DELIRANTS.
NEUROTICS ACTING ON THE BRAIN AND PRODUCING DELIRIUM.
HYOSCYAMUS--BELLADONNA--STRAMONIUM--DATURA ALBA--NIGHTSHADE.
Most of these are not very important substances, as they have rarely
been employed as poisons in this country. Serious symptoms have,
however, resulted from their accidental use.
HENBANE (_Hyoscyamus niger_).--All parts of this plant are poisonous;
but the seeds are more powerful than the root or leaves. In medicinal
doses it is a feeble narcotic. It owes its powers to an alkaloid
(_hyoscyamia_) it contains.
In very large doses henbane produces giddiness, flushings, excitement,
and a sense of weight in the head; the limbs tremble, and there is
general loss of power, the pupils get dilated, there is double vision,
flashing of light before the eyes, and great drowsiness. If vomiting
supervene these symptoms generally pass off; otherwise we may find
fierce delirium, loss of speech, complete loss of power over the limbs,
cold sweats, and exhaustion.
In some instances, when the roots have been eaten by mistake for
parsnips, the symptoms have been those of drunkenness and delirium. Dr.
Houlton states (_Lancet_, 6th July, 1844) that this error was committed
one night at a monastery. The monks who partook of the roots had such
hallucinations that the establishment resembled a lunatic asylum. They
rang the bell for matins at midnight, and those who attended were unable
to read, or they read that which was not in the book. In another
reported case (_Edin. Med. and Surg. Journal_, p. 562, October, 1844),
the roots were put into soup, of which nine persons partook. Although no
unpleasant flavor was noticed at the time of eating, yet very shortly
afterwards all complained of an acrid taste, nausea, indistinctness of
vision, restlessness, delirium, and great somnolency, which continued
some time.
The appearances found after death consist chiefly of great congestion of
the venous system. The lungs and brain have especially been found loaded
with dark-colored blood.
To prevent a fatal result from the use of henbane or others of this
group, we must trust to stimulant emetics, as sulphate of zinc, and full
doses of castor oil, so as to get rid of the offending substance.
_Test._--The only test for hyoscyamus is the botanical characters of the
plant, when taken in substance, and its power (common to all in this
group) of dilating the pupil.
ATROPA BELLADONNA (_Deadly Nightshade_).--Two other plants known under
the name of Nightshade will hereafter be referred to. The Deadly
Nightshade, now to be noticed, is indigenous, and grows in woods and
gardens. The root, leaves, and berries are poisonous, this property
being due to the presence of an alkaloidal principle--_Atropia_.
_Symptoms._--Dryness of the mouth and throat, thirst which nothing
allays, nausea and vomiting, great dilatation of the pupils with
indistinct or double vision, giddiness, palpitation of the heart,
physical and mental depression, perversion of the sense of taste, and
delirium followed by stupor, form the chief symptoms. They may set in
within from half an hour to three or four hours of swallowing the
poison. Sometimes strangury and bloody urine, a scarlatinal kind of rash
upon the skin, a disposition to laugh and talk wildly, fanciful
delusions, a rapid flow of ideas, and difficulty in walking, have been
observed.
A large detachment of French soldiers, halting near Dresden, ate freely
of the belladonna berries. Shortly afterwards they were seized with
nausea, thirst, dryness of the throat, difficult deglutition,
insensibility of the eye, great dilatation of the pupil, delirium, and
coma. Many of the men died before assistance could be rendered to them.
_Post-mortem Appearances._--Congestion of the cerebral vessels, dilated
pupils, red patches at different parts of the alimentary canal, and a
dyed purple hue of the gastric mucous membrane, if the berries have been
eaten, are the most common appearances.
_Treatment._--Stimulant emetics, castor oil, and animal charcoal are the
remedies to trust to.
Dr. Taylor refers to one case in which a young man poisoned himself with
two grains of _atropia_. He took the dose on going to bed, was heard to
snore heavily during the night, and was found dead at seven o'clock in
the morning.
As a means of diagnosing poisoning by belladonna it has been recommended
to introduce a few drops of urine into the eye of an animal, to see if
dilatation of the pupil takes place.
_Test._--There is no very certain test for _Atropia_ beyond its effect
on the pupils and on vision.
STRAMONIUM (_Datura Stramonium_, _Thorn-Apple_) is an indigenous plant
found in waste places. The fruit and seeds are the most poisonous parts
of the plant. The active alkaloid, named Daturia, has properties
resembling those of atropia, with which it would seem to be almost
identical.
The poisonous effects of stramonium are the same as those of belladonna,
and are to be relieved by similar remedies. When this drug is prescribed
as a medicine it should be immediately discontinued if it produce
dryness of the throat and dilatation of the pupils.
_Dhatoora._--In India the seeds of the Datura alba, a plant which grows
abundantly in most parts, are frequently used for the purpose of
hocussing travellers, in order that they may be robbed with impunity.
The seeds, which closely resemble those of the capsicum, are mixed with
food, and give rise to total insensibility on the part of the recipient,
often with noisy delirium or delusions. Death is not unfrequent after a
large dose, although it would seldom seem to be administered for that
purpose. Its effect may be for the time being to completely alter the
disposition of the individual, and to cause him to give way to all kinds
of foolish notions and antics.
NIGHTSHADE.--The _Solarium dulcamara_ (Bittersweet, or Woody Nightshade)
and the _Solanum nigrum_ (Garden Nightshade) contain an active principle
known as Solania. The red berries of the first-named plant, and the
black berries of the second, have been eaten by mistake; and have given
rise to great thirst, headache, giddiness, dimness of vision, dilated
pupils, convulsions, vomiting, and purging. Orfila relates the cases of
three children who died from eating the berries of the Solanum nigrum,
after suffering from vertigo, dilated pupils, nausea, colic, stertorous
breathing, and convulsions.