CHAPTER VI 



MUSHROOMS AS FOOD 



From the Forty-eighth Annual Report of the New York 

 State Botanist, C. H. Peck. 



According to the authority of those who have especially 

 investigated this subject, the dangerously poisonous species 

 found in this country all belong to a single genus, Amanita. 

 About a dozen species of this genus have been found in our 

 State, and of these, two are known to be harmless and edible, 

 three or four only are commonly classed as poisonous, and 

 probably a single one of these is responsible for a vast majority 

 of the fatal accidents resulting from "mushroom poisoning," 

 There are, however, some species in other genera that are 

 capable of causing nausea, vomiting and derangement of the 

 digestive organs. They are unwholesome because of their 

 persistently bitter, acrid or otherwise disagreeable flavor, or 

 because of toughness of texture or the possession of some 

 quality repungent to the stomach. They may indeed cause 

 sickness and vomiting, but the irritation they induce is soon 

 apparent and quickly causes the rejection from the system of 

 the offending substance and then the normal condition of the 

 system is soon restored. Sometimes recovery in such cases 

 may be hastened by the administration of some simple emetic 

 which mil assist the stomach in its efforts to expel the un- 

 wholesome material. 



For two thousand years or more people have made use of 

 mushrooms for food and from time to time death has resulted 

 from their use, either through ignorance or carelessness. Still 

 men persist in their use, and those who would use them if they 

 dared frequently ask how they may distinguish mushrooms 



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