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even, befpnnkled with Alining glandular dots; corolla 
twice as long as the calyx, fomewhat liairy; ftamens a 
little prominent. This herb is celebrated as a powerful 
remedy for deafnefs. 
2. Mentha quadrifolia, or downy four-leaved mint: 
leaves linear-lanceolate, ferrated, downy on both fides ; 
thofe of the Item four in a whorl; fpikes cylindrical, very 
long, clofe, hairy; bradles linear-lanceolate. Sent by 
Dr. Rottler from Madras. The whole plant is clothed 
with denfe velvet-like down. Stem nearly round, with 
whorled branches. The leaves on the latter are oppoiite 
only ; thofe of tiie flem four in each whorl; all narrow, 
bluntifli, with fliallow lerratures. Flowers innumerable, 
crowded; calyx bell-lhaped, even, molt hairy in its up¬ 
per part, efpecially about the teeth ; corolla hairy ; fta- 
mens and ltyle prominent. 
3. Menthaverticillata: orfmooth whorled-leaved mint: 
leaves linear-lanceolate, ferrated, fmooth, all whorled ; 
Fpikes folitary, cylindrical, fomewhat interrupted ; calyx 
longer than the bradtes, with blunt, fpreading, very-hairy, 
teeth. Sent by Dr. Rottler from Madras. The herbage 
is nearly fmooth; item llriated, almoft round, tumid 
above and below each joint, with whorled branches and 
leaves ; leaves linear, tapering at each end, furnilhed with 
lhallow diftant lerratures; fpikes terminal, from one to 
two inches long. 
4. Mentha ltellata, or ftellated clufter-fpiked mint; 
the rau ngn hoaitg of the Cochinchinefe : leaves oblong, 
obtufe, ferrated, fmooth, four in a whorl; fpikes clullered, 
oblong. Stem a foot high, with four furrows. Found by 
Loureiro in moift uncultivated ground in Cochinchina. 
Flowers minute, pale violet. 
5. Mentha incana, or hoary llender-fpiked mint: leaves 
ovate-oblong, ferrated, nearly fertile, very foft and downy 
on both rtdes; fpikes folitary, very flender. Native of 
Aleppo. It is hardy in our gardens, but rarely flowers, 
unlel's, as Miller fays, it be confined in a pot. The flem 
is fquare, a yard high, purplifh, minutely hairy, roughilh 
to the touch, leafy, with numerous oppofite branches; 
leaves from one to two inches long. This Ipecies feems 
neareft akin to the next. 
6. Mentha fylveftris, or horfe mint: leaves acute, with 
tooth-like ferratures, chiefly downy beneath; fpikes hairy, 
(lightly interrupted; bradtes awl-(haped. Native of walte 
ground, in rather moift fituations, throughout Europe ; 
flowering, like moll of the genus, towards autumn. The 
flem is from two to four feet high, fquare, fliaggy, with 
hairs pointing downwards. Leaves fertile, of a grey and 
hoary afpedt, whitifh underneath, with a iirong difagree- 
able lcent for the moll part, though fome German and 
Swifs varieties are faid to be agreeably fragrant; their 
fhape varies greatly, from oblong, or ovate, to a very broad, 
almoft-orbicular, figure. The flow'er-ftalks covered with 
clofely-deflexed hairs; calyx all over hairy, with long 
fliarp teeth ; corolla pale lilac, hairy, twice as long as the 
calyx; ftamens occafionally longer or ihorter than the 
corolla, generally the latter. 
7. Mentha Niliaca, or Egyptian mint: leaves ovate, 
acute, ferrated, hairy on both fides ; paler beneath ; fpikes 
cluftered ; ftamens much longer than the corolla, fmooth. 
As Vahl and Willdenow adopt this fpecies, and we have 
feen no fpecimen, we w'ould not prelume to refer it ab- 
lolutely .to the laft ; but we are much perfuaded that it is 
a mere variety. Jacquin defcribes the leaves as villous, 
though green on both fides; Vahl fays they are, in the 
wild plant, foft and hoary. The length of the ftamens, 
though linking, is by no means to be relied on fora lpe- 
cific character. Native of Egypt. 
8. Mentha glabrata, or l’mpoth-fpiked mint: leaves 
ftalked, ovate-lanceolate, ferrated, linooth; flowers in 
whorled chillers. The whole plant is fmooth. Leaves an 
inch and a half long, and half an inch in breadth, dotted 
"beneath. Whorls with nine umbellate flowers at each 
fide ; ftamens Ihorter, and llyle longer, than the corolla. 
Found by Forlkall in Egypt. 
9. Mentha rotundifolia, or round-leaved mint: leaver 
elliptical, obtufe, rugged, crenate, villous beneath ; fpikes 
interrupted, fomewhat hairy ; bradtes lanceolate. Native 
of Germany, Swiflerland, and England, in walte marlhy 
ground ; with us it is rather rare. In a variegated Hate, 
as defcribed by Gerarde, it often occurs in gardens, and 
is fometimes almoft entirely white, like branched endive. 
This, which Mr. Sole unaccountably miftook for the 
fylveftris, is totally diftinct from every variety of that 
fpecies. The invariably Ihort, roundilh, convex, and ob¬ 
tufe, leaves, rugofe, of a dark grafs green, (not grey or 
hoary,) above ; ftrongly reticulated with very hairy veins, 
but not hoary, beneath 5 and the very peculiar ftrong 
fmell, and vifcidity, of the whole plant, mark it with fuffi- 
cient precifion. Flower-ftalks clothed with deflexed hairs ; 
calyx Ihort, bell-lhaped, hairy all over, with long, (harp, 
coloured, teeth ; corolla much like that of fylveftris ; fta¬ 
mens longer than the petal. Mr. Sole greatly commends 
this mint for its ftimulating refrelhing virtues, to which 
we can readily give credit, on account of its powerful 
(cent, well compared by that writer to a mixture of vola¬ 
tile fait of amber, camphor, and mint. He found it of 
great ufb in chlorofis, and not without fome effedl in epi- 
lepfy. He miftakes however in thinking it the “ true 
Menthrajlum, or wild horfe-mint, of the fhops.” That 
plant is certainly the fylveftris ; which is the more im¬ 
portant to be obferved, as the plants are probably very 
different in qualities. 
10. Mentha viridis, or fpear-mint: leaves fertile, lan¬ 
ceolate, acute, naked ; fpikes interrupted ; bradtes briftle- 
(haped, more or lefs hairy, as well as the teeth of the ca¬ 
lyx. Stems two or three feet high, eredt, fmooth, with 
(harp angles, branched, often purplifh. Native of rnoift 
meadows, in various parts of Europe. In gardens it is 
futficiently well known, by the names of fpear-mint, and 
mackerell-mint, and is the Mentha, Amply lo called, of the 
(hops, the firft fpecies in Dale’s Pharmacologia ; being the 
only kind, except peppermint next mentioned, retained 
in the mod recent London Pharmacopoeia. There are 
however feveral remarkable varieties of this fpecies, wild 
in England, whofe flavours and qualities differ from the 
bed or cultivated kind ; though the latter is all’o a native 
of the fouthern parts of our iiland. 
This fpecies may be known, in all cafes, from the fyl¬ 
veftris, with which fome of its varieties have often been 
confounded, by the invariable fmoothnefs of its flower- 
ftalks and bafe of the calyx. The varieties with (horter 
rugofe leaves, and mod hairy calyx-teeth, have the moll 
ftrong and dilagreeable flavour, and are not fit for the 
ufes of the table. Another variety has been tranfmitted 
by the Rev. Dr. Muhlenberg from Pennfylvania, of a di¬ 
minutive llature, with ovate leaves not an inch long at 
the utmoft, but in every effential character agreeing with 
the above. 
11. Mentha piperita, or pepper-mint: leaves ftalked, 
ovate, fmoothifh ; fpikes obtufe, interrupted in their lower 
part; calyx very fmooth at the bafe. Stem generally two 
or three feet high, purplifh,• with fome fcattered deflexed 
hairs, and numerous oppofite branches. Leaves varying 
from one to three inches in length, fharply ferrated ; dark 
green and nearly fmooth above; palenbeneath, with many, 
parallel, whitifli or purplilh, hairy veins. The flavour of 
the whole herb is pungent, highly aromatic, leaving a 
coolnefs in the mouth, like camphor, and finally a difa- 
greeable bitternefs. Native of watery places in various 
parts of England, but it feems not to have been found 
wild any-where elfe. In gardens it is every-where culti¬ 
vated, for the fake of its valuable medicinal properties, 
which are of a ftimulating or llomachic kind, and exill i» 
great perfedlion in the eflential oil and diddled water. 
12. Mentha crifpa, or curled-mint: leaves fertile, heart- 
fnaped, wavy, ftrongly-toothed; fpikes capitate, blunt; 
teeth of the calyx, and top of the flower-ftalks, (lightly 
hairy. Stems three or four feet high, rather bluntly qua¬ 
drangular, clothed with a few hairs curved downward, 
4 - but 
