Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
August,  1898.  J 
Structure  of  Gelsemium. 
379 
into  two  boat-shaped  valves.  Seeds  several,  rather  large,  flat  with 
a  broad  wing  at  the  summit. 
Gelsemium  flowers  in  April,  and  is  popularly  known  as  Yellow  Jes- 
samine; also  called  Evening  Trumpet  flower  and  Carolina  Wild  Wood- 
bine. The  odor  of  the  flowers  is  very  sweet,  and  they  are  highly 
poisonous.  Mr.  Lamb,  in  a  letter  to  the  author,  writes  of  the  death 
of  a  daughter  of  the  late  Dr.  Dick,  from  eating  the  flowers.    In  the 
Fig.  i. — The  left-hand  illustration  shows  a  portion  of  the  rhizome  and  roots 
of  Gelsemium  sempervirens  (L.),  Pers.,  with  a  part  of  the  overground  stem. 
To  the  right  is  a  portion  of  a  large  rhizome  with  roots. 
Norfolk  (Va.)  Herald  is  recorded  the  death  of  a  child  four  years  old 
from  eating  the  flowers  of  this  plant ;  death  ensued  an  hour  after 
signs  of  illness  were  manifest. 
Jesse  G.  Shoemaker  (Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.,  1884,  p.  130)  has  con- 
tributed an  article  on  the  histology  of  gelsemium,  in  which  stress  is 
laid  on  the  development  of  the  medullary  rays  as  being  characteristic 
in  distinguishing  roots  and  stems.   The  author  does  not  find  this  to 
