The thorn-apple and nightshade are types of a class of narcotics, which, though not largely employed either for their intoxicating effects or their medicinal virtues, are, notwithstanding, extremely powerful in their effects, and, when used, exercise a wonderful influence upon the brain. The majority of them belong to that family of plants, of which, not only tobacco, but the potato, are members; so that, if only from their family connections, independently of any other right, they have a claim upon our attention and respect. Beyond this, even, we shall find them insinuating themselves into the good graces of that portion of the creation who have taken the two members of the family already named under its protection, and adopted them as companions, the one to soothe and console after the hours of labour are past, the other to aid in giving strength to perform that labour, or satisfy the cravings of hunger.

The solanaceous plants have, in general, narcotic qualities. In some species these are developed in a great degree, so as to render them extremely poisonous; in others, they are obscured by the prevalence of starchy matter. In some instances parts of the plant have narcotic properties, whilst other parts are used as articles of food. The Bitter Sweet (Solanum dulcamara) has slightly narcotic properties, and the scarlet berries are considered poisonous. The Common Nightshade (Solanum nigrum) has more active narcotic properties. The Potato (Solanum tuberosum) has slight narcotic qualities in its leaves and fruit, but its tubers are edible and nutritious. The Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna) is a highly poisonous plant, narcotic in all its parts. Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) contains also similar properties. Many species of Thorn Apple are powerfully narcotic, especially the seeds or fruit; this is especially the case with our common thorn-apple (Datura stramonium), with the thorn-apple of the Andes (Datura sanguinea), and of North America (Datura tatula), the thorn-apples of India (Datura metel, D. ferox, and D. fatuosa). Several species of Nicotiana furnish tobacco. The fruit of different species and varieties of Capsicum, which are used as pepper, possess irritant properties which obscure the narcotic action. Other species are used as narcotics, or as poisons, and some, as the Tomato and other Lycopersicums, as articles of food; but the majority give evidence, in some of their parts, of the existence of a narcotic principle.34

The Kala dhatoora (Datura fatuosa) and Sada dhatoora (Datura alba) are very common species of thorn-apple over the peninsula of India, where they are also called mazil or methel. For the purpose of facilitating theft and other criminal designs, the seeds are very commonly given in Bengal, with sweetmeats, to stupify merely, but not with the intention of killing. Intoxication or delirium is seldom produced. The individual sinks into a profound lethargy, with dilated pupils, but natural respiration. These symptoms have been known to continue for two days. The vision often becomes obscured long after the general recovery takes place. Graham says that the seeds are often fatally used for these purposes in Bombay. The narcotic action is more speedy and powerful on an empty stomach than after a meal; hence death often ensues from the effects when the intention was only to produce narcotism.

In some parts of South America, especially in Peru, where a species of thorn-apple (Datura sanguinea) grows wild, the natives, in certain cases, drink a decoction of the leaves or seeds, which produces such violent effects as to cause them to fall into a state nearly resembling death, and lasting frequently two or three days. Every malady is there ascribed to enchantment, and this very singular plan is resorted to to discover by whom the mischief may have been wrought. In cases of extreme illness the decoction is given, not to the sick person, but to the nearest relative, who devotes himself for this purpose, to discover during his sleep the sorcerer or Mohari who has inflicted the disease. The medicine soon causes the relative to fall under its influence, and he is placed in a fit position to prevent suffocation. On returning to his senses he describes the sorcerer he has seen in his dreams, and the whole family set out to discover the Mohari who bears the nearest resemblance to the description, who, when found, they compel to undertake the cure of the sick person. When no sorcerer has been seen in the vision, or no one is found resembling the one which has been seen, the first Mohari they meet with is obliged to undertake the office of physician. Should the patient die during the vision of the relative, the sorcerer whose image is then supposed to be presented is subjected to the same fate.

This plant, which is called “Florispondio” in tropical America, appears always to have played, and still continues to play, a prominent part in the superstitions of the natives. The Indians of Darien, as well as those of Choco, according to Seemann, prepare from its seeds a decoction, which is given to their children to produce a state of excitement, in which they are supposed to possess the power of discovering gold. In any place where the unhappy patients happen to fall down, digging is commenced; and as the soil nearly everywhere abounds with gold dust, an amount of more or less value is obtained. In order to counteract the bad effects of the poison, some sour chica, a beer made of Indian corn, is administered.

It is this same thorn-apple which is used amongst the Andes of New Granada, and even as far south as Peru, for the purpose of preparing therefrom a drink, with very strong narcotic properties, which they call “Tonga.” Dr. Von Tschuddi has given a description of the effects of this narcotic upon an old Indian. “Shortly after swallowing the beverage he fell into a heavy stupor. He sat with his eyes vacantly fixed on the ground, his mouth convulsively closed, and his nostrils dilated. In the course of about a quarter of an hour his eyes began to roll, foam issued from his half-opened lips, and his whole body was agitated by frightful convulsions. These violent symptoms having subsided, a profound sleep of several hours succeeded. In the evening, when I saw him again, he was relating to a circle of attentive listeners the particulars of his vision, during which he alleged he had held communication with the spirits of his forefathers. He appeared very weak and exhausted.”

By means of this plant they believe that they can hold communication with their ancestors, and obtain a clue to the treasures concealed in their huacas or graves—hence it is called huaca-cacha or grave plant. It has been supposed that the frenzied ravings, called prophecies, of the Delphic oracles were produced by this plant, which has been used, as Dr. Lindley asserts, in the temple of the sun at Sogamossa, near Bogota, in New Granada, for the same purpose. Already we have alluded to the Delphic oracles more fully, when writing of the “Sisters of Old.”

The cunning few acquainted with some of the extraordinary properties of certain plants, which were unknown to the superstitious and barbarous multitude in days gone by, had ample means at their disposal for imposing on their credulity, by the performance of wonderful cures, working apparent miracles, and gulling the less informed into the belief that they were either in direct communication with the spiritual world, or had received a divine commission by which to govern. Most of the marvels of ancient times were no greater than the little experiments which the schoolboy now performs for his amusement and that of his companions, with a few crystals and powders, contained in as many pill-boxes.

The pots or gourds, in which cocoa-nut sap to make arrack is drawn off in Ceylon, are sometimes visited and the contents carried off during the night. To detect the thief, the leaves of a species of datura or thorn-apple are occasionally put into some of the pots. By means of the highly intoxicating effect of this compound the marauder is often discovered. On the Coromandel coast the retailers of toddy sometimes rub the inside of the pots with the seed-vessel or leaves of this highly poisonous plant, to increase the intoxicating influence of the toddy.

The phrase “pariah-arrack” is often used to designate a spirit distilled in the peninsula of India, which is said to be rendered unwholesome by an admixture of Gunja, and a species of Datura, with the intention of increasing its intoxicating quality. It is not clear whether the term pariah-arrack be colloquially employed to designate an inferior spirit or an adulterated compound. It is curious that a system of “doctoring” beverages, to make them heady, should obtain abroad, as it does at home, and in both cases perhaps independently: for it does not seem probable either that we borrowed the system from the Hindoos, or that they copied it from us.

While under the influence of these narcotics the mind seems to be subjected to a troubled dream, and the person suffering from it indulges in fits of uncontrollable laughter. Beverley, the historian of Jamaica, quaintly describes the effects of the thorn-apple. Some soldiers, who were sent to quell the rebellion in the island, ate of it: “the effect was a very pleasant comedy, for they turned natural fools upon it for several days. One would blow up a feather in the air, another would dart straws at it with much fury. Another, stark naked, was sitting up in a corner grinning like a monkey, and making mouths at them. A fourth would fondly kiss and paw his companions, and sneer in their faces with a countenance more antic than a Dutch doll. In this frantic condition they were confined, lest in their folly they should destroy themselves. A thousand simple tricks they played; and, after eleven days, returning to themselves again, not remembering anything that had occurred.”

The extract of Stramonium or common thorn-apple has occasionally, when injudiciously administered, produced similar effects upon the individual to whom it has been given, affecting the senses, particularly that of sight. “Imaginary objects are seen to play before the eyes, at which the victim strikes, as they seem to terrify him. And similar results have occurred from the use of the seeds.” Fowler relates a case of a child who supposed that cats, dogs, and rabbits were running along the tops and sides of the room. Dr. Winslow says “that when inhaled, the smoke conveys a sense of gentle tranquillity, the muscles of the thorax, and those which have been called into action to assist them, in the paroxysms of asthma which the smoking is resorted to to relieve, are rendered less irritable and the fibre is relaxed, sleep is induced, but there is rarely any disturbance of the imagination.”

In France and Germany, this plant has been resorted to for the basest of purposes, and many unhappy victims have been consigned to hopeless insanity by its means, details of which would be far more horrible than interesting. Faber also speaks of its use by the ladies of the Turkish harems; but there is doubt whether this is not one of those marvels, of which many may be met with in connection with medicinal agents, containing more of romance than reality. Dr. Ainslie states that the seeds form one of the ingredients of the confection of hemp and opium known under the name of madjoun in India; as henbane is asserted to enter into the composition of that in use under the same, or a similar name, in Egypt. The proportion of either of these when used is doubtless small, and is in most cases dispensed with.

Etymologists declare that the name of belladonna, which has been given to the deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) was so given because those to whom it was administered fancied they saw beautiful females before them.35 There is no doubt that it produces illusions of a singular character, and cases of impulsive insanity have resulted from its use in repeated doses. The effect of belladonna upon the brain is more extraordinary than those usually attendant upon the use of other narcotics. Persons who have been poisoned by the berries of the plant have become restless and delirious, complained of dimness of vision, and subsequently loss of sight. There were observed frequent spasmodic contractions of the muscles of the eyeballs and the throat, with strong symptoms of mania. Six soldiers who were poisoned by the plant exhibited delirium the most extravagant, and commonly of the most pleasing kind, accompanied with immoderate and uncontrollable paroxysms of laughter, sometimes with constant talking, but occasionally with complete loss of speech. Buchanan relates that the Scots mixed a quantity of the juice of 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 greater part of Sweno’s army while asleep.

The effects of belladonna on the brain are well described by Dr. Winslow, than whom no better authority can be desired. “One of the marvellous effects of continued doses is the production of a singular psychological phenomenon. A delirium supervenes, unaccompanied by any fantasia, or imaginary illusion, whose marked characteristic is somnambulism. An individual who has taken it in several doses seems to be perfectly alive to surrounding objects, his senses conveying faithfully to the brain the impressions that they receive; he goes through his usual avocations without exhibiting any unwonted feeling, yet is he quite unconscious of his existence, and performs mechanically all that he is accustomed to do, answers questions correctly, without knowing from whom or from whence they proceed, looks at objects vacantly, moves his lips as if conversing yet utters not a sound, there is no unusual state of the respiratory organs, no alteration of the pulse, nothing that can bespeak excitement. When this state of somnambulism passes away, the individual has not the slightest recollection of what has occurred to him; he reverts to that which immediately preceded the attack, nor can any allusion to his apparent reverie induce him to believe that he has excited any attention. The case of the tailor who remained on his shopboard for fifteen hours, performing all his usual avocations, sewing with great apparent earnestness, using all the gestures which his business requires, moving his lips as if speaking, yet the whole of the time perfectly insensible, has been frequently quoted. It was produced by belladonna.”

The use of this plant has been recommended as a preventive of scarlatina. An instance is recorded of a family consisting of eleven persons who took it for this purpose, in small quantities, twice a day. Five of these persons were domestics. On the fourth day, almost all of them became under the influence of the drug, two or three of them very slightly, simply complaining of having the vision disturbed by objects which they in vain attempted to remove, for they were fully persuaded that they existed. Two had singular fits of laughter which nothing could control. All complained of being in an unusual state. The servants were all of them able to go through their work, but all seemed to act mechanically, each independent of the other. Of this the most ludicrous example was in the course of the fourth evening. A carriage arrived at the street door, and the street bell was rung with considerable violence. They all immediately left their business, quietly walked up stairs as if they had not the slightest idea that they were all upon the same errand. They went to the door; two of them, however, only opened it; one of these walked away without waiting to know what was the reason of the ringing, and the other seemed not disposed to trouble himself with anything beyond the opening and shutting of the door. On the discontinuance of the medicine, they all soon returned to their usual state, and two of them had scarlatina, though only in a mild form.

From this descriptive account of the action of belladonna, and its singular effects upon the mind, approaching to a form of insanity, it will appear strange that this drug should be recommended by Hahnemann and his followers for the cure of insanity. But this is the very principle upon which that school operates.36 That drug which produces, in its effects the worst forms of mania, is the best adapted for its cure. We are not, however, either apologists, exponents, or opponents of homoeopathy, and will leave its supporters to champion their own cause.

Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) is another of these powerful narcotic agents, educing symptoms analogous to insanity. In small doses, its effect is to produce a pleasant sleep and soothe pain. In larger doses, the effects are extremely deleterious. Two soldiers who ate the young shoots dressed with olive oil, became giddy and stupid, lost their speech, had a dull and haggard look. The limbs were cold and palsied, and a singular combination of delirium and coma manifested itself. As the palsy and somnolency decreased, the delirium became extravagant. Others who partook of the same species of plant by mistake were affected in a similar manner. Several were delirious and danced about the room like maniacs, and one appeared as if he had got drunk. A French physician gives an account of nine persons who were nearly poisoned by eating the roots of henbane. The effects of this poison were horrible in the extreme; in five, out of the nine, it produced raving madness. The madness of all these was so complete, and their agitation so violent, that in order to give one of them an antidote, six strong men had to be employed to hold him down, while his teeth were being separated to pour down the remedy. For two or three days after their recovery, every object appeared to them as red as scarlet.

Henbane, which is often administered as a substitute for opium, and in the East occasionally mixed with it, has the extraordinary faculty of producing jealousy. Many authenticated cases are recorded of the power of the leaves, and the fumes of the seeds, over the more intense passions. A disposition to quarrel and fight is decidedly produced. One case is that of a young couple, who had married from affection, had lived upon terms of the most perfect mutual regard—indeed, had been noticed for the warmth and strength of their attachment; but suddenly, to the surprise of the surrounding neighbours, their harmony was not only interrupted, but they became bitter antagonists, fighting and beating each other most unmercifully. What seemed most surprising was, that in one particular room appeared to spring their most determined quarrels, and that they soon subsided elsewhere. This mystery was at length explained, and their days of happiness restored, by the discovery that to the effects of a considerable quantity of henbane, stored up for drying, their miseries were owing, and on the removal of this, the source of their feuds appeared to vanish. Hahnemann, as might be expected, considers this as one of the most potent medicines for the cure of jealousy, since it is so effective in causing it.

The leaves of the three plants lately noticed—namely, thorn-apple or stramonium, belladonna, and henbane—are made up in the form of cigarettes; and the first of these also as cigars, to be smoked by asthmatic persons, for their soothing and sedative effects. These are all made and consumed extensively on the continent, and may be procured in many parts of London. They have also been recommended to those not asthmatical, as pleasant, harmless, and containing all the narcotising influences of a good cigar. They may be considered as truly narcotic substitutes for tobacco; but at the present rate at which they are sold, although not subject to either customs or excise, there is but little fear of their interfering prejudicially with the sale of the genuine article. In face of the facts already detailed, a good amount of courage seems necessary to make the attempt, lest they should prove cumulative in their action. Dr. Christison says, when writing of these narcotics, “The action of such poisons is not always, however, entirely thrown away; they still produce some immediate effect; and further, by being frequently taken, they may slowly bring on certain diseases, or engender a predisposition to disease. A very singular exception to this rule prevails in the instance of tobacco, which, under the influence of habit, may be smoked daily to a considerable amount, and, so far as appears, without any cumulative effect on the constitution, like that of opium-eating or drinking spirits.”

It does not appear that hitherto the leaves of the purple foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) have been used in the same form, or for any other than purely medicinal purposes; but it possesses narcotic powers equal to the others, and, in excess, produces equally fatal results, such as delirium, convulsions, and insensibility. A fatal case which occurred in 1826 became the ground of a criminal trial, in which death took place in twenty-two hours, having been preceded by convulsions and insensibility.

An enumeration of the various other narcotics which enter into combination with other substances in the production of beverages, such as the hop and its substitutes, forming no part of the plan of this work, would be uninteresting without further details. Nor would a list of such narcotics as are used merely in materia medica answer any useful end. Fuller particulars would only convert this into a toxicological treatise, interesting to none but medical students, for whom ample information is provided in the libraries to which they have access.