1885.] natural sciences of philadelphia. 383 



November 3. 

 Mr. Thos. Meehan, Vice-President, in the chair. 

 Twenty-five persons present. 



Virulence of the Common Parsnip. — Mr. Meehan referred to 

 the deaths of some children, at Danville, Pa., in the spring of 

 1884, reputed to be caused by eating the roots of the wild pars- 

 nip. This was usually understood to mean the roots of Cicuta 

 maculata, or perhaps Conium maculatum. Roots had been sent 

 to him by the attendant physician, among which was the fragment 

 of a portion that one of the dead children had partially eaten, with 

 teeth marks on the remains. There seemed no chance for error 

 in this case. The root, which was evidently neither of the two 

 reputed to be virulent, was planted. It proved to be the true garden 

 parsnip. Pdstinaca sativa, which has become an escape from 

 gardens in many parts of the United States. Although the evi- 

 dence that the deaths were from the wild roots of the common 

 garden parsnip appeared so conclusive, in view of the fact that 

 there seems to be no record of such a virulent character in con- 

 nection with this plant, it was thought possible there might still 

 be some mistake, and corroborative evidence was sought for. It was 

 found that in the cultivated form some growers are careful about 

 weeding or working among the leaves while the dew is on them, 

 as severe cases of poisoning have been known to result, and on 

 large seed farms, the workmen engaged in cutting the stalks at 

 the seed harvest, have to protect their hands and arms against 

 contact with the juices, or they are liable to be severely poisoned 

 in a manner similar to that from the poison vine Rhus toxicoden- 

 dron. With these facts it seems worth placing on record what 

 seems to be indisputable that the deaths of the Danville children 

 were really caused by the wild garden parsnip, Pastinaca sativa. 



November 10. 

 The President, Dr. Leidy, in the chair. 

 Twenty-four persons present. 



The Shape of the Hind Limb in the Mammalia as Modified bxj 

 the Weight of the Trunk. — Dr. Harrison Allen directed attention 

 to the osseous characters of the posterior extremities in mammals, 

 as determined by the weight borne. The shape of the hind limb 

 in the majority of the forms is that best adapted for sustaining 

 the weight of the hinder part of the trunk. 



The head of the femur lies upon a neck which is relatively long ; 



