errors of the older myco- logists.
Admitting then, what there is no gainsaying, the existence of many dangerous individuals in this family,"^ ought we not, in a matter of such importance, rather to apply ourselves to the task of diseiiminating them accuratelyf than permit idle
* We should apply the same niles of discrimination here as elsewhere. Ilavc we not picked potatoes for our table out of the deadly family of Solatia ! selected with care the fjarden from the fooVs parsley ? And do we not pickle gherkins, notwithstanding their aflinity to the Elaierlum momordicmn, which would poison us if we were to cat it ?
t " N'cst-il pas bien plus simple ct bien plus sur cu meme temps, jruisqu'on le pent, dc prevenir les maux, que de speculer sur lea moyens si souvent incer- tains de les guerir?" — BuU. PI. Venen. p. 11.
40 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
rumours of its impracticability, or even its real difficult}^, to dcbort us from the uudertakiug ? Assuredly nature, who has given to brutes an instinct, by which to select their aliment, has not left man without a discriminative power to do the same with equal certainty ; nor does he use his privileges to their full, or employ his senses as he might, when he suffers himself to be sui'passed by brute animals in their diagnosis of food.
MODES OF DISTINGinSHmG.
The first thing to know about funguses is, that in the immense majority of cases they are harmless ; the innoxious and esculent kinds are the rule, the poisonous the exceptions to it ; in a general way, it is more easy to say what we should not eat than what we may ; we should never eat any that smell sickly or poisonous. Opinions respecting the agreeable- ness or disagreeableness of an odour, as of a taste, may differ; thus, in France and Italy (where the palate seems to us to bribe the judgment of the nose), it is usual to speak of that of the Ag. prumdus as "perfuming the air;'^"^ but though the strong peculiar smell exhaled by this and some other esculent funguses is anything but a perfume, as we apprehend the term, it is very different from that intolerable fcetor, that nauseous overwhelming odour given out by the Phallus impu- dicus, the Clathrus cancellatus, the Amanita verna, and its varieties. There are some indeed which, yielding no smell, will poison notwithstanding; but then there are none to lure us into a false security by a deceitful fragrance. The same ne- gative indications are furnished by the palate as by the nose ; those that are bitter, or styptic, or that burn the fauces on mastication, or that parch the throat when they have been
* Vide YiUacliui aud Ruques.
MODES OF DlSTINGUIsniXG. 41
swallowcdj should be put aside ; those that yield spiced milk,
of whatever colour, should be held, notwithstanding exceptions,
in suspicion, as an unsafe dairy to deal with. The " Lucchcsc
Goat" [Ag. piperatus) and the "Cow of the Vosges" {Ag.
lactijluus aureus), though in high request in their respective
localities, and really delicate themselves, are akin to others
whose milks, though they may have the colour of gold, have
the qualities of gaml)oge.
" Ncscius aurac
Fallacis,
Qui mine tc friiitnr ercdulus anrea ! "
Paulet was once so indiscreet as to eat a slice of the Griper {Ag. tormliiosus), which belongs to this genus, and afterwards still more indiscreet in giving it the inviting name of" Mouton zone ; " it is well, however, that the reader should be apprised, as he will frequently come across this ' mouton ' in his walks, that it is a perfect wolf in sheep's clothing, nor less to be avoided than one nearly allied to it, Avhich rejoices in the name of nccator, or the slayer.* Here, as it is a safe rule rather to condemn many that may be innocent than to admit one that is at all suspicious to our confidence, we should, till intimacy has made us familiar with the exceptions, avoid all those the flesh of which is livid, or that, chameleon-like, assume a variety of hues on being broken or bruised. t The
* Eoqucs fell ill vritli two soldiers at St. Cyr, who had gathered and were in tlic act of carrying off twice tlic quantity of tins fungus necessary to kill the regiment, when he interfered, and no doubt saved many Uves in doing so. The soldiers, it appears, had mistaken the Ag. tiecator for the Hydnum repandum, to which it bears some slight resemblance in colour, and in nothing else.
t The converse of this remark by no means holds true ; the Amanita va-na, the Am. phalloides, tiie Ag. semiglohaftis, dryophUu.i, and muscarhts, tliougli amongst the most deadly of this class of plants, do not change colour on being cut; the flesh of the first two is, moreover, of a tempting whiteness, like that of the common puir-ball, than which there is not a safer or a better fungus. " Omuiiio ne crede eolori" is our ouiy safe motto here.
42 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
external colour furnishes no certain information — with the single exception of that of the gills in one or two Agarics — by which to know the good from the bad ; thus, the " Boule de Neige " and the Vernal Amanite are both white; but the dress, in one case, is of innocence, in the other of mere hypocrisy ; again, the green, which we are so cautioned to avoid in this class of plants as chlorotic and unhealthy, and which is of such bad augury in Amanita viridis, is quite the contrary in the Verdette {Ag. virescens) . So that to be led only by colour would certainly be to be misled — a mistake which, in the family of the Russules, might readily compromise life.
Some mycologists recommend, with certain exceptions, the avoidance of such Agarics as have lateral stalks, of such as are pectinate {i. e. have equal gills, like a comb), of such as have little flesh in proportion to the depth of their gills, and generally, of all those that are past their prime. Some warn us not to eat after the snail, as we are in the habit of doing in our gardens after the wasp; we may trust, it seems, to him to point out the best greengages, but not to the slug to select our mushrooms for us. Finally, it has been very currently affirmed, though I think without sufficient warrant, that all such funguses as run rapidly into deliquescence ought to be avoided as dangerous. Here, while it might be unsafe to lay down any positive rule beyond one's own experience, this, so far as it goes, would rather lead me to a diflPerent inference ; and even the reader will ask — Does not the mushroom deli- quesce, and is not ketchup, that '' poignant liquor made from boiled mushrooms mixed with salt,""* to which we are all so partial, this very deliquescence? But, besides this, the Ag. comatus, which is highly deliquescent, is largely eaten about Lucca ; the Ag. atramentarius also is, on our own authority,
* Johnson's Dictionary.
MODES OF DISTINGUISHING. 43
periculo veniris nosiri, as good for ketchup as for that purpose to which its juices are more coiuraouly put, viz. for making ink. Thus, amongst deiiqucsccnt Agarics, there are some the juices of which are both safe and savoury, perhaps of more thau those here recorded ; but as I have not hitherto myself made trial of an}^ others, and as there are some dangerous species mixed up with this group, the public cannot be too much cautioned against making any rash experiment, where the consequences of a mistake nn'ght l)e so serious.
Some trees give origin by preference to good, others to deleterious species; thus, the hazel-nut, the black and per- haps the white poplar, together with the fig-tree, grow only good sorts ; whereas the olive has been famous, since the days of Nicander, for none but poisonous species.
" The rank in smell, and those of livid show, All that at roots of oak * or olive grow, Toueh not ! But those upon tlie fig-tree's rind Securely pluck — a safe and savourv kind !"
The elm, the alder, the larch, the beech, and some other trees, seem capable of supporting both good and bad species at their roots; hence it is not safe to trust implicitly to the tree to deter- mine the wholesomeness or unwholesomeness of the fungus that grows out of it, or in its neighbourhood. The presence of a free acid is by no means conclusive either way, there being many species of both good and bad, which will indifferently turn litmus-paper red. The old and very general practice adopted l)y cooks of dressing funguses with a silver spoon (which is supposed to become tarnished, then, only when their juices are of a deleterious quality) , is an error which cannot be too generally known and exposed, as many lives, especially on the Continent,
* He was wrong here : the oak produces both the FistuUna Iwpalica and the Agaricus fmipes, two excellent funguses, particularly the last, which, properly dressed or pickled, have not many rivals.
44 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
have been, and still are, sacrificed to it annually. In some cases the kitehen-fire will extract the deleterious property from the funguses, which it would have been unsafe to eat raw, and frequently the acrid lactescent kinds change their nature entirely and become mild by cooking; in other cases, the virus is drawn out by saturating the fungus, sometimes before dressing it, cither in \dnegar or brine,* the liquid then containing the poison which was originally in the plant ; but in other species, as in Ag. emeticus, it would seem from the experiments of M. Krapf, of Vienna, upon living animals, that it is to be extracted neither by ebullition nor desiccation.f
The effects produced by the poison of mushrooms are ex- ceedingly various, that is to say, the virus itself differs in different species, both as to kind and, where that is the same, as to the degree of its concentration ; it is generally, however, of the class called acro-narcotic, producing inflammatory affec- tions of the intestines, and exerting a deleterious influence over the whole nervous system. In eases where only a very small quantity has been taken experimentally, a constriction of the fauces has followed, and continued for a period varying from some minutes to several hours, occasioning, or not, nausea, heat, and, in some instances, even pain of the stomach; " sometimes the affection is entirely confined to the head, and a stupor or light delirium succeeds the eating of some species, and continues for two or three days." { Not unfrequently, as in those cases cited by Larber, the symptoms have been alto- gether those of cholera, without any cerebral disturbance what-
* As was known to the Greeks, ' Prepare your funguses with vinegar, salt, or honey, for thus you will rob them of their poison, ' ovtw yap avTuv rh TTViywSfs o^aipetTat.
t Vittadini, however, ate largely of this fungus, which he describes as very disagreeable, though it did not prove poisonous to liim.
t Pucciuelli.
MODES OF DISTINGUISHING. 45
ever ; but in other instances that have come to my knowledge, during a several years' residence on the Continent, these have been of a mixed character,* in which both the head and viscera have participated ; and the autopsies after death have, in accordance with the symptoms, shown the stomach and intestines more or less disorganized with tlie products of in- flammation, together with a congested state of the brain or of its investments, or a local or general softening of its sub- stance.f The poison, as has been said, exists in very different
* In a whole family, cut off in the year 18 13, at Lucca, by dining on some poisonous Boletuses, drawn and first desci'ibed by Professor rucciuelli imder the ominous name of Boletus terrihUis, besides most extensive ulceration of the mucous coat of the intestines throughout a very considerable portion of their extent, together with injection of the vessels of the brain, the lungs were found congested, and the cavities of the heart distended, with coagula of blood.
t For a most intcrestijig record of all the more recent poisonings fi-om funguses in Italy, the reader may consult Professor delle Cliiaje's work on Toxicology. The following, the only one I shall give, is to be found in Vitta- dini's excellent work on funguses : —
" Giovanna Ballerini, montanara, d' anni 26, moglie di Luigi Dodici, nativa di Brugnello, Stato Sardo, e domiciliata in Lardirago, distretto di Belgiojoso, proviucia di Pavia, mangio la sera del 19 maggio, 1831, in compagnia di due suoi nipoti, Giuseppe Ballerini d' anni 6, e Maria, d' anni 12, buona copia d' agarici di primavera, cotti neUa minestra. Erano dessi stati colti nel vicui bosco della Rossa, e da quella sventurata probabilmente scambiati coi Pru- gnuoli (^Ag. tnouceron, Bidl.), funghi generalmente conosciuti da quegli alpigiani sotto il nome di Spinaroli, o Maggcnglii. All' indomani aUontanossi Giovanna da casa, come era suo costume, oude provredere ai proprj bisogni, ma trascorse alcune ore venne assalita da forte oppressione all' epigjistrio, da nausee, da conati di vomito, ecc., e costretta infine verso il meriggio HaUa gravczza del patirc a toniarsene a casa, ove trov6 daUo stesso male torment ati anche i nipoti. I priueipali fenomeni morbosi che presentavuno quegU uifcliei all' arrivo di Giovanna erano : nausee continue, dolori acutissimi alio stomaco ed alle intestina, deliquj frequenti, convulsioni, ecc. Poco dopo Maria ed in seguito Giovanna vennero prese da vomito ostiuato di materie bigio-ncrastj-e, a eui s'accoppiava bentosto, per colmo di sventura, un' abbondante soccorrenza della stessa materia, c pitl iuuanzi di pretto saugue. Impotente a recere, Giuseppe si struggeva in vani conati di vomito. Chiamato verso sera in loro Boccorso il sig. dott. Luigi Casorati, medico condotto del luogo, mio collega ed
46 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
degrees of intensity in different species. In some^ as the Amanita verna, a few grains of tlic frcsb fungus suffice to kill a dog ;* while the Agaricus muscarius, though equally fatal in sufficient quantities, is not nearly so strong. Some time in ge- neral elapses from the swallowing the poison to that in which its deleterious workings first begin to he felt. I have heard of cases (similar to those cited in the last note) of persons who had supped overnight on the meal that was to prove their last, who have slept, risen next morning, gone to work, and con- tinued w'orking for hours, before they have been made aware of their condition. \Yhen, however, the symptoms have once
amico, s' adoperc) ma invano per sostare il vomito ed il colera, che spccialmente in Maiia ed in Giovanna andarano sempre piii imperrersando. Le bevande mucilaginose, il latte, gli oppiati, le fomentazioni ammoUienti suU' addome a nulla giorarono. Si tent5 la sanguigna, ma anche questa senza effetto. Alle ore 7 del mattino del giorao 21, 38 ore circa dall' ingestione del fimgo, Giu- seppe, chi si era ostinatamente rifiutato ad ogni medicina, non era piu ; ne miglior sorte incoutraTano Maria e Giovanna, chi, tradotte all' ospedale di Pavia, non ostante i soccorsi die rennero loro prodigati, perirano ncUa stessa giomata fra le piu terribUi angosce, e senza pcrdere gran fatto 1' use dci sensi, la prima verso il meriggio, 1' altra verso le ore sette pomeridiane. All' autopsia del cadavere di Giuseppe Ballerini, eseguitasi in Lardirago, sotto i miei occLi, dallo stesso Dottor Casorati che gentUmente me ne fece invito, ed alia qiiale assisteva pure il sig. dott. G. GaUiotti, si trov6 lo stomaco zeppo di un liquido verdastro, entro cui nuotavano ancora, unitamente a buona porzione di riso e di erbe, varj pezzetti del fungo non ancora decomposti, e clie potei agevobnente riconoscere a qual parte della pianta appartenessero ; la mucosa di quel viscerc sensibilmente injettata, e coperta, spccialmente Imigo la piccola curvatura ed in vicinanza del piloro, di grandi macchie di color roseo-livido intcnso. Le intestina tenui pur esse ove piii ovc meno injettatc, e del color dcllo scarlatto, le crasse morbosamente ristrette, ma meno delle tenui ingorgate ; si le une elie le altre vuote d'alimenti, e non contenenti che poca quantity di muco bigio-nerastro e qualche lombrico. Le meningi erano anch' esse sommamente injettate, spccialmente la pia ; la sostanza del cervello meno consistente del natm-ale, punteggiata di rosso, e la base deUo stesso nuotante in una quantita considera- bUe di siero sanguinolento." — Vitt. p. 340.
* Wlien dried, gr. xx.-xxv, vriU scarcely produce the effects of gr. v. of the fungus when first gathered. — Viff.
CONDITIONS OF GROWTH. 47
set in, they become rapidly more and more alarming, M-hile the chances of arresting or mitigating their excruciating seve- rity lessen every minute. As the evils to be apprehended from the agency of these plants can only be prevented by their instant evacuation, to assist the disposition to vomit, or, if called in early enough, to anticipate it by the milder emetics in sufficient doses (surely not by strong ones, as some have recommended ! ) , and, when the stomach has been thoroughly evacuated, to relieve the violence of the pain by bland muci- laginous drinks, with opiates, are the indications plainly pointed out, and the means by which inflammation and subse- quent sphacelus of the gut, as well as the deleterious effects produced on the nervous )?ystem l3y the absorption of the poison into it, have been occasionally averted; but should symptoms of great depression be already present (as too fre- quently happens before the medical man arrives), he will endeavour, in that ease, to rally the vital powers (scanty though the chances of success will then be) by small and re- peated doses of sulphuric ether and ammonia combined, or should head symptoms require his interference, he must in that case bleed.
CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO THEIR GROWTH. Of these, in fact, we know but little, and in the great majo- rit}^ of instances absolutely nothing ; in a few cases moisture* and heat seem alone sufficient, even in our own hands, to
* The total quantity of moistui'e absorbed by funguses, during dcTclopment and growth, is groat ; thus, if a number of small Agaries, stiU in their A\Tappers, be placed in wineglasses half filled with water, this will be rapidly absorbed, even before they break through their membrane. Moreover, if Agaries or Boletuses, already developed, be placed in glasses contaming so many ounees of water, tlie amoimt of which has been previously ascertained, and equal to that in another glass, by which to make allowance for what has been lost by evapo- ration, the result will generally be that a quantity of water, equal to from one-
48 ESCULENT rUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
cause some of them to grow ; iu others, electricity appears indispensable. A wet autumn is generally found to be ex- ceedingly prolific iu these plants, with the following notable difference as to kind : all those that are parasitical on trees show themselves, during a wet season, in amount directly varying with that of the previous rain, irrespective of any other influences conspiring to give this effect; whilst those, on the other hand, which issue from the earth, when the surface of this has been long chilled or when the electrical state of the air has not been materially modified for some time, will be found to come up sparingly or not at all, what- ever rain may have fallen. An exception to this rule occurs in the common mushroom, which, by the combination of certain degrees of heat and moisture, may be reared through- out the year without the co-operation of electricity. A variety of plans have been recommended for this purpose, many of which are both troublesome and expensive; the following, taken by M. Roques from a scientific work on gardening, and said to be infallible, has, if so, the great advantage of extreme simplicity to recommend it : — " Having observed that all those dunghills which abounded chiefly iu sheep- or cow-droppings, began shortly to turn mouldy on their surface and to bear mushrooms, I collected a quantity of this manure, which, so soon as it began to turn white, I strewed lightly over some melon-beds and some spring crops of vegetables, and obtained in either case, and as often as I repeated the experiment, a ready supply of excellent mush- fourth to one-third of the full weiglit of each fungus, will have been absorbed and exhaled again in two days. The redundant moisture of these plants is rendered conspicuous if we place a Boletus on a watch-glass, the siu'face of which is speedily beaded with drops of water, as if it had been in the rain ; while the quantity of fluid is sometimes so gi-eat as to defeat the object we had in placing it there, viz. that of collecting the spores.
CONDITIONS OF GROWTH. . 49
rooms, which came up from a month to six weeks after the flung had hecn so dis[)osed of; hut as an equable temperature is in all cases desirable to render the result certain, where this cannot be secured under the protection of glass, the next best plan is to scatter a portion of the above dungs mixed with a little earth in a cave or cellar, to which some tan is an excellent addition ; for tan, though it kills other vegetable growths, has quite an opposite effect on funguses."
Next to the common mushroom, in regard to the success attending its cultivation, comes that of the PictrafiDKjhaia, a plant unknown to Clusius, but described by Mathiolus and Imperato, under the name of the 'stony fungus.' Ccsal- pinus has added to their accounts, directions ibr procuring it the whole year through, which, he says, is to be done either by irrigating the soil over the site of the stone, or by trans- ferring the Pietra funghaia with a portion of the original mould, and watering it in our own garden. Porta adds, that the funguses take seven days to come to perfection, and may be gathered from the naked block (where this has been pro- perly moistened) six times a year ; but in preference to merely watering the blocks, he recommends that a light covering of garden mould should be first thrown over them. The Pietra funghaia, though its range of territory be extremely small, lies embedded in a variety of soils, in consequence of which its Polvporus, like our own mushroom, is very various in flavour, depending on the kind of humns in which its matrix happens to be placed. Those that grow on the high grounds above Sorrento, and on the sides of Vesuvius, are in less esteem than such as are brought into the Naples market from the mountains of Apulia.*
* The reader desirous of a detailed account of this interesting fungus, should consult a small quarto brochure published some years ago, by Pro-
£
50 ESCULEXT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
A third fungns, which we have the means of producing ad libitum, is that Avhich sprouts from the pollard head of the black poplar;"^ these heads it is usual to remove at the latter end of autumn, as soon as the vintage is over, and their marriage with the vine is annulled ; hundreds of such heads are then cut and transported to different parts; they are abundantly watered during the first month, and in a short time produce that truly delicious fungus, Agaricus caudicinus, the Pioppini, which, during the autumn of the year, make the greatest show in many of the Italian market-places. These pollard blocks continue to bear, for from twelve to fourteen years ; I saw a row of them in the botanic garden at Naples, which, after this period, were still productive, though less frequently, and of fewer Agarics at a crop. The practice of rearing funguses from the poplar is not modern ; Dioscorides knew, for he tells us that if we " bark the white or black poplar, cutting the bark into pieces and covering it with horse-dung, an excellent kind of fungus will spring up, and continue to bear throughout the year :" by way of com- ment to which passage Mathiolus adds, that a little leaven f will produce an abundant crop in four days. Another fungus, which I have myself reared [Polyporus aveUanus), is to ba procured by singeing over a handful of straw a block of the cob-nut tree, which is then to be watered and put by. In about a month the funguses make their appearance, which are quite white, of from two to three inches in diameter, and
fessor Gasparini, of Najjles, who was preparing a second edition in the autumn of 18 14, with numerous additions, which has, no doubt, been reprinted.
* Or rather, as Professor Tenore has told me, from the JPopuliis nigra, Tar. NeapoUtana.
t Miiller declares that fermentation is itself a fungus, which continues to feed and mviltiply so long as it finds the elements of nutrition in the Hquid in which it originates. This, then, is employing one fungus life to evoke another.
CONDITIONS or r.llOWTII. 51
excellent to eat ; uliilc tlicir profusion is sometimes so great, as entirely to hide tlic wood from Avhich they spring.* Dr. Tliorc says, that in the Landes, the Boletus edulis and Ag. procerus are constantly raised by tlie inhabitants of that district, from a watery infusion of the said plants ; that some- thing more than this, however, is necessary, seems certain, since during the two or three years during which I frequented the baths of Lucca, and was in the habit of using infusions of these and a variety of other funguses, often throwing them over the very spots where each kind grew, my experiments never succeeded. Nor was Pr. Puecinelli, of Lucca, who repeated similar experiments in the botanic garden there, much more successrul. l?riganti, of Naples, told me mucli the same story ; and Sauguinetti at Rome was equally un- successful with Ottaviani at Urbino. On making inquiry of friends in England who have attempted to propagate different kinds of funguses, either by infusion or otherwise, their at- tempts generally failed. ]\Iy friend ^Irs. Hussey, in par- ticular, acquaints me that she has been in the habit of sub- jecting many plants to a like experiment, and with simihar want of result. Lastly, as concerning truffles, Mr. Born- holtz has given directions how to rear them, Avhich, as they are exceedingly expensive and troidilesome, must needs be infallible to secure proselytes, even among the most sworn amateurs of these delicacies. " Prepare your ground," says he, "with oak leaves in decay; you must also mix some iron with it and take care to make it of a proper consistence, either
* All blocks of this nut-wood do not bear. Professor Sauguinetti informs nie that the peasants in the Abruzzi, who bring in these logs, know perfectly which will succeed and which will not; "a knowledge," he adds, " to which closest attention during all the years that I have been employed by the Papal Government as superintendent of the fungus market, has not yet enabled me to attain."
K 2
52 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
by adding sand, should it be too compact, or clay, should it be of too light a nature ; having then with great care transplanted your traffics, (which must be properly packed with a quantity of the original mould about them,) they are to be placed tenderly in the new settlement, covered over lightly with mould, and this again is to be covered with boughs of oak and Car- pinus Beiulus to protect the deposit from molestation ; neither must you consider your work completed till a sacred grove of these particular trees has been planted round it, which must be done with such precaution, that while they keep the precious ground in a perpetual twilight, they must not obstruct it too much, but leave a certain free passage to the air.'^ After which injunctions, if they be carefully attended to, Mr. B. assures us that we can reckon, without fear of disappointment, on a dish of truffles, whenever we may want them for our- selves or our friends.
FAIRY EINaS.
We know as little of the origin of fairy-rings, as of any other phenomenon connected with the growth of funguses. These fairy-rings are of all sizes, from one and a half to thirty feet in diameter ; the grass composing them is observed in spring, to be of a thicker growth than the surrounding herbage, and, in consequence of the manure afforded by the crop of last year, is of a darker colour. Within these rings are frequently seen certain varieties of this class of plants, very generally Agarics, though puff-balls frequently, and occasionally the Boletus subtomentosus, affect a similar mode of growth. Of the Agarics which appear in these circles, some of the principal are Aym'icus oreades, Ag. prunulus, Ag. Orcella, Ag. Georgii, Ay. personutus, and Ag. campestris. As all these feed at the expense of the grass, (by exhausting
FAIRY RINGS. 63
the ground that would otherwise have furnished it with tlic necessary supplies,) the richest vegetation in the field is generally the first to hecome seared. These rings (giving birth to some one species which, dying, is not nnfrequently succeeded by another a little later, and this perhaps by a third, in the same order of occurrence) continue to enlarge i their boundaries for a loug but indefinite period.
It seems not easy to determine precisely, to the operation of what cause or causes the increase in the size of these circles from year to year should be attributed. Is it the projectile force with which the spores are disseminated all round, that has carried them so uniformly beyond the margin of the last ring as to form a concentric circle for the next of larger diameter beyond ? Or is the cause to be sought underground, in the general spread of the spawn of last year in all directions outwards, but only fertile in a concentric ring beyond the site of the last crop, which had already exhausted the ground, and so rendered it incapable of supporting anj' new vegetable life? Or do both these causes conspire in this resnlt? The quantity of spawn and of the spores necessarily contained in it, and the depth to which they penetrate under the surface of the soil, renders the possibility of their spreading in the latter way easily conceivable.*
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUNGUSES.
" Ins Iiinre der Natur driiigt keiii erschaffner Geist, Zu gliicklich wem sie nur die iiussrc Scbale losst." — Ualler.
It would be an insult to the reader's understanding, and a most idle waste of his time, to attempt to confute such self-
* On digging np the earth in the neighbourhood of a ring in wliieli A. prunulus viSiS tiX i\\c time growing, I found the mould to the depth of a foot
5i ESCULKNT b'UXGUSES OF ENGLAND.
destro3'ing dogmas as those of " spontaneous " or of " equi- vocal" generation, whicli last is only a clumsy equivoque ex- pressive of the same thing: we might just as well talk of the pendulum of a clock generating the time and space in which it librated, as of dead matter spontaneously quickening and actuating those new movements of which some of its particles have become the seat; for how, in the name of common sense, can that which we assume to l)c dead, i.e. emphatically and totally without life, convey such purely vital phenomena as those of intus-susception and growth, w^hich by the very supposition are no longer within itself? Life, on such an hypothesis as this, ceases to be the opposite and antagonist principle to death, of which it then becomes but a different mode and a ncAV phasis. It is not the incomprehensibility of such a notion (be it well understood) against which the objec- tion lies, for as life begins and ends in mystery, that would be no objection ; it lies in the rashness of attempting to solve an admitted mystery, by placing a palpable absurdity in its room ; vainly and irreverently arrogating to itself the honours of a discovery which we are to believe if we can ! At this rate, addled eggs, abandoned by the vital principle, might take to hatching themselves ! A more legitimate and very in- teresting subject for inquiry is, whether those funguses whicli are parasitical [i. e. derive their support from the structures whence they emanate) are so many separate constituents of a superior life under analysis, or each of itself a new indi\ idual ? In support of the first view, it is iirged that since reproduction in such lower existences is nothing but a modification of uutri-
and moi-e, lioary, with an araclmoid spawn strongly charged with the odour of this mushroom. Persoon found that to destroy a fairy-ring of the same Agaric, it was necessary to dig to a considerable depth, when the next crop that came up was disseminated sporadically over the ground.
DEVELOPMENT. 55
tion, a new process might well originate from its perversion, and thus give rise to new products; and just as the change in the ordinary nutrition of our bodily organs is prone to give birth to various local disorganizations or morbid growths, such, it is argued, might be the origin of fungoid growth on trees. But then comes the ditficulty : such a view docs not, and ])laiidy can- not, explain the development of the not parasitical kinds, of which the origin should be the same ; no, nor even of all that live by suction at the expense of other plants, since there are as many kinds which quicken in dead and decaying structures, as there are that issue out of decrepit and living ones; here, then, it is plain that perverted nutrition can have nothing to do with their production, for in this case nutrition has, by the supposition, ceased ; and to talk of disease after death would be a strange figure of speech indeed ! An elm or oak is fre- quently dead five, seldom less than three, years before these parasitical growths make their appearance, from which it Mould appear to follow that seeds are not developed by, but that they must be extraneous to, and independent of, any pathological relation of the plant from which they grow. If then fungus life be not to be sought for, and cannot with propriety bo said to originate in any morbid conditions of the tissues from which they spring, whence do thej^ derive life — in other words, whence in every instance comes that par- ticular seed Avhich, when quickened, is to produce after its kind? Lies this dormant for a season in those dead and decaying tissues, which a little later the plant originating from it is destined to embellish; or is the living germ first brought to them by the winds, and merely deposited on their siu'face, as in a fitting nidus on which their future develop- ment is to be effected? Some writers take one view, some another. Many believe the seeds of funguses to come directly
56 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
from the earth,"^ and to be drawn up with the sap, Avhich, as it penetrates throughout the tissues of the plant, must carry the seeds also along with it. That such is actually sometimes the case is certain, since we can not only plant parasitical bliglits of a particular kind so as to infect particular plants, but may. also by digging a trench between those that have already become diseased, and those that ai'c still healthy, stay the progress of the blight — thus clearly establishing not only the fact of seeds, but also the highly interesting additional one, of their ascent into the structures of plants by intus- susception ; and to arrive at a general view from these par- ticular cases, this would seem to be the usual mode of their propagation. Neither does it make against this view nor is it more in favour of the other, which supposes the germs to be derived primarily from the air, and to be thence precipitated on the structures where they grow, that funguses are found on organizations in decay, on withered boughs, and on seared leaves, out of which all sap must of course have been long ago exsiccated ; for what then ? though the sap does, the seeds do not, evaporate with it. These, once absorbed and diffused during the lifetime of the plant throughout its whole economy, remain there in a state of potential activity, ready to burst forth and germinate whenever the necessary conditions for these wonderful changes shall be presented to them, just as though the seeds of corn now flourishing in different parts of England, had first existed for some thousand years as mummy wheat, potentially and unquickeued. Nothing perishes in nature: " destructio unius matrix alterius;" life may change titles, but never becomes extinct ; so soon as the more perfect plant dies, a host of other vegetable existences, hitherto en-
* Tliis was the opinion of the Greeks, who called funguses yrtyeyels, or earthborn.
DEVELOPMENT. 57
thralled by laws of an organization superior to their own, now that the connection has been dissevered, put forth their separate energies, and severally assert their independence. The poplar may have perished, root, stem, and branch, but its extinction is only the signal for other existences, which had been heretofore bound up and hid within its own, to assert themselves; and accordingly a Polyporus sprouts oiit here; here a Thelephora embellishes the dead bark ; and here an Agaric springs out of the decaying fibres of its head : these in turn also decay, but as they moulder away they languish into a new kind of fungous life, of an inferior type to the last, as if their own vitality were inferior in kind to that of the decayed poplar, whence they lately issued.* Thus, since the seeds of funguses actually exist in great quantity in other plants, and since they occur in the closed interior of fruits and in corollas which are still in their envelopes (in either case out of the reach of the external air); since finally, the Pietra funghaia, which produces a Polyporus unknown to England, may be, notwithstanding, made to germinate in England by furnishing the stone with adequate supplies of water and of heat, that seems the more tenable hypothesis of the two, which, in every case, supposes the nidus of the fungus to furnish the seed, and the atmosphere, the conditions necessary for its quickening. How the seed is first made to quicken is another and most interesting question, still evolved in mystery. As there is no ocular evidence to be obtained of the usual organs of sex,
* Just as in the inorganic world, chemical analysis is frequently the precur- sor of new forms of matter resulting from the new affinities which take place, 80 when a vegetable dies, and the synthesis of its structural arrangement is broken up, nature frequently avails herself of this season of decomposition, to bring new hidividuals out of the decaying structures of the old, which, in con- sequence of a beautiful pre-arrangemcnt, find there all the requisite supplies for their growth and future maintcnauoe.
58 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
some mj'cologists have separated funguses from the family of the clandestinely married Cryptogamia, to place them with the Agamia, which repudiate the marriage tie f^ but as every ar- gument from ignorance is unsafe, (and such would appear to be particularly the case here, when we consider how many things undoubtedly exist^ which the imperfection of lenses and the circumscribed power of the eye prevent our seeing,) we should rather make use of Avhat is displayed to ns in the economy of other plants, in the way of analogy as applied to these, than deny what is likely, merely because it is not an object of sense. It would appear then, from what has been stated, that certain funguses are produced like other plants, from seeds; and more likely at least, in the parasitic kinds, that such seeds are derived by the plant which supports them from the ground, than deposited from the atmosphere. Before we proceed to the description of species, a few more words remain to be said about these spores, and a brief notice to be taken of those parts that are essential to all, and more especially of such as are characteristic of those higher forms of funguses which are the more immediate subject of the present work.
SPOEES OR SEEDS.
All funguses have not seeds, — at least, seeds apparent to us ;t but if we reflect that these, even where visible, can do no more than present to our senses the visible tabernacle of that life
* Some mycologists however, as Persoon and Roques, conceive that the com- mon dust of puff-balls is analogous to the poUeu of the higher plants, while the real seed is to be sought and found in a finer dust, which is entangled in the reticular meshes at the base of these plants. Others suppose the fluid which bathes the interiors of those httle organs, in which the seeds are packed, to be in other funguses the source of their fecundation. But these at present are mere conjectures.
t Several bjssoid growths are in this predicament.
SrOKES OK SLEUS. 59
wliicli is still invisible, and which, not being material, must ever elude our search,'^ then it will not appear so difficult to conceive that the apparently seedless threads of some par- ticular moulds should include, in their interior, vital germs of some sort, which, being homogeneous with, or of the same colour as, the parenchyma of the mould itself, are invisible — just as we know them to be for a season in puff-balls, in the veins of truffles, or in the Agyrium, the receptacle of which last breaks up, when ripe, into sporidia, which then and not till then become manifest. The seeds of funguses are called spores : in the great majority of cases, the microscope, which brings their shapes under observation (for to the naked eye they appear as dust), presents them to us as round, oval, ob- long, or even angular eorpuseulcs, and, more rarely still, cchinulate or \\\i\\ a tail. They are as various in size as in shape, the first bearing no proportion whatever to the dimen- sions of the future plant. They vary, too, greatly in colour, being sometimes of a pure white, and continuing so through- out the whole of their seminal existence; at other times, the white acquires a yellow tinge on drying. Some are brown, some yellow, some pink, some purple, some purple-black, and some pass successively from pink to purple, and from purple to purple-black, t These seeds or spores are sometimes naked, but are much more commonly shut up in little pouches or receptacles, either of a regular or of an irregular shai:e; the first are called ihecce, the latter sporanges ; thecae (m hich are in shape similar to the cases of the same name that used to receive the ancient elXi^fiaTa, or scrolls) are small, cylindrical
* " Who seek for life in creatures thoj dissect,
Will lose it in the moment they detect." — Pope. t The colours of tlie spores are of considerable practical use in distinguishing the members of the large family of Agarics, some of wliich are determined by them.
60 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
bodies, in which the seeds lie one over the other, as in a rou- leau ; they are themselves let into a receptacle (or that part of the fungus the office of which is to receive and support tlie reproductive organs) in a regular and symmetrical manner, and at length occupy it completely, Not all are prolific ; for some, pressing upon others, cause them to abort, leaving wherever this happens, sterile thecce, or parajjhyses, betweeii those that are fertile. Sporanges are little globose or turbinated recep- tacles, frequently furnished with a pedicle, in which the seeds lie without order, as they are themselves inserted symmetri- cally, or without order, into the receptacle. Sometimes these seeds are packed in series of fours, as in the fimetary Agarics ; in other genera, as in the Helvellse and jNIorels, they are stored away in series of eights. The spores, so soon as they are ripe, either drop out of the sporiferous membrane [hymenium], or, as more frequently happens, are projected from it Avith an elastic jerk, or else, as is the case of Agarics of a deli- quescent kind, return to the earth mixed up with the black liquid into which these ultimately resolve themselves. Some- times the whole external surface of the fungus is dusted with seed ; but much more frequently they are restricted to some particular part, and either lie on the upper side, as in the Pezizce, or on that which is beneath, as in the mushroom. The spores generally lie on the outside of the fungus, but in the puff-ball, as every one knows, they are internal, and in such prodigious quantity as sometimes entirely to fill its cavity. It is a speculation from Germany, that spores are capable of altering their forms, and that according to the ac- cidents of climate or soil, they assume this or that type, and give rise at different times to different kinds of funguses; on which it is sufficient to remark, that while there is not the least foundation for such an hypothesis, there is in fact much
SPORES OR SEEDS. 61
evidence against it; nature acts by immutable laws and has no changelings. To appeal to experience, Avhen did mush- rooms ever spawn toadstools? When was the Pietra funghaia ever seen to bring forth anything but its own Polyporus ? or the fig, the poplai', or the hazel (when singed and watered to render them prolific) exhibit any but their own particular mushroom? Spores are endowed, like other seeds, with an extraordinary vitality, which may lie dormant in them for an indefinite period ; but unlike most other seeds, they seem ca- pable of resisting the prolonged heat of boiling water, infused in which, and poured upon the ground, they are still capable of producing each after its kind. The specific gravity of spores is greater than that of water, as may be seen by placing a mushroom over a glass which contains it, when, falling upon the surface, they presently subside to the bottom. These spores sometimes merely multiply without any further progress in development ; sometimes they proceed a certain way only, and then, the conditions necessary for their further advance failing, this is arrested ; sometimes, as in the Sistotrema, the plant appears twice under a perfect form, being for part of its existence a Hydtium, and during the other half a Boletus ; but, generally speaking, these minute corpuscular bodies arc destined to receive an infinite variety of protean and imperfect forms, and to pass stage by stage, and step by step, to the full attainment of that ultimate one which they assume when their growth has reached its natural limits. Sometimes the spore expands outright into a puff-ball; sometimes it shoots up straight into a club, as in some of the Clavarias ; or lies like a bowl, resupinate on the ground and stalkless, as in the Peziza ; in other cases, it assumes the more perfect but much less simple forms of Chanterelle, Boletus, Daedalea, Morel, or MiLshroom.
62 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
DEVELOPMENT OF SEEDS.
The mode iu M'liich the organs immediately containing the seeds are formed, differs according to the family. In the tribe of puff-balls, where the seed is formed in the interior of the fungus, there is no hymeniuin ; a few of the internal cells (when the Lycoperdon has attained its full size) begin to en- large, and these in a short time are found to contain small granules, generally of a determinate number, and moistened by a fluid secreted from within the walls. In such funguses as have an hymenium it is only some of the superficial cells, and these in a particular position in reference to the receptacle, that contain seeds; though perfect identity of structiu'e throughout, is evinced in a conclusive manner if we invert the head of a young fungus on its stalk ; for then these thecse begin to form and to fill themselves with seed, not on the side where they were about to do so previous to this inversion of the head, but on that which was the uppermost and sterile surface, and which, now that it is the undermost, has become prolific. The expansion of a fungus, according to Vittadini, is effected as follows : — " These thecse," of which we have been speaking, " as they swell, become distended with the contained seed, and mostly so at their free extremity, since they have more room for expansion in that direction than at the other, which is impacted into the substance of the pileus ; in conse- quence of this, a series of wedges are formed which, as the seed continues to distend them, force out the pileus, loosen its marginal connections with the stalk, uncurl its involuted borders, and finally open up its cells, pores, and sinuses."^
* It appears too mechanical an explanation of a phenomenon so purely vital as growth, to make it in any way dependent on a system of wedges, however ingeniously applied.
i
DEVELOPMENT OF SEEDS. 63
In those subterranean funguses wliich mature their seeds below the surface of the ground, the louer portion, so soon as this is accomplished in the upper, suddenly takes to grow up- wards, carrying along jwith it the bag, which, on reaching the surface of the ground, bursts its envelopes and scatters its pro- lific dust to the winds. All funguses, as has already been ob- served, have in all probability spores, though in a few instances, of byssoid growths, (Hyphas, Himantias, and ^thelias,) these are not apparent ; in most cases too, they are attached to an hymcnium, into Avhich, or on the surface of which, they are placed till ripe. One very large tribe, by far the largest, are called Hymenomycetes, from v[jii]v, a membrane, and fiv/co'i, a fungus; i. f. funguses witli a seed meml^rane : to distinguish them from those other kinds, very small numerically in pro- portion to themselves, Gasteromycetes, in which the seeds, ar- ranged and stored a^ay in particular receptacles, named spo- ranges or thecte, are with them included in the belly {'yacni]p) of the fungus, as is the case in truffles and puff-balls. The hymenium, like that curiously doubled-down sheet of paper w^hich conjurors turn into so many shapes, assumes a great variety of forms; running down the gills of the mushrooms and the plaits of the Cant/tan/lus, up into the tubes of the Boletuses; sheathing the vegetable teeth of Hydua, forming an intricate labyrinth of anastomosing plates in Dadalea ; noAV rising into little rough eminences on the surface of the Thcle- j)horce, and now affording a smooth investment to that of the ClavaruB. It is covered with a veil, m hich disappears so soon as the spores begin to ripen, and its pi'otection is no longer required ; seen under the microscope, it appears to be wholly made up of thecae.
64 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
SUCCESSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPORES.
When the spore is to cease to be a spore, and to become a mushroom, the first thing it does is to send forth certain' cotton-like filaments, whose interlacings entangle it com- pletely while they also serve to attach it to the place of its birth ; these threads (like the spongioles attached to the roots of phsenogamons plants, whose name sufficiently explains their office) absorb and bring nourishment to the quickened spore, which then maintains itself entirely by intus-susccption. All this takes place before the germ has burst, or the embrj'o fun- gus begun to develope its organs. In some instances, these elementary threads ai-e, like the ordinary roots of plants, spread out to a considerable distance underground, forming here and there in their course small bulbs or tubercles, each of which, in turn, becomes a new individual; in others, and more commonly, these spores are sprinkled about uncon- nectedly, as in the Pietra funghaia, affecting certain spots only, which become so many small matrices whereof each fur- nishes a crop. The union of many germinating granules to- gether with their connecting threads, constitutes mushroom spawn, or, as it is technically called, carcytes.^ Examined a short time after quickening, the spore is found to have swelled out into a fleshy kernel ; which in puff-balls, truffles, and the uterine subterranean families generally, constitutes of itself the whole fungus; this only grows in size afterwards, the substance and original form remaining the same through the entire period of development. In those destined to live under the iufluence of air and light, this same rudimental nucleus gradually evolves new parts, and assumes, as we have seen, a
* " The facility with which these floccose threads are injured, and their con- nectiou destroyed, explains," says Vittadiiii, " the difficulty of transplanting funguses with success."
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPORES. 65
vast variety of forms, (wlicreof each particular one is pre- determined by the original bias imprinted upon every spore at its creation,) and here there is a manifest analogy with the progressive development of new parts in the higher plants. In such funguses as are wrapped up in a volva or bag, during the earliest period of growth, this furnishes them not only with the means of protection, but of nourishment also. This volva which is formed by the mere swelling out of the original fleshy bulb, when it has grown to a certain size, exhibits to- wards its centre the rudiments of the young fungus ; of which the receptacle appears first, and all the other parts in succes- sion. The embryo, next taking to grow, in its turn approaches the circumference of the volva, which, having by this time ceased to expand, is burst open, and sometimes with much violence, by the emerging Amanite. As soon as the hymenium has parted with its seed, which falls from it in the form of fine dust, the fungus, collapsing, either withers on its stem, or else dissolves into a black liquid and so escapes to the earth. In such funguses as have not a volva, the basilar or primary nucleus shoots up at once in the form of a cone, and a little later pre- sents at its apex the rudiirients of a receptacle or head ; by degrees, and frequently by slow degrees,* the perfected struc- tures of the plant are elaborated and spread themselves out into some of the forms mentioned above, of which the clavatc is the most simple, and that with gills the most complex. The primary nucleus is formed out of simple cellular membrane, the cells of which, at first elongating, and at length uniting
* The great rapidity with which these wonderful changes succeed each other in funguses with a volva, is widely different from what occurs in those that have none. Thus the Morel takes thirty-one days, Geastcrs six, and many Tubers twelve months for their full development : so that " To come up like a niusliroom" is a proverb witli limitations.
P
66 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
into little bundles, assume a fibrous appearance ; sometimes these fascicular bodies effuse themselves unchanged into the substance of the receptacle, in which they spread out and are lost ; at others, a transverse line makes the demarcation between the pileus and stem.* The last part formed in a fungus, generally, is that which bears the seed ; and whenever an exception to this occurs, and the seed is formed at an earlier period than usual, nature has in this case provided three membranes, to cover and protect these delicate organs till the plant shall have attained maturity : these are the ring [annulus), the veil {velum), and the wrapper {volva).
OF THE ANNULUS, THE VELUM, AND THE VOLYA.
Of these involucra the first two are partial, the other uni- versal. The Volva is a thick membranaceous covering, ori- ginating at the base of the fungus, which it thus connects with the earth, and furnishes, during its fcetal life, with the means of support and nourishment. When this has ceased, and the plant has quitted its wrapper, if this still adhere to the base of the stalk, it is styled manifest {manifesto), but if there be no traces of it left, obliterated {obliterata). It is free when it can be easily detached, and congenital when it cannot without laceration. In funguses with bulbous roots it is congenital, in those without bulbs it is free. All fun- guses that have a volva are of course volvati, but as this organ exists in many only so long as they are underground, my- cologists are agreed to restrict the term to such alone as re- tain it afterwards.
* When the base is formed before the receptacle, the fibres are conti- nuous ; but when the receptacle has been formed first, as the fibres of the last cannot be transmitted through those already formed, these two parts remain distinct.
OF THE ANNULUS, ETC. 67
The Ring. — This, which differs considerably in form, sub- stance, and in its attachments, is composed either of a con- tinuous sheet of membrane or else of a number of delicately- spun threads, resembling a spider's Aveb,* which in either case passing from the margin of the pileus to the corresponding upper portion of the stem, give way as the plant expands, and either festoon for a season the margin of the cap, or encircle the stalk with a ring. The marginal remains of the Annulus are extremely fugacious, but the ring round the stalk, though generally transitory, is sometimes persistent; it is suj)erior or descending when originating from the summit of the stem, it descends outwards and downwards to form connections with the rim of the pileus; inferior or ascending when, coming off from that portion of the stalk which is below the pilens, it ascends to attach itself to this. In a few cases the ring is partly membranaceous and partly composed of radiating arachnoid threads.
The Veil. — Some funguses not only present the ring just mentioned, their hymenium or seed membrane being further protected from harm by a second investment, the veil, Velum, the stalk origin of which, when existing in conjunction with an annulus, is below it, but when the fungus is not annulate, the velum rises higher up on the stalk, stretches across to meet and is afterwards reflected over the whole surface of the pileus ; on the expansion of the Agaric this investment is en- tirely broken up, and exhil)its those well-knoMn flocks, which have been called by the learned verruca, but which, as they are generally of a dirty leprous hue, and affect more or less of a circular arrangement, have procured for this whole tribe of Amanites in Italy the uncomely epithet of tignosi, or
* In the first instauce the fungus is called annulaie, in the second corti- tiate.
V 2
68 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
scald-heads. Where there has been both a volva and a velum, as sometimes happens in the same fungus, these verruc?e are of different colours according as they are remnants of the first merely, or of both together* The velum in the sub- genus Limacium is a slimy coating adhering to the head of the fungus, which then looks as if it had been dipped in gum mucilage ; this generally disappears after a time, leaving the epidermis dry, though sometimes, like the solid membranace- ous veil, it is more or less persistent. The waxy covering on the pileus of the Ag. virescens, which after a time cracks and tessellates its surface, is only an exudation limited to the upper portion of the cap, and not a veil.
The Stalk. — This, which is absent in many parasitical fun- guses of the Order Pileati, when present, either effuses itself uninterruptedly into the substance of the pileus, which it then, in fact, forms, or else supports merely as on a pillar, a distinct line of demarcation showing where the fibres ter- minate. It assumes a great variety of forms, which serve in many instances to characterize species ; besides which pecu- liarities there are others to be noted, as the mode of its inser- tion into the pileus, its having or not having a ring, the cir- cumstance of its being scabrous, glossy, or tomentose, reticu- lated, spotted, or striped, of one colour above and another below, or of its changing colour when bruised, any of which may sometimes assist our diagnosis.
The Pileus. — By far the larger number of funguses men- tioned in this work have a pileus, or cap ; all such belong to the first great tnbe Pileati ; they include the genera Aga- ricus, Boletus, Cantharellus, Morchella, Hydnum, Fistulina, and
* i. e. when these happen to be of different hues originally, the fragments of the Teil being in some places covered by those of the wrapper, in others naked.
OF THE ANNULUS, ETC. 69
Puhjponts, each of which furnishes its quota of alirncntarv species, together with many others not esculent. The form of the pileus, like that of the stalk, is various in these difTer- cnt genera, besides being variable in the different species of the same genus ; generally it assumes an orbicular or um- brella shape, es])ecially in such funguses as grow solitary on the ground, whilst in others, parasitical on trees, (particularly when they have no stalk,) it is more or less of a lialf-hemisphere.
The GUIs. — Those vertical plates on the vnider surface of the mushroom, which radiate from the centre to the circum- ference, like the spokes of a wheel, are called Gills {lamellce) ; they are not formed, as some have supposed, of layers of the reduplicated seed-membrane alone, but by a prolongation of the fibres of the pilcus, which these merely invest. The fi- brous structure is most apparent in Agarics Avith thick gills; in those where the flesh changes colour when bruised ; or where, the interposed flesh remaining white, the hymeuinm is tinged with the colour of the ripening spores. In those fun- guses which have little flesh the upper surface of the pileus, especially towards the circumference, is frequently farrowed with transverse sulci ; these are occasioned by the sinking in of the epidermis along with the fibres of the flesh between the layers of the hymenium, and consequently their position always corresponds precisely to that occupied by the backs of the gills. The end nearest the stalk is termed posterior {posiica), the opposite extremity anterior {antica) ; the ter- minations of the lesser gills take place at various distances short of the stalk, Avhich the perfect gills reach, and down which they sometimes course or arc decurrent {decnrrentcs) ; they are said to be adnate [adiiata) when connected at their posterior end ; free [libera) when they do not adhere ; remote [rcmota) when they terminate at a certain distance from the
70 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
stem; emarginate [emarginatce) \vlien they are obtusely notched or hollowed out posteriorly ; denticulate {denticulatce) when connected by means of a tooth ; equal {aquales) when all of the same length; forked {furcatee) and branched {ramosce) when they divide in their course, once, or more frequently, or are connected at the sides with the imperfect gills; dedalcan {dadalece) when they anastomose irregularly together; simple {simplices) when they are free from all connections ; distant {disf antes) when they are few and wade apart ; close [conferta) when they are veiy numerous and touch each other ; serrated {serrata:) when notched like a saw ; waved [undulatce) when the margin is undulating j and imbricating [imbricata) when they lie one over another, like tiles.
The Tubes. — Funguses of the genus Boletus, etc., present on their under surface, in place of gills, series of small hollow cylinders or tubes ; which are for the most part soldered side to side like the cells of a honeycomb, but in the Fistulina are unconnected. Like the gills, they are prolongations of the fibres of the pileus, but lined, instead of coated, by the hyme- nium ; their free extremities are the pores, which at first are closed, but afterwards open to let the seed escape : they are generally of equal length and simple, but sometimes in the interior of a large one smaller tubes may be discerned, in which case the first is termed compound. With reference to the stalk, they are either adnate or decurrcnt, they first appear as a network formed by slight prominences of the fibres of the pileus; if at this early period a portion be removed together with a piece of the fiesh, it is reproduced in a few days and the tubes developed as usual. The beautiful reticulations observed on the stalk of some Boletuses are produced by abortive tubes decurrent along their surface.
The Plaits : Venae, Plicae. — The plaits of the Chanterelle
OF THE ANNULUS, ETC. 71
are formed like the gills and tubes of the mushroom and Boletus, i. e. by the fibres of the flesh running down from the pileus, and invested in a reduplication of the hymcnium ; with this difference, however, that while in the two latter the seed membrane is divided into as many portions as there are gills or tubes, in the former the continuity of its surface is perfectly unbroken. These plaits {plica) are always late in appearing, and sometimes are only developed when the fungus is about to cast its seed.
The Spines : Aculei, etc. — The under surface of the pileus in the genus Hydnum is shagged with vegetable spines or teeth {denies, aculei) of unequal lengths, generally isolated, but sometimes connected at the base, and formed originally out of a congeries of minute papillae invested by the hymc- nium, which gradually elongate their fibres and assume this form. Light seems essential to their production, for if a Hydnum grow in the dark, the teeth shrink up into long threads and are sterile.
METHODICAL DISTRIBUTION
BRITISH ESCULENT FUNGUSES.
The primary division of Funguses into Hymenormjcetes and Gasteromycetes is founded upon the position of their seed, ■which lies, as we have seen, externally in the fii'st, and inter- nally in the members of the second. The funguses described in the present work belong chiefly to the first division, Hyme- nomycetes ; to Tribe 1, Pileati ; and many of them to Genus 1, Agaricus. This genus includes a great variety of species, and is distinguished from all other genera by having a fleshy pileus furnished underneath with gills, which are placed at right angles to the stem. Some species, during their infancy, are enclosed either in one or more membranes.
Division I. IIYMENOMYCETES. Tribe 1. PILEATI.
Genus 1. AGARICUS.
Old words in Natural History seldom become obsolete, but they change their meanings strangely. Were Dioscorides and Pliny redivivi, they would find nothing but misnomers ! The term Agaricus, which anciently applied indiscriminately to all
CLASSIFICATION. 73
hard coriaceous funguses growiug on trees (while the word Fungus did imperfect duty for this genus), was next arbitrarily made by Linnaeus to stand representative for such only as had gills, " fungi lamellati terrestres et arborei."* Persoon, again, under the name Atnanita (a Galenic word, but hitherto unappropriated), made a new genus of such Agarics as were invaginated, i. e. shut up during the earlier period of their development in a volva ; of such as had veins in place of gills, MeruHus ; and of such as had anastomosing gills formed an- other, Dadalea, a third division. ]More recently, Fries has greatly simplified the study of this very large and difficult genus by eliminating all of a coriaceous texture, and (having restored to it the genus Amanita) by then dividing the whole into sections ; enabling us to arrive at an accuracy in the dis- crimination of species which was wholly unattainable before his time. His first grand series of Agarics comprehends those of white spoi'es (LEUcospoiiit), and of this his first section is —
Subgenus 1. Amanita. J
All the Agarics belonging to this subgenus are, during tlic immaturity of the fungus, furnished with a volva and a ring ; some have a velum in addition, and in this case, the surface of the pileus is covered with warts, or verrucse. This natural division was adopted long ago by iNIieheli, who gave the name Uovoli to those which had only the first two, and that of Tignosi to those that had all three. Altogether they form but a very small group, but one very important to distinguish accurately, as it includes, besides one or two very delicate species, some which arc highly poisonous.
* Raii Syn. 2. t KevKbs, white, aud (rw6pos, a seed.
X A(j. oroides (TJuU.^, which is white, and Aff. Ccesareus (Scop.), which is rod, with yellow frills', belong to this division.
74 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
Bot. Char. Pileus at first campanulate, then plane ; fleshy towards the centre, attenuated at the margin ; gills ventricose, narrow behind, free, numerous^ at length denticulate, the im- perfect ones few, of a determinate form according to the kind, and, with one exception (that of Ag. Casareus), white. Stalk generally enlarged at the base, frequently bulbous, solid, or stuffed with a cotton-like substance, which is at length ab- sorbed ; ring descending, imperfect, fugacious ; flesh white, unchanging.
Esculent species : Ag. vaginatus.
Of the Tignosi, that is, those with warts on their surface, some have striated margins, others are without striae.
Esculent species : Ag. rubescens.
Subgenus 2. Lepiota.*
Bot. Char. Volva fugacious, veil single, universal, closely adhering to and confluent with the epidermis, when burst forming a more or less persistent ring towards the middle of the stem ; stem hollow, stuffed more or less densely with fine arachnoid threads, thickened at the base, fibrillose ; j^i/ew^ fleshy, not compact, ovate when young, soon campanulate, then expanded and umbonate, more or less shagged with scales; flesh white, soft, sometimes changing colour; gills free, unequal, white, never decurrent.
Solitary, persistent, autumnal funguses, growing on the ground. Not dangerous.
Esculent species : Ag. procerus, Ag. excoriatus.
Subgenus 3. ARMiLLARiA.f Bot. Char. Veil single, partial, forming a persistent ring, which in the unexpanded plant is joined to the margin of the
* XfTrh, a scale. t Armilla, a ring.
CLASSIFICATION. 75
pileus;* s^^m solid, firm, subfibrillose, unequal ; pileus^eshj, convex, expanded, obtuse ; epidermis entire, even in the scaly species, and not continuous Avith the fibres of the ring ; flesh white and firm; gills broad, unequal, somewhat acute behind. Esculent species : Aff. melleus (?) .
Subgenus 4. LiMACiuM.t Esculent species : no7ie.
Sul)gcuus 5. Tricholoma.J
Bot. Char. Veil fibrous or floccose, fugacious ; stalk gene- rally solid, firm, fleshy, attenuated upwards, scaly, fibrillose or striate ; pUcus fleshy, compact, campanulate or depressed, convex ; margin attenuated, at first involute, shagged with woolly fibres or lanugo ; gills unequal, obtuse behind, emar- ginate; flesh white and unchangeable.
Esculent species : Ag. prunulus and Ag. personatus.^
Subgenus 6. Russula|I {Scop.).
Bot. Char. No veil ; stem smooth, equal, glabrous, strong, white, spongy within ; ;;z7e?« at first campanulate, then hemi- spherical, in age depressed, fleshy in the centre, thin at the margin, which is never reflexed at any period of growth, the epidermis bare, smooth, occasionally sticky in wet weather ; gills juiccless, mostly equal, occasionally forked, the short ones few, rigid, brittle, broad in front, behind narrow, acute,
* This ring seems foniied by the external fibres of the stalk, which, having reached the posterior extremity of the gills, are reflected backwards to the margin of the pilous when they become attached.
t Limax, a sliiff. J ^^i|, a hair, and Xw/ia, o, fringe.
§ Not described by Vittadini among the esculent funguses of Italy, and so probably unknown there.
II Russulus, red.
76 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
properly free but apparently adnato-decurreut, from the effu- sion of the stem into the pileus; flesh firiUj dry, white, mode- rately compact, brittle ; sporules white or ochraceous ; gills white or yellow.
Large or middle size, persistent, solitary funguses, growing on the ground.
Esculent species : Ag. heterophyllus, virescens, and ruber.
Acrid species : Ag. emeticus, sanguineus, and alutaceus.
Subgenus 7. Galorrheus.'^
Bot. Char. No veil; stalk equal, round, solid, effused into the pileus ; pileus fleshy, compact, generally umbilicate, mar- gin even, when young involute ; gills unequal, sometimes very thick, often forked, narrow, attenuated behind, brittle, con- nected by a prolonged tooth to the stalk, down which they are slightly deeurrent; flesh firm and juicy, distilling milk.
Esculent species : Ag. deliciosus and piperatus.
Subgenus 8. CLYTOCYBE.f Bot. Char. Veil none ; pileus at first convex, at length in- fundibuliform ; gills unequal. The characteristics of this sub- genus are rather negative than positive ; many of the con- tained species vary considerably amongst themselves, but the subdivisions founded on such variations are all well marked.
Subdivision Dasyphylli.X Gills in close juxtaposition, de- current or acutely adnate.
Esculent species : Ag. nebularis.
Subdivision Camarophylli.^ Pileus subcompact, dry ; gills very distant, vaulted, deeurrent. Esculent species : Ag. virgineus.
* yd\a, milk, and pew, to flow. f kK'itos, a decUviti/, and kv^)), a head.
X 5acr^s, tkicJc, and (pvKXov, a leaf. § Ka^idpa, a vault, and (pvWou, a leaf.
CLASSIFICATION, / /
Subdivision Chondropodes.^ Pileus tough, dry, gills nearly free, close, white, external coat of stem subcartilaginous. Esculent species : Ag. fuslpes.
Subdivision Scortei. Pileus subcoriaceous ; gills free, sub- distant.
Esculent species : Ag. oi'eades.
Subgenus 9. CoLLVBiA.f Esculent species : none.
Subgenus 10. Mvcena.J Esculent species : none.
Subgenus 11. Omphalia.§ Esculent species : none.
Subgenus 12. Pleuropus.||
Bot. Char. Pileus unequal, eccentric or lateral ; stem, when present, solid and firm ; gills unequal, juiceless, unchange- able, acute behind, growing on trees or wood ; for the most part innocuous, but two only generally eaten.
Esculent species : Ag. ostreatus, in the subdivision Con- charia ; and Ag. tilmarin.t, in the subdivision j^Egeritaria.
Series 2. HYPORHODEUS.H Sporules pale rose-colour.
Subgenus 13. Clitopilus."'^^ Bot. Char. Veil none ; stem tolerably firm, subequal, dis-
* x''*'5f>0Si a ligament, ami ttoDs, nfoof. t k6\\v$os, a copper coin.
X /iVKTjs, nfunijus. § dfj.<t>a\hs, nmhilicus.
II •KXfvfibv, a side, invX iroxis, iifout. ^ irwh, under, and f)6S(os, rose-coloured.
** k\'itos, a drrlirlft/, nnd irTXos, a rrrp.
78 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
tinct from the pileus ; pileus fleshy, campanulate or convex, at length somewhat plane, dry, regular ; gills unequal, changing colour as the fungus matures its seed, fixed, or free. Esculent species : Ag. orcella.
Subgenus 14. Leptonia."^ Esculent species : none.
Subgenus 15. Nolan e a. t Esculent species : none.
Subgenus 16. Eccilia.J Esculent species : none.
Series 3. C0RT1NAIIIA.§ Sporules reddish-ochre ; veil arachnoid.
Subgenus 17. Telamonia.]] Esculent species : none.
Subgenus 18. Inoloma.^
Bot. Char, Veil fugacious, marginal, consisting of free arachnoid threads ; slem solid, bulbous, fibrillose, more or less diffused into the pileus, fleshy; pileus fleshy, convex when young, then expanded, fibrillose, or viscid, regular, juicy ; gills emarginato-adnexed, broad, changing colour; colour of the gills or pileus violet.
Large autumnal funguses growing on the ground.
Esculent species : Ag. violaceus.
* Xiirrhs, slender. f Nola, a little hell.
J (KKoix6(t), to hollow out. § Cortina, a veil.
II TeXaniiv, lint. IT ivhs, of a Hire, Kwfia, & fringe.
CLASSIFICATION. 79
Subgenus 19. Dermocybe.*
Boi. Char. Veil dry, arachnoid, very fugacious; stem not truly bulbous, fibrillose, stuffed \vhcn young ; pileus clothed with fibrillae, rarely with gluten ; gills rather unequal, broad, close.
Esculent species : Ag. castaneus.
Series 4. DERxMINUS.
[In the nine subgenera following, from 20 to 28, viz. Pho- liota, Myxacium, Hebeloma, Flammula, Inocybe, Naucoria, Galera, Tapinia, and Crepidotus, there are no esculent species.]
Series 5. PRATELLA.f Bot. Char. Veil not arachnoid ; gills changing colour, clouded, at length dissolving; sporidia brown-purple.
Subgenus 29. Volvaria. Esculent species : none.
Subgenus 30. Psaliota.J
Bot. Char. Veil forming a partial ring-like investment, more or less persistent ; stalk robust, subcqual, distinct from the pileus ; pileus fleshy, more or less campanulate when young, almost flat when fully expanded ; sometimes sticky, sometimes scaly or else fibrillose, sometimes naked ; gills un- equal, free, or connected with the stalk, broad and deepening in colour.
In addition to the ring, some have a very fugacious volva or velum, some both one and the other.
Esculent species : Jg. campestris and Georgii.
* Sfpfjia, a skill, and Kvfii], a head.
t PratiiiP, a pasture. J \\id\iov, a rhiff.
80 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
[In the four next subgenera, from 31 to 34-, Hypholoma, Psilocyhe, Psathyra, and Coprinarius, there are no esculent species.]
Subgenus 35. Coprinus.'^
Bot. Char. Gills free, unequal, thin, simple, changing colour, at length deliquescent. Veil universal, floccose, fu- gacious; stem fistulose, straight, elongated, brittle, subsqua- mulose, .whitish ; pileus membranaceous, rarely sul)carnose, when young ovato-conic, then campanulate, at length torn and revolute, deliquescent, distinct from the stem, clothed with the flocculose fragments of the veil.
Fugacious funguses, growing in rich dungy places or on rotten wood.
Esculent species : Ag. comatus and atramentarius.
Subgenus 36. Gomphus. No esculent species.
Genus 2. CANTHARELLUS.f
Bot. Char. These are distinguished from Agarics, which at first sight they resemble, by having veins in place of gills ; that is, by having the prolongations of the fibres of the pileus invested in an undivided, in place of a divided hymenium, as occurs in Agarics and in the genus Boletus. These veins are prominent, ramifying, seldom anastomosing ; central, eccen- tric, or wanting ; no investments ; dust white.
Esculent species : C. cibarius.
[In the next three genera, MeruUus, Schizophyllum, and Dadalea, there are no esculent species.]
* KOTrpoi, clinii/. f KOLvOapos. n nrp.
CLASSIFICATION. 81
Genus 6. POLYPORUS *
Bot. Char. Hymenium concrete with the substance of the pileus, consisting of subrotund pores with thin simple dissepi- ments.
Esculent species : P. frondosus.
Genus 7. BOLETUS.f
Bot. Char. The word Boletus, which has at diflferent times, and under different mycologists, been made to represent in turn many very different funguses, is now restricted to such as have a soft flesh, vertical tubes underneath, round or an- gular, slightly connected together and with the substance of the pileus, open below, and lined by the sporiferous mem- brane ; the cap horizontal, very fleshy, the stalk generally reticulated, some have an investment ; the flesh of many changes colour.
They are all innocuous, according to Vittadini, whicli is not strictly the case, though many species hitherto reputed unwholesome, or worse, appear to lose their bad properties by drying. The kinds generally eaten are B. edulis and scaber.
Genus 8. FISTULINA.t
Bot. Char. Hymenium formed of a distinct substance, but concrete with the fibres of the pileus ; tubes at first wart-like, somewhat remote, radiato-fimbriate, closed; at length ap- proximated, elongated, open.
Esculent species : F. hepatica.
* iroXvs, many, and ir6pos, a pore. t /SwAot, a hall.
X Named from the Jtstulous nature of the hrnieniinn.
G
82 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
Genus 9. HYDNUM.^
Bot. Char. In this genus the under surface presents a series of conical teeth or bristles of unequal length, solid, continuous with the flesh of the pileus and covered entirely by the spo- riferous membrane. The species composing it have no in- vestments ; the flesh is dry, frequently corky or coriaceous ; the pileus irregular in shape, and its margin arched and un- dulated. There are no dangerous species, but which to eat must depend upon the united consent of the stomach and of the teeth.
Esculent species : H. repandum.
[In the last five genera of this tribe, namely, Sistotrema, Irpex, Radulum, Phlebia, and Thelephora, there are no escu- lent species.]
Tribe 2. CLAVATI.-f
Hymenium above, smooth ; receptacle club-shaped or cylin- drical, with no distinct margin ; substance fleshy.
Genus 15. CLAVARIA.
Bot. Char. Receptacle erect, homogeneous, smooth, not dis- tinguishable from the stalk, simple or entirely covered by the hymenium.
All the species in this genus are good to eat.
[In the remaining six genera of this tribe there are no esculent species.]
* v^vov, a truffle, etc. f Clava, a club.
CLASSIFICATION'. 83
Tribe 3. MITRATL
Receptacle bullate, pileiform, luargiucd ; hymenium superior, never closed.
Genus 22. MORCHELLA.
Bot. Char. Receptacle hollow and confluent with stalk, clulj-shapcd, or, like the pileus, fissured above with lacunae more or less deep, limited by thick folds, anastomosed with reticulations, entirely covered with sporiferous membrane; flesh waxy in texture ; stalk constant.
There are two esculent kinds, M. esculenta and semilibera ; the esculenta and hybrida of Sowerby.
Genus 23. HELVELLA.
Bot. Char. Substance fleshy ; margins sinuous ; only the upper portion of the pileus sporiferous.
Esculent species : H. crispa, lacunosa, and esculenta.
[In Genera 2 i to 2G there are no esculent species.]
Tribe 4. CUPULATI.
Hymenium concrete, superior, smooth, shut in while young by the margins of the receptacle ; sporules disseminated with elasticity or otherwise ; receptacle bowl-shaped, flat or con- cave ; some of this tribe when young have an involucrum.
Genus 27. PEZIZA.
Series Aleuhia. Subgenus Megaloptxis. Esculent species : P. acetabulum.
[In Genera 28 to 45, which conclude the flrst great division, Hymenomycetes, there are no esculent species.]
G 2
84 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
Division II. GASTEROMYCETES.
Bot. Char. The receptacle a close cavity with or without a hynienium ; spores at last fiee and variously disseminated.
[Ill Genera 46 to 73 there are no esculent species.]
Genus 74. BOVISTA.^
Bot. Char. Peridium papyraceous, furnished with a distinct baek_, Avhicli at length peels off altogether^ fertile within ; ca- pillitium equal.
Esculent species : B. plumbea.
Genus 75. LYCOPEUDON.
Bot. Char. A sessile peridium, membranaceous; at first filled with a white, consistent, homogeneous substance, Avhich after a time is converted into a dust of various hues, and is interspersed with copious filaments. The funguses of this genus are invested in two membranes ; the innermost of which, or peridium, is tough and smooth on the outside, shaggy with floccose threads within. The external membrane, wliich is very fragile and tender, frequently falls off during the matura- tion of the seed, which then escapes through the peridium by an irregular orifice at the apex.
Esculent species : L. pJainbeum and Bovista.
* Xame Latinized from the German Bojist.
DKSCRIPTIOX or SPECIES. 85
AGARICUS PRUNULU8, Vitt
Plate I. Fig. 1.
Subgenus Triciioloma, Fries. Subdivision Peksonata, ibid.
AoABicrs MorcEROX, BttUiard. Ceesalpinus, p. 617. MorcERON GBis, Paiilet, Persoon.
" Cogitatioue ante pascuntur succineis novaculis ant argeutcoappa- ratu comitante." — Plinif.
"Tout CO qui fait rornemcnt dcs fcsl ins s'cmbaunie du parfuni de CCS cryptogames." — Persoon.
Bot. Char. Gregarious, or growing in rings^' on tbe ground ; jiiJeus tbick, convex, irregular in sbapc, more or less tuberculated, sometimes lobedjf margin not striate, wavy, ex- panding unequally ; epidermis cream-coloured, grey, reddisb, or of a dirty nankeen bue, paler towards tbe cireumferenee, soft to tbe toncb like kid, minutely tomentose, fragile, dry, firmly attacbed to tbe Hesli ; flesb firm, conipaet ; gills watery, wbite, very numerous, irregular, witb many smaller ones (from 5-11, Vitt.) interposed, lying over eaeb otber like tbe plaits of a frill, adnato-emarginate,J tbe imperfect gills rounded off at tbcir posterior end. Stem wbite, robust, firm, solid, somewbat irregular in form, generally tbickened at tbe base, constantly so in young specimens, but in older ones,
* They are reproduced in these rings about the same time every year, the circle continuing to enlarge till it breaks up at last into irrcgxdar lines, which is a sure sign to tlie collector that the Pninulus is about to disappear from that place, just as the presence of an unbroken ring is conclusive of a plentiful harvest the next sjiring.
t These lobes, formed by the constriction of the pilous, whilst emerging from the roots of the grass, arc sometimes so much strangulated as to present the appearance of small stalklcss Agarics growing from the large, and projecting from tinir sides like ears.
X That is, connected by a tooth to the cud of the stalk, and not running down it.
86 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
though occasionally bulging, it presents not unfrequently an equal cylinder throughout, and sometimes tapers slightly downwards. The fibres are effused into the pileus, spreading out like a fan through its substance ; smell strong, tasle agree- able ; spores white, elliptical, adhering firmly to the body on which they fall. The dried plant retains much the same form it had when fresh.
On tracing this fungus to its origin, (spring is the only time, and the borders of the woodlands the proper place, to look for it,) if we dig up the earth where it grows, this will be found mouldy to a considerable depth beneath the surface, and strongly impregnated with the peculiar odour which the Prunulus exhales ; this apparent mouldiness being, in fact, the spawn, amidst the white filaments of which many minute Agarics, in various stages of their development, may be found ; some, in the earliest, presenting merely white cones destitute of heads, whilst in others a slight protuberance indicates the future pileus forming or already fojmed. The pileus is at first almost spherical, and involute in its borders, the gills whitish, very minute, and so thickly set as to press one against the other, each communicating to the membrane that lines the next the impressions of its own fibres, which remain in the form of transverse strise, and furnish a characteristic to this fungus retained during all its subsequent growth [Vitt.). The greatest size which I have known the PrunuJus attain has been in England, where I have picked specimens measuring six inches across, and weighing between four and five ounces; as to the fecundity of this fungus, I collected this spring, from a single ring on the War-jNIount at Keston (Kent), from ten to twelve pounds, and in the one field from twenty to twenty-five pounds. In this neighbourhood they are generally destroyed, as injurious to his grass-crops, by the over-careful
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 87
farmer, quite ignorant, of course, of their value ; to which the following extract from a letter of Professor Balbi to Persoou bears testimony : — " This rare and most delicious Agaric, the Mouceron of Bulliard, and the Ag. prunulus of other authors, abounds on the hills above the valley of Stafora, near Bobbio, "where it is called Spinaroli, and is in great request ; the coun- try people eat it fresh in a variety of ways, or they dry and sell it for from twelve to sixteen francs a pound." Vittadini says, truly enough, that the fresh is better than the dried Prumtlus, the substance of the latter being rather coriaceous, but the gravy prepared from it in this state, being very rich and well-flavoured, is largely used by those who reject the body of the mushroom ; three or four thrown into a pot of the lighter broths or of beef-tea render them more savoury. To dry the Prunulus it is usual to cut it into four or more pieces, Avhich are exposed for some days to a dry air and then threaded : it acquires an aroma by the process, and commnni- eatcs this to any dish of which it is afterwards an ingredient.
It would be extremely difficult to confound this Agaric with any other; its mode of growth in circles, the extreme narrowness of its gills, which are moreover striate, the thick- ness of its pileus, and the bulging character of its stalk, would render a mistake almost impossible, even did it grow in autumn when other funguses abound, in place of appear- ing only in spring when few species comparativelv abound.
The best mode of cooking the Ag. prumthis is either in a mince or fricassee it with any sort of meat, or in a vol-au-vent, the flavour of which it greatly improves ; or simply prepared with salt, pepper, and a small piece of bacon, lard, or butter, to prevent burning, it constitutes of itself a most excellent dish. It has the great advantage of appearing in spring, at a season the common mushroom never occurs. I have placed
88 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
it first in the series of Plates^ as being the most savoury- fungus with which I am acquainted.*
"When eaten alone, Sterbeck's white mustard will be found an excellent condiment for it ; this is prepared as follows : — Bruise in a mortar some sweet almonds with a little water, then add salt, pepper, and some lemon -juice, rub together till the whole is of the consistence of common mustard.
AGARICUS PROCERUS, Scop.
Plate II.
Subgenus Lepiota, Fries.
"Elle est d'une saveur tres-agreable et cl'une chair tendre, tres- delicate et tres-bonne a manger. Les amateurs la preferent meme au cliaiuiDignon de eouclie, comme ayant mie chair plus fine et etant beaucoup plus legere sur J'estomac." — Paiilet.
This, which is one of the most delicate funguses, fortu- nately is not rare in England. In Italy it is in equal request with the Amanita Ceesarea ; in France it is also in high es- teem,— " servie sur toutes les tables, elle est bonne a toute sauce " [Tliore) ; and were its excellent qualities better known here, they could not fail to secure it a general reception into our best kitchens, and a frequent place among our side-dishes at table. The beauty and remarkable appearance of this Agaric have procured for it a variety of names : colubrinus, from the snake-like markings on the stem ; clypeatus, from
* The Prunulus is much prized intheKomau market, where it easily fetches 30 baioccbi, i.e. \bd. per lb. ; a large sum for any luxury at Eome. It is sent in little baskets as presents to patrons, fees to medical men, and bribes to Eoman lawyers. When dried, it constitutes the so-called " Fuughi di Genoa," which are sold on strings throughout Italy.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 89
its umbonated top ; 'fungo parasole,' from the orbicular form of the wide-spread pilcus ; and Gambaltiem. or Fonz de la gamha hmga, from the extraordinary height of the stalk. Autumn is the time of its greatest abundance, but individual specimens occur occasionally throughout the summer.
It grows solitary or few together in hcdgcbanks and pas- ture-grounds.
The pilcus, which is commonly from four to four and a half inches across, sometimes attains a width of six or seven. At first it is concealed in a volva, but breaking from this it goes through a variety of forms, from that of an ovoid cone to that of a flattened disk. It is umbonated at the centre, and co- vered with scales, which are formed by the breaking up of the mud-coloured epidermis, and are large, raised, and persistent at the centre ; thin^ regular, and lighter in hue at the circum- ference, " the whole surface resembling a delightfully soft, shaggy-brown leather ^^ {Purton). The flesh of the pilcus is white and cottony, that of the stalk fibrous and somewhat brittle, with a subrubescent tinge, the whole plant turning to a rufous-orange when bruised ; the gills are of a pale flesh- colour, occasionally forked, vcntricose, denticulate, remote from the stalk, and having a circular pit between it and their central extremities, which are fixed into a kind of collar. The stalk tawnj'^, striped circularly with bands of white, formed by the breaking up of the epidermis ; is bulbous at the base and attenuated upwards ; its apex rounded, and pe- netrating deeply through the flesh of the pilcus (which re- ceives it as in a socket), gives rise to the central nml)o on the upper surface of the cap. The ring moveable, like that of an mnbrella -stick, broad, compact, membranaceous immediately round the stalk, and fibrous towards its free margin, is white above and tawnv or of the same colour as the stalk on its
90 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
under surface. The smell is like that of newly-ground meal ; the taste is pleasant ; the spores are white and elliptic.
The Ag. excoriatus resembles the Ag. procerus very closely, but is easily distinguished from it by its smaller size, the ab- sence of the bulb at the base of the stalk, and the ring being often attached instead of free.
Being equally esculent, the following receipts will serve for both :—
" Comme il est tres-leger et tres-delicat, il faut le faire sauter dans I'huile fine apres I'avoir assaisonne d'un point d'ail, de poivre et de sel ; en quelques instants il est cuit. On le mange aussi en fricassee de poiilet, cuit sur le gril ou dans la tourtiere avec de beurre, de fines herbes, du poivre, du sel, et de la chapelure de pain ; on ne mange point la tige, elle est d'nne texture coriace'' {Eoques).
The ketchup from both kinds is better than that procured from the Agaricus campestris, or common mushroom.
N.B. — I hare in the above notice described one yariety oi Agaricus procerus ; there is, however, if not another, at least a remarkable modification of this, in which tlae pileus is thinner and mxichless shaggy, the gills less broad but similar in shape, the stalk more slender and elongate. This variety is also nearly void of odour, and its flesh does not change colour on being bruised : for culinary purposes this distinction is without importance, as both are equally good.
BOLETUS EDULIS, Bidliard.
Plate III. Figs. 1 and 2.
Section Cortinaria, Fi^ies.
" Atto sovra ognnn altro fungo al commercio, forma da questo lato, per non pochi paesi della Lombardia, una delle principal! risorsi della povera gente." — Vitt.
The ancient Romans were well acquainted with this truly
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 91
delicious fungus, and in general appear to have done it jus- tice; the strings of dried Suillus, which his countrymen, on the testimony of Pliny, were in the habit of fetching from Bithynia, were in all likelihood the same as those similarly- prepared strings of the modern Porcino which are sold du- ring the winter in every market-place throughout Italy.* Vittadini mentions a curious fact respecting them, viz. that though they are composed of many different Boletuses, no mischief was ever known to originate from their indiscrimi- nate and very extensive consumption ; whence he concludes that all the species of this genus are innocuous, or, at least, that drying and cooking will extract any deleterious principles which they may have originally contained ; — an inference, he thinks, supported by the daily use among the peasantry of certain districts of the B. luridus, which of all bad Boletuses commonly passes for the worst, and l)y his having experi- mented with it in large doses upon animals, who did not suffer in consequence. I have eaten in England a small quantity both oi B. Gi'evillei and of B. granulaius, which have much of the flavour of the B. edulis ; of the B. subtomentosus (though, on the authority of Trattinick, it is eaten in Germany) I have no personal experience, nor do I recommend to the amateur any species beyond the two universally eaten and approved of on the Continent, viz. : — B. edulis and B. scaber.
B. edulis. — Box. Char. Pileus from six to seven inches across, pulvinatc, smooth, with a thick margin, varying in colour from light brown or brouze, to bay, dark brown, or
* If tl\e Suillus be indeed the same as the modern Porcino, as its name ■would imply, few who know how good it is will be disposed to pity Martial, who laments his hard case, in having had to eat this fungus at his patron's table, while he feasted on the Boletus, /. e. the Aff. Casareu-s. It would seem however from tliis epigram, that the Suillus was not in Martial's time, what it now un- questionably is, a favourite with the rich.
92 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF EXGLAND.
black, or a mixture of all these colours. The epidermis firmly adherent to the flesh, that firm, and except the part in imme- diate contact with the skin, which has a slight brown tint, white; the under surface of the cap nearly fiat, often pre- senting a circular pit or depression round the stalk; tubes at first white, then yellow, lastly of an olive or yellow-green tint, in the earlier stage of development (their free extremities then lie against the side of the stalk) closed ; afterwards, as the cap expands, stopped up with a waxy-looking material of a dirty pearl colour. Sttm varying much in shape at different periods of the growth of the Boletus, always thick and solid; at first white, but soon changing to fawn colour, beautifully meshed or mapped (especially on its upper portion) with reticulations characteristic of this species. As the period for casting its seed advances, the inferior surface of the cap swells out, the waxy matter is absorbed, the tubes present deep and rounded orifices to the e\e, and presently emit an abundant seminal dust, of an ochraceous green hue (sometimes difficult to collect, from the quantity of moisture exhaled with it), after wliich both cap and stalk become flaccid, the tubes turn to a dirty green, and the whole fungus falls rapidly into a state of decomposition. The favourite sites for this Boletus are woods, especially those of pines, oaks, and chestnuts ; it abounds in autumn, but occurs in spring and occasionally in summer. There is one variety, the jj'tnicola, whose name gives its where- abouts, which differs from the foregoing, in having a moist, somewhat sticky cap, a watery flesh clianging near the tubes to a light yellow-green when bruised; the reticulations are ill-marked in this species.
The Boletus eclulis cannot be mistaken for any other Boletus because it alone presents all the following characters united, viz. a cap of which the surface is smooth ; tubes the colour
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 93
of which varies witli each period of its growth, beautiful and singular reticulations of the stalk, especially towards the upper portion, and a flesh which is white and unchanging.
The Boletus castaneus, which bears some little general re- semblance to it, is at once distinguished by having a cottony fibrillose stem without reticulations, a downy cap and dirty yellow dust : neither can it be confounded with the B. suhto- mentosus nor B. luridus, because in addition to many other points of difference, both these change colour on being cut or bruised.
As to the best manner of cooking B. edulis, this must be left to the taste of the gourmet; in every way it is good. Its tender and juicy flesh, its delicate and sapid flavour, render it equally acceptable to the plain and to the accomplished cook. It imparts a relish alike to the homely hash and the dainty ragout, and may be truly said to improve every dish of which it is a constituent. " Nihil tetigit quod non ornavit." " Though much neglected in this country, it appears to be a most valuable article of food. It resembles much in taste the common mushroom, and is quite as delicate ; it abounds in seasons when these are not to be found." [Berkeley .)
Modes of Cooking Boletus edulis. (Persoon.) It may be cooked iu white sauce, with or without chicken, in fricassee broiled or baked with butter, salad oil, pepper, salt, chopped herbs, and bread-crumbs ; to which some add ham or a mince of anchovy. It makes excellent fritters : some roast it with onions (basting with butter), but as these take longer to cook than the Boletus, this must not be put down till the onions have begun to soften.
Boletus edulis Soup, made in Hungary. (Paulet.) Having dried some Boletuses in an oven, soak them iu
94 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
tepid water, thickening with toasted bread, till the whole be of the consistence of a puree, then rub through a sieve, throw in some stewed Boletuses, boil together, and serve with the usual condiments.
AGAEICUS CAMPESTRIS.
Section Pratella. Subdivision Psaliota, Fries.
Agaeicus campesteis, Linn.
" Oil croit ce champignon, clelice des festins, Que I'art fait cliaque jour uaitre dans nos jardins." — Castel.
There is scarcely any one in England who does not feel himself competent to decide on the genuineness of a mush- room : its pink gills are carefully separated from those of a kindred fungus Ag. Georgii, which are of a flesh-coloured grey, and out of the pickings of ten thousand hands, a mistake is of rare occurrence ; and yet no fungus presents itself under such a variety of forms, of such singular diversities of aspect ! the inference is plain ; less discrimination than that employed to distinguish this, would enable any who should take the trouble, to recognize at a glance many of those esculent species, which every spring and autumn fill our plantations and pastures with pleuteousness. Neither is this left to be a mere matter of inference ; it is corroborated in a singular man- ner by what takes place at Rome ; here, whilst many hundred baskets of what we call toadstools are carried home for the table, almost the only one condemned to be thrown into the Tiber, by the inspector of the fungus market is our own mushroom •.'^ indeed, in such dread is this held in the Papal
* " II Sorregliatore fa gettare ai venditor! tutti i funglii fracidi e quelli che crede nocivi, ed e assolutamente proibita la vendita dei cosi detti prateroli buoni o cattivi die sieno." — Sangidnetti (extract from an unpublished letter).
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 95
States, that no one knowingly would touch it. " It is reckoned one of their fiercest imprecations," writes Professor Sangui- netti, " amongst our lower orders, infamous for the horrible nature of their oaths, to pray that any one may die of a Pratiolo ; " and although it has been some years registered among the esculent funguses of jNIilan and Pavia (on the authority of Yittadini), it has not yet found its way into those markets. Besides the general botanical characters which apply to all varieties of Aff. campestris, almost every writer has felt the necessity of pointing out several peculiarities, belonging to each. Common to all are a fieshy pilcus, which is sometimes smooth, sometimes scaly, in colour white, or of diflferent shades of tawny, fuliginous, or brown; gills free, at first pallid, then flesh-coloured, then pink, next purple, at length tawny-black ; the stem white, full, firm, varying in shape, furnished with a white persistent ring ; the spores brown-black, and a volva which is very fugacious.
Var. A. edulis.
Tliis, Avhich is our button mushroom, lies at first concealed in the earth, at which period it presents the appearance of a puff-ball; at a second stage of its growth, it exhibits a white, smooth, and continuous epidermis ; gills rounded off at their posterior end ; a large, somewhat funnel-shaped, double ring, free, and somewhat moveable on the stem, which is short and thick. This, according to Yittadini, is the most sapid variety of any.
Var. B. pratensis.
This differs from the last in the duskier hue of its pileus, which is moreover scaly, and has ragged margins ; the gills are ventricosc ; and the ring, which is subfugacious, is corti- narious, i. e. of a cobweb texture, and reflexed ; the stalk is
96 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
longer than in the last species, and tapers towards the base ; the colour of the flesh in this variety is vinous or even sanguine.
Jar. c. silvlcola.
This differs from the two former in the following particu- lars; the gills are pallid, taper equally at both ends, and come off at a considerable distance from the stalk, which is sur- rounded above by a very delicate ring, and is bulbous at the base, tlie bulb showing traces of the volva.^
Var. D. anceps. Such uncultivated mushrooms as when eaten even in small quantity, produce violent derangement of the stomach and intestinal canal, belong to a variety which, since it grows under hedges, is sometimes called '^ the hedge mushroom ;" this, to which, for distinction's sake, 1 have given the name of anceps, is by no means of rare occurrence. In order to discriminate it properly from the wholesome varieties, the first point to notice is its extreme lightness as compared with its bulk, that the gills are of a deeper and of a more lurid red than those of var. eduJis, and in age less purple ; they are also less deliques- cent. The flesh is more tough and not so juicy. The stem, as in the var. sihicola, is curved and bulbous, but also fistu- lose throughout. The ring complete, firm, broad, reflexed, and persistent ; the odour disagreeable, and the taste insipid. The form of the pileus that of an obtuse cone in young speci- mens ; extremely flat in the middle state ; and more or less concave in age. It seldom grows solitary. The mushroom
* " This is that yariety oi Ag. campestris wliich has been so often confounded with the Amanita verna, and with these the Ag. alius rirosus ; all these fun- guses, besides pi-eseuting a strong similarity in appearance, are found in the same locality, and at about the same time of year." — l^itf.
DKSCKIPTION OF SPECIES, 97
proper, like other funguses, should be eaten fresh ; a few hours making all the difference between its wholesomeuess or un- wholesomeness : nor need this surprise us when wc consider how many principles enter into its composition, how short is the period of its existence, and how lial)lc it must be to enter into new combinations in consequence. Vauquelin found in its flesh fat, adipoccre, osmazomc, an animal matter insoluble in alcohol, sugar, fungine, and acetate of potash. What a medley ! and what wonder, if the changes induced during decomposition should cause the indigestions suffered by those who have eaten them in this state ! The mushroom, having the same proximate principles as meat, requires, like meat, to be cooked before these become changed. The Ag. campestris may be prepared in a great variety of ways : they give a fine flavour to soups, and greatly improve beef-tea ; — where arrow-root and weak broths are distasteful to the patient, the simple seasoning of a little ketchup will frequently form an agreeable change. Some roast them, basting with melted butter and white (French) wine sauce."^ In patties and vols-au-vent they are equally excellent; in fricassees, as everybody knows, they are the important element of the dish. Roques recommends in all cases the removal of the gills before dressing, which though it secures a more elegant-looking entremet, is only flattering the eye at the expense of the palate.
Var. E. bovinus.
This variety differs from the A(/. Georgii and the type of the species in size and other particulars. There are specimens which measure fifteen inches across the pileus, with a stalk of corresponding dimensions. The pileus is shaggy, like that of
* Ude complains that we have none of the hght French wines for sauces ex- cept champagne. Cider or perry will, liowever, be found good substitutes.
H
98 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
the Ag. procerus, with epidermic scales, which are at first nearly white, but in fully developed specimens, of a rich tawny colour, like the Polyporus squamosus ; and sometimes of a red-brown. The scales more depressed than in Ag. pro- cerus, the gills not ventricose, equal at both ends, separated from the stalk by a fossa or groove which runs round its apex ; the stalk solid, attenuated at the very base, but thickened just above it, a slightly vinous hue when bruised; flesh of ring perfect, persistent, and hanging round the stalk like a sheet of thin white kid ; into which a number of delicate silver threads may be traced proceeding from the apex of stem. The smell is powerful but agreeable, as also is the flavour ; no part of the surface ever turns yellow. This variety is both wholesome and well-flavoured ; as it is commonly known by the peasants under the name of the " Ox-Mushroom,^^ I have called it bovinus.
Receipt I. — " A la Provenqale."
Steep for two hours in oil, with some salt, pepper, and a little garlic : then toss up in a small stewpan over a brisk fire, with parsley chopped and a little lemon-juice.
Receipt II. — To stuff Mushrooms,
Take large mushrooms, full-grown, but not black ; remove the gills, and place in lieu of them the following stuffing : — bacon shredded, crumbs of bread, chopped herbs, and a little garlic or eschalots (as for omelettes), salt, pepper, and a taste of spice. Broil in paper as a Maintenon cutlet, moistening with butter when necessary.
Receipt III. — Mushrooms " a la Marquis Cussi." Take button mushrooms ; put to them a very small quan-
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 99
tity of garlic, finely chopped ; toss up over a brisk fire with a little butter; add some leraou-juice ; give them a few tm'iis ; then add salt^ pepper, nutmeg, and a wine-glassful of the richest brown gravy (Grande Espagnole) ; when the mush- rooms are warmed through in this, add a couple of glasses of Sauterue, simmer for ten minutes, and serve.
A homely mode of cooking Ag. campestris in Bucks, is to cut up the buttons with pieces of bacon the size of dice, and tlien to boil them in a dumpling.
Method of Cultivating.
The following method of cultivating mushrooms is given in Paxton's ' Botanical Dictionary :' —
" Collect a sufficient quantity of fresh horse-droppings, as free from straw as possible ; lay it in an open shed in a heap or ridge ; here it will heat violently, and in consequence should be now and then turned for sweetening ; after this has subsided to moderation, it will be in a fit state for forming into a bed. In the process of making the bed, the dung should be put on in small quantities and beat firmly and equally together, until it is the required size ; in this state let it remain until the highest degree of heat to which it is ca- pable of coming is ascertained, which may be readily done by inserting a heat-stick, and pressing it with the hand ; if not found violent, the spawn may be broken up into pieces of two or three inches square, and put into holes about three inches in depth by six inches asunder, over its surface; after this, throw a very small quantity of well-broken droppings over the whole. In this state let it remain for two or three weeks, when a loamy soil may be put on about an inch or an inch and a half thick, and gently patted Avith the spade. If the temperature of the house be kept about sixty or sLxty-five
H 2
100 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
degrees, mushrooms may be expected in six weeks. It is not ■well to water the beds much, particularly when bearing ; it is much better to throw a little water over the path and flues, which will both improve the colour and the flavour of the mushrooms, without being attended with those bad effects frequently resulting from watering, viz. that of destroying the young stock, and turning browner those already flt for table.'-'— Person's Bot. Diet.
With regard to the spawn, it may be collected as recom- mended in the French work cited by M. Roques, and kept in a dry place till wanted ; or by digging about the roots of growing mushrooms, and carrying away the earth which con- tains it. The debris of a former mushroom-bed will always furnish spawn for a new.
AGARICUS EXQUISITUS, noh.
Plate IV., Figs. 3, 4, and 5.
Section Psaliota, Fries. Subdivision Pratella, ibid.
Agaeictts GrEOEGli, Witherinff.
" L'Agarico esquisito e un fungo sano, oltremodo delicato e di facilissima digestione." — Vitt.
" Its flavour is far inferior to that of the common mushroom." — Berkeley.
This fungus, called also the Horse Mushroom, from the enormous dimensions"^ to which it sometimes attains, is for the most part shunned by the English epicure ; it is also this species from which many persons report themselves to have
* " Hopkirk records an instance of one weighing fire pounds six ounces, and measuring forty-thi-ee inches in circumference. Withering mentions another that weighed fourteen pounds." — Berkeley.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 101
suffered indigestion attended with violent colicky pains, when they have eaten it by mistake for the Ag. campestris. It is sold, under the name of White Caps, for making ketchup ; but, notwithstanding its foreign name and reputation, most per- sons will agree with Mr. Berkeley, in holding both its flesh and its juices as greatly inferior to those of the Ay. camjyestris. Our other name for it, that of St. George's Agaric, can have no reference to the time of its appearance, as it is seldom met with in England till after that saint's day ; it has, moreover, the same name in Hungary, where the inhabitants look upon it as a special gift from Saint George.
Its botanical characters arc the following : — Pileus at first conico-campanulate, covered with floccosc shreds, which are very fugacious ; when fully expanded, mi- nutely squamulose, of a beautiful white, shining and smooth ; turning yellow when bruised, and sometimes exuding a yellow juice (Sibthorpe). GUIs numerous, broad, attenuated both ways, but most so behind, free, of a pallid hue (grey flesh- colour), during the growth of the fungus; later, clouded brown-black; the imperfect gills obtuse behind. Stem long, subcylindrical, slightly thickened at the base, white without, stuffed within. Ring tumid and reflected over the stalk. Flesh of both pileus and stalk compact, fibrous, and fragile. Flavour and smell strong, and, according to Yittadini, agree- able, but according to English i)erccption generally the re- verse. Persoon pronounces this fungus to be superior to the common mushroom in smell, taste, and digestibility, on which accounts, he says, it is generally preferred in France. It is to be cooked in the same way as that, and, if eaten in mode- ration, will seldom be found to incommode the stomach or offend the palate.
Locality. — Pastures, amidst thickets, under trees, generally
103 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
in large rings, reproducing itself every year in the same situations.
AGARICUS DELICIOSUS.
Plate V., Fig. 4.
Orange Milk Agaric.
Subgenus Galorrheus.
Bot. Char. Gregarious. Pileus from three to four inches across j colour dull orange-rufous, frequently zoned with con- centric circles of a brighter hue, fleshy, firm, full of red orange milk, which turns green on exposure to the air (as does the whole plant when bruised) ; the margin at first involute and downy, then expanded, afterwards depressed. Gills decur- rent, forked at the base, always of the same colour as the pileus, rather distant, substantial. Ston from two to three inches high, slightly bent, stuffed in part, scrobiculate {i. e. marked with little superficial pits) ; at the base strigose (i. e. covered with short pointed hairs).
This is one of the best Agarics with which I am acquainted, fully deserving both its name and the estimation in which it is held abroad. Its flesh is firm, juicy, sapid, and nutritious. It grows under old Scotch ftrs and pines, and occasionally in considerable abundance, and is well worth the trouble of searching for from September to the beginning of November, when it is in season. There is but one fungus which it in any way resembles, and as that one [Ag. torminosus) is acrid and poisonous, the gatherer must pay particular attention to the following characteristic difiference between the two, viz. that the milk of the Ag. deliciosus is red and subsequently
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 103
turns green, while that of the Ag. torminosus is white and un- changeable.
Mr. Sowerby thus speaks in praise of this species : — " I had one dressed ; it was very luscious eating, full of rich gravy, with a little of the flavour of mussels/'
Sir James Smith, in his ' Tour,' says : — " The market of Marseilles exhibited a prodigious quantity of Ag. deliciosus, which really deserves its name, being the most delicious mush- room known."
The Agaricus deliciosus may be served with a white sauce, or fried ; but the best way to cook them, after duly seasoning with pepper and salt, and putting a piece of butter upon each, is to bake (in a closely-covered pie-dish) for about three- quarters of an hour.
BOLETUS SCABER, Fries. Plate VI. Figs. 1, 2.
" Fungo innocente e die nou puo cagioiiare alcun danno, non molto riccrcato a motiTO, senza dubbio, del canibiamento di colore in cui ra soggetto la sua came allorchfe viene i-otta o compressa." — T'itt,
Bot. Char. This fungus presents itself under two distinct forms; in the first, the B. aurantiacus of Bull., the pikus (generally rather downy, but sometimes rough) is of a beau- tiful deep orange hue ; in the other it is cinereous.
In both cases its shape is that of a hemisphere of from three to seven inches across, the surface of which becoiues viscid when moist, and is minutely downy. In the first variety, the stem is rough with black, in the second with orange scales.
104 ESCULKNT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
Half a foot is its average height ; it is attenuated upwards. While young, it is very thick in proportion to the pileus, and exhibits frequently the traces of a floccose veil. The flesh is thick and flabby^ of a dingy white, not greatly changeable in young specimens, but deepening in colour when old, and ac- quiring a vinous tint ;* the tubes are of a dirty white, those that surround the stem being shorter than the rest.
The odour of this fungus is slight ; the taste subacid ; the seminal dust copious, and tawny-ferruginous. It may be cooked like the B. edulis, and has an agreeable flavour ; but being more viscid in substance, it requires when stewed to be thinned with water ; when dried, it loses all odour, and is then insipid and unfit for food.
BOLETUS LURIDUS. Plate VI. Figs. 3, 4, and 5.
Nothing can be more accurate than Mr. Berkeley's descrip- tion of this species, which I therefore subjoin : — " Woods. Summer and autumn. Common. Pileus two to six inches broad, convex, expanded, minutely tomentose, olive, brick- red, pinkish, cream-coloured, or ferruginous-brown. Flesh more or less yellow, changing to blucf Tubes free, yellow
* " It is commonly supposed that such funguses as change colour afford thereby a clear evidence of their noxious properties, and yet daily experience, as far as it went, ought to have led to just the opposite conclusion. Almost all the poisonous Agarics have a flesh that does not change colour, and we know as yet of no Boletus, many of which do so change, that is really unsafe to eat." —Vitt.
t This blue loses much of its intensity by long exposure to the air. It is moreover to be remarked that in specimens, the flesh of wliich has been eaten into by slugs or insects, no change of colour takes place.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 105
or greenish ; their orifices of a beautiful red or bright orange, quite simple, round. Sjwj'es olivaceous-ochre. Stem very variable in length, bulbous, toraentose, sometimes quite smooth, red with ferruginous or the brightest yellow shades, solid, generally more or less marked or reticulated with crimson- red, very deleterious " (? *) .
AGARICUS PERSONATUS.
Plate I. Fig. 2.
Subgenus Tricholoma, Fries.
Blewitts.
I never met with this fungus in Italy ; it has not been de- scribed by Vittadini, nor, that I am aware of, by any Italian mycologist ; neither is it mentioned by Cordicr or Roques, in their treatises on the esculent funguses of France. Extremely common in England, this species has already found its way to Covent Garden, where, according to Sowerby, it is sold under the name of " Blewitts."t The favourite haunt of the Blewitt is amidst grass, where it grows in clusters, or in large rings, seldom app'eihring before October.
The botanical charact^s, as given by ]\Ir. Berkeley, are as follows : — " Pileus from two to six inches broad, fleshy, firm ; pale bistre or purple-lilac, occasionally violet ; convex, obtuse, very smooth, and shining, as if oiled, but not viscid ; margin involute, pulverulento-tomentose. Gills rounded ; free, nar- row in front, paler than the pileus, sometimes violet, turning
* This requires further corroboration.
t Sc. "Blue nats"(?), as Ag. Qeorgii is called "Wliite Caps," and Ag. Oread es "Scotch BonnetB."
106 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
to a dirty flesh-colour, especially when bruised ; stem from one to three inches high, three-quarters of an inch thick, firm, bulbous, solid, mottled within towards the apex, with watery spots ; clothed more or less with villous fibrillse, tinged with violet ; odour like that of Oreades, but rather overpowering ; taste pleasant." As the " Blewitt " is apt to imljibe in wet weather a great quantity of moisture, it should not be gathered during rain ; when not water-soaked it is a fine firm fungus Avith a flavour of veal, like which it is to be dressed en papil- lottes with savoury herbs and the usual condiments, and the more highly seasoned the better.
AGARICUS OREADES, Bolt
Plate VII. Fig. 4.
Subgenus Clitocybe. Section Scortei, Fries.
Scotch Bonnets.
Every one knows the Champignon, — that little bufl" fungus which during so many months in the year comes up in succes- sive crops, in great profusion after rain, and generally in rings. These Champignons abound everywhere : this summer (1847) Hyde Park was full of them ; amid the seared and much- trodden grass they were continually tracing their fairy rings, and in some instances they reached the very border of the gravel walks. Independent of the excellent flavour of this little mushroom, which is as good as that of most funguses, two circumstances give it an additional value in a domestic point of view, viz. the facility with which it is dried, and its very extensive dissemination. When dried (two or three
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 107
days' exposure to the air is generally sufficient to effect this), the Ag. oreades may be kept for years without losing any of its aroma or goodness, which on the contrary become im- proved by the pi'ocess, so as, in fact, to impart more flavour to the dish than would have been imparted by the fresh fungus ; though it is not to be denied that tlie flesh then be- comes coriaceous and less easy of digestion.* From the sad accidents occasioned by persons mistaking other small and poisonous Agarics growing in the neighbourhood of the Champignon for the Champignon itself, this species is fre- quently looked upon with suspicion, and not often eaten in England. The Agaric the least unlike and most commonly found growing in company with the Ag. oreades, is the Ag. semilobatus, which is nearly allied to, if it be not the same as the Ag. virosus of Sowerby. But as I have also heard of a gentleman who intending to gather Champignons, and taking home some Ag. dryophilus by mistake, was rendered vcr}' ill by his repast, to prevent the recurrence of such mistakes for the future, I here add the botanical characters, marking what is peculiar to each in italics. Ag. dryophilus is represented in PI. VII. fig. 5.
AG. DRYOPHILUS.
Solitary or tufted. Pileus from one to two inches broad, whitish, pinkish, ycUowisli, or yellow-brown, flat, sometimes depressed .,&es\\j, \\\m, fragile, when moist easily injured, of a tougher substance when dry. Gills soft, tender, nu- merous, wliite, or pale yellow straw-colour. Stem shining, hollow, of the same colour as the pileus, but towards the apex generally darker and of a redder tinge.
* Tliis mushroom, famous for the flavour it imparts to rich soups and gi-avies, is also used in the French " il la mode " beef shops in London, with the view of heightening the flavour of that dish. As the aroma is dissipated by over- cooking, it sliould be thrown in only a few minutes before sei-ving. The dried Champignon is much more extensively used in France and Italy tliau it is in England.
108 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
AG. OREADES.
In dense rings, or gregarious. Pileus smooth, fleshy, convex, suhuinhonate, generally more or less compressed , or sinuate ; tough, coriaceous, elastic, wrin- kled, when water-soaked brown, buff or cream-colour when dry ; the umbo often remaining red-broivn, as if scorched. Gills distant, ventricose, of the same tint as the pileus ov paler. Stem equal, solid, twisted, very tough andflhrous, pure, silky, white ; base downy, somewhat rooting and attached to the roots of grass.*
AG. SEMIGLOBATUS.
PUeus liemispherical, viscid wlien moist, shining and smooth as if rarnished, obtuse, fleshy. Gills very broad, perfectly horizontal to the stem, broadly ad- nate, with a little tooth, minutely serrated, mottled with purple-brown sporules. Stalk very viscid, sliining when dry with a closely-matted sUkiness, fistulose, sometimes bulbous with a hollow bidb ; ring generally complete, reflexed, often dusted with the dark-coloured spores.
AGARICUS NEBULARIS.
Plate IV. Fig. 2.
Subgenus Clitocybe. Section Dasyphylli^ Fries.
Ag. pileolaeius, JBulliard.
" II est tres-agreable au gout." — BuUiard.
The following description was made from some among the
more characteristic specimens of a large supply which I
gathered this autumn (1847) near HajeSj from a spot where
they are in the habit of re-appearing regularly in October.
Pileus from two and a half to five inches across ; at first depresso-convex ; when expanded nearly flat or broadly sub- umbonatCj never depressed, margin at first involute and prui- nose; occasionally somewhat waved and lobed, but generally
* Although the Ag. oreades be, properly speaking, a terrestrial and not a parasitical fungus, still as it springs up amidst the roots of the grasses and flom-ishes by depriving them of their supplies, the herbage in its neighbour- hood is the first to scorch up and wither.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 109
regular in form ; smooth, viscid when moist, so that dead leaves adhere to it j grey, brown at the centre, paler towards the circumference. Flesh thick, white, unchanging ; gills cream-colour, narrow, docurrcnt, close, their margins waved, unequal, generally simple. Stem from two to four inches long, from a quarter of an inch to an inch thick ; incurved at the base, not rooting, but attaching by means of a floccose down, round its lower portion and for one-third of its length, a large quantity of dead leaves, by which the plant is held erect ; subcqual, more or less marked with longitudinal pits, firm externally, within of a softer substance. The odour strong, like that of curd cheese.
This Agaric appears to be local in Italy; otherwise it could scarcely have been omitted in Yittadini's work, nor by the author of the article " Fungo " in the Venice edition of the ' Dizionario Classico di INIedicina :' add to which that I have never met with it myself either at Florence, Pisa, Naples, or Leghorn. That it grows in the neighbourhood of Rome is certain, since I find it admirably delineated in a curious col- lection of very old drawings which I purchased there. More- over Professor Sanguinetti, of that city, writes in terms of high commendation of this mushroom, which, he says, may be discerned ifitei' alia, " by its peculiar odour and grateful taste : when properly cooked it is equal to any of our funguses, rival- ling not only the Ag. prunulus, but even the C<2sareus : as few are aware of its good qualities, it seldom finds its way into the Roman market." The Ag. nebulnris requires but little cooking; a few minutes' broiling (si la Maintenon is best), with butter, pepper, and salt, is sufficient. It may also be delicately fried with bread crumbs, or stewed in white sauce. The flesh of this mushroom is perhaps lighter of digestion than that of any other.
110 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
CANTHAEELLUS CIBARIUS.
Plate VIII. Fig. 1. Tribe Mesopus. Subdivision Agaricini, Fries.
" Sunt qiii hunc perniciosiun scripsere. Verum etiam latranti sto- maclio eum comedi ; atque ex eo pulmenta parantur, quae si aridis mortuorum oribus admoveantur peream ni reviviscerent !" — Bait.
" Jure inter sapidissimos fuiigos numeratur." — Fries.
No fungus is more popular than the above, though the merits — nay, the very existence — of such a fungus at home is confined to the Freemasons, who keep the secret ! Having collected a quantity at Tunbridge Wells, this summer, and given them to the cook at the Calverley Hotel to dress, I learnt from the waiter that they were not novelties to him ; that, in fact, he had been in the habit of dressing them for years, on state occasions, at the Freemasons^ Tavern. They were generally fetched, so he said, from the neighbourhood of Chelmsford, and were always well paid for. Of the Cantha- rellus, this summer (1847), the supplies were immense ! the moss under the beech-trees in Buckhurst Park in particu- lar, was so lavish of them, that a hamper might soon have been filled, had there been hands to gather them. On re- visiting the same park about five weeks later, they were still continuing to come up, but in less abundance.
The botanical characters of the Cantharellus are as follow : — When young, its stalk is tough, white, and solid ; but as it grows this becomes hollow and presently changes to yellow ; tapering below, it is efi'used into the substance of the pileus, which is of the same colour with it. The pileus is lobed, and irregular in shape, its margin at first deeply involute, after- wards when expanded, wavy. The veins or plaits are thick, subdistant, much sinuated, running some way down the stalk.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. Ill
The flesh is white, fibrous, dense, " having the odour of apri- cots" {Purton), or of ''plums" [Vitt.). The colour yellow, that of the yolk of eggs, is deeper on the under surface ; when raw it has the pungent taste of pepper ; the spores which are elliptic, are of a pallid ochi'c colour (Vitt.).*- The Chantarelle grows sometimes sporadically, sometimes in circles or segments of a circle, and may be found from June to October. At first it assumes the shape of a minute cone ; next, in consequence of the rolling in of the margin, the pileus is almost spherical, but as this unfolds, it becomes hemispherical, then flat, at length irregular and depressed.
" This fungus," observes Vittadini, " being rather dry and tough by nature, requires a considerable quantity of fluid sauce to cook it properly." The common people in Italy dry or pickle, or keep it in oil for winter use. Perhaps the best ways of dressing the Cantharellus are to stew or mince it by itself, or to combine it with meat or with other funguses. It requires to be gently stewed and a long time to make it tender ; but by soaking it in milk the night before, less cooking will be requisite.
The Canth. cibarius is very abundant about Rome, where it fetches, not being in great esteem, from twopence to two- pence halfpenny a pound.
AGARICUS ATRA:\IENTARIUS, Bull Plate IX. Figs. 1 and 2. Subgenus Coprinus, Fries. Bat. Char. Pileus fleshy, campanulate, margin uneven,
* I have, howerer, found them white.
112 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
colour greyish, then light brown, slightly hairy, often corru- gated, sometimes scaly in the centre. Gills numerous, deep, with clear veins, light brown, black in age, the edges grey or white, free, obtuse behind. Stem about four inches high, swollen at the base, piped, juicy, fibrous, marked with bands.
This is a common fungus in gardens, waste corners of fields, and lanes, and occasionally growing on stumps of trees in such situations : it is gregarious and caspitose, and occurs both in spring and autumn. Young specimens afibrd a fine ketchup.
AGAEICUS COMATUS.
Plate VII. Figs. 1, 2, and 3.
Subgenus Coprinus, Fries.
" A fungus in great request about Yia Reggio and Li;cca." — Puccinelli.
But. Char. Pileus cylindrical, breaking up into long scales, campanulate, epidermis thin, flesh thick in the centre, very thin and stringy at the margins. Gills numerous, quite free, leaving a space round the top of the stem. Stem from four to five inches high, rather bulbous at the base, stuffed with fibres, brittle, ring moveable.
This fungus may be found from early spring till late in the autumn, in meadows and waste places.
When used for making ketchup or for the table, only young specimens should be selected.
DESCRIPTION OF SPKCIES. 113
AGARICUS HETEROPHYLLUS, Fries.
Plate III. Figs. 3 and 4.
Subgenus Russula, Scopoli.
MILD RUSSULE. RUSSULE MITES, auct.
"Non mcno sicuro c gustoso del Cosarco c del Porcino." — Tl/t.
It is of the utmost importance that those who gather fun- guses for the table, shouhl be accurately acquainted with the different species composing this genus; its members are so abundantly distributed ; some of them form so excellent and delicate a food, whilst others produce such deleterious effects on the economy, that they are well entitled to a diligent and careful attention. The limits of this work will not permit an accurate discrimination of all the species, which would require a long monograph to themselves ; but I have endeavoured to point out amidst those of most frequent occurrence, the three which may be selected with profit for the table, and some others which are nearly allied, from which we must be careful to separate them.
The three mild-flavoured Russula are the Ac/. heterophyUus, Ag. ruber, and Ag. viresccm ; the botanical characters of the first are as follows : —
Ag. heteropltyllus. Pileus subirregular, from three and a half to four and a half inches across, at first convex, then more or less excavated towards the centre ; for the most part smooth, the epidermis covering it, more or less moist, never scored or fissured, but exhibiting a continuous surface, marked by very small raised lines, radiating as from the centre, and frequently crossing so as to present a very minute finely reticulated meshwork, some-
I
HI- ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
times slightly zoned, aflhering to the flesh of the ^i/ews, which peels away with it iu flakes resembling asbestos. It is very various in colour, being found of all shades of yellow^, lilac, azure, green, and sometimes a mixture of these in different parts. The margin even, i. e. not striate, irregularly elevated and depressed. The ffills are watery white, rather numerous and thick, ascending, tapering away at their stalk extremity, rather broader at the other, some simple but many of them forked at the base, in a few instances branched ; the imperfect gills very few, irregular, occasionally broadly adhering to the side of a perfect gill ; the stalk naked, variable as to length and size, equal or attenuated slightly at the base, white like spermaceti, externally rugulose, and meshed, like the pileus, with minute meandering lines, internally stuffed with a com- pact subfriable medullary substance, Avhich, as the fungus grows old, lireaks up here and there into sinuses which gradu- ally coalesce, till at last the whole stem becomes hollow. The parenchyma is compact, but not thick, and does not change colour when cut. The spores white, round, and very abun- dant. The taste sweet and nutty. Odour none.
This excellent fungus, which Vittadini pronounces to be not surpassed for fineness of flavour by Am. Ccesarea or by B. edulis, wdth either of w hich it is equally wholesome, has been introduced by Roques into the houses of many of his friends in the environs of Paris, some of whom prefer it to A(/. cam- pestris : an opinion shared by several of our own friends on this side the Channel. It grows in great abundance during the summer months generally, and this year nowhere more plentifully than under the Elm-trees in Kensington Gardens. There must be no delay in dressing it, otherwise insects, who are as fond of it as we are, appropriate it to their larvse, which in a few hours will utterly consume it ; the flesh, being very tender, requires but slight cooking.
DESCRIPTION- OF SPFXIES. ]15
Agaricus ruber, Schoefter. Ag. griseua, Persoou.
" L'Agarico Rosso e uiio clei funghi pin dclicati e gustosi die si conoscono." — J'Ht.
Bot. Char. Pileus rather fleshy, at first hemispherical, then obtusely convex, and, when fully expanded, more or less exca- vated towards the centre. The margins at first even, at len2;th tubercnlo-sulcate, that is, marked with lines similar to those left on the skin after cupping. The epidermis dry in dry weather, but very sticky in moist, of various hues, tawny- purple, olive-green, ochraceous-yellow, or several of these united, and generally darkest at the centre ; peeling off readily without laceration of the flesh. The flesh white, when cut slightly rufescent, when dry cream-coloured. The gills fragile, cream-coloured, connected Ijclow l^y transverse plaits or veins, thick and broad, but tapering away towards the stalk, really simple, though a few imperfect gills interposed between the entire ones, and attaching themselves to their sides give these sometimes the appearance of being forked ; the stalk equal, white, or blotched here and there with purple stains, stuffed, brittle, and Vittadini adds, '^ long,^' which is not my experi- ence of it ; when young it is so short as to be entirely hid by the globose head of the unexpandcd pileus. The flesh incon- siderable but compact ; sporules pale-buff.
The Ag. ruber, the Colomba rossa of the Tuscans, and Rolher TiiubUng of Schocflbr, is a complete wood-\A^eo\\ in its haunts ; it grows very abundantly, may be gathered from July to a very late period in the autumn, and is as delicate and light of digestion as the Russula last described. It may be readily distinguished from Ag. alufaceus by the different colour of its gills and spores, which in that species are buff, but in the Ag. ruber cream-coloured : moreover the greater thickness of the
I 2
116 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
substance of the pilcus of Ag. alutacem, the margin of which is deeply sulcate, even at an early period of its development, and the pungent acrid taste, which is seldom wanting, are further means of distinguishing it from Ag. ruber. Ag. erne- ticus differs from it in having unequal snow-wliite gills, and in extreme acrimony of taste.
Agaricus virescens, Schceff. : the Verdettc ? Ag. bifidus, Bull. Russula ceruginosa, Persoon.
" La came di questo Agarico e tenera e di sapore gi-atissiino." — Vitt.
Pileus at first flatly convex; at length depressed towards the centre with an even margin ; epidermis whitish, fibrous, continuous and firmly adhering to the flesh, dry, but coated over with a thick stratum of opaque meal, which gradually breaking as the pileus expands maps it in a singular and quite characteristic manner with a series of irregular polygonal figures, in greater or less relief according to the thickness of the coating; its colour varies slightly but is generally made up of some admixture of green and yellow, commuuicating to the surface, as Bulliard has remarked, a farinaceous or mouldy appearance. The gills of some thickness, very brittle, white, sublanceolate, generally simple, but occasionally forked, the imperfect gills interspersed without order amongst the entire ones; the sfa/k equal, short, its centre stuffed with cottony fibres : somewhat compact and elastic. According to Thore, as quoted by Persoon, this Agaric may be cultivated.^
* " Dans le depai'teinent des Landes on seme rAgai'icus Palomet. Pourcela on se eontente d'arroser la terre d'lm bosquet plante en chenes avec de I'eau dans laquelle on a fait bouillii" une gi-ande qnantite de ces champignons ; la cul- ture n'exige d'autres soins que d' eloigner de ces lieux les chevaux, les pores etles betes a comes, qui sont tres-friandes de ces plantes ; ce mojen reussit toujours, mais nous laissons aux physiciens h, nous expliquer pourquoi I'ebuUitiou n'a pas fait niourir les germes." — Thore.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 117
It is an exceedingly delicate fungus, but not very common in England. The best way of cooking it, according to Vitta- dini, is on the gridiron ; tlie peasants about ]Milan are in the habit of putting it over wood embers to toast, eating it after- ■wards with a little salt, in which way it has a savoury smell, and a taste like that of the Cancer asfacus ; when fresh it is without odour, l)ut acquires a very strong one while drying, which he compares to that of salt meat. jNIr. Berkeley quotes Roques' authority as to its being eaten in France; Vittadini, without giving any authority, states that it is eaten in England. It loses but little of its volume in drying.
ACRID RUSSUL.E. RUSSULiE ACRES, auct. Agaricus aluiaceus, Persoon.
Three acrid Russules remain to be described, Ag. alutaceus, Ag. emeticus, Ag. sanguineus ; all three common, though not perhaps so common as the mild ones, and all to be avoided. The first, A. alutaceus. Fries, is ranked by Vittadini among the safe kinds, he even affixes a misplaced note of admiration after his epithet " esculentus ! " and describes it even when raw as " a dainty food, possessed of a most agreeable flavour."
iNIr. Berkeley, who reports it esculent when young, remarks that individual specimens occur, which prove almost as acrid as the Ag. emdiciis itself; my own experience of it in England is, that whether young or old, it is always acrid when raw."^ I have never tried it dressed, which might possibly extract
* The reader must not conclude from this that soil, any more than age, will account for such differences ; there is a variety of Ag. alufaceiis, described by Vittadini, which he says is " endowed with a very caustic taste, smelling of pepper, and to be avoided." The kind generally found in England is probably the same as this, which BuUiard has described inidcr the name of Ag. ahi- taceus acris.
118 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
its noxious qualities, as Vittadini reports to have been the case with a caustic variety which he subjected to this test ; but since even then, on his own showing, it proved indiges- tible, I would advise no one to try this species, especially when there are so many others, the good qualities of which are known.
It is easy to distinguish A. alutaceus from any of the fore- going species ; to do this it is only necessary to look at the gills, which, in place of being, as in these, white, watery white, or cream-coloured, are of a rich buflF; pileus about three inches broad, pink or livid olive, smooth on the surface, and viscid in wet weather ; the margin at first even, but in age striate ; the gills broad, equal, slightly forked, ventricose, free, connected by veins ; the sporules rich buff; the stem one and a half inches long, blunt, surface longitudinally Avrinkled or grooved, solid without, spongy within, varying from white to buff.
Agaricus emeticus, Schoeffer.
Reports concerning the qualities of this fungus differ widely, some asserting it to be a most deleterious species, of which the mischief was not to be removed by cooking, whilst others, on the authority of dogs whom they persuaded to eat some, pronounced it innoxious. In this state of uncertainty Vitta- dini, for the sake of science, and perad venture of adventure also, determined to test its effects upon himself; he had pre- viously given at different times large doses, of from six to twelve ounces, to dogs, both in the crude state and also cooked ; but without result. " Still," says he,* " thinking that though dogs might eat Ag. emeticus with impunity, it might yet
* " Sospettando ragionevolmentc dietro le csperienze del Krapfe delRoques che questo fungo potcsse esser nocivo all' iiomo e uon agli animali, ho voluto anch'io sperimentarlo su di me stesso." — Vili.
DESCRIPTIOX OF SPECIES. 119
prove injurious to man, I took five specimens of fair dimen- sions, and having fried, I ate them with the usual condiments ; but though pains were taken to have them delicately prepared {ottimamente cucinati), they still retained their acrid bitter taste, and were most distasteful to the palate.^' The reader will be glad to learn, that the only incouvenieuee suffered by this bold self-experimentalist w^as a slight sense of prajcordial uneasiness accompanied with flatulence, — effects attributable entirely, as he believed, to the rich mode in which his dish was prepared : though, more timid apparently for others' safety than his own, he particularly adds, "though I have clearly established to my own satisfaction, the complete inno- cuousness of the A. emeticus ; still, as there are, or are said to be, other Russvia of highly deleterious properties and closely allied, the mistaking which for it might be paid for by the loss of life, the safer rule is to abstain from all such as have acrid juices."
The botanical characters of Ag. eitielkus are as follow : — Pi/cms more or less rosy, flesh compact, margin striate, epi- dermis adherent ; ffills very brittle, arched in front, attenuated towards the stalk, connected below by transverse plaits, gene- rally simple, a few forked, the imperfect gills rounded off be- hind ; the slalk, which is compact, of equal dimensions, and white, is generally more or less stained with red spots of the same hue as the pileus ; in the growing fungus, where the epidermis has been removed and the flesh eaten by insects, this soon acquires a tint as lively as that of the skin itself; generally I have remarked that the erosions of insects and slugs do not produce any change of colour, even in the spe- cies notorious nnder other circumstances for manifesting such a change; thus the flesh of the Aff. rubescens, which turns red when it is divided, may be frequently seen half eaten
120 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
through, exhibiting a white flesh ; and the same is the case with the Boletus luridus, the flesh of which, though eroded, remains white till it is broken through,
Ag. sanguineus, Bull. This fungus, of which the general facies and most of the botanical characters, as well as the taste and other qualities, are similar to those of the last-mentioned Agaric, difiers from it in having its gills for the most part forked, many smaller ones being interposed between those that are entire, also in 7iot having its margin striate, as the Ag. eineticus when mo- derately expanded always has. The smell of this fungus, which is only developed in drying, is, according to Vittadini, " most agreeable,^' resembling that of fresh meal ; to me its odour is unpleasant and like that of sour paste.
Ag. acris minor.
Pileus one or two inches across, sticky, of a light muddy - pink, the epidermis peeling ofl" easily and entire from the flesh, margin not striate, flesh soft, white, and cellular ; gills aduate, white, forked, brittle, slightly ventricose ; the margin sub- denticulate; i\iG stalk of spermaceti-whiteness and appearance, solid within, brittle, the internal texture looser than the ex- ternal ; the surface minutely rugulose, li-H inch, by2-4 lines thick, intensely acrid. In meadows, throughout the summer; abundant.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 121
AGARICUS OSTREATUS, Jacq. Plate X.
Subgenus Pleuropus, Persoon. Subdivision Concharia,
Fries.
"L'Ag. ostreato vienc giustanicnte per la sua bonta cd innoccnza amesso tra i fuiighi comniostihili, de' qiiali i; pure pcrniossa la veudita sullo pubbliclie piazza." — VUt.
Bot. Char. Cicspitose.* Pileus fleshy, smooth, blackish, then cinereous, at length paler; epidermis strongly adherent, flesh fibrous, moderately firm ; gills anastomosing behind, not glandular, white ; stem sublateral or wanting. On dead trees.f Season, spring and autumn.
As there are some singular diflerences presented by this fungus in regard to development, odour, taste, and the colour of the spores, which seem almost sufficient to entitle it to be divided into two distinct species, I shall first describe the more ordinary form, as given by INIr. Berkeley, and then mention the variations from it.
" Imbricated, large ; pileus subdimidiate, very thick and fleshy ', flesh white, dusky towards the surface ; one inch deep, the border at first fibrillose ; margin involute, as the pileus expands the white fibrill?e vanish, and the colour changes to bistre ; margin paler and rimulosc, the whole sur- face shining and satiny when dry, soft and clammy when moist ; gills broad, here and there forked,"^ standing out sharp and erect like the fine flutings of a column, winding down the stalk to diff'crcnt lengths, and those that reach the bottom forming there a beautiful raised mesliwork highly characteris-
* I lately foiuid a single specimen of it, wliicli Vittadini says is rare, t On the Poplar and Willow, according to Vittadini ; Apple andLabunium, on the autliority of Berkeley ; Elm and Ash, on my own. X In some speciiuens the gills are all solitary.
122 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
tic of this species, " dirty (pure ?) white, the edge serrated, umber ; taste and smell like that of Ag. jiersonatus, -which it resembles somewhat in colour ;" '' spores white like those of the Polyporus suaveolens."* The points of difference in those which departed from the ordinary type were as follows :t — first, in specimens gTowing close together and all equally exposed to the light, the colour of all at the same period of growth was not the same, being a delicate waxy-white in some of the specimens, in others, a light-brown. Secondly, whereas this fungus is generally "invested during infancy with a white lanugo or down/'X I observed the young Agarics, which pre- sented themselves at first as small semitransparent eminences rising irregularly from a common stalk, and not unlike in ap- pearance the blisters on a chalcedony, to be thickly coated with a light-blue varnish in place of it ; the dry debris of which varnish continued to adhere to the surface of the pileus for some time afterwards. Thirdly, the complexion of the spores, commonly described as lohite, was in these specimens pale-rose. Fourthly, they exhaled the strong and peculiar odour of Tarragon ; and, finally, in place of being the delicate fungus at table which in July I had always found it, these specimens afforded a distasteful food. The Ag. ostreatus re- sists cold in a remarkable manner ; the circumstance of its being found in winter has procured for it the trivial name of Gelon. Ag. ostreatus is found on the barks of many sorts of trees, and wherever it has once been it is apt to recur fre- quently afterwards. It may be dressed in any of the more usual ways ; but as the flesh is rather over-solid and tenacious, it is all the better for being cooked leisurely over a slow fire.
* Vitt.
+ It M probable that the varieties here referred to belonged to Ag. euos- mus, B. Care must be taken to distinguish between the two, as Aff. euosimis is an unsafe species. — Ed. X Vitt.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 123
AGARICUS RUBESCENS, Fersoo7i.
Plate XI. Figs. 3, 4, and 5.
Subgenus 1. Amanita.
"Non altrinicnti del Ccsareo delicato e sano." — Jltt.
Bot. Char. Pileiis covered with warts of different sizes; margins even, convex, flesh turns obscurel)' red when cut or bruised, slightly moist and shining ; gills attenuated behind ; stem at first stuffed, in age becoming hollow, bulbous, some- times scaly ; ring wide, marked with strise ; spores nearly elliptical ; smell strong ; taste not unpleasant.
This is a very delicate fungus, which grows in suflBcient abundance to render it of importance in a culinary point of view. It makes excellent ketchup. Cordicr roixjrts it as one of the most delicate mushrooms of the Lorraine; and Eoques speaks equally well of it. It generally grows in woods, par- ticularly of oak and chestnut, both in summer and autumn. No fungus is more preyed upon than this by mice, snails, and insects.
MORCHELLA ESC'ULENTA, Bill.
Plate XII. Figs. 6 and 7.
Tribe 3. Mitrati.
Morell.
" Sommamcnte riccrcata." — VM.
Every one knows the Morell, that expensive luxury which the rich are content to procure at great cost from our Italian warehouses, and the poor are fain to do without. It is less
124 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
generally known that this fungus, though by no means so common with us as some others, (a circumstance partly at- tributable to the prevailing ignorance as to when and where to look for it, or even of its being indigenous to England,"^) occurs not unfrequently in our orchards and woods, towards the beginning of summer. Roques reports favourably of some specimens sent to him by the Duke of Athol; and others, from different parts of the country, occasionally find their way into Covent Garden market. The genus Morchella com- prises very few species, and they are all good to eat. Persoon remarks, that though the Morell rarely appears in a sandy soil, preferring a calcareous or argillaceous ground, it fre- quently springs up on sites where charcoal has been burnt or where cinders have been thrown.
Morchella esculenta.
Bot. Char. Pileus very various in shape and hue, the sur- face broken up into little sinuses or cells, made by folds or plaits of the hymenium, which are more or less salient, and constitute the so-called ribs. These ribs are very irregular, and anastomose with each other throughout ; the pileus hol- low, opening into the irregular hollow stem. Spores pale- yellow.
Morchella semilibera.
Bot. Char. This may be known from the M. esculenta by being, as its name imports, half free, i. e. having the pileus for half its length detached from the stalk. Spores are pale-
* A countryman, last spring (1847), stumbled upon a large quantity in the neighbourhood of Chiselluirst, Kent, and being struck with their appearance gathered some, and took them to a medical man of the place, who, not recog- nizing the plant, suffered tlie whole to perish ! He has since been made aware of his mistake.
DESClllPTION OF SPECIES. 125
yellow. Odour, at first feeble, becomes stronger in drying. Occurring less frequently than the last, and much less sapid. Neither of these funguses should be gathered after rain, as they are then insipid and soon spoil. "^
M. Roques says the ^lorell may be dressed in a variety of ways, both fresh and dry, with butter or in oil, au gras or a la crhne. The following receipts for cooking them arc from Persoon.
1st. Having washed and cleansed them from the earth which is apt to collect between the plaits, dry thoroughly in a napkin, and put them into a saucepan with pepper, salt, and parsley, adding or not a piece of ham ; stew for an hour, pour- ing in occasionally a little broth to prevent burning ; when sufficiently done, bind with the yolks of two or three eggs, and serve on buttered toast.
2nd. Morelles a Vltalienne.— Having Avashed and dried, divide them across, put them on the fire with some parsley, scallion, chervil, burnet, tarragon, chives, a little salt, and two spoonfuls of fine oil. Stew till the juice runs out; then thicken svith a little flour; serve with bread-crumbs and a squeeze of lemon.
3rd. Stuffed Morells. — Choose the freshest and whitest Morells, open the stalk at the bottom ; wash and wipe them well, fill with veal stuffing, anchovy, or any rich farce you please, securing the ends, and dressing between thin slices of bacon. Serve with a sauce like the last.f
* It is a common fraud in the Italian market for the salesmen to soak them in water ; wliieli increases their weight, but spoils their flavour.
+ In the Roman market the Morell is held in little esteem, and sells for 4<f. or 5rf. per lb. Three varieties of the esculenta are brought in by the " Asparagarii," i. e. the peasants who gather the wild Asparagus on tlie hills ; viz. tlie M. rotunda, wliich is almosf globose, M. vulgaris, and M. fulva, which is of a tawnv colour.
126 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
HYDNUM REPAXDUM, Linn,
Plate YIII. Figs. 3 and 4.
Subgeuus Mesopus, Fries.
" The general use made of this fungus tlu'oughout France, Italj, and Germany leaves no doubt as to its good qualities." — Eoques.
Bot. Char. Pileus fleshy, tawny, red, smoothly tomentose,- very irregular in shape, from two to five inches across, lobed or undulated ; margin vaulted, acute, wavy ; flesh white, turning yellow when cut, if bruised becoming brown-red; spines pale-yellow, unequal, thick-set, apices canino-denticulate or conical, straight or slightly ungulate; occasionally bifid; shorter and more obtuse towards the stalk, on the upper part of which they are somewhat decurrent, leaving small forami- nules when detached ; stem at first white, then tawny ; two inches long, solid, of vai'iable thickness (from half an inch to two inches) more or less flattened, papillated above with the rudiments of spines which have aborted ; spores round, white, taste when raw at first pleasant, but presently of a saline bitter, like Glauber salts, somewhat peppery, and stnell like that of horse-radish.
This fungus occurs principally in woods, and especially in those of pine and oak; sometimes solitary, but more fre- quently in company and in rings. In Italy (where the spines have procured for it the name of " Steccherino," or Hedge- hog), it is brought into the market and sold promiscuously with the Chantarelle, to which in colour and in some other respects it bears a resemblance. There is no fungus with which this is likely to be confounded ; once seen, it is recog- nized at a glance afterwards, and may be gathered fearlessly.
According to Paulet, Persoon, and Vittadini, the Hyd. re-
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 127
pandum should be cooked for a long time, and with plenty of sauce, otherwise, being deficient in moisture, it is apt to be- come rather tough; when well stewed it is an excellent dish, witli a slight flavour of oysters; it makes also a very good puree. Vittadini places it among the most delicate of the funguses of Italy.
FISTULINA HEPATICA, Fries. Plate XII. Figs, 1 and 2.
" Fungus pauperibus esculent us." — Schaff".
This fungus, which, in the earlier stages of its development, frequently resembles very closely a tongue in shape, structure, and general appearance, presents later a dark, amorphous, grumous-looking mass, bearing a still more striking likeness to liver. Thus, seen while young, and just beginning to bud out from the oak,* its papillated surface, regular shape, and clear fibrous flesh make it an object of interest to many who, introduced to it at an advanced period of growth, can hardly be brought to believe that the blackened misshapen mass, that looks like liver, and that deeply stains the fingers with an un- sightly red fluid, can indeed be the same plant. It has, from the earliest-recorded accounts, been designated by names pointing to these resemblances : Ccsalpinus calls it Lwguce ; AYallemb, Buglossus qiiercimis ; the vulgar name in Italy is " Lingua quercina," or " Lingua di castagna." It constitutes a genus by itself.
* Though the F. hepatica grows both upon oak and chestnut trees, this dif- ference in its origin never perceptibly affects the plant, which is equally good, whether it be gathered from one or from the other.
128 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
Bot. Char. Pileus confluent with the stalk : at first studded on the upper side with minute papillae (the rudiments of tubes), which afterwards disappear ; flesh succulent, fibrous, like beet- root in appearance, with a vinous smell and a slight acid taste ; tubes continuous with the fibres of the receptacle, un- equal, very short, small, cylindrical, ochraceous-rufescent ; at first with closed pores, but as they elongate they become patent; colour at first a dry dusky white, afterwards a yelloAvish-red ; the whole surface more or less sticky, with a gelatinous secretion exuding from it; sporidia ochraceous- green, and matured at different times from the unequal length of the tubes. This fungus varies in size from that of a small kidney to an irregular mass of many pounds' w^eight, and of several feet in circumference. I recently picked a specimen which measured nearly five feet round, and weighed upwards of eight pounds ; but this is nothing to one found by Mr. Graves, which, on the authority of Mr. Berkeley, weighed nearly thirty pounds.
The Fistulina hepatica, which Schoeffer calls the Poor Man's fungus^ " fungus pauperibus esculentus," deserves indeed the epithet if we look to its abundance, which makes it an acqui- sition to the labouring class wherever it is known ; but that it is in any other sense fitted for the poor, or to be eaten by those only who can purchase no other food, is Avhat I cannot subscribe to. No fungus yields a richer gravy, and though rather tough, when grilled it is scarcely to be distinguished from broiled meat. The best way to dress it if old, is to stew it down for stock, and reject the flesh, but if young, it may be eaten in substance, plain, or with minced meat; in all cases its succulency is such that it furnishes its own sauce, which a friend of ours, well versed in the science of the table, declares each time he eats it to be " undeniably good.'^
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIKS. 129
In England tlie F. hepatica grows principally on old oak- trees, and may be found throughout the summer in great abundance.
AGARICUS ORCELLA,* Bull
Plate XI. Figs. 1 and 2.
Section Mouceron, Fries.
" Scnzn flubbio uno do' miglidri funglii indigciii." — Jltf. " Esculcntvis !" — Ibid.
This is a very delicate mushroom ; it grows either solitary or in company, and sometimes in rings, succeeding occa- sionally a crop of Ag. oreades and Ag. prunulus which had recently occupied the same site. Its general appearance, once recognized, is such as to render the mistaking it for any other species afterwards unlikely, whilst the least attention to its botanical characters makes it impossible to do so. Its irregular lobed pileus with smooth undulated borders, its de- current gills, and short solid stem are so many particulars in ■which at first it might seem to resemble in outline the Canth. cib., with which it has, however, nothing else in common. It bears a nearer general resemblance to several of the section LnctiJJuus of Persoon, but the exudation, or not, of milk would be conclusive in any doubtful case, to say nothing of its peculiar smell of cucumber rind, or syringa leaf,t in which respect it resembles no other fungus. The surface is as soft and smooth to the touch as kid, except in wet weather, when
* Whence the Tcrnaciilar names, " Orgella," " Orgelle," and " Oreille." t Most authors compare this odour to that of fresli meal, but as several friends think with me that the above comparison is more accurate, I have ven- tured to substitute it.
130 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
it becomes more or less sticky ; the size, which does uot admit of much variation, is from two to three inches across ; whilst young the borders are rolled inwards towards the gills, the stalk is in the centre, and somewhat enlarged at the base; but as the fungus grows the borders vuiroll themselves, one side grows more rapidly than the other, the stalk becomes, in consequence, eccentric, and this eccentricity is often rendered greater by a lateral twist towards the base. The gills, Avhich at first are white, assume later a pale salmon hue ; Berkeley adds that " they are more or less forked, covered with very minute conical papillae ending in four spiculse;" those that are entire taper away posteriorly and terminate on the stalk, but the imperfect ones are rounded off midway ; the spores are elliptic, and of the colour of brown-holland.^
This mushroom is found occasionally, throughout the sum- mer, but autumn is the season to look for it, amidst the grass of woods and pastures, where it abounds. It should be eaten the day it is gathered, either stewed, broiled, or fried with egg and bread-crumbs, like cutlets. "When dried, it loses much of its volume and acquires " a very sweet smell," — " un' aroma suavissimo" {Viti.).
HELVELLA CRISPA, Fries.
HELVELLA LACUNOSA, Afz.
Tribe Mitrati, Fries.
" Pub essere con vantaggio raccolta ed agli stessi xisi delle spugniole destinata." — Vitt.
All Helvellcs are esculent, have an agreeable odour, and bear
* Mr. Berkeley says rose-coloured ; Vittadini pale rust-colour ; but I find that on placing a watchglass thickly coated with spores on fine brown-hoUand, the colours very nearly correspond.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 181
a general resemblance in flavour to the Morell. The Helvella crispa, or pallid Helvella of Scopoli and Fries, is, it seems, " not uncommon,"* and the Helvella lacimosa, or cinereous Helvella of Afzel (on each of Mhose heads respectively Sowerby and Schoeffer place an inappropriate mitre), are both indigenous. They are thus succinctly but excellently described by Mr. Berkeley.
Helvella crispa, Fries.
Bot. Char. Pileus whitish, flesh-coloured or yellowish, de- flexed, lobcd, free, crisped, pallid ; stem fistulose, costato-la- cunose, 3-5 inches high, snowy- white, deeply lacunose and ribbed, the ribs hollow.
Helvella lacunosa, Afzel.
Bot. Char. P?7eM5 inflated, lobed, cinereous,t lobes deflexed, adnate, stem fistulose, costato-lacunose ; stem white or dusky.
This Helvella is not so common as the last, neither is it so sapid. They both grow in woods and ou the stumps of old trees. Bendiscioli places them, for flavour, before the Morell. but this is not the general opinion entertained of them.
Helvella esculent a, Pers.
Plate XII. Figs. 3, 4, and 5.
Bot. Char. Pileus inflated, irregular, undulated, gyroso- rugose, of a rich dark-brown colour, margin united with the
* Berk. Brit. Fung.
t Tlie lobes are at first nearly white, afterwards of an ash-grey colour on the under surface ; the upper, or that which bears the seed membrane, continuing white.
K 2
132 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND,
stem ; stem white or dusky. In plantations of fir and chestnut adjoining Weybridge Heath, in Surrey. It has not yet been foinid elsewhere in Britain.
VERPA DIGITALIFORMIS, Persoon.
PEZIZA ACETABULUM, Linn.
Tribe Cupulati.
These funguses are very similar in their properties to the Helvell<E ; that is, are not to be despised when one cannot get better, nor to be eaten when one can. " The Verpa," says Vittadini, " though sold in the market, is only to be recom- mended when no other esculent fungus offers, which is some- times the case in spring." The Peziza acetabulum is utterly insipid, and depends entirely for flavour upon the sauce in which it is served. As they are rare in England, I shall merely give the botanical character of each.*
Verjm digit alif or mis, Persoon.
Pileus campanulate, three-quarters of an inch high, more or less closely pressed to the stem, but Always free, wrinkled, but not reticulated, under side slightly pubescent, sporidia yellow- ish, elliptic, stem three inches high, half an inch thick, equal or slightly attenuated downwards, loosely stuffed, by no means hollow, transversely squamulose.* Season, spring.
* Another species of Peziza, the P. cocTileata, grew very abimdantly last spring in Holwood Park, Keston. This species is quite insipid, and some- what leathery, but Mr. Berkeley has seen it offered for sale under the name of Morell.
DESCKIPTION OF SPECIES. 133
Peziza acetabulum, Liun. Series Alcuria, Sectiou Helvella,
Fries.
Bot. Char. Deeply cup-shaped, two inches broad, one and a half deep, externally floccosc, light-umber, darker witliin, mouth puckered, tough ; stciu half to one inch high, smooth, deeply but irregularly costato-lacunose, ribs solid " branching at the top and forming reticulations on the outside of the cup, so as to present the appearance of a cluster of pillars supporting a font or roof, with fret- work between them" [Berkehy). Season, spring.
POLYPORU8 FRONDOSUS, Schmnk. Plate IV. Fig. 1.
There are many species of Polyporus eaten on the Conti- neut ; among the more common kinds to be mentioned are /-*. frondosus and P. tuberastcr, Persoon, P. coryUnus, jNIauri, P.subsquamosus, Pers., P.giganteus, ibid., P.fomentarius, ibid., Avhieh last is the Amadou, or German tinder fungus. Two of these are local ; the P. tuberastcr, which occurs princii)ally in the kingdom of Naples, and the P. corylinus or that of the cob-nut tree, which (though it might perhaps be cultivated elsewhere) is at present restricted to Rome ; both these are excellent for food.
As to the Polyporus squamosus, which is as common in England as abroad, in substance it cannot be masticated, and its expressed juice is exceedingly disagreeable; I should not think the P.fomentarius, to judge from its texture, promised much better; nor P. yiyanteus, of which the flesh is some- times so tough as to creak under the knife.
]34 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
The true P. frondosus is probably rare in Englaud, that ■which I have met with and have had cooked, without being able to say much in its favour, is the P. intybaceus of Fries, which j\Ir. Berkeley says is distinguished from the other by having larger pores. Vittadini has not included it among the esculent funguses in his work ; Persoon does not recommend it for weak stomachs on account of its toughness."^ Paulet, indeed, is of a different opinion, telling us that in place of its being heavy for the stomach, he will feel all the lighter who sups upon it. The people in the Vosges seem to have an equal affection for it with this writer, giving it the somewhat whim- sical, though really most graphic sobriquets of the Hen-of-the- Woods and the Breeding Hen (Mougeot). Professor Sau- guinetti informs me that it sells for six or seven baiocchi in the Roman market, the finer specimens being sent as surprise presents, '' per meraviglia,'^ from poor tenants to hard land- lords.
Bot. Char. " Pilei very numerous, dimidiate, condensed into a convex tuft from half a foot to a foot broad, imbricated, variously confluent, irregular, at first downy, dusky, then smooth, livid grey ; disk depressed, dilated above, from half to one inch broad, convex, the base confluent with the com- pound stem" [Fries).
* The toughness is owing to its being stewed too quickly ; when properly sweated with butter, as recommended for C. coralloides, it is quite tender.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 135
CLAVARIA CORALLOIUES, Linn.
Plate V. Fig. 3.
Subgenus OcHiiospoREA, Fries.
" Esculcnta delieiosa." — Jl'ft.
All the funguses of this genus being esculent, enter more or less largely into the supplies of the Italian markets. Roques describes seven species ; Persoon five ; Vittadini gives a de- tailed account and drawings of three, selecting those princi- pally for the superiority of their flavour over the rest, and be- cause of their greater abundance in the Milanese district. Mr. Berkeley, in a list with which he has favoured me, enu- merates four British species as esculent, C. corolloides, C. grisea, C. cristata, and C. rugosa ; as, however, he has no personal experience of any of these as articles of food, I shall merely give the botanical character of the C. coral- loides, the most abundant of all the species (for the excellent qualities of which I can myself vouch), furnishing the reader w ith one or two drawings of other sorts, in further illustration of this elegant genus.
Clavaria coralloides.
Bot. Char. Pileus erect, white ; stem rather thick, branches unequal, elongated, mostly acute, pure white, sometimes violet at the base.
Mode of Dressing.
Having thoroughly cleansed away the earth, which is apt
to adhere to them,, they are to be sweated with a little butter,
over a slow fire, afterwards to be strained, then (throwing
away the liquor) to be replaced to stew for an hour, with salt.
136 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
pepper, chopped chives and parsley, moistening with plain stock, and dredging with flour occasionally. When suffi- ciently cooked, to be thickened with yolks of eggs and cream.
Another Mode.
Proceed as before ; after sweating the Clavarias, wrap them in bacon and stew in a little broth seasoned with salt, pepper, parsley, and ham; cook for an hour, then serve in white sauce, or with a fricassee of chicken.
N.B. — The saucepan should be covered with a sheet of paper under the lid, which keeps the Clavarias white and also pre- serves their flavour.
There can be little doubt that our woods, properly explored, would be found to abound in funguses hitherto considered rare, and this would probably be one of them. At present the weald of Kent, within forty miles of London, remains, so far as Mycology is concerned, nearly as unexplored as the in- terior of Africa.
Plate V. fig. 2, represents Clavaria amethystina, Bull. Plate V. fig. 5, represents C. cinerea, Bull. Plate V., fig. 6, represents C. rugosa, Bull.
LYCOPERDON PLUMBEUM, nob.
Pvff-balls.
Subdivision Gasteromycetes, Fries.
Tribe 3. Tkichospekmi.
Family]. Trichogastres. Genus 1. Lycoperdon, Tbwrne/.
" II Licopertlo piombino e uno dei funghi mangiativi piil delicati che si conoscano. II suo uso e pressoclie gcnerale." — l^itt.
All these more or less spherical white funguses furnished
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 137
with a raembranaccous covering, and filled when young with a white, compact, homogeneous pulp, which we call Puff-balls, are good to cat ; those in most request for the table abroad, and the best, have no stem, i. c. no sterile base, but are pro- lific throughout their whole substance. One of the most common of these is the Lycoperdon plumbeiim, of which the following excellent description is chiefly taken from Vittadini.
Bot. Char. Body globose ; when full-grown about the size of a walnut, invested with two^ tunics, the outer one white, loosely membranaceous and fragile, sometimes smooth, at others furfuraceous ; the innermost one (peridium) very te- nacious, smooth, of a grey-lead colour externally, internally more or less shaggy with very fine hairs ; these hairs occupy the whole cavity, and in the midst of them a prodigious num- ber of minute granular bodies, the sporules (each of which is furnished with a long caudiform process), lie entangled. The whole plant, carefully removed from the earth, with its root still adhering, is in form not unlike one of its own seeds vastly magnified.
The L. jihiinbinim abounds in dry places, and is to be found in spring, summer, and autumn, solitary or in groups. ''This," says Vittadini, "is one of our commonest Puff-balls, and after the warm rains of summer and of autumn, myriads of these little plants suddenly springing up will often completely cover a piece of ground as if they had been sown like grain, for a crop ; if we dig them up we shall find that they are connected Mith long fragile threads, extending horizontally underground and giving attachment to numerous smaller Puff-balls in dif-
* There are, in fact, three at first, whereof the external one either coalesces with the second, or else peels off in shreds, when the other two become united, and continue to maintain the globular form of the Puff-ball unimpaired, even aft«r tlic escape of the seed.
138 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OV ENGLAND.
ferent stages of development, which, by continuing to grow, afford fresh supplies as the old ones die off."
LYCOPERDON BO VISTA, Unn.
Subdivision Gasteromycetes, Fries. Tribe 3. Trichospermi, Family 1. Trichogastres.
" Vcscie buoue da friggere" (Tuscan yernaciilai' name).
" La sua carne Candida compatta si presta facUemente a tutte le specidazioni del cuoco." — Vitt.
This differs from the last-mentioned Puff-ball in many par- ticulars ; in the first place it is much larger (sometimes attain- ing to vast dimensions), its shape is different, being that of an inverted cone ; never globular, the flesh also is more com- pact, while the membrane which holds what is first the pulp and afterwards the seed, is very thin and tender; the seed, moreover, has no caudal appendage ; and finally, a considerable portion of the base is sterile, in all which additional parti- culars it is unlike the Lycoperdon jjlumbeum. The plant is sessile, a purple-black fragile membrane contains the spores, •which are also sessile,* and of the same colour as the peri- dium.
No fungus requires to be eaten so soon after gathering as this ; a few hours will destroy the compactness of the flesh and change its colour from delicate- white to dirty-yellow ;t
* Without appendages.
f Vittaduii recommends, wherever tliis fungus grows conveniently for the purpose, that it should not be all taken at once, but by slices cut off from the living plant, care being taken not to break up its attachments with the earth ; in this way, he says, you may have a fine " frittura " every day for a week.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 139
but when perfectly fresh and properly prepared, it yields to no other in digestibility. It may be dressed in many ways, but the best method is to cut it into slices and fry these in egg and bread-crumbs; so prepared, it has the flavour of a rich, light omelette.*
AGARICUS MELLEUS.
Plate IX. Fig. 3. Subgenus 3. Amillaria.
This is a nauseous, disagreeable fungus, however cooked, and merely finds mention here, as its omission in a work on the esculent funguses of England might seem strange to those unacquainted with is demerits ; it is really extraordi- nary how some Continental writers, speaking from their own experience, should ever have recommended it for the table. Pliny's general apage against all funguses really finds an ap- plication to this, which is so repugnant to our notions of the savoury, that few would make a second attempt, or get dan- gerously far in a first dish. Not to be poisonous is its only recommendation ; for as to the inviting epithet melleus, or honeyed, by which it is designated, this alludes only to the colour, and by no means to the taste, which is both harsh and styptic.
Bot. Char. In tufts, near or upon stumps of trees, or posts. Pileu^ dirty-yellow, more or less hairy ; stem fibrous, varying gVeatly in length, from one inch to nine or ten ; enlarged above and below, thinner in the middle ; ring thick, spread-
* I have been iuforiiied that this Puff-ball is soinetiiiics served on state occasions at the Freemasons' Tavern.
140 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OE ENGLAND.
ing, rough or leathery ; gills somewhat decurrent, deeper than the pileus ; spores white^ appearing like fine dust on the gills.
AGARICUS ULMAKIUS, Bull. Subgenus Pleuropus. Subdivision tEgeritaria.
" Fuugo niangiativo sommamente ricercato c diottinia qualita."- — J'itt.
Bot. Char. Solitary or connected to others by a common root ; the pileus presenting a dirty- white surface^ turning afterwards to a pale rust-colour, and sometimes tessellated ; varying like all parasitical funguses in shape, but generally more or less orbicular ; flesh continiious with the stalk, Avhite, compact ; stalk very thick, solid, elastic, smooth towards the summit, tomentose at the base; ffills of a yellowish tint, broad, thick, ventricose, emarginate, i. e. terminating upon the surface of the stem in a receding angle ; the imperfect gills few ; taste and smell agreeable ; spores white.
This Agaric which takes its name from the tree where it is most commonly found, grows also, though less frequently, on the Poplar and Beech. Mr. Berkeley reports it rare; perhaps, however, as it is eminently local, it may here, as in Italy, be common in some places though of unfrequent general occur- rence. No country being so rich in Elm-trees as our own, we should probably find A. uhnarius more often if the height at which it grows among the branches did not frequently screen it from observation.* Though registered in the Flora of Tunbridge Wells, I have not met with a single specimen of it this autumn.
* " Ce Champignon croit au milieu et vers le sommet de I'arbre, de sorte qii'il n'cst pas facile a voir ou a recolter." — Persoon.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 141
This Agaric dries well and may be kept (not, however, with- out losing some of its aroma) for a long time without spoiling ; the gills, after a time, assume the same hue as the pileus.
AGARICUS FUSIPES, Bull Subgenus Ci.ytocyre. Subdivision CnoNDROPonEs.
" II a Ic nicinc gout que le Champignon do Couclic, quoique un pcu plus prononco." — Persoon.
Bot. Char. Gregarious ; pileus fleshy, loose, of a uniform brown colour, sometimes marked with dark blotches, as if burnt ; ffills nearly free, serrated, at first dirty-white, after- wards a clear bistre; easily separable from the stalk; stalk hollow, ventrifcose, sulcate, rooting, spindle-shaped, slightly grooved, tapering at the base, sometimes cracked transversely, varyiug singularly botli in length and breadth.
This excellent fungus is very abundant throughout summer and autumn, coming up in tufts at the roots of old Oak-trees after rain. It may be easily recognized by its peculiar spindle- shaped stalk.
^'ittadini docs not mention it, nor does its name occur in the list of esculent funguses in the Diz. di Med. Class. ; notwithstanding which the young plants make an excellent pickle ; while the full-grown ones may be stewed or dressed in any of the usual modes adopted for the common mush- room.
143 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
AGARICUS VAGINATUS, Bull Series 1. Leucosporus. Subgenus 1. Amanita.
" La Coucoiunele grise (^Ag. vag.) est une cles especes les plus deli- cates et les plus siires a manger." — De CandoUe.
Bot. Char. " Margin of the pileus sulcate^ gills white, stuffed with cottony pith, fistulose, attenuated upwards, almost smooth; volva like a sheath. Woods and pastures, August and October; not uncommon. Pileus four inches or more broad, plane, slightly depressed in the centre, scarcely umbo- nate, fleshy, but not at the extreme margin, which is elegantly grooved in consequence, viscid when moist, beautifully glossy when dry ; epidermis easily detached, more or less studded with brown scales, the remnants of the volva, not persistent ; gills free, ventricose, broadest in front, often imbricated, white ; sporiiles white, round ; stem six inches or more high, from half to an inch thick, attenuated upwards, obtuse at the base, furnished with a volva, this adnate below to the extent of an inch, with the base of the stem, closely surrounding it above as in a sheath, but with the margin sometimes expanded ; within and at the base marked with the groovings of the pileus, brittle, sericeo-squamulose, scarcely fibrillose, but splitting with ease longitudinally, hollow, or rather stuffed with fine cottony fibres; the very base solid, not acrid, insipid. Smell scarcely any. It occurs of various colours, the more general one is a mouse-grey" {Berkeley).
The perfect accuracy of the above description will strike every one familiar with this species. Vittadini speaks of it as a solitary fungus, but I have found it on more than one occa- sion in rings. Its flesh, being very delicate and tender, must not be over-dressed. "When properly fried in* butter or oil.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 143
and as soon after gathering as possible, the Ag. vaginntus will be found inferior to but few Agarics in its flavour.
AGARICUS VIOLACEUS, Linn.
Subgenus 18. Inoloma.
Bot. Char. Pileus from four to six inches broad, obtuse, expanded, covered with soft hairs, colour deep violet ; stem spongy, grey, tinged with violet, minutely downy, about four inches high ; veil fugacious, composed of fine threads ; gills deep violet when young, but turning tawny in age ; flesh thick, juicy.
This is a handsome fungus, not very common, but plentiful where it occurs ; it grows in woods, particularly under Pine and Fir trees, and may be dressed either with a white or a brown sauce.
AGARICUS CASTANEUS, Bull
Subgenus 19. Dehmocybe.
Bot. Char. Pileus slightly fleshy, convex when young, at length nmbonate, chestnut colour, from one to three inches broad, glabrous ; gills rather broad, easily detached from the stem, ventricose, changing from light-purple to a ferruginous hue; stem rather thin, from one and a half to three inches long, hollow, silvery, light-lilac or white ; veil delicate, com- posed of floecose threads; in taste, when raw, it somewhat resembles the Ag. oreades, but it has no smell.
This Agaric may be distinguished from others by its chest- nut or bistre colour ; it is probably not uncommon ; growing all the summer and autumn in woods, and under trees in
144 ESCULEXT FUNGUSES OF EXGLAND.
meadows. Mr. Berkeley reports it esculent ; I have no ex- perience of it.
AGARICUS PIPERATUS, Scop. Subgenus 7. Galorrheus.
" Ed fe veramcntc commestibile e saporoso quando se iic Icvi il latte."
Bendiscioli.
Bot. Char. " Pileus infundibuliform, rigid, smooth, white ; gills very narrow, close; milk, and the solid blunt stem, white. In woods, July and August. Pileus 3-7 inches broad, slightly rugulose, quite smooth, white, a little clouded with umber, or stained with yellow where scratched or bruised, convex, more or less depressed, often quite infundibuliform, more or less waved, fleshy, thick, firm but brittle ; margin involute at first, sometimes excentric, milk-white, hot. Gills generally very narrow (—; of an inch broad), but sometimes much broader, cream-colour, repeatedly dichotoraous, very close, ' like the teeth of an ivory comb,' decurrent from the shape of the pileus, when bruised changing to umber. Ste7n 1-3 inches high, 1^-2 inches thick, often compressed, minutely pruinose, solid, but spongy Avithin, the substance breaking up into trans- verse cavities.'' "^
Though very acrid when raw, it loses its bad qualities entirely by cooking, and is extensively used on the Continent, prepared in various ways. It is preserved for winter use by drving or pickling in a mixture of salt and vinegar {Berkeley) .
I have frequently eaten this fungus at Lucca, where it is very abundant, but as it resembles the Ay.vellereus in appear- ance, with the properties of which we are unacquainted, too much caution cannot be exercised in learning to discriminate it from this and neighbouring species.
* Berkeley.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 145
AGARICUS VIRGINEUS, WaUf.
Subgenus 8. Clitocybe. Subdivision Camaropuvlli.
White Field-Agaric.
But. Cliar. Pilcus from one to two inches broad, margin involute wlicn young, then expanded, depressed in the centre. Gills deep, connected with veins, sometimes forked, broadly adnate, but breaking away from the stem as the pilcus becomes depressed. Stem six lines broad at the top, tapering down- wards, uot more than two at the base ; at first stuft'ed Avith fibres, then hollow, excentric ; the whole plant white, w ith occasionally a tinge of pink. Taste pleasant, odour disagree- able.
These graceful little Agarics grow in pastures, and arc ex- tremely common in the autumn. They are so small that it requires a great many of them to make a dish, but as they occur frequently in the same fields w itli puff-balls, and may be dressed in the same manner, it is not unusual when the supply is scarce to serve them together, with the same sauce. The flavour of Ag. virgineus is not unlike that of Ag. oreades.
TU13E11 .ESTIVUM, Viff. Plate VIII. Fig. 2.
Peridium warty, of a blackish-brown colour, the warts polygonal and striate, flesh traversed by numerous veins ; asci 4-6-spored ; spores elliptical, reticulated.
This plant, the common trufile of our markets, is abundant in Wiltshire and some other parts of England, and probably occurs in many places where it escapes observation, from its subterranean liabit.
146 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
CONCLUSION.
Italy is not the country for the English florist ; he will find twenty times as many petals at home. Trim parterres are not inventions of the South ; summer-houses would be no luxuries in a climate that never knows winter; the only Conservatories that flourish there are not for flowers, but for music. In few northern regions is Plora worse off for a bouquet than at Rome or Naples ; regarded mei'cly as the herald of Spring and not appreciated for her own sake, as soon as she has waved her wand over the land and covered it with the March blossoms of Crocuses, Cycla- mens, and Anemones, her reign is over. All scents are held in equal abhorrence save those of frankincense and garlic, for which there seems to be a prescriptive toleration ; but every other odour, fetid or fragrant, musk"^ or mignonette, is equally proscribed ; and an Italian Signora would as soon permit a Locusta to cook for her, as a violet to scent her boudoir. To pick wild flowers is as dangerous as it is difficult to find culti- vated ones ; a coup de soleil or a fever is easily procured by imprudent exposure before sunset, while the interval between
* In 1843, the friends of a patient, for whom I had occasion to prescribe Bome musk, had recom-se to many chemists in succession before the hcensed dealer in it could be found, and he was obliged by law to keep it in his back premises.
FUNGUSES IN [TALY. l^?
that and night is too brief to be employed for the purpose ; but when the season for flowers is long past, and Autumn with her fruits is come round again, when the stranger can wander forth where he lists without an umbrella, he will be able to luxuriate amidst the lovely scenery, and to delight himself in the natural history of the district : the season of the periodical rains has ceased ; the repose of the forest is no longer troubled by the Power of the waters; the mountain Pines borne for miles down into the valleys are stranded on the broad shingly bed of the exhausted torrent ; broken bridges are safely repaired ; the maize is receiving the last mellowing touches as it festoons the cottage fronts, the prickly chestnut-pods are beginning to gape and the brown chestnuts to leap out shining from their envelopes ; the last re- luctant olive has been beaten from the bough ; the vintage has nearly ceased to bleed ; night fires'^ already begin to flicker on the mountains, and the hemp stubble is daily crackling on the plain. This is indeed the time for enjoying Italy ; nature has revived again, and with nature, man. The feverish torpor, I had almost ventured to call it the summer hybernation, has ceased with September, and Autumn has come round with the vivifying influence of a new Spring ; then if we go abroad to wander, whether our walk be across plains or through up- land woods, we shall not stroll a mile without stopping a hundred times to admire what is to many of us a nearly new class of objects which have sprung up suddenly and now beset our path on every side. These arc the Fungus tribe, which are as beautiful as the fairest flowers, and more useful than
* Night fires. This is to clear the ground under the Chcstnut-trecs for the falling fruits, which niiglit otherwise be lost amidst the heath. But the prnetice is unsafe ; as nianv a ti*ce has been charred by the flames, and some have ac- tiiallv tal<eu fire and given rise to a general eonflagration.
]48 ESCULENT FUNGUSES OE ENGLAND.
most fruits; and now tliat butcliers' meat is bad, that tlie beans have become stringy, and the potatoes are hydrated by the rain, they appear thus opportunely to eke out the scanti- ness of autumnal larders in the South and give a fresh zest to the daily repast. AY ell may their sudden apparition surpi'ise us, for not ten days since the waters were all out, and only three or four nights back peals of thunder rattled against the casements and kept the most determined sleepers in awful "vigil ; and now — behold the meadows by natural magic studded with countless fairy-rings of every diameter, formed of such species as grow upon the ground, while the Chestnut and the Oak are teeming with a new class of fruits that had no pre- vious blossoming, many of which have already attained their full growth. We recollect with gratitude the ol)jects of a pursuit, which has accidentally brought us to such an ac- quaintance with the diversities of Italian scenery as we never should have experienced without it. In fishing, it is not the fish we catch, vthich alone repays us for our toil; it is the waudering as the rivulet wanders, " at its own sweet will,'^ the exercise and the appetite consequent upon it, the pinze in natural history, the reciting aloud, or reflecting as we walk, and when it is pleasantly warm the " molles sub arbore somni/' which console us for the lack of sport. On the same principle, mushroom-hunting may be recommended to the young naturalist not only for the beauty of the objects which he is sure to come upon (if he do but hunt at the right sea- son), but also because in that most beautiful of months, whe- ther at home or abroad, it brings the wanderer out of beaten paths to fall in with many striking views which he would not otherwise have explored. The extremely limited time during which funguses are to be found, their fragility, their infinite diversity, their ephemeral existence, these, too, add to the
roxcLUSTON. 1 49
interest of an autumnal ualk in quest of them. At Lucea^ leaving idleness and indigestion in bed, just as the sun Mas beginning to shoot his first rays on the Avhitc convents and the spires of the village ehnrches on the mountains, making- morning above, uhile the deep valley beneath was still in twi- light, it was pleasant to pass the little opening coffee-house v/ith its two or three candidates for early breakfast, and cross- ing the noiseless trout-stream over the little bridge, to enter one of those old chestnut-forests and begin clambering up the laddery pathway, to reach the summit just as he poured his full eflulgeuce on the magnificent rival of the Lucchese and Modenese territories. Pleasant, too, was it on the road Rome- w^ard, pausing a few days to enjoy the exquisite scenery about Spoleto, to climb the steep streets to the cathedral, and thence, passing the giddy viaduct several hundred feet above the white ravine which it traverses, to issue upon those Nursian Hills then fragrant with the breath of morning, "le beau matin qui sort humidc ct piile," and with the scent of sweet herbs ; but above all other hills renowned for the fragrance of those ever- reproductive mines of coal-black subterranean truflfles ! It is a pleasant remembrance to have plucked the crimson Amanite, that ministered to a Crcsar's decease, in the very neighbour- hood of the Talatine Hill; to have collected mushrooms amidst the meadows of Horace's farm, AAhcre he tells us they grew best ; and to have watched along the moist pastures of the Crcmera a stand of the stately Jr/. jyrocerus nodding upon their stalks; or, standing on the heights above Sorrento, just as the setting sun flashed upon the waters of the bay ere they engulfed him, and left us to his sister the evening star, to have come upon that wonderful Polyporus tuberaster whose matrix is the hard stone, from which it derives strength and luxuriance as if from a soft and ireninl soil.
150 ESCULEXT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND.
But not only in Italy, in our own country also, the Collec- tor in ]\Iycology will have to traverse much beautiful and diversified scenery ; amid woods, greenswards, winding lanes, rich meadows, healthy commons, open downs, the nodding hop-grove and the mountain shccp-path ; and all shone upon by an autumnal sunset, — as compared with Southern climes "obscurely bright," and unpreccded by that beautiful rosy tint which bathes the whole landscape in Italy, but with a far finer background of clouds to reflect its departed glories : and throughout all this range of scenery he will never hunt in vain ; indulgent gamekeepers, made aware of what he is poach- ing, may warn him that he is not collecting mushrooms, but will never warn him off" from the best-kept preserves. In such rambles he will see, what I have this autumn (184-7) myself witnessed, whole hundrechveights of rich ivliolesome diet rotting under the trees ; woods teeining with food and not one hand to gather it ; and this, perhaps, in the midst of potato blight, poverty and all manner of privations, and public prayers against imminent famine. I have indeed grieved, when I reflected on the straitened condition of the lower orders this year, to see pounds innumerable of extempore beef-steaks growing on our oaks in the shape of Fisiulina hepatica ; Ag. fusipes to pickle, in clusters under them ; Pufi"- balls, which some of our friends have not inaptly compared to sweet-bread for the rich delicacy of their unassisted flavour ; Hydna as good as oysters, which they somewhat resemble in taste ; Agaricus deliciosus, reminding us of tender lamb-kid- neys ; the beautiful yellow Chantarelle, that kalon kagathon of diet, growing by the Ijushel, and no basket but our own to pick up a few specimens in our way; the sweet nutty-flavoured Boletus, in vain calling himself edulis where there was none to believe him ; the dainty Orcella ; the Ag. hcterophyllus,
CONCLUSIOX. 151
uliicli tastes like tlic craAv-fisli when gvilled ; the Ay. ruber and A(j. tr'iresceiis, to cook in any way, and equally good in all ; — these were among the most conspicuous of the trou- vailles. But that the reader may know all he is likely to find in one single autumn, let him glance at the catalogue below.* He may at first alarm his friends' cooks, but their fears will, I pi'omise him, soon be appeased, after one or two trials of this uew class of viands, and he will not long pass either for a con- juror or something worse, in giving directions to stew toad- stools. As soon as he is initiated in this class of dainties, he will, I am persuaded, lose no time in making the discovery known to the poor of the neighbourhood ; while in so doing he will render an important service to the country at large, by instructing the indigent and ignorant in the choice of an ample, wholesome, and excellent article, which they may con- vert into money, or consume at their own tables, when pro- perly prepared, throughout the winter.
* The whole of the species mentioned in the annexed Hst were met with by the author this summer and autumn (1847), and partaken of by himself and friends, viz. Amanita vaginata ; Ag. rubescens, procerus, prunulus, ruber, hetero- phyUns, rirescens, delieiostis, nebtilaris, personafus, virghieus, fitsipes, oreades, ostreatus, Orcella, campestris (and its varieties edulis and prafensis), exquisUu.i, comatus, a)id ulmariiis ; CanihareUits cibarius ; Poli/porns frondosus ; Boletus edulis and scaler; Fistuliiia hejyatica ; ITt/dnum repandum ; Helvetia lacu- )?osa ; Peziza acetabulum and Bovista pi umbea ; Lycoperdon gemmatum and Clavaria strigosa.
152 CONCLUSION.
Note ox the Aekangejient of tue Spoees in IIym;exoiiyc'etous
FuxcrsEa.
On the authority of Lmk, Fries, Tittadiui, and other Continental mycolo- gists, I have, in speating of the spores of the genera Agaricus, Boletus, Can- iharelliis, Mi/dnum, and Clavaria, represented them as enclosed in cases (tliecse or sporanges). Eut from an interesting memou-, pubhshed by Mr. Berkeley in the ' Annals of Natiu-al History,' " On the Fructification of the Pileatc and Clayate tribes of Ilymeuomycetous Fungi," wliich I liad not then perused, it woidd appear that this arrangement only holds good with respect to Fezizus, Selvellas, and Morels, and not with respect to the above-mentioned genera, the spores of which are attaclied (generally in a quaternary and star form) to the ends of tubes, to which Mr. Berkeley has given the name of sporo- phores ; a disposition which, as he observes, had been long ago pointed out by the great Florentine mycologist, Micheli. M. Montagne, m his ' Recherches Anatomiques et Physiologiqiies siu* I'Hymenium,' while he conlh-ms the fact of a quaternary disposition of the spores in general, thinks that dming the first stage of their devclojjment they are lodged within the sporifcrous tubes, to the mouths of which they afterwards adhere by means of short spieidas or brauchlets.
These, hke all other questions connected with the minute reproductive gi'anules of funguses, require for their solution not only the most dextei'ous manipulation and the aid of the finest modern microscopes, but are likely even then to exercise the ingenuity of the ciu-ious.
THE END.
JOHN tUWAKU TAYLOll, FBINTEK, LlTlLli UUEEN SIREET, LINCOLN'S IKN FIELDS
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APHANl?Tri!A ~
CoLtOPTliKA 256
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DlCTYOPTtKA 1
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Hemipteka o2
HOMOPTBRA 21
|
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6 0 0 0 0 6 0 |
Hymf.nopjera Lepidopieka |
125 . 193 . .... 13 . |
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0 0 0 |
|
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2 12 |
0 |
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CtCLi STOKA 23
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to 3
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LlTHODOMrS 5
LlTTOBINA 18
LlTIKA 11
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Mactra 21
Malleus 3
1 9 0 8 0 3
0 9
1 15 0 1 0 5 0 8
0 10
1 1 0 5 0 13
0 5
1 3 0 18 5 12 0 5
0 10
1 3 0 1 0 3
0 11
1 8 0 1 0 15 0 11 0 1
2 2 0 1 0 14
2 7 0 S
3 11 0 6 0 1 0 4 0 3 0 6
0 9
1 5 1 9 1 13 1 14 0 3 0 6 0 10 0 12 0 1 0 9
0 1
1 0 1 6 0 1
0 1
1 1 0 5
13 5 0 1 0 8 0 1 0 1 0 6 0 4 0 1 0 10 0 3
0 6
1 3 0 14
0 7
1 6 0 4
Mangelia
Melania
Mblanopsis
Melatoma
Mesalia & Eglisia..
Mesodesma
Ueta
MiTBA
MODIOLA
MOSOCEBOS
MUREX
Mtadoba
Mtochama
Mttilus
Nassa
Natica
Nautilus
Navicella
Nebita
Nebitika
Oliva
i OSISCIA
Obbicui.a
Paludina
Paludomus
Pabtula
Patella
Pectbn
Pectuxculus
Pedum
Perna
PuASIAKELLA
Phobus
Pinna
PlhENA
Placunanomia
Pleurotoma
Psammobia
psammotella
Pterocera
Ptebocyclos
Purpura
Pybula
Kanella
ElCINULA
rostkllaria
Sanguinolabia
SCABABUS
SiMPULOPSIS
Siphon ARIA
Soletkllina
Spondyli's
Strombus
Sthuthiolaria
Teukbra
Terebellum
Tkhebratula
Thracia
Tkidacna
Thigonia
Triton
Trochita
Tbochus
Tugonia
tubbinklla
Turbo
Turritella
Umbrella
Voluta
Vitrina
Vulsella
ZlZTPHINUS
lates.
8 .
59 .
3 .
|
0 10 |
6 |
|
3 14 |
6 |
|
0 4 |
0 |
|
0 4 |
0 |
|
0 1 |
6 |
|
0 5 |
6 |
|
0 1 |
6 |
|
2 10 |
0 |
|
0 14 |
0 |
|
0 5 |
6 |
|
2 5 |
6 |
|
0 1 |
6 |
|
0 1 |
6 |
|
0 14 |
0 |
|
1 17 |
0 |
|
1 18 |
0 |
|
0 8 |
0 |
|
0 10 |
6 |
|
1 4 |
6 |
|
2 7 |
0 |
|
1 18 |
0 |
|
0 1 |
6 |
|
0 1 |
6 |
|
0 14 |
0 |
|
0 4 |
0 |
|
0 5 |
6 |
|
2 13 |
0 |
|
2 4 |
0 |
|
0 11 |
6 |
|
0 1 |
6 |
|
0 8 |
0 |
|
0 8 |
0 |
|
0 4 |
0 |
|
2 3- |
0 |
|
0 3 |
0 |
|
0 4 |
0 |
|
2 10 |
6 |
|
0 10 |
6 |
|
0 1 |
0 |
|
0 8 |
0 |
|
0 6 |
6 |
|
0 17 |
0 |
|
0 11 |
6 |
|
0 10 |
6 |
|
0 8 |
0 |
|
0 4 |
6 |
|
0 1 |
6 |
|
0 4 |
0 |
|
0 3 |
0 |
|
0 9 |
6 |
|
0 5 |
6 |
|
1 3 |
6 |
|
1 4 |
R |
|
0 1 |
6 |
|
1 14 |
0 |
|
0 1 |
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|
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|
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|
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|
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|
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0 |
|
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|
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6 |
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