Chapter III: Part 3

The mode in which the organs immediately containing the seeds are formed, differs according to the family. In the tribe of puff-balls, where the seed is formed in the interior of the fungus, there is no hymenium; a few of the internal cells (when the Lycoperdon has attained its full size) begin to enlarge, and these in a short time are found to contain small granules, generally of a determinate number, and moistened by a fluid secreted from within the walls. In such funguses as have an hymenium it is only some of the superficial cells, and these in a particular position in reference to the receptacle, that contain seeds; though perfect identity of structure throughout, is evinced in a conclusive manner if we invert the head of a young fungus on its stalk; for then these thecæ begin to form and to fill themselves with seed, not on the side where they were about to do so previous to this inversion of the head, but on that which was the uppermost and sterile surface, and which, now that it is the undermost, has become prolific. The expansion of a fungus, according to Vittadini, is effected as follows:—“These thecæ,” of which we have been speaking, “as they swell, become distended with the contained seed, and mostly so at their free extremity, since they have more room for expansion in that direction than at the other, which is impacted into the substance of the pileus; in consequence of this, a series of wedges are formed which, as the seed continues to distend them, force out the pileus, loosen its marginal connections with the stalk, uncurl its involuted borders, and finally open up its cells, pores, and sinuses.”[109]

In those subterranean funguses which mature their seeds below the surface of the ground, the lower portion, so soon as this is accomplished in the upper, suddenly takes to grow upwards, carrying along with it the bag, which, on reaching the surface of the ground, bursts its envelopes and scatters its prolific dust to the winds. All funguses, as has already been observed, have in all probability spores, though in a few instances, of byssoid growths, (Hyphas, Himantias, and Æthelias,) these are not apparent; in most cases too, they are attached to an hymenium, into which, or on the surface of which, they are placed till ripe. One very large tribe, by far the largest, are called _Hymenomycetes_, from ὑμήν, a membrane, and μύκος, a fungus; _i. e._ funguses with a seed membrane: to distinguish them from those other kinds, very small numerically in proportion to themselves, _Gasteromycetes_, in which the seeds, arranged and stored away in particular receptacles, named sporanges or thecæ, are with them included in the belly (γαστήρ) of the fungus, as is the case in truffles and puff-balls. The hymenium, like that curiously doubled-down sheet of paper which conjurors turn into so many shapes, assumes a great variety of forms; running down the gills of the mushrooms and the plaits of the _Cantharellus_, up into the tubes of the Boletuses; sheathing the vegetable teeth of _Hydna_, forming an intricate labyrinth of anastomosing plates in _Dædalea_; now rising into little rough eminences on the surface of the _Thelephoræ_, and now affording a smooth investment to that of the _Clavariæ_. It is covered with a veil, which disappears so soon as the spores begin to ripen, and its protection is no longer required; seen under the microscope, it appears to be wholly made up of thecæ.

SUCCESSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPORES.

When the spore is to cease to be a spore, and to become a mushroom, the first thing it does is to send forth certain cotton-like filaments, whose interfacings entangle it completely while they also serve to attach it to the place of its birth; these threads (like the spongioles attached to the roots of phænogamous plants, whose name sufficiently explains their office) absorb and bring nourishment to the quickened spore, which then maintains itself entirely by intus-susception. All this takes place before the germ has burst, or the embryo fungus begun to develope its organs. In some instances, these elementary threads are, like the ordinary roots of plants, spread out to a considerable distance underground, forming here and there in their course small bulbs or tubercles, each of which, in turn, becomes a new individual; in others, and more commonly, these spores are sprinkled about unconnectedly, as in the _Pietra funghaia_, affecting certain spots only, which become so many small matrices whereof each furnishes a crop. The union of many germinating granules together with their connecting threads, constitutes mushroom spawn, or, as it is technically called, _carcytes_.[110] Examined a short time after quickening, the spore is found to have swelled out into a fleshy kernel; which in puff-balls, truffles, and the uterine subterranean families generally, constitutes of itself the whole fungus; this only grows in size afterwards, the substance and original form remaining the same through the entire period of development. In those destined to live under the influence of air and light, this same rudimental nucleus gradually evolves _new parts_, and assumes, as we have seen, a vast variety of forms, (whereof each particular one is predetermined by the original bias imprinted upon every spore at its creation,) and here there is a manifest analogy with the progressive development of new parts in the higher plants. In such funguses as are wrapped up in a volva or bag, during the earliest period of growth, this furnishes them not only with the means of protection, but of nourishment also. This volva, which is formed by the mere swelling out of the original fleshy bulb, when it has grown to a certain size, exhibits towards its centre the rudiments of the young fungus; of which the receptacle appears first, and all the other parts in succession. The embryo, next taking to grow, in its turn approaches the circumference of the volva, which, having by this time ceased to expand, is burst open, and sometimes with much violence, by the emerging Amanite. As soon as the hymenium has parted with its seed, which falls from it in the form of fine dust, the fungus, collapsing, either withers on its stem, or else dissolves into a black liquid and so escapes to the earth. In such funguses as have not a volva, the basilar or primary nucleus shoots up at once in the form of a cone, and a little later presents at its apex the rudiments of a receptacle or head; by degrees, and frequently by slow degrees,[111] the perfected structures of the plant are elaborated and spread themselves out into some of the forms mentioned above, of which the clavate is the most simple, and that with gills the most complex. The primary nucleus is formed out of simple cellular membrane, the cells of which, at first elongating, and at length uniting into little bundles, assume a fibrous appearance; sometimes these fascicular bodies effuse themselves unchanged into the substance of the receptacle, in which they spread out and are lost; at others, a transverse line makes the demarcation between the pileus and stem.[112] The last part formed in a fungus, generally, is that which bears the seed; and whenever an exception to this occurs, and the seed is formed at an earlier period than usual, nature has in this case provided three membranes, to cover and protect these delicate organs till the plant shall have attained maturity: these are the ring (_annulus_), the veil (_velum_), and the wrapper (_volva_).

OF THE ANNULUS, THE VELUM, AND THE VOLVA.

Of these involucra the first two are partial, the other universal. The Volva is a thick membranaceous covering, originating at the base of the fungus, which it thus connects with the earth, and furnishes, during its fœtal life, with the means of support and nourishment. When this has ceased, and the plant has quitted its wrapper, if this still adhere to the base of the stalk, it is styled manifest (_manifesta_), but if there be no traces of it left, obliterated (_obliterata_). It is _free_ when it can be easily detached, and _congenital_ when it cannot without laceration. In funguses with bulbous roots it is congenital, in those without bulbs it is free. All funguses that have a volva are of course _volvati_, but as this organ exists in many only so long as they are underground, mycologists are agreed to restrict the term to such alone as retain it afterwards.

_The Ring._—This, which differs considerably in form, substance, and in its attachments, is composed either of a continuous sheet of membrane or else of a number of delicately-spun threads, resembling a spider’s web,[113] which in either case passing from the margin of the pileus to the corresponding upper portion of the stem, give way as the plant expands, and either festoon for a season the margin of the cap, or encircle the stalk with a ring. The marginal remains of the Annulus are extremely fugacious, but the ring round the stalk, though generally transitory, is sometimes persistent; it is _superior_ or _descending_ when originating from the summit of the stem, it descends outwards and downwards to form connections with the rim of the pileus; _inferior_ or _ascending_ when, coming off from that portion of the stalk which is below the pileus, it ascends to attach itself to this. In a few cases the ring is partly membranaceous and partly composed of radiating arachnoid threads.

_The Veil._—Some funguses not only present the ring just mentioned, their hymenium or seed membrane being further protected from harm by a second investment, the veil, _Velum_, the stalk origin of which, when existing in conjunction with an annulus, is below it, but when the fungus is not annulate, the velum rises higher up on the stalk, stretches across to meet and is afterwards reflected over the whole surface of the pileus; on the expansion of the Agaric this investment is entirely broken up, and exhibits those well-known flocks, which have been called by the learned _verrucæ_, but which, as they are generally of a dirty leprous hue, and affect more or less of a circular arrangement, have procured for this whole tribe of Amanites in Italy the uncomely epithet of _tignosi_, or scald-heads. Where there has been both a volva and a velum, as sometimes happens in the same fungus, these verrucæ are of different colours according as they are remnants of the first merely, or of both together.[114] The velum in the subgenus _Limacium_ is a slimy coating adhering to the head of the fungus, which then looks as if it had been dipped in gum mucilage; this generally disappears after a time, leaving the epidermis dry, though sometimes, like the solid membranaceous veil, it is more or less persistent. The waxy covering on the pileus of the _Ag. virescens_, which after a time cracks and tessellates its surface, is only an exudation limited to the upper portion of the cap, and not a veil.

_The Stalk._—This, which is absent in many parasitical funguses of the Order _Pileati_, when present, either effuses itself uninterruptedly into the substance of the pileus, which it then, in fact, _forms_, or else supports merely as on a pillar, a distinct line of demarcation showing where the fibres terminate. It assumes a great variety of forms, which serve in many instances to characterize species; besides which peculiarities there are others to be noted, as the mode of its insertion into the pileus, its having or not having a ring, the circumstance of its being scabrous, glossy, or tomentose, reticulated, spotted, or striped, of one colour above and another below, or of its changing colour when bruised, any of which may sometimes assist our diagnosis.

_The Pileus._—By far the larger number of funguses mentioned in this work have a pileus, or cap; all such belong to the first great tribe _Pileati_; they include the genera _Agaricus_, _Boletus_, _Cantharellus_, _Morchella_, _Hydnum_, _Fistulina_, and _Polyporus_, each of which furnishes its quota of alimentary species, together with many others not esculent. The form of the pileus, like that of the stalk, is various in these different genera, besides being variable in the different species of the same genus; generally it assumes an orbicular or umbrella shape, especially in such funguses as grow solitary on the ground, whilst in others, parasitical on trees, (particularly when they have no stalk,) it is more or less of a half-hemisphere.

_The Gills._—Those vertical plates on the under surface of the mushroom, which radiate from the centre to the circumference, like the spokes of a wheel, are called Gills (_lamellæ_); they are not formed, as some have supposed, of layers of the reduplicated seed-membrane alone, but by a prolongation of the fibres of the pileus, which these merely invest. The fibrous structure is most apparent in Agarics with thick gills; in those where the flesh changes colour when bruised; or where, the interposed flesh remaining white, the hymenium is tinged with the colour of the ripening spores. In those funguses which have little flesh the upper surface of the pileus, especially towards the circumference, is frequently furrowed with transverse sulci; these are occasioned by the sinking in of the epidermis along with the fibres of the flesh between the layers of the hymenium, and consequently their position always corresponds precisely to that occupied by the backs of the gills. The end nearest the stalk is termed posterior (_postica_), the opposite extremity anterior (_antica_); the terminations of the lesser gills take place at various distances short of the stalk, which the perfect gills reach, and down which they sometimes course or are decurrent (_decurrentes_); they are said to be adnate (_adnatæ_) when connected at their posterior end; free (_liberæ_) when they do not adhere; remote (_remotæ_) when they terminate at a certain distance from the stem; emarginate (_emarginatæ_) when they are obtusely notched or hollowed out posteriorly; denticulate (_denticulatæ_) when connected by means of a tooth; equal (_æquales_) when all of the same length; forked (_furcatæ_) and branched (_ramosæ_) when they divide in their course, once, or more frequently, or are connected at the sides with the imperfect gills; dedalean (_dædaleæ_) when they anastomose irregularly together; simple (_simplices_) when they are free from all connections; distant (_distantes_) when they are few and wide apart; close (_confertæ_) when they are very numerous and touch each other; serrated (_serratæ_) when notched like a saw; waved (_undulatæ_) when the margin is undulating; and imbricating (_imbricatæ_) when they lie one over another, like tiles.

_The Tubes._—Funguses of the genus _Boletus_, etc., present on their under surface, in place of gills, series of small hollow cylinders or tubes; which are for the most part soldered side to side like the cells of a honeycomb, but in the _Fistulina_ are unconnected. Like the gills, they are prolongations of the fibres of the pileus, but lined, instead of coated, by the hymenium; their free extremities are the pores, which at first are closed, but afterwards open to let the seed escape: they are generally of equal length and simple, but sometimes in the interior of a large one smaller tubes may be discerned, in which case the first is termed compound. With reference to the stalk, they are either adnate or decurrent, they first appear as a network formed by slight prominences of the fibres of the pileus; if at this early period a portion be removed together with a piece of the flesh, it is reproduced in a few days and the tubes developed as usual. The beautiful reticulations observed on the stalk of some Boletuses are produced by abortive tubes decurrent along their surface.

_The Plaits_: Venæ, Plicæ.—The plaits of the Chanterelle are formed like the gills and tubes of the mushroom and Boletus, _i. e._ by the fibres of the flesh running down from the pileus, and invested in a reduplication of the hymenium; with this difference, however, that while in the two latter the seed membrane is divided into as many portions as there are gills or tubes, in the former the continuity of its surface is perfectly unbroken. These plaits (_plicæ_) are always late in appearing, and sometimes are only developed when the fungus is about to cast its seed.

_The Spines_: Aculei, etc.—The under surface of the pileus in the genus _Hydnum_ is shagged with vegetable spines or teeth (_dentes_, _aculei_) of unequal lengths, generally isolated, but sometimes connected at the base, and formed originally out of a congeries of minute papillæ invested by the hymenium, which gradually elongate their fibres and assume this form. Light seems essential to their production, for if a Hydnum grow in the dark, the teeth shrink up into long threads and are sterile.

METHODICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE BRITISH ESCULENT FUNGUSES.

The primary division of Funguses into _Hymenomycetes_ and _Gasteromycetes_ is founded upon the position of their seed, which lies, as we have seen, externally in the first, and internally in the members of the second. The funguses described in the present work belong chiefly to the first division, _Hymenomycetes_; to Tribe 1, _Pileati_; and many of them to Genus 1, _Agaricus_. This genus includes a great variety of species, and is distinguished from all other genera by having a fleshy pileus furnished underneath with _gills_, which are placed at right angles to the stem. Some species, during their infancy, are enclosed either in one or more membranes.

DIVISION I. HYMENOMYCETES.

TRIBE 1. _PILEATI._

GENUS 1. AGARICUS.

Old words in Natural History seldom become obsolete, but they change their meanings strangely. Were Dioscorides and Pliny _redivivi_, they would find nothing but misnomers! The term _Agaricus_, which anciently applied indiscriminately to all hard coriaceous funguses growing on trees (while the word _Fungus_ did imperfect duty for this genus), was next arbitrarily made by Linnæus to stand representative for such only as had gills, “fungi lamellati terrestres et _arborei_.”[115] Persoon, again, under the name _Amanita_ (a Galenic word, but hitherto unappropriated), made a new genus of such Agarics as were invaginated, _i. e._ shut up during the earlier period of their development in a volva; of such as had veins in place of gills, _Merulius_; and of such as had anastomosing gills formed another, _Dædalea_, a third division. More recently, Fries has greatly simplified the study of this very large and difficult genus by eliminating all of a coriaceous texture, and (having restored to it the genus _Amanita_) by then dividing the whole into sections; enabling us to arrive at an accuracy in the discrimination of species which was wholly unattainable before his time. His first grand series of Agarics comprehends those of white spores (LEUCOSPORI[116]), and of this his first section is—

Subgenus 1. AMANITA.[117]

All the Agarics belonging to this subgenus are, during the immaturity of the fungus, furnished with a volva and a ring; some have a velum in addition, and in this case, the surface of the pileus is covered with warts, or verrucæ. This natural division was adopted long ago by Micheli, who gave the name _Uovoli_ to those which had only the first two, and that of _Tignosi_ to those that had all three. Altogether they form but a very small group, but one very important to distinguish accurately, as it includes, besides one or two very delicate species, some which are highly poisonous.

_Bot. Char._ _Pileus_ at first campanulate, then plane; fleshy towards the centre, attenuated at the margin; _gills_ ventricose, narrow behind, free, numerous, at length denticulate, the imperfect ones few, of a determinate form according to the kind, and, with one exception (that of _Ag. Cæsareus_), white. _Stalk_ generally enlarged at the base, frequently bulbous, solid, or stuffed with a cotton-like substance, which is at length absorbed; _ring_ descending, imperfect, fugacious; _flesh_ white, unchanging.

Esculent species: _Ag. vaginatus_.

Of the _Tignosi_, that is, those with warts on their surface, some have striated margins, others are without striæ.

Esculent species: _Ag. rubescens_.

Subgenus 2. LEPIOTA.[118]

_Bot. Char._ _Volva_ fugacious, _veil_ single, universal, closely adhering to and confluent with the epidermis, when burst forming a more or less persistent ring towards the middle of the stem; _stem_ hollow, stuffed more or less densely with fine arachnoid threads, thickened at the base, fibrillose; _pileus_ fleshy, not compact, ovate when young, soon campanulate, then expanded and umbonate, more or less shagged with scales; _flesh_ white, soft, sometimes changing colour; _gills_ free, unequal, white, never decurrent.

Solitary, persistent, autumnal funguses, growing on the ground. Not dangerous.

Esculent species: _Ag. procerus_, _Ag. excoriatus_.

Subgenus 3. ARMILLARIA.[119]

_Bot. Char._ _Veil_ single, partial, forming a persistent ring, which in the unexpanded plant is joined to the margin of the pileus;[120] _stem_ solid, firm, subfibrillose, unequal; _pileus_ fleshy, convex, expanded, obtuse; _epidermis_ entire, even in the scaly species, and not continuous with the fibres of the ring; _flesh_ white and firm; _gills_ broad, unequal, somewhat acute behind.

Esculent species: _Ag. melleus_ (?).

Subgenus 4. LIMACIUM.[121]

Esculent species: _none_.

Subgenus 5. TRICHOLOMA.[122]

_Bot. Char._ _Veil_ fibrous or floccose, fugacious; _stalk_ generally solid, firm, fleshy, attenuated upwards, scaly, fibrillose or striate; _pileus_ fleshy, compact, campanulate or depressed, convex; margin attenuated, at first involute, shagged with woolly fibres or lanugo; _gills_ unequal, obtuse behind, emarginate; _flesh_ white and unchangeable.

Esculent species: _Ag. prunulus_ and _Ag. personatus_.[123]

Subgenus 6. RUSSULA[124] (_Scop._).

_Bot. Char._ No _veil_; _stem_ smooth, equal, glabrous, strong, white, spongy within; _pileus_ at first campanulate, then hemispherical, in age depressed, fleshy in the centre, thin at the margin, which is never reflexed at any period of growth, the epidermis bare, smooth, occasionally sticky in wet weather; _gills_ juiceless, mostly equal, occasionally forked, the short ones few, rigid, brittle, broad in front, behind narrow, acute, properly free but apparently adnato-decurrent, from the effusion of the stem into the pileus; _flesh_ firm, dry, white, moderately compact, brittle; _sporules_ white or ochraceous; _gills_ white or yellow.

Large or middle size, persistent, solitary funguses, growing on the ground.

Esculent species: _Ag. heterophyllus_, _virescens_, and _ruber_.

Acrid species: _Ag. emeticus_, _sanguineus_, and _alutaceus_.

Subgenus 7. GALORRHEUS.[125]

_Bot. Char._ No _veil_; _stalk_ equal, round, solid, effused into the pileus; _pileus_ fleshy, compact, generally umbilicate, margin even, when young involute; _gills_ unequal, sometimes very thick, often forked, narrow, attenuated behind, brittle, connected by a prolonged tooth to the stalk, down which they are slightly decurrent; _flesh_ firm and juicy, distilling milk.

Esculent species: _Ag. deliciosus_ and _piperatus_.

Subgenus 8. CLYTOCYBE.[126]

_Bot. Char._ _Veil_ none; _pileus_ at first convex, at length infundibuliform; _gills_ unequal. The characteristics of this subgenus are rather negative than positive; many of the contained species vary considerably amongst themselves, but the subdivisions founded on such variations are all well marked.

Subdivision _Dasyphylli_.[127] _Gills_ in close juxtaposition, decurrent or acutely adnate.

Esculent species: _Ag. nebularis_.

Subdivision _Camarophylli_.[128] _Pileus_ subcompact, dry; _gills_ very distant, vaulted, decurrent.

Esculent species: _Ag. virgineus_.

Subdivision _Chondropodes_.[129] _Pileus_ tough, dry, _gills_ nearly free, close, white, external coat of stem subcartilaginous.

Esculent species: _Ag. fusipes_.

Subdivision _Scortei_. _Pileus_ subcoriaceous; _gills_ free, subdistant.

Esculent species: _Ag. oreades_.

Subgenus 9. COLLYBIA.[130]

Esculent species: _none_.

Subgenus 10. MYCENA.[131]

Esculent species: _none_.

Subgenus 11. OMPHALIA.[132]

Esculent species: _none_.

Subgenus 12. PLEUROPUS.[133]

_Bot. Char._ _Pileus_ unequal, eccentric or lateral; _stem_, when present, solid and firm; _gills_ unequal, juiceless, unchangeable, acute behind, growing on trees or wood; for the most part innocuous, but two only generally eaten.

Esculent species: _Ag. ostreatus_, in the subdivision _Concharia_; and _Ag. ulmarius_, in the subdivision _Ægeritaria_.

Series 2. HYPORHODEUS.[134]

_Sporules_ pale rose-colour.

Subgenus 13. CLITOPILUS.[135]

_Bot. Char._ _Veil_ none; _stem_ tolerably firm, subequal, distinct from the pileus; _pileus_ fleshy, campanulate or convex, at length somewhat plane, dry, regular; _gills_ unequal, changing colour as the fungus matures its seed, fixed, or free.

Esculent species: _Ag. orcella_.

Subgenus 14. LEPTONIA.[136]

Esculent species: _none_.

Subgenus 15. NOLANEA.[137]

Esculent species: _none_.

Subgenus 16. ECCILIA.[138]

Esculent species: _none_.

Series 3. CORTINARIA.[139]

_Sporules_ reddish-ochre; _veil_ arachnoid.

Subgenus 17. TELAMONIA.[140]

Esculent species: _none_.

Subgenus 18. INOLOMA.[141]

_Bot. Char._ _Veil_ fugacious, marginal, consisting of free arachnoid threads; _stem_ solid, bulbous, fibrillose, more or less diffused into the pileus, fleshy; _pileus_ fleshy, convex when young, then expanded, fibrillose, or viscid, regular, juicy; _gills_ emarginato-adnexed, broad, changing colour; colour of the gills or pileus violet.

Large autumnal funguses growing on the ground.

Esculent species: _Ag. violaceus_.

Subgenus 19. DERMOCYBE.[142]

_Bot. Char._ _Veil_ dry, arachnoid, very fugacious; _stem_ not truly bulbous, fibrillose, stuffed when young; _pileus_ clothed with fibrillæ, rarely with gluten; _gills_ rather unequal, broad, close.

Esculent species: _Ag. castaneus_.

Series 4. DERMINUS.

[In the nine subgenera following, from 20 to 28, viz.
_Pholiota_, _Myxacium_, _Hebeloma_, _Flammula_, _Inocybe_,
_Naucoria_, _Galera_, _Tapinia_, and _Crepidotus_, there are no
esculent species.]

Series 5. PRATELLA.[143]

_Bot. Char._ _Veil_ not arachnoid; _gills_ changing colour, clouded, at length dissolving; _sporidia_ brown-purple.

Subgenus 29. VOLVARIA.

Esculent species: _none_.

Subgenus 30. PSALIOTA.[144]

_Bot. Char._ _Veil_ forming a partial ring-like investment, more or less persistent; _stalk_ robust, subequal, distinct from the pileus; _pileus_ fleshy, more or less campanulate when young, almost flat when fully expanded; sometimes sticky, sometimes scaly or else fibrillose, sometimes naked; _gills_ unequal, free, or connected with the stalk, broad and deepening in colour.

In addition to the ring, some have a very fugacious _volva_ or _velum_, some both one and the other.

Esculent species: _Ag. campestris_ and _Georgii_.

[In the four next subgenera, from 31 to 34, _Hypholoma_,
_Psilocybe_, _Psathyra_, and _Coprinarius_, there are no
esculent species.]

Subgenus 35. COPRINUS.[145]

_Bot. Char._ _Gills_ free, unequal, thin, simple, changing colour, at length deliquescent. _Veil_ universal, floccose, fugacious; _stem_ fistulose, straight, elongated, brittle, subsquamulose, whitish; _pileus_ membranaceous, rarely subcarnose, when young ovato-conic, then campanulate, at length torn and revolute, deliquescent, distinct from the stem, clothed with the flocculose fragments of the veil.

Fugacious funguses, growing in rich dungy places or on rotten wood.

Esculent species: _Ag. comatus_ and _atramentarius_.

Subgenus 36. GOMPHUS.

No esculent species.

GENUS 2. CANTHARELLUS.[146]

_Bot. Char._ These are distinguished from Agarics, which at first sight they resemble, by having veins in place of gills; that is, by having the prolongations of the fibres of the pileus invested in an _undivided_, in place of a divided hymenium, as occurs in Agarics and in the genus _Boletus_. These veins are prominent, ramifying, seldom anastomosing; central, eccentric, or wanting; no investments; dust white.

Esculent species: _C. cibarius_.

[In the next three genera, _Merulius_, _Schizophyllum_, and
_Dædalea_, there are no esculent species.]

GENUS 6. POLYPORUS.[147]

_Bot. Char._ _Hymenium_ concrete with the substance of the pileus, consisting of subrotund pores with thin simple dissepiments.

Esculent species: _P. frondosus_.

GENUS 7. BOLETUS.[148]

_Bot. Char_. The word _Boletus_, which has at different times, and under different mycologists, been made to represent in turn many very different funguses, is now restricted to such as have a soft flesh, vertical tubes underneath, round or angular, slightly connected together and with the substance of the pileus, open below, and lined by the sporiferous membrane; the cap horizontal, very fleshy, the stalk generally reticulated, some have an investment; the flesh of many changes colour.

They are all innocuous, according to Vittadini, which is not strictly the case, though many species hitherto reputed unwholesome, or worse, appear to lose their bad properties by drying. The kinds generally eaten are _B. edulis_ and _scaber_.

GENUS 8. FISTULINA.[149]

_Bot. Char._ _Hymenium_ formed of a distinct substance, but concrete with the fibres of the pileus; _tubes_ at first wart-like, somewhat remote, radiato-fimbriate, closed; at length approximated, elongated, open.

Esculent species: _F. hepatica_.

GENUS 9. HYDNUM.[150]

_Bot. Char._ In this genus the under surface presents a series of conical teeth or bristles of unequal length, solid, continuous with the flesh of the pileus and covered entirely by the sporiferous membrane. The species composing it have no investments; the _flesh_ is dry, frequently corky or coriaceous; the _pileus_ irregular in shape, and its margin arched and undulated. There are no dangerous species, but which to eat must depend upon the united consent of the stomach and of the teeth.

Esculent species: _H. repandum_.

[In the last five genera of this tribe, namely, _Sistotrema_,
_Irpex_, _Radulum_, _Phlebia_, and _Thelephora_, there are no
esculent species.]

TRIBE 2. _CLAVATI._[151]

_Hymenium_ above, smooth; _receptacle_ club-shaped or cylindrical, with no distinct margin; _substance_ fleshy.

GENUS 15. CLAVARIA.

_Bot. Char._ _Receptacle_ erect, homogeneous, smooth, not distinguishable from the stalk, simple or entirely covered by the hymenium.

All the species in this genus are good to eat.

[In the remaining six genera of this tribe there are no
esculent species.]

TRIBE 3. _MITRATI._

_Receptacle_ bullate, pileiform, margined; _hymenium_ superior, never closed.

GENUS 22. MORCHELLA.

_Bot. Char._ _Receptacle_ hollow and confluent with stalk, club-shaped, or, like the pileus, fissured above with lacunæ more or less deep, limited by thick folds, anastomosed with reticulations, entirely covered with sporiferous membrane; _flesh_ waxy in texture; _stalk_ constant.

There are two esculent kinds, _M. esculenta_ and _semilibera_; the _esculenta_ and _hybrida_ of Sowerby.

GENUS 23. HELVELLA.

_Bot. Char._ _Substance_ fleshy; _margins_ sinuous; only the upper portion of the pileus sporiferous.

Esculent species: _H. crispa_, _lacunosa_, and _esculenta_.

[In Genera 24 to 26 there are no esculent species.]

TRIBE 4. _CUPULATI._

_Hymenium_ concrete, superior, smooth, shut in while young by the margins of the receptacle; _sporules_ disseminated with elasticity or otherwise; _receptacle_ bowl-shaped, flat or concave; some of this tribe when young have an involucrum.

GENUS 27. PEZIZA.

Series ALEURIA. Subgenus MEGALOPYXIS.

Esculent species: _P. acetabulum_.

[In Genera 28 to 45, which conclude the first great division,
_Hymenomycetes_, there are no esculent species.]

DIVISION II. GASTEROMYCETES.

_Bot. Char._ The _receptacle_ a close cavity with or without a hymenium; _spores_ at last free and variously disseminated.

[In Genera 46 to 73 there are no esculent species.]

GENUS 74. BOVISTA.[152]

_Bot. Char._ _Peridium_ papyraceous, furnished with a distinct back, which at length peels off altogether, fertile within; _capillitium_ equal.

Esculent species: _B. plumbea_.

GENUS 75. LYCOPERDON.

_Bot. Char._ A sessile _peridium_, membranaceous; at first filled with a white, consistent, homogeneous substance, which after a time is converted into a dust of various hues, and is interspersed with copious filaments. The funguses of this genus are invested in two membranes; the innermost of which, or _peridium_, is tough and smooth on the outside, shaggy with floccose threads within. The external membrane, which is very fragile and tender, frequently falls off during the maturation of the seed, which then escapes through the peridium by an irregular orifice at the apex.

Esculent species: _L. plumbeum_ and _Bovista_.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES.

AGARICUS PRUNULUS, _Vitt._

PLATE I. FIG. 1.

Subgenus TRICHOLOMA, _Fries_. Subdivision PERSONATA, _ibid._

AGARICUS MOUCERON, _Bulliard_. _Cæsalpinus_, p. 617.

MOUCERON GRIS, _Paulet_, _Persoon_.

“Cogitatione ante pascuntur succineis novaculis aut argenteo
apparatu comitante.”—_Pliny._

“Tout ce qui fait l’ornement des festins s’embaume du parfum de
ces cryptogames.”—_Persoon._

_Bot. Char._ Gregarious, or growing in rings[153] on the ground; _pileus_ thick, convex, irregular in shape, more or less tuberculated, sometimes lobed;[154] margin not striate, wavy, expanding unequally; _epidermis_ cream-coloured, grey, reddish, or of a dirty nankeen hue, paler towards the circumference, soft to the touch like kid, minutely tomentose, fragile, dry, firmly attached to the flesh; flesh firm, compact; _gills_ watery, white, very numerous, irregular, with many smaller ones (from 5-11, _Vitt._) interposed, lying over each other like the plaits of a frill, adnato-emarginate,[155] the imperfect gills rounded off at their posterior end. _Stem_ white, robust, firm, solid, somewhat irregular in form, generally thickened at the base, constantly so in young specimens, but in older ones, though occasionally bulging, it presents not unfrequently an equal cylinder throughout, and sometimes tapers slightly downwards. The fibres are effused into the pileus, spreading out like a fan through its substance; _smell_ strong, _taste_ agreeable; _spores_ white, elliptical, adhering firmly to the body on which they fall. The dried plant retains much the same form it had when fresh.

On tracing this fungus to its origin, (spring is the only time, and the borders of the woodlands the proper place, to look for it,) if we dig up the earth where it grows, this will be found mouldy to a considerable depth beneath the surface, and strongly impregnated with the peculiar odour which the _Prunulus_ exhales; this apparent mouldiness being, in fact, the spawn, amidst the white filaments of which many minute Agarics, in various stages of their development, may be found; some, in the earliest, presenting merely white cones destitute of heads, whilst in others a slight protuberance indicates the future pileus forming or already formed. The pileus is at first almost spherical, and involute in its borders, the gills whitish, very minute, and so thickly set as to press one against the other, each communicating to the membrane that lines the next the impressions of its own fibres, which remain in the form of transverse striæ, and furnish a characteristic to this fungus retained during all its subsequent growth (_Vitt._). The greatest size which I have known the _Prunulus_ attain has been in England, where I have picked specimens measuring six inches across, and weighing between four and five ounces; as to the fecundity of this fungus, I collected this spring, from a single ring on the War-Mount at Keston (Kent), from ten to twelve pounds, and in the one field from twenty to twenty-five pounds. In this neighbourhood they are generally destroyed, as injurious to his grass-crops, by the over-careful farmer, quite ignorant, of course, of their value; to which the following extract from a letter of Professor Balbi to Persoon bears testimony:—“This rare and most delicious Agaric, the _Mouceron_ of Bulliard, and the _Ag. prunulus_ of other authors, abounds on the hills above the valley of Stafora, near Bobbio, where it is called Spinaroli, and is in great request; the country people eat it fresh in a variety of ways, or they dry and sell it for from twelve to sixteen francs a pound.” Vittadini says, truly enough, that the fresh is better than the dried _Prunulus_, the substance of the latter being rather coriaceous, but the gravy prepared from it in this state, being very rich and well-flavoured, is largely used by those who reject the body of the mushroom; three or four thrown into a pot of the lighter broths or of beef-tea render them more savoury. To dry the _Prunulus_ it is usual to cut it into four or more pieces, which are exposed for some days to a dry air and then threaded: it acquires an aroma by the process, and communicates this to any dish of which it is afterwards an ingredient.

It would be extremely difficult to confound this Agaric with any other; its mode of growth in circles, the extreme narrowness of its gills, which are moreover striate, the thickness of its pileus, and the bulging character of its stalk, would render a mistake almost impossible, even did it grow in autumn when other funguses abound, in place of appearing only in spring when few species comparatively abound.

The best mode of cooking the _Ag. prunulus_ is either in a mince or fricassee it with any sort of meat, or in a _vol-au-vent_, the flavour of which it greatly improves; or simply prepared with salt, pepper, and a small piece of bacon, lard, or butter, to prevent burning, it constitutes of itself a most excellent dish. It has the great advantage of appearing in spring, at a season the common mushroom never occurs. I have placed it first in the series of Plates, as being the most savoury fungus with which I am acquainted.[156]

When eaten alone, Sterbeck’s white mustard will be found an excellent condiment for it; this is prepared as follows:—Bruise in a mortar some sweet almonds with a little water, then add salt, pepper, and some lemon-juice, rub together till the whole is of the consistence of common mustard.

AGARICUS PROCERUS, _Scop._

PLATE II.

Subgenus LEPIOTA, _Fries_.

“Elle est d’une saveur très-agréable et d’une chair tendre,
très-délicate et très-bonne à manger. Les amateurs la préfèrent
même au champignon de couche, comme ayant une chair plus fine
et étant beaucoup plus légère sur l’estomac.”—_Paulet._

This, which is one of the most delicate funguses, fortunately is not rare in England. In Italy it is in equal request with the _Amanita Cæsarea_; in France it is also in high esteem,—“servie sur toutes les tables, elle est bonne à toute sauce” (_Thore_); and were its excellent qualities better known here, they could not fail to secure it a general reception into our best kitchens, and a frequent place among our side-dishes at table. The beauty and remarkable appearance of this Agaric have procured for it a variety of names: _colubrinus_, from the snake-like markings on the stem; _clypeatus_, from its umbonated top; ‘_fungo parasole_,’ from the orbicular form of the wide-spread pileus; and _Gambaltiem_ or _Fonz de la gamba lunga_, from the extraordinary height of the stalk. Autumn is the time of its greatest abundance, but individual specimens occur occasionally throughout the summer.

It grows solitary or few together in hedgebanks and pasture-grounds.

The pileus, which is commonly from four to four and a half inches across, sometimes attains a width of six or seven. At first it is concealed in a volva, but breaking from this it goes through a variety of forms, from that of an ovoid cone to that of a flattened disk. It is umbonated at the centre, and covered with scales, which are formed by the breaking up of the mud-coloured epidermis, and are large, raised, and persistent at the centre; thin, regular, and lighter in hue at the circumference, “the whole surface resembling a delightfully soft, shaggy-brown leather” (_Purton_). The flesh of the pileus is white and cottony, that of the stalk fibrous and somewhat brittle, with a subrubescent tinge, the whole plant turning to a rufous-orange when bruised; the gills are of a pale flesh-colour, occasionally forked, ventricose, denticulate, remote from the stalk, and having a circular pit between it and their central extremities, which are fixed into a kind of collar. The stalk tawny, striped circularly with bands of white, formed by the breaking up of the epidermis; is bulbous at the base and attenuated upwards; its apex rounded, and penetrating deeply through the flesh of the pileus (which receives it as in a socket), gives rise to the central umbo on the upper surface of the cap. The ring moveable, like that of an umbrella-stick, broad, compact, membranaceous immediately round the stalk, and fibrous towards its free margin, is white above and tawny or of the same colour as the stalk on its under surface. The smell is like that of newly-ground meal; the taste is pleasant; the spores are white and elliptic.

The _Ag. excoriatus_ resembles the _Ag. procerus_ very closely, but is easily distinguished from it by its smaller size, the absence of the bulb at the base of the stalk, and the ring being often attached instead of free.

Being equally esculent, the following receipts will serve for both:—

“Comme il est très-léger et très-délicat, il faut le faire sauter dans l’huile fine après l’avoir assaisonné d’un point d’ail, de poivro et de sel; en quelques instants il est cuit. On le mange aussi en fricassée de poulet, cuit sur le gril ou dans la tourtière avec de beurre, de fines herbes, du poivre, du sel, et de la chapelure de pain; on ne mange point la tige, elle est d’une texture coriace” (_Roques_).

The ketchup from both kinds is better than that procured from the _Agaricus campestris_, or common mushroom.

N.B.—I have in the above notice described one variety of
_Agaricus procerus_; there is, however, if not another, at
least a remarkable modification of this, in which the pileus
is thinner and much less shaggy, the gills less broad but
similar in shape, the stalk more slender and elongate. This
variety is also nearly void of odour, _and its flesh does not
change colour on being bruised_: for culinary purposes this
distinction is without importance, as both are equally good.

BOLETUS EDULIS, _Bulliard_.

PLATE III. FIGS. 1 AND 2.

Section CORTINARIA, _Fries_.

“Atto sovra ognun altro fungo al commercio, forma da questo
lato, per non pochi paesi della Lombardia, una delle principali
risorsi della povera gente.”—_Vitt._

The ancient Romans were well acquainted with this truly delicious fungus, and in general appear to have done it justice; the strings of dried Suillus, which his countrymen, on the testimony of Pliny, were in the habit of fetching from Bithynia, were in all likelihood the same as those similarly-prepared strings of the modern Porcino which are sold during the winter in every market-place throughout Italy.[157] Vittadini mentions a curious fact respecting them, viz. that though they are composed of many different Boletuses, no mischief was ever known to originate from their indiscriminate and very extensive consumption; whence he concludes that _all_ the species of this genus are innocuous, or, at least, that drying and cooking will extract any deleterious principles which they may have originally contained;—an inference, he thinks, supported by the daily use among the peasantry of certain districts of the _B. luridus_, which of all bad Boletuses commonly passes for the worst, and by his having experimented with it in large doses upon animals, who did not suffer in consequence. I have eaten in England a small quantity both of _B. Grevillei_ and of _B. granulatus_, which have much of the flavour of the _B. edulis_; of the _B. subtomentosus_(though, on the authority of Trattinick, it is eaten in Germany) I have no personal experience, nor do I recommend to the amateur any species beyond the two universally eaten and approved of on the Continent, viz.:—_B. edulis_ and _B. scaber_.

_B. edulis._—BOT. CHAR. _Pileus_ from six to seven inches across, pulvinate, smooth, with a thick margin, varying in colour from light brown or bronze, to bay, dark brown, or black, or a mixture of all these colours. The epidermis firmly adherent to the flesh, that firm, and except the part in immediate contact with the skin, which has a slight brown tint, white; the under surface of the cap nearly flat, often presenting a circular pit or depression round the stalk; _tubes_ at first white, then yellow, lastly of an olive or yellow-green tint, in the earlier stage of development (their free extremities then lie against the side of the stalk) closed; afterwards, as the cap expands, stopped up with a waxy-looking material of a dirty pearl colour. _Stem_ varying much in shape at different periods of the growth of the _Boletus_, always thick and solid; at first white, but soon changing to fawn colour, beautifully meshed or mapped (especially on its upper portion) with reticulations characteristic of this species. As the period for casting its seed advances, the inferior surface of the cap swells out, the waxy matter is absorbed, the tubes present deep and rounded orifices to the eye, and presently emit an abundant seminal dust, of an ochraceous green hue (sometimes difficult to collect, from the quantity of moisture exhaled with it), after which both cap and stalk become flaccid, the tubes turn to a dirty green, and the whole fungus falls rapidly into a state of decomposition. The favourite sites for this _Boletus_ are woods, especially those of pines, oaks, and chestnuts; it abounds in autumn, but occurs in spring and occasionally in summer. There is one variety, the _pinicola_, whose name gives its whereabouts, which differs from the foregoing, in having a moist, somewhat sticky cap, a watery flesh changing near the tubes to a light yellow-green when bruised; the reticulations are ill-marked in this species.

The _Boletus edulis_ cannot be mistaken for any other _Boletus_ because it alone presents all the following characters united, viz. a cap of which the surface is smooth; tubes the colour of which varies with each period of its growth, beautiful and singular reticulations of the stalk, especially towards the upper portion, and a flesh which is white and unchanging.

The _Boletus castaneus_, which bears, some little general resemblance to it, is at once distinguished by having a cottony fibrillose stem without reticulations, a downy cap and dirty yellow dust: neither can it be confounded with the _B. subtomentosus_ nor _B. luridus_, because in addition to many other points of difference, both these change colour on being cut or bruised.

As to the best manner of cooking _B. edulis_, this must be left to the taste of the gourmet; in every way it is good. Its tender and juicy flesh, its delicate and sapid flavour, render it equally acceptable to the plain and to the accomplished cook. It imparts a relish alike to the homely hash and the dainty ragout, and may be truly said to improve every dish of which it is a constituent. “Nihil tetigit quod non ornavit.” “Though much neglected in this country, it appears to be a most valuable article of food. It resembles much in taste the common mushroom, and is quite as delicate; it abounds in seasons when these are not to be found.” (_Berkeley._)

_Modes of Cooking Boletus edulis._ (PERSOON.)

It may be cooked in white sauce, with or without chicken, in fricassee broiled or baked with butter, salad oil, pepper, salt, chopped herbs, and bread-crumbs; to which some add ham or a mince of anchovy. It makes excellent fritters: some roast it with onions (basting with butter), but as these take longer to cook than the _Boletus_, this must not be put down till the onions have begun to soften.

_Boletus edulis Soup, made in Hungary._ (PAULET.)

Having dried some _Boletuses_ in an oven, soak them in tepid water, thickening with toasted bread, till the whole be of the consistence of a _purée_, then rub through a sieve, throw in some stewed _Boletuses_, boil together, and serve with the usual condiments.

AGARICUS CAMPESTRIS.

Section PRATELLA. Subdivision PSALIOTA, _Fries_.

AGARICUS CAMPESTRIS, _Linn_.

“Où croît ce champignon, délice des festins,
Que l’art fait chaque jour naître dans nos jardins.”—_Castel._

There is scarcely any one in England who does not feel himself competent to decide on the genuineness of a mushroom: its pink gills are carefully separated from those of a kindred fungus _Ag. Georgii_, which are of a flesh-coloured grey, and out of the pickings of ten thousand hands, a mistake is of rare occurrence; and yet no fungus presents itself under such a variety of forms, of such singular diversities of aspect! the inference is plain; less discrimination than that employed to distinguish this, would enable any who should take the trouble, to recognize at a glance many of those esculent species, which every spring and autumn fill our plantations and pastures with plenteousness. Neither is this left to be a mere matter of inference; it is corroborated in a singular manner by what takes place at Rome; here, whilst many hundred baskets of what we call toadstools are carried home for the table, almost the only one condemned to be thrown into the Tiber, by the inspector of the fungus market is our own mushroom:[158] indeed, in such dread is this held in the Papal States, that no one knowingly would touch it. “It is reckoned one of their fiercest imprecations,” writes Professor Sanguinetti, “amongst our lower orders, infamous for the horrible nature of their oaths, to pray that any one may die of a _Pratiolo_;” and although it has been some years registered among the esculent funguses of Milan and Pavia (on the authority of Vittadini), it has not yet found its way into those markets. Besides the general botanical characters which apply to all varieties of _Ag. campestris_, almost every writer has felt the necessity of pointing out several peculiarities, belonging to each. Common to all are a fleshy pileus, which is sometimes smooth, sometimes scaly, in colour white, or of different shades of tawny, fuliginous, or brown; gills free, at first pallid, then flesh-coloured, then pink, next purple, at length tawny-black; the stem white, full, firm, varying in shape, furnished with a white persistent ring; the spores brown-black, and a volva which is very fugacious.

_Var._ A. _edulis_.

This, which is our button mushroom, lies at first concealed in the earth, at which period it presents the appearance of a puff-ball; at a second stage of its growth, it exhibits a white, smooth, and continuous epidermis; gills rounded off at their posterior end; a large, somewhat funnel-shaped, _double_ ring, free, and somewhat moveable on the stem, which is short and thick. This, according to Vittadini, is the most sapid variety of any.

_Var._ B. _pratensis_.

This differs from the last in the duskier hue of its pileus, which is moreover scaly, and has ragged margins; the gills are ventricose; and the ring, which is subfugacious, is cortinarious, _i. e._ of a cobweb texture, and reflexed; the stalk is longer than in the last species, and tapers towards the base; the colour of the flesh in this variety is vinous or even sanguine.

_Var._ C. _silvicola_.

This differs from the two former in the following particulars; the gills are _pallid_, taper _equally_ at both ends, and come off at a considerable distance from the stalk, which is surrounded above by a very delicate ring, and is _bulbous_ at the base, the bulb showing traces of the volva.[159]

_Var._ D. _anceps_.

Such _uncultivated_ mushrooms as when eaten even in small quantity, produce violent derangement of the stomach and intestinal canal, belong to a variety which, since it grows under hedges, is sometimes called “the hedge mushroom;” this, to which, for distinction’s sake, I have given the name of _anceps_, is by no means of rare occurrence. In order to discriminate it properly from the wholesome varieties, the first point to notice is its extreme lightness as compared with its bulk, that the gills are of a deeper and of a more lurid red than those of _var. edulis_, and in age less purple; they are also less deliquescent. The flesh is more tough and not so juicy. The stem, as in the _var. silvicola_, is curved and bulbous, but also fistulose throughout. The ring complete, firm, broad, reflexed, and _persistent_; the odour disagreeable, and the taste insipid. The form of the pileus that of an obtuse cone in young specimens; extremely flat in the middle state; and more or less concave in age. It seldom grows solitary. The mushroom proper, like other funguses, should be eaten fresh; a few hours making all the difference between its wholesomeness or unwholesomeness: nor need this surprise us when we consider how many principles enter into its composition, how short is the period of its existence, and how liable it must be to enter into new combinations in consequence. Vauquelin found in its flesh fat, adipocere, osmazome, an animal matter insoluble in alcohol, sugar, fungine, and acetate of potash. What a medley! and what wonder, if the changes induced during decomposition should cause the indigestions suffered by those who have eaten them in this state! The mushroom, having the same proximate principles as meat, requires, like meat, to be cooked before these become changed. The _Ag. campestris_ may be prepared in a great variety of ways: they give a fine flavour to soups, and greatly improve beef-tea;—where arrow-root and weak broths are distasteful to the patient, the simple seasoning of a little ketchup will frequently form an agreeable change. Some roast them, basting with melted butter and white (French) wine sauce.[160] In patties and _vols-au-vent_ they are equally excellent; in fricassees, as everybody knows, they are the important element of the dish. Roques recommends in all cases the removal of the gills before dressing, which though it secures a more elegant-looking _entremet_, is only flattering the eye at the expense of the palate.

_Var._ E. _bovinus_.

This variety differs from the _Ag. Georgii_ and the type of the species in size and other particulars. There are specimens which measure fifteen inches across the pileus, with a stalk of corresponding dimensions. The pileus is shaggy, like that of the _Ag. procerus_, with epidermic scales, which are at first nearly white, but in fully developed specimens, of a rich tawny colour, like the _Polyporus squamosus_; and sometimes of a red-brown. The scales more depressed than in _Ag. procerus_, the gills not ventricose, equal at both ends, separated from the stalk by a fossa or groove which runs round its apex; the stalk solid, attenuated at the very base, but thickened just above it, a slightly vinous hue when bruised; flesh of ring perfect, persistent, and hanging round the stalk like a sheet of thin white kid; into which a number of delicate silver threads may be traced proceeding from the apex of stem. The smell is powerful but agreeable, as also is the flavour; no part of the surface ever turns yellow. This variety is both wholesome and well-flavoured; as it is commonly known by the peasants under the name of the “Ox-Mushroom,” I have called it _bovinus_.

_Receipt I.—“A la Provençale._”

Steep for two hours in oil, with some salt, pepper, and a little garlic: then toss up in a small stewpan over a brisk fire, with parsley chopped and a little lemon-juice.

_Receipt II.—To stuff Mushrooms._

Take large mushrooms, full-grown, but not black; remove the gills, and place in lieu of them the following stuffing:—bacon shredded, crumbs of bread, chopped herbs, and a little garlic or eschalots (as for omelettes), salt, pepper, and a taste of spice. Broil in paper as a Maintenon cutlet, moistening with butter when necessary.

_Receipt III.—Mushrooms “à la Marquis Cussi._”

Take button mushrooms; put to them a very small quantity of garlic, finely chopped; toss up over a brisk fire with a little butter; add some lemon-juice; give them a few turns; then add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a wine-glassful of the richest brown gravy (Grande Espagnole); when the mushrooms are warmed through in this, add a couple of glasses of Sauterne, simmer for ten minutes, and serve.