^°May^Y92":}  WheU  Is  PotSOfl  Not  a  Poison? 
amounts  of  energetic  alkaloids  that  vomit  man,  when  taken  even 
in  small  doses.  And  yet  a  single  mole  exterminated  a  bed  in  which 
this  essayist  took  much  pride.  At  least,  by  circumstantial  evidence, 
the  mole  got  the  blame  for  the  offense. 
In  like  manner,  biologists  are  aware  that  heroic  poisons  fail  to 
act  with  some  animals,  while  substances  "not  a  poison"  are  de- 
structive to  others. 
"Chambers"  is  authority  for  the  assertion  that  natives  of  Africa 
drive  hogs  through  serpent-infested  sections,  the  hog  not  being  sus- 
ceptible to  the  virulence  of  that  viper.  It  is  stated  that  the  beast 
presents  its  cheek  to  the  serpent,  then  grasps  the  reptile  in  its  mouth. 
Tradition  has  it  that  the  hog  is  likewise  immune  to  arsenic.  Country 
people  have  a  tradition  that  a  full  pail  of  milk  from  a  newly-calved 
cow  will  kill  a  hog.  The  father  of  this  essayist  doubted  the  state- 
ment and  fed  a  valuable  hog  a  full  portion  of  the  first  milking. 
The  hog  died  that  night.  Seemingly,  the  experiment  succeeded. 
And  yet  the  cheese  made  of  the  first  milking  of  the  "nannie  goat" 
commands  exceptional  value  in  Smyrna. 
The  miasmatic  fog  that  catches  one  person  may  fail  to  affect 
neighbors  equally  exposed.  A  plague  may  sweep  away  a  multitude 
and  yet  miss  an  individual  member  of  that  multitude. 
Thus  we  find  that  the  term  poison,  whatever  the  dictionary 
definition  may  be,  carries  undercurrents  of  opportunities  for  ques- 
tionings, as  well  as  investigations,  that  make  the  answer  to  the 
question,  ''When  is  a  poison  not  a  poison?''  more  of  a  problem  than 
a  cursory  glance  would  indicate. 
And  yet,  since,  as  a  rule,  such  peculiarities  as  these  are  excep- 
tional, a  cause  for  each  exception  unquestionably  always  exists. 
The  reason  therefor,  in  obscured  conditions,  is  an  opportunity  for 
science  research,  the  facts  having,  as  a  rule,  been  incontrovertibly 
established  by  empirical  record.  The  man  of  experimentation, 
opportunity  and  thought  has  surely,  here  as  elsewhere,  accomplished 
his  share  in  the  chain  of  progress  when  he  hands  to  his  co-laborer 
a  statement  of  fact  based  on  balanced  observation. 
*From  Eclectic  Medical  Journal,  April,  1920. 
^  Definition — Poison:  "Any  substance  applied  to  the  body,  ingested,  or 
developed  within  the  body,  which  causes  or  may  cause  disease." — Borland. 
2  The  remedies  offered  as  "poison  ivy  cures"  are  legion.  This  writer  be- 
lieves that  the  action  is  often  remote  from  the  drug  attack.  The  chain  of  sys- 
temic reactions  that  produce  the  body-bred  toxines  may  be  likened  to  the  Bib- 
lical "third  and  fourth  generations." 
