Removal of the Poisonous Principle

—In some parts of Europe the fly amanita is soaked in vinegar and then is eaten with impunity. Some of the colored people in Washington and vicinity are acquainted with this method of treatment, and the practice of soaking these fungi in vinegar and then eating them is not unknown, though the majority of colored women in the markets who deal in mushrooms look upon this species with unrestrained horror.

The poisonous variety is denatured as follows: The stem is well scraped, and the gills are removed from the cap and the upper surface peeled off. The mushrooms prepared in this way are boiled in salt and water and afterward steeped in vinegar. They are finally washed in clear water and then cooked in the ordinary manner and eaten without any injurious results. It is not recommended, however, that a mushroom which contains so much deadly poison should be eaten at all, even after a preparation of this kind. Any carelessness in the preparation or any failure to carry out the process completely would result fatally.