The Solanaceae II: The mandrake (Mandragora officinarum); in ...

HISTORY 

PAPER APER 

INTRODUCTION 

Of all the members of the Solanaceae family, the 

mandrake has the most bizarre history. The unusual name 

of the plant probably derives from the Middle English or 

Middle Dutch (mandrage) and has a twofold meaning;first, 

the root looks like a man, and second, ‘drake’ is derived 

from ‘dragon’, alluding to its magical powers. The Latin 

form Mandragora officinarum has been established at least 

since the days of Shakespeare, who refers to the 

mandrake in Othello and more particularly in Romeo and 

Juliet (Act IV) where he mentions the shrieking of the 

mandrake when uprooted from the ground and that ‘living 

mortals hearing them run mad.’ 1 In other words, the plant 

can make you lose your mind! 1 

The mandrake is a perennial herb originating in the 

Southern Mediterranean. 2 It has a large taproot, simple 

basal leaves and solitary five-lobed bell shaped flowers 

(see Figure 1). Its fruits are yellow, aromatic and 

poisonous. They are sometimes known as Devil’s 

apples. The story of the mandrake is a long and 

turbulent one and involves the Hebrews, the Greeks 

and other ancient civilisations. 

THE HEBREWS 

One of the oldest stories in the Bible, from around 4000 

BC comes in the book of Genesis (30:14–19). 3 Here, so 

the story tells, the boy Reuben goes into the field and 

gathers a plant with yellow berries. He took some of 

these berries back to his mother Leah. Leah had a sister 

278 

J R Coll Physicians Edinb 2006; 36:278–285 

© 2006 Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 

The Solanaceae II: The mandrake (Mandragora 

officinarum); in league with the Devil 

MR Lee 

Emeritus Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland 

ABSTRACT In this second article on the plant family, the Solanaceae (the mandrake) 

is discussed. This plant (Mandragora officinarum) was well known to the ancients, 

including the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs and Hebrews. Regarded by them all 

as having magical powers, it was thought to be possessed by a Satanic spirit. In 

order to gather it safely, a number of elaborate rituals were developed by these 

different ethnic groups. It was also thought to be propagated at scenes of 

execution where the body of the felon released urine and semen. In later medieval 

times, these superstitious beliefs were rejected but the mandrake was still highly 

valued as a powerful anaesthetic and had considerable use as one constituent of 

the soporific surgical sponge. Eventually, nitrous oxide, ether and chloroform 

consigned the mandrake to obscurity. Nevertheless, its story remains one of the 

most fascinating in the history of medicine. 

KEYWORDS Anaesthesia, Mandragora officinarum, mandrake, rituals, spirits, surgery 

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS No conflict of interests declared. 

Published online August 2006 

Correspondence to MR Lee, 112 

Polwarth Terrace, Edinburgh, 

EH11 1NN 

tel. +44 (0)131 337 7386 

FIGURE 1 The mandrake Atropa Mandragora, also known as 

Mandragora officinarum. From Woodville’s Medical Botany, 

1794. Courtesy of the Library of the Royal College of 

Physicians of Edinburgh.

called Rachel and she, recognising the fruit as that of the 

mandrake, requested some saying, in the words of the 

King James version of the Bible, ‘Give me I pray of thy 

son’s mandrakes.’ 

Rachel was barren and she sought to correct the ancient 

severe stigma of childlessness with the mandrake. Leah 

struck a bargain with Rachel that if she should give her 

some of the mandrake berries (or fruits) then Leah’s 

husband must sleep with Leah first before sleeping with 

Rachel. Both women became pregnant; Leah bore her fifth 

son Issachar and some time later Rachel gave birth to 

Joseph who was to play an illustrious part in Jewish history. 4 

Interestingly, the emphasis amongst the Jews was on the 

power of the plant to aid the procreation of offspring and 

there is no mention of its narcotic power. The ancient 

Greeks sometimes referred to the fruit as the ‘apples of 

love’ whereas the Arabs, by contrast, called them the 

‘Devil’s apples’ from their capacity to inflame the passions. 

In the neighbourhood of Mount Lebanon, some of the 

Arab tribes called the plant ‘Baid-ul-Jinn’ or literally ‘the 

eggs of the Genii’ and this is one of the first references to 

its so called ‘magical’ powers. 

THE GREEKS AND ROMANS 

The Greeks came to the mandrake from a different 

direction. 5 For as long as they had records of the plant, it 

was known to have narcotic properties. Hippocrates, the 

Father of Medicine, asserted around 400 BC that ‘a small 

dose in wine, less than would occasion delirium, will 

relieve the deepest depression and anxiety.’ Aristotle 

describes the mandrake as a valuable soporific, together 

with other plants such as the poppy (Papaver species) and 

the darnel (tares; Lolium temulentum). 

Theophrastus wrote the first Greek treatise on plants in or 

around 230 BC. In agreement with the polypharmacy of the 

time, he recommended the mandrake as a sovereign 

remedy for gout, erysipelas, sleeplessness and, interestingly, 

in relation to the Hebraic tradition,as a love potion. He also 

refers to the fact that the taproot of the plant resembles a 

diminutive man,and it was from such early observations that 

the bizarre rites and ceremonies surrounding the plant were 

to emerge in the centuries that followed. 

As far as the love potion is concerned, the Greeks also 

associated the plant with two important mythological 

figures, Circe and Aphrodite. Circe was reputed to have 

attempted to bewitch Odysseus with the mandrake 

although fortunately he had taken a preventive antidote 

that could have been the snowdrop (Galanthus). Similarly, 

Aphrodite the goddess of love was sometimes known as 

Mandragoritis or ‘She of the Mandrake’. 

In Theophrastus’ treatise, we have the first clear 

description of the procedure that must be followed by the 


© 2006 RCPE 

plant gatherer in order that he should not be bewitched 

by the mandrake. The operator should draw three circles 

around the plant with his sword. Then, facing the west to 

avoid evil spells, he should slice portions off the taproot. 

At the cutting of the second piece, he must dance around 

the plant and mutter incantations concerning the mystery 

of love. Drawing the three circles around the plant 

protects the operative from the plant and the sword used 

should be a ‘magic’ one made of virgin iron and only ever 

used for the purpose of mandrake gathering. Similar 

magical rites were recommended for gathering other 

herbs, such as the Belladonna and All Heal (see Figure 2). 

The next important authority who was to pay particular 

attention to the mandrake was the man who became 

known as the Father of Pharmacy, Pedanius Dioscorides 

of Anazaba. Born in Silesia, he travelled extensively 

through the whole of Southern Europe for a period of 

almost fifty years, starting about AD 40. He investigated 

more than six hundred herbs and recorded his results in 

a manuscript entitled the Anicia, a copy of which is 

preserved in the Imperial Library at Vienna. In the book 

are two full page miniatures devoted to the plant. In the 

first Euresis, the goddess of discovery offers the author 

Dioscorides a specimen of the mandrake root. Also seen 

in the picture is a dog that has succumbed to the evil 

effects of the plant. In the second miniature, he is shown 

drawing the root of the mandrake. 

Dioscorides mentions a number of other names that have 

been used for the herb but suggests firmly that 

Mandragora should be adopted. He also notes that there 

are ‘male’ and ‘female’ forms but it is not clear what he 

means by this. Moreover, he confirms the views of 

Theophrastus that the root and fruit (berries) are useful 

for a wide variety of illnesses and perhaps as a love potion 

or fertility drug. 

THE ROMAN TRADITION 

The Solanaceae II: the mandrake 

From 500 BC onwards physicians and philosophers 

migrated from Greece to Rome and took with them the 

knowledge that they had acquired from the early disciples 

of Asklepios (including Theophrastus and Dioscorides). 

The first Roman author to take up the mandrake 

appears to be Pliny the Elder. 6 Writing in the first 

century AD, he commends it for all the usual ailments 

cited above. He adds the additional indication that it is 

useful for the condition of inflammation of the eyes. He 

also concluded that there are two varieties of the 

mandake, vernalis (flowering in the spring) and autumnalis 

(flowering in the autumn) but this has not been 

confirmed by modern studies. 

The Romans also believed that the plant might be used for 

military as well as medicinal purposes. Two stories 

circulated widely amongst the Roman high command. The 

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HISTORY

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MR Lee 

FIGURE 2 Dog Uprooting a mandrake. Reproduced from a 

fourteenth century manuscript. 

first related to the Carthaginian general Hannibal who, 

when his army was fighting African rebels, pretended to 

retreat. He then left behind on the battlefield a number 

of jars of wine which had been fortified with mandrake. 

The rebels drank the wine, became sleepy, or even 

stuporose, and were easily defeated. It was also said that 

Julius Caesar, when he was captured by Sicilian pirates, 

employed a similar stratagem to gain his release. 

THE MANDRAKE GAINS ENTRY TO BRITAIN 

After the fall of the Roman Empire and the so-called 

Dark Ages, little is heard of the mandrake in Europe (or 

Britain) until the Anglo-Saxon period. 7 Then, at the end 

of the first millennium, Apuleius produced his famous 

Herbarium Platonicus and this was translated into Anglo- 

Saxon. In the native language, the mandrake is described 

as ‘mickle’ (very) beneficial for all sorts of ailments. He 

notes that at night, the leaves shine together like a lamp, 

and that this signifies supernatural possession. The 

Greek’s previous instructions in regard to harvesting 

were modified in two important ways. Firstly, instead of 

the man digging up the root(s) himself, a dog should be 

used to jerk it from the ground (see Figure 2). Secondly, 

an ivory staff should be used to loosen them (ivory was 

protected from evil). As with the Greeks, an iron sword 

was then used to cut them into manageable portions. All 

this was, as far as possible, to avoid the contamination of 

the gatherer by the malign evil spirit that lived in the 

plant. However, if the plant was pulled from the ground 

at certain holy seasons, the evil spirit would appear to 

the gatherer and do his bidding. This is very reminiscent 

of the Arab belief, referred to in an earlier section, that 

280 

FIGURE 3 Bryonia Alba: the White Briony is one of the ‘false’ 

mandrakes. From Woodville’s Medical Botany, 1794. Courtesy 

of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. 

the plant was occupied by djinns (spirits) who could 

work for good or evil. 

The mandrake was not indigenous to Britain. 

Consequently, its dried roots had to be imported, often at 

great expense. The root in its native form (or as a carved 

manikin or homunculus) became a prized family heirloom 

and was often bequeathed specifically in wills. As a result 

of the rarety and value of Mandragora, a search was made 

for native plants that could act, or indeed be passed off, as 

a poor man’s substitute. The plants that the medieval 

herbalists came up with were the black and white brionies 

(see Figure 3). 8 The roots of both these plants resemble 

those of the mandrake. They can be carved as a 

homunculus and both contain narcotic poisons. (see 

Figure 3). All this illustrates that between the period 1200 

to 1600 there was a very considerable trade in Britain 

(and Europe) in the mandrake and ersatz substitutes. 

CEREMONIES THAT SURROUND THE 

GATHERING OF THE MANDRAKE AND SIMILAR 

MAGICAL PLANTS 

Curious and mysterious ceremonies surround the 

gathering of the mandrake. Why did the mandrake 

generate such a love/hate relationship with the local 

peasants? On the one hand, they were desperate to get 

hold of the root because it gave them power, influence 

and indeed wealth. On the other hand, they were scared 


© 2006 RCPE

witless that in the course of harvesting (or handling) the 

root they would be struck down dead, or alternatively, 

possessed by an evil Satanic spirit that would force them 

to commit unspeakable sins, condemning them to hellfire 

and damnation. 

Therefore magic must be met by more powerful magic. 

First came the ritual of the Greeks who drew special 

circles around the plant while facing west to placate the 

Chthonic gods. Then in the Christian era came the dog. 

This acted as a classical scapegoat and it was hoped that 

the evil spirit would pass into the unfortunate animal as 

the root was harvested. 

The dog would be fasted for several days to get it in the 

right state of mind (extreme hunger)! It was then tied 

by strong cords to the stem of the plant. Pieces of meat 

were thrown just out of its reach. In its agitation to get 

something to eat the dog would haul the dreaded plant 

out of the ground. The dog died (or may have been put 

to death) at the spot where the mandrake was 

unearthed. Then, with the appropriate incantations, the 

evil spirit passes back from the dog into the ground. As 

time went on various modifications (and amplifications) 

were introduced, described by Aelian in his book De 

Natura Animalium. 

For example, it is stated that the diggers must only go out 

on the day of Venus (Friday). Also because the mandrake 

may emit wild terrifying shrieks which could send the 

gatherers mad they must plug their ears with pitch (or 

wax). A crucifix was affixed to the plant before it was 

disturbed in order to subdue the evil spirit. 

The day, the hour and the season of the year were all 

important to the diggers, both to ensure the efficacy of 

the root extracted and the safety of gatherers. The hour 

preferred was before sunrise because at that time the 

plant was said to be most active in producing its magical 

principles and the evil spirit guarding them was likely to be 

asleep. Mandrake was needed both as a love potion and 

a means of ensuring fertility. 

Certain seasons of the year were more successful than 

others for the gathering of the plant including in particular 

Midsummer Day (or the following night). This was the day 

traditionally dedicated to St John the Baptist (25 June) and 

as Lee has pointed out was also the preferred time for 

harvesting Hypericum perforatum (St John’s Wort) 

another sacred plant. 9 

It should be made clear that many magical and medicinal 

plants had similar ceremonies associated with their 

gathering but without the dog. Apart from St John’s 

Wort, they included Valerian, Selago and the Peony. 

Common rites included the reciting of the Pater Noster, 

Ave Maria, the Apostles’ Creed and selected portions of 

St John’s Gospel. 


© 2006 RCPE 


The historic instructions conclude with showing due 

reverence to the root. First, it should be placed in a 

running stream for a day and a night to take away the taint 

(or stain) of the Devil. Then it should be wrapped in a 

clean white linen cloth and stored with care. It should be 

placed in a secure wooden box and when brought out for 

the administration of spells appropriate prayers should 

always be said. In some ways, the handling of mandrake 

resembles the treatment of the relics of the Saints. 

THE MANDRAKE AND THE GALLOWS 

As if these superstitions and practices were not enough, 

another myth grew up and became established between 

the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. 10 This story 

became particularly widespread in Germany and Austria 

where they believed that if a criminal had been buried or 

hanged at a particular spot, then there would the 

mandrake grow and flourish. Schmidel, in 1751, described 

the situation as follows: ‘At the foot of the gallows on 

which a man has been hanged and where urine has been 

voided at the time of death, there springs up a plant with 

broad leaves and a yellow flower. The root of the plant 

exactly represents the human form, from the hair of his 

head to the sexual organs.’ These roots were highly 

prized in Germany and changed hands at inflated prices. 

They were known to the populace as the Galgemannlein, 

or the ‘little gallows man’ and represented the congealed 

urine and semen of the executed criminal! 

The German instructions for the care of the ‘little 

gallows man’ were very specific. ‘Wash him clean in red 

wine and then wrap him in layers of white and red silk. 

Lay him in a casket and do not forget firstly to bathe him 

every Friday (the day of Venus again) and secondly and 

most importantly at the new moon to clothe him in a 

clean white shirt.’ 

If treated and respected in this way the gallows man 

ensures that you will be rich and fertile. Moreover he will 

answer any questions that you address to him (compare 

the genie of the Devil’s Apple). When the owner of this 

precious heirloom died, the homunculus should be passed 

on, not to the eldest but to the youngest son. 

The myth of the mandrake sprouting at the site of the 

gibbet watered and fertilized by urine and semen has 

many parallels in other cultures. The first comes in 

Greek mythology when the flesh eating eagle spills the 

blood of Prometheus on the ground. From the area 

where the blood had spilt a plant emerged which was 

identified later as the Corycian crocus. Similar stories 

have also emerged in relation to the dead bodies of 

Mexicans and the marigold; and also Danish soldiers and 

the Dane weed. Finally in modern times we remember 

the red poppies that flourished on the battlefields of 

Waterloo and Flanders that have come to assume semimythological 

status. 

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MR Lee 

THE MANDRAKE IN ENGLISH LITERATURE 

In the light of the long, ancient and bizarre history of the 

mandrake, it is no surprise that the plant should have been 

taken up by poets, dramatists and romantic novelists. 

There is only space here to refer to a few striking 

examples. For a more extensive coverage the reader is 

referred to Thompson’s excellent treatise. 11 

By the time of Shakespeare, the root was imported 

widely and also cheaper alternatives, such as the 

white and black briony were available. The Bard of 

Avon makes a number of references to the root. 

Falstaff alludes twice to its effects on sexual 

performance in Henry IV Part II – first he addresses his 

page as ‘Thou whoresom mandrake’ and then 

condemns Justice Swallow as ‘the very genius of 

famine; yet lecherous as a monkey and the whores call 

him mandrake’ (Act I, Scene 2, and Act III, Scene 2 

respectively). One of the most celebrated references 

to the plant is that in Othello (Act III, Scene 8) where 

Iago referring to its narcotic qualities says ‘Not poppy 

nor mandragora; nor all the drowsy syrups of the 

world; shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep 

which thou owdst yesterday.’ 

The mandrake’s shrieking on extraction is referred to in 

Henry VI (Act III, Scene 2) where Suffolk says: 

282 

‘Would curses kill as doth the mandrake’s groan 

I would invent as bitter searching terms 

As curst, as harsh and horrible to hear.’ 

Other authors took up the mysterious herb including 

Marlowe and Drayton. In his popular play, The Jew of 

Malta, Marlowe causes Barabas to explain how he escaped 

from prison by saying: 

‘I drank poppy and cold mandrake juice; 

and being asleep belike they thought me dead 

And threw me over the walls.’ 

This emphasises the prolonged sleep that mandrake can 

bring on in which the individual can appear insensible to 

pain and almost ‘dead’. 

Michael Drayton, the Elizabethan poet was also well 

aware of the many properties of mandrake and in his 

work the Polyolbian refers to its association with the 

mistletoe, a plant sacred to the Druids. He may here have 

been confusing it with the false mandrakes; the white or 

black briony. Plants growing under the mistletoe like 

‘mandrake’, such as cyclamen, purslane and valerian were 

all believed to inspire love. 

During the eighteenth and nineteenth century, references 

to the mandrake decline steadily and by 1850 have all but 

disappeared. Perhaps the final quotation I should make is 

that from the Irish poet Thomas Moore (1779–1852) who 

in his epic poem Lalla Rookh says: 

‘Such rank and deadly lustre dwells 

As in these hellish fires that light 

The mandrake’s charnel leaves at night.’ 

Also known as the Devil’s candle to the Arabs, why the 

mandrake’s leaves should glow at night has remained a 

mystery. Once thought to be demonic possession a more 

prosaic explanation is that its scent attracted glowworms 

in the hot Eastern climes. 

THE SCEPTICAL HERBALISTS 1500 TO 1800 

As time went on into the sixteenth and seventeenth 

centuries there came in turn the New Age of Herbalism; 

the era of rationalism and the Enlightenment. 12 Mandrake 

gathering and its usage was submitted to questioning and 

analysis. Superstitions were jettisoned but therapeutic 

use maintained. 

One of the most interesting early accounts in this 

period is that by William Turner, Dean of Wells 

Cathedral and Doctor of Physick, printed in 1551. He 

describes the male and female forms of the roots but 

condemns the fact that manikins (male) and puppettes 

(the female forms) are carved from the plants and sold 

to the credulous common people. ‘They are thus 

deprived both of their wits and their money!’ He also 

condemns the legend relating to the gallows man as 

superstitious nonsense! 

However he does not abandon the mandrake completely, 

recommending it particularly as a soporific, painkiller and 

to dull the agony of ‘burning’ and ‘cutting’. He also noted 

that taken into the mouth it could cause numbness of the 

oral cavity and tongue (see Richardson later.) 

The next important account was that of John Gerarde (in 

his famous Herbal of 1597) in which he also castigates the 

prevalent folk tales as being propagated by ‘old wives, 

runagate surgeons or physickmongers!’ He describes the 

tales of the gallows man and the rites practised in digging 

up the mandrake as ‘doltish errors.’ He also attacks the 

use of Brione (brionies in the modern parlance) as 

practised by ‘idle drones’ who carve out mannikins from 

these plants and then pass these off to superstitious 

people as the true mandrake. 

The next influential authority to rail against the mandrake 

was John Parkinson, by Royal Appointment Herbalist to 

the Court of Charles the First. He discusses the plant in 

some detail in his book A Garden of Pleasant Flowers 

(1629). He blamed the chief magistrates of the City of 

London for tolerating the sale of mandrake mannikins. He 

urged them to prosecute the vendors of such ‘toys which 

are the ridiculous products of man’s invention.’ 


© 2006 RCPE

It should be noted here that the herbalists while 

describing the harvesting rites (and the mannikins) as 

superstitious nonsense still accepted that the mandrake 

was sedative and anaesthetic. Moreover it could be used 

externally with benefit in such conditions as erysipelas, 

eye infections and scrofulous tumours. Moreover any 

undesirable effects could be reversed by wormwood, rue, 

origanum or castor oil. 

MANDRAKE AND THE HISTORY OF 

ANAESTHESIA 

The soporific and anaesthetic properties of the mandrake 

had been described by the classical authors over many 

centuries. 13 Such authorities included Socrates, 

Demosthenes, Macrobius and Theodoretus. 

In particular, Dioscorides outlines the process by 

which strips of mandrake bark were allowed to be 

steeped in sweet wine for months. This wine 

contained the narcotic principle and became known in 

Roman times as the death wine or ‘morion’. It was 

given to the victims of torture or crucifixion. 

Sometimes another bitter anaesthetic was added to 

the mandrake to potentiate its effects for example 

myrrh (Commiphora myrrha). 

The next important step in development was that of 

the ‘sleeping sponge’ or spongia somnifera. Hugo de 

Lucca was the chief of a school of surgeons in Tuscany 

in the fifteenth century. In 1490, he devised this 

sponge, soaked in a mixture of herbs, which could be 

used as an inhalational anaesthetic. The preparation 

contained an infusion of the following plants: opium, 

mulberry, henbane, hemlock, mandrake and the seeds 

of lettuce, dock and water hemlock. In other words, at 

the very least it contained morphine, hyoscine, and the 

alkaloids of mandrake (see below). Not surprisingly, 

sleep could last for up to four hours (or even longer). 

This narcotic sponge was used over several centuries 

with good effect. 

One of the most dramatic stories of the use of such a 

sponge (containing mandrake) was in 1782 when Doctor 

Weiss, Court Surgeon to Augustus, King of Poland, 

administered such an inhalation to his patron rendering 

him insensible. He then cut off part of his mortifying foot 

and the King made a good recovery! 

However, the soporific sponge could prove 

unpredictable in its effects. Sometimes it did not work 

well at all and had to be supplemented by alcoholic 

spirits such as brandy (or whisky) and sometimes it 

worked too well and the patient never regained 

consciousness. Many surgeons, in the period 1750 to 

1840, relied on physical restraint of the patient and 

lightning fast technique and the poppy was the only drug 

used for post-operative pain. 


© 2006 RCPE 


WHY WAS MANDRAKE ABANDONED IN THE 

NINETEENTH CENTURY? 

As the nineteenth century dawned, many doctors (and 

surgeons) were very dissatisfied with restraint, alcohol 

and the soporific sponge, and began to investigate the 

possibilities of new inhalational anaesthetics. 14 

The movement started with the great chemist Joseph 

Priestley in 1775 and his six volume series entitled 

Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air. He 

was the first to isolate nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and 

this stimulated interest eventually in diethyl ether 

(sulphuric ether) and chloroform. These three volatile 

anaesthetics proved to be much more reliable and 

definitely safer than those that had gone before. There is 

no space here to discuss in detail the early development 

of effective inhalational anaesthetics, but the reader is 

referred to the excellent monograph by Stratmann on 

Chloroform (The Quest for Oblivion). 14 

Suffice it to say that by 1850 these new exciting agents 

had wiped away the soporific sponge (and mandrake) and 

they had become largely objects of historical curiosity. 

There is one necessary footnote to the history of 

mandrake. It had been replaced by ether and chloroform 

for inhalational anaesthesia but what of its other uses, as 

an oral analgesic for example? 

In 1888, Benjamin Ward Richardson began a series of 

investigations on the plant. 15 He procured a supply of 

the mandragora root from its native Greece and made a 

tincture in an alcohol/water mixture for four weeks, thus 

reproducing the ancient recipe of Dioscorides. He 

found that this tincture would sedate and anaesthetise 

animals particularly cats and dogs. He also noted that 

the pupils dilated and concluded that the extract must 

contain an alkaloid (or alkaloids) similar to hyoscine or 

atropine (most probably the former). He found also to 

his surprise that pigeons were much more sensitive to 

the infusion than rabbits. We now know that rabbit gut 

(and liver) contain an enzyme called atropinase which 

can destroy solanaceous alkaloids and allow this 

lagomorph to feed on nightshade (Atropa) and henbane 

(Hyoscyamus) and presumably also the mandrake with 

relative impunity. 

Finally, Richardson tried small doses of the mandrake 

infusion on himself and noted the following: numbness of 

the tongue; dryness of the mouth; confused vision; 

restlessness and exaggerated sensitivity to sounds. On 

the basis of these findings he concluded that if the alkaloid 

could be identified and extracted it might be used as an 

anaesthetic or possibly supercede atropine as a mydriatic. 

He also foresaw its use in strychnine poisoning and lockjaw 

(tetanus). Richardson’s work was the first to apply 

proper scientific procedures to the mandrake and at the 

time provoked a great deal of interest. 

283 

HISTORY

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MR Lee 

In 1889, Ahrens isolated an alkaloid from Mandragora 

which he called ‘mandragorine’. However, in 1901 Thoms 

and Weinzel demonstrated that Ahren’s compound was in 

fact a mixture of hyoscyamine and hyoscine together with 

a small amount of a third alkaloid for which they retained 

the name mandragorine. Despite this flurry of interest in 

the chemical constituents of mandrake, it was too late for 

the development of the plant. As we shall see in the next 

two articles in this series, hyoscine and atropine were 

already characterised chemically by 1900 and coming into 

therapeutic use. Indeed they would be employed in 

murder and attempted murder. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

284 

‘The phantom shapes – oh touch not them – 

That appals the maiden’s sight, 

Lurk in the fleshy mandrake’s stem, 

That shrieks when pluckt at night!’ 

Lalla Rookh 

by Thomas Moore (1779–1852) 

The history of the mandrake as we have seen, is 

intriguing, curious and exotic. From the mists of antiquity 

its association with magic, demons and fertility ensured 

that it was regarded with fear, loathing and fascination. 

How did this come about? A plant that could produce 

deep sleep (and sometimes delirium and hallucinations) 

and which also glowed in the dark was obviously very 

special. As madness in the Christian tradition was often 

ascribed to possession of the mind by an evil spirit, so 

the mandrake was the ‘home’ of a similar malevolent 

being, fiend or genie. Moreover, the power of the myth 

was strengthened by the fact that the roots, either 

naturally, or after carving, resembled closely the 

appearance of a man (or a woman). 

The scene was thus set for an illiterate credulous people 

to invest the mandrake with all sorts of magical powers 

both evil and beneficial, and to develop complex rituals in 

order to harvest the plant without harming themselves 

or interfering with its potency. Indeed the plant became 

so valuable that, in Europe, a shortage resulted and this 

led on to other roots being used such as the black and 

white brionies. These were passed off on the 

unsuspecting public as the genuine article. Mandrake 

became so prized as a precious heirloom that specific 

REFERENCES 

1 Shakespeare W. Romeo and Juliet Act IV, Scene 4 v.45–7. 

2 Chevalier A. Mandragora officinarum. In: Encyclopedia of Medicinal 

Plants. London: Dorling Kindersley; 1996; 230. 

3 Greenblatt RB. The Mandrake In: Search the Scriptures. Lancashire: 

Parthenon Press; 1985; 12–14. 

arrangements were made as to its inheritance. Around 

1600, the situation changed materially when the up and 

coming herbalists poured scorn on the old beliefs whilst 

still recommending the root for certain specific problems. 

Finally, the advent of nitrous oxide, ether and chloroform 

put paid to its use in anaesthesia. Further, the isolation of 

atropine and hyoscine from other sources ended any 

other possible therapeutic uses. 

Of the four members of the Solanaceae to be described 

in this short series of articles, the other three have found 

a use either as a foodstuff (the potato) or as a source of 

medicinal substances (henbane and deadly nightshade). 

Nevertheless the mandrake should be remembered as a 

powerful example of how gullible the general public can 

be when presented with phenomena that seem 

inexplicable at the time. 

In closing we should perhaps remember the words of 

John Ray, the great 17th century botanist, who wrote: 

‘If I am to be quite honest there are many points on 

these subjects still open to doubt; questions can be 

raised which I confess I am not competent to solve 

or disentangle; this is not because they have not got 

definite natural explanations but because I am 

ignorant of them.’ 

In the twenty first century the man in the street is still 

credulous, as is illustrated by the rapid growth of 

alternative therapies such as colonic lavage, reflexology 

and crystal treatment. Neither can the medical 

profession be altogether excluded from this besetting 

continuing frailty of the human condition. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

It is a pleasure to recommend the book on the Mystic 

Mandrake written by Thompson in 1934 who was, at that 

time, Honorary Curator of the Historical Collection of 

the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 

in London. This volume is an essential source for anyone 

interested in the mandrake (Reference 5). 

I would also like to thank the library at the Royal College 

of Physicians in Edinburgh, in particular Mr John Dallas, for 

help with the figures. My thanks are also due to my 

indefatiguable secretary Mrs May Gibb for her continuing 

help over the years. 

4 The Authorised Version of the King James Bible. Genesis Chapter 

XXX v.14–19. 

5 Thompson CJS. The Mystic Mandrake In: Ancient Greece. London: 

Rider and Co; 1934; 51–60. 

6 As above, Chapter IX. The Romans and Mandrake, pp.97–103. 

7 As above, Chapter X. The Mandrake in Britain – Anglo-Saxon 

times – Traditions in England and Wales, pp.107–116. 


© 2006 RCPE

8 Chevalier A. Mandragora officinarum. In: Encyclopedia of Medicinal 

Plants. London: Dorling Kindersley; 1996; 178. Both black briony 

(Tamus communis) and white briony (Briona dioica) were used as 

mandrake substitutes. 

9 Lee MR. Saint John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) A balm for 

hurt minds? Proc Royal Coll Phys Edin. 1999; 29:253–7. 

10 Thompson CJS. The Mandrake and the gallow’s legend. Chapter 

XV. In: Ancient Greece. London: Rider and Co; 1934; 165–77. 

11 Thompson CJS, op.cit., Chapter XVII. The Mandrake in the Drama, 

PAST PRESIDENTS 

Dr Andrew Duncan (1744–1828) 

Born near St Andrews in Fife, 

Duncan went to St Andrews 

University before matriculating at 

Edinburgh University to study 

medicine where his teachers 

included Cullen, Gregory, Monro 

secundus and Black. As a student, he 

was five times elected president of 

the student medical society for 

which, years later, he was 

instrumental in obtaining a Royal 

Charter – The Royal Medical Society. 

In 1768, he sailed to China as a ship’s 

surgeon with the East India 

Company, then returning to St 

Andrews to graduate MD, in the 

following year becoming a licentiate 


© 2006 RCPE 

of the Royal College of Physicians of 

Edinburgh. Early in his career, in 

1778, he had the harrowing 

experience of seeing the 24-year-old 

poet Robert Fergusson die, 

strapped to his bed in Edinburgh’s 

Bedlam where at that time 

Edinburgh’s mentally ill patients 

were incarcerated in appalling, 

squalid conditions. Bedlam had 

been built on the site of the equally 

notorious Covenanters’ Prison yard 

of Greyfriars Church where, a 

century before, many died or were 

taken for execution. Like its London 

counterpart, Bedlam was a favourite 

place where Edinburgh citizens 

could go on Sunday afternoons to 

stare at and torment the inmates, 

before strolling in the nearby 

parkland known as The Meadows. 

Duncan campaigned long and hard 

for more enlightened treatment 

for such patients, presumably with 

added authority after his 

appointment as a university 

professor and President of the 

RCPE in 1790. In 1813, he saw a 

new mental hospital built in 

Morningside, Edinburgh – not 

Scotland’s first, but a much-needed 

replacement for Bedlam. In the 

twentieth century, a part of the 

Royal Edinburgh Hospital (for 

which Duncan had obtained a 

Royal Charter in 1805), as it had 

come to be called, was renamed 


Poetry and Story; pp.187–202. 

12 Thompson CJS. op.cit., Chapter XVIII. The Mandrake in the 

Herbals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; pp.203–20. 

13 Stratmann L. Give me to Drink Mandragora. In: Chloroform: the 

Quest for Oblivion. Cloucestershire: Stroud Publications; 2003. 

14 Stratmann L. as above. Sweet Whiskey, pp.19–32. On the 

discoveries of diethyl ether and chloroform. 

15 Richardson BW. 1888. Asclepiad. The production and physiological 

action of the mandrake. Volume V:183–8. 

the Andrew Duncan Clinic in 

honour of the pioneer. 

Interestingly, Bedlam was bought 

by the Royal College of Physicians 

in 1895 and, for several years, used 

as its laboratories. 

In 1773, when only 29, he was 

appointed editor of one of 

Scotland’s first scientific journals, 

The Medical and Philosophical 

Commentaries, in which were 

published many of the papers of the 

Monro dynasty and other physicians 

of the Edinburgh enlightenment, 

including several of his teachers. 

Yet another royal charter negotiated 

by Duncan was for the Royal 

Horticultural Society but the 

Edinburgh Medico-Chirurgical 

Society, the Harveian Society and the 

Aesculapian Club,as well as the Royal 

Dispensary in Richmond Street, all 

owe much to him. 

On the death of Professor John 

Gregory he unsuccessfully applied for 

the chair of the Institutes of Medicine. 

After fifteen years charismatic 

teaching in the Extra-Mural School of 

Medicine he again applied for the 

chair, this time successfully. In 1818, 

ten years before he died, the City 

showed how much they appreciated 

him by making him a Freeman. 

Derek Doyle 

Obituaries Editor,The Journal RCPE 

285 

HISTORY

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