Toadstools, mushrooms, fungi, edible and poisonous; one thousand American fungi / How to select and cook the edible; how to distinguish and avoid the poisonous, with full botanic descriptions. Toadstool poisons and their treatment, instructions to students, recipes for cooking, etc., etc.

by Charles McIlvaine; Robert K. Macadam

Formerly frequent allusion was made to the possibility of poisoning by decomposition products from putrefactive changes in mushrooms. Not a single case has come to the writer’s notice where this form of poisoning has actually occurred. In many reported cases of poisoning it is distinctly stated they were eaten soon after gathering; in none does the reporter mention any suspicion of poisoning of this nature.

At one time very many mushrooms were supposed to be poisonous. We now know that there are only a few dangerous ones, and where serious poisoning occurs it seems clearly to be due to some definite and constant poisons contained in certain fungi. We shall not deal here with the irritant poisons, as they are not dangerous and usually Nature gets rid of them easily, but shall consider the poisons of the Amanita muscaria or “Fly mushroom,” the A. bulbosus vernus Bull. or A. verna, and the A. phalloides or “death cup.” The writer has not had any personal experience with poisoning by these in man, but bases his observations upon over one hundred experiments made upon lower animals.[^[C]] This is a distinct advantage in reaching any conclusion, as the facts are definite without any doubt as to the kind or quantity of the poison taken. In many of the reports of poisoning by mushrooms in man no mention of the species is made. In all these cases many kinds have been mixed together in preparing them for the table and it has never been known how many of the poisonous and how many of the edible ones have been eaten by any one individual partaking of the dish. Of course the fluid in which they are cooked contains some of the poison. This explains why some patients recover after having eaten several mushrooms while others die from a part of one only. (See report of six cases by Dr. G.E. Caglieri, New York Med. Record, August 28, 1897; also Dr. Berry’s cases reported by Prentiss, Philadelphia Med. Journal, September 24, 1898.) Then, too, different poisonous species may be mixed together. The symptoms produced by the different Amanitæ poisons are quite different. Those containing irritant poisons may be taken with those containing deadly poisons. This accounts for the great variety of symptoms presented in cases reported.

[C]. All of the toadstools used have been very kindly furnished and identified by Capt. Chas. McIlvaine. Unfortunately only fifteen experiments could be made with the fresh fungi while the writer was at the University of Pennsylvania. Since leaving there it has been impossible to get any in a fresh state, and the other experiments have been made either with dried fungi or alcoholic or glycerine extracts of the fresh.

POISONING BY AMANITA MUSCARIA.

The symptoms of poisoning by this fungus usually appear from eight to twelve hours after it has been eaten, unless it has been taken in enormous quantities, as in the cases reported by Prentiss (Phila. Med. Jour., September 24, 1898), where they came on in half an hour.

These begin with cramp-like pains in the extremities, colicky pains in the abdomen, burning thirst, vomiting and purging. The pulse may be very slow and strong at first, but later becomes rapid, small and feeble. The blood pressure is low and, as a result of this disturbance of the circulation, faintness is a common early symptom. Extreme pallor is often noticed. The secretions are increased, and the sweat and the saliva may be secreted in abnormal quantities.

The pupils are strongly contracted and dullness of the vision or double vision may be noticed early.

The respirations are slow and become shallow and stertorous when the poisoning is severe.

The mental state may be clear at first, but becomes dull, deepening into unconsciousness and deep coma if a large quantity has been taken.

Convulsions are reported to have occurred in some cases from poisoning by this toadstool in man. The dried Amanita muscaria or extracts of the fresh fail to produce convulsions in the lower animals, even in frogs, which are very susceptible. Either there is a considerable difference in the susceptibility to this poison or there is some poison present in the fresh fungus which is lost by drying.