The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1905-08-03
DELUSIVE MUSHROC
TESTS"
III z

The sad case that New Jersey manu-
ly nearly externinated by eating poi
sonous mushrooms illustrates the ter
rible danger Of eating fungi without
thorough knowledge and constant vi
GLANCE. Joseph Franzor, the head of
the family, is spoken Of as a we!I-edu-
Gated Italian, who was interested in
scientific farming, and had cultivated
mushrooms. 1t does not follow that
he knew anything Of other species than
the common pasture mushrooms, which
is cultivated. Evidently he did not.
1t is probable that what me did was to
gather one of the varieties of the
deadly amanita. The REPORTS refer to,
'toadstools," popular and meaning
less term, but all the signs point to
amanita. The seven-year-old girl found
them in the woods, and Mr.. Franzor
did not see that they were unlike his
own mushrooms. This similarity, the
place where they were found, and the
symptoms of the victims, all indicate
the deadliest of mushrooms, for which
there is do dependable anitdote. AS a
result, father, mother, and two child
rem are dead, and twol little boys are
orphans.
The moral is plain. 1t is safer to
sample the drugs in al chemist shop
without rearing the labels than to pick
mushrooms in wood or field without
knowledge. The popular tests" are
fallacious; the Instructions given in
cook books and domestic papers are
not to be depended upon. One ought
either to avoid wild mushrooms alto
gether or study the subject carefully,
| patiently, scientifically from the. .au-
horitative textbooks available. 1t is
case where little knowledge is most
dangerous, and while the number of
experts grows yearly, there are wide
spread errors that lead to just such
, disasters as this. The divisions of
| fugi into "mushroomS' and poisonous
''toadstools'' is an example of this false
knowledge.
In every schoolhouse in the land the
J children ought to be taught to know
| the fatal amanita, with it's socket, the
mark of the tribe. That is the start
ing point for any one who undertakes
to gather mushrooms. and those who
do not may have chance to- save the
lives Of others. This one lesson learn
ed, the risk is lessomed hundredfold,
for it is the special snare of the white
amanitas that they so closely resemble
the ordinary pasture mushrooms To
learn all the edible Tarities is the task
| Of a. specilist, but there are many kinds
that, once learned are absolutely safe
the corprint, the dim tree mushroom
the beefsteak mushroom, the coral
mushroom. Here is variety enough
without going into the woods for the
boleti and russulaes some varitiess of
which are mildly poisonous, though not
under ordinary conditions deadly like
the amanita. Every one ought to know
that the clumps of. ''toadstools" which
spring upon our lawns. and turn in a
day to a nasty inky mess, are delicious
and wholesome, while the beautiful
clear white mushrooms that lift their
graceful stems by the roadside mean a
terrible death. Any ane with an hour
instruction can pick the inky mush-
rooms, and some of the mushrooms
that grow on trees. It is better to be
satisfied with a few kinds than to- take
chances. And no one ought to eat a
dish Of mushrooms that another person
has gathered and cooked without the
most convincing evidence of that per-
sons experiences and caution. For if
inc amanita slips in. there is death in
the pot. Here is work for the common
schools --Springfie1d Rnni1hlina,o