90 



POISONOUS PLANTS 



It may be added that Dr. J. Harley maintains, 

 that having experimented on himself, on others, and 

 on animals with the expressed juice and with the 

 tincture, he found the effects to be entirely negative. 

 Some of the published cases he refers to Hemlock, 

 others to Aconite. 



Since, however, plants 

 vary greatly according to 

 climate and soil, it is 

 possible that he had 

 samples that were more 

 or less or quite harmless ; 

 just as bread has been 

 made to test the poisonous 

 properties of Darnel with 

 perfectly innocuous re- 

 -^^n.w^^ suits. Again, he does 

 ^^^v/^^^|^^> not appear to have used 

 the living plant itself. 

 It is safer, therefore, 

 to believe what has been 

 otherwise universally at- 

 tributed to this plant. 

 Hemlock {Conium vmculatum, Fig. 22). — This 

 is a tall biennial, growing from three to six feet, or 

 more. It has a forked, pale yellow root. The stem 

 is erect, hollow, striated, perfectly smooth, bright 

 green, but mottled with stains or spots of a port- 

 wine colour, and covered with a " bloom " which- is 



Fig. 22. 



Conimn maculatum ; 

 Hemlock. 



