FLOWERING PLANTS AXD FERNS OF INDIANA. 583 



properties that its extermination can be secured. The water hemlock 

 is a smooth, stout plant, ranging in height from two to six feet; the 

 stem is usually streaked with purple; the leaves are as a rule doubly 

 compound, the lower leaflets having long petioles; the leaf segments 

 are from one to five inches long, rather narrow and sharp-pointed, 

 with coarsely toothed margins; the fleshy, tuberous root is succulent 

 and pleasantly aromatic, both features attracting browsing animals. 

 In some cases children and adults, tempted by the pleasant odor, have 

 eaten the root, serious results following in all cases. Where the 

 amount eaten was large or the remedial treatment tardily given, death 

 has resulted. "The plant owes its poisonous properties to a volatile 

 liquid alkaloid, coniine, united with a crystalline alkaloid, conhy- 

 drine." 1 



In man the s}^mptoms are those of general muscular weakness deep- 

 ening into paralysis. In some cases stupor, coma and slight convul- 

 sions have been noted. In the case (cited by Blyth) of a patient who 

 had eaten hemlock in mistake for parsley, a weakness of the lower 

 extremities, causing staggering in walking, followed in twenty min- 

 utes; within two hours there was complete paralysis, and death ensued 

 in three and a quarter hours. The whole plant is poisonous and its 

 specific alkaloid destructive to all forms of life. 



It is by far the safest way to avoid all forms of the Umbellifer 

 family, to which the water hemlock belongs, which are found growing 

 wild, and this despite a resemblance in appearance and odor to harm- 

 less or even edible cultivated forms. While no other species is so 

 virulent, there is scarcely one which does not possess poisonous prop- 

 erties. In some cases the poison is distributed throughout the plant 

 body, in others, localized in special parts. Fortunately the characters 

 of the family are such as to lead to its ready recognition in almost any 

 stage of growth. The members of the family native in Indiana are all 

 herbaceous plants, varying in height from a few inches to ten feet or 

 more. The leaves, which are usually compound, are much divided and 

 dissected. The leaf-stalks (petioles) are expanded or sheathing at the 

 base. The stem is usually hollow. The flowers, which are small and 

 inconspicuous, are either white or yellow in color, and are arranged in 

 umbel-like clusters. A study of the common carrot or parsnip will 

 serve to emphasize these characters. The arrangement of the flowers, 

 taken in connection with the hollow stem and compound leaves with 

 expanded or sheathing petioles, furnishes sufficiently accurate means 

 for recognizing the family. While it is true that some species are 



Blyth, A. W— Poisons ; Their Effect* and D< tection, p. 250. 

 39-Geol. 



