It is known by its large size, its pure white colour, and its _smooth skin_. To cook this species satisfactorily and well, cut the specimens up into slices of half an inch in thickness, remove the skin or bark, dip the slices into yolk of egg, and fry in fresh butter. It will then eat with a delicate and delicious flavour; or served with jam or jelly it is an excellent substitute for pastry. =Pear-Milk Mushroom.= Fig. 26. (_Lactarius volemum._) 508. This species is recognized by its very rich coloration, firm flesh, mild taste, white milk (changing to a dull dark umber-colour where the plant is bruised or broken), white gills becoming warm yellow-buff, and the full sienna top; the stem is solid, and the plant grows in woods. The taste of this plant, when fried, has aptly been compared to lamb’s kidney, and resembles in flavour the only other edible Lactarius—viz. _L. deliciosus_, fig. 11. It is a rare species in this country. =White Fir-wood Mushroom.= Fig. 27. (_Agaricus_ [_Clitocybe_] _dealbatus._) 80. This pretty little fungus commonly grows in, and about the neighbourhood of, fir plantations, but will occasionally come up elsewhere. Its top is white, smooth, and _exceedingly like ivory_. It is shining, waved, fleshy, and inclined to be irregular; the gills are thin, white, and run down the stem. When clean, young, and fresh specimens are broiled with butter, it is a delicacy of the very highest degree,—at once tender, juicy, and delightful. Its charming flavour is exceeded by very few other fungi. Several allied species are very good, notably _Agaricus odorus_, which exhales a most delicious odour of melilot. I used to eat all sorts of things for this species before I properly knew it, and never felt the worse for the mistakes I made. It would be useless to enumerate them all here, without figures and descriptions, but one was the common _Agaricus subpulverulentus_. =Fairy-ring Champignon.= Fig. 28. (_Marasmius oreades._) 553. If possible, this species is better than the last, and no recommendation can be too strong for it. The exquisitely rich and delicious flavour of this plant when broiled with butter must be tasted to be understood. It is firmer than the meadow mushroom, and, whilst having its peculiar aroma, it possesses it in a concentrated form. Even Mr. Berkeley, who would be the last man in the world to subscribe to a doubtful species, says, “_it is the very best of all our fungi_.” It may be pickled, used for ketchup, or dried for future use. _Marasmius oreades_ grows in rings in short pastures, on downs, and by roadsides everywhere (_but never in woods_). It is somewhat tough, the solid stem particularly so, the gills wide apart, and cream-coloured.