Ill] IJmhelliferse 39 



If the fig has consumed only a small quantity it soon gets rid of 

 the poison by vomiting; but if the quantity is considerable there is 

 no vomiting and death is as rapid as with cyanide poisoning (Cornevin). 



REFERENCES. 

 10, 14, 73, 81, 141, 146, 170, 190, 205, 209, 213, 235, 246. 



Fool's Parsley {Aethusa Cynapium, L.). Much has been written 

 about the toxic properties of this weed of cultivated fields, principally 

 because, owing to the fact that the foliage has often been mistaken or 

 misused for parsley and the roots for radishes ( ! ), it has been the cause 

 of human poisoning, though it seems to be one of the least active of the 

 poisonous Umbellifers. Its poisonous character is undoubted, but it 

 is unlikely to cause the poisoning of stock, which seem to refuse it. 

 Some authors regard it as strongly poisonous, but others as more or 

 less harmless. Johnson and Sowerby cite a case in which a child of 

 five years old died within an hour after eating the root, and a second 

 death (in Germany) within twenty-four hours from the use of the leaves 

 in soup. 



The most complete account of this plant is that by Power and Tutin, 

 issued from the Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories in 1905. 

 Many authors since 1807 are cited as writing of its poisonous properties, 

 and of cases of poisoning, two of which terminated fatally. Miller 

 (1807) says that " most cattle eat it, but it is said to be noxious to geese." 

 Bentley and Trimen write that "in all recorded experiments with it on 

 animals, it has had poisonous efiects." Dr. John Harley (1876 and 

 1880), after experiments on a child and adults, concluded that the plant 

 was absolutely free from the noxious properties attributed to it. In 

 1904, however, a case of severe poisoning by it was recorded {Brit. 

 Med. Jour., July 16, 1904, p. 124). 



Toxic Principle. This has for many years been stated to be the 

 alkaloid Cynapine. For their investigation Messrs. Power and Tutin 

 collected the plant round London in July and August, with the fruits 

 still green, and after thorough chemical examination found 0-015 per 

 cent, of an essential oil of rather unpleasant odour; 0-8 per cent, of 

 resinous substances; and an exceedingly small amount of a volatile 

 alkaloid having the peculiar characteristic odour of Coniine. The amount 

 of hydrochloride of the alkaloid obtained showed that if the base were 

 Coniine it would correspond to only 0-00023 per cent, of Coniine in the 

 plant. In a degree this confirms the statement by Walz (1859) that 

 the fruit "contains a volatile base, very similar in odour and chemical 



