The _Lamium album_ (white dead Nettle), a labiate plant, though not of the stinging Nettle order, is likewise of special use for arresting haemorrhage, as in spitting of blood, dysentery, and female fluxes. Its name _Lamium_ is got from the Greek _laimos_, the throat, because of the shape of its corollae. If the plant be macerated in alcohol for a week, then cotton wool dipped in the liquid is as efficacious for staying bleeding, when applied to the spot, as the strongly astringent muriate of iron. Also, a tincture of the flowers is made (H.) for internal use in similar cases. From five to ten drops of this tincture should be given for a dose with a tablespoonful of cold water. The Red Nettle, another _Lamium_, is also called Archangel, because it blossoms on St. Michael's day, May 8th. If made into a tea and sweetened with honey, it promotes perspiration, and acts on the kidneys. The white dead Nettle is a degenerate form of this purple herb as shown by still possessing on its petals the same brown markings. Nevertheless, having disobeyed the laws of its growth, it has lost its original colour, and, like the Lady of Shalott, it is fain to complain "the curse has come upon me." Count Mattaei's nostrum _Pettorale_ is thought to be got from the _Galeopsis_ (hemp Nettle), another of the labiate herbs, with Nettle-like leaves, but no stinging hairs, named from _galee_, a cat, or weazel, and _opsis_, a countenance, because supposed to have a blossom resembling the face of the animal specified. [388] NIGHT SHADE, DEADLY (_Belladonna_). This is a Solanaceous plant found native in Great Britain, and growing generally on chalky soil under hedges, or about waste grounds. It bears the botanical name of _Atropa_, being so called from one of the classic Fates,--she who held the shears to cut the thread of human life:-- "Clotho velum retinet, Lachesis net, et atropos occit." Its second title, _Belladonna_, was bestowed because the Spanish ladies made use of the plant to dilate the pupils of their brilliant black eyes. In this way their orbs appeared more attractively lustrous: and the _donna_ became _bella_ (beautiful). The plant is distinguished by a large leaf growing beside a small one about its stems, whilst the solitary flowers, which droop, have a dark full purple border, being paler downwards, and without scent. The berries (in size like small cherries) are of a rich purplish black hue, and possess most dangerously narcotic properties. They are medicinally useful, but so deadly that only the skilled hands of the apothecary should attempt to manipulate them; and they should not be prescribed for a patient except by the competent physician. When taken by accident their mischievous effects may be prevented by swallowing as soon as possible a large glass of warm vinegar.