Poisonous properties of the Yew 141 



ment, as Cornevin observes, only proves that he 

 had given an insufficient dose. Cornevin states 

 that in Japan an oil is extracted from the seeds 

 and used for toilet purposes. 



The wood and bark are probably less poisonous 

 than the leaves, but from very early times they 

 have been held to have noxious properties. It 

 was thought that vessels made of the wood of yew 

 communicated their poison to the contained liquids. 

 The quantity of poison must, however, have been 

 small in amount, and it is not improbable, as has 

 been suggested, that other material had been intro- 

 duced. At the present day, it is said that bowls 

 are made from this wood in the Pyrenees and used 

 in preference to all other kinds for holding water, 

 but then water will not dissolve the active principle 

 of the wood as wine may do. There are as yet 

 no exact experiments to show the amount of taxin 

 which the wood contains. Cornevin's 1 researches 

 lead him to the conclusion that the bark is poison- 

 ous, an opinion adverse to that of MM. Chevalier, 

 Duchesne, and Reynal, who deny that it has any 

 toxic properties. Two instances of cattle being 

 poisoned by the bark, reported in the Gardeners 

 Chronicle, December 1879, prove the accuracy of 

 Cornevin's conclusions. 



Contrary to what we find in the statements as 

 to the fruit and wood, there seems to be no differ- 



1 Cornevin, Plantes Vdneneuses. 



