464 
but to what fpecies the 'hWj»* & M<vfo of the Greeks a is to be referred, 
muft ever remain uncertain : even at this time the different fpecies of 
this extenfive family are not fatisfactorily afcertained ; but, in a mi- 
dical LQirk, this is of little importance, as the virtues of all reiide in 
the aromatic flavour, which is common to the whole genus. 
" On drying, the leaves lofe 
without furl 
e r i n 
ab 
out 
1 
mucn 10 
Iofs of their 
foon diffipated by moderate warmth, or impaired on keeping. 
three*fourths of their weight 
nor is the fmell 
Cold 
! n f x 
1 
or 
taite 
w n 
Ci, 
ter, by maceration for lix or eight hour 
on the dry herb, and 
warm water in a fhorter time, become richly impregnated with its 
fl 
avour. 
Bv 
diftillation, 
a pound and a half of the dry leaves com 
municate a flrong impregnation to a gallon cf water : the diitilled 
water proves rather more elegant if drawn from the frefh plant in the 
proportion often pints from three pounds. Along with the aqueous 
fluid an effential oil diftils, of a pale yellowiih colour, changing to a 
red, in quantity near one ounce from ten pounds of the frefh herb- in 
flower, fmelling and tailing ftrongly of the mint, but fomewhat lefs* 
agreeable than the herb itfelf 
Dry mint, digjefted in re&ifred fpirit, 
"> 
either in the cold or with a gentle warmth, gives out readily its peculiar 
tafte and fmell, without imparting the groner and more ungrateful 
matter, though the digeftion be long continued. The tincture appears 
by day-light of a fine dark green, by candlelight of a dark red 
colour t* a tincture extracted- from the remaining mint by freih 
C* • 
ipirit, appears in 
both 
lights 
green : the colour of both tin&ures 
changes in keeping to a brown. On gentle diftillation,. witn pi 
with 
-oof 
fpirit, the fpirituous portion which rifes at firft, difcovers little flavour 
of the mint ; but as foon as th 
r* 
w 
wat 
o» 
ry part 
be 
ins to 
virtues of the mint come over plentifully with- it. 
Hen 
ce 
diftil, the- 
the fpiritus 
a Mint has not efcaped the notice of the Latin poets : 
An tibi quondam 
Focmineos artus in olentes vertere menthas 
/ 
Perfephone, licuit ? 
Ovid. Met. L. x. v. 728 
j 
By Martial it is called « ructatrix Mentha." Epigr. L. io. 48. 
* Dr. Withering fays, " the fad is,, that a fmall quantity of this tincture- is green 
either by day-light or by candle-light, but a large quantity of it feems impervious to 
common day-light : however, when held between the eye and a candle, or between the 
eye and the fun, it appears red ; fo that if put into a fiat bottle it appears green, but 
when viewed edgeways, red 
L. 
c. 
menthx 
W 
, 
