52 The Yew. [Sess. 



around. There is a belief, too, in England that if yew is 

 brought into the house at Christmas time among evergreens 

 for decorative purposes, there will be a death in the family 

 before the end of the year. To sleep beneath the shade of 

 the tree was considered a form of suicide, so deadly has its 

 reputation been. 



The poisonous nature of the yew-tree is well known. Its 

 deadly properties are mentioned by the earliest writers. 

 Every part of the plant is more or less poisonous. Some 

 authorities assert that the fruit is harmless, but Dr Taylor, in 

 his work on Poisons, mentions a case where the berries acted 

 fatally, and instances are recorded of children who have died 

 in less than four hours after eating the fruit. The pulp may 

 be harmless but the seed is injurious, and, in large quantities, 

 poisonous. Birds eat the fruit in quantity, but from the 

 number of seeds found under yew-trees it would seem that 

 they suck off the juicy pulp without swallowing the seed. The 

 wood and bark, though poisonous, are less so than the leaves. 

 The active principle was discovered in the leaves in 1876, and 

 is a white crystalline powder. The leaves contain more of it 

 than the seed. Experiments show that a greater quantity of 

 crude alkaloid is obtained from the male leaves than from the 

 female. Several instances of birds being poisoned by the leaves 

 are reported in the ' Eield ' from 1876 to 1896. Numbers of 

 cattle and horses have died from eating the leaves. In the 

 month of January last year it was reported that two horses 

 belonging to a butcher in Maxwelltown were poisoned by 

 cuttings from a yew-tree, and that a third had a narrow 

 escape. On the other hand, cattle and horses have been 

 known to eat the growing leaves with impunity. In a corre- 

 spondence on this subject last year in 'The Scotsman,' a 

 minister stated that near a manse in Argyllshire cattle used 

 to eat the foliage as high as they could reach with apparently 

 perfect impunity. Horses have also been seen to crop the 

 branches without taking any harm. It is difficult to explain 

 the fact of the fatal effects of yew leaves in some cases and 

 the safety with which they may be eaten in others. Questions 

 are often asked if the amount of poison varies in different 

 trees, and if the foliage is poisonous at all times or only at 

 particular seasons. The statement that the male tree is more 



