PLANT DEKMATITIS 135 



slighter effect. It is probable that tlic abundant ra])lii(Ies of calcium 

 oxalate which are present in the sap might provide the abrasive 

 action, without which the sap does not appear to affect the average 

 person. The succus is said to act ])hysiologically like a member of 

 the Digitalin group, which may afford a clue to the nature of the 

 toxic principle. The chief points of interest about this dermatitis are 

 the apparent necessity of an abraded skin, and the variations in 

 individual susceptibility. 



"DISAPPEARING WILD FLOWERS." 



The Times has recently published several letters calling attention 

 to the destruction of our wild flowers, and one which suggests a 

 remedy as objectionable as the disease. In its issue of April 20 the 

 correspondence is summarized in an article headed as above, which we 

 rejDroduce : 



*' It is time that additional steps were taken to protect wild 

 plants and flowers. Possibly many people to whom Devonshire 

 seems the very home of primroses may have been surprised at the 

 letter from the Bishop of Exeter, which we lately published, describ- 

 ing their disappearance in many parts of that as well as of other 

 counties. There are very few primroses left within a line drawn round 

 London, which is not quite equidistant at all points, but which 

 averages about 25 miles radius. The roots have been dug up and 

 sold in London, almost all to perish. For many years past the 

 eradication of many species of ferns has been even more general ; 

 while certain plants which at all times were rare, such as the most 

 local and conspicuous British orchids, have been almost completely 

 extirpated. To see our rare plants in bloom must alwa^^s be a 

 pleasure for the comparatively few. though to allow any plant to be 

 exterminated is an inexcusable offence against posterity But the 

 destruction of primroses removes from the landscape of spring one of 

 its delights with the most general appeal ; and the effective enforce- 

 ment of protective legislation should enlist the active support of every 

 class. Even in areas such as public parks, where special prohibitions 

 are in force, there has been increased defiance of them during and 

 since the war, mainly owing to the diminution of effective supervision. 

 Bluebells have hitherto suffered less than primroses, owing to their 

 being less conveniently removed and transplanted. But from at least 

 one London park, in the eastern suburbs, many bluebell plants were 

 pillaged this year during the Easter holidays, Avhile torn fragments 

 were strewn on all sides. The suggestion of one of our correspondents 

 that wild plants should be systematically disseminated by school 

 children is open, unless very carefully controlled, to the objection of 

 disturbing the natural floral associations, and to the risk of introducing 

 new species which might become an aggressive pest. But where 

 protective rules already exist, they should again be more effectively 

 enforced ; and they should be adopted and maintained with equal 

 determination in rural areas where pillagers of roots, whether street- 

 hawkers or collectors of the rarer species, have hitherto enjoyed a 

 vicious immunity." 



