240 MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



low, with a ring near the middle, and without a bulbous base sheathed by a membrane or 

 by scales. 



(2) The fly agaric has a pileus marked with prominent warts; gills always white; a 

 stalk, with a large ring around the upper part, and hollow or cottony inside, but solid 

 at the base, where it is bulbous and scaly. 



(3) The deadly agaric has a pileus without distinct warts; gills which are always white, 

 and a hollow stalk, with a large ring, and a prominent bulb at the base, whose upper margin 

 is membranous or bag-like. 



(4) Other minor points of difference are the different places in which these species 

 grow, and also the colors, which, although they vary in each case, are brilliant yellow or 

 red in the fly agaric, white varying to pale olive in the deadly agaric, and white usually 

 tinged with a little brown in the mushroom. 



(5) A word should be said as to the size and proportions of the pileus and stalk in 

 these three species. In the mushroom the pileus averages from 3 to 4 inches in breadth, 

 and the stalk is generally shorter than the breadth of the pileus and comparatively stout. 

 The pileus remains convex for a long time, and does not become quite flat-topped until old. 

 The substance is firm and solid. In the fly agaric the pileus, at first oval and convex, 

 soon becomes flat and attains a breadth of 6 to 8 inches and sometimes more. The stalk has 

 a length equal to or slightly exceeding the breadth of the pileus, and is comparatively slen- 

 derer than is the common mushroom, but nevertheless rather stout. The substance is less 

 firm than in the common mushroom. 



(6) The pileus of the deadly agaric is thinner than that of the common mushroom, 

 and from being rather bell-shaped when young, becomes gradually flat-topped with the center 

 a little raised. In breadth it is intermediate between the two preceding species. The stalk 

 usualy is longer than the breadth of the pileus, and the habit is slenderer than in the two pre- 

 ceding species. All three species are pleasant to the taste, which shows that one cannot infer 

 that a species is not poisonous because the taste is agreeable. The fly agaric has scarcely 

 any odor. The two other species have certain odors of their own, but they can not be 

 described. 



Distribution. Widely distributed in Europe and North America in woods, 

 groves and pastures. 



Poisonous properties. Professor Peck says: 



The Poison amanita is very variable in the color of the cap, and yet is so definite in 

 its structural characters' that only the most careless observer would be likely to confuse 

 it with any other species. There is, however, a sort of deceptive character about it. It 

 is very neat and attractive in its appearance and looks as if it might be good enough to 

 eat. This appearance is fortified by the absence of any decidedly unpleasant odor or taste, 

 but let him who would eat it beware, for probably there is not a more poisonous or 

 dangerous species in our mycological flora. To eat it is to invite death. 



Professor Atkinson says : 



Since the Amanita phalloides occurs usually in woods, or along borders of woods, there 

 is little danger of confounding it with edible mushrooms collected in lawns! distant from 

 the woods and in open fields. However, it does occur in lawns bordering on woods, 

 and in the summer of 1899 I found several of the white forms of this species in a lawn 

 distant from the woods. This should cause beginners and those not thoroughly familiar 

 with the appearance of the plant to be extremely cautious against eating mushrooms simply 

 because they were not collected in or near the woods. Furthermore, sometimes the white 

 form of the deadly amanita possesses a faint tinge of pink in the gills, which might lead 

 the novice to mistake it for common mushroom. The bulb of the deadly amanita is 

 usually inserted quite deep in the soil or leaf mold, and specimens are often picked leaving 

 the very important character of the volva in the ground, and then the plant might easily be 

 taken for the common mushroom, or more likely for the smooth Lepiota (Lepiota nausina), 

 which is entirely white, the gills only in age showing a faint pink tinge. It is very im- 

 portant therefore, that, until one has such familiarity with these plants that they are easily 

 recognized in the absence of some of these characters, the stem should) be carefully dug 

 from the soil. In the case of the specimens of the deadly amanita growing in the lawn 

 on the campus of Cornell University, the stems were sunk to three to four inches in 

 the quite hard ground. 



The exact chemical nature of plwllin, an extremely toxic substance, is not certainly 

 known, but it is generally conceded to be of an albuminous nature. That it is an extremely 



