Punch (59.1870)

August 6, 1870.] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. 61

ARMY AND NAVY INTELLIGENCE. MUSHROOMS MADE EASY.

/, , Mr. Punch,
rom tneA^mmanaer- j Everybody almost (worth speaking about) has his hobby ;

in-unef to jflr every mail) that is: comparatively lew hobbies are ridden with a side-
ruer^u6M i l saddle- For mj own Part> I should be disposed to ride a bicycle if 1
i lie r leict iviartmai were not too fat and heavy. As it is, my hobby is Mycopha^y, or to
Uoramanaing-iu- cjescenci i0 common and unlearned language, fungus-eating. This, Sir.

1 \jaV1US r tij 1is not a merely animal pursuit; on the contrary, it is a pursuit of
c.HuUy discovered 0DjectSi or subjects, belonging to the vegetable kingdom, by whose
that to niarcu : quest, in exploring woodland and pasture, hill and dale, the mind is
troops aoout.trom i deV)i)edi Being known to be in the habit of eating toadstools and
one place to ano- puff.baijS) x am accustomed frequently to receive, at the hands of my
ther, in the present j frienc|s, warnm{,s similar to the one which I subjoin ; an extract from
excessively h o 1; the Mediccd Press and circular .—
weather is not the

best thing in the j " "We are getting into the season for gathering and consuming mushrooms,
world for them, : Within the past few days -we have seen a well-marked case wherein a husband
hereby gives dis- i anc^ w,fe> who had partaken of mushrooms with their tea, which, no doubt,
cretionarv power ■ ^al^ Deen mixed up with poisonous fungi, were seized with the characteristic
to all officers in !8ymPtoms °f cryptogamic poisoning—the sense of sinking and impending

■ , i dissolution, accompanied by cold perspiration, &c."

command to move1 ' r J r r '

or not to move Allow me to suggest the possibility, if not the probability, in the
their _ regiments ; present state of commercial morality, that the symptoms of poisoning
according to their ; called " cryptogamic," were caused not by poisonous fungi which the
estimate of the j mushrooms had been mixed up with, but by poisonous leaves, or
t hermometer. j " facings," mingled with the tea. Be that, however, as it may, the
Thus, should any \ Medical Press thus proceeds to explain, unnecessarily of course for
accident happen j mycologists, and therefore with a view to the instruction of general
to any of the men ; readers, the difference between " true " and " false " mushrooms :—

t he^saT^^fficers I "The true mushroom as it developes itself ruptures the ovoid wrapper or
V ■ ■ y vulva, leaving the remains entirely at the base of the pedicle ; whilst in the

obeying implicitly j falge musnroom tne debris of the vulva are found not only at the base of the
the orders 01 the pedicle, as in the real Agaric, but even upon the red surface of the pileus
Field - Marshal; itself, Tnese

are the white irregular warts characteristic of the Amanita, but
Commanding -in- j wholly wanting in the Agaricus. Then, there are two Amanitas, the Amanita
Chief, the public muscaria, or 1 fly agaric.' and the Amanita amastica, or as the English bota-
nists call it, Agaricus Ccesareus, the imperial mushroom."

will be satisfied
with the Field-
Marshal's huma-
nity in allowing
the officers the use of their discretion, and will exonerate him entirely
from all blame, which will then fall solely and only on the officers in
command. Should, however, any accident happen, or contretemps
arise, from neglect on the part of the officers in command to carry
out literally the orders of the Field-Marshal Coinmanding-in-Chief,

You, Sir, of course understand all this ; but perhaps the majority of
even your readers hardly can. You also know that it is in some par-
ticulars inaccurate. In the first place there is, you are aware, no such
distinction among the kinds of fungi as that above drawn between
Amanita and Agaricus. The Amanita is a subgenus of the genus
Agaricus. In the next, you need not be told, though some people may,
firstly, that not every Amanita by any means is warty; and secondly,
that several Amanita, whose warts are numerous, are nevertheless very

then he will hold them responsible for any such accident or contre- , wholesome eating. The Agaricus (Amanita) vernus, very

temps and by JovE-that is, the Field-Marshal means hi wil visit ^ milk-white innocent-looking cap perfectly smooth ;

any dereliction of duty or non-compliance wi h his orders With severe ^ A {J rubescens, and the Ag : (Am •) strobiliformis have both
and exemplary punishment. In short, the Field-Marshal Commanding- of them caps closely studded with warts, and are both eatable. You
.n-Ohief gives all officers permission to act as they like, reserving haye read ^ BaDHAM>s Esculent Funffuses of England, and remember
to himself all decisions as to whether these acts have been in strict Cm { Jl/describe3 as eaUbl

comphance, or not, with his the 1 leld-Marshal s orders. ; has not been found in this country.

The public will be glad to hear that, in view of the chance ot our ; jf any 0f your rea(iers who may happen to be passing Me. Bard-
being dragged into the present war, the Mary Anne, from Great -wren's sh0p in Piccadilly, will look into its window, there they will
Grimsby, has put into Deal for coal. see two large sheets exhibiting coloured figures of fungi, one showing

The hot weather is reducing the Navy considerably. Three sailors the wholesome, the other the poisonous, and both including several
belonging to the Agincourt said they had been very much reduced , other kinds than the Amanita and Agaricus. These figures are accom-
lately. panied with a brief description by VVortbington Smith, whereof the

The crews of the penny steamboats between Westminster and j perusal may be recommended, especially to persons proposing to try
Pinuico will commence drill next week. toadstool eating, without sufficient knowledge of the distinctive clia-

mL , 1 j i • l nr., j i> 1 -n ■,! 1 1 j racters 01 toadstools wholesome and poisonous. In particular, let

I he ironclad plying between lilbury and Kosherville will be ordered t|jem read ^ Pith's of ^ toms which he experienced

early in his fungus-eating researches and previously to his acquisition
of the knowledge they required, by indulging in less than a quarter of
an ounce of the Agaricus (Entoloma) fert'uis. Wise men like you, Sir.
do not eat mushrooms unless they know the bad from the good as well
as they know parsley from hemlock. They read the right books about
them first, or study them in Nature, or, before they venture on dishes
of them, they consult plates. In the meantime, respecting matters
which to those who rashly meddle with them are "riddles and affairs
of death," advice should be accurate and intelligible, should it not?
Otherwise, it may even lead to confusion of the deleterious Agaricus
semiglobatus with the Marasmius Oreades or true Champignon.

P.S. There is no fear that many people will be poisoned with fungi
if the drought continues. Drought breeds fungus dearth anyhow in
transfer or a name. England, aud in France too. No truffles ! Failure of a most import-

Clavering Fitz-Clandon says that in his estimation there is no ailr, ingredient in French cookery, causing general irritation, no doubt
game to equal Pool. In fact, he always speaks of it as "Peerless one chief cause of the war.
Pool."

hard work on the tube. touching.

Betting cannot but be a most fatiguing pursuit. For instance, the " Confound the War ! " says Mr. Hardup, " one won't be able to
people who " stand to win," how tired they must feel! leave the country."

Hysena Militaris.

Among military news from Paris :—

" It is stated that officers have substituted stripes on their shoulders for
epaulettes."

Officers who rave for needless war deserve to have stripes on their
shoulders of another sort than those which, substituted for their
epaulettes, suggest the idea of striped hysenas.