1834

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

1673

edge, which are sometimes glutinous.

{Eng. FL, v. p. 144.) It was from thisspecies that Bracconet obtained the bo-leticacid. (See Encyc. of Plants, p. 1007.)

P. fomentarius Fries, syn. B. fomentariusL., and our fig. 1672.; and P. igniariusFries, syn. B. igniarius L., and our fig.

1671. ; are both used for making amadou,or vegetable tinder; the former being considered the best. P. fomentariusis also the agaric de chene, or agaric des chirurgicas, of the French drug-gists. To make the amadou, the outer covering is peeled off, and theinterior part, which is soft and fullof fibres, is boiled in a lie of wood-ashes. It is then dried, and beatenwith a hammer till it becomes flat;after which it is again boiled in asolution of saltpetre. In this state,it makes excellent tinder, ignitingwith the slightest spark. The agaricdes chirurgiens is prepared in the samemanner, hut not boiled in the solutionof nitre. (See Marquiss Essai, Ac.; Diet. Classiqtie d' Hist. Nat.; Thickness'sFor. Veg.) The Laplanders are said to cure a violent pain in any part of thebody by laying a piece of P. fomentarius on the part, and igniting it. (Eng.FI., vol. v. p. 4.) P. vulgaris Fr. and P. molluscus Fr. are common onfallen branches. An account of a curious deformed fungus (fig. 1673.),apparently a species of Polyporus, was sent to us in the year 1828. Thisfungus grew for 10 years on the oakfrom which it was taken, and wascomposed of an aggregate mass of itubercles, disposed in an irregularISjafe form : the pores were oval. (Mag. tNat. Hist., i. p. 289.) Fistulina ikilPb hepatica With., Grev. Crypt.,t. 240., \

■“to) and our fig. 1674., is an eatablefungus ; and it is much esteemed in '

Austria as an article of food ; though the taste is rather acid, and the texturetough. It is sometimes found of enormous size. Mr. Graves found a specimenupon an ash pollard that weighed 30 lb. On the oak it 1677„/ is generally very small, //ydnum

.Erinaceus Bull., t. 34., and our) fig. 1675., is found occasionallyupon the oak ; but it is rare inBritain. Thelephora rubiginosa {

Schrad., syn. Auricularia ferru-les ginea Sow., t. 26 .; T. spadlceaPers., syn. Auricularia tabdeina Sow. T. yuercina Pers. Syn., p. 573.,Grev. Crypt., t. 142., and our fig. 1676., syn. Auricularia corticalis Bull.,

ear. It is generally found on fallen oak branches, _«a. i«jo

in woods, and is very common. T. hirsiita W.

1678 “ 1679

t. 436. f. 1., was formerly called oak ear, or oak-bark ear, from some fancied similarity to the human( fig. 1677.) is an allied species, and is equally common. Peziza aurantia Pers.Syn., p. 637., Grev. FI. Ed., p. 418., syn. P. coccinea Sow., t. 78., and our