Wild Flowers as They Grow 



ancestors, where mints always found a place among 

 their many other herbs. Indeed, a garden in the 

 Middle Ages was only very secondarily a flower 

 garden, being almost wholly given up to the growing 

 of aromatic herbs, essential in the days when spices 

 were unknown for flavouring, and essentied, too, in 

 our forefathers' estimation, for hanging up in their 

 houses and for strewing the floors Koth at home and 

 in chinrch. 



" My lady's fair pew had been strewn full gay 

 With Primroses, CowsUps and Violets sweet. 

 With Mints, with Marigolds and Marjoram," 



says an old play written by a contemporary of 

 Shakespeare. Probably in those days, when sanita- 

 tion was chiefly distinguished by its absence, our 

 ancestors instinctively realised the value of these 

 plants as health agents, an instinct amply justified 

 to-day with reference to this very plant, for some 

 of the most modem derivatives manufactured from 

 Pepper-Mint are recognised by us as strong anti- 

 septics and disinfectants. 



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