Rhodora 
JOURNAL OF 
THE NEW ENGLAND BOTANICAL CLUB 
Vol. 1 ‘February, 1899 No. 2 
A CASE OF BOLETUS POISONING. 
E. S. COLLINS. 
WirurN the past few years there has been a great increase of general 
interest in mushrooms, chiefly as articles of food, and probably ten 
persons now collect and eat them to one that did so ten years ago. 
The literature treating of fungi, as a food supply, is becoming 
quite extensive, and much accurate instruction has been given for 
distinguishing edible from noxious species. But there is naturally a 
number, it is to be hoped not a large one, of persons whose enthusiasm 
for their favorite pursuit outruns their knowledge. Not long since the 
assertion was made by a person of some authority in the mycophagic 
cult, that “all Bolefí are edible."' Probably RHoDORA will reach only 
a small proportion of the persons who saw this statement; but to 
some, perhaps, a statement of my experience with the question — not, 
indeed, whether all Bo/efí are edible, but only whether species de- 
scribed and figured as edible are safe — may be of use. 
While there are instances of mycologists losing their lives by eating 
the wrong mushroom, I think there are not many cases where any 
person interested in botany has been seriously poisoned in this way, 
and afterwards published the particulars ; so that perhaps some fullness 
of detail in my case may be not unsuitable. 
On Saturday afternoon, September 6, 1890, I found in the Middle- 
sex Fells woods, near the edge of Spot Pond, a colony of Zo/eZi in 
excellent condition, of which I picked and took home quite a quan- 
tity. I have never been an enthusiast in mycology, but for several 
years previous to the time mentioned I had been accustomed to col- 
lect and eat such edible forms as I happened to find. I had never 
made any special study of the subject; I had consulted some of the 
older English works in the library of the Boston Society of Natural 
1 Asa Gray Bulletin, Vol. VI, p. 15, April, 1898. 
