Student's Hand-book of Mushrooms of America, Edible and Poisonous Part 36

According to Prof. Kobert's a.n.a.lyses, the proportion of phallin in the dried mushroom amounts to less than 1%, but its effect on account of its concentration is the more intensive.

Extensive experiments made by Kobert with ox blood in regard to the comparative action of different substances in their power of dissolving the red blood corpuscles demonstrate that _phallin_ in this respect exceeds all known substances. Kobert states that "If _phallin_ be added to a mixture of blood with a 1% solution of common salt, using the blood of man, cattle, dogs, or pigeons, the blood corpuscles will be entirely dissolved by the poison diluted to 1-125,000."

Prof. Kobert states that he has examined the species Boletus edulis, Agaricus campester, and Amanita Caesarea a number of times, but could never detect the action of phallin in them. Neither has he found it in A. muscaria.

THE POISONOUS ALKALOID OF GYROMITRA ESCULENTA FRIES (HELVELLA ESCULENTA PERS.)

HELVELLIC ACID.

Prof. Kobert writes of a number of cases of poisoning in the Baltic provinces of Russia by the mushroom Helvella _esculenta_ Persoon, sometimes called the Lorchel. It should be here stated that the _Helvella esculenta_ of Persoon is the _Gyromitra esculenta_ of Fries.

This mushroom is described as edible and placed in the edible lists by Dr. M. C. Cooke, Prof. Peck, and other distinguished mycologists, who have tested it and found it edible when perfectly fresh.

The poisonous principle of this mushroom was isolated and a.n.a.lyzed by Prof. R. Boehm, of Russia, in 1885. It was by him designated as "_helvellic acid_," and found to be soluble in hot water. Profs. Eugene Bostroem and E. Ponfick, after giving some study to the effects of this mushroom poison, agreed in their report concerning it, which is to the effect that the _quickly dried_ H. _esculenta_ (Gyromitra _esculenta_) is not poisonous, and that the poisonous acid of the fresh ones may be extracted by means of hot water, so that while the decoction is poisonous the mushroom is not at all so, after the liquid is pressed out. Experiments with this mushroom were made by both authors on dogs, which ate them greedily, but without exception the dogs were very sick afterwards. The symptoms were nausea, vomiting, jaundice, stoppage of the kidneys, and haemaglobinuria. The symptoms observed in man correspond to those manifested by the lower animals. Dissection showed the dissolution of innumerable blood corpuscles.

Prof. Kobert, commenting on the experiments made by Bostroem and Ponfick, states that he himself had been furnished yearly with fresh specimens of "H. _esculenta_" (G. _esculenta_) specially gathered for him at Dorpat, and after making various experiments with the freshly expressed juice he became convinced that the poisonous principle greatly varies, the juice sometimes operating as very poisonous, and sometimes as only slightly so. He states also that the proportion of poison in the mushroom varies with the weather, location, and age of the mushroom. The inhabitants of Russia do not eat this mushroom, but in Germany it is eaten dried or when perfectly fresh, after cooking, and after the first water in which it is boiled is removed.

Helvellic acid is not found in Morch.e.l.la _esculenta_ (the true Morel), nor is it known to exist in any other species except G. _esculenta_. It has been stated that there is no antidote for helvellic poisoning after the symptoms have appeared.

A specimen of Gyromitra esculenta was forwarded to me from Portland, Maine, by a member of a mycological club of that city, who stated that this mushroom was quite abundant in the early spring in the woods near Portland and that the plants were eaten by the members of the club, _care being taken to use them only when perfectly fresh_. Indigestion and nausea followed the eating of old specimens, but the general opinion was "favorable to the Gyromitra as an addition to the table." (See page 6, part 2, of this series.)

Prof. Chas. H. Peck, of Albany, while placing this mushroom in his edible list as one which he had repeatedly tested, advises that it should be eaten only when perfectly fresh, as nausea and sickness had been known to result from the eating of specimens which had been kept twenty-four hours before cooking.

I forwarded a number of drawings of the American species of G.

_esculenta_, together with a dried specimen of the same received from Maine, to Prof. Kobert, who identified both drawings and specimen as the _Gyromitra esculenta_ of Fries, synonymous with the _Helvella esculenta_ of Persoon. Prof. Kobert also informs me that he finds the fresh G.

_esculenta_ perfectly harmless when freed of the water of the first boiling. He says: "My wife and I eat it very often, when in fresh condition, and after the first water in which it is boiled is poured off." The active poisonous principle of this mushroom is the _helvellic acid_, which is soluble in hot water. When the mushroom is gathered fresh and _quickly dried_ it is then also innoxious. In this respect it differs from the species _A. muscaria_, in which the poisonous alkaloid _muscarin_ is not destroyed in the drying, but remains unchanged for years in the dried mushroom.

The fact that there have been seemingly well-authenticated cases of fatal poisoning in the eating of this mushroom shows that if used at all it should be eaten _only when the conditions essential to safety are most carefully observed_, and as these mushrooms show varying qualities, according to local conditions of soil and climate, etc., amateurs finding it in localities where it has not been heretofore used should proceed tentatively and with much care before venturing to eat it freely.

POISONOUS AND DELETERIOUS MUSHROOMS OF THE LACTAR, RUSSULA, AND BOLETUS GROUPS.

Lactarius _torminosus_ Fries contains in its milky juice an acrid resin which causes inflammation of the stomach and of the alimentary ca.n.a.l.

When parboiled and the first water removed, it has been eaten without injurious effects. Lactarius _plumbeus_ Bull., Lactarius _uvidus_ Fries, Lactarius _turpis_ Weinn., and Lactarius _pyrogalus_ Bull., all acrid mushrooms, according to Kobert, are similarly poisonous.

Of the "Erdschieber" (Lactarius _vellereus_) and the "Pfefferling"

(Lactarius piperatus Scop.) Kobert says they are eaten in parts of Russia and in some places in Germany, but that neither is very safe.

There is a species of _Russula_ (R. _emetica_) very common in woods, easily recognized by its smooth scarlet top, white gills, and white stem and by its biting acridity, which, though recorded as poisonous by some authors, is considered edible by others. This mushroom, R. _emetica_, has been subjected to chemical a.n.a.lysis by Kobert, who finds in it _muscarin_, _cholin_, and _pilz-atropin_ in varying proportions. Kobert states that in Germany it is "_rightly_" considered poisonous, though eaten in Russia, and ascribes the fact that it is not deemed poisonous in the latter country to the manner in which it is there prepared, the poisonous alkaloid being in greater part eliminated by parboiling the mushrooms, and not merely pouring off the water, but carefully squeezing it out of the parboiled fungi.

To the presence in this mushroom of the neutralizing alkaloid "pilz-atropin" in varying proportions may also be attributed in some measure the safety with which it has been eaten under certain conditions. R. foetens and other acrid Russulas, as well as Lactars, have been known to produce severe gastro-enteritis.

Considering the foregoing, it would seem the part of prudence at least to avoid such of the Lactars and Russulas as have an acrid or peppery taste.

I think it would be a wise precaution to pour off the water of the first boiling in the case of all mushrooms about which there is a particle of doubt, whether _recorded_ as poisonous or not.

Lactarius _torminosus_ Fries. Cap fleshy, at first convex, then expanded, at length depressed in the center, slightly zoned, margin turned inwards, pale ochraceous yellow, with flesh-colored mottlings; _downy_ or _hairy_; gills whitish, changing to pinkish yellow, narrow and close together; stem equal, stuffed or hollow, pallid or whitish; milk persistently _white and acrid_. In woods and fields. Specimens have been collected in New York, Ma.s.sachusetts, Maryland, and Virginia. Cap 3 to 5 inches, stem 2 to 4 inches.

Lactarius _pyrogalus_. Cap fleshy, slightly zoned, _smooth_, even, and moist, depressed in the center, grayish, or cinereous; gills white or yellowish, thin, not crowded; stem short, stout, stuffed, or hollow, sometimes slightly attenuated towards the root, pallid; flesh white or whitish; milk _white_ and _extremely acrid_, copious. Borders of woods and meadows. This mushroom is sometimes called the "Fiery Milk Mushroom."

Lactarius _uvidus_ Fries. Cap thin, convex, then plane, and slightly depressed in the center, sometimes showing slight umbo, viscid, _zoneless_, smooth, dingy gray or pallid brown, margin turned inwards; gills narrow and close together, white or yellowish, when cut or bruised turning a purplish hue; stem stuffed or hollow, viscid, smooth, equal or slightly tapering towards the cap, white; milk white, changing to lilac, acrid. Height 2 to 4 inches. Cap 2 to 4 inches broad. In woods.

Lactarius _turpis_ Fries. Cap viscid, compact, _zoneless_, greenish umber, margin clothed with yellowish down; gills thin, paler than the cap; stem hollow or stuffed, stoutish, short, viscid, olive color, slightly attenuated towards the base; milk _white_, _acrid_. Fir woods.

Lactarius _plumbeus_ Fries. Cap fleshy, firm, dry, somewhat hairy, varying in color, usually some shade of brown; gills yellowish, thin, and close together; stem solid, equal, lighter in color than the cap; flesh white; milk _white_ and _acrid_.

Lactarius _vellereus_ Fries. _Fleecy Lactarius_. Cap compact, convex or umbilicate, zoneless, _minutely downy_; margin reflexed, gills white, _distant_, arcuate; stem short, solid, p.u.b.escent; milk _white_, _acrid_, somewhat scanty. In woods. Whole plant white.

Lactarius _piperatus_ Scop. _Peppery Lactarius_. Cap fleshy, compact, convex and slightly umbilicate, at last deeply depressed, becoming funnel-formed, smooth and even; gills decurrent, very narrow, thin, even and close together, dichotonous, white; flesh white; milk _white_, _extremely acrid_, copious; stem very short, stout, solid. Whole plant white.

Lactarius _blennius_ Fries. Cap depressed, slimy or glutinous, greenish-gray; margin incurved and somewhat downy. Gills narrow, white or whitish; stem stuffed or hollow, viscid, and of same color as the cap or paler; milk white and very acrid.

M. C. Cooke divides the genus Lactarius into 4 "Tribes": (1) Piperites, in which the stem is central, gills _unchangeable_, naked, neither discolored nor _pruinose_, milk at first _white_ and _commonly acrid_; (2) Dapetes, in which the stem is central, gills naked, _milk from the first deeply colored_; (3) Russulares, in which the stem is central, gills pallid, _then discolored_, becoming darker, changing when turned to the light, at length _pruinose_, with milk at _first white_ and _mild_ and _sometimes becoming acrid_; (4) Pleuropos, in which the stem is concentric or lateral.

To the first of these subdivisions, _Piperites_, belong all of the Lactars enumerated above. The Russians eat the Piperites only after the water of the first boiling has been taken off.

Lactarius _rufus_ Scop., a very acrid species of large size, having reddish ochraceous gills and zoneless cap of reddish yellow with white milk, belongs to the subdivision Russulares. Common in fir woods.

Dangerous.

Lactarius _volemus_ Fries, a tawny yellow-capped mushroom with white gills changing to a yellowish hue, and copious _sweet_ white milk, belongs also to the latter subdivision. Edible.

Russula (Fragiles) _emetica_ Fries. Cap fleshy, at first convex, then expanded or depressed, smooth, polished, red, margin sulcate; gills free, equal and broad, white; stem solid but somewhat spongy in the center, smooth, short, stoutish, white or stained reddish; flesh white, sometimes slightly tinted red, under the thin red cuticle. The cap of this mushroom varies from a deep rich crimson to a pale pinkish red, being very subject to atmospheric changes. Specimens are often found with the cap washed almost white after heavy rains, or with but a slight red spot in the center. The gills and spores are pure white, and the flesh peppery to the taste. If tasted when raw the juice should not be swallowed.

The variety _Clusii_ has a blood-red cap, pallid yellowish gills, adnexed, becoming adnate. Spores white. In woods. Acrid. The variety _fallax_ is fragile, with dingy reddish pileus and adnexed, distant, whitish gills.

Besides the above mentioned, there are other acrid Russulas and Lactars which are regarded with suspicion, though not as yet satisfactorily tested.

POISONOUS BOLETI.

Several of the Boleti have the reputation of being poisonous or deleterious, among them Boletus _luridus_, Boletus _Satanas_, and Boletus _felleus._ Kobert's a.n.a.lysis of B. _luridus_ shows the presence of the poisonous alkaloid muscarin in this mushroom, while the bitterness of B. _felleus_ should make one chary of eating it in quant.i.ty, if at all. Schmiedeberg and Koppe describe experiments made with Boletus Satanas, in which the symptoms experienced closely resemble those of muscarin poisoning.

A correspondent living in Georgia, who is quite familiar with the species, writes that he has frequently eaten the yellow form of the _muscaria_, when cooked, without serious inconvenience. Another correspondent writes that he has eaten the species Boletus luridus and Boletus Satanas, as well as several other mushrooms of poisonous repute, with perfect impunity.

Without calling in question the testimony of persons who state that they have with impunity eaten mushrooms generally found to be poisonous, it must be said that even if, through local conditions of soil or climate, the poisonous const.i.tuents of such mushrooms sometimes exist in comparatively minute proportions, or are _neutralized_ by an unusual proportion of _mushroom atropin_ in the plant, or eliminated by some process used in its preparation for the table, or, finally, if const.i.tutional idiosyncrasies should enable some persons safely to eat what is poisonous to others, the rule that such are to be avoided should never be disregarded by the ordinary collector, nor should it be departed from even by experts, except upon the clearest evidence that in the given case the departure is safe. It is certainly the part of discretion, when in doubt, to take no risks.

RECENT INSTANCES OF MUSHROOM POISONING.

About a year ago a physician in Vineland, New Jersey, furnished the following in regard to his personal experience of the effects of mushroom poisoning: "My wife, daughter, and self selected, according to an article in the Encyclopedia Britannica, what we thought were a nice lot of mushrooms, cooked them in milk, and ate them for dinner with relish. In a few hours we were vomiting, laughing, and staggering about the house. We could not control ourselves from the elbows to the finger tips, nor our legs from the knee to the ends of our toes. In other words, we were drunk on mushrooms. The mushrooms grew within the shade of Norway spruce and other ornamental trees on the lawn in front of our house. They were pure white inside and out; smooth s.h.i.+ny tops that easily peeled off. The caps were about two or three inches in diameter, and had a stem of the same length. On the day before, my wife and a friend ate some of these mushrooms raw and experienced no bad effects.

The next day at noon we ate them cooked in milk with a little b.u.t.ter, and they were very good. About two o'clock our food did not seem to digest well, and soon my daughter, sixteen years of age, vomited all her dinner. Then my wife began to feel the effects, and took hot water freely, sweet oil, currant wine, and at last an overdose of tartar-emetic. Of course, she was the sickest of all. I was cool and happy and amused at the situation, and drunk from my head down. I did not vomit, and my mushrooms remained with me for at least 48 hours. I took nothing but hot water and sweet oil. A friend of my daughter's of her own age partook of the mess and had not a single bad symptom."

A physician from West Grove, Pennsylvania, writes: "I determined to risk a test of the Amanita muscaria. Accordingly, two good-sized specimens were steamed in b.u.t.ter. I ate one, and another member of my family ate the other, feeling that the consequences could not be serious from so small an amount. About an hour after eating, a sensation of nausea and faintness was experienced in both cases, followed by nervous tingling, some cold perspiration and accelerated and weakened action of the heart.

Considerable prostration ensued within two hours. Knowing that sulphate of atropin has proved the most successful remedy for the active principle of the Fly agaric, Amanita muscaria, a small dose, one-sixtieth of a grain, was taken by each. Considerable relief was experienced within 30 minutes, and all unpleasant symptoms had disappeared within 6 hours, without repeating the medicine."

Another case, wherein the antagonism of atropin for muscarin was demonstrated, was brought to our notice during the month of September of the past year. An entire party of people were badly poisoned by eating mushrooms, and, although a doctor was called in very late, most of them were saved by the use of sulphate of atropin.

It would seem from the foregoing cases that the intensity and action of the mushroom poison must depend in some degree on the const.i.tution of the individual, as well as on the quality and quant.i.ty of the mushrooms eaten. The first treatment should be to get rid of the poison immediately and by every possible means, so as to prevent or at least arrest the progress of inflammation of the alimentary ca.n.a.l, and at the same time to prevent the absorption of the poison. In a majority of cases the recovery of the victim depends solely upon the promptness with which vomiting is excited. Vertigo, convulsions, spasms, and other grave nervous symptoms, which ordinarily follow the cessation of the most important functions, yield, ordinarily, to the action of an emetic without the necessity of ulterior remedies, if taken in time, while the substance is yet in the stomach; when it has entered the lower bowels purgation is necessary. Sweet oil should always be taken in combination with castor oil, or such other purgatives as are used. Enemas of ca.s.sia, senna, and sulphate of magnesia have also been used with good effect.