32 
NAT. ORDER.— -VERTICILLATjE. 
native of Spain, and is said to grow plentifully, also, in Greece, 
Egypt, Crete, Syria, and in some of the warmer parts of South 
America. 
Whether this plant was known to the ancients or not, does 
not appear from the descriptions of Theophrastus and Dioscorides. 
Cortusus discovered that cats are remarkably fond of Marum ; 
and from this circumstance we are enabled with certainty to trace 
back its history to his time ; for ever since it has been known by 
the name of Cat-thyme. There occurs, however, considerable dif- 
ficulty in ascertaining its synonyma ; and probably some of those 
to which we have referred are not sufficiently identified. It was 
first cultivated in England by Parkinson, in 1640, and is now to 
be found in many of the gardens throughout Europe and the 
United States. 
Medical Properties and Uses. The leaves and younger bran- 
ches of Marum, when recent, on being rubbed between the fin- 
gers, emit a volatile, aromatic smell, which readily excites sneezing ; 
but to the taste they are bitterish, accompanied by a sensation of 
heat and acrimony. Lewis says that the Marum loses but little 
of its pungency on being dried ; and in this respect it differs re- 
markably from many other acrid herbs, as those called anti-scor- 
butics. The ancients, to whom this plant was well known, attri- 
buted to it a peculiar antiseptic and alexipharmic power, and for 
many ages it had the character of being remarkably efficacious 
in all pestilential and putrid diseases. With a view to this, it was 
afterwards directed in the composition of several officinal medi- 
cines, supposed to be antidotes to various kinds of poisons and in- 
fections ; and we are told that it was successfully used in the 
plague, which raged in Turkey. But, notwithstanding this plant 
was such a celebrated remedy, and held a place in both the Lon- 
don and Edinburgh Pharmacop8eias, yet it appears to be a very 
insignificant article of the Materia Medica, and is therefore very 
justiy fallen into disuse. 
