Poisonous Weeds. 
165 
to the farm in the late summer, the two plants were found to 
be common in the field where the cows had been feeding, and 
other poisonous plants were also found. In boggy places, 
where the cattle sought protection from the summer sun, 
hemlock ( Conium maculatum Linn.) and dog’s mercury 
( Mercurialis perennis Linn.) were in plenty. In former 
Reports these plants have been figured and described. 1 
From Berwick was received a weed which was growing on 
the links along the coast, and which was blamed for poisoning 
some cattle. The plant is dog’s tongue ( Cynoglossum officinale 
Linn.), which gives off a disagreeable fetid odour when drying, 
and is known to be poisonous. The soft downy elliptical 
leaves spreading out on the surface of the ground had been 
eaten. Deadly nightshade ( Atropa belladonna Linn.) was sent 
for determination, though it was not known to have caused 
injury to animals. It is poisonous and should not be allowed 
within the reach of stock. There seems to exist a notion that 
the Irish yew has not the injurious properties to animals that 
the ordinary yew possesses, and may be planted with impunity 
where the ordinary yew would be dangerous ; but this is not 
so. A member in Herefordshire short of litter had a plentiful 
supply of vegetation that might be used for this purpose if 
there were no dangerous plants in it. A sample of the herbage 
was examined and found to be quite free from any poisonous 
or dangerous plants. 
Specimens of a weed supposed to be charlock were sent for 
examination, because it had not been killed, as was expected, 
by the spraying with Bordeaux mixture. Attention has before 
been called to the fact that a nearly allied plant, much less 
common in cornfields, but having the general appearance of 
charlock, is not injured by the spraying. It appears desirable 
to figure the two plants alongside of each other so that they 
may be distinguished. The charlock (Sin apis ccrvensis Linn.) 
is hairy on both the stem and leaves, the divisions of the calyx 
spread out from the flower, and the pod is angular, with from 
three to five nerves on each of its valves. The wild cabbage 
(Brassica campestris Linn.) is a smooth and glossy plant, the 
divisions of the calyx are erect round the bottom of the flower, 
and the pod is cylindrical, with a single nerve on each of its 
valves (see Fig. I on page 166). 
A member purchased the seed of Monarch swede, and there 
came up in his field five different kinds of turnips. This must 
have arisen from the supply of mixed seeds, only a portion of 
which were true to the variety ordered. A different case 
occurred in Yorkshire, where in a field of swedes a large 
i See Journal R.A.S.E., Vol. 59, 1898, page 561. 
