Herb Of The Week - Rosemary - King's American Dispensatory

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From King's American Dispensatory by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D., and

John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D., 1898.

 

Available online at

http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/eclectic/kings/main.html

 

or buy it used (NOT cheap by any means

http://www.alibris.com/

 

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Rosmarinus.—Rosemary.

 

The tops and leaves of Rosmarinus officinalis, Linné.

Nat. Ord.—Labiatae.

COMMON NAME AND SYNONYMS: Rosemary; Folia rosmarini, Folia roris marini,

Folia anthos.

ILLUSTRATION: Bentley and Trimen, Med. Plants, 207.

 

Botanical Source.—Rosemary is an erect, perennial, evergreen shrub, 2 to

4 feet high, with numerous branches of an ash color, and densely leafy.

The leaves are sessile, opposite, linear, over an inch in length, and

about 2 lines broad, entire, obtuse at the summit, revolute at the

margins, of a firm consistence, dark-green and shining above, and downy

and sometimes whitish beneath. The flowers are few, bright-blue or

white, subsessile, and borne in short, opposite, axillary, and terminal

racemes; the bracts are shorter than the calyx; the calyx purplish,

campanulate, and villose; the corolla not ringed in the inside, somewhat

inflated in the throat, with 2 equal lips, the upper of which is erect

and emarginate, the lower trifid, with the middle lobe very large,

concave, and hanging down. Stamens 2; filaments minutely toothed near

the base; anthers linear, with 2 divaricating, confluent cells. Upper

lobe of style very short. Seeds 4, oblong, naked at the base of the

calyx (L.—W.).

 

History.—Rosemary is a native of the countries surrounding the

Mediterranean, and is cultivated in nearly every garden for its beauty

and fragrance, flowering in April and May. The parts used in medicine

are the flowering tops, which have a powerful, diffusive, camphoraceous

odor, and an aromatic, bitter taste; they yield their properties to

water or spirits, but more effectually to alcohol. The leaves are

likewise used. Age and drying impair their odor and virtues, which are

due to a volatile oil (Oleum Rosmarini), and which may be procured by

distillation. On standing for some time, the oil deposits crystals of

stearopten (rosemary camphor). Tannin, a bitter body, and resin are also

constituents.

 

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Rosemary is stimulant, antispasmodic,

and emmenagogue; seldom used in this country, except as a perfume for

ointments, liniments, embrocations, etc. The oil is principally

employed. Dose, internally, from 3 to 6 drops.

 

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Preparation

 

Spiritus Rosmarini.—Spirit of Rosemary.

 

 

SYNONYM: Spiritus anthos.

 

Preparation.— " Take of oil of rosemary, 1 fluid ounce; rectified spirit,

49 fluid ounces. Dissolve " —(Br. Pharm., 1885). The spirit of rosemary of

the British Pharmacopoeia, 1898, contains 5 times the proportion of oil

of rosemary present in the spirit of rosemary of the British

Pharmacopoeia, 1885.

 

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This agent is an efficient nerve

stimulant, and may be employed in hysteroidal affections. Externally, it

is applied to assuage local pains. Dose, 1 fluid drachm.

 

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Oleum Rosmarini (U. S. P.)—Oil of Rosemary.

 

 

" A volatile oil distilled from the leaves of Rosmarinus officinalis,

Linné (Nat. Ord.—Labiatae). It should be kept in well-stoppered bottles,

in a cool place, protected from light " —(U. S. P.).

 

Source and Description.—Rosmarinus officinalis, Linné, is a shrub

growing in the European Mediterranean countries from Greece to Spain.

There are two kinds of oil in commerce, the Italian and the French oil.

The former is obtained from the Dalmatian Islands in the Adriatic Sea.

The French oil has the finer aroma. The yield from Dalmatian leaves is

1.4 to 1.7 per cent, from dry French leaves 2 per cent, from the flowers

1.4 per cent (Schimmel & Co., Reports, October, 1893 and 1897). The

commercial oils are often adulterated with oil of turpentine. The U. S.

P. gives the following description of oil of rosemary: " A colorless or

pale yellow, limpid liquid, having the characteristic, pungent odor of

rosemary, and a warm, somewhat camphoraceous taste. Specific gravity,

0.895 to 0.915 at 15° C. (59° F.). Soluble in an equal volume of

alcohol, the solution being neutral or very slightly acid to litmus

paper; also soluble in an equal volume of glacial acetic acid " —(U. S.

P.). Oil of rosemary is optically dextro-rotatory, but is never

laevo-rotatory, unless adulterated with oil of French turpentine. The

oil requires from 2 to 10 volumes of alcohol of 80 per cent (by volume)

for complete solution.

 

Chemical Composition and Tests.—Pure oil of rosemary contains camphor

(Lallemand, 1860); borneol (Bruylants, 1879), about 18 per cent

(Gildemeister and Stephan, 1897); cineol (E. Weber, 1887); d- and

l-pinene and camphene (Gildemeister and Stephan, 1897). In order to test

the oil for adulterations, its optical rotation, especially that of the

lowest fraction, which is always dextro-rotatory in pure oil, and its

specific gravity and solubility in alcohol render useful aid.

 

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Oil of rosemary is stimulant and

rubefacient; it is principally employed, however, in perfumery. It may

be used in colic, nervous disorders, debility, painful or tardy

menstruation, etc., and locally to painful parts. The dose of oil of

rosemary is from 2 to 10 drops.

 

A very pleasant cologne may be made as follows: Take of oil of rosemary,

oil of lemon, each, 2 fluid drachms; oil of lavender, oil of bergamot,

of each, 1 fluid drachm; oil of cinnamon, oil of cloves, oil of rose, of

each, 8 minims; alcohol, 1 pint. Mix, agitate well, and after allowing

the mixture to stand for a few days, with frequent agitation, filter.

The following formula has been published by Farina, one of the

originators of Cologne: Take of purified benzoin, oil of rosemary, each,

by weight, 1/4 ounce; oil of lavender, 1/2 ounce, by weight; strong

alcohol, 9 pints. Mix, and agitate thoroughly together, and then add,

successively, oil of neroli (petit grains), oil of lemon, each, 1 ounce

and 144 minims; oil of sweet orange (Aurantii dulcis), oil of limmetta

(lime), oil of bergamot, each, 2 ounces and 228 minims; tincture of rose

geranium flowers, a sufficient quantity to impart the desired fragrance.

Macerate for several weeks, and then fill into flasks (Amer. Drug. Cir.,

Vol. VIII, p. 85; Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1864, p. 375). I have reduced the

weights and measures in the above (J. King).