For centuries epicures have sung the praises of mushrooms as an article of food and devised choice recipes for their preparation. But it was left to the present generation to call them the "beefsteak of the vegetable kingdom," and to assert that "mushrooms contain the same nutritive value as meat." By comparing the composition of mushrooms and of meat (see headings of chapters on Vegetables and Beef) the truth or falsity of such statements can be easily verified.

By the late analysis at the agricultural experiment stations it would seem, as far as nutritive value is concerned, that mushrooms rank higher than most green vegetables and are about on a par with green peas and beans.

At present the price of cultivated mushrooms places them in the list of luxuries; and as all mushrooms, particularly those growing wild, spoil very quickly and must of necessity be cooked soon after gathering, it would seem that fungi cannot be listed as a standard article of food. They may be successfully dried or canned at homeland either in this condition, or when fresh gathered, they may avail to give a pleasing variety to the dietary or, in small quantities, add relish to many an otherwise tasteless dish.

The mushroom, Agaricus campestris, which is cultivated for the market in hothouses and cellars, is also found wild; the death cup, poisonous Amanita, the poisonous principle of which is one of the tox-albumins (the poisons which produce death in cholera and diphtheria and for which there is no known antidote), belongs to the same family: fungi with gills. The various members of this family have so many things in common that none but an expert can say with certainty this is edible, that is not.

The risks attendant upon the eating of poisonous mushrooms are too serious to warrant any other than those who have become proficient - by the most careful observation and study - in the exact classification of fungi, in attempting to gather wild mushrooms for the table.

Exceptions may be made in the case of amateurs who have learned to distinguish full-grown Clazaria (coral mushrooms), puff balls, and morels; these belong to families in which there are no known poisonous species; they have "hallmarks" by which, after passing the button stage of growth, it is possible to distinguish them with certainty and, if they be fresh and free from insects, the amateur may gather and eat them with impunity. As to methods of determining the character of other species of mushrooms, there are none save actual knowledge of the most minute characteristics of the different groups or genera.

The silver spoon test cannot be relied upon, in fact, it is no test at all, as certain varieties of both poisonous and edible mushrooms will turn silver black. The novice must discard all button mushrooms and all mushrooms with swollen base surrounded with any sort of an envelope. Button mushrooms are not developed sufficiently to be accurately known and some of the poisonous varieties have an enlarged base.