do not usually possess; but this test I have often disregarded.—These rules for knowing deleterious fungi seem to rest on fact and experience; but they will not enable the collector to recognise every poisonous species. The general rules laid down for distinguishing wholesome fungi are not so well founded, and therefore it appears necessary to specify them.
On the Poisonous Principle of the Fungi.—Few attempts have been hitherto made to discover by chemical analysis the principles on which the effects of the poisonous mushrooms depend. M. Braconnot analyzed a considerable number both of the esculent and poisonous species, and found in some a saccharine matter, in others an acrid resin, in others an acrid volatile principle, and in all a spongy substance, which forms the basis of them, and which he has denominated fungin.[1] The last ingredient is innocuous, and it does not appear that M. Braconnot could trace the peculiar powers of the fungi to any of the acrid principles. The subject was afterwards resumed by M. Letellier, who says he found in some of them one, in others two poisonous principles. One of these is an acrid matter so fugacious, that it disappears when the plant is either dried, or boiled, or macerated in weak acids, alkalis, or alcohol. To this principle he says are owing the irritant properties of some fungi. The other principle is more fixed, as it resists drying, boiling, and the action of weak alkalis and acids. It is soluble in water, has neither smell nor taste, and forms crystallizable salts with acids; but he did not succeed in separating it in a state of purity. To this principle he attributes the narcotic properties of the fungi. He found it in the Amanita bulbosa, muscaria, and verna; and he therefore proposed to call it amanitine. Its effects on animals appear to resemble considerably those of opium.[2]—Chansarel found that the poisonous principle resides in the juice, and not in the fleshy part after it is well washed.[3]
Of the Symptoms produced in Man by the Poisonous Fungi.—The mode of action of the poisonous fungi has not been particularly examined; but the experiments of Paulet long ago established that they are poisonous to animals as well as to man.[4]
The symptoms produced by them in man are endless in variety, and fully substantiate the propriety of arranging them in the class of narcotico-acrid poisons. Sometimes they produce narcotic symptoms alone, sometimes only symptoms of irritation, but much more commonly both together. It is likewise not improbable, that fungi, even though not belonging to the varieties commonly acknowledged as poisons, induce, when taken for a considerable length of time, a peculiar depraved state of the constitution, leading to external suppuration and gangrene. Each of these statements will now be illustrated by a few examples.
