It is obvious that there is an overlapping of pharmacology and toxicology on the one hand and of dietetics on the other, especially with regard to plants. Tannic acid and certain volatile oils and pigments of more or less positive medicinal action are found, at least in some parts, of nearly all plants used as foods.

The principal vegetable food stuffs containing medicinal or toxic substances are as follows:

Abies nigra, black spruce, is powerfully antiscorbutic. Jaques Cartier used this at the suggestion of the Indians and pronounced it far superior to any antiscorbutic then known to European physicians. However, almost any fresh vegetable or fruit, or decoction of leaves, is more or less antiscorbutic.

Aeschylus hippocastaneum, horse chestnut, is a possible source of starch, if freed from the bitter medicinal principle.

The peppers, spices, etc., are commonly used as food adjuvants for the sake of their flavor and the action of the carminative principles. Nutmeg is especially important as, in sufficient dose, it is a narcotic poison. One nutmeg may kill a child.

Chamomile, peppermint, catnip, sage, savory, saffron, bone-set, etc., are often used in the form of teas and while having no very powerful medicinal action nor nutritive value, they might be employed as substitutes for tea and coffee. They are also sudorific and more or less sedative to the nervous system.

Tea, coffee, cacao, mate, kola, etc., are discussed elsewhere, being more or less commonly used as food adjuvants for the sake of a very definite physiologic action of the contained purins. Along with this action, is the inevitable effect of tannin.

Crataegus. Various species of thorn apple are occasionally eaten as fruit. Aside from the astringent and volatile principles, exaggerated claims are made by certain practitioners for the value of tinctures as heart tonics.

Coca erythroxylon. While cocaine and allied alkaloids are entirely distinct from caffeine, the general use of this plant is as a nerve sedative and stimulant, or as a wine, somewhat analogous to the use of tea, coffee, etc. The same may be said of betel nut, and tobacco.

Elderberries are often used like huckleberries or as an adulterant for the latter. Very little of the active principle is found in the berries. The red elderberries are said to be poisonous.

Sarsaparilla is commonly used as a flavor for soft drinks. The medicinal and toxic action of any part of the plant is weak.

Secale cornutum, ergot of rye, ustilago maidis, smut or ergot of corn, and similar parasitic plants, are not themselves used as food but frequently contaminate cereals, giving rise to well known angiospastic conditions, even terminating in gangrene.

Lathyrism is a similar condition, due to the use of the chickpea vetch. Whether the toxin is a natural constituent of the vetch or due to a parasite is not known.

Pellagra is a peculiar state of physical and nervous depression, nearly confined to the south of Europe and commonly ascribed to the use of green corn made into polenta. It is usually attributed to deprivation of salt but, if so, its apparent relation to corn is unexplained. On the other hand, if due to the corn itself, it would be expected in America, where corn is indigenous and more largely used. It seems probable that some local parasite of the corn is the real etiologic factor. Searcey has recently reported its occurrence in this country. the cereals used being contaminated with fungi and bacteria.

Beriberi is ascribed by some to the excessive use of rice, and some observations have pointed to certain kinds of rice or to rice that has been spoiled by moulds. Others have considered it the opposite of scurvy, due to lack of salines and meats and an excess of vegetable foods generally. The evidence is very contradictory. It may be that the rice is an essential conveyor of some parasite or that it may be merely accidentally a means of transmitting infection, or even that all apparent relation to food is fallacious.

Asparagus contains an active principle, asparagin, which is a stimulant diuretic, and to some degree, an arterial stimulant and nerve sedative. While contained mainly in the root, it is present to some extent in the stalk. The latter has, therefore, been recommended as an oxytocic and emmenagogue, as a nerve sedative, as a diuretic in dropsy of various forms and as an aphrodisiac. It has been considered contraindicated in certain inflammations of the urinary passages, especially of gonorrhoeal origin. None of these indications and contraindications are of much importance. Asparagin is eliminated in the urine as methyl mercap-tan, which has a peculiar disgusting odor. This elimination is noticeable from about one hour up to six or ten hours after ingestion. Aside from the alarm or disagreeable effects due to the ingestion of this article, it may have some value in an occasional medico-legal case. For instance, the presence in the bladder of odorous urine, may decide the time of death, approximately, or may, in connection with other circumstances, help to establish an alibi, throw light on the identification of a corpse or unconscious person, etc. As a combined test of gastric motility, absorption and renal elimination, the time of appearance and disappearance of the characteristic odor is probably as good as any of the usual color and chemic tests.

Lettuce contains a small amount of hyoscyamine and other active principles which act as a mild hypnotic.

Litmus is found in the red cabbage and many of the pigments of fruits and vegetables, as the beet, red apple skin, etc., act as indicators for acids and alkalies. While of no known therapeutic or toxic importance, these color reactions may interfere with the examination of stomach contents, may serve as well as purely artificial separators of the faeces of different days, and may lead to false diagnosis of blood, bile and other colored abnormal ingredients of the faeces.