Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1894-08-04

the water hemloek (Cicuta maeulataJ or the American hellebore lNeratrum ! viride4, both of which are poisonous plants that grow, like the harmless sweet flag, in moist localities. Bnt per haps it is not Sc important to learn what plant killed the unfortunate lads as to remember that the fatal root was so palatable that the boys ate t eager i ly That root or other vegetable product may be pleasant to the taste and yet contain I deadly poison is a 1 very important thing to know
 Fortunately not many of our native ] plants possess this very dangerous combination of qualities. Of those that do, perhaps the most dangerous is the water hemloek already mentioned 1 This is rank weed growing common ] ly in moist localities. Its Heshy roots i have pleasant aromatic taste, but are ! yiralently poisonous. To add to the danger there is q ciosely-related plant 1 called the sweet cieely. that grows in i similar localities and much resembles the water hemioek. but which has a root that is both Palatable and whole l some Many persons have lost their | lives through mistaking one of these | plants for the other Another related plant that grows commonly here, hav- 1 ing been introduced from Europe, Is the poison hemlock (conium maculata) the plant that furnished the poison with which the ancient Greeks killed 1 their capital criminals, and sometimes, as in the case of Socrates and Phocion, their philosophers. These deadly hem l locks belong to the same family with the parsnip, carrot and celery, all three l of which vegetables are poisonous in their native state, and have only be- come wholesome through cultivation. Even now the parsnip sometimes de velops poisonous principles if allowed to become too old before being pulled
 The hellebore is also q common plant, growing in boggy places. It is a lily (thcugh no one but a botanist would suspect the relationship with broad plaited leaves that clasp the stem at their base. The poisonous properties of this plant were well known to the Indians, who are said to have sometimes used it in selecting their chiefs-the man who could take ! regarded as strongest and best quail fled to lead On account of this tradi- tion the hellebore is often called In dian poke. It is also sometimes called 'serow plant, g because the early settlers scattered corn steeped in a decoction 1 of heIlebore over their fields to poison crows.
 The aconites are another tribe of common and very dangerous plants, 4 few weeks ago a family on Long Island suffered from eating the roots of one of i these plants. Nc have several native species. but none of these is as we'll 1 known as the monks hood. which has come to us from Europe. This plant has u historIeal interest, as its poison was used on arrow heads in primitive warfare, and in the eXe- eution of criminals in more civilized communities lii some countries it was used to poison wolves, and hence 1t Is often called ''w0lfsbane.
 We are also indebted tQ Europe for several other common plants that are very poisonous: in particular, the fox l glove (Digitalis purpureal the deadly nightshade (AGopa beladennal, the henbane Hyoscyamus nigerl apd the stramonium (datWa stramonlum) The last named is d very common roadside weed, having large tubular white flower. It is commonly called James town weed, often corrupted to jimsen weed. this same having its origin 'a an incident of tho early history of Virpinia Some soldiers who had been sent to Jamestown to quell
 the rebellion of Bacon were poisoned by eating salad made of young shoots of the stramonium The deadly night shade must not be confounded with ou4
 charming lilies called dropping night,
 shades (trilliumsl, which are plants ol
 far better repute.
 I have mentioned only the commonel
 plants whose poisons are most Vlrulent
 A long list might be added of plants 1T
 some degree poisonous, but the effects
 of which are seldom fatal Perhaps
 the most common of all, and certainly
 the most generally known, is the polsol
 ivy, already referred to, which really
 Is not an ivy at all, but climbing sumac (rhus). This plant has the m
 enyiable distinction of being poisonou
 to the touch. Fortunately It does no !. affect all persons, however, some beln'
 able to handle it with impunlty af r per's Young People.