THE CHINA REVIEW.
base, ovate acuminate and usually coarsely dentate. When bruised they emit a fetid odour. The flowers are as a rule white, although specimens may frequently be seen of a distinct yellow colour; corolla infundibuliform, from 3 to 5 inches long; calyx about 2 inches long. The sub-globose capsules are about 1.3 inches in diameter, and rest upon the enlarged flat persistent base of the calyx; they are armed with a number of spines, and split irregularly when ripe. The seeds, which do not appear to be used by the Chinese, are ear-shaped and of a yellowish-brown colour.
The dried flowers, in bundles of various sizes, are the only part of the plant sold by the native druggists. The fresh herb may frequently be seen on the herbalist's stall. The dried flowers weigh on an average four grains each.
HABITAT. This species grows in waste places about villages on the island of Hong Kong, and exhibits a special liking for ground in close proximity to a ruined building. On Stone Cutter's Island, under the walls of the old prison, specimens may be seen growing to a height of about 5 feet. Common also on the neighbouring mainland and about the city of Canton (Loureiro, Reeves, Parker, &c.).
An unusually fine specimen was gathered by one of us in Macao this year. It had a corolla 7 inches long.
In Remarks on the Botany of S. Manchuria by Dr Morrison of Her B. Majesty's Consulate, D. alba is mentioned among other important plants of the N. O. Solanaceae. Writing under date June 6th, 1887, Dr Morrison states, that about Newchwang it is known as Tien ma hua and La pra huo, and that it is applied in the form of an ointment to ulcers and sores. He was unable to ascertain that it was used internally.
COMPOSITION. The plant contains an alkaloid possessing properties similar to atropine. It is usually designated daturine, but, as the identity of the active principle in both the Datura and Belladonna tribes is now completely established, it would be well if toxicologists, in their reports on analyses in cases of Datura poisoning, would refer to the basic mixture isolated from the contents of the stomach or bladder simply as atropine. In the absence of a part of the plant, in the material sent for analysis, that will enable the toxicologist to establish the origin of the alkaloid, it is impossible to say that it is a case of Datura poisoning. There may be collateral evidence that would justify the expert in giving an opinion on this point, but, as a chemist, he cannot go beyond the mere statement that atropine was detected.2 Herr Schmidt, writing on the nomenclature of the alkaloids of Atropa Belladonna and Datura Stramonium, states, should it be desired to differentiate between chemically identical atropine according to its origin, it would be simply to make a distinction between atropine from Atropa Belladonna and one from Datura Stramonium, but not between atropine and daturine.1
The detection of the active principle of Datura may be effected by following the process described under Gelsemium elegans.2 The final product need not however be tested by chemical reagents, because there is no test sufficiently delicate to enable the operator to detect the mydriatic alkaloids of the Solanaceous group, when in the minute quantity usually found in the material sent for examination in cases of poisoning. A neutral solution of the sulphate or hydrochloride of the base should be prepared, and a drop or two applied to the eye. If dilatation of the pupil occurs, a further quantity may be injected into a small animal, preferably a monkey, and the effect noted.
Dr Sydney Ringer has called attention to the fact that certain animals are almost insusceptible to the influence of some of the mydriatic alkaloids. In 1884, during the course of some experiments made in the Government Laboratory with an alkaloidal extract of the flowers of Datura alba, considerable difficulty was experienced in killing a small guinea-pig with hypodermic injections of the base. Herbivorous animals are said to be but little affected by atropine, but it acts as a powerful poison on flesh-eaters.
Med. Plants, III., 192; Fl. Hongk., 245; Pharmacographia, 462; Mat. Med. of W. Ind., 618; Science Papers, 258 and 266; Pl. Journal, (3), XVI., 497 and 540.
9. Datura Stramonium, Linn. THORN APPLE, STRAMONIUM. N. O. Solanaceae. According to David, this species grows around Pekin and at Yébol in Mongolia. We have not met with a specimen, but the botanical differences between it and Datura alba are not such as to render it at all probable that the Chinese distinguish the two.
Our view, that both plants will be found in China under the same or closely allied names, derives support from the fact that in Tatarinow's catalogue (No. 177), D. Stramonium is given under #Fu ch'ieh êrh, a name which, as pointed out by Porter Smith, may either be a mistake or a popular exchange for Feng ch'ieh êrh, one of the synonyms of Wan t'e lo hua (Datura alba).
Porter Smith, p. 84; Soub. et Dab. de Th., p. 190; Planta Davidiana, (1884), p. 221; Ann. Plants, (11), 192. Pharmacographia, 9; Per. Mat. Med., Vol. II, Pt. I, p. 3561.
10. Podophyllum versipelle, Hance. N. O. Berberideæ. C.—Tuk kouk ling. -Tu chio pien.
The discovery a few years ago of two Chinese species of Podophyllum—one in Formosa, P. pleianthum,2 and the other in the Kwangtung province—affords another illustration of the relationship which exists...
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