Solanea.

BELLADONNA PURPUREUS.

BELLADONNA LILY.

Class VI. HEXANDRIA. Order 1. MONOGYNIA.

Gen. Char. Leaves, hiemal, arcuate. Scape, autumnal, before the leaves. Umbel, many-flowered, pedunculated, divaricate.

Germen, triangularly obovate. Tube, narrow, funnel-shaped.
Anthers, incumbent.

Spe. Char. Leaves, lorate-linear, channelled. Perianth, funnelshaped. Segments, acuminate, recurvedly spreading.

THIS species of the Belladonna, has a thick, whitish root, which is perennial, and sends forth strong branched, purple-colored stems, from four to six feet in height; the leaves are of unequal size, entire, oval, pointed, and stand in pairs, upon short footstalks; the flowers are of a light pink color, but striped with a purple red, large, pendent, bell-shaped, furrowed, and the limb cut into five segments. The whole plant is covered with very fine hairs or down. The flowers appear in June or July; but the seeds are not ripe till September, when they acquire a shining black color. It grows in shady and stony waste grounds, but is not very common in any country except China. A few plants have been sent to this country, but will not flower unless kept in the hot-houses, and with great care.

Whether this plant is the "king of poisons," as mentioned by Dioscorides, or not, botanists have not yet ascertained; but it has certainly been long known by the Chinese, as a strong poison, of the narcotic kind; and the berries, though less powerful than the

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leaves, furnish us with numerous instances of their deleterious and fatal effects, acting upon children, in all respects similar to those of the Atropa belladonna. The number of these berries necessary to produce deleterious effects, may probably depend upon the state of maturity in which they are eaten. If not more than three or four be swallowed, according to Haller's account, no very serious consequences are apprehended; but, when a greater number of the berries are taken into the stomach, scarcely half an hour elapses before violent symptoms supervene; snch as vertigo, delirium, great thirst, painful deglution, and retching, followed by furor, stridor dentium, and convulsions; the eyelids are drawn down, the uvea dilated and immovable; the face becomes red and tumid, and spasms affect the mouth and jaw; the general sensibility and irritability of the body suffer such great diminution, that the stomach often bears large and repeated doses of the most active emetics, without being brought into action; the pulse is small, hard, quick, and subsultas tendinum, risus sardonius and coma, generally precede death. The body being opened, inflammation will be discovered in the intestines, mesentery and liver. We are informed of a case where the stomach of a child was found eroded in three

places. It may be necessary to remark, that vinegar, taken freely into the stomach, has been found very efficacious in obviating the effects of this poison: evacuations should, however, in this case, be always first promoted.

Many other recent facts of the same kind might be quoted from various publications. Ray found, by applying the leaves of this plant near the eye, a remarkable relaxation of the uvea was produced. Sauvages supposes that this was the plant which produced such strange and dreadful effects upon the Roman soldiers during their retreat (under the command of Anthony) from the Parthians. They are said to have "suffered great distress for want of provisions, and were urged to eat unknown plants. Among others, they met with an herb that was mortal; he that

had eaten of it, lost his memory and his senses, and employed himself wholly in turning about all the stones he could find; and, after vomiting up bile, fell down dead." The Scotch historian,

Buchanan, relates, that the Scots mixed a quantity of the juice of the Belladonna, with the bread and drink which by their truce they were to supply the Danes with, which so intoxicated them, that the Scots killed the greatest part of Sweno's army while asleep.

Propagation and Culture. All the various varieties of the Belladonna can be greatly improved by cultivation : they require a strong, rich, loamy soil, and shady situations, where, if carefully attended, they will grow to a great size. This plant is not increased by cuttings, like many others, but mostly by seeds, or the berries, which should be gathered when ripe, kept in a dry place for the winter season, and planted early in the spring, about two inches deep, in pots, or in the margin of the garden. If in pots, they require to be watered, in dry weather, every day, especially after they have been grown to some size: a neglect of plenty of water, where they are in pots, will not ensure a luxuriant growth. The roots are sometimes parted, and the plant increased by layers: this should be done early in the spring. For medicinal purposes, the roots (if used) should be gathered late in the fall, after the top has gone to seed.

Medical Properties and Uses. The leaves of the Belladonna were first used externally to discuss schirrhous and cancerous tumors, and also as an application to ulcers. Their good effects in this way at length induced physicians to employ them internally for the same disorders; and we have a considerable number of well authenticated facts, which prove them a very serviceable and important remedy. But it must likewise be confessed, that many cases of this sort have occurred, in which the Belladonna has been employed without success: this, however, may be said of every medicine; and though Dr. Cullen repeatedly experienced

eye,

its efficacy, yet the facts he adduces in confirmation of the utility of this plant, are clear and decisive. He says: "I have had a cancer of the lip entirely cured by it; a scirrhosity in a woman's breasts, of such a kind as frequently proceeds to cancer, I have found entirely discussed by the use of it; a sore a little below the which had put on a cancerous appearance, was much mended by the internal use of the Belladonna; but the patient having learned somewhat of the poisonous nature of the medicine, refused to continue the use of it, upon which the sore again spread, and was painful; but, upon a return to the use of the Belladonna, it was again mended to a considerable degree: when the same fears again returning, the use of it was again laid aside, and with the same consequence of the sore becoming worse. Of these alternate states, connected with the alternate use of, and abstinence from, the Belladonna, there were several which fell under my own observation."

The sensible effects produced by the leaves of this plant, taken in medicinal doses, are usually by the skin, the urinary passages, and sometimes by stool; in larger doses, troublesome dryness of the mouth and throat, giddiness, and dimness of sight are experienced. That the advantages derived from the internal use. of Belladonna are only in proportion to the evacuations effected by it, is a conclusion we cannot admit, as sufficiently warranted by the facts adduced upon this point.

As this plant has always been considered rather uncertain in its operations, it is with difficulty that we can direct what would be a proper dose: the most prudent manner, however, of administering it, is by beginning with one grain or less, and gradually increasing, according to its effects. Five and six grains are considered a very large dose.