166 FAMILY HERBAL. 



The seeds are used ; the rest of the plant is 

 esteemed poisonous. They are given in small doses 

 against the bloody flux, and it is said with great suc- 

 cess ; 1 have not known it tried. 



White Henbane. Uyoscyamus albus. 



A native of Italy and Germany, kept in our 

 gardens. It is a foot high, and has something of 

 the aspect of the black henbane, but not so dismal. 

 The stalk is round, thick, and of a pale green ; the 

 leaves are large, broad, but short, and a little in- 

 dented at the edges ; they are of a yellowish green, 

 and somewhat hairy ; the flowers are small and 

 yellow, and the seeds are whitish. 



The seeds of this kind are preferred to those of 

 the others, as less strong] in their effects ; but if any 

 harm would happen from the internal use of the 

 other, we should have known it, for they are gene- 

 rally sold for them. 



Good King Henry. Bonus Hcnricus. 



A common wild plant, called also by some 

 English mercury, by way of distinction from the 

 other, which is called French mercury, and has 

 been described already. This grows a foot high ; 

 the stalk is round and thick, but rarely stands 

 quite upright ; it is greenish and purplish, and is 

 covered with a kind of grey powder unctuous to the 

 touch. The leaves are large, broad, and of the 

 shape of an arrow-head, they stand on long stalks, 

 and are of a pale green above, and greyish under- 

 neath, being there covered with this grey powder. 

 The flowers are inconsiderable, and are of a green- 

 ish yellow, and they stand in long spikes at the tops 

 of the brancb.es ; the plant is common in farm yards 



