Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 March 1881 — Poison Ivy. [ARTICLE]

Poison Ivy.

The poison ivy is very poisonous to some persons; they are poisoned by not touching it at all, or even, it is said, passing near it, while others may handle it without being afflicted by the contact in the least The poisonous property of the plant is owing to a volatile acid; its effect is an acute inflammation of the skin, often accompanied by a great swelling. The effect* remain sometime* for months before the poison is completely removed from the system. The usual remedies are cooling purgatives and an external application of lead water. An application of a solution of hope has been known to prove an effectual rmnefly when all other remedies foiled. The plant has sometimes been mistaken for Virginia creeper, to which it bean no slight resemblance. The distinguishing feature is that the poison ivy has three leaflet*, whereas the Virginia creeper’s leave* have five leaflet*. Persons have been poisoned by mistaking the poisonous for th* harmless species. This plant is of th* genu* rtee or sumac. There is also an upright plant that is poisonous. No representations have been made a United States Minister Lowell reive to the arrest of Boy ton in Ireland*