It induces euphoria, and excites the sexual regions of the brain.
它能引起快感，刺激大脑的性区域，
It is quite possibly hallucinogenic.
引起幻觉。
It leads to strange, unpredictable, and unproductive behavior in those who use it.
使用它的人可能产生奇怪，出乎意料的，不明智的举动。
What's more, it growswild, much as a weed.
更重要的是它和杂草一样是野生的。
Is this the latest menace to society? No, it's catnip.
这是对社会的最新威胁吗？不，它是猫薄荷。
The catnip plant is actually an herb, and a relatively common member of the mint family.
猫薄荷实际上是一种药草，是薄荷家族中常见的一员。
If kitties ever decided to have a war on drugs, catnip would be outlawed because of a chemical called“nepetalactone.”
如果猫咪们决定来一次反毒品大战，那么猫薄荷将会被认定为非法药物，因为它含有一种叫做荆芥内酯的化学物质。
Lactones carry chemical messages inside a body, and nepetalactone carries it's message straightto the pleasure center of a cat's brain, where it can randomly excite the cat's neural circuits associatedwith sex, playing, hunting, and feeding.
内酯在身体内传送化学信息，荆芥内酯则直接将信息传入猫脑的“快乐中枢”，在那里可以随意刺激猫与性欲，玩耍，捕猎以及喂养有关的神经环路。
Although a cat may try to eat catnip or a catnip toy, it is only the smell of catnip that transfers the drug toa cat's brain, not the actual ingestion.
尽管猫会尝试吃掉猫薄荷或者猫薄荷玩具，但这仅仅是猫薄荷的气味将药物传输至猫的大脑中，并不是实际的摄取。
This is why a small amount of catnip inside a toy can make a cathappy again and again.
这就是为什么玩具里的一小点猫薄荷就能让猫不停地兴奋。
It's also why a cat will sometimes be more interested in the cardboard box that acatnip toy came in than the actual toy-the cardboard might carry more of the smell.
这也是为什么猫有时会对装猫薄荷玩具的箱子而不是猫薄荷玩具更感兴趣，因为箱子可能有更多的气味。
If your cat seems unaffected by catnip, don't worry.
如果你的猫不受猫薄荷的影响，不用担心。
A cat's sensitivity to catnip is genetically determined,and some don't respond at all.
猫对猫薄荷的敏感度是由其基因决定的，有些根本毫无反应。
