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A T ft 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL} 



A T R 



single, and at others divided into two or three branches, al- 

 most of the colour of the Parsnep, but a little darker ; imme- 

 diately from the crown of the root arises a circle of leaves, 

 which at first stand erect, but when grown to their full size, 

 spread open, and lie upon the ground ; they are more than a 

 foot in length, and are four or five inches broad in the mid- 

 dle, growing narrow towards both ends, of a dark green co- 

 lour, and a fetid scent ; among these come out the flowers, 

 each on a scape about three inches long ; they are five-cor- 

 nered, of an herbaceous white colour, spreading open at top 

 like a Primrose, having five hairy stamina, and a globular 

 gennen, supporting an awl-shaped style, which becomes a 

 globular soft berry, when full grown as large as a nutmeg, of 

 a yellowish green colour when ripe, full of pulp. Haller 

 adds, that the leaves are ovate-lanceolate, and waved about 

 the edges ; that the flowers have a tinge of violet, and that 

 * circular gland surrounds the germen, produced into two 

 horns. The roots have been supposed to bear a resemblance 

 to the human form, and in the old Herbals are figured as amale, 

 with a long beard, and female with a prolix head of hair. 

 Mountebanks carry about fictitious images, shaped from roots 

 of Briony, and other plants cut into form, or forced to grow 

 through moulds of earthenware, as Mandrake roots. It was 

 fabled to grow under the gallows, where the matter falling 

 from the dead body, gave it the shape of a man ; to utter a 

 great shriek, or terrible groans at the digging up 5 and it was 

 asserted, that he who would take up a plant of Mandrake, 

 should in common prudence tie a dog to it for that purpose, 

 for if a man should do it himself, he would surely die soon 

 after. The bare mention of such fables, is a sufficient con- 

 futation of them, nor would they have been mentioned here, 

 had it not been for the allusions to them which occur in an- 

 cient authors. The whole plant is fetid, and reputed to be 

 poisonous, though in small doses it was used medicinally, and 

 particularly us an ophte. Native of Spain, Portugal, Italy, 

 and the Levant. It flowers with us in March, and the seeds 

 ripen in July. Mandrake is propagated by seeds, which 

 should be sown upon a bed of light earth, soon after they are 

 ripe, for if they are kept until the spring, they seldom suc- 

 ceed well ; but those which are sown in autumn, will come 

 up in the spring, when they should be carefully cleared from 

 weeds ; and in very dry weather, they must be refreshed with 

 water, which will greatly promote their growth. In this bed 

 they should remain till the end of August, when they must 

 be taken up very carefully, and transplanted into the places 

 where they are to remain : the soil should be light and deep, 

 for their roots run far down ; but if the soil be wet, they are 

 often rotted in winter, and if it be too near gravel or chalk, 

 theywillmake little progress ; but where the soil is good, and 

 they are not disturbed, the plants will grow to a large size 

 in a few years, and will produce great quantities of flowers 

 aiul fruit. These plants should have a warm situation, other- 

 wise in severe winters they will be destroyed. 



2. Atropa Belladonna; Deadly Nightshade, or Dwale. 

 Stem herbaceous; leaves ovate, entire; peduncles one-flower- 

 ed. Deadly Nightshade has a perennial, thick, long, branch- 

 ing root, sending out strpng, herbaceous, upright, round, tri- 

 chotomous, branching stems, from three to five feet, and 

 sometimes six feet in height, frequently tinged with purple : 

 the branches are dichotomous. The root-leaves are often a 

 foot long, and five inches broad ; the stem-leaves are pe- 

 tioled, acute, soft, dusky green above, and paler green beneath, 

 a little hairy on both sides, and fattish to the touch, chang- 

 ing to a purple colour in the autumn : there are gene- 

 rally two leaves at each branch, one smaller than the other, 

 running down along the short petiole. Peduncles axillary, 



ctne-flowered : flowers large, nodding, void of scent ; calix 

 dirty green ; corolla lurid ; within dusky, purple, and streak- 

 ed, with a yellow variegated base, witho.ut greenish red, or 

 dusky brown ; berry large, at first green, but when ripe of a 

 beautiful shining black colour, full of purple juice, with 

 roundish dotted channelled seeds immersed in the pulp ; au< 1 

 a glandular ring surrounding it. Scopoli observes, that there 

 are two tubercles between the cells of the anthene ; . that the 

 stigma is two-lobed ; that the berry sits on the stellate calix, 

 is very succulent, obtuse, marked with small dots, and has 

 two heart-shaped receptacles, to which the seeds adhere. 

 When this plant was found to differ from Solanums or 

 Nightshades, it received the Italian name of Belladonna, which 

 was given it, according to some, because it was used as a wash 

 among the ladies, to take off pimples and other excrescences 

 from the skin ; or, according to others, from its quality of 

 representing phantasms of beautiful women to the disturbed 

 imagination. The qualities of this plant are malignant, and 

 it is extremely deleterious in all its parts. Numerous in- 

 stances have occurred of the berries proving fatal, after caus- 

 ing convulsions, delirium, &c. Buchanan relates the de- 

 struction of the arm}' 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 sup- 

 ply the Danes with. The Danes were so inebriated there- 

 with, that the Scottish army fell on them in their sleep, and 

 slew such numbers, that there were scarcely men enough left 

 to carry off their king. A remarkable case is related by Mr. 

 Ray, of the dilatation of the pupil of fhe eye, caused by a 

 part of a leaf of this plant applied outwardly, and which took 

 place successively on the repetition of the experiment. With 

 respect to the berries, they have frequently been fatal to 

 children ; and, if a considerable number are eaten, to grown 

 persons likewise. The symptoms are said to occur in less 

 than half an hour after taking them, and consist of vertigo, 

 great thirst, delirium, swelling and redness of the face, &c. 

 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 obvi- 

 ating the effects of the poison. Dr. Hill relates a very re- 

 markable case, which occurred under his own observation. 

 A labourer found some of the plant in the park of a noble- 

 man, where he was repairing the pales ; he eat heartily of 

 the berries, and gave some to two of his children. After 

 two hours he grew giddy, and unable to stand ; was extremely 

 thirsty, complained of dreadful pain in his breast, and 

 difficulty of breathing. He afterwards fell into violent 

 ravings, which continued, with slight intervals, during great 

 part of the night. All this time he was also afflicted with 

 a very painful stranguary . He recovered, however, some time 

 afterwards, without the assistance of medicine ; but both the 

 children died in the course of the night. The leaves are said 

 to have been sometimes successfully applied in cam erous 

 tumors. The ingenious Dr. Milne, in his Indigenous Botutiy, 

 has very properly remarked, that nature has been more par- 

 simonious in her warnings with respect to this plant, than to 

 others of the same natural family. Neither the smell nor 

 the taste is offensive ; and if the colour of the flowers prove* 

 in some degree a repellant, that of the fruit, on the other 

 hand, is in an equal degree, at least, attractive and inviting. 

 Accordingly, Belladonna, notwithstanding its deleterious na- 

 ture, is not totally excluded from the precincts of physic : 

 nay, some diseases, and those of the most malignant kind, 

 have been known to yield to the anodyne and antispasmodic 

 virtues of this plant, when administered with caution, after 



