826 THE AGARICACEAE OF MICHIGAN 



seem possible, in the light of recent advances, to record more vital 

 information about deleterious and suspected species than is to be 

 found in similar articles in all the text books combined. The 

 strictly technical literature of the subject is very large. A bibli- 

 ography might easily include one hundred books and papers in 

 French, German and English. Most of these are quite inaccessible 

 to the average student and an attempt is made herein to present 

 part of the matter they contain. No popular handbook covers a 

 tenth of the field. The earliest views, still popularly held, regard- 

 ed the Agarics as a large group of poisonous plants. Then, under 

 the influence of teaching-mushroom-clubs and the invaluable pub- 

 lished results of Peck and of Mcllvaine and Macadam, the impres- 

 sion that there were but few deleterious and hundreds of edible 

 species, has led to a reckless mycophagy which resulted in the dis- 

 covery of new harmful species. These can no longer "be counted 

 on the fingers" (Plowright), nor will Bagnall's "dozen in over a 

 thousand edible" include all the toxic species. The bibliography, 

 On Mushroom Poisoning, will guide the reader to the sources found 

 most useful in the preparation of the paper. 



A number of factors give myco-toxicology or mushroom intoxica- 

 tion increasing importance. The daily press endeavors to keep 

 alive the fear of "mistaking a toadstool for a mushroom 1 ' in its 

 frequent reports of the disastrous consequences of such a blunder if 

 the toadstool is eaten, but the Sunday paper is not so consistent 

 inasmuch as it prints and reprints irresponsible articles or quotes 

 unreliable and dangerous rules and tests to apply, which, if fol- 

 lowed, will lead the man of newspaper education into real danger. 

 The enormous influx of foreigners from southern Europe, accustom- 

 ed to seeing in the markets and gathering and eating certain species 

 of higher fungi at home, gives us individuals who mistake some 

 American deleterious species for an edible European one which 

 resembles it. These people furnish most of the cases of poisoning 

 which occur in the United States. It is affirmed that nearly all 

 of more than thirty deaths from mushroom poisoning in and near 

 New York City in 1911 occurred among them -59 .* Through the 

 growth of nature and mycological clubs, the sale and use of the 

 several excellent popular books and bulletins, and the offering of 

 wild species for sale in our markets, the use of fungi for food is 

 rapidly increasing. This necessarily means that a. larger number 

 of poisonings of both major and minor importance will come about, 

 since insufficiently trained, self-constituted "experts" may blunder 



* For numerical references see bibliography: on .Mushroom Poisoning. 



