210 MARRUBIUM VULGARE 



Europe (except the extreme north), the Mediterranean district and 

 Western Asia as far as India ; in N. America it is introduced. 

 The Horehound is not common in England, and is most frequently 

 met with in the southern counties in dry chalky or sandy soil; it is 

 supposed by some writers not to be a native British plant, and is 

 no doubt often an outcast from gardens, where it is frequently 

 cultivated. It flowers in the autumn. 



Syme, E. Bot., vii, p. 51 ; Hook, f., Stud. Fl., p. 288 ; Watson, 

 Comp. Cyb. Brit., p. 277; Gren. & Godr., Fl. France, ii, p. 

 699; Benth., in DC. Prod., xii, p. 453; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 494. 



Official Part and Name. MAEEUBIUM, Horehound ; the leaves 

 and tops (U. S. P.). It is not official in the British Pharma- 

 copoeia, or the Pharmacopoeia of India. It was, however, 

 formerly official in the Pharmacopoeias of this country. 



General Characters and Composition. The whole herb, which is 

 commonly known under the name of horehound, is used in 

 medicine. In a fresh state it has a strong, peculiar, aromatic, 

 and rather agreeable odour ; but this is diminished by drying, 

 and when long kept is completely lost. The taste is bitter, 

 penetrating, and permanent. Its bitterness is extracted both by 

 water and alcohol. 



Its essential constituents are a volatile oil, and a bitter prin- 

 ciple ; but it also contains resin, tannic acid, and lignin. Its 

 infusion is reddened by litmus, and the addition to it of a persalt 

 of iron causes a deep olive-green precipitate. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Horehound possesses tonic, 

 aromatic, stimulant, expectorant, diaphoretic, and diuretic pro- 

 perties; it is also laxative in large doses, and was formerly 

 regarded as emmenagogue. It is now but very rarely used by 

 medical practitioners, but it was formerly much esteemed in 

 various uterine, visceral, and hepatic affections ; and in phthisis. 

 Dr. A. T. Thompson states, that he has seen much benefit 

 produced by it in catarrh in which there is much cough, with 

 copious excretion of mucus, nocturnal sweats, and great prostra- 

 tion of strength. He speaks also of its value in phthisis. As a 



