209 NEPETA CATARIA 



Habitat. In this country Catmint occurs on dry banks and 

 waste ground, chiefly in the South of England, and especially on 

 chalky soil, and flowers in the late summer and autumn. There 

 seems to be no very good reason for regarding it otherwise than 

 as a truly native plant here. It grows throughout Europe, and 

 extends into Siberia, Western Asia, and the Himalaya. In the 

 United States of America it has become naturalised, and is now a 

 common weed near habitations. 



Syme, E. Bot., viii, p. 38 ; Hook, f ., Stud. PI., p. 285 ; Watson, 

 Comp. Cyb. Br., p. 277; A. Gray, Man. U. States, p. 353; 

 Benth., in DC. Prod., xii, p. 383 ; Gren. & Godr., Fl. Prance, 

 ii, p. 675 ; Ledebour, PI. Ross., iii, p. 374. 



Official Part and Name. CATARIA, Catnep ; the leaves and 

 tops (U. S. P.). Before the issue of the present United 

 States Pharmacopoeia, the leaves only were recognised in that 

 volume. It is not official in the British Pharmacopoeia, or the 

 Pharmacopoeia of India. 



General Characters and Composition. Catnep, or catmint as it 

 is also termed, derives its names from the fondness of cats for it, 

 especially when it is withered. The dried entire herb is com- 

 monly used in the United States. It has a strong, peculiar, 

 somewhat aromatic, and disagreeable odour, suggestive of a mixture 

 of Mint and Pennyroyal ; and a warm, bitterish, aromatic, and 

 camphoraceous taste. 



No complete analysis has been made, but the active consti- 

 tuents are stated to be a volatile oil and tannic acid. It is 

 probable also that it contains some bitter matter. Its virtues are 

 extracted by water; and its cold watery infusion assumes an olive- 

 green tint on the addition of a per salt of iron.- 



Medical Properties and Uses. Catnep had formerly some repu- 

 tation in this country in domestic practice as a remedy in 

 chlorosis and other diseases of women, but it appears to have 

 almost or entirely gone out of use. In the United States it is, 

 however, a good deal employed in domestic practice ; but although 

 it has been long retained in the Primary List of the Materia 



