PORCHER r. PEYREJ 
FUNGI-EDIBLEV POISONOUS. Fruitport Well. 
Fungi* 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
Therapeutic Properties.—This is a saline water of 
marked value, and enjoys a high reputation among the 
Veople of the West as possessing excellent cathartic and 
atretic properties. It is a favorite resort for the in- 
habitants of Chicago and neighboring cities. 
TliNavell is situated in the southwestern part of Mich- 
igan, orrohe border of Spring Lake. The surrounding 
country (riLOOO acres) is devoted to fruit-raising, and is 
owned by a wfiiicago company. Geo. B. Fowler. 
FRY’S SODA SPRING.—Location, Siskiyou County, 
Cal., about two hundred and twenty-live miles north of 
Sacramento. 
Access.—By OregoSJlivision of Central Pacific Rail- 
road. This road is to Redding, one hundred and 
seventy miles. As surveycIL it passes within a mile of 
the spring. 
Analysis.—The only accessGShj description of this 
spring is contained in the ‘ ‘ Geological Survey of Cali- 
fornia,” vol. i., p. 381. It is describetLas being strongly 
ferruginous, sparkling, and with a temperature of 52° F. 
The elevation of this spring is two thousand three hun- 
dred and sixty-three feet, and the locality feat- 
ures of startling grandeur. tV/>. F. 
FUCUS VESICULOSIS Linn. (Varech 
dex Med.), Sea-Wrack, Bladder-Wrack, etc. ; Order, 
coidem (Algae). This is a coarse, olive-colored marine 
growing in great abundance upon the rocky shores of the 
North Atlantic and upon the eastern shore of the North 
Pacific oceans. It arises from a dilated hard disk, hy 
which it is attached to the rock or bottom, has a short 
flattened stem wiiicli soon forks, and becoming broader 
and more liattened repeatedly branches in a dichotomous 
manner, and forms an open fan-shaped compound tlnxllus, 
composed of numerous strap-shaped divisions. The en- 
tire plant is a foot or more long, the ultimate foliaceous 
divisions of the tliallus are from one-fourth to one-lialf 
inch wide. A well-marked midrib extends to the very 
extremities, and numerous large oval air-bladders are 
arranged in pairs on each side of the midrib. The repro- 
ductive organs are contained in turgid, club-shaped, and 
forked receptacles which terminate many of the 
of the thallus. They are minute cavities 
lying just beneath the surface, with which they com- 
municate through minute pores. They contain moner- 
ous hairs, and are either fertile or sterile ; the hffrmer 
contain, besides the hairs just mentioned, a fejv large 
“ sporangia,” developing eight spores in each ;Jme latter 
develop numerous small antheridia, each prmrucing nu- 
merous ciliated “ antlierozoids.” / 
Fucus vesiculosus should be gathered nr midsummer 
and thoroughly dried in the sun, when be coarsely 
ground and preserved for use. It is a comparatively old 
remedy, having been used more tliair a hundred years 
ago as an alterative in strumous dis<yses. It has also had 
and lost a place in several phanpacopoeias, and rather 
recently has been brought out ofJas obscurity again for a 
new purpose. / 
Its composition does not differ essentially from that of 
many other algse : mucilagef mannite, coloring matters, 
a stearoptene, and a large amount of mineral ingredients ; 
among the last are sodaAime, iron, iodine, and bromine 
compounds, to the of which its virtues have 
been attributed. / 
The early employment of Fucus vesiculosus was in 
scrofulous enlargement of the glands, diseases of the 
bones, etc., for ujfiicli a charcoal made by incinerating it 
has been extensively employed under the name of “ Vege- 
table Ethiopsjfbut it wTas completely superseded by the 
iodine, cod-liver oil, etc. In 1862, Dr. 
Duchesne-JUmparc discovered, while giving it in chronic 
psoriasisyOiat his patients lost their excess of fat with- 
out suffering otherwise in their general condition. This 
observation led to its employment for obesity, and in 
this Vlirection it has maintained some reputation for 
usonilness to the present time, although the value at 
wpich it was rated a few years ago is known to be too 
Jngh. The mode of its operation is not knowTn, nor with 
certainty to which of its ingredients it owes its value, al- 
though probably it is to its saline compounds, especially 
the iodine and bromine salts. The most common prep- 
aration is a solid extract, from which pills can be made. 
From three to six decigrams, two or three times a jfciy, 
may be taken. A suitably directed regimen shoularalso 
be followed out. / 
Allied Plants.—Several other species of Miens in- 
habiting the same area are frequently collectedr with or 
instead of this one ; they are said to be inferioiy(o it in me- 
dicinal qualities. Probably other alga) luufe the same 
powers as this ; for the Order, see Ergot. / 
Allied Drugs.—Numerous alkaline and sulphurous 
mineral waters, bromine and iodine sajp, etc., are em- 
ployed for the same trouble with somofbut not marked, 
success. Plenty of exercise and 
diet are other means to the same endr W. P. Holies. 
FUERED, also known as Balaton-Fined, a health 
resort and mineral springs situated in the Tapolczaer dis- 
trict, Zalaer County, Hungajty-, on the northwestern 
shore of the Platten lake, M an altitude of about five 
hundred feet above the two hours by boat 
from Siofok, or by stage Yeszprim. The climate 
is moderate and healthful. Pleasant cold bathing is 
afforded at the lake. Lfrarm sitz- and tub-baths are pro- 
vided, the water bein awaken either from the lake or the 
mineral springs. Oythe mineral springs, the Franz-Jo- 
is the most important. It is to these baths chiefly 
r\it Fiired owesifs reputation as a resort. The average 
temperature ofyflie lake is 20° C. (68° F.), the same as 
that (rfsThe Nowli Sea, but the waves are not so strong as 
at the places on the shores of the latter. 
The arrangements for the care of patients are very good. 
Sheep’s mfllc|jdiey is drunk with the mineral water to a 
considerable at this place. 
Seeyfso Franz-Jpsef. ,/. 3/. F. 
RCMITORY (Fumetetee, Codex Med.), Fumaria offici- 
nwis Linn.; Order, Fuatfqriacm, an annual herb with 
branching stem, smooth compound leaves, 
fund small, rather irregular Ackers in axillary racemes ; 
the pods are one-sided, and of the stems and 
leaves is not milky ; in other of structure it ac- 
cords with the poppy family. Funmpry is indigenous 
to Europe, and an introduced plant in tlWUnited States. 
The leaves or the flowering herb are collNfled for use ; 
they have a bitter, saline taste, but no odor. %They con- 
tain a crystalline, bitter alkaline base, fumarin<F$uinaric 
acid, and a large amount of carbonate of soda. 
Fumitory is an old European house-remedy for “ viStf- 
ral, obstructive, hepatic, and scorbutic troubles.” It 
but little employed at present. 
Allied Plants.—Corydalis and dicentra are pretty 
flowers, some species of which are cultivated for orna- 
ment. There are several other species of Fumaria which 
have been employed also in medicine. 
Allied Drugs.—Fumitory is scarcely worthy of study 
in this respect. W. P. Holies. 
FUNGI, EDIBLE AND POISONOUS. This paper will 
contain an account of the most important fungi, edible 
and poisonous, which are known to grow in this country, 
with the distinctive characteristics of many of them. 
For some of these descriptions, which will aid in identi- 
fying species, and enable us to distinguish more readily 
the benign from the virulent, we are indebted, among 
others, to Cordier’s elaborate and elegantly illustrated 
work, “ Les Champignons—Histoire—Description, etc.” 
(Paris, 4th ed., 187(5.) 
Frequent reference is necessarily made to the Carolinas, 
because, from the researches of the “accomplished Dr. 
Schweinitz,” and the late Rev. M. A. Curtis, D.D.. who 
was associated with Mr. Berkeley, of England, and who 
thoroughly investigated the flora of North Carolina— 
materially aided by LI. W. Ravenel, Esq., of South Caro- 
lina, the precise localities where a great number of these 
plants grow have been indicated and recorded. Doubt- 
less a large proportion of these are widely diffused, and 
264 REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
Fruitport Well. 
Fungi. 
we would gladly have given the habitat of each every- 
where in tiie United States, could they have been pro- 
cured.* Mut fungi are much more abundant in a temper- 
ate zone where warmth and humidity favor their growth ; 
so also on mountains their range is limited to certain 
altitudes. 
Many new species which have been ascertained to lie 
eatable bv Curtis, Havenel, and others will be included ; 
and as Dr. Curtis tested many of these plants jierson- 
ally, we make special allusion to him in such cases. A 
number of others were long since known to lie esculent. 
The composition of such a paper by a physician occu- 
pied with his ordinary professional and hospital duties, 
and who yhas not made collections of the “flowerless 
plants,” is tedious, and requires great care and research 
in order to insure fulness and accuracy ; but, we hope 
that it will furnish a source of reference for all those 
in this country who shall hereafter desire to examine, 
investigate, or use our native fungi. 
General Characteristics.—These plants, consisting 
of rell* and Jibre$, liearing reproductive sporidia, belong 
to one of the grand subdivisions of the vegetable kingdom, 
namely, the Cryptogamia, and occur of all colors except 
pure green. In them the organs of vegetation and repro- 
duction are distinct. 
Their qualities, remarks Mr. Berkeley (“ Cryptogamia 
of England’’), are various; many are used very extensively 
as articles of food ; a few are endowed with valuable 
medicinal properties; numbers are highly poisonous; 
and the ravages of several in dock-yards, buildings, 
corn-fields, orchards, etc., are incalculable. Corn-smut 
(Urtilnyo Maydit), which contains a fixed oil and a crys- 
talline principle, used in place of ergot, affects the male 
florets of maize in every country; smut also at- 
tacks grasses, hurley, and rice—a thread-like mycelium 
growing at the expense of the tissues. Bunt (Tilletia 
caries) seizes upon the wdiolc farinaceous portions of the 
grains of wheat. A few possess the remarkable property 
of exhaling hydrogen gas ; some, however, exhale car- 
bonic acid, and inhale oxygen. 
They exist in vast profusion almost everywhere, ami 
need only to be known to be utilized or avoided. This 
country is exceedingly rich in the fleshy fungi, and new 
discoveries will reward further research. Fries discov- 
ered 2,000 species within the compass of a square furlong 
in Sweden. Curtis, in his catalogue of the Plants of 
North Carolina, includes 2,976 species of flowerless plants. 
Mr. Berkeley says of the properties of this imjiortant 
order, and his remarks may lie justly applied to this coun- 
try, that in England fungi are so generally objects of 
prejudice and disgust that their real importance, as use- 
ful productions, is little appreciated. With the exception 
of the common mushroom, scarcely a single species of 
agaric is generally accurately distinguished ; and though 
many speak of another kind, under the name of cham- 
pignon, there are few persons who know what to gather ; 
and that the fatal mistakes which have in consequence 
been made have increased the disinclination to any but 
the mushroom. 
Mr. Curtis has designated 111 species as edible, 40 of 
which he had himself eaten, collected within two miles 
of his residence.f He had prepared a work on the “ Edi- 
ble Fungi,” still unpublished, accompanied by colored 
drawings from nature of many of our native species by 
his son, the Rev. C. J. Curtis. It has been our extreme 
good fortune to procure the use of these drawings, and 
through the liberality of the publishers of the Handbook 
selections from them will illustrate this paper. The 
“ Edible Fungi” will be illustrated entirely by the Curtis 
drawings, which are unique and original; for the Poison- 
ous, the publishers will select from Cordier’s work, and 
Prang’s publication. 
The smaller cuts are (with the single exception of that 
of Agaric us proceruti), enlarged from pen sketches ex- 
ecuted by the writer, and arc used to exhibit the charac- 
teristic forms of some of the most important families, 
genera, and species. 
Mr. Worthington G. Smith, in his “ Mushrooms : IIow 
to distinguish easily the Differences between Edible and 
Poisonous Fungi,” London, 187.), has accompanied his 
pamphlet with two colored charts. In one of these, 
twenty-nine edible species are figured : “ Most of them 
abundant and instantly recognizable when seen ; every 
one is a wholesome and delicious object of food full of 
aroma and flavor.” They are easy of detection, he adds, 
as we only use the larger species. The reproduction of 
Smith’s charts in this country, a greater extension given 
to the illustrated work issued by Prang (“ The Mush- 
rooms of America, Edible and Poisonous,” edited by Ju- 
lius A. Palmer, Jr.), would reinforce the present efforts 
made by the publishers of the Handbook, and would 
tend to diffuse and make popular a knowledge of this 
highly important class of plants. This would, add enor- 
mously to the food-supply of the entire country, and be 
greatly beneficial to poor and rich ; for the almost animal 
character of the mushrooms—which exist in such profu- 
sion at our very doors—will supply without cost a most 
nutritious, as well as a delicious addition to their tables. 
In many portions of Europe, but especially Poland and 
Russia, they form a most important part of the food of 
the common people; and in the latter country whole 
tribes are mainly supported by them, scarcely any spe- 
cies, except the dung and the Hy agarics being rejected. 
Even those kinds which are elsewhere refused by com- 
mon consent, as poisonous on account of their extreme 
acridity, are taken with impunity—being extensively dried 
or pickled in salt or vinegar for winter use. It is prob- 
able that this harmlessness arises from the particular mode 
of preparation ; for, from the exact account of Pallas, and 
the general diffusion of various species in various coun- 
tries, there is no reason to doubt the fact that kinds y'waffy 
esteemed poisonous a re really used ; and it is well known 
that the noxious qualities of that most virulent species, 
Agaric us reruns, are communicated to brine, vinegar, etc., 
and that the olive-tree agaric loses all its poisonous prop- 
erties when salted, and becomes eatable. The pickle is, 
probably, in general, thrown away ; while as to dried 
fungi, he had been informed by a gentleman of great 
acuteness and observation that in some town of Poland, 
where he was detained as a prisoner, he amused himself 
with collecting and drying the various fungi which grew 
within its walls, among which were many commonly re- 
puted dangerous ; and that to his great surprise, his 
whole collection was devoured by the soldiers. It is, 
however, the practice, in some districts, to use fungi with- 
out any preparation whatever, as in their simple state 
they are considered more wholesome and nutritious. 
Notwithstanding what has been stated, some fungi, as is 
well known, are extremely poisonous, and great care 
must be exercised with regard to their use. In our re- 
port on “ The Medicinal, Poisonous, and Dietetic Prop- 
erties of the Cryptogamic Plants of the United States” 
(Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., vol. vii., Reprint, Baker, God- 
win A Co., New York, 1854, p. 126), can be found a num- 
ber of similar examples, with a variety of information 
bearing on these subjects. 
Composition and Toxicological Characteristics. 
—The medical uses of fungi are being more fully devel- 
op'd—though many which were formerly held in high 
repute are now neglected. According to Braconnot, most 
of the fungi contain a peculiar principle denominated 
f ungin, a peculiar acid called fungic acid, usually com- 
bined with potassa, and a peculiar saccharine matter less 
sweet than other varieties of sugar, less soluble in aloo- 
* Thnt our course in not only justifiable, but compulsory, M. C. Cooke, 
LT..I). (Fungi, their Nature ami Uses, London, 1875), while referring to 
I.oa's collections in Cincinnati, Wright's in Texan, and contributions from 
Ohio. Alabama, Massachusetts, and New York, says: ‘‘A great portion 
of this vast country is mycologtcally unknown. Of the whole extent of 
the New World, only the Carolina States of North America can be said to 
be satisfactorily known.” Special reference is made by this writer to the 
researches of Schweinitz, Curtis, and Itavenel—to whom is ascribed this 
thoroughness, which has given them a reputation which is world-wide. 
One genus and fifty-three species have been named after the last-men- 
tioned, who by no means outranks his co-workers. 
t We must take this occasion to express our obligations to Dr. Thomas 
F. Wood, of Wilmington, N. C. (who has published an admirable sketch 
of the botanical work of Dr. Cnrtis), for favors extended to us in the 
pretmrntion of this article: in impartin? most liberally his choice collec- 
tion of plate*, books, and pamphlets. We record our obligations also to 
our friend and correspondent, Mr. Haveuel. 
265 Fungi. 
Fungi. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
liol and water than that of the cane, and distinguished by 
some writers as the sugar of mushrooms. 
Fungin constitutes the basis of these vegetables, and is 
the principle upon which their nutritive properties chietly 
depend. It is the fleshy substance which remains when 
they are treated with boiling water, holding a little alkali 
in solution. It is whitish, soft, and insipid; inflamma- 
ble ; insoluble in water, alcohol, ether, weak sulphuric 
acid, and weak solutions of potassa and soda ; soluble in 
heated muriatic acid ; decomposed by nitric acid and by 
concentrated alkaline solution ; and converted by destruc- 
tive distillation into substances resembling those which 
result from the distillation of animal matter. 
Letellier found in some of them one, in others two, poi- 
sonous principles. One of these is an acrid matter, so fu- 
gacious that it disappears when the plant is either dried 
or boiled, or macerated in weak acids, alkalies, or alco- 
hol. To this principle, he says, is owing the irritant 
properties of some fungi. The other principle is more 
fixed, as it resists drying, boiling, and the action of weak 
alkalies and acids. To this principle he attributes the 
narcotic properties of the fungi. He found it in Am. 
muscaria, bulbosa, and verna; and he proposed to call it 
amanatine. Its effects on animals appear to resemble con- 
siderably those of opium. The term muscarine has been 
applied to the poison of mushrooms. It has a close simi- 
larity in its action to pilocarpine, and is almost completely 
antagonistic to atropia (see under Am. muscaria, 'posted). 
Chansarel found that the poisonous principle resides in 
the juice, and not in the fleshy part after it is well washed 
(“ Repert. fur die Pharm.,” lxvi., 117; Cliristison on 
“ Poisons,” p. 704; see also recent researches of Sidney 
Ringer, Lauder Brunton, and others, on Muscarine). 
Paulet long ago established that fungi are poisonous to 
animals as well as to man. The toxic or active principle, 
according to Mialhe, depends upon their power to coagu- 
late the albumen of the blood, and hence to arrest the cir- 
culation (“Essai sur l’Art de Formuler,” ccxcix.). The 
symptoms produced by them in man are endless in vari- 
ety, and fully substantiate the propriety of arranging 
them in the class of narcotico-acrid poisons (see Agar- 
icus campanulatus, and pantherinus). Some of them 
taken a long time induce a depraved state of the con- 
stitution, suppuration and gangrene. Ergot is a suffi- 
ciently strong example. 
Poisoning by Fungi.—In case of poisoning with the 
fungi there is a great difference in the interval which 
elapses before the symptoms begin—ranging from a few 
minutes to many hours. Gmelin has quoted a set of 
cases, seventeen in number, in which it was said to have 
been a day and a half. Portions of them have been dis- 
charged by vomiting so late as fifty-two hours after they 
were swallowed (Aymen, in “ Hist, de la Soc. Royale de 
Med.,” i., 344). Even the purely narcotic effects have 
been known to last above two days ; the symptoms of 
irritation have been noted by Orfila to continue for 
about three weeks. Through idiosyncrasy, some persons 
have been affected by the small portion of mushroom- 
juice which is contained in an ordinary catsup seasoning 
(Cliristison). W. G. Smith experienced severe ill effects, 
for several days, from eating a deleterious fungus. 
The morbid appearances left in the bodies of persons 
poisoned by the deleterious fungi have been detailed by 
Cliristison and others : The body is in general very livid, 
and the blood fluid ; so much so, sometimes, that it flows 
from the natural openings in the dead body. In general 
the abdomen is distended with fetid air, which, indeed, is 
usually present during life. The stomach and intestines 
of some French soldiers who died of it (see Ag. musca- 
rius) presented the appearance of inflammation, passing 
in some places to gangrene. In two of them the stomach 
was gangrenous in many places, and far advanced in pu- 
trefaction. In the cases mentioned by Picco, there was 
also an excessive enlargement of the liver. The lungs 
have been sometimes found gorged or even inflamed, and 
the vessels of the brain very turgid. They were particu- 
larly so in a case related by Dr. Beck, where death was 
occasioned in seven hours by an infusion of the Ag. mus- 
carius in milk. 
Remedies for Poisoning.—In cases of poisoning by- 
fungi, common salt, sulphuric ether, in full dose, and 
Hoffman’s anodyne, were all found beneficial after the 
use of evacuants. Large draughts of warm water should 
be taken, which dilute the poison and promote vomiting. 
An emeto-cathartic should always be administered. The 
following prescription is advised : 
R. Ant. tartarizat grs. iij. 
Ipecac grs. xxiv. 
Sulph. soda; grs. vj. 
This to be followed by' oil, and subsequently by 
ether. Milk has likewise been recommended. Chanserel 
found acids useless as a remedy, but he thought in- 
fusion of galls advantageous. Paulet said (1776), that 
salt and vinegar, or boiling, or allowing them to soak in 
vinegar and water, removed every deleterious principle 
from that poisonous species the Ag. bulbosus and that the 
Russians are in the habit of salting their fungi, which 
may be the cause of their harmlessness. So the pickling 
and subsequent washing of the poisonous agaric of the 
olive renders it eatable in the Cevennes (Delile, “ Lind. 
Nat. Syst.”). Roth Pallas and Orfila assure us that vine- 
gar will destroy' the noxious power of the most dangerous 
(“ Toxicol.,” ii., 89). On some persons all mushrooms, 
even the very best of the eatable kinds, act more or less in- 
juriously'—they cause vomiting, diarrhoea, and colic. In 
this respect they are on the same footing as the richer 
sorts of fish, which by idiosyncrasy act as poisons on par- 
ticular constitutions. 
To Select Mushrooms, and to Distinguish the Edible from 
the Poisonous.—Fodere, De Candolle, and Greville have 
laid down general directions for distinguishing the escu- 
lent from the poisonous varieties, but their rules are not 
safe, as they would exclude many species in common use, 
and the number of edible species is daily being increased. 
Cordier cites numerous examples to prove that there 
are no fixed general rules or tests to guide us in the rejec- 
tion of a mushroom ; for of those growing in any kind of 
soil or locality, whatever be their form, hue, appearance, 
or taste, some are exceptionally edible, or noxious. The 
best rules will be those derived from the identification of 
species, which is sufficient for all practical purposes, as 
the species are well marked and easily' recognized by- 
study or observation. Notwithstanding this, taste, color, 
aroma, and other physical qualities, often furnish im- 
portant indications. Messrs. Cooke and Berkeley express 
similar views, in saying that we must learn by experiment 
and observation which are the edible and poisonous 
mushrooms, just as we distinguish the character and 
qualities of any other plant. How much alike, among 
Phanerogams, for example, are angelica and cicuta ; each 
must be known and recognized to be used with safety, or 
to be shunned. 
M. Richard (“ Diet, des Drogues”) lays down rules to 
guide those who eat mushrooms in their selection of them: 
Those should be rejected which have a narcotic, pungent, 
or fetid odor, or an acrid, bitter, or very- acid taste; which 
occasion a sense of constriction in the throat when swal- 
lowed ; which are very soft, liquefying, changing color, 
and assuming a bluish tint upon being bruised ; which 
exude a milky, acrid, and styptic juice ; which grow in 
very' moist places and upon putrefying substances ; in 
fine, all such as have a too coriaceous, ligneous, or corky 
consistence. The last, however, are injurious, in conse- 
quence rather of their indigestible than of their poisonous 
nature. 
It has also been said that of those which grow in woods 
and shady- places a few are esculent, but most are un- 
wholesome ; and if moist on the surface, they should be 
avoided ; also that those which grow in tufts or clusters, 
from the trunks or stumps of trees, ought likewise to be 
shunned. Exceptions exist here also. Agarics of orange, 
or rose-red color, and boleti which are coriaceous or 
corky, or which have a membranous collar around the 
stem, are also unsafe ; but these rules arc not universally 
applicable in other genera. 
In a recent letter from Mr. Ravenel he writes as fol- 
lows : “There are certainly some, perhaps many, poison- 
266 Fungi. 
Fungi. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
ows species, but I am satisfied that a large majority of 
the fleshy fungi are either wholesome or innocuous. 
Yet, it is well to lay stress on the fact of there being some 
virulently poisonous, so as to give a prudent caution to 
those who may not know the wholesome kinds.” 
1. Every mushroom should be rejected, whatever its 
species, which is too old, or with perforation* which show 
the presence of maggots. 
2. All of which the texture is woody. 
8. All those the taste of which is acrid, burning, bitter, 
acid, or peppery—although some are edible which are 
either acrid, or peppery. Valmy says that the taste is 
the first and best indication of the quality of a mush 
room (“ Les Champignons, Guide Indispensable,’* etc.). 
4. All those which exhale a disagreeable and nauseous 
odor : which are slimy and deliquescent. 
5. The following is an indication of danger : the pres- 
ence of a bulb or swelling of the base of the stem, its 
being surrounded by a volva, or white envelope, in the 
form of an egg-shell, and remaining as a socket at the 
base when the mushroom is pulled up; a collar or ring 
large and reflexed, or falling back ; lastly, the head cov- 
ered with the debris of the volva and made scaly and 
warty, as in Amanita Muscaria. In the poisonous, the 
scales or protuberance rub easily off, leaving the skin in- 
tact. In the poisonous amanita»—and death is said not 
to occur from eating any other family—all these signs ex- 
ist. 8o the amateur should avoid all amanitas which he 
does not knoir. 
It is a dangerous error that all mushrooms which change 
color when cut are poisonous; or that those which do 
not change when cut are edible. Among the Boletes, for 
example, the greater number which do not change 
color are poisonous ; among agarics scarcely one which 
is poisonous changes its color, but remains white ; while 
the best one of the edible species does change its color 
when cut, or becoming old. 
It is also a mistake to suppose that if a piece of silver, 
or an onion, does not change color when cooked with a 
mushroom, that it is edible, or rics rerun ; neither will 
vinegar added to the water in which they are cooked 
surely deprive the poisonous of their hurtful qualities. 
To Pkkpare Mushrooms for the Table.—Acci- 
dents from eating mushrooms would be much less fre- 
quent if consumers would use only young, fresh, and 
sound specimens, and reject all those which are stale, 
semi-putrid, and worm-eaten. 
The limited space at our disposal forbids our giving 
many directions for the preparation of mushrooms for 
the table ; these may however be obtained from almost 
any of the works treating of them—as well as from most 
treatises on cookery. MM. Iioques, Cordier, Savarin, 
and others are very enthusiastic upon the subject. Mr. 
W. G. Smith, Airs. Mussey, and others make a few 
simple but very sensible suggestions. He says that it is 
apparent that the addition of “ good beef gravy,” “ a few 
slices of fowl,” “ rich veal stuffing,” and various other 
savory condiments, must occasionally give an extra zest 
to a dish of mushrooms ; but that broiled, stewed, or 
pickled, most species are “ always good alike;” indeed, 
mushrooms, in their whole composition, resemble meat in 
so remarkable a manner that any method of cookery in 
vogue for delicate preparations of meat apply with 
equal force to mushrooms. “ I must confess,” he adds, 
“ that I consider no preparation of mushrooms can ex- 
ceed the delicious, inviting, and grateful flavor pos- 
sessed by them when simply fried with butter, salt, and 
pepper.’ 
For special directions, see (pottea) A<j. procerus, Ag. 
camjtestris, Ag. oreades, and others. 
Some species are stored up for future use, dried 
in a current of air, in a sunny window, or in a cool oven ; 
and then kept iu tins, or threaded on strings and kept in 
a drv place. If much dried, they form “ mushroom pow- 
der,1' and are often sold as such. Mushrooms are often 
pickled by throwing them into scalding vinegar, allow- 
ing them to boil for ten minutes or so, and then by add- 
ing cayenne pepper, mace, or spices adapting them to 
various tastes. 
The liquor extracted from the various mushrooms un- 
der the name of “ ketchup” is prepared by placing the 
freshly gathered plants in earthen jars with layers of 
salt; after a few hours the ketchup exudes, and the pro- 
cess is completed by mashing the remains of the mush- 
rooms with the hands. It is then strained and boiled 
with spice and pepper, or strained and bottled—the 
corked and sealed bottles being placed for several hours 
in boiling water (Smith). Our common horse-mushroom 
(Agaricu* arcensis) is particularly suitable for this pur- 
pose. Those possessing a firm and coriaceous flesh 
should not be treated in the same fashion as those which 
are soft and watery. 
Every kind of frying suits mushrooms. They should 
be warmed, entire or cut in pieces, by exposing them for 
fifteen or twenty minutes to a tire in a vessel without 
water; the water which has exuded from them is 
thrown away; then they are rolled into a mass with 
corn-tiour, pepper, salt, onions and tine herbs cut tine, 
after which they are fried in butter, oil or lard. For 
soft mushrooms, white or fish sauces, or meat-juice, suit 
best. 
Mushrooms can be eaten alone, or mixed with any- 
thing to advantage ; they can be served with meats, fish, 
or even with legumes and eggs. 
In preparing young subjects the pellicle on the cap 
should not lie removed ; they should simply be brushed 
with a soft towel to remove the sand and dirt, then 
washed in warm water. When collected, the gills should 
lie turned up, that the spores, which possess much per- 
fume, may not escape. 
Cultivation of Mushrooms in Caves.—In “ Fungi, 
their Nature, and Uses,” by M. C. Cooke, LL.D., and 
M. J. Berkeley, F.L.S. (“ International Scientific Series,” 
1875), it is stated, p. 255, that the profits of mushroom- 
grounds near London are very great, although only the 
common mushroom was cultivated. The profits amounted 
to from one hundred to one hundred and fifty percent. Im- 
mense quantities are produced in Paris, as is w ell know n, 
in caves. In one of these subterranean vaults at Mont- 
rouge, the pioprietor sends three hundred to four hun- 
dred pounds per day to market. Large quantities of pre- 
served mushrooms are exported, one house sending to 
England not less than fourteen thousand boxes in a year. 
One cave, near Frepillon, in 1867, sent three thousand 
pounds to the Parisian markets dailv. In 1867 M. Re- 
naudot had over twenty-one miles of mushroom-beds in 
one great cave at Mery. The temperature is so equal 
that the cultivation is possible at all seasons. The open- 
air culture is also practised, and can be carried on by the 
gardener or the cottager. That this industry may lie- 
come possible near our large cities, we insert in the 
“ Bibliography ” the titles of several special treatises on 
this subject. 
To Cultivate Mushrooms in the Open Air.—The 
Paris system is the best, and is as follows, which we 
translate from Lamy’s little brochure—only the common 
mushroom {Ag. Campestris) is used for this purpose : 
In December, in a dry and sandy soil, exposed to the 
south and east, a trench is made 65 to 80 centimetres in 
breadth, 15 to 20 deep, and of a convenient length, bor- 
dered with earth from the excavation. If the land is moist, 
the trench may be deepened and the extra space filled 
with a layer of lime and stones covered with a little sand 
and earth. 
On the top is placed a layer of manure, covered freely 
with dung which is not too large ; that of the horse is best 
when not fed on wheat-straw. It is dressed with a good 
layer of mushroom spawn (blanc de champignon). This 
is pressed with the feet, raised in the shape of an ass’ 
back or a cone 65 centimetres high ; then covered with 
about 3 centimetres of earth and sand, and also of ma- 
nure mixed, if too compact. At the beginning of April 
it is covered 5 to 6 centimetres, more or less, with a large 
litter of straw, well shaken—called in France the chemise. 
At the end of May it will begin to produce. 
The trench, or fosse, may be dispensed with, and the 
layer may be made in any of the spring or early summer 
mouths. ' Larny tates that a gardener exhibited a suc- 
267 Fu ngl. 
Fungi. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
cessful bed bearing mushrooms, at an exposition in Paris, 
made upon a board. 
To succeed well it is necessary to unite to moisture a 
certain heat, 17° to 18°, Reaumur, or 21° to 22°, Centigrade. 
This heat is maintained by means of the chemise, which is 
diminished or increased as necessary. In summer it is ne- 
cessary to moisten the layer, in order to keep the moisture 
at the same temperature. When the atmosphere is at 15° 
Reaumur, or 19° Centigrade, the layer requires no “che- 
mise ”—the mushrooms grow naturally, as was the case 
at the Exposition. 
These layers can be made in the open air, or in caves ; 
they succeed better in caves, because the temperature ap- 
proaches 15° Reaumur, and they require less care. We 
should guard against allowing the chemise to become stale 
by too much heat or moisture; to prevent which it should 
be occasionally stirred or renewed. 
A layer of mushrooms, made at the beginning of Au- 
gust, can produce in two months ; and a bed established 
at the end of summer will produce in winter. To pre- 
serve the bed leave some of the mushrooms to dry upon 
their stems, while renewing the manure, and watering it 
with the water which served to wash the mushrooms 
which were gathered. 
To establish a bed, the layer of manure is covered with 
the dried sporidia, or seeds of the mushrooms (blanc de 
champignon, as the gar- 
deners call it), when it 
only has a slight warmth, 
which occurs about seven 
to eight days after they 
are put in position; in 
order to do this, little fur- 
rows should be traced, 
■rossing like checkers, which 
ire tilled with the spawn, about 
thirty centimetres apart, only 
upon the upper three-fourtlis 
layer of the bed, that is : sepa- 
rated about fifteen centimetres 
from the earth. It is then cov- 
ered with litter (straw from 
babies), and examined eight 
lays after to see if the spawn 
lias reddened, if it possesses 
more smell, or has thrown out 
breads ; if it is working, it is 
ivatered a little and covered 
ivith a slight thickness of man- 
ire, and this covered with a 
fresh litter. 
A layer of mushrooms can 
jast many years ; but it is neces- 
sary to renew the manure. The mushroom white, or 
spawn (for seed), is procured of good quality by taking 
it from a good bed. It can be bought, and kept either in 
the shade or in a cave. 
Our author insists that a mushroom-bed is a source of 
extra profit, because the material used is worth more for 
the garden, the mushrooms can be got at all seasons, and 
sell very high. They, after truffles, are the best addition 
to a repast; they serve as an appetizer for the rich, and 
a resource for the poor. Why their culture is not more 
extensive, in the provinces as well as in the cities, can 
only be accounted for by a want of knowledge, the fear 
of being poisoned, or both causes combined. 
Parts of a Mushroom.—The different parts of a 
mushroom are distinguished as follows (see Fig. 1855): 
1. The expanded disk, cap, or head (pileus).—On the 
under surface of this is the spore-producing receptacle 
(Hymenophore) and the organ which bears the membrane 
(Hymenium) upon which the spores or seminules grow. 
The cap or pileus is of diverse shape, structure, and 
color. 
2. The spore-bearing membrane.—Takes the form of 
plated folds, leaves or lames (gills), as in agarics ; of tubes 
in boletes ; of little needle-shaped spines, as in the “ beef 
tongue ” (Hgdnum) ; smooth in the clavarias ; and with 
salient nervures or protuberances, in the morelles (Mor- 
chella). Over the plated folds of the agarics, or the sur- 
face of the spines of hydnei, is spread the spore-bear- 
ing surface (Hymenium). The sporules, sporidia, or 
seeds, are exceedingly minute, and appear like tine dust. 
The gills, lames, or leaves, which form the under sur- 
face of the cap, are either entire, or alternate with half 
leaves. They are either detached from the stem, or ad- 
here to it; sometimes they bifurcate. They form impor- 
tant distinctions between the edible and poisonous mush- 
rooms. 
3. Tliafoot or stem. 
4. The collar, or ring (annulus).—This in some species 
forms a partial envelope, adhering to the borders of the 
cap ; but sometimes becoming detached, it forms a mov- 
able ring around the stem. 
5 and 6. The veil, a membrane, or web which extends 
from the margin of the cap when the plant is young, and 
thus encloses the gills. 
7. The bulb, or swelling of the base of the stem, sur- 
rounded by : 
8. The volva, or matrix at base of stem—a kind of 
membrane, sheath or wrapper, which, in many species, 
envelops the fungus in its early stage, and tears when it be- 
comes developed :—often leaving portions of its substance 
(9) upon the scurfy top, in the ring, on the veil, or at the 
base of the stem. (See also Figs. 1367, 1368, and 1369.) 
Structure, Reproduction, and Classification of 
Fungi.—It is our desire in this paper to avoid being too 
technical or scientific, but we should say of the fungi or 
mushrooms that they belong to the class Amphigens, 
which for the most part have no determinate axe, and 
develop in every direction in contradistinction to the 
Acrogens, the development of which takes place from the 
summit, possessing an axe, 
leaves and vessels, and which 
embrace mosses, ferns, etc. 
The fungi are entirely cellular, 
that is, completely deprived of 
vessels, but having filaments, 
tubes, and lames (gills). There 
is no frond or leaf ; no epi- 
dermis, and consequently no 
stomata. 
The mushroom is composed 
in general of two parts quite 
distinct : one vegetative, the 
other that of reproduction. 
The first, or the Mycelium, appears to be the origin and 
primitive state of every mushroom, since it results 
from the development of the spores, and is composed 
of filaments which are slender, simple, or ramifying, 
naked, or uniting with the substance on which the mush- 
room lives as a parasite. The filaments are composed of 
white elongated cells placed end to end, and are com- 
pletely deprived of endoclirome. The second, or that of 
reproduction, which springs from the first, of which in 
some sort it seems to be a dependent, is composed of 
spores which are naked, or are contained in a receptacle 
of variable form and size called the peridium in mush- 
rooms of round form (Richard). This last part, which is 
often the only visible exteriorly, is commonly regarded as 
the mushroom properly speaking ; for example, in the cul- 
tivated mushroom (Ag aide us campestris). This springs 
from a mass of white filaments (Mycelium), which is sold 
in a dried state, and known as “ blanc de champignon,” 
or spawn. The plant may remain a long time in the my- 
celium state before it shoots up and becomes visible. 
The spores are sometimes simple and naked, and spring, 
as was stated, immediately from the mycelium, which 
they at times entirely replace ; at other times they are 
collected together in a common envelope which is exces- 
sively thin, and forming a theca which is a receptacle 
closed. 
In other forms, as in puffballs (Lycoperdon), for ex- 
ample, the spores are contained in the cavity of the plant, 
and are inserted upon receptacles designated basides (see 
Fig. 1359). 
These organs of reproduction develop upon different 
points of the mycelium, sometimes solitary, sometimes 
Fig. 1356.—Mycelium of Clavaria. 
(F. P. P. after Payer.) 
Fig. 1355.—Diagram Showing 
Different Parts of a Mushroom. 
268 Fungi. 
Fungi. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
many together. The process is as follows: Tubercles 
composed of very small and hexagonal utricles form upon 
the filaments, grow and develop according to the species. 
If it is an uyaric, a kind of cap borne uj>ou a long stem 
springs out of the IxMom of this tubercle and fructifies 
externally. Is it a Lycoperdon: there forms in the cavity 
of its tissue a multitude of lacuna-, and from the circum- 
ference of each there 
arises elongated utric- 
les bearing four spores 
upon their surface 
(rigs. 1358 and 1359). 
Fungi reproduce by 
s|H>res ; but the origin 
of these spores, their 
nature, and the form 
of the body which 
supports them, vary 
greatly. The s|>orcs 
are formed iu three 
principal wavs: they 
either grow in a spe- 
cial cellule or utricle, 
in which case the utri- 
cle is called a theca, 
ami the fungi are en- 
tlosjtores ; or they ap- 
pear at the exterior of 
the utricle upon which 
they arc fixed; then 
the utricle is named basule, and the fungi are exospore*. 
Lastly the spores develop in the midst of a gelatinous 
mass in which no distinct organization can be recognized, 
and the fungi are said to lie inyxosjwies. So we have 
these as grounds for classification. 
Fungi have also been conveniently classified thus : 
The spores in chaplets at the extremities of the fila- 
ments, or order of Arthrosinors (ipopuy, joint, articula- 
tion) ; those of which the spores develop at the extremity 
of a filament more or less lengthened out, or second order 
Trichosjtorex (Op 1{, a hair), as in Botritis nutans (see Fig. 
1357). Those in which the spores appear by fours upon 
each utricle, or fourth order, or Basxaiotpores, as in agar- 
ics, Metes, lvcoperdons, etc. (see Fig. 1358). The third 
proliferous membrane, called the hymenium which covers 
a special part of their surface ; it invests the (fill* of 
agarics, the tubas of boleti, the lower surface of the head 
or helvellas, and the periphery of the ramifications of 
clavaria. 
OouUromycetes (spores enclosed in a cavity, or stomach, 
ya(m]p). These include phallus, lycoperdon, bovista, etc. 
Ateomycete* (itritos, pouch or sac) include morchella, 
helvella, leotia, etc., which have cup-shaped depressions, 
lacuna*, and sinuosities. 
We do not refer to other orders which contain geuera 
which do not concern us in this paper. 
The hymenium (Fig. 1359), of which the position also 
Fio. 135!»—Portior.s of the Hymenium, much enlarged. a, Paraphysea ; 
b, Baaidea, or sporophorea. (F. P. P. after Richard.) 
Fio. 1357.—BotritiK Nutans. The last sub- 
division of a filament which disarticulates 
to form a spore. (F. P. P. after Payer.) 
varies, is formed of utricles; upon its surface, it presents, 
first, theparapAy#c*(Fig. 1859, a), elongated cellules placed 
parallel, the one against the other, forming a kind of vil- 
iosity ; second, the basidett or gporophores (Fig. 1359, b), 
situated between the paraphvses ; longer than the latter; 
the hasides are swollen utricles, terminating at their sum- 
mits by four tubes, each bearing an ovoid or globular 
spore ; in this case the spores are naked. (See, also, Fig. 
135S.) Third, in the hymenium of certain mushrooms an- 
theridie», or male spores (as they were thought to be) exist, 
generally filled with a limpid or colored juice and organic 
corpuscles. 
As a consequence of the complete absence of green 
matter in the interior of their utricles, fungi behave like 
Flu. l.'J5S.—Bovista (l.ycoperdon) Plumbea, Sporwa in Fours upon each 
Utricle. (F. P. P. after Payer.) 
order is that of T/ienix/ioirti, where the spores spring 
from the interior of a utricle, a closed sporange or theca. 
The Myxo«ix>ren (referred to above) constitute the fifth 
order. 
The more recent arrangement of fungi is, first, into : 
Ilymenomycete« (iVV membrane, and /uukijj mushroom). 
These include the larger proportion of the edible and 
poisonous fungi, namely, ngarici. coprinus, cantharellus, 
cortinarius, lactarius, boletus, hyduum, clavaria, etc. 
In these the sporidia are placed uixm the surface of the 
Fio. 1300.—Clnvaria. (F. P. P. after Valmy.) 
the colored parts of the superior plants : they always ab- 
sorb oxygen and disengage carbonic acid ; while they get 
the considerable proportion of nitrogen, which exists in 
269 Fungi. 
Fungi. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
them from the earth ; thus they naturally live on organic 
matter in a state of decomposition. The cryptogamia 
are to a great extent the scavengers of the earth, and the 
destroyers of dead and rotten matter. 
Some fungi, as is well known, develop upon living 
animals, man included, and become sources of disease: 
for which see researches of Robin, Pasteur, and others. 
Distinctive Characteristics of a Few of the 
Most Important Families and Genera.—We begin 
with the least highly organized : 
Clavaria.—None are poisonous. They are simple or 
branching, fleshy or coriaceous, with no distinct head. 
Their form and color vary, with round branches resem- 
bling a tree, or a club, or a coral; the hymenium is com- 
posed of linear cellules, enclosing numerous rounded 
sporules which escape from the entire surface of the 
plant, except the stem (Fig. 1360). 
Curtis cites thirteen indigenous edible species. 
Helvella.—There is generally a stem ; the head is fleshy, 
membraneous, irregular, twisted, divided into lobes 
the reverse, the continued whiteness of the leaves and 
stems are unfavorable indications. 
J. A. Palmer, Jr. (“Mushrooms of America, Edible 
and Poisonous ”), says that a good rule for the inexperi- 
enced is to avoid all the lurid boleti, all those which have 
the slightest shade of red to the tubes. “ The mild-col- 
ored members of this family, having white, yellow, or 
greenish tubes, if pleasant to the taste, may be considered 
safe.” 
The boletes dry easily, and are readily preserved. They 
can be added to any kind of sauce ; and are eaten fried, 
Fig. 1362.—Morchella. (F. P. P. after Valmy.) 
Fig. 1361.—Helvella. (F. P. P. after Valmy.) 
folded or depressed, free or adherent. The stem is pol- 
ished or furrowed, or simply hollowed. 
Curtis has four edible species. 
Morchella.—The fleshy cap, or pileus, is globular, ovoid, 
or conic, with a stem, relieved externally by anastomos- 
ing elevations which form large polygonal cavities, in 
which the grains are concealed. 
They all come from the earth, and are edible (Cordier). 
Two indigenous edible species. 
Hydnum.—These are fleshy, coriaceous, sessile, or pe- 
diculated ; some are sinuous or scaly. The cap, which is 
not always distinct, but often twisted, inform, convex 
and concave, is garnished below, and sometimes above, 
with cylindrical or conical sharp needles or spines, dis- 
tinct the one from the other, and which contain the spores 
at their extremities. The latter resemble the papilla} 
which cover the tongues of ruminants—hence the name 
“beefs tongue.” The sporules are small and round. 
They possess neither lames, sporules under the cap, volva, 
bulb, nor collar. Clavaria, helvella, morchella, and hyd- 
num contain no poisonous species. Curtis gives five edi- 
ble species. 
Boletus, Boletes.—In these there are no lames or leaves ; 
the spore-bearing membrane (hymenium) is formed of 
tubes reunited together, and separable from the cap. We 
have here the first complete type, with a regular head, 
sporules in large quantity collected in bundles under the 
cap, and prominent stems. These change color if cut, 
when the suedes is poisonous. In agarics it is exactly 
Fig. 1363.—Hydnum. (F. P. P. after Valmy.) 
in an omelette, or seasoned and cooked in lard or olive- 
oil. The membrane should be removed from the cap if 
the plant is old. In perfume it rivals any other mush- 
room. Curtis cites eleven edible species found here. 
270 REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF TIIE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
Fu iiifi, 
Fungi. 
CanthareUu*, Chantarelles.—They resemble hydnum, 
but are allied to agarics. The cap, stem, and leaves are 
generally of a tieautiful golden color. The leaves, or 
lames, serve specially to distinguish them, as they arc 
thick, in the form of irregular, branching nervures or 
protuberances, springing from the middle of the stem, 
like a grain of mustard-seed, which is subsequently de- 
velop'd into the full-grown plant. The spore-hearing 
membrane is 
formed of leaves, 
plates, or folds, 
capable of being 
separated into 
two layers radiat- 
ing from a com- 
mon centre. 
The cap is 
fleshy or membranwuo, CU* 
tire or divided, with the 
gills or leaves on the un- 
der surface ; these have a 
sharp border, with a floe- 
culent or cottony layer 
united with the head. 
Agarics differ from the 
boletes, as the latter have 
tubes collected in bundles 
on the under surface of 
the heads, in place of 
leaves. In agarics these 
leaves or lames pass in a 
transverse direction from 
the stem directed toward 
the circumference, like 
the sticks of an umbrella. 
They are simple or bifur 
cated, and they serve to 
distinguish the poisonous 
from the edible. 
This large fam- 
ily is subdivided 
into eleven sec- 
tions ; among 
which are, the 
Amanitas; the 
Agaracini, or gill- 
bearing meadow 
mushrooms (Ag. atmpeatris and Ag. arvensis); Russules ; 
milky agarics (Lactnrius); Coprins, 
or dung agarics (Coprinus); Cor- 
tinaires (Cortinarius), etc. 
The Amanita subdivision of 
agarics (see Fig. 1366), containing 
many dangerous species, as wrell 
is a few edible, is the most ad- 
vanced and most complicated of 
Fio. 1366.—AgaricuH (Amanita Muscaria). (F. P. 
P. after Valmy.) 
ascending and bifurcating with it in their course under 
the head; the stem, at its junction with the head, is 
swollen, larger at its union with the head than at its base, 
and scarcely to be distinguished from it. The head is 
often turned down like an irregular ear, more spread out 
on one side than the other, sometimes with a border folded 
alstve. They are often confounded with hydnum rejuin- 
dum, having the same color, size, and habit of growing 
Fio. 13(M.—Boletus. (F. P. P. after Valmy.) 
Fio. CantharelluR. F. P. P. after Valmy.) 
In numerous groups; but hydnum bus sharp spines un- 
der the head. 
Agarieut, Agarics.—In these the rooting, slender fibres 
termed the mycelium, or spawn, which is an agglomer- 
ation of vegetating spores, traverse the soil; at first 
the mushroom is only a small, nearly globose budding, 
FlGb. 1367, 130b, aud 1309.—Different Stages of Development of Agaric. 
(F. P. P. after Payer.) 
271 Fungi. 
Fungi. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
this order. The cap is well formed, the leaves regular, 
they possess a stem, a collar or veil, a bulb at the bottom, 
and, unlike any poisonous species, it is smooth. All the 
poisonous species have dull, lurid colors, marked with 
circular, colored bands upon the head, like the rainbow, 
The edible species have a color like those which are edi- 
ble in other families (Lamy). This family is most fruit- 
ful in number of species. 
The Cnrtinnires (Cortinarivare all edible. They are 
distinguished by a mem- 
brane resembling a spi- 
der’s web, of a light color 
and connecting, from 
the birth of the mush- 
room, the head to the 
stem—very much like 
the collar of the com- 
mon mushroom. 
and a volva. The beautiful 
“Imperial” orange-colored 
agaric (Ag. Coesarius), which 
is so greatly prized for its 
delicious taste and perfume, 
“never has the remains of 
the volva upon its brilliant 
head.” 
The leaves of the stem 
serve better to distinguish 
the species than the color of 
the head, which varies in- 
finitely in shade, even in 
identical species. The fol- 
lowing are almost positive 
marks of deleterious 
amanitas : the pres- 
ence of a bulb or 
swelling of the base 
of the stem, its be- 
ing surrounded by 
a volva or white 
envelope in the 
shape of an egg- 
shell, a collar, lastly the cap covered with the (warty) 
debris of the volva. 
Lamy asserts that nearly all species of agarics of which 
the flesh and the leaves do not change color when gath- 
ered are poi- 
sonous. It is 
quite the con- 
trary with bo- 
leti, as was 
stated. 
To distin- 
guish the ama- 
nitas we must 
greatly de- 
pend also on the perfume ; 
if it is nil or repulsive, the 
plant is dangerous ; if pleas- 
ant, it is edible. The amat- 
eur should avoid the amanita 
family of agarics, unless he 
knows the few edible species. 
The edible species of the 
family of Russulas, a subdi- 
vision of the agarics, are 
easily recognized 
by their pleasant 
flavor; while the 
non-esculent are 
hot and nauseous 
to the taste ; it is 
therefore best to 
■ avoid all plants re- 
sembling russulas, 
the milk of which 
is not pleasant 
(Palmer). 
In the edible milky agaric (Lactarius), one test is the 
sweet and pleasant taste of the milk, almost identical with 
the milk of animals. The cap is of a yellow, ochre color, 
Fig. 1372.—Cortinarius. (F. P. P. after Valmy.) 
In the Puff-balls (Lycoperdon) there is a receptacle (or 
peridium) which envelops the reproductive corpuscles ; 
at first closed in every part, it opens only at the time of 
maturity. It is filled by a fleshy substance, in the midst 
of which are hollowed out a number of sinuous cavities 
lined with spore vessels; at maturity this multilocular 
structure disappears, and to spongy tissue perforated with 
Fig. 1370.—Agaricus (Russula) Alutaceus. 
(F. P. P. after Valmy.) 
Fig. 1373.—Lycoperdon Bovista, Pufi-ball. (F. P. P.) 
spores succeeds a confused mass of fine, dry, blackish, 
or brown dust, and stiff and hairy filaments. 
All are edible which appear in little balls on the open 
ground after rains, if fresh, white inside, and hard ; if soft 
and yellowish, or black in the pulp, they are approaching 
decay, and should be avoided. (See Lycoperdon, posted.) 
Phallus.—The liymenium is at first enclosed within a 
Fig. 1371.—Lactarius. (F. P. P. after Valmy.) 
272 Pungi. 
Fun cl. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
sort of peridium or uni vernal volva, maintaining a some- 
what globose or egg slm|>e. When young the spore-pro- 
ducing tissue (hymcnium) is fleshy ; in the interior of 
which cavities are hollowed out which are more or less 
sinuous, and covered with greenish spores disposed in fours 
or sixes ui>on the little bodies(baaulea) (see Figs. 1358 and 
1359), springing from the receptacle—the plant having the 
general form of a long, erect, cellular stem bearing a cap. 
The volvus break at the summit, and form a sheath 
which surrounds the foot of the spore-ls-aring membrane 
(Hymenophore). The head is naked, as well as the tissue 
which covers it. 
Very soon the tissue softens and becomes a viscid mat- 
ter, like mucilage, which melts and carries off all the 
spores, becoming so offensive as to lx- perceptible to 
the sense of smell at a 
great distance. 
In P. impitdicKg, 
which is represented 
in Fig. 1374, from one 
of our sketches, the 
s]M>re - bearing mem- 
brane is hollow, cellu- 
lar, cribriform, with 
the head reticulated, 
pervious, and naked 
below. Fibrils or root- 
lets are seen in this 
family. 
Clnthrut lxdougs to 
a tribe of the family 
Phalloides, and is 
therefore related to it 
in structure. 
various processes for serving it up. He intimates no in 
convenience from eating the plant. Cordier speaks very 
Fiq. 1375.—Leotia geogluBsoidcd. (F. P. P. after Payer.) 
highly of it, and says it can be eaten raw, “ et tausaucun 
appret." Curtis cites it among the edible species. 
A remarkable set of cases, however, are related by Dr. 
Fio. 1374 Phallna impmlicus. (F. P. P.) 
We insert Leotia only to exhibit another form—though 
it is in the same trilnt with agaricus, clavaria, etc. (lly- 
menomyoeUs). In this the fleshy und tuberculous recep- 
tacle is capitate upon a stem. 
Wo have no indigenous edible leotias(see Fig. 1376). 
II. Edible Fungi.—Agaricus procrruj», Scop.; Agarirtts 
colubrinus, Hull.—Parasol, scaly, or large shaggy agaric ; 
“Gardens, Hedge Banks, Pastures and Woods;” S. C. 
to Penn.; common; Curtis and Rav. This species is of 
remarkable beauty, and is known by its long, hollow, 
hullxms, spotted stem, which is received into a depres- 
sion of the head ; by the ring that is persistent and mov- 
able ; its cap in the form of a parasol, but more or less 
mammclonutcd, imbricated, scaly formed by the epider- 
mis which is raised. The leaves terminate at a certain 
distance from the stem, are pale, unequal, and much re- 
tracted at their base. 
This plant was known among the Romans ; its taste is 
sweet and odor pleasant; according to Roques, “forming 
on the Continent a frequent article of food ”—who gives 
Fm. —Atiaricm procerus. 
Peddie (Edinb. Med. and Sure/. Journal, vol. xlix., 192), 
where pure narcotism occurred from eating this fungus : 
273 Fungi. 
Fungi. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
giddiness, staggering, convulsive spasms, furious delir- 
ium, frantic cries, and a state resembling delirium tremens 
occurred. 
The above cases plainly show, if Dr. Peddie was cor- 
rect in his species—which, however, is quite doubtful— 
the possession of a narcotic property. In the three cases 
no pain was felt at any time, nor were the bowels affected. 
Dr. W. G. Smith says of it, “Its esculent properties 
are of a very high order,” and in an article illustrated 
with wood-cuts and recently published in the Gardeners’ 
Chronicle, and which has been reproduced in the supple- 
ment to the Scientific American, he reaffirms the admira- 
ble qualities of this species. Mr. Berkeley, Mrs. Hussey, 
and others declare it to be unsurpassed among the escu- 
lent fungi. 
Roques, Paulet, and others also launch out into extrava- 
gant expressions in its favor—the latter giving recipes for 
its preparation. As it is impossible for us to enter fully 
into culinary matters, we introduce in a note instructions 
from Dr. Bull, and which have been accepted by clubs 
in England, for the several preparations of this species 
for the table, which will, doubtless, apply to any other 
agaric.* 
Agaricus rachodes, Yitt.—Base of stumps and trees, N. 
C.; edible, Curtis. Cordier says it resembles very closely 
A. procerus, some regarding it as only a variety. Fries said 
that it had a disagreeable taste and was not eatable ; M. 
Hussey, on the contrary, says it is next in value to the A. 
procerus. They are sold in the London markets indis- 
criminately. 
Agaricus rubescens, Pers.; Agaricuspustulatus, Schoepf. 
—A. rubes, of Fries ; summer and autumn ; woods ; N. 
C. to Pa. The cap of this is first convex, then almost flat, 
eight to ten centimetres in size, of an indistinct, reddish- 
tawny or vinous-red color, more highly colored in the cen- 
tre, not streaked or only a little so on the borders, covered 
with reddish-white scales. The leaves are large, numer- 
ous, straight, unequal, the shorter abruptly cut off, but 
rounded at their extremities, not decurrent, of a pure 
white. The stem is bulbous at the base, and nearly round 
the rest of its extent, is eight to twelve centimetres in 
length, generally hollow, of a vinous-red, darker at the 
lower part where some debris of the volva scarcely ex- 
ists, covered throughout its length by little excrescences 
(peluchures), provided with a large ring of the color of the 
stem, and often preserving the impress of the gills. The 
flesh is fragile, white, reddish under the skin. Smell 
strong, like that of mould, taste not pleasant; and according 
to Roques poisonous ; he at least cautions us against con- 
founding it with A. asper. Curtis says it is edible. Smith 
asserts that it is one of the most “ valuable of all the Brit- 
ish agarics,” care being taken to select young and fresh 
specimens. “ I well know it to be delicious and perfectly 
wholesome.” Cordier says, “ C'est un manger des plus 
delicats,” and largely consumed in parts of France. It is 
excellent in the preparation of ketchups. Cordier cites 
this with other edible fungi which are unpleasant, acid, or 
pungent, yet still edible, such as Fist, hepatica (which is 
acid). Ag. melleus and this plant are acrid and disagree- 
able, while Hydnum and Chantarelle are pungent—all es- 
culent. 
Agaricus melleus, Yalil.; Agaricus annularius, Bull, and 
Roques’ Hist.—Honey-mushroom, black-scaled agaric ; 
near or upon old stumps ; ” September, October ; S. C. 
to Pa. (See colored PL XII., Fig. 7.) The stem is yellow- 
ish, slightly black at the base, bent upon itself, with an 
entire collar at the top ; the cap is yellowish-red, mixed 
sometimes witli green ; convex with a prominent centre, 
marked with little brown scales, the border thin, feebly 
striated, odor agreeable, taste like that of A. campestns, 
with a slight degree of acidity ; some have supposed it to 
be poisonous, perhaps only on account of its taste, not- 
withstanding Trattinick’s assertion of its good qualities 
and frequent use in Austria. Ortila cites it among the 
poisonous species, and Roques says it has a disagreeable 
styptic taste, and that administered to animals it causes 
an inflammation of the alimentary canal and death. There 
must be some mistake by the above-mentioned authors in 
regard to species, as Curtis cites it among his edible spe- 
cies, and his personal experience is sufficient. Cordier 
says that its aspect and taste not being inviting, it is edi- 
ble, but not much sought after. 
Agaricus eburneus, Bull; D.C.—Ivory agaric; N. C.; 
Curtis cites Ag. eburneus of Fries as eatable. On ac- 
count of its humidity, this is placed in the tribe Ilygroplio- 
rus. It is ivory white, shining, very viscid in wet seasons. 
The cap is at first hemispherical, then flat, and some- 
times even concave, but always prominent in the cen- 
tre, fleshy, polished on the borders, which when young 
are turned down ; the leaves are narrow, unequal, nu- 
merous, slightly prolonged upon the naked stem, which 
is full, round, and generally short, sometimes frail and 
lengthened, covered upon its summit with little scabs or 
brownish asperities. Roques says that it is not disagree- 
able, and is eaten in Italy. Cordier places it among the 
edible species, with an agreeable odor and taste. lie re- 
marks upon its viscidity as no evidence of its being hurt- 
ful. 
Agaricus Russula, Schoeff.—X. C.; edible, Curtis. 
The cap is fleshy, of good size, at first convex, then flat 
and even a little depressed in the centre, viscid, granular 
or covered with little hairy masses, brown, and scaly. The 
leaves are unequal, white, thin, rounded, sinuated, and 
are almost free. The stem is naked, generally cylindri- 
cal, short, of a red-rose color, full, having the summit 
granular and viscid. Roques cautions us against con- 
founding this, which has an agreeable taste, with the Ag. 
emetic us, the head of which is red, but has no scales. 
Cordier says it is eaten in Austria, and that it may be 
confounded with two poisonous Russules (Ag. emeiicus and 
Ag. roseus), but these have their leaves of equal length, 
while those of our plant are unequal. 
Agaricus albellus, D. C. (von Schaeff), Bull.—N. C.; 
Curtis, edible. The cap is fleshy, compact, convex, sub- 
mammelonated, sometimes irregularly rounded, shining, 
at first white, then of a gray slightly tawny, often cov- 
ered with non-persistent, squamous spots, with borders 
thin, shining, and folded down. The leaves are numerous, 
unequal, white ; the longest adherent to the stem, and 
terminated by a little tooth. The stem is naked, white, 
fibrillar, full, slightly expanded at the base, and partly 
stuck in the earth. This is the Mouceron of the French 
—called so because it grows among mosses. This is eaten 
in the northern provinces of France, and is much sought 
after by some amateurs. Roques gives a number of modes 
of preparing them. Cordier ranks it among the most ex- 
quisite and everywhere appreciated. Paulet says it is 
the finest and most delicate of all; and Bose, ‘ ‘ a delicious 
food which is beyond comparison.” The flesh is white 
* The late Dr. Bull, of Hereford, carefully wrote out, from experience, 
the best modes of cooking A. procerus, and for the following methods 
fungologists are chiefly indebted to him. The modes are approved by the 
writer, and are adopted by the Woolhope and other clubs : 
Modes op Cooking Agaricus Procerus.—It may be cooked in any 
way, and is excellent in all. 
Broiled.—Remove the scales and stalks from the agarics, and broil 
lightly over a clear fire on both sides for a few minutes ; arrange them 
in a dish over fresh made, well-divided toast; sprinkle with pepper and 
salt, and put a small piece of butter on each ; set before a brisk fire to 
melt the butter, and serve up quickly. 
If the cottager would toast his bacon over the broiled mushrooms, the 
butter would be saved. 
Baked.—Remove the scales and stalks from the agarics, and place them 
in layers in a dish ; put a little butter on each, and season with pepper 
and salt. Cover lightly, and bake for twenty minutes or half an hour, 
according to the number placed in the dish. Put them on hot toast in a 
hot dish. Pour the hot sauce on them, and serve up quickly. 
Stewed.—Remove the scales and stalks from the freshly gathered 
agarics, and stew them for twenty minutes in milk and water, which will 
be improved by a little good gravy ; then season with pepper and salt, 
and add a blade of mace if desired. Thicken the same with a spoonful 
of flour, a little cream, or the yolk of an egg. Boil for a few minutes, 
and serve up quickly in a hot, well-covered dish. 
Delicately Stewed.—Remove the stalks and scales from the young, half- 
grown agarics, and throw each one as you do so into a basin of fresh 
water slightly acidulated with the juice of a lemon or a little good vine- 
gar. When all are prepared, remove them from the water, and put them 
into a stewpan with a very small piece of fresh butter. Sprinkle with 
white pepper and salt, and add a iittle lemon-juice. Cover up closely, 
and stew for half an hour. Then add a spoonful of flour, with sufficient 
cream, or cream and milk, until the whole has the thickness of cream. 
Season to taste, and stew again gently until the agarics are perfectly ten- 
der. Remove all the butter from the surface, and serve in a hot dish, 
garnished with slices of lemon. 
A little mace, nutmeg, or ketchup may be added; but there are those 
who think the spice spoils the mushroom flavor. Fiui"l. 
Funs I, 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF TIIE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
and firm, im*c1s with difficulty, but preserves its agreeable 
odor when dried, 
Agaricus nireus, Schaeff.—White field agaric. Roques 
cites it as eatable, and a fine mushroom. Curtis has 
Oonrinua nireus, Fr. among his N. C. species, not cited as 
edible. Cordicr does not refer to it. 
Agaricus Ccssarius, Scop. ; Amanita aurantiaca, Peru. 
Imperial Orange Agaric ; common in oak forests ; N. 
Curtis. (See colored Plate XII. Figs. 8 A 5.) This is of 
a rich and elegant yellow color ; the cap is almost fiat, or- 
bicular, the borders being striated and often cut and 
turned under, never lieing viscid, or marked with holes ; 
the leaves (gills) are large, thick, unequal, yellowish, 
very adherent to the flesh, but not to the stem, which 
is yellow externally, white within, polished, full, bul- 
bous, provided with a yellow ring, large and reversed. 
When young it is wholly enclosed in a white volva, 
which gives it the appearance of an egg ; to give passage 
to the plant the volva tears and remain* complete at the 
bottom of the stem. (See Fig. 1368.) Roques and Cor- 
dier regard it as the finest and most delicate of mush- 
rooms, the perfume and taste being exquisite. It was 
widely celebrated among the Greeks and Romans. I)r. 
Curtis praises it very highly in his letter to Mr. Berkeley. 
It should 1m* carefully distinguished from the Amanita 
muscaria. (See Plate XIII. fig. 1.) The former has a 
complete volva, while in the latter it is incomplete and 
exhales a disagreeable (slor. The poisonous species is 
s|M)tte<l on the top, while this is of a yellow-orange 
color, without spots. 
Agaricnaeastaneus, Bull.; Cortinanus, Fr.—Common in 
woods ; S. C. to Pa. The cap of a chestnut or tawny 
color, ordinarily paler at the borders, is shining, little 
fiesliy, convex, slightly mammelonated, often concave 
when old, by the falling of the liorders which split. The 
leaves are unequal, large, adherent to the stem, same color 
an the rap, paler upon their cut surface. The stem is full, 
cylindrical, firm, of a white color, shaded with a violet- 
brown, and bearing the remains of a web collar which is 
white. It has the taste of a good mushroom, and is eaten 
in Italy. Curtis marks it edible. Cordier says it is in- 
odorous, agreeable and edible. 
Agaricus peraonatua, Fr. — Blue-stemmed agaric ; past- 
ures and near rotten logs; H. C. and N. C. ; edible, 
CUrtis. The cap is compact, fleshy, regular, convex, 
glabrous, polished, moist, of a violet or lilac color, some- 
times ashen or pale tawny, with borders slightly re- 
curved under, and tomentose. The lames (gills) are close 
together, of a dull white, or faded violet color, rounded back 
and free. The stem is thick, pulverulent, or hairy, lilac or 
violet, slightly swollen at base and hollow. It resembles the 
Cortinaires. Sold in Covent Garden Market under the 
name of Rlndt* (Sowerby). W. G. Smith says of this 
‘‘a substantial and delicious species;” but the plants 
should l»e gathered young and in dry weather for they 
readily absorb moisture. Cordier reports that it is much 
esteemed in France. 
Agaricus amygdalinus, M. A. C.—Peach-kernel agaric, 
N. C.; edible, Curtis. 
Agaricus mastoideus, Fr.—Nut mushroom ; woods ; N. 
C.; edible, Curtis. (See colored Plate XII., Figs. 2 and 
4.) The cap is a skin white color, slightly fiesliy, soft, 
convex, strongly mammelated, thin skinned, tearing into 
scales which are thin and scattered ; the leaves are widely 
separated, of a pale white ; the stem hollow, weak, slightly 
villous, scaly, almost round, bulbous at base, with an entire 
movable ring. Cordier says : “ Eatable, but little es- 
teemed.” 
Agaricus excoriatua, Fr.—Collar mushroom, N. C.; edi- 
ble, Curtis. This closely resembles A. procerus, only 
that it is smaller, with a stem shorter and rarely bulbous. 
The cap is large, five to six centimetres, at first convex, 
then fiat, but prominent at the centre, of a tawny-ashen 
color. The epidermis is thin and raised into little scales. 
The leaves, of a pale white, very numerous, thin, une- 
qual, large, salient, sometimes divided and not attached 
to the stem. The stem is round, sometimes bulbous at 
tin* base, hollow', smooth, jwlished, white, or of the color 
of the cap ; it has a large, movable, persistent ring. Cor- 
dier says it is eatable—the flesh being white, soft, of a 
fungous taste and very little odor. 
Agaricus rex pi ton ax, M. A. C.—Cluster mushroom ; edi- 
ble, Curtis. 
Agaricns castas, M. A. C.—White dough mushroom, 
N. C., edible, Curtis. 
Agaricn*frumentaceus.—Red dough mushroom, X. C.; 
edible, Curtis. 
Agaricn* consociatus, >1. A. C.—Yellow dough, N. C.; 
edible, Curtis. 
Agaricus rndicntu*.—Spindle- or tap-root fungus, N. C.; 
edible, Curtis. 
Mr. Curtis has been the first to declare that the live 
above are esculent agarics. 
Coprinut comatu*, Fr.; Agaricus comatus.—Maned ag- 
aric, N. C.; stable-yards; edible, Curtis. It should be 
gathered when the gills arc white and just changing to 
pink, for they become vinous and black, dissolving into 
a black matter. When gathered in rich pastures, it is of 
snowy whiteness, the top being somewhat fleshy and 
broken up into scaly, white hairy patches (finches); there 
is a white, powdery, fragile movable ring around the hol- 
low stem, which is soon broken and falls away. Smith 
says that “it is singularly rich, tender and delicious,” 
and he would prefer no species before this one. The 
black matter from this and from A. atramentarius is 
used in designing. To cook, for about tw enty mushrooms, 
put into a saucepan one gill of milk or cream, add salt 
and pepper to the taste, w ith a piece of butter the size of 
the larger specimens ; when it boils, put in the stem and 
small hard mushrooms; after ten minutes’ boiling add 
the larger specimens ; keep the dish covered and boiling 
for ten minutes longer, then pour the stew over dry toast 
and serve. Very little fluid is needed in cooking this 
mushroom, as it yields a rich juice of its own. It should 
be cleaned before cooking, by scraping it smooth until it 
is white. (J. A. Palmer, Jr.) See also Ag. campestris and 
Ag. procerus for methods. 
Agaricus violaceous, L.—Woods ; autumn ; N. C. to 
Pa.; II. W. R. Fleshy, all over of an obscure violet; 
head at first convex, then flat, dry, hairy as if scaly, size 
eight to sixteen centimetres. The leaves distant, large, 
thick, unequal, almost of a violet-black when young, ad- 
herent to the stem which is cylindrical, more or less swol- 
len at the base, slightly downy, eight to ten centimetres 
in size, of an ashen-violet color in the interior. When 
young, a membrane, so tine as to resemble a spider’s web, 
binds the borders of the cap to the stem. Roques and 
Cordier place it among the edible species; and Micheli 
says it is eaten in Tuscany. 
Agaricus deliciosus; Lactarius, Fr.—Orange milked 
agaric; September to October; S. C. to Pa.; edible, 
Curtis. (See colored Plate XII., Fig, 15.) The stem 
of a yellow or slightly spotted color, five to six centi- 
metres long, is naked, firm, thick, at first full, then 
hollow. The cap, fleshy, orbicular, eight to twelve 
centimetres in size, at first convex, then flat or de- 
presscd in the centre, with reflected borders, slightly vis- 
cid, at first yellow, afterward tawny and even reddish, is 
marked sometimes by yellow zones. Lames unequal, of 
a brick or saffron red. The flesh and the gills when 
wounded take a sombre green color, odor and taste agree- 
able, like Cantharellus cibariuq, but slightly acrid. Cor- 
dier says it is not greatly esteemed in France, but held in 
high esteem in Sweden, and preserved for winter use by 
the Germans. It may be confounded with Ag. torminosus 
and other poisonous ones, but is distinguished by its 
milky juice, of orange-red or saffron color. 
Agaricus alutaceus, Pers.; Agaricus pectinaceus, Hull. 
—Ruffed gilled agaric; common in woods ; July and ()eto- 
bcr; S. C.to Pa. (H. W. Ii.) llussula alutacea, Fr. (see Fig. 
1870). It possesses a white flesh, fragile and agreeable to 
the taste; the cap, eight to ten centimetres in size, rounded, 
with borders rarely regular, flat in the centre or depressed ; 
of a violet-red, or a slightly tawny-red, even blood-red, 
more marked in the centre, the border thin, peeling easily, 
finally becoming striated and slightly downy ; the leaves 
straight, rather close, equal in length, not turned down, 
of a pale ochre or yellow-white color; the stem four to 
275 Fungi. 
Fungi. 
REFEREXCE IIAXDBOOK OF TIIE MEDICAL SCIEXCES. 
seven centimetres long, polished, full or spongy, white, 
oftener stained of a pale red. Taste mild, pleasant, acrid 
when old. “ By common consent pronounced esculent; 
but individual specimens occur which prove almost as 
acrid as A. emeticus,” (“ Crypt, of England ”). The edible 
can easily be distinguished by the possession of gills which 
are always white, while the poisonous have them yellow. 
(Roques.) (See our Report to Am. Med. Assoc., vol. vii., 
for fuller details.) Curtis cites A. alutaceus, of Fries, as 
edible. Cordier includes it among the esculent fungi, 
and very much sought after in Lorraine. 
Agaricus marasmius ; A. oreades, Fr.—Fairy ringed ag- 
aric ; false mousseron, Scotch bonnets. Hill-sides ; X. C.; 
Schw. This does not resemble the true “ mousseron,” ex- 
cept by its color of a pale yellow, tending to red. The stem 
is naked, round, full, four to five centimetres long, not 
hairy at its base, weak, tenacious and bent when dry. The 
cap, at first hemispheric, then conical, and sometimes flat, 
often mammelated in the centre, little fleshy, is only 
about three to four centimetres in size. Leaves unequal, 
not numerous, of a pale white, more colored upon the side 
{la tranche), not adherent to the stem. It has a feeble 
odor and an agreeable taste ; much used as an article of 
food on the Continent. W. G. Smith says of it: “ One 
of the most exquisitely delicious of all our fungi, is often 
neglected.” Mr. Berkeley says “It is the very best of 
all our fungi.” It may be pickled, used for ketchup, or 
dried for future use. It may be distinguished by having 
no downy hairs at the base of the stem ; other species 
are dangerous which possess this hairy down (Smith). To 
broil: Place the tops like oysters on a tine wire gridiron ; 
as soon as they are hot, butter them lightly, and salt and 
pepper to the taste. Put them back over the coals, and 
when heated through they are cooked. Butter them, 
if required, and place in a hot dish (J. A. Palmer, Jr.). 
When they are dried, swell them in water before using. 
Agaricus scoradoneus, Fr.—Small garlic agaric ; past- 
ures ; X. C.; (Schw.) eatable, Curtis. The head is some- 
what fleshy, thin, convex or flat, at first shining, then 
slightly rough, or in folds, about one to two and a half 
centimetres in size, color pale-red or earthy. The lamel- 
lae (plates) are contracted, whitish, a little separated, ad- 
herent to the stem—which is hollow, round, about two to 
three centimetres in length, two millimetres in thickness, 
glabrous, shining, reddish, becoming brown with age. 
Persone and Trattinick cited it among the edible mush- 
rooms. Cordier says it is eatable, and of frequent use in 
the Lusace as a seasoning; it exhales a strong odor of 
garlic. 
Agaricus esculentus, Jacq.—Small esculent agaric; X. 
C. to Pa.; edible, Curtis. The cap is scarcely three 
centimetres in size, a little fleshy, almost flat, obtuse, 
smooth, not streaked, of a tawny or yellow earthy color, 
taste slightly bitter ; lames white, rather close, supple, ad- 
herent to the stem, about five to eight centimetres long, 
hollow, slight, very glabrous, tenacious, strongly fixed to 
the ground, same color with the cap. Much eaten in 
Austria, though taste is bitter. It is dried and preserved. 
Cordier says that it is sold in the markets in Vienna. 
Agaricusfrumentaceus, Bull.—Red dough mushroom; 
woods; X. C.; eatable, Curtis. Roques placed it among 
the eatable species. It exhales an odor like the farina of 
grain. 
Agaricus prunulus, Scop.—French or plum mush- 
room, Mousseron ; woods and pastures, June, October ; 
Curtis, edible. Recognized thus: Cap fleshy, thick, 
compact, at first convex, regular, then depressed with 
twisted borders, top dry and of a tine prune color, five 
to eight centimetres in size ; lames numerous, narrow, 
linear, of a white which becomes feebly cherry-rose when 
growing old, pointed at both extremities, very decur- 
rent, not close ; stem two to three centimetres high, 
thick, striated, naked, swollen and hairy at the base, the 
color of the cap. It differs from A. albellus by the 
lames, which are slightly rosy, decurrent, and terminated 
by a point at the two extremities. 
It has a firm white flesh, and a delicious taste and odor 
—like that of fresh meal ; much esteemed in Europe as an 
article of food. It is dried and much used in France—a 
large price being paid for those growing near Bareges. 
Cordier ranks this among the best of mushrooms : “ Est 
tres bond manger.” The flesh is firm, juicy, and full of 
flavor ; and whether broiled, stewed, or however prepared, 
it is a most delicious morsel (W. G. Smith). 
Agaricus nebularis, Batscli. — Gray agaric ; damp 
woods ; X. C.; edible, Curtis. This fleshy mushroom has 
a cap eight to ten centimetres in size, convex at first, 
then flat, rarely regular, with its centre almost always 
prominent, of an ashen-gray color, darker in the centre, 
the borders being thin, slightly curved downward, the top 
sub-farinaceous in young individuals, polished later. 
The leaves are slightly decurrent, and of a pale white, 
unequal, numerous, thin, narrow, sharp at the two ex- 
tremities, upon a stem four to six or eight centimetres in 
length, white or grayish, a little thick, round, some- 
times twisted, full or cottony {floconneux), substriated 
lengthwise, tomentose at the base. 
The flesh is white, compact, with a fungous odor and 
a special taste. When cooked, the firm and fragrant flesh 
has a particularly agreeable and palatable taste (W. G. 
Smith). Cordier, who has eaten young plants and suf- 
fered therefrom, also another who ate of the same, ex- 
presses great doubts of its esculent qualities, notwith- 
standing the favorable testimony of others. “II est mal- 
faisant.” 
Agaricus squarrosus, Mull.—Found on oak-stumps, in 
autumn ; X. C.; Curtis, edible. The cap is six to eight 
centimetres in size, of a clear tawny color, covered, as 
is the stem, with numerous scales, which are arranged 
from the circumference to the centre of the cap, a little 
darker in color toward the centre of the cap, which is 
at first rounded, circular, then flattened, with borders 
slightly turned down. The lames are of a pale white, 
bent, unequal, straight, numerous, reaching the stem, 
but not decurrent, finely touched with white on their 
sides. The stem, six to ten centimetres long, is round, 
twisted, attenuated at the base, full or hollow, with a fixed 
ring on the upper part, scaly below the ring, not above. 
Cordier says he has often eaten it ; that the flesh is 
firm, of a yellowish white, a feeble odor, with a fungous 
but agreeable taste. It peels with difficulty. 
Agaricus strobiliformis, Vitt. — Fir-cone mushroom ; 
common in woods of X. C.; Curtis, edible. Entirely 
white and of large size ; the head is fleshy, at first con- 
vex, then level, the surface like satin, the margin not 
striated, full of scales, or angular excrescences, strongly 
adherent, gray, formed of the debris of the volva which 
is torn early and leaves only traces of itself at the base 
of the stem. The lames are unequal, the shortest rounded 
at their extremities, the longest free. The foot is thick, 
solid, cottony, when young with a fugitive ring, swollen 
into a bulb at its base, where it is marked by a circular 
furrow. The solid compact flesh, fine ring, bulbous 
stem and patched top mark this species. The patches on 
the top are persistent and like the scales of a fir-cone. 
Smith says its esculent qualities are of a high order 
and regrets that it is scarce. Cordier remarks upon its 
rarity, its slight odor, and agreeable sharpish taste, and 
places it among the edible species. 
Agaricus bombycinus, Schoeff.—Silky wrappered agar- 
ic ; inside of trees, on stumps ; S. C. and X. C.; edible, 
Curtis. 
Agaricus ulmarius, Sow.—Dead trunks of asli and 
poplar ; X. C. to Pa.; edible, Curtis. 
Cordier describes A. ulmarius of Bull. The stem is 
round, always bent so as to keep the head horizontal, 
naked, of a dirty white or gray color, sub-tomentose, six to 
nine centimetres long, fleshy, full, firm, continuous with 
the flesh of the cap in which it is inserted rather laterally. 
This head is fleshy, compact, glabrous, and can reach fifty 
centimetres in diameter, but oftener from twelve to eigh- 
teen ; it is somewhat rounded, of a pale or gray white, but 
often marked with rounded spots, which are darker-col- 
ored. The lames are numerous, large, unequal, cut out 
(eehancrees) at their base, adherent to the stem, at first 
whitish, then a dirty yellow. Rarely attacked by worms. 
Cordier says it possesses a firm flesh, of an agreeable 
taste and odor, that peels with difficulty and is edible. 
276 Fn ngi. 
Fu ngi. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
Agaricus trssellatus, Hull.—Pine trunks; N. C.; Cur- 
tis, edible. 
The eap is fleshy, tint-convex, glabrous, rounded when 
young, more developed on one side than on the other 
when older. In these it resembles A. ulmarius ; it dif- 
fers in the cap being smaller, tawny yellow, or iron color, 
with or murks of a clearer yellow; almost hexagonal. 
The lames, white or yellowish white, large, unequal, 
clou together, adherent to the stem, are cut at (heir ham . 
The stem, from six to eight centimetres, is white, naked, 
fall, fleshy, round, slightly eccentric, is always bent back 
so as to keep the head horizontal. 
Cordier says that the flesh, though rather coriaceous, 
is not disagreeable, like that of fresh Hour, and can be 
eaten. 
Agaricus glandulosus, Hull.—Carolina to Pa.; Curtis, 
edible. Flush Hrm and white, and of an agreeable odor 
and taste (Roques). Cordier includes this as a variety of A. 
ostreatus, Jacq. 
Agaricus ostreatus, Jacq.—Carolina to Pa.; dead trunks; 
edible, Curtis. 
It grows in tufts, often imbricated. The head is fleshy, 
polished, subdivided, in form of aconque, at firstblackish, 
then yillow-ashen, and finally paU\ about six to nine centi- 
metres or more in size, with borders bent downward ; the 
lames decurrent, straight, unequal in length, of a pali 
white, not close, atuistoniosing at haw, loaded with glandu- 
lar expansions (houp/ns) in variety A.; the smallest num- 
ber of these leaves reach the stem, which is lateral, short, 
thin at the base. 
Grows in Urge masses on trunks and trees; gills and 
spores white ; flesh white and of good taste. W. G. 
Smith does not give it a high rank among the esculent 
mushrooms, but it has been much recommended by 
others. “ A dish of this species stewed Indore a very hot 
fire has proved as enjoyable and nourishing as half a 
pound of fresh meat.” Cordier says the taste is not disa- 
grceble, and it is generally eaten in the Vosges. 
Agaric us tigrinus, Hull.—8. Carolina (II. W. R.); not 
in Curtis’ catalogue. Agreeable taste and odor, eaten in 
Europe (Roques). Cornier also says that it possesses a 
firm flesh and is agreeable and edible. The cap is marked 
with little excrescences or seals which are brown or grayish- 
yellow. It is always umbilicated. 
Agaricus infuudihulifonnis, School!.—Autumn; S. C. 
(II. W. R.); not cited by Curtis as edible. Has a strong 
odor, but agreeable, and may Ik* eaten (Roques). Cor- 
dier says the taste is astringent, but that it has a pleasant 
flavor and is edible. It is sub-coriaceous, the cap a pah; 
yellow, approaching cinnamon, slightly prominent in the 
centre, hollowed in cup form ; lames a pale white, decur- 
rent, upon a stem naked and swollen at the base. 
Agaricus odgrus, Hull.—N. C. (Sclav.) Curtis, edible. 
Odor penetrating, but agreeable. Cap slightly fleshy, 
four to eight centimetres in size, glabrous, not riscid, of a 
clear gray-bine, or dull, bluish green, at first convex, then 
flat, but lightly mammclated in the centre, with the bor- 
ders sub-sin unted and sometimes even raised. The lames, 
a third of which reach the stem, are attached (adnis), sub- 
decurrent, not close, of a pale white very slightly rose- 
color. The stem is weak, round, full, naked, three to 
five centimetres in length, of the color of the cap, but 
fainter. It exhales an odor like anise-seed. Cordier says 
its taste is agreeable, and it can be employed as a condi- 
ment. It is suspected by Reviel. 
Agaricus cuneifolius, Pr.—N. C. Roques sa) s it has a 
sweet taste and the smell of farina ; and is eaten either 
fresh or dried. Not on Curtis’ list as edible. 
Agaricuscainpestris, L.—Common meadow, or pink gill 
mushroom, Houle de ntige ; pastures and meadows ; 8. C. 
to Pa. and Ohio. (See Plate XII. Figs. 10-12). These are 
known by their pink gills, which become deep-brown, not 
reaching the stem, which is round and sometimes swollen 
at the base, and which carries a well-marked white, persist- 
ent ring. It is so well known that only a few character- 
istics may be mentioned. The cap is fleshy, flat-convex, 
of a reddish or brown bistre color, sometimes yellowish, 
or even entirely white ; the surface dry, slightly scaly or 
hairy (/sluch), rarely polished. The flesh is firm, thick, 
white, more or less stained with reddish-brown, especially 
when bruised ; gills very unequal, at first of a beautiful 
pink ; the edge white and minutely denticulate. 
Cows, sheep, squirrels, and birds eat raw mushrooms 
and other fungi. “ The most generally used of all the 
agaric* and the safest." It is extensively cultivated. It 
was cultivated among the Romans with particular care, 
and alluded to by Horace and others. “It is excellent 
whether boiled, pickled, stewed, fried, or prepared in any 
other way ” (Smith). 
M. Roques advises us to avoid those which have at- 
tained their full development, and Berkeley (“ Crypt, of 
England ”) uses these words : “ Too much caution cannot 
Ikj used in the eating of dark-gilled agarics.” 
According to Vauquelin’s analysis it consists of adipo- 
cire, albumen, a sugary matter, osmazome, an animal sub- 
stance, insoluble in alcohol, fungin, and the acetate of 
potash. 
We should not confound this with the poisonous Ay. 
bidlsisus and Ay. pantherinus, which always have white 
gills and possess a volva. 
To Pkepakk for the Table.—Cut them just below 
the cap, don’t pvdl them, they then need no washing or 
peeling. Stew in milk or cream. 
To' See re irith Meat.—Chop the mushrooms fine, let 
them simmer ten minutes in one-half gill of water, with 
butter, salt, and pepper as for oyster-sauce, thicken with 
flour or ground rice, pour over the meat and cover 
quickly. 
To /toast in Vie Oten.—Cut the larger specimens into 
fine pieces, and place them in a small dish, with salt, 
pepper, and butter to taste ; put in about two tablespoon- 
fuls of water, then fill the dish with the half-open speci- 
mens and the buttons ; cover tightly and place in the 
oven, which must not be overheated, for about twenty 
minutes. The juice of the larger mushrooms will keep 
them moist, and, if fresh, yield further a most abundant 
gravy (I. A. Palmer, Jr.). 
Agaric,us arceusis, Schaelf. — Common horse-mush- 
room; diffused ; pastures. Cordier says it is with difficulty 
distinguished from the A. camjiestris. It is snowy-white 
when young. The cap fleshy, at first convex, then a 
little flattened, eight to ten centimetres in size, the surface 
at first tomentose or farinaceous, afterward glabrous and 
deg. The gills, free, unequal, larger toward the circum- 
ference, of a tender rose or lilac color, becoming a violet 
black. The stem, firm, hollow, or spongy, eight to ten 
centimetres high, is white, provided with a collar which 
is very large, turning over, generally doable, and of which 
the exterior is sometimes cut into rays. It is distin- 
guished from the A. eampestris by its purer white, paler 
gills, white flesh which does not change color when cut, 
the lamelhe remaining pale and not becoming deliquescent 
by age. 
It has an agreeable odor, and is perhaps less delicate 
than the A. eampestris, but it should be much more ex- 
tensively employed as an article of food. W. G. Smith 
says it is the species exposed for sale in Covent Garden 
market. He says that the gills have not the pure pink of 
the meadow-mushroom, “but are dirty and brownish.” 
For cook ing, see A. camjxstrix. 
Agaricus cespiUmts, M. A. C.— Common ; base of 
stumps; N. C.; edible, Curtis. This is closely related to 
.1. deal-bat as, which is highly praised by Smith as a del- 
icacy of the first degree. 
Agaricus fabaceas, Berk.—S. C. Mr. Ravenel informs 
us tliat it is an alliaceous, edible mushroom. Not found 
in Curtis’ catalogue. 
Agaricusatramentarius, Bull.—Inky agaric ; fields and 
gardens; spring and autumn ; edible, Curtis. The cap 
is yelloicish or jatle tawny; marked on the summit by 
little reddish or brown stains ; the stem is white, smooth, 
hollow, small above where it preserves a circular mark, 
the vestige of a ring. It contains a black matter which 
may be used as ink. The juice will efface writing made 
with ordinary ink. Cordier says that this and eoprins 
generally are eatable when young. The larger species 
only are sought after. In England they serve to prepare 
ketchup. 
277 Fungi. 
Fungi. 
REFEIIEXCE HAXDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIEXCES. 
Agaricus cretaceus, Fr.—Common ; eartli and wood ; 
N. C.; Curtis, edible. This is chalk-white when young 
and of middle height. The head is convex, flat, fleshy, 
generally polished, at other times, hollowed out or sub-scaly, 
slightly tawny at the summit in the old ; it is eight to 
nine centimetres in diameter; the leaves are numerous, 
unequal, straight, large at the circumference, not ad- 
herent to the stem ; they even slightly separate from it; 
white at first; they become colored later to a feeble red 
flesh-tint. The stem is round, slightly swollen at base, 
oftener hollow, five to eight centimetres high, sometimes 
twisted, white, with a horizontal ring, large. At first 
view it would be taken for a Lepiota on account of its 
white leaflets ; but later they become flesh-colored and 
pass to a tawny hue when the mushroom is decomposed. 
Cordier says it is eatable and of excellent quality ; its 
odor is feeble, its taste agreeable; the epidermis suf- 
ficiently thick is easily detached from the cap. Palmer 
advises that it be cooked with other mushrooms, with the 
addition of spices, garlic, or sauces. 
Agaricus pro ten sis, Pers.—Reddish field agaric ; past- 
ures ; Curtis, edible. Of a reddish tawny color, some- 
times ashen or whitish ; the head fleshy, at first convex, 
then flattened, with the centre prominent, smooth, humid, 
the borders thin; leaves very few, bent, unequal, thick, 
distant, of the color of the head, or whitish, very decur- 
rent, upon a stem short, full, whitish, shining, attenuated 
at base. 
Cordier says the flesh is slightly coriaceous, with an 
agreeable flavor which resembles the melon. W. G. 
Smith refers in strong terms to the excellency and 
piquancy of flavor of this species. Mrs. Hussey and 
Berkeley all say it is edible. 
Agaricus salignus, Pers.—Stump-mushroom ; common 
on trunks and stumps ; Curtis, N. C. This is a large 
mushroom, the head being six to eight inches in dia- 
meter, subimbricated, fleshy, divided or dilated into a 
fan-shape, convex, flat, smooth, polished, fissured, of a 
walnut or cafe au lait color, depressed at the base ; the 
leaves, sufficiently close, are thin, large, of unequal length, 
white or shaded, of the color of the cap, not glandular, 
sharp at the two extremities, rather branching, eroded, 
decurrent. The stem is short, white, downy, full, firm. 
It resembles the oyster agaric. 
Dr. Curtis, in a letter, quoted by Dr. Wood in his sketch 
of Curtis, writes as follows: “Indeed, I have found 
several persons who class this among the most palatable 
species. To such persons, a dish of fresh mushrooms need 
seldom be wanting, as this one can be had every month of 
the year in this latitude.” It is better flavored when 
gathered from the mulberry and the hickory ; and those 
of rapid growth are best. Cordier says that when young 
it is a delicate food and much prized ; when old it becomes 
black and coriaceous. 
Cortinarius violaceus. — Purple cobweb-mushroom ; 
woods; N. C. ; Curtis. When young it looks like a 
bright purple silk ball in the grass ; there is always a 
cottony web which represents the ring, and which is 
colored by the red spores. “ Broiled with a steak, this is 
a most exquisitely rich luxury ” (Smith). 
Lactarius subdulcis, Fr.—Common; N. C. ; eatable, 
Curtis. The juice is white, milky, at first pleasant, then 
slightly acrid ; the flesh, which is reddish, does not change 
color ; the cap fleshy, about two to five inches in size, 
moderately thick, at first convex, then depressed in the 
centre, and remaining sub-mammelouated, polished, with- 
out zones, dry outside, of a reddish tawny color; the 
leaves are numerous, fragile, unequal, narrow, of a 
cherry-rose, or reddish color, sub-decurrent; the stem, 
full at first, then hollow, cylindrical, one to three inches 
long, slightly thick, of the same color as the head. 
“ I have eaten this several times, and was not incom- 
moded, therefore it is esculent ” (Cordier). 
Lactarius piperatus, Fr.; Agaricus acris, Bull.—Pepper 
agaric ; woods ; July, August; S. C. to Pa.; common ; 
edible, Curtis. It is wholly white, with a head four to 
six inches in size, at first convex, then flat, and finally 
concave, or funnel-shaped, smooth (glabrous), but sometimes 
farinaceous, not zoned, the borders being undulated and 
curved under; the leaves very numerous, narrow, close 
together, unequal, sometimes bifid, white, but assuming 
a yellowish tint upon growing old, slightly decurrent, 
upon a stem naked, thick, round, fleshy, full, which 
never attains more than three to four centimetres in 
height. Flesh compact, firm, juice white, milky, ex- 
cessively acrid (Cordier). Its color is sometimes white as 
snow, “ at others it inclines a little to cream with a white 
milk which is unchangeable.” 
Though acrid when raw, it loses its bad qualities by 
cooking ; extensively used in Europe prepared in various 
ways. It is preserved for winter use by drying or pick- 
ling in a mixture of salt and vinegar. W. G. Smith ac- 
tually places this in his chart among the poisonous species. 
Cordier says that it is eaten in many countries, especially 
in Russia. Cows eat it with avidity, but it makes their 
milk and butter nauseous. This agaric contains a gelat- 
inous principle, and a milky fluid which becomes con- 
crete and dissolves in alcohol; the resulting tincture is of 
a golden color, and furnishes albumen, adipocere, crystals 
of sugar and acetate of potash. 
Lactarius deliciosus.—Green tint or orange-green mush- 
room ; pine woods ; X. C.; edible, Curtis. (See Plate 
XII. Fig. 15.) It is at once known by the orange-colored 
milk which it exudes on being bruised, which soon be- 
comes dull green. The plant is solid, and the top richly 
colored. “ When cooked with taste and care, it is one of 
the greatest delicacies of the vegetable kingdom ” (W. G. 
Smith). 
Lactarius volemus, Fr. — Milk red, milky agaric; 
woods, July; common ; eatable, Curtis. W. G. Smith 
says that its taste, when fried, has been aptly compared 
to lamb’s kidney, and it resembles in flavor L. delicio- 
sus. The species is recognized by its rich coloration, 
mild taste, white milk (changing to a dull dark when 
plant is bruised), white gills becoming of a yellow buff, 
and the full sienna top (Smith). 
Cordier says of Ag. volemus that he eats it raw in the 
woods, and like A. procerus and Clavaria coralloides, they 
can be eaten without preparation or addition. 
Russula alutacea, Fr.—Yellow-gilled mushroom ; com- 
mon ; wroods ; X. C. ; Curtis, edible. The flesh is white, 
friable, pleasant to the taste, the cap eight to ten centi- 
metres in size, rounded, the borders rarely regular, flat 
in the centre or depressed, of a violet red, or slightly 
tawny red, even blood-red color, darker in the middle, 
the borders thin, peeling easily, finally becoming striated, 
or sub-downy; the lames straight, not close, equal in 
length, not decurrent, of a pale ochre color, or yellowish- 
white ; the stem long, four ty seven centimetres, polished, 
full or spongy, white, oftener shaded of a, pale red. The 
surface of the flesh is often reddish when the epidermis is 
peeled off. The gills distinguish it from the emetic mush- 
room R. emeticus, which are pure white and always re- 
main so. 
Cordier says it is edible and very much sought after ; 
and Smith declares that when well prepared few species 
prove more satisfactory. 
Russula lepida, Fr.—Low pine woods, X. C.; edible, 
Curtis. The cap is eight to ten centimetres in size, of a 
violet red (cherry red), or slightly tawny, paler at the cir- 
cumference, fleshy, compact, convex at first, then flat, 
and depressed in the centre, sub-pulverulent, not shining, 
not polished, a little or not striated at the margins, cracking 
when dried ; the leaflets are large, thick, straight, not very 
close together, dull white or feebly yellow color, rounded 
and larger at the circumference, equal some of them, 
sometimes bifurcated ; the stem, six to eight centimetres, 
full or with holes, solid, compact, often twisted, round 
or a little swollen at the top, white, and almost always 
with a tint of rose or of red. 
Cordier says it is eatable, excellent and of a sweet taste ; 
odor feeble, flesh white and friable, spongy, when the pel- 
licle is peeled from the cap ; the flesh has a reddish tint. 
Insects and worms live upon it. 
Agaricus ruber, which is poisonous, closely resembles 
R. lepida ; but the former is distinguished by its cap, dry, 
polished, shining. 
Russula virescens, Fr.—Woods ; X. C. ; edible, Curtis. 
278 Fu m; l- 
PtuiKl. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
The cap is first convex and regular, then slightly concave 
and irregularly rounded, eight to ten centimetres in size, 
of a verdigris'or eye-green (rert d'trillet) color, more pro- 
nounced in the centre, the surface always dry, covered 
with little roughnesses or greenish granulations, sometimes 
marked rrith colored circles ; the lames straight, free, of 
quite a pure irhite, not close, sometimes anastomosing, al- 
most reaching the stein, hut not decurrent; the stem 
rarely straight, four to six centimetres, quite thick, round 
or slightly swollen at the base, full, white. 
Cordier says of this agaric, “est un manger delicieux ; " 
its perfume is agreeable, taste delicate, flesh white, fra- 
gile, the epidermis In-ing with difficulty detached from the 
centre of the cap. 
Cant/uircllus cibarius, Fr.—Chanterelle, common in 
woods, summer and autumn, Carolina to Pennsylvania. 
(See Plate XII. Figs. 1) and 11.) Of a yellow chamois 
color, more or less (lark. The stem is naked, full, fleshy, 
fflabrous, ten to twelve millimetres thick which expands 
nto a cap, always glabrous, at first rounded and convex, 
then twisted, sometimes lobed, hollowed like a vase, 
almost always more prolonged on one side than the other, 
and of which the under surface is covered by veins or bi- 
furcated folds, thick and separated which extend down 
upon the stem. 
“ Its smell,” says Berkeley, “ is like that of ripe apri- 
cots.” The flesli is white and milky, and of a piquant, 
hut agreeable taste. Cordier says it is an excellent mush- 
room, and a main article of food in many districts of 
Europe—though dangerous when eaten raw. It is more 
tough and less highly flavored than some other mush- 
rooms. It is put up in jars for winter use. W. G. Smith 
advises that being big and solid, it should be cut up before 
using, and if stewed, allowed to simmer gently, and be 
served with pepper, salt and butter. 
Boletus yranulatus, L., Fr.—8. C. to Pa.; II. W. Ra- 
venel. Pine lands ; edible, Curtis. This closely resembles 
B. lute us, and differs only by the absence of a membranous 
ring. The cap is eight to ten centimetres in size, at first 
hemispherical, then flat, slightly undulating, tawny, or 
brown, little fleshy, surface covered with a viscid matter, 
especially in young individuals. The tubes are narrow, 
short .granular at their orifice, at first of a pale white, 
then brownish-yellow, are adherent or slightly decurrent 
upon a stem round, sometimes attenuated above, short, 
yellowish, the summit covered trith granulations. They 
often assume the form of a circle ; hence Persoon calls it 
circinans. Eatable according to Persoon and Withering. 
Reveil considered it suspicious, but Cordier ate it with 
impunity. 
Bolt t us colli nit us, Fr.—Pinebolctc ; X. C.; edible, Cur- 
tis. Cordier places it among the edible boletes. I. A. 
Palmer, Jr., remarks that all lurid boleti should be 
avoided, i.e., those with the slightest shade of red to the 
tulies—though he has eaten such. (See Plate XIII. Fig. 
2 ) “The mild colored members, having white, yellow, 
or greenish tulies if pleasant to the taste, may be consid- 
ered safe.” 
Boletus scabes. Bull.—S. C. to Pa. ; edible, Curtis. 
Roques also said that it was safely eatable when young, 
even in large quantity. 
Boletus nepaticns, Schoeff ; Fistulina hepatica, Witt— 
Beef’s tongue ; stumps, common in woods ; F. hepat. of 
Fr., 8. C. to Pa., II. W. R.; edible, Curtis. (See Plate 
XII. Figs. 6 and 8.) Roques says highly prized in Europe 
as an article of food. (See our Report, vol. vii., “Trans. 
Am. Med. Assoc.”) It is tilled with a blood-colored fluid, 
and tastes like a muskmclon. It is truly, states Smith, a 
“ vegetable beefsteak ” for the taste resembles meat in a 
remarkable manner. He advises that it be cut up in thin 
slices, broiled with a steak and dressed with butter, salt 
and pepper. Its acid taste gives a zest and piquancy to 
the dish. 
B>Utus subtomentosus, L.—Woods, summer and autumn; 
S. C. to Pa.; edible, Curtis. This varies much in form, 
color, and dimensions. Its stem, weak, twelve to fourteen 
centimetres long, generally twisted, oftener round, nar- 
rowed, at other times swollen at the base ; striated, re- 
ticulated, or punctated at the upj/er portion, color yellow, 
often streaked with red, supporting a cap which is or- 
bicular, convex-flat; sub-tome atone, reddish-brown, olice- 
brown, or bronzed, with a diameter of eight or twelve 
centimetres, subject as it ages to he hollowed out in areas, 
of which the interstices are a yellowish color. The tubes 
are yellow inclining to green, irregular, large, lengthened 
out; those which rise near to the stem are shorter, leav- 
ing a sort of vacant spuce around the stem. 
The taste is not unpleasant, eaten in Germany, though 
Roques considers it hazardous ; young specimens safer. 
Cordier says that its flesh is fragile, soft, yellowish-white, 
rather changeable, turning bluish upon fracture, of a 
special taste, agreeable odor and edible. 
Boletus bocinus, L.—Woods ; common ; X. C. to Pa. ; 
Curtis, edible. It grows in tufts in pine forests, the flesh 
is white, the taste not acrid ; the cap flat, undulated, 
viscid in wet weather, glabrous and brilliant in dry ; red 
iron color, five to eight centimetres in size ; the tubes are 
sub-decurrent, angular, somewhat irregular, quite large, 
of a red iron gray ; the stem round, shining, of one color, 
somewhat twisted, without a collar, three to four centi- 
metres long, somewhat thick. This species is very simi- 
lar to B. luridus which is poisonous. Cordier says that 
it is eaten in England. 
Boletus luteus, E.—Pine woods, N. C. It is distin- 
guished from most of its congeners quite readily by the 
presence of a membranous ring, which often disappears 
(juite early, and which is on a stem three to five centi- 
metres long, slightly thick, cylindric, full, yellowish, 
punctated with granulations a Imrethe ring. The cap is 
convex, of a tawny yellow', or tawny brownish, some- 
times stained with reddish lines, eight to ten centimetres 
in size, covered in wet seasons by a viscid matter; the 
tubes are small, round, sometimes sub-decurrent, of a 
dark yellow. It resembles B. granulatvs, but the latter 
has no membranous ring. 
Curtis classes it among his edible species, though I)c 
Cand. forbids its use—in which Roques coincides. Letel- 
lier says it is indigestible ; he gave one hundred and fifty 
grammes to a cat, which caused vomiting. Lenz affirms 
that it is largely consumed in Bohemia, and Cordier adds, 
“ Je I'ai mange, et I’ai troure bon.” 
Boletus castaneu8.—X. C.; Curtis, edible. This is en- 
tirely of a chestnut or brown-red color, with the excep- 
tion of the tubes which are first milk-white, then yellow- 
ish, and the borders of the cap which are sometimes 
yellowish. The cap is at first convex, then nearly flat, five 
to seven centimetres in size, with a velvety look. The 
tubes are short, the orifice of small size. The stem soft, 
spongy, then hollow, cylindrical, often swollen and fis- 
sured at the base, rarely straight. Cordier says that the 
flesh is soft, like cotton, of an agreeable taste, does not 
change color, and is edible. 
Boletus edulis. Bull.—Esculent bolete, ceps ; woods and 
pastures, under oaks, summer and autumn ; Carolina to 
Pa. ; II. W. R. It rises to a height of fifteen to twenty 
centimetres. The stem is thick, full, cylindric, some- 
times swollen at the base, and then shorter, whitish, yel- 
low or clear tawny, reticulated. The cap is thick, convex. 
glabrous, moist in wet weather, fifteen centimetres and 
more in size, of a dull yellow, brown, reddish or ashen- 
brown, or even whitish, with tubes lengthened, small, at 
first white, then of a pale or greenish-yellow. The flesh 
is thick, of a white or yellowish color, sometimes with a 
wine tint under the skin, not changing when the plant is 
broken. 
The taste is agreeable; no smell. This plant was 
well known among the Romans ; is one of the most valu- 
able articles of food, much eaten in Europe, and un- 
deservedly neglected in this country, as it abounds in sea- 
sons when others are scarce. It resembles closely in taste 
the common mushroom, and is quite as delicate. Roques, 
W. G. Smith, and authors generally, give full directions 
for its preparation. “ Whether boiled, stewed with salt, 
pepper and butter, fried or roasted with onions and but- 
ter, this species proves itself one of the most delicious 
and tender objects of food ever submitted to the operation 
of cooking ” (Smith). Cordier says it can be eaten raw, 
and is of frequent use as a food and as a seasoning in the 
279 Fungi. 
Fungi. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
south of France. Dr. Thore advised that this species be 
cultivated like the meadow agaric : An oak wood is wa- 
tered with water in which a large quantity of this species 
is boiled; taking care to keep out horses, hogs, and 
horned animate, which are fond of this fungus. 
Polyporus suaveolens, L.—Sweet-scented polyporus; New 
York (H. W. Ravenel). It is an oak fungus, rather 
soft, downy, at first snow'-wliite changing to a bistre 
tint, and zoned, with the cap convex, sessile, attached 
laterally ; it can reach as high as thirty to forty centi- 
metres in diameter and three to five in thickness. The 
pores are lengthened, large, irregular, rounded, some- 
times unequally prominent, at first white, then of a white 
slightly reddish color. The flesh is white. 
Roques regarded it as of great value as an article of 
food. A powder with honey has been much used against 
excessive sweating in phthisis. The odor is like vanilla 
and anise, and Cordier says that it is sufficiently persist- 
ent and delicious to be used as a perfume. 
Polyporus sulphurous, Bull.—Sulphur-colored polypo- 
rus ; on trunks of trees ; common in summer; S. C. to 
Pa.; Curtis, edible. The top is of a yellow citron inclined 
to reddish, under surface sulphur-yellow, chamois color 
when growing old, glabrous, undulated, irregular sessile, 
attached by its side ; it may reach thirty to forty centi- 
metres in size. The pores, very short, with orifices ex- 
tremely small and difficult to be seen, emitting at maturity 
a very abundant, white seminal powder. It is sometimes 
imbricated and forms tufts. The flesh is yellowish, 
slightly raw and acrid to the taste. It becomes friable 
and discolored when old. 
It is employed to stain in yellow. Paulet ate it with- 
out inconvenience and found it good. It soon becomes 
too leathery. Cordier says a specimen was found perfectly 
luminous on an old oak in the Bois de Boulogne. 
Polyporus frondosus, Fr.—Turnip polypore ; on roots 
of oaks ; September and October ; S. C. to Pa.; II. W. R. 
(See Plate XII. Fig. 13.) This enormous mushroom is 
formed 1>}T the reunion of a large number of heads, im- 
bricated, divided, from four to six centimetres in size, 
lobed, reddish, slightly fissured or tuberculous on the 
upper surface, of a grayish brown. The pores are very 
minute, irregular, whitish, same as the trunk from which 
springs the cap. 
“Smell like that of wine, esculent.” The flesh is 
nearly white. It sometimes attains a "weight of thirty 
pounds or more ; and Woodward found a mass two feet 
broad. Its good qualities have been much lauded. Curtis 
does not cite it as edible ; but Cordier says that the flesh 
though coriaceous lias an agreeable taste and odor, and 
that the people in the country regard it as a happy acci- 
dent to encounter it, for one suffices as a repast for a nu- 
merous family. 
Polyporus giganteus, Pers.—Giant polyporus ; on logs ; 
October to January ; Curtis, edible. Attains an extraor- 
dinary size. Should be cooked a long time. Cordier 
makes little mention of it. 
Polyporus ovinus, Sclioeff.—N. C.; Curtis, edible. This 
is fleshy, compact, but fragile. The cap is of a pale white, 
oftener irregular, sometimes covered with little scales, 
cracks in (fry seasons. Stem short, unequal, white. 
Pores small, round, equal, of a citron white. It grows 
among pines and is of medium size, variable in form 
and color, and at a distance would be taken for an 
agaric. 
These are eaten in Germany (Roques). Cordier says it 
possesses an agreeable, almond odor ; and that Fries and 
liis companions, in their mycological excursions, ate it 
even raw. 
Polyporus confluero, Pers.—Lobster polypore; N. C.; 
edible, Curtis. Not cited by Cordier. 
Polyporus poripes, Fr.—Nut polypore; N. C.; edible, 
Curtis. Not cited by Cordier. 
Polyporus Berkeleyi, Fr.—Pepper polypore ; N. C. ; 
Curtis. In his letter to Berkeley (published in the Mono- 
graph by Dr. Tli. F. Wood, of North Carolina, on Mr. 
Curtis) the edible qualities of this species is referred to. 
No reference by Cordier. 
Hydnum imbricatum, L.—Scaly liydnum; barbe de 
bouc ; N. C.; edible, Curtis. Cap liesliy, at first rounded 
and convex, then flat and sub-umbilicated, often difform, 
eight to ten centimetres large, dark earth color, covered 
with thick scales upright, cottony, spines polished, decur- 
rent, of an ashen white ; stem, short and polished. Cor- 
dier says the flesh is firm, pale white and edible. 
Hydnum coralloides, Fr.—Moss mushroom ; X. C.; ed- 
ible, Curtis. Sessile on old trunks of living trees, at first 
white, then yellowish, resembling when young the chou- 
fleur. From its base, which is tender and fleshy, spring 
a large number of flexible branches, interlaced, and as- 
sembled in tufts, bearing upon the summit of each of their 
divisions an expansion of long points or projections, at 
first straight, then pendent, and even curved under and 
terminating in layers. Cordier says it is a delicate food. 
Ilydnum rcpandum, L.—Doe-skin mushroom; common 
hydnum ; woods ; H. W. R. has seen specimens from Ga. 
to Penn. It is scattered, or grows together, in a series, 
long or even circular, and entirely of a chamois leather, 
or pale flesh color, of middle height. The cap is fleshy, 
compact, irregular, sinuous, not zoned; the spines un- 
equal, tubular, fragile, some advancing even to the top of 
a stem, full, irregular, and almost always eccentric. The 
flesh is firm, fragile ; taste slightly bitter and a little acid. 
The awl-sliaped spines on the under surface are a charac- 
teristic feature of the genus, so Smith states, and there is 
little fear of mistake, and it “ affords a charming addition 
to the table.” Much used for food on the Continent, and 
often dried for winter use. II. coralloides, cyathiforme and 
caput medusa, all grow in the Atlantic States and are ed- 
ible (Curtis). See our Report, “Trans. Am. Med. Asso- 
ciation,” vol. vii. 
Clavaria formosa, Pers.—Coral mushroom, N. C.; Cur- 
tis, edible. (See Plate XII., Fig. 1.) The elegant clavaria, 
as it is entitled, has a trunk thick, fleshy, w hite, divided 
into thick branches, round, lengthened out, close, orange 
yelloic, or orange rose color, subdivided into little branches, 
obtuse, yellowish, collected in bundles, and ending in tw o 
or three teeth either pointed or obtuse. 
Cordier says it is found in the markets at Nice, the 
flesh being eatable, very white, and of a delicate taste. 
Clavaria fastigiata, L.—N. C.; Curtis, edible. This 
clavaria, of a yellow color, is very branching and scarcely 
three centimetres in height. The branches spring from 
a very short stem which is thin, divaricate, glabrous, dis- 
posed in obtuse bundles and terminate at the same 
height. 
Cordier places it among the edible mushrooms. Much 
used in Europe. C. botrytis also grows in South Caro- 
lina and is commonly used as an article of food in Ger- 
many. 
Clavaria coralloides, L., Hydnum coralloides Scop.— 
Goat’s beard; N. C.; edible, Curtis. (See Fig. 1360). 
This is of a white color, inclining to gray, sub-fragile, 
having a stem hollow within, quite thick, irregularly 
branched ; the branches very numerous, forming bundles 
which are unequal, close together, sharp. 
Cordier says it is eatable, even raw. The flesh is white, 
coriaceous and nourishing ; all Ihe varieties are used as 
articles of food ; the plant bears no resemblance to the 
poisonous fungi. Dr. Curtis cites thirteen edible native 
species, 
Clavaria rugosa, Bull.—Damp wood; N. C.; Curtis, 
edible. W. G. Smith recommends this, and adds, “ all 
the wliite-spored species are believed to be esculent.” 
Cordier cites it as edible. 
Morchella esculenta, L.—Common morel; earth in woods, 
S. C.; II. W. R. The stem is often cylindric, almost al- 
ways hollow within, four to five centimetres long, of a 
pale white, polished, quite thick; the cap of a rounded 
shape, ovoid, and even conical, hollowed out at the top by 
irregular polygonal cellules, of which the borders are ad- 
herent to the stem. The cap, white or grayish in its 
young state, becomes of a dirty white, then a dark bistre, 
afterward blackish, which make many varieties. 
Esteemed everywhere as a valuable article of food, 
fresh or dried ; dried it will keep for many years. W. 
G. Smith speaks of the truly exquisite flavor which it im- 
parts to gravies, and being readily dried it can be kept 
280 REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
FuiikI. 
Fn n ifi* 
for immediate use. “ It yields a delicious ketchup.” 
Cordier says “ Cist an aliment deli rat, et geniralement 
nrki rrhe." M. raroliniaiui is also edible (Curtis). 
llelnUa erie/ia, Fr.—Pallid Helvella ; S. C.; woods; 
edible, Curtis. This species, one of the largest, has the 
cap free, that is not adherent to the stem by its l>orders, 
bent on different sales, loind, and aometiuuaecen contrasted, 
the color pale white aliove, becoming reddish upon dry- 
ing, and very slightly brown below. The stem is gla- 
brous, white, fistulous, hollowed or channelled, the la- 
cunes l>cing deep and complicated. 
Smith says that if stewed slowly and with care, it will 
exude a delicious gravy ; and that it is often dried and 
threaded on strings for future use. The flesh is firm and 
white, and resembles the morel. Cordier places it among 
the edible fungi. Curtis cites four other native Helvel- 
las as eatable. 
Jjf/co/terdon borisUt, L.; Itorista gigantea, Nees.—Com- 
mon puff ball; pastures ; S. C. to Pa. (See Fig. 1373.) 
This s|iecies which acquires enormous dimensions, is al- 
ways rounded and sub-sessile. Its receptacle or jieridium 
i* white, fragile, often polished, but oftener hairy or cot- 
tony, whitish when young, then pale ochre, and finally 
brown gray. Its flesh, at first white, passes little by little 
to a greenish-yellow, then to a gray-brown, and ends by 
being converted into a mass of brown fuliqinoua powder; 
after which the peridium opens and expands at its summit 
into irregular colored circles, and soon only the base re- 
mains, of which the consistence and the lightness recalls 
that of sponge. The resit, springing from the ground, 
is extremely small. 
It possesses the odor and taste of the meadow-mush- 
room when young, but becomes disagreeable when old. 
Cordier says it furnishes an excellent food, much sought 
after in Italy ; and that when the flesh is gray an ex- 
cellent amadou can lie made from it. In Finland they 
give the dust, mixed with milk, to cattle suffering from 
diarrlnea ; and by the aid of precipitates different shades 
of brown color useful in staining are prepared. The 
puff-balls were formerly used as styptics to arrest hsemor- 
rliage—sometimes inhaled. They possess also a narcotic 
quality ; and hence the smoke was used for stupefying 
liees. 
The Borisla nignseens, Pers., and 11. plumbea, Pers., 
common in grassy fields, are cited by Curtis as edible. 
Cordier says that Hussey and Holton iioth declared them 
eatable when young. lie says they differ very slightly. 
Dr. Curtis also states that L. giganteuin is a great 
favorite with him. “ It has not the high aroma of some 
others, but it has a delicacy of tlavor that makes it 
snjK-rior to any omelette I have ever eaten. It seems, 
furthermore, to la: so digestible as to adapt it to the most 
delicate stomach. This is the Southdown of mush- 
rooms.” W. <». Smith says it should be cut up in slices, 
dipped into yolk of egg, and fried in fresh butter. The 
L. protean offers itself under a variety of aspects, and is 
probably to be classed with L. pyriforme, which is a 
native. Cordier says it is edible. 
The powder of It. nignseens is used in England to stanch 
blood. Dr. B. W. Richardson, of London, experimented 
on dogs, cats and rabbits with the powder of 1.. proteas 
which acted as an amesthetic when inhaled—a tumor 
being removed from the dog which remained insensible 
(London Medical Tinas and Gazette, June, 1858). Mr. T. 
Here path thinks the anesthesia due to the carbonic oxide 
gas generated. Dr. Adinel llewson, of Philadelphia, used 
a tincture in doses of a teas(>oonful in nervous diseases 
(“ U. S. Disp.”). The “ Nat. Dispensatory,” second edi- 
tion, 1871), cpiotes as follows, p. 882: In 18(51) Dr. Porcher 
stated, concerning L. gigantea m, that it is found in 
abundance near Charleston, particularly where the cattle 
are driven to graze. It is used sliced and fried in butter, 
or stewed in milk, like the common mushroom. A cor- 
respondent (Mr. II. W. Ravenel) wrote to him : “I, and 
a number of others have made several mealson lycopt rdon, 
and I think I have discovered in myself well-marked 
evidences of its narcotic influence, and two other experi- 
menters have described similar sensations to me. A 
case also is referred to in which a person “ had been 
seriously affected in this way by too large a meal of 
lycoperdon.” 
Lycoperdon ccelatum, Bull.—N. C.; earth and stumps ; 
Curtis. I)r. Curtis does not mention this as edible, but 
Cordier says it Inis the same properties, and may serve 
the same purposes as /.. giganteum. 
lycoperdon gemmatum, Batsch.—Common ; woods and 
fields; N. C. Dr. Curtis does not cite this as edible. 
Cordier says that it is probable that the greater number of 
these plants (vesseloups) properly speaking, are edible 
when young; Micheli indicated eleven species which 
were eaten in Florence. We should distrust them, be 
adds, when old, for it is certain that their powder thrown 
into the eye, occasions grave ophthalmias ; and that, 
breathed through the nose, they provoke violent sneezing 
and even hiemorrhage. 
Pachyma cocos, Schwein.; J.ya>i>en1on (?).—Tuekahoe ; 
Indian bread ; underground ; S. C. and N. C. ; edible, 
Curtis. It resembles bread when broken. The Indians 
used it as food, and according to Clayton it was employed 
as such in Virginia. (See report of the writer in “Am. 
Med. Assoc. Trans.,” vol. vii.) Dr. McBride, of S. C., 
made a communication on this curious plant to the New 
York Philosopli. Soc. ; for other references, see, also, our 
volume of “ Resources of the Southern Fields and For- 
ests,” p. 099, Charleston, 1809. 
Tuber cibarium, Sibth. ; Lycoperdon tuber, L.—Truffle ; 
subterranean. Mr. Ravenel lias not seen this celebrated 
plant in 8. C.; though in a letter to us, he stales that 
Schweinitz inserts it in his Syn. U. S. Fnngorum, upon 
the authority of Dr. Muhlenberg : “He says he was told 
there was an old hunter who had a dog trained to find 
them in the neighborhood of Narraganset, Pa.” It is not 
cited in Curtis’ catalogue. 
III. Poisonous Fungi.—Agaric us phaLloides, Fr.; A. 
bulbosus, Bull.—Phallus-like agaric ; common in woods ; 
August to November; Carolina to Pa.; Curtis and Ra- 
venel. (See Plate XIII., Fig. 4.) Very handsome, all parts 
nearly white, except the top, which may be a pale shade 
of yellow or green. When fresh it has a powerful, but 
not disagreeable smell; when past maturity, its odor be- 
comes almost insupportable. 
Accounted highly poisonous, especially the yellow 
variety. Orfila administered portions of A. bulbosus, of 
Bull, to a dog. In six hours, it made efforts to vomit, be- 
came extremely weak, lay down and died with convul- 
sive movements. Upon post-mortem examination the 
stomach and duodenum had livid spots on their coats. 
The tincture made by placing one plant in 3 jss. of al- 
cohol was likewise equally destructive. Exposed to in- 
tense heat the plant did not give out oxygen, as other 
vegetables do, but azote and hydrogen; “thus confirm- 
ing the almost animal nature of this species of produc- 
tion ” (M. and de L., “Diet, de Mat. Med.,” ii., 204). 
Smith represents it in his chart, and says that it is known 
to be highly dangerous. 
Agaric us mnscarius. L. FI. Suec.; Amanita mute aria, 
Grev.—Fly agaric, Fausse orange, Amanita; N. C.; 
Curtis. Sent to us from St. Johns, S. C., by Mr. 
Ravenel. (See Plate XIII., Figs. 1 and 5.) The top of 
this handsome species is more or less covered with white 
warts or excrescences, the d6bris of the volva, and on the 
under side with white lamellate gills ; it is of a deep 
yellow, or orange, but usually brilliant scarlet. If the 
skin of the top is stripped off, tlie flesh just beneath is 
seen to be a bright yellow, and the rest of the flesh white. 
The volva is incomplete, stem full, scaly, bulbous, white, 
with a collar ; leaflets white. It has a burning acrid taste, 
and a disagreeable odor (“Nat. Disp.”), but this has been 
denied (Herat, in Diet, de Mat. Met/.). The flesh of the 
edible, red-fleshed mushroom (Agaricus rubescens), turns 
reddish when bruised (Smith). 
This species derives its name from its killing flies when 
dissolved in milk ; dogs and cats also are destroyed in two 
or three hours by large doses. 
It is highly narcotic, producing in small doses intoxi- 
cation and delirium, for which purpose it is used in Earn 
sehatka ; and in larger death. For a detailed account of 
its poisonous effects, see Roques, “ Hist, des Champ. 
281 Fungi. 
Fungi. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
Comest. et Veneneux,” and for some curious particulars 
a paper by Dr. Greville, in the fourth volume Wernerian 
Trans. From the account of Dr. LangsdorfT, it appears 
that the inhabitants of the northeastern part of Asia use 
this species in the same manner as wine, arrack, brandy, 
opium, etc., are by other nations. They are collected in 
the hottest months, and hung up in the air by a string to 
dry ; some dry of themselves on the ground, and are far 
more narcotic. The usual mode of taking the fungus is 
to roll it up like a bolus, and swallow it without chew- 
ing ; which the natives say would disorder the stomach. 
It is sometimes eaten fresh in soups and sauces, and then 
loses much of its intoxicating property. One large or two 
small fungi is a common dose, to produce a pleasant in- 
toxication for a whole day, particularly if water be drunk 
after it, which augments the narcotic principle. The de- 
sired effect comes on from one or two hours after taking 
the fungus. Giddiness and drunkenness result in the 
same manner as from wine or spirits ; cheerful emotions 
of the mind are first produced, involuntary words and 
actions follow, and sometimes at last, an entire loss of con- 
sciousness. It renders some remarkably active, and 
proves highly stimulant to muscular exertion ; by too 
large a dose, violent spasmodic effects are produced. So 
very exciting to the nervous system, in many individuals 
is this fungus, that the effects are often very ludicrous: a 
person under its influence wishing to step over a straw, 
takes a stride or a jump sufficient to clear the trunk of a 
tree ; a talkative person cannot keep silence or secrets ; 
and one fond of music is perpetually singing. The most 
singular effect of the amanita, is the influence it possesses 
over the urine. It is said that from time immemorial the 
inhabitants have known that the fungus imparts an in- 
toxicating quality to that secretion, which continues for 
a considerable time after taking it. For instance, a man 
moderately intoxicated to-day, will, by the next morning, 
have slept himself sober; but (as is the custom) by taking 
a teacupful of his urine, he will be more powerfully in- 
toxicated than he was the preceding day. It is, there- 
fore, not uncommon for confirmed drunkards to preserve 
their urine as a precious liquor, against a scarcity of the 
fungus. This intoxicating property of the urine is capa- 
ble of being propagated ; for every one who partakes of 
it has his urine similarly affected. Thus with a very few 
amanitae, a party of drunkards may keep up their de- 
bauch for a week. Dr. Langsdorff mentions, that by 
means of the second person taking the urine of the first, 
the third that of the second, and so on, the intoxication 
may be propagated through five individuals. Merat states 
that in a certain dose it is not fatal, since Bulliard said 
that he had eaten more than two ounces without injury. 
Dogs and cats, however, died after taking a quantity very 
little larger. 
Dr. Poucliet, of Rouen, seems to have clearly proved 
that the poisonous property of this and the A. venenata 
“ may be entirely removed by boiling them in water.” A 
quart of water in which five plants had been boiled for 
fifteen minutes, killed a dog in eight hours; but the 
boiled fungi had no effect on two other dogs ; and a third 
which had been fed for two months on little else than 
boiled amanitae, sustained no harm (Journ. de Chern. 
Med., 322, 1839). 
See our paper in vol. vii. of “Trans, of Am. Med. 
Assoc.,” where we have quoted from several authorities, 
experiments more in detail regarding the poisonous prop- 
erties of these plants. 
Bulliard says he ate two ounces without accident; but 
M. Roques states distinctly that this plant has not its poi- 
sonous properties modified by any climate. The Czar 
Alexis lost his life by eating this mushroom, and numer- 
ous examples of its poisonous effects on man could be ad- 
duced. The acetate of ammonia presents the best means 
of relief. 
This plant possesses properties allied to those of opium 
—causing stupor and prostration. The tincture, in doses 
of forty drops, has been employed in diseases of the skin, 
and the powdered plant for dressing cancerous ulcers 
(see our Report on the Medic, and Toxicol. Properties of 
the Cryptog. Plants, cit. sup.). Amanitiue, the active 
principle, was obtained by Letellier. It is stated in the 
recent work of I. Mitchell Bruce (“ Mat. Med. and 
Therap.,” 1884) that the nitrate of muscarin, the liquid 
alkaloid, may be given in doses of one-thirtieth to one- 
third of a grain. Schmiedeberg and Koppe (1869) sepa- 
rated a poisonous alkaloid, muscarina, and examined it 
carefully. J. Lauder Brunton (“ Pharmac., Therap. and 
Mat. Med.,” Philadelphia, 1885), Sidney Ringer (“ Hand- 
book of Therap.,” sixth edition, 1878), and others, have 
also investigated its action. Great interest attaches to its 
action, says Ringer, on account of its close similarity with 
pilocarpine, and its almost complete antagonism to atro- 
pia ; it is a myotic and contracts the pupil; it excites co- 
pious emesis, perspiration, salivation and a flow of tears ; 
it increases the intestinal mucus and the biliary and pan- 
creatic secretions. Brunton found that applied to the 
heart, it would stop its pulsations completely. Atropine 
antagonizes muscarine. ‘ ‘ When the heart has been stopped 
by digitalin, muscarin and aconite will restore its move- 
ments.” It diminishes the activity of the respiratory cen- 
tre by an action on the medulla, like chloral, pliysos- 
tigmin, gelsemin, and veratrine. “When atropine is 
applied to the heart, it completely removes the effects of 
muscarine ” (Brunton). There seems to be some discord- 
ancy in the opinions of Ringer and Brunton as to its local 
action on the eye. 
Agaricus pantherinus, De C.—Panther agaric ; borders 
of woods; S. C. to Pa. (See Plate XIII., Fig. 6.) 
Christison reports from the “Annali Univ. de Med.,” 
1842, a singular form of the narcotic effects of this fun- 
gus. A boy, near Bologna, having eaten it, was seized 
with delirium, a maniacal disposition to rave, and con- 
vulsive movements. These were succeeded by a state re- 
sembling coma, in every way, except that he looked as if 
he understood what was going on ; and in point of fact 
really did so. lie recovered under the use of emetics. 
Agar ic us asper, Pers.—Rough-warted agaric ; woods ; 
June to October (A. asper of Fries); N. C. Odor strong; 
taste not unpleasant, though saltish ; poisonous according 
to Roques (“ Hist, des Champ. Yen.,” 819). 
Agaricus prints, Pers.; Agaricus roseus, Bull.—Rose 
agaric; N. and S. C. According to Krapf it is ex- 
tremely dangerous. It is distinguishable by its taste and 
odor which is like that of radishes. (“Crypt, of Eng- 
land.”) Paulet did not discover any sensible effect when 
experimenting with it. 
Agaricus reruns, I). C.,Fr.; Agaricus bulbosus reruns, 
Buli.—Spring Agaric, Orange cigue; August and Sep- 
tember ; N. C.; common in woods; Curtis. Its resem- 
blance to the edible mushrooms has been the cause of 
the most unfortunate results. It is white in every part. 
Instead of having a simple collar extending from the 
borders of the cap to the upper part of the stem, when 
young it has a complete volva, of the same color, which 
envelops it from the root and covering the cap. The 
trace of the volva also distinguishes it from the edible 
species. The stem is swollen and hollow ; not so in the 
edible. The poisonous plant exhales a disagreeable odor, 
and has an acrid taste, which is not observed in the edible. 
The lames or leaflets of the poisonous plant are always 
white, while those of the other are slightly rose, or violet 
colored. The skin peels with difficulty, while in the 
edible (Boletus edulis) it peels easily. All the varieties of 
the bulbous agaric of Bulliard contain a very deleterious 
fatty matter. 
Paulet administered to a vigorous dog a pate of this 
plant in doses of three drachms. In six hours he made 
efforts to vomit, his limbs became feeble, lay down, and 
after some convulsive movements, died. The stomach 
and duodenum exhibited livid spots, and the whole in- 
testinal canal was filled with yellow mucus. The oesopha- 
gus and kidneys were in a natural state. Roques quotes 
from Paulet, his report of the case of M. Benoit, his wife, 
her daughter and infant, which wTe think interesting 
enough to insert. At six o’clock in the evening they ate 
of this plant (Amanita printanier), which was gathered 
in the woods near Boulogne. On the next day they suf- 
fered from nausea, anxiety, and frequent faintings. On 
giving to the father and the child milk, ether, and a strong 
282 Fu ngl. 
Fungi. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIEXCES. 
dose of an emetic, abundant vomiting was induced. They 
were u|x>n the point of giving the same to the mother, 
when she suffered from a flow of blood and continued 
prostration. The child was nearly dead when I)r. Paulet 
arrived. The father was found in a state of permanent 
anxiety and stupor; his stomach was tense, extremities 
cold, and pulse weak and intermitting. His whole body 
was livid, and he died a few minutes after. The mother 
vomited abundantly ; her complexion was pale and ca- 
daverous, and there was constant weakness and anxiety. 
Upon giving an ordinary purgative, after two or three 
hours she evacuated portions of the plant, and an abun- 
dance of yellow mucus. She took the milk with orange- 
flower water and a few drops of ether, which gave much 
relief. The next day she was purged and the uterine flow 
was arrested. There was weakness and oppression existing 
for some time, and she suffered from pains in the head 
for six months. Other cases we have translated from 
Roques and Inserted in the “Report to the Am. Med. 
Assoc.,” vol. vii. 
Cases related by Paulet, in which there was stupor 
and dilatation of pupil, were much benefited by the pur- 
gative treatment. Roques thinks the indication is to 
relieve the gastro intestinal inflammation by leeching, 
mucilaginous and oily drinks, and topical demulcents. 
Smith represents it in his chart. 
Agaricus mruginosus.—Verdigris mushroom ; earth and 
wcxxl; middle N. C.; Curtis. Represented in Smith’s 
chart as doubtless poisonous. It is a handsome fungus, 
and the green slime is easily washed off. 
AgariciiH pusilus, I). C., Fr.—N. C. Rcxpies says of 
this beautiful little mushroom, which grows in woods 
and gardens, that it approaches too near the poisonous 
species to lx: edible. 
Agaricut semiglobatus, Pers.—Slimy-dung mushroom, 
rich meadows and dung-hills ; rich meadow ; S. C. to Pa. 
De Candolle places all the coprins among the poisonous 
fungi. Their characteristics, tenuity, and rapid alteration 
are sufficient to proscrilx: them. Smith figures it in his 
chart among the poisonous species. 
Agarirusfascicularis.—Bundled stump-mushroom; com- 
monin X. C'urtis. Occurs in groups around old stumps; 
stem hollow, gills greenish ; taste bitter. Smith’s chart. 
Agaricus emeticus, Schoeff; Agaricus pectinaceus, Bull.— 
Common gilled agaric; very common; woods; II. W. 
R.; S. C. All the varieties are jxnsouous. 
Agaricus sanguineus, Fr.—Common ; damp woods ; 
Curtis. It is even more poisonous than the .1. emeticus, 
hence requires attention so as not to confound it with the 
eatable russules. 
Agaricus sulphurous, Bull.—Brimstone agaric ; woods ; 
N. C. Included in Smith’s chart. Has a disagreeable, 
penetrating smell like “gas tar.” Poisonous. 
Agaricus rolmceus. Bull.—X. ('. ; Schw. Bracouuot 
found in this, gelatine, albumen, a large quantity of 
phosphate of potash, and adipocirc, which show some- 
thing of an animal nature. 
rUyjmrusfomentarius and ignarius, L.—Amadou-tinder; 
N. C., S. C., and elsewhere; 11. W. R. These plants 
grow on oak, birch, willow, cherry, and plum trees, 
and both are used to make amadou. See our Report, 
vol. vii., Am. Med. Assoc. 
Agaricus subbiteritius.—Olivc-gilled mushroom ; com- 
mon on and around stumps; A. C. ; C’urtis. W. G. 
Smith includes this in his chart of poisonous species, hut 
only charges it with having a disagreeable smell. 
ftussxda fietcns.—Fetid mushroom ; X. C. ; Curtis. 
Smith says it is much eaten by slugs, and has an in- 
sufferable odor, and must lx: deleterious. 
llussnia emetica.—Emetic mushroom ; common in all 
parts of X. C. ; woods ; C'urtis. Included in Smith’s 
chart. He describes the skin as scarlet, and easily peeled 
off, the pink flesh displayed beneath is its great charac- 
teristic ; the gills are pure white and do not reach the 
stem ; the top is highly polished, and varies from scarlet 
and crimson to a faint rose color, and may be shaded 
with purple ; supposed to lx: very dangerous. 
CanthareUus aurantiacus.—False chantarelle ; woods ; 
N. C. ; C’urtis. Smith includes this in his chart, aud 
says it is known by its smaller size, its gills lading far 
thinner and more crowded than in the true chantarelle ; 
the stem frequently deep amber at the base, and the gills, 
or veins, darker than the top. 
Hygrophorua coni run. — Red-juice mushroom ; grassy 
lands ; N. Curtis. It turns purple-black when bruised, 
broken or old, with a strong and forbidding odor. It is 
not infrequently a brilliant yellow or deep orange, in place 
of crimson or scarlet (Smith’s chart). 
Ctathnu cancdlatua.—Trellised clatlirus, stink horn ; 
common on refuse heaps; N. C.; Curtis. A very beau- 
tiful species, but exhaling in its mature state a most of- 
fensive fetor (Smith's chart). 
Panua atyptieua.—Common on stumps; N. C.; Curtis. 
Smith thinks it “ had better be avoided.” 
Lucturius tonninoaua.— Griping milk-mushroom; in 
woods; N. C.; Curtis. Known by the hairy margin of 
the top, which is rolled inward. The milk which ex- 
udes when the plant is broken is acrid, and does not 
change color as does the edible lactarius (L. delicit>au»). 
Luctariua acris.—Pungent milk-mushroom ; woods ; X. 
C.; Curtis. An acrid and dangerous species. When cut 
or broken the flesh and white milk change to a dull- 
sienna red ; this distinguishes it from all other mush- 
rooms ; the change is very slow. 
Boletus luridua, Scliocff ; Boletus pemicioaua, Roques.— 
Poisonous boletus; woods; common, X'. C. to Pa.; Cur- 
tis and Ravenel. (See Plate XIII., Fig. 2.) Very deleteri- 
ous. B. peruicioaua of Roques is highly poisonous to cats. 
The dog suffers, but seems endowed with a power of 
overcoming the activity of these poisons. In cases where 
men were poisoned, Roques found opium useful. (See 
our Report “ Trans. Am. Med. Assoc.,” vol. vii., for fuller 
details.) Smith considers it probably poisonous, but has 
known it to be eaten without fatal effects. It is a very 
handsome species, the prevailing tint being amber, re- 
lieved on the under surface by bright red, sometimes ap- 
proaching to crimson, or even vermilion ; when bruised, 
it changes color to blue (Smith). 
Boletus autanaa.—N. C.; H. W. R. Smith represents it 
in his chart, and as the most splendid of all the boleti. 
The top is nearly white, very fleshy; the stem is firm, 
exquisitely colored, and reticulated ; the under surface, 
brilliant crimson. It attains a large size, and if bruised 
changes to blue. It derived its name, as Mr. Ravenel 
informs us, to “brand its diabolical attempt on the life 
of the botanist who first tried its eatable qualities.” 
Boletus felleus.— Ritter tube mushroom; banks and 
thickets, N. C.; Curtis. The bitter taste, flesli-colored 
tubes, flesh color of tops when broken, the reticulated 
stem and pink spores distinguish it. 
PhaUus impudicua, L.—N. C. to Pa.; II. W. R. (See 
Fig. 1374.) Dried on an iron plate to take out the nau- 
seous odor it has great remedial powers to allay pain, 
especially in renal diseases ; given in the form of powder 
or tincture ; notwithstanding its indescribably loathsome 
odor, it has been eaten. 
We have thought that it would add materially to the 
value of this paper to introduce the names of all the spe- 
cies cited by Curtis in his “ Catalogue," as edible ; many 
of which, as was stated, he had tested, lie also gives the 
localities where found : lower, middle, and upper coun- 
ties, etc. 
Agaricus casarim, Scop.: Common; in oak forests. 
A. strobiliformis, Vitt.: Common; in woods. 
A. rubescens, Pers.: Lower; damp woods. These three 
belong to the “ Amanita ” family. 
A. jrrocerus, Scop.: Common ; woods and fields. 
A. rachodes, Vitt.: Middle ; base of stumps and trees. 
A. excoriatus, Fr.: Middle; grassy lauds. 
A. maatoideus, Fr.: Common; woods. 
A. meUeus, Valil.: Common ; about stumps and logs. 
A. Russula, Schaeff.: Lower ; among leaves in woods. 
A. frumentaceus, Bull.: Middle: pine woods. 
A. lnjfxypithyus, M. A. C.: Middle; pine logs. 
A. Columhetta, Fr.: Middle (Schw.); woods. 
A. castus, M. A. C.: Middle : grassy old fields. 
A. albellus, I). C.: Middle; damp woods. 
283 Fungi. 
Fungus Foot. 
REFERENCE HANDBOOK OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
A. consociatus, M. A. C.: Middle; pine woods. 
A. personatus, Fr.: Lower and middle ; near rotten logs. 
A. nebidaris, Batsch.: Middle (Schw.); damp woods. 
A. odorus, Bull.: Middle (Schw.); woods. 
A. yiganteus, Sow.: Middle (Scliw.); borders of pine 
woods. 
A. cespitosus, M. A. C.: Common ; base of stumps. 
A. radicatus, Bull.: Common ; woods. 
A. esculentus, Jacq.: Middle (Schw.); dense woods. 
A. ulmariw, Sow.: Middle (Scliw.) ; dead trunks. 
A. tesselatus, Bull.: Middle (Schw.); pine trunks. 
A. Pometi, Fr.: Middle ; carious wood. 
A. glandti'losus, Bull.: Middle (Schw.); dead trunks. 
A. ostreatus, .Jacq.: Middle (Schw.); dead trunks. 
A. salignus, Pers.: Common ; on trunks and stumps. 
A. bombicinus, Schaeff.: Lower and middle ; earth, and 
carious wood. 
A. specioxus, Fr.: Lower; grassy land. 
A. Prunulus, Scop.: Lower and middle ; damp woods. 
A. squarrosus, Mull.: Middle (Schw.); oak stumps. 
A. mutcdjUis, Schaeff.: Middle (Schw.) ; trunks. 
A. campestins, L.: Common ; fields and pastures. 
A. arvensis, Schaeff.: Common ; fields and pastures. 
A. amygckdinus, 31. A. C.: Common; rich grounds, 
woods and lanes. 
A. cretaceus, Fr.: Common; earth and wood. 
A. sylmticus, Schaeff.: Lower and middle ; woods. 
Coprinus comatus, Fr. : Lower and middle; in stable 
yards. 
C. atramentarius, Bull.: Middle ; manured ground. 
Cortinarius violaceus, Fr.: Middle (Schw.) ; woods. 
C. cinnamomeus, Fr.: Common ; earth and wood. 
C. castaneus Fr.: Common ; earth in woods. 
PaxiUus inwlutus, Fr. : Lower and middle; sandy 
woods. 
Jlygrophorus eburneus, Fr.: Middle (Schw.); woods. 
II. pratensis, Fr.: Middle (Schw.); hill-sides. 
Lactarius insidsm, Fr.: .Middle ; woods. 
L. piperatus, Fr.: Common ; dry woods. 
L. deliciosus, Fr.: Lower and middle ; pine woods. 
L. volemus, Fr.: Common ; woods. 
L. subduleis, Fr.: Common ; damp grounds. 
L. angustmimus, Lascli.: Common ; thin woods. 
Russula lepida, Fr.: Lower ; pine woods. 
R. xirescens, Fr.: Middle (Schw.); woods. 
R. alutacea, Fr.: Common ; woods. 
Cantharellus cibarius, Fr.: Common; woods. 
Marasmius oreades, Fr.: Middle (Schw.); hill-sides. 
M. scorodoneus, Fr.: Middle (Schw.); decaying vegeta- 
tion. 
Boletus luteus, L.: Middle (Schw.) ; pine woods. 
B. elegans, Fr.: Lower ; earth in woods. 
B. flacidus, Fr.: Common ; damp woods. 
B. coUinitus, Fr.: Middle and upper ; pine woods. 
B. granulatus, L.: Common; woods and fields. 
B. bovinus, L.: Common ; pine woods. 
B. subtomentosus, L.: Common ; earth in woods. 
B. edulis, Bull.: Middle (Schw.); woods. 
B. rersipedis, Fr.: Middle; woods. 
B. scaber, Bull.: Middle and lower; sandy woods. 
B. castaneus, Bull.: Middle (Schw.); woods. 
Polyporus leucomelas, Fr.: .Middle ; woods. 
P. ovinus, Schaeff.: Lower and middle; earth in 
woods. 
P. ponpes, Fr.: Middle and upper ; wooded ravines. 
P. froudosus, Fr.: Common ; earth and base of stumps. 
P. cristatus, Fr.: Middle (Schw.); pine woods. 
P. confluens, Fr.: Lower and middle ; pine woods. 
P. giganteus, Fr.: Lower and middle ; base of stumps. 
P. sulphureus, Fr.: Common ; trunks and logs. 
P. Berkeleii, Fr.: Middle and upper; woods. 
Fistidirui liepatica, Fr.: Upper; base of trunks and 
stumps. 
Hydnum imbricatum, L.: Middle and upper; earth in 
woods. 
//. subsquamosum, Batsch.: Common ; damp woods. 
H. Icevigatum, Swartz.: Lower; pine woods. 
II. repandum, T>.: Common ; woods. 
II rufescens, Schaeff.; .Middle (Scliw.); woods. 
II. coralloides, Scop.: Common ; side of trunks. 
II. Caput-Medusa, Bull.: Common ; trunks and logs. 
Sparassis crispa, Fr.: Upper; earth. 
8. laminosa, Fr.: Lower ; oak log. 
Clacaria flava, Fr.: Common ; earth in woods. 
C. botritis, Pers.: Common ; earth in woods. 
C. fustigiata, L.: Middle (Schw.); grassy places. 
C. musroides, L.: Middle (Schw.); grassy places. 
C. tetragona, Schw.: Middle (Schw.); damp woods. 
C. cristata, Holmsk.; Middle and upper ; damp woods. 
C. rugosa, Bull.: Middle (Schw.); damp woods. 
C. fuliginea, Pers.: Lower and middle ; shady woods. 
C. macropus, Pers.: Middle (Schw.); earth. 
C. subtilis, Pers.: Middle (Schw.) ; shaded banks. 
C. pyxidata, Pers.: Common; rotten wood. 
C. aurea, Schaeff.: Common ; earth in wyoods. 
C. formosa, Pers.: Common ; earth in woods. 
Tremella mesenterial, Betz.: Common ; on bark. 
Lycoperdon Bovista, L.: Common ; grassy lands. 
Bovista nigrescens, Pers.: Common ; grassy fields. 
B. plumbea, Pers.: Common ; grassy fields. 
Morchella esculenta, Pers.: (Morel.) Common; earth in 
woods. 
M. Caroliniana, Bose.: Middle; earth in woods. 
1lelceUa crispa, Fr.: Lower; pine woods. 
II. lacunosa, Afz.: Lower.; near rotten logs. 
II. sulcata, Afz.: Middle (Schw.) ; shady woods. 
II. Inf ala, Schaeff.: Middle (Schw.); earth and pine 
logs. 
Pachyma cocos, Fr. (Tuckahoe).: Lower and middle ; 
under ground. 
Bibliography. 
We insert references to a few only of the many books and pamphlets 
which may prove useful to the reader. In the catalogue of the library 
of the Surgeon-General, Washington, can be found numerous references. 
Precis de Botanique et de Physiologic Veg6tale, orn6 de vignettes, etc. 
Par A. Richard, Membre de l’Institut. etc. Paris, 1862. 
Plantes Usuelles, par Joseph Itoques. Paris, 18.38, vol. iv., containing the 
Edible and Poisonous Fungi: also his Histoire des Champignons Comes- 
tibles et Venoneux. Elegantly illustrated. 
Les Champignons : Histoire—Description—Culture—Usages des Especes 
Comestibles—Veneneuses—Suspectes, etc. Par F. S. Cordier. With 
sixty chromo-lithographs. 4th edition. Paris, 1876. 
Botanique Cryptogamique, ou Histoire des Families Naturelles des Plantes 
Inforicures. Par I. Payer, Docteur es-sciences. etc. Avec 1,105 gra- 
vures sur bois. Paris, 1850. Victor Masson. 
Des Champignons: guide indispensable, leur culture artificielle, etc. 
Pamphlet with woodcuts. Pp. 75. Par Larny. Chainberv, 1866. 
Mushrooms and Toadstools : How to distinguish easily the differences be- 
tween edible and poisonous fungi. With Lwo large sheets containing 
figures of twenty-nine edible, and thirty-one poisonous, species, drawn 
the natural size, and colored from living specimens. By Worthington 
(i. Smith, F.L.S. 2d edition. London : 11. Hardwick, 1!>2 Piccadilly. 
1875. 
Mushrooms of America, Edible and Poisonous. Edited by Julius A. 
Palmer, Jr. Published by L. Prang & Co., Boston, 1885. Colored 
plates. 
Geological & Natural History Survey of North Carolina. Part III.. 
Botany, containing a catalogue of the indigenous and naturalized 
plants of the State. By Rev. M. A. Curtis, D.D., etc. Raleigh, 1867. 
Fungi Caroliniani Exsiccati. Five Fasciculi, one hundred specimens each. 
By H. W. Ravenel, of Aiken, S. C. John Russell, Charleston. 
The Medicinal, Poisonous, and Dietetic Properties of the Cryptognmic 
Plants of the United Stated. A report made to the American Medi- 
cal Association (also reprint from its Transactions, vol. vii.). By 
F. Peyre Porcher, M.D. New York : Baker, Godwin A Co., 1854. 
Edible Mushrooms of this Country. Read before Aiken Vine Growing 
and Horticultural Association, South Carolina. By H. W. Ravenel. 
Robinson : On Mushroom Culture. London, 1870. 
Cuthill: On the Cultivation of the Mushroom, 1861. 
Abercrombie : The Garden Mushroom ; its culture etc. 1802. 
The Patent Office Reports, 1854, contain papers on the cultivation of the 
garden mushroom from Armstrong, Loudon, and others. 
Paper by the writer, on Cultivation of Fungi, in Resources of the Southern 
Fields and Forests. 2d edition. Charleston, I860. 
F. Peyre Poixher. 
MiWGUS FOOT OF INDIA. Thisliamthasbeeprflfen 
to a pectHiiireiidemic disease, called also “ 3bjjl*ffa Foot,” 
“ etc., to a 
considerable India, cases have 
been reported as and in the United 
States. It appears in Europe. 
The disease i& swelling, 
occur ringtMiuaJJflHii one foot, the hand or 
arm, case in the shoulder, tog?rti4jrwith the 
Inrmymm of blebs or tubercles upon the surfa??*>4jdiich 
Wome the point of exit of sinuses penetrating to*>k^ 
284 Rbferencf. Handbook, 
of THE 
Medical Sciences 
PLATE XII 
EDIBLE FUNGI. 
( FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS MADE BY THE RtV. CHARLES I. CURTIS OF NORTH CAROLINA.) 
M. BCNCKE, LITH N Y. Reference Handbook 
of THE 
Medical Sciences 
PLATE XIII. 
( FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS MADE BY THE RtV CHARLES I. CURTIS OF NORTH CAROLINA.) 
POISONOUS FUNGI. 
H BENCKC, LITM N. V