POISONOUS PLANTS 217 



Symptoms. — Cicuta virosa ranks as one of the most 

 dangerous of the Umbellifercey the root having frequently 

 caused poisoning. Cobbold* noted a case in Brittany 

 when eleven beasts died with violent symptoms of vertigo, 

 which set in within two hours of eating, the first death 

 occurring within six hours. C. Skirrow Addison t observed 

 a case of poisoning of cattle by eating the roots which had 

 drifted to the side of a lake at Clones, in Ireland. The 

 animals were lying on their right sides, head extended, and 

 respiration very hurried. Froth had collected at the mouth 

 and nostrils, and there was tympanites, which greatly in- 

 creased shortly after death. The limbs were extended, and 

 alternately stiffened and relaxed. Some animals appeared 

 to have died without a struggle. The post-mortem revealed 

 nothing ; there was no gastric irritation, and there were no 

 extravasations of blood. 



Cowbane appears to be a most powerful narcotic poison, 

 the extreme rapidity of death recalling the action of yew. 



Chemical Diagnosis. — Cicutoxin does not possess 

 characteristic chemical reactions. Diagnosis must there- 

 fore depend on the discovery of parts of the plant, especially 

 of the roots, in the ingesta. Like many Umbelliferce, the 

 plant contains the substance, mnhelliferone. A water extract 

 of the plant shows a blue fluorescence due to this sub- 

 stance, but this does not definitely establish cicuta, merely 

 pointing to the presence of an umbelliferous plant. 



(Enanthe. 



Botanical Characters — (Enanthe crocata, or Water 

 Bropwort (Fig. 30). — A stout, branched species, attaining 

 3 to 5 feet; the root-fibres forming thick, spindle-shaped 

 tubers close to the stock; the juice both of the stem and roots 

 becoming yellow when exposed to the air. Leaves twice or 

 thrice pinnate; the segments much larger than in the 

 other species, always above J inch long, broadly cuneate or 



* Veterinarian, 1877, p. 572. t Vet. News, 1911, p. 83. 



