566 FIELD 'AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



tains but to immoderate or incautious eating, or to mechanical injury, 

 such as is produced in horses by the hairs of crimson clover, which 

 under certain conditions accumulate in large balls and obstruct the 

 intestines, or to the effect of parasitic growths, such as ergot occurring 

 on rye. Neither the clover nor the rye is poisonous. 



Excluding all that operate in these ways, there is still a large 

 number of poisonous plants which, on account of their limited area 

 of growth, and sometimes of the uncertainty of knowledge concern- 

 ing their evil effects, are comparatively little known. It is possible 

 to consider only those which are known to be poisonous. 



Fly Amanita, or Toadstool (Amanita muscaria). Fly fungus, 

 fly agaric, fly killer, deadly amanita, false orange amanita. The 

 amanitas form the most typical genus of that group of fleshy fungi 

 which bear radiating plates or gills on the under surface of the cap. 

 In the early stages of growth the amanitas are egg-shaped and are 

 entirely enveloped by a white fleecy or cobwebby covering, w T hich is 

 ruptured as the stem lengthens. In a few species this covering ad- 

 heres in loose, corky patches to the top of the cap, but sometimes it 

 slips away from the cap entirely and forms a more or less continuous 

 sheathing cup at the base of the stem. This fleecy covering and the 

 invariably bulbous base of the stem are the most important charac- 

 teristics of the genus, while the varying appearance of the former 

 after rupture helps to distinguish the species. These features are 

 well pronounced as a rule, but sometimes it requires some searching 

 to find the cup. The fly amanita is a handsome, robust species, 4 to 

 16 inches high. It is singularly free from larval pests and the usual 

 signs of decay, and is highly attractive in appearance, taste, and 

 smell. In its early stages the shape of the cap is very strongly convex, 

 but by gradual expansion it becomes flat and even concave. It is in- 

 variably warty. In color it varies from nearly white through all 

 shades of yellow to a bright red. From the common mushroom 

 (Agaricus campestris) the fly amanita is easily distinguished by hav- 

 ing white instead of purple gills and spores, by its warty cap and bulb- 

 ous stem, and by its place of growth, the meadow mushroom never 

 appearing in forests. The fly amanita is abundant in several localities 

 in the United States. It is the best known of all the poisonous 

 species. As a fly poison it has been used in Europe for hundreds of 

 years, and the origin of its use in northeastern Asia as an intoxicant 

 is probably not much more modern. Poisoning is, however, not so 

 frequently caused by it as by the closely related and more poisonous 

 death cup (Amanita phalloides), yet many cases have been recorded. 

 Cattle are poisoned as well as men, and it is supposed that their 

 flesh is thus rendered unwholesome. The symptoms come on gener- 

 ally within two hours after the fungus is eaten, and consist in a less 

 rapid beating of the heart and an extreme difficulty in breathing. 

 After two or three hours there is a profound stupor, often preceded 

 or accompanied by cold sweats and nervous phenomena such as 

 giddiness, double vision, and lockjaw. Vomiting sometimes gives re- 

 lief to the patient, but it is often difficult to produce this effect after 

 stupor has set in, even with the most powerful emetics. This condi- 



