THE

Deadly nightshade, HOMEOPATHIC

devil's cherries, black PREPARATION
cherry, naughty man's
cherries, devil's herb. All parts of the belladonna
plant are gathered for use

Belladonna in the homeopathic

remedy. The plant is crushed
and pressed, and the
The Plant and The History extracted juice is mixed with
alcohol in an extremely dilute
preparation.

WHAT IS BELLADONNA?
This is an extremely poisonous plant,
hence it's common name 'deadly The chemical
nightshade'. Its shiny black berries may substance
look appetising, but many a poor soul atropine in
has met their maker due to an ill-fated belladonna
chomp on the 'devil's cherries'. does affect the
eye, and eye
Belladonna also had a place in the doctors today
witches' potions of medieval Europe. use it to dilate
The plant contains atropine, an the pupils so that
alkaloid substance that causes nerve they can examine the retina.
paralysis. It is used in western medicine Belladonna contains two other
to stop painful spasms. valuable substances, scopolamine and
hyoscyamine, which, like atropine, are
Its botanical name derives from one of sedatives and act to relax smooth
the three Fates, Atropos, who in muscle. Individually or in combination,
Greek mythology cuts the thread the constituents of belladonna
of life. One of the plant's popular (obtained from the leaves and root) are
names is deadly nightshade, and the basic ingredients in a variety of
certainly to use it as a home remedy antispasmodics commonly prescribed
would be deadly folly. Yet despite such today to treat intestinal disorders such
a deservedly grim reputation, this as diarrhoea, irritable colon, and peptic
plant is universally known as ulcer.
belladonna, or "fair lady" in Italian.
According to one story, the name Excessive dosage can result in
comes from the plant's use long ago by respiratory paralysis, coma, and death.
Italian women, who dropped the juice in
their eyes to enlarge the pupils and make
their eyes more beautiful.
HAHNEMANN &
DESCRIPTION AND BELLADONNA
During an outbreak of scarlet fever,
WHERE IT GROWS: three children of four in a family
A perennial, belladonna stands under Hahnemann care became ill.
between two and six feet in height, The fourth, who was usually the first
with two or three branches and a to become ill, remained free from
purplish stem. Leaves are dark disease. Hahnemann reasoned that since
green and three to ten inches long. the child had been taking Belladonna for an affection
Bell-shaped flowers are dark of the finger joints, she was in some way protected
purple. When crushed, the from the infection. Soon afterward, in a family of eight
belladonna gives off a strong children with three already infected with scarlet fever,
odour. All parts of belladonna are Hahnemann seized the opportunity to test the
poisonous in the extreme. prophylactic powers of Belladonna. As he had
Belladonna is native to Europe, hypothesized, all five escaped the disease despite
western Asia, and northern Africa, ongoing exposure to their siblings. Hahnemann
and is now cultivated worldwide. It continued to make frequent use of Belladonna during
thrives in chalky soils, in woods, this epidemic with great success. So great was his
and on waste ground. The leaves success that many old-school physicians adopted his
are harvested in summer, and the treatment protocol and began singing the praises of
root is collected from the first year homeopathic Belladonna. Dudgeon reports on ten
onward in autumn. allopaths of this time who used prophylactic
Belladonna on 1646 children with only 123 cases
Parts used: Pulped leaves and developed. Pretty strong results when the attack rates
flowers. were ranging as high as 90% at the time.