“ Eliza did not complain much of her sufferings, but became convulsed at the same time her sister 
Mary did, and died half an hour after her. 
“ Hannah only ate two spoonsful of the stew, as she did not like its flavour ; this girl recovered after a 
severe vomiting and purging. 
“ Sarah never complained of pain in the head, but was continually suffering under extreme pain in the 
bowels, which was increased on pressure, but no tension existed. She died on Saturday morning in 
the same convulsed state as her sisters. Permission having been obtained to open one of the bodies, that 
of Sarah was examined, as she had suffered under the most excruciating pain in the bowels, but no appear- 
ance of disease was manifest in any of the abdominal viscera ; the stomach was empty, and also the whole 
of the alimentary canal. On Friday, the 14th, the vomiting still continuing in the father and mother, it 
was thought proper to administer small doses of opium, but without effect ; the effervescing draught was 
then given, which succeeded, but the pain in the bowels was thereby so much increased, that both regretted 
having taken it. During the progress of this unfortunate occurrence, the pulse in each of the patients was 
quickened, and varied from 100 to 120 in a minute, but was not sufficiently full to justify the use of the 
lancet ; the tongue was parched and slightly streaked with white ; the tunic® conjunctive were not inflamed 
and the parties were all perfectly sensible. 
“ A dog which had partaken of the stew died on Wednesday night, apparently in great agonies.” 
Agaricus bulbosus, (Fig. B.) One of the common poisonous native Agarics, abounding in woods in the 
autumnal months. It has a pungent odour, resembling that of horse-radish. The pileus is two or three 
inches broad, bright brown, or chestnut coloured, obtusely umbonate, thin at the margin, testaceous when 
dry, and brittle. The lam ell® are cinnamon-coloured, or tawny, three or four in a set, distant, and three 
or four lines broad, with rose-coloured sporidia, The stem is about four inches in height, solid, very thick, 
dullish red, bulbous, ovate, and in old specimens ferruginous at the base. The veil is annular, whitish, and 
fugacious. Withering’s A. bulbosus. (Bot. Arr. v. 4. p. 271,) is a different plant. 
On the continent a great many kinds of Fungi are used for culinary purposes. 
“ The A. c®sarea is a fungus possessed of some classic fame; it has been celebrated both by Juvenal 
and Martial ; not so much, however, for its beauty, as for the traditional belief that it was in a dish of these 
mushrooms, which by the ancient Romans were considered the greatest luxury of the table, that Agrip- 
pina administered poison to her husband, Claudius C®sar, to hasten her son’s accession to the throne. 
Hence, probably, it derived its specific name Caesarea ; but Nero, for whose sake Claudius had been 
poisoned, called it the food for gods, because, after his death, Claudius was numbered amongst the Roman 
deities. 
“ It appears from Pliny, that, after the murder of Claudius, mushrooms fell into unmerited disrepute. 
He says, ‘Among all those things which are eaten with danger, I take it that mushrooms may be justly- 
ranged in the first and principal place ; true it is that they have a most pleasant and delicate taste; but dis- 
credited much they are, and brought into an ill name, by occasion of the poison which Agrippina, the em- 
press, conveyed unto her husband the emperor by their means : a dangerous precedent given for the like 
practice afterwards.’ ( Holland’s Trans.) The A. c®sarea has, however, through the lapse of time, again 
recovered its reputation, for now it is commonly seen in the Italian markets : in Italy it is abundant, but in 
these kingdoms rare. It is liable to be mistaken for a poisonous species belonging to the same subgenus, 
but may easily be distinguished by its yellow gills from the A. imperialis, in which they are always white.” — 
Vide Burnett’s Outlines of Botany, vol. i. p. 260. 
Accidents arising from the deadly Fungi being mistaken for eatable mushrooms, are common on the 
continent, and especially in France. They are by no means unfrequent too, in Britain ; but they are much 
less frequent than abroad ; because the epicure’s catalogue of mushrooms in this country contains only 
three species, whose characters are too distinct to be mistaken by a person of ordinary skill ; while abroad 
a great variety of them have found their way to the table ; many of which are not only liable to be con- 
founded with poisonous species, but are even also themselves of doubtful quality. The present subject 
cannot be thoroughly studied without a knowledge of the appearance and characters of all the fungi which 
have been ascertained to be esculent, as well as those which are known to be esculent, as well as of those 
which are known to be deleterious. This information, however, I cannot pretend to communicate, as it 
would lead to great details. In what follows, therefore, a simple list will be given of the two classes, with 
reference to the proper sources for minute descriptions of them, and some general observations on the effects 
of the poisonous species. 
The only good account yet published of the innocent or eatable fungi of Great Britain is contained in 
an elaborate essay on the subject by Dr. Greville. He enumerates no fewer than twenty-six different species, 
which grow abundantly in our woods and fields, and which, although most of them utterly neglected in this 
country, are all considered eatable, and many of them delicate abroad. 
fChristison on Poisons.) 
