Some of the worst cases of poisoning occur every year from eating poisonous mushrooms or "toadstools." While any intelligent person, under competent guidance can learn to distinguish the edible species of fleshy fungi which grow abundantly in our fields and woods, it is exceedingly dangerous to suppose that one knows, when one does not know. It is indeed hardly safe for one who has not had good botanical training to depend upon even accurate pictures and descriptions of mushrooms; and it is decidedly unsafe for the average person to rely upon information gained from popular writings upon edible fungi. Not a few cases of poisoning within recent years have been traced to the misstatements in, or the misunderstanding of, attractive books or magazine articles on the subject. Another fertile source of danger is belief in the so-called rules "for telling a mushroom from a toadstool," such for example as the oft-repeated saying that a piece of silver placed in contact with mushrooms that are being cooked will turn black if they are poisonous. This and all similar rules are worse than worthless for not only is one led by them to regard as poisonous many edible forms, but some of the deadliest species might be called edible. Nothing less than thorough acquaintance with all the botanical characters which distinguish our common species at different ages can be relied upon to enable a person to tell the difference between edible and poisonous mushrooms. There are no short cuts to such knowledge. The only really safe way for a beginner to learn about mushrooms with a view to eating them, is to be instructed by an expert botanist, in the field, or from fresh specimens. Until the student has learned the art of observing accurately he should distrust his own ability to determine specimens as edible with the aid of books alone. Meanwhile, it is desirable that he should learn something about our two most poisonous species since the majority of fatal cases have been due to eating specimens of these or closely similar forms. The most deadly of all fungi is the death-cup (Fig. 205). Its name is derived from the fact that the stalk is enveloped at its base by a cup. Beware of any toadstool having such a cup. As the fungus presents an especially attractive appearance and has a pleasant flavor it has tempted many persons to their death. The symptoms of poisoning do not appear for a number of hours after the fungus has been eaten, and by that time so much of the poison has been absorbed into the system that recovery is hardly possible. Scarcely less poisonous, but more common is the handsome fly-amanita (Fig. 206), so called from its use as a fly-poison. It should be noticed that the base of the stalk instead of being plainly in a cup is bulbous and scaly. This fungus, like the death-cup, has a pleasant flavor; and after it has been eaten no sign of poisoning is noticed for several hours. Prompt medical treatment may then save the patient's life.

Fig. 205. Death cup (Amanita phalloides, Gill mushroom Family, Agaricaceoe). Mushroom growing 7 20 cm. tall; cap white, straw color, greenish, light brown, or yellow, uniformly or more or less spotted; smooth and satiny, convex at first, finally becoming concave; stalk white, and nearly smooth, bearing generally at the more or less swollen base a conspicuous cup like envelope which may lie partly under ground, and near the cap a drooping ring or frill; gills white. (Chesnut.) Native home, Europe and North America, mostly in woods. The most poisonous and one of most common of mushrooms, dangerous even to handle.

Fig. 205.-Death-cup (Amanita phalloides, Gill-mushroom Family, Agaricaceoe). Mushroom growing 7-20 cm. tall; cap white, straw-color, greenish, light brown, or yellow, uniformly or more or less spotted; smooth and satiny, convex at first, finally becoming concave; stalk white, and nearly smooth, bearing generally at the more or less swollen base a conspicuous cup-like envelope which may lie partly under ground, and near the cap a drooping ring or "frill"; gills white. (Chesnut.)-Native home, Europe and North America, mostly in woods. The most poisonous and one of most common of mushrooms, dangerous even to handle.

Fig. 206. Fly amanita (Amanita muscaria, Gill mushroom Family, Agaricaceoe). Mushroom growing about 10 14 cm. tall, highly attractive in appearance, smell, and taste; cap strongly convex at first, becoming flat or concave, white, yellow, orange to bright red, commonly deeper colored toward the center, sticky when moist, always bearing warts of a mostly paler color; stalk bulbous at the base, without a conspicuous cup but bearing around it flexible shaving like projections pointing upward, and near the cap a frill like ring; gills white. (Chesnut.) Native home, Eurasia, South Africa, North America; mostly in woods. Scarcely less poisonous than the death cup.

Fig. 206.-Fly-amanita (Amanita muscaria, Gill-mushroom Family, Agaricaceoe). Mushroom growing about 10-14 cm. tall, highly attractive in appearance, smell, and taste; cap strongly convex at first, becoming flat or concave, white, yellow, orange to bright red, commonly deeper-colored toward the center, sticky when moist, always bearing warts of a mostly paler color; stalk bulbous at the base, without a conspicuous cup but bearing around it flexible shaving-like projections pointing upward, and near the cap a frill-like ring; gills white. (Chesnut.)-Native home, Eurasia, South Africa, North America; mostly in woods. Scarcely less poisonous than the death-cup.