reckoned amongst the kindes of Scordium Description but I shall describe it being different therefrom it groweth up with round broad leaves pointed at the ends and dented about the edges somewhat like Nettle leaves but of a fresher green colour and not rough nor prickling and are set singly one at a joynt the lower leaves being rounder then those that grow towards the top at the tops of the stalks grow very small white flowers one above another after which follow small long round pods wherein is contained small round and somewhat blackish seed the root is stringy and fibrous perishing when it hath given seed and riseth again of its own sowing This Plant being bruised smelleth strong like Garlick but more pleasant and tasteth hot and sharp almost like Rocket Names It is called in English Poor mans Treacle and English Treacle and so is Scordium Place and Time It grows in many places by Pathwayes and under Walls and hedges and flowers in the Summer Moneths Nature and Vertues Jack by the hedge warmeth the stomach and causeth digestion and therefore is a good sauce to salt Fish to digest the crudities and corrupt humors it ingenders the juyce thereof boiled with honey is good for the Cough and to cut and expectorate tough Phlegm The decoction of the seed in wine being drunk is good to help the winde Chollick and the Stone and for fits of the Mother to drink the decoction and apply the seeds warm in a cloath The green leaves are accounted good to heal Vlcers in the Legs and the leaves and seed boiled is good to be used in Glisters to ease pains of the Stone Sarsa-parilla Smilax-aspera IT is called Smilax-aspera also in Latine and in English Prickly Binde-weed it grows in the West-Indies as Peru and Virginia Nature and Vertues It is of thin parts and provokes sweat and of temperature hot and dry near the second degree Mars his herb surely whereby he cures himself when Venus hath clapt him The decoction being excellent for the French Pen and likewise is good in Rheumes Gouts and cold Diseases of the Read and Stomach and expelleth winde from the Stomach and Mother it helpeth aches in the Sinews and Goynts running sores in the Legs cold swellings tetters ringâ—â—â—â—â—s spâ—ts and foulness in the skin and helpeth Catharrs and salt distillations from the head is good in Tumors and the Kings Evil and a dram of the powder being taken in Ale or wine with the the like qnantity of Tamarisk is good for Tumors of the Spleen Sarsa doth purge the body of humors by its driness and diaphoretical quality and is a good antidote against poisons but is not proper to be given to such as have Agues or hot Livers Sassafras or Ague-Tree THis plant was first discovered by the French about Florida Place and Time where it groweth as also in most parts of the West Indies and is green all the year Nature and Vertues The wood is hot and dry in the second degree and the rinde hot and dry in the third it purgeth watry and phlegmatick humors and therefore is good in the Dropsie the decoction thereof being drunk morning and evening for certain dayes together which decoction is thus made take of Sassafras four ounces steep it four and twenty hours in a Gallon and a half of fair water then boil it to the consumption of half and strain it this decoction doth open obstructions of the Liver and Spleen and is good in cold diseases and Rheumes which fall from the head upon the teeth eyes and Lungs and is available in Coughs and cold diseases of the Lungs Breast and Stomach and procures a good appetite and consumes windiness and makes a sweet breath it is likewise commended to provoke Vrine and Womens Courses and to expell Gravel and the Stone out of the Kidneys it dryes up overmuch moisture of the Womb and causeth women to Conceive it is good in Fevers and tertian and quotidian Agues and also for the French Disease and other diseases coming of corrupt humors to be used in dyet drinks it may be given in powder from a scruple to two scruples ☞ See further of this in Culpeppers School of Physick Satyrion or Orchis Testiculus Canis SAtyrion riseth up with many large Description long smooth green leaves lying on the ground somewhat spotted like Dragons amongst which riseth up a round stalk with some such leaves on it bur lesser towards the top grows a large head of many purple flowers and some are white spotted with a deeper purple colour each flower having a heel of the same colour behinde it They have all a double Root whereof some kindes are flat and broad like unto hands the other round like unto stones These roots alter every year by course when one waxeth full the other perisheth and groweth lank the full one will sink and the other swim if put into water Names As there are many kindes of this Plant so it hath many names It is called Satyrion and Orchis Testiculus Canis Testiculus Capri Priests Ballocks Fools stones Dogs stones Cullians Fox stones Standard-grass and many other names c. Place and Time They grow in Pastures Meadows and moist grounds as in Danmore Copse and Danmore Mead at Holshot in Hampshire and in Cobham Park in Kent it groweth so abundantly that it may serve to pleasure Seamens wives in Rochester for there they may be sure to finde it in great plenty from the beginning of April to the latter end of August Nature and Vertues They are hot and moist the full roots I mean the lank ones are hot and dry Venus claims all she can get of them The full roots do powerfully provoke to Venery but the lank ones are said to mortisie Lust being boiled in milk and eaten with white Pepper they nourish such as are in Consumptions or have an Hectick feaver The flowers are likewise effectual to merease and stir up nature The Roots boiled in wine and drunk stop the Flux and being applyed green they consume Tumours and cleanse rotten Sores and Vlcers and the powder thereof stayes the fretting and festring of devouring Vlcers being put therein The same Root being bruised and applyed is good against Inflammations and Swellings and being boiled in wine with a little honey it helps Vlcers and Sores in the Mouth Savory and the sorts Thymbra I shall not need to say more in the Description Description but onely that the common kindes are two Winter and Summer Savory which are both common in Gardens Names The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it is also called Thymbra in Latine and by some Satureia Nature and Vertues Savory is hot and dry in the third degree and openeth and maketh thin being subject to the influence of Mercury It provokes Womens Courses and expells Winde being boiled in wine or water and drunk and it is commended for women with childe to take it inwardly and smell often to it
upon a brownish foot-stalk Description being doubled or folded downwards at their first rising out of the ground and then they open into five or seven leaves of a sad green colour each leaf being somewhat long dented about the edges and pointed standing on both sides of the middle rib one against another the stalk that bears the flowers riseth up with the leaves and is naked to the middle where it shots forth a leaf a little higher it shooteth forth one or two leaves more each consisting but of five leaves and sometimes but two or three at each whereof cometh forth a small round bulbe divided into some parts or cloves of a sad purplish gren colour about which at the top come the flowers which are like the flowers of stock-gilly-flowers of a purplish colour growing upon short foot stalks opening into four leaves after which come cods wherein the seed is contained the root is white smooth and creeps under ground both leaf and root is bitter and sharp and biting like Radish Names It is called in Latine Dentaria in English Corral-wort and Dog-toothed Violet Place and Time It hath been found growing in Sussex and about Croyden in Surrey and many other places they flower in April and May and are gone before July Nature and Vertues The roots are drying and binding and do also strengthen it provokes Vrine and cleanses the Bladder of gravel it should be a Saturnine herb yet Culpepper ascribes it to the Moon it helps gripings in the Belly and sides and inward hurts in the Breast Lungs and Bowels a dram of the root taken in powder in red Wine and used often it stayes Fluxes provided they proceed not from Choller and is good for the Dropsie and Ruptures the same dose being given in the distilled water of Horse-tail and the decoction of the herb helps Maladies of the Teeth the mouth being gargled therewith and so doth the dry root being held between the Teeth it consolidates green wounds and dryes up the moisture in Vlcers causing them thereby the sooner to heal the decoction of the herb being applyed unto them Doves-foot or Cranes-Bill Geranium Columbinum IT grows up with divers small round pale green leaves Description dented about somewhat more then Mallows lying round upon the ground upon reddish hairy stalks among which rise up two or three weak joynted reddish hairy stalks with small leaves on the tops grow many small red flowers of five leaves apiece the seed is like a Cranes Bill the root is slender and fibrous Names It is called Geranium Columbinum Gruinalis and Gruinum in English Doves-foot and Cranes-Bill Place and Time It grows frequently in pasture grounds in many places of this Land and flourishes most part of the Summer Nature and Vertues Doves-foot is cold and dry with a binding quality rather Saturnine then Martial It is good to expell Winde and the Stone and Gravel in the Kidneys the decoction being drunk which is also good for inward Wounds Vlcers and Bruises to dissolve congealed blood The powder of the herb and root taken in red Wine first and last many dayes together cures Ruptures young or old in aged persons mix with it the powder of nine red Snails dryed in an Oven and being made into a Salve it heals outward Sores Vlcers and Fistula's and being bruised and applyed to green Wounds it quickly heals them Ducks-meat Aquae Lenticula IT needs no description being well known Names Aquae Lenticula and Lens palustris the Latines term it in English Grains and Ducks meat Place and Time It grows on the tops of standing waters and ponds and will cover them quite over if the Ducks meet not with it Nature and Vertues It is cold and moist ascribed to the Moon and Cancer it is good in a pultis with Barley meal to ease the pains of the hot Gout and cool inflammations and St. Anthonies fire and the swelling of the Cods the distilled water helps inward inflammations redness of the Eyes and is good in Burning Fevers and it easeth pains of the head coming of heat the fresh herb being applyed to the forehead Dragons Serpentaria THese are very well known in Gardens and the stalks are speckled so like a Snake that he that knows one may soon know the other Names It is called in Latine Serpentaria Bisaria Colubrina and Dracunculus in English Dragons Place and Time They are onely planted in Gardens with us they flower in July and the Berries are ripe in September Nature and Vertues It is a Martial herb hot and dry astringent biting and bitter in taste it is somewhat of the nature of Cuckow-pintle both incite to Venery it is good against Coughs Catarrs Convulsions and Cramps it consumes gross humours and cleanseth the inward parts the distilled water helps Freckles Morphew and Sun-burning and clears the sight the juyce helps the pin and web in the Eye An oyntment thereof is good in Wounds Vlcers Cankers and Pollipus the green leaves are good for Vlcers green Wounds and venomous bitings the distilled water is good against the Plague Poison and pestilential Fevers being drunk with Treacle or Mithridate Women with childe are not to meddle with this herb Dropwort Filipendula IT shooteth forth long winged leaves Description dented somewhat like Burnet or wilde Tansie but harder in handling the stalk rises about two foot high at the top come white sweet flowers of five leaves apiece with some threds in the middle standing in an Umbell the seeds are small and black Names Filipendula is the Latine name and it is also called in English Filipendula and Dropwort Place and Time It grows in many places of this Land by hedges sides they flower in June and July and the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues It is an herb of Venus saith Culpepper but it is contrary to her nature being hot and dry in the third degree opening cleansing and a little binding it is good to help the Strangury or pissing by drops to expell the Stone in the Kidneys and Bladder being taken in a decoction with white Wine and a little Honey it provokes womens Courses and is good against the Dropsie Jaundies and Falling Sickness An Electuary of the roots breaks Winde helps diseases of the Lungs the Cough and brings away Phlegm the knots of the roots in powder is good for Fistula's and old Sores and allayes the swellings of the Piles or Hemorrhoides Elder Sambucus THis is very well known therefore I shall describe another kinde called Dwarf Elder Dwarf Elder rises in the Spring with a four square rough hairy stalk four foot high or more the leaves are narrower then those of the Elder Tree but very like them the flowers stand also in Umbels like the other being white mixed with purple but of a sweeter scent then Elder after which come blackish Berries full of juyce wherein is contained hard kernels or seeds the root dyes every year Names The common Elder Tree is called in Latine Sambucus the
others not till the beginning of October Nature and Vertues Hazel Nuts fresh gathered are hot and moist but afterwards they grow dry they are under the Planet Mercury the skin that covers the kernells is very astringent so are the Katkins a dram thereof in wine stayes Womens Courses The parched kernels made into an Electuary helps and old Cough On oyl may be pressed from the kernells in the same manner as is made oyl of sweet Almonds which is very effectual for Coughs Hoarseness and shortness of Breath so that Nut Kernels do not altogether deferve the blame which is usually laid upon them for causing shortness of Breath Hawkweed Hieracium HAwkweed hath many leaves lying on the ground Description cut on the sides much like Dandelion amongst which shooteth up a rough hollow stalk not above two foot high at most branched from the middle upwards with lesser leaves and not so much dented as the other growing at every joynt at the top grow pale yellow flowers having many small narrow leaves broad pointed and nicked at the ends set in a double row or more which turn into doun and with the small brownish seeds is carried away with the winde the root is long white and full of small fibres the whole plant full of bitter milk Names In Latine its called Hieracium and Accipitrina by some Lampuca Porcellia and Hypochaeris and Hyoseris in English onely Hawkweed Place and Time It grows in untilled places by the borders of Fields and Ditches sides in Meadows Woods and Mountains they flower for the most part all Summer Nature and Vertues Hawkweeds are all cold and dry and withal astringent supposed to be a Saturnine Plant appropriated to the Eyes for which purpose it is said Hawks eat it to clear their sight and thence it takes its name the juyce of it mixed with Womans milk dropped into the Eyes is very good for all defects thereof and so is the distilled water used in like manner it is also good against fretting and creeping Vlcers and against Pushes Inflammations St. Anthonies fire and erruptions of heat A plutis made of it with meal applyed to any place affected with the Cramp or Convulsions giveth it ease The juyce taken in Wine helps digestion discusseth Winde and crudities in the Stomach provokes Vrine helps venomous bitings the herb also outwardly applyed A scruple of the concreted juyce taken in Wine and Vinegar is profitable against the Dropsie The decoction of the Herb with Honey digesteth Phlegm being hoiled in Wine with wild Succory and taken it helps the Winde Chollick mollifies the Spleen procures Sleep abates Venery and Nocturnal pollutions cooleth heat purgeth the Stomach increaseth Blood and helps diseases of the Reins and Bladder The distilled water cleanseth the skin from Freckles Spots and Morphew Haw-thorne Spina THis Shrub is well known in every hedge there is reputed three kindes our common Haw-thorn another lower Shrub which grow in Germany and bears yellow fruit and a third which flowers twice a year of which kinde is that of Glassenbury and that in Whey-street in Rumney Marsh and near Nantwich in Cheshire Names and Time Spina is the Latine name in English Haw-thorn White-thorn and of some May and May Bush because it s in flower about May day and the fruit is ripe in October when the frost hath bitten them Nature and Vertues It is of an astringent drying quality both leaves flowers and fruit Culpepper ascribes it to Mars because he would not have him want Weapons he may make use of the prickles and let Saturn take the fruit The powder of the berries or of the seeds in the berries is reputed good against the Stone and the Dropsie being drunk in Wine The flowers steeped three dayes in Wine and then distilled in a Glass and the water thereof drunk is good against the Plurisie and inward tormenting pains The water of the flowers also stayeth the Flux or Lask and so doth the fruit being eaten Cloathes or Spunges wet in the said water and applyed to the place where Thorns or Splinters be in the flesh will draw them forth Hedge-mustard or Bank-cress Erysimum IT springeth up with one blackish green stalk Description flexible but tough and not easie to break branched into divers parts and sometimes with divers stalks full of branches with long rough hard leaves much cut in the edges into many parts some bigger and some lesser of a darkish green colour at the tops of the branches grow small yellow flowers in long spikes flowring by degrees the stalks have small round cods at the bottom growing upright close to the stalk while the top flowers as yet shew themselves wherein is a small yellow seed sharp and strong as is the Herb the root is slender and wooddy but abideth the Winter springing again every year Names Amongst other Erysimum serves for a Latine title and a Greek one too Gerhard calls it Bank-cress and Parkinson Wilde hedge-mustard Place and Time It is common by wayes and hedge sides walls and sometimes in open Fields and flowers about July Nature and Vertues It is a Mercurial Plant of a cleansing quality temperately hot singular in all diseases of the Lungs to help Hoarseness and recover a lost voice the juyce made into a syrrup or Lohoc with Honey or Sugar it is profitable also against the Jaundies Plurisie pains in the Back and Loins and the griping of the Guts being used in Giâ—sters The seed is held an Antidote against poison it is good for the Gout and Aches Fistula's and Vlcers and for swellings or hardness in Womens Breasts and the Testicles White Hellebore Helleborus THere are accounted eight kindes of this Hellebore Description some whereof grow in the Northern parts of our Land The ordinary white Hellebore riseth up with a round whitish head which opens it self into large green leaves plaited with ribs all along the leaves from the middle riseth a round stalk with divers leaves to the middle where it divides into branches having many small yellowish or whitish green star-like flowers upon them which turn into a three square whitish seed standing naked without any husk The root is thick great at the head and is fastened deep into the ground with many white strings Names Helleborus albus and Helleborum in Latine and also Veratrum album in English Hellebore and Neesewort Place and Time They grow in Germany Austria and Russia and some about Lancashire and Yorkshire they flower about May some earlier and some later Nature and Vertues The root is hot and dry in the third degree one of Mars his weapons to tame mud folks with to be taken unprepared it is dangerous and extreamly provokes Vomiting but there is an Oximel made with it which is useful against Madness and Melancholly swimming of the Head and Falling Sickness and the Quartain Ague it brings down the Courses and kills the Childe in the Womb being put into the nostrills it provokes sneezing purgeth the Head of superfluous Humours
which I refer you White Lillies Lilium THe English white Lilly groweth in most Gardens of England and will increase much by the root where it is planted it is so vulgarly known as needs no further description They flower from May to the end of June Names The white Lilly is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Lilium and Rosa Junonis or Juno's Rose it being reported that it sprung up of her milk which she spilt upon the ground after Hercules had sucked her in her sleep Nature and Vertues The white Lilly is hot partaking of a subtil substance the root dry in the first degree and hot in the second the leaves boiled in red Wine and applyed to old Wounds or Vlcers doth them much good in expediting the cure as saith Gallen The distilled water being drunk causeth easie deliverance and expelleth the After-birth saith Alexandrinus The flowers steeped in oyl Olive and set in the Sun in Summer in a glass and repeated two or three times is good to harden the softness of the Sinews and help the hardness the Matrix The root stamped and strained with Wine-and drunk two or three dayes together expelleth the Pestilence causing it to break out and the juyce thereof tempered with barley Meal and baked in Cakes and eaten ordinarily for a moneth or six weeks together forbearing all other bread in the mean time helps to the cure of the Dropsie the same root roasted in the Embers and stamped with some leaven of Rye Bread and Hogs grease breaketh Plagues Sores and Pestilential Botches and ripens Venerial Imposthumes and Buboes in the Flank or elsewhere The same root stamped with Honey and applyed gleweth together Sinews that be cut it consumeth and cleanseth away the Vlcers of the head called Achores and all scurviness of the Beard and Face and being stamped with Vinegar Henbane Leaves or Barley Meal it cures Humours and Imposthumes of the privy parts Laserwort and its Assa Faetida Laserpitium THis is an Outlandish Plant growing in Syria America and Libia There issueth a Gum or liquor out of the same called Laser but that which is gathered from those Plants in Media and Syria is that stinking Gum called in our Shops Assa Faetida which is good to be applyed unto the Navels of such Women as are troubled with the rising of the Mother and for them to smell unto for that purpose the reason whereof you may read in my Womens Counsellour The root of Laserpitium is hot and dry in the third degree and so is Laser The root well pounded with Oyl scattereth clotted Blood cureth the Kings Evil and takes away black and blue marks that come by stripes or bruises the places being anointed or plaistered therewith The same root chewed in the Mouth asswageth the Tooth-ache A plaister made thereof with the oyl of Ireos and Wax is good to help the Sciatica The Laser or Gum of Laserpitium dissolved in Water and drunken taketh away a sudden Hoarseness being supt up with a rear Egge it cures the Cough and taken in broth is good against an old Plurisie being taken with dryed Figs it cureth the Jaundies and Dropsie A scruple thereof taken with a little Pepper and Myrrhe is good against the shrinking of Sinews and taken with syrrup of Vinegar it is good against the Falling Sickness The same drunk in Wine with Pepper and Frankincense is good against the shaking's of Agues being applyed with Copperas and Verdigrease it takes away superfluous out-growings of the Flesh Polypus in the Nose and nianginess and applyed with vinegar pepper and wine it cures the Scurf of the Head and hinders the falling off the Hair Lignum Aloes Vide Xylo-Aloe White Maiden-hair or Wall Rue Ruta Muraria IT brings forth many small round slender leaves Description cut into two or three parts very hard in handling on the outside smooth and green and of an ill-favoured dead colour underneath set with little fine spots the root is black and full of strings Names It s called in Latine Ruta muraria and Salvia vitae in English Wall Rue Stone Rue or white Maiden-hair Place and Time It grows upon old Walls near unto Waters and Wells is green as well Winter as Summer and beareth neither flower nor seed Nature and Vertues Wall Rue is much like the other Maiden-hair both in temperature and vertue it is commended against Ruptures in young Children and affirmed to be good if the powder be taken continually for forty dayes together it is likewise good for the Cough shortness of breath pains and stitches in the sides the decoction of it being drunk digesteth raw humours which stick in the Lungs takes away the pain of the Kidneys and bladder gently provokes Vrine and expelleth the Stone ☞ See further of this in Culpeppers School of Physick Sweet Maudlin Vide Alecoast Dogs Mercury Cynocrambe IT is like the Garden Mercury Description but that the leaves hereof are greater the stalk not so tender but very brittle growing about half a yard high having no branches at all the flowers are small and yellow Names Dogs Mercury is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Cynocrambe Canina Mercurialis Sylvestris in English Dogs Cole and Dogs Mercury Place and Time It grows about Green Hithe and Gravesend in Kent and about Hamsted near London and in many Woods Copses and Borders of Fields flourishes all the Summer Nature and Vertues Dogs Mercury comes near the other Mercury in Nature and quality though seldom used it is also reported to cure the biting of mad Dogs from whence it is thought to obtain the name of Dogs Mercury Naile-wort Vide Whitlow-grass Madder Rubia Tinctorum THere be six kindes Description whereof I shall describe the Garden Madder which shoots forth many stalks standing upright at first and so continue if they be kept cut but if they grow without cutting they become weak and trailing upon the ground unless they grow by some hedge and then they climb thereon being four square rough and full of joynts at every of which come forth long and somewhat narrow leaves standing about the stalks like the rowel of a Spur at the tops whereof come forth many small pale yellow flowers after which come small round heads green at the first and reddish afterward but black when they are ripe wherein is contained the seed the root is long growing deep and creeping far about the ground fat full of substance and of a very clear red colour Names In Latine it is called Rubia Tinctorum in English Madder Place and Time It is manured in Gardens and flowers in June and July and the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues Madder roots are hot in the second degree and dry in the â—â—rd an Herb of Mars it hath an opening quality and also a binding The decoction in Wine provokes Vrine Womens Courses and also brings away the Birth and After-birth it cures the Jaundies purges melancholly and opens the Spleen and Gall
it is good for inward bruises and to dissolve congealed Blood wherefore it is much used in Wound drinks and is good for the Dropsie Palsie Sciatica and Hip-Gout the seeds taken with Vinegar and Honey helps hardness and swelling of the Spleen The decoction with Allome and Honey helps Vlcers of the Mouth The juyce or decoction helps venomous bitings and preserves the body from putrefaction The fresh roots bruised and applyed helps discolouring of the Skin as the Morphew and Freckles The juyce of the root eases pains of the Ears being dropped therein it is said also to stay the Reds in Women and the Bloody Flux Give it not to women with Childe nor often to hot and dry bodies and then the dose is about ℈ ii in powder and half an ounce in decoction Maidenhair Capillus Veneris THere is several kindes hereof reckoned up amongst Herbarists here we shall mention onely three English Maidenhair Wall Rue or white Maidenhair and golden Maidenhair Description Common Maidenhair doth from many hard black fibres shoot forth many blackish shining brittle stalks scarce a span long at the most set on each side with small round dark green leaves spotted on the back of them Names Capillus Veneris is the usual Latine name the Wall Rue is called Ruta muraria and the Golden Maiden-hair Adiantum Aureum Place and Time Maiden hair groweth much upon old Stone Walls by Springs and in rocky shadowy places it is green all the Winter but never yields any flower Nature and Vertues It is in a mean between heat and coldness it doth dry make thin and waste away as Gallen saith All the kindes are under Mercury and alike in Temperature and faculty A Lye made of Maidenhair is good in cleanse the head from Scurf and keep the hair from falling it is good against all diseases of the Breast and Lungs Liver and Reins the decoction of the herb being drunk it helps the Cough and shortness of Breath yellow Jaundies diseases of the Spleen provokes Vrine and the Courses and yet being dry it stayes Bleeding and Fluxes of the Stomach and Belly but being green it looseneth and drives Choller and Phlegm from the Stomach and Liver and cleanseth the Lungs and the Blood they are said to be good against venomous bitings the Kings Evil and other hard swellings and the powder drunk constantly forty dayes together is good for Ruptures in Children ☞ See more of this in Adam in Eden written by Will. Coles Mallows Malva MAllows and Hollihocks too which are a kinde of them are so commonly known they need no description Names Mallows are called in Latine Malva which name most think it obtained because it softens the Belly and hard tomours Place and Time They grow plentifully in every County they slower about June and July Nature and Vertues To Venus they are all ascribed The common mallows are moderately hot and moist they are to be preferred before the Hollyhock Mallows are generally held to make the Belly solluble they increase milk in Nurses being used in pottage or boiled and buttered as other Sallets being applyed pluâ—â—s-wayes they asswage hardness of the Breasts and other Tumours Inflammations Imposthumes and Swellings of the Cods and hardness of the Liver and Spleen a Pultis being made with some Bean or Barley Flower and oyl of Roses added to them The decoction of the leaves and roots with Parsley and Fennel Roots in Wine Water or Broth do open the Body and are good in hot Agues and Chollerick Distempers The decoction of the same and of the seeds in milk or Wine help exceriations of the Bowels Ptisick Plurisie and other diseases of the Chest and Lungs coming of hot causes it likewise procures speedy delivery to women the leaves bruised with a little honey and applyed to the Eyes helps impostumations of them The head washed with the decoction takes away Scurf Dandriff helps dry Scabs and the falling off the hair it is also good against Scaldings Burnings hot and painful swellings in any part of the Body The decoction of the flowers in Water having a little honey added to it is good to gargle a sore mouth Pliny saith that whosoever shall take a spoonful of the juyce of any of the Mallows in a morning shall that day be free from all diseases and it is especial good for the falling Sickness The Syrrup and Conserve of the flowers in effectual for the same diseases Marsh-Mallows Althaea MArsh-Mallows riseth three or four foot high with divers soft hairy white stalks Description spreading forth many branches the leaves are soft hoary or wooly lesser then Mallow leaves but longer pointed cut for the most part into some few divisions not very deep the flowers are much like the common Mallows but not so big nor so red but commonly white or tending to a blush colour after which come cases and seed like the other The roots are many and long shooting from one head of the bigness of ones finger very plyant rough and bending like Liquorice whitish on the outside but whiter within Names The Latines from the Greeks have gotten in the name of Althaea it is also called Bismalva being twice as good in effects as any other in English Marsh-Mallow from the places where it grows Place and Time It groweth in Marshes and Moors as in the salt Marshes from Woolwich to the Sea both on the Essex and Kentish Shores they flourish in July and August continuing flowring till the Frost kills the stalks springing fresh every spring at which time the roots are fittest to be gathered for physical uses Nature and Vertues Marsh Mallows are moderately hot but dry in the first and second degree of a softning quality the roots and seeds are more dry and of thinner parts it is likewise an herb of Venus They abound with a slimy viscous juyce whereby they are excellent good against excoriations of the Guts Reins Bladder and Yard it openeth the stait Passages and makes them slippery easing thereby the pains of the Stone it also helps diseases of the Breast and Lungs as Coughs Hoarseness and Plurisie it is good for those that are troubled with Ruptures Convulsions or Cramps the decoction or syrrup being drunk is good for all the said diseases The dryed Roots boiled in milk and drunk are good for the Chin Cough The decoction of the roots in Wine are good for inward Bruises Pains and Aches in the Muscles The leaves and roots are of excellent use in decoctions for Glisters to ease gripings in the Belly and pains in the Reins and Bladder being boiled in wine and applyed they help swellings in Womens Breasts in the Throat and other Inflammations The muscilage of the Roots and of Linseed and Fenugreek together is good in Pultisses and Oyntments to mollifie hard Tumours and digest inflammations The root boiled in Vinegar and holden in the Mouth easieth the Tooth-ache The leaves applyed with oyl helps Burnings Scaldings and bitings of Men or Dogs all sorts of Currs and
inflammations as St. Anthonies fire being often bathed with wet cloathes dipped therein or the juyce made into an oyntment with Ceruse and Oyl of Roses and anointed therewith which also doth cleanse soul Vlcers and running Scabs in childrens heads and helpeth to stay the falling off of the hair from the head Pennyroyal Pulegium Regale THis is so well known to be a very wholesome herb that it needs no other report but onely of its Vertues Names It is called in Latine Pulegium Regale in English Pudding-grass because it is used in Hogs-puddings Pulial-Royal and of some Organy Place and Time It grows upon Commons and other moist watry places and is also cherished in Gardens and flowers about August or later Nature and Vertues Penniroyal is hot and dry in the third degree as Gallen saith of subtle parts making thin warming and digesting and governed by Venus A decoction of it in beer or wine provokes the Courses and being boiled in wine it will expel a dead Childe and the after-birth It stayeth vomiting and helps gnawing of the stomach being taken with water and vinegar the decoction is good in the Falling sickness Dropsie Jaundies stopping of Vrine and the Leprosie being mixed with honey and salt it clears the breast opens the Lungs helps Cramps and purges melancholly humours by stool and being drunk in wine it helps such as are stung by venomous beasts being beaten with mint and some vinegar added to it it is profitable against fainting and swooning being smelled to or held in the mouth and so it is good for the Lethargy and Falling-sickness The powder of the Herb or the ashes of it strengthens the gums and being boiled in wine with honey and salt helps the tooth-ache It also easeth the Gout and profits those that are spleenatick or liver-grown being applyed with some salt A bathe made of it for women to sit in helps hardness of the Mother and so it helpeth the Itch The green herb bruised with vinegar takes away black and blue marks about the eyes or other places and discolourings in the face and cleanseth and healeth foul Vlcers it helps cold griefs in the joynts being fast bound to the place after a bathing The distilled Water is effectual for many of the same purposes Piony Pionia OF this Plant there are generally accounted these two kindes the male and the female which are both so well known that they need not a particular description onely this the male is that which is called a single Piony bearing a single flower and the female the double Piony which hath a very thick flower Names Pionia is the common Latine name for it yet it 's called by some Lunaria because of its efficacy in curing the Falling-sickness and Lunacy Place and Time They grow onely in Gardens and flower in May and the seed is ripe in July Nature and Vertues It is temperately hot and dry the root doth gently binde it is a Solar Herb The heads roots and seeds but especially the roots are very effectual for the Falling-sickness being taken up and hung fresh about Childrens necks it cures them the root infused in Sack twenty four hours and strained and a good draught drunk first and last several dayes before and after the full of the Moon the body being first well prepared and Betony Posset being used it effectually helps the Falling-sickness both in children and elder people The powder of the male Piony root drunk in wine or posset drink will do the same and so doth an extraction made of the roots and the syrrup made of the flowers The root comforts and cherishes the body provokes urine purges the Liver and Kidneys and being boiled in wine and drunk it purges the blood the terms and secondine the quantity of an Almond being taken at a time it helps gripings of the belly and pain of the Kidneys and Bladder and the overflowing of the Gall the Chollick and cleanses the guts passions of the brain and the Strangury being boiled in wine and drunk The powder of the root with Saffron is good against the yellow Jaundies the black seed provokes the Terms and helps those that are troubled with the Night-mare being taken night and morning the same in powder drunk with wine comforteth the senses and restoreth lost speech Pepper Piper I Shall not describe this forreign Tree but onely tell you the Vertues of the fruit being all that part of it which is to be seen in England Nature and Vertues There is brought to us black Pepper white Pepper and long Pepper It is hot and dry in the third degree well near the fourth The black Pepper is most used and is good to consume crude and moist humours in the stomach to provoke appetite help digestion and warm a cold stomach it dissolves winde provokes urine helps the Cough and diseases of the Breast and is good against poisons and venomous bitings being drunk in Posset-drink before the fit of an Ague it abates the shaking thereof and being taken with honey it abates the swelling of a Quinzie The powder snuffed up purges the brain by sneazing it consumes the Pin and Web in the Eye and helps dimness of the sight It strengthens the Nerves and Muscles dissolves the Kings Evil and hard cold swelling being applyed with pitch it draws out thorns The powder of long Pepper and Cinquefoil drunk in Ale easeth the Chollick But such as are of hot constitutions must forbear the much use thereof ☞ See further of this in Culpeppers School of Physick Periwinckle Vinca Pervinca THere be divers sorts of Periwinckle Description some with white flowers some with blue and others with purple flowers the common sort of Periwinckles hath many branches running upon the ground shooting out small fibres at the joynts by which it taketh hold on the ground and rooteth at divers places At the joynts of the branches stand two small dark green shining leaves somewhat like Bay-leaves but smaller and with them come the flowers one at a joynt upon a tender foot-stalk being somewhat long and hollow parted at the brims into four and sometimes five leaves of a pale blue colour the root is not much bigger then a Rush creeping with his branches far about in the ground Names It is most known by the names of Vinca Pervinea though it is also called Clematis Daphnoides both in Greek and Latine in English Pervinckle and Periwinckle Place and Time The common sort with the blue and that with the white flowers grow under hedges in many places of this Land the other onely in curious Gardens They flower in March April and May. Nature and Vertues It is hot almost in the second degree and somewhat dry and astringent it is appropriated to Venus and said to encrease milk in womens breastâ—â— and to cause mutual love between man and wife the leaves being eaten by them both and likewise the herb chewed stayes bleeding at mouth and nose and is used by the French to stop the Tearms It
purple and the root doth not run deep into the ground as the first doth The common Field Scabious riseth up with many hairy soft whitish green leaves some whereof are not at all jagged or very little others are much rent in the sides and have films or small threads in them which may be seen in the breaking them among which rise up many round hairy green stalks two or three foot high with such like hairy green leaves on them but more deeply and finely divided and branched forth a little at the tops of the stalks stand round heads of flowers of a pale blewish colour many set together in a knop the outermost being largest with many threads in the middle and somewhat flat at the top and so is the head with seed The Root is great white and thick and grows deep into the ground abiding many years Names Scabiosa is the Latine Appellation hereof Place and Time The first groweth in Woods Meadows and Pastures plentifully almost every where the other in dry Fields Corn-fields and Fallow-Grounds they flower in June and July and so continue in some till the end of August the seed ripening in the mean time Nature and Vertues Scabious is hot and dry in the second degree a Mercurial plant and is of an opening cleansing and digesting quality it is effectual for all Coughs and diseases of the breast and lungs it ripens inward Vlcers Imposthumes and the Plurisie the decoction of the dry or green herb made in Wine and drunk often the clarified juyce taken in the morning fasting to the quantity of four ounces with a dram of Mithridate or Venice Turpentine defends the heart from infection of the Pestilence the party sweating two hours after it in his bed and after the first time taking it again if need require the same is good against the stinging of venomous Beasts Mathiolus saith that the decoction of the roots drunk forty dayes together or a dram of the powder thereof taken at a time in Whey helps such as are troubled with spreading Scabs Tetters or Ringworms though they be effects of the French Pox and the juyce or decoction helps Scabs or Itch and an oyntment made of the juyce doth the same The same juyce or decoction cleanseth and healeth inward Wounds The green herb bruised dissolves and breaks a Carbunckle or Plague sore being applyed thereto in three hours space and helps the stinging of any venomous beast being so applyed The decoction of the herb and roots applyed helps cold tumors or swellings in any part of the body and any sinew or vein that is shrunk The juyce made up with the powder of Borax and Camphire cleanseth the skin of Freckles Pimples Morphew and the Lepry The Tents which are dipped in the juyce or water thereof are good to heal green Wounds and old Sores and Vlcers and the bruised herb being applyed doth loosen any Splinter broken Bone Arrow head or such like thing lying in the flesh so that it may easily be drawn out The decoction used either alone or with juyce of Fennel helps redness and spots in the Eyes and the same decoction cleanseth the head from Dandriff Scurff Scabs and Itch the head being washed with it warm A syrrup made of the juyce and sugar is effectual for all the inward purposes aforesaid and so is the distilled water of the herb and flowers Scordium or Water Germander IT shooteth forth divers weak square hairy branches from a small root full of white strings Description spreading and running about in the ground the branches take root in divers places as they lie and spread whereby it much increaseth the leaves grow two at a joynt not so large as garden Germander leaves of a darkish green colour having thereon a shew of hairiness and hoariness somewhat soft full of veins and dented about the edges The flowers are small red and gaping standing at the joynts with the leaves towards the tops of the branches It is thought not to perfect its seed but is propagated by the branches Names Scordium is the Latine name Place and Time It grows in wet grounds and by waters sides in many places of England and flowers in June July and August It is usually gathered to be kept dry before it flowers Nature and Vertues Scordium in hot and dry of a certain harsh sharp and bitter taste it is a Solar herb a great resister of Venome and Infection and is the basis of that medicine called Diascordium it is of excellent use to strengthen the heart and procure sleep in Feavers it provokes the Tearms hastens womens labour helps their usual sickness in lying in and strengthens the Stomach ten grains or a seruple at a time may safely be given to weak people and a dram or more to them that are stronger The decoction of the green or dry herb in wine is good against venomous bitings and other deadly poisons and griping pains of the stomach or sides that come of cold or obstructions and for the bloody Flux it is good against an old Cough and to expectorate phlegm out of the Chest and Lungs being made into an Electuary with Cresses Rozen and Honey and is good for such as are bursten or troubled with the Cramp it is a special Counter-poison in all pestilential Diseases and Infections and is often used with good success before the fits of Agues to hinder the access and drive them away a little of the juyce thereof or the powder in drink taken fasting kills worms in the stomach or belly The decoction of the dryed herb with two or three Tormentil roots is available against the bloody Flux The juyce or a syrrup made of the herb is profitable for many of the forenamed griefs The green herb bruised and applyed healeth any green Wound and the dryed herb used with Honey cleanseth foul Vlcers A pultis or cerate made of the dryed herb helpeth to discuss Wens and excrescences in the flesh it easeth also pains of the Gout being applyed with vinegar or water Scurvy-grass Cochlearia OF this I shall mention two kindes Description common or Sea Scurvy-grass and Dutch or Garden Scurvy-grass The Sea Scurvy-grass is well known the Dutch or Garden Scurvy-grass hath divers fresh green and almost round leaves not so thick as the common sort a little hollowed in the middle and round pointed of a sad green colour standing every one by it self upon a long foot talk among which rise up divers long slender weak stalks about a foot high thick beset on each side with small white flowers on the tops of them which turn into small pods with little brownish seeds the root is white small and fibrous the taste of it is somewhat bitterish Names The Latines call it Cochlearia the leaf being like a spoon in English Scurvy-grass and Spoon-wort Places and Time The Sea Scurvy-grass groweth about the Sea Coasts and both on the Essex and Kentish shores in the River of Thames so far as the salt water
in Fields upon old Walls by Paths sides and High wayes Nature and Vertues Sow-thistles are cold and binding and consisting of a watery and earthly substance being under the influence of Venus they are familiarly eaten beyond the Seas while they are young and tender especially the roots the juyce heated with a little Oyl of bitter Almonds in a Pomegranate Pill and dropped into the Ears helps noise therein and deafness and other diseases of the Ears the bruised herb or juyce is good to apply to Inflammations of the eyes or elsewhere and to help Wheals and Blisters in the skin and is good to help the heat and itchings of the Piles and the heat and sharpness of humors in the privy parts of man or woman the herb is eaten by some as a Sallet in the Spring to cool a hot stomach and ease the gnawing pains thereof The decoction in Wine helps to stay the dissolutions of the Stomach and the milk that comes from the stalk is good for such to drink as are short winded and are troubled with Wheesing Three spoonfuls of the juyce taken in some Wine warmed and a little Oyl with it causeth easie and speedy delivery it is said to avoid the Gravel and Stone by Vrine and the juyce taken in warm drink helps the Strangury The decoction of the leaves given to Nurses causeth abundance of Milk and suffereth it not to curdle in their Breasts The distilled water is effectual for all the diseases before named to be taken with Sugar inwardly and outwardly by applying cloathes or spunges wetted therein and is good for women to wash their faces to clear the skin The bruised herb or juyce applyed to Warts is said to take them away Sow-bread Panis Porcinus I Cannot finde that it is growing any where naturally in England but is brought to us from France and Italy so that I shall not describe it Names It is called in shops Cyclamen Panis porcinus and Artanita in English Sow or Swine-bread because the Swine love to feed on it in those Countreys where it grows Nature and Vertues It is hot and dry in the beginning of the third degree and cutteth cleanseth and digesteth it is an herb of Mars The distilled Water of the roots snuffed up into the Nostrils stayeth bleeding at nose saith Mathiolus and that six ounces of the water being drunk with one ounce of fine Sugar it stayeth the blood that cometh from the breast stomach or liver or a vein that is broken in them It purgeth violently and therefore is to be corrected with Mastick Nutmeg or a scruple of Rubarb and so it helps hardness and swelling of the Spleen and easeth the Chollick The juyce opens the Hemorrhoids and Piles and strongly moveth to stool The fresh root put into a cloth and applyed to the secret parts of a woman that is in long travel procures and easie and speedy delivery but if women with childe meddle with it before their due time it causeth Abortion The juyce of Plantain and the juyce of Sowbread of each a like quantity mixed together with Aloes Myrrhe and Olibanum stoppeth the bleeding of the Nose being applyed to the nostrils and forehead The juyce mingled with vinegar helpeth the falling down of the Fundament it being somented therewith ☞ See further of this in Culpeppers School of Physick Southernwood Abrotanum mas IT is generally known in Gardens so that it needs no description Names The Latines call it Abrotanum adding the Epithet mas to it to distinguish it from Abrotanum faemina which some hold to be Lavender Cotton Place and time The Gardens as I told you nourish it the time of its flowering is in June and July sometimes later Nature and Vertues It is a Plant of Mercury having a rarifying discussing quality and is hot and dry in the end of the third degree The tops of Southernwood stamped and drunk raw in water provoketh the Courses and is profitable for such as cannot breath without holding their necks straight up and for the Cramp shrinking of sinews and the Sciatica and for stopping of Vrine which effects the seeds and flowers do most powerfully perform if they can be had It destroyeth worms and is good against poison and venome being drunk in wine The seed if it can be had digests and consumes cold humours and tough Phlegm which stop the Spleen Kidneys and Bladder The tops boiled in wine or water and a little honey or sugar added to it helps difficulty of breathing being drunk three or four times a day and is good for the Cough Cardiack Passion and other inward griefs The ashes thereof mixed with Oyl of Palma Christi or old Oyl Olive restoreth lost hair and causth the beard to come forth speedily if it be anointed therewith twice a day against the sun or the fire The tops stamped with a roasted Quince and applyed to the eyes helps the inflammations thereof A Salve made of the leaves being boiled and stamped with Barley-meal and Barrows-grease dissolveth cold humours and swellings being applyed upon a piece of cloth or leather It helps also benummed or bruised Limbs being stamped with Oyl and applyed and takes away the shivering fits of Agues the back-bone being anointed with it before the fit come The bruised herb helps to draw forth splinters and thorns out of the flesh being applyed thereunto the ashes dryeth up old sores and ulcers The Oyl of Southernwood is good in those Oyntments that are used for the French Pox and kills lice in the head The distilled Water is said to help the Stone and diseases of the Spleen and Mother It is held more offensive to the stomach then Wormwood being taken inwardly but the dryed herb being put in a linnen bag and applyed to the stomach next the skin comforteth a cold stomach The herb boiled with Barley meal helps to take away pimples pushes and wheals in any part of the body Speedwell vide Fluellin Spignell Meum COmmon Spignell springeth up with sundry long stalks of leaves Description cut very finely like unto hairs smaller then Dill set thick on both sides of the stalk of a light or yellow green colour and of a good scent from amongst which rise up round stiff stalks with joynts having a few leaves at them at the tops whereof grow an Umbel of white flowers the edges whereof do sometimes give a shew of reddish or blush colour especially before they be full blown after which come little roundish seed of a brownish colour The Roots are thick and long in respect of the leaves growing out from one head which is hairy at the top of a blackish brown colour on the outside and white within Names The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latines Meum and in English it is called of some Mew Bald-money or Bearwort Place and Time It grows in Yorkshire Westmoreland and other Northern Countreys flowers in June and July and yields seed in August Nature and Vertues The roots of Spignel
Lappa minor and Asperugo in English Cleavers Clivers and Goosegrass because young Goslings feed on it Place and Time It runs up by hedge sides and hangs to what grows next it it flowers in June and July and the seed is ripe in August which soweth it self Nature and Vertues Cleavers are of thin parts indifferently hot and dry an herb of Mars the young herb boiled in Water-Gruel in the Spring cleanses the Blood and strengthens the Liver An unguent made of the herb with Hogs Suet helps Wens the Kings Evil and Paps swollen with curdled milk The distilled water and the decoction helps the yellow Jaundies drunk twice a day and stops Fluxes The juyce dropped into the Ears takes away the pains of them the juyce or bruised leaves applyed to a green Wound stops the Bleeding and closes it up so doth the powder thereof and helpeth old Vlcers Cloves Caryophillus THis aromatical Indian Fruit doth much comfort the Head Heart and vital parts they strengthen Nature break Winde and stir up Venery helps Fluxes of the Belly is good against Infection and stayes Vomiting the chymical oyl is good in a Quartain Ague and weakness of the Stomach and for the Head-ache two or three drops given in Beer or Wine or other drink it easeth the Tooth-ache let old and phlegmatick persons use it young people and chollerick are to refrain it Clove Gilly-flowers Caryophylleus flos THis cordial flower is well known Nature and Vertues It is a temperate slower no way exceeding in heat or dryness cold or moisture a plant of Sol the Conserve and Syrrup of the slowers are gallant cordials comforting the Heart it resisteth the Plague or any Venome it strengthens Nature and is good against Consumptions the flowers pickled are an excellent sauce and stir up appetite being set in a glass in the Sun in vinegar they make a good vinegar to preserve from the Pestilence and revive one in a Swoon the Temples and Nostrils being washed therewith ☞ See further in Adam in Eden by W. Coles Clowns Woundwort Sideritis IT springs up with square rough green stalks near two foot high Description at every joynt grow two long narrow dark green leaves sharp at the point and bluntly dented about the edges the flowers compass the stalks towards the top and grow to a spiky head of a purplish colour having long gaping hoods with some white spots in them the seeds are round and blackish the root is fibrous with some tuberous knobs among them both herb and root have a strong smell much like stinking horehound Names Gerhard as I remember saith he gave it the name of Clowns-wort from a clownishianswer he had of a man that had cut his Leg with his Sithe and it is called Panax Coloni in Latine and Sideritis Places and Time It grows by Ditches sides in most places of this Land flowers in August and the seed is ripe in September Nature and Vertues It is dry in the first degree and reputed hot in the second of an earthy Saturnine quality it doth cure green Wounds and closes them up to admiration being stamped with Hogs Lard and applyed thereunto it stanches Blood and dryes up Fluxes of humours in old Vlcers a syrrup made thereof and taken inwardly heals inward Wounds Veins broken spitting pissing or vomiting blood and stayes the bloody Flux A Plaister or Vnguent of the Herb and some Comphrey with it helps swollen Veins and consolidates a cut muscle and is excellent for Ruptures of the Belly being applyed to the place Columbines Aquilina THere are Columbines of several colours Description as white flowers purple and carnation colour with divers others but they are so generally known I shall describe it no further Names No good Latine name can I finde for it yet it is termed Aquileia Aquilina and Aquilegia the onely English name Columbines Place and Time I have seen both the white and purple coloured grow wilde in our Meadows in Hampshire where the ground is somewhat dry as in a place called Gassen Mead in Holshot but they frequently grow in Gardens they flower about the beginning of May and are gone by the end of June Nature and Vertues They are temperately cold and dry moderately digestive a plant of Venus and sympathizingly cures sore Throats Canker and the Kings Evil the leaves boiled in milk and given to the party affected the seeds drunk in Ale is good for the Quinzy it also heals inflammations of the Mouth and Jaws a dram of the seed and half a penny weight of Saffron drunk in wine and the party covered to sweat opens the Liver and is good against the Janudies The decoction of the herb and root with some Ambergrease added helps Swoonings The seed drunk in wine causes speedy delivery and the juyce is good in the beginning of a Phrenzy the patient eating with it pottage of Sage Valerian and Rue Of Coloquintida or the bitter Gourd THis out-landish Indian Plant is hot and dry in the third degree very bitter of taste and strongly purging it may be taken to purge Phlegm by strong bodies being corrected with oyl of Roses Gum Tragacanth and Ginger which will help the griping pains it will cause if taken alone but being thus made up with Rose-water into pills or trochis it purges viscous humours tough Phlegm and Choller and water from the Brain Lungs and Breast and therefore is good against Fluxes of Rheume Apoplexy Falling Sickness and swimming of the Head the Jaundies old Coughs and rotten putrid Fevers the Chollick and Dropsie the decoction thereof in Vinegar easeth pains of the Teeth they being washed therewith being steeped in vinegar it helps the Morphew Scurf and Scabs in Glisters which is the safest way it may be given thus take the pulp hereof two drams Camomile flowers M. 1. Anniseed Comminseed of each ℥ ss make hereof a decoction fair water and in a pint thereof dissolve honey of Roses and oyl of Cammomile each ℥ iii. The dose otherwise is from five grains to ten Colts-foot Tussilago THis pectoral plant is well known onely hardly observed in this that it sendeth forth its flowers before the leaves Names Tussilago is the common Latine name Foals-foot and Colts-foot the English because the leaves resemble a Horses foot Place and Time It loves to grow in moist and low Grounds in good Ground it flowers in the end of March and beginning of April the flowers and stalks quickly fade away afterwards come the leaves which abide green all Summer Nature and Vertues It is cooling and drying being fresh but when the moisture is evaporated it inclines to heat and driness it is an herb of Venus very effectual for infirmities of the Lungs wheesing and shortness of Breath the leaves taken like Tobacco draws away thin Rheumes distilling upon the Lungs and helps the Cough the distilled water with Elder Flowers is good against hot Agues to drink about two ounces at a time it likewise helps hot Swellings inflammations as St. Anthonies
being applyed to the Temples and the bruised leaves laid upon the Crown of the head quickly stayes bleeding at Nose the distilled water is good for all the purposes aforesaid and the leaves rubbed upon any place stung with Bees or nertles gives present ease ☞ See more of this in Adam in Eden written by Will. Coles Hedge Hysop Gratiola IT is a low plant about a span long Description having square stalks or slender branches much like Garden Hysop but larger leaves the flowers grow upon short stems between the leaves of a whitish blue colour the whole herb hath a bitter taste like small Centory the root is small and threddy spreading far abroad multiplying greatly where it groweth Names It is called in Latine Gratia Dei and Gratiola and in English hedge Hysop the seed is called Gelbenech being the Arabian name There is a second kinde of hedge hysop called Gratiola angusti folia which hath a small fibrous root a reddish round crested stalk divided into many branches set with leaves like those of Knot-grass of a pale green colour without any stalks out of the bosom of these leaves come four leaved flowers set in longcups of a fair blue colour after which come longish seed vessels wherein are contained a small duskish seed the plant is without smell or any manifest taste the leaves are sometimes narrower and sometimes broader The plant sometimes but a handful and seldom above a foot high It s called also in English Grass Poley There is also a third kinde called Gratiola latifolia or broad leaved hedge Hysop which hath many four square small tender branches somewhat hollow or furrowed set with leaves by couples one against another like the former but shorter and broader amongst which grow purple flowers spotted in the inside with white and of a brighter purple then the rest of the flower after which come little seed vessels containing small yellowish seed of an extream bitter taste the whole plant is bitter like the first the root consists of a great many whitish strings which increase and spread much abroad Place and Time The first groweth naturally in moist and low places the second in grassy meers of the Champion Fields in Oxfordshire and such like places The third kinde likewise in moist places as about the Bogs or marish ground at the further end of Hampsted Heath and in such like places The first kinde flowreth in May the second in June and July the third in August Nature and Vertues Hedge Hysop is of a hot and dry nature the first kinde is onely used in Physick a scruple thereof being bruised and taken mightily purgeth watry gross and slimy humours in great abundance the herb boiled in Wine and the decoction drunk helpeth Fevers and is excellent in Dropsies and all Diseases springing from cold and watry causes If it be boiled and the decoction drunk or eaten with meat as a Sallet it opens the Belly scouring and purging gross phlegm and chollerick humours The extraction given with powder of Cynamon and a little juyce of Calamint prevaileth against Tertian and Quotidian Fevers as saith Camerarius Herb Robert Geranium Robertianum THis plant hath slender Description weak and brittle reddish stalks somewhat hairy the leaves are also reddish oftentimes jagged or deeply cut much like Chervil of a loathsome scent the flowers are a bright purple after which there comes small heads with sharp Bills like Birds Beaks The root is small and threddy Names It s called Geranium Robertianum in Latine as being a kinde of Cranes-bill it is also called Ruberta Roberti herba and Robertiana and is taken to be the 3. Sideritis of Dioscorid Place and Time It grows upon old Walls of Brick Stone or Mud and amongst Rubbish in bodies of dead Trees and in moist and shadowy banks of Ditches it flowers in April and almost all the Summer The herb continues green all Winter Nature and Vertues Herb Robert is somewhat cold of temperature having mixt qualities both scouring and somewhat binding it is good to stanch blood and to heal up bleeding Wounds and is good for Wounds and Vlcers in Womens Breasts and Dugs and also of the secret parts of Man or Woman and may be also as effectual as Cranes-Bill in Ruptures or inward Wounds The dryed herb and root taken in powder in some convenient liquor or the decoction thereof in Wine being drunk for those purposes Herb True-love Vide One berry St. Johns-wort Hypericum IT shooteth forth brownish Description upright hard round stalks about two foot high spreading into divers branches from the sides up to the top having two small perforated leaves set one against another all along of a deep green colour at the tops of the stalks and branches grow yellow flowers of five leaves apiece with yellow thrums in the middle which being bruised yield a reddish juyce like blood after the flowers come small round heads wherein is contained small blackish seed smelling like Rozen The root is hard and woody with many fibres at it of a brownish colour which abides many years but the stalks perish every year Names It is called in Latine Hypericum of some Fuga-daemonum supposing it to be good to drive away spirits and by Paracelsus Sol terrestris Places and Time It grows plentifully by Fields by Woods sides and Copses and in Hedge rowes flowers about Midsummer and the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues It is hot and dry and of thin parts an excellent Solar Plant it is profitable for all hurts and Wounds and also for inward bruises being made into an Oyl Oyntment or Salve Bathe or Fomentation and used outwardly or boiled in Wine and drunk it opens obstructions consolidates and soders up the lips of Wounds and strengthens weak and bruised parts The decoction of the herb and seed in Wine helps spitting and Vomiting of Blood and heals inward bruises it is likewise good for the Stone and to provoke Womens courses The seed taken in powder in a little broth purges choller and expells congealed blood in the Stomach The dose is ʒii The oyl is excellent both for old sores and green Wounds the seed is commended for the Palsie and Falling Sickness being drunk forty dayes together An excellent Balsome for Wounds and Venomous Bitings may be made of it after this manner Take oyl Olive one quart St. Johns-wort Betony Centory Self-heal and Tobacco flowers each two handfuls let them stand in a glass in the Sun all Summer then strain the oyl from the herbs and keep it for your use Jack by the Hedge Vide Sauce alone Ivy. Hedera THis is a companion lovingly imbracing many old Oaks and other Trees Walls Houses and Churches The Latines call it Hedera it flourisheth about July and the Berries are ripe about Christmas and may with Holly adorn a House without superstition Nature and Vertues A Pugil of Ivy flowers or a dram drunk twice a day in red Wine stops the Bloody Flux and Lask but Ivy
a joynt whereat come forth the flowers especially from the middle of the branches upward which are in some white and in others purple but so small that they can hardly be perceived which afterwards bring a square small seed much like Sorrel seed the root is reddish long and slender with many fibres it endures divers Winters but the leaves perish in Autumne and arise fresh in the Spring Names It is called both in Greek and Latine Polygonum and likewise Seminalis Sanguinalis and Sanguinaria in some places Corrigiola and Centinodia in English Knot-grass Place and Time It grows by high-wayes sides foot-paths in Fields and sides of old Walls and many other places Nature and Vertues It is cold and dry about the second degree Saturnine the powder thereof taken in Wine is good to provoke Vrine and cool the heat thereof and to expell gravel in the Reins and Bladder being eaten in a Tansie with Eggs it is good to help the running of the Reins and weakness of the Back the juyce or decoction is good to stay bleeding at the mouth to cool the Blood and Stomach to stop the bloody Flux Womens Courses and pissing of Blood the juyce is good to be given before the fit of a Tertian or Quartain Ague to moderate the violence thereof it is good against venomous bitings and defluxions of Rheumes upon the Stomach it cures also Inflammations hot Swellings St. Anthonies fire Cancers burning Sores and filthy Vlcers especially of the privy parts it helps fresh Wounds stayeth the Blood and closeth up the lips of them the juyce helps running matters of the Ears and Inflammations of the Eyes being dropped therein There is another kinde much like this in nature called Knawel ☞ See more of this in the Art of Simpling written by W. Coles Knapweed Jacea nigra IT hath long narrow leaves much like Devils Bit Description but longer set upon stalks two cubits high bluntly snipt about the edges the flowers grow at the top of the stalks being first scaly knops like corn flowers or blue bottle but greater out of the midst whereof groweth a purple thrummy or threddy flower the root is thick and short Names There are many more kindes hereof but its needless to name them being all reckoned amongst the sorts of Scabious This Knapweed is called Jacea nigra to distinguish it from Harts-ease or Pancies which is called Jacea also it is likewise called Materfillon and Matrefillen in English Matfellon Bull-weed and Knapweed Place and Time Knapweed grows commonly in Pastures as also Scabious doth and flowers in June and July Nature and Vertues Knapweed is much of the temperature of Scabious whereof it is a kinde but not so proper in Physick as Scabious is to whose faculties I refer you for this It is said to be good against the swellings of the Vvula as is Devils-Bit but of less force and vertue wherefore you may use the most effectual it growing as plentiful as this I should not have mentioned this plant as accounting it not worth while had not the writer or publisher of that piece which goes by the name of Culpeppers English Physician Enlarged made a scribble to no purpose about it Indeed in that Book both Culpepper and the Readers are abused it being really none of his all the useless and frivolous additions being done since his death Those true Copies of his which have been printed since he dyed are his School of Physick and Last Legacy Ladies Mantle Alchimilla IT hath many leaves rising from the root standing on long hairy foot stalks Description almost round somewhat dented on the edges into eight or ten parts more or less seeming like a Star with so many corners and points more finely dented about of a light green colour and as if it were plated and folded at the first then crumpled in divers places and hairy as the stalk is which riseth up amongst them a foot high sometimes more with a few smaller leaves thereon and being weak bendeth down towards the ground divided at the top into two or three small branches with whitish green heads and yellowish green flowers breaking out of them which being past there comes a yellowish seed in the husks the root is long and black with many fibres thereat Names In Latine it is called Alchymilla Stellaria Pes leonis and Pata leonis and of some Sanicula major in English Ladies Mantle great Sanicle Lions foot and Lions paw Place and Time It grows in Pastures and Woods in Kent and divers other places of this Land it flowers in May and June and continues green all the Winter Nature and Vertues Ladies Mantle is hot and dry in the second degree at least very astringent and drying an herb of Mars the decoction thereof drunk and the green herb outwardly applyed helps the flagging and over-greatness of Maids and Womens Breasts bringing them to their due bigness it is effectual in Inflammations stops Bleedings Vomitings and Fluxes Bruises and Ruptures stayes the Whites the distilled water drunk many dayes together helps Conception and dryes up the too much humidity of the Matrix and reduceth the Body to a good estate It is a singular Wound herb and dryes up the humidity of Sores and Vlcers and abates Inflammations it quickly heals fresh Wounds consolidating up the lips thereof and leaving no corruption therein ☞ See further in The Expert Doctors Dispensatory by P. Morellus Larch-Tree and its Agarick Larix IT grows about Italy Description and Names and also in Asia it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Larix in Latine and also Agaricum and Agaricus the Agarick is an excrescense or kinde of a Mushroome that groweth on this Tree being within white soft and spongy like a Mushroom The Agarick is hot in the first degree and dry in the second it hath an attenuating cleansing quality and purges obstructions of the entrails by stool it purgeth Phlegm Choller and Melancholly and cleanseth the Breast Lungs Liver and Reins provokes Urine and the Terms kills Worms helps pains in the Joynts and causeth a good colour It is not good to be taken alone without Corrigents therefore the Syrrup of Roses solutive with Agarick is good to be taken it cures the yellow Jaundies and is excellent good for Agues coming of thick Humours for which take the Pills of Hyera with Agarick it may be given with Oximel for Agues of all sorts and gripings of the Belly it is good against shortness of Breath the Ptisick and Consumption and half a dram thereof in Wine is a good Antidote against poisons Lavender Lavendula THis needs no description there is a greater and a lesser kinde of it the Latine name of it is Lavendula some call it Spike because it giveth a smell somewhat like Spikenard Place and Time It grows plentifully in our Gardens and flowers about the beginning of July Nature and Vertues Lavender is hot and dry in the third degree of thin subtle parts it is an herb of Mercury the distilled
it perfects its seed in August the second year after it is sown Nature and Vertues It is a Mercurial herb and is hot and dry in the second degree the seed is hot in the second degree and dry almost in the third its root is temperately hot Parsley is excellent to provoke Vrine to break the Stone and ease the pains thereof it provokes the Terms and is comfortable to the stomach breaking winde both there and in the belly the roots open obstructions and provokes urine mightily and may be boiled and eaten like Parsnips for the purposes aforesaid for which the seed decocted in wine is very effectual it is profitable for the Yellow Jaundies Falling Sickness and Dropsie the root is one of the five opening roots and is used amongst other herbs and roots that move the belly downwards the seeds are effectual against venome and poison and for them that have taken Litharge it is also used amongst other things for the Cough and being boiled in white wine and drunk it brings away the Birth and After-birth The leaves of Parsley eaten after Onions or Garlick takes away their offensive smell and suppresseth the Vapours that offend the head or eyes the leaves laid to inflamed or swoln eyes with bread or meal doth much help them and it abates the hardness of womens breasts caused by the curdling of their milk it takes away black and blue spots and marks which come by blows bruises and falls if it be fryed with butter and applyed thereunto the juyce mixed with a little wine and dropped into the ears easeth pains thereof the distilled water is good to give Children for the frets winde or gripings in their bellies or stomacks Parsley-pert or Break-stone Calculum frangens THis rises up with many leaves spread upon the ground Description standing upon a small long foot-stalk about the bigness of a mans nail much dented in the edges much like Parsley but of a dusky green colour the stalks are weak and slender two or three singers long set full of leaves to the top so that the stalk cannot be seen amongst which come forth greenish yellow flowers so small they can hardly be seen and the seed is very small the root is small and threddy yet abideth many years Names Lobel gave it the name of Percepier Anglorum and it is called Calculum frangens in Latine in English Break-stone Place and Time Parsley-pert delights in sandy and fallowed Ground and also amongst Corn it groweth commonly in most Countreys of this Nation it is found from April to the end of October Nature and Vertues It is cold and dry about the second degree I suppose under the influence of Venus it is singular to provoke Vrine and expel gravel and the Stone in the Reins and Kidneys washing it down by Vrine and expelling it out of the Bladder either to drink the decoction of the said herb in Wine or water or the juyce in white Wine taken morning and evening or a dram of the dryed herb in powder drunk in white Wine or other drink first and last divers dayes together it will make a good Sallet herb for the said purposes being pickled up like Sampire and eaten as a sauce in Winter when the green herb cannot be had Parsnip Pastinaca I Think this needs no description Pastinaca is their Latine appellation they are common amongst Gardners and is a good root to be eaten buttered by it self or amongst salt Fish their particular vertues you may read before in Carrots there being little difference but onely in colour Cow Parsnip Spondylium THis plant is known by the name of wilde Parsnip Description it answering thereunto both in his rank savour and in the likeness of the root the leaves hereof are long and large deeply notched or cut about the edges like the teeth of a Saw of an over-worn green colour having long hairy foot stalks the flowers grow in tufts like the wilde Parsnips in white and sometimes reddish Umbels the root is long and white like to the Henbane root The whole plant hath an ill-favoured smell Names It is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in Latine also Spondylium in English Cow Parsnip Meadow Parsnip and Madnep Place and Time Cow Parsnip grows commonly in moist fertil Meadows and Pastures and flowreth in June and July the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues It is manifestly hot of temperature and of a cutting faculty the leaves hereof being bruised and applyed doth consume and dissolve cold swellings the Oyl wherein the leaves and roots hereof have been botled is good to anoint the Heads of such as are troubled with the Lethargy Forgetfulness or the Head-ache and much helpeth phrenctick or Melancholly persons their Heads being anointed with it The seed of Cow-Parsnip being drunk in convenient liquor purgeth Phlegm out through the Guts helps short windedness the strangling of the Mother Jaundies and falling Sickness and the sume of the seed will revive such as are sallen into a swoon or deep sleep and helps womens passions of the Mother the smoke being received underneath The juyce of the flowers dropped into the ears cleanseth and healeth them of filthy matter and stayeth the running thereof The Peach Tree Nux Persica THis Tree is nourished onely in Gardens so that a description is needless Names It is called in Latine Nux Persica I suppose the reason because they came originally from Persia Nature and Vertuâ—s The fruit is cold in the first degree and most in the second the Kernels be hot and dry it is a tree ascribed to Venus Pouches moderately eaten as all fruit ought to be are good for hot constitutions to cool the Stomach and to sea the Belly according to Galen the best time of eating them is before meals for then they mollisie the Belly provoke appetite and qualifie choller in the Stomach The Kernels of the Stones are profitable amongst other ingredients to break the Stone and do ease pains and gripings of the Belly caused through windiness and sharp humours an oyl drawn from them and put into Glisters doth the like A milk or cream of the said Kernels being drawn forth with some Vervain water and applyed to the Forehead and Temples doth procure rest to sick persons and so doth the said oyl the places aforesaid being anointed with it the same Oyl or the juyce of the leaves dropped into the Ears easeth pains of them and being bruised and boiled in Vinegar till they be thick and applyed to a bald Head it causes hair to grow The leaves boiled in Ale or Milk and drunk loosens the Belly and killeth worms and so they do being bruised and laid on the Belly and being dryed they discuss humours The powder whereof strewed upon fresh bleeding Wounds stayeth the bleeding and closeth them up The flowers infused all night in Wine in a warm place and strained in the morning and drunk gently moves the Belly or you may make a syrrup of them by
cometh the other groweth in the Marshes of Holland in Lincolnshire as well as in the Low Countreys and likewise prospereth in Gardens where it is sown they flower in April and give their seed about the latter end of May. Nature and Vertues Scurvy-grass is hot and dry much in quality like the Garden Cresses it is an herb of Jupiter It is an excellent remedy for that Disease called the Scurvy which often afflicts Sea-men and many persons by land besides I have had it this Summer after a Winters Ague but by drinking the juyce of this herb every morning in Ale or white Wine have by Cods blessing obtained a cure in a small time it may likewise be taken in decoction or in dyet drink being tunned up with new Ale or Beer and some long Pepper Grains Anniseeds and Liquorice added thereto and at three dayes old the drink will be fit for your use it opens obstructions and evacuates cold clammy and phlegmatick humors from the Liver seat of Blood and the Spleen wasting the swelling and hardness thereof and reduceth the body to a lively colour the juyce helps Vlcers and Sores in the mouth it being gargled with it and outwardly used it cleanseth the skin from spot and scars The conserve worketh the same effects as the juyce or herb and is a fine delicate medicine for weak stomachs Of Sebesten Myxa THis is a certain Plum Description brought hither out of Assyria and is called by them Sebestens in Latine Myxa and Myxaria from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is their name for the Tree Nature and Vertues Sebestens are temperately cold and moist of a thick clammy substance they cleanse the throat of hoarseness and roughness caused by sharp humors which descend from the head into the winde-pipe and cause difficulty of breathing they also cause phlegm to be avoided and help the Cough and Wheesings of the Lungs and distillations upon them they help the sharpness of Vrine proceeding from Choller or salt Phlegm and help such as are troubled with pains in thier sides they are good in hot Agues to cool the intemperate heat of the Stomach and Liver and to purge Choller Self-heal Prunella IT is a low creeping herb Description having many small and somewhat round leaves a little pointed of a sad green colour without any dents on the edges the stalks are square and hairy about half a foot high which sometimes are divided into branches with small leaves thereon to the top whereon stand brown spiked heads consisting of many scaly leaves and flowers mingled together gaping and commonly of a blueish purple colour but sometimes of a pale blue of a sweet smell in some but in a few places the root is small and threddy and by taking hold of the ground by the fibres which grow out from its branches it is much increased Names It is called generally in Latine Prunella and of some Solidago minor Consolida minor and Consolida minima in English Self-heal Hook-heal and Carpenters herb Place and Time It grows commonly in most Fields and flowers in May Nature and Vertues Self-heal is moderately hot and dry somewhat astringent an herb of Venus an excellent Wound Herb either for inward or outward hurts ot be taken inwardly in syrrup or decoction and outwardly to be applyed in Vnguent or Plaisters of it self alone it will heal any green wound being bruised and wrought with the point of a knife upon a trencher like unto a Salve and applyed and it good to heal the sore Nipples of Nurses it is good for those that have received hurt by bruises or falls a decoction being made thereof with Sanicle Bugle and such other Wound Herbs and is effectual to inject into outward Vlcers and the inward taking thereof will help the sharpness of humors which follow any Sore Vlcer Inflammation Swelling or the like the juyce hereof mixed with oyl of Roses is good to anoint the Temples and Forehead for the Head-ache and the same juyce mixed with a little honey of Roses cleanseth and healeth Vlcers and Sores of the Mouth and Throat and secret parts Sena Colutea THe true Sena is said to grow in Arabia and Syria Description and is transported from Alexandria to us there is a bastard Sena which is kept in many Gardens with us commonly called Colutea which is its Latine name Nature and Vertues The leaves of Sena which are onely used are hot near the first degree and dry in the third it is of a purging faculty and leaveth a binding quality after the purging it openeth obstructions and cleanseth and comforteth the Stomach being corrected with some Auniseed Carrawayseed or Ginger it purgeth Melancholly choller and Phlegm from the Head and Brain Lungs Heart Liver and Spleen cleansing those parts of evil humors a dram thereof taken in Wine Ale or Broth fasting it strengthens the sences and procureth mirth it is also good in cronical Agues whether Quartain or Quotidian it cleanseth and purifieth the blood and causeth a fresh and lively habit of the body and is a special ingredient in dyet drinks and to make purging Ale to be taken to clarifie and cleanse the blood The bastard Sena purgeth vehemently both upwards and downwards offending the Stomach and Bowels Shepherds purse Bursa Pastoris IT hath small long leaves Description of a pale green colour deeply cut in on both sides the stalk is small and round parted into many branches containing small leaves upon them up to the top the flowers are white and very small after which come flat pouches which hold the seed which are flat in form of a heart in each side whereof lyeth a small brownish yellow seed the root is small and white and perisheth every year Names The Latines call it Bursa pastoris and Pastoria Bursa in English Shepherds purse Poor mans Parmacity Toywort Pick-purse and Caseweed Place and Time It grows frequently almost in every Field and Hedges side and upon Banks about London they flower and seed all the Summer and some of them twice a year Nature and Vertues Shepherds purse is cold dry and binding a Saturnine Plant the decoction hereof stoppeth the Lask spitting of Blood pissing Blood the Terms and all other fluxes of Blood howsoever it be taken but especially with red Wine or Plantain Water the juyce helpeth mattering and running Fars being dropped therein A good Salve may be made hereof for Wounds especially in the head The bruised herb pultiswise applyed helpeth Inflammations St. Anthonies sire and cures running Sores Fistula's Swellings hardness new Wounds Shingles and rheumatick Sores The juyce being drunk helpeth straitness of the Breath the Strangury and stoppage of Vrine and stoppeth Phlegm and is very prevalent against venomous bitings being drunk with Wine and prevents the fits of Agues being taken an hour before the fit Skirret Sisarum THey grow not naturally in England but as they are planted in Gardens Names It is called in Latine Sisarum Siser Chervillum and Servilla they
Wax it draweth up the Bowels and keepeth them in their natural place and helpeth them when they are too much windy or swoln It is good for Bruises and Wounds old Sores and Vlcers either inward or outward The decoction of the Herb in Wine or Water being drunk and the places washed therewith or an Oyntment may be made of the Herb with Oyl or Hogs-grease to keep all the year for the same purposes But an excellent Salve may be made of the green Herb with Wax Oyl Rozen and Turpentine to incarnate and bring up flesh in deep Wounds and to heal old Sores The Herb and the distilled Water thereof is good against St. Anthonies fire and the Shingles Teasel or Fullers Thistle Carduus Fullonum THe Garden or mannured Teasel being planted by Cloath-workers for their use and the wilde Teasel are both so common they need no description Names It is called in Latine Carduus Fullonum Fullers Thistle and Pecten Veneris Dipsacus Silvestris and Virga Pastoris Shepherds Rod is a Species thereof Place and Time The Cloathworkers as I said before mannure one kinde for their use the other is to be found by most High-wayes Banks and Ditches sides They flower in June and July and the seed is ripe in August It perisheth annually and riseth again of its own sowing Nature and Vertues Teasel is drying in the second degree according to Gallen having also a cleansing faculty and reputed to be subject to the influence of Venus The roots being bruised in wine till they come to the Consistence of a Salve and then kept in a brazen or copper box and afterwards applyed plaisterwise to the Fundament heals Chops Cankers and Fistula's thereof saith Dioscorides and takes away Warts and Wens so also is the Water said to do which is contained in the hollowness of the leaves and is also commended against redness of the eyes and spots of the face The juyce dropped into the ears killeth worms in them the leaves applyed to the Forehead and Temples qualifieth frenzie fits The distilled water takes away redness of the eyes and such mists as darken the sight and helps creeping Sores Shingles and Pimples preserves Beauty taking away redness inflammations and other discolourings and is also said to be effectual to cure the Scurvy The roots stamped with Danewort and boiled in wine and drunk helpeth the Dropsie and being boiled in red wine and drunk morning and evening for nine dayes together it helpeth the Gout The powder thereof drunk in wine stops fluxes and helps excoriations of the belly and other parts The same powder the quantity of two drams at a time drunk in Pease broth stops the overflowing of Womens Courses and so doth the Herb being bruised and boiled in Vinegar and applyed under the Navel and helps moist Wounds that are hard to heal and Cankers of the Yard ☞ See further in Adam in Eden written by Will. Coles Three-leaved Grass or Trefoil Trifolium THere is near twenty kindes of this Plant Description as Meadow Trefoil Heart Trefoil Pearle Trefoil white and red Honey-suckles or three-leaved grass cum multis aliis c. Meadow Trefoil shooteth up stalks a handful long or more round and somewhat hairy and for the most part leaning towards the ground having thereon three leaves joyned together one standing a little from another having for the most part in the midst a white spot like a half moon amongst which rise up stalks of flowers somewhat longer then the leaves bearing a tuft of many deep purple crimson flowers which turneth into little cods with small seed in them The Root spreadeth much and endureth long Names Trifolium it is called in Latine and of some Menyanthe and Asphaltion in English Trefoil three-leaved Grass and Honey-suckles Place and Time They are common in most Meadows and Pastures they flower and flourish from May till August Nature and Vertues Both Leaves and Flowers of Meadow Trefoil are cooling and binding of which temperature the other kindes do in some sort partake they are under the influence of Venus The decoction of the whole Plant of Meadow Trefoil is good to stay the Whites and overflowing of Womens Courses and having some Honey added thereto and used for a Glister it helps gripings and frettings of the Guts A Pultiss made of the leaves with Barrows-grease helps hot Swellings and Inflammations The juyce especially of the Pearl Trefoil mixed with a little Honey and applyed is good to take away the pin and web of the eyes and to ease pains and inflammations of them An Oyntment made of the herb with Hogs-grease is good for the biting of an Adder and the decoction of the Herb to wash the place and the juyce to drink The Herb bruised and heated between two tyles and applyed to the share helps stopping of water and is likewise good for wounds and scars The seed is good to cleanse the Liver and for Coughs and pains of the Breast The Heart Trefoil is a great strengthner of the heart and vital spirits helps swoundings and resists the Pestilence and defends the heart against the noisome vapours of the Spleen The leaves of it do perfectly resemble the heart of a man and are of a flesh colour like the heart Garden Tyme and wilde Tyme or Mother of Tyme Thymus THese Plants both mannured and wilde are commonly known being like one another Names Thymus and Thymum is both Greek and Latine Names for both yet the Mother of Tyme is called in Latine Serpillum à serpendo because of its creeping upon the ground Place and Time One is nourished in Gardens the other found in dry Pastures almost on every Hillock they flower about July Nature and Vertues Tyme is hot and dry in the third degree working the same effects as Savory in womens diseases and therefore is particularly ascribed to Venus which in part it may The decoction thereof in water and honey provokes the Tearms helps hard labour and expells the Secondine and dead Childe it strengtheneth the Lungs helps the Cough and shortness of Breath provokes Vrine dissolves congealed Blood and killeth Worms An Electuary made thereof with honey expectorates tough phlegm quickens the sight warms and comforts the stomach and so doth the herb used in broths It is good against the Chollick Illiack Passion Melancholly and stoppings of the Matrix four drams of Tyme in powder taken fasting in syrrup of Vinegar purgeth Choller and sharp humours and easeth the Gout And one dram taken fasting in Mead dissolves hard swellings of the Belly and is profitable for pains in the Loins and Hips and swellings in the Sides The decoction dissolves Tumours and Swellings they being bathed therewith The juyce used with vinegar takes away Warts and being applyed with wine and meal it helps the Sciatica and swollen Cods Bathes made thereof are good to expell Winde and help the Joynt-Gout the wilde Tyme is more powerful then the other for most of the said purposes especially to provoke the Tearms being decocted