VMBELLIFEBJE. 183 



cyanhj'^dric acid. In our country several species of Goniwni, Mthusa, 

 and (Enanthe have been confused under the name of Hemlock with 

 the preceding. Conium maculatum ' (fig. 145-148) is the Great 

 Hemlock. It is a dicarpous plant, growing among rubbish, in 

 neglected gardens, and near buildings, and owes its specific name to 

 the purplish irregular spots which mark the lower part of the stem. 

 Its odour is strong and nauseous. The stems, leaves, and especially 

 the fruit, contain an alkaloid, Conia,^ to which it owes its poisonous 

 properties. From this plant, at least in great part, was derived the 

 beverage administered by the Athenians to persons condemned to 

 death.' It is almost the only hemlock employed medicinally, chiefly 

 externally, in cutaneous affections, glandular swellings, and even 

 cancer. The Lesser Hemlock ia ^^thusa Gynapium* (fig. 105-108), 

 an annual, slightly glaucescent, the lower part of the stem often 

 marked with purple, generally slender, vertical lines, common in 

 some gardens and cultivated fields, among rubbish. It is very 

 poisonous, and causes many accidents from its being mistaken for 

 Parsley or Chervil, from which its strong odour should suffice to 

 distinguish it ; it is no longer employed in medicine.^ Many 'plants 

 of the genus (Enanthe are regarded as Water Hemlocks. The most 

 common in our country is Water Dropwort ^ (fig. 104), a perennial 



' L. Spec. 349. — Endl. Enehirid. 386. — the condemned at Athens contained, besides 



LiNDL. Fl. Med. 57 ; Veg. Kingd. 777. — the juice of the Hemlock, opium, whose pro- 



iJCHKUHE, Handb. t. 62. — Bull. Herb. t. 63. — perties accord better with the symptoms of the 



Hayne, Arzn. Gew. i. t. 31. — Sow. Engl. JBot. death of Socrates as described by the best 



t. 1191. — Mer. etDEL. Did. Mat. Med. ii. 385. historians" (Guib.). 



GuiB. op. cit. iii. 219, fig. 619.— DC. Fi-odr. iv. ■* L. Spec. 367.— Lamk. Diet. i. 47 ; III. t. 



242, n. 1.— Nees, PI. Med. t. 282.— Turp. Diet. 196.— Hayn. Arzn. Gew. i. t. 35.— Sow. Engl. 



Se. Nat'. At\. t. 110.— Peeeira, Med. Gaz. xix. Bot. t. 1192.— Bt-'LL. Herb. t. 91.— Curt. Fl. 



763.— Geen. et GoDR. Fl. de Fr. i. 750.— Berg Land. t. 18.— Mr-E. at Del. Diet. Mat. Med. i. 



et ScHM. Off. Gew. t. 24 «.- Caz. PI. Mid. Indig. 92.— DO. Prodr. iv. 141, n. 1.— Lindi. Fl. Med. 



(ed. 3) 304.— FLiicK. et Hanb. Pharmacogr. 40.— Guib. loc. cit. 221, fig. 621. — Gken. et 



266. — Gicuta major Lamk. Diet. ii. 3. — C:maeu- Godr. Fl. de Fr. i. 712. — Caz. PL MSd. Indig. 



lata Lamk. Fl. Fr. iii. 104. — Coriandrum macu- (ed.3)317. — Eosenth. op. cit. 536. — H. Bn.Dic^. 



latum Roth, Fl. Germ. i. 130. Encycl. Sc. MSd. ii. 61. — Coriandrum Cynapium 



- Cieutine, conine, coniine or conilne (C^H'^Az). Ce. Fl. Austr. 211.^ — Cicata Cynapium Taeg. 



Extracted by Giesecke from the Great Hem- ^ ^he same properties are attributed to JE. 



Ipck in 1827; it is accompanied "by eonhydrine cynapioidcs ^isb and sei^etoMs Bosnn. 



and methylconieine. Its properties are analo- ^ (Enanthe Phellandrium Lamk. Fl. Frang. iii. 



gous to those of conium. (See Casaubon, Et. 432. — DO. Prodr. iv. 138, n. 12. — Guib. loc. cit. 



Phys. de la Conieine, Thh. Fao. Mid. Par. iii. 235, fig. 628.— Geen. et Gode. Fl. de Fr. i. 



[1868] n. 138). 716.— Nees et Eberm. PI. Off. t. 287.— Linul. 



s It is what Socrates drank. But " it is Fl. Mid. 40. — Rosenth. op. cit. 535. — Caz. op. 



presumed that the beverage administered to cit. H25. — BeeG et Scum. Off. Gew. t. 25 d. — (E. 



