http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2006/11/27/fungus-of-the-week-amanita-muscaria/ Just another blogs.bmj.com weblog Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:42:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2006/11/27/fungus-of-the-week-amanita-muscaria/#comment-826 richard lehman Thu, 30 Nov 2006 08:31:43 +0000 http://resource.bmj.com/bmj/2006/11/27/fungus-of-the-week-amanita-muscaria/#comment-826 The account I gave was based on the travels of W I Jochelsen and M Enderli to the Koryak tribes of Siberia in 1900-1, to be found in "Mushrooms and Toadstools" by John Ramsbottom (1953), pp45-6. This is a delightful work of scholarship and science which goes into considerable detail on the subject. Its worthy successor in the New Naturalist series, "Fungi" by Brian Spooner and Peter Roberts (2006), also refers to the drinking of human urine "said to be almost as effective as eating the fungus itself, though to us it might seem a rather desperate measure". Indeed. The account I gave was based on the travels of W I Jochelsen and M Enderli to the Koryak tribes of Siberia in 1900-1, to be found in “Mushrooms and Toadstools” by John Ramsbottom (1953), pp45-6. This is a delightful work of scholarship and science which goes into considerable detail on the subject. Its worthy successor in the New Naturalist series, “Fungi” by Brian Spooner and Peter Roberts (2006), also refers to the drinking of human urine “said to be almost as effective as eating the fungus itself, though to us it might seem a rather desperate measure”. Indeed.

]]> http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2006/11/27/fungus-of-the-week-amanita-muscaria/#comment-825 Bob Dunkley Tue, 28 Nov 2006 23:19:02 +0000 http://resource.bmj.com/bmj/2006/11/27/fungus-of-the-week-amanita-muscaria/#comment-825 Very interesting Richard, but I thought that it was the animals they fed the Amanita to and then drank their urine - as you say, delightfull!! I certainly have heard of this phenomenon in the Lapps of northern Finland - it also links in with, believe it or not, why Santa Claus has a red and white coat - the colour and spots of the mushroom. At the end of the day, it's the passage through the body to release the muscimol. Very interesting Richard, but I thought that it was the animals they fed the Amanita to and then drank their urine - as you say, delightfull!!
I certainly have heard of this phenomenon in the Lapps of northern Finland - it also links in with, believe it or not, why Santa Claus has a red and white coat - the colour and spots of the mushroom.
At the end of the day, it’s the passage through the body to release the muscimol.

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