KALMIA — AMKUICAN LAlIiKL. lU.I 



An evergreen shrub, 4 to 20 foot lii}j;b. Louvoh nioHtly ultoruato, cori- 

 nceouH, Ijright greou both sidoH, ovato-l.uiceohito or elliptioiil, tiiporiiig to 

 eacli end, pctiolcd. Flowers very showy, in tornunal, numy-tlowereil, uni- 

 bol-liko forynibs, varying Ironi deep rose-color to nearly white ; thoy aj)- 

 pcar in IMay and June. 



y/(i/^(7r//. -Canada to Florida and westward; in the; Xortliorn States ti 

 low shrnl), farther south it is larger, and often i'cjrius very dense thickets. 



J'art Cavxl — The leaves — not olKcial. 



Conxtiliii'iits. — Analysis, as yet, has thrown little light upon the snp- 

 l)Osed properties of this plant. Besides the ordinary [(rineiple of plants, 

 there have been found in it an acrid principle, and (irliiUin, the hitter one 

 of the conslil H-nts of uva-ursi, and other ericaceous plunts. 



PreparufioHx. — Kahnia imparts its virtues to boiling water and uknihol; 

 it may be administered in decoction or tincture. 



Mcdii-al J'ropi'iiics and Uses. — The leaves of the i)lant ns also those 

 of Kahiiiii angustifolia {Sha'p-Ldiircl, Lni)th-/,'ill) are said to be poisonous 

 to sheep und calves ; and cases are reported of men being jjoisoned by 

 eating the llesh of partridges whi(.'h had fed upon the buds autl berries. 

 On tho other hand, "Wilson, the ornithologist, ate freely of the flesh of such 

 birds without any ill elVect whatcv(;r ; and deer feed upon tho leaves in 

 winter, not only witliout ill eft'ect upon themselvcis, but also without ren- 

 dering tlieir llesh unwholesome to man. And yet the common oiunion is 

 that the leaves are very poisonous. Tho writer himself was cautioned by 

 an old Massachusetts farmer against meddling with A'. anrjiiMi folia because 

 of its j)oisouous nature ; disregarding the advice, he ate several leaves in 

 the presence of the farmer, without, however, convincing the latter, not- 

 withstanding no ill eiVectH were experienced. • That persons have been poi- 

 soned seriously l)y eating the llesh oi partridges in winter cannot be de- 

 nied ; that these birds may have fed upon kalmia buds and berries is also 

 probable, but that their tlesli is thus rendered poisonous does not seem as 

 yet fully established. Some experimenters have reported elTfects produced 

 in their own persons by strong decoctions of the leaves, similar to those of 

 partridge poisoning ; others quite as worthy of credence have failed to 

 observe any sensible elVect from them. Taking those contradictory s'^ate- 

 ments in connection with the negative results of the chemical analyses thus 

 far made, one may reasonably conclude either that the poisonous charactter 

 of these plants has been greatly exaggerated, or that the energy of the 

 poison, wliatever it may bo, is greatly intluenced by the personal idiosyn- 

 crasy of the individual experimented with. 



RogardinL-- the therapeutic application of kalmia, there exists the same 

 confusion. It is said to be " antisyphilitic, sedative to the heart, and some- 

 what astringent." How truly antisyphilitic it is may be conjectured from 

 the following case reported by King : " Some time since I treated a case 

 of syphilis of five weeks' standing, which had not received any kind of 



