POISONOUS PLANTS 



295 



the fact that the whole 

 plant possesses a fetid, 

 disagreeable odour it ap- 

 pears rarely to be touched 

 by stock when in the 

 growing state, although 

 it is stated that in the 

 United States, where it 

 has become naturalised, 

 many domestic animals 

 have been killed by it. 

 Cases of poisoning have 

 arisen from eating the 

 seeds for those of anise, 

 and through using the 

 leaves for parsley ; the 

 roots have also been mis- 

 taken for parsnips with 

 deleterious results. 1 The 

 plant has been known 

 from ancient times to be 

 poisonous, and it was pro- 

 bably the poison of the 

 Hemlock which was ad- 

 ministered to the philoso- 

 pher Socrates by the 

 Greeks. 



The poisonous prin- 

 ciple consists of several 

 alkaloids, the chief of 

 which is Conine. The 

 symptoms of poisoning 

 in cows are described as 

 " loss of appetite, saliva- 

 tion, bloating, much body 



1 Farmers' Bulletin, No. 86, U.S. Dept. of Agric. 



