MEN 



are very little indented on their edges, but have 



then- borders fet with hairs. The whorls of flowers ufing of Wheat 



arefmaller, and the whole plant has the fcent of M E N TH A C AT A Rl A. See Nepeta. 



M E N 



the diftilling of herbs, there will be lefs occafion for 



Bafil. 



The fixteenth fort grows naturally in ditches and on 

 the fides of rivers, in many parts of England. This 

 hath hairy foui--cornered ftalks, which are a foot or 

 more in height ; the leaves are oval, fawed, and very 

 hairy. The flowers grow in large whorls toward the 

 top of the ftalks -, they are purple, and their ftamina 

 are longer than the petals. This hath a pleafanter 

 fcent than the common Water Mint, fo is called Sweet 

 Water Mint by way of diftinftion : it ftands in the 

 lift of fimples in moft difpenfaries, but is now feldom 



ufed in medicine. 



The feventeenth grows naturally by the fide of the 

 river Medway, between Rochefter and Chatham. 

 This rifes with (lender hairy ftalks near two feet high, 

 garnilhed with fpear-ihaped leaves, ending in acute 

 points, which are fawed on their edges -, the ftalks are 

 befet with whorls of flowers almoft their whole 

 length, fo that they have frequently ten or twelve 

 whorls on each. The flowers are purplifh, and their 

 ftamina are equal with the petals ; this hath a very 



pleafant aromatic fcent. 



All the forts of Mint are eafily propagated by part- 

 ing the roots in the fpring, or by planting cuttings 

 during any of the fummcr months, but they flaould 

 have a moift foil ; and after the cuttings are planted, 

 if the feafon ftiould prove dry, they muft be often wa- 

 tered - until they have taken root ; after which, they 

 will require no farther care but to keep them clear 

 from weeds ; they ftiould be planted in beds about 

 -: four feet wide, allowing a path about two feet broad 

 between the beds, to water, weed, and cut the plants. 

 -The diftance they ftiould be let is four or five 

 ; - inches, or more, becaufe they fpread very much at 

 ^ > their roots J for which feafon, the beds fliould not 

 '.:.ftand longer' tBair three yeaVs before you plant frefh, 

 v^for by that'time the roots will be mattedfo clofcly, 

 %i. as to fbt ilid decay each other, if permitte3pto ffand 

 *-- longer, {r: There are fomc people" who areVery Fond 

 ^f- of Mint fallal in winter and Ipring; in oi^dcr toob- 

 s? 'tain which, they take'up the roots before Chriftmas, 



*- 



W* 



r.rand plant thcrn upona moderate hot-bed pretty clpfe, 



covering them with fine earth about an inch thick, 



-y and cover the bed either with mats or frames of glafs. 



/'^Inthefe beds the Mint will come up in a month's 



.time, and be foon fit to cut for that purpofe. ^- - 

 J : When the herb is cut for medicinal ufe, it ftiould be 

 ^ : done in a very dry feafon, juft when it is in flower; 

 -f for if it ftand lonMr, it will not be near fo handfome, I •■-. die arifes a great number of ftamina which are ered, 



M 



6. Lin. Gen. Plant. 595. 



The name was given to this plant by Father Plurnicr 

 who difcovered it in the French fctdcments in Anic- 

 rica, in honour of Dr. Menrzelius, who was phyfician 

 to the Eledor of Brandenburgh, and who publifl^cd 

 an Index of plants in Latin, Greek, and High Dutch 

 The Characters are, 



The flower hath a fpreadingempalement cut into five parti 

 which fits upon a long cylindrical g€r7nen. It hath fi'^e 

 petals which fpread operiy and are a little longer than 

 the empalementy and many ereEl brijlly ftamina termi- 

 nated by fingle ftmmits. From the long cylindrical zer- 

 men which is fituated under the flower^ arifes a brijlk 



. ftyle the length of the petals^ crowned by a fingkftiu^r^a, 

 "The germen afterward turns to a cylindrical lon^ capfuk 

 with one cell^ containing many fmcill feeds. 

 This genus of plants is ranged in the firft feftion of 

 Linnteus's thirteenth clafs, which includes thofe 

 plants whofe flowers have many ftamina and one ftyle. 

 We know but one Species of this genus, viz. ' 



Mentzelia {Afpera.) Hort. Cliff. 492. Plumier tides 

 it Mentzelia foliis & frudibus afperis. Nov. Gen. 

 Plant. 41. Mentzelia with prickly leaves arid fruit. 

 This plant grows plentifully at La Vera Cruz, from 

 whence the feeds were fent to England by the late Dr. 

 William Houftoun, which have fucceeded inthephy- 

 fic garden at Chelfea, -: ^ • ^ >>v\ ./ 



This plant is annual ; it rifes with a flender fmooth 

 ftalk, which is ftiff, and becomes a little woody, 

 ■ rifing more than three feet high, branching out alter- 

 , n^tely at diftances ; the branches are diilorted, and 

 V*7un into one another ; thefe are garnifhed v/ith leaves 

 Ihaped like the point of an halbert, ftanding alter- 

 nately on the branches, upon ftiort foot-ftalks'» they 

 ,, are coyj^red with Ihort hooded prickles, which faftea 

 : themfeives into the clothes, of thofe V?Hd^ f ub againft 

 them J and thofe parts of the branches eafily feparatc 

 frohi the plants, and adhere to the clothes in like 

 A> m^aniier as the' feeds of Clivers.' ', The flowers come 

 r<' out fingly from the joiiits'of the ftalk, refting upon a 

 >, cylindrical germen, which is' fteaPan inch in length, 

 — narrow at the bafe, but widens upward to the top. 

 -. Upon the top of it comes out the empalemcnt, which 

 is fpread open after the fame manner as thoTeof the 





Onagra ; then the petals of the fiov/er fpread open 



upon the empalement ; they are of a pale yellow co- 



• lour, and longer than the empalement. In the mid- 



» .' 



*~ 



nor fo well tafted ; and if it be cut when it is wet, ic 

 v'will cTiahge black and be little worth ; this ftiould be 

 ii hung lip to dry in a ftiady place, where it may re- 

 \ main until it be ufed.. i v\*.; vci ^:^^.::s<f\t^t'^^"-^^v''i 



* - ' 



1 



If the foil be good in which thefe plants are fet, they 

 ■•" -^ ' ' ' " " • '- July they 



f^ 



and are terminated by fmgle fummits 5 'from the ger- 

 men arifes a fingle ftyle, wiiich is as long^as t'Ee petals, 

 crowned by a fingle ftigma. The germen afterward 

 turns to a long cylindrical capfule, Armed with the 

 like prickles as the leaves, which alfo fafteh them- 

 feives to the clothes of thofe who rub againft them ; 



Tv feldom prove good-, therefdrfc what ftiodts are pro- 1 ^^ thefe have but one cell, which is filled with fmall feeds. 

 -reduced after that time ftiould be permitted to remain j ..As this is an annual plant, which periflies l&bn ^cer 

 :.,:;till Michaelmas, when they muft be cut down clofe; 

 .■4- and after having cleared the beds from weecfs, you 

 c7> ftiould fpread a little fine' rich earth "alL over* them, 

 ,V,^ which will greatly encburlige the roots againft the ftic- 



fiA cced 



Mint 



\ 



-'* 



wr 



^' 



- ♦ 



s. teemed a very wholefome cordial dram, fo I ftiould 

 f -think it might be fubftituted inftead of thofe vile 

 fnirits with which the common people intoxicate 

 ' tnemfelves ; for the Pepper Mint water is as warm on 

 . the ftomach as any fort of dram, and more fo than 

 any of thofe noxious fpirits -, and if this was mixed 

 .shwith fome other agreeable aromatic herbs, there 

 :u 'might certainly be a diftilled liquor much more pa- 

 .1 latable and wholefome than what is now vended in 

 cqmngiQn ; • for as the generality of the lower clafs of 

 people are fo debauched, as not to be contented with- 

 out drams, fo the lefs hurtful thofe are made, the 

 better It will be for the public j and by introducing 



the feeds are ripe, therefore the feeds muft be fown on 

 ';>m^hot-bed.earlx in the fpring, that the plants' may be 

 i,vbrouglit forwar<3 early in the feafon, otherwife they 

 • > will not produce ripe feed in this country. When the 

 - plants' are come up aboutan inch higfi, they fnculiJ 



A 



if: 



' i 



t be each tranfplanred into a fepamte^ halfpenny pot 

 ' filled with light rich earth, and plunged into a hot-bed 

 of tanners bark, bejng careful to fnade them frbrfi the 

 fun until tliey have taken new root ; after which time- 

 tliey muft be conftantly watered every other day m 

 warm weather, and ftiould have freHi air every day 

 admitted to them, in proportion to the warmth oflhe 

 feafon,. and the heat of the bed in which they are 

 plunged. -^Jn about fix weeks or two m-bnths arter 

 tranfplantmg,- if the plants have made "a good pro- 

 grefs, they will have filled the pots with their roots, 

 when they ftiould be ftiifted into larger pots, which 

 muft be filled with li^htrich earth, and then p^g^^ 



k ■ 



^>^. ' 



-^ r.- * r- 



:^ 





into the bark- bed inihe ftove, that they tnay have 



n 

 Q 



.-> 



