REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST igil 9 



rooms have been reported than usual. In New York City and vicinity 

 it is reported that more than thirty deaths from this cause have taken 

 place. It is affirmed however that nearly all these were among 

 foreign born people who have doubtless mistaken poisonous species 

 for the European species they were accustomed to eat in their own 

 country. Native American people generally have a proper sense of 

 the danger of rashly eating mushrooms whose edible qualities are 

 unknown to them and are prudent enough to avoid doing it. In 

 European countries the ignorant are to some extent protected from 

 such danger by an inspector of the markets who permits to be sold 

 only those mushrooms known to be edible. 



It is possible that poverty combined with the high cost of living 

 may have been a source of danger in some cases of mushroom 

 poisoning. An instance was reported to me of a poor family in 

 which the mother and two children were poisoned. The mother 

 recovered but the children died. An enthusiastic mycologist living 

 in the vicinity of the place where this accident occurred began an 

 investigation of the case in an attempt to learn what mushroom 

 caused the sickness. Enough was learned from the mother to indi- 

 cate that the mushroom chiefly eaten was one known by the name 

 autumn pholiota, P h o 1 i o t a autumnalis Pk. This was not 

 known to mycologists to be an unwholesome species, but apparently 

 impelled by hunger the family had collected a considerable quantity 

 of it, cooked and ate it. The mother ate about a pint, the boy about 

 the same quantity and the girl somewhat less. All were made sick 

 and after several hours delay a physician was called. The result was 

 as above stated. The flavor of the mushroom is not specially entic- 

 ing and I can see no reason why they should have eaten so much of 

 it unless they were impelled by hunger. An excessive quantity of a 

 good mushroom may be harmful, but of a bad one it would be still 

 worse. The mycologist who investigated the case learned by sub- 

 sequent experiment that this is a noxious species and though it may 

 not always be fatal it should be rigidly avoided. It is at least 

 unwholesome. 



Besides the abundance of the crop caused by the concentration of 

 summer and autumn species the appearance at such a time of species 

 not before recorded as growing out of season is remarkable. 

 Morels are among the most constant spring and early summer 

 growers. I have not before known them to appear at any other 

 time. One correspondent writing after the morel season had passed 

 says, " I have not been able to find a single morel this season." My 

 own experience was similar to his. Evidently the cold spring time 



