Am  Jour.  Pharm.  i 
Dec,  1880.  j 
Indian  Henbane. 
peculiar  odor  of  the  henbane,  just  referred  to,  passed  off  in  the  process 
of  drying. 
The  tincture  was  prepared  by  maceration,  and  after  standing  the 
usual  time,  pressed  ofF  and  filtered.  Compared  with  the  official  tinc- 
ture of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia,  made  with  biennial  henbane,  by 
transmitted  light  it  was  brown-olive,  whereas  the  official  tincture  is 
olive-green,  and  the  color  more  intense.  A  little  of  the  tincture  of 
Indian  henbane  added  to  water  produced  no  opalescence,  and  gave  only 
a  tinge  of  color;  the  official  tincture,  on  the  contrary,  produced  con- 
siderable opacity,  which,  on  the  addition  of  a  little  liquor  potassae,  dis- 
appeared. 
In  the  general  structure  of  the  leaf  I  could  perceive  no  very  material 
difference,  but  a  section  of  the  midrib  showed  much  more  vascular 
structure  than  one  from  the  same  part  of  indigenous  biennial  henbane; 
but  more  extended  observation  will  be  required  on  the  histology  of  the 
two  plants  before  any  definite  conclusion  can  be  arrived  at  as  to  their 
identity. 
Extracts  made  from  the  two  tinctures  were  relatively  3*43  for  the 
Indian  henbane,  as  compared  with  4*20  for  the  British  Pharmacopoeia;, 
but  on  this  point  also  further  experiment,  and  with  larger  quantities,  is 
desirable. 
As  regards  the  difference  in  color,  it  is  probable  that  under  a  tropi- 
cal sun  one  of  the  elements  of  the  chlorophyll  of  the  Indian  henbane 
had  been  in  part  decomposed,  and  hence  the  brown  of  that  tincture  as 
compared  with  the  green  of  the  official.  The  two  samples  also  were 
respectively  viewed  in  the  spectroscope,  when  the  Indian  tincture 
showed  an  absorption  band  in  the  red,  smaller,  and  not  so  clearly 
defined  as  that  of  the  tincture  from  the  indigenous  biennial.  This 
would  also  indicate  a  loss  of  chlorophyll  as  just  referred  to.  The  rela- 
tive difference  in  the  yield  of  extract  of  the  two  tinctures  may  receive 
its  solution  in  the  greater  vascular  development  of  the  Indian  as  com- 
paied  with  the  indigenous  leaf.  The  quantity  of  tincture  was  too  small 
for  reliable  conclusions  as  to  any  difference  in  the  therapeutic  value  of 
the  two  tinctures.  That  question  must  be  left  to  a  larger  supply  of 
material  for  its  solution. 
Pereira,  quoting  Mr.  Houlter,  states,  in  reference  to  indigenous 
biennial  henbane,  that  "when  fresh  it  has  a  strong,  unpleasant  and  nar- 
cotic odor,  a  mucilaginous,  slightly  acid  taste,  and  a  clammy  feel;  and 
that  by  drying  it  almost  wholly  loses  these  properties."    Reference  has- 
