[1550] “Pituitæ eruptionibus.”
[1551] This prejudice, Fée says, still survives.
[1552] The Menta silvestris of Linnæus; though Clusius was of opinion that it is the Nepeta tuberosa of Linnæus.
[1553] “Silvestre puleium.”
[1554] Galen and Dioscorides say the same; but it is not the fact; the leaves being of no utility whatever.
[1555] Difficulty of breathing, unless the neck is kept in a straight position.
[1556] Fée is inclined to think exactly the contrary.
[1557] Its properties as a vermifuge are contested.
[1558] According to ancient fable, Mintha, the daughter of Cocytus, and beloved by Pluto, was changed by Proserpine into this plant: it was generally employed also in the mysteries of the Greeks. It is the Mentha sativa of Linnæus.
[1559] Fée says that this passage alone would prove pretty clearly that Pliny had no idea of the existence of the gastric juices.