THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 253
jackdaw ; not by any general rules, but by individual knowledge. It is by a like
method that grown-up boys must learn to distinguish, as unmistakably, some
half-a-dozen good and sound edible fungi, so that they will know a Parasol
Mushroom or a Chanterelle as well as they know a cock robin or a yellow
hammer, or even a toad from a frog, which requires a little more discrimination.
I am beginning to think that, at these annual forays, if, instead of troubling
ourselves with the Latin names of fifty or sixty different species, which are all
forgotten in five minutes, we were to set ourselves every year to learn thoroughly
how-to distinguish and recognize three or four really good, and fairly common,
species, we should do more good to ourselves, more service to the public, and
more credit to our Society, than in struggling to compile a big list of ugly names,
which represent no ideas to ninety-nine persons out of a hundred.
Allow me to suggest for the Essex Field Club a good half-dozen which are to
be gathered in the Forest, and which would be a fair experiment to begin with,
and give an impetus to fungus hunting for the rest of the season. Here would be
a specific object, going in search of three or four well defined individuals, and not a
mere scramble for everything that can be called a fungus, with no other ambition
than to get a basket full.
You all know the Common Mushroom, and the larger Horse-mushroom, so
that they need not to be included. Let us confine ourselves to the following :—
The Parasol Mushroom (Lepiota procera) easily recognised, and excellent
when cooked.
The Ruddy Warted-caps (Amanita rubescens), very common, and, when
young, before the cap is fully expanded, excellent eating.
The Chantarelle (Cantharellus cibarius), well known by its bright yellow
colour, and fruity odour, but it requires careful cooking.
The Shaggy-caps (Coprinus comatus), with black gills and spores, soon
melting away, so that it should be cooked as soon as possible. I am not the only
one who considers this equal, as an esculent, to the ordinary mushroom.
The Fairy-ring Mushroom (Marasmius oreades) may be looked for in August,
but seldom found in October. It should be hung up, and dried in the air, for
use as a flavouring in soups and stews.
To these may be added, as a sixth, Hedgehog Mushroom (Hydnum
repandum), with spines on the under side of the cap, instead of gill plates. As
an esculent it is equally good with the rest, but not so agreeable to all palates, as
it is rather pungent, and must be cooked slowly.
If you want to add another, let it be the Vegetable Beef-steak (Fistulina
hepatica) which may be sliced and fried to make good gravy.
By this process we hope to accomplish something in the way of popular
education in the identification of a limited number of edible fungi. Most of the
members could distinguish an Oak, a Hornbeam, a Beech, au Elm, a Birch, or
a Willow, and not be content to lump them all together as Trees ; so also we aim
at inducing them to recognize a Parasol Mushroom, a Ruddy Warted-cap, a
Chantarelle, a Shaggy-cap, a Fairy-ring Champignon, a Hedgehog Mushroom, or a
Vegetable Beef-steak, and not for ever be content to call them all Toadstools.
Further than this, when we are assured, and they are assured, that they know
these few species with confidence, and can make no mistake, we may expect them
to cook and eat them, and then to teach their neighbours and friends. Nor will
they be content with this, but will soon become anxious to extend their patronage
to other species, and perhaps some of them acquire such enthusiasm in the