OF BRITISH FUNGI. 21 



which this substance has been steeped, acquires thereby 

 the intoxicating properties of strong wine. 



The method of using this singular production is to 

 roll it up in the form of a bolus, and swallow it whole. 

 A day's intoxication may be procured at the expense of 

 one or two of these fungi, and this intoxication is 

 affirmed to be not only cheap, but remarkably pleasant. 

 The result follows within an hour or two of participation. 



Some of the effects produced by this fungus resemble 

 those resulting from intoxicating liquors ; others are 

 similar to the accompaniments of an indulgence 

 in " haschisch." At first it generally produces 

 cheerfulness, afterwards giddiness and drunkenness, 

 ending occasionally in the entire loss of consciousness 

 The natural inclinations of the individual become stimu- 

 lated. The dancer executes a pas d' extravagance, 

 the musician indulges in a song, the chatterer divulges 

 all his secrets, the orator delivers himself of a philippic, 

 and the mimic indulges in caricature. Erroneous im- 

 pressions of size and distance are common occurrences, 

 a straw lying in the road becomes a formidable object, 

 to overcome which a leap is taken sufficient to clear a 

 barrel of ale or the prostrate trunk of a British oak. 

 But this is not the only extraordinary circumstance 

 connected therewith. The property is imparted to the 

 fluid excretion of rendering it intoxicating, which pro- 

 perty it retains for a considerable time. A man, having 

 been intoxicated on one day, and slept himself sober by 

 the next, will, by drinking this liquor to the extent of 

 about a cupful, become as much intoxicated as he was 



