VEGETABLE POISONS, sg 



Some fpecie§ of the boletus are now eaten 

 in It^Jy, when young, and are efteemed a 

 great delicacy. The Germans alfo receive 

 them as a dainty under the name of gombas 

 and brat-biilz. 



Mr. Lightfoot obferves that deer, fheep, 

 and fwine will feed upon the boleti, and are 

 fometimes difordered by them. In cows and 

 other cattle they have been known to create 

 bloody urine, naufeous milk, fwelUngs of the 

 abdomen, inflammation in the bowels, di- 

 arrhoeas, and death. It is from hence ob- 

 vious how cautious men ought to be in the 

 ufe of them. 



Scarabs, dermeftes, and many other 

 infeds feed upon and breed in them in abun- 

 dance, and doubtlefs it is their proper food. 

 It is pity men (hould rob them of it. 



The eftedls of the noxious fungi cannot 

 be better defcribed than in the words of the 

 celebrated Hallcr. 



«c . 1 . Minus ergo nocens erit Agrippinse 

 *' Boletus : fiquidem unius praecordia prelfit 

 '' Ille fenis, tremulumque caput defcend^re juffit 

 * In ccelum. Sat. vi, 



" All 



