850 THE AGARICACEAE OP MICHIGAN 



was bad. Huseman's two cases referred to the species fit Amanita 

 muscaria. Great mycologists give conflicting reports. Kunkel 

 says in Sweden it is used cooked and is poisonous only when raw, 

 and this agrees with Ford's results."-- — Ford found that its 

 hemolysin and agglutinin were destroyed at 150° F. Though acutely 

 fatal to both guinea pigs and rabbits which showed convulsive like 

 movements, with retraction of the head — a little like A. muscaria 

 intoxication but with more somnolence — these toxic effects were not 

 obtained when the extract was cooked one-half hour. Its safety 

 or danger perhaps depends entirely upon the cooking. Maass 12 

 alludes to the presence in some fungi of drastically purgative 

 resinous acids which may be decomposed by cooking processes and 

 become foods. The milk of the Lactarii seems to be such a sub- 

 stance. "Insects eat both L. torminosus and L. deliciosus. They pro 

 nounce excellent what we find poisonous and vice versa" (Fabre). 

 Hockauf regards L. torminosus and L. zonarius as poisonous and L. 

 plumbeus, L. clirysorrlieus, L. vellereus, L. insulsus, L. pubescens, L. 

 pyrogalus, L. fuliginosus and L. violescens as suspicious or inedible. 

 Mcllvaine reports L. insulsus and L. vellereus as edible, as good as 

 L. deliciosus. Murrill's list of forbidden mushrooms is headed by 

 L. rufus and includes L. torminosus, L. fuligmosus, L. vellereus, 

 L. pyrogalus and L. theiogalus — perhaps all condemned only on 

 account of their taste when raw. Fabre's household finds L. deli- 

 ciosus overrated, coarse and difficult to digest. 



Lactarius uvidus extract was acutely poisonous to guinea pigs, 

 fatal in forty-eight hours, but had no effect on rabbits. No hem- 

 olysin or agglutinin. Several authors rank it poisonous ; the Boston 

 Mycological Club pronounce it deleterious. With L. torminosus 

 and Clitocybe illudens it is ranked. as a violent gastro-intestinal 

 irritant. 



THE GENUS RUSSULA 



Kussula, one of the most difficult genera for reliable specific 

 distinctions, appeals to the mycophagist because of the attractive- 

 ness, tenderness and abundance of its species. Members of the 

 Detroit Mycological Club and the Institute of Science have for 

 years eaten all the bright colored and peppery Russulas indis- 

 criminately and believe that Russula emetica is a safe fungus to 

 <eat in Michigan. Hockauf says of the European R. emetica which is 

 so often condemned, that our knowledge is insufficient and that ex- 

 ceptions can justly be taken to reports in the literature. Krapf 



