22 MEDICINAL HEIIBS AND POISONOUS PLANTS 



been poisoned by eating the flowers along witli the grass 

 in the autumn months, and by eating the leaves from 

 May to September. It is recorded that a woman, Mdio, 

 under the impression that they were onions, had picked 

 up some bulbs of Colchicum thrown away by a trades- 

 man in Covent Garden, died immediately after eating 

 them. In 1862 a conviction of mvirder was obtained 

 against a woman who had administered the drug of 

 Colchicum to her victim. Tlie active principle is an 

 alkaloid called colchicine, which produces nausea, 

 vomiting, and the other effects of a strong irritant 

 poison. It is present in seeds to the extent of about 

 0'6 per cent. 



Medicinal Properties. — Colchicine is regarded almost 

 as a specific in acute attacks of gout, and is extensively 

 employed in all forms of this malady. 



Distribution. — The plant is found throughout Europe, 

 and is fairly abundant in this country in moist meadows 

 and pastures, though very local in character. It seems 

 to thrive best in the West of England and in those 

 counties which have an oolitic soil. 



Collection. — The corms should be dug up in summer, 

 peeled, sliced, and then dried. To collect the seeds, the 

 capsule containing them must be cut off' from the plant 

 before it lias opened, and hung up in a dry place inside 



be 



dry 



Present Source of Supply, — Before the War the seeds 

 were imported chiefly from France and Germaiiy, the 

 price of seeds in 1913 being 705. per cwt., or about 7d, 

 a lb. Now they cost 5s, a lb. Similarly the conns, 

 chiefly from Germany, cost 38^. a cwt., or roughly 4d a lb. 

 Now they cost 45. Qd. a lb. About 1 ton of Colchicum 

 seed and 2-4 tons of Colchicum corms were imported 

 annually into this country before the War. 



