COMMON HENBANE.

849

Th "l, 6 ^ fr° ni the genus Solanum (as S. Lyenjiersicum, Melonzenn, and tuberosum.)dec " Pat used * n P re pa-ring’ some of these for the table may, perhaps, volatilize or],. °?P ose any noxious matter which they contain. The generalizations of some* es re nch writers (vide Trousseau and Pidoux, Traiti de Therap. t. i. p. 206) withto h^r *° ^ le identit y °f the operation of the narcotic Solaneee, do not appear to medilat • ,lded ‘ n fact. Hyoscyamus , Belladonna, and Stramonium, agree in causingd (1 atlon of the pupil, and in producing delirium. Hyoscyamus , given in moderatetl, e es > so metimes occasions sleep, though this has been denied. Tobacco depressesMuscular and vascular systems.

Cap pq 0RY --~This plant is the ’Yomcvafiog gekag of Dioscorides (lib. iv-(Die r i.The ’Yotricvafioc of Hippocrates is probably Hyoscyamus albusn ac h, Arzneim. d. Hippocrates , p. 233).

«h, t . ANy - Gen. Char. — Calyx tubular, five-cleft. Corolla funnel-spreading, oblique, five-lobed, unequal. Stamina five.s ide • a ca pi ta te. Capsule ovate, compressed and furrowed on eachSp a R ex circumscissile or operculate (Bot. Gall.)

— Leaves sinuated, clasping the stem. Flowers sessile

spindle-shaped. Stem bushy. Leaves sessile, soft and pliant,odoJJ. downy, and viscid, exhaling a powerful and oppressive

of all the rest of the plant. Flowers numerous from the bosoms

C °l°Ur Cr °' v< ^ ec i upper leaves, almost entirely sessile, of an elegant strawPencilled with dark-purple veins.

July B ' Indigenous: waste ground, banks, and commons. Flowers in

H ot}l ere are two varieties of this species; one biennial, the other annual.)v are cultivated at Mitcham.

the J c «tfT I0 N.—Mr. Houlton (. Lond. Med. Gaz. vol. vii. p. 509) saysdp ra j. ar *t is fit f or medicinal purposes in the second year only of itsV* c 10n - . It should be gathered when in full flower. The herb ( herbaw h en fresh, has a strong, unpleasant, narcotic odour, a muci-'V'h 0 )i° U ] S ’ slightly acrid taste, and a clammy feel. By drying it almostJ'ielq ^ l°ses these properties. One hundred pounds of the fresh herbf i°Rt fourteen pounds when dried (Martius, Pharmakogn.) The^ et hin^°^ a hyoscyami), when fresh, are pale, dull green. The seedsd°q ed a hyoscyami ) are small, compressed, uniform, roundish, finely’ °f a yellowish-gray colour, and have the odour of the plant, andCanons, bitter taste.

I%Jg r ° si tion. —The seeds of Hyoscyamus niger were analyzed, in^ ta Ud / Kirchhof ( Berl. Jahrb. Bd. xvii. S. 144) ; and, in 1820, byby j ■ e f, 1 Lbid. Bd. xxi. S. 280). The extract of the herb was analyzedocrgson (Gmelin, Handb. d. Chem. ii. 1303).

Hyoscy'amus ni'ger, Linn. L. E. D .—Common Henbane.

Sex. Sj/st. Pentandria, Monofynia.

(Folia et Semina, //.—Leaves, E.~ Folia, D.)