Observations on recent cases of mushroom poisoning in the District of Columbia

Historic, Archive Document

Do not assume content reflects current scientific
knowledge, policies, or practices

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CIRCULAR No. 13.—(Revised edition.)

United States Department of Agriculture,

DIVISION OF BOTANY.

OBSERVATIONS ON RECENT CASES OF MUSHROOM POISONING IN
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

The death, in the city of Washington, on November 10, 1897, of
Count Achilles de Vecchj, and on October 17, 1894, of an educated
Chinaman named Chung Yu Ting, both from eating poisonous mush-
rooms, which they had themselves mistaken for edible ones, seems to
require a public warning. Many kinds of fleshy fungi are without
question delicious and highly nutritious foods, while the gathering
of them is an exhilarating pastime. A novice who proposes to gather
mushrooms for himself should never use a species for food until
he has found out positively its name and its nonpoisonous character.

Fic. 1.—Common mushroom, Agaricus campestris.* Edible. Three-fourths natural size. }

He should then familiarize himself with this species until he knows
it from all others as certainly as he knows the cabbage, the turnip,
the cauliflower, or any other of our common vegetables. He should
confine himself rigidly to this his personal edible list, and should add
to it only as thus recommended. His authority for the name and
qualities of each kind he adds to this list should be some person hav-
ing an unquestioned expert knowledge of mushrooms. There is no

*The technical or Latin names of the fungi mentioned in this circular are
those in current use-among botanists, no attempt having been made to ascertain
whether these are really their oldest generic and specific designations.

2

single test and no safe series of tests for poisonous mushrooms. The
poisons contained in the various species are extremely diverse in their
physiological effects and their chemical composition. In the District
of Columbia occur at least thirty good-sized edible species, at least
four species known to be poisonous, and several more that are sus-
pected of being poisonous. Regarding these suspected species, we
shall never know the actual facts until some one has been poisoned
by them or until experiments are made on animals to ascertain their
physiological effects. Botanists, who from long training in the dis-
crimination of plants possess the faculty of distinguishing readily
between related species, will easily avoid the error of mistaking
superficial resemblances for the real characteristics of the different
kinds, and may be trusted in the identification of mushrooms, if they
have studied that group of plants. If there is a mushroom club in
the community, every one who proposes to become a connoisseur in

Fig. 2.—Horse mushroom, Agaricus arvensis. Edible. One-half natural size.

mushrooms should join it. In the District of Columbia is an associ-

ation, recently organized, known as the Washington Mycological
Club; in Boston there is the Boston Mycological Club; and in Phila-
delphia, the Philadelphia Mycological Center. Membership in such
an organization and a proper use of the facilities afforded by it should

prevent the mistaking of a poisonous for an edible species.

For those who purchase their mushrooms instead of gathering
them for themselves, the judgment of the colored market women in
Washington that a particular species is edible I consider as safe a
guide as the decision of the highest botanical authority, not because
their knowledge of mushrooms is extensive but because they are
thoroughly familiar with the two or three edible species they handle
and know them as certainly from poisonous kinds as they know per-

3

simmons from crab apples or opossums from rabbits. The colored
women shun all other kinds of fungi, whether poisonous or not, with
a half-superstitious dread. This statement is made because the
impression has been created that the poisonous mushrooms connected ©
with the recent fatal case were on public sale in the K street market.
They were not on sale, but were brought in from Virginia by a coun-
tryman who was delivering them, somewhat under protest, upon the
order of the gentleman whose death
they afterwards caused. The gentle-
man had requested samples of a fungus
that the countryman described as grow-
ing near his farm and, after examining
the samples, had pronounced them edi-
ble and ordered a basketful.

In the Washington markets four
kinds of edible fungi may be found on
sale in abundance on almost any mar-
ket day during the autumn months,
and to a more limited extent at times 5. 5 4, ;

: ; aye se mushroom, Agaricus
eavorable to their growth during the ¢rvensis, button = Edible. ‘Threc-
spring and summer. These are the
common mushroom (Agaricus campestris); the horse mushroom
(Agaricus arvensis); the shaggy mushroom (Coprinus comatus),
incorrectly called French mushroom by the market women; and
the puffball (Lycoperdon cyathiforme).

A few of the numerous other edible species of the vicinity are
brought now and then to market, usually to fill some particular order,
| but as they do not sell readily on the open
market and the people who bring them are
half doubtful of their qualities, little progress
has been made toward popularizing them.

In the belief that good photo-mechanical re-
productions from characteristic photographs
of a few common and easily distinguished
species, accompanied by explanatory text,
will be of some service to the public as a
preventive of fatal mistakes, the present

Fic. 4.—Horse mushroom, brief paper has been prepared. While these
Ba es vensis, button: notes are issued primarily for use in the Dis-
2 trict of Columbia, the information they con-
tain is of much wider application, for the species described occur
over nearly all except the arid portions of the United States. The
photographs were made principally by Mr. A. J. Pieters of the
Division of Botany.

4

COMMON MUSHROOM (EDIBLE).
Agaricus campestris L.

Fig. 1 represents the common mushroom. The second specimen
from the left is a young one, not yet expanded, commonly called a
button. The specimen at the extreme left is a somewhat larger button
viewed from the top, showing the slightly checked surface that some-
times occurs in this species. Typically in fresh specimens the sur-
face is white, but various shades of light brown, either plain or

checked, are often found. The specimen at the right is slightly

expanded and, like the largest fully expanded specimen at its left,
shows the gills on the lower surface of the cap. These gills in a
newly expanded mushroom fresh from the field are of a beautiful
and delicate pale pink color, often with a tinge of salmon. As in
all the gill-bearing fungi mentioned in this paper, the gills end toward
the center with an abrupt upward curve without being attached to
the stem as in some other kinds of mushrooms.

As they grow older, especially after they are picked, the gills turn
in a few hours to a light brown and finally to a dark chestnut-brown,
almost black, color. This discoloration is
chiefly due to the maturity of innumerable
minute bodies called spores, which are
developed on the edge and on the faces of
each of the gills. If the stem of a com-
mon mushroom be broken off and the cap
be laid gills downward on a piece of white
paper the spores will drop off and after a
few hours will appear as a brown dust on
the surface of the paper, lying in radiating
E16, 5.-Horse mushroom. Agar eae that indicate the position of the gills.
Edible. Thrée-fourthsnaturalsize, 1 each of the two right-hand specimens

there appears at about the middle of the
stem a ring that marks the line of junction between the stem and
the margin of the cap before the latter was expanded. In the smaller
button this line of junction may still be seen unbroken. The usual
diameter of fully expanded specimens of the common mushroom is
one and a half to three inches, though smaller and larger specimens
are sometimes found.

The common mushroom is the principal mushroom of the markets.
In the months of September, October, and November, when the
autumn rains have succeeded the usual dry period of summer and
the continued cold weather of winter has not yet set in, the chief
harvest of this mushroom occurs. In the vicinity of Washington

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the most abundant crops come, in normal years, in October, when
soaking rains are accompanied by warm nights. During the spring
and summer there has been developing underneath the surface of the
ground a mass of white, root-like, loosely interwoven threads and
strands, which are known to botanists as the mycelium of the

Fig. 6.—Shaggy mushroom, Coprinus comatus. Edible. Three-fourths natural size.

mushroom. Popularly this is known as the mushroom spawn, more
especially when in its impure, dried, commercial form, pressed into
bricks or flakes for the artificial propagation of mushrooms.
Without the autumn rains the little pill-like bodies that form upon
the mycelium are unable to absorb sufficient moisture to continue
their development into buttons; but, when this moisture is supplied,

6

only a few days, commonly three or four, pass before the mushrooms
appear above the ground. It usually requires only a single night for
a button to push through the surface of the soil and expand its cap.

When one day old a mushroom is usually still edible, but insect’

larvee soon attack it, traveling up through the stem into the cap, and
decomposition rapidly follows. A quick way to find out whether a
specimen of the common mushroom is wormy is to break off its stem
close beneath the cap. If the larvee have passed through, the little
holes left by them are readily seen.

About Washington the common mushroom occurs oftenest on
lawns and in pastures, and especially in neglected fields where weeds
have been succeeded by a scant covering of grass. Such areas are
here known in a somewhat specific sense as ‘‘old fields.” Probably
the most prolific of these old fields in mushrooms is the one at Chevy
Chase, lying between
Chevy Chase circle and
the Tenleytown car line.
It is marked especially by
a low hill near its center,
bearing a small but con-
Spicuous grove of young
trees. On suitable morn-
ings in October a dozen
mushroom gatherers are
frequently on hand at
sunrise in this field to get
a choice selection of the

night’s product. Another

Fie. a Fae bed, Lycoperdon cyathiforme, side view. : -
dible. Three-fourths natural size. locality where this mush-

room is abundant is the
field outside the Soldiers’ Home grounds, at the south gate.

Occasionally in spring or summer small quantities of the common
mushroom are brought into market. These have usually been
gathered upon various dumping grounds of the city, where rubbish
of all kinds except garbage is deposited. These situations seem to
furnish the conditions necessary for an early development of the
mushroom from the mycelium.

In late autumn and winter large quantities of cultivated mush-
rooms belonging to the same species as the common mushroom
appear in the market. These are grown sometimes in greenhouses,
sometimes in cellars, and are handled in the regular market stalls—
not by farmers or colored women. Most of those sold in Washing-
ton come from New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. The price
commonly ranges from 75 cents to $1 per pound, but in the fall it

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often drops to 25 cents and in winter rises sometimes to $1.50. The
price of the native product is commonly 20 cents per quart basket
(weighing a scant pound), but it sometimes is a little higher, and it
often on an overstocked fall market goes down to 10 cents a quart.
The ordinary methods of cooking the common mushroom are
frying in butter, broiling and serving on toast, stewing in gravy and
serving with beefsteak, and simply stewing in milk. Detailed recipes
for these and other methods of cooking may be found in any good
cookbook. As a preliminary to cooking, the lower end of the stem
is cut off and the thin skin on the upper surface of the cap is usually
peeled off in strips from margin to center. If this surface is clean
and white, however, peeling is not necessary.

THE HORSE MUSHROOM (EDIBLE).
Agaricus arvensis Schaeffer.

Fig. 2 represents three moderately expanded specimens of the
horse mushroom. At a later stage they expand quite as fully as
the large specimen in
fig. 1. It should be
noted that, while this
species agrees in most
details with the preced-
ing, the surface of the
cap is darker-colored
than in campestris,
though specimens of a
considerably lighter
shade of brown are
often found; that it is
larger; and that the
ring is wider and thick-
er than in the other.
Usually the ring is dis-
tinctly marked on its
upper surface by a Fic. 8.—Puffball, Lycoperdon cyathiforme, top view. Edible.

r E Three-fourths natural size.
series of lines where
the edges of the gills before expansion have pressed against it.
The difference in size between the two species (the cap in arvensis
is commonly 3 to 6 inches broad) is not well brought out by this
figure, for it is only one-half natural size, while the figure of cam-
pestris is three-fourths natural size. Figs. 3 to.5 represent some
buttons of the horse mushroom in various stages of development.

The horse mushroom is not always distinguished from the common
mushroom by the market people, and indeed in its technical character-
istics it is closely related to that species. It is often sent to the

8

Department for identification, however, as something different from
the common mushroom, and it presents sufficient differences to be
always recognizable by one familiar with mushrooms. Its charac-
teristic place of growth about Washington is not in fields but in gar-
dens, especially very rich or heavily fertilized ones, where it often
occurs in cold frames or around hot beds.

On account of its large size this mushroom is better adapted than
others for broiling or frying.

THE SHAGGY MUSHROOM (EDIBLE).

Coprinus comatus Pers.

Fig. 6 represents a bunch of three specimens of the shaggy mush-
room, showing as many stages in the development of this species.
In the middle is an old specimen in which liquefaction has progressed
so far that the lower part of the cap has already disappeared. Not

Fic. 9.—Puiftball, Lycoperdon cyathiforme, viewed diagonally from above.
One-half natural size. Not edible in this stage.

only are the spores of this species black, but the whole plant, begin-
ning at the outer edge of the cap, dissolves when the mushroom is
about a day old into an inky-black fluid. Some of this inky fluid
has dropped from the large specimen upon the small one at the left
and has run down its stem. At the rightis a specimen showing the
characteristic appearance of the cap which, except in its latest stages,
has somewhat the form of a closed umbrella. In their early stages
the cap, gills, and stem are white, excepting frequently the apex of
the cap, which is often dark-colored as in the figure. This is due to
contact with the soil before the mushroom pushed out of the ground,
by which the apex is stained brown. The surface of the cap is cov-
ered with delicate lacerated scales, a characteristic from which the
name of the species, comatus, or shaggy, was derived. The ring is
only very loosely attached, either to the stem or to the margin of the
cap, and sometimes is wholly free from both, early dropping down

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to the base of the stem. In the right-hand specimen in the figure
the first stage of discoloration has begun. In the white part of the
cap the juice is as colorless as water; toward the margin it is wine-
colored. In this stage the shaggy mushroom is still in condition to
be eaten, but when the juice turns black the mushroom is usually
considered too old for the table. By some persons, however, it is
still eaten, chiefly in the form of a catchup, when it is black and
partially dissolved, as in the largest specimen in fig. 6.

Unlike the last two species, this mushroom has as its favorite
place of growth, not fields and pastures, but shaded situations, where
the ground is rich or well supplied with thoroughly decomposed wood
or other vegetable matter. It occurs, for example, abundantly under
the trees or on the margins of the White Lot and in the Smithsonian
Grounds. It grows in greatest abundance in the low grounds near
the Potomac, shaded by willows or rank weeds, particularly near the
foot of Seventeenth street. The season of greatest abundance is the
late autumn, in November and early December, when the nights are
usually cold but the ground is not yet frozen.

Fie. 10.—Puffball, Lacoperdon cyathiforme, viewed diagonally from above.
Not edible in this stage. One-half natural size.

The shaggy mushroom should be cooked before its margin turns
black, preferably while it is yet white throughout, certainly not later
than the stage of the wine-colored juice. Liquefaction sets in so early
that seldom does the mushroom have time to become infested with
larve. A certain myriapod, or thousand-legged worm, however,
often works his way into the space between the gills and the stem,
where he lies snugly feeding on the tender gills. This cavity should
always be examined when the mushroom is being cleaned.

Ordinarily this species is cooked by stewing or frying, but some-
times, when older, it is made into a black catchup.

10

THE PUFFBALL (EDIBLE).
Iycoperdon cyathiforme Bosc.

Fig. 7 is a side view of a young and solid puffball which has been
removed from the ground. Fig. 8 is a top view of the same spec-
imen. A description of so simple an object is difficult. The exte-
rior color is brown, and the outermost part of the covering is
usually more or less distinctly and irregularly checked, the white
color of the interior showing between the darker, raised areas.
Within at its earliest stage the flesh is of a milk-white color, solid,
and without an appreciable juice. Within two or three days it
becomes soft, turns yellowish, develops a watery and later an amber-
colored juice, and continues its development through later stages.
In the left-hand specimen of fig. 9 the entire contents have changed

Fic. 11.—Two fairy rings formed by Marasmius oreades.

from yellow to brown, the juice has dried out, the outer coatings on
the upper part have been broken up and blown away, showing only
in brown and gray at the lower edge of the specimen, and the inte-
rior mass of dustlike spores and fluffy minute brown threads is
exposed to the air. In the right-hand specimen the process has gone
a step further and a large part of the contents of the puffball have
been blown away by the wind. From the character of the fungus
at this stage has arisen a name by which it is familiarly known
among the colored people in the vicinity of Washington, ‘‘the devil’s
snuff box.” Fig. 10 shows further stages in the plant’s history. In
the right-hand specimen is shown the final form of the plant. It is
dry and leathery, the spores all blown away, and the slender threads
beaten down by the rain and dried together on the surface into a

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smooth skin. The specimen is tilted forward, but viewed directly
from the side it would present roughly the form of a broad urn.
This is the characteristic form of an old puffball of this species. In
none of the stages shown in figs. 9 and 10 is the puffball edible. It
is too dry and leathery.

Other species of puffball grow in the District of Columbia, but
only two others, so far as known, approach this in size. The small
species are commonly an inch or less in diameter, while the com-
moner of the two large species has an almost pure white surface,
and when old the spores it produces, like those of the other large one,
are yellowish-brown instead of purplish-brown as in the present
species. None of the puffballs with a pure white interior are known
to be poisonous.

Fig. 12.—Fairy ring formed by Marasmius oreades, an edible mushroom.

About Washington puffballs are found commonly in the autumn
on lawns and in pastures, especially upon the vacant lots in the edge
of the city serving as ‘‘commons,” where the soil has remained
undisturbed for many years and has been closely grazed by cattle.
If one examines with some care such an area on which puffballs are
growing he will find that adjacent puffballs are usually arranged at
irregular intervals along a circular line and that the greater part of
the circle, sometimes the entire circle, is marked by a band of grass
shg¢htly darker in color than that on either side. These circles are
commonly four to eight feet in diameter and sometimes much larger.

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One has been measured that was 24 feet across. The band of dark-
green grass is usually about a foot in breadth. These circles, which
are known as “‘fairy rings,” are more conspicuously developed in the
next species, where their structure is described more in detail.

It is only while the interior is still solid and white, with the texture
of cheese, that the puffball is edible. After a few days, when this
mass begins to soften, it turns slightly yellowish |
and a juice can be squeezed out by the hand. At
this stage the puffball is indigestible and has been
known to produce severe nausea.

As a preparation for cooking the young solid
puffball is first peeled, the tender brown-coated
skin being perhaps a sixteenth of an inch in thick-
ness, and the white interior is cut into slices about
an eighth to a quarter of an inch in thickness.
These slices are fried in butter without further
preparation. The puffball, though it has not so

Fig. 13.— Fairy -rin
ea an us pronounced a flavor as the common mushroom, has

panded Bdikic ‘tres. been used also with great success in stews, in
fourths natural size. omelets, and in the stuffing of roast fowls. For
these purposes the peeled puffball is simply crumbled in the hand
before cooking. The fact that a neatly peeled puffball is entirely
free from sand or dirt further recommends it as a substitute for

mushrooms.

THE FAIRY-RING MUSHROOM (EDIBLE).

Marasmius oreades (Bolt. ) Fr.

Fig. 11 is a picture taken in November on the grounds of the
Department of Agriculture looking northwestward from the vicinity
of the mulberry group. The two fairy-
rings are at the stage after the mush-
rooms have ceased to develop, when the
rings are marked only by a vigorous
growth of dark-green grass about a foot
in breadth. Both these rings are broken
toward the right. The larger one, at
the left, measures this year about 18
feet in diameter; the other one about
13 feet. Fig. 12 is a picture of another
fairy-ring, about 7 feet in diameter,
taken early in November on the same ,,. 4, _Vairy-ring kee
grounds, at the time when it bore its rasratve oreades. Edible. Three-fourths
full fall crop of mushrooms. Figs. 13
to 17 show the mushrooms, three-fourths natural size, in various
stages of development. It will be noted that the stem, unlike all the

13

other mushrooms described, has no ring; that the gills are compara-
tively few and far apart; and that the cap, as it becomes widely
expanded, has a peculiar knob-like projection in the center. This
gives to the fairy-ring mushroom a characteristic appearance. The
cap and stem have a pinkish-buff color, and
the gills a lighter shade of the same, varying
in its younger stages toward a cream color.
The spores are white, and in ascertaining their
color the cap should be laid on some dark-col-
ored, preferably black, paper.

The fairy-ring mushroom is one of the com-
monest species on the lawns of the city of
Washington, yet so little attention is paid to Te ihe
the study of mushrooms that seldom does one room, Marasmius oreades,

: viewed diagonally from be-
meet a person who knows that such a thing neath. Edible. Three
fourths natural size.

as a a -ring exists. The grounds of the

Department of Agriculture contain scores of
them, and the grounds of the Dean property, for
example, near the head of Connecticut avenue,
have some very perfect ones. In general they
can be found in any old and well-kept lawn.

In the days of early superstition in Europe
these rings were supposed to mark the place of ©
fairy dances, and thus they were called fairy-
rings. With the springing up of the modern
ees rene ee tendency toward scientific investigation, how-
top view. Edible. Three- over the assigning of a reasonable cause for this

curious phenomenon was demanded, and among
the first attempts was one explanation 7
that was very ingenious. According to
this theory the ring marked the spot
where a lightning stroke had descended
into the earth. It was assumed that the
lightning bolt was of the same diameter
as the ring and that only where the light-
ning bolt came in contact with the air,
namely, along its surface, did combus-
tion take place. Therefore as the bolt
descended into the ground it burned a
ring of grass, and this dead vegetable | * aes
matter acting in following years as a fie. 17.—Fairy-ring mushroom, Ma-
fertilizer stimulated the new grass to awi ine Se etiea a .
dark green growth. So great indeed ‘7S natural size.
was the fertilizing effect that a certain kind of mushroom very often
grew along the dark green band.

14

The lightning theory was soon dispelled, however, by a more accu-
rate knowledge of the life history of fungi. It is now known that
the ring is due to the uniform annual growth of the mycelium. This
starting at a central point grows each year a few inches outward, the
older portion beginning to die at the center. Thus a small circular
band is formed and each year this increases in size, growing reg-
ularly on the outside and dying as regularly on the inside. The
mycelium in some manner not yet fully understood exerts a stimulus
on the grass among the roots of which it is interlaced, and a more
vigorous and darker green growth is the result.

Fig. 18.—Fly amanita, Amanita muscaria. Poisonous. One-half natural size.

The fairy rings, except when young, seldom form complete circles,
usually appearing as broken rings or crescents. The opening when
the ring is on a slope is almost invariably on the down-hill side.

Several crops of mushrooms are produced on a single ring during a
season, the most abundant crop coming after the autumn rains. Ifa
dry period follows their appearance, the mushrooms dry and are pre-
served as long as the drought lasts. They decompose only after
repeated wetting and drying, are almost wholly free from the attacks
of insects, and are usually quite free from dirt, except after a hard rain.

For cooking they require no preparation except the cutting off of
the lower part of the stem. They have a pronounced flavor and
should be brought on the table in the form of a stew. They are too
small to be fried or broiled.

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15

THE FLY AMANITA (POISONOUS).

Amanita muscaria (L.) Pers.

Fig. 18 shows a fully developed specimen of the fly amanita, the
commonest of the poisonous mushrooms of the District of Columbia.
Fig. 19 shows another specimen in a different position, and fig. 20a
top view of its cap. The points especialy to be noted are the bulbous
enlargement at the base of the stem, breaking into thick scales
above, the very broad drooping ring near the top of the stem, and

Fig. 19.—Fly amanita, Amanita muscaria. Poisonous. One-half natural size.

the corky particles loosely attached to the smooth, glossy upper sur-
face of the cap. The stem, the gills, and the spores are white, the
corky particles commonly of a buff color, but varying, sometimes
to almost white. The glossy upper surface of the cap, beneath the
corky particles, varies from a brilliant red to orange yellow, buff,
and even white. Commonly in the vicinity of Washington the

OO EE ae

16

coloration is orange in the center, shading to yellow toward the mar-
gin. Brilliant red ones are rarely seen here, but white ones are of
not infrequent occurrence, especially late in the season. It some-
times happens that the corky layer does not break up into particles,
but simply stretches as the cap expands. Such a specimen, if it is
of a pale buff or white color, would not be taken by a novice as

belonging to the same species as the brilliant orange or red speci-—

mens, and a mistake might easily be made. Often, too, the bulbous
scaly base is broken off in picking and even that characteristic is
lost. Therefore, if there is the slightest doubt about specimens
which it is proposed to
eat, ask an expert.

Fig. 21 shows two
young specimens, still

corky outer covering of
the undeveloped cap just
breaking up into parti-
cles. Fig. 22 shows the
ring still attached in part
to the margin of the cap.
Fig. 23 is another speci-
men in which the ring
in breaking away has re-
mained attached to the
margin of the cap instead

of the stem. In such

Fic. 20.—Fly amanita, Amanita muscaria, top view. =
Poisonous. Two-fifths natural size. cases the ring becomes

broken into fragments
which are usually soon blown away, leaving only a mark upon the
stem to show the ordinary position of the ring. In fig. 24 is seena
ring almost wholly broken away from the cap. This is a fair sample
of the ordinarily somewhat torn appearance of the ring in this spe-
cies. This figure, together with fig. 18, shows another feature
usually present in the fly amanita, namely, the striations on the
upper side of the cap near the margin.

The fly amanita is one of the largest, handsomest, and most danger-
ous of our mushrooms, and is the one whose character has been the
most fully studied of all the poisonous species. It isabundant about
Washington in the fall, growing in pine woods, a favorite situation
in these woods being the vicinity of abandoned hog beds. The
specimens that caused the death of: Count de Vecch] came from a
pine wood about a mile west of Fort Myer, between Balls Cross-
roads and Columbia Pike. It was from one of those left uncooked
from this lot that the photograph reproduced in fig. 24 was taken.

in the button stage, the

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17

The specimen had been lying on its side for a few hours and the cap
had assumed a horizontal position.

The chief active poisonous principle of the fly amanita is an alka-
loid called muscarine, but other poisonous substances, the chemical
nature of which is not yet fully known, also occur in the plant. The
symptoms and treatment are thus described by Mr. V. K. Chesnut,
assistant in charge of investigations of poisonous plants:

The symptoms of poisoning from the fly amanita, as deduced from a number

of cases, are varied. In some instances they begin only after several hours, but
usually in from one-half to one or two hours. Vomiting and diarrhea almost

Fig, 21.—Fly amanita, Amanita muscaria, buttons. Poisonous. Natural size.

always occur, with a pronounced flow of saliva, suppression of the urine, and
various cerebral phenomena beginning with giddiness, loss of confidence in one’s
ability to make ordinary movements, and derangement of vision. This is suc-
ceeded by stupor, cold sweats, and a very marked weakening of the heart’s action.
In case of rapid recovery the stupor is short and usually marked with mild delir-
ium. In fatal cases the stupor continues from one to two or three days and
death at last ensues from the gradual weakening and final stoppage of the heart’s
action.

18

The treatment for poisoning by Amanita muscaria consists primarily in remoy-
ing the unabsorbed portion of the amanita from the alimentary canal and in
counteracting the effect of muscarine on the heart. The action of this organ
should be fortified at once by the subcutaneous injection, by a physician, of atro-
pine in doses of from one one-hundredth to one-fiftieth of a grain. The strongest
emetics, such as sulphate of zinc or apomorphine should be used, though in case
of profound stupor even these may not produce the desired action. Freshly
ignited charcoal or two grains of a one per cent alkaline solution of permanganate |
of potash may then be administered, in order, in the case of the former substance,
to absorb the poison, or, in case of the latter, to decompose it. This should be
followed by oils and oleaginous purgatives, and the intestines should be cleaned
and washed out with an enema of warm water and turpentine.

Fig, 22,—Fly amanita, Amanita muscaria, partly expanded. Poisonous.
Three-fourths natural size.

Experiments on animals poisoned by the fly amanita and with pure muscarine
show very clearly that when the heart has nearly ceased to beat it may be stimu-
lated to strong action almost instantly by the use of atropine. Its use as thus
demonstrated has been the means of saving numerous lives. We have in this
alkaloid an almost perfect physiological antidote for muscarine, and therefore in
such cases of poisoning its use should be pushed as heroically as the symptoms of
the case will warrant. The presence of phallin in Amanita muscaria is pos-
sible and its symptoms should be looked for in the red color of the blood serum
discharged from the intestines. Its treatment, which is difficult, is discussed
under Amanita phalloides.

19

It is well known thatin some parts of Europe the fly amanita, after
the removal of the poison by treatment with vinegar, is a common
article of food. It was interesting to discover not long since that
among some of our own people a similar practice prevails... Though
most of the colored women of the markets look upon the species with
horror, one of them recited in detail how she was in the habit of cook-
ing it. She prepared the stem by scraping, the cap by removing the
gills and peeling the upper surface. Thus dressed the mushrooms
were first boiled in salt and water, and afterwards steeped in vinegar.
They were then washed in clear water, cooked in gravy like ordinary
mushrooms, and served with beefsteak. This is an exceedingly inter-
esting operation from the fact that although its author was wholly
ignorant of the chemistry of mushroom poisons, she had nevertheless
been employing a proc-
ess for the removal of -
these poisons which was
scientifically correct.
The gills, according to
various pharmacological
researches, are the chief
seat of the poisonous
principles in this plant
and their removal at once
takes away a large part
of the poison. The salt

and water would remove
. Fig. 23,—Fly amanita, Amanita muscaria, partly expanded.
phallin or any other tox- Poisonous. Three-fourths natural size.

albumin the mushroom

contained, and although the presence of phallin or any of this class
of poisons has not been demonstrated in Amanita muscaria, there
is a strong suspicion that it may occur in slight amount. The vin-
egar, secondly, removes the alkaloid poison, muscarine, and the mush-
room after the two treatments is free from poisons. This process is
cited, not to recommend its wider use, but as a matter of general
interest. The writer’s recommendation is that a mushroom contain-
ing such a deadly poison should not be used for food in any form,
particularly at a season when excellent non-poisonous species may
be had in abundance.

It is surprising that cases of poisoning are not more frequent. At
Takoma Park, D. C., on November 9, of last year, a lady who has
a thorough knowledge of edible and poisonous mushrooms met a
family, consisting of a man, woman, and two children, who had just
completed the gathering of a basketful of the fly amanita and the
death cup, described below, which they were taking home to eat.

20

In reply to questions the woman stated that they had often eaten
this kind purchased dry at an Italian store, but that they had never
gathered fresh ones before. Of course they had mistaken the species,
or possibly the dried ones were fly amanitas from which the poison
had been removed by treatment with vinegar. After considerable
persuasion the people consented to throw the lot away.

It is impossible to say what amount of the fly amanita would prove
fatal, but in this connection it is of interest to note the custom re-
ported by Krasheninnikoff, a Russian who traveled in Siberia and
Kamchatka from 1733 to
1743, namely, that the na-
tives of the latter country,
particularly the Koraks,
used the fly amanita as an in-
toxicant, three or four spec-
imens constituting a moder-
ate dose for one habituated
to its use, but ten being re-
quired for athorough drunk.
The same observations, with
varied details, have been
made by others, particularly
by Langsdorff, who traveled
around the world with the
Russian navigator Krusen-
stern from 1803 to 1806, and
in more recent times by Ken-
nan in his first Siberian jour-
ney of 1865-67.

The plant may be taken

ereeable that only with great
Fic. 24 —Fly amanita, Amanita muscaria, partly ex- difficulty Can a sufficient
panded. Poisonous. Three-fourths natural size.

amount be eaten to produce

the intoxicating effect. The Koraks have two principal methods of
taking it: First, by swallowing pieces of the dried caps without
chewing them; second, by boiling the dry caps in water and then
drinking the liquor thus produced mixed with the juice of berries or
herbs to disguise the taste. The intensity of the poisonous charac-
ter of the fly amanita undoubtedly varies at different ages, with dif-
erent individuals, and with different methods of preparation. The
amount of the poison that can be taken into the system with im-
punity varies, too, with the person who takes it. The fact that a

fresh, but its taste is so disa-.

eae

OD MIE | EEL I FP

21

Korak, who has long used the plant as an intoxicant, can eat ten
specimens and merely become drunk does not prove that a similar
number would not be fatal to an American who had never eaten it
before.

THE DEATH CUP (POISONOUS).

Amanita phalloides (Pers.) Fr.
Figs. 25 and 26 show one of the smaller forms of the death cup.

The stem is set in a sort of white cup, the upper portion of which
surrounds the base of the stem like a collar. This species resembles

Fic. 25.—Death cup, Amanita phalloides. Poisonous. ‘Two-thirds natural size.

muscariva in its broad ring and in the white color of its stem, gills,
and spores. The upper surface of the cap, however, is usually
smooth and without corky particles, glossy, viscid, and of a white
or slightly greenish, sometimes even yellow, color. Occasionally a
few small and irregular patches are found on the top of the cap, as
in fig. 27, consisting of fragments of the upper portion of the cup
which became attached to the top of the mushroom when it was very
young and just pushing itself out of the ground. The presence of

22

the cup which this species possesses, in common with others sup-
posedly poisonous, is especially characteristic. It is usually situated
well beneath the surface of the ground and should be carefully dug
out when one is securing specimens for identification. Specimens
occur, however, in which the inner surface of the cup is attached
throughout to the stem, so that it presents the appearance, not of a
cup, but of a mere bulbous base.

The death cup is a species not so abundant in the vicinity of
Washington as the last, yet of rather frequent occurrence in rich
oak woods. At Takoma Park it occurs in abundance. The lot that

Fig. 26.—Death cup, Amanita phalloides. Poisonous. One-half natural size.

caused the death of Chung Yu Ting in 1894 were gathered by him in
the oak and hickory woods at Bethesda Park and identified by the
microscopist of the Department of Agriculture as belonging to this
species.

The poisonous principle of the death cup, according to the
researches of Kobert, is of a totally different nature from that of the
fly amanita. It is known as phallin and is one of the so-called tox-
albumins, extremely virulent poisons found not only in plants but in
rattlesnakes and some other poisonous animals. They are the sub-
stances that cause death in diphtheria, typhoid fever, Asiatic cholera,
and various other diseases.

Sem his -

23

Mr. Chesnut has prepared the following account of the effect of
phallin and its treatment:

The fundamental injury is not due, as in the case of muscarine, to a paralysis
of the nerves controlling the action of the heart, but to a direct effect on the
blood corpuscles. These are quickly dissolved by phallin, the blood serum
escaping from the blood vessels into the alimentary canal, and the whole system
being rapidly drained of its vitality. No bad taste warns the victim, nor do
the preliminary symptoms begin until nine to fourteen hours after the poisonous
mushrooms are eaten. There is then considerable abdominal pain and there
may be cramps in the legs and other nervous phenomena, such as convulsions,
and even lockjaw or other kinds of tetanic spasms. The pulse is weak; the
abdominal pain is rapidly followed by nausea, vomiting, and extreme diarrhea,
the intestinal discharges
assuming the ‘‘rice-
water” condition char-
acteristic of cholera.
The latter symptoms are
persistently maintained,
generally without loss
of consciousness, until
death ensues, which hap-
pens in from two to four
days. Thereisno known
antidote by which the
effects of phallin can be
counteracted. The un-
digested material, if not
already vomited, should,
however, be removed
from the stomach and
intestines by methods
similar to those given
for cases of poisoning by
Amanita muscaria.

After that the remain-
der of the poison, if the

amount of phallin al-

oe eicmeareret sine c: call cup, Amanita Dhallotdes, Roleonous.* One-

system is not too large,
may wear itself out on the blood and the patient may recover. It is suggested
that this wearing-out process may be assisted by transfusing into the veins blood
freshly taken from some warm-blooded animal. The depletion of the blood
serum might be remedied by similar transfusions of salt and warm water.
Common table salt dissolved in water is a solvent of phallin, but,
while it might be applied in removing the poison from the death cup
before cooking, it is, unfortunately, impossible of application after
the poison has taken effect.
It will be noted that both the species of poisonous mushrooms here
described have white gills and white spores, and that all the edible
gill-bearing species herein described, except Coprinus comatus,

24

have gills of some other color. In Coprinus comatus the spores
at maturity are black. Several species of mushrooms having both
white gills and white spores are edible, but a beginner might easily
mistake an Amanita for them, and it would be well for him at the
start to leave them entirely alone.

FREDERICK V. COVILLE,

Approved: Botanist.
JAMES WILSON,

Secretary.

W ASHINGTON, January 4, 1898.

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