POISONOUS CUSTARD.

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is, on account of its being used in very smallquantities, quite harmless. To refute thisassertion,numerous instances might be cited;and, among them, a recent one, in which fourchildren suffered most severely from par-taking of custard flavoured with the leavesof this poisonous plant.

“ Several children at a boarding-school,in the vicinity of Richmond, having par-taken of some custard flavoured with theleaves of the cherry laurel, as is frequentlypractised by cooks, four of the poor inno-cents were taken severely ill in consequence.Two of them, a girl six years of age, and aboy of five years old, fell into a profoundsleep, out of which they could not be roused.”

“ Notwithstanding the various medicalexertions used, the boy remained in a stupor