[Poisoning with nightshade, Atropa belladonna].

Serious poisoning with atropine-like substances may produce symptoms which can be confused with acute psychosis. The diagnosis in a case of acute poisoning may be difficult and diagnostic treatment with physostigmine may be considered. A case of serious atropine poisoning caused by consumption of the fruits of deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) which commenced with psychosis in a boy of nine years is described.

Poisoning due to ingestion of Veratrum viride (false hellebore).

We present six cases of poisoning due to ingestion of Veratrum viride (false hellebore) and review the physiology of veratrum alkaloids. Significant bradycardia and hypotension can occur after intoxication by veratrum plants, which grow widely in swampy areas of the eastern and western United States. Nausea and vomiting also occur typically after ingestion.

Mystery root ingestion.

Patients frequently come to the emergency department or contact a poison center following exposure to plants. These cases are often challenging owing to difficulty in correct identification of the involved plant. A case of two patients who demonstrated anticholinergic syndromes after ingesting an unknown, wild plant is described.

Curing experimental Bryophyllum tubiflorum poisoning of cattle with activated carbon, electrolyte replacement solution and antiarrhythmic drugs.

A slurry of activated carbon (activated charcoal) in electrolyte replacement solution given by stomach tube and antiarrhythmic drugs given parenterally cured 9 of 11 calves dosed 7 to 24 h previously with a lethal amount (20g/kg) of Bryophyllum tubiflorum flower heads. Two of another 4 calves treated 26 to 36 h after dosing with flowers survived. B.

[A brief review on cocaine].

Alongside the much more familiar heroin, cocaine is assuming increasing importance. This one-time cultivated plant of the Indios is thriving again and posing new problems in the therapy of drug abuse. To assist the general practitioner, who is increasingly confronted with drug problems, a brief report is presented on the origins, history, use and effects of cocaine.

[Acute dietary poisoning by white hellebore (Veratrum album L.). Clinical and analytical data. A propos of 5 cases].

Five cases of acute accidental poisoning with White Hellebore are reported. All cases occurred several minutes after the ingestion of home-made gentian wine. The clinical signs were nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, hypotension and bradycardia.

An outbreak of Cotyledon orbiculata L. poisoning in a flock of Angora goat rams.

An acute outbreak of C. orbiculata L. poisoning in a flock of 16 Angora Goat rams is described.

Comparative lethality of coca and cocaine.

The 24 hour lethal effects of cocaine were compared to those of a crude ethanol extract of the coca leaf (Erthroxylon coca) in male, Swiss mice. Various doses of cocaine HCl and coca leaf extracts suspended in a Tween 60, Arlacel 83, and distilled water vehicle were injected IP into groups of 10 mice. The LD50 for cocaine was 95.

Datura stramonium: a fatal poisoning.

A case report of death caused by ingestion of Datura stramonium, also referred to as jimsonweed, thorn apple, or Jamestown weed, is presented. Mass spectral data on urine extracts of a 20-year-old male showed the molecular ions and principal fragment ions of scopolamine and atropine, present in Datura stramonium.

Corked up: clinical hyoscine poisoning with alkaloids of the native corkwood, Duboisia.

Australian native trees of the genus Duboisia contain high concentrations of atropine-like alkaloids, especially hyoscine. Occupational exposure to the dried plant material results in two clinical syndromes: "cork-eye", and being "corked up". Plant abuse, as an intoxicant and hallucinogen, also results in the "corked up" syndrome.

[Atropine poisoning from "health tea"].

A description of the case of a 57 year old woman is given who showed the symptoms of an atropine poisoning after drinking stinging nettle tea. The analyses of the tea specimen proved bad defilements among other things with elements of the "belladonna" (Atropa belladonna). Several similar reports became known recently and it seems to be necessary to discuss checking the purity of the tea species.

Angel's Trumpet psychosis: a central nervous system anticholinergic syndrome.

The authors warn physicians that intoxication by Angel's Trumpet (Datura sauveolens) is becoming more frequent due to its use by adolescents and young adults as a legal, readily available hallucinogen. Ingestion of Angel's Trumpet flowers or a tea brewed from them results in an alkaloid-induced central nervous system anticholinergic syndrome characterized by symptoms such as fever, delirium, hallucinations, agitation, and persistent memory disturbances. Severe intoxication may cause flaccid paralysis, convulsions, and death.

Henbane chewing.

A case is presented of deliberate chewing of the flowers of henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) in the hope of producing euphoria, and an account is given of the poisoning so produced. The case indicates a more widespread use of this plant among the drug-taking community of Australia, and discussion of the case includes a description of the plant and an outline of treatment for the acute stage of the poisoning.