Dulcamara. Dulcamara. The young branches, dried, of Sola-num Dulcamara, Woody Nightshade or Bitter-Sweet; Lin. Syst., Pentandria monogynia; indigenous, growing in hedges.

Description. The dried twigs are met with in small cylindrical pieces, 1 or two inches long, about the size of a goose quill; of a brown colour externally, pale within, light from containing much pith: the twigs should be collected in autumn, when devoid of leaves.

Prop. & Comp. Without odour; of a sweetish-bitter taste; contains an alkaloid Solania (C86 H70 No32 ?) crystallizing in white pearly scales or needles; insoluble in water and ether; soluble in alcohol; found also in Solanum nigrum and Solanum tuberosum. A bitter-sweetish extract, named Dulcamarine or Picroglycion, exists also in the twigs; the acid is probably the malic.

Off. Prep. Infusum Dulcamarae. Infusion of Dulcamara. (Dulcamara, one ounce; boiling distilled water, ten fluid ounces.)

Therapeutics. The real action of dulcamara is unknown; it does not dilate the pupils or produce dryness of the throat like belladonna, henbane, or stramonium, but it seems to act on the skin and kidneys; it has been employed chiefly in chronic skin diseases, as lepra and psoriasis; occasionally it has been used in cachectic states of the system, as an alterative, as in syphilis.

Dose. Of the infusion, 1 fl. oz. to 4 fl. oz., or more.

Belladonna. Belladonnoe. [Belladonna folium. The leaves of Atropa Belladonna. U. S.] The recent and dried leaf of Atropa Belladonna, or Deadly Nightshade; Lin. Syst., Petandria monogynia; indigenous, growing in woods and gardens.

Belladonnae Radix. Belladonna Root. The dried root of Atropa Belladonna.

Atropia. A crystalline alkaloid, prepared from the root of Belladonna.

Description. The leaves are large, ovate, entire, smooth, and soft, foetid when bruised; placed in pairs, unequal in size; the flowers are of a dirty violet brown; the root is from 1 to 2 feet long, from 1/2 an inch to 2 inches thick, tapering, and branched; its colour is brownish white. The uncultivated plant is stated to be preferable to the cultivated.

Prop. & Comp. All parts of the plant contain the officinal alkaloid, Atropine (C34 H23 No6), which occurs in white crystalline acicular prisms; soluble to some extent in water, much more so in ether and alcohol; its solution in water has an alkaline reaction, yields a citron-yellow precipitate with terchloride of gold, and has a bitter taste. If pure, it dissolves completely in ether, and is entirely dissipated by heat. Atropine probably exists in the plant in combination with malic acid. Other principles have been described, as Belladonnine, etc, but little is known about them.

Of . Prep. - Of the Leaves. (Belladonna.) Extractum Belladonnae. Extract of Belladonna. (A green extract prepared from the juice of the leaves and young branches of belladonna.)

[Extractum Belladonnae Alcoholicum. U. S. Six pints of tincture are obtained from twenty-four troy ounces of belladonna leaves, by percolation with diluted alcohol, and evaporated in a water-bath to the consistence of an extract.]

Emplastrum Belladonnae. Belladonna Plaster. (Extract of belladonna, three ounces; soap plaster, one ounce and a half; resin plaster, one ounce and a half.) [Alcoholic Extract of Belladonna, a troy ounce; resin plaster, two troy ounces. U. S.]

Tinctura Belladonnae. Tincture of Belladonna. (Belladonna leaves, in coarse powder, one ounce; proof spirit, one pint. Prepared by maceration and percolation.)

This tincture has about half the strength of Tincture Belladonnae, Lond. 1851, Dub. 1850.

[Two pints of tincture are procured from four ounces of Bella-donna leaf, by percolation with diluted alcohol. U. S.]

Unguentum Belladonna. Belladonna Ointment. (Extract of belladonna, eighty grains; prepared lard, one ounce.) [Extract of belladonna, sixty grains; water, half a fluid drachm; lard, a troy ounce. The extract is first rubbed with the water and then with the lard. U. S.]

Off. Prep. - Of the Boot. Atropia. This alkaloid is prepared by exhausting the recently dried root with rectified spirit, precipitating the colouring and other matters by means of lime, and removing the excess of lime by sulphuric acid. Three-fourths of the spirit are then distilled off, water added, and the liquid evaporated till it no longer smells of alcohol. A solution of carbonate of potash is then added to render the fluid nearly neutral; it is set aside for six hours, and filtered. The filtrate is rendered strongly alkaline with carbonate of potash, and shaken up well with chloroform; the chloroform is allowed to subside, and is then drawn off and evaporated on a water bath; the residue is dissolved in warm rectified spirit digested with a little animal charcoal; filtered; and allowed to evaporate, and set aside to cool till crystals are obtained.

Linimentum Belladonnae. Belladonna Liniment. [Not officinal in U. S. P.] (Made by exhausting, by maceration and percolation, belladonna root with rectified spirit, and afterwards adding a little camphor. Each fluid part of the liniment represents a solid part of the root.)

Of Atropine. Liquor Atropiae. [Not officinal in U. S. P.] Solution of Atropia. (A solution of atropia in water, with the addition of one-eighth of rectified spirit.) One ounce contains four grains of the alkaloid.

Unguentum Atropiae. Ointment of Atropia. [Not officinal in U. S. P.] (Eight grains of atropia dissolved in spirit and made into an ointment, with one ounce of lard.)

Therapeutics. Applied to the eye, belladonna, or any of its preparations, causes dilatation of the pupil, a topical effect only; when applied to a painful part, relief is often afforded. Taken internally in small doses, the first effect noticed by the patient is dryness of the throat, thirst, and a difficulty of deglutition; if continued, or given in larger doses, the vision becomes impaired, and the pupils dilated. The alteration of vision appears to be due to the production of presbyopia from want of adjusting power of the eye, and not to diminished sensibility of the retina: the further effects produced by the drug are seen in the excitement of the excito-motory system, and of the mental faculties, and delirium, generally of a harmless character, accompanied with intense thirst, ensues; beyond this, belladonna produces redness of the skin, convulsions, coma, and death. The effects of Atropia are identical with those of the plant itself.