76 



Mycologia 



times as many people interested in mycophagy as in scientific 

 mycology. 



By way of drawing attention to the subject, rather than of 

 throwing light upon it, I beg to cite three types of instances of 

 alleged mushroom poisoning which I have had the opportunity 

 to investigate : 



A. A fellow-citizen dined on a quart of common mushrooms 

 (Agaricus campestris) that he had purchased at a fruit stall. 

 Within twelve hours he was ill enough to have a physician called, 

 who pronounced his case one of toadstool poisoning. His re- 

 covery was complete in two or three days. 



B. Near a neighboring town a man collected " a basketful " of 

 supposed mushrooms. His wife was suspicious of them, with 

 the consequence that the collector cooked and ate them without 

 assistance. Before morning he was " sick enough to die," but 

 the promptitude of the doctor " saved his life." 



C. A week of wet, warm weather early in May had brought up 

 in a thinly wooded pasture an abundant crop of helvellas (Gyro- 

 mitra esculenta). Two or three families in the neighborhood 

 collected them for food. One of the families, on a Tuesday 

 evening, ate about two quarts of them, the method of preparation 

 being frying in butter. On the next day at noon a smaller quan- 

 tity — about a quart and a half — was similarly disposed of. That 

 night every member of the family was taken ill, and on Friday 

 one of them, in spite of the efforts of two physicians, passed into 

 a comatose condition which terminated in death. The others 

 recovered without medical treatment. 



The explanation given out in case A was that there " must 

 have been a toadstool among the mushrooms." It is not improb- 

 able that wholesome fungi have been blamed for the faults of bad 

 company. In this instance, however, examination of specimens 

 from the basket out of which the quart had been taken revealed 

 a thorough infestation of larvae. Half the quantity of as wormy 

 mutton might have produced worse effects. The limit of edibility 

 of a fungus is reached by the time its " worminess " shows tunnels 

 that can be detected with the unaided eye. 



In case B the offender proved to be Lepiota naucinoides. The 

 victim assured me that he had admitted no other kind to his 



