MUSHROOM POISONS 



in deciding upon the kind of intoxication which tl i m. 



Severe ones show excessive salivation and perspiration, :i Hon "f 

 tears, ;i feeling of Inn ngeal constriction, nausea, retching, voiitti 

 ;in«l waten diarrhea. I li«' last named almost always occur. The 

 pulse is nsuallv slow and irregular. There is no fevci ; , 

 small. Respirations are accelerated and the patient* dys| 



the bronchii being tilled with mucus. (The acti >1 atropim 



the opposite of this, point for point.) Mental sympti 

 present, particularly giddiness with confusion <>! id ud rain 



hallucinations. All these symptoms maj varj in Intensity, .it some 

 times the gastro-intestinal predominating, and al other times the 

 mental. In light cases <>i:i\ salivation or perspiration mnj be 

 aoticed, with uneasiness in stomach and bowels i few hours. 



In severe cases the vomiting and diarrhea maj rapidly rid tin- .ili 

 mentary canal of the offending material and the aervoua symptoms 

 then become predominant— delirium, violenl convulsions and I 

 of consciousness developing in rapid succession and the patient*! 

 Binking into ;i deep coma. Rarely, consciousness is retained till the 

 end, death resulting from paralysis of tin- respiration. Finally, in 

 many cases, after the vomiting and diarrhea, tin- patients >ink into 

 ;i deep sleep, awakening Inter profoundly prostrated but on the 

 road to recovery. Normal health reappears rapidly two or three 

 days. There are qo late effects in muscaria intoxication ;i- in th.it 

 of Amanita i>!i<ill<>i<h .* with it- degenerative changes in the interna] 



organs. The prognosis is always g 1 if the patienl recovers from 



the preliminary symptoms. When, rarely, the nervous symptoms 

 dominate the alimentary, excitemenl and hallucinations Bimul 

 alcoholic intoxication. (Quoted freely from Ford and Clark. I The 

 delirium is occasionally followed by loss or impairment of memo 

 The pupils dilate as death approaches. The action of muscarii 

 almost idenl ical with thai of pilocarpin. 



Post-mortem examination reveals surprisingly little. The path* 

 ology of Amanita phalloides is absent, particularly the "f 



the liver. In general thje findings poinl to the action o ind 



nerve poison. 8 Medico-legally, remains of fungi in the aliment 

 canal would be of greal important 



Poisonous Constituents of Imanita 



Bchmiedeberg and Koppe, in 1809 showed by tl ful 



work, both chemical and pharmacological, thai t 

 contains an active principle which they <-.ille.l mui I 



regarded as an ;ill<;il<>hi of the sai ' nnturt 



