This plant is an indigenous perennial, found in many parts of Great Britain, particularly in shady places where the soil is calcareous, in large ditches, and on the edge of hilly woods; flowering in June, and ripening its berries in September. Every part of the plant is poisonous; and numerous instances have occurred where children, and the ignorant, or those suffering from hunger, allured by the beautiful and tempting appearance of the berries, have fallen victims to their deadly power. The root of this plant partakes also of the same qualities as the leaves and berries, but is perhaps less virulent. “Or have we eaten of the _insane root_, That takes the reasoner prisoner.”—_Macbeth._ The inspissated juice (_Extractum Belladonnæ Pharm. Lond._) is also extremely poisonous, when properly prepared; but, as usually met with in commerce, it is of very variable strength; when prepared according to the improved process of _Mr. Barry_, its activity is so considerable that a dose of two grains is followed by unpleasant effects. (_See an account of its effects in the Pharmacologia_, _vol._ 2, _p._ 199.) _M. Brandes_ has lately ascertained that the active principle of this plant is a peculiar alkaline body, to which he has assigned the name of _atropia_. _Symptoms of poisoning by Belladonna._ Shortly after the ingestion of the berries, leaves, or root, of this plant, the patient complains of extreme dryness of the lips, tongue, palate, and throat; the deglutition becomes difficult, and the pupil of the eye immoveably dilated; nausea, rarely followed by vomiting; symptoms of intoxication succeed, accompanied with fits of laughter, dreadful ravings, violent gestures of the body, and continual motion of the hands and fingers; sometimes the patient sinks into a state of fatuity, but rarely of stupor; redness and tumefaction of the face, a low and feeble pulse, paralysis of the intestines, livid spots on different parts of the body, profuse sweats, convulsions, and death. In the cases where recovery has taken place, there has been an insensible restoration to health and reason, without any recollection of the preceding state. _Physiological action of Belladonna._