Flora Medica

NICOTIANA.NICOTIANA.Calyx tubular, 5-cleft. Corolla funnel-shaped or hypocrateriform,with a 5-cleft plaited spreading limb. Stamens declinate.Stigma capitate. Capsule 2- (or many-) celled, 2-valved, openingby 4 points.1081. 13.TabacumLinn.sp.pl. 258. Woodv. t. 60. S.andC. t. 37. Bigelow med. hot. ii. t. 40. R. and S. iv. 315.Lehm. nicot. No. 4. N. macrophylla Lehm. nicot. No. 3. N. latissimaMill. diet. No. 1. Hotter parts of America. (CommonTobacco.)Root long, fibrous. Stem 5 or 6 feet high, erect, round, hairy, andviscid, branching at top. Leaves sessile, very large, ovate or lanceolate,acuminate, viscid, pale green. Bracts linear, acute. Flowers panicledon the ends of the stem and branches. Calyx swelling, hairy, glutinous,half as long as the corolla, ending in 5 acute segments. Corolla funnelshaped,swelling toward the top, the border dull red, expanding, with5 acute lobes. Filaments inclined to one side, with oblong anthers.Ovary ovate, style long and slender, stigma cloven. Capsule ovate,invested with the calyx, 2-celled, 2-valved, but opening crosswise attop, loculicidal. Seeds very numerous, small, somewhat reniform,attached to a fleshy receptacle. This species yields the Virginian,Havannah, and pigtail tobaccos of the shops, and probably the principalpart of that which comes from India in the form of cheroots. It is apowerful stimulant narcotic, employed medicinally as an errhine, ininfusion as an expectorant and sedative, and in vapour both as anantispasmodic and to bring on nausea and fainting. Tobacco enematahave been found useful in relaxing the parts implicated instrangulatedhernia, but the remedy is dangerous. When chewed it appears to actdeleteriously, impairing the appetite and bringing on torpor of the gastricnerves. Although if smoked in moderate quantities it acts as a harmlessexcitant and sedative, yet it is a frequent cause of paralysis whenthe practice is indulged in to excess. Oil of Tobacco, which is inhaledand swallowed in the process of smoking is one of the most violent ofknown poisons. The Hottentots are said to kill snakes by putting adrop of it on their tongues, and the death of these reptiles is said totake place as instantaneously as if by an electric shock ; dangeroussymptoms are reported to have followed the application of the ointmentto scald heads.The whole genus probably participates in the same qualities ; thefollowing only need be particularly noticed.1082. N. rustica Linn. sp. pi. 258. Lehm. nicot. 13. Plenckt.offic. pi. 100. South of Europe, Levant, Africa andAmerica.An annual. Stem round, erect, 2-3 feet high, covered with fetidglutinous hairs. Leaves stalked, roundish ovate, entire, sometimesrather cordate. Flowers green. Tube of the corolla cylindrical, longerthan the calyx; limb rather concave, with rounded obtuse segments.Syrian and Turkish Tobaccos are prepared from this species, which ismuch more mild in its operation than the last.513 L L