One species of puff-ball, _Lycoperdon giganteum_, Fr,[AB] has many staunch advocates, and whilst young and cream-like, it is, when well manipulated, an excellent addition to the breakfast-table. A decided advantage is possessed by this species, since one specimen is often found large enough to satisfy the appetites of ten or twelve persons. Other species of _Lycoperdon_ have been eaten when young, and we have been assured by those who have made the experiment, that they are scarcely inferior to their larger congener. _Bovista nigrescens_, Fr., and _Bovista plumbea_, Fr., are also eaten in the United States. More than one species of _Lycoperdon_ and _Bovista_ appear in the bazaars of India, as at Secunderabad and Rangoon; while the white ant-hills, together with an excellent Agaric, produce one or more species of _Podaxon_ which are esculent when young. A species of _Scleroderma_ which grows abundantly in sandy districts, is substituted for truffles in Perigord pies, of which, however, it does not possess any of the aroma. [Illustration: FIG. 43.--_Morchella gigaspora_, from Kashmir.] Passing over the rest of the sporiferous fungi, we find amongst the _Ascomycetous_ group several that are highly esteemed. Amongst these may first be named the species of morel, which are regarded as delicacies wherever they are found. _Morchella esculenta_, Pers., is the most common species, but we have also _Morchella semilibera_, D. C., and the much larger _Morchella crassipes_, Pers. Probably all the species of _Morchella_ are esculent, and we know that many besides the above are eaten in Europe and other places; _Morchella deliciosa_, Fr., in Java; _Morchella bohemica_, Kromb., in Bohemia; _Morchella gigaspora_, Cooke, and _Morchella deliciosa_, Fr., in Kashmere.[AC] _Morchella rimosipes_, D. C., occurs in France and Bohemia; _Morchella Caroliniana_, Bosc., in the Southern United States of America. W. G. Smith records the occurrence in Britain of specimens of _Morchella crassipes_, P., ten inches in height, and one specimen was eleven inches high, with a diameter of seven and a half inches.[AD]