ENGLISH  MEDICINAL  RHUBAKB  AND  HENBANE.  557 
than  any  yet  cultivated  in  Great  Britain ;  but  as  the  means  of 
obtaining  them  is  entirely  out  of  my  power,  I  can  only  say,  that 
if  I  could  be  assisted  in  procuring  them,  I  should  feel  great 
pleasure  in  carrying  out  such  a  series  of  experiments  as  might 
ultimately  render  an  important  addition  to  the  medicinal  produc- 
tions of  the  nation. 
My  attention  has  recently  been  called  to  the  subject  of  the 
preparation  of  that  very  important  medicine,  tincture  of  henbane, 
in  consequence  of  the  very  erroneous  views  entertained  with 
regard  to  the  quality  of  the  plant,  and  to  the  somewhat  scanty, 
if  not  imperfect  directions,  contained  in  the  new  Pharmacopoeia 
respecting  its  preparation  for  use.  It  is  out  of  my  province 
altogether,  as  a  grower  and  preparer  only  of  medicinal  plants,  to 
call  in  question  the  correctness  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  from  any 
other  point  of  view  than  that  of  an  omission.  The  directions 
given  in  this  work  for  the  preparation  of  tincture  of  henbane 
are,  to  use  u  the  leaves  and  branches  of  the  indigenous  biennial 
plant  dried,  when  about  two-thirds  of  the  flowers  are  expanded." 
Now  I  believe  that  almost  every  wholesale  druggist  in  the  king- 
dom will  endorse  my  statement,  when  I  say  that  up  to  the  year 
1862  but  a  fractional  part  of  the  tincture  of  henbane  prepared 
in  this  country  was  made  from  the  blossoming  biennial  plant ;  a 
circumstance  not  so  much  reflecting  discredit  on  those  who  pre- 
pare and  supply  the  article  for  use,  as  arising  from  the  absolute 
impossibility  of  procuring  the  material  to  carry  out  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  If  the  question  is  asked,  why  the 
blossoming  biennial  plant  had  not,  up  to  that  period,  been  pro- 
duced in  sufficient  quantity  to  supply  the  demand,  I  reply  that, 
owing  to  the  almost  invariable  attack  made  on  the  plant  during 
the  autumn  and  winter  months  by  the  wireworm,  slug,  and  other 
destructive  visitants,  but  a  small  proportion  survives  till  the 
ensuing  spring.  Either  the  root  is  bitten  through  in  several 
places  or  the  bud  entirely  consumed.  To  this  it  must  be  added, 
that  of  the  plants  which  escape  this  ordeal,  when  they  have 
reached  the  stage  of  their  development  pointed  out  in  the  Phar- 
macopoeia, namely,  "  when  two-thirds  of  the  flowers  are  expand- 
ed," the  quantity  of  foliage  is  very  scanty,  and  it  will  only  pay 
the  producer  at  a  high  price. 
