Pliny said "the smell of mint doth stir up the mind and taste to a greedy desire of meat." This carries mint-sauce back into antiquity! Medieval writers believed that the smell of mint refreshed the head and memory; and in Medieval days the herb was dedicated to the Virgin and called _Herba Sanctæ Mariæ_ and _Menthe de Notre Dame_. The ancients dedicate it to Venus; hence it was used as a garland for brides--_corona Veneris_. The old myth had it that Menthe was a nymph beloved of Pluto and transformed into an herb by Proserpina who had now become sufficiently interested in the husband who had carried her off against her will to be jealous. FENNEL (_Fœniculum vulgare_). _Falstaff_ speaks of fennel as a relish for conger in "King Henry IV";[75] and _Ophelia_ presents fennel to the King to clear his sight just as she gave rosemary to _Laertes_ to refresh his memory,[76] for according to a belief held by Pliny: "Fennel hath a wonderful property to mundify our sight and take away the film, or web, that overcasteth and dimmeth our eyes." [75] Act II, Scene IV. [76] "There's fennel for you and columbines" ("Hamlet"; Act IV, Scene V). "There are three sorts of Fennel," says Parkinson, "whereof two are sweet." The one of them is the ordinary sweet fennel whose seeds are larger and yellower than the common. The other sweet Fennel is not much known and called _Cardus_ Fennel by those that sent it out of Italy. Fennel is of great use to trim up and strew upon fish, as also to boil, or put among fish of divers sorts, Cowcumbers pickled and other fruits, etc. The roots are used with parsley roots to be boiled in broths and drinks. The seed is much used to be put into pippin pies and divers other such baked fruits, as also into bread to give it the better relish. "The Sweet Cardus Fennel being sent by Sir Henry Wotton to John Tradescant had likewise a large direction with it how to dress it, for they used to white it after it hath been transplanted for their uses, which by reason of the sweetness by nature and the tenderness of art causeth it to be most delightful to the taste, especially with them that are accustomed to feed on green herbs." Another ancient belief preserved by Pliny was "that serpents eat fennel because it restored their youth by causing them to cast their old skins and they recovered their sight by eating the plant." The flowers of the fennel are yellow.