THE CORN-MINT. 3 



where mint perfumes the gentle air/' The garden mint is 

 referred to by Clare : 



" And where the marjoram once, and sage and rue, 

 And balm and mint, with curled-leaf parsley grew, 

 And double marigolds and silver thyme, 

 And pumpkins 'neath the window used to climb." 



There is, we fear, little doubt but that practical agricul- 

 turists consider the corn-mint a nuisance, as its long 

 creeping roots bind the soil together, and ultimately over- 

 run a considerable area. It is generally an indication that 

 the drainage of the land has been neglected. 



Gerarde says, "The smell of mint doth stir up the 

 minde and the taste to a greedy desire of meate ; " and 

 hence, we may perhaps conclude, the wisdom of the custom 

 handed down to us from our ancestors of having mint-sauce 

 with our lamb, though such an addition we prefer to con- 

 sider rather in the nature of a relish than as a deliberate 

 stimulus to greedy desire. Even in Roman times the mint 

 entered into matters culinary. Another use of it, we are 

 told, is to frighten mice from the dwelling. It is said, with 

 what truth we know not, that these little depredators are 

 so averse to the odour of mint that they rather vacate the 

 premises than endure it. The name Menlha was originally 

 applied to the mint by Theophrastus. Menthe, we learn 

 from Ovid, was a nymph who was metamorphosed by Pro- 

 serpine into the herb we now call mint. The speeific title 

 refers to the locality where the plant is found. In Wales 

 it is the Mintys ar-dir. 



The various species of mint have much in common, and 

 have all been held in high medical repute. Westnaacott, a 

 doctor of medicine, who wrote a little book on plants in the 

 year 1694, mentions the various sorts, and states that they 



