272 SOLANEiE 



always been used medicinally in villages, and the external application of a 

 decoction of its leaves has been employed with good effect ; but as stem, leaves, 

 and fruit all contain poison, its administration internally, except by qualified 

 persons, is highly dangerous. The plant is in some places called Felon-wood, 

 not improbably from some old use as a cure of whitlows, as these were 

 formerly called felons. The roots have the odour of the potato, and are, 

 when first chewed, bitter, but leave afterwards a taste of sweetness on the 

 tongue ; hence the specific name of the plant. The French call this Night- 

 shade Morelle ; the Germans, Schwarze Nachtschatten ; the Dutch, Zivartr 

 nagtschade; the Italians, Solatro nero. Bytterswete is a very old English 

 name for this plant. A variety (marinum) occurs on the south coast with a 

 prostrate stem and fleshy leaves. 



2. Black Nightshade (;S'. nigrum). — Stem herbaceous; leaves egg- 

 shaped, wavy at the edge, and bluntly toothed ; flowers drooping ; annual. 

 This species is named from the round berries, which, when ripe, are of a 

 black hue. The flowers have white petals and yellow anthers, and may be 

 seen on the plant from June to October. This Nightshade often occurs as a 

 weed in gardens, and is not uncommon on wayside banks, sea-beaches, and 

 other uncultivated spots. Mr. Borrer found in Sussex a variety with the 

 flowers white, but in which the berries were green. The whole plant is fetid 

 and narcotic, and the fruits, though they have been used medicinally, possess, 

 in our country at least, some poisonous properties. This plant, however, 

 seems to be in this respect much influenced by climate ; for Mr. Backhouse 

 tells us that in Norfolk Island the convicts commonly gather these berries and 

 cook them. Nor is it only in that climate that they seem to lose their viru- 

 lence. In the "Bulletin des Naturalistes de Moscou," it is stated that the 

 berries of the Solanum nigrum are, in the Ukraine, destitute of the narcotic 

 principle, and as they ripen become sweet and edible. Czerniaiew, the 

 Russian w^riter who mentions this circumstance, endeavours to account for it 

 by the high summer temperature of the Ukraine. 



4. Deadly Nightshade {Atropa). 



Dwale, or Deadly Nightshade {A. belladonna). — Stem herbaceous; 

 leaves egg-shaped, undivided ; flowers axillary, on short stalks ; perennial. 

 This is a rare plant, and, as its name imports, is so poisonous that we cannot 

 wish it were more frequent. Its stem is round, branched, slightly downy, 

 and three or four feet high, bearing from June to August drooping bells of 

 a dark lurid purple hue, which have a faint but unpleasant odour. The 

 leaves are large, sometimes a foot long, and four or five inches broad, and 

 the whole herb has a dull gloomy appearance. Not one of our British plants 

 is so deadly as this, for its black shining juicy fruits, like small cherries, are 

 highly poisonous, and produce fatal effects, even if a very small portion be 

 taken. The calyx attached to these berries readily distinguishes them from 

 cherries, but fatal mistakes have occurred in their use by the ignorant. 

 Some years ago a man was prosecuted for selling these berries in a basket 

 about London, and though it appeared that he was unacquainted with the 

 dangerous nature of the fruits, yet several persons suffered in consequence. 

 Children have sometimes died through eating these sweet berries, and doubt- 



