HKMII'TKKA 



II KM LOCK 



639 



applied, or the more modern title Rhynchota, in 

 allusion in tin- <-luinu:teriHtic suctorial i>rolxiM'i>. 

 'I lit- onler includes (1) forum with similar wings 

 ( 1 1 omoptera ) e.g. coccus insects, aphides, Cicadas 

 (i|.v.); (2) others with dissimilar wings (Heterop- 

 tra)y-e.g. water-bugs, water-scorpions; and (.'{) 

 iMiusites or Lice (q.v.). 



Hemlock (< '<>iii in), a genus of plants of the 

 n.iimal order U in belliferw, having compound um- 

 ii.'ls of small \vliite (lowers, small general and 

 partial involucres, the limb of the calyx merely 

 rudimeniaiy. ainl a compressed ovate fruit with 

 li\ e |irominent wavy ridges and no vittce. The best- 

 known and only important species is the Common 



Flowers and Root of Common Hemlock 



(('mi in in maculatum) : 



c, a flower ; d, a seed. 



or Spotted Hemlock (C. maculatum), which grows 

 by waysides, on heaps of rubbish, and in other 

 similar situations in Britain and on the continent 

 of Europe, in some parts of Asia, and now also as 

 a naturalised plant in North America find in Chili. 

 It has a root somewhat resembling a small parsnip ; 

 a round, branched, hollow, bright-green stem, 2 to 

 7 feet high, generally spotted with dark purple ; 

 the leaves large, tripinnate, of a dark shining green 

 colour ; the leaflets lanceolate, pinnatifid. All 

 parts of the plant are perfectly destitute of hairs, 

 and it is the only British species of the order Um- 

 belliferne which has the stem smooth and spotted 

 with purple. Both the general and partial umbels 

 have many rays. The general involucres consist 

 of several small leaflets, the partial involucres of 

 three small leaflets, all on one side. The whole 

 plant has a nauseous smell, particularly if rubbed 

 or bruised. The J eaves and fruit are the parts of 

 the plant employed in medicine. The former 

 hhotild l>e gathered just before the time or at the 

 commencement of flowering, and after the remeval 

 of the larger stalks they should be quickly dried 

 by a heat not exceeding 120. They should then 

 be preserved in perfectly closed tin canisters. The 

 fruit is gathered when fully developed, but still 

 green, and should be carefully dried. 



The most important ingredient in hemlock is 

 the alkaloid conine, a volatile, colourless, oily, 

 strongly alkaline substance, C 8 Hi 7 N, but it also 

 contains two other alkaloids methy leonine and 

 conhydrine. The fruit contains about one-fifth 

 per cent, of it, the other parts of the plant 

 merely traces. It is obtained by distilling the 

 seeds with water which contains a little potash in 

 solution ; the conine passes over with the water in 

 the form of a yellowish oil, and is purified by redis- 

 tillation. Conine has lately been prepared artilici 

 ally by Schifl". < 'onhydrine, C s Hj 7 NO, is a solid vola- 

 tile alkaloid, and is much less poisonous than conine. 



Conine and methylconine are extremely powonoiiM, 

 and cause death by their action on the nervou* 

 -y-ti-ni. The action of conium d<'jx?ndM of eourxe 

 mi tin: comhinird (-fleet** of the active principle** 

 contained in the plant. The symptom* of comma 

 |M>isoning are weakness and Buggering gait, paw*- 

 nig on to paralysis, which gradually pause* up the 

 cord until it reaches the respiratory centre, when 

 death ensues. Dilatation of tin- pupil, pUwis, and 

 asphyxia! convulsions are symptoms alto seen. 



In medicine, it is given internally as a sedative 

 to the nervous system in chorea, incontinence of 

 urine, paralysis agitans, and other affections. It 

 is also employed as a vapour to relieve cough. It 

 may be administered internally in the form of 

 powder (of the leaves), succus, tincture, or extract, 

 while externally it may l>e applied as a soothing 

 application to ulcers, painful piles, &c., in the form 

 of ointment or poultice. The succus is considered 

 the best preparation, the others often containing 

 no active principle. 



In cases of poisoning by hemlock, the evacuation 

 of the stomach is the first thing to lie attended to. 

 Among the ancient Greeks, poisoning by hemlock 

 was a common mode of death for condemned 

 criminals, and thus it was that Socrates died. 

 Water Hemlock, or Cowbane (Cicuta virosa), is 

 also an umbelliferous plant, of a genus having 

 much-vaulted umbels, a five-toothed calyx, and 

 almost globose fruit, each carpel with five broad 

 flattened ribs and evident single vittce. Water 

 hemlock grows in ditches, on the margins of ponds, 

 and wet grounds in Europe and the north of Asia. 

 It is more common in Scotland than in England. 

 It has a large fleshy white root, covered externally 

 with fibres ; an erect much-branched stem, 2 to 5 

 feet high ; tripinnate leaves, with linear-lanceolate 

 regularly and sharply serrated leaflets ; no general 

 involucre, or only a single small leaflet, partial 



Water Hemlock (Cicuta, virota). 



involucres of many short narrow leaflets ; and white 

 flowers. It contains an active principle, Cicvt- 

 oxine, and an essential oil. It causes tetanic 

 spasms, insensibility, vomiting, and diarrhoea. 

 Fatal results have occurred from eating the root. 

 Another species, C. maculata, is common in North 

 America, growing in marshy places. It has a 

 spotted stem, like that of true hemlock, the name 

 of which it very generally receives in North 

 America. The leaves are triternate, the leaflets 

 ternate. It is a very poisonous plant, and is the 

 cause of many deaths. The Cicnta of the Romans 

 was the Conium of modem botanists (Or. koneion ), 

 as water hemlock does not grow in Italy or (jreece. 



