Solanum Carolinense. Horse-nettle. *N.O. Solanaceae. Tincture of fresh ripe berries.
Clinical
Convulsions. Epilepsy. Tetanus.
Characteristics
*Solan. car. is a domestic remedy in the Southern States for “convulsions,” and it has been tested by several old-school authorities (***H.R., xi. 20) in cases of epilepsy with some success. Doses of from 30 to 60 drops were given three times a day, the only unpleasant effects being a “mild diarrhoea” in some cases. Grahn (***H. R., xii 462) relates a case of hysterical tetanus in a young Negro woman. She had laughed while holding a pin in her mouth, and the pin had lodged in her throat. She had managed to get rid of it by coughing, but had hurt the throat, and the tetanic spasms followed. *Passiflora did good, but the supply gave out, and *Sol. car. Was given instead. By error of an attendant, maximum doses (two drachms every forty minutes) were given, and a state of dangerous stupor followed. However, all muscles were relaxed, and remained so the rest of that day. Next day a slight return of the spasms was remedied with half-drachm doses of *Sol. *car. It was several days before the disease was entirely overcome.
