<P> Hebenon (or hebona) is a botanical substance described in William Shakespeare's tragic play Hamlet . The identity and nature of the poison has been a source of speculation for centuries . </P> <P> Hebenon is the agent of death in Hamlet's father's murder, it sets in motion the events of the play . It is spelled hebona in the Quartos and hebenon in the Folios . This is the only mention of hebenon / hebona in any of Shakespeare's plays . </P> <Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd> Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, </Dd> <Dd> With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, </Dd> <Dd> And in the porches of my ears did pour </Dd> <Dd> The leperous distilment; whose effect </Dd> <Dd> Holds such an enmity with blood of man </Dd> <Dd> That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through </Dd> <Dd> The natural gates and alleys of the body; </Dd> <Dd> And with a sudden vigour it doth posset </Dd> <Dd> And curd, like eager droppings into milk, </Dd> <Dd> The thin and wholesome blood; so did it mine; </Dd> <Dd> And a most instant tetter bark'd about, </Dd> <Dd> Most lazar - like, with vile and loathsome crust </Dd> <Dd> All my smooth body . </Dd> <Dd> Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand, </Dd> <Dd> Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd: <Dl> <Dd> - Ghost (King Hamlet, Hamlet's Father) spoken to Hamlet <Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd> (Act I, scene 5) </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl>

What poison does claudius use on hamlet’s father