Forbidding as this plant may appear to feme, its large _gloff]| ^ 'ftould^nevS' fliflkrT 'to' "ripen 
children ; and, therefore, gentlemen, if they have the plant in their gardens, tno r 
its fruit. 
It flowers in June and July ; its berries are ripe in Augufl and September. 
Numerous inflances of the pernicious, and even deleterious efiefts of the deadly ^S*?tfltafle the 
among others, fuch of our readers as are fond of h.flory will not be dtfpleafed with the prolixity ot 
following account taken from Blairs Pharmaco-Botanologia, p.oi. 
« The Solanum Lethale feems to produce the fame effects with the Hyofcyo.rn.us, 
“ intenfe Narcoticks, which ufually, before they affeci the perfon with fleep, produce dekr 
•' fymptoms ; however it is an herb of fo pernic.ous a nature that Icarce 
from proper obfervation, or good information, to give dtfmal inflances of its bad effefta. Smon^auU 
“ refers us to Lobelias his Adver/arm, and Bodeus a Stapd. Mr. Ray s account of P p G f t h e 
Mendicant Friar, upon the taking a glafs of the infuflon of it tn mallow mm, gives a good account of the 
■■ various fymptoms it produces. In I foot* time, he became delirious, after a little (Cachinne) a gnnmn| laughter 
■■ like the Rifus Sardonicus fucceeded ; after that feveral irregular motions ; and at lafl a rea ‘ h “f v ^ e ^ ar 
•• fuch a ftupidity as thofe that are fotttlhly drunk have i which after all was cured by a draught of vinegar 
“ Mr. Miller mentions feveral Children at Croydon, who not long fince were P°tfe«d. Another mflance 
“ of its bad effeas has fallen under my own obfervation : two or three perfluis not far from hence having 
<■ got into a gentleman’s garden, were delighted with the black berries of the Solanum Lethale, and eat feme of 
fhetn” it w S as very pleafant (within a fhort time after) to fee their frantic, humours, gefture , a "d fpeedies 
“ but upon their taking of emeticks in due time, they were cured It is worthy of rectal * Ray 
tells us happened to a Lady of Quality of Ins acquaintance, who having a Email ulcer a little below her 
“ eye, which ! (he fufpeaed to' be cancrous ; Ihe applied a bit of the leaf of this Solanum which lo relaxed 
“ the Tunica Uvea in one night, that Ihe could not contrad the Pupilla the next day, fo that the Pupilla ot 
«• the one eve was four t.mesls big as the other ; and upon the removal of the eaf, the fibres recovered their 
“ mufcula? tone by degrees: and! left this fhould feem to be merely accidental. Hie repeated the experiment 
“ three times, at which Mr. Ray himfelf was prefent. 
« But the moll memorable inftance of the direful effe&s of this Plant is to be feen recorded by the cele- 
’ brated Buchanan , in his Hiftory of Scotland, by which we may obferve how the Almighty God can 
! convert the moft deadly poifons into the fitted antidotes, for thofe whom he has a mind to preierve. This 
: obliges me to make a digreflion, not altogether unfuitable, fince it gives the botanical defcnptxon of a 
: Plant, writ about a hundred and fifty years ago, by one who hlmlelf was no profelfed Botamjt, the ufe 
: made of it, and the wonderful effects it produced. 
“ In the reign of Duncan I. King of Scotland (who was afterwards murdered by Mackbeth the Tyrant) 
“ Harold the Dane invaded England, not long before the days of King William the Conqueror : Siueno, his 
« brother, at the fame time invaded Scotland. Upon his landing m Fife, he obtained a fignal victory, which 
“ obliged the King of Scotland, with the remainder of his routed forces, to retire to Bertha (an ancient town 
“ of great note fituated on the river Tay, which was not long after deftroyed by an inundation, and out 
“ of whofe ruins the town of Perth was built, and now Hands upon the fame river, two miles nearer the 
« fea) and purfued them fo clofely, that he laid fiege to the town both by land and water. 1 he Scots were 
“ put to great ftraits, not for want of provifions, but for want of men to repel the befiegers. King Duncan 
“ was a peaceable unaftive man ; he had fometime before committed the government to the management of 
“ Bancho, of a cunning and fubtle wit; and to Mackbeth, of a fierce, bold, afpinng fpirit. Mackbeth 
“ went to the country to raife a reinforcement, while Bancho treated with the enemy, and firft obtained a 
“ ceflation of arms, and then fpun out time by framing of articles of peace. The Danes wanted provifions, 
“ but abounded with men ; the Scots abounded in provifions, but wanted men. The truce was equally 
“ acceptable to both, efpecially to the Danes , who for the prefent expeCted plenty of all things, and for the 
“ future the conqueft of a whole kingdom. Care was immediately taken by the Scots to afford them all 
“ manner of liquors, both wine and ale, and they continued to mix with them a good quantity of the 
« Deadly Nightlbade (this Solanum Lethale, or Somniferum) of which we now treat. The bait took ; the 
« Danes drank plentifully, and were all intoxicated : mad with this poifonous juice, and afleep through 
“ drunkennefs, the Scots fell upon them, killed the moft part, and, with much ado, a few remaining got to 
“ t h e i r veflels, while their befotted King was carried, like a fack-load, upon a beaft down to the river, where 
« there were fcarce failors enough faved from the {laughter to man the veflels.” 
Deering relates, that a friend of his, a Dr. Medley, has feveral times eaten three or four of the berries, 
without receiving any hurt : and Haller mentions his having feen a medical ftudent fwallow feveral. It 
is probable that thefe berries will not kill, unlefs many are eaten, but perhaps this poifon, like many others, 
may a£l differently on different conftitutions. 
Vinegar has been recommended as an antidote to its poifon ; but powerful evacuations, particularly 
vomiting, are moft to be depended on. In cafes where a poifon of this kind is known to have been fwallowed, 
the medical pra&itioner will be juftilied in a bold praCtice, for his patient is not only in a very dangerous 
fituation, but the effect of emeticks has been known to be leffened by the poifon, fo that fourteen grains of 
Emetick Tartar have been fcarcely fufficient to excite vomiting. 
Many fubftances, which in large quantities, or injudicioufly admininiftered, have proved poifonous, in 
fmall dofes, fkilfully exhibited, have been found extremely efficacious in the cure of difeafes, and hence this, 
as well as other plants have been tried, particularly in fuch diforders as have no impreflion made on them by 
common remedies ; but after numerous trials, there appears but little hopes of fuccefs from the Atropa 
Belladonna. 
Such as with to know the particular difeafes againft which the Deadly and the Garden Nightffiades have 
been dire&ed, with the various fymptoms they have produced on being taken, may confult Gat aker’s 
Obfervations on the Internal Ufe of the Nightjhade, with the Supplement; and Bromfield’s Account of the 
Englijh Nightjhades, and their EjfeEls, 1 757- 
We have feen a goat eat, without injury, the leaves and (talks ; and the caterpillar of th t Phalcena Antiqua, 
Rocfel t. 39, and Brajficas Roefel t. 29, feed on its foliage, 
