264 



Mycologia 



able taste and odor are harmless ; but the distinctions between 

 species are so slight that it is usually necessary to test each indi- 

 vidual specimen before cooking it. Russula emetica is poison- 

 ous, containing choline, pilzatropine, and probably muscarine ; R. 

 foetens is also poisonous, but in a lesser degree ; while R. nitida, 

 R. fragilis, and other species belong to the mildly poisonous or 

 suspected class. No experiments will be of great value until 

 the genus is better known botanically. 



Tricholoma sulfureum Fries 

 This species has a strong and disagreeable odor and is consid- 

 ered poisonous by some authors. 



VOLVARIA 



One species is classed among the very poisonous mushrooms by 

 some European authors, and rosy-spored species in general have 

 long been suspected and avoided by many persons. 



Gasteromycetes 



Remarkably little is definitely known regarding the properties 

 of the phalloids, the only suspected group of the gasteromycetes. 

 It seems that the strong and very disagreeable odor of many of 

 these plants has discouraged experimentation in this line, and 

 certainly no one would use them for food unless by mistake. 

 Phallus impudicus, Dictyophora duplicata, Clathrus cancellatus, 

 and other species have been usually considered poisonous. Mac- 

 Ilvaine has tested the eggs of a few species and found them harm- 

 less, while mature specimens are said to be uniformly fatal to 

 swine. Esser suggests that the sporogenous tissue develops the 

 poison, but this would be strange in view of the fact that the very 

 purpose of this tissue with its peculiar odor is to attract flies, 

 which devour it without harmful results. This group, like so 

 many others, only emphasizes the need of much careful investi- 

 gation before our knowledge of poisonous mushrooms will be 

 anything like complete. 



