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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY, 
A. D. MELVIN, Chief of Bureau. '// ^ 
CICUTA (WATER HEMLOCK) AS A POISONOUS PLANT.^ 
By C. D. Marsh, A. B. Clawson, and H. Marsh, oJ the Pathological Division. 
Among poisonous plants special interest attaches to CiciTta, since 
it is probably the most violently poisonous of the plants in temperate 
regions. Although it is widely distributed and is annually the cause of 
many deaths, both of domestic animals and of human beings, its 
poisonous character, unfortunately, is not generally recognized. This 
is true in spite of the fact that the genus, which occurs in Europe as 
well as in America, has been known to be poisonous since the middle 
hi the seventeenth century, and many accounts have been written 
o' the terrible results from eating Cicuta roots. 
COMMON NAMES OF CICUTA. 
Cicuta has a considerable number of popular names. Perhaps it 
is most commonly known as "cowbane" or ''water hemlock." In the 
mountain regions of the West it is frequently called ''parsnip" or 
■'wild parsnip." Other names, less common, are "snakeroot," 
'snakeweed," "beaver poison," "muskrat weed," "spotted hem- 
lock," and "spotted parsley." 
HOW TO RECOGNIZE CICUTA. 
It is difficult and perhaps impossible to give a description of the 
plant which may be intelligible to one who has not some botanical 
knowledge. Figure 1, which shows a species found on the western 
coast of the United States, gives a general idea of the appearance of 
the plant. 
Cicuta is an umbelliferous plant, and belongs to the same family as 
the carrot, parsnip, etc. It grows in wet places and is especially 
common in some parts of the West along irrigating ditches. Un- 
fortunately it resembles rather .closely a number of harmless plants 
which grow under the same conditions. It has a thickened rDotstock, 
to which are attached roots which may be slender as in the picture 
(fig. 2) or may be in the form of a cluster of thickened, fleshy tubers. 
h the longitudinal section it will be noticed that the rootstock has a 
number of transverse chambers. These chambers are not always so dis- 
1 A more extended account of Cicuta and its poisonous effects can be found in Bulletin 69, U. S. De- 
partment of Agriculture. This bulletin can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, Gov- 
vrnment Printing Office, Washington .D. C, for 10 cents. 
87870-17 
