OF THE POISONOUS FUNGI.
A fourth group of poisons possessing narcotico-acrid proper ties,
includes the poisonous _fungi_ or mushrooms.
Accidents arising from the deadly fungi being mistaken for eatable
mushrooms are common on the continent, and especially in France. They
are not uncommon, too, in Britain; but they are less frequent than
abroad, because the epicure’s catalogue of mushrooms in this country
contains only three species, whose characters are too distinct to be
mistaken by a person of ordinary skill; while abroad a great variety of
them have found their way to the table, many of which are not only
liable to be confounded with poisonous species, but are even also
themselves of doubtful quality.
The present subject cannot be thoroughly studied without a knowledge of
the appearance and characters of all the fungi which have been
ascertained to be esculent, as well as of those which are known to be
deleterious. This information, however, I cannot pretend to communicate,
as it would lead to great details. In what follows, therefore, a simple
list will be given of the two classes, with references to the proper
source for minute descriptions of them, and some general observations on
the effects of the poisonous species.
_List of the wholesome and poisonous Fungi._—The only good account yet
published of the innocent or eatable fungi of Great Britain is contained
in an elaborate essay on the subject by Dr. Greville of this place. He
enumerates no fewer than twenty-six different species, which grow
abundantly in our woods and fields, and which, although most of them
utterly neglected in this country, are all considered abroad to be
eatable, and many of them delicate. They are the following: _Tuber
cibarium_, or common truffle; _T. moschatum_ and _T. album_, two species
of analogous qualities; _Amanita cæsarea_ or _aurantiaca_, the Oronge of
the French, a species which is often confounded by the ignorant with a
very poisonous one, the _A. muscaria_, or _pseudo-aurantiaca_; _Agaricus
procerus_; _A. campestris_, the common mushroom of meadows; _A. edulis_,
or white caps; _A. oreades_, or Scotch bonnets; _A. odorus_; _A.
uburneus_; _A. ulmarius_; _A. ostreatus_; _A. violaceus_; _A.
deliciosus_; _A. piperatus_; and _A. acris_; _Boletus edulis_; and _B.
scaber_; _Fistulina hepatica_; _Hydnum repandum_; _Morchella esculenta_,
the common morelle; _Helvella mitra_, and _H. leucophæa_. Of these the
_Agaricus acris_, _procerus_, and _piperatus_ are probably unwholesome;
and the _Amanita cæsarea_ is very rare in this country, if indeed it is
indigenous at all. The _A. muscaria_, with which it is apt to be
confounded, is common enough. The species to which our cooks confine
their attention are the _Tuber cibarium_ or truffle, the _Agaricus
campestris_, or common mushroom, and the _Morchella esculenta_, or
morelle. The _Agaricus edulis_ is also to be met with in some markets,
but is not in general use.[2402]
The best description of the poisonous species is to be found in Orfila’s
Toxicology. He enumerates the _Amanita muscaria_, _alba_, _citrina_, and
_viridis_; the _Hypophyllum maculatum_, _albocitrinum_, _tricuspidatum_,
_sanguineum_, _crux-melitense_, _pudibundum_ and _pellitum_; the
_Agaricus necator_, _acris_, _piperatus_, _pyrogalus_, _stypticus_,
_annularis_, and _urens_.[2403] To these may be added the _Agaricus
semiglobatus_, on the authority of Messrs. Brande and Sowerby,[2404] the
_A. campanulatus_,[2405] the _A. procerus_, on the authority of a case
by Dr. Peddie of this city,[2406] the _A. myomica_, on the authority of
Ghiglini,[2407] the _A. panterinus_ on that of Dr. Paolini of
Bologna,[2408] the _A. bulbosus_ of Bulliard, or _Amanita venenata_, on
that of Pouchet,[2409] the _Agaricus vernus_, _insidiosus_,
_globocephalus_, _sanguineus_, _torminosus_ and _rimosus_, on that of
Letellier,[2410] and the _Hypophyllum niveum_ on the authority of
Paulet.
_Circumstances which modify their qualities._—The qualities of the fungi
as articles of food are liable to considerable variety. Some, which are
in general eaten in safety, occasionally become hurtful; and some of the
poisonous kinds may under certain circumstances become inert, or even
esculent. But the causes which regulate these variations are not well
ascertained.
It has been thought by some that most fungi become safe when they have
been dried;[2411] and there may be some truth in this remark, as their
poisonous qualities appear to depend in part on a volatile principle.
But it is by no means universally true. Foderé mentions that the
_Agaricus piperatus_ continues acrid after having been dried.[2412]
Climate certainly alters their properties. The _Agaricus piperatus_ is
eaten in Prussia and Russia;[2413] but is poisonous in France. The
_Agaricus acris_ and _A. necator_, also enumerated above as meriting
their names, are used freely in Russia.[2414] The _Amanita muscaria_ in
France and Britain is a violent poison, and is considered so even in
Russia;[2415] but in Kamschatka it yields a beverage which is used as a
substitute for intoxicating liquors.[2416]
There is some reason to believe also that the weather or period of the
season influences some of the esculent species. Thus Foderé has
mentioned instances of the common morelle having appeared injurious
after long-continued rain.[2417]
Even the _Agaricus campestris_ or common mushroom is generally believed
to become somewhat unsafe towards the close of the season, or as it
turns old. Its external characters at that time are sensibly altered;
the margin of the cap is more acute, its white colour less lively, and
the fleshy hue of its lamellæ is changed to brown or black. In this
state, however, I have often eaten it freely and with impunity.
Cooking produces some difference on their effects. The very best of them
are indigestible when raw; and some of the poisonous species may lose in
part their deleterious qualities when cooked, because heat expels the
volatile principle; but, on the whole, I believe the effect of cooking
has not been satisfactorily shown to be considerable. Dr. Pouchet of
Rouen seems to have clearly proved, that the poisonous properties of two
of the most deadly fungi, the _Amanita muscaria_ and _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, and again another in a day; but the boiled fungi themselves had
no effect at all on two other dogs; and a third, which had been fed for
two months on little else than boiled amanitas, not only sustained no
harm, but actually got fat on this fare.[2418] Pouchet is inclined to
think that the whole poisonous plants of the family are similarly
circumstanced.—On the other hand some cryptogamous botanists have
maintained that the qualities of the esculent mushrooms are injured by
cooking, and that when used in the raw state they may be taken for a
long time as a principal article of food without injury. This statement,
as to the effect of mushrooms when used for a length of time as food,
will be more fully considered presently. It is easy to understand how
boiling may remove their active properties, although other modes of
cookery may not do so. Roasting had no effect in impairing the activity
of _Agaricus procerus_ in the case observed by Dr. Peddie.
On certain persons all mushrooms, even the very best of the eatable
kinds, act more or less injuriously. They cause vomiting, diarrhœa, and
colic. In this respect they are on the same footing with the richer
sorts of fish, which by idiosyncrasy act as poisons on particular
constitutions. It is probably under this head that we must arrange an
extraordinary case mentioned by Sage of a man who died soon after eating
a pound of truffles. He was seized with headache, a sense of weight in
the stomach, and faintness; and he lived only a few hours.[2419]
Lastly, it is not improbable from a singular set of cases to be related
presently, that, contrary to what some botanists have alleged, the best
mushrooms when taken in large quantity, and for a considerable length of
time, are deleterious to every one.
Foderé,[2420] Orfila,[2421] Decandolle,[2422] and Greville,[2423] have
laid down general directions for distinguishing the esculent from the
poisonous varieties; but it is extremely questionable whether their
rules are always safe; and certainly they are not always accurate, as
they would exclude many species in common use on the continent. It
appears that most fungi which have a warty cap, more especially
fragments of membrane adhering to their upper surface, are poisonous.
Heavy fungi, which have an unpleasant odour, especially if they emerge
from a _vulva_ or bag, are also generally hurtful. Of those which grow
in woods and shady places a few are esculent, but most are unwholesome;
and if moist on the surface they should be avoided. All those which grow
in tufts or clusters from the trunks or stumps of trees ought likewise
to be shunned. A sure test of a poisonous fungus is an astringent,
styptic taste, and perhaps also a disagreeable, but certainly a pungent,
odour. Some fungi possessing these properties have indeed found their
way to the epicure’s table; but they are of very questionable quality.
Those whose substance becomes blue soon after being cut are invariably
poisonous. Agarics of an orange or rose-red colour, and boleti which are
coriaceous or corky, or which have a membranous collar round the stem,
are also unsafe; but these rules are not universally applicable in other
genera. Even the esculent mushrooms, if partially devoured and abandoned
by insects, are avoided by some as having in all probability acquired
injurious qualities which they do not usually possess; but this test I
have often disregarded.—These rules for knowing deleterious fungi seem
to rest on fact and experience; but they will not enable the collector
to recognise every poisonous species. The general rules laid down for
distinguishing wholesome fungi are not so well founded, and therefore it
appears necessary to specify them.
_On the Poisonous Principle of the Fungi._—Few attempts have been
hitherto made to discover by chemical analysis the principles on which
the effects of the poisonous mushrooms depend. M. Braconnot analyzed a
considerable number both of the esculent and poisonous species, and
found in some a saccharine matter, in others an acrid resin, in others
an acrid volatile principle, and in all a spongy substance, which forms
the basis of them, and which he has denominated fungin.[2424] The last
ingredient is innocuous, and it does not appear that M. Braconnot could
trace the peculiar powers of the fungi to any of the acrid principles.
The subject was afterwards resumed by M. Letellier, who says he found in
some of them one, in others two poisonous principles. One of these is an
acrid matter so fugacious, that it disappears when the plant is either
dried, or boiled, or macerated in weak acids, alkalis, or alcohol. To
this principle he says are owing the irritant properties of some fungi.
The other principle is more fixed, as it resists drying, boiling, and
the action of weak alkalis and acids. It is soluble in water, has
neither smell nor taste, and forms crystallizable salts with acids; but
he did not succeed in separating it in a state of purity. To this
principle he attributes the narcotic properties of the fungi. He found
it in the _Amanita bulbosa_, _muscaria_, and _verna_; and he therefore
proposed to call it amanitine. Its effects on animals appear to resemble
considerably those of opium.[2425]—Chansarel found that the poisonous
principle resides in the juice, and not in the fleshy part after it is
well washed.[2426]
_Of the Symptoms produced in Man by the Poisonous Fungi._—The mode of
action of the poisonous fungi has not been particularly examined; but
the experiments of Paulet long ago established that they are poisonous
to animals as well as to man.[2427]
The symptoms produced by them in man are endless in variety, and fully
substantiate the propriety of arranging them in the class of
narcotico-acrid poisons. Sometimes they produce narcotic symptoms alone,
sometimes only symptoms of irritation, but much more commonly both
together. It is likewise not improbable, that fungi, even though not
belonging to the varieties commonly acknowledged as poisons, induce,
when taken for a considerable length of time, a peculiar depraved state
of the constitution, leading to external suppuration and gangrene. Each
of these statements will now be illustrated by a few examples.
The following is a good instance of pure narcotism. A man gathered in
Hyde Park a considerable number of the _Agaricus campanulatus_ by
mistake for the _A. campestris_, stewed them, and proceeded to eat them;
but before ending his repast, and not above ten minutes after he began
it, he was suddenly attacked with dimness of vision, giddiness,
debility, trembling, and loss of recollection. In a short time he
recovered so far as to be able to go in search of assistance. But he had
hardly walked 250 yards when his memory again failed him, and he lost
his way. His countenance expressed anxiety, he reeled about, and could
hardly articulate. The pulse was slow and feeble. He soon became so
drowsy that he could be kept awake only by constant dragging. Vomiting
was then produced by means of sulphate of zinc; the drowsiness gradually
went off; and next day he complained merely of languor and
weakness.[2428]—An equally remarkable set of cases of pure narcotism,
which occurred a few years ago in this city, has been related by Dr.
Peddie. Half an hour after eating the _Agaricus procerus_, an elderly
man and a boy of thirteen were attacked with giddiness and staggering,
as if they were intoxicated; and in an hour they became insensible, the
man indeed so much so that for some time he could not be roused by any
means. Emetics having little effect, the stomach was cleared out by the
pump, and powerful stimulants were employed both inwardly and outwardly,
by means of which sensibility was in some degree restored. Occasional
convulsive spasms ensued, and afterwards furious delirium, attended with
frantic cries and vehement resistance to remedies, and followed by a
state like delirium tremens. The pupils were at first much contracted,
afterwards considerably dilated as sensibility returned, and in the boy
contracted while he lay torpid, but dilated when he was roused. In
neither instance was there any pain felt at any time; nor were the
bowels affected. Another boy who took a small quantity only had no other
symptom but giddiness, drowsiness, and debility.[2429]—A singular form
of the narcotic effects of the fungi occurred in the case of a boy of
fourteen, who had eaten the _Agaricus panterinus_ near Bologna. In the
course of two hours he was seized with delirium, a maniacal disposition
to rove, and some convulsive movements. Ere long these symptoms were
succeeded by a state resembling coma in every way, except that he looked
as if he understood what was going on: and in point of fact really did
so. He recovered speedily under the use of emetics.[2430]
In the next set of cases the symptoms were those of almost pure
irritation. Several French soldiers in Russia ate a large quantity of
the _Amanita muscaria_, which they had mistaken for the _Amanita
cæsarea_. Some were not taken ill for six hours and upwards. Four of
them, who were very powerful men, thought themselves safe, because while
their companions were already suffering, they themselves felt perfectly
well; and they refused to take emetics. In the evening, however, they
began to complain of anxiety, a sense of suffocation, frequent fainting,
burning thirst, and violent gripes. The pulse became small and
irregular, and the body bedewed with cold sweat; the lineaments of the
countenance were singularly changed, the nose and lips acquiring a
violet tint; they trembled much; the belly swelled, and a profuse fetid
diarrhœa supervened. The extremities soon became livid, and the pain of
the abdomen intense; delirium ensued; and all four died.[2431]
Such cases, however, do not appear to be very common; and much more
generally the symptoms of poisoning with the fungi present a well-marked
conjunction of deep narcotism and violent irritation, as the instances
now to be mentioned will show.
Besides the four soldiers whose cases have just been described, several
of their comrades were severely affected, but recovered. Two of these
had weak pulse, tense and painful belly, partial cold sweats, fetid
breath and stools. In the afternoon they became delirious, then
comatose, and the coma lasted twenty-four hours.
A man, his wife, and three children, ate to dinner carp stewed by
mistake with the _Amanita citrina_. The wife, the servant, and one of
the children had vomiting, followed by deep sopor; but they recovered.
The husband had true and violent cholera, but recovered also. The two
other children became profoundly lethargic and comatose, emetics had no
effect, and death soon ensued without any other remarkable symptom. The
individuals who recovered were not completely well till three weeks
after the fatal repast.[2432] This set of cases shows the tendency of
the poisonous fungi to cause in one person pure irritation, and in
another pure narcotism.
The last set of cases to be mentioned were produced by the _Hypophyllum
sanguineum_, a small conical fungus of a mouse colour, well known to
children in Scotland by the name of _puddock-stool_. This species seems
to cause convulsions as well as sopor. A family of six persons, four of
whom were children, ate about two pounds of it dressed with butter. The
incipient symptoms were pain in the pit of the stomach, a sense of
impending suffocation, and violent efforts to vomit; which symptoms did
not commence in any of them till about twelve hours after the poisonous
meal, in one not till twenty hours, and in another not till nearly
thirty hours. One of the children, seven years of age, had acute pain of
the belly, which soon swelled enormously; afterwards he fell into a
state of lethargic sleep, but continued to cry; about twenty-four hours
after eating the fungi the limbs became affected with permanent spasms
and convulsive fits; and in no long time he expired in a tetanic
paroxysm. Another of the children, ten years old, perished nearly in the
same manner, but with convulsions of greater violence. The mother had
frequent bloody stools and vomiting; the skin became yellow; the muscles
of the abdomen were contracted spasmodically, so that the navel was
drawn towards the spine; profound lethargy and general coldness
supervened; and she too died about thirty-six hours after eating the
fungus. A third child, after slight symptoms of amendment had shown
themselves, became worse again, and died on the third day with
trembling, delirium, and convulsions. This patient, who had taken very
little of the poison, was not attacked till about thirty hours after the
meal. The fourth child, after precursory symptoms like those of the
rest, became delirious, and had an attack of colic and inflammation of
the bowels, without diarrhœa; but he eventually recovered. The father
had a severe attack of dysentery for three days, and remained five days
speechless. For a long time afterwards he had occasional bloody
diarrhœa; and, although he eventually recovered, his health continued to
suffer for an entire year.[2433] The cases now mentioned illustrate
clearly the simultaneous occurrence of narcotic and irritant symptoms in
the same individuals.
A striking circumstance in respect to the symptoms of poisoning with the
fungi, is the great difference in the interval which elapses before they
begin. In the first case the symptoms appear to have commenced in a few
minutes; but, on the contrary, an interval of twelve hours is common;
and Gmelin has quoted a set of cases, seventeen in number, in which, as
in one of those related by Picco, the interval is said to have been a
day and a half.[2434] The tardiness of the approach of the symptoms is
owing to the indigestibility of most of the fungi. Their indigestibility
is in fact so great, that portions of them have been discharged by
vomiting so late as fifty-two hours after they were swallowed.[2435]
Another circumstance, worthy of particular notice, is the great
durability of the symptoms. Even the purely narcotic effects of some
fungi have been known to last above two days. In the instance just
alluded to, the vomiting of the poison was the first thing that
interrupted a state of deep lethargy, which had prevailed for fifty-two
hours. The symptoms of irritation, after their violence has been
mitigated, might continue, as in the instance quoted from Orfila, for
about three weeks.
It was stated above, that some people are apt to suffer unpleasant
effects from eating even the best and safest of the esculent mushrooms.
These effects, which depend on idiosyncrasy, are confined chiefly to an
attack of vomiting and purging, followed by more or less indigestion.
Some persons have been similarly affected, even by the small portion of
mushroom-juice which is contained in an ordinary ketchup seasoning. This
accident, however, may very well be often unconnected with idiosyncrasy;
as I have seen those who gather mushrooms near Edinburgh, for the
purpose of making ketchup, picking up every fungus that came in their
way.
There is some reason for suspecting that even the best mushrooms, when
taken as a principal article of food for a considerable length of time,
will prove injurious, and that they then induce a peculiar depraved
habit, which leads to external suppuration and gangrene. The only cases
which have hitherto appeared in support of this statement, were lately
published in Rust’s Journal. A family, consisting of the mother and four
children, were seized with a kind of tertian fever, and the formation of
abscesses, which discharged a thin, ill-conditioned pus, passed rapidly
into spreading gangrene, and proved fatal to the mother and one of the
children. No other cause could be discovered to account for so
extraordinary a conjunction of symptoms in so many individuals, except
that for two months they had lived almost entirely on mushrooms; and the
probability of this being really the cause, was strengthened by the
fact, that the father who slept always with his family, and who alone
escaped, lived on ordinary food at a place where he worked not far
off.[2436] In opposition, however, to the natural inference from this
narrative, some have believed, that mushrooms may be safely eaten to a
large amount and for a long time, provided they be used raw. A botanist
of Persoon’s acquaintance, while studying the cryptogamous plants in the
vicinity of Nuremberg, says he found that the peasants ate them in large
quantities as their daily food; and, in imitation of their custom, he
ate for several weeks nothing but bread and raw mushrooms; yet at the
end he experienced an increase rather than a diminution of strength, and
enjoyed perfect health. He adds that they lose their good qualities by
cooking; but he has supplied no facts in support of that
statement.[2437] It is said that eatable fungi, used for a considerable
time as a principal article of food, as in Russia, cause greenness of
the skin.[2438] There is no reason for supposing, as some have
done,[2439] that wholesome mushrooms may produce the effects of the
poisonous kinds, if eaten in large quantity.
_Of the Morbid Appearances._—The morbid appearances left in the bodies
of persons poisoned by this deleterious fungi have been but imperfectly
collected.
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.[2440] In general, the abdomen is distended with fetid air, which,
indeed, is usually present during life. The stomach and small intestines
of the four French soldiers (p. 705), presented the appearance of
inflammation passing in some places to gangrene. In two of them
especially, the stomach was gangrenous in many places, and far advanced
in putrefaction. The same appearances were found in Picco’s cases. In
these there was also an excessive enlargement of the liver. The lungs
have sometimes been found gorged or even inflamed. The vessels of the
brain are also sometimes very turgid. They were particularly so in a
case related by Dr. Beck, where death was occasioned in seven hours by
an infusion of the _Amanita muscaria_ in milk. The whole sinuses of the
dura mater, as well as the arteries were enormously distended with
blood; the arachnoid and pia mater were of a scarlet colour; the vessels
of the membrane between the convolutions, together with the plexus
choroides, were also excessively gorged; and the substance of the brain
was red. Lastly, a clot of blood, as big as a bean, was found in the
cerebellum.[2441]—The stomach, unless there had been vomiting or
diarrhœa, will usually contain fragments of the poison, if it has not
been taken in a state of minute division; and this evidence of the cause
of death may be obtained, even although the individual survived two days
or upwards. Sometimes fragments are found in the intestines. In one of
Picco’s patients who lived twenty-four hours, there was found in the
neighbourhood of the ileo-cæcal valve, which was much inflamed.[2442]
_Of the Treatment._—The treatment of poisoning with the fungi does not
call for any special observations. Emetics are of primary importance;
and after the poison has been by their means dislodged, the sopor and
inflammation of the bowels are to be treated in the usual way. No
antidote is known. Several have at different times been a good deal
confided in; but none are of any material service. Chansarel found acids
useless, but thought infusion of galls advantageous.[2443]
In concluding the present chapter it is necessary to take notice of a
variety of poisoning, not altogether unimportant in a medico-legal point
of view. A person may seem to die of poisoning with the deleterious
fungi, from eating esculent mushrooms intentionally drugged with some
other vegetable or mineral poison. It must be confessed, that if the
murderer is dexterous in the choice and mode of administering the
poison, such cases might readily escape suspicion, and even when
suspected might not be cleared up without difficulty. The ascertaining
the species of mushroom, by finding others where it has been gathered,
will not supply more than presumptive proof of the wholesomeness of that
which has been eaten; because the esculent and poisonous species
sometimes grow near one another, and have a mutual resemblance, so that
a mistake may easily occur. The presumption may be somewhat strengthened
by evidence derived from the interval which elapses before the symptoms
begin, from the nature and progress of the symptoms themselves, and from
the morbid appearances. Some one or other of these circumstances may
establish the fact of poisoning with a deleterious fungi. It is
impossible, however, that they shall ever establish satisfactorily that
the fungus was naturally wholesome; and, on the whole, the only decided
evidence of poisoning by some other means will be the actual discovery
of another poison.
The case now under consideration is not a mere hypothetical one. Ernest
Platner has related a very interesting example, which proves how easily
poisoning of the kind supposed may be accomplished without suspicion. A
servant-girl poisoned her mistress by mixing oxide of arsenic with a
dish of mushrooms. She died in twenty hours, after suffering severely
from vomiting and colic pains. On dissection there were found
inflammation of the stomach, gangrenous spots in it, clots of blood in
its contents, and redness of the intestines. Her death, however, was
ascribed to the mushrooms having been unwholesome; and the real cause
was not discovered till thirteen years after, when the girl was
convicted of murdering a fellow-servant in a somewhat similar way by
mixing arsenic with her chocolate, and then confessed both crimes.[2444]
_Poisonous Mosses._—It is not improbable that some of the mosses possess
poisonous properties similar to those of the deleterious fungi. Dr.
Winkler of Innsbruch mentions that the _Lycopodium selago_ is used in
the Tyrol in the way of infusion for killing vermin on animals; and that
unpleasant accidents have been produced in man by its accidental use.
Its effects appear to be sometimes irritant, but more generally narcotic
in their nature.[2445]