POISONOUS DRUGS 



189 



the bitterest substances used in medicine. One part of 

 strj'chnine gives a bitter taste to 700,000 parts of water. 

 It is one of the most violent poi.sons, but in minute doses is 

 highly valued as a tonic by physicians. 



The drug aconite is the dried tuber of the monkshood 



Flu. 177, I. — Nux Vomica, (Stnjchnos Nux-Dornica, Logania Family. Lu- 

 ganiacece). Flowering branch. (Baillon.) — Tree of moderate height; 

 leaves glossy; flowers greenish or yellow; fruit orange. Native home, 

 India and East Indies. 



(Fig. 178). This species and nearly related ones are among 

 the most poisonous of plants. The juice of an East Indian 

 species is used by the natives as an arrow-poison which is .so 

 powerful as to kill a tiger within a few minutes after it has 

 been even slightly wounded with one of the poisoned arrows. 



