•ioS SOLANACEJE. 



The root further contains, according to Richter (1837) and Hlihsch- 

 mann, a fluorescent substance, as well as a red colouring matter called 

 At rosin} The latter occurs in greatest abundance in the fruit, and 

 would probably repay further investigation. 



Uses — Belladonna root is chiefly used for the preparation of atro- 

 pine, which is employed for dilating the pupil of the eye. A liniment 

 made with belladonna root is used for the relief of neuralgic pains. 



^ Adulteration — We may point out that the roots of Mandragora 

 nticrocarpa, M. officmariim, and M. vernalis Bertoloni are very nearly 

 allied to the root under notice, both in external appearance and in 

 their structure. They are not likely to be confounded with Belladonna 

 root, their mother plants being indigenous in the South of Europe. 



FOLIA BELLADONNA. 



Belladonna Leaves ; F. Feuilles de Belladone ; G. Tollhraut. 



Botanical Origin — Atropa Belladonna L. (p. 455). 



History — Belladonna Leaves and the extract prepared from them 

 were introduced into the London Pharmacopoeia of 1809. For further 

 particulars regarding the history of belladonna, see the preceding 

 article. 



Description— Belladonna or Deadly Nightshade produces thick, 

 smooth herbaceous stems, which attain a height of 4 to 5 feet. They 

 are simple in their lower parts, then usually 3-forked, and afterwards 

 2-forked, producing in their upper branches an abundance of bright 

 green leaves, arranged in unequal pairs, from the bases of which sjDring 

 the solitary, pendulous, purplish, bell-shaped flowers, and large shining- 

 black berries. 



The leaves are 3 to 6 inches long, stalked, broadly ovate, acuminate, 

 attenuated at the base, soft and juicy ; those of barren roots are alter- 

 nate and solitary. The young shoots are clothed with a soft, short 

 pubescence, which on the calyx is somewhat more persistent, assuming 

 the character of viscid, glandular hairs. If bruised, the leaves emit a 

 somewhat oflEensive, herbaceous odour which is destroyed by drying. 

 When dried, they are thin and friable, of a brownish green on the upper 

 surface and greyish beneath, with a disagreeable, faintly bitter taste. Of 

 fresh leaves 100 lb. yield IC lb. of dried (Squire). 



Chemical Composition — The important constituent of belladonna 

 leaves is Atrojnne. Lefort (1872)^ estimated its amount by exhausting 

 the leaves previously dried at 100° C. by means of dilute alcohol, con- 

 centrating the tincture, and throwing down the alkaloid with a solution 

 of iodo-hydrargyrate of potassium. The precipitate thus obtained was 

 calculated to contain 3325 per cent, of atropine. Lefort examined 

 leaves from plants both cultivated and growing wild in the environs of 

 Paris, and gathered either before or after flowering. He found cultiva- 

 tion not to aflect the percentage of alkaloid, — that the leaves of the 

 young plant were rather less rich than those taken at the period of full 



1 Gmelin, Chemistrtj, xvii. (1866) 1. 2 Journ. de Phm-m. xv. (1872) 269, 341. 



