POISONING FROM FUNGI 



33 



tion is that a mushroom containing such a deadly poison should not be used 

 for food in any form, particularly at a season when excellent non-poisonous 

 species may be had in abundance. 



"It is surprising that cases of poisoning are not more frequent. At Tacoma 

 Park, D. C., on November 9, of last year, a lady who has a thorough knowl- 

 edge of edible and poisonous mushrooms met a family, consisting of a man, 

 woman, and two children, who had just completed the gathering of a basket- 

 ful of the fly amanita and the death cup, described below, which they were 

 taking home to eat. In reply to questions the woman stated that they had 

 often eaten this kind purchased dry at an Italian store, but that they had never 

 gathered fresh ones before. Of course they had mistaken the species, or pos- 

 sibly the dried ones were fly amanitas from which the poison had been re- 

 moved by treatment with vinegar. After considerable persuasion the people 

 consented to throw the lot away. 



Figr. 7. Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria). U. S. Depf. Ag.l. 



''It is impossible to say what amount of the fly amanita would prove fatal, 

 but in this connection it is of interest to note the custom reported by Krashen- 

 innikoff, a Russian who travelled in Siberia and Kamchatka from 1733 to 1743, 

 namely that the natives of the latter country, particularly the Koraks, used the 

 fly amanita as an intoxicant, three or four specimens constituting a moderate 

 dose for one habituated to its use, but ten being required for a thorough drunk. 



