I04 THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 



As these two derivations are totally different and inconsistent 

 with each other, we unhesitatingly adopt them both, to show that 

 we have no narrow prejudices. 



When one speaks of mushrooms, the first question always is : 

 " How can you tell the edible from the poisonous mushrooms ?" The 

 answer is simple : there is no rule to distinguish them. It is neces- 

 sary to know each species before eating any quantity of it. You 

 should know the edible species just as you would know an apple 

 or a potato. We hear many rules to distinguish the wholesome 

 from the poisonous, but I think they would all exclude many of the 

 best species, and many such rules would include some of the deadly 

 poisonous ones. I repeat you must know each species before eating 

 largely of it. The deadly Amatiita is one of the most attractive 

 looking of all the mushrooms ; it has no bad odor or taste. There 

 are no bad effects immediately following the eating of it, but in 

 about twelve hours its poison begins to work, and then it is often 

 too late for an antidote. Atropine is supposed to be an antidote 

 for this poison, but I have no ambition to eat any of the Amatiita 

 for the sake of testing its efficacy. 



I believe I am correct in saying that by far the greatest number 

 of mushrooms are edible, or at least not poisonous. There are 

 some that are so tough that they are obviously unfitted for food. 

 Some are acrid or nauseous to taste. I believe that the great 

 majority of the species that are not edible are not at all dangerous. 

 They might produce a slight indigestion, but nothing more. 



Fully half of the species, although described botanically, have 

 not been tested as to their food value, and all considered dangerous 

 because unknown. It is, however, quite feasible to try them with- 

 out danger. After, of course, eliminating the species that are known 

 to be poisonous, an unknown variety may be tested; if not disagree- 

 able to the taste a small quantity may be eaten. After waiting 

 twelve hours, if there are no bad results, a larger quantity could be 

 tried. I have often tested mushrooms this way without any bad 

 effects. Most of the poisonous mushrooms grow in the woods, and the 

 greater part of the mushrooms growing in the open air are edible. 



As this has no pretence of being a scientific paper, I will not 

 attempt to describe the classification of mushrooms, except to say 

 that the gill-bearing mushrooms are generally divided into classes, 



