206 ON ANIMAL AND 



in some animals, the smallest proportions are pro- 

 ductive of the most baneful consequences, while 

 in others, they are taken with impunity ; and 

 many of the vegetable tribes in particular, which, 

 in their natural state, are the most active poisons, 

 by culinary and other processes, are rendered a 

 luxurious, and nutritive diet. This circumstance 

 serves to confirm an observation made in a former 

 paper, that none of the substances denominated 

 poisons, are without their use in the arts, in medi- 

 cine, or in domestic economy. 



In the animal kingdom, many of the fish tribe, 

 which have a direct poisonous effect upon some 

 individuals, may betaken by others with impunity ; 

 and many substances are eaten by quadrupeds 

 and birds, which are uniformly poisonous to 

 man ; while particular articles which are favour- 

 able to the human constitution, prove immediately 

 destructive to the brute species. 



Aloes, which, to man, is an useful drug, has 

 been found to kill dogs and foxes ; and the 

 sweet almond, one of the luxuries of our table, 

 is poison to cats. The phellandrinm aquaticum, 

 or water fennel, while it is fatal to horses, is 

 eaten greedily by oxen. The bird pepper, from 

 which cayenne is prepared, and which is only 

 used in the smallest proportions as a condiment 

 by the human subject, forms the principal article 

 of food to the wild parrot, which picks out the 

 seeds that are the strongest in preference to every 



