DATURA STRAMONIUM. 
383 
§ 449-] 
TABLE SHOWING THE ALKALOIDAL CONTENT OF VARIOUS PARTS 
OF THE BELLADONNA PLANT. 
• 
Quantity of Alkaloids in the 
Fresh Substance, per cent. 
Quantity of Alkaloids in the 
Dry Substance, per cent. 
(a) By 
Weighing. 
(b) By 
Titration. 
(a) By 
Weighing. 
(b) By 
Titration. 
Leaves . . . . 
0-2022 
0-20072 
0-838 
0-828 
Stalk .... 
0-0422 
, , 
0-146 
Ripe fruit 
0-2128 
0-20258 
0-821 
0-805 
Seed .... 
0-26676 
# . 
0-407 
Unripe fruit 
0-1870 
0-1930 
0-955 
0-955 
Root .... 
0-0792 
• • 
0-210 
• • 
Atropine appears to exist in the plant in combination with malic 
acid. According to a research by Ladenburg, hyoscyamine is associated 
with atropine, both in the Belladonna and Datura plants. 1 
From a research by W. Schiitte, 2 it appears that the younger 
roots of wild belladonna contain hyoscyamine only, whilst the older 
roots contain atropine as well as hyoscyamine, but only in small 
proportion; the same was observed to be the case in the older 
cultivated roots. 
The ripe berries of Atropa belladonna nigra and alba contain 
chiefly atropine, hyoscyamine, and a little scopolamine; seeds of 
Datura stramonium also contain atropine, hyoscyamine, and a little 
scopolamine. 
§ 449. The Datura Stramonium or Thorn-apple is also indigenous 
in the British Islands, but, like belladonna, it cannot be considered a 
common plant. Datura belongs to the Solanacese ; it grows from 1 to 
2 feet in height, and is found in waste places. The leaves are smooth, 
the flowers white ; the fruit is densely spinous (hence the name thorn- 
apple), and is divided into four dissepiments below, two at the top, and 
containing many seeds. 
The Datura or‘the Dhatura plants of India have in that country a 
great toxicological significance, the white-flowered datura, or Datura 
alba, growing plentifully in waste places, especially about Madras. 
The purple-coloured variety, or Datura fastuosa, is also common in 
certain parts. There is a third variety, the Datura atrox, found about 
the coast of Malabar. The seeds of the white datura have been mis¬ 
taken in India for those of capsicum. The following are some of the 
most marked differences :— 
1 Ber. der deutsch. chem. Ges., Bd. xiii. 
2 Arch. PJtarm., ccxxix. 492-531 ; Journ. Chem. Soc. (abstract), Feb. 1892, 
p. 231. 
