Question

Muttering delirium is characteristically seen in poisoning with:

• A. Ricinus (castor)
• B. Dhatura (Datura)
• C. Cocaine
• D. Aconite

Hint:

Anticholinergic plant poison; mad as a hatter with mumbling speech.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: The phrase muttering delirium points to a drug that scrambles higher mental function while leaving the patient mumbling incoherently. This belongs to the anticholinergic group, of which Datura is the prototype plant poison.

Step 2: Datura seeds carry atropine and scopolamine, which antagonise muscarinic receptors. Centrally this yields restlessness, visual hallucinations and disorganised, barely audible speech, the textbook muttering delirium.

Step 3: Supporting peripheral signs confirm the diagnosis: widely dilated non-reacting pupils, flushed dry skin, fever, fast pulse and inability to pass urine.

Step 4: Castor (ricin) is mainly a gut irritant, cocaine drives a hyperalert stimulant state, and aconite produces paraesthesia and arrhythmia, so none reproduces the muttering delirium of Datura.

\[\boxed{\text{Dhatura (Datura)}}\]