Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
May,  1882.  | 
False  Belladonna  Root. 
235 
for  identification  from  a  provincial  town.  It  appears  desirable,  there- 
fore, as  the  false  belladonna  roots  are  to  all  appearance  likely  to  be 
distributed  through  the  country,  to  publish  a  figure  of  the  false  root 
and  to  give  an  account  of  the  means  by  which  it  may  easily  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  true  belladonna  root. 
The  root  here  alluded  to  has  been  identified  by  Professor  Fliickiger 
as  that  of  Medicago  sativa,  and  is  stated  by  him  to  be  sometimes  met 
with  on  the  continent  as  an  adulterant  of  belladonna  root. 
In  size  and  color  the  medicago  root  closely  resembles  that  of  bella- 
donna, but  differs  in  the  following  particulars  : 
The  crown  of  the  root  is  divided  into  3  or  4  woody  branches  which 
are  solid.  The  tap-root  is  hard  and  woody  and  broken  only  with 
difficulty.  The  outer  surface  is  more  or  less  covered  with  small  scat- 
tered warts,  and  when  scratched  with  the  nail  does  not  leave  a  white 
mark.  The  transverse  section  presents  a  woody  structure  and  when 
it  is  wetted  the  cortical  portion  is  seen 
to  be  of  a  white  color  with  a  yellowish 
meditullium  traversed  by  a  number  of 
white  medullary  rays  (Fig.  a).  When 
the  transverse  surface  of  the  root  is 
moistened  a  leguminous  odor,  some- 
what resembling  that  of  the  pea,  be- 
comes perceptible,  and  the  flavor  is  sim- 
ilar. The  taste  of  the  root  is  at  first 
sweet  like  that  of  liquorice  and  after- 
wards bitter  and  somewhat  acrid,  irri- 
tating the  fauces. 
Belladonna  root  is  generally  crowned 
with  the  hollow  bases  of  the  leafy  stems, 
and  the  epidermis  is  easily  scratched  off 
by  the  nail,  leaving  a  white  starchy 
spot  wherever  abraded.  The  transverse 
surface  of  the  root  exhibits  a  narrow 
cortical  portion  of  a  yellowish  or  pale 
brown  color,  divided  by  a  dark  line 
from  the  large  meditullium  or  central 
portion.  The  latter  is  also  of  a  pale 
brown  color,  and   shows,  irregularly 
Root  of  Medicago  sativa.—ay. 
transverse  section  of  root^ 
6,  transverse  section  of  bel- 
ladonna root. 
scattered  through  its  substance,  but  more  numerous  towards  the  cor- 
