Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1856-05-01
O., THURSDAY MAY 1, 1856.

thickened, and resembles horse-radish so
much, that party of friends dining togeth-
er at Dingwall, in Scotland, were poisoned
by the cook fancying it was root of horse
radish she was scraping, when she was, in
fact, offering to her masters guests deadly
poison. There is nothing in the taste of
this plant to warn the eater of it of his dan
ger. 1t is slightly acrid, but not more so than
many plants that are perfectly harmless
The Aconite isvery nearly allied to the Lark
spur, which is also poisonous, the seeds act
ing as violent emetic The Anemone is
another poisonous plant, from its acidity and
its emetic qualities; and the juice of its
leaves will raise blisters. This is also the
case with various kinds of Clematis and
Ranunculus. The juice of the common But
tercup is extremely acrid, and the species
with creeping, fcshy root is q deadly poi
son to human beings, though phcasants seem
to eat it with impunity, as its tubers have
been found in the crops of birds that have
been shot
The seeds of Peony will occasion symp-
toms resembling cholera, with violent sick
ness; and the juice of the Poppy is, as every
body knows, highly narcotic. Opium is pre-
pared from the capsule, or seed-ycasel, of
the large White Poppy, which is cultivated
for that purpose to q great extent in the East,
particularly in Turkey, Persia, and some
parts of India.
The capsule of the Opium Poppy is much
larger and more heshy than that of the Corn
Poppy, and this feshy substance is full of a
milky juice, which hardens by exposure in
the air into the kind of gum which we call
opium. In countries where opium is cult
vated as an article of commerce, the Pop
pies are grown in large fields, and planted
in rows to enable the people to reach their
heads easily. When the petals of the flow
ers have fallen, and while the Poppy-heads
are yet green and full of juice, the cultiva-
tors of opium wound the capsules with a
kind of lancet having two blades, so that
two cuts are made with each stroke. The
milky juice which exudes hardens in the
course of the night, and is scraped off the
next morning with a blunt knife, before the
sun has had time to melt it, 1t is after
wards kneaded into cakes, and packed in
leaves for sale. Laudanum is opium stepped
in spirits of wine; and paregoric is laud-
anum with aniseed and camphor added
to it; morphine is the sedative part of OPT
um separated from its intoxicating quality.
In England all Poppies are more or less
narcotic, and of course poisonous; but the
milky juice is not secreted in sufficient
quantities to render it worth while to cult
Vate the Poppies for their opium.
Nearly all the umbelliferous plants are
poisonous in wild state. Even Celery is
only rendered wholesome by cultivation
Wild Chervil is also poisonous, but the cul-
tivated kind is eaten in salads. Of all the
plants, Water Hemlock, or
Cowbane, is, perhaps, the most deadly. 1t
grows in marshy land in several places in
the neighborhood of London and, as it has
no bad smell, it is sometimes eaten by cows,
who die Immediately. Children are also
frequently poisoned by chewing it. 1t is an
acrid poison, and destroys life by burning
the coats of the stomach. FOOLS Parsley is
very dangerous, as it often comes up in gar
dens with the other parsley-and when both
are quite young, it is not easy to tell the diff
ference between them. When in flower, it
is distinguished by two long boards hanging
from each flower, while the common parsley
has none. But even when not in flower, the
two kinds may be distinguished by the leaves
Of the FOOLS Parsley being Of a darker and
bluer green, and having smell of garlic
Hemlock is also often mistaken for parsley.
Water Parsnip is sometimes mistaken for
Skirret, the tubers of which are often eaten
in Scotland under the name of Crummock.
The Water Parsnip, however, may be known
by its always growing in water, which the
Skirret does not. The Water Dropwort is
still more dangerous from it's strong resem-
Dlancc to Celery; and this last plant is so
poisonous that many persons feel giddy only
rom smelling it.-London Newspaper.