and to the smell and taste they are in no degree re- 
pugnant. In consequence of these circumstances, 
children have very frequently fallen victims to their 
deleterious effects ; the plant should, therefore, be 
known, that it may be wholly eradicated from ex- 
posed situations. 
The Belladonna is supposed to have been the plant 
which the Roman soldiers, urged by hunger, ate in 
the Parthian war. Plutarch tells us, that on this oc- 
casion it produced loss of the memory and senses ; 
and that the unfortunate victims to it, were prone to 
move every stone that they met with, as though in 
some important pursuit; till, ultimately, the poison 
subdued their strength, and they died. 
Buchanan also relates, that the Scots mixed the 
juice of this plant with the food which they supplied 
to the Danes, their invaders. It had an intoxicating 
effect, and the Scots became their destroyers. 
Under the influence of this poison the sensibility 
of the stomach is greatly decreased, and emetics 
lose much of their usual power. The stomach pump, 
and sulphate of zinc, should be first resorted to ; vine- 
gar, afterwards, in copious draughts, is recommend- 
ed for relieving the system from the effects of the 
poison. 
Mr. Brandes, in his recent chemical researches, 
analyzed this plant, and obtained a crystalized pro- 
duct, which he calls atropia; but the malignant va- 
pour generated during the process, obliged him to 
relinquish his experiments on it. 
Its medicinal properties, used both externally and 
internally, have been found efficacious in cancerous 
and scorphulous sores and tumours. 
Hort. Kew. 2, v. 1, 392. 
