The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1889-10-10

sonous, ,andthat the family were poisoned
by perfectly safe esculent. / sent to
New York and got disciple to inter
view the writer. All he could say was
that he had received the variety he
named.
''And he could infer that a person
whose ignorance was already proven
was able to select a second time specif.
ic variety among the hundreds that
grow !" l responded.
1t is not necessary that one should call
his diet by its scientific name, but here,
as in other parts of the garden, he must
know just what he is usihg. .-,.. .l.
A gentleman once called at my office
in a state of hysteria; he said that four
persons had dined at his table from
mushrooms. had separated and then all
been thus affected. He was given some
whiskey and sweet oil, and told that ne
had not eaten anything fatally poison
GUS. The next day he brought in the
variety | suspected.
"You could feed your family on a
plant of which you had never before
tasted p explained with sternness.
Although there are tons of wholesome
food wasted in our forests day by day,
yet promiscuous use Of these could not
fail to produce many deaths, Is this
not true of any other order of plants
How closely the night.shade berries re-
semble currents, or wild and noxious
roots of the parsnip family the domestic
vegetable.
Thus, we come to the only way to tell
mushroom from toadstOol; the same
discrimination which is applied to other
foods, And, lacking as this talent is in
those unused to these plants, even child
rem acquire it speedily. One of my most
promising pupils was little maid in her
teens; she was very fond of them raw,
and often trembled lest, ere her hand
dangerous one IN place of it's honest
neighbor, but, with no color-line to aid
her, her discrimination was unerring (;
although clothed in the snowy sem
blance Of puriety, the enemy was
avoided. ..-..
Mushrooms may be unfit for food by
the presence of tasteless alkalold, from
an acrid, bitter or nauseous principle, or
simply by disagreement with the diges-
tive organs, The last named should be
avoided the noD-edible principle, like
that IN eggplant, is often removed by
salt and water; the danger lies in the
|, first mentioned. But a variety once
found edible never changes its proper
ties; that which is true of other plants
is true of these; were it no. i should not
be writing this article. .. ...
The late Paul Casamajor head chemist
, OF the Havemeyer sugar refneries, pro-
nounced by his associates lone of the
most distinguished chemists in the
, world" a correspondent and friend OF
} Pasteur, was for ten years disciple OF
| mine in this Interesting science, and did
me great service. wrote him once that
| it had sometimes seem"d to me that to
! circumnavigate the glnb", and TO address
at least those Of four foreign nations In
J their respective languages were gifts, but
that TO detect the differences between
one plant and another was something
any one could have done. In reply he
wrote 4:
"In taking ship around the world
} there are thousands that can equal you
in speaking foreign languages you will
| own that there are many wko excel you
but where is the man who will step into
a grove, pick up score OF different
toadstools, make meal on them and
} live to write about it ?"
Yet each one of those twenty plants
had been tested as follows l take a
small piece of the flesh or cap, clear Of
: the part which bears the small bodies
| analogous to seed, eat it the first thing
lin the morning; if no III effects follow,
, increase the dose daily until have eaten
whole one; after this, never have had
occasion to reverse my decision. This
, actual experience controverts theories
stated in such authorities as Berkeley ol
3 England or Cordier Of France.
3 The temptation is great to attempt
description of varieties, but such could
: scarcely give much information without
! illustrations OF form and color. still
. there are a few things that may be said
] For example, most persons will readily
+ recognize the puff-ball family; those
. round, white balls which come after
} rains; wherever they cut open, perfectly
white, they may be eaten; there are nc
poisonous varieties. Again. there are
r some large, feshy toadstools which are
t very plenty in the forests; l meet the
, Italians making harvest here OF like
varieties to those they eat at home
these are the Boleti, and are distinguish
! able by the under surface being com
posed of porous or sponge-like stratum
+ find them generally delicious.
: Again, very early in my studies seg
, regated a whole family from its neigh
bors; they were brittle, contained nc
, Juice and the thin lines or rays called
J gills were equal. | soon noticed that
the denlzens Of the forests ate them on
taste. found partly gnawed specimens
, saw squirrels holding them as they held
} nuts; snakes or land-tortoise glided
away from my hand as | touched thelI
food. The books characterized the fam
/ lily as of doubtful use, and frequent dan
ger. Yet, prompted by inferences az
! above, made bold to assume that the
, whole family, where pleasant to the
, taste, might be eaten, and tests have
thus far proved this truth. My corre-
spondent, Mr.. .Casamsjor, wrote me that
acting on this suggestion, ne had gath
cred with his children a basket full, be-
} ing careful to exclude all not Russul8
} aud then, tasting each specimen, he
cooked them aud made an evening mea
with perfect safety.
= Continuing, noticed large family
} closely resembling them, yet producing
milk whenever broken. This Is an
albuminous juice, holding resin in solu
tion. When this is naturally mild, the
) mushroom is eatable; in most cases
e where it is not, the action Of salt and
Z water changes its nature and leaves the
substance Of the mushroom unhurt anc
good for food. This family is very prop
D erly called the Lactarii, and while it ii
: possible that with its nearest relative the
: Russula, it may contain dangerous mem
haf In nf "
perience have never discovered such.
g In the fall-within the last fortnight
r for example-there may be seen clut
0 NOSE, or coral shaped group, growing II
our forests; there are many varieties, bu
t all characterized by the general descrip
ton of little branches dividing and sub
= dividing from a common base, theI
I growing from few inches to two fee
= in height. This is the Clavaria family
: more delicate food than caulifiOwer
nicer IN soup or stew than vermicelli
4 and to be eaten, when not bitter, ,as eth
! er of the aforementioned articles arr
! cooked. There are bitter varieties bu
: none poisonous.
have p1rposely reserved to the las
: the real danger in mushroom diet. II
: investigating over thirty cases Of poison
: ing have found but one cause, namely
! the use Of a mushroom known as thu
Amanita. 1t is, in many varieties, ex
tremely venomous. II tgrows with fear
, full luxuriance. Probably no one coulC
start into a wood, gathering the frs
twenty mushrooms he should see, with
out getting enough Of il to kill a whole
/. family.
' To the peculiar venom OF this plant
! found myself at once abnormally sensi
! tive. The original Of the group in my
charts, published by Prang & Co., cos
I me days illness just by bringing il IL