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Seven persons ate broth, in which the leaves of Hyoscyamus had been boiled; 
symptoms of intoxication soon followed: “I saw them about three hours after 
having eat it; and then three of the men were become quite insensible, did not 
know their comrades, talked incoherently, and were in as high a delirium as people 
in the rage of a fever; all of them had low, irregular pulses, slavered, and fre- 
quently changed color; their eyes looked fiery, and they catched at whatever lay 
next them, calling out that it was going to fall.” —(Dr. Stedman, Phil, Trans..1 750.) 
Wepfer relates that several monks made a repast on the roots of wild endive 
(Cichorium Intibus), among which were mixed, by mistake, two roots of Henbane. 
In a few hours some experienced vertigo, others a burning of the tongue, lips, and 
throat; severe pains were also felt in the iliac regions, and in all the joints. The 
intellectual faculties and the organs of vision were perverted, and they gave them- 
selves up to actions which were mad and ridiculous. In other cases, a haggard 
countenance, dilation of the pupils, difficulty of breathing, small and intermittent 
pulse, loss of speech, trismus, and temporary loss of intellect have been the prin- 
cipal symptoms; while the extremities have been observed to be cold and nearly 
paralyzed.—(Orfila 2, 135.) 
A woman, zt. 34, swallowed, in mistake for a black draught, an ounce and a 
half of the éizclure of Hyoscyamus, made apparently from the biennial plant, and 
resembling the pharmacopceial tincture. (The annual plant is said to make a 
weaker tincture.) In sex minutes she had a hot, burning, pricking sensation in 
the hands, feet, and legs; became giddy and delirious, and complained of great 
dryness in the throat. Shortly after, in attempting to get out of bed, she found 
her legs were powerless. A purplish rash appeared over the body, particularly 
about the neck and face, which were much swollen. The draught was taken at 
5 A.M. Atg a.m. Dr. White found her almost insensible and unable to speak. 
The tongue was swollen, brown, and dry, and put out with difficulty; the face 
swollen and scarlet: the pupils were so dilated that the iris was a mere thread- 
like ring; the skin hot and dry. The poison had been taken on an empty stomach. 
There was no sickness. In three hours she passed a motion smelling strongly of 
this drug, but the odor was not perceived in the urine. She could not see distinctly. 
All motion in the extremities was lost, and their sensibility was diminished. At 
4 P.M. she was delirious, and there was a sickness; II P. M., shivering and coldness 
of the skin. At 9 A.M. the next day she could see and articulate better. The iris 
was half a line in breadth. Brandy, opium, ammonia, and other remedies were 
used, and she gradually improved. It was six days before she acquired a partial 
use of her legs, and could not then stand without being supported on both sides. 
She had quite lost her memory, and talked in a rambling manner. She was 
unable to remember for a minute a single sentence or word she had uttered or © 
read.— (Dr. White, Lanceé, July 5, 1873, p. 8.) Ee ae 
Two men ate the young shoots of the plant. The first effect was that the 
earth seemed to pass suddenly from under them; the tongue became paralyzed, 
and their limbs were cold, torpid, paralyzed, and insensible; the arms were in a 
: ‘State of spasmodic action; the pupils were dilated, the look was fixed and acant ; 
