and Chinese oil also differs slightly from the English, and is thus

distinguishable by experts. In America the oil is liable to be injured in flavour by aromatic weeds which grow freely among the crop, the n1ost troublesome of these being Erigeron canadense, and Erechlhztes hieraczfolw. When pure the oil is nearly colourless and has an agreeable odour and powerful aromatic taste, followed by a sensation of cold when air is drawn into the mouth. It has a specific gravity of 0-84 to 0-92, and boils at 365° F. Mitcham oil, when examined by polarized light in a column 50 mm. long, deviates from I4'2° to 10-7° to the left, the American 4 3°. When oil of peppermint is cooled to 4° C. it sometimes deposits colourless hexagonal prisms of menthol, C,0H20O, which are soluble in alcohol and ether, almost insoluble in water, and fusible at 92° F. The oil consists chiefly of menthol and a terpene called menthene, C10H, g. Oil of peppermint is often adulterated with a third part of rectified spirit, which may be detected by the milkiness produced when the oil is agitated with water. Oil of rosemary and rectified oil of turpentine are sometimes used for the same purpose. If the oil contains turpentine it will explode with iodine. If quite pure it dissolves in its own Weight

FIG. 2.-Menlha arvensu,

var. pzperascens.

a, Flowering branch reduced),

b, caly x showing form

of teeth (enlarged).

of rectified spirits of wine. Peppermint oil is largely distilled at

Canton, a considerable quantity

being sent to Bombay, also a

large quantity of menthol. The

species cultivated in the neighbourhood

of Canton, is M entha

arvensis, var. glabrata. Peppermint

is chiefly cultivated in the

province of Kiang-si; and according

to native statements as much

as 40 piculs of oil of peppermint

are sent annually to ports on

the coast. In Japan also the

distillation of oil of peppermint

forms a considerable industry, the

plant cultivated being .M. arvensis,

var. pipefascens. The oil, under

the name of hakka no abura, is

exported from Hiogo and Ozaka,

but is said to be frequently adulterated. The menthol is obtained

by subjecting the oil to a low

temperature, when it crystallizes

out and is separated. The two

varieties of M. arvensis just

named yield much more menthol than M. piperita. It is remarkable, however, that the M. arvensis, var. javanica, growing in Ceylon, has not the fiavour of peppermint but that of garden mint, while typical form of M. arvensis grown in Great Britain has an odour so different from peppermint that carefully removed from the field lest it should spoil of the peppermint 011 when the herb is distilled. cultivated near Bombay as a herb, also possesses of peppermint. In the form in Which menthol is it has to be

the flavour

M. incana,

the fiavour

imported it bears some resemblance to Epsom salts, with which xt is sometimes adulterated.

The volatile oil of Mentha pipenta is a valuable and widely used drug. Its chief constituents are menthol and menthene, which is a liquid terpene The Br1t1sh pharmacopoeia contains two preparations of this oil, the Aqua menlhae pzperzlae and the Spzntus menlhae p1per1tae. The oil has the characters of its class, with certain special features. Its local anaesthetic action is exceptionally strong it is also powerfully antiseptic. These two properties make it valuable in the relief of toothache and in the treatment of carious cavities in the teeth. They also render the drug valuable in certain forms of dyspepsia and in colic generally, “ soda-mint lozenges " being a familiar form. The characteristic anti-spasmodic action of the volatile oils is perhaps more marked in this than in any other oil, and greatly adds to its power of relieving pains arising 1n the alimentary canal. The volatile o1l of spearmint is also official in Great Br1tain and the United States, being given in the same doses and for the same purposes as oil of peppermint. It is of less value medicinally, not containing any appreciable quantity of menthol, the place of which is taken in the oleum menlhae vzndzsxx1. 5

the pharmacopoeia name-by carvone, C10H1., O, found in caraway oil, and isomeric w1th thymol.

The following mode of cultivation of peppermint is adopted at Market Deeping. A rich frrable soil, retentive of moisture, is selected, and the ground is well tilled 8 to 10 in. deep. The lants are propagated in the spring, usually in April and May. liVhen the young shoots from the crop of the previous year have attained a height of about 4 in. they are lpu led up and transplanted into new soil. They grow vigorous y the first year, and throw out numerous stolons on the surface of the ground. After the crop has been remoi/ed these are allowed to harden or become woody, and then farm-yard manure is scattered over the ficld and ploughed in. In this way the stolons are d1v1ded into numerous pieces, and covered with soil before the frost sets in. If the autumn is wet they are liable to become sodden, and rot, and the next crop fails. In the spring the fields are dressed with Peruvian guano. In new ground the peppermint requires hand-weeding two or three times, as the hoe cannot be used without injury to the plants. Moist heavy weather in August is apt to cause the foliage to drop off and leave the stems almost bare. In these circumstances rust (Puccmw, menthae) also is liable to attack the plants. This is prevented to a certain extent by a rope being draw n across the plants, by two men walking in the furrows, so as to remove excessive moisture. The average yield of peppermint is about 165 cwt. per acre. The first year's crop is aways cut with the sickle to prevent injury to the stolons. The herb of the second and third year is cut with scythes, and then raked by women into loose hea s ready for carting. The field is then gleaned by boys, who acid what they collect to the heaps. The plants rarely yield a fourth crop on the same land. The harvest usually commences in the beginning or middle of August, or as soon as the plants begin to flower, and lasts for six weeks, the stills being ke t going night and day. The herb is carted direct from the field to the stills, which are made of copper, and contain about 5 cwt. of the herb. Before putting the peppermint into the still water is poured in to a depth of about 2 ft., at which height a false bottom ls placed, and on this the herb is thrown and trodden down by men. The l1d, which frts into a water-joint, is then let down by pulleys and fastened by two bars, any excess of pressure or tcm erature being indicated by the water that is ejected at the joint. 'lPhe distillation is conducted by the application of direct heat at the lowest possible temperature, and is continued for about four and a half hours. When this operation is com leted, the lid is removed and a ro e is attached to a hook on the fizilse bottom, which, as well as the iierb resting on it, is raised bodily by a windlass and the peppermint carried away in the empty carts on their return journey to the fields, where it is placed in heaps and allowed to rot, being subsequently mixed with the manure applied in the autumn as above stated, The usual yield of oil, if the season be warm and dry, is said to be 1 oz. from 5 lb of the fresh flowering herb, but, if wet and unfavourable, the Iproduct is barely half that quantity. The yield of a charge of the sti is estimated at from 1 lb 12 oz. to 5 lb. The oil improves in mellowness even if kept as long as ten or fourteen years. The green colour sometimes present in the oil is stated to be due to a uantity of water larger than necessary having been used in the distillation' on the other hand, if the herb be left in the still from Saturday to Monday, the oil assumes a brown tint. In France peppermint is cultivated on damp rich ground at Sens, in the department of the Yonne. In Germany it is grown in the neighbourhood of Leipzig, where the little town of Colleda produces annually as much as 40,000 cwt. of the herb. In the United States peppermint is cultivated on a most extensive scale, chiefly in south-west Michigan, the west districts of New York state, and Ohio. The yield averages from IO to 30 lb per acre. In Michigan the plant was introduced in 1855.

PEPPERRELL, SIR WILLIAM (1696-1759), American soldier, was born in Kittery, Maine, then a part of Massachusetts, on the 27th of June 1696. He studied surveying and navigation, and joined his father in his ship-building, fishing and general trading business, quickly becoming one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the province. He was commissioned captain (1717), major, lieutenant-colonel, and in 1726 colonel of militia. Pepperrell served in the Massachusetts general court (1726-1727), and in the governor's council (1727-1759), of which for eighteen years he was president. Although not a trained lawyer, he was chief justice of the court of common pleas from 1730 until his death. In 1745 he was commander-in-chief of the New England force of about 4000, which, with the assistance of a British squadron under Commodore Peter Warren, besieged and captured the French fortress of Louisburg, the garrison surrendering on the 16th of June and Pepperrell and Warren taking possession on the following day. For his services Pepperrell, in November 1746, was created a baronet-the only New Englander so honoured. He was active in raising troops