214 LABI AT ^E. 



A perennial herb. Stem erect, much branched, nearly smooth, 1 to 2 

 feet high. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, serrate, petiolate. Flow- 

 ers small, blue, in axillary and terminal, one-sided racemes, appearing 

 late in summer. 



Habitat. In wet, shady places ; common. 



Part Used. The herb United States Pharmacopoeia. 



Constituents. Skullcap has less volatile oil and more bitterness than 

 most other labiate plants, but possesses no constituents essentially differ- 

 ent from them. 



Preparations. Extractum scutellari;\3 fluiduin fluid extract of scu- 

 tellaria. United States Pharmacopoeia. Commonly used in infusion. 



Medical Properties and Uses. This and several unofficial species of 

 skullcap have at various times been esteemed of medicinal value, but on 

 what would appear to be doubtful testimony. They are almost or quite 

 destitute of aromatic properties, so common in labiates, and hence, one 

 would suppose, less efficient than many other plants of the order whose 

 medicinal virtues reside in their essential oils. Again, the diseases in 

 which scutellaria has been found most efficient, namely, hysteria and 

 hydrophobia, add not a little to one's scepticism. Hysteria we know is 

 quite as often amenable to moral treatment as to drugs ; and much of the 

 hydrophobia which has been cured has been undoubtedly of a purely 

 imaginary character. If, then, these plants do really possess any valuable 

 medicinal properties, the fact is yet to be demonstrated. 



MARRUBIUM. HOREHOUND. 



Marrubium vulgare Linne. Horehound. 



Description. Calyx tubular, 5- to 10-nerved, 5- to 10-toothed, the 

 teeth spiny, the alternate ones shorter. Corolla 2-lipped ; upper lip erect, 

 flattish or concave, notched ; the lower spreading, 3-lobed, the middle 

 lobe broadest Stamens 4, included in the tube of the corolla. 



A perennial herb. Stem ascending, hoary-pubescent, branching at the 

 base, 1 to 2 feet high. Leaves roundish ovate, crenate, petiolate. Flowers, 

 white, in capitate whorls, appearing late in summer. 



Habitat. In waste places ; naturalized from Europe. 



Parts Used. The leaves and tops United States Pharmacopoeia. 



Constituents. Volatile oil, a peculiar bitter principle, marrubiin, and 

 common vegetable principles. 



Preparations. Commonly administered in infusion, or syrup. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Horehound is stimulant, tonic, and 

 slightly laxative. In warm infusion it produces diaphoresis, and is often 

 used in this manner in the early stages of colds ; while its tonic influence, 

 when taken cold, has been found serviceable in chronic pulmonary dis- 

 eases. 



