The Bath bike: son of Bath chair.

Four Dutch adults (twomen andtwowomen, age range 28-40) presented with vomiting and sweating. Two had suffered generalised' convulsions before admission. Symptoms appeared within two hours after they had eaten soup made from a wild plant that they believed to be celery. On admission none of the four had abnormal neurological signs apart from dilated pupils. All survived, requiring only supportive treatment. Positive botanical identification of the root confirmed that it was Hemnlock Water Dropwort (Oenanthe crocata), the most toxic' of the native species. Accidental hemilock poison-' ing, though rare, still occurs. Fourteen cases have been recorded 'in Britain' this century, nine of which were fatal. The-patients described here almost-certainly survived because they boile;d the hemlock tubers' and shoots, partially inactivating oenanthe toxin, the actiye principle.-P FITZGERALD, N MOSS, S O'MAHONY, M J WHELTON, Regional Hospital, Cork, Eire. Hemlock Water Dr pwort. ;.Wild Celery. [Copyright of the trustees of he .a .