POISONOUS THINGS | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, Cal. · Jul 18, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 29.

POISONOUS THINGS.

"The berries of the yew have killed many persons," says the Scientific American, "and it is pretty well known nowadays that it is not safe to eat many peach pits or cherry kernels at once.

"Among the garden plants commonly in vogue which possess a poisonous nature, botanists mention the jonquil, white hyacinth, and snowdrop, the narcissus being also particularly deadly—so much so, indeed, that to chew a small scrap of one of the bulbs may result fatally, while the juice of the leaves is an emetic. There is enough opium in red poppies to do mischief, and the autumn crocus, if the blossoms are chewed, causes illness. The lobelias are all dangerous, their juice, if swallowed, producing giddiness, with pains in the head. Lady's-slipper poisons in the same way as does poison ivy. The bulbs seem to be the most harmful. Lilies-of-the-valley are also as poisonous. The leaves and flowers of the oleander are deadly, and the bark of the catalpa-tree is very mischievous. The water dropwort, when not in flower, resembles celery, and is virulent."