The common mushroom, or champignon, (_Agaricus Campestris_) has been
long esteemed an article of epicurean delicacy; and is eaten in its
fresh state either stewed or boiled; and as a preserve, in the form of
pickle or powder. Its juice, moreover, furnishes the sauce so well known
by the name of _ketchup_,[463] or _catsup_. _Mr. Miller_ informs us that
the true eatable mushroom may be easily distinguished from the poisonous
and unpleasant species by the following characters. “When young, it
appears of a roundish form, smooth, like a button; which together with
its stalk, is white, especially the fleshy part of the button; the gills
within, when broken, are livid. As it grows larger, it expands its head
by degrees into a flat form; the gills underneath are at first of a pale
flesh-colour, but become blackish on standing.” There are besides a vast
number of species which may be eaten with perfect impunity; the Agaricus
_Procerus_, or tall mushroom, is sometimes exposed for sale in Covent
Garden market, and is quite harmless; although, when preserved in
pickle, it is very apt to run into the vinous fermentation. With equal
safety the Agaricus _Pratensis_, or Scotch bonnet, as it has been
called, may be eaten; it occurs in those patches which are well known by
the popular name of _fairy rings_. The Agaricus _deliciosus_ is
considered by _Withering_ to have been the mushroom which formed the
vehicle of poison to _Claudius Cæsar_, as related at page 134 of this
volume, and which has been celebrated by the satiric pen of _Juvenal_,
and the epigrammatic muse of _Martial_; a species of mushroom, observes
_Withering_ which is still highly esteemed in modern Italy, as it was in
ancient Rome. _Schæfer_ and _Clusius_, however, consider the plant in
question to have been the Agaricus _Xerampelinus_, a species which
although esculent, has a strong, and by no means an agreeable flavour.
The common champignon has never, as far as we can learn, produced any
mischief, although a popular opinion prevails that soil, shade, and
other local circumstances, may render it virulent. If any unpleasant
symptoms were to follow its ingestion, we should be inclined to regard
them as the result of the peculiar idiosyncrasy of the individual,
rather than as the consequence of an _absolute_ poison; indeed a
question has been raised how far such an explanation may not apply to
all the cases of poisoning from this tribe of plants; for it has been
observed that in many parts of Europe several of those species of
mushroom are eaten with impunity, that are regarded by us as most
virulent poisons; of this number we may reckon the Agaricus _Piperatus_,
or _Pepper Agaric_, which is eaten in great quantity by the Russians,
who fill large vessels with them in the autumn, seasoning or pickling
them with salt, and then eating them in the ensuing lent.[464] There is,
however, too much direct evidence in favour of the existence of an acrid
poison in certain _Agarics_, to allow the supposition of their being
_relative_[465] in their operation, as exemplified in the history of the
_Agaricus Muscarius_, or _Bugagaric_, which is so called from its power
in destroying these insects; and for which purpose the inhabitants of
the north of Europe infuse it in milk, and set it in their windows. It
constitutes the _Mouchomore_ of the Russians, Kamtschadales, and
Koriars, who use it for the sake of intoxication; upon some occasions
they eat it dry, but generally it is steeped in a liquor made with the
_Epilobium Angustifolium_; upon drinking which, they are seized with
convulsions in all their limbs, followed by raving delirium: an effect
which renders it a desirable potation[466] to those who intend to
accomplish any desperate act, or premeditated assassination. It is also
stated that those who drink the urine of persons intoxicated by this
agaric, experience the effects of the mushroom. _Withering_,[467] who
has been very assiduous in the display of this species, acknowledges ten
varieties, all of which are natives of Britain. The _Agaricus
Semi-globalus_ of this botanist, and which is identical with the A.
_Glutinosus_ of Curtis, is extremely poisonous, and has proved fatal in
several instances in this country. There are a great many other species
equally destructive, but notwithstanding the labour that has been
bestowed upon this branch of natural knowledge, much remains to be
explained. The ancients appear to have taken considerable pains in
discriminating between esculent and poisonous fungi; among the moderns,
_Clusius_ has furnished a mass of information. _Withering_ has described
with great botanical minuteness and accuracy the different species and
varieties of this extensive genus of the cryptogamia; but he has failed
in pointing out the poisonous, from the esculent and harmless species.
_Orfila_, in his late lessons on Poisons,[468] has bestowed considerable
labour with a view to establish a practical distinction, and has
enriched his work with highly illustrative engravings. Upon the present
occasion, it is scarcely necessary to observe, that it would be foreign
to the plan of this work to enter into such botanical details as the
full elucidation of this subject would require; the research would, in
itself, occupy a quarto volume; we must therefore rest satisfied with
general observations. The following indications should excite a
suspicion of mushrooms. A marshy and shady locality; an ugly or lurid
physiognomy; a glairy or moist surface; a change of colour when cut, and
a soft, porous, and moist texture; a virulent smell; a bright colour, or
a combination of distinct colours. We ought also to reject as dangerous
all those which have bulbous and soft stems, or which have fragments of
skin glued to their surface.
_Symptoms of poisoning by Mushrooms._
Exhilaration of spirits, laughter, vertigo, sickness, griping pains,
vomiting, and purging, suffusion of the eyes, stupor, cold sweats,
syncope, convulsions, death. Numerous records of sickness and death
might be adduced in illustration of this subject. The celebrated
musician, _Schobert_, and, with the exception of one child, his whole
family, together with a friend and a physician who dined with him, were
all fatally poisoned by a dish of mushrooms, which he had himself
gathered in the fields of Saint Gervais, a village in the environs of
Paris. It is not known to what species the plants belonged. In the
_Gazette de Santé_, for August 1812, we have the following narrative.
“_M. Dufour_, a physician of Montargis, gathered in the neighbouring
forest some mushrooms, which were stripped of their skin, and their
stem, cut into pieces, and cooked in their juice with butter and fine
herbs, under a camp oven. They were served up at table. The servant
girl, aged twenty years, who had eaten the greatest quantity, very
shortly complained of confusion of the head, giddiness, and a slight
heaving of the stomach; her face was red and inflamed, the eyes starting
and lively, the pulse full and undulating. The eldest daughter of _M.
Dufour_ experienced the same symptoms without any nausea. A little
child, eighteen months old, that had only eaten some bread dipped in the
gravy, slept quietly for sixteen hours, contrary to his usual custom,
and exhibited no other remarkable phenomenon. The other child, aged
eleven years, complained of confusion of the head and intoxication; the
parents did not experience any ill effects. Upon investigation it was
discovered that two mushrooms of the _Agaricus Muscarius_, having been
confounded with the proper one, had entered into the composition of the
dish.”
Amongst the cases which have occurred in this country, we may
particularize that related by _Mr. E. Brande_, in the third volume of
the _London Medical and Physical Journal_, p. 41, “J. S. gathered early
in the morning of the third of October, in the Green Park, what he
supposed to be small mushrooms; these he stewed with the common
additions in a _tinned iron_[469] saucepan. The whole did not exceed a
tea-saucer full, which he, and four of his children ate the first thing,
about eight o’clock in the morning, as they frequently had done without
any bad consequence; they afterwards took their usual breakfast of tea,
&c., which was finished about nine, when _Edward_, one of the children
(eight years old) who had eaten a large proportion of the fungi, was
attacked with fits of immoderate laughter, nor could the threats of his
father or mother restrain him. To this succeeded vertigo, or stupor; the
pupils of his eyes were, at times, dilated to nearly the circumference
of the cornea, and scarcely contracted at the approach of a strong
light; his breathing was quick, his pulse very variable, at times
imperceptible, at others too frequent and small to be counted, latterly
very languid; his feet were cold, livid, and contracted; he sometimes
pressed his hands on different parts of his abdomen, as if in pain, but
when roused and interrogated respecting it, he answered yes, or no,
evidently without any relation to what was asked. About the same time
the father, aged forty, was attacked with vertigo, and complained that
every thing appeared black, then wholly disappeared; to this succeeded
loss of voluntary motion and stupor; in about ten minutes he gradually
recovered, but complained of universal numbness and coldness, with great
dejection, and a firm persuasion that he was dying; in a few minutes he
relapsed, but recovered as before, and had several similar fits during
three or four hours, each succeeding one being less violent, and with
longer intermission than that preceding. _Harriet_, twelve years old,
who had eaten but a very small quantity, was also attacked at the time
with slight vertigo. _Charlotte_, a delicate little girl, ten years of
age, who had eaten a considerable quantity, was suddenly attacked in the
presence of _Dr. Burges_ and myself, with vertigo and loss of voluntary
motion. _Martha_, aged eighteen, who had eaten a small proportion, was
attacked with similar symptoms.” By judicious treatment they all
recovered. Upon investigation _Mr. Sowerby_ determined the mushroom to
have been a variety of the A. _glutinosus_ of Curtis (_Flora
Londinensis_) the same with _Dr. Withering’s_ A. _semi-globatus_; and
yet no notice of its deleterious properties is taken by either of these
botanists.
A less fortunate case of poisoning by _Fungi_ is related in the
twentieth volume of the same journal by _Mr. Parrott_, surgeon of
Mitcham, of which the following is a sketch. The subject of the history
was a family of six persons, viz. _William Attwood_, ætat. 45; _Eliza_,
his wife, 38; and their daughters, _Mary_, æt. 14; _Hannah_, 11;
_Sarah_, 7; _Eliza_, 5. They all ate stewed champignons, at one o’clock,
on Monday the 10th of October, which stew was made in an iron vessel,
and consisted of the articles already mentioned with the addition of
butter and flour, pepper, salt, and water only; and each of the parties
(_Hannah_ excepted) was supposed to have eaten more than half a pint.
Within ten minutes after they had eaten their meal, they felt their
spirits exhilarated, and the eldest daughter said to her mother “_how
funny you look_.” All the parties continued cheerful till about six
o’clock, when having taken their tea, they were attacked with stupor,
which was soon succeeded, by severe pains in the bowels, accompanied
with violent vomiting, and copious purging, which continued till the
following afternoon, when the parents became alarmed and sent for the
surgeon. The treatment which was pursued appears to have been, in every
respect, judicious, and _Mary_ had so far recovered on the following day
(Wednesday) that she walked into the village about a quarter of a mile
from home; in the evening, however, the symptoms returned; on Thursday
evening she became convulsed, and died on Friday morning at two o’clock.
_Eliza_ did not complain much of her sufferings, but became convulsed at
the same time as her sister, and died half an hour after her. _Sarah_
never complained of pain in the head, but was continually suffering
under extreme pain in the bowels, which was aggravated by pressure, but
no tension existed; she died on Saturday morning, in the same convulsed
state as her sisters. A dog which had partaken of the stew died on the
Wednesday night, apparently in great agony. The father recovered, the
mother, who was two months advanced in pregnancy, miscarried, but
ultimately became convalescent. _Mr. Wheeler_, of St. Bartholomew’s
hospital, a gentleman who has been long known to the profession as an
eminent botanist, no sooner heard of the event than he repaired to the
spot where the mushrooms had been gathered, when he immediately
recognised the _Agaricus semi-globatus_, which had nearly proved fatal
in the instance related by _Mr. E. Brande_, and which, upon being shewn
to the father, he instantly pronounced to be similar to those, of which
the family had so unfortunately eaten.
_Organic Lesions discovered on Dissection._
In the above case of the family of _Attwood_, the body of _Mary_ was
examined, but no morbid appearance whatever could be discovered. In
collecting the different phenomena exhibited in other recorded cases,
they may be reduced to the following: “violet coloured spots over the
integuments; abdomen extremely bulky; the _tunica conjunctiva_ of the
eye as if it were injected; the pupil contracted; stomach and intestines
inflamed, and scattered over with gangrenous spots; and, in some cases,
they have exhibited very considerable contractions, so much so as almost
to obliterate the canal. In no case have any remains of the mushroom
been found. The lungs have been observed inflamed, and gorged with black
blood.”
There cannot, however, be any doubt but that the different species of
poisonous agarics act very differently.
_Antidotes._
In all cases, the first object is to evacuate the offensive matter by
emetics. After which, stimulants, especially _ammonia_, will be found
highly serviceable.