484 



MEDICAL BOTANY. 



Fig. 215. 



A few have bitter and tonic barks, the most important of which is S. pseu- 

 do-qaina, a small tree, growing in Brazil ; the bark is thin, somewhat wrin- 

 kled, of a pale yellow or reddish colour, and very bitter; it is used as a sub- 

 stitute for Cinchona, which it is said to equal in power. It has been analyzed 

 by Vauquelin, but no alkaloid discovered in it. It has been stated that the 

 Quina bicolorata is the product of this species (Martius) ; but this does not 

 seem to be the case. Merat and De Lens are of opinion that it is derived 

 from the Strychnos pseudo-quina, whilst Guibourt attributes it to an Exos- 

 temma. 



Many more species might be mentioned, but enough have been cited to 

 show that the greater number of them are possessed of active or nutritive pro- 

 perties, and that these properties are extremely various and diversified. 



Hyoscyamus. — Linn. 



Calyx tubular, 5-cleft. Corolla funnel-shaped ; limb spreading, oblique, five-lobed, une- 

 qual. Stamens five. Stigma capitate. Capsule ovate, compressed, and furrowed on each 

 side ; apex with a lid or operculum. 



The name of this genus is derived from two Greek words", signifying hog's 

 bean, from the capsule somewhat resembling a bean, and the plant being 

 eaten with impunity by the hog, whilst it is poisonous to other animals. It 

 contains a limited number of species, but all possessed of active and poisonous 

 properties. 



H. niger, Linn. — Leaves sinuate, amplexicaul. Flowers nearly sessile. 



Linn., Sp.Pl. 257' 

 Woodville, t. 76 5 

 Stephenson and 



Churchill, i. 9 ; Bige- 

 low, Med. Bot. i. 

 161 ; Rafinesque, 

 Med. Flor. i. 255; 

 Lindley, Med. Flor. 

 508. 



Common Names. 

 — Henbane ; Poison 

 Tobacco, &c. 



Foreign Names. — 

 Jusquiame, Fr. ; 



Fava porcina, It. ; 

 Bilsenkraut, Ger. 



Description. — The 

 root is fusiform, long, 

 thick, wrinkled, brown 

 externally, and white 

 within. The stem rises 

 to the height of two 

 feet, is erect, branched, 

 woody, cylindrical, 



somewhat viscid, and 

 covered with a hairy 

 down. The leaves sur- 

 round the stem, and are 

 alternate, large, deeply 

 sinuated at their edges, 

 and of a glaucous green 

 colour. The flowers are 



H. niger. 





