1909 N^oies. 157 



Do Rabbits eat Arum maculatum \ 



Ever since I was a boy parts of the spathe or sheath of the coiiimoii 



A nun maiulatiini — as well as fragments of that portion of the spadix 



which bears the ovaries, stamens, an<l purple club-shaped C3-lindrical 



spike — may be seen at this time of year lying here and there along the 



hedgerows. The stem is usually bitten off at the base of the sheath, 



which is then apparently cut in pieces to get at the young green berries. 



I believe this is done by rabbits. By the way, have an\' or 3'our readers 



ever chewed for 3 minutes portions of the leaf o{ Arum viaculatuni, and 



theji spat it out : It burns almost like red pepper. Again, have any 



of them tested the curious evolution of heat said (see Syme's Kngiish 



Botanv, vol. 7. pp. 14-15) to be felt even b}- the hands for some hours 



after the opening of the spathe .- 



RiCHD. ]M. Barrixgtox. 

 Fassaroe, Bray. 



In response to a request from the editors for comment on the above 

 note, I may saj-that I once thoughtlessly put the cut end of the leafstalk 

 of Arum j/iacu/atutn into my month, and at once experienced a violent 

 sensation of burning. The membrane on the inner surface of my lips 

 soon became considerably inflamed and the smarting was quite painful. 

 The irritation, however, gradually subsided, and in four or five days the 

 membrane had become normal again. Personally I shall not knowingly 

 repeat the experiment, and I should not advise readers of the /. A\ to 

 try it either. Furthermore, it is a risky proceeding, for this plant 

 contains a poisonous alkaloid allied to that found in the Hemlock 

 (conine), and if portions of the plant or its juice be swallowed serious 

 symptoms are set up, which may be followed by death if the quantity 

 taken is fairly large. Formerly, the irritation wa^ supposed to be due 

 to the large number of minute, needle-shaped cr3-stalsof calcium oxalate 

 (raphides) which the plant contains, but Lewin^ has shown that this is 

 not the case. The alkaloid is volatile, or at any rate dispelled by 

 heating, for, after protracted boiling in water the leaves become harm- 

 less ; and the tubers, which are very poi.sonous when fresh, can be used 

 for making a kind of flour after roasting, which renders them harmless. 



I^ewin states that snails and rabbits try the leaves of this plant, but 

 very quickly desist. He himself experimented with guinea-pigs, and 

 found that after having eaten, the animals soon began to rub their snouts 

 vigorously with their paws as if their mouths were irritated. 



I have often noticed that portions of the leaves of this plant were eaten 

 as if b}' snails or slugs, but have never actually caught either of these 

 animals in the act. Perhaps a search after dark by lamplight might be 

 rewarded with success. Stalking, in the case of rabbits, however, would 

 probably be a more difficult matter. The brilliant red, ripe berries of 

 this plant are certainly very poisonous to human beings (although birds 

 are supposed to eat them), and so, I imagine, would the unripe fruits be, 



1 " Ueber die toxicologische Stelling der Raphiden." Ber. d. dent, hot, 

 Geselhchaft, XIII., 1900, p. 53. 



