﻿20 
  A 
  PLAIN 
  AND 
  EASY 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  In 
  Amanita 
  the 
  volva 
  is 
  distinct, 
  the 
  gills 
  are 
  mem- 
  

   branaceous, 
  with 
  acute 
  edges, 
  and 
  the 
  spores 
  are 
  white. 
  

   The 
  volva, 
  on 
  breaking 
  up, 
  remains 
  attached 
  to 
  the 
  

   pileus 
  in 
  fragments 
  resembling 
  warts. 
  Of 
  the 
  thirteen 
  

   species 
  found 
  in 
  this 
  country, 
  many 
  are 
  poisonous, 
  and 
  

   one 
  is 
  especially 
  deserving 
  of 
  notice 
  from 
  its 
  extraor- 
  

   dinary 
  application 
  abroad. 
  This 
  species, 
  the 
  Fly 
  Agaric 
  

   {Amanita 
  muscaria), 
  has 
  a 
  bright 
  scarlet 
  or 
  reddish 
  

   umber 
  pileus, 
  studded 
  with 
  warts 
  of 
  a 
  dirty 
  white 
  or 
  

   yellowish 
  tint 
  (Plate 
  1). 
  The 
  stem 
  is 
  bulbous, 
  con- 
  

   taining 
  cottony 
  threads. 
  It 
  is 
  found 
  most 
  commonly 
  

   in 
  birch 
  woods, 
  and 
  not 
  very 
  plentifully 
  in 
  Britain. 
  

   A 
  decoction 
  of 
  this 
  fungus 
  has 
  been 
  employed 
  as 
  a 
  fly- 
  

   poison 
  ; 
  whence 
  its 
  vulgar 
  name. 
  

  

  M. 
  Roques, 
  in 
  his 
  work 
  on 
  Esculent 
  Fungi, 
  says 
  dis- 
  

   tinctly 
  that 
  this 
  plant 
  has 
  not 
  its 
  poisonous 
  properties 
  

   modified 
  by 
  any 
  climate. 
  The 
  Czar 
  Alexis 
  lost 
  his 
  life 
  

   by 
  eating 
  of 
  it, 
  and 
  yet 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  affirmed 
  that 
  in 
  

   Kamtschatka 
  "it 
  is 
  used 
  as 
  a 
  frequent 
  article 
  of 
  food." 
  

   And 
  we 
  have 
  been 
  informed 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  cooked 
  and 
  eaten 
  

   in 
  Russia, 
  albeit 
  it 
  is 
  also 
  on 
  record 
  that 
  several 
  French 
  

   soldiers 
  ate 
  of 
  it 
  within 
  the 
  confines 
  of 
  the 
  Russian 
  

   dominions, 
  and 
  became 
  very 
  ill. 
  In 
  Siberia 
  it 
  supplies 
  

   the 
  inhabitants 
  with 
  the 
  means 
  of 
  intoxication 
  similar 
  

   to 
  that 
  produced 
  by 
  the 
  " 
  haschisch 
  " 
  and 
  " 
  majoon 
  " 
  

   of 
  the 
  East. 
  The 
  fungi 
  are 
  collected 
  during 
  the 
  sum- 
  

   mer 
  months, 
  and 
  hung 
  up 
  to 
  dry 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  air, 
  or 
  they 
  

   are 
  left 
  to 
  dry 
  in 
  the 
  ground, 
  and 
  are 
  collected 
  afterwards. 
  

   When 
  the 
  latter 
  course 
  is 
  pursued, 
  they 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  

   possess 
  more 
  powerful 
  narcotic 
  properties 
  than 
  when 
  

  

  