no THE USES OF PLANTS. 



now cultivated in Southern Europe, has oily seeds 

 from which is expressed GlNGELY or SESAME-OIL, 

 the chief oil of India, a useful substitute for olive-oil, 

 now largely used in soap-making, especially at Mar- 

 seilles. Further reference will be made to it in 

 Part III. 



LABIATE. 



An order of aromatic herbs containing volatile oils 

 holding in solution hydrocarbons analogous to 

 Camphor, known as stearoptenes. Several of them 

 have long been cultivated at Mitcham, Surrey ; 

 Hitchin, Herts ; and Market Deeping, Lincolnshire. 



Mentha arvensis, DC., v&ts. piper ascens and glabrata, 

 and M. piperita, Sm., are the sources of MENTHOL, or 

 CHINESE OIL OF PEPPERMINT, C 10 H 18 +H 2 O, which 

 first came into commerce about 1872, and proved use- 

 ful in neuralgia. It was admitted to the Pharmacopoeia 

 in 1885.* 



The cultivation of PEPPERMINT (M. Piperita, Hud- 

 son), for its essential oil, has already (p. 67, supra} 

 been mentioned. The common MINT or SPEARMINT 

 (M. viridis, L.) of our kitchen-gardens is similarly 

 cultivated and distilled, and the oil is employed in the 

 United States as a perfume by soap-makers.f 



M. Pulegium, L., PENNYROYAL, another British 

 species, is distilled as a carminative and anti- 

 spasmodic.J 



Lavandula vera, DC., LAVENDER, a native of South- 

 west Europe, extensively cultivated at the above- 



* Bentley and Trimen, iii., pi. 203. f Ibid., pi. 202 

 % Ibid., pi. 201. 



