HERBA STRAMONII. 459 



inflorescence, — and that the latter (dried) yielded 0*44 to 0*48 per cent, 

 of atropine. 



Larger percentages are recorded by Dragendorff ;^ as much as 095 

 per cent, of atropine as obtained from the dried unripe fruits, 083 

 from the dried leaves, 02 1 from the root. The estimation was per- 

 formed in nearly the same way as that followed by Lefort. 



Belladonna herb yields Aspa ragin , vrhich according to Biltz (1839) 

 crystallizes out of the extract after long keeping. The crystals found 

 in the extract by Attfield (1862) were however chloride and nitrate 

 of potassium. The same chemist obtained by dialysis of the juice 

 of belladonna, nitrate of potassium, and square prisms of a salt of 

 magnesium containing some organic acid ; the juice likewise affords 

 ammonia.'^ The dried leaves yielded us 145 per cent, of ash con- 

 sisting mainly of calcareous and alkaline carbonates. 



Uses — The fresh leaves are used for making Extractiiin Bella dmincB, 

 and the dried for preparing a tincture. They should be gathered while 

 the plant is well in flower. 



HERBA STRAMONII. 



Stramonium, Thoiniapple; F. Herbe de Stramoine; G. Stechajyfelbldtter. 



Botanical Origin — Datura^ Stramoniuvi L., a large, quick-growing, 

 upright annual, with white flowers like a convohnilus, and ovoid spiny 

 fruits. It is now found as a weed of cultivation in almost all the 

 temperate and warmer regions of the globe. In the south of England 

 it is often met with in rich waste ground, chiefly near gardens or 

 habitations. 



History — The question of the native country and early distribution 

 of D. StramoTiium has been much discussed by botanical writers. 

 Alphonse De Candolle,* who has ably reviewed the arguments advanced 

 in favour of the plant being a native respectively of Europe and America 

 or Asia, enounces his opinion thus: — that D. Stramoni urn L. appears 

 to be indigenous to the Old World, probably the borders of the Caspian 

 Sea or adjacent regions, but certainly not of India ; that it is very 

 doubtful if it existed in Europe in the time of the ancient Roman 

 Empire, but that it appears to have spread itself between that period 

 and the discovery of America. 



Stramonium was cviltivated in London towards the close of the 16th 

 century by Gerarde, who received the seed from Constantinople and 

 freely propagated the plant, of the medicinal value of which he had a 

 high opinion. The use of the herb in more recent times is due to the 

 experiments of Storck.^ 



Description — Stramonium produces a stout, upright, herbaceous 



^ Werthbestimmung atark wirhender Dro- tiiraj applied to D./astuo'ta L. Tlie origin 



yiien, Petersburg, 1876. 28. of the word Stramonium is not known to 



- The fresh juice kept for a few days has us. 



been known to evolve red rnpours (nitrous * Geogrnphie Botanique, IL (1855) 731. 



acid ? ) when the vessel containing it was ' Libellus quo demonstratur Stramonium, 



opened. — H. S. Evans in PAarm. Joitni. ix. Hyoscyamum, Aconitum . . esse remedia, 



(1850)260. Vindob. 1762. 



'^ Datura from the Sanskrit name D'hus- 



