154 



UiMBKLLIFElJyE. 



Water-licmlock, thougli an energetic poison, is not used mctliciually. 

 It is introduced liere niorely that it nux}' be distinguished from Conium 

 viacidutum, described behow, for the two are not infrequently confounded 

 by the superticial observer. 





CONIUM.— Poison IlEMiiOCK. 



Conium maculatum Linnc. — Poison Hemlock. 



JJcscriplioii. — Calyx-teeth obsolete. Corolla : petals obcordatc, with a 

 short inflexed point, white. Fruit ovate, laterally comi^ressed ; carj^els 

 •with 5 prominent, wavy ribs, the intervals Avithout oil-tubes ; seed gi'ooved 

 on its face. 



A biennial herb, with a fusiform root. Stem 2 to 5 feet high, round, 

 branched, glabrous, often spotted Avitli purple. Leaves decompound ; 



ultimate segments ovate or lan- 

 ceolate, deeply cut. Umbels ter- 

 minal, not large for the size of 

 the plant ; involucre and involu- 

 cels ;5- to 5-leaved, the latter uni- 

 lateral. The flowers appear in 

 July. 



Iluhilat. — Conium is indige- 

 nous to Europe and Asin, but has 

 hecome naturalized here and if? 

 common in waste places in the 

 Northern and Middle States. 



Part U><('.d.—1\w. fruit, gath- 

 ered Avhile yet green — United 

 Slates Pharniaropicin. The juice 

 of the fresh plant — SuecH.^co)iii — 

 was formerly oflicial, but has 

 been dropped because of its un- 

 reliability. The leaves are also 

 eilicient, though no longer of- 

 ficial. 



(Jonstituenlt. — The most im- 

 portant constituent of coniun. '>* 

 the alkaloid conia. This is a vo- 

 latile, colorless, inflammable, oily 

 liquid, specific gravity 0.88, having a strong alkaline reaction and a dis- 

 agreeable, tobacco-like odor, resend)ling that of the fresh plant. The 

 therapeutic virtues of conium reside in conia, its other constituents being 

 unimportant. 



iVc;para<ions. —Abstractum couii— abstract of conium ; extractum couii 



Fig. 131. — Cotiiuni nmculatnn;;. 



