CARROT FAMILY. 79 



It is a somewhat smaller plant than the preceding and 

 is distinguished from it by its orbicular fruits with small 

 oil-ducts. The leaflets also are less sharply serrate. 



The Bulbous Water Hemlock, Cicuta bulbifera, L., is 

 found in the eastern provinces, Ontario, Manitoba, 

 British Columbia, and the adjacent states to the south. 

 Lake the other species it is very poisonous. It is a slender 

 plant, one to three and one-half feet high. Its leaflets are 

 linear and sparingly toothed. The upper leaves have 

 clusters of bulblets in their axils. 



POISON HEMLOCK Conium maculatum L. 



Other Common Name: Spotted Parsley. 



The poisonous effects of Conium maculatum, a plant 

 introduced from Europe, were known long before the be- 

 ginning of botany as a science. The juice, made famous 

 on account of its connection with the death of Socrates, 

 was used by the ancient Greeks for the execution of 

 criminals. The poisonous principle (coniin) is found in 

 all parts of the plant. It is particularly abundant in the 

 leaves at flowering time, and is plentiful in the seeds, 

 especially when green. During the spring the roots are 

 almost harmless, but they become very poisonous in the 

 summer. The coniin is a volatile alkaloid, and thus 

 Poison Hemlock plants dried in hay are not very 

 dangerous. 



The symptoms are a gradual loss of muscular power, 

 owing to paralysis of the motor nerve centre. Convul- 

 sions are not present and the mind usually 

 d remains clear until death, which results 



Conditions of 



Poisoning from paralysis of the lungs. Horses, in 



addition to the above symptoms, exhibit 



nausea, intermittent sweating, muscular tremors and in- 



