322  Some  North  American  Medicinal  Pla7tts.{Amj^ig^&rm- 
laciniata,  now  known  as  Discoplenra  iaciniata,  which  is  very  common 
in  Western  Texas  and  New  Mexico ;  immersed  in  boiling  water  this 
root  has  a  very  strong  smell  of  carrot.  It  was  chemically  examined 
by  Herman  Haupt  {ibid.,  1873,  p.  347).  To  the  writer  the  odor  of 
this  root  suggests  that  of  lovage,  and  also  in  general  appearance 
and  in  structure  it  resembles  the  Colorado  root;  but  the  latter, 
probably,  does  not  grow  in  New  Mexico,  at  least  "Coulter's  Rocky 
Mountain  Botany"  gives  the  Wahsatch  and  Uinta  Mountains  and 
Wyoming  as  the  range  of  distribution  of  this  plant,  and  does  not 
enumerate  the  species  of  Discopleura  among  the  plants  growing  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  Indian  name 
Osha  may  be  used  in  different  localities  for  different  species  having 
similar  properties;  the  New  Mexican  Osha  may,  therefore,  be  derived 
from  one  of  the  Southwestern  species  of  Ligusticum  or  of  Discopleura, 
and  the  question  cannot  be  definitely  decided  until  complete  botani- 
cal specimens  of  the  parent  plant  can  be  examined. 
While  the  roots  of  many  species  of  umbelliferae  are  aromatic,  car- 
minative and  stimulating  from  volatile  oil,  it  is  well  known  that  acrid 
or  narcotic  properties  pervade  in  some  plants  of  this  order.  From 
time  to  time  cases  of  poisoning  have  been  reported  from  eating 
what  has  been  called  wild  parsnip  root.  The  cultivated  parsnip, 
Pasiinaca  sativa,  is  widely  esteemed  as  a  valuable  esculent,  and 
since  it  has  become  thoroughly  naturalized  in  many  parts  of  the 
United  States,  the  question  as  to  its  poisonous  qualities,  when  grow- 
ing wild,  is  certainly  a  most  important  one,  but  in  the  writer's 
opinion  has  been  settled  in  the  negative ;  see  account  of  "  the  wild 
parsnip  (Pastinaca  sativa)  "  by  Prof.  F.  B.  Power  in  "  Contributions 
from  the  Department  of  Pharmacy  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin," 
No.  2,  p.  43.  From  the  root  of  this  plant  Jos.  T.  Bennett  (ibid.,  p.  39) 
could  not  obtain  any  poisonous  principle,  nor  did  the  cooked  root 
produce  any  symptoms  of  poisoning  in  a  cat. 
A  case  of  poisoning  by  "  wild  parsnip  "  occurred  in  April  last  in 
Du  Bois,  Pa. ;  three  of  the  children  who  had  eaten  it  died  within 
three  hours,  and  four  recovered.  Mr.  C.  J.  C.  Boyles  sent  me  some 
of  the  fresh  roots,  which  were  easily  recognized  as  coming  from  an 
umbelliferous  plant ;  but  when,  after  a  prolonged  absence  from  home, 
the  specimens  reached  me,  the  few  leaves  were  not  in  condition 
for  determining  with  certainty  the  plant,  which  appeared  to  be 
either  Sium  cicutaefolium,  Gmelin,  or  Cicuta  maculata,  Linne.  One 
