Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1886-09-03
HE MUSHROOM
Historical Jottlngs on Universally Popu-
lar Table Dolleacy.

Historicai Jottings on n Universally Popu-
lar Table Doilcacy.
Our English word mushroom" Ger
tainly comes from the French, NOUS
seron, and that again from an old word
of doubtful derivation, yet which is
possibly traceable to "mucus" in the
Greek or Latin. alluding therefore TO
the moist or slmy characteristics of
plants belonging to the mushroom
group. The Latin generic name-viz.,
Agaricus, points us to a region of Sar-
malta, where this and other species
akin thereto grew plontfully, probably
do so Mt the present time. The English
seekers for mushrooms arc aware that
they may be found in many fields and
open parks, especially in those whore
horses are turned out to Craze; and the
habit of the wild plant would justify its
specific name of campestris, though il
also grows plentifully in some places
that are more secluded. The "chnmpig-
non" of the French and the "pratiolo"
of the Italians suggest the same idea,
and the earliest historic associations of
the mushroom attach to Italy; yet it
does not appear to have been cultivated
by tho Roman gardeners, but II dish of
mushrooms was made the vehicle of
deadly poison by the vile Agrippina
when she wished to remove her hus-
band Tiberius Claudius. A remark
made by Plny shows in what cstima-
ton mushrooms were held amongst the
gourmands of Imperial Rome. They
regarded them as appetizers, besides
liking them for their own qualities of
flavor. "a dish of mushrooms" says
he, ''is the last device of our epicures
to sharpen their appetites and tempt
them to eat inordnately." And again
he says, there are some dainty fellows
of such fine taste, and who study the
appetite to such excess, that they dress
mushrooms with their own hands, tha at
they may feed on the odor while they
are preparing the food" 1t is singu-
lar circumstance, that although the
Italians of our time eat several species
allied to the mushroom we cultivate,
that il is not grown by them, and is
mostly avoided when they are gather
ing edible fungi.
The common mushroom is not, how
ever, plant which can be referred to
any particular locality. 1t is found
wild throughout Europe, even in the
cold Iapland, also in Asia rs far as
Japan, IN both Africa and America.
This is easily explainable by the cx-
tremc minuteness of the spores and the
fact that the air is ever full of them;
nence the breczes watt them in all
directions, and they settle upon the
earth or attach themselves to plants
and to animals. Frequently they are
swallowed by the latter, but these
spores pass through the digestive ap-
paratus OF some if not of all animals
unimpared as to their power of GER
mination. Low as the fungi are in the
scale of life, they preserve their dis
tinctness, and the mushroom never de-
generates, although there are some
varieties; so it is always separable
from several poisonous species which
yet resemble it nearly. Thus it is
easily distinguished from a toadstool
with dark gills, that is otherwise very
similar, by the circumstance that the
gills change from pinky rcd to dull
brown; about the same time the cup,
from being convex, becomes ilattened,
while it also turns brown and scaly.-
London journal of Horticulture.