230 THE HORSE 



should ever be taken whenever and wherever it is found 

 growing. Most people are acquainted with the yew as an 

 ornamental shrub and the various devices which are 

 fashioned out of it. The leaves are about an inch long, 

 dark green on the upper, but lighter on the lower side, 

 and when young of a very bright green, standing out in 

 marked contrast to the leaves of the previous year. 

 The poisonous properties of the yew were known to the 

 ancient Greeks and Romans, and have been fully estab- 

 lished by modem experience. Judged from a toxi- 

 cological standpoint, the yev/ occupies an intermediate 

 position between the foxglove and the savin. Death 

 occurs so rapidly after partaking freely of this plant that 

 there is very httle time to observe any symptoms. It 

 produces coldness of the surface of the body, rapid action 

 of the heart, trembling, and other urgent signs of pain 

 and collapse. Although a very ornamental shrub it 

 should never be grown in hedges, more especially at the 

 front of houses, as it is very liable at any time to be con- 

 sumed by any horses left unattended there. 



Another plant which frequently grows on hedge-banks 

 and around pastures is that known as the foxglove, the 

 purple flowers of which are well known to almost every one. 

 This plant bears a rosette of leaves close to the ground 

 and these are much lighter on their under surface than 

 above. They have been known to be gathered in mistake 

 for those of the prickly comfrey, and with fatal results 

 when cut up and given to horses. Foxglove leaves, when 

 dried and powdered, have marked diuretic and sedative 

 properties, for which purpose they are sometimes medici- 

 nally employed in veterinary practice. Both the flowers 

 and the leaves are poisonous. 



The deadly nightshade and the bitter-sweet belong to 

 the same natural order as the potato, and they are both 

 poisonous plants, but the deadly nightshade more so to the 

 horse than the bitter-sweet. The latter is quite a common 

 plant found growing in hedges. It bears bright purple 



