The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1906-10-12
DEADLY MUSHROOMS.
THE BEAUTIFUL BUT vENOMOuS
AMANITA FAMILY.
Beneath the Pleasing Exterior Of
This brilliant Fungus Turks n
Vicious Poison That Is Fatal TO the
Lives of Men and Cattle.


| Lives of Men and Cattle.
In the dark shade Of lofty pine trees
and under spreading oaks in more
| open woods q mushroom is found so
remarkable in color and graceful in
form that its beauty has excited ad-
miration for hundreds of years. The
color Of its bright orange cap and its
chalk white stem and gills is height
ened by the surrounding darkness OF
the woods and presents a contrast as
singular as it is beautiful.
But beneath the pleasing exterior Of
this brilliant fungus poison turks so
| fatal to the lives of men and cattle
that it is called the deadly amanita,
and In different countries mothers eau
ton their children to beware OF its
| charms.
Amanita muscaria, the deadly, or
| fly, amanita, is completely incased in
fieece-like covering during the early
stages Of its growth, which makes it
decidedly egg shaped in form. AS
the stem lengthens this covering either
adheres in loose patches to the top of
the cap or 1t slips away and forms a
sheathing to the cup at the base of the
stem.
Another inner covering breaks away
in its turn from the cap as the mush-
room expands and forms q conspicuous
collar about the upper part of the
stem. The Dubious base of the stem
and these ruptured, fleecy coverings
are. pronounced characteristics which
are most helpful in distinguishing this
dangerous fungus from the other varie-
ties Of mushrooms.
1t is strong, free from pests and
grows to q height from four to sixteen
inches. In color the cap is sometimes
bright scarlet, again orange or yellow
or reddish in the center and light vel
low toward the edges, and it has no.
ticeable wartlike patches spread over
the top. On old plants the color fades
out, and late in the season particularly
forms of the deadly amanita are found
which are almost white. The stem is
easily separated from the cup at its
base.
This mushroom is more generally
known than any of the other poison
Gus species. 1t has long been used as
fly poison in Europe, and it takes it's
name, muscaria, from the Latin word
for fly. It's poisonous effect upon hui
man beings begins a few hours after
it has been eaten. The symptoms are
nausea and faintness, with cold per-
spiration and stupor, followed in Sc
we're cases by death from q gradual
weakening of the heart.
A strong emetic should be given at
once, and in all cases a physician
should be called. Sulphate of atropin
is the only known chemical antidote
for this poison, and to save the patient
it must be promptly administered by
hypodermic injections.
The poison may also be absorbed
through the pores of the skin, and bad
cases of poisoning have been produced
by simply holding an amanita in the
closed hand or breathing its eXhala-
tons in warm room.
If poisonous mushrooms are packed
in the same box with edible ones the
virus from the poisonous fungi is alb
sorbed by the harmless mushrooms,
and they become as dangerous to eat
as the original offenders.
In certain countries the deadly anna
nita seems to lose some of its virulen-
cy, and in the north of Russia and
parts of northeastern Asia it is used in
the same manner as wine for it's in
gathered in hot weather and are hung
up in the air to dry or they are some
times picked fresh and put into soup
or sauces. A small amount swallowed
whole is enough to produce a days in
toXication.
Another fatally dangerous member
of the amanita family is the death
cup (Amanita phalloides), a beautiful
mushroom which also grows in the
woods, especially in pine forests. 1t Is
not so highly colored as the deadly
amanita, and, unlike that mushroom,
it has smooth, satiny cap. 1t is usu-
ally white or straw colored, but speci-
mems are found which are light brown,
green, yellow and spotted. The stem
is white and nearly smooth, and the
cup at the base Of the stem is invaria-
bly, present
The death cup is even more poison
Gus than the deadly amanita and
stands first among all noxious fungi
for its poisonous qualities. 1t grows
in the eastern and middle states and
in particularly large quantities near
the city Of Washington.
Another amanita (Amanita vernus)
found in the woods in spring, is also
very poisonous and may be told by
its color, which is creamy white
throughout.
Although 1t is said that the amanitas
are the only mushrooms which have
proved fatal to human life, there are
other varieties which cause such acute
distress that it Is well to guard against
eating them.
The boleti, for instance, have several
varieties which are nonedible, although |
many kinds, on the other hand, make |
delicious food. The boleti are distin-
guished by sponge-like surface OF |
pores instead of gills beneath the cap.
The harmful varieties are bitter. as n |