=Garden Nightshade= (_Solanum nigrum_ L.). This species is described as “one of the widest spread weeds over every part of the globe, except the extreme north and south; varying so much in warmer regions as to have been described under more than forty names” (Bentham and Hooker). In the same way there can be no doubt that, though it must always be regarded as poisonous, this plant varies considerably in toxicity according to soil, climate, and general condition of growth. For this reason the plant may sometimes be eaten in considerable quantities without ill effects, while in other cases it will undoubtedly prove poisonous. Children have been poisoned by the berries, but may on occasion eat them with no other ill effect than a stomach ache, or, if eaten in excess, sickness and purging. The berries “have even been used instead of raisins for plum puddings with no effects out of the ordinary” (Ewart). The plant has also been used in Queensland and elsewhere as a substitute for spinach. In several cases the plant has proved fatal. Gohier gave 3 kilogrammes (6½ lb.) of the green plant to a horse and observed no serious symptoms. Cases of poisoning are recorded for calves, sheep, goats and pigs (Chesnut and Wilcox). According to Lehmann, Schraber and Haller, the berries are poisonous to ducks and chickens. Over thirty years ago the death of a number of cattle in Victoria was recorded as being due to poisoning by this weed. Though cases of poisoning of stock are rare, partly perhaps because the plant is a weed of arable land and partly because animals are likely to avoid it unless starved, _Solanum nigrum_ must be regarded as a poisonous plant, any examples of which may prove toxic. The downy and more prostrate form has been considered the most poisonous. The “Wonderberry,” said to be a hybrid between _Solanum guineense_ and _S. villosum_, which are probably varieties of _S. nigrum_, cannot in England be distinguished from the last named, the fruits of which appear to be edible in some countries and poisonous in others. Greshoff found that fruits of the “Wonderberry” contained more Solanine than the wild English _S. nigrum_ or the Canadian form known as the “Huckleberry,” and hence they should not be eaten. _Toxic Principle._ The Garden Nightshade, in particular the berries, contains the alkaloidal glucoside _Solanine_, of which the formula is considered doubtful. Solanine is readily converted into sugar and the poisonous _Solanidine_. It was isolated from the berries in 1821, and though decidedly active in sufficient quantity is not a violent poison. A small quantity of _Solanine_ is present in the stem and berries, but these are probably less poisonous than green potatoes (p. 54). _Symptoms._ The symptoms of poisoning are apparently much the same in man and animals: “Stupefaction; staggering; loss of speech, feeling, and consciousness; cramps and sometimes convulsions. The pupil is generally dilated.”