NAT. ORDER. — DUMOSiE. 15 



subsides, nnd the ulcers lical in a sliort time. It operates, however, 

 somewhat diflercntly on difrereiit constitutions, and some ai'e incapa- 

 ble of being poisoned with it at all, while others will receive its in- 

 fection seA^eral rods distant from the tree, only looking at it. Persons 

 of an irritable habit are most liable to receive it. All wi'iters agree 



. in the poisonous nature of this tree. An incision being made, a 

 wliitisli-yellow juice, which has a nauseous smell, comes out be- 

 tween the bark and the wood. The natives of this comitry stain 

 their cloth black with the juice of this tree, which is retained after 



k a great number of washings in lye ; the instant the cloth is exposed 

 to the sun, after being washed in this juice, it tmnis a beautiful jet- 

 black, of a shining natm'e. This is a native of North America, from 

 Canada to South Carolina, in hedges, cUtches, waste places, and par- 

 ticularly in moist swamps in woods. It flowers in July. 



Rhus radicans. Rooting poison-oak, or Sumach. This is a 

 climbing plant. Leaflets large, entire or rarely toothed, ovate ; flow- 

 ers dioecious, greenish ; berries white. This plant having in com- 

 mon with the ivy the quality of not rising without the support of a 

 wall, tree, or hedge ; it is called in some parts of America creeping 

 ivy. It will climb to the top of tall trees in woods, the branches 

 every where throwing out fibres, which penetrate the trunk of the 

 tree on which it grows. When the stem is cut it emits a pale-brown 

 sap, of a chsagreeable scent, and is so sharj) that letters or marks 

 made upon linen cannot be got out again, but gi-ows blacker the 

 more it is washed. Like Rush venenata it is poisonous to many per- 

 sons, but in rather a less degi-ee, and some are not afTected with it in 

 the least. It is a remarkable fact that members of the same family 

 are not affected by this plant ; one will handle and use it without 

 any trouble, while a brother or sister will receive its venom as soon 

 as they come within several feet of it, or even at a greater distance 

 at the windward of it. The writer has experimented some witli the 



