I i
I t is not, liowevcr, my intention to enter at length upon
the esculent properties of Fungi. To do so, would require
more space than I can command, and the work is done so
well in Dr. Badham’s treatise on the subject,* and Mrs. Hussey’s
‘ Illustrations of British Mycology,’ that there is no
necessity for saying more upon the subject here.f In the
latter especially will be found some excellent receipts and a
vast variety of information, the result of actual experiment.
I am not, indeed, such an enthusiast on this point as my
lamented friends, but I am quite ready to subscribe to their
views as to the advantage which might be derived from the
use of many species. The accidents which arise in this country
are very few, and generally due to the grossest ignorance.
I t should, however, be observed, that it is not always the
poisonous properties of species that are to he questioned. A
man after a long day’s fast, for instance, eats a pound or two
of Mushrooms badly cooked, and frequently without a proper
quantity of bread to secure their mastication, and is then
surprised that he has a frightful fit of indigestion. There
are, again, peculiarities of constitution, which will not admit
certain kinds of food, even of the most harmless description.
Some sorts of animal food—as pork, shell-fish, etc.—are absolute
poison to individuals ; and I have a friend who cannot
eat the smallest portion of an egg, however prepared, without
serious inconvenience.
I believe a great deal frequently depends upon the quantity
of bread which is eaten with them. In countries where coarse
bread is largely consumed, raw vegetable diet, such as would
* ‘ The Esculent Funguses o f England,’ by the Eev. Dr. Badham, with 20
coloured plates ; 8vo.
t ‘ Illustrations o f British Mycology,’ by Mrs. Hussey, with 140 coloured
i ; 4to.
induce dysentery here, is taken with impunity. Willdenow
informs us that for some weeks he lived on Fungi and coarse
bread, and enjoyed during the time the most excellent health.
I t is, however, certain thaï if the species were consumed indiscriminately,
without the use of neutralizing condiments, there
would he many fatal accidents. Even with care and knowledge,
disasters may occur. Dr. Badham once suffered violently
from simply tasting some of the spores of one of the
milky Agarics which he had collected ; and a fatal accident
was nearly happening to one of his friends from eating accidentally
a small piece of some Fly Agarics which had been sent
by him with a view of making a decoction to poison flies. The
schoolmaster in his parish was extremely ill on one occasion
from mistaking the tarragon-scented Agaricus Euosmus for
A. ostreatus, a species, it may be observed, scarcely worthy of
being the subject of experiment.
Few species, however, have such virulent properties, and in
general the taste or texture of dangerous species is such as
render them unacceptable. The safest plan, where persons
venture on experiments, is never to try any which have a disagreeable
or forbidding smell, while those w’ith a sweet or farinaceous
odour are generally safe ; never to use any species
except when perfectly sound, and to take care that they are
cooked in such a way as to secure their being tender and easy
of digestion ; and, ahove all, he their qualities what they may,
always to partake of them with moderation. I f these rules
are attended to, and plenty of bread is eaten, there will be no
fatal accidents; for it is presumed that those persons will
abstain altogether from their use, with whose constitutions
they never agree.
The common Mushroom, the Truffle, and Morel, are important
articles of commerce, but more especially the first.