EXOGENOUS OR DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 42/ 



ders them acrid-narcotic poisons. And, tinally, many species of 

 warm regions yield odorous gum-resins (such as Galbanum, Assa- 

 foetida, &c.), which have active stimulant properties. The stems of 

 Celery (Apium graveolens), which are acrid and poisonous when 

 the plant grows wild in marshes, &c., are rendered innocent by 



cultivation in dry gi-ound, and by blanching. Among the virulent 

 acrid-narcotic species, the most famous are the Hemlock (Conium 

 maculatum), and Cicuta maculata (Cowbane, Water-Hemlock), indi- 

 genous to this country, the root of which (like that of the C. virosa 

 of Europe) is a deadly poison. A drachm of the fresh root has 

 killed a boy in less than two hours. 



835. Ord. Araliaceae ( Ginseng or Ivy Family) scarcely differs from 



857 



the last in floral structure, except that the ovary is mostly composed 

 of more than two carpels, and these do not sepai'ate when ripe, but 



FIG. 851. Flower of Osmorrhiza longistylis. 852. Umbel of the same in fruit : a, the invo- 

 lucels. 853. The ripe mericarps separating from the axis or carpophore. 85-t Cross-section 

 of the fruit of Angelica, where the lateral ribs are produced into wings : the black dots repre- 

 sent the vittce, as they appear in a cross-section. 855. One of the mericarps of the same, show- 

 ing the inner face, or commissure, as well as the transverse section, with two of the vittiE, a. 



FIG. 856. Flower of Aralia nudicaulis (Wild Sarsaparilla) ; a vertical section, displaying 

 two of the cells of the ovary. 857. Cross-section of the ovary. 858. Longitudinal section of a 

 seed, magnified, showing the small embryo at the upper end. 



