52 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
POISONING CAUSED BY EATING DAFFODIL BULBS 
The various representatives of daffodils and jonquils have 
long been recognized as possessing a toxie principle, the so- 
called ‘‘narcissine’’ which, if taken into the system, may 
cause acute symptoms of poisoning. Authentie eases of pois- 
oning from such eases are, however, rare, and consequently 
the one recently reported at a meeting ‘of. the jase cate aae 
Pharmaceutical Society is of interest. 
Mr. Thomas Wilson here related the experience of four per- 
sons who were boarding in a private residence and who de 
cided to prepare their own meal. The person about to make 
a stew was advised where the vegetables were kept and took 
what she presumed to be an onion. It was, however, a bulb 
of a narcissus. The stew was prepared and seasoned with the 
supposed onion and when served was partaken of by five 
adults. Before the meal was ended the five persons were 
seized with fits of vomiting and shivering and suffered from 
intense gastro-enteritis. After a few hours all had apparently 
recovered and there seemed to be no ill after-effects. Had the 
usual quantity of onions been used in the preparation of the 
meal the results would have undoubtedly been more serious. 
It seems almost incredible that narcissus bulbs could be 
mistaken for onions, since, of course, there is an entire 
absence of the characteristic onion odor, and the typical 
watering of the eyes which accompanies the preparation of 
onions is likewise lacking. After the bulbs have sprouted the 
flat leaf of the narcissus is another point which distinguishes 
it from the tubular foliage of the onion. Since eases of 
poisoning occur in spite of these differences, it would seem to 
be desirable that care be taken in storing daffodils and similar 
bulbs away from vegetables which are to be used in cooking. 
It is likewise a possibility that in digging onions in a garden 
where daffodils are growing one or more of these poisonous 
bulbs might be included with the onion bulbs. 
The case above referred to is not an isolated one, as other 
experiences have been reported where whole families have 
suffered severely from mistaking daffodil bulbs for onion 
bulbs. Attention should therefore be called to the poisonous 
property of these bulbs, since it does not seem to be generally 
known. 
