720 
ON PLANTS IN RELATION TO ANIMALS. 
instead of being more fibrous it is less so than horse¬ 
radish. 
When taken in over-doses, by accident or otherwise, the best 
treatment is mustard emetics. 
Aconite and its preparations has a place in the f Veterinary 
Pharmacopoeia/ but it is usually only employed in the form 
of liniment. Its active principle is aconitine, a fiftieth of a 
grain of which is sufficient to kill a sparrow, and is said to 
be far more powerful than prussic acid. 
It appears to be perfectly wild on both sides of a stream 
which separates Dorset from Somerset, in a very retired 
situation between Sherborne and Crewkerne, near Whistle 
Bridge. It is also reported from near Newton, Devon; 
near Leominster, Hertfordshire; and in Monmouthshire. 
It is a very handsome plant in our shrubberies and gar¬ 
dens, but should be treated with great caution, as even the 
eating a bit of a leaf is sufficient to benumb the tongue and 
fauces. Its juice and extract is said to cause contrac¬ 
tion of the pupil, in which it differs from the action of 
belladonna. 
Aconitum. —An important genus belonging to the order 
j Rcinunculacece } and botanically characterised by the calyx 
being not of a green colour, but blue or yellow, of five 
pieces, the upper of which is convex, and in form like a 
helmet. Within this are concealed two singularly-shaped 
petals, formerly considered to be nectaries ; the form of these 
bodies is somewhat like that of a hammer. There are also 
three other petals, very small and inconspicuous, though 
occasionally they also become hammer shaped, like the two 
upper ones. 
The stamens are numerous, and the fruit consists of from 
three to five follicles. 
The plants constituting this genus are found in Europe 
and Northern Asia, and a few are natives of North 
America. 
One species (A. napellus) is said to have been found wild 
in Britain, but this is open to grave doubts. All the plants 
of this genus possess virulently poisonous properties; the 
roots of some of the Indian species produce the Bikli poison 
of Nepal, one of the most dangerous of poisons. The roots 
of A. ferox (supposed to be a variety of A. ?iapellus) are 
used in northern parts of Hindostan for poisoning arrows, 
with which tigers are destroyed. A tiger shot from a bow 
in Assam was found dead at only sixty yards from the spot, 
so soon did the poison take effect. Several kinds are com¬ 
monly cultivated in gardens, especially A. napellus , the 
