POISONOUS FLESHY FUNGI 341 



A compendium bv Dujarrac de la Riviere and Heim (1938) 

 constitutes an invaluable source of information about poisonous 

 fun^i. The earlier series of researches on poisonous mushrooms 

 and their toxic properties by Ford and his associates (1906, 1906a, 

 1907, 1907a, 1911, 1913, 1914, and 1926) should also be read by 

 all mycologists and laymen who collect fungi for food. 



It appears that in ancient times the Babylonians, Romans, and 

 Greeks, both those of hig-h estate and of the lower classes, em- 

 ployed mushrooms in season as delicacies and as daily food. The 

 fact that deaths from poisoning occurred among their notables 

 may be regarded as evidence that the ancients were not able to 

 distinguish between noxious and harmless species. History re- 

 cords that such outstanding civic and political leaders as Pope 

 Clement VII, Emperor Jovian, Emperor Charles VI, Emperor 

 Claudius (his wife Agrippina is said to have added poison to his 

 dish of boleti), the widow of Czar Alexis, and the wife, two sons, 

 and a daughter of the Greek poet Euripides were among the 

 victims of poisonous mushrooms. Galen cautioned his patients 

 against using mushrooms, stating, "Few of them are good to be 

 eaten, and most of them do suffocate and strangle the eater," 

 although his "Amanitae" almost certainly were Psalliota campes- 

 tris. The renowned Greek physician Dioscorides states, "Fungi 

 have a two-fold difference, for they are either good for food, or 

 are poisonous; their poisonous nature depends on various causes, 

 for such fungi grow amongst rusty nails, or rotten rags, or near 

 serpents' holes, or on trees producing noxious fruits." 



Some appreciation of the number of fatalities from mushroom 

 poisoning can be gained from Ford and Clark's (1914) report 

 assembled from various sources. In the Les Vosges area of south- 

 western France the annual death toll is about 100, and in Japan 

 480 deaths occurred in 8 years. Sartory [Ford and Clark (1914), 

 p. 169] lists 153 fatal cases in a 2-week period in 1912 in France. 

 In 1911 there were 22 deaths in\he vicinity of New York City 

 within a 10-dav period. Throughout the world a large number 

 of fatalities undoubtedly are due to poisonous mushrooms every 

 year. A vast majority is caused by the "death angel," Amanita 

 phalloides. Rolfe (1928, p. 232) has expressed the opinion, "This 

 inglorious trio [Amanita phalloides, A. virosa, and A. verna] is 

 responsible for fully ninety per cent of the deaths from fungus 

 poisoning- 



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