I never met with this fungus in Italy; it hsa not been described by Vittadini, nor, that I am aware of, by any Italian mycologist; neither is it mentioned by Cordier or Roques, in their treatises on the esculent funguses of France. Extremely common in England, this species has already found its way to Covent Garden, where, according to Sowerby, it is sold under the name of "Blewitts" [Ref. 118]. The favourite haunt of the Blewitt is amidst grass, where it grows in clusters, or in large rings, seldom appearing before October.

The botanical characters, as given by Mr. Berkeley, are as follows:- "Pileus from two to six inches broad, fleshy, firm; pale bistre or purple-lilac, occasionally violet, convex, obtuse, very smooth, and shining, as if oiled, but not viscid; margin involute, pulverulento- tomentose. Gills rounded; free, narrow in front, paler than the pileus, sometimes violet, turning to a dirty flesh-colour, especially when bruised; stem from one to three inches high, three-quarters of an inch thick, firm, bulbous, solid, mottled within towards the apex, with watery spots; clothed more or less with villous fibrillae, tinged with violet; odour like that of Oreades, but rather overpowering; taste pleasant." As the "Blewitt" is apt to imbibe in wet weather a great quantity of moisture, it should not be gathered during rain; when not water-soaked it is a fine firm fungus with a flavour of veal, like which it is to be dressed en papillottes with savoury herbs and the usual condiments, and the more highly seasoned the better.

Every one knows the Champignon, - that little buff fungus which during so many months in the year comes up in successive crops, in great profusion after rain, and generally in rings. These Champignons abound everywhere: this summer (1847) Hyde Park was full of them, amid the seared and much-trodden grass they were continually tracing their fairy rings, and in some instances they reached the very border of the gravel walks. Independent of the excellent flavour of this little mushroom, which is as good as that of most funguses, two circumstances give it an additional value in a domestic point of view, viz. the facility with which it is dried, and its very extensive dissemination. When dried (two or three days' exposure to the air is generally sufficient to effect this), the Ag. oreades may be kept for years without losing any of its aroma or goodness, which on the contrary become improved by the process, so as, in fact, to impart more flavour to the dish than would have been imparted by the fresh fungus, though it is not to be denied that the flesh then becomes coriaceous and less easy of digestion [Ref. 119]. From the sad accidents occasioned by persons mistaking other small and poisonous Agarics growing in the neighbourhood of the Champignon for the Champignon itself, this species is frequently looked upon with suspicion, and not often eaten in England. The Agaric the least unlike and most commonly found growing in company with the Ag. oreades, is the Ag. semiglobatus, which is nearly allied to, if it be not the same as the Ag. virosus of Sowerby. But as I have also heard of a gentleman who intending to gather Champignons, and taking home some Ag. dryophilus by mistake, was rendered very ill by his repast, to prevent the recurrence of such mistakes for the future, I here add the botanical characters, marking what is peculiar to each in italics. Ag. dryophilus is represented in Pl. VII. fig. 5.

The following description was made from some among the more characteristic specimens of a large supply which I gathered this autumn (1847) near Hayes, from a spot where they are in the habit of re-appearing regularly in October.

Pileus from two and a half to five inches across; at first depresso-convex, when expanded nearly flat or broadly sub-umbonate, never depressed, margin at first involute and pruinose; occasionally somewhat waved and lobed, but generally regular in form; smooth, viscid when moist, so that dead leaves adhere to it; grey, brown at the centre, paler towards the circumference. Flesh thick, white, unchanging; gills cream-colour, narrow, decurrent, close, their margins waved, unequal, generally simple. Stem from two to four inches long, from a quarter of an inch to an inch thick; incurved at the base, not rooting, but attaching by means of a floccose down, round its lower portion and for one-third of its length, a large quantity of dead leaves, by which the plant is held erect; subequal, more or less marked with longitudinal pits, firm externally, within of a softer substance. The odour strong, like that of curd cheese.

This Agaric appears to be local in Italy; otherwise it could scarcely have been omitted in Vittadini's work, nor by the author of the article "Fungo" in the Venice edition of the 'Dizionario Classico di Medicina:' add to which that I have never met with it myself either at Florence, Pisa, Naples, or Leghorn. That it grows in the neighbourhood of Rome is certain, since I find it admirably delineated in a curious collection of very old drawings which I purchased there. Moreover Professor Sanguinetti, of that city, writes in terms of high commendation of this mushroom, which, he says, may be discerned inter alia, " by its peculiar odour and grateful taste: when properly cooked it is equal to any of our funguses, rivalling not only the Ag. prunulus, but even the Caesareus: as few are aware of its good qualities, it seldom finds its way into the Roman market." The Ag. nebularis requires but little cooking; a few minutes' broiling (à la Maintenon is best), with butter, pepper, and salt, is sufficient. It may also be delicately fried with bread crumbs, or stewed in white sauce. The flesh of this mushroom is perhaps lighter of digestion than that of any other.

The botanical charactersof the Cantharellus are as follow:-When young, its stalk is tough, white, and solid; but as it grows this becomes hollow and presently changes to yellow; tapering below, it is effused into the substance of the pileus, which is of the same colour with it. The pileus is lobed, and irregular in shape, its margin at first deeply involute, afterwards when expanded, wavy. The veins or plaits are thick, subdistant, much sinuated, running some way down the stalk.The flesh is white, fibrous, dense, "having the odour of apricots" (Purton), or of "plums" (Vitt.). The colour yellow, that of the yolk of eggs, is deeper on the under surface; when raw it has the pungent taste of pepper, the spores which are elliptic, are of a pallid ochre colour (Vitt.) [Ref. 121]. The Chantarelle grows sometimes sporadically, sometimes in circles or segments of a circle, and may be found from June to October. At first it assumes the shape of a minute cone; next, in consequence of the rolling in of the margin, the pileus is almost spherical, but as this unfolds, it becomes hemispherical, then flat, at length irregular and depressed.

"This fungus," observes Vittadini, "being rather dry and tough by nature, requires a considerable quantity of fluid sauce to cook it properly." The common people in Italy dry or pickle, or keep it in oil for winter use. Perhaps the best ways of dressing the Cantharellus are to stew or mince it by itself, or to combine it with meat or with other funguses. It requires to be gently stewed and a long time to make it tender; but by soaking it in milk the night before, less cooking will be requisite.

The Canth. cibarius is very abundant about Rome, where it fetches, not being in great esteem, from twopence to twopence halfpenny a pound.

Bot. Char. Pileus fleshy, campanulate, margin uneven, colour greyish, then light brown, slightly hairy, often corrugated, sometimes scaly in the centre. Gills numerous, deep, with clear veins, light brown, black in age, the edges grey or white, free, obtuse behind. Stem about four inches high, swollen at the base, piped, juicy, fibrous, marked with bands.

This is a common fungus in gardens, waste corners of fields, and lanes, and occasionally growing on stumps of trees in such situations: it is gregarious and caespitose, and occurs both in spring and autumn. Young specimens afford a fine ketchup.

Bot. Char. Pileus cylindrical, breaking up into long scales, campanulate, epidermis thin, flesh thick in the centre, very thin and stringy at the margins. Gills numerous, quite free, leaving a space round the top of the stem. Stem from four to five inches high, rather bulbous at the base, stuffed with fibres, brittle, ring moveable.

This fungus may be found from early spring till late in the autumn, in meadows and waste places.

When used for making ketchup or for the table, only young specimens should be selected.

It is of the utmost importance that those who gather funguses for the table, should be accurately acquainted with the different species composing this genus; its members are so abundantly distributed, some of them form so excellent and delicate a food, whilst others produce such deleterious effects on the economy, that they are well entitled to a diligent and careful attention. The limits of this work will not permit an accurate discrimination of all the species, which would require a long monograph to themselves; but I have endeavoured to point out amidst those of most frequent occurrence, the three which may be selected with profit for the table, and some others which are nearly allied, from which we must be careful to separate them.

The three mild-flavoured Russulae are the Ag. heterophyllus, Ag. ruber, and Ag. virescens; the botanical characters of the first are as follows:-

Ag. heterophyllus.

Pileus subirregular, from three and a half to four and a half inches across, at first convex, then more or less excavated towards the centre; for the most part smooth, the epidermis covering it, more or less moist, never scored or fissured, but exhibiting a continuous surface, marked by very small raised lines, radiating as from the centre, and frequently crossing so as to present a very minute finely reticulated meshwork, sometimes slightly zoned, adhering to the flesh of the pileus, which peels away with it in flakes resembling asbestos. It is very various in colour, being found of all shades of yellow, lilac, azure, green, and sometimes a mixture of these in different parts. The margin even, i.e. not striate, irregularly elevated and depressed. The gills are watery white, rather numerous and thick, ascending, tapering away at their stalk extremity, rather broader at the other, some simple but many of them forked at the base, in a few instances branched, the imperfect gills very few, irregular, occasionally broadly adhering to the side of a perfect gill, the stalk naked, variable as to length and size, equal or attenuated slightly at the base, white like spermaceti, externally rugulose, and meshed, like the pileus, with minute meandering lines, internally stuffed with a compact subfriable medullary substance, which, as the fungus grows old, breaks up here and there into sinuses which gradually coalesce, till at last the whole stem becomes hollow. The parenchyma is compact, but not thick, and does not change colour when cut. The spores white, round, and very abundant. The taste sweet and nutty. Odour none.

This excellent fungus, which Vittadini pronounces to be not surpassed for fineness of flavour by Am. Ccesarea or by B. edulis, with either of which it is equally wholesome, has been introduced by Roques into the houses of many of his friends in the environs of Paris, some of whom prefer it to Ag. campestris: an opinion shared by several of our own friends on this side the Channel. It grows in great abundance during the summer months generally, and this year nowhere more plentifully than under the Elm-trees in Kensington Gardens. There must be no delay in dressing it, otherwise insects, who are as fond of it as we are, appropriate it to their larvae, which in a few hours will utterly consume it; the flesh, being very tender, requires but slight cooking.

Agaricus ruber, Schæffer. Ag. griseus, Persoon.

The Ag. ruber, the Colomba rossa of the Tuscans, and Rother Taubling of Schæffer, is a complete wood-pigeon in its haunts; it grows very abundantly, may be gathered from July to a very late period in the autumn, and is as delicate and light of digestion as the Russula last described. It may be readily distinguished from Ag. alutaceus by the different colour of its gills and spores, which in that species are buff, but in the Ag. ruber cream-coloured: moreover the greater thickness of thesubstance of the pileus of Ag. alutaceus, the margin of which is deeply sulcate, even at an early period of its development, and the pungent acrid taste, which is seldom wanting, are further means of distinguishing it from Ag. ruber. Ag. emeticus differs from it in having unequal snow-white gills, and in extreme acrimony of taste.

Agaricus virescens, Schæff.: the Verdette ? Ag. bifidus, Bull.
Russula aeruginosa, Persoon.

"La carne di questo Agarico è tenera e di sapore gratissimo." - Vitt.

Pileus at first flatly convex; at length depressed towards the centre with an even margin; epidermis whitish, fibrous, continuous and firmly adhering to the flesh, dry, but coated over with a thick stratum of opaque meal, which gradually breaking as the pileus expands maps it in a singular and quite characteristic manner with a series of irregular polygonal figures, in greater or less relief according to the thickness of the coating; its colour varies slightly but is generally made up of some admixture of green and yellow, communicating to the surface, as Bulliard has remarked, a farinaceous or mouldy appearance. The gills of some thickness, very brittle, white, sublanceolate, generally simple, but occasionally forked, the imperfect gills interspersed without order amongst the entire ones; the stalk equal, short, its centre stuffed with cottony fibres: somewhat compact and elastic. According to Thore, as quoted by Persoon, this Agaric may be cultivated [Ref. 122].

It is an exceedingly delicate fungus, but not very common. in England. The best way of cooking it, according to Vittadini, is on the gridiron; the peasants about Milan are in the habit of putting it over wood embers to toast, eating it afterwards with a little salt, in which way it has a savoury smell, and a taste like that of the Cancer astacus; when fresh it is without odour, but acquires a very strong one while drying, which he compares to that of salt meat. Mr. Berkeley quotes Roques' authority as to its being eaten in France; Vittadini, without giving any authority, states that it is eaten in England. It loses but little of its volume in drying.

Three acrid Russulae remain to be described. Ag. alutaceus, Ag. emeticus, Ag. sanguineus; all three common, though not perhaps so common as the mild ones, and all to be avoided. The first, A. alutaceus, Fries, is ranked by Vittadini among the safe kinds, he even affixes a misplaced note of admiration after his epithet "esculentus!" and describes it even when raw as "a dainty food, possessed of a most agreeable flavour."

Mr. Berkeley, who reports it esculent when young, remarks that individual specimens occur, which prove almost as acrid as the Ag. emeticus itself; my own experience of it in England is, that whether young or old, it is always acrid when raw [Ref. 123]. I have never tried it dressed, which might possibly extract its noxious qualities, as Vittadini reports to have been the case with a caustic variety which he subjected to this test; but since even then, on his own showing, it proved indigestible, I would advise no one to try this species, especially when there are so many others, the good qualities of which are known.

It is easy to distinguish A. alutaceus from any of the foregoing species; to do this it is only necessary to look at the gills, which, in place of being, as in these, white, watery white, or cream-coloured, are of a rich buff; pileus about three inches broad, pink or livid olive, smooth on the surface, and viscid in wet weather; the margin at first even, but in age striate; the gills broad, equal, slightly forked, ventricose, free, connected by veins; the sporules rich buff; the stem one and a half inches long, blunt, surface longitudinally wrinkled or grooved, solid without, spongy within, varying from white to buff.

Agaricus emeticus, Schæffer.

Reports concerning the qualities of this fungus differ widely, some asserting it to be a most deleterious species, of which the mischief was not to be removed by cooking, whilst others, on the authority of dogs whom they persuaded to eat some, pronounced it innoxious. In this state of uncertainty Vittadini, for the sake of science, and peradventure of adventure also, determined to test its effects upon himself; he had previously given at different times large doses, of from six to twelve ounces, to dogs, both in the crude state and also cooked; but without result. "Still," says he [Ref. 124], "thinking that though dogs might eat Ag. emeticus with impunity, it might yet prove injurious to man, I took five specimens of fair dimensions, and having fried, I ate them with the usual condiments; but though pains were taken to have them delicately prepared (ottimamente cucinati), they still retained their acrid bitter taste, and were most distasteful to the palate." The reader will be glad to learn; that the only inconvenience suffered by this bold self-experimentalist was a slight sense of praecordial uneasiness accompanied with flatulence, - effects attributable entirely, as he believed, to the rich mode in which his dish was prepared: though, more timid apparently for others' safety than his own, he particularly adds, "though I have clearly established to my own satisfaction, the complete innocuousness of the A. emeticus; still, as there are, or are said to be, other Russulae of highly deleterious properties and closely allied, the mistaking which for it might be paid for by the loss of life, the safer rule is to abstain from all such as have acrid juices."

The botanical characters of Ag. emetlcus are as follow:-

Pileus more or less rosy, flesh compact, margin striate, epidermis adherent, gills very brittle, arched in front, attenuated towards the stalk, connected below by transverse plaits, generally simple, a few forked, the imperfect gills rounded off behind; the stalk, which is compact, of equal dimensions, and white, is generally more or less stained with red spots of the same hue as the pileus, in the growing fungus, where the epidermis has been removed and the flesh eaten by insects, this soon acquires a tint as lively as that of the skin itself; generally I have remarked that the erosions of insects and slugs do not produce any change of colour, even in the species notorious under other circumstances for manifesting such a change; thus the flesh of the Ag. rubescens, which turns red when it is divided, may be frequently seen half eaten through, exhibiting a white flesh, and the same is the case with the Boletus luridus, the flesh of which, though eroded, remains white till it is broken through.

Ag. sanguineus, Bull.

This fungus, of which the general facies and most of the botanical characters, as well as the taste and other qualities, are similar to those of the last-mentioned Agaric, differs from it in having its gills for the most part forked, many smaller ones being interposed between those that are entire, also in not having its margin striate, as the Ag. emeticus when moderately expanded always has. The smell of this fungus, which is only developed in drying, is, according to Vittadini, "most agreeable," resembling that of fresh meal; to me its odour is unpleasant and like that of sour paste.

Ag. acris minor.

Pileus one or two inches across, sticky, of a light muddy-pink, the epidermis peeling off easily and entire from the flesh, margin not striate, flesh soft, white, and cellular, gills adnate, white, forked, brittle, slightly ventricose; the margin sub-denticulate , the stalk of spermaceti-whiteness and appearance, solid within, brittle, the internal texture looser than the external; the surface minutely rugulose, 1¼ - 1½ inch, by 2 - 4 lines thick, intensely acrid. In meadows, throughout the summer; abundant.

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