POISONOUS PLANTS 321 



authorities consider that there is little ground for such 

 a belief ; but its poisonous qualities are undoubted, and 

 "serious poisoning effects, resulting in numbness, para- 

 lysis, and gangrene of the extremities, are rapidly pro- 

 duced when animals are fed with considerable quantities 

 of ergoted hay " (Percival). 



" Want ye corn for bread ? 

 'Twas full of darnel : Do you like the taste ? " 



SHAKESPEARI-:, i Henry VI. , Act iii. sc. 2. 



