OUR POISONOUS PLANTS 63 



medicinal virtue. Dr. Turner, in his Herbal, dated 

 1551, says: "This of all poisons is the most hastie 

 poison"; and Will Coles, in his Art of Simpling, 

 speaks of it as " a rank poison reported to prevail 

 mightily against the bitings of serpents and vipers." 

 And this seems to have been the common belief, for 

 Ben Jonson says 



" I have heard that Aconite, 

 Being timely taken, hath a healing might 

 Against the scorpion's stroke." 



The root of this dangerous plant is conical and taper- 

 ing, and on more than one occasion has been mistaken, 

 with fatal effects, for horse-radish. A case of this 

 kind occurred at Dingwall in Ross-shire in the year 

 1856, whereby three persons lost their lives. 



Another order of plants which contains a number 

 of dangerous species is the Umbelliferce, or Parsley 

 tribe. This is an extensive order, numbering some 

 sixty species in Great Britain, and including in its 

 ranks both useful and injurious plants. While, on 

 the one hand, it provides us with wholesome vege- 

 tables, such as carrots and parsnips and celery, and 

 with culinary herbs, as parsley and fennel and sam- 

 phire, it also contains plants of such baneful properties 

 as hemlock and cowbane. With the exception of 

 aconite and the deadly nightshade, hemlock is pro- 

 bably the most poisonous plant in the British flora. 

 It is not uncommon, especially in the north of England, 

 where it may often be seen on hedgebanks by the 

 wayside. Fortunately it can always be distinguished 

 from all other members of the Umbelliferous family 

 by the appearance of its stems, which are mottled 

 and dotted all over with irregular spots and blotches 



