1(56 PHARMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



Briefly, "The Relationship of Hydrastine and Berberine 

 to One Another, and Their Mode of Combination in the 

 Drug," is discussed by Dr. A. R. L. Dohme, Proc. 

 Amer. Pharm. Assn., 1894, pp. 188-190. The subject 

 concerns pure chemistry and can not be properly 

 treated in this history of drugs, but reference thereto 

 should not be neglected. To this it may be added that 

 in 1899 Dr. Dohme continued the subject (Proc. Amer. 

 Pharm. Ass'n., 1899, pp. 280-283) from a purely assay- 

 ing phase, the conclusions being that "spring-dug 

 Golden Seal is fully equal to fall-dug, in content of the 

 white alkaloid." Research Laboratory of Sharp & 

 Dohme. 



HYOSCYAMUS (Henbane) 



Official in every edition of the U. S. P. The Philadelphia 

 edition of 1830 recognizes the leaves only. . All others name "the 

 plant," or the leaves and seeds. 



Hyoscyamus niger is distributed throughout Europe, 

 from Portugal and Greece to Norway and Finland. It 

 is found in the Caucasus, Persia, throughout Asia 

 Minor, Northern India, and even in Siberia. It has 

 been naturalized in North America and Brazil, and in 

 England it is a common weed. Dioscorides (194) men- 

 tions it among medicinal plants, and under the name 

 Henbane it has been employed in European domestic 

 medication from the remotest times. Anglo-Saxon 

 works on medicine in the llth century give it a place. 

 During the Middle Ages the seeds and roots were much 

 used. Its employment and reintroduction to modern 

 regular medicine, after it had fallen into disuse, came 

 through the efforts of Storck (617). Its qualities were 

 well known to the Arabians, as is witnessed in numerous 



