HYOSCYAMUS
Hyoscyamus, Hyoscyamus niger, or henbane (N.O. Solanaceæ), alkaloids hyoscine, hyoscyamine, taken in large doses, produces symptoms not unlike those due to belladonna. There is the same affection of sight—double vision; the same dilatation of the pupils, delirium, confusion of thought, insensibility, and coma. Hyoscine has a hypnotic effect in comparison to the deliriant action of belladonna. But its action varies very much on different people. A form of mania, with wild hallucinations, has sometimes been observed to follow the administration of this drug.
The peculiar property of henbane is marked by its tendency to produce a general paralysis of the nervous system. The root has been eaten by mistake for parsnips, when all the foregoing symptoms were present. The seeds are more poisonous than the roots, the leaves being the least poisonous part of the plant.
Post-mortem Appearances.—The morbid appearances are not unlike those which result from poisoning with belladonna.
Fatal Dose.—Nothing certain can be stated as to the amount required to cause death. Alarming symptoms are said to have followed the administration of ten minims of the tincture, repeated every six hours. Twenty of the seeds have caused active delirium. Idiosyncrasy may have something to do with this result. Half a drachm of the tincture is often given to an adult, and repeated every four hours, without any unpleasant result.
Treatment.—As for belladonna, emetics and purgatives, to expel the poison from the system.