68 MATERIA MEDICA. 



dered as a deobstruent, is now quite neg- 

 lected, being too inert for any medical 

 use. 



DEADLY NIGHTSHADE. This plant 

 has been considered as the most powerful of 

 the narcotic poisons ; it has been found, 

 howeverj an useful medicine, when cau- 

 tiously employed. Physicians usually pre- 

 scribe it as a sedative, in doses of five grains, 

 gradually increasing the dose until some 

 perceptible effect is produced. In the 

 horse it has scarcely been tried, nor does it 

 seem likely to supersede opium as ?i sedative. 

 The powdered leaves are most commonly 

 employed, but it is also used in the form of 

 ♦extract. The first dose for a horse should 

 be about tvvo drams of the powder, or one 

 dram of the extract, which might be gradu- 

 ally increased. 



In human medicine, a decoction of the 

 leaves is sometimes employed as a fomenta- 

 tion in cancerous complaints. Tljis might 

 probably be found serviceable in painful 

 tumours, or ulcers of the horse. 



DECOCTiONS are made by boiling any 

 medicine in water until its virtues are ex- 

 tracted. (See Pharm.) 



