4C-i • SOLANACEJ*:. 



Frequent mention is made of it in the Auirlo-Saxon works on 

 Jiiedicine of the lltli century/ in which it is called HeMhell, and some- 

 times Iklene, tlie latter word perhaps traceable in ^tXimvurla, which 

 JJwscondes- gives as the Gallic designation of the plant. In the 



l;3th century henbane was also used by the Welsh " Physicians of 

 Myddvai." 



The word Hennihone, with the Latin and French synonyms 

 Jusqmamus and Chenille, occurs in a vocabulary of the 13th cen- 

 tury; and Hennehane in a Latin and English vocabulary of the loth 

 century.^ In the Arholayre, a printed French herbal of the loth 

 century, we find the plant described as Hav'ihane or Harichavf with 

 the following explanation—" Elle est aultremcnt appeler cassilago et 

 aultrement simphoniaca. La semence proprement a nom jusquiame ou 

 lianebane, et herbe a nom cassilago. . . ." Both Hyohcyamus and 

 Jusqiimraus are from the (Jreek 'Yocr/cJrx^uo?; i.e. Hog-hean. 



1 hough a remedy undeniably potent, henbane in the first half of the 

 last century had fallen into disuse. It was omitted fi-om the London 

 pharmacopoeias of 1746 and 1788, and restored only in 1809. Its 

 le-mtroduction into medicine was chieflv due to the experiments and 

 recommendations of Storck.' "' 



During the middle ages the seeds and roots of henbane were also 

 much used. 



. Description— The stems of henbane, whether of the annual or 

 biennial form, ai-e clothed with soft, viscid, hairy leaves, of which the 

 ui)per constitute the large, sessile, coarsely-toothed bracts of the 

 uniJateml flower-si)ike. The middle leaves are more toothed and 

 . subamplexicaul. The lower leaves are stalked, ovate-oblong, coarsely 

 nentate and of large size. The stems, leaves, and calyces of henbane 

 aie thickly beset with long, soft, jointed hairs ; the last joint of many 

 01 tne.se hairs exudes a viscid substance occasioning the fre.sh plant to 

 iceicjammy to the touch. In the cultivated plant, the haiiiness 



After drying the broad liglit-coloured midrib becomes very cor 

 icuous, while the rest of the hvif shrinks much and acquires a greyis 



con- 

 sh 



getn juie.^ The drug derived from the flowering plant as found in 

 umimerce is usually much broken. Tlie fretid, narcotic odour of the 

 little taste' '' ^''^^^^^' ''™'"^^^^^^ ^J '^O'ing- The fresh plant ha.s bnt 



rrpnJ!'lf ^T^'!''''' .•« ««1 J under three forms, which are not however 

 f'wl^lP "^T'^''^ ^y Ji-uggi.sts. These are 1. Anvnal pla^^^' 

 S 1^.^ Pi'"' ^T: ' ^^^'^^^^^^l plant, leaves of the first year, 

 mn rrf .? "i^S^" '''°' ""'^ g'-^^" t'p'^- ^'»^e third form is always 

 accu a^v n , f ^' ^"^ "^ ^t^^^^Pt has been made to determine ^v.th 

 accuiacy the relative merits of the three sorts. 



tho^nn.?!^^^ postposition— //2/o,'*(7/«7i/ 73^^, the most important among 

 and H. 1 -'^^J^^f ^'^^'^'^"^■' wa.s obtained in an impure state by Geiger 

 and Hes.se m 183:J. Hohn in 1871 first isolated it from the seeds 



( 1 866) Jf f "" '"'' '-^ ^«'-^.V ^"r//«-/, iii. * Seep. US, note 3, also Brnnet, Mo»<'^'' 



^Lib. iv. c O r^rl Q t> ''" /■''V'/vr/;v, i. (ISCO) 377. 



' Wright, i^J'^/rT}^- . ' ^'^' P- ^'"''. i^ot*' 5. 



141. 26.-) ^ ' 0f«/^"/'OvV.*, IHDT. • 



