194 MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS PLANTS 



water in which the roots have been bruised by tramphng. 

 The plant should be uprooted and destroyed wherever found. 

 Another herb closely similar to the water hemlock and too 

 common along waysides is the poison hemlock (Fig. 180). 

 This is most probably the plant by which Socrates was poi- 



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Fig. 180, I. — Poison Hemlock (Conium mandatum, Parsley Family, Vm- 

 helliferce) . Flowering and fruiting top. (Baillon.) — A bieimial about 

 1-2 m. tall; stem, smooth, purple-spotted; leaves parsley-like, of 

 mouse-like odor when bruised; flowers white; fruit brownish. Native 

 home, Eurasia. 



soned at the hands of the Athenians. Recent cases of poison- 

 ing have resulted from eating the root by mistake for jiarsnip, 

 the leaves for parsley, and the seeds for anise. Children have 

 been poisoned by blowing whistles made from the hollow 

 stem. 



