THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



155 



the trees of greatest girth but also the tallest specimens in the 

 world cannot successfully be refuted. 



Poisonous Nettles. — In our youthful days a moral used 

 to be drawn from the story of two boys who picked some 

 nettles. The first individual siezed the nettles boldly and 

 received no harm but the second grasped them with some 

 hesitation and of course was stung. The moral that fil- 

 tered into our childish intellect was "Put up a bold front 

 or be stung," and while this was probably not exactly 

 the lesson intended, we have since been pained to observe 

 that it is still a favorite precept with a good many people. 

 When it comes to nettles, however, there are some that 

 had better not be grasped, boldly or otherwise. Certain 

 of the tropical species are so poisonous as to be capable 

 of killing a man if he comes in contact with any con- 

 siderable number of the stinging hairs. In a case recently 

 related by a Panama scientist, who came in contact with 

 about ten of the stinging hairs of Jatroplia iirens, he was 

 so nearly overcome that he remained unconscious for more 

 than an hour. The attack produced much swelling of the 

 arms and other parts of the body, accompanied with in- 

 tense itching, the respiration was difficult and vomiting 

 occurred. The amount of poison that caused these symp- 

 toms is estimated as five hundred thousandths of a cubic 

 centimeter. The stinging hairs of even our native species 

 are admirably adapted to their work and are not unlike 

 a hypodermic syringe, the tip of the hair being silicious 

 or glassy, with a hollow running down to a bulb below 

 in which the poison is contained. When a careless touch 

 knocks off the tip of the hair, a sharp hollow needle is 

 left through Avhich the poison is ejected into the wound. 

 The poison is similar to that which the bee uses so suc- 

 cessfully in defense, but is much stronger. 



