128 Symplocarpus foetida. 
Every part of this curious plant, even the seeds, is strongly 
imbued with the peculiar alliaceous odour, which has given rise to 
the various vulgar names enumerated at the head of this article, ex- 
pressive of the obnoxiousness of the plant. I think the odour 
emanating from the broken spathe and the bruised seeds, resembles 
exceedingly, the smell of assafcetida. ‘The leaves have, perhaps, a 
more disagreeable smell than any other part of the plant. Their 
odour has been compared to that thrown. off by the skunk or 
pole-cat ; and, like that, it may be perceived at a considerable dis- 
tance. The smell from the spathe and flowers, is pungent and very 
subtile. Experience leads me to believe they possess a great share of 
acridity; having been seized with a very violent inflammation of my — 
eyes, (for the first time in my life,) which deprived me of the use of 
them for a month, by making the original drawings of these plates. 
The pungency of the plant was probably concentrated by the close- 
ness of the room, in which many specimens were at the time shut up. 
In the open air, however, the Skunk-cabbage has certainly no per- 
nicious effect; and the tales of its deadly influence on those who 
by eet it, published by Dr. Thornton, in his gorgeous folio, have 
o be ter fo foundation poe those of the — tree of the East.* 
vi: ag 
*It has been reserved for our countryman, Dr. Horsefield, to obliterate from the page of Natural 
History, the ridiculous fables concerning this tree, which the wickedness and macceS of the world had 
combined to make current. 
