Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Sept.,  1876.  J 
Totes  on  the  Genus  Teucrium. 
393 
ally  a  remedy  is  neglected  and  forgotten,  and  its  valuable  qualities 
have  to  be,  as  it  were,  rediscovered,  or  it  comes  to  the  surface  once 
more,  merely,  as  it  seems,  for  the  purpose  of  proving  that  we  can  well 
get  along  without  it.  Such  thoughts  came  to  my  mind  when,  a  short 
time  ago,  a  prescription  was  shown  to  me  calling  for  Extractum  Teucrii 
scordii  fluidum,  an  almost  obsolete  European  remedy  in  an  American 
form. 
Teucrium  scordlum,  Lin.,  germandree  aquatique  of  the  French,  La- 
chenknoblauch  of  the  Germans,  is  usually  called  water  germander  in 
English,  because  it  grows  in  moist,  swampy  meadows,  near  ponds,  &c. 
It  is  found  in  Western  Asia  and  throughout  a  large  portion  of  Europe. 
Forty  years  ago  it  was  officinal  in  most  "  Pharmacopoeias  "  of  conti- 
nental Europe,  but  since  then  has  been  dismissed  in  the  revised  editions 
of  nearly  all,  retaining  a  place  in  a  few  only. 
The  plant  belongs  to  the  natural  order  of  Labiatae,  a  family  of  plants 
which  is  characterized  by  the  complete  absence  of  deleterious  proper- 
ties, the  active  constituents  found  in  them  being  chiefly  volatile  oil, 
associated  in  many  with  more  or  less  of  a  bitter,  non-alkaloidal  prin- 
ciple, and  occasionally  with  a  little  tannin.  The  medical  properties  of 
the  labiatae  are  therefore  mainly  carminative  and  stimulant,  and  fre- 
quently tonic  and  stomachic.  They  are  mostly  indigenous  to  the  tem- 
perate regions  of  the  old  world,  the  number  indigenous  to  this  country 
being  comparatively  small ;  but  many  species  have  been  introduced  here 
from  Europe,  and  completely  naturalized  in  some  sections  of  the  United 
States. 
The  genus  Teucrium  is  classed  with  the  tribe  Jjugoidece,  which  has 
the  upper  lip  short,  or  deeply  notched  and  turned  forward  so  as  to 
appear  wanting,  the  four  ascending  stamens  projecting  through  the  slit 
in  the  upper  lip.  Several  of  the  European  species  formerly  enjoyed  a 
high  reputation,  among  them  the  one  mentioned,  which,  together  with 
the  allied  species  T.  scordioides,  Schreb.,  is  regarded  to  be  the  I-^opdtop 
of  Dioscorides.  The  plant  is  softly  pubescent,  attains  a  height  of  12 
to  18  inches,  has  sessile,  oblong,  serrate  leaves  and  rose-colored  flow- 
ers, two  or  three  of  which  are  found  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves.  The 
second  species  differs  mainly  by  being  villous  and  having  cordately 
ovate,  somewhat  clasping  leaves.  Both  possess  a  bitter  taste,  and,  in 
the  fresh  state,  a  distinctly  alliaceous  odor  ;  it  was  formerly  in  repute 
as  an  antiseptic  and  diaphoretic  internal  remedy  for  gargles,  and  as  a 
