Vertues and Use.
Dioscorides saith, It hath an heating, bin∣ding and drying quality, and therefore the Juyce taken with Vinegar staieth Bleeding: It stirreth up Venery or Bodily lust: Two or three Branches thereof taken with the Juyce of sowr Pomegranates stayeth the Hiccough, Vo∣miting, and allayeth Choller: It dissolveth Impostumes being laid too with Barley Meal.* 1.1 It is good to repress the Milk in Womens Breasts, and for such as have swollen, flagging, or great Breasts: applied with Salt, it helpeth the biting of a Mad Dog; with Mead or Ho∣neyed Water, it easeth the pains of the Ears. and taketh away the roughness of the Tongue, being rubbed thereupon. It suffereth not Milk to curdle in the Stomach if the Leavs hereof be steeped or boyled in it before you drink it. Briefly it is very profitable to the Stomach: The often use hereof is a very po∣werful Medicine to stay Womens Courses, and the Whites.* 1.2 Applyed to the Forehead or Temples, it easeth pains of the Head. And is good to wash the Heads of yong Children therewith, against all manner of breakings out, Sores, or Scabs therein; and healeth the chops of the Fundament. It is also profitable against the Poyson of Venemous Creatures. The distilled Water of Mints is available to all the purposes aforesaid, yet more weakly.
But if a Spirit thereof be rightly and Chimi∣cally drawn, it is much more powerful than the Herb it self. Simeon Sethi saith, It helpeth a cold Liver, strengthneth the Belly and Sto∣mach, causeth digestion,* 1.3 staieth Vomit and the Hiccough, is good against the Gnawings of the Heart, provoketh Appetite, taketh away Obstructions of the Liver, and stirreth up Bo∣dily Lust: But thereof too much must not be taken, becaus it maketh the Blood thin and wheyish, and turneth it into Choller, and ther∣fore Chollerick persons must obstain from it.
It is is a safe Medicine for the biting of a Mad Dog, being bruised with Salt and laid thereon. The Pouder of it being dried and taken after Meat helpeth digestion, and those that are Splenetick: taken with Wine it hel∣peth Women in their Sore Travail in Child∣hearing; It is good against the Gravel and and Stone in the Kidneys, and the Strangury. Being smelled unto, it is comfortable for the Head and Memory. The Decoction thereof gargled in the Mouth cureth the Gums and Mouth that is sore, and mendeth an ill savou∣red Breath: as also with Rue and Coriander, causeth the Pallat of the Mouth that is down to return to his place, the Decoction being gargled and held in the Mouth.
The Vertues of the wild or Hors Mints, such as grow in Ditches (whose Description I purposely omitted in regard they are well e∣nough known) are especially to dissolve wind* 1.4 in the Stomach, to help the Chollick, and those that are short winded, and are an especial Remedy for those that have Venerious Dreams and pollutions in the Night being outwardly applied to the Testicles or Cods. The Juyce dropped into the Ears easeth the pains of them, and destroyeth the Worms that breed therein. They are good against the Venemous biting of Serpents. The Juyce laid on warm helpeth the Kings Evil, or Kernels in the Throat: The Decoction or distilled Water helpeth a stinking Breath proceeding from the corrupti∣on of the Teeth; and snuffed up into the Nose purgeth the Head. Pliny saith, That eating of the Leavs hath been found by expe∣rience