504 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



Medical Properties. — The same as those of Peppermint, but not as powerful, 

 but from its taste being more agreeable to most persons, it is more frequently- 

 employed as a flavouring ingredient. The infusion of the dried herb is often 

 used to obviate nausea. This species is more' employed as a sauce and to 

 give flavour to drinks, than as a medicine. \ 



There are numerous other species of Mint, used to fulfil the same indica- 

 tions as those above-mentioned, among which the M. pulegium or European 

 Pennyroyal, has obtained some celebrity as a carminative, and popularly as 

 an antispasmodic and emmenagogue, the latter of which powers it does not 

 possess in any greater degree than any other warm stimulant. The M. 

 sativa, M. aquatica, and M. rotundifolia, are often used as substitutes for 

 the above in Europe, and have the same properties. The species peculiar to 

 the United States are seldom employed, as both their odour and taste are not 

 as aromatic and pleasant as the naturalized. 



Lycopus. — Linn. 



Calyx tubular, 5-cleft or 5-toothed. Corolla tubular, 4-cleft, nearly equal ; upper divi- 

 sion broader and emarginate. Stamens distant. Seeds four, retuse. 



Mostly a North American genus, of small, herbaceous plants, with small, 

 axillary, crowded, verticillate, sessile, and generally bi-bracteate flowers, and 

 deeply-toothed or sinuated leaves. The flowers are diandrous ; but in the L. 

 vulgaris there are rudiments of two additional abortive stamens. All the 

 species grow in moist situations, and appear to be the most tonic and best 

 stimulating of the labiate plants. 



L. virginicus, Linn. — Stem simple. Angles obtuse. Leaves broad, lanceolate, serrate. 

 Base alternated, entire, surface rugose, dotted beneath. Calyx 4-cleft, shorter than the 

 seeds. 



Linn., Sp. PI. 121 ; Pursh, i. 16 ; Elliott, Sket. i. 25 ; Rafinesque, Med. 

 Fl. ii. 26 ; Bentham, Labiat., 186 ; Lindley, Flor. Med. 488. 

 Common Names. — Bugle-weed ; Water Horehound. 



Description. — Root perennial, fibrous. Stem erect, herbaceous, with four obtuse angles, 

 furrowed, somewhat pubescent, simple or branched, from one to two feet high. Leaves 

 opposite, sessile, acuminate, somewhat rough, with glandular dots beneath. Flowers in 

 sessile, axillary whorls, with two subulate bracts at the base of each flower. Calyx 

 4-cleft, shorter than the seeds, persistent. Corolla white, twice as long as the calyx, 

 the emarginate segment broader than the others. Stamens two, as long as the corolla, 

 inserted on the tube near the base of the upper segment. Anthers erect, 2-lobed, pale 

 purple. Ovary superior, quadrangular, somewhat furrowed, with a filiform style, some- 

 what exserted, and terminated by a 2-cleft stigma, the lobes of which are acute. Seeds 

 four, longer than the calyx, obovate, compressed, and crenate at top. 



The Bugle-weed is abundant in most parts of the United States, in moist 

 situations ; it flowers in July and August. The whole plant is officinal. It 

 has a peculiar, but somewhat aromatic odour, and a disagreeable, bitter taste, 

 imparting these properties to water. No analysis has been made of it, but it is 

 probable that its powers in a great measure depend on a peculiar essential 

 oil ; though, from the general effects of the herb on the system, it is evident 

 that some other active constituents are present. 



Medical Properties. — Its operation as a remedial agent is not fully under- 

 stood ; Dr. A. W. Ives considers it to be mildly narcotic, but it is also tonic 

 and astringent. It was brought into notice by Drs. Pendleton and Rogers 



