AGARIC

agaricus campestris
Agaricus

MUSHROOM
Garden Mushroom

ATROLOGY
It is under the government of Mercury in the sign of Leo.
Mushrooms are under Mercury in Aries.
Inwardly, they are unwholesome, and unfit for the strongest constitutions.
This is an edible Mushroom with a soft white head and a grey
or flesh color underneath.
The head is expanded almost flat, forming a large flap.
It has an agreeable smell.
It evacuates phlegm, and is given in defluxions and disorders
of the chest, but that is only too strong people.
This is a fungus which may grow from the size
of a man's fist to the size of his head.
There are a great variety of these excrescences and they differ both
in virtue and the substance on which they grow.

MEDICAL VIRTUES
It evacuates phlegm, and is given in defluxions and disorders of the breast,
but that only to strong people.
It is reckoned a useless medicine, or rather noxious, for it loads
the stomach, distends the viscera, creates a nausea, and causes vomiting.
Its powder has been prescribed from half a dram (890 mg) to two drams (3.5 g).
It is employed as a remedy for acute sensitiveness to cold and damp when there
is itching and redness and a burning sensation in the hands and feet.
In days gone by it was in constant use during the winter months,
but less now since the advent of central heating.
The Mushroom is roasted and made into a poultice or boiled
with White Lily roots. and Linseed in milk.
It is used as an application to boils and abscesses and ripens
them better than any preparation that can be made.
Poultices are of service against quinsies and inflammatory swellings.

MODERN USES
There are several species of Agaricus, some being poisonous,
some being edible mushrooms.

Homoeopaths make use of arnanita musearia
agaricus eineticus and amanita phalloides.
Mushrooms and Toadstools are not used by modern medical herbalists but some
varieties are used by homoeopaths, including the; Poison Mushroom,
agaricus emeticus; Fly Agaric, amanita muscaria;
Death Cap, amanita phalloides, all of which are poisonous if eaten.

Where to find it
One kind grows at the foot of Oak trees and is pleasant to cat,
tasting like the meat of a lobster's claw.
Touchwood, or Spunk, is made from another kind of fungus growing on Willows.
A third kind grows on the trunks of Larch trees.


amanita muscaria (L.: Fr.) Hook.