312 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



poisonous principle in both is destroyed 

 by thorough cooking. 



I now come to the distinctly dan- 

 gerous articles of this group, — roots 

 and root-like bodies which are not only 

 known to be fatally poisonous, but which 

 are for various reasons liable to be eaten, 

 and which have actually made records 

 of this character. They are Aconitum, 

 Phytolacca, Convallaria, Veratrum, Ro- 

 binia, Cicuta and Sambucus. 



The properties of the medicinal aco- 

 nite, A. Napellus, are too well-known to 

 require attention. The genus is refer- 

 red to here not only because it is a com- 

 mon garden flower, and extremely pois- 

 onous, hence very likely to occasion ac- 

 cidents, but because we have a species, 

 A. noveboracense Gray, growing along 

 the Beaverkill in the Catskills, in a wild 

 state. While its poisonous properties 

 have not been investigated, evidence 

 furnished by Mrs. Cornelius Van Brunt, 

 of this city, shows that it is probably 

 even externally an irritant poison. It is 

 furthermore of interest that Mr. Van 

 Brunt's observations show quite clearly 

 that it is of comparatively recent intro- 

 duction to that locality from farther 

 west, hence likely to be introduced into 

 other similar localities in this vicinity. 

 The habit and appearance of the plant is 

 well illustrated bv the picture. Its tu- 

 bers are conical and not more than an 

 inch or so in length. It is difficult for 

 one to understand how such a tuber as 

 aconite can be mistaken, as it is said to 

 have frequently been in Europe, for 

 the horse-radish. Mr. Holmes, of the 

 British Pharmaceutical Society, thinks it 

 may be due to the fact that the roots of 

 horse-radish, after being ground down 

 to a small, conical vestige with the crown 

 attached, are then frequently planted. 



The common Poke root, Phytolacca 

 decandra, Iy. is one of our most violently 

 poisonous plants. Its poisonous and me- 



dicinal properties decrease continuously 

 with drying and keeping, so that the 

 chief danger resides in the fresh roots. 

 JEvery one is familiar with the appear- 

 ance of the growing plant, extremely 

 common everywhere about the city along 

 roadsides and in waste places, and one 

 of the most handsome of all our native 

 plants. However it is not at this time, that 

 is, when full grown, that it is liable to occa- 

 sion accidents, These usually occur in ear- 

 ly spring, before the stems make their ap- 

 pearance, when the roots are dug, grated 

 and eaten raw in mistake for horse-rad- 

 dish, which they somewhat resemble. 

 As the young shoots make a delicious 

 green, very similar to Asparagus, por- 

 tions of the root are liable to be taken at 

 the same time. If very thoroughly cook- 

 ed their poisonous properties would be 

 destroyed, but if the cooking were in- 

 complete, fatal poisoning might result. 

 The active constituent is a glucoside, 

 phytolaccin, occurring in white, silky 

 needles. The symptoms are tonic spasm 

 of the muscles, especially of the hands 

 and feet, these being rigidly fixed, the 

 body strongly and rigidly bent backward 

 and the respiratory muscles fixed and 

 immovable, so that death results from 

 failure of breathing. The preliminary 

 syptoms are vomiting and purging, but 

 as the vomiting comes on slowly, the 

 first-indication of treatment is to empty 

 the stomach as promptly as possible, the 

 stomach-pump being preferable. Three 

 teaspoonfuls of the tincture of the root 

 killed a child of six years in two or three 

 hours. There is no excuse for mistak- 

 ing this root if one has ever examined it, 

 as the peculiar concentric arrangement 

 of its tissues renders identification easy. 

 Convallaria majalis Iy. or Lily-of-the- 

 Valley, .is of course not spontaneous, but 

 should be referred to in this connection 

 because it is so powerfully poisonous and 

 so commonly cultivated in gardens, and 



