CARROT FAMILY. 19 
It is a somewhat smaller plant than the preceding and 
is distinguished from it by its orbicular fruits with smal! 
oil-ducts. The leaflets also are less sharply serrate. 
The Bulbous Water Hemlock, Cicuta bulbifera L., is 
found in the eastern provinces, Ontario, Manitoba, 
British Columbia, and the adjacent states to the south. 
Like the other species it is very poisonous. It is a slender 
plant, one to three and one-half feet high. Its leaflets are 
linear and sparingly toothed. The upper leaves have 
clusters of bulblets in their axils. 
POISON HEMLOCK—Conium maculatum L. 
Other Common Name: Spotted Parsley. 
The poisonous effects of Conium maculatum, a plant 
introduced from Europe, were known long before the be- 
ginning of botany as a science. The juice, made famous 
on account of its connection with the death of Socrates, 
was used by the ancient Greeks for the execution of 
criminals. The poisonous principle (coniin) is found in 
all parts of the plant. It is particularly abundant in the 
leaves at flowering time, and is plentiful in the seeds, 
especially when green. During the spring the roots are 
almost harmless, but they become very poisonous in the 
summer. The coniin is a volatile alkaloid, and thus 
Poison Hemlock plants dried in hay are not very 
dangerous. 
The symptoms are a gradual loss of muscular power, 
owing to paralysis of the motor nerve centre. Convul- 
sions are riot present and the mind usually 
remains clear until death, which results 
from paralysis of the lungs. Horses, in 
addition to the above symptoms, exhibit 
nausea, intermittent sweating, muscular tremors and in- 
Symptoms and 
Conditions of 
Poisoning 
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