Introduction:

The word 'Atropa' is derived from 'Atropos' whose meaning is "inflexible", the name of the Grat
Fate who cuts the throat of life, and probably eludes the posionous effects of the drug. The word
'Belladonna' is from the Italian 'Bella' whose meaning is 'beautiful' and 'donna' means 'lady'.
Belladonna is one of Hahnemann’s polychrests which has it paramount utility in ACUTE AND
VIOLENT CONDITIONS. The juice of the berry when placed in the eyes sparkles giving a striking
appearance. Its mydriatic properties were first recorded in 1802. The analgesic property was not
recorded till 1860. Hahnemann introduced it in to the Homoeopathic practice.

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Atropa
Species: A belladonna

Description:

Atropa belladonna is a branching herbaceous perennial, often growing as a sub-shrub, from ahy
rootstock. Plants grow to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) tall with 18 centimetres (7.1 in) long ovate leaves. The bell-
shaped flowers are dull purple with green tinges and faintly scented. The fruits are berries, which are
green ripening to a shiny black and approximately 1 centimetre (0.39 in) in diameter. The berries are
sweet and are consumed by animals that disperse the seeds in their droppings, even though the seeds
contain toxic alkaloids. There is a pale yellow flowering form called Atropa belladonna var. lutea with
pale yellow fruit.

Atropa belladonna is rarely used in gardens, but when grown it is usually for its large upright habit and
showy berries. It is naturalized in parts of North America, where it is often found in shady, moist
locations with limestone-rich soils. It is considered a weed species in parts of the world, where it
colonizes areas with disturbed soils. Germination of the small seeds is often difficult, due to hard seed
coats that cause seed dormancy. Germination takes several weeks under alternating temperature
conditions but can be sped up with the use of gibberellic acid. The seedlings need sterile soil to prevent
damping off and resent root disturbance during transplanting.

Common names:

Deadly Nightshade,
Devil’s Cherries,
Devil’s Herb, Divale,
Dwale, Dwayberry,
Great Morel,
Naughty Man’s Cherries,
Poison Black Cherry,
Black Cherry Root

Hindi : Dhatoora
French : Morelle furieuse
German : Tollkirsche.
US name : Poison Black Cherry
Spanish : Belladona
Portuguese : Beladama

Reason for Full Name:

The main active principle of plant is atropine so it is called as atropa. It is called as Belladonna because
it comes from the Italian words meaning beautiful lady, bella means beautiful and donna means lady.
This is probably a reference to the Italian women who used to dilate their pupils by placing a drop of
belladonna in each eye, making them more beautiful in the eyes of Italian men. The word atropa
originates from the Greek word “atropos”meaning inflexible, one of the fates whose duty was to cut the
thread of human life. This plant is very fatal, so the name atropa.

Reason for Common name:

It is also called deadly nightshade. A poisonous plant, Atropa belladonna, of the nightshade family,
having purplish-red flowers and black berries.

Habitat:

Widely distributed over Central and Southern Europe, South-west Asia and Algeria; cultivated in
England, France and North America. Atropa belladonna is an herbaceous perenneal plant with thick
fleshy branched stem 3 to 5 ft. high. Leaves are alternate often in pairs, each consisting of large and
small leaves, green or brownish green, short stalked, mostly 3 to 9 inches long and ovate, stems more
or less hollow and flattened, finally hairy when young. The flowers appear from May to August. In
the axils of many of the pairs of leaves a solitary dropping flower upon a short pedicle is seen. Fruit
 berries ripe in September. It is a poisonous drug. It is commonly found in Europe. In India it grows in
abundance in the Himalayan ranges extending from Simla to Kashmir at an altitude of 6000 to 12000
feet and is also found in Kunawar at an altitude of 8500 feet. Belladonna is still being harvested wild
in some areas, much as it has been for centuries. In the United States, the plant is cultivated in
Pennsylvania, Ohio, California and Wisconsin. Some American farms even export to Europe.

Doctrine of signature:
• Belladonna plant grows nicely in soil containing calcium carbonate. So Calcarea carb
is complementary to belladonna.
• The flowers of this plant are bloated in appearance & this can be used for bloated
condition of congestions.

History:

Atropa Belladonna is speculated to have been used by Juliet, in Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, in her
sleeping potion. According to old legends, the plant belongs to the devil who takes care of it as the need
arises, and only takes a night off once a year. That date is Walpurgis, when he prepares for the witches'
Sabbath. Historically, belladonna derivatives have been used as an antidote to many poisonous
substances, including chloroform, opium, and the deadly insecticide, parathion. The generic name of the
plant, Atropa, comes from the Greek word Atropos, one of the Fates who held the shears to cut the
thread of human life and cause death.

A reference to the poisonous nature of Belladonna. Before World War I, most belladonna came from
wild plants in Southern Europe. At this time, the Belladonna industry was important to Croatia and
Slavonia. The yearly production rate for these areas at that time was thought to be about 60 to 100 tons
of dry leaves and 150 to 200 tons of dry root a year. Today, Belladonna is still a very important plant in
the scientific and medical communities because of the chemicals it contains. All parts of the plant
contain alkaloids, but the highest content is in the ripe fruit and the green leaves. The seeds are
extremely small. As many as 10,000 plants will germinate from one or two ounces of seed. Belladonna
is one of the more notorious poisonous plants; and, although the plant can be a deadly poison, if used
correctly, it can be a beneficial medicine. Some of its components are used in conventional medicine,
especially as eye drops to dilate the pupils for examinations or as an anesthetic. The first recorded use of
the herb was more for cosmetic reasons than therapeutic. The name "Belladonna" means beautiful
woman, and may have resulted from the practice of Italian, Egyptian, and Babylonian women who used
it to dilate their eyes in order to appear more appealing to prospective suitors (not that they could see
who was looking at them!).

Prover: Dr. Samuel Hahnemann

Preparation: Class I (old method)

Constituents

A major constituent is atropine. It also has apoatropine, 1-hyo-scyamine, scopolamine,

Toxicology

The fatal dose of atropine is about 1/50 to ½ grain; the fatel period is from seven to twelve hours.
Symptoms: -- There is dryness of the mucous surfaces, the pupils are dilated and there is delirium; there
is a scarlet rash, the pulse is rapid and small, the respiration are increased and quickened, the
temperature is raised. Peristalsis is increased as the case advances, the pupils are widely dilated, the
temperature falls; the respirations are shallow, and the skin become cold and clammy. There is stupor,
coma, and death from asphyxia.

Physiological action:
• This remedy produces nothing but all symptom of extreme over stimulation of sympathetic
nervous system.
• Symptoms of fright & fight are expressed by restless, sleeplessness, fear and terror. There is
beating tearing, throwing, striking, mania in sanity.
• Atropine acts on parasympathetic nervous system and produces dilatation of pupils, dryness of
mouth, congestion of head, palpitation and hypertension.
• It is known as night shades, they produce shades of night where the inner light is absent.
• The alkaloid atropine. It attack manly on brain and produce intoxication, confusion and furious
excitement.

Clinical conditions:
Abscess, Boils, Brainaffection, Carbuncle, Convulsion, Cough, Delirium, Dysentery, Epilepcy,
Glandular affection

Sphere of action:
Its chief center of action is cerebrum where it radiates its influence upon the entire organism. Brain and
its membranes, cardio-vascular system, heart, lungs, mucus membren of eyes, mouth, throat, skin,
glandular structures also not spared.
 Causation
Constitution
• Exposure to heat of
sun It is particularly suited to:
• Exposure to cold
• Adapted to bilious, lymphatic, plethoric
and wet constitutions; persons who are lively and
• From hair cut entertaining when well, but violent and often
• Congestion and delirious when sick.
suppression of
catarrhal flow. • Women and children with light hair and blue
• Suppressed
eyes, find complexion, delicate skin; sensitive,
nervous, threatened with convulsions;
perspiration
tuberculous patients.

Key features:
• Congestion is the keynote of belladonna.
• Redness of belladonna is very characteristic.
• Heat is yet another peculiar. Due to the congestion there is great heat, especially at the congested
and inflamed part.
• Burning sensation is another characteristic of belladonna. There is intense burning anywhere and
everywhere, both internal and external such as in skin, brain, mouth, throat, etc.
• The patient is very much sleepy but cannot sleep.
• Belladonna is a great pain remedy.
• Patient is not thirsty, especially in fever.
• Belladonna patients aggravated by touch jar and motion, drought of air and heat of sun.
• Sensitiveness to touch of affected part is very well marked in this great remedy. Cannot bear to be
touched anywhere.
• Great dryness runs through the whole of this remedy.
• Acute, sudden and violent onset is very characteristic of this drug.

Miasm: Psora is in the background.

Thermal relation: Predominantly CHILLY

Indications:

Mental generals
• Patient lives in a world of his own, engrossed by spectres and visions and oblivious to
surrounding realities.
• While the retina is insensible to actual objects, a host of visual hallucinations throng about
him and come to him from within.
• Hallucinations: - sees monsters, hideous faces.
• Delirium: - frightful images.
 • Furious:- rages bites
• Strikes:- desire to escape
• Loss of conscious
• Disinclined to talk
• Great excitement and violence run through the whole mental sphere of his wonderful
remedy.
• The patient is very delirious with constant cerebral congestion.
• Belladonna is one of the trios of delirious remedies.
• No remedy has more persistent and violent delirium then in belladonna.

Physical generals
• Dilated pupils.
• Face is dark red.
• Burning is aggravated by application of cold water.
• Spasmodic and constricting pain is there.
• Involuntary urination and diarrhoea.
• Vertigo on opening the eye.
• High grade fever.
• Aversion:- acid, coffee, drinks, warm, food, smell of milk.
• Desiers:- beer, cold drinks, snuff.
• Sweat:- during sleep, during convulsion, on covered parts, stain the linen, before stool
suddenly disappearing.
• Sleep:- sleepy but can not sleep
• Dream:- anxious, falling off, fire, fright full, ghost, of misfortune. Of being pursued by
giants, quarrels, unremembered, swimming in water.
• Appetite:- loss of appetite.
• Thirst:- excessive thirst for cold water and there is absence of thirst also.
• Sides: right sided it also effect the left side of eyes, nose, face, mouth and fauces,
abdomen, neck and nape of the neck, chest, upper extremity, lower extremity, left upper
side, right lower side.

Modalities
Agg: touch, motion, noise, draught of air, looking at bright shining objects, after 3 p.m.,
night, after mid night, while drinking, uncovering the head, summer sun, lying down, least jar and
motion and strong smell.

Amel: Rest, Standing or sitting erect, in warm room

Relationship:
• Complementary: Bor, Calc, Hep, Merc, Nat-m.
• Antidotes: Coffea andHyoscyamus.
• Compare: Aconite, Bryonia, Hyoscyamus, and Stramonium.

Dept. of Homoeopathic Pharmacy