154 



U3IBELLIFER/E. 



Water-liemlock, though au energetic poison, is not used medicinally. 

 It is introduced here merely that it may be distinguished from Conium 

 maculatum, described below, for the two are not infrequently confounded 

 by the superficial observer. 



CONIUM.— Poison Hemlock. 



Conium maculatum Ijinuv.— Poison Hemlock. 



Description. — Calyx-teeth obsolete. Corolla : petals obcordate, with a 

 short infiexed point, white. Fruit ovate, laterally compressed ; carpels 

 with 5 prominent, wavy ribs, the intervals without oil-tubes ; seed grooved 

 on its face. 



A biennial herb, with a fusiform root. Stem 2 to 5 feet high, round, 

 branched, glabrous, often spotted with purple. Leaves decom230v;nd ; 



ultimate segments ovate or lan- 

 ceolate, deeply cut. Umbels ter- 

 minal, not large for the size of 

 the plant ; involucre and involu- 

 cels 3- to 5-leaved, the latter uni- 

 lateral. The flowers ajDjDear in 

 July. 



Habitat. — Conium is indige- 

 nous to Europe and Asia, but has 

 become natm-alized here and is 

 common in waste places in the 

 Northern and Middle States. 



Part Lsecl—The fruit, gath- 

 ered while yet green — United 

 States riiarmacopccia. The juice 

 of the fresh plant — Succus conii — 

 was formerly official, but has 

 been dropped because of its un- 

 reliability. The leaves are also 

 efficient, though no longer of- 

 ficial. 



Constituents. — The most im- 

 portant constituent of conium is 

 the alkaloid conia. This is a vo- 

 latile, colorless, inflammable, oily 

 liquid, specific gravity 0.88, having a strong alkaline reaction and a dis- 

 agreeable, tobacco-like odor, resembling that of the fresh plant. The 

 therapeutic virtues of conium reside in conia, its other constituents being 

 imimportant. 



Preparations. — Abstractum eonii — abstract of conium ; extractum conii 



Fig. 1.31. — Conium maculatum. 



