138 : KALMIA LATIF OLIA. 
bles for some months, they are greedy of all greens, 
especially if the snow still lies upon the ground, 
and therefore the green but poisonous leaves of 
the Kalmia are to them very tempting. Horses, 
oxen and cows, which have eaten them, have like- 
_ wise been very ill after the meal, and though none 
of them ever died of eating these leaves, yet most 
people believed, that if they took too great a por- 
tion of them, death would certainly be the result.” 
“ On the other hand, the leaves of the Kalmia are 
the food of stags, when the snow covers the ground 
and hides all other provisions from them. 'There- 
fore, if they be shot in winter, their bowels are 
found filled with these leaves, and it is very extra- 
ordinary, that if those bowels are given to dogs, 
they become quite stupid, and, as it were, intoxi- 
cated, and often fall so sick, that they seem to be 
at the point of death ; but the people who have 
eaten the venison have not felt the least indisposi- 
tion.” — Travels in North America, voli. 
_ There is a common belief, that the flesh of the 
American Pheasant or Partridge is at certain 
times imbued with a poisonous quality. This 
circumstance has been attributed (I know not with 
what evidence) to their feeding in winter upon the 
buds of the Kalmia. Mr. Wilson, the ornitholo- 
gist, informs us, that he has sometimes found the 
