THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
63 
tempting to children. They certainly have a dangerous look, 
but so far, though often in stress, I have not been compelled 
to eat them. 
The Euphorbias are all poisonous with acrid juice, gener- 
ally milky. We have many of them, especially at the west 
where they become handsome, like the well-known ^'snow-on- 
the-mountains", (£. maculata). The "tread-softly" (Cnidos- 
cnhis) of the Southern States stings worse than any nettle or 
jelly-fish. This is saying a good deal. Croton and castor 
oil belong to this family. Common nettles (genus Urtica and 
some nearly related wild genera), poison by means of actual 
stinging hairs, provided with a poison bag. It is a suggestive 
bit of thought to reason out, how, by selection, such a pro- 
vision has come about, as I am disposed to think it did. 
Every one knows the acridity of the corm of Indian-turnip 
or Jack-in-the-pulpit, (Arisaema triphyllum). It is a lump 
of caustic, say those who have tried it. I once saw it played 
on a leading man in one of our college classes. He knew al- 
most everything but his class-mates, by making him bite Jack, 
gave him a new and active sensation. 
Veratrum viride or white hellebore is usually spoken of 
as our most deadly poison. It is often known as sneeze-weed 
and can be recognized in early spring by its very handsome, 
ample, plaited and intensely green leaves. The plant grows 
in low grounds with skunk-cabbage, another acrid plant. The 
roots are the toxic parts of hellebore. The plant has a place 
in the pharmacopeia, but is better known as a vermifuge. 
Broztm Univ., Providence, R. I. 
SUGAR. 
CANE sugar, sucrose or simply sugar, as it is known to 
commerce and in the household exists dissolved in many 
vegetable juices. It is found in the stems and roots of all 
grasses especially in the sugar cane and sorghum; in fleshy 
roots as the beet, carrot, turnip and sweet potato; in the sap 
