456 



SOLANACEjE. X. ATROPA. 



stem frutescent ; leaves ovate and cordate, quite entire and an- 

 gular ; peduncles many-flowered, umbellate, drooping ; limb of 

 corolla 5-cleft. Jj . S. Native of Peru, on hills about Lima. 

 A. revoluta, Dietr. lex. 1. p. 422. Stem glabrous ; branches 

 dichotomous, downy. Leaves solitary or twin, downy. Pedun- 

 cles short, axillary, downy, bearing 8-12 pedicellate flowers. 

 Corolla yellow, melliferous ; tube cylindrical, purple ; limb 

 reflexed, ciliated. Stamens inclosed. Style exserted. Berry 

 whitish, globose, size of a pea. 



Umbellate-Rowered Deadly Nightshade. Shrub 4 feet. 



5 A. BIFLORA (Ruiz, et Pav. fl. per. 2. p. 44. t. 181. f. b.) 

 stem frutescent ; leaves ovate, acute, quite entire : upper ones 

 twin ; peduncles 2-flowered, drooping ? ; limb of corolla 5- 

 cleft. f; . S. Native of Peru, in humid places. Shrub rather 

 downy. Branches pendulous, rather angular. Corolla subur- 

 ceolate, villous, striated ; tube greenish, white, or purplish ; 

 limb greenish-yellow, erect. Anthers and stigma blue. Berry 

 white, size of that of Belladonna, a little compressed. 



Tno-fioivered Deadly Nightshade. Shrub 2 feet. 



6 A. BICOLOR (Ruiz, et Pav. fl. per. 2. p. 45.) stem frutes- 

 cent ; leaves ovate, angular, glabrous ; peduncles 3-4-flowered ; 

 limb of corolla 5-cleft. fj . S Native of Peru, in shady 

 places. Branches angular. Leaves acute, usually twin. Co- 

 rolla tubular, reddish green ; limb green. 



Ttvo-coloured-Rovtered Deadly Nightshade. Shrub 6 to 7 

 feet. 



7 A. FRUTE'SCENS (Lin. spec. p. 260. Lam. ill. t. 114. f. 2.) 

 stem shrubby ; leaves ovate-cordate, obtuse, downy ; flowers 

 1-3 together, pedicellate, axillary; limb of corolla 5-cleft to 

 the middle, reflexed. Tj . G. Native of Spain. Physalis 

 suberosa, Cav. icon. 2. p. 1. t. 102. Physalis frutescens, D. C. 

 fl. fr. 3. p. 611. Belladonna frutescens, rotundifolia, Hispan- 

 ica, Tourn. inst. p. 77. Barrel, icon. p. 1173. Habit of Phy- 

 salis somnifera, but differs from it in the calyx being 5-cleft, and 

 in the flowers being 6 times larger, and campanulate, and in the 

 leaves being smaller, and in the berry not being inclosed in the 

 calyx. Leaves solitary. Corollas yellowish, divided into 5 

 reflexed segments beyond the middle. Anthers not exserted, 

 ex Lam. Perhaps this will form a new genus. 



Frutescent Deadly Nightshade. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1787. 

 Shrub 4 to 6 feet. 



8 A. ARISTA'TA (Poir. suppl. 1 . p. 609.) stem frutescent ; 

 leaves oblong, entire, almost glabrous ; branches, petioles, and 

 peduncles woolly; peduncles solitary, 1-flowered, hardly as long 

 as the petioles ; limb of corolla 5-cleft. Jj . G. Native of the 

 Canaries. Physalis aristata, Ait. hort. Kew. 1. p. 244. Willd. 

 spec. 1. p. 1020. Branches compressed, somewhat angular. 

 Leaves solitary, or twin, ovate-lanceolate, acuminated. Corolla 

 yellow, campanulate, with lanceolate, acuminated segments. 

 Calycine teeth or segments awned. Berry globose. 



^n'ned-calyxed Deadly Nightshade. Fl. June, Aug. Clt. 

 1 779. Shrub 3 to 4 feet. 



3. BELLADONNA. Limb of corolla 5-cleft. Stems herba- 

 ceous. 



9 A. BELLADONNA (Lin. spec. 2CO.) herbaceous, erect ; 

 leaves twin, ovate, quite entire, glabrous ; peduncles solitary, 

 1-flowered. 1[. H. Native throughout Europe, frequent in 

 woods ; with us it is not very common. Smith, engl. bot. t. 

 592. Oed. fl. dan. t. 758. Curt. fl. loud. fasc. 5. t. 16. Jacq. 

 fl. austr. 4. t. 309. Mill. icon. t. 62. Plenck. icon. 125. Bull, 

 herb. t. 29. Heyne, getr. darst. t. 43. Belladonna baccifera, 

 Lam. fl. fr. 2. p. 255. Bell, trichotoma, Scop. earn. ed. 2d. 

 no. 255. Solanum melanoce>asus, Bauh. pin. p. 166. Bella- 

 donna, majoribus foliis et floribus, Tourn. inst. p. 77. Blackw. 

 t. 564. Sabb. hort. 1. t. 3. Solanum lethale, Clus. hist. 2. p. 

 86. Mor. hist. sect. 13. t. 3. f. 4. Root thick, branching. 



Stem trichotomous, tinged with purple ; the branches dichoto- 

 mous. Leaves rather large, soft to the touch, a little hairy on 

 both surfaces. Corolla large, lurid, dusky purple within, and 

 streaked, with a yellow variegated base, but greenish-red, or 

 dusky brown outside. Berry size of a cherry, black when ripe, 

 full of purple juice. The plant inhabits church-yards, dung- 

 hills, and gloomy lanes, and uncultivated places in England, but 

 in other countries it is said to be common in woods and hedges. 



When this plant was found to differ from the genus Solanum, 

 it assumed the Italian name of Belladonna, which was given to 

 it, according to some, because it was used as a wash among the 

 ladies, to take off pimples from the skin ; or, according to 

 others, from its quality of representing phantasms or beautiful 

 women to the disturbed imagination. The qualities of the plant 

 are malignant, and it is extremely poisonous in all its parts. 

 Numerous instances have occurred of the berries proving fatal, 

 after causing convulsions and dilirium. Buchanan relates the 

 destruction of the army of Sweno, the Dane, when he invaded 

 Scotland, by the berries of this plant, which were mixed with 

 the drink which the Scots, according to truce, were to supply 

 the Danes. The Danes became so inebriated that the Scot- 

 tish army fell on them in their sleep, and slew such numbers, 

 that there were scarcely men enough left to carry off their 

 king. The case related by Ray is remarkable, that is, the 

 dilatation of the pupil of the eye caused by a part of the leaf 

 applied outwardly, and which took place successively on the 

 repetition of the experiment. With respect to the berries, they 

 have been frequently known to have been fatal to children, and 

 also to adults, if a considerable number be eaten. The symp- 

 toms are said to occur in half an hour after taking them, and 

 consist of vertigo, great thirst, dilirium, swelling, and redness of 

 the face, difficulty of breathing. The general sensibility of the 

 system is said to be weakened to a great degree, so that the 

 stomach will bear a far larger dose of emetic medicines than it 

 would otherwise have done. Vinegar liberally drank has been 

 found efficacious in obviating the effects of the poison. A 

 remarkable instance of the malignant powers of the young 

 shoots occurred in the presence of Professor Martyn, in the 

 botanic garden at Cambridge, which fully proved that they are 

 not less deleterious than the berries. 



The leaves are said to have been sometimes successfully 

 applied to cancerous tumours. Belladonna, notwithstanding its 

 deleterious nature, is not totally excluded from medicine ; some 

 diseases, and those of the most malignant kind, have been 

 known to yield to the anodyne and anti-spasmodic virtues of 

 the plant when administered with caution. Bergius relates, 

 that he has often given relief in epilepsy and convulsions, by 

 the internal use of the powder of the dried leaves, taken in 

 doses of from one to four grains : and Gesner, in his medical 

 epistles, recommends the expressed juice of the berries boiled 

 with sugar into a syrup, and given by a teaspoonful at a time, as 

 excellent in every case requiring an opiate, and as peculiarly 

 efficacious in the cure of dysentery. 



Belladonna has been best analyzed by Mr. Brandes, an apo- 

 thecary at Salz Uffelm, who has discovered a new alkaloid upon 

 which its narcotic virtues depend, which he calls atropia. He 

 urges the necessity of caution in the examination of atropia and 

 its salts. Even the vapour of their solutions causes dilatations 

 and paralyses of the pupil ; and during the whole time of the 

 experiments Mr. Brandes experienced violent headach, vertigo, 

 pain of back, and nausea, so that he could scarcely continue 

 them. On tasting a small quantity of sulphate of atropia, 

 which was rather salt than bitter, he had extreme confusion of 

 head, trembling in all his limbs, pulse weak, and at last retch- 

 ing. But the most severe of these symptoms abated in half an 

 hour. 



Medical use of Deadly Nightshade. Under proper manage- 



