S0LANACE2E. 107 
common in the Boraginacese. Calyx with an ovoid tube and a 
funnel-shaped limb, divided about halfway down into 5 triangular 
teeth with spinous points. Corolla 1 to 1^- inch across, funnel- 
shaped, ochreous, prettily veined with a network of dark-purple 
veins, except in var. 0; the two lobes next the axis smaller than 
the others, and separated from each other by a much deeper sinus 
than that between the other lobes. Anthers purple. Capsule 
completely enclosed within the calyx, the upper portion constricted 
and separating like a lid. Fruiting-calyx with longitudinal veins ; 
the limb reticulated. Seeds very numerous, small, brownish, 
coarsely punctured. Whole plant foetid, pale-green, clammy ; the 
stems, calyx, and veins of the leaves thickly covered with shaggy 
jointed hairs, the rest of the leaves sparingly hairy and puberulent. 
Cojjuj/uii Henbane. 
French, Jusquiame Noire. German, Schwarze Eilsenlcraut. 
All parts of tins well-known arul pretty plant are poisonous. In small doses it 
acts as a sedative, diminishing nervous excitability, allaying irritation, tranquillizing 
the whole body, and producing a tendency to sleep. These effects are not usually 
followed by the headache and disorder of the digestive organs which succeed the use 
of opium in any form. Hence it is often preferred to that drug when an anodyne is 
required. In large doses it causes dimness of sight, faintuess, delirium, and sometimes 
death. Accidental cases of poisoning by Henbane are not very common, as the smell 
and taste of the plant are so unpleasant as to prevent its being mistaken for any 
esculent vegetable ; but the roots have been sometimes gathered and eaten. A woman 
is related to have collected a quantity in mistake for parsnips. Tiiey were boiled in 
soup, of which nine persons in the family partook, without remarking any particular 
taste. The whole of the party were soon seized with indistinctness of vision, 
giddiness, and sleepiness, followed by delirium and convulsion. The special effect of 
this poisonous plant is manifested in its tendency to produce a general paralysis of the 
nervous system. As an instance of the singular train of symptoms occasionally 
produced by it, Dr. Houlton states, that in a monastery where the roots had been 
eaten for supper by mistake, the monks who partook of them were seized in the 
night with the most extraordinary hallucinations, so that the place became like a 
lunatic asylum. One monk rang the bell for matins at 12 o'clock at night ; of those 
of the fraternity who attended to the summons, some could read, others fancied the 
letters were running about like ants, and some read what they did not find in their 
books. The utility of Henbane as a medicinal agent has lately been denied by some 
French writers; but British experience seems to be in its favour, for we find it 
retained in the new Pharmacopoeia as an extract and tincture. Probably its chief 
consumption nowadays is in spasmodic diseases, such as croup, cough, &c, and in 
combination with purgatives, such as the compound colocynth mixture. In such 
demand is the Henbane for medicinal purposes, that it is necessary to cultivate it, the 
wild plants not yielding sufficient supply. A great quantity is raised in gardens at 
Mitcham, in .Surrey, and carefully dried for use. Two varieties are grown, one annual 
and oue biennial ; the latter is fit for use the second year. One hundred pounds of the 
fresh leaves yield about fourteen when dried. Gerarde, iu his Herbal, dilates 
