Calamintha, _Calamint_, is of a hot and drying temperament in the third degree, consists of subtile particles, is acrid, and much stronger than mint; for it is a sort of wild mint. It, therefore, attracts readily the deep-seated fluids to itself, and hence evacuates dropsies, and discusses swelling of the whole body, and stops periodical rigors, when strongly rubbed in externally with oil, and when taken internally in a draught. When applied in a clyster it removes pains of the hip-joint, and clears away impurities from the skin. * * * * * COMMENTARY. Apuleius says, “Græci calaminthen Latini mentham vocant, alii nepetam,” (De Herbis.) R. Stephens says, “Calaminthæ Dioscoridi tria sunt genera, quorum primum nihil aliud quam vulgare _Calamenthum_; secundum Latine Nepeta appellatur; tertium est nostra herba Cataria, _l’herbe du chat_.” Sprengel makes the first species of Dioscorides to be the _Melissa Cretica_, L.; the second, the _Thymus Nepeta_, Scop.; and the third, the _Melissa altissima_. Our author’s calamint is evidently the first species. Galen, Dioscorides, Aëtius, and Serapion, like Paulus, describe it as a hot and acrid medicine, which proves useful in diseases of the joints. They all, also, say that it is emmenagogue; and recommend it as a discutient and expectorant medicine. Dioscorides and Aëtius recommend it in elephantiasis, for attenuating and cutting the gross humours which give rise to the disease. All agree in praising calamint in the cure of intermittent fevers. Dioscorides recommends it as a vermifuge when given with salts and honey. Dioscorides, and, after him, Aëtius and other of the authorities, say that calamint-water, when injected into the ear, kills worms in it. Galen and Dioscorides both affirm that when taken internally and applied on a pessary, it procures abortion. All agree that it is also beneficial in asthmatic complaints. Avicenna gives a lengthy and very elaborate account of the three species of calamint; but it can hardly be said that he adds anything of importance to the information which he drew from his Grecian masters. He agrees with them that it is diuretic and emmenagogue, and holds that it is anaphrodisiacal, and removes the pollutio nocturni somni. He also, like them, commends it as a deobstruent in jaundice and other obstructions of the viscera. He praises it as a stomachic. (ii, 2, 154.) None of the other Arabian authorities treat so fully of this article as Avicenna. Rhases, however, is worth consulting. (Contin. l. ult. i, 466.) The calamint, that is to say, the first species of Dioscorides, would appear to be the “mentastrum” of Celsus, who recommends it as a remedy in the bites of venomous animals. (v, 277.) It also occurs in the ‘Flora Hippocratica.’ See Dierbach. The three kinds of calaminth were long retained in the Materia Medica of the moderns. See Tournefort’s Materia Medica (i, 6, 4.) More recently only one kind was used. See Quincy.