Hi All, Mushrooms are not so easily identifiable that you can go by a rule of thumb such as color, shape, locale, season, etc. And although there are not a lot of deadly species relatively, it is a pretty miserable way to die if you make the ultimate wrong guess. There are Mycology - mushroom - clubs almost everywhere there are mushrooms, and the members will be more than happy to help you I.D. anything you may find. Meetings and open houses are pretty interesting and usually have displays, books, guides, scheduled forays (the preferred term for a wild mushroom hunt for some strange reason is 'foray', but some folks claim mushroom hunters are a little strange themselves; quien sabe??)
The kingdom of fungi is more closely related to us than bacteria or viruses, one of the reasons why there are fewer effective anti-fungal meds which we can tolerate; they're often about as hard on us as they are on the fungi. But on the other hand, some of the most promising anti-cancer agents are being discovered in fungi. Anyone interested in their essential role in preserving our planet's green mantle will get a lot from Paul Stamets' book; Mycoremediation. OK, now to tie it in to silver - a rather loose thread, but who's tugging? There's an old and FALSE folk-legend that you can tell if a mushroom is poisonous, or even neutralize the poison, by cooking it with a silver coin in the pot; the coin will blacken if the 'shroom is poison - NOT so - or remain shiny if it is ok - also NOT so. 'Course, here in the U.S. we have to send off for our silver coins now but that's another digression. . . . So, take advantage of those who have gone before you (and lived to tell it) and get advice from an experienced group or person. And take care, Malcolm -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com Address Off-Topic messages to: silver-off-topic-l...@eskimo.com The Silver List and Off Topic List archives are currently down... List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@eskimo.com>
