about England, in
Gerard's day, by highways, in the borders of fields, on dunghills,
and in untoiled places. But now it has become much less common as
a rustic herb in this country. We find it occasionally in railway
cuttings, and in rubbish on waste places, chiefly on chalky ground,
and particularly near the sea. The plant is biennial, rather large,
and dull of aspect, with woolly sea-green leaves, and bearing
bell-shaped flowers of a lurid, creamy colour, streaked and spotted
with purple. It [253] is one of the Night-shade tribe, having a heavy,
oppressive, sub-fetid odour, and being rather clammy to the touch.
This herb is also called Hogsbean, and its botanical name,
_Hyoscyamus_, signifies "the bean of the hog," which animal eats it
with impunity, though to mankind it is a poisonous plant. It has
been noticed in Sherwood Forest, that directly the turf is pared
Henbane springs up.

"To wash the feet," said Gerard, "in a decoction of Henbane, as also
the often smelling to the flowers, causeth sleep." Similarly famous
anodyne necklaces were made from the root, and were hung about
the necks of children to prevent fits, and to cause an easy breeding
of the teeth. From the leaves again was prepared a famous sorcerer's
ointment. "These, the seeds, and the juice," says Gerard, "when
taken internally, cause an unquiet sleep, like unto the sleep of
drunkenness, which continueth long, and is deadly to the patient."

The herb was known to the ancients, being described by Dioscorides
and Celsus. Internally, it should only be prescribed by a physician,
and is then of special service for relieving irritation of the bladder,
and to allay maniacal excitement, as well as to subdue spasm.

The fresh leaves crushed, and applied as a poultice, will quickly
relieve local pains, as of gout or neuralgia. In France the plant is
called _Jusquiame_, and in Germany it is nicknamed Devil's-eye.

The chemical constituents of Henbane are "hyoscyamine," a volatile
alkaloid, with a bitter principle, "hyoscypricin" (especially just
before flowering), also nitrate of potash, which causes the leaves,
when burnt, to sparkle with a deflagration, and other inorganic salts.
The seeds contain a whitish, oily albumen.

The leaves and viscid stem are produced only in [254] each second
year. The juice when dropped into the eye will dilate the pupil.

Druggists prepare this juice of the herb, and an extract; also, they
dispense a compound liniment of H