Toadstool Poisoning and its Treatment 



as well as 10 cc. of ether and 200 cc. of strong coffee with 20 cc. of 

 rum were given by the mouth and hot bottles applied externally. In 

 spite of all this the symptoms became worse and the patient sank into a 

 condition of profound collapse, the pulse dropping to 24 per minute 

 and the tremors ceased. One liter ( I quart) of normal saline solution 

 was injected hypodermatically and improvement began in 15 minutes 

 after the injection. The respiration lost the Cheyne-Stokes character; 

 the pulse improved in tension and in an hour was 60 per minute ; the 

 skin improved and the temperature returned to normal and the patient 

 went to work next day. 



The circulatory symptoms are most prominent and demand most 

 attention. Vomiting and purging have to be treated according to the 

 conditions in the individual case and no rule can be followed. As the 

 peripheral vessels are dilated the body temperature is usually subnormal. 

 This should be overcome by applying hot bottles externally. 



The suppression of urine should receive attention, and the activity of 

 the kidneys be stimulated as much as possible. It is probable the sup- 

 pression is largely due to the tremendous fall of blood pressure. If the 

 urine is secreted but retained in the bladder it should be drawn off. 



Just as there is no simple way of detecting the presence of poisonous 

 mushrooms in a mixture of mushrooms, so there is no simple way of 

 destroying or removing the poisons. Pouchet stated that boiling de- 

 stroyed the poison and Chestnut has stated the poison of A. phalloides 

 is a toxic albumen. If this were the case boiling would destroy it. In 

 our experiments, however, boiling has not diminished the toxicity at 

 all and it can be definitely stated that the poison is not an albumen. 



There is also a popular impression that vinegar will remove the poison 

 and numerous observers claim to have removed the poison of A. mus- 

 caria completely by soaking the fungus in vinegar. We have not had 

 the opportunity of trying this with fresh A. muscaria, but in one experi- 

 ment in which the A. verna was soaked over night in vinegar it failed 

 to get rid of the poison any more than would have dissolved in that 

 amount of water. 



Toadstool poisoning differs from most poisonings in the long time 

 elapsing before death in fatal cases. The only inorganic poisons caus- 

 ing death after such a long interval produce profound tissue changes. 

 Husemann believed death from poisonous mushrooms to be due to fatty 

 degeneration of the various organs. We have examined microscopically 



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