I08 POISONOUS PLANTS 



ti'on ; the most familiar is perhaps the little blue- 

 flowered plant used for bedding in summer, L. 

 Erirms^ from the Cape of Good Hope. 



Lobelias have a very acrid milky juice. If taken 

 internally, it provokes symptoms analogous to those 

 produced by Belladonna, as it contains Atropine. 

 Hence the specific name tcrens, " burning." Its 

 action is said to be very much like that of tobacco, 

 only differing in the greater intensity of the local 

 burning sensations. Disastrous results have fol- 

 lowed the misuse of the drug obtained from an 

 American species, by incompetent persons. 



The species used in medicine is known as 

 " Indian Tobacco " (Z. inflatd). It is a native of 

 North America ; and its powdered leaves and 

 seeds have been employed as a remedy for asthma. 

 In one instance — writes Dr. Tanner — a quack pre- 

 scribed a drachm of the leaves which produced 

 pain, vomiting, and unconsciousness, death follow- 

 ing in thirty-six hours. Ignorant impostors, calling 

 themselves medical botanists, have poisoned several 

 simple individuals, both in England and America, 

 by physicking them with this mischievous and 

 powerful drug. The seeds are equally poisonous.^ 



^ Dr. Tanner adds that the stomach-pump or emetics must 

 be employed. If the effects are not very severe, they will 

 generally cease spontaneously. 



Dr. Brunton's antidotes to poisoning by Lobelia are, a 

 purgative ; demulcents ; stimulants ; tannin j strychnine, 

 hypodermically (5 mins. liq. strych.). 



