There is great reafon to fuppole,ythat at is alfo a native of fome parts of Europe and Afia. 
Authors univerfally agree in attributing poifonous qualities to the Thorn-apple.—BzRG1US, a modern 
writer on the Materia Medica, relates, that the narcotic effluvia of the frefh plant affe&ed him fo powerfully - 
as he was defcribing it, that with the fmell, and chewing a bit of the' plant, he became [lightly intoxicated, - 
as if unaccuftomed to tobacco he had inhaled its fumes. ! SR | 
A decoétion of the herb, feed-veffels, or feeds, have been found to produce different effe&s in different 
conftitutions, but the fymptoms moft commonly attendant on taking this plant, are light-headednefs, profound 
fleep, infanity, madnefs, convulfions, palfy of the limbs, cold {weats, vehement thirft, and tremblings. 
Hater mentions a cafe in which taking of. the feeds proved fatal ; they had been adminiftered for thofe 
of Nigella. | 
\ 
The Chinefe are forbid by law from putting it into fermented liquors, with a view to intoxicate. 
As the moft a@tive poifons,-in proper dofes fkilfully adminiftered, frequently prove efficacious in removing 
obftinate difeafes ; fo this, as well as feveral others, has been recommended for fuch purpofe. Dr. Stork, 
of Vienna, firít propofed it as a remedy for thofe very difeafes it is capable of exciting. 
An extra& made: from. the. expreffed. juice. of the leaves, is acrid and faline to the tafle, and yields 
cryftals of nitre on ftanding. This preparation, given in dofes of from one to five grains, twice or thrice 
a day, is faid to be a very powerful remedy in various convulfive and fpafmodic difeafes, epilepfy and mania. 
The accounts of other praétitioners have confirmed that of the firft introducer, and it has been received into 
fome pharmacopeias. An ointment prepared from the leaves, has been found to give eafe in external in- 
flammations and hemorrhages. 
Emetics and purgatives give the fpeedieft relief in cafes where the plant has been inadvertently eaten, - 
which it is fometimes neceflary frequently to repeat, as fome of the feeds have been found to lodge a con- 
fiderable time in the ftomach, | | | 
