296 FLORA HOMGOPATHICA. 
of the dried plant proved fatal. It caused dejection, stupor, 
dilatation of the pupils, trembling, salivation, nausea, spasmodic 
contraction of the muscles of the extremities, rolling of the eye, 
grinding of the teeth, and copious cold sweats. 
On Man.—In large and poisonous doses, the symptoms pro- 
duced by the leaves and seeds are those indicating disorders of 
the cerebro-spinal system. Dr. J. H. Bennett met with a case 
which illustrates its effects on the spinal marrow. A man ate a 
large quantity of Hemlock plant by mistake for parsley, soon 
afterwards there was loss of power in the lower extremities, 
but he apparently suffered no pain. In walking, he staggered 
as if he was drunk; at length his limbs refused to support him, 
and he fell. On being raised, his legs dragged after him, or - 
when his arms were lifted they fell like inert masses, and 
remained immovable; there was perfect paralysis of the upper 
and lower extremities within two hours after he had taken the 
poison. There was a loss of power of deglutition, and a partial 
paralysis of sensation, but no convulsions, only slight occasional 
motions of the left leg; the pupils were fixed. Three hours 
after eating the Hemlock, the respiratory movements had 
ceased. Death took place in three hours and a quarter. It 
was evidently caused by gradual asphyxia from paralysis of the 
muscles of respiration, but the intellect was perfectly clear until 
shortly before death.* On inspection, there was slight serous 
effusion beneath the arachnoid membrane. The substance of 
the brain was soft on section; there were numerous bloody 
points, but the organ was otherwise healthy. The lungs were 
gorged with dark-red fluid blood; the heart was soft and flabby. 
The stomach contained a green pultaceous mass resembling 
parsley; the mucous coat was much congested, especially at the 
cardiac extremity; here there were numerous extravasations 
of dark blood below the epithelium, over a space about the size 
of the hand. The intestines were healthy, and these presented 
* Compare the symptoms described by Plato in his account of the death of 
Socrates, pp. 220, 221. 
