347 



racters: — Calyx tubular, five cleft, shorter than the seeds; corolla 

 four cleft, scarcely larger than the calyx; stamens four, distant ; 

 seeds four, retusc ; stem simple, angles obtuse ; leaves broad, lance- 

 olate, serrate, base alternated, entire, surface rugose, dotted beneath, 

 opposite; stem quadrangular, one to two feet high ; flowers small and 

 in whorls; perennial. Generally found in Avet grounds; flowering in 

 July and August. 



The Lycopus Europaeus, now naturalized in this country, is some- 

 times mistaken for the Virginicus. The former may be distinguished, 

 however, by its acutely quadrangular stem, its narrow leaves, and the 

 more crowded state of its axillary whorls. The whole plant is me- 

 dicinal, and has been generally described as slightly narcotic and 

 tonic. It was first introduced to the notice of the profession by Drs. 

 Pendleton and Rodgers, of New York, who communicated the results 

 of their experience through the Neiv York Med. and Pltys. Journal, 

 vol. i. p. 179. By them it was principally used for haemoptysis and 

 incipient phthisis, several cases of which they have reported as en- 

 tirely cured by it. It has been since much used in the New York 

 Hospital in similar cases, and the effects ascribed to it by Drs. Pen- 

 dleton and Rogers have been fully confirmed by the experience of 

 Drs. A. W. Ives, Lawrence, J. M. Smith, F. N. Johnson, and others 

 of this city. Dr. Ives regarded it simply as a mild narcotic, pro- 

 ducing its effects by allaying irritability. But others have attri- 

 buted to it very marked and valuable astringent qualities. Thus 

 Dr. Stephen W. Williams, of Massachusetts, in an article contained 

 in the New York Journal of Medicine and Collateral Sciences, vol. 

 vi. p. 368, says: "I have used it with marked success in my prac- 

 tice for more than thirty years, in all kinds of hemorrhages, and I 

 think in this respect it is quite equal to the Geranium Maculatum, 

 Catechu or Kino. So much am I accustomed to the use of it in cases 

 of uterine hemorrhage, hsematemesis, haemoptysis, hematuria, mo- 

 norrhagia, epistaxis, &c, that very many of my neighbours and 

 friends are as much in the habit of gathering it at the time of its 

 maturity as they are of gathering sage, or any other supposed to be 

 indispensable culinary or medicinal herbs, and they sometimes resort 

 to the use of it without consulting a physician. I have found it more 

 particularly serviceable in haeniatemesis than the other kinds of 

 hemoi'rhages. ...... I think I have been instrumental in saving 



life by the use of this plant in this complaint. In the other hemor- 

 rhages, although it does not operate so directly on the bleeding ves- 

 sels, I think, in addition to its astringency, it produces a sedative 



