50 The Ottawa Naturalist. [June-July 



during the night 90 of them died. In the first instance the lupine 

 pods were fully formed but the seeds not ripe; in another case 

 1,150 sheep died out of a band of 2,000, and in still another 

 1,900 out of 3,000. The first symptom after eating lupine is 

 excitement followed by frenzy and then spasms and falling fits. 

 In many cases death occurs within an hour. The common lupine 

 in southern Alberta is L. argenteus, one of the most poisonous 

 species. 



Poison Ivy, Rhus Toxicodendron, is known to everyone, 

 though comparatively few people are affected by it. No case 

 of poisoning among the lower animals has been recorded. Of the 

 many cures recommended for Ivy poisoning the best is powdered 

 sugar of lead dissolved in a 50 per cent, solution of alcohol. 

 Various methods for the destruction of poison ivy patches have 

 been tried; the certain way is, of course, rooting it out, but 

 covering with tarred paper creosoted below is said to be effective 

 and Dr. Pammel recommends pouring a solution of two pounds 

 of commercial sodium arsenic to 10 gallons of water around the 

 roots. Whether R. Vernix, Poison Sumac, R. diversiloba, Poison 

 Oak, or R. Toxicodendron is the most poisonous has not vet been 

 determined. 



The family Umbelliferce contains the best known and most 

 poisonous plants, at least in the east, and the resemblance of 

 innocuous species to those that are deadly poison has caused 

 many deaths. Con turn maculatum, Poison Hemlock, though 

 not indigenous is a common species in waste places. Poisoning 

 has arisen from eating the seed for that of anise, the leaves for 

 parsley and the roots for parsnips, also from blowing whistles 

 from hollow stems; many domestic animals have been killed 

 by eating the plant. All the species of Cicuta, Water Hemlock, arc 

 very poisonous, especially C. maculata, Cowbane, in the east, and 

 C. vagrans in the west ; many cases of human poisoning, especially 

 among children, have been recorded, the roots being mistaken 

 for those of edible plants such as parsnips, horse-radish and 

 artichokes; stock of all kinds are frequently killed, generally in 

 the spring, when the ground is soft and the roots pull up easily. 

 The deadly nature of the root has been shown by cutting one in 

 small pieces, mixing it with carrot and feeding to a two-year-old 

 heifer. It died in an hour and a half, though only a small portion 

 was eaten: two grams were found in the stomach. A further 

 experiment made with the same lot of roots showed that it was 

 only when in the dormant state that they were poisonous. After 

 some of them had been grown a month in a greenhouse they were 

 found to have no injurious effect at all. So many persons believe 

 the wild parsnip, Pastinaca sativa, to lie poisonous that it is well 

 to record the fact that there arc no authentic cases of such 



