Herb or Poison ?
Not long since I found growing in a much war-damaged line of dun in North Devon a number of plants of henbane, a species I had nev seen there before. This poisonous growth, taking the place of suc delectable local treasures as the butterfly orchis, seemed to be in th nature of a symbol of the grim desecration of the place by tank road rusty iron, broken concrete and mouldering structures. The idea w silly, and I have just learnt the true origin of the henbane's appearanc Towards the end of the last war there came into being the British Her Federation, of which one branch flourished at Cambridge, and the chi .:e organiser discovered that henbane was a common weed of the district and both the leaves and seeds of this were in great demand. It w grown both in North and South Ireland ; and one of the herbalis humorously boasted that they were the only solvers of the Irish question Cork and Ulster combined under the aegis of the British Herb Feder tion and agreed to sell throughout Ireland ! One place where seeds we sown was the sandy hinterland of Woolacombe Bay. It was thought the time that no seeds had germinated ; but they must have grov, unobserved or lain doggo, as the highly flourishing plants that I so there sufficiently indicate. Children have been poisoned in the Cambrid: area from eating the seeds, but in this plant, as in many, a valuab drug and a dangerous poison are closely allied.
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