VEIF 63 



far militate against their use that the remedy went out of 

 fashion. Horses, cows, or deer, either picking up yew 

 clippings, or nibbling at the green leaves when the grass 

 is thin, all quickly die, while, curiously enough, goats, 

 hares, and rabbits have a complete immunity/ To horses 

 it would appear to be most fatal of all ; but a Professor 

 Wiborg, of Copenhagen, found that by mixing yew-leaves 

 with other food, and giving the compound in careful 

 proportion, one could gradually increase the proportion of 

 yew without danger. The great risk both with horses and 

 cattle would appear to be that, under sudden temptation, 

 when food is short, owing to severe weather or other cause, 

 too much is taken at one time. While such experiments 

 as those of Dr. Wiborg are very interesting, and we have 

 often felt desirous to make them, the practical difficulty 

 was that we never quite cared to investigate the action 

 of poisons or the like on our own horse or cow, and 

 there was a certain delicacy in asking one's neighbour for 

 the loan of his ! It will be observed that, while many 

 hedgerow trees, like the hawthorn, have their foliage in 

 some seasons almost destroyed by caterpillars or other small 

 depredators, nothing attacks the yew-leaves. 



' While we should naturally imagine that if a thing be poisonous at 

 all it will be poisonous all round, a little investigation soon shows that this 

 is by no means the case, the same plant being deadly poison to one creature, 

 innocuous and acceptable to another. That which proves — 

 Strong poison unto me, another loves, 

 And eats, and lives. Tlius hemlock juice prevails, 

 And kills a man, but fattens goats and quails. 



Creech, Lucretius. 

 Sheep will eat hemlock with impunity, but if a cat nibbles it, it dies, and 

 if you, gentle reader, with a turn for investigation, show your pet parrot 

 that parsley is delectable, and to be eaten with full impunity, and it follows 

 your example, your bird's faith in you costs it its life. 



