POISONOUS DRUGS 



189 



the bitterest substances used in medicine. One part of 

 strychnine gives a bitter taste to 700,000 parts of water. 

 It is one of the most violent poisons, but in minute doses is 

 highly valued as a tonic by physicians. 



The drug aconite is the dried tuber of the monkshood 



Fit 



. 177, I. — Nux Vomica {Strychnos Xux-vomica, Logania Family. Lo- 

 ganiaceoe). Flowering branch. (Baillon.) — Tree of moderate height; 

 leaves glossy; flowers greenish or yellow; fruit orange. Native home, 

 India and East Indies. 



(Fig. 178). This species and nearly related ones are among 

 the most poisonous of plants. The juice of an East Indian 

 species is used by the natives as an arrow-poison which is so 

 powerful as to kill a tiger within a few minutes after it has 

 been even slightly wounded with one of the poisoned arrows. 



