Fungi with Gills 
below the base of the stalk ; for it often happens that the bulb 
is broken off and left behind, and thus the principal charac- 
teristic lost which would mark it as a specimen not to be 
eaten. 
Death Cup; Poison Amanita (Poisonous) 
Amanita phalloides 
Cap or Pileus—White or greenish or greyish brown; smooth, 
no striations; width, 3-5 inches. 
Stem or Stpe—Ring present. Abruptly bulbous at the base ; 
bulb margined by the wrapper remains. White in white- 
cap forms, tinged with a paler shade than the cap in brown- 
cap forms. Pithy when young, hollow when old. 3-6 
inches long. 
Veit—White in white-cap forms, tinged with brown in brown- 
cap forms. 
Gills or Lamelle—White, free from the stem, rounded at the 
stem end, rather broad. 
Spores—Globose and white. 
Flesh—W hite. 
Time—July to October. 
Habitat—W oods, groves, open places, and pastures. 
The poisonous principle of the death cup is known as phal- 
lin, one of the tox-albumins, the poisons found in rattlesnakes 
and other venomous animals, and the poisons which produce 
death in cholera and diphtheria. 
The phallin acts directly upon the blood corpuscles, dissolv- 
ing these, so that the serum of the blood escapes from the blood- 
vessels into the alimentary canal and drains the whole system of 
its vitality. There is no known antidote by which the effects of 
phallin may be counteracted. If one has eaten of the Amanita 
phalloides, the only chance of saving life is to remove the undi- 
gested parts from the alimentary canal by stomach-pump and 
oil purgatives ; then, if the amount of phallin absorbed into the 
system is not too great, the remainder may wear itself out on 
the blood and the patient may recover. 
The amount of the fungus which is necessary to produce 
death is small; even the handling of specimens and the breathing 
in of spores affect some people unpleasantly. 
Phal-loi'-dés 
48 
