HENBANE SEED AND TOOTHACHE. 283 
sorts of jalap root is so extraordinary that some explanation (which may have 
been inadvertently omitted) is required. 
We feel convinced that 33f per cent, could not have been obtained in a state 
of purity* and complete dryness. In no other condition is the statement of 
yield of much value. 
We do not recollect having seen recorded a greater yield than 15 per cent., 
and we ourselves have never, in many trials, with all sorts of jalap root, obtained 
more than 15 per cent, of the resin. 
We are, etc., 
October 14, 1867. T. and H. Smith. 
HENBANE SEED AND TOOTHACHE: “ AN ERROR IN 
JUDGMENT. 5 ’ 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Sir,—In the country districts a very singular notion prevails about henbane 
Seeds. I have frequently sold them, and on inquiring what they were used for, 
I always received something like the following account :—A few red-hot cinders 
were placed on a fireshovel, the seeds sprinkled on the cinders, and, whilst the 
combustion continued, a cup or basin was inverted over the cinders to receive 
the fumes. In the course of a few minutes, the cup was removed and placed 
tightly against the mouth, so that the fumes might be inhaled. The invariable 
result of this operation was said to cause the discharge of a number, sometimes 
as far as twenty or thirty small worms from the decayed teeth. I never could 
believe the story, and although I have frequently, during a number of years, 
heard the old account repeated, yet I never thought of trying the experiment 
till the other day, in consequence of a very intelligent person giving me an 
exact detail of the operation and the discharge of thirty worms from the teeth. 
I determined I would try the experiment, although I had not toothache, for I 
thought there must be something in it. I repeated the direction as above, and 
saw in the cup a number of small, worm-like appearances. I knew that it was 
impossible for a number of such things to come from the teeth, and I deter¬ 
mined to repeat the experiment, without inhalation, for I thought if they 
were living beings, they must have generated from the seeds. As I expected , I 
found the same appearance without my mouth ever having been near the cup. 
I examined the shovel and found a number of worm-like things there also ; thus 
proving that the inquiry must be restricted to the cinders and seeds only. The 
next step was to examine them with an ordinary botanical glass (for they were 
quite large), and it was at once apparent that the heat of the cinders had caused 
the seeds to sprout, and the little delicate shoots were mistaken for worms. 
While the cup was over the cinders, the heat caused the seeds to start of leap 
about, the fumes formed a sort of gummy coating inside the vessel, to which num¬ 
bers of the seeds stuck and sprouted , or if not sufficiently grown previous- to 
placing over the mouth, the hot and moist breath caused their full development. 
It is surprising that such strange “errors of judgment ” should go so long un¬ 
corrected. If this simple experiment be of any use in enabling any of the 
readers of your Journal to explain to their customers the real nature of the 
action of henbane seeds in toothache, you are at liberty to insert these remarks. 
If toothache is relieved by the seeds, it can only be by their sedative action ; 
but decidedly not by the discharge of worms, which is a pure delusion. 
Yours, dear Sir, etc., 
Hexham , October 12, 1867. J. S. T. W. Smith. 
* Of an amber colour, and free from matters soluble in water. 
