MEN 
he acquired feveral languages, fo much diftinguifhed him, 
that the czar took him fo ferve about his perfon. As 
he grew to maturity he became tail and well-fhaped, and 
was enlifted in Le Fort’s company of foldiers. The czar 
advanced him to the poft of groom of his bed-chamber, 
and thence gradually to the higheft employments. From 
Le Fort he acquired a degree of military knowledge 
which fitted him for command, and he became one of 
the moil fuccefsful generals in the Ruffian army. He 
was indefatigable in forwarding the works at the czar’s 
new city of Feterfburg, by which he .could not fail of in¬ 
gratiating himfelf with his mailer; in confequence, he 
was made governor of the province of Ingria, with the 
title of prince and the rank of major-general. When 
Peter undertook his travels for improvement, he chofe 
Mentchikof for his companion ; and in 1706 he was cre¬ 
ated a prince of the German empire. He frequently was 
employed, on occafions of ceremony, to perfonate the 
czar, who rather chofe to appear as a private perfon in 
his train. In the war aga.inft Charles XII. of Sweden, 
Mentchikof gained a viftory over Meyerfeldt a Swedifh 
general, and was the firft Ruffian commander who ob¬ 
tained that honour. He had a great ffiare in the defeat 
of Lovvenhaupt at Lefnau in 1708 ; and he commanded 
the left wing of the Ruffians at the decifive battle of Pul- 
towa in the following year. The high degree of favour 
he poffefled enabled him to accumulate great wealth ; but 
in 1715, when Peter inftituted a court of inquifition to 
fearch into the abufes of the adminiftration, he was one 
of thofe who fell under its ceni’ure, and he did not efcape 
without a large fine. He was afterwards reftored to fa¬ 
vour ; and was fent to command in the Ukraine in 1719, 
and appointed ambaffiador to Poland in 1722. When Pe¬ 
ter fet out on his expedition to Perfia, he placed Ment¬ 
chikof at the head of the council of regency. He chiefly 
contributed to the fucceffion of the emprefs Catharine at 
the death of Peter in 1725, and in confequence enjoyed 
tmbounded authority under her reign. When her ftate 
of health announced a fhort duration of this power, he 
took mealures to infure the crown to Peter Alexievitch, 
on the condition that he ffiould marry his eldeft daughter. 
The event of his acceffion took place in 1727 ; Peter was 
betrothed to his intended bride, and Mentchikof affirmed 
all the arrogance of uncontroulable fway. But a ftorm 
was impending which fuddenly overwhelmed him. The 
family of Dolgorucki, who were mailers of the inclina¬ 
tions of the young emperor, procured an order for his ar- 
reftation 5 and he was exiled to his ellate of Renneburg. 
He was permitted to carry with him his moll valuable 
effefts; and he was imprudent enough to depart from 
Mofcow with a fplendid train, and all the marks of his 
former dignity. His enemies made ufe of the circum- 
ilance Hill further to indifpofe the emperor againll him j 
and he was overtaken by an order to carry him to Si¬ 
beria. The place of his confinement was Berefof, on the 
rude and delolate banks of the Oby. His wife, a lady 
delicately brought up, wept herfelf blind, and expired on 
the road. He found a wooden hut affigned for his refi- 
dence, with a daily allowance of ten rubles for his fup- 
port. His mind accommodated itfelf to his fituation. He 
cultivated a little farm, and laved enough from his pit¬ 
tance to build a wooden church, in the ereftion of which 
he affilted with his own hands. The death of one of his 
daughters of the fmall-pox, and the great change in his 
way of life, foon, however, affefted his health ; and he 
died of a fit of apoplexy in November 1729, little more 
than two years from his banilhment. His two furviving 
children, a l'on and a daughter, were recalled by the em- 
prei's Anne, and reftored to a decent rank in fociety. 
Mod. Univ. Hiji. 
MEN'THA, J'. [Latin ; from a nymph of that name; 
daughter of Cocytus, fabled to have been changed into 
this herb by Prolerpine in a fit of jealoufy.] Mint ; in 
botany, a genus of the clafs didynamia, order gymnof- 
permia, natural order verticillatte, Linn, (labiatse, Juj]'.] 
Vol. XV. No. 1029. 
T H A. 121 
Generic characters—Calyx : psrianthium inferior, of one 
leaf, tubular, ereft, with five nearly-equa! teeth, perma¬ 
nent. Corolla : of one petal, ereft, tubular, fomewhat 
longer than the calyx; limb in four deep nearly-equal 
fegments, the uppermoft only being rather the broadeft, 
and cloven. Stamina : filaments four, awl-(haped, ereft, 
diftant, the two neareft ones longeft ; antherse roundilh. 
Piftillum: germen fuperior, four-cleft ; ftyle thread- 
fhaped, ereft, longer than the corolla ; ftigma in two di¬ 
varicated divifions. Pericarpium ; none, except the per¬ 
manent ftraight calyx. Seeds: four, fmall, generally 
abortive.— Ejfential Character. Calyx five-cleft, nearly 
equal. Corolla nearly equal, four-cleft; its broadeft feg- 
ment cloven. Stamens ereft, diftant. 
General Remarks. This is one of the moft natural ge¬ 
nera poffible ; well marked in habit and charafters. The 
herbage, and even the flowers, abound with refinous dots, 
the feat of an effential oil, on which the warm and aro¬ 
matic qualities of tliefe plants depend. Their flavour is 
different in the different fpecies, and variable in the fame, 
but on the whole almoft peculiar to the genus. The fol¬ 
lowing charafters apply to the fpecies in general; and, by 
noticing them here, we may avoid repetitions hereafter. 
Root creeping, perennial; Hems fquare, branched, leafy ; 
leaves oppofite, Ample, undivided, generally ferrated ; 
flowers in ftalked many-flowered whorls, which are either 
axillary, capitate, or fpiked; calyx llriated, or ribbed, 
rather dilated tipward, almoft regular, either naked, or 
clothed more or iefs completely with fimple hairs, whole 
direction differs in different fpecies, but is very conftant 
in the fame; very rarely this part is covered with foft 
downy pubefcence ; corolla funnel-fliaped, purplifh ; fta- 
mens inferted into its tube; when perfeft, generally longer 
than the limb ; herbage generally more or lefs hairy. 
Mentha is principally an European and Britiffi genus. 
There are however fome American and even Eaft-Indian 
fpecies. Thofe of our own country have always been 
found extremely difficult to determine. Neither the fhape 
of the leaves, general pubefcence, length of the ftamens, 
nor even the inflorefcence, all which have been reforted 
to by botanifts, has been found conftant or certain. Dr, 
Smith, P.L.S. firft propofeda mode of dillinftion, founded 
on the pubefcence of the calyx and flower-ftalks, and its 
various direftion. By this clue all the Britifn fpecies are 
fettled in the Tranfaftions of the Linn. Soc. vol. v. and he 
has fince applied it to the exotic ones. For want of having 
received information of this mode of diferimination, Will- 
denow has greatly failed in his view of the fpecies. The 
fame may, in fome meafure, be laid of Mr. Sole, of Bath, who 
publifhed, in 1798, a Botanical Arrangement of the Britifh 
Mints, in folio, with 24. plates ; a work neverthelefs of 
much original obfervation, and more correft as to fpecies 
than moft that had preceded it. Mr. Miller has enumerated 
feventeen fpecies, which (in the year 1759) he affirms he 
had cultivated for near thirty years without obferving any 
change in them. By availing ourfelves of the publica¬ 
tions mentioned above, and particularly of the Linnaean 
Tranlaftions, vol. v. we ihall now have twenty-eight fpe¬ 
cies to deferibe. 
1. Mentha auricularia, or ear-mint: fpikes tapering, 
dole, hairy; leaves ovate, coarfely ferrated ; hairy and 
green on both fides ; braftes ovate. Native of the Eall 
Indies. The ftem is denfely clothed with long, ffiaggy, 
tawny, horizontal, hairs. Leaves on very fhort hairy 
•ftalks, ovate or fomewhat oblong, bluntifh, coarfely and 
unequally ferrated, from one to two inches in length, va¬ 
rious in breadth ; bright green above, and clothed with 
numerous fcattered filky hairs ; a very little paler beneath, 
finely dotted, not at all hoary, the ribs and veins extreme¬ 
ly hairy. Spikes folitary, terminal, an inch or two long; 
each whorl accompanied by a pair of oppofite, ovate, 
fringed, braftes, each pair crofting the next. Flowers 
crowded, fmall, nearly feflile ; calyx bell-fhaped, fpread- 
ing, with five broad blunt teeth, which are fringed with 
numerous hairs, the reft of the ealyx being fmooth and 
I i even, 
