io8 



HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



plant without any evil effects. The most powerful 

 parts of the plant seem to be its leaves and seeds, 

 and they will soon cause, in man, giddiness, stupor, 

 and delirium, but seldom death. As a remarkable 

 instance of its effect, I may quote a case, recorded by 

 Dr. Houlton, in which the roots were eaten by the 

 inmates of a monastery for supper. All who had 

 partaken of them were more or less affected during 

 the night and following day. With some, the actions 

 induced were rather ludicrous. One monk got up at 



Fig. 68. — Dog's Mercury [Mercurialis annua 



midnight, and tolled the bell for matins, while of 

 those who obeyed the summons, some could n A read, 

 others repeated what was not in their breviaries, and 

 many were seized with the strangest hallucinations. 

 Ky injection of the extract the hen-bane becomes 

 toxic to a higher degree, and it then affects even 

 animals otherwise not subject to its influence. 



[Datura stramonium). Though not a native 

 plant in Britain, the thorn-apple is sometimes found 

 as an "escape," in the neighbourhood of gardens. 

 The whole plant has an unpleasant, stupefying smell, 

 and is highly toxic : in fact, it is the most poisonous 



of the nightshade tribe. The action which this plant 

 exerts on the nervous system, the delirium it causes, 

 and the hallucinations it gives rise to, explain the 

 effects obtained by its means by the sorcerers of the 

 Middle Ages, and which earned for it the name of 

 devil's apple. Another species of Datura " was 

 used by the priests of Delphi to produce those semi- 

 delirious paroxysms, which they palmed off on the 



Fig. (g. — Portland Spurge [Euphorbia Portlandica). 



multitude as the results or manifestations of divine 

 inspiration." The plant contains, in its juice, two 

 alkaloids, daturine (atropine) and stramoninaa. 



[Nicotiana tabacum, N. rustica, etc.). Tobacco 

 also belongs to the products of this order. It is rich 

 in an oily alkaloid, nicotine, which is a very strong 

 narcotic-irritant poison. One single drop, placed on 

 the tongue of a cat, killed it in two minutes, and two 

 drops injected into a dog speedily caused its death. 

 In its effects on the nervous system, nicotine is 

 directly opposed to strychnine, for whilst the latter 

 excites the nerves up to a tetanic condition, nicotiae 



