THE PHILIPPINE 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 
VoL. 20 JUNE, 1922 No. 6 
PHARMACODYNAMICS OF DATURA ALBA 
By FAusTINO GARCIA and ROMULO GUEVARA 
Of the Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine and Surgery, 
University of the Philippines 
ONE PLATE 
Datura alba Nees, or talampunay, is common throughout the 
Philippines. In and about Manila Datwra alba Nees is the only 
species encountered. According to Merrill(9) it is not indig- 
enous but of accidental introduction. The plant is widely dis- 
tributed in tropical Asia, Africa, America, and Malaysia. In 
China and India it is employed as a medicine and as a poison. 
The Chinese frequently give the flowers mixed with food or in 
tea. Ford and Crow(6) and Mukopadya(10) reported several 
cases of Datura poisoning in China and India, respectively. In 
the Philippines, Bowman(2) reported a case of severe Datura 
alba poisoning in a chemist of the Bureau of Science. The 
chemist, while conducting experiments with Datura alba, ate 
approximately a gram of the seeds. One hour later, the follow- 
ing symptoms were observed: Dryness of the mouth, mydriasis, 
rapid pulse, flushed face, restlessness, laughing most of the 
time, scanning speech, and inability to form connected sen- 
tences. Later he became drowsy, fell asleep, and did not 
awaken until the next morning. On awakening, he seemed to 
be quite well, except for slight general weakness, mydriasis. 
and trouble in completing his sentences. Tavera’s ( - descrip- 
tion of the symptoms of Datura poisoning is practically iden- 
tical. We have carried out the experiments detailed below in 
order to study the effects of the drug on animals, as well as its 
manner of action. 
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