236 ON ANIMAL AND 



Orfila recommends an active emetic, the inflating 

 the lungs by artificial means, and the administer- 

 ing a draught every ten minutes, composed of 

 two ounces of water, one drachm of ether, two 

 drachms of oil of turpentine, and half an ounce of 

 sugar. 



We come next to a class of substances partly 

 partaking, in a chemical sense, of the vegetable, 

 partly of the animal character, which, from their 

 poisonous quality, not unfrequently give rise to 

 fatal accidents, and therefore deserve a particular 

 notice in this place. We allude to the agaric 

 species, or false mushrooms', among which the 

 Agaricus Piperatus, which grows near the stumps 

 of trees, and the Agaricus Muscarius to be found 

 in the open ground, are the most active. The 

 former, from its situation may be easily known; 

 but the latter sometimes can with difficulty be 

 distinguished from the genuine mushroom. 

 The following rules, from the work of Dr. 

 Orfila, may be useful in detecting poisonous 

 mushrooms: 



" Mushrooms, which grow in thick forests where 

 the light of the sun does not penetrate, are in 

 general bad. Their surface is moist, more or less 

 dirty, and they have a disagreeable appearance. 

 Those which are heavy, with a moist surface, 

 nauseous smell, and which, on being cut, present 

 different colours, changing from time to time, 

 and found in shaded places, are also to be rejected. 



