HEKBA STRAMONll. t:,0 



intiort'scence, — aiKl that the latter (dried) yielded 0-4-4 to 048 per cmt. 

 of atropine. 



Larger percentages arc recorded by DragendorfiV as much us Odo 

 ov cent, of atropine as obtained from the dried unripe fruits, 83 

 rom the dried leaves, 21 from the root. The estiuiation was per- 

 formed in nearly the same way as that followed by Lefort. 



Belladonna herb yields As2mragln,yvhic]i according to Biltz (bS.sn) 

 crybtallizcs out of the extract after long keeping. The crystals found 

 in the extract by Atttitld (1SG2) w^ere however chloride and nitrate 

 of potassium. The sarnu chumist obtained by dialysis of the juice 

 of belladonna, nitrate of potassium, and square prisms of a salt of 

 magnesium containing some organic acid; the juice likewise affords 

 ammonia.^ The dried leaves yielded us 14-5 per cent, of a-sli con- 

 sistmg mainly of calcareous and alkaline carbonates. 



Uses — The fresh leaves are >ised for making Extractumi BeUoJovvr-^ 

 and the dried for preparing a tincture. They should be gathered wliile 

 the plant is well in flower. 



HERBA STRAMONll. 



Stninionium, Thonucpjyle; F. Hche deStrohtoiue; G. Stcchapfdbldtter. 



Botanical Origin— -Datura^ ,Stmmoniuy,i L., a largc,quick-growin^, 

 upright annual, with wdrite flowers like a convolvulus, and o\oid spiny 

 fruits. It is now^ found as a w^eed of cultivation in almost all tlie 

 temperate and Avarmer regions of the globe. In the south of England 

 it is often met with in rich waste ground, chiefly near gardens or 

 habitations. 



History —The question of the native country and early di^tributioll 

 of D. Stramonium has been nuich discassed Ijy botanical writers. 

 Alphonse De Candolle,Svho has ably reviewed the arguments advance* 1 

 in favour of the plant being a native respectively of Europe and America 

 or Asia, enounces his opinion thus:-— th&.i R S( mm onivjuL. opi^^aK 



to be indigenous to " ^^ "" ' ' <• ^i ^ 



Sea or adjacent re^ , 



<loubtful i'f it exisfed in Europe in" the time of the ancient Roiii...i 

 Empire, but that it appears to have spread itself between that period 

 and the discovery of America. , 



Stramonium was cultivated in London towards the clobc ot the 10th 

 century by Gerarde, wdio received the seed from Constantniopl«j ami 

 jreely propagated the plant, of tlie medicinal value of uhich J)e had a 

 high opinion. The use of the herb in more recent tint's is dnv to the 

 experiments of Storck.' 



Description— Stramonium pro.luces a stout, upriglit, herbac.-ous 



' ^yrrfhhcdimmmq ntarh wh-kemhr Dro- iura, api-!ic.l to JJ./iiduo.sn L The ongH. 

 'Ji'^^», Petersburg, 187G. 28. of the wonl Stravi'mtum is not known to 



The fresh juice kept for a few days has us. , . r, . ■ ,^ :; Mc-,-,\7-ii 



been knov^-n to evolve re(i vnpour, (nitron.. •• Gcour"j'f"^ Botanme, 'l-}}^f^±;^\ 



«cul ? ) when the vessel containing it ^va3 » Libellu. ^i^o A^mun.tr^lnv ^ monuu. 



omed.-H. S. Evans in Pharm. Jouni. ix. Hyoscyamnm Aconituni . . esse r- mecha. 



"*^-"^ "■•" Vin.lolj. 1702. 



■ the Old World, probably the borders of the Ca.spian 

 igions, but certainly not of India ; that it is vry 



(1850) 2C0. 

 ^DiAlum from the Sanskrit name D'hu-<- 



