NIGHTSHADE. 251 



tempted to eat this fruit, by its alluring appearance and sweet taste. 

 The number of these berries necessary to produce deleterious 

 effects, may probably depend upon the state of maturity in which 

 they are eaten : if not more than three or four be swallowed, ac- 

 cording to Haller's account, no bad consequence ensues; " Baccae 

 u sapore tatuo dulci possunt adsque noxa edi * si numerus tres 

 " quatuorve non excesserit : plures etiam a studioso medicinae 

 " Coloniensi nomine Simonis vidi deglutiri f/' 



But when a greater number of the berries are taken into the sto- 

 mach, scarcely half an hour elapses before violent symptoms super- 

 vene ; viz. vertigo, delirium, great thirst, painful deglutition, and 

 retching, followed by furor, stridor dentium, and convulsions ; the 

 eye-lids are drawn down, the uvea dilated and immovable ; the face 

 becomes red and tumid, and spasms affect the mouth and jaw : the 

 general sensibility and irritability of the body suffer such great di- 



Sauvages (Nosol ) supposes that the Belladonna was the plant which produced 

 such strange and dreadful effects upon the Roman soldiers, during their retreat 

 (under the command of Anthony) from the Parthians ; they are said to have 

 " suffered great distress for want of provisions, and were urged to eat unknown 

 plants: among others they met with an herb that was mortal ; he that had eaten 

 of it, lost his memory and his senses, and employed himself wholly in turning 

 about all the stones he could find, and after vomiting up bile, fell down dead." 

 Plutarch's life of Anthony. The Scotch historian, Buchanan, relates that the 

 Scots mixed a quantity of the juice of the Belladonna (Solanum Somniferum) 

 with the bread and drink, which by their trace they were to supply the Danes 

 With, which so intoxicated them, that the Scots killed the greatest part of 

 Sweno's army while asleep. Lib. v!i. 



Ray relates a curious instance of the effects of this plant in the following 

 words. Hist. Plant, p. 680. AccidW, ni tailor, tempore Pontificis Maximi 

 TJrbani ultimi, ut quidam de famulitio Cardinalis magni nominis (ut mihi hie 

 Augustse retulit ejus hortulanus) infunderet in vino Malvatico herbam illam 

 quam Bellam Donnam vocant, daturam alias per noctem ut ejus herbse effectus 

 discerent ; infusum hoc propinarunt cuidam fratri mendicanti ex conventu S. 

 Hieronymi, qui Patavii Fratrum ignorantiae dicitur, a primo breve delirium, 

 cachinni, gesticulationes varjse ; dein insania ven, post stupor mentis qualisest 

 ebriorum vigilantium. Cardinalis pro ebrio in carcere includit ; deinde a me- 

 dico qui rem subolfecerat innocens pronuntiatur, qui aceti cyatho propinato, a 

 dementia quam Bella Donna causavit eum liberat. Hachstellerus Decad. 7 Ob. 



And Shakespeare in his Macbeth makes Banquo say, 

 Or have we eaten of the insane root 

 That takes the reason prisoner. 



Hal. Stirp. Helv. No. 579. 

 f Hort. Florent. p. 6a. 



