Semi-weekly herald., 1909-08-23
SCIENCE DISCOVERS A NEW DAN.
GER IN THE AROMA OF
BEAUTIFUL BLOSSOMS.

uleI air ocleHllStS declare tnat pol
son turks in the aroma of the lilac,
the lily and the rose. The condemna-
tion is sweeping. Even the violet,
cmblemof innocence and timid and
shrinking flower beloved of the poets,
is included in the list of flowers that
should be avoided as one avoids any
unmasked evil
The warning comes from Paris and
has caused sensation in the Old
World. DR.. Cabanes, a famous French
scientist, has circulated treatise on
the subject among the French physi-
clans and articles are being prepared
In every capital discussing the sub
ject from the profundity of various
learned minds.
Perhaps the most remarkable dis
| covery resulting from the exhaustive
investigation into the effect of the
aroma of flowers upon the human
| family is that violets art decidedly
harmful to the voice. The French sci
entists particularly warn vocalists not
to inhale the odor of violets In
stances are cited of eminent song
stresses being seized with mystic
| rious throat affection just on the eve
| OF their appearance in the limelight
This strange seizure has actually pre-
vented the vocalists from fulfilling an
| engagement.
In the cases that have been under
| investigation the cause of the sudden
seizure was a mystery to all concern
ed. No one could tell what had in
| eapacitated the singer. 1t entered no
| ones head to suspect the innocent
looking bunch of violets that adorned
| the corsage of the prima donna and
| into which she every now and then
pressed her shapely nose. Now comes
DR.. Cabanes with the positive asser-
ton that the songboards hoarseness
| was due to the aroma of the blossoms
| that she drew consolation from during
her time of perplexity.
With professional singers to aid him
in his researches DR.. Cabanes has been
experimenting for several years and
he has proven beyond question that
| the violet, the hyacinth, the lily and
the tuberose have a most harmful eff
feet on the voice Now flowers of all
kinds are being tabooed by opera sing
ers and stage S ars and e-SSj5ief ana
| the lily are not permitted to come
within arms length of the songbirds
al any time.
One physician has come forward
with the assertion that he has found
that the odor of roses has caused a
wild form of sleeping sickness and
another declares that he has traced
several cases of nausea, which at first
| it was thought had been caused by
unwise Indulgence at the table, direct
ly TO the presence of masses of roses
or the festive board. Inhaling the 4
fragrance of flowers during a pro
longed sitting at the banquet table had
caused several of the diners to send
for the doctor later. The obvious ex-
cuse for dining too freely was accept
ed by every one without question
Ihe roses escaped supicion until the
physician traced the trouble to these
pretty blossoms.
AT another gathering there was an
epidemic of headaches. Headaches
after social affair are not rare com
plants, but on this occasion the ply
sician who administered to the all.
ments OF those who thought they had
merely morning after indisposition
looked deeper than the average man
would and discovered that the table b,
at which the sufferers had sat had
been decorated with imported Japa-
nese plants that are well known by
orientals to act on the brain. and
these undoubtedly had caused the cpl
demie of headaches following the din. /,
ner. A close examination of one of
the japanese plants. the mirbilis.
showed that when moths fluttered
within reach of the odor of this flower
they fell dead. The effect on human
beings was not. of course, so great.
but 1t was sufficiently injurious to
cause unpleasantness.
Attention has been called TO the
case recorded by Magendie, author of
important works on the nervous sys-
TEN. A lady was found dead in her
bed, and the autopsy showed that
death had been caused by poison. The
nature of the poison was puzzle to
the physicians until one more astute
than the others pointed out that a
large bouquet of lilies had reposed on
the mantel piece of the small room In =.
which the woman died. 1t was prov
ell that the odor of these lilies, inhaled
all night in close and poorly venti.
lated room, had been the direct cause
o. death. :
Numerous instances have come to
the attention d the investigators OF
illness caused by the heavy odors of
lilac and hyacinth, and persons living
Ia rooms in which penetrates the DOW.
erful aroma of the datura arborescens.
flower common in southern Europe.
xxrftI, al