1849.] Bigelow on the Medical Botany of Ohio. 25 



Sp. 124. Pycnanthemum incanum. Miclix. 



Com. names — Common Mountain Mint, Wild Basil Pe- 

 rennial plant 2° — 4° high; corolla whiteish. — Aug. 



Sp. 125. Pycnanthemum linifolium. Pursh. 



Com. name — Virginian Thyme. Plant 2° high. — July. 



Small dense heads. 



Smell of these plants very fragrant; taste intermediate be- 

 tween that of Penny-royal and Spearmint. Used medicinally 

 by the inhabitants of Sandusky plains. [Riddell.] I should 

 think they were superior to many other Labiates. 



Sp. 126. Lycopcs sinuatus. Ell. 



Com. names — Water Horehound, Gypsey weed, Paul's Bet- 

 ony. Stem perennial, smoothish, 1° — 2° high; flowers dense- 

 ly clustered. — Aug. 



This and the L. Virginicus, grow abundantly with us. In 

 1828, Rafinesque, [Med. Flor. Vol. II pp. 26-30,] gave a good 

 account of these herbs, indicating their properties, and the 

 diseases in which they are peculiarly indicated. With the 

 exception of a few physicians, who have used and recom- 

 mended them, they have remained in obscurity, until Dr. Davis 

 published an account of L. Virginicus in the Proceedings of the 

 National Medical Association for 1848. Nothing new with re- 

 gard to its applicability to particular pathological states was ad- 

 ded by Dr. Davis. Hedeserves credit, however, for resuscitating 

 an American plant, which promises to rival, or even supersede 

 the far-famed Digitalis. The sensible properties of L. Sinua- 

 tus correspond with the L. Virginicus, and from the trials I have 

 made with it, believe it equal. In some respects it may be 

 superior. It deserves at any rate to have its medicinal relations 

 exactly fixed. 



Sp. 127. Scutellaria canescens. Nutt. 



Com. name — Hoary Skull Cap. Plant 2° — 3° high; flowers 

 blue, in terminal racemes; panicled, hoary. — July. 



This and several other species, are said by Riddell to possess 

 good diaphoretic properties. [Synop. West. Flor. p. 80.] 



Sp. 128. Leonurus cardiaca. Linn. 



Com. name — Motherwort. Perennial 2° — 5° high ; corolla 

 bearded, pale purple. Naturalized ; waste places, around 

 houses. — July, Sept. 



Stimulant and pectoral. Used for coughs and catarrhs. — 

 [Rafinesque 236.] Dr. Brocket in the West. Lancet, has given 

 an account of it. 



