8 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



Spikes conico-cylindrical, rnther dense and slender. Bracts linear 

 lanceolate; bracteoles linear-subulate, about as long as the flowers. 

 Pedicels glabrous. Calyx subglabrous, campanulate-oblong ; teeth tri- 

 angular-subulate, as long as the tube, ciliated or bristly-hairy. Corolla 

 twice as long as the calyx, glabrous without and within. 



In wet ]")laces. Rather rare, and very doubtfully native in most of 

 its stations, but Mr. Baker believes it to be " a true native in some of 

 its stations m the north of England." 



England, [Scotland, Ireland]. Perennial. Autumn. 



M. viridis is probably a sub-species of M. sylvestris, from the longer- 

 leaved forms of which it is distmguishable only by its being glabrous 

 and of a brighter green colour, and by having a more pungent scent. 

 In Britain, indeed, M. viridis is distinctly separated by these characters 

 from M. sylvestris, but on the Continent there are intermediate forms, 

 which, unless they can be sho^\^l to be hybrids, forbid the conclusion 

 that the two are distinct as ver- species. • 



A form with the leaves slightly crisped is common in gardens, and 

 has been found at Glenfarg, Perthshire, by Dr. Walker Arnott, and 

 near Bullow Pill, Gloucestershire, by Dr. St. Brody, and was also 

 gathered in Essex by Dale. 



Spear Mint. 



Prencli, Menthe cuUivee. German, Waldminze. 



Tliis plant is well known, even to tliose who have never found it wild oi' in a 

 garden. As an accompaniment to lamb and green peas, it is associated with our 

 ideas of pleasant spring and summer repasts, and is peculiarly refreshing and pleasant 

 to most people. Besides its familiar household applications, the spear mint is still 

 valued in medicine, though chiefly used to flavour other substances. We find, in the 

 latest edition of our British Pharmacopoeia, " Oleum Monthas Viridis, Oil of Spear- 

 mint, distilled in England from the fresh herb when in flowei'." This oil is of a pale 

 yellow tint, which deepens by keeping, and possesses something of the smell and 

 taste of the fresh herb : 600 lbs. of the plant are required to yield 1 lb. of oil. It 

 grows very easily in tolerable soil, and large quantities are cultivated near London 

 for sale to the chemist, as well as for culinary purposes. 



We are told that Mint was in great request among the Romans, especially those of 

 the lower classes, and Pliny mentions that they put it very generally into their cookery. 

 Gerarde renders what he says of it as " The smell of mint doth stir up the minde and 

 the taste to a greedy desire of meate." It was used by these ancient rustics to rub on 

 their tables before eating, and was considered to be not only an appetiser, but a purifier. 

 Ovid represents the hospitable Baucis and Philemon as scouring their board with green 

 mint before lajnng upon it the food intended for their divine guests. The .ancients 

 had a notion that mint would prevent the coagulation of milk and its acid fermenta- 

 tion. "It will not suffer milk to cruddle in the stomach," says Gerarde, quoting 

 Pliny, " and therefore it is put in milk that is drunke, lest those that drinke thereof 

 should be strangled." That diligent and credulous collector of Roman facts and 

 superstitions tells us that mint is not only an unfaiHng rcmedj- for many disorders, 



