J^axin in male and female plants 147 



all conclusive. As at first precipitated, taxine is 

 exceedingly impure, and the successive stages of 

 purification not only reduce it very largely in 

 quantity, but, I suspect, cause an actual alteration 

 in composition.' 



After repeated experiments he concludes that 

 * both male and female yew leaves contain an 

 alkaloid. This alkaloid in both cases appears to 

 agree with the taxine of Hilger and Brande. 

 Taxine is probably the poison of the yew, but it 

 is doubtful whether it has ever been obtained in 

 a pure state, and its physiological effects have 

 not been sufficiently studied. Other alkaloids are 

 probably present in the yew. . . . The yew-poison 

 may be of moderate virulence only, and may occur 

 in greater percentage in male than in female trees, 

 or the percentage may vary from tree to tree with- 

 out distinction of sex, and this may explain the 

 capricious occurrence of poisoning.' 



The poisonous effects produced by yew on cattle 

 and horses are very marked, and naturally of much 

 more frequent occurrence than in the human subject. 

 Cornevin considers that it is one of the most 

 dangerous plants of our flora : ' II est un de ceux 

 qui occasionnent le plus d'accidents parce que Hen 

 ne met en garde contre sa toxicite. II n'exhale 

 point, quoiqu'on ait dit, d'odeur forte, repoussante ; 

 ce n'est pas un resineux comme la plupart des autres 

 coniferes, et son feuillage d'un vert fonce tente les 



