terculture. Curiously enough, the Amanita eaters tend to be 
more knowledgeable about food mushrooms than psilocybin 
eaters. I have met many collectors of Liberty Caps, for in- 
stance, who have never eaten a meadow mushroom (Agaricus 
campestris L. ex Fr.), even though meadow mushrooms often 
grow in different parts of the same fields. 
It is extremely difficult to sort out the clinical pharmacology 
of the fly and panther Amanitas. Some persons eat these mush- 
rooms and experience no effects whatever. Others become 
very sick for a number of hours, and others have ecstatic 
experiences. A variety of factors may contribute to this incon- 
sistency, among them: individual idiosyncracy in response to 
the active compounds; geographic and seasonal variation in the 
chemistry of the mushrooms; differences in ways of preparing 
the mushrooms for use; and, finally, differences in set or expec- 
tation of the results of ingestion. 
Individual differences in susceptibility to mushroom toxins 
is well known to all collectors. Species considered choice 
edibles by some may be poisonous to others. The few deaths 
reported following ingestion of fly and panther Amanitas by 
persons other than children or the elderly may be due to allergic 
or other idiosyncratic reactions. Some of those who get very 
sick after eating these mushrooms may also be especially sensi- 
tive to ibotenic acid and muscimol. 
In addition, the activity of the mushrooms probably varies 
from location to location and from time to time in the same 
location. European species of Amanita may be more toxic than 
American ones, but the American species may contain more 
muscarine than the European ones. Amanita muscaria in east- 
ern North America is yellow-capped and frequently inactive. 
Amanita pantherina may be less potent in the early spring in 
the Pacific Northwest than in the late spring. We know little 
about these natural variations in the activity of Amanitas ex- 
cept that they occur. Persons who wish to try these mushrooms 
cannot assume that they are the same from place to place and 
time to time. 
I have recorded many different methods of preparing 
Amanita. Some people eat whole, fresh mushrooms. Some eat 
only the colored peel, discarding the rest of the mushroom. 
Some discard the peel. Some dry the peel and smoke it. Some 
dry the whole mushroom and smoke it. Some dry the mush- 
room and make tea of it. Some steep the mushroom in milk 
143 
