HERBA THYMI VULGARIS. 487 



HERBA THYMI VULGARIS. 



Garden Thyme ; F. Thym vulgaire ; G. Thymiankraut. 



Botanical Origin— Thyinus vidgaris L., a small, erect, woody shrub 

 reaching 8 to 10 inches in height, gregarious on sterile uncultivated 

 ground in Portugal, Spain, Southern France and Italy, and in the 

 mountainous parts of Greece. On Mont Veutoux near Avignon, it 

 reaches an elevation above the sea of 3700 ft. (Martins). It is com- 

 monly cultivated in English kitchens as a sweet herb,' and succeeds as 

 au annual even in Iceland. 



History — We are not aware that thyme had any reputation in the 

 antiquity, nor do we know at what period it was tirst inti'oduced in 

 northern countries. Garden thyme was commonly cultivated in Eng- 

 land in the 16th century, and was well figured and described by 

 Gerarde. It is even said to have been formerly grown on a large 

 scale for medicinal use in the neighbourhood of Deal and Sandwich in 

 Kent.'^ Camphor of Thyme was noticed by Neumann, apothecary to 

 the Court at Berlin in 1725;^ it was called Thymol, and carefully 

 examined in 1853 by Lallemaud, and recommended instead of phenol 

 (carbolic acid) in 1868 by Bouilhon, apothecary, and Paquet, M.D. 

 of Lille. 



Description — The plant produces thin, woody, branching stems, 

 bearing sessile, linear-lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate leaves. These are 

 about I of an inch long, revolute at the margin, more or less hoary, 

 especially on the under side, and dotted with shining oil-glands. The 

 small purple flowers are borne on round terminal heads, with some- 

 times a few lowei" whorls. The entire wild plant has a greyish tint by 

 reason of a short white pubescence, yet as seen in gardens the plant is 

 more luxuriant, greener and far less tomentose. It is extremely fragrant 

 when rubbed, and has a pungent aromatic taste. 



Production of Essential Oil — Though cultivated in gardens for 

 culinary use, common thyme is not grown in England on a large 

 scale. Its essential oil (Oleurn Thymi), for which alone it is of interest 

 to the druggist, is distilled in the south of France. In the neighbour- 

 hood of JN'imes, where we have observed the process, the entire plant is 

 used, and the distillation is carried on at two periods of the year, 

 namely in May and June when the plant is in flower, and again late in 

 the autumn. The oil has a deep, reddish-brown colour, but becomes 

 colourless though rather less fragrant by re-distillation. The two sorts 

 of oil, termed respectively Hiiile rouge de Thyni and Huile blanche de 

 Tliyin, are found in commerce. The yield is about 1 per cent. 



Oil of thyme is frequently termed in English shops Oil of Origanum, 

 which it in no respect resembles, and which was never, so far as we 

 know, found in commerce.* 



^ In many of the references to thyme, * Phil. Trans. No. 389. 



Wild Thijme ( Thyinus Serpyllum L. ) is to ■* For a note on True Oil of Origanum, 



be understood, ami not the present sjjecies. see Hanbiiry, /*/m»-??i. Journ. x. (1851) 



^ Booth in Treasury of Bvtum/, ii. (1S6U) 324, also Science Papers, 1870, p. 46. 

 1149. 



