PENTANDRIA. MONOGYNTe ~ 13h 
persistent. Capsule 4-celled, 4-valxéd; smooth 
or spiny. Se — . 
Herbaceous and annual plants; extremely foetid and nar- 
cotic, leaves by pairs; flowers solitary, lateral, and dicho- 
tomal, opening towards sun-set. Be As 
Species. 1. D. stramonium. Overrunning wastes and 
gardens from the coast of the Atlantic to the sources of 
the Missouri; but originating probably in South America, 
_or in Asia, it is now also naturalized throughout Europe. 
Parkinson in his Paradisius, p. 362, says, that the Datu- 
ras (including the present species) were brought from 
» Turkey and’ Egypt, and that Garcias and Christopher 
ee Acosta with others, affirmed that they grew in the East 
Indies. From Boerhaave, the physician and botanist, we 
also learn that the Datura Stramonium is indigenous to 
the East Indies, and calied Datura in the vernacular lan- 
guage of the country, he also adds, that acquainted with 
its narcotic properties, the natives sometimes employed 
it as a poison, &c. the same account in part has been re- 
fently corroborated by the testimony of Colonel Hard- _ 
wicke, an interesting botanical traveller. Has then the 
Datura Stramonium been introduced into America from 
India, and by what means? * | oe 2 Ee 
Of Datura Persoon enumerates 7 species, forming a- 
distinct genus of the D. arborea under the name of Brug- 
mansia; of these 7, 1 is indigenous to China, 1 to Egypt, 
the fatid D. Metelto Asia, Africa and the Canary islands, 
the D. levis to Abyssinia, and the D. ceratacayvla to the. 
isle of Cuba, the real habitat of the D. iaiula and the D. 
Straménium, can now no longer be ascertained. : 
The D. Stramonium, lately introduced into medical _ 
practice, appears to operate specifically upon the optic 
‘nerve when taken-in any considerable quanti y, producing — 
a remarkable dilatation of the pupil of the eye, anc whea 
taken inadvertently in dangerous Sepiter, it has been 
er 
4 
known to induce temporary blind ness. 
201. HYOSCYAMUS. L. (Henbane.) 2 
 Calia tubular, border 5-cleft. Corolla funnel- 
form, 5-lobed, irregular, lobes obtuse. Stami- 
na saw Stigma capitate. Capsule oper- — 
culate, 2-celled, — re =e 
~ Herbaceous; floral leaves.often by pairs; flowers solie 
tary, axillary, often inclined to one side of thestem 
Species. 1. H.niger. Naturatized in Cat 
Ret: 
R 
a 
