244 MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



eel and flesh colored; stem is 6 to 8 inches long, tapering upward; spores rosy, 

 smooth in masses and elliptical ; volva large and somewhat membranaceous. 



Poisonous properties. According to many authorities, this plant is edible, 

 and it is likely that this and many other species can be eaten without serious 

 trouble, although Gillot,* states that several species of this genus have caused 

 death when eaten, though nothing is known of poisonous principle. 



Inocybe Fr. 



In the genus Inocybe there is a universal veil which is fibrillose in char- 

 acter, and more or less closely joined with the cuticle of the pileus, and the 

 surface of the pileus is therefore marked with fibrils or is more or less scaly. 

 Sometimes the margin of the pileus possesses remnants of a veil which is quite 

 prominent in a few species. The gills are adnate, or sinuate, rarely decurrent, 

 and in one species they are free. It is thus seen that the species vary widely, 

 and there may be, after a careful study of the species, grounds for the separa- 

 tion of the species into several genera. One of the most remarkable species is 

 Inocybe echinata Roth. This plant is covered with a universal veil of a sooty 

 color and powdery in nature. The gills are reddish purple, and the stem is of 

 the same color, the spores on white paper of a faint purplish red color. 



Inocybe infida. 



This is slightly larger than Panaeolus papilionaceus, with semiorbicular cap 

 surmounted by a prominent nipple, which is dark reddish-brown, while the rest 

 of the upper surface is light tawny-brown. The upper surface also differs from 

 that of the non-poisonous kind in being silky-scaly and shining. The lower sur- 

 face differs in being much lighter, pale yellowish instead of brownish-black, 

 and the spore-print is about the color of oak wood. 



Poisonous properties. Dr. William A. Murrill has recently contributed an 

 account on the poisoning from Inocybe infida, a plant which closely resembles 

 the Panaeolus papilionaceus. It appears that Dr. Deming of West Chester, who 

 poisoned himself and other members of the family, describes the following 

 symptoms: The fungi were gathered in the morning just before dinner. They 

 were stewed and served on toast at one o'clock; he ate about half a slice of 

 toast with mushrooms, drank some tea, and ate one-half a stuffed egg, with 

 lettuce and mayonnaise dressing and after dinner smoked one-half a cigarette. 

 Soon after he began to feel "queer," then there followed a fullness in the head 

 and a rapid heart action as if he had taken nitroglycerin, this was followed by 

 a sweat, his clothing becoming wet, and at the same time there was no nausea 

 or prostration ; his mind became a little bit confused. He then washed out the 

 stomach, took castor oil and before the oil operated there was pressure and 

 almost pain in the lower bowel. By evening he was as well as ever except 

 somewhat exhausted. It appears that four other persons were affected with 

 disagreeable symptoms from the eating of the mushroom. 



Dr. Deming says: "In my case the beating of the heart, fullness of the 

 head and sweating were very marked, though I ate about half as much as the 

 others." 



Dr. Murrill says that there is nothing to suggest an irritating poison and that 

 it is probably not narcotic. 



* Etude medicale sur 1'empoisonement par les champignons. Lyon, 1900. 



