207 ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS 



from the stem and leaves in the summer months, and when 

 the plant is not in flower ; although some oil is obtained from 

 the flowering tops, and is regarded as of superior quality to 

 the former. The oil is principally derived from the South of 

 France and the contiguous Italian Coast ; but a good deal is also 

 said to come by way of Trieste to France and Italy from 

 Dalmatia. Scarcely any oil is distilled in England, but that so 

 obtained is of fine quality. One pound of the fresh plant is stated 

 to yield about one drachm of the oil. 



General Characters and Composition. Oil of Eosemary is 

 colourless or pale yellow, with the peculiar odour of the plant, 

 and a warm aromatic taste. Its specific gravity has been 

 variously given, thus by Buignet and Kane at about 0*896, and 

 by Gladstone at 0'908 ; it boils at 365, is feebly dextrogyre, 

 and is readily soluble in alcohol. According to Gladstone, it 

 consists almost entirely of a hydrocarbon like that obtained from 

 the volatile oil of the Common Myrtle ; but Lallemand describes 

 it as resolvable into two fluid portions the one a very liquid 

 hydrocarbon, boiling at 329, and the other boiling between 392 

 and 410, and depositing at a low temperature a large quantity of 

 a stearoptene analogous to ordinary camphor. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Rosemary possesses stimulant 

 and carminative properties ; and has a popular reputation as an 

 emmenagogue, but at the present day it is rarely employed in 

 medical practice. It is said to be sometimes added to 

 sternutatory powders. A weak infusion of the fresh leaves is 

 occasionally used as a substitute for ordinary tea by hypochon- 

 driacal persons, and by dyspeptics. The admired flavour of 

 Narbonne honey is ascribed to the bees feeding on the flowers of 

 this plant. 



The volatile oil of rosemary is a powerful stimulant and 

 carminative. It is frequently used externally in combination 

 with other substances as a stimulating liniment to promote the 

 growth of the hair, for which it has a great popular reputation. 

 It is also an ingredient in some rubefacient liniments. It is like- 

 wise used as an odoriferous adjunct to lotions and other external 



