126 
DATURA STRAMONIUM. 
somewhat paler beneath, sessile, large, egg-shaped, irregularly 
angulated, pointed, and spring from the divisions of the stem and 
branches on long cylindrical footstalks ; the flower consists of one 
large funnel-shaped petal, rising on a short footstalk from the 
divisions of the branches, having a long tube, and a spreading, pen- 
tagonal limb, of a pure white, but occasionally having a tinge of 
purple or violet ; at night the upper leaves rise up and enclose the 
flowers ; the filaments are five, awl- shaped ; the anthers are of a 
bright yellow, oblong, flat, heart-shaped ; the style, rising from an 
egg-shaped germen, is erect, filiform, the length of the stamens, 
and supports an obtuse bi-lobed stigma; the fruit is a roundish 
capsule, of a dark green colour, as large as a middling-sized apple, 
and closely beset with sharp spines; it contains two cells a?i,^7oi^ 
valves. .-^ifft 
Sensible Properties. Every part of the Stramonium, and 
indeed of every species of Datura which has come under our 
observation, has a strong disagreeable smell, a taste bitter and 
nauseous, imparting a green tinge to the saliva when chewed : most 
of the animals of this country refuse to eat it. 
Action of Stramonium on the Animal Economy. 
Every part of this plant is a strong narcotic poison, producing 
vertigo, torpor, delirium, loss of memory, excessive thirst, paralysis 
of the limbs, dilatation of the pupils,. ^^^J^^Jpth. Dr. Barton 
mentions the cases of two British soldiers who ate of it by mistake ; 
one became furious, and ran about like a madman, and the other 
died with symptoms of genuine tetanus. Beverly, in his History of 
Virginia, mentions some extraordinary effects produced by the eating 
of this plant, but they have too much the air of fabulous narration, 
or, at least, of the traveller's privilege of embellishment, to be 
recorded here. Dr. Rush gives the case of a child between three 
and four years old, who, having eaten some of the seeds, was seized 
with violent fever, delirium, tremors in the limbs, and a general 
eruption on the skin, accompanied with considerable swelling and 
inflammation : by repeated emetics and purgatives, the symptoms 
were alleviated, find the child ultimately recovered. According to 
the experiments of Orfila, who classes the Datura Stramonium 
among the narcotico-acrid poisons, the effects produce^^b^^^jhe 
use of it are entirely analogous to those produced by Belladonna ; 
the Datura, however, appears to excite more strongly the brain, 
and to produce a more violent general action.* Haller opened the 
♦ Orfila, Toxicology. 
