n_ be added
to a mixture of blood with a 1% solution of common salt, using the blood
of man, cattle, dogs, or pigeons, the blood corpuscles will be entirely
dissolved by the poison diluted to 1-125,000."

Prof. Kobert states that he has examined the species Boletus edulis,
Agaricus campester, and Amanita Caesarea a number of times, but could
never detect the action of phallin in them. Neither has he found it in
A. muscaria.

THE POISONOUS ALKALOID OF GYROMITRA ESCULENTA FRIES (HELVELLA ESCULENTA
PERS.)

HELVELLIC ACID.

Prof. Kobert writes of a number of cases of poisoning in the Baltic
provinces of Russia by the mushroom Helvella _esculenta_ Persoon,
sometimes called the Lorchel. It should be here stated that the
_Helvella esculenta_ of Persoon is the _Gyromitra esculenta_ of Fries.
This mushroom is described as edible and placed in the edible lists by
Dr. M. C. Cooke, Prof. Peck, and other distinguished mycologists, who
have tested it and found it edible when perfectly fresh.

The poisonous principle of this mushroom was isolated and analyzed by
Prof. R. Boehm, of Russia, in 1885. It was by him designated as
"_helvellic acid_," and found to be soluble in hot water. Profs. Eugene
Bostroem and E. Ponfick, after giving some study to the effects of this
mushroom poison, agreed in their report concerning it, which is to the
effect that the _quickly dried_ H. _esculenta_ (Gyromitra _esculenta_)
is not poisonous, and that the poisonous acid of the fresh ones may be
extracted by means of hot water, so that while the decoction is
poisonous the mushroom is not at all so, after the liquid is pressed
out. Experiments with this mushroom were made by both authors on dogs,
which ate them greedily, but without exception the dogs were very sick
afterwards. The symptoms were nausea, vomiting, jaundice, stoppage of
the kidneys, and haemaglobinuria. The symptoms observed in man correspond
to those manifested by the lower animals. Dissection showed the
dissolution of innumerable blood corpuscles.

Prof. Kobert, commenting on the experiments made by Bostroem and
Ponfick, states that he himself had been furnished yearly with fresh
specimens of "H. _esculenta_" (G. _esculenta_) specially gathered for
him at Dorpat, and after making various experiments with the freshly
expressed juice he became convinced that the poisonous principle greatly
varies, the juice sometimes operating as very poisonous, and sometimes
as only slightly so. H