Am.  Jour.  Pharin. ) 
Jan.,  1881.  J 
Indian  Henbane. 
29 
deviates  the  polarized  ray  — 90° ;  the  rotatory  power  of  cubebs  is 
recorded  as  -|-55°. 
The  same  authority  gives  the  sp.  gr.  of  the  three  sorts  of  commer- 
cial oil  of  patchouli  as  follows:  Indian,  '9554;  Penang,  -9592;. 
French,  1-0119;  all  taken  at  60°F.,  and  for  their  hydrocarbons: 
Sp.  gr.  at  20°C.  Boiling  point. 
Indian,     .  .  .       '9211  254  C. 
Penang,  .  .  -9278  257 
French,    .  .  .       -9255  260 
Of  course  the  addition  of  oil  of  turpentine  would  have  the  effect  of 
lowering  the  sp.  gr.  and  so  counterbalance  the  adulteration  of  oL 
copaibse,  but  the  application  of  Professor  Dragendorff^s  test  should 
detect  this  ("Pharmaceutical  Journal,"  [3d  series],  vi.,  p.  541). — Pha)\ 
Jour,  and  Trans.,  Nov.  20,  p.  409. 
INDIAN  HENBANE. 
By  W.  Dymock. 
Henbane,  though  a  native  of  the  Himalayas,  was  probably  unknown 
as  a  medicine  to  the  acient  Hindu  physicians.  "  Parasika-yamani 
and  "  khorasani-yamani,''  the  names  which  it  bears  in  some  recent 
Hindu  books,  indicate  its  foreign  source.  Mahometan  writers  call  it 
"banj,"  an  Arabic  corruption  of  the  Persian  "bang."  They  say  it  is 
the  "afeekoon"  of  the  Greeks,  the  "azmalus"  of  the  Syrians,  and  the 
"katfeet"  or  "iskeeras"  of  the  Moors.  They  also  add  that  in  the- 
Deilami  dialect  it  is  called  "keer-chak,"  because  the  capsules  resem- 
ble a  little  basket  with  a  cover,  such  as  the  Arabs  make  out  of  date 
leaves  and  call  "kafeer.^'  Meer  Muhanimed  Husain's  description 
of  "banj"  in  the  "Makhzan-ul-adwiya  "  agrees  well  with  the  genus 
Hyoscyamus.  He  says  there  are  three  kinds,  w^hite,  black  and  red, 
and  that  the  white  is  to  be  preferred.  He  mentions  the  preparation  of 
a  sun-dried  extract  from  the  juice  of  the  fresh  leaves,  and  says  that 
the  leaves  are  also  pounded  and  made  into  a  paste  with  flour,  out  of 
which  small  cakes  are  formed,  which  when  dry  retain  their  medicinal 
properties  for  some  time. 
Henbane  is  described  by  eastern  writers  on  materia  medica  as  intoxi- 
cating, narcotic  and  anodyne.  Amongst  the  many  uses  to  which  it  is 
put  the  following  may  be  mentioned  as  peculiar  to  the  East :  A  \)0\i\- 
tice  of  the  juice  with  barley  flour  is  used  to  relieve  the  pain  of  inflam- 
matory swellings ;  the  seeds  in  wine  are  applied  to  gouty  enlargements, 
inflamed  breasts  and  swelled  testicles.    About  J  drachm  of  the  seeds 
