Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 75, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 February 1909 — Mushrooms. [ARTICLE]

Mushrooms.

There are several popular tests of the edibility of mushrooms which are not at all reliable. The commonest of these consists in putting a silver spoon or coin into the saucepan. It is very often believed that unless the metal grows black the mushrooms may safely be eaten. The test, however, is absolutely unreliable, the sole reason for the blackening of the metal being the presence of sulphureous gases, the product of the decomposition in stale fungi, whether poisonous or not Other beliefs, more or less local, assert that an agreeable smell, a ringed stem, growth in open ground, etc., are sure indications of wholesomeness, but unfortunately each of these conditions is consistent with possible danger to life. On the other hand, it is true that many poisonous varieties have a' very repulsive smell, which of itself Is sufficient to warn the mushroom gatherer of his peril. There seems to be only two ways, after all, of distinguishing between harmful and harmless fungi. The first is to study the subject from the botanist’s point of view. This is not possible for the ordinary man, who can always and everywhere rely upon the experimental method if all else fails. “Eat it.” said the boy philosopher. “If it’s a mushroom it won’t hurt yer, an’ if it kills yer—well, it ain’t’’—London Globe.