84 
THE WOODY NIGHTSHADE, OR BITTER 
SWEET. 
SOLANUM DULCAMARA. 
« Oh! star-eyed Science, hast thou wander’d there 
To waft us home the message of despair? 
Ah me! the laurell’d wreath that Murder rears, 
Blood-nursed, and water’d by the widow’s tears, 
Seems not so foul, so tainted, and so dread 
As waves the nightshade round the sceptic’s head.” 
Were it allowable for man to desire any thing in nature 
to be otherwise than it is, one might wish this poisonous 
plant were clothed in a garb less attractive, and more 
indicative of its deleterious qualities; as the beauty of 
its blossoms and fruit, known to the peasantry by the 
name of poison-berries, often proves fatally tempting to 
children. But, though this is the character of our 
solanum, there are species of the same genus, the fruit 
of which may be eaten with impunity. That of the 
nightshade of Egypt (Solanum sanctum), for instance, 
is in great request for this purpose by the natives. 
