SOLANACE-E. XXVI. DATCKA. 



473 



usually inclosed. Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule coriaceous, succu- 

 lent, 2-celled, 4-valved, many-seeded. Placentas septiform, 

 free. Seeds renifornv Poisonous annual herbs. Flowers 

 alar, solitary, white, or violaceous. 



SECT. I. STRAMONIUM (a syncope of irrpv\vov HO.VIKOV, the 

 Greek name for the madapple ; given to this plant on account 

 of the fruit being the size of a small apple.) Limb of calyx 

 acutely 5-angled, and acutely 5-lobed, or 5-toothed at apex, 

 tubular. Margin of corolla acutely 5-angled, or 5-toothed. 

 Stamens inclosed ; anthers remote. Capsule erect, ovate, 2- 

 celled at apex, but 4-celled beneath the apex, (but in D. 

 discolor 2-celled at the base,) dehiscing regularly. Seeds com- 

 pressed, black, opaque, wrinkled. Herbaceous annual plants. 

 Leaves ovate, toothed. Flowers oblique. 



1. Corollas purplish outside, and trhite inside. 



1 D. DI'SCOLOR (Bernhardi, in Linnaea, 8. p. 138.) leaves 

 sharply and sinuately toothed, clothed with hoary down beneath ; 

 capsule 2-celled, muricated with prickles. . H. Native of 

 the West Indies. Stramonium americanum minus, Alkekengi 

 folio, Tourn. inst. p. 119. Boerh. ind. 1. p. 261. Stramonium 

 Curassavica humilior, hyocyami folio, Herm. par. bat. p. 233, 

 with a figure. 



TVo-cofcurerf-flowered Thorn-apple. PI. 2 to 3 feet. 



2. Corollas white. 



2 D. IKE'RMIS (Jacq. hort. vind. 3. p. 44. t. 82.) leaves ovate, 

 angularly toothed, glabrous ; capsule smooth, unarmed. 0. 

 H. Native of Abyssinia. D. laj'vis, Lin. suppl. 146. Willd. 

 spec. 1. p. 1009. Stramonium lae've, Moench, raeth. p. 456. 



L'narmed-capsu\ed Thorn-apple. Fl. June, Sept. Clt. 1780. 

 PI. 2 feet. 



3 D. FE'ROX (Lin. amoen. 3. p. 403.) leaves ovate, angularly 

 toothed, cuneiform at the base, glaucous ; capsule furnished with 

 unequal prickles: the upper prickles large and erect. . H. 

 Native of Cochinchina and Nipaul. Mill. diet. no. 4. D. 

 Stramonium, p, canescens, Wall, in Roxb. fl. ind. 2. p. 229. 

 Stramonium ferox, Zan. hist. ed. Mont. p. 212. t. 162. Mor. 

 hist. 3. p. 607. sect. 15. t. 2. f. 4. Bocc. rar. p. 50. Tourn. 

 inst. 119. 



Fierce Thorn-apple. Fl. July, Sept. Clt. 1731. PL 2 to 3 

 feet. 



4 D. STRAMONIUM (Lin. spec. 255.) leaves ovate, angularly- 

 toothed, cuneiform at the base, smoothish, green ; capsule fur- 

 nished with nearly equal sized spines or prickles. . H. 

 Native of America, but now found almost throughout Europe, 

 and north of Asia and Africa, among rubbish, and on dung 

 hills, having escaped from gardens ; always near the habitation 

 of man. Ruiz, et Pav. fl. per. 2. p. 15. Pursh, fl. amer. sept. 

 1. p. 141. Smith, engl. bot. t. 1288. Curt. fl. lond. fasc. 6. t. 

 17. Svensk. bot. t. 43. Oed. fl. dan. t. 436. Woodv. med. 

 bot. 338. t. 124. Hayne, arz. 4. t. 7. Blackw. off. t. 313. 

 Bull. herb. t. 13. Ple'nck, off. t. 96. Sabb. hort. 1. t. 92. 

 Stramonium vulgare, Moench. meth. p. 456. Stramonium foe'ti- 

 dum, Scop. earn. 2. p. 252. Stramonium vulgatum, Gsertn. 

 fruct. 2. p. 243. t. 132. Stramonium spinosum, Lam. fl. fr. 2. 

 p. 256. D. loricata, Sieb. coll. sem. D. pseudo-stramonium, 

 Sieb. herb. mart. 28C. D. Capensis, Hort. Stramonium fructu 

 spinoso oblongo, flore albo, Tourn. inst. p. 119. Hall. helv. no. 

 586. D. Turcarum, Besl. eyst. 3. 2. fol. 12. f. 1. a. Thlapatl, 

 Hern. mex. 278, with a figure. 



The leaves of Common Thorn-apple, or Stramonium have a 

 disagreeable smell and nauseous taste. Every part of the 



VOL. IV. 



plant is a strong narcotic poison, producing vertigo, torpor, and 

 death. Dr. Barton mentions the cases of two British soldiers, 

 who ate it by mistake for Chenopbdium album ; one became 

 furious, and ran about like a madman ; and the other died with 

 all the symptoms of tetanus. The best antidote to its effects is 

 vinegar. The seeds contain the narcotic principle which per- 

 vades the whole plant, but in a more uniform degree than the 

 other parts, and hence are more to be depended upon for inter- 

 nal use. An excellent analysis of the seeds has been published 

 by Mr. Brandes, in Buchner's repertorium for 1821, and in 

 which it is shown that its peculiar properties depend upon a 

 peculiar alkaloid called Daturia. 



Dr. Stoerk first tried Stramonium as a remedy in mania and 

 melancholia with considerable success. It has also been em- 

 ployed in convulsive and epileptic affections. Dr. Barton of 

 Philadelphia gives it in powder, beginning with doses of a few 

 grains, and increasing them in some days to the extent of 1 5 to 

 20 grains. In a case in which it was exhibited to the extent of 

 SO grains it dilated the pupil of one eye, and produced paralysis 

 of the eyelids, which was removed by a blister. Hufeland 

 gave it in the form of a tincture prepared of two ounces of the 

 seeds in four ounces of wine, and one of diluted alcohol, in 

 diseases of the mind. The inspissated juice of the leaves has 

 been most commonly used, but its exhibition requires the great- 

 est caution. At first a quarter of a grain is a sufficient dose. 

 An ointment prepared from the leaves has been said to give ease 

 in external inflammations and haemorrhoids. And the bruised 

 leaves, according to Plenck, soften hard, inflamed tumours. 



The smoke of Stramonium has been much extolled for the 

 cure of asthma. Its use in this manner has been derived from 

 the East Indies, where, however, other species of Datura are 

 employed. It is the root and lower part of the stem which is 

 used in this way. This is dried quickly, and cut into slips, and 

 used in the manner of tobacco. The smoke excites a sense of 

 heat in the chest, followed by copious expectoration, and some- 

 times attended with temporary vertigo and drowsiness. In 

 some cases a perfect cure is effected, but more commonly the 

 relief is only temporary. Dr. Marcet, med. chirurg. trans. 7. 

 p. 551, used Stramonium in the form of extract, and the result 

 of his experience is, that the most common efiect of it, when 

 administered in appropriate doses from i to 1 grain, in cases of 

 chronic disease, attended with acute pain, is to lessen power- 

 fully, and almost immediately, sensibility and pain ; and it 

 almost always excites those symptoms which are produced by 

 intoxication. 



Stramonium, or Common Thorn-apple. Fl. July, Sept. 

 Britain. PI. 2 to 3 feet. 



5 D. TRAPE ZIA (Nees, in Lin. trans. 17. p. 74.) leaves ovate, 

 trapezoid, acute, repandly-toothed, and are, as well as the stem, 

 downy ; fruit furnished with nearly equal spines or prickles. 

 Q. H. Native of the East Indies, on the banks of the Irra- 

 waddy, Gomez. D. Stramonium, Wall. cat. suppl. no. 278. 



Trapezoid-leaved Thorn-apple. PL 2 to 3 feet. 



3. Corollas violaceous. Stems purplish. 



6 D. TA'TOLA (Lin. spec. 256. Mill. diet. no. 2. Sweet, fl. 

 gard. t. 83.) leaves cordate-ovate, angularly toothed, unequal at 

 the base, glabrous ; capsule furnished with nearly equal spines 

 or prickles. O- H. Native of America, but has now become 

 naturalized in almost all the places along with D. Stramonium, 

 but is less frequent. Pursh, fl. amer. sept. 1. p. 141. Stra- 

 monium Tatula, Mcench, meth. p. 456. Stramonium fructu 

 spinoso oblongo, flore purpureo, Tourn. inst. p. 119. 



Talula, or Purple Thorn-apple. Fl. July, Sept. Clt. 1629. 

 PL 2 to 3 feet. 

 3 P 



