456 
stem frutescent ; leaves ovate and cordate, quite entire and an- 
gular ; peduncles many-flowered, umbellate, drooping ; limb of 
corolla 5-cleft. 5. S. Native of Peru, on hills about Lima. 
A. revolita, Dietr. lex. 1. p. 422. Stem glabrous; branches 
dichotomous, downy. Leaves solitary or twin, downy. Pedun- 
cles short, axillary, downy, bearing 8-12 pedicellate flowers. 
Corolla yellow, melliferous ; tube cylindrical, purple; limb 
reflexed, ciliated. Stamens inclosed. Style exserted. Berry 
whitish, globose, size of a pea. 
Umbellate-flowered Deadly Nightshade. Shrub 4 feet. 
5 A. prruora (Ruiz. et Pav. fl. per. 2. p. 44. t. 181. f. b.) 
stem frutescent; leaves ovate, acute, quite entire: upper ones 
twin; peduncles 2-flowered, drooping?; limb of corolla 5- 
cleft. p.S. Native of Peru, in humid places. Shrub rather 
downy. “Branches pendulous, rather angular. Corolla subur- 
ceolate, villous, striated; tube greenish, white, or purplish ; 
` limb greenish-yellow, erect. Anthers and stigma blue. Berry 
white, size of that of Belladónna, a little compressed. 
Two-flowered Deadly Nightshade. Sbrub 2 feet. 
6 A. sicotor (Ruiz. et Pav. fl. per. 2. p. 45.) stem frutes- 
cent; leaves ovate, angular, glabrous ; peduncles 3-4-flowered ; 
limb of corolla 5-cleft. h. S Native of Peru, in shady 
places. Branches angular. Leaves acute, usually twin. Co- 
rolla tubular, reddish green ; limb green. 
Two-coloured-flowered Deadly Nightshade. 
feet. 
7 A. rnUTE'scENs (Lin. spec. p. 260. Lam. ill. t. 114. f. 2.) 
stem shrubby; leaves ovate-cordate, obtuse, downy ; flowers 
1-3 together, pedicellate, axillary ; limb of corolla 5-cleft to 
the middle, reflexed. h. G. Native of Spain.  Physàlis 
suberósa, Cav. icon. 2. p. 1. t. 102.  Physàlis frutéscens, D. C. 
fi. fr. 3. p. 611. Belladónna frutéscens, rotundifolia, Hispán- 
ica, Tourn. inst. p. 77.—Barrel. icon. p. 1173. Habit of Phy- 
salis somnifera, but differs from it in the calyx being 5-cleft, and 
in the flowers being 6 times larger, and campanulate, and in the 
leaves being smaller, and in the berry not being inclosed in the 
calyx. Leaves solitary. Corollas yellowish, divided into 5 
reflexed segments beyond the middle. Anthers not exserted, 
ex Lam. Perhaps this will form a new genus. 
Frutescent Deadly Nightshade, FI. June, July. Clt. 1787. 
Shrub 4 to 6 feet. 
8 A. AnIsTA'TA (Poir. suppl. 1. p. 609.) stem frutescent ; 
leaves oblong, entire, almost glabrous; branches, petioles, and 
peduncles woolly ; peduncles solitary, 1-flowered, hardly as long 
as the petioles; limb of corolla 5-cleft. 5. G. Native of the 
Canaries.  Physilis aristata, Ait. hort. Kew. 1. p. 244. Willd, 
spec. l. p. 1020. Branches compressed, somewhat angular. 
Leaves solitary, or twin, ovate-lanceolate, acuminated. Corolla 
yellow, campanulate, with lanceolate, acuminated segments. 
Calycine teeth or segments awned. Berry globose. 
Anned-calyxed Deadly Nightshade. FI, June, Aug. 
1779. Shrub 8 to 4 feet. 
Shrub 6 to 7 
Cit. 
§ 3. BELLADŐNNA. 
ceous. 
9 A. BzrrapóxxA (Lin. spec. 260.) herbaceous, erect ; 
leaves twin, ovate, quite entire, glabrous; peduncles solitary, 
l-flowered. 2%. H. Native throughout Europe, frequent in 
woods; with us it is not very common. Smith, engl. bot. t. 
592. Oed. fi. dan. t. 758. Curt. fl. loud. fasc. 5. t. 16. Jacq. 
fl. austr. 4. t. 309. Mill. icon. t. 62.— Plenck. icon. 125.—Bull. 
herb. t. 29.—Heyne, getr. darst. t. 43.  Belladónna baccifera 
Lam. fl. fr. 2. p. 255. Bell. trichótoma, Scop. carn. ed. ad. 
no. 255. Solanum melanocérasus, Bauh. pin. p. 166. Bella- 
dónna, majoribus foliis et floribus, Tourn. inst. p. 77.—Blackw 
t 564.—Sabb, hort. 1. t. 3. Solanum lethàle, Clus. hist. 2. : 
86. Mor. hist. sect. 18. t. 3. f. 4. Root thick, branching. 
Limb of corolla 5-cleft. Stems herba- 
SOLANACEZ. 
X. Arropa. 
Stem trichotomous, tinged with purple; the branches dichoto- 
mous. Leaves rather large, soft to the touch, a little hairy on 
both surfaces. Corolla large, lurid, dusky purple within, and 
streaked, with a yellow variegated base, but greenish-red, or 
dusky brown outside. Berry size of a cherry, black when ripe, 
full of purple juice. The plant inhabits church-yards, dung- 
hills, and gloomy lanes, and uncultivated places in England, but 
in other countries it is said to be common in woods and hedges. 
When this plant was found to differ from the genus Solanum, 
it assumed the Italian name of Belladénna, which was given to 
it, according to some, because it was used as a wash among the 
ladies, to take off pimples from the skin; or, according to 
others, from its quality of representing phantasms or beautiful 
women to the disturbed imagination. The qualities of the plant 
are malignant, and it is extremely poisonous in all its parts. 
Numerous instances have occurred of the berries proving fatal, 
after causing convulsions and dilirium. Buchanan relates the 
destruction of the army of Sweno, the Dane, when he invaded 
Scotland, by the berries of this plant, which were mixed with 
the drink which the Scots, according to truce, were to supply 
the Danes. The Danes became so inebriated that the Scot- 
tish army fell on them in their sleep, and slew such numbers, 
that there were scarcely men enough left to carry off their 
king. The case related by Ray is remarkable, that is, the 
dilatation of the pupil of the eye caused by a part of the leaf 
applied outwardly, and which took place successively on the 
repetition of the experiment. With respect to the berries, they 
have been frequently known to have been fatal to children, and 
also to adults, if a considerable number be eaten. The symp- 
toms are said to occur in half an hour after taking them, and 
consist of vertigo, great thirst, dilirium, swelling, and redness of 
the face, difficulty of breathing. The general sensibility of the 
system is said to be weakened to a great degree, so that the 
stomach will bear a far larger dose of emetic medicines than it 
would otherwise have done. Vinegar liberally drank has been 
found efficacious in obviating the effects of the poison. A 
remarkable instance of the malignant powers of the young 
shoots occurred in the presence of Professor Martyn, in the 
botanie garden at Cambridge, which fully proved that they are 
not less deleterious than the berries. 
The leaves are said to have been sometimes successfully 
applied to cancerous tumours. Belladonna, notwithstanding its. 
deleterious nature, is not totally excluded from medicine ; some 
diseases, and those of the most malignant kind, have been 
known to yield to the anodyne and anti-spasmodic virtues of 
the plant when administered with caution. Bergius relates, 
that he has often given relief in epilepsy and convulsions, by 
the internal use of the powder of the dried leaves, taken in 
doses of from one to four grains: and Gesner, in his medical 
epistles, recommends the expressed juice of the berries boiled 
with sugar into a syrup, and given by a teaspoonful at a time, as 
excellent in every case requiring an opiate, and as peculiarly 
efficacious in the cure of dysentery. 
Belladonna has been best analyzed by Mr. Brandes, an apo- 
thecary at Salz Uffelm, who has discovered a new alkaloid upon 
which its narcotic virtues depend, which he calls atropia. He 
urges the necessity of caution in the examination of atropia and 
its salts. Even the vapour of their solutions causes dilatations 
and paralyses of the pupil; and during the whole time of the 
experiments Mr. Brandes experienced violent headach, vertigo, 
pain of back, and nausea, so that he could scarcely continue 
them. On tasting a small quantity of sulphate of atropia, 
which was rather salt than bitter, he had extreme confusion of 
head, trembling in all his limbs, pulse weak, and at last retch- 
ng: But the most severe of these symptoms abated in half an 
our. 
Medical use of Deadly Nightshade.—Under proper manage- 
