The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-10-11
MUsnRoOMs AND 1oADsTooLs.
How to Detect the Difference ana How to
Cure Toa dstooI Poisoning.

How to Detect the Difference ans How TO
| Cure Toad Poisoning.
To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir: The
| good mushroom Is rough on the top, cracked
| aud rasped Ike the chapped skin In cold
weather, and is always dry to the feeling, while
the poisonous kind is often, II not always,
smooth and greasy to feel, somewhat clammy
and damp, having n dead-wood order when
broken. and turns green or Rreensh red on tho
| under side.
The under side OF the good mushroom turns
| rapidly light pink on exposure to the air then
purple and darker purple until In a very short
| Time IL Is almost Jet black. and hen broken
omits the true mushroom odor. In addition to
| these tests the mushroom Is brittle and bre iks
easily, ana the skin on top, after starting the
edge peels on cleanly aud readily. The toad
Stool Is tougher and more elastic. bends with
out breaking. aud the top skin does not peel so
| easily.
| OF your paper paragraph stating that an Italian
chemist had discovered antidotes for tOadstrO
poisoning In atrOntne, the essence or active prin-
| ciple OF belladonna. and daturine, the active
principle OF stramonum Jam sstOwn weed), but
| both these substances are poisonous. ana are
| onli available In the hands OF n physician. and
| Il appears from the recent case Of poisoning In
New Jersey that the poison of TINS fungus does
not manifest itself until after some hours In the
human system, and possibly 1t Is too late then
| for any help. LAY Doctor.
! To the EDITOR or THE suN-Str: Here is a
| test by which the difference between mush-
| rooms aud tosdstoos can be easily deter mined :
silver spoon, and II there be any toadstools
| among them the spoon will turn dark. If the
| plants are genuine mushrooms no discoloraton
viii take place. l.. WILLIAMS.
| BROOKLYN, Oct. o.
To THE EDITOR OF THE suN-Sir: TO dis
| tinguish the poisonous tosdstool from the mush
| room an easy and certain way is, at the time OF
| picking, to strip the white skin from the upper
surface. II the skin will not readily peel on
but instead adheres so as to break the substance
underneath In the effort TO separate them, re-
Jet lit is a toadstool whereas, the skin OF
the mushroom Is readily torn away without
| breaking the substance-as easily as the skin
NAV be stripped from a banana. have eaten
many mushrooms gathered by myself, always
''''O"' LUIS '''' wiz" '"''' : SAIL II. o'JonE.
To THE Enron or THE SUN-Sr: send
you some rules for distinguishing mushrooms,
given by NJ. Richard In the Dtcttondire des
Drogues Those should be rejected which have
a narcotic or fetid odor, OF an acrid, bitter, or
very acid taste, which are very soft, liquify,
change color, and assume a blush tint on being
bruised which exude milky, acrd, and
stypuc juice which grow In very IN DIST places,
aud upon putrefyine substances; In nne. all
such as have a ligneous OF coiky conststeDce.
The last, however, are injurious In consequence
rather Of their indigestible than OF their poison
Gus nature. Even mushrooms which are usually
edible may prove poisonous II collected too late,
or In places which are too moist. 1t Is said,
moreover that the poisonous species sometimes
become Innocent when they grow under favor
able circumstances. IL Is affirmed, for example,
that mushrooms which prove poisonous In Eng
land are eaten with impunitv In Russia.
DIR. Alfred ;. TAYLOR, the distinguished toxicol-
oeist, says that the poisonous fungi NAV be
recognized by the pieus, or cap. having a pecu-
liar conical OF hattened shape. and by being col
ured yellow, brown, green. red OF orange-red,
aud by IA very di,asreeable cd or when the plant
u bruised. They generally grow under trees, Ia
groves or woods, and are often attached to de-
cayed amin al matter.
The symptoms produced by poisonous mueh-
rooms are anxiety, vertigo, nausea, faintness,
vomiting and II they are not rejected from the
stomach. stupor, somnolence. cold extremities,
livid skin, and death In thrtv-six or forty-eight
hours. The symptoms are not generally expe-
renced until several hours. usually from Ave TO
ten, after they have been eaten, showing that
their deleterious effects depend upon the en-
trance Of the poisonous principle into the CIR
The remedies are emetlcs. II the physician is
called III time. accompanied with the free use
OF warm drinks. A. -. iiANENER.
165 PLANE STREET. NEWARK. Oct. :.
To THE EDITOR OF THE SUS-Sir: The table
mushroom seldom grows higher than two
inches, and has stout stem, aud is pure white,
but the under part of the crown Is a delicate
pink. When they arst appear above the earth
we call them buttons. which they resemble In
shape, aud looking under the crown OF button
you Will see rnre white. Remove this and the
pink - beneath. As the mushroom grows and
more developed. In my country, where every
bods eats them. all are discarded as poisonous
that lave not this pink color under the crown
or button. The thirc or fourth day the PINK
begins tn turn black. In this stage the m,sn-
INpuiH dIe NNN dH uellc ttt "A Wuen Iresn. Mllsb-
rooms are very easily peeled, whereas the wnito
toddstool and all others are very hard and
grow TO the height Of four or avs inches
| never heard a remedy for mushroom poison
ma The white OF eggs, or mustard In warm
water might relieve the patient.
H. ID. BLACK, 40 Grand street.
To THE Enron or The SUH-ST: The prac-
tised eye will never mistake the delicate pink
shade and graceful curve Of the him Of the
mushroom Tor the sickly pink-white and often
almost black color aud umbrella shape Of the
rim OF the toadstoOl.
AN ENEMY TO ToADsTooLs.
NEW YORK, Oct.s.
To THE EDIToR or THE SUS-ST: send you
SCRAP from the London Sanitary Record. in
which are mentioned two antidotes for mush-
room poison. IL Ia TO be regretted that nothing
ie said about the dose. Doubtless tho doctors
will be able 10 Diet rhine that.
Prof schlr Of Florence has demonstrated that the
nou edibl- mushrooms have 4 common poison, mus.
rarina and that it, ecte either by
atrupinc daturine. Italian aputhecare ~ Keen
thcee alkaloids IN the rural DISTRICTS where the con
sumption Of the nOnedDe fungi T. apt 10 occur The
HOT Worth taking England where deaths from eat
ing UNIV hOlcsOme fungi are Oy means unfre Quent
]. L.
Contents OF the Mcekly sun.
-. a. a.