On Poisonous Plants

In this matter, poisonous plants are identified as being pale and narcotic, scattering a foul odor—and this so certainly, undoubtedly, safely, and suddenly, that even a duller nose can by no means be deceived. Livestock, dormice, and wild beasts especially, and even birds, know how to avoid through their sense of smell everything that smells unpleasant, and they safely choose edible things useful to themselves. Therefore, the placement of the nose above the mouth in all animals is natural, and the excellent organ of smell can undoubtedly and safely scent out everything smelly, harmful, and poisonous, and by natural instinct very quickly compel every living thing to flee from it. The power of strong-smelling things is sometimes so great (at least when the nose is cleared) that we have seen fainting original: "syncopen" and swooning original: "lipothymiam" arise from it. Therefore, by their strong sense of smell, animals—whose noses are always found to be moist—solicitously explore necessary nourishment before they commit them further to the sense of taste to be examined.

Secondly: The tongue, the organ of taste, covered everywhere with nerve papillae small fleshy bumps on the tongue, is no less easily, suddenly, and safely able to detect—without many roundabout ways—everything that abounds in any acrimony sharpness or bitterness and harmful or corroding quality, or whatever occurs that is nauseating and unpleasant to the nerves. This sense of taste can therefore be considered more perfect than the sense of smell, since it is able to detect not only sharp things but also narcotics, and strongly compels one to reject and avoid them. Therefore, animals—both the tame and especially the wild—are taught by this sense from their tender years to discern harmful plants from useful ones, and poisonous from edible ones, and to flee from them throughout their whole lives. Thus, livestock leave the sharp Buttercups original: "Ranunculos" untouched in the meadows; they know how to avoid the slimy Water Hemlock original: "Cicutam" by the streams, and they flee from six hundred other poisonous herbs worse than a snake. For if a calf has even once tasted the sharp wood anemone, and felt the griping pains original: "tormina" resulting from it...