132 . FLORA DOMESTICA. 



full of their dead bodies. The French, in Canada, call it 

 Herbe-a-la-puce [Fleawort], and say it is noxious to some 

 persons, though harmless to others. Mr. Martyn quotes 

 an author (Kalm) who mentions having seen a soldier 

 whose hands were blistered all over merely from plucking 

 it ; whereas he frequently rubbed his own hands with the 

 juice without feeling any inconvenience. 



Mr. Lambert, in his Travels in Canada and the United 

 States, affirms that he has seen several persons who have 

 been confined to the house in consequence of having been 

 poisoned in the woods by this plant, and that even the 

 merely treading on it is sufficient to create swellings and 

 inflammations : " and yet," continues he, " I have seen 

 other people handle it with safety ; and have myself often 

 pulled it up by the root, broke the stem, and covered my 

 hands with the milky juice which it contains, without ex- 

 periencing any disagreeable effect. What property it is 

 in the constitution of people which thus imbibes or repels 

 the poisonous qualities of this plant, I have never been 

 able to learn, nor can I from observation account for it. 



" Many gardens in Lower Canada are full of Dog's- 

 bane, which occasions it to be considered there as a weed. 

 The roots appear to spread under ground to a con- 

 siderable extent; and though the plant may be cut off 

 every year, it springs up again in another place. It makes 

 its appearance about the end of May, and runs up like 

 the scarlet-beans, entwining itself round any tree, plant, 

 or paling that stands in its way ; and if there is nothing 

 else upon which the young shoots can support themselves, 

 they adhere to each other. Their leaves and stems are 

 of a light green, and they are in full flower in July. 

 Wherever the Herbe-a-la-puce grows, there is always to 

 be found a great number of lady-flies [coccinella]. They 

 are covered with a brilliant gold as long as they are on- 



