4 BULLETIN 69^ U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



given as a synonym of Angelica Jiirsuta, A. villosa. The symptoms 

 described do not at all correspond to those produced by Cicuta. 



Stockbridge, 1814, tells of the poisoning of three boys, with one 

 fatality, giving details of the symptoms and treatment. He tellt 

 also of another case of a boy 6 or 7 years old who died after violent 

 convulsive fits " and the most awful and exquisite sufferings I ever 

 witnessed.'^ 



Ely and Muhlenberg, 1815, tell of a similar case of three boys, two 

 of whom died. Bigelow, 1817, describes the plant, giving a general 

 statement in regard to its poisonous properties, and refers to the 

 cases mentioned by Stockbridge and Ely. 



Hazeltine, 1818, tells of the "fatal effects of a poisonous root." 

 He did not identify the plant, but his account of the symptoms 

 makes it certain that it was Cicuta maculata. 



During the nineteenth century a considerable literature in regard 

 to poisoning by Cicuta in North America grew up, a large part of it 

 relating to losses of live stock, although there have been very many 

 recorded cases of the poisoning of human beings, and it is known 

 that many cases, perhaps the larger number, have not been pubhshed. 

 Most of these accounts are more or less fragmentary in character, and 

 it is not considered necessary to give a synopsis of them. 



THE GENUS CICUTA. 



The following description of the genus Cicuta is compiled from the 

 last edition of Gray's Manual: ^ 



A perennial umbelHfer growing from a rootstock, with pinnately compound leaves 

 and serrate leaflets. Involucre iisually none, involucels of several slender bractlets, 

 flowers white. Fruit ovoid to nearly orbicular, glabrous, with strong, flattish, corky 

 ribs, the lateral largest; oil tubes conspicuous, solitary; stylopodium depressed ; seed 

 nearly terete. 



The genus is distributed in the northern continents. A large 

 number of species have been described, most of which are so closely 

 related to each other that in many cases the vaUdity of the species 

 has been questioned. The common species of the eastern United 

 States is maculata, which has been, by some, considered as not 

 specifically distinct from the European virosa. 



Probably all species are equally poisonous, and in popular parlance 

 no distinction of species is made. 



DISTINCTION BETWEEN CICUTA AND CONIUM. 



From the standpoint of a poisonous plant Cicuta is more likely to 

 be confounded with Conium than with any other umbelliferous 

 plant. 



> Seventh edition, p. 614. 



