ON BLACK HELLEBORE. 
1:63 
introdaced in a note into the last edition, (1845,) of the U. 
S. Dispensatory, as follows: " It is usually a raanj^-headed. 
root, with a caudex or body half an inch thick or less, sel- 
dom thicker, and several inches long, horizontal, sometimes 
variously contorted, uneven, knotty, with transverse ridges, 
slightly striated longitudinally, presenting on its upper sur- 
face the short remains of the leaf and flower stalks, and 
thickly beset upon the sides and under surface with fibres 
of the thickness of a straw, and from six to twelve inches 
long. These are undivided above, but at the distance of 
from two to six inches from their origin, are furnished with 
small, slender branches. The colour of the root is dark- 
brown, sometimes rather light-brown, dull, and for thdmost 
part exhihiting a grey earthy tinge. Internally it is 
whitish, with a somewhat darker piih, which, when cut 
transversely, shows converging rays. Sometimes it is porous. 
It has a medullary or fleshy, not a ligneous consistence. 
The fibres, when dried, are wrinkled, very brittle, some- 
times greyish internally, with a while point in the centre. 
The odour of the dried root is feeble, somewhat like that of 
senega, but more nauseous, especially when the root is 
rubbed with water. The taste is at first sweetish, then 
nauseously acrid and biting, but not very durable, and 
slightly bitterish." 
It would appear from the books that substitution of other 
roots for that of the black hellebore does take place; some- 
limes they are derived from the other species of the Helle- 
borus, or they may be from entirely different plants. The 
root most commonly substituted is that of the ^ctcea spi- 
cat(t. Murray {^Apparal. Medic.) says that the only root 
sold in France is that of the ^. spicata, or Herb of Si, 
Christopher. A false black hellebore \s described by Gui- 
bourt, which he says the herborists and druggists obtain 
from the interior of France. Upon comparing it with the 
root of the spicata, derived from the Garden of Plants, 
he found that the physical characters were the same, the 
only difference consisted in odour and taste. 
