The common mushroom (_Agaricus campestris_) is the best known esculent, whether in its uncultivated or in a cultivated state. In Britain many thousands of people, notably the lower classes, will not recognize any other as fit for food, whilst in Italy the same classes have a strong prejudice against this very species.[A] In Vienna, we found by personal experience that, although many others are eaten, it is this which has the most universal preference, yet it appears but sparingly in the markets as compared with others. In Hungary it does not enjoy by any means so good a reputation. In France and in Germany it is a common article of consumption. The different varieties found, as the results of cultivation, present some variation in colour, scaliness of pileus, and other minor features, whilst remaining true to the constituent characters of the species. Although it is not our intention to enumerate here the botanical distinctions of the species to which we may call attention, yet, as mistakes (sometimes fatal) are often being recorded, in which other fungi are confounded with this, we may be permitted a hint or two which should be remembered. The spores are purple, the gills are at first delicate pink, afterwards purple; there is a permanent ring or collar round the stem, and it must _not_ be sought in woods. Many accidents might have been spared had these facts been remembered.
The meadow mushroom (_Agaricus arvensis_) is common in meadows and lowland pastures, and is usually of a larger size than the preceding, with which it agrees in many particulars, and is sent in enormous quantities to Covent Garden, where it frequently predominates over _Agaricus campestris_. Some persons prefer this, which has a stronger flavour, to the ordinary mushroom, and it is the species most commonly sold in the autumn in the streets of London and provincial towns. According to Persoon, it is preferred in France; and, in Hungary, it is considered as a special gift from St. George. It has acquired in England the name of horse mushroom, from the enormous size it sometimes attains. Withering mentions a specimen that weighed fourteen pounds.[B]
One of the commonest (in our experience the _most_ common) of all edible fungi in the public markets of Vienna is the Hallimasche (_Agaricus melleus_), which in England enjoys no good reputation for flavour or quality; indeed, Dr. Badham calls it "nauseous and disagreeable," and adds that "not to be poisonous is its only recommendation." In Vienna it is employed chiefly for making sauce; but we must confess that even in this way, and with a prejudice in favour of Viennese cookery, our experience of it was not satisfactory. It is at best a sorry substitute for the mushroom. In the summer and autumn this is a very common species in large tufts on old stumps. In similar localities, and also in tufts, but neither so large, nor so common, _Agaricus fusipes_ is found. It is preferable to the foregoing as an esculent, and is easily recognized by the spindle-shaped stem.