56 
The Benet iy Taso HERBAL. 
and they are large, and contain a great quantity 
of feeds: thefe are brown, rough, and of an ir- 
regular figure. ‘ 
It is common in wafte places, and flowers. in 
July. 
DIYPSTION IL. 
1. White Henbane. 
Eyofcyamus albus. 
The root is long, thick, white, and furnifhed . 
with numerous fibres. / 
The leaves that rife from it ftand on long hol- 
lowed foot!talks; fo that in the firft appearance it 
differs greatly from the other, whofe radical 
leaves rife without any ftalk from the ground : 
thefe are large, broad at the bafe, bluntly pointed, 
and deeply finuated at the edges. 
The ftalk is round, firm, hairy, and- three 
feet high: it is more ereét, and lefs branched, 
than the other. 
The leaves ftand irregularly: they have long 
footftalks, and are like thofe from the root. 
The flowers grow fingly in the bofoms of the 
leaves, and they have fhort footftalks, and are 
large and white. The whole plant is thickly 
hairy. 
It is a native of the warmer parts of Europe, 
and flowers in Auguft. 
C. Bauhine calls it Hyofcyamus albus major. 
Others, Hyofcyamus albus. 
Thofe who, following C. Bauhine, call this’ 
the greater white henbane, defcribe a variety of 
it under the name of the fivaller white henbane. 
This differs from the other in nothing, but 
that it has grown on a barren foil, and is ftarved 
and ftunted. ; 
2. Golden Henbane. 
Fyofeyamus aureus. 
The root is. long, thick, woody, white, and 
furnifhed with fibres. 
The leaves that rife from it are broad, fhort, 
deeply dented, and fupported on jong footftalks : 
they are of a whitifh green, and foft to the 
touch. 
The ftalks are numerous, weak, whitifh, and 
a foot and a half high. 
The leaves ftand irregularly on them, and have 
long footftalks : they in all things refemble thofe 
from the root. 
The flowers are moderately large, and of a 
beautiful gold yellow: they are more deeply. di- 
vided than thofe of the common henbane, and 
have longith footftalks: they ftand partly at 
the top of the plant, and partly in the bofoms of 
the leaves. ! 
A fingle feed-veffel follows each flower, con- 
taining numerous feeds. 
It is a native of the Greek iflands and of 
Egypt, and flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Hyofeyamus Creticus luteus 5 
but he, without much reafon, divides it into 
two fpecies, a greater and leffer: 
varieties. 
Alpinus calls it Hyofeyamus aureus, 
thefe are only 
FOREIGN 
C. Bauhine calls it Hyo/cyamus vulgaris et niger. 
Others, Hyofcymus niger. A 
This is the only fpecies of benbane that is a na- 
tive of Britain, and it is poifonous in its qua- 
lities. 
Se Pe iOots tS: 
3. Little Henbane. 
Hyofcyamus pufillus. 
The root is white, fmall, and longifh, and. has 
a few fibres. : 
The leaves rife in a little clufter of five or fix 
together, and are fupported on long, flender 
footftalks : they are oblong, broadeft in the 
middle, and deeply indented at the edge. 
The ftalk rifes among thefe; and is round, 
flender, upright, not at all branched, and eight 
or ten inches high. 5 
The leaves ftand at diftances alternately : they 
are of the fame form with thofe from the root, 
but fimaller, and not at all indented at the edge: 
they are alfo blunter at the point. 
The flowers are moderately large, and of a 
beautiful yellow; one ftands ufually in the bo- 
fom of each leaf from top to bottom ; and fre- 
quently there are little tufts of young leaves rife 
With them. 
The feeds are large, and are contained in a 
fingle capfule, 
It is a native of many parts of America, and 
flowers in July. ; 
Plukenet calls it Hyo/eyamus pufillus aureus ame- 
nianus antirrbini foliis glabris. 
All the Zenbanes are powerfully foporifick, in- 
fomuch that many of the fpecies are accounted 
poifonous: none fo much as the common Eng- 
lith benbane: but the apothecaries have evi- 
dence that the charge is not altogether well 
grounded. What they are ordered to ufe in fome 
compofitions, is the feed of the qwhite henbane ; 
but thofe of the black being more readily at hand, 
are too often fold to them by the druggitts in 
their place. 
This feed however is more violent in its opera- 
tions, and fhould be excluded the fhops, the others 
having all the good qualities without the danger. 
The feed of the white benbane is the beft of all: 
it is cooling, emollient, ‘and excellent againtt 
pain; it alfo moderately and quietly produces 
fleep, without difturbing the head in the manner 
of the black. 
It is excellent in coughs, it abates the pain in 
cholicks, and is of great virtue againtt {pitting of 
blood, profluvia of the menfes, and all other he- 
morrhages 
The leaves boiled in milk and water, and ap- 
plied as a'pultice, are excellent in the fciatica 
The Toot has the fame virtue with the feeds in an 
inferior degree; and is hung about childrens 
necks in fome places, as the piony root is in 
others, in order ‘to their cutting their teeth 
without pain. In many parts they make neck- 
laces, with pieces of hendane and pieces of the 
piony root interchangeably, and relate wonder- 
ful things concerning their effe@s, Of this we 
have fpoken before, under the article Piony, 
I 
GE- 
