The first and second parts of the Herbal of William Turner Doctor in Physic/ lately oversene/ corrected and enlarged with the third part/ lately gathered/ and now set out with the names of the herbs/ in Greek Latin/ English/ Duche/ French/ and in the Apothecaries and Herbaries' Latin/ with the properties/ degrees/ and natural places of the same. Here unto is joined also a Book of the bath of Baeth in England/ and of the virtues of the same with diverse other baths/ most wholesome and effectual/ both in almany and England/ set forth by William Turner Doctor in Physic. God save the Queen. printer's or publisher's device HONY SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE Imprinted at colen by Arnold Birckman/ In the year of our Lord M.D.LXVIII. Cum Gratia & Privilegio Reg. Mayest. A sincere testamonie off Cap Wil: Hay his real affection too his approved friend Master Tailȝour appothecarie in Yoirk. 1643 ye 16 of May To the most noble and learned Princess in all kinds of good learning/ Queen Elizabeth/ by the grace of God Queen of England/ France and Ireland/ Defender of the Faith/ re. William Turner Doctor of Physic/ wisheth continual health of both body and soul/ and daily increase of the knowledge of God's holy word/ with grace to live and rule God's people according to the same. MOst mighthe and renowned Princess/ after that I had made an end of the third part of my Herbal/ which entreateth of these herbs/ whereof is no mention made nether of the old Grecianes nor Latins/ & had overseen again my first part/ and both corrected it and increased it very much/ and had also corrected the second part: and the Printer had given me warning/ there wanted nothing to the setting out of my hole Herbal/ saving only a Preface/ wherein I might require some both mighty and learned Patron to defend my labours against spiteful & envious enemies to all men's doings saving their own/ and declare my good mind to him that I am most bound unto by dedicating and giving these my poor labours unto him. I did seek out every where in my mind/ how that I could come by such a Patron as had both learning & sufficient authority/ joined therewith to defend my poor labours against their adversaries/ and in the same person such friendship and good will towards me/ by reason whereof I were most bound unto above all other. After long turning this matter over in my mind/ it came to my memory that in all the hole realm of England/ that there were none more fit to be Patroness of my Book/ and none had deserved so much/ to whom I should dedicate & give the same as your most excellent sublimity hath done: I have dedicated it therefore unto your most excellent sublimity/ and do give it for the avoiding of all suspicion of ingratitude or unkindness unto you as a token and a witness of the acknowledging of the great benefits that I have received of your Princely liberality of late years. As for the supremity of your power/ might and authority in this realm/ there are none that will deny it/ saving only the bewitched hypocrites and bound men of the spiritual Babylon. As for your knowledge in the Latin tongue xviij. years ago or more/ I had in the Duke of Somersettes' house (being his Physician at that time) a good trial thereof/ when as it pleased your grace to speak Latin unto me: for although I have both in England/ low and high Germanye/ and other places of my long travail and pelgrimage/ never spoke with any noble or gentle woman/ that spoke so well and so much congrue fyne & pure Latin/ as your grace did unto me so long ago: sense which time how much and wonderfully ye have proceeded in the knowledge of the Latin tongue/ and also profited in the Greek/ French and Italian tongues and others also/ and in all parts of Philosophy and good learning/ not only your own faithful subjects/ being far from all suspicion of flattery bear witness/ but also strangers/ men of great learning in their books set out in the Latin tongue/ give honourable testimony. As touching the benefits that I have received in of your Mayestie/ I must confess that for the obteininge of certain surites and defending of myself against them that troubled me unjustly/ ye have at the four times helped me with your letters patents/ sealed with the great seal of England/ and also restored me unto the denerye of Welles/ both by the deprivation of the usurper of it/ that held me out/ and admitting of me● as only the lawful dean of Welles by your appointed commissioners and judges delegate again. Wherefore your majesty hath largely deserved to have a great deal worthier gift for the greatness and manifoldnes of the benefits that ye have bestowed upon me your poor subject. But although even as I think myself it be but a small present in comparison of your worthiness state/ dignity and degree/ and benefits towards me: Yet my good will considered/ and the profit that may come to all your subjects by it/ it is not so small as my adversaries peradventure will esteem it: For some of them will say/ saying that I grant that I have gathered this book of so many writers/ that I offer unto you an heap of other men's labours/ and nothing of mine own/ and that I go about to make me friends with other men's travails/ and that a book entreating only of trees/ herbs and weeds/ and shrubs/ is not a meet present for a prince. To whom I answer/ that if the honey that the bees gather out of so many flower of herbs/ shrubs/ and trees/ that are growing in other men's meadows/ fields and closes: may justly be called the bees honey: and Pliny's book de naturali historia may be called his book/ although he have gathered it out of so many good writers whom he vouchsafeth to name in the beginning of his work: So may I call it that I have learned and gathered of many good authors not without great labour and pain my book/ and namely because I have handled no one Author/ so as a crafty covetous and Popish printer handled me of late/ who suppressing my name/ and leaving out my Preface/ set out a book (that I set out of Welles/ and had corrected not without some labour and cost) with his Preface/ as though the book had been his own. For I am able to prove by good witnesses that I have above thirty years ago/ written an Herbal in Latin/ wherein were contained the Greek/ Latin and English names of so many herbs and trees as I could get any knowledge of/ even being yet fellow of Penbroke hall in Cambridge/ where as I could learn never one Greek/ neither Latin/ nor English name/ even amongst the Phisiciones of any herb or tre/ such was the ignorance in simples at that time/ and as yet there was no English Herbal but one/ all full of unlearned cacographees and falsely naming of herbs/ and as then had nether Fuchsius/ neither Matthiolus/ neither Tragus written of herbs in Latin. And before that Fuchsius had written his Herbal/ and set it out/ I went into Italy/ and there learned of the living voice of my masters diverse herbs/ which Fuchsius never saw/ the knowledge of certain whereof after I returned out of Italy/ did communicate unto him in a long Epistel/ wherein I did friendly admonish him of certain errors that were in his herbal/ which was then newly set out/ and within not many years after I wrote the first part of my English Herbal/ and dedicated it unto my Lord and Master the Duke of Somerset/ so that I borrowed very little or else nothing of Matthiolus/ and when as the Herbal of Matthiolus came out in Latin/ many things that were thought strange both unto English men and Germans/ were nether strange nor unknown unto me/ because I had learned the same before of my masters in Italy/ and namely of Lucas Gynus/ the reder of Dioscorides in Bonony/ of whom Matthiolus in his Herbal in many places acknowledgeth/ that he learned diverse and sundry herbs to him unknown before: Yet do I grant that of his Herbal I learned something/ but not so addict unto him/ but that I wrote against him in some parts of my Herbal/ where as I thought he erred/ and they that have red the first part of my Herbal/ & have compared my writings of plants with those things that Matthiolus/ Fuchsius/ Tragus/ and Dodoneus wrote in the first editiones of their herbals/ may easily perceive that I taught the truth of certain plants/ which these above named writers either knew not at all/ or else erred in them greatly/ as in Absinthio pontico/ Orobanche/ Betonica Pault/ Sphondylio/ & diverse others. So that as I learned something of them/ so they either might or did learn something of me again/ as their second editions may testify. And because I would not be like unto a crier that crieth a lost horse in the marketh/ & telleth all the marks and tokens that he hath/ & yet never saw the horse/ neither could know the horse if he saw him: I went into italy and into diverse parts of Germany/ to know and see the herbs myself/ and to know by practise their powers and working/ not trusting only to the old herb wives and apothecary's (as many Physiciones have done of late years) but in the matter of simples mine own eyes and knowledge: wherefore I have something of mine own to present and give unto your highness. And where as they say that a book of weeds or grass (as some in despite of learning will call precious herbs) is a right unmeet gift for such a Prince as all men confess you to be/ I answer that if the noble Poet Virgil said well and truly: Si canimus syluas, syluae sunt consule dignae, I may also justly say/ Si canimus plantas, plantae sunt principe dignae. For the knowledge of herbs/ trees and shrubs/ is not only very delectable for a Princis mind/ but profitable for all the bodies of the Princis hole Realm both to preserve men from sickness/ sorrow and pain that cometh thereby/ and also from poison and death/ but also necessary for Phisiciones & apothecary's without the knowledge whereof they can not duly exercise their office and vocation where unto they are called/ for how can he be a good artificer that neither knoweth the names of his tolls/ neither the tolls themselves when he seeth. Wherefore it may please your grace's gentleness to take these my labours in good worth/ not according unto their unworthiness/ but according unto my good mind and will/ offering and giving them unto you/ which thing if I can perceive to come to pass/ so that I may have rest and quietness in my old age/ and defence from my enemies/ which have more than these eight years continually troubled me very much/ and holden me from my Book/ and sickness will suffer me/ I extend to set out a Book of the names and natures of fishes that are within your Mayesties' dominions/ to the great delight of noble men/ and profit of your hole Realm. Almighty God/ whose rome ye occupy here in earth under his son jesus Christ/ preserve and keep you from all your enemies/ both spiritual and bodily. From my house at London in the crossed Friars the 5. day of March. 1568. The Table of the names of herbs. A ACanthium 16 Aconitum 19 Affodil 24 acrimony 219 Alder tree 28 Alisson 35 Almond tree 38 Aloe 29 Amaranthus 37 Amomum 40 Amy 39 Anemone 41 Anise 44 Antirrhinum 48 Apiastrum 53 Arbutus 55 Archichockes 110 Areche 73 Aristolochia 57 Aron or Cockowpint 60 Asarabacca 65 Asclepias 67 Ascyron 66 Asparagus 68 Asplenum 69 Astragalus 71 B bean 220 Berefote 160 Beta 80 betony 81.82.83 Bindwede 165 birch 84 Blue bottle 189 Blites 85 Bockes beard 77 Borage 94 Box 99 Brion thalassion 93 Bulbine or yellow Leke 97 Branck ursine 18 C calamint 100 Camomyle 46 Capers 109 Caruwayes 111 centaury 117 Cepea 122 Chamecyparissus 125 Chamepeuce 129 Chestnut tree 115 Chikewede 30 Chrysanthemon 134 Ciche or Ciche pease 137 Cicheling 139 Cirsium 143 Cistus 145 Clematitis 149 Climenum or water betony 152 Clinopodium 150 Colocasia 157 Coloquintida 185 Cole or Colewurtes 87 Conisa 158 Coriandre 166 Cornel tree 167 Cucumbers 175 Cyperus 195 Cypress tree 187 Cytisus 196 Cudwed or Chaffwed 119 D Dasey 78 Daucus 199 Dill 43 Doder 113 Dogs tongue. 192 E Eglantine or sweet brere 193 Ernutte 51 F Fox tail 25 fumitory. 108 G Garleke 26. 27 Gelover 106 Gladdon or false Acorus 21 Germander 127 Gooshareth 50 Goume succory 133 Ground pine. 131 H hazel tree 170 Hemp 105 Herb ivy 169 Heth 210 Homloke or Hemloke 140 L Lauriel or Lowrye 198 M marigolds 104 Marierum gentle 34 marish Mallow 33 mugwort. 61 N Nettel tree/ or Lote tre 116 O Oak of Jerusalem 86 Onions 120 Oats 73 P parsley 54 Petty whine 45 Perwincle 148 Pimpernelle 41 R Reed 64 Rocket 211 S saffron 155 Sampere 172 Sea holly 215 Segge or Sheregres 112 Smallage 209 Sows bread 119 Sowthistel 136 Sothernwod 15 Spindle tree 217 Stinking horehound 76 T Tasel 205 V Venus' heir 23 Walwurt 208 wormwood. fo. 1. FINIS. NOMINA AVCTORVM PER QVOS IN HERBARIO MEO PROFECI. Damocrates. Dioscorides. Theophrastus. Virgilius Maro. Galenus. M. Cato. M. Varro. Columella. Palladius. Plinius. Aetius. Paulus Aegineta. Macer. Mesue. Auicenna. Serapio. Races. Simeon Sethi. Hermolaus Barbarus. Nicolaus Leonicenus. Georgius Collimitius. Antonius Musa. joannes Manardus. Ottho Brunfelsius. Marcellus Vergilius. joannes Ruellius. joannes Agricola. Massarius Venetus. Leonhardus Fuchsius. Hieronymus Tragus. Conradus Gesnerus. Lucas Gynus. Andrea's Matthiolus. Gabriel Gabrielis. Geraldus Delwicus. Mathias Curtius. Peter Turner to the Reader. AS the wise Philosopher Seneca, counteth him to slay or kill, that may well save and will not: so may I rightly judge after the same fashion, that he is a great hinderer and hurter that may profit a man and will not. Seeing then that this my father's Herbal, which he after his long travel, study and experience hath made, is now set forth to profit and pleasure his countrymen withal: and by the oversight partly of the Printer, and partly of the Scribe that copied the book out for the Printer, is now so commed forth that the Reader can not get any profit or commodity thereof: lest that I for the cause above rehearsed be counted a hinderer of the profit of my Countrymen, and not to set by my Father's fame and estimation (for I am sure, many that know not that afore his death he went about to correct this book, will blame him for letting so falsely a printed book to come forth) I have taken some pains, and have perused and read over this book as my Father began, and have conferred it with his own hand copy, and have so corrected it and amended it, that a diligent and a welwilling reader may easily understand the meaning of the writer, and so take great profit of the same. But peradventure some will say, if I had minded to pleasure my Countrymen, I might have done better if I had called in or stayed this print, and caused the book to have been printed here anew again. In deed if I had done so, I should have eased the reader of this labour of correcting. But I should have done against Charity to have caused the Printer by that means to lose all his labour and cost which he hath bestowed in printing hereof. Wherefore gentle Reader bear a little with the Printer that never was much accustomed to the printing of English, and afore thou read over this book, correct it as I have appointed, and then the profit thereof will abundantly recompense thy pains. And last of all, take these my pains also in good worth at this time. Another day when this Herbal shall be printed again (and if it please God to lend me life and health, augmented and increased) I trust the reader shallbe put to no such pains in correcting of the same, as in no other of my father's books as yet unprinted which hereafter as time and occasion shall serve, I intend to set forth. In the mean time use this Herbal in stead of a better, and give all laud and praise unto the Lord. ¶ Faults to be corrected in the first part. The title at the top of every leaf is the first line, from the which you shall begin to tell. In the Preface. Side. Line. 1 42 For (although I have both) read, although I have been both. 1 43 For (pilgrimage never) read, pilgrimage yet I never. 2 9 For (received in of) read, received even of. 2 10 For (surites) read, suits. 2 14 For (admitting of men) read, admitting of me. 2 29 For (many flower) read, many flowers. 3 3 For (Italy did) Italy I did. 3 8 For (Mathiolus) read, Fuchsius. 3 47 for (seeth. Wherefore) read, seeth them. Wherefore. 4 7 For (I extend) read, I intent. In the first part. Side. Line. 1 3 The figure that is set for Absinthium ponticum Rome natum, is it not, for it is the figure of Sea wormwood, as you may see afterwards. Pag. 10. Look in the first edition, and there thou shalt find the right figure of Absinthium ponticum Rome natum. 2 29 For (colons) read, coloners. 2 39 For (of later) read, of the later. 2 40 For (medendi that) read, medendi hold that, 2 46 For (excels) read, excelleth. 3 41 For (franche) read, france. 3 45 For (which disagreeth) read, which agreeth. 3 45 For (his description. But.) read, his description. And to deny that it is Pontic wormwood, which disagreeth with his description. But. 4 2 For (agreeth not with) read, agreeth with. 4 25 For (feminee) read, femine. 4 26 After these words (Hieronymo Trago) put out the little virgula, and make in the stead of it a full point. And begin the next word with a great letter. For there beginneth a new sentence. 5 34 For (Bruthalassijs) read, Bryithalassijs. 5 35 After this word (describeth) make a full point, and begin the next word with a great letter. 5 35 For (whereas Dioscorides maketh no mention But of one kind) read, whereas Dioscorides maketh no mention but of one kind. 5 37 For (of him) read after him. 5 38 After this word (them) make a full point, and begin the next word with a great letter. 5 40 After (other) make a full point. And begin the next word with a great letter. 5 45 After (kinds) make a full point. And begin the next sentence with a great letter. 6 12 For (de wijck) read, del wyk. 6 30 For (colours) read coloners. 6 37 For (change) read, chance. 7 4 For (Apollones) read Apollo's. 7 16 After this word (is) make a full point. And begin the next word with a great letter. 7 32 For (of that) read, of it that. 7 32 For (above) read, about. 7 37 For (above) read, allow. 8 5 For (things disagreeth) read things it disagreeth. 8 8 For (cities) read, city. 8 14 For (set) read fet. 8 39 For (had greater) read, had had greater. 8 47 For (there still) read, their stile. 9 2 For (where) read, were. 9 10 For (report unto) read, report me unto. 9 11 For (hath at) read, hath suffered at. 9 28 For (condenberges) read condenberges. 9 39 For (Vana) read, Rana. 11 9 For (thirtiest) read thirty. 11 13 For (of Galene. Gallene) read, of Galene. For Gallene. 11 22 For (herb) read, herbs. 11 22 For heresy, read, hearsay. 11 23 For (erred writer) read, eared writer. That is to say a writer that heard it only of others with his ears, and saw it not with his own eyes. 11 43 For (Lanander) read, Lavender. 11 last At the last word make a full point, and begin the next word with a great letter. 12 13 For (not) read, yet. 13 2 For (or bastard) read, or a bastard. 13 4 For (their country when) read, their country this herb when. 13 26 For (lothsommes) read, loathsomeness. 13 27 For (That broth) read, The broth. 13 34 Put out, of. 14 11 For (ink) read, yvik. In the same leaf, and even after, for (Lanander cotton) read, Lavender cotton. 15 2 For (yet) read, it. 15 9 For (little braunchlings) read, little branches. 17 16 For (Asinium) read Asininum. 17 19 For (Gymis) read Gynus. 17 20 For (thereof Diosc.) read, of Dioscorides there. 17 22 For (of the thistle) read of oat thistle. 17 31 For (grow) read, grew. 20 12 for (or) read of. 20 15 For (splengen) read, spleugen. 20 44 For sothernwood, groundpine) read, sothernwode or groundpine. 20 44 For (hind Calves) read, hind or Calves. 21 3 For (twenty year) read, twenty four years. 21 20 For (albicantes whitish) read, albicantes that is whitish. 22 14 For (Condie) read Candie. 24 2 For (whose is) read whose error is. 24 13 For (may) read, it may. 24 28 For (mirtteyle) read, myrt oil. 24 38 (Also) put it quite out. 24 42 For Narassus, read, Narcissus. 25 4 For (wheat or wheat, or beach) read, wheat or beach. 27 4 For (craw) read crow. 27 10 For (row) read raw, 28 8 For (pipe) read pip. 28 37 After this word (burning) there wanteth. The beans are cold and astringent, and so is the bark also. 29 30 For (beat) read, beaten. 26 44 For (aguayles) read, agnayles. 30 22 For (alsines) read, alsine. 32 8 After these words (pressed out) there wanteth the juice, that is pressed out, is. 32 11 For (months, is) read, months old, is. 32 18 For (of the aykes) read, and other aykes. 32 21 For (swelleth) read, swelled. 32 28 For (as for) read, are good for. 32 33 For (eniscus) read eviscus. 32 34 For (malua bis) read, malua bis malua. 32 44 After these words (watery meadows) there wanteth. I have seen in Dorcet shire this herb also growing by the sea side, as I have seen it growing in Somerset shire a mile from wells toward the mere, and in Mark within the town. 33 45 For (by this description it is plain) read, by the description of Dioscorides it is plain. 34 43 For (fire tree) read fir tree. 35 17 For (alisson) read, alysson, & so in all other places. 35 25 For (gooshore) read gooshare. 35 47 For (containeth) read, contain. 38 21 For (steer) read, store. 39 47 For (any) read, ammi. Nota, that the figure that is set forth for ammi is not ami verum, but vulgar. 40 28 For (Brion) read bryony. 40 30 31 After these words (let him take it for the true Amomum) there wanteth. Silvius of Paris writeth in his book of simples that he had the true Amomum. 37 3 For (ganchheil) read, gauchheil. 37 19 For (there) read, then. 41 8 For (in te) read in thee. 43 12 For (muke) read milk. 44 last For (scarfely) read scarcely. 45 7 For (tops) read paps. 46 14 For (cruftes) read, crusts. Nota, that the figure that is set for Camomile, is not our English Camomile, but the herb which the Germans use for Camomile. 47 10 For (Lecanthemon) read, Leucanthemon. 47 17 After (agreeth) read, well. 47 36 For (playing) read placing. 48 3 For (gessen) read, gesen. 50 9 For (flower) read flowers. 51 7 For (hath) read, if the earthnut had. 52 3 For (men to eat) read, men do eat. 52 21 For (change) read, chance. 52 23 (Have the properties) put out have. 52 28 For (so is not) read, so is it not. 52 32 For (Melissophillon) read Melissophyllon, and so in all other places. 52 last For (citron of) read citron or of. 54 7 For (that it need not) read, that I need not. 54 11 For Elioselmum) read, Elioselinum. 54 last (From henceforth not take) put out not. 55 6 For (claustered) read, clustered. 55 25 For (in the blood veins also) read in the blood veins and wind veins also. 57 14 For (osterlacey) read, osterlucey. 58 30 For (unto a stonecrop) read, unto stonecrop. 58 46 For (neither do I) read, neither yet do I. 59 11 For (short wintsobbing) read, short windsobbing 60 6 For (coudung) read, cow dung. 63 6 For (reward) read, rearward. 63 34 For (pity) read, pithy. 63 43 For (Mochlonos) read, Monochlonos. 67 9 For (swalwurt) read, swalowurt. 68 4 For (are remedy) read, are a remedy. 69 5 For (aspa altilis) read, asparagus altilis or. 69 36 For (the without) read the ill humours without 70 4 For (stolopendrium) read scolopendrium. 72 19 For (and a great) read, and as great. 75 4 For (will I give places) I will give place. 76 10 For (Apiastrum we call) read, Apiastrum which we call. 77 34 For (clud) read, cloud. 79 13 For (a herb) read a cold herb. 80 7 For (reason nitrosity) read, reason of their nitrosity. 80 8 Put out (of their) 80 12 For (nets) read, nits. 82 11 For (in of the diseses the) read, in the diseases of the 84 7 For (loved) read, loveth. 84 10 For (officeres) read, officers. 84 12 For (set out) read seethe out. 84 17 For (fisherers) read fishers. 85 12 After (sheen) there wanteh, as an unsown weed 86 9 For (Dill) read, dull. 89 6 For (they are to abler) read, they are the abler. 89 7 For (row) read, raw. 90 3 After this word (places) there wanteth, hard by the sea side. 90 5 Put out (hard by the sea side.) 90 7 For (flumatilem) read flwiatilem. 90 16 For (describeth) read described. 90 43 For 'smake, read smack. 91 32 For ' alet, read ciet. 92 17 For ' that it beside, read that beside. 93 1 For ' brionthalassion, read bryonthalassion, and so in all other places. 93 20 After this word ' Mathiolus, there wanteth. In describing of an other kind of Brier than Dioscorides described. 95 10 For ' their reason, read their reasons. 95 22 For ' simphiton, read simphyton. 95 33 For ' comparison of shorter, read, comparison long, but long in comparison of shorter. 96 9 For ' that is, read that it is. 97 6 For 'to bulbine, read to be bulbine. 97 13 For ' that holdeth seed, read that holdeth the sede. 97 17 For ' and close the it Bulbus, read and close them up. And that Bulbus. 97 22 For ' gardin, read, gardin. 97 23 For ' louge, read long. 98 8 After ' way, there wanteth, answer. 98 23 For ' hath not the right, read hath the right. 98 27 For ' dumium, read bumun. And so in other places. 98 46 For ' bounian, bounion. 99 4 For ' Pliny. And Mathiolus, read Pliny and Mathiolus. 99 4 For ' and make of one kind of those herbs, and make of one kind, those herbs. 99 7 For ' sharp, read shape, 100 3 For ' unto another. Box, read unto another, box 101 20 For ' organ bush, read organ or bush. 101 15 For ' at those days, read at these days. 101 16 For ' calamity, read calamint. 102 6 After ' clinopodium, there wanteth, as far as I can gather by his figure in the chapter of clinopodium. 102 18 After ' Dioscorides, there wanteth, And whether my Calamint agree or no with the description of Dioscorides 102 35 For ' is not like, read, is most like. 103 5 For ' with a sumthing, read with something. 103 25 For ' trimble, read tumble. 103 39 For ' drewen, read drawn. 103 45 For ' draweth, read draw. 104 3 For ' brasing, read bruising. 104 19 For ' rucilines, read rucilius. 104 21 For ' buthalmos, read buphthalmos. 104 21 for ' fructicosa, read fruticosa. 105 3 for ' busy, read beside. 105 6 for ' hath, read have. 105 34 for ' lenes, read leaves. 107 12 for 'to bring forth, read to bring it forth. 107 15 for ' and use in thee, read and use it in the. 109 3 for ' scourie, read scoruie. 109 20 for ' stretched, read stretcheth. 111 30 for ' caruwi, read carvi. 112 21 for ' acute, read acuta. 112 36 for ' galangal, read galinga. 113 10 for ' neither, read neither. 113 last for ' cassntas, read cassutas. 114 16 for ' now here, read no where. 114 23 for ' discharged, read dischargeth. 114 31 for ' some, read some. 117 4 After ' flux, read and the flux. 118 6 for ' ceutaurum, read centaurium. 119 5 for ' cartaphilago is, read cartaphilago and is. 119 23 for ' against the common, read against the bloody flix and against the common. 120 4 for ' which hath, read which have. 120 6 for ' dreshing, read dressing. 120 16 for ' in this, read in these. 121 13 for ' and substance, read and their substance. 121 17 for ' supositorie, read suppository. 123 8 for I'll Porbeck, read I'll of Porbeck. 123 18 for ' scabs of farcies, read scabs or farcies'. 123 45 for ' speedeth, read spreadeth. 124 24 for ' chamecyparissus it may, read chameciparissus then it is. It may. 124 33 for ' sabine, read savin, and so in all other places. 124 41 for ' pliny, read Plinij. 127 1 for ' chamedris vulgar, read chamcdris vulgaris 128 17 for ' description, read descriptiones. 128 24 for ' be of on herb, read be on herb. 128 29 for ' of the less, read of the leaf. 129 13 After th●se words ' description of Chameleuce; there wanteth all this that followeth. But after his complaint he falleth into such a fault as lightly I have seen no learned and honest man fall into, for both contrary to the open truth and the meaning of the Author he maketh Pliny to call Chameleucen Chamepeucen, and so slideth from Chameleuce, and talketh vainly of the leaves of Champeuce. His words are these. Sanè quàm paucis Chameleuces historiam pérstrinxit Dioscorides. Quare difficillimè quidem discerni potest quaenam in universo plantarum genere Chameleuceu referat. Nam etsi. Plinius lib. 24. cap. 15. scribit Chameleucem, quam fortasse rectius Chamepeucen idem appellat, folijs laricis (ego potius dixissem Piccae) similem esse, tamen neque propterea facilis inventu fuerit. I think there is no man that looketh upon Pliny in this place, but he will say that Mathiolus committeth such a fault against Pliny and the open truth, as no man hath committed, whom he oft times doth scornfully mock and bitterly check in his book. And it that he shutteth up his talk of Chameleuce withal, declareth that he is not of so great knowledge in herbs as some men do take him to be of, and that there are other borne beyond the Mountains, if they had dwelled in such an herbrich country as long as he hath done, would have been as well learned in herbs as he is. Let these words that follow here of Chameleuce be judge whether it be so as I say or no. Plures equidem herbas me vidisse fateri possum quae Piceae folijs vire scunt, sed nullam tamen unquam reperi, quae quod obseruauerim florem roseum edat. That is, I can confess that I have seen many herbs which are green with the leaves of the tree called Picea, but (that I have marked) I never saw any with a rose flower. Dioscorides upon whom Mathiolus writeth Commentaries, writeth that Cyclaminus, Alcea, and Althaea have Rose leaves or like unto a Rose, and that Nymphea the second, whereunto I compare the herb that I set out to be likest of all other to Chameleuce in Dioscorides. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath a yellow shining flower like unto a Rose. These have I showed not to put Mathiolus out of all credit, who in many herbs hath brought much light, but that some men that give to much to him might know that he erreth sometime as well as other, and that though his learning be no● little, other men, I mean Fuchsius and Ruellius, and other whom he oft times checketh, are as well learned, if not better, as he. 130 17 for ' hores tufts, read hoary tufts. 131 19 for ' that the name, read that that name. 132 20 for ' semperbivo which is called trist, read semperuivo which is called thrift. 136 18 for ' ciche or piece, read ciche or ciche piece. 136 last After ' And broad, there wanteth. After the figure of the seed. 137 8 for ' wasteth it upon it, read wasteth it up. It 138 10 for ' and good, read and is good. 138 19 for ' they also, read they drive also. 138 33 for ' hurt the sores, read hurt sores. 140 21 for ' unto Parsley and in all points, read, unto Parsley when they come first forth, though they be somewhat less afterwards, and in all points. 141 4 for ' which a great, read which are a great. 141 4 for ' shall perceive, read shall well perceive. 143 19 for ' as have, read as I have. 144 7 for ' confuteth him, read confuteth them. 144 14 for ' are at least, read or at the least. 145 12 for ' of other, read of another. 147 28 for ' chamcedaphne, read chamedaphne. 149 last for ' clematitidis, read clematitis. 150 7 for ' hot, read hole. 151 14 for full of branches, read full of little branches. 152 7 for ' hanhing, read hanging. 153 17 for ' describeth & groweth, read describeth, groweth 156 4 for ' Colcus, read Colchis. 156 17 for ' ischew, read eschew. 157 15 for ' be gone, read gone. 157 15 for ' or wasps, read of wasps. 160 18 for ' Germany, read Germaine. 162 5 for ' of union, read of an union. 162 26 for ' killeth horse, read killeth as men report horse 162 26 After ' oxen and swine, there wanteth. Pliny saith that the black hellebor killeth horse, oxen & swine. 162 30 for ' absterciva, read abstersiva. 162 33 for ' lazuti, read lazuli. 165 5 for ' both a less, read both less. 166 8 for ' leaves groweth, leaves which groweth. 167 14 for ' vinegar rose oil, read vinegar & rose oil. 168 24 for ' croy, read troy. 168 40 for ' on very, read on berry. 169 2 for ' twig or cornel tree, read twig of cornel tree. 170 3 for ' an choomasi, read en choomasi. 170 10 for ' french, read france. 172 16 for ' now, read not. 172 26 for ' bush, read bushy. 173 2 for ' farther of, read farther part of. 173 4 for ' prove it, read proved it. 173 5 for ' seth te, read seethe the. 173 8 for ' so, read to. 174 36 for ' milk, read milk●. 174 36 for ' healeth, read healed. 175 3 for ' sikios, read sikyos. 175 4 for sikna, read sikua. 175 4 for ' siknos, read sickuos. 175 7 for ' sickna, & on's sicknos, read sikua & onis siknos 175 13 for ' sikys, read sikua. 176 1 for ' cucumi turcici, read encumeres turcici. 176 3 for ' siknos and sikna, read sikuos and sikua. 176 3 for ' siknan, read sikuan. Item for ' siknon, sikuon. 176 4 for ' although he, read although in other places he 176 5 for ' siknon, read sikuon. 176 12 for ' cutters, read gutters. 178 Nota, that the figure of Cucumis anguinus, which is in the .178. leaf should be placed in the .180. leaf where it is also entreated of. 179 15 for ' do not soon, read do not so soon. 279 44 for ' that have fall, read that have fallen. 180 5 for ' sikys agrios, read sikuos agrios. 180 25 for ' powrens, read powered. 180 31 for ' tooth with, read teeth with. 180 31 for the luce in the rote of five grains, read the juice of the root in the weight of five grains. 180 31 for ' also in the bark, read also the bark. 181 2 for ' set upon a cup a siue, read, set them upon a cup, or vessel in a siue. 181 7 for ' in the usie, read in the siue. 181 14 for ' burned, read burneth. 181 31 for ' straight, read strengthen. 181 34 for ' quinsei, read squinsey. 181 36 for ' of Cucumber, read of wild Cucumber. 184 2 for ' weightlye, read weight lie. 184 15 for ' distribute, read distributed. 184 33 for ' is made wholesome, read is made unwholesome. 185 21 for ' rick, read ridge. 185 21 for ' loins & hips bone, read loins & hips both. 188 17 for ' in a certain, read in it a certain. 188 31 for ' leans, read leaves. 188 44 for ' endure, read endured. 188 45 for ' hobles, read houses. 189 13 After ' this weed, read there is beside this. 189 14 for ' and other, read and another. 190 9 for ' saws breed, read sows breed. 190 15 for ' I have Cyclaminum, read I have seen Cyclaminum. 191 33 for ' slissed read slised. 192 7 for all four leaved, read a three leaved. 193 14 for 'to smell as, read to smell to as. 194 32 for ' other more, read nethermore. 195 8 for ' or round, read and round. 196 12 for ' cytiscus, read cytisus, & so in the .13. line. 196 Nota, cytisus is a shrub or a high bush, and not such a little herb as this figure resembleth, but yet thou mayst take this for a branch of that bush, and so learn to know the hole by. If thou look in the second part of the Herbal, in the leaf .158. thou shalt find this figure set out for trifolio quinto. 197 35 for ' is a warm, read is of a warm. 198 3 for ' of a Laurel tree, read or a Laurel tree. 200 Nota, that these two figures are wrong set, and should be in the third part. fol. 10. where Pimpinella is entreated of. 200 5 for 'to sundry, read two sundry. 201 Nota, that the figure that is set for Dauci tertia species is it not. 201 19 for ' speder, read spider. 202 16 for ' that is hot, read that it is hot. 202 25 for ' are better, read are bitterer. 202 28 for ' of special, read of a special. 203 39 for ' killed, read killeth. 203 26 for ' rating, read eating. 203 35 for ' and it be hanged, read and if it be hanged. 203 35 for ' fase, read false. 206 17 ‛ for while the dragon is yet young, the leaf of it is very like unto ●aron, read this sentence in the .21. line next following after these words, the true dragon. 207 10 for cacoeth, read cacoethe. 207 13 for ' bitterer, read better. 207 21 After this word ' fern, there wanteth, because it is an herb like a fern. 207 33 for ' on that is it that, read on is that it. 208 last for ' Goats sweet, read goats suet. 209 15 for ' nordenye, read norden. 209 last After these words ' the hole properties, there wanteth, of smallage, read the properties. 210 6 for ' Irica, read Erica, and so in other places. 210 10 After these words a ' tree, there wanteth. Pliny in the xj book of his natural history saith, that the third kind of honey is wood honey, and not to be commended, which is called heath honey. 211 6 for ' maketh ripe, read make ripe. 212 14 for ' rocketh, read rocket. 213 3 for ' on them, read and them. 213 18 for ' orobus. It, read orobus in no wise. It. 213 19 for ' so like, read something like. 213 36 for ' cicerculus, read cicercula. 214 3 for ' troubled, read troubleth. 214 11 for ' suffered, read suffereth. 214 17 for ' consummation, read consumption. 214 20 for ' yeck, read yuke. 215 36 for ' and as, read and is. 215 48 for ' secaul in Arabianes, read secacull in the arabians. 215 last for ' is this, read was this. 216 2 for ' see cachul, read secacul. 216 16 for ' declaring, read declareth. 217 4 for ' This broth of herb, read The broth of this herb. 218 11 for ' saving that is, read saving that it is. 218 18 for ' and within a corn four cornered stick and deadly to beasts, read and within it, a corn fast and sound, four cornered and deadly to beasts. 218 26 for ' bird cages, read bird cages. 218 28 for ' euparorium is named, read eupatorium named 219 7 for ' in a certain, read in it a certain. 220 12 put out ' first. 220 13 put out ' after. 220 27 for ' set, read fet. 220 28 for ' faba, read fabe. 220 32 for ' oniskos, read oniskot. 220 40 for ' juniper berries, read juniper with berries. 221 18 for ' it is, read his is. 221 24 for ' franche, read france. 221 29 for ' single, read long. 221 30 for ' reason, read resones. 221 45 for ' there where, read then where. 221 47 for ' wind and not windy, read windy and not windy. 222 8 for ' are good, read is good. 222 11 for 'to make fabam, read to make our fabam. 222 15 for ' but by reason, read but by the reason. 222 25 for ' leaves, read levis. 222 28 for ' plenty that that fruit, read plenty of that fruit 222 last After ' arietinum, there wanteth. Simeon Sethi a later Grecian, whose manner is sometime to menge Latin names with Greek, calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, whereby a man may gather that in his time Faba of the Latins, and Kuamos of the Greeks were all one. 223 20 for ' eaten, read chowed. 223 26 for ' alom, read alone. Of Wormwod and the kinds and places where they grow. depiction of plant Wormwod Roman. depiction of plant Absinthium Ponticum Romae natum. ABsinthium is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ in Duche Wermut or Alkin/ or Elk/ in French Aluin or Absince/ in Italian Assenzo/ in Spanish Asentios/ in English wormwood. There are three kinds of wormwood after the judgements of Dioscorides/ Galene/ Pliny/ Aetius/ and Paulus Egineta. The first kind is called Absinthium Ponticum/ Dioscorides describeth not absinthium Ponticum/ as an herb well known in his time even unto the common people. Which thing hath been the cause/ that of late years it hath been so little known of the Physicians both in Italy and in germany/ and in many other countries. Howbeit a diligent and witty man might have gathered of Dioscorides/ where he compareth in diverse places Absinthium Ponticum and other herbs together in likeness of leaves and branches/ that this common wormwood which hath been long taken for Pontic wormwood/ was not the Pontic wormwood that Dioscorides meant of. For in the description of our common Sothernwod/ he sayeth that it hath small branches like Wormwod/ that is to say/ Pontic wormwood: and in the description of Santonik Wormwod he writes that it is not unlike unto wormwood/ meaning thereby as I said before/ Pontic wormwode. Then he that knoweth well by the description of Dioscorides/ either Sothernwode or Santonike wormwode/ may thereby meetly well know Pontic wormwode/ or at the lest that this common Wormwood is not the right Pontic wormwood/ because the branches are not like. But Galene perceiving in his time that the ignorance of the right wormwood Pontic began to come in/ belike because that Dioscorides went over it undescribed in the eleventh book De methodo medendi/ fulfilleth perfectly it that Dioscorides left out/ in these words following: When as there is in every Wormwod a double pour/ in Pontic wormwood is no small binding property/ in all other Wormwodes a very vehement bitter quality. But as for astriction or binding/ which a man can perceive by taste/ is either very hard to be found/ or else none at all. Wherefore Pontic wormwood ought to be chosen for the inflammationes of the liver. But it hath much less flowers and leaves then other Wormwodes/ and the smell of this is not only not unpleasant/ but resembleth a certain spicines or pleasant savour/ all other have a very foul smell. Galene also in the sixth book of Simple medicines writeth/ that Pontic wormwod is not so hot as the other kinds of wormwood be/ and that it is more binding then bitter. By this description of Galene it is plain that the herb which is called in the West part of England/ Herb cypress/ about London Wormwod Roman/ in Freseland/ Cypreskruyt/ or wild Rosmarine/ of the Apothecaries of Antwerp/ and of Mesue Absinthium Romanum/ and of the Colons Grave cruyt/ is the right Absinthium Ponticum/ and that the great bitter stinking common Wormwod/ is not the Wormwod that Galene taketh/ and teacheth to be taken for Wormwode Pontic. For the hole description agreeth with the little wormwood Roman/ and disagreeth with the common great leaved Wormwod/ as every indifferent man that hath seen/ tasted/ smelled/ and compared the herbs with the description/ can bear witness. But Matthiolus whom the spaniard Amatus followeth/ holdeth not withstanding these words of Galene above rehearsed/ that our common great Wormwod/ is right Pontic wormwood/ his words are these: Some of later writers leaning unto the authority of Galene libro secundo de methodo medendi/ that Pontic wormwood differeth much in kind from it that groweth in our country/ even as Santonike and Sea wormwood do differ. But I for my part do believe/ that they differ in no otherwise/ but that Pontic by the reason of the clime and complexion of the region where it groweth/ hath less flowers and leaves than ours hath/ and for the same cause I believe that it excels ours also both in binding and also in savour or smelling/ which thing Galene in the sixth book of Simple medicines/ where as he entreateth of Sothernwod/ doth sufficiently declare/ when he sayeth/ there are two kinds of Sothernwod/ the one which they call the male/ and the other which they call the female/ which thing is determined by Dioscorides and Pamphilus/ and infinite more. But Wormwod is an other thing/ differing from Sothernwode: and of wormwood we must determine that there are three kinds/ of the which there is one that hath his name of his kind or country/ as is called Pontic wormwood/ the other Santonike/ the third Seriph or Sea wormwood. Wherefore Dioscorides judged well/ where as in the kind of common wormwood he gave the chief praise unto Pontic. The same Matthiolus writeth also these words. There are three kinds of wormwood entreated of here of Dioscorides/ that is to wet/ our common wormwood/ Sea wormwood which they call Seriphium/ and Santonike/ whereof France next unto the Alpes hath great plenty. Because Matthiolus is a learned man/ and therefore by the opinion of his learning even without good reason and authority may draw other after him in to his error: for the defence of the truth/ I will confute his error both with reason and sufficient authority. Where he sayeth that Dioscorides entreateth of three kinds of Wormwod/ and that he entreateth first of/ is our common Wormwod. In the beginning he swerveth from the truth/ for the first kind of wormwood that Dioscorides entreateth of/ is Pontic wormwood. But the common wormwood is not Pontic wormwood: the best Pontic wormwood/ as Dioscorides sayeth/ groweth in Ponto in Cappadocia/ and in the hill called Taurus/ and in the description of Abrotoni/ he maketh Abrotonum the female like unto Sea Wormwode/ and the male like in smallness of the little branches unto wormwood. Where as Wormwod doubtless signifieth Pontic wormwode/ for Wormwod rehearsed alone without any addition/ is ever taken for Pontic Wormwod/ because it is more excellent/ then all other Wormwodes be. But the common Wormwod groweth not in mountains or wild hills/ but only about towns/ ditches/ high ways/ and in tilled and laboured ground/ neither is it like unto our common Sothernwod/ which is the male in Dioscorides/ for it hath stalks/ leaves and branches/ ten times greater than Abrotonum the male hath/ as every man may se/ that will compare the one with the other/ Therefore this common great wormwood that groweth only about towns/ ditches/ and in tilled grounds with a leaf and branches/ ten times greater than Sothernwod/ can not be Absinthium Ponticum of Dioscorides. It is not therefore truly sayeth of Matthiolus/ that the first kind of Wormwod that Dioscorides entreateth of/ is the common wormwood that groweth commonly in italy/ which is the common wormwood both of germany and of Fraunche/ of England/ and of scotland. Because Dioscorides describeth not Pontic wormwode/ as an herb in his time well enough known/ even unto the common sort. If any other authentic author describeth Pontic wormwod at large/ we aught to believe him/ and to take that for Pontic wormwood/ which disagreeth with his description. But where as Dioscorides left Pontic wormwood undescribed/ the noble Physician Galene/ who practised Physic/ not only in Grecia/ but also in Rome/ described Absinthium Ponticum very diligently/ wherefore we must take that only for Pontic wormwood/ that agreeth not with his description. But this common wormwood agreeth not with the description of Galene of Pontic wormwood/ therefore this common Wormwod is not the Pontic wormwood. Galene in the description of Pontic wormwood sayeth that in Pontic wormwood is no small binding quality. In all other Wormwoddes the bitter quality is most exceeding and greatest. Pontic wormwood hath a leaf and a flower much less than the other have/ the smell also of the same is not only not unpleasant/ but also resembling in smell a certain spice. But all the other have a stinking or foul smell. These are Galenes' words: But the common great wormwod is bytterer than all other Wormwoddes/ it hath a greater leaf and flower/ then any other/ and it stinketh also more than any other Wormwod/ therefore of all other it is farthest from Pontic wormwod. I know three sorts of wormwood beside the common/ the right Sea wormwood/ the small wormwood that groweth in the old walls and ruins of Rome/ and the third sort/ that groweth in gardens in England/ and in the fields about Worms and Spyer in germany. All these three sorts have less leaves and flowers/ and a better smell than the common Wormwod hath. Therefore if Matthiolus had regarded as he ought to have done the authority of Galene/ he should have taken any of these three/ or at the two of them rather for Pontic wormwood/ then the common wormwode/ namely when as he hath seen these two sorts of Wormwod/ the one in Rome and the other either in Italy or in Germany/ or at the lest described in the later writers of the Germans/ under the name of Abrotoni feminee/ and especially in Fuchsio and in Hieronymo Trago/ where he sayeth that the clime or nature of the country maketh such diversity and difference between the wormwood Pontik and the Wormwod of Italy/ which he can no other way prove/ but by only gessinge: Then when there is such diversity and difference of the clime and of the nature of the country between Rome and Freseland/ and the farthest part of England/ then should there be some notable diversity between the common wormwod of England and Freseland/ and the common Wormwod of Italy. But there is no difference at all between them/ neither in quality nor quantity that a man may perceive/ ye and if there were any such notable difference/ how chanceth it that the Wormwod growing in Germany both in the fields and also in gardens/ and the wormwood that groweth in Rome beside the temple of Peace/ and in diverse other places of the old walls and ruins of the city/ be nothing at all/ or at the lest but a little differing from the quantity and quality of Pontic wormwood. And yet the common Wormwod if it were wormwood Pontic/ or a kind of it/ should differ so far both in quantity and also in diverse qualities from the right and natural Pontic wormwood/ Surely even if he could prove that it were a kind of Pontic wormwod (which thing he shall never be able to do) it must needs follow that it were the worst of all the three kinds that are in italy. Then let wise men judge how rightly Matthiolus judgeth in this matter/ when he refusing either/ or if I should say the best/ not knowing these two better sorts/ alloweth this evil favoured and stinking common wormwood/ namely when as Galene expressedly condemneth this great stinking and bitter kind of Wormwod/ and alloweth it with the smaler leaves/ and better and pleasanter smell. Matthiolus as though he had proved his purpose well with his gloze of the diversity of the climes and natures of the grounds/ sayeth also these words. Galene sayeth in the sixth book of simple medicines: Sothernwod is a far other thing from Wormwod/ and of wormwod are three kinds/ whereof they call one by the same kind or country name/ where it groweth. Whereof the Pontik is the best. The second they call Seriphium/ and the third Santonicum/ wherefore me think that Dioscorides judged well when in the kinds of common Wormwod/ he commended Pontic above the rest. This is the saying of Matthiolus/ If that Dioscorides said well/ because Galene said the same after him as though Dioscorides making three kinds of Wormwod/ and praising most Pontik wormwood/ had not done well/ if Galene had not allowed it that Dioscorides had written before. If that the authority of Galene be so great with Matthiolus/ why doth he allow amongst the kinds of Wormwod/ for Pontic wormwod that kind that Galene of all other most dispraiseth & commandeth to excheve/ and taketh away from the kinds of Pontic wormwood/ in these words/ All other Wormwods/ saving Pontik wormwod have a foul smell and a greater leaf and flower then Pontic hath: wherefore they ought to be fled/ and Pontic to be received. But I wot why he praiseth Dioscorides/ that is because he seemeth to give him a mayor or sure ground to make an argument that this common wormwood must needs be Pontic or a kind of Pontic Wormwod/ and he seemeth to reason privily thus: Both Dioscorides and Galene make no more kinds of Wormwod but three: but this great kind of common wormwood is nether Sea wormwood nor Santonick wormwod. Therefore it followeth that it is Pontic wormwood/ or a kind of it. first unto this argument I answer/ that it is no good argument. Dioscorides maketh only three kinds of Wormwod/ ergo there are only three kinds of Wormwood/ and no more. For as Dioscorides doth severally describe divers kinds of herbs/ that other have not touched: so diverse authentic and noble writers do describe divers kinds of herbs/ whereof he hath made no mention at all. Theophrastus who wrote long before Dioscorides/ describeth a kind Bruthalassijs/ in likeness and quality and quantity/ much differing from it that Dioscorides describeth/ where as Dioscorides maketh no mention. But of one kind of Sorbus/ and yet describeth it not: Pliny that wrote much of him/ maketh mention of four diverse kinds/ and describeth them/ where Dioscorides maketh but one kind of Betoni. Paulus Egineta that came after him a long time/ maketh two kinds/ whereof the one is nothing at all like the other/ Where Dioscorides maketh but one kind of Ash/ Theophrastus maketh two diverse and several kinds. Auerrois maketh mention of a kind of wormwood/ which he calleth Absinthiolum/ whereof there is no mention in Dioscorides/ And Auicenna maketh five kinds of wormwood/ where as Dioscorides and Galene make but three kinds/ wherefore it followeth not/ because Dioscorides and Galene make but three kinds of wormwood/ ergo there are but three kinds of wormwood. Yea if there were but only three kinds of Wormwod/ yet it should not follow straight/ that the common Wormwod should be under the kind of Pontic Wormwod: Nay/ it should follow that it should be a kind of See wormwood/ or Santonik Wormwod rather then Pontic Wormwod or any kind of it/ because Galene maketh all kinds of wormwood greater leaved and flowered/ and more stinking then Pontic wormwood. Therefore when as this great common Wormwod is greater and more stinking then any other wormwood is/ it must needs be farrest away from the kind of Pontic wormwood/ and so rather a kind of Sea Wormwod or Santonike Wormwode/ and especially of Santonike/ because Santonia is nearer Italy/ Germanye/ and England/ then Pontus is/ in which countries by the more likeness of the climes and nerenes of the countries/ it is more likely that there should be more plenty of Santonike Wormwod then Pontic. Gerhardus de Wijck, twelve years ago/ when as he was in Colon at that time the emperors Secretary/ taught me first the right Pontic wormwood. This man was well learned in Greek/ Latin/ and Hebrew/ and was so earnest a searcher of simpels when he was in Italy/ that he went into the mount Apennine with many other/ to find out simplesse/ whereof he only with two or three other escaped death/ for all the other died either in there yorneye/ or shortly after that they came home. This same man told me that after his laborsum and perilous journey/ he fell into a dropsy/ and that by using of Romish or Pontic Wormwod/ which he found in Italy/ he was delivered from his dropsy. But it was not the common Wormwode/ but Absinthium Romanum that the Apothecaries of Antwerp use/ and is called Grave cruyt. This noble clerk afterward was sent by Charles the fift/ Embassator to the great Turk/ and in his journey he came thorough Pontus'/ and brought home with him true Rapontike/ whereof many have doubted many a day/ The same clerk after he came home from Pontus/ saying a friend of his writing against them that held that Grave cruyt of the colours/ should be Absinthium Ponticum/ reproved him and made him in the second setting forth of his book/ call back his former opinion/ and write that Absinthium Romanum Antuerpiensium and Coloniensium/ was the true Pontik and Romish Wormwod. Then if it be true that Plautus sayeth/ Pluris est oculatus testis unus, quàm auriti decem: men ought rather to believe Gerardus in this matter then Matthiolus. A certain Spaniard/ sometime called joannes Rodericus/ and afterward I can not tell by what change named Amatus Lusitatus/ a very ape unto Matthiolus/ but much behind him in learning/ who seemeth to have taken a great part of his book out of the Italian Commentaries of Matthiolus/ writeth thus of Wormwod Pontic. The common wormwood is all one with Pontic and romish wormwood/ for they differ in nothing but in the natural place of their growing/ whereby it chanced that Galene in his books De methodo medendi/ might seem to make them sometime diverse herbs/ when as they are but all one herb/ & caet. If Amatus had been Pythagoras/ and we his scollares'/ we would have been content with his only saying/ that the common Wormwod was Pontic wormwood/ without any requiring of further authority or reasons to prove this saying withal. But saying that he is nether Pythagoras/ nor we his scollares'/ we require both authority and reason to prove that the common Wormwod is Wormwode Pontic/ and because we find nether of both fit to his saying/ we do not receive this saying for Apollones answer: Nay/ because it is contrary both unto Dioscorides and Galene/ we take his judgement to be untrue and in no wise to be followed. He sayeth that the common wormwood agreeth in all things with Pontic wormwood/ saving only in the natural place of growing. But this saying is quite against the saying of Galene in undecimo libro methodi medendi: where he sayeth that in all other Wormwodes/ saving in Pontic/ the bitter quality exceedeth all other qualities/ and they have a foul smell or stinking: Pontic wormwood hath a less leaf and flower/ and a better smell than the other have. Therefore Pontic Wormwod differeth from Sea Wormwod in greatness and in stinking smell: But this great wormwood is both greater and more stinking/ and also less binding then the Sea wormwood is/ than when as Sea wormwood is greater/ less binding/ and more stinking then Pontic Wormwod/ and the common wormwood exceedeth the Sea wormwood in all these. It must needs follow that Pontic wormwood differeth from the common Wormwod/ not only in the natural place of growing/ but also in bigness/ smelling/ and binding/ and the place above rehearsed/ proveth that it is not true/ that he said that Pontic wormwood is tauler or higher than the other common Wormwodes be/ when as Galen teacheth the open contrary. It is a marvel to see how many enemies always the truth hath in all kinds of learning/ after that it hath been long hide/ and beginneth to springe up again/ and by a few is set forth to be received freely of all men. Some of the Apothecaries of Rome/ belike warned and taught by some learned Physician there/ began to leave the common Wormwod that groweth about ditches and high ways with the broad leaf and the stinking smell and bitter taste/ and to use in the stead of that wormwood that groweth above old walls of Rome. These Apothecaries received the truth and followed it as they were taught. But two Obseruante freres could not abide the truth/ which of late by name wrote against the Apothecaries of Rome/ for holding with the truth. The freres will not above the small leaved Wormwod/ for Pontic wormwood/ because it groweth within the walls of the city/ and allow the evil favoured stinking wormwood that groweth out of the city/ because it groweth in a freer air than the other doth. In deed if that the broad leaved wormwood were Pontic Wormwod/ as it is not/ and some of it grew within the city/ and some abroad in the fields. It that grew abroad were the better. But the freres grant that the small Wormwod that groweth in the city/ is of a far other kind than the common wormwood is of. Then what comparison can be made between the herbs of two diverse kinds/ except a man will condemn the one kind/ and set out and allow the other kind. The wormwood that groweth in Rome/ is nether Sea Wormwod nor Santonik wormwood/ and the description of Pontik Wormwod agreeth with the form and fashion/ qualities and virtues of the wormwood that groweth in Rome/ therefore it is Pontic wormwood. Look upon Galene who so list in the eleventh book De methodo medendi, and there he shall find that the description of Pontic wormwood agreeth with the wormwood of Rome/ and that in many things disagreeth with the common Worwod/ which the freres take for Pontic wormwood. Let then wise men judge whether the right Pontic wormwod growing within the walls of the cities/ aught to be used for Wormwod Pontic/ or Roman Wormwod/ or the evil favoured stinking kind that groweth a little out of the cite/ about ditches and beside corn fields/ aught rather to be used according unto the learning of Galene. The freres bring diverse arguments/ to prove that the Wormwod growing in Rome/ is no good Wormwod: one is because by planting and changing of grounds/ it will not change his quality/ an other is set out falsely (as far as I can see) or else many men lie of Mesue/ who (as they say) describeth Wormwod Roman to have brother leaves/ smooth and plain. What manner of reason is this Wormwod growing in Rome/ will not change nether quality nor quantity/ when he is transplanted into a fatter ground/ ergo it is nought? These freres if they would have taken the pains to have read Theophrastus De plantarum causis, lib. 1. cap. 1. diligently/ they might have found there that some herbs are worse for transplanting/ and for bringing into a fatter and moister ground. And whether the right Wormwod be any of those herbs or no/ these words of Theophrastus here after following/ can bear witness: Ager agitatus confectusque & plus pabuli praestat, & sapores immutat: ergo ratione optima, cultus quibusdam commodè adhiberi quibusdam minimè possit: ceu illis quae sicca, acria, amara, atque ad summum venenosa sunt, usumque medicaminis praestant. Haec enim sublatis viribus, hebetantur atque effeminantur, ut alia fructum omninò ferre ne queant, alia humidiorem, deterioremque pariant, quae etiam aquosa redduntur, ceu absinthium & terrae. As for Mesue in his description of Wormwod Roman/ whether he maketh Wormwod Roman with broad leaves or no/ I report me both unto the common translation/ which hath/ melius est quod nascitur in terris liberis, remotum ab odore maris, folia habens alba, levia, & plana: and also unto the translation of Silvius/ which hath these words: Romanum eligimus folijs albis, levibus & planis odore iucundo. Here may a man se that the freres allege Mesue otherwise then the texts have/ and that they deserve no credit in there untrue allegation. Ye and though Mesue had said that Absinthium Romanum which is the right Ponticum/ had greater leaves. Yet we should rather believe Galene then Mesue/ which sayeth that Absinthium Ponticum of all other hath the smallest lief. Here are the apothecaries to be warned/ that they call not with the freres contrary unto Dioscorides/ Galene/ Pliny/ Aetius/ and Paulus/ Absinthium Seriphium/ Absinthium Ponticum. They dream belike that Absinthium Marinum/ may be called also Ponticum/ because Pontus is sometime taken for the sea. But that is not the use of learned Physicians to name it so/ Wherefore we must call every herb by the name that the ancient Authors have given it. Where as these freres have showed in there still great unlearnedness in the Latin tongue/ and in the knowledge of old Authors. So they declare themselves to be also slenderly seen in Histories/ which say that the old Authores/ meaning of Mesue with other as it doth appear. Where in the time of the triumphant Rome/ when there was no ruins/ wherein Wormwod might grow/ but that all the city was replenished with fair buildings/ and that therefore they could not speak of Wormwod Roman growing in Rome/ because there was no place therefore it in their times. As for the old authors in deed/ as they were in the time of the triumphant Rome/ so they never speak one word of Wormwode Roman. But whether Mesue who flourished about four hundredth years ago and fifty/ might have seen ruins in Rome or no/ I report unto Blondus and other/ which have written of the wasting and inburstinge/ which Rome hath at diverse times from the year of our Lord four hundredth and seven/ unto the time that Mesue flourished. In this must I also warn the Students of Physic/ that they believe not the freres/ which say that Dioscorides called Absinthium Ponticum/ Absinthium rusticum/ for that is not in the old Greek texts of Dioscorides/ but hath been falsely set to/ by some tryflinge and foulish cockow. Let them also not believe them/ where as they say unlearnedlye/ that Santonicum is a common name for all the kinds of wormwood/ and that by the authority of Dioscorides and pliny/ but falsely alleged. For it was never seen that Santonicum should be taken either for Sea wormwood or Pontic wormwood. The small leaved Wormwod/ called of all the best learned Physicians and Apothecaries/ Absinthium Romanum/ groweth in germany beside Worms/ a little from a thorp called Hase loche/ and about Spire beside a place/ called the Holy grave. In England and in Freseland/ and in low Ducheland it groweth in gardens only/ so far as I can yet learn. The other kind of Pontic wormwod groweth as it is said before/ about the old walls of fallen buildings of Rome. A bush or two of this kind groweth in Antwerp in Peter Condenberges garden/ where as are many other strange and wholesome herbs/ hard to be found in any other place of germany beside. This kind hath greater/ longer/ whiter/ and bitterer leaves than the foresaid Wormwode of germany hath/ and also a stronger smell. Of Sea wormwood. THE second kind of wormwood is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ and in Latin Absinthium marinum, or Seriphium, or as I find in some books Seriphum. Howbeit saying that Seriphus is an Island/ where as frogs are always dum/ where upon riseth the Proverb/ Vana Seriphia. It appeareth that the herb should rather be called Seriphium Absinthium/ then Seriphum. But let every man call it as he list/ either with the name of Seriphium or Seriphum/ so that he know the right herb and the virtue of the same. depiction of plant Absinthium marinum. Sea Wormwod. The description of Sea wormwood. SEA wormwood (sayeth Dioscorides) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ that is/ as Ruellius translateth it/ Wormwod Seriph is a small herb/ but the Greek soundeth rather that it is an herb with a small fruit/ as the old Translator turneth in these words/ Herba est tenui fructu, Some herbs that are small/ have bigger fruit than greater herbs have. Therefore it is not all one thing to be a small herb/ and to have a small fruit. The old translator maketh the fruit only small/ but the new translator maketh the leaves/ the stalks/ and the fruit/ and the hole herb small. But beside it that the Greek word maketh for this purpose/ it were not need twice in one description to make the hole herb small/ which thing Dioscorides should have done if he had meant by Leptokarphos/ that the hole herb should be small/ for a little after in comparing Sea wormwood unto the small Sothernwod/ he maketh the hole herb small. It is full of little sedes/ and it is something bitter and evil for the stomach. It hath a grievous smell/ and a certain binding/ and is hot withal. Plinius libro vigesimo septimo, capite septimo/ writeth thus of Sea wormwood. There is also a Sea wormwode/ which some call Seriphium. It is narrower and less than the former/ and not so bitter and an enemy to the stomach. And in the two and thyrtiest book/ and ninth chapter he describeth it thus. There groweth in the Sea a Wormwod/ which some call Seriphum/ and it is smaller than is the Land wormwode. This description of Sea wormwood that pliny hath made here/ as far as I can see/ is contrary unto the mind and to the open words of Galene. Galene as I have divers times alleged before/ sayeth in the places above rehearsed/ that Pontic wormwood hath a less leaf and flower/ then other Wormwodes have/ and he sayeth that Pontic wormwood is not so hot as other Wormwodes/ and that it is more binding then bitter. Then when as pliny maketh Sea wormwood narrower and less than Pontic Wormwod/ and not so bitter as it is/ either must pliny have erred/ or else Galene. But it is more like/ that pliny being occupied with such an office/ that he could not have just leisure to seek and compare the herb his self/ and therefore either wrote by heresy/ or as he read it written in some also only erred writer/ that learned his opinion of other/ did err: then Galen who was a Physician by his office/ and a diligent seker out of herbs/ as his sailing unto diverse islands to seek and find out the right Simple/ in divers places of his books bear witness. Wherefore I giving credit rather unto Galene then to pliny/ and to mine own experience/ then unto Pliny's here say/ do hold that Sea wormwood hath a greater leaf and flower then Pontic wormwood hath. I have seen Sea wormwood in Northumberlande by holy Ylande/ in Freseland beside Norden/ in Brabant beside Barrowe. But in no place so great leaved/ as Matthiolus setteth out in his figure. I reckon that he setteth out in the stead of Sea wormwood/ the right mugwort which I have seen in Italy by the sea side/ as in the entreating of mugwort/ I intend God willing to declare. If that be the right wormwood that he setteth fourth in his figure/ then is it not the right Abrotonum femina/ which he setteth out for it. For the leaves of his Sea Wormwod are not like unto the leaves of his Abrotoni foeminae/ as they ought to be/ for they are not tenniter in cisa that is with small cutings or indentinge/ as the leaves Abrotoni foeminae be/ but are set fourth long/ like unto the leaves of Lavender/ or rosemary/ and not like unto any other kind of Wormwod/ neither about the roots/ neither about the mids. depiction of plant Common Wormwod. The degrees of the kinds of Wormwod. Pontic Wormwod is hot in the first degree/ and dry in the third after Galene/ Aetius and Paulus Egineta/ but after Mesue it is dry but in the second degree/ but more credence is to be given unto Galene then to Mesue: Sea wormwod is as Egineta writeth/ hot in the first degree/ and dry in the first. French wormwood is weaker than Sea wormwood in breaking of humours/ in heat and in dryness. The juice of the Pontic wormwood is reckoned of all substantial authors more hot a good deal then the leaves are. The properties of Wormwod. WOrmwod hath astringent or binding together/ bitter and biting qualities/ heating and scouring away/ strengthing and drying. Therefore it driveth forth by the stool and the urine also choleric and gallishe humores out of the stomach. But it avoideth most chief the gale or choler/ that is in the urines. Thus writeth Galene: wormwood maketh one piss well/ drunken with Siler mountain and French spicknard. It is good for the wind and pain of the stomach and the belly. It driveth away lothsummes. That broth that it is sodden or steeped in/ drunken every day about five unces'/ healeth the jaundice or Guelsought. It provoketh woman's flowers/ either taken in/ or laid to without with honey/ it remedieth the strangling that cometh of eating of Todestoles/ if it be drunken with vinegar. It is good against the poison of Ixia with wine/ also against Homloke/ and the biting of a shrew/ and the Sea dragon. The squinancy may be healed with this herb/ if it be anointed with it/ and honey/ and Salt peter natural put together. And so with water/ it healeth the watering of sores in the corner of the eyes. It is good for the bruisings and darkness of the eyes with honey. And so it is for the ears/ if matter run out of them: The broth of wormwood with his vapour that riseth up from it/ and smoketh up/ healeth the pain of the teth and the ears. The broth with maluasye is good to anoint the akinge eyes with all. With the Cyprine ointment it is good for the long disease of the stomach/ with figs/ vinegar/ and darnel meal/ it is good for the dropsy and the sickness of the milt. Out of pliny. WOrmwode helpeth digestion with rue pepper and salt/ it taketh away rawenes of the stomach/ old men of old time gave it to purge with a pint and a half of old sea water/ six drams of seed/ three of salt with two ounces of honey/ and two drams. In the jaundice it is drunken with raw parsley or Venus' heir. It is good for the clearness of the sight/ it heyleth fresh wounds before there come any water in them. It healeth also the iche or ink. It is not good for to be taken in a ague/ laid among clothes/ it driveth the moths away. The smoke of it/ driveth away gnates or mydges'. If the ink be tempered with the juice/ it maketh the mice they will not eat the paper that is written with that ink. The ashes of it with rose ointment/ maketh black heir. The quantity out of Mesue. YE may take of the broth or of the stepinge of Wormwod from five ounces to eight/ of the juice/ from three drams to four of the powder/ from two drams to three/ and so will it make a purgation/ but because it worketh but weakly/ by itself ye may take it with whey/ with rasines/ the stones taken out/ or with roses/ or fumitory. Sea wormwood is not to be used for the right wormwood/ for it is noisome unto the stomach as Dioscorides and Galene do testify. Nether is the common wormwood to be taken for the right/ if it may be had. Of Sothernwod and of Lanander cotton. ABrotonum is of two kinds/ the female busheth up after the likeness of a tree and is white about the branches/ and hath leaves like unto Sea wormwood with small jags or indentinges in them with berries/ busshing in the top/ shining like gold/ and full of flowers. It that cometh fu●●● in Summer/ smelleth well with a certain unpleasantness and a bitter taste. It is plain that this kind is but of Sicilia. depiction of plant The second kind of Abrotoni is called the male/ it is full of twigs graci libus ramulis uti Absinthium/ as Ruellius turneth this Greek out of Dioscorides/ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ with small branchlinges or little branchlinges as wormwood/ that is Wormwod Pontic hath. But the Greek soundeth rather with small fruit or sedes as wormwod hath. Matthiolus readeth with Ruellius/ gracilibus ramulis/ which reading is against his opinion in Pontic wormwod. For if Sothernwod the male have little thin branches as Pontic wormwod hath/ and the great common wormwod hath great and big branches/ the big common wormwod is not like unto Sothernwode the male/ wherefore the common wormwod can not be Absinthium ponticum/ or else our Sothernwod can not be Abrotonum mass in Dioscorides. And if it be said that the nature of Italy maketh the leaves in the common wormwod so great/ it must be asked again/ why doth not the nature of the ground of Italy also change the leaves/ branches and sedes of Abrotoni maris/ as it doth Absinthij pontici leaves and branches? Well howsoever Matthiolus err in Absinthio pontico/ he judgeth well with all other learned men/ that the herb which is called in English Sothernwod/ in dutch Stabwurtz/ in French Auroune/ is the right Abrotonum mass in Dioscoride. The Virtues. THe seed of Sothernwod/ raw/ broken/ and made hot in water/ and so drunken/ is good for the short winded/ for the parts that are drawn together/ or shrunken/ and are bursten/ for the Sciatica/ for the stopping of the water/ and likewise of weomennes' flowers. The same drunken with wine/ is a good preservative against poison. It is good for them that shake and shudder for cold/ sodden in oil/ and laid to upon the body. This herb both strowen in the bed/ and also with the smoke that cometh from it/ driveth Serpens away. It is good to be drunken in wine against the bitings of Serpent's/ and especially of the field spider/ and of a Scorpione. It is good for the inflammation of the eye laid to with a sodden quince or with bread. The same broken with barley meal and sodden/ driveth away swellings on the flesh. It killeth worms/ for it is bitter. Sothernwod burned/ and put in the oil of palma Christi or radice/ maketh a beard that groweth slowly/ come out a pace/ if it be anointed with it. Sothernwod draweth out it that sticketh fast in a man's body: some hold that this herb laid but under a man's bolster/ provoketh men to the multiplying of there kind/ and that it is good against cherming and wichinge of men-which by cherminge are not able to exercise the work of generation. Of Acanthium. depiction of plant DIoscorides describeth Acanthium thus/ Acanthium is like unto the whit thistle with pricky leaves about the edges/ which are covered with an horry thing like a spider's web/ some take that down and spin it/ and make cloth of it/ as they do of cotton. The herb which I take and judge to be Acanthium/ is a kind of thistle/ indented after the fashion of Branke ursine/ but the gaps are not so far asunder/ the leaf broken/ hath in it a long thing like cotton or fine donne/ the head is like the head of tassel/ but much less. It hath blue flowers/ the hold herb is clammy/ and hath a strong savour/ I never saw it grow but in gardens in England and in Italy/ some say that the Herbaries name it Carduum Asinium/ but as yet I could never learn any English name of it/ I for a shift therefore am compelled to name it Ote thistle or Cotton thistle/ because the sedes of the herb are like Oats/ and the leaves broken resemble cotton. Lucas Gymis my master in Bononye the reader/ thereof Dioscorides showed and taught me first this that Matthiolus never saw it in italy. The virtues of the thistle. I Find no other property that Dioscorides sayeth/ that this herb hath/ saving that it is good for them that have their neck bowing backward by violence of a crampy disease/ but not of nature/ I have seen it grow in London in diverse gardines. Of Branke Vrsine. ACanthus is called of the Barbarus writers/ Branca Vrsina, in English Branke Vrsine/ in Duche Beernklaw. This herb grow plenteously in my lords garden at Zion. I never saw it grow wild as yet. Some have abused Bearfote/ which is Consiligo for this herb/ but the description of Dioscorides condemneth them. True Branke Vrsine hath leaves like a certain kind of Cole/ whose leaves are indented/ but the leaves are blacker/ green/ and much longer than Cole leaves are/ and also narrower and more deep cut in/ toward the senowe that goeth thorough the mid leaf. The hole herb is very slimy/ and full of slippery juice. They that will have any more of the description of Branke Vrsine/ let them read the description of Dioscorides de Acantho/ Which I do now pass over/ because I know that the herb is so perfectly known in all countries. depiction of plant Acanthus, Branke Vrsine. The Virtues. BRanke Vrsines' rote is good for members out of yoint● and for burning/ if it be laid upon the diseased places. The same drunken/ provoketh urine/ but it stoppeth the belie/ it is wonderful good for burstings and places drawn together/ and for them that have the Ptysike or consumption. pliny sayeth also that this herb is good for the gout/ warmed and laid to the place/ which is vexed with it. Of Aconitum. depiction of plant Aconitum, Pardalianches Fuchsij Oneberrye. depiction of plant Aconitum lycoctonum, Blue Wolfsbayne. AConitum is of two sorts in Dioscorides/ the first is called Pardalianches or Teliphonium/ or Theriophonium/ This kind hath leaves like Cucummers or sows breed/ three or four together/ but less and something rougher/ the stalk is a hand bread higher/ the rote resembleth a Scorpion's tail/ and shineth like Alabaster. Fuchsius with divers other learned men have thought that the herb which the Duche men call Einbere/ is Aconitum Padalianches/ but I think it is not so/ for the herb hath ever four leaves like Plantain/ without any roughness/ and never hath three leaves/ moreover I have heard of credible persons/ that children in some places eat the black berry that groweth in the top of this herb without any jeopardy which they coul● not do. If this herb were Pardalianches/ which may well be called in English Libardes' bain. The herb that hath been taken for Libardes' bain groweth plenteously beside Morpeth in Northumberland in a wood called ●ottingwod/ and the same herb is called of the Barbarus writers Herba paris/ and they say that it is so far from poison/ that it is a good and sufferene remedy against divers kinds of poison. I never saw growing the right Aconitum/ b●t only painted in Matthiolo the Italian/ whose figure Gesnerus suspecteth to be no natural but a counterfeit figure/ and the same saith/ that the herb whi●h is called Tora/ is the right Aconitum primum Dioscorides. But because I have not seen three or four leaves in this herb/ like unto the leaves of Cucumber or to Pani porcino/ and the rote like unto a Scorpion's tale/ I can not judge whether his tora be Aconitum primum Dioscorides or no. In the mean time I can believe well that it hath the properties Aconiti Pardalianchis. The other kind of Aconitum is divided of Dioscorides into three sorts/ of which I know two kinds/ one of them hath leaves like a Plain tree/ and deeply indented with yellow flowers/ and with little short cods with black sedes in them/ This kind groweth only in gardens/ as far as I know/ and this may be called Wolves bain/ or yellow wolves bayne/ or plain wolves bain. The other kind hath leaves like a great kind or Croufoute with a long stalk/ and a blue flower/ Germans call it Monickes cap or Munch cappen/ that is Monks hood. This kind groweth very plenteously in the very top of the Alpes between Splengen and Clavenna. The Properties. leopards bain laid to a Scorpion/ maketh her utterly amazed and numb/ and assoon as she toucheth again Hellebor/ or Nesewurte/ she cometh to herself again: Some use this herb/ laying it unto the eyes to take away the great pains of the eyes. This herb hid in flesh and casten fourth/ where willed beast come/ killeth as many as eat it. The other kinds called Wolves bain and Monks cowl/ killeth wolves. And this Wolf bayne of all poisons is the most hasty poison. Howbeit/ pliny sayeth/ that this herb is good to be drunken against the biting of a Scorpion. This is also the nature of Wolves bayne/ if any credence may be given unto Pliny/ that it will kill a man if he take it except it find in a man some thing that it may kill/ with that it will strive as with his manche/ which it hath found within the man. But this fighting is only/ when it hath f●und poison in the bowels of a living creature/ and marvel it is/ that t●o deadly poisons do both die in a man/ that the man may live. Remedies against this poison and tokens of it/ whereby it may be known who is poisoneth with it. wolves bain by and by assoon as it is in drinking appeareth in the tongue sweet with a certain binding/ and when they that have taken it/ begin to rise/ it maketh them dusey in the head/ and driveth out tears/ and bringeth great heaviness unto the breast/ and midriff/ and much wind goeth forth. Wherefore the poison must be driven out/ either with vomiting/ or else beneh with a clyster/ we use to give in drink/ organ/ rue/ heehond/ or the broth of Wormwod with Wormwod wine/ or with Houseleke/ or Sothernwod/ ground pine. The cruddes found in a kids maw/ or an● hind calves maw/ or a Leverettis cruds with vinegar/ be good for t●e same. Germander Bevers cods aris and rue/ do properly pertain to the healing of this poison. About twenty year ago/ certain French men at Anwerp/ willing to make a salad of Alaxander roots/ gathered the roots of blue wolves bayne/ and eat them/ but as many as eat of them/ saving two minstrels/ which vomited them out again/ died all within two days as I heard say/ Wherefore if they had been better learned in the knowledge of herbs/ they might have avoided the hasty death that they came to. Let our Londoners which of late have received this blue wolves bayne/ otherwise called Monks cowl/ take heed/ that the poison of the rote of this herb/ one day do not more harm/ then the freshness of the flower hath done pleasure in seven years/ let them not say/ but they are warned. The description of Acorus out of Dioscorides. depiction of plant Gladdon or false Acorus. ACorus hath the leaves of flower Deluce/ but narrower/ and roots not unlike/ folden together/ which go not right down but aside/ and are strewed upon the uppermost part of the earth. Where they grow/ they have by certain spaces certain joints like unto knees/ they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ that is as Ruellius turneth it/ albicantes/ whitish/ but the word may signify as some judge a/ little white within/ or in under. They are in taste sharp or biting/ but in smell not unpleasant/ the best is thick and white. The description of Acorus out of pliny. ACorus hath the leaves of flower delice/ but narrower and with a longer foot that the leaf groweth on/ black roots/ and not so full of veins/ but in other things like unto Ireos or flower delice. They are sharp in taste/ and have no unpleasant smell/ and the savour of them belcheth quickly out. They that come out of Pontus/ are the best/ next unto them are they of Galacia/ and than they of Candy. But the first or best are in Colchide beside the flood Phasis/ and roundabout in watery places. The green roots have a stronger and grievouser smell than the dried roots have. They of Condy are whiter than they of Pontus. There hath been long a great error among the Phisicianes and Apothecaries in this herb Acorus/ for they have used for the true Acorus an herb in deed like in fashion unto Acorus/ but in quality so far differing/ as one herb almost may differ from another. Acorus is hot in the third degree/ and Gladdon which they use for Acorus/ is cold and wonderfully stopping and astringent. Among the learned men which have perceived the foresaid error/ is some strife for this herb/ some holding/ that the common Calamus odoratus/ is the true Acorus/ and other some affirming/ that great Galanga is the true Acorus. Antonius Musa did hold (what he doth now I can not tell) that the small Galanga was Acorus/ but it is plain that the common Galanga is not the right Acorus. For Actuarius/ Serapio/ and Nicolaus Myrepsus in one composition of a medicine have both Galangan and Acorum/ which they would not have done/ if the common Galanga had been Acorus. Matthiolus holdeth stiffly that the common Calamus is the true Acorus/ and that nether great nor the little Galanga is Acorus/ by name against Musam and Fuchsium: and in deed some of his reasons are good/ although as his figure of Acorus is contrary to the description of Acorus in Dioscorides/ even so some of his reasons are very week/ and may be turned against himself/ as it that he bringeth out of Galene that Acorus is something bitter. When as the common Calamus is very bitter/ and so bitter that it exceedeth many herbs/ which Dioscorides and Galene call plainly bitter as Chamepites/ whit Endive/ and roses/ compared with the taste of common Calamus do testify/ but I leave his other reasons to be confuted of Fuchsius/ who is yet alive and able to answer for himself/ in the mean time as I think that common Calamus Aromaticus draweth next unto the description of Dioscorides of Acorus/ so I reckon that nether Fuchsius nor Musa have erred so much/ as Matthiolus writeth when they used the two Galangaes for Acoro. For although they differ from Acorus in colour and form/ yet they differ either very little or nothing at all from Acorus in power and virtue/ this must I warn the students of Physic/ that the roots of the Acorus that Matthiolus setteth out in his picture/ go not aside above the ground/ as the roots of the false Acorus do/ but entre almost right down toward the ground/ neither is one folded within an other as Dioscorides writeth/ therefore his figure is to be suspected. The Virtues. ACorus hath an hot rote/ the broth of it provoketh urine. It is good for the pains of the side of the liver of the breast/ gnawing in the guts/ drawinge together and burstings/ it is good to sit over for woman's diseases/ as Aris is. It wasteth away the milt/ and helpeth the strangulion/ and the biting of Serpens. It driveth away the darkness of the eyes with the juice. The rote is much used to be put among preservatives or treacles. The broth of this herb is also good for the swelling of the stones/ if it be sodden in wine/ and laid to/ after the same manner is it good for hardness and gathering together of humores. A scruple of this root drunken with four ounces of honeyed wine/ is good for them that have been bruised and overthrown. Acorus is hot and dry in the third degree. Of Venus' heir. depiction of plant ADianthum is called in Dutch/ jungfrawen haar/ and in the Apothecary's shopppes/ Capillus Veneris. Many errors have been about this herb. I have seen some Pothecaries in Antwerp use for this herb Dryopteris/ in Lovan other use wall rue/ otherwise called Saluia vite/ for this herb. And our Pothecaries of England use Trichomanes which they call maidens heir/ For Adianto/ whose is sounest to be forgiven: for Trichomanes and Adiantum are/ as Dioscorides saith/ of like virtue. Nevertheless the error remaineth/ for Adiantum hath many little branches/ coming forth of a little stalk/ with leaves like Corianders greater leaves/ and this herb resembleth even so the she broke/ as Trichomanes resembleth the male brake/ for Trichomanes even from the rote hath continually leaves unto the top/ as the male brake hath. And Adiantum is bare a good way above the root as the she fern is bare even to the top/ and there is it full of leaves. I have seen this herb diverse times in italy/ in pits and wells/ but I could never find it/ neither in Germany nor in England. It useth to grow also in watery rocks/ where as the sun cometh little/ may be named in English/ Venus' heir or Lady's heir. The Virtues. THe broth of Venus' heir drunken/ is good for the shortwinded/ and for them that sigh much/ for the milt/ for the yellow jaundice/ for them that can not well make water. It breaketh the stone/ it stoppeth the flux of the belly/ it remedieth the bitings of serpents. It is good to drink against the flux of the stomach. It draweth down the seconds and the flowers of women/ and stoppeth the parbreaking and spitting of blood. The herb raw is good for the biting of Serpents/ laid unto the place bitten. It maketh thick heir/ where as the scales have taken it away. It driveth away wens and swelling under the chin and in other places/ and with lie it taketh away scurf and scales of the head/ and healeth the watering sores of the same. It holdeth one the heir/ that would fall of/ if Laudanum be mixed with it/ and laid upon the head with Mire teyle/ lily oil/ or with hyssop and wine. The broth that the herb is sodden in/ poured into lie and wine/ doth the same thing. This herb given in/ in meat unto quails and cocks/ maketh them fight more earnestly/ than they did before. This herb bringeth forth of the breast tough and thick humores. Venus' heir is in mean tempre between hot and cold. Mesue writeth/ that the broth wherein is sodden a pound of this herb bey … … e/ purgeth yellow choler/ and draweth forth phlegm out of the hole belly and liver/ and bringeth forth of the breast and lungs by spitting/ tongue and ●lammye humores. Of the right Affodill. ALbucum is called in Latin also Hastula regia, and in Greek ἀσφόδηλος, and it may be called in English right Affodill. Howbeit/ I could never see this herb in England but ones/ for the herb that the people calleth here Affodill or Daffodil is a kind of Narassus. The right Affodill hath a long stalk a cubit long/ and some thing longer/ and many white flowers in the top/ and not one alone as the kinds of Narcissus have. Theophrastus saith/ that there groweth a worm in affodils/ and that it groweth unto a kind of fly/ and fleeth out when the flower is ripe. The seed is thresquare like buck wheat or wheat/ or beach apples/ but it is blacker and harder/ The leaves are long as a great leek leaves are/ and the roots are many together like acorns. I have seen this herb oft in italy and in certain gardens of Antwerp/ and now I have it in England in my garden. The virtues. THE roots of the right Affodill are biting sharp/ and do heat/ and do provoke urine & woman's flowers. A dram of the roots drunken in wine/ helpeth the pains in the side/ bursten places and shrunken together/ and coughs. The same taken in the quantity of the under ankle bone/ such as men play with/ helpeth vomiting if it be eaten. Three drams weight of the same/ is good for them that are bitten of a serpent. Ye must anoint the biting with the leaves/ flowers and roots with wine/ do so also to foul & consuming sores. The roots sodden in the dregs of wine/ be good for the inflammationes of the paps and men's stones/ for swellings and for biles. It is also good for new inflammations laid to with barley meal. The juice of the rote sodden with old sweet wine/ myrrh & saffron/ is a good medicine for the eyes. It is also good for matery ears/ bruised with frankincense/ honey/ wine/ and myrrh/ the same put into the contrary ear/ suageth the tuthake. The ashes of the root laid to/ maketh heir grow again in a skalled head/ oil sodden in the fire in the roots made hollow/ is good for the kibes/ or moles that are raw/ & for the burning of the fire: poured into the eare/ it is good for defenes. The root healeth white spots in the flesh. If ye rub them first with a cloth/ & afterwards lay the rote to them. The seed and the flowers drunken in wine/ withstand wonderfully the poison of Scolopendres and scorpiones/ they purge also the belly. Of Fox tail. depiction of plant Alopecurus. ALopecurus groweth not in England that ever I have seen/ but I have seen it grow in Germany/ but the fairest that ever I saw/ grew in Italy. The herb is like unto a short kind of corn/ & hath in the top of the straw a great thick & bushy ear full of long downs/ which is very like unto a fox tail/ whereof it hath the name in Greek. I have not read any thing worthy the writing of this herb/ neither have I hard of any man which had any experience in the nature of this herb. Of Garleke. depiction of plant Allium. depiction of plant Allium syluestre. GArleke is called in Greek Skorodon, in Dutch Knoblouch/ in French Awl or Aur. Theridamas are three kinds of Garleke/ the first is the common gardin garlic/ the second is called in Greek Ophio skorodon, in Latin Allium anguinun, or Allium syluestre, in English crow garlic/ or wild garlic. This kind hath very small leaves/ coming forth like green twigs/ and they are commonly crooked in at the end/ and when it is ripe/ it hath seed in the top even like unto the cloves/ which grow in the root/ but they are less. The third kind is called in Latin Allium ursinum, & in English Rams or Ramseyes. The first kind grow only in gardens in England/ and the second groweth in middowes and fields in every country/ The third kind groweth in woods about Bath. The virtues of Garleke. GArleke warmeth the body/ and breaketh insundre gross humores/ and cutteth in pieces tough humores. Garleke twice or thrice sodden in water/ putteth away his sharpness/ and yet for all that it loseth not his virtues in making subtle and fine it that is gross. But it winneth thereby a certain 〈◊〉/ though it be not easy to be perceived to nourish the body/ which it had not before it was sodden. Garleke is not only good meat/ but also good medicine/ for it can lose it that is stopped/ and also depiction of plant Allium ursinum. drive it away. Garleke is of that kind of meats/ which drive forth wind/ and ingendre no thirst. Craw garlic as all other wild herbs be/ is stronger than it of the garden. Garleke driveth out of the belie broad worms taken with other meat/ it provoketh urine/ it helpeth the biting of a veper. Both eaten and also laid to/ it is good against the bitings of mad or wood beasts. It is also very good for the jeopardies that may come of changing of waters and countries/ it cleareth the voice and suageth the old cough/ taken row or sodden. The same drunken with the broth of Organ/ killeth lice and nits. The ashes of burned garlic laid to with honey/ healeth bruises and blue stripes following of beting or falling/ and with the ointment of Spiknarde. It healeth the falling of the heir/ and with oil and salt it healeth the burstings out of wheels/ and with honey it taketh away the scurvy evil/ frekelles/ running sores of the head/ and scurf/ and leprosies. Garleke driveth away with his smell serpents and scorpiones. It is medicinable against the poison of libardes bain. It draweth down woman's sickness and seconds with the perfume of it/ and so doth it/ if they will sit over the broth that it is sodden in with herbs of like virtue. Garleke sodden with milk/ or broken/ or mingled with soft cheese/ stauncheth the falling down of humores/ called the catarrh. And so is it good against hoarseness. Three little cloves broken in vinegar/ and laid to the teth/ be good for the teth ache. It suageth also the pain of the teth if it be roasted and put into the teth/ so that the pain come of to much moisture. One head of Garleke drunken with ten drams of the gum of Laserpitium/ driveth away the quartain ague: for lack of the true Laserpitium/ ye may take the root of Angelica or Pillitorye of Spain/ called otherwise Magistrantia. It provoketh sleep & maketh the colour of the body read/ and stirreth men to venery/ drunken with green Coriander and strong wine. It is also good for the pipe or roupe of hens and cocks/ as pliny writeth. Garleke helpeth the colic that cometh of wind/ and the sciatica that is of phlegm. It maketh subtle the nourishment and the blood. The use of Garleke is evil for all them that are of an hot complexion/ for it hurteth the eyes/ the head/ the longs/ & the kidneys/ it hurteth also women with child and sucking children. Garleke is as Galene saith/ the men of the countries treacle. It is hot and dry in the fourth degree. Of the Alder tree. depiction of plant Alnus. THE Alder tree which is also called an Aller tre/ is named in Greek Clethra, in Latin Alnus, in Duche ein Erlenbaum. The nature of this tree is to grow by water sides and in marish ground. The properties of Alders. THE tree when the bark is of/ is read/ and the bark is much used to die withal. Pliny saith that Alder is profitable to set at rivers sides against the rage of the flood/ to help and strengthen the bank withal/ and that under the shadow of Alder trees may well grow any thing/ that is set or sown/ which thing chanceth not under many other trees. Some say that the juice of an Alder trees bark is good for a burning. Of Aloe. ALoe may be called in English herb Aloe/ to put difference between the herb and the juice/ which compacted together & dried into great pieces/ is commonly called Aloe. Aloe hath fat & thick leaves like unto Squilla or sea union/ something broad/ round & bowing backward. depiction of plant It hath leaves of each side growing a wry/ prickye/ with few crests and short/ the stalk is like right Affodils stalk/ it hath white flowers & fruit like unto right Affodil. It hath a grievous savour & a wonderful bitter taste/ it hath one root/ and sticketh in the ground like a stake. I have seen in Italy in diverse gardines herb Aloe/ but it endureth not in italy in gardens above three years as the italians told me. I have seen herb Aloe also in Antwerp in shops/ & there it endureth long alive as Orpyne doth and meek/ wherefore some have called it sem per vinum marinum, that is Sea aigrene. The virtues. THere are two kinds of Aloe/ one kind is full of sand/ and seemeth to be the dross and outcast of the pure juice. The other kind is like unto a liver/ that aught to be taken that is of a good savour pure/ and hath no deceit in it/ shining without stones of a read colour/ growing together like a liver/ brittle/ easy to melt/ and of a great bitterness. It that is black and hard to break is not commended. The nature of the herb Aloe is to he'll wounds/ and the property of the juice is to dry up/ to provoke sleep/ and to make bodies thick and fast together/ and to louse the belly. Two little spounfuls of Aloe beat into powder/ and taken either with cold or with warm water/ purgeth the stomach/ stoppeth the vomiting of blood/ and purgeth the jaundice/ taken in the quantity of a scruple and half with water/ or a dram in drink. Three drams of Aloe taken make a just purgation. Mesue giveth in powder or pills from a dram and a half to two drams/ and in stepe or infuse from a dram and a half unto three drams and a half. Aloe mixed with other purgations helpeth that they hurt not the stomach/ so much as they would have done if they had been taken alone. Aloe dried/ is sprinkled into wounds/ and to make them grow together again/ it bringeth sores to a skin/ and holdeth them in that they spread no farther/ it healeth specially the privy members that have sores and the skin of. It joineth together again the skin that covereth the knop of boy's yards/ if it be broken in sunder with malvesey. It healeth rifts and hard lumps that arise in the fundament/ it stoppeth the over much issuing of the emroddes/ and bursting out of blood/ it healeth also aguayles when they are cut of. With honey it taketh away the blue marks and tokens that come of beating or brusinge/ it healeth the scabby blear eyes/ and the itch of the corners of the eye. It stauncheth the head ache/ laid unto the temple and forehead with vinegar and rose oil/ with wine laid unto the head/ It holdeth fast the here that would fall of. It is good for the swelling in the kernels under the tongue for the disease of the goumes/ and all other diseases of the mouth laid to with wine and honey. Aloe is burnt in a clean and burning hot vessel/ and is oft stirred with a feather/ that it may be all alike roasted/ & so it is a good medicine for sore eyes. Some time it is washed that the sand may go unto the bottom. Aloe washed is wholesomer for the stomach/ but it purgeth not so much as unwashed. Aloe purgeth choler and phlegm/ it purgeth sooner as Mesue saith if it be taken before meat/ and if there be menged with it/ Mace/ Clowes/ Nutmegs/ Cinnamon/ Mastic/ or Folfote. Wine or rose water/ or the juice of Fenel/ wherein Aloe mixed with Dragon's blood and myrrh/ healeth stinking and old sores. The same mixed with myrrh/ keepeth dead bodies from corruption. Aloe dissolved with the white of an egg/ is a good emplaster to stop blood both of the emrodes/ and of any wound or cutting. Aloe is not good for them that are much disposed to the emrodes/ for it openeth the mouths of the veins. It is also evil for them that are hot and dry of nature/ but it is good for them that are moist and cold. Aloe is hot in the beginning of the second degree/ and dry in the third degree. The best Aloe as Galene writeth cometh from Indye. Of Chikewede. Alsines. depiction of plant depiction of plant CHikewede is called in Greek Alsine/ and the Latins use the same name/ in Duche Vogelcraut or Mere/ in French Mauron. The Pothecaries call it Morsum gallinae. This herb is so well known in all countries/ that I need not largelier to describe it. They that keep little birds in cages/ when they are sick/ give the birds of this herb to restore them to their health again. The virtues of Chikewede. THE power of this herb is to bind and to cool. It is laid to the inflammations of the eyes with barley meal and water. The juice is also poured into the ears against the pain of them. This herb is profitable for all thing that Paritorye is good for. It is good for all gatherings and inflammationes both of blood and also of choler/ if it be not extremely hot. Of Henbayne. HEnbayne is called in Latin Altercum, and Apollinaris, or Faba suilla, in barbarous Latin jusquiamus, in Greek Hyosciamos, in Duche Bilsen craut/ in French De la henbane. Henbayne hath thick stalks/ broad leaves and long/ divided/ black and rough. The flowers come out of the side of the stalk in order as the flowers of Pomegranates/ compassed with the little cups full of seed as poppy hath. There are three sorts of Henbayne/ one with black seed with flowers/ almost purple with the leaves of French beans/ called Smilax/ with vessels hard and prickye. The other sede is something yellow as winter cresses is/ the leaves and the cods are more simple. Both these two kinds make men mad and fall into a great sleep/ and therefore they ought not to be commonly used. Phisicianes have received the third kind as most gentle full of hoar and soft with white flowers and white sedes/ and it groweth about the sea side/ and about gutters and ditches/ about towns and cities/ which if ye can not find/ take than it with the read sede/ and use it. I have seen the white Henbayne growing in Antwerp in Peter Coudenbergis gardin/ with many other strange herbs/ not to be found in any other garden in low germany as I believe. The virtues. IT that hath the black seed is the worst kind and is not approved. A certain juice is pressed in the sun out of the fresh sede/ stalks and leaves bruised/ and when as the moisture is dried up/ the use of it dureth for a year/ it falleth easily into danger of corruption. The juice is also drawn out of the dry sede/ bruised by itself/ and laid in warm water/ and then pressed out/ is better and releaseth the pain sooner than it with the milky humour/ that cometh out of the herb by scotchinge or nicking. The green herb bruised and mixed with wheat meal of three months/ is made into round little cakes and so laid up. The first juice and that which is drawn out of the dry sede/ are conveniently put in the medicines which suage pain/ and they are good against quick and hot issues/ the pains of the ears/ and the diseases of the mother with wheat meal and barley meal/ they staunch the inflammationes and burnings of the eyes of the feet/ and of other parts. The seed can do the same. It is good for the cough/ for catarrhs/ runings of the eyes and of the aykes. The same with poppy seed about the weight of ten grains/ is drunken with meed against the excess of woman's sickness and any other issue of blood that bursteth out. It helpeth the gout and a man's stones that are swelleth with wind/ sore paps/ which are after a woman's birth/ puffed up/ and do swell/ if it be broken and laid to with wine. They use also to be put in other plasters which are ordained to suage pain. The leaves are very good to be put in all medicines/ which take pain away/ both by themselves and also with barley meal. The green leaves are laid to/ to relese all kind of pain/ iij. or iiij. leaves drunken with wine/ heal cold agues/ wherein they that are sick/ be both hot and cold at one time. The roots sodden in vinegar as for the tuthake. The smoke of this herb is good for the cough/ if it be received into the mouth. pliny saith that the oil made of the seed of this herb/ put into a man's ear/ bringeth him out of his mind. Also more than iiij. of the leaves drunken/ do the same. Henbayne is cold in the third degree. Of marish mallow. ALthea is called also Hibiscus & Eniscus/ & of the pothecaries Malua bis, & Maluaviscus, in English marish mallow/ or water mallow/ in Duche Ibish/ in French Guimawes. This herb groweth naturally in watery & marish middoes/ and by water sides. Althaea or marish mallow hath round leaves like unto sowbreade/ with a white down upon them/ with a flower after the proportion of a rose/ but in colour they are pale purple/ much drawing near unto white/ for the quantity of the herb very small/ with a stalk of two cubits high/ with clammy roots and white within. Althaea hath the name in Greek/ because it is good for many diseases. It is called marish mallow in English/ because it groweth commonly in marish ground and watery middoes. By this description it is plain that our common holyoke is not Althaea. depiction of plant Althaea. The Virtues. marish mallow/ sodden in wine or meed/ or bruised & laid on by itself/ is good for wounds/ for hard kernels/ swellings & wens/ for the burning & swelling behind the ears/ for impostumes/ for the burning impostume of the paps/ for the brusinge of the fundament/ for windy swellings/ for the stiffness of the sinews/ for it driveth away/ maketh ripe or digesteth/ bursteth and covereth with skin. Seth it as is mentioned before/ & put swines grese unto it/ or goosgrese/ or Turpentine/ that it may be clammy as an emplaster/ and than it is good for the inflammations and stoppings of the mother/ if ye put it into the mother after a suppository wise. The broth that the herb is sodden in/ is good for the same. It draweth out also the burdens of the mother/ and the seconds that abide after the child. The broth of the root drunken with wine/ helpeth them that cannot well make water/ & the rawness of them that have the stone/ the bloody flux/ the sciatica/ the trembling of any member/ & the bursting. Wash the mouth with the same herb sodden in vinegar/ and it will ease the pain of the teth. The green seed and the dry also broken/ healeth frekelles and foul spots/ if they be anointed therewith in the sun. They that are anointed with the same with oil & vinegar/ be in no danger to be bitten of venomous beasts. It is good against the bloody flux/ the vomiting of blood/ & the common flux. The same seed sodden in water and vinegar or wine/ is drunken against all the stinging of bees/ wasps/ and such other like. The leaves with a little oil are laid on bitings and burnings. It is evidently known that water will wax thick/ if this root be bruised and put in it/ so that the water stand abroad in the air without the doors. An ointment to soften all hard lumps/ swellings and bruises in any place of the body/ whether it come of inward or outward cause/ which also is good to anoint horse feet withal/ if they be bruised or swelled a little/ or if this ointment be not ready/ it shall be good to take the juices of the roots/ and to seethe them with the other gear in less proportions/ and lay it to warm to man and beast as they shall need. TAke of the roots of Marish malowes/ or in the stead of it of hollyhock/ or of common Malowes xij. ounces of Lint sede vj. ounces/ a wine quart full of the fats and greases of hens/ gese/ capones/ or of netis feet/ vj. ounces of wax/ of turpentine one ounce/ of rosin iij. ounces. first of all bruise as small as ye can the rote and sede/ and step them for the space of iij. days and iij. nights in a pottle of water being scalding hot/ when it is first put into it/ but if ye would step them/ and seth them in white wine or in half water & half wine/ the medicine would be much stronger/ let them be sodden the fourth day until that ye may see the broth all slimy/ and than strain it thorough a cloth/ & take of that same slimy broth a pint/ and seth it with the fats/ and when as that watery substance as ye can gather/ is sod away/ and the only slime remaineth/ melt the wax/ the rosin/ and the turpentine altogether/ and seth them a little together/ and if there be any foul scum/ take it away/ but it were better to take a little of the fat/ and melt first therein the wax/ then the rosin & the turpentine/ and so to mix them altogether/ and seth then a little/ and take the scum away. Of Marierum gentle. MArierum is called in Greek Samsychos and Amarokos, in Latin Amaracus or Maiorana, in Dutch Meyeran or Maioran/ in French Maiorain, or Maron, some call this herb in English Merierum gentle/ to put a difference between an other herb/ called Merierun/ which is but a bastard kind/ and this is the true kind. Merierum is a thick and bushy herb/ creeping by the ground with leaves like small Calamint rough and round/ it hath little tops in the highest part of all the stalk much like scales/ one growing over another/ as the fire tre nuts do appear. It hath a very good savour. The virtues. THE broth of this herb drunken/ is good for the dropsy in the beginning/ and for them that can not make water/ and for the gnawing in the belly. The dry leaves laid to with honey/ take away blue marks which come of beting/ and in a suppository they bring down woman's sickness. They are also good to be laid unto the stinging of a scorpion with salt and vinegar. The same received into a salve made of were/ be good for the membres that are out of joint: and after the same manner they are good for lose swellings/ and they are laid unto the eyes with the flower of barley when they have an inflammation. They are mixed with medicines/ which refresh weariness and such emplasteres as are appointed to heat. The powder of the dry herb put in a man's nose/ maketh him to sneeze/ the oil that is made of Merierum/ warmeth and fasteneth the sinews. This herb is hot in the third degree/ and dry in the second. Of Alisson. ALisson hath the name in Greek/ because it helpeth the biting of a would dog. Dioscorides and pliny do not agree with Aetius and Actuarius in the description of this herb. For Dioscorides seemeth to make Alisson like unto Gooshare/ for Dioscorides commonly setteth herbs of like form and fashion together/ & he setteth next unto Gooshore/ which is called in Greek Aparine Alisson: howbeit this were no necessary argument/ if that I had no more profess then this alone. But Pliny maketh Alisson like madder in these words: Alyssos à rubia folijs tantùm & ramis minoribus differt. Alissos' differeth only from Madder in that it hath less leaves and less branches. Dioscorides describeth Alisson thus: Alissos' is a little bushy herb/ something sharp with round leaves/ and beside them hath a fruit like to little buckleres/ wherein is sede something broad/ It groweth in hilly and rough places. The herb which I take to be Alisson of pliny and Dioscorides/ is a small herb of a span height/ and of one small red root/ grow many small stalks/ which have many rowelles as it were of spurs/ set in order: and at every rowel or round order of leaves near the top/ there springeth forth a little small branch/ which hath flowers/ fruit/ and sede. The stalk is foursquare/ and something sharp. The leaves in deed are not even plain round taken severally by themselves/ but they taken one with an other altogether are round in order. If that the roundness that Dioscorides speaketh of/ be not thus to be understand. This herb can not be Dioscorides Alisson. The flowers are bluish purple/ and appear commonly about the end of may. The fruit groweth ever two and two together/ wherein is a little black seed/ something flat/ in some top a man may find four couple of little vessels/ which containeth this seed. There are none of these vessels found alone. The herb is hot and specially the seed. But the heat appeareth not strait way/ till that it hath been a good while on your tongue/ and than it is evidently sharp and biting. Aetius writeth thus of Alisson. The medicine called Hiera/ is to be given every day not as a purgation/ but as a helping medicine in the quantity of an Hazel nut/ with an ounce and half of the broth of Salge/ or the herb Sideritis which is called Heraclea. Some use this alone/ and say that it profiteth much/ and therefore name it Alisson/ because it taketh madness away. These words writeth he in the helping of the biting of a mad dog. And where he entreateth of Simples/ he writeth of Alisson thus: They say that Alisson is the herb called Sideritis/ which groweth everywhere by the high ways/ it hath a purple flower/ and thick leaves. Actuarius describeth Alisson after this manner: Alisson is an herb like unto horehound/ sharper only/ and with more pricky round heads/ and with blue flowers. Horehound and Sideritis are very like as every man knoweth/ which hath seen both. But between Horehound and Madder or Goshare/ there is no likeness at all/ saving that the leaves in all these herbs stand orderly distinct one from an other by certain equal spaces. Therefore we may see that Alisson of Dioscorides and Pliny is not all one with Alisson of Aetius and Actuarius. Howbeit they do all agree in this that Alissos' is good for the biting of a mad dog. Alisson of Dioscorides and pliny may be named in English Helebyte or Heledogge/ of the property that it hath in healing of the biting of mad dogs. Some herbaries call this same herb Rubian minorem, but it is not Rubia minor, for that is a great deal longer than Alissos' is. I have seen the herb which I take for Alisson/ ones amongst the corn beside Zion/ and ones in a corn field in Dorsetshire in master bailies merchant of Chardis Lordship/ and diverse times in the hills about Welles in Summersetshyre. The virtues. THE broth of Helebyte drunken/ driveth away the hitchcocke/ that is without an ague. It doth the same if any man hold it/ or smell it with honey. Thesame broken helpeth the diseases and frekelles of the face: bruised and taken in meat/ it is supposed to be good against the madness of a dog. Thesame hung up in houses/ is thought to be wholesome/ and a defence against inchantinge both unto man and beast/ and bound about in a linning cloth/ it driveth away the diseases of cattle. Galene confirmeth the saying of Dioscorides/ Pliny/ Aetius and Actuarius/ and saith that this herb hath the name of healing of them that are bitten of a mad dog/ and that the herb given to them that are mad oft times by the likeness of the hole substance hath perfitly heeled them. Of Amaranthus. AMaranthus is not the same herb in Galene/ that it is in pliny/ for their descriptions of Amaranthus are diverse & differing. Amaranthus of Pliny as he writeth himself/ is rather a purple ear then a flower/ & that without smell or savour: and it is to be wondered at/ how that it would be plucked oft/ & groweth better when it is thus handled. The leaves of the herb are like unto the leaves of a Blyte or the longest leaves of basil. Properties it hath none that I know of/ but that it drieth much/ and therefore helpeth to stop a lax. It is called in English/ purple velvet flower/ or flower amour. The herb which is named in Dioscorides Elichrison/ is also called of Galene Amaranthus/ and thus it is described of Dioscorides. Heliochrison hath a little white branch/ green/ straight & strong/ and narrow leaves like unto Sothernwod/ certain spaces going between the leaves/ the top is all yellow/ and is full of round knoppes like unto dry berries/ the root is very small. It groweth in uneven places/ and in hollow places/ where as waters use some time to rinne. Some learned men of this time take the herb called of the Apothecaries Stichas citrina/ and of the Germans Rheinblome/ to be Elichrison. But this herb hath not leaves like unto Sothernwod/ but unto Isope. Wherefore Stichas citrina is not Elychrison of Dioscorides. The right Elichryson groweth in Italy/ and hath so small leaves as Sothernwod hath: and it may be called in English Flower amour/ or yellow flower amour. Matthiolus saith that this herb groweth much in Hetruria/ I never saw it grow as yet but only dry. The Germans use their Reinblum for the same purposes that the Italians use their Heliochryso. depiction of plant Amaranthus purpureus. depiction of plant Amaranthus citrinus. The properties of Amaranthus. THE top of the herb called Elichrison/ drunken with wine/ helpeth the bitings of serpent's/ the sciatica/ them that can not well make water/ and burstings/ and it provoketh flowers to come down. Drunken with honeyed wine/ it wasteth up blood run together/ whether it be in the stomach/ or in the bladder/ given with white wine delayed/ to them that are fasting about two scruples/ it stoppeth poses and catarrhs. It is good to be laid among clothes to save them from moths. The nature of the herb is to cut in sunder/ and to make subtle/ but it hurteth the stomach. Of the Almond tre. depiction of plant AN Almond tre is called in Greek Amigdale, in Latin Amigdala, or Amigdalum, in Dutch ein Mandelbaum/ in French Amander. Almond trees grow much in high germany beside Spire in a city called Newstat/ and great plenty in italy/ and some grow in England/ but I have heard of no great steer of the fruit of them that grow in England. The tree at the first sight is like unto a Wilowe tree/ but the leaves are shorter and bigger about the setting on of the stalk then Wilowe leaves be. The fruit and the kernel of it are so well known/ that I need no farther to describe them. The virtues. THE broth of the roots of the bitter Almon tre/ if they be broken & sodden/ scoureth away the frekelles & spots of the face. The Almonds their selves laid to/ do the same. And they laid to the convenient place/ bring down woman's sickness. They take away the head ache/ if they be laid to the temples/ or forehead with vinegar and rose oil. And with wine they are good for wheels and little sores/ & with honey they hele rotting and running sores/ which run from place to place/ & the biting of dogs. The same eaten taketh ache away/ they soften the belly/ they make a man sleep/ provoke urine/ and they are taken against the vomiting of blood/ taken with fine wheat flower/ called Amilum/ drunken with water/ or licked in with turpentine/ they are good for them that are diseased in the kidneys/ or have the inflammation of the longs. With sweet wine they are good for the stone/ and the stopping of the water/ and they taken in with honey & milk after the manner of an electuary in the quantity of an hazel nut/ be good for the diseases of the liver/ for the cough/ and for a windy colyke. The gum of an Almond tre is astringent and hot/ and if it be drunken/ it is good for the vomiting of blood/ with vinegar it healeth scabs and scurvy evil that runneth in the skin. It helpeth an old cough taken with delayed wine: it is good for them that have the stone/ drunken with sweet wine or maluasey. Sweet Almonds have a certain bitterness covered with sweetness: they are of temperate heat and moisture/ but they are much weyker in operation then the bitter be. Some do hold that they increase the substance of the brain. They make one sleep pleasantly/ and scour and purge the ways that the water cometh thorough/ and they are very fit for lean folk/ and the oil of them is good for a dry cramp. The oil of bitter Almonds is hotter by one degree/ then the oil of sweet Almonds is. It is most fit for ears that are stopped with gross wind/ for hardness of hearing/ & for the noise in the ears that cometh of cold. It killeth also the worms of the ears. It is tried by experience/ that this oil is more convenient for the ears than other oils be. Of Amy. depiction of plant AMy is called both of Grecians & Latins Ami. The Apothecaries call it Ameos in the genitive case. It may be also called in English Ammi. Dioscorides writeth no more of the description of Ammi/ because he thought it so commonly known in his days. But these words Ami hath much smaller seed than Cumin/ and resembleth organ in taste. The herb that is commonly used for Ammi in all shops now adays/ hath a long green stalk full of little branches about the top/ with long small indented leaves/ & a white flower/ and a bushy top like Dill/ with a little bitter and hot seed. Although this may be used for Ammi/ & is one kind of it/ yet there groweth in Italy a better kind/ which I have seen. If we could have plenty of that kind/ I would counsel men to use it/ and to leave this/ which we use commonly. For I find not the heat in this sede that Galene requireth/ for he writeth that Ami is hot and dry in the extremity of the third degree. Howbeit this common Ami is not to be despised. This herb groweth in many gardens in Germany/ and in my lords gardin at Zion in England. The other kind which is the true kind/ is of late found in Italy with leaves much less than our any hath. The seed cometh now to Frankfurt to be sold under the name of Amomi/ but some call it verum Ami, namely the gross of Norinberge. The virtues of Ami. AMi is good against the gnawing in the guts/ against the stopping of the water/ against the biting of serpents drunken with wine. It bringeth women their sickness: it mixed with corrosyves made of the flies called Chantarides/ do help the stopping of a man's water: with honey it taketh away blue marks rising of stripes with rasynes or rosine. In a perfume it purgeth the mother. Some hold the women do sooner conceive/ if they smell this herb/ when as the work of conception is in doing. Of Amomum. AMomum is a small bush/ about the quantity of a man's hand/ like unto a cluster of grapes folden into himself/ little sticks of wood/ going one beside and over an other/ & partly it resembleth a net/ and partly a round thick bush/ or rather the head of a mace/ if it were all made of little sticks/ or of pieces of silver/ as big as straws in a round form/ it hath little flowers as hearts ease hath/ and leaves like unto briony. I saw about six years ago at Colon a little shrub/ something less than my hand/ which was in all points like unto the shrub above described/ a certain pilgreme which had been at Jerusalem/ brought it out of jewry with him. Thesame is named of the Herbaries' Rosa Hierecuntis/ that is the rose of Hierico. The saying is/ that it openeth every year about Christenmasse/ wherefore some call it a Christenmase rose. This same would I reckon to be the right Amomum/ if it had that smell which Dioscorides requireth in Amomo/ and a leaf like unto Brion/ for in all other points the description doth wonderfully agree. If any man chance upon any that hath a good savour with all these other properties above rehearsed/ let him take it for the true Amomum. For lack of the true Amomum we may use the common Calamus aromaticus/ or Carpesio called of some Cucuba. Other judge that a man may use for Amomo Asarabacca/ or the right Acorus. The seed that is commonly used for Amomo/ is not of the strength that Amomum is of. The virtues. AMomum hath pour to heat/ to bind/ & to dry. It provoketh to sleep/ & laid to the forehead/ it suageth ache/ it maketh ripe/ & driveth away inflammationes & impostumes having matter in them like honey/ it helpeth them that are bitten of scorpiones/ laid to emplasterwise with basil: and it is good for the gout/ with rasines it healeth the inflammationes of the eyes. It is good for the diseases of the mother/ other in a suppository taken before/ or in a bath that women sit over. The broth of it drunk/ is good for the liver/ for the kidneys/ and for the gout. It is fit to be mixed with preservatives/ and precious ointments. Of pimpernel. PImpernelle is named both in Greek and in Latin Anagallis/ and Corchorus/ in Duche Ganchheil/ in French Morgelina. pimpernel is of two kinds/ it that hath the blue flower/ is called the female/ but it that hath the cremesine is called the male. They are little bushy herbs/ lying upon the ground/ and have little leaves/ something round like unto Parietorye/ which come out of a four squared stalk. The fruit of this herb is round/ Some very unlearnedly take Anagallis for Chickwede. depiction of plant pimpernel the female. depiction of plant pimpernel the male. The Virtues of pimpernel. BOTH the kinds have a property to suage and mitigate/ and holdeth away inflammations/ and put out again stings/ and shyveres that are fast in the flesh/ and refrain festringe and rotting sores. The juice gargled in the throat and mouth/ purgeth the head of phlegm/ and the same poured into the nose thrylle/ that is of the other side of the head there the tuth ache is in/ taketh the pain away: With fine honey it scoureth away the white spots in the eyes. It is good for a dull sight/ and the same drunken with wine/ is good for them that are bitten of serpents/ for them that are diseased in the liver and in the kidneys. Some do write that it which hath the blue flower/ holdeth and stoppeth the falling down of the great gut/ and it with the cremesin laid to/ bringeth it forth. These two herbs have some heat and a drawing nature/ and dry without biting: wherefore they bind together wounds and heal rotten sores/ as Galene witnesseth in the sixth book of the properties and pours of simple medicines. The male pimpernel groweth commonly in England in the corn and in tilled grounds/ and so doth the female grow in germany about Bon and Colon. Of Anagyris. ANagyris groweth not in England that I wot of/ but I have seen it in italy. It may be called in English bean trifolye/ because the leaves grow three together/ and the seed is much like a Bean. Anagyris is a bush like unto a tree with leaves and twigs/ like unto Agnus castus of Italy. But the leaves are greater and shorter/ and grow but three together/ where as Agnus hath ever five together/ and exceeding stinking/ whereupon riseth the Proverb/ Praestat hanc Anagyrim non attigisse. It hath the flowers like unto kole. It hath a fruit in long horned cods/ of the likeness of a kidney/ of diverse colours/ firm and strong/ which when the grape is ripe waxeth hard. The properties of Anagyris. THE tender and young leaves of this bush broken and laid to like an emplaster/ holdeth down windy and louse swellings. If the birth stick fast/ and the flowers be stopped/ or the seconds abide behind/ they are drunken in the weight of a dram in sweet wine. So are they also good for the head ache with wine. They are also bound to the women that have an hard labour/ but so that straight way after they be taken away. The seed eaten/ maketh one vomit sore. Of Anchusa. depiction of plant DIoscorides maketh three kinds of Anchusa. The first kind hath leaves like unto sharp leaved Lettuce/ rough/ sharp/ black/ many growing on every side hard by the ground/ and full of pricks. The root is a finger thick/ and it that cometh forth in summer/ is of a sanguine colour/ it groweth in a rank ground. This kind groweth in many places of germany/ and it is so like garden bugloss/ that a man can not lightly discern the one from the other/ saving only by the root which is very read without/ but not within. It may be called in English/ as the French men do/ Orchanet or read Buglosh. The second kind differeth in this from the first/ that it hath less leaves/ and sharp likewise/ small branches coming out of the stalk: it hath a purple flower turning toward cremesyne: It hath read roots/ and long/ which in the harvest time putteth forth a sanguine juice. It groweth in sandy places. This herb is called in some places of England Cats tails/ in other places wild bugloss. It groweth in gravilly and sandy places/ and in pits/ where as gravel is digged out of. The third kind is like unto the second/ but it hath a less fruit or sede/ and that of a Cremesine colour. I do not remember/ that I have seen this kind. The virtues of the two former kinds. THe first kind of Anchusa/ is good with oil and wax against burning and old sores. It healeth the outrageous inflammation or heat that cometh of choler with barle meal/ It is laid on with vinegar against lepers and foul scurfines. The same put into a woman's mother/ draweth out the birth. The broth of it is given for the disease of the kidneys and the mist/ and to them that have the jaundice/ and if the pacientes have an ague/ it must be taken with meed. The leaves drunken with wine/ stop the belly. The second is good against the bitings of all serpents/ and especially against the biting of a Vepere. Of Tutsan. depiction of plant TVtsan (as I do judge) is the herb/ which is called of Dioscorides Androsemon/ and of our Apothecaries Agnus castus. It seemeth to have had the name of Tutsan/ because it healeth all. And of Androsemon/ because it hath juice like unto man's blood. Androsemon differeth from saint john's grass/ and from Asciro/ called great saint john's grass/ in that it hath many branches/ and it hath read twigs and leaves like Rue/ but thrice or fourfold greater/ which broken/ put forth a winishe juice/ they have in the top two and two leaves ever coming out one against an other/ resemblinge a birds wings stretched forth/ as when the bird doth fly: where about there grow small yellow flowers/ and sede in little knoppes like unto the sede of black poppy/ and it is notable with certain small leaves in it. The small leaves in the top browsed or broken savour like rosyne. The virtues. TVtsanes sede broken/ and drunken in te quantity of two drams/ driveth out choleric excrements/ it healeth most the Sciatica. But after the purgation/ the patient must drink water. The herb laid to burned places/ healeth them/ and stauncheth blood in wounds. And not only the herb doth this/ but also the wine that the herb is sodden in/ as witnesseth Galene/ which under the name of Androsemon/ containeth in the book of his simple medicines/ Ascyron also. Anemone. depiction of plant The common Anemone. MAtthiolus in his commentaries upon Dioscorides hath set out two kinds of Anemonis/ whereof nether kind that ever I could see/ groweth in germany and England/ neither in Italy that I remember. Anemone hath the name in Greek of wind/ because the flower never openeth itself/ but when the wind bloweth. The Herbaries therefore call the herb commonly taken for Anemone/ though it be not the true herb/ but some bastard of it Herbam venti/ the Duche men call it Hacket craut/ the French men Coque lourdes: and it may be called in English Rose parsley/ because there groweth a flower like a single rose in the top of this herb/ which is very like parsley in the leaves that are about the rote/ or it may be called Wind flower. It groweth in great plenty about Bon in Germany/ and about Oxford in England/ as my friend Falconer told me. Dioscorides writeth thus of Anemone: There are two kinds of Anemone/ The one is wild and the other is tame/ or of the garden. Whereof are many other under kinds/ one that hath a Cremesin flower/ and an other a whitish or of the colour of milk or purple. The leaves are like Coriander/ with smaller cutings or indentinge/ near the ground: the stalk is all downy and rough and small/ whereon grow flowers like poppy/ and the mids of the little heads are black or blue. The roots are of the bigness of an Olive/ or bigger/ it is almost compassed about with small joints with knoppes like knees. The wild Anemone in all points is greater than the tame/ and hath brother and harder leaves/ a longer head/ and a Cremesin flower with many small roots. It is more biting than it that hath the black leaves. This description of both the kinds of Anemone proveth plainly that the common herba venti/ and that the Anemone that Bockius setteth out/ are not the right kinds of Anemone. As the common herb may be a bastard kind of Anemone/ and namely of that/ which hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ that is/ thin or small roots and many/ so it that Bockius setteth out/ seemeth to me to be a kind Papaveris erratici. The virtues of Anemone. THey have both a biting and a sharp quality. The juice of the root of them/ poured into one's nose/ purgeth the head. The root chewed in the mouth bringeth forth watery phlegm. The same sodden in sweet wine/ and laid to/ healeth the inflammations of the eyes: and it healeth the scars and dimness of the same. It scoureth away filthy sores: The leaves and stalks/ if they be eaten with a tysan/ bring milk to the breasts/ and bring down a woman's sickness/ if they be laid to the place in will. If lepers be anointed therewith/ it scoureth them away. Of Dyll. DYll is named in Greek Anethon/ in Latin Anethum/ in Duche Dyll/ in French Anet. Dyll groweth a cubyt height/ and some time half a cubit higher/ It hath many small branches coming forth of a great stalk/ with a very small leaf and long/ much like Greneheres/ with a yellow flower/ and a broad sede/ with a spokye top as fennel hath/ whom he doth represent wonders near. depiction of plant Of Dyll. The virtues. THe broth of the leaves and seed of dry Dyll drunken/ bringeth make to the breasts/ it stauncheth gnawings in the belly/ and wind in the same. It stoppeth also the belly and vomiting/ it provoketh urine/ suageth the hichkoke/ dulleth the eye sight/ and oft drunken stoppeth the seed. It is good for women to sit over it in water/ which have the diseases of the mother. The ashes of the sede of this herb laid to/ after the manner of an emplaster/ take away the hard lompes and knoppes that are about the fundament or in other places. Dyll as Galene saith suageth ache/ provoketh sleep when it is green/ and maketh ripe raw humores. The oil that is made of Dill/ is good to be given unto them that are weary in winter/ for it softeneth and moisteth/ and it is good for them that are sick of an ague that cometh of small phlegm/ and for all diseases that come of a cold cause. Dyll is hot in the beginning of the first degree/ and dry in the beginning of the second. Of Anise. depiction of plant Anise is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latin Anisum/ in Duche Aniß/ in French Anise. The leaf of Anise/ when it cometh first forth/ is round/ and indented about/ afterward it is like unto Parsely/ high up in the stalk/ it hath a flower and a top like fennel/ it groweth only in gardens in England. Galene sayeth that Anise is hot and dry in the third degree: but this that we use/ is not so hot: wherefore I suspect that there is a better kind/ then is commonly brought unto us to be sold. Howbeit in the mean season we must use this/ which appeareth to me scarcely hot in the beginning of the second degree. The virtues of Anise. Anise heateth and drieth/ maketh the breath sweeter/ suageth pain/ maketh a man to piss well/ it quencheth the thirst of them that have the dropsy. It is good against the poison of beasts/ and against wind. It stoppeth the belly and the whit flowers/ it bringeth milk to the tops/ it stirreth men to the pleasure of the body/ it suageth the heed ache/ the smoke of it taken in at the nose/ the same poured into the broken ears with rose oil/ healeth them. The best is it that is new/ not full of dross/ but well smelling. The best cometh out of Candye/ and the next is brought out of egypt. Of Petty whine. depiction of plant Anonis. Petty whine. PEtye whine/ or ground whine/ or little whine is called in Latin and Greek Ononis and Anonis. It is called of the common herbaries Resta bovis/ Remora aratriacutella/ of the Dutch Stall kraut/ or Hawhekel/ of the French Burgraves. In Cambridge shire this herb is called a Whine/ but I put petty to it/ to make difference between this herb/ and a fur: which in many places of England is also called a Whine Petye. Whine hath bushy stalks of a span length/ and longer with many joints like knees with many hollow places/ between the leaves and stalk like arm holes/ with little round heads and little leaves/ thin as lentils be/ drawing near in likeness unto the leaves of Rue or of wild Melliote/ some thing rough/ and not without a good savour. It is laid up in brine/ before it hath pricks/ and is afterward good for meat. The branches are full of sharp and strong pricks. The root is white and hot/ and such as is able to make humours thin that are thick. The virtues. THE bark of the roots of ground whyn/ drunken with wine/ provoketh urine/ and breaketh the stone: it biteth away the utter most cruftes of sores/ and the broth of the same in vinegar and honey/ suageth teth ache/ if the teth be washed therewith. The root of this herb/ is in a manner hot in the third degree/ after the mind of Galene/ in the book of Simple medicines. Of Camomyle. depiction of plant Anthemis. ANthemis/ otherwise called Chamemelun/ containeth under it three kinds/ which only differ in the colour of the flower. The branches are a span long/ all bushy with many places like arm holes/ between the stalk and the branches/ The branches are thin/ small and many/ the little hedes are round with yellow flowers in the mids/ and about that round head either white flowers stand in order or purple or yellow/ about the greatness of the leaves of Rue. The first kind of Camomille is called in Greek Lecanthemon/ in English Camomyle/ in Duche Romisch Camillen. The Pothecaries in Germanye call this kind Chamomillam Romanam. This herb is scarce in germany/ but in England it is so plenteous/ that it groweth not only in Gardines'/ but also eight mile above London/ it groweth in the wild field/ in Richmonde green/ in Brantfurd green/ and in most plenty of all/ in Hunsley heath. The second kind is called in Greek Chrysantemon. I have seen this herb in high Germany in the fields/ but never in England that I remember. It may be called in English/ yellow Camomille. The third kind is called in Greek Heranthemon. diverse think/ that Heranthemon is the herb/ which is called of the Herbaries Amarisca rubra/ and of our Country men/ Rede math/ or Red madewede. The thing that seemeth to let this herb to be Heranthemon/ is this: It hath not a yellow head or knop/ which is compassed about with purple flowers/ as the other kinds have yellow knoppes set about/ one with white flowers/ and the other with yellow/ but the head or knop of this herb/ is nothing like the knoppes of the other/ neither in greatness/ neither in form/ nor yet in colour: and the seed is as great as Spinach seed is/ but without pricks/ in many other points it agreeth with the description. The leaves are very small/ but the flowers are cremesin/ and they should be purple. Heranthemon hath the name/ because it flowereth in the Spring. This have I written of this herb/ that learned men should search more diligently for it/ which is the true Heranthemon. Matthiolus writeth that the Apothecaries of Italy only know that kind of camomile/ which hath whitish leaves round about the yellow knop in the head of the stalk/ and saith that he hath oft times seen both the other two kinds. But it is like that he knoweth none of them all/ for it that he setteth forth with the white flowers/ seemeth by his playing of it to be Cotula non fetida/ and not the right Camomile. For the right Camomille groweth not in the corn/ but in rough places and beside high ways/ as Dioscorides writeth/ and experience hath taught them that know the right herb. It is also like if he be not an unkind man/ saying Heranthemon is known almost to no man in Europa/ that he would have as well set fourth the figure of it/ as he hath freely and honestly done in other strange herbs which have been unknown unto the most part even of the learned sort/ or at the least/ if he could not have come by the herb green/ that he might have caused it to be painted/ he would either have described it/ or else have told us the Italian name/ or the common name of the Herbaries or of the Apothecaries/ that thereby the ignorant might have comed to the knowledge of it/ enquiring for it by some of the names which he had known to be named by. Amatus Lusitanus which taketh upon him to teach spaniards/ Italians/ French men/ and Germans/ the name of Herbs in their tongues/ writeth that Camomile is commonly known/ and that the camomile with the yellow flowers is gessen/ but he nether describeth it nor giveth it any name/ And of the other he maketh no mention at al. Wherefore it is like that he knoweth nether of both: Wherefore he had done better to have said/ I do know nether of both/ than thus shortly to pass by them. The operation of Chamomille. CHamomille is hot and dry in the first degree. Chamomyle in subtleness is like the rose/ but in heat it draweth more near the quality of oil/ which is very agreeing unto the nature of man/ and temperate. Therefore it is good against weariness/ it suageth ache/ and unbindeth and looseth it that is stretched out/ softeneth it that is but measurably hard/ and setteth it abroad/ that was narrowly thrust together. It driveth away/ and dissolveth agues/ which come not with an inflammation of any inward part/ and specially such as come of choleric humores/ and of the thickness of the skin. Wherefore this herb was consecrated of the wise men of Egypt unto the son/ and was reckoned to be the only remedy of all agues. But in that they were deceived/ for it can only heal those agues that I rehearsed/ and those when as they be ripe. Howbeit/ it helpeth in deed very well/ also all other which come of melancholy or of phlegm/ or of the inflammation of some inward part. For Camomyle is the strongest remedy/ when it is given after that the matter is ripe: Therefore it is most convenient for the midriff/ and for the pains under the paps/ whether the herb be sodden or sitten over/ or be drunken. It driveth down woman's sickness/ bringeth forth the birth/ provoketh urine/ and driveth out the stone. It is good to be drunken against the gnawing and windy swelling of the small guts/ it purgeth away the yellow jaundice. It healeth the disease of the liver/ it is good for the bladder to be bathed with the broth of this herb. Of all the kinds of Camomyle/ that kind with the purple flowers is strongest: they with the yellow and white flower/ do more provoke urine. They heal also laid to emplaster wise/ the impostem that is about the corner of the eye. Thesame chewed/ heal the sores of the mouth. Antirrhinum. THE herb which Dioscorides and pliny call Antirrhinum/ Theophrastus' calleth Antirrhizum/ for he describeth his Antirrhizum thus: It is like unto Gooshareth/ called Aparine with a very little root/ and almost none: It hath a fruit like unto a calves snout. But as Dioscorides agreeth with pliny in the name of this herb/ so doth he in the description of the same/ differ both from Pliny and Theophrastus also. For pliny giveth the leaves of Line/ or flackes unto Antirrhinum/ and Dioscorides describeth his Antirrhinum with leaves like unto Pimpernel. His words are these: Antirrhinum is an herb like unto Pimpernel/ both in leaves and also in stalk: the flowers are purple like unto Leucoion or viol albe/ but less: wherefore it is called wild Lichnis/ it hath a fruit like unto a calfies snout. The herb/ which is described of Pliny/ groweth much in England in the corn fields/ and in fallowed lands: at the first sight it appeareth like unto Cocle in the flower/ and partly in the colour of the leaf/ which is bigger and longer than flax leaves be/ but not unlike them in figure. This herb may be called in English Calves snout. But Antirrhinum that Dioscorides describeth/ groweth not in England/ that ever I saw. For it that was sent me out of Italy/ for Antirrhinun Dioscoridis/ hath not purple flowers/ but yellow: much like unto the flowers of Osiris. The flowers before they open/ be like purple in deed but not afterward/ for then are they fair yellow/ the stalk also is round/ and not foursquared: the buds out of which the leaves come/ & the fruit both/ do wonderfully near resemble a Calfies snout. The leaves in deed are like unto the leaves of Pimpernel/ but much greater. Therefore as yet I have seen no herb where unto the description of Dioscorides agreeth/ neither yet any that the description of Theophrast doth agree with. Amatus Lusitanus writeteth that Antirrhinon is called in Duche Orant/ but Orant/ as it is plain by the description of Tragus is our we'll/ which the dyer's use to die yellow with all/ but it hath nether the leaves of Pimpernel/ nor the leaves of flax/ nor the leaves of Goashareth. Wherefore Orant is nether the Antirrhinon of Dioscorides/ nor the Antirrhinon of Theophrast/ nor it of Pliny/ wherefore these two writers in this herb deserve no credit. Matthiolus setteth out a kind of Antirrhinon with sede (as he saith) like unto a Calfies head. If he mean by the word semen the seed alone/ and not the fruit with the seed and all together/ and Pliny understand the word semen even so likewise/ then I think that it shallbe hard for Matthiolus to find such one. But if he mean by the word semen the fruit hole as it appeareth outwardly: then I think that the herb that Matthiolus setteth out of all other/ draweth nearest unto the description of Antirrhinon in Pliny. The properties of calves snout. MEn writ that this herb is good against all poisoned drinks/ and that they that are anointed with this herb with lily oil/ or privet oil/ shall thereby wax fair and well fovored. Theophrastus writeth that some men have supposed/ that the use of this herb should help men to obtain praise and worship. But all these are but dreams of sorcerers/ for none of these three learned men above rehearsed/ write/ that this herb hath this property/ but only declare the opinions of other men/ which wrote or spoke of these properties by guess. Of Gooshareth. depiction of plant Aparine. GOoshareth called also Clyver/ because it cleaveth upon men's clothes/ is named in Greek Aparine/ Philantropos/ and Omphalo carpos: in Duche/ Klebcraut: in French/ Grateron. It hath many branches small/ and foursquare and sharp/ the leaves stand in a round circle about the stalk/ certain spaces going between/ the circles are like unto madder/ the flower are white/ the sede is hard/ round/ some thing hollow/ and white in the mids/ like unto a navel/ and it cleaveth unto men's clothes. The shepherds use it in the stead of a strainer to pull out heres of the milk. This herb groweth in all countries in great plenty. The virtues. THe juice of the seed/ stalks/ & leaves of Gooshareth/ is good to be drunken against the bitings of Veperes/ Phalanges/ and other venomous beasts: The same poured into a man's ear/ suageth the pain/ the herb bruised with hogs grese/ driveth away hard kernels and wens/ wheresoever they be. Of Apios. depiction of plant Apios. Ernutte. APios is called also Chamebalanos in Greek/ in Theophrastus' Ischas/ and in Latin after the translation of Theodoro Carica: and the same might be called in English an Ernut/ or an Earth nut/ hath the properties of Apios. The earth nut groweth in many places of England/ and in the most plenty that I have seen in Northumberland. Apios' putteth forth two or three branches/ which rise a little from the ground/ small/ read/ and like a rish: the leaves are like Rue/ but some thing longer/ narrower/ and yellowish green. The seed is little/ the rote is like the root of a white Affodill/ and after the likeness of a Pear/ but rounder and full of juice. The bark without is black/ the root within is white. The herb which Matthiolus hath set out for Apios/ might have been taken for the right Apios of all men/ if he had proved that it had had a small sede/ and that the root had purged upward and downward as Dioscorides writeth that the rote of Apios doth. But whilse he doth nether of both/ a man may as well doubt of his Apios/ as he doubteth of the Apios that Ruellius setteth out. Amatus Lusitanus sayeth that Apios is called in Duche Erdtnuss. But the herb which is called in Duche Erdnuss/ hath neither a leaf like Rue/ but like a Ciche/ neither a small sede/ but a great sede in a cod like unto a kind of Fiche/ neither doth it purge upward and downward/ for men to eat them in France as Ruellius cited of Amatus writeth/ and they are eaten also in Germany/ but they only engender a lothsomeness/ and steer to vomit as Tragus writeth/ but they purge not/ neither do any other harm to the shepherds that eat them/ wherefore it is plain that Amatus with Tragus and Fuchsius erreth/ which taketh the herb/ called in Duche Erdnuss/ to be Apion in Dioscoride. The virtues. THE upper part of the root draweth out by vomiting choler and phlegm/ and the under part draweth out the same humores by the fundament. The whole purgeth both the ways. The juice purgeth/ taken in the quantity of xv. grains. The words of Dioscorides made me to doubt/ whether our Erthnutt were Apios or no/ saying that many eat the hole root of Erthnut: yea some time five or six/ and yet nether go to stool/ nor vomit by the eating thereof: whether Earthnut have these foresaid properties in Grece or no/ and not here: I can not surely tell/ but this profit shalt thou have at the least by this my conjecturing and setting forth of this herb/ that with less labour thou mayest know the true Apios'/ if thou change to see it. I would exhort students to prove/ if this Ernut of ours have in any other place of England/ where as I have not been/ have the properties that Dioscorides giveth unto Apios or no. And if they can not find them/ let them learn of this Ernut in seeking and judging of herbs/ not to judge herbs only by the outward fashone/ but also by the qualities and virtue. For as the likeness of a man alone in an ape or an image/ maketh not them men/ because they want the virtue pour and operation of a man. So is not the figure or likeness that maketh an herb/ except it have the strength and operation of the herb/ whose likeness it beareth also. Of balm. balm is named in Greek Melissophillon or Meliphillon/ in Latin Apiastrum or Citrage/ in Duche Melisson or Hartzkraut/ in the Frese tongue Confili/ in French Melisse/ the Apothecaries call it Melissam. balm is named in Greek Melissophillon/ and in Latin Apiastrum/ because Bees/ which are called in Greek Melisse/ and in Latin Apes/ do greatly haunt this herb/ and are delighted with it. Right Bawm hath leaves and stalks like unto stinking whore hound: but they are greater and thinner/ but not so rough. They have the smell of a citron of a Lemon. Of Apiastrum. depiction of plant The Property. THE leaves drunken with wine/ be good against the bitings of Phalanges and Scorpiones/ and against the biting of a dog/ for the same purposes it is good to be bathed with the broth of the same. It is good for women to sit over this herb/ to bring down their flowers. It is good that the aching teth should be washed with the same herb. This herb is also good to be put into Clisteres against the bloody flux. The leaves with Salpeter in drink/ help the strangling that cometh of Todstolles/ with honey in an electuary/ it is good for the gnawing in the belly/ and for the shortwinded/ and if it be laid to with salt/ it driveth away wens and hard keruelles: it scoureth sores/ and if it be laid to/ it suageth the pains of the joints. The common balm that is commonly used in England/ is but a bastard kind/ and the true balm groweth in many gardens in Germany/ but I have not seen it in England/ that I remember. It may be called in English/ Baum gentle. Of Arbutus depiction of plant leaf with the branch/ as the quicken trees leaves are. Dioscorides describeth the Arbut tree after this manner. Comaros called in Latin Arbutus/ or Vnedo/ is a tree like unto a Quince tree/ having thin leaves with a fruit of the greatness of a Plum/ without any keruell. When it is ripe/ it is either yellow or read. Pliny describeth the Arbut tre after this manner: Strawberries that grow one the ground/ have an other kind of body than the Arbut berries have/ which are like in kind with the other/ which groweth on the tree/ called in Latin Vnedo/ which only fruit is like unto the fruit of the earth. The tree itself is thick and bushy. The fruit is ripe in a year/ and it that groweth in under bloometh/ and the other that is elder/ waxeth ripe in the tree at one tyme. It is a fruit of small honour/ and thereupon hath the name/ that it bringeth forth but one alone by itself. Yet do the grecians give two names unto it/ Comaron/ and Memekylon. Whereupon it doth appear that there are so many kinds with us. This is called in an other name in Latin Arbutus. ovid also joined tree Strawberry/ and ground Strawberry together in these words; Arbuteos fructus, montanaque fraga legebat. Theophrastus giveth unto his Arbuto a leaf between Ilicem and Laurun/ as the leaf of the tree hath/ whose figure I set forth. And Dioscorides seemeth to give unto his Arbuto the likeness of a Quince tree/ wherefore this tree that I set forth/ agreeth better with the description of Theophrast/ than with Dioscorides/ except Dioscorides in comparing Arbutum to a Quince tree/ mean not of the leaves/ but of the fashion of the tree and manner of growing of it. The Properties. GOod properties/ that I know of/ this fruit hath none/ but that it delighteth some men for the diversity/ for it is evil for the stomach/ and engendereth the head ache. Of Aristolochia. depiction of plant Aristolochia rotunda. depiction of plant Aristolochia longa. ARistolochia is a Greek name/ and is so called/ because it is very good for women/ that labour of child: The Latins use the same name/ the Germans call Aristolochia in their tongue/ Osterlacye. Dioscorides maketh three kinds of Aristolochia/ the first is called Aristolochia rotunda/ and this is the female. The Apothecaries both in Germany and in England have abused in the stead of the true Aristolochia rotunda/ capnophragmite/ mentioned in Pliny/ which is very well called of the Germans holwurtz/ because the rote is hollow. But they have erred far: for this Holwurt is nothing agreeing with the description of Aristolochia rotunda/ for Aristolochia rotunda hath leaves like Yuy/ and a good savour with some sharpness/ something round and soft. It hath many twigs/ coming forth of one root/ long branches and white flowers/ representing little caps/ wherein is a read thing that savoureth evil: the root is roundaboute like unto a rape root. The leaves of Holwurtes/ which is their Aristolochia rotunda/ are cut and far in indented/ and very like unto our garden Rue/ but the leaves of our garden Rue/ are not like unto Yuy leaves: therefore this Holwurt of theirs/ is not Aristolochia rotunda of Dioscorides. I have seen this Aristolochia rotunda diverse times: it hath the same savour and taste/ that the other Aristolochia/ which is called longa: but this hath a round root/ but here and there appear out certain unequal corners. It may be called in English round heart wurt/ because the leaves represent a painted heart/ or round byrthwurte: because it helpeth women to bring forth their birth. The second kind of Aristolochia/ is called Aristolochia longa/ which hath a leaf some thing longer than the former kind hath: it hath little branches of a span long/ a purple flower of a stinking savour/ out whereof cometh a fruit like unto a pear: but black and all full of sedes in figure three square/ the roots are a finger big/ and a span long/ and something longer. This kind groweth plenteously beside Lake de come in the vineyards wallis: it groweth also beside Bon about the vineyards by the Rhynsyde/ of iche side of the high way/ but I could never see the fruits so perfit in Germany/ as I did in Italy: this may be called in English Long hartwurt/ or long byrthwurte. The third kind of Aristolochia is called Clematitis/ because it hath long small branches like a vinde/ it hath leaves some thing round/ like unto stone crop/ and flowers like unto Rue/ longer roots/ small with a thick bark which hath a good savour. I did see such a kind as this at basel/ whose leaves are less than all the other kinds/ but yet they were so great and unlike unto a stonecrop/ that I dare not plainly determe/ that it was the right Clematitis. Matthiolus writeth that Pliny and Leonicemus do err/ because they say that Aristolochia hath the name/ because that it is good for women with child/ when as Dioscorides writeth that it hath the name/ because it is good for women that are in labour. Because Pliny and Leonicemus are dead/ and can not answer for themselves/ I answer that their error is not so great as Matthiolus maketh it/ if he could be content to interpret gently their word as they meant by it/ for it is out of all doubt/ that they knew it as well as Matthiolus/ that Aristolochia was evil for women with child/ except the time of birth were comed/ for they knew both the Greek tongue as well as Matthiolus doth. Therefore it is out of doubt that they meant/ when they said it is good for women with child/ that it was good for them at the time of their birth. He that sayeth that a spear is necessary for a man of war/ meaneth not that he should occupy his spear at dinner before the time of fighthinge cumme/ but he meaneth that it is good to have it at all time that he may occupy it when need requireth. I trow that Matthiolus will not say that Aristolochia is good for women that are well delivered all ready/ then seeing it is good for women/ it must be good for them that are yet with child. Wherefore the two noble clerks/ are to sore scourged of their sharp Scoolmaster for so little a fault. Nether do I utterly excuse them/ because they did not translate the Greek word so properly and truly as they should have done. The Virtues. THe round is good against all other poisons/ but the long is good against serpents and deadly venemes/ if it be drunken/ and laid to in the quantity of a dram. The same drunken with pepper and myrr/ driveth forth woman's flowers/ and their birth/ and all the burdenes that the mother is charged with. It doth the same ministered in a suppository before. The round is of the same strength. The same drunken with water is singularly good against the shortwint sobbing/ the shaking/ the disease of the milt/ the places shronken/ and burstynge/ the pains of the side. It draweth out pricks and shivers. If it be laid to it taketh away the scales or scurf of bones/ & eateth away rotten sores/ & scoureth them that are foul or stinking. With honey & aris powder/ it filleth up hollow places/ it scoureth the goumes & teeth. The third kind is supposed to help the same diseases that the other do/ but more weykelye. Mesue writeth that both the round and long hartwurt purgeth/ that the round purged phlegm and thin water more than the other: they purge the lungs excellently of rotten phlegm/ the quantity that is to be given of this herb/ is either a dram/ or a dram & an half. The round Aristolochia as Galene witnesseth/ is more subtile and fine/ then the other kinds be: therefore the round/ for as much as it can more perfitly open/ and make more fine: It healeth better than the other/ such sicknesses as come of stopping or of gross wind. The round also maketh teeth whit/ and maketh the goumes clean. All the kinds are at the lest hot and dry in the second degree: and if any be hotter than other/ Galene reckoneth the third kind to be so. Of Aron/ or Cockowpint. COckowpynt called also in English Ramp or Aron: is named in Greek Aron/ in Latin/ Arum: in Duche Pfaffenbinde: in French Vidchien/ of the Herbaries/ pes vituli, and serpenta ria minor: and of the arabians Luphminus. It hath leaves like dragon/ but longer/ and not so full of spots. The stalk is something purple and like unto a beetle/ out of which cometh forth a fruit of the colour of saffron. The root is white as dragon's is/ the which/ being sodden/ is eaten/ because it is not so biting/ as it was before. depiction of plant Cockoupint or Aron. The virtues. THE root/ sede/ and leaves of Aron/ have the same properties that Dragon hath. The root is laid unto the gouty membres with coudunge/ and it is laid up and kept as Dragon's roots are/ and because the roots are gentler/ they are desired of many to be eaten in England and in Germany. Dioscorides seemeth by his writing to show/ that where as he was borne/ Aron/ was not so sharp/ as it is with us. Galene also writeth/ that Aron is hot in the first degree/ and dry in the same. But it that groweth with us/ is hot in the third degree at the lest: Wherefore some peradventure will say/ that this our Aron is not it that Dioscorides and Galene wrote of. But Galene in these words following/ which are written in the second book dealementorum facultatibus/ witnesseth/ that there are two sorts of Aron/ one gentle/ and an other biting. In quibusdam regionibus acrior quodammodo provenit, ut prope ad Dracontij radicem accedat. etc. In certain regions after a manner it groweth more biting and sharp: in so much that it is almost as hot as Dragon is/ and that the first water must be casten out/ and the root sodden again in the second. This herb growing in Cyrene/ is differing from it of our country. For it that is with us in Asia for a great part/ is sharper than it that groweth in Cyrene. Of Mugwurte. depiction of plant Artemisia vulgaris. MVgwurt is called both of the Grecians and Latins Artemisia/ of the Duche Beyfuss/ or Byfoet. The true Artemisia is as little known now adays/ as is the true pontic wormwood/ and less as I think: for this great mugwort is such an Artemisia/ as our wormwood is Absinthium Ponticum/ that is bastard/ and not the true herb. Dioscorides writeth/ that Artemisia for the most part groweth about the Sea side/ and pliny writeth/ that it groweth no where else/ but in the Sea coasts. This common mugwort of ours/ groweth not at any Sea side that ever I could see yet: for I could never see it in these coasts of England/ nor Germanye/ nor yet of italy/ but always in hedges/ and among the Corn far from the Sea. Artemisia is a bushy herb/ like unto wormwood/ but it hath greater and fatter leaves and branches than Wormwood hath. first this great Wormwoode that is common with us/ is not the Wormwod that Dioscorides compareth Artemisiam to/ but it is Pontic wormwood. But this common mugwort is nothing like Pontic wormwood/ Therefore this common mugwort can not be Artemisia Dioscoridis. Galenes' Artemisia is hot in the second degree/ and sklenderlye dry in the same. But this common Mugwurte is scantly hot in the first degree. Wherefore this common mugwort can neither be Artemisia of Dioscorides/ nor of Galene/ nor of Pliny. I found in an island beside Venise/ the very right Artemisia/ which had leaves greater than Pontic wormwod a great deal/ and fully hot in the second degree/ and with flowers much unlike unto wormwode Pontic/ but something agreeing in savour/ but not altogether. Master doctor Wendy/ the kings Physiciane can testify of the same/ which did examine the herb with me. This kind may be called in English Sea mugwort. Some do take Feverfewe for one kind of Artemisia/ and Tansye for an other kind/ and in deed I think not/ but that Feverfewe can do it that is required of Artemisia. howbeit/ me think that the description of Dioscorides doth not agree in all points with Fever few. For Feverfewe if it were one kind of Artemisia/ ought to be like in figure and fashion unto right wormwood/ and also unto the right Artemisia/ but that it is not. I report me unto them/ which have seen all the three herbs. Wherefore I dare not pronunce/ that Feverfewe is one of the first kinds of Artemisia. Dioscorides maketh also mention of another Artemisia/ which groweth in the middle land/ and not at the seaside. That saith he is a little herb with one single or little stalk/ and full of flowers/ of a read Orange colour. This herb describeth Dioscorides to be Sphodra micron/ that is very little. Now when as Tansye is a great high herb/ how can Tansey be this herb? Me think that Feverfew should be rather this herb than Tansey/ if it had but one stalk/ and yellow flowers/ as it hath white. I think therefore/ that it is not best to pronunce in this herb/ till all things be better tried. Matthiolus the Italiane which checketh diverse by name sharply (in deed some worthily) for their erring in Artemisia/ erreth his own self in Artemisia/ in setting that common mugwort for the right Artemisia/ which nether agreeth in natural place/ nor in degree of heat nor in likeness with it that Dioscorides describeth/ as by places & witnesses before brought out/ I have sufficiently already proved: He saith that the first kinds of Artemisia are found both in Hetruria/ and that they differ in nothing/ neither in fashion/ smell/ nor taste/ nor virtue/ saving only in bigness. Which saying if it be true/ then is the one kind not it that Dioscorides describeth/ for the less kind differeth from the bigger in having of a stinking flower. Whether he erreth here or no/ let other men judge. He sayeth that the two first kinds grow in Hetruria/ as though he knew them well/ but he nether describeth them/ nor telleth their common names/ nor their natural places where they grow/ as he doth where he entreateth of other herbs. Wherefore and for that/ that he knoweth not the right Pontic wormwood/ and erreth in it sore/ it is most like that he knoweth nether of the first kinds of Artemisia/ and that he erreth as much in them/ as pliny/ Musa/ Fuchsius/ and the freres (that writ upon Mesue/ whom he cheketh for their errors in the kinds of Artemisia) in these & other kinds do. If Antonius Musa/ & Leonardus Fuchsius had written of all herbs as Matthiolus doth of the kinds of Artemisia & diverse other in his book/ that is if Musa had said/ when he should have taught us an herb/ I know this herb well/ it groweth in Ferraria/ & Fuchsius had said/ I know this herb/ and I have seen it oft in Germany/ and they had not told the italians names Duche names/ and the Herbaries and Apothecary's names/ they might have escaped many a buffet/ which of late they ●●ue suffered both of diverse other/ and also of Matthiolus/ who by tarrying behind in the reward in writing of many herbs as he doth here/ seeketh 〈◊〉 save himself in leaving out of the common names/ natural places and ye●●scription and virtues of the herbs/ lest if he erred in any of them/ he should ●e taken with such errors as he taketh other men withal. They that ●re disposed to see the right Artemisiam/ let them go to Venise/ and from ●hence a little way into an Island/ called Chertosa/ where as is a Chartarhouse/ and there may they see it in all points agreeing with the description of Dioscorides. Amatus Lusitanus where as Dioscorides maketh three kinds of Artemisia/ maketh but two/ and the one he maketh the gardin Artemisiam/ and the other the common Feverfew. Wherein he goeth quite away from the text which he taketh in hand to declare. For the text maketh one kind of Artemisia/ that groweth commonly by the Sea side with big leaves and twigs/ and another kind that is less with a small white flower that stinketh. And then he maketh mention of an other kind that groweth in the middle land with a little and single stalk. Beside these three sorts he entreateth of an other which is called Artemisia Leptophyllos'/ whereof is mention made in all our common Greek texts/ and common translationes of Dioscorides/ that now are/ and also in the old translation of Dioscorides/ is mention made at the lest of three kinds of Artemisia/ although Galene make mention but of two kinds. And where he maketh his former Artemisia to be a gardin Herb/ when as Dioscorides assigneth unto it commonly the seaside/ and pliny only the Sea side: He swerveth once again from his Author/ that he taketh in hand to declare. And to prove against Matthiolus/ that Matricaria is Artemisia unicaulis/ he allegeth diverse new Autores/ but without name/ whom he himself in diverse places of his book/ condemneth and refuseth their authority when it pleaseth him/ other reason bringeth he none in this place/ but that a stinking herb like Camomile/ is Parthenium/ and not Matricaria. Therefore Matricaria is Artemisia Monochlonos. What a pity argument this is/ every man may se/ for he reasoneth so/ as if Mathwed were Parthenium: then there were no other herb to be Artemisia unicaulis/ but Matricaria. Let young students of Physic look that they lose not their time in reading of such enarrationes/ as this man writeth/ which bring more darkness oft times then light to the text of Dioscorides. Let this little reason be a preservative against the error that he would lead young scolares into: That herb can not be Artemisia unicaulis that hath three or four stalks/ or some time more. But Feverfewe hath three or four/ and some time more. Therefore it can not be Artemisia Mochlonos. As for me/ because I will not seem better learned than I am/ I know but one true kind of Artemisia/ as for the common Mugwurte. I think a man may use it in Physic until a better kind may be found/ which thing I trust shall shortly come to pass in many places/ if Physicianes will take the pains to go forward in seeking out of Herbs as they have begun. The virtues of mugwort. BOth the Mugwurtes/ both it with the brother lief and it with the narrower/ heat/ and also make subtle/ & they made hot upon the fire/ be good for women to sit in/ for to bring down their sickness/ to bring forth their secondes/ and their birth: They help also the suffocation of the mother/ & the inflammation of the same/ they break the stone/ and provoke urine that is stopped. The same laid to the nether most part of the belly/ bring women their sickness. The juice put into the mother with myrrh/ doth the same that the bath doth. The tops and leaves of the same herbs/ in the quantity of three drams/ are commonly drunken to bring the foresaid sickness down. The right mugwort is good to be drunken against the poison of the juice of poppy/ called Oppium/ with wine. Pliny writeth that it was the opinion in his days/ that the men that had it upon them/ should not be weary/ and that no evil medicine should hurt them/ and that no evil beast should noye them. Of the Reed. A Reed is called in Greek Kalamos/ in Latin Arundo or Calamus/ in Dutch E'en Roer/ or een Reed: in French/ une Roseau. There are diverse kinds of Reeds/ some are thick reeds: whereof Arrows are made in diverse countries: some serve for to make tongues for pipes/ some serve to make instruments to write with/ which we commonly called pens. Another kind of Rede groweth about rivers sides/ & this being thick and hollow/ is called of some Arundo Cypria: of other Donax. Another kind is called Phragmitis/ or Vallatoria: because it groweth about hedges and ditches. This is small and something white/ and well known of all men: This last kind groweth much in England/ but the other kinds grow not in England that I know of: howbeit they are brought in of Merchants out of other countries. The virtues of the Reed. THE root of the common hedge Rede (called in Latin Canna) by itself/ or laid to with his knoppes/ draweth out shyveres and pricks. It also suageth the pain of the loins/ and membres out of joint/ laid to with vinegar. The green leaves bruised and laid to/ heal Choleric inflammations/ and other inflammations also. The ashes of the bark laid to with vinegar/ heal the falling of the heir. The down that is in the top of the Reed like flowers: if it come into a man's ear/ maketh him deaf. Of Follfoote/ or Asarabacca. depiction of plant ASarum is called in Greek Asaron/ in English Follfote (because it hath a round leaf/ like a folis foot) and Asarabacca/ in Duche Haselwurt/ because it groweth about hazel tree roots/ in French Cabaret. Folfote groweth only in gardens in England/ but it groweth wild in certain places of germany. Folefoote is a well savoringe herb/ and used to be put in garlands. It hath leaves like unto Yuy/ but less/ and rounder by a great deal/ with purple flowers/ like the flowers of Henbane/ and they grow but a little from the root/ and have a good savour/ out of the which cometh seed like grapes. It hath many roots full of knots/ small/ one lying over an other/ not unlike unto grass roots/ but much smalller/ well savouring/ hot/ and biting vehemently the tongue. The Virtue of Follfoote. THE nature of this herb is hot/ and it provoketh water/ it healeth the dropsy/ and the old Sciatica. The roots provoke down a woman's sickness/ taken in the quantity of six drams with meed: and they purge as nesinge powder (called white Hellebor) doth. Galene saith/ that Folefoote is like unto Acorus in strength/ but that this is more strong and vehement. Of great saint john's wort. depiction of plant Ascyron. GAlene and Paul contain Ascyron under Androsemo: but Dioscorides describeth these herbs severally/ and so maketh them sundry herbs. Ascyron called also Ascaroides/ is a kind of Hyperici/ called in English saint johns grass/ or saint john's wort: but it differeth in greatness/ for it hath greater leaves/ stalks/ and more branches/ then saint john's grass hath. I have marked also this difference/ that Ascyron hath a four squared stalk/ and leaves with very few holes in them/ which I have not seen in Hyperico. The herb may be called in English/ great saint john's grass. I have seen it divers times in Zion park. The Virtues. THE seed of this herb is good for the Sciatica. If it be drunken with water and honey/ about the quantity of twenty ounces/ it purgeth largely choleric humores. But it must be taken continually/ till the patient be hole. This herb is also good against burning. Of Swallow wort. ASclepias is reckoned of Fuchsius to be the herb/ which is called of the common Herbaries Hirundinaria/ of the Apothecaries Vince toxicum/ of the Germans Schwalbenwurtz. It groweth in germany in high mountains/ and in stony ground amongs the bushes. I have not seen it in England: but it may be called in English Swallwurte. Some Physicianes italians/ when I was in italy/ supposed this herb (which some call Asclepias) to be Apocinum. But this herb hath no yellow juice/ neither doth it poison with wine/ as Apocinum doth. Wherefore this herb can not be Apocinum. Asclepias hath long small branches/ out of which come forth long leaves/ like unto Yuy leaves/ many small roots/ which savour well/ The flower is of an unpleasant savour/ The sede is like hatchet fiche/ called otherwise Securidaca. But because the roots of Swallow wurt are not well smelling/ a man may not be to bold to hold that Swallowurt is the right Asclepias. Wherefore I have not as yet seen the right Asclepias in all points/ agreeing with the description of Dioscorides. depiction of plant Asclepias. The Virtues of Swallow wurt. THE roots of this herb drunken with wine/ help them that have gnauwing in their body/ and are remedy against the biting of venomous beasts. The leaves laid upon the almost incurable sores of the paps or breasts/ and of the mother/ heal them. The later writers of Physic/ write that this herb is good to bring down woman's flowers/ that it is good against the biting of a mad dog/ and against poison. Wherefore it is called Vince toxicum/ that is/ master poison/ or overcome poison. They say that the root of this herb steeped in wine/ is good against the dropsy/ and that the flowers and leaves broken/ and put into wounds/ healeth them shortly. They say also that this herb healeth materye and old sores/ and is good against burstings/ and the diseases of the privities. Of Sperage. depiction of plant Asparagus. SPerage is called in Latin Asparagus/ in Duche Spargen/ in French Esperage/ some Apothecaries call this herb Asparagus. Asparagus is of two sorts/ the one is called Aspa altilis/ Asparagus alone/ and this is the common Sperage which groweth in diverse gardens in England/ and in some places by the Sea side/ in sandy hills/ as it groweth right plenteously in the islands of East Freselande/ and in high Germany/ without any setting or sowing. The other kind is called in Latin Corruda/ or Asparagus syluestris. This kind may be called in English Pricky Sperage/ because it hath pricks growing on it. This kind did I never see but only in the mount Appenine. Gardin Sperage is full of branches/ and it hath leaves like Fenell/ but much smaller/ and a great round root/ which hath a knop in it. When Sperage cometh first forth of the ground/ it bringeth forth certain big twigs/ and in the tops are certain buds like unto round knoppes/ which afterward spread abroad into twigs/ branches and leaves: The seed of this kind of Sperage when it is ripe/ it is read. The wild Sperage in the stead of leaves hath nothing but pricks/ in other points not unlike the other Sperage. The Properties of Gardin Sperage. THE young stalks of garden Sperage broken/ and taken with white wine/ staunch the pain of the kydnes: Sperage roasted or sodden/ suageth and easeth the Strangulion/ the hardness in making of water/ and the bloody flux. The root sodden with wine or vinegar/ helpeth membres out of joint. The same sodden with figs and ciches/ and taken in/ heal the jaundice/ it healeth also the Sciatica and the Strangurian. The prickye Sperage is good to make one's belly louse/ taken in meat: and it is good to provoke urine: it is also good for the stopping of the water/ against the jaundice/ the diseases of the kidneys/ and Sciatica. It is also good for the teth ache. Sperage scoureth away the with out any manifest heat or cold. Of Cererache. ASplenum as Dioscorides writeth/ is called also Asplenium/ Splenium/ and Hemionium/ and though Hemionites be a far other herb in Dioscorides then Asplenum is/ and it is called of Asclepiades/ in the ninth book of Galenes' work of the composition of medicines after the places/ Hemionites/ Andromachus in the same book giveth the same names unto Asplenum. But Galene in the first book of Simples/ and the xij. Chapter/ seemeth contrary depiction of plant Asplenum. unto all these four authentic authors/ to make two diverse herbs of Asplenum and Stolopendrium/ whilse he rehearseth these words/ the greater diseases of the milt and liver/ require stronger herbs/ that is to wit/ the barks of Capers/ the roots of Tamarisk/ Stolopendrion and Scylla/ called Sea onion/ and the herb which representeth thesame thing by his name/ called Asplenos. What a man should say in this matter/ it is not very ready at hand unto all men/ neither had it been ready unto me/ if that I had not seen two kinds of Asplenum. Whilse I went by the Ryne side/ four miles beneath Binge: I chanced upon great plenty of Aspleno/ and there did I see one herb which had whiter leaves/ deeper indented/ and sharper leaves than the other had: in so much (as I remember) it drew very near unto the likeness of a certain kind of a little thistle/ which is indented like Asplenum. This (as I suppose) was the herb which Galene did separe from Scolopendrion. And yet is not Scolopendrion Hearts tongue/ which agreeth nothing nether in likeness/ neither in description with Scolopendrion. Asplenos groweth much in germany/ in old moist walls/ and in rocks/ it groweth also in England about Bristol: it is named in Duche Steinfarn/ in French Ceterache/ as the Potecarye call it. I have hard no English name of this Herb/ but it may well be called in English Ceterache/ or Miltwaste/ or Finger fern: because it is no longer than a man's finger: or Scaleferne/ because it is all full of scales on the innersyde. Asplenon hath leaves like in figure unto Scolopendra the best/ which also called Centipes/ is not unlike a great and rough palmers worm. The leaves are some thing like Polipodium/ and are indented so that one indenting is not right over against an other/ but against every division/ cutting/ or indenting/ standeth a round half circle. The inner side of the leaf is something yellow/ & rough/ with small things like bran/ or yellow scales/ which with a light occasion fall of/ the outer side is green: it hath nether flower nor seed. If this description can not evidently enough declare unto you Asplenon/ take a branch of Polipodium/ and take a finger length of the mids of it/ the nether end/ and the high end cut away/ cut of both the sides the tops and the leaves away/ and make then the remain round/ and than shall ye see the very form of Asplenon. The Properties. THE leaves of Ceterach have this virtue/ when they are made hot in vinegar/ and drunken of for the space of xl. days/ that they wast up the milt/ but the leaves must be bruised & laid unto the milt with wine. This herb is also good for the Strangurian/ & the jaundice or guelsought: it stoppeth the hichcoke or yisking/ and breaketh stones in the bladder. authors writ that this herb is not to be used much of such women as would fain have many children. Asplenium as Galene saith is no hot herb/ but it hath subtle parts/ and therefore breaketh the stone/ and maketh the milt to melt away. Of Astragalus. depiction of plant AStragalus is named about Colon Erdeekelen/ in Nederland Erdnutte/ in Ouerland Ein Erdtnuss: I have seen it in England in Come park/ and on Rychemonde heath. But I never could learn the name of it in English. I am compelled for lack of an other name to call it Piece earthnut/ because it hath leaves like a little Piece/ or a Ciche/ and roots like an Earth nut. Although all the description of Dioscorides beside did agree very well unto this herb: yet when as I had found the root in certain moist places/ very little astringent/ I began to doubt: but after that I found that in dry places/ and that it had a manifest astriction/ I doubted no more but that this herb was the right Astragalus/ although Fuchsius do contend/ that this should be Apios. Dioscorides described Astragalus thus: Astragalus is a little bushy Herb/ growing a little from the ground with branches and leaves like unto a Ciche/ the flowers are purple and little. The root is round as a radice/ and a great withal. There groweth certain things unto the root/ strong as horn/ and black/ and one wounden within an other/ and astringent in taste. It groweth in places open to the wind in shadow places/ and where as snow lieth long. This description agreeth well with the herb that I set forth in all other things as far as I can see/ saving in the root/ for the hole root is not like a radice/ although it have certain round knoppes/ like one kind of radice. And it that Matthiolus setteth forth/ hath rounder leaves/ & not so long and indented as the leaves of a Ciche are. Let learned men examine both/ and take it for Astragalo/ which agreeth with the hole description best. The Virtues of Astragalus. THE root of Astragalus drunken with wine/ stoppeth the flux of the belly/ and maketh a man to make water. It is good to put the powder of this herb into old sores. It stoppeth blood: but it is so hard/ that it can not well be beaten. Of Areche. AReche or Oreche is called in Latin Atriplex/ in Greek Atraphaxis and Chrysolachanon/ in Duche Molten or Milten/ in French Arroches or Bones dames. Areche is of two kinds/ the one is garden Areche/ which groweth only in gardens/ the other kind is called in English Wild Areche/ and it groweth abroad in the Corn fields. Areche is moist in the second degree/ and cold in the first. The Virtues of Areche. Atriplex. depiction of plant depiction of plant AReche softeneth the belly/ and either raw or sodden/ it driveth away shallow sores/ which are broad and not deep/ called in Latin Pani. The seed of this herb with a certain meed/ made with water and honey/ healeth the jaundice or guelsought. Of Oats. AVena is named in Greek Bromos/ in English Oats or Etes/ or Haver/ in Duche Haver or Haber/ in French Auoine. There are two kinds of Oats/ the one is called in English commonly Oats/ and the other is called Egilops in Greek/ and in Latin Auenasterilis/ and in English wild Oats. Oats are of a cold and a stopping nature. Oats are so well known/ that I need not to describe them. There is an other kind of Oats/ called Pillotes/ which grow in Sussex/ it hath no husk abiding upon it/ after that it is threshed/ and is like Otemele. This kind groweth in no other country that ever I could tell of/ saving only in England/ neither have I read in any new or old Author of this kind. The men of the country where they grow/ say that they will not grow well in a fat ground/ but in a barun ground/ wherein no corn hath grown before. depiction of plant Auena. The Virtues of Oats. Oats are good to make emplasteres of/ as Barley is. The gruel made of Oats/ stoppeth the belly. The juice of Oats in suppings or broths/ is good for the cough: Galene writeth that Oats do dry and measurably disperse abroad without any biting/ if they be laid unto any place. Of Baccharis/ supposed to be Sage of Jerusalem. BAccharis is a well savouring herb/ & used to be put in garlands/ whose leaves are sharp/ and have a mean bigness between the Violet leaf/ and the leaf of Mollen. The stalk is full of crests & corners about a cubit height/ some thing sharp/ not without little branches growing out of it/ the flower is purple/ and something white/ and well smelling. The roots are like black Hellebore roots/ and the smell of them/ is like Cinnamon. I have sought much to find this herb which the Latins call Baccharis. But I could never find any that did so well agree with the description of Baccharis/ as doth the herb that we call in English Sage of Jerusalem/ and the Apothecaries Pulmonoria. If any man can find any herb to whom the description of Baccharis agreeth better to/ than to this herb/ will I give places/ & in the mean season I will take this for Baccharis/ until I find a better. Sage of Jerusalem groweth about colen in woods in great plenty. Matthiolus showeth an other herb for Baccharis/ to whom (if the description of Baccharis doth agree better then to it that I set forth) I will give place unto him/ when I shall see the herb that he describeth: In the mean time I have set out it that I can find to be most likest unto Baccharis in England and in germany. The Virtues of Baccharis. THE root of Baccharis sodden in water/ doth help it that is drawn together & bursten: it is also good for them that have fallen from above/ & are bruised for them that are short winded/ for an old cough/ for them that can not make water well. It driveth down woman's sickness. It is good to be given in wine against the bitings of serpents. It is good for women in childbed to sit over: The leaves as they be astringent/ be good to lay to the head for the head ache/ for the inflammation of the eyes/ for the breasts or paps that swell to much after the birth/ for the impostumes of the corners of the eyes when they begin first/ and burnings/ and inflammationes. The savour maketh a man sleep. Of stinking Horehound. depiction of plant Ballote. stinking Horehound is named in Greek Ballote/ in some Greek books Megaprasion/ and other Melanprasion/ of the latins Marrubium magnum/ or Marrubium nigrum/ in Duche Stinking Andorne/ in French Marrubium noir. It is called also in English Black horehound. Ballote hath foursquare stalks/ black/ and something rough/ many growing forth of one root/ with greater leaves than Horehound/ rough/ & a space going between some thing round/ like unto Apiastrum/ we call Baume: wherefore some call it Apiastrum/ that is Baume/ white flowers do compass the stalk about after the manner of whirls. The Virtue of stinking Horehound. THE leaves of this herb laid to with salt/ be good for the biting of a dog. If the leaves be laid in ashes whilse they faide a little/ they stop the swelling lumps that rise in the fundament: with honey also they purge filthy and foul wounds. Of Bockes' beard. depiction of plant goats beard is called in Greek Tragopogon or Kome/ in Latin Barba hirci/ in Dutch Bocks bar/ in French barb de bouc. Dioscorides describeth goats beard thus: Tragopogon hath a short stalk/ leaves like unto Saffron/ and a long root which is sweet/ out of the stalk cometh forth a great head/ in whose top is black seed or fruit/ whereupon it hath the name given: this is the text of Dioscorides/ but I do suspect that Dioscorides text is corrupted/ for I think that he would never say that this herb should be called bucks beard/ because it hath a black sede or fruit: for what hath a white fruit or a black to do with the likeness of a bockes' beard? nothing at al. Therefore where as Dioscorides text is corrupt/ it is best to amend it with the text of Theophrastus'/ of whom he borrowed altogether this description. Then where as Dioscorides saith/ out of the top cometh out a black sede/ whereof goats beard hath the name. Let us read as Theophrastus doth. Out of the top cometh a hore white beard/ whereupon it is called Goats beard: These be the words of Theophrastus. The herb which we call goats beard/ in baron places hath but a short stalk/ but in gardens and in rank meddoes/ it hath a long stalk and full of joints like knees. About London I have seen in the field this herb with a sweet root and with black seed and a yellow flower/ and after the flower is gone with a great deal of long white down like tufts of white heir/ but about Colon I saw it which had white seed and a bitter root all full of milk as in other places it doth appear. Matthiolus marveleth that the herb now taken of us for Tragopogon/ is thought of Hermolaus Barbarus/ neither to be the right Tragopogon of Theophrastus or of Dioscorides. surely I think that it chanced unto Hermolaus as it chanced unto me: For I saw diverse times an herb/ that in all other points did agree well with the description of Tragopogon/ saving that the herb alway had a bitter root/ which thing made me still to judge/ that the herb was not the right Tragopogon/ until I found an herb with the same figure and fashion in all things like the other with a sweet root. And so I think that Hermolaus therefore denied that this herb was the right Tragopogon/ because he could never find any with a sweet root. another cause might be that he saw the leaves of our Tragopogon much greater than the leaves of Safron. But Dioscorides looked not unto the smallness of the Safron leaves/ but to the figure and whitish list or line/ that goeth quite thorough the mids of the Saffron leaf: In which two things the leaves of Tragopogon/ and the leaves of Safron are very like. I marvel much when as both Theophrast and Dioscorides write/ that Tragopogon hath long roots/ that contrary unto the open texts and minds of these noble writers/ that Amatus Lusitanus dare be so bold/ as to give round knoppy roots after the manner of Bulbus/ or of Ascalion/ but something long unto Tragopogon/ and saith that the roots are of the bigness of an Hazel nut/ and that the boys of Spain of the likeness/ that they have with a nut/ call them nozella. I have seen three sundry sorts of Tragopogon/ one sort with a bluish purple flower/ which is called in the West part of England/ Star of Jerusalem/ because whilse the Sun shineth it openeth/ and when it is under a clud/ the flower shitteth to close again. I know also two sorts with a yellow flower/ the one with a sweet root/ and the other with a bitter root/ and full of milk. All these three sorts had long roots when I saw them/ and I could never see any such round thing in the root/ that was like unto a nut or a onion. Wherefore Amatus in the root of this herb is both contrary to the authority of learned men/ and to experience. The Virtues of Bockes' beard. DIoscorides writeth no more of Bockes' beard/ but that it is good to eat/ the newer writers say that it is good for the diseases of the breast and liver/ for the pains in the kidneys and bladder/ and for the ache in the side/ when it cometh first forth of the ground/ the tender buds are good and pleasant in a salad/ and so are also the tender stalks a great while after/ till the knop in the top come forth. The leaves are not unpleasant afterward both in salad and in pottage. This herb seemeth to be of a temperate warmness. Matthiolus writeth that both the juice and the water of this herb healeth/ and bindeth up new and fresh wounds. Of the Dasey. Bellis syiluestris. depiction of plant depiction of plant A Dasey is called in Latin Bellis/ in Duche Kleintzitlosten/ or Monathblumle/ in French des margarites & pasquetes/ of the Herbaries' Consolida minor or primula veris. There are two kinds of Dases/ one with a reed flower which groweth in the gardines/ and another which groweth abroad in every green and high way. The Northern men call this herb a Banwurt/ because it helpeth bones to knit again. The leaf of the Dasey is some thing long/ and toward the end round/ & there are small nicks in the borders or edges of the leaves. Pliny writeth that the Dasey hath 53. and sometime 55. little white leaves which go about the yellow knop: it appeareth that the double Daseys were not found in Pliny's time/ which have a great deal more than Pliny maketh mention of. depiction of plant Bellis minor syluestris. The virtues of Daseyes. PLiny writeth that this herb driveth away great swellings and wens. The common Surgeons use this herb much in healing wounds/ wherefore they call it Consolida minorem/ & diverse give this herb in drink unto their pacientes that are wounded/ & do them much good. The later writers hold also that the juice of this herb is good for the palsy/ for the Gout & for the Sciatica. This have I proved that the juice of the read garden Dasey/ put into a man's nose/ draweth out water wonderfully out of the head/ whereby it can not be called a herb after the doctrine of Galene. Of Betes. BEta is named in Greek Teutlon or Seutlon/ in English a beat/ in Duche Mangolt/ in French Porree/ or jot. Betes have a stalk full of Crests and corneres of two cubits height/ a leaf like Areche or letes/ small yellow flowers/ and a long root which hath many small strings like small threads coming forth of it. There are two kinds of Betes/ the white Bete/ which is also called Sicula/ and black Betes/ called in Latin Beta nigra. depiction of plant Beta nigra. depiction of plant Beta candida. The Virtues of Betes. THE black beet is sodden with lentils to stop the belly withal/ which thing is son brought to pass with the root. The white beet is good for the belly/ but they have both an evil juice/ by the reason nitrosyte or bitter saltishnes which they have of their like unto saltpetre: wherefore their juice poured into a man's nose with honey/ purgeth the head/ and it healeth the pain in the ears. The broth of the root and leaves/ scoureth away scurf and scales/ and nets out of the head. It suageth the pains of the moulled or kibed heel's. Thesame helpeth frekelles and spots/ if they be rubbed over before with saltpetre natural. So it helpeth the void places/ which the falling of the heir make/ if they be stirred up with a knife. It helpeth running sores/ which spread abroad and waste up the flesh as they go. It healeth also sodden in water/ the bursting out of wheels/ the burning that cometh by fire/ the burning inflammationes that come of choler or hot blood. The juice of Betes doth meetly well scour away/ and some time causeth the belly to be louse/ and twitcheth and biteth the stomach/ specially in them that have a stomach ready to feel a thing readily/ wherefore it is a meat noisome unto the stomach/ if it be much eaten. It nourisheth but little as other pot herbs or wurtes do: Yet is it good with vinegar for the stopping of the liver and the milt. Betes are of two contrary natures. The juice is hot and stoppeth the belly/ and engendereth thirst: But his body is of gross parts/ windy/ cold/ & hard of digestion. Of betony. depiction of plant Betonica. betony is called in Latin Betonica/ in Greek Kestron or Psychotropon/ in Duche Betonien/ in French Betoine or Betoisne. betony hath a small stalk/ a cubit long or longer/ foursquared/ with a leaf soft/ long/ indented about/ and like unto an oak leaf/ well smelling/ and greater near the root. In the tops of the stalks is seed in a long head like an ear/ as some kind of Saveray hath. It hath small roots as Hellebor hath. The Virtues of betony. THE roots of betony drunken in meed/ draw out much phlegm by vomit. The leaves aught to be laid on parts that are bursten and drawn together/ and they are good for women that have the disease of the mother/ to releise the strangling of the mother/ in the quantity of a dram with water and honey. Three drams are to be drunken in xviij. ounces of wine against the bitings of serpents. The herb is good to be laid as an emplaster upon wounds made by venomous beasts. A dram of this herb drunken with wine/ is good against deadly poison. If this herb be taken afore/ and it chance a man afterward to drink poison/ as Dioscorides writeth/ it shall not hurt him. It helpeth to make water. It looseth the belly/ and if it be drunken with water/ it healeth the falling sickness/ and them that are mad. And with vinegar and honey/ it healeth them that are sick in of the diseases the liver or milt/ if it be taken in the quantity of a dram. It helpeth digestion taken in the quantity of a Bean/ after supper with sodden honey. After the same manner it is good for them that belch out a sour breath. It is good for them that are diseased in the stomach/ both to be eaten/ and the juice of it to be drunken/ if they drink afterward wine delayed with water. It is given in the quantity of a scruple and a half/ in two ounces of cold wine delayed with water to them that spit blood. In water it is good for the Sciatica/ and for the ache of the bladder and kidneys. It is good to be taken in the quantity of two drams with water and honey for the dropsy/ if the patient have an ague: If he have none/ it is best to give it for the dropseye in wine mixed with honey. It helpeth them that have the jaundice. betony taken in the quantity of a dram with wine/ draweth down a woman's sickness. Four drams taken in a pint and a half of meed or honey water/ maketh a purgation. It is also good for the Tysick/ and for them that spit matter or corruption out of the longs/ if it be received with honey. The leaves use to be dried and broken/ and so kept in an earthen pot. Thus much doth Dioscorides write of betony/ and Galene confirmeth thesame/ writing on this wise: betony hath the power to cut in sunder/ as the taste judgeth/ for it is something bitter/ and a little biting/ the which thing his operation particularly done/ doth testify. For it divideth insunder stones in the kidneys/ and it purgeth and scoureth the longs/ breast and liver. It bringeth down to women their sickness/ and such other operaciones hath it which Dioscorides hath made mention of. pliny writeth that wine and vinegar made with betony/ be good for the stomach/ and the clearness of the eyes. Of Paulis betony. PAulis betony is much differing from Dioscorides betony/ as Paulus witnesseth his self. It hath small branches like unto Peny rial/ but smaller/ which if ye do taste of/ it hath allmoost no quality that ye can perceive/ Gesner supposeth that Veronica which is called in English Fluellin/ is Paulis Betony: but the manifest bitterness of it/ will not suffer it so to be. But the herb which I do set forth here in this figure/ having both leaves and stalks so/ like Peneryal/ that many doth oft gather it for Peneryall/ and being without all quality which can be perceived in taste/ saving only a very little bitterness/ after my judgement is the true Paulis betony. This herb groweth in Zion garden/ and in diverse woods not far from Zion with a white flower mixed with blewe/ and with a seed like unto Bursa pastoris. depiction of plant Betonica Pauli. The Properties of Paulis betony. PAulus Egineta/ who only writeth of this herb/ telleth no other good property of this herb/ but that it is good for the diseases of the kidneys. Of birch. depiction of plant Betula. birch is called in Latin Betula/ or as some writ Betulla/ in Greek Semyda/ in Duche Birckbaum/ in French Boulean or Beula. I find nothing of the birch tre in Dioscorides/ but thus do I find written of the birch in pliny. The Sorb or Serince tre loved cold places/ and yet doth the birch tre love cold places better. This French tre is of a wonderful whytenes/ and of no less smallness/ greatly fearful to many/ because the officeres make rods of it. Thesame is good to make hoopis of/ and twigs for baskets/ it is so bowing. The French men set out of it a certain juice or suck/ otherwise called Bitumen. I have not red of any virtue that it hath in Physic. Howbeit/ it serveth for many good uses/ and for none better than for betinge of stubborn boy's/ that either lie or will not learn. Flechers make prick shafts of birch/ because it is heavier than Espe is. Byrders take bows of this tre/ and lime the twigs and go a batfolinge with them. Fisherers in Northumberland pill of the uttermost bark/ and put it in the clyft of a stick/ and set it in fire/ and hold it at the water side/ and make fish come thither/ which if they se/ they strike with their leisters or sammonsperes: other use of Byrche tre know I none. Matthiolus writeth that some men hold/ that if the Birch tre be bored/ that there will come much water out of it/ which as they say is good to break the stone both of the kidneys and of the bladder/ if a man drink long of it. The same/ as they say/ is good for foul ladies that will be fair/ & for the sores of the mouth/ if they be washed therewith. The juice of the leaves/ as they also tell/ menged with the cheselop/ saveth the cheese from worms breeding in it. Of Blites. depiction of plant Bliton. BLitum is named in Greek Bliton or Bleton/ in Duche Meyer/ in French du blyte or espinars. I have not heard the English name of this herb/ neither did I ever see in England any gardin Bliton. But I saw wild Bliton growing in my lords garden at Shene/ but I could learn there no name of it. It may be called in English a Blite or a Blete. Bliton hath leaves like unto a beat/ but much less/ and liker unto Amarantho purpureo/ called in English Purple velued flower/ yet much greater than Velued flower is. The common Blite hath a green leaf/ but there is an other Blyte/ which I have seen in Italy with the one half of the leaf red/ & the other green. The leaves of Blite are unsavoury/ and are of no quality/ the sede of Blite is as Betis seed is/ with a skin about it/ and very plenteous. Blites have more roots than one/ not going right down but a wry. The wild blites leaves are smaller than purple velvet flowers are/ and in the top of the herb/ there is wonderful great plenty of small seed hanging together as it were in clusteres like grapes. The Virtues of Blites. BLite (sayeth Pliny) seemeth to be Dill/ and without all savour and sharpness/ whereupon the husbands in Menander make a rebuke unto the women. It is naught for the stomach. It troubleth the belly so/ that it maketh choler in some. Yet some say that it is good drunken in wine against Scorpiones and for aguayles/ and for the milt/ and for the ache of the temples laid on with oil. Hypocrates supposeth that the bloody issue of women may be staunched with this herb taken in meat. Of Oak of Jerusalem. depiction of plant Botris. OAK of Jerusalem is named in Greek Botris/ and the Latin men use the same name/ the Duche name it Trauben kraut/ and some French men call it Pymen or Mygraine. Howbeit other French men say that Pymen is a bush. Oak of Jerusalem is an herb all yellow/ and all full of branches and spread abroad/ and hath many holes between the stalk and lower end of the branches/ like unto men's arm holes. The seed groweth thorough all the hole branches. The leaves are like Cichory leaves: and all the hole herb hath a pleasant savour/ wherefore it is laid among clothes. The Properties of Oak of Jerusalem. Oak of Jerusalem seemeth to be an hot herb/ and dry. Paulus/ Dioscorides/ and Pliny do agree all together/ that this herb drunken with wine/ is good for them that are shortwinded/ and can not take their breath/ except they hold their neck right up. Other properties of this herb have I not red in any good author. The herb groweth about water sides and in many gardens in England. Of Cole or Colwurtes. depiction of plant Brassica prima. depiction of plant Brassica secunda. depiction of plant Brassica tertia. depiction of plant Brassica quarta. Coal is named in Greek Krambe/ in Latin brassica/ in Duche Kool/ in French Chaues/ of the common writers and Apothecaries Caulis/ because of all other herbs it hath the greatest stalk/ which is called in Latin Caulis. Beside the common coal/ there is an other kind which is called in Greek Krambe kephalote/ in Latin brassica/ lacuturris/ or triciana/ or brassica fessilis/ in English Cabbage coal/ in Duche caps kraut/ in French Capuci. Cole hath a great broad leaf/ and thick/ with certain swellings/ not equal with the sinews/ which are as manifest in coal/ as in any other herb. The stalk is very great/ the flower is yellow/ and sometime white/ the sede is in little long cods black/ and greater than Rape sede. The virtues of Cole. THE garden coal is good for the belly/ if it be lightly heted/ and so eaten. If it be thoroughly sodden/ it stoppeth the belly/ & much more it that is sodden in lie. Cole vexeth the stomach. The summer coal is the sharper. The coal of Egypt is so bitter that it can not be eaten. Cole eaten/ is good for them that see not well/ & for the trymblinge of the membres. Cole taken after meat/ driveth away the evil/ or hurt that cometh of surffetting/ and of drinking of wine/ if the persons use not surfeiting/ but fall into it by a chance/ the tender and young buds that are in the top/ be better for the stomach/ then other parts are/ but they are sharper/ wherefore they are to abler to provoke urine. But the same laid up in fouse/ be evil for the stomach/ and trouble the belly. The row juice with arise and saltpetre/ especially natural drunken/ softeneth the belly. The juice drunken with wine/ healeth the bitings of vyperes. It is also laid with the meal of Fenegreke and vinegar unto the membres that have the gout/ and the pain in the joints. It is good for filthy and old sores. If it be put in the nose thrilles/ it purgeth the head. The same put in with the flower of darnel/ draweth down woman's flowers. The leaves laid to by themselves or bruised with barley meal/ be good for all inflammations and soft swellings. They heal also burning impostumes/ that come of subtle or cholerik blood/ and little sores like wheels/ which broken/ send forth bloody matter/ and lepers which are diseases of the skin/ with salt they burst Carbuncles. They hold also the heir that falleth of. If they be sodden and mixed with honey/ they are good for consuming sores/ which waste up the flesh. The leaves raw are good to be eaten with vinegar/ for them that are diseased with the milt. If ye chew the leaves/ and swallow over the juice/ it will bring again the voice that is lost. The broth of Cole/ both provoketh urine/ and also helpeth women to their sickness. The seed of it/ and especially which groweth in Egypt/ drunken/ killeth worms/ purgeth the skin of the face/ and the frekelles that are in it. The green buds which are in the top of the stalk/ with the roots/ and put into old swines grese/ do help the ache of the side/ which of long time hath continued. There are certain harms that come of this herb/ if it be not taken in right time and quantity. This herb to much occupied in meat/ engendereth evil/ and melancolick juice. It dulleth the sight/ and it troubleth the sleep with contrary things which are seen in the dream. The flower of Cole/ of a certain property that it hath/ destroyeth sede/ it hurteth also the lungs. Cole is hot and dry in the first degree. Of Sea Cole. BRassica syluestris is named in Greek/ krambe agria. It may be called in English Sea coal/ because it groweth naturally by the sea side. I never saw it in all my life/ saving in Dover cliffs. This is much like the other coal/ but it is whiter and rougher/ and bitter withal. But the leaves of it that I saw/ were much less & narrower/ then the garden coal. Theophrastus describeth a certain kind of wild coal/ that hath smouth leaves/ which appeareth to me to be a certain kind of Carloke/ that groweth in the corn with other leaves/ then the common Carloke hath. Thesame is called in Northumberland this day/ Wild keel. There are yet two kinds of wild Cole/ whereof I find no mention in any writer. The one is a wonderful great Cole/ & hath leaves thrice as thick/ as ever I saw any other coal have. It hath white flowers/ and round berries like Yuy/ wherein the seed is contained. This herb groweth at Dover hard by the Sea side/ and in many other places. The other kind of wild coal/ groweth ever by water sides/ with a leaf indented/ as rocket is/ in taste/ smell/ fashion of flower/ and sede/ like unto the gardin coal/ hard by the seaside. I name the first of these in Latin Brassicam Dobricam/ in English Dover coal/ because I found it first beside Dover. The second kind I call Brassicam flumatilem/ and in English Water coal/ because it groweth ever by water sides. The Virtues of the Sea coal. THE tender buds of this coal are not unpleasant unto the mouth/ if they be sodden in lie. The leaves of this herb laid to after the manner of an emplaster/ do bind and close up wounds: and drive away and scatter abroad inflammationes and soft swellings. Of Brassica marina. BRassica marina named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ is thus describeth of Dioscorides: Brassica marina differeth in all thing from the gardin brassica. It hath long leaves like unto Aristolochia the round. Every leaf cometh forth alone of little branches/ something readishe/ and hath but one little foot stalk as Yuy hath. It hath white juice/ but not much/ it hath a saltish taste/ and something bitter/ with a fat growing together. The hole herb is evil for the stomach/ sharp or biting/ and it looseth the belly exceedingly sodden with meat: and for the great sharpness it is sodden with fat meat. Although I have these xuj. years sought for the right Brassica marina/ and have found one herb that the common sort of learned men take for it/ And another which I thought alone that it had been the right Brassica marina/ yet when I consider and weigh both the herbs with the description of Dioscorides/ I find nether of both agreeing with the hole description. The herb which I took for brassica marina/ groweth within the floodmarke of the Sea/ and commonly at the banks of creaks that rin throw middowes or green ground/ and in stony Islands/ whereunto the salt-water cometh to at certain times in the year/ as at great springe tides and tempests. I have seen it in East Freseland about Norden/ where as it is called Leppelkruyt/ of the likeness that it hath with a spoune. I have seen it in England at Westchester/ at Portlande/ and at Porbeke/ but I could never learn any name of it/ but Scurby weed/ or Scurby wurt/ it may also well be called Spounwurte. When it cometh first forth/ it hath five or six/ sometime more/ and sometime fewer leaves altogether/ standing right up after the manner of Pirola/ or of a young Bete/ the foot stalk is long and toward the ground redishe/ the leaves are fat thick and round/ not unlike to Asarabacca or Folfoote/ but that they are less and green. They are something saltish & bitter/ and very hot and sharp in taste/ and have a certain smake of coal/ which is unpleasant by the reason of the heat & bitterness that is joined with it. It hath a stalk almost a span long/ and the leaves that grow upon the stalk/ are much longer and more sharper pointed than they that come straight way first from the root. The flower is white/ and the seed is dunnish black. The people of the country use it against the scurbuke or crippel evil. I have proved that it is not only good against that disease/ but also against the dropsy/ as the noble clerk Reinerus the Rector of the school of Gruninge/ and Henrike Herbart can bear witness. Yet for all this I dare not give sentence that it is the right Brassica marina of Dioscorides/ namely because a great deal of it purgeth but a little/ when as the true Brassica marina of Dioscorides purgeth very sore/ and that at no time that I saw it/ any milk or whit juice did appear in it. The herb which is commonly taken in Italy/ France and Germany/ for Brassica marina/ is called of the Herbaries Soldana or Soldanella. But it that Matthiolus setteth out/ is not the same herb/ namely in the root/ that our Soldanella is/ which groweth in England and Flanders/ neither it that is sold at Frankford and at Anwerp. For as the rest of the hole herb is like unto wythwinde or wedebind/ called of some Volubilis/ of other Helxine cisampeloes/ in all things/ saving that the leaves are rounder and not so sharp/ so is the root also like unto the root of the same herb. Our Soldanella a far of looketh like a Mallow/ both in the flowers and leaves/ but when a man cometh near unto it/ it looketh so like a withwind/ that a man would say/ that it were nothing else/ but a Sea withwind/ The flowers are in all points like the common with winds flowers/ that is of the fashion of a bell/ saving that they are greater and purplish blue. And when as all the rest of the herb creepeth upon the Sea sand/ the flowers stand gallantly right up/ and show marvelous well upon the plain sand or gravel. The seed is like the seed of other winds/ blackish and round/ as great as a fitch/ and something greater. The leaves are as round as the leaves of Aristolochia the round/ and Asarabacca are. The taste is not so sharp as the taste of the leaves of Spounwurte are. They purge beaten into powder in the quantity of two drams/ but nothing so much as Dioscorides seemeth to mean that brassica marina doth. For Dioscorides saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sodden in meat/ it looseth the belly most vehemently. pliny writing of Brassica marina saith/ vehementisime ex omnibus aluum alet/ that is of all other it looseth the belly most vehemently. Nether are they so hot as Dioscorides writeth that Brassica marina is/ for he saith: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The hole herb is sharp or biting/ and some for the sharpness seth it with fat flesh. Then when as Soldanella hath no long leaves/ but all round/ & is nether so sharp nor so vehement a purger/ as Dioscorides maketh his brassicam marinam to be: nether hath any quality/ neither in taste nor smell/ wherefore it should be called brassica marina/ and saying the hole herb is so like unto Helxine cisampelo/ and to smilaci syluestri/ and compared it to none of them. A man may doubt whether Soldanella be Brassica marina Dioscorides or no. But if Soldanella be not brassica marina/ yet for all that it may serve well to purge water in a dropsey/ as other kinds of Helxines cisampeloes/ and Midlandish with winds do. Aetius saith that Smilax syluestris which creepeth upon bushes and hedges by water sides/ is very good against the dropsy/ and Nicolaus Mirepsus belike following Aetius/ saith the same/ Dioscorides writeth that Helxine cisampeloes purgeth the belly/ and Mesue writing of five kinds of winds or winding herbs/ maketh them all purgers. Wherefore it is no marvel that this Soldana being a kind of Wind/ purge as other winding herbs do. Matthiolus to take all lets that Soldanella might be brassica marina/ saith that where as the common texts have/ Makra phylla/ that they are falsed/ and in the stead of mikra is makra put in/ which surely is like to be true/ except in some places of Aristolochia/ there be longer leaves/ and in other places be shorter & rounder as are in Leffelwurt/ and diverse kinds of Mallows/ & other herbs/ and then is not Soldanella brassica marina. But it appeareth that either there is no falsifying of the text at all/ or else that it hath been changed very long ago/ for both the old barbarus translation of Dioscorides/ which is set forth by the order of letters/ & also the translations of Serapio readeth folia longa. But I find in no Greek text that now is/ or in any old translation phylla lepta/ or folia tennia/ as Ruellius hath in his translation/ which thing I marvel that Matthiolus spied not otherways/ a man well eyed/ as in diverse places of his book it doth appear. The Virtues of Brassica marina. DIoscorides writeth nothing of Brassica marina/ saving that it is evil for the stomach/ and looseth the belly very much/ and Galene writeth that it beside that it looseth the belly/ it will serve laid to without/ for such purposes/ as an herb that is something salt and something bitter/ will serve. Of Brion thalassion. depiction of plant Corallina. depiction of plant Sea moss. depiction of plant Slanke. BRion thalassion/ is called in Latin/ Muscus marinus. But muscus marinus is of two kinds/ as Muscus is. One kind of Moss is broad/ like unto liver wurt/ which is named in Dioscorides a Moss/ in these words: Leichen brion esti prosechomennon tais endrosais petrais. And that there is an other kind of Moss/ which is small like heirs. Dioscorides in the description of this herb doth testify. And even so many kinds are there of Brion thalassion/ although Dioscorides do describe but one. Brion thalassion that Dioscorides speaketh of/ groweth upon stones/ and oysters/ and such other like fish shells/ by the sea side/ small and like heirs/ and without any stalk: but Pliny and Theophrastus write of an other kind of Brion thalassion/ which Theophrastus describeth in these words. There is another herb called Brion with a leaf green and large: not unlike unto Lettuce/ but fuller of wrinkles/ and drawn in together. pliny in the xxvij. book and viij. chapter/ hath the same description. Wherefore Pliny although he erreth oft/ and deserveth to be confuted as Matthiolus with other learned men confute him learnedly/ yet he is unjustly checked of Matthiolus. The learned men of Italy have taken a little thing like Moss/ that groweth here commonly upon oysters shells/ which they call Corallinam/ for Brion thalassion Dioscoridis / whose opinion I can not utterly refel. But I know a Sea herb like Moss in deed/ with a taste plain astringent/ which seemeth to me more like to be Brion thalassion/ & the Apothecaries call this herb Vsneam marinan: and it hath woddish matter/ when a man biteth on it. But the other called Corallina/ is made of many little stony joints/ cunningly knit together/ & if ye bite it with your teth/ it will crash under your teth/ as little stones or gravel do. Vsnea marina may be called in English Sea moss/ Corallina may be named in English Coralline/ The Brion thalassion of Theophrastus & Pliny is called in Northumberland Slanke/ which in Lent the poor people seth/ and that with likes and oyniones. They put it in a pot and smore it/ as they call it/ and than it looketh black/ and then put they oyniones to it/ & eat it. But before it is sodden/ it is wonderfully green. The virtues. BRion thalassion/ that is sea moss/ is made of an earthly and watery substance/ and both cold/ for it bindeth also the taste/ and is astringent/ and the same laid unto any hot thing/ cooleth it/ & healeth it/ it driveth back the gathering of humores together/ & helpeth the gout/ which had need to be cooled/ some use Coralline to kill worms/ and hold that it killeth them in deed/ whereof as yet I have no experience. Of Borage. depiction of plant Buglossum. diverse well learned men/ as Leonicenus and Ruellius with other more/ have supposed that the herb which is called in Latin Borago/ and in English Borage/ is Buglossum in Dioscorides/ and this opinion hath long prevailed: but two freres of Rome/ writing upon Mesue/ say/ that they have found in Spain the true Buglossum/ and that this our Borage is not the true Buglossum. Their reason are these/ Borage hath not leaves like unto Mullen (say they) nether like Comfrey: but Dioscorides maketh Buglossum like them both/ therefore Borage is not Buglossum Dioscoridis. I answer that Mullen when it cometh first up/ hath leaves like unto the broad leaves of Borage/ when they come first forth: but as the leaves of Mullen that come out of the stalk/ be longer than they that come straight way out of the root: so are also the leaves of Borage longer/ which grow on the stalk/ then they that come from the root. Therefore the unlikeness of Mullen and of borage/ shall not hinder borage to be buglossum. What if mullen have longer leaves than borage hath? it followeth not yet but the borages leaf may be like mullens lief. Dioscorides/ I grant/ writeth that the leaves of Simphiton are something long/ drawing near unto buglossum. The words of Dioscorides are these: Phylla dasea/ stena hypomece prostaton bouglosson. That is/ the leaves of Comfrey are rough/ narrow/ and something long/ like the leaves of buglossum. This doth not make borage and comfrey unlike/ because comfrey hath longer leaves than borage hath. Nether doth Dioscorides say/ that comfrey is longer than buglossum: but comfrey hath something long leaves/ like unto them of Buglossum. That buglossum need not to have so long leaves as comfrey hath/ Dioscorides doth partly signify/ where he saith that Cirsion (which I take to be our Langde beef) hath longer leaves than buglossum. Dioscorides also maketh those leaves makra/ that is long/ which are not without comparison of shorter and rounder/ so doth he call the leaves/ of Brassica marina long/ which are not long/ but in comparison of other rounder and shorter leaves: therefore that reason will not serve. Is it not possible that there may be two or three kinds of an herb/ whereof Dioscorides describeth but one? Dioscorides describeth but one kind of Brion thalassion/ and yet Theophrastus maketh many kinds. Dioscorides maketh but one kind of Cornus/ and Theophrastus maketh two. And where as Dioscorides maketh mention but of one kind of herb/ other autores have found out two/ sometime three/ and sometime four. Wherefore if it were so/ that this description of Dioscorides did not thoroughly out agree in all points with this herb/ yet it might be a kind of it/ saying that it agreeth both in taste/ and much in likeness with bugloss/ which can not be denied/ but it is agreeing with the description of buglossi Dioscorides. Howbeit/ I will not grant as yet/ but the Borage agreeth well enough unto the description of buglossi. Let learned men judge both my judgement/ and also the judgement of the two freres of Rome/ whom I can not so much dispraise/ for their hypocrital kind of living/ being in Babylon/ as I can allow them/ for their diligent labours taken in seeking out of Simples/ and restoring of Mesue unto his right and true text and first writing. Dioscorides describeth thus Buglossum. Buglossum is like unto Mullen/ and hath a leaf spread upon the ground/ but blacker/ and rough/ much like unto an Ox's tongue. In the description of Comfrey he maketh it like unto Buglosso. The Virtues of bugloss or Borage. DIoscorides doth not speak much more of Buglossum/ but that it seemeth to make men merry/ if they drink of the wine that is put into Simeon Sethy/ a latter writer amongst the Grecians/ saith that Buglossum provoketh urine/ quencheth the thirst/ and that the stalks of this herb/ either raw/ or sodden/ and so eaten/ be good against the diseases of the liver. There may be also a good julep made of it/ for men that go by the way. Of Oxey. BVphthalmus hath no other used name/ that I know/ neither in Latin nor English/ neither have I seen it in England: but it may be called in Latin Oculus bovis/ and in English Oxey. I have seen it in Italy/ and in high almany. There is very little difference between it/ and yellow Camomille/ saving that this hath greater knoppes and longer leaves than yellow Camomyle hath. Dioscorides describeth Bupthalmus thus: Buphthalmus or Oxey putteth forth small branches/ and soft/ and hath leaves like Fenel/ and a yellow flower greater than Camomille/ like unto an eye/ whereupon it hath the name. It groweth about towns and in great plains. The herb which Matthiolus setteth forth for Buthalmo/ hath not leaves like Fenell/ wherefore it is not the right Buthalmus Dioscoridis. The Virtues of Oxey. THE flowers of this herb broken/ and mixed with wax in a salve/ drive away swellings and hardness. It is also reported/ that if a man drink of it/ after that he is come forth of the bathe/ in continuance of time/ he shall be delivered from the jaundice. Of Bulbine or yellow Leke. depiction of plant Bulbus siluestris. PLiny maketh mention of a kind of Bulbus/ which he sayeth/ is called of the grecians Bulbine/ and hath leaves like Leeks/ and a head or knop. The herb which I take to Bulbine/ groweth among the corn/ and hath flowers about the beginning of April. It hath long small blades like Leeks/ but much smaller and sharper/ The blades that come from the root/ are very small & long/ but they that come out of the top of the stalk/ & grow higher than the stalks/ are brother. The flowers grow out of the top of the stalk/ and they are yellow. The vessel that holdeth seed is thresquare/ the stalk is small/ and not a span long/ The root is round like an onion with a dun husk/ and something reddish within/ and a little bitter and clammy. It groweth much in germany about Bon and Colon. pliny writeth that the property of this herb is to heal wounds/ and close the it Bulbus/ whereof this is one kind/ hath many other good properties. But I will not give no more unto the herb than my author doth/ except I had experience that he had not seen or proved. Some in Dutch land call this herb Hundts ullich/ and it may be called in English Corn leek/ or wild leek. As for the gardiu Bulbus/ and the other called Vomitorius/ although I have long and diligently sought for them these twenty years/ But he telleth not of which Mirt tre he meaneth of. In deed in thickness of leaves which are very near one unto another. Box is like unto the garden myrt/ but in bigness of lief it is more like the wild mirte. Howbeit the leaves of Box are both rounder & greater than wild myrte leaves are. Box hath round little vessels/ which hold black seed in them. The wood of Box is yellow and pale/ and serveth for no use in medicine/ that I have red of: The flowers of this tree make bitter honey/ wherefore it is not good to be planted/ where as bees are kept. This writeth Pliny in the xuj. book of his natural story. Matthiolus confuteth so well and learnedly Amatus Lusitanus/ for saying/ that Box was a kind of Guaiacum/ that I need not to give any warning of the great error that Amatus was in/ and would have brought other into the same. Of calamint. depiction of plant Calamitha prima. Rough calamint. depiction of plant Calamita altera. Corn mint. DIoscorides maketh three kinds of calamint/ The first kind he describeth thus. It groweth commonly in mountains/ and hath leaves like unto Basil/ white in under/ dry branches/ & squared stalks/ and a purple flower. This herb groweth much in germany about Bon/ and in England about Zion/ It hath leaves less than great Basil/ much like unto the common Organ/ or wild Marierum/ but they are rough on both sides/ but more rough of the under depiction of plant Calamitha tertia. part/ and white withal/ but green of the over part: yet not withstanding mixed with certain horines/ & the stalk is foursquare/ & all rough with a white hoar/ where about doth grow in equal order/ one from another certain knoppes like whirls/ like unto them that are in horehound: out of the which do grow purple flowers/ the leaf is hot/ and holden under ones teth/ bringeth forth slaver/ and hath also a very good savour/ but something strong withal: the roots are small/ much like unto the roots of the common organ/ this kind may be called in English rough Organ bush Calamint. The second kind is thus described of Dioscorides. It is like Peny ryal/ but greater/ and this have some called wild Peny ryal/ because it is like in savour. The Latins call it Nepitan. This kind of calamint groweth much in England among the corn/ and it is called in English commonly/ Corn mint/ and of the Apothecaries Calamentum. Howbeit at those days the Latins call it not Nepitan/ but use the Greek term of calamity. The third kind as Dioscorides writeth/ is like unto wild mint/ with longer leaves/ with greater branches & stalks then the other kinds have/ but it hath less strength than the rest. This kind is now a days called of the Pothecaries Nepita/ in English Nepe/ in Dutch Katzenkraut/ or Catzenmuntz/ in French Herb au chat/ the cats commonly/ where as they can find it in any gardin/ will eat it up/ wherefore some call it in English Catmint. This herb groweth far from cities and towns/ in hedges and in stony grounds. Calamint is hot and dry in the third degree. Dioscorides writeth that Calamint groweth in plains/ high and rocky and in watery places. Matthiolus and I do agree in the second kind of Calamint/ which he saith/ is called even at this time in his country Nipotella. But in the first and third kind/ I dissent from him/ for he maketh another herb to be the first kind of Calamint/ and he maketh my first kind of Calamint/ to be Clinopodium. As for his first kind of Calamint/ if it be so of the same form and fashion/ as he hath set it out in his figure/ it answereth nothing unto the description of Dioscorides/ for he would that his first kind should have leaves like unto basil/ but that herb which Matthiolus setteth out/ for Calaminta prima hath leaves like unto Penyryal/ and not unto basil/ namely to that basil that Dioscorides compareth his first Calamint to. If that the first Calamint of Matthiolus had been the first Calamint of Dioscorides/ then should it have had leaves like unto Heliotropio maiori/ to the right Mercury/ & to purple velvet flower/ for these herbs leaves in Dioscorides & other good authors are made like unto the leaves of Ocimum or basil. But the leaves of his first Calamint are not like unto the right basil/ which Dioscorides compareth his first Calamint to. Therefore the first Calamint of Matthiolus agreeth not with the description of Dioscorides/ I will be judged by learned men that are indifferent. In the third kind of Calamint/ I do not like his confutation of Ruellius/ who in my judgement hath more furthered the knowledge of herbs for his time/ then Matthiolus hath done for his time/ & yet I grant that we are much bound to Matthiolus for his pains taken in the setting out the knowledge of herbs. Ruellius saith that the third kind of Calamint/ is the herb commonly called Nepe or Cat mint/ but Matthiolus confuteth him thus: Dioscorides maketh the third kind of Calamint like unto Mentastro/ & not to Baum or a nettle/ as Catmint is. Thesame Dioscorides answer I unto Matthiolus/ saith not only that the third Calamint is like unto Mentastro or wild mint/ but he saith also that it hath longer leaves then wild mint hath/ for so hath the Greek text/ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Tertia verò menthae syluestri similis est folijs oblongior. The third is like unto wild mint/ longer in the leaves. And thesame Dioscorides saith that the third kind of mint is greater both in the stalk and blades or branches/ then the forenamed calamints be. Then when as the third calamint must have longer leaves then wild mint: That herb that hath longer leaves than the wild mint/ called Mentastrum/ is not like the third Calamint. And the herb that Ruellius setteth forth for Calaminta tertia/ hath longer leaves than it that Matthiolus setteth out: Therefore it that Ruellius setteth out/ is lyker to be the third kind of Calamint/ then it that Matthiolus showeth. For it that Matthiolus setteth out for the third Calamint/ except his third figure be falsely graved and painted/ hath not only shorter leaves and less/ then even the Mentastrum/ which he setteth out his own self a little before/ but also shorter and less leaves than the second kind of calamint hath/ even after his own figure that he setteth forth. Therefore Matthiolus erreth much more in the third kind of Calamint then Ruellius doth: put a little piece of a leaf unto Mentastro/ and se whether it will not be as long as some nettle leaves be or no. If the increase of the leaf then make Mentastrum like a nettle/ then the third Calaminte/ which must needs be longer leaved than Mentastrum is/ may well be like a nettle/ as touching the length of the leaf. another cause is/ sayeth Matthiolus/ why that the opinion of Ruellius ought to be refused and whisteled out/ is because he hath seen the right third Calamint in watery places like unto Mentastro/ with something more whitish leaves/ and with a sharper taste/ how sufficient a cause is this/ that the opinion of Ruellius should be refused/ all men may easily perceive. Because he saw an herb in a watery place like Mentastro/ with a some thing more whitish leaves/ and of a sharper taste/ as though to be like Mentastro/ and to have more whitish leaves/ and a sharper taste than it hath/ and to grow in watery places/ were the hole description of the third calamint. Doubtless Matthiolus was very far overseen in making of this description: for it that Dioscorides rehearseth as a most necessary mark to know the third Calamint by/ the leaveth he quite out/ that is whether the leaves be longer than Mentastrum or no/ & whether the branches and stalk be greater than the other kinds of Calamint or no/ & whether the herb were hotter than other calamints or no/ & it that Dioscorides maketh no part of the description/ that is to have whiter leaves than Mentastrun/ that setteth he in to fill up the matter withal. And so with a great number of vain words/ he proveth nothing/ but unworthily reproveth a better learned man then himself in setting forth the truth. Mentastrun/ as Auerrois writeth/ is hot in the third degree/ if the herb that Matthiolus showeth for the third calamint/ be hotter than the mentastro (as he saith it is) than it can not be the third kind of Calamint in Dioscorides/ for it is of less strength than the other kinds be of/ as Dioscorides beareth witness. Galene in his book de simplicibus writeth/ that mint is good for them that would have children/ & that Calamint is so hot that it serveth not for that purpose. I think that he meant of the second & first kind of Calamint/ which Dioscorides maketh of more strength than the third. The cats both eat up & trimble upon the herb/ called nepe/ about the time of their catterwawinge/ wherefore some think that nature teacheth the cats to know the herb which serveth best for the purpose that they go about at that tyme. If that be the cause why they desire it so greatly/ them is not nepe so hot as the other ij. kinds of calamint be/ & so draweth near unto the nature of garden mint/ if the learning of Galene be true/ that the herbs that are mesurablye warm/ serve more for the purpose above named/ than right hot & dry herbs do. Which thing whether it make any thing to prove that nepe should be the third calaminte/ I will be judged by them that are in this matter learned/ and in different judges. The Virtues of Calamint. THE leaves of all the kinds of Calamint/ are very hot and biting. Calamint either drunken/ or laid to the place/ is good for them that are bitten of serpents/ the broth of Calamint drunken/ driveth down woman's sickness/ & provoketh water/ & it helpeth places bruised/ & bursten/ and shrunken or drewen together/ & them that are shortwinded/ & them that are vexed with choler/ or with shaking: it scoureth away the jaundice. If it be taken aforehand/ it withstandeth poison/ if it be drunken with salt and honey/ it killeth worms in the belly/ and that will it do as well raw as sodden. The same herb eaten/ healeth the common Lazares/ if they drink whey after the receiving of this same herb. The leaves bruised and laid in wool/ and put into the place of conception/ draweth down woman's sickness. Calaminte either strewed on the ground/ or set on fire/ driveth away serpents. If it be sodden in wine/ it maketh black scars to be white/ and taketh away the black colour of brasinge. Calamint is laid unto the Sciatica/ to draw humores out from the deep bottom/ and burneth the utter part of the skin. The juice poured in ones ears/ killeth the worms there. Galen saith if it be taken in sweet honeyed wine/ it provoketh a man to sweat/ and that some use to seth this herb in oil/ and anoint all the body with it to drive away the cold of agues/ and that it cutteth a sunder gross humores. Of marigolds. depiction of plant Caltha. CAltha is called of the Herbaries' Calendula/ in English a marygold/ in Duche Ringblomen/ in French Soulsie: it is not yet surely known/ how that this herb Caltha was called amongs the Grecians/ for it is hard to find any mention of this herb purposedly described: Howbeit I find mention of Caltha in the description of Chrisanthemon/ for Dioscorides after Ruellin●s translation/ sayeth these words: Chrysanthemon aut Caltha non nullis Buthalmos herba est fructicosa/ that is/ Chrisanthemon or Caltha/ which some call Buthalmus is a bushy herb/ if this text were true/ we might be sure to know a Greek name for Caltha. For busy that it were a Greek name itself/ it should be called also Chrysanthemon: but my Greek Dioscorides which Cornarius hath set forth/ hath calcas/ where as Ruellins hath caltha/ which thing maketh me doubt whether the Grecians hath made any mention of caltha or no/ for Chrysanthemon or Goldfloure may as well be called chalcas of the brazen colour that it hath (for chalcas in Greek/ is brace in English) as it may be called buthalmus/ of the likeness that it hath of the oxeye/ Caltha is but sklenderlye described of the Latin authors/ for Virgil doth only call it read yellow caltha/ and pliny among yellow violettes and other yellow flowers/ maketh mention of caltha/ and saith that it hath a strong savour/ of which places we can only guess that our marigold should be the Latin mens Caltha. The properties of marigolds. marigolds flowers drunken/ draw down woman's sickness/ & so doth the juice of the herb/ which is a present remedy for the tooth ache/ if the mouth be washed with it: some use to make their heir yellow with the flower of this herb/ not being content with the natural colour/ which God hath given them. A perfume made of the dried flowers of this herb/ and put to the convenient place/ bringeth down the seconds. Some use this herb to provoke sweat in the pestilence/ sodden in posset ale/ or white wine. Of Hemp. CAnnabis named both of the Grecians and Latins/ is called in English hemp/ in Duche hanffe/ in French chanure. Hemp sayeth Dioscorides/ is profitable for many things in man's life/ and specially to make strong cables and roopes of. It hath leaves like an Ash tree/ with a strong savour/ long stalks and round seed. The properties of Hemp. HEmpsede taken largely in meat/ wasteth up the natural sede/ the juice of green hemp/ is good against the ache of the ear/ if it be poured in. Simeon Sethy writeth/ the hemp seed if it be taken out of measure/ taketh men's wits from them/ as Coriander doth/ & that the powder of the dried leaves of hemp/ maketh men drunken. Pliny writeth that the juice of hemp put into ones ear/ killeth worms and all beasts that are in the ear/ but it maketh the head ache/ & that hemp is of such a nature/ that it can congeal the water/ and make it go together/ & that therefore it is good for beasts maws/ drunken in water. The root sodden in water/ maketh soft the joints that are shrunken together & gouts/ & like diseases. He saith that it is also good to be laid upon burned places/ but that it must be oft changed that it dry not. Dioscorides maketh mention of an other kind of wild hemp/ which some reckon to be Eupatorium vulgar: but that can not be/ for it hath nether sedes like unto marish mallow/ neither may a man make ropes of the bark of it/ which thing belong unto wild hemp/ wherefore it can not be wild hemp. Of wild Gelover or Gelyfloure. depiction of plant Cantabrica. Gelover. depiction of plant Cantabrica syluestris. wild Gelover. diverse learned men have judged the herb that we call in English Gelover or a Gelyfloure/ to be Vetonica in Dioscorides/ but saying the place out of which they gather their opinion/ is proved to be but bastard/ and set to by some other to Dioscorides: they have no sure ground of their opinion. And where as some allege/ that Paul maketh two kinds of betony/ that their opinion might take place: yet it is nothing to the purpose/ for the leaves of the one Betony are indented like an Oak/ and the other is like Peny ryal/ and their Betonica hath leaves like a Leek or broad grass/ so that their Betonica can be nether of Paulis Betonies'. And where as Pliny is alleged to have two kinds of Betonica or Vetonica/ it can not be found so in Pliny/ that is right corrected: therefore they have no foundation to build their opinion upon. I think that our Gelover is Cantabrica in Pliny/ for he describeth Cantabricam thus: In the self Spain was found Cantabrica/ of the people of Cantabria/ in the time of Augustus. It groweth everywhere with a rishy stalk a foot height/ whereupon are long flowers/ in long vessels after the form of a Lily flower/ that is to wit/ little at the setting on/ and brother ever toward the end: and in this is very small seed. This description of Pliny seemeth unto me to agree very well unto the herb called of the Apothecaries Tunica/ and in English/ wild Gelover/ for it hath a small stalk like unto an rishe/ both in colour and quantity/ and hath such a long vessel upon the top as represented the form of it/ called in Latin Calathus. The gardin Gelovers are made so pleasant and sweet with the labours and wit of man/ and not by nature. depiction of plant Cantabrica. The Virtues of Gelovers. THE juice of wild Gelover/ as the later writers do hold/ is good to break the stone/ and to bring forth/ and is also good for the falling sickness. The root of the gardin Gelover is good against the plague: and therefore some use to make conserves of the flowers/ and use in the time of pestilence: they hold also that it is good against the shaking of a quartan ague/ and that the juice of it is good for the tooth ache/ holden in one's mouth fasting/ and that it is also good for sinews that are cut/ for the ache of the gout/ & for the biting of a mad dog/ if it be laid upon the bitten place/ brosed/ or the juice of it. Of fumitory. depiction of plant Capnos. depiction of plant Capnos phragmites. FVmitorie is called in Greek Capnos/ in Latin Fumaria/ of the Pothecaries Fumus terre/ in Duche Erdrauch/ or Dwenkeruel. fumitory is a bushy herb and very tender/ and like unto Coriandre/ but it hath whiter leaves/ and them in great number/ which are as though it were of an ash colour and purple flowers. In the top of the herb are little round knoppes after the flowers begun. It groweth in the corn in gardens/ in vineyards/ in hedges/ and in all ploughed and digged places. fumitory is hot & dry in the second degree/ and of a manifest bitterness/ which is a witness of the heat of the same. The Virtues of fumitory. THE juice of this herb/ which in deed is sharp/ maketh clear eyes and tears to come forth/ wherefore it hath the name/ laid to with gum/ it will not let the double heirs of eye lids to grow again. The herb eaten/ driveth forth choleric water. The later writers use fumitory/ to purge and make clean men's blood/ and give it in whey/ or other liquores against scabs and scourye diseases/ and such other like/ which come of Melancholey and choler. pliny maketh mention of another Capnos/ which is named of Theophrastus' Capnos phragmitis/ that is to say/ fumitory of the hedges. This herb hath leaves like Coriander/ but greater: a purple flower in the top of the stalk/ and sometime white/ the root is round and hollow/ and bitter/ wherefore it hath the property for to open/ and to break in sunder gross humores. It groweth in great plenty in the hedges about Bon in Germanye/ and it is called in Duche Hollworte/ and it may be called in English Howelwurt or Hollow wort. Of Capers. CApparis is a Greek word/ which the Latins use as their own also: and Capparis is called in Theodorus Gaza in Latin inturis/ and it is called in English Capers/ in Duche Cappres/ in French Capres. Capers is a prickye bush/ which lying upon the ground/ stretched forth unto a round circle/ and hath pricks as a bramble/ crokinge in/ after the fashion of a hook: It hath round leaves like unto a Quince tree/ and a fruit like an Olive/ which when it gapeth and is opened/ showeth a white flower/ and when it is shaken away/ there is a thing found in it/ like a long acorn/ which when it openeth/ hath corns like unto the corns of Pomegranates/ little and red: The roots are hard great and many. I have seen Capers grow in diverse gardens of Italy/ but not in the fields that I remember of. The Virtues of Capers. Caper's as Simeon Sethy writeth/ be hot and dry in the second degree/ but they are of diverse and sundry qualities/ one is bitter/ wherewith they clang/ purge/ and cut in sunder. An other is biting sharp/ wherewith they heat drive abroad and make thin: The third is astringent/ or binding together/ wherewith they draw together and bind: wherefore they help hard miltes/ both taken in/ and also laid without with vinegar or oxymel. Caperes also provoke woman's sickness: thesame sodden with wine and vinegar are good for the tooth ache. But the root is stronger in all these cases than the leaves/ the stalk/ and the fruit are. Caperes do make soft the hardness of wens and kernels/ and such other like hard lompes: The juice of Caperes killeth the worms of the ears with vinegar: they do open the stopping of the liver and milt/ and of a certain natural property/ They are specially good for the milt/ they are also good for the Sciatica/ but they hurt the bladder and the kidneys. Dioscorides writeth that both the stalks and also the fruits of Capperes are laid up in pickle to be eaten/ and that they trouble the belly/ and are evil for the stomach/ and ingendre thirst/ and that the fruit of them drunken in wine forty days/ wasteth away the milt/ and driveth forth bloody water. But they say also/ they are good to be drunken against the palsy/ and against burstings and places drawn together. Of Archichockes. CArduus called in Greek Scolimus after Galene/ Aetius and Paulus/ is a sundry herb from Cinara. But other authors make only this difference/ that Carduus should be wild Archychock/ and Cinara should be the garden Archychock. Archychock is very slenderly and to shortly described of Dioscorides: for he describeth it no largelyer than thus: It hath leaves of Chameleon/ or blacker than the white thistle/ and thycker. It hath a long stalk/ and full of leaves/ with the head full of pricks/ and a black root and a thick. Theophrastus sayeth that Archychocke is marked to have this property by itself/ that the root is good to be eaten both raw and sodden/ and that it is also very good when it flourisheth/ and that when the root waxeth hard/ it sendeth forth a white juice like milk. pliny writeth that it is a marvel to see/ how that in the kinds of Archychock some bring forth flowers all the hole summer/ some do conceive/ and some bring forth fruit. Archychocke when it is very young/ it hath very sharp pricks: but when it is old/ it hath no pricks at all. Thus far have I rehearsed the words of Dioscorides/ Theophrastus/ and pliny/ which are sufficient to declare that our Archychocke is the herb that they call Scolimus and Cinara. But beside there description/ for the better knowledge of this herb/ it is to be added/ that the leaves of Archychock are very deeply indented/ even to the very sinews/ which depart the mydleaves. And the fruit of Archychocke is much like unto a Pyneappel nut: but the thick leaves of the head/ which after the manner of scales lie one upon an other/ be a great deal broader and thicker/ than they that are in pine apples. The wild Archychock hath a great deal narrower leaves/ then the other/ and much longer and sharper pricks then the garden Archychock hath. And the fruit is all prickye and very sharp. The Virtues of Archychock. AEtius writeth that the root of Archychock sodden in wine and drunken/ driveth out much stinking urine. And therefore that it healeth the stinking of all the hole body. He sayeth that it is hot in the beginning of the third degree/ and dry in the second/ which qualities in the Archychockes that we have in England/ I could never yet perceive. Galene saith that Archychock hath a naughty juice/ and giveth and maketh evil nourishment to the body/ specially if it be hard/ for than it hath in it a choleric humour in great plenty/ and hath the hole substance hard/ in so much that of it/ is engendered a melancholic nourishment/ and of the juice of it/ is engendered a thin and a choleric humour. Wherefore it is best to eat it sodden with oil and with wine. pliny writeth/ that this herb taken in wine/ stirreth up the lust of the body. But he affirmeth that Hesiodus and Alseus witness/ that likewise as this herb provoketh lust in women/ so it abateth thesame in men. Of Caruwayes. CAruwayes is called in Greek Caros and karon/ the Latin men call it Carum and Careum/ the Apothecaries call it Caruwy/ the Duche men call it Matkumell or Wishen kumel/ and the Frese Hofcumine. It groweth in great plenty in Freseland in the meadows ther/ between Marien hough and Werden/ hard by the Sea bank. Caruwayes hath many squared stalks and hollow/ coming out of one root. And out of the tops of the stalks groweth sedes after the manner of fennel or Dille/ and it hath white flowers and leaves like wild carrot: The roots are long/ small/ and yellow/ and pleasant in taste. The seed is hot and dry almost in the third degree/ but the root and the herb are not so hot. The virtues and properties of Caruwayes. CAruwaye warmeth the body/ and provoketh urine/ and is good for the stomach/ and maketh one have a sweet breath. It helpeth also digestion/ and it is mixed amongs preservatives/ and such as easily goeth thorough one. It may be used in the stead of Anis/ and it is good against wind/ both in the stomach and in the guts. The stalks when they come first up/ be wonderful pleasant eaten in a salad unsodden. And the herb serveth to make sweet and well savoured pottage. Of Segge or Sheregres. CArex is the Latin name of an herb/ which we call in English Segge or Shergres/ whereof I find no mention/ neither among the grecians/ neither among the Latins/ saving that I have read of it in Vergil/ and in Calphurnius. Calphurnius writeth thus of this herb: Ipse procul stabo/ vel acute carice tectus. I will stand far away covered with the sharp segge. Vergil also in his Georgikes maketh this Shergres to be sharp/ and in his Egloges he maketh it to grow thick together in bushes/ in these words: Tu post carecta latebas. Thou lurkedest behind the segge bushes. This herb that I do take to be carex/ groweth in fens and in water sides/ and hath a short root/ red without/ and many little strings at it. The leaves as they come out first/ be three square/ afterwards they do go abroad/ and represent a long small knife/ but not without certain squares. And the edges of this herb are so sharp/ that they will cut a man's hand/ and have a certain roughness/ which maketh them to cut the sooner: of the which property the Northern men call it Sheregres. It hath a long stalk/ and three square/ and in the top of that is a sort of little knoppes/ in stead of sedes/ and flowers much like unto our garden galangal. I have not red any use of this in Physic. The people of the Fen countries use it in for father/ and do heat ovens with it. Of Doder. depiction of plant Cassuta. DOder is called of some of the grecians Cassitas/ of the later Latin men Cassutha. It is calleth of the Apothecaries and common Herbaries' Cuscuta/ and podagra liny: the Duche men call it Filtzkraut/ Doder and wrang/ in French it is named Gout de Line. Doder groweth out of herbs and small bushes/ as Miscelto groweth out of trees: and neither of both grow out of the ground. Doder is like a great red harp string/ and it windeth about herbs/ folding much about them/ and hath flowers and knoppes/ one from another a good space/ wherein is sede. This herb hath neither leaves/ nor stalk/ neither root in the ground. The herbs that I have marked Doder to grow most in/ be flax/ and tars/ and nettles. We call in England savoury/ that hath Doder growing on it/ laced savoury: and Time that hath thesame/ laced tyme. The laces that go about Time/ is Epithymum of Dioscorides/ Galene/ and other old writers. I have seen it in Germany and in England in plenty. Matthiolus seemeth to judge/ that there is no mention made of Cassuta in Pliny/ because he maketh his Cassutas to grow in Syria/ and because he maketh it to wind about trees/ when as our Cassuta groweth out of Syry/ and groweth not about tre●s/ but only upon herbs and bushes/ and because in all the Plinyes that he saw it is written/ not Cassitas but Caditas. They that corrected pliny/ and red for Caditas Cassitas/ did not without a cause/ for Serapio writing of Cassuta/ sayeth thus/ as he is translated in Latin chasuth/ id est/ cassuta/ est res que adheret herbis involuens eas sicut fila/ said in summitatibus habet fructum subtilem/ ex ipsa crescit in arboribus. That is cassuth/ that is to say/ Cassuta is a thing that cleaveth to herbs/ foldinge and winding about them like threads/ but in the tops it hath a small fruit/ and it groweth upon trees. Out of this place of Serapio/ a man may gather that it ought to be red in Pliny Cassitas and not Caditas/ and that Cassuta groweth not only about herbs/ but also about trees. It followeth not/ Cassitas groweth in Syria/ therefore it groweth only in Syria as Matthiolus gathereth. As little doth his other argument follow/ our Cassuta in these countries groweth only upon herbs and bushes/ therefore it groweth now here upon trees/ therefore it is not Cassitas of pliny. When as the arabians confess in their writings/ that it groweth in there countries also about trees. There is no cause therefore/ but that we may judge that our Cuscuta is called in Pliny Cassitas/ out of which word when as y is pronounced after u gallicum/ may easily grow cassutha. The nature of Doder. DOder openeth the stopping of the liver and milt. It discharged the veins of phlegmatic and choleric humours by the urine. It healeth the jaundice that cometh of the stopping of the liver. It is good for children that have the ague. But much use of it/ hurteth the stomach/ but that hurt is taken away by putting a little Anis unto it/ with wormwood it purgeth a man of yellow choler. Of chestnut tree. CAstanea called Castonos in Greek/ and of tome dios balanos/ is named in English Chestnut tree/ in Duche Ein Kestenbaum/ in French Castaigney. The fruit of it is called of some Glans sardiana/ that is a Sardian acorn. chestnut tree is a great tree/ and hath leaves long and indented like a nettle/ The husk of the fruit is all rough without/ and within it hath a brown skin/ and white meat within. chestnut trees grow plenteously in Kent abroad in the fields/ and in many gardens in England. depiction of plant Castanea. The Virtues of chestnuts. SImeon Sethi writeth that chestnuts are hot & dry in the first degree/ and nourish the body much. They are long in going down/ and in digesting: and engender gross humours/ and are full of wind/ and stop the belly/ but if they be perched or dried/ they put away a great deal of the hurt that they would have done raw. Dioscorides sayeth that the brown skin next unto the meat/ stoppeth mightily/ and that the meat of chestnuts is a remedy against the poison of the herb Ephemerum. Of nettle tree or Lote tree. CEltis is named in Greek Lotos'/ it is called in French/ as Gesner saith/ Algsiez or Ledomier: but how that it is calleth in English and in Duche/ I can not tell: for I never saw it/ neither in germany/ nor in England/ but I have seen it in Italy. It hath a leaf like a nettle/ therefore it may be called in English nettle tree or Lote tree. depiction of plant Lotus arbor sive Celtis. Pliny writeth thus of Lotus: Africa in that part/ where as it turneth towards us/ bringeth forth an excellent tree called Lotus or Celtis/ which also groweth much in Italy. It is of the bigness of a Pere tree. Howbeit Cornelius Nepos maketh it a short tree/ the leaf is indented much/ else it might seem to be the leaf of Ilex. The fruit of this is of the bygnes of a Been/ and of the colour of saffron. Before it is ripe it hath many diverse colours as grapes have. It groweth in Africa thick as Myrtelles do/ and not as Cherries do in Italy. It is so sweet meat/ that it did give a name unto the people there where it groweth. They say that the bellies of them that eat that/ shall feel no sickness: it is better without the inward kyrnels/ the which in a certain other kind seemeth as hard as a stone. There is also pressed out of this fruit wine like unto honeyed wine: the which/ as it is said/ can not endure longer than ten days. We have red/ saith Pliny/ that hole hosts of men in Africa have been fed with this same fruit. The wood hath a black colour/ and is much desired of men for to make pipes/ to make knyffe heftes/ and such other like things/ of the roots of it. Dioscorides describeth an other kind of Lotus/ which he saith is of a wonderful bigness/ and bringeth forth a berry bigger than pepper/ sweet and pleasant in meat/ & easy for the stomach. Of these authors we do gather/ that there are two kinds of Lotus/ of the which I have seen but the one kind/ and that in Clavenna a little city/ as we enter in at the foot of the mountains/ beside an old castle. The Virtues of Lotus. THE berries stop the belly/ the broth of the shavings or shivers of this wood/ either in wine/ or in infusion/ helpeth the bloody flux of the mother/ it maketh one's heir red/ and stoppeth the belly. Of Centory. depiction of plant Centorium minus. CEntaurium is of two sorts/ the one is called Centaurium magnum/ and it is called of the Apothecaries Raponticum/ and in English Rapontike. It groweth only in gardens: I never saw it/ saving only in italy and Germanye. The second kind is called in Latin Centaurium minus/ in English centaury/ in Duche Tausent gulden/ in French Fel terre. Great Centaury/ otherwise called Raponticum/ hath leaves like unto a Walnut tre/ something long/ of the green colour of coal/ indented round about/ it hath a stalk like unto a dock ij. or iij. cubits of height in the top/ of the which are hedes like unto poppy/ round & long. The flower is blue/ the sede is like wild saffron/ wrapped in certain flocks like wool/ the root is thick/ heavy and sound/ of three foot long/ and full of juice/ biting with a certain astriction/ and some sweetness/ the colour of it is red. There grow many bastard stalks out of the root/ beside the principal stalk. Centaurum minus/ that is the less Centaury/ which is our common Centory in England/ is an herb like unto Organ/ or wild Marierum/ or saint john's wurte. It hath a stalk full of corners a span long and more/ with a flower like unto rose Campion/ that is to wit crymesyne/ turning toward purple. The leaves are like rue/ long/ and small: the fruit of it is like unto wheat. The root is very small/ smooth/ and of no value/ but it is bitter. The Virtues and Properties of rue Pontic. THE root helpeth burstings and drawynges together/ those that are sick in the pleurisy/ and them that are shortwinded/ the old cough/ and them that spit blood without an ague with wine/ if they have an agewe/ if it be taken with water in the quantity of two drams/ so that it be brosed and given to the patient. So likewise doth it help the gnawing and pain of the mother. It provoketh also woman's sickness/ and driveth forth the child/ if it be put into the secret place of conception/ and the juice doth the same/ it healeth wounds well if the herb be green and brosed/ or if it be dry/ and then steeped and brosed. It bindeth together and healeth up wounds/ the flesh will grow together if it be sodden and brosed with this same herb. pliny writeth that this herb is good for the diseases of sheep. The Virtues of Centory. THE herb bruised when it is green/ if it be laid unto wounds/ it doth join them together again/ it scoureth old sores/ and covereth them with skin/ it driveth out choler and gross humours thorough the belly/ if it be sodden and drunken. The broth that it is sodden in/ is good to pour in against them that have the sciatica/ for it draweth the blood/ and easeth the pain. The juice is very good for to put in the medicines for the eyes/ for with honey it purgeth away the darkness of the eyes/ The same laid in with wool into the natural place/ bringeth down woman's sickness. The juice drunken/ healeth properly the diseases of the sinews. centaury is good for the stopping of the milt and the liver/ for the colyke it killeth worms/ and healeth the ache of the mother/ some do write also/ that it doth let the spitting of blood/ It is also good to lay without upon a hard milt/ to make it soft again. Of Cudweed or Chafweed. CEntunculus named in Greek Gnaphalion/ is named in Duche Rurkraut/ and in English in some places Cartaphilago. Howbeit there is an other herb which is the true Cartaphilago/ is much differing from this same herb. Centunculus called in York shire cudweed/ and in Northumberlande Chafweed/ because it is thought to be good for chafinge of any man's flesh with going or riding. Gnaphalion which is described of Dioscorides and pliny/ at the first sight/ is like unto the herb which is called of the Apothecaries Stechas citrina/ and in Duche Rindblome. But nether the flowers are so bright yellow/ neither the leaves are so long: The leaves of Centunculus have both without a white wool or cotton. Beside this kind that Dioscorides describeth/ there is also another kind/ which hath a rough thing like will/ both without and within the leaves. This hath leaves like unto Rosmary/ but longer/ and all the stalk through is full of brown flowers/ growing thick together in knoppes/ having leaves all about them/ but specially in under the flower/ the former kind groweth much in heaths and moors/ the second kind groweth in watery places/ and specially there where as turfs have been digged. And Matthiolus judgeth well me think/ this second herb to be impiam in Pliny. The virtues of cudweed or Cudwurte. CVdwurte or Chafweede/ is good sodden in tart wine against the common flux. It stoppeth also woman's flowers/ It is also good to be put into the fundament against the void desire of going to stool/ when that m●n can do nothing/ it is good also to lay upon rotting sores to heal them withal. Of the kinds of Onions. AN Onion was once called of the old Latins Vnio/ because one herb did grow upon one root/ and now it is called cepa or cepe/ The Grecians call it Crommion. The Duche men call it zwibbel/ or sepel/ the French men call it oignon. There are divers kinds of Onions/ the first kind is our common Onion/ which hath long hollow leaves like pipes/ a round hollow and smooth stalk/ in whose top groweth a great knop all full of sedes/ the root is round like a rape: but that it is not so thick/ and hath a read skin about it/ this kind is called commonly in Latin Cepa or Cepe. The second kind is called in Greek Crommion ascalonion/ in Latin Cepa ascalonia/ and in English ascalion. Ascalion differeth from an Onion/ in that it hath a great deal less head/ and a longer neck/ and thycker. depiction of plant Cepa. depiction of plant Scalyon. Theophrastus' in the seven. book of the story of plants/ and the iiij. chapter writeth thus of the kinds of onions: Cepe fissiles (which hath their name that one is cloven from another) and Ascalonie/ which have their name of Ascalonia/ a place in jewery/ differ amongs themselves both in dresshing in the garden/ and also in nature. The gardiner's do leave the cloven onions in winter/ as of no effect with their leaves. In the springe time they take of the outward leaves/ and trim the rest/ when that this is taken away/ other do bud again/ and than are they cloven beneath/ whereof they have their name/ and be called cloven onions. Thus far hath Theophrastus'/ whose words we may plainly gather/ that the herb which is called of him cepa fissilis/ and in Greek Crommion schiston/ is it that we call in English Holleke/ and the Duche men call Sere or Sure/ and in Freseland Severely. And thesame opinion may be confirmed by the authority of Pliny/ in the nineteen. book and vj. chapter of his natural history/ in this words: They leave the onion/ called Schiston cromion/ in winter with his leaves/ and in the spring they do take of the leaves/ and other rise up in under again with thesame divisions/ where upon they have their name: Thus far pliny. The onions that we call Hollekes/ be of this nature/ that if one be set alone/ that their will a great sort within a short space grow of that same root/ without any sowing: and if ye take one of the cluster of/ where as there are a dozen together/ and set it in harvest in the ground alone/ that one shall bring you a dozen/ if the ground be fruitful the next year. Wherefore saying this herb lasteth in the ground all winter/ it were better to call it winter onion/ than holleke. pliny also putteth a very plain difference between the Scallyone and the Holleke in these words: This is the proper nature of Scalliones/ they are baron in bringing forth by the root/ therefore the grecians have conselled to sow them/ and not to set them: These are Pliny's words whereof we gather that one kind of Onions is plenteous/ and maketh increase by the root. But seeing that nether the common onion nor the scallione bringeth forth by the root/ neither any other kind of onion/ saving the Holleke/ it followeth that it must only be Cepafissilis. Matthiolus saith that Cepa fissilis is called in Hetruria Cepolla maligia. depiction of plant Cepa Fissilis. The Nature of Onions. Onions as Galene saith/ be hot in the fourth degree/ and substance is of gross parts/ wherefore they open the emrodes/ both laid to/ & after the manner of an emplaster/ & also as an ointment with vinegar. Dioscorides writeth that if it be put in as a suposetory/ that it openeth the emrods/ & such other places as excrements use to issue out by. The long onion is sharper than the round & the yellow sharper than the white/ & the dry sharper than the green/ & the raw sharper than the sodden or the roasted. Yet do they all bite and engender wind. The juice of onions laid to with honey/ healeth the darkness of the eyes/ and dullness of sight/ the haws & clouds of the eyes/ shooting of blood in the eyes/ when they begin/ they are good for the quinsey/ if the place be anointed with it: the juice driveth out woman's sickness/ and purgeth the heed/ poured in at the nose thrills: it is good to lay to the biting of a dog: with raw honey and vinegar/ it is good for the chafing of one's foot with his shoe/ laid to which capons grease: it is good to lay upon their heads whose heir falleth of. Onions eaten in meat largely make the head ache/ when they are sodden/ they provoke more plenteously urine/ they make them forgetful/ which in the time of their sickness use them out of measure. Onions sodden with rasins and figs/ make ripe swellings and burst them very quickly. Of the herb called Cepea. depiction of plant Caepea Brooklyme. depiction of plant Sea porcelain. CEpea as Dioscorides writeth/ is like unto porcelain/ but it hath blacker leaves/ and a small root. pliny saith that Cepea is like Porcelline/ but it hath a blacker root & nothing worth/ growing in sandy sea shores with a bitter taste. Dioscorides maketh Cepea like unto porcelain/ saving in blackness of leaves. And pliny making Cepeam also like unto Porcelleine/ writeth that the difference which is between them/ is in the blackness of the root/ wherefore if the books be true/ Cepea Dioscoridis & Pliny are not all one. I have seen the herb that Pliny describeth oft in Freselande/ except I be far deceived/ by the sea side with in the sea banks/ in such places as the sea cometh/ to every springe tide/ it may be called in English sea porcelain: the leaves are very like porcelain/ and are more salt then bitter as oft as I have proved. I found the same herb of late beside the isle Porbeck. But when as Dioscorides seemeth to make one Cepeam/ and Pliny an other/ there must be two kinds of Cepea. As for it of Pliny/ I have spoken of it before: but as touching the Cepea of Dioscorides/ I have thought that a certain kind of small broocklyme was Cepea/ but afterwards I saw in Freseland in watery places/ and oft in Paul'S that were full in winter and dried up in summer an herb/ which looked much liker unto porcelain/ then brooklyme doth. It had leaves like porcelain/ but much less. I doubt which of these two I should take for the right Cepea. Fuchsius which taketh brooklyme but not truly/ for Sio/ in the end of the chapter of Zion saith/ that the herb is used this day of horseleeches to suage swellings and to heal scabs of farcies' of horses. Tragus hath thesame meaning and telleth also/ that if it be fried with butter and vinegar/ and oft laid to/ and taken of & renewed again/ that it healeth not only any swelling/ but also saint Antony's fire/ or such inflammationes. I have proved it myself by experience/ that brooklyme is very good for a decease that reigneth much in Freseland called the Scourbuch. I sod the herb in butter milk/ the cheese and butter taken away/ and gave the pacientes it so/ I made them eat it diverse ways/ whereby they were within a short time healed. But I never proved as yet/ what virtue the other herb that groweth in Paul'S hath. Matthiolus setteth out in deed an herb not unlike unto porcelain/ but he nether telleth where it groweth/ neither what colour it hath/ neither what taste nor smell it hath/ neither what virtue it hath/ neither what the Apothecaries name it/ neither the common people. Wherefore no man can learn of him how to find it again/ except a man will go to the Phisiciane which sent him the herb. For the figure of an herb maketh it not alone/ but the qualities also that belong thereto. As with diverse other learned Phisicianes/ Matthiolus refuseth herbs having a convenient figure/ yet for lack of the virtues and qualities that the herb should have with the figures/ and will not suffer them to be taken for the herbs which other of lighter judgement take than to be only for the figure and fashions sake. Wherefore I had liefer take Brooklime for Cepea/ though it be not so like porceline as other be/ because it is tried to heal scabs as cepea of Dioscorides doth. Amatus Lusitanus who taketh in hand to declare Dioscorides/ being belike more cunning in the Duche tongue/ than in his own/ or else having more help of the Duche writers/ than of the Spaniards or Italians/ giveth to Cepea nether any Spanish/ neither Italian name/ but a Dutch name/ and he calleth it in Duche wild purtzel. But wild purtzel as Tragus a dutch writer of herbs saith/ differeth nothing from the gardin porcelain/ but that it hath less leaves and flowers/ and rinneth and speedeth itself upon the ground/ when as the gardin porcelaine hath broader leaves & groweth righter up. This wild purtzel did I find thissame year in the montaines of Wissenburgh/ a little from a vineyard/ & I am sure that it was a right kind of porcelaine. Then when as Cepea is not in Dioscorides a kind of porcelain/ but is only like porcelain/ Amatus giveth a wrong Dutch name to Cepea. Wherefore let not the Duche men give any credit unto him in this matter: The same maketh Telephium wild porcelain/ & the third kind of sedi wild porcelain/ and Cepeam wild porcelain. It is marvel that he that hath been in so many lands/ and professeth to teach so many names/ in so many tongues can find for three diverse herbs all differing in name one from an other/ but one name which is in Latin Portula syluestris/ which is named in dutch Wild purtzel. And in his enarration of Cepea/ which is the 165. he showeth no more but that this herb groweth chiefly about the sandy sea shores/ where as the wild purtzel of the duche men groweth not as Fuchsius and Tragus in their herbals bear witness. Wherefore his enarration is contrary unto his nomination/ & of very small effect/ as the most part of all his enarrations be. The Virtues of Cepea. THE leaves drunken in wine/ help the strangulion/ and them that have scabs in their bladder/ and that doth it chiefly/ if it be taken in wine wherein the roots of wild sperage is sodden. Of Chamecyparissus. CHamecyparissus is supposed of some men to be the herb that we call Lavender cotton/ whose opinion thought it is not worthy to be condemned with checks. Yet I found an other herb in the mountains above Bonne/ which being in all points much more like a Cypress tree than Lavender cotton is: me think that it is rather Chamecyparissus/ it may be called in English Heth Cypress/ because it groweth among Heth/ or dwarf cypress. This herb that I speak of/ is little more than a span long/ and hath leaves as ye shall see in the picture very like to a Cypress tree/ and little knoppes in the top like unto a Cypress nut/ but some thing longer for their quantity/ The leaves are plain astringent without any heat at al. This herb groweth in a Heth beyond Bon/ in the side of a mountain/ but I never saw it any where else/ saving there in all my life. Tragus calleth this herb sabinam syluestrem/ and Matthiolus writing upon sabine/ sayeth that some in Italy are deceived in the knowledge of the right sabine/ and take this herb for it. He saith also that he hath judged this herb to be Silago in Pliny/ which he maketh like unto sabine. Now when as Dioscorides saith that sabine is like cypress/ and divers take this herb for a kind of sabine/ and is but of a small height/ me think I judge not amiss/ that this is Chamecyparissus/ namely/ when as it hath astriction beside the figure/ like unto Cypressus. Matthiolus granteth that Lavender cotton is in Dioscorides Abrotonum femina/ and entreating of the cypress tree/ sayeth that it is also Chamecyparissus pliny/ which I think can not be true/ saying that pliny nether entreating of Abrotonum/ calleth any kind of it Chamecyparissum/ neither whereas he speaketh of Chamecyparissus/ showeth that it is also called Abrotonun/ which manner he oft times keepeth/ when one herb hath many names. depiction of plant Chamaecyparissus. depiction of plant Chamaecyparissus Fuchsij. The Virtues of Chamecyparissus. THE herb of Chamecyparissus/ which may be called ground Cypress or Heth cypress/ drunken in wine/ is good against all poison of all serpents and scorpiones/ other properties I find in no author of this herb/ wherefore I dare not give unto it all the properties of the Cypress tree/ as some men do/ because it hath some qualities like Cypress tree/ & hath the name of Cypress tree/ and this word Chame/ which betokeneth by the ground or low/ for as Chamemelum hath the name of Chame and melon/ and one quality of an apple/ that is to wit/ the smell/ and yet hath not the nature of an apple. And as chame daphne/ which hath the name of chame and daphne/ that is a low bay tree/ and hath leaves like a bay tree/ and yet hath not the virtues of a bay tree: even so it followeth not/ that because Chamecyparissus hath the name of chame & cyparissus/ which is a Cypress tree/ and hath some qualities of the cypress tree/ that whatsoever properties the cypress tree hath/ that chamecyparissus shall have thesame/ this therefore have I given you warning of/ to read all new writers with judgement/ and to try their sayings before ye put them in practice. Of Germander. GErmander/ which is also called in Cambridge shire English treacle/ is called in Greek Chamedris/ in Latin/ Trissago/ in Duche Germanderlen/ in French Gelimandre: It is called of the Apothecaries Chamedrios. Germander groweth in rocks of germany/ over against Binge/ beside Erenfels/ and in the mountains of Wissenburgh. In England I saw it no where/ saving only in gardens. It is hot and dry in the third degree/ it is a little bush/ of a span high and more/ and hath little leaves and bitter/ in form and indenting of the leaf like unto an Oak leaf. The flower is little/ and almost a purple colour. It is best time to gather it/ when as it is full of flowers/ ready to bring forth seed. depiction of plant Chamaedrys' vera. depiction of plant Chàmaedrys' foemina Fuchsij. depiction of plant Chamaedrys' vulgar faemina Fuchsij. depiction of plant Chamaedrys' vulgar mass Fuchsij. The Virtues of Germander. Green Germander sodden in water and drunken/ is good for the cough/ for the hardness of the milt/ and for the stopping of the water/ and dropsyes that are in the beginning. It provoketh also women's sickness to come down/ and the same drunken with vinegar/ wasteth away the milt. It is also a special remedy with wine both drunken/ and also in manner of an emplaster against the bitings of serpents. It scoureth also old sores with honey/ the same laid on with oil/ driveth away the darkness of the eyes. It cutteth in sunder all gross humours/ and openeth all the inward parts. The leaves of Germander/ as Theophrastus writeth/ broken and laid in oil/ be good for burstings/ and against wounds and consuming sores. The fruit of Germander draweth out choler. The leaves also broken in oil/ be good for the white haw/ or the pearl in the eye. Of Chameleuce. CHameleuce/ called also populago/ Farfagium/ and Farranum is not all one herb in Dioscorides and Aetius/ for Aetius seemeth to make of Chameleuce and Bechion all one herb/ for he writing remedies against the cough/ giveth the same properties unto Chameleuce/ that Dioscorides giveth unto Tussilago or Bechion/ & where as Galene & Paulus write in two several places of Bechion & Chameleuce/ Aetius maketh no mention at all of Bechion/ comprisinge or holding it also under the name of Chameleuce/ as far as I can see. Pliny also in his time saith/ that theridamas was some that took Chameleuce and Tussilago to be all one. And in the names that were added unto Dioscorides/ Tussilago was called Chameleuce: howbeit in Dioscorides they are two contrary and diverse herbs: for he writeth contrary description of them in two sundry chapters. Chameleuce hath leaves bowing inward/ and hath certain branches: but Tussilago hath plain and straight leaves/ and wanteth all kind of branches/ for every leaf cometh out by itself out of the root/ and not of the stalk. Dioscorides saith that Chameleuce is a green herb with leaves bowing inward/ & with certain branches/ with a flower like a rose/ whereupon it followeth/ seeing that Tussilago hath whitish leaves and straight/ and no branches/ neither any flower like a rose/ that they can not both be of one herb. This herb that I think most like of all other to be Chameleuce/ useth to grow commonly about watersydes and in watery meadows: The proportion of the less is much like unto a water rose/ otherwise called nenufar/ but the leaf is sharper and many parts less/ and there grow many leaves on one stalk/ and in the top of the stalk is a yellow flower like unto the Kingcup/ called ranunculus: but the leaves of the flowers are thicker/ and turn inward again/ in the manner of a knop or little bell/ so that they differ nothing to look to from the flowers of the second nenufar with the yellow flower/ but that they are less/ and turn a little more inward as I do remember/ but I am sure not much. But there is one thing/ that will not suffer this herb/ that I call Lucken gollande/ to be Galenis Chameleuce: and that is/ that this herb is cold/ when as Galene maketh his Chameleuce hot almost in the third degree. When as Matthiolus a man well seen in Simples/ and as some judge best learned in them/ of all other new writers/ and borne in a country/ which is very plenteous and full of all kinds of good herbs/ which may have coming to it out of Candy/ Turkey Alexandria/ and out of Ind all kinds of herbs that grow not in Italy there: and hath the help of very many learned men in Simples (as his book in many places doth witness) can not tell what herb is Chameleuce in Dioscorides/ it is no marvel that I a poor man without help/ dwelling in a bare and barbarous country in comparison of Italy/ know it not. He complaineth of the shortness of the description of this herb in Dioscorides. The description is short/ but not so short as many other be/ for he showeth three marks/ whereby he might have known it/ if he had seen it/ that is the grennes of the leaf/ the bowing of the leaves inward/ and the likeness of the flower unto a rose. But if this description had been so short as it is not so long and large as need were/ it that wanted/ might have been fulfilled by it that is written more largely of pliny. For pliny in the 24. book of his natural history/ and the 15. chapter/ describeth Chameleucen thus: Chameleuce with us is called Farranum or Farfugium it groweth by water sides with a leaf of a Poplar tre/ but greater. And in the 26. book and 6. chapter/ he writeth thus of Chameleuce: Bechion stilleth the cough/ which is also called Tussilago. There are two kinds of it/ the leaves of the wild are greater than ivy leaves/ five or seven toward the ground whytish/ above pale without stalk/ flower and sede/ and it hath a small root. Some reckon that the herb which is called with an other name Chameleuce/ is Bechion. hitherto pliny. Now when as beside the notes above marked in Dioscorides/ Pliny hath put to these marks above rehearsed/ me think that Matthiolus hath no such cause to compleine so much as he doth of the short description of Chameleuce. The virtues of Chameleuce. I can not find in Dioscorides any other properties that Chameleuce hath saving only that it is good for the ache of the loins. Of Chamepeuce. depiction of plant CHamepeuce as Pliny writeth/ hath leaves like unto a larch tree/ which is called in Latin Larix. I can find no mention of this herb in any Author/ which hath written of herbs/ saving only in Pliny/ & he describeth it no largelier than ye read before. Wherefore it is hard to tell which is the herb which Pliny meaneth of. Gesnerus reckoneth that the herb which is called in Duche Berentopen/ & of other called pata ursina/ should be Chamepeuce the herb that he supposeth to be chamepeuce/ groweth in the top of the alpes/ & it is of a finger length and a half/ bowing something down/ like a feather that standeth in one's cap: and it is set about every where from the root unto the top with little green leaves/ whereby it doth wonderfully represent an ear of corn: This/ whose figure ye see former in order grew in the top of the alpes/ where as I gathered it myself: but there is a much less kind than this is/ which groweth in the mountains of Germany and wales/ and it creepeth hard by the ground/ all rough and full of small leaves. The uttermost branches whilse the herb is not full grown/ represent a Crowisfoote/ and every end alone is like a small ear of green corn. But at the fartherest end of the herb/ when it is grown as much as it will grow/ there cometh out of the one of the branches a little stalk/ little more than an inch & a half long/ which is full of small joints/ and every joint hath little hores tufts coming out: Out of the end of the stalk cometh two rough fruits/ much like unto the long blomes that come forth of the Haselnut tree in winter: but they are a great deal smaller and yellower/ then the nut blomes are/ & something rough. It may be called in English Heth Crowfoot/ or Heth fir/ or creeping pine. Amatus Lusitanus writing upon Chameleuce/ sayeth that Chameleuce is called in Latin Chamepeuce/ and in his enarration he sayeth/ although this chapter be red indifferently of Chameleuce & Chamepeuce/ that Pliny maketh mention of them as of two diverse things. I would axe of Amatus/ of what one ancient writer/ is the chapter of Chameleuce indifferently red of Chameleuce and of Chamepeuce both? If there be no ancient author that doth so/ what new author is there/ that readeth the chapter so: who ought not to give place unto the authority of Pliny/ which maketh two diverse herbs of Chameleuce and Chamepeuce? But Amatus following Matthiolus/ the authority of Pliny despised/ concludeth in these words: Chamepeuce being like in leaves to the larch or Larix tre leaves/ is good for the ache of the loins and ridge bone/ which herb agreeth much in those things that are spoken of Dioscorides/ so that we may justly say that Chamepeuce Plinij is the herb that Dioscorides entreateth of in this present chapter/ that is to say Chameleuce. So far Amatus. If the Chamepeuce agre with those things that Dioscorides giveth to Chameleuce/ then hath Chamepeuce leaves bowing inward certain branches & a flower like a rose. Chamepeuce hath leaves like a Larch tre/ now where is there one thing that Dioscorides giveth to Chameleuce that Chamepeuce hath/ saving that it is good for the ache of the loins/ and who sayeth that Chamepeuce is good for the loins? Is it not Pliny? If it be Pliny/ why doth not Amatus believe Pliny in making Chameleuce and Chamepeuce two diverse herbs/ as in saying that Chamepeuce is good for the ache of the loins. If pliny lose his credit/ and be not worthy to be believed in the one thing/ he loseth it also in the other/ and so when Pliny is not to be believed that Chamepeuce is good for the ache of the loins/ in what one thing doth Chamepeuce of Pliny agree with those things that Dioscorides giveth unto Chameleuce/ saving that they begin both in Chame/ and end in euce. The properties of Chamepeuce. PLiny saith that Chamepeuce is good for the ache of the loins and of the ridge bone/ they use it in Denmark & in East Freseland with old wine or milk/ against the scuerbuch/ which is called in the Northcountre the scrubby ill/ or the crepel ill/ and in germany men put it unto wine/ when it is long/ or ropinge/ or hanging/ & within few days as they say/ it amendeth the wine again. Tragus calleth this herb Muscum terrestrem in Latin/ and in Dutch Beerlap/ and he saith that it is known by experience/ that this herb drunken with wine/ breaketh the stone. Some both in Duchland and England abuse this herb for Spica celtica. Of ground pine. depiction of plant Aiuga prima. depiction of plant Chamaepitys secunda. CHamepitys in Greek/ is called in Latin Aiuga or Abiga/ and of the Apothecaries jua muscata/ and jua arthritica/ in Dutch je longer je lieber/ as Fuchsius sayeth/ but other reprove him in that/ and say that the name belongeth unto an other herb/ & in French ivy muscate: & it may be called in English Ground pine. Chamepitys is of three kinds/ the first kind hath leaves like unto stone crop/ but much thinner depiction of plant Aiuga tertia. rough and fat/ and thick about the boughs/ and hath the smell of a Pine tree. The flowers be yellow or white/ the roots are like Succore roots. This herb creepeth upon the ground/ and something crooked. The second kind hath branches of a cubit height or length/ bowing in after the fashion of an anchor/ and small/ with leaves like the other/ and a white flower/ and a black sede. The third kind is called the male/ and is but a little one with small leaves/ white and rough/ with a rough and a white stalk/ with yellow flowers/ and a seed coming out at the setting on of the leaves. All these three kinds have the smell of a Pine tree/ I never saw that I remember the two first kinds/ but I have borrowed their figures of them/ that say that they have seen them. As for the last kind I have seen it in very great plenty about worms/ and in many other places of Germany. It groweth also in good plenty in Kent/ and as I think/ it groweth in diverse other places of England. But I marvel that Matthiolus maketh this that I make the last/ the first kind/ when as this kind hath in no place that ever I was in any/ white flower. Also it that he setteth forth for the last/ as he hath set out the figure of it/ is more like unto the first kind of Diovorides/ for it hath leaves more like unto the less semperbivo/ which is called thirst/ then the third kind hath/ as any man may also see that Aiuga tertia of Matthiolus hath/ which he setteth forth his own self. Let learned men judge which of our opiniones is more worthy to be allowed. The Properties of ground pine. THE leaves drunken seven days in wine/ heal the jaundice/ and the same drunken xl. days with meed made of honey and water/ help the sciatica: they are also good for the stopping of the water/ for the diseases of the liver & kidneys/ & the gnawing of the belly: some use the broth of this herb as a preservative against the poison of wolves bayne & leopards bain: some use to put barley meal and the broth of this herb together/ and kneade them together/ and use them for the purposes above rehearsed. Thesame herb beaten into powder/ & made into pills with a fig/ and then taken/ softeneth the belly. Ground pine put into the mother with honey/ driveth forth such things as hurt the mother. It driveth away the hardness of the paps/ or the breasts: it closeth wounds together. It stoppeth also/ if it be laid to with honey/ sores that do run at large/ and consume the flesh. Pliny also saith/ that it is good against the biting of a scorpion. If it be drunk/ it draweth out cloddy or clotted blood. It maketh men to sweat if they be anointed with it. It is also good for a new cough lately begun. Some do write that this herb sodden with vinegar/ and drunken/ will drive out a dead child out of the mother's womb. Of Gume succory. depiction of plant Chondrylla. CHondrilla is not in England that I have seen/ it is much in high Germanye/ and because it hath leaves like succory/ and stalk like rushes/ it may be named in English Rishe succory/ or Gume succory: because it hath a clammy humour in it. There is mention made of two kinds of Chondrilla in Dioscorides/ of the which the former kind is thus described: Chondrilla which is called of some men Seris/ and of other Succory/ it hath a stalk/ flowers and leaves like succory: wherefore some call it wild succory/ but it is hole together smaller/ in whose stalks there cometh forth a gum like milk/ in a lump like a bean. There is an other kind of Chondrilla/ with a long leaf indented/ & as it were gnawn round about/ spredinge itself upon the ground/ the stalk is full of milky juice/ the root is small well liking yellow and full of juice. The second is it/ that I have seen in germany: The leaves of this herb are spread upon the ground/ and are indented much like unto Dandelion: the stalks and branches are small/ and in the top of every branch is a yellow flower/ which when it fadeth/ is turned into white down. The Properties of Gume succory. THE leaves and the stalk of Gume succory have the power to digest. The juice boweth back again the hear of the eye brows/ that stand not in order. It groweth in rank and mavored grounds/ some do reckon that it is good against the biting of a serpent/ because it is known by experience/ that when the field mouse is hurt/ she doth eat it. Of Chrysanthemon. CHrysanthemon is of two kinds/ one of them is spoken of in the entreating of Camomile/ and it is called in English yellow camomile. The other kind is it whereof I entreat now of. The herb which I take to be Chrysanthemon/ groweth plenteously upon the walls of Andernake in Germany/ it hath small leaves after the figure of Tansey: but many parts less and much indented/ it is full of branches/ & every branch hath yellow flowers/ and wonderful bright. Dioscorides describeth Chrysanthemon thus: Chrysanthemon or Calchas which is called Bupthalmus of some/ is a tender herb and full of branches/ & bringeth forth smooth stalks and leaves/ cut or indented: it hath flowers wonderfully shining yellow/ and resembling the apple of an eye/ whereupon it hath gotten the name of oxey: it groweth beside towns/ The herb may be called in English Goldenfloure. depiction of plant Chrysanthemon. The properties of Goldenfloure. THE flowers of golden flower broken and mixed with oil & wax/ are supposed to drive away the fat that is gathered under the skin/ after the manner of a lump/ they heal the jaundice/ and restore a man to his colour shortly/ if a man after the long use of the bath drink of them/ after he is come forth out of the bath. Of Cicerbita called Sowthistel. CIcerbita is named in Greek Sonchos/ in English Sowthistel/ in Duche Hasenkoel or Gensdistel/ in French Lateron: it groweth common enough in all contres. There are two kinds of Sowthistel/ theridamas is one that is a wild one/ & hath more pricks upon it: & the other is but soft & tender/ much desired to be eaten in meat/ with a stalk full of corners & hollow within: sometime red with leaves indented about the edges of them. The other Sowthistel is yet tenderer/ after the manner of a tre/ having broad leaves/ the leaves depart the stalk which groweth out into branches. The kinds of Sowthistels are common in every country/ wherefore I need not to tell nether their description largelier than Dioscorides hath done/ nor their natural places of growing. depiction of plant Cicerbita Sowthistel. depiction of plant Rough Sowthistel. The Virtues of Sowthistel. THE virtue of both is to cool and bind/ therefore they are good for the hoot stomach/ and also for inflammations/ if they be laid unto the place: the juice of them suageth the gnawing of the stomach if it be drunken: it provoketh also milk if it be laid to in will. It helpeth the gathering together of matter that is about the fundament and the mother. Both the herb and the root is good for them that are bitten of a Scorpion/ if it be laid to in the manner of an emplaster. Of Ciche or Ciche piece. CIcer is called in Greek Erebinthos/ in Dutch Kicherns' Kicherbs/ and zisserne/ in French Ciche ou pois ciches. Cicer is much in Italy and in Germany. I have seen them in the garden of the Barbican in London/ and I have it in my garden at Kew. Cicer may be named in English Cich or piece/ after the French tongue: Cicer is described neither of Dioscorides/ neither of Theopra. nether of Pliny/ saving that Pliny saith/ Ciche hath a round cod/ but other pulse have long and broad depiction of plant Ccicer. Theophrastus saith that Ciche hath the longest root of any pulse/ and that Cicer differeth from other pulses by many properties/ first in that it is long in bringing forth the flower/ and doth hastily bring forth the fruit/ for within xl. days after that it is come up/ it may be made perfect as some say. It is also very fast and hard as wood: it is very ill for new fallowed ground/ by the reason that it wasteth it upon/ it killeth all herbs/ and most & sounest of all other ground thistle/ every ground is not fit for this pulse/ for it requireth a black and a gross ground. Ciche also as Pliny sayeth/ cometh well up with saltness/ and therefore it burneth the ground. Cich ought not to be sown except it be laid in step a day before. There are diverse kinds of Ciches/ one is called Cicer Arietinum/ which hath the name of the likeness of a rames head/ and this is the most common Cich/ and most used now a days. There is another kind which is called Cicer nigrum/ that is black Ciche/ and that have I seen in Germany/ but seldom. There is an other kind that is called Cicer album/ that is white Ciche/ much less and rounder than the common Ciche: This also have I seen divers times in germany. There is another kind that is called Cicer columbinum and venereum/ which kind I do not remember that I have seen. These be the fragments which I have gathered out of Theophrastus and Pliny/ to supply partly the room of a description. But I will describe it as I have seen it. The common Ciche hath a very hard stalk/ and something rough/ and at the first sight it looketh like a pease/ but the leaves are a great deal smaller/ and lightly indented about/ there grow of every branch two orders of leaves/ but they stand not wingwise/ that is one right against an other/ but one higher than another/ the branches and the standing and form of the leaves/ are not unlike unto Lichores/ the flower is most commonly purple/ but sometime white/ the code is short and round/ the root is like the colour of the earth/ and not very long. Of the properties of Ciche. CIche as Galene writeth/ is a windy pulse/ and nourisheth much/ and good for the belly/ convenient to provoke water/ and to engender milk and seed. It provoketh also woman's flowers/ but it that is called rames Ciche/ doth more effectually provoke urine then the rest: the broth of it breaketh the stones that be in the kidneys. The other kind of Ciche hath the same power of drawing to/ of making ripe/ of cutting in sunder/ and in scouring away/ for they are hot and measurably moist/ and have some bitterness/ by the which strength they scour the milt/ the liver/ and the kidneys/ and clang away scabs and lepres/ and foul scurf that is upon the skin. They also away impostumes about the ears/ swellings/ and hardness of the stones: with honey also they heal sores almost uncurable. Dioscorides writeth that Ciches amend a man's colour/ and they help also the birth to come forth. Simeon Sethy writeth thus of Ciches. All kinds of Ciches are hot and moist in the first degree/ and are hard of digestion/ and engender superfluities. They provoke the pleasure of the body/ and nourish more than beans do: but they open and purge and drive down woman's flowers/ and they have some salt & sweet quality with the saltness. They louse the belly with their sweetness/ they provoke a man to make water/ they engender wind/ increase milk and do scour. But the black Ciche is a good medicine against venom and poison/ and most of all/ provoketh urine/ and breaketh the stones of the kidneys and bladder/ the which thing no other pulse can do so well/ and specially the black & little one/ and that thing doth the broth of them more mightily/ the which pulse for all that above all other pulses hurt the sores and exulcerations. But the red Ciche is hotter than the white/ and engendereth gross humores. Ciches steeped in water a night/ and then taken/ kill worms in the belly. But he that hath taken them/ let him fast six hours after. The broth of Ciches is good for the jaundice/ if black Ciche be sodden with radish and parsley/ and the broth be taken with Almond oil/ it purgeth effectually and driveth out the stones of the kidneys and bladder. But if it be taken with beans/ it maketh a good plight and fat flesh. Grene Ciches are very windy/ hard of digestion/ and make men have an evil colour. Of Cichelinge. depiction of plant Cicercula. CIcercula seemeth to be a diminutive of Cicera/ and not of Cicer/ for than it should be named Cicerculum. Cicera is found in Palladius/ which sayeth that Cicera differeth only in this from Cicercula/ that the colour is unpleasanter and blacker. Cicera is called in Greek of Theophrastus Ochros/ and he saith that it is hot and dry/ and therefore can preserve itself from corruption: Cicercula as Columella writeth/ hath sedes like a piece/ but full of corners. Pliny saith that Cicercula is of the kind of Ciche/ which is not equal/ but full of corneres as a piece. Theophrastus reckoneth Cicerculam among ervils and piece/ which have a stalk falling upon the ground/ other marks or tokens whereby Cicercula may be known/ have I not read of: it is called in Greek Lathyros/ and it may be called in English a Cichelinge. Cicercula which I have seen growing/ hath very long and narrow leaves/ and a stalk all full of corners and crests/ and greater and shorter cods/ for the quantity of the pulse/ then piece have: The seed is white & full of corners. It groweth much about Muffendorff/ about three English mile above Bon. Of Homloke or Hemloke. depiction of plant Cicuta. CIcuta is called in Greek Koneiou/ in English Homloke or Hemloke/ in Duche Schierlinge/ in French Cigne or Secu. Cicuta as Dioscorides writeth/ hath a stalk full of joints or knees/ as Fenel hath/ great and full of bows in the top: the leaves are like unto Fenel giant/ or herb Sapapene/ called Ferula/ but narrower and stinking. There grow out of the top both branches/ and also a spokye top and seed whiter then anise: but pliny saith grosser and thicker/ the root is hollow & nothing worth. Pliny saith that the stalk of Cicuta is smooth and full of joints/ and something black/ higher than two cubits/ and that the leaves are smaller than Coriander leaves. Here I think it worthy to be noted that the herb which we call Homloke/ hath leaves not very well agreeing unto the description of Dioscorides/ for Dioscorides writeth the Cicuta hath leaves like unto Ferula/ and Ferula hath leaves like unto Fenel/ saving that they are much sharper/ and something broader: But our Homloke hath leaves like unto parsley/ & in all points unlike unto Fenel/ wherefore Dioscorides knew an other kind of Cicuta than we know. Howbeit the description of Cicuta in Pliny agreeth in all points with our Homloke/ for Pliny maketh the leaves of Cicuta lyke unto Coriander/ but smaller and thinner/ which a great deal bigger than the leaves of Ferula/ as ye shall perceive when ye compare them both together: therefore I think that this Homloke that we have here/ is the true Cicuta of pliny. Some would reckon that therefore it should not be the true Cicuta/ because it hath not such perilous properties/ as ancient authors give unto Cicuta/ to whom I answer/ that all herbs have not like virtues in all places/ for Aron in some places is eaten/ and in other it is so sharp that it can not be eaten as Galene saith in his book de facultatibus alimentorum. Helleborus is not always a like good in every place as Dioscorides writeth/ and Theophrastus' writing of Cicuta/ showeth that in some places Cicuta is much stronger than in other some: Cicuta is strongest in susis/ and in all cold and shadowy places. Therefore if it have not all the hole strength that it hath in Susis/ yet it ought not therefore to be judged for any other herb then Cicuta. howbeit this same/ if that it were ordered as I know how that it might be ordered/ it would do harm more then enough. pliny also writeth that in some places men use to eat the young stalks of Homlokes in sallates. But I will counsel no man to do so/ for fear of it that may follow. The Properties of Homloke. IF that any man be afraid that he hath eaten or drunken Homloke/ let him drink pure hot wine/ which is not to subtle. The manner of keeping of the juice of Homloke/ is this: Take the tops of Homloke/ before the sedes and leaves wax hard/ and bruise them/ and press out the juice/ and set it in the sun/ and let it harden with sun/ and when it is hard/ lay it up and use it. This is good to put unto eye medicines/ to quench the ache withal. It quencheth the outrageous heat/ called saint Antonis fire/ and running sores which spread abroad very much. The herb with the leaves broken and laid unto a man's stones/ stauncheth the imaginations & dreaming of the bodily pleasure/ which chanse upon the night: but it feebleth the member of generation. The same laid upon a lately delivered woman's paps/ wasteth away the milk/ and if it be laid upon maidens breasts in the time of their virginity/ it holdeth them down/ and suffereth them not to grow. Homloke of Candye is of most strength/ and it of Magara/ after them it of Athenes/ and they that grow in Cio and in Cilicia. Of the Sea girdle. ALga which is a common name unto a great part of Sea herbs/ and is commonly called in English/ Sea wrack/ and in Greek phycoes/ is divided into divers kinds/ and every one hath a sundry form from another. Virgil maketh mention of Alga/ where he sayeth: Proiecta vilior alga. Viler then the cast out Seawrak. Among all other kinds Theophrastus describeth one after this manner: There is a certain kind of Seawrake with a broad leaf/ of a green colour/ to the which some give the name of a leek/ other call this girdle. The root is rough/ and without it is full of scales/ within very long and thick/ and not unlike unto the herb called syve onion. This kind may well be called in English Sea girdle/ it is called in Latin cingulum/ and in Greek Zoster. This herb is plenteously seen in Purbek by the sea side/ after a great tempest hath been in the Sea/ which commonly looseth such sea herbs/ and driveth them unto the side. Dioscorides maketh three kinds of Fucus or Sea wreck/ one broad/ and other kind long and read/ & the third kind white/ I saw the Sea girdle this year in july with all the properties that Theophrastus requireth in his Sea girdle: in the foresaid place/ the roots was like unto Garleke/ many chives making one great head/ and the lenes had the form of a leek/ but they were a fathom long. The Properties of Sea wreck. DIoscorides writeth that all the kinds of Sea wreck do cool/ and help not only the gout/ but also hot burnings/ called inflammations. If they be laid unto the places grieved/ yet green and moist after the manner of an emplaster. In the Bishopriche of Durram/ the husband men of the country that dwell by the Sea side/ use to fate their land with Sea wreck. Of Cirsion/ called Langue de beef. CIrsium/ called in Greek Kirsion as Dioscorides writeth/ is a tender stalk of two cubits long/ and thresquared/ the little leaves that come out beneath/ resemble in likeness a rose/ the corneres are full of pricks/ and it is soft in the spaces that are between. The leaves are like unto the leaves of Buglossum/ measurable rough and longer/ white in under/ full of pricks in the extremities or edges. The top of the stalk is round about and rough/ and in that are purple heads which wast away into down at the length/ Pliny describeth Cirsion thus: Cirsion is a tender little stalk of two cubits long like unto a triangle compassed about with prickye leaves. The pricks are soft/ the leaves are like unto ox tongue/ but less/ white in under/ and in the top are purple heads/ which consume into down. We have no herb in England that I know/ to whom all this hole description doth agree. They do not agree unto our common bugloss/ for beside that the flower is not resolved into down/ the order of pricks in the leaf doth not agree. I know no herb in England whereunto these descriptions do agree better/ than unto our Langue de beef. Howbeit/ it wanteth certain tokens/ that the description doth require/ that is purple flowers/ for ours hath yellow flowers/ and a thresquared stalk/ and as some reckon that the leaves that are undermost/ resemble not a rose. As for the colour of the flower/ I pass not so much of/ saying that it is consumed into a down/ for I know many herbs which by nature should have blue flowers/ and yet have white flowers/ as Cichory violettes and Borage. As for the thresquared stalk/ it may be so that at some time of the growing/ it hath a thresquared stalk which Dioscorides hath marked/ and not many other/ or it may be thresquared/ where as Dioscorides hath seen it/ and not here in England/ as have marked in our English Ebulo in Cambridge shire/ that the stalk was round and not foursquare/ which thing Dioscorides requireth in his country Ebulo. Dioscorides doth also require in his Elder purple blackish berries/ yet all the Elder berries which I saw in the alpes and in Retia/ were as read as scarlat: Dioscorides requireth in his less Centory cream sin flowers turning into purple/ I have seen an hole field full of white Centory. Then where as all the other properties and tokens do agree/ and no other kind can be found here so like Cirsion as this herb is: I reckon that the colour of the flower/ and the squares of the stalk (which is yet squared in deed) ought not to put forth our Langue de beef/ out of the kind of Cirsion/ although it be not all the best. As touching the little leaves which should represent the form of a rose/ I reckon that Dioscorides meaneth that the leaves spreading on the ground/ should have a certain likeness unto the figure of a rose/ which thing this our Langue de beef doth not want. For Dioscorides maketh mention twice of the leaves/ and compareth them unto two herbs nothing like at all that is unto a rose and to borage: wherefore to save Dioscorides from contradiction/ we must say that in the former place he meaneth not of every one lief severally/ that it should be like unto a rose leaf/ but that all the leaves spread abroad that are about the rote on the ground/ should resemble a rose in their fashion & manner of growing out together. If any man understand not what I mean/ let him look upon the herb which Matthiolus setteth out for cinoglossa/ & he shall understand me. Here is to be noted for them that read Dioscorides in Latin of Ruellius translation/ that they trust him not to much without the Grek text/ for he translateth in the description of Cirsion macrotera maiora/ when in other iiij. herbs he translateth the same word longiora. It is also not to be passed over in silence that Pliny hath here/ where as Dioscorides hath macrotera/ and Ruellius maiora/ minora/ that is less leaves/ so that pliny meaneth that Cirsion hath less leaves than buglossum hath. Matthiolus setteth out the figure of an herb/ that my master Lucas Ginus sent unto him/ which he taketh for the right Cirsion/ but he nether telleth the Italian name of it/ neither the name of Herbaries/ nor of the Apothecaries/ neither describeth it so/ that if a man se it again/ by his description he might know it. And because he doth lightly pass over it/ neither the taste nor smell/ nor the virtue of the herb told/ we can neither judge it to be the true Cirsion/ neither perfectly confute him in saying that it is the true Cirsion. But by the figure that he setteth out/ he may be so confuted for holding of that herb to be Cirsion/ as he confuteth other that hold that bugloss is the true Cirsion/ for he confuteth him thus. The little pricky leaves that come forth from below/ resemble not the likeness of a rose in the common bugloss/ therefore it can not be Cirsion. And even so may Matthiolus be confuted/ the leaves of the herb that are be low next the ground in his figure resemble not a rose/ said louga et continua prodeunt. Matthiolus knoweth these his own words well/ therefore by his own reason the herb that he setteth out/ can not be Cirsion. Look upon his figure when ye will/ and ye shall find that it is true that I say. The herb which I take for Cirsion/ be at lest for a kind of it/ groweth commonly in gardens in England/ and also abroad in the field in great plenty between Zion and Branfurd. Our cooks hold that it is a good pot herb/ and so it is in deed/ if bugloss and Borage be good pot herbs/ for in taste it is very like them/ and rather pleasanter in taste than they be. The seed of the herb is read drawing toward yellow. Amatus erreth in this herb as in many other: read his confutation of Matthiolus/ and ye shall find that he sayeth/ but nescienter/ amongs other reasons/ to prove that bugloss is Cirsion: Exbuglosse floribus nescio quid evanescit. Out of the flowers of bugloss/ I wot not what vanisheth out or away. If he can not tell what vanisheth away/ then he can not tell what herb is Cirsion. He should have said/ if he had known it as Dioscorides saith: Soluuntur capitula purpurea in lanugmem. But how should he say so/ except he lied/ for he never saw nether any other man/ the purple flowers of bugloss vanished away in to down/ for no honest man will say that ever bugloss had any down. Wherefore Amatus writeth of it that he never saw/ only following the judgement of other/ having none at all in this herb that we now entreat of. The Properties of Cirsion. DIoscorides showeth that Andrea's the Herbary wrote/ that the root of Cirsion bound to the sick place/ suageth the ache of the great veins which being to much enlarged/ send to many humores to one place. Of Cistus. depiction of plant Cistus mass. depiction of plant Cistus foemina. CIstus is named in Greek Kistos/ Kitharos & Kissaros'/ of the common Herbaries' rosago & rosa canina/ & in French rose canine as Gesner saith. I have seen it in Italy in certain gardines/ and ones in England in my lords garden at Zion. But it that I saw at Zion/ hath broader and longer leaves than it which I saw in italy. I have not heard as yet any English name for Cistus/ but for lack of other/ it may be called Cist bush or Cist sage/ of the likeness that it hath with sage. Cistus as Dioscorides writeth/ is a thick bush and full of branches/ and groweth in stony places/ full of leaves/ but not high/ the leaves are round and tart/ with a certain binding/ and rough. The male hath a flower like a pomegranate/ the female hath a white flower. Pliny also saith that there are two kinds of Cistus/ the male with a flower like a rose/ and the female with a white flower. It that I saw in italy was the male/ and it that I saw in England was the female. The Properties of Cistus. CIstus is astringent/ wherefore his flowers drunken twice on the day in tart wine/ stop the bloody flux/ they laid to by themselves/ stop sores which eat up the flesh/ the flowers mixed and made with wax after the manner of a treat/ heal old sores/ and the places that are burnt with the fire. Hypocistus called of the Apothecary's Hipoquistida/ groweth about the roots of Cistus/ and is like unto the flower of Pomegranate/ some of them are yellow/ some green/ some white. The juice is melted out and made thick as Acacia is/ but some dry it/ and steep it when it is broken/ and seeth it/ and do all other things that is done with Licio. It hath the strength of Acacia/ but it drieth something more and bindeth: but drunken and put in/ it is good for the bloody flux of women. Of Cistus ladanifera. depiction of plant there is (as Dioscorides saith) an other kind of Cistus/ called of some Ledon/ which is a bush/ and groweth as the other Cistus doth/ but it hath longer leaves and blacker/ which in the spring of the year have a certain fatness. The nature of the leaves is astringent/ & is of as great strength as Cistus is/ of this is made gum/ which is called ladanun: for when as the goats & goat bucks eat the leaves of Cistus/ they gather manifestly the fatness with their beards/ and carry away with their clammenes it that cleaveth upon their hairy and rough feet. The which the inhabiters of the country comb of/ and strain it/ and make it in lumps together/ and so lay it up/ other pull ropes thorough the bushes/ and with them take of the clammines/ and make Laudanum of it. It is most commendable that sanoreth well/ and is something green/ and is son soft and fat/ not full of sand/ or evil favoured/ and full of Rosin as it of Cyprus is. It that cometh out of Arabia and Lybia/ is viler than the other be. The Nature of Laudanum. Laudanum as Dioscorides saith/ hath the property to bind together/ to warm/ to make soft and to open the mouths of the veins. Put myrrh and myrtell oil and wine unto Laudanum/ and it will hold still the heir that goeth of. With wine laid upon scars of wounds or sores/ maketh them look better favoured. Laudanum poured into the ear with honeyed water or rose oil/ healeth pain of the ears/ and thesame in a fumigation/ draweth down the seconds. Ladan put into the mother in a pessary/ or in a long fashion of a suppository/ healeth the hardness of the mother. It is good to be put into medicines for the cough and in softening emplasters. Ladan drunken with old wine/ stoppeth the belly/ and provoketh urine. Laudanum is full hot in the first degree/ as Galene saith and reacheth near unto the second. Of Perwincle/ or Perywincle. CLematis is so named of Dioscorides without any addition/ of other it is called Clematis Egypt/ because it groweth plenteously there. It is called of pliny in some places Daphnoides/ in other Chamcedaphne/ in other Vinca pervinca. It is called in English Perwincle/ or Periwinkle/ in Duche Ingrien/ and in French Dulisseron. Clematis is named in English Perwincle/ and it groweth in fat and well bearing grounds/ It hath little branches of the bigness of a rish. The figure and colour of the leaves/ be like unto a Laurel or bay leaf/ but they are less a great deal. Thus doth Dioscorides describe Clematis. It hath pretty blue flowers/ and the herb creepeth upon the ground very thick/ one branch woven about an other. depiction of plant Clematis. Perwincle. The properties of Perwincle. THE leaves and stalks of Perwincle drunken with wine/ stop both the bloody and other flux/ with milk and rose oil or privet oil/ thesame put into a pessary/ or mother suppository/ relese the pain of the mother. Perwincle chewed/ staunched the tuth ache. Thesame is medicinable to be laid upon the places that are bitten of serpents. Perwincle groweth wild in many places of Germany/ and it groweth plenteously in England in gardines/ and wild also in the West country. Of Clematitis. CLematitis putteth forth a long branch/ something read/ and tough/ the leaf is biting in taste/ and maketh blisteres/ it creepeth upon trees as Smilax doth. I never saw this plant/ neither in Germany nor in England/ wherefore I know nether the English nor the Duchess name of this herb/ but it may be called in English Bush perwincle/ or biting perwincle. I saw this in a moyen in Ferraria/ & it had leaves not unlike unto the leaves of Clematis daphnoides. But they were depiction of plant Clematis altera. longer and sharper at the end/ and very like unto the small leaves of the biting vine/ called in Latin of some Vitis syluestris. Ruellius joineth in his translation of Dioscorides Clematis and Clematitis together/ and setteth them in one chapter/ when as my Dioscorides in Greek describeth Clematis in the beginning of the fourth book/ and Clematitis in the end of thesame book. Which thing Galene maketh mention of in the book of Simple medicines/ where as he checketh Pamphilus the Herbary/ for confundinge these two herbs together/ whose nature were diverse. Furthermore saying that the names are also diverse/ and the herbs are described in diverse places/ it should not belong unto a translator to make of Clematitis Clematis/ and to take an herb out of the place/ where as Dioscorides hath set it/ & bring it by force into an other place where it should not stand/ if he followeth his Greek example/ that led him to that which he did/ he is excusable: but if he did it of his own head/ he is worthy blame/ and not to be followed. Matthiolus hath now in his Latin commentaries upon Dioscorides/ marked the same thing that I noted long before I saw his commentaries. But he maketh another herb than I do to be Clematitida/ for he maketh the wind with the douny thing in the top about the seed/ to be Clematitida/ If the plant that I set forth/ creep upon hedges and trees/ as the other of Matthiolus doth/ doubtless it is more to be taken for Clematitidis then the other is/ but I dare not hold that it doth creep upon bushes/ like as Smilax doth/ for I never saw it/ but at one time in one place. But as far as I remember it did creep upon other bushes/ as Smilax doth. This am I sure/ that when I compared the leaves of my branches that I brought from Ferraria with the hoary vinde/ I found no difference between them at all/ saving that mine had hoot leaves without any cutting/ and the other was indented about the edges. The Nature of Clematitis. THE seed of Clematitis broken/ and drunken in honeyed water/ driveth forth thin phlegm and choler. The leaves laid to lepres/ scour them away. Some use to condite this herb with Dittany to eat it. Galene saith that this herb is hot in the beginning of the fourth degree. Of Clinopodium/ called Horse Time. depiction of plant Clinopodium. CLinopodion called of the Latins Clinopodium/ may be called in English Horse time/ because it is like unto wild time/ but a great deal greater. Clinopodion is thus described of Dioscorides/ Clinopodium is a little bush full of twigs/ having the length of two spans/ it groweth in stones: it hath leaves like unto wild Time/ and flowers representing a Bedfoote/ and one standing from an other/ certain spaces going between/ as we see in Horehound. Pliny describeth Clinopodium after this manner: Clinopodium is like unto wild Time/ full of branches a span long. It groweth in stony places/ and with the round circle of flowers/ which go about the little branches/ it resembleth Bedfete. Dioscorides and pliny differ something in the length of this herb/ as they differ in the length of Ornithogalon. For Dioscorides maketh this herb to be two spans long/ saying Thamnion esti dispithamon. And pliny maketh it to be but one span long. I have seen this herb diverse times growing in germany: first in the walls of Colon/ hard by the Rene/ and afterwards in great plenty above Bonne by the Ryne side among stones. But I never saw it above a span long. Wherefore the length may seem to hinder it to be Dioscorides Clinopodium/ but no other part of the description. Yet if it may not be Clinopodium Dioscoridis/ it may be right well Clinopodium Plinij. Beside the tokens that Dioscorides and Pliny mark in this herb/ I mark that it hath fouresquared branches and something rough/ and the flowers are purple with a certain whytishnesse. The greatest leaves have a little indenting about the edges/ but not very thick/ nor orderly set together: I found this herb of late right over against Zion. The herb that Matthiolus setteth forth for Clinopodium/ is the first kind of Calamint/ for it hath leaves like unto basil/ white under/ squared stalks/ and a purple flower/ and commonly groweth in mountains. But it is not Clinopodium/ for it hath not leaves like unto Serpillo/ as his figure of Serpilli will prove/ if it be looked upon. Matthiolus saith also/ that his herb is not only like unto Serpillo/ but also unto Calaminte montane. Which saying can not be true/ for Calaminta montana/ which hath leaves like unto basil/ is nothing like unto Serpillo/ as I will be judged by his own figure/ which he hath set out of Serpilli/ compared with the leaf of Heliotropij maioris/ which is like as Dioscorides sayeth unto Basil. Wherefore Matthiolus is deceived in his judgement/ making one herb like unto two herbs/ nothing like/ but one differing from an other. The Properties of Horsetyme. BOth Clinopodium itself and the broth of it/ is good to be drunken against the bitings of serpent's/ against places that are bursten and shrunk together/ and against the strangury. It driveth forth woman's sickness/ and if it be drunken certain days/ it putteth away hanhing warts. It stoppeth the belly sodden to the wasting of the third part of the broth that it is sodden in/ in an ague taken with water/ without an ague with wine. Galene saith that Clinopodium is hot and dry in the third degree/ but our Clinopodium is not also hot/ or else my taste fealeth me. Of Climenum or water betony. depiction of plant Water betony. depiction of plant Wood brounwurt. CLimenum as Dioscorides writeth/ putteth forth a four-squared stalk like unto the right Bean stalk/ but it hath leaves like unto Plantain/ it hath little sede cases about the stalk turning one into another/ not unlike unto the claspers or the fish/ called Polipus. This description of Dioscorides agreeth well in many things unto the herb which we call in English Water betony/ or Broun wurt/ The Duche men name it Braunwurtz/ and the Herbaries Scrofularian maiorem. But Pliny seemeth to make an other kind of Climenos/ in these words: Climenos is an herb that hath the name of a King/ with the leaves of ivy full of branches/ with an empty stalk compassed about with joints/ it hath a strong savour/ and sedes like Iuy. It groweth in woods and mountains. There is small likeness between plantain and ivy/ Dioscorides saith/ that his Climenon hath leaves like unto plantain/ and pliny maketh his Climenos with leaves like ivy: therefore it appeareth that they be not all one herb. Pliny also confesseth after the description of his Climenos/ that the grecians make their Climenos like unto plantain. Dioscorides saith that his best Climenon groweth in mountains/ where upon I gather that his Climenon groweth not always in mountains/ but in other places also. Yet in this he agreeth with pliny/ that Climenos groweth in mountains: The common water betony groweth commonly about water sides. Howbeit I have seen it also in other places. The herb which I take to be Climenos Plinij/ and a kind of it that Dioscorides describeth/ and groweth much in Germany/ in woods/ hedges/ and hath leaves something like long ivy leaves/ but longer and indented: and therefore more like a nettle. The savour of this herb is stronger than the other/ and hath reader colour in diverse places then the other. This Climenos of Pliny may be called in English Wood brounwurt. Some of the common Herbaries call it scrophulariam. The fashion of the leaves of both these herbs that I set forth/ is more like unto it that pliny describeth/ then it that Dioscorides writeth of/ but the greater agreeth a great deal better than the other/ but not so perfectly as I do require of it. Wherefore I dare not give sentence that either of them both is the right Climenum. The nature of Climenum or water betony. THERE is a juice pressed out of the hole herb/ which is very good in drink against the spitting forth of blood/ and the same stoppeth the read issue of women/ and the flux of the belly by cooling. It stoppeth also the blood that bursteth out of the nose. The leaves bruised or the seed cases laid upon fresh wounds/ bring them to a perfit amendment/ and cover them with skin. pliny sayeth that his Climenos drunken/ maketh even men barun/ and to be without children. The common Herbaries writ that Scrophularia healeth rotting sores/ and the swelling sores of the fundament/ called figs of some writers. The juice is also good for the deformity of the face/ much like unto a laseres sickness. Of bastard Saffron. depiction of plant Cnecus. CNecus or Cnicus is called in Greek Knikos/ in English bastard saffrone/ in Duche wild saffron/ in French Saffron bastard. It is named of the Apothecaries and common Herbaries Carthamus. It groweth much in high germany and in certain gardines in England. Bastard saffron hath long leaves/ and indented about/ sharp and pricking. The stalk is a foot and a half long/ it hath heads of the bigness of a great olive. The flower is like Saffrone/ the sede is white/ something read/ long and full of corners. The Virtues of bastard Saffron. THE juice of the seed bruised and strained out of honeyed water/ or with the broth of a cock/ purgeth the belly/ but it is not good for the stomach. Of bastard saffron are made little cakes by putting to the juice of it/ almonds nitre/ anise/ and sodden honey/ which also louse the belly. These are parted into four parts which are of the bigness of a walnut/ whereof it is sufficient to have taken two or three before supper. The manner of tempering of this confection is this: Take of the whitest seed of bastard saffron one sextarye/ of perched almonds and blanched iij. cyates/ of anise one sextary/ of aphronitre one dram/ and the flesh of thirty dried figs. The juice of the seed maketh milk go together and to crud/ and maketh it more meet to soften the belly. Mesue writeth that bastard saffron purgeth thin phlegm & water both by vomit and also by purgation if it be taken inward/ and that doth it likewise put into the body by a clyster/ and therefore it is good for the colic and such like diseases/ it scoureth the breast and the longs/ specially with this electuary that followeth/ and his own oil: wherefore it maketh the voice clear/ and by much using of it/ increaseth the seed/ it scoureth and openeth. The flower of it with honeyed water/ healeth the jaundice/ and because it hurteth the stomach/ ye must mix with it anise or Galanga/ or Mastic/ or such like that are comfortable for the stomach. Such things that be biting and sharp as Cardomomum/ Ginger/ and Salgemmy put unto it/ maketh him work souner/ and save the guts from harm: so ten drams of the kernels of bastard saffron with a dram and a half of Cardomomum made into pills of the bigness of small peases/ in the quantity of v. drams purge sufficiently/ the same kernels bound in a cloth/ and put into oxymel/ and specially of squylla/ whilse it is sodden/ maketh it purge well. Take xviij. drams of the kernels of bastard saffrone/ six drams of penydies/ of Cardomomum/ of Ginger/ of each a dram and a half/ make of these mixed together lumps of the bygnes of a walnut/ and give one or ij. The same kernels sodden in the broth of a cock or a hen with the foresaid spices/ have the foresaid strength and operation. This seed is given in medicine from four drams to five. The flower is given from one dram to iij. Galene sayeth that bastard saffron is hot in the third degree/ if any man will lay it without. Mesue sayeth that it is hoot in the first degree/ and dry in the second. Of middow saffron. COlchicon/ otherwise called Ephemerum/ is named of the Apothecaries/ but falsely/ Hermodactylus/ in Duche zeitlos/ and herbstblum/ hundshodeu and wild Saffran bloom/ in French au chien/ it may be called in English middow Saffrone or Dog stones. I have seen it much in germany both in woods and in middowes/ and I have seen it grow in the West country beside Bathe. Colchicon as it is describeth in Dioscorides/ bringeth forth a whitish flower like unto saffron in the end of Autumn/ after that time it bringeth forth leaves like unto Bulbus/ but a great deal fatter/ it hath a stalk a span long/ bearing read seed. The root is blackish read/ which when it is a little bared/ and hath the utter skin scraped of/ is white and soft/ and full of white juice and sweet in taste/ his round root hath in the mids of it a depiction of plant Wild Saffron. depiction of plant Wild Saffron with the flower & seed. rift/ out of the which the flower cometh forth/ it groweth most in Mecena and in Colcus. The flower of this herb is white bluish and not white/ the husks that hold the seed/ be like unto dogs stones/ wherefore the Duche men call this herb hounds hoden/ that is dogs cods or stones. The warning that Matthiolus giveth unto Apothecaries/ that they should use no more the roots of Colchicon for Hermodactilis/ is worthy to be heard and taken heed of/ of all honest Apothecaries and Physicians to/ that make any pills or any other medicines of them. Let them that are sick in the gout/ take heed that they take not in the pills of Hermodactilis/ except other Hermodactili go to the making/ than the common Hermodactili they are stark poison/ and will kill a man within one day. Matthiolus guesseth that an herb in Italy/ called there commonly Palma Christi/ should be the right Hermodactylus: but he will not give sentence. The Nature of wild saffron. IT is good to know this herb that a man may isschewe it/ it will strangell a man and kill him in the space of one day/ even as some kind of Toad stolles do. The root is sweet and provoketh men there by to eat of it/ if any man by chance have eaten any of this/ the remedy is to drink a great draft of cow milk. Of bean of Egypt. depiction of plant Colocasia. COlocasia called in Greek Cyamos Egyptios'/ and in Latin Faba Egypt/ may be called in English/ a bean of Egypt. I have seen the right Colocasia in Italy/ and a kind of the same in germany/ and one's growing in England. It that I saw in Germany grew upon three English miles from Bon beside Siberge. bean of Egypt hath large leaves like unto butter burr/ called in Greek Petasos or Petasites/ a stalk of a cubit long/ and an inch thick/ a flower after the likeness of a rose/ twice as big as the poppy flower hath. And when as the flower is begun/ it hath little vessels like unto the honey combs or wasps (as Ruellius translateth thylakiskais) or like unto little places or caskettes/ wherein any thing is laid. In them is a little bean above the covering/ coming out like a little bell/ as riseth on the water/ The root is stronger than a read root is. The bean whilse it is green/ is eaten/ and when it is dry/ it is black and bigger than the common bean. The properties of Bean of Egypt. THE nature of the bean of Egypt is to be astringent and binding. It is good for the stomach/ for the bloody flux/ for the other flux in the belly/ or the small guts taken with bean meal after the manner of grewel/ the barks sodden in honeyed wine/ if iij. ciates thereof be taken/ profit much more for thesame purpose: that green thing and bitter in taste/ which is in the mids/ if it be broken and sodden with rose oil/ and poured into the ear/ is good for the ache of the ear. Of Coniza. depiction of plant Conisa magna. depiction of plant Conizae alia species. COniza is of two sorts/ the greater and the less. I have seen both the kinds in Italy between Cremonia & Ferraria by the Padus bank/ the less groweth much in Germany by the Ryne/ it may be called in English Conise: the less of them hath the better savour. But the greater is more bushy & hath broader leaves: both their leaves are like unto an olive tre rough and far/ the greater hath a stalk two cubits long/ and the less but one foot long/ the flower is brittle/ and in colour yellow or reddish/ which is consumed at length into a down: the roots are nothing worth. depiction of plant Coniza parva. The Properties of Coniza. THE hole herb either strewed upon the ground/ or in a perfume with the smoke of it/ driveth away serpents and gnats and kill flees. The leaves are good to be laid upon the bitings of serpent's/ and upon swelling lumps and wounds. Men use to take the leaves and the ffoures/ and to give them in wine to be drunken for to drive down woman's sickness/ and the birth also if need be. They are also good against the strangulione/ and the jaundice/ and against the gnawing of the belly. Thesame also drunken with vinegar/ is good against the falling sickness. If the herb be sodden/ and women sit in the water that it is sodden in/ it is good for the diseases of the mother/ if it be sodden in oil and so laid unto: It is good for them that shake for cold: the small one laid unto the head/ is good for the head ache. Coniza is both hot and dry in the third degree. Of Berefoote. depiction of plant Consiligo. depiction of plant Consiligo syluestris. BErefoote is called in Latin both of pliny and Columella Consiligo/ the Duche men call it Christwurte/ the French men call it Pate de Lione. Some abused this herb for Branke ursine/ and some have taken it for black Hellebore/ but it is nether of both/ for Branke ursine hath far other manner of leaves then Berefoote hath: But the likeness of names in signification hath deceived them that took Berefoote for Branke ursine. There hath some been of the learned sort/ whom I have followed in opinion myself for a time/ which have taken Berefoote for black Hellebor. When I was in Ferraria/ the best learned that I could meet withal/ taught me that the kind of Berefoote/ that dieth every year with the yellower and broader leaf/ was black Hellebor/ and that the smaller was Helleborine. Howbeit by the communication that I had with a certain wise germany/ yet unlearned in the Latin tongue/ and by more diligent examining of the herb with the description of Dioscorides/ I perceived that nether of both those kinds of Berefoote was Helleborus niger/ but Consiligo. Fuchsius also called both these kinds/ false black Hellebor. But one Riffius not content with Fuchsius/ holdeth that our common Berefote should be the true black Helleborus/ but because diverse set much by his judgement/ I will examine his judgement with Dioscorides. Hellebor the black in Dioscorides hath green leaves like unto the leaves of a plain tree/ but less drawing near unto the likeness of Cow persnepe called sphodilion: but more divided and blacker/ & something rough and sharp. The stalk is also rough and sharp/ the flowers are white & purple. But our common Berefote hath leaves not like unto a Plain tree or to sphondylium/ but like unto hemp or true Agnus castus of Italy/ wherefore our common berefote can not be helleborus niger. The German of whom I made mention of before/ when he perceived that I was desirous to know herbs & the natures of the same/ asked me whether I knew an herb called in their tongue Christwurtz or no. I said ye: But know you saith he/ all the properties that it hath. I showed him of certain properties that it had. Well saith he: I know more properties that it hath beside this/ & so he told me that a piece of the root of this herb which they call Christ's wurtzes/ and we berefote/ put in after a botken into a beasts ear a round circle made about the hole/ healeth the beast of any inward disease/ whose saying made me call to remembrance it that I had read in Pliny and Columella of Consiligo/ & so after that/ I had read it that Pliny and Columella had written of Consiligo/ & had some conference with learned men/ touching this herb/ thought that it should be no more Helleborus niger but consiligo: this also did confirm my opinion/ that when I came into England/ that I did hear the diverse husband men with whom I spoke/ used to put the root of berefote into beasts ears/ & called the putting in of it/ sytering of beasts/ and in some place called the herb syterwurte. Matthiolus writing upon Helleborum in his commentaries upon Dioscorides/ striveth stoutly against all men that hold that our common berefote/ which the Apothecaries use for Helleboro nigro/ is not the true Helleborus niger/ but that it is consiligo/ & he also holdeth/ that ij. other herbs where of the one is called in Duche Leußkraut/ and the other which I have not seen in Duche land/ be also right kinds of Hellebori nigri. He answereth to them that say that the common hellebor is not the right hellebor of Dioscorides thus: They use no other reason: but this I think/ because Columella and pliny have written/ that consiligo put into a beasts ear/ healeth it/ and the hirdes of this time have marked no other thing that will do the same/ saving the common hellebor/ whereupon they gather that it is consiligo. But in my mind they are far deceived/ for Absyrtus and Hierocles hold/ that Hellebor the black will do the same. Plyny also teacheth thesame lib. 25. cap. 5. Surely it were very foolishness to say/ that savin were Calamint/ or Calamint were savin/ because they both bring down a woman's flowers as nature were so niggishe & sparing that she had made but one remedy for every kind of disease. Nether have I read in any autour that I have seen any description of consiligo/ neither any mark/ whereby it might be known. Therefore I can not see how that the commonly used Hellebor/ should be consiligo. To answer Matthiolus/ I think that he judgeth wrong of them that hold that the common Hellebor is consiligo. For I have read no man as yet that was lead into that opinion/ by the only relation of hirdes or cowleches/ for all the learned men that I could either speak with/ either read which held that the common hellebor was consiligo first thought that the description of Helleborus the black in Dioscorides did not agree unto the common black hellebor/ and therefore saying that it had the property and virtue which belong unto consiligo/ judged that it was consiligo. For an example/ Solerius thought that this common black Hellebor for lack of two things which Dioscorides doth require of Helleboro nigro/ was not the right Helleborus niger in Dioscorides. The one is that it hath not the head of union/ the other was that it maketh not a man's head ache/ when it is digged up. Tragus writing upon this herb/ saith/ that this is one cause why he thinketh that the common black Hellebor is not the right Helleborus niger in Dioscoride. It is not saith he/ so noisome as the black Hellebor/ whereof the old authors have written/ for I have seen/ saith he/ many take this herb without any jeopardy/ and the wives in this country use it commonly without all peril. As for me whether I was only led by the virtues of the herb/ to think that it was consiligo/ the reason that I make against Riffius in my former edition/ will bear witness. Wherefore Matthiolus judged to lightly of us/ that we were so lightly as he meaneth/ brought to believe/ that the common black Hellebor should be consiligo. Whether his answer that he maketh of the Bulbishe root to Solerius satisfice other men or no/ I can not tell/ but it doth not thoroughly satisfice me: for I never saw as yet/ neither in England/ nor in germany any root of the common black Hellebor/ having any thing like an union/ out of which the small black beards springe out. For although I have seen a long knop oft times something big in the common black Hellebore/ yet I could never think that it could be judged like unto a bulbe/ without a great pardon & a large interpretation of a bulbe. But that let pass/ I se not yet how that he hath answered sufficiently unto the autores that say that black Hellebor can not be taken without jeopardy/ when as the common hellebore is taken always without jeopardy. Theophrast writeth that the black hellebor killeth horse/ oxen & swine/ in these words: Nigro, equi, boves & sues necantur, itaque cavent id, cùm candido vescantur. Auerrois in these words following/ taketh both the hellebores for poison. Hellebori ambo sunt calidi & sicci in tertio gradu. Secunda eorum virtus est absterciva, & ideo valent contra scabiem, ignem sacrum, & similia, & non est tutum eo uti, quia est ex genere venenorum, sed antiqui utebantur nigro ad evacuandam melancholiam: sed est fortius in laedendo epar & pulmonem, sed novi ponunt loco eius lapidem lazuti. Mesue although he doth prefer in wholesomeness the black before the white hellebore/ yet he saith these words of the black. Niger sumendus, omnium consensu praesertim castigatus natura & arte, solis ro bustis & animosis dandus. The common Hellebor is given always without jeopardy/ as not only Phisicianes/ but old wives and daily experience do testify. But the right Hellebor was not taken without jeopardy/ wherefore it is no argument to be laughed to scorn that the old writers Helleborus niger/ & it that is used now for Helleboro nigro/ are not all one. Dioscorides as I said before maketh his black hellebor leaves/ like unto a Plain tre lief/ and most likest of all unto the leaves sphondylij/ called cow persnepe/ but less & with more divisions/ sharp in under and blacker. The leaves of the Plain tre/ be like unto the leaves of Aconitum alterum after Dioscorides/ & after pliny the leaf of Sorbus torminalis/ called in English/ a Service tree/ is also like unto a Plain tre lief. Dioscorides maketh also the leaf Ricini/ called in English palma Christi/ like unto a Plain tre. But where hath Matthiolus seen the common Helleborus lief like unto the leaf of the second Aconito/ or the leaf of the service tree/ or like the leaf of palma Christi? If he hath not seen it like unto any of these/ where hath he seen it like unto the leaf of Sphondylij/ or cowpersnepe/ but rough in under/ or something rough blacker/ and with more divisiones or cuts? If he hath seen no where any such/ let him cease to say that the common Hellebore is the true hellebore. If he say that the common hellebores lief in all places of italy is like unto a Plain tre lief/ or to the leaf of palma Christi/ or to the leaf of Aconiti secundi/ or if he say that it is most like in all places unto the leaves of sphondylij/ saving that the leaves are less/ blacker/ and more cutted or divided. I desire no other witnesses against him/ but his own figures of these fore written herbs/ whereof never one is like unto the common hellebore/ for it hath leaves like unto hemp/ or Agnus/ & not to these. As four fingers and a thumb/ coming from one palm/ make not five hands/ but altogether with the rest of the hand/ out of that which they come make but one hand/ so although in the Plain tre leaves/ in the Service tre leaves/ in the Aconite leaves/ and in the leaves of palma Christi/ certain long things like fingers come forth/ yet every one of them is not a leaf alone/ though five or seven come from one uncloven piece/ but they make but all one leaf/ because they are joined altogether unto an undivided piece of leaf/ out of the which they come. But in the Agno casto and Hemp/ although five or seven leaves come out of one foot stalk: yet for all that/ because they are not joined together at the bottom/ and come not out as it were of one palm/ or hold portion of a leaf/ every long thing is taken for a leaf alone. For Dioscorides compareth the leaf of Agnus to an Olive leaf/ and the leaf of Hemp unto the leaf of an Ash tree/ which he would not have done/ if all the five or seven long things had made but one leaf. The leaves of the common Hellebor come eleven/ or there about all forth of one common foot stalk. Wherefore there are so many leaves/ for they are not joined together at the bottom/ neither come out of one piece of leaf/ or thing like a palm of a man's hand. Also these leaves of common Hellebor severally taken/ are nothing like a Plain tre leaves/ nor the leaves of sphondylij/ neither all the leaves taken together/ be like unto the leaves of a Plain tre/ nor of sphondylij/ for they are divided one from an other/ when as the long things like fingers in the Plain tre leaf are not divided away from the portion of the leaf/ out of the which they come/ if the leaves of the common Hellebore leaves had been joined/ as I have above rehearsed in the bottom/ to one portion of the leaf/ like as it were the palm of an hand/ then I would have said that they had been like to the leaves of the Plain tree and of Sphondylij. But saying they are not/ I conclude that they are nether like unto the Plain tree leaves/ nor to the leaves of Sphondilij/ and therefore that the common black Hellebor is not the black Hellebore of Dioscorides. Then when as the common Hellebor hath the virtues of Consiligo/ and no other herb is known to have the like/ saving true Helleborus/ and Helleborus is not Consiligo/ and this common Hellebor is not Helleborus niger/ it is no vain gathering/ that this herb commonly called Helleborus niger/ is Consiligo. The nature of Consiligo after Columella. WE know (saith Columella) a present remedy of the rote/ which the shepherds call consiligo/ that groweth in great plenty in Mersis mountains/ and it is very wholesome for all cattle. They say it should be used thus/ The brodest part of the ear must have a round circled made about it with the blood that rinneth forth with a brazen botken/ and the same circle must be round like unto the letter O/ and when this is done without/ and in the higher part of the ear/ the half of the foresaid circle is to be bored thorough with the foresaid botken/ and the root of the herb is to be put in at the hole/ which when the new wound hath received/ holdeth it so fast that it will not let it go forth: & then all the might and pestilent poison of the disease is brought so into the ear. And whilse the part which is circled about/ dieth and falleth away/ the hole beast is saved with the lose of a very small part. The nature of Consiligo out of Pliny. THE root of the herb called Consiligo which we said was found but of late/ hath his property to hele the disease of the longs of all beasts/ only put thorough the beasts ear/ it aught to be drunken with water/ & to be holden continually underneath the tongue. We can not tell as yet whether that the over parts of the herb be profitable for any thing or no. Fuchsius writeth that Christwurt which we call Berfote purgeth the belly of phlegm and choler/ that it is good for the falling sickness/ for melancholic persons/ or mad folk: for the pain in the joints and the palsy/ if it be put in a suppository to the convenient place/ it bringeth down woman's sickness: The wild kind killeth life/ and not only life but also sheep and other beasts/ if they do eat it: wherefore men had need to take heed how that they take it. Of withwind or Bindwede. COnuoluulus is a kind of helxine cisampeloes/ is called of the Herbaries' volubilis/ in English withwind or Bindwede/ in Duche Winden/ in French Lizet/ Lizeron/ or Campanet. Helxine hath leaves like unto ivy/ but less & small twigs/ wherewith it claspeth about whatsoever strong thing it doth touch. Pliny describeth convoluulus thus: There is a flower not unlike unto a lily in the herb/ which is called Conuoluulus: it groweth among shrubs and bushes/ and hath no savour nether any little chives like saffron as a lily hath/ only representing a lily in whiteness/ and it is as it were an unperfit work of nature/ learning to make lilies. depiction of plant Conuoluulus. Mesue describeth diverse kinds of Conuoluulus/ one kind saith he is great and hath milk in it/ and it is called funis arborum/ with a white flower like unto a bell: The second kind is a little one/ and hath both a less flowers & leaves then the other/ and it creepeth upon the ground/ and the branches of other herbs. The third kind is also full of milk/ and hath leaves something whit hoary/ unmeasurably hoot/ it cutteth and pulleth of the skin/ and in purgationes bringeth out blood/ wherefore as a venomous thing it is to be avoided: his fourth kind is hops. The fift kind hath a root like Britonye or rather greater/ as big as a great gourd/ his stalk is two cubits long/ the leaves are narrow and little/ and hath the form of an arrow with fetheres on it. The Properties of Bindweed. THE juice of Weedbinde purgeth the belly. Mesue giveth four ounces of the broth of the first Weedbinde/ and a hole pound of the infuse of the same in whey. Of Coriandre. depiction of plant Coriander. COriandrum or Corianum is called in Greek Corion and Corianon/ in English Colander or Coriandre/ in Duche Koriander/ in French Coriandre. Coriander hath leaves like the first kind of Crowfoote/ and unto herb Robart with the small leaves/ groweth in the woods/ & unto the third kind of Daucus/ and to the right Venus' heir/ called Adianton. The leaves beneath are some thing big like unto Venus' heir/ and those above are very small like unto fumitory: the leaves are wonderfully stinking when they are green: the stalk is a cubit and a half of height/ full of little branches/ the flowers are white/ and the sede is round & bare/ and when it is dry/ it is of a good savour & a good taste. The virtues of Coriandre out of Galene. COrianon or Corion/ or howsoever ye will call it/ the older Grecians call it Corianon/ that newer Physicians call Corion/ even as Dioscorides doth/ which saith that the herb hath a cooling nature/ but there he miss/ for it is made of contrary powers/ having most of bitter substance/ which we declare to be of subtle parts/ and of an earthly nature/ neither hath it a little of a watery moister/ which is of a warm power: and unto this is joined a little astriction or binding together: out of all the properties it worketh diversely all those things/ that Dioscorides writeth of/ but not by no cooling virtue that it hath. Dioscorides writeth that Coriandre laid to with bread or barley meal/ is good for saint Antony's fire/ & for sores the spread sore abroad/ it healeth also sores that arise on the night that have bloody matter in them/ the inflammations of the stones & carbuncles/ with honey and rasynes. It driveth away with beans broken/ hard swellings/ kernels and wens. The seed driveth forth the worms of the guts/ drunken with malvesey. It increaseth the seed: but if it be taken out of measure/ it doth trouble a man's wit/ with great jeopardy of madness. Wherefore ye must not continually use it/ and out of measure. The juice of Coriandre with white lead or lythargery and vinegar/ rose oil laid to/ healeth the inflammations of the uttermost skin. Auerrois writeth that Coriander hath a property to hold meat in the stomach until it be digested/ and that it maketh flesh wherewith it is sodden/ to have the taste of spice. Simeon Sethi writeth that Coriander is good for the stomach/ and when it is perched at the fire/ that it stoppeth the belly. In drink it stoppeth the issue of blood/ and also if it be bruised and laid upon it that bleedeth. Of the cornel tree. depiction of plant Cornus foemina. COrnus is called in Greek Crania/ & in Duche Thierlinbaume/ in French Cormiez or Cornier: There are two kinds of Cornus/ the male and the female. Cornus as Dioscorides saith is a hard tree/ bringing forth long berries/ like an Olive/ which first are green/ and after when they are ripe/ are read/ or of the colour of wax: and this is the male kind which is also described of Theophrastus'/ he writeth of both the kinds of this manner: There is one Cornel tree which is the male/ and an other the female: it hath leaves like an almond tre/ but that they be fatter and thicker/ it hath a bark full of sinews and thin/ the body of the tree is not very thick/ but the female putteth forth small twigs/ out of the side as the right agnus castus doth/ and it is fuller of branches/ they have both knots as agnus hath/ both two one against another/ and one meeting with an other. The wood of the male hath no pith (I call so the soft thing that is in any tree/ as in Elder and such like) but it is sound and fast like unto a horn/ both in thickness and strongnes. The female hath a pith in it/ and is soft/ and made hollow/ the length of the male is at the most of xij. cubits/ of which length the longest hunting staves were of that were in Macedonia: the hole body of the tree is nothing excellent: They the dwell in Ida beside Croye/ hold that the male is barrone/ and that the female is fruitful/ the fruit hath a kernel like an olive/ & the fruit is sweet in eating/ and pleasant in savour: The flower is like an Olive tree/ and it blometh & bringeth forth fruit after the same manner/ so that out of one stalk grow many/ they agree also in time: but the Macedonians say that they bring forth both fruit/ but the females fruit can not be tasted/ and that they have a strong root out of the danger of corruption as agnus is. It groweth in moist places/ and not only in dry places/ both by sede/ and also by sticking in of slips/ which are slipped of the tree. I have seen the first Cornus which is the male/ plenteously in Germany/ and the second which is the female/ both in Germany and England: the male may be called in English a Cornel tre. The female is called of some Dog berry tree. some call it Corn tree/ some because bucherers use to make pricks of it/ call it prick tree: it were best to call it with one common name/ wild Cornel tree. The leaves are much broader than the Almond tree leaves are/ & they are almost round/ saving that toward the end they are small and sharp. The male hath as far as I remember/ but one very growing upon one stalk alone: but the female hath many growing together. The Properties of the Cornel tree. COrneles in meat do bind and stop/ and are wholesome both for the bloody flux/ and also for the other/ whether they be given in meat or sodden in wine: they may be kept in brine as Olives be: the matter that cometh forth of the green tree or bows/ when it is in burning/ is good to lay unto the scurf like leper. pliny sayeth that the sweet of a twig or Cornel tre/ received upon a burning hot plate of iron/ which the wood toucheth not/ healeth the scurvy evil in the beginning if the rust of the iron be laid upon the scurf/ I have kept the berries of Cornel tree very long in the juice of Corneles a little sodden upon the fire: I hear say that there is a Cornel tree at Hampton court here in England. Of herb ivy. depiction of plant Coronopus. COronopus or Coronopodium is called in English herb ivy or Crowfoote plantain/ in Duche Rapfulz/ in French Capriole/ ou dent ou chien/ Theodore Gaza/ calleth it Silago/ it groweth much about Shene in the high way/ and about the sea side in the banks/ which are made by man's hand. Coronopus is a little long herb/ creeping upon the ground with cloven or cut leaves/ it is sodden with other eatable herbs/ the root is astringent & binding: it groweth in unmanerd grounds in heaps of earth or stones/ as are made to defend the sea banks/ or the fresh water banks/ from overflowing & in high ways. My Greek Dioscorides hath en doomasi/ it appeareth by the translation of Ruellius/ that his Greek example had an choomasi/ and that liketh me better/ for experience teacheth me that herb ivy nether groweth about houses/ but very plenteously upon artificial banks and heaps of earth or stones/ which are called in Greek Cheomata. Theophrastus rehearseth Coronopus among the herbs which have only leaves from the root/ and from no other part/ and so groweth herb ivy/ and the stalk is like plantain/ and hath such an head as it hath. The manner of dressing this herb/ and putting it into sallettes/ when it is a little sodden/ endureth yet still in French/ and in some places of England. The Nature of herb ivy. I Read of no other medicine of this herb in Dioscorides/ but that it is astringent and stoppeth a lax. Paulus Egineta writeth that it is thought to be good against the cholyke/ if the translation be true/ which I do partly suspect both/ because Galene and Aetius say/ that it is reckoned to be good/ and not colicis cruciatibus/ but celiacis/ that is for them that have the flux of the belly/ which cometh commonly of the long debility of the stomach. Of the Hazel tree. depiction of plant Corilus Auellana. depiction of plant Auellana domestica. COrylus is called in Greek Karya pontic/ or Leptokarya/ in Latin Nux pontica/ parva et avellana/ in English an hazel tree or an Hazel nut/ in Dutch hazel nuss/ in French Noisette ou Anelme: There seem to be two manner of hazel nuts rather than two diverse kinds/ the one is the garden nut tree/ called the Fylberd tree/ and the other is the woodnut tree. The Hazel is so well known that we need not any description of it. The Properties of the Haselnut. hazel nuts as Dioscorides sayeth/ be evil for the stomach/ but they broken and drunken in honeyed water/ heal the old cough/ thesame roasted and drunken with a little Pepet/ make ripe the catar or rheum. The ashes of burned nuts with hogs grese or bears grese/ laid upon a head/ from which the heir falleth of/ it will restore the heir again. There are some that hold that if nut shells be burnt and made like ashes/ if they be laid to the hinder head of the children that have grey eyes/ that they will make them black. Galene also granteth in his book de alimentorum facultatibus/ that hazel nuts nourish but little/ and that they are worse for the stomach/ then walnuts are. The Hazel nut as Galene saith/ hath a more earthly and colder substance than the walnuts have. Of Arssmarte or Culerage. CRateogonum hath leaves like unto Melampyrum/ and many stalks like corn/ coming forth of one root/ and many knobbye joints like knees/ and a fruit like Millet: it groweth in shaddye places/ and among bushes. Galene also saith that Crateogonum is like unto Millet/ and very sharp on the tongue. Crateogonum saith Pliny is like wheat/ and hath many straws or stalks coming of one root/ and hath many joints like knees. Conradus Gesnerus thinketh that this herb is it that we call in English Arsmart or Culerage with the spots in it like half mownes/ and the properties and description agree well/ saving that our Arsmart groweth rather in watery places then among bushes. I marvel much that Matthiolus doth say/ that the common persicaria followeth in no marks or tokens Crateogonum/ when as it is clear as midday light/ that Persicaria hath stalks like corn/ with many joints/ and a fruit like Millet/ and a biting taste/ as Crateogonum hath. The virtues of Crateogonum. CRateogonum is very biting & hot/ some do write of this herb/ that if a woman drink fasting a scruple and an half of this herb thrice on the day/ in two ciates of wine/ for the space of xl. days/ after that she have her sickness/ and the man do likewise before he lie with the woman/ that the child which shallbe gotten/ shall be a man child. Of Sampere. depiction of plant Crithmus. SAmpere is called in Greek Crithmon or Crithamon/ the Latin use the same terms/ the common Herbaries call it Cretam marinam/ some reckon now without a just cause/ that it is also Batis in pliny/ and I think that this herb is called in Columella Olus cordum/ it is called in French Bacil or Fenoyl marine/ in Italian Fenechio marino/ and santi Petri herba/ from whence we have the name Sampere. It groweth plentously beside Dover in Sussexe and in Dorsertshyre/ by the sea side. Samper is a little bush herb/ and of every side full of leaves/ almost a cubit high. It groweth by the sea side and in stony places. It hath fat leaves and many/ & something whitish like the leaves of porcelain/ but thicker and longer with a saltish taste. The flowers are white. The fruit is as Rosemary fruit is/ well smelling soft/ round/ and such as when it is dried/ will burst and open/ and it hath within it a seed like unto wheat/ the roots are a finger thick in number about three or four/ & they have a goodly and pleasant savour. The virtues of Sampere. THE root/ sede/ and leaves sodden in wine and drunken/ help them that can not make water/ and them that have the jaundice. They bring down also to women their sickness. Sampere both raw and sodden/ is eaten as a wurte/ or a common meet herb/ that is eaten in salad/ or otherwise: it is also kept in brine. This manner of keeping of Sampere that Dioscorides speaketh of here/ is at this day kept by the sea side in England. But dwelling in the farther of Summersetshyre/ not far from the sea side/ where as I had good plenty of Sampere/ I found an other way of keeping of Sampere/ which liketh me and all them that have prove it/ much better than the other. I seth te sampere in white wine/ which is best or in water until it be meetly tender: then I put it into so much white vinegar or verjuice (but vinegar is better) as will cover it/ and than take out of it as I need. If it be so sharp of the vinegar/ then stepe it a little either in white wine or warm water/ and it will take the sharpness away. Galene saith that Sampere is salt in taste with a little bitterness/ wherefore it hath the power to drive & scour away/ yet both these virtues are weyker in this herb than they are in plain bitter herbs. Pliny writeth that Sampere is good against the strangury/ if the leaves/ stalk/ or root be taken with wine. The use of it (saith he) maketh a man look fresher/ and it looseth the belly with the broth that it is sodden in/ and it draweth moisture out of the kidneys. Of Saffron. depiction of plant Crocus. SAffron is named in Greek Krokos/ in Latin Crocus/ in Dutch/ Saffran/ in French Safron. Theophrastus describeth Saffron thus. saffron is of the nature of them/ that are as the foresaid kinds of Narcissus are/ and cometh forth so. But it hath a narrow lief/ for the leaves come forth like heir/ it bloometh late/ it buddeth late or else to early/ howsoever ye take the time/ for it flowereth at the falling down of the stars/ called Vergilie/ that is about the xv. day of October/ and that but for a short time/ and by and by it putteth away the leaf with the flower/ but rather souner. The root is manifold and thick and well living/ it loveth to be trodden on/ and so it thriveth the better if the root be broken beneath. Therefore it cometh farest forth beside paths and fountains. Pliny writeth thesame of saffron. The virtues of saffron. THessalus was of that judgement/ that he thought that Saffron should only be well smelling. Other reckon that the quantity of three drams drunken/ doth kill a man/ but doubtless/ it hath the property to digest/ to soften/ to bind together/ and to provoke urine/ it maketh a good colour in them that use it with woman's milk/ it stoppeth the running or watering of the eyes. It is convenient to be put into the emplasters which are made for the mother and for the fundament. It provoketh to the pleasure of the body. It suageth the inflammations which are in turning unto saint Antonis fire/ it is good for the gatherings that are in the ears. The root drunken in seck/ maketh a man make water well. Pliny writeth thus of saffron: Saffron driveth away all inflammationes/ but specially the inflammations of the eyes with the white of an egg. It helpeth the suffocation of the mother. It is excellent good for the exulcerations and going of of the skin of the stomach/ of the breast/ of the kidneys/ of the liver/ of the longs and bladder. It is also good for the cough and pleurisy: it taketh away iche: it is good for weak brains that can not well bear drink: it provoketh sleep. Simeon Sethi writeth these words of Saffron: saffron is hot in the second degree/ and dry in the first: although some have said that it was hot in the third degree: It is good for the stomach/ and helpeth the meat to be souner digested. It hath the power to open. It healeth phlegmatic diseases and the drowsy or the forgetful sickness called Lethargus. It is profitable for the interalles or inward parts/ and for them that can not well take their breath. If any person use Saffron measurably/ it maketh in them a good colour/ but if they use it out of measure/ it maketh him look pale/ and maketh the head ache/ and hurteth the appetite. But if it be mixed with opium or popy juice/ milche and rose oil/ and the feet be anointed therewith/ bete leaves laid upon them/ it suageth the pain of the feet. It is perilous to take to much of it at ones. Auerrois saith also that saffron comforteth the heart/ and Auicenna saith that it scoureth the morphew/ and healed broad swellings. Of Cucumbers and such like fruits. depiction of plant Cucumis. The Cucumber. depiction of plant Cucumis citrullus. CVcumber is called in Greek Sikios of Theophrast in viij. places/ that I have marked/ sikna in three places after the judgement of Theodore and of Galene/ and also siknos/ of Aetius onis sikna/ and onis siknos. But I read not in any of these Sikies/ as it is only now in the common Greek text of Dioscorides: let them that have any written texts of Dioscorides see whether it be in any of them also sikyos/ as it is in all the other Greek authors above named. Simeon Sethi seemeth to call the cucumbers sykys in the neuter gendre/ and also anguria. Wherefore Fuchsius writing that cucumbers are called also anguria/ and that by the authority of Aetius/ which I have not yet read in Greek in Aetius/ is unjustly reproved of Matthiolus for so doing/ it is called in Latin/ Cucumis or cucumber/ in Dutch Cucumeren/ in French Cucumbre. Dioscorides maketh mention of Pepones in the entreating of Cucumberes/ wherefore pepones are under the kind of Cucumbers/ as it doth appear in the manner of his entreating of Pepones in the same place. But other autores make difference between Cucumbers and Pepones/ as there is in deed. For Galene in several chapters writeth of Cucumberes/ Pepones/ and Melopepons. Cucumi Turcici. depiction of plant depiction of plant Theodorus Gaza/ where as there are together siknos and sikna/ commonly turneth siknan cucumerem and siknon peponem/ although he translateth commonly siknon cucumerem. The cucumbre is not described of Dioscorides in the chapter of cucumis/ but in the chapter de cucumere syluestri/ a man may gather which knoweth it/ how to know the gardin cucumbre/ for he writeth of it thus: The wild cucumbre differeth in nothing from it of the garden/ saving in the fruit which it hath not unlike unto long acorns. It hath leaves and branches like it of the garden. The leaf is almost round/ but about the edges full of nicks. The flower is yellow/ the fruit is long/ and without there are certain long cutters that go from the one end to the other/ and certain swellings like rigs/ where upon grow certain little lumps like ploukes or scabs. The common kind of Cucumbre/ when it is young/ is green/ but when it is ripe/ it is yellow. Theophrast writeth in the vj. book and the xiv. chapter/ that the uttermost part of a Cucumbre is bitter/ which thing as yet may be true/ so as yet I could never find in those Cucumbers that I have proved/ specially when they are ripe. Theophrast & pliny make three kinds of cucumbres/ howbeit they do not describe them or tell of any difference in likeness between one another. After Dioscorides time by handling of the fruits after diverse fashones/ there rose up Melopepones & Melones/ and Anguria/ which are all contained under Cucumis/ as some new writers judge and have there names of their form/ and bigness/ and colour. Cucumeri marini. depiction of plant depiction of plant The virtues of Cucumbers/ Pepones/ and of all other that are contained under the Cucumbre/ or that be of like kind. A Cucumber is good for the belly and stomach/ it cooleth/ and it is not son corrupted/ it helpeth the bladder/ it calleth again them with the savour of it which are fallen into aswoune. The seed provoketh urine measurably with milk or sweet wine: It healeth the exulceration or rawenes of the bladder. The leaves laid to with wine/ heal the biting of a dog/ and with honey the ploukes or wheels that arise commonly upon the night. The flesh or substance of Pepones taken in meat/ driveth out water/ & thesame healeth the inflammations of the eyes/ if it be laid unto them. The over parts of Pepones laid unto the hinder part of the head of a child/ healeth his burning/ called syriasis. Thesame laid upon the forehead/ turneth an other way the running or issues of the eyes. The dry root drunken with honeyed water in the quantity of a dram/ maketh a man vomit/ if any man will vomit measurably after supper/ let him take no more but one scruple. If the same be laid to sores which are grown like honey combs/ it will heal them. Out of Galene de simplicium facultatibus. THE eatable Cucumbre Pepon/ that is to say ripe/ is of a fine substance: but thesame unripe is of a grosser substance. They have power to scour and to make shynninge/ but much more is the same brought to pass/ if the sedes be broken/ and beat into powder/ and laid upon the place that needeth scouring. There is an abundant cold and moist temperature in them/ but not so much that they do exceed the second degree. depiction of plant Cucumis anguinus. Out of Galene de alimentorum facultatibus. THE hole nature of Pepones is cold with plenteous moister: they have a certain scouring property by the help whereof they drive out urine/ and go quicklyer down then gourds and Melopepones: but that they scour/ thou shalt evidently perceive/ if thou rub the foul skin with them/ wherefore if any man have any scurfines in the face or any frekelles/ or any morphew in the utter part of the skin/ the pepones scour them away. But the seed scoureth more mightily than the flesh/ for it scoureth away/ so much that it is good for kidneys that are vexed with the stone. Pepones engender in the body a naughty juice/ and that specially when as it is not concoct or overcomed of nature/ by reason whereof it maketh men in danger of the choleric disease/ moreover before it be corrupted if it be largely taken/ it provoketh men unto vomit/ except they eat afterward some other meat that hath a good and an wholesome moisture or juice in it. Melopepones are less moist than the Pepones are/ neither have they so evil a juice/ and they provoke water less and go slowly down/ and they do not so much further vomit as Pepones do/ lykewye they are not so son corrupted in the stomach/ when as an evil humoris gathered in it/ or any other cause of corruption taketh it. Furthermore mn use to abstain from it that is next the seed in pepones/ and eat thesame n Melopepones/ and that is good for them to provoke them to the stole. T●ey that eat only the Melopepones flesh/ do not soon put forth by the plac● of excrements it/ as they do the Pepones flesh/ Cucumbres also provoke water as Pepones do/ but less than they/ because their substance is to moist/ and therefore they are not so soon corrupted in the stomach as they be/ ye s●all find some that can digest them as many other things that other me● can not digest/ by the reason of a certain familiarity that is between their nature's. Out of Simeo● Sethy. CVcumbers are cold and moist in the second degree/ and they make an evil iuy● and nourishment in a man. Ye must choose the least ra●her than the greatest kind. They which provoke water ●f they be steeped in vinegar/ and taken into the body/ suage the heat of an ague/ and specially of them that c●me hastily. The oft using of these fruits minish a m●nnis sede/ and quencheth the lust unto the pleasure of ●he body. But the seed of Cucumbres dried/ purches' there by a certain ●eate/ and hath contrary operations to the moist and undried parts/ and p●ouoketh water much more. There is an other kind of the same/ which is th●ught to be Languria/ that is cold vehemently in the second degree/ and some reckon it should be cold in the third degree. This kind engendereth tough phlegm in the stomach/ which is spread abroad raw by the veins. Therefore they that eat oft of the great kind/ called Tetranguria or Languria/ in continuance of time have in their veins and other hollow places/ evil humores grown together which engender long agues. The seed of these/ provoketh urine/ but less than Pepones sede/ for it is souner corrupted in the stomach. But the best of these is it that hath the least seed. They help dry and hot stomachs/ & if they be taken in a burning ague with vinegar/ they are very good and wholesome. Ye must eat the inner part of this kind/ and not the outer part/ for they are of evil juice/ and are hard of digestion and almost poison. They have also an other property/ that they call again them that have fall into a swoon by the reason of heat/ but if they find any phlegm in the stomach/ they ingendre a desire to vomit/ and the colic/ and the disease in the sides by the paps. Of wild Cucumbers. CVcumis syluestris/ named of some Cucumis anguinus/ of the common Herbaries Cucumis asininus/ is named of Dioscorides in Greek Sikys agrios/ of Galene/ Theophrast/ & Aetius Sikys agrios/ it may be called in English wild Cucumber/ or of the property that the seed hath/ lepinge or springing Cucumber/ for if ye touch the fruit of it/ when it is ripe/ it will burst/ and the seed will springe all abroad out of the fruit: it groweth plenteously about Bologna abroad a little out of the town/ but in England it groweth only in gardens. Wild Cucumber doth differ f●om the garden Cucumber only in the fruit which it hath a great deal lose/ not unlike unto long acorns/ it is like the garden Cucumber both in lea●es and in long running branches/ it hath a white root/ it groweth in sa●dye grounds/ and in fields near unto houses/ all the hole bush is bitter. The Properties of wild Cucumber. THE juice of the leaves of wild Cucumbre poured into the ears/ suage the pain of them. The root laid unto any old swelling with barley meal after the manner of an emplaster/ driveth it away. If it be laid to with Turpentine upon hard swellings/ it bursteth and breaketh them. It is powren in against the sciatica. If it be sodden with vinegar and lay● to/ it driveth away the gout. The broth wherein this hebbe is sodden/ is good to wash a man's tooth with/ for the tooth ache. The po●der of the dried herb/ scoureth away the foul scurfynes/ the leprosy and the white spots that are deep in the flesh. It restoreth black scars unto the ode colour again/ & it scoureth away spots that are in the face/ the juice in the root of five grains/ and also in the bark in the measure of half an vice/ purge out choler and phlegm/ specially in them that have the dropsy. It huseth the belly without any grief of the stomach/ half a pound of the ro●te is broken in ten ounces of wine/ and specially of Libya/ and three cyates that is about six unces'/ are given for the space of three days/ whylse the humour may be manifestly perceived to be fallen. The Greek text that Lacuna saw/ hath when ye have taken half a pound of the root/ ye must beat it small with two sextarios/ that is about two English quarts of sweet wine/ and specially of egypt/ and give three ciates of it fasting unto the patient/ for the space of three days until the humour sufficiently fall away. There is made of the fruit of wild cucumber a medicine/ which is called Elatherium/ the manner of making of it/ is largely taught in Dioscorides/ who so list to learn it/ let him read these words of Dioscorides: The medicine called Elaterium/ is thus made of the fruit of wild Cucumbre: Choose out wild Cucumbres/ which when as they leap away/ put forth juice/ and let them lie one night/ and on the next day following set upon a cup a sieve that hath very fine holes/ and take in your hands every Cucumbre by itself/ and divide it with a knyffe/ having the edge turned upward/ and press out the moisture into the cup that is set in under/ press also out that fleshy thing that cleaveth unto the sieve that it may go down. Cast as much as is ready into the basin ordained there to for the nonce. Pour sweet water upon them which are in the usy/ and press and cast them away. Stir the humour in the basin corner with a linning cloth/ and set it against the sun/ and strain thorough the water with thick grounds until it stand/ and do this oft until the water that swimmeth above/ fall to the ground/ which after that thou hast diligently strained out/ break in a mortar the gross grounds that remain/ and make trociskes or balls of it. The best is smooth not heavy/ something moist/ with a certain whiteness exceeding bitter/ which if it be put into a candle/ burned easily. But that which is green like a leek/ sharp or rough/ or dark/ and full of ashes/ and little things like little pieces/ is grievous and naughty. From the time that it be kept two years until it be ten year old/ it is good for purgations. The hole measure or dosis that may be given/ is xij. grains/ the lest is vj. grains. A good big grain is enough for a child/ for if it be taken in any greater quantity/ it is ieperdous. It driveth out fleme both upward and dounewarde. It is a good purgation for them that are shortwinded. If ye will purge the belly/ put twice as much salt and as much stibium as will colour it/ and give a pill in the quantity of a little peses. And afterward drink an ounce and five drams of warm water: But to provoke vomit/ take the water that Elaterium is steeped in/ and struck the inward part of the tongue beneath with a feather/ which is dipped in the stypinge. And if any man be hard to vomit/ resolve it with oil or with ointment made of flower deluce/ and forbidden sleep. But wine and oil are convenient to be given unto them continually/ that are to much purged/ for that helpeth them again. But if the vomit will not stay or leave of/ ye must give cold water/ barley meal/ vinegar and water/ apples/ and such as in making thick and fast together/ do straight. Elaterium helpeth women unto their sickness/ if it be put in the place of conception in a suppository. It healeth the jaundice or guelsought/ if it be poured into the nose with milk. It is very good against old head aches. It is very excellent good for the quinsey/ if it be laid to with old oil and honey/ or the gall of a bull. Mesue saith that the juice of Cucumber may be given from ten grains unto the third part of a dram/ that is a scruple. The powder of the root may be given from fifteen grains unto half a dram: the broth that it is sodden in/ may be given from two ounces unto four. It is hot and dry in the third degree after Mesue. But Galene saith/ that it is extremely bitter and lightly hot/ so that it is hot but in the second degree. Dioscorides is contrary both unto Theophrast and pliny in the nature of Elaterium/ concerning the putting out of the candle or making it burn/ as you may easily find in their works if ye will read them. Of the Gourd. A Gourd is called in Greek Kolokyntha/ in Latin Cucurbita/ in Dutch Kurbß/ in French Courge. A gourd hath long running branches/ which naturally endeavour upward/ but for lack of strength/ except they find something to stay and uphold themselves by/ they creep by the ground. It hath a round leaf/ not unlike the leaf of Abur/ or Asarabacca. The flower is white/ the fruit is first green/ and after yellow/ after the likeness of a pear. The bark of the fruit when it is young/ is tendre and soft: but when it is old/ it is hard/ and some take the meat out of it/ and use it in the stead of a bottle. Columella and Pliny writ that by art a man may make diverse forms and fashions of Gourds. If ye will have long Gourds/ then take and sow the seed that is next unto the neck. If ye will have gourds that will stand/ and after that they are emptied/ fit to put wine or oil in to serve in the stead of flackettes or bottelles/ then take the seed that is about the sides in the mids/ and sow them. If ye would fain have very large and great gourds/ then take sedes that grow there/ and turn the over part downward/ and let women nether touch the young gourds/ nor look upon them/ for at certain times in the month the only touching and sight of women/ killeth the young Gourds as these above named writers bear witness. depiction of plant Cucurbita maior. depiction of plant Cucurbita longa. depiction of plant Cucurbita minor. The virtues of the Gourd. THE Gourd which men use to eat/ bruised and laid to after the manner of an emplaster/ suageth swellings and impostumes. The sticks or branches of Gourds/ are laid upon the mould of childers heads to release the heat of them/ which is called Syriasis. They cool also the inflammations of the eyes and of the gout. The juice of the branches bruised by itself/ or with rose oil poured in/ suageth the pain of the ears. If it be laid upon the burning of the skin in hot agues/ it healeth it. The juice of the hole herb warmed and pressed/ and drunken with a little honey and saltpetre/ doth gently lose the belly. If any man make hollow a raw gourd/ and will put wine into it/ and set it abroad under the sky out of the house/ and than drink it fasting/ it will louse the belly gently. The Gourd (saith Galene) is of a cold and moist complexion/ and is moist and cold in the second degree. Wherefore the juice of the branches is good for the pain of the ears/ which is with an inflammation/ if it be laid to with rose oil. And so if it be hold laid to/ it cooleth meetly well hot inflammations. When as it is eaten it is moist and driveth thirst away. The Gourd whilse it is raw/ is unpleasant and hurteth the stomach/ and is very hard of digestion in so much that if a man for lack of other meat be fain to eat a gourd (as one presumed to do) he shall feel an heavy weightly in his stomach/ and shall turrne up his stomach/ and be desirous to vomit/ from the which griefs a man can only be delivered by vomiting: Therefore men use to eat this (as they do with all other undurable fruits) either sodden or fried in a frying pan/ or roasted: The gourd (as much as lieth in it) giveth unto the body a moist and cooled/ and therefore small nourishment/ but it goeth easily unto the bottom of the stomach/ both by the reason of his slyperines and also moisture. Furthermore it is not hard to be digested/ if it be not corrupted before. And that chanceth unto it when it is naughtily dressed or any evil humour is gathered in the stomach/ and sometime because it tarrieth to long in the stomach/ which thing chanceth unto all other undurable fruits that are of a moist complexion/ for they putrefy quickly in the stomach/ except they come first unto the bottom of it. Therefore even as the gourd as much as is in it/ hath a juice that can not be discerned by any sense what quality it is of/ and is easy to be distribute into the hole body/ so when as it is mingled with any other thing that hath any great notable quality/ it is made like it very easily/ as if it be taken with mustard/ the juice which cometh of these two mixed and divided/ and sent into the body/ shall be sharp or biting with a notable heat. Even by the same reason if it be eaten with any salt thing/ it will ingendre in the body a salt humour. And so is it a very pleasant meat if it be dressed with the salt fishes of pontus/ which are called in Greek mela. But if it be sodden and seasoned as it ought to be with quinces/ it will have an excellent tart taste in the distribution. If it be fried or roasted/ it putteth a great deal away of his own moisture. Therefore because it is so moist if ye will boil it/ it is best to boil organ or wild mergerum with it. For all such as this fruit is/ had need to be mixed with other things that are biting/ or sour/ or tart/ or salt/ if ye would have them delectable in eating/ & not to make one to be ready to vomit. Simeon Sethy saith that the gourd provoketh urine/ and maketh a man go to the stole/ and it is good for hot and dry complexions. It stauncheth the burning heat of the stomach and liver. It hurteth them that are phlegmatic and waterish/ and it is evil for the colic. And if it find evil humores in the stomach/ it is corrupted therewith/ and is made wholesome nourishment. It driveth away the desire unto lechery/ and minished seed and engendereth thin blood. It is good for the breast/ for the longs/ and the bladder. Of Coloquintida. COloquintida is called in Greek Colokinthiss/ in Latin Cucurbita syluestris/ the Apothecaries call it Coloquintida/ it groweth only in gardens in England and Germanye. Coloquintida putteth forth branches and leaves like a Cucumbre/ creeping by the ground divided a round fruit like a ball/ exceedingly bitter/ which ye must gather when it beginneth first to be turned into a pale yellowish colour. The virtues of Coloquintida. depiction of plant Coloquintida. THE inner part of the fruit of Coloquintida hath the nature to purge/ if ye take two scruples/ made in pills with honeyed water/ sodden honey/ myrrh/ and nitre/ or salted petre. The balls bryed and broken/ and poured in by clyster/ be good for the palsy/ the sciatica/ and the colic/ for it pulleth forth choler and phlegm and shavings/ and sometime also blood. It taketh away the tuthache/ if a man purge it and cover it with clay and heat it with vinegar and nitre/ and wash his tethe with the broth that this is sodden in. If any man seethe in it honeyed water or sweet wine/ and drink it after that it is cooled without the door abroad/ it purgeth away gross humores of the belly/ and things like shaving or scrapings of the guts. It is exceeding hurtful unto the stomach. If it be put into a suppository/ it will pull forth the excrements of the belly. The juice of the green Coloquintida is good to be rubbed upon the place that is vexed with the sciatica. pliny writeth thus of it: Coloquintida poured in by a clyster/ healeth all the diseases of the guts/ of the kydnes/ loins/ and the palsy also/ if the sedes be casten out. The flesh of Coloquintida with salt and wormwood/ healeth the tuth ache. The juice of Coloquintida made warm with vinegar/ maketh fast/ louse teth. The same healeth the pain of the rick bone/ loins and hips bone/ if they be rubbed with it/ and with a little oil: let them that use the fruit of Coloquintida/ take heed that they beat it into very fine powder/ or else it will frete the guts very sore. Of Cummyne. CVmmyne is called in Greek Kyminon/ in Duche Kummine/ or Coming/ in French Cumine. The seed of gardin cumin is well known in England/ but the herb groweth not with us that ever I could see. Dioscorides describeth not the gardin common/ belike because it was so well known in his country: but he describeth two kinds of wild cumin/ the first after this manner: Wild cumin hath but a small bush/ and hath a stalk a span long and small/ out of which come out four or five little leaves/ like as they were indented after the manner of Gingidium. It hath in the top five or six round and soft little heads/ wherein is chaffy sede/ hotter in taste then the gardin cumin. It groweth in little hills. The second kind of wild cumin is not unlike unto the gardin cumin/ it putteth forth of every flower long horns where in is sede like unto Get or Nigella romana. The former kind of wild cumin have I not seen that I can remember: but the second kind I suppose I have seen. Some there be in Italy which think/ the pale nigella to be the second kind of wild cumin/ other reckon the little black nigella (which is common in the stobble in Germany after the corn be carried away) to be the second kind of wild cumin. But nether the pale nigella/ neither the other wild kind can be wild cumin/ except the gardin nigella romana be also wild cumin/ for they are all of one figure in leaves and sedes/ and of like smell. The second kind of wild cumin putteth forth of every flower long horns/ wherein are sede lyke unto nigella. The kinds of nigella have horns in deed/ but no seed in them/ for their seed is contained in the mids of the head/ one number divided from an other by thin partitions: Therefore nether the wild nigella/ neither the pale can be cummum syluestre alterum. I rather hold with Conradus Gesnerus/ which thinketh that the herb/ called of the herbaries Consolida regalis/ of the Duche Ridders sporens/ and in English Larkis he'll/ is the second kind of wild cumin. The leaves of that herb are like nigella/ the flowers are blue/ and there cometh forth of it a long white thing like a little horn: when the flower is gone/ ther cometh out a little vessel like a short horn/ where in is black seed contained like unto nigella. It groweth in Germany commonly among the stubble & the corn/ but it is not ripe until the corn be carried away/ and a good while after. The virtues of Cummyne. CVmmyn as Dioscorides writeth/ healeth/ bindeth/ & drieth. It is good for gnawing & for wind/ both sodden & put into oil/ or laid to after the manner of an ointment with barley meal. It is given to them that are shortwinded/ in wine and water: and in wine to them that are bitten of a serpent. Cummin laid to with rasynes/ or the flower of darnel or with a little wax after the manner of a salve/ helpeth the swelling of the stones. It stoppeth the overmuch abundance of woman's natural sickness. And the same broken & laid to in vinegar/ to the nostrils/ stoppeth blood: it maketh the colour of them that use it much pale. Simeon Sethy writeth that cumin both dried & also springeled with vinegar/ drieth a moist stomach/ & stoppeth laxes/ and that it is good to lay upon woman's paps/ which have clustered or clodded milk in them. Some writ that to much use of this/ engendereth the stone/ and that the smoke of it/ driveth away gnats. Pliny saith that cumin is good with honeyed vinegar for the falling sickness. Cumin is hot and dry in the third degree. The second kind of wild cumin is a remedy against the bitings of serpent's/ it helpeth them that have the stone or strangulian/ and them that piss clodded blood/ but parsley seed made hot must be taken afterwards. Of the Cypress tree. depiction of plant THE Cypress is called in Greek Cyparissos/ in Dutch ein Cypressenbaum. Dioscorides doth not describe this tree/ for he telleth only the properties of it: the tree is of a good height/ but it is not all of one piece/ as the Fire tree is/ but it divideth itself into divers branches of this side of the top/ and it is not straight as the Fire tree is/ but oft times crooked/ notwithstanding as Pliny writeth and experience teacheth us. The tree from that part whereas it hath first leaves unto the top/ hath the figure of a steeple/ that is great beneath/ and the higher up/ the smaller it is. The leaves are like unto the leaves of savin/ specially when they are young: but the savour discerneth them/ and the sharpness of leaf/ and so doth the heat likewise/ for savin hath a more pricking/ stinking and hotter lief than cypress hath. The leaf of Cypress never falleth/ but is ever green/ it hath a fruit like unto a Pine tree/ but many parts less/ and something longer in figure. Pliny maketh two kind of Cypress trees/ one with sharp steply top/ which is called the female/ and another with branches spread abroad at large/ which he called the male. The female groweth right plenteously in the garden of Zion/ but I do not remember that ever I saw the other. The Virtues of the Cypress tree/ out of Galene and Dioscorides. THE leaves of Cypress tree/ the buds and the fresh and soft apples join and bind together great sores in hard bodies/ whereupon it is evident/ that it hath the power to dry without any sharpness/ or biting heat/ as even the taste doth testify. For there appeareth in a cerraine light biting sharpness/ but much bitterness/ & much more harrish tartness. But it hath so much biting sharpness & heat in it/ as is able to lead his tartness into the deepness/ and yet worketh it no biting or heat in the bodies. Therefore it eateth out and consumeth safely/ and without any jeopardy/ in rotting diseases/ moistures that are deep in the body. But when as they that heat and dry/ do consume the humores that are contained in the body/ yet with their biting sharpness and heat/ they draw unto them other. And therefore it helpeth than that are bursten/ and have the guts fallen into their cods/ for it drieth & giveth strength unto the parts of the body/ which are to lose by the means of to much moisture/ and that cometh to pass/ because binding goeth to the ground by the help of the heat that is mixed with it/ which leadeth it thither/ and keepeth such a measure that it can heat without any biting. The Cypress tree (as Dioscorides writeth) cooleth and bindeth/ the leans of it drunken with bastard and a little myrrh/ help the issue of the bladder and strangury/ but the Cypress apples broken and drunken with wine/ are very good for the bloody flux/ for the other flux/ and against the issue of blood/ & against the stopping of the breath/ when as a man can not take his wind/ except he hold his neck right up/ & against the cough. The broth wherein they are sodden/ have the same effect. If they be bruised with a fig/ they soften hardness/ and heal the stinking disease of the nose called Polypus. And if they be sodden in vinegar/ and broken with lupines/ they bring away scabby nails. They heal also the bursting that falleth into the cods/ laid to as an emplaster/ the leaves have the same strength. The leaves broken and laid to in an emplaster/ join and draw wounds together: they stop blood/ and the same if they be mixed with wax/ & laid to the stomach/ do strengthen it. Theophrastus writeth that the boards or the door of Diana's temple/ endure iiij. age/ wherefore it is good for to take of the wood of it/ to put in such hobles or implements as ye would have to last long time without corruption. Pliny also writeth that the Cypress tree nether rotteth/ neither is in any jeopardy of age/ and that the leaves of Cypress bruised/ and laid upon sedes/ keep them from the worms. Of the Blewebottel. depiction of plant Cyanus. BLewbottel/ otherwise called Blewblawe/ is named in Greek Kyanos/ in Latin Cyanus/ or Ceruleus/ in Duche Blaw cornblumen/ in French au fjoin or blaveole/ or blevet/ some herbaries call it baptisecula/ or blaptisecula/ because it hurteth sickles/ which were once called of old writers seculae. Blewbottel groweth in the corn/ it hath a stalk full of corners/ a narrow and long leaf. In the top of the stalk is a knoppy head whereupon grow blue flowers/ about midsummer the children use to make garlands of the flower. It groweth much among Rye/ wherefore I think that good ry in an evil and unseasonable year doth go out of kind in to this weed. This kind and other which groweth only in Germany in gardens like unto this/ saving in all points it is greater and namely in the leaves. The Properties of Blewbottel. BLewbottel is of a cold nature/ for it showeth no token of heat in it: The later writers hold that this herb is good for the inflammation of the eyes/ and other parts/ which are out of tempre by the means of an inflammation/ other properties have I not read that blewbottel should have. Of Sowesbreade. depiction of plant Cyclamenus. SOwesbread called in Greek Ciclaminos/ is also in Latin Ciclaminus/ rapum terre/ umbilicus terre/ et panis porcinus/ of some tuber terre/ in Duche Sewbrodt/ in French Pain de porceau/ I have not seen it in England/ wherefore I know no usual name for it/ but least it should be nameless/ if either it should be brought in to England/ or be found in any place in England/ I name it Sawesbread/ or rape violet/ because the flower is like a violet/ and the root is like a rape. Dioscorides describeth Cyclaminum thus: Cyclaminus hath leaves like unto ivy/ purple/ and of diverse colours/ wherein are up & down something white spots/ a stalk four fingers long and bare/ out of which come purple flowers like roses/ and a black root/ something broad like unto a rape. I have Cyclaminum both in Italy and also in Germany: but there was great difference between them/ for the Italian was thrice as big as the Duche was/ and much longer/ and lyker unto Iuy. The Duche Cyclaminus according to his name/ had leaves as round as Asarum hath/ but much less/ and the flowers draw nearer the likeness of a violet then a rose. There are many deceived in England/ which abuse trifling other herbs for Cyclamino/ as Erthnut/ and such like which nether agree with Cyclamino in virtue/ neither in description. The virtues of Sowesbread. THE root of Showbread drunken with meed made with honey and water/ driveth out beneath phlegm and water/ and either drunken or laid to/ it driveth down woman's natural sickness. It is perilous for women with child to go over this root. The same laid unto a woman in a convenient place/ helpeth her more speedily to bring forth her birth. It is drunken against deadly venom with wine/ and specially against the fish/ which is called in Latin Lepus marinus/ that is to say/ the sea hare. It is also a remedy against serpent's/ if it be laid unto the place. If it be put in wine/ it maketh a man drunken/ it driveth away the yellow jaundice/ taken in the weight of three drams with bastard/ or well watered honeyed wine. But he that shall drink of this/ must be in a warm house well covered with many clothes/ that he may the better sweet/ for the sweat that cometh forth/ is of the colour of gall. The juice is put into the nose with honey to purge the head. It is put in will to the fundament/ to drive forth the excrements of the belly. The same laid upon the navel/ and the nether part of the belly unto the hockelbone/ softeneth the belly. The juice laid to with honey/ helpeth the pearl or haw of the eye/ and the dullness of sight. The juice laid to the fundament with vinegar/ restoreth it again to the natural place/ when it is fallen down. The root is beaten/ and a juice is taken out/ and made with sething as thick as honey: the root scoureth and purgeth the colour of the skin/ it holdeth down the bursting out of wheels: and it healeth wounds with vinegar by itself/ or with honey. If it be laid to after the manner of an emplaster to the milt/ it will waste it away: it amendeth the evil coloured scurffines that is in the face/ and falling of the heir with the read scales. It is also convenient that membres out of joint and gout membres/ the little sores of the head and kybes be bathed in the broth of this root. The root made hot in old oil/ healeth up sores/ & bringeth them to a scar/ if that oil be laid upon them. The root made hollow/ is filled with oil/ and set in hot ashes/ sometime a little wax put unto it/ that it may come unto the thickness of an ointment/ is good for the kybes or moles. The root is slissed/ and laid up as scylla is. Cyclamenum groweth much in shaddowy places/ and most under trees. Of dogs tongue. ALthough Dioscorides writeth but of one kind of dogs tongue/ yet it is evident by Pliny that there are three kinds of dogs tongue. For Dioscorides describeth his dogs tongue to be without any stalk/ which kind I could never see that I remember in all my life. Matthiolus and Pliny describe two kinds/ which both have stalks and sede/ for he giveth stalks and sedes unto them in the xxv. book and viij. chapter: but the latter kind that he speaketh of/ seemeth unto me to be our common dogs tongue/ for he sayeth thus: depiction of plant Cynoglossa. Est alia similis ei & quae ferat lappas minutas/ that is/ There is an other like it which beareth also little burrs. The common Cynoglossum hath long leaves like unto a dogs tongue and a long stalk/ in whose top are three rough things that cleave unto a man's clothes joined altogether to a little prick/ which is in the mids/ the form of all together is like unto a four lived clover with a prick in the mids. The root is something read and long withal/ and astringent. This is thesame herb which is called in Dioscorides Lycopsis/ whose description is this: Lycopsis hath leaves longer than lets/ rougher and broader/ and thick/ falling down again unto the head of the root/ a long stalk/ straight and rough/ with many to growers/ a cubit long/ the flower is little and purple. The root is read and astringent/ it groweth in plain grounds. The virtues of dogs tongue. THE root laid to with oil/ healeth wounds/ with barley meal it healeth saint Antony's fire: the same if a man be anointed with it and with oil/ provoketh sweat. Fuchsius giveth these properties unto the common dogs tongue/ which I reckon to be Lycopsis. It healeth the almost incurable sores of the mouth & of other places. It is good for the bloody flux/ therefore it ought to be used against all sores and wounds/ and against the French pox/ & such like diseases. It helpeth also the issue of seed and catarrhs/ wherefore this herb is put into the pills/ which are good for every catar or rheum. Now saying that the properties that Dioscorides giveth unto Lycopsis/ be like unto them that the common Doggis tongue hath/ and the likeness do very well agree. We may the more boldly say/ that Lycopsis is our common dogs tongue. But of this matter we will speak more at large in the intretinge of Lycopsis. Of Eglantine or sweet briar. depiction of plant Rubus canis. Eglantine is named in Greek Kynorhodos/ in Latin Rosa camna/ in Dutch wild rosin/ in French rose sauvage/ or Eglentier. The Eglantine is much like the common brere/ but the leaves are sweet and pleasant to smell/ as the briar or heptree leaves are not. There is commonly a spongeous ball found in the Eglantine bush/ as Pliny writeth. I reckon that this bush is nothing else but a sweet kind of Cynobatos. The virtues of Eglantine. PLiny writeth in the xxv. book of his natural history/ that the root of Eglantine is good against the biting of a mad dog/ and that the spongeous ball that groweth in the bush burned into powder/ is good to fill up that is fallen from the head by that red scall. Eglantine seemeth to have been first called in Greek kynorhodos/ because the rote healed them that were bitten of a mad dog. Of Adder's grass. CYnos orchiss is called in Latin testiculus canis/ in English Adders grass/ or goukis meat or dogs cods/ in Duche Knaben kraut/ in French La coil au chien. Testiculus canis hath leaves spread flat upon the ground/ which grow about the stalk and the nethermost part of this herb/ like unto the leaves of a soft olive tree/ but smoother/ and narrower/ and longer. The stalk is a span long/ out of which spring purple flowers. The roots are round & something long/ two together small as an olive/ the one is higher up/ which is the fuller/ and the other which groweth lower/ and is softer and fuller of wrinkles. The other testiculus which is called serapias/ hath leaves like a leek/ something long/ but broader and thick/ bowing in the hollow places between the leaves and stalk. The stalk is a span long/ the flowers are something purple/ the roots are like unto dogs stones/ both these kinds with diverse other not much differing from them/ grow plenteously in the middowes in every quarter of England. The virtues of Adder's grass. THE first kind of dogs cods hath two stones/ whereof the overmore eaten (as it is supposed of men) maketh boys and the other more eaten of women/ maketh wenches. The women of Thessalia eat the soft root with goats milk to provoke pleasure to venery/ and the withered one to suage the same appetite. Galene writeth also as Dioscorides doth/ that this herb provoketh the appetite of venery. The second kind with the smaller & longer leaves as Dioscorides writeth/ provoketh also the lust of the body. The roots of this herb laid to after the manner of an emplaster/ driveth away soft swellings/ scoureth sores/ and hindereth them to spread any further: it wasteth away fistulas/ and if it be laid to inflammations/ it suageth them/ the dried roots stop consuming sores for to spread any further/ and they hele putrefactions and rottinge/ and the old and almost incurable sores of the mouth/ if they be drunken in wine/ they stop the belly. Of English Golangal. depiction of plant Cyperus. CIpeirus/ called also Cyperus/ hath leaves like unto a leek/ but longer and smaller/ & a stalk a cubit long or longer/ with corns in it like unto squinantum/ in whose top little leaves with seed springe out. The roots are something long like unto an olive or round/ one cleaving unto an other/ black in colour and sweet in savour/ and bitter in taste. Although this common Galangal of ours/ be a kind of Cyperus/ yet it answereth not in all points unto the description/ for although the roots have in them certain knobs like unto Olives/ yet are they not such as Dioscorides describeth. The true Cyperus is now common in Rome and other parts of Italy/ whereunto the hole description of Dioscorides agreeth. But we may use this Cyperus that we have well without jeopardy/ in the stead of the other/ for it is of thesame kind and virtue that the other is of. The virtues of Cyperus. THis herb is hot in operation/ looseth the mouths of the veins/ and provoketh urine/ it is good to be drunken against the stone & the dropsy: it is a remedy against the biting of a scorpion/ it is good for the coldness & stopping of the mother if it be bathed with it. It driveth also down woman's natural sickness. The powder of this herb is good for running sores in the mouth/ although they eat and waste the flesh. The root of this herb which is only used in Physic/ is custumablye put unto hot softening emplasters and the thickness of ointments. There groweth an other kind of Cyperus in Ind/ which is judged to be Curcuma of the common writers by the consent of the best writers that writ of herbs in this time: and it is like unto Ginger/ and when it is eaten/ it is like Saffron: in the taste it is bitter/ and if it be laid to any place/ it hath the power to pull of heirs. Of the Cytisus tree. depiction of plant Cytiscus. CItiscus as Dioscorides writeth/ is an hole white bush as Rhamnus is/ spredinge abroad branches longer than a cubit: whereupon grow leaves like unto the Fenegreke/ or three lived Lotus/ but less/ the back of the leaf sticking out: the leaves broken savour like rocket/ and in taste they resemble a Ciche. I never saw this bush any where else growing naturally without setting or sowing/ saving in the mount Apennine beside Bonony/ where as I saw great plenty of it: but I have had it growing once at colon/ and now I have it growing here in my gardin at Wisenburg. The bushes were like little trees/ & were as high as a man/ the branches and twigs was whitish/ and had a white hoar on them/ there grow little cods in the branches like unto tars/ but shorter as I remember. The virtues of Cytisus out of Dioscorides. THE leaves do cool/ and in the beginning drive away swellings if they be broken and laid to with bread. The broth of them drunken provoketh urine. Some do sow them beside behyves/ because they allure bees to come to them. Varro/ Virgil/ Pliny and Columel write all with one consent/ that Citisus is good for bees: but Columella writeth more largely of Cytisus after this manner: It is very expedient to have much Cytisus in the fields/ because it is wonderfully good for hens/ bees/ bullocks and all kinds of cattle/ for by the eating of it/ they wax shortly fat/ and it maketh sheep have much milk: ye may use it viij. months green for meat to your cattle/ and afterward dry. Moreover it taketh root shortly in any field/ be it never so leanly. It can not lightly be hurt with any injury. If women have scarceness of milk/ ye must take the dry Cytisus/ and step it a night in water/ and take three pints of the water that it is steeped in/ and put wine to it/ and then give it to drink/ then shall the nurses be lusty/ and the children strong. The time of sowing of Cytisus is in Autumn/ about the xiij. of October. pliny writeth almost the same sentence after this manner. Cytisus also is a bush or a shrub/ greatly commended of Aristomachus the Atheniane to be food for sheep/ and when it is dried for swine. It hath thesame profit that Orobus or bitter fitch hath/ but it filleth sooner/ and the beasts wax fat with a little/ so that the cattle had rather have it then barley/ for they leave barley and take it: There cometh of no other meat greater plenty and better milk then of Cytisus/ neither is there any better medicine than the same for cattle taken all manner of ways. He commanded also the same to be sodden in water/ when it is dried/ and to give the decoct or broth of it with wine unto nurses/ when they want milk: and he saith that there by the children grow greater and longer. Paulus Egineta writeth that Cytisus is a warm and temperate nature/ as the mallow is/ and doth lightly drive away. Of Lauriel or Lowry. DAphnoides is called of some Herbaries' Laureola/ in English Lauriel or Lowry/ or Lorell. I never saw the true Daphnoides in Germany/ wherefore I know not his true Duche name. Daphnoides is a bush of a cubit height and hath many branches/ which are tough/ and bow much/ and in the tops they are full of leaves. The bark that covereth the bows/ is exceeding tough & hard to break: depiction of plant Daphnoidos. The leaves are like a bay/ of a Laurel tree/ but they are tougher which set in fire their mouths that taste of them. The flowers are white: the berry when it is ripe/ is black/ the roots are nothing worth. It groweth in mountains and hilly places/ hitherto Dioscorides. Some abuse the berries of this bush for Mesereon/ some for Coccognidium. This bush groweth commonly in England in hedges/ as beside Cambridge/ Barkway/ & at Zion I have seen it growing. The virtues of Lauriel. Laurielles' leaves either green or dry drunken/ draweth out by the belly watery phlegm/ provoketh flowers/ and maketh a man vomit/ the same chewed in the mouth/ bring forth fleme that way/ and it maketh a man sneeze: fifteen of the berries drunken/ make a purgation. Of Daucus. depiction of plant Daucus. depiction of plant Daucus alter. DAucus in Dioscorides is of three kinds/ in Pliny of four kinds/ but Galene/ Paulus Egineta/ and Aetius/ make but two kinds. Theophrastus seemeth to make three kinds after the interpretation of Gaza/ which he dissevereth only by the colour of the root/ he maketh one kind green like a Bay tree/ and other kind reddish yellow after the colour of Saffron/ and the third kind black or rather redishe black/ or as it is in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is read. Simeon Sethi maketh two kinds/ the yellow and the black/ and he putteth no other difference between them/ saving only by colour of the root. Theophrastus and Simeon Sethi seem to me to understand under the name of Daucus/ the kinds of Carot/ for it is evident/ that at the lest there are two kinds of Carottes/ the yellow and the black which are taken for Daucus of them. Gregorius Gyraldus the interpreter of Simeon Sethy turneth Daukion in pastinacam into Latin/ which is called in English a Carot. Theodorus Gaza the translator of Theophrast turneth Daucon into pastinacam/ Galene saith that some call Daucus/ staphilinos/ and Paulus followeth him. Aetius doth not only say that Daucus is called staphilinos/ but also writing of Staphilinus sayeth that Staphilinos is called Daucus/ and although all these three make depiction of plant Pipinella maior. depiction of plant Pipinella minor. two diverse chapters of Daucus and pastinaca/ yet they give like virtues unto both the herbs/ that is the nature to provoke flowers and urine/ wherefore although Daucus and Staphilinos were to sundry herbs and diverse in form/ as I deny not/ but they be: yet for as much as they agree in virtue/ the error of them can not be great/ which take the one for the other/ specially saying that Aetius writeth that Daucus is called Staphilinos/ and Staphilinos Daucus. But it is out of doubt that in Theophraste and Simeon/ Daucus is our Carot/ howsoever Dioscorides do separate Staphilinos and Daucus. Daucus creticus as Dioscorides writeth hath leaves like Fenel/ but less and smaller/ a stalk a span long/ a white flower biting/ hot sede and that white/ rough/ and of a pleasant savour/ when it is in eating/ the root is a finger thick/ and it groweth a span long. It groweth in stony places/ and where as the sun cometh. There is an other of the same kind/ like unto wild parsley/ biting/ well smelling/ having the smell of spice/ and hot in taste. The best is in Candy. The third is set forth with leaves like Coriandre/ with white flowers/ with a head and seed like Dill/ with a spoky top like Carot/ with long seed as Cumin hath/ and that biting. These three kinds are thus described of Dioscorides. Matthiolus although he talk of iij. kinds of Daucus/ he setteth forth but one figure which he telleth not whether it be of the first or second or third kind. But it varieth not from the description of the first kind/ if it have the taste and other virtues belonging unto Daucus. depiction of plant Daucus tertia species. If Matthiolus had told us the Italian name of his Daucus/ it had been much easier for us to come by it/ and also to judge whether it were the true Daucus or no. As for the first kind of Daucus that I remember/ I never saw it. For I reckon that Berwurtz is not Daucus criticus/ but rather Meon Dioscorides. As for the second kind I know no herb that agreeth with the description of it better than the herb doth/ which is called in Duche Bibernel/ and of some Duche writers Pimpinella Germanica/ and of some italians Saxifragia/ although they give that name unto an other herb. It may be called in English Pimpinel or rough Saxifrage. But I dare not say that it is the true Daucus of the second kind: As for the third kind of daucus/ I can not surely tell what herb it is. The virtues of Daucus out of Dioscorides. THE seed of all the kinds drunken/ heateth/ provoketh flowers and urine/ and helpeth to bring forth the birth: it healeth gnawing in the belly/ it suageth the old cough/ it is good drunken in wine against the bitings of a field speder/ with the laying to it driveth away swellings. Men use only the sede of other kinds/ but they use the rote also of it of Candy/ & that specially in wine against venomous beasts The virtues of Daucus out of Galene. DAucus the wild/ whom some call Staphilinon/ that is Carot/ is less conven ent to be eaten then the gardin daucus/ but in all other things stronger/ but it of the gardin is more fit for to be eaten/ but it is weaker and hath the power to heat/ and therefore to extenuat and make subtle. The root beside the foresaid virtues/ hath a windy property in it/ and provocative to venery. The seed of the gardin daucus hath a certain property also to provoke pleasure. The seed of the wild daucus hath no windines in it at all/ & therefore it provoketh flowers and urine. The seed of Daucus hath a vehement pour to heat/ so that among the chiefest/ it is able to provoke urine/ & woman's flowers. If it be laid without/ it will greatly drive forth by evaporation. The herb itself hath a like nature/ but weaker than the seed/ by the reason of the mixture of a watery mixture/ for all that is hot. Simeon Sethy of the nature of Daucus. Carotes' which he called Daukia/ be hot in the second degree/ and moist in the first. These nourish less than rapes: they provoke urine and pleasure of the body/ and ingendre wind/ and are hard of digestion/ and that specially if they be eaten raw. They move the belly to the stole and bring down flowers/ but they ingendre not very good blood/ they make a man's seed thin/ and heat the kidneys. The black are better than the yellow/ wherefore they have a measurable heat and sharpness to break/ & to cut in sunder gross humores. The seed maketh men make much water/ and with honey it bringeth down woman's sickness. It is good of special property (as some men write) for the legs/ but it hurteth the bladder. The properties of pimpernel/ or rough Saxifrage/ out of the later writers. PImpinellis juice is good to be drunken against the biting of serpents/ and the same drunken in wine/ breaketh the stone. It suageth also the strangury. The water of Pimpinel is good against the darkness of the eyes. Some do hold that the juice of Pimpinel taketh frekelles and spots out of the face. The virtue of this herb is so great against all venom and poison/ that the root only holden in a man's mouth/ defendeth him wonderfully against the poison of the pestilence/ as men of good experience do testify. Now saying that Pimpinel doth both agre with the second kind of daucus in description and also in virtues (for both Dioscorides and the later writers do give like virtue unto these) my opinion can not be vain/ which do suppose that Pimpinella is the second kind of Daucus in Dioscorides. Of Dictamnye of Candye. DIctamnus is named in Greek Dictamnos/ of some Apothecaries Diptamus/ it is called of Pliny Dictamus. I have seen it growing in England in Master Riches gardin naturally/ but it groweth no where else that I know of/ saving only in Candy: therefore I know no English name for it. I think that it is best to name it Dittany of Candy. Dictamnus is an herb of Candy/ biting fast/ smooth/ and like Penyryal. But the leaves of it are greater/ which have a certain thick down upon them like as Gnaphalium (called of some Cudwede) hath. It bringeth forth nether flower nor seed as Dioscorides writeth: belike he saw it at that time/ when it had nether flower nor seed. But it is known this day to bring forth flower and sede/ both in England & Germanye/ places much colder than Candy is. And Theophrast older than Dioscorides writeth evidently/ that Dictamus hath flower and fruit/ and Virgil the nobelest of all Latin poets writeth the same in the book of Eneidos. Many have abused Fraxinella for this herb/ and some have taken Lepidium/ which the common people called Dittany for this herb/ but their error is manifest. The virtues of dittany of Candye. dittany of Candye doth all those things that Penyrial doth/ but much more mightily/ not only in drink/ but also laid to/ ye and also in a perfume with the smoke of it. It casteth forth dead children out of the mother. It is a common saying/ that in Candy when the goats are stricken with arrows/ that by the rating of this herb/ they shake out arrows again. The juice either laid to/ or broken with barley meal/ hath the nature to purge. The herb will pull forth again pricks of the feet/ or any other part of the body if it be laid to. It is good for the pain of the milt/ for it maketh it less. They cut it down in summer and in Autumn. The root hath an hoot taste/ it speedeth the deliverance of children/ that are in the birth. The juice drunken with wine/ is a remedy against the bitings of serpents. The herb is of so great virtue/ that if the smell of it come unto venomous beasts/ it driveth them away/ and it behanged about them/ it killed them by touching of them. The juice poured into wounds/ either made with iron/ or the biting of venomous beasts/ is a present remedy if it be taken straightway in drink. The kind of Dittany called safe dittany/ is like this foresaid dittany/ but it is not so biting hot as the other is. It hath thesame properties that the other hath/ but not so mighty. There is brought out of candy an other kind of dittany with the leaves of Sisimbrium or Baume mint/ with greater branches/ wherein are flowers like wild organ or wild Merierum black and soft. The savour is between Baum mint and Sage very pleasant. It is good for the same things/ but it smiteth not up in the nose. It is mingled with emplasters and medicines/ which are made against the bitings of serpent's/ and are called treacles. Of the wild tassel. depiction of plant Dipsacus. Fuller's tasil. depiction of plant Dipsacus syluestris. Wild tasel. Dipsacoes/ called in Latin Labrum Veneris/ that is Venus' basin/ because it holdeth always water/ it is called in English wild tasil/ in Duche Karten distel/ in French Chardon or Carder. It is named of the Apothecaries & Herbaries virga pastoris: wild tasel is one of the pricky herbs. It hath a high stalk/ and full of pricks/ and leaves like lets/ full of pricks: two ever together which go about every joint/ and the leaves are something long/ and have as it were certain bells or swellings like unto the bublinge that rise in the water. When it raineth sore/ in the mids of the back/ both within & without/ they have an hollow thing at the coming out of the two leaves/ which come one forth against an other/ wherein is gathered water both of the rain and also of the dew: and here upon it is called dipsacoes/ that is thirsty. Out of the top of the stalk groweth forth in every branch a pricky head/ sharp/ and something long/ and when it is withered/ it appeareth white. If ye cleave the head in the mids/ ye shall find a worm in it. This description of Dioscorides agreeth also unto our gardin tasel/ which the fullers dress their cloth with all. The wild tasel groweth commonly about ditches and watery places/ in the beginning of winter the Goldfinches use much to haunt this herb for the sedes sake/ whereof they are very desirous: the other groweth in gardens. In the wild tasel is found a worm when the head is full ripe/ which fisherers use for a bait. Beside all other tokens and differences whereby these ij. kinds do differ/ is one that the pricks of the wild tassel grow not hokedly inward as the pricks of the other do. The virtues of wild Tasel. THE root of wild tasel sodden in wine/ and bruised whilse it be as thick as an emplaster/ laid upon the rifts and fistulas of the fundament/ healeth them. This medicine ought to be kept in a box of copper. It is also a good medicine for all kinds of warts. Some hold that the worms which are found in the head/ hung either about the neck or arm/ heal the quartan ague. Some use to lay the water that is in the leaves about the stalk upon warts. Wild tasel as Galene writeth/ drieth in the second degree/ & it hath some virtue/ or pour of scouring. Of Dragon. depiction of plant Dragon. depiction of plant Wild Dragon. DIoscorides maketh but one kind of Dracunculus/ which he calleth Dragontion/ but Pliny maketh three kinds of the same/ in these words: lib. 24. ca 16. Id autem quod Graeci Dracontium vocant, triplici effigie demonstratum mihi est, folijs betae, non sine thyrso, etc. It that Grecians call Dracontion/ was showed unto me after three diverse likenesses/ one with leaves like a beat/ & not without a smooth stalk/ and a purple flower/ this is like unto Aron. An other showed me one with a long root like as it were marked and full of joints/ and it had but iij. little stalks. The third which was showed me/ had a greater leaf than the Cornel tree leaf is/ with a root like a read: and they said it had as many joints in the root/ and as many leaves/ as it was years old. The first kind that Pliny describeth/ might seem to be our common dragon/ if that the leaves of our dragon were not smaller/ then the leaves of a beat/ whereunto Pliny compareth the first kind of Dracontion/ but Pliny saith that the first kind is like unto Aron/ for whiles the dragon is yet young/ the leave of it is very like unto the leaf of Aron. Dioscorides also maketh Dragon like unto Aron in the description of Aron. Galene also writeth that Dragon is like Aron/ both in leaf and root/ wherefore I doubt not but that our common dragon is the true dragon. howbeit when the stalk is great and ready/ within a short while to bring forth the flower and fruit: the leaf that is in the top of the stalk/ goeth away from the first likeness/ and hath many leaves together/ but all joined together in one lief/ and not coming forth of diverse stalks or branches. And most commonly/ one of the leaves which is the overmost/ and as it were the master lief/ doth something resemble an ivy leaf. The second kind of Dragon that pliny describeth/ except my memoyre fail me/ I saw it once in the land of drow/ not far from Meppel in a marish ground. The third kind is now adays well known/ and it groweth in diverse places of germany/ where as it is called Klein schlangen kraut. But I have not seen it in England: and therefore I know no common English name of it. Howbeit/ it may be called in English Water dragon. Dioscorides describeth his Dragon thus: Dragon hath a leaf like ivy great and notable with white spots/ and a straight stalk/ two cubits long of divers colours/ sprinkled with diverse purple spots/ so that it doth resemble a serpent very near/ it is as thick as a staff. The fruit groweth after the manner of a cluster/ in the top of the stalcke first green and afterward read/ hot in taste and biting. The root is something round/ and hath a round head like unto Aron/ covered with a thin film or skin. It groweth in dark and shadowy hedges. Matthiolus maketh mention of an other kind of Dragon/ whereof is no mention made in any good texts of Dioscorides. Nevertheless I think that it is a kind of Dragon/ even pertaining unto it that Dioscorides writeth of. Mathiolus also his self granteth that that chapter is set unto Dioscorides by some other writer. The virtues of Dragon out of Galene. DRagon hath a certain likeness unto Aron/ both in the leaf and also in the root/ but it is both more biting and bitterer than Aron is/ and therefore is he hotter and of finer parts. It hath also a certain light astriction or binding/ the which because it is joined with the other qualities that is sharp and bitter/ it must needs be a strong medicine: for the root purgeth all the inward parts/ making thin and breaking tough and gros humores/ and it is a special good medicine against the almost incurable sore/ called cocoeth. It purgeth and scoureth away mightily both other things that need scouring/ and also the frekelles with vinegar. The leaves also having like quality/ be good for fresh wounds/ and green sores/ and the less dry they are/ the bitterer do they join together/ and close up wounds. For those things that are dry/ are hotter than that they can be convenient for wounds. Some there be of that believe/ that they think if cheese be covered with dragon leaves/ that they preserve it from corruption by the reason of their dry complexion. The fruit is mightier than the root and the leaves. The juice scoureth away the disease of the eyes. Of Dryopteris. DRyopteris hath the name of an Oak & a Fern/ and groweth in Okes. Dioscorides describeth Dryopteris thus: Dryopteris groweth in the moss of old Oaks like unto a brake/ but not so much cut or jagged in the leaves. It hath roots wound one with an other/ rough and astringent/ and tart in taste/ turning something into sweetness. The herb which ye see here entitled with the name of Dryopteris/ draweth nearest unto the description of Dryopteris of any herb that I know. howbeit/ beside divers other things/ there be two things that make me think that it should not be the perfit Dryopteris: one is it that groweth in walls with maidens heir/ and in many bush roots/ and chiefly of them that are in dark laynes/ and not in the moss of old oak trees. The other is that I can not find the virtue that Dioscorides speaketh of that/ to pull of here and to putrify. Many have used this herb for the true Adiantum/ and namely the Apothecaries of Lovan when as I was there. It is proved by experience that this herb is very good for the stone/ either with wine/ or with almone milk made with maidens heir. Of Wallwurte. WAlwurt is named in English also Danwurte/ in Greek Chameacte/ in Latin Ebulus/ in Duche Attich/ in French Hieble. Walwurt is a great deal lower than Elder is/ & more like an herb/ it hath a foursquared stalk & full of joints/ the leaves are like unto the leaves of an almond tre/ but longer/ & grow (certain spaces going between) about every joint stretched forth standing out like two wings/ depiction of plant Ebulus. one against an other/ indented and stinking. It hath a spoky or a bushy top as Elder hath/ like flowers and fruit. The root is long & as great as a finger. Walwurt groweth much about Cambridge/ and in many other places of England/ and also in many places of Germany. Howbeit I could never see the stalk in any place as yet unsquared. notwithstanding I know well that it is the true Ebulus or walwurte. The virtues of Walwurte. ELder and Danwurt have all one strength and one virtue to dry up/ they draw water forth of the belly/ & are evil for the stomach. The leaves are sodden like wurtes to draw out choler & phlegm. The tender stalks sodden in pans or dishes/ bring thesame thing to pass. The root boiled in wine & given in meat helpeth the dropsy. After the same manner drunken/ it is good for the bitings of viperes. The broth of it softeneth the mother if a woman sit in it: It letteth also the wind go forth of them/ & amendeth the faults of them. The berries drunken in wine/ be of thesame effect. If they be laid to/ they make black heir. If the leaves being as yet tender & soft be laid to after the manner of a pultes/ they suage an inflammation and hot burning: They are good to be laid unto burned places/ & to the places that are bitten of dogs. They draw together the wounds that gape and become a fistula. The leaves are good for the gout if they be laid to with bulls tallow or goats sweet. Of Smallage. depiction of plant Elioselinon. ELioselinon after the translation of Theodore/ is called in Latin Paludapium/ in English Smallage or March/ in Duche Eppich. And the Apothecaries have long called this herb in Latin apium/ but unjustly/ for apium is not Smallage/ but parsley/ which thing I have sufficiently proved/ where as I have written of parsley. Dioscorides writeth that Elioselinon is greater than apium is/ and that it groweth in moist places/ whereof it hath the name. I have seen it grow oft times by brook sides & in a certain Island of East Freseland/ called Nordenye/ by the seaside. The savour of smallage is a great deal stronger & worse savouring then parsley is/ and diverse practitioners hold that the herb both smelled and eaten/ is ieperdous for them that are in danger of that falling sickness. For it maketh them fall straight way that have smelled or eaten of it/ as they report. The virtues of Smallage. DIoscorides writeth that parsley & smallage are all of one virtue & strength. Howbeit for the cause above rehearsed/ I would advise men rather to use parsley than smallage. If that ye be desirous to know the hole properties of parsley/ and there shall ye find the properties of smallage. But although parsley be less hurtful than smallage is/ yet there are good writers that hold that even the leaves of parsley also are evil for them that have the falling sickness. Of Heth. depiction of plant Irica. Heth. IRica is called in Greek Erice/ in English Heth hather/ and Ling/ in Duche Heyd/ in French Bruyer. Irica saith Dioscorides is a bushy tre like unto Tamarisk/ but much less/ of whose flowers bees make naughty honey. Dioscorides calleth Ericam a tre/ which is rather so named for the forms sake then for the hight/ for it never riseth up unto the length and highness of a tre. Pliny in the xv. chapter of the foresaid book writeth that Erica groweth in woods/ which I could yet never see in any such plenty as in plain grounds and wild fields and some hills. For our heth groweth in plains and in wild grounds/ and in moist places/ and upon some wodles hills. The highest heath that ever I saw/ groweth in Northumberland/ which is so high that a man may hide himself in it. The virtues of Heth. BOth the small leaves and flowers heal bitings of serpents. Galene writeth that the flowers and leaves are most chiefly to be used/ which have pour by venting out or transpiration maketh ripe and digesteth. I read in Paul Egineta/ among the receipts which are made against the diseases of the milt oft times mention of Heth. Wherefore seeing that both Dioscorides setteth next unto tamarisk heth (who useth to set herbs of like fashion and property together) and Paul Eginete useth it with tamariske. I think that it is much better to use it for tamarisk/ then Quickboome/ otherwise called rountre or Quickentre/ seeing Quickboom hath no such quality in it/ as are convenient for the diseases of the milt/ saving in only stopping. Of Rocket. depiction of plant Eruca hortensis. depiction of plant Eruca syluestris. ERUCA is named in Greek Euzomos/ in English rocket/ in Duche Rocket/ in French Roquette. After Dioscorides and pliny there are two kinds of Rocket. The one is a gardyne Rocket/ and that is much greater than the other/ but like both in taste/ smell and fashion of indenting or cutting of the leaves unto the common Rocket with the yellow flowers. This greater rocket hath white flowers with small black lines like sinews going thorough them. The second kind is called in Latin eruca syluestris/ & that is now common in our gardines/ and is used for gardin rocket. Some use the great rocket for white mustard/ but they are deceived/ for white mustard is in all points like unto the other mustard/ saving that it hath white sede/ but not all white/ but some thing pale and yellowish. The leaves of great rocket are not like the leaves of mustard/ but unto the leaves of the common rocket. Ye shall know the difference that is between gardin rocket & wild rocket by the figures/ which ye see here lively set forth. The virtues of Rocket. IF rocket be eaten raw in great quantity/ it stirreth up the pleasure of the body. The seed is good for the same purpose. Rocketh maketh a man piss/ helpeth digestion and is very good for the belly. Some use the seed for sauce: the which that it may last the longer/ they knead it with milk or vinegar/ and make it into little cakes. Dioscorides writeth that the wild rocket is hotter than the other/ and provoketh water more largely/ and that some use it for mustard sede. Rocket as Pliny writeth/ careth nothing for the cold/ for it is of a contrary nature unto lets/ for it stirreth up the lust of the body. Therefore is it joined in all meats with lets/ that like heat mingled with to much cold/ should make like the quality of both. The seed of rocket remedieth the poison of the scorpion/ and the field mouse called a shrew. It driveth from the body all kinds of little beasts that grow therein. It healeth all the faults in the face laid to with honey/ and it taketh away freckles or fayrntikles with vinegar. It maketh black scars of bruises or wounds/ white/ with the gall of an ox. Of Eruilia or peses Eruile. ERuiala or Eruilia/ called in Greek okros/ is a pulse like unto a pease: and Theophrastus in the seven. book of the history of plants writeth/ that ervils/ Cichelinges and peasen have a stalk falling upon the groaned. pliny also in the xiij. book of his natural story compareth Eruilles & peasen together in likeness of leaves/ and saith that they have longer leaves than other pulses. But this difference have I marked between this and pease: The cod or shalt of an Eruil is smaller and rounder than the cod of a pease is/ and the Eruil is rough within/ and the sedes have little black spots in them/ & they are dun and ronder/ and less than grey pease are. I never saw this pulse grow in England/ but I have seen it growing in Germany/ but there only in gardens. The properties of this herb agreeth with peasen/ and as for any quality that it hath for Physic/ truly I have read none. But to whatsoever use that phaselles will serve for/ Eruilles' will serve for the same/ as Galene witnesseth in the first book de alimentorum facultatibus/ where as he saith that phaselles and ervils are in a mean between them which make good juice and bad/ and them that are of hard and light digestion on them that are windy and windles/ and them that nourish much and little. Of bitter Fitches. ERuum is named in Greek Orobos/ it may be called in English bitter fitch/ of the likeness that it hath with a fitch. Dioscorides doth not describe Eruum so perfectly as he doth other herbs/ and therefore it is less known than many other herbs be. For he saith only these words of Eruum: Eruum is a little thin bush/ known of all men/ with a narrow leaf/ and sede in cods: more tokens whereby Eruum may be known from other pulse/ Dioscorides rehearseth not. The Germans call pisum which we call a pease/ ein Erbis/ which word seemeth to have commed of Orobus/ and though pisum is not Orobus: It doth appear that they gave the name of Orobus unto a pease/ because the one is so like the other. Galene/ Paulus Egineta/ and Aetius with one consent/ hold that the black Orobus is bitter. Galenis words are these: Orobus drieth in the second degree/ and that far/ and it is hot in the first degree. As far forth as it is bitter/ so much doth it cut/ scoureth away/ and openeth it that is stopped or bound: Then when as Eruum is bitter/ the herb which groweth in woods with long narrow leaves/ with flowers like unto a pease/ can not be Orobus: nether is the herb that Fuchsius taketh for Orobus the true Orobus. Some peradventure will say that Eruum Fuchsti is the true Eruum/ because it hath narrow leaves/ and that not withstanding that Galene giveth unto Orobus the yellowish and the pale a bitter quality: yet he sayeth that the white are not so bitter as the other. Whereunto I say/ that although Galene write/ that the white Erua be less medicinable than the yelowishe and the pale/ that is less like unto a medicine/ by the reason of any exceeding and unpleasant quality as bitterness is: yet doth he not take away all bitterness from any kind of Orobus. Therefore saying that there is no bitterness at all in the herb that Fuchsius setteth forth for Eruo/ it can not be Eruum. I take the pulse that Fuchsius taketh for Orobus/ to be Cicerculas/ which is called of Galene Lathyris. Matthiolus describeth Orobus thus: Eruum which we call Mocho/ putteth forth leaves like unto Cicercula or Cicheling a flower like a pease/ very reddish/ cods in fashion round and long wherein is sede/ in some pale/ in other white/ in other some redishe. He sayeth that it groweth also wild in Italy/ and is taken for a fitch: Wherefore I think that long ago before Matthiolus set out his Herbal/ that I gave no unfit name unto Orobus/ when I named it a bitter fitch. The virtues of bitter Fitche. BItter fitch burdeneth the head much/ thesame eaten troubled the belly. It draweth out blood by the water. This pulse well sodden/ maketh oxen fat. Eruum helpeth a man to piss well. Thesame maketh a man have a good colour/ it driveth out blood with gnawing/ both out of the belly and out of the bladder/ if it be eaten out of measure/ or drunken more largely than is convenient. It scoureth sores with honey/ so doth it likewise scour away the frekels of the face and other spots/ and it scoureth also the hole body. It suffered not deadly burnings and hard swellings to go any further/ it maketh soft the hardness of women's breasts/ it scoureth away black little angry sores and biles/ it breaketh Carbuncles or plague sores: If it be kneden with wine and laid to/ it healeth the bitings of viperes/ dogs/ and men: with vinegar it healeth them that can not make water/ but with great pain/ and the vain appetite to go to the stool/ and can do nothing there. Bitter fitch's or bitter tars are very fit for them that are in a consummation/ and feel not their nourishment/ if they take of the bigness of a nut with honey. The broth of them is good for kybes or mould hells/ and for itch or yeck that goeth over the hole body. Of Sea holly. depiction of plant Eringium marinum. depiction of plant Eringium mediterraneum. ALthough Dioscorides maketh mention but of one kind of Eringium/ yet both experience and authors teach us/ that there are diverse kinds of it/ for there is one kind by the sea side/ and an other in plain grounds for the most part not far from great rivers/ and an other kind that groweth in mountains/ and Pliny saith Eringium groweth in rough places/ in stony places/ and by the sea side. The sea Eringium is a common herb in many places of England by the seaside. It is called of the common people Sea hulner/ or Sea holly/ because it hath sharp leaves like unto an holly/ and groweth hard by the seaside. Eringium as Dioscorides writeth/ is of the prickye kind of herbs/ and hath broad leaves/ sharp roundabout/ and they taste like unto a certain kind of spice. Many crests of sea holis branches/ when as it is grown up/ are read. In the tops of the branches come forth knoppy heads/ which are compassed about with many sharp and hard pricks after the fashion of a star. Whose colour is some time green/ sometime white/ and sometime blewe/ the rote is long and broad/ black without and white within/ of the bigness of a man's thumb/ and a pleasant savour. These are the proper tokens or marks of Eringium that Dioscorides writeth of: then when as the herb which Riffius setteth out for Eringium/ agreeth not with this description/ it can not be the true Eringium of Dioscorides. The leaves of Eringium that Dioscorides describeth/ are round and broad/ and have a pleasant taste/ but the leaves of Eringium which Riffius setteth out/ be very narrow/ and are without a pleasant savour. The herb also which Fuchsius setteth out/ hath not such broad leaves in any place of the ●●lke/ as Dioscorides requireth of his Eringium/ for that leaves of Fuchsius Eringium are indented/ long and small/ and nothing broad about the stalk/ as the figure set out here/ will testify/ not withstanding that I know that it is the true Eringium of Dioscorides/ for at the first coming out of the leaves in the springe before the stalk groweth up/ I have of late seen even as broad leaves growing from the root of that Eringium/ as Dioscorides requireth: The common Eringium which Fuchsius setteth forth/ and as in deed the true Eringium of Dioscorides/ groweth by the Ryne side/ and also in places far from both salt and fresh water. As for the Eringium Riffij/ is an ill favoured pricky weed/ and groweth about towns and ditches/ in such like places as commonly Henbane groweth. Aetius maketh mention of a kind of Eringium/ which he calleth Eringium montanun/ & saith that it hath narrow leaves & little flowers/ of that colour of gold/ which in figure are like unto an eye. I do not remember that I have seen any herb agreeing unto this description. Nevertheless I have set it forth here/ that men if they happen upon it/ may by this description know it. As for the Eringium that groweth in the middelland far from the sea/ I never remember that ever I saw it in England/ wherefore I know no English name for it: but it may be called well herb holly/ or Ryne thistle/ because it groweth so plenteously in all places about the Ryne side: some take secaul in Arabianes to be Eringium in Dioscorides: but they are deceived & meetly well confuted of Matthiolus/ for holding of that opinion. The cause of the error is this: The translator of Serapio set before the chapter of See cachul. This title de Secachul & Eryngis, And the translator of Averroes/ where as he writeth of Asteraticus/ wrote thus: Elgatzaria quod Hispani vocant Panicald, & in Arabico Alchartama, & alij Secacul, & in Latino Eringi dicuntur. But if men would have considered the texts better than the bare titles/ they should have found that the texts in the chapters did not agree with the description and properties of Eringium in Dioscorides/ Galene and Pliny. For wherein Serapion hath in his title de secacul et eryngis/ within the chapter he describeth his see cachul to have roots woven in together beside the ground/ and a black sede in the quantity of a Ciche/ and that it groweth in moist places/ and shaddoish under great trees/ and that it is hot and moist in the first degree/ which marks and properties are quite contrary unto them that Dioscorides/ Galene and Pliny give unto their Eringio/ also in the chapter of Averroes which hath the title of secacul and eryngium/ it is as evident as may be unto him that will read the text both of Galene and Averroes/ that Averroes there entreateth not of Eringium/ but of Asteraticus. The same Averroes in an other place speaking of Secacul in these words: Secacul, id est, eringi calidi sunt & humidi. Declaring in giving like moisture unto heat in secacul/ that he writeth not there of the Eringij of Galene/ whom he knew well to give unto his Eringio a manifest dryenes'/ and a temperate heat/ or not far from temperate. But Rasis writing of secacul alone/ without any such additions as Serapio and Averroes have/ saith if secacul be condited/ that is seasoned and soused with honey or suggar/ maketh lothsumnes'/ and destroyeth a man's stomach or appetite/ but it increaseth man's sede wonderfully/ if a man use it oft. But eryngium condited and preserved with honey or suggar/ is not loathsome for the stomach/ neither hurteth it as daily experience can bear witness. Therefore secacul is not eryngium Dioscoridis in the writings of the arabians/ notwithstanding that the interpreters have confounded the one with the other. The virtues of Sea holly. SEA holly as Dioscorides writeth/ hath power to heat/ Paulus Egineta saith that Sea holly heateth/ but not manifestly: Aetius writeth that Sea holly differeth from temperate herbs/ in heat either little or nothing at all. But it is very dry and of subtle and fine parts/ as the same author witnesseth. The root of sea hulner drunken/ driveth forth woman's sickness/ and water out of the bladder. It scattereth away gnawynges and winds. It is good with wine against the diseases of the liver/ the bitings of serpent's/ and poison that is drunken. It is drunken with a dram of Carot against many evils. Some hold that if it be hanged or laid to it/ driveth away warts or swellings. If the rote be drunken with meed/ it healeth them that have their neck bowing backward/ and them that have the falling sickness. The root of Eringium made hot in water/ and taken with the same water/ healeth the pain of the colic. The same taken with meed where in it hath been made hot/ healeth them that have the stone and stranguriam/ the stopping of the water/ and the diseases of the kidneys. This broth of herb is to be drunken xuj. days fasting in the morning/ and when ye go to bed. If ye put water parsley called Zion to it/ it will work the better. A certain man told me that by the often using of it/ that he left of putting forth of stones by his water/ when as before he was oft vexed with that disease. If ye dwell by the Sea side/ you may make a goodly medicine of the root of Sea holly condited/ and so ye may make a goodly and wholesome meet of the green stalks/ when they come first out. The same may ye also conserve and keep in vinegar brine or sugar/ or honey/ as Asparagus/ called Sperage and Sampere/ are kept and condited. Of Spindel tree. depiction of plant Euonymus. EVonymus is reckoned not without a cause to be the tree which is called of some common Herbaries Fusago or Fusaria/ although I have seen this tree oft times in England/ and in most plenty between Ware and Barkwaye/ yet for all that I could never learn an English name for it/ the Duche men call it in Netherlande Spilboome/ that is Spindel tree/ because they use to make Spindels of it in that country/ and me think it may be so well named in English/ seeing we have no other name. Theophrastus describeth Euonymus after this manner. The tree named Euonymus/ groweth both in other places/ and also in the isle of Lesbus in the Orkin mountain/ called Ordinus: it is of the bigness of a Pome granate/ with a leaf of thesame/ but greater then is the leaf of Perywincle/ and soft like the Pomegranate lief. It beginneth to bud in September/ and blossemeth in the springe: the flower is like the herb called viola alba/ of which are many kinds/ but the most common viola alba is the herb that we call commonly heartsease: the savour is unpleasant: the fruit with the husk is like to the cod of sesam or oil sede/ within it is hole and sound/ not hollow/ saving that is divided into foursquared rows. This if it be eaten killeth beasts/ and thesame doth the leaf/ and specially goats/ except they be purged. Pliny writeth thus of Euonymus: The tree which is called Euonymus/ is no luckier than ostria: It is not unlike a Pomegranate tree/ and it hath a leaf of the bigness between it and a bay tree. The fashion and the softness is like the Pomegranate/ but the flower is whiter/ and by an by declareth the plague to come. It hath cods like unto sesam/ and within a corn four cornered stick and deadly to beasts. The leaf hath thesame might. Sometime a hasty lax is a remedy against the poison of this tree. This have I marked beside all that Theophrastus and Pliny have written/ that the young twigs or wands that grow out of the root beside the tree/ be very fair green/ and so well fouresquared as if it had been done with a plane. The vessels that the sedes are in/ be red/ and the tree hath much heart or pith in it. The wood in colour is something yellowish/ not unlike the colour of Berbery tree. I know no good property that this tree hath/ saving only it is good to make spindels and bird of cages. Of agrimony. EVpatorium is named in Greek Eupatorion/ is called in English agrimony/ in Dutch Agrimonien/ in French Aigremoine. The Apothecaries have used for the true Eupatorium a wild herb with leaves like hemp/ which groweth about watersydes and ditches/ which differeth much in virtue and fashion from the herb named of Dioscorides Eupatorium/ as ye shall know in the description of Eupatorium of Dioscorides. Mesue maketh also mention of a kind of Eupatorium/ which doth nothing agree with it of Dioscorides/ as ye may see in Mesues' description of that herb. This herb is supposed of some learned men to be Eupatorium Auicenne. Dioscorides describeth his Eupatorium after this manner: Eupatorium is a bushy herb/ bringing forth one stalk like wood/ blackish/ straight small/ rough/ a cubit long/ and sometime more. It hath leaves like five leaved grass: yet more liker hemp/ divided in five parts or more/ something black/ indented about the edges like a saw. The seed cometh forth of the middle of the stalks/ and so groweth up full of down/ and it boweth downwardly. Thesame when it is dry cleaveth upon men's clothes. depiction of plant Eupatorium. agrimony. depiction of plant Eupatorium vulgar. The virtues of agrimony. EVpatorium is an herb of subtle and fine parts/ and it hath pour to cut insunder/ and to scour away without any manifest or perceivable heat. Therefore it scoureth away the stopping of the liver. There is also in a certain binding/ whereby it giveth strength unto the liver. Thus far hath Galene spoken of our agrimony. And Dioscorides writeth thus of the virtues of acrimony: The leaves of this herb broken and laid to with swines grese/ heal sores that are hard to be cured and covered with a skin. The herb or the seed drunken in wine/ delivereth men from the bloody flux/ from the diseases of the liver and the biting of serpents. acrimony groweth among bushes and hedges and in middowes and woods/ in all countries in great plenty. Of the Bean. depiction of plant Faba. FABA is called in Greek kyamoes/ & these many years we have englished Faba a Bean in English as the Duche have named it ein Bonen in their speech/ from whence our speech came. But first a certain Dutch man of late named Hieronymus Tragus/ after with diverse reasons and authorities goeth about to prove that faba called kyamos of the grecians/ is not the pulse that is called in Duche bonen. His reasons are these: The first is that where as Theophrast and pliny write/ that the faba or kyamos cometh not out of the ground before xv. days/ that the common bean appeareth in Germany in the v. or vj. day An other reason is/ that where as Pliny writeth/ that all other pulses saving the Faba/ hath but one root/ where as Pliny seemeth to give more than one to the faba. The third argument is also set out of Pliny/ which saith that faba are so fruitful/ that one stalk hath been laden with an hundredth fabis: but there is no such plenty in the Duchess bonen: therefore the Duche bonen can not be faba. He fetched an other argument out of Galene the xj. book of Simple medicines/ Galene saith there that oniskos/ which are called in Latin millipedes/ (and in English are named Horse lice or Hobtrushes lice) are round beasts/ when as they draw themselves into a round figure like a bowl or ball/ some with us call them kyamous/ because they are like unto fabis: after that they have drawn themselves in to the round figure of a boul or a ball/ or such a round thing. But the common bean is not round like a bowl/ therefore the common bean can not be kyamos or faba. And this argument he confirmeth by the authority of Dioscorides/ who in the chapter of juniper (as he allegeth Dioscorides) maketh one kind of juniper berries like a faba/ but they are round/ therefore the faba ought also to be round. These & certain other such arguments doth Tragus bring forth to prove that the Dutch bonen/ which is all one with our bean/ is not the Latins faba/ and the grecians kyamos. Now when as Dioscorides describeth not fabam/ where as he entreateth of the nature of it/ of a purpose it is meet that we fetch out of other places of Dioscorides/ and out of other autores/ so much as we can that belongeth unto the description of Faba. Dioscorides entreating of Climenon/ saith that it hath a foursquared stalk like to the stalk of faba. Theophraste lib. 7. cap. 3. writeth that the stalk of kyamoes or faba is hollow within/ and that it groweth right up. pliny saith also that of pulses only the faba with lupines hath but one stalk. Thesame Theophrast saith that it hath a round leaf/ as Pliny doth also. Pliny saith that in the flower are certain letters of murning or weeping/ which is nothing but a black or brounish spot that is in the flower/ Theophrast saith that the skin of the bean is very thick. Dioscorides maketh the sede of Xiris like unto the sede of faba or kyamos/ & Galene in the book de alimentis maketh round the kyamos of faba/ non nititur numerosa radice/ that is faba leaneth not upon many roots/ saith Theophraste contrary unto Pliny/ which would that the faba only should amongst pulses have many roots. Theophrastes words in Greek are these: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is/ it is weike and empty/ & hath not many roots. Theophrast compareth the fruit of Lotus unto fabe. Now let us see in how many points our common bean doth agree with the above named marks/ the old autores give unto fabe. Our bean hath one rote as faba hath/ single & but one. Our bean hath a straight foursquared and hollow stalk/ & as faba hath the leaves round/ and the flower have spots as Pliny writeth/ that the faba hath in them: But in the figure and form of the sede/ our bean agreeth not with the bean the Galene in diverse places writeth of/ for where as it is round/ our is long and something flat. If I could answer unto this point/ the reasons that Tragus & other bring/ were son answered to. Howsoever the matter be/ I think that such a faba as Galene writeth of/ can not be found in this country with the marks that other autores give also unto it. Well if our bean be not the faba of old writers/ I would some body would show us what pulse is there either in Italy or Spain/ England or Almany/ or Franch/ which is the old writers Faba. Hieronymus Tragus taketh the herb that is in deed Cicercula/ but unknown to him to be faba antiquorum. But Cicercula because it is not round/ & groweth not right up/ but aside/ can not be faba: Cicercula hath also long leaves/ when as the bean by the authority of the same Theophrast are single/ therefore it can not be faba antiquorum. Amatus Lusitanus as he nameth himself/ and Rembert Helped with the reason of Tragus/ deny that our bean is the faba antiquorum/ but they tell not what pulse that is in this part of Europa. And so they take fabam away from us/ but they set nothing in the stead of it/ as Tragus more boldly then learnedly did. Two of thesame men hold that our common bean is faselus. But that our common bean can not be faselus/ first I will prove by the words of Rembert/ which saith both in his duche and French herbal/ that faselus is phasiolus of Dioscorides/ but Faseolus can not grow up without stakes or Paul'S/ & the bean can/ therfofe the bean is not faselus. Galene also de alimentorum facultatibus in the chapter de dolichiss, saith these words: Dicere posset quis, oina haec eruilias, cicerculas & phaselos unum esse genus, verùm pluribus nominibus appellari, and a little after writing of the same/ saith: Sive haec ut dixi unum genus, sive unius generis differentiae sint. But Theophrastus writeth Cicercula & Eruilia grow aside & not right up/ as the faba doth/ then if faselus be either one kind or of one kind as Galene writeth with Cicercula & Eruilia/ then groweth faselus a side as the other ij. do/ which differ as Galene saith only in name. There where as our bean groweth right up/ it can not be faselus. Galene also saith the phaselus is of a mean quality between wind & not windy. But our common bean as Rembert saith alleging Dioscorides/ is windy. Then when as phaselus is in a mean between windy & not windy/ & the bean is so windy that it had need to have comine put to it/ to put that windines away/ our common bean can not be faselus. But I marvel Rembertus citeth Dioscorides for the properties of faselus/ saying that he never made any mention of it/ except Rembert take faselus & phasiolus to be all one/ which if he do/ I marvel again why he maketh ij. chapters of faselus & phasiolus/ if they be all one. I marvel also that he giveth the property of the fabae veterum unto our common bean faselo/ which no author giveth unto phaselus/ & yet will not give the name of fabae veterum unto our bean also/ for nether Galene nor any other author saith that faselus are good for inflammations & for the diseases of the stones & paps/ but Galene & Dioscorides both give these virtue & property peculiarly fabae veterum: wherefore Rembertus seemeth against his will in giving the peculiar virtues fabae veterum unto our bean/ to make fabam faban veterum/ as willingly he taketh the description of it from the same/ to lightly giving credit unto Tragus/ who hath made him err in diverse herbs/ as the revocation of certain errors that he had committed in following of Tragus/ can bear witness. But by reason above brought/ ye may see plainly that our bean can not be nether phaseolus nor faselus veterum. Now let us answer to the reasons that Tragus & his followers make. As touching the long coming up of the faba/ I need to make no other answer than Theophrast maketh. For Theophrast in the same place immediately after in these words maketh sufficient answer to this reason. Sed an ea quae tempore verno serantur, celerius exeant cogitandum est. Non nunquam enim & quibusdam in locis vel intra pauciores dies confi ci possunt: ut in Aegypto enim tertio aut quarto die provenire affirmant: apud alios verò pluribus quàm retulimus opus sit, nec temerè ita eveniat, quum & tellus & caelum discrepat, cumque maturius seriusque aratum sit, quaeque superuenerint dissimi lia constant. Tellus enim rara & leaves & benigno caelo subiecta, celeriter & faci lè reddit lenta vera & ponderosa tardè. Pliny concerning the multitude of roots is answered all ready by Theophrast/ who writeth that the faba hath not many roots. As touching the plenty that the fruit of faba that Pliny speaketh of/ that is to be ascribed unto the plenteousness of some grounds/ whereas such plenty is. As for the heaviness of our beans/ it cometh also of the diversity of the ground/ & not of the diversity of the kind: for divers things of one kind are many parts heavier than an other/ by the reason of the goodness or plenteousness of the ground/ wherefore Agricola like a wise & learned man/ writeth that the right old weights can not be restored again by grains & pulses by reason of their diversity in divers countries & regiones. As touching that which he bringeth out of Dioscorides/ for the rondnes of the faba/ in the chapter of juniperus it is not found in any good text of Dioscorides/ neither greek nor latin. If any will allege me the text of Dioscorides after Serapions alleging/ I desire no better argument to prove that faba aught not to be round/ then it that may be made by Serapions alleging of Dioscorides/ for he writeth thus: Quaedan reperitur cuius fructus est parvus sicut faba, nisi quia ipse est rotundus. Ye see here that Dioscorides as Serapio allegeth him/ maketh the faban not to be round/ for he saith that the fruit of the less juniper is little like a faba/ saving that it is round as the faba is not. As for the reason brought of Galene for the roundness of the faba/ I answer that either Galene containeth his fabam under some kind of pulse/ that we take for a kind of pease/ as some think the Dioscorides containeth under the bean the pease/ because no mention is made thereof in Dioscorides/ or else his faba can not be found in this part of Europa/ or else I am far beguiled. Pliny maketh peason to have corners/ then by him our round white pease is either Galenis faba/ or else cicer album/ which Pliny maketh white and round/ and less than cicer arietinum. The virtues of beans. Beans make wind/ and are hard of digestion/ and make troublesome dreams. They are good for the cough/ they ingendre flesh of a mean nature between hot and cold. If they be sodden in water and vinegar/ and eaten with their shells/ they stop the bloody flux/ and the common flux of the guts. They are good to be eaten against vomiting. They are less windy if the first water whilse they be in sething/ be cast out/ and be sodden in fresh water again. The green bean troubleth the stomach more/ and is more windy than the dry bean. The flower both by itself/ and also laid to with barley meal/ suageth the burnings called inflammations/ which come of a wound/ it maketh the scars to be of one colour with the rest of the flesh about it. It helpeth the paps that swell with clodded milk: yea though they be vexed with an inflammation or heat: it stoppeth milk: it driveth away swelling empostemes/ blewe brosed blood/ and swellings behind the ears with the meal of fenygreke and honey/ but with roses/ frankincense/ and the white of an egg/ the eyes that fall outward/ swellings both windy and other/ be stayed/ thesame kneaded with wine/ helpeth the eyes that have a pearl/ and the stripes of the eyes. The bean eaten without any husk/ is good to be laid to the forehead/ to turn away the humores that fall down into it. Beans sodden in wine/ heal the swellings gathered in the stones. Some use to lay it upon childers/ neither parts of their bellies/ to stop the coming forth of the first heir. Heirs which springe out again after that the former heir is pulled out/ if they be anointed with the husks of beans/ wax small and fine and receive less nourishment. The barks of beans with barley meal/ cloven aloin/ called of some alum plume/ and old oil/ driveth away hard kernels. wol is died with the barks of beans. beans the skin taken of/ and divided into those parts/ whereinto they are divided by their own nature/ use to be laid/ to stop blood which is razed by an horseleche/ for it stoppeth blood/ if it be half cloven and laid to. Aetius writeth even as Galene and Paulus write also: that it draweth very near unto the middle temper between hot and cold. The substances of the bean as Galene writeth/ hath a little virtue to scour away/ as the skin hath the property to bind a little/ beans laid without as a medicine do dry without hurt. Galene writeth that he hath oft used beans sodden in water/ and laid them to with swine's grese upon places/ vexed with the gout. He also used the leaves against the brusinge of sinews/ and the wounds of thesame/ and namely the meal of them with honey and vinegar. Goodly Reder/ this following matter shall be addeth unto the virtues of Dill/ which you shall find at the number/ Folio 43. and 44. The manner of making of a fat or butter like in strength with the oil of Dyll/ or the oil of camomile. TAke of the flowers of Dill or camomile flowers/ the white circle taken away/ a quart or a pint as ye will have the quantity of the medicine to be great and pour upon the flowers/ either so much fresh melted butter/ and scomed/ or so much of the fats of a goose/ hen/ hog/ or capon/ or all mixed together as will cover all the flowers/ being in a pottle pot/ or a greater vessel/ which pot or vessel ye shall set in an other vessel full of hot sethinge water/ and let the pottle pot stand so long in the water/ until that the flowers begin to faide or change their colour and wax soft/ then strain altogether and cast away the flowers/ and put as much fresh flowers unto the butter or fat/ as ye did before/ and so do three times/ and then put up your butter in a close vessel well stopped/ and use it when ye have need. This butter or fat if it be dressed with camomile flowers/ is good for the diseases that are in the sinews/ or the ache that is in parts full of sinews. It is good to anoint them withal that have been long sick in an agewe a little before the fit come. It is good to lay to any part that acheth in the body: it is good for them that are weary/ either by great labour or with riding/ so that it may be laid very warm on with a hot hand/ specially about the joints/ it will also ease the pain of the stone/ something if the diseased place be anointed therewith being hot. If ye make it of Dill/ it doth also suage ache or pain that cometh of windy matter/ and is good for all other things that camomile is good for/ and specially for driving away of the cold of an old ague/ if the ridge bone be anointed therewith as hot as the patient can suffer/ an hour before the fit at the fire side or in a hot bed. It is also good for swellings and impostumes/ and hardness/ and partly it helpeth a man to sweet if a man be anointed therewith as hot as he can suffer/ and so will the butter of camomile do likewise/ laid to after the same manner. Ye may make a medicine with butter/ and the flowers of Lavender/ as I taught you to make of the flowers of Dill and camomile/ and it will be good for a cold stomach/ for the head ache that cometh of cold/ and for the ache of any part of the body that cometh of cold. FINIS. The second part of Vuilliam Turner's Herbal/ wherein are contained the names of herbs in Greek/ Latin/ Duche/ French/ and in the Apothecary's Latin/ and sometime in Italiane/ with the virtues of the same herbs with diverse confutationes of no small errors/ that men of no small learning have committed in the entreating of herbs of late years. God save the Queen. printer's device consisting of the English royal blazon HONY SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE Imprinted at colen by Arnold Birckman/ In the year of our Lord M.D.LXVIII. Cum Gratia & Privilegio Reg. Mayest. The Table. ABrecock tre 48 Agarick 29 hallelujah 74 Alkaking or winter chirres 142 Asp and kinds of Pepler 90 Auenes 9 B Barley 16 Basil 66 Bay tre 32 Bech tre 1 Bramble bush 118 Brere bush 119 Brionye 166 & 167 Broume. 7 C Carob tre 136 Carot 80 Cats tail 259 chervil 10 Cinkfoly 110 Cive or Civet 8 Citron tree 49 Clare 70 Clot burr 170 Comfrey 148 Cottenwede 11 Cotton 13 Cresses or karsse 64 Crowfoot 114 Cicory and Endive. 21. D Darnel 41 Date tree 74 Deed nettle 27 Dittani 35 Dock. 121. E Elder or bourtre 124 Elecampane or Alecampane 22 Elm tre. 169. F Fenel or Fenkel 5 Fenegreke 5 fern or broke 3 Feverfewe 79 Fiche 162 Fig tree 2 Fig bean 43 Fistick nut 91 French or Spanish broom 144 flower-de-luce. 23 G Gelover 163 Gentian 7 Gethsemin or jesemin 19 Grass 13 Great burr 82 Groundel 132 Grummel or graymile. 40 H Haris foot 26 Harstrang 38 Hartis tongue 86 Haukwede 14 Herb ferula, or fenel giant 1 Hops 42 Horehound 51 Horse tongue or double tongue 15 Horse hoof or bullfote 159 Housleke 133 Hyssop. 19 I S. john's grass 18 juniper or juniper. 25 K Kidney bean 140 Knot grass 97 Kowe persnepe. 145 L Lampsana 27 Larix 28 Laserpitium 30 Lathyris 31 Laver or Zion 32 Leke 101 Lentil or lentils 33 Lentisk or mastic tree 34 Lets or lettuce 26 Ligustrum 35 Lily 38 Limonium 39 Linden tre 153 Liver wurte 36 Lint sede 39 Lotus urbana 42 Lycores 12 Lysimachia. 44 M Madder 118 Mallow. 44 Mandrake 45 Maidens heir. 6. & 157 Medica 52 Meddler tree 56 Meon or Mew 56 Mercury 55 Mile or Millet 57 Mint 53 Missel or mistletoe tre 165 Mulberry tree 58 Mustard 137 N Nettel 169 Nigella Romana 10 Night shade. 142 O Oak tre 109 Oleander 56 Olive tree 67 Organ 69 Orobanche 71 Oxyacantha. 73 P Palma Christi 116 Panik 76 Parietorie or Pilletorye of the wall 14 Phalaris 85 Peonye 84 Persnepes and skirwurtes 138 Pear tree 108 Pease 92 Penny rial 107 Pepper 90 Plain tre 95 Plum tree 103 poppy 76. & 77 Pomegranate tree 49 Pink needle or starkis bill 8 Polipodium ot walferne 4 porcelain 102 Prymprint 37 Psyllium or flea sede 105 Ptarmica 106 pine tre. 87 Q Quickbeam tree 143 Quince tre. 48 R Radice or radish 111 Rape or Turnepe 112 Raspis or hindberry 119 Rise 72 Rose 116 Rosemary 35 Rue 122 Rye. 129 S Sage 126 savin 124 Scala caeli 97 Scandix 120 Sea union 130 Sea trifoly. 12 Sea wartwurt 81 Securidaca 133 Settwall 86 Sesamum 134 Siler mountain ibidem Si●imbrium 140 Sison 139 Spelt 131 Spiknarde 62 Spourgwurt 171 Squynant 24 Stavis acre 147 Strawberrye 6 Sumach. 115 T Tamarisk 59 Tithymales 154 Toads flax 73 Tribuli 156 treacle mustard 152 Turpentine. 151 V vervin 162 walnuts 24 wall barley or way bend 17 waybrede 94 water parsley 138 water germander 132 water rose or water lily 65 white Satyrion 127 wild Thyme 132 wild cress 20 wild grape 25 wodbinde. 82 FINIS. Of the bech tre. FAgus is named in Greek Phegos/ in Dutch/ ein Buchbaun/ in French fau. Fagus is thus described of pliny: The nut of a Beech tree being like unto kyrnels/ is enclosed in a three cornered skin or husk/ the leaf is thine and exceeding light/ like unto an asp or poplere/ it wexith yellow very hastily/ & oft times it bringeth forth in the mids in the upper part a little green bury/ sharp in the top/ the nuts are very sweet. Thrusshis' desire greatly to eat of the beech nut/ and mice eat gladly of the same. Thus much doth pliny write of the description of a beech tree/ Virgil in his Egloges maketh beech tree to have a great and a broad top/ which maketh such a great shadow/ that both men and beasts may be defended thereby from the heat of the son: which thing we see to be true by daily experience/ and specially in great old Beeches. The properties, use, and commodities of the beech tree. DIoscorides writeth that the leaves of the oak & the beech tree and of such other like bruised and broken are good for soft swellings/ and to strengthen those parts that are week. The leaves of the beech tree/ be good to be chowed for the disease of the gums/ and the lips. The powder burned of the beech nut/ is good with honey for askalde & a skuruye head/ when the hear goeth of/ if it be laid to. pliny rekenyth the same good for the stone. Palladius writith that the beech tree is good timber/ if it be kept dry/ but that it is soon rotten/ if it be in moisture or in weate places/ in Virgilles' time men used much to make cups of the beech tree as a man may gather by his Egloges. Of the herb Ferula. FErula is called in Greek narthex/ but how that it is named in English/ as yet I can not tell/ for I never saw it in England/ but in Germany in divers places. It may be named in English herb ferula/ or fennel gyante/ because it is like fennel/ but a great deal higher and larger in all parts than fennel is. Ferula bryngith forth a stalk of three cubytes long/ and leaves of fennel/ but rougher and brother. I find no larger description of ferula in Dioscorides/ but Theophrastus describeth it thus: Ferula hath but one stalk/ and that full of joints or knees/ The leaves and branchis come out of the joints/ one out of one side of the joint/ & another out of the other side/ as the leaves of the read do. The leaf is great/ soft/ and much divided or jagged/ so that it that is next unto the ground/ doth much resemble here. The flower is yellow/ the sede is dark and like dill sede/ but greater it is cloven in the top/ and is divided into small sticks which hold the flowers and the seed. The small branchis want not their flowers nor sede/ but have both as dill hath. The stalk lasteth but for one year. It hath but one single root/ and that goeth deep into the ground. The virtues of Ferula out of Dioscorides. depiction of plant Ferula herb Ferula, or Fenelgiante. THe heart taken out of the green ferula/ and drunken/ is good for the spitting of blood/ for the flux: it is given in wine against the bitings of vipers. Thesame put into the nostrils/ stoppith blood there. The seed drunken is good for the gnawing of the belly/ if the body be anointed therewith and with oil/ it provoketh sweat. The stalks/ if they be eaten/ make the head ache/ they are sauced in brine. The virtues of ferula out of pliny. HHe stalks of ferula are used to be eaten/ when they are sodden/ they are the better taken with must and honey/ and so they are good for the stomach/ if a man take many of them: they breed the head ache/ a dram of the root drunken in two ounces/ and a half of wine/ is drunken against serpent's/ and the root is laid to itself/ so is it good for the gnawing in the belly: with oil and vinegar/ it is good to stay swetinge even in agues. The juice of ferula taken in the quantity of a bean/ doth stop the belly ten grains of the seed broken/ be good to be drunken in wine to stop blood. The heart or the pith of the herb so taken/ is good for the same purpose. The nature of Ferula is the sorest enemy that can be to Lampreys/ for if it once touch them/ they die therewith. The virtues of Ferula out of Galen. THe seed of ferula heateth and maketh thine or subtle/ but it that is within/ which they call the mary/ the pith/ and the hat/ hath a binding nature in it. By reason whereof it is good for the flux and them that spit blood. Of the Fig tree. FIrus is called in Greek sick/ in English a fig tree/ in Duche/ Ein feig baum/ in French vng figuez. A fig tree is no great high tree/ for the most part/ but in some places some are found as big and as high/ as a pear tree. The leaves are cut or indentid/ and every leaf hath three parts/ of the which every one resemblith a finger. Therefore depiction of plant Ficus Fig. every fig leaf/ seemeth as though it had three fingers. The fig tree is so well known/ that it needeth no farther description. The virtues of the Fig tree. New figs that are ripe/ as Dioscorides writeth/ hurt the stomach/ and lose the belly/ but the flux that cometh thereof/ is soon stopped. They provoke sweat and draw out wheels and pocks: they quench thirst and abate heat/ when they are dry/ their nature is hot/ they nourish the strength/ but then they make a man more dry/ & they are good for the belly/ and are contrary to the rumes or flowings of the stomach/ and the belly. Yet Galen wrytith that the figs both green and also dried/ lose the belly. They are very good for the throat/ for the wind pipe/ for the kidneys/ for the bladder/ and for them that are evil coloured with a long sickness/ and for them that are short winded/ and for them that have the dropsy/ and for them that have the falling sickness/ The same made warm/ & drunken with Isope/ do purge the breast/ they are good for the cough/ for the belly/ & for the old diseases of the lungs/ Thesame bruised with niter & chartan saffron/ & then eaten/ do soften the belly. The broth of figs/ is good for the swelled kyrnells beside the throat. If a man gargill therewith/ they are good to be put in softening implaysters/ mixed with barley meal/ the same broth is good to be mixed in woman's baths with Fenygreke/ and sodden barley. When they are sodden with rue/ they are good to be powered in/ against the gnawing of the belly. Figs sodden and laid to drive away hardnessis/ they soften swellings behind the ears/ & other angry swellings. They make ripe wheels/ called Pavos/ specially if there be put unto them niter aryce/ or lime: if raw figs be beaten with these/ they are of like effect. with the shell of a pomegarned they purge away anguaylles & such hard swellings: with copperus they heal the running issues of the leg/ which are almost incurable/ if they be sodden with wine worniwode Roman & barley meal. They are good to be laid upon them that have the dropsy/ burnt figs laid one with a plaster of wax/ are good for kibed or mooled heel's/ and for ytchynges. The mylkye juice of both the wild and the garden fig: even as running or cheese lope/ maketh milk run together into cruds/ and looseth it that is grown together / as vinegar: it taketh the skin of from the body/ it openyth the poors/ and loseth the belly. The same broken with an almond & drunken/ openyth the mother. The same laid to with the yolk of an egg or Tyrrinicall wax/ bringith down women's sicknesses. It is good to be put into plasters with the flower of fenygreke and vinegar for the gout. It scowryth away lepres/ frekles/ skuruynes and the disease of the face/ stables/ & running sores in the head/ if it be laid to with barley meal: It is good for them that are bitten with a scorpion or of any other venemens' beast/ or of a mad dog/ if it be dropped into the wound. The same received in wulle and put into the hollow tooth/ is good also for the tooth ache. If it be laid to with fat/ it taketh away wertes. Drye figs are hot in the first degree fully as Galen writeth. They are hot in the beginning of the second degree/ and of fine and sutil parts. The fig tree as both the juice/ the leaves and the tree doth testify/ is very hot/ for they do not only bite or vehemently scour away/ but also/ do pull of the skin/ and open the mouths of the vessels/ although figs with other fruits have some evil juice/ yet this good property they have/ that they go quickly through the belly/ and easily go thorough the hole body/ for they have a notable virtue to scour away/ wherefore it chanceth that they that are grieved with the stone/ after that they have eaten figs void out sand in their urine: they nourish more than the comen sort of fruits do/ but they make not fast and stiff flesh as bread and swines flesh do/ but something louse and empty flesh as beans do. Figs are windy/ but their windiness endurith not/ if a man eat out of measure of ripe figs/ they will fill him exceedingly full of louse. They have virtue to cut in soudre and to make fine/ by reason whereof they provoke a man to stool and purge the kydnes. Of the Brake or Ferne. FIlix is called in Greek Pteris/ in English fern or a Brake/ in Duche ein walt farne/ in Frenchefauchier. There are two kinds of brakes/ the one kind is called in Latin Filix mascula/ & in Greek Pteris/ without any addition. It groweth commonly upon stones. It is all full of little wings even from the wot. The second kind is called in Greek Thelipteris/ in Latin Filix femina: this is the comen fern or brake which the Norther men call a braken/ It hath a thing like a long bare stalk/ and the leaves are only on the top of that. Dioscorides wrytith of the fern or Brake thus/ It hath leaves without any stalk or fruit/ which leaves come out of a thing like a stalk/ and the same is a cubit high/ the leaves are many ways divided and full ol branches like feathers. The savour of it is somewhat rauke/ the root of it is black/ and that goeth even by the overmost part of the ground. It is also long/ and putteth forth many branches/ the taste thereof is somewhat binding. It groweth in mountains and in stony placyes. The female brake hath leaves like unto the male full of branchis/ higher from the ground/ which grow not all upon one herbs synnewe as it were/ as the other depiction of plant Filix. depiction of plant fern or a Brake. doth/ but upon divers and many lytlen synnowes like stalks. This kind hath many long roots writhe one by an other/ which being something yellow turn toward a black. Some also are found red. Dioscorides denieth that the fern hath any fruit/ and thereby that it hath also no seed/ but not only the opinion of the comen people is/ that the fern hath sede/ but also it is the opinion of a Christian Physician/ named Hieronymus Tragus/ who doth not only say that fern hath sede/ but wrytith that he found upon midsummer even seed upon Brakes. I have taken out of his herbal his words concerning that matter/ & have translated that into English after this manner following. Although that all they that have written of herbs/ have affirmed and holden/ that the Brake hath nether seed/ nor fruit: yet have I divers times proved the contrary/ which thing I will testify here in this place/ for there sakes that be students in the knowledge of herbs/ I have four years together one after an other upon the vigil of saint john the baptist (which we call in English midsummer even) sought for this seed of Brakes upon the night/ & in deed I found it early in the morning before the day broke/ the sede was small black and like unto poppy. I gathered it after this manner: I laid sheets and mollen leaves underneath the brakes which received the seed/ that was by shaking and beating brought out of the branches and leaves. Many brakes in some places had no seed at all/ but in other places again: a man shall find seed in every broke/ so that a man may gather a hundred out of one broke alone/ but I went about this business/ all figures/ coniurynges/ saunters/ charms/ witchcraft/ and sorseryes set a side/ taking with me two or three honest men to bear me company/ when I sought this seed/ all the villages about/ did shine with bonfyers that the people made there/ & sometime when I sought the seed/ I found it/ and sometime I found it not. Sometime I found much/ and sometime little: but what should be the cause of this diversity or what nature meaneth in this thing/ surely I can not tell. Thus far hath Tragus written of the brake seed. But as he hath not told wherefore the seed is good/ even so have I no experience as yet wherefore it is good/ saving that I do gether by no vain conjecture/ that in healing of divers griefs/ it is of greater power and strength than either the root or leaves be. The virtues of the male fern. THe root of the male fern driveth out the broad worms of the belly/ if you take it in the quantity of four drams of meed/ otherwise called hunyed water/ but it will work more effectually if ye take it with xij. grains of Diagredy or Scamonye/ or black Hellabor/ but they that receive this medicine/ had need to take garlic before/ and it is good for them that have a swelled milt/ The root is good to be drunken/ and also to be laid to in plaster wise for the wounds that are made with an arrow of reed/ whereof they say this is the trial. The fern will perish/ if ye set reeds round about it in good plenty/ And like wise the reed will vanish away if ye compass him about with fern round about. The roots of the female fern taken with honey after the manner of an electuary/ drive broad worms out of the gutter if they be drunken with wine/ in the quantity of three drams/ they drive out round worms. They are not good to be given unto women which would have many children/ neither are they good to go much over for women that are already with child. The powder of them is good to be sprinkled upon moist sores which are hard to be covered with a skin/ and ill to be healid. It is a good remedy for the necks of such beasts as are accustomed to the yokes/ some use to seth the green leaves of Brakes with other wortes or pot herbs/ to receive them to soften their belly withal. The later writers do affirm that the juice which is pressed out of a fern root/ laid to with rose water/ or with other cold water/ if ye can get no rose water/ is good for all manner of burnings and skaldinge/ but ye must two or three times strain the water & powder together/ and than it will be slimy/ and than it is perfectly good for the purposes above rehearsed/ when as no other remedy will help as men of experience do testify. This is a marvelous nature that the fern hath namely the male/ that if a man cut the root of it in the mids/ it will show of each side a black eagle with two heads out of white/ pliny also wrytith/ that if the root of the fern be broken and laid to/ pulleth forth the shiver of a reed that styckith in the flesh/ and likewise that the root of the reed laid to/ pullyth forth to shivers of a Brake that is in the flesh. Of Polypodies or Vuallferne or Okeferne. depiction of plant Polipodium Filicula polypody or Vualferne, or Okeferne, FIlicula is called in Greek Polipodium/ in english Polipodium or wall fern/ in Duche Engelsaet/ or engelsuß/ in French Polipode. It groweth in ache trees & in old walls. It drieth whythoute biting. Dioscorides sayeth that Polipodium groweth in mossy walls/ and in old bodies or bellies of trees/ and specially of oaks/ it is of a spann length/ and like unto a fern/ somethinghe rough/ but not so finely divided/ the roothe is full of hears wherein are contained certain long things like the feet or claspers of the fish/ called Polipus/ & they are of the thickness of a man's little fingers/ green within and something russet. The virtues of Polipodium out of Dioscorides. Polipodium hath the power and virtue to purge. It is good to be given sodden with a henn/ or with fish/ or with betes/ or with mallows to make a purgation. The poudre of the root mixed with meed/ doth purge collar & phlegm: it is exceeding good to be laid one those membres that are out of joint/ and against the chaps or ryfles that are in the fingers. The virtues of Polipodium out of Mesue. Polipodium is the root of an herb that groweth upon stones & trees/ which the Grecianes call Dendropterim/ that is tree Ferne. It that groweth upon the stones is full of superfluous/ raw/ and windy moisture/ which overturneth the stomach. It is better that groweth upon trees/ & namely/ such as bare acorns or mast/ specially if it be great/ sound/ fresh & well fastened together/ full of knots without blackyshe red & green within as fistikes be/ with a sweet taste/ astringent/ something bitter and something spicy. It scoureth away gross & tough humours: it maketh ripe & drieth up. It purgeth ye even from the joints/ melancholy or gross/ or tough phlegm. It is good for these causes for all diseases that arise of melancholi as the quartain if it be taken with meed/ doder of time salt Indian. All manner of ways it is good for the colic and for the hardness of the milt. Polypody drieth & lesseth or thinneth the body. To avoid that/ that shall not bring the stomach to vomiting/ it must be given with meed or barley water/ or the broth of rasines/ or with the broth of cocks/ or hens/ or sodden with whey. It is good to drink it mixed with well savouring sede/ and other spycye things as anise/ carua/ fennel/ ginger/ and such like that comfort the life or the natural power of the stomach. Polypody can bide long sethinge enough. It may be given from ij. drams unto six. Thus farmesue/ an ounce & an half of our English Polypody will scarcely purge/ some use to dry the rote/ & to give a dram of the powder at the lest for a purgation/ & bid the patiented after it iiij. hours. The stilled water of Polipodium as Tragus writeth/ is good for the quartain/ for the cough/ for that short wind/ against melancholy/ against grievous and heun dream/ if it be drunken certain continual days together. But I think that the wine that the roots are sodden in/ & made a little sweet with sugger or honey/ should work much better/ for the above named purposes/ then the water/ which of whatsoever herb it be of/ hath no such strength as the juice and broth of the same herb. Is there any water better than rose water is/ and hath more strength of the rose/ and yet ij. ounces of the juice of roses/ worketh more in purging/ than xuj. of water. Wherefore I can not so much commend the distilled waters of herbs as I do the juice and broths/ of the same/ wherein the herbs are sodden. Of fenel. Feniculun is called in Greek Marathron/ in English fenel or fenkel/ in Duche finchell/ in French fenonil. Fenel is a great & a long herb/ sometime higher than a man/ the stalk is great and full of joints/ the leaves are very long and small/ the flower is yellow/ the top is like unto the top of dill/ the sede groweth thick in the top without any covering/ it is something crooked like a horn/ the outside of it is full of gutters and crests/ the rout is long and white. The property of Fenell out of Dioscorides. FEnell/ if the leaves be eaten/ or if the seed be drunken with a ptisame: filleth woman's papes with milk/ the broth of the tops of the leaves is good to lay unto the back/ for the ache in the kidnees/ for it driveth forth water. It is good to be drunken in wine against the biting of serpents. It provoketh flowers/ in an ague drunken with cold water/ it slaketh the lothsunnes'/ and the heat of the stomach. The roots of fenel broken/ and laid to with honey/ be good against the biting of a dog. The juice which is pressed out of the stalk & leaves/ and dried in the son/ is put unto those medicines that clear and bright the eyesight. In some places men use to cut the stalk of fennel/ and to take out of it a juice like a gum which is very good for the eyes Out of Macer. FEnell provoketh men to the procreation of children/ the serpents chow this herb/ and purge and clear their eyes therewith/ whereof learned men did gather that it should also be good for man's eyes. The juice of fennel put into a man's ears/ killeth the worms therein: the use of fennel with wine is good against the swelling of the dropsy. It is also good both depiction of plant Feniculum, Fenell or Fenkell. for diseases of the liver and the longs. The broth that the roots of fennel is sodden in/ wheter it be wather or wine/ is good for the diseases of the bladder and kidnens. It driveth forth water/ if it be laid upon the belly a little above the privites. The broth of the rote helpeth the ache of the yard/ if it be therewith bathed. It will do the same put unto oil and laid to: seth fenel and vinegar together/ and it will swag any swelling that cometh suddenly by biting. The seed stirreth mankind to the procreation of children. And the same is good for a pleuresy/ and so is the broth of the herb. authors write that serpents wax young again by tasting and eating of this herb/ wherefore sum think that the use of the herb therefore is very meet for aged folk. Out of Aetius. FEnell is so hot that it may be reckoned to be hot in the third degree/ and it drieth in the first degree/ and therefore it engendereth milk. Of fenugreek. FEnum grecum is called in Greek Telis/ in English Fenegreke in Duche Bucks horn/ in French Fenecreke. It groweth in Italy and Germany. This herb is also called in Greek Keratitis/ that is horned/ aigonkeros/ that is gotis horn/ and bonkeros that is cowishorne/ it is also called in latin siliqua/ silicia & silicula. Fenegreke runneth up with small little branches & stalks/ which are read/ the leaf is like unto trifoly three leaved grass. The flower is little & white/ the sede is read/ & it is contained in a long cod/ like a horn/ the rote is round and sunthinge long. The virtues of fenugreek out of Dioscorides. THe flower or meal of Fenegreke hath power to soften/ & to drive away. The same sodden in meed/ if it be laid to/ is good both against inward and outward inflammations or burnings with salpeter depiction of plant Fenum Grecum Fenegreck. and vinegar: it minisheth the milt: the juice of the broth is good for woman's diseases/ if they sit in it and be bathed therewith/ whether the mother is stopped or is swelled. The broth that it is sodden in/ strained and laid to the head/ purgeth the here & scoureth away scurf & the runnyngh sores of the head/ if that the natural place of conception be hard and strait (by reason whereof sum women bring forth their children with great jeopardy) if ye mix fenugreek and goose fat/ and put them together in the convenient place/ according unto the discretion of an honest midwyff: enlargeth and softeneth it. If it be laid to green with vinegar/ it is good for raw places that have the skin of. The droth of it is good against the often vain desire of going to stole/ and against the stinking filth of the bloody flix. The oil that is pressed out of it & of myrtles/ scoureth away the stars of the privities. Of Strauberries. FRagraria is called in English a Strawberye leaf/ whose fruit is called in English a strawberry/ & in Latin Fragun/ in Duche Erdber/ in French Fraisue. The strawberry rynneth upon the ground/ and hath a little rough stalk/ and in the top of it grow white flowers/ after the which flowers be gone/ theridamas grow berries/ which are green first/ depiction of plant Fragraria Strawberrie and afterward read. The leaf is indentid/ & always three of them grow together/ the rote is in some place black and some place redyshe. The virtues of Strawberries. Strawberries leaves taken in meat/ helpeth them that are diseased in the milt/ & so doth also the juice drunken with honey. The same is good to be given with pepper for them that are short winded. Strawberryes' quench thirst/ and are good for a choleric stomach. There is a juice pressed out of strawberries/ which by continuance of time increaseth in strength/ and that is a present remedy against the sores and weals of the face/ & against the blodshotten eyes. The broth of the rothe suageth the heat of the liver/ drunken the morning evening. Many use this herb to join together green wounds/ to stop laxes/ and ishewes of women/ to strenghehen the gums/ & to take away the sores or weals of the mouth/ and the stinking of the same. The fruit seemeth to have some warmness in it/ but the leaf is cold. Of the Ash tree. THe tre is called in Latin fraxinus/ in Greek melia/ & is named in English an ash tree/ in Duche ein Esch baum/ in French fraisne: as Theophrastus writeth there are two kinds of ashes/ of the which the one is very high & tawllen/ & the wood of it is white/ & hath as it were gross veins or sinews/ & it is softer/ smouther/ and more curled then the other is. The other kind is lower and groweth not so high/ and more rough/ harder/ and yelower. The leaves are like unto the brodder bay leaves/ but they are sharper and indentid round about the edges/ the hold little for stalk/ that all the leaves grow on/ is a green herbishe thing/ and not woodyshe/ and upon that the leaves grow/ in a distinct order a small space going between one another/ and they grow of each side of the little stalk by coples' one right over against another/ after the manner of the sorbe apple tree leaves do grow. The seed of the ash tre groweth in long things like birds tongues/ which are called of some writers even for that cause/ linguae avium, and they are called in English ash keys/ because they hangh in bunches after the manner of keys. The virtues of the ash tree. THen juice of the leaves of an ash tree/ either/ in ointment/ or drunken in wine/ is good against the bitynges of vipers or adders. The ashes that are made of the bark/ laid to with water/ taked away lepers. Sum reckon that the powder or clips/ or scrapinge of the wood/ will destroy a man. Out of the later writers. THe water that is distilled out of the barks of the ash tree/ is a singular remedy against the stone and against the jaundes: The leaves of the ash sodden in wine/ and drunken/ be good for them that have the disease of the milt/ and of the livers/ sum do hold that the juice that is pressed out of the ashen leaves/ if it be drunken with wine/ is good to make fat men lean: but of this thing as yet I have no experiens. There be sum also of that opinion/ that they judge that the continual drinking in an ashen cup/ lesseth the milt as the old authors write/ that the drinking in tamarisk doth. Of the herb called Gallion. depiction of plant Galion maidens heir. GAlion or Gallion is named in English in the north country maidens heir/ in Duche unser lieven frawen betstro/ in French/ petit muguet. There are two kinds of Gallion/ the greater are the less/ the less kind agreeth better with the description as here after ye may see. Galion hath the name of that property that it hath in crudding of milk/ it may occupy the place of cheslope/ or a running. Gallion hath a branch and a leave very like unto clever/ or gooshareth/ & that right up/ it hath a small yellow flower in the top/ thick plenteous and well smelling. The virtues of Gallion. THe flower is good to lay to places/ it stoppeth the gusshinge out of blood/ menge this herb with a cyr-ope or ointment made with rose oil & wax/ and laid in the son until it wax white/ and than it will refresh them that are weary/ the roots provoke men to the natural office of matrimony. Of read Archangel. GAliopsis saith Dioscorides hath a leaf & stalks in all points like unto a nettle but smother/ which if he be bruised/ hath a strong stinking savour/ and it hath a small purpell flower/ and it groweth about hedges/ and about houses/ and oft-times in gardens among other herbs without setting or sowing. The virtues of Galeopsis. THe leaves/ the stalks/ the sede/ and the juice of read archangel scatter away hard lunpes and cancres/ and drive away/ and disperse hard wens/ & swellings/ called in latin Panos/ and the inflamed swellings behind the ears. Ye must twice on the day lay the emplaster warm to with vinegar/ and bathe the place with the broth of it. It is very good to lay it to rotting soores/ eating sores/ and to deadly burnings/ called Gangreves. Of Browme. GEnista is called in English Browme/ in Duche Genist or Pfrim/ in French Dugenet. Many well learned men have judged the buss the we call browme/ which is called of the latins Genista/ to be Spartion of the grecians/ and pliny the noble clerk writing of Genista in the twenty-three. book/ of his natural stories/ in the ix. chapter/ doubteth wheter Genista be Spartium of the Grecians or no. But if they the of late have confunded Genistan with Sparto/ and Plini/ which doubted whether Genista were Spartum or no/ had seen both our comen broum that groweth in the fields/ and it that groweth only in gardens/ which because it came from beyounde the Sea/ wy call French browme: they would not have confounded them/ neither pliny would doubted/ whether the one had been the other or no. The French broun/ which of late years came to us out of spain/ is much tauler/ then the comen broom is: the twigs are long/ green/ and smooth/ resembling in all things a rishe/ saving that in some there appear little leaves/ & so little that scarcely they deserve to be called leaves. I think that because Dioscorides saw them so little & so few/ that he would not call them leaves. The broum which is called in Latin Genista/ hath cornered and rough twigs/ even as the Poet Calphurnius in this verse witnesseth: Molle sub hirsuta latus exposuêre Genista. They have stretched forth their soft side under the rough broume. Then when as our gardin french broume is smouth/ it can not be Genista whereof Calphurnius maketh mention. The leaves of the broom are of two sorts/ they that are in the ends/ are very small like unto them that are in the Spanish broom. But they that are beneath/ are something like rue leaves/ the twygges are rough and fivesquared. Which marks are for differing both from the description of Dioscorides/ & the likeness of our French or Spanish broom. The virtues of Browme. BRowme seed taken in the quantity of a dram/ or a dram and a half/ purgeth waterish humours. If it be taken with a draft of meed or whey/ it driveth such matter from the joints/ both by vomit and purgation. It suffereth not any tough humours to abide in the bladder or kidneys. The later writers use the water against the stone. Other take the leaves and twigs of it/ and steep them a five or six days in vinegar/ and then bruise them/ and press oud a juice/ the which they give in the quantity of two onces and a half to them that have the Sciatica. I think it were better to mix it with oil/ & so to lay it upon the grieved place/ then to take it inward/ except the patient were very strong/ the vomit that is provoked by browme/ is good for the diseases of that gout/ that sciatica & the disease/ & the kidneys. It hurteth the stomach & the heart/ wherefore if ye take it inward/ you must take it with rosed honey/ or with rose leaves/ with fennel seed and anise sede. The flowers of browme sodden in the quantity of three drams in whey or in meed/ purge as the seed doth. Ye may take more or less according to the strength of the patient. Browme is hot and dry in the second degree. Of Gentian. depiction of plant Gention. GEntian is called in Greek Gentiane/ and in English Gentian/ in Duche Entian/ in French/ de la Gentiane. Gentius the king of the Illyrians was the first finder of this herb/ which he of his name called Gentian: the leaves which grow about the rote/ be like the leaves of a walnut tree/ or the leaves of plantain/ and they are some thing read in the part which is above the mids of the stalk/ they are something iaged. The stalk is smooth and empty within/ of the thickness of a man's finger/ full of joints/ & at every joint come out leaves. It is some time two cubits high: it hath a broad light sede/ in little vessels/ some thing rough or chaffy like unto the sede of the herb called Spondilion. The rout is like unto that rowthe of long Aristolochia/ it is thick and bitter/ and it groweth in that high tops of mountains & in shadow and waterish places. I have seen it in the alpes growing between Italy and Germany/ it groweth also plenteously in many places of high germany as they told me that saw it ther. The virtues of Gentiane. THe virtue of the root is hetinge and binding together. If it be drunken in the quantity of ij. drams with pepper rue and wine/ it helpeth the biting of serpents. A dram of the juice helpeth the side ache/ them that are bruised with a fall/ the places that are bursten and shrunk together. It is good for them that have the disease of the liver and stomach/ if it be drunken with water. If the rote be conveniently laid to the natural place of conception/ it helpeth women more easily to bring fourth their children. It is also good for wounds/ & it is also a remedy against sores that eat inward and make deep holes. The juice is good for the same purpose. The same is good or to anoint sore eyes which that are inflammed. The rote scoureth away the frekilles and soul spots. I have seen some make a lee or an ashy water of the roots of Gentian/ wherewith they took out spots very well out of clothes. The root is much used in such compositiones as are made against poisons and venoms. depiction of plant Geranium I. Pink needle. depiction of plant Geranium alterum, Crane's bill. depiction of plant Geranium III. depiction of plant Geranium four depiction of plant Geranium V depiction of plant Geranium VI Of Pink needle and Crane's bill. GEranium after Dioscorides/ hath leaves like unto Anemone/ but the cutting is ferther in and deeper/ the rout is something round and sweet when it is eaten. This kind is called in English/ Pink needle or starkis bill. The second kind of Geranium hath a small rough stalk a foot and a half long/ and it hath leaves like unto a Mallow in the high top of the herb/ or things like Cranes heads/ ther bills are like dogs teeth. The virtues of Geranion. A dram of Geranium drunken with wine/ driveth away and scattereth the wyndenes of the mother. The later writers have found that these kinds of Geranium are good for wounds & for many other things that Dioscorides maketh no mention of/ but I do not make mention thereof/ because I doubt whether they have such properties or no/ as they give unto them. Of Cives. depiction of plant Getion. GEtion is called in English a Cyve or a Civet or a Chyve/ the Duche men call it Brißelauch & schnitlauch/ it is called in French chives & Civons/ it is called in latin Cepa Pallacana/ Fuchsius hath erreth much in taking of this herb for Porro sectivo/ and many other have erred with him/ for this herb is not of the kind of lekes/ but of the kind of an union/ for it hath hollow round leaves of an union/ & not the broad leaves of a leek/ but that herb which is called in Latin/ Porrun sectium/ is called in English/ French/ leek/ and is well known both in Cambridge & in London and in many other places of England by that name/ and that hath the very leaf of the comen leek/ saving it is smaller/ and that leek groweth not by seed/ but by the rote as in the description of the leek I shall more plentuouslye declare. Thus herb groweth not in England that I know out of gardens/ but in Germany it groweth wild by the Renis side a little from Bonne/ where as I have seen it in plenty. The virtues of Getin. IF ye be desirous to know the virtues of synes or sweth/ look in the chapter of unions/ and there ye shall find them hole at the lest in the third degree/ for it hath the same property that unions hath/ saving that they are some thing greater & hotter as experience doth teach us/ and Pliny doth say also/ whereas he calleth a cyne a union/ that it is fit for to make sauce of. Of Auenes. depiction of plant Geum. Auenes. GEum is called in English Auenes/ in Duche benedicten kraut/ in French salmondes/ it is named of the herbaries/ Gariophillata/ Sana munda/ & benedicta. Geun saith Pliny hath little small black roots & well savorynghe/ & more concerning the description of Geum/ can I not find in any ancient writers/ the leaf of Auenes is depelye cut & jagged/ and it is rough/ and blackish/ green in a manner after the fashion of Agriony/ the stalk is round/ all hery & rough/ the flower is yellow/ and in form like a little eye/ when the flower is gone/ ther riseth up a great knop all full of little round things like berries of a purpell colour. The virtues of the herb called Geum. PLini writeth that Geum doth not only heal and take away the pain of the breast and of the side/ but also taketh away rawness with his pleasant taste. The virtues of Auenes out of the later writers. THe comen property and use of this rote is such/ that if men put it in to wine/ that it maketh it pleasant both in smelling & taste. Many new writers hold that wine wherein the rote of this herb is steeped/ refresseth the heart and maketh it merry/ & that it openeth/ the stopping of the liver/ & that it helpeth the stomach which is hurt with cold & gross humours/ the wine also wherein the rote of this herb is sodden/ clengeth & scoureth wounds/ and namely fistulas and cankers/ the same scoureth out foul spots/ if the face bewasshed daily therewith. Of the herb called Gingidion. GIngidion is a little herb like unto wild carrot/ but smaller and bitterer/ the root is small/ whitish/ and somewhat bitter/ this is the fashion of Gingidion/ and the description of it after Dioscorides/ depiction of plant Gingidion, chervil. Rewellius/ Fuchsius/ and Gesuerus/ three great learned men hold in their books/ that Gindion is the herb which is commonly named of the comen arberies Cerefolium/ in English chervil/ in Duche Keruel oder kerbel kraut/ in French Cerfuile. How be it/ I dare not give sentence with them/ because I can not find the bittenes and the astriction or binding in our chervil that Dioscorides and Galene require in their Gingidion. How be it/ the form and fashion of the herb it agreeth well enough with the description of Gingidion. Columella in his x. book/ which is de cultu hortorum/ that is of the triming or dressing of gardens in this verse. jam breve cherephylum, & torpenti grata palato. Seemeth to call that herb cherefilon: which the comen herbaries call cherephyllion/ which is in English our chervil. The virtues of Gingidion out of Dioscorides. THe leaves of Gingidion both raw and sodden/ or kept in sucket or sauce, is/ good for the stomach/ and they are good to provoke urine/ the broth of it drunken with wine is good for the bladder. The virtues of Charuell, out of the later writers. THe juice of the herb and the water which is stilled/ if it be drunken/ dissolveth and breaketh in sounder the blood which is run together/ either by the reason of betinge or by a fall/ the leaves of chervil bruised and laid to after the manner of an implaster/ drive away all swellings and bruises that come of betinge or of falls/ even as the herb called scala caeli doth. Of Nigella Romana. Get/ otherwise called Melanthion/ and also Melaspermon/ is called in English Nigella romana/ as the apothecary's call it also/ in Duche/ Schwartz kummich/ in French Nielle. Get hath small branches/ some time exceeding two spannis in length/ it hath little leaves like grownsell/ but much smaller: in the top of the herb there groweth a little thin head like unto popy/ but it is something long/ there rynneth thorough the head certain films depiction of plant Get or Nigella Romana. or skins/ wherein is contained a black seed sharp and well smelling. All this description of Dioscorides agreeth well unto our Nigella romana/ saving that there is no such likeness between it & grownsell/ as Dioscorides seemeth to make by comparing of these two together/ which two herbs now in our time are unlike one to another/ that no man will say there is any likeness between them at all/ wherefore it appeareth that either we have not the same Get that Dioscorides hath seen in his time/ or else this word Erigerontos is put in Dioscorides Greek text in the stead of some other word. How be it the properties of our Nigella romana doth agree well with it the Dioscorides describeth/ and therefore how may be bold to use it. The virtues of Get or Nigella Romana. NIgella Romana laid unto a man's forehead/ releaseth the head ache/ it helpeth blodshotten eyes/ if the disease be not old/ if it be broken and put into the nostrils with the oil of flower delice or Ireos. It taketh away lepers/ frekelles/ hardness and old swellings/ if it be laid to with vinegar. The same laid to with stolen piss will take away aguayles that are scotched about after the manner of a circle. The broth of it with vinegar is good for the tooth ache. Anoint the navel with the water that this is sodden in/ and it will drive out the round worms of the belly. It healeth them that have the pose/ if ye break it and lay it unto your nose. If it be taken many days together with wine/ it bringeth down flowers/ and causeth a man make water better/ & draweth forth milk into the breasts/ and it is good for them that are short winded. A dram weight of it/ drunken with water/ healeth the bitings of the field spider. The smoke of it/ driveth serpents away. Take heed that ye take not to much of this herb/ for if ye go beyond the measure/ it bringeth death. Of Vuadde. Wadde is called in Latin Glastum/ in Greek Isatis/ in Duche weighed or weyt/ in Italien Guado/ in French Guesde: There are two kinds of wadde/ the garden or sown wadde/ and the wild or unsown depiction of plant Glastum. depiction of plant Wadde. wad: the dyer's occupy the garden wadde/ or that kind of wadde which is trimmed with man's labour in dying of wool and cloth. And it hath a leaf like unto plantain/ but thicker/ and blacker: the stalk is more than two cubits long/ the wild wad is like the sown wadde/ and it hath greater banes like unto Lettice/ small stalks/ and much divided/ some thing redyshe/ in whose top there hang certain vessels/ much like unto little tongues/ wherein the seed is contained/ it hath a small yellow flower. This herb is called in England/ new ash of jerusalem. The former kind groweth much in the country of julyke/ and in some places of England. The wild kind groweth not in England that I know/ saving only in gardens/ but it groweth plenteously without any sowing in high Germany by the Renes side. Of the virtues of wadde. DIoscorides/ The leaves laid to after the manner of an emplaster/ suage all kinds of swelling. They join together green wounds/ and stop the running out of blood. They heal saint Antony's fire/ or choleric inflamationes/ consuming sores/ & rotting sores/ that run at large. The wild wad both drunken & laid to emplaster wise/ helpeth the milt. Of Cottenwede. depiction of plant Gnaphalium, Cottenwede. DIoscorides sayeth that Gnaphalium hath little soft leaves/ which some use for down or stuffing of beds/ and other description of Gnaphalium/ can I nether find in Dioscorides nor pliny/ but I have seen the herb oft in many places of Germany/ & in some places of England: It is a short herb not a span long/ & at the first sight it is like a branch of rosamary/ but that the leaves are brother & whiter: in that top is a small yeolowe flower: the leaves/ when they are dried and broken/ are almost nothing else but a certain down/ wherewith because men in times past did stuff pillows & cushions/ it was called of the Latins Centunculus/ and herba Centuncularis. It may be called in English Downewede/ because the leaf broken/ is like down or cotton. The virtues of Cottenweede. IT is good to be given in tart and binding wine/ to them that have the bloody flux/ or other comen flux/ and it is good to stop the bloody issue that women use some times to have. It is good to be put into the fundament against the disease which provoketh a man oftentimes to go to the stole/ and when he cometh ther/ can do nothing. It is also good to be laid upon old rotten sores. I think that the herb which is called in England Cartifilago/ is a certain kind of the same herb/ for their properties are like/ & their figures are not much unlike. Of Sea tryfoly. GLaux/ otherwise called Engalacton/ because it maketh good plenty of milk in those women that take it/ groweth by the seaside/ and in the leaves it is like to the tree tryfolye/ called in Latin Cytisus/ and to lentylles/ which leaves in the over part are green/ and in the nether part white. There cometh fourth from the ground five or six small branches a span high/ and they come out of the earth from the rote: the flowers are purple and like unto a kind of stoke gelavore flowers/ but they are lesser. I never saw it in England/ saving only in master Falkonners' book/ and that had he browght out of Italy/ except my memory do fail me/ I saw it depiction of plant Glaux, Sea trifoly. once in Flaunders by the sea side about three miles beyond dunkirk/ theridamas is an herb in England/ which some call Fenum grecum syluestre/ which answereth in many things unto the description of Glaux in Dioscorides/ howbeit I think it is not the true Glaux that Dioscorides wrote of. The virtues of Sea trifoly called Glaux. THis herb sodden with Barley meal/ salt & oil in a supping/ is good to bring milk again to them that have lost the plenty of it. Of Lycores. GLycyrrhiza in Greek/ is called in Latin Radix dulcis, in English Lycores/ in Duche Sueß holtz/ or licoris/ or clarish/ in French Erculisse/ or Rigolisse. It groweth in the rocks of germany/ without any setting or sowing. I never saw it grow in England/ saving only in gardens. liquors groweth very thick and bushy/ and hath branches rising two cubits' high/ the leaves are like unto Mastycke tree leaves/ thick and fat/ and full of gombe/ when they are touched. The flower is depiction of plant Radix dulcis. Licores. like unto the flower of Hyacinthus/ the fruit is of the bigness of the pills of the plain tree/ but rowgher/ and it hath little read cods like unto lentils. The roots are long as Gentians be/ & of the colour of box/ a little tart sweet. The virtues of Lycores. THe juice of Lycores is good for the harishenes or roughness of the throat/ but it must be holden under a man's tongue/ until it be molten/ it is good for the heat of the stomach/ breast/ and liver/ drink it with maluesy/ and it will heal the scabs of the bladder/ and the pain of the kidneys/ the same molten quencheth thirst/ it is good to heal wounds/ if it be laid to/ it healeth the mouth if it be chowed in it/ the broth of the green root is good for the same purposes/ the powder of it is good to cast upon anguayles. Of Cotton. COtton is called in Greek Xylon/ in Latin Gossipium/ in Dutch Baumwoll/ in French du Cotton: in barbarus Latin Cottonum/ and bombax bombacium/ and cottum. Cotton is a small bushy herb with a leaf like a vinde/ but less/ It hath yellow depiction of plant Gossipium. Cotten. flowers/ which are some thing purple in the mids/ the fruit is like a felberde/ all full of down. I never saw it/ saving only in the university of Bonony. It groweth as I read in good authors in great plenty in Egypt/ in Candi/ in Appulia/ and in the island Maltha. The virtues of herb Cotton. THe juice of Cotton leaves/ is good for the lax of young children/ and for the gnawing/ or (as some call it) the grinding of the belly. The seed is good for the cough and the diseases of the breast. The oil that is made of the seed of cotton/ is good to take away frekelles and spots out of the face. The seed also used in meat as the Phisicianes of Arabi do testify/ multiplieth and increaseth the seed of man. Of Grass. Grass is named in Greek Agrostis/ in Latin Gramen/ in Duche grass/ in French Deut de chien. Grass creepeth with like branches/ & they come from sweet roots/ of full joints/ the leaves are hard/ as the little riedes leaves are/ also broad/ but they are sharp toward the end. The leaves of grass feed as Dioscorides saith/ both horse & oxen/ and all such like beasts as are called in Latin boves and iumenta. Then when as the herb that we call in English stychewort/ groweth only in hedge sides & in woods and shadowy places/ & that very thin/ so that xl. acres of the wood or of any other places where as it groweth/ most plenteously would not feed one power calffe iiij. days: I can not think/ that stichewort is the grass that Dioscorides speaketh of. He presupposeth it to be in such plenty/ that it were able to feed great numbers of beast and cattle in a small space of ground. The virtues of the right Grass. THe root of the right Grass bruised and laid to/ bindeth wounds together an closeth them up/ the broth of grass drunken/ healeth gnawings in the belly/ provoketh urine and breaketh the stony matter of the bladder. Of Scorpiones tail. HEliotropium the greater hath a flower like the Scorpiones tail/ by reason whereof he is called scorpiuros/ that is to say/ scorpiones tail/ and because it turneth the leaves about with the son/ it is called Heliotropion/ that is/ turned with the son/ or son flower. It hath leaves like unto basil/ but rowgher and whiter/ & greater. There come three branches out of one root/ some times four/ & some times five/ it hath a white flower in the top/ or some thing reish that turneth in again like a scorpiones tail. The root is small and good for nothing: it groweth in rough places. I never saw it growing in England/ neither in Germany/ saving only in my garden in colen/ & in my garden at Wellis in England. in Italy I have seen it in great plenty in the fields about Bonony/ they are far deceived/ & have deceived many other/ which have written that our English Marigold is Helitropion/ for the description of Helitropion/ which a little before I have taken out of Dioscorides and translated unto you/ is nothing agreeing with our Marigold. Wherefore trust no more the unlearned self made Phisitianes'/ which teach you to call a Marigold Helitropion. The virtues of Heliotropium. AN handful of this herb drunken/ driveth phlegm an choler by the belly. It is good both drunken with wine/ and also laid to emplaster wise/ for the biting of a scorpion. Some writ that iiij. grains of the seed taken an hour before the fit/ endeth a quartain/ and that iij. grains heal a tertians. The seed laid to emplasterwise/ drieth away hanging warts/ fleshy swellings like tops of time/ and little running sores/ the leaves are very good to be laid to/ for the distillation of children/ which is called the siriasis/ it is good also for the gout/ and for places that are out of joint/ it is good to bring down men's flowers/ if the leaves be broken and laid to/ they are good to drive forth the birth of a woman. Of Parietori or Pillitore of the wall. HElxine or Pardition is called in English Parietorie/ or Pilletorie of the wall/ in Duche saint Peter's kraut/ or tag und nacht/ in French du parietaire. The herbaries call it Parietariam. It groweth on walls & about the roots of hedges/ it hath leaves like Mecuri/ but rough: it hath little stalks some thing redyshe/ and about them are as it were rough sedes which cleave unto men's clothes. The properties of Parietori or Pillitore of the wall. THe leaves have power to cool and to make thick/ by reason whereof by laying of it to/ it healeth hot inflammationes/ called saint Antony's fire/ places/ hard lumps/ in the fundament wheels/ called Panos/ when they are in the beginning/ swellings and hot burnings/ called inflammationes. depiction of plant Parietaria Parietori or Pellitore of the wall. The juice of it with white lead/ is good for choleric inflammationes/ and for spredinge or running sores. It is also good for the gout to be laid to with gotis sewett/ or with the ointment made of wax and oil of privet. The same drunken/ in the quantity of an ounce and a half/ is good for the old cough. It is good both to be gargled/ and also to be laid unto for the in flammation and heat of the kernels under the jaws. If it be poureth into the ear/ it slaketh the ache thereof/ so that rose oil be mixed therewith. Of Hawk weed. HIeracium is of two kinds/ the one is called in Latin Hieracium magnum. It may be called in English great hawkewede/ or yellow succory. The great hawk weed putteth forth a rough stalk some thing redyshe & full of pricks/ the leaves are indented/ but every cut is a great way from another/ after the manner of sowthistell: it hath heads/ and in them yellow flowers. I have seen this in great plenty both in England and in Germany in the fields about Bonne/ in England in the meadow a little from Shene/ the less hawkewede hath leaves standing a good way from another/ jagged in the edges: it hath small little stalks which are green/ and in the top of them grow round yellow flowers. This herb have I scene both in Germany and in England great plenty/ I can not guess why this herb should have the name of a hawk/ seeing other herbs have the same properties that this hath: except it be for this cause that the down that groweth in the top of this herb after the flowers be gone/ be good to be taken of the hawk to make him cast his gorge with it. The virtues of Hawk weed. THe nature of Hawk weed is to cowl and partly to bind/ wherefore it is good to be laid unto the stomach that is very hot. The juice/ if it be drunken/ suageth the biting or the gnawing of the stomach. The herb laid to with the root/ healeth the stingginge of a scorpion. Of Horse tongue or double tongue. depiction of plant Hippoglosson. HIppoglosson is called of some pothecaries and herbaries Vuularia & Bonifacia/ the bush Hippoglosson hath leaves in figure like unto the leaves of knee holm/ otherwise called prickel box: the tops of the leaves are sharp and about the highest depiction of plant Hypoglossum. Horse tongue or double tongue. part of the leaves come forth certain little leaves like unto tongues: this bush is very like unto it that is called Laurus Alexandrina/ but this hath tongues and seed in the leaves/ and the other only the fruit among the leaves/ & not little tongues/ wherefore this seemeth to be some difference between them. I have seen Hippoglosson many times beyond the see in high germany/ and in Italy/ but I never saw it growing in England. The virtues of Vuularia or horse tongue. A Garland made of the leaves of horse tongue/ & set next upon unto the bare head as Dioscorides writeth/ is good for the head ache. The rote and the juice is oft put into softinge plasters. It hath been found by the experience of Phisicianes of late years/ that a spounful of the leaves of horstong beaten into powder/ be good against the strangling of the mother/ and also against bursting of childer in the quantity of a dram and a half. Of Selendine. SElendyne is named in Latin Hirundinaria/ in Greek Chelidonion/ in Duche Schelwurtz/ in French Chelidoine or Esclere. The great Selendine hath a small stalk a cubit high/ or higher with many togrowinge full of leaves/ the leaves are like crowfote leaves/ but softer and bluish grey in colour. The flower is like the flower of wall gelavore/ otherwise called hearts ease/ which cometh out about the setting on of every leaf. The juice that is in it/ is like saffron/ biting sharp/ and some thing bittre & stinking. The root in the overmost part is single/ but beneath it hath many yellow jags or beards like heres. It hath a small cod like unto horned poppy & long/ but it is ever smaller and smaller from the root/ till it come at the top/ & in it is containeth a seed greater than poppy sede. There is an other kind of Hirundinaria called in Greek Chelidion minus/ whose description in my judgement agreeth well in all points unto the herb which we call in English Figgwurt/ saving that it wanteth the heat which Dioscorides depiction of plant Chelidonion. Selendine depiction of plant Chelidonium min●●. and Galen require in their less Chelidonio. Dioscorides describeth it thus. It is a little herb hanging upon little twigs/ which come out of the root. It hath no stalk/ the leaves are like yvi/ but rounder/ less/ tender and some thing fat/ it hath many roots that come fourth of one hard lump/ little and growing together like wheat corns/ whereof iij. or iiij. grow long. It groweth beside waters & lakes. It hath a biting pour even as Auemone hath/ in so much that it will pull of the skin/ if it be laid to. This herb of ours called figwurt hath all these properties/ saving that it is nothing hot at all that ever I could find/ wherefore as this herb by the likeness may teach us to find out the true Chelidonium minus/ so I counsel no man to use it for the less Celendine/ though he use it for other purposes which the later writers have written that it is good for. The properties of Selendine. THe juice of Selendine sodden in a copper vessel/ with honey/ maketh the eyesight clear. In the beginning of summer there is a juice taken out of the leaves/ stalk/ and root/ and the same dried in the son/ is made up in to little cakes. The root drunken with white wine/ and anise sede/ healeth the guelsought or iaiundes/ & running sores. The same chowed or laid to/ suageth the tooth ache. Of Barley. depiction of plant Hordeum polystichum. depiction of plant Hordeum distichum. Hordeun is called in Greek Crithe/ in English Barley/ in Duche Gerst/ in French Orge/ it is of divers kinds. The first kind is called in Latin hordeum distichum/ in English Barley. The second kind is called in Latin hordeum tetrastichum/ in English big barley/ or bear or big/ alone. This kind groweth much in the North country. The third kind is called in latin hordeun hexastichum/ I have not seen this kind in England/ saving at Wellis in my garden/ but often times in high Germanye/ wherefore it may be called in English/ Duche Barley. The fourth kind is called of Galene in the greek tongue Gimnochrithon/ in Latin hordeum nudum/ of other some/ hordeum mundum/ it may be called in English/ wheat barley/ because it hath no more husks on it/ than wheat hath. It groweth in italy and also in certain gardines in England. Theophrast writeth thus of Barley and wheat in comparing them together. Amongst the kinds of corn/ wheat hath a narrower leaf than Barley hath/ and a smoother straw and tougher. Wheat is covered with many coats/ but Barley is naked and bare/ and of all kinds of corn/ it is most destitute of a covering. Barley will some time change into darnel/ and some time into wheat. The virtues of Barley. THe best barley is white and clean/ but that norisshet less than wheat: but for all that the ptisan by the reason of the moist juice that comeh to it in the sethinge/ nourisheth more than the perched barley. It is good for the sharpness and harrishnes of the throat and against raw places/ If it be sodden with fennel and supped up/ it maketh milk increase largely. Barley scoureth away/ driveth fourth water/ maketh wind/ it is evil for the stomach/ it maketh ripe swellings. It is good to set barley meal with a fig in meed to scatter and drive away hot burnings and such gateringes together or risinge. It ripeth all hardness with rosin and dovedonge. It stauncheth the sideache/ laid to with Melilote and the tuppes of poppy. It is good against the windenes of the gutres/ with lint sede/ fenegreke and rue. Barley with tarr/ wax/ oil/ and the water of a young boy/ bringeth wens and hard swellings to a ripeness with myrtles/ or wine/ or pongranet pills/ or wild tart pears/ or with the bramble/ stoppeth the running of the belly with quinces or vinegar/ it is good for burning heats or inflammationes of the gout. The same dressed after the manner of an emplaster and laid warm to/ healeth lepres. The juice drawn out of barley meal/ sodden with water piche and oil/ is good to ripe and make quickly matter/ or corruption. The same knodden with vinegar and piche/ is good against flowing of humores down in to the joints. Out of Galene. THis seed of barley is much used among men/ but it hath not the same property that wheat hath/ for wheat is evidently hot/ but barley not only heateth not/ but howsoever ye use it/ whether ye make bread of it/ or make a ptisan of it/ or ye make perched barley of it/ always it cooleth/ but according unto the manner of dressing/ it moisteth for polenta/ which is made of fried or perched barley/ is tried to be dry/ as the ptisan is known to moist. Of wall barley or way bend out of Dioscorides. Phoenix hath the leaves of barley/ but shorter and streiter/ with an ear like unto daruell. The stalks are six fingers long/ & it hath seven or eight ears. It groweth in fields & in houses lately covered. This herb which is called of Dioscorides Phenix/ is named of Pliny/ Phenicea/ & he saith that it is called of the latins Hordeun murinun/ that is wall barley. I mark that Dioscorides maketh his Phoenix like unto barley/ only in the leaf/ & in the ear like unto daruell/ & that his phoenix groweth both in fields/ & also upon houses lately covered. I mark that pliny calleth his Phenicea Hordeun murinum/ where upon I gather that Plines Phenicea in the ear is like barley/ for it hath not the name of the leaf alone/ which dissevereth not barley from other corns depiction of plant Phoenix depiction of plant Hordeum murinum. / but of the ear. But the barley ear and the daruell ear are not like/ for the one is without aunes/ and the other hath long aunes/ therefore it appeareth that Phoenix in Dioscorides/ and Phenicea in Pliny are not all one. If there be any difference between them (as there seemeth to be) than Phoenix Dioscorides is called in English Way bend/ & Phenicea Pliny is called Wall barley/ & house barley. The way bend hath a leaf like grass/ & groweth plentuouslye in Cambridgeshire about high ways/ & the ear is like daruell/ & it were like the comen barley that hath but two orders/ if it had awnes as barley hath. The wall barley is much like though be barley which is called hordeum tetrastichon/ and it groweth commonly upon mud walls that are lately made. I marvel that Matthiolus readeth in his Pliny lolium murinum/ when as mi Plini corrected by Erasmus and printed by Frobemus/ hath hordeum murinum/ and not lolium murinum. The virtues of waybent. Wal barley drunken with tart wine/ stoppeth the flux of the belly the running of the mother/ and the bursting out of man or woman's water. Some do write that this herb bound to/ and hanged up in a cremesin fleece/ stoppeth blood. Of Hiacinthus. depiction of plant Hiacinthus maximus. depiction of plant Hiacinthus ceruleus maior. depiction of plant Hiacinthus Ceruleus minor. depiction of plant Hiacinthus albicanus foemina. HYacinthus hath leaves like unto the herb called bulbus/ it hath a stalk a span long/ smaller than a man's little finger/ of green colour/ the top of the herb hangeth down/ full of purple flowers/ the root is like unto the round heed of a Bulbus. The best kind of Hiacinthus that ever I saw/ was it that Lucas Gynus the reader of Dioscorides in Bonony showed me about a xiv. years ago/ hard by the mount Apennine. Hiacinthus is also comen in England/ though it be not of the best/ and it is called crowtowes/ crowfote & crowtese. The virtues of Hiacinthus. THe rote of this herb drunken/ stoppeth the belly and driveth forth water/ it is a remedy against the bitings of a field spider. The seed is more binding and desired for treacles/ with wine if it be drunken/ it healeth the iawndes. The boys in Northumberland scrape the root of the herb and glue their arrows and books with that slime that they scrape of. Of Hiosyris. HYosiris is like unto succory/ but it is less and rowgher/ the herb that I take for Hyosiris/ hath a rough leaf/ growing hard by the ground indented/ after the manner of succory or dandelion/ but the teth are not so sharp/ the stalks/ flowers/ & down are like unto them that are in Dandelion/ saving that they are rough in this herb/ and smooth in Dandelion. Wherefore I name it rough Dandelion. It groweth in sandy baron grounds/ and about casten ditches that have much sand in them. The virtues of Hyosiris. PLiny writeth/ if the leaves of Hyosyris be bruised and laid to wounds/ it healeth them wonderful well. It doth appear by the taste of this herb/ and certain qualities that I find in it/ that it should serve for the same purpose that succory and Endive serve for Of saint johans' grass. THe herb which is called in Greek Hypericon/ in English saint johans' grass/ or saint johans' wort/ in Duche saint Iohans kraut/ of some herbaries fuga demonum/ groweth commonly in woods and in hedges/ & in some gardens without any setting. Dioscorides writeth thus of Hypericon. Hypericon is named of some Androsemon/ of other Corion/ of other Ground pine/ because the seed of it hath the smell of rosin/ it hath a bush like ferula/ that is to say/ fenel giant a span long/ read/ it hath a leaf like rue/ a yellow flower like unto wall gelover. Which if it be bruised with a man's finger/ putteth forth a blodi juice/ wherefore some have called it man's blood. It hath a cod that is rough and round of the bigness of barley. The seed is black and depiction of plant Hypericon. S. johans' grass. of the smell of rosin. This herb is called of some of the later writers perforata/ that is throw holed/ because if ye set the leaf between you and the son/ theridamas shall appear an infinite number of holes in the leaves. The virtues of saint johans' grass. SAint johans' grass driveth forth water/ if it belaide to/ it bringeth down flowers. It delivereth from tertiam and quartan agues if it bedronken with wine. The seed drunken the space of xl. days/ healeth the sciatica. The leaves laid to emplasterwise with the seed/ heal burnings. Of Hyssop. DIoscorides leaveth Hisop undescribed/ belike it was so well known in his days that he thought it needed not to be described but by that mean it is now come to pass that we doubt whether this Hyssop that we have/ be the true Hyssop of the ancient writers or no. Dioscorides in the description of Ograne/ compareth organ in likeness unto the hyssop/ but no organ that ever I saw/ whether it came out of Candi or out of Spain/ or grew here in England/ like unto our Hyssop/ for their is broad leaved/ and our hyssop hath long leaves/ wherefore either we have not the true hyssop/ or else we never saw the true organ. The Hyssop that Mesna also describeth/ is not agreeing with this our Hyssop as ye may perceive by this his description that followeth here. Hyssop is of two sorts/ ther is one mountain Hyssop/ and an other gardin Hyssop. The gardin Hyssop is halff a cubit high/ & hath fewer stalks and branches than time hath. It hath leaves like unto time but greater/ the flower is purple/ the wild is shorter and hath less leaves. Ye see here that Mesne maketh his hysopes leaves like unto the leaves of time/ but we have no such hyssop and time that agree either in figure or bigness together/ wherefore it is to be suspect that there is some better Hyssop/ then this that we have. Howbeit/ I think in virtue & property that it differeth nothing from the hyssop of the old writers. We have in Sumershire beside the comen Hyssop that groweth in all other places of England/ a kind of Hyssop that is all rough and hoary/ & it is greater much and stronger than the comen Hyssop is/ some call it rough Hyssop. depiction of plant Hyssopus. depiction of plant Hyssopum montanum Cilicium. The properties of Hyssop. Hyssop hath the virtue to make fine and to heat. The broth of Hyssop made with figs/ water/ honey/ and rue/ drunken/ helpeth the inflammation of the longs/ the old cough/ the shortwinded/ rheums or poses/ and them that can not well take their breath. It killeth worms. It hath the same power if it be licked in with honey. The broth of it drunken with a drink made of honey and vinegar/ called oximell/ draweth out gross humores thorough the belly/ and it is good to be eaten with green figs to make you go to the stole/ but it worketh better if Aris be put thereto/ or Cardamome or Ireo. It keepeth and maketh the colour of the body continue still. With a fyg and nitre/ it is good for the milt and for the drops. It is used to be laid unto burning hears or inflammationes with wine. It druleth and scattereth away the blue marks of bruisings. It is good to be gargled with the broth of figs against the quinsey. The broth of Hyssop with vinegar suageth the tooth ache if the mouth be washed there with. The breath or vapour of Hisop driveth away the wind that is in the ears if they be holden over it. Of Gethsamine or jesemin. IEfemin or Gethsamine/ as I suppose is called in Greek iasme/ and it is the flower/ where of the oil called in Dioscorides oleum iasminum is made. But I find nether any description of iasme in Dioscorides nor in Plini nor in any other old writer/ saving that Dioscorides maketh a little mention of it/ as also the Arabianes do. I think that the Arabianes/ call this bush jesemin/ fetching that name corruptly out of Dioscorides jasminon/ for the same virtues that Dioscorides assigneth unto the oil of jasme/ the arabians give unto their jesemin. But that ye may judge the matter more plainly: I will rehearse unto you what Dioscorides writeth of his oil called iasminum/ & what the Arabiane writ of their jesemine. Out of Dioscorides. there is an oil made amongst the Perseanes/ which is called jasminun/ of the white flowers of a violet/ whereof two ounces are put into a quart of oil sesanime/ and the violettes must be oft changed/ as we have told before in the making of lily oil. It is much used in the land of the persians/ when men be at meat to make a good smell: for it agreeth well with all the hole body/ & then specially when a man goeth into a bath: but it is best for such bodies as had need to be made hot/ and to be loused and set more at large/ for it smelleth strongly/ for it smelleth so strongly that some can not abide it. Thus much hath Dioscorides written of jasme. Some do hold that Dioscorides writeth here of the oil that is made of the herb called Lencoion in Greek/ and in English white stock gelover. But I am of the contrary opinion/ for Dioscorides speaketh not in my judgement here of that kind of Leucoion with the white flower: for that kind of Leucoion with the flower hath nether any such smell as Dioscorides giveth unto jasme/ neither any such heat/ Dioscorides speaketh of: for Serapio writing of the kinds Leucou sayeth these words. Et oleum quod ex eo fit, est temperatum subtle, & proprie illud quod fit ex eo, cum oleo amygdalarum dulcium, & coeleste, est debilis caliditatis, & album est debilius propter aequitatem quae in illo est. Wherefore if the authority of Serapio be to be received and allowed/ Matthiolus erreth/ which writeth jasminun to one oil made of Leucoio with the white flowers. If any man reply that our comen iesemine is no violet. I answer that I think that Dioscorides called that flower of jesamin a violet flower/ of the likeness that it hath with the flower of a violet/ as he calleth of times the pricky toppis of great thestelles echinos/ that is urchens/ of the likeness that they have with an urchin. Out of the arabians. IEsemin otherwise called rambach is of two sorts/ the one hath a yellow flower/ and the other hath a white flower. The yellow is not so hot nor so mighty in operation as the white is. The flower is also found in some place bluish grey. jesemin is hot in the beginning of the second degree/ and it is good for moistness and for salt fleme/ and for old men of a cold complexion/ & it is good for aches that come of a clammy or tough humores/ when as the very and right natural iesemin either dried or green/ if it be broken and laid upon any tetter or foul spots/ it will drive them away and will resolve all cold superfluities. It is good for the pose/ but it maketh and engendereth the head ache in them that are of an hot complexion/ and the oil of it is very good in winter/ but it is to be feared/ if that any man of a very hot complexion smell of it/ lest it make him bleed at his nose. Compare these properties with them that Dioscorides give unto iasmino/ & ye shall find that in propertes/ iasme doth agree very well with the iesamine of the Arabians. Of Sciatica cress or wild cress. depiction of plant Iberis. Because Dioscorides describeth this herb Iberis/ in such place as no herbs but trees are described/ and it is contrary unto his custom to mix the entreating of herbs wyh trees: some hold that this herb is not Iberis Dioscorides. And some gather that for this cause that this herb that I entreat of/ is not Iberis/ because there is an other herb called of ancient writers/ namely/ of Paul and others Iberis/ and it is cleave contrary in proportion and likeness unto the herb that Paulus setteth forth for Iberis: to whom Iberis I answer/ that although it were not Iberis Dioscoridis. Yet it followeth not/ but that it may be some other learned man's Iberis/ though it be nether Iberis Paulinor Aetij. This herb out of doubt is Iberis of Democrates/ where of Galene maketh manifest mention in the/ x. book De compositione medicamentorum secundum locos, and there he bringeth it in Democrates describing after this manner. This herb saith Democrates/ groweth much every where/ beside graves and old walls/ and about high ways which are not commonly ploughed. It is always green with a leaf like gardin cresses/ and this leaf is less than cresses lief/ and it cometh forth in the springe time. The stalks are a cubit long and some time longer/ and some time shorter. The leaves grow on the stalk all summer even unto the deep winter/ which with the frost wasteth the leaves away/ and bringeth the hole herb unto the likeness of a twig or bushy rod. Yetit groweth unto the root/ other buds/ which make a new herb again in the next springe. It hath a small white flower/ the sede is so small that a man can scarcely see it. The root hath a very hot and sharp smell much like unto gardin cresses. Thus far hath Democrates described his Iberis. Now let us see how that Dioscorides or some other in his name describeth his Iberis. Iberis/ otherwise called Cardamantica/ hath the leaves of cresses/ but in the springe green. The stalk is a cubit high and sometime less/ it groweth in unplowed ground. In summer it hath a white flower/ at what time it hath most virtue/ it hath two roots like unto crosses/ heating and burning. Ye may see how that in the description of Iberis both these authors do agree. Wherefore this herb must not therefore be spoiled of the name of Iberis/ because other authors have in their works an other kind of Iberis. This is the herb as I suppose that Fuchsius describeth for shlaspi minori: & it is called in Duche besenkraut. I have seen the herb in all points agreeing with the descriptiones above showed beside the walls of Bon in Germany and in east Fresland in the sea banks. But I have not seen it in England that I remember of. It may be called in English waycresses/ wild cresses/ or sciatica cresses/ because the herb is good for the sciatica. The virtues of wild cresses. GAther in summer good plenty of this root/ for than it hath most virtue/ and beat it hard/ for it requireth much betinge/ and mix it with swine's gross/ and beat them in a mortar well/ till they be both come into one body/ then if any man or woman have any pain in the hauche or huckelbone/ bind this ointment upon the place that acheth: if it be in a woman/ for the space of two hours: if it be in a man/ for the space of iiij. hours/ neither shall ye mix or put any oil to it. But it alone provoke the patiented to sweet a little/ and than let him go into a bath/ and bid him abide patiently there the biting of the ointment continue a while therein/ and when he is well bathed/ then let him out/ and after that he becomed fourth/ let him put a good deal of oil to a little wine and anoint the diseased place withal/ and afterward that the place is made clean and the fat is scoured away/ cover the diseased place with warm wool/ and if any grudge of the same disease chance to rise again/ let him use the foresaid medicine again after the same manner: many have been brought in by other men into the bath/ being lame/ by the sciatica/ which after they have used this ointment and bath/ have commed out by themselves strong and lusty. The mind of Galene in this matter. DEmocrates used the same medicine after the same manner against the old and long head ache/ and against all old diseases of the body/ and against palseis/ & against such diseases as can not be healed with out blystringe mustard plasters/ & he saith/ that he healed therewith all that were sick in that disease/ which he took in hand. Archigenes saith also in his second book of medicines after the kind/ that Iberis which he calleth Lepidium/ is good for them that are sick in the milt/ or grieved with the sciatica. Hipparcus also writeth/ that Iberis is good for the sciatica & for the extreme cold. After this manner gather that herb Iberis/ which some call Lepideum or wild cress/ and stamp it with swines gross after the manner of an emplaster/ lay it to the akinge place for the space of iij. hours/ and than let the patient go into a bath afterwards/ and this will h●lpe him/ ye may use the same remedy against the old head ache/ as Democrates the Phisiciane in his verses doth testify. The virtues of Iberis out of Dioscorides. THe roots of Iberis are burning hot/ & they are good against the sciatica/ with salted swine's grease/ laid to the place after the manner of an emplaster/ for the space of iiij. hours/ but the patient must afterward go into a bath/ and after that he must anoint the place and cover it with will. This herb is hot and dry in the second degree at the least. Of Cycory and Endive. depiction of plant Intubus, depiction of plant Intubum sativum angustifolium. INtubus which is named in Greek seris/ is of two sorts/ the one is called Intubus hortensis/ and the other is called intubus syluestris. Intubus hortensis is also of two sorts/ the one is called Endive or white Endive/ and the other is called garden succory. Intubus syluestris is of two sorts/ the one is called in Latin Cichorium/ and in English succory or hardewes/ and the other is called of Theophrasstus Aphaca/ of Pliny Hedipnois/ in English Dandelion or priests crown/ in Duche pfaffenblat. Seris/ is of two kinds/ the one is wild as Dioscorides writeth/ and it is called picris and cichorium/ and the other kind is of the gardin/ and it hath brother leaves/ the wild is better for the stomach then the garden is/ the garden endive is also of two kinds/ the one hath broad leaves like unto lettuce and the other hath narrower leaves/ which hath a bitter taste. The virtues of Cycory and Endive. BOth Endive and Cyco●y coul & bind together/ and are very good for the stomach. The herb sodden and taken with vinegar/ stoppeth the belly. The wild is better for the stomach/ for if it be eaten/ it suageth the burning stomach that is feeble. It is good to lay the herbs either by themselves or with polenta perched barley to the place convenient for the disease called Cardiaca passio. They are good for the gout and the inflammationes of the eyes if they be laid to: The herbs laid to emplasterwise with the root/ be good against the stinging of a scorpion with perched barley/ the herb is good against the choleric inflammationes called of some saint Antony's fire. The juice of these herbs with white lead & vinegar/ be good to be laid unto such places to have need of cooling. Of Elecampane. INnula is called in Greek Helenion/ in English Elecampane or Alecampane/ in duche Alantzwurtz/ in French and in the pothecaries shoppis Enula campana. Elecampane hath leaves like unto mullen/ but much narrower/ sharper and longer. In some places/ it putteth forth no stalk/ it hath a root under/ some thing white/ and some thing reish/ and it hath a good savour/ it is some thing biting/ well grown/ and of a great bigness out of the which come certain budding knoppes/ which may be sown after the manner of lily or aron. The virtues of Elecampane. THe broth of the rote drunken driveth forth urine and flowers. Elecampane taken in an Electuary with honey is good for the cough/ for shortness of breath/ for places bursten and shrunken together/ for windenes and for the biting of serpents. The leaves/ if they be sodden in wine/ be good to be laid unto the depiction of plant Enula. Campana sciatica. Elecampane seasoned and laid up in maluasey/ is good for the stomach/ the succot makers and saucemakers/ take the root and dry it a little first/ and then seth it/ and afterward stepe it in cold water/ and lay it up in sodden wine for diverse uses. The root broken and drunken/ is very good against the spitting of blood. Of the herb called in Latin Irio. diverse learned men have diverse opiniones of the herb that is called in Latin Irio/ and in Greek Erysimon. Fuchsius reckoneth that the herb which we call in English Carloke or charloke/ or wild coal/ to be Ireo Dioscorides. Ruellius judgeth that the herb which we call in English female vervin/ is Irio/ & Gerardus Delwike reckoneth that the herb that is called in Duche winter cresses/ or which we may call in English bank cresses/ because they grow always about the banks of rivers/ to be the right Irio. But let us first see the description of Dioscorides/ & than we shall be able to judge whose herb agreeth best unto the description of Dioscorides. The description of Irio. depiction of plant Irion. IRio groweth beside cities and amongst old rubbish and remnantes of old walls and in gardens/ it hath leaves like wild rocket/ the stalks are after the manner of a bay tre/ bowing & tough/ it hath a yellow flower: & it hath small cods/ in the top horned after the manner of fenegreke/ it hath a small sede like unto gardin cresses/ & it hath a burning taste. The herb that Ruellius taketh for Irione/ draweth nearest of all other unto the description of Dioscorides/ saving that the cods are not horned very like unto the cods of Fenegreke. It that Fuchsius setteth forth/ doth meetly well agree saving that the twigs are not so tough and bowing as Dioscorides describeth his Iriones stalks to be. It that Gerardus taketh for Irione/ agreeth also well with the description/ saving that it groweth not in places about cities & in waste places where houses have been/ but only of his own nature about water sides. All their iij. Iriones do so well agree in virtues with Irion Dioscoridis/ that a man may use any of them for it of Dioscorides. I saw once in Germany about Andernake an herb in my judgement in all points/ agreeing with the description of Dioscorides: but because I lost the stalk that I gathered/ & could learn no Duche name of it/ I could not set forth the figure of it here at this time. The herb that Matthiolus setteth forth for Irio/ hath not horns like fenegreke/ wherefore nether can not it be the right Irio. The virtues of Irio. IRio is good against the flowings or issues/ that fall out of the head in to longs/ and against that disease/ when as men cough out foul matter/ it is good for the jaundice and for the sciatica/ it is good to be taken in honey against poison/ it is good to be laid to with water or honey unto blind cankers/ swellings behind the ears/ hardness of the papes/ and the inflammation of the stones/ generally it maketh fine and heateth. Of flower Delyce or flower Deluce. depiction of plant Iris. IRis is known both of the grecians & Latins by that name/ it is called in Duche blaw Lilien/ and blaw Gilgen/ in French dula glaien/ and de la flame/ in English flower de lice or flower de luce/ the pothecaries and barbarus writers call it Irios in the genitive case. The description of Irios. IRis hath his name of the likeness that it hath of the rain bow/ for Iris is called the rainbow. It hath leaves like unto the herb called Gladiolus/ that is to say/ the gladdon or swerdling/ but greater/ brother/ and fatter. Flowers of diverse colores stand in like space one from an other/ and come out of the stalk/ for the flowers are seen white/ pale/ yellow/ purple/ or blue/ by the diversity of the which colores it resembleth a rainbow. The roots run in the ground full of joints/ hard well smelling/ which are cut in little shives or cakes/ and are dried in the shadow/ and than are put upon a thread/ & so kept. The best flower de Lice or Aris in Slavonia or in Macedonia/ & there that is best/ that is the lest/ that we may call the dwarf flower de luce/ and commonly hath a thick root/ hard to break of a some thing read colour/ of a bitter taste/ and of a right pleasant savour/ so that it smelleth nothing of mouldnes/ & the same whilse it is in stamping or beating/ it maketh the beters niece. The next praise is to be given to the Iris or fleur-de-lis of Barbaria/ which is some thing white & bitter in taste. The roots when they are old use to be worm eaten/ and than use they to smell best. The flower de louse that groweth here in England although it be not so good as it that groweth in Illyrico/ & in Slavonia/ and Macedonia/ and in Barbaria/ because this our country is colder and moystier than the other countries be/ in the which the flower de luce is singularly good: yet Aris is not to be despiced for it hath many good and excellent qualities. I have seen a little flower delice growing wild in dorsetshire/ but hold carts full in Germany beside Wormis in the middowes not far from the Rhine. The virtues of Aris or flower de Lice. ALl kinds of flower delice have the property to heat/ and to make subtle. Iris is good for the cough. It maketh ripe gross humours which are hard to be cast or avoided outward/ seven. drams of Aris powder drunken with meed/ purge colour & gross phlegm. It provoketh sleep/ and bringeth out tears/ it is good for the gnawings in the belly. The same drunken with vinegar is good against the striking of serpents/ for them that have the disease of the milt/ for the cramp/ for them that have taken a thorough cold/ for quiveringe or shaking/ and for them that suffer the issue of seed. If Aris be drunken with wine/ it bringeth down women their sickness. The broth of Ireos is good for to bathe a woman's mother with/ to soften it/ and to louse the breath holes of the veins of it. It is good to be poured into a clyster for the sciatica. It filleth up fistulas and hollow corners with flesh. The root of flower delice dressed with honey/ and made after the manner of a suppository/ and put in the convenient place/ help to down forth the birth in time of labour. Also the roots laid to soften hard wens and hard lumps. The dry powder filleth sores/ and with honey it scoureth them. It filleth the naked bones with a fleshy body. It is very good to be laid unto the head/ for the head ache with vinegar and rose oil. If it be laid to with white hellebor and ij. parts of honey/ it will scour out frekles/ spots and such other foulness in the face/ that come by son burning. Matthiolus readeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ where as my Greek Dioscorides hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. My text meaneth that the flowers grow upon the stalk: But his word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ as he expoundeth it/ will the the flowers shall only grow in the overmost part of every stalk: which interpretation/ seemeth to me contrary unto the mind of Dioscorides and to our daily experience/ and to his own figures which he setteth forth. Caulis that is to say/ a stalk/ is that part of the herb/ whereby the nourishment is carried/ & riseth up from the ground alone. If this be true/ then should there be but one flower upon every stalk of the flower Delice/ or all should stand together in the top/ and none should by equal distance as Dioscorides meaneth stand one beneath an other. Matthiolus setteth out ij. figures of Iris/ the only is of the wild/ & therein are vj. flowers/ in the tame are iiij. flowers/ and in both the figures are but ij. cawls or stalks/ except he take pediculos/ called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be all one with call/ which is contrari to all learning/ therefore the flowers grow not always in the top of every stalk alone/ but some above in the top/ & some beneath/ & come out of the stalk and stand super petiolos or pediculos suos/ that is upon their styles or foot stalks. Therefore his annotation is nothing worth. Of the walnut and the walnut tree. NVx without any farther addition is called a Walnut or a walnut tree. It is called also juglans/ nux persica/ glans iovis/ nux bisilica/ & nux regia/ in Greek Carya basilica/ in Duche Eyn nuß baum/ oder ein Welshnuß/ in French Vng noier. The walnut and the walnut trees are so well known in all country's/ that I need not to describe/ wherefore I intend to leave the description and to go to the properties of it. The virtues of the Vualnut. depiction of plant juglans. walnuts are hard of digestion/ not good for the stomach/ and ingendre choler/ and they make the head ache. They are evil for them that have the cough. They are fit to be taken fasting of them that would vomit. If they be taken afore hand with rue and figs/ and also after meat by & by/ they withstand poison. They do no less/ if they be eaten after that a man hath drunken poison. If they be eaten in great plenty they drive out broad worms. It is good to lay them to/ with a little honey and rue for the burning heat or inflammation of the papes/ for impostumes/ and places out of joint. If they be laid to with an onion/ salt and honey/ they are good for the bitings both of men and dogs. If they be burnt with their utter husks and laid unto the navel/ they stanche the gnawing of the belly. The shell burnt and broken in oil and wine/ is good to anoint childers heads withal to make the here grow/ the same is also good to fill up the bare places of scalled heads. The kernels burned/ if they be broken and laid to with wine/ they will stay the bloody issue that some time women have. The same are good to lay to old carbuncles and creeping sores/ tetters and impostumes that are in the corners of the eye. The same chowed and laid upon the head/ are a present remedy for the falling of the hear. A man may make oil of the kernels of walnuts/ if he will press them/ specially when they are old: they that are green/ are not so ill for the stomach as the old nuts be/ because they are sweeter. If they be mixed with garlic/ they take away the sharpness. And they do if they be laid to emplasterwise/ drive away the blue marks that come of stripes. The walnut tree both in his leaves and buds hath a certain binding/ but the binding is most evidently perceived in the utter husks/ both moist and dry/ and therefore fullers dorse them. But I/ sayeth Galen/ press out the juice of the husks as I do out of the Mulberries & bambleberes/ and set it with sodden honey/ and use it in the stead of a mouth healing medicine/ as I use the foresaid juice of mulberes and brambleberes. The kernel of the nut/ when it is withered/ is of subtle parts and a drying medicine with out any biting. Out of Pliny. THe Grecians have named the walnut of that/ that it bringeth the head ache/ for the strength of the trees and the leaves perch into the brain/ if the nuts be taken a fore hand/ they break and quench the might of poison. They are good to be laid to the squynsie with rue & oil. Cneius pompeius when he had overcomed the mighty king Mythrydites/ he found in his most secret treserhouse in a little book by itself written with his own hand with this preservative/ the composition whereof is this. Take two dry walnuts/ and ij. figs and xx. leaves of rue/ break them together and put a corn of salt though them/ and if you eat this medicine fasting/ ther shall no poison hurt you that day: the kernels of the nuts if they be chowed/ of a man fasting/ is a present remedy if they be laid unto the bitings of a mad dog. Some use to make succat with honey or sugar of the young nuts/ which are palled of the tree about midsomea. Tragus writeth that the water which is distilled out of the green nuts gathered at mitsomer/ is good for the inflammation of the paps/ impostumes/ and for places out of joint/ the oil that is pressed out of the walnuts/ saith Tragus/ is good for the purposes above rehearsed. Of Squynant. IVncus odoratus sive rotundus/ is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ in English Squynant/ in Duche Kamelhewe/ in the potecaris shoppis Squinantum. Squynant groweth in Aphrica and in Arabia/ the best cometh out of Nabathea/ the next in goodness is it that cometh out of Arabia/ the worst cometh out of Africa: the best & the most wourthiest to be chosen/ is that which is red/ fresse and full of flowers/ but small/ and hath red pieces in it/ which being rob in a man's hands/ will smell like a rose. It biteth the tongue also like fire. We use no part of it/ saving the flower/ the stalk and the rote. We have not in Europa such squynant as Dioscorides describeth. I never saw squynant growing/ saving only dried. The properties of Squynant. SQuynant hath the virtue to bring down flowers to drive fourth water/ it driveth wind away/ maketh the head heavy/ and bindeth a little/ breaketh and ripeth/ and maketh louse the vessels that the wind may comforth. His flower is good in drink for them that void blood/ for the pain of the stomach/ longs/ liver and kidneys. The rote is more astringent binding/ therefore it is good to be given in the quantity of a dram with so much pepper for a few days unto them that have the lothsomeness of the stomach to them that are sick in the dropsy/ and to them that have the cramp. The broth is good to sit over against the burning heat of the mother. Of the juniper tree. depiction of plant juniperus. IVniperus is called in Greek Arkenthos/ in English juniper or juniper/ in Dutch wachhold/ in French du genefure. The Description. DIoscorides maketh ij. kinds of juniper/ the greater kind & the less/ which only differ in bigness. juniper both the greater & the less is always green & hath in the stead of leaves pricks rather than right leaves/ and every such leaf or prick is very like unto the end of the tongue/ of an hueholl or wodspike/ but it is green/ the would is reddish/ which if it be put into the fire/ maketh a very good smell. The berries are first green and afterward black. Some hold that the berries are ij. year in ripinge upon the tree. This tree groweth commonly in great waist & wild moors & baron grounds/ but sometime it groweth in metly good grounds/ In England it groweth most plenteously in Kent/ it groweth also in the bishopric of Durram/ & in Northumberland. It groweth in Germany in many places in great plenty/ but in no place in greater than a little from Bon/ where as/ at the time of year the feldefares' seed only of junipers' berries/ the people eat the feldefares undrawen with guts and all/ because they are full of the berries of juniper. The virtues of juniper. There are ij. kinds of juniper/ the greater & the less/ they are both hot/ & stir men to make water/ & if that they be set a fire/ they drive away serpents. The berries do measerablely heat & bind/ & are good for the stomach. They are good to be drunken against the diseases of the breast/ against the cough/ against wind/ gnawinge & biting of serpents. They drive fourth urine/ they are good for places burst & shrunken together & for the strangling of the mother. The leaves are biting & sharp. Therefore both they/ & also the juice of them are good to be drunken with wine or to be laid to against the biting of a veper. Of Labrusca. LAbrusca/ which is called in Greek Ampelos agria/ or Omphax/ is of ij. sorts/ the one kind is so wild that it hath only flowers/ and goeth no ferther/ & this flower is called Enanthe. The other hath flowers & also little grapes. I have seen of both the sorts plenteously in Italy in divers places by the flood Padus/ and in high Almany also. It may be called in English a wild vine. All things both leaves/ flowers and grapes/ are less in this kind then in the gardin vinde/ or else in figure and fashion they are all one. The nature of the wild grape. THe leaves of the wild grape/ and the stalks/ and claspers have the same virtue that the other hath. The flowers of the wild grape/ have a stopping or binding power/ wherefore in drink they are good for the stomach/ and to drive fourth urine. They stop the belly & the casting out of blood/ if they be dried and laid to/ they are good for the loathsomeness of the stomach and sournes of the same. They are good to be laid upon the head/ either green or dried with vinegar & rose oil. A plaster made of them/ healeth bloody wounds/ the impostumes in the corners of the eye when they are in beginning/ the sores of the mouth/ & the fretting sores of the privities. If they be broken with honey/ saffron & myrr & rose oil/ they save from inflammation. They are good to put in pessaries to staunch blood. They are good to be laid to with wine & the meal of perched barley against the watering of the eyes/ & the burning of the stomach. The ashes of them/ burned in a vessel with hot coals are good for medicines for the eyes/ and with honey it healeth whit flaws/ aguayles & gums bledinge/ & vexed with impostumes. Of Lets. depiction of plant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Lactuca. depiction of plant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. depiction of plant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. LActuca is called in Greek Thridax/ in English Lets or Lettuce/ in Duche Lattich/ in French/ ung Lactue. Lettuce is of diverse kinds/ one kind is called Lactuca hortensis/ and in English gardin Lettuce/ the other kind is called lactuca syluestris/ which is called in English green endive/ & this is the herb that the Israelites eat with their passouer lamb. There are divers sorts of gardin lets/ for one is called Lactuca capitata/ that is cabbage lettuce/ because it goeth all into one head/ as cabbage role doth/ an other kind is the common lets/ some kinds of lettuce have white seed/ & other kinds have black seed. The description of Lettuce. THe comen gardin lettuce hath broad leaves like unto white endive/ and the stalk riseth straight up/ about the top are diverse branches/ which have yellow flowers. The wild lets is like the other after Dioscorides/ but the root is shorter/ the stalk is longer/ the leaves are whiter/ smaller and sharper and bitter in taste/ and when as they perfect/ they are full of prickel. The properties of Lettuce. THe gardin lets/ which is of a cooling nature/ is taken to be good for the stomach: it bringeth sleep/ softeneth the belly & called fourth milk: but when it is sodden/ it norisseth more. But they that have an evil stomach/ were best to take it unwasshed. The seed were good to be drunken of them that are cumbered with unclean dreams: & it is good against the rage of venery. Much use of lets/ hurteth the eyesight: it is good against inflammationes and hot burnings. It is laid up of some/ and seasoned and sauced in brine. Of Haris foot. LAgopus may be called in English Haris foot/ or rough clover/ the Dutch call it Katzenkle/ the French call it Pede de leure. The description. depiction of plant Lagopus. DIoscorides showeth no mark whereby Lagopus differeth from other herbs/ saving that it groweth among the corn. Which place is comen to many other herbs. Wherefore we can not gather by that one word/ what herb in our fields is Lagopus in Dioscorides. But because it hath the name of an Haris foot/ and no other herb growing in the corn/ is so like an Haris foot as this herb is that I set forth/ I think not with out a cause that Fuchsius (of whom I learned this herb as I have learned certain other) judged it well to be Lagopus/ and chiefly because it agreeth in virtue with it that Dioscorides speaketh of. The herb which I take for Lagopus/ hath a round stalk/ and rough leaves of the form and fashion of a clover/ or a threleved grass. The seed is very binding/ and it groweth in rough & hoary knoppes/ or hedes/ which are not unlike unto an Haris foot. Amatus Lusitanus accusing Otho Brunsfelsius/ for making trinitariam to be a kind of hepatica/ Mattheum Syluaticum for judging avenes to be- Lagopus/ falleth in to as great an error as any of them both did/ whillis he maketh trinitariam montanam/ to be the right Lagopus. For the herb called trinitaria of the herbaries in Italy/ and edel leberkraut or guldenkle in Duche/ is not the right Lagopus. Which thing may very easily be proved by Dioscorides which saith that Lagopus groweth in the corn/ when as trinitaria is never found in the corn/ but in high mountains and in such wild and untilled places/ where as not corn at any time hath grown. The virtues of Lagopus. THe herb Lagopus drunken in wine stoppeth the belly/ but if a man have an ague/ he must drink it for the same purpose in water. The same is good to be laid unto the share/ when it is inflamed or brought into a great heat. Lagopus as Galene sayeth/ hath so drying a power/ that it can dry up well the flux of the belly. Of the herb called Lamium or deed Nettel. depiction of plant Lamij tria genera. LAmium is called also urtica iners/ or mortua/ urtica alba/ and of some Archangelica/ in English Deed nettle/ in Dutch tod Nessel/ in French/ orti morti. The description of deed Nettel. LAmium hath leaves like unto a nettle/ but less indented about/ and whiter. The downy things that are in it like pricks/ bite not/ the stalk is foursquare/ the flowers are white/ & have a strong savour/ and are very like unto little cowls/ or hoods that stand over bare heads. The seed is black & groweth about the stalk/ certain places going between/ as we see in door hound. The virtues of ded● Nettel out of Pliny. THat kind of nettle also/ which among other I named Lamium/ being most gentle of all other/ and having leaves that bite not/ with a corn of salt/ healeth such places as are bruised/ or beaten/ or / and wens/ and swellings/ gouts and wounds. It hath a white thing in the mids of the leaf/ which is a good remedy against saint Antony's fire or hot burnings. The later writers hold that the deed Nettel is good to stop blood/ if it be laid either unto the lowest parts of the neck/ or to the shoulder blades: They say also that it is a good remedy against foul sores and fistulas or false wounds. Of the herb called Lampsana. LAmpsana/ as Dioscorides writeh is a wild wort or eatable herb/ and more largely doth not he describe Lampsanam. But Pliny describeth his Lampsanam thus. Amongst the wild koles is also Lampsana a foot high/ with rough leaves like unto napo or a yellow rape: but the flower of Lampsana is whiter. When I was in Bonony/ Lucas Ghinus the reder of Dioscorides there/ showed me the right Lampsanam/ which afterward I have seen in many places of Germany in the corn field/ much lower than carlok/ but in taste and in depiction of plant depiction of plant fashion of lief much like it. But it hath a white flower with a very little purple in it/ in some places as I remember/ yet most commonly it is all clear white. The virtues of Lampsana. DIoscorides maketh no other mention of any virtue/ that Lampsana hath/ saving that he maketh it good for the pot/ & sayeth that it nourisheth more than the dock doth/ and is better for the stomach. Galene sayeth that Lampsana eaten/ engendereth evil juice/ if it be laid to without/ that it hath some pour to scour away/ and to digest or make ripe. Of the tre called Larix DIoscorides describeth not the tree which is called of the Latins Larix/ and of the Duche ein Larch baum. But Pliny described it and maketh mention of it/ but not always according to the truth as men of great experience and of no less learning/ not being encumbered with such business as Pliny was/ have of late found out. Pliny writeth that the leaves of the larch tre/ never decay nor fall of/ which thing both Matthiolus & Bellonius have found by experience depiction of plant Larix. to be untrue. For they write both that the larch tree leaves fall of in winter. But herein I can bear no witness/ for although in summer I have seen infinite larch trees/ yet I was never in winter where they grew. But I trust them which have seen them both in summer and winter. And out of these men's writings I have gathered this description of Larix following. The larch tree commonly is lower than the fir tree/ but in some places it is found as high as the fir tree is. The lowest part of the boli or body of the larch tree/ next unto the ground/ hath a bark very hard/ and it is full of rifts & gapynge/ which appear like certain deep furrows. If ye hue it/ and cut it/ with an hatchet/ ye shall find it very read/ and until ye come unto the bunghes it is rough/ but after that ye come to the place where the bows grow/ then it is smother & in colour/ is out of an ashy whitish. The bunghes are less than any other kind conenutbering tre hath/ and they are tougher and more bowing/ and their colour is out of yellow reish/ and of a very pleasant savour. The leaves are blunt/ soft and bowing/ two fingers long/ a little broad/ & of the bygnes of fenel leaves. About thirty grow together about one knop/ after the manner of a beam. In taste they are not so binding as other leaves of trees of like kind be. In smell they resemble the leaves of a pine tre. The larch tre is very like unto the cypress tre/ in the fruit or nut. For the larch nut is as great as the Cypress nut is/ and something longer/ and hath a short steel or foot stalk/ whereby the fruit is joined unto the tree. The nut is compassed about with thin husks one growing over an other/ after the manner of scales of a fish/ and within are sedes of the bygnes of a Cypress kernel. This tree groweth largely in the mountayes in the land of Cor/ and in the alpes that are between Itali and the country called Rhetia/ where of one part is in the diocese of Cour. The nature and virtues of this tree. I find great diversity of opiniones and debat between the old writers and the new/ concerning the nature of this tree. For the new writers hold that the would of this tre/ will burn as well as the would of other trees. Which thing this day/ is perfectly known in many places by daily experience. But the old writers hold that the larch tree will take no flame/ and that it will no more burn than a stone. Amongst many old writers that hold opinion/ I will bring forth but two to bear witness of that matter. The one is Palladius/ which writeth thus in his book of husbandry of the larch tre. Larix sayeth he/ is very profitable to make boards of/ & to lay them under the tiles/ in the utter part of the house. If thou do so/ thou hast made a sure defence against all burning: For those boards will neither receive any flame/ neither will they make any coal. The other old writer is named vitrvuius/ who in his second book of building writeth these words of the larch tree. The larche trees/ saith he/ be touching the leaves/ like unto the pine tree leaves. The timber is long & as tractable for any inward werck as Sapin is. And it hath moist or liquid rosin of the colour of the honey of Athenes. And it is good for them that have the tisick in their lungs. The larch tre which is not known/ but only unto the proper inhabitants/ that either dwell about the bank of Padus flood/ and about the see shores of the Venetianes see/ not only is not hurted/ with rotting or muldring/ or with worms/ by the means of the great bitterness that it hath/ but also it will receive no flame of the fire. Nether can it burn any otherwise than a stone doth in a lime kill. Yet by other would it burneth. And yet not even then doth it receive the flame/ neither giveth any coal/ but in a long time it is slowly burnt. And this is the cause/ that there is in it a small temperature of the principales of the air and fire. For the wood being thick and hard fastened together/ with an earthly moisture/ and not having void spaces for holes/ by the which the fire may enter in: it putteth back the pour of the fire/ and suffereth not itself to be hurt of the reason of the heaviness/ it is not held up of the water/ but when it is born either in ships/ or is set above the fyrr raft: How that this timber was found/ there is a cause to know it. The renowned and noble caesar/ when he had an host about the alpes/ he commanded the inhabitants there that were under him/ to find vitales. But there was a fast town/ named Laringum/ and the men of the town trusting to their natural defence/ would not obey the commandment of Cesar. Therefore the chief captain commanded the garisones to besieged it. But there was before the gate of the town/ a tower made of this timber/ made of diverse beams/ one going cross over an other. And it was very high/ and in fashion after the making of a brooch or a steeple/ that is great beneath and small above/ so that a man might put back agyn them that came up/ both with stones and clubs. But when it was perceived that they had no other wepenes but stones & clubs/ and that they could not cast far from the wall/ by the reason of the heaviness/ the commandment was given/ that faggoters made of small brusshe/ should be set a fire/ and laid to the hold. The soldiers did that speedily. But as sound as the flame had taken hold of the faggots/ beside the timber/ and went up in to the air a fit/ it made all men thynck that all the hole heap should fall by and by. But when the flame went out of itself/ and so was quenched/ and the tour appeared untouched/ caesar woundering greatly/ commanded that they should be compassed round about/ with out the casting of darts. But when the towns men compelled by fere/ had given up and yielded themselves/ it was demanded of them from whence the wood came/ which would not be hurt with the fire. And then they showed them those trees where of was great plenty in that place. Thus far hath vitrvuius written of the larche tre. Ye may see now that either the old writers have erred sore in telling the properties of the larch tre/ or else the new writers know not the right larch tre. But I think the lightly there is no tree better known unto the moste part of the new writers of plants this day/ them the tre called larix is. The high duche call this tre cin lorchbaun or ein lerchbaun. They that dwell about Trident call the rosin of it larga/ & there is a place as Bellonius the Frenchman writeth that is called at this time vallarix. Which thing may be taken/ that the Larix tre is not gone out of knowledge nether in Itali/ nor in France/ nor in Germany: wherefore it is rather to be thought that the old writers marking not so diligently as they ought to have done one example/ have fallen into a false believe/ out of which as of a great tre many branches of errores have sprung out afterward. Beside that the tymmer of the larch tre which is very good beutuus & profitable for building: it giveth also ij. exceeding wholesome & profitable medicines/ where of the one is the comen turpentine/ & the other is the famus medicine called Agarick. Matthiolus writeth/ that where as he hath been/ that the men that gather the moist rosin of the larch tre/ use to bore a hole with a long perser even unto the heart of the tre/ & under that hole to set a vessel made of the bark of the pichetre/ to receive the rosin that cometh forth there in. But in Rhetia where as I have seen the manner of gathering of the comen turpentine/ is this: They cut an hole deeply dounwarde in the larche tre/ with an hatched & a chisel/ so great that will hold a great olial of the rosin. When that hole is full/ they take it out with ladles & spownes/ & put it into vessels. Antonius Traversus a right Gentleman of the country of Rhetia/ when as I lay in his house/ resting me after my great labours that I had taken in seeking of herbs in the alpes/ told me for a surety/ that the carpenters of that country knowing the wholesomeness of the rosin/ when they chance upon any plenty of it/ whilse they cut the larch trees/ drink largely there of/ and become as drunken therewith/ if they had drunken a great deal of strong wine. Dioscorides writeth that the rosine larche tre received in/ by lycking/ is good for the old cough. Many use it now/ with great profit against the stone and the diseases of the kydnes in the stead of the right turpentine. Aetius writeth thus of all rosines. All kinds of rosine/ heat/ drive away/ soften/ drawfurth and open/ and heal wounds and bind them together/ much more than wax doth. And Galene in his book de simplicibus medicamentis writeth thus of rosines. All rosines do heat & make dry. But they differ one from other. The rosine of the lentisk tree called mastic/ deserveth worthily the cheese praise amongst them all. Amongst other rosynes/ it of the turpentinetre is best. It hath an open or manifest binding/ but not so much as mastic hath/ but it hath joined with it a certain bitterness/ whereby it ripeth more than mastic doth. & by the means of the same quality/ it can scour so that it can heal sores & scabs/ & it draweth more than other rosines/ because it is also of finer parts. And the same Galen in the third book de medicamentis secundum gna writeth this sentence. Of these kinds of rosin is/ is that which called larigna/ that is rosin of the larch tre which is moister/ or more liquid/ but of the substance of the moist rosin of the pichtre/ which the gross sell for turpentine than that know not the one from other. But that rosin both in smell & taste & working is sharper & quicker than turpentine is. There fore the rosin of the larch tre hath a like virtue with this and with the turpentine/ but it hath a greater power in driving away & a more subtle/ or finer substance. Of Agarik. BEllonius woundereth that any man dare hold the Agarik doth grow in other trees then in the larch tre/ but his marveling is again to be marveled at/ seeing that good autores write/ that it may be found also in other rosin bringing trees. But this do I think/ that the best Agarick that is this day/ is found in the larch tre. Agarik is sold very dear both in Itali/ France/ Germany and England. Wherefore they that would take the pains to sail to Norway (which is nearer unto England/ them is either Rome or Compostella) they might bring many things from thence more profitable for the realm of England/ then that which some bring from the above named places. For beside many diverse kinds of herbs and roots which grow there in great plenty/ and may be gotten with a small cost/ the values of the simples well esteemed/ there may a man have not only most excellent turpentine of the comen sort/ but also the most precious Agarick. If no other men will take the pains to bring this commodity unto their country/ I will advise the falconers that go to Northway/ that both for their own profit and for their countries/ that they learn to know the Larch tree/ that they might bring into England not only good comen turpentine/ but also costly and precious Agarick. If any man will take the pain to gather Agarick/ let him first learn well by the forewriten description to know the Larch tre/ and than mark it that I shall tech him in these words immediately following. agaric is the same/ in a larche tre that brueche as the Northern Englishmen call it/ or as other call it/ a todstole/ is in a birch or a walnut tre/ where of some make tunder both in England and Germany for their guns. Agarick as it is very precious/ so is it not very comen nor good to find/ for sometime a man shall see in some places a thousand trees/ erhe find one that hath Agarick growing upon it. It groweth most commonly in old trees and in such/ as are growing in highest cliffs rocks and tops of mountains of all other. It groweth never in the bughes of the tree/ but upon the bull or body of the tre/ some time higher and some time lower/ as other things like mushrum mes/ todestooles or bruches do. The only time of gathering of Agarick is in the end of harvest/ when as it is dry and full ripe. It that is gathered in the summer and in the spring/ except it be of the last years growth/ is both unwholesome for man's body/ and the same can not be gathered without the great jeopardy of the gatherer/ for than it is full of water/ which when it cometh forth/ with a perillus vapour that it hath/ it smiteth in to the head and maketh him very sick. And as the waterish unripe Agaricke is unwholesome/ so it that is passed two years old/ is of no price nor value. Of Agarick out of Dioscorides. THere are two kinds of Agarick/ the one is the male/ & the other is the female. The female which is the better/ hath right or straight orders/ or lines/ of veins/ going within it. The male is round and faster fastened together. Both the kinds have a sweet taste at the first tasting/ but afterward/ it turneth into a bitter taste. The nature of Agarick is to bind together & to heat. It is good for the gnawings in the belly/ for rawness & for bursten places & for them that are brusen & hurt with falling. The use is to give a scruple in honeyed wine/ to them that have no ague/ and with meed to them that have a fever. It is also good for them that have the bloody flix to them that have the guelsought or iaundesse/ to them that are shortwynded/ and to them that are diseased in the liver and the kydnes. We use to give a dram when a man's water is stopped/ if the mother be strangled/ or if a man be ill coloured. It is taken with maluasei when a man hath consumption or tisyck and with oxymel or honeyed vinegar/ when a man is cumbered with the disease of the milt. If the stomach be so flash and louse that it can hold no meat/ then is it best to be taken alone/ without any moisture. After the same manner is it given to them that belch out a sour breath. If it be taken in the quantity of two scruples & an half/ with water/ it stoppeth vomiting of blood. If it be taken with honeyed vinegar/ in like weight/ it is good for the sciatica and the pain in joints and the falling sickness. It bringeth also down to women their sickness. In the same quantity it is good to be taken against the wyndenes of the mother. If it be taken before the shaking of an ague/ before the fit come/ it taketh the shaking away. The same taken in the quantity of a dram or two with meed/ purgeth the belly. It is a good remedy against poison taken about the quantity of a dram with a drink well dilayed with water. It is a special remedy against the stinging of serpents and for the biting of the same if it be drunken in the quantity of one scruple & an half with wine. Galene writeth also that if Agaricke be laid unto with out/ that it is good for the biting and stinging of a serpent. Mesue writeth that Agarick is hot in the first degree & dry in the second. It is given in powder sayeth Mesue/ from one dram to two/ but in broth from ij. drams to five. Of the herb called Laserpitium. I Have nether spoken with any man/ nor read in any writer of this our time/ that durst say that he had seen the right Laserpitium/ whereof Theophrast and Dioscorides make mention of. But Ruellius judgeth that the virtuous herb called Angelica is Laserpitium gallicum. If there be any Laserpitium either in France or Germany/ I would rather take Pillitori of spain called of the Duche meister wurtz/ to be Laserpitium then angelica/ because it hath leaves more like parsley than Angelica hath. If any man travail in to far countries/ & would learn to know the right Laserpitium/ let him well mark these descriptiones which I shall now translate out of Dioscorides and Theophrast/ & he shall the sooner come by the true knowledge of it. Laserpitium groweth in Syria/ Armenia/ Media/ and Lybia/ with a stalk like a ferula or fenelgyant/ which stalk they call Maspetum. It hath leaves like parsley/ and a broad sede. The juice that cometh out of the stalk & root is called Laser. The stalcke is called Silphion/ the root Magudaris/ & some call the leaf also Maspetum. Theophrast describeth Laserpitium thus. The root of Laserpitium is manifold & thick. It hath a stalk as the ferula hath/ & a leaf which they call Maspetum lyke unto parsley. The seed is broad/ & is of the fashion of a leaf such as that which is called the leaf. The stalk depiction of plant Laser seu Laserpitium. perished every year as the stalk of ferula doth. The rote is covered with a black skin. I can find no more in these two ancient writers concerning the description of Laserpitium/ but these few words which I have now rehearsed unto you. By these words of Dioscorides and Theophrast/ Matthiolus and all other that hold that Benzoin is the sweet Laser of Cyrene/ are reproved and found fauty in a great error. For Dioscorides & Theophrast make Laserpitium an herb/ and such one as dieth every year concerning the stalks and top at the lest/ and Laser to be the dried juice of an herb/ when as we know by the sticks & pieces of wood that we find oft in Benzoin or Belzoin/ & by the experience of Lodovicus Romanus (whom also Matthiolus allegeth/ giving thereby other men weapons to fight against himself) that Belzoin or Benzoin is the rosin of a tree/ and not the juice of any herb. But as for assa fetida/ I will not deny/ but that it is Laser medicum or Syriacum/ as Matthiolus & other writers have taught in their writings. The properties of Laser and Laserpitio. THe root heateth/ and in meats is hard of digestion/ and noysum to the bladder. If it be laid one with oil/ it is good for bruised places and with a cerote or treat made of wax: it is good for hard lumps and wens/ with oil of Ireos it is good for the sciatica/ or with the cerot of prived flowers. If it be sodden in vinegar and laid to with a pomegranate pill/ it is good to take those things away that grow to much about the fundament. If it be drunken/ it withstandeth poison/ it maketh the mouth smell well/ if it be menged with salt or with meat. The best Laser is read throw shining like unto myrr/ not green/ mighty in smell/ of a pleasant taste/ and when it is steeped/ it waxeth easily white. The juice dried and hardened it is best. The leaves deserve the second praise/ and the third the stalk. For it hath a sharp power/ it maketh wyndenes/ it healeth a scald head/ if the place be anointed with it/ and pepper wine and vinegar. It sharpeneth the eysyght/ and if it be laid to with honey/ it healeth the cataract of the ey/ or the haw in the eye when it is in the beginning. It is good to be put into the holes of the teeth/ for the tuthe ache/ or to be bound about in a cloth with Olibano or frankincense. It is also good to wash the mouth with it and hyssop sodden with figs in water and vinegar. It is good to be pu● into the wound of them/ that are bitten of any wood or mad beast. It is mightily good against the poison of arrows or darts/ and against all beasts/ that cast out venem either drunken or laid to with out. It is dabbed about the stynginge of scorpiones/ with oil well menged/ or tempered. It is laid unto deadly burnings/ if they be a little held and constrained together before/ and with rue nitre and honey/ or by itself/ it is also laid to carbuncles. If ye cut a circle round about aguayles or any hard lumps/ and make this medicines soft with the broth of figs or menge it with a cerot/ it will pull them away. With vinegar it healeth the foul skurf of the skin. It healeth also outwaxynges or to growings in the flesh and the swelling flesh about the nose thrills which is called polypus/ if that it be laid to a certain days with coperus or verdgrese. It helpeth the old rough scurfenes of the jaws. If it be taken dilayed with water/ it healeth quickly the hoarseness of the voice. If it be laid to with honey/ it healeth the Vuula. It is good to be gargled against the squinsey with meed. They that use to eat of it look much more freshly/ than they had won to do/ and with a better colour. It may be given with great profit against the cough/ in a soft egg/ and against the pleurest in suppings/ and against the jaundice and dropsy with dried figs. The same drunken with wine pepper and olibane or right frankincense driveth away the trymlyngh and shaking of agues. It is given in half a scruple weight to them whose head standeth backward. If any horsleches or lougheleches cleave to a man's weasand/ this/ if it be drunken/ will drive them down/ if a man will make a gargoyle with it/ and with vinegar. It is good to be drunken for milck that is clodded and run together in lumps. It is good for the falling sickness/ drunken with oxymel or honeyed vinegar. If it be drunken with pepper & myr/ it bringeth down flowers. If it be taken with the kernels of grapes/ it stoppeth the belly. If it be given with lieghe/ it is good for places that are suddenly shrunken together and bursten. It is resolved or melted with bitter all mondes/ or with rue/ or hoot breed for to make drinks of it. The juice of the leaves will do the same/ but not so effectually. It is good to be chowed with oxymel or with honey and vinegar to help the throat/ when as the voice is horse or dull. It is said that there is an other Magudaris in Lybia/ and that the root is like Laserpitio/ but that it is not so thick/ sharp and spongous/ out of which no juice floweth forth. It hath like virtue with Laserpitio. If a man will compare these virtues with them that the later writers give to maisterwurt or pillitori of spain/ he shall find that there is as great agreement between their properties/ as is between their forms & descriptiones. But of this matter I intend God willing to speak more largely an other time. Of the herb called Lathyris. LAthyris putteth forth a stalk of the length of a cubit/ and a fingers thick/ and hollow within. There grow in the top things like wings/ and there grow out of the stalcke/ long leaves like almonds leaves/ but brother and smoother. They that are in the highest tops/ are found less/ in the likeness of Arestolochia or of a long ivy lief. It bringeth forth depiction of plant Lathyris. fruit in the top in the highest branches/ which is notable by the reason of iij. cases or vessels that the seed is in. The fruit is round as capers/ where in are contained round corns divided one from an other/ by films that run between. The sedes are bigger than great bitter tars called erua/ & round. And when the barckis taken from them/ they are white and sweet in taste. All the hole bush is full of milck/ as the herb called Tithymalus is. This description agreeth well with the herb which is called in English spurge/ in Dutch springkraut/ in French espurge/ of the apothecary's catapucia minor/ not because it is little/ but because it is less than ricinus/ which is called catapucia maior. But the figure which that Matthiolus setteth for Lathyri/ agreeth not with this description. For the leaves are not very like almond leaves/ neither brother than they be: But peradventure his carver hath beguiled him as karuers and painters have beguiled o/ there men before this tyme. The virtues of spurge out of Dioscorides. SYxe or seven grains of spurge taken in pills with figs or dates/ purge the belly. But he that hath taken them/ must afterward drynck cold water. They draw down choler/ phlegm/ & water. The juice taken out/ as the juice of Tithymal: is taken forth/ and dressed/ hath the same working. The leaves are sodden with a cock for the same purpose. Out of Actuarius. SPurge purgeth thin phlegm vehemently. Fifteen of the greater corns/ are given at ones/ and xx. of the less corns. They that would be effectually purged/ let them chow them. Let them that desire not to be so greatly purged/ swallow them hole over specially/ if he that taketh them have a week stomach. Aetius hath the same words and sentence of Lathyris that Actuarius hath. Wherefore it appeareth that Actuarius a later writer than Aetiu●/ took it that he wrote out of Aetius. of the herb called Laver or Zion. SIon otherwise called laver/ is found in waters/ with a fat bush right up with broad leaves/ like unto the herb called Hipposelino/ but less & well smelling. The herb called in some place of England belragges/ agreeth in all points with this description. But so doth not the herb called in English brooklyme/ & in Duche bauch pung/ for when as Zion is described to be a right up growing herb with leaves like hyposelino: broock lime creepeth most commonly by the ground and hath a leaf nothing like unto hipposelino. Wherefore Amatus giveth an unright duche name unto Sion/ when he calleth it bauchbungen or pungen/ as the Duche men also did before him of whom he learned to call Zion bauchbungen. I marvel that Matthiolus maketh Zion with sedes in little cods/ when all the Zion that ever I could either see/ in England/ Germany/ or Itali/ had ever seed in the top after the manner of parsley/ with out any cods. Wherefore I reckon that his Zion is not the right Zion. Zion is not only so like a kind of Selinon/ called hipposelinon or olus atrum in the leaves as Dioscorides writeth/ but also so like Selino or Apio in the stalk and top/ & sede/ that some have taken it for Elioselino/ and have named it waterpersely. Which name were good to be received in England that the herb might the better there by be known/ than by the name of belragges. The virtues of water parsley. THe leaves of Zion either raw or sodden/ if they be taken in/ they break the stone and drive it forth. They move men to make water. They are good to help women to their sickness. They are also good for to help the birth to come forth. If they be taken in meet/ they are also good for the bloody flix. The Laurel or Baytre. LAurus is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in English a Bay tre or a Laurel tre/ in Duche ein lorben baum/ in French vng laurier. The leaves of the Bay tre are always green/ and in figure and fashion they are like unto scala celi/ and to periwinkle. They are long and brodest in the midst of the leaf. They are blackish green/ namely when they are old. They are curled about the edges/ they smell well. And when they are casten unto the fire/ they crack wonderfully. The tree in England is no great tre/ but it thriveth there many parts better and is lustier than in Germany. The berries are almost round/ but not altogether. The kernel is covered with a thick black bark/ which may well be parted from the kernel. The virtues of the bay tre, and it that groweth out of it. THe bay leaves have the virtue and strength to heat/ and to soften/ wherefore the broth of them is good to sit in/ for the diseases of the mother and of the bladder. The green leaves of the bay tre bind some thing. And if they be laid to when they are broken/ they he'll the stinging of bees/ and wasps. The same laid to with perched barley and breed/ suage all inflammationes or hoot burnings/ but if they be drunken/ they make all that is in the stomach go forth/ and move a man to vomit. bay berries heat more than the leaves: therefore if they be bruised and put into an electuary maid with honey/ and sodden with Maluasei/ they are good for a consumption/ and for them that are short winded/ and for all rheums that fall into the lounges and breast. They are good to be drunken in wine/ against the biting of scorpiones. They weish out frekles. The juice of the berries with old wine and rose oil/ is good to be poured into the ears against the ache of them/ and the hardness of hearing. Men use to put them into medicines which refresh them that are weary/ or tyrede/ and unto oynmentes that scatter or drive abroad. The bark of the root/ breaketh the stone/ and it is perilous for women with child. It helpeth them that are sick in the liver in the quantity of a scruple and an half if it be drunken in wine. Beside these virtues that Dioscorides giveth unto bay berries. Auicenna writeth that the oil of bay is good for the head ache/ for the Morpheu/ for the singing in the ear. The oil also maketh men vomit. It is good for the shaking of an ague: the bay berry is also a remedy against all poison. Dioscorides writeth of the oil of bay or Lauriell oil thus. The bay oil is better that is fresher/ and hath a greater colour/ and that is most bitter and sharp. The pour of it is to heal and tho soften. It openeth the breath holes of the veins. It driveth away weariness. There is no better remedy against all the diseases of the sinews/ colds/ falling down of humores/ the ache in the ears/ the diseases of the kydnes or neres/ that come of cooled/ then this oil is if it be laid to. But if it be drunken it stirreth a man to vomit. Mesue writeth of bay oil thus. The oil of Barberries' is good for the ache of the liver/ and for the migram or ache of the one side of the brain/ when as they come of could cause. It is also good against the pain of the great gut/ of the mother and of the milt. The later writers hold that it is good against scales and scurf/ and worms/ scabs/ scales an wheels/ and ploukes. Of lentils. LEns is called in Greek Phacoes/ in English a Lentil or lentils/ in Dutch/ Linsen/ in French Lentille. Lentil is a bushy and thick pulse with leaves like unto a fitch or a tore/ but less. The flowers are purple in white. It hath little cods something depiction of plant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Lens. flat/ wherein are contained in every one/ about iij. or iiij. grains in figure flat/ like an half penny/ but something rising in bigness toward the mids/ as a little cake or bannock is/ which is hastily baked upon the hearth/ the sede is reddish. T●ey are far deceived/ which have used the great gardin or Spanish lentils/ whereof some are white/ for the white Orobo/ for they want both figure & also the virtues of Orobus. lentils grow in great plenty in Cambridge shire/ & all throw Germany where as they are husked and used for a meat. The virtues of lentils. THe often use of lentils in meat/ maketh dull the eysyght. They are hard of digestion/ and vex the stomach & fill it with wind. If they be sodden with their shilles untaken of/ they stop the belly. They are best to be eaten/ that are most easily digested/ and when they are steeped make the water nothing black. They have a property to bind together/ by reason whereof they stop the belly/ if the shells be taken away before/ and they be thoroughly sodden/ & the first water be casten away (for the former broth looseth the belly. They make a man dream troublesome dreams. They are evil for the head/ for the sinews and the longs. They will work better in the stopping of the belly/ if ye put unto them vinegar/ Endive or porcelain/ or read betes or myrtles/ or the shell of pomegranates/ or dried roses/ or meddlers/ or services/ or binding peers or quinces/ or succory/ or plantain/ and hole galls/ or the berries of Sumach. And all these things must be casten away after the seething. But the vinegar must be very sore sodden therewith/ or else it will trouble the belly. thirty grains of lentils shelled/ be good against the over casting of the stomach. If they be sodden with perched barley meal & be laid to/ they suage the ache of the gout/ & glueth together corners & hollow places of wounds laid to with honey. They burst up crusts & scour sores. If they be sodden with vinegar/ they drive away wens and hard swellings. With a quince of Melilote/ they help the inflammationes of the eyes and fundament/ so that rose oil be put thereto. With few water they are good for wheels/ and for running and fretting sores/ and for the wyldefire and for the kybes. They are also good for the paps or breasts that have clodded or clustered milck in them/ and for to much plenty that rynneth out/ if they be sodden in water of the see/ and laid to. Auicenna writeth that Lentilles make gross blood and thick/ and that much using and eating of them bringeth the leper. Out of Galene. NO man maketh breed of lentils/ for they are dry and brittle/ and have a binding husk or skin/ the which is as it were their flesh. And it hath a gross & earthly juice/ and a small tart quality. But the juice that is within the lentils/ is contrary unto binding. Wherefore if any man set them in water and season/ the water with salt fish brine/ or oil/ and take that water/ the same will make a man louse in the belly. Twice sodden lentils stop the belly/ and strengthen the guts/ and all the hole belly. Wherefore they are good both for the comen and the bloody flix. But the shaled or husked lentils as they have lost their strength in binding and such things as follow there upon/ so do they nourish more than they that have their husks upon them. But they make a gross and evil juice/ and they go thorough slowly. Of ducks meat. LEns palustris is called in greek phakos epit●n telmat●n/ in English ducks meat/ in Duche mere linsen. Lens palustris/ as Dioscorides sayeth/ is found in waters that run not/ but stand still/ and that it is a certain moss like unto a lentil. This weed is well known in England/ and specially of them that have ponds/ for in the later end of summer/ if men take not great pain/ all the poudes will be covered over with ducks meat. The virtues of ducks meat. DVckis meat hath a cooling nature/ wherefore it is good to be laid to empostemes and gatherings of humores that ryn to one place/ to the wild fire or great burnings/ to the gouty both membres alone and also with the meal of perched barley. It glueth or bindeth or maketh fast the bowels of young children. Galene writeth that duckis meat is of a could and a moist temperature/ and in a manner is both could and moist in the second degree. Of the Lentisk or Mastic tree. depiction of plant Lentiscus. THe Lentisk tre is not described of Dioscorides/ nor of Theophrast that I have seen as yet nether of Pliny. Therefore I will describe it as well as I can/ according to the sight that I had of it where as I saw it growing in Bonony. The tree that I saw/ there was but a low tre/ & the leaves of it stand in such ordre as the ash tre leaves do/ that is every one/ all most right over in order against an other/ saving that one standeth a little beneath it/ that standeth on the other side. With their manner of standing every pa●● representeth a couple of birds wings stretched forth ready to fly/ and chiefly then/ when as they are pressed forth upon a book. The proportion and colour of the leaf is not unlike unto the leaf of periwinkle/ saving that it is much less. Pliny in the xviij. book of his natural History/ and in the xxv. chapter/ allegeth these iij. verses of Cicero/ where by a man may know some properties of the Lentisk tre. jam vero semper viridis semperque gravata, Lentiscus triplici solita est grandescere foetu, Ter fruges fundens, tria tempora monstrat arandi. The meaning of these verses is this. The lentisk tre which is always green/ and burdened/ and hath used to wax great with a threefold fruit/ whilse it bringeth forth fruit thrice/ it teacheth or showeth three times of ploughing. Matthiolus the Italiane describeth the lentisk tre thus. The lentisk tre is thick both in bows & in leaves/ and the twigs that are in the top/ bow downward again toward the earth. The leaves are like unto the leaves of the fistik tre/ of a grievous smell/ fat and brucle and blackish green. But about the edges they are read as it were with little veins. It is always green. The bark is something reish/ bowing and tough. It bringeth forth after the manner of the turpentine tre/ beside the berries/ little cods writhe inward after the fashion of an horn/ where in is enclosed a clear moisture/ which in continuance of time is turned into little beasts/ like unto them that come out of the cods of the elm and turpentine tre. All the hole tre hath an ill savour. The virtues of the Lentisk tre. THe hole Lentiske tre hath a binding pour/ for the leaves/ the boughs/ the sede/ the bark and the roots are all like in property. The sodden juice of it may be made thus. The leaves/ the bark/ and the root are sodden in water/ when they are sufficiently sodden/ and couled afterwards/ the leaves are casten away/ the water is sodden again until it be as thick as honey. The mastic tre with his binding property is good against casting out of blood/ against the comen lax/ and against the bloody flix/ if it be drunken. It is good for the running out of blood from the mother and for the falling down of the mother/ and of the fundament. In all things it may be taken in the stead of Acacia or Hypocistis. The juice of the broken leaves doth the same. The broth by laying it to in bathing/ filleth up hollow places/ and fasteneth together again broken bones. It stoppeth freting sores/ it driveth forth water. It fasteneth the louse teeth/ if they be washed with it. The green twigs are good to pik teth with all in the stead of sticks and straws and other tooth picks. There is an oil made of the seed/ which is good to be used when any thing had need of stopping or binding. The mastic tre bringeth forth a rosin which is called Lentiscina or mastic/ of the comen sort Mastix/ or mastic. mastic is good to be drunken of them that spit blood/ & for an old host or cough. It helpeth the stomach/ but it maketh a man belch. If it be eaten/ it maketh a man's breath savour well/ it bindeth well together the goumes that are to louse. The best and the greatest plenty of it/ groweth in Chio or Sio as it is now called. The best is it that is clear/ and shineth/ and is white as virgin wax is/ brittle/ well smelling/ and cracking: the green is not so good. Some use to conterfit mastic with frankincense & with the mixtur of the rosin of a pinaple. Galene writeth thus of mastic. That which is white and commonly called Chio or of Sio/ is made almost of ij. contrary qualities/ that is to wet/ of a binding and a softening property. And there for it is good for the inflammationes of the stomach/ guts/ and liver/ as a thing that is hot and dry in the second degree. Of the herb called Lepidium or Dittani. LEpidium is called in English Dittani/ but foulishly & unlearnedly/ in Duche Pfefferkraut that is peperwurt/ because it is so exceeding hot/ which name were more fit in English for this herb than the name of Dittani/ that the name of Dittany might abide proper unto the right Dittano/ which beginneth now to be set and sown in England. Dioscorides leaving out the description of Lepidium/ sayeth these words/ gnorinion batinion esti/ that is to say/ it is a well known herbeling/ which word herbeling seemeth to privily warn us that the herb that Dioscorides meaneth of here/ is rather the Hiberis Democratis/ than the Lepidium that Pliny describeth. For Lepidium that Pliny describeth is no herbling/ but a long & a great herb. Pliny describeth his Lepidium thus. Exit in bicubitalem altitudinem, folijs laurinis, sed mollibus. Vsus eius est, non sine lact. Lepidium goeth up into the length of ij. cubits/ & hath leaves like bay leaves but softer. It must not be used without milk. depiction of plant Lepidium magnum. This description agreeth very well unto our Dittany. Paulus Egineta calleth the herb Hiberis/ which Pliny calleth Lepidium as his words here following will bear witness. In totum hos (sayeth he) sanitati restituit, Iberidis herbae usus, quam lepidium, alij agrio Cardamum appellant. Quae verò apud nos fruticosa nascitur, similibus lauri folijs & multo amplioribus, respondere, multa experimenta testantur. That is/ the use of the herb is Iberis restoreth these men perfectly to their health again/ this herb is called of some Lepidium/ of other agrio cardamum. But many experiments or profess bear witness that the bushy one that groweth with us/ with leaves like bay leaves but greater/ answereth not only in the sciatica/ but also in other old diseases. This Lepidium that Pliny/ & Paul describe/ groweth plenteously about the water side that rynneth thorough Morpeth in Northumberland/ in such places as great heaps of stones are casten together with the might of a great spat or flood. The virtues of Lepidium. I need not to write any more of the virtues of Lepidium/ that I have done before/ seeing that Pliny and Paul give the same virtues to Lepidium that Democrates/ Galene and Archigenes give unto Iberis. Therefore they that will know more of the virtues of Lepidium/ let them read the chapter of Hiberis. The Germans in some places take the juice of this herb and menge it with vinegar & salt/ and make a sauce there of for rostedfleshe as in Freseland/ some make a sauce of redco for sodden meat. Of Rosmary. LIbanotis stephanω matike/ called in Latin Rosmarinus/ is named in English Rosemari. Rosemari (as Dioscorides sayeth) putteth forth small branches/ and about them small leaves/ thick/ long/ white in under/ and green above/ with a strong savour. The virtues of Rosmary. depiction of plant Rosmarinus. ROsmary hath an heating nature/ Rosmary healeth the jaundice/ if the broth or water that it is sodden in/ be drunken before a man exercise himself/ and after that he hath exercised himself/ enter into a bath/ and drink unwatered wine after. Men use to put Rosmari in medicines that drive werisumnes away/ and into the ointment called Gleucinum. The arabians as Serapio witnesseth/ give these properties unto Rosmari. Rosmari is hot & dry in the third degree/ it is good for the cold reum that falleth from the brain/ it heateth and maketh fine or subtle. It driveth wind away/ & stirreth a man to make water/ and bryngeh down woman's flowers/ it openeth the stoppings of the liver of the milt and the bowels. Tragus the Germany writeth that Rosemary is a spice in the kitchines of Germany/ and not without a cause. The wine (sayeth he) of Rosmari/ taken of a woman/ if she will fast iij. or iiij. hours after/ is good for the pain in the mother/ and against the white flowers if they come of any inward imposteme. It openeth the lung pipes/ and it is good for them that are shortwynded. It helpeth digestion/ and withstandeth poison. It stauncheth the gnawing of the belly/ it scoureth the blood/ and if a man will go into a warm bed after that he hath drunken of it/ it will make a man sweet. If that Rosemary leaves be sodden in wine/ they will do the same. The conserve made of the flowers of Rosmari/ is good for them that swoon/ & are week hearted. The water of Rosemary as the same Tragus writeth/ is good for them that for hoarseness have lost their speech. Rosemari is also good● withstand trynbling of the membres/ & the dusines of the head. Of the herb called Ligusticum. LIgusticum which some call Panaceam/ and other Panaces/ groweth much in Liguria in the mount Apennine/ near unto the alpes/ where upon it hath the name. The inhabitants there about call it not without a cause Panaces/ because both in the root and stalk/ it is like Panaci heracleotico/ & hath the same virtues that it hath. It groweth in high and sharp or rough mountains/ & in shaddowy places/ and specially about rivers/ or as other texts have/ about ditches. It hath a small stalk full of joints/ like unto dill/ and leaves in the going about like unto Melilote/ but softer/ well smelling/ smaller about the top/ and much divided. In the top there is a bushy or a spoky top/ where in hangeth black sede sound and something long like unto fenel/ sharp in taste/ in smelling like spice. The root is white/ and well smelling like unto the root of Panacis heracleotici. This herb did I never see in England/ neither in Germany/ but it that I saw in Italy/ was not like it/ that Matthiolus setteth forth. For it that I saw/ had leaves thrice as big as it that Matthiolus showeth. There grew in it that I saw/ all most in every place three leaves together/ which were like unto a kind of lotus/ or a clover/ or a trifoly. As far as I can mark as yet/ the herb that I saw/ agreeth better with the description/ then it that Matthiolus hath caused to be painted/ but let other that have seen the right Melilote (where of I marvel that Matthiolus hath not set out the figure as he doth of other herbs/ which he granteth that he knoweth/ be judges which of our two herbs is lyker unto Melilote/ and let that be the righter herb that hath the liker leaves unto Melilote. The virtues of Ligusticum. THe nature of the seed is to heat and to make ripe. It is good for inward aches and swellings/ and for inflammationes/ specially of such as have their stomach swelling up/ It remedieth stinging of serpents. In drink it draweth down woman's sickness/ & stirreth a man to make water. The root laid to/ hath the same effect. It is very good for the mouth/ wherefore the inhabiter there/ where it groweth/ use it in the sede of pepper/ & put it in meats. Of Lyverwurt. LIchen which commonly groweth upon stones/ is also called bryon/ it cleaveth unto watery stones/ or such as at the lest are sometime sprinkled with water as a moss. The colour is for the most part green/ but sometime yeloweshe green/ namely i● the place be dried where it groweth. To this description agreeth well the herb which is called in English Liverwurte/ in Dutch Stein leberkraut or Brunleberkraut/ in French Hepatique/ of the apothecary's hepatica. If any man can not know this Liverworth by this short description/ let him know it also by these marks. It rynneth like a green lief not only upon stones/ but also upon a moist ground/ with certain bellishe swellings/ apering above the rest of the leaf. There groweth out of it a certain little twig/ like as it were a stalk/ in the top where of are little things like stars. At the first sight the hole herb looketh like unto a leaf of the crympled lettuce. The virtues of Liverwurt. depiction of plant Lichen. IF liverwort be laid to/ it stoppeth blood/ it stoppeth or holdeth back inflammationes or burning where with the places begin to swell. It is a good remedy against the foul scurf of the skin/ If it be laid to with honey it healeth the jaundice/ and it stoppeth the flowings of humores that vex the tongue & the mouth. Tragus writeth that liverwurt sodden in wine is good for the diseases of the liver and longs/ and that the powder of it taken with suggar/ is good for the same/ and it is much better than the comen people thinketh/ against great hetes and burnings. Of the little tree called Ligustrum or Cypros. CYpros (as Dioscorides sayeth) is a tre with leaves/ about the bows/ like unto the leaves of an olive tre/ but brother/ softer/ and green. It hath white flowers/ mossy/ or as some books have growing thick together like clusters. The fruit is black/ like older berries. The leaves have a certain binding in them. This description as I think and judge with many other agreeth in all points with the herb/ which is called in Latin Ligustrum/ in English prym/ depiction of plant Ligustrum. or privet/ in Duche Beinholtzlin/ in French troesne. But Massarius Venetus in his book that he writeth of fishes/ denieth stiffly/ that Cypros is Ligustrum. But his reasons that he bringeth to prove his purpose with all: are not so strong/ but that they may be confuted. His first argument is this. Both Dioscorides and Pliny make Cyprum a strange tree/ and assign to it far and strange countries to grow in/ as in Canope/ in Ascalone/ and in Egypt. But Ligustrum groweth every where/ therefore Ligustrum is not Cypros. First Massarius sayeth not truly in saying that Dioscorides and Pliny make Cypros a strange tre/ if he mean by saying so that they meant/ that it grew not in their countries. For although Dioscorides sayeth that the best Cypros groweth in Canope/ and in Ascalone: yet it followeth not/ that Dioscorides denieth that there is any Cypros growing in Grecia or in Italy. The same Dioscorides writeth that the best Iris groweth in Illyrico and in Macedonia: doth it follow therefore that he sayeth that Iris groweth nowhere else but in Illyrico and in Macedonia. This first argument therefore as ye se/ is of no effect. And where as he sayeth/ that Pliny maketh Cyprum a strange or foreign tre/ which groweth not in Italy: he reporteth not truly of Pliny/ for Pliny's words of Cypros are these: Ligustrum eadem arbor est quae in oriente Cypros. Ligustrum is the same tre that Cypros is in the East. How shall a man then gather that Pliny sayeth/ that there is no Cypros in Italy/ when as he sayeth thus plainly as ye have heard that Ligustrum is the same tre that Cypros is in the east/ then if Ligustrum and Cypros be all one as he sayeth: then/ when as Ligustrum groweth in Italy/ then groweth also there Cypros. But Massarius expoundeth these words: Ligustrum is the same tre that is Cyprus in the east/ after this manner: Ye must understand that where Pliny sayeth the same: that this word the same/ is as much to say as the same in likeness. For if he would that Cypros should have been Ligustrum/ he would not have said in the xij. book/ Cypros is a tre in Egypt with leaves of iviuba/ when as Ligustrum groweth everywhere in Italy. Nether doth he hold in that place/ that Cypros is Ligustrum/ where he sayeth: Quidam dicunt Cyprum esse arborem, quae in Italia Ligustrum vocatur. Some say that Cyprus is the tree which is called in Italy Ligustrum. These be his arguments where with he would have proved that Cypros and Ligustrum were not all one. But to answer unto to his reasons/ I axe of him or any other that holdeth his opinion/ where or in what place Theophraste/ Dioscorides or Pliny/ or any other good writers of herbs/ used any such phrase or manner of speaking as this. The leaf of Berony is an oak leaf/ or the leaf of vervain is an oak leaf/ because the oak leaves are like unto the leaves of vervain and betony. Who did ever say that an ape was a man/ because he is like unto a man? surely that I remember/ I have not red any such phrase in Pliny nether in any other good author. But what if this where a rife phrase in Pliny/ yet for all that/ it should not follow in this place that eadem/ should betoken like. And that shall I prove by this reason. Ye grant that Ligustrum is very like Cypros/ and so like that the one may be named with the others names/ because they be so like. Then if Ligustrum have also the properties of Cyprus as it hath. The perfect likewise/ where in differeth the one from the other/ when as they agree in all points both in likeness and in virtues. But Pliny giveth the same virtues unto Ligustro that Dioscorides giveth unto Cypro: read the places in the foresaid autores/ and ye shall find that I say true. Wherefore seeing that Ligustrum is Cypros both in likeness and in virtue/ the interpretation of Massarius is not to be allowed. And as for the meaning of these words of Pliny/ Ligustrum is the same tre that Cypros is in the east/ it hath his profits/ uses and commodities in Europa etc. Me think/ that this is the right understanding of them. The tree that is called in the east Cypros/ is called Ligustrum in Italy. But although Cypros in the East be much stronger in operation/ yet our Ligustrum is not altogether without virtue in Italy/ for it hath these virtues folowyng/ which in deed Dioscorides as I said before/ giveth unto Cypro. But yet I must answer to an other reason that Massarius maketh/ which is this: If Pliny had meant that Cypros had been Ligustrum/ then would he not have said in the xij. book/ Cypros is a tre in Egypt/ when as Ligustrum groweth everywhere in Italy. though whom I answer/ by this question/ in what book writeth Pliny that Ligustrum is Cypros: Writeth he not so in the twenty-three. book? This once granted that Cypros is Ligustrum/ and that Ligustrum groweth in Italy/ I trow when as Pliny holdeth both these sentences/ that he gathereth not truly of Pliny that he should mean that Cypros were not to be found in Italy. Pliny in the same place where he sayeth that Cypros is a tre in Egypt/ he sayeth also: Quidam hanc esse dicunt arborem quae in Italia Ligustrum vocetur. Some say that this is the tree which is called in Italy Ligustrum. Then when as to say that Cypros is in Egypt/ is not to deny that it is in Italy and to allege that some men say that Cypros is the tree which is called in Italy Ligustrum/ is much less to deny that Ligustrum is in Italy: this reason of Massarius is found to be as week as his former arguments be. If that any ask of me how chanceth that Pliny seemeth to doubt in the xij. book whether Cypros be Ligustrum or no/ and that in the twenty-three. he pronunceth and giveth sentence of it that he seemeth to doubt of before. I answer that Pliny when as he wrote the xij. book/ doubted wheter Cypros was Ligustrum or no/ either because he had heard it so to be either of some uncertain report/ or had red it in some author/ whose authority deserved not full credit/ and that when he wrote a good season afterward the twenty-three. book/ he had in the mean time learned of credible and learned men/ or red in credit worthy autores/ that Cypros was Ligustrun. Between the twelft book and the twenty-three. ten books are contained/ and some one book contained in print ix. large sheets of papyr: What time will a reasonable man give unto Pliny for the studying setting in order/ and writing of these x. books: If ye grant him a month for every book to perfect it/ as ye can grant him no less: seeing that he was the admiral or chief rueler of the Emperors Navi/ and so cumbered with many weighty besinesses which belonged unto his office/ ye must grant that in the space of x. months Pliny might not only have learned the certainty of Cypros/ but of many other things where of he was uncertain before. Therefore this aught to trouble no man that Pliny in his later book doth hold boldly/ it where of in his former book/ he was doubtful. The other reasons of Massarius I pass over as so weik that even the young students of Physic are able enough to confut by themselves. These reasons I thought that it was meet/ that I should answer to/ lest any man by reading of Massarius Venetus/ who writeth learnedly of fishes/ should by his arguments bring him from the truth/ which Ruellius/ Fuchsius/ and Matthiolus defend/ in holding that Cypros is Ligustrum. privet groweth very plenteously/ in Cambrich shire in the hedges/ and almost in every gardin in London. The virtues of Privet. THe leaves have a binding nature/ wherefore they are good to be chowed in the mouth to hele the sores of it. If they be laid to emplaster wise/ they are good against great burnings or inflammationes and carbuncles. Whatsomever thing is burned with the fire/ may be healed with the broth of Privet leaves. The flower of Privet laid unto the forehead/ suageth the ache thereof. The oil of Privet/ heateth and softeneth the sinews if it be menged with those things that are of an hot nature. Of the Lily. LIlium is called in Greek Krinon or Lirion/ in English a Lily/ in Duche wyß Lilgen or Gilgen/ in French du Lis. The Lily hath a long stalk and seldom more than one/ howbeit it hath sometime ij. It is ij. or iij. cubits high. It hath long leaves and something of the fashion of the great satyrion. The flower is exceeding white/ and it hath the form or fashion of a long quiver/ that is to say small at the one end/ and big at the other. The leaves of the flowers are full of crests. The overmost ends of the leaves bow a little backward/ and from the lowest part within/ come forth long small yellow things like threads/ of an other smell then the flowers are of. The root is depiction of plant Lilium. depiction of plant Lilium purpureum. round/ and one piece groweth hard to an other almost after the manner of the root of Garleke/ but that the clowes in the Lily are brother. There is also a reddish purple coloured Lily beside the white/ where of Dioscorides also maketh mention. The virtues and properties of the Lily. THe ointment made of Lilies softeneth the sinews and also very well the hardness of the mother. The leaves of the herb laid to/ be good against the stinging of serpents. The same made hot/ be good for places that burned. If they be laid vj. and seasoned in vinegar/ they heal wounds. The juice sodden with honey or vinegar in a brazen vessel/ ●is a good medicine for old sores and for green wounds. The root roasted and broken with rose oil/ healeth places burned with the fire. It softeneth the mother. It bringeth women their desired sickness. It covereth wounds with a skin. If it be broken & bruised with honey/ it healeth out sinews/ & places out of joint. It healeth scurfynes/ scales/ scabs and Lepres/ & it scoureth away the rynning sores in the head. It scoureth the face and taketh away the wrynkles. It is good to be brayed with the leaves of henbayn & wheat meal/ in vinegar to suage the inflammation or burning heat of the stones. The seed drunken is a remedy against the biting of serpents. The leaves and the seed are good to be laid unto the cholerik inflammation called Erysipelas. Of the herb called Limonium. depiction of plant Limonium. LImonium hath leaves like unto a beat/ but th'inner and longer/ ten in numbered/ and oft times more/ a thyme stalk/ & a straight like unto a lily. It is full of red binding seed. Some learned men hold that the herb called pyrola/ of the likeness that it hath with a peer tre lief/ and in Duche Wintergruene/ is the right Limonium. But pyrola hath not leaves longer than a beat/ neither x. or more together. Other hold/ that bistorta is Limonium/ but nether the leaves are like betes leaves/ neither hath it such a stalk/ as can rightly be compared unto a lilies stalk. But he that should use either of both these for Limonio/ he should not do amise. For all though they differ from Limonio in likeness/ yet they agree well it in properties. Matthiolus setteth forth ij. figures of Limonium/ but the former hath not a stalk like a lily/ wherefore it can not be Limonium. And as for the second/ although it agreeth meetly well with the description/ I can not tell whether it be Limonium or no/ because he telleth not whether the seed be binding or no. If he would have taught us the Italiane name of it/ perchance some of us that here after shall go into Italy/ might spear it out and find it by that name. But now have we nothing to help us with all/ saving only the figure wherefore we shall come more hardly by the knowledge of his Limonium. The virtues of Limonium. THe seed of Limonium broken and drunken in wine/ in the measure of ij. ounces or thereabout/ is good against all kinds of flyxes/ both bloody flixes/ & other. And the same is good for the bloody issue that women are some time vexed with all. Of the herb called Flax or line. depiction of plant Linum. FLax is an herb with a small stalk/ where upon grow many small leaves/ something long & sharp at the end. It hath blue flowers in the top of the stalk/ and after that they be gone/ theridamas come forth round knoppes/ saving that there is in the end a sharp thing like a prick growing out. These knoppes or heads are called in Northumberland bowls/ and within these heads are long flat sedes in colour redishe/ and each seed is contained in his proper cell divided from the rest. The root is very small. Flax which is called of the Northern men lint/ in Duche Flachs/ in French Du line/ in Greek Linon/ and in Latin Linum/ groweth very plenteously in the North part of England/ and should grow as plenteously also in the South part/ if men regarded not more their private lucre than the kings Laws and the comen profit of the hole realm. I have seen flax or lint growing wild in Somerset shire within a mile of Welles/ but it hath fewer bowls in the top then the sown flax hath/ and a great deal a longer stalk. Which things are a sure token that flax would grow there if men would take the pain to sow it. The virtues of Lint sede. LYnt sede hath the same virtue that Fenegrek hath. It scattereth abroad or driveth away. It softeneth any thing that is inflammed or very hot/ & hath any hardness/ whether it be with in/ or without/ if it be sod with honey/ oil/ and a little water/ or if it be put into sodden honey. When it is raw/ it taketh away the defaults of the face and frekles/ and little swellings there/ if it be laid to emplaster wise with nitre or salpeter and ashes of a fygtre. It driveth away swellings behind the ears/ & hardness & running sores. And if it be sodden with wine it scoureth away running sores/ whose matter is like honey. It pulleth away rough nails with a like portione of cresses & honey. It draweth forth the diseases of the breast/ if it be taken with honey in the manner of an electuari/ it suageth the cough. If it be taken in a cake plenteously with pepper/ it will stir men to generation of childer. The broth of lint seed is good to be poured in/ against the gnawynges/ and going of the skin both of the guts & also of the mother. It bringeth also forth the ordur or dung of the belly. It is good for women to sit in water where in lint sede is sodden against the inflammationes and heat of the mother/ I have red in a practitioner/ that vj. ounces of lint sede oil a good remedy against the pestilence if it be drunken all at one tyme. In other practitioners I read that the oil of lint seed is good for to be drunken about the measure of two or iij. ounces with barley water against the pleuresis. But let the oil be fresh in anywyse/ for if it be old/ it is unwholesome/ and not to be taken within the body. Of Grummel or graymile. Lithospermon. depiction of plant depiction of plant LIthospermon is called of the comen herbaries and apothecary's milium solis/ in Dutch steinsamen/ in French gremil/ and it should be called in English grey mile and not as it is now called grummell. It is called milium of the herbaries/ and in French mil/ and also in English/ because in form and fashion it is like the yellow sede/ which is called in Latin milium/ and it is called grey mil of the bluish grey colour that it hath/ to put a difference between it/ and the other mile or millet. The Duche men give the name of the hardness of the seed which is like unto a stone hardness. The description of Lithospermon out of Dioscorides LIthospermon hath leaves like unto an Olive/ but longer and brother and softer/ namely they that come forth of the root & lie upon the ground. The branches are straight/ small/ strong and of the bygnes of a sharp rish and woddishe. And in the top of them is there a double forth growing/ or a double thing growing out/ and each of them is like a stalk/ with long leaves/ and by them is there a stony sede/ little and round of the bygnes of Orobus. It groweth in rough & high places. Matthiolus supposeth that Fuchsius doth not know the right Lithospermon of Dioscorides/ because he setteth out/ as he sayeth the less milium solis for Lithospermo. As for my part I grant that there groweth a better kind of Lithospermon viij. miles above Bonne in Germany in a wild country called Kaltland/ then this comen Lithospermon called commonly milium solis is. But it had been Matthiolisses duty to have proved by the description of Dioscorides or by some part of it/ at the less/ that milium solis that Fuchsius setteth forth/ is not the true Lithospermon/ and then might he have laid ignorance unto Euchsiusses charge the better. But in my judgement Matthiolus is more ignorant of the true Lithospermy/ then Fuchsius is: for it that he setteth forth/ doth neither agree with the description of Dioscoridis/ nor yet of Pliny. The herb that Matthiolus setteth out (he might have set out the best Lithospermon/ and the hole perfect her be with all his parts/ seeing that he maketh Lithospermon so commonly known unto all men in Italy) hath but two small stalks where upon the leaves & sedes grow/ and they are set out/ not straight but crooked/ and bowing diverse ways. Lithospermon of Dioscorides hath diverse branches that are right or straight. The two forth growynges that Dioscorides sayeth/ be in the tops of the branches/ can not be seen in it that Matthiolus setteth forth. The leaves of Lithospermon that Dioscorides describeth are longer & brother than an Olive tre leveis/ namely they that are next unto the ground. But the leaves of it that Matthiolus setteth forth/ seemeth a like long and broad in all places of the stalk or twyg that they grow on/ & resemble very little an Olive lief as any man that knoweth an olive lief can bear witness. The Lithospermon of Dioscorides hath the sede in the top/ fur Dioscorides saith. In ramulorum cacumine duplex est exortus cauliculo similis, folijs longis, inter quae parvum semen, etc. But the Lithospermon that Matthiolus painteth hath the sedes even from the root almost unto the overmost top of all. Wherefore Matthiolus accusing Fuchsius of an error/ erreth in Lithospermo much more his self. If he say that he setteth forth Lithospermon Plinij/ then he granteth by saying so/ that he knoweth no more the right Lithospermon Dioscorides/ then Fuchsius lately checked for ignorance doth: for it is evident that the Lithospermon of Dioscorides and Plinij are two diverse herbs. But the lithospermon that Matthiolus painteth/ doth not agree with it that Pliny describeth/ for it that Pliny describeth/ hath leaves twice as big as rue leaves and diverse twyggy branches/ and certain things like little beards/ in whose tops it hath little stones/ of the bigness of ciches. Then when as it that Matthiolus painteth/ hath leaves six times as big as rue leaves and no twyggy branches/ neither any things like little beards in whose/ tops little stones do grow of the bigness of a ciche (for they appear to be many parts less) the herb that Matthiolus setteth forth/ is not Lithospermon Pliny. We have in England growing among the corn an herb in all points like unto it/ that Matthiolus setteth forth. But that kind doth no man that I have seen/ take for the right Lithospermo/ but for a bastard kind of it. The virtues of Lithospermon or grey mill. THe seed of Lithospermy hath this property/ that if it be drunken with whit wine/ it breaketh the stone and driveth forth water. Autores write that it breaketh chiefly the stone in the bladder if it be broken small and drunken with wine. Of Darnel. DIoscorides describeth not lolium/ which thing hath been the cause that many have erred in Lolio/ and taken other weeds for it. For some have taken tars for Lolio/ and other cockle. But the words that Dioscorides in other places and Theophrast write of Lolio/ will not suffer that tars or cockle shall be Lolium. Dioscorides in the description of Phoenix/ writeth that Phoenix hath an ear like unto lolium. But nether tars nor cockle have any ears at all/ wherefore nether of them both can be lolium. Theophrast in the fift chapter of his fourth book de historia plantarum comparing Lolium and rise together/ sayeth. Quod orizam vocant (id semini nuncupato simile est) pistumque tanquam alica, redditur concoctu perfacile, aspectu lolijs simile etc. But nether cockle nor tars are in any point like unto rise/ wherefore nether of them can be Lolium Theophrasti. Saint Jerome writing upon these words of saint Matthewis gospel/ sayeth. Inter triticum & zizaniam, quod Lolium appellamus, quàm diu herba est, nec dum culmus venit ad spicam, grandis similitudo est, & in discernendo aut difficilis aut nulla distantia. There is great likeness between wheat and zizaniam/ which we call lolium/ as long as it is an herb/ and the stalk is not yet commed to the ere/ either it is not possible to discern the one from the other or else very hard. But when as cockle and tars come first forth/ they may be easily discerned from wheat. Therefore nether cockle nor tars can be the Lolium of saint Hieromes time/ where upon it followeth that cockle and tars are nether the lolium of Dioscorides/ nor of Theophrast/ nor yet zizania in scripture. But all these marks above rehearsed agree well unto the weed/ that we call in English darnel/ which the Dutch men call lulch/ and the French iura/ therefore our darnel is the right Lolium. The properties of Darnel. DArnel hath the virtue to scour away round about/ fretting sores/ rotten sores/ and deadly burning sores/ if it be beaten into powder and laid to. With radices and salt laid to implaster wise/ it healeth wild scurfs/ and with unburned brimstone and vinegar lepers. The same sodden in wine with lint sede/ and doves dung/ resolveth hard lumps and wens/ and breaketh such places as are hard to be made ripe. If it be sodden with meed/ it is good to lay upon the place diseased with the sciatica. If there be made of it a perfume/ with perched barley meal/ and myr/ or safrone/ it helpeth conception. It is hoot in the beginning of the third degree and dry in the end of the second degree. Of the herb called Louchitis altera. LOuchitis altera/ as Dioscorides writeth/ hath leaves like unto ceterache/ which is called Asplenum/ but greater/ rougher/ and much more divided or cut in. And no more doth he write of the description of Louchitis. I have seen the herb oft both in Germany/ and in diverse places of Somerset shire/ and Dorset shire. It is much longer than ceterach/ and the gaps that go between the teth/ if a man may call them so/ be much wider then the cuts that are in ceterach. And the teth are much longer and sharper. I know no English name that it hath. But of the likeness that it hath unto a comb and a fern/ it may be called comb fern. Hieronymus Tragus calleth it Asplenum syluestre/ and in Duche walt asplenon. It groweth much in dark laynes/ about bush roots/ and out of the shadow oft times alone. The virtues o● the second Louchitis. THe herb which I name combeferne/ is marvelous good for wounds/ for if it be laid unto wounds/ it is a good defensive for them/ for it will defend the wounds from burning/ or inflammationes. If the herb be dried and drunken in wine/ it will minish the swelling of the milt. Of the herb called Lotus urbana. DIoscorides writeth no more of lotus urbana/ but that some men do call it trifoli/ or clover/ and that it groweth in gardens. Wherefore it is very hard by these few words to gather among so many threleved herbs as we have/ which of them is the right Lotus urbana. Matthiolus thinketh that the comen Melilote/ is Lotus urbana/ and Amatus Lusitanus holdeth that/ hallelujah or wodsore is Lotus urbana. But the learned men of Ferraria/ when I was there/ showed me an other herb/ differing from both these/ and said that it was the right Lotus urbana. The herb at the first sight is very like unto the herb called in English wodsorel/ or hallelujah. But in these/ it and the wodsore differ. The wodsore groweth only in woods/ and in wild places/ but this herb groweth only in gardens and in towns as far as I could hither to learn. The wodsorel/ hath nothing resembling a stalk/ for the flowers grow from the root upon a long small pediculo/ that is a footling or footstalcke such as chyries grow on/ and the flowers are white and iij. parts bigger than the flowers of this herb are/ which I set forth for Loto urbana. But this herb hath a little stalk & in the top of that grow ij. or three yellow flowers or more some time/ & some time fewer. It hath a sour taste as would sorrel hath. depiction of plant Lotus Vrbana. This herb do I judge rather to be the right Lotus urbana than either would sorrel/ or melilote. For as melilote/ is not fit to be eaten and is a wild herb/ not therefore to be nourished in gardens/ so the wodsorel all though it were meet to be in gardens/ and is very good to make sallettes of: Yet it groweth not commonly in gardens as the other doth/ where fore it appeareth that this herb which is found as far as I know no where/ but in gardens should rather be lotus urbana than any of the other ij. herbs. I never saw this herb/ but twice in all my life/ ones in Ferraria & once in Clavenna. Wherefore I know no English name for it: hewbe it/ it may be named in English gardin clover or sour clover/ or salad clover. The virtue of gardin clover. IF that ye will take the juice of this herb and put honey unto it/ if ye lay it to the eyes/ it will drive away the white sores in the eyes called argemata/ the clouds of the eyes & other darkness. Of the herb called Lotus syluestris. LOtus syluestris that is called wild lotus/ which some call the less trifoli/ groweth in Libya. It hath a stalk two cubits high & sometime higher/ it hath leaves like the meadow clover or trifoly/ & sede like fenegreke/ but much less with a certain taste like a medicine/ Theophrast in the seven. book de historia plantarun & in the xiv. chapter seemeth to make a great sort more of wild lotus than Dioscorides maketh. For he writeth thus of the kinds of lotus. Certain kinds of herbs have many forms and fashones/ and but one name/ as lotus. For there are many kinds of lotus which are dissevered/ and differ one from an other/ in leaf/ stalk/ flower/ and fruit. Take it that is called mell frugum/ for an example/ which differeth from all the other in virtue and in manner of meat that it hath. But Theophrast describeth never one of the kinds of lotus/ where of he maketh so many kinds: wherefore a man can not learn of him the difference between one potus and an other. He seemeth to give some great difference to it that groweth in the corn/ which he calleth mell frugum. But yet a man cannot gather thereby that it is the lotus syluestris that Dioscorides describeth. But because I have seen our comen melilote both with a yellow and also with a white flower/ growing amongst the corn both beside Bon/ beside Sounds/ and beside Worms in high Germany and no other kind of lotus so growing: I take it to be the kind of lotus which he called mell frugum. And because the herb which is called in high Duchland stundkraut/ & in netherlands wit nardus/ is a long herb of two cubits height/ and hath a certain physic taste in the sede by reason where of it is called white nardus in Freslant/ and hath leaves like unto the meadow clover or trifoly/ I take it to be the lotus syluestris/ where of Dioscorides writeth: let other men judge as they list. It groweth not wild nether in England nor in Germany/ and I have not seen it wild in the fields in Italy/ for it that groweth in Italy hath a yellow flower/ when as this that I take to be lotus syluestris/ hath a pale bluish flower. The virtues of Lotus Syluestris. wild lotus heateth and bindeth a little/ it scoureth away the deformites' and spots in the face/ if it be anointed therewith and with honey. The herb broken by itself or with mallowiss sede/ and drunken with Maluasy or any other wine/ is good against the pain of the bladder. Of Hops. depiction of plant Lupulus. I Can find no mention of hops in any old author/ saving only in Pliny. But he doth not describe it. joannes Mesue a younger writer/ maketh our hops the fourth kind of volubilis/ & he describeth it thus: The forth kind of volubilis hath leaves like a citrul but sharp/ and the flowers are full of leaves one growing over an other/ after the manner of scales/ and this kind is called lupulus. It is temperate/ or rather cold in the beginning of the first degree. All these tokens agree well with our hops/ saving that where he sayeth that the fourth wind is cold/ for after the learning of Galene because the ripe flowers are bitter & bite the tongue not a little/ they are hot at the lest in the beginning in the second degree. Let any learned man that will taste of it that groweth both in Italy and Germany/ & he shall find that I say true. Wherefore it is plain that either the fourth wind of Mesue is not our hops/ which I will not hold/ or elles Mesue meaned not of the ripe flowers when he said that hops were cold/ but of the young tender knoppes/ which when they come first forth like sperages/ be temperate or rather cold/ as other buds and unripe fruits of other hot plants be many/ as all learned men can tell. I never saw better hops than I saw growing wild a little from the wall that goeth from Chertosa to Pavia/ by a little rivers side. They grow also wild in many places both of England & of Germany. The hop bush is called of the later Grecianes bryon/ of Pliny lupus salictarius/ of the Barbarus writers humulus/ of the later learneder writer lupulus/ in Duche hopfen. The virtues of Hops. Hops purge or scour the blood measurably of yellow choler/ and clengeth it/ and tempereth it well/ whilse they quench the heat of it. And this do they most chiefly when as they are infused/ or steeped in whey. The syrup made of Hops is good against the guelsucht or jaundice/ and for agues that come of the heat of the blood or of choler. The hop with his juice and perched barle is good for the burning headache and for the great heat of the stomach/ and liver. Wherefore seeing that it is so wholesome a medicine/ I marvel that the Physicianes of this time/ use it no more in medicine. Thus much hath Mesue written of hops. Out of other yet later writers. Hops purge forth both choler and melancholy/ they drive away impostumes/ and swellings. They drive out by the stole the water of the drops. The juice of Hops drunken raw/ purgeth the belly more than otherwise taken. But than it openeth not so much. When it is sodden/ it openeth more but than it purgeth less. The juice poured into the ears/ saveth them from corruption and saveth them from stinking. The roots open stoppings/ and specially of the milt and liver. Of the pulse called lupines. LVpinus is named in Greek thermos/ in Duche feigbon/ in French lupin/ and so may it be called in English/ or if a man will follow the Duche/ he may call it a fyg bene. Lupine hath one long stalk/ and a leaf with v. or seven iaggers/ which altogether/ when as they are grown out/ have the likeness of a rule of a spor/ or of a sterr. The flower is white/ in whose place/ when it is gone/ cometh after a long cod/ wherein are v. or seven sedes in colour white and without/ sometime a little redishe/ in fashion flat like a cake: it hath a shord root in colour reish. The leaves of lupines turn with the son/ as Pliny writeth and experience teached. The virtues of lupines. THe meal of lupines/ licked up with honey/ or if it be taken with drink/ driveth worms out of the belly. The lupines selves steeped/ and eaten with their bitterness/ be good for the same purpose. The broth depiction of plant Lupini albi. of them hath like virtue/ drunken with rue and pepper/ and so is it good for them that have the disease of the milt. With the same it is good to bathe and wash wild sores/ gangrenes/ and the scab/ when it beginneth first to come burstings of it of wheels/ running sores of the heed/ frekles and spots. lupines put into the body after the manner of a suppositori/ with honey and myrr/ all being wrapped in will/ draweth both down woman's flowers/ and also her burden that she goeth with if it be ripe. The flower or meal of lupines with lint sede/ amendeth the skin and blue marks: with perched barley & water it suageth inflammationes/ and burnings. It easeth swellings/ and it is good for the sciatica laid on with vinegar. If it be laid to with vinegar where in it is sodden/ it healeth wens and bursteth carbuncles. lupines sodden in rain water/ until they wax tough into a thick broth/ scour and make clean the face. lupines are also good for the scabbor maugenes of cattle with the root of black chameleon/ so that they be washed with the warm broth that they are sodden in. The roots sodden in water/ provoke or stir a man to make water. lupines broken/ after that by steping they wax sweet/ if they be drunken in vinegar take away the loathsomeness of the stomach and engendereth an appetit an lust to eat. The smoke of lupines burned/ drive gnats and mydges' away as Pliny writeth. Of Lysimachia. LYsimachia putteth forth stalks of the length of a cubit or some time longer/ bushy/ small/ & the leaves come out at the knees or knots/ or joints of the herb. They are thin & in fashion like wylow leaves & in taste binding. The flower is dark read or of the colour of gold. It groweth in watery & in marish & fennish grounds. This is a very comen herb in Germany & England: I marvel that Matthiolus could not find it in Italy until it was sent him from Rome by Vincent Canton to Goritia. But all though it be found in many places of England/ yet depiction of plant Lysimachiae purpureae primum genus. depiction of plant Lysimachia luthea. depiction of plant Lysimachia III. I could never learn any English name of it. It may be well called after the etimologi of the word/ and also of the virtue that it hath lous strife/ or it may be called herb willow. The Duche men call it weyderich. The virtues of Lousstrife. THe juice of the leaves/ by their binding power stoppeth the casting out of blood. It is either to be poured in/ or to be taken inward for the bloody flix. If it be put in a mother suppository/ it will stop the excessive running or issue of the mother. If ye stop your nose with this herb/ it will stop the running out of blood of it. It stayeth also the excessive running out of blood out of wounds. It driveth away serpents and killeth flies with his smoke/ for it is wonders sharp in smell. There is an other Lysimachia beside it that I have spoken of with a reddish purple flower/ that groweth much about water sides with an head like an ear: But I red of no other properti that it should have then it which hath the yellow or golden flowers. Of the Mallow or Maw. MAlua is named in Greek Malachi/ in English a Mallow/ in Dutch pappel/ in French maulue. There are two kinds of Mallows/ the one is the gardin mallow/ and the other is the wild mallow. And each of these as Pliny writeth/ is divided into diverse kinds. Of those mallows that are sown/ the grecians call the greater/ malopen. Me thynck that the other is called malache/ because it softeneth the belly. amongs the wild mallows it that hath the great lief and the white rote/ is called althaea/ and of the excellent working that it hath/ it is called of some Aristalthea. The former kind is now called in English/ french mallow: it may be called tre mallow of the great bygnes that it groweth to. And it that is called Malache of the grecians/ and is after Pliny the depiction of plant Malua hortensis. depiction of plant Malua syluestris pumila. depiction of plant Malua syluestris. less kind of gardin mallows/ is called in English hollyhock ok/ in Duche Winter rosin. The former kind of wild mallow/ which as Pliny sayeth/ is called Althaea & Aristalthea/ is also called of the Latin writers Hibiscus/ in English marsh mallow/ or marish mallow/ in Duche Ibishe of Galene Anadendron/ of Aetius Dendromalache of the apothecary's maluabis malua and maluaniscus. The other kind of wild mallow is it that groweth wild about towns and high ways/ and is commonly called in English a mallow. Theophrast in the ninth book de historia plantarum writeth that certain things by dressing and trimming depart from their kind and old nature/ as the mallow doth/ sayeth he/ which when as it is by nature but an herb/ yet groweth up into the greatness of a tre. He sayeth that the gardin mallow within six or seven months groweth so high/ that the stalk of it will serve for a lance staff/ and that therefore diverse use the stalks of mallows for staves. The leaves of mallows are known of all men to be round the seed is in a little round form like a cheese/ some mallow flowers are read/ some blew/ & some white/ and if they had the like smell in beauty/ might well be compared with the rose flowers. The root is very long and deep in the ground and something shymy. The virtues of mallow or maws. THe gardin mallow is better to be eaten/ then the wild mallow is. Yet is it ill for the stomach and good for the belly. But the stalks are much better. It is good for the inward parts/ and for the bladder. The leaves chowed raw/ and laid to with a little salt/ and honey/ he'll the impostumes in the corner of the eyes/ but when they begin to he'll/ the salt must be taken away. Mallows are good to be laid to/ against the stynginge of wasps and bees/ for he that is anointed with raw mallows and oil/ shall be free from the stinging of bees and wasps. With piss it healeth the running sores/ and scales/ or scurf of the head. The leaves broken and laid to with oil are good for the wild fire/ & burned places. If women will sit in the broth of mallows/ it will soften the hardness of the mother. It is good for the grawing and of going of the skin/ of the bladder/ guts mother and fundament/ if it be put in with a clyster. The broth of the mallow leaves sodden with the root/ is a good remedy against all poisons/ if it be drunken by and by after/ and be vomited out again. It is a good help against the biting of a field spider. The seed of mallows drunken in wine with the seed of wild lotus suageth the smerting of the bladder. Galen and the arabians agree not in the complexion of the mallow/ for Galene giveth a warm quality unto wallows/ as these words following do plainly declare. There is a certain tough and shlymy juice in mallows/ which manifestly differeth from coldness/ which thing ye may perceive even before ye eat of the mallow/ for if ye lay it to a fiery inflammation after that ye have laid lettuce unto it/ ye shall find/ that like wise as the lettuce hath cooled/ that even so the mallows warm the place that they are laid to. But Aben Mesuai in Serapione/ sayeth these words following of the virtues of mallows. The mallow is cold and moist in the first degree/ and specially the gardin mallow/ and it is evil for the stomach. And whilse it is moist/ it is good for the bladder/ but yet the seed is much better there to/ and it is good for the roughenes or pain that cometh by going of/ of the skin/ and of the bladder. It is good for the roughness of the lungs/ and breast. It is good to make a plaster of it with rose oil/ and to lay it to the impostumes of the kydnes and bladder. Of the Mandrake. depiction of plant Mandragoras masc. THere are two kinds of Mandrag/ the black which is the female/ which is called the letticer/ with less leaves and narrower than lettuce/ which have a strong savour/ and are spread upon the ground. And this kind beareth apples like unto sorbapples/ pale in colour and well smelling/ wherein is contained sede/ like unto the kernels of peers. It hath roots of a good bigness ij. or iij. one folding itself within an other. They are black with out/ and white within/ & they are covered with a thick bark. And this kind hath no stalk. The other kind is the white Mandrag/ and it is called the male. The leaves of this are big/ white/ broad and smouth as the beat lief is. The apples of this are twice as big as the apples of the other be/ with a colour turning toward saffron. They smell pleasantly/ joined with a certain grievousness. This kind of Mandrake I have oft times seen in England/ & it is the herb that we call commonly Mandrag. The roots which are conterfited & made like little puppets & mammettes/ which come to be sold in England in boxes/ with heir/ & such form as a man hath/ are nothing else but foolish feigned trifles/ & not natural. For they are so trimmed of crafty thieves to mock the poor people with all/ & to rob them both of their wit and their money. I have in my time at diverse times taken up the roots of Mandrag out of the ground/ but I never saw any such thing upon or in them/ as are in and upon the peddlers roots that are commonly to be sold in boxes. The Mandrag is named in Latin Mandragoras/ in Dutch/ alram. It groweth only in gardens in England and in Germany/ but it is more comen in England then it is there. But it groweth not under gallosses as a certain doting doctor of Colon in his physic lecture did tech his auditores/ neither doth it rise of the seed of man/ that falleth from him that is hanged/ neither is it called Mandragoras/ because it came of man's seed as the for said Doctor dreamed. The virtues of Mandrake. THe juice of Mandrag/ drunken in the quantity of a scruple in honeyed wine/ draweth forth Melancholy and phlegm by vomiting/ after the manner of Helleborus. But if a man take so much of it/ it will kill him. It is good to be menged with the medicines and sawhe as suege ache. Men use to take the barks of the fresh roots and to stamp them and to pres●e the juice and to set it in the son until it be grown hard/ and then to put it up into earthen vessels/ for to be used when need shall require. They use also to take of the bark of the root and to put a thread throw it/ and so to hang it up/ and afterwards to use them. There is a juice also taken out of the apples/ but that is not so quick in operation as the other juice is. Some take the roots and set them in wine until the third part be sodden away/ and when the broth is purified/ keep it/ and give one cyat or an ounce and an half of it/ to them that can not sleep/ and to them that are in great pain/ & to such as must be burned or cut in some place/ that they should not feel the burning or cutting. It is good to be put into the mother to soften it. If it be put into the fundament after the manner of a suppository/ it will make a man sleep. Some write that the root hath the virtue to soften every/ if it be sodden six hours with it/ and that it will make it fit to receive easily any figure or form that a man will grave in it. The green leaves are good to be laid to the inflammationes of the eyes/ and to gatherings/ stirred up by sores with perched barley meal. It resolveth & scattereth away wens/ swellings and hardness. The same doth away scars or marks of wounds without ieperdi of freting of the skin/ if they be rubbed measurably therewith for the space of vj. or seven days. The leaves are kept in brine for the same purpose. The root broken & laid to with vinegar is good for cholerik burnings or inflammationes. If it be menged with honey or oil/ it is good against the stinging of serpents/ with water it driveth away & resolveth hard swellings/ & with perched barley meal/ it slaketh the pain of the joints. Wine may be made of the root of Mandrag without any seething/ after this manner. The pounds of the roots must be put into a small firkin of sweet wine/ there they must lie so long together until the virtue of the roots is gone into the wine. Ye may give iij. cyates of this wine/ to them that must be cut/ burned or feared. If they drink this drink/ they shall feel no pain/ but they shall fall into a forgetful and a slepishe drowsiness. The apples/ if a man smell of them/ will make him sleep/ and also if they be eaten. And so doth the juice that is strained out of them. But they that smell to much of the apples/ become dum. The seed of the apples drunken scoureth the mother/ and so doth it also/ if it be laid to with quick brimstone. It stoppeth the read issue of women. If ye will have the juice/ ye must scotch & prick the roots in many places/ and then set vessels under it/ and save it. The juice that is pressed out/ is better than that which droppeth forth after cutting or scotching. But that cometh not forth in every country as experience teacheth us. Because this herb diverse ways taken/ is very iepardus for a man/ & may kill him if he eat it/ or drink it out of measure/ and have no remedy for it: I will show you also remedy against the poison of it. If Mandrag be taken out of measure/ by and by sleep in sueth/ and a great losing of the streyngthe with a forgetfulness. But before that cometh/ it were wisdom to vomit with meed/ and afterward to take nitre and womwod with sweet wine or Maluasey: ye must also pour vinegar and rose oil upon the patientes head. It is good though stir the body and to smell of Agrimoni/ pepper/ mustard costorium/ and rue/ bruised in vinegar. It is also good to smell of tarr/ or of the styngking that cometh from a candle that is put out. But if the patient cannot be easily waked again/ it is meet to use such other comen remedies. Auicenna would that they that are hurt with this herb/ should vomit with honey and butter. Where as Dioscorides would that a man's head should have Rose oil & vinegar poured upon it/ when a man hath taken to much of Mandrag. Matthiolus sayeth that it is against reason that it should be laid to the head which is cold/ when as the cause of the diseases also cold/ and to take to bores in one would/ he catcheth Galene and accuseth him for a like faute/ that is for conseling men to pour rose oil and vinegar upon them that have the drawsy or forgetful evil. And to confute Galene/ he allegeth Aetius/ Paulus/ and Trallianus/ which do not admit oil & vinegar alone/ but would hotter medicines as erthpyne wild time/ penin all/ castorium/ and such like to be put there to. As for Galene I leave him undefended at this time until I shall have more leisure/ but for Dioscorides I answer/ that if iij. later writers than Galene/ were enough to confute him: as many might by good reason be sufficient to defend Dioscorides from that fault that Matthiolus layeth unto Dioscoridisses charge. But ij. of the witnesses that he allegeth to confute Galene with all/ that is Aetius and Paulus/ & with them a learned laterwryter of the Grecianes Actuarius/ counsel that rose oil with vinegar should be poured upon the hedes of them that have eaten or drunken to much of Mandrag. But Matthiolus a little after in the same chapter forgetting what he had accused Dioscorides/ and Galene of before/ writeth these words following: Tametsi Mandragorae poma matura, etc. although the ripe apples of Mandrag the sedes taken out/ be eaten diverse times with out any grief at all: Yet the unripe apples eaten with their sede/ bring deadly withfalles. There riseth after unsufferable heat/ which burneth all the outer part of the skin. The tongue and the mouth wither and waxet dry/ wherefore they that are so vexed/ are seen always gaping with their mouth/ and drawing in cold air. Thus far Matthiolus. Now seeing that he confesseth openly here that men are in such heat as have eaten of the unripe apples which are much colder than the ripe apples be: how justly was Dioscorides accused a little before for counselling roseoyle and vinegar/ because they were cold/ to be poured upon the heads of them that had taken to much Mandrag? And how well doth this his saying of the hot withfalles that came of the eaing of the unripe Mandrag apples/ agree with it/ which he said immediately before the rehearsal of the heat/ that ariseth of the eating of the row apples in these words. Ab assumpta Mandragora (nisi fall lar) caput nullo afficitur calore. The head is not vexed with any heat (except I be deceived) after the taking of Mandrake. Now whether that such a forgetful man as this is aught so boldly to check anciant autores or no as he doth at diverse times/ let wise men & learned be judges. But if he answer that he giveth only heat unto the fruit/ and not to the root/ beside that it may be said unto him/ that so much he accuseth Dioscorides unworthily/ as the hot withfalles come to/ that come of the unripe apples experience/ is against his accusing of Dioscorides and the authority of him that had the same experience also. For in the book that Serapio wrote of simples/ Rasis/ sayeth these words: Dixerunt mihi quidam ex antiquis Babyloniae, quòd puella quaedam etc. Certain of the ancients or old men of Babylon/ have told me that a certain maid eat five Mandrag apples/ and that she fell in a swoon/ and that she became all read/ and that a man coming by at that time/ poured snow water so long upon her head until she rose again. And I have seen men myself which did eat of the root of Mandrag to make themselves fat therewith/ and it chanced unto them/ as it chanceth unto men that go out of the bath and drink much wine after their outgoing. For their faces was exceedingly read and swelled. These words doth Rasis write in the place above alleged. By which a man may learn that not only the unripe apples of Mandragora driveth a man into a great heat outwardly/ but also the roots/ so that it is evidently now perceived both by authority and experience/ that Matthiolus was deceived when he said that noman's head was vexed with heat after the eating of Mandragora. These have written some thing at large to cause them that are to bold to old and worthy autores/ to be advised before they do so unadvisedly adventure to do the same again. Serapio and Auicenna write that the seed of Mandrag taken in drink/ clengeth the mother/ and so wrote Dioscorides of the same seed many years before them/ whereby it appeareth that Rachel knowing the nature of the fruit of Mandrag before all these writers/ for this intent/ desired to have the fruit of Mandrag/ that she might clang her mother therewith/ and thereby might be made the fit te conceive child herself as well as Lia her sister/ and Silfa her maid did. Mandrag as Paulus Egineta writeth cooleth in the third degree. The apples of it/ seem to have some hea and moisture/ by reason where of they may bring a man into an heavy sleep. But the bark of the root/ is strongest of all/ and cooleth not alone but also drieth. The inner part is weyker. Of the Apple tre. MAlus in Greek Melea/ in English an Appel tre/ in Duche ein Apffel/ oder Apffelbaum/ in French un Pomer. There are ij. general and principal kinds of apple trees/ The one is called Malus hortensis/ in English an Appel tre. The other is called in Latin Malus syluestris/ in English in the south country/ a Crab tre/ in the North country a scarbtre. I need not to describe this tre/ because it is known well enough in all countries. The nature of the Apple tre and of Apples. THe leaves/ the flowers/ and the buds/ of every Appel tree/ and most they of the quince tre/ stop and bind. The tart and sour apples have the virtue to bind/ but the ripe apples are of a far other nature. Among apples/ they that are taken in the spring/ ingendre choler and hurt all the sinews/ & they breed inflammationes or hot burnings. Out of Galene. THou shalt use tart Apples when as the stomach is weak by the means of an hot distemperance/ or of much moisture/ but very tart apples when as the stomach is both to hot and moist. Use sour apples when as thou thinkest that there is gross juice in thy stomach/ that is not very cold. For sour things when they find any gross humour in the stomach/ they cut it in sunder/ and carry it downward. Apples are hard of digestion and cold/ & go slowly down/ & they have an evil juice. Out of simeon Sethi. There are diverse kinds of apples one differing from an other. What soever apples are binding or drawing together they have a cold & an earthly juice. But they that are sharp or biting/ have a cold juice/ but the same subtle or fine. The sweet apples are of a mean or middle complexion/ and turn something more to hotness. Therefore ye must use binding apples as oft as the stomach is vexed with a hot or moist distemperance. But sharp apples are to be given as oft as a gross humour/ but not very cold/ is gathered in the stomach. For these cut insunder/ and carry downward. But sweet apples are to be given unto them that have cold stomachs. For they are good for them/ and for such as are bitten of venemus beasts. All apples whatsoever they be of a certain natural property hurt the sinews. They also that are unripe/ be very noysum. It is reported that if a man eat his fill of apples that they ingendre the stone in him. But they are good for them that swoon/ and have a weik hartte. Of the Quince tre. MAlus Cotonea is called in Greek Malea kydonia/ in English a Quince tre/ in Duche ein Quitten baum/ in French vn coigner. This tre hath leaves brother and shorter than a meddler tre/ the nether part of the leaf toward the ground is white/ and depiction of plant Malus Cotonea. the outer part is green. It hath flowers like an apple tre/ but they grow alone and not many together as the flowers are in other trees. The Quince apples are hoary without/ and have an other form most commonly/ then apples & pears have. Yet are they more like pears than apples/ and they have certain gutters and uneven outgrowynges like half columns/ which as they are seldom seen in apples/ so are they never seen in pears. The virtues of the Quince tre and his fruit. QVinces are good for the stomach/ & they make a man piss well. But when they are roasted/ they are counted to be gentler: They are good for both the flixes/ both for the bloody flix & for the other without blood/ and for them that rough out foul matter/ and for them that are sick of choler/ specially when they are taken raw. The steping of them is good to be given to them that have the flux of the belly or stomach. The juice of row quinces is good for them that are short winded. The broth is good to bathe the mother with all/ if it fall down. The Quinces that are condited in honey/ stir a man to make water. And the honey taketh of the Quinces a stopping and thick making pour. They that are sodden in honey/ are more pleasant to the stomach/ but they do not make thick so much. They are good to be put raw into emplasters/ to stop the belly/ or if the stomach be set a fire/ or be turned with vomiting. They are good for the inflammationes or burnings of the paps/ and for hard miltes/ and for swellings about the fundament. Ye may make wine of them if ye bruise them and strain them/ but it will not last except ye put one quart of honey to xv. of the juice. For without the honey it will turn in verjuice. The wine so made is good for all the things above named. Of Quinces also is made an oil/ which we use as oft as we need any binding or stopping. Ye must choose out the Quince apples that are round/ little and wellsmelling. The flowers both green and dry are put into emplasters/ and are good for all thing that need binding and for the inflammationes of the eyes/ and vomiting of blood. They are also good to be drunken against a louse belly and the violent running forth of woman's sickness. Of the peach tre and the abrecok tre. MAlus Persica is called in Greek Melea persike/ in English a Peche tre/ in Duche ein Pfersich baum/ in French vn Pechiers. The peach is no great tre in England that I could see/ it hath long leaves. The peach tre flowereth with the almond tre/ but the flower is reader than the almondis flower is/ The peach tre is like unto the allmond tre/ in the body or bull/ in the gum/ in the leaves and flowers/ saving that the leaves and flowers are bitterer. The apples are soft and fleshy/ when they are ripe something hoary without. The stone is very / and full of crests and gutters/ and with in that is there a kernel like an almond. Of the Abrecok tre. depiction of plant Malus Armeniaca. MAlus Armeniaca is named in Greek Melea armeniake/ in high Ducheland ein Amarell baum as Gesner sayeth: but in the diocese of Colen where as I dwelled/ it is called ein kardumelken baum. It is called in French vng abrecottier. Galene/ Paulus and Aetius immediately after the pech tre/ make mention of Armeniak tre/ and Dioscorides keepeth the same manner/ but he sayeth further. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. That is to say Armeniaca/ that is abrecockes which are called in Latin Praecocia, that is ripe before/ be less than the other peaches and are holsummer for the stomach than the foresaid peaches are. Pliny also a Latin writer/ calleth this kind of peaches Praecocia mala, and reckoneth it amongst the kinds of peaches. But there is this difference between the abrecok/ or hasty peach tre & the other/ & their fruits. The hasty pech tre hath much brother leaves than the pech tre/ & his fruit is a great time sooner ripe than the peach is. And where as the peach stones are rough/ furroed & guttered/ the stone of the hosty peach is plain and smooth/ and the hole fruit is much less than the peach is. I have seen many trees of this kind in Almany & some in England/ & now the fruiths is called of some English men an abrecok/ but I think that an hasty peach is a better and a fit name for it. But so that the tre be well known/ I pace not greatly what name it is known by. Of the virtues of peaches and hasty peaches. THe peaches when they are ripe/ are both profitable for the stomach and belly/ but hasty peaches are better for the stomach as Dioscorides writeth. Out of Galen. Learn thou this now/ that the juice of peaches/ even as the flesh is/ is soon corrupted or rotten/ and is evil. Wherefore they ought not to be eaten after meat as some use to do/ for they rot and are corrupted/ whilse they swim above other meats. And this rule must be held in all those meats that are of evil juice/ and are moist and slippery/ and go easily down through the belly/ that they be taken before all other meats: for so shall it come to pass/ that they may more easily pass and prepare the way to other meats. But if they be taken after meat/ they corrupt both themselves & all other meats that are near unto them. Of the Pomegranate tre. THe Pomegranate tre hath many small twigs which have leaves growing upon them straight & like unto wylow leaves/ but smaller/ and something shorter. The flower is of a cremesin colour. The apple is round & full of grains and juice. The grains have corners like unto the stones called Granati. I have seen diverse Pomegranate trees with fruit growing upon them in Italy. But I have not seen any growing with their fruit in England. The Pomegranate tre is named in Greek Roia/ in Latin Malus punica/ or Malus granata after some men's Latin/ in Duche ein Granat baum/ in French vng Pomier des granades. The virtue of the Pomegranate tre and his fruit. THe Pomegranate is all full of good juice/ good for the stomach/ and it giveth but small nourishment. The sweet are counted to be better for the stomach/ but they ingendre a little heat/ & breed wind/ wherefore they are forbidden in agues. The sour bind/ & are good for the burning stomach/ and they drow much more together/ & provoke urine. They hurt the mouth & the gums. The Pomegranate that hath the winishe taste/ hath a nature between both. The kernels of the sour Pomegranate dried in the son/ either sprinkled in meat/ or sodden therewith/ be good to stop the belly and stomach/ if they be louse & to much running. If they be steeped in rain water/ & drunken/ they are good for them that spit blood. And they are good/ if a man make a bath of their broth/ for them that have the bloody flix/ & also for the issue of a woman's mother. The juice that is pressed out of the kyrnelles/ is good to be sodden with honey for the sores of the mouth/ of the privites/ & of the fundament. It is good for the whit flaw & for such things as appare out in the body like lumps/ for the ache of the ears/ & for the diseases of the nostrils. The flowers of the Pomegranate tre called Cytini/ bind/ dry/ hold in/ & join wounds together. And the flowers are of the same effect that the apple is of. The moist goumes & louse teth are helped/ if they be washed with the broth of these flowers. If the same flowers be put into an emplaster/ they are good for the bursting that cometh by the falling down of the guts. For they drive the guts back again. Malicorium is the rough shell of a Pongranat/ which some call Sidion. That hath the virtue to make thick/ & serveth for the same purpose that the flowers do. The broth of the root of the tre sodden/ driveth forth broad worms out of the belly. Balanstrum is the flower of the wild pome granat/ and it is like unto the flower of the garden Pomegranate/ and there are diverse kinds there of. Some white/ some red like gold/ some of the colour of a rose. There may a juice be taken out of it/ as is of Hypoquistida/ & it will serve for the same purpose the Hypoquistida doth. Out of the comen herbaries and practitioners. THe sour Pomegranate is good for the heart burn/ for the swooning that cometh of choler. It is good for the inflammation of the liver/ and to provoke appetite. The syrup of Pomegranates is good for women with child/ and for the heat of the stomach and liver. Of the Citron, Orange and Limon tre. MAlus medica which is called malus Assyria/ is also called Citrus/ in English a Citron tre. Under the which tre/ be also contained the Orange and the Limon tre/ as pertaining unto the same kind. The Citron tre as Dioscorides writeth bringeth forth fruit all times of the year/ ane whilse some are falling of/ other are growing up inunder again. The apple is long/ full of wrinkles & of the colour of gold. It hath a good smell/ but a certain unplesantnes therewith. It hath sedes lyke apere. Thus far Dioscorides. But Virgil in the second book of his Georgikes describeth the Citron tre thus. Media bringeth forth sad juices & a slow taste/ of an happy apple. There is no better remedy that cometh/ if the cruel stepmothers have poisoned the cups/ & have menged herbs & hurtful words together/ for it driveth black poison out of the membres. The tree is great/ and in fashion much like unto a bay tre. And it should be a bay tre/ if it kest not forth abroad a far other savour. The leaves fall away with no wind/ the flower is very tough. The Medianes use it against their styngking mouth and breathes/ and they hele therewith old men that are shortwynded. Of the Citron tre out of Pliny. THe Assyrian apple tre which is named of some medic apple/ is a remedy against poisons. It hath a leaf like unto it of the arbut or strawberri tre/ with diverse pricks running between/ but the apple is not eaten. It is also very excellent in the smell of the leaves which goeth into the clothes/ if it be laid up with them/ and driveth away all noisome beasts from thence. The tree is fruitful at all times/ whilse some fall/ some wax ripe. And whilse some are ripe/ other younger grow and wax up in under. Many nationes have assayed to remove it and to bring it unto them the excellency of the remedies/ in earthen vessels/ leaving certain breathing holes unto the root/ even as all other things of that sort/ which should be carried far/ aught to be straightly set. Out of Theophrast. THe plague or part of the world toward the upspring of the son/ and toward the south/ as it bringeth forth certain beasts/ so (as it apreth) it bringeth forth beside the nature of other quarters/ certain peculiar or proper herbs. The land of Media and Persis/ beside many other things/ bringeth forth the apple tre/ which some call the Persik tre/ and some Medic tree. This tre hath a leaf like and almost equal unto the leaf of the tre called Adrachne/ and such pricks as the peer tre hath/ or as the sharp thorn tre hath/ but smouth/ and exceeding sharp/ and strong. The apple is not eaten/ but it excelleth in smell/ the leaf also of the tre is wonderfully well smelling. And if they be put amongst clothes/ they keep the clothes harmless. It is good when as a man hath drunken a deadly drink/ it is good also for to make a man's breath savour well. For if any man take the inward of it/ and seth it in any broth or moisture/ and put it into the mouth & digest it/ it will make his breath savour sweet. The seed is taken away and sown in the spring/ in furrows very diligently trimmed/ it is watered every fourth or fift day/ and when it is a little greater/ it is removed. In the spring of the year it is removed again into a moist ground/ but not very thin: for such one desireth it. It bringeth forth apples all times of the year/ some falling of/ some growing in under/ and other waxing ripe. The fruit groweth only out of such flowers which have in the mids of them/ a thing like unto a rock stretched out. They that want that/ be counted unfruitful. It is also sown in earthen pots full of holes as the date tre is. Thus far have old ancient autores written of the citron tre. And they that have seen the Orange tre & the Lemon tre/ think truly that they may well be contained underneath the Citron tre as kinds of the same. And I would that they which thynck that the Orange tre is so far from the Citron tre/ should read these words of Nicander in Alexipharmacis. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: and I reckon they will be better content to let the Oranges/ which some call poma aurantia/ be a kind of Citron. The virtues of the Citron, Orange, and Limon tree and of their fruits. THe Citrone apple/ as Dioscorides writeth/ drunken in wine withstandeth poison/ moveth the belly/ and maketh the mouth smell well/ if it be washed with the juice or broth of it. It is good for greving women or such as lust and long for strange meat. It is thought to save clothes from being gnawed of mottes if it be laid amongst clothes. Out of Galenes' book de simplicibus medicamentis. IN the seed of the Citrone/ is a sour and dry quality that doth excel all other/ so that it is in the third degree dry and cold. The shell or bark also drieth/ but it hath also much biting sharpness/ therefore it is dry in the second degree/ but yet not cold/ but temperate or a little of this side. But the flesh of the Citron is of a gross juice/ and flegmatik/ and therefore cold. The flesh is eaten as the shell is/ but the seed is no meat to be eaten. The leaves have pour to dry and to make ripe. Out of Galenes' book de facultatibus alimentorum. THere are iij. parts of the pome Citron/ the first is the sour thing that is in the mids. The second is it/ that resembleth the flesh of the fruit/ which goeth about it that is in the mids. The third part is the shell or pill/ that covereth the hole/ and it smelleth well/ and is spycye/ not only in smell/ but also in taste. By all reason that same is hard of digestion/ because it is hard and full of brawn. If any man use it as a medicine/ it doth some thing help digestion/ as all other that have a sharp binding quality/ by the same reason/ if it be taken measurably/ it streyngtheneth the stomach. Therefore some use to break it in pieces and to press out all the juice/ and to meng the pieces with medicines/ which are taken in at the mouth/ to scour the belly or to purge the hole body. Out of Simeon Sethi a later Grecian. THe bark/ pill/ or shell of the Citron/ is dry and hot in the third degree hole out/ but the flesh is cold and moist in the first degree. The sour gear that is within/ is cold and dry in the second degree: but the seed is hole and dry in the second degree. The flesh is commonly eaten with honey/ because it is hard of digestion and maketh gross phlegm. The pill is good in meet to help digestion/ against the melancholic humour. And all such things as are made thereof/ be good against sadness and good for the stomach/ if ye take them in measure. But if they be taken out of measure/ they are hard of digestion. They that are condite or syroped in honey/ help the stomach and cast out his moisture. Out the arabians. THe shell of Citron is hot in the first degree and dry in the end of the second. The flesh is hot in the first degree/ and moist in the same degree. The juice is cold and dry in the third degree. The flesh of the Citro puffeth up with wind/ and the leaves drive wind away. And the flower is more subtle/ and the sournes of it is binding and holdeth down read choler. And the seed and bark of it/ be of a resolving nature. And the savour of it/ amendeth the air/ and the infection that breedeth the pestilence. The sournes of it scour away evil favoured colores and frekles. And the root burned/ is good for white spots & morphews. And the broth there of holden in the mouth/ is good for the impostumes of the same. The oil of Citrones is good for the weiknes of the sinews/ and for the palsy. And the oil is made of the shells. The sour juice is evil for the sinews. The same juice is good for the hole trymbling of the heart/ but it is evil for the lungs. The flesh of it is nought for the stomach. But the leaves comfort the stomach. They that would eat Citrons or such like fruit to have the above rehearsed profits: must nether eat meat immediately before them/ nor shortly after them. The flesh of the fruit bring them that eat it/ into a colik. Out of Athineus. THere was a certain sheriff in Egypt which took ij. naughty murdering robbers/ & condemned them for their murder & robbery to be slain and poisoned to death of serpents/ and such venemus beasts in the great show hall/ that all men might see them die. But whilse they were led of the soldiers/ to the place of execution/ there meet them a woman that had a citron in her hand/ the which the murderers begged of her/ and she clove it in two pieces/ & gave each of them a piece. The which they eat very greedily. But when as they came into the appointed place/ and were casten amongst the mids of the heap of serpents and aspides/ they abode unhurt/ and received no harm of them/ and so came hole and sound forth again beyond all men's looking for. When as this strange thing chanced thus/ and every man wondered how that this matter should thus come to pass: and some did phantasey one thing/ to be the cause/ and some an other/ the sheriff axed diligently of them that kept the thieves/ what they had done/ or what mighty treacle or preservative they had taken. But they answered that the thieves had eaten nothing saving their accustomed pottage/ and said further that they eat a citron by the way/ whereupon there rose a light suspicion that it preserved them from the venemus beasts. Yet because men doubted/ whether that were the cause or no/ the sheriff commanded them to go to the prison again/ and the one of theses should eat only his accustomed pottage/ & the other should only eat citrons. These things done/ the thieves war brought into the great theatre or shewhall again. And there he that eat the citrons/ continued all the day all most safe and sound/ although certain of the serpents had bitten him. And the other which had but eaten his comen meat/ at the biting of one serpent/ fell down sterk deed. Athineus a very noble and ancient author writeth that he saw this his own self. Wherefore it were wisdom that noble men/ and other that are bidden to dinner of their enemies or suspected friends/ before they eat any other thing/ should take a piece of sulced citron. Of Horehound. MArrubium is called in Greek prasion/ in English Horehound/ in Duche wyssen Audorn/ in French du Marrubium. Horehound is a whitish bush full of branches & something rough. The branches are iiij. squared. The leaf is as big as a thumb/ something rough full of wryndes/ and with a bitter taste. The seed groweth about the stalk/ and the flowers which are sharp grow insunder/ by certain equal spaces one from an other. And they are like unto whirls/ in compassing about the stalk/ as a whorle goeth round about a spyndel. It groweth about houses/ old walls/ where have been houses/ & about towns/ villages/ even in such places as the bourishe wormwood groweth. I have seen it seldum in other places then in such as are above named. The virtues of Horehound. depiction of plant Marrubium. THe dry leaves of Horehound sodden in water with the seed or the juice of the green leaves/ is good to be given with honey unto them that syghg much and are shortwynded/ for the cough/ and the tisik. Horehound with the powder of dry Aris or Ireos/ maketh gross & tough phlegm come out of the lungs. It is good to be given to women after their deliverance/ to draw down the seconds & their flowers if they need. It is good also for them that have an hard and long travail/ and for them that are bitten of serpents: But it hurteth the bladder and kydnes. The leaves are good with honey to scour filthy and styngking sores. They stay freting or eting sores/ and aguayles/ and suage the ache of the side. The juice that is taken out of the bruised leaves/ & strained/ & afterward dried/ and congealed together in the son/ is good for the same purpose. The same laid to with honey & wine/ cleareth the sight: And if it be poured in at the nose/ it scoureth the jaundice. It is also good to be put into the ear/ either by itself/ or with rose oil against the pain of them. Of the herb called Medica. MEdica (as Dioscorides writeth) when it cometh first forth/ both in leaf/ and also in stalk/ is very like unto the field clover/ or meadow trifoly. But as it goeth forward in groweth/ so it becometh narrower. And it hath a stalk like a threleved grass or clover/ and it hath cods writhen inward again like unto horns/ wherein is contained seed of the bygnes of a lentil/ and no largelier is Medica described of Dioscorides. Out of Pliny. MEdica is like unto the field clover or wild trifoly in leaf and stalk/ and it is full of joints. So much as the stalk increaseth in length/ so much the leaf decreseth in brodenes. Beside these marks that Dioscorides and Pliny give unto Medica/ I have marked/ that it hath a yellow flower/ and that the leaf/ which standeth in depiction of plant Medica. the mids between the ij. other leaves/ that always grow about it/ hath a longer footstalk or steel than the rest have. And the same lief from the going down of the son until it rise again/ foldeth itself inward/ & then goeth abroad again when the son riseth again. After that the yellow flower falleth away/ there groweth a little thing to contain the seed in/ which at the first is like the end of a writhe gymlet/ but after that it beginneth to be ripe/ it draweth himself together/ and is made like a little water snail or a crooked rammis horn/ when it groweth much crookedly inward/ & the end of it standeth not out of order. Some of the cods or seed vessels are smouth/ and some are rough & pricky. The greatest Medica commonly hath smouth cods/ and the less rough. The seed is something like in figure and colour unto fenegreke. This herb groweth nowhere in England that ever I could see/ saving only in gardin. But I have seen it growing wild in Germany within an half mile of Worms in the high way toward Spyer. It is called of them of Aphrica as Auicenna sayeth in the chapter of Cot/ Alfasasat: and some write that it is named in Spanish Alfalsa. I have found no name as yet in England for it: but it may be called horned claue● or medic father. The virtues of Medica out of Dioscorides. THe seed of Medica/ is good to be menged with spiced salt to make it have a pleasant taste. The same green is good to cool it that needeth cooling. They that are graziers/ use the hole herb in the stead of grass and hay. The virtues of Medica out of Pliny. THe ground where in medic father shall be sown in/ must be delivered from stones/ & made clean/ & then turned up in the latter end of the last harvest. But it must be sown in May/ & that very thick to hold out weeds: when it is an inch long/ it must be diligently weedeth with hands & not with a wedding iron. The time of mowing of it is when it beginneth to flower/ and as oft as it flowereth again/ & that chanseth six times in a year/ or at the lest iiij. times: ye must not suffer it to wax ripe until it bring forth seed. For it is good father until it be iij. year old. The beasts must not be suffered to eat so much as they will of it/ lest we be compelled to put back the blood again. It is best when it is green: when it withered and dry/ it waxeth full of sticks/ and is turned in to dust. Palladius of Medic father. MEdic father must be sown in April in beds or ryges/ the which as we have said/ thou hast prepared before. And when as it is once sown/ it will abide x. year/ so that it may be cut iiij. or vi. times in the year. It dongeth the ground well. Also it bringeth the lean beasts into flesh/ and it helpeth the sick beasts. A romish acre of it/ that is ccxl. foot breadth/ & c.xx foot of length/ will serve iij. horses for an hole year. And every ij. ounces and an half of the seed/ will be enough to saw five foot in breadth/ and ten foot in leingth. But as sown as the seed is casten in to the ground/ ye must take it with a wooden rake/ or harrow/ that it may be well covered with earth/ or else the seed will burn away with the heat of the son. And beware that ye touch not the medic with any iron after that it is sown. Let the first harvest be some thing late/ that the Medic may bring forth some seed. afterward/ as for other harvests or cutting down of it/ let them be as sown as ye will. Let it be given unto beasts/ but at the first time more scarcely/ for it puffeth up with wind the beasts/ and engendereth much blood. After the thou hast mown it/ water the medik that is yet in the ground oft times/ and after a few days when it beginneth to spring up again/ wede out all other herbs/ so shalt thou mow it six times in the year/ and it shall be able to continue for the space of x. years. Columella of horned clover. MEdic foother is a very excellent herb/ because when it is once sown/ it dureth for the space of ten years/ and because after that it is sown/ it may be we●● mown iiij. times every year/ and in some year six times/ because it fatte●●he ground/ and because it fatteth every lean beast/ and healeth every sick beast/ because every romish iugerum or acre of it/ is sufficient for iij. horses/ to give them meat enough for one year. It must be sown as hereafter I shall teach you. Plough the place where in ye intent to sow Medic foother the next spring/ about the first day of Octobre that goeth before/ and let the ground rot all winter: & then about the first day of February/ blow it well again/ and cast out all the stones and break the clots. afterward in the month of March/ blow it the third time and break the clots and make the ground plain. When thou hast ploughed the ground/ make beds as the manner is in a garden: of the which every one shall be in breadth x. foot/ and in length v. foot/ that ye may go in paths to water the herbs/ and that of each side the weders may have a way to come to weed the herbs. And afterward cast old dung upon the ground/ and in the last end of the month of April sow so much that every xiij. drams and a scruple may occupy x. foot in length/ and v. foot in breadth. When thou hast done so/ let the seed be covered by raking/ with wooden rakes/ for that is very fit for it. For if it be not covered/ it will be sown burned with the son. After that he is sown/ the place ought not to be touched with iron. And as I have said/ it must be roked with wooden rakes/ & wedded again/ lest any other kind of herb destroy the young tendre medic foother. At the first time of cutting of it/ ye must tarry something longer/ then ye shall need to do at any cutting afterward/ that it is to wet/ until that it hath brought forth some seed. afterward ye may cut it down as young as ye will/ and give it to your beasts. But at the beginning/ ye must give it scarcely/ until they be acquainted with it/ lest the newness of the father do hurt. It puffeth up the cattle & filleth them with blood. When thou hast cut it down/ water it that standeth in the ground oft times. When it beginneth to spring up again/ wede out alother herbs from it. If it be trimmed thus/ it may well be cut down six times in the year/ and it will increase for the space of ten years. And thus far have I written to you the minds and experience of old autores that they have had of medic father or horned clover. Now it that I have proved myself/ I will not refuse to show unto you my countrymen. I have sown iij. kinds of medic father/ the lest kind/ the smooth kind/ and the great rough kind. The lest kind do I allow lest of all other/ because the leaves and stalks are all very little/ and therefore in feeding of cattle can do but little service. The smooth kind as I have proved/ groweth into a marvelous great bush. As for the great rough kind/ how great it will be/ I have not as yet proved/ for I never sowed it before this summer. But by all tokens that I can see as yet/ it is like to be as good and great as the great smooth kind. If ye have but a bush or ij. of medic/ and would fain have much seed ripe before the coming of winter/ because the medic bush is very thick/ and therefore hath many flowers and said vessels that the son can not come to/ it is best to take the most part of every bush at the joint of the herb/ about the time that the flower is ready to come forth/ and sometime when the flower is commed forth/ & than ye must set the branches that ye have plucked of/ deep in the ground/ and water them twice on the day/ and they shall bring forth seed as well as them that are sown/ and much better than they that are overshadowed in the bush/ and want the help of the son. This have I proved diverse times/ wherefore I dare be bold to write it. Of Mint. DIoscorides describeth not Mint/ and maketh but of one kind of gardin mint. Wherefore when as there are diverse kinds of mints growing now only in gardens/ it is very hard to know which of them is it of which Dioscorides writeth. Fuchsius maketh four kinds of gardin mints/ and then he describeth diligently. And Matthiolus maketh iij. kinds of mints/ but he describeth them very lightly and barely. And although he dispraise the multitude or diversity of the kinds/ seeming thereby to mean/ that there is but one right kind: yet nether in his descriptiones/ nor in his figures he telleth which is the right kind that Dioscorides describeth/ whom he taketh in hand to depiction of plant Mentha sativa. depiction of plant Mentha sativa altera. depiction of plant Mentha hortensis tertia. depiction of plant Mentha hortensis quarta. expound. The first kind of Fuchsiussis gardin mints hath a four squared stalk from the root/ a little violet reish with some horynes. The leaf is almost round/ indented about like a saw/ soft and well smelling. It hath little cremisin flowers in the knoppes that go about the joints after the manner of whirls. His second kind is like the former in all things/ saving the it hath in the top of the stalks a purplishe flower after the fashion of a corn ear. The third kind hath a longer lief and sharper/ and purple flowers in the tops of the stalks/ of the figure of ears of corn. His fourth hath also longer leaves/ and knoppes about the joints where in are purplishe flowers as the first hath. He calleth the first mint in Duche deyment or krauß deiment. The second he calleth kraus balsum. He sayeth that the third is called in Duche balsammuntzes/ and unserfrawen muntz or spitzmuntzes/ and of the herbaries Mentha Sarracenica or Romana. He calleth the fourth/ hertz kraut or balsam kraut. Matthiolus describeth his three gardin mints thus: One hath short and curled leaves/ an other hath a read stalk and a read flower/ and an other hath a whithishe flower. Now will I show you my mind/ which of all these mints seemeth unto me to be it that Dioscorides writeth of. The two first kinds that Fuchsius setteth forth/ can not be the gardin mint that Dioscorides writeth of/ because they have both round leaves. For Dioscorides in the description of fiveleved grass/ writeth that it hath leaves like unto mint. But the cinfoly or fiveleved grass hath not round leaves/ but long and indented. Therefore nether of them can be it that Dioscorides writeth of. But seeing that his third mint hath long sharp indented leaves like unto the leaves of cinkfoli/ I reckon it to be the right gardin mint. As for the figures of Matthiolus I must needs confess that they are fair/ and so like one to an other that a man can not well discern the one from the other. But yet I reckon that the second agreeth better than the former with the leaves of Cinkfoly. This herb is called with us gardin mint/ and as far as I remember/ it is called spear mint/ and if it be not named so/ it may well be called so of the sharpness of the leaf that it hath. The virtues of gardin mint. Mint hath a warming/ binding and a drying power. It will stop blood/ if the juice of it be drunken with vinegar. It killeth round worms in the belly. It provoketh man to the generation of childer. Three branches taken with the juice of sour pomegranate/ stauncheth the hitchcok/ the choler and perbreking. mint laid to the head/ suageth the ache thereof. It suageth the breasts or paps/ if they be stretched forth or swelled with plenty of milk. It is good to be laid to the bitings of dogs with salt. It driveth away matery rottenfilth/ if it be laid to with perched barley meal: With meed it is good for the pain in the ear. It smoteth the roughness of the tongue/ if it be rubbed therewith. It will not suffer milk to crud and to be made cheese if the leaves be put into be the milk that a man drinketh. To be short/ it is good for the stomach/ & hath a singular pleasantness in sauces. Out of the later writers. THe smell of mint streyngthteneth the brain/ and keepeth the mentory and increaseth it. Mint if it be put into milk/ will not let it crud. It is good for the issue of blood. It is good for the colik with the grains of a pomegranate. It hath a singular vertu against the biting of a mad dog. Serapio writeth that mint preserveth cheese from rotting/ or corruption. But the juice is best for that purpose. Macer sayeth that if mint be laid unto a woman's breast/ that it will dissolve and break insunder cruddeth milk. Out of simeon Sethi. MInt is hot in the third degree/ and dry in the second/ and it hath some moistness more than the wild mint/ it is good for a cold liver/ and it streyngthteneth the stomach/ and helpeth digestion. It stauncheth perbreking and the hitch cough. It helpeth the gnawynges of the stomach and stirreth up an appetite/ and driveth wind away. It killeth worms/ and specially the broth of the wild mint. It stirreth up the lust of the body/ and openeth the stopping of the milt and liver. But ye must not eat your fill of it/ for it fineth the blood/ and maketh it waishe/ and turneth it lightly into yellow choler/ and also because it is of subtle or fine parts/ it driveth abroad and wasted it way. But it leaveth still it that is gross and melancholishe. Therefore they that are hurt with yellow gall/ must forbear from mint. Bruise it with salt and it is an wholesome remedy against the biting of a mad dog. When it is withered and made in powder/ and taken after meet/ it helpeth digestion an healeth them that are diseased with the milt. It is also good for women that have an hard labour/ when it is drunken with wine. The seed of it scoured the belly/ but it hurteth the lungs. Of the wild mint called mentastrum. MEntastrum called in Greek hediosmos agrios/ hath a rougher lief/ & in all points greater than Sisymbrium hath/ and is of a more grievous savour. Dioscorides describeth his wild mint no largelier than ye see. Wherefore when as there are diverse kinds of wild mint/ it shall be hard to know which of them Dioscorides meaneth of. But by the short description of Dioscorides we are taught that/ that kind which hath the great and rough leaf/ and not any that hath any small or smooth leaf is menthastrum Sisymbrium/ which is a kind of wild baum mint/ hath a brother lief than mint hath/ and wild mint hath a greater lief than Sisymbrium hath/ wherefore after the mind of Dioscorides who teacheth it that I have said/ the wild mint must needs have a great lief. This wild mint groweth in moist grounds by watersydes/ with a rough lief and hoary/ with certain tops in the overmost part of the stalks/ like unto short ears of corn: the herb looketh much more whitish than the gardin mint doth/ and it hath a very strong savour. The horse mint seemeth also to be a kind of menthastrum: how be it I take it not for the right kind of Dioscorides. The virtues of wild mint. depiction of plant Mentha syluestris, vel Mentastrum. THe wild mint as Dioscorides sayeth is not so much desired to be used of holemen as the gardin mint is/ grievous because it hath a more savour. Galene writing of this herb under the name of calamint/ in the proper chapter of mint: writeth that this mint is not so moist as the gardin mint is/ but that it is hotter and drier/ & therefore that it is not fit for diverse purposes that the other mint is fit for. Pliny writeth thus of the wild mint/ Mentastrun is a wild mint/ differing in the kind of leaves/ for they have the figure of Basil/ & the colour of penny rial. Wherefore some call it wild penny rial. It was found in the time of Pompeius the great/ that the lepre called Elephantiasis is healed with these chowed and laid on/ by the experience or proof of a certain man that for shame covered his face therewith. The same are laid to and are drunken against the stinging of scorpiones with salt/ oil/ and vinegar/ and against scolopendres & stynginge of serpents in the quantity of ij. drams in ij. cyates of wine. The leaves are keeped in powder against all poisons. If they be strewed upon the ground and smoke made of them/ they will drive away scorpiones etc. Pliny seemeth to take for his mentastro an other then Dioscorides doth/ whilse he giveth the proportion of the le●● of basil unto it/ and colour of penny rial/ which things agree not with the description of mentastrum in Dioscorides. It appeareth that the comen read fish mint that groweth about watersydes with whorlish circles going about the stalk/ is the mentastrum that Pliny writeth of. But as I have said afore/ it that Dioscorides setteth out/ hath long things like ears of corn/ in the tops of the stalks/ and long rough leaves and hoary/ neither like in figure to Basil/ nor in colour to penny rial/ except I be far deceived. Of Mercury. MErcurialis is named in Greek ermou batanion/ and linozostis/ in English Mercury/ in Duche rekraut/ or bingelkraut/ in French mercurall. Mercury (sayeth Dioscorides) hath the leaves of Basil/ but less/ & much like unto Parietori or Pilletori of the wall/ with little branches compassed about with a double knot of joints or knees. The seed of the female is very plenteous/ and resembleth depiction of plant Mercurialis foemina. depiction of plant Mercurialis masc. / as it were a cluster of grapes. But the fruit and seed of the male cometh forth between the stalk and the leaves/ round/ little/ & like unto ij. stones joined together. The bush is a span high or higher. By this description it 〈◊〉 plain/ that our forefathers have erred in England/ which hitherto in the most part of all England/ have used an other herb in the stead of the right Mercury. Therefore as many as had liefer eat wheat/ then a corns/ let them use no more their old Mercury/ but this Mercury which Dioscorides describeth. The right Mercury groweth comen in the fields and wynyardes of Germany without any setting or sowing. And it beginneth now to be known in London/ and in Gentle men's places not far from London. I never saw it grow more plenteously in all my life then about Worms in Germany. The virtues of Mercury. BOth the Mercuries are eaten in sallettes or mouse's to louse the belly. If ye drink the water that Mercury is sodden in/ it draweth choler and water. It is perfectly known as Dioscorides writeth/ that the male herb drunken/ maketh men children/ & that the female maketh females/ if they be taken after the scouring or purging/ and be laid to the places convenient. Out of Pliny IT is wonderful that is told of both the mercuries/ that is/ that the male maketh men children/ & the female women childer. They say that this cometh so then to pass/ if by and by after the conception/ the juice be drunken in maluasei/ or if the leaves be sodden & eaten with oil and salt/ or if they be eaten raw with vinegar. Of the Meddler tr. MEspilus is named in greek Mespile/ in English a Meddler tre or an open arss tre/ in Duche/ ein nesselbaum/ in French mesplier. The mespil or meddler tre/ is full of pricks with a leaf like unto oxiacantha. It hath a pleasant fruit/ but small/ which hath iij. stones in it/ wherefore some have called it iij. stones. It is long in waxing ripe/ & in eating it bindeth. It is pleasant to the stomach/ & stoppeth the belly. There is an other kind of meddler which groweth in Italy/ called of some Setanium/ & of other epimelis. The tree hath leaves like an apple tre/ but less. It beareth a round apple/ good to be eaten with a larger navel. The fruit bindeth and is long in riping. The first kind of mespilus groweth not in England nor Germany that ever I could see/ but Matthiolus sayeth that it groweth about Naples in Italy and that it is called in Italian Azarolus. The second kind is that is comen in Itali/ Germany and England/ and is commonly called a meddler. The virtues of the Meddler. DIoscorides beside that which I have rehearsed of the properties of meddler before/ writeth also that if meddlers be condited/ they are good in summer against the hot flixes of the belly. Out of Galene. Meddlers/ sorbapples/ or services are binding and astringent/ but meddlers are more astringent/ than the sorb apple is. Therefore the eating of meddlers is good for them that have flux. But ye must not eat to much of the se binding fruits/ for if ye do/ they will stop your liver and milt. Of the herb called Meon or Mew. MEon which they call athamanticum groweth plenteously in Macedonia & in spain. It is like unto dill in the stalk & leaf/ but it is thicker than dill. It groweth unto the height almost of ij. cubits. The roots are long/ small/ well smelling/ and so hot that they heat the tongue. And they are scattered abroad some right/ & some a wry. Thus far hath Dioscorides written of the description of Mew. The description of Mew out of Pliny. MEw is not sown in Itali/ but of Physiciones/ & that but of a few. There are ij. kinds of it. They call the excellenter athamanticum/ some because it was found of Athamante/ & other because the most excellent is found in Athamania. It hath leaves like anise (here should we read dill that is avethun & not anisum) & a stalk sometime ij. cubits high. It hath many & long & black roots & some of them very deep. The athamantik is not so read as the other is. hitherto Pliny. I would gladly consent to them that hold that the herb which is called of the apothecary's feniculun tortuosum/ of the Northern English men spiknel/ of the Duche men berwurtzes/ is the true mew/ if that I could find any spicknel or betwurtz that were of ij. cubits high. But although I have seen it many times/ yet I never could see it one cubit high/ wherefore either this can not be the mew athamanticon Dioscorides/ or England & Germany will not bear so long mew as Macedonia & spain doth. But though it be not Mew Athamanticum/ it may well be the other kind/ where of Pliny maketh mention. The freres that wrote of late years commentaries upon Mesue/ say that they found in Itali in the mountains of Nursia the right Mew/ & that the herb is called of the inhabitants there about not Mew but spicula: where of we have belike our English name spicknell. Thy say also that they found it in spain/ & that it is called there Sistra & not Men. The same allege Simon Lanuensis & the pandectari/ to prove that sistra is Mew. Matthiolus one of the connygest herbaries that writeth at this time/ writeth that although he were of late of another judgement/ that now he judgeth that this herb whose figure I set out/ is the right Mew in Dioscorides. But beside his comen manner he giveth it nether any Italiane name nor any name of the apothecary's or herbaries. Amatus Lusitanus taketh feniculun tortuosum also to be Mew/ but he saith/ the herb which is called of the Duche root pedlerse of Anwerp/ berewurtz/ is not the true Mew. Where at I marvel much (seeing that most part of all the apothecaries of all Germany both in that over & also Netherlande/ know the right Mew well & call it Mew) that the root cremer of Antwerp showed him an herb that was called berewurtz/ & was not yet the right Mew. Belike he was some deceitful fellow which sold false ware/ or elles Amatus judgeth not well of berewurt/ or else there are two kinds of berwurtz in Germany. Alle the herbaries & apothecary's of Germany call their berewurtzes feniculun tortuosum although/ some of them take berwurt for dauco/ & other for tordilio. The berewurtz that Fuchsius & Tragus do set forth are not like the bear wurtze that I looked upon/ when as I wrote this chapter of mew. For the roots of their berewurtzes as they both describe them/ & paint them have no writhen roots/ as the berwurte had the I looked upon. For although it had one greater root going right down/ so there grew out above the straight root certain little roots writhen in/ one with in an other like swines tails. Wherefore either their root gottherers digged not their roothes hole out of ground: or else their berwurtz is not it that I have seen in other places of Germany & England. But the herb that Amatus Lusitanus describeth/ in the root is not only much unlike unto it that Matthiolus painteth/ but to all other that ever I could see either in England or Germany for where as the Mew of Mattiolus/ the berwurtz of Germany & the spiknel of England (which peradventure was once called spikenard) have a rough thing like to the judish Spiknarde in the highest part of the root/ out of which the stalk cometh first forth: the mew of Amatus hath the same rough tuht like Spiknarde/ as he writeth in infima part, in the lowest part of the root/ which thing if it be so/ neither Matthiolus nor I know the right mew: And I for my part I would give place unto him in the knowledge of Mew if he could show me such marks & tokens in his Mew as he showeth to be in his feniculo tortuoso. In the mean time I partly suspect that he took the over part of the herb/ for the nether/ and so was deceived/ or else I am far deceived. Which if I shall here after perceive/ I will be content to grant to call again/ and to untech my error/ which I have taught before. Feniculum tortuosum which I take at the lest to be a kind of Mew/ if it be not Athamanticum/ groweth in the bisshoprik of Durram in wild mores/ called fells/ and viij. miles above Bon/ in Germany in a country called caltland/ and a little from the town of Bathe in high Germany. I saw it also once in Anwerp/ in Apothecaries gardin/ but the pothecari named Petrus de virulis/ called it peucedanun/ not without a great error. I saw it also growing in New castle in a moyen in great plenty/ where as I learned that it was called spicnell. And the root of this spicknell/ when it is dried/ is Spongius and not hard compact together as Aris is. The virtues of Mew. THe roots of Mew made hot in water/ or broken with out seething/ be good for the stopping of the kydnes and bladder. They drive away the wyndenes of the stomach. The roots taken with a syrup made with honey/ be good for the gnawing of the mother/ for the ache of the joints/ and for the flowing of humores down to the breast/ they bring down to women their sickness/ if they sit in the water/ wherein the roots are sodden. If they be laid unto all the lowest part of the belly of a young child/ they will make him put forth water. If ye drink to much of this herb/ it will make your head ache. The rote is hot in taste/ something bitter and of a spicy savour. Mew as Galene writeth is hot in the third degree and dry in the second. Ye have now heard how good that Mew is for diverse diseases of the mouth. Now hearken what the Duche write of their bear wurtz. Tragus sayeth thus: Our rooteremers call it in Dutch berwurtz/ either because it is full of heir/ or else because it is supposed that the ache of the mother (which is also called bermoter) is stilled thereby/ if women hold it in their mouth. Fuchsius wirteth also these words: It is called in Dutch berwurtzes for the heired roots sake/ or else because it healeth the diseases of the mother/ which is also called bermuder. These things compared together/ will give occasion to a wise man to conclude/ that berwurtz of the Germans should rather be Mew in Dioscorides then either Daucus or Tordylion. Of Mile or Millet. MIlium is named in Greek kegchroes & piston/ in Duche hirß/ in French du Millet: it may be called in English mile or millet. The leaves of millet when they come first out of the ground/ be like the leaves of a read/ and they are very rough. Millet hath a long stalk where in at the lest are seven. knots or joints. The top of it is like unto the top of a read/ and ther in are little round sedes/ which have no covering without/ saving a thin husk. The virtues of Millet. MIllet in breed nourisheth less than other corns do/ and in pottage it stoppeth the belly/ and driveth forth water. Millet is good to be perched or put in to a frying pan/ and there to be well heated/ and to depiction of plant Milium. be put in a bag/ and to be laid to such places as are vexed with gnawing or aching. Out of Galene de facultatibus alimentorum. THe breed that is made of millet and panik/ is cold & hard of digestion. It is plain that the breed is dry and brittle/ and hath in it nether clammynes nor fatness. Therefore it stoppeth a waterish belly. Millet is in all points better than panik is. Out of Galen de simplicibus. MIllet cooleth in the first degree & drieth in the third shlowly or much in the second. It hath also a little fineness. Then whilse it hath this complexion/ when it is taken as a meat/ it nourish lest of all other kinds of korn. But it drieth up also the belly. But if it be laid with out in bags/ it is a good foment for all such parts as require to be dried without biting. And if it be laid to after the manner of an emplaster/ it can well dry up. But it is very brittle or brukle/ and therefore it is hard to make an emplaster of it. Out of the 14. book of Constantinus Caesar de agricultura or of husbandri. TVrtel doves wax fat with the eating of millet and panik/ & also with large drink. They love also to have wheat & clean water. But quails are made fat with wheat/ millet & clear water/ & darnel. For as much as quails eating hellebor/ or nesing powder/ are not safely enough taken in meat: because the eating of them/ bringeth both a crampishe stretching out of the sinews/ & also the dusines of the head/ for this cause it is meet to seth millet with them. But if any man/ by the eating of quails/ fall into these forenamed griefs/ if he drink the broth of Millet in time/ it will help him. And for the same purpose serve the berries of the myrtle tre. For these are good taken even in or after deadly mushrummes or todstooles. But Millet hath a certain other natural property/ that is/ he that eateth of breed made of millet: shall never ryn in to any danger of poison. Thus far Constantinus Cesar. Millet is much used at this time in Itali to cran capones with all/ & to make fat birds with it. The germans husk millet & eat it with milk/ after which fashion when it is taken as simeon Sethi saith/ it is much moister and eseyer of digestion. Of the Indish Millet out of Pliny lib xviij. cap. seven. A Certain Millet hath been brought into Italy/ within these x. years/ which hath a black & a great corn/ like a read in the stalk. It groweth up into the height of seven foot with a great steel or stalk/ they call it (as my text hath) lobas. It bringeth most fruit forth of all other kinds of corn. Pliny seemeth to take culmus here/ not for calamo as it is commonly taken/ but for the branchy and thick & bushy thing the groweth in millet & in reeds/ wherefore I reckon that we should not read in Pliny lobas/ which signifieth cods or shells where in the sedes of pulses grow/ but phobas which betoken the top or thing like a bushy lock of hear/ that groweth in the tops of reeds/ and such like water herbs. Matthiolus sayeth that this herb is called in Italian Melica or Melega/ & in other parts Sorgo/ & in Hetruria Saggina. Some poor men use to grind this corn & to make breed of it. Other use to feed hens & doves with it/ other use & virtue of it: I know none. Some call it in Germany Turkish corn/ & some call it in England wheat of Turkey/ how be it there is an other kind of corn/ which is the right Turkish wheat/ wherefore it were better to call it in English/ indish millet or tied millet/ then to give it the for said name. I have seen it growing in Italy in the fields/ but only in gardens in England. Of the Mulberry tre. depiction of plant Morus. MOrus is named in Greek Morea/ in English a Mulberry tre/ in Duche ein Maulberbaum/ in French vng Meurier/ of the apothecary's morus celsi. The Mulberry tre hath leaves almost round/ saving that they are a little sharp at the end/ they are indented about the edges after the manner of mint. It hath hoary flowers/ & a fruit in proportion/ some thing long in colour/ when it cometh first forth white/ in continuance of time it waxeth read/ and afterward when it is full ripe/ it is black. The virtues of the Mulberry tre. THe fruit of the Mulberry tre looseth the belly & is good for the stomach/ but it is easeli corrupt or rotten. The juice of Mulberries doth the same. If it be sodden in a brazen vessel/ & set out in the son/ it is made more binding/ & it is good for the flowing of humores/ for eating sores/ and for the inflammation of the kernels under the chin/ with a little honey. But his streyngthe increaseth/ if ye put unto him alum de pluma/ galls/ saffron/ myr/ the sede of Tamarisk/ Ireos or Aris/ and Frankincense. The unripe berries of this tre are good to be dried and bruised/ and put into meet in the stead of sumach berries/ for them that have the flux. The bark of the root of this tre sodden in water/ looseth the belly. It driveth broad worms out of the belly. It is also good for them that have drunken the poison called aconitum pardalianches or libardis bayn. The leaves are good to lay to a burning. The juice of the leaves taken in the quantity of a cyat/ is a good remedy against the biting of the field spider. It is good to wash the aching teth with the broth of the bark and leaves hot/ to drive the pain away. The root being cut/ nicked/ or scotched/ about the last end of harvest/ ye must make a furrow round about it/ and it will put forth a juice which ye may find in the next day after/ clumpered or grown together. This juice is exceeding good for the tuthach/ it scattereth and driveth away swelling lumps and purgeth the belly. Out of Auicenna. THe leaves of the mulberry tre/ are a susseran medicine for the squinsey or sqinancy/ and against strangling. The bark is a treacle against the poison of henbayn. Out of Galene de facultatibus alimentorum. THe ripe fruit of the mulberry/ doubtless softeneth the belly. But the unripe fruit/ after that it is dried/ is a very binding medicine/ wherefore it is good for the bloody flix or for any other flux. But it must be brayed & cast into your meat/ as ye do with some ache: or if a man will/ he may drink it with wine & water. But that the juice of the ripe mulberries is a good mouth medicine/ by the reason of the binding that it hath/ every man knoweth. But unripe mulberries beside their tartness/ they have also a sournes. Yea the hole tre in all his parts/ hath a mixed or menged pour/ made of a stopping and a purging quality. But in the bark of the root/ the purging virtue excelleth with a certain bitterness/ in so much that it can kill a broad worm. In other parts the binding or stopping quality passeth the other qualities. There is in the leaves and buds a certain mean complexion or temperature. Of Tamarisk. MIrica otherwise called Tamarix & in Greek Myrike/ is called of the apothecary's/ and comen herbaries Tamariscus/ of the Duche Tamarischen holtz. It may be named in English Tamarisk/ because as we want the bush/ so also we have no name for it in England. Myrica is of ij. kinds as Dioscorides writeth. The former kind groweth about slow/ & standing waters/ and bringeth forth a fruit like a flower/ with a mossy growing together. Egypt and Syria bring forth an other gentler than this/ in other points like the wild. It bringeth forth a fruit next unto a gall/ unequally binding in taste. depiction of plant Myrica. The second kind I grant that I never saw/ and that is no marvel/ seeing that Dioscorides appointeth Syria and Egypt for his natural places/ where as I have never been. But as touching the former kind I have seen it in diverse lands in Italy in an island between Francolino & Venish in Germany in diverse places about the Ren not far from Strasburg/ and in Rhetia in a stony place some time of year used to be over flown with the Rhine. Theophrast writeth that Myrica hath a fleshy or fat or thick lief. And Pliny writing of leaves of plants in general/ sayeth that the Cypress tre and the Tamarisk have carnose or fleshy leaves. Which saying is not so to be understand that every leaf by itself were fat or fleshy: but that they are called fat/ because they grow so thick together upon the twigs. The leaves of the Tamarisk are like the leaves of Samin or of the Cypress tre/ but they are some thing less. And both Dioscorides and Pliny writ that Erica which is called in the North part of England hather or ting/ and in the South country haveth/ is like unto Tamarisk. Wherefore seeing that there is no likeness at all between the rountre or quikbem/ & the haveth or hather/ they have been far deceived in London/ which have commonly used the barks of quickbeme for Tamariske as here after I intent to declare more at large. The Tamarisk bush that groweth in Germany is about viij. foot long/ and commonly it is not greater than a man's thum. The colour of the bark in the uttermost part of all is grey/ and next unto that/ it is read/ but next unto the would it is yellow/ as the wood is whilse it is green. The wood is very hollow and hath very great pith/ or heart/ something in that point like unto cloder/ or bourtre: The taste of the bark is very binding/ as the leaves are also. The virtues of Tamarisk. THe fruit of Tamarisk which is like a gall/ is unequally binding in taste/ and we may use it in the stead of galls/ both for the diseases of the eyes/ and mouth. It is good to be given unto them in drink that spit blood/ and to them that have the flux/ and to women that are vexed with their unmeasurable issue. It is also good against the jaundice/ and the biting of the field spider. The same laid to/ after the manner of an emplaster/ suageth swellings: the bark is good for the same purpose. The broth of the leaves drunken with wine/ wasteth up the milt and is good to wash the teth with all/ for the tuth ache. And it is good for women that have a louse or weike mother which is oft in ieperdi of falling. It is good for them that have the lousey evil. The ashes also of the wood laid to in a convenient place/ stop also the outragius flowing of the mother. Some make drinking cups of the body of this tre/ that the drink drunken out of them/ may be the holsommer for the milt. Out of Galene. TAmarisk hath a scouring and a cutting property/ without any manifest drying. It hath also some binding/ by reason of which pours and qualities/ the leaves or roots or uppermost branches or twigs sodden with wine or vinegar/ be good for the hardness of the milt. It healeth also the tuthach: but the fruit and the bark bind much. Tamarisk hath much finesse in the parts/ and is able to scour away/ which virtue the gall hath not. Then when as the quikbem tre/ which is a kind of sorbus/ hath only a binding pour and no finesse of parts/ nor pour to scour away nor to cut/ but only a binding or stopping pour. I counsel that from hencefurth the physiciones of England/ and namely of London/ that they use no more the barks of quickbeme/ for the barks of Tamarisk: that they use the barks of the roots of heth in the stead of Tamarisk rather than the barks of quickbeme. Out of the arabians. THe ashes of Tamarisk dry up all sores and properly them that spring of burning. Alchanzius an Arabian sayeth these words of Tamarisk. Tamarisk is good for cold apostemes/ if they be perfumed therewith. A certain faithful man told me/ that there was a certain woman/ in whom appeared a leper/ and the broth of the roots of Tamarisk was given unto her oft with rasines/ and she was healed of her leper. And I proved this myself in an other woman: and I say that the case chanced thus. Her disease was the impostume of the milt: and by the reason of the stopping of the milt/ which was the cause that it could not draw Melancholy unto it/ neither clang the blood/ made the woman to appear so/ as she had been a lepre. Therefore when as the impostume was resolved/ and the stopping was opened/ by the working of this medicine/ whose virtue was to cut in sunder humores/ and to break them/ & to scour away: these women was restored unto their former health again. Thus far the arabians. Of whose sayings and experiences Matthiolus gathereth well in my judgement/ that Tamarisk would do well to be dressed after the manner of Guaiacum/ for the French pocks/ and should be like in virtue with Guaiacum. But I would not only that Tamarisk should be so prepared for the pocks/ but for all other diseases that arise of the milt. But my counsel is further/ that they that are diseased in the milt/ or in any disease that springeth out of the milt/ should cause a wine to be made of Tamarisk for such diseases. And I doubt not/ but they shall find ease & help of the use of that wine. diverse 〈◊〉 ●he Germany about the places where as Tamarisk groweth in 〈◊〉/ have this year made wine of Tamarisk which is not only pleasant in the mouth/ (for I have tasted it) but also holsum/ for the body as reason both teach/ and experience beareth witness. Of the herb called Myrrhis. depiction of plant Myrrhis. MYrrhis/ as Dioscorides saith/ is like the homlok/ both in stalk and in leaves. It hath a root something long/ soft/ round & well smelling/ & not unpleasant in meet. This description by the judgement of the most part of learned men is the herb that is called of the herbaries cicutaria. But for all that I perceive well/ that even they that say that Myrrhis is cicutaria/ doubt or else know not perfectly which herb is cicutaria/ amongst the which is Amatus Lusitanus/ who although he sayeth that Myrrhis is cicutaria: yet where as he promiseth to teach Spanish/ Italiane & French names of herbs as he doth most commonly when he knoweth them/ he showeth only the Duche name of cicutaria/ as though he hath been longer in Ducheland than in spain/ Italy or France/ or else the Dutch tongue were richer than the other above named tongues were/ or the Germans had found a name for cicutaria/ where as the italians/ spaniards & French men hath as yet found none. Matthiolus also seemeth plainly to doubt whether cicutaria be Myrrhis or no. For he saith that there is an herb comen in Itali called cicutaria/ which men think to be Myrrhis/ & a little after he sayeth: si Myrrhis in Italia provenit etc. If Myrrhis grow in Itali. I have found none that agreeth better with that description/ than this which I have set out. Wherefore ye may see that this herb is not yet perfectly known. There are ij. herbs/ where of I doubt which of them should be the true Myrrhis. The one is called in English casshes. It groweth in Orchards amongst the grass under the trees very like unto Homlok/ I never saw greater plenty of it/ then I have seen in the hortyard of Pembroke hall in Cambrigde/ where as I was some time a poor fellow. The other herb differeth very little from the former/ saving that it groweth wild about hedges & in middoes/ & is shorter than the other/ & hath rougher leaves and more like chervil. Wherefore I call it mok chervil/ but for all that when it is grown up/ it is much liker an homelok then chervil/ so that as far as I can judge by the figure/ it is the same herb that Matthiolus setteth forth/ for Myrrhis which Fuchsius calleth wilder kerffel. The virtues of Myrrhis. THe root of Myrrhis drunken in wine/ helpeth the bitings of field spiders/ It bringeth to women down their sickness and the seconds if they stop. It purgeth also women after their deliverance. It helpeth them that have the tisik/ sodden in a drink. They say also that the same drunken in wine twice or thrice upon a day/ is good for the pestilence/ and that it saveth a man from infection. Of the Myrt tre. DIoscorides writeth of ij. kinds of myrtus/ of the one in the first book/ and that is the garden myrt/ and of the other in the fourth/ and it is Myrtus syluestris/ which is called in Latin Ruscus. Howbeit/ he seemeth to mean that there is also an other wild myrt tre beside Ruscus. Dioscorides maketh ij. sorts of sown or set myrtle trees/ the one he called the white and the other the black. But other writers make yet more kinds of Myrtilles. Whereof I have seen one/ when I was in Bononi: it hath five times as little leaves as it that is set forth of Matthiolus for the comen set Myrt tre. And that kind did I also see in monte Appennino/ but they that showed it me/ called it Myrtum syluestrem/ and it with the small leaves/ (which is in deed Myrtus sativa tarantina) only Myrtum sativam. But I rather hold in this matter with Matthiolus/ then with them that hold of the contrari part. Although I think that Matthiolus hath painted his Ruscus with to little leaves and his Myrt tre with to great and broad leaves in comparison of the other. For Dioscorides in the description of the wild Myrte tre/ which is called in English bochers broom/ maketh it to have brother leaves/ then set Myrt hath. I have seen them both/ & doubtless there is a fault in the smallness of the leaves of Ruscus as I intend to show more largely when I shall come to the entreating of Ruscus. The set or gardin Myrt tre/ hath bowing branches and twigs/ a read bark/ long leaves always green/ something like the leaves of a Pomegranates leaves. In the white Myrte appear whiter leaves/ and in the black blacker. They have all white flowers and well smelling. The set or gardin Myrt trees have greater fruit than the wild have. Both the kinds of Myrt trees have long fruits/ like unto the fruits of the wild Myrt tre but greater. The virtues of the Myrt tre. THe virtue of the Myrte tre/ & of the seed of the same/ is to bind. The green/ or dry sede/ is good to be given in meal to them that spit blood/ & it helpeth the pricking of the bladder. The juice pressed out of the green leaves/ hath the same virtue. It is good for field spiders. And in wine it is good for the stinging of a scorpion. The broth of Myrtelles' sodden in wine/ helpeth the sores that arise in the uttermost membres. The same laid to with the flower of perched barley/ suageth the inflammationes of the eyes. It is good to be laid to against the impostumes of the corners of the eye. If ye put the seed into wine and heat it there in/ it will be good for them that have weyk brains to save them from drunkenness/ so that the wine that is strained/ be taken a fore hand. The bathe made with the seed of the myrt tre is good for the falling down of the mother/ for the diseases of the fundament/ for the issue that women have some time to much plenty of. It scoureth away scourf or scales in the heed/ & the running sores in the heed/ and the wheels that burst out in the heed. It stayeth the heir that falleth of. The bath that is made of the leaves of the Myrte tre/ is good to sit in/ for them that have membres out of joint/ which fasten and grow together very slowly. Also if bones be broken/ and will not easily be joined/ and fastened together again/ it is good to bathe them with the broth above mentioned. It healeth the white morphew/ and it is good to be poured into matery ears that ryn. The juice hath the same virtue. The leaves broken and laid to with water/ are good for moist sores/ and for all parts of the body having any issue/ and for them that have the lax. If ye put to it the oil made of unripe olives/ or a little rose oil with wine/ they are good for tetters or creeping sores/ for the wildfire/ for the inflammatione of the stones/ & for the sores or issue in the eyes/ that darken the sight & for hard lumps. The powder of the withered leaves/ is good to be cast upon the whitflaw/ aguayles. It is good against the styngking that cometh of to much sweet/ in the flanks and armholes. It stayeth the sweating of them that have the disease which is called cardiaca passio. The raw leaves/ or else burnt with a treat made of wax/ heal burning whit flaws and aguayles. Out of the later writers. THe broth of Myrtilles or Myrte sedes/ with butter stoppeth to much sweating. The Myrt leaves comfort the heart/ and take away the trymling of the same. The juice is good for the burning of the bladder & kidneys. An emplaster made of Myrtelles is good for the piles & the falling out of the fundament. Let the apothecary's phisiciones/ and surgeanes of England take heed/ that they use no more as they have done in times passed/ the little bush the groweth in the sennes in the stead of the right Myrt tre/ but let them cause the right Myrtelles & Myrt leaves be brought unto them out of Itali/ where as is of them plenty enough to be had. Many of the apocaries of Germany have erred an other way in the Myrt tre/ in taking the bleberries or hurtel berries in the stead of the Myrte tre. Of the herb called Napus. DIoscorides hath not described unto us the herb called Napus/ neither Pliny in any place that I have red as yet. He maketh v. kinds of Napus: but Matthiolus & Fuchsius each of them maketh no more but ij. kinds. Yet they divide their kinds diversely. For Matthiolus divideth Napun into the white and the yellow. And Fuchsius divideth it into the set or sown/ & into the wild. Napus is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but not bunion/ in Duche Steckrub/ in French navet/ I know no English name for it/ as it is no marvel/ seeing that I never saw the right Nape growing in England. It may be called a Nape or a yellow rape until we find out the old English name for it. The Nape hath leaves like unto a rape but smother/ & indented about the edges after the manner of rocket. It hath a round stalk of a cubit hight/ & depiction of plant Napus. depiction of plant Napus agrestis. some time higher/ & a yellow flower like unto Cole/ & a seed in long cods or small long husks. The root is some thing long and so round as a rape root is/ and commonly in Germany it is yellowish. It with the white root is not greatly used in Germany. The virtues of the Nape. THe root of Nape or Navet as the Frence men call it/ sodden/ breedeth wind/ & nourisheth but little. The seed of the Nape/ dulleth poison if it be drunken. It is much used to be put into treacles & preservatives. Napes at hot & moist/ & they breed wind & raw phlegm. They sharp the seed/ & smooth the breast/ & throat/ they heat the kydnes. Galen seemeth to contain Napes under rapes/ for I can find no mention of Napes in Galene/ in his book de simplicibus medicamentis. And Paulus joineth rapes and Napes together in these words. The Nape & the rape if they be twice sodden/ nourish no less than other herbs do. But if they be continually eaten/ they make a gross juice. Of Narcissus out of Dioscorides. There are some that call Narcissum/ as a lily/ lirium. It hath leaves like unto a leek/ thine and much lesser & narrower. The stalk is empti and bare without leaves/ and it is higher than a span. The flower is white and reish yellow within/ and in some purple. depiction of plant Narcissus. The root within is white/ round & knoppy after the likeness of a bulb. The seed is as it were in a film or cote/ black and long. The most excellent groweth in hills/ and hath a sweet savour. The other resemble a leek/ and have an herbishe stink. Of Narcissus out of Pliny. THe Physicianes use ij. kinds of Narcissus/ where of one hath a purple flower and the other hath the colour of herbs. Out of Theophrast. IT is meruelus that chanseth unto the squill or se union/ & to Narcissus. For of all other herbs/ whether when they be first sown/ or grow again/ after their falling/ the leaf cometh in his time first forth/ and afterward the stalk. But in these the stalk cometh forth before the other parts/ and of Narcissus the stalk of the flower cometh only forth with speed/ for the flower hasteth forward very much. Narcissus hath a narrow lief/ many together & fat. Out of all these descriptiones I gather that our comen daffadil/ is one kind of Narcissus/ where of Pliny maketh mention/ when as he speaketh of it with the herbishe colour. The fashion of the leaf/ flower and stalk of our daffadil agreeth well with the description both of Dioscorides/ & Theophrast/ only the colour of the flower is contrary or beside the description of Dioscorides. But nevertheless I judge that it is a kind of Narcissus/ which Dioscorides had not seen when as he wrote of the white flowered Narcissus. The description of Dioscorides agreeth well unto the herb which we call in some places of England white laus tibi/ let them that list examine the matter/ and they shall find it as I have said. Some take this herb to be violam albam Theophrasti/ with whom I will not strive/ except they say that it agreeth not with the description of Narcissus in Dioscorides. As for the likeness that it ought to have (as some men judge) with the flowers of the lily/ whose name it may seem to have had some time for the likeness that it had with the lily/ & hath it not/ for the leaves are nether in fashion like the other Narcissus nor the lily flower/ for it is not hole as the lilies flower is/ but divided: I answer that Pliny showeth that the difference between the kinds of Narcissus & of lilies standeth in that/ that upon the stalks of the lilies grow leaves/ & upon the stalks of the kinds of Narcissus grow no leaves at all. Dioscorides writeth of ij. sorts of Narcissus/ one that groweth in the mountains/ & an other kind in other places. Where of I never saw the former kind in any mountain/ but always in gardens. And as for the other kind I reckon that it is agreeing in savour with our comen daffodil/ except my memori do fail me/ & I am sure that the white laus tibi hath the stink that Dioscorides speaketh of. The Properties of the daffodil. THe root sodden/ whether it be eaten/ or drunken/ maketh a man vomit. It is good for burning. The root broken with a little honey/ maketh the cut sinews to grow together again/ if it be laid to emplasterwyse. The root laid to with honey helpeth the ankles out of joint/ and the old aches of the joints. With vinegar and nettle sede/ it taketh away the spots and morphew in the face. With fiches it scoureth away the matter of wounds. It breaketh impostumes that will not ripe/ laid to with darnel meal/ and honey/ it draweth out of the body/ such things as stick fast in it. It maketh flesh grow in a wound. The root bruised & laid to/ is good for woman's breasts that are swelled & against all inflammationes. Of spikenard. NArdus is named in Greek Nardoes/ in English Spiknarde/ of the apothecary's spicanardi. There are ij. kinds of Nardus sayeth Dioscorides/ the one is called indish/ & the other is called Syriac/ not because it groweth in Syria/ but because one part of the hill where as it groweth/ lieth toward Syria/ & the other part to the indians. Of this Syriac kind/ the principal is fresh/ light/ having a large thing resembling hare/ yellow in colour/ very well smelling/ and much like Cyperus in smell/ with a short ear/ and a bitter taste/ which drieth the tongue/ because it continueth long in the plesantness of his smell. Of the indish kind/ there is one that is called Gangit of the flood Ganges/ which rynneth by the mountain where upon it groweth. This kind by the reason of the moisture of the place is weker in virtue/ a higher in length/ and it bringeth forth many spikes or hary ears out of one root/ folden in one just to an other/ of a very strong savour. The Nardus of the mountain savoureth better/ and it hath a short ear/ and cutted/ the smell of it is like unto Cyperus/ and it hath all the other virtues of the Syriac. There is also a kind called of the place where it groweth Same pharitik/ with a short bush having ears spreading out & a whiter stalk/ this hath a rammishe or buckishe styngking smell: wherefore it is not allowed. Thus far Dioscorides. Matthiolus and Amatus his follower/ do take much labour to prove that the Spica nardi/ that is the ear of Nardus is no ear growing in the top of the stalk/ but that it is the root of Nardus. And against all other that hold the contrari opinion that it gtoweth in the top/ they inveigh very sharply/ and namely against iij. greater clerks than ever they have been or are like to be/ that is Hermolaus Barbarus/ joannes Ruellius/ and joannes Manardus. Which although they erred/ yet for their other truths that they have taught/ all Europa deserved to be handled something gentlyer than these new correctores have handled them. As for me I think that the ear groweth not in the top of the stalk/ but hard by the root/ either partly in the ground or very near unto the ground/ but I think rather that some part of the ear groweth within the ground. Yet for all this/ I reckon that the spike can not be properly called a root. And as for the place that they allege out of Galene de antidotis/ in Galenis words they must either understand Galene to call the spike of Nardus unproperly a root/ or else they must in other places not only deny the authority of Galene/ but also of Philo/ & Dioscorides also/ which make an open distinctione and difference between the root of Nardus an the ear of the same: or else plainly deny that the spick is a root. Galene in the ix book the compositione medicamentorum secundum locos allegeth in the preservative or antidote of Philo ij. verses amongst many other/ which seem plainly to deny that Nardus is a root. The verses are these: Et drachmam dictae falso radicis, ab ipsa Terra, pissaes quae jove clara manet. And Galene expounding these verses/ sayeth these words following: Quin & Nardi ipsius drachmam unam conijciendam censet, quam radicem falso dictam appellat, quando quidem spica nardi verè nominatur. Also he judgeth that a dram of Nardus must be put there to/ which he calleth a falsely named root/ because it is truly named the ear or spike of Nardus. Dioscorides also in the description of the Nardus which is called gangitis/ sayeth that many spikes or ears come out of one root/ where upon it followeth plainly by the authority of Dioscorides that the ear of Nardus is not the root of Nardus. Therefore I reckon that it is plain that the spica Nardi can not be properly called a root/ without the gainsaying of Philo/ Dioscorides and Galene. Matthiolus laying to other men's charges earnestly many errors writing upon Nardus/ is not very far from a manifest error if he be not wrapped within it all ready. For he seemeth to judge that Nardus hath no stalk at all/ and that therefore the spike or ear can not grow in the top of the stalk/ which is not/ or can nowhere be found. His words are these: Ego tametsi nardi quàm plurimum etc. Although I have examined & picked out very much Nardus/ in the shops of Venus'/ yet could I never find any thing of Nardus there/ saving only the ear. Wherefore I think there can be found no Nardus which bringeth forth the ears in the top. But what reason is this/ he seeth nothing of Nardus but the ear/ ergo Nardus hath nothing else/ because he hath seen no more. If this be Matthiolusses argument as he seemeth at the lest to go toward this end: than it appeareth that Nardus should have nether any stalk/ neither any other root beside the ear/ which is clean contrari unto Dioscorides/ whom he taketh in hand to expound/ who appointeth both a stalk unto Nardus/ and also an other root beside the spikes or ears to the same. And although in Germany there is not such choice of simples in every place as is in Venus'/ yet in this year of our lord 1557. I found in the shop of jacob Diter the Apothecari of Wiseburg on piece of Nardus which hath a stalk a finger long hollow/ and of the bygnes of a meetly big straw/ which I have to show at this present day. As touching the root of Nardus if that Matthiolus could find nothing of it/ saving the ear at Venice/ I marvel where he found the little root that the ears grow one in his figure which he hath set out in his commentaries upon Dioscorides. Amatus holdeth also stiffly that the spike or ear of Nardus is also the root. But it seemeth by his writing both in the chapter of mew/ and also in Nardus/ that he should mean that the ear of Nardus/ should be the nether part of the root of Nardus/ for in both the chapters he compareth the root of spikenard with the root of mew. And in both the places he sayeth that the tufty roots that are very like spiknarde in Mew/ grow in infima part radicis/ in the lowest part of the roots. In the later place he sayeth thus. Where as Dioscorides sayeth that Nardus putteth forth of one root many ears that serveth for our purpose/ when as out of one principal root as the mother of the rest/ many roots as hary ears growing one hard to an other/ do spring out/ as a man may see the like in the roots of Mew/ whose infinite roots were divided into ears that all that saw them/ judged them to be spikenard. And a little after he sayeth/ wherefore we ought to conclude that there is no other root found in Nardus/ saving the spike or ear. If he mean thus as by his writing he seemeth to do/ he is very far deceived. For beside that I have seen a stalk immediately coming from the spike (the stalk cometh never immediately from the lowest part of the root) Dioscorides showeth that the Spikes come from one root. The roots always in all plants are the lowest & nether most parts of them/ then when as the Spikes come out of one root/ that root must be lower and beneath the Spikes. Then the Spikes can not be the lowest parts of the roots/ as he sayeth that the tufty ends and lowest parts of the roots of Mew be. But where as he sayeth that there is no other root saving the Spike/ I ask them whether it is the manner of Dioscorides to give one thing in one place ij. sundry names/ and to dissever one thing with ij. names when as the thing is but one. If it be not his manner so to do/ then is his gloze brought in vain/ where as he sayeth the the saying of Dioscorides that many Spikes come out of one root/ is to be understand/ that many roots come out of one principal or mother root: when as Dioscorides in all his hole work never calleth a root a Spike/ nor a Spike a root. As for the other error which he holdeth (or at the lest he seemeth to hold) with Matthiolus/ that Nardus hath nether stalk nether other root then the ear/ need to make no other confuratione then it that a little above I have made unto Matthiolus for the same opinion. Then this is my opinion of Nardus/ that it hath a little root in the ground/ out of the which the Spikes or ears spring out/ and I think that the lowest parts of the ears at the lest touch the ground/ and that the stalk (as I have once seen it) cometh out of the mids of the Spike or ear of black reish colour/ thin and hollow within. The virtues of spikenard. NArdus hath pour to heat and to dry. It driveth forth water and maketh a man piss well. If it be drunken/ it stoppeth the belly/ If it be laid to/ it stoppeth the rynning out and matter of the mother. If it be taken with cold water/ it helpeth the gnawing of the stomach/ it healeth wyndenes/ it helpeth the liver/ & healeth the jaundice and the diseases of the kidneys. If ye will seth Nardus in water and sit in it: it is a remedy against the inflammation of the mother. It is good for bare eylyddes that want hear/ for it bringeth hear againg. It is good to be cast upon bodies that are to moist or sweet to much. It is put in to antidotes and treacles/ and it is commonly laid up in a new earthen vessel for eye medicines. But it is first bet in to powder/ and afterward made in to trochisces or round kales with wine. Nardus is hot in the first degree and fully dry in the second degree. Of the herb called nardus celtica. THe celtic Nardus groweth in the alpes of Liguria/ and it is called in the country name there Aliuggia (it appeareth that Dioscorides would have said saliunca/ for there is no such latin word as Aliuggia is (It groweth also in Istria. It is a little bushling/ and it is gathered and made up into little hand fulls/ It hath a leaf something long/ with a pale yellow colour/ and a rygh yellow flower. This herb is called in Duche Magdaleinkraut/ it groweth plenteously in the alpes that depart Italy and Germany. It may be called in English/ French/ spicknarde. The virtues of French spicknard. MEn use only the stalks and roots of this herb. It is commended for the best which is fresh/ and hath a good smell/ and hath many roots cleaving together/ full/ and not brukle or easy to break. It is good for the same purposes that the other Nardus is good for/ it driveth water forth much more mightily/ and is better for the stomach. It helpeth the inflammationes of the liver and the jaundice. It is good to be drunken against the wyndenes of the stomach with the broth of wormwood. It is also good to be drunken with wine against the diseases of the milt/ kidnees and bladder/ and against venemus bitings. It is put into softening emplasters/ in to drinks & heting ointments. This French Nardus as Galene sayeth is of like properti with the other/ saving that it is weicker for all purposes/ saving for provoking of urine/ for it is hotter and is less binding. Galene also in his book the compositione medicamentorum secundum locos sayeth/ that the French nardus is the best medicine/ and worketh whatsoever the indish nardus doth/ but that it is a little weyker in working. wherefore when the truth is so/ I counsel that apothecary's use rather this French spikenard fresh and good/ as always it may be had out both of Germany and Itali/ them the spikenard of India/ if it be old & rotten as much of it is before it cometh unto us. I marvel that Tragus and Matthiolus following the common ignorance of their countries call lavender spick/ Dutch Nardus and Italiam nardus/ seeing that in form and fashion they have no likeness at all with nardus. And how much they differ in qualities/ they that with judgement examine both/ can well testify. If the world continue long/ their naming of lavamder with the name of Nardus may bring some simple men in believe/ that lavender is a right kind of nardus growing in Germany and Italy/ when as it is much lyker to be a kind of stechas then of Nardus. Of gardin cresses. depiction of plant Nasturtium hortense. Nasturtium is named in Greek kardomon/ in English cresses or kars/ in Duche kressich/ in French cresson. Gardin cresses grow no where else that I know/ saving only in gardens. The cress is but a small herb of a foot and a half long/ the leaves are small and jagged about/ the flowers are white. The blackish read seed is contained in little round sede vessels. And it is sharp in taste and biting. The virtues of cresses. THe seed of cresses/ is evil for the stomach/ & troubleth the belly/ & driveth forth worms. It minissheth the milt. It is evil for women with child: it provoketh down woman's sickness and stirreth men to veneri. It is like unto mustard and rocket. It scoureth away lepres an scurffines very near unto lepers. If it be laid to with honey it suageth the swelling of the milt. It scoureth away the sores called favos/ like to an honey comb. It driveth forth the diseases of the lungs if it be sodden in suppings. The same if it be drunken withstandeth the venom of serpents/ and the smook of it driveth away serpents. It stayeth the falling of the here. It ripeth carbuncles/ and bursteth them. It is good for the sciatica/ if it be laid to with perched barley meal and vinegar. It driveth away or scattereth abroad swellings/ and gathered humores together. And if it be laid to with brine/ driveth forth angri bites and other sores such as one is called cattis hare. The leaves & branches are good for the same purposes: but they are not so strong/ so long as they are green. For then they are yet so gentle that they may be eaten with breed/ as Galene sayeth/ for soul or kitchen. Of the tre called Nerium. NErium is also called rhododaphnus and rhododendron/ in Italiane Oleandro/ of Barbarus writers Gleander/ some Duche men call it Oleander/ the Frence men call it rosage. I never saw it out of Italy wherefore I know no English name for it. But it may well be called in English after the Greek/ either rose tree or bay rose tre/ or Oleander after the common herbaries. The bay rose tre hath leaves like an almond tre/ but longer/ fatter/ and as some texts are/ brother & rougher. The flower is like a rose. The fruit is something depiction of plant Nerium I. depiction of plant Nerium II. like unto an almond after the fashion of an horn/ which when as it openeth/ showeth a wollyshe nature like an thystel down/ as Ruellius translation hath/ it seemeth that his greek text had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. But my greek text hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And so seemeth the old translator to have red/ for he he translateth thus: lanam deintus habens similem hyacintho. Yet for all that I like Ruelliusses Greek text better than mine/ for the down is white and like thestel down/ & nothing like hyacinthus/ neither in colour/ nor in down which it hath not. The root is long/ sharp and wodishe/ saltish in taste. It groweth in pleasant places/ by the se side and about rivers. The properties of Oleander. THe flowers and the leaves of oleander are poison to mules dogs/ asses/ and to many other four footed beasts. But it is unto a man a remedy if it be drunken with wine/ against the bitings of serpents/ and so much better it is if rue be mixed therewith. Weike beasts as sheep and goats/ if they drynck of the water where in are fallen the leaves or flowers of oleander/ die shortly after. Galene writeth that Oleander if it be taken in/ that it killeth both man and the most part of beasts also: wherefore let no man think that Dioscorides meaneth that Oleander should be taken of animan saving only of such as hath been hurt with the poisoned biting of a serpent: for if a man take it in/ except he have been poisoned before/ it will poison him. But when as the poison of serpents may well be healed by many other medicines that are no poison/ as oleander is/ my counsel is that no man that is bitten with a serpent/ take in any oleander/ if there be any treacle or other good herb may be had by and by after that he is bitten. I have seen this tre in diverse places of Italy/ but I care not if it never come into England/ seeing it in all points is like a Pharesey/ that is beuteus without/ and within/ a tavenus wolf & murderer. The later writers say that Oleander is good for the scab and ich/ and that it is good for the old aches of the knees and kydnes/ if it be laid to after the manner of an emplaster. They write that the broth of the leaves killeth flees and such like vermind if it be cast upon the flore/ where as they be. Of the herb called Nymphea. depiction of plant Nymphaea candida. depiction of plant Nymphaea lutea. NYmphea is named of the apothecary's nunefar/ in English water rose/ or water lili/ in Dutch se blumen. Nymphea is of ij. sorts/ the one hath a white flower and the other hath a yellow flower: they grow both in meres loughes/ lakes and in still or standing waters. The leaves are like that been of Egypt/ but they are less & longer/ some of them swim above the water/ some are under the water/ and many of them come out of one rote. The one hath a white flower as lili/ the other hath a yellow flower like a rose/ in the mids of the white flower is a thing like unto safron. Out of the flower when it withereth away/ cometh forth a round black apple like unto a poppy heed/ which hath a black sede and a clammy taste. The stalk is smooth/ black and not thick/ like unto the bene of Egypt. The root of the white Nymphea is black/ & rough and like unto a cub. But the root of the yellow nenufar is white. The roots use to be cut down in September/ October and November/ or in the last end of the harvest. The virtue of both the kinds of nenufar. THe white leaved water lili or nenufar dried and drunken with wine/ is good for the common lax/ and for the bloody flix/ and it washeth away the milt. The root is good to be laid to the bladder & stomach. With water it scoureth away white spots like lepers. If it be laid to with piche/ it will hele a scalled heed when the heir goeth of. The same is good to be drunken of wifeless gentlemen/ or husbandless gentle women against the unclean dreaming of venery and filthy pollutiones that they have on the night. For if it be drunken continually for a certain time/ it weykeneth much the seed. The seed of the herb hath the same properti. The seed & root of it with the yellow flower drunken with read stopping and tart wine/ are good against the running out or isshues that women sometime have. Of Basil. DIoscorides describeth not ocimun/ but a man may gather by him in the description of other herbs where unto he compareth ocimum/ what manner of leaves ocimum hath. The right Mercuri & Heliotropium as Dioscorides writeth/ have leaves like Basil. Then he that knoweth the right Mercuri & Heliotropium/ may easily know what manner of leaves Basil hath. The stalk is a span long & sometime longer. It flowereth and seedeth first beneath in the stalk/ and after above. The flower is some time white mixed/ some time with other colores. The seed is black or at the lest blakishe/ contained within a blakish film. One principal root goeth deep in to the ground and that is thick and woddishe. The other roots that come out of it/ are small and long. Basil is named in Greek ocimon/ and of the later Greeks basilicon/ in Duche Basilien/ in Frence du Basilik. The virtues of Basil. BAsil/ if it be taken to plenteously in meet/ dulleth the eysyght/ It softeneth the belly/ moveth the spirits/ & driveth out piss and bringeth milk to the breasts. But it is hard to be digested. But if it be laid to with the flower of perched barley and with vinegar and rose oil/ it helpeth the inflammationes of the longs. It is good for the striking of a sea dragon/ and the depiction of plant Ocimum magnum. depiction of plant Ocimum minus. sting of scorpiones. And by itself only with wine of Cio/ it helpeth the ache of the eyes. The juice scoureth away the darkness of the eyes. It driveth up the dropping down of humores. The seed drunken is good for them that breed melancholi/ and for them that can not make water/ and for them that are puffed up with wind. If it be put in to the nostrils it maketh a man sneeze. The which thing the leaves do also. But ye must shit your eyes when ye are compelled to sneeze. Sum think that it ought not to be received in meet. For if it be chowed and set forth in the son/ it breedeth worms. The men of Aphrica say that the man that hath drunken of this herb/ & is afterward bitten of a scorpion/ shall have no pain of that biting. Out of Galen de simplicibus. BAsil is hot in the second degree/ & it hath a superfluous moystur wherefore it is not meet to be taken to the body. But if it be laid to without/ it is good to make ripe. Galene also in his book of the pours and properties of norishmentes writeth thus of Basyl. The most part use Basil and eat it with oil & gare sauce for a soul or kitchen. But it hath a very hurthfull & an evil juice. Which think made some falsely believe that if it were set in a pot in the son that it would turn into a scorpion. But this mayest thou truly say/ that it is noisum to the stomach/ and of an evil juice and hard to be digested. Of the Olive tre. OLea which is sumytme called also Oliva/ is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is called in English an Olive tre/ in Dutch ein Oelbaun/ in Frence ung Oliverer. The Olive tre hath leaves like a wilow tre/ but they are smaller narrower and harder/ in colour pale & of an ashy hue. The wild Olive tre which is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latin syluestris Olea or Oleaster or cotinus/ hath less and shorter leaves than the gardin or set Olive tre hath. The fruit is also much less/ and the bows are full of pricks. I have seen the Olive tre both in Italy & in Germany. The virtues of the Olive trees. THe leaves of the wild Olive tre bind/ and the same broken & laid to emplaster wise stay and hold in cholerik impostumes and inflammationes/ creeping or running sores/ empostemes about the corners of the ey/ carbuncles & whitflawe. And the same laid to with honey take away the crusts that are about sores or wounds. They scour also filthy wounds. They drive away inflammationes and sores called pavos. They join together again the skin that is plucked from the heed. They are good for the sores of the mouth and specially of young children/ if they be chowed in the mouth. The juice and the broth have the same vertu. The juice laid to stayeth burstynges out of blood and wymens' isshues. It is good for the diseases of the eye called vua/ and for wheels sores and old falling down of humores. Wherefore it is put in to the medicines of the eyes called collyria. It is very good for the gnawing or biting of the ey lids. If ye will have the juice to serve you all the year thorough: stamp the leaves/ and put wine or water unto them and dry the moystur in the son and make it up in little cakes. But the juice that is made with the wine is stronger and fit to be laid up/ then it that is made with water. It helpeth thee ears/ both if they be sore/ and the skin be of/ and also if any matter ryn out. The leaves are good to be laid to with barley meal/ for them that have the flux. The leaves are burnt with the flowers that the ashes may fill the room of spodium. And thus are they dressed. Put them into and unbaked pot that was never in the fire before/ and stop the mouth of it perfectly with clay/ and let the pot stand so long until that all the other pots be baked enough. Then quench them whilse they are yet hot with wine/ and knead them together/ and burn them after the same manner onis again. Then wash them and make them in to little cakes. It is well known that this medicine is as good as spodium is in the diseases of the eyes. The leaves of the set olive have the same vertu/ saving a little weiker. Wherefore they are fatter for the medicines of the eyes by the reason of their gentler nature. The sweet or water that cometh forth of the tre when it is in burning in the fire helpeth/ if it be laid to foul scurfis scales. The seed of the Olive tre laid to/ helpeth scurf and fretting and wasting sores. It that is within the kernel with fat and meal/ driveth of scabbed or foul rough reayles. The Olives that have ben condited in salt/ broken and laid unto places will not suffer any bladder to rise. They scour foul wounds. The brine of Olives fasteneth the goumes if they be washed therewith/ and maketh fast louse teeth. The yellow and fresh olive is better for the stomach/ but it is hard for the belly. The black that is ripe is disposed to corruption/ and is evil for the stomach. And it is evil for the eyes/ and engendereth the hedach. If it be dried it stoppeth friting or wasting sores/ and driveth abroad and scattereth carbuncles. It is good to wash the goumes that are vexed with a filthy moisture with the oil of the wild olive. It maketh fast louse teeth. Take the oil and put it in to will/ or a fine cloth/ & lay that hot unto the waterish goumes until they be white/ and it will help them. Out of Galene de simplicibus. THe bughes of the olive tre/ as much as they have of binding/ so much coldness have they also. The fruit if it be trowly rip/ is measurably hot. But if it be not ripe/ them it couleth more & bindeth more. olives nourish but a little/ & namely they that for ripeness fall of the tre. Which the common people commonly eat with breed & otherwiles with brine before other meats/ to louse the belly/ and these Olives are called almacles and colymbades. As the very ripe have much fatness in them/ so the unripe have a binding juice by reason where of they streyngthen the stomach and make a man have an appetite. Out of Alexander. FOlolowing the authority of my matters of whom I learned first the knowledge of herbs/ who were Antonius Musa/ Fuchsius/ & Ruellius without any earnest trial/ judged masters that our common Alexander was Hypposelinon in Dioscorides. But after that I had red Matthiolus writing upon Hipposelinon/ I looked more diligently upon the description/ and found that there were certain properties that Dioscorides gave unto his Hipposelino/ which are not to be found in our Alexander. For Dioscorides writing of Hipposelino sayeth that it hath a white root/ and a small/ and that the herb is whiter then parsley/ & that the leaves turn a little toward a cremesin colour. But our Alexander hath a great black rote/ and to look to the hole herb is much blacker than parsley/ and the leaves have nothing like cremisin/ allthoug such a colour appear in some places of the buds/ when as they come up first/ wherefore our Alexander can not be Hipposelinon in Dioscorides. But nevertheless/ I think that it is Smyrnium/ but not it that Dioscorides describeth/ as Matthiolus judgeth/ but that Smyrnion that Dioscorides refuseth as unproperly named Smyrnion/ and yet other grecians as Galene and Aetius call Smyrnion. But that Smyrnion as it is differing from Hipposelino Dioscoridis/ so I reckon it to the Hipposelinon of Theophrast/ & Aetius & the herb which Galene in his book de alimentorum facultatibus witnesseth to be called Olus atrum in Rome in his time. First that our Alexander is not Smyrnium in Dioscorides: these tokens that our Alexander want and are required in Smyrnio Dioscorides/ do sufficiently declare. Smyrnium in Dioscorides hath pale/ or faint yellow leaves/ and our Alexander's leaves are black. Smyrnium hath seed like kole round & black. But our Alexander hath long horned seed nothing like coal/ but in all points like parsley sede/ saving that it is much bigger & blacker. The root of Smirnium is either green within/ or elles something whitish. But our Alexander's root is not green within/ except my memori fale me/ neither a little whitish/ but plain white/ as I remember. The herb Smyrnium of Dioscorides groweth in rocky places/ and steping down hills/ and in dry places/ and about paths. But our Alexander groweth in shaddowy places/ and in moist places/ and in Islands compassed about the se/ as in a certain island between the far part of Somerset shear & Wales. Wherefore our Alexander can not be Smyrnion Dioscorides. But that our Alexander is Smyrnion of Aetius & Galene/ and olus atrum that Galene maketh mention of/ which the Romans used much in meat/ & also Hipposelinon Theophrasti: trust these reasons following shall prove either in part or in hole. Aetius writeth thus of Smyrnion. Smyrnium which other call Hipposelinun is of the same kind that parsley is of and petroselinon/ but it hath a black sede and much greater. By these words may I gather that Smirnium is a kind of Selinon or Opium which we call perseli/ and seeing that it is the greatest kind that it may be justly called Hipposelinon. We may also know that it is therefore a kind of selinon be cause it hath like seed in proportion & figure with other properties belonging thereto/ & that it cannot be a kind of apium or selinon which hath no likeness in the sede with Apio Selino or parsley/ where upon we may gather that lovage which hath sedes in no point like Selino/ neither to Oreoselino nor petroselino can not be any kind of apium of selinon/ and that therefore that it can neither be Hipposelinon Dioscorides/ nor the Smyrnion Aetij/ nor yet Smirnium Dioscorides. Galene in his second book of the properties of norishmentes or meats writeth thus of selino/ hipposelino/ Sion & smyrnion. all these make a man piss/ amongst which parsley is most used/ & pleasant to the stomach. But Hipposelinum and belragges are unplesanter. n Smyrnium is also much used/ for it is sold in very plenty in Rome/ and it is much sharper than perseli and hother/ and it hath also a certain spicy taste. And therefore it stirreth a man more vehemently to make water/ than parsley Hipposelinon and belrages/ or water parsley/ and it moveth the flowers of women. But in the spring it bringeth forth a stalk (we call the stalks when they come first forth in England in the spring with little knoppes growing upon them Alexander buds) which is good meat to be eaten as the leaves/ which only the herb had in winter/ when it had no stalk/ even as parsley/ at that time hath none. But after that the stalk beginneth once to come/ all the hole her be is more plesanter and sweeter/ whether a man list to eat it raw/ or sodden. These words of Galene declare plainly that the herb that he calleth Smyrnium is our Alexander. But by it that immediately followeth in Galene shall prove both this matter more clearly/ & also prove that there is one Hipposelinon (which I take to be it of Dioscorides & not it of Theophrast) that cannot be our Alexander/ & that our Alexander is called of the dol latins olus atrum that is black wort. Galene words be these. But Hipposelinum & Sion are eaten sodden: for they are both unpleasant/ when as they are raw. Some men use to i'the parsley & smyrnion menged with lettuce leaves. For when as lettuce is an eatable herb very unsavoury/ and hath a cold juice/ it is made not only plesanter/ but also more profitable if ye put some sharp herb unto it. For which cause some meng the leaves of rocket/ & lekes & oath/ the leaves of Basil. But now in Rome all men call that wort or eatable herb not Smyrnion but olus atrum that is blacwurt. Thus far Galene. Now after that I have proved that our Alexander is Smyrnion of Aetius & Galene/ & the Olus atrum of the old latins/ I will look now if I can prove that the foresaid Smyrnion or Olus atrum is the Hipposelinon that Theophrast describeth. Theophrast describeth his Hipposelinon thus. Hipposelinon hath leaves like unto march or smalache/ but rough. It hath a stalk & a thick root like a radice/ but black. It bringeth also forth a black fruit/ in greatness bigger than Orobus. Men say that they are both good for them that can make no water if they be drunken with white sweet wine/ and to drive out stones. It groweth commonly everywhere. And a juice floweth out of it like unto myrrh. Some hold that it is holly myrrh altogether/ & not like it only. I see nothing in this description/ but that it agreeth well with our Alexander. The leaves of Alexander are like unto the leaves of smallage in figure/ but they are greater & not so smooth as smallage leaves ar. The stalk of Alexander is also great/ & the root is as thik as a radice root is/ & black. The seed or fruit is black/ a as big as Orobus/ though it have an other proportion and figure. As for the natural place of growing/ it groweth in every shyrr of England in plenty: wherefore I see no cause but that Hipposelinon Theophrasti/ is our Alexander. And because many were of the opinion that myrr which is called in Greek Smyrna/ came out of the roots of Hipposelinon. I think that it was afterwards called Smyrnion/ that is myr herb. If any man doubt wheter learned men have judged that a thing like myr cometh out of the root of Hipposeline/ let him read Plini of Hipposelino and Theophraste/ & he shall shortly I trust leave of doubting. But if any man repli/ & sai that Theophrast and Galene make Hipposelinon and Smyrnion to have green leaves all the hole year: I answer that as Theophraste sayeth that Hipposelinon hath green leaves/ that he sayeth even the same of parsley and of them that they are green in the very top/ that is in the overmost part of the leaf (for the stalks that have borne sede/ perish in winter) But when as there are ij. sorts of parsley/ one that is a wife/ which is fruitful & bringeth forth fruit/ & an other kind is called a maiden or of some a widow/ which either hath never borne sede/ or hath begun to have stalk and hath been cut down before it brought forth ripe seed. As in parsley it that hath had said in summer or harvest/ hath no leaves in winter/ but only the maiden parsley/ so is it in Alexander/ for although not every rote of Alexander hath green leaves in winter: yet in warm places that rough Alexander hath leaves in winter as well as young parsley. Now at the length I trust I have sufficiently proved/ that our Alexander is Smyrnion of Galene & Aetius/ Olus atrum of the latins/ & Hipposelinon of Theophrast/ but not of Dioscorides/ and by the way that nether lovage is Hipposelinon Dioscorides/ nor the Smyrnium in Dioscorides is our Alexander. The virtues of Alexander. Beside the properties above rehearsed Galene sayeth without any grief it drieth sores/ and maketh ripe such as are hard/ and that the rest of his pour is like unto Petroselino. wherefore sayeth he we use the seed/ to bring down flowers/ and to provoke urine/ and against the stopping of the breast/ and short windiness. Aetius writeth that it is hot and dry in the third degree. Of the tre called Opulus. COlumella in the v. book of husbandry sayeth that Opulus is like unto a cornel tre/ & firther I read not of the description of Opulus in him. Where as Columella compareth and likeneth together Opulun & Cornun. I think that he doth it not for the likeness of the leaves of the ij. trees/ for therein/ they are very unlike/ but for the likeness of greatness & manner of timber. The tree that was showed me in Italy of the learned men there to be Opulus/ hath a leaf something like a maple leaf/ for it was indent/ but the points of the leaves were blunter than the maple tre leaves are. Conradus Gesnerus told me that it is called in French vn opier. I never saw it in England/ but it may be called in English an ople tre. I know no virtue nor use that it hath/ saving only that it will serve well for timber. Of Organ. depiction of plant ORiganum may be called in English Organ as Origanum syluestre is na named/ in some places of England. But I never saw the true Organ in England/ saving in master riches gardin in London/ where as I saw many other good & strange herbs/ which I never saw any where else in all England. I have seen Origanum Cretense both in Itali & also in Anwerp/ where as it may be had in meetly good plenty of Peter Condenberg a faithful & a learned apothecari. Dioscorides maketh iij. kind of origanun: the first kind of origanum is called heracleoticum/ & this kind is it that I have made mention before. It hath/ as Dioscorides sayeth a leaf not unlike unto hyssop/ & a shaddowy top/ not round after the fashion of a wheel/ but many ways divided. The seed is in the top of the twigs not very thick. Dioscorides maketh origanun very like hyssop in the leaves/ but in deed they are much rounder & shorter than our common hysopes leaves be. It that is called Onitis hatk a whither lief & is more like hyssop. It hath seed like berries joined together. This kind have I also seen dry/ & ones in Germany growing will in which the people called there/ as I remember wild maioram. The wild Origanum hath the leaves of organ/ & small branches a span high/ in which is a spoky tope like dill/ & white flowers. The root is small & of small price. Our wild Merierun in England which some call Organ/ and the Dutch Dost/ might well be Origanum siluestre/ if it had not a purple flower & branches ij. spans long. Never thelessn it may be a bastard kind of Origanum or of Marun but nether merierun/ nor yet Origanum syluestre the perfect/ where of Dioscorides writeth. The virtues of Organ. ORgan heateth/ wherefore the broth of it drunken with wine is good for them that are bitten of a serpent. But if a man have drunken homlok or the juice of poppy/ he must drink it with maluasey. And if a man have drunken alabaster/ or myddow saffron/ it must be drunken with Oxymel made of vinegar & honey. If a man take an alitable of it that is about ij. ounces & an half/ when it is dried/ & drink it with meed/ it draweth out black humores throw the belly. It bringeth women their flowers/ & if it be licked with honey/ it is good for the cough. Men use to give it to eat with a fyg to them that have any place bursten & shronken together/ & to them that have the dropsy. If a man bathe him in the broth of it/ it is good for them that have the iche or yveke/ or any scurffines & for the jaundice. The green juice healeth the sores of the mouth/ the swelled kernels under the chin & the vulva. With milk it suageth the ache of the ear. And with oil of flower delice if it be put into the nose/ it draweth much downward. A certain vomiting medicine is made of it/ oynyones & sumach which is used with meats/ set in the son xl. days in a coppre vessel/ whilse the planet of the dog burneth. If the herb be but strewed upon the ground/ it driveth serpents away. It that is called Onitis/ is weyker than this first kind is. The wild kind is properly good for them that are smitten of serpent/ if the leaves or flowers be drunken with wine. Of the herb called Orminum depiction of plant Horminum syluestre. depiction of plant Horminum sativum. I Was long of that opinion that Ruellius and diverse other were of/ that Orminum should be the herb which is called of the Barbarus writers Sclarea/ in English Clare/ & in Dutch Scharlach. But after that I had weighed the description of Orminum in Dioscorides more deeply/ I found that it could not agree with our Clare. And now of late I have found that Matthiolus is of the same mind that I am of. And therefore he setteth out an other herb/ but by his ●eue a little to rowly described/ for Hormino. But it is best to examine both our clare and the herb that Matthiolus setteth forth for Hormino with the description of Dioscorides. Horminum of the gardin is an herb with leaves like Horehound/ with a stalk half a cubit high and foursquared/ about the which come forth certain forth pering things/ like unto cods/ which look toward the root/ where in are diverse sedes contained. For in the wild Hormino is found a round and dun sede/ and in the other a black and long which is used. This description seemeth in many things to disagree with our Clare/ & in one point with it that Matthiolus setteth forth. The leaves of our Clare differ much in bygnes and something in proportion from the leaves of Horehound. Our Clare hath a stalk ij. cubits long/ but Horminum should have a stalk but half a cubit long/ the things that appear out in the stalk in Clare/ look upward/ but they that are in Horminum look downward. Where ye may see that the description of Horminum agreeth not with our Clare. Dioscorides maketh mention but of one stalk in his Hormino. But it that Matthiolus setteth forth hath seven stalks at the lest/ wherefore when as Dioscorides useth not commonly to let such notable things to slip/ it is like if his Horminun had had as many/ he would have made some mention of them. Wherefore that may make some men to doubt wheter the Horminum of Matthiolus be the right Orminum or no/ which I would not do/ if I know that it had all other things belonging to Horminum beside. The virtues of Horminum. MEn will that Orminum stirreth men to the getting of children/ with honey it scoureth away the haw in the ey/ or the pin and the web. And if it be laid to with water it driveth and scattereth away swellings with the same: pricks or shiverse may be plucked out of the body. The wild Orminun is stronger than the other. although our Clare and oculus Christi which is the wild Clare/ be not the ij. kinds of Orminum that Dioscorides describeth: yet for all that they have some virtues like unto the kinds of Orminun/ for it that we call oculus Christi, hath this properti/ that if a man put a seed of it into his eye/ under the eye lid/ it bringeth forth much filthy gear out of it/ if their be any there. Both the kinds of Clare be hot & dry at the lest in the second degree. If ye will put Clare into new must/ and let it lie in it a convenient time/ or if it be sodden with the must/ it will make a good wine and wholesome for them that have cold stomachs. The same wine as the later practitioners write/ is good to cut phlegm/ & for berun women/ and for such as are much cumbered with their white flowers. The powder of clare put into a man's nose maketh him sneeze/ and bringeth down much water out of the heed. The same clare is good to bathe women with/ that want their flowers/ when it is sodden in water with penny rial and other herbs of like virtue. Of the herb called Ornithogalon. depiction of plant Ornithogalon. Ornithogalun is a tender stalk/ white/ small/ a foot & an half long with ij. or three to growing branches in the top which are soft/ out of the which come forth flowers/ without of an herbishe colour/ but when as they gape & are opened forth/ they appear white/ amongst the which/ a little heed or knop/ like a hazel flower/ which in the spring appeareth before the leaves/ cometh forth. This description of Dioscorides agreeth well in all points with the herb which is called in Duche in the city of Colon/ Hundis ullich/ but that it never groweth above the height of one span/ and is seldom so long. But it may chance that where as our common Greek text hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ that some hath put to this syllable di. For Pliny describing the same herb/ sayeth that it is but of the length of half a foot as my text of Plini hath. So that it seemeth that Plini red in his Greek Dioscorides (for it is plain that he had Dioscorides howsomever like a falslying good less man/ he pretendeth as though he never saw Dioscorides of whom he hath conveyed/ so much learned stuf/ into his omnigatherum) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, because there is so difference between two spans and half a foot/ which hath but vj. Roman inches/ when as ij. spans contain xviij. inches or a foot and an half. But it maketh no matter whether we know it or no/ seeing that it is good for nothing else/ but to be baked in breed as Nigella Romana or black common is/ and to be eaten. Matthiolus setteth forth an herb for Ornigalo Dioscorides/ which if it were ij. span long/ and had all other things agreeing with the description of Dioscorides: I would not deny but it were the right Ornithogalon/ but because he telleth nether of the length of his herb/ nor of the qualities that it hath/ I doubt more of it than of it that I have hither to taken for Orinthogalo. Of the tre called Ornus THere is some diversity of opiniones about this tre Ornus. Sum hold that it is the tree which we call in the North country a quicken tre or a rown tre/ & in the South country a quikbeme/ sum hold that it is Ornus but not fraxinus of the mountains as Tragus/ who calleth it in Duche Han buchen or Hagen buchen/ Other Duche men & namely jacob debtor the Apothecari of Wiseburg told me that Ornus is called in right Duche Walt eschern oder Wilder eschebaun. But my judgement is that Ornus is not the quicbeme/ but Fraxinus montana/ which thing I trust I shall prove by good authority. Columella in his book de re rustica sayeth that Ornus is a wild ash or an ash of the woldes/ and that it hath no worse bughes than the elm tre. Goats & sheep eat more gladly of the bughes of this tre then of other. Theophrast in his third book of the histori of plants/ in the elevent chapter writeth of ij. kinds of ashes/ of the which the former kind is in plenty in England/ and it is called commonly an ash tre. But the second kind groweth not in England that I know of. And if I be not deceived it is called of the Latins namely of Virgil Ovid and Columella/ Ornus or Fraxinus syluestris. And Theophrast writeth of his second kind of ash thus. The second kind of the ashes is lower and waxeth not so high as the other/ and is rougher/ harder and yelower. The smooth ash groweth in low and hollow places/ and in watery places. But the rough one groweth in dry & rocky ground. All that grow in plain grounds use to be plain & smouthe. And all that grow in the mountains/ use to be rough scurvy or scabbed/ with unequal parts appearing outward after the manner of scabs. Thus far Theophrast. That Ornus is a tre of the mountains/ Virgil in the second of his Georgikes witnesseth in this verse: Nascuntur steriles saxosis montibus Orni. That is/ the Barun Orni or wild ash trees grow in the rooky or craggis mountains. I know also by experience that I have of the wild or rocky ash here in Germany/ and by it that I had in the alpes of Rhetia/ that the would of the wild ash is very fair yellow/ and that the germans make fair tables and cupboards and spounes and many other things belonging to the house of the same ash tre. Then when as Columella sayeth that Ornus is Fraxinus montana/ and Theophrast sayeth that the rockishe ash is of a yellow colour/ and the germans walt ascher/ that groweth in the mountains is yellow/ I think that I may well conclude that the germans rock ash or wood ash is Ornus of the Latins/ and Fraxinus syluestris Theophrasti is for the quicbeme/ it groweth not in high and wild mountains/ but in low and watery places/ wherefore it can not be Ornus/ or the second kind of ash in Theophrast. The properties of Ornus. I Know no other use of the wild ash but that it is good to make cupbardes/ tables/ spownes & cups of. And that some use to make dagger hefters of the root of it/ for it can scarcely be known from dudgyon/ and I think that the most part of dogion is of the root of the wild ash. Whatsoever virtue the other ash hath this must have the same & more effectually/ saving in such matters as more moisture is required in. For then the common ash is more fit for such purposes. Of Orobanche. ORobanche/ as Dioscorides writeth/ is a reish stalk two spans high/ and some times higher/ tender/ rough without any lief/ hath/ with a flower something whitish/ but turning toward yellow. The root is a finger thick. And when the stalk shrynkethe for drives/ it is like an hollow pipe. It is plain that this herb groweth among certain pulses/ & that it choketh & strangleth them/ where of it hath the name of Orobanche/ that is chokefitche or strangletare. Thus far Dioscorides of Orobanche. The herb which I have taken and taught xv. years ago to be Orobanche/ which also now of late years Matthiolus hath set out for Orobanche/ groweth in many places of England/ both in the north country beside Morpethe/ whereas it is called our lady of new chapellis flower/ and also in the South country a little from Sheve in the broum closes. But it hath no name there. I have seen it in diverse places of Germany/ and first of all between Colon and Rodekirch. The herb is commonly a fout long and oft longer/ I have marked it many years/ but I cold never see any lief upon it. But I have seen the flowers in diverse places of diverse colores/ and for the most part where so ever I saw them/ they were reish or turning to a purple colour in some places/ but in figure they were like unto to the flowers of Clare with a thing in them representing a cockis heed. The root is round and much after the fashion of a lekis heed/ and there grow out of it certain long things like strings which have in them in certain places sharp things like tethe/ where with it claspeth and holdeth the root that it strangleth. I have found it oft times clasping & holding marvelously soft the roots of broun/ so that they looked as they had been bound foulden oft about with small wire. And once I found this herb growing besyd the common clover or meadow trifoly/ which was all wethered/ and when I had digged up the root of the trifoly to see what should be the cause that all other clavers or trifolies about were green and fresh/ that that trifoly should be deed. I found the roots of Orobanche fast clasped about the roots of the clover/ which as I did plainly perceive/ draw out all the natural moisture from the herb that it should have lived with all/ and so killed it/ as yvi and dodder in continuance of time do with the trees and herbs that they fold and wind themselves about. They that hold that cuscuta or doder is Orobanche in Dioscorides/ are far deceived. For Orobanche is a stalk and not a lace as doder is. Orobanche is but a fout and an half long/ but the laces of dodder will be some time iij. or iiij. foot long. Orobanche hath a root a finger thik/ but there is none such in doder/ for ye shall hardly find any right root at all in doder. The stalk of Orobanche is hollow when it is withered/ but so is not the stalk or rather the lace of doder. The stalk of Orobanche is rough/ but the lace of doder is very smooth. Wherefore they were very far overseen which now of late have written that doder is Orobanche in Dioscorides. Some other without any cause have of late put this herb which I take to be Orobanche/ amongst the kinds of Satyrion. The properties of Orobanche. ORobanche which may well be called in our tongue chokefiche or strangle weed/ is eaten commonly in sallates/ raw or sodden after the manner of sperage. Orobanche as Galene writeth is cold and dry in the first degree. Matthiolus sayeth that Orobanche is called in Italian lupa/ that is a wolf and also herba tora/ that is herb bull/ because that if a cow chanse to eat of it/ she rynneth straight way after to the bull. But it that Matthiolus writeth against Theophrast/ because he sayeth that Orobanche killeth Orobus and strangleth it with his pressing in/ or thrysting together/ and that Orobanche killeth pulses only with his presence/ pleaseth me not/ as a saying against reason authority and experience. It is against reason that only the presence of Orobanche should kill pulses/ seeing it is no venummus' herb/ when even venummus herbs kill not them amongst whom they grow except they touch them/ or be so thick amongst them that they take the nourishment from them/ whereby they should live. It is also both against the authority of Theophrast/ no lying writer/ and of lat against Dioscorides/ whom he taketh in hand to expound. For Dioscorides sayeth. It is plain that Orobanche groweth amongst pulses/ and that it chowketh or strangleth them/ where upon it hath gotten the name Orobanche/ that is Orobstrangler. Now I pray you how can Orobanche strangle it that it toucheth not? Belike Matthiolus saw no leaves in Orobanche nor any claspers above the ground/ & therefore he thought that there was no other thing that Orobanche had/ where with it cold strangle/ & never marked the little strings in the root/ which not with out a fault his Orobanche wanteth/ and so came into this error that Orobanche strangled only with his presence. Tragus painteth well Orobanch under the name of Satryrynoni/ with such little strings as it killed herbs with. And as touching experience/ I know that the fresh and young Orobanche hath coming out of the great root/ many little strings such as we see in a phrone or see sterr/ but longer/ wherewith it taketh hold of the roots of the herbs that grow next unto it. Wherefore Matthiolus ought not so lightly to have defaced the authority of Theophrast so ancient and substantial author/ with laying ignorance unto his charge/ seeing that Theophrastus in the same place where he speaketh of Orobanche telleth plainly that sum herbs are first strangled by the root/ and that not the only presence of such weeds kill herbs and pulses/ but the taking away of their nourishment that cometh partly out of the earth and partly from the air and son. The words of Theophrast are these. Orobancha vocata, eruum necat amplexu compres suque suo, & linodorum foenum graecum interimit, protinus radici adnascens. Lo here may ye see that a weed may kill a pulse by the root alone. But Theophrast sayeth farther. Omnia idcirco interimunt, quia pabulum tollunt, tam quod terra ministret, quàm quòd à sole & aere veniat. That is all kinds of weeds do kill/ because they take away the nourishment as well it that the earth giveth/ as it that cometh from the air and the son. Of Rise. depiction of plant Oriza. ORiza is named in English and Duche Ris/ in French rize. Dioscorides writeth no more of the description of Ris/ put that it grows in waterish and marish grounds. But Theophrast describeth it more largely/ after this wise. Rys is to look to like unto Lolium or darnel/ and for the most time of his growing/ it standeth in water. But it putteth forth no ear/ but a mane after the manner of millet and panik. Thus far Theophrast/ who maketh a little above Rise also like zoea/ which is called spelta of the herbaries/ & in Duche Speltzsperk. It hath commonly an ear with ij. chesses or orders of corn/ as barley hath/ called in Greek Distichon. Which marks all together agree with our Rise/ except that where he sayeth that oriza hath a mane and no ear/ or spike. But I judge that he taketh an ere very straightly here/ for that which is growing hard to the top of the strew & is not spread abroad for/ and wide from the strew that it cometh out of/ and that therefore he denieth that panicum hath any ear/ which after the common taking of an ear/ hath an ear as well as barley or sperltz hath. For Theophrast in his eight book de historia plantarum describeth iubam that is a mane/ such as he giveth unto Rise mile and panik after this manner. Effusam illam harundinaceam comam iubam appello: that is I call that Riedishe bush or look that is stretched forth abroad/ a mane/ so the Theophrast meaneth that the heed of Rise is not properly to be called an ere/ because the corns are so far from the straw. This is ones out of all doubt/ that lolium and zea have ears/ but Theophrast maketh Rise like unto these two/ and not for the leaves sake or the strawis sake/ but only for the ears sake. Wherefore Theophrast meaneth not that Rise is without all kind of ear/ but that it hath no such compact ere & growing hard to the heed of the straw as other kinds of corn have/ but louse and going abroad after the fashion of an horses mane. I saw Rise growing in plenty beside milan. The virtues of Rise. RIse nourisheth menely/ but it stoppeth the belly/ Rise as Galene sayeth bindeth something/ and that therefore it stoppeth the belly. simeon Sethi writeth that Rise is hot in the first degree & dry in the second. Rise sayeth he prepared with milk maketh a man look well/ and bringeth a good colour/ and increaseth seed. Of the herb called Osiris. THe herb which is taken of the most part of learned men to be Osiris/ is called of the apothecary's linaria/ because it is like unto line or flax/ & in Duche it is named Kroten flaches/ that is toad flax. But although it groweth plenteously in England/ yet I never heard any English name for it. If there be no other name for it/ it may be called in English linari or toads flax. Dioscorides describeth Osiris thus: Osiris is a black little bush/ bearing small branches/ tough and hard to break/ and in them grow four leaves together/ or five/ or six like unto lint or flax/ black in the beginning/ & the colour changed afterwards reish. I know no herb that agreeth better with the description of Osiris then linaria doth/ yet for all that/ the certain number of leaves growing together hindereth it to be the right Osiris/ for our linaria hath the branches all full of leaves without any certain numbered growing together/ & at no time redishe that I cold mark hitherto. Matthiolus writeth that sum judge the fair herb that is called in Italian beluidere to be the right Osiris/ where unto he seemeth to consent. But at this present I have not the herb/ wherefore I can not examine it with the description of Dioscorides/ and therefore can give no judgement in this matter. The virtues of Osiris. DIoscorides writeth that the broth of Osiris drunken is good against the jaundice or guelsought. Galene writeth that Osiris hath a bitter quality 〈◊〉 ●●erfore pou● to open stoppings/ so that it can hele the stopping of the 〈◊〉. Of Oxyacantha. OXyacantha which is named in Latin Spina acuta, is a tre like unto a wild pere tre/ very full of pricks/ but less. It bringeth forth berries like Myrtilles/ full read/ brekle/ & a kyrnel within a root divided many ways/ which goeth deep into the ground. Hitherto Dioscorides. The most part of learned men in this part of Europa have judged of late years that our berberes should be Oxyacantha. But the description of Oxyacantha in all points depiction of plant Berberis Oxyacantha. doth not agree with our berberis. First our berberis bush looketh not like a wild pere tre/ for it is rather a bush then a tre/ for in all the places that ever I saw it in/ it never rose up to the bygnes of a tre. The berries of barberis and of the Myrt tre are not in proportion & figure like. For the berberis beris are great in the mids & small at both the ends/ after the manner of a long eg. Such fashion of figure is not in a Mirt berry. Dioscorides seemeth to give one berry Oxyacantha/ but one stone or kernel/ but every berri of berberies hath iiij. at the lest/ wherefore it is not like that our berberis should be Oxyacantha. Thus much I had marked before I saw Matthiolus. But after that I saw Matthiolus I learned of him an other reason to prove that our berberis could not be Oxyacantha/ which was this. Dioscorides describing the former kind of Mespilus or meddler tre/ sayeth that it hath a leaf like unto Oxyacantha. But the former kind of Mespilus/ as Theophrastus witnesseth hath indented leaves/ & in the utter most part like unto the leaves of parsley. But there is no likeness between the leaves of berberis & of parsley: wherefore berberis can not be Oxycantha. The forenamed Matthiolus holdeth that our haw tre or white thorn tre is Oxyacantha. But when as our haw thorn tre loseth his leaves every year/ & Theophrast in his first book de historia Plantarun & in the xv. chapter rehearseth Oxyacantham amongst the trees that have green leaves all the year. I can not see how that our common hawthorn should be Oxyacantha. How that Matthiolus will answer to this I can not tell/ but I have no other shift saving this. In Summerset shire about six miles from Welles/ in the park of Gassenberry there is an hawthorn which is green all the winter/ as all they that dwell there about do steadfastly hold. If the Oxyacantha be any kind of hawthorn/ it must be the kind which abideth green all the hole year throw. But if that our hawthorn be not Oxyacantha/ as I suppose plainly that it is a kind of it/ it is Spina alba in Columella as God willing here after I intent to prove. The virtues of Oxyacantha. THe berries of Oxyacantha taken either in meat or drink/ stop the flix of the belly and the issue of women. The root of the same laid to emplasterwyse pulleth out pricks and shivers. Out of Galene in his book of simple medicines. OXyacanthos as it is a tre like unto a wild pere tre/ so it hath properties not unlike. But the fruit of the wild pere tre is throw out binding and very tart/ yet the fruit of Oxyacantha is of fine or subtle parts and a little cutting. But the fruit of this tre is not like unto the fruit of a wild pere tre/ but like unto myrtles/ that is to wet read and thin. Of the herb called Oxys. depiction of plant Oxis. Oxys'/ as the most part of learned men judge/ is the herb which is called in English hallelujah/ because it appeareth about Easter when hallelujah is sung again/ or wodsore: but it should be called wood four or sorrel/ in Dutch Hasen ampfer/ in French Pane de coquu. Pliny writeth thus of Oxys. Oxys hath three leaves growing together. And further have we of no other writer that I could yet see that telleth what Oxys is. By the name we may know that it must be sour/ and by the form or fashion three leaved. Where upon we gather that Oxys must be a sour trifoly/ and when as there is no trifoly that is sour sayving this/ and Lotus urbana/ & it can not be Lotus urbana/ because it groweth always wild in the woods/ and commonly about tre roots/ we gather that this Alleleluya or wodsour should be Oxys in Pliny. The virtues of wodsour out of Pliny. OXys is given unto a flash/ louse or weike stomach. They rat of it also that have the bursting of the guts. The practitioners of Germany writ that the distilled water of hallelujah cooleth well & comforteth the heart/ and quencheth thirst/ and that it is good in all hot diseases and inflammationes. They hold also that the distilled water of wodsorel/ is good to be tempered with alum/ for the wounds and sores of the mouth. Of the Date tre. PAlma is called in Greek Phoenix/ in English a Date tre/ in Dutch ein Dattel baum/ in French vn Palm arbre. The description of the Date tre out of Pliny. THe country of jewry is honourably commended/ for nothing more than for Date trees/ of whose nature I will speak now. There are certain Date trees in Europa/ and in many places of Itali/ but they bring forth no fruit. They bear fruit well in the see costs of spain/ but unpleasant. The Date trees bring forth a sweet fruit in Africa/ but it vanisheth away by and by. But it chanceth contrary wise in the east parts of the world/ for there some people make breed of Dates/ and sum make wine of them/ & some nationes make father for cattle of Dates. Wherefore it shall be most commendable to speak of them that are in strange & far countries. There groweth no Date tre of itself in Itali without setting or sowing/ neither in any other parts/ but in a hot ground. But it bringeth forth no fruit but in a burning hot ground. The Date tre groweth commonly in a light and sandy ground/ & for the most part in a saltish or nitrishe ground. It loveth well watery places/ & where as it is desirous to drink all the hole year/ it is most desirous in the drought or dry time of the year. Sum judge that dunging hurteth Date trees. And sum of the Assyrianes reckon that it is ill for the Date trees/ if they be not set in watery places. There are diverse kinds of Date trees. The first kind exceedeth not the bygnes of a bush. This kind in sum places bringeth forth fruit/ and in sum places it bringeth forth no fruit. And this kind is full of leaves/ & hath a round circle of branches growing about. Sum use the branches & leaves of these to cover walls with/ against the falling of water upon them in many places of this country. The bushy lok/ in the wild kind is in the top/ & so is the fruit/ & not amongst the leaves as it is in other kinds. But this wild kind hath his fruit/ as it were many berries together in his branches/ among the smaller bughes/ & is both of the nature of a grapi & of an apple. The leaves have the fashion of a sharppoynted knife/ the sides being divided & turned inward into themselves. They did show at the first goodly pearls/ but now the leaves are used to make bands of to bind vindes & to make ropes of. They are also cloven & then there are made certain light things of them/ for shadowing of men's hedes. Trees/ ye all other things that ever the earth bringeth forth/ ye even the herbs also both the male & the female as the most diligent searchers & markers of nature have taught in their writings. And this thing is in no tre more manifestly tried then in Date trees. The male flourisheth in his branches/ but the female buddeth without any flower/ only after the manner of a thistle. In both the kinds the flesh of the fruit groweth before the stone/ & that is the Date sede. And this is proved to be so that there are found in the same branches little ones without any stones. But that is long & not round as the olive stones be. It is also cut in the back with a long rift or cleaving after the manner of a pillow. And the most part have a navel in the mids of their bellies. And from that place cometh first forth that it divideth itself into a root. It is best to saw it grovelling. There must be ever two set together/ & as many about: for every one sown alone/ should bring forth to weike a plant. Four of them grow together. The flesh of the Date waxeth ripe in a year. In certain other places as in-Cyprus although it come never to ripeness/ yet it is swetishe with a pleasant taste. And there is the leaf brother/ & the fruit is rounder than other be. Nether is it taken that the body of it should be eaten/ but the juice pressed out/ that the other parts may be spitted out again. Date trees love to be removed. We have said before the Date trees love a saltish ground. Wherefore where as there is none such/ men strew salt there/ not even upon the roots/ but a little further of. They bear even in the first year/ anon after their planting. But in Cyprus and in Syria/ and Egypt/ some of them bring forth fruit when they are iiij. year old/ and some when they are five year old/ when it is of the height of a man. And as long as the tre is very young/ the fruit hath no stone within him/ and therefore such are called geldings. There are many kinds of Date trees. Men use the barun trees for timber/ in Assyria/ & all the land of Persis/ and namely for the finest and perfitest works. There are also woods of Date trees which use to be cut down/ which spring again of the roots. And there is a sweet mary or pith in the top which they call the brain. And when that is taken forth/ they live still as other do not. There are sum that are called chame ropes/ and they have a broad leaf and soft. And they are most meet to bind vyndes with. They grow plenteously in Candy/ but more plenteously in Sicilia. The coals that are made of the Date trees/ do lie long & are long in dying/ & the fire thereof/ is a very slow fire. There are sum Date trees in whose fruit is a stone bowing after the fashion of an half moon. And this sum polished with a tooth with a certain religion/ against forspeking and bewitching. There is one kind of Date trees called Margarides/ & these are short/ white/ round/ and more like unto round berries/ than to acorns/ by reason where of they have their name of pearls. Some say that there is a kind of them/ Inchora/ and also that there is one of them/ which are called Syagri. Where of we have heard a wonder/ that is to weet/ that that same kind dieth & liveth again by itself/ as the bird called Phoenix doth/ which is supposed to have received her name of this kind of Date tre/ for the cause above rehearsed. And whilse as I wrote these things that ye now read/ it brought forth fruit. The fruit of it is / hard/ rough & ill-favoured to look to/ and differeth from all other kinds by a wild rammishe and rank taste that it hath. The which same things we have almost perceived to be in bores/ and this is the most evident cause of the name of it. There are other Dates that grow about the higher parts of Ethiopia/ called cariote/ which have in them much meat and much juice/ where of the men of the east/ make their chief wines. But they are evil for the headache/ where of they have their name. But as there is plenty/ and the ground beareth very many/ so most excellent & noble Dates grow in jewry/ & not every there/ but most about jerico. There are sum kinds of Dates called dactyli/ and they are of the drier sorts/ and they are long and small and something crooked. Dates in Ethiopia are broken into powder (such is the drought there) and after the manner of meal they are thicked up and of them breed is made. The Date there/ groweth in a bush that hath branches/ a cubit long/ a broad leaf/ a round fruit/ but greater than an apple/ they call them cycas. They wax ripe in three years/ and there is always one Date upon the bush/ & other groweth under the same. They are fittest to be kept that grow in saltish and sandy grounds/ as in jewry and in Africa about Siren. But they can not be kept in Egypt/ Cyprus/ Syria/ Seleucia/ & therefore they feed swine and other beasts with them. Many of Alexandres soldiers was strangled with green Dates. And that chanced in Gedrosis by a certain kind of fruit/ but in other places it chanceth by the reason of the plenty. The leaves of the Date tre never fall of. Out of Theophrastus. THe Date tre is always green/ and the leaves have the fashion of a redis leaf. It desireth a saltish and a sandy ground and of ten watering/ and above all things oft to be removed. If ye will sow Dates/ ye must bind two together/ and other two together above the first couple/ and lay them all grovelynges toward the ground. And as sound as they begin to come forth/ the roots fold in one about an other/ & so grow together that they make but one tree. And thus do they because if one were alone/ the tre would be to weike. When it is first removed and transplanted/ and also every time afterward/ men use to cast salt about the roots of the young Date trees. If a Date tre be topped or lopped it will live no longer after. Out of Plutarch. THe wood of the Date tre/ if ye lay a weight upon it/ and therewith labour to press it down/ yet it will not bow downward/ but it boweth in to the contrary/ as though it withstod the burden/ that violently pressed it. The very same thing doubtless chanceth in the trying of masteries/ unto wrestlers/ & championis/ for they bow down them by pressyng/ which by dastardnes/ and weiknes of mind give place unto them. But they that continue manfully in that business/ go not only forward/ and increase in bodily streyngthe/ but also in wisdom of the mind. Out of Aulus Gellius. AVlus Gellius also a famous writer/ sayeth in his third book noctium atticarum, that the Date tre hath in it a certain singular/ and special properti that agreeth with the disposition and manner of valiant bold men/ for if ye lay/ sayeth he/ heavy weights/ and press and burden it so sore/ that it is not able to abide the greatness of the weight/ it giveth no place nor boweth downward/ but it riseth up again/ against the burden and loboreth to grow upward/ & it boweth back ward. These places have I gathered out of the most ancient and worthiest writers for their sakes/ to whom it belongeth to open the scripture unto the common people/ because in diverse places of the holy scripture/ & specially in the Psalter/ is mention made of the Date tre and diverse examples are fetched/ and more may be fetched out of the nature of the same tre. The virtues of the Date tre. THe Date tre is sour/ tart/ and binding. It is good to be drunken in tart binding wine against the flux and issue that women have. It stoppeth the emrodes. If it be laid to/ it healeth up wounds. Grene Dates bind more than they that are dry. They ingendre heed ache. If they be taken plenteously in meat they make them that eat them drunken. The dry fruit of the Date trees/ are good to be eaten of them that spit blood/ or are diseased in the stomach/ and of them that have the bloody flix. They are good to be laid to with an ointment made of quinces and of the flowers of the wild vinde/ for the diseases of the bladder. Dates if they be eaten/ they are good for the harrishenes or roughness of the throat. The stones of dates burned in an unbaked pot/ & quenched with wine/ if the ashes be burnt/ will serve in the stead of Spodium. Out of Galene. DAtes if they be taken in plenty are hard of digestion/ and breed the heed ache. The juice that is made of them which is carried in to the body/ is gross. The much use of dates stop the milt/ and the liver/ and they are evil for them that have any inflammation or hard swelling in the body. Dates as Simeon Sethi writeth/ are hot in the second degree and moist in the first. Beside the incommodities that Dioscorides and Galene write to come of Date/ the forenamed Sethi/ saith that Dates fill the stomach full of wind/ and that they are hurtful for them that have evil goumes/ or are disposed to the squinsey/ the eysore/ and to the tooth ache. Wherefore our sweet lipped Londoners & wanton courtiers/ do not wisely to suffer so many dates to be put in to their pies/ and other meats/ to the charge of their purses/ and to no less undoing of the health of their bodies. Of Panik. Panicum. depiction of plant depiction of plant PAnicum is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in French panik/ in Dutch fench or fenich/ or heydelfenich. But it hath no name in English yet/ but it may well be called panic after the Latin. Panik hath leaves like unto a read when it cometh first forth. Afterward it hath a long stalk or straw full of joints. And in the top groweth a long thing like an ear/ which is all full of little yellow sedes/ as little as some mustard sede/ but not so round. Panik groweth plenteously in Italy and in high Germany & in some gardens of England. Theophrast writeth that Panic if it be much watered/ that it will be sweeter/ & he sayeth that Mille● and Panic because they are covereth with many coats/ and are dry/ will b●te well when they are laid up. The virtues of Panik. DIoscorides writeth that Panic hath the same virtue that Milleth hath/ but that it nourisheth & bindeth less. Galene sayeth that panic is of the kind of pulses/ and in likeness like unto millet/ and also in virtue of small nourishment/ and dry. It stoppeth also after him the flix of the belly as millet doth/ and if it be laid without/ it drieth & couleht. Constantinus in his book of husbandry sayeth that panik and millet make feldefayres & thrusshes fat/ if they be fed there with/ & the small birds are much desirous of the same. Wherefore if any man were desirous to fat or seed in cages any small birds/ it were good to sow good plenty of panic & millet to feed and fat them therewith Of diverse kinds of Poppy. Papaver is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in English poppy or chesboule/ in Dutch magsamen/ in French pavot. There are diverse kinds of poppy. The first kind is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin papaver sativum/ in English whit poppy or gardin poppy. This kind hath a long heed and a white sede/ as Dioscorides sayeth & more over a white flower. The second kind of poppy is wild and it hath a heed sitting as Dioscorides writeth and black seed in it. There is yet the depiction of plant Papaver erraticum primum. depiction of plant Papaver erraticum alterum. depiction of plant Papaver sativam purpureum. depiction of plant Papaver corniculatum luteum. third kind that is wilder and more appointed for physic/ and longer than the other/ and it hath a long heed. There is also the fourth kind where of Dioscorides writeth in a several chapter alone. And it is called papaver erraticum/ in Latin/ in Greek rheas because the flower falleth away hastily. This kind is called in English cornrose or redcornrose/ and with us it groweth much amongst the rye and barley. Dioscorides describeth it thus. It hath leaves like rocket/ or organ/ or cicori/ or thyme/ but longer divided/ and rough. The stalk is rysshye/ straight/ a cubit long/ and sharp. The flower of it is like unto wild anemone/ of a cremisin colour some time white. The heed is long but less than it of anemone. The seed is read. The root is long something white/ of the thickness of one little fingers/ of a better taste. Beside all these kinds there is an other kind much differing from all the rest: It is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin corniculatum papaver, in Duche gel magsam/ or gehoernter mag samen. It may be named in English horned poppy or see poppy/ or yellow poppy. It groweth very plenteously about the see side in England both beside Dover & also in Dorset shire/ & in many other places of England. Dioscorides describeth horned poppy thus. Horned poppy hath white leaves/ rough and like unto malled/ indented about the edges like wild Poppy. The stalk is not unlike the same. The flower is yellow. The seed vessel is like Fenegreke/ and boweth inward like an horn/ whereupon it hath the name. It hath a small black seed like unto poppy. The root is black and thick/ and it groweth not deep in the ground/ but in the overpart of it. It groweth about the see side and rough places. The virtues of the gardin or white poppy. THe common nature of all kinds of poppy is to cool: Wherefore if the hedes and leaves be boiled in water/ will make a man sleep if his heed be bathed there with. The brooth is good to be drunken against to much waking and want of sleep. The heads broken with perched barley and menged with emplasters are good for inflammationes both cholerik and other. The green hedes must be brayed and fashioned in to little cakes and dried and laid up until need shall require the use of them. The hole hedes are sodden in water alone/ until the half be sodden away/ and then afterward the broth is sodden again with honey until the hole broote be commed unto the thickness or toughness of an electuari. This medicine is good for the cough/ the catar that floweth into the pipes/ and for the disease of running of the belly. But the medicine will be much stronger if ye put unto it hypoquistida & acaciam. It is good to drink the sede of black popy broken/ with wine against the flix of the belly/ and also against wymens' isshues. It is also good to lay to the temples and for heed of him that can not sleep. The juice of black Poppy called Opium cooleth more/ thicketh more/ and drieth more: if it be taken in the quantity of a bitter fich/ called eruum or orobus: it suageth ache/ and bringeth sleep/ it helpeth them that have the flux. But if a man take to much of it/ it is hurtful/ for it taketh a man's memori away and killeth him. It is good to be poured upon a man's heed with rose oil for the heed ach. With almond oil it is good to be poured in to the ears/ with myr and safron for the ache of them. With the yoke of an egg hard roasted/ it is good for the inflammationes or burnings of the eyes. With vinegar it is good for the cholerik inflammation called erisipelas/ it healeth wounds also. With woman's milck it suageth the pain of the gout. If it be put in to the fundament after the manner of a suppositori it bringeth sleep. The virtues of Poppy out of Galene. THe seed of the gardin Poppy is good to be menged with bred to season it. But the white is better than the black. The properti of it is to cool/ and therefore it stirreth a man to sleep. But if ye take it out of measure/ it will bring the dull sleeping called cataphoria/ & it will be hard to digest. It stoppeth those humores that are spitten out with coughing out of the breast & lungs. The use of it is very good for that have a subtle and thin moisture flowing out of their hedes in to the parts that are in under. Poppy giveth no speak worthy nourishment unto the body. Out of the arabians. AVerroes writeth that Poppy is cold and moist/ and that the white is cold in the third degree/ and that the black is cold in the fourth/ and that the white bringeth a pleasant sleep/ but that the black is evil and maketh a dull or sluggish sleep. Out of simeon Sethy a later Grecian. simeon Sethy writeth that poppy is cold & dry in the first degree/ & that white poppy taken with honey increaseth feed. The same writeth that the black is colder than the other/ & that opium is poison. Wherefore men had need to take heed how they occupy it. For although sum be very bold in occupying of it: I taught by experience how ieperdus it is/ dare not without warns give it in to the body. For ones in East Friesland/ when as I washed an aching tooth with a little opio mixed with water/ and a little of the same unawares went down: with in an hour after my hands began to swell about the wrists/ and to itch/ & my breath was so stopped/ that if I had not taken in a piece of the root of masterwurt/ called of some pilletory of spain with wine/ I thynck that it would have killed me. The virtues of red corn rose. IF ye take v. or vj. hedes of read cornrose/ & seethe them in iij. ciathes of wine until the half be sodden away/ and give this unto a man it will make him sleep. An acetable of the seed sodden in meed or honeyed water/ if it be drunken/ it will soften the belly gently. For the same purpose some use to put the sedes in to honeyed cakes. The leaves and bruised together are good against inflammationes and burnings. The same are good to bathe their temples with all that would fain sleep. A cyate where of I made mention before as Agricola de mensuris & ponderibus writeth/ holdeth two ounces/ one dram and one scruple/ and an acetable holdeth two ounces and an half. Matthiolus writeth that some use to gather the flowers of redcorn rose & to give the powder of them to them that are sick in the pleuresi. Some also sayeth Matthiolus/ take the flowers & make a Syrup of them by putting three or four times fresh flowers in to warm water/ & afterward as much sugar as shall be enough to keep the Syrup from moulding. Which Syrup is very good for the above named disease. He sayeth furthermore that about Trent the people taketh the young leaves when they come first forth & seth them & make pottage and gruel of them/ & meng them with butter & cheese. Theophrast writing of the same herb sayeth that it was used in meat in his time/ & that gathered something green it purgeth downward. If any man were disposed to make a read coloured butter & wholesome/ for the diseases above named: he may with great profit meng the juice of the redcorn rose flowers with the butter/ the same put in to the cheese/ would colour cheese well & provoke a man to sleep. The juice of the leaves mixed with butter or cheese will make them grieve/ & profitable for the purposes before named. The virtues of horned Poppy. THe root of horned poppy sodden in water until the half be sodden away and then drunken/ healeth the sciatica/ and the diseases of the liver. The comen translatores turn Trachea in to crassa, how well judge thou reder. It is also good for them that piss out with their water 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is rough things & like unto spiders or spinners. The seed taken in the quantity of an acetable with meed looseth the belly gently. But to much of this is very ieperdus/ wherefore I counsel all men that they be not to bold in using of it/ when as the same help that it bringeth/ may be had of other diverse gentle medicines with out all jeopardy. Remedies against the poison of Opium BEcause men in extreme aches and pains are by extreme need of times compelled to fly for help to the use of Opium & it hath so much jeopardy as is before said/ it is needful that we have in a readiness some remedy against such jeopardy. Therefore I intent to tell both the tokens and remedies against the poison of Opium. These are the tokens where by a man may know who is poisoned with opium. He that hath eaten opium hath a great sluggishness and a disposition to sleep/ and all the body is cumbered with a sore iche. The remedies against the poison of opium are these. First if any man have drunken opium ye must provoke him to vomit with the drinking of warm oil/ and ye must serve unto him a sharp clyster. For the same purpose oxymel that is honeyed vinegar/ is very good to be drunken with a little salt. honey with rose & strong wine drunken with wormwood or cinnamun are also good. It is also good to drynck pepper with castorio which is the cod of a beaver in honeyed vinegar. If the patient be to much slepi/ put styngking things unto his nose to waken him therewith. If that his ich continue still/ put him in to a bath of warm water. After the bath it is good to give him fat meats & malvesey or such like hot wine. And these remedies are not only good against Opium/ but against the hurt that cometh by taking of any kind of poppy/ or any other medicine of the same nature that they are of. Of Severfew. Parthenium as Dioscorides sayeth called of some Amaracus hath thin leaves like unto Coriandre. The flower is yellow in the part that goeth about the yellow knop. It hath a smell something grievous/ & a bitter taste. If it be dried & drunken with honeyed vinegar or salt/ it purgeth choler and phlegm/ as epithymum doth: and it is a good remedy for them that are shortwynded/ and for them that are grieveth with melancholi. Hermolaus Barbarus and Ruellius with diverse other great learned men/ do judge that the herb which is called of the apothecary's matricaria/ in English Feverfew/ in Dutch metterkraut or metre/ is parthenium in Dioscorides. But Antonius Musa some time my master in Ferraria/ & Leonardus Fuchsius my good friend in Germany/ hold that Feverfew is not Parthenium/ but the herb which we call madenwede or mathwede. But though they are both my friends/ yet I will hold with that truth rather than with than/ when as I judge that they hold not with it/ as I think they do in this opinion. Fuchsius reasoneth against the opinion of Ruellius thus. Feverfew hath not the small leaves of Coriander/ but the brother leaves of the same/ and therefore/ matricaria is not parthenium. Whereunto I answer that indeed Coriander hath ij. kinds of leaves/ some meetly broad beneath/ & some very small above. But I can not see one word of authority/ or one good argument that Fuchsius hath brought to prove his saying that by the leaves of Coriandre ought to be understand the small leaves of Coriander/ and not the brother leaves. For it that he allegeth out the Greek text proveth nothing it that he intendeth. I grant that Dioscorides sayeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as Fuchsius seemeth to understand Dioscorides. depiction of plant Parthemium I. depiction of plant Parthemium II. For this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Dioscorides betokeneth not always it that is narrow & small/ but oft times it betokeneth it that is not deep nor thick/ but it that is thin although it be brood. For Dioscorides writeth that the arbut tre/ the herb called teucrium/ & hedera helix have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. But all men that know these plants/ know well that their leaves are meetly broad/ for teuchrion hath a leaf like unto a ciche: the arbut tre hath leaves almost as big as a quince tre/ & that nether hedera helix/ nor any of the other above named is any thing at all like unto the smallest leaves of coriander/ but much brother than the brodest leaves of coriander. Therefore Fuchsius hath proved nothing by this word lepta. The argument also that he bringeth of the placing of parthenium amongst the herbs that have little small narrow leaves/ is not sufficient to prove his purpose. For if the herbs that are next together described were always like in leaves: then should Peoni/ Grummel & Phalaris have like leaves/ for they are described together. But their leaves are not like/ therefore the argument followeth not. And as for the argument that he maketh of the bastard names that are falsely stopped into Dioscorides/ it must needs be such argument as the truth is of the setting in of such false names: where in when as the truth is not/ who will grant in this matter the argument of Fuchsius to be true. To his last argument where he reasoneth that none of the later/ writers hath given any purging virtue unto Matricaria/ & Parthenium purgeth/ ergo it is not Parthenium: I answer that/ as the later writers have found by experience a purgy vertu in diverse herbs where of is found no mention in the old writers/ so have the old autores given unto diverse herbs a purging virtue/ which herbs as the later writers never knew/ so have never proved wheter they have any purging virtue or no. For if the later writers would have proved/ wheter matricaria purgeth or no: they might have found that it doth so. For this am I sure that matricaria purgeth/ namely weak persons that are weik persons. For upon a time when I was with a sick woman in East Fresland/ and the present necessity required purgation/ and there was no pothecaries shop at hand (for there is but one city in all East Fresland where there are any pothecaries in/ and that is called Emden) I went into the gardin and found there feverfew in good plenty/ where of I took an handful and put it in to water & sod it/ and after that I had made the broth drynkable with a little honey/ & had given her it/ doubtless with in a few hours after she had three meetly good stools of the broth of that herb. wherefore I am sure that it purgeth weik folk/ although it worketh nothing or very little in them that are lusty and strong as I have proved also. Therefore I see nothing that hitherto berout that hindereth feverfew to be parthenium. The virtues of Feverfew: THe herb without the flower is very good to be drunken of them that are short winded/ & also of then that have the stone. The broth of the herb is good to sit in forweomen that have the hardness of the mother/ and against inflammationes or burning heats. With the flower it is good to lay it unto choleric inflammationes/ and to such gatherings of humores together. Sum learned men not without a cause judge that our tansy is a kind of parthenium. The virtues where of are these. Tansey is good for the wyndenes of the stomach and belly/ wherefore it was well devised of Phisicianes of old time/ that after Easter men should use tanseyes to drive away the wyndenes that they have gotten all the lent before with eating of fish/ peasen/ beans and diverse kinds of wind making herbs/ where of they make at that time their sallettes. But if men would follow my counsel/ they should use tansy all the lent throw/ & not after Easter alone. And then should they fewer be hurt with the colik and stone/ that use commonly to be hurt there by. The same tansy is good for the stone/ to provoke water and to kill worms in the belly. The new writers hold that tansy is better for men/ and that Feverfew is better for women. Of the gardin and wild carot. PAstinaca is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, & as I judge in English a carot in Duche geel ruben/ and in French pastenad/ as Rembertus writeth. Dioscorides describeth not the gardin carot but the wild carot. After this manner. The wild carot hath the leaves of gingidij/ but brother & something bitter/ a straight stalk/ rough/ a spoky or beamytop like unto dillwhere in are whit sloures & in depiction of plant Pastinaca I. depiction of plant Pastinaca II. the mids is a certain purple thing/ almost resembling saffron. The root is a fingers thick & a span long/ having a good smell/ which useth to be eaten. Thus far hath Dioscorides written. Hitherto have I found no man that hath denied that the wild carot is pastinaca syluestris. Which thing is a very great furtherance for my purpose that I go about/ that is that the gardin or sown or mannered carot is the right pastinaca syluestris. But Matthiolus a man otherwise well seen in simples erring very far from the truth/ will have our common persnepe to be pastinacan noth withstanding that he granteth that our wild carot is the right pastinaca syluestris. In doing where of he condemneth his own opinion. For if wild carot be pastinaca syluestris/ then must pastinaca hortensis have sum likeness in leaves with the wild/ except some author expressedly declare that the wild or other kind is altogether unlike the gardin or communer kind as Dioscorides doth in brassica marina/ and Paulus Egineta in his kind of betony. But when there is no such exception or expressed difference made of any good writer between pastinacan syluestren & domesticam pastinacan/ there aught to be some likeness between the leaves of the one & the other. But there is no likeness at all between the leaves of wild carot & the common persnepe/ therefore Matthiolus erreth in making the persnepe to be the gardin pastinaca/ when as in very deed the gardin carot is the right pastinaca hortensis. As the wild carot is found abroad in the fields like unto the gardin carot in leaves/ taste & smell/ even so is there found a wild kind of persnepe like unto the gardin persnepe/ both in leaves/ sede/ rote/ smell & taste. This wild persnepe groweth plenteously beside cambridge in a lane not far from Newnan Milles. It groweth plenteously also in Germany beside Worms/ and I doubt not but it groweth in many other places both in England & Germany/ and peraduentur in Itali also/ though Matthiolus never saw it nor marked it: Which if he had seen & well considered/ he would not have erred as he hath in pastinaca hortensi. He confuteth the opinion of Ruellius/ which Fuchsius/ Rembertus & I hold altogether/ only with meruelyng & with saying that he hath not seen nether in the writings of the Grecianes nor arabians/ that pastinaca domestica should have such a read or sanguine colour as the carottes have. But I think he hath red/ that although he have forgotten it. For Theodorus Gaza a learned man both in Greek & in Latin/ and an excellent translator/ whom I doubt not but he hath red translating the xv. chapter of Theophrast de historia plantarun. Where as he rehearseth Theophrastis words/ speaketh after this manner. Nascetur apud eos uterque elleborus, videlicet albus & niger, item pastinaca, specie lauri, colore croci, & in the same chapter. Pastinaca in patrensi agro praestantior caeteris huic vis calfactoria, & radix nigra. Simeon Sethi also a Grecian as he is translated/ maketh one kind of pastinaca to have black or read roots/ & an other kind with yellow roots. If any man suspect the translator/ the words of simeon in Greek are these: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. If that the translator be suspected again for turning daukia into pastinacas/ where hath any man red in any other Graecian or Latin author/ that Daucus hath read & yellow roots. If that can not be found in any good author/ Daukia are well translated pastinace. therefore there is no cause why/ but that our common gardin carrot should be pastinaca sativa. The virtues of both the carotes out of Dioscorides. THe seed of wild carot/ drunken or laid to in a convenient place bringeth down flowers. It is good to be taken in drink of them that can not easily make water. It is also good for the dropsy/ for the pleuresis if it be taken in drink/ and so is it also good for the biting & stinging of serpents. Sum hold that if a man take this afore hand/ that he shall not be bitten of serpents. It is good for conception. The root driveth out water/ & provoketh men to the work of veneri. And if it be laid to the convenient place/ it helpeth to bring forth the child that sticketh in the birth. The leaves broken and laid on with honey scour freting sores. The gardin carot hath the same virtues/ but not so strong/ & yet mor fit to be used in meat then the wild one is. Out of Galen de simplicibus medicamentis. THe gardin carot is the weiker/ the wild for all purposes is mightier. The herb and specially the root & sede/ driveth out water and flowers. It hath also a certain scouring nature/ wherefore the Surgeanes use to lay to freting sores the green leaves with honey to scour them. Out of Galenes' book of the pours and properties of norishmentes or meats. THe roots of carot/ daucus and carowayes are used commonly to be eaten/ but they nourish less than rapes & aron of cyrendo. Th●y heat notablely/ and show out a spicy thing/ but they are hard of digestion as other roots be. They stir a man to make water/ and if they be used in very great plenty they will make a metly evil juice. The root of corowayes is of a better juice than the carot is. Sum call the wild carot Daucum/ which indeed moveth a man to make water more mightily/ but it is more medicinable or like a medicine/ and if a man would eat it/ he had need to seethe it very much. Aueroes' writeth that the garden carot is good for them that are slow to the work of increasing the world with children. Of the herb called Peplis. depiction of plant Peplis. PEplis whom some call wild porcelain/ & Hypocrates calleth peplion/ for the most part groweth by the see side/ it hath a broad shadowing bush which is full of white juice. The leaves are like unto porcelain/ round and read beneath. Under the leaves is a round sede as there is in pleplo with a burning taste. It hath but one single root/ which is empty and small. I have seen this herb in Islands about Venice. It is very lyk unto our English wartwurth/ which is judged of learned men to be tithimalus helioscopius/ but it is much shorter & thicker/ and spreadeth itself upon the ground/ it may be called in English see wartwurt. The virtues of Peplis. PEplis taken in the quantity of an acetable with one cyate of meed/ purgeth out choler and phlegm: this herb have I seen in an island beside Venice. Of the herb called Peplis. depiction of plant Peplos. PEplus is a bushy herb full of milky juice/ with little leaves like rue/ but a little brother/ with a round bush of herbs in the top/ almost a span long/ spread upon the ground. The seed is round & groweth under the leaves something less than white poppy sede. It is full of many helps. It hath but one root & that void nothing worth. It groweth amongst the vindes & in gardens. I never saw this herb in any place saving only in Bonony/ where as my master Lucas above xuj. years showed me with many other strange herbs which I never saw sense I came out of Italy. I know no name for this herb but for lak of a better name/ it may be called petty spourge. This herb hath no other virtues as Dioscorides writeth then Peplis hath. Of Vuod bind. depiction of plant Periclymenum. Periclymennon is named of the common herbaries matrisylua/ in English Wodbind/ or Honysuckle in some places of England/ the Duche men call it Waldgilgen/ the French men call it/ cheure fueille. Wodbynd doth bush up in one stalk alone and hath little leaves which stand by like spaces one from an other/ embracing the stalk/ white in under like unto Iuy. And there grow little twigs up amongst the leaves where on grow berries like unto ivy berries. The flower is white like the faba flowers/ which men take for our bean/ something round/ as though it leaned down toward the leaf. The seed is hard/ and not easy to be plucked away. The root is round and thick. It groweth in fields and hedges/ and windeth itself about bushes. The properties of wodbind. IF ye gather the seed of Wodbynd when it is ripe/ & dry it in a shaddowy place/ & will give a dram of it in wine for the space of xl. days/ it will melt away the milt/ drive away weariness/ & it well be excellently good medicine for shortness of wind/ & for the hitchcoughe or yisking. It will drive forth water/ but upon the sixth day after the continual use of it/ it will drive out bloody water. The same is good for a woman that hath an hard labouring of child. The leaves have the same virtues. And some writ that if a man drink the leaves xxxvij. days together/ that they will make him that he shall get no more children. If ye seth the leaves of wodbynd in oil/ & anoint them that have the ague coming upon them by certain courses and commynges about/ and they will ease them. Of the Great burr. depiction of plant Lappa maior, Personatia. THe great burr is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin personata & not persolata/ of the common herbaries lappa maior/ in Duche groß Kletten/ in French Gletteron. The burr hath leaves like unto a gourd but bigger/ rougher/ blacker and thicker. The stalk is some thing whitish/ howbeit it is found some time with out any stalk at all. It groweth commonly about towns and villages/ about ditches and hyghewayes & doug hills & such vile places. The virtues of the great burr. THe root of the burr taken with pinaple kirnelles/ in the quantity of a dram/ is good for them that cough out matter or filthy gear/ or blood. The root is good to be laid to/ for the ache that cometh by the wrinching or streving of any joint. The leaves are good to be laid upon old sores. Of the herb called Petasites. depiction of plant Petasites. PEtasites hath soft steel or footstalk/ a cubit long and sometime longer/ & it is of the thickness of a man's finger/ and in the top of it groweth a leaf which hath the fashion of an hat/ & it hangeth down after the manner of a todestool. Dioscorides maketh no mention nether of the masterstalke nether of the flower of this herb/ but I have seen both. In the mids of March in watery grounds beside riverse/ and brooks that ryn all the year/ and are not dry in summer: this herb bringeth first forth a short stalk/ where upon grow many flowers as they were in a cluster/ in colour purple in white. After that the stalk and flowers are faided & gone away/ then come up the leaves/ even as it chanceth unto the herb which is called in Greek Bechion/ and in Latin Tussilago. It hath a and long bitter root with a very strong smell. This herb is called in Northumbreland an Eldin/ in Cambridgeshyre a Butterbur/ in Dutch Pestilentz wurtz. The virtues of Petasites. BUtterbur is good (as Dioscorides writeth) for freting sores & such as are extremely hard to he'll/ if it be beaten and laid to after the manner of an emplaster. The later writer and namely Hieronymus Tragus writ that the root of this herb is good against the pestilence. They give a little of the powder of this herbs root in wine to the patient/ about the quantity of a dram/ and provoke him to sweat there with/ which thing it doth very mightily. They use the same root beaten into powder against the strangling of the mother. They give it also both to men and beasts for worms/ to women that are vexed with the uprising of the mother/ and to any that are shortwynded. The herb is without all doubt hot and dry much above the second degree. Matthiolus without all reason or sufficient proof reproveth Ruellius and Fuchsius in the settingfurth of this herb/ worthy more to be reproved himself for so unworthily reproving of them. Amatus Lusitanus the ape of Matthiolus writeth much more unlearnedly and more lyingly than Matthiolus doth. For he writeth thus. We can not tell what Petasites is/ if it be not a kind of todstoole: Ruellius sayeth that it groweth in France. For the which Fuchsius in his herbari hath set forth the greater/ but which we have in the last chapter before this described. Mark how this man sayeth that he knoweth not Petasites/ except it be a kind of todestoole/ & yet he named it in Duche Pestilentz wurtz/ as though he knew it. Is not this a worthy man to write commentaries upon Dioscorides? Fuchsius set not out Lappan maiorem for this herb as Amatus beareth him in hand/ for he set out the right 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or personatam/ calling it groß kletten/ dissevering it from Petasites many ways. Let Matthiolus and his follower Amatus prove that Dioscorides maketh ij. kinds of personata. If they can not as I am sure/ they can not all their speaking against Fuchsius/ is in vain. Matthiolus allegeth Plini to prove that there are ij. kinds of personata: well let it be so. Yet for all that it followeth not that the herb that Fuchsius setteth forth for Petasites/ should be the second kind of personata in Plini/ nor that Dioscorides maketh ij. kinds of Petasites. For Plini maketh oft more kinds of herbs than Dioscorides did. But how unjustly he maketh ij. kinds of artion/ not only the excellent clerk Leonicenus/ but all other learned men may see that there is no such cause given him of Dioscorides to do. How well that Plini is defended of Matthiolus against Leonicenus. All men that are learned & not partial/ may well see to no great honesty of Matthiolus. But the case put/ that there are ij. kinds of artion: the first can not be Petasites Fuchsij/ because it hath burrs growing in the top as Petasites Fuchsij hath not. Nether can the second kind of artion of Plini be Petasites Fuchsij/ for the second kind of artion Plinij as ye may read plainly in Plini/ hath blacker leaves than the gourd hath. But Petasites Fuchsij/ hath much whiter leaves then the gourd hath as all men that have seen them can judge/ namely beneath under the leaf toward the ground. therefore Petasites Fuchsij which is the true Petasites Dioscoridis/ Ruellij/ and Rembertes Petasites and mine is not the second kind of artion in Plini/ for all the gaynsaing of Matthiolus the Italian/ and Amatus the spaniard/ who would face out learned men with stout checks without any sufficient proof or learned argument/ not only in this herb/ but in diverse other. O● the herb called Peucedanum. PEucedanum is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Dutch Har strange/ and because we have no other name for it in English that I know as yet/ it may be called in English also Har strange. Peucedanum putteth forth a small stalk and weike like unto fenel/ it hath a thick and plenuous bush/ beside the ground a yellow flower/ a black root/ of a grievous smell/ thik & full of juice. It groweth in shaddowye hills. Thus far Dioscorides. But I have seen it growing not only in shaddowye hills/ as at Erenfels in Germany where as I saw it first/ but also in watery myddowes beside Worms/ and also in dry myddowes'/ but within the breath of the Rhine. I hear say that it groweth also in England/ and I found a root of it at saint Vincentis rock a little from Bristol. But it was nothing so great as it of Germany. The virtues of Harstrang. MEn use to cut the root with a knife/ & to gather a running juice out of it/ & to lay it that droppeth out/ by & by in the shadow: for it will melt in the sun. But it will make his heed ache and be dusy/ that gathereth it/ except a man anoint his nostrils before with roseoyle/ and pour not some rose oil upon his head before. The root is nothing worth after that the juice is drawn forth of it. There may be taken out of the stalk and root/ both a juice by gasshing and an other by pressing/ as is taken out of Mandrag. But it that droppeth forth by gasshing/ is not so strong as it that is drawn out by pressing/ and it fadeth away souner. There is also found a thing like rosin/ or frankincense/ cleaving unto the stalk and root. Of the juices that cometh out of the root by gasshing it/ is best that groweth in Sardinia & Samothracia/ that is of a grievous smell/ read and heating the tongue. The same is good to be laid to with vinegar and roseoyle/ against the drousey and forgetful evil/ for the dusynes of the heed/ for the falling sickness/ and for the old hedeach/ for the sciatica and for the cramp. And in all diseases of the sinews it is good to be laid to/ with oil & vinegar. If a woman be strangled with the uprising of the mother/ it is good to smell it/ and so it calleth them again/ that are brought in to an extreme deep sleep. The smoke of it driveth away venemus beasts. It helpeth the ache of the ear if it be poured in with rose oil. It is good to be put in to the hollow tooth against the toothache. The same taken with an egg/ is good for the cough. It is also good for them that are shortwynded/ and for all gnawing & windy passiones and griefs. It softeneth the belly gently/ and wasteth away the great swelled milt. It is an excellent remedy against an hard and long labouring of child. If it be drunken it is good for the ache and outstretching of the bladder and kidneys. It openeth also the mother. The root is good for the same purposes/ but it is not so mighty. The broth is also drunken. The same broken scoureth stinking and foul sores/ and drive the scales of bones/ and covereth sores with a skin. It is used to be menged with tretes and softening plasters that heat. Ye must choose it that is fresh not fretted with gnawing/ sound/ and it that hath a great smell. The juice must be resolved or melted for drinks with bitter allmondes or hot bred or rue. Galene writeth that the juice that is drawn out by gushing or cutting/ is stronger than that which is pressed out/ and he sayeth that the root is fully hothe in the second degree/ and dry in the beginning of the third degree. Of both the kinds of Peonye. PEony otherwise called in Greek Glyciside/ and of some Pentoboron/ hath a stalk two spans long. It hath many bysproutynges. The male hath leaves like unto a walnut tree leaves. But the female hath cloven leaves like Smyrnium. It bringeth forth certain cods in the top of the stalk like unto allmondes. Which when they are opened/ have many little grains read in colour like unto the kernels of a pomgarnat/ and in the mids there are black/ purple five or six. The root of the male is a finger thick/ and a span long/ binding in taste/ and white in colour. To the root of the female grow certain things like acorns seven. or viij. in numbered/ such as the right Affodili hath. The female is common thorough out all England & Germany/ and in diverse places of England/ and in some parts of Brabant/ as in Peter Coddenberges gardin in Anwerp the male groweth also. But I could never see it in high Germany. The farest that ever I saw/ was in Newberri in a rich clothiers gardin. diverse have been sore deceived in taking the common dictamum for Paeonia mascula. The virtues of both the Peonies. THe root of Peoni is given unto women that are not purged after their deliverance. If it be drunken in the quantity of an almond/ it will bring down to women their flowers. And if it be drunken with wine/ it will ease the pain of the belly. It is also good for the jaundice/ for the pain in the kydnes and in the bladder. The same sodden in wine and drunken stoppeth the belly: but ten or twelve read grains or corns of the sedes/ drunken in read tart wine/ stop the read issues of women. The same if they be eaten/ help them that have the gnawynges of the mouth of their stomachs. But if children eat them/ they will take away the beginning of the breeding of the stone. And if one take xv. of the black corns and drink them in meed or wine/ they are a good remedy against the strangling of the right mare/ and against the strangling and pains of the mother. Out of Galene. THe root of Peoni bindeth a little with a certain sweetness/ and if ye will chow it a little more with your tethe/ ye shall perceive that it is something biting and bitter. Therefore if ye take the quantity of an almond of it with honeyed wine/ it will bring down flowers. But in deed ye must beat it well and sift it diligently/ & so cast the powder in to the drink. It scoureth also the kydnes/ and the liver that is stopped. It hath pour also to stop/ if it be sodden with sum tart and binding wine. The root hath also a drying power. By reason where of I would not doubt/ but that if it be hanged about childer's necks/ it would hele in them the falling sickness. I saw once a boy delivered viij. months from the falling sickness/ by the hanging of the root about his neck: and when as by chance it fell of/ he fell into the sickness again/ and the same after the root was hanged up again/ he was well again. But I thought for a surer trial to take the root ones again/ & as sound as I had taken the root of again/ he fell straight way into his old sickness. But then I took a great root & tied it though the boys neck again/ and after that time he fell no more/ but was quite delivered of that sickness. Thus far Galene. This that Galene proved in one child/ I have proved in two children/ the one where of dwelled in London & the other at Zion in my lord of Sommersettes' house uncle/ & Protector to the most excellent king Edward the sixth. But when as I proved the same in them that were of perfect age/ although it did much good/ yet it never wrought any such effect in them/ as it did in the children. Of the herb called Phalaris. PHalaris putteth forth many small stalks/ out of small and unprofitable roots. The stalks are two handbredthes long/ full of joints/ like straws or redestalkes/ much like unto the straws of spelt. It hath a seed in bygnes of mil or millet/ white in fashion/ something long. The first time that ever I saw this herb/ was in the city of Come/ where as the chief Physiciane of the citi no less gentle than well learned showed unto me/ and my fellow master johan Walker. afterward I saw it in England taken for mil/ for they that brought Canari birds out of spain/ brought of the sede of Phalaris also to feed them with. Where of when I sowed a little/ I found that it was the right Phalaris which I had seen in Itali before. I have as yet heard no English name of Phalaris/ but for lak of a better name it may be called peti panik/ of the likeness that it hath with the right panik. The virtues of Phalaris. THe juice of Phalaris which is pressed out of the herb when it is stamped throw water or wine/ if it be drunken it is a good remedy against the ache of the bladder. But a spoun full of the seed of the same herb/ drunken in water is good for the same purpose. Other properties I find none in Galene them Dioscorides hath rehearsed. I have found by experience that it is not only good to feed small birds therewith/ but that it is veri good for young chickinges and hens/ to fat them with all/ as some use to fat capones in Italy with mil or millet. Of the pulse called Phasiolus out of Dioscorides. PHasiolus is windy and moveth or stirreth up wind. And when it is green it softeneth the belly/ & it is fit for vomiting. Cornarius and Matthiolus make ij. kinds of Phasiolus/ & specially Matthiolus/ who sayeth that Smilax hortensis is the gardin Phasiolus/ and the wild is the Phasiolus which is described in this place of Dioscorides. And Cornarius to prove that Smilax hortensis & Phasiolus be all one/ allegeth the words of Aetius/ which in deed sound as he meaneth. And Matthiolus sayeth further that Smilax hortensis & Dolichus in Galene/ and in Theophrast/ are all one. Although these great learned men and of no small authority in their countries/ where as they do dwell: yet in this matter I do not agree with them. The first cause that maketh me dissent from them is this/ that Dioscorides useth not in all his book that I remember/ to write in two chapters far one from an other/ of any garden and field herb or plant/ but ever where as he maketh mention of the gardin herb/ he maketh mention also of the field herb in the same chapter or in the next following or there about. But he writeth of Phasiolus in the 101. chapter of the second book/ and he writeth of Smilax hortensis in the 140. chapter of the same book. Which thing he would not have done according unto his accustomed manner if he had thought them alone in kind/ and to differ in no other thing but in the place of growing. If this argument be not good/ the arguments that Matthiolus maketh that secacul is not eringium/ & that laurus Alexandrina & Hypoglosson/ are not all one/ are evil arguments/ with all other that are builded upon the same foundation. another cause is that the pulse that I take for Phasiolus in Dioscorides/ hath sede utterly unlike unto the sedes of Smilax hortensis. For the pulse that I take for Phasiolus/ hath a long white seed something bowed in/ after the manner of some joiners mallettes/ in fashion & likeness like unto a grey pease/ but smaller & longer/ with a black spot in the end of it. The seed of gardin Smilax is like a flat kidney/ where fore every man may see that they are very unlike in form & fashion. They say that Dolichus in Theophrast/ & Smilax hortensis/ & Phasiolus in Dioscorides are all one/ which saying if I can confute/ then have I an other cause to dissent from them. Which thing I trust to do after this manner. Dolichus in Theophrast & Phasiolus in Galene will perish & thrive evil if it be not under propped. But Phasiolus Dioscorides as I have seen it by experience myself in Lombary/ & Matthiolus confesseth the same: thriveth well enough without any under propping as other pulses do. Therefore Phasiolus Dioscoridis is not all one with Dolichus of Theophrast/ & Phasiolus of Galen. The last cause that maketh me dissent from them/ is that their own authorities which they bring for their purpose in some points/ is quite against themselves. For it is written in the chapter de Dolichiss in Galene that by the authority of Hypocrates/ that Dolichi are less wyndier than peasen ar: there is also Diocles alleged to say these words: Dolichi non minus quàm Pisa nutriunt, praeterea similiter flatu carent. That is/ Dolichi nourish no less than Peasen do/ & like wise they are without wind. Where as Aetius saith that Lobi were called of all old writers Dolichi and Phaseoli/ & of some Smilax hortensis/ he hath these words: Nutriunt non minus quàm Pisa, consimiliterque flatus expertes sunt. That is/ Phaseoli give as much nourishment as Pesen do/ and likewise are without wind. But phasioli Dioscoridis are not only windy/ but also stir up wind/ for these are his words: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Therefore I may well conclude that Phasiolus in Dioscorides & Phasiolus/ & Dolichus in Galene/ Aetius & Diocles/ are not all one/ not only because they have diverse manners in growing/ & diverse liknesses/ but also because they have diverse properties/ that is to wet/ that it of Dioscorides is windy/ & breedeth wind/ & that other are flatuum expertes that is windless or without wind. Now let men of learning & judgement give sentence/ whether I descent from these men before named without a cause or no. Galene even in the same place where as he maketh Dolichos & Phaseolos all one/ without all doubt maketh two kinds of Dolichus/ & so maketh ij. kinds of Phaseolus: for where as he had said in the beginning almost of the chapter after the authority of Theophrast that Dolichi will rot & come to nought/ except they be set up upon props to hold them from the ground/ in the very end of the same chapter he showeth that there is also an other beside that/ which needeth no under propping. Galenis words as he is translated are these: Quidam amicorum meorum Romae agens, mihi narravit in Caria, in patria sua quam Ceramum appellabat, in agris Dolichos non aliter quàm alia legumina seri, figuram quàm habere cicerculis longiorem. And these do I reckon are Phaseoly Dioscorides/ which differ much/ as sufficiently is proved before/ from Smilace hortensi/ not withstandyng I will not deny/ but other autores call that pulse that Dioscorides named Smilacem hortensem/ Dolichum & Phasiolum. Yet for all that Phasiolus in Dioscorides & Smilax hortensis are two diverse pulses. Phasiolus may be called in English faselles/ until we can find a better name for it. Of the herb called Phu. Of Setwall. depiction of plant Phu magnum. depiction of plant Phu vulgar. PHu is taken of the most part of them that writ of herbs at this time/ and of them that have written of late/ to be the herb which is called of the common herbaries/ Valeriana maior, of the Germans/ baldrian oder grosß baldrian/ of our countrymen Setwall/ and of some/ caponis loiyle. But whether Setwall do agree in all points with the description of Phu in Dioscorides or no: ye may judge by the description which followeth here after. Phu/ which some call also wild spikenard/ groweth in Pontus/ and it hath a leaf like unto Elaphoboseo/ or Alexander/ a stalk a cubit high or higher/ smooth/ hollow and soft/ turning to purple/ and full of joints. The flowers are much like Narcissus/ but they are greater and tenderer/ and purple in a whitish colour. The over root is about the thickness of a man's little fingers. But it hath little roots growing to overthwart/ and one wounden with in an other as squinant/ or black hellebor hath/ in colour something yellow/ well smelling/ resembling spikenard/ yet with a certain unpleasant savour/ hitherto Dioscorides. In this description is nothing that I can mark that disagreeth with our Setwall/ saving that the leaves are not altogether like unto Alexander/ and the flowers are not very like unto the flowers of Narcissus. But with a gentle interpretation the leaves may be interpreted like Alexander leaves/ and the flowers like unto the flowers of Narcissus/ wherefore seeing that the rest of the herb with the virtues do well enough agree: I think that a man may lawfully take our Setwall for Phu in Dioscorides. The virtues of Setwall. SEtwall hath pour to heat/ and to drive forth water/ if it be drunken after that it is dried/ the broth of it is good for the same purpose. It is also good for the ache of the side/ and it draweth down unto women their natural sickness. Galene writeth that Phu hath a root in virtue/ like unto Spicanardi/ but for many purposes weyker/ and that it provoketh water more than spikenard of Ind or Syriac & as much/ as Spica celtica doth. Of Hartis tongue. depiction of plant Phyllitis. although diverse of the best herbaries of our time have judged that Hemionitis/ is our Hartis tongue/ and I have followed them a long time in their judgement: yet admonished by Cordus many years before oer Matthiolus had either written in Italian/ or Latin/ that our Hartis tongue should be Phyllytis/ I left my former opinion and held as I do now/ that the herb which is named of the herbaries lingua ceruina, of other (but falsely) scolopendria/ in English Hartis tongue/ in Dutch Hirtz zung/ in French Lang de cerf/ was Phyllites in Dioscorides whose description followeth. Phyllitis putteth forth leaves/ like a dock/ but longer/ & green or fresher six or seven together/ and them straight/ which in the inner part are smouthe/ but upon the back side/ they have as it were small worms hanging on. It groweth in shaddowish places/ and hath a binding taste with an harrishnes or hartnes. It groweth also in gardens. It hath nether stalk seed nor flower. I think that this description agreeth much better with our hartis tongue than the description of Hemionitis doth. The leaves of Hemionitis ought to be very harrish/ binding with bitterness. But there is no such bitter taste in hartis tongue/ therefore it can not be Hemionitis. The worst thing that I mislike in our hartis tongue/ is that me think that it hath not with us here such a binding harrish taste/ as Dioscorides seemeth to require. Howbeit except my memory fale me/ I have found it in other places tart and binding enough. The virtues of Phyllitis or hartis tongue. THe leaves of this herb drunken with wine/ are good against the bitings of serpents. If they be poured in to the mouth of fourfoted beasts/ they help them. They are also drunken against the bloody flux & the common flux with out any blood. These be the properties that I find in old writers of Phyllitis. I can not find that it is good for the milt in any old writer. And yet now a days it is commonly used for the diseases of the milt/ & therefore as I suppose because it hath been falsely taken for Scolopendrio/ and Hemeonitis. If that it do any good to the milt/ it is by the reason of the great binding that it hath/ where by it may help the milt that is to louse and to much opened. Of the Pine tre and other of that kind. DIoscorides writeth that the tre called in Greek pities/ & it that is named Peuke/ are contained under one general heed kind/ but that they differ in their proper and particular kind or spice. But he telleth not for all that/ where in they differ. Which thing hath made that learned men could not well tell whether of the two was our Pinus in Latin/ and which of them should be our Picea. Therefore seeing the right difference can not be found in Dioscorides: it is needful that we set it out of other authentic and sufficient old writers. First it is needful to seek out in what properties pities of the Grecianes differeth from pence/ & wherein Pinus of the Latins differeth from Picea/ and then to see whether pities be Pinus or no in Latin/ and wheter Pence in Greek/ be our Picea or no/ and whether these words are diversly taken of diverse autores or no. Theophrast a noble writer amongst the grecians/ maketh this difference between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is fatter and hath a smaller lief/ and is less in bigness/ & groweth not so straight up. It hath a less con or nut/ or apple/ and rougher or more unplesanter to look to/ and a fruit more pitchy or rosinie/ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after that the roots be burned/ doth not spring up again. But they say that pities/ springeth again/ as it chanced in Lesbo/ when as the mountain Pyrrheus was set afyre. The Ideanes hold/ that not only the heart/ but also the outer part of the bull/ doth turn into a tede/ or wodtorche/ & that then after a manner/ that it is strangled. And the same thing chanceth of itself/ by the exceeding great plenty of the tree itself/ as a man can conjecture. For it is altogether made a tede or woddish torch or firebrand. And so this is the peculiar sickness of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The same Theophrast maketh this difference between the fir tre and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is of a notable height & much tauler then peuce. The fir tre hath a would full of sinews/ soft/ and light. But the wood of peuce/ is full of tedes or woddishe torches heavy and full of flesh/ or thik. The peuce hath more knots/ but the knots of the fyrr are harder. pities serveth in Cyprus to make ships of it because that island hath it. And it seemeth to be better than peuke. The fir tre and peuce are fittest for houses/ and ships/ and for the most part of such other things. The pities/ is fit for both the works/ and especiali for ships/ but it beginneth quikly to root. Peuce in no wise can come forth in low and shaddowy places/ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & jui can not grow in hoot places/ & peuce is a tre of the mountains as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also is/ about Macedonia. Peuce is of ij. sorts/ the one is the gardin peuce/ and the other is the wild peuce. The wild peuce is divided into the male/ and female. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 groweth not in Syria. Thus much have I taken of Theophrast. Now will I see what the other grecians write of these forenamed trees/ and of their fruits/ properties/ and operationes/ and virtues. Galene in the viij. book/ of the virtues of simple medicines/ writeth thus of the fruit pities. Pityides are named the fruits Pity●n. But some by a misuse/ call also the fruit of Peuces Pityides. They have a menged pour/ that is both binding/ and having a certain sharpness with a bitterness/ by reason where of they are good for the spitting out of matter out of the breast and lungs. These are Galenes' words. But now let us see what the Latins writ of Pinus/ and picea. Virgil the noblest Poet amongst all the latins/ writeth in his Egloges that the Pine tre is goodliest in gardens. The same in the second of his Georgikes or husbandry maketh the pine tre fit and profitable to make ships of in these words. Dant alios aliae foetus dant utile lignum Navigijs Pinos, domibus cedrosque cupressos. The same thing doth he also in the fourth Eglog after this manner. Cedet & ipse mari vector, nec nautica Pinus Mutabit merces. Plini writeth thus of the pine tre/ The pine tre hath a leaf like a hear/ very small before/ long and sharp with a prick. The Pine tre bringeth forth very little rosin/ The pine tre is greatly to be wondered at. It hath a fruit waxing ripe/ which shall come to ripeness in the next year/ and afterward in the third. Nether is there any tre that more greedily putteth itself out a length then the Pine doth. The Pine tre and the Cypress tre are surest against rotting or mouldering and against worms. Plini writeth thus of the tre called Picea/ which may be called the pitch tre or the read fir tre. The pitch tre loveth mountains/ and cold and it giveth very much rosin. It is not so high as the larch tre is. The leaves of the piche tre are drier/ smaller/ and more cold. And the hole tre is more horrible or unpleasant to look to/ than the larch tre/ and it is all poured over with rosin. The wood of it is lyker the wood of the fir tre. The piche tre after that the roots are ones/ will yet spring again. The leaves of the piche tre/ are divided comwyse. Picea hath very small and black kernels thorough out in all the long tags that hang down/ which are smaller and sklenderer. Wherefore the grecians call it a Lousberer? These have I gathered out of the best Grek and Latin writers/ that men might see clearly what the oldwryters wrote of the above named trees. But now sum will require my mind of these trees/ because I profess the knowledge of herbs & trees. Therefore I must say my mind what I gather of these forecited places out of the ancient writers. As far as I can see/ Theophrast called the tre peuken/ that the Latins call pinum/ & the tree that the Latins call piceam/ he called it pin. For he maketh his peucento have a greater nut or apple them this pities hath. Also because he maketh pityn to be less & more crooked than peucen. But for all these/ peuce of Theophrast agreeth well with picea of the latins/ in sundry properties. Peuce of Theophrastus as the same Theophrast writeth/ can not come forth in very low places & in shaddowy places/ for Peuce is a tre of the mountains/ and nether it nor ivy can grow in burning hot places. And Plini writeth that picea amat montes atque frigora, & in an other place/ situs eius est in excelso montium ceu maria fugerit. Peuce and picea do also agree in bringing forth of plenty of rosin. For as Theophrast writeth peuce resina copiosissima and ponderosissima est so Plini saith/ Picea plurimam resinam fundit. The same Plini writing of the pine saith pinus fert minimum resinae. The pine tre bringeth forth very little rosin. Of these words of Plini I gather that peuce in Theophrast is not pinus in Plini. And that Plini taketh pityn of the grecians for pino/ I gather this out of Pliny's words in the xxxij. book and the second chapter. His words are these. The use of oxim●li or honeyed vinegar/ is good against the green trees called cantharides against bupestrem/ and against caterpillars of the pine tre which they call pitiocampas. Here may a man plainly see that Plini turneth pityn in to pinum/ and not to picean as Theodor Gaza and diverse other do. But I judge that Theodor hath much juster cause to do so/ then the interpretores of Galene have/ for as pities in Theophrast may seem to be our picea/ so pities in Galene/ is our pinus/ as it appeareth unto me/ by it that Galene writeth of the fruit of pityos in these words following. The fruits pit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are called pityides. But some call also by a misuse/ the fruits of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, pityides. By these words of Galene a man may learn that Galene took pityn to be the tre which beareth the greatest and most principal kernels/ and not peucen. But when as the greatest and most principal kernels grow upon the pine tre/ as daily experience teacheth/ we may gather iustli by this & other causes above rehearsed/ that Galene took pityn for our Pino/ & therefore it is like that the Grecianes of Galenis time/ & they that can after him/ took always pityn pro pino. As for the tre that is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in Latin picea/ is called in high Germany where it groweth/ rote dannen baum. It groweth not abroad in England that I have heard tell of/ neither hath it any name in English that I know. Wherefore seeing it must have a name/ it is best either to call it a piche tre/ because much pitch is mad of the rosin of it/ or else after the Dutch tongue/ from whence our English speech came/ a red fir tre. Pinaster which as Plini writeth/ nihil aliud est, quam pinus syluestris mira altitudine, the pinaster is nothing else but a wild pine tre of a meruelus height/ is named in some places of Duchlande/ foerenholtz wild kinnenholtz/ and in some places kiffer balm. It groweth very plenteously in high Germany. The leaves grow in tufts together/ not unlike unto a little round hairy brush that is thine/ or to some great pinselles that painters use. Every lief is at the lest iij. inches long/ green/ furrowed or guttered as sum kind of young grass is. There come alway two leaves out of one footstalk/ both in the brushy tuft/ and also a little beneath the tufts/ where as the leaves grow th'inner. Plini putteth this difference between the pine tre and the pinaster or wild pine/ that as the pine tre is bushy or full of boughs in the tops/ so the wild pine tre is full of boughs even from the mids of the tre upward. This tre may be called in English a wild pynetre. If any man allege against me the authority of Theodorus Gaza/ to prove that our pinaster should be peuce/ because he turneth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in diverse places pinastrum. I answer that Gazas authority helpeth nothing here/ & that his turning of peuces into pinastrum maketh against himself and reproveth him either of unstedfastenes/ or of ignorance. For it is evident that although most commonly he turn peucem in to pinum/ yet in diverse places he turneth the same word in to pinastrun/ as who say there where no difference between pinus and pinaster. If any doubt whether he turneth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in to pinastrum/ let him read the vi. chapter of the fourth book de historia plantarum, and the fourth chapter of the third book/ and the vj. chapter of the first book de historia plantarum, and he shall find/ that I lie not: But not only these places/ prove either his ignorance/ or unsteadfastness/ or elles doubtfulness/ in translating of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into pinum picean and pinastrun: but also his turning of pityos in to laricem. For in the second chapter of the second book de historia plantarun he turneth these Greek words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thus Sunt quae ex semine tantum nascantur, ut abies, pinus, larix. The same Theodore in the first chapter of the ix. book de historia plantarum, turneth this word pities in to laricem and picean/ making two sundry trose to have but one common name/ which differ one from an other in diverse properties. The same thing doth he again in the next chapter unto it which I have rehearsed here before. For where as Theophrast hath in Greek/ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Theodore hath in Latin: secunda quae ex abiete, larice, & pica. Behold as he maketh here iij. rosines of ij. names/ for he turneth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in to resinum abietinam, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in to resinam ex larice and ex picea, Then when as Gaza is thus wavering and unconstant/ it is not to be allowed for sufficient authority that he doth in translating of these ij. Greek words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Therefore I pass not/ of his authority and hold that pities pinus & peuce/ is Picea in our autores of Physic/ as in Galene/ Dioscorides/ Aetius/ and other that wrote after Galene. The virtues of the Pine tre and the piche tre out of Dioscorides. THe bark both of the pine/ and Pitch tre/ have pour to bind/ & if it be broken/ and sprinkled upon chafing/ it is good for it/ & for sores that are in the outermost part of the skin. So is it also good for burned places with litarge & the fine powder of Frankincense. The same received in a treat or cerat of myrtelles'/ bring sores in tender bodies to a skin/ and it stoppeth such as ryn to far abroad/ if it be broken and laid to with coperus. And if it be given in a perfume or smoke/ it casteth forth children and the seconds. If it be drunken/ it will stop the belly/ and maketh a man piss well. But the leaves of them also broken & laid to suage inflammationes or hot burnings. They keep/ and save also wounds from inflammationes. If they be bruised & sodden in vinegar/ they are good against the tuth ache/ if the teth be washed with the broth of the whilse it is very hot. If they be taken in the quantity of a dram in water/ or meed/ and drunken/ they are good for them that are diseased in the liver. The bark of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the leaves drunken/ are good for the same purposes. But it is not very easy to know perfectly what Dioscorides meaneth by this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, whilse some interpreters/ take it for a tre of a several kind by itself/ as Cornarius doth/ & other as Ruellius turneth it into the pineapel. I read in no old author that Strobilus should be the name of a tre/ but always for the nut or apple/ or kernel of the apple some time/ except that where as my Plini corcected and set out by Erasmus/ after that Hermolaus Barbarus/ Nicolaus Beroaldus/ Guilhelmus Budeus & johannes Cesareus had done to Pliny/ what they could do/ hath Tibulus a man ought to read Strobilus. And though it were Strobilus in deed in Plini/ & not Tibulus/ it were no stronger argument to reason thus. Plini maketh Strobilus a kind of tre by itself/ & not only a fruit/ ergo it is a tre/ then this were. Plini maketh Tedam a several kind of tre by itself/ therefore Teda is a tre by itself. But it that Dioscorides writeth/ will move a man much more than that authority of Plini/ whose words are these: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is the bark of the Strobil and the leaves make for the same/ or serve for the same purpose. Now a pine nut hath no leaves/ where fore it may appear that by the word strobilus he understandeth a tre of the same kind that pinus is of. But this seemeth some thing to hinder that understanding/ that in the beginning of the chapter Dioscorides set forth afore/ of what things he would entreat of only mention of pinus and picea/ & not of Strobilus. But whether Strobilus here betoken the nut of the pine tre/ and the leaves of it betoken the leaves of the same pine tre/ where of Dioscorides had immediately made mention before/ it maketh no great matter/ because all the trees there together mentioned/ are of a like virtue and working. The tede also that cometh of them (a tede is a fat and roseny piece of a pine or pitch tre/ which hewn of/ serveth for torches) cut in to small pieces and sodden with vinegar/ suageth the tuth ache/ if the broth be holden about the tooth that acheth. A stirring stik may be made of them fit to prepare pesses and medicines to suage weariness. Some use to keep the sout of them/ to serve to make ink there of. The same serveth for medicines to trim the heirs of the ey lids/ and for the corners of the eyes/ that are worn or fretted/ and for hard eye lids and such as want hear and for watering eyes. The fruits of pines and pitch trees which are within the pine nuts/ are called pityides. They have a binding pour/ and something heting. They are good for the cough/ and for such disease as are about the breast/ whether they be taken by themselves or with honey. Moreover if the kernels be made clean and then eaten/ or be drunken with Maluesey & the seed of a cucumbre/ move a man to make water/ and make dull or blunt the biting that is about the bladder or kidnees. And if they be taken with the juice of porcelain/ they suage the gwawynges of the mouth of the stomach. They take also away the weakness of the body & hold down the corruption of humores. But the hole nuts lately phikked from the trees/ and bruised/ and sodden in Maluesey/ are good for the old cough/ and for a consumption/ if a man drink every day/ three cyathes of the broth that they are sodden in. Out of the viij. book of Galene of simple medicines. THe bark of the pine tre hath a binding pour exceeding the other/ so much that it can heal very well chafinges/ and can stop the belly if it be drunken. It healeth up also places that are burned. More over the bark of the piche tre is like to the other/ but the pours are armour temperate or weyker. There is pour to join/ & hele sores in the leaves of them both: because they be much moister than the bark. In the nut although it be like these/ yet is there a stronger pour both in the bark and also in the leaves/ so that it hath a certain grievous biting sharpness. Furthermore that sout which is gathered of the foresaid/ is fit for the falling out of the hears of the ey lids/ & for the moist corners of the eyes/ worn of/ which are bleared and watering. The fruits of the pine and pitch tre have a mingled pour/ that is to wet they bind with a certain bitterness. Wherefore they are good to help a man to spit out matter of the breast and lungs. Galene also in his book of the pours of norishmentes/ writeth thus of the pine apples. The pine apple nut is of a good gross juice/ & nourisheth much. But it is hard of digestion. The grecians call it not now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Out of simeon Sethi. THe kernel of the pine apple are hot in the second degree/ and dry in the first. They nourish plenteously/ & they are of a gross juice/ and they are hard of digestion/ and grieve the heed/ and make good blood. They smouth the harrishnes or sharpness that are in the breast. They are good for the sores or blisters of the bladder/ & for the sharpness that is in the stomach and kydnes. They are also good for old coughs/ and moist diseases of the lungs/ & for them that spit out matter. They that use them with honey and rasines/ make them easier to be digested/ and they increase man's sede. They are also good for them that are disposed to tremble. Of Pepper out of Dioscorides. MEn say that Pepper is a short tre that groweth in Indye. It bringeth forth a fruit at the first long/ as it where long cods which is called long Pepper. And it hath within it a small thing like to mile or millet/ which groweth to perfect Pepper at the length. This when the time cometh is spread abroad/ and bringeth forth berries such as all men know. Partly unripe (and therefore harrishe) which are the white Pepper/ most fit for eye medicines/ and for preservatives and treacles. But the long Pepper is exceeding biting and something bitter/ because it is unripe/ & it is also good for compositiones of preservatives and treacles. But the black is pleasanter and more sharp than the white/ and better for for the stomach and more spicy/ because it is ripe/ and it is fit to season with all. Ye must choose the pepper that is heaviest/ and full/ black/ not full of wrinkles/ but fresh and without dust or chaffy filthiness. There is oft found in black pepper a thing without nourishment/ leanly/ empty/ and light/ and that they call brasma. Out of Plini. THe trees that bear pepper in every place/ are like unto our iunipers. howbeit there are some that hold that they grow only in that front of Caucasus that lieth against the son. The sedes differ from iuneper by such little cods as we see in faselles. These plucked before they gape and open/ and be heten in the son/ make it which is called long pepper. But when as by little and little they begin to open for rypnes/ they show white pepper/ which afterward heat with the son it is chenged with colour & wrinkles. But the same are not without their injury/ and they are perched cinged with the intemperate weather/ and the sedes are made empty and void. Which thing they call brechmasin: which betokeneth in the Indian tongue/ bringing forth of fruit before the time of all the hole kind/ it is the roughest and lightest/ and pale in colour. The black pepper is more pleasant/ but the white is lighther than both the other. Ginger is not the root of pepper as some have judged. Of the ix. book of Theophrast de historia plantarum. PEpper indeed is a fruit/ and thereof are two kinds/ the one is round as the bitter fithche called orobus/ & it hath a covering and fleishe/ as the bay berries have/ and it is something in under redishe. The long is black/ & hath little sedes like poppy. And this is much stronger than the other. They are both hot/ wherefore they are good against the poison of the homlok as Frankincense is. Out of the viij. book of Galene of his simple medicines. THe root of the pepper tre in virtue is much like to costus. The fruit that was but growing of late/ is the long pepper/ wherefore it is moister than it that is ripe. And this is a token of his moisture: When it is laid up/ it will be shortly full of holes/ and doth not bite by & by/ but beginneth a little after/ but it dureth a little more. But the fruit that is as it were an unripe grape/ is the whit pepper/ sharper in deed then the black. Both they do vehemently dry and heat. Hitherto have I brought it that the old writers have written of pepper/ who/ as a man may easily gather of their writing/ had only by hearsay it that they wrote/ concerning the description & manner of growing of pepper. Wherefore because there are many things found out of late years by the sailing of the Portugals/ and diverse other adventurus travalers' in far countries/ and specially diverse kinds of fruits and trees which were never perfectly known before: I will bring in what the later writers have found out/ concerning pepper which was not known before. Out of the jews Bartomanni: fift book of the things that he saw in Ind. THere groweth pepper in the field that lieth about calicut. Some husband men gather pepper even within the city. The stalk of the pepper bush is very weak/ as a vinde is/ without a prop it can not stand alone. And it is not unlike Yuy/ for it creepeth ever higher & higher/ & embraceth all that is in the way/ & bindeth it about. The foresaid tre nay rather bush or shrub/ spreadeth it self abroad in to many branches/ which are about two or three handbredthes long/ or (as some expound palmum) ij. or iij. spans long. The leaves resemble the leaves of a citron tre/ but these are thicker and fatter with small veins running upon the back side. Out of every outtermoste young twig hang out six clusters/ not bigger than a palm that is iiij. finger's/ like unto grapes/ but thicker together. They have the same colour that unripe grapes have. They gather them in October and Novembre/ as yet turning to a green colour/ and they lay them upon mats against the son to be riped and dried there. And within three days they get this colour that ye see them have. The same leaves writing of the noble Island Taprabona/ sayeth that there groweth very great plenty of a bigger kind of pepper. He sayeth that the same pepper though it be greater than it that cometh hither/ yet that it is empti/ light/ and white and very biting. And he writeth that the tre that beareth this pepper/ hath a greater bull and thicker/ and fatter leaves than the pepper trees that grow in calicut. Hitherto jews. diverse that have been in Ynde/ hold that the long pepper groweth not upon the same tre that the other pepper groweth/ but upon other trees in long tags like them that in winter hang upon walnut trees. Matthiolus one of the most famous writers of simples in all Italy in the●● 〈◊〉 days/ writeth thus of pepper: I have seen at Naples a pepper bush/ agreeing well with the description of the Portugals/ because it had a bull or body/ after the manner of a vinde/ and after the manner of the sharp Clematis. But I did see also an other little tre bringing forth pepper in clusters in Venus'/ which did very plainly resemble the common ribs bush. This groweth green in the gardin of Mappheus the noble Physiciane/ where as many other herbs & trees worthy to be known ar. wherefore it is no wonder/ if autores write diversely of the history of pepper. Of the virtues of Pepper out of Dioscorides. THe virtue of all peppers in common/ is to heat/ to move a man to make water/ to digest/ to draw to/ to drive away by resolution/ and to scour away those things that darken the eysyght. It is also fit for to be taken against the shaking of agues/ which come again by course at certain times/ whether it be drunken or the body be therewith anointed. It helpeth them that are bitten of venommus beasts. It bringeth forth also the birth. It is good for the cough and for all diseases about the breast/ whether it be licked in or be received in drink. It is likewise good for the squynsey if it be laid to with honey. If it be drunken with the tender leaves of the bay tre it driveth away gnawing/ and quite dissolveth it. If it be chowed with rasines it will draw down thin phlegm out of the heed. It stauncheth ache/ and it is much used in health/ it maketh an appetite. And if it be menged with sauces it helpeth digestion. If it be menged with pitch/ it driveth away by resolution wens. With nitre or natural salpeter it scoureth away morphews and such like foulness in the skin. It is burned in a new earthen pot/ set upon the coals/ and is stired as lentils ar. Out of simeon Sethi. PEpper is hot and dry in the third degree. The nature of it is to cut in sunder gross and tough humores/ and to break and drive away wind/ and to waste up the moisture of the breast/ lungs/ belly/ and stomach. But it is evil for the kidneys. There are some that hold the pepper is hot and dry in the fourth degree. By these words of simeon/ & by the authority of Theophrast/ Dioscorydis/ Galene and Plyni/ is the old error plainly reproved of diverse English men and of many women/ that stiffly have holden that pepper is hot in the mouth and cold in operation. Galene teacheth that hole pepper heateth not so much as broken & powdered pepper doth. His words are these: There are none of those things which are manifestly known to be hot/ which appear to be hot unto us before the be broken in to small parts. For though a man lay hold pepper unto his skin/ yet shall he feel no heat of it. No more shall a man feel any heat/ though he taste upon it with his tongue or swallow it over/ or use it any other ways hole/ and unbeten/ and sifted. But if that powder of it be laid unto the skin/ it will heat/ & specially if the skin be rubbed hard therewith. And the powder will heat quickly both the tongue and the stomach. Wherefore when a man would have pepper to heat much and speedily/ he must beat it in to small powder after the learning of Galene. But if he would have it to heat but little and slouly/ them let him use it hole/ or little broken. And although pepper be good for the shaking of angue/ yet for all that it is very ieperdus to take either pepper or any such hot medicine before the body of the patient be well prepared and purged/ and the matter of the disease be made ripe. For if such remedies be taken before the due time/ that is before the state or chief rage of the disease/ a single ague will turn in to a double/ or else at the lest the sickness will be much worse to heal as Galene writeth of the quartan ague in his book ad glauconem. Of the fistick nut. PIstacia named so both of the grecians and Latins/ are named of the pothecaries & barbarus writers fistici. I have seen them in Bononi growing upon their tre which was but short. The leaves are nothing like unto the lentisk leaves as Matthiolus writeth/ saving that they grow in such order as they do/ for they differ both in fashion and form/ and also in greatness and colour. The fistik lief that I saw & measured/ is thrice as broad as the lentisk lief & brother/ depiction of plant Pistarea. and it is but twice as long & about a grain longer. The figure of the fistic tre is almost round: the figure of the lentisk lief is such/ that in that part that is next unto the footstalk/ is very small and waxeth greater and greater unto the mid lief/ & from thence it groweth ever less and less until it come unto a point all most sharp. The colour of the lentisk is also green/ when as the colour of the fistik is nothing so green/ but yelower with little read spots in them. In this likeness & bigness have I seen the lentisk or mastic tre and the fistik tre in Bonony/ where as I learned the knowledge of herbs & practice of physic of my master Lucas Ginus/ the reder of Dioscorides thereof whom Matthiolus in his commentaries upon Dioscorides oft-times maketh honourable mention. It may chance that Matthiolus hath seen the leaves of the foresaid trees of greater or less bygnes and of other fashion & colour than they were of that I saw in Bonony/ where of I have certain at this day to show/ well kept in a book at the lest these seventeen years/ if any man should doubt of my truth in the rehearsal of these matters. The fistik nut at the least hath two notable coverings/ one that is without all the other as a walnut or an almond hath/ an other hard and tough and in colour white/ within the which is a green kernel/ full of oil. The virtues of fistickes out of Dioscorides. THe fistic nuts are good for the stomach. They are also a good remedy against the bitings of creeping beasts/ wheter they be eaten/ or whether they be broken and drunken in wine. Out of Pliny. THe fistickes have the same profits and working that the pineapple kernels have/ and beside that they are profitable whether they be eaten or drunken against the bitings of serpents. Out of Galene de alimentorum facultatibus. GAlene in the second book de alimentorum facultatibus writeth that fistickes nourish but a little/ and that they are good to streyngthen the liver and to scouraway the humores that are stopped in the canales of it. The same Galene writeth of them thus in his books of simple medicine. The fruit of the fistic tre is of a finer substance or complexion/ and it hath a little bitterness and a good smell/ & therefore it scoureth away the stopping of the liver chiefly/ and also of the breast and lungs. Out of simeon Sethi. FIstickes as Symeon sayeth (after the translation of Lilius Gregorius) nourish little/ and are hot & dry in the second degree. They are good for the liver/ and sometime they stop and sometime they drive away/ because they have juices of ij. sorts/ where of the one is something binding/ and the other something bitter/ and of a spicy smell. Galene writeth that they nether greatly help nor hurt the stomach. But the later writers hold/ that they are good for the stomach. They help them that are bitten of venummus beasts. They make the blood fine/ and they make thin gross and though humores. The oil of fistickes is good for the breast/ kidneys/ and lungs. Out of Serapio and other arabians. THe oil of fistickes/ is good against all venemus bitings/ for the ache of the liver/ which cometh of moisture. It is hot & dry/ and of a greater heat than the walnut and hazel nut be of. Averroes writeth that fistickes are temperately dry and hot/ and that they comfort the stomach and liver of their hole substance/ & that they are of the number of these medicines that have many and virtues to help with all. Races also an Arabiane sayeth that fistikes being hot/ help a woman to her sickness. Of the pease. AS Dioscorides describeth not the fabam/ where of he maketh mention and showeth the virtues/ so he nether describeth nether maketh any mention of the Pisi. Wherefore it is as little marvel that men have erred in the piso as well as in the faba. Sum herbaries of Germany hold that cicer anetinum is the pisum of the latins led by this reason. Cicer is called in Greek Erebinthos and the pisum of the Latins is called in some places of Duchland erweisen/ so that they gather that/ that the Dutch erweysen came of the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Other gather even by such an other reason that the Duche erbs/ which is called in English a pease is the eruum of the Latins/ & orobus of the grecians/ because erbs seemeth to come either of eruum or orobus/ by reason of the likeness of the words between one & an other. But all these gessinges are but vain and openly against the truth/ as God willing I shall prove her after. But before I take that matter in hand/ I think it best to search out what old writers have written of their pisis. depiction of plant Pisum. Here be all the places that I can find at this time in the old writers/ which declare any thing the form or fashion of pisi. But first before I bring in what is my judgement of the pisi/ I thynck it meet to consul the errores which are committed in this pulse piso. First that they err foully/ that hold that Cicer arietinum in Dioscorides is our common pease/ and the pison of the Greeks/ because the Duchess erweysen is like in sound to erebinthus/ and they that hold that pease called in some place of Duchelande erbs/ is the eruum of the Latins or orobus of the grecians/ because these words orobus and eruum are like unto the Dutch word erbs. It may be easily proved by that it followeth not/ because a Duche word soundeth like a greek or Latin word/ that therefore it that the Duche word betokeneth/ that the latin and Greek words betokeneth the same. For if that were a good manner of argument/ then carabus/ which soundeth like ein krab/ should not be a lobster or eyen mer krevet/ but a krab/ and vulpes which soundeth like unto ein wolf/ should not be afore/ but a wolf/ where unto it hath a liker sound and name. Cunila should not be saveray/ but time/ for the high Duche call time quendell. Puligium should not be pennyriall/ but polium/ because the Dutch call pulegium poley. Now may ye see how slender the argument is which is fethched out of the likeness of words in diverse tongues/ except the descriptiones and properties do agree also therewith. But that the description and properties of pisi do not agree with Orobus and Erebinthus/ I shall easily prove it/ by the authorities of the autores above rehearsed/ and with other beside them. Erebinthus/ as Theophrast writeth falleth not upon the ground but groweth a side. But the pease falleth upon the ground/ therefore erebinthus can not be pisum. The pisum hath long leaves/ but Erebinthus hath none/ such. Therefore Erebinthus can not be pisum. Galene writeth de Cicere Arietino/ and de piso as of ij. distinct and diverse pulses/ Pliny also in one chapter divideth cicera from pisis/ therefore erebinthus which is called in latin cicer is not pisum. Theophrast maketh orobum to grow sydlynges. But all our kinds of peasen are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is their stalks grow by the ground/ and Galen writeth that all the kinds of orobus/ saving the white are plain bitter and taketh not all bitterness away from it utterly/ but maketh it gentler than the other as Theophrast doth also. But all our kinds of peasen & all the kinds of erweysen or erbsen in Duche/ are plain sweet/ without all bitterness. Therefore there can none of our pease nether of the Duche erbsen be any kind of orobus/ saving the white/ and that (as it is proved before) can not be orobus as one that wrote upon the Georgikes of Virgil did lately teach. That the most part of our common peasen can not be pisum of the old writers/ it doth appear by both the descriptiones of Theophrast and Plini. For Theophrast maketh his pease with a long lief/ & Plini giveth corners unto his pease. Then when as the common white pease is altogether round and without corners/ and the leaves of the most part of our common peasen are round/ the common white peason and other like unto them in form and fashion can not be pisa of the old writers. The common grey pease with the long leaves/ which is not round/ but cornered/ is either the pisum of the old writers/ or else I know it not all. The virtues of peasen out of Galene. PEasen of their hole substance have a certain likeness with fabis (which are called of the most part of learned men and taken for our beans) and are after the same manner taken in that fabe ar. But they differ in these two points/ from fabis both in that they are not so windy/ and that they have not such a scouring nature/ & therefore go slowlier down throw the belly. Galene in that place where as he writeth of fabis/ sayeth that all things which are fried want the wyndenes that they had before/ but that they are harder of digestion. Then the perched or burstled peasen which are called in Northumberland carlines by Galenis rule/ are not so windy as otherways dressed/ & are harder to be digested/ although they noy not so much with their wyndenes. The physiciones of Salern write thus of peasen in their book which they wrote unto the king of England. Sunt inflativa cum pellibus atque nociva. Pellibus ablatis sunt bona pisa satis. That is peasen with their skins are windy and noysum/ but when as that skins are taken away: they are good enough. Thus do they say. But for all their saying/ I will advise all them that have either windy stomachs/ or miltes/ that they use not much pease at any time/ howsoever they be dressed/ except there be either anis sede/ or cumin/ or mint/ or some other seed or herb of like property put thereto. Wherefore I must needs commend the honest and learned Physicianes who of old time have taught our cooks to put the powder of mint in to pease pottage/ for that taketh away for the most part the windiness of the pease/ which might else hurt all men disposed unto any windiness either in the milt or stomach. The cause why I do commend them is/ because they have done both according unto reason and to the learning of Galene who writing of peasen/ and other windy meats/ sayeth that whatsoever windiness is in any kind of meat/ the same may be amended by such herbs as are hot and make subtle and fine. Of pitiusa or pine spourge out of Dioscorides. PItiusa is judged to differ in spicy or kind from the cypress spourge/ called in latin cyparissias. wherefore it is numbered amongst the kinds of tithimales. Pitiusa (which I name pine spourge) bringeth forth a stalk longer than a cubit/ having many knees or joints. The leaves are sharp & small like unto the leaves of a pine tre. The flowers are small/ in colour purple/ the sede is broad as a lentil is. The root is white/ thick/ and full of juice. This same is found in some places a great bush. Hitherto Dioscorides. This pitiusa is called of the common Herbaries and apothecary's esula maidr/ but how that it is called in English/ I can not tell/ allthoug it be found in many places of England. But lest it should be without a name/ I call it pine spourge after the Greek name and likeness of the leaves of it unto the leaves of a pine tre. It may also be called lynespourge/ of the likeness that it hath with linaria. The common herbaries hold that it is hard to discern esulam from linaria/ and therefore they have made a verse whereby a man may learn to discern the one from the other/ but the verse is this: Esula lactescit, linaria lac dare nescit. Pinespourge hath much milck/ which linari lacketh in her lief. But because linari is also like the Cypress spourge (which is much less than this is) it were best for the avoiding of confusion continually to call pitiusam pine spourge. The great kind that Dioscorides maketh mention of/ have I seen in diverse places of Germany/ first a little beneath Colen/ by the Rhine side/ and afterward/ beside Worms in high Germany. I have seen it diverse times as high as a man/ and sometime much longer. This herb may be called in English spourge giant/ or merrish or water spourges/ because it groweth only in merrish and watery grounds. The virtue of pitiusa out of Dioscorides. TWo drams of pitiusas rote with meed purgeth/ & so doth a dram of the seed/ & so doth a spounfull of the sap made in pills with flower. Three drams of the leaves/ may be taken for a purgation. Of plantain or weybrede. depiction of plant Plantago maior, depiction of plant Plantago minor, depiction of plant Plantago II. minor. depiction of plant Plantago aquatica. THere at two kinds of plantain or Waybrede the less and the greater. The less hath narrower leaves/ less and smoother/ softer and th'inner. It hath little stalks bowing to the ground/ full of corners and pale yellowish flowers. The seed is in the top of the stalks. The greater is larger with broad leaves like unto a beat. The stalk in this kind is full of corners/ something reddish of a cubit height/ set about with small seed from the mids unto the top. The roots are tender rough/ white/ and of the thickness of a finger. It groweth in myri places in hedges and in moist places/ and the greater is the better. Hither to Dioscorides. Beside these two kinds there are diverse more beside which may all well be contained under these/ saving it that groweth by the see side only/ which seemeth to be a several kind from all the rest. The greatest kind is called in the South part of England plantain or plantain/ & in the North country waybrede or weybrede. The less kind is called sharp waybred or sharp plantain/ and in many places rybgrasse. The Duche call the great plantain breid Wegerich/ and the less Spitzwegerich. The virtues of both the Plantaynes or waybredes out of Dioscorides. THe leaves of plantain/ have a drying pour and binding together. Wherefore if they be laid to/ they are good for all perillus sores and hard to heal/ and such as draw toward the common lepre/ and for such as are flowing or running and full of foul matter. They stop also the bursting out of blood/ carbuncles/ freting sores/ creeping sores/ right blaynes'/ or ploukes'/ & they cover with a skin old sores & uneven/ and sores all most uncurable/ & they heal up corners/ and hollow sores. They heal also the biting of a dog/ and burned places/ and inflammationes or burnings/ and the inflammationes or apostemes behind the ears and swellings/ having blains in them after the colour of breed. They are good to be laid to hard swellings or wens and watering of the eyes/ with a sore disposed to fistelles'/ with salt. But the herb if it be eaten as a wort in meat/ with salt/ and vinegar/ it is good for the bloody flix and the other flix without blood. It is also given sodden in the stead of betes/ with pentilles. It is also given to them that have the dropsy which hath the name of white phlegm/ after the use of dry things/ so that the herb sodden may be taken in the mids. It is also good to be given to them that have the falling sickness/ and to them that are short winded. The juice of the leaves scoureth sores that are in the mouth/ if it be oft washed therewith. With Cimolia and white lead or ceruse/ it healeth the inflammation called saint Antony's fire. The same is poured in to the cares for the ache of them/ and for the eysore/ it is poured in to the ey/ and it is menged with eye salves. It is drunken of them with profit/ that have bloody goumes/ and of them that cast out blood. It is good to be poured in under against the bloody flix. It is also good to be drunken against the ptisik. It is also good to be laid to against the strangling of the mother in will/ and so is it good for a waterish or to moist mother. The seed also drunken with wine stoppeth the belly and the spitting of blood. The root sodden stauncheth the tuthe ach/ if they be washed there with/ and it chowed in the mouth. The root and leaves are good against the sores or blisters that are in the bladder and kydnes/ so that they be taken with sweet wine. Some say that three roots with three ciates of wine with like portion of water will help a tertian/ & the four roots help a quartyn. There are also some that use the root hanged in a band/ to drive away wens and hard swellings. Out of Galene in the seven. book of simple medicines. plantain is of a menged complexion or temperature/ for it hath a certain cold waterish ting/ and also a certain binding tartish thing/ the which is early dry and cold. And therefore it cooleth and drieth/ & is in both in the second degree from the mids. But such medicines as cool & bind/ are good for sores that are hard to be healed/ for isshues & in flowings and rotten humores/ & so are they good for the bloody flix. The root and seed are not so cold as the leaves are/ but drier. Aetius confirmeth it that Galene and Dioscorides have written/ and sayeth also thus: The seed is of most subtle or fine parts/ but the roots are of grosser parts. And the leaves dried/ get unto them the pour of subtler parts/ but not so cold as they had before. When as these be the true virtues & properties of the kinds of playntayn/ it is a foolish saying of some unlearned persons/ which hold stiffly that plantain draweth humores out of sores: When as the properties of it/ is rather to drive back humores/ and to dry up them/ that are flown to the hurt places/ then to draw any unto the place. For all such medicines as shall draw/ must have an hot or warm property/ and not a cold and dry/ as all the kinds of plantain have. Of the Plain tre. although Dioscorides writeth of the virtues of Plain tre/ yet he describeth it not. Wherefore very mane in England and Germany have erred in taking of diverse trees for the Plain tre/ where of nono of them all/ was the right Plain tre in deed. Sum take the lynd tree (which I with many other take for the right tilia) for Platano: because it shutteth forth long branches/ & boughs/ and is able to cover a numbered of men under it. Sum take a tre which seemeth to me/ to be a kind of acer/ to be Platanum. And that tre is called in Dutch Ahorn. That the lynd can not be Platanus/ it may be gathered by diverse places of Dioscorides/ where as he maketh certain well known herbs like to Platano. Dioscorides in the fourth book and 145. chapter/ writeth of ricinus/ which we call now in England palma Christi, sayeth that it hath leaves/ like unto a Plain tre/ but greater/ smoother and blacker. But the lynd tre hath leaves like an asp tre/ or to some ivy leaves that have no indenting or cutting/ & nothing like unto the leaves of palma Christi, which are cut out after the manner of a man's hand. Pliny also in the xuj. depiction of plant Platanus. book and xxiv. chapter/ writeth that the fyg tre/ plain tre/ & vine/ have greatest leaves of all other/ therefore seeing that the leaves of the lined tree are but small in comparison of these now rehearsed and of many other/ it can not be the right Platanus or Plain tre. They that hold that the Ahorn tre (which I reckon to be only a kind of acer) is Platanus/ grant that it groweth in the highest mountains that are some thing moist/ amongst the ash trees. But Theophrastus maketh the Plain tre to grow in merrish grounds with willows & by wells and water sides. And the same writeth thus of the Plain trees natural place very clearly in the third book of the History of plants/ & in the seventh chapter. Some trees grow easily & increase with speed/ as they that arise up by rivers or waters/ as the elm tre/ the Plain tre/ the water asp/ and the wylow tre. Therefore the Platanus and the ahorn tre agre nothing in their natural place of growing. Both Plini and Theophraste write also that Platanus groweth not naturally in Italy. And Plini writeth that the Plain tre was fetched out of a strange world/ only for the shaddowiss sake. It is like if ahorn had been Platanus/ and the italians had known/ that it had grown so near hand them/ in Germany/ (as it is very like/ they being so much & so oft in Germany/ did know what grew there/) they would never have sent in to a strange walled to fetch them/ seeing they might have had it so near home. They also that describe the ahorn tre/ make it not to have any such shadowing boughs and branches as Plini and Theophrast writ that the Plain tre hath. For these and diverse other like causes/ I reckon that the tre called in Duche Ahorn or wild ashen/ can not be Platanus. I have seen the leaves of that Platanus that groweth in Italy/ and two very young trees in England which were called there Plain trees. Whose leaves in all points were like unto the leaves of the Italian Plain tre. And it is doubtless that these two trees were either brought out of Italy/ or of some far country beyond Italy/ where unto the freres/ monks and chanones went a pilgrimage. The virtues of the Plain tre. THe young leaves of the Plain tre/ sodden in wine/ are good to be laid unto the eyes to stop the running and watering of them. They are also good for swellings/ and inflammationes. The bark sodden in vinegar/ is good for the tooth ach/ if the teth be washed therewith. The young knoppes drunken in wine/ heal the the biting of serpents. If they be broken and menged with grese/ and there of be made an ointment/ heal it that is burnt of fire. The horynes that cleaveth unto the leaves/ is perillus both for the eyes and ears also. Of the herb called Polium out of Dioscorides. Polium. depiction of plant depiction of plant There are two kinds of Polium/ the one of the mountains which is named teucrion/ and this is it that is commonly used. It is a bushling/ small/ white/ and a span long/ full of seed. It hath in the top a little heed like a cluster of berries/ but that little and like an hoary hear. And it hath a strong or grievous smell joined with a certain pleasantness. The other kind is more bushy/ and not of so strong a smell/ and weyker in working. Hither to Dioscorides. The first and nobler kind have I seen growing in the mount Appennin/ but never in England abroad. Therefore I know no English name of it/ but it may be well called after the Greek and Latin name Poly. The second kind did I see (except I be deceived) a little from the citi of Cour in the land of Rhetia/ but it grow not so straight up/ as it that Matthiolus painteth. Pliny giveth unadvisedly those properties unto Polio that belong to tripolio. Therefore all students had need to read him warily/ as both here and in many other places/ lest he give them full cause of error. Here is the reder to be warned that where as it is in that translation of Cornarius palmi altitudine, it is in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ which Greek word betokeneth not the length of four fingers/ as palmus doth/ but a span/ which containeth in it ix. inshes or xij. fingers. This thought I necessary to warn the reder of/ lest he leaving unto the authority of Cornarius/ should think that Poly should be no higher than iij. Rede Agricolam de ponderibus & mensuris. inches or four fingers long/ as palmus moste commonly in all good autores that I have red doth signify/ saving in a place or ij. of Pliny/ which seem to agree with the judgement of Cornarius. The virtues of Poly out of Dioscorides. THe broth of the herb drunken/ healeth the stinging of serpents/ them that have the dropsy and the jaundice/ and also them that are grieved in the milt/ so that it be used with vinegar. It vexeth the stomach/ and engendereth the hedach. It looseth the belly/ and bringeth down flowers. If it be strewed upon the ground/ or if it be burned/ and made to smoke/ it driveth away serpents. If it be laid to emplasterwyse/ it bindeth wounds together. Poly by the reason of his bitterness/ as Galene writeth/ & because he is meetly sharp/ delivereth all inward parts from stopping. When as it is green as the same Galene writeth/ it joineth together great wounds/ & specially the bushy kind. When as it is dried/ it will heal old sores very hard to be healed. But the less kind is for that purpose more effectuus or stronger in working. The less Poly/ which we use in preservatives and treacles/ is sharper and bitterer than the greater is. So that it drieth in the third degree/ and heateth fully out in the second degree. Of the herb called Polygala or milk lentil. POlygala/ sayeth Dioscorides/ is a bushling/ a span long/ and hath leaves after the fashion of lentil leaves/ with a taste something binding & tart. Dioscorides writeth no more of Polygala. The herb that I take for Polygala/ is a very short herb/ and it groweth in woods and in wild places/ and in hedges beside woods/ and in laynes: the flower is in some places purple/ and in other places almost white. although I have seen this herb oft in England/ yet could I never hear of any man the name of it. It may be called until we find a better name/ milk lentil/ because it hath leaves like lentils/ and the property to make much milk. The virtues of Polyg●la. DIoscorides rehearseth no other virtue of Polygala/ saving that it maketh much milk. And Galene writeth not much more of it. For he writeth only this of it. Polygalon leaves are a little binding. They seem to make milk/ if it were drunken. Therefore heat and moisture must bear the chief rule in it. Paul hath nothing of this herb but it that Dioscorides and Galene wrote before him. Nether find I any more of it in Pliny/ then is written in Dioscorides. Of knot grass or swine grass, and of the meadow schavigrass, out of Dioscorides. depiction of plant Polygonum I. depiction of plant Polygonum II. The former kind is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Poligonun mass or sanguinalis, in Dutch Wegbret/ in English knotgraß or Swynegrasse. The female is called in Greek Polygonon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ in Latin Polygonun foemina/ in English little shave grass or meadow shavegrass/ because it groweth much in moist and merrish meadows. The virtues of knot grass out of Dioscorides. THe juice of knotgrass/ if it be drunken/ hath a binding and a cooling property. It is good for them that spit blood/ and for the flux and for such as choler bursteth out of/ both above and beneath. It is good for the strangurian/ for it doth manifestly bring forth water. It is good to be drunken with wine/ against the biting of venemus beasts. It is also good to be taken against the fits of agues an hour before their coming. It if be laid to it well/ stop the isshues of women. It is good to be put in against the running & mattery ears. It is excellently good against the sores of the privites/ if it be sodden with wine and honey. The leaves are good to be laid to for the burning of the stomach for casting out of blood/ for creeping sores/ for hot inflammationes called saint Antony's fire/ or of some other the wild fire/ for impostumes and swellings and green wounds. The female which I call meadow shavegrass/ hath a binding power & cooling/ and it is good for all that the other kind is good for/ but it is in all points weyker. Galene beside these properties/ that Dioscorides giveth unto Polygono/ assigneth also these that follow here after. As knotgrass hath a certain binding/ so doth a waterish coldness bear the chief rule in it. So that it is in the second degree cold/ or almost in the beginning of the third degree. It is good to make a repercussive or backdryving medicine of it/ to drive back again such humores as flow unto any place. Of the herb called Polygonatum or scala caeli. depiction of plant Polygonaton. depiction of plant Polyganatum angustifolium. POlygonaton groweth in hills or mountains. It is a bush more than a cubit high/ it hath leaves like a bay tre/ but brother and smoother/ which in taste hath a certain thing like a quince/ or pomegranate. For they send forth a certain binding. There are white flowers about the out springs of every leaf/ more in number then the leaves are/ if ye begin to tell from the root. It hath a white root/ soft/ long full of knees or oyntes/ cough (as some translate this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) or thick well compact together/ (as other turn the same word) and it hath a grievous smell/ it is about an inch thick. This herb is well known both in England/ and in Germany. It is called in English scala celi. The Dutch men call it Weiß wurtz/ the herbaries call it sigillum Salomonis. It were better to call it by an English name taken out of Dutch (from whence our English sprang first) white wort then scala celi/ for so shall men learn better to know it/ and to remember the name of it. The properties of Polygonatum or white wort. IT is very good for wounds and to scour away spots and frekles/ out of one's face. Some use to make ashes of the root of this herb and to make lay of it/ for to scour away frekles out of the face. Of Asp, and kinds of Poplar. depiction of plant Populus I. depiction of plant Populus II. DIoscorides maketh but two kinds of Populus/ that is the white and the black. But Theophrast/ and Pliny/ make three kinds/ Dioscorides and Theophrast call populum nigram 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and populum albam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. But in Theophrast is there yet an other kind called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of him. But why that it hath that name/ I can not perfectly perceive/ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much to say in Latin as Radius/ which betokeneth in our speech a beam/ a spoke in a wheel/ the less bone in a man's arm and a weavers instrument named a shittel. But I see no cause that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the third popler/ should have his name of any of these. But if that there had been in the stead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, (which word it is possible that it hath ones been in the text of Theophrast/ and afterward changed by some writer into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) it were easy to tell/ of what properti it were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek is as much to say in English/ a spiteful noise and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek is/ found again. Therefore/ if the word had been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the third kind of popler should have had the name of sounding or of making of a noysum noise. Which property Pliny in diverses places giveth unto the popler tre/ and we see that in the wood popler/ that it hath leaves ever trymbling and moving/ & with in but a small wind cracking. Theodore Gaza the translator of Theophrast/ out of Greek in to Latin/ turneth kerkin in to populum alpinam, that is an asp or popler of the mountains/ called the alpes. Pliny called this third kind populum lybicam/ where of I intent to entreat here after. Of the kinds of poplers out of Theophrast. THe white popler/ and the black/ are of one fasshone/ they grow right up both. But the black popler is longer and smoother. They are both like in figure of lief/ They have also both white wood/ when as they are cut down 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or populus alpina/ is not unlike unto the white popler/ both in bygnes and by that it spreadeth abroad with white boughs. It hath the leaf of an ivy/ but in the one half with out a corner/ on the other side a long corner/ going to a sharpness/ with one colour almost both upon the over part and nether part also. It hath a long footstalk and small/ & therefore it is not right out/ but bowing in. The bark is rougher than the white poplers' bark is/ and more scabbed/ as the bark of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is/ which Theodore turneth a wild pine. Thus writeth Theophrast in the third book de historia plantarum and in the xiv. chapter. And in the xuj. chapter of the first book de historia plantarun he writeth thus of the white popler/ and not generally of every popler (as Gaza translating 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not very well/ populum with out any putting to of white or black doth.) The leaves (sayeth he) in all other trees are in all points like themselves/ but the leaves of the white asp/ of the ivy tre/ and of palma Christi/ are not like themselves/ that is they have some time one fashion of leaves/ and some time an other fashion. For when as they are young/ they are round/ but when they are old/ they grow into to corners. But it is not so with the Iuy. For the ivy whilse it is young/ hath more cornered leaves/ and when it cometh to perfect age/ then are the leaves rounder. And this property belongeth severally to the olive tre to the lined/ and to the white popler tre/ for they turn down their upper parts by and by after solstitium (which is after Aetius/ the xxv. of juny & after Pliny the xxiv. of juny) and by that token the Husbaumen know that the solstitium of summer is past. Theophrast writeth in diverse places that the poplers grow by water sides/ and in moist places/ as the noble Poet Virgil doth also. Out of Pliny. THere are three kinds of Populus/ the white/ the black/ and it that is called lybica/ which is lest and blackest in the leaf/ and most commended of all other/ for bearing of todestooles (or as the Northumberlanders call them) bruches. The white hath a leaf of two colores/ white above (which saying of Pliny is not true until the solstitium be passed for a fore that time/ the upper part is green) and the under part is green. The rest that Pliny writeth of the poplers/ saving where as he taketh any thing out of Theophrast is not worthy the writing. Populus nigra which is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and in Italian Pioponero/ in Frence du tremble or Pepleur/ in Duche Aspen/ is not so common in England/ as it is in Italy & high Germany. The Populus is called with us by two names/ some call it a Poppler/ and other an Asp or an esp tre. But not every tre in England called Poplar or Esp/ is the right Populus nigra. For it that groweth in the hills and dry woods both in England & Germany/ is not the Populus nigra, but rather kerkis or Populus alpina, of Theophrait/ or populus lybica in Pliny. For both Theophrast and Virgil appoint the water sides & merrishe grounds unto populo nigrae. The popler/ also that groweth in the woods of England (if my memory fale me not) have no such black tags as the black popler hath/ which groweth in Germany by the rene side/ hard by the city called Lauterburgh. Pliny also reckoneth the popler amongst the other trees which have curled veins in these words. Tarde illae senescunt quarum crispa materies, ut acer, palma, populus. That is those trees are long in coming to age/ whose would or timber/ is curled/ as the maple tre/ the date tre/ and the popler tre. Hither to Pliny. I have seen in Germany many well favoured things pertaining unto household stuff made of the black popler/ which groweth by the water sides/ as spownes/ tables/ doors and chistes/ with a meruelus fine curled grain/ and pleasant to look to. But the wood of our common popler is nothing like unto it that I have spoken of/ for it hath no such grain or curling/ therefore it is not the right black popler of Pliny and Theophrast. Therefore it were best to call populum nigram a black popler or a black asp/ or a water asp/ and not by this word popler/ or asp alone. As touching the white Asp/ I remember not that ever I saw it in any place of England. But I have seen it in great plenty in Italy by the river sede of Padus/ where as it is called albera/ and in high Germany by the rene side/ where as it is called saurbaum. If it be found in England/ it may be called a white Asp or a white popler/ because the undersyde of the leaf is as white as any paper. The white Asp differeth not only from the black in the whiteness of the one side of the leaf/ but also in the form of the leaf. For the white Asp hath a leaf something indented or cut after the manner of palma Christi. But if any man cast against me/ it that Theophrast writeth of both the poplers in the 14. chapter of the third book de historia plantarum. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. That is the figure or fashion of the leaf is like: I answer that this likeness is only when as the leaves come first forth/ and not afterwards/ for if they should be like afterward/ then should Theophrast be contrary unto himself/ who in the first book de historia plantarum, and in the xuj. chapter writeth these words: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The leaves of the white popler of the ivy and of it that is called palma Christi, are unlike and diverse in figure. For when as they are young they are round/ but when as they are older they have corners/ there may ye see plainly that the leaves of the white popler when as they are old/ are cornered. Which thing if it be true as I have sufficiently proved to be so/ then err they very much and give other occasion of error/ which set out in their herbals the white popler with a round leaf without any corners at all. The third kind of popler which is called of Theophrast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as I guess rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and translated of Gaza populus alpina, and named of Pliny populus lybica, is our common asp in England/ or else I know not what it is. The causes that make me to think that our common asp is populus lybica in Pliny/ and populus montana in Theophrast are these: First both the likeness of leaves that it hath with the black popler and in many other so resembleth the other poplers/ that I think that there is no man that hath seen the other two kinds of popler/ that will deny but that this is a kind of popler. Then when as it is nether the first kind nor the second/ it is very like that it is the third kind when as no other tre can be found as yet for the third kind. Theodor Gaza being a man of much reading/ would not call this kind populum alpinam except either some reason or authority that he had red/ had moved him thereto. Then when as this common asp tre is much in high mountains/ he seemeth in calling the third kind of the popler populum alpinam, to mean that Theophrast understandeth by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that popler that groweth in hills and mountains. Then when as the common asp groweth in such places/ it is like that our common asp should be kerkis/ the third kind of Populus. Theophrast maketh the third kind/ like unto the white popler in bygnes and in spreading abroad of boughs/ which two things may be found in our common asp with the scabbedness of the bark in old trees/ except my memory fale/ may also be found: but as touching the property that he giveth unto the foot stalk of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ I am sure agreeth well with our common asp tre. But whether the leaves that Theophrast giveth unto his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are agreeing with the leaves of our asp or no/ I leave that to be judged of them that are learned/ but I doubt some thing that they do not in all points well agree/ or else I durst give sentence that our common asp were there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Theophrast. But though it be not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Theophrast/ it seemeth unto me that it may well be the third kind of Populus in Pliny which he called populum lybicam. Pliny maketh one kind of Populus to grow in the mountains and that is nether the white nor the black/ wherefore it seemeth that it is then the third kind of populus. Pliny also maketh his third kind of populus to have todestoles growing upon it/ and he maketh the people tre to have a trymbling foot stalk and leaves one cracking against an other. Then when as the common popler hath these properties more than any other popler tre hath/ it is very like that it should be the third kind of populus/ which he called populum lybicam. The virtues and complexiones of the Poplar or asp trees. diverse men are of diverse judgements/ concerning the degree and complexion of the black popler. For diverse reckon it hot in the third degree/ and other reckon it hot only in the first degree. And some hold that it is plain cooled and nothing hot at all. Aetius after the translation of Cornarius sayeth that it is hot in the third degree. And in some texts/ Galene maketh it also hot in the third degree. But in the best greek texts and translationes that we now have/ it is reckoned to be hot/ only in the first degree. The words of the translatores of Galene are these: Aegyri flores facultate quidem sunt in primo recessu à temperatis. Sed & resina eius floribus similem facultatem obtinet, atque etiam calidiorem. Then when as all these autores make the black popler hoten: some in one degree/ and some in an other: if sufficient authority of ancient writers may confute any man/ then is Amatus Lusitanus confuted/ by the authority of the forenamed autores where as he holdeth stif●i that the black popler is cold. These by the words of Amatus/ lest any man should think that I report falsely of him unguentum populeum, prope tertium gradum frigiditatis, à doctissimis judicatur. Proinde populum frigidam vel saltem non calidam esse necessarium est. And a little after he allegeth Galene/ Paul and Constantinus/ which writ that the popler is but hot in the first degree. And when as he hath alleged their autorites/ he maketh this unhedefull consequent. Natura ipsa arboris, & proprietates, satis judicant calidam non esse, quibus magis credere debemus quàm omnibus de ea hucusque scribentibus. And afterward he maketh an other conclusion of these forecited autores & properties. Itaque populum ad frigiditatem potius quàm ad caliditatem inclinare in confesso est. Now because some take him for a man of authority/ and worthy credit/ lest men should be led from the truth by him/ and the opinion that they have of his learning/ I will assay if I can for the defence of the truth confute his reasons where with he goeth about to prove against the authority of the noble writers/ whom I have before rehearsed/ that the black popler is cold/ or at the lest not hot. His first argument is this/ populeum is judged of the most learned men to be cold about the third degree/ ergo the popler is cold. This argument is not good/ because a little portion of an hot thing may go in to a cold composion/ to lead the cold medicines to the diseased places/ or to correct or temper the vehemency of unholsum cold simples/ and yet it is not therefore necessari that the hot medicine should be cold for being menged with many cold medicines. Nether is it necessari that the cold composition should be made hot with a small portion of an hot simple medicine. If he had reasoned thus: the best learned men judge/ that the popler is cold about the third degree/ ergo they err that hold that the popler is hot/ had been a good argument. But then would I have denied his antecedent/ & have said/ that Galene/ Aetius/ Paulus/ Oribasius/ Serapio & Auicenna/ were better learned then ever they were that hold that the popler is so cold. For it is a false fallacy and a sophistical argument to argue from a part to the hole. As thus there is sum part of the horse is white/ ergo the horse is white or all white. And even such argument is this. If populus were hot then should populeum be hot: but it is cold/ ergo populus is cold. When as there go in to the ointment populeum only xviij. ounces of the people budes/ there entre in xxxiij. ounces of all very cold herbs/ which by many ounces overcome the weike heat of the popler buds/ and so abide cold still/ namely when as the poplers' heat/ is but in the first degree/ and the coldness of the other/ is cold for the most part of them all in the second or third degree/ and some of them be cold almost in the fourth degree. And therefore it followeth not. Populeum is veri cold/ ergo populus which is a part of it is also cold. But this is one great cause of his error/ that he did not consider/ that learned men did put sometimes sum portiones of hot simples in to medicines that take ache away/ not to make the hole composition hot/ but to convey the other cold simples into the ground of the diseased places. Which thing Galene teacheth in the ix. book of the composition of medicines after the places/ in these words. Ex opij & hyosciami mixtura, somnum soporiferum, & sensitivae partis stuporem inducere voluit. Quo verò citius distribuerentur, & totum affectarum partium profundum penetrarent: calefacientia admiscuit, pyrethrun, euphorbium & piper, quae nocentes humores discutere possint, & extergere viscosoes, & secare crassos, & ventosos flatus, attenuare. Then were not the poplers' buds put in/ to make the hole medicine/ called populeun hot or cold/ but for this purpose now rehearsed. His second argument goeth forth thus. Galene/ Paulus and Constantinus write that the popler is but hot in the first degree/ ergo it is cold or not hot: but this argument is so unlearnedly made/ that it needeth but small confutation. When as he ought by good logic to have resoned/ the old writers hold that populus nigra is hot in the first degree/ ergo it is hot/ and in nowise cold. For to be hot in the first degree/ is to be one degree stop or order departed from it that is temperate or cold. And therefore Galene writing of the heat of this tre/ sayeth in these expressed words. The flowers of the black popler are hot in working/ in the first departing or going away/ or degree from temperate simples/ that is to say from such as are in a mean temper between hot and cold. therefore/ saying that he maketh his conclusion/ contrari unto his antecedent/ that is an hot antecedent/ & a cold consequent/ his argument is worthy to be refused. His third argument is this: The popler tre hath nether any notable smell nor taste in it/ where by it may be judged to be hot/ ergo it is no wise hot. Here I deny his antecedent or ground of his argument/ and I take witness of all learned men that have tasted and smelled of the young buds of the black popler/ wheter they have very pleasant smell and an hot taste or no. I answer that the popler buds/ which I have tasted and examined/ both in England/ Germany and Italy/ are hot/ and that the gum that cometh forth of the ends of buds/ is hot about the second degree/ & this shall any man that will try it/ find true/ namely at the first coming forth of the buds/ about the mids of march/ & in sum contrees sooner. Therefore for all the sayings and arguments of Amatus/ the black popler abideth still hot in the first degree at the lest. Cornarius perceiving that the black popler was so hot: he thought it best to take the knoppes of the white popler. But whether he conselled right or otherways/ if we had Nicolaum Alexandrinum in Greek/ we should easily judge. For the grecians have not one Greek word to betoken both the poplers/ but they call the black asp 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. I would wish both for this cause and for diverse other that they that find any old Greek examples or copies of old autores/ and intent to translate them/ that they should as well set out and cause to be printed the Greek texts as their oun translationes/ for so might men the better examine their translationes/ and the studious youth by comparing of them together/ might profit much more in the greek tongue and practitioners might be more bold to work according to it that they have translated. The virtues of the poplers out of Dioscorides. THe leaves of the black asp/ are good to be laid to with vinegar upon the places that are vexed with the gout. The rosin that cometh out of the popler/ is menged oft times with softening and soupling emplasters. The seed is good to be drunken with vinegar of them that have the falling sickness. An ounce of the bark of the white popler drunken/ is good for the sciatica and the stranguria. The juice of the leaves of the white popler poured in to the ears/ is good for their ache. The round pills which come forth at the budding time/ broken and laid to with honey he'll the dullness of the eysyght. Of the kinds of lekes. depiction of plant Porrum capitatum. POrrum is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in English a leek/ in Duche ein lauch/ in French porrean. Dioscorides maketh mention but of two kinds of lekes/ and that in ij. diverse chapters. But Plini maketh three kinds/ & Theophrast maketh mention of one kind of leek/ which is nether 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. wherefore by Theophrast also there are iij. kinds of lekes. The first kind named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin porrum capitatum/ is called in English a leek/ without any addition/ in Dutch eyen lauch. The second kind is called porrum sectinum in Latin/ and in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as some writers have taught/ and it is called in English a French leek. I never saw this kind saving only in England. The third kind is called of the grecianes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latin even so/ because they have no other name/ it might be called porrum vineale. The Dutch men call it willed lauch/ it may be called in English wild leek. I never saw farer wild lekes in all my life than I saw in the sedes about Worms in high Germany. For they were much larger in the leaves and greater heeded than they were that I saw about Bon. The most part of the writers of herbals in Germany/ teach that our fine which they call schnit lauch/ is porrun sativum. But they are all far deceived for their schnitlauch is gethium/ which is numbered of Plini amongst the kinds of unyones/ and is therefore no kind of leek. For as all the kinds of uniones have round hollow leaves: so all the kinds of lekes/ have open leaves bowing in again from/ as it were a ridge/ or back/ porra sectiva as Plini writeth have little crests in their leaves/ and he sayeth that they differ only from other lekes/ in the manner of dressing and setting/ and therefore he sayeth/ if thou will have thy lekes/ sectiva/ sow them thicker together out of this place of Plini. I gather that of one kind of leek sede/ may come both capitula & sectiva porra. But there is no kind of right lekes sede which will bring forth sins or schnitlauch after what soever fashion ye sow or set it. Therefore seeing that our sine hath nether the leaves of porri sectivi/ neither groweth of the seed of any leek/ it can not be any kind of leek/ although the Duche name of schnitlauch draweth near unto the name of porri sectivi. Theophrast also seemeth to make mention of porri sectivi in the seven. book de historia plantarum, in the second chapter in thes words after the translation of Gaza. Gethium (that is a sign) springeth from the side and the leek/ bringeth forth also from the side beneath as it were a round knoppy heed from whence the leaves spring out/ but they spring not out until the stalk be withered and the seed be taken away. And because their hedes are little worth/ therefore men gather them not to dry them/ and therefore they are never sown. Thus far Theophrast. It appeareth that Theophrast speaketh here not of the common leek which is called porrum capitatum for that is sown/ & groweth of the seed/ and either never or seldum out the to warynges/ that grow like little knoppes/ out of the roots/ but the porro sectivo which groweth by pulling away & setting more commonly then by sowing. This porrun seetiwm which is called in English a French leek for the most part always groweth of setting and not of sowing. But I think if men would let their leaves and stalks grow forth/ and would not cut them/ and would set th'inner: that they would bring forth seed and would grow of the sede as other lekes do. But than would they grow out of kind/ and should be no more festiva porra/ except they were afterward cut & set thick together as Plini whom I have above rehearsed/ teacheth there right plainly. By these places and reasons/ that I have sufficiently proved that our sinet called in Duche schnitlauch is not porrum sativum but gethium. The virtues of the lekes first of Dioscorides. THe heeded leek/ that is our common leek/ breedeth wind/ & evil juice/ and maketh heavy dreams. It steereth a man to make water/ and it is good for the belly (to louse it as some understand Dioscorides.) It maketh fine but it dulleth the sight/ it draweth down flowers. It hurteth the bladder that hath the skin of/ & the kidneys. If it be sodden with a ptisan and received with meat: it will bring out those things that stick fast in the breast. But the overmost bushy tops of the leaves sodden with see water/ and vinegar/ are good to sit over for the stopping and hardness of the mother. If ye will seethe a leek in two waters and afterward stepe it/ in cold water/ it will be sweet and less windy than it wase before. The seed is sharper or more biting/ & it hat a certain binding power. Wherefore the juice of it with vinegar stoppeth blood/ and specially it that cometh forth of that nose if Frankincense or the fine flower of it be menged therewith. It steereth up also the lust of a man's body. And it is used against all the diseases of the breast/ licked in with honey after the manner of an electuari. It is also good against the ptisik/ when it is taken in meat. It scoureth also the wind pipe. But if it be eaten/ it dulleth the sight and hurteth the stomach. The juice drunken with honey is good against the biting of venemus beasts. Ye & the like laid to itself is good for the same purpose. The juice of the leek poured in to the ear with vinegar/ & frankincense/ & milk or rose oil/ healeth the ache & sounding there of. The leaves laid to with sumach of the kitchen/ take away varos (that is little hard swelled lumps in the face) and epinictidas (that is/ wheels that come out on the night/ which sometime being read/ if they be broken put forth blodi matter/ If they be laid to with salt/ they bring away the crusts of sores. Two drams of the seed with like weight of myrtill berries/ if they be drunken they are good for the casting out of blood of the breast. The wild leek or wynyard leek/ is more hurtful for the stomach them the common leek. But it heateth more/ and steereth a man more to make water. It bringeth also down flowers. And the use of it is good for them that are bitten of venemus beasts. Out of Simeon Sethi. THe leek is hot & dry in the first degree as simeon Sethy writeth/ but I reckon that it is hot at the lest in the second degree because it hath such virtues and working as one that is but hot in the first degree can not have. And as many as are followers of Galenes' learning in the book of simple medicines/ as sound as ever they taste of the leaves or sede/ will judge that the leek is either hot in the third degree almost/ or at the lest in the second in the atremite. Beside the properties that Dioscorides giveth unto the leek/ simeon writeth that it maketh & heed ache/ hurteth the liver/ & that it is good for the emrodes/ & for such as have cold stomachs. And Galene generally writing of unyones & lekes/ & of all such hot herbs counseleth all them that are of hot nature to avoid such/ & that they are only good for them that have cold waterish humores or tough/ or clammy humores in their stomachs. Out of Aetius. THe heeded lekes are of a sharp taste as unyones ar. By reason where of/ they heat the body/ and make thin or break gross humores and cut in pieces tough humores. They purge the bladder/ Paulus Egineta teacheth that the seed of the leek is used to be put in medicines for the kidneys. Out of Plini. THe porrum sectiuum stauncheth blood in the nose/ if ye break the leek and meng it with gall or mint/ if ye stop the nose thrills therewith. The juice of the leek taken with woman's milk/ stoppeth the issue that cometh/ when a woman hath had her birth before her tyme. The leaves are good for burning if they be laid to. So are they good for the diseases of the ears with a gotis gall or like portion of honeyed wine. This leek is also good for the jaundice/ and for the dropsy. The juice taken in the measure of an acetable that is about two ounces and an half with honey/ scoureth the mother. It quencheth thirst/ and driveth away drunkenness and softeneth the belly. The great heeded leek is stronger for all these purposes. The use of lekes is good for them that would have children. It is also good for the clearness of the voice/ taken with a ptisan/ or if it be taken every other day raw/ in the morning fasting. The leeks hedes twice sodden/ and the water changed/ stop the belly. Out of the arabians. A He leek bringeth women their sickness/ and scoureth the breast/ and taketh away sour belchynges/ and softeneth the belly. The leek destroyeth the tethe/ and the goumes. The leek of a natural property is good for a moist & slimy mother. The seed of the leek is good to make a perfume of/ to perfume the fundament therewith against fistulas that are in it. Of porcelain. depiction of plant Portulaca, depiction of plant Portulaca agrestis. porcelain is named in Greek andrachne/ in Latin/ Portulaca/ in Dutch pursel of bursell. There are two kinds of porcelain. The one is the comen porcelain that groweth in gardens with the broad leaves. The other groweth wild in the wynyardes of Germany. They are both so well known in all countries that they need no further description. The virtues of porcelain out of Dioscorides. porcelain hath a binding pour. If it be laid to emplaster wise with percheth barlei/ it is good for the hedeach/ and for the burning heat of the eyes/ and for other inflammationes and for the heat of the stomach/ and for the erysypelate called of some/ saint Antony's fire. It healeth the pain of the bladder. The same if it be chowed after the manner of meat helpeth the teth/ when as they are an edged/ the heat of the stomach guts/ and it stilleth the flowing. It healeth the fretynges or exulcerationes of the kydnes and bladder. And it quencheth the outragius desire to the lust of the body. So is the juice also good if it be drunken in agnes. It is also good for round worms and against the spitting of blood/ and the bloody flix/ and the emrodes/ and the bursting out of blood/ if it be much sodden. It is also good against the biting of a venemus beast/ called seps not unlike unto it that is called in the north part of England a swift. It is very good to be menged with eymedicines. Men use to pour it in/ against the flix of the guts and the gnawing or freting of the mother. Men use also to pour it upon the heed for the heed ach/ that cometh of heat/ with rose oil or other common oil. It is good also to rub the head therewith & with wine against the ploukes or blains that are in the heed. It is good to be laid unto rotten wounds that are numb with perched barley. Out of Galene. porcelain is of a moist and cold complexion where unto is joined a little tartness. And therefore it driveth back flowings of humores/ and specially such as are cholerik and hot. Beside that it changeth them/ and turneth them in to an other quality/ cooling wonderfully. For it is in the third degree or departing rfom medicines of mean and temperate complexion/ cooling: & it is moist in the second degree. By reason where of it helpeth them that have a great burning heat/ if it be laid upon the stomach/ and also over all the places about the mydriff/ specially in consuming agues which are called hectic. The juice is much stronger than the rest of the herb. Galene in an other book that he wrote de alimentorum facultatibus/ writeth that although some use porcellayn as a meat/ that it is but of very small nourishment/ and that juice that cometh of it is moist cold and clammy. Out of Pliny. porcelain restraineth the poison of venemus arrows of the serpents/ also called hemorrhoids/ and of them that are called presteres: if it be taken in meat. And if it be laid upon the wound/ it draweth the poison out. When as they can not be gotten/ the sede is as good to to be used as it. It withstandeth the unholsommes of waters. It healeth sores if it be chowed with honey and laid to. And so is it good to be laid upon young childers hedes and upon the navel that go to far out. If it be chowed raw/ it helpeth the sores of the mouth and the swellings of the goumes. It is also good for the tuth ache. It is good to fasten lousse teeth. It streyngtheneth the juice/ & driveth thirst away. It suageth the ache of the nek with like quantity of a gall and lint sede. The seed sodden with honey is good against the short wind. When it is taken in sallates/ it streyngtheneth the stomach. Porcellayn is good to suage the ache of wounds with oil and perched barley. It softeneth the hardness of the sinews. It driveth away the unclean dreams of Veneri. Plini writeth also that a certain noble man by wearing of the root of porcelain about his nek/ was delivered from the vuula/ wherewith he had been long before grievously vexed. Theses and many other properties doth Pliny write that porcelain hath. Out of the arabians. porcelain hurteth the eysyght/ cooleth the body and stoppeth vomiting. Porcellayn pulleth down the lust of the body/ it is cold in the third degree/ and moist in the second/ it mynisheth a man's sede if he use it much. Of the plum trees, bulls trees and slow trees. PRumus which is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, is named in Englshe a plum tre/ in Duche ein plaumen baum/ in French unprumer. Plini writeth thus of the diversity of plum trees and plumes. Ingens turba prunorum, etc. There are a great sort of diverse kinds of plumbs/ one with a diverse colour/ an other black an other whitish. There are other that they call barley plumbs of the following of that corn. There are other of the same colour later and greater. They are calleday ass plums of their vileness. There are also some that are black and more commendable/ the wexy and purple plumbs. These kinds of gardin plumbs (if a man may trust Pliny) were not known in Itali in Cato's tyme. Dioscorides maketh mention also of the wild plumbs & so doth Galene and Pliny. Galene sayeth that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is called in Asia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the fruit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The Latins call the plum tre spinum more than Prunum as far as I have red. For I read only mention of prunus for a plum tre in Plini. For Virgil calleth the tre or bush that beareth plumes spinum in this verse following/ Georgicorum iiij. Eduramque pirum & spinos iam pruna ferentes. Palladius also in the third book of husbandry calleth the plum tre spinum/ and writeth that the apple tre may be grafted in to the spinum/ that is in to the plum tre. But when as spinus seemeth to have the name of pricks/ that tre that hath many pricks and beareth plums/ may well be called spinus/ whether it be wild or tame. Also as there are many kinds of gardin plums as Pliny hath told us before: and experience doth teach: so are there also diverse kinds of wild plumbs and plum trees. Whereof I know two several kinds at the lest. The one is called the bulls tre or the bullestertre/ and the other is called the slow tre or the black thorn tre. The bulls tre is of two sorts/ the one is removed in to gardines/ and groweth to the bygnes of a good big plum tre. The other groweth in hedges/ but it never groweth in to the bygnes of any tre/ but abideth between the bygnes of a tre and a great bush. I never saw in all my life more plenty of this sort of bulls trees/ than in Somerset shire. This less bulls tre hat more pricks then the greater hath/ wherefore it deserveth better to be called spinus for the names sake then the greater bulls tree doth. And so the slo tree having yet more pricks/ then either of both hath/ may better be called spinus then any of them both may be namely where as with the other/ it beareth plumbs in form and taste like to the other sorts. But Cornarius holdeth contrary to the judgement of all learned men of our age that our common slow bush is not spinus or prunus syluestris/ because it is not a great tre able to be grafted in. For Palladius sayeth he maketh spinum to be a tre able to be grafted in. But seeing that the slo bush is not big enough to be grafted in/ it can not be spinus. This argument doth follow very evil/ for although Palladius iudgethe one spinum meet to be grafted in: yet for all that he maketh not every spinum able to be grafted in. For nether he nor Virgil deny that there is any wild kind of spinus which may not be grafted in for littleness. Nay it appeareth by Virgil that he taketh our slow bush for the wild spino/ whilse he writeth that the spineta do hide the lysertes in the heat of summer. But spinetum hath not the name in this place of Virgil/ neither of spina that is a thistle/ for lysertes use not to hide them amongst thystelles'/ & spina signifieth not a white hawthorn tre in good writers/ except alba be put unto it/ ye & that only in Columella that I remember. Spinetum can nether come of the gardin spino/ nor of the great wild/ spino for they use not to grow in any place so thick together that the numbered of them may be called spinetum/ and so can not hide the lisertes from the heat of the son. Therefore seeing that spinetum is a thicket of spinis/ and is nether of the spinis herbaceis nether of the plumb trees/ neither of the great wild spinis/ it is like that he maketh his spinetum of our spinis syluestribus minoribus/ which are slo bushes. And this my opinion may well be confirmed/ by the comparing of Theocritus & Virgil together. For where as Virgil/ a great follower and a translator of times of Theocritus hath/ occultant spineta lacertos, that is the thicket of thorns hideth the lyserdes'/ Theocritus hath after the translation of Eobanus Hessus. Et virides recubant subter consepta lacerti. That is the green sysardesly under the hedges. Mark where as the translator of Theocrytus hath consepta/ & Theocrytus hath his ownself in his Greek verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Virgil hath spinetum. But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifieth an hedge made of thorns and not of trees. Wherefore it appeareth that Virgil taketh also spinum for the black thorn/ which is most places serveth to make hedges of. And Pliny seemeth also to call the slow tre which is so comen in all places/ prunum syluestre. For he writeth thus of pruno syluestri. Certum est pruna syluestria ubique nasci, that is to say/ it is well known the wild plumbs grow in every place which can not be verified of the bullesse tre. These once well considered: I can see no cause why but our slobush or black thorn is one kind pruni syluestris/ & so spinus in old latin writers. And where as Cornarius holdeth stifli that our black thorn is poterion in Dioscorides/ and seemeth to bring in there upon/ that it can not be prunus syluestris/ lest Dioscorides should entreat of one thing in ij. places/ contrari unto his manner: I will easily prove that poterion can not be for diverse causes our slow bush. First the branches of the black thorn are not long/ neither soft/ neither bowing like a band/ for although there be many branches upon the stalk of the top of the black thorn/ yet are they not long/ but short and hard/ and brekle. The sloes are of no singular good smell/ when as they are smelled/ for they have either very little or none at all. Nether are they sharp or binding and tart/ far from all sharpness/ wherefore seeing Dioscorides requireth all these things in poterio/ and they can not be found in our black thorn/ it can in no wise be poterion. And where as he holdeth that our sloes are brabyla/ if he will receive the authority of Dioscorides and Pliny/ he must needs grant that his opinion is not true. For Dioscorides writeth that the fruit of poterion/ is good for nothing: and Pliny writeth that the brabilla (for so hath my Pliny/ and not brabyla) vim habet spissandi cotonei mali modo: that is brabylla hath the pour to make thick as the quince hath. Then can not the fruit of poterion be brabyla. This maketh also against Cornarius/ that Pliny writeth of brabylla in these words: vim spissandi habet, nec amplius de ea tradunt autores: that is/ it hath pour to make thick/ neither do old autores write any more of brabylla. For Pliny writeth in two places more of poterion/ following the authority of old writers/ therefore after the authority of Pliny/ poterion or the fruit there of/ and brabyla can not be all one. And so can not our slow bush be poterion/ and the fruit of it brabyla. And where as the said Cornarius judgeth that the plum tre/ where of Theophrast maketh mention in the third chapter of the fourth book de historia plantarum/ is the bulls tre: he erreth as much there in/ as he doth in pruno syluestri/ in brabylla and poterio. For the tre that Theophrast maketh mention of/ is of a notable bygnes/ and the leaves fall never from it. But the leaves fall from our bulls tre and from the Dutch men's bilsen/ and the tre is of notable bygnes/ therefore our bulls tre called in Hessia bilsen/ can not be the prunus that Theophrast writeth of. Therefore Cornarius deserveth no credit in these his gessynges/ though otherways he be well learned in the knowledge of the Greek tongue/ and a very good Grammarian there in. The properties of the plum tre and his fruit out of Deoscorides. Plumbs are evil for the stomach/ but they soften the belly. The plumbs of Syria/ & specially they that grow in Damascus/ when as they are dried they are good for the stomach and bind the belly. The leaves of the plum tre sodden in wine/ if a man will gargoyle with the wine/ stop the reum or flowing of humores to the vulva/ goumes and kernels under the jaws. The wild plumbs will do the same when as they are dried after that they be ripe. If they be sodden with sweet sodden wine/ they are better for the stomach and fit to depiction of plant Prunus syluestris. stop the belly. The gum of the plum tre glueth together. If it be drunken with wine/ it breaketh the stone and healeth the skurfenes of children. Out of Galene de simplicibus medicamentis. THe fruit of the plum tre looseth the belly/ but more when as it is moist & fresh/ & less when it is dry. But I can not tell what made Dioscorides to write that dried Damascene plumes do stop the belly/ when as they do manifestly louse the belly/ but they that con out of Spain are sweeter. The trees answer in proportion of quality with the fruits. The fruit of the wild plum tre is manifestly binding and stoppeth the belly. Out of Galene of the pours of norishmentes or meats Thou shalt seldum find the plumb tart or sour or to have any unplesantnes/ when it is fully ripe. For plumbs before they come to that ripeness/ they have almost all/ either a sournes or a tartness. And other are as it were bitter. The body getteth but small nourishment of the eating of plums/ but they are good for them that intend measurably to moist and cool their belly: for they louse the belly with their moistness & sliminess. Plumes when as they are dried may serve & be profitables as dried figs be. Men say that of all plums they are the best which grow in a city of Syria called Damascus. They give the second praise to them that cum out of Spain. But these show out no binding. But some of the Damascenus bind very much. They are the best among them/ that are great/ with a measurably binding and are louse. But they that are little ones/ and hard and harrish tart/ are sterk noughts. Whether ye would eat them/ or louse the belly with them/ which losing of the belly followeth them/ that come out of spain. If plumbs be sodden in honeyed water/ where in is a greater deal of honey/ they louse the belly much/ although a man take them by themselves alone. And that do they much more if a man sup meed or honeyed water after them. It is plain that it helpeth much to the losing of the belly/ after that ye have taken them to drink sweet wine to them/ and to let a certain time go between/ and not by and by after to go to dinner. And ye must remember that this manner must be kept in all other such like as are taken to soften the belly. Out of Plini lib. 23. cap. 7. SYluestrium prunorum baccae, etc. the berries of the wild Prunus or plumtre/ or the bark of the root/ if they be sodden in tart binding wine/ so that of x. ounces/ three remain/ stop the belly and the gnawing there of/ it is enough to take one cyate that is an ounce and an half/ and a dram & one scruple of the broth at one tyme. Hither to Plini/ of whose words it is plain that Cornarius erreth in denying the sloes to be the fruit of the wild Plumtre. For if that only great plumes had grown upon prunum syluestrem/ as Cornarius seemeth to mean/ Plini would never have called the plumbs of Pruni syluestris baccas/ that is berries/ which word agreeth not unto so great fruits as the great bullesses ar. Out of the arabians. THe plumes both the white & black when they are ripe they are cold and moist/ they suage the heat of choler: they louse the belly. They hurt something the mouth of the stomach and take away a man's appetite. Of Psillium or fleasede out of Dioscorides. depiction of plant Psyllium. PSyllium hath a leaf like unto the herb ivy/ called coronopus/ rough & longer/ & it hath boughs a span long. The hole herb is full of twigs/ like hay. His bushy leaves and branches/ begin from the mid stalk upward/ It hath two or three little heads drawn together in the top. Where in is an hard black sede/ like unto a slay. It groweth in fields and untilled grounds. Thus far Dioscorides. although I have seen this her be oft in Germany and in England/ yet I never saw it grow wild but only in gardines. But hither to I could never learn the English or Duc● name of it. It may be well called fleasede or fleawurt/ because the sede is very like unto a fle. The virtues of flesede out of Dioscorides THe nature of the i'll said is to cool. If it be laid to with rose oil/ vinegar or water/ it healeth the ache of the joints/ the swelling about the ears/ hard and soft swellings both/ and places out of joint/ and it suageth the head ach. Fleasede laid to with vinegar healeth the bursting of children/ & the going out of the navel/ ye must take about two ounces and an half of the seed/ and bruise it and step it/ and lay it in two quart of water/ and when the water is thick/ then lay it on. It cooleth exceedingly. But if it be cast in to hot water/ then will it staunch the heat very well. It is good for the burning heat called saint Antony's fire/ and hot cholerik inflammationes. Some hold that if the herb be brought in to the house/ it will let no flees breed there/ the sede bruised with grese/ scoureth stingking & grievous sores. The juice of it is good with honey for the running of the ears & against worms there in. Out of the arabians. PSyllium suageth the gwawynges and prickings of the belly/ and it suageth the sharpness or rawness of the goumes. It taketh also away the vain desire of going to the stool. It is good for the head ache that cometh of heat. The juice of the leaves softeneth the belly by the reason of coldness and moisture that are in it. The harm that may come by the taking of Psyllium/ is remedied with hot medicines. Psyllium looseth the belly taken in raw. But if it be perched or toasted at the fire/ it stoppeth the belly/ two drams of the seed of Psyllium is enough to be put in water: when it hath been long enough in the water/ take the water & put white sugar unto it/ and so receive it/ let all men take heed that they take not to much of it/ for it will kill a man as well as many other poisons do. Galene writeth that Psyllium is cold in the second degree/ & that it is in a mean tempre between moist & dry. Of the herb called Ptarmica. PTarmica (as Dioscorides writeth) is a small bushling/ and hath many small round twigs not unlike unto sothernwod/ and about them grow leaves like olive leaves/ long & many/ and in the top a heed like unto camomyle/ round and little/ which with his smell steereth a man to niece/ where upon it hath the name. It groweth in mountains rocky places. Hitherto Dioscorides. diverse learned men hold that the herb which is called in Duche Wilder bertram/ is Ptarmica in Dioscorides/ whose diligence & judgement are rather to be commended/ then dispraised. Although there be two things in the description of Ptarmica/ which can not be well found in Wilder bertram. The one is a leaf like an olive/ the other is to grow in mountains and rocky places. For the wild bertram hath not a leaf like an olive/ but much sharper/ smaller/ & longer/ for the bygner that it hath/ they are also indented all about the edges of the leaf/ & therefore is it unlike unto the leaf of an olive. And Wild bertram/ groweth wheresoever I have seen it/ only about water sides/ & in merrily meadows/ and never that I could see/ in rocks & mountains/ wherefore I dare not give sentence with that forenamed learned men/ that the Wildbertram/ is that right Ptarmica of Dioscorides/ although it differ very little or nothing at all/ from the right Ptarmica/ in working/ and so little that a man may well use the one in the stead of the other. depiction of plant Ptarmica. The virtues of Ptarmica. THe leaves of Ptarmica laid to with the fruit/ have a property to drive away swellings and old hard lumps/ and to purge bruised places. The flowers make one niece exceedingly: Galene writeth that Ptarmica being green is hot and dry in the second degree/ and when it is dried/ that it is hot and dry in the third degree. Of Penny rial. PVlegium is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ in English Penny rial or Pudding grass/ in Duche Polez/ in French Pouliot. Dioscorides describeth not Penny rial where as he entreateth of it/ but he describing dictamnum/ maketh it to have leaves like unto Penny rial/ but greater. Then when as dictamnus is well known to have round leaves/ so must also Pulegium have. It creepeth much upon the ground and hath many little round leaves/ not unlike unto the leaves of merierum gentle/ but that they are a little longer and sharper/ and also little indented round about/ and green/ then the leaves of merierum ar. The leaves grow in little branches/ even from the root/ out of depiction of plant Pulegium. certain joints/ by equal spaces one divided from an other. Where as the leaves grow in little tufts upon the over parts of the branches/ if the lower parts touch the ground/ right over against the tufts of the leaves they take roots in the ground/ and grow as well as the first roots do: our common Penny rial hath purple flowers/ but there is an other kind mentioned in Pliny/ which hath a white flower/ which he calleth the male/ as he called the common one the female. Penny rial groweth much with out any setting besyd hundsley upon the heath/ beside a watery place. It groweth also much wild in Germany in such pools as are full of water in winter/ & are all or for the most part dried up in summer. The virtues of Penny rial out of Dioscorides. PEnny rial maketh subtle/ heateth & maketh ripe. When it is drunken/ it draweth forth flowers/ secondes/ and the birth. Penny rial drunken with honey and salt/ bringeth forth such things as are about the lungs. And it is good for the cramp. If it be drunken with vinegar and water/ it suageth the loathsomeness/ and the biting of the stomach. It bringeth forth Melancholi through the belly. If it be drunken with wine/ it is good for the biting of venemus beasts. It refresheth them that swoon/ if it be laid to the nose with vinegar. If it be dried and broken into powder & / it streyngtheneth the goumes: it is good for the gout/ laid to by itself/ until the skin wax red. The broth of it/ taketh away ache/ if the place that acheth be washed with it. It is good for the windiness/ hardness/ and the turning or rising up of the mother/ if the patiented sit in the broth of it. Out of Pliny. PEnny rial droweth forth deed childer/ it is good for the falling sickness given in the measure of and ounce and an half/ in vinegar. If thou must needs drink unholsum water/ then put Penny rial in to it. The flowers of the green herb set a fire/ killeth flees with the smell of it. Out of the arabians. PEnny rial that groweth about watery places/ is hot and dry in the third degree/ because it is made of a fiery substance with some earthly part. And that doth the sharpness of it show with a little bitterness. The second workings of it are to dissolve/ to make subtle/ and to dry. The third are to provoke water. Some hold that it is good against the leper and for them that are bitten of venummes beasts/ chiefly/ if it be laid upon the bitings. And it killeth also worms/ which breed in the ears. And it of the mountain/ is stronger and better than the other. Of Pyrethro out of Dioscorides. depiction of plant Pyrethrum. PYrethrum is an herb which hath a stalk & leaves like unto fennel or wild daucus/ and a shaddowy or spokye top with a round circle/ as dyll. The root is as great as a man's thumb. It is exceeding hot & draweth out waterish phlegm. Thus far Dioscorides/ Nether it that Fuchsius & Matthiolus set forth/ for Pyrethro/ neither it that is commonly sold for Pyrethro/ agreeth hole with the description of Dioscorides. For it that they set out/ as their figures show/ hath only a top and flowers like to camomyle/ and no spoky top like dill. And nether the rout of their herb/ neither of it that is commonly sold is so big as a man's thumb. Therefore the other new kind of pylletori/ refused of Matthiolus/ for his great exceeding heat/ liketh me better/ if it have leaves & other parts agreeing with the rest of the description/ than their Pyrethrun doth. What marvel is it if the lately found Pyrethrum be very hot/ when as Galene giveth a blystering and burning nature unto Pyrethro. And Dioscorides writeth that the root of it is feruidissima/ that is most hot or burning. Therefore I see no cause why that Matthiolus should refuse it/ for the great heats sake/ other marks and properties being present. And therefore I wish that we might have the other Pyrethrum. For it agreeth better with the description of Dioscorides/ as far as I have heard or read of it/ then common pilletori doth. The virtues of Pyrethro out of Dioscorides. PYlletoris is good for the tuth ache if the tuth be washed with vinegar where in it is sodden. It bringeth forth waterish phlegm if it be chowed. If the body be therewith anointed & with oil/ it steereth a man to sweet. It is good for long cold shaking. It is excellently good for any part of the body that is fundied or foundered or made almost num/ with to much cold/ and such as are stycken with the palsy. Of diverse kinds of Pear trees and Pears. PYrum is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ in English a Pear/ in Duche in Byr/ in French vn Poyre. Dioscorides writeth of two kinds of Pear trees of the ortiard Peartre/ which is commonly called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ and of the wild Pere tre or chouke Pere tre/ or worry Pear tre/ which is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Pyrus syluestris/ or Pyraster. Both these kinds/ are so well known that they need no description. We have many kinds of gardin Pears with us in England/ and some kinds better than ever I saw in Germany for wholesomeness/ and some in Germany more pleasant and greater than ever I saw in England. I have red in no old writer so many kinds of pears/ as I read of in Plini/ where of I will show certain Latin names/ & compare them with our English pears and Duche pears/ as well as I can. Pyra super ba/ that is to say/ proud pears/ be little and soonest ripe/ and these are called in Cambridge/ midsummer pears. Falerna pira have their name (sayeth Pliny) of drink/ because they be full of juice. These are called in some places watery pears/ or moist pears. Dolobelliana are the pears that have the long footstalkes. I remember not how they be named in England. Favoniana are read pears/ a little bigger than the midsummer pears. Autumnalia pira/ that is the pears of the autumn/ which beginneth in the Septembre/ be pleasant with a sour taste. Volema whereof Virgil maketh mention in the second book of his Georkes or husbandry/ in this verse: Crustumijs Syrijsque piris gravibusque nolemis. They are named also of Cato/ as Pliny writeth/ sementina and mustea. These because they are very heavy as Virgil showeth/ and very great/ as their name betokeneth/ for they seem to have their name of Vola/ that is the hollow place or loof of a man's hand/ because they be as big as a man can gripe in the palm or loof of his hand. These are commonly called in English wardens/ if they have a binding/ and be read/ when as they are roasted/ and endure unto March or February. It appeareth that they have their name of long keeping/ for warden in Duche/ from whence our English came/ is to keep Serotina pira/ be they that hang upon their mother until winter/ and wax ripe with the frost. These are partly our wardenes/ and partly other long during pears/ which are called in Dutch winter biren/ and they may be well called in English/ winter pears. Pliny maketh mention of diverse other sorts of pears/ whereunto because I can not compare any of our pears/ I think it best to pass them over in silence/ lest I should talk of such things/ as I have no perfect knowledge of. The virtues of peer trees and pears out of Dioscorides. There are many kinds of pears/ & all are binding: & for the cause they are used to be put into emplasters/ which stop the course of humours that rin to any place. The broth of dried pears/ stop the belly. They are evil if they be eaten fasting: the juice of the pear tre leaves/ is good for the biting of venemus beasts. Wild pears are more stopping and binding/ then the gardin pears ar. An so likewise are their leaves more binding. The ashes of the Pear tree/ are good against the strangling that cometh of todestooles or mushrummes. And when as wild Pears are sodden with toodstoles they will not hurt them that eat them. Out of Aetius THe leaves and twigs of the Pear tre/ are binding an tart. The fruit hath a certain waterish sweetness/ where by a man may learn to know that the complexion of it is not a like/ in all parts. The Pears are good for the stomach/ & quench thirst/ if they be taken in meat. But when as Pears are put in to emplasters they dry and coull mesurablely/ so that I know that a wound was healed there by. Out of the arabians. GReat Pears have more streingthe or virtue then little Pears have/ And Pears nourish more than quinces do. A syrup made of the juice of Pears stoppeth the issue of choler/ or cholerik flux. And they make skin in the stomach if it be gone of. Pears of their property that they have/ breed the colic. Therefore they that eat Pears/ must drink wine sodden with honey and spices (or any good hippocras made of wine sugar and other warm spices.) Vnryp Pears are cold and dry. But ripe Pears are temperate/ in a mean between heat and cold/ or they bow a little to coldness. Pears that are very sweet (as Rasis writeth) cool not/ nevertheless they bind all. But if they be taken after meat/ they help to drive forth it that is in the guts/ but yet for all that/ they stop afterwards. Out of the Phisiciones of Salern. Add pyro potum nux est medicina veneno, Fert pyra nostra pyrus sine vino sunt pyra virus: Cum coquis antidotum pyra sunt, sed cruda venenum, Cruda gravant stomachum, relevant pyra cocta gravatum, Post pyra da potum, post pomaque uade cacatum. that is/ After Pears drink a walnut/ is a remedy against poison. Our peartre bringeth forth Pears/ but pears are poison with out wine. When as thou sethest Pears/ they are a treacle/ or preservative: but raw/ they are poison. Raw Pears burden the stomach/ but roasted or sodden/ relief & lighten the stomach. After Pears give drink/ but after apples go to the stool. Out of simeon Sethi. Pears are cold in the first degree/ and drying in the second: But they that are sweeter/ and ripe/ they have some part of heat and moisture. But they that have a menged nature/ whether they be sweet and binding/ or sourish/ or whether they have a little dryness/ if they be taken before meat/ they stop the belly. If a man fill himself with pears of times/ they breed the colik/ but they are good for hot stomachs. The grains that are found in Pears/ of a certain property that they have/ are good for the kidneys. Of the oak tre. depiction of plant Quercus. although quercus in Latin be the tre which is called in English an Oak tre/ or in the North country an Eike tre/ in Duche ein Eichbaum/ yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek/ and glans in Latin: are common unto many more trees then unto the oak and to his fruit. For dris is common unto divers kinds of trees/ as Dioscorides & Theophrast bear witness. And balanos is common to all their fruits/ and so is glans common unto many fruits of trees/ first to the fruit of the oak and to the fruit of roboris/ esculi/ cerri & suberis. For all these trees bring forth glans/ and are called in Latin/ arbores glandifere. But none of all these grow in England/ saving only the oak whose fruit we call an Acorn/ or an Eykorn/ that is the corn or fruit of an Eike. Some make two kinds of oaks/ the one that beareth only acorns/ and oak apples. And an other kind/ that is much less (as they say) then the common oak/ that we use commonly to building of houses. I have not seen any galls in England growing upon oak leaves. But I have seen them growing upon oak leaves/ not only in Italy/ but also in very great plenty in East Fresland/ in a would a little from Aurike. The galls of italy come to perfection/ and are at length hard/ but they of Freslande/ being ones taken with cold wether/ and moist/ are never hard but soft. Not withstanding I have proved that they serve well to make ink of. indeed the oaks that have the galls growing upon their leaves in Fresland/ are less than our oaks be. But I think that the cause is either that they are but young trees/ and have been but of late set/ or they are so oft hewn down (for there is very small store of wood in all Fresland) that they can not come unto any perfect greatness. If there be such diversity of oaks/ that some will bear galls/ and some will bear none: it were well done/ to fetch some from Fresland/ and to plant them in some hot sunny place of England/ to see whether the air of the country or kind of tre or no is the cause that galls grow upon some oak leaves/ and not upon other some. It was told me by a learned man/ a friend of mine/ that in the year of our lord M.D.LVII. that there was a great plenty of galls found upon oak leaves in the North country of England/ and namely about Hallyfax. Wherefore it appeareth that the heat helpeth much to the bring forth of galls. But howsoever the matter is: it were good to prove whether the Frese oak would also with us bring forth galls or no/ as they do in Freseland. If they will bring forth such/ then shall they bring great profit to the realm: if they bring not forth/ there is not past an half crown lost/ and experience worth three crowns should be learned thereby. The virtues of the oak tre and the fruit thereof. EVery kind of oak hath a binding and stopping nature/ and specially that part that groweth between the bull or body of the tre and the bark like a film or a rim. The film also that is under the shell of the akorne/ bindeth also. The broth of these are given unto them that have the bloody flux/ & to stop blood. The same made after the manner of a suppository/ and put into the convenient place/ stoppeth the issue of women. The acorns are of the same virtue that the skins be of: they make water come forth. If they be eaten they breed wind and make the headache. The same eaten withstand the biting of venomous beasts. The broth of the bark/ with cows milk drunken/ is good against poison. Acorns raw if they be broken and laid to/ suage hot burnings. They are good with salt and swines grese for very sore hard lumps and sores very hard to be healed. A gall is the fruit of an oak/ and specially of the leaf. Of galls are two sorts/ the one is called omphacitis/ and it is but little/ and hath the form of a man's knockle/ or of the joint of a man: and it is sound & hath no hole. The other is smooth and hath no hole in it. But it that is called omphacitis/ is to be chosen which hath most strength. They bind both very much: they hold down/ when as they are broken and laid to: the outgrowynges of flesh/ the isshues of the mouth that children have most commonly. The inner part of the gall within the shell put into the holes of the teth/ suage the ache of them. The same burnt upon the cools/ and quenched with wine or vinegar/ or brine made with vinegar/ stop blood. It is good for women to sit in the broth of them against the falling of the mother/ and against the issue of the same. They are good for the bloody flix/ and the other also/ either laid to with wine or water. To conclude ye may use galls as oft as ye have need to stop and to dry. Out of Galene. ALl parts of the oak are binding or stopping. I remember that ones I healed a wound/ that was made with an hatchet/ with the leaves of an oak/ when as there was no other medicine at hand. I ground the leaves upon a smooth stone/ & I laid that bruised leaf upon the wound/ & about every place about it. The fruit of the oak hath like pour with the leaves. Some use the fruit of the oak against inflammationes at the first beginning of them. For such inflammationes as are very great need not binding medicines. The gall is dry in the third degree/ and cold in the second. The gall/ if it be sodden by itself/ and afterward broken/ and made after the manner of an emplaster/ is a good remedy against the inflammation or burning heat of the fundament/ and for the falling down of the same. When as ye will seth the gall/ if the disease require great adstriction/ or binding/ then seethe it in wine. If it require but little/ then seethe it in water. And if ye will have it yet more binding/ seth it in rough of harrish wine. Out of Simeon Sethi. A Corns are hard of digestion and nourish very much. But they go slowly down/ and they make raw humores. Wherefore we forbidden the use of them for meats. Of Cinkfoly, or five fingered grass. depiction of plant Quinque folium primum. depiction of plant Quinque folium secundum. depiction of plant Quinque folium luteum minus. QVinque folium is named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ in English Cinkfoly or fyvefyn gred grass or herb five lief/ in Dutch funffinger kraut/ in French quintefuille. Herb fyvelefe/ as Dioscorides writeth/ hath small strawish branches a span long. And in them groweth the fruit or seed (as some translate here in this place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) It hath leaves like mint/ five growing out of every leaf stalk/ and seldom more/ divided or grapped like a saw/ and it hath a flower whitish pale/ with the likeness of gold. It groweth in watery places/ beside ditches and condites: it hath a long reddish root/ thicker than it of black hellebor. Thus far Dioscorides. Dioscorides maketh but one kind of Cinkfolye/ but other after him/ have found out four kinds/ whereof they make sanicle one kind/ but without reason in my judgement. I know three notable kinds. The first is the common five leaved grass that groweth everywhere. The second kind is many parts greater/ and groweth only in pools/ and merrish grounds commonly overflown with water. The third kind is it (as I guess) that Pliny speaketh of/ where he maketh cinkfoly to bear strauberries/ I found ones this kind (except I be deceived) growing upon the walls of a city called Cor/ in the land of chetia/ a little from the Main alpes. The leaves and stalks were all rough/ the flowers were yellow. And where as the flowers were fallen of/ there saw I in some little knoppes like unto strawberries/ which upon the one side were whitish/ and upon the other side reddish/ as far as I can remember/ which as I thought by the tokens that I saw then appearing/ if they might have crommed unto their ripeness/ should have been either right strawberries/ or else a fruit much like them. But because I saw not the fruit ripe in his perfection: I dare not give sentence that it was a right strawberry. But it is very likely that the often sight of such/ made Pliny judge/ that Cinkfoly did bring forth strawberries. The virtues of herb five lief out of Dioscorides. THe broth of the rote sodden until the third part be sodden away/ and stanche the tuth ache if it be holden in the mouth. Thesame stoppeth the rotting sores of the mouth/ if it be washed therewith. It healeth the roughness or sharpness of the windpype if ye gargoyle with it. It is good against the bloody flix and other flixes. Also if it be drunken/ it is good for the pain of the joints/ and in the huckelbone/ called Sciatica. Thesame sodden in vinegar and broken and laid to/ stayeth and holdeth back creeping sores called Herpetas: it driveth away wens and hard swellings and windy swellings/ and healeth the enlarginges of wind or pulls veins/ called aneurismata/ impostumes/ hot inflammations called erysipelata/ agwayles in the fingers/ or toes/ hard lumps that put forth blood in the fundament or mother/ and also scabs and scuruines. The juice of the young root is good for the diseases of the liver and lungs/ and are also good for deadly poison. The leaves are drunken with meed/ or honey/ water/ or with watered wine/ and a little pepper against agues that come again at certain times. Dioscorides sayeth further (but me think/ that it smelleth of superstition) that in a quartan/ the leaves of four stalks ought to be taken/ in a tertian the leaves of three/ and in a quotidiane the leaves of one stalk. If it be drunken thirty. days together: it is good for the falling sickness. The juice of the leaves drunken in the measure of three ciates that is in v. ounces or thereabout: healeth quickly the jaundice or guelsought. If it be laid to with honey and salt/ it is good for fistules and wounds: it is also good for the breaking or bursting of the bowels/ both laid to without and also drunken/ and so is it also good for the bursting out of blood. Out of Galene. THe root of the fiveleved grass drieth exceedingly/ and is very little sharp. Wherefore it is greatly used/ as all other herbs be/ which being of five and subtle parts yet dry with all. Of radice or radish. THe herb which is called in English/ radice or radish/ in Duche Rettich/ in French/ Rave or Refort/ is named in Greek/ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ and in Latin Radix/ and of some radicula. But some of the old Greek writers used this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for coal/ whereof Pliny took occasion of error/ give unto radice that which belonged unto coal. The description. depiction of plant Radix primum. depiction of plant Radix secundum. depiction of plant Radix tertium. There is yet an other kind of radice/ whereof Dioscorides/ & Pliny make mention of/ and it is called in Greek/ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ in Latin Armoratia/ in Italian/ as Mathiolus sayeth Ramoracia. Dioscorides writeth that wild Radice hath leaves like unto the gardin radish/ saving that they are more like the herb called Lapsana: If this be true/ all they have erred/ which have taught that the great herb/ which hath leaves like unto a great dock/ and a very sharp/ and biting root/ called in Duche Mer rettich/ and in English redcole/ should be Armoracia or radix syluestris/ for there is no likeness between the leaf of a dock/ and tame or gardin radice. Therefore saying that Dioscorides maketh the leaves of the wild radish like unto the leaves of the gardin radice and to lampsana/ which I take to be a kind of carlok/ this herb with the dock leaves can not be radix syluestris. Thesame Dioscorides writeth that the wild radice hath a small tender or soft root/ and something sharp or biting as the common Greek text hath/ but better texts have in stead of malache/ makra/ that is long. But the red coal/ which many of the germans take for wild radice/ and Armoracia hath a great and a very sharp or biting rout/ wherefore it can not be radix syluestris Dioscorides. Now it will be required of me/ what I do take for the wild radice: surely I take for it an herb which is named about Weissenburg/ where as I did dwell/ Weissen hederich/ and of some Wildt rettich: this herb groweth always in that country amongst the rapes: it is very like the carlock/ but it is lower/ and it hath a white flower/ and a small root/ but something of the taste/ and something of the form of the longer radish: the leaves are cut/ and indented/ as the gardin radice leaves are/ and something smother/ then the carlocks leaves. It appeareth that Pliny took this herb for lapsana lib. xx. cap. ix. and falsely set it among the kinds of kole/ when as he ought to have set it amongst the kinds of radice/ for Pliny in diverse places/ nameth it radice/ that he should name coal/ as he doth in the eleventh book/ and three and twintigest chapter/ and in the seventeenth book/ and four and twintigest chapter/ and so it appeareth that he taketh coal also in the stead of radice/ and confoundeth the one with the other. The words of Pliny that make me judge thus of him/ be these. Inter syluestres brassicas & lapsana/ est pedalis altitudinis/ hirsutis folijs/ napi similimis/ nisi candidior esset flore. I moved with these words with Pliny a great while took wild radice or hederick/ for lapsana/ but after more diligent examination/ I found that it was radix syluestris in Dioscorides/ that lapsana was an other herb. The virtues of radice or radish. THe radice breedeth wind/ and heateth: it is pleasant to the mouth/ and evil for the stomach. It moveth belching/ and maketh a man make water/ and is good for the belly/ that is to make a man go to the stool. If it be taken before meat/ it holdeth up/ wherefore it is good for them that would vomit/ if it be taken before: it quickeneth the wits of senses/ it is good for an old cough/ and for them that breed gross humores in their breasts/ if it be sodden and eaten. If the bark of it be taken with honeyed vinegar/ it steereth vomit the more. It is fit for the dropsy. It is also good to be laid upon them that are diseased in the milt/ with honey it stayeth fretting sores/ and taketh away blue marks. It helpeth them also that are bitten of a viper or adder. It filleth up with heir again the places that were bared with scaldnes: and with the meal of darnel it wasteth away frickelles. Both in meat and drink it is good for them that are almost strangled with todstoles/ and bringeth women down their flowers/ the sede steereth on to vomit/ and maketh one piss well: the same drunken/ wasteth the milt: it is good for the sqwinsey/ if ye seth it with honeyed vinegar/ and gargoyle with the broth of it/ being hot in your mouth: it is a remedy against the biting of the beast called Cerastes/ if it be drunken with wine. The same laid to with vinegar/ doth mightily stowre away gangrenes/ or extreme hot sores. The nature of the wild radice. THe wild radice heateth/ and provoketh a man to make water/ and it is full of heat/ the roots and leaves are sodden and eaten after the manner of other eatable herbs. Out of Galene. THe radice is hot in the third degree/ and dry in the second. But the wild is stronger in both those qualities/ wherefore there seemeth to be a fault in the text of Dioscorides/ where as he hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ because also Dioscorides sayeth his self afterward/ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The seed also is stronger than the herb/ it hath the power to make ripe: and therefore it is good for bruised/ and such like blue places/ Towns men or citizens use to eat radice raw/ with a salt sauce like salt fish brine/ without vinegar/ at the beginning of their dinner or supper to make their bellies soluble: I marvel not only at unlearned/ but also at Phisiciones/ which eat radices after supper and that raw to help their digestion: they say that they have experience that it will do so: yet for all that their hath been no man which hath followed them without hurt: hitherto Galene. Of the rape or turnepe. RApum named in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ and is called in English of them of the South country/ turnepe/ of other country men a rape/ in Duche ruben/ in French naveau/ in Spanish nabos/ in Italian rape. There are three kinds of rapes/ one gardin rape which is round and very great/ and an other gardin rape/ which goeth out abroad/ as Pliny writeth/ and the third which is called the wild rape/ and it rinneth forth a long. Theophrast divideth the rape into the male/ and the female/ and writeth that they grow both of one sede/ and that the rapes sawen/ & set thick together/ grow all into males/ and if they be th'inner set/ they grow into females/ where upon a man may gather that the great headed ones/ are then females/ and the longer and smalller headed/ are the males/ because thick setting of headed routs commonly maketh them small/ and the thin setting/ maketh them greater/ as the fat ground also maketh greater/ and the leaner ground the less and thinner. The great round rape/ called commonly a turnepe/ groweth in very great plenty in all Germany/ and more about London/ than in any other place of England that I know of: but the long rooted rape/ groweth very plenteously a little from Linne/ where as much oil is made of the seed of it. The gardin rape is so well known that it needeth no description/ & therefore Dioscorides doth not describe it. And although Dioscorides doth describe the wild rape/ yet could I never find any herb that answered in all points unto that description. And though I following my masters/ have thought that the common rapuncel should be the rapistrun or rapum syluestre/ yet after more straight examination I found that the description of Dioscorides in diverse points did not agree with it. The virtues of the rape. THe rout of the rape sodden/ nourisheth/ breedeth wind/ & maketh a louse flesh/ & stirreth a man to Venery. The broth of rape is good to be poured upon gouty membres/ and kibed or moolde heel's. But that rape itself/ broken/ and laid to/ is also good for the same purpose: if ye make an hole in the rape/ and put in it the cerat of roses/ & set it in the ashes until it be melted/ it is very good for the kybes or mooles that have the skin of. If ye eat sperage with rapes/ then it will provoke a man to make water: the seed is very meet to be in preservatives & treacles/ and such compositiones as stanche or lysse ache. The same drunken/ is a present remedy against poisoned and deadly drinks. The same seed of rapes steereth up also the pleasure of the body: the rape laid up in brine/ nourisheth less/ but it maketh a man to have an appetite to meat. Dioscorides maketh no mention of any nourishment/ that the wild rape should give/ but that it serveth for scouring ointments/ and sopes/ for the beautyfyeng of the face/ and other places of the body. Out of Galene. ALl that standeth out of the ground/ is fit to be eaten/ as an eatable herb/ the root which is in the ground/ is hard & not meet to be eaten/ but when it is sodden in water/ it is marvel/ if any of the like kinds of herbs nourish less/ it maketh a juice in the body grosser than measurable: wherefore if a man eat of it out of measure/ it engendereth a raw juice/ specially if the stomach that receiveth it be weak: it requireth long sething/ and it is most to be commended that is twice sodden: if it be taken something to raw/ it is harder to digest/ and it is full of wind/ and hurtful to the stomach/ and sometime it gripeth or viteth the stomach. Out of Simeon Sethi. THe rapes are hot in the second degree/ & moist in the first/ they nourish sufficiently/ & provoke urine/ & engender much sede/ & suage the roughness of the throt & breast. If they be eaten with salt & vinegar/ they steer up an appetite: Rapes of a certain property that they have by themselves/ be good for the whit slaw/ and such like diseases of the nails. Out of Aurrois. RApes are hot/ and moist/ and breed wind/ and steer up pleasure of the body/ because they heat the kidneys/ and they have a marvelous property to light the eyes/ or to make the eye sight clear. Of Crowfoot kingeux or gollande. depiction of plant Ranunculi prima species. depiction of plant Ranunculus satiuus. depiction of plant Ranunculum tertium. depiction of plant Ranunculum quartum. depiction of plant Ranunculum quintum. depiction of plant Ranunculum sextum. depiction of plant Ranunculum septimum. RAnunculus is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉/ in English/ Crowfoot or kingeux/ or in some other places a gollande/ is named in Dutch hanenfuss. There are many kinds of crowfootes/ but they have all one strength/ that is biting and very blystring: one of them hath leaves like unto Coriander/ but brother/ something whitish and fat/ a yellow flower/ and sometime purple/ a stalk not thick/ but of a cubit height/ a little root/ white/ which hath little things/ like small threads/ coming out after the manner of hellebor/ or neseworte/ it groweth beside rivers: there is also an other kind/ which is more hoary/ and with a longer stalk/ which hath many cutings/ or iagginge in the leaves/ & it groweth much in Sardinia/ & it is very sharp/ and they call it also wild parsley. The third kind is very little/ and hath a grievous smell: the flower of it is like unto gold. The fourth kind is like unto it/ with a flower of the colour of milk. Beside these kinds of Crowfoot/ which Dioscorides hath here described: there are five other kinds at the least/ whereof the first kind hath round and something indented leaves like unto tunhove/ with a root very round/ having little tassels/ in that place that is next to the ground like a leek. This kind groweth plenteously in my orchard at Wyssenburg. The second kind hath leaves like the head of a lance/ and it is called of some lanceola/ and in some places of England/ Spere wort/ it groweth always in moist and watery places. The third kind is like the common soft in all points/ saving that it is so sweet/ that it is eaten as a salad herb about Mentz in Germany/ where as it is called smalt wort/ and suess hanfuss. The fourth kind is one of the two with a white flower/ whereof the one groweth in woods and shaddish places/ in April/ & the other kind swimmeth above the water in Paul'S/ for the most part of Summer: for when as Dioscorides maketh but one kind of Ranunculus with a white flower/ the one of them therefore before named/ must be none of his Ranunculus/ but an other. The fift kind is it that may be called for the great numbered of leaves that it hath: in the flower Ranunculus polyanthos/ and I do not doubt/ but beside these/ there are yet more kinds of Crowfoote/ then Dioscorides hath made mention of. The property of Crowfoot out of Dioscorides. THe leaves and tender young stalks/ if the be laid unto any place/ ●o make blisters and a scabby crust with pain: it taketh away ●ough scabby nails/ and the scabs themselves/ it putteth away also prints of wounds/ & little marks like pricks/ also if they be laid to/ within a little while they take away hanging warts/ and such as have the form of pysimpres/ and they take also away the head/ it is good to wash the mouldnes of ones heel's/ with the broth of it. The dry powder of the rout in ones nose/ provoketh nesing/ & if it be laid to one's tooth/ it will ease the pain/ but it will break the tooth. Of the bush called Rhamnus. RHamnus is a bush that groweth about hedges/ & hath twigs that grow right up/ and sharp pricks/ as the hawthorn hath/ it hath little leaves/ and something long/ and something fat and soft/ there is an other kind that is whiter/ and the third kind hath black leaves/ and a brother/ with a certain light redness/ and rods of five cubits high more full of pricks/ but the pricks are weaker and not so stiff/ but the fruit is broad/ white/ thin/ and as it were little vessels made to hold seed in/ like unto a whorle. depiction of plant Rhus. Of these three kinds of Rhamnus/ when I was in Italy/ I saw but one kind/ that is the third kind/ which hath the round leaves/ where as I saw it/ it was called Christ's thorn/ as though Christ had been crowned with rhamnus/ I never saw it in England/ and therefore I know no English name for it. But it may be called either Christ's thorn/ or buklars thorn/ of the fashion of the fruit or round ramnes/ of the brodnes of the leaves in comparison of the other two kinds/ it groweth in the mount Apennine a little from Bologna: Matthiolus setteth two kinds forth that I never saw. The virtues of Rhamnus. THe leaves if they be laid to/ be good for wild fires/ and great hot inflammationes/ some hold that the bows of it set at men's doors/ or windows/ do drive away sorcery/ and inchantementes/ that witches and sorcerers do use against men. Of the bush called Sumach out of Dioscorides. RHus is called of the arabians and apothecary's Sumach/ it may be called in English also. The Sumach which is used for a sauce unto meats/ which some call read: is the fruit of the leather Sumach/ which hath the name of leather/ because men use it to thick leather therewith: it is a little tre growing in rocks of two cubits high/ wherein are long leaves/ something reddish/ indented roundabout like a saw/ the fruit is like unto small clusters of grape's/ of the bigness of a turpentine and a little brother. Out of Galene. SVmach is a bushy shrub/ and doth bind together and drieth/ for the leather dyers/ or tannares use this same bush to dry and to bind together: depiction of plant Rhuc. together: the physiciones use chiefly the berries thereof/ and the juice which is of a very tart taste and binding with all/ it is dry in the third degree/ and cold in the second. This Sumach that Dioscorides and Galen maketh mention of/ groweth in no place of England/ or germany that ever I saw/ but I have seen it in Italy/ a little from Bologna in the mount Apennine/ it may be called in English Sumach/ as the Appotecaries and arabians do. The virtues of Sumach. THe leaves have a binding pour/ and serve for the same purpose that Acasia serveth for. The broth of them maketh once heir black/ and they are good to be poured in/ or to be sitten over/ or to be drunken for the bloody flux/ they are good to be poured into the ears that have water running out of them/ if they be laid to with vinegar or honey/ they stay and hold in aguayles/ and deadly burning sores/ called gangrenes: but the juice or broth of the withered leaves sodden in water/ until they come to the thickness of honey/ they serve for the same purpose that Licium doth: the fruit can do all the same things/ and is fit in sauces for meat/ for them that have the common flux or bloody flux/ it defendeth from inflammation or burning/ if it be laid to with water/ bruised places/ and the uttermost pates are/ which pared of/ and blue places also. It scoureth away the roughness of the tongue/ menged with honey/ it stayeth also the white flowers/ and healeth the emroddes/ or flowing of the blood of the fundament/ laid to with the coal of an oak tre/ beaten into powder: but the broth of this is sodden and congealed together/ and after a manner doth better the same things/ then the first doth. It bringeth also forth a gum which is good to be put in a hollow tooth/ to stanche the ache thereof. Of the herb called in English palma Christi. depiction of plant Ricinus. RICinus is called in Greek Cici/ or Croton/ in English palma Christi/ or tick seed because it is like a tycke/ it is called in Dutch/ Wonder baum/ Kreutz balm/ and zekken korner/ in French Palma Christi. It groweth only in gardens/ so far as ever I could see. Palma Christi which hath the name of a man's hand/ with the fingers stretched out/ when it is grown up: it is like unto a young fig tre/ & hath leaves like unto a plain tre and hollow/ stakles like a riede/ the sede groweth in clustars which are rough and sharp without: but when the husk is of/ then it looketh very like a dog louse/ which is called a tike: it groweth often times so high/ as though it were a tre/ but as son as the frost cometh/ it perisheth suddenly. Some call this herb also Cataputiam maiorem/ and some call it Karuam. The virtues of palma Christi. MEn use to press out of the seed of Palma Christi an oil/ called in Latin oleum cicinum and ricininum/ which is nothing meet for meat/ but for lamps and emplasters/ thirty. corns peeled/ broken and drunken/ drive thorough by the belly/ sleme collar and water/ they provoke also a man to vomit/ but this purging is very unpleasant and painful and overthroweth the stomach/ the same kernels bruised and laid to/ scour away freckelles and little hard swellings/ and such spots as come by the heat of the same: but the leaves broken and bruised/ and laid to with the meal of perched barley/ suage the swellings and inflammationes of the eyes/ the same laid to either by themselves/ or with vinegar/ suage the breasts or paps swelling/ with to much plenty of milk/ and the grievous inflammation/ called saint Antony's fire. Of the Rose. depiction of plant Rosa. ROsa is named in Greek Rodon/ in English a rose/ in Duche ein rosin/ in French un rose. The rose is so well known that it needeth no description/ Dioscorides maketh mention but of one kind of roses/ but Mesue maketh two kinds/ that is of the whit and read: but sense Mesues time/ there are found divers other kinds as Damask rosens'/ incarnation roses/ musk roses/ with certain other kinds/ whereof is no mention in any old writer. The property of the rose out of Dioscorides. THe rose cooleth and bindeth. But the dry roses do bind more/ the juice ought to be pressed out of the tender roses/ after that which is named the nail/ be cut away: for that part is it which is white in the leaf/ the rest of it should be pressed and bruised in a mortar in the shadow unto it be grown together/ and so should it be laid up for eye medicines/ so are the leaves also dried in the shadow/ so that they be oft turned/ that they mould not/ it that is pressed out of the dried roses sodden in wine. It is good for the head ache/ the ache of the eyes/ of the ears/ of the gums/ of the fundament/ of the right gut/ and of the mother/ if it be laid to with a feather/ or poured on. But if they be laid to after that they are bruised without any pressing/ they are good for the outrageous heat of the midryf/ and against the lousenes of the stomach that cometh of moisture/ and against saint Antony's fire/ when as they are dried & broken/ they are sprenched amongst the thighs or shares/ they are mingled with medicines called anthera/ and preservative medicines for wounds. But the flower that is found in the mids of the rose/ is good against the rheum or flowing of the gums/ if it be laid on dry. But the heads drunken/ stop the belly/ and casting out of blood. Out of Galene. THe rose is of a waterish hot substance/ joined with two other qualities/ that is to weet binding and bitter/ the flower is more binding then the roses selves be: and therefore it drieth more. Out of Mesue. THe rose is cold in the first degree/ and dry in the second/ and is compounded/ and made of two divers/ and separable substances of a watery/ which is measurable/ & of an earthly binding/ giving unto it much matter/ but of an aerish sweet and spicy/ and fiery and fine/ of which cometh the bitterness/ the leaves the perfection and the form or beauty. But the power of the fiery substance which hath driven in the beauty the redness/ is stronger than it that brought in the bitterness/ and for this cause with only drying: this property is lost/ which the other abide still/ which if they perish/ it shall be no more a rose/ than a deed man/ is a man/ yet the green roses are more bitter than binding/ & by the reason of this bitterness/ green or moist roses purge/ and that chiefly with their juice/ but when they are dried/ the heat being resolved/ which maketh the bitterness/ they show a substance binding or drawing together. The juice of rosens is hot almost in the first degree/ because it is sifted and sundered from the earthly & cold substance/ it purgeth and resolveth/ openeth/ and scoureth/ but the dry rose is colder and more binding/ & that yet more which was not yet fully grown: and the white more/ than the read: the rose also resolveth and quencheth out hot distemperatures/ and strengtheneth and binding together the parts/ and doth it most with the seed and little heirs that are found in the mids of the seed vessels: When as there are read roses and whit/ and of both the kinds/ some have many leaves/ and some few/ & some have plain leaves/ & some have kerbed/ in both the kinds/ that is better whose natural colour is perfitter/ and hath fewer leaves and plainer. The white roses purge nothing at all/ or else very little/ but they bind & strengthen more than the read do. The juice of them that are full ripe/ be better/ and so is the water better wherein the ripe roses are steeped in. It scoureth the blood of the veins and arteries/ from yellow choler of gall/ it is good for the jaundice/ for it openeth and scoureth away the stoppings of the stomach and liver/ it streinghteneth the heart and stomach/ and healeth the trembling of the heart: the cause being emptied out before. It is good for choleric agewes: Rose oil comforteth the same parts/ that the stilled water of roses doth/ they streingth the louse substance in driving them together/ and fortify the holding pour/ they put out all hot burning/ and staunch the ache that cometh thereof/ they make a man sleep/ but they provoke a man to sneeze/ and steer a man to the pose/ and they are evil for rheumatic person●s/ they fasten the vulva and the throppel or throat/ and strengthen them/ and take drunkenness away. The rose seeing that it is a gentle medicine/ but weak in purging/ it hath need of helper as whey/ honey: for an ounce of the juice of roses/ with two or three ounces of whey/ with a little spicknarde/ doth purge well/ the leaves of roses infused in whey and pressed out with honey purge also without any grief. The syrup of the juice of roses/ and of roses themselves doth purge also gently: Roses condited in honey/ scour/ purge and strengthen: but condited with sugar/ they scour less/ but they strengthen more. The water wherein roses have been infused/ clengeth/ scoureth and purgeth. And distilled water strenghteneth/ but it purgeth not/ for the purging and scouring virtue/ because the subtle heat of it/ is dissolved away with the fire. Vinegar of roses staunch all kinds of inflammaciones and hot burnings/ it cutteth in sunder/ and scoureth and comforteth or strenghteneth. The roses specially being fresh/ can abide no sething: for their purging and scouring virtue is driven away by the fire: the juice of roses by measurable seething/ is made more finer/ and scoureth more mightily. Oil that is made of unripe olives/ set in the son with unripe leaves of roses/ doth mightily resolve: the juice of roses is given from an ounce unto ij: the syrup with the juice of them is taken from two ounces unto five. Of Madder. depiction of plant Rubia sativa. depiction of plant Rubia syluestris. RVbia is named in Greek Erithrodanon/ in English madder/ in Duche rote aut/ farber/ rote/ in French garance. Rubia is a read dying rout/ whereof one kind is wild/ and an other kind is set and trimmed: the stalks of madder are four squared/ long/ rough/ like unto the stalks of gooshareth/ but in all points greater and stronger/ having leaves by certain spaces/ going between one order of leaves/ and an other in every joint or knee like unto stars going roundabout. The seed is round/ first green/ and after read/ and last when it is ripe/ black. The rout is small/ long/ read/ and provoketh a man to make water. The greater kind of the madder which useth to be set/ and planted/ groweth very plenteously in many places of Germany/ but in greatest plenty that I know about Spire. The wild kind groweth plenteously both in germany in woods/ and also in England/ and in the most that ever I saw/ is in the isle of Wight. But the farest and greatest that ever I saw/ groweth in the lane of beside Wynchester/ in the way to South hampton. The virtue of Madder. THe rote causeth a man to make water: wherefore if it be drunken with meed/ it healeth the guelsought or jaundice. It healed also the sciatica and the palsy. It driveth out much and gross urine/ and sometime blood. But they that drink it daily/ aught to be washed in a bath/ and to see the difference of those things that are emptied forth/ the juice drunken with the leaves/ is good for them that are bitten of venomous beasts. The seed drunken with honeyed vinegar/ called oximell/ melteth away the milt. The root laid to: driveth forth both the birth and the flowers/ and also the seconds/ if it be laid to with vinegar/ it healeth white freckelles. Of the Bramble bush or blaak berry bush. RVbus is also called in Latin Sentis/ in Greek Batos/ in English a bramble bush/ or a black berry bush/ in Duche ein Bromber/ in French Rouce. There are two kinds of this bramble/ one that groweth commonly in hedges and with other bushes/ and an other kind that groweth in small islands of fresh waters/ and about rivers sides/ and also in corn fields. This is called of some Chamebatoes. As the great kind hath always black berries when they are ripe/ and full of sedes: so the lesser kind hath sometime read berries/ when as they are ripe and but a few sedes. But that they are much pleasanter to eat then the greater berries be. The virtues of the bramble bush and berries. depiction of plant Rubus. THE bramble bindeth/ drieth and dieth heir. The broth of the branches if it be drunken/ it stoppeth the belly/ and stayeth the isshew that women have/ and it is good for the biting of the serpent called prester: they streingthen the goumes: and the leaves chewed/ heal the diseases of the mouth. They stay rinninge sores/ they heal rinning sores in the head/ they are also a remedy for the eyes that fall down/ the leaves are good to be laid upon hard swellings of the fundament/ & to the emrodes/ the leaves are also good to be used against the ache of the stomach/ and for the diseases called Cardiaca passio. The stalks or branches use to be bruised with the leaves/ and the juice to be pressed out/ and to be dried up in the son into and hard lump/ which is singularly good against the diseases before named. The juice of the berry of a bramble bush/ if it be full ripe/ is fit for the medicines of the mouth. The belly may be stopped by eating of the berry half ripe/ and also with the flower drunken in wine. Galene beside all these properties that he confesseth/ that the bramble hath/ writeth also that the bark of the rout of the bramble/ breaketh also the stone. Of the Brere bush or Hep tree or Brere tre. RVbus canis or canirubus is named in Greek Kynosbatos/ in English a Brere bush/ or of other some an help tre/ in Duche Wild rosin/ or heck rofen. The description of the Hep tre. depiction of plant Rubus canis. By this description of Dioscorides may diverse errores be confuted/ first theirs that take rubum canis/ for the bramble and there's also that hold that hold styflye/ that rubus canis is our hawthorn/ for nether the fruit of the black berry bush is long/ neither hath any down in it/ neither hath the fruit of the hawthorn any down or flocks with in it/ wherefore seeing that the fruit of rubi canini hath down in it/ and nether the fruit of the black berry tre/ neither of the haw tre hath any in it/ neither of these can be rubus canis. As touching the Eglantine I take it to be a several kind from the brere/ and reckon it to be the bush that is called of good writers Kynorrodon/ or rosa canina. The virtues of the briar tre, or Hep tre. THe fruit of the briar called an Hep/ if it be dried/ and the down that is within taken out/ stoppeth the belly/ whereby a man may gather that it bindeth strongly. But the leaves bind weykely. Ye must beware that ye eat none of the down that is within. For it is very perilous for the throat and wind pipe. Let them therefore take heed that make tarts of Heppes/ that they purge them well from the down. The tarts made only of Heppes serve well to be eaten of them that vomit to much/ or have any flux/ whether it be the bloody flux or the common flux. Of the bush called raspis or hindberry. depiction of plant Rubus. RVbus ideus is named in Greek Batos idea/ in English Raspis or Raspices/ and in the North country Hyndeberries/ in Duche Hyndbere/ in French Frambois. Rubus ideus as Dioscorides writeth/ hath that name because it groweth very plenteously in the hill Ida. This bush is much tenderer/ then the common bramble bush/ and is rough or sharp/ with fewer pricks: howbeit/ it may be found in some places without any pricks at all. The bush that I take for the right Rubo ideo/ groweth in the great high hills a little above Bonne/ and in East Fresland in a wood beside Anrik / and in many gardens of England. It hath much smoother stalks then the bramble/ and no great howky pricks at all/ the berries are read. Matthiolus writeth that there is in the mountains of Trent/ a kind that hath read berries and very pleasant/ and without kirnelles/ which some of the later writers have judged to be rubum ideum. But he sayeth he can not see how/ that it can be proved to be so. For when as Dioscorides sayeth/ that rubus ideus hath the name of idea/ he supposeth that there upon it may be well gathered/ perchance not unadvisedly that rubus ideus groweth no where else/ but in Ida/ as radix idea doth/ and as dittanis/ the right groweth only in Candy/ except a man take this word idam/ for growing upon the mountain. Because this kind of argument is oft used of Mathiolus/ I think now that is meet/ because the place requireth 〈◊〉 confute this kind of argument/ because he useth it in confuting the truth/ which other men found that he could understand and consent unto. If this be a good argument/ rubus ideus groweth in plenty in Ida/ therefore it groweth no where else: then this is also a good argument/ Stechas groweth only in the islands of French against Massilia/ which are called Stechades/ whereupon it hath the name/ therefore there is no Stachas/ but it that groweth in those islands. Therefore it that groweth in Arabia/ and it that groweth in Spain and Italy/ is no Stechas. This must also be a good argument. Dioscorides sayeth that Aconitum lycoctonon groweth plenteously in Italy in the justine mountains: ergo/ wheresoever any herb having the form and properties of Aconiti lycoctoni/ be found if it grow not in Italy/ it is not Aconitum lycoctonum. But seeing that these be naughty arguments so is it that Pliny and Matthiolus make/ also naughty. Rubus ideus hath the name/ because it groweth very plenteously in the hill Ida: ergo it groweth only in Ida. For Dioscorides sayeth not/ that rubus ideus groweth only in Ida: but that it groweth there in plenty/ and therefore denieth not/ but that it may grow also in other places as well as there. Conradus Gesnerus writing of such herbs as are in mount Fracto/ showeth a bush to grow there/ which he calleth Rubum Ideum/ and he describeth it thus. Rubus ideus is there almost with a fruit of a black berry without any pricks/ low with a woddish or hard root/ with leaves like the bramble/ or strawberry/ with little kernels two together or three together/ or one alone in one berry. The taste of it is four/ it groweth upon a rock. The virtues of Raspis. THe Raspis hath the same virtues that the common bramble hath/ and besides also the flower of it bruised with honey/ and laid to/ is good for the inflammationes and hot humores gathered together to the eyes/ and it quencheth the hot burnings/ called erisypelata: it is good to be given with water unto them that have weyk stomachs. It were good to keep some of the juice of the berries/ and to put it into some pretty wooden vessel/ and to make of it as it were raspis wine/ which doubtless should be good for many purposes/ both for a weak stomach/ and also for the flux/ and divers diseases of the goumes/ teeth vuula tongue/ and palate and other places thereabout. Of the kinds of docks. depiction of plant Rumicis primum genus. depiction of plant Rumicis secundum genus. depiction of plant Rumicis tertium genus. depiction of plant Rumicis quartum genus. RVmex is called in Greek Lapathon/ in English a Dock/ in Duche Menwelwortz/ in French de la parelle. Of the kinds of dock/ they call one Oxilapathon/ and in the uppermost parts/ it is hard and something sharp/ and it groweth in pools and ditches: the second is it of the guarding/ not like unto this. The third is a wild kind/ and it is small/ and like unto plantain soft and low. There is also the fourth kind/ which is called of some Oxalis or Anaxaris/ or Lapathum agreste/ whose leaves are like unto the leaves of the little wild dock/ the stalk is not great/ the seed is something sharp/ round read/ and biting/ and it is found in the stalk and outgrowing twigs: hitherto hath Dioscorides written. To whose writing some of the later Grecianes do not fully consent/ and namely in the descriptiones of Oxilapathi and Oxalidos/ for some of the later Grecianes seem to take Oxilapathum/ as though it had the name of the sour and sharp taste/ and not of the sharpness of the overmost part of the top of the leaf. Aetius in the healing of the falling sickness/ writeth these words after the translation of Cornarius of Oxalis: Oxallidem sive rumicem acutum/ viridem presertim quotidie dato a primo luna usque ad trigestimam/ in which words he seemeth to confound and make all one of Oxilapathum and Oxalis. The same Aetius writeth thus of Oxalis in the healing of the jaundice. Oxalis est rumex acri sapore/ folijs ranulis et folijs caude quadrangulari/ etc. Ye may see that Aetius giveth here unto the taste of Oxalis sharpness/ with biting as this word Acris doth signify/ & a four cornered stalk/ whereof nether of both Dioscorides giveth unto his Oxalis/ neither to his Oxilapatho. As for my part I do not remember that ever I saw any such sorrel as Aetius describeth. Now as concerning the kinds of dock whereof Dioscorides writeth/ I am sure/ we have the same/ and also more than he made mention of/ we have the great kind of Dock/ which the unlearned took for Rebarbe/ & is called of some Rubarbarum monachorum/ and this do the common herbaries of this time take for the guarding Dock of Dioscorides/ we have a kind of dock that groweth in shallow ditches and watery places/ with a very sharp leaf/ with a taste like unto other dock/ and this do I take to be Oxalapathum in Dioscorides. There is an other kind of dock that groweth in moist and watery ground/ with a leaf much rounder than it that I spoke last of/ it hath a very sour taste like sorrel/ and this do I take for Oxalapatho of Aetij and other of his tyme. We have two kinds of wild dock/ the one with the form and likeness of plantain/ which groweth in middowes and in bare grenes/ and an other kind with a leaf not much unlike the leaf of Aran: and so many kinds have we also of Oxalis or Sorrel/ for the one hath a rounder leaf/ and the other sharper/ with sharp things resembling abroad arrow head. We have also an other kind of dock growing in orchards & gardines/ & about towns & such places as kine & oxen/ & other beasts use commonly to haunt & stand in. This kind for the form that it hath with the guarding dock/ may seem to be a kind of it. But by it that groweth without setting/ or sowing/ it may seem to be a kind of wild dock. But it maketh no great matter of what kind it be of/ saying it is known by experience to have the virtue that other dock have. The virtues of the docks. THe leaves of all the kinds of dock/ when they are sodden soften the belly. The leaf laid to raw with rose oil or safron/ driveth away melicirides/ which are apostemes/ which have an oylish thing within them like unto honey. The seed of the wild dock/ and of the ditch dock with the sharp leaf/ and of the sorrel/ is good to be drunken in water or wine against the bloody flux or other flixes/ and against the lothsomeness of the stomach/ and against the biting of a scorpion. If any man drink any of these sedes/ and after chance to be bitten/ he shall have no hurt of it. But the routs of them/ sodden with vinegar/ and also though they be raw/ if they be laid to/ heal lepres/ the foul scurvy evil/ and rough scabby nails. But the place must be rubbed before in the son with nitre and vinegar. The broth also if the itching places be bathed therewith/ driveth away the itch. They suage also the pain of the teth/ if they be sodden in wine/ and the teth be washed therewith/ they suage also the pain of the ears/ they drive also away hard lumps and wens if they be sodden in wine and laid thereto. The same laid to stop the ishewe of women/ if they be sodden in wine and drunken/ they heal the jaundice/ and break stones in the bladder/ and provoke down flowers/ and they are good for them that are bitten of a scorpion. The great dock called in Greek Hippolampathon/ which groweth in meres and great pools/ hath the same nature that other have. The old writers appoint no certain degree unto the kinds of dock/ but Aetius writeth that the dock is partaker of heat/ naming no certain kind. But Rasis under the name of Acetisa/ which word the arabians interprets without all discretion use for all kinds of dock/ sayeth that acetosa is cold and dry/ but he telleth not in what degree/ but I suppose that Rasis writeth of sorrel rather than of any other kind. But my judgement is that sorrel is cold at the least in the first degree/ and that the other kinds are not manifestly hot/ but rather bowing to coldness/ then to any notable heat. Of the bush or shrub, called Kneholme, or Butcher's browme. RVscus is named in Greek myrsine agria/ that is myrtus syluestris/ in Barbarus latin bruscus/ in English Kneholme/ or Knehull/ and of other Bucher broume/ and of some Petigre/ I never saw it in Germany/ therefore I know not the Duche name of it. depiction of plant Sabina. Rvscus' called of Dioscorides Myrtus syluestris/ hath a leaf like unto a myrtell tre/ but brother/ like in fashion unto a lance/ sharp in the top. It hath a round fruit in the mids of the leaf read/ when it is ripe with a hard kernel within. The twigs are bowing like vinde branches/ which come out of the rout/ they are tough a cubit high/ full of leaves/ the routs are like unto grass binding/ tart in taste/ and something bitter. This bush groweth very plenteously in Essex and in Kent/ and in Bark shire/ but I could never see it in Germany. The virtues of kneholme. THe leaves and the berries drunken in wine/ do move a man to make water/ and bring women their flowers/ and break the stone of the bladder/ they heal also the jaundice/ the Strangurian/ & the head ache/ the broth wherein the routs are sodden/ can do the same. The young stalks use to be eaten for sperage/ after the manner of a wort or eatable herb/ but they are bitter and provoke urine. Of Rue. depiction of plant Ruta. RVta is named in Greek Pyganon/ in English Rue or herb grace/ in French rue de gardin/ in Dutch Weinraut. There are two kinds of Rue/ the gardin Rue is so well known in all countries/ that it needeth no description. But the wild Rue is so gessen and scant/ that I could never find it in all my life time/ neither in Germany nor in England/ saving one time in Weissenburg/ and the seed of that/ was sent me from Zurch by doctor Gesner/ it hath much smaller and longer leaves/ then the common Rue hath/ or else much like in other points unto it. The virtues of Rue out of Dioscorides. THe wild Rue that groweth in woods and mountains/ is more sharp or biting/ then the gardin or sown or set Rue/ & it is not fit to be eaten. Amongst the kinds of gardin Rue/ is most fit to be eaten that groweth beside a fig tre: they have both a burning property: they heat & bring of the skin/ provoke water/ & drive flowers. And doth they/ whether they be taken in meat/ or drink: they stop the belsy/ it is a sovereign medicine or preservative against poison/ if an acetable of the seed of it be taken with wine: yea the leaves taken aforehand by themselves/ and with nuts/ and with dried figs/ make poisoned medicines to want their streingth. If they be taken after the same manner/ they are good against serpents. Rue both in meat/ and in drink/ destroyeth the natural seed. If it be sodden with dried dyll/ and drunken/ it stauncheth the gnawing in the belly. If it be drunken as is said before: it is good for the ache of the sides and of the breast/ against pursines & shortness of breath/ against coughs/ against the inflammation of the lungs/ against the sciatica and the ache of the joints/ and against the cold that cometh again by certain fits or courses. If it be poured in with oil/ it is good for the windines of the great gut/ and of the mother/ and of the straight gut. The same broken with honey/ and put into the secret place a good way up/ delivereth women of the strangling of the mother. If it be heated with oil and drunken/ it killeth worms. Some use to lay it to with honey for the ache of the joints/ and some use to lay it to with figs against the dropsy: yea if it be drunken/ it is good for the same. Also if it be sodden in wine to the consumption of the half/ and rubbed on/ it will do thesame. It quickeneth the sight both raw/ and condited/ if it be received in meat: it suageth the ache of the eyes/ if it be laid to with the flower of parched barley. With rose oil and vinegar/ it helpeth them that have the head ach: if it be bruised and put into the nose thrilles/ it stoppeth the bursting out of blood out of the nose: if it be laid to with bay leaves/ it suageth the inflammation and swellings of the stones/ and it healeth weals with myrt/ and a treat made of wax: if ye rub the place with wine/ pepper and nitre/ it healeth the white morphew. But if it be laid to emplaster wise/ with the same/ it taketh away little read lumps like knoppes of time/ and warts also like pysiveres: if it be laid to which honey and alum/ it healeth the foul scoruy evil. The juice of Rue made hot in the pill of a pomegranate/ & poured in/ is good for the ache of the ears. The same healeth dull ears/ laid to with the juice of fennel and honey: if it be laid to with vinegar/ white lead and rose oil/ it healeth hot and choleric inflammationes and rinninge sores/ and tetteres/ and the rinning sores of the head. If rue be eaten afterward/ it dilayeth and stauncheth the biting or sharpness that cometh of the eating of garlyk and onyones. The Rue of the mountains if it be eaten/ it killeth a man. But the seed of the wild Rue drunken/ is good for inward diseases/ and is fit to be menged with preservatives and treacles. The seed also of Rue perched/ if it be given seven days to drink to him that pissed his bed/ he shall do no more so. The root of this is called moly of the mountains. The wild rue is like unto it of the gardin/ and it is good in drink for the falling sickness/ and for the sciatica/ it driveth down flowers/ but it killeth the birth/ for it is sharper than it of the gardin/ yet it may not be eaten/ because it is hurtful in meat. Out of Galene. Wild rue is hot in the fourth degree/ & the gardin rue is hot in the third: it hath not only a biting taste/ but also a bitter. Whereby it may make ripe and cut insonder gross and tough humores/ and for that property it may drive urine/ it is good for windines/ and therefore restraineth and bridleth the appetite and desire of the pleasure of the body/ it maketh ripe and drieth migytely. Out of Simeon Sethi. IT is good for the windy and watery dropsey: it is good for them that have drunken the juice of poppy called opium/ or the poison of Aconitum or Liberdis bay/ if it be drunken/ it is good for the colic/ and so is it good also in a clyster/ men hold that it quickeneth the eyesyght/ and therefore painters use it much: if ye seth it with oil and bathe the bladder therewith/ it is a remedy against the stopping of water. Both taken in above in drink and beneath in a clyster. It is good for the lethargy or forgetful disease: it is also good for them that have the gout or pain in the knees of waterish humores: it strenghteneth the guts not by the heat alone/ but of a natural property. But they that are choleric of nature/ and are sick of choleric diseases/ aught to abstain from rue/ for it heateth them to much/ and melteth away the fine blood/ and leaneth the gross/ and maketh it melancolick: the juice of this herb is evil for women with child/ he that eateth rue in the morning shall be free all the day after from venem and poison. Of savin. SAbina is named in Greek Brathys/ in Duche Sevenbaume/ in French Savinera or Saviner. There are two kinds of Sauine as Dioscorides writeth: the one hath leaves like a Cypress tre/ but more pricky with a grievous smell/ biting and burning: for it is a short tre spreading itself more out in breath: and some use the leaves for perfumes: the other hath leaves like Tamarisk. I have seen both these kinds in Germany/ and the one plenteously in England/ that is the less/ and the greater I saw in Worms in Germany in a preachers gardin. The virtues of savin. THe leaves of both the Savines stay and stop wounds that spread for a broad and consume flesh as they go/ and if they be laid to/ they suage inflammationes. Also if they be laid to with honey/ they scour away blackness and filthiness/ and they burst carbuncles. But if they be drunken with wine/ they drive blood by the urine/ and drive forth also the birth: the same thing will they do if they be laid to/ or ministered in a perfume/ they use to be menged with heating ointments/ and namely with the ointment called unguentum gleucinum. depiction of plant Sabina. Out of Galene. SAuin is of the number of them that dry mightily/ and that according unto three qualites/ which it showeth in taste like unto the Cypress tre/ but that it is more biting/ and as a man would say more spicy or better smelling: therefore it hath the quality that I spoke of/ that is a biting sharpness/ standing in an hot complexion and bitterness/ and a darcker or more unfelable binding/ then the cypress tre hath: for in asmuch as it exceedeth in that/ so more mightily doth it make ripe/ and therefore it can not glue together wounds/ for the strength of the dryness/ and the heat that it hath/ for it hath so much of both the qualities/ that it doth stretch out and bring inflammation or burning: it may as well be occupied about rottenness as the Cypress may/ specially when they are stronger and longer/ for these without any avoyance can abide the strength of medicines: it looseth or dissolveth carbuncles. This is a medicine that is hot in the third degree/ and dry in the same/ and hath very subtle parts/ and for that cause it is put in to ointments. Some use to put twice as much of it in the stead of one part of Cinnamuni: for if it be drunken/ ripeth and maketh fine and subtle. Of the elder tre, and of the bush called Vual wort or Daynwurt. depiction of plant Sambucus. SAmbucus is called in Grek Akti/ in English Elder or Bourtre/ in Duche Holder/ or Hollender/ in French Sus or Suin. There are two kinds of Act/ sayeth Dioscorides/ the one is called Acke/ and it riseth up into the fashion of a tre/ and this is named in English Elder/ and it stretched out twigs like reeds round/ some thing hollow/ something whitish & long/ there grow iij. or iiij. leaves together by certain spaces going between/ like the Walnut tre leaves of stinking savour/ and more indented: in the top of the stalks or bows are round shaddowye clusters/ having white flowers/ a fruit like the Turpentin tre/ something purple in black/ full of berries/ full of juice/ and of wine. The other kind is called in Greek Chameacte/ and in Latin Ebulus/ & in English Wallwurte or Daynworte/ and in Duche Attich. This is low & less/ and more like an herb/ and it hath a four squared stalk/ parted with many joints/ the leaves grow with certain spaces going between/ hanging about every joint after the manner of feathers/ like unto the leaves of an almond tre/ indented roundaboute/ but longer/ evil smelling/ with a shaddowy clustered top like the other kind/ and even so a flower & a fruit. It hath a long rout/ of the bigness of a man's finger: thus far Dioscorides. Beside these two kinds/ I found the third kind growing in the alpes with read berries/ in other points like unto the former kind called Elder. The virtues of Elder. BOth the kinds have one property/ and serve for one purpose/ they dry and drive water/ and are evil for the stomach/ the leaves sodden and eaten as an eatable herb/ drive out choler/ and thin phlegm/ and the young stalks sodden in a pot do the same. The root sodden in wine/ and given in before meat/ helpeth the dropsy: if it be drunken after the same manner/ it is good for them that are bitten of the viper/ the same sodden in water/ if a woman sit over it/ it softeneth the mother and openeth it/ and it amendeth such hurts as are commonly about it: the fruit drunken with wine/ doth the same: the same laid to/ maketh the heir black. The tender and fresh leaves/ suage inflammaciones laid to emplasterwise with perched barley/ and they are good for burning and the bitings of dogs: the same glue together hollow sores that gape after the manner of a fistula: they are also good for them that have the gout/ if they be laid to with bulls tallow or goat bucks sweat. Of the willow or Sallow tre. depiction of plant Salicis primum genus. depiction of plant Salicis alterum genus. depiction of plant Salicis tertium genus. SAlix is named in Grebe Itia/ in English a willow tre or a Sallow tre/ & in the Northern speech a Saugh tre/ in Dutch/ Ein weiden baum/ in French vn Saulge. Salix as Columella writeth is divided in to two principal kinds: the one is called perticalis/ the other is called viminalis. Perticalis Salix is the great willow tre/ which hath long roads growing on it. Viminalis is an oyster tre/ such as bring forth rods/ that baskattes are made of. Viminalis is of divers sorts. The first is called Salix greca/ the second gallica: the third Sabina. Salix greca which is yellow in colour/ groweth much in East Fresland about a city called Anrik. Salix gallica which hath read twigs/ groweth in many places of England and Germany also. Salix sabina which is also called amerina/ groweth only in Italy and in East Fresland/ so far as I have found hitherto. The virtues of the willow tre. THe sede/ the leaves and the bark/ and the juice of the willow tre have pour and virtue to bind together. The leaves broken and with a little pepper drunken in wine/ be good for the Iliaca passio/ or the gnawing of the small gouts. The seed broken/ is good for them that spit blood/ & the bark is good for the same purpose: the same bark burned & knodden with vinegar/ & laid to emplasterwise/ taketh away hard lumps/ & little swellings like nail hedes. The juice of the leaves and the bark/ made hot in the pill of a pomegranate with rose oil/ healeth the ache of the ears/ the broth of the same is good to bathe gouty places/ and to be poured upon the same: the same driveth away scurf and scales: the time of taking of the juice of it is/ when that it flowereth by cutting of the bark: this hath pour to scour away those things/ which bring darkness unto the apple of the eye. Out of Galene. A Man may well use the leaves of the willow tre for to glue wounds together/ the most part of Physiciones use the flowers of the willow tre most of all for the preparing of a drying emplaster/ for the pour thereof is to dry/ for beside that it biteth not/ it hath also a certain binding/ theridamas are certain also/ which press out the juice of it/ & keep it as a medicine without all biting and drying up very profitable for many things/ for ye can not find any thing more profitable for many things than a medicine is/ which drieth without biting/ & doth bind a little/ but the bark hath the like pour/ with the flowers and the leaves: but that it is of a drier complexion as all barks be. Some men do burn the bark and use the ashes of it/ for all things that had need of a mighty dryer. Of Sage. depiction of plant Saluia. Veronica foemina. depiction of plant Saluia maior. depiction of plant Saluia minor. SALuia is called in Greek Elilisphacoes/ in English Sage or Savig/ in Duche Salben or Selue/ in French Saulge. Sage is a long bush full of bows and branches/ having twigs four square/ something whytish/ and leaves like the Quince tre/ but longer/ rougher/ thicker/ and privily resembling horenes of a worm cloth/ white under/ smelling wonderfully/ but the smell is grievous/ it hath seed like the wild horminum in the top of the stalk/ it groweth in rough places/ hitherto Dioscorides. Dioscorides maketh but one kind of Sage/ but Theophrast maketh two kinds of Sage/ one with a rougher/ and the other with a smother leaf/ but now are there found more kinds/ the which though they differ one from an other much in roughness/ and smoothness in greatness and smallines/ and in diversity of colours/ yet in my judgement/ they do agree all in one virtue and property/ and although some be stronger than other some be. The virtues of Sage. THe broth wherein the leaves and branches are sodden/ drive fourth water/ and bring forth flowers/ and draweth forth the birth/ and it healeth the pricking of the fish/ called in Latin pastinaca marina/ which is like unto a flath/ with venomous pricks about his tayl●. It maketh heir black/ it is good for wounds/ it stoppeth the blood/ and scoureth wild sores/ the broth of the leaves and the branches with wine stauncheth the iche of the privites/ if they be washed therewith. Out of Galene. Galene writeth that Sage is of an evident hot complexion/ and something binding. The virtues of Sage out of Aetius. THe heating power of sage is evidently known/ but the binding virtue is but small/ but some write that if a perfume be made of sage over the coals/ that it will stop the excessive flowing of women's flowers: But Agrippa writeth that sage being a holy herb/ is eaten of lionesses being with young/ for it holdeth and stayeth the lively birth. Wherefore if a woman drink a pound of the juice of it with a little salt/ at a certain time/ which Phisiciones can tell/ if she do lie with her husband/ undoutingly she shall conceive. They say when as the pestilence was in a place of Egypt/ called Coptos/ that they that remained alive after the pestilence/ compelled their wives to drink much of this juice: and so they had in short time great increase of children. Orpheus sayeth that two cyates of the juice of sage with one ounce of honey/ if it be given unto a man with drink fasting/ will stop the spitting of blood: but it is good against the tysick and exulceration of the lungs: If it be dressed thus/ take of spiknarde two drams of the seed of sage perched/ beaten/ and sifted xiv. drams/ of pepper xij. drams/ menge all these together in the juice of sage/ and make pills thereof/ and give a dram at a time/ in the morning to the patiented fasting/ and so much against night/ and drink water after the pills. Of savoury. SAtureia or Cunila is called in Greek Thymbra/ in English savoury/ or saveraye/ in Duche saturey/ in French sarriette: it is hot and dry in the third degree/ as the taste will teach you/ whensoever ye will try it/ for it biteth the tongue mightily. Although diverse and great learned men have made one herb of Thymbra and satureya/ yet it is plain by the authority of Columella/ and other old writers/ that they are two several herbs. And because Dioscorides maketh two kinds of thymbra/ it is not unlike/ but that the one is it that is called thymbra/ of the Greeks and some Latins/ and the other is it that is called of the Grecianes thymbra/ and of the Latins satureia. depiction of plant Satureia sativa. The wild kind is greater and hotter/ and the gardin thymbra is less than the other and more gentler/ and therefore more fit to be eaten as Dioscorides writeth. The wild thymbra after the judgement of Matthiolus/ is Satureia hortensis of Columel. Whereof he maketh mention in his verses. As for the first kind that Dioscorides describeth/ I think it shall be hard to find any such in England/ when as Matthiolus complaineth that he can find none such in Italy. And although we have here in England two kinds of savoury/ one that dieth every year/ and is commonly called saverey/ and an other kind that is called winter savoury in English/ and closter hyssop in Duche/ which dureth both summer & winter. Yet nether of these answer unto the description of Dioscorides/ for it that Dioscorides describeth it thus/ described it groweth in rough places/ and in a bare ground/ & it is like time/ but less & tenderer/ it beareth an ear full of flowers/ & they of an herbish or green colour. The virtues of savoury. Dioscorides writeth no more of the virtues of savoury/ but that it serveth for the same purposes/ that thyme serveth for/ wherefore if ye will know what virtues savoury hath/ look them out in the chapter of thyme. Of the herb called Satyrion. depiction of plant Satyrium. depiction of plant Satyrium trifolium. depiction of plant Satyrium regale. depiction of plant Satyrium floribus apium similibus. SAtyrion is named in latin Satyrium/ it may be named in English/ whit Satyrion/ or white hares cods/ or in other more unmannerly speech/ hare's bollocks. Dioscorides describeth Satyrion thus: Satyrion which some call Threleafe/ because it hath three leaves/ bowing down toward the earth like unto a dock/ or a lily leaf/ but less & read/ the stalk is of a cubit height/ and bare. It hath a white flower like a lily/ and a knoppy root of the bigness of an apple/ brown in colour without/ and within white as an egg/ in taste sweet/ and not unpleasant unto the mouth. I have very seldom seen this kind of Satyrion that Dioscorides describeth here. For I never saw it/ saving twice in Germany/ and twice in England. In Germany I have seen it growing in great plenty beside Bonne/ and about Weissenburg in high Almany/ and in England in Soffock. It hath a leaf brother than a lily leaf/ but shorter and rounder. The flowers are very white/ and the stalk is longer than any kind of Orchis/ called Testiculus canis. Beside this greater kind/ I have seen about Charred in Sommersetshyr/ a little kind of Satyrion with white flowers/ and rounder leaves/ and brother for the quantity/ then the lily leaves are. They are most like young plantain leaves of the greater kind. The roots are longer/ then the roots of the greater kind/ and are in taste not all sweet/ but a little turning to some dark bitterness/ and a little heat. The flowers grew very thick together/ as they were writhe about the stalcke. I have seen about the last end of August/ this kind in the flowers/ when as all other kinds of Orchis and Satyrion are far deed away/ saving an other little kind with a purple flower/ which is called of some our ladies traces. The virtues of Satyrion. DIoscorides writeth that the root of Satyrion drunken in tart binding read wine/ is good for the bowing back of the neck/ and that it is supposed to steer men to the lust of the body. Out of Galene. GAlene writeth that Satyrion is hot and moist in complexion/ and that not withstanding that it hath an overflowing and windy moisture/ by reason whereof it stirreth up the lust of the body. The herb and root are both of like strength in doing of these things. Of Rye. depiction of plant Siligo. Yet for all this/ there are two places in Columella/ that will not suffer siliginem to be our rye. The first places is where as he sayeth: quamuis candore praestet, pondere tamen vincitur. That is/ although it excel in whiteness/ yet in heaviness or weight other exceed it. Who did ever see rye whiter then wheat/ and is it not most commonly seen/ that rye bread is mightier than the wheat. Therefore siligo which is whiter then the common and best wheat/ and lighter also/ can not be our rye. The second place is in the second book of Columella/ in the sixth chapter/ where as he writeth these words: We know many kinds of wheat/ but that is most to be sown of all other/ that is called robus/ because it doth excel both in weight and in shining or clearness. Ye ought secondly to regard siliginem/ whose chief kind wanteth weight in bread. Pliny also in the xvij. book of his natural history writeth/ that Siligo spicam semper erectam habet, & pariter nunquam maturescit. That is/ siligo hath the ear ever standing right up/ and it never waxeth ripe altogether. But whether our rye groweth with the ears downward or no/ and whether it be ripe all at one time or no/ I report me unto them that are husband men/ and have skill in corn/ and both sow it and mow it. By these places I trust/ that I have sufficiently proved/ that siligo of the old writers/ is not our rye/ as the Phisiciones and Grammarians have taught certain hundred years. But some will axe of me/ seeing that siligo is not rye/ what thinkest thou was it called of any old writer. To them I answer/ that I find nothing like unto our rye/ them it which is called of Sicale: whereof he writeth thus: The taurines that dwell under the alpes/ call sicale Asiane: it is the worst of all other/ and is only meet to drive hungers away. It hath a plenteous/ but a small stalk/ it is ugly to be seen for the blackness/ but it passeth in heaviness. Then when as our rye hath these properties/ and the italians in some places call rye Segale/ & the French men call it segle/ which countrymen hold certain remnants of the old Latin tongue: I think I gather not amiss/ that our rye was named secale of the old writers. This also maketh something for the same purpose/ that some of the Northern men call rye bread/ aussem breed/ as though it had the name of assius. The nature of Rye. BY common experience we find that rye bread is cold/ windy/ and hard of digestion/ & a breder of melancholy/ namely in all such persons/ as want exercise of the body. But it helpeth to keep the body soluble/ such as are disposed to be hard bellied. But the medicine is gross/ and bringeth as much harm and more than it doth good all things well considered. Some of the later writers have taught that the young blades of rye distilled/ be good for the stone/ and for great heat in any part or member of the body. But here of/ because I have no experience as yet/ I dare not warrant any man/ that they have that virtue and property. It were good that some man that hath leisure/ should ones prove it. Of the herb called Scandix. depiction of plant Scandix. SCandix is supposed of some to be the herb which is called in English Pink needle/ or storks bill. And I have judged it to be an herb the groweth in the corn with a fair white flower/ & leaves like unto chervil. The later herb in my judgement draweth nearer unto the bitterness & heat that Dioscorides requireth of scandix. But because nether of them both/ hath so much heat and bitterness/ as Dioscorides seemeth to give unto scandix: I dare not certainly give sentence/ that either of them should be scandix in Dioscorides. Of the virtues of Scandix. I Rede no other virtue the scandix hath/ but the it is good for the kidnees bladder/ & liver/ saving that Galene saith that it is good to provoke a man to piss/ & to deliver all the inward bowels from stopping. The same Galene writeth that it is hot & dry in the second degree. Of the sea union called squilla. depiction of plant Scylla. SCilla is named in Greek Skilla of the Apothecaries Squilla/ of the high dutch/ meus zwybel: it may be called in English/ sea union or Squilla or Squill union. The rote of the Squilla is like a great union/ covered with a thin skin as an union is. Within that are many pills/ one growing above an other/ but not hole as unyones be: the stalk cometh first forth of the root/ & afterward cometh a flower white & yellow. And a long time after that come out the leaves/ after the manner of an union/ bowing downward the ground. It groweth much in spain and Apulia/ by the sea side/ but no other where/ saving in such like places without setting or sowing. For it greweth not from the sea of himself. The virtues of squilla. SQuilla hath a sharp and hot nature/ but when it is roasted/ it is made profitable for many things. And it ought to be roasted after this manner. Take the squilla/ and cover it round about with clay or paste/ and put it into an oven/ or cover it in the coals or ashes/ until the past be baked enough. When as ye have taken that away/ if the squilla be not tender/ and roasted enough/ cover it with new paste/ or new clay/ and roast it as ye did before. It that is not thus dressed/ is evil for the inner parts. It may be also baked by setting it in a pot well covered/ use only the inner parts/ and cast away the outer parts: It may also be sodden in water after that it is cut in pieces/ the first water casten out/ and fresh water put unto it/ until the water be no more bitter. Men use it also to sklise it/ and to hang it on a thread/ so that one piece touch not an other/ and so dry them in the shadow. And we use it that is cut/ to make oil of it/ and wine and vinegar. One part of the raw squilla heat in oil or melted rosin/ is good to be laid upon the rifts of the feet. If it be sodden in vinegar/ and laid to emplaster wise/ it is good for them that are bitten of a veper or adder. We use to take one part of the roasted squilla/ and to put unto it viij. parts of bruised salt/ and here of we use to give a spoun full or two to a man fasting/ to soften his belly. We put it also into drinks and spicy composiciones/ and into such drinks/ wherewith we provoke water/ and in such drinks as we would help the dropsy with/ and help them in whose stomachs the meat swimmeth above/ or such as have the jaundice or geelsought/ and have gnawing in the body/ and them that are vexed with a long cough/ them that are short winded/ and them that spit blood: one scruple and an half is enough to be taken at one time with honey. We use to seethe it with honey/ and to give it to be eaten for the same purpose/ and so dressed/ it is good to help digestion. It driveth away slimy matter like shavings of the guts. If it be roasted and laid to/ it is good for hanging warts/ and for kibed or mould heel's. The seed taken in a fyg or with honey/ looseth the belly. They that have any exulceration or place that hath the skin of/ and raw/ had need to take heed that they use not the squilla. Some authors writ/ that if the squilla be hanged up hole above the door/ that no witchcraft nor sorcery shall take any place there. Out of Mesue. THe sea union or squilla is two ways profitable/ both because it maketh ripe and ready the matter to be put forth/ & driveth forth such matters as are made ready. It is best that groweth with an other & not alone. For it the groweth alone & beside hot baths/ is venomous. The best is bitter and sharp/ and hath shining pills/ and it groweth in a free field. It prepareth thick and tough humores/ and melancholy by cutting of them & making of them subtle/ & by scouring/ that they may more easily come forth/ & that doth most speedily the oxymel or honeyed vinegar/ made of the squilla: & the same purgeth out the foresaid humores. Wherefore it is good for the diseases of the head/ as the head ache/ for the falling sickness/ for dusines of the head/ & for the diseases of the sinews/ joints/ longs and breast. And that doth specially/ the electuary made of the juice of it with honey/ if it be licked in. The same maketh a clear voice/ and so doth the honeyed vinegar/ made with squilla/ and the vinegar alone made with the same. The same help the stopping of the milt and the swelling thereof. And it hindereth putrefaction to be engendered in a man's body. And therefore it keepeth a man in heath/ and maketh a man's body continue still in young state/ but they make a man lean. The squilla helpeth the louse gums/ and the vinegar of it maketh fast teth that are louse/ if the mouth be washed therewith. It taketh away the stinking of the mouth/ and maketh the breath sweet. It stauncheth the ache of the stomach/ it helpeth digestion/ and maketh a man well coloured. It maketh a louse body fast and compact/ howsoever it be taken. The sodden drink of it/ may be given from ten drams unto three ounces. Mesue maketh the sea unyone hot in the third degree/ and dry almost in the same. Out of Pliny. THe use of squilla quickeneth the eyesight/ if it be taken with vinegar and honey. It killeth worms in the belly. If it be fresh laid under the tongue/ it quencheth the thirst of them that have the dropsy. It is good to be laid to with honey against the pain of the sciatica. Out of Galene. THe squilla hath a marvelous cutting pour/ but not for all that very hot/ so that a man may judge it to be hot in the second degree. It is best to be taken sodden or roasted/ and not raw/ and so is the great vehementye or streingth abayted. Auerrois also an Arabian/ writeth that Squilla is hot in the second degree/ though Mesue write that it is hot in the third degree: Wherefore seeing that Galene and Auerrois hold/ that it is no hotter/ and I have by tasting found it no hotter: I had liefer hold with Galene/ & that it is hot only in the second degree/ then with Mesue/ that maketh it hot in the third degree. Of water Germander. SCordium is named in Greek scordion/ in Duche Wasser bettenich/ it may be called in English/ Water germander/ or merrish germander or Garleke germander. It groweth in Oxforthshyre and in Cambridge shire in good plenty. The description of the noble herb called Scordium out of Dioscorides. depiction of plant Scordium. SCordium groweth in mountains and in merrishe ground: It hath leaves like unto Germander/ but greater/ and not so much indented about. In smell something resembling Garleke/ binding/ and in taste bitter. It hath little stalks/ four squared/ whereupon grow flowers something redishe. The virtues of water Germander out of Dioscorides. WAter Germander hath the pour to heat/ and to make a man make water. The green herb and also dried/ if it be sodden with wine/ is good to be drunken against the biting of serpents/ and against poison. If it be taken in the quantity of two drams with meed/ it is good for the gnawing of the stomach against the bloody flux/ and for them that can not make water easily. It stoureth out also thick and watery gear out of the breast. If ye will take the dry herb/ and menge it with gardin cresses/ honey and rosin/ and make an electuary thereof/ and give it to be leked up of the patiented/ it will help the old cough/ and such places as are bursten/ and shrunk together. Thesame herb menged with acerat or treat/ made of wax/ and said to the mid ryf: it will suage the long heat or inflammation of them: the lame is also good for the gout/ if it be laid to either with sharp vinegar or with water/ with ●ony. Also it joineth together wounds/ and stoureth old sores and covereth them with a skin/ and when it is dried/ it holdeth down the flesh that groweth to much. Men use also to drink the juice of it/ pressed out for all the foresaid diseases/ the scordium or water germander that groweth in Pontus or in Candy/ is of most virtue and strength. Out of Galene. Scordium is made of divers both tastes and pours/ for it hath some bitterness/ some tartues'/ and some sharpness/ which is like unto garlic/ called scorodon/ whereupon I think that scordium hath his name. It stoureth out and warmeth the inward bowels also/ & it driveth out both water and also flowers. Also if it be drunken/ it healeth the parts that are bursten and shrunken together/ & the pain of the side if it come of stopping or of cold: The same Galene in his book de antidotis/ that is of treacle or preservative medicines against poison/ writeth further of scordium thus: The best scordium is brought from Candis/ howbeit it is not to be misliked that groweth in other countries. It is written by men of great gravity/ that so many dead bodies of certain men that were killed in a battle/ as fell upon scordium/ & namely such parts as touched it/ were much less putrefied/ then the other were/ & some came into that believe that scordium was good against the putrefying poison of venomous beasts/ and of other poisons. Of the herb called Securidaca. SEcuridaca is called in Greek Edisseron or Pelikinon/ I have seen this herb only in gardens in England/ wherefore I could never learn any English name of it: but lest it should be without name/ I call it Axsede or Axwurt/ or Axsich/ because Dioscorides sayeth that the seed of securidaca is like unto a two edged axe. The description of Securidaca out of Dioscorides. Securidaca is a little bush having leaves like a ciche/ called in Latin Cicer/ & cods like unto little horns/ wherein is read sede/ like unto a two edged axe/ whereupon it hath the name: the seed is in taste bitter/ but drunken it is pleasant to the stomach/ I have seen ij. kinds of Axwurt/ both with the leaves of a Ciche. But the one grew wild in germany/ and had cods very little/ vowed in an other kind with cods so bowing inward/ that they might be compared unto a bow of ayock/ & this kind did I never se/ but in gardens. Dioscorides writeth that it groweth amongst the barley & wheat. The nature of Securidaca. Dioscorides writeth that although it be better in taste/ yet it is pleasant unto the stomach/ & that it is put into treacles/ & preservatives. Of other good properties/ he maketh no further mention: Galene writeth beside these properties/ that it openeth the stopping of the inward parts/ and that all the buds and branches do thesame. Out of Aetius. The seed of Axsich is most pleasant to the stomach/ & is most fit for all the inward bowels. In hotter complexions/ the sede of Axwurt ought to be menged with the emplasters/ that are made for the hardness of the milt. Howbeit also in cold complexiones/ and in all other it is very excellent. Of Housleke. depiction of plant Sedum magnum. depiction of plant Sedum foemina. depiction of plant Sedum tertium genus. depiction of plant Sedum minus. SEdum is called also in Latin Semperuiuum/ and in Greek Aeizoon. There are iiij. kinds of semperuiuum: the first kind is called in Latin Sedum magnum/ in Greek Aeizoon mega/ in English Housleke/ and of some Singren/ but it ought better to be called Aygrene/ in Duche it is called Gros hauswurtz/ in French jubarb. The second kind is called in English/ thrift stone crop/ in Latin Sedum minus. The third kind is called of some late writers Vermicularis/ in English Mous tail or little stone crop/ and in Duche Maurpfeffer. The description of the kinds of Semperuiuum. Housleke hath the name of Semperuiuum in Latin/ and of Aeizoon in Greek/ the leaves are green: wherefore me think that Aygrene as I said before/ is a better name for it then Singrene. The first or great kind hath a stalk a cubit high or higher/ as thick as your thumb/ fat/ fair green/ having little cutings in it as Tithimalus characias hath: the leaves are fat/ or thick/ of the bigness of a man's thumb/ at the point like a tongue. The nethermost leaves lie with there bellies upward/ and the points downward: but they that are toward the top/ being drawn together/ resemble a circle with the figure of an eye. It groweth in mountains/ and hilly places/ some use to set it upon their houses. But the less Semperuiuum/ that we call thrift or great stone crop/ groweth in walls/ rocks/ mudwalles/ and shaddowy ditches/ it hath many stalks coming from one root/ small/ full of round leaves/ fat and sharp in the end/ it bringeth forth a stalk in the mids a span long/ which hath a bushy and shaddowy top/ and small green flowers. There seemeth to be a third kind of Aygrene/ some call it Porcellayne/ or Teliphium/ the Romans call it Illicibram/ it hath leaves thicker and rough drawing near unto the leaves of porcelain/ this kind groweth in rocks. The virtues of the kinds of aygrene. THe great kind hath a cooling nature and binding: the leaves by themselves/ and laid to with perched barley meal/ be good for the burning heat of swelled places/ called Erispilata/ or of other saint Antony's fire/ against creeping sores and fretting sores/ against the inflammationes of the eyes/ against burning and hot gouts. It is good to pour upon the head that acheth/ the juice of Housleke with perched barley meal and rose oil/ the same to be given in drink unto them that are bitten of the field spider. It is also given unto them that have a great lax/ or the bloody flux. If it be drunken with wine/ it driveth out of the belly broad worms: if it be served after the manner of a suppository unto women/ as the place inquireth/ it stoppeth the issue of women: the juice also is good for them that are blare eyed/ if it come of blood. The leaves of the second kind/ called stone creep/ hath the same nature that Housleke hath. The third kind called Vermicularis/ hath an hot nature/ and sharp and blistering/ and power to drive away wens/ if it be laid to with swines grese. Of the corn called Spelt. depiction of plant Zeae primum genus. depiction of plant Zeae alterum genus. SEmen is called in Greek Zeia/ in Italian Splelta pirra biada and alga/ in Duche speltz/ it may in English be called spelt: howbeit I never saw it in England. There are two kinds of zoea/ whereof the one is called single/ and the other two corns/ because it hath the seed joined together in two chaffy coverings. The first kind is called in Duche Tinkel. The second kind is called speltz/ and is common about Weissenburg in high Almany/ viij. dutch mile of this side of Strasburg. And there all men use it in the stead of wheat/ for there groweth no wheat at all. Yet I never saw fairer and pleasanter bread in any place in all my life/ then I have eaten there/ made only of this spelt/ the corn is much less than wheat/ and shorter than rye/ but nothing so black. The virtues of Spelt. DIoscorides writeth/ that spelt is good for the stomach/ and that if it be taken in bread/ it nourisheth more than barley/ and less than wheat. If any man desire to know any more of the fashion and properties of spelta/ let him read Galene of the pours of wheats and norishmentes/ and Theophrast in the seventh book of plants/ & there he shall have it/ that he desireth. Of groundsel. depiction of plant Senecio. SEnecio is named in Greek Erigeron/ in English Groundsel or Groundiswil/ in Dutch kreutzwurtz. Grounsel hath a stalk a cubit high/ something read/ little leaves growing together/ indented in the outermost parts/ after the manner of the leaves of rock/ but much less. It hath yellow flowers/ which shortly rive/ and wither into down/ whereupon it hath the name in Greek Erigeron/ because the flowers after the manner of hear wax hoary in the spring of the year. The root is nothing wurth/ it groweth most in mud walls and about cities. The virtues of groundsel. THe leaves and the flowers have a cooling nature/ wherefore if they be bruised/ and laid to with a little wine/ they heal the burning heat or inflammation of the stones/ and of the fundament/ the same thing will they do/ if they be laid on alone: but laid to with the fine powder of Frankincense/ it healeth both the wounds/ and of the sinews/ and other places/ the down also of it/ laid to with vinegar alone/ is good for the same purposes/ but the fresh down if it be drunken/ strangleth the hole stalk sodden with water/ and drunk with maluasey/ healeth the ache of the stomach that riseth of choler. Of wild thyme. depiction of plant Serpillum. BOth Dioscorides and pliny make two kinds of Serpillum/ that is of creeping thyme. But they do not agree in the description of them: for Dioscorides describeth Serpillum thus/ one kind of Serpillum groweth in gardens/ and resembleth Mergerum in smell/ and it is used to be put in garlands: it hath the name of serpendo/ that is of creeping/ because whatsoever part of it toucheth the ground/ it fasteneth roots therein. It hath leaves and branches like Organ/ called of some wild Mergerum/ but whiter: but if it be set about hedges/ it groweth more lustily: the other kind is wild/ and is called zigis. This doth not creep/ but standeth right up/ and it putteth forth small stalks/ after the manner of a vind/ which are full of leaves like unto rue/ but the leaves are narrower/ longer and harder/ the flowers have a biting taste/ the smell of it is very pleasant/ the root is nothing wurth. It groweth more stronger in rocks/ and it is hotter/ then it of the garden/ and is fit for physic. But Pliny writeth thus of Serpillum: Men think that it hath the name of serpendo/ that is of creeping/ which thing it chanseth in the wild/ and specially upon rocks/ the garden serpillum creepeth not/ but groweth unto the height of a span: it is fatter that groweth of his own will/ and hath whiter leaves and boughs/ and it is good against serpents: hitherto Pliny. Now ye see the contrary judgement of these two great learned men/ whereof the one sayeth the gardin serpillum creepeth not/ but groweth right up. It is hard to tell to whether of these a man should stick: the authority of Dioscorides moveth me to stand of his side/ but some experience as I shall declare hereafter/ maketh me rather lean unto Pliny/ for as I have seldom seen any serpillum/ though it had been brought forth of the fields/ and set in the garden/ creep and take routs from the joints of the branches: so I never saw any in the field that grew altogether straight up/ from the ground specially/ if it were of any age/ but did always creep and grow along by the ground: howbeit I grant that even the wild serpillum/ when as it bringeth forth his top and flower/ hath a little stalk above the ground about vj. inches long/ or thereabout: it is possible that Dioscorides looking upon the wild serpillum/ about the time of flouringe/ and not considering it at other times/ did therefore give sentence that the wild serpillum did not creep/ but that it of the garden should creep/ and take routs in the ground at the joints/ it is contrary to my experience/ except he mean of such as is brought from the fields/ and is planted in the gardin/ for although it busheth largely/ and groweth something aside/ yet it fasteneth very seldom any roots in the ground/ whereof the cause may be/ that the gardineres will not let it grow so long/ that it may creep upon the ground/ and so will not suffer it to take root. It is also like it that Pliny calleth the small kind of time/ that is common in our gardens in England/ serpillum hortense/ and if that be his meaning/ then is his opinion very true/ for that never creepeth. And that there are two kinds of time/ and not one alone as some hold/ whereof Pliny may call the one serpillum hortense/ these words of Dioscorides in Epitimo bear witness. Epithymum is the flower of an harder thyme/ and like unto savoury. pliny also maketh two kinds of thyme/ but he divideth them not as Dioscorides doth/ but he divideth the one into the whiter/ and the other into the blacker/ where as Dioscorides divideth this thymes into the harder/ which is greater/ and into the softer and less kind/ wherefore the less and softer kind may be the garden serpillum of Pliny/ & no kind of Plinyes thymes. And these do I say rather by the way of searching for the truth/ then for any determination/ leving the matter to the judgement of the learned and discreet reader. Serpillum that is in gardens/ is called in the most part in England creeping thyme/ and about Charred pulimountayn. It that is abroad in the fields/ is called wild thyme in English/ and in Duche Quendel/ in Nether land/ unser lieuer frawen betstro/ in French du Serpolet/ in Italian serpillo/ in Spanish/ serpolho. The virtues of wild thyme or rinning thyme. RInning thyme drunken/ bringeth down a woman's sickness/ and driveth forth water. It is also good for the gnawing and wring in the belly/ for bursten places and drawn together/ against the inflammationes of the liver/ and against serpent's/ both drunken and also laid to without. The same sodden with vinegar/ and afterward mixed with rose oil/ will suage the head ache/ of the broth be poured upon the head. It is marvelous good/ for the forgetful evil called of some letharge/ and for the phrenesye. The juice of it drunken in the quantity of iiij. drams/ with vinegar/ stoppeth the vomiting of blood. Serpillun is more than hot in the second degree a great deal. I take it to be hot in the third degree. Of Melilote or Italian Melilote. SErta campana or Sertula campana/ is named in Greek Melilotos'/ but how it is called in English/ I can not tell/ for I never saw it in England/ but it may be called right melilote/ or Italian melilote/ some Duche men though it grow no more in Dutch land/ than it doth in England/ call it in Duche/ Welsch steynklee. I have seen two kinds of Melilote/ where of the one came out of Italy/ which I reckon was the true Melilote/ and an other kind which came out of spain/ which Matthiolus maketh his Scorpioides/ with sede in long horns/ throw the which a man might se/ how every seed did lie. Of Melilote out of Dioscorides. THe best Melilote groweth about Athenes/ and in Cisik/ and Chalcedonia/ and it resembleth saffron/ & is well smelling. It groweth also in Campania/ about Nola/ of the colour of a quince/ but of a weyk smell. I find no larger description of melilote in Dioscorides/ wherefore we must gather the description by other means/ than by his description. It doth appear by the name of Melilote/ that it is a kind of Lotus/ and all the kinds of Lotus have three leaves together/ like a clover/ where upon I gather that melilote ought to have leaves like to clover or trifoly. Dioscorides also entreating of Ligustrum or apennine: lovage maketh the leaves of it like unto the leaves of melilote. But the ligusticum hath leaves specially them that are outermost/ three growing together like unto a clover or trifolye/ but longer/ whereby and by the former description/ a man may plainly gather/ that the common herb that is used for melilote/ is not the right melilote. For the right melilote must have long leaves like Ligustik/ which the common melilote hath not/ and also it must resemble saffron/ and have a good smell/ which properties/ because they can not be found in the common melilote/ therefore it can not be the right melilote/ but a kind of wild lotus/ whereof Theophrast maketh many kinds. The virtues of Melilote. MElilote hath a power to bind together/ and to soften every inflammation/ specially about the eyes/ the mother/ the fundament and stones/ with maluasey/ and so laid to/ sometime there must be menged withal/ the yolk of an egg roasted/ or the meal of fenelgreke/ or lintsede/ or flower/ or the heads of poppy/ or succory/ or endive sodden in water/ it healeth new Meliceridas/ that is impostumes/ having within them an humour like honey. It healeth also the rinninge sores of the head/ if it be laid to with the earth of Cio/ and wine/ or with a gall/ both sodden with wine/ and also raw/ laid to with any of the forenamed/ it suageth the ache of the stomach. The raw juice pressed out and poured in with maluasey/ healeth the ache of the ears. It healeth also the head ache if it be menged with vinegar and rose oil/ and sprenckled upon the head. Galene writeth that melilote is of a mixed quality/ and that it is something binding/ and that it digesteth therewith/ and maketh ripe/ and that the substance of it is more hot than cold. Of the herb called Sesamum. SEsamum is not described of Dioscorides/ & therefore many err about the knowledge of it. I will therefore gather as much as I can out of other old autores/ whereby it may here after be searched & better found out and more perfectly known. Theophrast reckoneth milium panicum & sesamam together/ in the viij. book and first chapter/ and in the iij. chapter/ and many other places. Columella where as he speaketh of the sowing of milium and panicum/ immediately maketh mention also of sesame as a thing/ like one to an other. Pliny in diverse places doth the same/ as in the xviij. book and seven. chapter/ and in the xxij. book/ & xxv. chapter/ and Dioscorides by and by after milium and panicum writeth of sesame/ as of a thing like unto them/ whereupon a man may gather that there is great likeness between milium panicum and sesame. Theophrast lib. viij. cap. iij. writeth the sesame hath such a stalk as the ferula hath/ which is hollow/ and like unto a homlok/ and in the v. chapter he sayeth/ that there is one kind of sesame that is white/ he writeth also that no beast will eat sesame when it is green/ because it is so bitter. Pliny also in the xviij. book & seven. chapter writeth/ that sesame hath a stalk like ferula/ and that the sedem of it is kept in little vessels/ and in the x. chapter of the same book he writeth the sesame was fetched out of Jude/ and that the seed of it serveth to make oil of/ and that the chaff of milium panicum and sesame/ is called Apluda. And as touching the leaves/ Pliny sayeth that sesame hath leaves blood read. I think that where as there are two herbs/ that are now taken for sesame/ neither of them have all these properties that Theophrast and Pliny give unto sesame. The first herb which is of long time hath been taken for sesame/ hath sedes in little vessels/ and the sedes are full of oil/ but the leaves and stalk are not like sesame/ neither is the hole herb like unto milium or panicum. This herb is lively set forth in Matthiolus and in Hieronymus Bock. It is called in Dutch/ flackes totter/ the leaves are like a broad arrow head/ if the ends were not crooked and to small/ but they are not read but green/ and the seed is reish yellow. It groweth in Germany commonly amongst flaches/ and men feed birds with the seed of it there/ namely syskennes/ and linnettes/ and gold finches/ and birds of Canaria. But for the causes above rehearsed/ it can not be sesame of the old writers. The other kind of herb/ which is most commonly taken for the right and true sesame/ have I also seen growing as well as the former kind: It hath leaves like basil/ and a yellowish read sede/ all full of oil. It is well set out in the second edition of Matthiolus/ but nether the leaves of it/ neither the stalk/ neither any likeness that it hath with panicum or milium do agre with the marks that Theophrast and Pliny do give unto their sesame/ wherefore I can not see how either of these can be the right sesame of the old writers/ although the seed of them both be very oylishe/ and in many things will serve in the stead of the right sesame. The virtues of Sesame. Sesame which may be called in English oil sede/ is evil for the stomach/ and maketh one's breath stink/ when it sticketh in the teth while it is in eating/ but if it be laid to/ it driveth away the grossness of the sinews/ and it helpeth bruised ears/ inflammationes/ places/ the pains of the joints/ and the biting of the serpent/ called cerastes. With rose oil it suageth the head ache that cometh of heat. The herb sodden in wine/ doth thesame. It is most fit for the inflammaciones and ache of the eyes/ there oil made of it/ which the Egyptianes' use. Of Siler mountain. SEseli massiliense is named of the Apothecary's siler montanum/ it may be called in English siler mountain. Dioscorides describeth it thus: Seseli of Massilia hath leaves like unto fennel/ but grosser and a bigger stalk also/ and a spokye top like unto dill/ wherein is long ●ede covered/ and biting straight way after it is eaten. The rote is long and well smelling. The virtues of Siler mountain. THe root and the seed have an hot pour/ if they be drunken/ they heal the stranguriam/ and the short wind/ they are also good for the frangling of the mother/ and for the falling sickness/ they drive out flowers/ and also the birth/ and they are good for all inward diseases/ and they heal an old cough. The seed drunken with wine/ helpeth digestion/ and taketh away the gnawing of the belly. And it is good for agues/ wherein a man is both hot and cold at one tyme. It is good to be drunken with wine and pepper against the coldness in a journey. It is also given to goats in drink/ and to other beasts also to make them bring forth more easily. Of Hartis wart. SEseli Ethiopicum groweth in diverse parts of high Germanye/ where I have seen it both green and dry/ and some call it hartzwurt/ but I never saw it in England/ wherefore we may call it Hartwurt/ with the Duche men/ until we find a better name for it. It hath leaves like Yuy/ but lesser/ and long of the fashion of Wodbinde leaves. It is a great bushy herb/ or a black bush as my Greek text hath/ for it hath melas/ and not megas/ and it groweth two cubits high/ wherein are branches two spans long/ and a top like dyll/ the sede is black/ thick as wheat/ but more biting and better smelling/ and very pleasant. SEseli Peloponense hath leaves like unto Homlok/ but brother and grosser/ or thicker. It hath a greater stalk than it of Massilia/ of likeness of ferula. And in the overmost part of it/ is a spokye top/ wherein is brother sede/ and thycker/ and well smelling. It groweth in rough places/ in moist places/ a in high places/ and also in Yda/ it hath the same virtue with the other. The figure that Matthiolus setteth out/ for seseli Peloponnense/ in my judgement agreeth not with the description of Dioscorides: for the leaves of his herb/ in the figure/ are not like homloke/ neither in one point nor other. The leaves of it that I saw growing about Weissenburg in high Germany is something like parsley/ wherefore some have taken it for petroselino or apio montano/ the root is very long and great/ and of a strong smell/ but not utterly unpleasant. Of the three kinds of Sideritis. SIderitis which is called of some Heraclea/ is an herb which hath leaves like unto horehound/ but longer drawing near unto the likeness of sage or an oak/ but lesser and rougher: it hath foursquared stalks a span high/ or higher/ not unpleasant in taste/ and after a manner something binding/ & in them are round things like whirls/ certain spaces going between as horehound hath/ and ther in is black seed. It groweth in places something rocky. This herb that Dioscorides describeth here/ groweth in the old walls of Colon/ and also about the fields of Worms/ not far from the harness mills. depiction of plant Sideritis prima. It hath long small indented leaves/ with a good smell. And I suppose that Fuchsius describeth the same herb/ and although Matthiolus doth reprove Fuchsius in taking of this herb for the first kind of Sideritis/ yet he setteth one for the first kind which is much less agreeing with the description of Dioscorides/ then it that Fuchsius setteth forth. For (except I be far beguiled/ as I think I am not) he setteth out for the first kind of Sideritis/ marrubium palustre Traguses/ that is water horehound. That herb groweth always about water sides/ and it hath a stinking smell of garlic/ & it is a cubit high/ and for the most part higher/ wherefore it can not be the first kind of Sideritis/ which groweth in rocky grounds/ and hath a stalk but a span long/ or not much above. This kind is called in Duche Glitkraut/ it may be called in English Yronwurt or Rock sage. The second kind hath branches two cubits high/ but small. It hath many leaves in long footstalkes/ like unto the leaves of a brake/ and in the over part cloven of each side. Out of the highest wings come forth certain outgrowynges/ long and small/ and in the high top of all/ representing a round bowl/ having a rough head/ wherein is sede/ like the seed of a beat/ but rounder and harder. I have seen no herb more agreeing unto this description/ then the herb that groweth in sennes/ called of some Osmunda/ but I am afraid that the top of it and the seed will not suffer it to be Sideritim secundam. Of the third kind of Sideritis. THe third kind groweth in walls and wyneyardes/ and it hath many leaves/ coming from one root like unto the leaves of Coriander/ about little stalks/ being a span high/ smooth/ tender/ and something whitish. It hath read flowers/ in taste bitter and clammy. If herb Robert had had white flowers as it hath read/ it might have well been the third kind of Sideritis. But the other kind that hath the whitish stalks/ after my judgement is the third kind/ which may be called in English Coriandre wound weed. The virtues of the kinds of Sideritis. The leaves of the first kind laid to/ do bind wounds together/ and defend them from inflammation. The leaves of the second kind is also good for wounds. The third kind is also good for bloody and grieve wounds. Of the Carob tre. depiction of plant Siliqua. THe fruit of the tre/ that is called in Greek Keratonia/ is named in Greek Keration/ in Latin Siliqua/ of the later Grecianes Xyloceraton/ in Italian Carobe/ in French Carouge/ in Spanish Farobas/ in Dutch saint johans' brot: but how that it is named in English/ I can not tell/ for I never saw it in England/ yet I have had the tre of it/ growing in my gardin at Colon in Germanye/ and I have seen the fruit in diverse places of Italy/ where as it is called Carobe. Yet although this fruit be not/ neither hath been in England that I have heard of/ for all that all the interpreters that have interpreted the new Testament/ have Englished siliquas cods/ not without a great error. For siliqua although it signify some time a cod or an husk of beans or peasen/ or such other like pulse/ yet it signifieth in the xv. of Luke/ the fruit of a tre/ and not simply a cod or a husk without any addition/ whereof it is a cod/ for it is named in Greek of Luke Keration. The tree is a tall tre/ and it hath leaves in such ordre as the ashen leaves grow in/ but they are much rounder and shorter/ and in deed the branch of the Carob tre is likest unto a bean/ both in fruit and leaves of any tre or pulse that I know. The fruit is like a long flat bean/ in colour read/ in taste when it is ripe and dried/ sweet/ but unpleasant whylse it is green. These things being so/ it were better to English siliquas/ Carob cods/ then cods alone. The tree may be named in English a Carob tre/ and the fruit a Carob/ or the tre may be named a bean tre/ and the fruit a Carob bean. If any man can find any better or fit name/ I shall be well content there with. The virtues of the Carob. Fresh and green Carobes are evil for the stomach/ but they louse the belly: the same dried/ stop the belly/ and become better for the stomach. They provoke also urine/ and specially such as are laid up in the stones of grapes. Out of Galene. The Carob bean engendereth but a naughty juice/ and it is full of wood/ by reason whereof it must needs be hard of digestion/ and this is an evil property that it hath/ that it will not lightly go down. Wherefore it were better that they were no more brought from the East countries/ where as they grow hither into this country. He writeth also: The carob tre called Cerotonia/ is of a binding and drying nature/ as the fruit is/ which is called Ceratium/ and it hath some sweetness in it. The carob hath one thing like unto a chirrye/ for whylse it is green/ it looseth the belly more/ and when it is dried it stoppeth the belly more/ because the moisture is spent away/ and it that is of a gross substance/ doth only remain. Of Mustard. depiction of plant Sinapi primum genus. depiction of plant Sinapi hortense. MVstarde is nether divided into kinds/ neither described of Dioscorides/ because it was so well known in his tyme. And now it is so well known/ that it needeth but a short description/ which is meetly well set forth in Pliny. For he in the nineteen. book and viij. chapter writeth thus of mustard. Mustard is of three kinds/ whereof one kind is very small. The other kind hath leaves like a rape. The third kind hath leaves like rocket. This is the division joined with a short description. There may be made an other division of mustard by the seed/ whereof one kind is white/ and the other blackish brown or reddish. It that hath the white sede/ is much shorter/ then the other kinds that have the brown sede. It that groweth in the gardin/ groweth unto a great height/ and it hath very many and long branches. It that groweth in the corn in somersetshire/ a little from Glassenberrye/ is much shorter than the garden mustard is/ but nothing behind it in biting and sharpness. Mustard is named in Greek/ Napi or sinepi/ or sinapi in English/ French/ and Low duche mostarde/ in high Duche Senffe/ in Latin Sinapi or Sinapis. The virtues of Mustard. THe best mustard is it that is not weathered nor wrincled/ and is read and full grown/ and when it is broken/ it is green within/ and as it were full of juice/ and as it were grey in colour/ for such it is fresh and of a perfect age. The virtue of mustard is to heat/ to make subtle/ and to draw unto it/ and when it is chowed/ to draw down thin phlegm from the head: but the juice of it menged with meed/ if it be gargled with all/ it is good for the diseases of the almonds about the roots of the tongue/ and for long roughness/ and hardness of the wind pipes. If it be broken and put into the nose thrilles/ it maketh a man to sneeze: it is good for them that have the falling sickness/ and it steereth up women that are strangled of the mother. It is also good to be laid upon the heads of them that have the drowsey evil/ or forgetful sickness/ called lethargus/ after that the hear is shaven of. If it be menged with a fig/ and laid upon the place until that it be read/ it is good for the sciatica/ and for the milt/ and to be short for every old ache/ where as by the grief of an other part/ we will remove any thing from the deep/ unto the skin/ it healed also scalled heads/ where as the stalk is read/ and the hear falleth of. If it be laid upon the sore place/ it scoureth also the face/ and taketh away blue marks that come of bruising/ if it be laid to with honey or fat/ or with a cerote maid of wax. If it be laid to with vinegar/ it is good for lepers and wild scabs/ and rynninge scurf. It is good to be drunken for agues which return again by course at a certain time/ so that it be sprinkled or put into the drink after the manner of perched barle meal. It is also good to be mingled with drawing emplasters/ and with such as are prepared against scabs. And thesame broken with figs/ and put into the ears/ it is good for them that are hard of hearing. And it is good for the sounding or noise of the head. The juice of it/ if it be laid to with honey/ is good for the dullness of sight/ and for the roughness of the eybrees. Men use to press out the juice of it/ whylse it is green/ and then to dry it in the sun. Galene sayeth that mustard is hot and dry in the fourth degree. Out of Pliny. PIthagoras did judge that mustard was most principal of all those things/ whose virtue were carried up into the head/ because that there is nothing that percheth more the nose and the brain than it doth. And it setteth forth his power and strength very far abroad. If that to great a sleep vex them that have the forgetful sickness/ it is good to be laid to emplasterwyse/ either upon the head/ or the shins/ with a fig and vinegar. It healeth by making of blisteres by the reason of the burning heat/ any part of the body out of the which evil humores and faults of the body ought to be drawn out/ from the deep unto the skin/ and taketh away old aches of the breast/ loins and hips/ by the foresaid means. In a great hardness it is laid on without a fig/ but if greater burning be looked for/ it is laid on a double cloth/ going between. Of the herb called Zion. THe herb that is named in Greek Zion/ and in Latin Sium/ is supposed to be called of Pliny laver. The same ●s called of some in English/ but falsely/ water cresses/ and of other belragges: but to have some sure and common name/ it is best to call it water parsley/ or salad parsley. It is named in Dutch Brunnen peterlin/ or wasser merk/ in Italian Gorgolestro/ as Matthiolus saith/ and in Spanish Rabacas/ in French Berle. Zion as Dioscorides describeth it/ groweth in the water/ and is a small bushy herb/ growing right up and fat/ it hath broad leaves like unto alexander/ but lesser/ and of a spicy smell. By this description they are confuted/ that hold that brooklen/ called in Dutch Bachpungen/ should be zion/ when as it hath nether leaves like unto Alexander/ neither groweth right up/ but groweth low by the ground sydelinges/ so are they also confuted to take water kresse or burn kresse to be zion/ when as it hath no leaves like unto Alexander. Ether Matthiolus knoweth not the right zion/ or else I know it not. For the Zion that I know/ hath not seed in little cods/ but in the top after the manner of anise/ and the root is not like the roots of water cresses. I am far deceived/ except the figure that Matthiolus setteth out/ be not like the monster that Horace maketh mention of/ which hath a man's head/ set upon a horse neck/ and many diverse feathers upon them/ for I have gone thorough England/ high Germany and low Germany/ and a great deal of Italy/ where as I sought diligently all kinds of herbs/ but I could never find yet any such herb/ as Matthiolus setteth forth for sion/ for his sion hath the very true roots and cods of water cresses/ which never man/ as I think did see in sion. Let men that are learned in the history of herbs judge/ whether I judge right or no. There are two kinds of herbs beside this/ whereof the greater is in all things/ saving the bigness is like unto sion/ the other kind is of a cubit height/ and hath leaves very like parsley in figure/ saving that they are a great deal bigger. I judge that this kind is called of Pliny silans/ which as he sayeth/ nascitur in glareosis & perennibus flwijs, apij similitudine. The virtues of water parsley, called in Latin Sium or Laver. The leaves of water parsley/ whether they be eaten raw/ or sodden/ do break the stone/ and drive it out/ and they also provoke a man to make water/ and they drive out of a womannis body/ both her burdin and her flowers. Galene granteth also that Zion is so much hot/ as it is well smelling/ when it is tasted. Of Persnepes and Skirwartes. depiction of plant Sisarum sativum magnum. depiction of plant Sisarum sativum minus. depiction of plant Sisarum syluestre. BOth Fuchsius & Matthiolus set forth two kinds of Siser/ but as they agree in the second kind/ which is our skirwurt/ so they differ much in the former kind: for where as Fuchsius maketh the former kind of siser/ to be our pershepe/ Matthiolus setteth forth in his figure a kind of carot/ which he sayeth is called in Duche/ gurlin & gergelim/ in French cheruc & gyroles/ but his description afterwards/ agreeth not with the figure of the herb that he painteth for siser/ for he describeth siser thus. Siser habet folia olus. A tre/ etc. Siser hath the leaves of Alexander with a stalk and a shaddowy top like unto the herb/ called pastinaca/ with roots a span long/ having with in it a sine wish pith/ something bitter in taste/ and in colour something of saffron and pleasant unto the mouth. This description agreeth with nether of the figures of Matthiolus that he hath set forth/ and yet he made the description himself. It agreeth not with the first kind/ for it hath not leaves like unto Alexander/ neither any such like leaved herbs/ but it hath leaves like unto a Carot. And it agreeth not with the second figure/ for the roots of the herb/ that is our Skyrwurt/ hath not roots a span long/ for they are not four inches long. Therefore the description that Matthiolus maketh/ agreeth with nether kind of the herbs which he setteth in his pictures. Pliny lib. xx. cap. v. maketh two kinds of Siser/ and sayeth thus: Siser erraticum sativo simile est et effectu. That is Siser the wild is like unto the tame/ and also in working. And in the nineteen. book and fift chapter/ he partly describeth Siser thus: Inest longitudine neruus, qui decoctis extrahitur, amaritudinis tamen magna part relicta: neruus idem & pastinacae maiori, duntaxat aniculae. That is/ there goeth a sinew or a pith a long thorough the Siser/ which after that it is sodden/ it is drawn out/ and yet a great part of the bitterness abideth still/ the greater pastinaca hath the same sinew/ but only after that it is a year old. These be Plinyes words/ whose authority/ if we were bound to give credit to/ then should nether our Pesnepe/ neither any kind of our Carotes' be Siser/ for I have diligently fasted both our persnepe and our carot roots/ but I can find no bitterness at all/ neither in the out part of them/ neither in the pith or sinew/ as Pliny calleth it. I have also tasted the scirwurte root/ and in it I have found very little bitterness/ not withstanding some/ but not so much as Pliny seemeth to require/ and whylse I tasted it/ I found it heter then bitterer/ but I found such properties in it/ that I dare reckon surely/ that this is a kind of siser. But as for our persnepe/ as it can not be siser of pliny/ so know I no cause/ why that it may not be siser in Dioscorides/ saving that the great sweetness may seem to hinder it/ for it that is very sweet/ is not wont to provoke an appetite/ but rather to take it away. The virtues of Siser. THe root of Siser sodden/ is pleasant to the mouth/ and profitable for the stomach. It doth stir a man to make water/ and it engendereth an appetite. Of the herb called Sison. SIson which is called both of pliny and diverse both new and old grecians/ Sinon is no otherwise described of Dioscorides/ but that it hath seed like parsley/ long and hot in taste/ and that it hath as it were little corns in the top. I find no herb in any place that ever I have been in/ so well agreeing unto this short description/ as the herb which some have abused for Amomo/ depiction of plant and is called of some black parsley. It groweth about hedges and laynes with leaves like a persnep/ a prettye long sweet root/ something warm in taste/ and black seed/ which in deed is warm/ but not very hot: wherefore I dare not say/ that the herb is the right sison/ or else I durst have ben bold to have pronounced that it had been the right sison/ but it may be a kind of it. The virtues of Sison. IT is good to be drunken against the diseases of the milt/ for them that can not well make water/ and for women that want their natural sickness. The inhabiters of Syria where as it groweth/ use it for a sauce/ receiving it with a sodden gourd and vinegar. Of the kinds of Sisimbrium. DIoscorides maketh two kinds of sisymbrium/ whereof one groweth on the land/ and the other in the water. The first kind which groweth in the land/ is named of some as Dioscorides writeth/ serpillum syluestre/ and it groweth in land/ that is not ploughed or digged. It is like unto mint of the garden/ but it hath brother leaves and better smelling. Dioscorides in the description of menthe syluestris/ or men thastri/ maketh it to have leaves greater than sisymbrium. Of this description of Dioscorides/ a man may gather that sisymbrium is like unto penny rial/ either both in leaf/ and the manner of creeping/ and growing/ or at the least in creeping/ and that it must have greater leaves than garden mint/ and lesser leaves then the wild mint/ called mentastrium. Matthiolus in his later edition sayeth/ that sisymbrium is called in Duche Bachmuntz/ or wasser muntz/ which can not agree with the description that he writeth thus over his sisymbrium hortense. For how can wasser muntz/ that is water mint/ or bachmuntzes/ that is brook mint/ be garden sisymbrium. How also can sisymbrium be called well hortense/ saying that Dioscorides writeth that it groweth in places unmannered or ploughed/ or untrimmed/ when as gardens are mannered and digged. Therefore I doubt whether Matthiolus knoweth the right sisymbrium or no. I take sisymbrium for a kind of mint/ that is called in English baum mint/ whether it grow in the field/ or be brought into the garden/ it is of a middle bigness between horse mint/ and fine gardin mint. The second kind of sisymbrium is called cardamine also/ in English water cresses/ in Duche brun kressen/ or wasser kressen/ in French cresson. The water cress is a water herb/ and groweth in the same places that fion or water parsley groweth in. It is called cardamine/ because it resembleth cardamum/ that is gardin cresses in taste. It hath leaves first round/ but after they be grown forth/ they are indented like the leaves of rocket. The virtues of both the herbs called Sisimbria. THe seed of the herb called sisymbrium primum in Latin/ and in English baum mint: if it be drunken with wine/ it is good for the dropping out of the water/ and it is good also for the stone/ it stauncheth also the gnawing or wring in the belly/ and the hichcock/ other ways called the yiskinge. The leaves are good to be laid to the temples and forehead/ for the head ache: they are also good for the stinging of wasps and bees. If it be drunken/ it stoppeth perbreaking. This herb is of an hot nature/ even hot and dry in the second degree/ whylse it is green/ hot and dry in the third degree: when it is dried/ and in the same degree is the former sisymbrium. Of the pulls called smilax hortensis, and in English Kidney bean. depiction of plant Smilax hortensis. SMilax of the gardin/ whose fruits are called lobia/ that is cods or husks or shells/ is called sperage. It hath leaves like unto Yuy/ but softer and smaller stalks/ and claspers wounden in bushes/ whereunto they are set/ which increase to that greatness/ that they make arborres and things like tents. It hath a fruit like Fenegreke/ but longer and more notable/ where in are sedes like unto kydnes/ not all of one colour/ but are for a part something reish. The virtues of Kidney beans. THe fruit is sodden with the seed/ and it is eaten after the manner of a wort or eatable herb/ as sperage is eaten/ it maketh a man make water and causeth heavy dreams. Of the sharp Smilax. depiction of plant Smilax aspera. THe sharp smilax hath leaves like unto wodbinde/ and many small branches/ full of pricks/ like unto paliurus or the bramble. It windeth itself about trees/ creeping up and down. It beareth a fruit full of berries/ as a little cluster/ growing out of the top of the small branches/ which is read/ when it is ripe/ and biteth a little in taste. It hath an hard root and thick. It groweth in merrish and in rough grounds. The virtues of the sharp Smilax. THe leaf and fruit of this/ are a preservative or treacle against deadly poysones/ whether they be taken before or after. Some writ that if any man give a little of these broken into powder unto a new borne child/ that he shall never after be hurt with any deadly poison. It is also put in to preservative medicines to help against deadly poisons. Of the smooth Smilax or great arbour wind. The smooth smilax/ which may be called in English Arbour wind/ or great wind/ or with wind/ hath leaves like to ivy/ but softer and smother/ and th'inner/ and long branches/ as the rough smilx/ which are without pricks. This doth also wind itself about trees as the other. It hath a fruit like a Lupine/ black and little. It hath above many white flowers/ and round thorough out all the branches: and there of are made arbores or summer houses. But in Autumn/ the leaves fall of: Thus far Dioscorides. As for the sharp smilax/ I have seen it diverse times/ and I am sure the description of Dioscorides agreeth well with it: hitherto have I found no herb/ wherewith the hole description of smilax levis doth agre. For although the great wind with the great bell flower be in all other parts agreeing with the description of Dioscorides: yet the fruit agreeth not/ for it is not like unto the fruit of Alupine. Aetius also in the healing of a dropsey/ sayeth that the smilax/ which groweth in the hedges by the water side/ bringeth forth cods as the kidney bean doth/ called gardin smilax. But I never saw any kind of wind/ or with wind/ or arbour wind/ have any such cod/ wherefore I must confess/ that I never saw the rygt herb/ which is called smilax levis. The herb that Matthiolus setteth forth in his figure for smilax levis/ hath neither a seed like Lupine/ nor yet cods like unto the pulls/ called smilax hortensis: wherefore it can not be smilax levis in my judgement/ except that there be other kinds of Lupine/ then ever I have seen/ and other kinds of cods or husks of the gardin smilax/ then have comed to my sight. The herb that Matthiolus setteth forth for smilax levis/ is in my judgement the first kind of Volubilis in Mesne/ where of he writeth thus: There is one great kind of wind or wythwinde/ which hath milk in it/ and is called in Latin Funis arborum/ that is the rope of trees/ it hath a white flower like unto a bell. Dioscorides taketh it for a temporat herb/ or else a little hotter/ then temperate/ and to be dry in the second degree. It resolveth/ ripeth/ scoureth/ looseth and openeth the mouth of the vessels of the veins/ and therefore it is given with tragagant/ mastic/ spicknard/ and whey/ it delivereth men from the stopping of the liver and the veins/ that goeth between the liver and the guts/ and therefore it healeth jaundice with the juice of parsley/ and sicorye or whey/ it purgeth gently burnt choler/ and therefore it helpeth rotten agues/ and specially such as are long choleric agues/ it scoureth also away the excrements and outcasts of the breasts and lounges/ and therefore it is good for them that are shortwinded. Of Night shed. Night shed or Petemorell is called in Greek Strichnos/ in Latin Solanum/ in Barbarus latin Solatrun/ in Duche Nacht schad/ in French Morello. Night shed is a bushy herb/ which is used to be eaten/ it is not very great/ it hath many holes like unto Arne holes at the setting on of the branches and the stalk. depiction of plant Solanum somniferum. It hath black leaves and greater than basil/ and brother: it hath a round green berry/ the berry is either black or read/ when it is ripe/ the herb hath a gentle taste without hurt. The virtues of Night shed. THe nature of it is to cool/ wherefore the leaves laid to with perched barley meal/ is good for saint Antony's fire/ that is a colerick inflammation: and it is good against tetters. If the leaves be laid to by themselves/ they are good to heal the inflammation in the corner of the eye/ called Egelopa/ which is disposed to breed a fistula/ and also the head ache: they are also good for an hot or boiling stomach. They drive away the hot impostume behind the ear/ called Parotis/ if they be broken and laid to with salt. The juice is also good for the hot inflammation/ and tetters and such like rinning sores or hot scurf or scabs/ if it be laid to with white lead rose oil and litarge/ and with bread/ it healeth the disease of the eye/ called Egilopa. It is good for children that have that burning in the head/ & for the inflammation of the brain/ & films & skins that go about it. If it be poured with rose oil upon ones head/ it is menged with eye medicines in stead of water or of an egg/ which are laid to against sharp flowings of the eyes. If it be poured in/ it is good for the ache of the ears: if it be laid to with wool/ it stoppeth the issue that women have. Of Alkakinge or winter chirres. depiction of plant Halicacabum vulgar. THere is an other kind of Solanum/ called Halicacabus and Phissalis/ it hath leaves like unto night shade/ but yet brother. When his stalks are fully grown/ they bow to the ground: it hath the fruit in little sede vessels like unto bladders round and read like gold/ and also smouth like a grape or wynberry/ which the garland makers use in making of garlands. The virtues of Alkakinge. It hath the same virtue that gardin nyghtshad hath/ but that it is not to be eaten/ the fruit of it drunken/ healeth the jaundice/ and provoketh water. The juice of both the herbs called Solanum/ is used to be pressed forth/ and when it is dried/ it is set up in the shadow/ and when it is dressed after this manner/ it is good for all these purposes above named. Of the kinds of Sorbus. depiction of plant Sorbum ovatum. DIoscorides maketh mention but of one kind of Sorbus/ Theophrast writeth of two of the male and female/ but Pliny maketh mention of iiij. kinds/ whereof I have seen iij. kinds/ but one kind I confess that I never saw unto my remembrance. The two first kinds which I know/ have leaves so like as can be/ set wing wise as the ash leaves grow/ indented/ but they differ in the fruit. The former of them hath read berries like coral beads/ growing in great clusters/ which the birds eat in the beginning of winter/ the tre groweth in moist woods/ and it is called in Northumlande/ a rowne tre/ or a whicken tre/ in the South parts of England/ a quick beam tre. The second kind hath a fruit of the bigness of a small crab or a wild pear/ a little longer than a crab/ but not full of the fashion of a pear. This tre groweth very plenteously in high Almany/ where as the fruit is called sorbere or sorbepffel/ and spierlin: it may be called in English sorb apple. The third kind which is called of Pliny sorbus forminalis/ hath a leaf much like unto a plain tre leaf. This tre is called in English a service tre/ as though a man would say a sorbus tre. The fruit is almost as small as are haw/ in colour brown/ in taste binding/ as the other two kinds are. And this kind even as the sorb apple is very pleasant to be eaten until it be rotten/ but than it is very pleasant/ but not so pleasant by a great deal as the sorb apple is. The virtues of the three kinds of Sorbus. The sorb apples being yellow in colour before they be full ripe/ if they be cut in pieces/ and dried in the son/ if they be then eaten/ they will stop the belly. Also the powder of them/ after they be beaten or ground/ if it be taken in the stead of perched barley meal/ and taken in/ and the broth of them doth the same. Of the herb called Sparganium. SParganium hath leaves like unto the herb which is called in Latin gladiolus/ and in Greek xiphion/ and that is small after the manner of a small siege or sheregrasse/ called in Latin carex: but the leaves are yet narrower/ then the leaves of it that is called gladiolus/ and more bowing: in the top of the stalk are round knoppes like beads/ where in is sede. This herb groweth most commonly in waters and fens/ the knoppes are full of little tufts. This herb is common in England and in many places of Germany/ but I never heard any Duche nor English name of it: but until we can happen upon a better name/ it may be called bede sedge or knop sedge. The virtues of Sparganium. The root is good to be given with wine against the poison of serpents. Of French or Spanish broom. SPartium is called in Greek spartion/ in English/ spanish broom o● French broom: that spartium is not ginista of the Latins/ I have sufficiently proved before entreating of the broom bush. The description of Spanish broom. SPartium is a bush/ having long twigs without leaves sound/ very tough/ and some bind vyndes with them. It beareth cods like unto phaseles/ where in are sedes like unto lentils. It hath a flower like unto wall gelover/ called of some Hartis ease. This bush groweth in diverse gardines in England/ & in spain/ and Italy depiction of plant Spartium. wild. It groweth in my Lord Cobhammes gardin at Cobham hall/ and also at Shene in the garden. It hath leaves in deed/ but so small that I suppose that Dioscorides took them for no leaves/ because they were so little and few/ that they deserved not the name of leaves/ or else Dioscorides looked upon the branches/ which at that time had no leaves. And that this is like to have been so the affirming of Dioscorides/ that Dictamnus of Candy had no flowers nor sede/ may bring credit unto my gessinge. For it is well known/ that it hath both flowers and sedes/ though Dioscorides never saw them. The virtues of Spanish broom. THe seed and flowers of the Spanish broom are good to be drunken with meed in the quantity of two scruples and an half/ to purge strongly/ but without iepardye upward: but the seed purgeth downward. If the twigs be steeped in water/ and the juice be pressed out/ after they be well bruised/ a ciat of it will heal the diseases of the sciatica & the squynansie or chokes/ if it be drunken fasting/ some use to step them in brine/ and pour them in by a clyster/ to them that have the sciatica/ by this means it driveth forth bloody matter and full of strings or ragged pieces. Of the herb called Spartum or Sparta. depiction of plant Spartum. BEside the bush that is called in French broom/ which is called spartum. There is an herb also called spartum/ and of some writers sparta/ as in this proverb: Spartam nactus es, hanc adorna. for Pliny in the nineteen. book and second chap. maketh mention in these words following of the herb spartum or sparta: Herba & hic sponte nascens, & quae non queat seri, iuncus quod propriè aridi soli: uni terrae dato vitio, nanque id malum telluris est: nec aliud ibi seri aut nasci potest, etc. And a little after/ in sicco praeferunt è cannabi funes, spartum alitur demersum, veluti natalium sitim pensans, etc. And a little after: junco Graecos add funes usos nomini credamus, quo herbam eam appellant, postea palmarum folijs, philuraque manifestum est: & inde translatum à poenis, perque simile veri est. Thus far pliny. Out of these words I gather that the herb that he writeth of/ is a kind of sea bent/ or sea rishe/ whereof the frails are made/ that figs and rasines are carried hither in out of Spain. The same bent or sea rishe have I seen in Northumberland/ beside Ceron Dalavale/ & there they make hats of it. I have also seen it in great plenty in ij. islands of east Freslande/ whereof the one is called the just/ and the other mordenie: there men use this rish only for to make ropes of it (as Pliny writeth) and to cover houses with it. It may be named in English Sea bend/ or sea rishe/ or frail rishe. I have not read in any good author/ that it hath any virtue to heal any disease. Of the herb called Spondilion. depiction of plant Spondilium. SPondilion is named in Greek Sphondilion/ in Dutch Beren klaw or wild Pasteney/ it may be called in English Kow persnepe or middow persnepe. It groweth in moist middowes'/ & about hedges sides/ but not in the hedges. The description of Spondilium out of Dioscorides. SPondilium hath leaves after a manner like unto a plain tre leaves/ drawing very unto the likeness of the leaves of Ponax. The stalk is a cubit long or longer like unto fenels stalk: it hath seed like unto siseli/ double/ brother/ whiter/ & fuller of chaff/ of a strong or grievous smell. It hath a root like a radice/ it groweth in merrish and watery grounds. The virtues of Spondilium. THe seed of cow persnep drunken/ scoureth out phlegmatic matter thorough the belly and guts. It healeth also them that are diseased in the liver/ the jaundice/ them that are short winded/ the falling sickness/ & the strangling of the mother. If a man that is fallen in to deep a sleep/ receive the perfume of it/ it will waken him again. If a man's head be anointed with the oil wherein it is sodden/ it will help them that have the phrenesye/ the drowsey or forgetful evil/ and the head ache. If it be laid to with rue/ it holdeth and stayeth creeping sores and tetters. The root also is good for the disease of the liver/ and for the jaundice. The same shaven/ and put in/ wasteth away the hardness of fistules o● false wounds. The juice of the flemes being green/ is good for mattery ears. This juice may be dried in the son/ and laid up as other juices be. Of certain kinds of thistles. SPina in Latin/ is properly called a thistle/ and in Greek Acantha. Howbeit is called unproperly after a metaphorical manner/ spina is taken for a prick/ because thistles or spin/ are most full of pricks. First that acantha signifieth a thistle/ and not an hawthorn/ or a thorn without any addition/ as the most part of scoolmaysters and translators English it: I am able to prove/ not only by good Greek authors/ but also by the best Latin writers/ that acantha in Greek signifieth a thistle/ it may be proved by the authority of Aristotel in the viij. book of the history of living and sensible substances/ and in the third chapter/ who writeth these words: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. That is to say/ these be spinivora/ that is thistle eaters/ and under the name of the thistle/ he understandeth the seed of a thistle/ as when we say/ a man eateth more wheat than rye/ we mean nether the blade of wheat/ neither the straw nor chaff/ but only the seed of wheat. If acantha aught to be Englished a thorn or an hawthorn/ let us see which birds they be/ that Aristotel calleth acanthophagas/ and as diverse interpreters English them thorn eaters. aristotel sayeth that Linetes and Goldfinches/ and Grene finches/ are acanthophage: who ever saw any of these three kinds of birds eat thorns/ or the fruits of thorns? Therefore I may say unto them/ that English acantham and spinam/ a thorn or an haw/ which is the fruit of a white thorn. Erratis philosophiam & plantarum historiam ignorantes. For beside this place now alleged: Dioscorides in the chapter whereas he entreateth of the tre called Rododendron/ writeth thus: Merion bringeth forth a fruit like an Almond/ as it were a certain horn/ when as it is opened/ it is full of a wolly nature/ like unto the down of thistles. The Greek hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Who heard ever tell/ that any thorn tre/ had any down or any wollye nature/ like unto the down of a thistle? pliny also writing of the herb called Erigeron/ which we call in English groundsel/ saith thus: The head of groundsel is diversely divided with a down/ qualis est spina. What is spina here? an hawthorn or a thystel? when have ye seen the thorn tre have any down? by these places it is plain that acantha in Greek/ and spina in Latin signify a thistle/ and no thorn/ as our scoolmaisters & translators use to English it now a days. Thesame word acantha doth S. Luke use in the para●●e of the sour in the viij. chapped. & all the translators turn acantham spinam/ but the translators of the Latin in to English/ not without a great error/ turn spinam into a thorn/ when as spina betokeneth not a thorn/ but a thistle. For Luke writeth thus: Aliud cecidit super spinas, & simul enatae spinae, suffocaverunt illud. And some fell upon: what? the thorns/ or upon the thistelled seed? and waxed or grew up with it/ and chouked it. Who useth to sow upon thorns/ whether thorns signify thorn trees/ or the seed or fruit of the thorn tre? Who dare say that a thorn tre in one year can grow so high/ that it may be a●●e to choke the corn? Is a thorn able to grow with the corn/ as Luke sayeth/ so high in one year? I trow nay. Therefore let men learn to English acantham or spinam a thistle/ when as there is nothing put to them. Of two other kinds of thystelles. DIoscorides writeth of two herbs/ which have like names/ but for all that/ differ in description/ and in substance/ the one is called in Greek acantha leuke: and the other is called leucacantha. The former called spina alba/ groweth in italy/ and in some places of Germany/ & beside Zion in England. I know no English name for it/ but it may be called in English whit thistle. The other kind called in Greek leucacantha/ & in latin spina alba/ is supposed to be the herb/ named of the common Herbaries Carduus marry/ and in English/ milk thistle or maries thystel. The virtues of these two kinds of thystelles. The white thystel called spina alba/ hath a root good for the spitting of blood for them that are diseased in the stomach and guts. It provoketh water/ and it is good to be laid to emplaster wise for swellings. The broth of it is good to wash the teth with/ for the teth ache. The seed of it drunken/ is good for children that have the cramp/ and for the biting of serpents. Leucacantha or spina alba/ named in English milkthystel/ hath a root good to be chowed in a man's mouth for the teth ache/ the broth of it/ taken in the quantity of three ciates with wine/ is good for long pleuresies/ for them that have the sciatica/ & for parts that are bursten & shrunken together. Of the hawthorn tre. THe hawthorn tre is called in Greek Oxyacantha/ in Latin spina acuta/ in Duche Hagen dorne. Many have judged that Oxyacan than or spina acuta was the berbery tre/ otherwise called a piridge tre. But Matthiolus hath brought good reasons to prove/ that Oxyacantha is our hawthorn/ and not berberies/ and I have nothing to say against his arguments/ saving that Theophrast reckoneth Oxyacanthan amongst the trees/ whose leaves fall not of in winter: our hawthorn leaves do fall of in winter/ then it seemeth that our hawthorn is not oxyacantha in Theophrast. If this were answered to/ then durst I more boldly pronounce that our hawthorn were oxyacantha. It appeareth by it that is written in Columella that our hawthorn tre which hath very white flowers/ & a read fruit/ which swine desire very much to eat/ for he writeth thus: Suibus nemora sunt convenientissima, quae vestiuntur quercu, subere, fago, corylis, pomiferisque syluestribus, ut sunt albae spinae, Graecè siliquae, iuniperus, lotus, prunus & achrades pyri. That is the great woods are fit for swine/ which are anorned with oaks/ cork trees/ beech trees/ and wild trees/ that bring forth fruits with stones in them/ as be spina alba/ that is as I judge white thorns/ Greek carobes/ the juniper/ the wild lote tree/ and the slow tree/ and the wild pear tre. In these words I understand under the name of spin albe/ the hawthorn tre/ which hath a fruit/ as all men know/ very fit for swine. And here is also to be noted/ that there is a wild prunus against some that have holden the contrary/ which prunus is the slow tre or black thorn tre/ or the wild bulls tre. Of the herb called Stachis. depiction of plant Stachys. STachis is a little bush like unto horehounde/ but longer. It hath many leaves rough/ one far from an other/ hard/ hoary/ of a pleasant smell/ and many twigs/ coming forth from one root/ whiter then door hound: it groweth in high hills/ and in rough places. I have seen one kind of this herb/ growing in London in Master Richard's gardin/ but no where else in England. The other kind did my friend master Fanconer show me after that he came out of Italy. This last kind agreeth better with the hardness of the leaf that Dioscorides speaketh of/ but it wanteth the smell that the same Dioscorides requireth in Stachi/ except the age took away the smell from the herb that he showed me. This may be called in English long horehound/ or wild horehound. The virtues of Stachis. Stachis hath a biting and hot nature/ by reason whereof the broth of the leaves drunken/ draw down to women their flowers/ and drive out the seconds. Of Stavis acre. depiction of plant Staphis agria. STaphis agria/ is called in Duche Beis munt oder Lauskraut/ in English/ Stavis acre. I never saw it growing out of Italy/ but only in gardens. Stavis akre hath leaves cloven like unto the wild wind: it hath little straight stalks/ soft and black/ and a flower like wadde/ and a seed in little green cods/ or sede vessels as the cich hath/ in figure thresquared & rough/ in black something dun read/ white within/ and sharp in taste. The virtues of Stavis acre. IF a man give to any body ten or fifteen of the sedes of it in meed/ or honeyed water/ they will bring out gross matter by vomit. They that have drunken them/ must walk after the taking of them: and they must take heed/ that they give oft times meed/ because they bring a man in jeopardy of strangling/ and burn the throat. The herb itself broken/ and laid to with oil/ is good for the lousey evil/ against itching or yuking and scabs. If it be chowed/ it bringeth down much waterish phlegm. If it be sodden with vinegar/ and the teth be washed therewith/ it is good for the teth ach/ and it fasteneth louse goumes. It healeth the hot sores of the mouth with honey. Of the herb called stechados of the apothecary's. depiction of plant Stichas. STechas groweth in the islands of France/ over against Massilia/ which are called Stechades/ whereupon the herb got the name. It is an herb with a small branch/ and hath a bushy top like unto thyme/ but the leaves are longer/ and it is in taste sharp/ and something bitter. There are two kinds of Stechados/ for there is an other kind called Stechas arabica/ beside it that Dioscorides maketh mention of. It of Arabia is less than the other/ and blewer in the flowers of the ear or top. The Stichas of Province or of the islands of France is greater and brouner. I have seen beside these in the mount Apennine an other kind of Stechas/ which is called in Bonony Stechas montana/ it hath small branches all full of little leaves/ amongst the which grow out diverse very long small leaves/ nothing like the other. And because that all the kinds of Lavender are both lyker in fashion and figure/ and also in properties in stechas/ then other unto spike celtik/ or spike of Ind/ I had liefer call them pseudo stichades/ and to bring them under the kinds of stechados/ then to name them spicas germanicas/ or Italicas'/ as Fuchsius and Matthiolus do/ following rather the rude sort who hath given them that name of spikes/ because they have spicas/ that is long spikes or ears. Stichas is named in Greek stechas or stichas/ and the Latins use the same names/ and the apothecary's call it stechados. The stechas that Dioscorides writeth of/ is very plenteous in the town of Poule/ and in diverse places of the West country/ where as it is called Cassidonia or spanish lavandar/ and about London it is called French lavender. The virtues of Cassidonia out of Dioscorides. THe broth of stechados/ as the broth of hyssop/ is profitable and good for the diseases of the breast. It is also good to be menged with treacles & preservatives. It delivereth from stopping. It maketh fine/ scoureth and streyngtheneth all the bowels or inward parts/ and the hole body/ and the hole complexion. They that are disposed to know more of the nature of stechados/ let them read Mesue de simplicibus/ & there they shall find enough. Of Comfrey. DIoscorides maketh two kinds of symphytum/ whereof the former kind is called symphiton petreon/ and hereof I intent not to write/ because it groweth not in England that I know of. The other kind is called symphyton alterum/ in Duche swartzwurtzel/ in English comfrey/ of the common herbaries consolida magna. This hath a stalk two cubits high or higher/ smooth/ thick/ full of corners/ hollow empty as the stalk of sowthistel is/ about the which stalk/ be rough leaves (great spaces going between) narrow/ long/ and drawing near unto the likeness of winter borage. The stalk also hath certain appearings out of thin leaves/ clening about the corners stretched forth from the hollow setting on of every leaf. The flowers are yellow/ the sede is about the stalk as molleu sede is. The hole stalk and leaves have a little sharp horynes/ which when it is touched/ make a man iche or yuke. The roots are without black/ white within/ clammy/ and they are also profitable and much to be used. depiction of plant Symphytum. THE roots are good if they be broken and drunken for them that spit blood/ and are bursten. The same laid to/ be good to glue together fresh wounds. They are also good to be laid to inflammationes/ and specially of the fundament with the leaves of groundsel. Of the Vghe tre. TAxus is called in Greek smilax/ in Duche eibenholtz/ in English Vghe. The Vghe tre is of the bigness of a fire tre/ and hath leaves like unto the same. It groweth in Italy and in Narbone of France/ which is next unto spain. The birds that eat the berries of the Italian Vghe/ are made black: and men that eat the same/ be cast into a flux. The Vghe of Narbone is so full of poison/ that if any sheep nuder it/ or sit under the shadow of it/ be hurt/ & oft times die. Wherefore I have written these words of the Vghe tre/ that men should beware of it. Thus far Dioscorides. Virgil also in his Egloges signifieth that the Vghe tre is full of poison where as he writeth this verse: Sic tua cyrneas fugiant examina taxus. Galene also writeth that the ugh tre is of a poisoned nature. Of the Turpentine tre. TErebinthus is named in Greek Terminthos/ I have not seen the tre in England/ and therefore I have heard no name of it: but less it should be without a name/ I call it Turpentine tre/ because Turpentine cometh out of it. I have seen both the leaves and berries of turpentine/ which grow in Italy/ but I have not seen the tree itself. Because Dioscorides describeth not Terebinthum/ and Theophrast describeth it at large. I will translate unto you the description of the turpentin tre out of Theophrast. Of Turpentine trees one is the male/ & an other is the female. The male is barun/ of the females one bringeth forth fruit by & by read of the bigness of a lentil/ which can not be made ripe/ the other bringeth forth a green one/ & dieth after read/ & maketh it at the last black/ when as it waxeth ripe/ with the grape/ & it is of the bigness of a bean full of rosin/ brimstony. The timber of the turpentine tre is tough/ & the roots are mighty in the ground: & this tre is taken hole to be uncorrupt. It hath a flower like unto the olive tre/ but of a read colour. The leaves are for the most part all about one little stalk/ like unto bay leaves/ growing by pairs together one against an other/ as the sorbapple tre leaves grow/ & it that is in the outermost end of the pairs of leaves/ is odd/ but the leaves are not so cornered/ as the sorb tre is/ and in the going about/ they are more like unto the bay tre leaf/ then the sorb tre leaf. The virtues of the Turpentine tre, and of the Turpentine. The leaves/ the fruit/ & the bark of the turpentine tre/ have a binding pour/ & are good for all things that the mastic tre is good for/ & they are prepared after the same manner/ & are taken after the same manner. Some eat the fruit/ but it is evil for the stomach/ & maketh a man piss well/ & heateth/ & doth very much stir a man to the procreation of children. If it be drunken with wine/ it is good for the biting of the field speder. The rosin or turpentin that cometh out of it/ is brought from Arabia Petrea. It groweth also in jewry/ Cyprus/ in Africa & in Ciclad islands/ which is better than all the rest/ & is clear/ & thorough feeble/ white/ like a glass & bluish grey/ well smelling/ and resembling in smell the turpentine tre. Amongst all rosines/ that rosin called turpentine/ is principal/ mastic deserveth the second place. The rosin of the pine tre followeth mastic in goodness/ after the which follow the rosines of the read fir tre/ & of it that is called strobylus: some take strobilus for a tre/ other as Galene/ take it for the pine apple. But every rosin softeneth/ heateth/ poureth abroad/ scoureth/ & is good in electuaries by itself/ or with honey for coughs. It scoureth also away it that sticketh in the breast. It steereth a man also to make water/ & maketh ripe/ & softeneth the belly/ & it is good for lepres/ with vert gross/ coperus/ & natural salpeter. With honey and oil it is good for matter rinninge out of the ears/ and against the itch of the privy parts. If it be laid to by itself/ it is good for the ache in the side. Of Adder's grass and other of that kinds. depiction of plant Orchis mas angustifolia. depiction of plant Orchis foemina angustifolia. depiction of plant Triorchis mas minor. depiction of plant Orchidis alia species. TEsticulus is called in Greek orchiss/ cynosorchiss: it hath the leaves spread by the ground/ about the stalk and the bottom/ much like unto a soft olive leaf/ but narrower and smoother/ and longer. The stalk is a span long/ wherein are purple flowers/ and a knobby root/ somewhat long/ two growing together/ narrow like an olive berry/ the one above/ and the other beneath/ and the one of them is full/ and the other soft/ and full of wrinkelles. There are divers kinds of orchiss/ which are called in Latin testiculus/ that is a stone. One kind of them hath many spots in the leaf/ and is called adder grass in Northumberland: the other kinds are in other countries called fox stones or hear stones/ & they may after the Greek be called dogstones. Of the virtues of Adder grass. THe root of it/ when it is sodden enough/ is eatable as bulbus is/ they write of this herb/ that if the greater root be eaten of men/ it maketh men children/ and if the root be eaten of women/ it maketh women children. And moreover/ this is also told of it/ that the women of Thessalia give it with goats milk/ to provoke the pleasure of the body/ whylse it is tender/ but they give the dry one/ to hinder and stop the pleasure of the body. And it groweth in stony places and in sandy grounds. There is an other kind which is called Serapias/ as Andrea's saith for the manifold use of the root/ it hath leaves like unto a leek/ long/ but brother and fat/ bowing inward about the setting on of the leaves/ and little stalks a span high/ and flowers something purple: there is a root in under like unto stones. The virtue of the second kind of Testiculus. This laid to/ hath the property of driving away swelling and scouring of sores/ and to stay running tetters. It putteth away fistules/ and if it be laid to/ it suageth places that are inflamed & set afyre. The same dry/ stoppeth eating sores/ and rotten sores/ and it healeth the grievous sores that are in the mouth. It stoppeth also the belly/ if it be drunken with wine. Men give all the properties unto this/ that are given unto the former kinds. Of treacle mustard called Thlaspi. THlaspi is a little herb with straight leaves/ a fingers long/ turned toward the ground/ about the edge jagged/ and something fat. It hath a small stalk/ of the height of two spans/ which hath a few forth growynges: and about the hole/ the fruit is something broad from the top/ wherein is sede like unto cresses/ of the figure of a dish or coyte as it were thirst together/ after the turning of Cornarius & broken of/ whereupon it hath the name. It hath a flower something white/ and it groweth in ways and about hedges/ after the translation of Ruellius/ which is nearer the Greek. Thlaspi is named in Latin thlaspium/ in Duche baurensenff/ it may be named in English treacle mustard/ bowers mustard/ or dish mustard. It groweth much in the corn both in England and in Almany/ depiction of plant Thlaspi. and I have seen it beside Worms growing beside ditches/ and at Frrancfort about the walls of the city/ in England in most plenty about Zion. In London it groweth in master Riches gardin/ and master Morgaines also/ and in master Hambridges gardin in Summersedshyre as I remember. The virtues of treacle mustard. THe seed of it is sharp/ or biting/ and heateth/ and it purgeth choler upward and downward/ if it be drunken in the quantity of two ounces and an half. It is also good to be put in by a clyster/ for the disease of the sciatica. Taken in drink/ it driveth also blood/ and it breaketh inward impostumes/ and bringeth down to women their flowers/ and it is evil for women which are with child. Out of Galene. The Thlaspi that is brought out of Candy/ and groweth there/ is between reddish yellow/ and pale yellow/ in figure round/ so little some time that it is less than the corn of millet. The Thlaspi that cometh out of Cappadocia/ is toward blackness/ and the seed is not fully round/ and it is much greater than the forenamed is/ and upon one side it hath a little thing/ like as it were a brusinge in/ where upon it hath the name. That is reckoned to be the best groweth in saurot/ and it is nether like it that groweth in Candy/ nor it the groweth commonly in other places. These words hath Galene written of Thlaspi. Matthiolus complaineth that the thlaspi in Italy hath no indenting about/ but in England we have no such cause. For it hath little cutings or iaggynge about the edges of the leaves/ and specially of them that are next unto the root. And as touching the seed/ I could never find it in any place as yet flat/ but ever round and read/ and it that is written of the breaking of it/ and of the form of a dish/ after my judgement ought rather to be understanded of the seed vessels/ then of the seed itself. For the seed vessel bring hole/ hath the form of a dish/ and the same a little bruised/ is broken into two parts as into two halff dishes. Let every man follow it that he findeth to be most true/ both by reason and by experience/ in this matter. Of the Linden tre. depiction of plant Tilia. TIlia is named in Greek philyra/ in Duche ein Linden balm/ in English a Lind tre. It groweth very plenteously in Essekes in a park within two mile from Colichester/ in the possession of one master bogs/ it is also very common in high Germany/ & it groweth so far abroad there/ that men set tables above in it/ whereof some are so long that ten men may sit well at one table/ and yet room remaining enough for many other beside the table. The description of tilia out of Theophrast. There is one kind of tilia that is the male/ and an other that is the female. They differ in tember/ & in all the fashion of their bodies/ because that the one of them beareth fruit/ and the other is barren/ the timber of the male is hard and yellow/ fuller of knots and fuller of pricks/ the timber of the female is whiter/ the male hath a thicker bark/ and when it is drawn of/ it is not bowing by reason of the hardness. The bark of the female is more white and more bowing/ and thereof they make cradles. The bark of the female is better smelling/ the male is barren and hath no flowers: the female bringeth forth both fruit and flowers. The flower is covered with a little covering. The fruit is long/ round of the bygnes of a great pease like unto the berry of an ivy/ divided into fine corners as it were sinews/ appearing something forth above the rest/ drawing themselves into a sharp point. The leaves are like ivy in figure/ saving that they are round/ and have a sharper end. The commodities and properties of the Lind tre. The later writers hold that the distelled water of the flowers of the Lind tre/ is good for the growing and gripping of the belly/ and for the bloody flux/ some use the same against the falling sickness. The coals of the Lined tre beaten into powder/ & menged with the powder of the eyes of crevices/ dissolve clotted blood/ and are good for them that are bruised with a fall. The middle or inner bark laid in/ step in water/ hath a slimy moisture/ which is known by experience to be good against all kinds of burning: there is no coal of any tre that serveth better to make gun powder of/ than the coals of the Lined tre. Of the kinds of Tithymales or kinds of Spourges. DIoscorides maketh seven. kinds of Tithymales or Spourges. The first is the male called Chariacias/ of other Comeles/ of other Cobius or Amigdeloides. The stalks of this exceed a cubit in height/ in colour read/ full of biting and white juice. The leaves are about the twigs like unto olive leaves/ but longer and narrower. The root is thick and woddye. In the tops of the stalks there is a thick bushy thing like unto small twigs/ and under them are hollow places like unto basynes/ and there in is sede. It groweth in rough places and in mountains. This kind have I seen in diverse places of England. first in Suffock in my lord Wentfurthis part beside Nettelstede/ afterward in Zion park/ above London/ it may be called wood spourge. The second kind is the female/ and is called myrtites/ and it hath leaves like a myrtle tre/ but greater and sound/ at the point sharp and prickye/ it bringeth forth long branches a span long. It bringeth forth every other year a fruit like a nut that gently biteth the tongue. This groweth also in sharp places. This kind have I never seen growing out of gardens. I know no English name for it/ but it may be called myrtle spourge. depiction of plant Tithymalus Helioscopius. This kind in deed hath leaves like flax/ but they are much brother and longer/ and grow thicker together upon the branches. I know no English name that this hath/ but until we get a better/ it may be called either sea spourge/ or flax spourge. The fourth is called Helioscopius. It hath leaves like unto porcellayne/ but thinner/ and rounder. It bringeth forth from the root iiij. or v. branches/ small/ a span high/ read/ full of much white licore. The top is like unto dill/ and the seed is as it were in little heads/ the overmost bushy top of it/ is turned about/ with the turning of the son: where upon it is called Helioscopius/ that is sonturner. It groweth most commonly in old wastes/ and fallen dounwalles/ and about cities. This kind is called in diverse parts of England Wartwurt: it may also be called son spourge/ or son following spourge. It groweth much in the ground/ where as flax hath grown/ shortly after that it is pulled up. depiction of plant Cyparissias. The fift is called Cyparissias'/ and it hath a stalk a span long or longer/ something reddish/ out of the which grow leaves like unto the pine tre/ but tenderer and smaller/ and to be short/ it is like a young pine tree/ lately sprung up/ where upon it hath the name: this hath also very much white juice. This kind groweth much in the stubble after the corn is carried in/ it is so like Chamepitis/ that if a man take not heed/ he may be easily deceived in taking the one for the other. I have hitherto learned no English name of this herb/ but it may for lack of a better name be called/ pine spourge. The sixth is called Dendroides/ it groweth in rocks/ above it is very large/ and full of bushy leaves full of juice. It hath branches something read/ about the which are leaves like unto a small myrtle. The seed is like the seed of would spourge. I never saw this kind that I remember of. depiction of plant Tithymalus Platyphyllos. The seventh kind is called Platyphyllos'/ and it is like unto mullen/ I remember not that ever I saw this kind. The virtues of the kinds of Spourges. The first hath a juice which hath the nature to purge the belly byneth driving out phlegm and collar/ taken in the quantity of a scruple with vinegar and water. But if it be taken with meed/ it provoketh vomit. It taketh away warts that are like unto pismires/ and hanging warts/ and great thick ones/ like the heads of time and scurfines. If it be laid to/ it is also good for aguayles and tarbuncles and fretting sores and fistels. The seed is gathered in Autumn/ and dried in the son/ and lightly bruised/ clenged/ and it is laid up clean. The seed and the leaves do the same/ that the juice doth/ if they be taken in the measure of an half aceptable. The rote cast into meed in the quantity of a dram/ and drunken/ driveth forth by the belly. The second kind hath like virtue with the former kind/ but that the former kind is stronger in provoking of vomit. The third kind is of like virtue with the former kinds. The fourth is of the same nature with the former/ but not so strong. The fift kind and the sixth kind is like the rest: and the seventh kind killeth fish/ as all the other kinds do. Of Thyme. THyme as Dioscorides sayeth is a little bush full of branches/ compassed round about with narrow leaves/ and in the top it hath little heads with flowers/ resemblinge a purple colour. It groweth most in rocky grounds/ and in lean or bare places. Although Dioscorides maketh here mention but of one kind of thyme/ yet writing of epithymum/ he seemeth to make two kinds of thyme/ where he sayeth that epithymum is the flower of an harder thyme like unto saverey. And Pliny maketh mention of two kinds of thyme/ whereof the one is black/ and the other white. And we see that the thime that cometh from Venice and from Candy/ is of an other kind than it that we have growing in England. Thyme is called in Greek thyme/ in Latin thymus/ in Dutch thymian/ or welsh quendell. The virtues of Thyme. Thyme hath the power to drive forth sleme throw the belly/ if it be taken with vinegar and salt in a drink. The broth of it with honey helpeth them that are shortwinded/ and it bringeth out worms/ and both flowers and the seconds/ and the child also at convenient time received/ it provoketh water also. But if it be menged with honey and licked in/ it maketh good avoiding out of a man's breast. If it be put into an emplaster/ it driveth away new swellings. It looseth in pieces the lumps of bruised blood if it be taken with vinegar. It taketh away hanging warts/ and those that are called thymi/ of the likeness that they have with the tops of thyme. It is good for them that have the sciatica/ laid to with wine and perched barley meal. Thesame taken with meat/ is good for eyes that are dull of sight. And in the time of health/ it is good for a sauce or a seasoner of meat. Thyme is hot in the third degree. Of the herbs called Tribuli. depiction of plant Tribulus aquaticus. depiction of plant Tribulus terrestris. THere are two kinds of herbs that have the name of Tribulus: the one that groweth upon the lan●●/ and the other in the water or upon the water. The first kind is called in Greek Tribolos chersea: this kind as Dioscorides describeth it/ hath leaves like unto porcellayne/ but smaller/ and little branches spread upon the ground/ and in them are very tart (meaning peradventure by tart sharp) also pricks and hard. It groweth beside waters and about old houses and ways. The second kind groweth in waters/ with the top growing above the water/ but it hideth the prick: the leaves are broad/ and they have a long footstalk. The stalk is great in the over part and small beneath. It hath little tenrils like hears growing up in the likeness of ears. The fruit is hard as the other is. The former kind groweth in Italy about Bonony in plenty/ where as I have seen it. And in deed the leaves are more like the leaves of ciches as Theophrast describeth Tribulus/ than unto the leaves of porcelain/ but they have some likeness unto the young leaves of porcelain. Now when as the one sayeth that Tribulus hath leaves like unto porcellayne/ and the other leaves like unto a ciche/ they err very sore/ that either English tribulus/ a thi●tel or a bramble/ saying that nether the leaf of a thistle nor of a bramble/ is like unto the leaf of a ciche or the leaf of porcellayne. And as for the second kind of Tribulus/ neither can it be a bramble nor a thistle/ except there be thistles and brambles/ that grow in and above the water/ which no man hitherto hath seen. If any man would know or ask me/ how I would English in Matthewes gospel this word Tribulus: If men will trust my judgement/ in englishing of this word/ I answer/ I had liefer English tribulus/ a triple/ or a ciche thistle/ then english it either a thistle or a bramble. The water tribulus is called in Duche Wasser nuss: and therefore we may english it a water nut/ or club nut/ because the fruit of it is like a club full of great pikes. But some perchance will say that Theophrast an older autour/ maketh two kinds of ground tribulus/ and therefore it is possible that though a thistle or a bramble have not a leaf like unto ciche/ yet it may be like unto the leaves of a thistle/ and so may tribulus be a thistle. For Theophrast sayeth: Tribuli duo sunt genera, unus folio exit ciceris, alter spinosus constat foliatus, ambo terreni. Lo here Theophrast maketh one kind of tribulus terrestris that hath pricky leaves: therefore tribulus although it can not be a bramble/ yet it may be a thistle. To this I answer/ that Theophrast in the sixth book and fift chapter writeth: Serius germinat qui spinosus est, semen praecoquis sesamae vicinum, serotini rotundum nigricans septum in siliqua. That is tribulus that hath the pricks in the leaves doth spruit or bud out later. The seed of them that are hastily ripe/ is like unto the sede of Sesame/ but the seed of it that waxeth ripe late/ is round/ blackish/ closed up in a cod. If ye will then have the second kind of tribuli terrestris of Theophrast to be a thistle or a bramble/ ye must show some thistle or bramble that hath round seed in a cod/ or else I must think that ye err very much that English tribulum either a thistle or a bramble. The virtues of the two kinds of Tribulus. THey are both binding/ and do cool/ and are good to be made plasters of/ for any kind of inflammation/ with honey they heal the hot sores of the mouth/ the sore kernels about the roots of the tongue/ and all rotting in the mouth/ and the sore goumes. There is also pressed out of them a juice for eye medicines. The green fruit of them drunken/ is good for the stone: a dram of it of the land drunken/ and laid to/ is good for them that are bitten of a viper or adder. It is also good against poisoned drinks/ if it be drunken with wine. The broth of it sprinkled upon the ground/ killeth flees. There is an iron with four pikes called as I remember a callerop that is also named tribulus/ of the likeness that it hath with the fruit of tribulus. This instrument is casten in the way to hinder the enemies that follow flyers very sore/ it is called in Latin Murex. Of English Maidens hear. Trichomanes. depiction of plant depiction of plant TRichomanes groweth in the same places that Adianthum/ or right Lombary maidens hear groweth. It is like unto a fern/ very little in quantity/ and it hath small leaves of each side growing in order: in figure like unto the leaves of a lentil/ one against an other upon small twigs shining tart/ and something blackish. This herb is called of the grecians and Latins both Trichomanes/ and of some grecians also Calliphyllon/ and of other Politrichon/ and of some Cellitrichon: the common herbaries call it capillum veneris/ which name is more agreeing with the right Adiantho. It is called in Dutch Widertod/ and Venus' hare/ in English we call it Maidens hear or English maidens hear. The virtues of Maidens hear. DIoscorides writeth that Trichomanes (that is our English Maidens hear) is supposed to have the same virtue that the Lombary Maidens hear hath/ therefore turn to the herb called Adianthum or lombardy venus hear or maidens hear/ and there ye shall find the virtues of it at large. Pliny writeth that the broth of our maidens hear drunken with wine/ and a little wild Cumin/ healeth the Strangury. The juice stayeth the hear that falleth of/ and if they be fallen of/ it restoreth them again. Of the herb called Trifolium. depiction of plant Trifolium odoratum. depiction of plant Trifolium pratense purpureum. TRifolium is named also triphillon/ oxytriphillon/ menyanthes' and cuition. It is a bushy herb/ and hath small twigs/ black like rushes/ wherein are leaves like unto the lote tre (which I English/ a nettle tre) in every forth budding three. The smell of them when they come first forth/ is like unto rue/ but when as they depiction of plant Trifolium pratense album. depiction of plant Trifolium luteum. are full grown/ they smell of earth piche/ called in Latin bitumen. It bringeth forth a purple flower/ a sede something broad/ and a little rough/ having as it were on the one side a little cop. The root is small long and strong. The first that ever I saw of this kind/ grew in Doctor Gesnerus gardin in Zurich. But afterwards I have seen it oft in mine own gardines/ and of late in master Riches gardin in London. It may be named in English Trifolye gentle/ or smelling clover/ or treacle clover/ or clover gentle/ or piche trifoly. There is a common trifoly or clover that groweth in myddoes/ sometime with a white flower/ and sometimes with a purple/ which is called trifolium pratense in Latin/ whereof Dioscorides maketh mention in his fourth book/ writing de loto syluestri. The virtues of clover gentle. depiction of plant Trifolium V THe seed and the leaves of treacle clover/ drunken in water/ help the pleurefye/ the stopping of water/ the falling sickness/ the dropsey in the beginning/ and the strangling of the mother. They drive down also flowers. Ye may give three drams of the seed and four of the leaf. The leaves also broken and drunken with honeyed vinegar called Oxymel/ help them that are bitten of venomous beasts. Some write that the hole broth of the root bush and leaves/ if it be poured upon the bitten place/ taketh away the pain. Some also give the leaves or three sedes to be drunken in wine in a tertian/ and in a quartan four sedes/ as things which make an end of the returning of the ague. The root is also commonly put into preservatives and treacles. Of horse hoof or bulfoote. TVssilago is named in Greek Bechion/ in English Horse hoof/ or Bullfoote/ in Duche Roßhuff/ huff battich/ in French Pas de cheval. Tussilago hath leaves like ivy/ but greater vj. or seven. from a depiction of plant Tussilago. root in the over parts white/ and green beneath full of corners/ it hath a stalk in the springe a span long/ and a yellow flower. But within a short time/ it loseth both his stalk and his slowre. The root is small and fit to be used/ it groweth about rivers and watery places. The virtues of horse hoof. THe leaves of this herb broken/ and laid to with honey/ heal the hot inflammation/ called saint Antony's fire. The perfume of the same leaves dried taken in by a timmel/ so that a man gasping receive in the smoke/ and draw it in/ it delivereth men from the dry cough/ and from the shortness of wind. They break also impostumes in the breast. The root doth thesame in a perfume. And if it be sodden in meed/ and drunken/ it will cast out dead childer. Of Cattis tail or riede mace. depiction of plant Tipha. TIpha hath a leaf like unto Cyperis/ and a stalk whit/ smooth and plain/ which hath in the top a thick flower set roundaboute with a rough thing/ which is turned into a down/ which some call panniculam in Latin. This groweth in meres/ and standing waters. I have seen it grow most commonly amongst reeds and sedge: it is named in Dutch Kolben or marron kolben/ or or moß kolben/ some call it in English cats tail: it may be also called read mace/ because boys use it in their hands in the stead of a mace. The virtue of cats tail. THe flower of read mace menged with old swines grese well washed healeth burned places with fire or scalded with water. Of the two kinds of the herb called Veratrum and Helleborus. VEratrum is named in Greek Helleboros/ and ther of are two kinds/ the white and the black: the whit hath leaves like unto plantain or wild betes/ but shorter and blacker/ and read in colour/ a stalk a span long/ or as some understand the Greek word xij. inches long/ hollow/ which doth cast of the uttermost bark/ when it beginneth to be dry/ it hath many roots/ small coming out of a little head/ and somewhat long/ like an union/ it groweth in mountains and rough places. The roots must be gathered about harvest. That is best in white hellebore/ that is measurably stretched forth white/ brukle/ thick/ sharp/ rishy/ or putting forth dust/ whylse it is broken/ having a small pith/ and nether burning in taste/ extremely/ neither drawing out spattell or slaver in great plenty together: for such will choke soon. It of Cyrene is the principal/ but it of Galatia and Cappadocia is whiter and full of dust and choketh more. This kind of Helleborus have I seen very oft/ not only in gardens/ but also in the top of the alpes/ where as I never saw one hole/ but always the tops were bitten of/ and as I do remember/ the stalks were much longer than a foot long: wherefore I doubt that palestieon be not well translated here of Cornarius palmi altitudine/ as he doth most commonly use all through in his translation this word palmus for the length of ix. inches long/ except he use here contrary to his common manner palmus for more than a span. This herb is called in Duche Weiss nieß wurtz: the root of it is called in English sneezing powder/ the herb may be called in Englishnese wurte or white Hellebor. The virtue of white Hellebore. sneezing powder purgeth by vomit/ and bringeth forth diverse things. It is also menged with eye medicines/ which may scour away such things which bring darkness unto the apple of the eye. It bringeth down flowers/ it provoketh sneezing: it killeth miese knodden with meal and honey. It is given fasting by itself/ or with sesame sede/ or the broth of sodden barley/ or with meed/ or with pottage/ or with a lentil broth/ or any such like supping. Some do give this with a great deal of broth or much supping/ and some give a little meat immediately before the patiented take it/ if it be to feared that he should be in any ieperdye of strangling/ or if he be weak. They that take it after this manner/ may take it without jeopardy. If a man make a suppository of this/ and put it into his fundament/ it will make him vomit. Of the black Hellebor. VEratrum nigrum is named in Greek Helleborus melas/ & Melampodion. It hath green leaves like the leaves of the plain tre/ but less drawing near unto the leaves of sphondilium/ which I call cow persnep or middow persnep/ & more full of cutings/ & blaker/ & something rough. The stalk is sharp: the flowers are white/ purple in figure of many berries: the seed is like unto Spanish saffron: the roots are small/ black hanging upon a little head like an onyone/ and these are commonly used. It groweth in rough places and high and dry places. The best is it that is fet from such places as is it/ that is fet from anticyra. For the black that is best/ groweth in it. Choose it that is full and thick/ having a little pith/ or heart/ biting and sharp in taste: hitherto Dioscorides. Men have been long of that opinion/ that the herb which is called in English Bearfoot/ and of other Citterwurt/ is Helleborus niger/ whom I have followed until I found that the description of Helleborus niger did not agree with it. Our Bearfoot hath not leaves like unto a plain tre/ but like unto hemp. The stalk also is not so sharp or rough as Dioscorides maketh the stalk of his Helleborus. For these and other causes showed in the chapter of Contiligo/ I consent not unto Matthiolus/ otherways a well learned man/ who against Fuchsius and other learned men/ holdeth that our Bearfoot is Helleborus niger. Dodoneus setteth forth an herb for black Hellebor/ whose leaves agree very well with the description/ but because the stalk is smooth/ and not sharp or rough/ and the seed is like anis sede/ full of wrinkles/ and not like unto Spanish saffron sede: I can not think that it should be the right Helleborus niger. And as for me/ I dare not say that ever I found the right black Hellebor/ but this I dare hold/ that a man for default of it/ may use very well that kind of bear foot that goeth every year into the ground/ whereof groweth great plenty in a park beside Colchester/ and in the west park beside Morpeth a little from the river called Wanspek. The virtues of black Hellebor. IT purgeth the nether part of the belly/ driving forth phlegm/ and choler/ either by itself/ or with scammona/ and with one dram of salt/ or one scruple and an half. It is also sodden with lentils and broths/ which are taken for purgationes. It is good for them that have the falling sickness/ for melancholic persons/ for mad men/ for the gout/ for the palsy. If it be laid to/ it bringeth down woman's sickness. If it be put in/ it scoureth fistulas/ if it be taken out after the third day. It is like wise put into the ears of them that are hard of hearing/ and it is suffered two or three days with frankincense/ it healeth scabs: or if it be laid to with wax or piche/ and cedre oil. If it be laid to by itself or with vinegar/ it healeth frekles/ foul scurffynes and lepers. It suageth the teth ache/ if it be sodden with vinegar/ and the teth be washed there with. It is also menged with torrosives. But if a plaster be made of it with barley meal/ and wine/ it is good for the dropsy. If it be set at the roots of vyndes/ it maketh the vine to purge. The pith ought to be taken out of the black Hellebor/ as well as out of the white. Of Mollen and such like herbs. depiction of plant Verbascum. depiction of plant Verbascum syluestre. THere are two principal kinds of Verbascus/ which is called Gohlomos in Greek. The one is the white/ and the other is the black/ of the white the one is the female/ and the other is the male. The female hath leaves like unto coal/ but rougher and brother/ and whiter: the stalk is a cubit long and somewhat more/ white and hoary. The flowers are whit/ and some what yellow/ it hath a black sede/ a long root/ tart/ and of the bygnes of a finger. It groweth in plain fields/ but the male kind is something long/ it hath white and narrow leaves/ and it hath a smalller stalk: But the black mollen is like unto the white in all points: but it hath brother and blacker leaves. And there is also a wild kind that beareth long twigs like a tre/ and it hath leaves like unto sage/ and high twigs/ and woddishe/ and about them little boughs as door hound hath/ and it hath yellow flowers like unto gold. The white Verbascum is called commonly in English mollen or hickis taper/ and in some places longwurt. The black may be called black mollen. The wild one groweth no where in England/ saving in gardens. I have seen it of late in master Riches gardin. It may be called in English Sage mullen. The virtues of Mullen. THe roots of the two first kinds/ are binding/ wherefore they are good for a lax/ if they be taken in the quantity of the bone/ called in Greek astragalos/ and in English cock all/ with wine. The broth of them/ help places that are bursten/ shrunken together and bruised/ and the old cough. They heal the tuth ache/ if the teth be washed with their broth. The leaves of it that hath golden flowers/ sodden in water/ be good for swellings/ and the inflammation of the eyes/ and for sores that are full of rottenness/ with honey or wine. But with vinegar they heal wounds/ and they are good for them that are bitten of a scorpion. The leaves of the wild are good to be put in an emplaster against the burning of any place. Of vervin. depiction of plant Verbenaca. depiction of plant Sacra herda. There are two kinds of herbs named peristereon in Dioscorides/ the one properly peristereon/ and the other/ Hierobatone properly/ and sometime also peristereon. And Pliny maketh two kinds of Verbena/ or Verbenaca. Matthiolus writeth that there is no difference between these two herbs Peristereon and Hierobatone/ but that the one hath his stalks/ growing right up with few leaves/ one far from an other/ and the other lieth with his stalks upon the ground/ turning a little upward with more leaves. But the text of Dioscorides that Matthiolus taketh in hand to expound/ declareth far other difference/ then Matthiolus speaketh of: for Peristereon as the text of Dioscorides declareth/ is a span long or longer/ and Hierobatone hath branches a cubit long/ and longer. Lo here is great difference between the length of Peristereon and Hierobaton. The leaves of Peristereon are indented and something whitish/ the leaves of Hierobatone are so cut in and indented about the edges/ as the oak leaf is/ and they are in colour grayshe blue. Ye may see also that they differ also in the colour of the leave/ if they differ not also in the deepness of iagging or indenting as I think a man may gather by Dioscorides that they do. For the former hath but a light cutting about/ made mention of/ and the later is declared to have much deeper indenting/ wherefore these herbs differ much more than only in the lying or standing of the herb. And Pliny writing of the two kinds of Verbenaca/ maketh them after the report of writers to be both one kind/ not because they have one likeness in leaves/ stalks and flowers/ but because as he writeth: quoniam utraque eosdem effectus habeat, because they have both thesame virtues/ which saving as it is contrary to it that Dioscorides writeth of the virtues of these two herbs/ so is his description of them contrary unto the description of Dioscorides: for he maketh the first to be a span long & more/ & the second a cubit long/ and sometime longer. The length & the indenting of the leaf of the herb which we commonly call vervin/ & the Dutch eisenkraut/ would move me more to think that our common vervin should be Hierobatono then Peristereon/ if the flowers were not so whitish/ but the colour is a deceivable sign/ for in many places & grounds it changeth/ for all other things the description of Hierobatone in my judgement agreeth better white our Vervin then the description of Peristereon doth/ let other men judge in this matter/ that are universalye seen in all kinds of philosophy/ and in old writers. The virtues of the former kind of vervin called properly Peristereon. THe leaves laid to with rose oil/ a fresh swines greise/ take away the pain in the mother. The herb laid to with vinegar/ stayeth burning heats/ and saint Antony's fire/ and stoppeth rotting/ and joineth together wounds/ and covereth with a skin/ and filleth with flesh old wounds. The virtues of the second kind of vervin properly called Hierobatone. THe leaves of this and the roots drunken with wine/ and also laid to/ be good against creeping beasts/ as serpents & such like. The leaves taken in the quantity of a dram/ with a scruple and an half of Frankincense/ be drunken in x. ounces of old wine/ fasting for the space of xl. days against the jaundice. Thesame laid to/ suage long swellings and inflammationes/ and they scour filthy sores. But the hole herb itself/ sodden with wine/ breaketh up crusts or stalks in the almonds/ and it stoppeth the fretting sores of the mouth/ if it be gargled there with: some say that the broth of it be sprinkled in feasts or banquets/ that the gests or drinkers thereby are made merrier. The third joint/ from the ground with the leaves that grow about it/ is given in a tertian/ and the fourth is so given in a quartan. They call it Hierobatone/ that is an holy herb/ because it is very good for to be hanged upon men/ against inchantementes and to purify or clang with all. Of the Fiche. depiction of plant VIcia is named in Greek Bikion/ in English a Fiche/ or of some a Tare/ in Duche Wicken/ in French la Vesce. The Fiche is so well known that it needeth no description/ all men know that the leaves grow by pairs wyngwyse/ on against an other/ and that the seed is not so round as a white pease is/ but much flatter. It is evil to be eaten of men/ for it stoppeth the belly to much/ and engendereth a gross and melancholic humour in the body of a man/ but it is good for beasts/ as experience hath taught us these many years. pliny writeth that the Fiche fatteth the ground/ and that there are three times of sowing of it. The first time is about the falling ofarcturus/ that it may seed in December. Then is it best sown to make or gather seed of it/ for it will bring forth like well/ after that it is once cut down/ or eaten up to the roots. The second time of sowing is in Ianuarye. The third time is in March/ and that which is so when then/ is most fit to bring forth stalks and branches. It loveth best dryness of all things that are sown: and it refuseth not shaddowy places. The chaff of it is best of all other/ if the seed be gathered when it is ripe. Of wall gelover and stock gelovers. depiction of plant Viola alba. depiction of plant Viola matronalis alba. VIola alba is named in Greek Leucoion/ but although the word betoken a white violet/ yet Dioscorides maketh four kinds of Leucoion/ whereof he maketh but one kind with a white flower/ and that is the first kind. The second kind hath yellow flowers. The third kind hath blue flowers. The fourth kind hath purple flowers. depiction of plant Viola alba Theophrasti. depiction of plant Viola Punice●. It that hath the yellow flower/ which Dioscorides writeth to be meet to be used for physic/ is called of the Arabianes Keiri/ in Duche geel violetten/ in English Wal gelover or hartis ease. The other three kinds are called stock gelovers/ having there names according unto the colour of the flower that they bear. The virtues of the gelovers. THe dry flowers of wall gelover/ sodden to sit in/ are good for the inflammation of the mother/ and to bring down flowers. If they be received in a cerote/ they heal the rinninges in the fundament. They heal with honey the burning sores of the mouth. The seed of it in the weight of two drams/ drunken with wine/ or laid to with honey/ driveth down flowers/ secondes and the birth. The roots laid to with vinegar/ minish the bigness of the milt/ and are good for them that have the gout. Of the Violet. depiction of plant Viola matronalis purpurea. VIola is named in Greek jon melan/ some Latin men name it Violam nigram/ and some call it Violam purpuream. The purple violet as Dioscorides writeth/ hath a leaf less and thinner than the ivy/ but blacker/ and not unlike/ and a little stalk in the mids from the root/ whereon groweth a little flower very well smelling/ of a purple colour. The virtues of the Violettes. VIolettes have a cooling nature. The leaves of Violettes laid to both by themselves/ and also with perched barley meal/ be good for a burning stomach/ the inflammation of the eyes/ and the falling down of the fundament: some writ that it that is purple in the flower/ if it be drunken with water/ is good for the squinancy or choukes'/ and for the falling sickness in children. The virtues of Violettes out of Mesue. THe violet when it is green/ is cold and moist in the first degree/ when it is dried it is both less cold and dry. A green violet stauncheth hot aches after the manner of other that make dull/ and unsensable/ and it quencheth out all inflammationes/ it suageth and softeneth the throple/ and the breast/ and it purgeth out yellow choler/ and putteth out the heat of it. It healeth the head ache that cometh of an hot cause. Violettes make a man to sleep/ and they are good for the disease of the vulva/ the squinancy or choukes and the pleurisy/ and all swellings of the breast/ they heal also marvelously the inflammation of the liver/ and the dry stopping of the same/ and the jaundice or guelsought/ and inflaming agues/ they quench thirst/ but they steer up a rheum that falleth from the head into the nose thrills: the violet is better that is gathered in the morning/ whose virtue nether the heat of the sun hath melted away/ neither the rain hath wasted and driven away. Violettes and violet oil/ are put unto medicines to restrain and make dull the vehemence or great streingth of them. The juice of violettes and the syrup louse the belly by softening of it. The violettes condited with honey/ scour more/ but cool less: but condited with sugar contrariwise. Nether violettes nor their juice can abide long sething/ the vinegar made of violettes/ slaketh wonderfully the burning of hot agues: the broth of violettes is given from iiij. ounces unto viij. the juice is given from one ounce to two: the syrup is given from ij. ounces to iiij. and the conserve is given from one ounce and an half unto three ounces. Thus much may ye give when as ye are disposed to purge with violettes: at other times when ye intent not to purge/ ye may give less than is here before appointed. Of the Missel or mistletoe tre, and lime made of the same out of Dioscorides. THe best missel bird lime/ is fresh resemblinge a leek in colour within/ but something yellow without/ and hath no rough thing/ neither any dirt or things like bran in it. It is made of a certain round fruit that groweth in an oak/ the leaf of the bush/ that beareth it/ is like unto box. It groweth also in apple and crab trees & pear trees and other trees/ and sometime at the roots of sombushes. Out of Theophrast. depiction of plant Viscum. Virgil also declareth thesame in these two verses following. Quale solet syluis brumalis frigore viscum Frond virere nova, quod non sua seminat arbos. By these places rehearsed/ a man may learn to understand this proverb: Turdus ipse sibi malum cacat. The thurse shyteth mischief herself: She shiteth out the miscel berries well prepared in her body/ and layeth them upon the tre/ the berries grow into a bush/ and the bush bringeth forth berries/ and of the berries the fouler maketh bird lime/ where with afterward he taketh the thrush/ and so the thrush hath shitten out her own destruction. I never saw more plenty of right oak miscel/ then Hugh Morgan showed me in London. It was sent to him out of Essex: where as there is more plenty then in any other place of England that I have been in. The virtue of Miscell and miscel bird lime. MIscel bird lime/ hath the power to drive away/ to soften/ to draw/ to make ripe impostumes/ called pinos impostumes behind the ears/ and other impostumes with like quantity of rosin and wax. With Frankincense it softeneth old sores and rebel lives impostumes. It melteth a swelled milt/ if it be sodden and laid to with a get stone or the Asiane stone. Out of Galene. VIscum is made of an aerishe/ waterish hot nature/ and a little earthly substance/ for the sharpness of it/ exceedeth the bitterness. It draweth out humores mightily from the ground/ and it scattereth abroad such as are gross/ and ripeth them. The manner of lime of Missel berries out of Dioscorides. DIoscorides supposeth that no bird lime is made of any miscel/ saving only of it of the oak: but other have proved/ that it may be made also of the miscel of the Fire tre. It is made thus: Bruise first the berries/ and then wash them/ and afterward seth them in water. Some use to make the lime by chowing of the berries in their mouth. Out of pliny. MIssel bird lime is made of the berries which are gathered in the harvest time: for if the rain come upon them/ indeed they grow greater/ but that rotteth away that should become lime. After that they be gathered/ they must be dried/ and then beaten/ & they let them rot xij. days in water. This thing alone getteth goodness by rotting. Then bruise them in a running water with a male/ until the skins of the berries be all gone/ and the lime wax tough. Of the tre called Vitex. VItex is named in Greek agnos or ligos/ some translate agnon into amerinam/ as Theodore/ and our Linaker do. But amerina is a kind of salicis viminalis in Columella/ which is also called salix sabina. The apothecary's call Viticem/ agnum castum. In some place of Germany the apothecary's use privet for agno/ and in England they abuse shamefully tutsam/ for agno. I have seen it growing at the black freres in Ferraria/ and afterward in Peter Cowdenberges gardin in Anwerp. It hath fruit and leaves like unto Hemp/ wherefore it may be called Hemp tre/ or of the virtue that it hath/ chaste tre. Out of Dioscorides. VItex is a bush like a tre. It groweth beside rivers/ rough places/ and valees. It hath long boughs hard to break. The leaves are like olive leaves/ but tenderer. The one kind hath a white flower with a thing resemblinge purple. The other hath a flower only purple. The seed is like pepper: so far Dioscorides. The virtues of Chaste tre. IT hath virtue to heat and to bind. The seed of it drunken/ is good for the biting of venomous beasts/ for them that have the dropsy/ and the swelling of the milt. It increaseth also milk/ and bringeth down flowers. If it be drunken with wine in the quantity of a dram/ it resolveth and wasteth away the seed. It vexeth the head and maketh a man sleep. The broth of the leaves and seed made to sit in/ helpeth the inflammationes and diseases about the mother. If it be drunken with penny rial/ and the seed made after the manner of a perfume/ and also laid to/ steereth up a purgation. If it be laid in/ it easeth also the head ache. It is good to pour it upon the head/ when a man hath a phrenesyc/ or forgetful evil/ being menged with vinegar and oil. The leaves of it made in a perfume/ and strewed under upon the ground/ drive away venomous beasts/ and if they be laid to/ they are good for the bitings of the same. With the leaves of the vine and butter/ they soften the hardness of the stones. The seed also laid to with water/ suageth the pain of the nicks/ or ryvinge of the fundament. But with the leaves it healeth it that is out of joint and wounds. It appeareth also to be good for chansing in a journey/ if a man carry a rod of it in his hand: it is called agnos/ that is chaste/ because women keeping chastity/ in the sacrifices of Ceres/ used to straw this bush upon the ground/ and other places. It is called ligos/ that is a twig/ because the twiges of it are so strong. Galene sayeth that agnos is hot and dry in the third degree: it is of a subtle substance/ sharp in taste/ and also binding. The seed of chaste tre/ both fried and not fried/ stayeth the desire to the pleasure of the body. The leaves and flowers of it/ can do the same: but some believe that the leaves and flowers not only eaten and drunken/ help to keep the chastity/ but also if they be strewed all about where folk trede. Of Brionye. VItis alba is also called in Latin Brionia/ and in Greek ampelos leuke/ and also brionia: it is called in English Briony/ in Duche Hounds kurbs or kurbs wurtzel: it groweth commonly in all countries. Briony hath long branches/ bushy/ young spruytinge/ and leaves like unto the gardin or mannered vine/ but all things rougher: it wrappeth itself about the next bushes/ embracing them with his bushy branches or claspers: it hath a fruit full of berries/ in colour read/ and there with skins have the hear taken of them. depiction of plant Vitis alba. The virtues of Brionye. THe first twigs that come forth like unto Sperage are sodden and eaten/ and they provoke a man to make water/ and also to the stool. The leaves/ the fruit/ and the root have a sharp or biting nature/ wherefore they are good if they be laid to with salt/ for old festering rotten and consuming sores of the legs. The root scoureth the skin/ and taketh away winkles/ with bitter fitch's and the earth of Cio/ and Fenegreke it scoureth away frekels made with the son/ and such like spots/ and black scars. The same root sodden with oil until it be soft/ is good for the same purposes. It taketh also away the blue marks of bruised places/ and it draweth together the aguayles in the fingers. If it be laid to with wine it driveth away inflammationes/ and it breaketh impostumes/ and if it be drunken and laid to/ it bringeth forth bones/ and it is good to be menged with corrosive medicines. The same is good to be drunken in the quantity of a dram every day for the space of a year/ for the falling sickness. It is good for them that are taken/ and for them that are dusye or have a swyminge in the head/ if it be taken after the same manner. But if it be drunken in the quantity of two drams/ it healeth them that are bitten of a viper or adder. It is perilous for women with child: it troubleth sometime the mind a little. And if it be drunken/ it steereth one to make water: if it be laid to the mother it will draw down the seconds: it is good to be given in an electuary to them that are almost strangled/ and them that are shortwinded/ and them that have the cough/ and to them that have ache in the side/ to them that have any place bursten and drawn together. A scruple and an half of the powder of it/ taken with vinegar for the space of thirty. days/ melted away the swelled milt. It is good to lay to the same with a fig for the same things: it is sodden to sit in/ to purge the mother. The juice is gathered out in the springe. This is drunken with meed for the same purposes: it driveth forth so thin phlegm. The fruit is good for lepers and scabs/ whether the places be anointed therewith/ or it be laid to. The juice of the fruit draweth milk to the breast/ if it be taken with frumenty made of sodden wheat. Of the black Brionye. depiction of plant Vitis nigra. THe black Brionye hath leaves like ivy/ but liker to the leaves of Smilax/ but greater/ and so are the stalks. This doth also embrace and cleave about trees with his bushy branches and claspers. The fruit is full of berries/ green at the first/ but it waxeth black when it is ripe. The root is black without/ and of the colour of box within. The virtues of black Brionye. THe first buds of black Brionye provoke water/ drive down flowers/ and make less the milt. It is good for the dusines of the head/ and for them that have the falling sickness/ for the palsy. The root hath like virtue with the white Briones roots/ but it is not so strong. The leaves laid to with wine/ be good for the chafing of beasts necks. The same is also good to lay to membres out of joint. Matthiolus setteth out an herb for black Brionye/ which in my judgement for diverse causes can not be that herb both for the colour of the berry/ when it is ripe/ it is nether black in Italy nor in almany nor in England: and also because that this herb being manifestly cold/ hath not the properties that Dioscorides and Galene and Mesue give unto it/ they grant all that it is of like virtue with the white Brionye/ but that it is not also strong. And Mesue maketh white Briony hot and dry in the third degree/ and he maketh the black Briony manifestly hot/ where he sayeth it is not so hot as the white is. And he sayeth utriusque radix. The root of both is good for the cold diseases of the sinews/ and that it scoureth the brain of rotten phlegm/ and is good for the falling sickness. He writeth that the black Briony is also good for wens: now whether a cold herb/ as I am sure it is that Matthiolus setteth forth/ will heal these diseases above rehearsed or no: I report me unto learned men. And whether the herb be cold or no/ they may know that will taste it about midsummer/ and se what quality it hath in taste. It groweth in the hedges that go about the close/ that is next unto them. Some have taken this herb for Cyclaminus altera/ but they were deceived: for it hath no such root nor virtue as Cyclaminus hath. I saw this true black Briony once in the mount Apennine/ and the servant of Lucas Ginus showed it me there. The root was a dozen times bigger: then the root of it is that Matthiolus setteth out for Vitis nigra. Of the first kind of wild Vindes. DIoscorides maketh mention and writeth in two places of a wild vinde. The former kind is thus described of him. The wild vinde bringeth forth branches as a vine/ woddishe rough with a bark gaping and having crevisses'/ leaves like unto garden night shade/ but brother and longer/ a flower like as mossy hears/ a fruit small clusters/ read when it is ripe: the figure of the seed is round. The virtues of the first kind of wild Find. THe root of this herb heated in wine/ and menged with sea water/ and drunken with two ciates of water/ purgeth waterish humores/ and it is also given to them that have the dropsy/ but the clusters clang the spots that are made by the son/ and all other spots. The little branches that come first forth/ are seasoned & laid up in brine for meat. There is diversity of opiniones between Fuchsius and Matthiolus what herb should be this Vitis syluestris/ Fuchsius would that the rinning bush groweth upon living hedges/ and creepeth upon trees with an hoary fruit/ with a leaf like nyghteshade/ but a little indented about/ should be Vitis syluestris. But Matthiolus setteth out for vite syluestri an herb which is called of the common Herbaries amara dulcis/ and it may be called in English bitterswete. If it had read berries/ then would I have consented unto Fuchsius/ but because it hath none such that ever I could see/ I dare not give full consent with him. The herb that Matthiolus setteth forth for vitis syluestris/ which groweth only about ditches and watersydes/ can not be vitis syluestris/ because nether the description nether the virtues of vitis syluestris agreeth unto it. For his herb hath leaves much longer and much sharper than the common nightshad hath: and besides that/ about the setting on to the stalk of every leaf/ hath on each side a thing growing forth like an ear. I have seen some heads of leaves and borestaves much like unto this leaf. Dioscorides maketh mention of no such leaf/ but of one that is like unto nyghteshade. Theophraste writeth that this wild vine/ is very hot and biting in so much that it is used to pull of hare and such frekels or spots that come by the heat of the sun. Look in the ix. book of the stori of plants or growing things/ and there ye shall find this to be true. Then when as amara dulcis is not hot above the first degree/ as experience can judge: Matthiolus in my judgement erred much more in this matter then Fuchsius did/ whom he went about to confute. The duche men call the herb that Matthiolus setteth forth for viti syluestri je longer ie lieber/ that is the longer the plesanter/ orderer/ because when a man tasteth first of the bark/ it is something bitter/ and the longer ye hold it in your mouth/ the sweeter will it be/ if it had been an hot herb/ the longer that he had holden it in his mouth/ the unplesanter would it have been by the reason of biting of the tongue/ as all herbs that are depilative or burners of/ of hare do. Of the second kind of Vitis syluestris, called wild vine. DIoscorides entreateth of the first vite syluestri in the fourth book & x. chapter: but he entreateth of the second kind in the first chapter of the v. book/ after this manner. There are two kinds of ampelon agrias or labrusce/ the one bringeth never the grape forth to ripeness/ but unto the flower which is called enanthe. The other maketh perfect his grape/ but hath small berries/ black and binding. This second kind have I seen both in Italy & in Germany. The leaves & new twiges with their branches & stalks/ have like pour with the common vind/ saving that thes are more binding. The virtues of the gardin or mannered vine. THe leaves and young twigs if they be laid to/ they suage the head ache/ and the burning or inflammation of the stomach with perched barley meal/ and so do the leaves alone/ because they have the power to cool and to bind. The juice of them also drunken/ is good for the bloody flux/ the spitting of blood/ the disease of the stomach/ and the longing or grieving sickness of women. The young bushy boughs steeped in water and drunken/ will do the same: the dropping of it which is like unto a gum/ and waxeth thick about the body of the vinde: if it be drunken/ driveth out the stone. And if the place be prepared with nitre/ it will heal scuruines/ scabs and lepers. If it be laid upon the scabbed places. If it be continually laid to with oil/ it wasteth away hear. And that thing doth specially the frothy matter/ that cometh forth of the green branch whilse it is in burning. The same is good to kill warts also: but the ashes of the vindes boughs/ and the dross that remaineth after the grapes/ are pressed out: if they be laid to with vinegar/ they suage hard lumps and knoppes about the fundament. It is also good for membres out of joint/ and the biting of a veper or adder/ and for the inflammation of the milt/ if it be laid to with rose oil/ rue and vinegar. The virtues of rasynes out of Dioscorides. RAsines called in Latin vue pass/ and of other passule/ if they be white/ they bind more. The flesh or pulp of them is good to be eaten for the roughenes of the throat/ for the cough/ for the kidneys and the bladder/ they are also good for the bloody flux/ if they be eaten with the stones/ and if they be received in meat after they be menged with the meal of millet and barley and an egg/ and be fryens in a frying pan. The same either by themselves and with pepper/ if they be chowed in the mouth/ draw out thin phlegm out of the head. If they be laid to with powder of coming and bean meal/ as some translate fabam/ they staunch the inflammationes of the stones. If they be laid to with rue without the stones/ they heal read angri night ploukes and sores that have matter in them like honey/ carbuncules/ rottenness about the joints/ and sores called gangrenes. The same are good for the gout. If they be laid to with the juice of panicis. Also if they be laid unto louse nails/ they make them come of the sooner. Of wall penny grass. VMbilicus veneris is named in Greek kotyledon scytalion and cymbalion. It hath a leaf like unto the hole that receiveth the round end of the huckel bone/ which hath the form of a sawser/ round and darkly hollow/ a short stalk in the mids/ wherein groweth sede. It hath a round root like an olive. This herb groweth in wells and divers places of Summerset shire in more plenty/ then ever I saw in any other place all my life. I know no English name for it: but lest it should be without a name/ I call it wall penny grass. To put a difference between it and the shepekyllinge penny grass/ that groweth in merishe and watery grounds. As for the other kind/ I never saw it that I wot of/ except I saw it painted in Matthiolus/ but his second kind is set out with less leaves then the former is/ which agreeth not with the description of Dioscorides/ who maketh the second kind bigger than the former. The virtues of wall penny grass. THe juice of the leaves laid to with wine/ or poured in/ looseth the stopping of the privities. The same laid to/ is good for the inflammationes/ and saint Antony's fire/ for kibed heel's/ and wens/ & burning stomachs. But the leaves taken in meat with the roots/ break the stone/ provoke water/ and they are given with honeyed wine to them that have the dropsy. Of the Elm tre. depiction of plant Vlmus. VLmus is named in Greek Ptelea/ in Duche ein ilm baum/ in English an Elm tre/ it groweth commonly in all countries. Theophraste maketh two kinds of elm/ the elm of the plain and mount elm. The plain elm is more braunchie or full of branches: the mount elm is of greater growth: the leaf is not divided/ lightly jagged about/ longer than a pear tre lief/ rough and not smooth. This tre is notable both in greatness and in leingth. It loveth moist grounds: the timber is yellow/ strong/ full of sinews/ and evil favoured/ for it is all heart. Virgil also maketh the elm an high tre in this verse: Nec gemere aeria cessabit turtur ab ulmo. The virtues of the Elm tre. THe leaves/ the boughs/ and the bark of the elm tre/ have a binding virtue: the leaves are good for the lepre/ laid to with vinegar/ & they bind wounds together/ but the bark is better/ therefore if it be bound to as a swaddling band. But the thicker bark drunken with wine or water in the quantity of an ounce/ driveth out phlegm. If broken bones be sprengled & washed with the broth of the leaves/ or the bark of the root/ they will sooner be covered with an hard crust & grow together. But the juice that is in the knoppes or buds that come first forth if it be laid to/ it maketh the face very clear: the same moisture after that it is dried up/ is resolved into little flies like ganattes. The first green leaves are sodden for kichin or sowell as other eatable herbs be. Of the nettle. depiction of plant Vrtica Romana. depiction of plant Vrtica maior. depiction of plant Vrtica minor. VRtica is named in Greek acadyphe/ and knide: in English a nettle/ in Duche ein nessel/ in French ortye. There are two kinds of nettles: the one is wilder sharper and brother/ and it hath blacker leaves: the seed is like lint sede/ but lesser. This is the kind that is called Vrtica Romana/ and it groweth in England only in gardens: but in Italy/ and in Mentz in germany: it groweth wild as our common nettle doth. The second kind hath small sede/ and is not so sharp as the other is/ and this take I to be our common nettle of England. The virtues of Nettles. THe leaves of both the kinds of nettles/ laid to with salt/ heal the biting of a dog/ sores called gangrenes/ and other cankered sores/ and foul sores/ and parts out of joint/ lumps/ swellings behind the ears/ swelling of kernels like bread/ and impostumes. The same are good to be laid on the milt with wax. The leaves broken and put in with the juice/ stoppeth the gussing out of blood of the nose. If they be bruised/ and put in with myr/ they bring down flowers. The green leaves laid to/ set the mother in her place again/ when it is fallen down. The seed drunken with maluasey/ star a man to the pleasure of the body/ and openeth the mother: the same licked up with honey/ is good for the stopping of the pipes/ for the pleuresy and long sought or inflammation of the lungs. It bringeth out tough phlegm which cleaveth fast in the breast or lungs. The leaves sodden with shell fish/ soften the belly/ louse wind/ and make a man piss. But than it bringeth phlegm best out of the breast/ when it is sodden with a tyfan. The broth of the leaves that are sodden with myrr: if it be drunken/ it will bring down woman's flowers: the juice if a man gargoyle with it/ it is good for the inflammation of the vuula. Of Clotpoll burr. depiction of plant Xanthium. XAnthium is named in dutch betlers leuß or klein kletten/ in French glouteron/ in English clot burr or dich burr/ it groweth in fat grounds and in ditches/ that are dried up: it hath a stalk a cubit long/ fat and full of corners/ and therein many wings or hollow places like armholes. The leaves are like unto a reach cut about the edge/ with a smell like cresses: the fruit is round/ as a big olive/ full of pricks/ as the pills of the plain tre are/ and they will stick upon your clothes/ if ye touch them. The virtues of Diche burr. THe dich burr is good to be laid unto swellings. The broth of the bark of the root drunken/ wasteth away the swelling of the milt/ and the broth of it/ if it be sodden with wine/ fasteneth louse teth/ if the mouth be washed therewith. Of Xyris or Spourgwurt. depiction of plant Xiris. XYris hath leaves like flower de Lice/ but brother and sharp in the top/ and a great stalk of a cubit height/ coming out of the leaves wherein are thresquared cods/ and in them is a purple flower/ and it that is in the mids/ is of a cremesin colour/ and there is seed in the sede vessels/ like the fruit called Faba in Latin/ round/ read and biting: the root is parted with many joints/ and it is long and read in colour. diverse learned men hold that this is the herb/ which is commonly called of the common herbaries spatula fetida/ & surely I know no herb the agreeth so well with the description of Xyris/ as spatula fetida doth. But the root is falsely painted in all the figures that ever I saw set out as yet. For the root is not set out with long joints as I have seen it oft growing/ but so as though it had no joints at all. This herb is called in the isle of Purbek/ Spourgew●rt/ because the juice of it purgeth as the juice of the root of flower-de-luce doth. The virtues. THe root is good for the wounds and breaking of the head/ it draweth forth pricks/ and it draweth forth any flying weapon as darts an● arrows without any pain/ if ye put unto it the third part of floris eris/ and the first part of Centory/ and some honey. If it be laid to with vinegar/ it healeth swellings and inflammationes. It is good to be drunken against bruising and shrinking together of places/ and against the sciatica and the strangury/ and the flux/ if the root be bruised with malvesey. The seed is most mighty to make a man piss/ if it be drunken in the quantity of a scruple and an half with wine. The same drunken with wine/ melteth away the great milt. FINIS. Thanks to God for all his gifts. AMEN. THE FAULTS AND ERRORES CONTAINED IN this book, needful to be corrected. The first figure betokeneth the leaf: the second, the side: the third, the line. 1 leaf 2 side 36 line, for hat read heart. 2 leaf 1 side 1 line, for seemeth read seemeth. line 37 for pavos rede panos. 2 side 7 line, read for stables scabs. in the same side, read Northern men, rank and herbishe. 3 leaf 2 side read bonefyres: line 16 read with meed: line the 20 red hellebor. 4 leaf 1 side 9 line, read boles for bells: read in the same side for bar acerues, bear acorns, and thyme and salt Indian: on the second side read for heun dream, heavy dreams. 5 leaf and in all other places, wheresoever thou seest wheter, read whether: fift line red for kidnens kidneys: line three and thirty red for bonkero boukeros. 6 leaf first side line 20 for rothe read root: second side 4 line, for clip read chipp. 13. red liver, and for iunce read juice: 25 read for art and 40 for cyrop read rerote. 7 leaf first side 9 line read lumps: 17 read bush: 26 for would doubted, read would have doubted. 9 leaf, first side, 23 line, read erred: 2 side read sives. 10 leaf first side, 23 line, read cherephyllon: second side, 21 line, read ye for jow. 11 leaf 1 side 5 line, read for banes leaves. lin. 8, read for new now: 2 side, lin. 36 read eugalacton for engalacton. 13 2 29 for men's read wymen. 15 1 43 read chelidonion for chelidion. 16 1 18 darnel for darnel: 2 10. read seethe for set. 18 2 31 read for like, is like. 19 1 14 read driveth for druleth: 2 side, line 34 read aquietatem for aequitatem. 20 1 39 read describing it▪ second side and the second line, read yet grow. 23 1 28 is in Slavonia: second side lin. 4 read choler for colour. 32. read one is, for only is. 24 2 1 grecians. lin. 7. Methridates. lin. 13. red pulled for palled. 25 1 2 read arkeuthiss. lin. 30. read feed for sede. 26 1 33 red calleth forth or bringeth forth. 28 1 16 read bowl for boli. second side, line 24 read hurt of it by: read to be hurt by. 29 1 22 read deal for olial. lin. 43. is that which is called. li. 45. read for them, to them. 33 1 44 read sea water. 34 leaf read for gnorinion gnorimon. 36 2 read for older elder, for herb bush, in the last line saving one. 37 2 28 read in Macedonia, and yet it doth not follow. 38 2 8 read laid up. 10. for cis read is. 13. red cut. 39 1 26 red for hardly hardly. 40 1 3 read oil is a good remedy. 12. read milium solis. second side, the third line, read lest: line 16. read Fuchsiusses. 32. read for 41 2 30 read said for laid. 42 side, lin. 43 red lotus for potus. 43 1 34 read jags. second side, lin. 8. to the bursting out of wheels. 45 1 line the last gnawing. 46 1 20 red eye medicines, and such as suage ache. 21. read press. 2 line 29. read two for to. 30. read drousey. 47 1 1 wax. 11. raw. 35. have 1. 36. ad to check and coutrole, for to old. 45. read heat for hea. second side. lin. 7. scrab tree. 48 leaf 1 side lin. 39 into Verinice. 49 1 39 read draw 25 balaustium. 50 1 35 grieving. 37. read mouths for mottes. 51 1 38 read wrinkles 52 1 44 read wedede. 2. side 15. rake it. 42. fifty foot for five foot. 54 1 4 smotheth. 2 side, 9 crudded 19 whayishe. 55 1 6 put out grews and read, because it hath a more grievous savour. 22. was for is. 56 2 18 cunningest: 19 although 37 rootegatherers. 45 tuft. 57 1 27 mother: 28 rootecremers or root peddlers. 59 1 26 savin. 29. ling. 39 elder. 60 1 26 had 61 1 30 read fens 63 2 32 read I need not 64 1 4 cakes. 2 side 33 read biles for bites. 33 oleander. 66 1 7 club. 13 wasteth. 2 side 2 drieth up. 67 1 2 eleia 2 17 of Alexander. 21 read trial of my masters judged. 68 1 14 read apinum & not opium: 28 hotter: 43 eat: 48 other: 2 side 21 whether 69 1 2 further: 9 indented: 28 iij. kinds: 45. widd for will: 47 the less. 2 7 acetable. 70 2 ornithogalo. 71 2 16 for drives, read dryness. 35. fast: 43 drew. 72 1 1 root for rotten: 2 15. but 36 straw. 37 far: 44 lock. 73 2 put out Oxyacantha in the figure, for it is not Oxyacantha. 74 1 31 read eat and not rat. 2 grape: 3 have also. 76 1 39 covered: 2 1 millet. 77 1 18 mullayn. 2 14 broth. 78 2 22 feverfew. 79 2 whether: 8 a purgation. 82 2 Dunghylles. 83 2 3 burr: 41 plentuus: 84 2 22 night mare. 86 1 11 capones tail: 16. elaphobosco. 87 1 32 whether peuce: 2 1 for peukis read abies. 88 1 22 flies. 2 15 where: 27 trees: 31 picea: 32 resinam. 36 pities is pinus. 89 2 1 plucked. 90 2 9 self. 92 2 32 confute: 44 fox, not for: 46 pulegium. 93 2 41 spourge. 94 2 27 night blains. 95 1 12 earthly. 33 none: 2 34 world. 96 1 33 grew. 97 1 10 weg tret not wegbret. 98 1 2 rough. 2 10 to sound. 44 husbandmen, not hussbaumen. 100 1 33 composition. 2 22 step, not stop. 101 1 46. 2 2 siue. 11 capitata. 12 sives. 13 siue. 31 set them. 33 sectiva. 36 sivet. 102 1 28 extremity 103 5 perched. 2 10 these. 25 called. 104 1 3 hath. 35. tysardes. 2 but binding. 106 1 40 bigness. 43 merrish. 107 1 38 draweth. 109 2 1 read bringing, and not bring. 24 red an hole, and not no hole. 110 2 18 read gapped not grapped. 4 read cummed not crommed. 111 2 2 read stauncheth, and not, and stauncheth. 34 for give read giving. 37 read they. 39 red it is in the second side, put out the false latin, and set radix cleonia, radix Syriaca and Armoracia. 112 1 22 read twenty. 2 9 read scour, not stour 113 1 40 red whit flaw. 46 kingcup. 114 1 6 Kingcup. 2 12. sort 16 shaddoish. 28 rough. 31 pismyres. 115 1 28 also sumache. 2 1 put out the figure, for it is false. 26 agnayles. 116 1 34 phlegm. 2 17 roses. 37 sprinkled. 117 10 for leaves read redness. 13 whiles. 22 inbinding. 23 that doth. 27 curled. 43 helpers. 119 1 2 read or for aut. 119 there are also that hold stiffly. 120 1 7 the hill ida. 14 could not understand. 121 1 23 caulo. 41 arone. 2 29 acetosa. 40 butchers. 122 2 5 gesen. 7 Zurich. 123 1 26 pismyres. 2 31 breedeth. 124 1 26 Cinnamon. 2 1 act. 4 act. 125 1 29 suet. 126 2 2 sauge. 8. warn. 127 2 13 read is thus, for it thus. 129 125 red years for year. 23 read lyker for like, and called of Pline Sicale for called Sicale. 130 1 22 read groweth for greweth. 132 1 2 read same for lame. 16 red candy for candis. 25 red axfiche for axsiche. 2 read Sedi tertium genus for Sedum tertium genus. 133 1 2 read iij. for iiij. 4 read rather for better. 10 read in Greek because the leaves are green, for in Greek the leaves are green. 134 1 4 read meats for wheats. 135 1 42 read his for this. 2 32 read ligusticum for ligustrum. 136 1 6 read fenugreek, for fenelgreke, 137 1 21 read of the listens for of likeness. 138 1 2 read fens for sennes, and put out te figure that is falsely set for siliqua. 139 2 19 read scalle for stalk. 140 1 36 read silaus for silans. 2 red olus atri for olus a tre. 141 1 12 read anniculae for aniculae. 23 read hotter for heter. 145 2 4 red torminalis for forminalis. 7 red haws for haw. 8 red is not pleasant for is very pleasant 146 2 20 red Nordenie for Mordenie. 147 2 37 red nerion for merion. 44 spinae for spina. 148 1 33 read pipridge for piridg. 41 read to eat is spina alba Columelli. 149 1 1 read Rychis gardin for Richard's gardin. 150 2 13 read Sleep for snepe. 151 1 28 read spider for speder. 31 read seable for feeble. 153 2 3 read Colchester for Colichester. 9 read timber for tember. 154 1 3 park for part. 155 2 9 read acetable for acceptable. 30 read phlegm for sl●m. 157 1 13 read callitrichon for cellitrichon. 160 1 41 read more for more. 161 1 2 read phlomos for Gohlomos. 162 1 12 read leaf for leave, 26 hierobatone for hierobatono. 32 and for an. 21. scales for stalks. 165 1 9 read to herself for herself. 22 read panos for pinos. read the manner of making of lime, for the manner of lime. 21 read then for they. 23 read make for male. 166 1 22 chafing for chansing. 27 read wrinkles for winkels. 167 2 30 read sheen for them. 168 1 9 read the rinning bush that groweth, for the rinning bush groweth. 13 read if it had read berries that Fuchsius setteth forth, then would I, for if it had red berries, than would I 21 red sum heads of lance staves, for sum heads of leaves. 38 red ampelou for ampilon. 43. read more for more. 2. 35 read panacis for panicis. 170 1 1 read acaliphe for acadiphe. 4. read less for lesser. In the chapter of Ruscus put out the figure, for it is nothing agreeing with Ruscus. The third part of Vuilliam Turner's Herbal/ wherein are contained the herbs/ trees/ roots and fruits/ whereof is no mention made of Dioscorides/ Salene/ pliny/ and other old Authores. God save the Queen. printer's or publisher's device HONY SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE Imprinted at colen by Arnold Birckman/ In the year of our Lord M.D.LXVIII. Cum Gratia & Privilegio Reg. Mayest. To the right worshipful Fellowship and Company of Surgiones of the city of London chiefly/ and to all other that practise Surgery within England/ William Turner sendeth greeting in Christ jesus. AFter that I had set forth two parts of my Herbal/ containing those plants and herbs whereof the old writers have written and made mention/ because that I knew both by mine own experience/ and by other men's writing/ that the herbs found after the old writers time/ if they were known with their virtues/ should be very necessary for the healing of many diseases/ grievous sicknesses/ wounds/ sores/ brusinge/ and breaking as well inward as outward. I thought I should do no small benefit unto my country/ if I wrote of those plants. Whereof I have gathered as many as I know/ or at the least as many as came to my remembrance/ leving the rest that I have not entreated of/ to be entreated of other that have more leisure than I have. For surely being so much vexed with sickness/ and occupied with preaching/ and the study of divinity and exercise of discipline/ I have had but small leisure to write herbals. This small book I give and dedicate unto you/ not only because this part for the bigness that it hath/ entreateth most largely and plenteously of simples that belong unto Surgery/ but also because being amongst you in London all that I was acquainted withal/ and namely Master Wright/ late Surgeon to the queens highness/ so willing and desirous to learn and know such herbs as were not thoroughly known in England at that tyme. If ye take this my poor present in good worth/ I think that I have bestowed my labours well/ and if I can perceive this/ it may be an occasion/ that if God send me health/ leisure and longer life/ that I take some more pains for your profit in some other matter. The Lord keep you. At Welles 1564. The 24. day of june. Of the degrees of herbs and other things/ and what a degree is. A Degree is as little understanded as it is greatly occupied in all men's mouths. A degree is in Latin gradus/ and it cometh of gradior to go/ & is named in Greek apostasis/ that is a standing or going away from. The cause of the name is this: There are certain herbs that are temperate that is of a mere quality or property between hot and cold/ & are neither notably hot nor cold. And if any herb depart from the temperate herbs toward heat/ and is sensible felt a little hot/ it is called hot in the first degree/ and if it be a little hotter/ it is called hot in the second degree/ as though it had made two steps or departings from temperate. If an herb be very hot/ it may be called hot in the third degree/ If it be so hot as it can be/ then it is called hot in the fourth degree/ and so ye may understand the degrees of cold/ moist and dry herbs. ☞ Herbs and other things that are temperate/ that is neither notably hot nor cold. maidens heir of italy called Adianthum. maidens heir of England called Trichomanes. Sperage called in Latin Asparagus. The shell or bark of pome Citron/ called in Latin cortex citri. The juice of liquors called in latin succus glycirrhice. Lentilles called in latin lens. Sebesten call mixa. The moss of trees called in latin Muscus/ in barbarous latin usnea. Sweet oil. Melilote called Lotus syluestris. The kernels of the Pineaple nut. Brushe cheris called Zizipha. ☞ Herbs and other things that are hot in the first degree. They that are hot in the first degree/ increase the natural heat which cometh after the digestion and other natural workings if they be taken in. And such are these that follow: wormwood Roman called Absinthium Romanum or Ponticum. Agaricke/ Aloe/ Marchemalowe called in Latin Althaea or Hibiscus/ Sweet almonds/ Grene Dill/ Bete called in Latin Beta/ Cole called in Latin Brassica/ and of some Caulis/ Borage called in Latin Buglossum/ and our common bugloss is of the same nature/ Chamomyle/ Chesnuttes called nuces castanee/ Dodder called in Latin Cassuta/ and Cuscuta of others/ acrimony called Eupatorium Grecorum/ The gum of the bush called Leidus/ Flax sede or Lintsede/ Greymyll sede or Gromel sede/ called Lithospermum/ that is stone sede/ Grene walnuttes/ Rice called in Latin Oriza/ The water of the flowers of Asp/ Sugar called Saccharum/ Whey called Serum lactis/ authore Fuchsio/ Ripe grapes/ New wine. ☞ Herbs and other things hot in the second degree. They that are hot in the second degree/ are partakers of a fiery heat/ therefore have power to make subtle or fine/ and to open the stopping of the poors and other ways. And such are these that follow: Ambar of grece/ Bitter almonds/ dry dill/ Percelye called in Latin Apium/ Mugwurte called in Latin Artemisia/ The right natural Balm/ Capers/ Camphor/ Ground pine called of the Apothecaries Chamepitis/ Saffron called in Latin Crocus/ Fenegreke called in Latin Fenum grecum/ Figs/ Mastiche/ Horehound called in Latin Marrubium/ honey/ balm called Melissophillon/ of others Melissa/ Dried walnuttes/ Nutmegs/ Basil/ Harestrange/ Fistick nuts called Pistacium in latin/ dry pitch/ Poly called in Latin polium/ A rape otherwise called Turnepe/ A Sea union called in Latin Scylla/ of the Apothecaries Squilla/ The rote of Archichoke or great Thistel/ Salt/ Frankincense/ Wine not very old/ but not new/ Setwall of Ind/ and not it of the gardin. ☞ Of the herbs and other medicines that are hot in the third degree. Those medicines that are hot in the third degree/ if they be taken in/ they cut in pieces/ they draw/ they heat very much and make a man thirsty. And of this sort are these that follow: Sothernwode called Abrotanum/ The rote of Calamus odoratus/ The roots of Galingale/ Margerum/ Agnus castus of Italy/ not Tutsan/ Asarabacca or Fold foot called in Latin Asarum/ Aron or Cokowspinte/ dittany of Candye/ Charowayes/ Germander/ Spanish saffron Auctore Fuchsio/ Nesing powder and Berefote/ Dodder that groweth upon time called Epithimum/ Fenel or Fenkel/ Cloves/ Flower deluce roots and Aris powder/ juniper berries and the wode/ Enula campane/ Hissope/ Mint/ Horsemint or wild mint/ Musk/ Nigella Romana or git or black cummin/ All kinds of Organ or wild Margerum/ Pepper/ Penyrial/ Raddishe/ Garden rue/ savin/ Baume mint/ Old wine. ☞ Of herbs and other medicines that are hot in the fourth degree. Medicines that are hot in the fourth degree/ raise up bladders/ burn and pull of the skin and frete inward. And of this sort be these that follow: Garleke/ Vnyones/ The gum called Euphorbium/ English dittany/ Garden cresses/ Lekes/ Pilletorie of Spain/ Rew of the mountains or wild rue/ Mustard/ All kind of Spourge and of that kind that give milk/ Celendine. ☞ Of herbs and other medicines that are cold in the first degree that is but a little cold. These herbs coal the natural heat and after some manner hinder digestion/ As are these that follow: Areche called in Latin Atriplex/ Sour grape's/ The inmeate of Citrons/ The flesh of the Quince/ grass/ barley/ Malowes/ mile called in Duche Hearse/ in Latin Milium/ Plums/ Roses/ violets. ☞ Of them that are cold in the second degree. They that are cold in the second degree/ make thick or gross/ & euide●lye make dull or minish the natural heat: As are these that follow/ The gourd/ Cucumbers/ Galls/ Endive and Suckorye/ Duckis meat that groweth upon standing waters and poudes called Lens Palustris/ tamarinds/ Pepones/ Melones/ Citrulles/ peaches/ plantain/ Knotgrass or swines grass/ Flewurte called Psillium/ Sumach/ Petymorrell of the garden. ☞ Of those things that are cold in the third degree. They that are cold in the third degree/ stop and shyte up the inward ways and passages and the pores. They make dull all the wits or senses: And of this sort be Henbayne/ Mandrake/ Water rose or water lily called in Latin Nimphea/ Porcelayne/ Houselyke. ☞ Of medicines that are cold in the fourth degree. Medicines that are cold in the fourth degree/ freeze together or congeal/ put out or quench the natural heat/ and kill men if they take them in in any great quantity: As are these that follow/ Cicuta/ The juice of black poppy called Opium/ Black poppy. ☞ Of herbs and other things that are moist in the first degree. They that are moist in the first degree/ suage and make slipperye/ of which sort be Borage and bugloss/ The inward meat of the Citron/ Parietorie/ Malowes/ Rapes or Turnepes/ Sugar/ Hares cods or noble Satyrion. ☞ Of them that are moist in the second degree. They that are moist in the second degree/ lose and make the strength of the inward parts more feeble/ Of this order are Areche/ Gourds/ Lettuce/ Duckis meat that swimmeth above the water/ Melowes/ Pepones/ peaches/ Porcelayne/ Damask prumes/ violets/ Ripe grapes. ☞ Of medicines that are dry in the first degree. They that are dry in the first degree/ make the body stronger/ & a man's wits or senses lustier and fresher: Of this sort are Cole/ Betis/ Chestnuttes/ camomile/ Saffron/ Fenel/ The Myrtel tre/ Sumache. ☞ Of them that are dry in the second degree. They that are dry in the second degree/ do sensibly bind or draw together/ they stop the passage of humores/ Of this sort be Dill/ Mugwurte/ The flower of Pomgarnettes/ shepherds purse called Bursa pastoris/ Capers/ Dodder/ Quinces/ lentils/ Mastiche/ Mint/ Wild mint or Horse mint/ mile or Hearse/ Nutmegs/ Rice/ dry pitch/ Fistick nuts/ plantain or Waybrede/ Pears and namely choke pears/ rosemary/ Spica nardi. ☞ Of them that do dry in third degree. Wormwode/ Vinegar/ Common calamus/ Aloe/ Amse/ Dill/ Percelie/ Asatabacca or Foldfote/ Charaway/ Germander/ Ground pine/ Gornmint or Calamint/ Cinnamon the right/ Cummin/ Dodder that groweth upon Time/ Gall●s/ Cloves/ Hissope/ juniper/ Mace/ Horehound/ Moss/ Waterroses'/ Wild Margerum or Orgayne/ Cinkefolie/ Pepper/ Herb poly/ Sumach/ Margerum gentle/ The gum or juice called Deacones' blood/ in Latin Sanguis draconis/ Sauine/ Salt/ Baume mint. ☞ Of them that do dry in the fourth degree. Garleke/ Garden cresses/ Wild rue/ Mustard/ Celendine. ☞ Of medicines that are hot and moist in the first degree out of Serapio the Arabian. Ciches called in Latin Cicera/ Almonds/ The gum of Almonds/ The oil of Almonds/ Iniubes/ Hares cods or Satyrion/ and all herbs like unto it that hath two stones. ☞ Of medicines that are cold and dry in the first degree. The myrtle tre with all the parts of the same/ Moss/ Yellow Mirobalanes/ Chebusi Mirobalanes/ Mirobalanes Emblici/ Mirobalanes Bellirici/ The rose/ Oil of roses/ The sedes and the knoppes of roses/ Rose water/ Ceruices and Sorbepeares/ sorrel and dock/ Liverwurte/ The brammel bush/ The Mulberrye tre/ Black berries/ Pomgarnates/ Barley/ Quinces/ Veniger/ Willow tre/ horsetail/ Glue. ☞ Of medicines that are cold and moist in the first degree. Plums/ spinach/ violets/ Endive/ Dandelion/ Succory/ Water roses/ cheers/ Areche/ Malowes. ☞ Of medicines that are hot and moist in the second degree. Rocket/ ash sedes/ The nut of Ind. ☞ Of medicines that are cold and dry in the second degree. Berberes/ Flewurt called in Latin Psillium/ The flowers of Pomgarnates/ Gum tragagant/ plantain/ Sumach/ Galls/ Nightshade/ Winter cherry/ Gum Arabic/ Ribs or saint john's berries. ☞ Of medicines that are cold and moist in the second degree. Melones/ Cucumbers/ Citrulles/ Great Melones being green/ Duckis meat that groweth upon the water and standing poles/ Gourds/ Garden lettuce/ peaches. ☞ Of medicines that are hot and moist in the third degree. Ginger/ Grains/ Spourge. ☞ Of medicines that are cold and dry in the third degree. Henbayne/ Dracones blood called sanguis draconis/ Spodium/ Mandrake/ tamarinds. ☞ Of medicines that are cold and moist in the third degree. Porcelayne/ Houselyke/ Thrifte/ Todestoles. ☞ Of medicines that are cold and dry in the fourth degree. poppy/ The juice of black poppy/ Horned poppy/ The Methell nut called Nux methel. The Table of the names of herbs. A Adder's tongue 52 Alecoste or cost marry 41 Amara dulcis 2 Angelica 4 Arsmert/ otherwise called Culerage 61 B Balsamine 15 Bistorta 12 Burnet 9 Bursa pastoris 14 C Carduus benedictus 18 Cassia fistula 20. 21 chervil 19 Clowes 22 Columbine 6 Coweslippe 80 D Devils bite 42 dittany 26 Doronite Roman 27 E Eupatorium 28 Eyebrighte 30 F Filipendula 31 Fluellin 77 Fox glove G Galega 32 Gentian 25 Gratiola 33 Guiacum 34 H Hartnut 51 Herb two pence 54 Holy tree ●1 K Kaly 38 L Lavender 39 Lunarye 53 M Medewurt or Medowwurt/ or Medefwert/ and of some named Bimaria 8 Meirobalanes 44 Mouse ear 58 N Nutmegs & mace 40 Nut of Ind 48. 49 O One herrye 35 Our Lady's mantle 2● P Pilletory of Spain 36 Pimp●●●ell ●● Palm … ria 55 Q Quibibes 25 R Ribs 62 Rosa solis 79 Rhubarb 63. 64. 65 S 67 Sanicle 66 Sauce alone 1 Saxifrage 68 Scabius 67 Sene 70 Setwal 79 Self heal 60 spinach 72 T tamarinds 73 Tansy 3 Throw wax 57 Tormentil 74 trinity 75 V Valeriane 76 Virga aurea 78 Winter green 59 Wood rose/ or Wood rowel 24 FINIS. ¶ Faults to be amended in the third part. In the Preface. Line. 23 for (London all) read London I found all. In the treatise of the degrees of Herbs. In the first side. 7 for (temperate) read temperate. 7 for (mere) read mean. 20 for (glycirrhice) read glycirrhize. 21 for (call mixa) read called mixa. 23 for (brush cherries) read breast cherries. In the second side. 20 for (foldfote) read foolfote. 22 After these words (Autore Fuchsio) there wanteth Calamint or Cornmynt, especially dried Cinnamon Cummine, autore Fuchsio. In the third side. 6 for (poudes) read ponds. 17 for (them in in) read them in alone in. 28 for (melowes) read melones. 29 for (prumes) read prunes. In the fourth side. 6 for (foldfote) read foolfote. In the first lease. Side. Line. 1 4 for (lenchel or saußkrant) read leuchel or saßkraut. 1 last for (saußkraut) read saßkraut. 3 6 for (leaves) read levis, and so in the .7. & 8. line. 3 7 for (little black) read little and black. 3 Nota, that there wanteth the figure of wild Tansy. 4 17 for (knawing) read gnawing. 5 4 Close this sentence, which I take for sphondelium, within two half circles. () 5 17 for (hircinij silue) read hircinnie silue. 5 42 for (stipe) read step. 6 43 For (riders spurge) read rittersporn. 7 10 For (after the same judgement) read after the judgement. 8 Nota, that the figure of barba capri is not the figure of Medewurt, but it is something like it. 8 6 For (sennes) read fens. 10 Nota, that the first figure is no kind of Pimpinel, but white saxifrage, & belongeth not to that place. 11 That figure is quite false, and belongeth not to that place. 12 16 For (of the name) read of the Latin name. 12 17 For (these part) read these parts. 13 5 For (come into Fricelande) read came into Friceland. 13 18 For (in these) read in those. 14 12 For (shrippe) read scrip. 14 17 For (and a great) read and are a great. 16 16 For (before the august) read before August. 17 4 For (thumbles) read thymbles. 17 16 For grese) read griefs. 18 2 For (atractilis aspera) read carduus benedictus. For the figure that is there, is the figure of carduus benedictus, and not of atractilis, although some call carduus benedictus, atractilis aspera. 8 4 For (weike) read week, and so afterwards. 18 20 For (that strenghteneth) read that it strengtheneth 19 12 For (cerifolium) read cherefolium. 20 22 For (canes cods) read canes or cods. 20 22 For (groweth) read grow. 20 31 For (ashy) read asshie. 20 35 For (bean) read bone. 21 5 For (soughtning) read softening. 21 14 For (and spica) read or spica. 21 15 For (I know) read known. 21 16 For (was a poison) read was as poison. 21 last For (as a Parsley) read as are Parsley. 22 12 After these words (hiera picra) there wanteth. But if it be to be given in hot diseases I will not suffer any hiera picra. 22 In stead of Cariophylli arboris that is to say the Clove tree, there are set the figures of Auens which belong to an other place. 23 3 After this word (Grecians) there wanteth. And Pliny. 23 7 For (mutleafe) read nutleafe. 24 7 For (at first sight) read at the first sight. 24 18 For (women) read women's. 24 11 For (wood rose) read wood roof, and so in other places. 24 Nota, that the figure that is set for woedrofe is not the figure of wodrofe, but of Gallion, but yet it is somewhat like it. 25 8 For (flouts) read flowers. 25 13 For (dwarf gentian) read dwarf gentian. 26 3 For (and perfectly) read and dry perfectly. 26 Nota, that the figure that is set for white Dittamie is it not, but English Dittamie, which is nothing like to fraxinella. 27 Nota, that the figure that is set for Doromicum Romanum is it not, but it is aconitum tertium Mathioli. 27 15 For (it was) read it that was. 28 Nota, that the figure that is set for eupatorium vulgar is it not, as it may well appear if you look back to the chapter of eupatorium Dioscoridis, that is, agrimony, where ye shall find the right cupatorium vulgar, otherwise called eupatorium Auicenne. 31 2 For (oemathe) read filipendula. 31 19 For (and that it is) read and is. 33 4 For (I set) read I fet. 34 2 For (the virtues and complexion of the diet wood) read, the virtues and complexion of Graciola or herb Gratius. 34 28 For (is set out) read is set out. 34 32 For (the virtue of graciola or herb gratius) read the virtues of the diet wood. 35 13 After these words (Latin writers) there wanteth that have written. 35 32 For (to be) read was. 36 Nota, because the virtues of one berry out of Mathiolus are somewhat hard to be understood, In the stead of it that is translated already, read it that followeth. Out of the berry of the herb called Paris, the seed is gathered, which is not only not venomous, but also a present remedy against poison: for I have known divers, whereof some have been by long diseases, and other by poisons, made half doting, restored to their former health again by the only use of the seed of this herb drunken in powder for the space of twenty days in the quantity of a dram. 37 25 For (strengteth) read strengtheneth. 37 28 For (thirst because it is like thirst) read thrift because it is like thrift. 37 31 For (and those things that answer, for the leaves are like unto wheat) read, and those that answer for the leaves, are like wheat. 39 3 Read the four lines following thus. For an herb having the top like an ear of corn. which is called in Latin spica, ought not for that cause straightway to be called when it groweth in Germany, spica Germanica, neither when it groweth in Italy, spica Italica, neither spica in any speech, because the barbarous writers call it spicam. 39 10 For (a lavande) read a lavando. 39 19 For (I do not judge) read I do judge. 39 21 For (olco de spigo) read oleum de spica. 40 10 For (need) read, read. 40 10 (But also further help) blot out further. 40 28 For (an moystnest) read and moistness. 40 36 For (the herb nutmeg) read the hole nutmeg. 40 37 For (cundited) read condited. 40 39 For (way hard) read wax hard. 40 41 For (moscorion) read moscocarion. 41 9 For (joint) read joints. 42 4 For (saliva) read saluia. 43 8 For (like scubins) read like scabius 43 17 For (sore will) read sore it will. 43 27 For (mirobalanes, read myrobalanes, and so in other places. 44 6 For (fine) read five. 45 After the figure of myrobalanis citrini, there wanteth this title. The virtues of all myrobalanes. 45 9 For (thy sweet) read the sweat. 45 14 For (this) read these. 46 7 For (and strengthen, it quickeneth) read and strengthen it, and quicken. 48 5 For (in the end of the second degree, and farther it is so very well smelling) read, in the end of the second degree and further. It is also very well smelling. 48 17 For (both me) read both by me. 49 7 For (wollise) read wollish. 49 38 For (where) read wherefore. 50 34 For (forthwithout) read forthwith without. 50 42 For (the methell maketh) read the methell nut maketh. 51 39 For (but much narrower, for the quantity of it out of the lowest part, whereof there riseth a little stalk) read, but much narrower for the quantity of it, out of the lowest part whereof, there riseth a little stalk. 51 43 For (in moist and meadows) read in moist meadows. 54 19 For (worm) read worn. 55 2 For (french English) read frenchenglish. 56 15 For (take one lungwure) read, take oak lungwurt. 56 40 For (marlocke) read martocke. 57 6 For (it joineth together) read it joineth these together. 58 2 For (otger) read other. 58 17 For (there sheep feed) read their sheep to feed. 58 last For (hath) read have. 59 17 For (iong) read long. 59 19 For (appeareth) read appear. 60 12 For (prunella) read ●runella. 61 18 For (make gargoyle) read make a gargoyle. 61 19 For (for abovenamed) read for the above named. 62 2 For (is that it is) read, is it that is. 63 14 For (barbenes) read barberies. 64 21 For (his kinds) read his three kinds. 64 38 For (such rhubarb and it that) read such rhubarb that. 65 5 For (varite) read rarity. 67 7 For (of the third) read of the three. 71 4 For (scoureth away and) read scoureth and 71 23 For (from ʒ. v.) read from fine drams. 71 27 For (in me other) read in me and other. 71 32 For (turned) read tunned. 73 last For (tustes) read tufts. 76 Note, that in the stead of the figure of Phumagnum, should have been set the figure of our English valerian, which is called of the herbaries valeriana greca, and call the next herb Phu vulgar Germanorum, that is the common valerian of the Germans. 77 10 For (wherein are in white and blue flowers with a little scattered here and there) read wherein are white flowers which have a little blew scattered in them here and there. 77 19 For (clephantia) read elephantia. 78 Note, that the figure set out for virga aurea, is not so well made as it should be, for it wanteth indented leaves. 78 10 For (two kinds herb) read two kinds of this herb. 79 8 For (of uwla) read of the vulva. 79 35 For (a broad hoary thing) read a broad red hoary thing. 79 40 For (operieus) read experience. 80 7 For (call) read called. 80 13 For (hath mention) read hath made mention. 80 15 For (swigerland) read swicherland. 80 17 For (verbascum) read verbascula. 80 20 For (prinrose) read primrose. 80 28 For (experience it hath) read experience that it hath. 80 47 For (bone) read bones. 81 15 For (stricken) read striking. 81 17 For (that is out of the whole herb) read that is stilled out of the whole herb. 81 32 For (a sodereth) read and sodereth. 81 32 For (kynyes) read chimneys. 81 35 For (the stodes) read the seeds. Of the herb called Saucealone. depiction of plant Alliaria. ALliaria is called in English Saucealone/ and jack of the hedge/ in Dutch Lenchel or Saußkraut/ in French Aliayre. Saucealone groweth in hedges and in wild places alone with out any setting/ and it cometh up in the month of April with broad leaves like unto a violet/ but broader and green/ which when they are broken and rubbed/ smell much like unto Garleke: and therefore it is called Alliaria/ that is Garleke wurt/ The stalk is long/ and in the top are white flowers/ out of the which after grow little horns/ which have in them black sedes like to mustard or Selendine sede. The complexion and virtues of this herb. THis herb is hot at the lest in the end of the second degree after the rules of Galene/ who teacheth us to judge of the heat & coldness of herbs/ by the taste of the tongue. It is commonly used both in England and in Germany/ to be put in sauces in the springe of the year/ wherefore the English men call it Sauce alone/ & the Germans Saußkraut. This is good for them that have a cold stomach / and it is good to be minged with other cold herbs to delay the coldness thereof. But it is not good for them that are of a choleric nature/ or have hot blood/ or be disposed to the head ache. Of the herb called Amara dulcis. depiction of plant Amara dulcis. AMara dulcis hath no English name that I know/ but for lack of an other name/ it may be called Bitter sweet. The herb groweth about ditches and watery places/ and hedges/ and rinneth after the manner of a vine along. The leaves are something like Nightshaddes leaves/ but longer and rounder/ and besides that they have two little ears standing out of each side of the leaf toward the setting one of the stalk/ as some boor spears and lance staves have/ and the bark of the stalk when it is tasted of/ is first bitter/ and afterward sweet/ & therefore it is called in Duche/ je longer je lieber. The longer the more lovely/ that is/ the more ye taste it/ the more sweet it is/ and the more lovely. It hath green berries first/ and when it is ripe, red as coral/ and of an unpleasant taste. The flowers are something purple with yellow small things like threads coming out of the reddest of them. Matthiolus taketh this herb to be vitis syluestris in Dioscorides: but I have sufficiently confuted him in the second part of mine herbal/ entreating of vitis syluestris. Tragus erreth in making this herb smilax leaves in Dioscorides/ for the fruit of smilax leaves is little/ black as a lupine/ but the fruit of this herb/ as he himself writeth/ is first green/ & after red as coralle/ therefore it can not be smilax leaves. The virtues of this herb out of Tragus. I Have known by experience that this is the virtue of this herb saith Tragus. Take a pound of the wood of this herb/ and cut it into small pieces/ and after that you have cut it/ put it into a new pot with a pottle of white wine/ & let the pot be well covered/ so that no air come in/ (yet not withstanding make a little hole in the midst) & passed it well about with paste: and seth it upon a soft coal fire/ until the third part be sodden away/ and than take it away. And then if ye take a small draft of it in the morning/ an hour before ye rise/ and so when ye go to bed: It driveth out the iaunders by the belly and also by the water. Some give this when it is sodden against rotten agues/ of which the jaundice is commed. Of the herb called wild Tansey. depiction of plant Tanacetum. depiction of plant Tanacetum Indicum. wild Tansey is called of Tragus in Latin Anserina/ & in Duche Genserich. It may be called in Latin also Tanacetum syluestre/ some call it Potentillam. This herb groweth in cold and watery places. The leaves are like unto acrimony/ but that they are less & green above and white beneath/ it creepeth after the manner of strawberries/ and hath no other stalk/ but a long thing like a pack thread/ out of the which grow yellow flowers. The virtues of wild Tanseye. OUR women in England and some men that be sun burnt/ and would be fair/ either stepe this herb in white wine/ and wash their faces with the wine/ or else with the distilled water of the same. The practitioners of germany write/ that the herb if it be sodden with wine/ and drunken/ is good for them that have any knawing in the belly/ and for them that have pain in their backs/ and for the stopping of woman's white flowers. The distilled water as they writ/ is good for them that have red eyes. Of the herb called Angelica. depiction of plant Angelica sativa. depiction of plant Angelica syluestris. ANgelica hath leaves something like lovage/ but not so far jagged in/ but it is much like unto cow persnepe/ which I take for Sphondylium when it is young/ but the leaves are sharper/ smaller and yelower by reason whereof some have by error taken Angelica to be sphondylium. It hath a very great stalk/ smooth & long/ and in the top of it seed much like unto lovage. The root is big and of a strong smell with some pleasantness/ & full of a clammy juice like a gum/ which savoureth very strong/ and there grow out of this bigger rote small little other roots like branches which grow next to the ground. It groweth much in Norway in the high mountains/ and also in Germany not far from Friburge/ in the wood called nigra sylua/ or else Swartwalt in Dutch/ where as is the beginning of Hircinij sylue. It groweth not in England that I know/ saving only in gardens. The roots are now condited in Dansk/ for a friend of mine in London/ called master Alene a merchant man/ who hath ventured over to Dansk/ sent me a little vessel of these/ well condited with very excellent good honey. Wherefore they that would have any Angelica/ may speak to the Merchants of Dansk/ who can provide them enough. The virtues of Angelica. ANgelica is hot and dry at the lest in the third degree. All the later writers agree in this and experience confirmeth the same: that Angelica is good against poison/ pestilent airs/ and the pestilence itself. The practitioners of Germany writ thus of Angelica. If that any man be suddenly taken/ either with any pestilence/ or any sudden pestilent ague/ or with to much sudden sweating/ let him drink of the powder of the root of Angelica/ half a dram/ mingled with a dram of treacle/ in three or four spoundfullis of the water of Angelica distilled out of the roots/ and after go unto bed/ and cover himself well/ and at the lest fast three hours after/ which if he do/ he shall begin to sweat/ and by the help of God he shall be delivered from his disease. If you have not treacle at hand/ you may take a whole dram of the root of Angelica in powder/ with the forenamed quantity of the distilled water/ and it will bring the same effect that the other composition did. The root of Angelica steeped in vinegar/ and smelled upon in the time of the pestilence/ and thesame vinegar being sometime drunken/ if you be fasting/ saveth a man's body from the pestilence. But it were better in my judgement/ to stipe the root of Angelica in sharp white vinegar/ and after it be sufficiently steeped/ to put it into a round hollow ball/ full of holes/ either of silver/ or of tin/ or of jeniper wood/ with some cotton or wool dipped in the same vinegar/ or else with some fine cloth/ that any of these may hold the vinegar the longer: and if a man have such a ball/ he may be the more bolder to venture where the pestilence is/ than if he had a great sort of other medicines. The water distilled out of the roots of Angelica/ or the powder of the same is good for gnawing and pain of the belly/ that cometh with cold/ if the body be not bound withal. To be short/ the water distilled/ or the powder of the root is good for all inward diseases: as the pleuresy/ in the beginning before the heat of the inflammation becomed into the body: for it dissolveth and scattereth abroad/ such humores as use to give matter to the pleuresy. It is good also for the diseases of the lungs/ if they come of a cold cause: and for the strangurian of a cold cause/ or of a stopping. It is good also for a woman that is in travail of child/ and to bring down her sickness. At other times when need requireth/ it is good also to drive wind away that is in the body/ and to ease the pain that cometh of the same. The root may be sodden either in water or in wine/ as the nature of him that is sick doth require. The juice of the root put into a hollow tooth/ taketh away the ache/ and so likewise doth the distilled water put in at the ear. Moreover the juice and the water also of Angelica/ quicken the eye sight/ and they break the little films that go over the eyes/ whereof darkness doth rise. Of the roots of Angelica and pitch/ may be made a good emplaster against the bitings of mad beasts. The water/ the juice/ or the powder of the root sprinkled upon the diseased place/ is a very good remedy against old and deep sores/ for they do scour it and cleanse them/ and cover the bones with flesh. The water of the same in a cold cause/ is good to be laid on places diseased with the gout and sciatica also: for it stauncheth the pain and melteth away the tough humores that are gathered together. The seed is of like virtue with the root. The wild Angelica that groweth here in the low woods and by the water sides/ is not of such virtue as the other is. Howbeit the surgiones use to seth the rote of it in wine/ to heal green wounds withal. These properties have I gathered out of the practitioners of the Germans/ but I have not proved them all as yet myself/ but divers of them I have proved and found to be true. Of Aquilegia called Columbine. AQuilegia is called in English Columbin/ and in Duche Ackeley. Columbine groweth only in gardens in England/ as far as I know/ but I have seen it grow wild in germany both it with the white flower and eke with the blue. The first leaves that come out/ be like unto great Selendine/ they are jagged round about/ and spread upon the earth. In the month of june/ it groweth into a round and smooth stalk/ higher than a man's cubit/ and in the top it hath blue or white flowers much like unto the herb/ which is called in English Larks claw/ and in Duche Riders spurge. After that the flowers are gone there rise four corners like unto Nigella Romana/ which have seed like unto flees. The root is white and long/ and full of small fringes about the end like threads. The herb/ the sede/ and the root resemble a certain sweetness. depiction of plant Aquilegia. The virtues of Columbine. TRagus writeth that a dram weight of the seed of Columbine bruised/ and with a halfpenny weight of Saffron/ drunken with wine/ is good for the yellow jaundice. This is known by experience if he will go to a warm bed after that he hath taken it/ and provoke sweet: After the same manner used/ it openeth the ways of the liver/ of whose stopping arise many diseases. After the same judgement of the same Tragus/ the water of the flowers rightly distilled/ if it be drunken is good for the same purpose/ & it is good against sounding. Of Medewurt/ or Meadow wurt/ or Mede sweet/ and of some named Vlmaria. depiction of plant Barba capri. MEdewurte is an herb well known unto all men/ it groweth about water sides/ moist places and sennes/ and it hath a leaf like unto agrimony/ indented much. The stalks are four square/ hollow within/ dun in colour/ which are sometime as high as a man. It hath very many flowers in the top which are like the flowers of Philipendula/ a far of/ but not near hand/ in colour white/ and in savour pleasant. After that the flowers are fallen/ ther followeth a seed like unto a little small wert/ ending into three sharp tops. The root is long and full of little tenrils like threads/ black without/ & within brounishe/ of a stinking smell/ of a bitter and binding taste. This herb is called of some Vlmaria/ and the whole form of it is like unto the herb which is called in Duche Geißbardt/ which is Barba capri. The virtues of this herb after the Practitioners of germany. THE root of this herb sodden in wine and honey/ and drunken/ loseth the belly and draweth forth choler. It is good for the bloody flux if it be drunken when it is sodden in read wine. The women cooks in the spring time use to gather this herb/ and put it in there potages and moose with other pot herbs. Beware that the seed of it be not eaten/ for it maketh the head ache. The same practitioners of germany do affirm that the herb bruised & laid to with meed driveth away swellings/ and draweth forth shivers/ and also darts and arrow heads. Of Burnet. depiction of plant Sanguisorbia. THE herb that is named in English Burnet/ is called of some common writers Pimpinella/ and of other Pimpinella Italica/ to put a difference between it and Pimpinellam Germanicam/ some of the finer sort hold that this herb ought to be called Bipennula or Bipinnula/ because there grow overthwart the leaf two and two little leaves like unto the wings of birds/ standing out as the bird setteth her wings out/ when she intendeth to fly. Some would it should be called Pampinella/ and Fuchsius saith that it ought to be called Sangui sorba/ the Duchess men call it Hergottes bertlin/ that is God's little beard/ because of the colour that it hath in the top. This herb is so well known in all places of England by the name of Burnet/ that I should but lose my labour/ if I should describe it/ Therefore I will go to the virtues of it. The virtues of Burnet. divers of the Practitioners of germany do hold that this herb is good to staunch blood both in the bloody flux/ and also in the issue of blood/ that women have out of measure/ some hold that that herb holden alone in one's hand/ is good for the same. The truth is that this herb is of a binding nature/ and rather cold than hot/ and therefore it is fit for the purposes above rehearsed/ specially the root and the seed. The leaf is pleasant both in taste and in smell/ and is good to be put both in wine/ bear and ale/ for them that are disposed much to any rheum or flux in the body/ and in my judgement the use of it is good both within and without against an hot running gout/ namely the leaves. Of Dutch pimpernel. depiction of plant depiction of plant depiction of plant THEre is an other herb called in Duche Bibernel/ and of the Duche Herbaries' Pimpinella Germanica, and it is much like in form of the leaves unto our Burnet/ but it is yelower a great deal/ and rougher. It hath a white flower in the top. The seed of it is like unto parsley sede. The herb is hot at the lest in the third degree/ both the root and the seed. Some call this herb Saxifrage/ because it groweth amongst stones in many places/ and cleaveth them/ and some call it Saxifrage/ for the property that it hath in breaking of the stone in a man's body/ and it deserveth much better the name of Saxifrage/ than our English Saxifrage doth. It groweth commonly in England in banks of each side of hollow high ways/ and in many meadows also/ and in very great plenty. The virtues of this herb. THE new writers hold that this herb is good against the pestilence to be taken in fasting in the morning/ and as I said before/ it is good to break the stone. The Germans do hold that the rote of this herb dried/ is so hot that it may be used for pepper/ which I would not deny if it were so pleasant as it is medicinable. The roots may be sodden and condited in sugar/ to the great profit of them that have cold stomachs/ and are troubled with tough phlegm/ the colic and the stone. The root of Pimpinel any ways taken in/ is good against any kind of poison/ against gnawinge in the belly/ which come of a cold cause. And it is good for to bring down women their sickness. The seed will do all these things/ & therefore it were good that comfittes should be made thereof. They say also that the water of it drunken three or four days/ in the quantity of three or four spoonfuls/ is good for the same purposes/ but I give more credit to the root and the seed/ except the water were better stilled/ then it is here in England. Of the herb called of the later writers Bistorta. depiction of plant BIstorta is called in some places of England Astrologia/ and in some places Pationes/ but there is no general name for it. It may be called either of the name twice writhe/ or else dock Bistorte. I know no herb in all these part of Europa/ where as I have been/ that agreeth better with the description & virtues of Britannica then Bistorta doth/ howbeit the rote agreeth not with the description of Dioscorides/ and therefore I have set it amongst the herbs of the new writers. Yet not withstanding I do vehemently suspect/ that it is Britannica of pliny/ whereof is made mention in the book of Pliny de naturali historia, where he writeth that the soldiers of the Romans come into Freiceland/ and that they drank two year of one fresh spring/ for there were no more fresh springs/ as he saith in all the hole country/ and that had such a property that all that drank of it within two year/ had the disease which is called scelotirbe/ and stomocace/ that is the losing of the knees and the disease of the mouth/ for they waxed lame in their knees/ and all their teth waxed loose/ which later named part of the disease many in Freiselande have at this present hour/ and when I was the Earl of Emdens' Physician/ which is the Lord of East Freseland/ divers asked me council for that disease/ and by the help of God/ I did heal them/ and perceived that it was the very same disease that pliny spoke of/ wherefore although I had learned by experience to heal the disease with other herbs/ yet because that Pliny wrote that the inhabitores of Freseland taught the Romans to heal their disease with an herb called Britannica/ which grew in great plenty in these parts of Freseland/ which were next unto Britannye/ whereof the herb had the name. I sought with great pain/ and also with some cost by all the sea side of East Freselande/ and I could never find any herb that answered to the description of Britannica. Then I sailed to an Island/ called just/ and there I found it not/ and after that I sailed to an other Island called Nordeni/ & sought there also/ but I could not find it. And then because I could not find it in no place by the sea side/ I went to seek it in meadows and woods/ and in a wode I found Bistorta in such great plenty as I never saw in no garden of England/ and therefore seeing that pliny wrote that it grew in such great plenty there/ and I could find no other herb but Bistorta/ I judge that Bistorta is the Britannica that he maketh mention of/ and it is surely proved by experience/ that Bistorta healeth the disease that pliny writeth that Britannica healed. The rote of twice writhe is blackish red/ & within whitish red/ and tasteth very binding/ crooked in and out/ whereof some gave it the name of Bistorta/ and some serpentaria: The leaves that grow next to the root/ are bigger than the other/ & are like unto a dock leaf/ but much less. The stalk is small and long/ and hath here and there some little leaves upon it: In the top of the stalk groweth a little ear like unto the ear of Lavender/ the flower is whitish with some purple minged there withal. The virtues of dock Bistorte. THE practitioners of germany write/ that the leaves and rote of dock Bistort/ be good to be taken against the pestilence: and it is known by experience/ that the juice/ powder/ or broth of them/ be good for lose teth and rotten gums/ wherefore they are good for the disease/ which is called of the low Duche men the scourboke/ and of the Northern men at this day the scrubye ill. The powder of the root also stoppeth both the bloody and other flixes. The practitioners writ also that the powder is good to be sprinkled upon the canker of the back/ and also upon sores that are hard to be healed/ if the places be washed with the juice of the herb. The powder of the root mixed with allam/ and a little honey/ and put into a hollow tooth/ stayeth the falling down of the rheum from the head into the same tooth. Of Bursa pastoris. depiction of plant Bursa pastoris. BVrsa pastoris is called in some places of England shepherds pouch/ of the likeness that the seed vessel hath unto a shepherds pouch or shrippe. The herb groweth in high ways and in gardens/ and in many other places about towns and cities: the leaves are deeply indented in/ and the stalk hath many branches upon it/ and the leaves that are above in them/ are not so far indented as the other leaves be/ and a great deal less/ the stalk is round/ and of the length of a span and longer. In the top are white flowers/ and when they are gone/ there followeth as I said before the vessel of the seed like unto a boy's satchel or little bag: the root is very small. The Virtues. BVrsa pastoris is cold and dry/ and binding/ and is by manifold experiences tried to be a very good and wholesome herb for many things. Wherefore if it be broken and laid to emplaster wise/ it is good for hot inflammations or burnings both of blood and also of choler. It is good sodden with rain water/ Plantain and Bolus against the bloody flux/ and against spitting of blood. The juice of it doth heal green wondes/ and doth stop the running out of matter of men's ears. It is also good to stop woman's flowers withal/ if they run to much out/ if it be eaten. It is good to be menged with emplasters for the healing of the wounds of the head. Bursa pastoris being dried and sodden in read wine or in rain water/ wherein burning hot steel hath been quenched/ is not only good for the bloody flux/ but also for them that piss blood. Some hold that the stilled water/ being drunken for a certain time/ hath the same power. The juice put in a linen clout/ and stopped in a man's nose/ stoppeth the running out of blood. Of the herb Balsamine. depiction of plant Balsamine prima. depiction of plant Balsamine altera. THere is an herb which is called in Barbarus Latin Balsamina/ and of some Viticella/ of some Momordica/ and of some Caranza. Thesame may be called in English Balsamine or vine Balsamine/ It groweth much in Italy/ and in some places of England in gardens. Balsamine is a little herb and creepeth like a vine with small branches/ and claspeth about herbs and bushes that grow next about it after the manner of Briony/ and such other like creeping herbs/ but thesame hath leaves much less and more deeply indented. It hath many little claspers/ wherewith it holdeth up itself: The claspers come out from the hollow place between the stalk and the leaves foot stalk. It hath a flower like a cucumber/ some what yellowish. It hath a fruit small at the bottom and bigger above. The shell of it is thick and fleshy. It hath a cremesin colour when it is ripe. It hath a seed enclosed in like unto the sede of Languria/ covered with a thick shell very slippery and red. It hath a very small root/ and it is not ripe before the August or September. The Virtues. THE leaves join together fresh wounds. The fruit if the seed be taken out/ and set in the sun long with oil that is not full ripe/ or if it be steeped in the same oil/ and put into a vessel which standeth in an other vessel full of hot water/ or if it be set in hot horse dung/ it will make an oil very profitable to drive away the great heat and inflammations of wounds and of woman's breasts/ and to suage ache. It is also good for woman's mothers/ if they have their skin of/ and for the ache of the emrodes. The fruit is good for the same purpose if it be sodden in a double vessel in sweet almond oil or Lint sede oil/ so that ye put to every pound of oil an ounce of the moist varnish. The same is very good for them that are either burnt with the fire/ or scalded with hot water. It is good also for sinews that are pricked and wounded. Some hold that it is good for women that are barrayn/ to make them fruitful. It is good also for bursting of children if the place be anointed oft therewith. The powder of the leaves in the quantity of a spoune full taken with the broth of plantain or horse tail/ is good for the wounds of the guts. And some hold that the same is good against the gnawing of the belly. Of the herb called Fox glove. THere is an herb that groweth very much in England/ & specially in Norfolk about the coney holes in sandy ground/ & in divers woods/ which is called in English Fox glove/ and in Duche Fingerkraut. It is named of some in Latin Digitalis/ that is to say Thimble wort. It hath a long and meetly broad leaf/ almost after the manner of Mullayne/ but longer/ blacker and sharper/ and indented roundeaboute like a saw. Digitalis. depiction of plant depiction of plant It hath a long stalk and in the top many flowers hanging down like bells or thumbles of diverse colours/ sometime they are blue/ sometime white/ sometime yellowish. The properties of Fox glove. I Have heard one that said/ that he proved that the hole herb/ stalks/ leaves/ and flowers/ bruised a little/ and put between the horse saddle and his back/ is an excellent remedy against the farcye or fassones. Of Carduus benedictus. ALthough diverse of the later writers have gone about to make Carduus benedictus a kind of Atractilis/ yet for all that the description is found not perfectly to agree unto it. It is written that Carduus benedictus was sent out of Ind unto the Emperor Friderike/ as a very precious medicine against many diseases and greases/ it is called in English most commonly Cardo benedictus/ and in Italian/ Herba Turcha. depiction of plant Atractilis aspera. The virtues of Carduus benedictus out of the later writers. IT is very good for the head ache and the migram/ for the use of the juice or powder of the leaves preserveth and keepeth a man from the head ache/ and healeth it being present. It quickeneth the sight if the juice of it be laid upon the eyes. The powder stauncheth blood that floweth out of the nose or cometh out of the longs. The broth of it taken with wine/ maketh an appetite. It is good for any ache in the body. It strenghteneth the members of the hole body/ and fasteneth lose sinews and weike. It is also good for the dropsy. It breaketh also the stone/ and breaketh any impostume. It preserveth from the pestilence if the powder be taken in water xxiv. hours before a man come into the infected place. It is good for the dusines of the head. It helpeth the memory/ it amendeth thick hearing. It is good for short wind and the disease of the lungs/ some write that strenghteneth the teth: Other writ that it bringeth down flowers/ and provoketh sleep/ and helpeth the falling sickness. It is also good for falls and bruisings. The leaves provoke sweet/ the powder is good against all poison. The same put into the guts by a clyster/ helpeth the colic and other diseases of the guts/ and the wounds of the same. They writ also that the water of Cardo benedictus/ healeth the redness and itching of the eyes/ and the juice doth the same. The leaves bruised/ be good for the biting of serpents/ for burnings and for carbuncles. There is nothing better for ●he canker and old rotten and festringe sores/ then the leaves/ juice/ broth powder and water of Cardo benedictus. The leaves are good for fomentationes/ and to be sitten over/ being sodden in water/ that the vapour may come to the diseased places/ against the stone and stopping of flowers. Of the herb called chervil. depiction of plant Cerifolium. CHaruel leaves when they come first up/ are almost like unto percely/ but smaller and jagged with many cuts/ and therefore it seemeth to be like unto Homloke. It hath a white root and small/ and shorter than all the kinds of parsley have. It hath a smooth stalk/ something purple/ hollow and full of branches/ and it beareth a flower like unto Coriander/ and a black sede/ and the seed smelleth nothing at all/ when as the herb hath a very good smell. The virtues. CHaruel is of a warm nature/ but exceedeth not the first degree. The Germans do write that it is proved by experience/ that Charuel doth break insunder lumps of blood/ gathered together. The juice maketh the blood that is grown together by a dry stripe/ or by a wound melt and fall insunder. If it be so that the juice of Charuel doth not strongly enough by itself to dissolve and break insunder clotted or clustered blood/ that is grown together in lumps: Let the patient put thereto the powder made of crabs eyes/ and of the coals of Lined tre/ and it will work the effect stronglier a great deal. They writ also that this is good for the pleurisy/ and against the pricking of the side. If that it be eaten in a salad or in a moose/ it is good for the stomach and the head/ by reason of the pleasant smell that it hath. The leaves of chervil bruised and laid to/ be as good a remedy against bruised places and clustered blood/ as scala celi is. Of Cassia fistula. CAssia fistula is called in better Latin/ Siliqua Aegyptiaca, we have no other name for it in English but Cassia fistula. The tree that the Canes cods of Cassia fistula groweth on/ is a great tre. The wood of the tre is fast/ and much knit together within the bark until ye come to the heart/ it is yellow/ but the pith or heart is black as the heart of Ebenus and Guaiacum is. When it is green/ it stinketh ill/ but not when it is dried. The leaf is like unto Carobe/ or saint johannis bread is tre/ which may be called in English Carob cod tre/ but it groweth sharper toward the end. The bark is of an ashy colour. The roots are great like the roots of a Walnut tre. Out of the bows hang cods very long/ round and thick/ when they are ripe and in colour black reddish. These are full of a black and sweet marry/ but it goeth not right out/ as the mary doth in a bean/ but one piece is ever sundered or parted from an other/ by little thin things like woddish films/ as ye may see in honey combs/ in certain partitiones lieth a great sede/ as like as may be possible unto the sede of Carobe/ or Carob cod. Cassia fistula is brought out of diverse places/ not only of Cairo and Alexandria/ but also out of the West new found Islands/ out of Hispaniola/ cuba & paria. The best is that cometh from Cairo/ and it hath the longest Canes thinnest barks/ and heaviest in weight/ that when it is shaken/ rattleth not. depiction of plant Cassia fistula. depiction of plant Cassia solitiva. The virtues of Cassia fistula. CAssia is a little hot and moist in the first degree. It purgeth from the stomach choler and phlegm/ gently by soughtning of the belly. It is good for agues that rise from those two humores/ and by this means it cleanseth the blood/ and quencheth and dulleth the sharpness both of blood and collar. It purgeth the belly very well/ and the virtue thereof goeth not beyond the stomach. Wherefore it may most safely be given in the beginning of agues/ & in other hot diseases in the beginning before the letting of blood/ because it only purgeth the stomach and softeneth the belly. The harm that cometh of Cassia is/ that it is evil for slippery and slimy and weike guts. But the remedy against that/ is to menge with it Mirobalanes/ Rhubarb/ Mastic/ and Spica nardi. But I know in my time two of my pacientes to whom Cassia was a poison/ for assoon as ever they took it/ they were very sore seek/ and each of them at the least had xl. stools/ the one was a gentle man of Freseland the jonker of Alders ham/ and the other a gentle man of England. Or else I never found the Cassia did disagree with any man. If it be given unto any that are very hard bound/ then it is best to mix with it Almond oil/ or else the Muscelage of fleawurt called Psillium. It is excellently good for them that can not well make water/ if it be taken with medicines that steer a man to make water/ as a percelye and Alexander sede/ Fenell sede/ and such like. Because it worketh very slowly/ some increase the strength thereof with hisope or the whey of goats milk. Cassia purgeth out choler and phlegm without any hurt at all. It suageth the harrishnes or roughness of the breast and throat/ and dissolveth the inflammations thereof. It delivereth the kidneys from sand and gravel/ specially if it be taken with the broth of liquors or other things that provoke water. Moreover if it be oft taken/ it will not suffer the stone to grow again. Beside all these properties it is good for hot agues. If it be laid to without/ it is good for burning heat/ called the inflammation of choler or inflammed blood/ and for other inflammations that are in the outermost part of the skin. Many Physicians never give Cassia/ except it be menged with some portion of Hiera picra to be put unto it/ but either a little of the syrup of roses solutive/ or the syrup of Cichory with Rhubarb/ or some other of like virtue. Cassia may be given to children/ women with child/ to very old men without any jeopardy. The quantity of Cassia is ever an ounce commonly. It may be taken in greater and less quantity/ according unto the nature of the patient. The time of taking of it/ is two hours before dinner fasting. Of Cloves. depiction of plant Cariophillata hortensis. depiction of plant Cariophillata syluestris. Although there be mention made of cloves of the later Grecians/ yet there is no mention made thereof in Dioscorides and Galene/ wherefore I entreat of cloves amongst the simples/ found out after the time of the old grecians. The Grecians call a clove Cariophyllon/ that is mutleafe/ the barbarous writers name it clawm/ that is a nail/ whereof cometh the Duche name neglen/ and our English a Clove or a Clowe. The virtues of Cloves. Cloves comfort the stomach/ liver and heart. They help digestion and stop the belly. They quicken the eye sight and scour away the clouds and haws of the eyes. They are generally good against all cold diseases/ and they are almost hot in the third degree. The oil of Cloves is very good for a cold stomach and for any other places that had need of warning as a cold rheumatic brain and such other places. Of our Lady's mantel. depiction of plant Alchimilla. ALchimilla is named in English syndaw/ and our ladies mantil. Our ladies mantil is an herb of a green colour/ & groweth in moist meadows/ & in some dry meadows. In the night it closeth itself together like a purse/ & in the morning it is found full of dew. It looks much like a mallow at first sight/ & it is jagged rondabout with eight or ix. indentinges. The flower is yellow/ and the seed is small/ and the root five inches long/ and reddish in colour/ in taste binding with a little bitterness. The herb is not passing a span long. The virtues. THE late writers hold that sindaw is good for inward burstings & inward wounds/ if it be sodden in wine/ & the wine be drunken. The leaves thereof being laid to swellings & wounds/ do suage the pain & take away also hot burnings. The broth of the herb is good for all kinds of wounds/ and a cloth also dipped in the broth thereof/ helpeth to glue wounds together again. The broth of it is good also to lay upon women breasts/ that are to lose and hanging down. It is oft proved that this herb is good against the inward brekinges and burstings of children. Of wood rose or wood rowel. depiction of plant Wood rose is called of some in Barbarous Latin Cordialis or Asperula/ or Spergula odorata/ in Duche Hertzfreud and Waltmeister/ in French Muguet. It is a short herb of a span long/ foursquare and small/ about that which grow certain orders of leaves/ certain spaces going between/ representing some kinds of rowelles of spurs/ whereof it hath the name in English/ the flouts are white and well smelling. The virtues of wood rowel. THey that writ of this herb/ give it great commendation for making of the heart merry/ and for helping of the liver. Of little Gentian/ or dwarf Gentian. THere is a little herb in form and fashion like unto Gentian/ and it is called of the common Herbaries Cruciata/ of the form of a cross that is seen in the root. The leaves are long/ and stand wing wise on the stalk which is round. The flower is blue and long/ and the hole herb is bitter. The virtues. LIkewise as it is in my judgement a kind of Gentian/ so it hath diverse properties of Gentian. It groweth in England both in dorsetshire upon the plain of Salisberrye and also in York shire in bare places. The Herbaries writ that this herb is good against the pestilence & poison/ and for wounds/ and to bring out tough humores of the breast. If this herb be bruised and laid unto the belly/ it killeth and driveth forth worms. Some hold that if the powder of the herb be given unto cattle or beasts that are in jeopardy of contagious sickness/ it will preserve them. I think and judge/ that if a man want the great Gentian/ that he may for a need occupy this herb in the stead of it. Of Quibibbes. I Have not seen the tree/ neither the leaves/ of Quibibbes/ for it groweth not in those places of Europa that I know of/ where I have been/ and therefore I can not describe him. I have seen the berries oft times/ for the berries are common in England and in all countries. They are of the bigness of pepper/ but lighter & somewhat brouner with a little stalk/ as the ivy berries have. They are called in barbarous Latin Cubebe. I think that the old writers knew nothing of this simple. The virtues of Quibibbes. THE seed is hot in the beginning of the third degree/ and perfectly in the end of the third degree. This berry maketh strong the stomach/ that is weike by reason of phlegm or of wind/ and they scour from the breast/ tough & gross humores. They help the milt/ and drive away wind/ and help the cold diseases of the mother. If they be chawed long with mastic/ they draw phlegm from the head/ and strengthen the brain/ and to be short/ they are good against all cold diseases. Of white dittany. depiction of plant I Have written of two kinds of Dittany already in my former books/ whereof the former is called in Latin Dictamnus/ or Dictamnus creticus. The second is called Lepidium. This kind is called in Barbarous Latin Dictamus albus/ and of some writers Fraxinella/ of the likeness that it hath with an ash in the setting of the leaves. It groweth in the high mountains in germany in plenty. It is a very beutuous herb/ and well smelling. The flowers are purple whitish/ the root is white/ and stinketh like a goat buck/ and goeth a good length in the ground. The taste of the root is bitter/ the sede of it is black/ and it groweth in little small cods. The virtues of white dittany/ or Duche dittany. THE powder of it is good to kill worms. The hole herb of nature is good against poison and the bitings of venomous beasts/ and also against the pestilence. It is good for them which are diseased in the stomach/ and for them that are shortwinded. The water distilled out of the flowers/ if it be poured in at the nose/ is good for all diseases of the head that come of a cold cause. Of Doronike Roman. depiction of plant Doronicum Romanum. DOronicum Romanum/ otherwise called Carnabadium/ groweth not that I know of in England/ and that I remember I never saw it growing but one's/ & that was in germany. The leaf of it was showed me for Doronico Romano/ was much bigger and broader than a violet leaf/ and much more blackish green. The roots are well known in the Apothecary's shops. The virtues of Doronike Roman. THE Arabian commendeth this herb very much against the diseases of the heart/ and hold that it is good against poison and venom. Of diverse herbs which have the name of Eupatorium. depiction of plant Eupatorium vulgar. IN my first book I have declared sufficiently that Agrimony was the Eupatorium of Dioscorides/ and of other of the Grecians. Now because there are two other kinds of Eupatorium/ whereof Mesue maketh mention of the one/ and Auicenna of an other: it shallbe necessary as far forth as we can to set forth it which is the Eupatorium of Mesue/ and which is the Eupatorium of Auicenne. Matthiolus writeth that the common Eupatorium of the Apothecaries which I have named water hemp/ is Eupatorium Auicenne/ and he writeth that the herb that is called Ageraton in Dioscorides/ is Eupatorium Mesues/ mocking Fuchsius and Cordus/ who held that Gratiola was Eupatorium Mesue/ as much worthy to be mocked of other his own self/ for the herb that he setteth forth for Eupatorio Mesues/ agreeth not with the description of Mesue/ for the leaves of Mesues Eupatorium are small like century/ his herb hath broad leaves nothing like centaury. The flowers of eupatory of Mesue are long or something long/ as both the translations of Mesue witness/ for Silvius readeth thus/ Floribus est subluteis oblongis, The old translator hath/ Elevantur super eum flores qui sunt sicut subcitrini, longitudinis paruae. Wherefore I marvel out of whose translation Matthiolus describing Eupatorium Mesue/ set out these words/ Floribus aureis in umbellam cohaeren tibus helychrysi modo. Furthermore he proveth not that his Guilia purgeth/ and I take that it is the herb that we call Mandleyne. Wherefore his herb can not be Eupatorium Mesues/ though it could purge as he hath not proved yet. As for Gratiola which Cordus and Fuchsius take for Eupatorio Mesues/ the extremity of purging (which Matthiolus noted well) will not suffer it to be Eupatorium Mesue/ for two scruples of the powder of Gratiola (as I have oft proved) purgeth strongly/ when as Eupatorium Mesues purgeth very gently/ and nothing strongly. Therefore nether Cordus nor Matthiolus/ neither any of us all hath found out Eupatorium Mesues. And it appeareth by Mesue that his was not so very plenteous in his tyme. For in the default of it he teacheth to take half as much of Asarabacca/ and so much wormwode Roman. But if good Asarabacca were not at hand/ I had liefer take wormwood Roman alone/ or green Cassidonia called stichados/ then either it that Matthiolus or Cordus setteth forth for Eupatorio Mesues. The virtues of water hemp. WAter hemp is very bitter in taste/ and it openeth all stoppings/ and cutteth in sunder all tough and clammy humores/ & is good for the green sickness/ the dropsy jaundice/ and for the gout that cometh of gross phlegm. Of Eyebrighte. EYebrighte is named in Duche Augen troost/ in Latin Eufragia, and of some in Greek Ophthalmica. The herb is very short/ and cometh not (that I have seen) to the height of a span/ the leaves are for the quantity of the herb something broad and indented/ and in taste bitter/ and in smell not pleasant/ the flower is of diverse colours/ but the white beareth the chief rule. depiction of plant Euphragia. The virtues of Eyebright out of Arnoldus de nova villa. THE wine of Eyebright is made for the eyes by putting the herb into the must until it be at length perfect wine/ whose use maketh the eyes of old men wax young again and taketh away the hindrance of them/ and the lack of sight in any man of what age soever he be of/ chiefly if there exceed fat and phlegm. There was a man that continued blind a long time/ and within a year he was restored to his sight again/ for the herb is hot and dry/ and it hath of a property/ that if the powder of it be eaten with the yolk of an egg/ it worketh the same effect/ and the powder doth the same thing wonderfully received in wine. And there are credit worthy witnesses alive/ as yet that have tried this in themselves/ which could not read without spectacles and afterward red a small text without spectacles. If the wine be to strong/ tempre it with fenel water or with sugar/ Thus Arnoldus in his book of wines. Tragus writeth that he hath proved that it is good for the jaundice/ and I gather by the bitterness and heat that it hath measurable/ that it is good against all diseases that come of the stopping of the milt or liver/ or any other part/ and that it is good to cut in pieces tough phlegm and other gross humores. Of Filipendula. depiction of plant Oenanthe. FIlipendula is named in English also Filipendula/ that is hanging by a thread/ for the knobbye roots hang by small things like threads. It is called in Duche Rotten steinbrech. It is something like unto Burnet/ but the leaves are less/ and it resembleth also the greater kind of Yarrow/ but the leaves are greater/ the roots are many little knobs like long nuts/ hanging upon small things like threads. The stalk is long and small/ the flowers are white and of a pleasant smell/ not unlike unto the flowers of Medowurt. The virtues of Filipendula. FIlipendula driveth forth water/ and is good for the strangurion/ and for the stone in the kidneys/ and the ache therein. The same as the later writers hold/ driveth away the windines of the stomach/ and that it is good for them that are shortwinded/ and for all diseases that rise of cold. Some hold also that the powder of the roots is good for the falling sickness. Of the herb called Galega. GAlega is named in Italian about Ferraria also Regalicum/ in other places Ruta capraria, It groweth in great plenty about Ferraria about the bank of the noble flood Padus. It groweth high up with leaves like liquors. depiction of plant Galega sive Ruta capraria. The virtues. THE new writers do hold that Galega is good against the pestilence and against all venom and poison/ and biting or pricking of venomous beasts. The juice of the herb hath the same virtue/ and it is good to be laid emplasterwyse upon the same wounded and hurt places. Some writ that an ounce and a half of it is good to be given for them that have the falling sickness. I never saw this herb growing in any place but in gardines/ saving only in italy. Of Gratiola. depiction of plant Gratiola. I Have not seen Gratiolam growing in England/ saving two roots or three that I set out of Brabant/ & gave unto master rich and master Morgan apothecaries of London. Wherefore I know no English name for it. But it may be called herb Gratius/ or horse weary/ or weary horse/ because when it is eaten of horses/ it fainteth them and maketh them weary/ for the which cause it is called in Italiam Stanka cavallo. The herb groweth in moist grondes/ as about Worms in the close that is hard by the water side beyond the bridge/ where as my servants gathered an hole wallat full at one tyme. The herb is sometime two spans long in germany when it groweth by water sides. The leaves are not like the leaves of hisope as Matthiolus writeth/ but much bigger and longer/ and of an other colour that is more whitish green/ and not so blackish green as hisope is. About the edges of the leaves stand out little certain things like teth/ & namely about the ends of the leaves/ the flowers grow out of a long foot stalk/ in figure long/ in colour whitish/ with some piece purplish/ & within a little yellowish. The leaves grow wing-wise by coples' one against an other. The roots of it that groweth in Germany/ are not like it that Matthiolus setteth forth/ for they are more creeping in the ground along/ and out of these creeping roots springe out many little stalks/ ye may cut the creeping root into many pieces/ and every one of them will grow and bring forth stalks/ leaves and flowers. The hole herb is very bitter. The virtues and complexion of the Diet wood. THis herb is good for a dropsey/ for it purgeth water phlegm and choler strongly/ for two scruples will purge a meetly strong body. The herb bruised and laid to a wound as Matthiolus writeth/ healeth it very quickly and speedily. Of the wood called Guiacum. GViacum is otherwise called Lignum sanctum, that is holy wode. Some call it the Diet wood/ because they that keep a Diet for the French pox/ or any other disease hardly curable/ most commonly drink the broth of this wood. It groweth not in Europa but in Ind and in Taprobana and java/ and in diverse Islands of Ind. The learned men as Manardus and other of our time/ make three sorts of the Diet wood. The first kind is very big/ and in the mids/ in the in most part it appeareth black/ and without it is pale or reddish. The second kind is much less/ and the black within much less. The third kind which is properly called the holy wood/ is less than all the other/ and it is white both within and without/ and this is more smelling and biting then the other. These three sorts are not three diverse trees in kind/ but all one kind of tree/ but they differ in parts and age. The great massy part with so much black/ is the bull or body of the tre. The second kind are the bigger branches: the third kind is either a young tre/ or the small bonghes of the old tre. The best is it that is all white/ so that it be fresh and not ivyceles and withered. The second beneath that in goodness is it that is less/ and hath less black than the greatest. The vilest of all three is that/ which is greatest of all the other/ and hath most black in it. The best bark is that which is taken of the best wode. Guiacum is set out of diverse places/ as out of Callecute/ java: the learned sort hold that it is best that cometh out of East Ind/ because it is hot of subtle parts/ and hath much rosin in it. The virtues of Gratiola or herb Gratius. GViacum drieth up/ maketh fine and subtle/ melteth or resolveth/ scoureth away/ and provoketh sweat/ and by the reason of his rosin/ withstandeth putrefaction or rottenness of humores in the body. It is known that the broth of Guiacum is good for the French pox/ for the gout that is not deeply rooted/ for the diseases of the milt and liver. It is good for the dropsy when it is sodden in wine. The use of the broth is good for the jaundice and many other hardly curable diseases. There was a French man that contended in a little book/ that the powder of the Diet wood/ ought not and could not be sodden in wine/ at the lest in French wine. But I have given this medicine oft times sodden in Rhenish wine/ & have done therewith much good. Matthiolus teacheth how that must may be made with the powder of the wood/ and I have caused the powder to be sodden in Berewurt/ and it hath been drinkeable enough. But whether ye seth the powder of the diet wood in water or wine/ or in Berewurt/ or Alewurt/ ye must take heed that such herbs be sodden therewith/ as are good against the matter of the decease/ and comfort most the weikest and most diseased places: which can not be done without good knowledge of simple medicines. There are books enough to teach the manner of sething and dressing of the holy or diet wood: But I advise all men that will have any profit of this wode/ to axe council of some learned man/ for the herbs and the quantity of the same/ that shallbe sodden with the wode. There are divers Latin writers of the diet wode/ and how it should be used/ but I like none so well that I have red yet as Alphonsus Ferrus. I must give you warning of two errors that are committed in the drink and syrup made with the diet wode. the one is/ that some in England give the syrup after supper: The other is/ that one learned man maketh his common drink more full of herbs and medicines/ than he doth make his syrup: for when we give many medicines/ then we intend to alter much and change the humour. But when we intent to nourish at convenient and accustomed time/ then we put fewer medicines to the meat or drink/ least the number and unpleasantness of the medicines should hurt both the appetite digestion/ and mar the nourishment. Bitter and horrible things destroy the appetite/ and make the stomach to loath the meat and drink/ and it only nourisheth that is sweet and pleasant. The medicine that is taken before meat/ is drawn in first of the liver/ and goeth from thence to the places convenient. But it that is taken after meat/ marreth the meat/ and can not for the meat come to the convenient places whether it should come/ and oft goeth up to the head and troubleth it very sore. Of the herb one berry. FVchsius taught us that the herb that I call one berry/ to be Aconitum pardalianches/ and than he thought it had been so/ and if he had known a better/ he would have showed us it. But Matthiolus proveth that the herb which Fuchsius setteth forth for Aconito pardalianche/ is herba paris of the later writers. The herb that I call One berry/ hath a round stalk/ which is never above a span long/ and out of the mids thereof cometh out four leaves/ not unlike unto some plantain/ and in the top of the stalk about a round black berry come out other four small leaves/ and there in is sede in colour white. The root is full of small things/ like threads: This herb groweth plenteously in a wode beside Morpeth/ called Cottinge wood/ and in many other woods in England. The virtues of One berry out of Matthiolus. OUT of the berry of the herb called Paris/ the sede is gathered which is so far from hurting or poisoning/ that some by the drinking of the powder of that seed/ in the quantity of a dram/ for the space of twenty days/ that they that have been wasted/ and have been made half doubting by poison/ have well recovered again. Of great Pilletorye of Spain. depiction of plant THere are two herbs that are called in English Pilletory of Spain/ one whose root is occupied against the tooth ache/ and this groweth not in England. But there is an other herb that is called of English men also Pilletory of Spain. But for a difference I call this great Pilletory of Spain. It were best to call it after the Duche Maisterwurt. This Maisterwurt hath divers Latin names in Italy and in Germany/ For the Phisicianes of italy call it Imperatoriam, and the Duche Phisicianes call it Magistrantiam and Astericium, Ostericium, and Ostricium, The common people of high germany call it Meisterwurtz. I never hard that it grew wild in England/ saving about Morpeth in the North park there. The leaf is something like Angelica/ but that it is greater/ rougher & blacker/ the stalk is very long/ the flowers are whitish/ the sedes are not broad and flat like dill/ but long like unto siler mountain/ as far as I remember/ and as Matthiolus describeth his Imperatoriam. It hath black roots without and very sharp/ and biting in taste/ and a little bitter. The virtues and Properties of great Pilletorie of Spain. PIllitorie of Spain or Maisterwurt is hot at the least in the third degree. Maisterwurt driveth mightily away from the stomach/ guts & mother. Wherefore it is good for the colic/ and the gnawing of the stomach. It driveth down flowers/ and stirreth a man to make water. It is good for the tooth ache if the roots be sodden in tart wine/ and bathed therewith. The root drunken is good for the strangling of the mother. Maisterwurt helpeth barunes of women if it come of a cold cause. The roots chowed in the mouth/ bring much waterish phlegm from the brain. The powder of the root drunken oft with wine/ is a good remedy against cold diseases. Wherefore it is good for the palsy & the falling sickness/ & for them that are taken with numbness. Some write the half a spounful of the powder of this herb taken an hour before the fit will heal a quartan. It maketh one's breath smell well/ & strenghteth all the wits or senses. It is good for all pestilent diseases that go from one to another/ and against all poison and biting or stinging of venomous beasts. It helpeth them that are shortwinded. It openeth stoppings/ and is good for the dropsy/ and for them that have the disease of the milt. Of the herb called Kali. KAli as I do remember hath no name in English/ & although it be very plenteous in many places of England/ yet I never could meet with any man that knew it. But lest this herb should be without a name/ it may be called Saltwurt/ because it is salt in taste/ & Salalkali is made thereof/ it may be called also Glass weed/ because the ashes of it serve to make glass with. It may also be called Sea thirst/ because it is like thirst that groweth on the houses/ which is a kind of ayegrene/ when it cometh first out of the ground. I remember now that one English man called this herb Eestrige. It hath a read stalk/ and those things that answer/ for the leaves are like unto wheat/ but many parts longer and round/ in taste saltish/ and in colour green. The stalk of it is full of joints/ and not one far from another. The older that the herb is/ the longer are the leaves/ at the length grow out round knoppes/ wherein are very small sedes/ which the Larks in East Freselande eat in winter. depiction of plant KALY. The virtues of Kaly. I Have read no virtue that Kaly hath in physic/ but they that make glass use the ashes of it to make glasses of/ and of the broth of it is made a salt/ called Salt a kali. Of the two kinds of Lavender. LAuander is not written of/ by name in any old writer/ but in my judgement it is a kind of stechados/ and therefore I marvel much at Fuchsius and Matthiolus/ whereof the one writeth that it is Spica Germanica, and the other that it is Spica Italica, when as it differeth utterly in likeness from all the kinds of spica/ that any ancient author maketh mention of. Therefore it shall be better either to call it thin or long Stichas/ or after the common herbaries Lavandulam or Lavendulam, then Spicam Germanican, Anglican, Gallicam, Scoticam, Hispanicam, or Danicam, although it grow in all these countries. depiction of plant Lavendula. depiction of plant Lavendula minor. For an herb having in the top like an ear of corn/ called in Latin Spicam, ought not te be called straight way/ therefore when it groweth in germany Spica germanica, nether where it groweth in italy Spica Italica, nether Spica in any spece/ because the Barbarus writers call it Spicam. There are two kinds of Lavender/ one kind only called Lavender/ and this is the less kind/ and the greater and fairer kind is called Lavender spike. Learned men do judge not without a cause/ that it was first called Lavenda, Lavanda, or Lavendula, a Lavande/ of washing/ because wise men found by experience that it was good to wash men's heads with/ which had any deceses there in/ or weiknes that come of a cold cause. These two kinds of Lavender are so well known in all countries that I have been in/ that I think that it were but lost labour to describe them that are so well known all ready/ therefore I will proceed to the virtues of them. The virtues of Lavender or Lavender spike. BOth these kinds of Lavender as some of the italians do write/ be hot and dry fully in the second degree/ and in the beginning of the third. But I do not judge by experience and by learning/ that they are perfectly hot in the third degree/ which they partly themselves do grant when they say/ Olio de spigo odoris adeò acerrimi est, ut caetera odoramenta superet. Wherefore it can not be true that the two kinds of Lavender do not differ much in strength from all the kinds of Spikenard/ namely when as beside this/ alleged Galene in the eight book of Simple medicines/ granteth that Spikenard is hot only in the first degree/ and dry in the second fully. They grant also that these kinds of Lavender are good for all diseases of the brain that come of a cold cause/ also for cramps and palsyes that they strengthen the stomach/ and open the liver that is stopped/ and the stopped milt also/ & bring down flowers and seconds/ which properties rather belong unto Stechas then unto any kind of Spiknarde/ which ye shall well see if ye need the properties of Stechas/ and of the kinds of Nardus/ and compare them both together. Wherefore it ought not by and by to be received as the answer of Apollo/ whatsoever the italians and other country men do write/ except it can be proved by authority or good reason. The Germans do write that the flowers of Lavender sodden in wine and drunken/ do make one avoid water well. The same (as they writ) drunken three or four days together/ bring down flowers and seconds/ they drive wind away/ and are good for the jaundice. The flowers of Lavender taken with Cinnamon cloves/ Mace grains/ Cubebes/ and the leaves of rosemary/ do not only help the above named diseases more strongly/ but also further help the palsy/ and the tooth ache. The water of both the Lavanders is good to wash the akinge head with/ if the cause be cold/ and so it helpeth the dusines of the head. The broth of the flowers of both the kinds/ and the water also/ be good for membres that are numb or taken/ if they be oft bathed and washed therewith. I judge that the flowers of Lavender quilted in a cap and daily worn/ be good for all diseases of the head that come of a cold cause/ and that they comfort the brain very well/ namely if it have any distemperature that cometh of cold an moistness. Of Nutmegs and Mace. THE mace groweth about the Nutmeg/ and is the flower/ and at the first it is spread abroad like a wild rose with five leaves/ and the nut appeareth in the mids/ and afterward closeth itself roundabout the Nutmeg. The Nutmegs grow in great plenty in an Island of Ind/ called Badon/ The trees have leaves like peach leaves/ but shorter and narrower. The herb Nutmeg is enclosed in an hard shelle as a hazel nut is. And the same have I seen very well cundited in sugar/ it was condited whilse it was green/ as young walnuts are condited hole before the shells way hard/ and they are very pleasant in eating and comfortable for the stomach. The Nutmeg is called in Barbarous Latin Nux muscata, in Latin Nux myristica, and of some in Greek Moscocarydion, or Mescoryon. The virtues of Nutmegs and Mace. THE best Nutmegs are read/ fat & heavy/ the worst are light black & dry/ The Nutmegs are hot & dry in the end of the second degree: but some hold that they are hot in the third degree/ but not perfectly. The Nutmeg stoppeth the belly/ and maketh one's breath savour well/ and taketh away fumes of the stomach. It digesteth meat/ & driveth wind away and comforteth the stomach and the liver/ and is good for the frekles in the face and the ringworm. It minisheth the greatness of the milt/ and softeneth the impostumes of the liver. It is also good for the cold diseases of the mother. The arabians hold that Nutmegs and Cloves be of one nature/ but I hold that the Cloves are much hotter and of more subtle parts then the Nutmeg is. Some use to take fresh Nutmegs/ and to bruise them and heat them in a pan and then to press them/ and than cometh out a salt olishe thing like wax/ which some call oil of Nutmegs. This oil is precious/ for it is very good for all cold diseases of the sinews and joint/ and of diverse other places also/ It is also profitable for cold husbands that would fain have children/ but not for lecherous bores and bulls. Mace is dry in the first degree/ and it is much binding and very spicy. But the arabians hold/ and namely Averroes/ that Mace hath nether heat nor cold that can be spied. But if he mean of the Mace that groweth upon the Nutmeg/ his saying is plain false/ for it is hot in the second degree at the least/ as a man may well judge by his taste. And I think that in property it agreeth much with the Nutmeg. Of the herb called in English Alecoste or cost mary. depiction of plant Menta graeca. THE herb which is called in English cost/ Alecoste/ or Costmarye/ is called in Barbarous Latin Menta Romana, or Menta Saracenica, or Saliva Romana. The leaf of the herb is some thing like betony/ but it is more white/ and a great deal bigger/ and it hath a very strong savour/ and in taste bitter/ the stalk is sometime almost a cubit long and longer/ and in the top thereof are some yellow knoppes/ not much unlike the knoppes of Tansey. It groweth only in gardens in England/ and in no place else as far as I know. The virtues of cost mary out of Matthiolus. THE juice of the herb drunken/ killeth both small and great worms in the belly. It is good for a cold mother. It strenghteneth the stomach/ whether it be drunken or laid to/ and stayeth vomiting. The herb of his nature whether it be strawed/ or else a perfume be made thereof/ driveth away serpents/ and is good against their poisones/ and it helpeth stoppings and strenghteneth the head. Of the herb called Devils bite. Morsus diaboli. depiction of plant depiction of plant THE devils bite is called in common Latin Morsus diaboli, & succisa. The superstitious people hath believed that the devil knowing the virtues of this herb/ bite a piece of the root away/ and therefore call it devils bite. It may be called also/ of biten/ because a piece of the root is biten of. The devils bite groweth abroad in untilled places/ as in meadows and plain fields/ The leaves are something like scabius leaves/ but blacker and without the little things like fine threads that the leaves of scabius hang on. It is also much like the leaves of that kind of plantain/ which is called of some Ribwort/ but the leaves are broader. The stalk is about two cubits high/ The flower is something purple/ the roots have many tenrils or fringes/ growing out of it/ and one piece of the root is biten away/ whereof it hath the name. The virtues of Ofbiten. THE later writers say that if Ofbiten be laid to green after the manner of an emplaster to a carbuncle or pestilent sore/ will ripe/ and surely heal the same/ or the wine that it is sodden in/ will do thesame. The rote useth to be eaten by itself/ and also the broth of it/ if it be sod in wine/ is also good for the pain of the mother/ and to save a man from the pestilent air. It is very bitter in taste/ wherefore a man may gather that it is hot and of a dry complexion/ some use now a days to break and dissolve clustered blood that is run together in lumps with it. Some use to give the powder into the body to kill worms/ and to lay the herb unto bruised places/ or bitten places/ or to such places that be hurt by falling. Of the fruits called Mirobalanes. MIrobalanus is a Greek word/ and answereth not justly in name unto these fruits that I now write of/ For Mirobalanus soundeth a spicy or well smelling ackorne/ when as these fruits are like plumbs and not acorns. The arabians make five kinds of Mirobalanus as they all do grant. Mesue writeth that some have judged that yellow Mirobalanes and indians/ and the Chebuli/ are the fruits of one tre. But beside that it is not like to be true/ because they have diverse and differing qualities/ It is late tried by experience of travelers in to Ind/ that they are fruits of diverse sundry trees. The election and choice of the Mirobalanes with certain martes by the way whereby one may be known from an other. depiction of plant INDI. GOod yellow Mirobalanes are known by these fine properties. The yellow are of a marvelous great yellow colour/ turning something to green heavy/ because they are great and thick with much flesh/ and when they are broken/ there is gum found in them. The stone is very little. The Kebuli are something black turning toward redness/ and the greater that they are/ the better they be. They have much flesh/ and therefore are so heavy/ that when they are put in the water/ they sink for heaviness. The indians are black great/ and have much flesh/ and are heavy and are without stones. The Emblikes are best that are great and have much flesh/ heavy/ and have small stones. The best Belerici are great and have much and thick flesh upon them and are heavy. depiction of plant CITRINI. THE Mirobalanes are gentle purging medicines/ for they make not a man weike after their purging/ but rather strengthen the stomach and other inward parts and help them/ ye they are good for the hole body in so much that some writ that the use of them keepeth a man young and maketh a good colour/ and make the breath sweet/ & maketh thy sweet not to be to rank in smell. They make a man merry and drive sadness away. They comfort the liver and are good against the trembling of the heart. They are good for the emrodes and quench the heat of choler. The virtues of the Citron or yellow Mirobalanes. THis are the most excellent qualities of yellow Mirobalanes/ they purge choler/ and are good for them that are of hot complexions. If they be steeped and rubbed in Veriuce made of grapes or rose water/ or in the juice of Fenel/ they scour the eyes and drive away the heat of them. The powder of them finely beaten/ stoppeth the dropping out of the water of the eyes/ and fasten louse eyes/ that are weikned with to much moisture. If they be menged with mastic they will heal sores. These may be taken in gross powder from ij. ʒ to v. and in the infuse from v. ʒ unto xx. depiction of plant CHEBULI. The virtues of Kebuli. KEBULI purge phlegm/ increase a man's reason and understanding/ and help the memory/ and stop the rheum/ they scour the stomach and strengthen/ it quickeneth the eye sight and other senses/ and are good for the dropsy and old agues. The ponder of the indians and the Kebuli may be taken from ij. ʒ to iiij. ʒ/ & the broth of the infusion of them may be taken from iiij. ʒ unto xx. but he that taketh them/ must not take them whiles the North wind bloweth/ and must eat no fish. The sodden broth of these do stop more than the infusion/ which is only pressed out without sethinge. Of the black Mirobalanes. THE black Mirobalanes purge out Melancholy & choler/ they are good for trembling/ sadness/ the lepre/ the quartain/ & such other deceases as rise of melancholy. They are also good to make the colour of the skin lively. The hurts of the Mirobalanes and help of the same. AND because all these kinds of Mirobalanes do lightly stop the veins and liver and other places/ & cleave unto the films of the stomach/ and guts/ and hurt them with their wringkles/ they are not to be given unto them that are much given unto stopping/ but unto other they may be given with those medicines or herbs that drive urine/ or they may be infused in whey/ and so taken/ or in the juice of fumitory/ or with Rhubarb/ or Agarike/ or Spiknarde. If they be steeped and rubbed in rose oil/ or the oil of sweet Almonds/ or violet oil/ or with sweet Almonds/ or sweet rasines or broken with their streyninge/ or honey/ or taken with Cassia/ Manna/ tamarinds/ or with the conserve of Violettes/ or if they be taken with any other softening medicine/ they soften the stomach and the guts/ that is purge gently and slide thorough as sliperye and cleave no more to the guts/ neither make any wrinkles there. The virtues of Emblike Mirobalanes. THE Emblikes are something cold and dry in the first degree/ they scour the stomach of rotten phlegm/ and they strengthen it and the brain/ the sinews/ the heart/ the liver/ and other louse parts by binding them together again/ and therefore they are good for the trimblinge of the heart/ they steer up an appetite/ they stop vomiting/ they stay and hold down madness/ they increase or at the least help the reasonable pour of the soul. They slake the notable heat of the bowels and the thirst that cometh thereof. The measure of taking of them is from one aureo/ that is a dram/ and the viij. part of a dram until three/ in the infuse they are taken from iij. aureis until six. Of bellerick Mirobalanes. BEllerick Mirobalanes are cold in the first degree/ and dry in the second. Their chief properties are to comfort and to strengthen. Auerrois writeth that they purge choler. The same quantity is to be taken of these that is taken of Emblike Mirobalanes. Of the Fen shrub or bush called Gall. THere is a short bush that groweth in the Fen/ which is called in Duche in netherlands/ Gagel/ in Cambridge shire Gall/ in Summerset shire Goul or Golle/ of the Apothecaries in England and low Duchlande/ Mirtillus/ although it be no kind of Myrtus/ but only because the leaves are well smelling and are like unto the leaves of wild Myrtus/ saving that they are shorter and rounder/ and blunter at the end. As far as I can perceive/ our Apothecaries have used the leaves of this bush/ for the leaves of the right Myrtus. But they err/ for the properties are not all one. For the gall is hot in the end of the second degree/ and farther it is so very well smelling and marvelous bitter/ and notable astringent or binding. But Galene writing of the right Myrtus/ saith it is made of contrary substances/ but the cold earthly property overcometh the other. It hath also a subtle property that is hot/ by reason whereof it drieth. Wherefore the one can not be well used without error/ for the other although they agree in many points. The Westfalians use to put the leaves/ buds and flowers of Gall (for it hath no fruit as the Myrtus hath) into bear/ and it maketh it have both a good taste and a good smell/ and for a need it will serve in the stead of hops. But I would advise that either hops should be mixed with it/ or else rosemary/ Calamint or Chamepitis called Groundpine/ or such other like opening herbs or sedes/ as are the sedes of Fenel/ Caroway/ or Anise. It is tried by experience that it is good to be put in bear/ both me and by diverse other in Summersetshyre. Of the nut of Ind. depiction of plant Nux Indica. THE nut of Ind is called in Latin Nux Indica/ it is so big as a good half pint in receiving of Licore/ in figure like a Melon/ but sharper at the ends/ and especial at the one end. The outer bark is of a read colour turning towards black/ something hard tough/ with a wollise nature within/ which groweth hard together/ and when it is hard rubbed with hands/ it is like hears/ under that is a hard shell as hard as horn/ thresquare. It hath a kernel within it of the bigness of a goose egg/ hollow within/ the substance thereof is fat of the thickness of half a fig of a sweet taste/ and like butter. They are most commended that have much of a Liquor within them like water/ for by that it is known that they are new and fresh. The virtues and complexion of the nut of Ind. THE nut of Ind is hot in the second degree as the italians write/ and moist in the first. But in them that I have tasted/ I have found no such heat/ if it be eaten/ although it engender not an hurtful juice/ yet they trouble the stomach something. It increaseth sede/ and steereth men to the work of procreation of children. The oil that is pressed out of the Indian nut/ is good for the pain of the emrodes/ specially menged with the oil of peaches. The same is good for the ache of the knees and sciatica/ if they be anointed therewith/ and it killeth worms. Of the nut called the vomiting nut/ and of the nut of Methel. THE vomiting nut and the Methel are not in all points unlike. But yet is there great difference between them. Matthiolus writeth that the flat nuts like little cheses which have been sold hitherto: for vomiting nuts are nuts methel/ and they that have been hitherto used for methel nuts/ are the right nuces vomicae, that is vomit nuts. And for his proof he allegeth Serapion/ and he maketh this difference/ that the right vomike nuts have little knoppes upon them like eyes/ and that the methel nuts have dounye or rough skin all over them. Out of the arabians/ and chefelye out of Serapio/ and them that he citeth. SErapio maketh two chapters of Nux Methel, and of Nux Mechil, and a several chapter of the fruit called Nux vomica, where they must be three several things and not one simple: first I will rehearse what he writeth of the vomike nut. Of the Vomike nut. LEum alcey or alke/ is named in Latin Nux vomica. This nut either alone or with other medicines as salt/ maketh a man vomit strongly/ for salt furthereth parbreaking/ and steereth the humores/ and maketh them more easily go forth by casting or vomiting. The quantity of them to be taken is two drams. Take twenty drams of the dry tops or leaves of Dill/ and seth them in a wine pint of water until the half be sodden away/ and put some honey to it/ and let the medicine be made of honey/ and afterward let it be menged with this sodden water and drunken/ and than it maketh a man vomit easily/ and it loseth the belly sometime. One Abraham in Serapio writeth thus. There is a nut whose colour is between grayshe/ bluish/ and whitish/ greater than a hazel nut/ and there are knobs in it/ and if ye take a dram of the powder of the bark of it that is sifted with two great drams of the powder of Dill or Fenel sede/ and put unto it a sufficient quantity of honey/ and drink it with warm water/ it will make a man vomit choler and t●eme/ and it will make some go to the stole also. Here in this text I find nothing that misliketh me/ saving that this Abraham giveth but one dram/ when as other give two drams/ and that he compareth it unto a hazel nut/ when as there is no likeness at all between an hazel nut and the vomiting nut so far as I have read or seen by experience. Of the nut Methil out of the 365. Chapter of Serapio De temperamentis. LEum Methel/ that is nut Methel/ is a fruit like unto the vomiting nut/ and the seed of it is like unto the sede of a Citron/ Haese writeth in the same chapter that the nut Methel is like unto the vomike nut/ and that the seed of it is like unto the sede of Mandragora/ & that the bark of it is rough and the taste of it is delectable and fatty or unctuous/ & that it is cold in the fourth degree/ and that if one kirat of it be given in wine/ it maketh a man wonderfully drunken/ and a kirat is the weight of four barley corns. But if it be given in the quantity of two drams and two seven parts of a dram/ it will kill a man forth without any delay. Rasis being alleged in the same chapter saith/ that it maketh unsensible/ and peradventure killeth and stoppeth and stauncheth/ and make a man vomit/ and an other of the Arabianes saith that five drams of the Methel nut make one drunken very sore/ if there be much of it given/ it killeth. And therefore he that taketh of it/ aught to take in hot butter/ and to set his outward parts in warm water/ & be so ordered that he may vomit enough/ and let him be so cured as he that hath taken Mandragoram. Rasis also in his Simples writeth that the Methel maketh numb or unsensible/ and bringeth sometime destruction/ and engendereth drunkenness/ lothsomeness and vomiting. Out of Auicenna. THE Nux methel is poison/ and maketh numb or unfelable/ it is like unto a vomike nut/ and the seed of it is like the seed of a Citron/ it maketh unfelable the head/ and maketh forgetfulness/ and is ill for the brain/ the quantity of a davich maketh a man drunken/ & the poison of it killeth in one day. Thus much have I translated out of the arabians/ and so much as I could find in any Arabian/ that is translated into Latin/ of all that I can gather of these arabians/ the nut Methel steereth a man to vomit much more than Nux vomica doth/ and that in less quantity/ wherefore the working of Nux Methel, deserveth more the name of the vomiting nut/ then the commonly called nut vomike doth. But saying that it is out of all doubt/ that they are very perilous/ I will advise all my friends to use nether of both in their bodies/ but to use them to catch fish/ birds/ and some little beasts therewith: and it were best to take out the stomach of such as are taken straight way/ and not to suffer them to live after they be dosyed or made drunken. Of the fruit called Anacardium. ANacardium may be called in English heart nut/ of the likeness that it hath with an heart/ for it is like a birds heart in proportion and in colour also. It groweth in Sicilia in the hot hills/ which burn continually under the ground. This heart nut is hot and dry in the fourth degree/ and is very good for the marring or hurting of the memory and senses/ & is good for all diseases of the brain that come of cold and moistness. It is good against losing of the sinews/ and it removeth forgetfulness and helpeth the memory/ half a dram of it if it be received/ is good for the memory/ and the inward part is best/ but because it is extremely hot/ it is deadly ieperdous for young men/ and for them that be of a choleric or hot complexion: therefore it ought not to be given unto them/ and it ought only to be given to them that have the palsy/ or are afraid of the palsy. Of Adder's tongue. O Phyoglosson is called in Latin Lingua serpentina, in English Adders tongue/ of some other Adder's grass/ though unproperly. Adder's tongue hath one fat leaf a finger long like water plantain/ but much narrower/ for the quantity of it out of the lowest part/ whereof there riseth a little stalk which hath a long tongue upon it/ not utterly unlike a serpent's tongue/ whereof it hath the name. It groweth in moist and meadows in the end of April/ and in the beginning of May and shortly fadeth away. depiction of plant Ophioglosson. The virtues of Adder's tongue. THis is a wound herb/ and healeth wounds which are almost uncurable/ or at the least wonderfully hard to be healed. The nature of it is also to drive away great swellings/ and to prevent extreme inflammationes/ some use to bruise it with swines grese/ and so keep it and lay it upon swellings. But I council rather to seth it when it is green with salad oil/ and to keep it/ and than will it be good both for swellings and wounds also. This herb is very hot and dry. Of the herb called Lunarye. THere are two kinds of herbs which are called Lunaria/ the one is called Lunaria mayor, which is an high herb and hath a great flower/ in the which is the figure of a half moan/ the leaf is something long and sharp at the point/ some call this herb Shawbubbe. But although I have had it oft in my garden/ I never tried any virtue that it hath. The less Lunarye is a very well favoured herb which hath leaves growing one against an other/ which are also much like a half moan/ whereof it seemeth to have the name/ and hath sedes in the top like the sedes of oak of jerusalem/ growing together after the manner of a cluster of grapes/ wherefore the Duche men about Colon/ call it Meydruben. It is found in the end of May/ and in the month of june/ and soon after fadeth away. depiction of plant Lunaria. The virtues of Lunarye. THE new writers say that the less Lunarye which may be called well in English Cluster lunary/ or Cluster Mounwurte/ is very good for wounds/ and to stop both the red flowers of women and the white issue also. It is reckoned to be of a cold and dry nature. The italians writ that it is excellently good to heal both outward wounds and burstings and also inward. It is good for bursting of children/ and the powder is good for the bloody flux/ it stoppeth also both the bloody and white issue of women. Of herb two pence. depiction of plant Nummularia. MAtthiolus nameth also Lunariam minorem, the herb that other call Nummulariam, and the Duche men Schlangenkraut/ and I have named it herb two pence. It groweth by hedge sides/ and in shadow ditches/ and in such hollow dark places as water hath been in winter/ and are dried up in the beginning of the Summer. It rinneth along by the ground with small branches where one/ grow small round leaves/ like pennies/ by coples' one against an other/ whereupon it hath the name. It hath yellow flowers in the month of May. The virtues of herb two pennies. THE nature of this herb is to bind and to dry. This herb as the later writers say/ that they have tried if it be sodden with wine and honey/ is good to heal the exulceration or the sore of the lungs that have the skin worm of them. It is also good for the cough and for them that are shortwinded/ and it is good for the cough that young children have called in right English/ The kindt cough: for kindt a child in Duche/ and in French/ English/ The chingcough. Some use to seth the herb in water with sugar for the same purpose. The same is good for the bloody flux/ and for overmuch flowing of woman's humores. The Germans hold steadfastly that this herb will heal very sore wounds/ and hard otherwise to be healed. They first will that the herb should be sodden in wine/ and that the wound should be washed with the wine/ and that the herbs should be afterward laid to. Some give the same virtue unto the distilled water. But I reckon no. The Germans hold also that it is found by experience/ that the serpents that are wounded/ bite this herb and are healed thereby. And an Apothecary of germany told me/ that if an horse do halt/ because he is strick in the quick/ if the nail be plucked out/ and the juice of the herb/ or the herb chowed in a man's mouth/ be put into the hole/ will sooner than a man can believe heal the horse hoof/ so that he shall not be hindered of his journey thereby. Of the herb called Pulmonaria. depiction of plant Pulmonaria. THere are two kinds of Pulmonaria/ the one is a ragged thick moss that groweth upon oak trees/ and hath certain spots upon it like as some lungs hath/ whereupon it seemeth to have the name in Latin/ if it be not named in English already Lungwurt/ it may be named now so/ or rather Lungmosse. The virtues of Lungwurte. LVngwurte of the oak drieth and bindeth. It joineth together and healeth green wounds/ and specially them of the lungs. It is also good for the outrageous outflowinge of woman's flowers/ and for spitting of blood/ and against great laxes that endure long/ and for the bloody flux. This herb is good for the cough/ shortwindines/ and other diseases of the lungs/ ye may dress it thus: Take one Lungwurt half an ounce of Anis sede/ of Fenel sede/ of liquors/ of each two drams/ one dram of the lungs of a fox/ half a dram of Enula campana/ beat them all into fine powder/ and put as much sugar to them as all the powders/ menged do weigh/ and take every morning and eveneninge a spoundfull of this powder. Some that keep cattle/ give this herb in powder with salt against the shortwindives of beasts. I think it were good to give it also unto a horse that hath bloody gear coming out of his lungs by the nose thrills or mouth. Matthiolus calleth the herb which I have judged most like unto Baccharis of all herbs that ever I saw/ and is called in English Sage of jerusalem/ Pulmonariam also/ as other before him have done/ by the reason of the white spots that are in the leaves/ being like unto such as are on the lungs. He saith that it is excellently good for vomiting out of blood out of the mouth/ that cometh from the lungs most specially. seethe the flowers and leaves in a sufficient quantity of water/ until the half be sodden away/ then put sugar to it and drink it. Ye may beat the herb and flowers/ and take the juice purified with half as much sugar. The same is good for divers diseases of the lungs/ as the italians have left in their writings. Of Throw wax. THere is an herb with a leaf like a pease and a yellow flower/ and a top afterward full of little dunnishe black sedes/ which is called in Latin Perfoliata, because the stalk goeth thorough every leaf. I have seen this herb growing in great plenty in a corn field on the northside of the city of Worms in germany/ and in no less quantity in in Somersetshire/ between Summerton and Marlock. It appeareth not with the seed until the corn be almost ripe/ and when it is a cold year/ much after the carrying in of corn. I have not seen it in Italy/ neither have I heard any English name of it/ saving for lack of other I name it Throw wax. depiction of plant Perfoliata. The virtues of Throw wax. THrow wax is a little bitter and binding/ wherefore it is a little warm and dry. The hole herb is very meet to heal both inward and outward wounds/ sores and burstings/ for it joineth together. Above all other things it is most commended for healing of burstings and brokenness of children. It is also good for the going out of the navel and the great gut/ ye may use both the seed and leaves of this herb. Of Mouse ear. MOuse ear is called of some writers in Latin Pilosella, of other Auricula muris, but yet is it not Myosotis, that is/ auricula muris of the old writers/ as an English writer hath of late taught in his herbal. It creepeth upon the ground with hoary or rough leaves like unto a mouse ear. The flowers are yellow/ but the rote is very small. There is an other kind that groweth up righter with a purple flower/ and whiter/ and more hoary leaves/ and longer than the otger hath. Matthiolus calleth this Pilosellam maiorem, but Fuchsius calleth it Pilosellam minorem. depiction of plant Pilosella. The virtues of Mouse ear out of the later writers. THE kinds of Mousear are hot and dry/ for they have a binding virtue joined with some heat. By reason whereof they are both very good to clang and join wounds together/ & to heal them/ for men hold that the powder of the herb is exceeding good to glue wounds together. Some use to give the juice of this common Mousear to hinder the cold of a quartan ague. The same is good to harden iron with/ or to make steel harder. The common Phisiciones in Germany gather the root of this herb in may/ and dry it and give it to them that are bursten or broken. Matthiolus writeth that this herb is so sore binding/ that the shepherds knowing that property/ will not suffer there sheep feed long there/ where as the herb groweth in plenty. It bindeth the sheeps bellies so sore/ that it killeth many. Whereupon as the same man writeth the Phisicianes hath learned that it is good for bloody flixes/ the great scouring of the mother/ for wounds both outward and inward for common flixes/ and vomiting of choler/ and spitting of blood/ and bursting/ and all kinds of breaking/ and specially for the breaking of the brain pan. Of Winter green. depiction of plant Limonium Fuchsij. PIrola hath the name in Latin of the likeness that the leaf hath with a Pere tre. I have not seen it in England/ and therefore can give no English name for it/ but I have seen it oft in Germany/ where as it is called winter green/ because the leaves bide green all winter/ which name we must use in England until we can find one of our own. Winter green hath seven or eight or more leaves growing together like unto Pere trees leaves/ which leaves are not longer than the beat leaves are/ and therefore can not be Limonium. The stalk is long and small/ and in the top of it are flowers growing/ which are pleasant to look to/ much like the flowers of Lilium convallium, & after the flowers are gone/ there appeareth read sedes/ which are very astringent and binding. The herb groweth in moist places under bushes. The virtues of Winter green. THis herb is very binding and dry/ wherefore the stone cutters and other surgeons use it much/ and no marvel/ for it healeth wonderfully in short space green wounds. The surgiones of Germany use to make a wound drink for inward wounds of this herb Lady's mantle/ acrimony/ Sanicle/ and herb two pence/ which hath been tried to have done good many times for inward wounds. The leaves and the seed both are good for bloody flixes. Some take the powder of this herb/ and sprinkle it upon sores with great profit. Of Self heal. depiction of plant Prunella. self-heal is called of some of the Germans evelfavoredly Prunella/ when as it ought to be called Brunella/ that is Brounwurt/ of the brown colour that the herb hath in the top after the purple flower be gone/ and therefore the unlearned people of Germanye call it Braunellen & not Praunellen. And that this herb ought to be named rather Brunella then Prunella/ the Duche rhyme of Hieronymus Brunswike beareth witness in these words following: Braunel so been ich genant/ Ein brawn blum ist mir bekant. self-heal hath a stalk in the mids full of wrinkles/ fat and rough/ the leaves are like the leaves of Basil green of colour/ and sharp toward the ends. It hath tops like ears in the height of the stalks much like the herb which we call Lavender. It hath a small root full of little tenrils like threads/ the ear hath first in it purple flowers and afterward brown little leaves where the flowers were/ and the flowers that were purple before when they said/ wax done in colour. The virtues of Self heal. self-heal is good to heal green wounds/ both such as are without and also within. The broth of Self heal/ or as some writ/ the water well distilled in balneo Mariae, is good for both outward and inward sores: other hold that the same is good for the head ache that cometh of a cold cause/ and to scour wounds. The same is good for the burning of the throat/ for the exulceration or sores of the mouth and jaws/ if a man make gargoyle of it with a little roset honey. The flowers or leaves sodden in wine or honey/ be good for above named disease of the mouth and jaws. Of Arsmert otherwise called Sulerage. depiction of plant Persicaria. THere are two kinds of Arsmert or more/ one kind is that it is taken of some to be Piper aquaticum, of others Crateogonum. The other is it which hath the black spot in it/ and some write of an other that is not worthy to be called Arsmerte/ because it is so cold that it can not do the thing whereof it should have his name. This herb is called Persicaria, because it hath leaves like a Peche tre. It groweth most commonly in moist places. The virtues of the common Arsmerte. ARsmert is a very hot herb/ and better to be taken without then within/ for it can not be taken within without great jeopardy. Arsmert being broken/ or the juice that is pressed out/ is very good for rotten wounds doth of man and beast/ if they be washen oft with the juice/ women that would have there flesh free from flies and maggottes/ lay it often upon their flesh/ for it driveth flees away and hindereth maggottes to breed. This thing is proved by sure experience/ if ye gather this when it hath dew upon it/ and straw the chamber with it/ and afterswepe the dust and the herb out together/ it killeth flees. Of the bush and fruit called Ribs. depiction of plant Ribs. Ribs is a little bush and hath leaves like a vine/ and in the tops of the bush are red berries in clusters/ in taste at the first something sour/ but pleasant enough when they are fully ripe. I have seen them growing in gardens in England/ and also by a water's side at Clover in Somerset shire in the possession of master Horner. The virtues of the common Ribs. THE juice and syrup of Ribs/ be good for hot agues and against hot flixes and vomiting of choler. They stop laxes/ provoke appetite/ and quench thirst. Ye may two ways keep Ribs/ either in there own juice and verges/ or else dried in the sun and so kept. Ribs in all points hath the virtue of Barbenes. Of the noble root called Rhubarb. depiction of plant Rabarbarum. RVbarbe is called of some Rhabarbarum/ of others Reubarbarum/ and there are three sorts of Rhubarb/ whereof one cometh out of Ind/ and it is called Ravetsceni of the Arabical writers/ and an other kind is called Raved turchicum or Reuturchicum/ or Rha turchicum. The best Rhubarb is that/ that we call Ravetsceni that cometh out of Ind/ and because it groweth in Tanguth/ that is in Sinarum regione/ it is called of the better Latinistes Rha siniticum, or sinicum, or Rha Indicum. This cometh from Tanguth throw the land Cataia into the land of the Perses/ whereof the Sophia is the ruler/ and from thence it is sent to Egypt/ and so to Italy. The second sort in goodness is it that is called in Latin Rhabarbarum, and it cometh of the country/ whose inhabitors are called Troglodytae, that is dwellers in holes dens and caves/ in the highest places of Ethiopia/ and this is the worst of the three. That sort that is called Rha turcicum/ is thought to be of some new writer's Rheon ponticum of Dioscorides and other old writers. But I can not consent unto them/ for Mesue maketh his kinds or sorts of Ravet to purge. But who can show me any kind of Rheon ponticum/ that purgeth? none I trow/ for all that they say that they have proved it/ therefore it followeth not that although that Pontus is now under the Turk/ that therefore that Ravet turcicum of Mesue is Rha ponticum of Dioscorides & Galene/ for it may have the name turcicum of an other cause/ then because Pontus is under the Turk/ for there are other places under the Turk/ where as Ravet turcicum may grow beside Pontus. It shallbe an easy matter to any man that hath leisure to answer Marinus the Italian in this matter/ where he goeth about to prove that Ravet turcicum is Rha ponticum. The best Rhubarb of Ind is it that is fresh/ something black/ and turning to redness rare or spoungius yet heavy withal/ and if it be broken/ it looketh something reddish/ and something bluish/ and if it be steeped in liquore/ it dieth it yellow like Saffron. The inhabitors of the country/ where as it groweth/ use to step it five days in water/ and let the water dry up/ and than make trociskes of the ground thereof/ which they sell to kings and princes/ and then send Rhubarb unto us which hath been steeped/ and lost his strength for true Rhubarb/ but Mesue saith that such Rhubarb/ and it that is so marred/ is more binding and faster compact together then the other/ and the other dieth not like saffron/ or else very little. Ye may know what figure and form the leaves of Rhubarb have by the figure that is set forth here/ the which Andreas Marinus hath first of all set forth/ and if thou wilt know any more of the description/ read it that Marinus allegeth of joan Baptista/ Ramusius upon Mesue. The nature and virtues of Rhubarb out of Mesue. rhubarb is hot and dry in the second degree/ It hath a double substance/ one waterish/ and earthly giving unto it a binding substance/ and an other aerishe giving unto it the varite or lousnes of substance/ and there is a firishnes in it making it perfect. The which thing hath made it bitter by the working of it into the erthlynes. But the erthlynes is deep in and the fyrishnes is in the outward part. And these substances may be dissevered or parted by steping/ so that it that is hot and purging/ may be removed in the liquor/ and the erhtly and binding property abide behind. Rhubarb purgeth away choler and phlegm/ specially from the stomach and liver/ and it purgeth the blood/ and putteth away stoppings/ and the deceases that arise there upon/ the jaundice/ otherwise called the guelsoght/ that is the yellow sickness/ the dropsy/ the swelling of the milt/ it healeth rotten agues and long the pricking ache of the midriff toward the sides. This same stoppeth the spitting out of blood out of the lungs or of other places/ and it healeth places bruised by falling or by a stripe and inward bruisings and brekinge/ if one dram be taken with two greines of mummia/ and one greyne and half of madder saith Mesue/ but I would advise to take at the least half a dram or two scruples/ for this measure is a great deal to little/ it must be taken with tart or binding wine. The oil of Rhubarb is good for stripes/ brusinge/ and shrinking together of the muscles and sinews/ and for the ache of them. It is also a good medicine against the bloody flux/ if it be perched or toasted at the fire/ and be taken in with red wine/ or with the juice of Plantain. It is also good for agues that come about by courses. The infusion of one dram and an half/ or three drams is sufficient. It may be taken in powder from one dram to three as Mesue saith/ but I would not advise English men gladly to exceed two drams in powder/ and I would give four drams in the infusion rather than two and half in powder. Rhubarb may be preserved either in good honey or in flewurt called Psyllium or in Turpentine and wax/ or wax alone or in mile/ or millet called in Duche Hirß and in Latin Milium. Of Salsa perilla. SAlsa perilla is named of some also Sparta perilla. It is so like unto the root of Walwurte or Danwurte/ that Matthiolus thought it had been the very root of Danwurt/ but he durst not pronunce/ because he had not seen the leaves of the herb. The new writers give the same virtues unto Sparta perilla that they give unto Guaico and to the rote chine. Of Sanicle. depiction of plant depiction of plant depiction of plant Saniculae. SAnicle is much like unto Cinkefoly or fiveleved grass/ or unto the leaf of a vine/ but it is more deeply indented in five places/ the leaf of it is much like unto some kinds of Kingcuppe/ the rote is black without and white within/ full of little small tenrils like threads coming out of them/ the stalk is very small like unto a rishe/ sometime a cubit long. In the top of it grow many little flowers/ they depart away and leave behind them pretty little knoppes like little burrs. The root with the rest of the herb is astringent/ and something bitter. It groweth commonly in cold and shadoish woods and hedges. The virtues of Sanicle. THe leaves or rote of Sanicle sodden in meed & drunken/ scoureth away the diseases of the lungs/ & if it be sodden in water or wine & drunken/ it is good for inward burstings & wounds: if it be dressed after the same manner/ it is good for them that spit blood/ for the ache of the back/ for the gnawing of the belly/ & it stoppeth both the running out of blood of man or woman/ men use to put this herb commonly with other inward wonde herbs. It is good for all manner of burstings/ laid to after the manner of an emplaster/ some hold that it hath such a mighty poor in joining flesh together/ that if it be sodden with flesh it will make the flesh grow together in the pot whiles it is in sethinge. Of Sanders. are kinds of wood/ there are three kinds/ the white/ the red/ and the yellow/ the yellow is best smelling/ next unto that is the white/ and last of all is the red/ and the yellow in my judgement is hottest/ and next unto him is the white/ and of the third the red is the coldest. I do not agree with the arabians which hold that all the are cold/ saying that the yellow are at the lest hot in the first degree/ and the white is temperate/ and the read scarcely can be proved to be fully cold in the second degree. It is proved by often experience that all the three kinds are very good and profitable for man's principal parts/ and that the yellow are good for the trimblinge of the heart. Rede hinder the flowing of humores to the parts of the body/ and strengthen the gums and stomach. All kinds of are good for the trembling of the heart joined with an ague/ and the specially when they are laid upon the heart. Rede are good to be menged with cold herbs both for the gout and for the head ache of an hot cause/ and they stop humores that flow into the eyes. / namely read/ be good to be bruised and put into rose water/ and to foment there with any place diseased with heat/ and namely the liver. are good against itching/ if the place be bathed with the water that they are sodden in. Of Saxifrage. THE later writers call many herbs Saxifrages/ and especially such as break the stone/ for so doth this word Saxifrage signify. In England there is a wild kind of Daucus with long small leaves/ which groweth commonly in rank meadows/ that our countrymen call Saxifrage. About Colon there groweth in sandy grounds not far from the Rhine side a kind of Saxifrage/ which groweth very thick and creepeth by the ground in fashion and form like unto Time: the Coloners call it Klein steinbrech/ and I name it in English Time saxifrage. I have seen of this kind growing in Essexe by the seaside. There is an other in Germanye called weiss Steinbrech. This hath round leaves/ and is indented very little/ I might compare it to Ivy/ if it had a sharp point coming out of the mids/ the stalk is small/ and white flowers grow in the tops/ the rote is full of little knoppes like pearls. It groweth very commonly in germany and in diverse places of England to/ Fuchsius maketh the common Melilote Saxifragiam luteam/ that is yellow steinbrech. depiction of plant Saxifragia alba. The virtues of Saxifrage. THE name of Saxifrage teacheth the virtues of all the kinds thereof/ and declare the virtues of them. The white Saxifrage with the indented leaf is most commended for the breaking of the stone/ for if the leaves and roots be sodden in wine/ they make a man make water/ and purge the kidneys and drive out the stone both of the bladder and kidneys/ if it be not confirmed into much hardness before. The new writers hold also that if the roots be beaten into powder/ and made after the manner of an electuary and received/ is good for the same purpose. Some of them hold also/ that if in the month of May the herb be distilled in a double vessel after the manner of alcumistry/ that the water thereof after a man hath sitten in a warm bath drunken/ hath the same property to break the stone. Of the herb called Scabius. SCabiosa is named in English Scabius/ and there are diverse kinds of Scabius/ wherofsome are more & some are less/ most commonly according unto the nature of the ground where as they grow: it that groweth amongst the corn/ is rankest of all other. And this is the token whereby Scabius is known from the devils bite/ and diverse other like herbs unto it/ that if ye break the leaf insunder/ ther will come out small sinews like small here's which will not suffer the one half of the leaf to be pulled insunder one from an other to fall away to the ground of a long tyme. All the leaves of every kind of Scabius are indented or jagged/ and have blue flowers in the uppermost of the stalk. depiction of plant Scabiosa. The virtues of Scabius. SCabius which hath the name of Scabs/ is good against scabs and breaking out of the skin/ whether it be taken in with the broth wherein it is sodden in/ or if the sore places be anointed with the juice of it/ or with an ointment made of it. It is good for all the diseses of the breast & lungs/ for it purgeth the lungs & breast of all filthy matter. It is very good to be laid upon pestilent sores to ripe them/ & to break them/ in so much that if deadly sores be anointed & plastered therewith all/ in iij. hours as the later writers hold/ the same will vanish and go away/ or else at the lest be resolved or made ripe. Of the herb called Sene. depiction of plant Sena. THere hath been a great error of late years amongs many men/ which have thought that Sene had been a tre/ which groweth in many places of England. But the right Sene is an herb that groweth in Italy in Hetruria and Apulia/ and in Alexandria/ which is sown in April and in may every year/ and dieth before winter. It hath thick leaves and something fat like unto liquors. The stalk is a cubit high/ out of the which grow little branches that will be wounded about after the fashion of a withy. The flowers are yellow/ and in them run certain purple veins. After the flower cometh a seed vessel or a cod in form hooked or crooked in/ after the manner of a hook or a sycle. The sedes are in colour some thing grenishe in black/ much like the sedes of grapes. The tree that they call Seen in England/ is Colutea in Theophrast/ and hath cods much unlike the cods of Sene as ye may see by this description. The virtues of Sene out of Mesue. THE Sene cods are hot in the beginning of the second degree/ and dry in the first. And the leaves are hot in the first degree. Sene scoureth away and purgeth away gently melancholy and choler/ from the brain/ from the sensible parts/ from the heart/ lungs/ liver and milt/ and therefore it is good for diseases that springe of the humores of those places as are melancholic and old agues. And Sene maketh a man to be joyful and merry/ for it taketh away the humour and cause that maketh men sad without a cause/ and it maketh the body to look flourishing and lusty/ and openeth all stoppings of the inward parts of the body. The broth of the leaves of Sene and of Camomile/ do strengthen the brain and sinews if they be washed therewith. The same used any way that ye will/ strenghteneth the sight and the hearing. biting sharp things as ginger/ earth salted/ salt of Ind/ do further the working of Sene/ because it is very week and slow in working. Because it shall not hurt the stomach/ there must be menged withal such medicines as comfort the stomach and heart. Therefore it is ordained that it should be sodden with a good deal of the broth/ either of a cock or a hen/ or weather mutton or vele/ or else it ought to be infused in whey with a little spike of Ind/ and afterward when it hath sodden a long time softly upon the fire/ then it must be taken/ or else his powder is to be taken with sweet milk. It may be taken from ʒ. v. and an half to an ounce. It is found by experience after that Mesue wrote/ and proved by good reason/ that Sene is not so noysum for the stomach as Mesue writeth/ and that the leaves purge even as well as the cods. Howbeit this I can witness by experience in me/ other weak persons that Seen in working maketh a great rumbling/ gnawing and pain in the belly/ and that in other that be strong/ it maketh no such business. If there be any man or woman that is sore given to sadness and melancholy/ and be vexed with diseases arising thereupon/ it shall be good for him to put to every gallon of new bear before it be turned half an ounce or a little more or less as he can abide the taste of Sene. And it were better to put it into new wine/ when it is first pressed out of the grapes/ in the same quantity as I have told before/ in the like quantity of must answering to the quantity of bear. Some late writers hold that Sene will also purge phlegm well/ and that it will clear and clang the blood. Of spinach. spinach or spineth is an herb lately found & not long in use/ but it is so well known amongst all men in all countries/ that it needeth no description/ it is well known from other herbs by the indented or cut leaves/ pricky sede and waterish taste/ I know not wherefore it is good/ saving to fill the belly & louse it a little. depiction of plant spinach. But with those profits it hurteth the stomach and breedeth wind. It were best that they that would use it/ should seth it a little/ and press out between two trenchers a great part of his watery juice/ and so chop it and eat it with other herbs/ something hotter than it is itself. Of tamarinds. TAmarindus is as much to say as a Date of Ind/ yet is it more like a plume then a Date/ and therefore some false thieves menge bullesses and other kinds of tart plumbs with tamarinds/ and so beguile us christians/ but the falsehood may be known by the colour and exceeding sourness. This fruit is called of the later Greeks Oxyphaenix, that is sour Date. depiction of plant Tamarindus. The virtues of tamarinds out of Mesue. tamarinds scour away choler and hold down the rage of it/ and the heat of the blood. They are good for the burning of the liver and stomach. And they are a good medicine against thirst/ and for all kinds of burnings/ and for the jaundice or guelsought/ they stop vomiting/ and help hot and hasty agues that had need of a purgation. Mesue giveth in tamarinds from the quantity of two ounces unto five ounces. But the later writers give but one ounce of the flesh strained throw/ and it worketh well enough. I have purged some weike bodies with an half ounce. Because Cassia is very loathsome unto many/ it were good to menge half an ounce or six drams of Cassia with an half ounce of this/ for it will tempre with his sournes the lothsum sweetness of the Cassia. Because this fruit is cold and dry in the second degree/ and therefore hurteth a cold stomach/ the use is to menge with them a little spike of Ind or Mastic or Mace. It will work more strongly/ if ye put to it the juice of young hops or of fumitory. Mesue saith also that the noysumnes of tamarinds is taken away by menginge them with the juices of Fenel/ Percely/ endive or wild succory. The best tamarinds have sournes menged with a certain sweet taste/ blackish/ and are shining with certain tustes or thrommes/ like roots/ fresh and not dry. Of tormentil. depiction of plant Heptaphyllon. TOrmentilla is so called in Barbarous Latin/ and in English Tormentil/ of some it is called in Greek Heptaphyllon. It groweth in moors/ hethes and closes in all countries. tormentil hath seven leaves/ where as Cinkfoly hath but five/ and at the first sight is very like unto Cinkefoly. It hath a small stalk and very yellow flowers/ and hath a short knoppye root/ which in taste is binding. The virtues of tormentil. THE common herbaries have proved by experience that the herb called Bistorta/ that is Dock bistort and tormentil are altogether like in properties and virtues. They writ that they are good to heal old rinninge sores. If one part of the root of Tormentil be drunken in rain water/ and an other be bruised and laid to the kidneys with vinegar/ it will hold the birth that it fall not before the tyme. Tormentil is good for them that can not hold their water/ if it be taken with the juice of plantain. It will stop woman's flowers if they sit in the broth of it up to the navel/ the roots will do the same/ if they be small broken/ and knodden together with honey and spicknard/ and laid to the lowest part of the belly. The ponder of Tormentil sprinkled upon a wound/ stoppeth the blood that runneth out of it: the powder mingled with the white of an egg and fried upon a tile stone/ and by and by eaten/ stoppeth the vomiting of choler. The broth of the roots is a good remedy for all kinds of poison/ and some hold that if it be stilled in balneo Mariae, it will do the same/ many use to put the root in medicines that are made against the pestilence. The rote of Tormentil is good for the bloody flux/ and to heal green wounds that are without and within taken in with drink. Of the herb trinity. THere is an herb which I have seen growing in the alpes and in some gardens in Germany which is called of some writers Trinitaria, of other Hepatica nobilis, in dutch Edel leberkraut. It hath three sharp points on every lief. The leaf looketh like unto a clover/ but that it is hole and not cut to the bottom. The leaves grow upon long foot stalks. The principal stalks are long and small/ and upon the top of them grow flowers/ and no where else/ in white blue. When the flowers are gone/ there ariseth a knop wherein the sedes are/ in colour bluish and long/ not unlike unto the sede of Columbine. The virtues of herb trinity/ or noble Liverwurte. THE later writers hold that this herb is good for the liver/ and specially for the liver of new married young men/ which are desirous of children/ and that it is good for the provokinge of Urine/ and for the diseases of the bladder and kidneys/ and other diseases of the bladder and kidneys/ and other diseases of the inward parts. The same say that the water of this herb is good to drive fiery burnings from any place grieved therewith. Of Valeriane. THere are divers herbs that are called Valerian/ Phu in Dioscorides is called Valeriana magna of the Apothecaries. There is an herb that groweth in watery places besides ditches and rivers/ which hath leaves growing upon branches like unto Ash leaves/ and hath a root full of small strings like threads/ of a smell not unpleasant. There is an other kind which we call Valerian in English/ and it hath a blue flower which is called of some Latin men Valeriana Graeca. depiction of plant Phu magnum. depiction of plant Phu vulgar. The virtues of these herbs. our English men use the Valerian/ which is called Valeriana Graeca, against cuts and wounds. And the Duche use there Valeriana to drink it or to lay it in white wine/ and to wash the eyes withal/ for they say it is tried by experience/ that it is wonderfully good both for the keeping of the eyes and also for the increase of the eyesight. Some use to lay the root amongs clothes/ to make them smell sweet. But I would that it should be menged with other herbs that are good for the plague/ and with such herbs as are good for the opening of the liver and the milt/ for it serves well for that purpose. Of Fluellin. depiction of plant Veronica. FLuellin is called in Latin Veronica, in Dutch Ehrempreis/ it creepeth by the ground and hath small little jagged leaves/ which are not very long nor very broad. They grow in order two and two together/ some of the leaves bow inward and bear the likeness of a gutter/ one kind which is most common creepeth by the ground/ and is found upon old mould hills covered with grass/ and about tre roots/ in the top of the stalks are long ears where in are in white blue flowers with a little scattered here and there. When as the flowers are gone/ there arise little seed vessels like unto them of Bursa pastoris. The sedes are very small that are contained therein. The virtues of Fluellin. VEronica or Fluellin hath a certain bitterness in it/ and very much binding or astriction. It is wonderfully good both for green wounds and old also/ for scabes/ fourfines and all sores/ some hold that it is good for the common lepre/ which is in deed Clephantia. The new writers hold that it driveth away swellings/ & namely such as are in the neck. And they say that it is good for the pestilence and for the stopping of the liver and milt/ and that it is good for lungs that have the skin of. Of the herb called Virga aurea. depiction of plant Virga aurea. THE herb that is called of some Virga aurea, is named of other Herba judaica, and Solidago Saracenica, It is named in Duche Heydnisch wundkraut/ it may be called in English Golden rod/ or Hethnish wountwurte. It hath a stalk something hollow/ two cubits long/ which is read as the roots are also/ the leaves are long like a Pech or Wylow lief/ but all indented about like a saw. There grow yellow flowers in the top/ which at the length turn into white down. I have marked two kinds herb/ whereof the better is it with the read stalks/ branches and roots/ and doth grow in plenty a little from the city of Wysenburge in high almany in the side of an high mountain/ and in diverse other mountains and wildernesses in that country. The other kind hath a green stalk and green branches/ but it differeth nothing in fashion and figure from the other kind/ but in colour and in the place of growing/ for this groweth in many places beside the Rhine. The virtues of the Golden rod. THE Surgianes of Germanye make of this herb with other of like nature/ as are Sanicle/ Fluellin/ Herb two pence/ and such other a wound drink/ which they give into them that are wounded within/ and doubtless they do many great cures there with. This herb is wonderfully good both for inward and outward wounds. They use this also for fistulas and false and hollow wounds/ creeping inward. arnold of Newton writeth that this herb is good to make a man make water/ and to break the stone. This herb stoppeth laxes both in drink and in clysters. The broth of it healeth sores and blisters in the mouth/ and it fasteneth and strenghteneth the teth. If ye gargoyle with the broth or juice of it/ it will drive away the inflammationes or hot burnings of Vuula/ squinansy and of the jaws. The powder is good for old sores/ for it drieth them up and healeth them quickly. Hierom Bock giveth almost all the forenamed virtues unto the distilled water of the herb/ and saith also that it is good for the stomach and mother/ and other parts that have the skin of/ and breed gnawinges in a man's body. But I set more by the juice/ broth/ and powder of the herbs/ then I do by their waters. Of the root called Setwal/ or Zedoaria. I Have not yet spoken with any man/ neither read any man's book of this age/ that hath seen Setwal green/ wherefore we can not describe it. But because we have the root/ we can judge something of it both by taste and the working of it/ and by books of elder writers that have written of it. The virtues of Setwal out of the arabians. SEtwal or Zedoaria is of a certain natural property and not elemental/ maketh a man fat/ and withstandeth poison and venom/ and therefore it is good against napellun/ and many use to put it into diverse kinds of treacles. And if a man eat of it after unions and garlic/ it taketh the smell of them away/ as it taketh also the smell of wine away. It breaketh gross wind/ and healeth the bitings of venomous beasts/ and it stoppeth the belly. It resolveth or melteth away gross empostemes and swellings/ and specially them that are in the mother. It stoppeth parbreaking/ and is good for a windy colyke. Of Rosa solis. ROsa solis is a little small herb that groweth in mossey grounds and in fens and watery moors with a broad hoary thing in the top/ it groweth not above the height of three or four finger's height. The virtues of Rosa solis. OUR English men now adays set very much by it/ and hold that it is good for consumptious and swooning/ and faintness of the heart/ but I have no sure operience of this/ neither have I red of any old writer what virtues it hath/ wherefore I dare promise nothing of it. Of the Coweslippe. A Coweslippe is named in the Herbaries & Apothecaries Latin herba paralysis, & there are two kinds of them/ & the one is redder yellow than the other/ & the other paler/ they differ also in smell/ for the one smelleth better than the other/ the one is called in the West country of some a Cowislip/ & the other an Oxislip/ & they are both call in Cambridge shire Pagles. There are some green Cowislippes & some dubbel/ tripel and quadrupel that grow in gardens/ but they differ not in kind from the other/ of the same kind is our prinrose/ which I never saw grow in any place/ saving in England & East Freseland ij. cold contrees/ be like it will not grow in hot countries/ and of all them that hither to hath written of herbs/ no man that I do remember hath mention of this kind/ neither set out any figure of it/ saving only Rembertus/ and a Barnet of Swigerlandt/ in the book called the garden of Germans/ who writeth that it groweth in the top of a cold mountain in his country. Ruellius calleth our two kind of Cowislip Verbascum and Phlomides, but Matthiolus bringeth reasons against him that they are not Phlomides, & he saith that our Cowislip is called in Latin Primula veris, which name we give more justly to our prinrose/ which cometh forth a great while before the Cowislip. The Germans call the Cowislip Schlussel blumen/ because they have a great sort of flowers like keys/ growing together in the top of the little stalk. The virtues of Cowislip out of Tragus/ Fuchsius/ and Matthiolus. Tragus. THE flowers of Cowislip conserved in sugar/ and also the stilled water there of/ be very good for them that are week & very low brought by consumption of long sickness/ also for them that have the hole palsy/ and for them that sound oft/ & they say that this is known by experience/ it hath a singular property to comfort the heart. The flowers and leaves of Cowislip bruised and laid to/ be good against the bitings of venomous beasts/ & they suage swellings/ they heal also wounds/ both if the water be poured upon them/ and also if the leaf be bruised & laid upon them. Tragus saith that the water of Cowislippes laid to a man's head/ suageth the ache thereof/ if it come of a hot cause/ & that he saith to be known by experience. Some women springkle the flowers of Cowislip with white wine/ and after still it and wash their faces with that water to drive wrinkles away/ & to make them fair in the eyes of the world rather than in the eyes of God/ whom they are not afraid to offend with the scluttishnes/ filthiness/ and foulness of the soul. Fuchsius. THE later writers give these properties to the two kinds of Cowislip/ they are good to be broken & bruised/ & laid to the joints that ache/ the stopping of the bladder and kidneys is taken away by the using of the roots of these. The juice of these herbs is good to be taken in/ and also to be laid with out upon broken bones/ and them that are out of joint/ they bind very little/ and they are bitter/ and a little biting in taste/ by which properties they can not fully bring to pass that the practitioners say they can do without the help of other herbs/ in heling of bone and displaced membres/ yet they may well enough dry up and scour away/ which properties Galen giveth unto his Verbasculis. The Herbaries of our time say that they are hot and dry/ and the women that would be fair/ and labour to increase their beauty/ wash their faces with the juice of the flowers of them. Matthiolus. THE later writers hold that this herb hath the virtue to suage the ache of the joints/ they do also commend the broth of the roots to be good for the stone of the kidney & also of the bladder/ They say also that the juice of them both drunken inwardly/ & laid to without/ is good for broken bones & such as are out of joint/ they say also that if they be sodden with sage & mergerum/ their broth is good against the cold diseases of the sinews & the brain/ wherefore they are very good to be given to be drunken unto them that have the palsy/ or any numb or tremble member. The water of the flowers of Cowislippes is good to be drunken of them that sound/ when as the body is very feeble & week/ for as the experimentores do say they comfort the heart wonderfully/ the flowers are good to be laid to the stricken of scorpiones & feldspiders/ for they easily scatter away the swellings & dissolve them. The leaves or the flowers bruised/ will heal wounds/ the stilled water that is out/ if the hole herb is good for the head ache/ & Matthiolus confirmeth it that Tragus and Fuchsius wrote before/ concerning the property that Cowlip water hath to make fair faces. Of the Holy tre. THE tre which is called commonly in England Holy/ & in some places Holme/ and in other places Huluer/ is judged to be Aquifolium in Latin or Agrifolium, & of Theophrastus to be named Crateagonon, and of some Paliurus, whatsoever men judge it to be/ it is not certenelye known as yet what it is/ but because it hath one good property in Physic/ I will not pass over it without making of some mention of it. The virtues. THE broth of the barks of the root are very good to be sodden for them that have had their joints or members out of joint/ and have waxed hard thereafter. For it softeneth and resolveth/ and driveth away swellings/ & sodoreth together broken bones. Other properties that this tre hath/ I know none/ saving that the bark is good to make bird lime of/ and the bows are good to sweep kynyes withal/ and the stades are good baits to entice field fares to come to lymeroddes/ when as all other berries are eaten up in the wood/ this tre is called in Duche Wald distelen/ and Stech palmen. If any be desirous to make bird lime of the barks/ they may learn it of me which have made it oft times after this manner: About Midsummer I pill of the barks/ and straight way seth them a good while/ and than I pull of the outtermost rind/ and lay them in a moist corner/ or dig them in the earth or a dunghill/ and within eight or ten days/ I take them out again/ and bray them or beat them in a mortar as small as is possible/ and than I wash them in a running stream/ or if I can not come by that in other cold water until the unbeaten pieces of the barks be fallen away/ and the rest become lime. FINIS.