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efficacious against the bites of serpents ; hence the generic name r 

 Nepeta from nepa, a scorpion. Irish : aignean thalmhuinn, eidhn- 

 ean thalmhuinn (see Hedera helix). Manx : airh halooin, ard- 

 lossery, chief herb. Irish : Aithir lus (O'Reilly). It was for- 

 merly used for hops to make ale bitter, hence the name 

 of "ale-hoof." It is a creeping, trailing plant with ivy-like leaves 

 and a small blue flower, very common as a garden weed. Welsh : 

 eidral palf y l/ew, the lion's paw. " It was used for purifying the 

 blood, and for coughs " (Moore). 



Ballota niger — Stinking horehound. Irish and Gaelic : gra- 

 fan or graban dubh, the dark opposer {grab, to hinder or obstruct). 

 It was a favourite medicine for obstructions of the viscera : or it 

 may refer to grab, a notch, from its indented leaves. 



Lycopus europceus — Water-horehound. Irish : feoran curraidh,. 

 the green marsh-plant {currach, a marsh). 



Marrubium vulgare — White horehound. Gaelic and Irish : 

 grafan or graban ban. (See Ballota niger). Orafoirl (O'ReiWy)- 

 This plant has for ages been a popular remedy for coughs, rough- 

 ness in the throat, and for more severe forms of colds; and inf usions- 

 of it in lozenges are still used by speakers and singers for the voice, 

 hence by inference the origin of the Gaelic name, adapted from 

 the Latin oratio, speech, and fortis, strong. Horehound was 

 dedicated to the Egyptian god Horus (Strabo). The Irish name 

 may be a derivitive. This plant is not found in the Highlands, 

 and it is rare in Ireland. 



Lamium album — White dead nettle : archangel. Gaelic :. 

 teanga mhin, the smooth tongue. Ionntag bhan, white nettle. 

 Ionntag mharbh, dead nettle. (For Ionntag see Urtica.) 



L. purpureum — The red dead-nettle. Gaelic : ionntag 

 dhearg, red nettle. 



L. amplexicaule — Henbit dead nettle. Neantog keogh (Threl). 

 Welsh: marddanadlen gdch cylchddail, red round-leaved dead 

 nettle, 



Galeopsis tetrah.it — Common hemp-nettle. Gaelic : an gath 

 dubh, the dark bristly plant (gath, a sting, a dart). It becomes- 

 black when dry, and has black seeds. 



G. versicolor — Large-flowered hemp-nettle. Gaelic : an gath 

 buidhe—an gath nibr, the yellow bristly plant — the large bristly^ 



