154 FLORA DQMESTICA. 



Herbe d-la-puce [Flea wort], and say it is noxious to some 

 persons, though harmless to others. Mr. Martyn quotes an 

 author (Kalm) who mentions having seen a soldier whose 

 hands were blistered all over merely from plucking it ; 

 whereas he frequently rubbed his own hands with the juice 

 without feeling any inconvenience. 



Mr. Lambert, in his Travels in Canada and the United 

 States, affirms that he has seen several persons who have 

 been confined to the house in consequence of having been 

 poisoned in the woods by this plant, and that even the 

 merely treading on it is sufficient to create swellings and 

 inflammations : " and yet," continues he, " I have seen 

 other people handle it with safety ; and have myself often 

 pulled it up by the root, broken the stem, and covered my 

 hands with the milky juice which it contains, without ex- 

 periencing any disagreeable effect. What property it is in 

 the constitution of people which thus imbibes or repels the 

 poisonous qualities of this plant, I have never been able to 

 learn, nor can I from observation account for it. 



" Many gardens in Lower Canada are full of DogV 

 bane, which occasions it to be considered there as a weed. 

 The roots appear to spread under ground to a considerable 

 extent ; and though the plant may be cut off every year, it 

 springs up again in another place. It makes its appearance 

 about the end of May, and runs up like the scarlet-beans, 

 entwining itself round any tree, plant, or paling that stands 

 in its way ; and if there is nothing else upon which the 

 young shoots can support themselves, they adhere to each 

 other, Their leaves and stems are of a light green, and 

 they are in full flower in July. Wherever the Herbe d-la- 

 puce grows, there is always to be found a great number of 

 lady-flies [coccinella]. They are covered with a brilliant 

 gold as long as they are on the leaf, or retain any particle 

 of its juice. I caught some of them, and put them into a 



