HYOSCYAMUS NIGER. 
dilation of the pupils; until the pulse gradually becoming 
weak and tremulous, petechie make their appearance, and death 
ensues. Dissections show the effects of inflammation in the sto- 
mach, bowels, and the membranes of the brain. After an emetic 
is given, and the stomach fully cleared, vinegar is the best anti- 
dote. : 
The effects of Henbane as an anodyne were known to the 
ancients. But as those were ill understood, its use was almost 
completely relinquished till the time of Baron Srozrx, who may 
be regarded as having introduced it. It may be employed in all 
the cases in which the use of opium is indicated, where the latter 
disagrees with the habit, or where its constipating effect is wished 
to be avoided. In painful and spasmodic affections, hysteria, 
rheumatism, and gout, much benefit has resulted from its use, 
and it is particularly serviceable when it is united with colo- 
cynth or other powerful cathartics, in colica pictonum. It is 
used externally to lessen and allay the irritation of very sensible 
parts, thence fomengations of the leaves have been found benefi- 
cial in scrofulous and cancerous ulcers, hemorrhoids and other 
painful swellings. The leaves and marshmallow flowers boiled 
in milk, with the addition of a few grains of acetate of lead, 
are recommended as a topical application in scrofulous ophthal- 
mia. Smoking the leaves, like tobacco, is said to allay the pain 
of toothache. Its effects in dilating the pupil, when an infusion 
of it is dropped into the eye, are similar to those of belladonna, ~ 
and thence it is also employed as a preparative to the operation 
for cataract. It is used by practitioners very generally, and 
particularly recommended in the forms of extract and tincture 
only, and on no occasion should it ever be prescribed in com- 
_ binations with alkalies, as these destroy its narcotic powers in 
twenty-four hours. 
