127-5 
bruised seeds, and drink the liquor for the purpose of intoxication.* Dr. Schlesier 
met a case} in which the subject, a boy, zt. 4, mistook the fruit of Stramonium for 
poppy heads, and ate a quantity of them. “Soon afterwards his face was flushed, 
his eyes were glistening and in constant motion, the pupils much dilated, and the 
countenance was that of an intoxicated person. He sat up in bed quite uncon- 
scious, but continually babbling and occasionally starting up suddenly, his hands 
apparently directed at imaginary objects in the air. His pulse was very slow; 
there was no fever, but intense thirst and violent perspiration from incessant 
motion.” Dr. Turnert describes the effects upon two children who had eaten the 
seeds: “In an hour and a half they were fully under the influence of the poison, 
They were lying on their backs, eyes bright, pupils widely dilated and insensible 
_ to light, conjunctiva injected, faces deeply suffused, and of a dark-crimson color; 
difficulty of breathing, inability to articulate, and in a state of complete insensi- 
bility, broken occasionally by a paroxysm, during which they would utter some 
indistinct sounds and throw their hands about, as if trying to ward off some threat- 
ening evil. They then fell into a comatose state, but were easily roused into a 
state of violent excitement; they grasped at imaginary objects; there was picking 
of the bedclothes, with paroxysms of excessive laughter.” 
The Thugs, a society of stealthy fanatic murderers of India, often employ 
D. fastuosa and alba to render their intended victims unconscious. 
On Animals.—Orfila found that half an ounce killed a dog within twenty-four 
hours; and a quarter of an ounce applied to an open wound in another, killed him 
in six hours. The symptoms in each case showed that the effects were produced 
upon the nervous system in general. 
Post-mortem.—The blood was found to be semi-fluid throughout the body, 
the few coagula that are met with in the auricles and large veins are very thor- 
oughly formed and easily broken down, A slight injection of the mucous mem- 
brane of the larynx, pharynx, and upper portion of the cesophagus was observed. 
The rima glottidis was thickened and very turgid. The alimentary tract, however, 
was found absolutely normal.§ a 
From the symptoms caused by this drug, its homeceopathic adaptability to 
hydrophobia will be at once evident. There is no drug so far proven that deserves 
as thorough and careful a trial in this dread disease as Stramonium. The following, 
from a letter written by the Catholic Bishop of Singapore to the Strazts Times, has 
just come to my notice. This bishop says he thinks it his duty to publish the 
remedies used in the missions in Tonquin for the cure of hydrophobia. These, he 
says, consist first, in giving as much star-aniseed as may be contained ona cent 
piece; and secondly, in making the patient take some water in which a handful of 
the leaves of stramony, or thorn-apple, or pear-apple, is infused. These will cause 
an access of the convulsions or delirium, during which the patient must be tied; 
but on its abatement he will be cured. If the remedy act too violently; either by 
* Dr. Edward Palmer in Am. Nat., 1878, 650. + Canstatt’s Yahrbuch, 1844, 297- 
| Am Four. of Hed. Sei, 1864, 552. f Mr, Duin’ ase (his youngest daughter), Laney 845,195. 
