376 NATURAL HISTORY. 



to ten in terminal tufts. Fruit oblong and many-seeded. 

 Grows in rich damp woods and bushy hills, both in Eu- 

 rope and America ; is an acrid narcotic. 



Wolfs Bane (Paris Quadrifolia), plate 31, fig. 6. 

 Grows in damp places, shady woods, and mountain re- 

 gions. Stem erect ; leaves oblong, acuminate, notched 

 at the apex. Flowers blue, helmet-shaped, spring from 

 the axils of the leaves ; fruit, a berry, resembles a small 

 cherry, and tastes like wine. Very poisonous, creates 

 cramp in the stomach, to which succeeds stupor and de- 

 lirium ; destroys life by producing gastric inflammation 

 Milk and mucilaginous articles, as slippery elm, barley- 

 water, sweet oil, etc., ought to be administered promptly 

 until medical aid can be procured. It. 



Monkshood Aconite (Aconitum napellus), plate 80, 

 fig. 3. Leaves glossy, deeply three-cleft ; flowers purred, 

 blue, bloom in terminal spikes, and surmounted by the 

 vaulted upper leaflet ; bears much resemblance to a monk's 

 cowl. Grows mostly on wooded hills or deep valleys ; 

 blooms in June and August ; also cultivated on account of 

 its beauty as an ornament in gardens. Every part of the 

 Aconite is poisonous. Even the leaves, if rubbed between 

 the fingers, have a disgusting odor, and an acrid, nauseat- 

 ing taste. Sleeping in the neighborhood of these plants 

 is considered dangerous, especially if a number of them 

 are together. Taken inwardly, their poison, in the first 

 stage, creates vomiting, giddiness, delirium ; coldness of 

 the extremities and raging fever next ensue, and lastly 

 death comes and the scene closes with convulsions. Bees 

 cluster around the flowers, and suck honey from their 

 cells without injury to themselves ; nevertheless, the 

 honey, if gathered in any quantity from these plants, is 

 poisonous, and examples are not wanting of persons who 



