THORN-APPLE 197 



it has a somewhat unpleasant odour, a feature, 

 however, that it does not insist on forcing upon us 

 unless we deliberately bruise and maltreat it. It was 

 originally introduced into England from the East, 

 but since its introduction by the herbalist Gerard, in 

 the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it has fully taken up 

 its abode with us. The plant is a powerful narcotic. 

 The seeds produce dimness of sight and giddiness, 

 or in large quantities delirium, and several cases are 

 on record of fatal results to children and others who 

 have incautiously eaten them. In India the plant has 

 been criminally employed by assassins and robbers, 

 while in Beverley's "History of Virginia" an 

 interesting account is given of a party of picnic 

 folk gathering the leaves as an ingredient in a salad. 

 All who partook of it temporarily lost their reason 

 and had to be placed under restraint, but in ten or 

 eleven days they entirely recovered, not remember- 

 ing anything that had passed in the interval. 

 Fortunately for themselves they selected for their 

 purpose only the young and tender leaves ; had 

 they chosen those fully grown, much more serious 

 consequences would undoubtedly have followed. 



The seeds are medically employed in the form of 

 an extract or tincture, while the dried leaves, under 

 the familiar name of stramonium, 1 are sometimes 

 smoked as cigars to afford relief in cases of asthma. 

 Gerard speaks of having found the thorn-apple of 



1 Botanically the thorn-apple is the Datura Siramonium. 



