MUSHROOM POISONING 



and there are numerous deaths on record from eatins »r two 



good sized specimens. 1 I'low righ 1 lias reported the death ol .1 child 

 of ten \f.11-. from one third of the top of a Bmall planl eaten ran : 



Pfromm, thai of two children after taking a bit ol 1 Honked 



into bread. 



The mortality from I. phalloidva intoxication is extremely high, 

 valuing from • ><> in 1011 per cenl and is dependent 1 upon the 



amount ingested and probably somewhat upon the trrntmi' 

 Sixty t<» one hundred percenl seems too high for ndnlts, j 1 1 • I _ 

 from local ruses. One-half this would be more nearlj correct, m> 

 less much is eaten or Beveral children are included in eacli group. 

 Recovery may be regarded ;is rare inn not impossible. It may 

 follow eighl to twenty-one days of extreme Buffering. Practically 

 all deaths from mushrooms are attributed to thi^ one Bpecii 



The cruelly of the poison and the horrible suffering il causes its 

 victim may be faintly realized from a perusal of the clinical bis 

 tories of the more fully reported cases. Om the impression 



that scarcely another agenl bears equal power to torture. A few 

 typical, though varied, cases may be briefly quoted. Thus an 

 Italian family at <> p. m. on Sunday ate heartily of a cooking ol 

 fungi. By midnight vomiting had begun, attended l>\ violent ah 

 dominal pain, headache and extreme thrist. A doctor was sum 

 moned the nexl morning. The father was cyanotic and twitching 

 and delirious. The pupils were contracted. He improved Blight I3 

 for a few hours. Periodica] remissions ami exacerbations of symp 

 toins continued for eight days when coma and death supervened. 

 The mother presented similar Bymptoms, with thirsl and vomiting 

 more violent, miscarried at five months ami also died on the eighth 

 day. Both children died in ~« s hours. (Pfromm. 



The Deep Valley, Pennsylvania, cases occurring in August, l!M>7, 

 are of especial interest. 8 Aboul 7 p. m. 011 Sunday a physician, th 

 others and the man ol all w oik ate one quart of mixed fungi fried 

 in flour and butter. Before 2 a. m. all began to Buffer from ex< 



Bive vomiting and violent diarrhea which continued all da\ Moml 



Atropine, narcotics and an oil purgative were given. Tl 

 intestinal symptoms continued three da ompanied b) sub 



normal temperature, more or less delirium 1 no salivation or urin 

 suppression) and in case of Dr. I ».. severe muscular cramps of lit 

 ami abdominal muscles. His death occurred on Thursday mo 

 ing. B3 Saturday the man-of-all work was up and about, the tl. 

 others still abed. In these, vomiting ami diarrhea had <• 

 an enlarged liver, distended gall bladder and jaundice were .1 j.j • 



