JlLY 23, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



103 



ous species as the ' ' oronge f ausse. ' ' It can 

 easily be recognized by even beginners in 

 mycology and is now commonly avoided. 

 Poisoning results from ignorance, the 

 species in question being selected for its 

 beautiful color and form, or from mis- 

 takes in identification, Amanita muscaria 

 being taken for the cwsaria or the auran- 

 tiaca. In addition there is another factor 

 which is possibly the cause of the majority 

 of accidents in this country, especially 

 those occurring with individuals possessing 

 some knowledge of mycology. In Italy 

 and in France and in certain parts of 

 Austro-Hungary Amanita muscaria is ap- 

 parently somewhat reddish in color, while 

 A7na7iita casaria is of a lighter yellow 

 tone. The most commonly found Amanita 

 muscaria in this country is of a light to a 

 deep yellow in color, not showing the red- 

 dish tinge, while Amanita ccesaria is either 

 of the reddish-yellow hue or even of a 

 beautiful reddish-brown. 



Persons familiar with the two species in 

 the old world might very easily draw 

 wrong conclusions in identifying those 

 found in the new. I base this opinion 

 largely upon a comparison of the colored 

 plates of the text-books of mycology pub- 

 lished in different countries and upon 

 the specimens of "Caesar's agaric" and 

 the "fly agaric" I have myself found in 

 the Blue Ridge Mountains. This assump- 

 tion is furthermore borne out somewhat by 

 the literature of "muscaria poisoning" 

 for in many instances the victims were 

 Italians or Poles who stated before death 

 that they ate the fungi under the impres- 

 sion that they were eating the "royal 

 agaric." This was apparently the cause 

 of the poisoning of the Count de Vecehi 

 and his physician in "Washington which 

 Prentiss-' has reported with great care. 



=' Prentiss, Phil. Med. Jour., 1898, 2, pp. 607- 

 611. 



The Count, an attache of the Italian lega- 

 tion, a cultivated gentleman of nearly 

 sixty years of age, considered something 

 of an expert upon mycology, purchased, 

 near one of the markets in "Washington, a 

 quantity of fungi recognized by him as 

 an edible mushroom. The plants were col- 

 lected in Virginia about seven miles from 

 the city of Washington. The following 

 Sunday morning the count and his phy- 

 sician, a warm personal friend, break- 

 fasted together upon these mushrooms, 

 commenting upon their agreeable and even 

 delicious flavor. Breakfast was concluded 

 at half after eight and within fifteen 

 minutes the count felt symptoms of serious 

 illness. So rapid was the onset that by 

 nine o'clock he was found prostrate on 

 his bed, oppressed by the sense of impend- 

 ing doom. He rapidly developed blind- 

 ness, trismus, difiiculty in swallowing and 

 shortly lost consciousness. Terrific convul- 

 sions then supervened, so violent in char- 

 acter as to break the bed upon which he was 

 placed. Despite rigorous treatment and 

 the administration of morphine and 

 atropine, the count never recovered con- 

 sciousness and died on the day following 

 the accident. The count's physician on 

 returning to his office was also attacked, 

 dizziness and ocular symptoms warning 

 him of the nature of the trouble. Ener- 

 getic treatment with apomorphine and 

 atropine was at once instituted by his col- 

 leagues and for a period of five hours he 

 lay in a state of coma with occasional 

 periods of lucidity. The grave symptoms 

 were ameliorated and recovery set in some- 

 where near seven o'clock in the evening. 

 His convalescence was uneventful, his res- 

 toration to health complete, and he is, I 

 believe, still living. In this instance the 

 count probably identified the fungi as 

 cwsaria or aurantiaca. From the symp- 



