LABIATE TRIBE 4.3 



conspicuous clitf which 3'et l^cars the name of the poet, samphire and Marjoram 

 still bloom within sight of 



" The dread summit of that chalky bourn ;" 



and many a panting man climbs " to the top of that same hill, that horrible 

 steep," and says uoaa- what Edgar is represented as saying then — 



" Hark ! do you hear the sea <" 



Village people often gather, during autumn, large quantities of Marjoram, 

 some of which is used while fresh for herb tea, while some is tied up in 

 bunches, and hung to dry for winter service. The infusion is very grateful 

 and refreshing, and doubtless is wholesome, though its efficacy in preserving 

 health may be somewhat overrated by country people. In some parts of 

 Northern Europe the plant is collected to put into ale, which it not only 

 preserves from becoming sour, but also renders more intoxicating. The juice 

 of this herb is highly stimulating, and is useful to allay rheumatic pains, as 

 well as toothache. It is also very properly applied to sprains and bruises, 

 and is said to be a good remedy for the falling off of the hair, an opinion 

 which is most probably correct, as it possesses some of the same properties as 

 the rosemary, a most useful plant for that purpose. The dried leaves are 

 used in fomentations to allay pain. Both flowers and leaves are aromatic, 

 and their odour seems to haA^e been much valued in former years. Parkinson 

 says : " The sweete Marjeromes are not only much used to please the out- 

 ward senses in nosegaies, and in the windowes of houses, as also in swete 

 powders, swete begs, and swete washing waters, but are also of much use in 

 physicke, to comfort the outward members and parts of the bodie, and the 

 inward also." 



The essential oil of this plant is, when undiluted, so acrid that it may 

 almost be termed caustic. It is secreted in abundance in the leaves and stems, 

 and is the cause of its fragrance. Professor Burnett remarks : " Fee observes 

 that odoriferous plants exhibit three remarkable variations; in some, the 

 aromatic principle is free, and then it is dissipated by drying : this occurs 

 chiefly in flowers such as the tuberose and jessamine, and it is not communi- 

 cable either to water or spirit, and seems to be artificially retained only by 

 the aid of fixed oils ; while occasionally, as in the lily and narcissus, it cannot 

 be retained at all. In some, the aromatic principle is in union with, or is 

 peculiar to, the essential oil with which the utricles or cryptse are replete ; 

 and in this form it is miscible with v.-ater and alcohol, but scarcely with fixed 

 oils. In others, again, it is in combination with a resin, or gum-resin, and 

 then it may be collected in concrete masses by wounding the plants, or if by 

 distillation it deposits camphor after standing for some time. The fragrance 

 of the Labiatse is dependent on an essential oil, or odoriferous principle, of the 

 latter kind, and their oil is remarkable for the quantity of camphor it con- 

 tains." The camphor yielded by our wild Marjoram and thyme has caused 

 the juice of these plants to be frequently used as an ingredient of various 

 compositions intended to avert infection. 



The Marjoram bears its flowers in roundish crowded clusters. The\^ are 

 purple, with floral leaves tinged with something of the same hue, but usually 



6—2 



