The Home Medical Library, Volume 5 (of 6)

by Unknown

CHAPTER II

Mushroom Poisoning

Symptoms—Treatment—How to Tell Mushrooms—The Common Kind—Other Varieties—The Edible Puffball—Poisonous Mushrooms Frequently Mistaken.

MUSHROOM POISONING.—Vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, pains in legs; possibly confusion, as if drunk, stupidity, followed by excitement, and perhaps convulsions. Lips and face may be blue. Pulse may be weak.

First Aid Rule 1.—Rid the stomach and bowels of remaining poison. Give emetic of mustard, tablespoonful in three glasses of warm water, unless vomiting is already excessive. When vomiting ceases, give tablespoonful of castor oil, or compound cathartic pill. Give no salts. Also empty bowels with injection of tablespoonful of glycerin in pint of warm soapsuds and water.

Rule 2.—Antidote the poison. Give a cup of strong coffee and fifteen drops of tincture of belladonna to adult. Repeat both once, after two hours have passed.

Rule 3.—Rest and stimulate. Put patient to bed. Give whisky, a tablespoonful in twice as much water. Give tincture of digitalis, ten drops every two hours, till two or three doses are taken by adult.

Symptoms.—Vomiting and diarrhea come on in a few hours to half a day, with cramps in the stomach and legs. The face and lips may grow blue. There is great prostration. In the case of poisoning by the fly amanita, stupor may appear early, the patient acting as if drunk, and difficult breathing may be a noticeable symptom. Afterwards the patient becomes excited and convulsions develop. The pulse becomes weak and slow. The patient may die in a few hours, or may linger for three or four days. If treatment be thorough, recovery may result.

Treatment.—Unless vomiting has already been excessive, the patient should receive a tablespoonful of mustard mixed with a glassful of tepid water. After the vomiting ceases he should receive a tablespoonful of castor oil, or any cathartic except salts. If the cathartic is vomited, he should receive an injection into the rectum of a tablespoonful of glycerin mixed with a pint of soapsuds and water. Coffee and atropine (or belladonna) are the best antidotes.

If a physician be secured, he will probably give a hypodermic injection of atropine. If a physician is not procurable, the patient should receive a cup of strong coffee, and a dose of ten or fifteen drops of tincture of belladonna in a tablespoonful of water, if an adult. This dose should be repeated once after the lapse of two hours. The patient should be kept in bed, a bedpan being used when the bowels move.

When the pulse begins to grow weak, two tablespoonfuls of whisky and ten drops of the tincture of digitalis should be given to an adult in quarter of a glass of hot water. The digitalis should be repeated every two hours till three or four doses have been taken. The patient must be kept warm with hot-water bottles and blankets.

HOW TO KNOW MUSHROOMS.—One-sixth of one of the poisonous mushrooms has caused death. It is, therefore, impossible to exert too much care in selecting them for food. A novice would much better learn all the characteristics of edible and poisonous mushrooms in the field from an expert before attempting to gather them himself, and should not trust to book descriptions, except in the case of the few edible species described hereafter. It is not safe for a novice to gather the immature or button mushrooms, because it is much more difficult to determine their characteristics than those of the full grown. As reference books, the reader is advised to procure Bulletin No. 15 of the United States Department of Agriculture, entitled "Some Edible and Poisonous Fungi," by Dr. W. G. Farlow, which will be sent without charge on request by the Agricultural Department at Washington; "Studies of American Fungi," by Atkinson, and Miss Marshall's "Mushroom Book," all of which are fully illustrated, and will prove helpful to those interested in edible fungi.

There are no single tests by which one can distinguish edible from poisonous fungi, such as taste, odor, the blackening of a silver spoon, etc., although contrary statements have been made. Even when the proper mushrooms have been eaten, ill effects, death itself, may follow if the mushrooms have been kept too long, have been insufficiently cooked, have been eaten in too large a quantity (especially by children), or if the consumer is the possessor of an unhappy idiosyncrasy toward mushrooms.

No botanic distinction exists between toadstools and mushrooms; mushrooms may be regarded as edible toadstools. They are all, botanically speaking, edible or poisonous fungi. A description follows of the five kinds of fungi most commonly eaten, and the poisonous species which may be mistaken for them.

EDIBLE MUSHROOMS.—1. The Common Mushroom (Agaricus Campestris).—The fungi called agarici are those which have gills, that is, little plates which look like knife blades on the under surface of the top of the mushroom, radiating outward from the stem like the spokes of a wheel. This is the species most frequently grown artificially, and sold in the markets. The top or cap of this mushroom is white, or of varying shades of brown, and measures from one and a half to three or even four inches in diameter. It is found in the latter part of August, in September, and in October, growing in clusters on pastures, fields, and lawns.

The gills are pink or salmon colored in the newly expanded specimen; but as it grows older, or after it is picked, the gills turn dark purple, chestnut brown, or black. This is the important point to remember, since the poisonous species mistaken for it all have white gills. The gills end with abrupt upward curves at the center of the cap without being attached to the stem. In the young mushroom, when the cap is folded down about the stem, the gills are not noticeable, as they are covered by a veil or filmy membrane, a part of which remains attached to the stem (when the top expands), as a ring or collar about the stem a little more than halfway up from the ground. The stem is solid and not hollow, and there is no bulbous enlargement at the base of the stem, surrounded by scales or a collar, as occurs in the fly amanita and other poisonous species. Neither the campestris nor any other mushroom should be eaten when over a day old, since decomposition quickly sets in.

Fig. 35.

THE FIELD MUSHROOM.

(Agaricus Campestris.)

An edible variety; very common.

2. Horse Mushroom (Agaricus Arvensis).—This species may be considered with the foregoing, but it differs in being considerably larger (measuring four to ten inches across) and in having a more shiny cap, of a white or brown hue. The ring about the stem is noticeably wider and thicker, and is composed of two distinct layers. The gills are white at first, turning dark brown comparatively late, and the stem is a little hollow as it matures. In some localities it is more common than the campestris in fields and pastures, while in other places it is found only in rich gardens, about hot beds, or in cold frames. It is not distinguished from the campestris by market people, but is often sold with the latter.

Fig. 36.

THE HORSE MUSHROOM.

(Agaricus Arvensis.)

This variety is edible.

3. Shaggy Mane, Ink Cap, or Horsetail Fungus (Coprinus Comatus).—This mushroom possesses the most marked characteristics of any of the edible species; it would seem impossible to mistake its identity from written descriptions and illustrations. It is considered by many superior in flavor to the campestris.

The top or cap does not expand in this mushroom, until it begins to turn black, but remains folded down about the stem like a closed umbrella. Mature specimens are usually three to five, occasionally from eight to ten, inches high. The stem is hollow. The inside of the cap or gills and the stem are snow white. The outer surface of the cap, which is white in young plants, becomes of a faint, yellow-brown or tawny color in mature specimens, and also darker at the top. Delicate scales often rolled up at their lower ends are seen on the exterior of the cap, more readily in mature mushrooms, hence the name "shaggy mane." There is a ring around the stem at the lower margin of the cap, and it is so loosely attached to either the cap or stem that it sometimes drops down to the base of the latter.

The most salient feature of shaggy mane is the change which occurs when it is about a day old; it turns black and dissolves away into an inky fluid, whence the other common name "ink cap." The mushroom should not be eaten when in this condition. The ink cap is usually found growing in autumn, rarely in summer, in richer earth than the common mushroom. One finds it in heaps of street scrapings, by roadsides, in rich lawns, in soils filled with decomposing wood and in low, shaded, moist grounds.

Fig. 37.

THE HORSE-TAIL FUNGUS.

(Coprinus Comatus.)

Edible; cut shows entire plant and section.

4. Fairy-ring Mushroom (Marasmius Oreades).—This species usually grows on lawns, in clusters which form an imperfect circle or crescent. The ring increases in size each year as new fungi grow on the outside, while old ones toward the center of the circle perish. This mushroom is small and slender, and rarely exceeds two inches in breadth. The cap and the tough and tubular stem are buff, and the gills, few in number and bulging out in the middle, are of a lighter shade of the same color. There is no ring about the stem. Several crops of the fairy-ring mushroom are produced all through the season, but the most prolific growth appears after the late fall rains. There are other fungi forming rings, some of which are poisonous, and they may not be easily distinguished from the edible species; hence great care is essential in gathering them. The under surface of the cap is brown or blackish in the mature plants of poisonous species.

Fig. 38.

THE FAIRY-RING MUSHROOM.

(Marasmius Oreades.)

An edible variety.

5. Edible Puffball (Lycoperdon Cyathiforme).—Edible puffballs grow in open pastures, and on lawns and grassplots, often forming rings. They are spherical in form, generally from one and a half to two inches, occasionally six inches, in diameter, broad and somewhat flattened at the top, and tapering at the base, white or brown outside. They often present an irregularly checkered appearance, owing to the fact that the white interior shows between the dark raised parts. The interior is at first pure white and of solid consistency, but later becomes softer and yellowish, and then contains an amber-colored juice. After the puffball has matured, the contents change into a brown, dustlike mass, and the top falls off; and it is then inedible. All varieties of puffball with a pure white interior are harmless, if eaten before becoming crumbly and powdery. There is only one species thought to be poisonous, and that has a yellow-brown exterior, while the interior is purple-black, marbled with white.

Fig. 39.

THE EDIBLE PUFFBALL.

(Lycoperdon Cyathiforme.)

Upper illustration shows entire plant; lower, a section.

POISONOUS MUSHROOMS FREQUENTLY MISTAKEN.

To escape eating poisonous mushrooms do not gather the buttons, and be suspicious of those growing in woods and shady spots that show any bright hue, or have a scaly or dotted cap, or white gills.[9] By so doing the following species will be avoided.

Fly Amanita (Amanita Muscaria).—Infusions of this mushroom made by boiling in water are used to kill flies. This species grows in woods and shady places, by roadsides, and along the borders of fields, and is much commoner than the campestris in some localities. It prefers a poor, gravelly soil, and is found in summer.

The stem is hollow and its gills are white. The cap is variously colored, white, orange, yellow, or even brilliant red, and dotted over with corklike particles or warty scales which are easily rubbed off. There is a large, drooping collar about the upper part of the hollow, white stem, and the latter is scaly below with a bulbous enlargement at its base.

The young mushrooms, or buttons, do not exhibit the dotted cap, and the bulbous scaly base may be left in the ground when the mushroom is picked. The fly amanita is usually larger than the common mushroom.

Fig. 40.

A POISONOUS FUNGUS.

(Amanita Muscaria.)

The Fly Agaric.

Death Cup or Deadly Agaric (Amanita Phalloides).—This species is more fatal in its effects than the preceding. Its salient feature is a bulbous base surmounted and surrounded by a collar or cup out of which the stem grows. This is often buried beneath the ground, however, so that it may escape notice. The gills and stem are white like the preceding, but the cap is usually not dotted but glossy, white, greenish, or yellow. There is also a broad, noticeable ring about the stem, as in the fly amanita. This mushroom frequents moist, shady spots, also along the borders of fields. It occurs singly, and rarely in fields or pastures.

Fig. 41.

THE DEADLY AGARIC.

(Amanita Phalloides.)

This variety is very poisonous.

FOOTNOTES:

[9] The shaggy mane has white gills, but its other features are characteristic.