Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-10
ing deposited on edible fungi which were
placed in the same basket

placed IN the same basket.
The fresh fungus is very inviting in ap-
pearance and has no bad taste when eaten
either raw or cooked. There is no uneasi-
ness felt by the victim until from nine to
fourteen hours after eating. Severe alb
dominal pain then sets in, which is rapidly
followed by nausea, vomiting and extreme
diarrhoea, the alvine discharges ASSUMING
the peculiar rice-water condition which il
characteristic of Asatic cholera. These
symptoms are persistently maintained but
without loss of consciousness, until death
ensues, as 1t does in from two to four days
Since the year 1867 death from amanita
poisoning has generally been attributed to
the alkaloid mrscarine (wrongly called
amanit.ne). This is true of a large number
OF cases. In some. however. it has been
noticed that the toxic action was quite d.f-
ferent, and that the effect could not be
successfully counteractej by the use of
atropfne, which is a perfect ant;dote to
muscarine and certain more or less closely
related compounds. This difference seemed
TO be especially marked in the case of the
death cup, but chemists were unable to iso-
late and describe its peculiar principle uE-
III recently. This-was done in 1891 by Ko-
bert al Dorp2t in Russia. and the sub
stance was called phallin. Its characteristic
acton consists. not in nhibting the acton
OF The heart, but in dissolving the red blood
eorpuscies and permitting the blood serum
~ escape through the almentary canal.
The Edible Mushrooms
In conversation with the reporter. Prof
O'-AS SeoeCu tudt iEeIe are only
four varieties of edible mushrooms here
winch are found in the markets. One of
these Is the agaricus campestris Another
Is the incorrectly styled French mushroom
II Is found In orchards and sheltered places
1t is the coprinus comatus 1t has a sponpy
appearance The puff bal is another one
II is known as the lycoderdon cyathif-
eruum.
There are doubtless thirty or forty others
growing in the District, Prof Coville saws
put II Is extremely dangerous for any one
Iot 1amlliar with them to run the risk of
gathering and eating them
"A coiored woman in the market this
morning declared that the same variety of
mushrooms which had poisoned the two
men lne klnd which Bowes had brought in
today, had been frequently eaten bv her
She said, however, that before eating them
sne mad scalded them in boiling salt water.
stripped off the outer covering of the can
a ah9. stem and had them pat in vinegar.
CoVille and Assistant Chestnut as they
thouSht the poison parts were either re-
moved or their effects nullified by the
vinegar and salt water. 1t would be "A dam
serous experiment, however for any one
10 try this treatment without perfectly
understanding how to go about it.
A Previous Case
About three years ago there was a case
Oh poisoning, resulting in death, by the
deadly amanta, of which the victim was
CHUNG Yu Ting, a highly educated China
man, living at I'D and Pennsylvania ave-
nue.. He was accustomed to eating this in
emma He gathered large quantity Of
the fungus. and ate it at = o'clock one Sat-
ulcay, after preparing it according to his
method. He was apparently well at o
y COCK, but shortly after midnight ne was
found in terrible agony. and died soon
after. The fungus was identified by the
microscopic OF the Department of Agrf-
culture.
Prof. Coville said today that tins is the
hrst instance he had ever known of poison
Gus mushrooms being sold in the market
Secretary Wilson CT the Department of
Agriculture has given instructions for the
preparation OF circular giving the differ
emf varieties of edible and poisonous mush-
rooms This will contain cuts, and will be
ready il a short time.
Makes Suggestion.
Star subscriber has this to say concern
ing inspection of e1ibies in the markets for
the safety CT the pubic:
That this delicious vegetable, so dear to
the godrmand and the edacious public.
should be constantly under the ban of all
unnecessary suspicion is a great CASTRO
nomic misfortune.
Il suggest the appointment of an expert
by the Commissioners. whose duty IL shall
be to examine all these edibles brought to
the market for sale and to affiX mis- STAMP
to those suitable fer consumption, all 9TH
ers offered for sale to be contraband and
subjecting the vender to penalty.
THE salary of the expert, whose services
would not be required more than a few
hours day, could be provided for by 4 fee,
which the consumer would be only too glad
to repay to the market men.
This is not original idea: it is the
law in many CT the French towns of the
Norma n6y