36 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



Officers of the Botanical Club.— The first anntial 

 election of the American Botanical Club gave the follow- 

 ing officers for 1903: President, Willard N. Clute; first 

 vice-president, Miss Pauline Kaufman ; second vice-presi- 

 dent. Miss Angie M. Ryan; secretary, J. C. Buchheister; 

 treasurer, Frank A. Suter. The membership has nearly 

 reached the hundred mark and a profitable year is antici- 

 pated. The Constitution and list of members are to be 

 published v^ith the annual report of the ofiicers. 



Poppy Seeu as Food. — Fev^ Americans except the im- 

 porters are aw^are that vast quantities of poppy seeds are 

 annually brought into this country to be used as food. It 

 is considered in the nature of a condiment and mixed 

 w^ith bread, biscuit and cake, and although the seeds are 

 very small, they are often ground still finer for the pur- 

 pose. In America the use of poppy seed is confined al- 

 most exclusively to immigrants from Austrian and Turk- 

 ish provinces. 



The Taste of Poison Ivy.— Strolling through our 

 cemetery one day in earl}^ spring, I noticed some shrubby 

 plants with light gray bark. I stopped to examine them, 

 as they looked unlike anything I knew, and finally tasted 

 of the bark. The taste was very strong of black pepper; 

 this aroused my curiosity, and I spent much time in look- 

 ing through botanies and other books likely to give me 

 information, for a native shrub with a spicy taste, but 

 could find nothing. After two or three weeks I was again 

 in the vicinity, and found the plant had developed leaves 

 when to my horror, I found it was poison ivy. A mo- 

 ment's thought convinced me of the folly of fear, so long 

 after my rash experiment. The vine I have always han- 

 dled with impunity, but should hardly have ventured to 

 test it in this way, if I had known what I was tasting. 

 I have since looked long for any notice of this peculiar 

 quality, but find nothing in medical or scientific books re- 

 garding it. — Mrs. B. C. Anthony, Gouveneur, N. Y. 



[The editor is acquainted with an old gentleman who 



