_Radix Ellebori nigri_, _Radix Melampodii_; _Black
Hellebore Root_; F. _Racine d’Ellebore noir_;
G. _Schwarze Nieswurzel_.
=Botanical Origin=—_Helleborus niger_ L., a low perennial herb, native
of sub-alpine woods in Southern and Eastern Europe. It is found in
Provence, Northern Italy, Salzburg, Bavaria, Austria, Bohemia, and
Silesia, as well as, according to Boissier,[4] in Continental Greece.
Under the name of _Christmas Rose_, it is often grown in English
gardens on account of its handsome white flowers, which are put forth
in midwinter.
=History=—The story of the daughters of Prœtus, king of Argos, being
cured of madness by the soothsayer and physician Melampus, who
administered to them hellebore, has imparted great celebrity to the
plant under notice.[5]
But admitting that the medicine of Melampus was really the root of a
species of _Helleborus_, its identity with that of the present plant
is extremely improbable. Several other species grow in Greece and
Asia Minor, and Schroff[6] has endeavoured to show that of these,
_H. orientalis_ Lam. possesses medicinal powers agreeing better with
the ancient accounts than those of _H. niger_ L. He has also pointed
out that the ancients employed not the entire root but only the bark
separated from the woody column; and that in _H. niger_ and _H.
viridis_ the peeling of the rhizome is impossible, but that in _H.
orientalis_ it may be easily effected.
[4] _Flora Orientalis_, i. (1867) 61.
[5] See the list of theses and memoirs on Hellebore given by Mérat and
De Lens, _Dict._ iii. (1831) 472, 473.
[6] _Zeitschr. d. Gesellsch. d. Aerzte zu Wien._ 1860, No. 25;
Canstatt’s _Jahresbericht_ for 1859. i. 47. 1860. i. 55.
According to the same authority the hellebores differ extremely in
their medicinal activity. The most potent is _H. orientalis_ Lam.;
then follow _H. viridis_ L. and _H. fœtidus_ L. (natives of Britain),
and _H. purpurascens_ Waldst. et Kit., a Hungarian species, while _H.
niger_ is the weakest of all.[7]
=Description=—Black Hellebore produces a knotty, fleshy, brittle
rhizome which creeps and branches slowly, forming in the course of
years an intangled, interlacing mass, throwing out an abundance of
stout, straight roots. Both rhizome and roots are of a blackish brown,
but the younger roots are of lighter tint and are covered with a short
woolly tomentum.
In commerce the rhizome is found with the roots more or less broken
off and detached. It is in very knotty irregular pieces, 1 to 2 or 3
inches long and about ²/₁₀ to ³/₁₀ of an inch in diameter, internally
whitish and of a horny texture. If cut transversely (especially after
maceration), it shows a circle of white woody wedges, 8 to 12 in
number, surrounded by a thick bark. The roots are unbranched, scarcely
⅒ of an inch in diameter. The younger, when broken across, exhibit a
thick bark encircling a simple woody cord; in the older this cord tends
to divide into converging wedges which present a stellate appearance,
though not so distinctly as in _Actæa_. The drug when cut or broken has
a slight odour like that of senega. Its taste is bitterish and slightly
acrid.
=Microscopic Structure=—The cortical part both of the rhizome and the
rootlets exhibits no distinct medullary rays. In the rootlets the woody
centre is comparatively small and enclosed by a narrow zone somewhat as
in sarsaparilla. A distinct pith occurs in the rhizome but not always
in the rootlets, their woody column forming one solid bundle or being
divided into several. The tissue contains small starch granules and
drops of fatty oil.
=Chemical Composition=—The earlier investigations of Black Hellebore
by Gmelin, and Feneuille and Capron, and of Riegel indicated only the
presence of the more usual constituents of plants.
Bastick, on the other hand, in 1852 obtained from the root a peculiar,
non-volatile, crystalline, chemically-indifferent substance which he
named _Helleborin_. It is stated to have a bitter taste and to produce
in addition a tingling sensation on the tongue; to be slightly soluble
in water, more so in ether, and to dissolve freely in alcohol.
Marmé and A. Husemann extracted helleborin (1864) by treating with hot
water the green fatty matter which is dissolved out of the root by
boiling alcohol. After recrystallization from alcohol, it is obtainable
in shining, colourless needles, having the composition C₃₆H₄₂O₆. It is
stated to be highly narcotic. Helleborin appears to be more abundant
in _H. viridis_ (especially in the older roots) than in _H. niger_,
and yet to be obtainable only to the extent of 0·4 per mille. When it
is boiled with dilute sulphuric acid, or still better with solution of
zinc chloride, it is converted into sugar and _Helleboresin_, C₃₀H₃₈O₄.
[7] Between _purpurascens_ and _niger_, Schroff places _L. ponticus_ A.
Br., a plant which Boissier holds to be simply _H. orientalis_ Lam.
Marmé and Husemann succeeded in isolating other crystallized
principles from the leaves and roots of _H. niger_ and _H. viridis_,
by precipitation with phospho-molybdic acid. They obtained firstly a
slightly acid glucoside which they named _Helleboreïn_. It occurs only
in very small proportion, but is rather more abundant in _H. niger_
than in _H. viridis_. When boiled with a dilute acid, helleboreïn,
C₂₆H₄₄O₁₅, is resolved into _Helleboretin_, C₁₄H₂₀O₃, of a fine violet
colour, and sugar, C₁₂H₂₄O₁₂. It is remarkable that helleboretin has no
physiological action, though helleboreïn is stated to be poisonous.
An organic acid accompanying helleborin was regarded by Bastick as
probably aconitic (equisetic) acid. There is no tannin in hellebore.
=Uses=—Black Hellebore is reputed to be a drastic purgative. In British
medicine its employment is nearly obsolete, but the drug is still
imported from Germany and sold for the use of domestic animals.
=Adulteration=—Black Hellebore root as found in the market is not
always to be relied on, and without good engravings it is not easy to
point out characters by which its genuineness can be made certain. In
fact to ensure its recognition, some pharmacopœias required that it
should be supplied with leaves attached.
The roots with which it is chiefly liable to be confounded are the
following:—
1. _Helleborus viridis_ L.—Although a careful comparison of
authenticated specimens reveals certain small differences between the
roots and rhizomes of this species and of _H. niger_, there are no
striking characters by which they can be discriminated. The root of
_H. viridis_ is far more bitter and acrid than that of _H. niger_, and
it exhibits more numerous drops of fatty oil. In German trade the two
drugs are supplied separately, both being in use; but as _H. viridis_
is apparently the rarer plant and its root is valued at 3 to 5 times
the price of that of _H. niger_, it is not likely to be used for
sophisticating the latter.
2. _Actœa spicata_ L.—In this plant the rhizome is much thicker; the
rootlets broken transversely display a cross or star, as figured in
Flückiger’s “Grundlagen” (see p. vii.), fig. 64, p. 76. The drug has
but little odour; as it contains tannin its infusion is blackened by
a persalt of iron, which is not the case with an infusion of Black
Hellebore.