020 SOLANACE^E. [Perigynous Exogens. 



than Stramonium ; the seeds are the most powerful part of these plants, and are stated 

 by some authors to have been used by the priests of the Delphic Temple, to produce those 

 frenzied ravings which were called prophecies. Such a practice certainly obtains, or 

 obtained, in the Temple of the Sun, in the city of Sagomozo, where the seeds of the 

 Floripondio (Datura sanguinea) are used ; the Peruvians also prepare from them an 

 intoxicating beverage which stupefies if taken much diluted; but, when strong, brings on 

 attacks of furious excitement. Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), a common biennial weed, 

 is a powerful narcotic at the time when its seeds are forming, though comparatively inert 

 at an earlier period. Its capsules and seeds, as well as its leaves, are used extensively 

 in medicine, and produce effects similar to those of Opium. But the former, when 

 taken too freely, are apt to bring on temporary insanity. All the other species ot 

 Hyoscyamus ha- e a similar action. In some parts of the Greek continent the stalks of 

 Hyoscyamus albus are used against toothache. They are dried and employed m lieu 

 of Tobacco, for smoking. In England the seeds of H. niger are occasionally employed 

 for the same purpose, with useful effect.-Ann. Ch. 1. 249. Atropa Belladonna is 

 another dangerous narcotic. Every part of the plant is poisonous ; and children and 

 the i-morant have often suffered from eating the berries, the beautiful appearance and 

 sweet taste of which render them very alluring. The symptoms which they induce are 

 those of intoxication, accompanied with fits of laughter and violent gestures ; great 

 thirst, difficulty of deglutition, nausea, dilatation of the pupil, with the eyelids drawn 

 down ; redness and tumefaction of the face, stupor or delirium, a low and feeble pulse, 

 paralysis of the intestines, convulsions, and death. In medicine Belladonna is not only 

 narcotic, but diaphoretic and diuretic. It is extensively employed, especially in pro- 

 ducing a dilatation of the pupil, when its infusion is dropped into the eye. Among 

 other properties it is said by Hahnemann and Koreff to protect the individual who 

 takes it from the contagion of scarlatina. According to Mr. Pereira it is supposed to 

 be the plant which produced such remarkable and fatal effects upon the Roman soldiers 

 during their retreat from the Parthians (See Plutarch's Life of Antony). Buchanan 

 relates that the Scots mixed the juice of Belladonna with the bread and drink which 

 by their truce they were to supply the Danes, which so intoxicated them, that the Scots 

 killed the greater part of Sweno's army while asleep.— Rer. Scot. Hist, h b. 7. lne 

 insane root that takes the reason prisoner," mentioned by Shakspeare (Macbeth, 1. in.), 

 is also thought to be this. Mandrake, formerly considered an Atropa, but now called 

 Mandragora officinalis, has an action of a similar nature ; it has had an exaggerated 

 reputation as an aphrodisiac, was largely used in amorous incantations, and its 

 forked root, which by a little contrivance is easily made to assume the human form (see 

 Flora Grceca), has led to the foolish stories of the plant shrieking when torn out of the 

 ground. By the Arabs the plant is called Tufah-al-Sheitan, or Devil's Apple. The best 

 commentators regard the Mandrake as the Dudaim of Scripture, in which Dr. Royle 

 concurs (See Biblical Cyclopedia, p. 587). It is a little remarkable that although it is 

 generally believed that the Mandrake does not possess any power of inciting the 

 passion of love, yet a nearly allied plant, Jaborosa or Himeranthus runcinatus, is 

 employed in the same manner among the South Americans. Tobacco, the use ol 

 which has now become to many persons as indispensable as bread, is the foliage of 

 various species of Nicotiana ; all the American Tobacco is furnished by N. Tabacum or 

 its varieties, the Persian by N. persica, and the Syrian by N. rustica. It is a poweriul 

 stimulant narcotic, employed medicinally as a sedative, and in vapour to bring on nausea 

 and fainting. When chewed it appears to impair the appetite and induce torpor ot 

 the gastric nerves. Although if smoked in moderate quantites it acts as a harmless 

 excitant and sedative, yet it is a frequent cause of paralysis when the practice is 

 indulged in to excess. Oil of Tobacco, which is inhaled and swallowed in the process 

 of smoking, is one of the most violent of known poisons. The Hottentots are said to 

 kill snakes by putting a drop of it on their tongues, and the death of these reptiles is 

 said to take place as instantaneously as if by an electric shock ; dangerous symptoms 

 are reported to have followed the application of the ointment to scald heads. Solanums, 

 although far less active than these dangerous plants, are by no means destitute of poi- 

 sonous qualities in some species. 



An extract of the leaves of the common Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a powerful 

 narcotic, ranking between Belladonna and Conium ; according to Mr. Dyer it is particu- 

 larly serviceable in chronic rheumatism, and painful affections of the stomach and 

 uterus— Pharm. Journ. 1. 590. Solanum Dulcamara, the Bittersweet, is a strong 

 narcotic in its foliage, and its berries are by no means safe, although it does appear that 

 in some cases they have been taken into the stomach without inconvenience. Solanum 

 nigrum, a very common weed in all parts of the world except the coldest, is more active. 

 A^rain or two of the dried leaf has sometimes been given to promote various secre- 

 tions, possibly by exciting a great, and rather dangerous, agitation in the viscera. It is 



