62 EDIBLE MUSHROOMS 



an antidote to this poison has been the quest of 

 many noted chemists — several supposed antidotes 



having been experimented with upon 



Antidote dogs and other animals without desired 



for Amanita results. These included atropine, the 



deadly crystalline alkaloid from the 

 Atropa belladonna. The earlier experiments upon 

 animals with this drug in Paris, as described by Dr. 

 Gautier in 1884, while encouraging, were not con- 

 sidered conclusive, but were sufficient to warrant 

 the suggestion that the treatment upon man might 

 be effective. In a resume of the subject in the 

 Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter, De- 

 cember, 1885, for the benefit of the medical prac- 

 titioners who are so frequently called upon to attend 

 cases of mushroom poisoning. Captain Charles Mcll- 

 vaine recommended the administration of a dose of 

 atropine of from 0.05 to 0.0002 milligramme, and it 



was later reserved for the same gentle- 

 First autlientic man to witness the first authentic in- 

 application stance of the application of this remedy 



in antagonism with the Amanita poison 

 in the human system. The report of this experi- 

 ence was afterwards published (see Bibliography, 

 No. 6), embodying also a complete and authentic ac- 

 count of the symptoms and treatment of the cases 

 by the attending physician, Dr. J. E. Shadle, of 

 Shenandoah, Pa., which account I feel is appropri- 

 ately included here, being in full sympathy with the 

 solicitous spirit of my pages. I therefore quote the 

 statement of Dr. Shadle for the benefit of those in- 

 terested. 



