NOTES FUNGOLOGICAL. (On some of the Edible Fungi especially.) If any botanist wishes to sour his temper and breed confusion in his seven wits, let him study Fungology-or Mycology if he likes that word better. It is easy work among the Phanerogamiathe Flowering Plants. Even the grasses and the umbelliferæ will yield to a few hours' patient study. But organic forms as they become less complex become more difficult to classify. The organs are fewer in number, less definite in their characters, and more subject to variation. Thus the Cryptogamia are to botanists what the Calculi are to mathematicians-the very last nuts which they undertake to crack; subjects in every way "worthy of their steel," and not by any means to be subdued with soft iron. Among these troublesome cryptogamia the Fungi* (or Funguses-both words are used) are the lowest and most puzzling. The student entering upon their domain finds him * Pronounced Funji-the g soft and the i long. self in a strange land, among bewildering forms, and with the vocabulary of a new language to be learnt. A botanist may be fairly skilled in the higher orders of vegetation and yet find himself at sea when he reads of a certain fungus "pileus hygrophanous, hymenium amphigenous, hymenophorum continuous with the stem and descending into the floccose trama." Difficulty, however, is no more than an appetising cordial to most Englishmen, and now that we are beginning to understand that there is a palpable sensuous reward for all students of Fungology, in many a rich and savoury dish to be had gratis by those who know how to distinguish the food from the poison, we may expect many heroic souls to undertake the task. About 3000 species of fungi have been registered as natives of Great Britain. Of these however about two-thirds are mere moulds, mildews, and blights, minute forms curious enough to the microscopic student, but offering nothing to eat. Of the remaining thousand species about fifty are known to be quite harmless, and many of these are very excellent, delicious, wholesome, and digestible food. Besides the common Mushroom (Agaricus cam pestris) and the large meadow-mushroom or Horse-mushroom (Agaricus arvensis) I have proved the qualities of about a dozen species. But I shall only undertake to recommend the following seven. These may all be found during Summer and Autumn in the Charnwood district; they are all good and wholesome, and all large enough to be worth gathering. Agaricus procèrus, the parasol mushroom. nebularis, the clouded mushroom. geòtrupus. personatus, the masked mushroom. Marasmius orèades, the champignon. Lycoperdon giganteum, the great puff-ball. Of the four Agarics my own palate gives the preference to procerus and nebularis. Fried in butter, with salt and a little pepper, nothing can be more savoury and agreeable than these two fungi. Each has its own flavour, but both are excellent; and in future I shall never pass by a wood in Autumn without keeping a sharp eye upon the beds of fallen leaves, for the half-hidden dusky-coloured domes of the nebularis; nor fail to look out upon every dry pasture for the tall and handsome procerus-the parasol-mushroom as it is appropriately called. This latter can never be mistaken when once seen; there is no other species like it except one-the agaricus rachodes, and from this it is quite distinguished by its spotted stem. The nebularis is not quite so marked a species, but is distinguishable with a little care by its habitat, its broad pileus always clouded with grey or brown, its white gills and spores, and its stout and solid stem. Agaricus geotrupus is one of the most striking of our large fungi. Less graceful perhaps than the procerus, but very stately and beautiful. It is generally cream-coloured inclining to tan, and in its early stages has a strong resemblance to some antique Egyptian pillar, with swelling base and spreading capital. It is a dry juiceless fungus and does not seem to answer well fried, as it makes no gravy; but well stewed with artificial gravy it is by no means despicable, and it has this advantage that where it is found at all there is generally a plentiful supply. Grassy places on the borders of woods, partially shaded by overhanging boughs seem to be its favorite resorts. In one such spot I found about seventy specimens, forming a complete and persect ring |