“There are families in America that for generations have freely and annually eaten mushrooms, preserving a habit brought from Europe by their ancestors. In no case have I heard of an accident among them. I have known no instance of mushroom-poisoning in this country, except where the victims rashly ventured upon the experiment without knowing one species from another. Among the families above mentioned, I have not met with any whose knowledge of mushrooms extended beyond the common species (_A. campestris_), called pink gill in this country. Several such families live near me, but not one of them was aware, until I informed them, that there are other edible kinds. Everything but the pink gill, which had the form of a mushroom, was to them a toadstool, and poisonous. When I first sent my son with a fine basket of Imperials (_A. Cæsareus_), to an intelligent physician, who was extravagantly fond of the common mushroom, the lad was greeted with the indignant exclamation, ‘Boy, I wouldn’t eat one of those things to save your father’s head!’ When told that they were eaten at my table, he accepted them, ate them, and has eaten many a one since, with all safety and with no little relish. Since that time our mycophagists eat whatever I send them, without fear or suspicion. “I have interested myself to extend the knowledge of these things among the lovers of mushrooms, and also their use among those who have not before tried them. In the latter work I am not always successful, on account of a strong prejudice against vegetables with such contemptible names, and an unconquerable fear of accidents. Yet, as in my own case, curiosity often conquers these errors. When away from home I have frequently obtained permission from a kind hostess to have cooked a dish of mushrooms that I have found on her premises. It has rarely occurred in such cases that the dish, then tasted for the first time, was not declared to be delicious, or the best thing ever put in the mouth. This latter phrase was once used in reference to so indifferent an article as _A. salignus_. Indeed, I have found several persons who class this amongst the most palatable species. To such persons a dish of fresh mushrooms need seldom be wanting, as this one can be had every month of the year in this latitude. I am induced to believe that the quality of this species varies with the kind of wood it grows from, and that it is better flavoured when gathered from the mulberry, and especially from the hickory, than when taken from most other trees. Its fitness for the table seems also to depend much upon the rapidity of its growth; those which grow slowly, as is the case with some of our garden vegetables, being of tougher texture and of less delicate flavour. A warm sun after heavy rains brings them out in greatest perfection.