- pelago, according to Mr. Crawford, this is a common mode of committing
theft and robbery.[1]
It is chiefly the fruit and seeds that have hitherto been examined; but the whole plant is probably poisonous. Brandes discovered in it a volatile, oleaginous, alkaline substance, which he supposed to be its active principle.[2] But, though his observations were confirmed by Bley,[3] it now appears that the real principle is a colourless, crystalline alkaloidal substance, of an acrid taste like tobacco, which was discovered more lately by Geiger and Hesse; this is named daturine, or daturia.[4]
The physiological effects of the extract have been determined by Orfila. He found that half an ounce killed a dog within twenty-four hours after being swallowed, that a quarter of an ounce applied to a wound killed another in six hours, and that thirty grains killed another when injected into the jugular vein. The symptoms were purely nervous, and not very prominent. Hence this poison, like the former, acts through the blood-vessels, and probably on the brain.[5] Bley's daturia proves quickly fatal to small animals in the dose of a few drops. The crystalline daturia of Geiger and Hesse kills a sparrow in the dose of an eighth of a grain, and occasions great and persistent dilatation of the pupil when applied to the eye.
Symptoms in Man.—The symptoms produced by a poisonous dose in man are variable. The leading features are great delirium, dilatation of the pupils, and stupor; but sometimes spasms occur, and occasionally palsy.
Dr. Fowler has related the case of a little girl who took a drachm and a half of the seeds. In less than two hours she was attacked with maniacal delirium, accompanied with spectral illusions; and she remained in this state most of the following night, but had some intervals of lethargic sleep. Next morning, after the operation of a laxative, she fell fast asleep, and after some hours she awoke quite well.[6] In a case somewhat like this, related in Henke's Journal, the child had general redness of the skin, swelling of the belly, locked jaw, tremors of the extremities, and an attitude and expression as if about to tumble into a pit. Recovery took place after the action of an emetic.[7]
In two instances, one related by Vicat in his treatise on the poisonous plants of Switzerland,[8] the other by Dr. Swaine[9] in the Edin. Phys. and Lit. Essays, the leading symptoms were furious delirium and palsy of the whole extremities. In the instances of three children related by Alibert there were delirium, restlessness, constant incoherent talking, dancing and singing, with fever and flushed face.[10] In another recorded by Dr. Young, there were some convulsions, and
- ↑ History of the Eastern Archipelago, i. 466.
- ↑ Schweigger's Journal, xxvi. 98.
- ↑ Annalen der Pharmacie, iii. 135.
- ↑ Journal de Pharmacie, xx. 94.
- ↑ Orfila, Tox. ii. 271.
- ↑ Edin. Medical Commentaries, v. 163.
- ↑ Braun in Henke's Zeitschrift für die Staatsarzneikunde, xxix 177.
- ↑ Orfila, Toxicol. Gén. ii. 247.
- ↑ Edin. Phys. and Lit. Essays, ii. 272.
- ↑ Corvisart's Journ. de Méd. xxiii. 157.
