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ONCE A WEEK.

[October 15, 1859.

with small  papillae,  which  heighten  its  tongue- like appearance. When tom,  it  turns  red  inside; its flesh  assuming  the  look  of  beetroot,  and emitting a smell  like  that  of  wine. Its taste  is slightly  acid. When old,  it  becomes  dark  brown, or nearly  black. It appears  throughout  the summer. Cut into  slices  and  fried,  it  tastes  like very mild  liver,  with  somewhat  of  the  mush- room flavour, and  a tartness  like  that  imparted by a squeeze  of  lemon. Used for  the  same  pur- poses as the  truffle,  it  would  probably  be  found preferable to  that  fungus.

Two of  the  puff-balls  are  very  good  to  eat. Every schoolboy  is  familiar  with  these  fungi, which he  knows  by  the  name  of  41  snuff-boxes/’ but which  the  refinement  of  classical  botany  calls by the  more  dainty  denomination  Lycoperdon; the Lycoperdon  plumbeum  and  the  Lycoperdon bo vista. The principal  differences  between  them are that  the  latter  is  much  the  larger,  is  pear- shaped, fixed  to  the  ground  by  a short  stem,  and covered on  the  outside  with  soft  tender  patches  of membrane. The Lycoperdon  plumbeum  is  gene- rally smoother, though  sometimes  covered  with

minute, light  brown,  bran-like  scales. Its most usual colour  is  white; the  hue  also  of  the  bovista. Both are  full  inside  of  a firm  white  pulp; which, if they  are  left  to  dry,  turns  into  a light,  im- palpable powder: the “snuff”  of  the  schoolboys. The fumes  of  this,  when  burnt,  are  said  to  exert on animals  anaesthetic  effects  equal  to  those  of chloroform. These puff-balls  are  alike  in  taste. They are  best  cut  in  slices,  as  the  French  cut  pota- toes, and fried  with  the  yolk  of  egg. Their flavour then very  nearly  resembles  that  of  sweetbread.

I have tasted  one  more  of  the  British  esculent fungi; the Polyporus  frondoms,  a greyish-brown, branching mass  of  fungus,  growing  at  the  base of the  oak  and  other  trees. When broiled,  it

has much  of  the  flavour  of  the  genuine  mush- room, the Agaricus  campestris,  or,  to  venture  on a liberty  of  botanical  nomenclature,  the  Agaricus bond fide. The first  specimen  I met  with occurred in  a hedge  at  the  root  of  a hazel-nut tree, in  a lane  in  Hampshire. Some little  clowns with eyes  and  mouths  wide  open,  watched  my companion  and  myself  whilst  we  were  removing it, and,  as  we  walked  off  with  it,  one  of  them hallooed after  us: —

“That there  be  twooad’s  myeeat!”

On another  occasion,  as  we  were  gathering some specimens  of  the  Agaricus  heterophyllus  in a copse,  we  received  a like  caution  from  a passing countryman of  the  same  county: —