Green hellebore and monkshood are
also classed in the list of the ranker poisons. Deadly nightshade is
rather a rare plant, yet it may be seen often enough on the sides of woods
where there are old walls. It is poisonous throughout. The flowers are
large, single, purple bells, and the berries black and shiny like a black
cherry. It is said of this dangerous plant that the roots are computed to
be five times more poisonous than the berries, that human beings have been
found more susceptible to it than animals, and carnivorous animals more so
than others. Children suffer more in proportion to the quantity of poison
taken than do adults. But cases of nightshade poisoning are very rare,
though two were reported some three years ago. Possibly the berries often
fail to ripen, and so are less attractive in appearance. The poisonous
hemlocks are two, one of which, the common hemlock, is said to have been
the plant from which the Athenians prepared their poison for executing
citizens condemned to death; and the other, the water-hemlock, or cowbane,
is particularly deadly when eaten by cattle, to which it is fatal in a
very few hours. Another plant, used for preparing poison in India, which
produces a drug used by some tribes of Thugs for procuring the death of
their victims, datura or stramonium, has now found a place amongst our
wild flowers.
Pages:
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168