New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-23
Deadly as Rattlers
Some Fungi Which No Treatm.
Could Make Edible
To the Editor of The Tribune.

Slrs iVui correspondent VI Willis A.
we'll to call attention 10 the food vain. =, y
common puffball, but | fear that an,
who boiled the death cup" or "ieaslv A..
nita." with pinch of bicarbona,e Of .od, =,
then trustingly partOOk of it would rev
his experience from another world.
This is the most deadly of all mu.s,
no antidote being known, and |. /, ~
common in our latitude. 1t is ,o
error to speak of mushrooms and 80
stools as though they represent tx,
rate classes. To an average person -
stool is merely mushroom that h. -
know, for, properly speaking, all Of nj, 49,
of fungi are mushrooms, whether edhl. :
poisonous.
As contrast TO the quotation from y,,..
whom | reverence and admired, her.
quotation from a distinguished Ar.s
mycologist; Professor Murrin, Of e,s.'
Park:
81 have frequently noticed tenS,,.,
ignorant or inexperienced persons 10 49,,
the dangers of mushroom eating. suo,,.,.,'
believing that show of bravado or t.,r,,'
ness will overcome the effects Of the Do,,..
Gus kinds, as though they belonged IA q.
category of myths or ghosts. II is. ins..,
true that many varieties have been ,,u.,
poisonous when they were not, jus, a, NJ.
of our snakes have been under III. b,, :.
account OF the mischief done BY ,h,..
four; but there are a few mushroom, a..
contain poisons just as deadly as TIA, :,
the rattlesnake or copperhead, and ,he,. a..
responsible for practically all Of III. s,,,..
due to mushroom eating. These poison, A.,
narcotic rather than irritant, and ,.,,
effects are usually slow to appear
IF distress is experienced within fan, a.,
five hours after eating mushrooms II /, va,
probably a case Of indigestion or minor A.
soning and should readily yield To . pror,.
emetic. II, however, from eight to ts,lr.
hours have elapsed since eating IA. nu,,
rooms, disagreeable symptoms should !.
taken very seriously, since it is almost ,.,.
tain that one of the deadly poisons Is :,
work. A physician should at one. BE- e,n,I
and the heart action stimulated BY q hu.
dermic injection Of about one.siytieth a.
grain of atropine, which should be rep.,,i
twice at half-hour intervals. Atropin. /, n
antidote to the poison Of the "hy Ansu;,,,
which paralyzes the nerves controlling d,
action of the heart. II the deadly Arania'
has been eaten, the atropine will probabl,
no good, and death will surely follow Il b
amount eaten is sufficient
"My advice to beginners is to confns tim.
selves at first to the common mushroom. q,
beafstesk mushroom, the puffballs, the esn
mushrooms, and other readily recognii,ss
forms, being careful to carry with ten
when collecting an accurate mental picture .,
the deadly kinds which have the destht,r
or the peculiar patches on the cap, and u
svoid mushrooms that are either too yov,s
or too old when selecting specimens for he
table. II one must experiment, let hin
begin with experiments in cooking sine. Ii,
way in which a mushroom is cooked often has
much to do with its flavor and diges,iblity"
The United States Department Of Agricg,
ure issued this year Farmers Bulletin
796, "Some Common Edible and Poisonous
Mushrooms" by Flora W. Patterson and Vera
X. Charles, mycologists in the Office Of Path
illogical Collections. This is freely illus.
trated, clearly written, and will be very help.
full to any one gathering mushrooms
may be obtained free on application TO ID,
department.
Out in adjacent districts Of New Jerg
the difficulty is not to induce people
eat wild mushrooms, but to get up estI
enough Gin the middle of the night to "
cure any, even on ones own property,
the thrifty Italians and Slsvs gather ever
mushroom in sight; there is certainly
waste.
Pufballs are excellent fried in butter 9
bacon fat, cut in slices, but they must
young; they soon become oyerripe. faT
ring mushrooms are common and e1eeN'a
But it is very unwise for an ineIper.t@
person to gather fungi fndiscriminstely, u
Ger the impression that bicsrbonate Of VI
will neutralize a poison that attacks ~
centre of life. | don't believe the prue'a
Provencals included specimens OF really O.
gerous fungi in their mixture, although w
doubtless use many classed BY the inaF
rienced as toadstools.
The Amanitas are recognized as danss''s
wherever they grow, and | should be son!
some Of your readers leave The In04'"
circulation list permanently through NJ
guided faith in bicarbonste OF SODA
antdote for muscsrine or phallin.
Z. T. RoYLE
New York Aug 81 1917.