Evening star., 1922-08-26


Miss Grey was pale and worn as
she met us in the living room.
Hes had a sinking SPELL" she said.
tremulously. "Dr. Murray managed
to bring him around. but he seems so
much weaker after 1t. Another might
. She broke off. unable to finish.
A glance at Mansfield was enough
to convince any one that unless some
thing was done soon the end was not
far off.
Another convulsion and sinking
spell is about all he can stand" re-
marked DR.. Murray.
May I try something?" asked
Kennedy, hardly waiting for the doc
tor to agree before he had pulled out
the little vial which had seen him
place in his pocket.
Deity Kennedy injected some Of
the contents into Mansfield's side.
then stood anxiously watching the
effect. The minutes heightened. At
least he seemed to be growing no
worse.
In the next room. on a table. Ken
nedy was now busy setting out the
scroll of ruled paper and its clock
work arrangement. and connecting
cylinders in such a way that the re-
cording pen just barely touched on
the scroll
He had come back to note the still
unchanged condition of the patient
when the door opened and hand
tered. followed by Helen Grey. 1t
was Nina Leitch.
'Oh. isn't it terrible! I can hardly
believe it, she cried. paying no at
tention to US as she moved over to
Or. Murray.
about Mansf1eld's attention. 1t was
evident that. as far as Nina was
concerned. her own attentions were
monopolized by the polished physi-
clan. His manner in greeting her
told me that DR.. Murray appre-
eiated it. Just then Fleming Lewis
Il thought Miss Hargrace was
here" he said. abruptly. looking
about. They told me over the wire
she would be-"
"She should be here any moment"
returned Kennedy, looking at his
watch and finding that considerably
telephoned.
What it was I could not say. but
there was a coldness toward Lewis
that amounted to more than latent
hostility. He tried to appear at ease
but it was decided effort. There
the tension was broken by the arrival
of Madeline Hargrave.
me circumstances were so strange
that none of them seemed to object
while Kennedy began to explain
briefly. that, as nearly as he could
determine. the illness of Z, Mansfield
might be due to something eaten at
the supper AS he attached the bands
about tie necks and waists of one
after another of the guests. bringing
the little black cylinders thus close
to the middle of their chests, he con-
trived to convey the impression that
he would like to determine whether
any one else had been affected in a
lesser degree.
1 watched most intently the two
women who had just come in. One
would certainly not have detected
from their greeting and outward
manner anything more than that they
We're well acquainted. But they were
an interesting study, two quite op-
baby-blue eyes. was of the type that
craved admiration. Mina's black eyes
flashed now and then imperiously. as
thought she sought to compel what
the other sought to win.
His preparations completed, Ken
nedy opened the package which had
been left at the laboratory just be-
fore the hasty call from Miss Grey.
AS he did so he disclosed several
specimens of a mushroom of pale
lemon color. with a center of deep
orange, the top flecked with white
bits. Underneath, the gilis were
white and the stem had sort Of veil
about 1t. But what interested me
most, and what I was looking for.
was the remains of a sort of dirty,
chocolate-colored cup at the base of
the stem.
7 suppose there is scarcely any
hot ha Hxybi irI IL IS
case is the mushrooms. Here l have
some which I have fortunately been
able to obtain merely % illustrate
what I am going to say. This Is the
deadly Amanita muscaria, the fly
agaric." =
lowing him with a peculiar fascination.
This Amanita," resumed Kennedy,
has a long history, and 1 may say that
few species are quite so interesting.
Macerated in milk, it has been employed
for centuries as fly-poison. hence its
name Its deadly properties were known
to the ancents, and it is justly cele-
brated because of it's long and distin-
guished list of victims. Agrippina used
it to poison the Emperor Claudius.
Among others. the Gear Alexis Of Rus
sia died Of eating it.
Il have heard that some people find
Amanita debauchees who go on pro-
longed tears by eating the thing. 1t
may be that it does not affect some
people as it does others. but in most
cases that beautiful gosSamer veil which
you see about the stem is really a
shroud.
THE worst of it is" he continued,
that this Amanita somewhat resem-
bles the royal agaric, the Amanita
coesarea- 1t Is, as you see, strikingly
beautiful, and therefore all the more
dangerous"
He ceased a moment while we
looked in a sort of awe at the fatally
beautiful thing.
TT is not with the fungus that 1
am so much interested just now, how
ever" Kennedy began again. but
with the poison. Many years ago
scientists analyzed its poisonous al
kaloids and found what they called
carin, and now is sometimes known
as amanitin, since it is confined to the
of the Amanita genus.
"Amanitin Is a wonderful and dan
gerous alkaloid, which Is absorbed in
the intestinal canal. 1t is extremely
of a gram, or six one-hundredths of
a grain, are very dangerous. More
than that, the poisoning differs from
most poisons in the long time that
elapses between the taking of it and
the first evidences Of Its effects.
"Muscarin," Kennedy concluded,
"has been chemically investigated
moro often than any other mushroom
poison and a perfect antidote has been
discovered. Atropin, or belladonna, is
such a drug"
For a, moment I looked about at
the others in the room. Had it been
an accident, after all? Perhaps, IL
any of the others had been attacked,
one might have suspected that 1t was.
But they had not been affected at all,
at least apparently. Yet there could
be no doubt that it was the poison
ons rnnscar rim that had effected Mans