DICOTYLEDONS 



151 



digestive canal, and also causes other graver 

 symptoms ; yet instances of its poisoning children 

 are not wanting. In one case a boy died from 

 eating the Petty Spurge {Euphorbia Peplus), one of 

 our small species, growing from six to ten inches 

 in height. In a second case a boy died after eating 

 the Sun Spurge (E. 

 Helioscopia\ already re- 

 ferred to as another com- 

 mon field weed ; in both 

 instances the mouth, 

 throat, and stomach were 

 found to be in a highly 

 inflamed and corroded 

 condition. 



The roots and seeds of 

 species of Euphorbia have 

 been used by quack doc- 

 tors and ignorant country 

 folk with disastrous re- 

 sults, so that the whole 



tribe should be carefully ^'^- '''■ ^I-'-cujijjHs Perennis = Mer- 



avoided. 



Mercury {Mercurialis pej^emiis, Fig. 40, and 

 M. annua). — The first of these two species is very 

 common in shady places, hedgerows, etc., covering 

 large spaces of ground by means of its creeping 

 stems. The second is a not uncommon garden 

 weed, but much more abundant on the Continent. 



