Commentary. We have little hesitation in describing it to be the Thymus vulgaris. Dioscorides states that thyme is expectorant, diuretic, emmenagogue, and discutient; and all the authorities, down even to modern times, confirm this character of it. Galen says it is to be placed in the third order of desiccants and calefacients. He recommends it as being diuretic and emmenagogue, and says that it destroys the fœtus in utero, clears out the viscera, and is useful in discharges from the chest and lungs. Oribasius gives it the same character. Aëtius, from personal experience, as he says, writes of its virtues more elaborately than any other ancient author. Thus he gives a prescription for a draught composed of oxymel and finely powdered thyme, which he says proves beneficial in arthritic diseases by purging bile and the acrid humours, both by the belly and by the bladder. He recommends similar compositions in sciatica, pleuritic pains, meteorism of the hypochondria, and tympanitis. He prescribes, in like manner, thyme and oxymel to melancholic persons, to those disordered in mind, and possessed with morbid apprehension; and in gout, when given with undiluted wine. He also recommends it to be given in swellings of the testicles, to the patient fasting, in undiluted wine. The Arabians write fully on this head, but borrow almost all their information from Dioscorides and Galen, and make no reference to Aëtius. See in particular Avicenna (ii, 2, 328), and Serapion (De Simpl. 281.) They all agree in giving it the character of being diuretic, emmenagogue, anthelminthic, and phlegmagogue.
Θύμβρα,
Thymbra, Savory; the wild has the same powers as thyme. The garden is in all respects weaker, but is better for food.
Commentary. The ancients made use of Savory (Satureia Thymbra) as a condiment. Aristophanes (Nubes, 420.) Dioscorides recommends it in the same cases as thyme, and all the others write of it in much the same terms. Symeon Seth says it promotes digestion, is emmenagogue, diaphoretic, and carminative. Macer Floridus affirms that it is aphrodisiacal, and produces abortion in pregnant women when applied on a pessary. It long held a place in the Dispensatory with the character of being “warm and discussive.” See Quincy (127.)
Θυμελάια,
Thymelæa, Spurge-flax; from it the Granum Gnidium is produced, which has similar powers to it.
Commentary. The confusion about the Thymelæa and Chamelæa of the ancients may be partly removed by the following account of the matter given by Alston. There are three species of Laureola, 1st, the L. officinalis, or L. Mas, Dwarf Laurel, or Spurge Laurel, which grows in hedges and woods in England; 2d, the Chamelæa, or Laureola femina namely, the true Mezereon, or Spurge Olive, which grows plentifully in Germany; 3d, the Thymelæa, Spurge Flax, or Mountain Widow Wail, which grows in the south of France. We will treat further of the Chamelæa, or Mezerion, in its proper place. Sprengel is decidedly of opinion that the Thymelæa of the ancients is Daphne Gnidium, L., or flax-leaved daphne, and one of the latest and best authorities on the Mat. Med. comes to the same conclusion respecting it. Dr. Pereira says, “Daphne Gnidium is the Θυμελάια, or Thymelæa of Dioscorides, whose fruit is the κόκκος κνίδιος, or Gnidium berry, used by Hippocrates. Its properties are similar to those of the D. Mezereon.” (Elements of Mat. Med. 807.) For an account of its effects on the animal economy, see Orfila (Toxicol. ii, 3.) We will treat of its medicinal virtues under [Coccus gnidius].
Ἰδαῖα ρίζα,
Idæa Radix, Idæan Root; being sour as to taste and powers, it agrees with hemorrhages and rheumatic affections when drunk or applied externally.