Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
July,  1880,  J 
Japanese  Belladonna. 
357 
would  be  likely  to  have  a  stout  rhizome  like  that  of  scopolia,  most  of 
the  solanaceous  plants  of  that  country  being  either  annuals,  or  sufFruti- 
cose  perennials]*like  ^dulcamara.  On  referring  to  Maximowicicz's 
description  of  Scopolia  japonlca^  I  found  that  he  considered  it  to  be  the 
Atropa  Belladonna  of  Japanese  botanists.  Although  Franchet  and 
^Savatier  record  it  only,  on  the  authority  of  Tschonaski,  from  near 
streams  on  the  highest  mountains  of  Nikoo,  and  on  that  of  Tanaka, 
"from  an  unknown  locality,  yet  it  is  well  known  that  the  Japanese  cul- 
tivate several  solanaceous  plants,  and  probably  this  one  among  them, 
«ince  it  is  figured  both  in  the  So  mokou  Zoussetz,"  vol.  iii,  fol.  17 
*(under  the  name  of  Hashiri  dokoro)^  and  in  the  "Phonzou  Zoufou," 
vol.  xxi,  fol.  22  (under  Ro  outo).  It  would  seem,  therefore,  to  be  a 
well  known  plant,  and  may  reasonably  be  supposed  to  be  as  hardy  as 
the  S.  carniolica  of  English  gardens,  and  the  root  might  well  be  an 
article  of  commerce  in  Japan. 
I  entercain  no  doubt,  there- 
fore, that  the  Japanese  bella- 
donna root  which  has  lately 
been  offered  for  sale  in  Europe 
is  the  root  of  Scopolia  japonica^ 
Max.  This  species  differs 
from^  the  European  one  {S. 
carniolica^  chiefly  in  its  more 
acute  leaves,  which  have  con- 
stantly longer  petioles,  in  the 
style  being  curved  or  declin- 
ate  instead  of  straight,  and  in 
the  teeth  of  the  calyx  being 
sometimes  very  unequal.  The 
■Japanese  Belladonna  Koot.^TVt  left  hand  fig-  ^^^5^  unknown.  In  size  the 
ure  represents  the  root,  the  right  hand  one 
the  twisted  rhizome,  and  the  central  one  a  Japanese  plant  equals  robust 
transverse  section  of  the  rhizome  with  the  specimens  of  the  European 
vascular  bundles  more  marked  than  usual.         ^     ^  ^ 
species. 
The  rhizome,  as  met  with  in  commerce,  varies  in  length  from  2  to 
4  or  5  inches,  and  on  the  average  is  \  inch  in  diameter,  cylindrical  or 
slightly  compressed,  rarely  branched,  knotty  and  more  or  less  bent  and 
•marked  on  the  upper  surface  with  circular,  disc-like  scars,  where  the 
^  Max.,  "Mel,  Biol  in  Bull  de  TAcad.  Imp.  des  Sc  de  St.  Petersbourg,"  vol.  viii, 
jp.  629. 
