lent so
closely that, to the amateur, tasting each one as gathered is the only
guide; the hurtful ones being always hot and acrid. Equal gills,
extreme brittleness, and dry, firm texture are characteristic of the
whole Russula family.]

[Illustration: PLATE VII.

BOLETI.

1. Boletus bovinus.
2. Boletus edulis.
3. Boletus scaber.
4. Boletus sub-tomentosus.
5. Boletus chrysenteron.
6. Boletus strobilaceus.

=DESCRIPTION. No. 1.= BOLETUS BOVINUS. Pileus flat, smooth, viscid;
the thin, transparent skin easily peeling. Flesh white, unchangeable
in color (stem same color as pileus). Tubes whitish yellow, yellow or
gray, shallow. Very variable in size.

No. 2. BOLETUS EDULIS. Pileus cushion-like, dry, brown-gray or drab,
thick. Flesh white, unchangeable. Tubes white-yellow to green. Stem
very thick, often abortive in shape, bulbous at base, very pleasant to
taste.

No. 3. BOLETUS SCABER. Pileus bell-shaped at first and hard, then
broad, uneven, soft and flat, variable in color from dark-brown to
reddish drab. Stem rough, scabby, fibrous. Flesh dirty white, often
changing to black. Tubes white, rusty, often iron-stained in color in
spots.

No. 4. BOLETUS SUB-TOMENTOSUS. Pileus very variable in form, from bell
to cushion shaped; also in color, from light-brown or olive to any
shade of red. Stem touched with red, smooth or with light lines, often
twisted. Flesh and tubes and stem changing to blue wherever bruised or
cut. Tubes yellow, shading at times toward green. Tastes like walnuts.

No. 5. BOLETUS CHRYSENTERON. Very similar to No. 4, except that the
pileus is often brick-red. The flesh is sulphur-yellow and scarcely
changeable, and the stem with more red.

No. 6. BOLETUS STROBILACEUS. Whole plant blackish, turning red when
bruised or cut, broken into thick fir-cone segments or scales. Tubes
white or rusty, often enclosed by a veil.

=TO COOK.= Beat up a batter, or simply some fresh eggs, lay the
mushrooms in the same, turning them so as to have the liquid adhere to
them. Then fry in hot boiling fat, or on a buttered griddle, according
to your liking, with salt and pepper to the taste. Broil, bake or
serve under meat as in other recipes here given. Of the above, Nos. 2,
4 and 5 may be stewed, but the others, and, in fact, all Boleti are so
moist or viscous that they are much better cooked by dry heat.

N. B. All the above, and many other varieties of esculent Boleti, have
tubes colored wh