102 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



some other disorders. It is used to some extent as an antispasmodic, and is admitted 

 into the new British Pharmacopoeia, both as au extract from the leaves, and also the 

 dried root. It is supposed to be the plant that poisoned the troops of Marcus Anto- 

 nius during the Parthian war. Plutarch gives a graphic account of the strange effects 

 that followed its use. He says that " those who sought for herbs found few that they 

 had been in the habit of eating, and in tasting unknown plants they found one that 

 caused madness and death. He that had partaken of it at once lost all memory and 

 knowledge, but, at the same time, would occupy himself in turning over and moving every 

 stone he met with, as if engaged on some important pursuit. The camp was full of 

 unhappy men, lending to the ground, and digging up and removing stones, till, at last, 

 they were carried off by a bilious vomiting, when wine, the only remedy, was not at 

 hand." According to Buchanan, in the reign of Duncan I., king of Scotland (afterwards 

 murdered by the tyrant Macbeth), Harold the Dane invaded England, while his brother 

 Sweno made a descent on Scotland. Landing in Fife, he gained a signal victory, and 

 pursued the Scots to Perth, and possessing but little martial energy, he intrusted the 

 conduct of affairs to his lieutenants Banquo and Macbeth, While the latter was 

 employed in raising fresh forces, the former negotiated a truce, engaging, likewise, to 

 supply provisions for the hostile army. The liquor sent proved to be a deadly potion 

 for the Danes, from an infusion of the Dwale or Nightshade mixed with it. The 

 invaders, suspecting nothing, drank deeply, were quickly overpowered and murdered 

 by their treacherous foes. This story is, however, so far in the regions of fiction, that 

 but little reliance can be placed on the facts. Shakespeare, however, evidently refers 

 to this circumstance in Banquo's speech, — " Or have we eaten of the insane root that 

 takes the reason prisoner 1 " The common name of the plant is significant enough of 

 its evil reputation among our forefathers, and the provincial one of Devale or Dwale 

 is of very similar origin, being from the French deuil, grief. 



The properties of Deadly Nightshade are due to the presence of an alkaloid, found 

 in white silky crystals. It requires 500 parts of water to dissolve it, but is easily dis- 

 solved by alcohol, ether, or diluted acids. The smallest quantity of the pure alkaloid 

 will cause dilatation of the pupil, and a tenth of a grain swallowed by a man has occa- 

 sioned symptoms of poisoning. Though so powerful in its action on the human body, 

 the plant seems to affect some of the lower animals but little. Eight pounds of the 

 herb are said to have been eaten by a horse without causing any injury, and an ass 

 swallowed a pound of the ripe berries, no bad result following. Birds often eat the 

 seeds of the plant without any apparent effect. 



GENUS IV.— D ATURA. Linn. 



Calyx 5-sidcd-prisrnatic, 5-toothed at the apex, the base per- 

 sistent, and spreading rotately in fruit, the greater part of the 

 tube and the teeth splitting off circumscissily and deciduous. 

 Corolla salvershaped-funnelshapcd; tube elongated ; limb spreading, 

 5- or 10-toothed; segments acute, plicate and convolute in aestivation. 

 Stamens 5, inserted in the tube of the corolla, included or sub- 

 exsertcd ; filaments elongated ; anthers not connivent, opening by 

 longitudinal slits. Fruit a leathery capsule, generally muricated 

 or prickly, 2-eelled, with each cell commonly again more or less 



