MIRACLE

The chief officers of the mint are the master, the deputy master, the comptroller, the king's (or queen's; a ay masters, the clerk of the papers,.and the clerk of the irons and superintendent of machinery: these constitute " the mint board," and meet every Wednesday, or. as often as may be required, to transact all the general busine of the establishment. The manufacture of the coin is carried on under the direction of the company of moneyers. The other officers are the master's a ayer, the melter, the chief engraver, the weigher and teller, the surveyor of the meltings, and the solicitor. The duties of these officers are fully set forth in the " mint indenture." As relates to the general history of the coinage, the reader is referred to the new edition of Buding's Annals of the Coinage. The article " Coinage," in the Encyclopcedia Britannica, gives an abstract of the duties of the respective officers, and is especially valuable as containing the only extant account, illustrated by engravings, of the machinery employed in the mint: this account, though scanty and imperfect, is tolerably correct. A ma of valuable information, and details respecting the whole establishment, will be found in the Parliamentary Report of the Select Committee on the Royal Mint, and its Appendix, published by order of the House of Commons, 30th June, 1837.. Mint. (Lat. mentha.) A name given to several herbaceous aromatic plants belonging to the natural order LabiatcB, and genus Mentha. Spearmint, or Mentha virid is, is that which is so generally used in this country, mixed with vinegar and sugar, as a sauce. Peppermint, or Mentha piper it a, yields the stimulating oil of the same name. Horsemint and others are also species of the same genus. MINT, [s. 767]