1902} Bacon, — Poisoning by Cypripeclium spectabile 95 



wrists began to break out. The second day his entire face was 

 badly swollen and on the fourth the swelling was so extreme that he 

 was unable to see and later his features were so distorted as to be 

 scarcely recognizable. The attack lasted more than two weeks. 



About a month after his recovery Mr. Eggleston, not suspecting 

 the cause of the poisoning, went to the same swamp and again col- 

 lected plants of the lady's slipper. Another attack ensued, similar to 

 the first but less severe. He did not attribute the trouble to the 

 Cypripedium, however, until it was suggested by Professor Jesup of 

 Dartmouth College. The swamp was full of poison ivy, but Mr. 

 Eggleston has always been able to handle that with impunity. 



A second case of Cypripedium poisoning has been reported by 

 President Ezra Prainerd of Middlebury College. He states that on 

 one occasion after he had gathered the plant, his sister, who accom- 

 panied him and handled the specimens, showed symptoms of serious 

 poisoning, which he attributed to Rhus venenata, although the 

 Cypripedium was gathered at a higher altitude than the usual habitat 

 of the poison sumach, and a careful search afterward failed to reveal 

 any of the latter in that locality. 



On another occasion a year or two later a large quantity of the 

 lady's slipper was gathered and tied with a handkerchief. The day 

 being warm, the collector used the handkerchief to remove the 

 perspiration from her face. There ensued a most serious case of 

 poisoning affecting the face and eyes as in Mr. Eggleston's case, and 

 lasting about the same length of time. 



The narration of Mr. Eggleston's experience recalled to the writer 

 of this note that each year after gathering this lady's slipper, which 

 grows in abundance about Pradford, she had also been severely 

 poisoned, but had attributed the trouble to Rhus Toxicodendron or R. 

 venenata, both of which have proved exceedingly unpleasant subjects 

 in her case even when they have not been directly handled but have 

 been simply growing among other plants, imparting their poison to 

 them and from them to her. 



As the symptoms of the Cypripedium poisoning had not been 

 noted accurately enough for description, one of Mother Eve's direct 

 descendants determined to investigate and gratify her curiosity. 

 The experiment was made in October when the poison was probably 

 not so virulent as when the plant was in full vigor. A stalk was 

 gathered from a clump of C. spectabile, which had been under cultiva- 



