variety
_fallax_ is fragile, with dingy reddish pileus and adnexed, distant,
whitish gills.

Besides the above mentioned, there are other acrid Russulas and Lactars
which are regarded with suspicion, though not as yet satisfactorily
tested.

POISONOUS BOLETI.

Several of the Boleti have the reputation of being poisonous or
deleterious, among them Boletus _luridus_, Boletus _Satanas_, and
Boletus _felleus._ Kobert's analysis of B. _luridus_ shows the presence
of the poisonous alkaloid muscarin in this mushroom, while the
bitterness of B. _felleus_ should make one chary of eating it in
quantity, if at all. Schmiedeberg and Koppe describe experiments made
with Boletus Satanas, in which the symptoms experienced closely resemble
those of muscarin poisoning.

A correspondent living in Georgia, who is quite familiar with the
species, writes that he has frequently eaten the yellow form of the
_muscaria_, when cooked, without serious inconvenience. Another
correspondent writes that he has eaten the species Boletus luridus and
Boletus Satanas, as well as several other mushrooms of poisonous repute,
with perfect impunity.

Without calling in question the testimony of persons who state that they
have with impunity eaten mushrooms generally found to be poisonous, it
must be said that even if, through local conditions of soil or climate,
the poisonous constituents of such mushrooms sometimes exist in
comparatively minute proportions, or are _neutralized_ by an unusual
proportion of _mushroom atropin_ in the plant, or eliminated by some
process used in its preparation for the table, or, finally, if
constitutional idiosyncrasies should enable some persons safely to eat
what is poisonous to others, the rule that such are to be avoided should
never be disregarded by the ordinary collector, nor should it be
departed from even by experts, except upon the clearest evidence that in
the given case the departure is safe. It is certainly the part of
discretion, when in doubt, to take no risks.

RECENT INSTANCES OF MUSHROOM POISONING.

About a year ago a physician in Vineland, New Jersey, furnished the
following in regard to his personal experience of the effects of
mushroom poisoning: "My wife, daughter, and self selected, according to
an article in the Encyclopedia Britannica, what we thought were a nice
lot of mushrooms, cooked them in milk, and ate them for dinner with
relish. In a few hours we were vomiting, laughing, and stag