The B R I T I S H„. H E R B A L. 
and they are large, and contain a great quantity 
of feeds : thcfe are brown, rough, and of an ir- 
regular figure. 
k is common in waftc places, and flowers in 
DIVISION II. F O 
1. "White Henbane. 
Hyofy-amiis alhus. 
The root is long, thick, white, and furniflied 
with numerous fibres. 
The leaves that rife from it ftand on long hol- 
lowed footllalks ; fo that in the firft appearance it 
differs greatly from the other, whofc 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 tlalk is roujid, firm, hairy, and three ; 
feet high : it is more creft, and kfs branched, 
than the other. 
The leaves ftand irregularly : they have long 
foDiHalks, and are like thofe from the root. 
The flowers grow fingly in the bofoms of the 
leaves, and they have ihort 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 liyofcyamus albus major. 
Others, Hyofcyamus alhus. 
Thofe who, following C. Bauhine, call this 
the greater while henbane^ defcribe a variety of 
it under the name of the fmaller white henbane. 
This differs from the other in nothing, but 
that it has grown on a barren foil, and is Itarved 
and ftunted. 
2. Golden Henbane. 
Hyofcyamus aureus. 
The root is long, thick, woody, white, and 
furniflicd with fibres. 
The leaves that rife from it are broad, fliort, 
deeply dented, and fupportcd on Jong footftalks : 
they are of a whitilh green, and foft to the 
touch. 
The ftalks are numerous, weak, whitifti, and 
a foot and a half high. 
The leaves fliand 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 : chey are more deeply di- 
vided than thofe of the common henbane^ and 
have longifti footftalks : they ftand partly at 
the top of the plant, and partly in the bofoms of 
the leaves. 
A Angle feed-veffel follows each flower, con- 
taining numerous feeds. 
It is a native of the Greek iftands and of 
Egypt, and flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Hyofcya?nns Creticus luteus ; 
but he, without much reafon, divides it into 
two fpecies, a greater and lefter : thefe are only 
varieties. 
Alpinus calls It Hyofcyamus aureus. 
C. Bauhine calls \iHyofcyar.ms vulgaris et niger. 
Others, Hyofcymus niger. 
This is the only fpecies of henbane that is a na- 
tive of Britain, and it is poifonous in its qua- 
lities. 
REIGN SPECIES. 
3. Little Henbane. 
Hyofcyamus fufillus. 
I'he 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, noc at all branched, and eight 
or ten inches high. 
The leaves ftand at diftances alternately : they 
are of the fame form with thofe from the root, 
but fmaller, 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 
Angle capfule. 
It is a native of many parts of America, and 
flowers in July- 
Plukenet calls it Hyofcyamus pujillus aureus ame-^ 
nianus antirrhini foliis glahris. 
All the henbanes are powerfully foporifick, in- 
fomuch that many of the fpecies are accounted 
poifonoLis : none fo much as the common Eng- 
lifh henbane : 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 white henbane \ 
but thofe of the black being more readily at hand, 
are too often fold to them by the druggifts in 
their place. 
This feed however is more violent in its opera- 
tions, and fiiould be excluded the fhops, the others 
having all the good qualities without the danger. 
The feed of the white henbane is the beft of ai!: 
it is cooling, emollient, and excellent againft 
pain i 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 againft fpitting 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 root 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 pares they make neck- 
laces, with pieces of henbane and pieces of the 
piony root interchangeably, and relate wonder- 
ful things concerning their eifedls. Of this we 
have fpoken before, under the article Piony. 
I GE- 
