This proves that the mushroom in question is possessed of undoubtedly poisonous properties, which are fatal in their effects, unless counteracted or dispelled by the method of preparing them for the table. That this method is known to the Russians and to some other nations, and is believed to consist in well saturating the fungi with salt before cooking them. The Muscovite seems to have no greater dread of ill effects from the fly agaric than has the Brazilian from his cassava or mandioca flour, which is prepared from the equally poisonous root of the mandioca plant, the deleterious qualities of which are destroyed by the heat used in its preparation. Dr. Pouchet of Rouen seems to have clearly proved that the poisonous property of the fly agaric and a venenata may be entirely removed by boiling them in water. A quart of water in which five plants had been boiled for fifteen minutes, killed a dog in eight hours; and, again, another in a day; but the boiled fungi themselves had no effect at all on two other dogs; and a third which had been fed for two months on little else than boiled amanitas, not only sustained no harm, but actually got fat on the fare.[37] Pouchet is inclined to think that the whole poisonous plants of the family are similarly circumstanced.
The most singular circumstance connected with the history of this fungus, is the place it occupies as a substitute for those narcotics known in other parts of the world, and which an ungenial northern climate fails to produce. What the coca is to the Bolivian, and opium to the Chinese—the areca to the Malay, and haschisch to the African—the tobacco to the inhabitants of Europe and America, and the thorn-apple to those of the Andes—is the fly agaric to the natives of Siberia and Kamtschatka. Why it has been called by this name has arisen from its use as a fly poison. Never having seen those dipterous insects while under its influence, we cannot detail the symptoms it produces.
This poisonous fungus has some resemblance to the one generally eaten in this country, yet there are also striking points of difference. As, for instance, the gills are white instead of pinkish red, inclining to brown, and the cap or pileus, which is rather flat, is generally of a livid red colour, sprinkled with angular lighter coloured worts. These are distinctions broad enough to prevent any one having the use of his eyes, and who has ever seen the edible mushroom being deceived into the belief that the fungus thus briefly described is identical with the delicacy of our English tables.
These fungi are collected by those who indulge in them narcotically, during the hot, or rather summer months, and afterwards hung up to dry in the open air. Or they may be left to ripen and dry in the ground, and are afterwards collected. When left standing until they are dried, they are said to possess more powerful narcotic properties than when dried artificially. The juice of the whortleberry in which this substance has been steeped, acquires thereby the intoxicating properties of strong wine.
The method of using this singular substance is to roll it up in the form of a bolus and swallow it without any mastication, as one would swallow a large pill. It is swallowed thus on principle, not that its flavour would be unpleasant, as compound colocynth might be when masticated, but because it is stated to agree ill with the stomach when that operation is performed. Nature is jealous of her rights, and it would appear from experience, that the gastronomic regions expect to receive all other supplies well triturated, except these—amanita and pill colocynth—which are both expected equally alike to arrive at the regions below without mutilation.
A day’s intoxication may thus be procured at the expense of one good sized bolus, compounded of one large or two small toadstools; and this intoxication is affirmed to be, not only cheap, which is a consideration, but also remarkably pleasant. It commences an hour or so after the bolus has been swallowed.
The effects which this singular narcotic produces are, some of them, similar to that produced by intoxicating liquors; others resemble the effects of haschisch. At first, it generally produces cheerfulness, afterwards giddiness and drunkenness, ending occasionally in the entire loss of consciousness. The natural inclinations of the individual become stimulated. The dancer executes a pas d’extravagance, the musical indulge in a song, the chatterer divulges all his secrets, the oratorical delivers himself of a philippic, and the mimic indulges in caricature. Erroneous impressions of size and distance are common occurrences, equally with the swallower of amanita and hemp. The experiences of M. Moreau with haschisch are repeated with the fungus-eaters of Siberia; a straw lying in the road becomes a formidable object, to overcome which, a leap is taken sufficient to clear a barrel of ale, or the prostrate trunk of a British oak.
But this is not the only extraordinary circumstance connected therewith. There is the property imparted to the fluid excretions, of rendering it intoxicating, which property it retains for a considerable time. A man having been intoxicated on one day, and slept himself sober by the next, will, by drinking this liquor, to the extent of about a cupfull, become as intoxicated thereby as he was before. Confirmed drunkards in Siberia preserve their excretionary fluid as a precious liquor, to be used in case a scarcity of the fungus should occur. This intoxicating property may be again communicated to every person who partakes of the disgusting draught, and thus, also, with the third, and fourth, and even the fifth distillation. By this means, with a few boluses to commence with, a party may shut themselves in their room, and indulge in a week’s debauch at a very economical rate. This species of “sucking the monkey” is one that Mungo never contemplated. Persons who are fond of getting liquor at the expense of others take every opportunity of “sucking the monkey,” which process has been thus explained. It consists in boring a hole with a gimlet in a keg or barrel, and putting a straw therein, to suck out any quantity, at any given time. Persons who are accustomed to receive real Devonshire cider, or genuine Wiltshire ale, or the pure Geneva, in London, experience the liberties those take who “suck the monkey,” by either liberally diminishing the quantity, or diluting it with water on the road, so as to make the quantity what the quality should be. It is said that the origin of the term “sucking the monkey” is derived from the prolific invention of a black, who, in order to find an excuse to the captain for his being caught lying with a favourite monkey so often near the rum puncheons on board, from which he daily drank, said—“Massa, you ask what Mungo do here?—do here, massa? You say monkey hab de milk ob human kindness, massa. Mungo like dat milk, massa, and Mungo suck de monkey, massa. Dat’s all.”
Chemical investigations have not yet been directed into the channel leading towards the elucidation of the mysteries of these poisonous fungi, and hitherto we know of no experiments having been made with a view to ascertain whether any of our indigenous fungi, other than the one already referred to, can be used in the same way, and with the same results, as we have described. Doubtless such experiments would be successful, so far as realizing the results, since one of the effects produced by eating poisonous fungi is narcotic in its character. M. Letellier found in certain of these fungi a chemical principle which is fixed, and resists drying, and which he calls Amanitine. Its effects on animals appear to resemble considerably those of opium.[38] Dr. Christison states that “the symptoms produced by them in man are endless in variety, and fully substantiate the propriety of arranging them in the class of narcotico-acrid poisons. Sometimes they produce narcotic symptoms alone, sometimes only symptoms of irritation, but much more commonly, both together.” A person gathered in Hyde Park a considerable number of mushrooms; which he mistook for the species commonly eaten, stewed them, and proceeded to eat them; but before ending his repast, and not more than ten minutes after he began it, he was suddenly attacked with dimness of vision, giddiness, debility, trembling, and loss of recollection. In a short time he recovered so far as to be able to go in search of assistance. But he had hardly walked 250 yards when his memory again failed him, and he lost his way. His countenance expressed anxiety, he reeled about, and could hardly articulate. He soon became so drowsy, that he could be kept awake only by constant dragging. Vomiting was produced; the drowsiness gradually went off, and next day he complained merely of languor and weakness.
The smoke of the common puff-ball when burnt, has been used to stupify bees when their hive was about to be robbed; and similar narcotic effects have been observed in other animals when subjected to its fumes. The action bears a resemblance to that of chloroform by producing insensibility to pain. If future generations do not deem it desirable to indulge in a narcotic of this kind for the purpose of producing pleasurable sensations, or to smother the carking cares of life, yet they may learn more than we at present know of the peculiar characteristics which distinguish this from all the others of the “Seven Sisters of Sleep.”