558         ENGLISH  MEDICINAL  RHUBARB  AND  HENBANE. 
Through  some  erroneous  impression,  that  has  long  existed, 
and  still  continues  to  exist,  respecting  this  very  important  plant, 
the  first  year's  growth  is  spoken  of  as  the  annual,  than  which 
nothing  can  be  more  palpably  wrong,  as  the  two  articles,  when 
prepared  for  use,  vary  as  essentially  in  their  external  appear- 
ance as  in  their  constituent  properties ;  applying  this  simple 
test  only,  that  the  annual  plant,  when  dried,  consists  both  of 
leaves  and  blossom,  whereas  the  first  year's  growth  of  the  bien- 
nial must  necessarily  consist  of  leaves  only.  Assuming  that, 
when  the  second  year's  growth  of  the  biennial  plant  cannot  be 
procured,  recourse  must  be  had  to  the  first  year's  growth  as  a 
substitute,  the  Pharmacopoeia  should  have  made  known  the  com- 
parative strength  of  the  latter.  No  objection  could  have  been 
made  to  such  directions,  when  it  could  be  shown  that  a  second- 
class  article  must  of  necessity  supplant  a  superior  one,  as  occurs, 
doubtless,  not  only  in  this  but  in  many  other  medicinal  prepa- 
rations. If,  in  the  use  of  the  two  separate  articles  now  under 
consideration,  the  same  instructions  are  carried  out,  namely,  to 
use  two  ounces  and  a  half  of  the  dried  plant  for  a  pint  of  tinc- 
ture, and  one  should  prove  to  possess  two  or  three  times  the 
strength  of  the  other,  it  assumes  a  serious  aspect  in  the  admin- 
istration of  so  very  important  a  medicine.  We  require  a  new 
definition  altogether  of  the  plant  when  dried  for  use.  Instead  of 
making  two  divisions  only,  as  at  present,  annual  and  biennial,  it 
should  be  classified  as  follows  : — 
Biennial  henbane  of  2d  year's  growth.  British  annual  henbane. 
Biennial  henbane  of  1st  year's  growth.  German  henbane. 
This  would  at  once  simplify  the  question,  and  prevent  those 
erroneous  views  which  have  very  widely  prevailed  amongst  all 
parties  concerned  in  its  preparation  and  use.  It  will  be  seen 
that  I  have  arranged  the  above  classes  in  the  order  of  their 
value.  The  two  last  mentioned — the  British  annual  and  the 
German — although  most  extensively  used,  are  so  thoroughly  unde- 
serving notice,  that  they  require  mention  only  to  guard  the  pub- 
lic against  their  use  altogether.  Of  these  two,  the  British  annual 
is  perhaps  preferable  to  the  foreign,  and  its  appearance,  unfor- 
tunately, approximates  sufficiently  close  to  the  second  year's 
growth  of  the  biennial  plant  to  enable  the  vendor  to  pass  it  as 
