157 



The upper portion of the first compartment of this Case CASE 

 contains Capsicum fruits from South America. 83. 



Observe also fruits of Panirband ( Withania coagulans^ 

 Dun.), a small undershrub of Northern India and 

 Afghanistan, where the fruits are employed by the natives 

 to coagulate milk instead of using rennet, to which they 

 object on religious grounds. 



Specimens are also shown of Mandrake root {Man- 

 dr agora officinarum, L.). It was known to the ancients, 

 and credited with many virtues, on account of the 

 supposed resemblance of the root to the human figure. 



No. 382. Deadly Nightshade (Atropa Bella- 

 do7ina, L.). A dangerous powerful narcotic poison^ 

 usefully employed in medicine. It is an herbaceous 

 plant, with solitary, lurid flowers, and violet-black berries, 

 on short stalks, springing from the bases of the rather 

 large ovate leaves. Found in waste places, often near old 

 buildings, in England and on the Continent. Leaves and 

 cigars made from them, also root and extract, as well as 

 the alkaloid atropine, are exhibited. 



No. 383. Thorn Apple or Stramonium (Datura 

 Stramonium^ L., and allied species), a poisonous narcotic 

 used in medicine. The leaves, fruits, and extract are 

 shown. 



No. 384. Henbane {Hyoscyamus niger, L.). A 

 viscid and hairy weed, growing in waste places about 

 villages, with a dingy yellow flower, veined with purple. 

 It is used in medicine as a sedative and substitute for 

 opium, and is cultivated near Banbury in Oxfordshire, as 

 well as in Surrey, Herts, Bedfordshire, and Cambridge- 

 shire. The plant is known under two forms, annual and 

 biennial. The latter produces in the first year only a 

 large tuft of spreading radical leaves, and is preferred for 

 medicinal purposes, an extract being prepared from the 

 leaves. 



Observe foliage of PiCHi (Fabiana imbricata, R. & P.), 

 a small shrub of Peru. It has been found useful as a 

 diuretic and for the treatment of kidney diseases. 



The remainder of this Case is devoted to TOBACCO, the 

 dried leaves of species of Nicotiana (N. Tabacum^ L., and 



