In ';The Fall of the House of Usher'; by Edgar Allen Poe could fungi spores be responsible for their delirium?

Did the even know about fungi spores in the 1840's when it was written? I mean at one point in the story the house glowed and some fungi has bioluminescence.In ';The Fall of the House of Usher'; by Edgar Allen Poe could fungi spores be responsible for their delirium?
Mushrooms are my specialty.





First: There are no macrofungi (large visible cap-and-stem mushrooms) that could have caused the delerium from just being in the house. These are the ones referred to in your opener -- when he spoke of mushrooms growing around the house.





Second: There are no mushrooms bioluminescent enough to produce much light at all. You really have to use your imagination to see any bioluminescence from the mushrooms that do produce it.





Third: Ergot is a fungi that many believe is responsible for the witchcraft-related things that went on in Salem way back when. It is basically a mold that grows on bread, and you have to eat it. This would be classified as a microfungi, and i can't think of anything that could just be in the air that would cause delerium.





There were a few mushrooms books availiable in the 1840's, but I suspect little-to-no information was present that would have given E.A.Poe the information he used. Most of these books were common field guides to mushrooms, but there were a few (literally) medical texts about mushroom poisionings that included some basic information. Who knows, with E.A.P.'s creativity, we may never know why he talked about mushrooms and 'intelligent vegetables'. It is curious, however, that it was common in the 19th century to refer to mushrooms as 'vegetables'.





This is one for the 'Myth Busters'!In ';The Fall of the House of Usher'; by Edgar Allen Poe could fungi spores be responsible for their delirium?
I suppose that would be as viable an explanation as any. But really, unless you're writing some odd science fiction sequel, why try to explain it? It's Poe. It's meant to be mysterious.
It is fiction. I doubt that Poe had any concept of fungi at that time, but even if he did, he meant for you to take his story as he wrote it. As (old) fiction, it could have been little green men in the woodwork with LSD, but he didn't say that, so let it be and stop trying to analyze it in modern terms. Just enjoy it.
Interesting idea! It could be possible. But are we talking about a real species of fungi? I'm not familiar with fungi, so I wouldnt know.