NAT. ORDER. SOLANACEiE. 
47 
even, flat, veined, unequal, and alternately larger and smaller. Ac- 
cording to the account given by Miller, they came out single at some 
joints, by pairs at others, and frequently three or four at the upper 
joints; \he petioles^ ancipital, scarcely shorter than the leaves, smooth, 
those belonging to the upper leaves, vaguely ciliate ; the peduncles, 
lateral, solitary, spreading a little, an inch long, one-flowered, round, 
thicker at the top, and hairy ; Jtowers are inferior. 
This plant derived its name from nola^ a little bell, on account of 
the bell-shaped form of the corolla. It is a native of Java. 
Propagation and Cidture. These plants may be raised by sow- 
ing the seeds on a hot-bed in March, or the beginning of April. After 
they have grown of sufficient size to move, they should be planted out 
singly into small pots filled with light earth, and placed in a fresh hot^ 
bed for the purpose of bringing them forward. When their flowers 
open in summer, which is mostly in July, they should have a large 
share of air admitted, especially when the weather is warm, to pre- 
vent their falling away without producing seeds. Under this manage- 
ment the plants often continue flowering until the early frosts destroy 
them, and ripe seeds are produced in the beginning of the autumn. 
Medical Properties and Uses. At first sight, this family would 
seem to offer a strong exception to the general uniformity of structure 
and property, containing as it does (in the natural order) the Night- 
shade and Henbane, and the wholesome Potato and Tomato ; but a 
little inquiry will explain this apparent anomaly. The tubes of the 
Potato are well known to be perfectly wholesome when cooked, that 
acrid and narcotic property which they possess being wholly dissipat- 
ed by heat. This is the case with other underground succulent stems 
in equally dangerous famihes. The leaves and roots possess both 
poisonous properties, and are but Httle used in medicine. In the time 
of Salmond they were recommended for costiveness, but great caution 
was necessary lest they took too much. 
