Evening star., 1901-10-02
TOXIC ROOTS AND HERBS
DANGER cHiEbREN IN THE COUNTRY
ARR EXPOSED TO.
Pretty Plants That Are Apt to At
traetfCity Boys and
tq Girls.

From the Baltimere American.
The country Is the best place for chill
dren," is an expression that is often heard.
and city panafItsi take their children into
the country land turn them loose like so
many horses in a pasture. In the happy
belief that nothing worse can happen to
them than the sting of an occasional bee
or the stubbing OF bare toe. There are
certain dangers, however, to the children
In this process, and one Of the most I'M
minent is that Of poisoning from the
strange berries and leaves that look SO
attractive and innocent to the little city
boy or girl. Children should be carefully
cautioned not to put anything into their
mouths which grows outside OF the garden,
for the breaking OF this rule may be at
tended with the grayeSt results.
Reports are frequently received from
farms where guests are entertained OF the
poisoning Of children from the eating OF
strange roots and berries. This happens
only to city children, for the country boy
knows what is good and what is bad and
ne knows that nearly everything that
grows wild is unfit for food. He has gem
orally learned, too, from painful expert
eEce. that it is not well even to touch
plant with which he is unfamiliar. lest
painfully swollen hands be the result of his
curiosity or his carelessness
Poison Ivy is Common.
Every summer hundreds Of chiIdren-and
grown people. too. for that matter
have unpleasant experiences with poison
ivy, for it Is found everywhere in this lati
tude cinging to roots and trees. People
do not recognize ft-aithough they should
for 1t is easily recognized-and grasp it
boldly, with the most painful results The
ivy leaf Is composed Of three leaflets.
which should be an easy mark of identif-
cation, since all other vines that might be
nrp fn11Ya6 a6o1 x.,ffL 81 H.
damage is once done to the hands, there
is little to do except to bathe them in
carboltzed soap and witch hazel, and to
see that they do: not touch the face, for
the poison lis readily communicated by
touch Especial care should be taken to
avoid touching the eyes. for blindness might
be the result. TO obviate this danger, the
hands should be bandaged.s
The only. other plant that grows In this
part Of the country that is poisonous to the
touch Is the poison elder or sHmae. 1t Is
much like the true sumacj growing from six
to twelve feet high, with compound leaves
composed of from eleven to thirteen long
narrow leaflets arranged in pairs. The
long smooth reds are very attractive, for
to all APPEARANCE; they make ideal fishing
rods, and it Is from the cutting of these
rods that the worst cases Of poisoning oc-
cur. In case OF poisoning from this plant
the treatment should be the same as that
for poison ivy,D Those are about the only
two which poison from contact, and all
S-S AA.2fp sD0, SAeSii iA' oAoS ~ w
Look like Wholesome Plants.
A species Of flag that is often mistaken
for calamus IS 6he OF the most common.
and, in fact, nearly all of the poisonous
plants look bike, 4whelesome ones. and 1t is
on this ACCOUNT sthat such care should be
taken In warning children not to eat any
thing that grows, wild. The wild parsnip
is deadly in ats effects, although it is hard
ly to be distinguished from the parsnip of
the garden, and Wild parsley is also a dan
gerous plant, being much like the culti-
waited Variety: The leaves. however, are
not curly ontthe edges. Hemlock is easily
recognized from its large coarse leaves,
which are curly on the edges and deeply
notched. The smell, too. is. strong and
disagreeable The remedy for cases of
poisoningae of this kind is the administering
Of emetics and stimulating with spirits. The
doctor, should >aficourse. be called as soon
as 9QSslote. ea9r yr,.uie:5- 80 ae-..i
The jfmson OF, ,,Jamastown weed is one of
the commonest stmet- with. Its effects are
NARCOTIC. and emetics should be used to
counteract with stfmulats. One of the
most dangerous is the Jerusalem artichoke,
which is a Species Of field sunflower, with
yellow rays and furry stem and leaves.
The root looks much like potato or arti-
choke. and tastes like the latter The pol
son of the root causes ~convulsions and
sometimes death, and in cases of poisoning
from it no time should be lost in calling
in a doctor p --'.'' ~ ..f2.s7.