HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



85 



command to Crito, " We owe a cock to -Esculapius, 

 discharge it and do not neglect it ;" and in a little 

 time had ceased to breathe. 



The Solanum or Potato order is made by Bentham 

 to include Datura stramonium, the thorn-apple, 

 Hyoscyamus niger, henbane, Solatium dulcamara, 

 bittersweet or nightshade, 5 1 . nigrum and Atropa 

 belladonna, dwale or deadly nightshade. All the 

 plants of the order possess narcotic properties, and 

 some are very poisonous ; one of their marked 

 characteristics is that of causing dilatation of the pupil 

 of the eye, hence the specific name of Atropa bella- 

 donna, "fair lady," as it was, and possibly still is 

 used to enhance the beauty of the eye. As Datura is 

 scarcely to be considered as naturalized in England, 

 though sometimes met with in the southern counties, 

 we will pass on to henbane, Hyoscyamus niger, with 

 the purple veinings on its pale yellow corolla and 

 its pretty box-like fruits set within the persistent 

 calyx, and its large hairy irregularly pinnatifid leaves. 

 Perhaps it is just as well that this plant confines 

 itself for the most part to the neighbourhood of 

 ruins, and frequents stony and waste places. Listen 

 to the estimation in which it was held by the ghost in 

 " Hamlet ! " 



" Thy uncle stole 

 With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, 

 And in the porches of mine ears did pour 

 The leperous distilment." 



The properties of Hyoscyamus, like the rest of its 

 family, are decidedly narcotic, and it is a valuable 

 soother of pain and aid to sleep when judiciously 

 administered. Solanum dulcamara is a more common 

 plant. Its tufts of purple blossom with their cone of 

 yellow anthers are like miniature potato flowers, and 

 the bright red berries the " ruby grapes of Proser- 

 pine " that succeed them are very attractive ; accord- 

 ing to Bentley they are in rare cases poisonous, and 

 Balfour declares that the berries of S. nigrum are 

 edible. They are eaten in the Ukraine, and in 

 Ascension Island are used in the making of plum- 

 puddings for the soldiers of the garrison ! It is 

 certain, however, that an alkaloid called Solanine is 

 present in both plants, as indeed it is, in a less 

 degree, in the potato plant. Some derive the name 

 of Solanum from solor, to assuage or comfort (the 

 tobacco plant belongs to the order), but it is perhaps 

 wiser not to seek too much consolation from members 

 of this family. The ominous name of Atropos, that 

 one of the three fatal sisters whose office it was to cut 

 the thread of life has been bestowed upon its most 

 dangerous member, Atropa belladonna, dwale or 

 deadly nightshade. Dwale may signify mourning 

 and woe (Fr. deuil), or perhaps the sleep that- it 

 induces, while nightshade suggests the temporary 

 blindness caused by its juice. Each designation 

 sounds a warning note, and indeed the alkaloid 

 Atropine is a most powerful poison, that forms itself 

 into innocent-looking, white, silky crystals, devoid of 



smell, but with a bitter taste. The cherry-like 

 berries of the deadly nightshade have too often proved 

 a fatal temptation to children, so that one cannot be 

 sorry that it is not a common plant in the north. 

 The flower is of a lurid purple, and the berry, like 

 that of henbane is surrounded by the persistent 

 calyx. 



The foxglove healeth all wounds, " Aralda tutte le 

 piaghe salda," says the Italian proverb ; nevertheless 

 it must be classed amongst our poisonous plants, 

 though it is a valuable medicine, and was much used 

 in the middle ages for staunching wounds. The fox- 

 glove, Digitalis purpurea , belongs to the Scrophularia 

 family, and is certainly too well-known to need 

 description. Its poisonous, bitter principle is called 

 Digitaline, and on account of its narcotic properties 

 is much used as a sedative in diseases of the heart ; 

 indeed the great value of the poisonous principles 

 of plants in medicine seems to afford an answer to 

 the question one is at times ready to put as to why 

 there should be poisonous plants at all. Their real 

 danger is, of course, only to the ignorant, and 

 children ought always to be warned against eating 

 tempting-looking berries that they may happen to 

 find. 



Lactuca virosa and L. scariola may be named as 

 highly-poisonous members of the Composite family, 

 whose milky juice acts like opium. 



Daphne mezereum, spurge laurel, of the order 

 Thymelacere, is yet another highly-poisonous plant to- 

 be added to the lis'. Daphnin is found in all 

 parts of the plant, but especially in the root, bark, 

 and bright red berries. In a paper on poisonous 

 plants the Fungi must not be overlooked, as the 

 number of poisonous species are many, and their 

 dangerous properties extremely virulent. They con- 

 tain much nitrogen, and aie rich in phosphates. 

 Bright-coloured fungi should, as a rule, be avoided, 

 also those whose juice is milky, or .that have a power- 

 ful odour, or an acrid, astringent, salt or bitter taste. 

 With regard to fungi, it might be well to follow the 

 example of the young French lady who, when invited 

 to partake of some strange dish, declined, remarking 

 that she only "ate her acquaintance," for even the 

 common mushroom may be sometimes poisonous, 



and is avoided both in France and Italy. 



M. D. D. 

 Hawkshead, Ambleside. 



SECRETING GLANDS IN THE FEET 

 OF FLIES. 



IN warm summer weather myriads of small flies, 

 of the genus Hilara, may be seen in constant 

 motion over streams of water ; their movements are 

 various and very difficult to follow. The males of 

 these insects have the first, and in some species the 

 second joints of the anterior tarsi much dilated. The 

 first joint is the largest, and varies both in size and 



