UMBELLIFERS. 611 
odour. It is well known that this plant constitutes a violent 
poison to man, and still more so to animals. The proper antidote 
to poisoning by Hemlock is to provoke vomiting, followed by 
administering tonic drinks. The poisonous properties of Hemlock 
have been known from the most ancient times; Socrates and 
Phocion were recompensed for the services they had rendered 
to the Greeks by having the choice of drinking the juice of 
this plant, or the dagger. 
The Water Hemlock, or Cowbane (Cicuta bho is a still more 
active and violent poison than the Common ock. It is 
happily very rare; it grows on the banks of ponds at ditches, and 
in turfy marshes. 
Lastly, we must mention the thusa cynapium, or Little 
Hemlock, which is commonly found in cultivated places. In 
kitchen gardens this plant may easily be mistaken for Parsley, 
which it very much resembles when young and imperfectly 
developed. It may be distinguished from this potherb by the 
following characteristics :—The leaves of the Parsley are divided 
twice ; its folioles broad and divided into three sub-cuniform and 
dentated lobes; those of the Little Hemlock are divided three 
times, its folioles are more numerous, straighter, sharp-pointed, 
deeply-cut, and dentated. Besides, the odour of the Parsley is 
agreeable, refreshing, and aromatic; whilst that of the Little 
Hemlock, like the others, is nauseous and fetid. If the two 
plants are in flower they will be distinguished at the first glance, 
for the flowers of the Parsley are yellowish, whilst those of the 
Hemlock are white. The stem of these plants also present 
different characteristics: that of the Little Hemlock is almost 
smooth, the lower part reddish, and the whole slightly tinged with 
red ; the stem of our aromatic vegetable on the contrary is chan- 
nelled, and green. 
The Araiace® are trees and shrubs of the tropics, and of their 
borders in both hemispheres, especially in the Western, where they 
are plentiful. Adoxa maschatellina, and the Ivy (Hedera helix), 
— are the only plants of the order indigenous to the British Islands ; 
the former is distinguished by its slightly musky odour, and its 
greenish-yellow flowers, which grow in woods and shady places. 
The Ivy is universally diffused, its habitat woods, hedges, on old 
