388 IILMLOCK. 



bitter taste ; this circumstance, and likewise the fact that the 

 dried leaves become inert by age and exposure, render it pro- 

 bable that the chief medicinal efficacy resides in a volatile 

 portion of the plant." Dr. Bigelow was unable to detect any 

 volatile oil in this fluid ; Geiger, however^ has obtained a 

 volatile oil possessing alkaloidal properties : this he has named 

 conia, and he states that the dried leaves of Hemlock contain very 

 little of it, and that even an extract of the fresh leaves contains 

 very little, imless prepared with a gentle heat, yet speedily. 



" The conia of Geiger is colourless, lighter than water, of a 

 very powerful repulsive odour, and intensely acrid. It has a 

 strong alkaline action on reddened litmus or turmeric. It is 

 readily soluble in different acids, which it neutralizes, and is 

 sparingly soluble in water, to which it imparts its power 

 and taste." * It is extremely poisonous. 



Poisonous Properties. — Asses, sheep, and goats j- eat the 

 foliage of this plant without inconvenience, but it is re- 

 ported to be noxious to kine ; and dogs, wolves, i-abbits, &c., 

 are very readily destroyed by it. Several birds, and thrushes 

 in particular, feed on the fruit. Orfila found that an ounce of 

 the extract of the leaves destroyed a dog in forty-five mi- 

 nutes, and twenty-eight grains, introduced through a vein, 

 killed another in two minutes. Hence, he concludes, that the 

 poison is carried into the blood, and acts upon the nervous 

 system, and principally upon the brain. The most prominent 

 symptoms were convulsions, paralysis, and insensibility. 



Several cases are recorded of the deleterious effects of this plant on man. 

 Dr. Watson X mentions two cases in which it proved fatal. The sufferers 

 were two Dutch soldiers, who had taken the leaves mixed with other herbs 

 in broth ; they were seized with giddiness, coma, convulsions, and death. 

 Agasson § speaks of a man, who after taking a poisonous dose was affected 



* See an excellent paper by Dr. Christison, in the London Med. Gazette, 

 April 23 and 30, 1836. 



•j- " Pinguescere saepe cicuta 



Barbigeras pecudes, homini quae est acre venenum." — Lucretius. 

 X Philos. Transactions, vol. xliii. No. 473, p. 18. 



§ In Orfila, Traite des Poisons, tom. ii. p. 307- — For other cases, see 

 Corvisart's Journ. de Med. xxjx. p. 107. Heins. Pharm. Rat. p. 570. 

 VV^olf in Comment, lit. Nor. 1746—69. Wepfer Cicut. p. 71—312. 

 Ortila, /. c. 



