the most part into three or foure grains or branches the same is white odoriferous and hot in the mouth it loueth to grow vpon rockes and stonie grounds lying pleasantly vpon the Sun The infusion of this root in wine is good to be drunke for the paine and other diseases of the matrice but of the said root there ought to be taken three ounces stamped and the same to steepe a day and night in 3 sextars of wine for to make the infusion aboue-named This portion also serues to send down the after-birth if it stay behind The seed of this herbe drieth vp milke if it be drunke in wine or mead Cirsion commeth vp with a slender stalke two cubits high and seemeth to be made 3 cornered triangle-wise the same is beset round about with prickie leaues howbeit the said prickes are but tender and soft The leaues in forme resemble an oxe tongue or the herb Langue-deboeufe but that they be smaller and somewhat white in the top whereof there put forth purple buttons or little heads which in the end turne to a plume like thistle down Some writers hold that this herb or the root onely bound vnto the swelling veines called Varices doth allay the paine thereof Crataeogonos spindleth in the head like vnto the eare of wheat and out of one single root ye shall haue many shoots to spring and rise vp into blade and straw and those also ful of ioints It gladly groweth in coole and shadowie places the seed resembleth the grain of the Millet which is very sharp and biting at the tongues end If a man his wife before they company together carnally drink before supper for 40 daies together the weight of three oboli of this seed either in wine or as many cyaths of water they shall haue a man childe betweene them as some say There is another Crataeogonos called also Thelygonos the difference from the other may soon be known by the mildnesse in taste Some authors affirm that if women vse to drinke the floures of Crataeogonos they shal within 40 daies conceiue with child But as well the one as the other applied with hony do heale old vlcers they incarnat and fill vp the hollow concauities of fistulous sores and such parts as do mislike and want nourishment they cause to gather flesh and fill the skin again foule and filthy vlcers they mundifie the flat biles and risings called Pani they rarifie and discusse gouts of the feet they mitigat generally all impostumations in womens brests specially they resolue and assuage Theophrastus would haue a kind of tree to be called Crataegonos or Crataeogon which here in Italy they call Aquifolia Crocodilion doth in shape resemble the thistly herbe or Artichoke called the blacke Chamaeleon the root is long and thicke in all parts alike of an hard and vnpleasant smel it groweth ordinarily in sandy or grauelly grounds If one drinke of it they say it will set the nose a bleeding and send out a deale of thicke and grosse bloud that the spleene will diminish and weare away by that means As touching Testiculus Canis or Dogs-stones which the Greeks cal Cynosorchis others simply Orchis it hath leaues like vnto those of the oliue soft tender they are and about halfe a foot long and therfore no maruell if they lie spred vpon the ground the root is bulbous and growing long-wise in a double ranke or two together the one aboue which is the harder the other vnder it and that is the softer when they be sodden folke vse to eat them after the manner of other bulbs and lightly a man shall find them growing in vineyards Of these two roots if a man eat the bigger it is said that he shal beget boies and if the woman eat the smaller she shal conceiue a maiden childe In Thessalie men vse for to drinke in goats milke the softer of these roots to make themselues lustie for the act of generation but the harder when they would coole the heat of lust whereby we may see that they be contrarie and one hindereth the operation of the other Chrysolachanon commeth vp like a Lettuce and commonly groweth in plots of ground set with Pines the vertue of this herbe is to heale wounds of the sinewes thought they were cut quite asunder if it be presently laied too There is another kinde of Chrysolachanon bearing floures of a golden colour and leafed like vnto the Beet when it is boiled folke vse to eat it in stead of meat and it looseneth the belly as well as Beets Coleworts and such like and if it be true that is reported whosoeuer beare this hearbe tied fast about any place of their bodies which is euer in their eie so as they may see the same continually it wil cure them of the jaundise Touching this hearb Chrysolachanum well I wot that I haue not written sufficiently that men might know it by this description and yet could I neuer meet with any author who hath said more or described it better This verily hath been the fault and ouersight euen of our moderne Herbarists of late daies To write sleightly of those herbes and simples which they themselues knew and were acquainted with as if forsooth they had been knowne to euery man setting downe onely their names and no more which is euen as much as to tell vs a tale and say that with the rennet or rundles of the earth one might stay a laske or giue free passage to the vrine in the strangury so it be drunke in wine or water As for Cucubalum they write of it That if the leaues bee stamped with vineger they heale the stings of serpents and scorpions Some of them cal this herb by another name Strumus and others giue it the Greeke name Strychnos and black berries they say it hath The iuice thereof taken to the quantity of one cyath with twice as much honied wine is soueraigne for the loins or small of the back likewise it easeth the head-ache if together with oile of roses it bee distilled vpon the head by way of embrochation The herb it selfe in substance made into a liniment healeth the wens called the kings euill Concerning the fresh water Spunge for so I may more truly terme it than either mosse or herbe so thicke of shag haires it is and fistulous withal it groweth ordinarily within the riuers that issue from the root of the Alpes and is named in Latine * Conferua for that it is good to conglutinat in manner of a souder Certes I my selfe know a poore labourer who as he was lopping a tall tree fell from the top down to the ground and was so pitiously bruised thereby that vnneth he had any sound bone in all his body that was vnbroken and in very truth lapped he was all ouer with this mosse or spunge call it whether you will and the same was kept euermore moist and wet with sprinckling his owne water
paper Amphitheatrike which name was giuen vnto it of the place where it was made The polishing and trimming of this paper Fannius vndertooke who set vp a shop in Rome for the selling of it and so skilfull was he and curious in the handling and dressing thereof that by the time hee had done withall and brought it to a perfect finenesse hee made the same of a course and common paper to be royall fit for the best persons that should vse it in such sort as there was none in any request to speak of but it and called after his name it was Fanniana As for that which passed not thorow his hands nor had his workemanship it retained still the old bare name Amphitheatrica After this kind of paper followed that which they called Saitica of a towne or city in Egypt where great abundance was made thereof of the courser pieces and refuse of the said Papyrus And yet there was another paper to wit Taâ—…otica so called of a place neere adioyning made of the grosser part neere to the bark and outside and this they sold for the weight and no other goodnesse that it had besides As for the merchant Paper or shop-paper called Emporetica it was not for to write in onely it serued as wast Paper for sarplers to wrap and packe vp wares in also for coffins or coronets to lap spice and fruits in and thereupon merchants and occupiers gaue it that name And with this the very cane it selfe is to be seene clad outwardly and the vtmost coat thereof is like to a reed or bulrush fit for no purpose but to make cordage of and not very good for that vse neither vnlesse it be for the water only which it wil abide very wel Now the making of all these Papers was in this sort namely vpon a broad bord wet with the cleare water of Nilus For the fatty and muddie liquor therof serues in stead of glew wherwith at the first the thin leafe of the cane Papyrus sliued from the rest and laid vpon the bourd to the full length in manner of the warpe according as the trunke will giue leaue being cut off at both ends namely toward the top and the root is wet and besmeared then is there another laid ouerthwart it after the order of the woofe with a crosse graine to the other and so is the web as it were of the Paper performed Pressed afterwards it is in certaine presses that both leaues may sticke together and then the whole sheets are dried in the Sun Which done they be so couched together that the best and largest lie first and so consequently in order as they be worse and of lesse size vntill you come to the worst And one scape or trunke lightly of the cane Papyrus yeelds not aboue 20 such sheets Great difference there is in them for the breadth notwithstanding the length be all one The best namely which were taken out of the heart of the cane beare 13 fingers in breadth The Hieratica Paper wants two of that number The Fannian is but ten fingers broad The common Paper Amphitheatrica but nine Saitica yet fewer and will not beare â—…e stroke of the hammer And as for the merchants Paper it was so short and narrow that it went not aboue six fingers Moreouer in Paper these 4 things must be considered that it be fine well compact white and smooth Howbeit Claudius Caesar the Emperor abated the credite of the Paper Augusta that it was no more accounted the best for indeed so thin it was that it would not abide the dent of the pen besides it would not hold inke but shew the letters on the other side and was euermore in danger of blurring and blotting specially on the back part and otherwise vnsightly it was to the eie for that a man might so easily see thorough it And therefore he deuised to fortifie and strengthen the said Paper and laid another course or coat as it were ouer the former in manner of a double woofe Hee enlarged also the breadth of the Paper for he caused it to be a foot broad yea and some a foot and an halfe I meane that kind which was called Macrocola or large Roiall Paper But herin was a fault and reason found it out for if one leafe of this large Paper were plucked off the more pages took harme thereby and were lost And therfore the former Claudian Paper which had but 3 leaues of Papyrus was preferred before all the rest Howbeit that which was named Augustane bare the name for letters missiue and the Liuiane continued still in the owne credite hauing no property of the first and principall but all in a second degree The roughnesse of Paper is polished and smoothed either with some tooth or else with a Porcellane shell but the letters in such slick Paper will soone fade and decay For by polishing it will not receiue the inke so deepe as when it is not smoothed although otherwise it will shine the better Moreouer it falls out many times that if the humor be not artificially laid the Paper is very stubborn but this fault is soon found out at the very first stroke of the hammer or else discouered by the smell especially if good heed were not taken in the tempering therof As for the spots and speckles the eie will quickly spie them but the long streaks and veines lying close couched between the pasted places can hardly be discerned before that the letter runs abroad and shewes how in the spongeous substance of the Paper wanting that past the ink will sinke thorough and make blots so deceitfull is the making of this Paper What remedie then but to be at a second labor to past it new againe another way to wit with the common past that wee vse made with the finest floure of wheat and tempered with hote scalding water and a little vinegre mingled therwith For the joiners glue and that made of gums is brittle and will not abide the rolling vp of these sheets into quiers But they that wil go more surely to work and make an exquisite past indeed boile the soft and tender crums or leauenedbread in seathing water and then let it run thorough a strainer which they vse to this purpose For besides that the Paper hereby will be more firme and haue lesse flawes it surmounts also in sweetnesse the water of Nilus Moreouer all kind of past whatsoeuer for this effect ought neither to be staler than a day old nor yet fresher and vnder that age After that it is thus pasted they beat it thin with the hammer and a second time runne lightly ouer with new past and then being thus knit bound fast again it is made smooth and void of wrinkles and finally beaten euen with the hammer and driuen out in length and breadth After this manner was that Paper made wherin were written the bookes and records of the two Gracchi Tiberius and Caius with their owne hands
of Holly The leaues of the Oliue tree and the Mast-Holme hang by a short stele the Vine leaues by a long The Poplar or Aspen leaues doe shake and tremble and they alone keep a whistling and rustling noise one with another Moreouer in the very fruit it selfe and namely in a certain kind of Apples ye shall haue small leaues breake out of the very sides in the mids in some single in others double and two together Furthermore there be trees that haue their leaues comming forth about their boughs and branches others at the very end and shoot of the twig as for the wild Oke Robur it putteth leaues forth of the trunk and maine stock Ouer and besides the leaues grow thicker or thinner in some than in others but alwlies the broad and large leaues are more thinne than others In the Myrtle tree the leaues grow in order by ranks those of the Box tree turn hollow but in the Apple trees they are set in no order at al. In Pyrries Apple trees both ye shal see ordinarily many leaues put forth at one bud hanging at one and the same taile The Elme and the Tree-trifolie are full of small and little branches Cato addeth moreouer and saith That such as fall from the Poplar or the Oke may bee giuen as fodder to beasts but he wils that they be not ouer drie and he saith expressely that for kine and oxen Fig-leaues mast Holm leaues and Iuie are good fodder yea and such kind of beasts may well brouse and feed of Reed leaues and Bay leaues Finally the Seruise tree looseth her leaues al at once others shed them by little and little one after another And thus much for the leaues of trees CHAP. XXV ¶ The order and course obserued in Nature as touching plants and trees in their conception flouring budding knotting and fructifying Also in what order they put forth their blossomes THe manner and order of Nature yeare by yeare holdeth in this wise first trees and plants do conceiue by the meanes of the Westerne wind Fauonius which commonly beginneth to blow about sixe daies before the Ides of Februarie for this wind is in stead of an husband to all things that grow out of the earth and of it they desire naturally to be conceiued like as the Mares in Spaine of which we haue written heretofore This wind is that spirit of generation which breathes life into all the world which the Latines call thereupon Fauonius à fauendo i. of cherishing and nourishing euery thing as some haue thought It blowes directly from the Aequinoctiall Sun-setting and euermore beginneth the Spring This time out rusticall peasants call the Seasoning when as Nature seemeth to goe proud or assaut and is in the rut and furious rage of loue desirous to conceiue by this wind which indeed doth viuifie and quicken all plants and seeds sowne in the ground Now of all them conceiue not at once but in sundry daies for some are presently sped in a moment like as liuing creatures others are not so hastie to conceiue but long it is first ere they retaine and as long againe before their vitall seed putteth forth and this is therupon called their budding time Now are they said to bring forth and be deliuered when in the Spring they bloome and that blossome breaketh forth of certain matrices or ventricles After this they become nources all the while they cherish and bring vp the fruit and this time also the Latines call Germinatio i. the breeding season When trees are full of blossomes it is a signe that the Spring is at the height and the yeare become new againe The blossom is the very ioy of trees and therein standeth their chiefe felicitie then they shew themselues fresh and new as if they were not the same then be they in their gay coats then it seemeth they striue avie one with another in varietie of colours which of them should excell and exceed in beautifull hew But this is not generall for many of them are denied this pleasure and enjoy not this delight for all trees blossome not some are of an heauie and sad countenance neither cheare they at the comming of this new season and gladsome Spring for the mast-Holme the Pitch tree the Larch and the Pine doe not bloome at all they are not arrayed in their robes they haue not their liueries of diuers colors to fore-signifie as messengers and vantcourriers the arriuall of the new yeare or to welcome and solemnize the birth of new fruits The Figge trees likewise both tame and wild make no shew of floures for they are not too soon bloomed if they bloom at all but they bring forth their fruit And a wonderful thing it is to see what abortiue fruit these Figge-trees haue and how it neuer commeth to ripenesse Neither doe the Iunipers bloome at all And yet some writers there be who make two kinds thereof and they say that the one flowreth and bears no fruit as for the other which doth not blossome it brings forth fruit vpon fruit and berrie vpon berrie which hang two yeres vpon the tree before they come to maturitie But this is false for in very truth all Iunipers without exception haue euermore a sad looke and at no time shew merie And this is the case and condition verily of many a man whose fortune is neuer in the floure nor maketh any outward shew to the world Howbeit there is not a tree but it buddeth euen those that neuer blossome And herein the diuersitie of the soile is of great power for in one and the same kind such as grow in marish grounds do shoot and spring first next to them those of the plaines and last of all they of the woods and forrests And generally the wilde Pyrries growing in woods doe bud later than any other At the first comming of the western wind Fauonius the Corneil tree buddeth next to it the Bay and somewhat before mid-march or the spring Aequinoctiall the Tillet or Linden and the Maple the Poplar Elme Willow Alder and Filberds or Hazell nut trees bud with the first The Palme also maketh hast and is loth to come behind All the rest at the point and prime of the spring namely the Holly the Terebinth the Paliurus the Cheston and the Walnut-trees or Mast-trees Apple trees are late ere they bud but the Corke tree longest of any other Trees there be that put forth bud vpon bud by reason that either the soile is exceeding battill and fat or else the weather faire and pleasant and this happeneth more to be seene in the blades of corne But trees if they happen to be ouer rancke in new shoots and buds they waxe wearie and grow out of heart Moreouer some trees there be that naturally do sprout at other seasons besides the spring according to the influence of certaine starres whereof the reason shall be rendred more conueniently in the third booke next ensuing after this Meane time this would
foot broad in the mouth but in the bottome not aboue a foot and a hand-breadth but see they bee foure foot deep prouided alwaies that they be paued beneath with stone and for want thereof laid with green willow bastons and for default of them with vine cuttings or such trousse so that they lie halfe a foot thicke But considering the nature of trees wherof we haue before written I think it not amisse to adde somewhat of mine owne namely The more ebbe that any roots of trees creepe vnder the ground the deeper they must be set into the earth as for example the Ash and the Oliue tree for they and such other like ought to stand foure foot deepe As for all the rest it skils not if they goe no deeper than 3 foot for that is thought sufficient Stocke me vp this root here quoth Papyrius Cursor a Roman in General in a brauery when he meant to terrifie the Pretor of the Praenestines Whereby it is plain that the more secure safe way in his judgment was rather to cut the stocke and maister Root indeed than slightly to pare away those bare roots that appeare naked aboue ground for that mought be done and the tree neuer the worse for it Some there be that would haue round peble stones laid in the bottom of such ditches which might as well contain and keep water as let it forth and giue issue therto whereas broad flat stones would not so doe but besides hinder the root that it should not goe downe and take hold of the earth For to keep therefore a meane betweene it were good in mine opinion to lay grauell vnder the root Moreouer there be diuers men of this mind that a tree should not be remoued either vnder two yeares old or aboue three wheras others make no question to transplant them after the first yeare without more adoe Cato alloweth not of translating a tree vnlesse it beare in thicknesse more than 5 fingers And verily so exactly hath he written hereof that he would not haue forgotten to marke in the barke of trees the South side before they were taken vp in case hee had thought that it was material to the replanting of them that they should stand just in the same position and accustomed coast of the heauen as they did before for feare least that side which regarded the North if now it should be opposed against the South might cleaue and rift with the heat of the Sunne not vsed thereto and contrariwise the parts which looked Southward might now by the Northern winds be clunged and congealed withall Now there be some that affect a cleane contrarie course and namely in the Fig tree and the Vine exchaunging the one side for the other being fully persuaded that by that means they will beare leaues thicker preserue and defend their fruit better and in the end shed fewer more particularly that the fig tree therby wil be the more easie to climb Most men take great heed of this only that when they prune trees and cut off the top ends of boughes the cut may be toward the South without any regard or consideration that in so doing they expose the boughs to the danger of cleauing by reason of the hote Southern wind which lieth vncessantly beating vpon them Yet hold I rather with them that would haue branches cut Southeast or Southwest namely toward the points where the Sun is at the fift and eight houres of the day Another secret there is besides wherof they are as ignorant howbeit not to be neglected namely to beware that the roots of such trees as are to be replanted stay not long aboue ground and thereby wax drie also that trees bee not digged vp either standing into the North or in any quarter between that point and the Southeast where the Sunne riseth in midwinter in case the wind sit in those corners or at leastwise that the roots be not exposed bare against any of those winds for surely many a tree dies hereby and husbandmen neuer know the cause thereof Cato vtterly condemneth al maner of winds whatsoeuer yea and raine too all the while that trees be in remoouing Moreouer in this case it is singular good that there hang to the roots of these trees when they be translated as much of the old earth wherein they liued and grew before as may bee yea and if it were possible to bring them away with the turfes whole and entire lapped fast about the roots And therefore Cato prouided wel that such yong plants should be caried in baskets earth and altogether with the roots Doubtlesse not without very great reason there is one Author saith That it is suffiâ—…nt that the vppermost course of the old mouth that lay at the foot of the tree should be put 〈◊〉 the root thereof now when it is replanted Some write that if the bottom of the hole or graue be paued with stone where Pomegranate trees should stand the Apple or fruit that they bear wil neuer burst nor cleaue vpon the trees Also that the roots of trees when they are to be set should be laid bending a tone side and not stand direct and streight Moreouer that the tree in any case be set just in the mids of the ditch or hole made for it It is said moreouer that if a man plant a fig-tree together with the sea-onion Scilla that is a kind of the Bulbi it wil make hast to bear Figs and those wil not be subject to the worme and yet other fruits will be worm-eaten neuerthelesse set them with the said Scilla as well as you can As for the roots of a tree who makes any doubt that great care should be had in the taking of them vp so as they might seeme rather drawn forth gently and not plucked vp violently But my purpose is not to dwell in these matters nor to stand much vpon such points which haue a manifest reason and wherof no man is ignorant or doubtfull to wit that the earth is to be well driuen and beaten downe close with a rammer that it may lie fast about the roots which Cato judgeth to bee a principall point for to be obserued in this businesse who also giueth a rule that the place where a tree is cut in the body should be plastred ouer with dung couered ouer also and fast tied with leaues CHAP. XII ¶ Of the spaces and distances that ought to bee betweene trees planted of their shaddowes and droppings of the place where they should be planted IT belongeth to this place properly for to speak of the distances between tree and tree in the setting Some writers are of opinion That Pomgranat trees Myrtle trees Lawrels should be planted thicker than ordinarie howbeit with this regard that they be set 9 foot a sunder one from another As for Apple trees they may stand a little more at large Peare trees somewhat wider than they Almond trees and Fig trees yet a little
herbe Flea-wort or Cotyledon otherwise called Vmbilicus veneris stamped with fried Barly meale into a cataplasme or els to take Iubarb i. Sengreen to the same effect The herbe Molon hath a stem chamfered or channelled along soft leaues those small a root foure fingers long in the end whereof it beareth an head like vnto Garlicke Some call it Syron Taken in wine it helpeth the stomack and difficulty of drawing breath In which cases the greater Centaury is singular if it be reduced into a lohoch or liquid electuary Plantain also eaten any way either in a green-sauce or sallad This composition is reputed a soueraign medicine Take of Betony stamped the weight of one pound of Atticke hony as much incorporat them together and hereof drinke euery day the quantity of halfe an ounce in some conuenient liquor or in water warm Aristolochia or Agarick are soueraigne meanes to be vsed in these infirmities if one drinke the weight of three oboli thereof either in warme water or asses milke The herb Cissanthemos is good to be drunk for those that be streight winded and must sit vpright when they draw their breath In the like case Hyssop is commended as also for pursiuenesse and shortnesse of wind The juice of Harstrang is an ordinary medicine for the griefe of the liuer the pains also of brests and sides in case the Patient be cleare of the ague As for Agarick it helpeth all such as spit bloud if the pouder thereof to the weight of one Victoriat be giuen in fiue cyaths of honied wine Of the same operation is Amomum But particularly for the liuer the herb Teucria is thought to be soueraign if it be taken fresh green to the weight of foure drams in one hemine of water and vineger mixed together One dram of Betony giuen in three cyaths of warm water or in tw ain of cold is thought to be a singular cordiall The iuice of Cinquefoile helpeth all the imperfections of the liuer and lights it cureth them that voyd or reach vp bloud and generally it serueth for al inward corruptions and distemperatures of the whole masse of bloud Both Pimpernels be wonderfull medicinable for the liuer Fumiterre the herb whosoeuer do eat shal purge choler by vrine Galangale is helpfull likewise to the liuer to the chest also and the midriffe or precordial parts The herb Caucon named also Ephedra and by some Anabasis groweth ordinarily in open tracts exposed to the wind it wil clime vpon trees and hang down from their boughs and branches Leafe it hath none but is garnished with a number of haires which are no other but rushes indeed full of ioints and knots the root is of a pale colour Let this herb be beaten to pouder and giuen in red wine that is greene and hard it is good for the cough for the shortnesse of wind and the wrings of the belly it may be taken also in some other supping whereto it were conuenient to put wine In like sort the infusion of one dram of Gentian which hath lien steeped the day before may be very wel taken in three cyaths of wine for those purposes Herb Benet or Auens hath a small root of a blackish colour which hath a good sent this herb not only cureth the pains of the brest and side but also discusseth all crudities proceeding of vnperfect digestion by reason of the pleasant sauour that it hath As for Veruaine it is medicinable vnto all the prrncipall and noble parts within the body good for the sides the lungs the liuer and the breast but most properly it respecteth the lungs and namely when the patient is in a phthy sick or consumption by the means of their vlcer The root of Bearfoot an herb which I said was but lately found out is a present remedie for swine sheep goats all such cattel in case they be diseased in the lights if it be but drawn crosse through any of their eares The same ought to bee drunke in water and a piece thereof continually held vnder the tongue As for any other part of this hearbe aboue ground be it leafe stalke floure or seed it is not yet certainly knowne whether it be good or no for any purpose in Physicke As for the kidneies the hearbe Plantaine is good to be eaten Betonie to be drunke Agaricke also to be taken in drinke like as for the cough Tripolium groweth vpon the rocks by the sea side on which the sea-water beateth so as a man cannot say that it is either in the sea or the drie land in leafe it resembleth woad but that it is thicker the stemme is a span or hand-breadth high forked and diuided at the point the root white odoriferous grosse and hot in taste when it is sodden in a frumenty pottage of wheat they giue it with good successe to those that be diseased in the liuer this is thought of some to be all one with Polium whereof I haue spoken in due place Symphonia or Gromphena an herbe hauing leaues some red others greene growing to the stem in order one red and another greene is a soueraigne medicine for such as reach and void vp bloud if it be taken in oxycrat or vineger water mingled together Melandryum is an herb found growing in corn-fields medows with a white floure and the same of a sweet and pleasant sent the smal stems therof be commended for the liuer in case they be stamped giuen in old wine Chalcetum commeth vp in vineyards which if it be punned serueth for a good cataplasme to be applied vnto the region of the liuer The root of Betony taken to the weight of foure drams in wine cuit or honied wine prouoketh vomit readily as well as Ellebore But for this purpose Hyssope is better being beaten in pouder and giuen with honey but order would be giuen before vnto the Patient to eat Cresses or Irio Molemonium also is of the like effect if it be taken to the weight of one denier Moreouer the herb Silybum hath a white juice like vnto milke which after it is thickened to the substance of a gum is vsually taken to the foresaid weight with hony for a vomitorie and doth euacuat cholericke humors especially On the contrary side wild Cumin and the poâ—…der of Betony if they be drunk with water do stay vomiting For to digest the crudities of the stomack and to rid away the loathing to meat Carrot is thought to be very good so is the pouder of Betony if it be taken in honied water and Plantain also boiled in potage after the manner of Coleworts or such like potherbs Hemonium staieth the painful yex oâ—… hocquet In like sort Aristolochia Clymenos giues liberty to draw the wind more freely The greater Centaury and Hyssop are singular in drink for the pleurisie and inflammation of the lungs The iuice of Harstrang principally is a proper remedy for those that haue the
directly plumbe ouer mens heads and causeth no shadow In like manner the shadowes of them that dwell Northerly vnder the Solstitiall circle in Summer falling all at noone tide Northward but at Sunne-rising Westward doing the same demonstration Which possibly could not be vnlesse the Sunne were far greater than the earth Moreouer in that when he rises he surpasses in breadth the hil Ida compassing the same at large both on the right hand and the left and namely being so farre distant as he is The eclipse of the Moone doth shew also the bignesse of the Sunne by an infallible demonstration like as himfelfe eclipsed declareth the littlenesse of the earth For whereas there be of shadowes three formes and figures and euident it is that if the darke materiall body which casteth a shadow be equall in bignesse to the light then the shadow is fashioned like a colume or piller and hath no point at the end if it be greater it yeeldeth a shadow like a top directly standing vpon the point so as the nether part therof is narrowest and then the shadow likewise is of infinite length but if the said body be lesse than the light then is represented a pyramidall figure like an hey-cocke falling out sharpe pointed in the top which manner of shadow appeareth in the Moones eclipse it is plaine manifest and without all doubt that the Sunne is much bigger than the earth The same verily is seen by the secret and couert proofes of Nature it selfe For why in diuiding the times of the yeere departeth the Sunne from vs in the winter marry euen because by meanes of the nights length and coolenesse he would refresh the earth which otherwise no doubt he should haue burnt vp for it notwithstanding he burneth it in some measure so excessiue is the greatnesse thereof CHAP. XII ¶ The inuentions of man as touching the obseruation of the heauens THe reason verily of both eclipses the first Romane that published abroad and divulged was Sulpitius Gâ—…llus who afterward was Consull together with M. Marcellus but at that time being a Colonell the day before that King Perseus was vanqnished by Paulus he was brought forth by the Generall into open audience before the whole host to fore-tell the eclipse which should happen the next morning whereby he deliuered the armie from all pensiuenesse and feare which might haue troubled them in the time of battell and within a while after he compiled also a booke thereof But among the Greeks Thales Melesius was the first that found it out who in the eight and fortieth Olympias and the fourth yeere thereof did prognosticate and foreshew the Sunnes eclipse that happened in the reigne of Halyattes and in the 170. yeere after the foundation of the citie of Rome After them Hipparchus compiled his Ephemerides containing the coutse and aspects of both these planets for six hundred yeeres ensuing comprehending withall the moneths according to the calculation reckonings of sundry nations the daies the houres the scituation of places the aspects and latitudes of diuers townes and countries as the world will beare him witnesse and that no lesse assuredlv than if â—…e had been priuie to Natures counsels Great persons and excellent these were doubtlesse who aboue the reach of all capacitie of mortall men found out the reason of the course of so mighty starres and diuine powers and whereas the sillie minde of men was before set and to seeke fearing in these eclipses of the starres some great wrong and violence or death of the planets secured them in that behalfe in which dreadful feare stood Stesichorus and Pindarus the Poets notwithstanding their lofty stile and namely at the eclipse of the Sun as may appeare by their poems As for the Moone mortall men imagine that by magicke sorceries and charmes she is inchanted and therefore helpe her in such a case when she is eclipsed by dissonant ringing of basons In this fearefull fit also of an eclipse Nicias the Generall of the Athenians as a man ignorant of the course thereof feared to set saile with his fleet out of the hauen and so greatly endangered and distressed the state of his countrey Faire chieue yee then for your excellent wit O noble Spirits interpretors of the heauens capable of Natures works and the deuisers of that reason whereby ye haue surmounted both God and man For who is he that seeing these things and the painfull ordinarie trauels since that this terme is now taken vp of the stars would not beare with his owne infirmitie and excuse this necessitie of being born to die Now for this present I will bâ—…iefly and summarily touch those principall points which are confessed and agreed vpon as touching the said eclipses hauing lightly rendred a reason thereof in most needfull places for neither such prouing and arguing of these matters belongs properly to our purposed worke neither is it lesse wonder to be able to yeeld the reason and causes of all things than to be resolute and constant in some CHAP. XIII ¶ Of Eclipscs CErtaine it is that all Eclipses in 222 moneths haue their reuolutions and return to their former points as also that the Sun's eclipse neuer happeneth but vpon the change of the Moone namely either in the last of the old or first of the new which they call conjunction and that the Moone is neuer eclipsed but in the full and alwaies somewhat preuents the former Eclipse Moreouer that euery yeare both planets are eclipsed at certaine dayes and houres vnder the earth Neither be these eclipses in all places seene when they are aboue the earth by reason sometimes of cloudy weather but morâ—… often for that the globe of the earth hindereth the sight of the bending conuexitie of the heauen Within these two hundred yeres was it found out by the witty calculation of Hipparchus that the Moone sometimes was eclipsed twice in fiue moneths space and the Sun likewise in seuen also that the Sun and Moone twice in thirty dayes were darkned aboue the earth how beit seene this was not equally in all quarters but of diuers men in diuers places and that which maketh me to maruell most of all in this wonder is this that when agreed it is by all that the Moone light is dimmed by the shadow of the earth one while this eclipse hapneth in the West and another while in the East as also by what reason it hapned that seeing after the Sunne is vp that shadow which dusketh the light of the Moone must needs be vnder the earth it fell out once that the Moone was eclipsed in the West and both planets to be seene aboue the ground in our horison for that in twelue daies both these lights were missing and neither Sun nor Moon were seen it hapned in our time when both the Vespasians Emperors were Consuls the father the third time and the son the second CHAP. XIV ¶ Of the Moones motion CLeare it is that the Moone alwaies in her encreasing hath
called Liloea Moreouer the towne Crissa and together with the Bulenses Anticyra Naulochum Pyrrha Amphissa an exempt State Trichone Tritea Ambrysus the region Drymaea named Daulis Then in the inmost nouke of the creeke the very canton and angle of Boeotia is washed by the sea with these townes Siphae and Thebae which are surnamed Corsicae neere to Helicon The third towne of Boeotia from this sea is Page from whence proceedeth and beareth forth the necke or cape of Peloponnesus CHAP. IV. ¶ Peloponnesus PEloponnesus called before time Apia and Pelasgia is a demy Island worthie to come behinde no other land for excellency and name lying betweene two seas Aegeum and Ionium like vnto the leafe of a plane tree in regard of the indented creekes and cornered nouks thereof it beareth a circuit of 563 miles according to Isodorus The same if you comprise the creekes and gulfes addeth almost as much more The streight where it beginneth to passe on and go forward is called Isthmos In which place the seas a bouenamed gushing and breaking from diuers waies to wit from the North and the East do deuoure all the breadth of it there vntill by the contrary running in of so great seas the sides on both hands being eaten away and leauing a space of land betweene fiue miles ouer Hellas with a narrow necke doth meet with Pel oponnesus The one side thereof is called the Corinthian gulfe the other the Saronian Lecheum of the one hand and Cenchraea of the other do bound out and limit the said streights where the ships are to fetch a great compasse about with some danger such vessels I meane as for their bignesse cannot be conueighed ouer vpon wains For which cause Demetrius the king Caesar the Dictator prince Caius and Domitius Nero assaied to cut through the narrow foreland and make a channell nauigable with ease but the attempt and enterprise was vnhappie as appeared by the issue and end of them all In the middest of this narrow streight which we haue called Isthmos the colonie Corinthus beforetime called Ephyra scituate hard to a little hill is inhabited some 60 stadia from both sea sides which from the top of the high hill and castle there which is named Acrocorinthus wherein is the fountaine Pirene hath a prospect into both those contrarie seas At this Corinthian gulfe there is a passage or cut by sea from Leucas to Patrae of 87 miles Patrae a Colonie built vpon the promontorie of Peloponnesus that shooteth farthest into the sea ouer-against Aetolia and the riuer Euenus of lesse distance as hath bin said than fiue miles in the very gullet and enterance do send out the Corinthian gulfe 85 miles in length euen as far as Isthmos CHAP. V. ¶ Achaia AChaia the name of a prouince beginneth at Isthmus aforetime called it was Aegialos because of the cities scituate so orderly vpon the strand The principal and first there is Lecheae abouenamed a port towne of the Corinthians Next to it Oluros a castle of the Pelleneans The townes Helice Bura and into which the inhabitants retired themselues when these beforenamed were drowned in the sea Sicyon Aegira Aegion and Erineos Within the country was Cleone and Hysie Also the hauen Panhormus Rhium described before from which promontorie fiue miles off standeth Patrae aboue mentioned the place called Pherae of 9 hils in Achaia Scioessa is most knowne also the Spring Cymothoe Beyond Patrae is the towne Olenum the colonie Dymae Certain faire places called Buprasium and Hirmene the promontorie Araxum The creeke of Cyllene the cape Chelonates from whence to Cyllene is two miles The castle Phlius The tract also by Homer named Arethyrea and afterwards Asophis Then the country of the Elians who before were called Epei As for Elis the city it selfe it is vp higher in the mid-land parts 12 miles from Pylos Within it standeth the Chappell of Iupiter Olympius which for the fame of the games there containeth the Greekes and Chaldeans account of yeares Moreouer the town sometime of the Piseans before which the riuer Alpheus runneth But in the borders and coast therof the promontorie Icthys Vpon the riuer Alpheus there is passage by water in barges to the townes Aulos and Leprion The promontory Platanestus all these lie Westward But toward the South the arme of the sea called Cyparissius and the city Cyparissa 72 miles in circuit The townes vpon it Pylos Methone a place and forrest called Delos the promontorie Acritas the creeke Asineus of the towne Asinum Coroneus of Corone and these are limited with Tenarus the promontorie There also is the region Messenia with 22 mountains The riuer Paomisus But within Messene it selfe Ithome Oechalia Arene Pteleon Thryon Dorion Zanclum famous townes all for many occurrents at sundry times The compasse of this arme of the sea is 80 miles the cut ouer-crosse 30 miles Then from Tenarus the Laconian land pertaining to a free people and an arme of the sea there in circuit about 206 miles but 39 miles ouer The townes Tenarum Amiclae Pherae Leuctra and within-forth Sparta Theranicum and where stood Cardamyle Pitane and Anthane The place Thyrea and Gerania The hill Taygetus the riuer Eurotas the creeke Aegylodes and the towne Psammathus The gulfe Gytheates of a towne thereby Gytheum from whence to the Island Creet there is a most direct and sure cut all these are inclosed within the promontorie Maleum The arme of the sea next following is called Argolicus and is 50 miles ouer and 172 miles about The towns about it Boea Epidaurus Limera named also Zarax Cyphanta the hauen Riuers Inachus Erasinus betweene which standeth Argos surnamed Hippium vpon the Lake Lerne from the sea two miles and nine miles farther Mycenae also where they say Tiryntha stood and the place Mantinea Hills Artemius Apesantus Asterion Parparus and eleuen others besides Fountaines Niobe Amymone Psammothe From Scylleum to Isthmus 177 miles Towns Hermione Troezen Coryphasium and Argos called of some Inachium of others Dipsium The hauen Cenites the creeke Saronicus beset round about in old time with woods of Oake whereupon it had the name for so old Greece called an Oake Within it stood the towne Epidaurum much resorted vnto for the temple of Aesculapius the promontorie Spiraeum the hauens Anthedon and Bucephalus and likewise Cenchreae which we spake of before being the other limit of Isthmus together with the chappell of Neptune famous for the games there represented euery fiue yeres Thus many creekes doth scotch and cut Peloponnesus thus many seas I say do rore and dash against it For on the North side the Ionian sea breaketh in on the West it is beaten vpon with the Sicilian From the South the Cretian sea driueth against it Aegeum from the Southeast and Myrtoum on the Northeast which beginning at the Megarian gulfe washeth all Attica CHAP. VI. ¶ Of Arcadia THe midland parts thereof Arcadia most of all taketh vp being euery way far remote from
truth it is hard to judge whether of them twaine plaied the beast more the father or the sonne But that it seemeth lesse pride and prodigalitie to swallow down the throat the greatest riches of Nature than to chew and eat at a supper mens tongues that is to say those birds that could pronounce our language CHAP. LII ¶ The engendring of birds and what foure-footed beasts lay egges as well as they THe generation of birds seemes alwaies to be after one the same manner And yet therein is to be found some strange extraordinarie worke Like as there be four footed beasts known also to haue eggs namely the Chamaeleons Lizards and such as we named among Serpents Of foules those that haue hooked clawes and tallons are but barren that way and lay few eggs Only the Kestrell laieth foure at a time And verily Nature hath well prouided in all the kind of foules That the mightier should be lesse fruitfull than the weaker and those that flie from the other The Ostriches Hens Partridges and Linnets are great laiers As touching the manner of their engendring it is performed two waies for either the female couche th downe as doe our hens or else stand vpon their feet as doe the cranes Of eggs some be white as those of Doues and Partridges others be pale and yellowish as those of water-foule some be spotted as those of the Turkie-hens others againe red and such egs Feasants lay and Kestrils All birds egges within the shell are of two colours In water-foules the yolke is more than the white and the same is more wan and duskish than in others The egges of fishes are of one colour and therein is no white at all Birds eggs are brittle shelled by reason of their heat Serpents eggs are more tough because of cold but they of fishes are more soft and tender for that they be so liquid Those of fishes and such creatures as liue in water haue round eggs ordinarily others be long and pointed at one end in the top Birds lay their egges with the rounder end comming forward their shell is soft whiles they be warm and a laying but presently they harden by piecemeale as they come forth Horatius Flaccus is of opinion that the longer the egge is the better tast it hath The rounder egge prooues to be the hen commonly the rest will be â—…ockes There is found in the top or sharper end of an egge within the shell a certaine round knot resembling a drop or a nauil rising aboue the rest which they call a Kinning CHAP. LIII ¶ The engendring of egges the sitting of birds and their manner of generation SOme birds there be that tread all times of the yeare and lay egs but only two moneths in mid winter and of those pullets lay more than old hens but they be lesse especially the first and last of one laiter So fruitfull they be that some of them wil lay threescore egs ere they giue ouer some euerie day others twice in one day and some will ouer-lay vntill they be so weâ—…ry and feeble withall that they will neuer lay more but die withall The little short legged grig hens called Hadrianae that came from Hadria are counted best Doues lay conuey ten times in the yeare some of them eleuen and in Aegypt there are found that giue not ouer in the twelue months euen at mid-winter in December Swallowes Ousels Quoists or Ringdoues and Turtles lay and sit twice in the yeare other birds ordinarily but once Thrushes and Blackbirds build their nests of mud and clay in trees and bushes one by another so neere as if they were linked together and lightly they eâ—…gender in some corner out of the way After the hen is troden within ten daies the egs commonly knit within her bellie are come to perfection readie to be laid Howbeit if hens haue some wrong done vnto them or if a man chance to pluck a feather or quill from a pigeon at that time or do them some such jniurie it will be longer ere they lay All egs haue within them in the mids of the yolk a certaine drop as it were of bloud which some thinke to be the heart of the chicken imagining that to be the first that in euerie bodie is formed and made and certainly a man shall see it within the verie egge to pant and leape As for the chick it taketh the corporall substance and the bodie of it is made of the white waterish liquor in the egge the yellow yolke serues for nourishment whiles the chick is vnhatched and within the egge the head is bigger than all the bodie besides and the eies that be compact and thrust together be more than the verie head As the chick within growes bigger the white turneth into the middest and is enclosed within the yolke By the 20 day if the eggs be stirred ye shall heare the chick to peepe within the â—…erie shell from that time forward it beginneth to plume and gather feathers and in this manner lies it within the shell the head resting on the right foot and the same head vnder the right wing and so the yolke by little and little decreaseth and faileth All birds are hatched with the feet forward contrarie to other creatures Some hens there be that lay all their egs with two yolkes and of them be hatched two chickens otherwhiles as Cornelius Celsâ—… writeth but the one of them is bigger than the other Howbeit others say it is impossible that one egge should come to two chickens Moreouer it is held for a rule that â—…here should not be put vnder a brood-hen aboue 25 egs at one time to sit vpon After the mid-winter hens begin to lay and sit The best brood is before the spring Aequinoctiall Those that be hatcâ—…ed after mid-summer neuer come to their full and kind bignesse and euermore the later the lesser CHAP. LIV. ¶ The infirmities and impediments incident to brood hens and the remedies THe best egs that can be put vnder hens when they sit are they that were laid ten daies before at the vtmost for neither old eggs nor yet very new laid are good for that purpose After that a hen hath sitten 4 daies take an eg from vnder her hold it in one hand by the narrow end and look between you and the light with the other ouer it if it be cleare through and of one colour it is supposed to be naught and will neuer proue a chicke and therefore put another in place thereof Another experiment there is by water the addle egg wil flote aboue as empty the sound and good will sinke to the bottom and such therefore being full are to be set vnder the hen We ye would try whether an egg be good or bad in this case our countrey wiues say you must not shake them in any hand for if the vital veins parts be broken blended together they will neuer proue Moreouer this is alwaies to be
and not hanging by any steles which toward the nauill or bottome thereof are whitish otherwise they be speckled all ouer with black spots saue that in the mids between they are of a scarlet red colour open them and hollow they are within but very bitter Somtimes also this oke engendreth certain hard callosities like Pumish stones yea and other round balls made of the leaues folded one within another on the backeside also of the leafe where it is reddish yee shal find sticking certain waterish pearls white and transparent or cleare within so long as they be soft and tender wherein there breed little flies or gnats howbeit in the end they ripen and wax harder in manner of Galls CHAP. VIII ¶ Of the Catkin called Cachrys the graine of Scarlet of Agaricke and Corke THe Oke called Robur bringeth forth likewise a certaine pendant chat or catkin named in Greeke Cachrys for so they terme the little pill which is of a burning and causticke Nature and whereof there is vse in Physick for potentiall cauteries The like groweth vpon Firres Larch trees Pitch trees Lindens of Tillets Nut-trees and Planes namely after that the leaues be falne and abideth vpon the tree in winter time These chats haue a kernel within like to those of the Pine-nuts It beginneth to grow in winter by the spring time al of it openeth and spreadeth to the proofe but when the leaues begin to bud and put forth it falleth off Thus you see how fruitfull these okes be and how many things besides mast they do bring forth and yet they cease not nor giue ouer thus for many times a man shall see certaine excrescences growing forth about their roots such as toadstools mushroms the last deuises that our gluttons haue inuented to whet their appetite and stomacke and to maintaine gourmandize The common Oke breedeth the best of this kind as for those that grow about the Oke Robur the Cypresse and Pine-tree they are hurtfull to be eaten and venomous Moreouer Hesiodus saith that the Okes Robora do beare Miselto and yeeld hony True it is indeed that the hony-dewes called Manna falling from heauen whereof we haue spoken before light not vpon any other leaues more than of those okes Moreouer this is known for certain that the ashes of this Oke when it is burnt hath a quality or taste of nitre or salt-peter Howbeit for all the riches and fruit that the Oke affourdeth the Scarlet graâ—… alone which commeth of the Ilex challengeth yea and ouermatcheth it This graine is no other than a very excrement or superfluity arising about the stem of the small shrub called Ilex Aquifolia scraped and pared off from it like such refuse as they Cusculium or Quisquilium but of such price it is that the poore people of Spaine gather it make a good part of their reuenew thereby euen as much as will pay halfe their tribute As touching the commendable vse thereof in dying we haue sufficiently spoken in the discourse of the purple tincture This scarlet grain is ingendred also in Galatia Africa Pisidia and Cicilia But the worst of all other is that which commeth out of Sardinia As for Agaricke it groweth in France principally vpon trees that beare mast in manner of a white mushrom of a sweet fauor very effectuall in Physicke and vsed in many Antidotes and soueraigne confections It groweth vpon the head and top of trees it shineth in the night and by the light that it giueth in the darke men know where and how to gather it Of all Mast-trees the Oke called by the Greeks Aegylops beare certaine drie excrescences swelling out like Touch-wood couered all ouer with a hoary hairy mosse and these not only beare out from the bark of the fruit but also hang downe from the boughes a cubit in length and odoriserous they are as we haue shewed in our treatise of Ointments Now concerning Corke the wooddy substance of the tree is very small the mast as bad hollow spungeous and good for nothing The barke only serueth for many purposes which will grow again when the tree is barked that of such a thicknes that it will beare 10 foot square Much vse there is of it in ships namely for boys to anâ—…re cables also for flotes to trainels or dragnets that fishers do occupy moreouer in bungs stoppels of barrels bottles and such like vessels Finally our gentlewomen and dainty dames haue the soles of their pantofles wintershooes vnderlaid therewith In regard of which barke the Greeks call it by a pretty name and not improperly The bark tree or the tree all barke Howbeit some would haue it to be the female Ilex or Mast-Holm and so they name it and where there groweth no Ilex in stead thereof they take Corke especially in Carpentry and cart-wrights worke as about Elis and Lacedaemon Neither groweth it in all parts of Italy ne yet in any one quarter of France CHAP. IX ¶ What trees they be that carry barke good for any vse THe peisants of the countrey and the rusticall people employ much the barke also of Beeches Lindens or Tillets Firs and Pitch trees for thereof they make sundry vessells as paniers baskets and certain broad and wide hampers for to carry their corn and grapes in time of haruest and vintage yea and otherwhiles they couer their cottages therewith Moreouer spies vse to write in barks when they be fresh and greene intelligences to their captaines grauing and drawing their letters so as that the sap and iuice thereof couereth them To conclude the bark of the Beech tree is vsed in certain religious ceremonies of sacrifice but when the tree is spoiled of the bark it soone fadeth and dieth CHAP. X. ¶ Of Shindles of the Pine tree the wilde Pine the Fir Pitch tree Larch tree Torch tree and the Yew THe bourds or shindles of the wild Oke called Robur be of all others simply the best and next to them those which are made of other mast-trees and especially of the Beech. The shindles are most easily rent or clouen out of all those trees which yeeld Rosin but setting aside the Pine-wood only none of them are lasting Cornelius Nepos writeth that the housen in Rome were no otherwise couered ouer head but with shindles vntil the war with K. Pyrrhus â—…o wit for the space of 470 yeres after the foundation of the city and of a truth the chiefe quarters of Rome were diuided distinctly named by certain woods and groues neere adioining And euen at this day there remaineth the quarter of Iupiter Fagutalis where sometime stood a â—…ust or groue of Beeches also the gate Querquetulana bearing the name of an Oke row likewise the hill Viminalis from whence they vsed to fetch windings and bands of Osiers and many other groues whereof some were set double and were two of a name We reade in the Chronicles that Q. Hortensius Dictator for the time being when as the commons
arose and in that mutinie or insurrection forsooke the city and withdrew themselues to the fort Ianiculum made a law published it within a certain groue hard by called Esculetum where there grew a number of trees named Esculi and the said statute ran in this forme That whatsoeuer ordinance should be enacted by the said Commonaltie it should bind all Citisens of Rome whomsoeuer to obserue and keepe In those daies the Pine and Fir and generally all trees that yeeld pitch were held for strangers and aliéns because none of them were knowne to grow neere vnto the city of Rome wherof now we will speak the rather because the beginning whole maner of confecting and preseruing wines might be thereby throughly knowne First and formost some of the trees aforesaid in Asia or in the East parts do bring forth pitch In Europe there be six sorts of trees seeming all of one race which yeeld the same Of which the Pine and the Pinaster cary leaues thin and slender in manner of haires long also and sharp pointed at the end The Pine beareth least rosin of all others howbeit otherwise some it hath in the very fruit thereof which we call Pine nuts or apples wherof we haue already written yet so little it is that hardly a man would reckon the Pine among those kinde of trees that yeeld rosin The Pinaster is nothing els but the wild Pine it growes wonderful tall putting forth arms from the mids of the trunk or body vpward wheras the other Pine brancheth only in the head This of the twain is more plentifull in rosin whereof we will speake more anon These wild Pines grow also vpon plains There be trees vpon the coast of Italy which mencal Tibuli and many think they be the same although they carry another name slender they are and shorter altogether without knots and little Rosin they haue in them or none but they serue well for shipwrights to build frigats brigandines The Pitch tree loueth the mountains and cold grounds a deadly and mournful tree it is for they vsed in old time to sticke vp a branch thereof at the dores of those houses where a dead corps was to giue knowledge therof abroad and commonly it grew green in churchyards and such places where the maner was to burn the bodies of the dead in funeral fires but now adays it is planted in courtyards and gardens neer our houses because it may be easily kept with cutting and shredding it brancheth so well This tree puts forth great aboundance of rosin with white grains or kernels comming between so like vnto frankincense that if it be mixt therwith vnneth or hardly a man may discern the one from the other by the eye And hereupon it commeth that Druggists and Apothecaries do sophisticate frankincense and deceiue folk with it All the sort of these trees are leaued with short thick and hard pricky bristles in manner of the Cypres The Pitch tree beginneth to shoot forth branches euen from the very root almost and those be but small bearing out like armes and sticking one against another in the sides Semblably do the Fir trees which are so much sought for to serue shipping and yet this tree delighteth in the highest mountains as if it fled from the sea of purpose and could not away with it and surely the form and maner of growing is all one with the pitch tree The wood thereof is principal good timber for beams and fitteth our turn for many other necessaries of this life Rosin if it be found in the Fir is thought a fault in the wood whereas the only commoditie of the pitch tree is her rosin and yet somtime there frieth and sweateth out a little thereof in the extreme heate of the sun The timber of them both is not alike for that of the Fir is most faire and beautifull the pitch tree wood serueth only for clouen lath or rent shindles for coopers to make tubs and barrels and for some few other thin boords and painels As for the Larch tree which is the fift kind of those that beare rosin like it is to the rest and loueth to grow in the same places but the timber is better by ods for it rots not but will last and endure a long time the tree wil hardly be killed besides it is red of colour caries an hoter and stronger sme than the other There issueth forth of the tree as it growes good store of liquid rosin in colour like hony somwhat more clammy which will neuer grow to be hard A sixt sort there is of these trees and it is properly called Teda 〈◊〉 the Torch tree the same yeelds more plenty of moisture and liquor than the rest lower it is of growth than the Pitch-tree but more liquid and thin very commendable also to maintain fire at sacrifices to burn in torches for to giue light These trees I mean the male only bring forth that strong and stinking rosin which the Greeks call Syce Now if it happen that the Larch tree proue Teda i. to be Torch-wood it is a signe that it doth putrifie and is in the way of dying The wood of all these kinds before named if it be set a fire maketh an exceeding grosse and thick smoke and presently turneth into a cole spitting and sparkling a far off except that only of the Larch tree which neither burneth in light flame nor maketh cole ne yet consumeth in the fire otherwise than a very stone All these trees whereof we speake continue greene all the yeare long and very like they are in leafe that men otherwise of cunning and good experience haue enough to do to discern one from the other by it so neere of kin they be and their race so much intermingled But the pitch tree is not so tall as the Larch for the Larch is thicker in body of a thinner and lighter barke more shag leaued and the said leaues fattier growing thicker more pliable and easier to wind and bend whereas the leaues of the pitch tree hang thinner they be of a drier substance more slender and subiect to cold and in one word the whole tree is more rough and hideous to see to and withall full of rosin the wood also resembleth the Firre rather than the Larch The Larch tree if it be burnt to the very stumpe of the root will not spring againe and put forth new shoots whereas the pitch tree liueth stil for all the fire and wil grow afresh the experience whereof was seen in the Island Lesbos at what time as the Forrest Pyrrhaeum was set on fire and clean burnt to the ground Moreouer euery one of these kinds differ in the very sex for the male of each kind is shorter and harder the female taller hauing fattier leaues and the same soft and plain nothing stif and rugged The wood of the male is tough and when it is wrought keepeth not a direct grain but windeth and turneth so as
there is not a tree not so much as the very Vine that sheddeth leaues CHAP. XXII ¶ The nature of such leaues as fall from trees and what leaues they be that change colour ALl trees without the range of those before rehearsed for to reckon them vp by name particularly were a long and tedious piece of work do lose their leaues in winter And verily this hath bin found and obserued by experience that no leaues doe fade and wither but such as be thinne broad and soft As for such as fall not from the tree they be commonly thick skinned hard and narrow and therefore it is a false principle and position held by some That no trees shed their leaues which haue in them a fatty sap or oleous humiditie for who could euer perceiue any such thing in the Mast-holme a drier tree there is not and yet it holdeth alwaies green Timaeus the great Astrologer and Mathematician is of opinion that the Sun being in the signe Scorpio he causeth leaues to fall by a certain venomous and poysoned infection of the aire proceeding from the influence of that maligne constellation But if that were true we may wel and iustly maruell why the same cause should not be effectuall likewise in all other trees Moreouer we see that most trees do let fall their leaues in Autumne some are longer ere they shed continuing green vntill winter be come Neither is the timely or slow fall of the leafe long of the early or late budding for wee see some that burgen and shoot out their spring with the first and yet with the last shed their leaues and become naked as namely the Almond trees Ashes and Elders And contrariwise the Mulberry tree putteth forth leaues with the latest and is one of them that soonest sheddeth them again But the cause hereof lies much in the nature of the soile for the trees that grow vpon a leane dry and hungry ground do sooner cast leafe than others also old trees become bare before yonger and many of them also lose their leaues before their fruit be fully ripe for in the Fig tree that commeth and beaâ—…th late in the winter Pyrry and Pomegranate a man shall see in the later end of the yere fruit only and no leaues vpon the tree Now as touching those trees that continue euer greene you must not think that they keep still the same leaues for as new come the old wither fal away which hapneth commonly in mid-Iune about the Summer Sunne-stead For the most part the leaues in euery kind of tree do hold one and the same colour and continue vniform saue those of the Poplar Ivy and Croton which wee said was called also Cici iâ—… est Ricinus or Palma Christi CHAP. XXIII ¶ Three sorts of Poplar and what leaues they be that change their shape and figure OF Poplars there be found three sundry kinds to wit the white the blacke and that which is named Lybica or the Poplar of Guynee this hath least leaues and those of all other blackest but mow commendable they are for the fungous meazles as it were that come forth thereof As for the white Poplar leafe the leaues when they be yong are as round as if they were drawn with a paire of compasses like vnto those of Citron before named but as they grow elder they run out into certain angles or corners Contrariwise the Ivy leaues at the first be cornered and afterwards become round All Poplar leaues are full of downe as for the white Poplar which is fuller of leaues than the rest the said downe flieth away in the aire like to mossie chats or Thistle-downe The leaues of Pomegranats and Almond trees stand much vpon the red colour But very strange it is and wonderfull which hapneth to the Elme Tillet or Linden the Oliue tree Aspe and Sallow or Willow for their leaues after Midsummer turn about vpside downe in such sort as there is not a more certaine argument that the Sun is entred Cancer and returneth from the South point or Summer Tropicke than to see those leaues so turned CHAP. XXIIII ¶ What leaues they be that vse to turne euery yeare Of Palme or Date tree leaues how they are to be ordered and vsed Also certain wonderfull obseruations about leaues THere is a certain general and vniuersal diuersitie difference obserued in the very leaf for commonly the vpper side which is from the ground is of greene grasse colour more smooth also polished The outside or nether part of the leaf hath in it certain strings sinues or veins brawns and ioynts bearing out like as in the back part of a mans hand but the inside cuts or lines in maner of the palme of ones hand The leaues of the oliue are on the vpper part whiter and lesse smooth and likewise of the Ivy. But the leaues of all trees for most part euery day do turn and open to the Sunne as desirous to haue the inner side warmed therewith The outward or nether side toward the ground of all leaues hath a certaine hoary downe more or lesse here in Italy but in other countries so much there is of it that it serueth the turn for wooll and cotton In the East parts of the world they make good cordage and strong ropes of date tree leaues as we haue said before and the same are better serue longer within than without With vs these Date leaues are pulled from the tree in the Spring whiles they are whole and entire for the better be they which are not clouen or diuided Being thus plucked they are laid a drying within house foure daies together After that they be spred abroad and displaied open to the Sun and left without dores to take all weathers both day and night and to be bleached vntil they be dry and white which done they be sliued and slit for cord-work But to come again to other leaues the broadest are vpon the Fig-tree the Vine and the Plane the narrowest vpon the Myrtle Pomegranat and oliue as for those of the Pine and cedar they be hairy the Holly leaues and all the kindes of Holme be set with sharpe prickes As for the Iuniper in stead of leafe it hath a very pointed thorne The Cypresse and Tamariske carrie fleshie leaues those of the Alder be most thick of all other The Reed and the Willow haue long leaues the Date tree hath them double The leaues of the Peare tree are round but those of the Apple tree are pointed of the Ivie cornered of the Plane tree diuided into certaine incisions of the Pitch tree and the Fir cut in after the maner of comb-teeth of the wild hard Oke waued and indented round about the edges of the brier and bramble sharpe like thornes all the skin ouer Of some they be stinging and biting as of Nettles of others ready to pricke like pins or needles as of the Pine the Pitch tree the Larch the Firre the Cedar and all the sorts
of timber like as in marble also there be found certaine knurs like kernils as hard they be as naile heads and they plague sawes wheresoeuer they light vpon them Otherwhiles they fall out to be in trees by some accidental occasion as namely when a stone is got into the wood and enclosed within it or in case the bough of some other tree be incorporat or vnited to the foresaid wood There stood a long time a wild Oliue in the market place of Megara vpon which the hardie and valiant warriors of that citie vsed to hang and fasten their armor after some worthy exploit performed which in tract and continuance of time were ouergrown with the bark of the said tree and quite hid Now was this a fatal tree vnto the same city and the inhabitants thereof who by way of Oracle were forewarned of their wofull destiny and vtter ruin which was to happen When that a tree should be with yong and deliuered of harneis which Oracle was fulfilled when this tree was cut downe for within the wombe thereof were found the mourrions jambriers or grieues of braue men in times past To conclude it is said That such stones so found in trees be singular good for a woman with child to carie about her that she may goe her full time CHAP. XL. ¶ Of diuers sorts of timber Of â—…aine trees of extraordinarie bignesse What trees they be that neuer be worme-eaten nor decay and fall What wood doth endure and continue alwaies good THe greatest tree that to this day had euer been knowne or seene at Rome was that which being brought with other timber for the rebuilding of the foresaid bridge called Naumachiaria Tiberius Caesar commanded to be landed and laid abroad in view for a singular and miraculous monument to all posteritie and it remained entire and whole vntill the time that Nero the Emperour built stis stately Amphitheatre This peece of timber was of a Larch tree it contained in length 120 foot and caried in thickenesse euery way two foot from one end to the other Whereby a man may guesse and judge the incredible height of the whole tree besides to the very top Such another tree there was to be seen in our daies which M. Agrippa left for the like singularity and wonder of men in those stately porches and cloisters that hee made in Mars field and it continued still after the building of the muster place and treasurers haâ—…l named Diribitorium Shorter it was than the former by 20 foot and caried a foot and half in thickenesse As for the Fir tree which serued for a mast in that huge ship which by the commandement and direction of C. Caligula the Emperour transported and brought out of Aegypt that Obelisk which was erected and set vp in the Vatican hil within the cirque there together with the foure entire stones which bare vp the said Obelisk as supporters it was seen of a wonderfull and inestimable height aboue all others and certaine it is that there was neuer knowne to flâ—…te vpon the sea a more wonderful ship than it was She receiued 120000 Modij of Lentils for the very ballaist she tooke vp in length the greater part of the left side of Hostia harbour for Claudius the Emperor caused it there to be sunk together with three mighty great piles or dams founded vpon it and mounted to the height of towers for which purpose there was brought a huge quantity of earth or sand from Puteoli The maine bodie of this mast contained in compasse 4 fadom full And a common by-word it is currant in euery mans mouth that Fir mast for that purpose are vsually sold for eight hundred Sesterces apeece and more monie whereas for the most part planks which are set together and serue in stead of boats ordinarily cost but forty Howbeit the kings of Egypt and Syria for default and want of Fir haue vsed by report in stead thereof Cedar wood about their shipping And verily the voice goes of an exceeding big one which grew in Cyprus and was cut downe for a mast to serue that mighty galleace of king Demetrius that had eleuen bankes of oares to a side a hundred and thirtie foot it was high and three fatham thicke And no maruell since that the pyrats and rouers who haunt the coasts of Germanie make their punts or troughs of one entire peece of wood and no more wrought hollow in manner of a boat and some one of them will hold thirtie men To proceed now vnto the sundry natures of wood The most massie and fast wood and therfore the weightest of all other by judgment of men is that of the Ebene and the Boxe both small trees by nature Neither of them twaine swims aboue the water no more will the Corke wood if it be barked nor the Larch Of all the rest the saddest wood is that of Lotus I meane that which at Rome is so called Next to it is the heart of Oke namely when it is rid of the white sappie wood the heart I say which comes neare to a black color and yet the Cytisus or Tetrifolie is blacker and seemeth most to resemble the Ebene Howbeit you shall haue some who affirme that the Terebinths of Syria be blacker than it There was one Thericles a famous Turner who was wont to make drinking cups mazers and bowles of the Terebinth which is a sufficient proofe that the wood is fine and hard This wood alone of all others loueth to be oiled and surely the better it is for the oile But a maruellous prety deuice there is to set a passing faire blacke color and a shining glosse vpon it with Walnuts and wild Peares namely boiling these together and making thereof a mixture and composition to giue the said tincture All these trees abouenamed haue a sad and fast wood Next to them in that respect is the Cornell tree and yet I cannot properly range it in the order of timber trees so small and slender it is Neither is the wood thereof in manner good for nought else but for spokes in cartwheeles also to make wedges to cleaue wood and tough pins that wil hold as fast well neer as yron spikes In like sort the Mast-holm the Oliue both wild and tame the Chestnut tree the Hornbeame and the Poplar be of an hard substance and meet for this purpose The wood hereof hath a curled graine like the Maple and surely would be as good timber as any but for often lopping the boughs which gueldeth and deminisheth the strength Moreouer many of them there bee and the Oke especially so hard that vnlesse they be soked first in water it is impossible to bore a hole into them with an augoer or to pluck forth a nail if it be once set fast water them as much as you will Contrariwise the Cedar will not hold a naile The wood of the Linden tree seemes of all other to bee most soft and hotest withal for proofe whereof this
raised vp well with earth and bedded from the brims and edges on the lower ground As for such which shall be made longer and able to receiue two vine-plants growing contrary one to the other they shall be called in Latine Alvei Aboue al the root of the vine ought to stand just in the midst of the hole or ditch but the head and wood thereof which resteth vpon the sound and firme ground as neere as possible is must beare directly into the point of the Aequinoctiall Sun-rising and withall the first props that it leaneth vpon would be of Reeds and Canes As touching the bounding and limitation of a vineyard the principall way which runneth streight East and West ought to carry 18 foot in breadth to the end that two carts may passe easily one by another when they meet the other crosse allies diuiding euery acre just into the mids must be ten foot broad but if the plot or modell of the vineyard wil beare it these allies also which lie North and South would be as largeful as the foresaid principal high way Moreouer this would be alwaies considered That vines bee planted by fiues i. that at euery fifth perch or pole that shoreth them vp there be a path diuiding euery range and course and one bed or quarter from another If the ground be stiffe and hard it must of necessitie bee twice digged ouer and therein quick-sets only that haue taken root must be replanted marie in case it be a loose mould light and gentle you may set very cuttings and sions from the stock either in furrow or in trench chuse you whether But say it be a high ground and vpon the hill better is it to cast it into furrowes ouerthwart than to dig it that by this meanes the perches or props may keep vp the ground better which by occasion of raine water would settle downeward When the weather is disposed to raine or the ground by nature drie it is good planting vine-sets or sions at the fall of the leafe vnlesse the constitution of the tract and qualitie of a country require the contrary for a dry and hot soile would be planted in Autumne or the fal of the leafe wheras a moist and cold coast may tarry euen vntill the end of Spring Let the soile be dry and hard bootlesse it will be to plant yea though it were a very quick-set root and all Neither will it do well to venter the setting of imps cut from the tree in a drie place vnlesse it be immediatly vpon a good ground shower but in low grounds where a man may haue water at will there is no danger at all to set vine branches euen with leaues on the head for they will take well enough at any time before the Mid-summer Sun-stead as we may see by experience in Spaine When you will plant a vine chuse a faire day and if possibly you can let it be when there is no wind stirring abroad for such a calme season is best and yet many are of opinion that Southern winds be good and they wish for them which is cleane contrarie vnto Cato his mind who expressely excepteth and reiecteth them If the ground be of a middle temperature there ought to be a space of fiue foot distance between euery vine and in case it be a rich and fertile soile there would bee foure foot at least from one to another but in a leane hungrie piece of light ground there should be eight foot at the most for whereas the Vmbrians and Marsians leaue twenty foot void betweene euery range of vines they doe it for to plough and sow in the place and therein they haue quarters beds and ridges called Porculeta If the place where you plant a vineyard be subiect to thicke and darke mists or to a rainie disposition of the weather vines ought to bee set the thinner but in a drie quarter it is meet they should bee planted thicke Moreouer the wit and industrie of man hath found out meanes to saue charges and in setting a nource-garden with vine-sions to goe a nearer way with small expence and no losse of ground for in replanting a vineyard with quicke-sets vpon a leuell plot onely digged and laied euen they haue with one and the same labour as it were by the way replenished the ground between euery such rooted plants with vine cuttings for store so as the quicksets may grow in his owne place appointed and the sion or cutting which another day is to be transplanted in the mean time take root between euery course and range of the said vine quick-sets before they be ready to take vp much ground Thus within the compasse of one acre by iust proportion a man may haue about 16000 quick-sets This is the difference only that such beare not fruit so soon by two yere so much later are they that be set of sions than those that were transplanted and remain stil on foot When a quick-set of a vine is planted in a vineyard and hath grown one yere it is vsually cut downe close to the earth so as but one eie or button be left aboue ground and one shore or stake must be stickt close to it for to rest vpon and dung laid well about the root In like manner ought it to be cut the second yeare By this means it gathereth strength inwardly and maintaineth the same in such wise as it may be sufficient another day to beare and sustain the burden both of branch and bunch when it shall be charged with them for otherwise if it be let alone and suffered to make hast for to beare it would prooue to be slender vinewed leane and poore for surely this is the nature of a vine That she groweth most willingly in such sort that vnlesse she be kept vnder chastised and bridled in this manner her inordinat appetite is such she will run her selfe out of heart and go all to branch and leafe As touching props and shores to support vines the best as we haue said are those of the Oke or Oliue tree for default whereof ye may take good stakes and forks of Iuniper Cypresse Laburnium and the Elder As for those perches that be of other kinds they ought to be cut and renewed euery yeare Howbeit to lay ouer a frame for vines to â—…un vpon the best poles are of Reeds and Canes for they will continue good fiue yeares being bound many of them together When the shorter branches of a vine are twisted one within another in manner of cording or ropes and strengthened with the wood of vine cuttings amongst thereof arch-worke is made which in Latine they call Funeta Now by the time that a vine hath growne three yeares in the vineyard it putteth forth apace strong branches which in time may make vines themselues these mount quickly vp to the frame and then some good husbands there be who put out their eies that is to say with a cutting hook turning the edge
els will the Millet proue bitter in tast The like experiment they say is of a Moldwarps shoulder for if any corn be sowed or touched therewith before it will come vp the better and bring more increase Democritus had a deuise by himselfe for all seed corn whatsoeuer namely to temper soke the same corn in the iuice of the herb housleeke or Sen-greene growing vpon houses either tiled or shindled which in Greeke is called Aizoon and in Latine Sedum or Digitellum for this medicine will serue for all maladies The common practise of our husbandmen is this in case through the ouersweet sap or juice in greene corne wormes take to the roots for to sprinkle them with simple oile lees pure and clean without any salt afterwards to rake it in Also when the corn begins to ioint and gathet into knots then to clense the ground and put off no longer for feare least the weeds do get head ouergrow This I am sure vpon mine owne knowledge that there is an herbe but what proper name it hath I wote not which if it be interred in the foure corners of a field that is sown with Millet it wil driue away Stares and Sparrows which otherwise would by whole flights and flocks lie thereupon and do much harme nay I will speake a greater word and which may seeme wonderfull There is not a bird of the aire one or other that dare enter or approch such a field Field-mice and Rats are skared away and will not touch corne which before the sowing was either bestrewed with the ashes of weasels or cats or els drenched with the liquor and decoction of water wherein they were boiled howbeit this inconuenience insueth hereupon That bread made of such corn will haue a smach and sent strongly of such cats and Weasels and therefore it is supposed a more expedient and safer way to medicine our seed corne with oxe gall for to preserue it from the said Mice and Rats But what remedy against the blast and mildew the greatest plague that can befall vpon corn Mary prick downe certaine Lawrell boughes here and there among the standing corne all the said mists and mildewes will leaue the corne and passe to the Bay leaues and there settle What shall we do then to corne when it is ouer-rank Eat it me downe with sheep and spare not whiles it is young and in the blade onely before I say it be knotted and neuer feare harm by the sheeps teeth as neere as they go to the ground for let it be thus eaten many times the corn will be the better yea and the head will take no harme thereby but prooue the fairer If such rank corne be once cut down with the syth no more certain it is that the grain in the eare will be the longer to see to howbeit void and without any floure within it for sow such seed again it wil neuer grow nor come vp And yet about Babylon the maner is to mow it twise first and the third time to put in sheep to it for to eat it down otherwise the corn would neuer spindle but blade still and run all to leafe But being thus cut and cut again and eaten in the end ye shall haue it to increase and multiply 50 for one so fertile is the soile and if the owner be a good husband besides and vse the ground accordingly he shall reap thrice as much euen a 150 sold. And what carefull diligence is that which is here required Surely neither much nor difficult only he must be sure to keep the ground well with watering for a long time together to the end that it may be discharged of the ouermuch fat within it which by this means will be washed all away and the ranknesse delaied Yet as rich and fertile as this soile is the two riuers Euphrates and Tigris which vse to ouerflow and water the country bring no slimy mud with them as Nilus doth in Egypt wherby the ground is made so fat as it is neither is the nature of the earth there giuen to breed herbs that it should need any weeding and yet so plenteous and fruitfull it is that it soweth it selfe against the next yere for the corne that sheddeth in the reaping and mowing being troden vnder foot into the ground is as good as a sowing and riseth of it selfe without any further labor Seeing then there is so great difference in the soile I am put in minde thereby to fit euery ground with seed respectiuely according to the nature and goodnesse thereof This therfore is the opinion of Cato that in a grosse and fat soile there would be wheat and such like hard corne sown and if the same be subiect also to mists and dews there may be sown therein raddish millet and Panick must be sowne first in a cold and waterish ground and afterwards for change in a hot soile Item the red bearded wheat Far or Adoreum requireth a chalkie and sandy ground and namely if it be well watered Item the common wheat loueth a drie soile exposed to the Sun and not giuen much to breed superfluous weeds Item Beanes will doe well in a sound and fast soile As for Vetches they care not how little they be sowed in a moist piece of ground and such as is apt to run to grasse Moreouer for the fine winter wheat Siligo whereof the best manchet is made and also for the common frumenty wheat there would be chosen an open high ground lying pleasantly vpon the Sunne that it might haue the heat thereof to parch it as long and as much as is possible As for Lentils they doe like a good rough and shrubbie soile full of red earth so as it be not apt quickly to gather a green-sord Barly would gladly grow vpon a restie ground new broken vp or else such as be in heart to beare euery yeare And as for Summer barley of three moneths it would be sowne in a ground where it could not haue an earely or timely Seednes which is so fat and rich as it may affoord to beare crop yere by yere finally to speak to the purpose indeed this also is Catoes witty resolution in one word for all if the soile be light and lean seed it with such grain or forage seed as require no great nourishment as for example with Cytisus and excepting the Cich-pease with all pulse that are vsed to be plucked out of the earth and not mowed downe and thereupon indeed are these pulse called in Latine Legumina because they are plucked and gathered in that sort but in case the ground be good and fat sow such things as require fuller food and nutriment and namely all garden worts and pot-herbes wheat both the common and the fine and Linseed Then according to this rule a leane and hungry soile will well agree with barly for the root is contented with lesse nutriture wheras contrariwise we allow both
Such are not for the kitchen but for the Apothecaries shop and good only in Physick and therefore I will put off for this present the discourse of them their nature reseruing them for their seueral treatises in other books concerning such medicinable simples As touching the rest of garden plants which are of the like cartilage and pulpous substance they be all the sort of them roots growing hidden within the ground amongst which I might seem to haue written already fully and sufficiently of Rapes and Turneps but that the Physitians haue obserued in them both sexes to wit masculine foeminin for the rounder kind they wil haue to be the male but the broader and flatter sort which also are somewhat hollow they account the female and these last they hold to be the better far and more pleasant as being easier to be kept and condite which also if they be often remoued and replanted will turn to be males Physitians likewise haue set down fiue kinds of Nauewes namely the Corinthian the Cleonaean the Liothasian the Boeotian and that which simply by it self they called the green Nauew Of all these the Corinthian Nauews grow to a great bignes and in maner all the root is seen naked aboue ground for this is the only kind that coueteth to be aloft and groweth not downward into the earth as the rest do As for the Liothasian some call it also the Thracian of all others it will abide and endure frost and cold weather best Next to it is the Boeotian nauew sweet in tast differing from the rest in the notable shortnesse and roundnesse withall that the root carieth nothing at all like to the Cleonaean which is passing long Generally this is obserued as a rule that all Nauews the slenderer smaller and smoother leaues that they beare the more pleasant is their root to the tast and contrariwise the rougher that they be the more cornered also and pricky the bitterer they are There is a wild kind of them besides the leaues wherof resemble Rocket The best Nauews that are sold at Rome be those that come from Amiternum in Bruzze The next to them in goodnes are those of Nursium In the third place are they to be ranged which our country about Verona yeelds As concerning all things els and namely the maner of sowing them I haue said enough in the treatise of Rapes or Turneps As for Radishes their roots do consist of a rind without a cartilage or pulpous substance within and verily many of them are known to haue a thicker skin or rinde than the barke is of some trees bitter such are more or lesse according to the thicknes of the said rind otherwhile also the rest is all pitch and as hard as wood All Radishes breed wind wonderfull much prouoke a man that eateth of them to belch A base and homely meat therefore it is and not for a gentlemans table especially if it be eaten with other worts as Beets mary if a man take them with vnripe oliues condite he shall neither belch or rift wind so much ne yet so soure and stinking will his breath be afterwards The Egyptians make maruellous great account of radishes for the plenty of oile that they draw out of the seed and therefore a great desire they haue to sow them if they may for as they find it more gainful than corn so they pay lesse tribute custom in regard of that commoditie and yet there is nothing yeeldeth more abundance of oile The Greeks haue made three sorts of Radishes differing all in leafe the first crisped and curled like a ruffe the second smooth and plain the third wild and sauage and these wild ones verily haue smooth leaues but short and round plentiful also they be and otherwise ful of branches a rough and harsh tast they haue howbeit medicinable they be and as good as a purgation to loosen the belly and make it laxatiue As for the other two former kindes a difference there is in the seed for in some it is very fair good in others as small and bad howbeit these imperfections light vpon none but such as haue the crisped and frizled leaues Our countrymen here in Italy haue made other kinds therof to wit Algiclense so called of the place long they be transparent and cleare that a man may see through them A second sort there be fashioned in maner of a Rape root and those they call Syriaca the sweetest for the most part of all others and tenderest such also as will hold out best against frost and winter weather Yet the principal and very best indeed are those which as it should seem were but lately brought out of Syria at leastwise the seed of them for that in no writers there is found any mention made of them and they wil continue all winter long Ouer and besides all these there is one sauage kind of them more which the Greeks name Agrion the inhabitants of Pontus Armon others Leuce and our countrymen giue it the name of Armoracia more shew it maketh in leafe than in the root or all the body besides Moreouer the best token to know good Radishes by is their stem or stalk for such as bite at the tongues end haue rounder and longer stems than the other that be mild they haue long and hollow gutters also the leaues besides are more bitter and vnsauorie cornered more rough and vntoward to be handled Radish seed would willingly be sowne in a loose or light ground and nathelesse moist enough it cannot abide rank mucke but contenteth it selfe with rotten chaffe or pugs and such like plain mullock It likes and thriues so well in cold countries that in Germanie a man shall haue their roots as big as prety babes To haue Radish roots in the spring the seed would be sowed presently after the Ides or 13 day of Februarie and a second time again about the feast of Vulcan which is indeed the better season for Seednes Mary there be that put the seeds into the ground in March Aprill and September When they are come vp and begin to grow to some bignesse it is very good to enterre and couer with mould round about the leaues now one and then another but in any case to banke the roots well with earth for looke how much appeareth bare aboue ground prooues either to be hard or els fungous and hollow like a Kex and nothing good to be eaten Aristomachus would haue them to be stript from their leaues in winter in any hand to be banked well about that the water stand not there in any hollow furrow or hole lower than the other ground promising vs by this meanes that they will proue faire and big against Summer Some haue reported that if a man make a hole in the ground with as big a stake as he wil and strew or lay it in the bottom with a bed of chaffe six fingers deepe and on
be tied fast vnto them Of all Garden-hearbs Beets are the lightest The Greeke writers make two kinds thereof in regard of the colour to wit the black Beets and the whiter which they prefer before the other although it be very scant and sparie of seed these also they cal the Sicilian Beets and for their beautiful white hew and nothing else they esteeme them aboue Lectuce But our countreymen here in Italy put no other difference between Beets but in respect of the two seasons when they be sowed namely in the Spring and Autumne whereof we haue these two sorts the spring Beets and the Autumnall and yet they be vsually sowne in Iune also This herbe likewise is ordinarily remooued in the plant and so replanted or set againe it loueth besides to haue the roots medicined with muck as well as the other abouesaid yea and it is very wel content with a moist and waterish ground The roots as well as the leaues or herbage thereof vse to be eaten with Lentils Beans but the best way to eat them is with Senuie or Mustard for to giue a tast and edge as it were to that dull and wallowish flatnesse that it hath Physitians haue set downe their iudgement of this herb That the roots be more hurtfull than the leafe and therefore being set vpon the bourd before all persons indifferently as well the sound as the sick and crasie yet many a one maketh it nice and scrupulous once to tast therof and if they do it is but slightly for fashion only leauing the hearty feeding thereupon to those rather that be in health and of strong constitutions The Beet is of two diuers natures and qualities for the herbage or leafe hath one and the bulbs comming from the head of the stem another but their principall grace and beautie lieth in their spreading and breadth that they beare as they cabbage And this they come vnto as the manner is of Lectuces also by laying some light weight vpon the leaues when they begin once to gather into a stalke and shew their colour And there is not an hearbe throughout the Garden that taketh vp greater compasse with fuellage than doth the Beet for otherwhiles you shal see it to spread it selfe two foot euery way whereunto the goodnesse and nature of the soile is a great help The largest that be knowne of these Beets are those which grow in the territory about Circij Some hold opinion that the only time to sow Beets is when the Pomegranat doth blossome and to transplant them so soon as they haue 5 leaues A wonderfull thing to see the diuersitie in Nature of these Beets if it be true namely that the white should gently loosen the belly and make one soluble whereas contrariwise the black doe stay a flux and knit the body It is as strange also to obserue another effect thereof for when the Colewort hath marred the taste of wine within the tun or such like vessell the only sauour and smell of Beet leaues steeped therein will restore and fetch it againe As touching the Beets as also Colewoorts which now beare all the sway and none but they in Gardens I do not find that the Greeks made any great account of them yet Cato highly extolleth Coules and reporteth great wonders of their vertues and properties which I meane to relate in my treatise of Physick For this present you shall vnderstand that he putteth downe three kinds of them the first that stretcheth out broad leaues at ful and carieth a big stem the second with a crisped and frizled leafe the which he calleth Apiana the third is smooth plain and tender in leafe and hath but a little stalke and these are of no reckoning at all with Cato Moreouer like as Coleworts may be cut at all times of the yeare for our vse so may they be sown set al the yere long yet the most appropriat season is after the Aequinox in Autumn Transplanted they be when they haue once gotten fiue leaues The tender crops called Cymae after the first cutting they yeeld the Spring next following now are these Cymae nothing else but the yong delicat tops or daintier tendrils of the maine stem And as pleasant and sweet as these crops were thought to other men yet Apicius that notable glutton tooke a loathing of them and by his example Drusus Caesar also careth not for them but thought them a base and homely meat for which nice and dainty tooth of his he was well checked and shent by his father Tiberius the Emperor after this first crop or head is gone there grow out of the same colewort other fine colliflories if I may so say or tendrils in Summer in the fall of the leafe and after them in winter and then a second spring of the foresaid Cymae or tops against the spring following as the yeare before so as there is no hearb in that regard so fruitfull vntill in the end her owne fertility is her death for in this manner of bearing she spends her heart her selfe and all There is a third top-spring also at mid-summer about the Sunstead which if the place bee any thing moist affoordeth yong plants to be set in summer time but in case it be ouer-drie against Autumne If there be want of moisture and skant of muck the better taste Colewoorts haue if there be plenty and to spare of both the more fruitfull and ranke they are The onely muck that which agreeth best with Coleworts or Cabbages is Asses dung I am content to stand the longer vpon this Garden-wort because it is in so great request in the kitchin and among our riotous gluttons Would you haue speciall and principal Coleworts both for sweet tast and also for great and faire cabbage first and foremost let the seed be sowne in a ground throughly digged more than once or twice and wel manured secondly see you cut off the tender springs and yong stalkes that seem to put out far from the ground or such as you perceiue mounting too ranke and ouer-high from the earth thirdly be sure to raise other mould in maner of a bank vp to them so as there peep no more without the ground than the very top these kind of Coleworts be fitly called Tritiana for the threefold hand and trauell about them but surely the gaine will pay double for all the cost and toile both Many more kindes there be of them to wit that of Cumes which beareth leaues spreading flat along the ground and opening in the head Those of Aricia be for heigth no taller than they but rather more in number than for substance thinner and smaller this kind is taken for the best and most gainfull because vnder euery main leafe in maner it putâ—… forth other yong tendrils or buds by themselues which are good to be eaten The Colewort Pompeianum so called of the towne Pompeij is taller than the rest rising vp with a smal stem
the heart vpon the recouerie of a long and dangerous sicknesse and is besides singular good to stay the stomacke after much casting and vomiting Heraclides was wont to giue Skirworts to them who had drunk Quick-siluer so such also as were but cold could not sufficiently perform the duties of mariage finally to them that being newly crept out of their beds after some grieuous disease had need of restoratiues Hicesius was of this mind and said they were good for the stomacke because no man could possibly eat 3 Skirwort roots together and yet he thinks that they would agree very well with those weak persons who were lately sick and newly walking abroad against they should fall to their old drinking of wine again But to come more particularly to the garden Skirwort If the juice therof be drunke with Goats milke it stayeth the flux of the belly called the Laske And thus much for the Skirwort named in Latin Siser But forasmuch as the proximitie and likenes in many Greek names many a time confounds the memorie and deceiues them causing them to mistake one thing for another I wil for vicinitie and neighborhood sake annex vnto Siser the hearb Siser or Seseli for me thinks they will doe very well to stand together but this is an hearb very common and well known The best is that which comes from Marseils is therupon named Seseli Massiliense it hath a broad flat seed and a yellow A second kind thereof is named Aethiopicum with a blacker seed but the third which is brought from Candie and therefore termed Creticum is of all other most odoriferous smels sweetest The root of Seseli or Siser casts a pleasant sauor and as men say the Vultures also or Geirs feed on the seed If a man or woman drinke it with white wine it cures an old cough it knits those who are brusen bellied or haue ruptures and lastly helps them that be much troubled with cramps or convulsions Also if it be taken to the weight or quantitie of two or three Ligules it cures those who haue their necks drawn backward to their shoulders with the Spafme it corects the defects and faults of the liuer it allaies the wrings and torments of the guts and bringeth them to pisse with ease and freely who are afflicted with the Strangurie The very leaues of siler are also medicinable for they procure easy childbirth yea and in that respect the very dumb four-footed beast findeth the benefit therof and that know the Hinds well ynough by a secret instinct of nature who being neer their time and readie to calue feed vpon this hearbe most of all others Good it is against S. Anthonies fire applied to the place in manner of a liniment Certes if a man eat either the leafe or the seed of Siler presently after meat or at the latter end of repast it helpeth digestion It staies the gurrie or running out of the belly in 4 footed beasts whether it be giuen stamped by way of a drench and so injected or chewed drie among their salt meat If kine or oxen be sicke stampe it and pour it down their throats orels clysterize them with it As for Elecampane if it be chewed vppon an emptie stomacke fasting it confirms the loose teeth so that it be taken as it was digged forth of the earth before it touch the ground againe Beeing confected or condite it cures the cough The juice of the root sodden expells the broad wormes bred in the guts The pouder of it dried in the shadow helpeth the cough the stitch and cramp dissolueth windines is good for the accidents incident to the throat and windpipes It is a soueraign medicine against the pricks or stings of venimous beasts The leaues applied as a liniment with wine appease the extream pain of the loins As for Onions I canot find that there be any of them grow wild Those which are sown in gardens I am sure wil with their smel only cause the eyes to shed tears by that means clarify the sight but if they be anointed with the juice they will mundifie the better It is said that they will procure sleepe and heale the cankers or vlcers of the mouth beeing chewed with bread Also greene Onions applied with vinegre to the plaae bitten with a mad dog or els drie and laid to with Honey and Wine so the plaster or cataplasm be not remoued in three daies cureth the hurt without danger In this maner also they wil heal galled places Being rosted vnder the ashes many vse to apply them with Barly floure or meale as a pultesse or cataplasme to the eies that be waterie or rheumatick as also to the vlcers of the priuy parts The imunction of the eies with the juice therof is thought to clense their cicatrises or cloudines of the eies called the pin and web as also to cure the pearle there breeding moreouer the bloud shotting or red streaks in the white and the white spots appearing in the blacke circle about the apple Moreouer it cureth bitings stings of serpents yea and heales al vlcers being emplastred with honey Also the exulcerations or impostumes within the ears are by it womens milke cured And for to amend the ringing and vnkind sound and noise therin to recouer those that be hard of hearing many haue vsed to droppe the juice of Onions together with Goose grease or els hony Furthermore they giue it to be drunke with water to those that suddenly become speechlesse and dumb A collution also made with Onions helps the tooth-ach And being laid vpon wounds made either with prick or bite of any venomous beast and especially of Scorpions it is thought to be a soueraign salue Many are wont to very good effect for to bruse Onions and therewith to rub those parts that be troubled with a skurfe and running mange as also to recouer haire where it is shed and gon Being boiled they are giuen for to be eaten vnto those who are diseased with the blodie Flix or pain of the rains loins Their outward pilings burnt into ashes mingled with vinegre cure the bitings and stings of serpents if the place be bathed or anointed therwith yea and the very Onion it selfe being applied with vinegre cures the sting of that shrewd worme Milliped As for all other vertues and properties of Onions the Physicians are wonderful contrary one to another in their writings for our moderne and late writers do hold and so haue deliuered in their books That onions are hurtful to the parts about the heart other vitall members as also that they hinder digestion breeding wind and ventosities and causing drought or thirstinesse Asclepiades and his sect or followers contrariwise affirme That onions are so wholsome that they will make them well colored who vse to feed vpon them and more than so they say that if one in health euery day eat of them fasting he shall be sure to
procured themselues pale faces because they would look like their master who indeed came to that colour by continuall study and plying his booke Thus likewise not long since Iulius Vindex being desirous to be affranchised by Nero pretending by his pale visage and poore look that he had not many daies to liue made faire semblance vnto Nero by his will and testament that he should shortly be his heire which cheat the said Nero gaped after and so by that means Vindex entred so far within him as hee obtained whatsoeuer he would at his hands Cumin reduced into the form of trochisks or nose-tents put vp into the nosthrils stancheth bloud The like effect it hath being fresh gathered and applied with vinegre Being layd it selfe alone to watering and weeping eies it restraineth that humour and in case the cods be bolne or swelled it is good to mix honey withall in manner of an emplastre But it sufficeth to make a cataplasme thereof and lay it to the belly alone of little babes and infants so troubled Finally to cure the jaunise it is singular giuen in white wine when the Patient hath sweat and is come out of the Baine CHAP. XV. ¶ Of Cumin Ethyopick which restraineth the flix of vrine of Capres of Lovach or Panax and of a kind of Marjerom named Cunila-bubula BVt for the purpose a foresaid namely to cure the jaunise the Ethyopian Cumin is the best being taken after a bath with vinegre and water also licked in maner of a Loch with hony As for the Cumin of Africk it is thought to haue a singular proprietie by it selfe for to helpe those who canot contain and hold their vrin The garden Cumin if it be parched drie brought into pouder and giuen in vinegre helpeth the defects and infirmities of the liuer also it cureth the dizzinesse of the head But in case the acrimonie or sharpnesse of the vrin be such as that it fret and moue smart in the passage the pouder hereof would be tempered in sweet wine cuit For the impediments of the matrice it ought to be drunk in pure wine of the grape and withal there must be applied to the place offended a cataplasm of the leaues vpon a lock of wool Dried against the fire bruised and beaten into pouder and so incorporat with oile of roses wax and wrought in the end to the form of a Cerot and then applied it abateth the swelling of the cods But the wild Cumin is more effectuall in all the cases aboue mentioned than that of the garden Ouer and besides it hath a speciall vertue together with oile against serpents scorpions and Scolopendres Take as much of Cumin seed as you may comprehend within three fingers drink it in wine it wil stay immoderat vomit yea and the sick heauing of the stomacke as if it would cast and canot A drinke made therewith is giuen also for the colique and to that purpose a liniment thereof is very commendable or if it be applied hot in quilted bags so that the same be kept swadled down vnto the region of the gut Colon. For a woman that is giuen to the rising and suffocation of the mother let her drink it in wine after this proportion Three drams of Cumin to three cyaths of wine she shall find that it will resolue those vapors and fumosities which caused the foresaid maladie With calues tallow or sewet or with honey if it be let drop into the eares it cureth the sounding and tingling therein Being applied as a liniment with hony raisons and vinegre it resolueth the blacke and blew markes remaining after stripes Also with vinegre alone it cureth the black spots and speckles appearing in any part of the body if the place be bathed therewith An herb there is resembling Cumin for all the world which the Greeks cal Ammi although some there are who thinke it to be all one with the Cumin of Ethyopia Hippocrates calleth it the roial Cumin of Egypt the reason was no doubt for that he deemed that of Egypt to exceed all the rest in goodnes But most writers besides him do think it * an herb altogether of another nature because it is smaller and whiter and yet it serueth to the like vse for at Alexandria in Egypt they put it commonly vnder their loaues of bread in the bottom crust when they go to the ouen and ordinarily it is occupied in the kitchen about sauces Be it what it will it dissolueth ventosities it pacifieth the wringing torment of the guts it prouokes vrin and bringeth down womens moneths Being taken in wine together with Lineseed to the quantitie of two drams it cureth the venomous stings of scorpions but put thereto an equall quantitie of myrth it hath a singular vertue against the horned serpent Cerastes And like to the other Cumin before named it altereth the colour of as many as drink of it and makes them looke pale A suffumigation made thereof with raisons and rosin mundifieth the matrice natural parts of women Finally it is commonly said That if a woman smell thereto in the very act of generation she shal conceiue the rather by that means As for Capres we haue sufficiently written thereof amongst other shrubs that be strangers and yet it wil not be amisse to reiterat thus much That a man must be well aduised how he taketh any out landish Capres that come from beyond-sea but if he wil go safely to work let him hardly keep him to those of Italy for they are lesse harmelesse than the other for if all be true that is commonly reported whosoeuer daily eat Capres shall not be in danger either of palsie or pain of splene The root of capres is singular good to take away the white spotted morphue cousin german to the leprosie in case it be stamped and the place affected rubbed therewith Take the rind of the root the quantitie of two drams and drink it in wine it helpeth the swelled splene prouided alwaies that the Patient forbeare the vse of bains and hot houses for by report this course continued 35 daies will cause the said splene to purge away partly by vrine and partly by seege The same if it be taken in drink allaieth pain in the loins cureth the palsie The seed of Capres sodden in vinegre bruised applied to the teeth or otherwise the root thereof chewed only asswageth the tooth-ach A decoction of Capres in oile instilled into the ears mitigateth their pains The leaues and the root newly gathered and so applied as a Cataplasme with hony healeth the corrosiue vlcers that eat to the very bone Likewise the root resolues all those glandulous swellings which we name the Kings euil and if the same be sodden in water it discusseth the tumors behind the ears and riddeth away the worms breeding within It cureth also the infirmities of the liuer The manner is to giue the same in vinegre and honey for to chase away the vermin engendred
they floure or they apple or els be ready to bring forth fruit and look when the leaues begin to wither their prickes lose their force and will not pierce Ixine is a rare herb and geason to be seen and not found growing in al countries alike Immediatly from the root it putteth forth leaus plenty out of the mids of which root there swelleth out a bunch like an apple but the same is couered with the foresaid leaues in the very â—…p of which fruit there is contained a gum of a pleasant tast called the thistle Mastick Touching the herb Cactos which groweth also in Sicily and no where els it hath a property by it self the stalks whereof shooting from the root creep along the ground and it carrieth a broad leafe full of pricks and thorns and indeed these stalks thus running vpon the earth the Sicilians cal Cactos which they vse to keep and preserue and being thus condited also they commonly eat as very good meat One stem it hath growing vpright which they terme Pternix as sweet pleasant as the other but it will not abide to be kept long The seed thereof is couered with a certain soft down which they call Pappos which being taken off with the husk there remaineth a tender kernell within which they eat find it as delicat as the very heart of the Date tree top which is called the Brain and this pith aforesaid the Sicilians name Ascalia The Caltrop thistle Tribulus groweth not but in moory grounds and standing dead waters Surely in other places folke curse it as they passe by the prickes and spurs stick out so dangerously but about the riuers Nilus and Strymon the inhabitants do gather it for their meat the nature of this plant is to lean and bend downward in the head to the water The leafe resembles in form those of the Elme and they hang by a long stele or taile But in other parts of the world there be two other kinds of Tribulus the one is leafed like vnto the Cichling pease the other hath leaues sharp pointed this second kind is later ere it floure and commonly groweth about the mounds of closes lying by villages and town sides the seed lieth in a cod rounder than the other and black withall whereas the former hath a sandy seed Of these thorny and pricky plants there is yet one kind more namely Ononis i. Rest. harrow for it carrieth pricks close to the very branches the leafe is like to Rue the whole stalk throughout is set with leaues disposed in manner of a garland This plant commonly groweth after corn it plagueth the plough and yet there is much adoto rid it out of a ground so loth it is to die Of plants that be prickie some haue their stalkes and branches trailing by the ground as namely that hearbe which they call Coronopus i. Harts horn or Buck-horne Plantaine contrariwise there stand vpright Orchanet the root whereof is so good to colour wax and wood red And of such as be more gentle in handling Camomile Phyllanthus Anemone and Aphace As for Crepis Apate their stalks be all leafe Moreouer this would be noted that the leaues of herbs differ one from another as well as in trees some in the length or shortnesse of the stele whereto they hang others in the breadth or narrownesse of the leafe it selfe in form also whereby you shal haue some cornered others cut and indented likewise in sent and floure for some there be that continue longer in flouring than others and blow not all at once but one part after another as Basill Tornsall Aphaca and Onocheile CHAP. XVII ¶ The difference of herbs in their leafe what hearbes they be that floure all the yeare long of the Asphodell Pistana and Petie-Gladen or Sword-grasse MAny hearbes there be as well as some trees which continue greene and hold their leaues from one end of the yeare to the other as Tornsol and Adianthum or Capillus Veneris Another sort there is of herbs that floure spike-wise of which kind are Cynops Alopecurus i. Foxtaile Stelephuros which some call Ortyx others Plantaine of which I will write more at large among Physick herbs and Thryollis Of these Alopecurus carrieth a soft spike and a thick mossie down not vnlike to Fox-tails whereupon it tooke that name in Greeke and Stelephurus resembleth it very much but that the Foxtaile bloweth not all together but beareth floures some at one time some at another Cichory and such like haue their leaues spreading vpon the ground and those put forth directly from the root beginning to spring immediatly after the apparition of the star Vergiliae As touching Parietary there be other nations as wel as the Aegyptians who feed vpon it it took the name Perdicium in Latine of the bird Perdix i. the Partridge that seeketh after it so much and plucketh it out of the wals where it groweth it hath many roots and the same thick In like maner the herb Ornithogale i. Dogs onion hath a small stem and a white but a root halfe a foot long the same is full of bulbs like onions soft also and accompanied with three or foure other spurs growing out of it This hearbe they vse to seeth among other pot-herbs for potage I will tell you a strange quality of the herb Lotos and of Aegilops if their seed be cast into the ground it wil not come vp in a yeare As wonderfull is the nature also of the Camomile for it beginneth to floure in the head whereas all other herbes which blow not all at once floure at the foot first Notable is the Bur likewise and worthy to be obserued I mean that which sticketh to our clothes as we passe by the floure lieth close and groweth within the said Bur and neuer appeareth without-forth it is I say as it were hatched within much like vnto those liuing creatures that couve and quicken their egges within their belly Semblably about the city Opus there is an herb called Opuntia which men delight to eat this admirable gift the leafe hath That if it be laied in the ground it will take root and there is no other way to plant this herb maintain the kind As for Iasione one leafe it hath and no more but so lapped and infolded that it seemeth as if they were many Touching Condrylla the herb it selfe is bitter but the juice of the root is hot and biting Bitter also is Aphaca or Dent de Lion as also that which is called Picris which name it took of the exceeding bitternesse that it hath the same floureth all the yere long As for Squilla and Safron they be both of a maruellous nature for whereas all other hearbes put out leafe first and then knit round into a stem in those two a man may euidently see the stalk before the leafe And in Saffron verily the said stalk thrusteth out the floure before it but in
which serue for good vse in Physicke But first as touching Anemone in generall some there bee who call it Phenion and two principal kinds there be of it The first groweth wild in the woods the second commeth in places wel tilled and in gardens but both the one and the other loue sandy grounds As for this later kind it is subdiuided into many speciall sorts for some haue a deepe red skarlet floure and indeed such are found in greatest plenty others bear a purple floure and there be again which are white The leaues of all these three be like vnto Parsly None of them ordinarily grow in height aboue halfe a foot and in the head of their stemme they shoot forth sprouts in manner of the tendrils of Asparagus The floure hath this property Neuer to open but when the wind doth blow wereupon it tooke the name Anemone in Greek But the wild Anemone is greater and taller the leaues also are larger and the floures are of a red colour Many writers being carried away with an error thinke this Anemone and Argemone to bee both one others confound it with that wild Poppy which we named Rhoeas but there is a great difference betweene them for that both these hearbes doe floure after Anemone neither doe the Anemonae yeeld the like juice from them as doth either Argemone or Rhoeas before-named they haue not also such cups and heads in the top but only a certaine musculositie at the ends and tips of their branches much like to the tender buds of Asparagus All the sorts of Anemone or Wind-floure bee good for the head-ach and inflammations thereof comfortable to the matrice of women and increaseth their milk Being taken inwardly in a Ptisane or barly gruell or applied outwardly as a cataplasme with wooll this hearb prouoketh their monthly tearms The root chewed in the mouth purgeth the head of fleame and cureth the infirmities of the teeth The same being sodden and laid to the eyes as a cataplasm represseth the vehement flux of waterie humours thither The Magicians and Wise men attribute much to these hearbes and tell many wonders of them namely That a man should gather the first that he seeth in any yeare and in gathering to say these words I gather thee for a remedie against tertian and quartan agues which done the partie must lap and bind fast in a red cloth the said floure and so keep it in a shady place and when need requireth to take the same and either hang it about the necke or tie it to the arme or some other place The root of that Anemone which beareth the red floure if it be bruised and laid vpon any liuing creature whatsoeuer raiseth ablisâ—… by that caustik and corrosiue vertue which it hath and therfore it is vsed to mundisie and 〈◊〉 filthie vleers CHAP. XXIIII ¶ The vertues of Oenanthe in Physicke OEnanthe is an hearb growing vpon rocky and stony grounds The leafe resembleth those of the Parsnep roots it hath many and those big The stemme and leaues of this herb if they be taken inwardly with honey and thicke sweet wine doe cause women in labor to haue easie deliuerance and withall doe clense them wel of the after-birth Eaten in an Electuarie or licked in a lohoch made with hony the said leauesdoe rid away the cough and prouoke vrine To conclude the root also is singular for the infirmities and diseases of the bladder CHAP. XXV ¶ The medicines made wich the hearbe Heliochryson HEliochryson which others name Chrysanthemon putteth forth little branches very faire and white the leaues are whitish too much like vnto Abrotomum From the tips and ends of which branches there hang down certaine buttons as it were like berries round in a circle which with the repercussion and reuerberation of the Sun-beames doe shine againe like resplendent gold These tufts or buttons doe neuer fade nor wither which is the cause that the chaplets wherewith they crowne and adorne the heads of the gods be made thereof a ceremonie that Ptolomaeus K. of Aegypt obserued most precisely This herbe groweth in rough places among bushes and shrubs If it be taken in wine it prouoketh vrine and womens fleures All hard tumors and inflammations it doth discusse and resolue without suppuration A liniment made with it honey is good to be applied to any place burnt or scalded It is giuen in drinke vsually for the sting of serpents for the paines and infirmities also of the loines If it be drunke in honyed wine it dissolueth and consumeth the cluttered bloud either in the belly and guts or the bladder The leaues taken to the weight of three Oboli in white wine do stay the immoderat flux of the whites in women This hearbe if it be laid in wardrobes keepeth apparel sweet for it is of a pleasant odour CHAP. XXVI ¶ The vertues and properties of the Hyacinth and Lychnis in Physicke THe Hyacinth loueth France very well and prospereth there exceedingly The French vse therewith to die their light reds or lustie-gallant for default of graine to color their scarlet The root is bulbous Onion-like well known to these slaue-coursers who buy them at best hand and after tricking trimming and pampering them vp for sale make gain of them for being reduced into a liniment they vse it with wine to annoint as well the share of youths as the chin and checks to keep them for euer being vnder-grown or hauing haire on their face that they may appeare young still and smooth It is a good defensatiue against the prick of venomous spiders and besides allaieth the griping torments of the belly It forciby prouoketh vrine The seed of this hearbe giuen with Abrotonum is a preseruatiue against the venome of serpents and scorpions it cureth the jaundise As touching Lychnis that fllaming hearbe surnamed Flammea the seed of it beaten to pouder and taken in wine is singular good against the sting of serpents scorpions hornets and such like The wild of this kind is hurtfull to the stomacke and yet it is laxatiue and purgeth downward Two drams thereof is a sufficient dose to purge choller for it worketh mightily Such an enemie it is to scorpions that if they doe but see it they are taken with a nummednesse that they cannot stir In Asia or Natolia they call the root of this hearbe Bolites which if it be laid vpon the eies and kept bound thereto taketh away the pin and the web as they say CHAP. XXVII ¶ The medicinable vertues of Pervincle Rusâ—…us Batis and Acinos ALso the Peruincle called by the Greeks Chamaedaphne if it be stamped drie into pouder and a spoonful thereof giuen in water to those that are full of the dropsie it doth euacuat most speedily the waâ—…y humors collected in their belly or otherwise the same root rosted in embres and well sprinkled and wet with wine discusseth and drieth vp all tumors being applied thereto The iuyce thereof dropped into the ears
parts Myrrhis which some call Smyrrhiza others Myrrha is passing like vnto Hemlocke in stalke leaues and floure only it is smaller and slenderer and hath no ill grace and vnpleasant tast to be eaten with meats Taken in wine it hasteneth the monthly course of womens fleurs if they bee too slow and helpeth them in labour to speedy deliuerance It is said moreouer that in time of a plague it is wholsom to drink it for feare of infection A supping or broth made of it helpeth those who are in a Phthysicke or consumption This good property it hath besides to stir vp a quick appetite to meat It doth extinguish and kill the venome inflicted by the sting or pricke of the venomous spiders Phalangia The juice drawn out of this herb after it hath lien infused or soked three daies together in water healeth any sore breaking out either in face or head Finally Onobrychis carieth leaues resembling Lentils but that they are somewhat longer it beareth also a red floure but resteth vpon a small and slender root It groweth about springs and fountains Being dried and reduced into a floure or pouder it maketh an end of the strangury so it be drunk in a cup of white wine well strewed and spiced therwith It stoppeth a lask To conclude the juice therof causeth them to sweat freely who are annointed all ouer with it CHAP. XVII ¶ The medicinable vertues of Coriacesia Callicia and Menais with three and twentie other herbes which some hold to be Magicall Moreouer of Considia and Aproxis besides some other which are reuiued and in request againe hauing been long time out of vse TO discharge and acquit my selfe of the promise which I made of strange and wonderfull herbs I cannot chuse but in this place write a little of those which the Magitians make such reckoning of For can there be any more admirable than they And in very truth Democritus and Pythagoras following the tracts of the said wise men and Magitians were the first Philosophers who in this part of the world set those herbs on foot and brought them into a name And to begin with Coriacesia and Callicia Pythagoras affirmeth That these two herbes will cause water to gather into an yce I find no mention at all in any other authors of these hearbes neither doth he report more properties of them The same author writes of an herb called Menais known also by the name of Corinthas the juice whereof by his saying if it be sodden in water presently cureth the sting of serpents if the place be fomented with the said decoction He affirmeth moreouer that if the said juice or liquor be poured vpon the grasse whosoeuer fortuneth to go thereupon and touch it with the sole of the foot or otherwise chance to be but dashed or sprinkled therewith shall die therupon remedilesse and no way there is to escape the mischiefe A monstrous thing to report that this juice should be so rank a venome as it is vnlesse it be vsed against poison The felfe same Pythagoras speaketh yet of another herb which hee calleth Aproxis the root whereof is of this nature to catch fire a farre off like for all the world to Naphtha concerning which I haue written somwhat already in my discourse as touching the wonders of Nature and he reporteth moreouer That if a man or woman happen to be sicke of any disease at what time as this Aproxis is in the floure although he or she be throughly cured of it yet shall they haue a grudging or minding thereof as often as it falleth to floure again yeare by yeare And of this opinion he is besides That Frumenty corne Hemlock and Violets are of the same nature and property I am not ignorant that this booke of his wherein these strange reports are recorded some haue ascribed vnto Cleomporus a renowned Physitian but the currant fame or speech holdeth stil so constantly time out of mind that we must needs beleeue Pythagoras to be the author of the said booke True it is indeed that the name of Pythagoras might giue authority and credit vnto other mens books attributed to him if haply any other had laboured and trauelled in compiling some worke which himselfe judged worthy of such a man as he was but that Cleomporus should so do who had set forth other books in his owne name who would euer beleeue No man doubteth verily but that the book intituled Chirocineta was of Democritus his making and yet therein be found more monstrous things by a hundred fold than those which Pythagoras hath deliuered in that worke of his And to say a truth setting Pythagoras aside there was not a Philosopher so much addicted to the schoole and profession of these Magitians as was Democritus In the first place he telleth vs of an herb called Aglaophotis worthy to be admired wondred of men by reason of that most beautifull colour which it had and for that it grew among the quarries of marble in Arabia confining vpon the coasts of the realme of Persia therefore it was also named Marmaritis And he affirmeth that the Sages or VVise men of Persia called Magi vsed this herb when they were minded to coniure and raise vp spirits He writeth moreouer That in a country of India inhabited by the Tardistiles there is another herb named Achâ—…menis growing without leafe and in colour resembling Amber of the root of which herb there be certain Trochisks made whereof they cause malefactors and suspected persons to drink some quantity with wine in the day time to the end they should confesse the truth for in the night following they shall be so haunted with spirits and tormented with sundry fansies and horrible visions that they shal be driuen perforce to tel all and acknowledge the fact for which they are troubled brought in question The same writer calleth this plant Hippophobas because Mares of all other creatures are most fearfull and wary of it Furthermore he reporteth That 30 Schoenes from the riuer Choaspes in Persia there groweth an herb named Theombrotion which for the manifold and sundry colours that it hath resembleth the painted taile of a Peacocke and it casteth withall a most sweet and odoriferous sent This herb saith he the Kings of Persia vse in their meats drinks and this opinion they haue of it That it preserueth their bodies from all infirmities and diseases yea and keepeth their head so staied and setled that they shall neuer be troubled in mind and out of their right wits in such sort that for the powerfull maiestie of this plant it is also called Semnion He proceedeth moreouer to another knowne by the name Adamantis growing onely in Armenia and Cappadocia which if it be brought neare vnto Lions they will lie all along vpon their backs and yawne with their mouths as wide as euer they can The reason of the name is this because it cannot possibly be beaten into pouder He goeth on still
groweth it runneth creepeth within the earth by many knots or ioints in the root from which as also from the branches and top-sprigs trailing aboue-ground it putteth forth new roots and spreadeth into many branches In all other parts of the world the leaues of this grasse grow slender and sharp pointed toward the end only vpon the mount Pernassus wherupon it is called Gramen Pernassi it brancheth thicker than in other places and resembleth in some sort Ivie bearing a white floure and the same odoriferous There is not a grasse in the field whereon horses take more delight to feed than this whether it be greene as it groweth or dry and made into hay especially if it be giuen them somewhat sprinckled with water Moreouer it is said that the inhabitants about the foresaid mount Pernassus do draw a juice out of this grasse vsed much to increase plenty of milk for sweet and pleasant it is but in other parts of the world in stead therof they vse the decoction of the common grasse for to conglutinat wounds and yet the very herb it selfe in substance will do as much if it be but stamped and so applied and besides a good defensatiue it is to keep any place that is cut or hurt from inflammation To the said decoction some put wine and hony others adde a third part in proportion of Frankincense Pepper and Myrrhe and then set all ouer the fire againe and boile it a second time in a pan of brasse which composition they vse as a medicine for the tooth-ach and watering eies occasioned by the flux of humors thither The root sodden in wine appeaseth the wrings torments of the guts openeth the conduits of the vrine and giueth it passage besides it healeth the vlcers of the bladder yea it breaketh the stone But the seed is more diureticall and with greater force driueth downe vrine than the root And yet it stoppeth a laske and staieth vomit A peculiar vertue it hath against the sting of dragons or serpents Moreouer some there be who giue direction in the cure of the kings euil and other flat impostumes called Pani to take nine knots or ioints of a root of this grasse and if they cannot find one root with so many ioints to take two or three roots vntill they haue the foresaid number which done to enwrap or fold the same in vnwashed or greasie wooll which is black with this charge by the way that the party who gathered the said roots be fasting and then to goe vnto the house of the patient that is to be cured waiting a time when hee is from home and be ready at his returne to receiue him with these words three times pronounced Iejunus ieiuno medicamentum do i. I being yet fasting giue thee a medicine also whiles thou art fasting and with that to bind the foresaid knots roots vnto the parts affected and so continue this course for three daies together Furthermore that kind of grasse which hath seuen ioints in the root neither more nor lesse is singular for the head ach and worketh great effects if the Patient carrieth it tied fast about him Some Physitians do prescribe for the intollerable pain of the bladder to take the decoction of this grasse boyled in wine vnto the consumption of one halfe and giue it to drinke vnto the Patient presently vpon the comming out of the baine or hot-house Touching the grasse which by reason of the pricks that it beares is named Aculeatum there be three sorts of it the first is that which ordinarily hath fiue such prickes in the head or top thereof and thereupon they call it Penta Dactylon i. the fiue finger graise these prickes when they be wound together they vse to put vp into the nosthrils and draw them downe again for to make the nose bleed The second is like to Sengreen or Housleek singular good it is for the whitflaws and excrescences or risings vp of the flesh about the naile roots if it be incorporat into a liniment with hogs grease and this grasse they call Dactylus because it is a medicine for the fingers The third kind named likewise Dactylos but smaller than the other groweth vpon old decaied wals or tyle houses this is of a caustick burning nature good to represse the canker in running and corrosiue vlcers Generally a chaplet made of the herbe Gramen or Dogs-grasse and worn vpon the head stancheth bleeding at the nose The Gramen that groweth along the high waies in the country about Babylon is said to kill camels that grase vpon it Fenigreeke commeth not behind the other herbs before specified in credit and account for the vertues which it hath the Greeks call it Telus and Carphos some name it Buceras and Aegoceras for that the seed resembleth little hornes we in Latine tearme it Silicia or Siliqua The manner of sowing it I haue declared in due place sufficiently The vertues thereof is to dry mollifie and resolue the juice drawne out of it after the decoction is right soueraigne for many infirmities and diseases incident to women and namely in the naturall parts whether the matrice haue a schirre in it and be hard or swolne or whether the necke thereof be drawne too streight and narrow for which purposes it is to be vsed by way of somentation incession or bath also by infusion or injection with the metrenchyte Very proper it is to extenuat the scurf or scales like dandruffe appearing in the visage being sodden and applied together with sal-nitre it helpeth the disease of the spleen The like effect it hath with vineger and beeing boyled therin it is good for the liuer for such women as haue painful trauel in child-birth be hardly deliuered Diocles appointed Fenigreek seed to the quantity of one acetable to be giuen in nine cyaths of wine cuit for three draughts with this direction that the woman first should take one third part of this drink and then go to a hot bath and whiles she were sweating therein to drink one halfe of that which was left and presently after she is out of the bain sup off the rest And he saith there is not the like medicine to be found in this case when all others will take no effect The floure or meale of Fenigreek seed boiled in mead or honied water together with barly or Lineseed is singular for the paine of the matrice either applied to the share in maner of a cataplasme or put vp into the naturall parts as a pessary according as the abouenamed Dioâ—…les saith who was wont likewise to cure the lepry or S. Magnus euil to clense mundifie the skin of freckles pimples with a liniment made with the foresaid floure incorporat with the like quantity of brim stone with this charge to prepare the skin by rubbing it with salnitre before the said ointment were vsed and then to annoint it oftentimes in a day Theodorus vsed to mixe
be like in leaf vnto Plantain in stem four square bringeth forth certain little cods full of seed in folded and interlaced one within another after the manner of the tufted and curled haires about the Pourcuttle fiâ—…hes called Polypi But be it what it will the juice of the herb is refrigeratiue and of great vse in Physicke As for the herb Gentian we must acknowledge Gentius king of the Illyrians for the Authour and patron therof for he brought it first into name credit and howsoeuer it grow in al places yet the best is that which is found in Illyricum or Sclauonia The leaues come neare in fashion and forme to those of the Ash tree but that they be small in manner of Lettuce the stem is tender of a thumb thicknesse hollow as a kex and void with in leafed here and there with certain spaces betweene growing vp other while 3 cubits high The root is pliable and will winde euery way somwhat blacke or duskish without any smell at all it groweth in great plenty vpon waterish hillocks that lie at the foot of great mountains such as the Alps be The juice of the herb is medicinable like as the root it selfe also which is very hot of nature and not to be giuen in drinke to women with childe Lysimachia the herbe so much commended by Erasistratus beareth the name of king Lysimachus who first gaue light of the vertues that it hath greene leaues it beareth like vnto those of the willow the floures be purple giuen much it is to branch from the root and those stalkes grow vpright a sharp smell it carrieth with it and delighteth to liue in watery places Of so effectuall vertue it is that if it be laid vpon the yoke of two beasts which will not draw gently together it staieth their strife and maketh them agree well enough Not men only and great kings but women also and queens haue affected this kind of glory To giue names vnto herbs Thus queen Artemisia wife to Mausolus king of Caria eternized her owne name by adopting as it were the herb Mugwort to her selfe calling it Artemisia whereas before it was named Parthemis Some there be who attribute this denomination vnto Diana called in Greek Artemis Ilithya because it is of speciall operation to cure the maladies incident to women It brancheth and busheth thick much like to wormwood but that the leaues be bigger fat and wel liking withal Of this Mugwort there be two kinds the one carieth broad leaues the other is tender and the leaues smaller this grows no where but along the sea coasts There be writers who call by this name Artemisia another herb growing in the midland parts of the main and far from the sea with one simple stem bearing very small leaues and plentie of floures which commonly break forth and blow when grapes begin to ripen and those cast no vnpleasant smel which herb some thereupon name Botrys others Ambrosia and of this kind there is great store in Cappadocia Nenuphar is called in Greeke Nymphaea the originall of which herb and name also arose by occasion of a certain maiden Nymph or yong lady who died for jealousie that she had conceiued of prince Hercules whom she loued and therefore by some it is named also Heraclion of others Rhopalos for the resemblance that the root hath to a club or mace But to come againe to our first name Nymphaea this quality it hath alluding and respectiue thereunto That whosoeuer do take it in drink shal for 12 daies after find no prick of the flesh no disposition I say to the act of venery or company of women as being depriued for that time of all naturall seed The best Nemphar or Nymphaea is found in the lake Orchomenus and about the plain of Marathon The people of Boeotia who also vse to eat the seed thereof commonly call it Madon It taketh great contentment to grow in waters the leaues floting vpon the face of the water be broad and large whiles others put forth from the root The floure resembleth the Lillie which when it is once shed there be certain knobs remaining like vnto the bolls or heads of Poppie The proper season to cut the stems and heads of this plant is in Autumne The root is blacke which being gathered and dried in the Sunne is counted a soueraigne remedy for those that be vexed with the flux or fretting of the belly A second Nemphar or Nymphaea there is growing in Thessaly within the riuer Peneus with a white root but a yellow flour in the head about the bignesse of a rose No longer ago than in our forefathers daies Iuba king of Mauritania found out the herb Euphorbia which he so called after the name of his own Physitian Euphorbus brother to that learned Musa Physitian to Augustus Caesar who saued the life of the said Emperor as heretofore I haue declared These two brethren Physitians ioined together in counsell and gaue direction for to wash the body all ouer in much cold water after the hot baine or stouve thereby to knit and bind the pores of the skin for before their time the maner was to bathe in hot water only as we may see plainly in the Poet Homer But now to return vnto our herb Euphorbia the foresaid K. Iuba wrote one entire book at this day extant wherin he doth nothing els but expressely set forth the commendable vertues and properties of this one herb He found the same first vpon the mountain Atlas where it was to be seen saith he bearing leaues resembling Branc-vrsin so strong and forcible it is that those who receiue the juice or liquor issuing from it must stand a good way off for the manner is to launce or wound it first and then presently to retire backe and so at the end of a long pole to put vnder it a paile or trey made of kids or goats leather for a receptory into which there runneth forth out of the plant a white liquour like vnto milke which when it is dried and growne together resembleth in shew a lumpe or masse of Frank incense They that haue the gathering of this juice called Euphorbium find this benefit thereby That they see more clearly than they did before an excellent remedy this is against the venom of serpents for what part soeuer is stung or wounded by them make a light incision vpon the crown of the head and apply therto this medicinable liquor it wil surely cure it But in that country the Getulians who commonly do gather Euphorbium for that they border vpon the mount Atlas sophisticate it with goats milke Howbeit fire will soon detect this imposure of theirs for that which is not right but corrupt when it burneth doth yeeld a lothsome fume and stinking sent The juice or liquor which in France is drawn out the herb Chamaelea the same that beareth the red grain named by the Latines Coccum commeth far short of this
much forked diuided into branches wherwith folk vsed to kil fishes But among al other herbs of name Peucedanum is much talked of and commended principally that which groweth in Arcadie next to it most account is made of that in Samothrace a slender stalk it carrieth and a long resembling the stem of Fennell neere vnto the ground it is replenished well with leaues the root is black thick full of sap and of a strong and vnpleasant smell it delighteth to come vp and grow among shady mountains The proper time to dig it out of the ground is in the later end of Autumne the tenderest roots and those that run deepest downe into the earth are most commendable The manner is to cut these roots ouerthwart into certaine cantels or pieces of foure fingers in length with kniues made of bone whereout there issueth a juice which ought to be dried kept in the shade but the party who hath the cutting of them had need first to annoint his head all ouer and his nosthrils with oile rosat for feare of the gid and least he should fall into a dizzinesse or swimming of the braine There is another juice or liquor found in this plant lying fast within the stems therof which they yeeld forth after incision made in them The best juice is knowne by these marks It carieth the consistence of honey the colour is red the smell strong and yet pleasant and in the mouth it is very hot and stinging Much vse there is of it in many medicines as also of the root and decoction thereof but the juice is of most operation which being dissolued with bitter almonds or rue people vse to drink against the poison of serpents in case the body be annointed all ouer with oile it preserueth them safe against their stings CHAP. X. ¶ Of ground Elder or Wallwoort Of Mullen or Taper wort Of the Aconit called Thelyphonos Of remedies against the pricke of Scorpions the venome of Hedge-toads the biting of mad Dogs and generally against all poysons THe smoke or perfume also of VValwort a common herb and knowne to euery man chaseth and putteth to flight any serpents The juice of Polemonia is a proper defensatiue especially against scorpions if one haue it tied about him or hanging at his neck likewise it resisteth the prick of the spiders Phalangia and any other of these venomous vermins of the smaller sort Aristolochia hath a singular vertue contrary vnto serpents so hath Agaricke if foure oboli thereof be drunke in as many cyaths of some artificiall or compound aromatized wine Vervaine is a soueraigne herb also against the venomous spider Phalangium being taken in wine or oxycrat i. vineger and water so is Cinquefoile and the yellow Carrot That herb which the Latines call Verbascum i. Lungwort or Hightaper is named in Greek Phlomos Two special kinds there be of it the one is whiter which you must take for the male the other black that may go for the female There is a third sort also but it is found no where but in the wild woods The leaues of all the former be broader than those of the Colewort and hairy withal they beare a main vpright stem a cubit in height with the vantage the seed is black and of no vse in Physicke a single root they haue of a finger thicknes These grow also vpon plains and champian grounds The wild kinde beareth leaues resembling sauge the branches be of a wooddy substance the same grow high There be moreouer of this kind two other herbs named Phlomides both of them hairy their leaues be round and they grow but low A third sort there is be sides named by some Lychnitis and by others Thryallis it sheweth 3 leaues or foure at the most and those be thick fat good to make wyks or matches for lights It is said that if figs be kept in the leaues of that which I named the female they will not rot To distinguish these herbs into seuerall kinds is a needlesse peece of work considering they agree all in the same effects their root together with rue is to be drunk in water against the poyson of scorpions true it is that the drinke is very bitter but the effect that it worketh maketh amends There is an herbe called by some Thelyphonon by others Scorpion for the resemblance that the root hath to the Scorpion and yet if Scorpions be but touched therwith they will die thereupon no maruell therefore if there be an ordinary drinke made of it against their poison and here commeth to my mind that which I haue heard namely that if a dead scorpion be rubbed with the white Ellebore root it wil reuiue and quicken again The said Thelyphonon hath such a spightful nature against the four-footed beasts of the female sex that if the root be laid to their shap or naturall place it killeth them and if the leafe which is like vnto the Cyclamin or Sowbread leafe aboue named be applied in that maner they will not liue one day to an end This herb is parted and diuided into knots or joints taking pleasure to grow in coole and shady places To conclude and knit vp these remedies against scorpions the juice of Betonie and of Plantaine likewise is a singular remedie for their poison Moreouer Frogs such especially as keep in bushes and hedges and be called in Latine Rubetae i. toads are not without their venom I my self haue seen these vaunting Montebanks calling themselues Psylli as comming from the race of those people Psylli who feared no kind of poison I haue seen them I say in a brauery because they would seem to surpasse all others of that profession to eat those toads baked red hot between 2 platters but what became of them they caught their bane by it and died more suddenly than if they had bin stung by the Aspis but what is the help for this rank poison surely the herb Phrynion drunk in wine Some cal it Neuras others Poterion pretty flours it beareth the roots be many in number full of strings like vnto sinews and the same of a sweet pleasant sent Likewise Alisura is counted another remedy in this case an herb it is called by some Damosorium by others Liron the leaues might be taken for Planta in but that they be narrower more iagged and plaited bending also toward the ground for otherwise ribbed they be and full of veins as like as may be to Plantain As for the stalk it is likewise one and no more plain and slender of a cub it in heigth in the head wherof it hath knobs roots growing many and thick together and those but small like vnto those of the blacke Ellebore but they be hot and biting of a sweet and odoriferous smell and of a fatty substance withall it groweth ordinarily in watery and moist places And yet there is a second kind of it which commeth vp in woods of a more duskish
annointed it cleanseth and cleareth them but it causeth them to weepe and water like as smoke doth whereupon it tooke the name Capnos in Greek If the haire of the eie-lids be once pulled forth and then the edges or brims be annointed therewith it will keep them for euer comming vp againe Acorus hath leaues like to the Flour-de-lis but that they be only narrower growing to a longer stele or taile the roots be black not so full of veins nor grained otherwise they agree well with the Ireos root hot biting at the tongues end To smel vnto they are not vnpleasant and being taken inwardly they do gently moue rifting and cause the stomack to breake winde vpward The best Acoros roots be those which come from Pontus then they of Galatia and in a third rank are they to be set which are brought out of Candy Howbeit the principall and the greatest plenty are those esteemed which grow in the region Colchis neere to the riuer Phasis and generally in what countrey soeuer they that come vp in watery grounds be chiefe the fresher that the roots be and more newly drawn the stronger sent and lesse pleasant taste they haue with them than after they haue bin long kept aboue ground Those of Candy be whiter than the other of Pontus They vse to cut them into gobbets as big as a mans finger and then hang them within bags or pouches of leather a drying in the shade I find in certain writers that the root of Oxymyrsine is called Acaros and therfore some alluding to the name of Acoros chuse rather to call this plant Acaron the wild Well the root of Acorus is of great operation and effect to heat and extenuat and therefore the juice thereof taken in drinke is singular against catarracts or any accidents of the eies that cause dimnesse Soueraigne likewise it is taken to be against the venome of serpents Cotyled on named in Latine Vmbilicus Veneris is a pretty little herb hauing a tender and a smal stem a leafe thick fatty growing hollow like to the concauity wherin the huckle-bone turneth and therupon it took the foresaid name in Greek It groweth by the sea side and in rocky or stony grounds of a liuely green colour and the root round much like to an Oliue The juice is thought to cure the eies Another kind there is of Cotyledon with grosse and sattie leaues likewise but broader than the former Toward the root they grow thicker which they seem to compasse and inclose as it were an eie A most harsh vnpleasant tast it hath the stem is high but very slender This herb hath the same properties which the Flour-de-lis Of Sengreen or Housleek which the Greeks call Aizoon there be two kinds The greater is ordinarily planted in earthen pans or vessels set out before the windows of houses which some name Buphthalmon others Zoophthalmon and Stergethron because it is thought so good in loue drinks or amorous medicines others again giue it the name Hypogeson for that it is seen to grow vnder the eaues of houses There are also who loue to term it Ambrosia Amerimnos Here in Italy they call it Sedum the greater Oculus also and Digitellus For the second kinde is somewhat lesse which the Grecians distinguish by the name Erithales or Trithales because it beareth floures thrice in the yeare others Chrysothales and some again Isoetes But both the one and the other they call Aizoon because they be alwaies fresh and green according to which name in Greek some giue it the Latine name Sempervivum The greater kind beareth a stem a cubit high and more and the same of the thicknesse of a mans thumb with the better The leaues in the head or top whereof be like vnto a tongue fleshy and fat full of juice a good inch broad some bending downe and coping toward the earth others standing vpright but so as if a man mark their round circle or compasse wherein they lie couched he shal obserue the very proportion of an eie The lesse Sengreen or Iubarb groweth vpon walls and specially such as be ruinat and broken down likewise vpon the tiles of house-roofs This herb is tufted with leaues from the very root euen to the top of the branches The leaues be narrow and sharp pointed and full of juice The stalk groweth a good hand breadth or span high The root is not medicinable nor of any vse Much like to this is that herb which the Greeks call Andrachne Agria i. wilde Purcellane the Italians Illecebra The leaues be but small to speake of how be it broader than those of the herb before named and shorter toward the top It groweth vpon rocks and stony places folke vse to gather it for to eat All these last rehearsed haue the same operation for they be exceeding cold and a stringent withall Good they be to stay the rheum that salleth into the eies and causeth them to water whether the leaues be applied to them or the juice in manner of a liniment moreouer they clense and mundifie the vlcers of the eies theâ—… do also incarnat heale and skin them vp singular good besides to loose and open the eie-lids when they are glued and closed vp with viscous gum The same do allay the head-ache if either the temples be annointed with the iuice therof or the leaues be applied to them Moreouer they mortifie or kil the poyson inflicted by the prick of the venoâ—…ous spiders Phalangia but the greater Sengreene hath this peculiar vertue to resist the deadly poison of the herb Aconitum Furthermore it is sayd that whosoeuer carry it about them shal not be stung by scorpions All the kinds of them are proper remedies for the pain in the ears Like as the iuice of Henbane also if it be applied moderatly of Achillea and the best Centaury of Plantaine and Harstrang together with oile rosat and Opium finally the juice of Acorns or Galangale vsed with Roses is much commended in that case But this would be noted that the manner of preparing of all these juices is to heat them first then to conuey or infuse them into the ear by a pipe for the purpose called an Orenchyte Semblably the herb Vmbilicus Veneris or Cotyledon is much commended for mundifying the ears when they run with filthy matter especially if it be tempered with deere sewet and namely of a Stag or Hind and so instilled hot The iuice of the Walwort root clarified and strained through a fine linnen cloth and soon after dried hardened in the Sun healeth the swelling impostumations vnder the ears if as need requireth it be dissolued in oile of Roses and so applied hot The like effect in that case hath Veruain Plantain Sideritis also being incorporat in old Hogs grease After the same manner Aristolochia together with Cyperus healeth the stinking and ilfauored vlcer of the nose called Noli-me-tangere The root of
them that pisse drop-meale which it wil do more effectually if the Carot be ioined withall the same is wholesome for the spleen and a counterpoison against serpents if it be taken in drink If the pouder thereof be strewed and mingled among the barley which is giuen in Prouander vnto cart horses and such like it helpeth them when they run at nose with the glanders and stale drop by drop Touching the herb Anthyllion it is as like as may be to Lentils which if it be drunk in wine cureth all the infirmities of the bladder and namely when there issueth forth bloud with vrin there is another hearbe comming neare to it in name to wit Anthyllis like vnto Iva Muscata or Chamaepitys carrying purple flours senting strong and hath a root like to Cichory which is good in these cases But it seemeth that Brooklime called otherwise Cepaea an herbe resembling Purcellane but that the root is blacker and good for nothing in Physick growing vpon the sandy shore and hauing a bitter taste is better for the said infirmities than the former named Anthyllis for if it be taken in wine with the root of Sperage it is excellent for the diseases of the bladder of the same operation is Hypericon which some call Chamaepitys others Corion This herb shooteth forth many branches which be small and slender of a cub it in length and red withall in leafe it resembleth rue the smel is quick hot and piercing the seed which it beareth within certain cods is black and the same ripeneth together with barly The nature of the seed is astringent it doth incrassat and thicken humors and stoppeth a lask vrin it prouoketh and being drunk in wine scoureth away the stone and grauell in the bladder A second Hypericon there is which some call Coris in leafe it resembleth Tamarix vnder which it gladly groweth but that the leaues be more fat and not so red it groweth not aboue a span high odoriferous to smell vnto and of a mild sweet tast and yet sharp withall The seed is hot and therfore causeth ventosities and inflation in ruptures howbeit vnto the stomack it is not hurtfulâ—… and singular good for the strangury in case the bladder be not exulcerat drunk in wine it cureth the pleurisie Moreouer for the bladder and the diseases thereof Maiden-haire made into pouder together with Cumin and giuen in white wine is a soueraigne remedy also Veruaine sodden leaues and all vntill the third part of the liquor be consumed or the very root only thereof taken in honied wine hot expelleth the stones and grauel in the bladder In like maner the herb Perpressa which groweth at Aretium and in Sclauonia being boiled in water from 3 hemines to one and so taken inwardly as a drink is an appropriate medicine for the bladder Clauer or three leafed grasse taken in wine Camomile likewise drunk is good for the same Moreouer Anthemum expelleth the stone an herb this is which putteth forth immediatly from the root fiue small leaues and two long stems with a red rose colour floure the roots stamped alone are as effectual in this case as green Lauer. As for Silaus it groweth along those riuers which run continually and be neuer dry especially such as glide vpon sand grauel it riseth to the height of a cub it and resembleth garden Parsley they vse to seeth it after the maner of Soure-docke and so prepared it doth much good to the bladder which if it be excoriat and scabbed the root of Panaces will heale it for otherwise it is hurtful to that part The herb called Malum Erraticum i. as one would say the wandring poison or apple it expelleth the stone if one pound of the root be throughly sodden in a congius or gallon of wine vnto the consumption of the half so that the patient take thereof for three daies together one hemine at a time and that which remaineth of the decoction in wine with Lauer sea-nettles Also Carots and Plantaine seed taken in wine driueth down stone and grauell The nettle called Fulviana an herb well knowne to them especially that handle it and which took that name of him who first found out the vertue thereof if it be stamped and drunk in wine prouoketh vrine Scordium is singular for the swelling of the genetoirs or cods Henbane is good for the diseases of the members seruing to generation The iuice of Peucedanum i. Harstrang incorporate with hony like as the seed also taken inwardly helpeth those who are pained with the strangurie likewise Agaricke if three oboli thereof be drunk in one cyath of old wine the root of Trifoile or Clauer giuen to the poise of two drams in sweet wine and one dram of Daucum id est Carot either the herb root or seed haue the like effect Such as be troubled with the Sciatica or gout in the huckle-bone finde remedy by a plaster or cataplasm made with the seed and leaues both of Madder also with a drink of Panaces likewise if the place be well rubbed with Polemonia and bathed with the decoction of the leaues of Aristolochia it finds much ease thereby The broad sinew or cord at the end of the muscles which is called in Greek Platys likewise the shoulders if they be pained feele sensible alleviation by Agaricke if the weight of three oboli be drunk in one cyath of old wine Cinquefoile both taken in drinke and also applied as a plaster allaieth the paine of the Sciatica so doth the herb Scammony boiled with barley meale The seed of both the Hypericons drunke in wine is proper for that malady The accidents of the seat or fundament especially when that part is fretted or galled a salue of Plantaine healeth most speedily The swellings or blind piles appearing like bigs or knuckles within the fundament are cured with fiue-leafe grasse if the said part be turned the insight outward or displaced there is not a better thing to settle and reduce it to the former state than a fomentation with the Cyclamin or Sow bread root and vineger together Pimpernell with the blew floure restoreth the tiwill or fundament into the right place if it be falne downe and hang out of the body and contrariwise that with the red floure driueth it downe Vmbilicus Veneris is of wonderfull operation in the cure both of the blind piles and the running haemorrhoids The root of Acorus i. Galengale sodden in wine stamped and brought into a liniment assuageth the tumors or swellings of the cods And Cato affirmeth That whosoeuer haue the Ponticke wormwood about them shall not be galled betweene their legs CHAP. IX ¶ Of Penyroiall and Argemone OThers adde moreouer Penyroiall to the foresaid wormwood say that if a man gather Peniroyall fasting and bind it fast to the reins and smal of the back he shal feel no griefe in the share or if he were pained
that of the Iuy saue that the berries containing the same be soft This herb delighteth in shady cool rough and watery places Beeing giuen to the full quantity of one Acetabulum it is singular for the inward maladies which be proper to women The wild Vine called by the Greeks Ampelos-Agria is an herbe as I haue sufficiently described already in my Treatise of Vines planted and wel ordered by mans hand which putteth forth hard leaues of Ash-colour long branches and winding rods clad with a thicke skin and the same be red resembling the floure Phlox which in the chapter and discourse of Violets I called Iovis Flamma and a seed it beareth much like vnto the graines within a Pomegranate The root boiled in three cyaths of water and two cyaths of the wine comming out of the Island Coos is a gentle emollitiue of the belly and maketh the body soluble in which regard it is giuen with good successe to such as be in a dropsie A very good herb for women as well to rectifie the infirmities of the matrice as also to scoure and beautifie the skin of their face Moreouer for the sciatica it is good to stamp it leafe and all and to annoint the grieued place with the juice thereof As for Wormewood there be many kindes thereof One is named Santonicum of a city in France called Saints another to wit Ponticum taketh that name of the kingdome Pontus where the sheep feed fat with it which is the cause that they be found without gall neither is there a better Wormwood than it much bitterer than that of Italy and yet the marow or pith within of that Ponticke Wormwood is sweet to ours Meet and requisite it is that I should set down the vertues and properties thereof an herb I must needs say as common as any and most ready at hand howbeit few or none so good and wholesome to say nothing of the especiall account which the people of Rome make of it about their holy sacrifices and solemnities for in those festiuall holydaies named Latinae at what time as there is held a great running with chariots for the best game he that first attaineth to the goale and winneth the prise hath a draught of VVormwood presented vnto him And I beleeue verily that our forefathers and ancestors deuised this honourable reward for the good health of that victorious chariottier as judging him worthy to liue still And in truth a right comfortable herb it is for the stomack and doth mightily strengthen it In which regard there is an artificiall wine that carieth the strength and tast thereof named Absinthites according as I haue shewed heretofore moreouer there is an ordinary drinke made of the decoction of Wormwood boiled in water for the right making whereof take six drams weight of the leaues and sprigs together seeth them in three sextars of raine water and in the end put thereto a small quantity of salt which done the liquor ought to stand a day and a night afterwards to coole in the open aire and then is it to be vsed Certes there is not a decoction of any herbe of so great antiquitie as it and knowne to haue beene vsed so long Moreouer the infusion of VVormewood is in great request and a common drinke for so we vse to call the liquor wherein it lay steeped a certain time Now this would be considered that be the proportion of water what it will the said infusion ought to stand close couered for three daies together Seldome or neuer is there any vse of wormewood beaten to pouder ne yet of the juice drawn by way of expression And yet those that presse forth a iuice take the Wormwood when the seed vpon it beginneth to swell and wax sull and being newly gathered let it lie soking in water three daies together but if it were drie before to steep it a whole seuen night which done they set it ouer the fire in a brasen pan with this proportion namely ten hemines of the herbe to fiue and fortie sextars of water and suffer it to boyle vntill a third part of the liquor be consumed after this the decoction must run through a strainer with hearbe and all well pressed then ought it to be set vpon the fire againe and suffered to seeth gently and leisurely to the height or consistence of honey much after the order of the syrrup made of Centaurie the lesse But when all is done this juleb or syrrup of VVormewood is offensiue to the stomack and head both whereas that decoction first aboue-named is most wholsome for astringent though it be and binding the mouth of the stomack aloft yet it doth euacuat choler downward it prouoketh vrine keepeth the body soluble and the belly in good temper yea and if it be pained giueth great ease the worms ingendered therein it expelleth and being taken with Seseli and Celticke nard so there be a little vineger put thereto it dispatcheth all ventosities in the stomacke and cureth women with child of that inordinat desire and strange longing of theirs it clenseth the stomack of those humors which cause lothing of meat bringeth the appetite againe and helpeth concoction if it be drunke with Rue Pepper and salt it purgeth it of raw humors crudities occasioned by want of digestion In old time Physitians gaue wormwood for a purgatiue but then they tooke a sextar of sea water that had bin kept long six drams of the seed with three drams of salt and one cyath of hony and the better will this purgation worke in case the poise of salt be doubled but it would be puluerized as fine as possibly may be to the end that it might passe away the sooner and worke more easily Some vsed to giue the weight beforesaid in a gruell of Barley groats with an addition of Peniroyall others against the Palsie and others againe had a deuise to put the leaues of wormwood in figs and make little children to eat them so that they might not tast their bitternes Wormwood being taken with the root of Floure-de-lis dischargeth the brest of tough fleagme and clenseth the pipes For the iaundise it would be giuen in drinke raw with Parsley or Maidenhaire Supped hot by little and little in water it breaketh wind and resolueth ventosities and together with French Spikenard it cureth the infirmities of the liuer and taken with vineger or some gruel or els in figs it helpeth the spleen giuen in vineger it helpeth those that haue eaten venomous Mushrums or be poisoned with the gum of Chamaelion called Ixia In wine if it be taken it saueth those who haue drunk Hemlock it resisteth the poison inflicted by the sting of the hardishrow the sea dragon and scorpions It is holden to be singular for the clarifyng of the sight if the eies be giuen to watering it represseth the rheum or flux of humors thither so it be applied with wine cuit and laid vnto contusions and the skin blacke and
child was able to weld the wheele that turned them the pins and poles wherby they hung were so artificially poysed The master deuisers and architects of this Labyrinth were Zmilus Rholus and a third vnto them one Theodorus who was borne in the same Island Of this there remaine some reliques to be seene at this day wheras a man shall not find one smal remnant either of the Italian or Candian Labyrinths for meet it is that I should write somewhat also of our Labyrinth here in Italy which Porsena K. of Tuscane caused to be made for his own sepulchre and the rather because you may know that forein KK were not so vain in expences but our princes in Italy surpassed them in vanity but for that there go so many tales and fables of it which are incredible I think it good in the description therof to vse the very words of my author M. Varro King Porsena quoth he was interred vnder the citie Clusinum in Tuscane in which very place he left a sumptuous monument or tombe built all of square stone thirty foot it carried in bredth on euery side and fifty in height within the base or foot whereof which likewise was fouresquare he made a Labyrinth so intricat that if a man were entred into it without a bottom or clue of thread in his hand and leauing the one end therof fastned to the entry or dore it was impossible that euer he should find the way out again Vpon this quadrant there stood fiue Pyramides or steeples foure at the foure corners and one in the mids which at the foot or foundation caried 75 foot euery way in bredth were brought vp to the height of 150 these grew sharpe spired toward the top but in the very head so contriued that they met all in one great roundle of brasse which wrought from one to the other couered them all in manner of a cap and the same rising vp in the mids with a crest most stately from this couer there hung round about at little chains a number of bels or cimbals which being shaken with the wind made a jangling noise that mought be heard a great way off much like to that ring of bels which was deuised in times past ouer the temple of Iupiter at Dodona yet are we not come to an end of this building mounted aloft in the aire for this couer ouer head serued but for a foundation of 4 other Pyramides and euery one of them arose a hundred soot high aboue the other worke vpon the tops whereof there was yet one terrace more to sustaine fiue Pyramides and those shot vp to such a monstrous height that Varro was ashamed to report it but if we may giue credit to the tales that go currant in Tuscane it was equall to the whole building vnderneath O the outragious madnesse of a foolish prince seeking thus in a vaineglorious mind to be immortalized by a superfluous expence which could bring no good at all to any creature but contrariwise weakened the state of the kingdome And when all was done the artificer that enterprised and finished the worke went away with the greater part of the praise and glory CHAP. XIIII ¶ Of a garden made vpon Terraces Of a citie standing all vpon vaults and arches from the ground And of the temple of Diana in Ephesus WE reade moreouer of gardens made in the aire nay it is recorded that a whole city and namely Thebes in Aegypt was built so hollow that the Aegyptian KK were wont to lead whole armies of men vnder the houses of the said city and in such sort as none of the inhabitants could beware thereof yea and sodainly appeare from vnder the ground a maruellous matter I assure you but much more wonderfull in case the riuer Nilus also ran thorow the mids of the said towne But surely of this opinion I am that if this be true Homer no doubt would haue written of it considering he hath spoken so much in the praise and commendation of this city and especially of the hundred gates that it had But to speake of a stately and magnificent work indeed the temple of Diana in Ephesus is admirable which at the common charges of all the princes in Asia was two hundred and twenty yeres a building First and foremost they chose a marish ground to set it vpon because it might not be subiect to the danger of earthquakes or feare the chinkes and opening of the ground againe to the end that so mighty and huge building of stone-worke should stand vpon a sure and firme foundation not withstanding the nature of the soile giuen to be slipperie and vnstead fast they laid the first couch and course of the ground-worke with charcole well rammed in manner of a pauement vpon it a bed of wool-packs this temple carried in length throughout four hundred twenty and fiue foot in breadth two hundred and twenty in it were a hundred and seuen and twenty pillars made by so many KK and euery one of them threescore foot high of which six and thirtie were curiously wrought and engrauen whereof one was the handiworke of Scopas Chersiphron the famous architect was the chiefe deuiser or master of the workes and who vndertooke the rearing thereof the greatest wonder belonging thereto was this How those huge chapters of pillars together with their frizes and architraues being brought vp and raised so high should be fitted to the sockets of their shafts but as it is said he compassed this enterprise and brought it to effect by the meanes of certaine bags or sacks filled with sand for of these he made a soft bed as it were raised aboue the heads of the pillers vpon which bed rested the chapters and euer as he emptied the nethermost the foresaid chapters settled downeward by little and little and so at his pleasure he might place them where they should stand but the greatest difficultie in this kind of worke was about the very frontispiece and maine lintle-tree which lay ouer the jambes or cheekes of the great dore of the said temple for so huge and mighty it was that hee could not weld it to lay bestow the same as it ought for when he had done what he could it was not to his mind nor couched and settled in the right place whereupon the workman Chersiphron was much perplexed in his mind and so wearie of his life that he purposed to make himself away but as he lay in bed in the night season and fell asleep all wearie vpon these dumpish and desperat cogitations the goddesse Diana in whose honor this temple was framed and now at the point to be reared appeared sensibly vnto him in person willing him to be of good cheare and resolue to liue still assuring him that she her self had laid the said stone of the frontispice and couched it accordingly which appeared true indeed the morrow morning for it seemed that the very weight thereof
much for why there is some good vse thereof in Physicke But I must tell you againe our women regard not that one whit that is not it wherfore they take so great a liking to Ambre True it is that a collar of Ambre beads worne about the neck of yong infants is a singular preseruatiue to them against secret poyson a countercharme for witchcraft and sorcerie Callistratus saith That such collars are very good for all ages and namely to preserue as many as weare them against fantasticall illusions and frights that driue folke out of their wits yea and Amber whether it be taken in drinke or hung about one cures the difficulty of voiding vrin This Callistratus brought in a new name to distinguish yellow Ambre from the rest calling it Chryselectrum which is as much to say as gold Ambre And in very truth this Amber is of a most louely and beautifull colour in a morning This property it hath besides by it selfe that it will catch fire exceeding quickly for if it be neer it you shal see it will soon be of a light fire He saith of this yellow Amber that if it be worn about the neck in a collar it cures feauers and healeth the diseases of the mouth throat and jawes reduced into pouder and tempered with hony and oile of roses it is soueraign for the infirmities of the ears Stamped together with the best Attick hony it makes a singular eie-salue for to help a dim sight puluerized and the pouder thereof taken simply alone or els drunk in water with masticke is soueraign for the maladies of the stomacke Furthermore Amber is very proper to falsifie many pretious stones which are commended for their perspicuity and transparent clearenesse but specially to counterfeit Amethysts by reason that I haue already said it is capable of any tincture that a man would giue it The froward peeuishnes of some Authors who haue written of Lyncurium enforceth me to speak of it immediatly after Amber for say that it be not Electrum or Amber as some would haue it yet they stand stiffely in this that it is a pretious stone mary they hold that it commeth from the vrine of an Once by reason that this wild beast so soon as it hath pissed couereth it with earth vpon a spight and enuie to man that he should haue no good therby They affirme moreouer That the Once stone or Lyncurium is of the same colour that Ambre ardent which resembleth the fire that it serueth well to be engrauen neither by their saying doth it catch at leaues only and strawes but thin plates also of brasse and yron and of this opinion was Dimocles and Theophrastus For mine own part I hold all to be mee re vntruths neither do I think that in our age there hath been a man who euer saw any pretious stone of that name Whateuer also is written as touching the vertues medicinable of Lyncurium I take them to be no better than fables namely that if it be giuen in drink it wil send out the stone of the bladder if it be drunk in wine it will cure the jaundise presently or if it be but carried about one it wil do the deed but ynough of such fantasticall dreames and lying vanities and time it is now to treat of those precious stones wherof there is no doubt made at al and to begin with those that by al mens confession are most rich and of highest price In which discourse I wil not prosecute this theame only but also for to aduance the knowledge of posterity in those things that may profit this life I meane eftsoones to haue a fling at Magicians for their abhominable lies and monstrous vanities for in nothing so much haue they ouerpassed themselues as in the reports of gems pretious stones exceeding the tearms and limits of Physick whiles vnder a color of faire and pleasing medicines they hold vs with a tale of their prodigious effects and incredible CHAP. IIII. ¶ Of Diamants and their sundry kinds Their vertues and properties medicinable Of Pearles THe Diamant carieth the greatest price not only among pretious stones but also aboue aâ—… things els in the world neither was it knowne for a long time what a Diamant was vnlesse it were by some kings and princes and those but very few The only stone it is that we find in mines of mettal Very seldome it is and thought a miracle to meet with a diamant in a veine of gold yet it seemes as though it should grow no where but in gold The writers of antient time were of opinion that it was to be had in the mines only of Aethiopia and namely between the temple of Mercurie and the Island Meroë affirming moreouer that the fairest Diamant that euer was found exceeded not in bignesse a Cucumber seed whereunto also it was not vnlike in color But in these daies there be known six sorts of Diamants The Indian is not engendred in mines of gold but hath a great affinitie with Crystall and groweth much after that manner for in transparent and cleere color it differeth not at all neither yet otherwhiles in the smooth sides and faces which it carrieth between six angles pointed sharpe at one end in manner of a top or els two contrary waies lozengewise a wonderful thing to consider as if the flat ends of two tops were set and joined together and for bignesse it hath bin knowne of the quantity of an Hazel-nut or Filbard kernill The Diamants of Arabia be much like to the Indian only they are lesse they grow also after the same order As for the rest they are of a more pale and yellow color testifying out of what country and nation they come for they breed not but in mines of gold and those the most excellent of all others The triall of these Diamants is vpon a smiths Anuill for strike as hard as you will with an hammer vpon the point of a Diamant you shall see how it scorneth all blowes and rather than it will seeme to relent first flieth the hammer that smiteth in pieces and the very anuill it selfe vnderneath cleaueth in twaine Wonderful and inenarrable is the hardnesse of a Diamant besides it hath a nature to conquer the fury of fire nay you shall neuer make it hot doe what you can for this vntameable vertue that it hath the Greekes haue giuen it the name Adamas One of these kinds the said Greekes call Cenchron for that it is as big ordinarily as the millet seed a second sort they name Macedonicum found in the mine of gold neer Philippi and this is that Diamant which for quantity is compared to the Cucumber seed After these there is the Cyprian Diamant so called because it is found in the Isle Cyprus it enclineth much to the color of brasse but in cases of Physick as I will shew anon most effectual Next to which I must raunge the Diamant Sideritis which shines as bright as steele