POISONOUS PLANTS AND ANIMALS 101 



distilled. On the other side of the case was a series of 

 bottles showing the steps in the process by which the 

 modern chemist manufactures from coal-tar and coker- 

 butter the same bodies which give value to the vegetable 

 extracts, and there was finally a bottle of what is called 

 " synthetic eau-de-Cologne " that is, eau-de-Cologne put 

 together from the products manufactured by the human, 

 instead of the vegetable, chemist. 



Whilst man has learnt to avoid swallowing poisonous 

 plants, although occasionally blundering over pretty- 

 looking berries and deceptive mushrooms, he has had 

 little to fear in that way from animals. To a small 

 degree this is due to the fact that only parts of animals 

 are eaten by man, and those very generally are cooked 

 before being eaten, the heating often sufficing to destroy 

 substances present in flesh, fish, and fowl which would 

 be poisonous if taken raw. But, as a matter of fact, 

 animals do not generally protect themselves from being 

 eaten, as plants largely do, by developing nasty or 

 poisonous substances in their flesh, though some do. 

 They fight rather by claws, teeth, and poison glands 

 therewith connected, or else escape by extra quick loco- 

 motion, a method not possible to plants. Many insects 

 (butterflies, beetles, and bugs), however, produce nasty 

 aromatic substances which cause animals like birds and 

 lizards to reject them as food. The toad and the sala- 

 mander both procfuce a very deadly poison in their 

 damp, soft skins, which causes any animal to drop them 

 form its mouth, and to regret " bitterly " the attempt to 

 swallow them. The frog has no such poison in its skin, 

 but can jump out of harm's way. The strong yellow 

 and black marking of the European salamander is what 

 is called a " warning " coloration, just as is the yellow 

 and black outfit of the poisonous wasp. Animals learn 

 to leave the yellow and black livery untouched, and 



