" But with such a list of toxic plants as our flora
can show there is always danger from certain species whose properties are
quite unknown to ordinary mortals. Are they equally unknown to the
herbalists and that mysterious trade-union of country-women and collectors
of herbs by the roadside who deal with them? Probably the trade in poisons
not used for serious purposes, but for what used in some parts of England
to be called "giving a dose," a punishment for unfaithful, unkind, or
drunken husbands, still exists as it did some forty years ago. The
collectors of medicinal plants cut from the roadside and rubbish heaps,
plants whose "operations" for good are quite well known, and have been
handed down by tradition for centuries, cannot be absolutely ignorant of
the other side of the picture, the toxic properties which other plants, or
sometimes even the same plants, contain. Foxglove, for instance, from
which _digitalis_ used as a medicine is extracted, is a good example
of these kill-or-cure plants. Every portion of the plant is poisonous,
leaves, flowers, stalks, and berries. It affects the heart, and though
useful in cases in which the pulsations are abnormal, its symptoms when
taken by persons in ordinary health are those of heart failure.
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