Mushroom Poisoning in India

Toxicologists in India do not appear to have been struck so far by mushroom poisoning. For many years the solitary case described was that of a Collector who, half a century ago, laughed in an indignified manner in his Court after consuming mushrooms at breakfast (Chevers, quoted by Modi, 1949). Dried mushrooms from Kashmir are consumed as delicacies in the Punjab as khumb, guchclii or dhingri without any untoward effect on physiology or dignity. In the East Punjab the rural population collects and consumes mushrooms during the rainy season. The village folk make a distinction between khumb (mushroom) and bahera (toad stool) only : the former is firm and grows for several days while the latter is soft and lasts only a day. The khumb is white in colour but way be in shape open like an umbrella or close like an egg attached to a stalk. The bahera is always open and may be white, fawn or grey in colour. No attention is paid to the ' gills '