and regarding the man with his usual stern aspect, he asked, ‘What say you of this potion ? Is it lawful t<y 
sprinkle any portion of it on the earth as a libation or not ? ‘We only bruise/ said the man, ‘as much as is 
barely sufficient for the purpose. 5 I understand you, said Socrates, but it is certainly lawful and proper to 
pray the gods that my departure from hence may be prosperous and happy, which I indeed beseech them 
to grant. So saying, he carried the cup to his mouth, and drank it with great promptness and facility. 
Thus far most of us had been able to refrain from weeping. But when we saw that he was drinking, 
and actually had drank the poison, we could no longer restrain our tears. And from me they broke forth 
with such violence, that I covered my face and deplored my wretchedness. I did not weep for his fate so 
much as for the loss of a friend and benefactor, which I was about to sustain. But Crito unable to restrain 
his tears was compelled to rise. And Apollodorus, who had been incessantly weeping now broke forth in 
loud lamentations, which infected all who were present except Socrates. But he observing us, exclaimed^ 
‘What is it you do my excellent friends ? I have sent away the women that they might not betray such 
weakness. I have heard that it is our duty to die cheerfully, and with expressions of joy and praise. Be silent 
therefore, and let your fortitude be seen. 5 At this address we blushed and suppressed our tears. But So- 
crates, after walking about, now told us his legs were beginning to grow heavy, and immediately laid down, for 
so he had been ordered. At the same time the man who had given him the poison, examined his feet and 
legs, touching them at intervals. At length he pressed violently upon his foot, and asked if he felt it. To 
which Socrates replied that he did not. The man then pressed his legs and so on, showing us that he was 
becoming cold and stiff. And Socrates feeling it himself, assured us that when the effects had ascended to 
his heart, he should then be gone. And now the middle of his body growing cold, he threw aside his clothes, 
and spoke for the last time. ‘Crito, we owe the sacrifice of a cock to iEsculapius. Discharge this and ne- 
glect it not. 5 ‘It shall be done, 5 said Crito ; have you any think else to say ? 5 He made no reply, but a 
moment after moved, and his eyes became fixed. And Crito seeing this closed his eyelids and mouth. 55 
The description of the plant as given by Dioscorides only proves it to have been one of the umbelliferoB, his 
character of which may be applied to many species : and the references to it by latin writers, amongst 
whom are Persius, Virgil, Lucretius, and Pliny, under the name of Cicuta, reflect no light on the subject. 
The leaves of the hemlock when fresh and bruised, have a strong taste, and an odour ; when dried they 
are not so disagreeable, but still possess a heavy narcotic smell. Their taste is slightly bitter and nauseous. 
Dr. Bigelow found, that if the green leaves are distilled, the water which collects in the receiver has an in- 
supportable nauseous taste, while that remaining in the retort is comparatively insipid. 
Poisonous Effects. — An over-dose of hemlock produces all the symptoms of narcotic poisons, 
such as sickness, vertigo, delirium, dilatation of the pupils, great anxiety, stupor and convulsions. “It first- 
produces giddiness and headache, which are followed by drowsiness so intense that the patients fall asleep 
whilst they are conversing ; coma and convulsions follow, and if proper means to obviate the fatal effects are 
not promptly taken, death rapidly ensues. 55 We are indebted to M. Orfila for the following account. 
On the 23rd of April, at one o’clock, a small dog was made to swallow an ounce and a half of th e fresh 
root of Conium maculatum, the aesophagus was tried. Forty-eight hours after, he had experienced no bad 
effects. On the 25th, at noon he was only somewhat dejected. 
The same celebrated Toxicologist furthermore observes, that an ounce of the extract of the leaves killed a 
dog in forty-five minutes when swallowed ; ninety grains killed another through a wound, in an hour and a 
half, and twenty eight grains another, when introduced into a vein, in two minutes. It therefore as Chris- 
tison remarks, acts by entering the blood vessels; the extract however is a very uncertain preparation, owing 
to the imperfect pharmaceutical process usually depended on. M. Agasson speaks of a man who had taken 
hemlock, and who had all the upper parts of the body affected by convulsions, whilst the lower extremities were 
paralysed. A furious delirium has sometimes been observed in other persons : thus, according to Vicat, 
p. 274, an Italian who cultivated vines in his own country, found amongst them a plant of this kind, which he 
took for a parsnip ; he ate part of the root for his supper, and gave the rest to his wife, after which they 
went to bed. In the middle of the night they awoke completely delirious, and began running here and there 
without a light, over the whole house, in a fit of madness and fury ; they struck themselves so rudely against 
the wall, that they were bruised all over, and their faces particularly, and eyebrows, appeared swelled and 
bloody : suitable medicines were administered to them, and they were restored to health. 
Medical Properties and Uses. — The use of hemlock was principally confined to external appli- 
cations, till it was introduced by Storck, as an external remedy for scirrhus, cancer, and a host too numerous 
to mention of other chronic affections. Fothergill, in our own country, and Chaussier and Dumeril in 
France, have found it successful in tic doloureux. Dr. Jackson, who has published several cases in the New 
England Journal, vol. ii. in which perfect relief was afforded to this disease, recommends “to begin with a 
single grain of the extract, and to increase to five grains for the second or third dose: afterwards to add five 
grains to every dose till a full effect is felt on the system. 55 
To avoid disappointment from its effects, which so frequently occurs, the plant must be gathered in 
June, just as it commences flowering. The leaflets should then be plucked from the footstalks, which are 
to be thrown away; and the former, after being carefully dried in the sun, or in a stove, very moderately 
heated, may be preserved in sealed paper, and firmly pressed into a box, from which both air and light are 
to be excluded if possiblet The powder, the best manner of administering it, may be kept for years in an 
opaque closely-stopped phial. The extract can scarcely ever be relied on, from the carelessness observed 
in its manufacture: we therefore recommend our readers to practise Mr. Houlton’s plan, which consists in 
submitting the expressed juice to the atmosphere, in shallow vessels; whereby spontaneous evaporation is 
produced; and a preparation obtained, containing all the virtues of the recent plant. 
Dose. — In powder, gr. ij. gradually increased to jj.; or from gtt. xij. to lx. of the expressed juice,. 
Off. Prep. — Extractum Conii, L. E. D . Tinctura Conii, E. D. 
