488 LABIATE. 



Chemical Composition — The only constituent of the herh that 

 has attracted any attention is the above-named essential oil. This 

 liquid by fractional distillation is resolved into two portions : the first, 

 more volatile and boiling beloAV 180° C, is a mixture of two hydro- 

 carbons, Cymene, C^^H" (see page 333), and Thymene, C^^H", the latter 

 boiling at 105° C. 



The second, named Thymol, C"H"0, which may also be extracted 

 from the crude oil by means of caustic lye, has been described in our 

 article Fructus Ajotuan, at page 303. Commercial oil of thyme is 

 said to be sometimes fraudulently deprived of thymol by that 

 treatment. 



Uses — Oil of thyme is an efficient external stimulant, and is some- 

 times employed as a liniment. Its chief consumption is in veterinary 

 medicine. Thymol has been proposed as a disinfectant in the place of 

 carbolic acid, in cases in which the odour of the latter is objectionable. 

 The herb is not used in modern English medicine, but is often employed 

 on the Continent. 



HERBA ROSMARINI. 



Herha Anthos ; Rosemary ; F. RoTnaHn; G. Rosmarin. 



Botanical Origin — Rosm^arinus officinalis L., an evergreen shrub, 

 attaining a height of 4 feet or more, abundant on dry rocky hills of the 

 Mediterranean region, from the Spanish peninsula ^ to Greece and Asia 

 Minor. It generally prefers the neighbourhood of the sea, but occurs 

 even in the Sahara, where it is collected and conveyed by caravans to 

 Central Africa.^ It does not succeed well in Germany. 



History — Rosemary^ is mentioned by Pliny, who ascribes to it 

 numerous virtues. It was also familiar to the Arab physicians of Spain, 

 one of whom, Ibn Baytar (13th cent.), states it to be an object of trade 

 among the vendors of aromatics.* In the middle ages rosemary was 

 doubtless much esteemed, as may be inferred from the fact that it 

 was one of the plants which Charlemagne ordered to be grown on the 

 imperial farms. 



It was probably in cultivation in Britain prior to the Norman Con- 

 quest, as it is recommended for use in an Anglo-Saxon herbal of the 

 11th century.^ In the "Physicians of Myddvai " a curious chapter ° 

 is devoted to the virtues of Rosemary, called " Ysbwynwydd, and Rosa 

 Marina in Latin." The essential oil was distilled by Raymundus 

 LuUus^ about A.D. 1330. John Philip de Lignamine,^ a writer of the 

 loth century, describes Rosemary as the usual condiment of salted 

 meats. 



^ From Galicia in Spain, stems of ^Herbarium Ajndeii — Leechdoms etc, of 



Rosmarinus having 2^ inches in diameter Early England, i. (1864) 185. 

 were to be seen at the Paris Exhibition, ^ Meddygon Myddfai (see Appendix) p. 



1878. 261. 292. 440. 



2 Duveyrier, Les Touaregs du Nord, 1864. ' Manget, Bibliotheca chemica curlosa, 



187. Genevae, i. (1702) 829. 



=* From ros and mar in MS, — literally ??ian'«e ^ Conservator him Sanitatis (or also, ac- 



dew. Various opinions have been held as cording to Haller, Biblioth. botanica, i. 



to the allusion conveyed by the name. 237, JDe conaervatUme sanitatis, Bononia;, 



* Sontheimer's translation, i. 73. 1475) cap. 81. 



