LABI AT IE. 5^ 



Description. — Stem short, woody, perGimial ; branches 

 numerous, opposite, round, usually dark-purple, hairy; leaves 

 opposite, petioled, oval, serrate, downy, about 1^ inch Ion* 

 and 1 inch broad; racemes terminal, erect, usually dark- 

 purple, hairy, 4-sided ; bracts opposite, petioled, cordate, reflex', 

 3-flowered; seeds black, oblongs about ^^ of an inch lono-, 



slightly arched on one side and flattened on the other, blunt- 

 pointed. 



Other labiate plants, officinal in the East on account of the 

 mucilaginous nutlets, are : 



Salvia plebeia, B>%, and S. segyptiaca, Lbm. var. 



ir 



Dc 



The former 



plant is common in many parts of India, and the latter in the 

 {Salt Range and Trans- Indus, extending to Sind and Belu- 

 chistan. 



The nutlets of S. pkbeia are very small, ^l of an inch long, 

 ellipsoid, smooth, and of a brown colour j they are valued on 

 account of their mucilaginous properties, and are administered 

 internally in gonorrhoea. They arc supposed to have strengthen- 

 ing properties, and are given to promote the sexual powers 

 like many other nmcilaginous drugs. The statement that they 

 are used for killing vermin is a mistake. The plant is known 

 as Satld and Samuudar-sok in the Punjab and Sind, and the 

 seeds are sold in the bazars under the name of Kammar-his 

 or " strong-back." Theophrastus (H. P. ix., 19) mentions a 

 KparaU^ovoi or " strong-back " which has not been identified. 



of modern Greece. 

 The nutlfits of .« 



d with 8. officinaUs, the Eh 



(H. P.vi., 1,2), andthe^'/, 



''•'-' '• 7'"-"<""' "it. luuuuiurger ^j^ oi 



an inch), and are used in the north of India as a substitute for 

 luum-i-hulung. 



Cltcmical composition.—Thii seeds of 8, pleheiahave the follow- 



ing composition :-Watcr, 10-44; oil, 18-68; albuminoids, 11-90 • 

 gum and fibre, 43-98 ; ash, 15 per cent. No alkaloid is present. 

 Ihe nitrogen amounts to l-8« per cent. 



III.— 12 



