Sbptembee 18, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



409 



of his experience was dictated to me by him 

 about a week after the event, while fresh in 

 his memory. 



The lady referred to as Mrs. T., who also 

 ate the mushrooms, is his niece by marriage. 

 Her husband (Mr. Y.) was present, but ate 

 no mushrooms. He could observe some things 

 not noticed by the victims, both of whom ex- 

 perienced nearly the same effects. Mrs. Y. 

 also gave the writer a personal account of 

 some of her symptoms, essentially the same as 

 those here narrated. This article in its pres- 

 ent form has been read by Mr. W. and ap- 

 proved by him. 



The parties are natives of Oxford County, 

 Maine, where the event occurred. Their real 

 names are withheld, by request. The effects 

 experienced are in some respects similar to 

 those caused by hashish; others are like those 

 experienced by some opiumi smokers, espe- 

 cially the multiplication of objects and their 

 bright colors. The appearance of vivid colors 

 recalls the symptoms described by Dr. Weir 

 Mitchell, when he took Mexican mescal piUs, 

 as an experiment. The loss of the power of 

 estimating time and distance, as in some 

 dreams, is interesting, as existing when other 

 faculties were active. 



Narrative of Mr. W. 



On July 10, 1914, I gathered a good mess 

 of the mushrooms (Panceolus papilionaceus) 

 and had them cooked for dinner. There may 

 have been about a pound of them as gathered, 

 but when fried in butter they made no great 

 quantity, owing to their softness and deli- 

 cate structure. 



They were all eaten by Mrs. Y. and myself. 

 Peculiar symptoms were perceived in a very 

 short time. Noticed first that I could not 

 collect my thoughts easily, when addressed, 

 nor answer readily. Could not wiU to arise 

 promptly. Walked a short distance; the time 

 was short, but seemed long drawn out; could 

 walk straight but seemed drowsy; had no dis- 

 agreeable stomach sensations, effects seemed 

 entirely mental; remember little about the 

 walk. Mrs. Y. was in about the same condi- 

 tion, according to Mr. Y. My mind very soon 



appeared to clear up somewhat, and things 

 began to seem funny, and rather like intoxica- 

 tion. Walked with Mr. Y. A little later ob- 

 jects took on peculiar bright colors. A field 

 of redtop grass seemed to be in horizontal 

 stripes of bright red and green, and a pecu- 

 liar green haze spread itself over all the land- 

 scape. At this time Mrs. Y. saw nearly every- 

 thing green, but the sky was blue; her white 

 handkerchief appeared green to her; and the 

 tips of her fingers seemed to be like the heads 

 of snakes. 



Next, say about half an hour after eating, 

 both of us had an irresistible impulse to run 

 and jump, which we did freely. I did not 

 stagger, but all my motions seemed to be 

 mechanical or automatic, and my muscles did 

 not properly nor fully obey my will. Soon 

 both of us became very hilarious, with an 

 irresistible impulse to laugh and joke immod- 

 erately, and almost hysterically at times. The 

 laughing could be controlled only with great 

 difficulty; at the same time we were indulging 

 extravagantly in joking and what seemed to 

 us funny or witty remarks. Mr. Y., who was 

 with us, said that some of the jokes were 

 successful; others not so, but I can not re- 

 member what they were about. 



Mr. Y. says that at this time the pupils of 

 our eyes were very much dilated, and that 

 Mrs. Y. at times rolled up her eyes and had 

 some facial contortions, and slight frothing 

 of saliva at the mouth. Later we returned to 

 the house, about one quarter of a mile. At 

 this time I had no distinct comprehension of 

 time; a very short time seemed long drawn 

 out, and a longer time seemed very short; the 

 same as to distances walked; though not so 

 when estimated by the eye. The hilarious con- 

 dition continued, but no visual illusions 

 occurred at this time. 



After entering the house, I noticed that the 

 irregular figures on the waU-paper seemed to 

 have creepy and crawling motions, contracting 

 and expanding continually, though not chang- 

 ing their forms; finally they began to project 

 from the wall and grew out toward me from it 

 with uncanny motions. 



About this time I noticed a bouquet of large 



