58 ON THE MEDICINAL AND TOXICOLOGICAL 



wine or spirits : clieerfiil emotions of tlie mind are first i:)ro- 

 dacecl, involuntary words and actions follow, and sometimes, at 

 last, an entire loss of consciousness. It renders some remark- 

 ably active, and proves liigbly stimulant to muscular exertion ; 

 by too large a dose, violent spasmodic effects are produced. So 

 very exciting to tbe nervous system, in many individuals, is tliis 

 fungus, tbat tbe effects are often very ludicrous : a person under 

 its influence wisbing to step over a straw, takes a stride or a 

 jump sufficient to clear tbe trunk of a tree ; a talkative person 

 cannot keep silence or secrets ; and one fond of music is perpet- 

 ually singing. Tbe most singular effect of tbe amanita, is tbe 

 influence it possesses over tbe urine. It is said tbat from time 

 immemorial tbe inbabitants liave known tbat tbe fungus imparts 

 an intoxicating quality to tbat secretion, wbicb continues for a 

 considerable time after taking it. For instance, a man moder- 

 rately intoxicated to-day, will, by tbe next morning, bave slept 

 himself sober ; but (as is tbe custom) by taking a tea-cupful of 

 his urine, be will be more powerfully intoxicated than be was 

 tbe preceding day. It is, therefore, not uncommon for confirmed 

 drunkards to preserve their urine as a precious liquor, against a 

 scarcity of the fungus. This intoxicating property of tbe urine 

 is capable of being propagated ; for every one who partakes of 

 it has his urine similarly affected. Thus, with a very few aman- 

 itse, a party of drunkards may keep up their debauch for a week. 

 Dr. Langsdorff mentions, that by means of tbe second person 

 taking tbe urine of tbe first, the third tbat of tbe second, and so 

 on, tbe intoxication may be propagated through five individuals. 

 Greville, 4tb vol. Trans. Wernerian Soc. Edinb. ; Lind., Xat. 

 Syst. Bot. ; Bougard, Lond. Med. Gazette, 1838, 414. Dr. Pou- 

 chet, of Rouen, seems to bave clearly proved that the poisonous 

 property of this and tbe A. venejiata., " may be entirely removed 

 by boiling them in water." A quart of water in wbicb five 

 plants bad been boiled for fifteen minutes, killed a dog in eight 

 hours ; and again, another in a day ; but tbe boiled fungi them- 

 selves had no effect at all on two other dogs; and a third, wbicb 

 had been fed for two months on little else than boiled amanitas, 

 not only sustained no harm, but actually got fat on the fare 

 (Journ. de Chim. Med. 1839, 322). Pouchet is inclined to think 

 that the whole poisonous plants of tbe family are similarly cir- 

 cumstanced. Boasting, we may add, had no effect in impairing 

 tbe activity of the Agancus procerus in the case observed by Dr. 



