But the net-work once raised was like the uncovering of the veiled prophet of Khorassan, and the stem, crushing in my fingers, revealed all the disgusting properties of the plant, and proved the impossibility of removing it entire.

The elegance of its exterior only served to conceal its character-like Madame Mantilini, who, when undressed, "tumbled into ruins." There are two varieties of narcotic fungi whose properties are so mild that they are edible in small quantities.

One is a bright crimson on the surface; this is the most powerful, and is seldom used.

The other is a white solid puff-ball, with a rough outer skin or rind.
I have eaten the latter on two occasions, having been assured by the natives that they were harmless.

The flavor somewhat resembles a truffle, but I could not account for the extreme drowsiness that I felt soon after eating; this wore off in the course of two or three hours.
On the following day I felt the same effect, but to a still greater degree as, having convinced myself that they were really eatable, I bad taken a larger quantity.