122 



TOBACCO. BELLADONNA. 



potatoe furnishes the nourishment. In those countries where frosts are 

 feared in the spring, these vegetables are planted about the month of April, 

 and gathered towards the end of October ; a sandy and rich soil suits them 

 best ; in moist clayey land they become pasty. By the ordinary method of 

 cultivation, the potatoe yields but seven or eight for one, but by hoeing the 

 stems, that is, by heaping up the earth to a certain height around them, we 

 obtain twelve or thirteen for one, and we are assured that by bedding and 

 covering them with earth the product may be increased to sixty for one. 



70. Tobacco Nicotiana tabac- 

 cum (fg> 145) is a plant of the 

 enus Nicotiana, which is a native 

 of America ; it is actively culti- 

 vated for its large leaves, the uses 

 of which are known by every body. 

 Introduced into the stomach it acts 

 as a poison, and the smoke it yields 

 when burnt commonly excites nau- 

 sea and giddiness in persons not 

 accustomed to it ; but they may 

 become readily habituated to its 

 use, which, either in the form of 

 snuff, cigars, or smoking and chew- 

 ing tobacco, has become almost uni- 

 versal. It is now cultivated in 

 France, and in most countries of 

 Europe, and several parts of India, 

 as well as in various parts of 

 America. It is sown about the 

 month of March ; and about the 

 middle of July, they begin to gather 

 the leaves ; this harvest continues until the period of frost, which 

 the plant does not resist, and after drying the leaves thus obtained, 

 and having removed from them the large nerves (stems), they 

 are sprinkled with salt and water, and for a certain time permit- 

 ted to ferment; tobacco for smoking is then coarsely cut up, and 

 exposed to a moderate heat which curls it ; tobacco for snuff is 

 cut into strips, which are pressed into masses, which are after- 

 wards reduced to powder by a mill. 



71. Belladonna Atropa belladonna is another plant of the 

 family of Sola'nese which is also very poisonous ; it is common 

 under walls and in the woods. Its stem is branching, three or 

 four feet high, and slightly hairy ; its leaves are large, ovate, acu- 

 minate, and diffuse a disagreeable odour ; its corolla, in form of an 

 elongated bell, has five lobes, is of a dull red ; its fruit is fleshy, 



Fig. 145. TOBACCO. 



70. Where is tobacco found ? What are its qualities ? 



71. What are the properties of belladonna? 



