Our Scopolamine Main Article provides a comprehensive look at
the who, what, when and how of Scopolamine Definition of
Scopolamine Scopolamine: A naturally occurring member of a large
chemical class of compounds called alkaloids. Scopolamine was
first introduced into medical usage in 1902. The name comes from
that of the 18th-century Italian naturalist Giovanni Scopoli.
Scopolamine and atropine, comes from the plant Atropa belladonna
also called "deadly nightshade." It was once used by the Spanish
ladies to dilate their pupils and make their cheeks rosy. It has
also been used as a poison. When scopolamine is given in lower
(non-poisonous) doses, it causes "mad as a hatter, dry as a
beet, hot as a hen" hallucinations, fever, flushed skin and
cardiac arrhythmias. The jimson weed seeds are sometimes used
for this sense of euphoria (a "high"). Scopolamine together with
morphine provided childbirth without pain (or without the memory
of pain), once a much sought-after objective. Known as twilight
sleep, this combi