The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-06-18

insist upon having DOFFX'S and not be
persuaded TO take any other. Send for
illustrated pamphlet.
DUFFXs MALT wHISKEY CO.,
ROCHESTER, N. u.
day to a World reporter. ut is impossi-
BILE to determine the exact time, but il
was not more than half an hour The
boys went on the bali ground at 5:l5, and
at 5:45 young Passmore was dead Some
of the others fingered little, but in every
case death came with the most astonish-
ing quickness. Yes, it was worse than
strychnine"
DR.. Furman was the first physician
called, the sisters sending for him as soon
as he knew something was wrong with
the boys. 1t was barely hundred yards
from his house to the institution and only
the quickness of his arrival prevented
the number of deaths from being more
The root is little larger around than
an ordinary leadpencil and is covered
with light colored, thin bark The fiber
is.woody, but is hollow like reed aud is
filled with pith somewhat like that in an
elder bush. 1t was the bark and a small
portion of the woody fiber which the bows
ate. Eleven boys dividcdIthe bark on
piece only about five inches long, yet it
was sufficient to kill five and make six
others very sick. Some of the bows spat
it out. Sister Mary Sebastian, who has
charge of the boys, took one piece from
between the teeth of tOrrestal.
1t is difficult to determine the nature of
the root because tbs all found at a place
in the grounds where workmen are dig
ging drain All the shrubbery has been
cut away, and if the poison herb has any
flower or shrub above ground il cannot be
seen now. Since. the boys ate it guam
tity of the root has been found at the
same place. 1t is all nearly the same
size.
II cannot tell by looking at this root
whether it is merely an underground
plant or not" continued DR.. Furman,
but all that has been found grew near
the surface. 1t has been said that it was
the bluetiag root, but am sure it was not.
1t has been said also that it was the dog
wood root, the poke root and the allan
thus. but do not think it any Of these. l
do not know what it is. The boys first
symptoms were strabismus. Then they
grew purple around the mouth, ears and
eyes and commissions followed. They
died in great agony
DIR. Richard /, Cohlant, of Tarrytown,
has also examined the root carefully,
and, like DR.. Furman, he is unable to de-
termine its nature. He too, was greatly
impressed with the astonishing rapidity
OF the poison. Some of the root was dis
played at Farringtons drug store in Tar
~ VuNn JGSbCTudSs dlu WAS 66dulluGu DY
many curious people.
All the surviving boys who ate the root
were out of danger yesterday, except
John Harvey, whose constitution Is nat
urally weak. But the doctor thought
that Harvey would recover.
1t is a curious fact that the poison
seems to have left no i'll effects on the
convalescent boys. Once out of danger
they were almost as well as ever. They
wa in bod rInYr hat .
was merely as a last precaution. They
had strong pulses, good appetites and
their eyes were bright and clear
James kinnegan, one of the boys who
has recovered says that the root tasted
sweet at first and then Bitter.
A piece of the deadly root was shown
last night to DR. Nathaniel L. Britton,
professor Of botany in Columbia College,
and to DR.. Henry II. Rusby, professor of
botany in the College Of Pharmacy.
Both pronounced it the water hemlock
one of the deadliest poisons known
| They said there was possibility that
| they might be mistaken, as they would
not care to render a decisive opinion
without examining a cross sectionlof the
root under the microscope, but it was
not probable.
Its conformation, its color and in
| fact everything connected with il in
dictate that it is the water hemlock y
said DIR. Britton. Its scientific name is
| the Cicuta immaculate. 1t belongs to the
! carrot family, and puts up an herb four
or five feet in hight. The roots lie near
| the surface ef the earth and are thrown
| out in horizontal direction It is plen-
| tifui in all the eastern states but dis
appears before cultivation Of the soil. 1t
| is an extremely deadly poison.
This plant, though with some varia-
| ton in character, is" also plentiful in
] Europe, and poisons Of commerce are
| made from it there. It's scientific name
| there is the Conaium immaculate 1t is
! this root, or the extract of it, which
caused the death of Socrates, according
/ to Greek history"
DR. Britton then read from Bigelow's
medical Botany" a history of some
cases of hemlock poisoning IN this toun-
try. In such instances the symptoms
were precisely the same as those shown
by the children poisoned near Tarrytown
There was the same distortion Of the
eyes, the patients turned blue around the
eyes, mouth and ears and the tetanic CON
vulsions followed. Death usually fol-
lowed very. soon after eating the hem
lock.
Or. Britton also showed from his own
collection some specimens OF the water
hemlock and in appearance they CORE
sponded exactly with the piece brought
from Tarrytown.
DR. Rusty fully agreed with all that
DR.. Britton said, ana he added
There is whole wilderness of the
water hemlock around New York The
salt marshes between here aud Newark
are covered with it. This herb has
white flower, and later in the summer the
marshes arc white with it. IL is also
abundant along the Hudson, and it might
be well for people to remember this, for
IL IS very strong poison indeed There
have been cases before in this country in
which children have been killed through
carelessly eating it,