Prof. Kobert states that he has examined the species Boletus edulis, Agaricus campester, and Amanita Caesarea a number of times, but could never detect the action of phallin in them. Neither has he found it in A. muscaria. THE POISONOUS ALKALOID OF GYROMITRA ESCULENTA FRIES (HELVELLA ESCULENTA PERS.) HELVELLIC ACID. Prof. Kobert writes of a number of cases of poisoning in the Baltic provinces of Russia by the mushroom Helvella _esculenta_ Persoon, sometimes called the Lorchel. It should be here stated that the _Helvella esculenta_ of Persoon is the _Gyromitra esculenta_ of Fries. This mushroom is described as edible and placed in the edible lists by Dr. M. C. Cooke, Prof. Peck, and other distinguished mycologists, who have tested it and found it edible when perfectly fresh. The poisonous principle of this mushroom was isolated and analyzed by Prof. R. Boehm, of Russia, in 1885. It was by him designated as "_helvellic acid_," and found to be soluble in hot water. Profs. Eugene Bostroem and E. Ponfick, after giving some study to the effects of this mushroom poison, agreed in their report concerning it, which is to the effect that the _quickly dried_ H. _esculenta_ (Gyromitra _esculenta_) is not poisonous, and that the poisonous acid of the fresh ones may be extracted by means of hot water, so that while the decoction is poisonous the mushroom is not at all so, after the liquid is pressed out. Experiments with this mushroom were made by both authors on dogs, which ate them greedily, but without exception the dogs were very sick afterwards. The symptoms were nausea, vomiting, jaundice, stoppage of the kidneys, and haemaglobinuria. The symptoms observed in man correspond to those manifested by the lower animals. Dissection showed the dissolution of innumerable blood corpuscles. Prof. Kobert, commenting on the experiments made by Bostroem and Ponfick, states that he himself had been furnished yearly with fresh specimens of "H. _esculenta_" (G. _esculenta_) specially gathered for him at Dorpat, and after making various experiments with the freshly expressed juice he became convinced that the poisonous principle greatly varies, the juice sometimes operating as very poisonous, and sometimes as only slightly so. He states also that the proportion of poison in the mushroom varies with the weather, location, and age of the mushroom. The inhabitants of Russia do not eat this mushroom, but in Germany it is eaten dried or when perfectly fresh, after cooking, and after the first water in which it is boiled is removed. Helvellic acid is not found in Morchella _esculenta_ (the true Morel), nor is it known to exist in any other species except G. _esculenta_. It has been stated that there is no antidote for helvellic poisoning after the symptoms have appeared.