et 
ae 
103-3 
of the Partridge, after feeding upon the leaves and fruits, becomes of itself poi- 
sonous; this Wilson the ornithologist denies on trial, though other observers 
declare it a fact. Dr. Bigelow judges that the illness caused in animals is due to 
the indigestibility of the plant; other authors think that those persons made ill by 
eating the flesh of the partridge under the circumstances mentioned, are made so 
from a decomposed state of the meat. Beck* appears to deem the flesh poisonous 
from eating the berries as above. | : 
From the experience of nearly all persons who have experimented upon 
themselves with a tincture or decoction of the leaves, it is obvious that the effects 
produced on cattle after grazing on the leaves, and on persons eating of “ poisoned” 
partridges, are due to the plant itself, not to indigestion or putrefaction. Dr. 
Bigelow’s later observations,+ agree 7 ¢o/o with our provings. He gives the 
following as its action: “The flesh of the bird impairs the functions of the brain 
and acts directly as a sedative poison, secondarily affecting the digestive and 
circulatory organs.” The symptoms arising in those proving the drug are: 
Vertigo and headache; almost complete loss of sight; pale, somewhat livid coun- 
tenance; salivation and difficult deglutition; thirst, nausea and vomiting, with 
oppression and pressure in the region of the stomach; difficult respiration with 
great palpitation and fluttering of the heart, followed by an irregular, feeble, 
and slow pulse; weakness, weariness and pains in the limbs; coldness of the 
surface and great prostration. ; 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE 103. 
1. End of flowering branch, Waverly, N. Y., June 15th, 1880. 
2. Flower. 
3. Pistil. 
4. Stamen. 
5. Pollen x 200. 
(3 and 4 enlarged). 
Kalmia Angustifolia, Linn., seems from the experience of others to be the 
most poisonous species, its habitat is the same as that of K. latifolia. It may be 
the confusion of species that causes so much doubt upon the questions of toxi- 
cology. It is stated{ that a few drops of a saturated tincture of the plant caused 
the death of a rattlesnake when poured upon it. We cannot be certain that our 
preparations and those of the provers were made from K. latifolia alone ; therefore I 
append a differentiation for future reference in experimentation, judging that a 
thorough revision and re-proving of the two species separately, would be vastly — 
important to us, 
: KALMIA. : 
K. LATIFOLIA. KK. ANGUSTIFOLIA. 
(Calico-bush, Mountain Laurel.) (Sheep-laurel, Lamb-kill.) 
Height 4 to 30 feet. ~ Height 2 to 4 feet, : 
Leaves alternate or scattered, ovate-lanceolate or elliptical, | Leaves opposite or in whorls of three, narrowly oblong, 
acute, bright, rich green both sides, : obtuse, light green above, pale to whitish beneath, 
Inflorescence terminal, clammy, pubescent; flowers pink to | /nflorescence \ateral, slightly glandular; flowers red, and 
nearly white. nearly two-thirds smaller. eae 
Fruit a depressed glandular capsule. Fruit a depressed smooth capsule, upon a recurved pedicel. 
* Medical Furisprudence, p. 864. : + Nearly 40 years after the publication of his Am. Med. Bot., quoted above. se : 
{ By Dr. Barton. ‘ sea 
