difficulty of breathing, small and intermittent pulse, loss of speech,- trismus, and temporary loss of intellect, 
have been the principal symptoms ; while the extremities have been observed to be cold, and nearly para- 
lyzed. An enema, prepared from a decoction of henbane, caused a numbness and loss of motion of the 
upper and lower extremities, propensity to sleep, and difficulty of hearing.” — Orfila, vol. II. p. 135 to 139. 
Foderd, vol. IV. p. 25. 
“ Its effects in large doses have been well described by M. Cloquet, as they occurred in two soldiers 
who ate the young shoots dressed with olive oil. They presently became giddy and stupid, lost their 
speech and had a dull haggard look. The pupils were excessively dilated, and the eyes so insensible that 
the eye-lids did not wink when the cornea was touched. The pulse was small and intermitting, the breath- 
ing difficult, the jaw locked, and the mouth distorted by risus sardonicus. Sensibility was extinct, the limbs 
were cold and palsied, the arms convulsed, and there was that singular union of delirium and coma which 
is usually termed typhomania. One of the men soon vomited freely under the influence of emetics, and in 
a short time got quite well. The other vomited little. As the palsy and somnolency abated, the delirium 
became extravagant, and the patient quite unmanageable till the evening of the subsequent day, when the 
operation of brisk purgatives restored him to his senses. In two days both were fit for duty.” Christison 
from Corvisart. 
“Wilmer gives an interesting account of six persons poisoned by eating the roots of henbane in mis- 
take for parsnips. Several were delirious and danced about like maniacs ; one appeared as if he had got 
drunk, and a woman became profoundly and irrecoverably comatose. Emetics could not be introduced 
into the stomach, external stimuli of every kind failed to rouse her, and she expired next morning at six/ 5 lb. 
“Dr. Patouillat, of Toucy, in France, saw nine persons who were poisoned with this root. Some were 
speechless and convulsive; others occasionally howled. In all there was a protrusion of the eyes, contor- 
tion of the mouth, and delirium. Emetics relieved them, but their sight was for some days affected, and 
all objects appeared red, like scarlet.” — Phil. Transact, vol. XL. p. 446. 
Hyoscyamus aureus, physaloides, and Scopolia, are all deemed to be poisonous : and the following ac- 
count is illustrative of the effects of H. albus. 
“In April 1792, a large quantity was carried by mistake on board the French corvette La Sardine, 
which the sailors had gathered in one of the isles of Sapienzi, in the Morea. A part of it was put into the 
ship’s copper, and the remainder into those of some of the subaltern officers. At four o’clock they all dined. 
In a short time, vertigo, vomiting, convulsions,&c. were generally experienced: and when Dr. Picard, the sur- 
geon, came on board, he observed the gunner making a thousand grimaces and contortions. By keeping up 
th e evacuations, most of them recovered ; but those in whom there were none, remained for some time in 
a sickly condition.” — Foderd, vol. IY. p. 23. 
Treatment. — When henbane is taken in an over dose, the effects are decidedly narcotic ; and the 
same treatment is required that is recommended for Atropa Belladonna. 
Medical Properties and Uses. — Henbane is one of our most valuable narcotics. The principal 
use which is made of it, is as a substitute for opium, when the latter disagrees, or is contra-indicated by par- 
ticular symptoms. In moderate doses it acts as a powerful sedative, diminishing excess of irritability ; 
induces sleep, relieves chronic and anomalous pains of the abdominal viscera, and is often employed, with 
singular advantage. Conjoined with purgatives, it does not impede their operation ; and is therefore fre- 
quently prescribed with colocynth and other drastic purgatives, where the bowels are irritable, and where 
it is necessary to increase their secretions. Colica pictonum, hysteria, rheumatism, gout, 
and palpitation of the heart, are complaints for which henbane is often recommended: while the bruised 
leaves have been advantageously used as an external application, in the form of cataplasm, to scrofulous and 
cancerous ulcers, and other painful diseases. But as in some cases it produces unpleasant symptoms, and 
sleep, which is laborious and unrefreshing, it is generally resorted to more as a secondary medicine than 
one which we may confidently apply at first, with reliance on its anodyne affects. 
The properties of the seeds would appear to differ from those of the leaves and root ; adding some of 
the symptoms of irritant to those of narcotic poisons ; for in several cases persons who have taken the 
seeds have suffered from convulsions, heat, and dryness in the throat, burning in the stomach, great thirst 
and delirium ; this may probably account for the occasional unpleasant effects that follow the exhibition of 
an extract, in which perhaps the seeds have been carelessly mixed with the leaves. 
Dose. The dose of the extract may be from grs. v. to gj ; of the tincture from gtt. xx. to 3j. 
Off. Prep. Extractum Hyoscyami, L. E. D. Tinctui’a Hyoscyami, L. E. D. 
Henbane appears to be the poison whose effects are so poetically described by Shakespeare under the 
name of hebenon. 
Sleeping within mine orchard, 
My custom always of the afternoon, 
Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, 
With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, 
And in the porches of mine ear did pour 
The leperous distilment ; whose effect 
Holds such an enmity with blood of man, 
That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through 
The natural gates and alleys of the body ; 
And, with a sudden vigour, it doth posset 
And curd, like eager droppings into milk, 
The thin and wholesome blood : so did it mine, &c. 
Hamlet , Act 1. Scene o. 
