ee 
354 The 
BO RT-Ts1T- SH He ER BAGE: 
The flowers are numerous, fmall, and of a 
bright red: they are placed at the tops of the 
ftalks in long, flender fpikes. The tafte is very 
pleafant, warm, and aromatick. 
It is a native of Germany, but is for the fer- 
vice of the table and of medicine kept in every 
garden. 
C. Bauhine calls it Mentha Romana. Others, 
Mentha anguftifolia fpicata, Our people, Spear- 
‘mint, and Roman mint. 
2. Danifh curled Mint. 
Mentha crifpa Danica. 
The root creeps under the furface, and has nu- 
merous, thick fibres. 
The ftalk is firm, upright, fquare, of a pale 
green, not much branched, and two feet high. 
The leaves have no footftalks : they are large, 
oblong, broad, and very beautiful : they are in- 
dented, and curled at the edges; and their colour 
is a frefh, fine green. 
The flowers are large and flefh-coloured : they 
ftand in thick and fhort {pikes at the tops of the 
ftalks and branches. 
Ge BePNRP "tes 
Ic is a native of Denmark ; but its beauty has 
obtained it a place in our gardens, It flowers in 
Auguft. 
Clufius calls ic Mentha lati ‘olia crifpa Danica. 
The mints in general poffefs the fame qualities - 
they are ftomachick and deobftruent ; but there 
are alfo particular qualities in fome of the fpecies. 
We have mentioned the two horfe-mints as emi-. 
nent in nervous cafes ; and the pepper-mint, by its 
warmth, is of great fervice againft cholicks, 
The common fpear-mint is fuperior to all the 
other kinds as a ftomachick. Its diftilled water 
poffeffes this quality in a very eminent and ufeful 
degree. The dried leaves alfo are ufed in pow- 
der, and the frefh tops made into tea. 
The juice of the tops of /pear-mint, given half 
a fpoonful at a time, with a little fugar, will ftop 
vomitings. The diftilled water is good againft 
the fickneffes and gripings to which infants are 
liable. It is alfo excellent at table, not only for 
its agreeable flavour, but its virtues. Our an- 
ceftors were wife who mixed it with beans and 
peafe, for it prevents the flatulencies rifing from 
fuch foods. 
IIL. \ 
Bie NON OYS ORs Ong¥a Aula 
PULEGIUM. 
HE flower is formed of a fingle petal, a little lon 
lips; the upper one is broad, and undivided at the ti 
fegments, and there is a fhort tubular bottom. The cu 
fegments at the rim ; and it remains after the ower. 
vering but the cup, The flowers grow in thick clufter: 
has a piercing fmell. 
Linnzus places this among the did; 
with mint, denying it to be a feparate genus. 
and unavoidable: and it is ufeful, 
DIVISION | 
1, Common Pennyroyal. 
Pulegium vulgare. 
The root is fibrous and creeping. 
The ftalks are numerous, weak, and of a pale 
green: fome lie upon the ground, others rife ir- 
regularly up; and they are very much branched : 
they are fquare; but the angles are fo much obli- 
terated in many parts, that they appear round, 
The leaves ftand two at a joint; and they 
are fmall, of an oval figure, and of a pleafant 
green: they are rounded at the end, anda little 
indented at the edges, 
The flowers are fmall, and of a pale red; but 
they grow fo thick together, that they are con- 
fpicuous upon the plant : they furround the ftalk 
at the joints, where\the leaves 
circles. 
The feeds are inconfiderable and brown. 
It is common wild in damp ground, and is 
6 
grow in great 
iynamia gymnofpermia , the threads in the Aower be 
and two fhorter, and the feeds having no capiule, 
ger than the cup;~and is divided into two 
p; the under one is divided into three {mall 
p is formed of a fingle piece, divided into five 
The feeds are four, and naked, having no co- 
s furrounding the ftalk; and the whole plant 
ing two longer 
but remaining naked in the cup. But he joins it 
The diftinGion is indeed minut 
Pennyroyal has always been called by a diftin& name =: it has 
gteat virtues, which are recorded of it under its proper and difting title i 
which are not thofe of mint. It is fit therefore that we retain the name, 
diftinét ; there being foundation for it alfo in the characters of the flower. 
¢3; but itis certain 
n the antient authors, and 
and preferve the genus as 
BRITISH SPECIES. 
brought thence into gardens. It flowers in June, ' 
C. Bauhine calls it Pulegium latifolium. Others, 
Pulegium vulgare, 
It is a plant of a very great and very well 
known virtue. 
Itis excellent againft obftructions of the menfes; 
and may be taken for that purpofe in the diftilled 
water, in form of the juice preffed frefh from 
the plant, or in infufion. 
It is alfo ufeful in all obftruéions of the vif- 
cera, and againft cholicks and ficknefles of the 
ftomach. A conlerve of the tops of peunyroyal 
acts as a diuretick, and has done great fervice in 
the gravel. Iris alfo good in jaundice. 
Mr. Boyle has left an account of its virtues 
againft the chincough: this is worth trying. 
The method of giving it is in the exprefied | 
juice, fweetened with fugar-candy, a fpoonful for 
a dofe. 
DIVI- 
