828

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

has grown cold, strain ; then add Refined Sugar, jij ; Oil of Spear ' 111 ^gtt. iij. dissolved in Compound Tincture of Cardamoms, jss. Mix*'grateful stomachic, slightly stimulant, and diaphoretic. Employeallay nausea and vomiting, and to cover the taste of disagreeable IllCcines. Dose, f3j. to fsij. ,

3. Oleum Mentha viridis, L. E. D. —(Obtained by submitting

fresh herb to distillation with water). The chemical properties o'oil have been before described. It is carminative and stimulant. "gtt. ij. to gtt. v. rubbed with sugar and a little water. ... rj |V

4. Spiritus Mentha viridis, L. D.—(Oil of Spearmint, 3i'J-1 •

weight, Jss. ZX]; Proof [Rectified, ZX] Spirit, Cong.]- [wine measure, ^Water, Oj. [as much as may be sufficient to prevent empyreiun®? ^Mix them; then, with a slow fire, let a gallon distil). This prepa[ a , ehas no advantage over, while it is much weaker than, the more * j sand elegant preparation, the essence of spearmint of the shops ; ' vllK '. .Jprepared by dissolving f5j. of the oil of spearmint in f^j. of recl1 , ir .spirit: the dose is from ten to twenty drops. The dose of spirit of s P emint is from f5ss. to f5ij. _ .a

5. Aqua Mentha viridis, L. E. D. —(Spearmint leaves, if * ^ jj.lb. ij.; if fresh, lb. iv. [or Oil of Spearmint, 51 j. L.~\ ; Proof Spi rlt ’[Rectified Spirit , fSiij. E.] ; Water, Cong. ij. Mix. Let a gallon o'*The Dublin College employs no spirit; and distils a gallon of water 1lb. jss. of herb). Spearmint water is usually made extemporauep'Vgby suspending or dissolving a drachm of the oil in four pints of dish , ir ,water, by means of a drachm of rectified spirit and a lump of sll (jj u ,Some persons employ, as a substitute for the spirit and sugar, a dr * 1 ^of carbonate of magnesia, with which the oil is rubbed, and to thesewater is added gradually. But the practice, though authorized b) ^London College, is objectionable when the medicated water is uS . e 0 fa solvent for bichloride of mercury, on account of a minute port'magnesia held in solution. Spearmint water is carminative andmachic. It is commonly used as a vehicle for other medicines. 1*®

is f3j. to fSiij.

Mcn'tha piperita, Linn., L. E. D.— Peppermint.

Sex. Syst. Didynamia, Gymnospermia.

(Herba, D.— Herb : Volatile oil, E.) .

• [Jit

History. —This plant was probably introduced into medicine^ lD aV slast century; at least Hill (Hist, of the Mat. Med. p. 358), inthat it “ has lately got into great esteemand Geiger {Handb. d-Bd. iii. S. 1230) says, it was introduced into Germany as a n . ietthrough the recommendations of the English , in the latter half of th ecentury.

Botany. Gen. Char. —See Mentha viridis. tl te,

Sp. Char. — Stem smooth. Leaves petiolated, ovate-oblong,serrate, rounded-crenate at the base, smooth. Spikes lax, obtuse, 9interrupted at the base. Pedicels and calyx at the base smooth jhispid (Bentham).—Creeping-rooted. . . a „i,

IIab. —Watery places. Indigenous. Extensively cultivated at Mi tc j c( j,in Surrey, from whence the London market is principally sll PPFound in various parts of Europe; also in Asia , Africa, and Am crjca *