Mentha Viridis. (Spearmint.)

Preparation.—Prepare a tincture from the fresh herb, ℥viij. to Alcohol 76° Oj. Pose from gtts. v. to ʒj.

Mentha Viridis is not only a stimulant, but is one of the most kindly of the aromatics, and is rarely rejected by the stomach. As a stimulant, it will furnish a cheap and pleasant vehicle for many medicines.

But it is more than this. I regard it as one of the most certain of the vegetable diuretics, and employ it frequently for this purpose. In suppression of urine in children, a teaspoonful of the tincture is added to two ounces of water, sweetened, and given freely. So certain is its action in childhood, that I rarely think of giving anything else, except in cases where there is great irritation of the nervous system, and then Gelseminum is added to it in the usual doses.

Specific Medication and Specific Medicines, 1870, was written by John M. Scudder, M.D.