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Thornapple. Historical illustration of the thornapple plant (Datura stramonium). This medicinal plant belongs to the same family (Solanaceae) as deadly nightshade and contains many of the same chemicals. Preparations are used as painkillers, antispasmodics and narcotics, or smoked to relieve the symptoms of asthma. From Mathematische und Naturwissenschaften by Johann Geog Heck, 1860. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/SHEILA TERRY)