1885 



GLEANINGS IN EEE CULTURE. 



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tlowei-s, and used it myself, given to my family, and 

 given to Others many times in various forms of 

 disease, and found it far less active as a remedial 

 agent than the root, and not the least indication of 

 l)oisoning in any instance. I think I am capable of 

 speaking- understandingly in this matter, as I have 

 made extensive use of the i-emedy for tliiit}/ ijenis, 

 and have pushed the use of it to secuie its constitu- 

 tional effects humlre<h of times, with the best possi- 

 ble results, but always caret nl to stop the use of 

 t he drug- as soon as its relaxing- effects were secured. 



Two instances now recur to me, where it was 

 used with intent to take life— one at the east, in one 

 of the New-England States, the other in Michigan. 

 IJoth were men, and convicts in State prison. Each 

 man took one ounce of the Huid extract at one dose. 

 Moth were thought dead fora short time, l)ut recov- 

 ered fully without any bad results. 



Another case is reported in the American Dispen- 

 satory, where a lad took six drachms of the tincture 

 at one dose without any injui-y. 



Hut there are hcokindsof gelsetniuni in the South, 

 and varying so little that I don't think on<> person 

 in a hundred where I live knew the difference. In 

 botany it is known as the (ieJxemium (ilhti, or wliite 

 gelsemium, and is poisonous. The Howers are al- 

 most exactly alike in size and shape, bloom 'at the 

 same time, but a ligliter color, some almost white. 

 The vine is larger near the gi-ound, having tendrils 

 like the grape or ivy, a darker color, tapering, and 

 generally not so long; lias a larger leaf, and oppo- 

 site, on long- footstalks. The root is light yellow, or 

 almost white, and straight, and alxnit the same 

 length as the medicinal root, a sensibly bitter, dis- 

 agreeable, sickening taste. The medicinal vine has 

 no tendrils; the root is not sickening nor unpleas- 

 ant to the taste of most persons. I have carried it 

 in my pocket, and eaten of it daily, and known oth- 

 ei-s to do so, as they ate "calamus " (u- ginseng, the 

 latter commonly called "sang" in tlie South. The 

 flowers of the medicinal vine are of a rich beautiful 

 .> ellow, and impart a very agreeable pei fume to the 

 surrounding atmosphere, as fully as a Held of buck- 

 wheat in full bloom, and freighted to its utmost 

 with its precious burden of nectar. 



The flowers of the other variety furnish no i)er- 

 ceptible odor or perfume, unless in close contact, 

 and will sicken and vomit severely by chewing or 

 infusion. 



The case of the lady from the North, as mentioned 

 by A. T. P., explains as clearly as any thing- can 

 that she gathered the flowers of GeUemium nlha, 

 and not those of Odsemium t^emijervireua. A fur- 

 ther explanation is also given by the fact that the 

 person who furnished the honey foi- Mrs. Jlukes 

 " li\ed on the border of a swamp," the chosen habi- 

 tat of the poison variety, "and that very few flowers 

 of other plants were accessible to the bees." 

 A. T. P. fui'ther says, '■ During the war many of tlie 

 Federal soldiers who ate freely of the honey found 

 out its deadly effects to their cost, althougli no 

 deaths followed," etc. Observe, thry ate freely, ex- 

 jteriemcil its deacUi/ effects, fmt nalxnhi died." He 

 goes on to say, "The poisonous qualities of wild 

 honey are known to everybody— no one dare eat it." 

 Hut the Federal soldiers ate of it freely. They must 

 have been a tough set of men, that the Confederate 

 guns and deadly poisons only made sick. 



Now, there is nothing strange or marvelous in 

 this account at all— iust what would happen nine 

 times out of ten, the world over. I know a case 



where some hOhey was brought into a camp of sol- 

 diers in Michigan. They ate freely of the honey, 

 and in a short time a hundred or more were terribly 

 sick, and I think many of them would have die<l 

 without immediate help. Many others ate of the 

 ■same honey, and were not sick at all. Why this 

 difference in effects? Two reasons will answer the 

 question. 1. A constitutional difference, and state 

 of the stomach. 



3. They ate less freely— moderately, temperately. 

 Suppose my horse has not had any grain for three 

 or six mouths, and I should feed him a full mess, 

 say six or eight quarts of grain feed for the Htsf 

 feed. What do you think would liecome of my 

 horse? I think about the first work I should be 

 called upon to perform would be to haul him away 

 to his grave: 



It is a very difficult matter to make people under- 

 stand the difference between little and intich when 

 eating something they very much like. They seem 

 to comprehend the matter only when the grip of 

 pain is upon them. When I was living on the 

 "Table Lands" of Tennessee, about twenty -five 

 miles from Chattanooga, I was called in great haste 

 to see a family that were taken suddenly and se- 

 verely siek. Arriving at the house I learned they 

 had cut a beetree and brought away a nice lot of 

 honey, and all that were sick had eaten some of the 

 honey. 1 wished to know how much any one (>< 

 them had eaten, and, picking up a piece of nice 

 comb, he replied, ".\ snack about this big, I 

 reckon." Now, a "snack" of the size shown me 

 would weigh ', of a i>ound; and with blood in their 

 eye they declared the honey was poisoned, and 

 would throw it away. I proposed, innocently as 

 possible, to take the honey and test it foi- poison. 

 Very cheerfully they gave me the honey, and 1 

 tested it three times a day— as long as it lasted; 



A lady lives close by me now whom I think one 

 teaspoonful of honey would kill in an hour. A 

 lirother of mine dare not eat «iic i/j-k/j unless it has 

 been boiled. A son of mine sevcj-al yeare ago ate 

 <iuite freely, wlien i was extracting, the first of the 

 season, and was nnide terribly sick. The honey 

 was white clover. Now, in everj' single instance 

 that has come under my notice of honey-poisoning, 

 it was the large quantity used that causM the trou- 

 ble. Neither the honey nor the bees were to blame. 



When water, cold or hot, will not extract half of 

 the medical properties of the gelsemium in hours 

 of digestion, I can't believe that the nectar, secreted 

 in a single night, and gathered by the bees, can be 

 so destructive to Mfe. 



In all I have said in regard to the poison variety, 

 I do not mean to be understood that the bees gath- 

 ered poisoned honey from the Howers because the 

 plant was poisonous when tested medicinally. 

 This variety will soon sicken intensely, taken in a 

 wamn tea or cold. The medicinal will not sicken. 

 It does not possess nausea at all. The other day I 

 was talking with a neighbor of Hiram Koop, who 

 told me that Koop stated that the greater part of 

 honey taken from wild bees is stung by the bees, 

 and full of bee-stings, in that State, and is very 

 poisonous. Since that I was talking with another 

 old bee-keeper about poison honey, and I mention- 

 ed the account given by- H. Roop. He made the 

 same remark, and stated f ui-ther that he had seen 

 thousands of their stings in a piece of honey no 

 larger than his hand, and that it was very danger- 

 ous to eat the honey. 



