S98 I^ENBANE. 



small quantities modifies their narcotic effects, and thus the 

 " bane and antidote " may accompany each other : they cer- 

 tainly contain a poisonous principle, since they yield by analysis 

 more hyoscy amine than the leaves *. Even the emanations of 

 the plant have produced unpleasant effects, and the roots -j-, eaten 

 by mistake for those of parsnep, have often caused death. 



Choquet + describes the effects of Henbane on two soldiers who eat the 

 young shoots dressed with olive oil. They soon experienced a sensation as 

 if the ground were reeling beneath them ; they had a stupid appearance 

 and their limbs were swollen ; subsequently the eyes became haggard, the 

 pupil excessively dilated, and the sight dull and fixed ; the pulse was small 

 and intermittent, the breathing difficult, the jaw locked, and the mouth 

 distorted by the risus sardonicus; there was also that union of delirium and 

 coma termed typhomania : the limbs were cold and palsied, the arms 

 agitated by convulsive movements, and to all these alarming symptoms was 

 added carpologia. By the exhibition of emetics and purgative lavements,; 

 one of the men was soon relieved, the other continued delirious until the 

 next day, but by means of frictions, copious doses of vinegar, and strong 

 purgatives, he ultimately recovered. 



Although Henbane ranks as a pure narcotic, the treatment recom- 

 mended when speaking of Foxglove, Hemlock, &c., will equally 

 apply to this plant ; viz., the administration of emetics, and sub- 

 sequently purgatives and vegetable acids. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — Henbane was well known 

 to the ancients, as appears from the writings of Dioscorides §, 

 but little use appears to have been made of it except as an 



ravings, and profound sleep — See also the case mentioned by Haller, (Hist. 

 Stirp. Helv. n. 580,) of a fellow student of his who narrowly escaped with his 

 life. — Helmont, Ort. imag. morbos. p. .306.— Essays and Observations, phys. 

 and lit. vol. ii. p. 243. 



* Has the immaturity of the seeds any influence upon their qualities ? 

 Poppy seeds when unripe are said to be hurtful, but when quite mature 

 they are bland and nutritive. 



•f The effect of season and vegetation on the energy of the root seems to 

 be very great. Ortila found that the juice of three pounds of the root col- 

 lected in April, when the plant had hardly begun to shoot, killed a dog in 

 two days ; while a decoction of an ounce and a half, obtained on the last 

 day of June, when the plant was in full vigour, proved fatal in two hours 

 and a half. 



^ Journal de Leroux et Corvisart, Avril 1813, p. 355. For cases of 

 poisoning by the roots see Wepfer de Cicuta, &c. p. 230. — Phil. Trans, vol. 

 xl. p. 446.— Orfila, Traite des Poisons, torn. ii. p. 189. — Wilmer on tht^ 

 Pois. Veg. of Great Britain, p. 3. 



S Mat. Bled. lib. iv. c. 09. 



