pped in the yolk of an egg; the Puff Ball will also make an
excellent omelette. Small Puff Balls are common on lawns, heaths,
and pastures. These are harmless, and eatable as long as their flesh
remains quite white. The Society of Amateur Botanists, 1863, had
its origin (as described by the president, Mr. M. C. Cooke), "over a
cup of tea and fried Puff Balls," in Great Turnstile.

Pieces of its dried inner woolly substance, with a profusion of
minute snuff-coloured spores, have been long kept by the wise old
women of villages for use to staunch wounds and incisions; whilst a
ready surgical appliance to a deep cut is to bind a piece of Puff Ball
over it, and leave it until healing has taken place. In Norfolk large
Puff Balls found at the margins of cornfields are known as Bulfers,
or Bulfists, and are regarded with aversion.

In medicine a trituration (H.) is made of this fungus, and its spores,
rubbed up with inert sugar of milk powdered, and it proves an
effective remedy against dull, stupid, sleepy headache, with passive
itchy pimples about the skin. From five to ten grains of the
trituration, diluted to the third decimal strength, should be given
twice a day, with a little water, for two or three weeks.

Sir B. Richardson found that even by smelling at a strong tincture of
the fungus great heaviness of the head was produced; and he has
successfully employed the same tincture for relieving an analogous
condition when coming on of its own accord. But the Puff Ball,
whether in tincture (H.) or in trituration, is chiefly of service for
curing the itchy pimply skin of "tettery" subjects, especially if this
is aggravated by washing. Likewise the remedy is of essential use in
some forms [368] of eczema, especially in what is known as bakers',
or grocers' itch. Five drops of the diluted tincture may be given with
a spoonful of water three times in the day; and the affected parts
should be sponged equally often with a lotion made of one part of
the stronger tincture to four parts of water, or thin strained gruel.
Sometimes when a full meal of the Puff Ball fried in butter, or
stewed in milk, has been taken, undoubted evidences of its narcotic
effects have shown themselves.

Gerard said: "In divers parts of England, where people dwell far
from neighbours, they carry the Puff Balls kindled with fire, which
lasteth long." In Latin they were named _Lupi crepitum_, or Wolfs'
Fists. "The powder of them is fitly applied to merig