Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1873-02-01
About Mushrooms and the Like.

The atlantic Monthly for February
is promptly out. Among its articles are
English Folk Songs, by J. V. Blake,
with words and music; Boy Life in q
Scottish Country Seat; The Bride of
Torrisdell, poem; Mr.. Parton's Thorn
as jefferson as Secretary of State; A
Chance Acquaintance; Idiosyncracics;
A Hunt for Smugglers; Edible Fungi,
&c. The author of the last named arti-
Gle furnishes a vast amount of useful
information in regard to these arti-
cles of food. We quote a few pas
sages:
No American has US yet published
any treatise on the subject, which leaves
our inquirers in the dark. We have
distinguished mycolsgists who doubt
less have arranged our fungi scientif-
cally, and can give the name to any
form they may see, but their labors
have not been published in such form
as to become common guide, nor do
we know whether those who madetheir
classification a science ever demonstra-
ted by actual experiment their edible
value
The writer has tried the edible quail
ties of forty kinds of fungi, but is ig-
norant of the specific names of Ameri-
can fungi, so that possibly to the scien-
tific ear his descriptions may seem in
correct. Armed with plates of English
and French fungi, and works giving
their scientific names, he has collected
some very bad and poisonous kinds,
and some which were very delicious.
Tie edible qualities of various Aga
RIGS are well known on the continent of
Europe to the common people, who eat
them freely and make money by their
sale, while in Great Britain scientific
men only have ventured to explore the
field and the forest in search of addi-
tions to the table.
On the Continent, eaten fresh, dried,
preserved in oil, vinegar, or salt, fungi
constitute, for weeks together, the food
of many people,; and in Rome there is
an inspector of fungi who daily exam
ines the supplies which come in from
the country, and condemns all that
are unsound or unsafe, to be thrown
away; and, curiously enough, the law
points out by name our favorite Agarj-
c'hS canapeStI'iS as poisonous, and orders
it to be thrown into the Tiber.
1t is commonly supposed that fungi
are the consequence of decay, and we
do find the greatest number on decay
ing substances; but we find them also
on glass, fints, metals, in poisonous So
lutions, in pure and undocomposed
water. An instance is given of a black
smith who threw aside piece of iron
at night fresh forged, and found it in
the morning covered with an Ethalium
tive feet in length Gunbarrels and
sword -scabbards left in damp, clsse
rooms have become covered with blue
mould in few days.
The rapidity with which many if not
all fungi grow battles calculation; the
great puff bail LycOperdon gigaateun1,
will grow as large as peck measure in
forty eight hours: and specimens of
AgdricttS cGnlpeStriS have develped
from the button which is bud of the
size of pea to q mushroom as large as
a coffee saucer in night; but it must
not be supposed that all this increase
of size is a single nights growth.
Agarics are many weeks forming under
the surface; their cells are small and
closely packed, and ready to expnd
when the moisture and temperature are
favorable.
There is a good field for investigation
in the fungi; and as the edible fungi
are very numerous, both as individuals
and species, and might add a great deal
of food as we'll as flavor to our culinary
resources, we hope some other inquirers
will carry our experiments further.
There is no more reason for rejecting
the good fungi because of the bad spe-
cies than for declining to eat apples,
pears, peaches, and strawberries, be-
cause strawberries poison some people,
and bitter almonds almost everybody.
There is hardly family of edible plants
that is without some offending member;
and were the bad to exclude the good,
the list of useful plants would shrink
into very narrow compass.