26 



to receive sensations that are akin to those produced by mosquitoes, 

 and at times when only the plants themselves are to be charged with 

 causing the disagreeable effects. 



Animals other than the human species are but little susceptible to 

 the effects of the contact poisons. This is evidenced by farm ani- 

 mals eating without apparent harm. the leaves and young twigs of the 

 poison ivy. Creatures that can forage upon such material need not 

 be expected to receive harm from the less-irritating poisons of the 

 various plants mentioned above. And yet it is true that a person 

 may be immune to ivy poison and suffer the usual discomfort from 

 the nettles, and therefore it is not safe to make sweeping generaliza- 

 tions when the poisonous principle is not the same in the various 

 plants that may produce unpleasant sensations when their juices are 

 brought in contact with the skin. 



The blistering action of the snow-on-the-mountain (Euphorbia 

 marginata Pursh.) is so decided upon animals that " stock- raisers in 

 Texas use the juice to brand cattle, it being held by them to be 

 superior to a red-hot iron for that purpose, because the scars heal 

 more satisfactorily " (Chesnut). 



While finishing this bulletin a copy of Professor Chesnut' s 

 Farmers' Bulletin* reaches me. It considers only those of an 

 undoubted poisonous nature, and the following is the list, with a 

 statement as to which kinds are growing in New Jersey. 



1. Fly amanita (Amanita muscaria L.) Yes. 



2. Death cup (Amanita phalloides L. ) Yes. 



3. American false hellebore ( Veratrum viride Ait. ) Yes. 



4. Pokeweed (Phytolacca decandra L. ) Yes. 



5. Corn-cockle (Agrostimma Githago L. ) Yes. 



6. Dwarf larkspur (Delphinium tricorne Michx. ) No. 



7. Wyoming larkspur (Delphinium geyeri Greene). No. 



8. Purple larkspur (Delphinium Menziesii DC.) No. 



9. Black cherry (Primus serotina Ehr. ) Yes. 



10. Woolly loco weed (Astragalus mollissimus Torr. ) No. 



11. Stemless loco weed (Spiesia Lamberti (Pursh.) No. 



12. Rattle-box ( Crotalaria sagittalis L. ) Yes. 



13. Caper spurge (Euphorbia Lathyr is L. ) Yes. 



14. Snow-on-the-mountain (Euphorbia marginata Pursh. ) Yes. 



15. Poison ivy (Rhus radicans L. ) Yes. 



* Farmers' Bulletin No. 86, " Thirty Poisonous Plants of the United States," by V. 

 K. Chesnut, Assistant Botanist, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1898. 



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