218 



Rule IV. Take two years if necessary to find out all about, 

 an unknown variety. If you do this Rule III will never cause 

 you any trouble. 



Rule V. Neither use the water in which an unknown variety 

 has been cooked nor soups, sauces, gravies, etc., made from it. 



Rule VI. All mushrooms should be well cooked. Avoid soft, 

 stale, tough and old ones. 



Rule VII. Soaking in salt and water then steeping fifteen 

 minutes in vinegar and water, washing, and finally cooking will 

 render inoffensive i/e/z/e/Za, Russidae, Lactariae, as well as Amanita 

 muscaria and Amanita pantherina. Scraping the stem, peeling 

 the cap and removing the gills before soaking are useful adjuncts. 



Rule VIII. The above method does not change in the least 

 the danger from the Amayiita phalloides group. 



Rule IX. Because slugs, ants, insects or ruminants eat a 

 mushroom it does not follow that it is harmless for man. 



Rule X. The popular notion that mushrooms are edible if 

 they taste agreeable, do not coagulate milk, do not turn a piece 

 of silver black, do not change color on breaking must be forever 

 dismissed. The deadly Amanitas do none of these things. 



Rule XI. People are usually susceptible in regular ratio to 

 their age — children are very susceptible, so are enfeebled persons 

 and those who are below normal weight. 



Rule XII. In general, the earlier the poisonous symptoms are 

 manifested after eating a poisonous variety of mushroom, the 

 better the chances for a quick recovery, the less danger to life. 

 The very dangerous kind give symptoms from eight to twelve 

 hours after eating. 



Rule XIII. Study your idiosyncrasies — some stomachs tol- 

 erate the most violent and irritant forms and destroy poisons. 

 Nobody is proof against the Amanita class. 



Rule XIV. The following mushrooms are all harmless and 

 very good to eat. They are so different in appearance from the 

 poisonous kinds that one cannot make mistakes in gathering 

 them. They are found within one hundred miles of New York 

 at the time mentioned, further south they are earlier — further 

 north later. 



