A\S;  iP9u.rm' }       Alkaloids  in  Belladonna  Plant.  in 
that  the  relative  concentration  of  alkaloids  in  large  and  small  leaves, 
as  found  in  belladonna,  exists  also  in  other  members  of  the  solan- 
aceous  family.  Since  the  small  leaves  are  as  a  rule  younger  than  the 
large  ones,  it  would  seem  that  the  greater  concentration  of  alkaloids 
in  the  former  is  due  to  greater  cell  activity.  It  would  be  expected 
that  there  would  be  a  general  graduation  in  the  concentration  of 
alkaloids  from  the  youngest  to  the  oldest  leaves.  To  determine  this 
point  two  rows  each  containing  about  75  plants  were  selected.  From 
Table  VI. 
Comparison  of  Alkaloidal  Content  of  Large  and  Small  Leaves  from  Individual 
Plants  of  Atropa  Belladonna  and  Various  Species  of  Datura. 
Alkaloidal 
Alkaloidal 
content  of  leaves 
content  of  leaves 
Plant  analyzed 
(per  cent.) 
Plant  analyzed 
(per  cent.) 
Large 
Small 
Large 
Small 
Atropa  bella- 
0.268 
O.418 
donna  : 
D.  fastuosa  No.  29646  
.438 
.478 
Plant  No.  1 
O.342 
O.657 
D.  gigantea  
.165 
.179 
Plant  No.  2 
•743 
.706 
D.  quercifolia  
.228 
.368 
Plant  No.  3 
.685 
.915 
D.  fastuosa  No.  29644  
•423 
•479 
Plant  No.  4 
.840 
.929 
D.  stramonium  inermis  .... 
.221 
•511 
Plant  No.  5 
.864 
.904 
D.  tatula  
.218 
.241 
Plant  No.  6 
.718 
.831 
.277 
.271 
Plant  No.  7 
•537 
•723 
D.  leichardti  
•175 
.189 
Plant  No.  8 
.960 
I  .074 
.190 
•454 
Plant  No.  9 
•775 
.924 
D.  stramonium  (red  stem) 
.176 
.381 
Plant  No.  10 
•570 
.990 
•133 
•475 
.306 
.441 
Average  . . . 
•703 
.865 
.247 
.378 
each  row  8  samples  of  leaves  were  picked,  ranging  from  the  smallest 
to  the  largest.  Each  sample  was  taken  from  the  entire  row  so  that 
leaves  from  all  the  plants  were  included.  By  this  means,  the  factor 
of  individual  plant  variation  was  eliminated  as  much  as  possible. 
The  following  table  shows  the  per  cent,  of  alkaloids  in  each  sample. 
In  row  No.  1  the  average  of  the  first  and  last  four  samples  are 
0.639  anQl  0.308  per  cent.,  respectively,  while  in  row  No.  2  the  aver- 
ages are  0.695  and  0402,  respectively.  It  is  evident  that  if  too  many 
of  the  larger  leaves  are  included  the  sample  will  assay  relatively  low 
and  will  hardly  give  a  fair  indication  of  the  value  of  the  plant.  There 
is  a  natural  tendency  to  pick  such  leaves  because  they  can  be  more 
