Amji^\maim'} <So7ne  North  American  Medicinal  Plants.  323 
of  the  roots  was  planted,  and  is  at  this  date  beginning  to  flower, 
and  from  the  character  of  the  stem  and  leaves  is  easily  recognized 
as  the  species  of  Cicuta  just  mentioned.  That  this  plant,  and  more 
particularly  the  root,  is  very  poisonous  is  stated  by  most  writers  on 
American  plants.  Dr.  Darlington  {Flora  Cestricd)  writes  that  "  the 
lives  of  children,  and  others,  are  often  endangered  and  sometimes 
destroyed  by  eating  the  root  in  mistake  for  that  of  Sweet  Cicely  (Os  • 
morrhjza  longistylis,  D.C.),"  and  that  "  the  herbage  is  also  said  to  be 
destructive  of  cattle,  when  eaten  by  them."  Since  the  sweet  cicely  has 
a  distinct  anise -like  odor,  the  root  of  cicuta  cannot  well  be  mistaken 
for  it.  Dr.  W.  P.  C.  Barton  [Compendium  Florce  Philadelphicce) 
describes  the  odor,  taste  and  smell  of  cicuta  as  being  "  remarkably 
sweetish,  aromatic  and  warm."  Dr.  R.  E.  Griffith  {Medical Botany) 
says  :  "  The  whole  plant  in  a  fresh  state  is  poisonous  ;  but  by  drying, 
the  stem  and  leaves  become  innocuous,  and  are  eaten  by  cattle  with- 
out danger.  The  root,  however,  is  the  most  active  portion  ;  it  has  a 
strong,  aromatic  taste  and  odor,  and  the  cortical  portion  contains  a 
yellowish  viscid  juice." 
The  common  names,  by  which  the  plant  is  known  in  different 
sections  of  the  country,  are  water-hemlock,  spotted  coivbane,  beaver- 
poison,  snake-weed,  and  musquash  ;  in  Mr.  Boyles'  letter  I  have  for 
the  first  time  noticed  the  name  of  wild  parsnip  applied  to  it ;  but  it 
is  very  likely  that  many  of  the  cases  of  poisoning  reported  by  plants 
of  the  latter  name  were  really  due  to  the  cicuta. 
Two  years  ago  {Botanical  Gazette,  1889,  p.  18)  a  case  of  death 
was  reported,  a  farmer  in  Iowa  having  mistaken  this  root  for  an 
artichoke.  So  it  seems  that  the  fleshy  character  and  agreeable  odor 
and  taste  render  this  root  as  particularly  dangerous  by  mistaking  it 
for  others,  which  are  edible,  and  harmless. 
That  the  fruit  of  Cicuta  maculata  contains  a  volatile  alkaloid  was 
shown  by  Joseph  E.  Young  (see  Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  1855,  p.  289), 
and  has  quite  recently  again  been  demonstrated  by  R.  Glenk ; 
but  whether  it  is  identical  with  coniine  or  with  the  little- 
known  cicutine  of  Polex  and  Wittstein  has  not  been  satisfac- 
torily demonstrated.  Both  investigators  did  not  succeed  in  isola- 
ting from  the  root  a  similar  alkaloid,  to  which  possibly  its  virulent 
properties  might  be  due.  It  deserves  to  be  mentioned  in  this  con- 
nection that  in  1868  Van  Ankum  was  likewise  unsuccessful  in  obtain- 
ing from  the  root  of  the  European  species,  Cicuta  virosa,  either  a 
