Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-08-16

tn' rs GUY tCstQsto0l, Sdl0 some one
She other day, kicking tie unfortunate
plant out of his path. BY the way, what is
a tSadstooly' was the inquiry of his com
psnion. 'Well, it is a fungus, you know "
Yes, but why tCadStool?' Perhaps We
may be allowed 10 answer the question,
since the person to whom il was addreSse!
could not Very naturally. people are
apt To imagine from the name that the
strange plants SO termed have some comRec-
tiUn with the unpleasant batrachianS. whom
most Of us regard with undisguised aver
sion. The idea is deep-rOOted one, and
appears 10 be entirely satisfactory to the
popular mind. In the north of England
and in Scotland the local synonym for
frogs and toads is substituted, and fungi are
commonly called ''paddick stools" One
may read in old hprbalS, and sometimes
hear grayely enunciated i'll rural localities
various quaint fancies respecting fungi
| They are said Ia he the food of toads. TO
arise from their cNcrement, or, more COM
monty. to be the thrones on which. or under
which, toads especially love to sit and ru-
inmate in solitary and dark malevOlence as
its their nature to" Wecan only say We
never saw toad sitting either on or under
his stool" nor did We ever meet anyone
who had. 1t is true. however, that We
have seen gorgeous butterfly repOSing in
artistic relief upon the satin-like cap of a
primrose tinted agaric, and a very pretty
bit of colOring il made. However, few
people will allow the idea Of beauty To be
associated with toad-StoolS. The popular
notion of the significance of the name is as
old as the days of Spencer, and probably
even older than that. In The Faerie
Queene occur the lines:
81 I
And lG7thed paddicks lording on the same.
With all Difference to Spencer, and To-
other poets as well, and also to the whole
army Of photographers from Johnson down
wards. we desire to disSipate the erroneous
idea that toadsto0ls have, or ever had, any
thing to do with toads. frogs or other rep
tiles. The derivation Of the name has
nothing in common with that connection.
''Toadstool" is simply compounded of the
rare old English word tod" a bunch or
cluster as the ivy-tod, the mistletOe-
tod. etc.-and stool" the latter word
having the significance in which gar
denerS even yet employ ii. meaning
the suckers and shoots about the root of a
plant Away. then il you please. with all
false notions OF griSliness, lOatheSOmene S
and the rest. Let the much-naligned toad
stool take his proper place in our apprecia-
ton as what he is a. much plant as flow
er. fern, or a tree. and not kind of veg
etable vermin. Mushroom is really gen
eric term, though We apply il generally to a
kind growning in fields, and also cultivated
for the table. 1t Is derivs1 from two Welch
OF ancient British words and has the signif
canoe of button of the fields" This
is the kind English people conde
Scend To eat. although, having regard to
its people habitat, one might suppose il
would have hardly been selected But,
singularly enough, ii is held in high estima-
iion. and the cultivation of il for market
is now one of the most lucrative undertak-
ings 10 which gardener can put his hand
On the contrary, among the many varieties
of despised and neglected sOadstOOlS, are
some considerably more delicate and entic-
ing, from a gsstOnnmic point of view,
SpriHging from the clean earth. from tree
trunks and roots, or amid ferns and mOsscs.
Yet they lie under a han.
Most educated people nave a vague idea
that not all toadst0Ols are poisonous, and
that some Of the numerous species abound
ing everywhere in summer in autumn are
even good TO eat But only very few
care to inquire further, and fewer still 10
taste and try. II is an inSular prejudice,
for Frenchman, German, Italian, Russian.
know il not. We Britons, alone among the
nations, neglect our native fungi a. articles
Of food, and uphold them as types of all that
is disgusting. We have always done so. and
very likely always will: for We delight in the
stubbOmness of our prejudices. Take even
the poetic aspect. Abroad, from Martial.
JIvenal and Ovid down 10 living birds no
one casts aSpersion on toadstOOlS. Nay.
they are lauded in no weak phrase. ''Gyp-
sizes of the forest field aud FELL" food of
the gods" mamma of the poor" are some
of the epithets bestowed on them. But
your English poet. if he notices such things
at all. employs them but TO repile and dis
parage. Even our last and kindlies1 heir
to all ages" of song cannot rise beyond the
prevailing sentiment. Here is Lynette--
she thereat, as one
That smells a foulheshed agaric In the holt.
And deems IL carrion of some woodland thing,
Or shrew. or weasel. nipt her slender nose
With petulent thumb and finger
True there are some toadStOOlS of repulsive
Odor; they are not agarics-thiS by the way.
But on the other hand are very many of
sweet scent. One smells of syrnga. an
other Of cassia, another of apricGts, another
of musk. ToadStools possess varieties Of
coloring equai 10 any tower-petals. and the
surprising shape they assume should be at
tractive TO the ObSeryant. But they are ''Only
tnadStoOls, and as such every self-respecf-
ins Englishman or woman considers
them only fit to be trampled on and de
stroyed. Ii is curious thing. too. that we
islanders are unable to regard tosdstoOls in
any but a cOllatiye sense. Anywhere else
but among British people the common sorts
are known by sundry distinctive popular
names or fanciful designations. On the
continent one finds such titles as Snow
ball. ''Satyr's Beard" RATS Paw"
''Hare's ear" Hen of the Woods" ''Ur- |
chin." etc. applied in each case to some
well-recssnized species of toadStoOl. We |
have no such names; mushroom" toad 7
STOOL" ''puf-hall. devils snutf-bOx" and /
''truffie' exhaust our fungoid vocabulary
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