May 6, 1905. 
The Gardening World 
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\ ^his week yye present a Half-tone \ 
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Views and Reviews. 
Poisonous Plants.* 
The author of this work has undertaken 
a large subject, but as he confines himself to 
a brief description of the various poisonous 
plants he mentions, and to the mentioning of 
their toxic principles, he has condensed the 
information he furnishes to a small book of 
88 pp., including an index of Latin and 
English names. He lays strong emphasis 
upon the English names, judging from the 
trouble he has taken to find out the popular 
names applied in different localities, and 
which are more readily understood by the 
non-botanieal, and by those who have no 
knowledge of the Greek and Latin classics, 
from which so many of the botanical names 
have been taken. 
His plan of procedure has been to deter¬ 
mine or get information upon the peculiar 
poisonous characteristics of the various 
poisonous plants, and to classify them under 
headings to indicate the class of poison 
which each kind possesses. The number of 
different groups of poisons has been con¬ 
siderably increased by comparison with the 
old classification. For instance, some of the 
larger groups have been divided into two 
or more, but this may be regarded as an out¬ 
come of the greater amount of knowledge con¬ 
cerning them. The work is evidently intended 
as a book of reference, chiefly for medical 
men, who make a study of these things so 
that they can quickly apply the proper 
remedy, judging from the symptoms. Usually, 
this has to be done as speedily as possible, so 
that there can be no time for studying large 
volumes. At the same time, we presume it 
is the duty of every medical man to be 
thoroughly conversant with the various 
symptoms of poisoning, so that he can act 
immediately when called upon in cases of 
urgency. 
As many of our readers are well aware, 
poisonous plants are fairly numerous in the 
British flora, but the cases of poisoning are 
relatively rare, presumably because most 
people are acquainted with the poisonous 
and reputedly poisonous ones. The greatest 
danger occurs with the young and inexperi¬ 
enced. Under the heading of narcotics, the 
writer places the Opium Poppy, very common 
“Poisonous Plants of All Countries.” With the active 
chemicil principles which they contain and the loxic 
symptoms produced by each group. Py A. Bernhard Smith, 
late acting House Surgeon to Lord Lister, King’s College 
Hospital, Iondon, etc. Bristol : John Wright & Co. 
London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd. 
1905. Price 2s. 6d. net. 
in gardens, and in some districts running 
wild in cornfields and waste places. The 
symptoms of this class of poison are giddi¬ 
ness, dimness of sight, etc. Treatment must 
be given immediately, and the particular 
form of treatment is here clearly set out. 
The poisonous principle is morphine. Curi¬ 
ously enough, as it may seem to the unini¬ 
tiated, one poison may be counteracted by 
another, and at least two rank poisons are re¬ 
commended in this case, so that the first may 
be counteracted by the others. At the same 
time it must be understood that only a quali¬ 
fied medical man can apply these poisons 
in doses that will be effective without being 
dangerous to the patient. 
A larger number of plants are placed 
under the heading of deliriants, which pro¬ 
duce spectral illusions, and a wild and irregu¬ 
lar state of mind in victims to poisoning by 
this class of plants. Amongst them may be 
mentioned such British plants as Belladonna, 
Henbane, Bitter Sweet, Darnel Grass, and 
various others. Amongst foreign plants is 
the Mandrake, the Potato, and several others 
belonging to the same family. Hemp is 
also placed here, and it may be stated that 
a kind of intoxicating liquor is produced from 
it in certain countries. 
The poisonous principles consist largely of 
alkaloids, and, singular as it may seem, they 
consist largely of nitrogen, hydrogen, and 
carbon, precisely the same chemical elements 
of which bread, sugar, and Potatos consist. 
The fact that they are poisonous consists in 
the peculiar method of combination by which 
they are chemically built up. It is the peculiar 
characteristic of each of these poisonous 
plants named to build these elements in its 
own peculiar way, so that a separate name is 
given to the poisonous principle contained 
in a large number of them. Many plants 
produce exactly the same poison to which the 
same name is given. The subject is still 
more complicated by the fact that some of 
the plants contain more than one alkaloid 
to which separate names are given. Most of 
them, however, contain only one of these 
poisonous principles. 
The ordinary elements of plant food may or 
may not be poisonous, as it all depends upon 
their peculiar chemical combination, as a 
result of being built up in the laboratory of 
a living plant. For instance, to make this 
clear, the Wheat plant and the Belladonna 
feed upon exactly the same materials, but 
each builds up the elements in a different 
way. In the latter case the result is a poi¬ 
sonous substance, and in the former harmless. 
