172 A COMPENDIUM OF 
tained from the root. The flowers, inclining to 
a red color, bell-shaped (campanulate), quite 
large, and arise on solitary peduncles. Within 
the corolla are five stamens and one pistil. The 
belladonna leaves, like the root, are diuretic and 
narcotic, and capable of dilating the pupil of the 
eye, and were used centuries ago by the ladies 
of Italy to give their eyes brilliancy and beauty. 
At the same time, it impairs the vision while the 
effects last. The dose of the leaves and their 
respective preparationsis about the same as the 
root. The officinal preparations of the leaves 
are the alcholic extract and the tincture, the dose 
of the extract is from % to % grain, of the tine- 
ture 5 to1o drops. The smallest quantity will 
often produce an alarmin g suffusion of the skin. 
I have seen 4, part of a.drop affect a child of 6 
or 8 years ot age, producin g quite an alarming 
suffusion of the skin; hence its use asa prophy- 
lactic in scarlet fever. Name derived from the 
Italian dc//a beautiful, donna a lady. 
Boldus, Boldo, Boldoa .Fragrans.—Natural 
order Monimiacez, as some botanists consider 
the Peumus Boldus. This tall evergreen tree 
was first described by Messrs. Bentley and Tri- 
men, in their work upon medicinal plants. The 
description is as follows: ‘The boldo tree is a 
tall evergreen, native of Chili, with broadly oval 
or oval-oblong green leaves, very obtuse at the 
apex, glossy above, and hairy beneath; when — 
ty, of a reddish-brown co] or, havinga fragrant _ 
odor and an aromatic, pungent taste; flowers of 
a greenish-yellow color, growing in cymes, the 
pistilate ones bearing three yellow drupes, about 
the size of a pea.” The bark of the boldo is 
