HEMLOCK. 



549 



juice, wliich, in its action, resembles that of 

 opiiun, though in a milder degree. This juice 

 is collected when the plant has put forth its 

 flower stem, by cutting this stem across, and 

 collecting the juice by successive small pieces of 

 cotton, which are thrown into a little water; and 

 after a sufficient quantity has accumulated, this 

 water holding in solution the contents of the 

 pieces of cotton, is evaporated, and an extract is 

 thus procured. It may also be procured at less 

 expense, by macerating in water the stems and 

 leaves, just after the seeds have been matured, 

 and before the plant decays. The maceration is 

 to be continued for twenty-four hours, then the 

 liquid is boiled for two hours, and finally eva- 

 porated in shallow basins. Tliis extract is called 

 lactucarium, or lettuce opium. It is said to 

 allay pain, and procure relief in rheumatism, 

 colic, and affections of the bowels, and to liave 

 less of the disagi-eeable effects which opium not 

 unfrequently produces. 



Hemlock (conium mactilatumj. Natural 

 family umbelliferw; pentandria, digynia, of 



215. 



Hemlock, 



Linnaeus. There are two kinds of hemlock, the 

 water hemlock, and the common. The common 

 hemlock is a biennial plant, very common in 

 waste grounds. Tlie stalk rises to the height of 

 five or six feet. It is hollow, jointed, and thickly 

 marked externally with brown spots. Tlie lower 

 leaves are very large, tripinnated, of a shining 

 green colour, with long, concave footstalks. The 

 upper leaves are much smaller. The flowers are 

 produced in umbels; and both they and the seeds 

 bear a close resemblance to another plant of the 

 same natural famil}-, the common carraway. 



The Water Ilemloch fcicuta virosaj, is found 

 growing on the borders of pools and rivers; it 

 strongly resembles the former, only the pinnse 

 of the leaves are larger, and lanceolate; and the 

 umbel of the flowers is denser, and more com- 

 pact. The stem is not spotted like the common 



hemlock, and the odour of the plant resembles 

 that of smallage or parsly; while that of tlie 

 common hemlock is nauseous, and peculiarly 

 unpleasant. Both plants are poisonous. Tlie 

 root of the water hemlock is acrid, and power- 

 fully poisonous in its fresh state, but loses its 

 virulent qualities when dried. Tlie root of tlie 

 common hemlock possesses little or no active 

 powers; but the other parts of the plant are 

 decidedly poisonous, if taken in sufficient quan- 

 tity. Sheep and some other animals eat it with 

 impunity, while, to the greater number, it proves 

 an active poison. 



The ancients were familiar with the poisonous 

 nature of hemlock; but from their descriptions 

 of the plant, it is not well ascertained whether 

 the water hemlock or the common, (macidatmn) 

 was the species they employed. Perhaps, indeed, 

 they were in the habit of using both. The juice 

 of hemlock was frequently administered to 

 criminals; and this was the fatal poison which 

 the greatest of Greek philosophers, Socrates, 

 was adjudged by his persecutors to drink. The 

 symptoms produced by a poisonous dose of hem- 

 lock are : great anxiety, vomiting, convulsions, 

 stupor, raving, madness, and death. In smaller 

 doses it may, and is, however, used internally, 

 without producing any of these symptoms. 

 Externally, both the Greek and Arabian physi- 

 cians were in the practice of using it for the 

 cure of indolent tumours, swellings, and pains 

 of the joints, as well as for affections of the skin. 

 Among the moderns. Baron Stoerck was the 

 first who called the attention of medical men to 

 the use of ciciita, both externally and internall3', 

 for the cure of cancerous and other ulcers. 

 Although further experience has not altogether 

 confirmed the high praises bestowed on it by 

 this German physician, yet it has been found a 

 useful medicine for affording relief in those 

 malignaijt diseases. It is used in the form of an 

 extract, and the seeds are said to yield a stronger 

 one than the leaves, or other parts of the plant. 

 The leaves are also used either as a tincture in 

 spirits, or dried and formed into a powder. These 

 leaves should be gathered about the end of June, 

 when the plant is in flower. The small leaves 

 should be selected, and the stalks picked out and 

 discarded. The leaves are then dried in the sun, 

 or in a pan before a good fire, and are then to be 

 put into strong paper bags, and kept in a close 

 drawer; or they may be powdered and put into 

 glass-stopped phials, taking care to exclude them 

 from the light. The medical activity of this 

 plant is said to reside in a rerfnous substance, 

 which may be obtained l)y evaporating a solution 

 of the leaves made in ether. It has a rich dark 

 green colour, and contains the peculiar odour and 

 taste of hemlock. 



Hemlock Water-dropwort (ananthe crocata). 

 This is also a poisonous plant, which grows on the 



