Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-06-10
BUTTERCUPS AND LAUREL.
Not Poisonous in Handling, but Keep Blossoms Out of Mouth.

Keep Blossoms Out of Mouth.
 A few weeks ago it was stated in
 the public prints, on the authority Of
 a Philadelphia scientist, that the but
 tercup is dangerous plant" and should not be picked or touched. AL
 though "Pinafore" has not had a re-
 vival, and Little Buttercup" is a stranger to the generations more re-
 cent years, there has been good deal
 of protest against this \arraignment. The approach of "Children's Sunday"
 has set the Interrogation points up,
 and a correspondent voices the in
 quiries of others by asking:
 ''Is the buttercup poisonous! Will
 it be dangerous to pick it for use in
 decorations for Children's Day, the
 same as usual? Also, Is the laurel
 poisonous, as some say?
 This question was referred to Dr
 W. H. Morse, who is the author of
 New Therapeutic Agents,' text
 book on the new materia medica, used in the medical colleges.
 "No," was the doctors answer "Buttercups poisonous? No. Laurel poisonous? No. I say, No,' he con tinued, yet in another sense, I might say, Yes. To handle the flowers for decoration carries no harm. Taken into the stomach, however-with questionable ideas of decoration--they are both poisonous. The buttercup is botanically the ranuneulus. The plant referred to is the ranunculus bulbosus, just now adorning the fields with its rich yellow flowers. There are several plants of the genus-r. acris, r. repens, r. sceleratus, r. fam mula, and so on-all called buttercups and also all called crowfoot. The florists have cultivated variety, r. asiaticus. All can be handled with out harm. All, however, are pervad- cd by a volatile acrid principle, so that the plant or Its flowers being chewed, excites a violent Irritation of the mouth and throat, inflaming and even excoriating the tongue. If the juice passes into the stomach 1t ex- cites a burning sensation, and be- comes an acrid poison. Fatal effects may be had in this way, but these are not alone due to the acridity. Besides the acid principle there Is another of a narcotic eharacter called anemonin. Anemonin has the property of dinIin- ishing both the pulse and respiration. Add these properties to the acridity. and it hardly need be said that the buttercup is out of place in the hu- man stomach. Keep 1t out of the mouth and it will do no harm. Be- fore the Spanish fly came into vogue it was used to some extent as a vesi- cant, but it never gained much favor owing to the uncertainty of it's action. The macerated leaves applied to some skins have no effect, while on others they cause inflammation, and on still others troublesome blisters, that may end in obstinate ulcers. This same of action is attributed to the pollen of the flower, which on some skins may set up an eruption like roseola.
 AS for the laurel, the state flower. What? Omit it from the decorations: l guess not. Trouble Is We do not find enough of it. But-as I said about the buttercup-keep it out of the mouth The leaves have poison Ous acrid and narcotic properties. II is said to prove fatal to sheep If they eat the leaves. but deer. goats and partridges eat them with impunity. Gases have been known where eating a partridge in the crop of which laurel leaves were found, occasioned poison ing The leaves, taken into the stomach. carry chemical principle which causes the most acute pain, and although tilis may be relieved by an emetic or the stomach pump. tine resulting inflammation Is very per sistent.
 Gather the buttercups and laurel with the daisies and roses for decora- tiOns. but caution the childrcn tn keep Ipoth out of their mouths. the same as reranlums and some other flowers, which look fine when growing or in a llouquei. but which. in t1s organs of digestion. paint inc walls 8 shade of rpsl that is noted for it's pcrsistency if not indelibility. ty.'--Hartford Times.