732 
Indian  Belladonna  Root. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Oct.,  1918. 
sistant  director  of  Kew  Gardens,  Mr.  Norman  Gill,  superintendent 
of  the  Kumaun  Government  Gardens,  on  learning  that  the  Indian 
belladonna  was  considered  in  this  country  as  rather  richer  in  alka- 
loid than  the  home-grown  product,  remarks,  in  his  reply,  which  I 
have  kindly  been  permitted  to  see  at  Kew :  "  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  its  superior  quality,  if  any,  is  due  more  to  the  climate,  altitude, 
and  the  nature  of  the  soil  than  to  any  particular  variety.  As  far  as 
I  can  remember  our  belladonna  resembles  botanically  the  specimens 
I  collected  in  the  woods  near  Pains  wick,  Gloucestershire,  in  1908, 
when  at  home  on  leave.  I  have  never  come  across  a  wild  specimen 
in  this  country,  and  the  plant  is  unknown  to  the  natives  of  these 
parts. 
"As  far  as  I  am  aware,  we  are  the  first  to  supply  the  Indian 
market  with  cultivated  belladonna.  About  1,000  lbs.  of  the  dried 
leaves  and  roots  were  supplied  last  year  to  Messrs.  Smith,  Stani- 
street  &  Co.,  of  Calcutta,  who  may  have  shipped  them  to  England. 
The  only  other  source  of  belladonna  from  this  country,  is,  I  think, 
from  Kashmir.  This  finds  its  way  into  the  Calcutta  market,  and 
is  evidently  collected  from  wild  plants." 
There  is  thus  evidence  that  both  cultivated  Afro  pa  Belladonna 
root  of  European  origin,  and  wild  root  of  Himalayan  origin,  have 
apparently  been  exported  to  England. 
I  have  subsequently  learned  from  Messrs.  B.  K.  Paul  &  Co.,  of 
Calcutta,  that  "  the  Indian  belladonna  roots  now  in  the  market  are 
mostly  derived  from  wild  sources  in  the  northwestern  frontier  prov- 
inces and  Kashmir.  The  output  at  present  of  cultivated  Kumaun 
belladonna  is  too  small,  not  exceeding  5  cwt.  of  root  and  2  cwt.  of 
leaves  a  year." 
It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  there  are  two  varieties  of  belladonna 
root  from  India  on  the  London  market,  but  it  is  not  by  any  means 
clear  which  of  those  two  kinds  afforded  the  richer  percentage  of 
alkaloid  claimed  for  the  Indian  root ;  nor  can  it  be  said  to  be  known 
whether  the  Indian  plant  from  the  Himalayas  is  only  a  variety  of 
Atropa  Belladonna,  or  a  distinct  species.  I  have  examined  the  dried 
specimens  of  this  plant,  which  in  the  National  Herbaria  at  Kew  and 
the  British  Museum  is  the  Atropa  lutescens  Jacquemont  (A.  acumi- 
nata Royle),  and  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  it  is  quite  distinct 
from  the  British  plant,  the  leaves  being  oblong-elliptical,  tapering  at 
both  ends,  and  the  flowers  funnel-shaped,  rather  than  bell-shaped, 
of  a  yellow  color,  and  yellow  berries.    Whilst  examining  the  speci- 
