plant may appear to fome, its large glofly, berries are certainly a great temptatl
ore, gentlemen, if they have the plant in their gardens, Ihould never fuffer it to L
Forbidding as this
children ; and, therefore,
its fruit.
It flowers in June and July ; its berries are ripe in Auguft and September.
Numerous inftances of the pernicious, and even deleterious effects of the deadly Nightlhade are on ret} among others, fuch of our readers as are fond of hiftory will not be difpleafed with following account taken from the prolixity 0f| Blairs Pharmaco-Botanologia, #. 81.
“ “in tTenhfee SNoalarrcioutmic kLse,t hwahlei chfe eumfusa ltloy , pbreofdourcee t htehye fame effefts with the Ilyofcyamus, Cynogtbjum, and I affeft the perfoii with fleep, produce delirious “ fymptoms ; however it is an herb of fo pernicious a nature, that^ fcarce any Author who treats of it |
“ from proper obfervation, Or good information, to give difmal inftances of its bad effefts. Simon ||
“ refers us to Lobelius his Adverfaria, and Bodeus a Stapel. Mr. Rays account of what happened!
“ Mendicant Friar, upon the taking a glafs of the infufion of it in mallow, wine, gives a good account q1
« various fymptoms it produces. In a fhort time, he became delirious, after a little (Cachinne) a grinninglauf
« like the Rifus Sardonicus fucceeded; after that feveral irregular motions and at laft a real madntjsl “ fuch a ftupidity as thofe that are fottifhly drunk have: which after all was cured by a draught of vinl « Mr. Miller mentions feveral Children at Croydon, who not long ftnce were poifoned. Another ini
“ of its bad effefts has fallen under my own obfervation : two or three perfons not far from hence, hi
“ got into a gentleman’s garden, were delighted with the black berries of the Solanum Lethale, and eat foil
it fhem : it was very plealant (within a fhort time after) to fee their frantic^ humours, geftures, and fpeel « but upon their taking of emeticks in due time, they were cured. It is worthy of recital what Mrl “ tells us happened to a Lady of Quality of his acquaintance, who having a fmall ulcer a little belol “ eye, which fhe fufpefted to be cancrous; fhe applied a bit of the leaf of this Solanum, which fo rell
“ the ’ Tunica Uvea in one night, that fhe could not contraft the Pupilla the next day, fo that the Pnfim “ the one eye was four times as big as the other ; and upon the removal of the leaf, the fibres recovered! « mufcular tone by degrees: and, left this fhould feem to be merely accidental, fhe repeated the experi « three times, at which Mr. Ray himfelf was prefent.
« b“ raBteudt the moft memorable inftance of the direful effefts of this Plant is to be feen recorded by the I convertB tuhceh manoaftn d, eaind lyh isp oHifioftnosr yin otof thSec oftiltatenfdt , anbtyid owtehsi,c hf owr teh omfea yw hoobmfe rhvee hahso wa mthined A tlom ighty God| preferve. I
it obliges me to make a digreffion, not altogether unfuitablej finee it gives the botanical defcriptionj “ Plant, writ about a hundred and fifty years ago, by one who himfelf was no profeffed Botahijl, thj *e made of it, and the wonderful effefts it produced.
*c “ in the reign of Duncan I. King o f Scotland (who* was afterwards murdered by Mackbeth the 7j| « Hbraortohledr ,t haet Dthaen fea minev atdiemde Einnvgaladnedd, not long before the days of King William the Conqueror: Sawil “ obliged the Scotland. Upon his landing in Fife, he obtained a fignal victory, \| King of Scotland, with the remainder of his routed forces, to retire to Bertha (an ancient! « of great note fituated on the river Tay, which was not long after deftroyed by an inundation, an® « of whofe ruins the town of Perth was built, and now ftands upon the fame river, two miles near! ** fea) and purfued them fo clofely, that he laid fiege.to the town both by land and water. The ScotM “ put to great ftraits, not for want of provifions, but for want of men to repel the befiegers. King Du
“ was a peaceable unaftive man; he had fometime before committed the government to the- managema
“ Bancho, of a cunning and fubtle wit; and to Mackbeth, of a fierce, bold, afpinng fpirit Mac! “ went to the country to raife a reinforcement, while Bancho treated with the enemy, and nrlt obtain *« ceflation of arms, and then fpun out time by framing of articles of peace. The Danes wanted proviH “ but abounded with men; the Scots abounded in provifions, but wanted men. The truce was
“ acceptable to both, efpecially to the Danes, who. for the prefent expefted plenty of all thing^ an f
** future the conqueft or a whole kingdom. Care was immediately taken by the Scots to artorc t k
*t manner of liquors, both wine and ale, and they continued to mix with them a good quantity Qj “ Deadly Nightlhade (this Solanum Lethale, or Somniferum)' of which we now treat. The bait too l « Ddraunnikse dnrnaenfsk, ptlheen tifully, and were all intoxicated: mad with this poifonous juice, and alleep t o Scots fell upon them, killed the moft part, and, with much ado, a few remaining a
“ their veflels, while their befotted King was carried, like a fack-load, updn a beaft. down to the river, i ** there were fcarce failors enough favea from the {laughter to man the veffel's.,
wiDthoeuetr rinecge irveilnagt easn, yt hhaut rat :f raienndd Hofa hlilse, ra mDern. tMionesd lehyis, hhaavsi nfegv efreaeln t iam ems eedaitceanl tfhturedee not ri w^a.llro w r'ie ^jI is probable that thefe berries will not kill, unlefs many are eaten, but perhaps this poifon, Hite many h
may aft differently on different conftitutions.
vomViintiengga, r ahrea sm bofete tno breec doempmenednedde do na.s aInn acnatfiedso wteh teore iat sp opiofoifno onf; thbisu tk inpdo wise krfnuolw nev taoc unaatvioe nse, P.a'||0jj tfhiteu amtioedni,c ablu pt rtahfet ietifofenfetr owfi ellm beet ijcukfst ifhiaesd bine ena kbnoolwd np troaf tbicee l,e ffloern ehdi sb pya tthieen tp oisi fonno,t foon ltyh aitn ao uvr y --1 Emetick Tartar have been fcarcely fufficient to excite vomiting.
fmMalia ndyo ffeusb, fItaknilcfeusll,y wexhhicihb itiend ,l ahragvee qbueaennt iftioeusn; do er xitnrejumdeiclyio eufffliyc acaidomusi niinn itfhtee rceudr, eh oafv edi lfperaolevse, da po^^ !
acso mwemlhoans roemtheedr iepsl a;•n tbsu ht avaeft ebre ennu tmrieerdo,u sp atrrtiiaclsu>l atrhlye rein afupcphe ardsi fobrudte rsl itatsl eh ahvoep enso iomf pfruecllcieoins m
Belladonna. ,
beeSnu cdhir easf tewdif,f iw toit hk nthoew vtahreio upsa rftyicmuplatorm dsif etahfeeys ahgaavien ftp wrohdicuhc etdh e oDne abdeliyn ga ntda ktehne, Gmaaryd ecno n^ qaTJ
Obfervations on the Internal Ufe of the Nightjhade, with the 'Supplement; and, B ROM f ie ld j “
Englifh NightJhades, and their Ejfetts, 1.757.
We have feen a goat eat, without injury, the leaves and (talks; and the caterpillar of the B
Roefel t. 39, and BraJJicos Roefel t. 29, feed on its foliage.