486 LABIATE. 



HERBA PULEGII. 



Pennyroyal ^; F, Menthe 'pouliot, Fouliot vulgaire ; G. Polei. 



Botanical Origin — Mentha Pulegium L., a small perennial aromatic 

 plant, common throughout the south of Europe and extending north- 

 ward to Sweden, Denmark, England and Ireland, eastward to Asia 

 Minor and Persia, and southward to Abyssinia, Algeria, Madeira and 

 TenerifFe. It has been introduced into North" and South America. 

 For medicinal use it is cultivated on a small scale. 



History — Pennyro3^al was in high repute among the ancients. 

 Both Dioscorides and Pliny describe its numerous virtues. In Northern 

 Europe it was also much esteemed, as may be inferred from the frequent 

 reference to it in the Anglo-Saxon and Welsh works on medicine. 



Gerarde considered the plant to be " so exceedingly well known to 

 all our English nation " that it needed no description. In his time 

 {circa 1590), it used to be collected on the commons round London, 

 whence it was brought in plenty to the London markets. At the 

 present day pennyroyal has fallen into neglect, and is not named in the 

 British Pharmacopoeia of 1867. 



Description — The plant has a low, decumbent, branching stem, 

 which in flowering rises to a height of about 6 inches. Its leaves, 

 scarcely an inch in length and often much less, are petiolate, ovate, 

 blunt, crenate at the margin, dotted with oil-glands above and below. 

 The ilowers are arranged in a series of dense, globose whorls, extending 

 for a considerable distance up the stem. The whole plant is more or less 

 hairy. It has a strong fragrant odour, less agreeable to most persons 

 than that of peppermint or spearmint. Its taste, well perceived in the 

 distilled water, is highly aromatic. 



Chemical Composition — The most important constituent of 

 pennyroyal is the essential oil, known in pharmacy as Oleum Pulegii, 

 to which is due the odour of the plant. It has been examined by 

 Kane,^ according to whom it has a sp. gr. of 0'927. Its boiling was 

 found to fluctuate between 183° and 188° C The formula assigned to 

 it by this chemist is C^^H^^O. We ascertained that it contains no 

 car vol (see page 481.) 



Production — Pennyroyal is cultivated at Mitcham and is mostly 

 sold dried ; occasionally the herb is distilled for essential oil. The oil 

 found in commerce is however chiefly French or German, and far less 

 costly than that produced in England. 



Uses — The distilled water of pennyroyal is carminative and 

 antispasmodic, and is used in the same manner as peppermint water. 



^ Pemiyroi/al, in old herbals Puloil royal different plant, namely Hedeoma puleyl- 



is derived from Puleiitm reijium, an old aides Pers., figured in part 21 (1877) of 



Latin name given from thesupposed efficacy Bentley and Trimen's ^led. Plant. 



of the plant in destroying fleas (Prior). '^ Phil. Ma<j. xiii. (1838) 442. 



2 Tile native Pennyroyal is however a 



