ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
880
o D*'
be followed, in moderately fine powder, 23.], 3 X.; Proof Spirit, DiJ-gest for fourteen [seven, 23.] days, and strain [strain, squeeze t j a .duum, and filter the liquors. This tincture is best prepared by P e ?^ 0 ation, which may be commenced so soon as the capsicum is mad e ,pulp with a little of the spirit, 23 .]). Dose nix. to f5j. Irinpl 0 )^^the low stage of typhus and scarlet fevers, and in gangrenous sore ^ ^and to prevent the nausea which oil of turpentine is apt to occasi ^p. 716). Properly diluted, it may be used as a gargle, as abo' ctioned.
Other Dietetical, Medicinal, or Poisonous Solanacece.
, 00 -
Hyoscy'amus al'bus (see p. 849) is endowed with properties similar to tb<>s ^ n ,ni'ger\ for which it has sometimes been employed in medicine (Eouquier, A rcde Med. Mars, 1823 ; Chevallier, Journ. de Chim. MM. t. ii. p. 3f>). , a ]lo vVfl *
Mandrag'ora officina'lis, the Mandrake, is an aero-narcotic poison : when sw rp|,eit purges violently (Brandt and Ratzbur %, Deutsch. phan. Giftgewachse, 8. <• 'roots, from their fancied resemblance to the human form, were called anthropoff j 0 fand were supposed to prevent barrenness (Mattbiolus, Comm. Dioscor.) *' ,eTamus communis is sold at the herb-shops as a substitute for mandrake. a n a "
Several species of Datu'ra are employed in the East: their effects and uses a ^ intologous to those of D. Stramo'nium. In 1802 General Gent introduced D. J e Jrj flfrithis country as a remedy for asthma. Tt was employed by smoking it (Ed-..^ -jsd'Sury. Journ. vol. viii. p. 305; Waitz (Wibmer, Wirk. d.Arzn. ii. Gift. Bd. I 1 '- e (Ibidsays, that half an unripe capsule acted violently on a girl. In 1811 Dr. j phy s -
vol. vii. p. 158) directed attention to D.fastuo'sa. Mr. Skipton (Trans- Med- an a0 dSoc. Calcutta , vol. i. p. 121) administered the decoction of the root of this pl*u ’ [).Dr. Adams (Ibid. p. 370) used a tincture (prepared as tincture of digitalis, Ph-Met'el and D. Tat'itla appear to possess similar properties. Both species h a ^ |r .employed, especially in the East, to cause intoxication for criminal and licent' 0poses (Lond. Med. and Phys. Journ. vol. xxv. p. 383-385; and vol. xxvi- £• qvSchubarth (Wibmer, op. cit. p. 300) gave half a pound of the bruised leaves of ^ e ‘. e c-tula to ahorse without effect; twenty-one ounces of the half-ripe fruit cause J[ u pition, increased secretion, and loss of appetite. D. arbo'rea operates like stra(Wibmer, op. cit. p. 285). j v ;tyis
Sola'num ni'grum, or Black Nightshade, possesses narcotic properties, but its ac gfye-not very great. It contains solanina (Brandt and Ratzburg, Deutschl. phan- Jyeidw'dchse, S. 83; Orfila, Toxicol. Gen.) It has been employed in medicine as a re .if.(Gataker, Obs. on the Use of Solanum, 1757 ; PromfieM, Account of the Engl 151shades, 1757). t *e-
Sola'num tubero'sum, or the Potatoe , is, next to the Cerealia, the most imp° r y'fb,getable for dietetical purposes. It was introduced into England, from America , 1 ^by Sir Walter Raleigh . Jhe part employed as . th e
Fig. 181. duced by the subterranean stems, and is called a tuo .j 0 n
parts on it, called eyes, are buds, which, with another P t ^ eof the tuber, are used for multiplying the species, un ce ]lname of sets. The tissue of potatoes is ceUuiar; ea c . o tb econtaining from ten to twelve grains of starch.cells and in the intercellular spaces is an albuminous ^By boiling the cells are separated, the starch grains ^jj s ;the albuminous liquid, swell up, and completely e gbr eS ’while the albumen coagulates, and forms irregU' ar (oeS inwhich are placed between the starch grains. vv diil e
which these changes are complete, are called mealf■those in which the liquid is only partially absorbed ( ,r
coagulation imperfectly effected, are denominatedwatery (Fritzsche, in Poggendoif's Ann. d. Phys. a.
Chetn-
d t0
~ 11 \' 1 “ 1 vyycuuvij a Sinn . u. . — • „[ e cl 1
xxxii. S. 159). Potatoes have been repeatedly subjechemical examination. The most important labours ar „,| )0 fli'of Einhof, Lampadius, and Vauquelin (Gmelin ’s Handb. d. Chem. Bd. ii.; aI1< i 0ri n ’son’s Organ. Chem.) The principal constituents of potatoes, are starch, sfarc-“' ^oii,albumen, gum, acids, salts, and water. The relative proportions vary with the