The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1902-06-18
BLOOMS THAT POISON
ODORS OF FLOWERS THAT ARE HARM
Full TO HEALTH.

Beware of the Poppy. as 1t Contains
Opium and Induces Drowsiness.
Tulips That Are Dangerous and
Produce Light Eeadedness.
The majority of people think that
the tulip has no smell, and this is true
of a great number of the fashionable
variegated kinds. The old self colored
sorts, however, particularly those of a
deep crimson hue. have a powerful
odor, which is dangerous when inhal-
ed. This odor is Of saffron favor and
affects many people in a very peculiar
manner. If breathed deeply, it has
the effect of producing light headed
ness, which continues for some time,
causing the sufferer to do and say all
manner of remarkable and ridiculous
things. Its influence often lasts for an
hour or two and is followed by deep
depression.
Another common flower whose odor
has evil properties is the poppy. This
is doubtless due to the quantity of
opium which the blossom contains.
Numbers of individuals, especially
young ladies Of highly strung temper
ament, complain Of the drowsy sensa-
ton which comes after walking
through a field of these flowers and
.afterward Of violent headaches and q
disinclination to move about. In Asia
Minor, where the poppy is grown in
vast quantities for the purpose Of ex-
tracing the drug. tourists are fire.
quently incapacitated for many hours
after inspecting poppy plantation.
and two cases Of death among Eng
lish tourists were traced to, the same
cause last year.
All flowers grown from bulbs are
dangerous in rooms where there is ILL
ness. Although punches of flowers are
invariably taken as presents to pa
tients, such blooms as hyacinths. lilies
Of the valley, tuberoses and even DAFT
fodils and narcissuses should be care
fully avoided. The perfume is as dan
gerous to person in critical state OF
health as = dose Of morphia would be,
without possessing the benefits which
that drug sometimes confers.
Perhaps the most remarkable effect
which any garden flower has OH the
human body is that which follows the
handling Of the particular variety OF
primula known as obconica. Expe-
rienced gardeners are always careful
to wear gloves when potting this
plant. as, should there be ever such
slight scratch or prick on the hands or
fingers, evil results are almost certain
to follow.
The first noticeable result is slight
itching Of the hands and arms, and this
precedes the breaking out Of a skin
disease which frequently extends to
the body. 1t dies away in the autumn
when the leaves fall, and by Christ
mas the sufferer is free, but the pri-
mula has by no means finished its
deadly work. When spring comes again
and the sap rises in plants and trees,
the dread disease makes its reappear-
ance and continues all through the
summer.
This continues for many years, fire.
quently for the whole of the victims
lifetime, and there is no known rem
edy for it, although years Of the most
rigid dieting have in some cases pro-
duced a diminution in its violence.
II blood poisoning by the primula
obconicc does not take this form, it
brings ABOUT the still more dreadful
Cases Of poisoning through
eating the berries of the belladonna. or
deadly nightshade. are all too frequent.
but there is the gravest danger in even
handling this attractive plant.
1t is a very common practice in the
country among parties of young peo-
pie to pick the berries and flick them
at each other with the fingers for
sport. Then, when heated by the fun
and fusillade. the face is sometimes
mopped with handkerchief upon
which fingers sticky with the juice of
the berries have been wiped.
Should but just little Of this get
into one Of the eyes fearful calamity
may ensue. Iritis. or paralysis of the
iris of the eye, which invariably re-
suits in blindness, has been known to
come on. and against this dread dis
ease medical skill has as yet proved
unavailing. This. too, is in face Of the
paradoxical fact that treatment with
tincture of belladonna is the one usual
~ adopted in the elementary stages Of
iritis.
The dainty heroine who is so often
to be heard Of as idly plucking to
2:eces the petals Of flower must be-
ware which blossoms she chooses for
the purpose. Lilies, begonias, rhodo-
dendrons and peonies are likely to set
up testers, with consequent loss Of
finger nails, if treated in this way
London Answers.