SWEET GRASS. 
93 
merited, and become useless as food. They re- 
solved to try them as a drink ; and their spirituous 
flavour proving agreeable, they were induced, with 
the assistance of the Russians, to try the effect 
of distillation. The experiment succeeded ; and a 
spirit was produced, which, according to Steller, 
throws those that drink it into a melancholy, espe- 
cially if the stalks of the plant from which it is 
made have not been well scraped. Those therefore 
who are unaccustomed to this liquor, and would 
wish to avoid night-mare, and great debility, must 
be cautious how they drink it. There is a great 
singularity attending the use of this spirituous 
liquor ; for it is said that persons who have made 
too free with it over night, and have drunk cold 
water the next day, have been a second time intoxi- 
cated, and felt a return of those symptoms which 
Steller remarks as peculiar to this beverage. 
There are several species belonging to this ge- 
nus, though only one of them is common in this 
country. The cow parsnip ( Hercicleum spondilium ) 
is sufficiently abundant in woody situations, where 
it grows to the height of four or five feet. The 
leaves are winged, and the whole plant is harsh and 
rough. 
As this plant spreads considerably by its roots, 
especially in places that afford an earth congenial to 
its nature, it is often necessary to stop its progress ; 
and this is best done by cutting down the stalk 
when the flowers just begin to blow. 
