KALMIA AMERICAN LAUKEL. 195 



An evergreen shrub, 4 to 20 feet high. Leaves mostly alternate, cori- 

 aceous, bright green both sides, ovate-lanceolate or elliptical, tapering to 

 each end, petioled. Flowers very showy, in terminal, many-flowered, um- 

 bel-like corymbs, varying from deep rose-color to nearly white ; they ap- 

 pear in May and June. 



Habitat. Canada to Florida and westward ; in the Northern States a 

 low shrub, farther south it is larger, and often forms very dense thickets. 



Part Used. The leaves not official. 



Constituents. Analysis, as yet, has thrown little light upon the sup- 

 posed properties of this plant. Besides the ordinary principle of plants, 

 there have been found in it an acrid principle, and arbutin, the latter one 

 of the constituents of uva-ursi, and other ericaceous plants. 



Preparations. Kalmia imparts its virtues to boiling water and alcohol ; 

 it may be administered in decoction or tincture. 



Medical Properties and Uses. The leaves of the plant as also those 

 of Kalmia angustifolia (Sheep-Laurel, Lamb-kill] are said to be poisonous 

 to sheep and calves ; and cases are reported of men being poisoned by 

 eating the flesh of partridges which had fed upon the buds and berries. 

 On the other hand, Wilson, the ornithologist, ate freely of the flesh of such 

 birds without any ill effect whatever ; and deer feed upon the leaves in 

 winter, not only without ill effect upon themselves, but also without ren- 

 dering their flesh unwholesome to man. And yet the common opinion is 

 that the leaves are very poisonous. The writer himself was cautioned by 

 an old Massachusetts farmer against meddling with K. angustifolia because 

 of its poisonous nature ; disregarding the advice, he ate several leaves in 

 the presence of the farmer, without, however, convincing the latter, not- 

 withstanding no ill effects were experienced. That persons have been poi- 

 soned seriously by eating the flesh of partridges in winter cannot be de- 

 nied ; that these birds may have fed upon kalmia buds and berries is also 

 probable, but that their flesh is thus rendered poisonous does not seem as 

 yet fully established. Some experimenters have reported effects produced 

 in their own persons by strong decoctions of the leaves, similar to those of 

 partridge poisoning ; others quite as worthy of credence have failed to 

 observe any sensible effect from them. Taking these contradictory state- 

 ments in connection with the negative results of the chemical anatyses thus 

 far made, one may reasonably conclude either that the poisonous character 

 of these plants has been greatly exaggerated, or that the energy of the 

 poison, whatever it may be, is greatly influenced by the personal idiosyn- 

 crasy of the individual experimented with. 



Regarding the therapeutic application of kalmia, there exists the same 

 confusion. It is said to be " antisyphilitic, sedative to the heart, and some- 

 what astringent." How truly antisyphilitic it is may be conjectured from 

 the following case reported by King : " Some time since I treated a case 

 of syphilis of five weeks' standing, which had not received any kind of 



