'•It is difficidt to determine the exact species or va- riety of mint employed by the ancients. There are nu- merous species very nearly allied to one another. They usually grow in moist situations, and are herbaceous, perennial, of powerful odor, especially when bruised, and have small reddish-colored flowers, arranged in spikes or wliorls. The taste of these plants is bitter, warm, and pungent, but leaving a sensation of coolness on the tongue ; in their properties they are so similar to each other, that, either in medicine or as a condiment, one species may safely be substituted for another. The spe- cies most common in Syria is Mentha si/lvesiris, found
Mentha Siilvcstris.
by Russell at Aleppo, and mentioned by him as one of the herbs cultivated in the gardens there. It also oc- curs in Greece, Taurus, Caucasus, the Altai Range, and as far as Cashmere. M. arvensis is also a widely-diffused species, being found in Greece, in parts of Caucasus, in the Altai Range, and in Cashmere" (Kitto). (See Celsii Hierob. i, 543 sq.) Lady Calcott {Script. Herb. p. 280) makes the following ingenious remark: "I know not whether mint were originally one of the bitter herbs with which the Israelites eat the Paschal lamb, but our use of it with roast lamb, particularly about Easter time, inclines me to suppose it was." The same writer also observes that the modern Jews eat horseradish and chervil witli lamb. The wood-cut represents the horse mint (M. si/lrestris). which is common in Syria, and, ac- cording to Russell (A'((/. Hist, of Aleppo, p. 39), found in the gardens at Aleppo ; J/, sativa is generally supposed VI.-U
to be only a variety of M. ai-vensis, another species of mint; perhaps all these were known to the ancients. The mints belong to the large natural order Lubiatce.
Mintert, Peter, a Dutch theologian, flourished for many years at Heerle, in Holland, about the beginning of the 18th century. He was noted lor his great learn- ing as a Biblical scholar and theologian. His principal work was the Lexicon GrcBco-Latinum in Novum Tes- ■ tamenium Jesu Christi ; cum Prcefatione J. G. Piilii (Francof. 1728, 4to). There was no better lexicon than this of Mintert previous to the publication of Schleus- ner's Xoviim Lexicon. It is valuable for its numerous references to the Hebrew Scriptures and the Septuagint ; and is helpful as a concordance as well as a lexicon to the student of the N.-T. Scriptures in the original ver- sion.— Kitto, Cyclop, of Bibl. Lit. s. v.
Minturn, Robeht Browne, an American philan- thropist, who was born in New York City Nov. 1(5, 1805, and with a good preparatory education entered busi- ness and became a successful merchant, deserves a place here as one of the founders of the celebrated St. Lukes Hospital, one of the noblest of New York chari- ties. Minturn also labored for the poor and the sick in many other wdys, and his name deserves to be remem- bered iu Christian society. He was one of the first commissioners of emigration, and an originator of the association for improving the condition of the poor. He died Jan. 9, 18G6.
Minuccio (or Minucci), a learned Roman Catho- lic prelate, was born at Serravalle, Italy, in 1551. After having been prevost at Oettingen, Germany, he became counsellor to the duke of Bavaria. He was next secre- tary successively to popes Innocent IX and Clement VIII. The latter appointed him in 1596 archbishop of Zara, in Dalmatia. lie was appointed by the republic of Venice to negotiate a peace with the Uscoques (ad- venturers), fugitives from Dalmatia, who availed them- selves of the difficulties existing between Austria and Venice to rob and ransack the inhabitants of the borders of both countries. Minuccio died in Munich in 1604. He wrote in Italian the history of these filibusters up to 1602; it was published at Venice (1676, 4to) under the title of Storia clegli Uscocchi, with a continuation as far as 1616 by Paoli Sarpi. He also wrote ]'itn snnctm Au- gustm de Serravalle, in the Bollandists (of JNIarch 27), and in the Supplement de Siirius. — L^ghelli, Italia Sacra, vol. V ; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s. v.
Minucius Felix, Marcus, one of the most cele- brated apologists of the early Latin Church, flourished iu the 3d century. But little is known of his early his- tory beyond the fact that he was a native of Africa, but removed to Rome, and there successfully exercised the profession of advocate until his conversion to Christian- ity. Lactantius {Inst. Dir. 1. i, c. q ; 1. v, vi) and Jerome are loud in his praise, and assure us that Minucius was much admired for his eloquence. He is ever to be re- membered by the Christian Church as one of her ablest defenders in a work of his entitled Octavius; which is a dialogue between a Christian called Octavius and a hea- then called Crecilius, concerning the merits of the two re- ligions which were then striving for supremacy. In this dialogue, Octavius repels the absurd imputations of the heathens against the early Christians, whom they ac- cused of all sorts of impurities and crimes in their re- ligious meetings. Through fear of persecution, these meetings took place mostly at night and in concealed places, which circumstances exposed them to the oblo- quy of vulgar ignorance. At the same time Octavius retorts upon his co-disputant by exposing the notorious- ly licentious practices of the heathens. The style of this work is argumentative and sufiiciently pure ; the language is animated, and the mode of treating the sub- ject attractive, being mixed up with mythological learning and much information concerning the customs and opinions of that interesting period. '• It is," says Neander, "a felicitous and dramatic representation