The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-25
POISONOUS PLANTS.
The Harmful Properties OF some OF
the Most Common Varieties.


however. disappears when the flowers are
dried No cow will feed on them while
they are in blossom. So caustic are the
petals that they will sometimes infiame
the skin Of tender fingers. So with many
Of our most admired flowers which We
would be loath TO Danish from cuitiva-
ton; they are associated with green
leaves Of very poisonous character. The
leaves Of the daffodil act as an irritant
poison. The delicate leaves Of the labur-
mum have a narcotic and acrid juice
which causes purging ana vomiting, and
| sometimes death. The leaves of the
meadow saffron or autumn crocus cause
/ irritation Of the throat, thirst, dilated pu-
pills, with vomiting and purgag.
The dangerous character OF aconite or
monkshOOd leaves Is well known TO most
grown persons, but children need instruc-
ton 10 avoid those large palm shaped
leaves which are dark green on the upper
surface. This most deadly OF vegetable
pOisOns causes great depression, often
blindness. tingling all over the body,
parching and burning of the throat and
stomach, and finally death ensues. The
| large oVate leaves of the foXglOve are
| also to be avoided. They have caused
] such depression of the heart that II beat
| only seventeen times a minute, with the
D =
a case the sufferer must be kept strictly
| lying down 10 save the strength of the
| heart as much as possible. The basque
| flower and the ranunculus are both at
tractive flowers, possessing injurious
/ leaves.
The oleander has a deadly poison in its
| leaves and flowers, and should not be
where young children are. 1t is too dan
1 gerous beautiful though il is. The flower
/ and berries of the wild bryony possess a
| powerful purgative, and the red berries, so
/ attractive to children. have proved fatal
| in some cases. The catalpa tree has a pois-
4 onous bark Fools parsley has tuberOus
/ roots, sometimes mistaken by children for
/ turnips, while the leaves may be mis-
/ taken for parsley, though their darker col
/ OF and nauseous odor should prevent this.
/ This plant has produced death an hour
| after eating. This must rank among the
| most dangerous plants belonging to the
/ umbelliferous order.
Meadow hemlock, thought TO be that
which Socrates drank, kills by its intense
| action on the nerves, producing complete
| insensi'bility and palsy of the arms and
| legs, and is a most dangerous drug, ex-
cept in skilful hands. In August it is
found in the fields by the seashore and
near mountain tops, in fun bloom and la
| dies and children gather its large clusters
of tiny white flowers in quantities, not sus-
| pectng their poisonous character. The
| ban hemlock is everywhere known to be
poisonous 1t is distinguished by pecu-
liar ''mousy' odOr which generally can be
! recognized by squeezing the leaves, which
are deep green in color and trebly com
pound, the small lobes being lanceolate and
! deeply cut. 1t is said that the peculiar
! smell of this plant can be detected in wa
| ter containing not more than 10000 part
I OF the juice. HemlOck Is an lrritant to any
sore place, and a general narcotic poison,
doc loss
! of power to swallow, and extreme drowsi-
ness, with complete paralysis of voluntary
! muscles Of respiration. The water hem
lock, or cowbane resembles parsnips, and
| has been eaten for them with deadly effect
| The water drOpwort resembles celery when
not in flower. while its roots are similar
TO those Of parsnips. 1t is a fiourishing
ditch plant, and contains a virulent poi
son which produces commissions, ending
in speedy death. The fine-leaved water
dropwort and the common dropwort are
also dangerous plants.
The bulbs of daffodils have been mis-
taken for leaks and boiled in soup with
disastrous effect, nauseating the entire
family the children not recovering for
several days.
The nightshade order of plants is to be
| avoided on account Of it's extremely pois-
onous leaves. The deadly nightshade
| with oval unSerrated leaves, and soft
| smooth stalk quite common in our gar
dens and waysides, is especially danger
| Gus. Henbane and thorn apple are also
| conspicuous members of the dangerous
classes Holly leaves contain a juice
which is both narcotic and acrid, causing
| vomiting, pain, and purging. Even elder
| leaves and privet leaves may produce ac-
tive and injurious irritation when eaten
| The leaves of the arum or cuckoo-pint
large, arrow-shaped and glossy, have Off
! en- caused death. Two are sufficient to
| produce great pain, vomiting, etc. A dis
| agreeab BILE symptom is a great swelling up
of the tongue from the amount of irrita-
ton; children's tongues especially, may
| become so swollen that the swallowing of
| remedies or of emetics is very difficult
| In such a case, the administration Of
melted fresh butter freely has proved ben
| efcial and after vomiting has taken place
freely. strong coffee should be given.
savin and yew leaves are both very
poisonous, yew being narcotic, as we'll as
| acrid although IT is commonly supposed
that the fresh leaves are not injurious-a
| mistake from which some have suffered.
| very curious case of poisoning came
under the writer's immediate notice last
spring. Somebody, having recommended
| the leaves of the rhubarb, or common pie
plant as palatable greens, similar to
spina ch, a lady was induced to give them
q trial with the result of causing a dan
! gerous illness to herself and husband,
/
weeks before the gentleman, especially
very large, robust young man, fully re-
covered from the effects Of the singular
! poison.
Persons should be cautious about trying
new and unknown vegetables. Even many
/ known are at times unwholesome. Pota-
toes. when not fully ripe, are deleterious,
causing severe bowel complaint and sick
ness. Green, decayed and unripe fruit
and vegetables of all kinds are always
dangerous. Especially in summer and au-
t,rmn should we be careful about eating
/ fruits and vegetables. Old sprouting po-
tatoes are wholly unfit for food, the skin
/ containing a dangerous poison known as
| solanine. The cultivated parsnip and the
wild variety are identical, except as to
| the difference cultivation makes. They
] botb have the same botanical name (Pas-
/ rinaca. sativa). The wild parsnip has an
/ acid taste and is very poisonous. The
/ cultivated parsnip assumes the same
/ acrfd taste as soon as it begins to grow in
the spring. The root of the wild parsnip
| is smaller than that of the garden kind,
| ana If is softer and more f1eshy. 1t is
/ also without branches.
/ In all cases of internal poisoning from
] lilo iv ittriot1s Dlaufs etc the hest thing