210 A COMPENDIUM OF 
taste aromatic and bitter. The medical proper- 
ties are stimulant, diaphoretic, carminative and 
emmenagogue, and when administered it is 
given in form of an infusion; never prescribed 
by the modern practitioners of medicine. The 
botanical name is said to be derived from Ne- 
pete, a town in Italy, and the latter name from 
the fact that cats are particularly fond of the 
plant. 
Origanum Marjoram, Origanum Vulgare, 
Wild Marjoram.—Natural order Labiatee. Na- 
tive of North Africa and Europe, and natu- 
ralized in many parts of the world. The plant 
_ attains a height of one or two feet; its stem is 
_ adorned with ovate and obtuse leaves, smooth 
on the upper surface and pubescent beneath; 
flowers purple in color and tubular in shape, and 
the inflorescence is in spikes, with large, colored 
bracts; stamens four, one pistil, and calyx five- 
toothed. This plant is known from the culti- 
vated marjoram (sweet marjoram) by growing 
wild and being less delicate in flavor. The 
sweet marjoram is cultivated in the gardens for 
acondiment, giving to soups and meats a much- 
esteemed flavor, and usually to be found in ounce 
packages put up by the dealers in herbs. Its 
chief constituent is a volatile oil. The name is 
said to be derived from the Greek oras, a moun- 
tain, and genos, delight, probably alluding to 
the locality in which it was first found. 
Ranunculus, Crowfoot, Ranunculus Bulbo- 
sus.—Natural order Ranunculacee; common 
name, Buttercup. This very small plant, with 
its perennial root, tuberous or bulbous in shape, 
sends up several annual stems, ornamented at 
