ANESTHETICS. 
17 
termed, only differs from tlie latter in being produced by arti- 
ficial means. In both cases, the nervous system is more or 
less subdued as in ordinary sleep ; organic functions (respiration, 
digestion, &c.), continue, but sensation is incomplete or annulled, 
and the power of feeling pain often completely absent. The 
manifestations of the intelligence are similar to those in 
dreams. The somnambulist, whether his sleep be natural or 
artificially provoked, will generally answer questions that are 
addressed to him, and in artificial somnambulism, or mes- 
merism, the intelligence is frequently in an extraordinary state 
of activity. This activity is, however, never complete; con- 
sciousness is absent, and though memory is often remarkably 
precise, and certain other intellectual faculties acquire, for the 
time, an extraordinary development, it is absurd to imagine 
that somnambulists have the power of seeing into the future, 
&c., as many persons, unaccustomed to the study of physiology, 
have supposed. 
Certain chemical substances have the peculiar property of 
acting upon the nerves and producing sleep, even when ad- 
ministered in very small doses. These substances act upon the 
nerves, as is proved by applying them directly upon a nerve, 
and induce a nervous state, in which no pain, however violent, 
can be experienced by the person submitted to their influence. 
They differ by this property from all other known substances. 
Some of these compounds are extracted from certain vege- 
tables, others are produced artificially in the laboratory. Plants 
which contain these subtle and powerful agents have been 
marked by the human race for many centuries, but it was 
reserved for modern chemistry to extract the active principles 
themselves, in a pure state, and ascertain their composition 
and properties. Among these plants are the poppy, the man- 
drake, the hemp plant, &c. 
The mandrake (Atrojpa mandr agora) has been used for many 
centuries to allay pain. Eighteen hundred years ago, Diosco- 
rides stated in his writings, that, in his time, it was given “ to 
cause insensibility to pain in those who were about to undergo 
any cutting or cauterizing operations.” These persons, he tells 
us, “ are thus thrown into a deep sleep, and do not perceive 
the pain.” The Greeks and Romans used the root of the plant 
steeped in wine. Pliny also mentions the use of the mandrake 
as possessing powerful narcotic properties, and as being used 
for injuries inflicted by serpents, as well as for surgical opera- 
tions, in order to assure insensibility to pain. Apuleius has 
also spoken of it in a similar manner. 
Atropa mandragora, like the Atropa belladonna (deadly 
nightshade), and other plants of the genus Atropa, belongs to 
the family of Solanea?, which contains also the tobacco-plant 
VOL. II. — NO, V. C 
