Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-06-12
POISON IN OUR PARKS
Ivy is Found in Many Public
Places.
MANY NOW SUFFERING
VINE EASILY DISTINGUISHED
FROM OTHER PLANTS.
Alcohol and Sugar of Lead an Efficient
Remedy-Sumac is Also
Dangerous.
NOW SUFFERING

dangerous.
There is no mistake about #. poison ivy
is very poisonous weed. Ii occasions the
greatest amount of suffering throughout
the entire country east of Texas. Yet IL
exists in half the parks In this vicinity.
abounds on all the golf courses about
Washington. and has even been planted as
an ornament about District suburban
houses. 1t ought to be exterminated. But
when 1t thrives In such public places the
task seems almost impossible"
Thus spoke Mr.. V. X Chestnut, assistant
bontanist in the Department OF Agricul-
ture, this morning as he turned over the
pages of portfolio filed with the leaves of
and the department has published a bulle-
tin on Thirty Poisonous Plants OF the
United States" and his interest In poison
ivy is consequently very keen.
our statistics on the injury done by
poison ivy and other poisonous plants in
the course Of year are not at all COM
plete,' he went on. But We know that
many. many people are injured and that a
number are killed every year merely by
coming in contact with certain poison
growths. Various species of water hemlock
kill a number of children every year. a
species of this plant is estimated to Kill an
nually 100 cattle i'm oregon alone. The loco
weed has done so much damage in Colorado
that the state has paid out nearly S2oooo0
in bounties to eXterminate the pest
Poison Ivy in the District.
But the chief trouble of this kind in the
District is. of course. poison ivy. No sta
tistics exist to the number of persons in
jured. but il certainly runs into the thou
sands every year.
You would not wonder at this IL you
knew how widely it grows about Washing
ton. IL is found eVerywhere-in open brush
in ravines. on the borders of woods, along
roadsides. in cultivated fields and In the
parks, where of all other places Il should
last be permitted to grow. Through lgnor-
ance or carelessness and at the imminent
risk of causing great bodily discomfort to
many persons, the vine is even planted
about suburban and city residences for or
nament.
Some persons are nearly immune from
its poison. But the greater number are not,
and the immunes can spread the poison to
all their acqualntances with whom they
shake hands the day they come in contact
with the vine.
Is Easily Communicated.
How easily this poison is communicated
is not at all generally understood. The
poison itself is a non-volatile oil which is
found in all parts of the plant. even in the
touches any part of the plant. leaves. fruit.
branches, roots or seasoned wood can carry
away In the pores of his skin the seed for
endless trouble and pain.
Stories are told of persons who con-
tracted the poison from merely driving past
a growing vine. | rather doubt the au-
thenticity of such innoculation. but l know
that dust which settles on the leaves and
is then blown OF is impregnated with the
oil and consequently poisonous. A case is
on record of carpenter who sawed a
strip of wood from the main branch of
the vine. He handled the dried wood with
apparent impunity. but soon afterward his
forearms broke out in a most malignant
form. having been poisoned from the
dust. A golf ball which rolls around among
poison ivy leaves will convey the oil TO the
hands of the players Of course.
when the oil once gets in the pores of
the skin, particularly on the hands, II Is
likely to be spread to other parts of the
body. Some man, a servant. was once
called upon to battle little child. and not
withstanding the soap and water used in
the childs bath, rubbed the poison into all
parts Of the youngsters body. A mere
shake of the hand will carry the poison to
another person. Many man has rubbed
his eyes and nose with his hands. uncon-
scious that he had touched poison ivy. and
has afterward suffered several days from
the most excruciating itch all over his
face.
Readily Distinguished.
other vines. even from Virginia creeper.
which it is supposed to resemble closely.
1t is a climbing or trailing shrub. although
1t sometimes grows upright. with variable
leaves and greenish flowers which appear
I'm May and June. Its leaves grow i'm clus-
tiers of three always, while Virginia creeper
has a ffve-foliage form The leaves vary in
size from perhaps two inches to five or six
in length but they all have a Characters
tic gloss or varnish, which separates them
from other growths OF the KIND. When
YOU find vine which has brown and green
leaves growing three in a cluster and shin
ing like glass it is time to look out.
I'VE have no reason to think the vine is
any more widely prevalent this year than I'm
former years. The number Of sufferers
seems to be larger than usual, but that may
be due to the more active outdoor life
which has come with golf. horseback riding
and other fashionable sports.
This latter consideration makes II al
most imperative that steps should be taken
at once to clear public places Of the weed.
Something of an effort to this end has been
made in Evanston. ILL.,. with degree OF
success. We in Washington ought to be
able at least to clear 1t out Of our parks
and golf courses. The immunes should be
employed to remove the plants from dwell
iIgs and Fairgrounds. Much of this work
would be purely mechanical. such as root
ing up the plants by main force. When the
refuse is burned pains should be taken.
however. not to inhale the smoke or to
handle the wood any more than Is neces-
sary. The workmen employed should wear
special suits of old clothes for this work
ard should wash their hands several times
a day with an alcoholic solution OF sugar
of lead In this connection IL should be
that towels may be a means
of conveying the OIL
A Cheap and Effective Remedy.
Numerous experiments have been con-
Quoted to find the best remedy for ivy pol
soning. / once applied oil to four places
on the left wrist and guarded them care
fully to prevent spreading. At the end of
an hour one of the spots was thoroughly
washed by successive applications OF alco-
hol; tn three hours the oil from a second
was washed of in the same manner. and
the others were cleansed three hours later.
There was little or no effect on the first,
that on the second was more marked. but
did not equal that produced on the last two.