COROLLIFLOE^. 



599 



or Bitter-sweet. The dried twigs of this plant are officinal ; they are 

 employed as an alterative in cutaneous diseases. They also possess slight 

 narcotic properties o-wing to the presence of solanina. A fatal case of 

 poisoning by the berries has occurred at Toulouse ^vithin the last few years. 

 S.nigrum, Black Xightshade, also possesses alterative and narcotic properties. 

 The fruit is said to be ecUble, but if such be the case, its use for food requires 

 caul^n, as solanina has been found in it. In ilaiu-itius, however, this herb as 

 ■\sj|r as S. oleraceuin are common pot-herbs, and largely consumed. The fiiiits 

 y several species of Solan um ai-e, however, eaten in various parts of the world, 

 Sj those of <S. MeJongena and <S. ovigerum, called Egg-apples ; those of >S'. 

 quitoense, named Quito Oranges ; also those of S. laciniatum in Austraha, 

 As'here they ore termed Kangaroo-apples ; those of .S. »H//-ifo^?/7n and -S. nemo- 

 rense in Peru ; and those of »S'. anthropophagorum and^S. repanduniin the Fiji 

 Islands. The leaves of .S'. okraceum and S. anthropophagorum are hkewise 

 eaten by the Fijians. <S. marginatiun has astringent properties, and is 

 employed in Abyssinia in the process of tanning. S. Pseudoquina, a BraziUan 

 species, is much employed in that country as a tonic and febrifuge. Several 

 species of Solanitm are also reputed to have diuretic properties, as S. mam- 

 mosinn, paniculatum, dx. The flowers and leaves of S.c^rnuum are sudorific, 

 and have been employed in gonorrhoea, syphilis, &;c. 



Natural Order 155. Atropaceje. — The Deadly Nightshade 

 Order {JiffS. 979 and 980). — Diagnosis. — The plants included in 



Fiq. 979. 



Fi^. 980. 



Fig. 979. Vertical section of the 

 flower of Tobacco (Xicotiana 

 Tabaciim). Fig. 980. Dia- 

 gram of the fluwer. 



this order were separated by Miers from the Solanaceae and 

 Scropliulariacese, and formed into a distinct order under the name 

 of Atropacete. In habit, character of the leaves, inflorescence, 

 calyx, ovary, fruit, and seeds, the Atropacese agree essentially 

 with the Solanacege ; but they diiFer in the cBstivation of their 

 corollas being always more or less imbricated {fig. 980) instead 

 of valvate ; in the lobes of the corolla being frequently some- 

 what unequal ; in 1 or more of the stamens, which are nor- 

 mally 5, being more frequently sterile ; and in the anthers being 



