.MTSIIUooM POISONING 



THE <ii:\ I s a ) GROl'HOK 



Experimentally in man do Hygrophorus is known i" be inedible 

 ami there are many fine esculents. Hygrophorus coni* I to be 



forbidden and Demange has attributed ;i serious outbreak i»f ; 

 inn id h. h is fatal to guinea pigs i».\ chronic intoxication 

 many perfectly safe fungi. Cooke and Mcllvaine Baj it i- .ill 

 right. //. /iinhiisis var. cinereus is toxic t«» guinea pip It 



edible. Var. albus contained ;i heal resistant agglutinin and hem 

 olysin: toxic to guinea pigs. Edible. //. marginatum Bimilar und 

 edible. Sec Bibliography, reference '-"-'. for several oth< rhe 



genus is either devoid of action or poisonous l>.\ chronic intoxication 

 only to guinea pigs. An excellenl record, bo far. The specie* arc 

 clean, beaul iful and inviting. 



THE QENl 8 /. WTARll 6 



Lactarius contains some well known edible mushrooms -I., de 

 licio8U8, volemus, corrugis, being well liked. Mcllvaine Bays that 

 not a single species retains its pepperiness after cooking. Borne 

 of tin- genus tasted raw arc horrible. /.. torminosus "the griping 

 milky," is charged with having caused fatal illnee In Germany it 

 is known as the "Birken" or "Gift reizker." Eleven were poisoi 

 Three children ate it tried, the youngest, aged two. died in twenty 

 four hours. Eighl Polish laborers, including two women who 

 most, prepared it. The women died after six day's illness, treatment 

 coming late in their case. Symptoms came on in about five hours 

 and consisted of nausea, headache, abdominal cramps, vomiting 



nroloi 1 and even bloods : diarrhea was synchronous, violent and 



profuse and accompanied by tenesmus. Anuria and albuminuria 

 followed, skin dry and later jaundiced; pupils dilated; In 

 negative imr weakening; respiration rapid, shallow, irregular and 

 finally Cheyne-Stokes. Temperature normal. Liver somewhat 

 larged. Tin- remainder of the description, ;is well .1- tin- postmortem 

 findings in the adults, suggests very strongly that I. phalloidi 

 the cause and not /.. torminosus. Atropin proved without effect in 

 tin- therapy and tin- invaluable bypodermoclysis of normal >.ii 

 solution was not used. No account of why or how / 

 was settled upon as the cause is given, il". kaut doubts th< 

 nosis and Bays many authors '-i\ are named) »aj /. torm 

 is harmless when cooked, Crombolz has eaten it though th< 



107 



