SOLANACEAE POTATO 



725 



Dr. Doerr has recently reported a case of poisoning in a cow that had been 

 fed exclusively upon refuse from the Club-house kitchens near the Iowa State 

 College Campus. These contained potato parings among other things and to these 

 the poisoning was charged. The trouble was diagnosed as gastro-enteritis. The 

 post-mortem revealed diffuse intestinal hemorrhages with enlarged liver and spleen. 



2. Capsicum. Pepper 



Herbs or shrubs with sharp taste; leaves fleshy; flowers white; corolla 

 wheel shaped; 5-lobed; tube short; stamens separate with filaments 

 longer than the heart shaped anthers which open longitudinally; fruit a berry. 

 The Guinea pepper and the Indian goat pepper (C. frutescens} are much more 

 powerful stimulants than cayenne and often produce violent pain and purging. 

 This shrub is native to the Southwest. The genus Capsicum has two species. 

 A monograph by Prof. Irish published in the Missouri Botanical Garden Reports 

 describes many of the varieties. 



Capsicum annuum L,. Cayenne Pepper 



Annual. Leaves ovate entire; flowers with truncate calyx and white corol- 

 la; fruit a berry, oblong or globular, red or green. 



Distribution. Widely cultivated. Native to the Southwest. 



Fig. 424. Red Pepper (.Capsi- 

 cum annuum). The fruit of this as 

 well as the leaves are power- 

 fully pungent. (W. S. Dudgeon). 



Poisonous properties. The peppers are often used in domestic practice in 

 making a stimulating plaster; if its action is continued long enough, however, 

 a vesicular formation makes its appearance. In domestic animals it causes 



