The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-09-30
Mcclure Ten Cent Co.

Thus, 1t would be dangerous to regard all mushrooms growing in meadows, open fields and roadsdes as good since many suspected kinds grow in such places On the other hand, mushrooms growing in conlferous woods and under trees gen. erally have been condemned but the sue culent baotarius deliclosus grows In con ferrous woods and the edible Pholiota grows under poplars, while species of hel- vella and Hydrum. which flourish in
 shady woods, form n wholesome dish
 The blackenlng of a gold or silver coin or ring does not prove a mushroom to be poisonous; the blackenlng Is generally due to more or less decay In the mushroom as fresh mushrooms, whether poisonous or not, fail to blacken these metals The curdling of milk by mushrooms is another property which has nothing in common with toXicity, the cause of the curdling being attributable to the presence of an acid or ferment An old custom con sisted in dipping n white onion or clove Of garlic into the cooking vessel contain ing the mushrooms and noting whether the latter turned brown or not The pre- sumption that only noxious mushrooms are turned brown by this treatment Is not Justfiaole, since some on-poisonous va rieties do change color In this way while some poisonous varieties do not. It is A common belief that slugs and insects at- tack edible mushrooms, bu this Is by no means universally true. as the deadly Amanltas are attacked by slugs. while many wholesome fungi are respected by these depredators
 The tests far described are largely Of rule-of-thumb nature but another test which has received wide aeeeptance depends upon the fact that many poison ous fungi are surrounded by n veIum linl- versale, notable examples being the in- tensely poisonous subgenera Volyaria and Amanita and the puffbals. But, like all other rules, this Is open to exceptions, in- eluding the genus agarleus, to which the common mushroom A. campestris, be- longs Professor Labesse considers that there are no practical empirical means by which amateurs may with confidence de- eide whether an unknown fungus is good to eat
 There Is often risk taken In eating mushrooms, and those who do not wish to Incur the risk are reminded by Pro- lessor Labesse of the method adopted by Gerard in 1850. He boiled the mush- rooms for some time in salt water. threw away the water, and exposed the mush- rooms to the air. He fed his family for nearly month upon all kinds of poison ous mushrooms treated in this way, and found them to be nutritious, though less palatable than mushrooms cooked in the ordinary way. Professor Labesse sua- gests that not more than one mushroom in ten is poisonous. and that the best con sists in rejecting those which have a ring at the base of the stlpe. Deadly mush- rooms as rule possess ring or annuIus consisting of the remains of the Nelum partiale which covers the young mush- room and is fractured during growth. In order 10 apply this test the mushrooms must be gathered with care
 Unfortunately in rejecting mushrooms possessing this character some excellent varieties are rejected in addition to the commonest poisonous varieties. Amateurs should know the characters of the mush- rooms which grow in their neighborhood restrict themselves to certnin kinds which they know 10 be edible esd In cases of doubt. should abstain togelhor.