he taste stirs up the appetite for meat,
which is the reason that it is so general in our acid sauces, wherein
we are accustomed to dip our meat." The Mints for paying tithes,
with respect to which the Pharisees were condemned for their
extravagance by our Saviour, included the Horse Mint (_Sylvestris_),
the round-leaved Mint, the hairy Mint (_Aquatica_), the Corn
Mint (_Arvensis_), the Bergamot Mint, and some others, besides
the "Mint, Rue, and Anise," specially mentioned. "Woe unto
you Pharisees; for ye tithe Mint and Rue, and all manner of herbs.
Ye pay tithe of Mint, and Anise, and Cummin."

The Mint Pennyroyal (_Mentha Pulegium_) gets its name from the
Latin _puleium regium_, because of its royal efficacy in destroying
fleas (_pulices_). The French call [335] this similarly, _Pouliot_. It
grows on moist heaths and pastures, and by the margins of brooks,
being cultivated further in our herb gardens, for kitchen and market
uses. Also, it is produced largely about Mitcham, and is mostly sold
in a dry state. The herb was formerly named Pudding Grass, from its
being used to make the stuffing for meat, in days when this was
termed a pudding. Thus we read in an old play, _The Ordinary_:--

"Let the corporal
Come sweating under a breast of mutton stuffed with
[pudding]."

The Pennyroyal was named by the Greeks _Bleekon_ and _Gleekon_,
being often used by them as a condiment for seasoning different
viands. Formerly it was known in England as "Lurk in ditch,"
and "Run by the ground," from its creeping nature, arid love
of a damp soil. Its first titles were "Puliall Royall," and "Hop
Marjoram." A chaplet of Pennyroyal was considered admirable for
clearing the brain. Treadwell says, the Pennyroyal was especially
put into hog's puddings, which were made of flour, currants, and
spice, and stuffed into the entrail of a hog.

The oil of Pennyroyal is used commercially in France and Germany.
Its distilled water is carminative and anti-spasmodic; whilst the
whole plant is essentially stimulating. The fresh herb yields about
one per cent. of a volatile oil containing oxygen, but of which the
exact composition has not been ascertained. From two to eight drops
may be given as a dose in suitable cases, but not where feverish or
inflammatory symptoms are present.

If added to an ordinary embrocation the oil of [336] Pennyroyal
increases the reddening and the benumbing (anodyne) effects, acting
in the same way