314 Mushroom of Kamtschatka. 
phat of potash recently prepared and brownish. It is 
usually given mixed with honey, and sometimes with 
sugar. The dose, from the attack of the croup to the de+ 
cided diminution of the disorder, is ten grains morming 
and evening, to be lessened as the disorder abaies; and 
towards the close the morning dose only to be given. ‘The 
mixture of sulphat and honey to be made at the moment 
of using. Young children will suck it off the end of a 
finger; but it may be given in a spoonful of milk, or of 
syrup thinned with water, or as a bolus; grown children 
take it best in this form. It usually relieves in two days ; 
but it must be continued till the cure is completed, and 
often beyond that period, for fear of relapse. 
M. Langsdorf, in his recent Voyages and Travels, relates 
a curious circumstance with respect to the agaric or mush= 
room. The inhabitants of Kamtschatka and the neigh- 
bouring countries, he informs us, make use of this fungus 
on account of its intoxicating qualities. One large or two 
small mushrooms dried are sufficient to produce a high ex- 
citement. The narcotic effects, which are greatly aug- 
mented by the use of cold water, are manifested in half an 
hour, or sometimes even two hours afterwards, by startings 
of the muscles and tendons, followed by giddiness and sleep. 
The effects are the same, in short, with those produced by 
wine or spirits. A propensity for dancing and using 
strange gestures characterizes the use of the agaric, and its 
action upon the urine is very remarkable. This secretion 
of the human body acquires a narcotic property muci more 
decided than that of the agaric itself: drunkards in the 
above countries, therefore, greedily drink up the urine of 
their companions. A moderate-sized cupful produces, 
even two days afterwards, a much higher degree of intox- 
ication, and the urine of the person who drinks it produces 
a suil greater state of drunkenness, and so on even to the 
fifth urme-drinker. Two or three spoonfuls of grease or 
fish oil are sufficient to remedy all the bad effects upon the 
stomach occasioned by the use of the mushroom in que- 
stion. Ti is to be regretted that M. Lanesdorf has not 
specified the kind of agaric which is thus employed. 
The following melancholy account of the massacre of 
the crew of an American vessel employed in the fur trade, 
makes us acquainted with a race of savages whose coast it 
is not unlikely that some British vessels may visit: the in- 
formation thus conyeyed may therefore save some valuable 
lives, 
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