is dronken against all the stinging of bees / waspes / and such other lyke The leaues with a litle oyle are layd on bytinges and burninges It is euideÌtly knowen that water will wexe thicke / if this roote be brused and put in it / so that the water stande abroad in the ayre without the dores An oyntment to soften all hard lumpes / swellinges and bruses in any place of the bodye / whether it come of inwarde or outward cause / which also is good to anoynt horse fete withal / if they be brused or swelled a littel / or if this oyntment be not redy / it shal be good to take the iuyces of the rotes / and to sethe them with the other gere in lesse proportions / and lay it to warme to maÌ and beast as they shal nede TAke of the rootes of Marrish malowes / or in the stede of it of Holyhock / or of common Malowes xij vnces of Lint sede vj. vnces / a wyne quarte full of the fattes and greses of hennes / gese / capones / or of netis fete / vj. vnces of waxe / of turpentine one vnce / of rosin iij. vnces Firste of al bruse as smal as ye can the rote and sede / and stepe them for the space of iij. dayes and iij. nightes in a pottel of water beynge scalding hote / when it is first put into it / but if ye wold stepe them / and seth them in whyte wine or in halfe water halfe wine / the medicine would be much stronger / let them be sodden the fourth daye vntill that ye maye se the broth al slymy / and then streyne it thorow a cloth / take of that same slymy broth a pint / and seth it with the fattes / and when as that watery substance as ye can gather / is sod away / and the onlye slyme remaineth / melt the waxe / the rosin / and the turpentine altogether / and seth theÌ a littel together / and if there be any foule scome / take it away / but it were better to take a littel of the fat / and melt firste therein the waxe / then the rosin the turpentine / and so to mixe them altogether / and seth then a littel / and take the scome awaye Of Marierum gentle MArierum is called in Greke Samsychos and Amarokos in Latin Amaracus or Maiorana in Duch Meyeran or Maioran / in French Maiorain or Maron some call this herbe in English Merierum gentle / to put a difference betwen an other herbe / called MerieruÌ / whiche is but a bastard kind / and this is the true kinde Merierum is a thick and bushy herbe / crepinge by the ground with leaues lyke small Calamint rough and rounde / it hath litle toppes in the hyest parte of al the stalke muche like scales / one growing ouer another / as the fyre tre nuttes do appere It hath a very good sauour The vertues THE broth of this herbe dronken / is good for the dropsy in the beginning / and for them that can not make water / and for the gnawing in the bellye The drye leaues laid to with honye / take awaye blew markes which come of beting / and in a suppository they bringe doune weomens sicknes They are also good to be layd vnto the stinging of a scorpion with salt and vinegre The same receyued into a salue made of were / are good for the membres that are out of ioynte and after the same maner they are good for lose swellinges / and they are layd vnto the eyes with the floure of barly when they haue an inflammation They are mixed with medicines / which refreshe werynes and such emplasteres as are appoynted to hete The pouder of the drye herbe put in a mannes nose / maketh him to nese / the oyle that is made of Merierum / warmeth and fasteneth the synewes This herbe is hote in the thyrde degre / and drye in the seconde Of Alisson ALisson hath the name in Greke / because it helpeth the bytinge of a wod dogge Dioscorides and Plinye do not agre with Aetius and Actuarius in the description of this herbe For Dioscorides semeth to make Alisson lyke vnto Gooshare / for Dioscorides commonlye setteth herbes of lyke forme and fashion together / he setteth nexte vnto Gooshore / whiche is called in Greke Aparine Alisson howebeit this were no necessary argumeÌt / if that I had no more profes then this alone But Pliny maketh Alisson lyke madder in these wordes Alyssos à rubia folijs tantùm ramis minoribus differt Alissos differeth onlye from Madder in that it hath lesse leues and lesse braunches Dioscorides describeth Alisson thus Alissos is a litle bushye herbe / somethinge sharpe with round leaues / and besyde them hath a fruyte like to litle buckleres / wherein is sede somthinge broad / It groweth in hilly and rough places The herbe which I take to be Alisson of Plinye and Dioscorides / is a smale herbe of a span height / and of one smale red roote / growe manye smal stalkes / whiche haue many rowelles as it were of spores / set in order and at euerye rowel or round order of leaues nere the toppe / there springeth furth a litle smal braunche / which hath floures / fruyte / and sede The stalke is âoursquare / and somethinge sharpe The leaues in dede are not euen playne round taken seuerally by them selues / but they taken one with an other altogether are rounde in ordre If that the roundenes that Dioscorides speaketh of / be not thus to be vnderstande This herbe can not be Dioscorides Alisson The floures are blewish purple / and appere commonly aboute the ende of Maye The fruyte groweth euer two and two together / wherein is a litle blacke sede / somethinge flat / in some top a man maye finde foure cople of litle vesselles / whiche conteyneth thys sede There are none of these vesselles founde alone The herbe is hote and specially the sede But the heate appereth not straight waye / tyll that it hath bene a good whyle on your tonge / and then it is euidently sharpe and byting Aetius writeth thus of Alisson The medicine called Hiera / is to be giuen euery day not as a purgation / but as a helpinge medicine in the quantite of an Hasel nut / with an vnce and halfe of the broth of Salge / or the herbe Sideritis which is called Heraclea Some vse this alone / and saye that it profiteth muche / and therfore name it Alisson / because it taketh madnes awaye These wordes writeth he in the helping of the bytinge of a mad dogge And wher he intreateth of Simples / he writeth of Alisson thus They saye that Alisson is the herbe called Sideritis / whiche groweth euery where by the hygh wayes / it hath a purple floure / and thick leaues Actuarius describeth Alisson after this maner Alisson is an herbe like vnto Hore hound /
female growe in Germanye about Bon and Colon. Of Anagyris ANagyris groweth not in Englande that I wote of / but I haue sene it in Italye It may be called in English Beane trifolye / because the leaues growe thre together / and the sede is muche lyke a Beane Anagyris is a bushe lyke vnto a tree with leues and twigges / like vnto Agnus castus of Italy But the leaues are greater and shorter / and growe but thre together / where as Agnus hath euer fyue together / and excedinge stinkinge / wherevpon riseth the Prouerb / Praestat hanc Anagyrim noÌ attigisse It hath the floures lyke vnto kole It hath a fruyt in longe horned coddes / of the lykenes of a kidney / of diuerse coloures / firme and stronge / whiche when the grape is ripe wexeth harde The properties of Anagyris THE tender and yong leaues of this bushe broken and layd to lyke an emplaster / holdeth doune wyndye and louse swellinges If the byrth sticke faste / and the floures be stopped / or the secondes abyde behynde / they are dronken in the weight of a dramme in swete wine So are they also good for the head ake with wine They are also bounde to the weomen that haue an hard labour / but so that streyght waye after they be taken awaye The sede eaten / maketh one vomite sore Of Anchusa DIoscorides maketh thre kindes of Anchusa The fyrste kinde hath leues lyke vnto sharpe leaued Lettis / rough / sharpe / black / manye growynge on euerye syde harde by the ground / and full of prickes The roote is a finger thick / and it that commeth furth in summer / is of a sanguine coloure / it groweth in a ranke ground This kind groweth in many places of Germanye / and it is so like gardine buglosse / that a man can not lightelye discerne the one from the other / sauinge onelye by the roote which is very rede withoute / but not within It maye be called in English / as the Frenche men do / Orchanet or rede Buglosh The seconde kinde differeth in thys from the fyrst / that it hath lesse leaues / and sharpe lykewyse / small braunches comminge oute of the stalke it hath a purple floure turninge towarde cremesyne It hath reade rootes / and longe / whyche in the haruest tyme putteth furth a sanguine iuyce It groweth in sandye places Thys herbe is called in some places of Englande Cattes tayles / in other places wilde Buglosse It groweth in grauilly and sandy places / and in pittes / where as grauel is digged oute of The thyrde kinde is lyke vnto the seconde / but it hath a lesse fruyte or sede / and that of a Cremesine colour I do not remembre / that I haue sene thys kinde The vertues of the two former kindes THe fyrst kinde of Anchusa / is good with oyle and wexe against burning and old sores It heleth the outragious inflammation or hete that commeth of choler with barle mele / It is layd on with vinegre against lepres and foule scurfines The same put into a womannes mother / draweth out the byrth The broth of it is giuen for the disease of the kidnes and the miâte / and to them that haue the iaundis / and if the pacientes haue an ague / it must be taken with mede The leues dronken with wine / stop the belly The second is good against the bitinges of all serpentes / and especiallye against the biting of a Vepere Of Tutsan TVtsan as I do iudge is the herbe / whiche is called of Dioscorides Androsemon / and of oure Potecaries Agnus castus It semeth to haue had the name of Tutsan / because it heleth all And of Androsemon / because it hath iuice like vnto mannis blood Androsemon differeth from saint Iohns grasse / and from Asciro / called great saint Iohns grasse / in that it hath manye braunches / and it hath rede twigges and leues lyke Rue / but thrise or fourfolde greater / whiche broken / put furth a winishe iuyce / they haue in the toppe two and two leues euer comminge oute one agaynste an other / resemblinge a byrdes winges stretched furth / as when the byrde doeth flye where aboute there growe smal yelowe floures / and sede in litle knoppes like vnto the sede of black poppye / and it is notable wyth certayne small leues in it The small leues in the top broused or broken sauour lyke rosyne The vertues TVtsanes sede broken / and dronken in te quantite of two drammes / driueth out cholerike excrementes / it healeth most the Sciatica But after the purgation / the pacient must drinke water The herbe layed to burned places / healeth them / and stancheth blood in woundes And not onely the herbe doth thys / but also the wyne that the herbe is sodden in / as witnesseth Galene / which vnder the name of Androsemon / conteyneth in the booke of his simple medicines / Ascyron also Anemone The common Anemone MAtthiolus in his commentaries vpon Dioscorides hath set out two kindes of Anemonis / wherof nether kind that euer I could se / groweth in Germanye and England / nether in Italy that I remember Anemone hath the name in Greke of winde / because the floure neuer openeth it selfe / but when the winde bloweth The Herbaries therefore call the herbe commonlye taken for Anemone / though it be not the true herbe / but som bastard of it Herbam venti / the Duche meÌ call it Hacket craut / the Frenche men Coque lourdes and it maye be called in English Rose persely / because there groweth a floure like a single rose in the top of this herbe / which is very lyke Persely in the leaues that are aboute the rote / or it maye be called Wind floure It groweth in greate plenty about Bon in Germany / and about Oxford in EnglaÌd / as my frende Falconer tolde me Dioscorides writeth thus of Anemone There are two kindes of Anemone / The one is wilde and the other is tame / or of the gardeine Whereof are manye other vnder kindes / one that hath a Cremesin floure / and an other a whitishe or of the coloure of milke or purple The leaues are like CoriaÌder / with smaller cuttinges or indentinges / nere the ground the stalke is all downye and roughe and smalle / whereon growe floures lyke poppy / and the middes of the litle heades are blacke or blewe The rootes are of the bignes of an Oliue / or bigger / it is almost compassed about wyth smalle ioyntes with knoppes like knees The wilde Anemone in all pointes is greater then the tame / and hath broder and harder leaues / a longer head / and a Cremesin flower wyth manye small rotes It is more bytinge then it that hath the black leaues This description of both the kindes of Anemone proueth playnely that the common herba venti / and that the Anemone that Bockius setteth out / are not the righte
roughnes / whiche maketh them to cut the soner of the whiche propertye the Northen men call it Sheregres It hath a longe stalke / and thre square / and in the top of that is a sort of litle knoppes / in stede of sedes / and floures much lyke vnto oure gardine gallingal I haue not red anye vse of thys in Physicke The people of the Fenne countreys vse it in for fother / and do heate ouens with it Of Doder Cassuta DOder is called of some of the Grecianes Cassitas / of the later Latin men Cassutha It is calleth of the Potecaries and coÌmon Herbaries Cuscuta / and podagra liny the Duche men call it Filtzkraut / Doder and wrang / in FreÌch it is named Goute de Line Doder groweth oute of herbes and small bushes / as Miscelto groweth oute of trees and nother of both growe oute of the grounde Doder is lyke a great red harpe strynge / and it windeth aboute herbes / folding muche aboute them / and hath floures and knoppes / one from another a good space / wherein is sede This herbe hath nother leaues / nor stalke / nether root in the grounde The herbes that I haue marked Doder to growe most in / are flaxe / and tares / and nettels We call in Englande Sauery / that hath Doder growynge on it / laced sauery and Tyme that hath thesame / laced tyme. The laces that go about Tyme / is Epithymum of Dioscorides / Galene / and other olde writers I haue sene it in Germany and in England in plenty Matthiolus semeth to iudge / that there is no mention made of Cassuta in Pliny / because he maketh his Cassutas to growe in Syria / and because he maketh it to winde about trees / when as oure Cassuta groweth out of Syry / and groweth not about treâs / but onlye vpon herbes and busshes / and because in all the Plinyes that he sawe it is written / not Cassitas but Caditas They that corrected Plinye / and red for Caditas Cassitas / did not wythoute a cause / for Serapio writinge of Cassuta / sayeth thus / as he is translated in Latin chasuth / id est / cassuta / est res que adheret herbis inuoluens eas sicut fila / sed in summitatibus habet fructum subtilem / ex ipsa crescit in arboribus That is cassuth / that is to saye / Cassuta is a thinge that cleueth to herbes / foldinge and winding about them like thredes / but in the toppes it hath a smal fruyte / and it groweth vpon trees Out of this place of Serapio / a man may gather that it ought to be red in Pliny Cassitas and not Caditas / and that Cassuta groweth not onelye about herbes / but also about trees It foloweth not / Cassitas groweth in Syria / therfore it groweth only in Syria as Matthiolus gathereth As litle doth his other argumeÌt folow / our Cassuta in these countres groweth only vpon herbes and busshes / therfore it groweth now here vpon trees / therefore it is not Cassitas of Plinye When as the Arabianes confesse in their writinges / that it groweth in there countres also about trees There is no cause therfore / but that we maye iudge that our Cuscuta is called in Pliny Cassitas / out of whiche worde when as y is pronunced after u gallicum / maye easelye growe cassutha The nature of Doder DOder openeth the stoppinge of the lyuer and milte It discharged the vaynes of flegmatyke and cholerike humors by the vrine It healeth the iaundes that commeth of the stoppinge of the lyuer It is good for childer that haue the ague But muche vse of it / hurteth the stomake / but that hurt is taken awaye by puttinge a litle Anis vnto it / with wormwood it purgeth a man of yelowe choler Of Chesnut tree CAstanea called Castonos in Greke / and of tome dios balanos / is named in Englishe Chesnut tree / in Duche Ein Kestenbaum / in Frenche Castaigney The fruyte of it is called of some Glans sardiana / that is a Sardian acorne Chesnut tree is a great tree / and hath leaues longe and indented lyke a Nettel / The huske of the fruyte is all roughe wythoute / and wythin it hath a broune skinne / and whyte meate wythin Chesnut trees growe plentuously in Kent abroade in the feldes / and in manye gardins in England Castanea The Vertues of Chestnuttes SImeon Sethi writeth that Chestnuttes are hote drye in the first degree / and nourishe the bodye much They are longe in goynge doune / and in digestinge and ingender grosse humors / and are full of winde / and stoppe the bellye / but if they be perched or dryed / they put away a great deale of the hurte that they wold haue done rawe Dioscorides sayeth that the broune skinne nexte vnto the meat / stoppeth mightely / and that the meat of Chestnuttes is a remedye agaynst the poyson of the herbe Ephemerum Of Nettell tree or Lote tree CEltis is named in Greke Lotos / it is called in Frenche / as Gesner sayth / Algsiez or Ledomier but howe that it is calleth in Englishe and in Duche / I can not tell for I neuer sawe it / nether in Germanye / nor in Englande / but I haue sene it in Italy It hath a lefe lyke a Nettel / therefore it maye be called in Englishe Nettel tree or Lote tree Lotus arbor siue Celtis Pliny writeth thus of Lotus Africa in that parte / where as it turneth towardes vs / bringeth furth an excellent tree called Lotus or Celtis / whiche also groweth muche in Italy It is of the bignes of a Pere tree Howbeit Cornelius Nepos maketh it a shorte tree / the leafe is indented much / ellis it might seme to be the leafe of Ilex The fruyte of thys is of the bygnes of a Bene / and of the color of Saffrone Before it is rype it hath manye diuerse coloures as grapes haue It groweth in Africa thycke as Myrtelles do / and not as Cheryes do in Italy It is so sweet meate / that it dyd gyue a name vnto the people there where it groweth They saye that the bellyes of them that eate that / shall fele no syknes it is better withoute the inward kyrnels / the which in a certaine other kinde semeth as hard as a stone There is also pressed oute of thys fruyt wyne lyke vnto honyed wyne the whiche / as it is sayde / can not endure lenger then ten dayes We haue red / sayth Pliny / that hole hostes of men in Africa haue ben fed with this same fruyte The wood hath a black colour / and is muche desyred of men for to make pypes / to make knyffe heftes / and suche other lyke thynges / of the rootes of it Dioscorides describeth an other kind of Lotus / which he sayth is of a wonderful bignes / and bringeth furth a bery
hath litle leaues and bitter / in forme and indentinge of the leafe lyke vnto an Oke leafe The floure is litle / and almost a purple colour It is best tyme to gather it / when as it is full of floures / redye to bringe furth sede Chamaedrys vera Chà maedrys foemina Fuchsij Chamaedrys vulgare faemina Fuchsij Chamaedrys vulgare mas Fuchsij The Vertues of Germander GRene Germander sodden in water and dronken / is good for the cough / for the hardnes of the milte / and for the stoppinge of the water / and dropsyes that are in the beginning It prouoketh also womens sycknes to come doune / and the same dronken wyth vinegre / wasteth awaye the milte It is also a special remedye with wine both dronken / and also in maner of an emplaster agaynste the bytinges of serpentes It scoureth also olde sores with honye / the same layde on wyth oyle / driueth awaye the darcknes of the eyes It cutteth in sunder all grosse humours / and openeth all the inwarde partes The leaues of Germander / as Theophrastus writeth / broken and layd in oyle / are good for burstinges / and against woundes and consuminge sores The fruyte of Germander draweth oute choler The leaues also broken in oyle / are good for the whyte hawe / or the pearle in the eye Of Chameleuce CHameleuce / called also populago / Farfagium / and Farranum is not all one herbe in Dioscorides and Aetius / for Aetius semeth to make of Chameleuce and Bechion al one herbe / for he writinge remedies against the cough / geueth the same properties vnto Chameleuce / that Dioscorides geueth vnto Tussilago or Bechion / where as Galene Paulus write in two seueral places of Bechion Chameleuce / Aetius maketh no mention at all of Bechion / comprisinge or holding it also vnder the name of Chameleuce / as far as I can se Pliny also in hys tyme sayth / that ther was some that toke Chameleuce and Tussilago to be al one And in the names that were added vnto Dioscorides / Tussilago was called Chameleuce howbeit in Dioscorides they are two contrary and diuerse herbes for he writeth contrarye description of theÌ in two sundry chapters Chameleuce hath leaues bowynge inwarde / and hath certeine branches but Tussilago hath plaine and streight leaues / and wanteth al kinde of branches / for euery leafe commeth out by it selfe out of the root / and not of the stalke Dioscorides sayth that Chameleuce is a grene herbe with leaues bowyng inwarde / with certeine braunches / with a floure lyke a rose / wherevpon it foloweth / seyng that Tussilago hath whytishe leaues and streight / and no braunches / nether anye floure lyke a rose / that they can not both be of one herbe This herbe that I thynke most lyke of all other to be Chameleuce / vseth to grow commonly about watersydes and in watery medowes The proportion of the lesse is muche lyke vnto a water rose / otherwise called nenufar / but the leafe is sharper and many partes lesse / and there growe many leaues on one stalke / and in the top of the stalke is a yelow floure lyke vnto the Kingcup / called ranunculus but the leaues of the floures are thycker / and turne inwarde againe / in the maner of a knop or litle belle / so that they differ nothing to loke to from the floures of the second nenufar with the yelow floure / but that they are lesse / and turne a litle more inward as I do remember / but I am sure not much But there is one thinge / that wil not suffer this herbe / that I cal Lucken gollande / to be Galenis Chameleuce and that is / that this herbe is cold / when as Galene maketh his Chameleuce hote almost in the thyrde degre When as Matthiolus a man wel sene in Simples / and as some iudge best learned in them / of al other new writers / and borne in a countrey / which is very pleÌtuous and ful of al kindes of good herbes / which may haue comming to it out of Candy / Turky Alexandria / and out of Inde al kindes of herbes that growe not in Italy there and hath the helpe of very manye learned men in Simples as hys boke in many places doth witnes can not tell what herbe is Chameleuce in Dioscorides / it is no meruel that I a poore man without helpe / dwellinge in a bare and barbarous contrey in comparison of Italy / know it not He compleyneth of the shortnes of the description of this herbe in Dioscorides The description is shorte / but not so short as manye other be / for he sheweth thre markes / whereby he mighte haue knowen it / if he had sene it / that is the grennes of the leafe / the bowinge of the leaues inward / and the lykenes of the floure vnto a rose But if this description had bene so shorte as it is not so longe and large as nede were / it that wanted / might haue bene fulfylled by it that is written more largely of Plinye For Plinye in the 24. boke of his naturall history / and the 15. chapter / describeth Chameleucen thus Chameleuce with vs is called Farranum or Farfugium it groweth by water sydes with a leafe of a Popler tre / but greater And in the 26. boke and 6. chapter / he writeth thus of Chameleuce Bechion stilleth the cough / which is also called Tussilago There are two kindes of it / the leaues of the wilde are greater then Iuye leaues / fyue or seuen towarde the grounde whytish / aboue pale without stalke / floure and sede / and it hath a small roote Some reken that the herbe whiche is called with an other name Chameleuce / is Bechion Hetherto Plinye Now when as besyde the notes aboue marked in Dioscorides / Pliny hath put to these markes aboue rehersed / me thinke that Matthiolus hath no suche cause to compleine so much as he doth of the shorte description of Chameleuce The vertues of Chameleuce I can not find in Dioscorides any other properties that Chameleuce hath sauinge onelye that it is good for the ake of the loynes Of Chamepeuce CHamepeuce as Pliny writeth / hath leaues lyke vnto a larch tree / which is called in Latin Larix I can finde no mention of this herbe in any Autor / which hath written of herbes / sauinge onelye in Pliny / he describeth it no largelier then ye rede before Wherfore it is harde to tell which is the herbe which Pliny meaneth of Gesnerus rekeneth that the herbe whiche is called in Duche Berentopen / of other called pata vrsina / shuld be Chamepeuce the herbe that he supposeth to be chamepeuce / groweth in the top of the alpes / it is of a finger length and a halfe / bowinge somethinge doune / like a fether that standeth in ones cap and it is set about euery wher
froÌ the roote vnto the top with litle grene leaues / whereby it doth wonderfully represent an eare of corne This / whose figure ye se former in order grewe in the top of the alpes / wher as I gathered it my selfe but ther is a much lesse kinde then this is / which groweth in the mountaines of Germany and wales / and it crepeth hard by the ground / al rough and full of smal leues The vttermost braunches whilse the herbe is not full growen / represent a Crowisfoote / and euery ende alone is lyke a smalle eare of grene corne But at the fartherest ende of the herbe / when it is growen as muche as it will growe / there commeth out of the one of the braunches a litle stalke / litle more then an inche a halfe long / which is full of smal ioyntes / and euerye iointe hath litle hores tuftes coming out Out of the ende of the stalke cometh two rough fruytes / much like vnto the longe blomes that come furth of the Haselnut tree in winter but they are a great deale smaller and yellower / then the nut blomes are / somthing rough It maye be called in English Heth Crowfoot / or Heth firr / or creping pine Amatus Lusitanus writing vpon Chameleuce / sayeth that Chameleuce is called in Latin Chamepeuce / and in his enarration he sayeth / although thys chapter be red indifferently of Chameleuce Chamepeuce / that Pliny maketh mention of them as of two diuerse thinges I wold axe of Amatus / of what one auncient writer / is the chapter of Chameleuce indifferently red of Chameleuce and of Chamepeuce both If there be no auncient autor that doth so / what newe autor is there / that redeth the chapter so who oughte not to gyue place vnto the autorite of Pliny / whiche maketh two diuerse herbes of Chameleuce and Chamepeuce But Amatus folowing Matthiolus / the autorite of Pliny despised / concludeth in these wordes Chamepeuce beyng like in leaues to the Larche or Larix tre leaues / is good for the ache of the loynes and ridge bone / which herbe agreeth much in those thinges that are spoken of Dioscorides / so that we may iustly say that Chamepeuce Plinij is the herbe that Dioscorides intreateth of in this present chapter / that is to say Chameleuce So far Amatus If the Chamepeuce agre with those things that Dioscorides gyueth to Chameleuce / then hath Chamepeuce leues bowyng inward certain braunches a floure lyke a rose Chamepeuce hath leues like a Larch tre / nowe where is there one thinge that Dioscorides gyueth to Chameleuce that Chamepeuce hath / sauing that it is good for the ache of the loynes / and who sayeth that Chamepeuce is good for the loynes Is it not Pliny If it be Pliny / why doth not Amatus beleue Pliny in making Chameleuce and Chamepeuce two diuerse herbes / as in saying that Chamepeuce is good for the ache of the loynes If Plinye lese his credit / and be not worthy to be beleued in the one thing / he leseth it also in the other / and so when Pliny is not to be beleued that Chamepeuce is good for the ache of the loynes / in what one thinge doth Chamepeuce of Pliny agre wyth those thinges that Dioscorides giueth vnto Chameleuce / sauinge that they begin both in Chame / and end in euce The properties of Chamepeuce PLiny sayth that Chamepeuce is good for the ache of the loynes and of the ridge bone / they vse it in Denmarke in East Freseland with olde wine or milke / agaynst the scuerbuch / which is called in the Northcountre the scrubby ill / or the crepel ill / and in Germanye men put it vnto wyne / when it is longe / or ropinge / or hanginge / within fewe dayes as they saye / it amendeth the wine againe Tragus calleth this herbe Muscum terrestrem in Latin / and in Duch Beerlap / and he sayth that it is knowen by experience / that thys herbe dronken with wine / breaketh the stone Some both in Duchland and England abuse thys herbe for Spica celtica Of ground Pyne Aiuga prima Chamaepitys secunda CHamepitys in Greke / is called in Latin Aiuga or Abiga / and of the Potecaries Iua muscata / and Iua arthritica / in Duch Ie lenger je lieber / as Fuchsius sayeth / but other reproue him in that / and say that the name belongeth vnto an other herbe / in French Iue muscate it may be called in English Ground pyne Chamepitys is of thre kindes / the first kind hath leues like vnto stone crop / but much thinner Aiuga tertia rough and fatt / and thicke about the boughes / and hath the smell of a Pyne tree The floures be yellowe or whyte / the rootes are lyke Succore rootes This herbe crepeth vpon the ground / and somethinge croked The seconde kinde hath braunches of a cubit height or length / bowing in after the fashion of an anker / and smalle / with leues lyke the other / and a whyte floure / and a black sede The third kinde is called the male / and is but a litle one with smal leaues / white and rough / with a rough and a whyte stalke / with yelow floures / and a sede comming out at the setting on of the leaues All these thre kindes haue the smell of a Pine tree / I neuer sawe that I remember the two firste kindes / but I haue borowed their figures of them / that saye that they haue sene them As for the last kinde I haue sene it in very great plenty aboute Wormes / and in manye other places of Germany It groweth also in good plenty in Kent / and as I thynke / it groweth in diuerse other places of England But I meruel that Matthiolus maketh this that I make the laste / the firste kind / when as this kind hath in no place that euer I was in any / white floure Also it that he setteth furth for the last / as he hath set out the figure of it / is more like vnto the first kinde of Diovorides / for it hath leues more lyke vnto the lesse semperbiuo / which is called thrist / then the thirde kind hath / as any man may also se that Aiuga tertia of Matthiolus hath / which he setteth furth his owne selfe Let learned men iudge which of our opiniones is more worthy to be alowed The Properties of ground Pyne THE leaues dronken seuen dayes in wine / heale the iaundies / and the same dronken xl dayes with mede made of honye and water / helpe the sciatica they are also good for the stoppinge of the water / for the diseases of the liuer kidnes / the gnawynge of the belly some vse the broth of this herbe as a preseruatiue against the poyson of wolfes bayne leopardes bayne some vse to put barly mele and the broth
of thys herbe together / and kneade them together / and vse them for the purposes aboue rehersed Thesame herbe beaten into pouder / made into pilles with a figge / and then taken / softeneth the belly Ground pyne put into the mother with hony / driueth furth such thinges as hurt the mother It driueth awaye the hardnes of the pappes / or the brestes it closeth woundes together It stoppeth also / if it be layd to with hony / sores that do run at large / and consume the fleshe Pliny also sayth / that it is good against the biting of a scorpion If it be dronke / it draweth out cloddy or clotted blood It maketh men to sweat if they be anointed with it It is also good for a newe cough latelye begon Some do write that this herbe sodden with vinegre / and dronken / will dryue out a dead chylde out of the mothers wombe Of Gume succorye Chondrylla CHondrilla is not in Englande that I haue sene / it is muche in hygh Germanye / and because it hath leues lyke succory / and stalke lyke rishes / it maye be named in English Rishe succorye / or Gume succory because it hath a clammy humor in it There is meÌtion made of two kindes of Chondrilla in Dioscorides / of the whiche the former kind is thus described Chondrilla which is called of some men Seris / and of other Succory / it hath a stalke / floures and leaues like Succorye wherefore some call it wilde succory / but it is hole together smaller / in whose stalkes there commeth furth a gume lyke milke / in a lumpe like a beane There is an other kinde of Chondrilla / with a longe leafe indented / as it were gnawen rounde about / spredinge it selfe vpon the ground / the stalke is full of milky iuyce / the roote is small wel lykinge yellowe and ful of iuyce The seconde is it / that I haue sene in Germanye The leaues of this herbe are spred vpon the ground / and are indented much lyke vnto Dandelion the stalkes and braunches are smal / and in the top of euery braunche is a yellow floure / which when it fadeth / is turned into whyte downe The Properties of Gume succorye THE leaues and the stalke of Gume succorye haue the poure to digest The iuyce boweth back againe the heare of the eye browes / that stande not in order It groweth in ranke and mauored groundes / some do recken that it is good against the biting of a serpent / because it is knowen by experience / that when the feld mouse is hurte / she doth eate it Of Chrysanthemon CHrysanthemon is of two kindes / one of them is spoken of in the intreating of Camomil / and it is called in English yellow camomille The other kind is it wherof I intreat now of The herbe which I take to be Chrysanthemon / groweth plentuouslye vpon the walles of Andernake in Germany / it hath smal leues after the figure of Tansey but manye partes lesse and much indented / it is ful of braunches / euerye braunche hath yellow floures / and wonderful bright Dioscorides describeth ChrysanthemoÌ thus Chrysanthemon or Calchas which is called Bupthalmus of some / is a tender herbe and ful of braunches / bringeth furth smoth stalkes and leues / cut or indented it hath floures wounderfully shyning yellowe / and resembling the appel of an eye / wherevpon it hath gotten the name of oxey it groweth besyde tounes / The herbe maye be called in English Goldenfloure Chrysanthemon The properties of Goldenfloure THE floures of golden floure broken and mixed with oyle waxe / are supposed to dryue awaye the fat that is gathered vnder the skin / after the maner of a lompe / they heale the iaundies / and restore a man to his color shortly / if a man after the longe vse of the bath drinke of theÌ / after he is come furth oute of the bath Of Cicerbita called Sowthistel CIcerbita is named in Greke Sonchos / in English Sowthistel / in Duche Hasenkoel or Gensdistel / in French Lateron it groweth comon inough in al contres There are two kindes of Sowthistel / ther is one that is a wild one / hath more pricks vpon it the other is but soft tender / much desired to be eateÌ in meat / with a stalke ful of corners holow wtin somtyme red with leaues indented about the edges of them The other Sowthistel is yet tenderer / after the maner of a tre / hauing brode leaues / the leues departe the stalke which groweth out into braunches The kindes of Sowthistels are common in euerye countre / wherefore I nede not to tell nether their description largelier then Dioscorides hath done / nor their natural places of growinge Cicerbita Sowthistel Rough Sowthistel The Vertues of Sowthistel THE vertue of both is to coole and binde / therfore they are good for the hoote stomake / and also for inflammations / if they be laid vnto the place the iuyce of them swageth the gnawinge of the stomake if it be dronken it prouoketh also milke if it be layde to in woll It helpeth the gatheringe together of mater that is about the fundament and the mother Both the herbe and the root is good for them that are bitten of a Scorpion / if it be layde to in the maner of an emplaster Of Ciche or Ciche peese CIcer is called in Greke Erebinthos / in Duch Kicherns Kicherbs / and zisserne / in Frenche Ciche ou pois ciches Cicer is much in Italy and in Germany I haue sene theÌ in the gardine of the Barbican in London / and I haue it in my garden at Kew Cicer may be named in English Cich or peese / after the FreÌch tonge Cicer is described nother of Dioscorides / nether of Theopra nether of Pliny / sauing that Pliny sayth / Ciche hath a round cod / but other pulse haue longe and broad Ccicer Theophrastus sayth that Ciche hath the longest roote of any pulse / and that Cicer differeth from other pulses by many properties / first in that it is longe in bringing furth the floure / and doth hastely bring furth the fruyte / for within xl dayes after that it is come vp / it maye be made perfit as some saye It is also very fast and harde as wood it is very ill for newe fallowed ground / by the reason that it wasteth it vpon / it killeth all herbes / and most sounest of all other ground thistel / euerye ground is not fit for this pulse / for it requireth a black and a grosse ground Ciche also as Pliny sayeth / cometh well vp with saltnes / and therefore it burneth the ground Cich ought not to be soweÌ excepte it be layed in stepe a daye before There are diuerse kindes of Ciches / one is called Cicer Arietinum / which hath the name of the likenes of a rames head / and this is
a cold liuer / and it streyngthteneth the stomack / and helpeth digestion It staÌcheth perbrekyng and the hitch cough It helpeth the gnawynges of the stomack and stirreth vp an appetite / and dryueth wynde away It killeth wormes / and specially the broth of the wilde mynt It stirreth vp the lust of the body / and openeth the stoppyng of the milt and liuer But ye must not eat your fill of it / for it fineth the blood / and maketh it waishe / and turneth it lyghtly into yelow choler / and also because it is of subtill or fyne partes / it driueth abrode and wasted it way But it leueth still it that is grosse and melancholishe Therefore they that are hurt with yelow gall / must forbere from mynt Bruse it with salt and it is an holsom remedy agaynst the bytyng of a mad dog When it is withered and made in pouder / and taken after mete / it helpeth digestion an heleth them that are diseased with the milt It is also good for weomen that haue an harde labor / when it is dronken with wyne The sede of it scoured the belly / but it hurteth the lunges Of the wild mynte called mentastrum MEntastrum called in Greke hediosmos agrios / hath a rougher lefe / in all poyntes greater theÌ SisymbriuÌ hath / and is of a more greuous sauor Dioscorides describeth hys wilde mynte no largelier then ye se Wherefore when as there are diuerse kyndes of wilde mynte / it shall be hard to know whiche of theÌ Dioscorides meaneth of But by the short descriptioÌ of Dioscorides we are taught that / that kynde whiche hath the greate and roughe lefe / and not any that hath any small or smothe lefe is menthastrum SisymbriuÌ / which is a kynd of wild bauÌ mynte / hath a broder lefe then mint hath / and wilde mynt hath a greater lefe then Sisymbrium hath / wherefore after the mynde of Dioscorides who teacheth it that I haue sayde / the wilde mynte must nedes haue a great lefe Thys wilde mynte groweth in moyst groundes by watersydes / with a rough lefe and hory / with certayn toppes in the ouermost parte of the stalkes / lyke vnto short eares of corn the herbe looketh muche more whytishe then the gardin mynt doth / and it hath a verye strong sauor The horse mynt semeth also to be a kynde of menthastrum how be it I take it not for the right kynde of Dioscorides The vertues of wilde mynte Mentha syluestris uel Mentastrum THe wilde mynte as Dioscorides sayeth is not so muche desyred to be vsed of holemen as the gardin mint is / greuous because it hath a more sauor Galene wryting of thys herbe vnder the name of calamint / in the proper chapter of mint writeth that thys mint is not so moyst as the gardin mint is / but that it is hoter and dryer / therfore that it is not fit for diuerse purposes that the other mint is fit for Pliny writeth thus of the wilde mynte / MeÌtastruÌ is a wild mint / differyng in the kynde of leues / for they haue the figur of Basil / the color of peny ryall Wherfore som calle it wilde penny ryall It was fouÌd in the tyme of PoÌpeius the greate / that the lepre called Elephantiasis is healed with these chowed and layd on / by the experience or profe of a certain man that for shame couered hys face therwith The same are layd to and are dronken against the styngyng of scorpiones with salt / oyle / and vinegre / and agaynst scolopendres stynginges of serpentes in the quantite of ij drammes in ij cyates of wyne The leues are keped in pouder agaynst all poysones If they be strowed vpoÌ the grounde and smooke made of theÌ / they will dryue away scorpiones c. Pliny semeth to take for hys meÌtastro an other then Dioscorides doth / whilse he geueth the proportion of the leââ of basil vnto it / and colour of peny ryall / whiche thynges agre not with the description of mentastrum in Dioscorides It appereth that the comen rede fish mynt that groweth about watersydes with whorlish circles goyng about the stalck / is the mentastrum that Pliny writeth of But as I haue sayd afore / it that Dioscorides setteth out / hath long thynges lyke eares of corn / in the toppes of the stalkes / and long roughe leues and hory / nether lyke in figur to Basil / nor in color to peny ryall / except I be farr deceyued Of Mercury MErcurialis is named in Greke ermou batanioÌ / and linozostis / in Englishe Mercury / in Duche rekraut / or bingelkraut / in Frenche mercurall Mercury sayeth Dioscorides hath the leues of Basil / but lesse / much like vnto Parietori or Pilletori of the wall / with litle branches compassed about with a dubble knot of ioyntes or knees The sede of the femall is very pleÌtuous / and resembleth Mercurialis foemina Mercurialis masc / as it were a cluster of grapes But the fruite and sede of the male coÌmeth furth betwen the stalck and the leues / round / litle / lyke vnto ij stones ioyned together The bushe is a spaÌ hyghe or hygher By thys descriptioÌ it ãâã playn / that our forfathers haue erred in EnglaÌd / which hitherto in the moste parte of all EnglaÌd / haue vsed an other herbe in the stede of the ryght Mercury Therfore as many as had leuer ete whete / then a cornes / let them vse nomore theyr old Mercury / but thys Mercury which Dioscorides describeth The ryght Mercury groweth comen in the feldes and wynyardes of Germany without any settyng or sowyng And it beginneth now to be knowen in London / and in Gentle mennis places not far from London I neuer saw it grow more plentuously in all my lyfe then about Wormes in Germany The vertues of Mercury BOth the Mercuries are eaten in sallettes or mouses to louse the belly If ye drynke the water that Mercury is sodden in / it draweth choler and water It is perfitly knoweÌ as Dioscorides writeth / that the male herbe dronken / maketh men childer / that the female maketh females / if they be taken after the scouryng or purgyng / and be layd to the places conuenient Out of Pliny IT is wonderfull that is tolde of both the mercuries / that is / that the male maketh meÌ childer / the femal weomen chylder They say that thys coÌmeth so then to passe / if by and by after the conceptioÌ / the iuice be dronkeÌ in maluasei / or if the leues be sodden eateÌ with oyl and salt / or if they be eaten raw with vinegre Of the Medler tr MEspilus is named in greke Mespile / in Englishe a Medler tre or an open arss tre / in Duche / ein nesselbaum / in FreÌche mesplier The mespil or medler tre / is full of prickes with a lefe lyke vnto
it boweth back warde These places haue I gathered out of the moste ancient and worthiest writers for theyr sakes / to whome it belongeth to opeÌ the scripture vnto the comon people / because in diuerse places of the holy scripture / specially in the Psalter / is mention made of the Date tre and diuerse examples ar fetched / and mo may be fetched out of the nature of the same tre The vertues of the Date tre THe Date tre is sour / tarte / and byndyng It is good to be dronken in tart byndyng wyne agaynst the flix and isshue that weomeÌ haue It stoppeth the emrodes If it be layd to / it heleth vp woundes Grene Dates bynde more then they that ar dry They ingendre hede ache If they be taken plentuously in meat they make them that eat them dronken The dry fruite of the Date trees / ar good to be eateÌ of them that spit blood / or ar diseased in the stomak / and of them that haue the blody flix They ar good to be layed to with an oyntment made of quinces and of the floures of the wilde vinde / for the diseases of the blader Dates if they be eaten / they ar good for the harrishenes or roughnes of the throte The stones of dates burned in an vnbaked pot / quenched with wyne / if the asshes be burnt / will serue in the stede of Spodium Out of Galene DAtes if they be taken in grete plenty ar harde of digestion / and brede the hede ache The iuice that is made of them which is caried in to the body / is grosse The muche vse of dates stop the milt / and the lyuer / and they ar euel for them that haue any inflammation or hard swellyng in the body Dates as Simeon Sethi writeth / ar hote in the second degre and moyst in the first Besyde the incommodites that Dioscorides and Galene write to com of Date / the fornamed Sethi / saieth that Dates fill the stomack full of wynde / and that they ar hurtfull for theÌ that haue euel goumes / or ar disposed to the squinsey / the eysore / and to the tooth ache Wherefore our swete lipped Londoners wanton courtiers / do not wysely to suffer so many dates to be put in to theyr pyes / and other meates / to the grete charge of theyr purses / and to no lesse vndoyng of the helth of theyr bodies Of Panik Panicum PAnicum is named in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Frenche panik / in Duch fench or fenich / or heydelfenich But it hathe no name in English yet / but it may well be called panick after the Latin Panik hath leues lyke vnto a rede when it commeth first furth Afterward it hath a long stalk or straw full of ioyntes And in the toppe groweth a long thyng lyke an ear / which is all full of litle yelow sedes / as litle as som mustarde sede / but not so rounde Panik groweth pleÌtuously in Italy and in hygh Germany in som gardines of EnglaÌd Theophrast writeth that Panic if it be much watered / that it will be sweter / he sayeth that Milleâ and Panick because they ar couereth with many cootes / and are dry / will bâte wel when they ar layd vp The vertues of Panik DIoscorides writeth that Panic hathe the same vertue that Milleth hathe / but that it norissheth byndeth lesse Galene sayeth that panic is of the kynde of pulses / and in lykenes lyke vnto millet / and also in vertue of small norishmeÌt / and dry It stoppeth also after hym the flyx of the belly as millet doth / and if it be layd without / it dryeth couleht Constantinus in hys booke of husbaÌdry sayeth that panik and millet make feldefayres thrusshes fat / if they be fed there with / the small byrdes ar muche desyrous of the same Wherfore if any man were desyrous to fat or sede in cages any small byrdes / it were good to sow good plenty of panic millet to fede and fat them therwt. Of diuerse kyndes of Poppy PApauer is named in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in English poppy or chesboule / in Duch magsamen / in Frenche pauot There ar diuerse kyndes of poppy The first kynd is called in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latin papauer satiuuÌ / in English whit poppy or gardin poppy Thys kynd hath a long hede and a white sede / as Dioscorides sayeth more ouer a whyte flour The second kynde of poppy is wylde and it hath a hede sittyng as Dioscorides wryteth and blak sede in it There is yet the Papauer erraticum primum Papauer erraticum alterum Papauer satiuam purpureum Papauer corniculatum luteum thyrde kynde that is wilder and more apoynted for physik / and longer then the other / and it hathe a long hede There is also the fourth kynde where of Dioscorides writeth in a seuerall chapter alone And it is called papauer erraticuÌ / in Latin / in Greke rheas because the flour falleth away hastely Thys kynde is called in English cornrose or redcornrose / and with vs it groweth much amongest the rye and barley Dioscorides describeth it thus It hathe leues lyke rocket / or organ / or cicori / or thyme / but longer diuyded / and roughe The stalk is rysshye / streyght / a cubit long / and sharpe The flour of it is lyke vnto wilde anemone / of a cremisin color som tyme whyte The hede is loÌg but lesse then it of anemone The sede is rede The roote is long somthyng whyte / of the thyknes of one litle fingre / of a better tast Besyde all these kyndes there is an other kynde muche differyng from all the rest It is named in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latin corniculatum papauer in Duche gel magsam / or gehoernter mag samen It may be named in Englishe horned poppy or see poppy / or yelow poppy It groweth very pleÌtuously about the see syde in England both besyde Douer also in Dorset shyre / in many other places of England Dioscorides describeth horned poppy thus Horned poppy hath whyte leues / roughe and lyke vnto malled / indented about the edges lyke wylde Poppy The stalke is not vnlyke the same The flour is yelow The sede vessell is lyke Fenegreke / and boweth inwarde lyke an horne / whereupon it hath the name It hath a small blak sede lyke vnto poppy The roote is blak and thyck / and it groweth not depe in the grouÌde / but in the ouerparte of it It groweth about the see syde and roughe places The vertues of the gardin or whyte Poppi THe common nature of all kyndes of poppy is to coole Wherefore if the hedes and leues be boyled in water / will make a maÌ slepe if hys hede be bathed there with The brooth is good to be droÌken agaynst to much wakyng and want of
altogether rounde and wtout corners / and the leues of the moste parte of our comon peasen ar rouÌde / the comon white peason and other lyke vnto them in form and fasshon can not be pisa of the old writers The comon gray pease with the long leues / which is not round / but cornered / is ether the pisum of the old writers / or ellis I know it not all The vertues of peasen out of Galene PEasen of theyr hole substance haue a certayn lyknes with fabis which ar called of the moste parte of learned men and taken for our beanes and ar after the same maner takeÌ in that fabe ar But they differ in these two poyntes / froÌ fabis both in that they ar not so wyndy / and that they haue not suche a scowryng nature / therfore go slowlier down throw the belly Galene in that place where as he writeth of fabis / sayeth that all thynges which ar fryed want the wyndenes that they had before / but that they ar harder of digestion Then the perched or burstled peasen which ar called in NorthumberlaÌd carlines by Galenis ruel / ar not so wyndye as otherwaies dressed / ar harder to be digested / although they noy not so muche with theyr wyndenes The physiciones of Salern wryte thus of peasen in theyr booke whiche they wrote vnto the kyng of Englande Sunt inflatiua cum pellibus atque nociua Pellibus ablatis sunt bona pisa satis That is peasen with theyr skinnes ar wyndy and noysum / but when as that skynnes ar takeÌ away they ar good inoughe Thus do they say But for all theyr sayng / I will aduise all them that haue ether wyndy stomackes / or miltes / that they vse not much pease at any tyme / howsoeuer they be dressed / except there be ether anis sede / or cumin / or mynte / or som other sede or herb of lyke propertie put thereto Wherefore I must nedes commeÌde the honest and lerned Physicianes who of olde tyme haue taught our cookes to put the pouder of mynte in to pease potage / for that taketh away for the moste parte the wyndines of the pease / which might els hurt all men disposed vnto any wyndines ether in the milt or stomack The cause why I do commend them is / because they haue don bothe accordyng vnto reason and to the learnyng of Galene who wrytyng of peasen / and other wyndy meates / sayeth that whatsoeuer wyndines is in any kynde of meat / the same may be amended by such herbes as ar hote and make subtile and fyne Of pitiusa or pyne spourge out of Dioscorides PItiusa is iudged to differ in spicie or kynde from the cypresse spourge / called in latin cyparissias Wherefor it is numbred amongest the kyndes of tithimales Pitiusa which I name pyne spourge bryngeth furth a stalk longer theÌ a cubit / hauyng many knees or ioyntes The leues ar sharp small lyke vnto the leues of a pyne tre The floures ar small / in color purple / the sede is brode as a lentil is The roote is whyte / thyck / and full of iuice Thys same is found in som places a great bushe Hytherto Dioscorides Thys pitiusa is called of the common Herbaries and apothecaries esula maidr / but how that it is called in Englishe / I can not tell / allthoug it be fouÌd in many places of EnglaÌd But leste it shuld be without a name / I call it pyne spourge after the Greke name and lyknes of the leues of it vnto the leues of a pyne tre It may also be called lynespourge / of the lyknes that it hath with linaria The comon herbaries hold that it is hard to discern esulam from linaria / and therfore they haue made a verse whereby a man may learn to discern the one from the other / but the verse is thys Esula lactescit linaria lac dare nescit Pinespourge hathe much milck / which linari lacketh in hyr lefe But because linari is also lyke the Cypresse spourge which is much lesse then thys is it wer best for the auoydyng of confusion continually to call pitiusam pine spourge The great kynde that Dioscorides maketh mention of / haue I sene in diuerse places of Germany / first a litle benethe Colen / by the Rhene syde / and afterward / besyde Wormes in high Germany I haue sene it diuerse tymes as hyghe as a man / and somtyme much loÌger Thys herbe may be called in English spourge gyaÌt / or merrish or water spourges / because it groweth only in merrish and watery groundes The vertue of pitiusa out of Dioscorides TWo drammes of pitiusas rote with mede purgeth / so doth a dram of the sede / so doth a spounfull of the sap made in pilles with flour Thre drammes of the leues / may be taken for a purgation Of plantayn or weybrede Plantago maior Plantago minor Plantago II. minor Plantago aquatica THere at two kyndes of plantayn or Waybrede the lesse and the greater The lesse hath narrower leues / lesse and smother / softer and thynner It hath litle stalkes bowyng to the grounde / full of corners and pale yelowishe floures The sede is in the top of the stalkes The greater is larger with brode leues lyke vnto a bete The stalk in thys kynde is full of corners / somthyng redish of a cubit hyght / set about with small sede from the myddes vnto the top The rootes ar tender roughe / white / and of the thiknes of a finger It groweth in myri places in hedges and in moyst places / and the greater is the better Hyther to Dioscorides Besyde these two kindes there ar diuerse mo besyde which may all well be conteyned vnder these / sauyng it that groweth by the see syde only / which semeth to be a seuerall kynde from all the rest The greatest kynde is called in the South parte of England plantayn or grete plantayn / in the North countre waybrede or grete weybrede The lesse kynde is called sharp waybred or sharp plantayn / and in many places rybgrasse The Duche call the great plantayn breid Wegerich / and the lesse Spitzwegerich The vertues of bothe the Plantaynes or waybredes out of Dioscorides THe leues of plantayn / haue a drying pour and byndyng together Wherfore if they be layd to / they ar good for all perillus sores and hard to heale / and suche as draw towarde the comon lepre / and for such as ar flowyng or rynnyng and full of foul mater They stopp also the burstyng out of blood / carbuncles / fretyng sores / crepyng sores / ryght blaynes / or ploukes / they couer with a skin olde sores vneuen / and sores all moste vncurable / they heal vp corners / and hollow sores They heal also the bytyng of a dog / and burned places / and inflammationes or burnynges / and the inflammationes or
burnyng heat of swelled places / called Erispilata / or of other saynt Antonies fyre / agaynst crepinge sores and fretinge sores / agaynst the inflammationes of the eyes / agaynst burning and hote goutes It is good to poure vpon the head that aketh / the iuyce of Housleke wyth perched barley mele and rose oyle / the same to be geuen in drinke vnto them that are bitten of the felde spider It is also geuen vnto them that haue a great lax / or the blody flixe If it be dronken wyth wine / it driueth out of the bellye brode wormes if it be serued after the maner of a suppository vnto weomen / as the place inquireth / it stoppeth the issue of weomen the iuice also is good for them that are blare eyed / if it come of blood The leaues of the second kinde / called stone crepe / hath the same nature that Housleke hath The thyrde kinde called Vermicularis / hath an hote nature / and sharpe and blisteringe / and power to dryue awaye wennes / if it be layed to wyth swynes grese Of the corne called Spelt Zeae primum genus Zeae alterum genus SEmen is called in Greke Zeia / in Italian Splelta pirra biada and alga / in Duche speltz / it may in English be called spelt howbeit I neuer sawe it in England There are two kindes of zea / whereof the one is called single / and the other two cornes / because it hath the sede ioyned together in two chaffy coueringes The fyrst kind is called in Duche Tinkel The seconde kinde is called speltz / and is comon about Weissenburg in hygh Almany / viij duch myle of thys syde of Strasburg And there all men vse it in the stede of wheat / for there groweth no wheat at all Yet I neuer sawe fayrer and pleasanter bread in any place in all my lyfe / then I haue eaten there / made only of this spelt / the corn is muche lesse then wheat / and shorter then rye / but nothing so black The vertues of Spelt DIoscorides writeth / that spelt is good for the stomack / and that if it be taken in bread / it norisheth more then barley / and lesse then wheate If any man desyre to knowe any more of the fashon and properties of spelta / let him rede Galene of the poures of wheates and norishmentes / and Theophrast in the seuenth booke of plantes / there he shall haue it / that he desyreth Of Groundsell Senecio SEnecio is named in Greke Erigeron / in Englishe Groundsel or Groundiswil / in Duch kreutzwurtz Grounsel hath a stalk a cubit hygh / somthyng rede / litle leaues growyng together / indeÌted in the outermost partes / after the maner of the leaues of rocke / but muche lesse It hath yelowe floures / whyche shortlye ryue / and wyther into doun / whervpon it hath the name in Greke Erigeron / because the floures after the maner of heare waxe hory in the spring of the yeare The roote is nothinge wurth / it groweth most in mud walles and about cyties The vertues of groundsell THe leaues and the floures haue a coolinge nature / wherefore if they be brused / and layed to wyth a litle wyne / they heale the burninge heat or inflammation of the stones / and of the fundament / the same thinge wil they do / if they be layed on alone but layed to wyth the fyne pouder of Frankincense / it healeth both the woundes / and of the synewes / and other places / the downe also of it / layd to wyth vinegre alone / is good for the same purposes / but the freshe downe if it be dronken / strangleth the hole stalke sodden wyth water / and dronke wyth maluasey / healeth the ake of the stomack that ryseth of choler Of wild thyme Serpillum BOth Dioscorides and Plinye make two kindes of Serpillum / that is of crepinge thyme But they do not agre in the description of them for Dioscorides describeth Serpillum thus / one kinde of Serpillum groweth in gardines / and resembleth Mergerum in smell / and it is vsed to be put in garlandes it hath the name of serpendo / that is of crepinge / because whatsoeuer parte of it toucheth the grounde / it fasteneth rootes therein It hath leaues and braunches lyke Organe / called of som wilde Mergerum / but whyter but if it be set about hedges / it groweth more lustely the other kind is wild / and is called zigis This doth not crepe / but standeth right vp / and it putteth furth small stalkes / after the maner of a vind / whych are full of leaues lyke vnto rue / but the leaues are narrower / longer and harder / the floures haue a bytinge taste / the smell of it is very pleasante / the roote is nothynge wurth It groweth more stronger in rockes / and it is hoter / then it of the gardine / and is fitter for physick But Pliny wryteth thus of Serpillum Men thynke that it hath the name of serpendo / that is of crepinge / whyche thynge it chanseth in the wilde / and speciallye vpon rockes / the gardine serpillum crepeth not / but groweth vnto the hyght of a span it is fatter that groweth of hys owne will / and hath whyter leaues and boughes / and it is good agaynst serpentes Hetherto Pliny Nowe ye se the contrary iudgement of these two greate learned men / wherof the one sayeth the gardin serpillum crepeth not / but groweth ryght vp It is harde to tell to whether of these a man should stick the authorite of Dioscorides moueth me to stande of hys syde / but som experience as I shall declare hereafter / maketh me rather leane vnto Pliny / for as I haue seldom sene anye serpillum / though it had ben brought surth of the feldes / and set in the gardine / crepe and take routes from the ioyntes of the braunches so I neuer sawe anye in the felde that grew alltogether streyght vp / from the ground specially / if it were of any age / but dyd alwayes crepe and grow along by the grounde howbeit I grant that euen the wilde serpillum / when as it bringeth furth hys top and floure / hath a litle stalke aboue the ground about vj. inches longe / or therabout it is possible that Dioscorides loking vpon the wilde serpillum / about the tyme of flouringe / and not considering it at other tymes / dyd therefore geue sentence that the wilde serpillum dyd not crepe / but that it of the gardine should crepe / and take routes in the grounde at the ioyntes / it is contrarye to my experience / except he mean of such as is brought from the feldes / and is planted in the gardin / for allthough it busheth largely / and groweth somthyng asyde / yet it fastneth very seldom any rootes in the grounde / whereof the cause maye be / that the gardineres will not
kinde whych is much lesse agreyng wyth the description of Dioscorides / then it that Fuchsius setteth furth For except I be far begyled / as I thinke I am not he setteth out for the fyrst kinde of Sideritis / marrubium palustre Tragi / that is water horehound That herbe groweth alwayes about water sydes / and it hath a stinking smell of garleke / it is a cubit hygh / and for the moste parte hygher / wherfore it can not be the fyrste kinde of Sideritis / whyche groweth in rockye groundes / and hath a stalke but a span long / or not muche aboue Thys kinde is called in Duche Glitkraut / it may be called in English Yronwurt or Rock sage The second kind hath braunches two cubites hygh / but small It hath many leaues in long footstalkes / lyke vnto the leaues of a brake / and in the ouer parte clouen of eche syde Out of the hyghest winges come furth certeyn outgrowynges / long and small / and in the hygh top of al / representing a rounde bowle / hauinge a rough heade / wherein is sede / lyke the sede of a bete / but rounder and harder I haue sene no herbe more agreyng vnto thys description / then the herbe that groweth in sennes / called of som Osmunda / but I am afrayd that the top of it and the sede will not suffer it to be Sideritim secundam Of the thyrde kinde of Sideritis THe thyrd kinde groweth in walles and wyneyardes / and it hath many leaues / commyng from one roote lyke vnto the leaues of Coriander / about litle stalkes / beyng a span hygh / smoth / tendre / and somthyng whytish It hath rede floures / in taste bitter and clammye If herbe Robert had had whyte floures as it hath rede / it myghte haue well ben the thyrde kinde of Sideritis But the other kinde that hath the whytish stalkes / after my iudgement is the thyrde kynde / whyche maye be called in Englishe Coriandre wounde wede The vertues of the kindes of Sideritis The leaues of the fyrste kinde layd to / do bynde woundes together / and defende them from inflammation The leaues of the seconde kynde is also good for woundes The thyrde kinde is also good for blodye and greue woundes Of the Carob tre Siliqua THe fruyte of the tre / that is called in Greke Keratonia / is named in Greke Keration / in Latin Siliqua / of the later Grecianes Xyloceraton / in Italian Carobe / in Frenche Carouge / in Spanishe Farobas / in Duch sant Iohans brot but howe that it is named in Englishe / I can not tell / for I neuer sawe it in England / yet I haue had the tre of it / growing in my gardin at Colon in Germanye / and I haue sene the fruyt in diuerse places of Italy / where as it is called Carobe Yet allthough thys fruyte be not / nether hath ben in England that I haue heard of / for all that all the interpretours that haue interpreted the new Testament / haue Englished siliquas coddes / not wythout a greate error For siliqua allthough it signifye som tyme a cod or an huske of beanes or peasen / or suche other like pulse / yet it signifieth in the xv of Luke / the fruyte of a tre / and not simply a cod or a huske wythoute anye addition / whereof it is a cod / for it is named in Greke of Luke Keration The tre is a talle tre / and it hath leaues in suche ordre as the asshen leaues growe in / but they are muche rounder and shorter / and in dede the braunche of the Carob tre is lykest vnto a bean / both in fruyt and leaues of any tre or pulse that I know The fruyt is lyke a longe flat beane / in color rede / in taste when it is ripe and dryed / swete / but vnpleasant whylse it is grene These thynges beynge so / it were better to Englishe siliquas / Carob coddes / then coddes alone The tre may be named in Englishe a Carob tre / and the fruyt a Carob / or the tre maye be named a bean tre / and the fruyt a Carob beane If any man can fynde any better or fitter name / I shal be wel content there wyth The vertues of the Carob FReshe and grene Carobes are euell for the stomack / but they louse the bellye the same dried / stop the belly / and become better for the stomack They prouoke also vrine / and specially suche as are layd vp in the stones of grapes Out of Galene The Carob beane ingendreth but a noughty iuyce / and it is full of wod / by reason whereof it must nedes be hard of digestion / and thys is an euell propertye that it hath / that it will not lightlye go doune Wherefore it were better that they were no more brought from the East countrees / where as they grow hyther into thys countre He wryteth also The carob tre called Cerotonia / is of a binding and drying nature / as the fruyte is / whych is called Ceratium / and it hath som swetenes in it The carob hath one thyng lyke vnto a chirrye / for whylse it is grene / it louseth the bellye more / and when it is dryed it stoppeth the bellye more / because the moysture is spent awaye / and it that is of a grosse substance / doth onlye remayne Of Mustarde Sinapi primum genus Sinapi hortense MVstarde is nether diuided into kindes / nether described of Dioscorides / because it was so well knowen in hys tyme. And now it is so well knowen / that it nedeth but a shorte description / whiche is metely well set furth in Pliny For he in the xix boke and viij chapter writeth thus of mustarde Mustarde is of thre kindes / whereof one kinde is verye small The other kinde hath leaues lyke a rape The thyrde kind hath leaues lyke rocket Thys is the diuision ioyned wyth a shorte description There maye be made an other diuision of mustarde by the sede / wherof one kynde is whyte / and the other blackish broune or redish It that hath the whyte sede / is muche shorter / then the other kindes that haue the broun sede It that groweth in the gardin / groweth vnto a greate hyght / and it hath verye manye and longe braunches It that groweth in the corne in Somersetshyre / a litle from Glassenberrye / is muche shorter then the gardine mustarde is / but nothynge behynde it in biting and sharpnes Mustarde is named in Greke / Napi or sinepi / or sinapi in Englishe / Frenche / and Lowe duche mostarde / in hygh Duche Senffe / in Latin Sinapi or Sinapis The vertues of Mustarde THe best mustard is it that is not wethered nor wrincled / and is rede and full growen / and when it is broken / it is grene within / and as it were ful of iuyce
Iuy / diuided into fyne corners as it were synewes / appearinge somthyng furth aboue the rest / drawyng themself into a sharp poynte The leaues are lyke Iuye in figure / sauing that they are round / and haue a sharper ende The commodites and properties of the Lynde tre The later wryters hold that the distelled water of the floures of the Lind tre / is good for the growyng and griping of the belly / and for the blody flixe / som vse the same agaynst the falling siknes The coles of the Linde tre beaten into pouder / menged wyth the pouder of the eyes of creuesses / dissolue clotted blood / and are good for them that are brused wyth a fall The middel or inner bark layd in / stepe in water / hath a slymye moysture / whyche is knowen by experience to be good agaynst all kindes of burnyng ther is no cole of any tre that serueth better to make gun pouder of / then the coles of the Linde tre Of the kindes of Tithymales or kindes of Spourges DIoscorides maketh vij kindes of Tithymales or Spourges The fyrst is the male called Chariacias / of other Comeles / of other Cobius or Amigdeloides The stalkes of thys excede a cubit in hyght / in color rede / full of bitinge and whyte iuyce The leaues are about the twigges like vnto oliue leaues / but longer and narrower The roote is thyck and woddye In the toppes of the stalkes there is a thyck busshy thynge lyke vnto small twigges / and vnder them are holowe places lyke vnto basynes / and there in is sede It groweth in roughe places and in mountaynes Thys kinde haue I sene in diuerse places of England Fyrst in Suffock in my lorde Wentfurthis parte besyde Nettelstede / afterward in Sion parke / aboue London / it maye be called woode spourge The seconde kinde is the female / and is called myrtites / and it hath leaues lyke a myrtel tre / but greater and sounde / at the poynte sharp and prickye / it bringeth furth long braunches a span longe It bringeth furth euerye other year a fruyte lyke a nut that gently biteth the tonge Thys groweth also in sharp places Thys kynde haue I neuer sene growynge oute of gardines I knowe no English name for it / but it may be called myrtel spourge Tithymalus Helioscopius Thys kind in dede hath leaues lyke flaxe / but they are much broder and longer / and growe thycker together vpon the braunches I knowe no English name that this hath / but vntill we get a better / it maye be called ether sea spourge / or flax spourge The fourth is called Helioscopius It hath leaues lyke vnto porcellayne / but thinner / and rounder It bringeth furth from the roote iiij or v. braunches / small / a span hygh / rede / full of much whyte licore The top is lyke vnto dyll / and the sede is as it were in litle heades / the ouermost busshy top of it / is turned about / wyth the turnyng of the sonne where vpon it is called Helioscopius / that is sonturner It groweth most comonly in olde wastes / and fallen dounwalles / and about cities This kinde is called in diuerse partes of England Wartwurt it maye also be called son spourge / or son folowynge spourge It groweth muche in the grounde / where as flaxe hath growen / shortely after that it is pulled vp Cyparissias The fyft is called Cyparissias / and it hath a stalk a span long or longer / somthyng redish / out of the whych grow leaues lyke vnto the pyne tre / but tenderer and smaller / and to be short / it is lyke a yong pyne treÌ / lately sprong vp / where vpon it hath the name thys hath also very much whyte iuyce Thys kinde groweth much in the stuble after the corne is caried in / it is so lyke Chamepitis / that if a man take not hede / he maye be easely deceyued in taking the one for the other I haue hetherto learned no English name of thys herbe / but it maye for lack of a better name be called / pyne spourge The sixt is called Dendroides / it groweth in rockes / aboue it is very large / and full of busshy leaues full of iuyce It hath braunches somthyng rede / about the whych are leaues lyke vnto a smal myrtel The sede is lyke the sede of wod spourge I neuer sawe thys kinde that I remembre of Tithymalus Platyphyllos The seuenth kynde is called Platyphyllos / and it is lyke vnto mullen / I remembre not that euer I sawe thys kinde The vertues of the kindes of Spourges The fyrste hath a iuyce whych hath the nature to purge the belly by neth driuing out fleme and coler / taken in the quantite of a scruple wyth vinegre and water But if it be taken wyth mede / it prouoketh vomite It taketh awaye wartes that are lyke vnto pismires / and hangyng wartes / and great thyck ones / lyke the heades of tyme and scurfines If it be layd to / it is also good for aguayles and tarbuncles and freting sores and fistels The sede is gathered in Autumne / and dried in the son / and lightly brused / clenged / and it is layd vp clean The sede and the leaues do the same / that the iuice doth / if they be taken in the measure of an half aceptable The rote cast into mede in the quantite of a dram / and dronken / driueth furth by the belly The seconde kinde hath lyke vertue wyth the former kinde / but that the former kinde is stronger in prouoking of vomit The thyrd kinde is of lyke vertue wyth the former kindes The fourth is of the same nature wyth the former / but not so strong The fyft kinde and the sixt kinde is lyke the reste and the seuenth kinde killeth fishe / as all the other kindes do Of Thyme THyme as Dioscorides sayeth is a litle bushe ful of braunches / compassed round about wyth narrow leaues / and in the top it hath litle heades wyth floures / resemblinge a purple color It groweth moste in rocky groundes / and in leane or bare places Allthough Dioscorides maketh here mention but of one kinde of thyme / yet writing of epithymum / he semeth to make two kindes of thyme / where he sayeth that epithymum is the floure of an harder thyme lyke vnto sauerey And Pliny maketh mention of two kindes of thyme / wherof the one is black / and the other whyte And we se that the thime that cummeth from Venis and from Candy / is of an other kind then it that we haue growyng in England Thyme is called in Greke thyme / in Latin thymus / in Duch thymian / or welsh quendell The vertues of Thyme Thyme hath the poure to driue furth sleme throw the belly / if it be taken wyth vinegre and salt in a drinke The broth of it wyth hony helpeth them that are shortwinded / and
Sparta perilla that they geue vnto Guaico and to the rote chine Of Sanicle Saniculae SAnicle is muche lyke vnto Cinkefoly or fiueleued grasse / or vnto the leafe of a vyne / but it is more depely indented in fyue places / the leafe of it is muche lyke vnto some kindes of Kingcuppe / the rote is blacke without and whyte within / full of litle smalle tasselles like thredes comminge oute of them / the stalke is verye smalle lyke vnto a rishe / sometyme a cubite longe In the toppe of it growe manye litle floures / they departe awaye and leue behinde them pretye litle knoppes like litle burres The roote with the rest of the herbe is astringent / and somethinge bitter It groweth commonlye in colde and shadoish woddes and hedges The vertues of Sanicle THe leues or rote of Sanicle sodden in mede dronkeÌ / scoureth away the diseases of the lunges / if it be soddeÌ in water or wine dronkeÌ / it is good for inward burstinges wondes if it be dressed after the same maner / it is good for them that spit blood / for the ache of the backe / for the gnawing of the belly / it stoppeth both the running out of blood of man or woman / men vse to put this herb comonly with other inward wonde herbes It is good for al maner of burstinges / layd to after the maner of an emplaster / some hold that it hath such a mightye pore in ioyning fleshe together / that if it be sodden with fleshe it will make the fleshe growe together in the potte whiles it is in sethinge Of Sanders SAnders are kindes of woode / there are thre kindes / the whyte / the red / and the yelowe / the yelowe is best smellinge / nexte vnto that is the whyte / and last of all is the red / and the yelow in my iudgement is hotest / and nexte vnto him is the whyte / and of the third the red is the coldest I do not agre with the Arabianes which holde that all the Sanders are colde / seynge that the yelow are at the lest hote in the first degre / and the whyte is temperate / and the read scarcely can be proued to be fully colde in the second degre It is proued by often experience that all the thre kindes are very good and profitable for mans principal partes / and that the yelowe are good for the trimblinge of the harte Rede sanders hinder the flowinge of humores to the partes of the bodye / and strenghthen the gummes and stomach Al kindes of Sanders are good for the trimbling of the hart ioyned with an ague / and the speciallye when they are layd vpon the hart Rede sanders are good to be menged with colde herbes both for the goute and for the head ache of an hote cause / and they stoppe humores that flowe into the eyes Sanders / namelye rede / are good to be brused and put into rose water / and to foment there with any place diseased with heate / and namelye the liuer Sanders are good against itchinge / if the place be bathed with the water that they are sodden in Of Saxifrage THE later writers call manye herbes Saxifrages / and especiallye suche as breke the stone / for so doth this worde Saxifrage signifie In Englande there is a wilde kinde of Daucus with longe smal leaues / whiche groweth commonlye in ranke medowes / that oure Countremen call Saxifrage Aboute Colon there groweth in sandye groundes not far from the Rhene syde a kinde of Saxifrage / whiche groweth verye thicke and crepeth by the grounde in fashion and forme lyke vnto Tyme the Coloners call it Klein steinbrech / and I name it in English Tyme saxifrage I haue sene of this kinde growinge in Essexe by the Seasyde There is an other in Germanye called weiss Steinbrech This hath round leaues / and is indented very litle / I mighte compare it to Yuie / if it had a sharpe pointe comminge oute of the middes / the stalke is small / and whyte floures growe in the toppes / the rote is full of litle knoppes lyke pearles It groweth verye commonlye in Germanye and in diuerse places of England to / Fuchsius maketh the common Melilote Saxifragiam luteam / that is yelow steinbrech Saxifragia alba The vertues of Saxifrage THE name of Saxifrage teacheth the vertues of all the kindes thereof / and declare the vertues of theÌ The white Saxifrage with the indented leafe is moste commended for the breakinge of the stone / for if the leaues and rootes be sodden in wine / they make a man make water / and purge the kidneis and driue out the stone both of the bladder and kidneys / if it be not confirmed into muche hardnes before The newe writers holde also that if the rotes be beaten into pouder / and made after the maner of an electuary and receyued / is good for the same purpose Some of them hold also / that if in the moneth of May the herbe be distilled in a duble vessel after the maner of alcumistry / that the water thereof after a man hath sitten in a warme bath dronken / hath the same propertye to breake the stone Of the herbe called Scabius SCabiosa is named in English Scabius / and there are diuerse kindes of Scabius / wherofsome are more some are lesse / most commonly according vnto the nature of the grounde where as they growe it that groweth amongest the corne / is raÌkest of al other And this is the token whereby Scabius is knowen from the deuils byte / and diuerse other lyke herbes vnto it / that if ye breake the leafe insunder / ther will come out small sinewes like smalle here 's whiche will not suffer the one halfe of the leafe to be pulled insunder one from an other to fall awaye to the ground of a longe tyme. All the leaues of euerye kinde of Scabius are indented or iagged / and haue blewe floures in the vppermoste of the stalke Scabiosa The vertues of Scabius SCabius which hath the name of Scabbes / is good against scabbes and breking out of the skin / whether it be takeÌ in with the broth wherin it is sodden in / or if the sore places be anointed with the iuyce of it / or with an oyntment made of it It is good for al the diseses of the brest lunges / for it purgeth the lunges brest of all filthy matter It is very good to be layd vpon pestilent sores to ripe theÌ / to breke them / in so much that if dedly sores be anointed plastered therwith al / in iij. houres as the later writers hold / the same wil vanishe and go away / or ellis at the lest be resolued or made ripe Of the herbe called Sene. Sena THere hath bene a great errour of late yeares amonges many men / whiche haue thought that Sene had bene a tre / which groweth in
vertues They write that they are good to heale olde rinninge sores If one parte of the roote of Tormentil be dronken in rayne water / and an other be brused and layd to the kidneys with vinegre / it wil holde the birth that it fall not before the tyme. Tormentil is good for them that can not hold ther water / if it be taken with the iuyce of Plantayne It will stoppe weomens floures if they sitt in the broth of it vp to the nauell / the rootes wil do the same / if they be smal broken / and knodden together with hony and spicknard / and layd to the lowest part of the bellye The ponder of Tormentil sprincled vpon a wonde / stoppeth the blood that runneth out of it the pouder mingled with the whyte of an egge and fried vpon a tyle stone / and by and by eaten / stoppeth the vomitinge of choler The broth of the rootes is a good remedye for al kindes of poyson / and some hold that if it be stilled in balneo Mariae it will do the same / manye vse to put the roote in medicines that are made against the pestilence The rote of Tormentil is good for the bloodye flixe / and to heale grene wondes that are withoute and within taken in with drinke Of the herbe Trinite THere is an herbe which I haue sene growynge in the alpes and in some gardines in Germany which is called of some writers Trinitaria of other Hepatica nobilis in duch Edel leberkraut It hath thre sharpe pointes on euerye lefe The lefe looketh like vnto a clauer / but that it is hole and not cut to the bottom The leaues grow vpon longe foote stalkes The principal stalkes are longe and smalle / and vpon the toppe of them growe floures / and no where ellis / in white blew When the floures are gone / there ariseth a knop wherein the sedes ar / in color blewish and long / not vnlike vnto the sede of Columbine The vertues of herbe Trinite / or noble Liuerwurte THE later writers hold that this herbe is good for the liuer / and specially for the liuer of new maried yong men / which are desyrous of childer / and that it is good for the prouokinge of Vrine / and for the diseases of the bladder and kidneis / and other diseases of the bladder and kidneis / and other diseases of the inwarde partes The same saye that the water of this herbe is good to dryue fyrye burninges from anye place greued therewith Of Valeriane THere are diuers herbes that are called Valerian / Phu in Dioscorides is called Valeriana magna of the Apothecaries There is an herbe that groweth in watery places besides ditches and riuers / which hath leaues growynge vpon braunches lyke vnto Ashe leaues / and hath a roote full of smal stringes lyke thredes / of a smell not vnpleasant There is an other kinde whiche we call Valerian in Englishe / and it hath a blew floure which is called of some Latine men Valeriana Graeca Phu magnum Phu vulgare The vertues of these herbes OVRE Englishe men vse the Valerian / whiche is called Valeriana Graeca againste cuttes and woundes And the Duche vse there Valeriana to drinke it or to laye it in whyte wine / and to washe the eyes withal / for they saye it is tryed by experience / that it is wounderfullye good both for the kepinge of the eyes and also for the increase of the eyesight Some vse to laye the roote amonges clothes / to make them smell swete But I woulde that it shoulde be menged with other herbes that are good for the plague / and with suche herbes as are good for the openinge of the lyuer and the milt / for it serues well for that purpose Of Fluellin Veronica FLuellin is called in Latin Veronica in Duch EhreÌpreis / it crepeth by the ground and hath small litle iagged leaues / which are not very long nor very broad They grow in order two and two together / some of the leaues bowe inward and beare the likenes of a gutter / one kind which is moste common crepeth by the grounde / and is founde vpon old mold hilles couered with grasse / and aboute tre rootes / in the top of the stalkes are longe eares where in are in whyte blewe floures with a litle scattered here and there When as the floures are gone / there arise litle sede vessels like vnto them of Bursa pastoris The sedes are very smal that are conteined therein The vertues of Fluellin VEronica or Fluellin hath a certaine bitternes in it / and verye muche bindinge or astriction It is wonderfully good both for grene woundes and old also / for scabes / fourfines and all sores / some hold that it is good for the common lepre / which is in dede Clephantia The newe writers hold that it driueth away swellinges / namely such as are in the necke And they saye that it is good for the pestilence and for the stopping of the liuer and milt / and that it is good for lunges that haue the skin of Of the herbe called Virga aurea Virga aurea THE herbe that is called of some Virga aurea is named of other Herba Iudaica and Solidago Saracenica It is named in Duche Heydnisch wundkraut / it may be called in English Golden rod / or Hethnish wountwurte It hath a stalke somthinge hollowe / two cubites longe / which is rede as the rotes are also / the leaues are longe like a Pech or Wylow lefe / but al indented about like a saw There grow yelowe floures in the toppe / which at the length turne into whyte downe I haue marked two kindes herbe / whereof the better is it with the rede stalkes / braunches and rotes / and doth growe in plentye a litle from the cytie of Wysenburge in high Almanye in the syde of an high mountayne / and in diuerse other mountaynes and wildernesses in that countre The other kinde hath a grene stalke and grene braunches / but it differeth nothinge in fashon and figure from the other kinde / but in color and in the place of growynge / for this groweth in manye places besyde the Rhene The vertues of the Golden rod. THE Surgianes of Germanye make of thys herbe wyth other of lyke nature / as are Sanicle / Fluellin / Herbe two pence / and suche other a wounde drinke / whiche they gyue into them that are wounded within / and douteles they do manye great cures there with This herbe is wonderfullye good both for inward and outward woundes They vse this also for fistulas and false and hollowe woundes / crepinge inwarde Arnolde of Newton writeth that this herbe is good to make a man make water / and to breake the stone This herbe stoppeth laxes both in drinke and in clisters The broth of it healeth sores and blisters in the mouth / and it fasteneth and strenghteneth the teth If ye gargle with the
Absinthium Ponticum Romae natum ABsinthium is named in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã / in Duche Wermut or Alkin / or Elk / in Frenche Aluin or Absince / in Italian Assenzo / in Spanishe Asentios / in Englishe Wormwode There are thre kindes of Wormwode after the iudgements of Dioscorides / Galene / Pliny / Aetius / and Paulus Egineta The fyrste kind is called Absinthium Ponticum / Dioscorides describeth not absinthium Ponticum / as an herbe well knowen in hys tyme euen vnto the common people Which thinge hath bene the cause / that of late yeares it hath bene so litle knowen of the Phisicians both in Italy and in Germanye / and in manye other countrees Howbeit a diligent and witty man might haue gathered of Dioscorides / where he compareth in diuerse places Absinthium Ponticum and other herbes together in likenes of leaues and branches / that this common Wormwode whiche hath bene longe taken for Pontike Wormwode / was not the Pontike wormwode that Dioscorides meant of For in the description of oure common Sothernwod / he sayeth that it hath small braunches lyke Wormwod / that is to saye / Pontike Wormwode and in the description of Santonik Wormwod he writes that it is not vnlyke vnto Wormwode / meaninge thereby as I sayed before / Pontike wormwode Then he that knoweth well by the description of Dioscorides / ether Sothernwode or Santonike wormwode / maye thereby metely well knowe Pontike wormwode / or at the lest that this common Wormwood is not the righte Pontike wormwode / because the braunches are not lyke But Galene perceyuinge in hys tyme that the ignorance of the righte Wormwode Pontike began to come in / belyke because that Dioscorides went ouer it vndescribed in the eleuenth boke De methodo medendi / fulfilleth perfectly it that Dioscorides left oute / in these wordes followinge When as there is in euery Wormwod a duble poure / in Pontike wormwode is no small binding propertye / in all other Wormwodes a verye vehement bitter qualitie But as for astriction or bindinge / which a man can perceyue by taste / is ether verye harde to be founde / or ellis none at all Wherefore Pontike Wormwode oughte to be chosen for the inflammationes of the lyuer But it hath muche lesse floures and leaues then other Wormwodes / and the smelle of thys is not onelye not vnpleasant / but resembleth a certeyne spicines or pleasant sauor / all other haue a verye foule smell Galene also in the sixt boke of Simple medicines writeth / that Pontike wormwod is not so hote as the other kindes of Wormwode be / and that it is more bindinge then bitter By thys description of Galene it is playne that the herbe whiche is called in the West parte of Englande / Herbe cypres / about London Wormwod Roman / in Freseland / Cypreskruyt / or wilde Rosmarine / of the Apothecaries of Anwerpe / and of Mesue Absinthium Romanum / and of the Colones Graue cruyt / is the right Absinthium Ponticum / and that the great bitter stinking common Wormwod / is not the Wormwod that Galene taketh / and teacheth to be taken for Wormwode Pontike For the hole description agreeth wyth the litle Wormwode Roman / and disagreeth wyth the common great leaued Wormwod / as euerye indifferent man that hath sene / tasted / smelled / and compared the herbes with the description / can beare witnes But Matthiolus whome the Spanyarde Amatus foloweth / holdeth not withstandinge these wordes of Galene aboue rehearsed / that oure common great Wormwod / is righte Pontike wormwod / hys wordes are these Some of later writers leaninge vnto the authorite of Galene libro secundo de methodo medendi / that Pontike wormwode differeth muche in kinde from it that groweth in oure countre / euen as Santonike and Sea wormwod do differ But I for my parte do beleue / that they differ in no otherwise / but that Pontike by the reason of the clyme and complexion of the region where it groweth / hath lesse floures and leaues then oures hath / and for the same cause I beleue that it excelles oures also both in bindinge and also in sauor or smellinge / whyche thinge Galene in the sixte boke of Simple medicines / where as he intreateth of Sothernwod / doeth sufficientlye declare / when he sayeth / there are two kindes of Sothernwod / the one which they call the male / and the other which they call the female / whiche thinge is determined by Dioscorides and Pamphilus / and infinit mo But Wormwod is an other thinge / differinge from Sothernwode and of Wormwode we must determine that there are thre kindes / of the whiche there is one that hath hys name of his kinde or countreye / as is called Pontike wormwode / the other Santonike / the thirde Seriph or Sea Wormwode Wherefore Dioscorides iudged well / where as in the kinde of common Wormwode he gaue the chefe prayse vnto Pontike The same Matthiolus writeth also these wordes There are thre kindes of Wormwode intreated of here of Dioscorides / that is to wet / oure common Wormwode / Sea wormwod whiche they call Seriphium / and Santonike / whereof France nexte vnto the Alpes hath great plenty Because Matthiolus is a learned man / and therefore by the opinion of his learninge euen wythoute good reason and autorite maye drawe other after him in to his error for the defence of the trueth / I will confute hys error both wyth reason and sufficient authorite Where he sayeth that Dioscorides intreateth of thre kindes of Wormwod / and that he intreateth fyrste of / is oure common Wormwod In the beginninge he swarueth from the trueth / for the fyrste kinde of Wormwode that Dioscorides intreateth of / is Pontike wormwode But the common Wormwode is not Pontike wormwode the beste Pontike Wormwode / as Dioscorides sayeth / groweth in Ponto in Cappadocia / and in the hill called Taurus / and in the description of Abrotoni / he maketh Abrotonum the female lyke vnto Sea Wormwode / and the male lyke in smallnes of the littel braunches vnto Wormwode Where as Wormwod doutles signifieth Pontike wormwode / for Wormwod rehearsed alone wythoute anye addicion / is euer taken for Pontike Wormwod / because it is more excellent / then all other Wormwodes be But the common Wormwod groweth not in mountaynes or wilde hilles / but onelye aboute tounes / diches / hyghe wayes / and in tilled and labored grounde / nether is it lyke vnto oure common Sothernwod / whiche is the male in Dioscorides / for it hath stalkes / leaues and braunches / ten tymes greater then Abrotonum the male hath / as euerye man maye se / that will compare the one wyth the other / Therefore this common greate Wormwode that groweth onelye aboute tounes / diches / and in tilled groundes wyth a leafe and braunches / ten tymes greater then Sothernwod / can not be Absinthium Ponticum of
be Some do holde that they increase the substance of the brayne They make one slepe pleasantly / and scoure and purge the wayes that the water cometh thorow / and they are verye fit for lene folke / and the oyle of them is good for a drye crampe The oyle of bitter Almondes is hoter by one degre / then the oyle of swete Almondes is It is moste fit for eares that are stopped with grosse wind / for hardnes of hearinge / for the noyse in the eares that cometh of cold It killeth also the wormes of the eares It is tryed by experience / that this oyle is more conuenient for the eares then other oyles be Of Amy. AMy is called both of Grecians Latines Ami. The Potecaries call it Ameos in the genitiue case It may be also called in Englishe Ammi Dioscorides writeth no more of the description of Ammi / because he thought it so commonly knowen in his dayes But these wordes Ami hath muche smaller sede then Cumin / and resembleth organ in tast The herbe that is commonly vsed for Ammi in all shoppes now adayes / hath a longe grene stalke full of litle braunches about the top / with long smal indented leues / a white floure / and a bushy top lyke Dill / with a litle bitter and hote sede Although this maye be vsed for Ammi / is one kind of it / yet there groweth in Italy a better kind / which I haue sene If we could haue plentye of that kind / I would counsel men to vse it / and to leue this / whiche we vse commonly For I finde not the hete in this sede that Galene requireth / for he writeth that Ami is hote and drye in the extremitie of the third degre Howbeit this comon Ami is not to be despised This herbe groweth in many gardines in Germany / and in my lordes gardin at Sion in England The other kind whiche is the true kinde / is of late found in Italy with leues much lesse then our any hath The sede cometh nowe to Frankeford to be sold vnder the name of Amomi / but some cal it veruÌ Ami namely the grossers of Norinberge The vertues of Ami. AMi is good againste the gnawinge in the guttes / against the stopping of the water / against the byting of serpentes dronken with wine It bringeth weomen their sicknes it mixed with corrosyues made of the flyes called Chantarides / do helpe the stopping of a mans water with hony it taketh away blew markes rising of stripes with rasynes or rosine In a perfume it purgeth the mother Some hold the weomen do soner coÌceiue / if they smel this herbe / wheÌ as the worke of conceptioÌ is in doing Of Amomum AMomum is a smal bushe / about the quantite of a mannis haÌde / like vnto a cluster of grapes folden into him selfe / litle stickes of wood / goynge one beside and ouer an other / partely it resembleth a net / and partelye a round thicke bushe / or rather the heade of a mace / if it were al made of litle stickes / or of peces of siluer / as bigge as strawes in a rounde forme / it hath litle floures as hartes ease hath / and leaues lyke vnto brionye I sawe about sixe yeres ago at Colon a litle shrubbe / something lesse then my hande / which was in al pointes like vnto the shrub aboue described / a certeine pilgreme whiche had bene at Hierusalem / brought it out of Iewry with him Thesame is named of the Herbaries Rosa Hierecuntis / that is the rose of Hierico The sayinge is / that it openeth euery yere aboute Christenmasse / wherefore some call it a Christenmase rose This same woulde I reken to be the right Amomum / if it had that smell which Dioscorides requireth in Amomo / and a leafe lyke vnto Brion / for in al other pointes the description doth wonderfully agree If any man chaunce vpon any that hath a good sauoure with al these other properties aboue rehersed / let him take it for the true Amomum For lack of the true Amomum we maye vse the common Calamus aromaticus / or Carpesio called of some Cucuba Other iudge that a man may vse for Amomo Asarabacca / or the right Acorus The sede that is commonlye vsed for Amomo / is not of the strenght that Amomum is of The vertues AMomum hath poure to hete / to binde / to drye It prouoketh to slepe / laid to the forheade / it swageth ake / it maketh ripe / driueth awaye inflammationes impostemes hauing matter in them like hony / it helpeth them that are bitten of scorpiones / laid to emplasterwise with basil and it is good for the gout / with rasines it heleth the inflammationes of the eyes It is good for the diseases of the mother / other in a suppositorye taken before / or in a bath that weomen sit ouer The broth of it dronke / is good for the liuer / for the kidnes / and for the gout It is fit to be mixed with preseruatiues / and precious oyntmentes Of Pimpernell PImpernelle is named both in Greke and in Latin Anagallis / and Corchorus / in Duche Ganchheil / in Frenche Morgelina Pimpernell is of two kindes / it that hath the blewe floure / is called the female / but it that hath the cremesine is called the male They are lytle bushye herbes / lyinge vpon the ground / and haue litle leues / somthinge rounde lyke vnto Parietorye / which come out of a foure squared stalke The fruyte of this herbe is round / Some very vnlearnedly take Anagallis for Chickwede Pimpernell the female Pimpernell the male The Vertues of Pimpernell BOTH the kindes haue a propertye to swage and mitigate / and holdeth awaye inflammations / and put oute agayne stynges / and shyueres that are faste in the fleshe / and refrayne festringe and rotting sores The iuyce gargled in the throte and mouth / purgeth the heade of fleme / and the same poured into the nose thrylle / that is of the other syde of the head there the tuth ake is in / taketh the payne awaye With fyne honye it scoureth awaye the whyte spottes in the eyes It is good for a dull sight / and the same dronken with wine / is good for them that are bitten of serpentes / for them that are diseased in the lyuer and in the kidnes Some do write that it which hath the blewe floure / holdeth and stoppeth the falling doune of the great gute / and it with the cremesin laid to / bringeth it furth These two herbes haue some hete and a drawinge nature / and drye withoute bytinge wherfore they binde together woundes and heale rotten sores / as Galene witnesseth in the sixt boke of the properties and poures of simple medicines The male Pimpernell groweth commonly in Englande in the corne and in tilled groundes / and so doth the
kind of Cistus / called of some Ledon / which is a bushe / and groweth as the other Cistus doth / but it hath longer leues and blacker / which in the spring of the yere haue a certain fatnes The nature of the leues is astringent / is of as great strenght as Cistus is / of this is made gum / which is called ladanuÌ for when as the gotes gote buckes eat the leaues of Cistus / they gather manifestly the fatnes with their beardes / and carye awaye with their clammenes it that cleueth vpon their heary and rough fete The whiche the inhabiters of the countre combe of / and streyne it / and make it in lumpes together / and so laye it vp / other pul ropes thorowe the bushes / and with them take of the clammines / and make Ladanum of it It is moste commendable that sanoreth well / and is somthinge grene / and is soune softe and fat / not full of sande / or euell fauored / and full of Rosin as it of Cyprus is It that commeth out of Arabia and Lybia / is viler then the other be The Nature of Ladanum LAdanum as Dioscorides sayth / hath the propertie to bind together / to warme / to make softe and to open the mouthes of the veynes Put myrre and myrtell oyle and wine vnto Ladanum / and it will holde still the heyre that goeth of Wyth wyne layd vpon scarres of woundes or sores / maketh them loke better fauored Ladanum poured into the eare with honyed water or rose oyle / healeth paine of the eares / and thesame in a fumigation / draweth doune the secondes Ladan put into the mother in a pessarye / or in a long fashion of a suppository / healeth the hardnes of the mother It is good to be put into medicines for the cough and in softeninge emplasters Ladan dronken with olde wyne / stoppeth the bellye / and prouoketh vrine Ladanum is full hote in the firste degre / as Galene sayth and reacheth nere vnto the seconde Of Perwincle / or Perywincle CLematis is so named of Dioscorides without anye addition / of other it is called Clematis Egyptia / because it groweth plentuouslye there It is called of Plinye in some places Daphnoides / in other Chamcedaphne / in other Vinca peruinca It is called in Englishe Perwincle / or Periwincle / in Duche Ingrien / and in Frenche Dulisseron Clematis is named in English Perwincle / and it groweth in fatt and well bearinge groundes / It hath litle braunches of the bignes of a rishe The figure and colour of the leaues / are lyke vnto a Laurell or Bay leafe / but they are lesse a great deale Thus doth Dioscorides describe Clematis It hath prety blewe floures / and the herbe crepeth vpon the grounde very thicke / one braunche wouen about an other Clematis Perwincle The properties of Perwincle THE leaues and stalkes of Perwincle dronken with wine / stoppe both the bloodye and other flixe / with milke and rose oyle or priuet oyle / thesame put into a pessary / or mother suppositorye / relese the payne of the mother Perwincle chewed / staunched the tuth ache Thesame is medicinable to be layd vpon the places that are bitten of serpentes Perwincle groweth wild in many places of Germany / and it groweth plentuouslye in Englande in gardines / and wild also in the West countre Of Clematitis CLematitis putteth furth a long branche / somthing rede / and tough / the leafe is bitinge in taste / and maketh blisteres / it crepeth vpon trees as Smilax doth I neuer sawe this plant / nether in Germany nor in England / wherfore I know nether the English nor the Duch name of thys herb / but it may be called in English Bush perwincle / or byting perwincle I sawe this in a gardin in Ferraria / it had leaues not vnlike vnto the leaues of Clematis daphnoides But they were Clematis altera longer and sharper at the ende / and very lyke vnto the smal leaues of the byting vynde / called in Latin of som Vitis syluestris Ruellius ioyneth in hys translation of Dioscorides Clematis and Clematitis together / and setteth them in one chapter / when as my Dioscorides in Greke describeth Clematis in the beginninge of the fourth boke / and Clematitis in the ende of thesame boke Which thinge Galene maketh mention of in the booke of Simple medicines / where as he checketh Pamphilus the Herbary / for confundinge these two herbes together / whose nature were diuerse Furthermore seynge that the names are also diuerse / and the herbes are described in diuerse places / it shoulde not belonge vnto a translator to make of Clematitis Clematis / and to take an herbe out of the place / where as Dioscorides hath set it / bring it by force into an other place where it should not stande / if he foloweth hys Greke exeample / that led him to that whiche he dyd / he is excusable but if he dyd it of his owne head / he is worthy blame / and not to be folowed Matthiolus hath now in hys Latin commentaries vpon Dioscorides / marked the same thinge that I noted longe before I sawe his commentaries But he maketh another herbe then I do to be Clematitida / for he maketh the wind with the douny thinge in the top about the sede / to be Clematitida / If the plant that I set furth / crepe vpon hedges and trees / as the other of Matthiolus doth / doutles it is more to be taken for Clematitidis then the other is / but I dare not holde that it doth crepe vpon bushes / like as Smilax doth / for I neuer sawe it / but at one tyme in one place But as far as I remember it did crepe vpon other bushes / as Smilax doth Thys am I sure / that when I compared the leaues of my braunches that I brought from Ferraria with the hory vinde / I found no difference betwene them at al / sauing that myne had hoote leaues withoute anye cuttinge / and the other was indented about the edges The Nature of Clematitis THE sede of Clematitis broken / and dronken in honied water / dryueth furth thynne fleme and choler The leues layd to lepres / scoure them awaye Some vse to condite thys herbe wyth Dittany to eat it Galene sayth that thys herbe is hote in the beginninge of the fourth degre Of Clinopodium / called Horse Tyme Clinopodium CLinopodion called of the Latines Clinopodium / maye be called in Englishe Horse tyme / because it is lyke vnto wilde tyme / but a great deale greater Clinopodion is thus described of Dioscorides / Clinopodium is a litle bushe full of twigges / hauinge the lenght of two spannes / it groweth in stones it hath leaues lyke vnto wilde Tyme / and floures representinge a Bedfoote / and one standinge from an other / certayne spaces goynge betwene / as we se in Horehounde Pliny describeth
be put in softenynge implaysters / mixed wythe barlye meale / the same brothe is good to be mixed in womans bathes wyth Fenygreke / and sodden barlye When they are sodden wyth rue / they are good to be powred in / agaynst the gnawinge of the bellye Figges sodden and laide to driue awaye hardnessis / they softeÌ swellinges behinde the eares / other angrye swellinges They make rype wheles / called Pauos / speciallye yf there be put vnto them niter aryce / or lime if rawe figges be beateÌ wyth these / they are of lyke effecte Wythe the shell of a pomegarned they purge awaye anguaylles suche harde swellinges wythe copperus they heale the runnynge yssues of the legge / whiche are almoste incurable / if they be soddeÌ withe wyne worniwode Romane barlye meale They are good to be layed vpon them that haue the dropsye / burnte figges laide one with a playster of waxe / are goode for kybed or mooled heles / and for ytchynges The mylkye juyce of bothe the wilde and the garden figge euen as runnynge or chese lope / maketh mylke runne together into cruddes / and louseth it that is growen together / as vinegre it takyth the skynne of from the bodye / it openyth the poores / and losith the bellye The same broken wyth an almonde dronkeÌ / openyth the mother The same layd to wyth the yolke of an egge or Tyrrinicall waxe / bringith downe womens sycknesses It is good to be put into playsters wythe the floure of fenygreke and vinegre for the gowte It scowryth awaye lepres / frekles / skuruynes and the disease of the face / stables / runnynge sores in the head / if it be layed to wyth barlye meale It is good for them that are bytten wyth a scorpion or of anye other venemens beast / or of a mad dogge / if it be dropped into the wounde The same receaued in wulle and put into the holowe tothe / is good also for the tothe ake If it be layde to wyth fatt / it taketh awaye wertes Drye fygges are hote in the fyrste degree fullie as Galen wryteth They are hote in the beginnynge of the seconde degree / and of fyne and sutil partes The figge tree as bothe the juyce / the leaues and the tree dothe testifye / is verye hote / for they do not onlye byte or vehementlye scoure awaye / but also / do pull of the skynne / and open the mouthes of the vesselles / although figges wyth other frutes haue some euyll juyce / yet this good propertye they haue / that they go quicklye thorough the bellye / and easelye go thorowe the hole bodye / for they haue a notable vertue to scoure awaye / wherfore it chaunseth that they that are greued wyth the stone / after that they haue eaten figges voyd oute sande in theyr vrine they norishe more then the commen sorte of frutes do / but they make not fast and styffe fleshe as breade and swynes fleshe do / but somethinge lowse and emptye fleshe as beanes do Figges are wyndye / but their wyndynes endurith not / if a man eate oute of measure of rype figges / they will fill him excedinglye full of lice They haue vertue to cutt in soudre and to make fyne / by reason wherof they prouoke a man to stoole and purge the kydnes Of the Brake or Ferne. FIlix is called in Greke Pteris / in Englishe Ferne or a Brake / in Duche ein walt farne / in Frenchefauchier There are two kyndes of brakes / the one kynde is called in Latin Filix mascula / in Greke Pteris / wythoute anye addicion It growyth commenlye vpon stones It is all full of lytle winges euen frome the wote The seconde kynde is called in Greke Thelipteris / in Latin Filix femina this is the commen ferne or brake whiche the Norther men call a braken / It hath a thinge lyke a longe bare stalke / and the leaues are onelye on the top of that Dioscorides wrytith of the Ferne or Brake thus / It hath leaues wythout anye stalke or frute / whiche leaues comme oute of a thinge lyke a stalke / and the same is a cubite highe / the leaues are manye wayes deuided and full ol branches lyke fethers The sauor of it is somewhat rauke / the roote of it is black / and that goeth euen by the ouermoste parte of the grounde It is also longe / and putteth furth manye branches / the taste therof is somewhat byndynge It groweth in montaynes and in stonye placyes The female brake hath leaues lyke vnto the male full of branchis / hyer from the grounde / whiche growe not all vpon one herbes synnewe as it were / as the other Filix Ferne or a Brake doth / but vpon diuers and manye lytlen synnowes lyke stalkes This kynde hath manye longe rootes writhen one by an other / whiche beyng somthynge yelow turn toward a black Some also are founde red Dioscorides denyeth that the Ferne hath anye frute / and therbye that it hath also no seede / but not onelye the opinion of the commen people is / that the Ferne hath sede / but also it is the opinion of a Christen Phisicion / named Hieronymus Tragus / who doth not onlye saye that Ferne hath sede / but wrytith that he founde vpon mydsomer euen sede vpon Brakes I haue taken oute of his herbal his wordes concernynge that matter / haue translated that into Englishe after this maner folowinge Although that all they that haue writen of herbes / haue affyrmed and holden / that the Brake hath nether sede / nor frute yet haue I dyuers tymes proued the contrarye / whiche thinge I will testefye here in this place / for there sakes that be studentes in the knowledge of herbes / I haue foure yeres together one after an other vpon the vigill of saynt Iohn the Baptiste whiche we call in Englishe mydsomer euen soughte for this sede of Brakes vpon the nyghte / in dede I fownde it earlye in the mornynge before the daye brake / the sede was small blacke and lyke vnto poppye I gatherid it after this maner I laide shetes and mollen leaues vnderneth the brakes whiche receyued the sede / that was by shakynge and beatynge broughte oute of the branches and leaues Manye brakes in some places had no sede at all / but in other places agayne a man shall fynde sede in euerye brake / so that a man maye gather a hundred oute of one brake alone / but I went aboute this busynes / all figures / coniurynges / saunters / charmes / wytchcrafte / and sorseryes sett a syde / takynge wyth me two or three honest men to bere me coÌpanye / when I soughte this seede / all the villages aboute / did shyue wyth bonfyers that the people made there / sometyme when I soughte the sede / I fownde it / and sometyme I fownde it not Somtyme I founde muche / and sometyme
and herba Centuncularis It maye be called in English Downewede / because the leafe brokeÌ / is lyke Downe or cotton The vertues of Cottenweede IT is good to be geueÌ in tarte and bindynge wyne / to them that haue the blodye flixe / or other commen flixe / and it is good to stoppe the bloddy issue that weomen vse some tymes to haue It is good to be put into the fundament agaynste the disease which prouoketh a man oftentymes to go to the stole / and when he commeth ther / can do nothinge It is also good to be layd vpon olde rotten sores I thinke that the herbe which is called in Englande Cartifilago / is a certayne kynde of the same herbe / for theyr properties are lyke / their figures are not muche vnlyke Of Sea tryfoly GLaux / otherwyse called Engalacton / because it maketh good plentye of mylke in those weomen that take it / groweth by the seasyde / and in the leaues it is lyke to the tree tryfolye / called in Latin Cytisus / and to lentylles / whiche leaues in the ouer part are grene / and in the nether part white There commeth fourth from the grounde fiue or six small braunches a spanne high / and they come out of the earth from the rote the floures are purple and lyke vnto a kynde of stoke gelauore floures / but they are lesser I neuer sawe it in Englande / sauinge onlye in maister Falkonners boke / and that had he browght out of Italy / except my memory do fayle me / I sawe it Glaux Sea trifoly ones in Flaunders by the sea syde about thre myles beyonde Dunkyrke / ther is an herbe in Englande / which some call Fenum grecum syluestre / whiche aunswereth in many thinges vnto the description of Glaux in Dioscorides / howbeit I thinke it is not the trew Glaux that Dioscorides wrote of The vertues of Sea trifoly called Glaux THis herbe sodden with Barly meale / salt oyle in a suppinge / is good to bringe milke agayne to them that haue lost the plenty of it Of Lycores GLycyrrhiza in Greke / is called in Latin Radix dulcis in Englishe Lycores / in Duche Sueà holtz / or licoris / or clarish / in Frenche Erculisse / or Rigolisse It groweth in the rockes of Germanye / wythout any settinge or sowinge I neuer saw it growe in England / sauynge onely in gardens Licores groweth very thicke and busshy / and hath braunches rysinge two cubittes highe / the leaues are lyke vnto Mastycke tree leaues / thicke and fatt / and full of gombe / when they are touched The floure is Radix dulcis Licores lyke vnto the floure of Hyacinthus / the frute is of the bignes of the pilles of the playne tree / but rowgher / and it hath lytle rede coddes lyke vnto Lentylles The rotes are longe as Gentians be / of the color of boxe / a lytle tart swete The vertues of Lycores THe iuice of Lycores is good for the harishenes or rowghnes of the throte / but it must be holden vnder a mans tonge / vntill it be moulten / it is good for the heate of the stomacke / brest / and liuer / dryncke it wyth maluesy / and it will heale the scabbes of the bladder / and the payne of the kidnes / the same moulten quencheth thyrst / it is good to heale woundes / if it be layde to / it healeth the mouth if it be chowed in it / the brothe of the grene roote is good for the same purposes / the pouder of it is good to cast vpon anguayles Of Cotton COtton is called in Greke Xylon / in Latin Gossipium / in Duch Baumwoll / in Frenche du Cotton in barbarus Latin Cottonum / and bombax bombacium / and cottum Cotton is a small busshy herbe wyth a lefe lyke a vinde / but lesse / It hath yelowe Gossipium Cotten floures / whiche are some thinge purple in the myddes / the fruite is lyke a felberde / all full of Downe I neuer sawe it / sauinge onelye in the vniuersite of Bonony It groweth as I rede in good autours in great plenty in Egypt / in Candi / in Appulia / and in the yland Maltha The vertues of herbe Cotton THe iuice of Cotton leaues / is good for the lax of yonge chyldren / and for the gnawynge / or as some call it the grindinge of the belly The sede is good for the cough and the diseases of the brest The oyle that is made of the sede of cotton / is good to take awaye frekelles and spottes out of the face The sede also vsed in meate as the Phisicianes of Arabi do testifye / multiplieth and increaseth the sede of man Of Grasse GRasse is named in Greke Agrostis / in Latin Gramen / in Duche grasse / in Frenche Deut de chien Grasse crepeth with lyke braunches / they come from swete rootes / of full ioyntes / the leaues are harde / as the lytle riedes leaues are / also brode / but they are sharpe towarde the ende The leaues of grasse fede as Dioscorides sayth / both horse oxen / and all suche lyke beastes as are called in Latin boues and iumenta Then when as the herbe that we call in Englishe stychewort / groweth only in hedge sides in woddes and shadowy places / that very thin / so that xl acres of the wodde or of any other places wher as it groweth / most plentuouslye wolde not fede one powre calffe iiij dayes I can not thinke / that stichewort is the grasse that Dioscorides speaketh of He presupposeth it to be in suche plenty / that it were able to fede great nombers of beast and cattell in a smal space of grounde The vertues of the right Grasse THe roote of the right Grasse brused and layde to / byndeth woundes together an closeth them vppe / the broth of grasse dronken / healeth gnawinges in the belly / prouoketh vrine and breaketh the stony matter of the bladder Of Scorpiones tayle HEliotropium the greater hath a flower lyke the Scorpiones tayle / by reason wherof he is called scorpiuros / that is to saye / scorpiones tayle / and because it turneth the leaues about wyth the sonne / it is called Heliotropion / that is / turned wyth the sonne / or sonne flower It hath leaues lyke vnto basill / but rowgher and whyter / greater There come thre braunches out of one roote / some tymes foure / some tymes fyue / it hath a white flower in the toppe / or some thinge redishe that turneth in agayne lyke a scorpiones tayle The roote is small and good for nothinge it groweth in rowghe places I neuer sawe it growynge in Englande / nether in Germany / sauing only in my garden in Collen / in my gardeÌ at Wellis in Englande in Italy I haue sene it in greate plenty in the feldes about Bonony / they are far
mother / and the burstinge out of man or womans water Some do write that this herbe bound to / and hanged vp in a cremesin flece / stoppeth blode Of Hiacinthus Hiacinthus maximus Hiacinthus ceruleus maior Hiacinthus Ceruleus minor Hiacinthus albicanus foemina HYacinthus hath leaues like vnto the herbe called bulbus / it hath a stalke a span long / smaller then a mans litle finger / of grene color / the toppe of the herbe haÌgeth downe / full of purple flowres / the roote is like vnto the rownd hede of a Bulbus The best kinde of Hiacinthus that euer I sawe / was it that Lucas Gynus the reader of Dioscorides in Bonony shewed me about a xiiij yeares agoo / harde by the mount Appennine Hiacinthus is also commen in Englande / though it be not of the best / and it is called crowtowes / crowfote crowtese The vertues of Hiacinthus THe rote of this herbe dronken / stoppeth the belly and driueth furth water / it is a remedy againste the bytinges of a felde spider The sede is more bindinge and desired for triacles / wyth wine if it be dronken / it healeth the iawndes The boyes in NorthuÌberlande scrape the roote of the herbe and glew theyr arrowes and bokes wyth that slyme that they scrape of Of Hiosyris HYosiris is like vnto succory / but it is lesse and rowgher / the herbe that I take for Hyosiris / hath a rowghe leafe / growinge harde by the grounde indented / after the maner of succory or dandelion / but the teth are not so sharpe / the stalkes / flowers / downe are like vnto theÌ that are in DandelioÌ / sauinge that they are roughe in this herbe / and smothe in DaÌdelion Wherfore I name it roughe Dandelion It groweth in sandy baron groundes / and about casten diches that haue muche sand in them The vertues of Hyosiris PLiny writeth / if the leaues of Hyosyris be brused and laide to woundes / it healeth them wounderfull well It doth appere by the taste of this herbe / and certayne qualities that I finde in it / that it shoulde serue for the same purpose that succory and Endiue serue for Of saint Iohans grasse THe herbe whiche is called in Greke Hipericon / in Englishe saint Iohans grasse / or saint Iohans wurt / in Duche saint Iohans kraut / of some herbaries fuga demonum / groweth comeÌly in woddes and in hedges / in som gardines wythout any settinge Dioscorides writeth thus of HypericoÌ Hipericon is named of som AndrosemoÌ / of other CorioÌ / of other Grounde pine / because the sede of it hath the smell of rosin / it hath a bushe like ferula / that is to say / fenel gyant a span long / rede / it hath a lefe like rue / a yealow floure like vnto wall gelouer Whiche if it be brused wyth a mans finger / putteth furth a blodi iuice / wherfore som haue called it mans blode It hath a cod that is roughe and round of the bignes of barley The sede is blacke and Hypericon S. Iohans grasse of the smell of rosin This herbe is called of some of the later wryters perforata / that is throw holed / bycause if ye set the leafe betwene yow and the sonne / ther shall appere an infinite nombre of holes in the leaues The vertues of saint Iohans grasse SAint Iohans grasse driueth furth water / if it belaide to / it bringeth downe flowres It deliuereth from tertiaÌ and quartan agues if it bedronken wyth wine The sede dronken the space of xl dayes / healeth the sciatica The leaues laide to emplasterwise wyth the sede / heale burninges Of Hysop DIoscorides leueth Hisop vndescribed / belike it was so well knowen in his dayes that he thought it neded not to be described but by that meane it is now comme to passe that we dowt whether this Hysop that we haue / be the true Hysop of the auncient writers or no. Dioscorides in the description of Ograne / compareth organe in likenes vnto the hysop / but no organ that euer I saw / whether it came out of Candi or out of Spaine / or grew here in England / like vnto oure Hysop / for their is brode leaued / and our hysop hath longe leaues / wherfore ether we haue not the true hysop / or els we neuer saw the true organ The Hysop that Mesna also describeth / is not agreinge wyth this oure Hysop as ye may perceyue by this his description that foloweth here Hysop is of two sortes / ther is one mountaine Hysop / and an other gardin Hysop The gardin Hysop is halff a cubit hyghe / hath fewer stalkes and braunches theÌ time hath It hath leues like vnto time but greater / the flour is purple / the wilde is shorter and hath lesse leaues Ye se here that Mesne maketh his hysopes leaues like vnto the leaues of time / but we haue no suche hysop and time that agre ether in figure or bignes together / wherfore it is to be suspect that ther is som better Hysop / then this that we haue Howbe it / I thinke in vertue propertie that it differeth nothinge from the hysop of the olde writers We haue in Sumershire beside the coÌmeÌ Hysop that groweth in all other places of Englande / a kinde of Hysop that is al roughe and hory / it is greater muche and stronger then the coÌmen Hysop is / som call it rough Hysop Hyssopus Hyssopum montanum Cilicium The properties of Hysop HYsop hath the vertue to make fine and to hete The brothe of Hysop made with figges / water / hony / and rue / dronken / helpeth the inflammation of the longes / the olde coughe / the shortwinded / rheumes or poses / and them that can not well take theyr breth It killeth wormes It hath the same power if it be licked in wyth hony The brothe of it dronken wyth a drinke made of hony and vinegre / called oximell / draweth out grosse humores thorow the belly / and it is good to be eaten wyth grene figges to make yow go to the stole / but it worketh better if Aris be put therto / or Cardamome or Ireo It kepeth and maketh the color of the body continewe still Wyth a fyg and nitre / it is good for the mylt and for the dropse It is vsed to be layde vnto burninge heares or inflaÌmationes wyth wine It druleth and scattereth awaye the blue markes of brusinges It is good to be gargled wyth the brothe of figges against the quinsey The broth of Hysop wyth vinegre swageth the toth ache if the mouth be washed ther wyth The brethe or vapor of Hisop driueth away the winde that is in the eares if they be holden ouer it Of Gethsamine or Iesemin IEfemin or Gethsamine / as I suppose is called in Greke iasme / and it is the flower / wher of the oyle called in Dioscorides oleum
of the milt and lyuer Of the pulse called Lupines LVpinus is named in Greke thermos / in Duche feigbon / in FreÌche lupin / and so may it be called in Englishe / or if a man will folow the Duche / he may call it a fyg bene Lupine hath one loÌg stalke / and a lefe with v. or seuen iaggers / which altogether / when as they are growen out / haue the lykenes of a ruel of a spor / or of a sterr The floure is whyte / in whose place / when it is gone / commeth after a long cod / wherin are v. or seuen sedes in color whyte and without / somtyme a litle redishe / in fasshon flat lyke a cake it hath a shord roote in color redishe The leues of lupines turne with the son / as Pliny wryteth and experience teached The vertues of Lupines THe mele of lupines / licked vp with hony / or if it be taken with drinke / dryueth wormes out of the belly The lupines selues steped / and eateÌ with theyr bitternes / are good for the same purpose The broth Lupini albi of them hath lyke vertue / dronken with rue and pepper / and so is it good for theÌ that haue the disease of the milt With the same it is good to bathe and washe wild sores / gangrenes / and the scab / when it beginneth first to come burstinges of it of wheles / rynnyng sores of the hede / frekles and spottes Lupines put into the body after the maner of a suppositori / with hony and myrr / all beyng wrapped in woll / draweth both down weomens floures / and also hyr burden that she goeth with if it be rype The flour or mele of lupines with lynt sede / amendeth the skinne and blew markes with perched barley water it swageth inflaÌmationes / and burnynges It easeth swellynges / and it is good for the sciatica layd on with vinegre If it be layd to with vinegre where in it is sodden / it heleth wennes and bursteth carbuncles Lupines sodden in rayn water / vntill they wexe towgh into a thick broth / scour and make clene the face Lupines are also good for the scabbor maugenes of cattell with the roote of black chameleon / so that they be wasshed with the warm broth that they are sodden in The rootes sodden in water / prouoke or stir a man to make water Lupines broken / after that by stepyng they wex swete / if they be dronken in vinegre take away the lothsomnes of the stomake and ingendreth an appetit an lust to eat The smoke of lupines burned / dryue gnattes and mydges away as Pliny wryteth Of Lysimachia LYsimachia putteth furth stalkes of the lenght of a cubit or som tyme longer / busshy / small / the leues com out at the knees or knottes / or ioyntes of the herbe They are thinne in fasshoÌ lyke wylow leues in taste byndyng The flour is darck rede or of the color of golde It groweth in watery in marrishe fennish groundes Thys is a very comen herbe in Germany England I meruell that Matthiolus could not fynd it in Italy vntil it was sent hym from Rome by Vincent CaÌton to Goritia But all though it be fouÌd in mani places of EnglaÌd / yet Lysimachiae purpureae primum genus Lysimachia luthea Lysimachia III. I coulde neuer learne any Englishe name of it It may be well called after the etimologi of the worde / and also of the vertue that it hath lous strife / or it may be called herbe willow The Duche men call it weyderich The vertues of Lousstrife THe iuice of the leues / by ther byndyng poure stoppeth the castyng out of blood It is ether to be poured in / or to be taken inward for the blody flyx If it be put in a mother suppository / it will stop the excessiue rynnyng or isshue of the mother If ye stop your nose with thys herbe / it will stop the rynnyng out of blood of it It stayeth also the excessiue rynnyng out of blood out of woundes It dryueth away serpentes and killeth flies with hys smoke / for it is wonders sharpe in smell There is an other Lysimachia besyd it that I haue spoken of with a redish purple floure / that groweth much about water sydes with an heade like an eare But I red of no other properti that it shoulde haue then it which hath the yelow or golden floures Of the Mallow or Maw MAlua is named in Greke Malachi / in English a Mallow / in Duch pappel / in Frenche maulue Ther are two kyndes of Mallowes / the one is the gardin mallow / and the other is the wilde mallow And eche of these as Pliny writeth / is diuided into diuerse kindes Of those mallowes that are soweÌ / the Grecianes call the greater / malopen Me thynck that the other is called malache / because it softeneth the belly Amonges the wilde mallowes it that hath the greate lefe and the whyte rote / is called althea / and of the excellent workyng that it hath / it is called of som Aristalthea The former kynde is now called in Englishe / frenche mallow it may be called tre mallow of the great bygnes that it groweth to And it that is called Malache of the Grecianes / and is after Pliny the Malua hortensis Malua syluestris pumila Malua syluestris lesse kinde of gardin mallowes / is called in Englishe holy ok / in Duche Winter rosen The former kinde of wild mallow / which as Pliny sayeth / is called Althea Aristalthea / is also called of the Latin writers Hibiscus / in Englishe marsh mallow / or marrish mallow / in Duche Ibishe of Galene Anadendron / of Aetius DeÌdromalache of the apothecaries maluabis malua and maluaniscus The other kynde of wilde mallow is it that groweth wilde about townes and hygh wayes / and is commenly called in Englishe a mallow Theophrast in the nynthe booke de historia plantarum writeth that certayn thynges by dressyng and trymmyng departe froÌ theyr kynde and olde nature / as the mallow doth / sayeth he / whiche when as it is by nature but an herbe / yet groweth vp into the greatenes of a tre He sayeth that the gardin mallow within six or seueÌ monethes groweth so highe / that the stalck of it will serue for a laÌce staff / and that therfore diuerse vse the stalkes of mallowes for staues The leues of mallowes are knowen of all men to be round the sede is in a litle round forme lyke a chese / som mallow floures are rede / som blew / som whyte / and if they had the lyke smell in beauty / myght well be compared with the rose floures The roote is very long and depe in the ground and somthyng shymy The vertues of mallowe or mawes THe gardin mallow is better to be eaten / then the wylde mallow is Yet is it ill for the
if a man wolde eat it / he had nede to sethe it very muche Aueroes writeth that the gardine carot is good for them that ar slow to the worke of increasyng the world with childer Of the herbe called Peplis Peplis PEplis whome som call wild porcellayn / Hippocrates calleth peplioÌ / for the moste parte groweth by the see syde / it hath a brode shaddowyng bushe which is full of whyte iuice The leues ar lyke vnto porcellayn / rounde and rede benethe Vnder the leues is a rounde sede as there is in pleplo with a burnyng taste It hathe but one single roote / which is empty and small I haue sene thys herbe in Ilandes about Venis It is very lyk vnto our English wartwurth / which is iudged of learned men to be tithimalus helioscopius / but it is much shorter thicker / and spredeth it self vpon the ground / it may be called in Englishe see wartwurt The vertues of Peplis PEplis taken in the quantite of an acetable with one cyate of mede / purgeth out choler and fleme thys herbe haue I sene in an yland besyde Venis Of the herbe called Peplis Peplos PEplus is a busshy herbe full of milky iuice / with litle leues lyke rue / but a litle broder / with a round bushe of herbes in the top / almoste a span loÌg / spred vpon the grounde The sede is rouÌde groweth vnder the leues sumthyng lesse theÌ whyte poppy sede It is full of many helpes It hath but one roote that void nothyng worthe It groweth amongest the vindes in gardines I neuer saw thys herbe in any place sauyng only in Bonony / where as my master Lucas aboue xvj yeres shewed me with many other strange herbes which I neuer saw sence I cam out of Italy I know no name for thys herbe but for lak of a better name / it may be called pety spourge Thys herbe hath no other vertues as Dioscorides writeth then Peplis hath Of Vuod bynde Periclymenum PEriclymeÌnon is named of the comon herbaries matrisylua / in Englishe Wodbynde / or Honysuckle in som places of EnglaÌd / the Duche men call it Waldgilgen / the Frenche men call it / cheure fueille Wodbynd doth bush vp in one stalk alone and hath litle leues whiche stande by lyke spaces one from an other / imbracynge the stalk / white in vnder lyke vnto Iuy And ther grow litle twigges vp amongest the leues where on grow berries lyke vnto Iuy berries The flour is white like the faba floures / which men take for our beane / somthyng round / as thoughe it leaned down toward the leafe The sede is harde / and not easye to be plucked away The roote is round and thik It groweth in feldes and hedges / and windeth it self about busshes The properties of wodbynde IF ye gather the sede of Wodbynd when it is rype / dry it in a shaddowy place / will geue a dram of it in wyne for the space of xl dayes / it will melt away the mylt / dryue away werines / it well be excelleÌtly good medicine for shortnes of wynde / for the hitchcoughe or yiskyng It will dryue furth water / but vpon the sixt day after the continual vse of it / it will dryue out blody water The same is good for a woman that hath an hard laboryng of childe The leues haue the sam vertues And som write that if a man drynk the leues xxxvij dayes together / that they will make hym that he shal get no mo childer If ye seth the leues of wodbynd in oyle / anoynte them that haue the ague comming vpon them by certayn courses and commynges about / and they will ease them Of the Great bur Lappa maior Personatia THe great bur is named in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latin personata not persolata / of the comon herbaries lappa maior / in Duche groà Kletten / in Frenche Gletteron The bur hath leues lyke vnto a gourde but bygger / rougher / blacker and thicker The stalk is som thyng whytishe / howbeit it is found som tyme with out any stalk at all It groweth comonly about townes and villages / about diches and hyghewayes doug hylles suche vile places The vertues of the great bur THe roote of the bur taken with pinaple kirnelles / in the quantite of a dram / is good for them that coughe out matter or fylthy gear / or bloode The roote is good to be layd to / for the ach that commeth by the wrinchyng or streuyng of any ioynte The leues ar good to be layd vpon olde sores Of the herbe called Petasites Petasites PEtasites hath soft stele or footstalk / a cubit loÌg and somtyme longer / it is of the thicknes of a mannis finger / and in the top of it groweth a lefe which hath the fasshon of an hat / it hangeth doun after the maner of a todestool Dioscorides maketh no mention nether of the masterstalke nether of the flour of thys herbe / but I haue sene bothe In the myddes of Marche in watery groundes besyde riuerse / and brookes that ryn all the year / and ar not dry in summer thys herbe bryngeth first furth a short stalk / where vpon grow many floures as they were in a cluster / in color purple in whyte After that the stalke and floures ar faided gone away / then com vp the leues / euen as it chanceth vnto the herbe which is called in Greke Bechion / and in Latin Tussilago It hath a grete and long bitter roote with a very strong smell Thys herbe is called in Northumbreland an Eldin / in Cambridgeshyre a Butterbur / in Duch PestileÌtz wurtz The vertues of Petasites BUtterbur is good as Dioscorides writeth for fretyng sores suche as ar extremely harde to he le / if it be beten and layd to after the maner of an emplaster The later writer and namely Hieronymus Tragus write that the root of thys herbe is good agaynst the pestilence They gyue a litle of the pouder of thys herbes roote in wyne to the pacient / about the quantite of a dram / and prouoke hym to sweate there with / which thyng it doth very myghtely They vse the same roote beateÌ into pouder agaynst the stranglyng of the mother They gyue it also both to men and beastes for wormes / to weomen that ar vexed with the vprysyng of the mother / and to any that ar shortwynded The herbe is without all dout hote and dry muche aboue the second degre Matthiolus without all reson or sufficient profe reproueth Ruellius and Fuchsius in the settingfurth of thys herbe / worthy more to be reproued hym self for so vnworthely reprouyng of them Amatus Lusitanus the ape of Matthiolus writeth much more vnlearnedly and more lyingly then Matthiolus doth For he writeth thus We can not tell what Petasites is / if it be not a kynde
for the head ache they are also good for the styngynge of waspes and bees If it be dronken / it stoppeth perbreakynge This herbe is of an hote nature / euen hote and drye in the second degre / whylse it is grene / hote and drye in the thyrde degre when it is dryed / and in the same degre is the former sisymbrium Of the puls called smilax hortensis and in English Kidney beane Smilax hortensis SMilax of the gardin / whose fruytes are called lobia / that is coddes or huskes or shales / is called sperage It hath leaues lyke vnto Yuy / but softer and smaller stalkes / and claspers wounden in busshes / whereunto they are set / whych increase to that greatnes / that they make arborres and thynges lyke tentes It hath a fruyte lyke Fenegreke / but longer and more notable / where in are sedes lyke vnto kydnes / not all of one color / but are for a parte somthynge redishe The vertues of Kidney beanes THe fruyt is sodden wyth the sede / and it is eaten after the maner of a wurt or eatable herbe / as sperage is eaten / it maketh a man make water and causeth heuy dreames Of the sharp Smilax Smilax aspera THe sharpe smilax hath leaues lyke vnto wodbinde / and many smal braunches / full of prickes / lyke vnto paliurus or the bramble It windeth it self aboute trees / crepinge vp and doune It beareth a fruyt full of berryes / as a litle cluster / growyng out of the top of the smal braunches / whych is rede / when it is rype / and biteth a litle in tast It hath an harde roote and thyck It groweth in merrish and in rough groundes The vertues of the sharp Smilax THe leafe and fruyte of thys / are a preseruatiue or triacle agaynst dedlye poysones / whether they be taken before or after Som write that if anye man geue a litle of these broken into pouder vnto a newe borne chylde / that he shall neuer after be hurt wyth anye deadlye poyson It is also put in to preseruatiue medicines to helpe agaynst deadly poysones Of the smooth Smilax or great arbor wynde The smoth smilax / whyche maye be called in English Arbor winde / or great winde / or with winde / hath leaues lyke to Iuy / but softer and smoother / and thynner / and longe braunches / as the rough smilx / whyche are wythout prickes Thys doth also wind it self aboute trees as the other It hath a fruyte lyke a Lupine / black and litle It hath aboue manye whyte floures / and rounde thorowe oute all the braunches and there of are made arbores or summer houses But in Autumne / the leaues fall of Thus far Dioscorides As for the sharpe smilax / I haue sene it diuerse tymes / and I am sure the description of Dioscorides agreeth well wyth it hetherto haue I founde no herbe / wherewyth the hole description of smilax leuis doth agre For allthough the greate wynde wyth the great bell floure be in all other partes agreynge wyth the description of Dioscorides yet the fruyt agreeth not / for it is not lyke vnto the fruyte of Alupine Aetius also in the healinge of a dropsey / sayeth that the smilax / whyche groweth in the hedges by the water syde / bringeth furth coddes as the kidney beane doth / called gardin smilax But I neuer sawe anye kinde of wynde / or wyth winde / or arbor winde / haue anye suche cod / wherefore I must confesse / that I neuer sawe the rygt herbe / whyche is called smilax leuis The herbe that Matthiolus setteth furth in hys figure for smilax leuis / hath nether a sede lyke Lupine / nor yet coddes lyke vnto the puls / called smilax hortensis wherefore it can not be smilax leuis in my iudgement / excepte that there be other kindes of Lupine / then euer I haue sene / and other kindes of coddes or huskes of the gardin smilax / then haue cummed to my syght The herbe that Matthiolus setteth furth for smilax leuis / is in my iudgement the fyrste kinde of Volubilis in Mesne / where of he writeth thus There is one great kinde of wynd or wythwinde / whych hath mylke in it / and is called in Latin Funis arborum / that is the rope of trees / it hath a whyte floure lyke vnto a bell Dioscorides taketh it for a temporat herbe / or ellis a litle hoter / then temporate / and to be drye in the second degre It resolueth / rypeth / scoureth / louseth and openeth the mouth of the vesselles of the vaynes / and therefore it is geuen wyth tragagant / mastick / spicknard / and whaye / it deliuereth men from the stoppinge of the liuer and the vaynes / that goeth betwene the liuer and the guttes / and therefore it healeth iaundes wyth the iuyce of persely / and sicorye or whaye / it purgeth gentely burnt choler / and therefore it helpeth rotten agues / and speciallye suche as are longe cholerick agues / it scoureth also awaye the excrementes and outcastes of the brestes and lounges / and therefore it is good for them that are shortwinded Of Nighte shad NIghte shad or Petemorell is called in Greke Strichnos / in Latin Solanum / in Barbarus latin SolatruÌ / in Duche Nacht schad / in Frenche Morelle Night shad is a bushy herbe / whyche is vsed to be eaten / it is not very great / it hath many holes lyke vnto Arne holes at the setting on of the braunches and the stalk Solanum somniferum It hath black leaues and greater then basil / and broder it hath a rounde grene berrye / the berrye is ether black or rede / when it is rype / the herbe hath a gentle taste wythout hurt The vertues of Nyghte shad THe nature of it is to coole / wherefore the leaues layd to wyth perched barley mele / is good for saint Antonies fyre / that is a colerick inflammation and it is good against tetters If the leaues be layd to by them selues / they are good to heale the inflammation in the corner of the eye / called Egelopa / whyche is disposed to brede a fistula / and also the head ache they are also good for an hote or boylinge stomack They dryue awaye the hote imposteme behynde the eare / called Parotis / if they be broken and layd to wyth salt The iuice is also good for the hote inflammation / and tetters and such lyke rinnyng sores or hote scurf or scabbes / if it be layd to wyth whyte lede rose oyle and litarge / and wyth bread / it heleth the disease of the eye / called Egilopa It is good for children that haue that burning in the head / for the inflaÌmation of the brayn / fylmes skinnes that go about it If it be poured wyth rose oyle vpon ones head / it is menged wyth ey medicines in stede of water or of an egge
smother / and longer The stalk is a span long / wherin are purple floures / and a knobby root / somwhat loÌge / two growyng together / narrow lyke an oliue berry / the one aboue / and the other beneth / and the one of them is full / and the other soft / and full of wrinkelles There are diuers kindes of orchis / which are called in Latin testiculus / that is a stone One kinde of them hath many spottes in the leafe / and is called adder grasse in NorthuÌberland the other kindes ar in other couÌtrees called fox stones or hear stones / they may after the Greke be called dogstones Of the vertues of Adder grasse THe roote of it / when it is sodden inough / is eatable as bulbus is / they write of thys herbe / that if the greater roote be eaten of men / it maketh men chyldren / and if the roote be eaten of weomen / it maketh weomen childer And moreouer / this is also tolde of it / that the weomen of Thessalia geue it wyth gotes milk / to prouoke the pleasure of the body / whylse it is tender / but they geue the drye one / to hinder and stop the pleasure of the bodye And it groweth in stony places and in sandy groundes There is an other kinde whych is called Serapias / as Andreas sayth for the manyfolde vse of the root / it hath leaues lyke vnto a leke / long / but broder and fat / bowynge inward about the setting on of the leaues / and litle stalkes a span hygh / and floures somthyng purple there is a roote in vnder lyke vnto stones The vertue of the second kinde of Testiculus Thys layd to / hath the propertye of dryuing awaye swellinge and scouring of sores / and to stay running tetters It putteth awaye fistules / and if it be layd to / it swageth places that are inflamed set afyre The same drye / stoppeth eating sores / and rotteÌ sores / and it healeth the greuous sores that are in the mouth It stoppeth also the bellye / if it be dronken wyth wyne Men geue all the properties vnto thys / that are geuen vnto the former kindes Of triacle mustarde called Thlaspi THlaspi is a litle herbe wyth strayte leaues / a fingre long / turned toward the ground / aboute the edge iagged / and somthynge fat It hath a smal stalke / of the hyght of two spannes / whych hath a few furth growynges and about the hole / the fruyt is somthyng brode from the top / wherein is sede lyke vnto cresses / of the figure of a disshe or coyte as it were thyrst together / after the turnyng of Cornarius broken of / wherevpon it hath the name It hath a floure somthynge whyte / and it groweth in wayes and about hedges / after the translation of Ruellius / whych is nerer the Greke Thlaspi is named in Latine thlaspium / in Duche baurensenff / it may be named in English triacle mustard / boures mustard / or dishe mustarde It groweth much in the corne both in England and in Almany / Thlaspi and I haue sene it besyde Wormes growyng besyde diches / and at Frrancfort about the walles of the cytie / in England in moste plentye aboute Sion In London it groweth in maister Riches gardin / and maister Morgaines also / and in maister Hambridges gardin in Summersedshyre as I remembre The vertues of triacle mustard THe sede of it is sharp / or biting / and heateth / and it purgeth choler vpwarde and dounwarde / if it be dronken in the quantite of two vnces and an half It is also good to be put in by a clister / for the disease of the sciatica Taken in drink / it driueth also blood / and it breaketh inwarde impostemes / and bringeth doun to weomen theyr floures / and it is euell for weomeÌ whych are wyth chylde Out of Galene The Thlaspi that is brought out of Candy / and groweth there / is betwene redish yelow / and pale yelow / in figure rounde / so litle som tyme that it is lesse then the corne of millet The Thlaspi that cometh out of Cappadocia / is toward blacknes / and the sede is not fully rounde / and it is muche greater then the forenamed is / and vpon one syde it hath a litle thyng / like as it wer a brusinge in / where vpon it hath the name That is rekened to be the beste groweth in saurot / and it is nether lyke it that groweth in Candy / nor it the groweth commonly in other places These wordes hath Galene written of Thlaspi Matthiolus compleyneth that the thlaspi in Italy hath no indenting about / but in Englande we haue no suche cause For it hath litle cuttinges or iaggynges about the edges of the leaues / and speciallye of them that are next vnto the roote And as touchyng the sede / I could neuer fynde it in any place as yet flat / but euer round and rede / and it that is written of the breakynge of it / and of the form of a dishe / after my iudgement ought rather to be vnderstanded of the sede vesselles / then of the sede it selfe For the sede vessell bringe hole / hath the form of a dishe / and the same a litle brused / is broken into two partes as into two halff disshes Let euery man folowe it that he fyndeth to be moste true / both by reason and by experience / in this mater Of the Linden tre Tilia TIlia is named in Greke philyra / in Duche ein Linden baume / in English a Lind tre It groweth very plentuously in Essekes in a parke within two mile from Colichester / in the possession of one maister Bogges / it is also very comon in high Germany / it groweth so far abrode ther / that men set tables aboue in it / whereof som are so long that ten men maye sit well at one table / and yet roume remaynyng inough for many other besyde the table The description of tilia out of Theophrast Ther is one kind of tilia that is the male / and an other that is the femal They differ in tember / in all the fasshon of theyr bodies / because that the one of them beareth fruyt / and the other is barren / the timber of the male is harde and yelow / fuller of knottes and fuller of prickes / the tymber of the female is whyter / the male hath a thicker barck / and when it is drawen of / it is not bowyng by reason of the hardnes The barck of the female is more whyte and more bowyng / and therof they make cradelles The bark of the female is better smelling / the male is barren and hath no floures the female bringeth furth both fruyt and floures The floure is couered wyth a litle couering The fruyt is long / rounde of the bygnes of a great pease lyke vnto the berrye of an
it bringeth oute wormes / and both floures and the secondes / and the chylde also at conueniente tyme receyued / it prouoketh water also But if it be menged wyth honye and licked in / it maketh good auoyding oute of a mannis brest If it be put into an emplaster / it driueth away newe swellinges It louseth in peces the lumpes of brused blood if it be taken wyth vinegre It taketh awaye hanginge wartes / and those that are called thymi / of the lykenes that they haue wyth the toppes of thyme It is good for them that haue the sciatica / layd to wyth wyne and perched barley mele Thesame taken wyth meat / is good for eyes that are dull of syghte And in the tyme of health / it is good for a sauce or a seasoner of meat Thyme is hote in the thyrde degre Of the herbes called Tribuli Tribulus aquaticus Tribulus terrestris THere are two kindes of herbes that haue the name of Tribulus the one that groweth vpon the lanââ / and the other in the water or vpon the water The fyrst kinde is called in Greke Tribolos chersea this kinde as Dioscorides describeth it / hath leaues lyke vnto porcellayne / but smaller / and litle braunches sprede vpon the grounde / and in them are very tarte meaning peraduenture by tart sharp also prickes and harde It groweth besyde waters and aboute olde houses and wayes The second kinde groweth in waters / wyth the top growynge aboue the water / but it hydeth the prick the leaues are brode / and they haue a loÌg footstalk The stalk is great in the ouer part and small beneth It hath litle tasselles lyke heares growynge vp in the lykenes of eares The fruit is hard as the other is The former kinde groweth in Italy aboute Bonony in plentye / where as I haue sene it And in dede the leaues are more lyke the leaues of ciches as Theophrast describeth Tribulus / then vnto the leaues of porcellayn / but they haue som lykenes vnto the yong leaues of porcellayn Nowe when as the one sayeth that Tribulus hath leaues lyke vnto porcellayne / and the other leaues lyke vnto a ciche / they erre verye sore / that ether Englishe tribulus / a thiâtel or a bramble / seynge that nether the leafe of a thistel nor of a bramble / is lyke vnto the leafe of a ciche or the leafe of porcellayne And as for the second kinde of Tribulus / nether can it be a bramble nor a thistel / except there be thistelles and brambles / that growe in and aboue the water / whych no man hetherto hath sene If anye man woulde knowe or aske me / howe I would Englishe in Matthewes gospell thys worde Tribulus If men will trust my iudgement / in englishing of thys worde / I aunswere / I had leuer English tribulus / a trible / or a ciche thistell / then englishe it ether a thistel or a bramble The water tribulus is called in Duche Wasser nuss and therefore we maye englishe it a water nut / or club nut / because the fruyt of it is lyke a club full of greate pykes But som perchance will saye that Theophrast an older autour / maketh two kindes of grounde tribulus / and therefore it is possible that though a thistell or a bramble haue not a leafe lyke vnto ciche / yet it maye be lyke vnto the leaues of a thistel / and so maye tribulus be a thistel For Theophrast sayeth Tribuli duo sunt genera vnus folio exit ciceris alter spinosus constat foliatus ambo terreni Lo here Theophrast maketh one kinde of tribulus terrestris that hath pricky leaues therefore tribulus allthough it can not be a bramble / yet it may be a thistell To thys I aunswere / that Theophrast in the sixt boke and fyft chapter writeth Serius germinat qui spinosus est semen praecoquis sesamae vicinum serotini rotundum nigricans septum in siliqua That is tribulus that hath the prickes in the leaues doth spruit or bud oute later The sede of them that are hastely rype / is lyke vnto the sede of Sesama / but the sede of it that waxeth rype late / is rounde / blackishe / closed vp in a cod If ye will then haue the seconde kinde of tribuli terrestris of Theophrast to be a thistel or a bramble / ye must shewe som thistel or bramble that hath round sede in a cod / or ellis I must thynke that ye erre very much that English tribulum ether a thistell or a bramble The vertues of the two kindes of Tribulus THey are both bindinge / and do coole / and are good to be made playsters of / for anye kinde of inflammation / with hony they heale the hote sores of the mouth / the sore kyrnelles about the rootes of the tong / and all rotting in the mouth / and the sore goumes There is also pressed out of them a iuyce for eye medicines The grene fruyte of theÌ dronken / is good for the stone a dram of it of the lande dronken / and layd to / is good for them that are bitten of a viper or adder It is also good agaynste poysoned drinkes / if it be dronken wyth wyne The broth of it sprinkled vpon the grounde / killeth flees There is an yron wyth four pykes called as I remembre a callerop that is also named tribulus / of the lykenes that it hath wyth the fruyt of tribulus This instrument is casten in the way to hinder the enemies that folow flyers very sore / it is called in Latin Murex Of Englishe Maydens heare Trichomanes TRichomanes groweth in the same places that Adianthum / or right Lumbardy maydens hear groweth It is lyke vnto a Ferne / very litle in quantite / and it hath smal leaues of eche syde growyng in order in figure lyke vnto the leaues of a Lentill / one agaynst an other vpon small twigges shyninge tarte / and somthynge blackishe This herbe is called of the Grecianes and Latines both Trichomanes / and of som Grecianes also Calliphyllon / and of other Politrichon / and of som Cellitrichon the comon herbaries call it capillum veneris / whiche name is more agreynge wyth the ryghte Adiantho It is called in Duch Widertod / and Venus hare / in English we call it Maydens hear or Englishe maydens heare The vertues of Maydens heare DIoscorides writeth that Trichomanes that is our English Maydens heare is supposed to haue the same vertue that the Lumbardy Maydens heare hath / therefore turne to the herbe called Adianthum or Lumbardye venus heare or maydens heare / and there ye shall fynd the vertues of it at large Pliny writeth that the broth of our maydens heare dronken wyth wyne / and a litle wilde Cumin / healeth the Strangurie The iuice stayeth the heare that falleth of / and if they be fallen of / it restoreth them agayne Of the herbe called Trifolium
iuice of panicis Also if they be layde vnto louse nayles / they make them come of the soner Of wall penny grasse VMbilicus veneris is named in Greke kotyledon scytalion and cymbalion It hath a leafe lyke vnto the hole that receyueth the rounde ende of the huckel bone / whiche hath the forme of a sawser / rounde and darkly holowe / a short stalk in the middes / wherein groweth sede It hath a rounde roote lyke an olyue Thys herbe groweth in welles and diuers places of Summerset shyre in more plentye / then euer I sawe in anye other place all my lyfe I knowe no English name for it but lest it should be wythout a name / I call it wall penny grasse To put a difference betwene it and the shepekyllinge penny grasse / that groweth in merishe and waterye groundes As for the other kinde / I neuer sawe it that I wote of / excepte I sawe it paynted in Matthiolus / but his seconde kinde is set oute wyth lesse leaues then the former is / whych agreeth not wyth the description of Dioscorides / who maketh the seconde kinde bigger then the former The vertues of wall pennye grasse THe iuyce of the leaues layd to wyth wyne / or poured in / louseth the stoppinge of the priuities The same layde to / is good for the inflammationes / and saint Antonies fyre / for kybed heles / and wennes / burninge stomackes But the leaues taken in meate wyth the rootes / breake the stone / prouoke water / and they are geuen wyth honied wine to them that haue the dropsey Of the Elm tre Vlmus VLmus is named in Greke Ptelea / in Duche ein ilm baum / in English an Elm tre / it groweth comonly in all countrees Theophraste maketh two kindes of elm / the elm of the playne and mount elme The playne elme is more braunchie or full of braunches the mount elme is of greater grouth the leafe is not diuided / lightly iagged about / longer then a peare tre lefe / rough and not smothe This tre is notable both in greatnes and in leingth It loueth moyste groundes the tymbre is yelowe / strong / full of synewes / and euel fauored / for it is al hart Virgil also maketh the elm an hygh tre in thys verse Nec gemere aeria cessabit turtur ab vlmo The vertues of the Elm tre THe leues / the boughes / and the barck of the elm tre / haue a binding vertue the leaues are good for the lepre / layd to with vinegre / they bind woundes together / but the bark is better / therfore if it be bound to as a swadling band But the thicker barck dronken with wine or water in the quantite of an vnce / driueth out fleme If broken bones be sprengled washed with the broth of the leaues / or the barke of the roote / they will soner be couered with an hard crust grow together But the iuyce that is in the knoppes or buddes that come fyrst furth if it be layd to / it maketh the face very clere the same moysture after that it is dried vp / is resolued into litle flies like ganattes The fyrste grene leaues are sodden for kichin or sowell as other eatable herbes be Of the Nettell Vrtica Romana Vrtica maior Vrtica minor VRtica is named in Greke acadyphe / and knide in English a nettel / in Duche ein nessel / in French ortye There are two kindes of nettels the one is wilder sharper and broder / and it hath blacker leaues the sede is lyke lynt sede / but lesser This is the kinde that is called Vrtica Romana / and it groweth in Englande onlye in gardines but in Italy / and in Mentz in Germanye it groweth wilde as our comon nettel doth The second kinde hath small sede / and is not so sharpe as the other is / and this take I to be our comon nettel of Englande The vertues of Nettels THe leaues of both the kindes of nettels / layd to wyth salt / heale the biting of a dog / sores called gangrenes / and other caÌkred sores / and foule sores / and partes out of ioynte / lumpes / swellinges behind the eares / swelling of kirnelles lyke bread / and impostemes The same are good to be layde on the milt wyth waxe The leaues broken and put in wyth the iuyce / stoppeth the gussing out of blood of the nose If they be brused / and put in with myr / they bringe doune floures The grene leaues layde to / set the mother in her place agayn / when it is fallen doune The sede dronken with maluasey / ster a man to the pleasure of the bodye / and openeth the mother the same licked vp wyth hony / is good for the stopping of the pipes / for the pleuresy and long sought or inflammation of the lunges It bringeth out tough fleme whyche cleueth fast in the brest or lunges The leaues sodden wyth shell fishe / soften the belly / louse winde / and make a maÌ pisse But then it bringeth fleme beste out of the brest / when it is soddeÌ wyth a tyfan The broth of the leaues that are sodden wyth myrr if it be dronken / it will bring doune weomens floures the iuice if a man gargle with it / it is good for the inflaÌmation of the vuula Of Clot bur Xanthium XAnthium is named in duch betlers leuà or klein kletten / in French glouteron / in English clot bur or dich bur / it groweth in fat groundes and in diches / that are dryed vp it hath a stalk a cubit long / fat and full of corners / and therein many winges or holow places like armeholes The leaues ar like vnto a reche cut about the edge / wyth a smell lyke cresses the fruyt is round / as a big olyue / full of prickes / as the pilles of the playn tre are / and they will stick vpon your clothes / if ye touche them The vertues of Diche bur THe dich bur is good to be layd vnto swellinges The broth of the bark of the roote dronken / wasteth away the swelling of the milt / and the broth of it / if it be sodden wyth wyne / fasteneth louse teth / if the mouth be wasshed therewyth Of Xyris or Spourgwurt Xiris XYris hath leaues lyke floure de Lice / but broder and sharp in the top / and a great stalk of a cubit hyght / cominge oute of the leaues wherein are thresquared coddes / and in them is a purple floure / and it that is in the middes / is of a cremesin color / and there is sede in the sede vesselles / lyke the fruyte called Faba in Latin / rounde / rede and bytinge the roote is parted wyth many ioyntes / and it is long and rede in color Diuerse learned men holde that thys is the herbe / whych is comonly called of the comon herbaries spatula fetida /
there reade wherin are white flowres which haue a little blew scattered in them here and there 77 19 For clephantia read elephantia 78 Â Note that the figure set out for virga aurea is not so well made as it shoulde be for it wanteth indented leaues 78 10 For two kindes herbe reade two kindes of this herbe 79 8 For of uuula read of the vuula 79 35 For a brode hory thing read a brode red horie thing 79 40 For operieus read experience 80 7 For call read called 80 13 For hath mention read hath made mention 80 15 For swigerland read swicherland 80 17 For verbascum read verbascula 80 20 For prinrose read primerose 80 28 For experience it hath read experience that it hath 80 47 For bone read bones 81 15 For striken read striking 81 17 For that is out of the whole herbe read that is stilled out of the whole herbe 81 32 For a sodereth read and sodereth 81 32 For kynyes read chymneys 81 35 For the stodes read the seedes Of the herbe called Saucealone Alliaria ALliaria is called in English Saucealone / and Iack of the hedge / in Duch Lenchel or SauÃkraut / in Frenche Aliayre Saucealone groweth in hedges and in wild places alone with out anye setting / and it commeth vp in the moneth of Aprill with broade leaues like vnto a violet / but broader and grener / whiche when they are broken and rubbed / smell muche lyke vnto Garleke and therefore it is called Alliaria / that is Garleke wurt / The stalke is long / and in the toppe are whyte floures / out of the which after growe litle hornes / which haue in them black sedes like to mustard or Selendine sede The complexion and vertues of this herbe THis herbe is hote at the lest in the ende of the second degre after the rules of Galene / who teacheth vs to iudge of the hete coldnes of herbes / by the tast of the tong It is commonly vsed both in England and in Germany / to be put in sauces in the springe of the yeare / wherfore the English men call it Sauce alone / the Germanes SauÃkraut This is good for theÌ that haue a cold stomake / and it is good to be minged with other cold herbes to delaye the coldnes thereof But it is not good for them that are of a cholerike nature / or haue hote blood / or be disposed to the head ake Of the herbe called Amara dulcis Amara dulcis AMara dulcis hath no Englishe name that I knowe / but for lacke of an other name / it maye be called Bitter swete The herbe groweth about ditches and watery places / and hedges / and rinneth after the maner of a vyne alonge The leues are somthing like Nightshaddes leues / but longer and rounder / and besides that they haue two litle eares standing out of eche syde of the leafe toward the setting one of the stalke / as some boore speres and lance staues haue / and the barke of the stalke when it is tasted of / is first bitter / and afterward swete / therefore it is called in Duche / Ie lenger je lieber The longer the more louely / that is / the more ye taste it / the more swete it is / and the more louely It hath grene berries first / and when it is ripe red as coral / and of an vnpleasant tast The floures are somthinge purple with yelow smal thinges like thredes comminge out of the reddest of them Matthiolus taketh this herbe to be vitis syluestris in Dioscorides but I haue sufficiently confuted him in the second parte of myne herball / intreatinge of vitis syluestris Tragus erreth in making this herbe smilax leues in Dioscorides / for the fruyte of smilax leues is litle / black as a lupine / but the fruyte of this herbe / as he him selfe writeth / is first grene / after red as coralle / therfore it can not be smilax leues The vertues of this herbe out of Tragus I Haue knowen by experience that this is the vertue of this herbe sayth Tragus Take a pound of the woode of this herbe / and cut it into smal peces / and after that you haue cut it / put it into a newe pot with a pottel of whyte wine / let the pot be wel couered / so that no ayre come in / yet not withstanding make a litle hole in the middest paste it well about with paste and seth it vpon a soft cole fyre / vntil the thirde part be sodden awaye / and then take it awaye And then if ye take a smal draught of it in the morning / an houre before ye rise / and so when ye go to bed It driueth out the iaunders by the bellye and also by the water Some geue this when it is sodden against rotten agues / of which the iaundes is commed Of the herbe called wild Tansey Tanacetum Tanacetum Indicum WIld Tansey is called of Tragus in Latine Anserina / in Duche Genserich It maye be called in Latine also Tanacetum syluestre / some call it Potentillam This herbe groweth in colde and watery places The leaues are lyke vnto Agrimonye / but that they are lesse grene aboue and whyte benethe / it crepeth after the maner of strawberries / and hath no other stalke / but a long thing lyke a packe threde / oute of the whiche growe yelowe floures The vertues of wilde Tanseye OVR weomen in Englande and some men that be sunne burnt / and would be fayre / ether stepe this herbe in white wyne / and washe their faces with the wyne / or ellis with the distilled water of the same The practitioners of Germanye write / that the herbe if it be sodden with wine / and dronken / is good for them that haue any knawing in the bellye / and for them that haue payne in their backes / and for the stoppinge of weomens whyte floures The distilled water as they write / is good for them that haue red eyes Of the herbe called Angelica Angelica satiua Angelica syluestris ANgelica hath leues somthinge lyke louage / but not so far iagged in / but it is muche lyke vnto cowe persnepe / which I take for Sphondylium when it is yonge / but the leues are sharper / smaller and yelower by reason whereof some haue by error taken Angelica to be sphondylium It hath a verye great stalke / smoth longe / and in the toppe of it sede muche like vnto louage The roote is bigge and of a stronge smelle with some pleasantnes / full of a clammy iuyce lyke a gumme / which sauoreth verye stronge / and there growe oute of this bigger rote smale litle other rotes like braunches which grow nexte to the ground It groweth much in Norwaye in the high mountaines / and also in Germany not far from Friburge / in the wood called nigra sylua / or ellis
of it be eaten with the yolke of an egge / it worketh the same effect / and the pouder doth the same thinge wounderfullye receyued in wyne And there are credit worthy witnesses aliue / as yet that haue tryed this in them selues / which could not rede without spectacles and afterward red a small text without spectacles If the wine be to stronge / tempre it with fenel water or with sugar / Thus Arnoldus in his boke of wines Tragus writeth that he hath proued that it is good for the iaundes / and I gather by the bitternes and heat that it hath measurable / that it is good against all diseases that come of the stopping of the milt or liuer / or any other parte / and that it is good to cut in peces tough fleme and other grosse humores Of Filipendula Oenanthe FIlipendula is named in Englishe also Filipendula / that is hanging by a threde / for the knobbye rootes hange by small thinges lyke thredes It is called in Duche Rotten steinbrech It is somthinge lyke vnto Burnet / but the leaues are lesse / and it resembleth also the greater kinde of Yarrow / but the leaues are greater / the rootes are manye litle knobbes like longe nuttes / hanginge vpon small thinges like thredes The stalke is longe and smalle / the floures are whyte and of a pleasant smell / not vnlyke vnto the floures of Medowurt The vertues of Filipendula FIlipendula dryueth furth water / and is good for the strangurion / and for the stone in the kidneis / and the ache therein The same as the later writers hold / driueth awaye the windines of the stomach / and that it is good for them that are shortwinded / and for al diseases that rise of cold Some hold also that the pouder of the rotes is good for the falling sicknes Of the herbe called Galega GAlega is named in Italian about Ferraria also Regalicum / in other places Ruta capraria It groweth in great plentye aboute Ferraria about the banke of the noble flood Padus It groweth high vp with leaues like Licores Galega siue Ruta capraria The vertues THE newe writers do hold that Galega is good against the pestilence and against all venome and poyson / and bitinge or prickinge of venemous beastes The iuyce of the herbe hath the same vertue / and it is good to be layde emplasterwyse vpon the same wounded and hurt places Some write that an vnce and a halfe of it is good to be geuen for them that haue the falling sicknes I neuer sawe this herbe growinge in anye place but in gardines / sauinge onlye in Italye Of Gratiola Gratiola I Haue not sene Gratiolam growing in England / sauing two rootes or thre that I set out of Brabant / gaue vnto maister Riche and maister Morgan Apotecaries of London Wherefore I knowe no Englishe name for it But it maye be called herbe Gratius / or horse werye / or werye horse / because when it is eaten of horses / it fainteth them and maketh them wery / for the which cause it is called in ItaliaÌ Stanka cauallo The herbe groweth in moyst grondes / as about Wormes in the close that is hard by the water side beyond the bridge / where as my seruantes gathered an hole wallat ful at one tyme. The herbe is somtyme two spannes longe in Germanye when it groweth by water sydes The leaues are not lyke the leaues of hisope as Matthiolus writeth / but much bigger and longer / and of an other coloure that is more whytish grene / and not so blackishe grene as hisope is About the edges of the leaues stand out litle certaine thinges like teth / namely about the endes of the leaues / the floures grow out of a long fote stalke / in figure long / in colour whitish / with some pece purplish / within a litle yelowish The leaues growe wing-wise by coples one against an other The rotes of it that groweth in Germany / are not like it that Matthiolus setteth furth / for they are more creping in the ground along / and out of these creping rootes springe out many litle stalkes / ye maye cut the crepinge roote into manye peces / and euery one of them wil growe and bring furth stalkes / leaues and floures The hole herbe is verye bitter The vertues and complexion of the Diet woode THis herbe is good for a dropsey / for it purgeth water fleme and choler strongly / for two scruples will purge a metely strong body The herbe brused and layd to a wound as Matthiolus writeth / healeth it verye quickely and spedely Of the wodde called Guiacum GViacum is otherwise called Lignum sanctum that is holy wode Some call it the Diet woode / because they that kepe a Diet for the Frenche poxe / or anye other disease hardly curable / most commonlye drinke the broth of this woode It groweth not in Europa but in Inde and in Taprobana and Iaua / and in diuerse Ilandes of Inde The lerned men as Manardus and other of oure tyme / make thre sortes of the Diet woode The first kinde is verye bigge / and in the middes / in the in most parte it appereth blacke / and wtoute it is pale or reddishe The seconde kinde is muche lesse / and the blacke within muche lesse The thirde kinde whiche is properlye called the holye woode / is lesse then all the other / and it is white both within and withoute / and this is more smellinge and bitinge then the other These thre sortes are not thre diuerse trees in kinde / but all one kinde of tree / but they differ in partes and age The great massy part with so much blacke / is the bole or bodye of the tre The seconde kinde are the bigger braunches the third kind is ether a yong tre / or the small bonghes of the old tre The best is it that is al whyte / so that it be freshe and not iuyceles and wythered The seconde beneth that in goodnes is it that is lesse / and hath lesse black then the greatest The vilest of all thre is that / which is greatest of al the other / and hath most black in it The best barcke is that which is taken of the best wode Guiacum is set oute of diuerse places / as oute of Callecute / Iaua the learned sorte holde that it is beste that commeth out of East Inde / because it is hote of subtile partes / and hath muche rosin in it The vertues of Gratiola or herbe Gratius GViacum dryeth vp / maketh fyne and subtil / melteth or resolueth / scoureth away / and prouoketh sweat / and by the reason of his rosin / withstandeth putrefaction or rottennes of humores in the bodye It is knowen that the broth of Guiacum is good for the French poxe / for the gout that is not depely rooted / for the diseases of the milt and liuer It is good for
/ because it is like thrist that groweth on the houses / which is a kinde of ayegrene / when it commeth firste out of the grounde I remember nowe that one English man called this herbe Eestrige It hath a rede stalke / and those thinges that answere / for the leaues are like vnto whete / but manye partes longer and round / in taste saltishe / and in color grene The stalke of it is ful of ioyntes / and not one far from another The older that the herbe is / the longer are the leaues / at the lenght growe oute rounde knoppes / wherein are verye smal sedes / whiche the Larkes in East Freselande eate in winter KALY The vertues of Kaly I Haue red no vertue that Kaly hath in Phisik / but they that make glasse vse the ashes of it to make glasses of / and of the broth of it is made a salt / called Salt a kali Of the two kindes of Lauander LAuander is not written of / by name in anye old writer / but in my iudgement it is a kinde of Stichados / and therfore I maruel muche at Fuchsius and Matthiolus / wherof the one writeth that it is Spica Germanica and the other that it is Spica Italica when as it differeth vtterly in likenes from all the kindes of spica / that anye auncient author maketh mention of Therefore it shal be better ether to call it thinne or longe Stichas / or after the commoÌ herbaries Lauandulam or Lauendulam then Spicam GermanicaÌ AnglicaÌ Gallicam Scoticam Hispanicam or Danicam although it grow in al these coÌtreys Lauendula Lauendula minor For an herbe hauinge in the toppe like an eare of corne / called in Latine Spicam ought not te be called streight waye / therefore when it groweth in Germanye Spica germanica nether where it groweth in Italye Spica Italica nether Spica in anye spece / because the Barbarus writers cal it Spicam Ther are two kindes of Lauander / one kinde onlye called Lauander / and this is the lesse kinde / and the greater and fayrer kinde is called Lauander spyke Learned men do iudge not withoute a cause / that it was first called LaueÌda Lauanda or Lauendula a Lauande / of washinge / because wyse men founde by experience that it was good to washe mennis heades with / which had anye deceses there in / or weiknes that come of a colde cause These two kindes of Lauander are so well knowen in all countrees that I haue bene in / that I thinke that it were but lost labor to describe them that are so well knowen all redy / therfore I wil procede to the vertues of them The vertues of Lauander or Lauander spyke BOth these kindes of Lauander as some of the Italianes do write / are hote and drye fully in the seconde degre / and in the beginninge of the third But I do not iudge by experience and by learninge / that they are perfitly hote in the third degre / whiche they partely themselues do graunt when they say / Olio de spigo odoris adeò acerrimi est vt caetera odoramenta superet Wherfore it can not be true that the two kindes of Lauander do not differ muche in strength from al the kindes of Spikenard / namely when as beside this / alleged Galene in the eight boke of Simple medicines / graunteth that Spikenard is hote only in the first degre / and drye in the second fullye They grant also that these kindes of Lauander are good for al diseases of the brayne that come of a colde cause / also for crampes and palsyes that they strengthen the stomache / and open the liuer that is stopped / and the stopped milt also / bring doune floures and secondes / whiche properties rather belonge vnto Stechas then vnto anye kinde of Spiknarde / which ye shall wel se if ye nede the properties of Stechas / and of the kindes of Nardus / and compare theÌ both together Wherefore it ought not by and by to be receyued as the aunswere of Apollo / whatsoeuer the Italianes and other countrey men do write / except it can be proued by autorite or good reson The Germanes do write that the floures of Lauander sodden in wine and dronken / do make one auoyde water well The same as they write dronken thre or foure dayes together / bringe doune floures and secondes / they dryue wind away / and are good for the iaundes The floures of Lauander taken with Cinnamum cloues / Mace graynes / Cubebes / and the leaues of Rosemarye / do not only helpe the aboue named diseases more strongly / but also further helpe the palsey / and the tothe ache The water of both the Lauanders is good to washe the akinge heade with / if the cause be colde / and so it helpeth the dusines of the head The broth of the floures of both the kindes / and the water also / are good for membres that are num or taken / if they be oft bathed and washed therewith I iudge that the floures of Lauander quilted in a cappe and daylye worne / are good for all diseases of the head that come of a colde cause / and that they comforte the brayne verye well / namelye if it haue anye distemperature that commeth of cold an moystenes Of Nutmegges and Mace THE mace groweth aboute the Nutmegge / and is the floure / and at the firste it is sprede abroade like a wild rose wyth fyue leaues / and the nutte appereth in the middes / and afterwarde closeth it selfe roundabout the Nutmegge The Nutmegges growe in great plentye in an Iland of Inde / called Badon / The trees haue leaues like peche leaues / but shorter and narrower The herbe Nutmegge is inclosed in an hard shelle as a hasel nutte is And the same haue I sene verye well cuÌdited in sugar / it was condited whilse it was grene / as yonge walnuttes are condited hole before the shelles waye hard / and they are verye pleasant in eatinge and comfortable for the stomache The Nutmegge is called in Barbarous Latine Nux muscata in Latine Nux myristica and of some in Greke Moscocarydion or Mescoryon The vertues of Nutmegges and Mace THE best Nutmegges are rede / fat heuy / the worst are light black drye / The Nutmegges are hote dry in the end of the second degre but some hold that they are hote in the third degre / but not perfitly The Nutmegge stoppeth the bellye / and maketh ones breth sauour wel / and taketh awaye fumes of the stomache It digesteth meat / driueth winde awaye and comforteth the stomache and the liuer / and is good for the frekles in the face and the ringworme It minisheth the greatnes of the milt / and softeneth the impostemes of the liuer It is also good for the cold diseases of the mother The Arabianes hold that Nutmegges and Cloues be of one nature / but I hold that the Cloues
broth or iuyce of it / it wil driue away the inflammationes or hote burninges of Vuula / squinansy and of the iawes The pouder is good for old sores / for it drieth them vp and healeth them quickly Hierom Bock geueth almoste all the fornamed vertues vnto the distilled water of the herbe / and sayth also that it is good for the stomach and mother / and other partes that haue the skinne of / and brede gnawinges in a mannis body But I set more by the iuyce / broth / and pouder of the herbes / then I do by their waters Of the roote called Setwal / or Zedoaria I Haue not yet spoken with anye man / nether rede any mannis booke of this age / that hath sene Setwal grene / wherefore we can not describe it But because we haue the roote / we can iudge somthinge of it both by taste and the workinge of it / and by bokes of elder writers that haue written of it The vertues of Setwal out of the Arabianes SEtwal or Zedoaria is of a certein natural propertye and not elemental / maketh a man fat / and withstandeth poyson and venome / and therfore it is good against napelluÌ / and many vse to put it into diuerse kindes of triacles And if a man eat of it after vnyons and garleke / it taketh the smell of them awaye / as it taketh also the smell of wine awaye It breaketh grosse winde / and healeth the bytinges of venemous beastes / and it stoppeth the belly It resolueth or melteth awaye grosse empostemes and swellinges / and speciallye them that are in the mother It stoppeth perbreakinge / and is good for a windye colyke Of Rosa solis ROsa solis is a litle small herbe that groweth in mossey groundes and in fennes and watery mores with a brode hory thinge in the toppe / it groweth not aboue the height of thre or foure fingers height The vertues of Rosa solis OVR English men now adayes set very muche by it / and holde that it is good for consumptious and swouning / and faintnes of the harte / but I haue no sure operience of this / nether haue I red of anye olde writer what vertues it hath / wherefore I dare promise nothing of it Of the Coweslippe A Coweslippe is named in the Herbaries Apothecaries Latin herba paralysis there are two kindes of them / the one is redder yelow then the other / the other paler / they differ also in smel / for the one smelleth better then the other / the one is called in the West contre of some a Cowislip / the other an Oxislip / they are both call in Cambridge shyre Pagles There are some grene Cowislippes some dubbel / tripel and quadrupel that grow in gardines / but they differ not in kinde from the other / of the same kinde is our prinrose / which I neuer saw grow in any place / sauing in England East Freseland ij cold contrees / be like it wil not grow in hote countrees / and of al them that hither to hath written of herbes / no man that I do remember hath mention of this kind / nether set out anye figure of it / sauing only Rembertus / and a Barnet of Swigerlandt / in the boke called the garden of Germanes / who writeth that it groweth in the toppe of a cold mountayne in his countrey Ruellius calleth our two kind of Cowislip Verbascum and Phlomides but Matthiolus bringeth reasones against him that they are not Phlomides he saith that our Cowislip is called in Latin Primula veris which name we geue more iustly to oure prinrose / which commeth furth a great while before the Cowislip The Germanes call the Cowislip Schlussel blumen / because they haue a great sort of floures like keyes / growing together in the top of the littel stalke The vertues of Cowislip out of Tragus / Fuchsius / and Matthiolus Tragus THE floures of Cowislip conserued in sugar / and also the stilled water ther of / are very good for theÌ that are weke very low brought by consumption of long sicknes / also for them that haue the hole palsey / and for them that sounde oft / they saye that this is knowen by experience / it hath a singuler property to comfort the hart The floures and leaues of Cowislip brused and layde to / are good against the bitings of venemous beastes / they swage swellinges / they heale also woundes / both if the water be poured vpon them / and also if the leafe be brused laid vpon them Tragus sayth that the water of Cowislippes layde to a mannis heade / swageth the ache thereof / if it come of a hote cause / that he saith to be knowen by experience Some weomen springkle the floures of Cowislip with whyte wine / and after still it and washe their faces with that water to driue wrinkles away / to make them fayre in the eyes of the worlde rather then in the eyes of God / whom they are not afrayd to offende with the scluttishnes / filthines / and foulnes of the soule Fuchsius THE later writers geue these properties to the two kindes of Cowislip / they are good to be broken brused / laid to the ioyntes that ake / the stoppinge of the bladder and kidneis is taken away by the vsing of the rootes of these The iuyce of these herbes is good to be takeÌ in / and also to be layd with out vpon broken bones / and them that are out of ioynt / they bind very littel / and they are bitter / and a littel byting in taste / by which properties they can not fully bringe to passe that the practitioners saye they can do without the helpe of other herbes / in heling of bone and displaced membres / yet they may wel inough drye vp and scoure away / which properties Galen geueth vnto his Verbasculis The Herbaries of oure time saye that they are hote and dry / and the weomen that would be fayre / and labor to encrease their bewtie / washe their faces with the iuyce of the floures of them Matthiolus THE later writers holde that this herbe hath the vertue to swage the ache of the iointes / they do also commend the broth of the rotes to be good for the stone of the kidney also of the bladder / They saye also that the iuyce of them both dronken inwardly / layd to without / is good for broken bones suche as are out of ioynt / they say also that if they be soddeÌ with sage mergerum / their broth is good against the cold diseases of the sinewes the brayne / wherfore they are very good to be geuen to be dronken vnto them that haue the palsey / or any num or tremble member The water of the floures of Cowislippes is good to be dronken of them that sound / when as the body is very feble weke / for as the experimentores do saye they comfort the hart wonderfully / the floures are good to be layd to the striken of scorpiones feldspiders / for they easelye scatter awaye the swellinges dissolue them The leues or the floures brused / will heale woundes / the stilled water that is out / if the hole herbe is good for the heade ache / Matthiolus confirmeth it that Tragus and Fuchsius wrote before / concerning the propertie that Cowlip water hath to make faire faces Of the Holye tre THE tre which is called commonly in England Holy / in some places Holme / and in other places Huluer / is iudged to be Aquifolium in Latin or Agrifolium of Theophrastus to be named Crateagonon and of some Paliurus whatsoeuer men iudge it to be / it is not certenelye knowen as yet what it is / but because it hath one good propertye in Phisicke / I will not passe ouer it wtout making of some mention of it The vertues THE broth of the barkes of the roote are very good to be sodden for them that haue had their iointes or members out of ioynte / and haue waxed hard thereafter For it softneth and resolueth / and driueth awaye swellinges / sodoreth together broken bones Other properties that this tre hath / I know none / sauing that the barke is good to make byrd lime of / and the bowes are good to swepe kynyes withal / and the stades are good baytes to entyse felde fares to come to lymeroddes / when as all other berries are eaten vp in the woode / this tre is called in Duche Wald distelen / and Stech palmen If any be desyrous to make byrd lime of the barkes / they may lerne it of me which haue made it oft tymes after this manner About Midsommer I pill of the barkes / and strayt way seth them a good while / and then I pull of the outtermost rind / and lay them in a moyst corner / or digge them in the earth or a dunghill / and within eight or ten dayes / I take them out agayne / and bray them or bete them in a morter as smal as is possible / and then I washe them in a running streame / or if I can not come by that in other cold water vntill the vnbeaten peces of the barkes be fallen awaye / and the reste become lyme FINIS
will not aboue the small leaued Wormwod / for Pontike Wormwode / because it groweth wythin the walles of the cytye / and alowe the euel fauored stinkinge Wormwode that groweth oute of the cytye / because it groweth in a freer ayre then the other doth In dede if that the broade leaued Wormwode were Pontike Wormwod / as it is not / and some of it grewe wythin the cyte / and some abrode in the fieldes It that grewe abroade were the better But the freres graunt that the small Wormwod that groweth in the cyte / is of a farre other kinde then the common Wormwode is of Then what comparison can be made betwene the herbes of two diuerse kindes / except a man will condemne the one kinde / and set oute and alowe the other kinde The Wormwode that groweth in Rome / is nether Sea Wormwod nor Santonik wormwod / and the description of Pontik Wormwod agreeth with the forme and fassioÌ / qualities and vertues of the Wormwode that groweth in Rome / therefore it is Pontike wormwode Loke vpon Galene who so list in the eleuenth boke De methodo medendi and there he shall finde that the description of Pontike wormwode agreeth with the Wormwode of Rome / and that in manye thinges disagreeth with the comon Worwod / which the freres take for Pontike wormwode Let then wise men iudge whether the right Pontike wormwod growing within the walles of the cyties / ought to be vsed for Wormwod Pontike / or Roman Wormwod / or the euill fauored stinkinge kinde that groweth a littel out of the cite / aboute diches and besyde corne feldes / ought rather to be vsed according vnto the learninge of Galene The freres bringe diuerse argumentes / to proue that the Wormwod growing in Rome / is no good Wormwod one is because by plantinge and chaunginge of groundes / it will not chaunge his qualite / an other is sett out falsely as far as I can se or elles manye men lye of Mesue / who as they saye describeth Wormwod Romane to haue broder leues / smooth and playne What maner of reason is this Wormwod growinge in Rome / will not chaunge nether qualite nor quantite / when he is transplanted into a fatter grounde / ergo it is naught These freres if they wold haue taken the paynes to haue rede Theophrastus De plantarum causis lib. 1. cap. 1. diligently / they might haue found there that some herbes are worse for transplantinge / and for bringing into a fatter and moyster grounde And whether the right Wormwod be any of those herbes or no / these wordes of Theophrastus here after folowing / can beare witnes Ager agitatus coÌfectusque plus pabuli praestat sapores immutat ergo ratione optima cultus quibusdam commodè adhiberi quibusdam minimè possit ceu illis quae sicca acria amara atque ad summum venenosa sunt vsumque medicaminis praestant Haec enim sublatis viribus hebetantur atque effeminantur vt alia fructum omninò ferre ne queant alia humidiorem deterioremque pariant quae etiam aquosa redduntur ceu absinthium fel terrae As for Mesue in his descriptioÌ of Wormwod Romane / whether he maketh Wormwod Romane with broade leaues or no / I report me both vnto the comon translacion / whiche hath / melius est quod nascitur in terris liberis remotum ab odore maris folia habens alba leuia plana and also vnto the translacion of Siluius / which hath these wordes RomanuÌ eligimus folijs albis leuibus planis odore iucuÌdo Here maye a man se that the freres allege Mesue otherwise then the textes haue / and that they deserue no credite in there vntrue allegacion Ye and though Mesue had sayed that Absinthium Romanum which is the righte Ponticum / had greater leaues Yet we shoulde rather beleue Galene then Mesue / which sayeth that Absinthium Ponticum of all other hath the smallest leefe Here are the apotecaries to be warned / that they cal not with the freres contrary vnto Dioscorides / Galene / Pliny / Aetius / and Paulus / Absinthium Seriphium / Absinthium Ponticum They dreame belike that Absinthium Marinum / maye be called also PonticuÌ / because Pontus is somtyme taken for the sea But that is not the vse of learned Phisicians to name it so / Wherefore we must call euery herbe by the name that the auncieÌt Authors haue geuen it Where as these freres haue shewed in there stille great vnlearnednes in the Latine tonge / and in the knowledge of olde Authors So they declare them selues to be also sklenderly sene in Histories / whiche saye that the olde Authores / meaninge of Mesue with other as it doth appere Where in the tyme of the triumphant Rome / when there was no ruines / wherein Wormwod myght growe / but that al the citie was replenished wyth fayre buyldinges / and that therefore they coulde not speake of Wormwod Roman growinge in Rome / because there was no place therefor it in theyr tymes As for the olde authors in dede / as they were in the tyme of the triumphant Rome / so they neuer speake one worde of Wormwode Romane But whether Mesue who florished aboute foure hundreth yeares ago and fyftye / might haue sene ruines in Rome or no / I reporte vnto Blondus and other / whiche haue written of the wastinge and inburstinge / whiche Rome hath at diuerse tymes from the yeare of oure Lorde foure hundreth and seuen / vnto the tyme that Mesue florished In this muste I also warne the Studentes of Phisike / that they beleue not the freres / whiche saye that Dioscorides called Absinthium Ponticum / Absinthium rusticum / for that is not in the olde Greke textes of Dioscorides / but hath bene falselye set to / by some tryflinge and foulish cockow Let them also not beleue them / where as they saye vnlearnedlye / that Santonicum is a common name for all the kindes of Wormwode / and that by the authorite of Dioscorides and Plinye / but falsely alleged For it was neuer sene that Santonicum shoulde be taken ether for Sea wormwode or Pontike wormwode The small leaued Wormwod / called of all the beste learned Phisicians and Apothecaries / Absinthium Romanum / groweth in Germanye besyde Wormes / a littel from a thorp called Hase loche / and aboute Spyre besyde a place / called the Holye graue In Englande and in Freseland / and in lowe Ducheland it groweth in gardens onely / so farre as I can yet learne The other kinde of Pontike wormwod groweth as it is sayed before / aboute the olde walles of fallen buyldinges of Rome A bushe or two of this kinde groweth in Anwerpe in Peter Condenberges garden / where as are manye other straunge and holsom herbes / hard to be found in anye other place of Germanye besyde This kind hath greater / longer / whyter / and bitterer leaues then the
/ and layd to the teth / are good for the teth ake It swageth also the payne of the teth if it be rosted and put into the teth / so that the payne come of to muche moysture One heade of Garleke dronken with ten drammes of the gume of Laserpitium / driueth awaye the quartain ague for lack of the true Laserpitium / ye maye take the roote of Angelica or Pillitorye of Spayne / called otherwise Magistrantia It prouoketh slepe maketh the colour of the bodye rede / and stirreth men to Venerye / dronken with grene Coriander and stronge wine It is also good for the pype or roupe of hennes and cockes / as Plinye writeth Garleke helpeth the Colike that commeth of winde / and the sciatica that is of fleme It maketh subtill the norishment and the blood The vse of Garleke is euel for al them that are of an hote complexion / for it hurteth the eyes / the heade / the longes / the kidneis / it hurteth also women with chylde and suckinge childer Garleke is as Galene sayth / the men of the countrees triacle It is hote and drye in the fourth degre Of the Alder tree Alnus THE Alder tre whiche is also called an Aller tre / is named in Greke Clethra in Latin Alnus in Duche ein Erlenbaum The nature of this tree is to growe by water sydes and in marrish ground The properties of Alders THE tree when the barke is of / is reade / and the barke is much vsed to dye withal Pliny sayth that Alder is profitable to set at Riuers sydes agaynst the rage of the floude / to helpe and strenghten the banke withall / and that vnder the shadowe of Alder trees maye wel growe any thing / that is set or sowen / whiche thinge chanceth not vnder many other trees Some saye that the iuyce of an Alder trees barke is good for a burninge Of Aloe ALoe maye be called in English herbe Aloe / to put difference betwen the herbe and the iuyce / which coÌpacted together dried into greate peces / is coÌmonly called Aloe Aloe hath fat thick leaues like vnto Squilla or sea vnyon / something broad / rouÌd bowing backward It hath leaues of eche syde growynge a wrye / prickye / with fewe crestes and shorte / the stalke is lyke right Affodils stalke / it hath whyte floures fruyte like vnto right Affodil It hath a greuous sauour a wonderful bitter tast / it hath one roote / and sticketh in the ground like a stake I haue sene in Italy in diuerse gardines herbe Aloe / but it endureth not in Italye in gardines aboue thre yeres as the Italianes told me I haue sene herbe Aloe also in Anwerpe in shoppes / there it endureth long alyue as Orpyne doth and housleke / wherefore some haue called it sem per vinum marinum that is Sea aigrene The vertues THere are two kindes of Aloe / one kind is full of sand / and semeth to be the drosse and outcaste of the pure iuice The other kinde is like vnto a liuer / that ought to be taken that is of a good sauour pure / and hath no deceyt in it / shinning without stones of a read coloure / growinge together like a lyuer / britle / easy to melt / and of a great bitternes It that is black and hard to breake is not commended The nature of the herbe Aloe is to he le woundes / and the propertie of the iuyce is to drye vp / to prouoke slepe / and to make bodyes thicke and fast together / and to louse the bellye Two litle spounfuls of Aloe beat into pouder / and taken either with cold or with warme water / purgeth the stomake / stoppeth the vomitinge of blood / and purgeth the iaundes / taken in the quantite of a scruple and halfe with water / or a dram in drinke Thre drammes of Aloe taken make a iust purgation Mesue geueth in pouder or pilles from a dram and a halfe to two drammes / and in stepe or infuse from a dram and a halfe vnto thre drammes and a halfe Aloe mixed with other purgations helpeth that they hurt not the stomake / so much as they wold haue done if they had bene taken alone Aloe dryed / is sprinkled into woundes / and to make them growe together agayne / it bringeth sores to a skinne / and holdeth them in that they sprede no farther / it healeth specially the priuye members that haue sores and the skin of It ioyneth together agayne the skin that couereth the knoppe of boyes yeardes / if it be broken in sunder with maluesey It healeth riftes and hard lumpes that arise in the fundament / it stoppeth the ouer much issuynge of the emroddes / and burstinge out of bloode / it healeth also aguayles when they are cut of With honye it taketh awaye the blewe markes and tokens that come of beatinge or brusinge / it healeth the scabbie blere eyes / and the itche of the corners of the eye It stauncheth the head ache / laid vnto the temple and forhead with vinegre and rose oyle / with wine layd vnto the heade / It holdeth fast the heere that would fall of It is good for the swellinge in the kyrnelles vnder the tonge for the disease of the goumes / and all other diseases of the mouth layd to with wyne and honye Aloe is burnt in a cleane and burninge hote vessel / and is oft stirred with a fether / that it may be all alyke rosted / so it is a good medicine for sore eyes Some tyme it is washed that the sand maye go vnto the bottome Aloe washed is holsomer for the stomach / but it purgeth not so muche as vnwashed Aloe purgeth choler and fleme / it purgeth soner as Mesue sayth if it be taken before meate / and if there be menged with it / Mace / Clowes / Nutmegges / Cinnamum / Mastick / or Folfote Wine or rose water / or the iuyce of Fenel / wherein Aloe mixed with Dragons blood and myrre / healeth stinkinge and olde sores The same mixed with myrre / kepeth dead bodyes from corruptioÌ Aloe dissolued with the whyte of an egge / is a good emplaster to stop bloode both of the emrodes / and of any wounde or cuttinge Aloe is not good for them that are muche disposed to the emrodes / for it openeth the mouthes of the veynes It is also euil for them that are hote and drye of nature / but it is good for them that are moyst and cold Aloe is hote in the beginninge of the second degre / and drye in the third degre The best Aloe as Galene writeth commeth from Indye Of Chikewede Alsines CHikewede is called in Greke Alsine / and the Latines vse the same name / in Duche Vogelcraut or Mere / in Frenche Mauron The Pothecaries call it Morsum gallinae This herbe is so well knowen in al countres / that I nede not largelier to describe it
They that kepe littel byrdes in cages / when they are sycke / gyue the birdes of this herbe to restore them to their health againe The vertues of Chikewede THE poure of this herbe is to binde and to coole It is laid to the inflammations of the eyes with barlye mele and water The iuyce is also poured into the eares agaynste the payne of them This herbe is profitable for al thinge that Paritorye is good for It is good for all gatheringes and inflammationes both of blood and also of choler / if it be not extremely hote Of Henbayne HEnbayne is called in Latin Altercum and Apollinaris or Faba suilla in barbarous Latin Iusquiamus in Greke Hyosciamos in Duche Bilsen craut / in French De la henbane Henbayne hath thicke stalkes / broade leaues and longe / diuided / black and rough The floures come oute of the syde of the stalke in order as the floures of Pomgranates / compassed with the littel cuppes full of sede as poppye hath There are thre sortes of Henbayne / one wyth black sede with floures / almoste purple with the leaues of Frenche beanes / called Smilax / with vesselles hard and prickye The other sede is somethinge yelow as winter cresses is / the leaues and the coddes are more simple Both these two kindes make men madde and fall into a great slepe / and therefore they oughte not to be commonlye vsed Phisicianes haue receyued the thirde kinde as most gentle full of hore and softe with whyte floures and whyte sedes / and it groweth aboute the sea syde / and aboute gutters and ditches / aboute tounes and cyties / which if ye can not finde / take then it with the rede sede / and vse it I haue sene the whyte Henbayne growyng in Anwerpe in Peter Coudenbergis gardin / with manye other straunge herbes / not to be founde in anye other garden in low Germanye as I beleue The vertues IT that hath the black sede is the worst kinde and is not approued A certeyne iuyce is pressed in the sun oute of the freshe sede / stalkes and leaues brused / and when as the moysture is dryed vp / the vse of it dureth for a yeare / it falleth easely into daunger of corruption The iuyce is also drawen out of the drye sede / brused by it selfe / and layd in warme water / and then pressed out / is better and releaseth the payne soner then it with the milkye humour / that cometh out of the herbe by scotchinge or nickinge The grene herbe brused and mixed with wheat mele of thre monethes / is made into rounde littel cakes and so layde vp The firste iuyce and that whiche is drawen oute of the drye sede / are conueniently put in the medicines whiche swage payne / and they are good against quicke and hote issues / the paynes of the eares / and the diseases of the mother with wheat mele and barley mele / they staunche the inflammationes and burnings of the eyes of the fete / and of other partes The sede can do the same It is good for the cough / for catarres / runninges of the eyes and of the aykes The same with poppye sede about the weighte of ten graynes / is dronken with mede againste the excesse of weomens sicknes and anye other issue of blood that bursteth out It helpeth the goute and a mannes stones that are swelleth with winde / sore pappes / which are after a womans byrth / puffed vp / and do swell / if it be broken and layd to with wine They vse also to be put in other plasters which are ordeined to swage payne The leaues are very good to be put in al medicines / which take payne away / both by them selues and also with barly mele The grene leaues are layd to / to relese al kind of payne / iij. or iiij leues dronkeÌ with wine / heale cold agues / wherin they that are sick / are both hote and colde at one time The rootes sodden in vinegre as for the tuthake The smoke of this herbe is good for the cough / if it be receyued into the mouth Plinye sayth that the oyle made of the sede of this herbe / put into a mannis eare / bringeth him out of his mind Also mo theÌ iiij of the leues dronken / do the same Henbayne is colde in the third degre Of Marrishe mallowe ALthea is called also Hibiscus Eniscus / of the potecaries Malua bis Maluauiscus in English Marrish mallow / or water mallow / in Duche Ibish / in Frenche Guimauues This herbe groweth naturallye in watery marrish middoes / and by water sides Althea or marrish mallow hath rounde leaues lyke vnto sowbreade / with a white doune vpon them / with a floure after the proportion of a rose / but in colour they are pale purple / much drawing nere vnto white / for the quantite of the herbe very smalle / with a stalke of two cubites high / with clammy rootes and whyte within Althea hath the name in Greke / because it is good for manye diseases It is called Marrishe mallowe in Englishe / because it groweth commonly in marrish ground and watery middoes By this description it is plain that our common holyoke is not Althea Althea The Vertues MArrish mallow / sodden in wine or mede / or brused layde on by it selfe / is good for woundes / for hard kirnels / swellinges wennes / for the burning swelling behind the eares / for impostemes / for the burning imposteme of the pappes / for the brusinge of the fundament / for windy swellinges / for the stifnes of the sinnewes / for it driueth awaye / maketh ripe or digesteth / bursteth and couereth with skin Seth it as is mencioned before / put swynes grese vnto it / or goosgrese / or Turpentine / that it may be clammy as an emplaster / and then it is good for the inflammations and stoppinges of the mother / if ye put it into the mother after a suppositorie wise The broth that the herbe is soddeÌ in / is good for the same It draweth out also the burdens of the mother / and the secondes that abyde after the chyld The broth of the roote dronken with wine / helpeth them that cannot wel make water / the rawnes of them that haue the stone / the blody flixe / the sciatica / the trimbling of any membre / the burstinge Wash the mouth with the same herbe sodden in vinegre / and it will ease the payne of the teth The grene sede and the drye also broken / healeth frekelles and foule spottes / if they be anointed therewith in the sun They that are anoynted with the same with oyle vinegre / are in no daunger to be bitten of venemous beastes It is good against the bloody flixe / the vomiting of blood / the common flixe The same sede sodden in water and vinegre or wine /
whiche the diers vse to dye yelowe with all / but it hath nether the leaues of Pimpernel / nor the leues of flax / nor the leaues of Goashareth Wherfore Orant is nether the Antirrhinon of Dioscorides / nor the Antirrhinon of Theophrast / nor it of Pliny / wherfor these two writers in this herbe deserue no credit Matthiolus setteth out a kinde of Antirrhinon with sede as he sayth like vnto a Calfys heade If he meane by the word semen the sede alone / and not the fruite with the sede and all together / and Pliny vnderstand the word semen euen so likewise / then I thinke that it shal be harde for Matthiolus to finde suche one But if he meane by the word semen the fruyte hole as it appeareth outwardlye then I thinke that the herbe that Matthiolus setteth out of all other / draweth nerest vnto the description of Antirrhinon in Pliny The properties of Calfes snoute MEn write that thys herbe is good agaynst all poysoned drinkes / and that they that are anoynted wyth thys herbe wyth lily oyle / or priuet oyle / shall thereby wexe fayre and well fouored Theophrastus writeth that some men haue supposed / that the vse of thys herbe shoulde helpe men to obtayne prayse and worship But all these are but dreames of sorcerers / for none of these thre learned men aboue rehersed / write / that this herbe hath thys propertye / but onelye declare the opinions of other men / whiche wrote or spake of these properties by gesse Of Gooshareth Aparine GOoshareth called also Clyuer / because it cleueth vpon meÌnes clothes / is named in Greeke Aparine / Philantropos / and Omphalo carpos in Duche / Klebcraut in Frenche / Grateron It hath many branches smal / and four-square and sharpe / the leaues stande in a rounde circle aboute the stalke / certayne spaces goyng betwene / the circles are lyke vnto madder / the floure are whyte / the sede is harde / rounde / some thynge holowe / and whyte in the myddes / lyke vnto a nauell / and it cleueth vnto mennes clothes The shepherdes vse it in the stede of a strayner to pull oute here 's of the mylke Thys herbe groweth in all countres in great plentye The vertues THe iuice of the sede / stalkes / leues of Gooshareth / is good to be dronken agaynst the bytinges of Veperes / Phalanges / and other venemous beastes The same poured into a mannis eare / swageth the payne / the herbe brused wyth hogges grese / dryueth awaye harde kyrnelles and wennes / wheresoeuer they be Of Apios Apios Ernutte APios is called also Chamebalanos in Greke / in Theophrastus Ischas / and in Latin after the translation of Theodoro Carica and the same might be called in English an Ernut / or an Erth nut / hath the properties of Apios The earth nut groweth in manye places of England / and in the moste plentye that I haue sene in Northumberland Apios putteth furth two or thre braunches / which rise a litle from the ground / smale / rede / and like a rishe the leaues are like Rue / but some thinge longer / narrower / and yelowishe grene The sede is litle / the rote is lyke the roote of a white Affodill / and after the likenes of a Peare / but rounder and full of iuyce The barke without is blacke / the roote within is white The herbe whiche Matthiolus hath set out for Apios / might haue bene taken for the right Apios of all men / if he had proued that it had had a smale sede / and that the roote had purged vpward and dounwarde as Dioscorides writeth that the rote of Apios doth But whilse he doth nether of both / a man maye as well dout of his Apios / as he douteth of the Apios that Ruellius setteth out Amatus Lusitanus sayeth that Apios is called in Duche Erdtnuss But the herbe whiche is called in Duche Erdnuss / hath nether a lefe like Rue / but like a Ciche / nether a smalle sede / but a great sede in a cod like vnto a kinde of Fiche / nether doth it purge vpward and dounward / for men to eat them in Fraunce as Ruellius cited of Amatus writeth / and they are eaten also in Germany / but they onelye ingendre a lothsumnes / and stere to vomite as Tragus writeth / but they purge not / nether do anye other harme to the shepeherdes that eat them / wherfore it is playne that Amatus with Tragus and Fuchsius erreth / which taketh the herbe / called in Duche Erdnuss / to be Apion in Dioscoride The vertues THE vpper parte of the roote draweth out by vomiting choler and fleme / and the vnder parte draweth oute the same humores by the fundament The whole purgeth both the wayes The iuyce purgeth / taken in the quantite of xv graines The wordes of Dioscorides made me to doute / whether our Erthnutt were Apios or no / seynge that manye eat the hole root of Erthnut yea some tyme fyue or sixe / and yet nether go to stoole / nor vomite by the eating thereof whether Earthnut haue these foresayde properties in Grece or no / and not here I can not surely tell / but this profit shalt thou haue at the least by thys my coniecturing and setting furth of this herbe / that wyth lesse labour thou mayest knowe the true Apios / if thou chaunge to se it I woulde exhorte studentes to proue / if this Ernut of oures haue in anye other place of England / where as I haue not bene / haue the properties that Dioscorides gyueth vnto Apios or no. And if they can not find them / let theÌ learne of this Ernut in seking and iudging of herbes / not to iudge herbes onelye by the outwarde fashone / but also by the qualites and vertue For as the lykenes of a man alone in an ape or an image / maketh not them men / because they want the vertue poure and operation of a man So is not the figure or likenes that maketh an herbe / except it haue the strenght and operation of the herbe / whose likenes it beareth also Of Bawme BAwme is named in Greke Melissophillon or Meliphillon / in Latin Apiastrum or Citrage / in Duche Melisson or Hartzkraut / in the Frese tonge Confili / in FreÌche Melisse / the Potecaries call it Melissam Bawme is named in Greke Melissophillon / and in Latin Apiastrum / because Bees / which are called in Greke Melisse / and in Latin Apes / do greatly haunt this herbe / and are delited wyth it Right Bawm hath leaues and stalkes lyke vnto stinkinge Hore hound but they are greater and thinner / but not so rough They haue the smelle of a Cytrone of a Lymon Of Apiastrum The Propertye THE leaues dronken wyth wyne / are good agaynst the bitinges of Phalanges and Scorpiones / and agaynst the bytinge of a dogge / for the same
purposes it is good to be bathed with the broth of the same It is good for women to sit ouer this herbe / to bringe doune their floures It is good that the aking teth should be washed with the same herbe This herbe is also good to be put into Clisteres agaynst the bloodye flixe The leaues with Salpeter in drinke / helpe the strangling that commeth of Todstolles / wyth honye in an electuary / it is good for the gnawinge in the bellye / and for the shortwinded / and if it be layde to wyth salt / it driueth awaye wennes and hard keruelles it scoureth sores / and if it be layd to / it swageth the paynes of the ioyntes The common baume that is commonly vsed in England / is but a bastarde kinde / and the true baume groweth in manye gardines in Germany / but I haue not sene it in England / that I remembre It maye be called in English / Baum gentle Of Arbutus leafe with the braunche / as the quicken trees leaues are Dioscorides describeth the Arbut tree after this maner Comaros called in Latin Arbutus / or Vnedo / is a tree lyke vnto a Quince tree / hauing thinne leaues with a fruyt of the greatnes of a Plumme / without anye keruell When it is rype / it is ether yelowe or rede Pliny describeth the Arbut tre after this maner Strawberyes that growe one the grounde / haue an other kinde of bodye then the Arbut berryes haue / which are like in kinde with the other / which groweth on the tree / called in Latin Vnedo / which onely fruyte is lyke vnto the fruyt of the earth The tree it selfe is thick and bushy The fruyt is rype in a yeare / and it that groweth in vnder bloometh / and the other that is elder / waxeth ripe in the tree at one tyme. It is a fruyt of small honor / and therevpon hath the name / that it bringeth furth but one alone by it selfe Yet do the Grecianes geue two names vnto it / Comaron / and Memekylon Wherevpon it doth appeare that there are so manye kindes wyth vs. This is called in an other name in Latin Arbutus Ouide also ioyned tree Strawberry / and ground Strawberry together in these wordes Arbuteos fructus montanaque fraga legebat Theophrastus giueth vnto hys Arbuto a leafe betwene Ilicem and LauruÌ / as the leafe of the tree hath / whose figure I set furth And Dioscorides semeth to geue vnto his Arbuto the likenes of a Quince tree / wherefore this tree that I set furth / agreeth better with the description of Theophrast / then with Dioscorides / except Dioscorides in comparing Arbutum to a Quince tree / meane not of the leaues / but of the fashion of the tree and maner of growing of it The Properties GOod properties / that I knowe of / this fruyte hath none / but that it delyteth some men for the diuersyte / for it is euell for the stomache / and ingendreth the head ake Of Aristolochia Aristolochia rotunda Aristolochia longa ARistolochia is a Greke name / and is so called / because it is very good for weomen / that labour of childe The Latines vse the same name / the Germanes call Aristolochia in their tonge / Osterlacye Dioscorides maketh thre kindes of Aristolochia / the fyrst is called Aristolochia rotunda / and this is the female The Potecaries both in Germany and in EnglaÌd haue abused in the steade of the true Aristolochia rotunda / capnophragmite / meÌtioned in Pliny / which is very well called of the Germanes holwurtz / because the rote is holow But they haue erred far for this Holwurt is nothing agreyng with the description of Aristolochia rotunda / for Aristolochia rotunda hath leaues lyke Yuy / and a good sauour with some sharpenes / somthinge round and soft It hath many twigges / coÌming furth of one roote / longe braunches and whyte floures / representing litle cappes / wherein is a read thinge that sauoreth euell the roote is roundaboute lyke vnto a rape roote The leaues of Holwurtes / which is their Aristolochia rotunda / are cut and far in indented / and very lyke vnto our gardine Rue / but the leues of our gardine Rue / are not lyke vnto Yuy leues therfore this Holwurt of theirs / is not Aristolochia rotunda of Dioscorides I haue sene this Aristolochia rotunda diuerse tymes it hath the same sauour and taste / that the other Aristolochia / whiche is called longa but this hath a round roote / but here and there appeare out certayne vnequall corners It maye be called in English round hart wurt / because the leaues represent a painted harte / or round byrthwurte because it helpeth women to bringe furth their byrth The seconde kinde of Aristolochia / is called Aristolochia longa / whiche hath a leafe some thinge longer then the former kinde hath it hath litle braunches of a span long / a purple floure of a stinking sauour / out wherof commeth a fruyte lyke vnto a peare but black and al full of sedes in figure thre square / the rootes are a finger bigge / and a span long / and somthinge longer Thys kinde groweth plentuouslye besyde Lake de come in the vineyardes wallis it groweth also besyde Bon about the vineyardes by the Rhynsyde / of iche syde of the hygh way / but I could neuer se the fruytes so perfyt in Germany / as I dyd in Italy this maye be called in English Long hartwurt / or long byrthwurte The thyrde kinde of Aristolochia is called Clematitis / because it hath long smal braunches like a vinde / it hath leaues some thing round / lyke vnto stone crop / and floures like vnto Rue / longer rootes / small wyth a thicke barke which hath a good sauour I did se suche a kinde as this at Basell / whose leaues are lesse then all the other kindes / but yet they were so great and vnlike vnto a stonecrop / that I dare not playnely determe / that it was the right Clematitis Matthiolus writeth that Pliny and Leonicemus do erre / because they saye that Aristolochia hath the name / because that it is good for weomen with chyld / when as Dioscorides writeth that it hath the name / because it is good for weomen that are in labor Because Pliny and Leonicemus are dead / and caÌ not aunswer for theÌ selfes / I aunswer that their error is not so great as Matthiolus maketh it / if he could be conteÌt to interprete gently their worde as they meant by it / for it is out of all dout / that they knewe it as well as Matthiolus / that Aristolochia was euell for weomen with child / except the tyme of byrth were cummed / for they knew both the Greke tonge as well as Matthiolus doth Therfore it is out of dout that they meant / when they sayd it is good for weomen with child / that it was good for
prouoke vrine that is stopped The same layd to the nether most parte of the belly / bring weomen their sycknes The iuyce put into the mother with myrre / doth the same that the bath doth The toppes and leaues of the same herbes / in the quantite of thre drammes / are commonly dronken to bringe the forsayd sykenes doune The right Mugwurt is good to be dronken agaynst the poyson of the iuyce of Poppye / called Oppium / with wine Pliny writeth that it was the opinion in hys dayes / that the men that had it vpon them / should not be wery / and that no euell medicine shoulde hurt them / and that no euel beaste should noye them Of the Reede A Reede is called in Greke Kalamos / in Latin Arundo or Calamus / in Duch Een Roer / or een Reede in Frenche / Vne Roseau Ther are diuerse kindes of Redes / some are thicke redes whereof Arrowes are made in diuerse countrees some serue for to make tounges for pypes / some serue to make instrumentes to write with / whiche we comonly called pennes Another kinde of Rede groweth aboute riuers sides / thys beyng thick and holowe / is called of some Arundo Cypria of other Donax Another kinde is called Phragmitis / or Vallatoria because it groweth about hedges and diches This is small and somethinge whyte / and well knowen of all men This laste kinde groweth muche in England / but the other kindes growe not in England that I knowe of howbeit they are brought in of Marchants out of other countrees The vertues of the Reede THE roote of the common hedge Rede called in Latin Canna by it selfe / or layd to with his knoppes / draweth out shyueres and prickes It also swageth the payne of the loynes / and membres out of ioynte / layde to wyth vinegre The grene leaues brused and layd to / heale Cholericke inflammacions / and other inflammacions also The ashes of the barke layd to wyth vinegre / heale the falling of the heyre The downe that is in the toppe of the Reede lyke floures if it come into a mannes eare / maketh him deafe Of Follfoote / or Asarabacca ASarum is called in Greke Asaron / in Englishe Follfote because it hath a round leafe / lyke a folis fote and Asarabacca / in Duche Haselwurt / because it groweth about Hasel tree rootes / in Frenche Cabaret Folfote groweth only in gardines in England / but it groweth wilde in certayne places of Germanye Folefoote is a well sauoringe herbe / and vsed to be put in garlandes It hath leaues lyke vnto Yuy / but lesse / and rounder by a great dele / wyth purple floures / lyke the floures of Henbane / and they growe but a litle from the root / and haue a good sauour / out of the which commeth sede lyke grapes It hath manye rootes full of knottes / small / one lyinge ouer an other / not vnlyke vnto grasse rootes / but much smaler / well sauoring / hote / and bytinge vehementlye the tonge The Vertue of Follfoote THE nature of thys herbe is hote / and it prouoketh water / it healeth the dropsy / and the olde Sciatica The rootes prouoke doune a womans sickenes / taken in the quantite of sixe drammes wyth mede and they purge as nesinge pouder called whyte Hellebor doth Galene sayth / that Folefoote is lyke vnto Acorus in strenght / but that thys is more stronge and vehement Of great saint Iohns wurt Ascyron GAlene and Paule conteyne Ascyron vnder Androsemo but Dioscorides describeth these herbes seuerally / and so maketh them sondry herbes Ascyron called also Ascaroides / is a kinde of Hyperici / called in Englishe saint Iohns grasse / or saint Iohns wurt but it differeth in greatnes / for it hath greater leaues / stalkes / and mo braunches / then saint Iohns grasse hath I haue marked also thys difference / that Ascyron hath a four squared stalke / and leaues wyth verye fewe holes in them / whiche I haue not sene in Hyperico The herbe maye be called in Englishe / great saint Iohns grasse I haue sene it diuers tymes in Sion parke The Vertues THE sede of this herbe is good for the Sciatica If it be dronken wyth water and honye / about the quantite of twentye vnces / it purgeth largelye choleryke humores But it must be taken continuallye / tyll the pacient be hole This herbe is also good agaynst burninge Of Swallowe wurt ASclepias is rekened of Fuchsius to be the herbe / which is called of the common Herbaries Hirundinaria / of the Potecaries Vince toxicum / of the Germanes SchwalbeÌwurtz It groweth in Germanye in hyghe mountaines / and in stony grounde amonges the busshes I haue not sene it in Englande but it maye be called in Englishe Swallwurte Some Physicianes Italianes / when I was in Italye / supposed this herbe whiche some call Asclepias to be Apocinum But thys herbe hath no yelow iuyce / nether doth it poyson wyth wine / as Apocinum doth Wherefore this herbe can not be Apocinum Asclepias hath long small braunches / out of which come furth long leaues / lyke vnto Yuy leues / many small rootes / whiche sauour well / The floure is of an vnplesant sauour / The sede is lyke hatchet fiche / called otherwyse Securidaca But because the rootes of Swallow wurt are not well smelling / a man maye not be to bold to hold that Swallowurt is the right Asclepias Wherefore I haue not as yet sene the right Asclepias in all pointes / agreing with the description of Dioscorides Asclepias The Vertues of Swallow wurt THE rootes of thys herbe dronken wyth wine / helpe them that haue gnauwynge in their bodye / and are remedye agaynst the bytinge of venemous beastes The leaues layd vpon the almost incurable sores of the pappes or breastes / and of the mother / heale them The later writers of Physike / wryte that this herbe is good to bringe doune weomens floures / that it is good agaynst the byting of a mad dogge / and agaynst poyson Wherefore it is called Vince toxicum / that is / master poyson / or ouercome poyson They saye that the roote of thys herbe steped in wyne / is good agaynste the dropsye / and that the floures and leaues broken / and put into woundes / healeth them shortelye They saye also that this herbe healeth materye and old sores / and is good agaynst burstinges / and the diseases of the priuityes Of Sperage Asparagus SPerage is called in Latin Asparagus / in Duche Spargen / in Frenche Esperage / some Potecaries call thys herbe Sparagus Asparagus is of two sortes / the one is called Aspa altilis / Asparagus alone / and this is the comon Sperage whiche groweth in diuerse gardins in England / and in some places by the Sea syde / in sandy hylles / as it groweth right plentuously in the Ylandes of East Freselande / and in hyghe Germany / without anye setting
not lyke a radice / although it haue certayne round knoppes / like one kinde of radice And it that Matthiolus setteth furth / hath rounder leaues / not so longe and indented as the leaues of a Ciche are Let learned men examine both / and take it for Astragalo / which agreeth with the hole description best The Vertues of Astragalus THE roote of Astragalus dronken with wine / stoppeth the fluxe of the bellye / and maketh a man to make water It is good to put the pouder of this herbe into olde sores It stoppeth bloode but it is so harde / that it can not well be beaten Of Areche AReche or Oreche is called in Latin Atriplex / in Greke Atraphaxis and Chrysolachanon / in Duche Molten or Milten / in Frenche Arroches or Bones dames Areche is of two kindes / the one is garden Areche / which groweth onelye in gardines / the other kinde is called in Englishe Wilde Areche / and it groweth abroade in the Corne feldes Areche is moyste in the seconde degre / and colde in the fyrste The Vertues of Areche Atriplex AReche softeneth the bellye / and ether rawe or sodden / it driueth awaye shallow sores / which are broad and not depe / called in Latin Pani The sede of this herbe with a certaine mede / made with water and honye / healeth the iaundies or guelsought Of Otes AVena is named in Greke Bromos / in Englishe Otes or Etes / or Hauer / in Duche Hauer or Haber / in Frenche Auoine There are two kindes of Otes / the one is called in English commonly Otes / and the other is called Egilops in Greke / and in Latin Auenasterilis / and in English wilde Otes Otes are of a colde and a stoppinge nature Otes are so well knowen / that I nede not to describe them There is an other kinde of Otes / called Pillotes / whiche growe in Sussex / it hath no husk abydinge vpon it / after that it is threshed / and is lyke Otemele This kinde groweth in no other countre that euer I could tell of / sauinge onelye in England / nether haue I rede in anye newe or olde Autor of this kinde The men of the countre where they growe / saye that they will not growe well in a fat grounde / but in a barun grounde / wherein no corne hath growen before Auena The Vertues of Otes OTes are good to make emplasteres of / as Barly is The gruel made of Otes / stoppeth the belly The iuyce of Otes in suppinges or brothes / is good for the cough Galene writeth that Otes do drye and measurablye disperse abroade wythoute anye bytinge / if they be layd vnto anye place Of Baccharis / supposed to be Sage of Hierusalem BAccharis is a well sauoring herbe / vsed to be put in garlandes / whose leues are sharp / and haue a meane bignes betwene the Violet leafe / and the leafe of Mollen The stalke is full of crestes corners about a cubit height / some thinge sharp / not without litle braunches growynge out of it / the floure is purple / and somethinge whyte / and well smelling The rootes are like black Hellebore rootes / and the smell of them / is lyke Cinnamum I haue sought muche to finde this herbe whiche the Latines call Baccharis But I could neuer finde anye that did so wel agre wyth the description of Baccharis / as doth the herbe that we call in English Sage of Hierusalem / and the Potecaries Pulmonoria If any man can find any herbe to whome the description of Baccharis agreeth better to / then to this herbe / will I gyue places / in the meane season I will take this for Baccharis / vntil I finde a better Sage of Hierusalem groweth aboute Collen in woddes in greate plentye Matthiolus sheweth an other herbe for Baccharis / to whom if the description of Baccharis doth agre better then to it that I set furth I will gyue place vnto him / when I shall se the herbe that he describeth In the meane tyme I haue set out it that I can finde to be most lykest vnto Baccharis in England and in Germanye The Vertues of Baccharis THE roote of Baccharis soddeÌ in water / doth helpe it that is draweÌ together bursten it is also good for theÌ that haue fallen froÌ aboue / are brused for theÌ that are short wynded / for an old cough / for theÌ that can not make water well It driueth doune weomens syckenes It is good to be geuen in wyne agaynst the bytinges of serpentes It is good for weomen in chyldbed to sit ouer The leaues as they be astringent / are good to laye to the heade for the head ake / for the inflammation of the eyes / for the brestes or pappes that swell to much after the byrth / for the impostemes of the corners of the eyes when they begin first / and burninges / and inflammationes The sauour maketh a man slepe Of stinkinge Horehounde Ballote STynking Horehound is named in Greke Ballote / in some Greke bokes Megaprasion / and other MelanprasioÌ / of the Latines Marrubium magnum / or Marrubium nigrum / in Duche Stinking Andorne / in Frenche Marrubium noir It is called also in English Black horehound Ballote hath foursquare stalkes / blacke / and somthynge rough / manye growyng furth of one roote / wyth greater leaues then Horehounde / rough / a space goynge betwene some thinge rounde / lyke vnto Apiastrum / we cal Baume wherfore some call it Apiastrum / that is Baume / whyte floures do compasse the stalke about after the maner of whorles The Vertue of stincking Horehounde THE leaues of this herbe layd to with salt / are good for the bitinge of a dogge If the leaues be layd in asshes whilse they faide a litle / they stop the swelling lumpes that ryse in the fundament with hony also they purge fylthy and foule woundes Of Bockes bearde GOates beard is called in Greke Tragopogon or Kome / in Latin Barba hirci / in Duch Bocks bard / in FreÌch barbe de bouc Dioscorides describeth gotes bearde thus Tragopogon hath a short stalke / leaues like vnto Saffron / and a long roote which is swete / out of the stalke coÌmeth furth a great heade / in whose top is black sede or fruyt / whervpon it hath the name geueÌ this is the text of Dioscorides / but I do suspecte that Dioscorides text is corrupted / for I thinke that he wold neuer say that this herbe should be called buckes beard / because it hath a black sede or fruyte for what hath a white fruite or a black to do with the liknes of a bockes beard nothing at al. Therfore where as Dioscorides texte is corrupt / it is best to amend it with the texte of Theophrastus / of whom he borrowed altogether this description TheÌ where as Dioscorides sayth / out of the toppe commeth out a blacke sede /
whereof Gotes beard hath the name Let vs rede as Theophrastus doth Out of the top commeth a hore whyte bearde / wherevpon it is called Gotes bearde These be the wordes of Theophrastus The herbe which we call Goates bearde / in barone places hath but a shorte stalke / but in gardines and in ranke meddoes / it hath a longe stalke and full of ioyntes lyke knees Aboute London I haue sene in the felde thys herbe wyth a swete roote and wyth black sede and a yelowe floure / and after the floure is gone wyth a great deale of long whyte doune lyke tuftes of whyte heyre / but about Colon I sawe it which had whyte sede and a bitter roote all full of milke as in other places it doth appere Matthiolus marueyleth that the herbe nowe taken of vs for Tragopogon / is thought of Hermolaus Barbarus / nether to be the righte Tragopogon of Theophrastus or of Dioscorides Surelye I thynke that it chaunsed vnto Hermolaus as it chaunsed vnto me For I sawe diuerse tymes an herbe / that in all other poyntes dyd agree well wyth the description of Tragopogon / sauinge that the herbe alwaye had a bitter roote / whyche thinge made me still to iudge / that the herbe was not the righte Tragopogon / vntill I found an herbe with the same figure and fashion in all thinges lyke the other with a swete roote And so I thynke that Hermolaus therefore denied that thys herbe was the right Tragopogon / because he coulde neuer fynde anye with a swete roote An other cause might be that he sawe the leaues of oure Tragopogon muche greater then the leaues of Safron But Dioscorides looked not vnto the smallnes of the Safron leaues / but to the figure and whytishe list or lyne / that goeth quite thorowe the middes of the Saffron leafe In whiche two thinges the leaues of Tragopogon / and the leaues of Safron are very lyke I merueyle much when as both Theophrast and Dioscorides write / that Tragopogon hath longe rootes / that contrary vnto the open textes and mindes of these noble writers / that Amatus Lusitanus dare be so bolde / as to gyue round knoppy rootes after the maner of Bulbus / or of Ascalion / but somethinge longe vnto Tragopogon / and sayth that the rootes are of the bignes of an Hasel nutt / and that the boyes of Spayne of the lykenes / that they haue wyth a nutt / call them nozella I haue sene thre sundry sortes of Tragopogon / one sorte with a blewishe purple floure / which is called in the West parte of Englande / Starre of Hierusalem / because whilse the Sunne shyneth it openeth / and when it is vnder a clud / the floure shitteth to close agayne I knowe also two sortes wyth a yelowe floure / the one with a swete roote / and the other with a bitter roote / and full of milke All these thre sortes had longe rootes when I sawe them / and I could neuer se anye suche rounde thinge in the roote / that was lyke vnto a nut or a oynion Wherefore Amatus in the roote of this herbe is both contrary to the autorite of learned men / and to experience The Vertues of Bockes bearde DIoscorides wryteth nomore of Bockes bearde / but that it is good to eate / the newer writers saye that it is good for the diseases of the breste and liuer / for the paynes in the kidnes and bladder / and for the ache in the syde / wheÌ it commeth first furth of the grounde / the tender buddes are good and pleasant in a sallat / and so are also the tendre stalkes a great whyle after / till the knop in the toppe comme furth The leaues are not vnpleasant afterwarde both in sallat and in potage Thys herbe semeth to be of a temperate warmnes Matthiolus writeth that both the iuyce and the water of thys herbe healeth / and bindeth vp newe and freshe woundes Of the Dasey Bellis syiluestris A Dasey is called in Latin Bellis / in Duche Kleintzitlosten / or Monathblumle / in French des margarites pasquetes / of the Herbaries Consolida minor or primula veris. There are two kindes of Dases / one with a reed floure which groweth in the gardines / and another whiche groweth abroade in euerye grene and hygh way The Northren men call this herbe a Banwurt / because it helpeth bones to knyt agayne The lefe of the Dasey is some thinge longe / and toward the ende round / ther are smal nickes in the borders or edges of the leaues Pliny writeth that the Dasey hath 53. and somtyme 55. litle whyte leues whiche go about the yelow knop it appereth that the double Daseys were not founde in Plinies tyme / which haue a great dele mo then Pliny maketh mention of Bellis minor syluestris The vertues of Daseyes PLiny writeth that this herbe dryueth awaye great swellinges and wennes The common Surgeans vse thys herbe much in healinge woundes / wherefore they call it Consolida minoreÌ / diuerse gyue this herbe in drinke vnto their pacieÌtes that are wounded / do them much good The later writers holde also that the iuyce of this herbe is good for the palsey / for the Gout for the Sciatica Thys haue I proued that the iuyce of the rede gardine Dasey / put into a mans nose / draweth out water wonderfully out of the heade / wherby it can not be called a herbe after the doctrine of Galene Of Betes BEta is named in Greke Teutlon or Seutlon / in English a Bete / in Duche Mangolt / in FreÌche Porree / or Iotte Betes haue a stalke full of Crestes and corneres of two cubites heyght / a leafe lyke Areche or Lett es / smal yelow floures / and a longe roote whiche hath many small stringes like small thredes comming furth of it There are two kindes of Betes / the whyte Bete / which is also called Sicula / and black Betes / called in Latin Beta nigra Beta nigra Beta candida The Vertues of Betes THE blacke Bete is sodden wyth Lentilles to stoppe the bellye wythall / whiche thinge is soune broughte to passe with the roote The whyte Bete is good for the bellye / but they haue both an euell iuice / by the reason nitrosyte or bitter saltishnes whiche they haue of their like vnto saltpeter wherefore their iuyce poured into a mannes nose with honye / purgeth the head / and it healeth the paine in the eares The broth of the roote and leaues / scoureth awaye scurfe and scales / and nettes out of the head It swageth the paines of the moulled or kibed heles Thesame helpeth frekelles and spottes / if they be rubbed ouer before with saltpeter naturall So it helpeth the voyde places / whiche the falling of the heyre make / if they be stirred vp with a knyfe It helpeth runninge sores / whiche spred abroade and waste vp the fleshe as they
come of this herbe / if it be not taken in right tyme and quantite This herbe to much occupied in meat / ingendreth euel / and melancolick iuyce It dulleth the sight / and it troubleth the slepe with contrary thinges which are sene in the dreame The floure of Cole / of a certeyne propertye that it hath / destroyeth sede / it hurteth also the lunges Cole is hote and drye in the fyrst degre Of Sea Cole BRassica syluestris is named in Greke / kraÌbe agria It maye be called in English Sea cole / because it groweth naturally by the sea syde I neuer sawe it in all my lyfe / sauinge in Douer clyffes This is muche lyke the other cole / but it is whyter and rougher / and bitter withal But the leaues of it that I sawe / were much lesse narrower / then the gardine cole Theophrastus describeth a certayne kinde of wild cole / that hath smouth leaues / whyche appeareth to me to be a certayne kinde of Carloke / that groweth in the corne wyth other leaues / then the common Carloke hath Thesame is called in Northumberland this daye / Wild kele There are yet two kindes of wilde Cole / whereof I finde no mencion in anye writer The one is a wounderfull great Cole / hath leaues thrise as thicke / as euer I sawe anye other cole haue It hath whyte floures / and round berryes lyke Yuy / wherein the sede is conteyned This herbe groweth at Douer harde by the Sea syde / and in manye other places The other kinde of wilde cole / groweth euer by water sydes / wyth a leafe indented / as rocket is / in taste / smell / fashion of floure / and sede / lyke vnto the gardin cole / harde by the Seasyde I name the firste of these in Latine Brassicam Dobricam / in Englishe Douer cole / because I founde it first besyde Douer The seconde kinde I call Brassicam flumatilem / and in Englishe Water cole / because it groweth euer by water sydes The Vertues of the Sea cole THE tender buddes of this cole are not vnpleasant vnto the mouth / if they be sodden in lye The leaues of thys herbe layd to after the maner of an emplaster / do bind and close vp woundes and driue away and scatter abroade inflammationes and soft swellinges Of Brassica marina BRassica marina named in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã / is thus describeth of Dioscorides Brassica marina differeth in all thinge from the gardin brassica It hath longe leaues lyke vnto Aristolochia the round Euerye leafe commeth furth alone of litle braunches / somthinge readishe / and hath but one litle foot stalke as Yuy hath It hath white iuice / but not muche / it hath a saltishe taste / and somethinge bitter / with a fat growinge together The hole herbe is euell for the stomache / sharpe or bitinge / and it louseth the belly excedingly sodden wyth meate and for the great sharpnes it is sodden with fat meat Although I haue these xvj yeares sought for the right Brassica marina / and haue founde one herbe that the common sorte of learned men take for it / And another which I thought alone that it had bene the right Brassica marina / yet when I consyder and wey both the herbes with the description of Dioscorides / I find nether of both agreynge with the hole description The herbe which I toke for brassica marina / groweth within the floodmarke of the Sea / and commonly at the bankes of crekes that rin throw middowes or grene grounde / and in stonye Ilandes / wherevnto the saltwater commeth to at certayne tymes in the year / as at great springe tydes and tempestes I haue sene it in East Freseland about Norden / where as it is called Leppelkruyt / of the likenes that it hath with a spoune I haue sene it in England at Westchester / at Portlande / and at Porbeke / but I could neuer learne anye name of it / but Scurby wede / or Scurby wurt / it maye also well be called Spounwurte When it commeth fyrst furth / it hath fyue or sixe / somtime mo / and sometyme fewer leaues altogether / standing right vp after the maner of Pirola / or of a yonge Bete / the foote stalke is longe and towarde the ground redishe / the leues are fat thick and round / not vnlike to Asarabacca or Folfoote / but that they are lesse and grener They are somthinge saltish bitter / and very hote and sharpe in tast / and haue a certayne smake of cole / which is vnpleasant by the reason of the heate bitternes that is ioyned wyth it It hath a stalke almost a span long / and the leaues that growe vpon the stalke / are much longer and more sharper pointed then they that come streight waye first from the roote The floure is whyte / and the sede is dunnish blacke The people of the countre vse it against the scurbuke or crippel euel I haue proued that it is not only good against that disease / but also against the dropsey / as the noble clerke Reinerus the Rector of the scole of Gruninge / and Henrike Herbart can bere witnes Yet for all thys I dare not giue sentence that it is the right Brassica marina of Dioscorides / namely because a great deale of it purgeth but a litle / when as the true Brassica marina of Dioscorides purgeth very sore / and that at no tyme that I sawe it / any milke or whyt iuice did appere in it The herbe which is commonlye taken in Italy / Fraunce and Germany / for Brassica marina / is called of the Herbaries Soldana or Soldanella But it that Matthiolus setteth out / is not the same herbe / namelye in the roote / that oure Soldanella is / which groweth in England and Flandres / nether it that is sold at Frankford and at Anwerp For as the rest of the hole herbe is like vnto wythwinde or wedebind / called of some Volubilis / of other Helxine cisampelos / in al thinges / sauinge that the leaues are rounder and not so sharpe / so is the roote also lyke vnto the roote of the same herbe Oure Soldanella a far of loketh like a Mallowe / both in the floures and leaues / but when a man commeth nere vnto it / it loketh so lyke a Withwinde / that a man wold saye / that it were nothing ellis / but a Sea withwinde / The floures are in all pointes lyke the common with windes floures / that is of the fashion of a bell / sauing that they are greater and purplish blewe And when as all the rest of the herbe crepeth vpon the Sea sande / the floures stand gallantly right vp / and shewe meruelous well vpon the plaine sand or grauell The sede is lyke the sede of other windes / blackish and round / as great as a fitche / and somethinge greater The leaues are as
tree make bitter honye / wherfore it is not good to be planted / where as bees are kept This writeth Pliny in the xvj boke of his natural story Matthiolus confuteth so well and learnedly Amatus Lusitanus / for saynge / that Boxe was a kinde of Guaiacum / that I nede not to geue anye warninge of the great errour that Amatus was in / and wold haue brought other into the same Of Calaminte Calamitha prima Rough calamint Calamita altera Corne minte DIoscorides maketh thre kindes of Calaminte / The fyrst kinde he describeth thus It groweth comonly in mountaines / and hath leues like vnto Basil / white in vnder / drye braunches / squared stalkes / and a purple floure This herbe groweth much in Germanye about Bon / and in England about Sion / It hath leaues lesse then greate Basil / muche lyke vnto the common Organe / or wilde Marierum / but they are rough on both sydes / but more rough of the vnder Calamitha tertia part / and whyte withall / but grene of the ouer part yet not withstanding mixed with certayne horines / the stalke is foursquare / al rough with a whyte hore / where about doth grow in equal order / one from another certaine knoppes lyke whorles / lyke vnto them that are in horehounde out of the which do grow purple floures / the leafe is hote / and holden vnder ones teth / bringeth furth slauer / and hath also a very good sauour / but somthinge stronge withall the rootes are smal / muche lyke vnto the rootes of the common organe / this kinde maye be called in Englishe rough Organ bush Calamint The second kind is thus described of Dioscorides It is lyke Peny ryal / but greater / and thys haue some called wild Peny ryal / because it is lyke in sauore The Latines call it NepitaÌ This kinde of Calaminte groweth much in England among the corne / and it is called in English commonly / Corne mint / and of the Potecaries Calamentum Howbeit at those dayes the Latines cal it not NepitaÌ / but vse the Greke terme of Calamite The thyrde kinde as Dioscorides writeth / is lyke vnto wild minte / with longer leaues / with greater braunches stalkes then the other kindes haue / but it hath lesse strenght then the rest This kinde is now a dayes called of the Pothecaries Nepita / in English Nepe / in Duch Katzenkraut / or Catzenmuntz / in French Herbe au chat / the cattes commonly / where as they can finde it in any gardin / wil eat it vp / wherfore som cal it in English Catmint This herbe groweth far from cities and tounes / in hedges and in stony groundes Calamint is hote and drye in the third degre Dioscorides writeth that Calamint groweth in playnes / hygh and rockye and in waterye places Matthiolus and I do agree in the seconde kinde of Calamint / which he sayth / is called euen at thys tyme in his countrey Nipotella But in the first and third kinde / I dissent from him / for he maketh another herbe to be the first kinde of Calamint / and he maketh my first kinde of Calamint / to be Clinopodium As for his first kinde of Calamint / if it be so of the same forme and fashion / as he hath set it out in his figure / it answereth nothinge vnto the description of Dioscorides / for he wold that his first kind should haue leaues like vnto Basill / but that herbe whiche Matthiolus setteth out / for Calaminta prima hath leaues lyke vnto Penyryal / and not vnto basil / namely to that basil that Dioscorides compareth his first Calamint to If that the first Calamint of Matthiolus had bene the first Calamint of Dioscorides / then should it haue had leaues lyke vnto Heliotropio maiori / to the right Mercury / to purple veluet floure / for these herbes leaues in Dioscorides other good autors are made lyke vnto the leaues of Ocimum or basil But the leues of his first Calamint are not like vnto the right basil / whiche Dioscorides coÌpareth his first Calamint to Therfore the first Calamint of Matthiolus agreeth not with the description of Dioscorides / I wil be iudged by learned men that are indifferent In the third kind of Calamint / I do not like his confutation of Ruellius / who in my iudgement hath more furthered the knowledge of herbes for his tyme / then Matthiolus hath done for hys tyme / yet I graunt that we are much bound to Matthiolus for his paynes taken in the setting out the knowledge of herbes Ruellius sayth that the third kind of Calamint / is the herbe coÌmonly called Nepe or Cat mint / but Matthiolus confuteth him thus Dioscorides maketh the thirde kinde of Calamint lyke vnto Mentastro / not to Baum or a Nettel / as Catmint is Thesame Dioscorides answer I vnto Matthiolus / sayth not only that the third Calamint is like vnto Mentastro or wild mint / but he sayth also that it hath longer leaues then wild mint hath / for so hath the Greke text / ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Tertia verò menthae syluestri similis est folijs oblongior The third is lyke vnto wilde mint / longer in the leaues And thesame Dioscorides sayth that the thirde kinde of mint is greater both in the stalke and blades or braunches / then the forenamed Calamintes be Then when as the third calamint must haue longer leaues then wild mint That herbe that hath longer leues then the wild mint / called Mentastrum / is not lyke the thirde Calamint And the herbe that Ruellius setteth furth for Calaminta tertia / hath longer leaues then it that Matthiolus setteth out Therfore it that Ruellius setteth out / is lyker to be the thirde kinde of Calamint / then it that Matthiolus sheweth For it that Matthiolus setteth oute for the thirde Calamint / excepte his thirde figure be falselye graued and painted / hath not onelye shorter leaues and lesse / then euen the Mentastrum / which he setteth out his owne selfe a litle before / but also shorter and lesse leues then the seconde kinde of Calaminte hath / euen after his owne figure that he setteth furth Therfore Matthiolus erreth much more in the third kind of Calamint then Ruellius doth put a litle pece of a leafe vnto Mentastro / and se whether it will not be as long as some Nettel leaues be or no. If the increase of the leafe then make Mentastrum lyke a Nettel / then the thyrd Calaminte / which must nedes be longer leaued then Mentastrum is / maye well be like a nettel / as touching the length of the leafe An other cause is / sayeth Matthiolus / why that the opinion of Ruellius oughte to be refused and whisteled oute / is because he hath sene the right third Calamint in watery places like vnto Mentastro / with something more whitishe leaues / and with a sharper taste /
story of plantes / and the iiij chapter wryteth thus of the kindes of onyons Cepe fissiles which hath their name that one is clouen from another and Ascalonie / which haue their name of Ascalonia / a place in Iewery / differ amonges them selfes both in dresshing in the gardine / and also in nature The gardiners do leaue the clouen onyons in winter / as of no effect with their leaues In the springe tyme they take of the outwarde leaues / and trim the rest / when that this is taken awaye / other do bude agayne / and then are they clouen beneth / wherof they haue their name / and be called clouen onyons Thus far hath Theophrastus / whose wordes we maye playnelye gather / that the herbe which is called of him cepa fissilis / and in Greke Crommion schiston / is it that we call in English Holleke / and the Duche men call Sere or Suer / and in Freseland Suerley And thesame opinion maye be confirmed by the auctorite of Pliny / in the xix boke and vj. chapter of his natural history / in this wordes They leaue the onyon / called Schiston cromion / in winter with his leaues / and in the spring they do take of the leaues / and other ryse vp in vnder agayn with thesame diuisions / where vpon they haue their name Thus far Plinye The onyons that we call Hollekes / are of thys nature / that if one be set alone / that their will a great sorte within a shorte space growe of that same roote / withoute any sowyng and if ye take one of the cluster of / where as there are a dossen together / and set it in haruest in the grounde alone / that one shall bringe you a dosen / if the grounde be fruytfull the nexte yeare Wherefore seynge this herbe lasteth in the grounde all winter / it were better to call it winter onyon / then holleke Plinye also putteth a very playne difference betwene the Scallyone and the Holleke in these wordes This is the proper nature of Scalliones / they are barron in bringinge furth by the roote / therefore the Grecianes haue conselled to sowe them / and not to set them These are Plinies wordes whereof we gather that one kinde of Onyons is plenteous / and maketh increase by the roote But seyng that nether the common onyon nor the scallione bringeth furth by the roote / nether any other kind of onyon / sauing the Holleke / it followeth that it must onlye be Cepafissilis Matthiolus sayth that Cepa fissilis is called in Hetruria Cepolla maligia Cepa Fissilis The Nature of Onyons ONyons as Galene sayth / are hote in the fourth degre / and substance is of grosse partes / wherfore they open the emrodes / both laied to / after the maner of an emplaster / also as an oyntment with vinegre Dioscorides writeth that if it be put in as a suposetory / that it openeth the emrods / such other places as excremeÌtes vse to issue out by The long onyon is sharper then the round the yelow sharper then the white / the drye sharper then the grene / the rawe sharper theÌ the soddeÌ or the rosted Yet do they al byte and ingendre winde The iuyce of onyons layd to wyth hony / heleth the darcknes of the eyes / and dulnes of sight / the hawes cloudes of the eyes / shoting of blood in the eyes / when they begin / they are good for the quinsey / if the place be anointed with it the iuice driueth out weomeÌs sycknes / and purgeth the hede / poored in at the nose thrilles it is good to laye to the biting of a dogge with rawe honye and vinegre / it is good for the chafing of ones foote with his shoe / layd to wich capons grece it is good to lay vpon their heades whose heyre falleth of Onyons eaten in meat largely make the head ake / when they are sodden / they prouoke more pleÌtuously vrine / they make them forgetful / which in the tyme of their sicknes vse them out of measure Onyons sodden with rasins and figges / make rype swellinges and burste them verye quicklye Of the herbe called Cepea Caepea Brooklyme Sea porcelline CEpea as Dioscorides writeth / is lyke vnto porcelline / but it hath blacker leaues / and a small roote Plinye sayth that Cepea is lyke Porcelline / but it hath a blacker roote nothing worth / growynge in sandye sea shores with a bitter taste Dioscorides maketh Cepea lyke vnto porcellaine / sauing in blacknes of leaues And Plinye makinge Cepeam also lyke vnto Porcelleine / writeth that the difference which is betwene them / is in the blacknes of the roote / wherefore if the bokes be true / Cepea Dioscoridis Pliny are not all one I haue sene the herbe that Pliny describeth oft in Freselande / except I be far deceiued / by the sea syde with in the sea bankes / in such places as the sea commeth / to euery springe tyde / it maye be called in English sea porcellaine the leaues are very lyke porcelline / and are more salt then bitter as oft as I haue proued I found the same herb of late beside the I le Porbeck But when as Dioscorides semeth to make one Cepeam / and Pliny an other / there must be two kindes of Cepea As for it of Pliny / I haue spoken of it before but as touching the Cepea of Dioscorides / I haue thoughte that a certaine kinde of small broocklyme was Cepea / but afterwardes I sawe in Freseland in watery places / and oft in poules that were ful in winter and dryed vp in summer an herbe / which loked much liker vnto porcellaine / then brooklyme doth It had leues like porcelain / but much lesse I dout which of these two I should take for the right Cepea Fuchsius which taketh brooklyme but not truely / for Sio / in the ende of the chapter of Sion saith / that the herbe is vsed this day of horseleches to swage swellings and to heale scabbes of farcies of horses Tragus hath thesame meaning and telleth also / that if it be fryed with butter and vinegre / and ofte layd to / and taken of renued agayne / that it healeth not only any swelling / but also sainte Antonies fyre / or such inflammationes I haue proued it my selfe by experience / that brooklyme is very good for a decease that reigneth much in FreselaÌd called the Scourbuch I sod the herbe in butter milke / the chese and butter taken away / and gaue the pacientes it so / I made them eate it diuerse wayes / whereby they were within a shorte tyme healed But I neuer proued as yet / what vertue the other herbe that groweth in poules hath Matthiolus setteth oute in dede an herbe not vnlike vnto porcelline / but he nether telleth where it groweth / nether what colour it hath / nether what taste nor smell it
the most comon Cich / and most vsed nowe a dayes Ther is another kinde which is called Cicer nigrum / that is black Ciche / and that haue I sene in Germany / but seldom There is an other kinde that is called Cicer album / that is whyte Ciche / much lesse and rounder then the comon Ciche This also haue I sene diners tymes in Germanye There is another kinde that is called Cicer columbinum and venereum / which kinde I do not remembre that I haue sene These be the fragmentes whiche I haue gathered oute of Theophrastus and Pliny / to supplye partely the roume of a description But I will describe it as I haue sene it The comon Ciche hath a very harde stalke / and somthinge rough / and at the firste sighte it loketh lyke a pease / but the leaues are a great dele smaller / and lightely indented about / there growe of euerye branche two orders of leues / but they stand not wingwise / that is one right agaynst an other / but one hygher then another / the braunches and the standing and forme of the leaues / are not vnlyke vnto Lichores / the floure is most comenly purple / but somtyme whyte / the code is shorte and rounde / the roote is lyke the colour of the earth / and not very longe Of the propertyes of Ciche CIche as Galene writeth / is a windye pulse / and nourisheth muche / and good for the bellye / conuenient to prouoke water / and to ingendre milke and sede It prouoketh also weomens floures / but it that is called rames Ciche / doth more effectually prouoke vrine then the reste the broth of it breaketh the stones that be in the kidneys The other kinde of Ciche hath the same power of drawinge to / of making rype / of cuttinge in sundre / and in scouring away / for they are hote and measurably moyste / and haue some bitternes / by the which strenght they scoure the milte / the lyuer / and the kidneys / and clenge awaye scabbes and lepres / and foule scurfe that is vpon the skin They also awaye impostemes about the eares / swellinges / and hardnes of the stones with hony also they heale sores almost vncurable Dioscorides writeth that Ciches amende a mannes color / and they helpe also the byrth to come furth Simeon Sethy writeth thus of Ciches Al kindes of Ciches are hote and moyste in the firste degre / and are hard of digestion / and ingendre superfluities They prouoke the pleasure of the bodye / and norish more then beanes do but they open and purge and driue doune weomens floures / and they haue some salt swete qualitie with the saltnes They louse the bellye with their swetenes / they prouoke a man to make water / they ingendre wind / increase milke and do scoure But the blacke Ciche is a good medicine againste venome and poysone / and most of al / prouoketh vrine / and breaketh the stones of the kidneys and bladder / the whiche thing no other pulse can do so wel / and speciallye the black litle one / and that thinge doth the broth of them more mightelye / the whiche pulse for all that aboue al other pulses hurte the sores and exulcerations But the red Ciche is hoter then the whyte / and ingendreth grosse humores Ciches steped in water a night / and then taken / kille wormes in the bellye But he that hath taken them / let him faste sixe houres after The broth of Ciches is good for the iaundies / if black Ciche be sodden with radishe and parselye / and the broth be taken with Almonde oyle / it purgeth effectuallye and dryueth oute the stones of the kidnes and bladder But if it be taken with beanes / it maketh a good plyte and fatt fleshe Grene Ciches are verye windye / hard of digestion / and make men haue an euel color Of Cichelinge Cicercula CIcercula semeth to be a diminutiue of Cicera / and not of Cicer / for then it shoulde be named Cicerculum Cicera is founde in Palladius / whiche sayeth that Cicera differeth onelye in this from Cicercula / that the colour is vnpleasanter and blacker Cicera is called in Greke of Theophrastus Ochros / and he sayth that it is hote and drye / and therefore can preserue it selfe from corruption Cicercula as Columella writeth / hath sedes lyke a peese / but full of corners Pliny sayth that Cicercula is of the kind of Ciche / which is not equal / but full of corneres as a peese Theophrastus rekeneth Cicerculam among eruilles and peese / whiche haue a stalke falling vpon the ground / other markes or tokens wherby Cicercula maye be knowen / haue I not rede of it is called in Greke Lathyros / and it maye be called in English a Cichelinge Cicercula which I haue sene growyng / hath very longe and narrowe leaues / and a stalke al full of corners and crestes / and greater and shorter coddes / for the quantite of the pulse / then peese haue The sede is whyte ful of corners It groweth muche aboute Muffendorff / about thre English myle aboue Bon. Of Homloke or Hemloke Cicuta CIcuta is called in Greke Koneiou / in Englishe Homloke or Hemloke / in Duche Schierlinge / in Frenche Cigne or Secu. Cicuta as Dioscorides writeth / hath a stalke full of ioyntes or knees / as Fenel hath / great and full of bowes in the top the leaues are lyke vnto Fenel gyant / or herb Sapapene / called Ferula / but narrower and stinkinge There growe oute of the top both braunches / and also a spokye top and sede whyter then anise but Plinye sayth grosser and thicker / the roote is hollowe nothing worth Pliny sayth that the stalke of Cicuta is smoth and ful of ioyntes / and somthinge black / higher then two cubites / and that the leaues are smaller then Coriander leaues Here I thynke it worthy to be noted that the herbe whiche we call Homloke / hath leues not very wel agreynge vnto the description of Dioscorides / for Dioscorides writeth the Cicuta hath leaues like vnto Ferula / and Ferula hath leaues like vnto Fenel / sauing that they are much sharper / and somthinge broader But oure Homloke hath leaues lyke vnto persely / in al poyntes vnlyke vnto Fenel / wherfore Dioscorides knewe an other kinde of Cicuta then we knowe Howbeit the description of Cicuta in Pliny agreeth in al pointes with oure Homloke / for Pliny maketh the leaues of Cicuta lyke vnto Coriander / but smaller and thinner / which a great deale bigger then the leaues of Ferula / as ye shal perceyue when ye compare them both together therfore I think that this Homloke that we haue here / is the true Cicuta of Plinye Some wolde recken that therefore it shoulde not be the true Cicuta / because it hath not suche perillous properties / as auncient autours giue vnto
madnes Wherefore ye must not continuallye vse it / and out of measure The iuyce of Coriandre with whyte lede or lythargery and vinegre / rose oyle layd to / healeth the inflammations of the vttermost skinne Auerrois writeth that Coriander hath a propertie to holde meate in the stomake vntill it be digested / and that it maketh fleshe wherewith it is sodden / to haue the tast of spice Simeon Sethi writeth that Coriander is good for the stomacke / and when it is perched at the fyre / that it stoppeth the bellye In drinke it stoppeth the ishue of blood / and also if it be brused and layd vpon it that bledeth Of the Cornell tree Cornus foemina COrnus is called in Greke Crania / in Duche Thierlinbaume / in French Cormiez or Cornier There are two kindes of Cornus / the male and the female Cornus as Dioscorides sayth is a hard tree / bringing furth long berries / lyke an Oliue / which first are grene / and after when they are rype / are rede / or of the coloure of waxe and this is the male kinde which is also described of Theophrastus / he writeth of both the kindes of this maner There is one Cornel tree which is the male / and an other the female it hath leaues like an almond tre / but that they be fatter and thicker / it hath a barke full of synewes and thin / the bodye of the tree is not verye thicke / but the female putteth furth smal twigges / out of the syde as the right agnus castus doth / and it is fuller of braunches / they haue both knottes as agnus hath / both two one against another / and one meting with an other The woode of the male hath no pythe I call so the softe thing that is in any tree / as in Elder and such lyke but it is sound and fast like vnto a horne / both in thicknes and strongnes The female hath a pythe in it / and is softe / and made hollow / the length of the male is at the moste of xij cubites / of which lenght the longest huntinge staues were of that were in Macedonia the hole bodye of the tree is nothing excellent They the dwell in Ida beside Croye / holde that the male is barrone / and that the femal is fruyteful / the fruyte hath a kernell lyke an olyue / the fruyte is swete in eatinge / and pleasant in sauoure The floure is lyke an Oliue tree / and it blometh bringeth furth fruyt after the same maner / so that out of one stalke growe many / they agree also in tyme but the Macedonians saye that they bringe furth both fruyte / but the females fruyt can not be tasted / and that they haue a stronge roote out of the daunger of corruption as agnus is It groweth in moyst places / and not onlye in drye places / both by sede / and also by sticking in of slippes / which are slipped of the tree I haue sene the first Cornus which is the male / plentuouslye in Germany / and the second whiche is the female / both in Germany and Englande the male maye be called in Englishe a Cornel tre The female is called of some Dog berrye tree some call it Corne tree / some because bucherers vse to make prickes of it / cal it prick tree it were best to call it with one common name / wild Cornel tree The leaues are much broader then the Almond tree leaues are / they are almost round / sauinge that towarde the ende they are small and sharpe The male hath as far as I remembre / but one very growinge vpon one stalke alone but the femal hath many growynge together The Properties of the Cornel tree COrneles in meat do binde and stop / and are holsome both for the bloody flixe / and also for the other / whether they be geuen in meat or sodden in wine they maye be kepte in bryne as Oliues be the matter that commeth furth of the grene tree or bowes / when it is in burninge / is good to laye vnto the scurfe lyke leper Plinye sayeth that the sweete of a twigge or Cornel tre / receyued vpon a burning hote plate of yron / which the wood toucheth not / healeth the scuruy euel in the beginning if the rust of the yron be layd vpon the scurfe / I haue kept the beryes of Cornel tree verye longe in the iuyce of Corneles a litle sodden vpon the fyre I heare saye that there is a Cornel tree at Hampton courte here in Englande Of herbe Iue Coronopus COronopus or Coronopodium is called in Englishe herbe Iue or Crowfoote plantayn / in Duche Rapfulz / in Frenche Capriole / ou dent ou chien / Theodore Gaza / calleth it Silago / it groweth muche about Shene in the hygh waye / and aboute the sea syde in the bankes / whiche are made by mans hande Coronopus is a litle long herbe / creping vpon the ground with clouen or cut leaues / it is sodden with other eatable herbes / the roote is astringente bindinge it groweth in vnmanerd groundes in heapes of earth or stones / as are made to defend the sea bankes / or the fresh water bankes / froÌ ouerflowing in high waies My Greke Dioscorides hath en doomasi / it appeareth by the translation of Ruellius / that his Greke example had an choomasi / and that lyketh me better / for experience teacheth me that herbe Iue nether groweth about houses / but very plentuouslye vpon artificiall bankes and heapes of earth or stones / whiche are called in Greke Cheomata Theophrastus rehearseth Coronopus among the herbes whiche haue only leaues from the roote / and froÌ no other parte / and so groweth herbe Iue / and the stalke is lyke Plantayn / and hath suche an head as it hath The maner of dressinge this herbe / and puttinge it into sallettes / when it is a litle sodden / endureth yet still in Frenche / and in some places of England The Nature of herbe Iue I Read of no other medicin of this herbe in Dioscorides / but that it is astringent and stoppeth a laxe Paulus Egineta writeth that it is thought to be good against the cholyke / if the translation be true / which I do partlye suspect both / because Galene and Aetius saye / that it is reckened to be good / and not colicis cruciatibus / but celiacis / that is for them that haue the flixe of the bellye / which cometh commonlye of the longe debilite of the stomacke Of the Hasel tree Corilus Auellana Auellana domestica COrylus is called in Greke Karya pontike / or Leptokarya / in Latin Nux pontica / parua et auellana / in Englishe an Hasel tree or an Hasel nutt / in Duch Hasel nuss / in French Noisette ou Anelme There seme to be two maner of Hasel nuttes rather then two diuerse kindes / the one is the
out vrine / and go quicklyer doune then gourdes and Melopepones but that they scoure / thou shalt euidently perceyue / if thou rub the foule skin with them / wherefore if anye man haue anye scurfines in the face or anye frekelles / or any morphew in the vtter parte of the skin / the pepones scoure them awaye But the sede scoureth more mightelye then the fleshe / for it scoureth awaye / so much that it is good for kydneys that are vexed with the stone Pepones ingendre in the bodye a noughty iuyce / and that specially when as it is not concoct or ouercummed of nature / by reason whereof it maketh men in daunger of the choleryke disease / moreouer before it be corrupted if it be largelye taken / it prouoketh men vnto vomite / except they eate afterward some other meat that hath a good and an holsome moysture or iuyce in it Melopepones are lesse moyst then the Pepones are / nether haue they so euell a iuyce / and they prouoke water lesse and go slowelye downe / and they do not so muche further vomite as Pepones do / lykewye they are not so soune corrupted in the stomake / when as an euell humoris gathered in it / or any other cause of corruption taketh it Furthermore mn vse to absteyne from it that is nexte the sede in pepones / and eate thesame n Melopepones / and that is good for them to prouoke them to the stole Tâey that eate onely the Melopepones fleshe / do not sone put furth by the placâ of excrementes it / as they do the Pepones fleshe / Cucumbres also prouoke water as Pepones do / but lesse then they / because their substance is to moiste / and therefore they are not so sone corrupted in the stomake as they be / ye sâall finde some that can digeste them as manye other thinges that other meâ can not digest / by the reason of a certeine familiaritie that is betwene their âatures Oute of Simeoâ Sethy CVcumbers are cold and moyst in the seconde degre / and they make an euel iuyâ and norishement in a man Ye must chuse the least raâher then the greatest kinde They which prouoke water âf they be steped in vinegre / and taken into the bodye / swage the heate of an ague / and speciallye of them that câme hastelye The oft vsinge of these fruytes minishe a mânnis sede / and quencheth the luste vnto the pleasure of âhe bodye But the sede of Cucumbres dryed / purches there by a certaine âeate / and hath contrarye operations to the moyst and vndryed partes / and pâouoketh water much more There is an other kinde of the same / which is thâught to be Languria / that is cold vehementlye in the second degre / and some recken it should be cold in the third degre This kind ingendreth tough fleme in the stomacke / which is sprede abroad rawe by the veynes Therefore they that eate oft of the great kind / called Tetranguria or Languria / in continuance of tyme haue in their veynes and other hollowe places / euel humores growen together whiche ingendre longe agues The sede of these / prouoketh vrine / but lesse then Pepones sede / for it is souner corrupted in the stomache But the best of these is it that hath the lest sede They helpe drye and hote stomakes / if they be taken in a burning ague with vinegre / they are verye good and holsome Ye must eate the inner parte of this kinde / and not the outer parte / for they are of euel iuyce / and are harde of digestion and almost poyson They haue also an other propertie / that they call agayne them that haue fall into a swoune by the reason of heate / but if they finde anye fleme in the stomake / they ingendre a desyre to vomite / and the colyke / and the disease in the sydes by the pappes Of wilde Cucumbers CVcumis syluestris / named of some Cucumis anguinus / of the comon Herbaries Cucumis asininus / is named of Dioscorides in Greke Sikys agrios / of Galene / Theophrast / Aetius Sikys agrios / it maye be called in English wilde Cucumber / or of the propertie that the sede hath / lepinge or springinge Cucumber / for if ye tuche the fruyte of it / when it is ripe / it will burst / and the sede will springe all abrode out of the fruyte it groweth plentuouslye about Bononye abroad a litle oute of the towne / but in England it groweth onely in gardins Wild Cucumber doth differ fâom the gardine Cucumber only in the fruyte which it hath a great deale lese / not vnlike vnto longe acornes / it is lyke the gardine Cucumber both in leaâes and in long runninge braunches / it hath a whyte roote / it groweth in saâdye groundes / and in feldes nere vnto houses / all the hole bushe is bitter The Properties of wilde Cucumber THE iuyce of the leaues of wild Cucumbre poured into the eares / swage the payne of them The roote layd vnto any olde swellinge with barly mele after the maner of an emplaster / dryueth it awaye If it be layd to with Turpentine vpon hard swellinges / it bursteth and breketh them It is powren in against the sciatica If it be sodden with vinegre and layâ to / it driueth awaye the gout The broth wherein this heâbe is sodden / is good to washe a mans toth with / for the toth ache The poâder of the dryed herbe / scoureth awaye the foule scurfynes / the leprosy and the whyte spottes that are depe in the flesh It restoreth black scarres vnto the ode coloure agayne / it scoureth awaye spottes that are in the face / the iuyce in the roote of fyue graines / and also in the barke in the measure of halfe an vice / purge out choler and fleme / speciallye in them that haue the dropsey It âuseth the bellye without anye grefe of the stomache / halfe a pounde of the roâte is broken in ten vnces of wyne / and speciallye of Libya / and thre cyates that is about sixe vnces / are gyuen for the space of thre dayes / whylse the humor maye be manifestly perceyued to be fallen The Greke texte that Lacuna sawe / hath when ye haue taken halfe a pound of the roote / ye must beate it small with two sextarios / that is aboute two English quartes of swete wine / and speciallye of Egypte / and gyue thre ciates of it fasting vnto the pacient / for the space of thre dayes vntill the humor sufficiently fall awaye There is made of the fruyte of wilde Cucumer a medicine / which is called Elatherium / the maner of making of it / is largelye taught in Dioscorides / who so liste to learne it / let him rede these wordes of Dioscorides The medicine called Elaterium / is thus made of the fruyte of wilde Cucumbre Chuse oute wild Cucumbres / which when as
shall fele an heauy weightly in his stomake / and shall turrne vp his stomake / and be desyrous to vomite / from the which grefes a man can only be delyuered by vomiting Therfore men vse to eat this as they do with all other vndurable fruytes ether sodden or fryed in a frying pan / or rosted The gourde as much as lyeth in it geueth vnto the bodye a moyste and coold / and therefore smal norishement / but it goeth easely vnto the bottom of the stomake / both by the reason of his slyperines and also moysture Furthermore it is not harde to be digested / if it be not corrupted before And that chaunseth vnto it when it is noughtely dressed or any euell humor is gathered in the stomake / and somtyme because it taryeth to long in the stomach / which thinge chaunceth vnto al other vndurable fruytes that are of a moyst complexion / for they putrefy quicklye in the stomake / except they come fyrst vnto the bottom of it Therefore euen as the gourde as much as is in it / hath a iuyce that can not be discerned by any sence what qualitie it is of / and is easy to be distribute into the hole body / so when as it is mingled with anye other thing that hath any great notable qualite / it is made lyke it very easely / as if it be taken with mustarde / the iuyce which commeth of these two mixed and diuided / and sent into the bodye / shal be sharpe or byting with a notable heate Euen by the same reason if it be eaten with anye salt thinge / it will ingendre in the bodye a salt humore And so is it a verye pleasant meat if it be dressed with the salt fishes of pontus / which are called in Greke mela But if it be sodden and seasoned as it ought to be with quinces / it wil haue an excellent tarte taste in the distribution If it be fryed or rosted / it putteth a greate deale awaye of his owne moysture Therefore because it is so moyste if ye will boyle it / it is best to boyle organ or wild mergerum with it For al suche as thys fruyte is / had nede to be mixed with other thinges that are byting / or sower / or tarte / or salt / if ye wold haue them delectable in eatinge / not to make one to be redy to vomite Simeon Sethy sayth that the gourde prouoketh vrine / and maketh a man go to the stole / and it is good for hote and drye complexions It stancheth the burning heate of the stomache and liuer It hurteth them that are flegmatike and waterishe / and it is euel for the colyke And if it finde euel humores in the stomach / it is corrupted therewith / and is made holsom norishment It dryueth away the desyre vnto lechery / and minished sede and engendreth thin bloode It is good for the brest / for the longes / and the bladder Of Coloquintida COloquintida is called in Greke Colokinthis / in Latin Cucurbita syluestris / the Potecaries cal it Coloquintida / it groweth only in gardins in England and Germanye Coloquintida putteth furth braunches and leaues lyke a Cucumbre / creping by the ground diuided a round fruyt lyke a balle / excedingly bitter / which ye must gather wheÌ it beginneth fyrste to be turned into a pale yelowishe coloure The vertues of Coloquintida Coloquintida THE inner parte of the fruyte of Coloquintida hath the nature to purge / if ye take two scruples / made in pilles with honyed water / sodden honye / myrre / and nitre / or salt petre The balles bryed and broken / and poured in by clister / are good for the palsey / the sciatica / and the colyke / for it pulleth furth choler and fleme and shauinges / and somtyme also blood It taketh away the tuthache / if a man purge it and couer it with clay and heate it with vinegre and nitre / and washe his tethe with the broth that this is sodden in If anye man sethe in it honyed water or swete wine / and drinke it after that it is cooled without the dore abroad / it purgeth awaye grosse humores of the bellye / and thynges lyke shauinge or scrapinges of the guttes It is exceading hurtful vnto the stomache If it be put into a suppositorye / it will pull furth the excrements of the bellye The iuyce of the grene Coloquintida is good to be rubbed vpon the place that is vexed with the sciatica Plinye writeth thus of it Coloquintida poured in by a clyster / healeth all the diseases of the guttes / of the kydnes / loynes / and the palsey also / if the sedes be casten out The fleshe of Coloquintida with salt and wormwod / healeth the tuth ache The iuyce of Coloquintida made warme wyth vinegre / maketh fast / louse teth The same heleth the payne of the ricke bone / loynes and hyppes bone / if they be rubbed with it / and with a litle oyle let them that vse the fruyt of Coloquintida / take hede that they beate it into very fyne pouder / or ellis it wil frete the guttes verye sore Of Cummyne CVmmyne is called in Greke Kyminon / in Duche Kummine / or Comin / in Frenche Cumine The sede of gardin cummyn is well knowen in Englande / but the herb groweth not with vs that euer I could se Dioscorides describeth not the gardin comyn / belyke because it was so well knowen in his countre but he describeth two kindes of wild cummyn / the first after thys maner Wilde cumyne hath but a small bushe / and hath a stalke a span long and small / oute of which come out foure or fyue litle leues / lyke as they were indented after the maner of Gingidium It hath in the top fyue or sixe rounde and softe litle heades / wherein is chaffye sede / hoter in taste then the gardin cumyn It groweth in litle hilles The seconde kinde of wild cumyn is not vnlyke vnto the gardin cumyn / it putteth furth of euerye floure longe hornes where in is sede like vnto Git or Nigella romana The former kinde of wild cumyn haue I not sene that I can remembre but the second kind I suppose I haue sene Some there be in Italy which thinke / the pale nigella to be the second kind of wild cumyn / other recken the litle black nigella which is common in the stobble in Germany after the corne be caried awaye to be the seconde kinde of wild cummyn But nether the pale nigella / nether the other wild kinde can be wild cummyn / except the gardin nigella romana be also wilde cummyn / for they are all of one figure in leaues and sedes / and of lyke smell The second kind of wild cummyn putteth furth of euerye floure longe hornes / wherein are sede lyke vnto nigella The kindes of nigella haue hornes in dede / but no
blaueole / or bleuet / some herbaries call it baptisecula / or blaptisecula / because it hurteth sicles / which were ones called of olde writers seculae Blewbottel groweth in the corne / it hath a stalke full of corners / a narrow and long leafe In the top of the stalke is a knoppy heade wherevpon growe blewe floures / about midsummer the chylder vse to make garlandes of the floure It groweth much amonge Rye / wherefore I thinke that good ry in an euell and vnseasonable yere doth go out of kinde in to this wede Thys kind and other which groweth only in Germany in gardines like vnto this / sauing in al pointes it is greater and namely in the leaues The Properties of Blewbottel BLewbottel is of a cold nature / for it sheweth no token of hete in it The later writers hold that this herbe is good for the inflammation of the eyes / and other partes / whiche are oute of tempre by the meanes of an inflammation / other properties haue I not read that blewbottel shoulde haue Of Sowesbreade Cyclamenus SOwesbread called in Greke Ciclaminos / is also in Latin Ciclaminus / rapum terre / vmbilicus terre / et panis porcinus / of some tuber terre / in Duche Sewbrodt / in French Pain de porceau / I haue not sene it in England / wherfore I knowe no vsual name for it / but least it should be nameles / if ether it shuld be brought in to England / or be found in anye place in England / I name it Sawesbread / or rape violet / because the floure is lyke a violet / and the roote is lyke a rape Dioscorides describeth Cyclaminum thus Cyclaminus hath leaues lyke vnto Iuy / purple / and of diuerse colours / wherein are vp doun somthinge whyte spottes / a stalke foure fingers long and bare / out of which come purple floures lyke roses / and a black roote / somthinge broade lyke vnto a rape I haue Cyclaminum both in Italy and also in Germany but there was great difference betwene them / for the Italian was thryse as big as the Duche was / and muche longer / and lyker vnto Iuy The Duche Cyclaminus according to his name / had leaues as round as Asarum hath / but muche lesse / and the floures drawe nerer the lykenes of a violet then a rose There are many deceyued in England / whiche abuse tryfling other herbes for Cyclamino / as Erthnut / and suche lyke which nether agree with Cyclamino in vertue / nether in description The vertues of Sowesbread THE roote of Sowbread dronken with mede made with hony and water / dryueth out beneth fleme and water / and ether dronken or layd to / it dryueth doune weomens natural sycknes It is perillous for weomen with chylde to go ouer this roote The same layd vnto a woman in a conuenieÌt place / helpeth her more spedely to bringe furth hyr byrth It is dronken agaynst dedlye venom with wine / and speciallye against the fishe / whiche is called in Latin Lepus marinus / that is to say / the sea hare It is also a remedy agaynst serpentes / if it be layd vnto the place If it be put in wine / it maketh a man dronken / it dryueth awaye the yelowe iaundies / taken in the weight of thre drammes with bastarde / or wel watered honied wine But he that shall drinke of this / must be in a warm house well couered with many clothes / that he may the better swete / for the sweat that cummeth furth / is of the color of gall The iuyce is put into the nose with hony to purge the head It is put in wol to the fundament / to driue furth the excrementes of the belly The same layd vpon the nauell / and the nether parte of the belly vnto the hockelbone / softeneth the belly The iuyce layd to with honye / helpeth the perle or haw of the eye / and the dulnes of sight The iuyce layd to the fundament with vinegre / restoreth it agayne to the naturall place / when it is fallen doune The roote is beaten / and a iuyce is taken out / and made with sething as thick as honye the roote scoureth and purgeth the color of the skin / it holdeth doune the bursting oute of wheles and it healeth woundes with vinegre by it selfe / or with hony If it be layd to after the maner of an emplaster to the milt / it will wast it away it amendeth the euell colored scurffines that is in the face / and fallinge of the heyre with the rede scalles It is also conuenient that membres out of ioynte and goute membres / the litle sores of the heade and kybes be bathed in the broth of thys roote The roote made hote in olde oyle / healeth vp sores / bringeth them to a scar / if that oyle be layd vpon them The roote made hollow / is filled with oyle / and set in hote asshes / somtyme a litle waxe put vnto it / that it maye come vnto the thicknes of an oyntment / is good for the kybes or moules The roote is slissed / and layd vp as scilla is Cyclamenum groweth much in shaddowy places / and moste vnder trees Of Dogges tonge ALthough Dioscorides writeth but of one kind of Dogges tonge / yet it is euident by Pliny that there are thre kindes of Dogges tonge For Dioscorides describeth his Dogges tonge to be withoute anye stalke / which kinde I could neuer se that I remembre in all my lyfe Matthiolus and Pliny describe two kindes / which both haue stalkes and sede / for he geueth stalkes and sedes vnto them in the xxv booke and viij chapter but the latter kinde that he speaketh of / semeth vnto me to be oure common Dogges tounge / for he sayeth thus Cynoglossa Est alia similis ei quae ferat lappas minutas / that is / There is an other lyke it which beareth also litle burres The common Cynoglossum hath longe leaues lyke vnto a Dogges tonge and a long stalke / in whose top are thre rough thinges that cleue vnto a mannes clothes ioyned altogether to a litle pricke / which is in the middes / the form of all together is lyke vnto a foure leued clauer with a pricke in the middes The roote is somthinge rede and long withal / and astringent This is thesame herbe which is called in Dioscorides Lycopsis / whose description is this Lycopsis hath leaues longer then lettes / rougher and broader / and thicke / fallinge downe agayne vnto the heade of the roote / a longe stalke / streight and roughe / with many to growers / a cubit longe / the floure is litle and purple The roote is rede and astringent / it groweth in playne groundes The vertues of Dogges tonge THE roote layd to with oyle / healeth woundes / with barly mele it healeth saint Antonies fyre the same if a man be anoynted with it
and with oyle / prouoketh sweate Fuchsius gyueth these properties vnto the common Dogges tonge / which I recken to be Lycopsis It healeth the allmost incurable sores of the mouth of other places It is good for the bloodye flixe / therfore it ought to be vsed against all sores and woundes / and against the French pox / such lyke diseases It helpeth also the issue of sede and catarres / wherefore thys herbe is put into the pilles / which are good for euery catar or reume Nowe seynge that the properties that Dioscorides gyueth vnto Lycopsis / are lyke vnto them that the common Doggis tounge hath / and the lykenes do verye well agree We maye the more boldelye saye / that Lycopsis is oure common Dogges tonge But of this matter we will speake more at large in the intretinge of Lycopsis Of Eglentine or swete brere Rubus canis EGlentine is named in Greke Kynorhodos / in Latine Rosa camna / in Duch wild rosen / in French rose sauuage / or Eglentier The Eglentine is muche like the common brere / but the leues are swete and pleasant to smel / as the brere or heptree leues are not There is commonly a spongious ball found in the Eglentine bush / as Pliny writeth I reken that this bushe is nothing ellis but a swete kinde of Cynobatos The vertues of Eglentine PLiny writeth in the xxv boke of his natural history / that the roote of Eglentine is good against the byting of a mad dog / and that the spongious bal that groweth in the bushe burned into pouder / is good to fill vp that is fallen from the head by that red scall Eglentine semeth to haue ben firste called in Greke kynorhodos / because the rote heled them that were bitten of a mad dogge Of Adders grasse CYnos orchis is called in Latine testiculus canis / in English Adders grasse / or goukis meat or dogges coddes / in Duche Knaben kraut / in FreÌch La coil au chien Testiculus canis hath leues sprede flat vpon the ground / which grow aboute the stalke and the nethermoste parte of this herbe / lyke vnto the leues of a softe olyue tree / but smother / and narrower / and longer The stalke is a span long / out of which spring purple floures The rootes are rounde somethinge longe / two together smal as an olyue / the one is hygher vp / which is the fuller / and the other which groweth lower / and is softer and fuller of wrinkles The other testiculus whiche is called serapias / hath leaues lyke a leke / somthinge longe / but broader and thycke / bowynge in the hollowe places betwene the leaues and stalke The stalk is a span long / the floures are somthinge purple / the rootes are lyke vnto dogges stones / both these kindes with diuerse other not muche differinge from them / growe plentuouslye in the middowes in euerye quarter of Englande The vertues of Adders grasse THE first kinde of dogges coddes hath two stones / wherof the ouermore eaten as it is supposed of men maketh boyes and the other more eaten of weomen / maketh wenches The weomen of Thessalia eate the softe roote with gotes milke to prouoke pleasure to venery / and the wythered one to swage the same appetite Galene writeth also as Dioscorides doth / that this herbe prouoketh the appetite of venerye The seconde kinde with the smaller longer leaues as Dioscorides writeth / prouoketh also the lust of the bodye The rootes of this herbe layde to after the maner of an emplaster / driueth awaye soft swellinges / scoureth sores / and hindereth them to sprede anye further it wasteth awaye fistulas / and if it be layd to inflammations / it swageth theÌ / the dryed rootes stop consuming sores for to sprede any further / and they hele putrefactions and rottinges / and the olde and almoste incurable sores of the mouthe / if they be dronken in wine / they stop the bellye Of English Golangal Cyperus CIpeirus / called also Cyperus / hath leues lyke vnto a leke / but longer and smaller / a stalke a cubit longe or longer / with cornes in it lyke vnto squinantum / in whose top litle leues with sede springe out The rotes are somthinge long lyke vnto an olyue or round / one cleuinge vnto an other / blacke in coloure and swete in sauoure / and bitter in taste Although this common Galangal of oures / be a kinde of Cyperus / yet it aunswereth not in al poyntes vnto the description / for although the rootes haue in them certain knobbes lyke vnto Oliues / yet are they not such as Dioscorides describeth The true Cyperus is now common in Rome and other partes of Italy / wherevnto the hole description of Dioscorides agreeth But we maye vse this Cyperus that we haue wel withoute ieoperdye / in the stede of the other / for it is of thesame kinde and vertue that the other is of The vertues of Cyperus THis herbe is hote in operation / louseth the mouthes of the vaines / and prouoketh vrine / it is good to be dronken against the stone the dropsye it is a remedy against the bitinge of a scorpioÌ / it is good for the coldnes stopping of the mother if it be bathed with it It dryueth also doune weomens natural sycknes The pouder of this herbe is good for runninge sores in the mouth / allthough they eat and wast the flesh The roote of this herbe which is onlye vsed in Physick / is custumablye put vnto hote softening emplasters and the thicknes of oyntmentes There groweth an other kinde of Cyperus in Inde / which is iudged to be Curcuma of the common writers by the consent of the beste writers that write of herbes in this tyme and it is lyke vnto Ginger / and when it is eaten / it is lyke Saffron in the taste it is bitter / and if it be layd to any place / it hath the power to pull of heyres Of the Cytisus tree Cytiscus CItiscus as Dioscorides writeth / is an hole whyte bushe as Rhamnus is / spredinge abroad braunches longer then a cubit wherevpon growe leaues lyke vnto the Fenegreke / or thre leued Lotus / but lesse / the back of the leafe stickinge oute the leaues broken sauoure lyke rocket / and in taste they resemble a Ciche I neuer sawe this bushe any where ellis growyng naturally wtout setting or sowing / sauing in the mount Apennine besyde Bonony / where as I sawe great plentye of it but I haue had it growyng ones at Collon / and now I haue it growing here in my gardin at Wisenburg The bushes were lyke litle trees / were as hyghe as a man / the braunches and twigges was whytish / and had a whyte hore on them / there growe litle coddes in the braunches lyke vnto tares / but shorter as I remembre The vertues of Cytisus out of Dioscorides THE leaues do coole /
mightelye both other thinges that nede scouringe / and also the frekelles with vinegre The leues also hauing lyke qualitie / are good for freshe woundes / and grene sores / and the lesse drye they are / the bitterer do they ioyne together / and close vp woundes For those thinges that are drye / are hoter then that they can be conuenient for woundes Some ther be of that beleue / that they thinke if chese be couered with dragon leues / that they preserue it from corruption by the reason of their drye complexion The fruyt is mightier then the roote and the leues The iuyce scoureth awaye the disease of the eyes Of Dryopteris DRyopteris hath the name of an Oke a Fern / and groweth in Okes. Dioscorides describeth Dryopteris thus Dryopteris groweth in the mosse of olde Okes lyke vnto a brake / but not so much cut or iagged in the leues It hath rootes wounde one with an other / rough and astringent / and tarte in taste / turning somthing into swetenes The herbe whiche ye se here intitled with the name of Dryopteris / draweth nerest vnto the description of Dryopteris of anye herbe that I knowe Howebeit / besyde diuers other thinges / there be two thinges that make me thinke that it should not be the perfite Dryopteris one is it that groweth in walles with maydens heyre / and in manye bushe rootes / and chefely of them that are in darke laynes / and not in the mosse of olde oke trees The other is that I can not finde the vertue that Dioscorides speaketh of that / to pull of here and to putrefye Manye haue vsed this herbe for the true Adiantum / and namelye the Potecaries of Louan when as I was there It is proued by experience that this herbe is verye good for the stone / ether with wine / or with almone milke made with maydens heyre Of Wallwurte WAlwurt is named in English also Danwurte / in Greke Chameacte / in Latin Ebulus / in Duche Attich / in FreÌch Hieble Walwurt is a great deal lower then Elder is / more like an herb / it hath a foursquared stalk ful of iointes / the leues are like vnto the leues of an almond tre / but longer / grow certain spaces goyng betwene aboute euery iointe stretched furth standinge oute like two winges / Ebulus one agaynst an other / indented and stinkinge It hath a spoky or a bushy top as Elder hath / lyke floures and fruyte The roote is longe as great as a finger Walwurt groweth much about Cambridge / and in many other places of England / and also in manye places of Germany Howbeit I coulde neuer se the stalke in any place as yet vnsquared Notwithstandinge I knowe well that it is the true Ebulus or walwurte The vertues of Walwurte ELder and Danwurt haue al one strenght and one vertue to dry vp / they draw water furth of the belly / are euel for the stomache The leues are sodden like wurtes to draw oute choler fleme The tender stalkes sodden in pannes or dishes / bringe thesame thinge to passe The roote boyled in wine gyuen in meate helpeth the dropsy After the same maner dronken / it is good for the bytinges of viperes The broth of it softeneth the mother if a woman sit in it It letteth also the winde go furth of theÌ / amendeth the fautes of theÌ The berries dronken in wine / are of thesame effect If they be layde to / they make blacke heyre If the leues beyng as yet tendre softe be layd to after the maner of a pultes / they swage an inflammation and hote burning They are good to be layd vnto burned places / to the places that are bitten of dogges They drawe together the woundes that gape and become a fistula The leaues are good for the goute if they be layd to with bulles talow or gotes swete Of Smallage Elioselinon ELioselinon after the translation of Theodore / is called in Latine Paludapium / in Englishe Smallage or Marche / in Duche Eppich And the Potecaries haue longe called this herbe in Latin apium / but vniustlye / for apium is not Smallage / but Perselye / which thinge I haue sufficiently proued / where as I haue written of perselye Dioscorides writeth that Elioselinon is greater then apium is / and that it groweth in moyst places / wherof it hath the name I haue sene it growe oft times by brook sydes in a certain Iland of East Freseland / called Nordenye / by the seasyde The sauour of smallage is a great dele stronger worse sauoringe then perselye is / and diuerse practicioners holde that the herbe both smelled and eaten / is ieperdous for them that are in danger of that fallinge sycknes For it maketh them fall streyght waye that haue smelled or eaten of it / as they reporte The vertues of Smallage DIoscorides writeth that persely smallage ar al of one vertue streÌght Howbeit for the cause aboue rehersed / I wold aduise meÌ rather to vse persely theÌ smallage If that ye be desyrous to know the hole properties of perselye / and there shal ye finde the properties of smallage But although Persely be lesse hurtful then smallage is / yet ther are good writers that hold that euen the leues of persely also are euel for them that haue the fallinge sicknes Of Heth. Irica Heth. IRica is called in Greke Erice / in English Heth hather / and Ling / in Duche Heyd / in Frenche Bruyer Irica sayth Dioscorides is a busshy tre lyke vnto Tamarisk / but muche lesse / of whose floures bees make noughty honye Dioscorides calleth Ericam a tre / which is rather so named for the formes sake then for the hyghte / for it neuer ryseth vp vnto the length and hyghnes of a tre Pliny in the xv chapter of the forsaide boke wryteth that Erica groweth in woddes / which I coulde yet neuer se in any such plentye as in playne groundes and wilde feldes and some hilles For our heth groweth in playnes and in wild groundes / and in moyste places / and vpon som wodles hilles The hyest heth that euer I saw / groweth in Northumberland / which is so highe that a man maye hyde him selfe in it The vertues of Heth. BOth the smal leaues and floures heale bytinges of serpentes Galene writeth that the floures and leaues are moste chefely to be vsed / whiche haue pour by ventinge oute or transpiration maketh rype and digesteth I rede in Paul Egineta / among the receytes which are made agaynst the diseases of the milt oft tymes mention of Heth. Wherfore seyng that both Dioscorides setteth nexte vnto tamarisk heth who vseth to set herbes of lyke fashion and propertie together and Paule Eginete vseth it with tamariske I thinke that it is much better to vse it for tamarisk / then Quickboome / otherwyse called rountre or Quickentre / seyng Quickboom hath no
Wherfore I can not so muche commende the distilled waters of herbes as I do the iuice and brothes / of the same / wherin the herbes are sodden Of fenel FEniculuÌ is called in Greke MarathroÌ / in Englishe fenel or fenkel / in Duche finchell / in Frenche fenonil Fenel is a great a loÌge herbe / somtyme higher then a man / the stalke is great and full of ioyntes / the leaues are very loÌge and small / the flour is yelow / the top is lyke vnto the top of dill / the sede groweth thick in the top wythout any coueringe / it is somthinge croked lyke a horne / the outsyde of it is full of gutters and crestes / the rout is longe and white The properte of Fenell out of Dioscorides FEnell / if the leaues be eaten / or yf the sede be dronken wyth a ptisame filleth weomens papes wyth milke / the brothe of the toppes of the leaues is good to lay vnto the back / for the ake in the kidnees / for it dryueth furth water It is good to be droÌkeÌ in wine against the bytynge of serpentes It prouoketh flowres / in an agew droÌken wyth colde water / it slaketh the lothsunnes / and the heate of the stomacke The rotes of fenel brokeÌ / and layde to wyth hony / are good agaynst the bitynge of a dogge The iuice whiche is pressed out of the stalke leaues / and dryed in the sonne / is put vnto those medicines that clere and bryghe the eysight In som places men vse to cut the stalke of fenell / and to take out of it a iuice like a gumme whiche is verye good for the eyes Out of Macer FEnell prouoketh men to the procreation of childer / the serpeÌtes chow this herbe / and purge and clere theyr eyes therwyth / wherof learned meÌ dyd gather that it shoulde also be good for mans eyes The iuice of fenell put into a mans eares / killeth the wormes therin the vse of fenell wyth wyne is good against the swellynge of the dropsye It is also good both Feniculum Fenell or Fenkell for diseases of the liuer and the longes The broth that the rootes of fenell is sodden in / wheter it be wather or wine / is good for the diseases of the bladder and kidnens It dryueth furth water / if it be layed vpon the belly a litle aboue the priuites The broth of the rote helpeth the ake of the yearde / if it be therwyth bathed It will do the same put vnto oyle and layde to seth fenel and vineger together / and it will swag any swellinge that cometh sodeÌly by bytynge The sede stirreth mankind to the procreation of childer And the same is good for a pleuresy / and so is the broth of the herbe Autours wryte that serpentes waxe yonge agayne by tastinge and eatynge of this herbe / wherfore sum thinke that the vse of the herbe therfore is very mete for aged folke Out of Aetius FEnell is so hote that it may be rekened to be hote in the thyrde degre / and it drieth in the first degre / and therfore it engendreth milke Of Fenegreke FEnum grecum is called in Greke Telis / in Englishe Fenegreke in Duche Bucks horne / in FreÌche Fenecreke It groweth in Italy and Germany This herbe is also called in Greke Keratitis / that is horned / aigoÌkeros / that is gotis horne / and bonkeros that is cowishorne / it is also called in latin siliqua / silicia silicula Fenegreke runneth vp wyth small lytle braunches stalkes / whiche are rede / the lefe is lyke vnto trifoly thre leaued grasse The flour is lytle whyte / the sede is rede / it is conteyned in a long cod / lyke a horne / the rote is rounde and suÌthinge longe The vertues of Fenegreke out of Dioscorides THe flour or meale of Fenegreke hath power to soften / to driue away The same soddeÌ in mede / if it be layed to / is good both against inwarde and outwarde inflaÌmations or burnynges wyth salpeter Fenum Grecum Fenegreck and vineger it minisheth the milt the iuice of the broth is good for womaÌs diseases / if they sit in it and be bathed therwith / whether the mother is stopped or is swelled The broth that it is sodden in / streyned and layde to the head / purgeth the here scoureth awaye scurf the runnyngh sores of the heade / if that the naturall place of conception be harde and streyte by reason wherof sum women bringe furth ther childer with great ieperdy if ye mixe Fenegreke and gose fat / and put them together in the conuenient place / accordynge vnto the discretioÌ of an honest midwyff enlargeth and softeneth it If it be layde to grene with vineger / it is good for raw places that haue the skynne of The droth of it is good agaynst the often vaine desyre of goinge to stole / and agaynst the stinkinge fylthe of the blody flix The oyle that is pressed out of it of myrtilles / scoureth away the starres of the priuitees Of Strauberries FRagraria is called in Englishe a Strawberye leafe / whose frute is called in Englishe a strawbery / in Latin FraguÌ / in Duche Erdber / in Frenche Fraisue The strawbery rynneth vpon the grounde / and hath a litle roughe stalke / and in the toppe of it growe whyte floures / after the whych floures be gone / ther growe berries / whiche are grene first / Fragraria Strauuberrie and afterward rede The leafe is indeÌtid / alwayes thre of them grow together / the rote is in som place blake and som place redyshe The vertues of Strawberries STrawberies leaues taken in meate / helpeth theÌ that are diseased in the milt / so doth also the iuice dronkeÌ wyth hony The same is good to be geuen wyth peper for them that are short winded Strawberryes quenche thirst / and are good for a cholerike stomack Ther is a iuice pressed out of strawberries / whiche by coÌtinuance of tyme encreaseth in streÌgh / and that is a present remedy against the sores and wheales of the face / against the blodshotten eyes The brothe of the rothe swageth the heate of the liuer / dronken the morninge eueninge Many vse this herbe to ioyne together grene woundes / to stoppe laxes / and ishewes of women / to strenghehen the guÌmes / to take away the sores or wheales of the mouth / and the stinkinge of the same The frut semeth to haue som warmenes in it / but the leafe is colde Of the Ashe tree THe tre is called in Latin fraxinus / in Greke melia / is named in Englishe an ashe tree / in Duche ein Esch baum / in FreÌche fraisne as Theophrastus wryteth there are two kyndes of ashes / of the whiche the one is verye high tawlleÌ / the wood of it is whyte / hath as it were grosse
iasminum is made But I finde nether any description of iasme in Dioscorides nor in Plini nor in any other olde writer / sauinge that Dioscorides maketh a litle mention of it / as also the Arabianes do I think that the Arabianes / call this bushe Iesemin / fetchinge that name corruptly out of Dioscorides IasminoÌ / for the same vertues that Dioscorides assigneth vnto the oyle of Iasme / the Arabianes geue vnto their Iesemin But that ye may iudge the mater more plainely I will reherse vnto you what Dioscorides writeth of his oyle called iasminum / what the Arabiane write of ther Iesemine Out of Dioscorides THer is an oile made amongest the Perseanes / whiche is called IasminuÌ / of the whyte flowers of a violet / wherof two vnces are put into a quart of oile sesanime / and the violettes must be oft changed / as we haue tolde before in the makinge of lily oyle It is miche vsed in the land of the Persianes / when men be at meat to make a good smell for it agreeth well wyth all the hole body / then specially when a man goeth into a bath but it is best for suche bodies as had nede to be made hote / and to be loused and set more at large / for it smelleth strongly / for it smelleth so strongly that som can not abide it Thus muche hath Dioscorides written of Iasme Som do holde that Dioscorides writeth here of the oyle that is made of the herbe called Lencoion in Greke / and in Englishe white stock gelouer But I am of the contrary opinion / for Dioscorides speaketh not in my iudgement here of that kynde of Leucoion with the whyte flour for that kinde of Leucoion with the flowre hath nether any suche smell as Dioscorides gyueth vnto Iasme / nether any suche heat / Dioscorides speaketh of for Serapio writyng of the kyndes Leucou sayeth these wordes Et oleum quod ex eo fit est temperatum subtile proprie illud quod fit ex eo cum oleo amygdalarum dulcium coeleste est debilis caliditatis album est debilius propter aequitatem quae in illo est Wherfore if the autorite of Serapio be to be receyued and alowed / Matthiolus erreth / whiche writeth IasminuÌ to one oyle made of Leucoio wyth the whyte floures If any man reply that our coÌmen iesemine is no violet I answer that I thinke that Dioscorides called that flowre of Iesamin a violet floure / of the likenes that it hath wyth the flour of a violet / as he calleth of times the pricky toppis of great thestelles echinos / that is vrchens / of the likenes that they haue wyth an vrchen Out of the Arabianes IEsemin otherwise called rambach is of two sortes / the one hath a yealow flower / and the other hath a white floure The yealow is not so hote nor so myghtye in operation as the white is The flowre is also founde in som place blewishe gray Iesemin is hote in the beginninge of the seconde degre / and it is good for moystenes and for salt fleme / and for olde men of a cold complexion / it is good for aches that com of a claÌmy or towgh humores / when as the very and right naturall iesemin ether dried or grene / if it be broken and laide vpon any tetter or foule spottes / it will driue them away and will resolue all colde superfluites It is good for the pose / but it maketh and engendreth the heade ache in them that are of an hote complexion / and the oyle of it is very good in wynter / but it is to be ferde / if that any man of a very hote complexion smell of it / lest it make him blede at his nose Compare these properties wyth theÌ that Dioscorides geue vnto iasmino / ye shall fynde that in propertes / iasme doth agree very well wyth the iesamine of the Arabians Of Sciatica cresse or wilde cresse Iberis BYcause Dioscorides describeth this herbe Iberis / in suche place as no herbes but trees are described / and it is contrary vnto his custome to mixe the intreatinge of herbes wyh trees som holde that this herbe is not Iberis Dioscorides And som gather that for this cause that this herbe that I intreate of / is not Iberis / because ther is an other herbe called of auncient writers / namely / of Paul and others Iberis / and it is cleaue coÌtrary in proportion and likenes vnto the herbe that Paulus setteth furth for Iberis to whoÌ Iberis I answere / that although it were not Iberis Dioscoridis Yet it foloweth not / but that it may be som other learned maÌs Iberis / though it be nether Iberis Paulinor Aetij This herbe out of dout is Iberis of Democrates / wher of Galene maketh manifest meÌtioÌ in the / x. boke De compositione medicameÌtorum secundum locos and ther he bringeth it in Democrates describing after this maner This herbe saieth Democrates / groweth muche euery wher / beside graues and olde walles / and about highe wayes whiche are not commenly plowed It is alwayes grene wyth a lefe like gardin cresses / and this leafe is lesse then cresses lefe / and it commeth furth in the springe time The stalkes are a cubite longe and som time longer / and som time shorter The leaues grow on the stalke all sommer euen vnto the depe winter / whiche wyth the frost wasteth the leaues awaye / and bringeth the hole herbe vnto the likenes of a twig or busshy rod. Yetit groweth vnto the roote / other buddes / whiche make a new herbe againe in the next springe It hath a smal white flowre / the sede is so small that a man can scarslie se it The roote hath a very hote and sharpe smell muche like vnto gardin cresses Thus far hath Democrates described his Iberis Now let vs se how that Dioscorides or som other in his name describeth his Iberis Iberis / otherwise called Cardamantica / hath the leaues of cresses / but in the springe grener The stalke is a cubit highe and somtyme lesse / it groweth in vnplowed grownde In sommer it hath a whyte floure / at what time it hath most vertu / it hath two rootes like vnto crosses / heatinge and burninge Ye may se how that in the description of Iberis both these autoures do agre Wherfore this herbe must not therfore be spoiled of the name of Iberis / because other autours haue in their workes an other kinde of Iberis This is the herbe as I suppose that Fuchsius describeth for shlaspi minori it is called in Duche besenkraut I haue sene the herbe in all pointes agreinge wyth the descriptiones aboue shewed beside the walles of Bon in Germany and in east Fresland in the sea bankes But I haue not sene it in Englande that I remember of It may be called in Englishe waycresses / wilde
is to saye / a stalk / is that parte of the herbe / wherby the norishement is caried / ryseth vp from the grounde alone If thys be true / then shoulde there be but one floure vpon euery stalk of the floure Delice / or all should stand together in the top / and none shoulde by equall distance as Dioscorides meaneth stand one beneth an other Matthiolus setteth out ij figures of Iris / the olye is of the wilde / therein are vj. floures / in the tame are iiij floures / and in bothe the figures are but ij caules or stalkes / except he take pediculos / called in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to be all one with caule / which is contrari to all learninge / therefore the floures grow not allwayes in the top of euery stalk alone / but som aboue in the topp / som beneth / com out of the stalk and stand super petiolos or pediculos suos / that is vpon theyr stiles or foot stalkes Therfore hys annotation is nothyng worth Of the walnut and the walnut tree NVx wythout any farther addition is called a Walnut or a walnut tree It is called also Iuglans / nux persica / glans iouis / nux bisilica / nux regia / in Greke Carya basilica / in Duche Eyn nuà baum / oder ein Welshnuà / in Frenche Vng noier The walnut and the walnut trees are so well knowen in all countries / that I nede not to describe / wherfore I entende to leaue the description and to go to the properties of it The vertues of the Vualnut Iuglans WAlnuttes are harde of digestion / not good for the stomake / and ingeÌdre choler / and they make the heade ache They are euell for them that haue the coughe They are fit to be taken fastinge of them that woulde vomite If they be taken afore hande wyth rue and figges / and also after meat by by / they wythstande poison They do no lesse / if they be eaten after that a man hath dronkeÌ poison If they be eateÌ in greate plenty they driue out brode wormes It is good to lay them to / wyth a litle hony and rue for the burninge heate or inflammation of the papes / for impostemes / and places out of ioynt If they be layde to wyth an onion / salt and hony / they are good for the bytinges both of men and dogges If they be burnt wyth theyr vtter huskes and laide vnto the nauell / they staÌche the gnawinge of the belly The shell burnt and broken in oyle and wine / is good to anoynt childers heades wythall to make the here grow / the same is also good to fill vp the bare places of scalled heades The kernels burned / if they be broken and laide to wyth wine / they will stay the blody yssew that som tyme wemen haue The same are good to laye to olde carbuncles and crepinge sores / tetters and impostemes that are in the corners of the eye The same chowed and laide vpon the heade / are a present remedy for the fallyng of the heare A man may make oyle of the kirnels of walnuttes / if he will presse them / specially when they are olde they that are grene / are not so ill for the stomake as the olde nuttes be / because they are sweter Yf they be mixed with garleke / they take away the sharpnes And they do if they be layde to emplasterwise / driue awaye the blew markes that come of stripes The walnut tree both in his leaues and buddes hath a certayne bindinge / but the bindinge is most euidently perceyued in the vtter huskes / both moyst and drye / and therfore fullers dorse them But I / sayeth Galen / presse out the iuice of the huskes as I do out of the Mulberies bambleberes / and set it wyth sodden hony / and vse it in the steade of a mouth healinge medicine / as I vse the forsaide iuice of mulberes and brambleberes The kirnell of the nut / when it is wythered / is of subtill partes and a dryinge medicine wyth out any bytynge Out of Pliny THe Gretians haue named the walnut of that / that it bringeth the heade ache / for the strengthe of the trees and the leaues perche into the brayne / if the nuttes be taken a fore hand / they breake and quenche the myght of poyson They are good to be laide to the squynsie wyth rue oyle Cneius pompeius when he had ouercomed the myghty kinge Mythrydites / he founde in his most secret treserhouse in a lytle boke by it selffe wrytteÌ wyth his owne haÌde wyth this preseruatiue / the coÌposition wherof is this Take two drye Walnuttes / and ij figges and xx leaues of rue / breake them together and put a corne of salt tho them / and if yow eate this medicine fastinge / ther shall no poyson hurt yow that daye the kirnels of the nuttes if they be chowed / of a man fastinge / is a present remedy if they be layde vnto the bytinges of a mad dogge Som vse to make succat wyth hony or sugar of the yonge nuttes / whiche are palled of the tree about midsomea Tragus wryteth that the water whiche is destilled out of the grene nuttes gathered at mitsomer / is good for the inflammation of the pappes / impostumes / and for places out of ioynt / the oyle that is pressed out of the walnuttes / saieth Tragus / is good for the purposes aboue rehersed Of Squynant IVncus odoratus siue rotundus / is called in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã / in Englishe Squynant / in Duche Kamelhewe / in the potecaris shoppis SquinantuÌ Squynant groweth in Aphrica and in Arabia / the best coÌmeth out of Nabathea / the next in goodnes is it that coÌmeth out of Arabie / the worst cometh out of Africa the best the most wourthiest to be chosen / is that whiche is redde / fresse and full of floures / but small / and hath redde peces in it / whiche beinge robbed in a mans handes / will smell lyke a rose It byteth the tonge also lyke fyer We vse no part of it / sauinge the flower / the stalke and the rote We haue not in Europa suche squynant as Dioscorides describeth I neuer sawe squynant growinge / sauinge only dryed The properties of Squynant SQuynant hath the vertue to bringe downe floures to dryue fourth water / it driueth winde awaye / maketh the heade heauy / and bindeth a lytle / breaketh and rypeth / and maketh louse the vessels that the winde maye comforth His floure is good in drinke for them that voide blode / for the paine of the stomake / longes / lyuer and kidnies The rote is more astringent bindinge / therfore it is good to be geuen in the quantite of a dram wyth so muche peper for a few dayes vnto them that haue the lothsumnes of the stomake to them that are sicke
in the dropsie / and to them that haue the crampe The broth is good to sitte ouer agaynst the burnynge heate of the mother Of the Iuniper tree Iuniperus IVniperus is called in Greke ArkeÌthos / in Englishe Iuniper or Ieneper / in Duch wachhold / in Frenche du genefure The Description DIoscorides maketh ij kindes of Iuniper / the greater kinde the lesse / whiche only differ in bignes Iuniper both the greater the lesse is alwayes grene hath in the stede of leaues prickes rather theÌ right leaues / and euery suche leafe or pricke is very like vnto the ende of the tonge / of an hueholl or wodspike / but it is grene / the wod is redish / whiche if it be put into the fyer / maketh a very good smell The berries are first grene and afterwarde black Some holde that the berries are ij yeare in ripinge vpon the tree This tree groweth commenly in great wast wilde mores baron groundes / but somtyme it groweth in metly good groundes / In England it groweth most plentuouslye in Kent / it groweth also in the bysshopryche of Durram / in NorthuÌberlande It groweth in Germany in many places in greate plentye / but in no place in greater then a lytle from Bon / wher as / at the tyme of yeare the feldefares sede only of Iunipers berries / the people eate the feldefares vndraweÌ wyth guttes and all / because they are full of the berries of Iuniper The vertues of Iuniper THer are ij kindes of Iuniper / the greater the lesse / they are bothe hote / stir men to make water / if that they be sette a fier / they dryue awaye serpentes The berries do measerablely hete binde / are good for the stomacke They are good to be dronken against the diseases of the brest / agaynst the cough / agaynst winde / gnawinges bytinge of serpentes They dryue fourth vrine / they are good for places burst shronken together for the stranglinge of the mother The leaues are bytinge sharpe Therfore both they / also the iuice of them are good to be dronkeÌ wyth wine or to be laide to against the bytinge of a veper Of Labrusca LAbrusca / whiche is called in Greke Ampelos agria / or Omphax / is of ij sortes / the one kinde is so wilde that it hath only floures / and goeth no ferther / this floure is called Enanthe The other hath floures also lytle grapes I haue sene of both the sortes plentuously in Italy in diuers places by the floude Padus / and in highe Almany also It may be called in Englishe a wilde vine All thinges both leaues / floures and grapes / are lesse in this kinde then in the gardin vinde / or els in figure and fasshon they are all one The nature of the wilde grape THe leaues of the wilde grape / and the stalkes / and claspers haue the same vertue that the other hath The floures of the wilde grape / haue a stoppinge or bindinge power / wherfore in drinke they are good for the stomacke / and to dryue fourth vrine They stoppe the belly the castinge out of bloude / if they be dryed and laide to / they are good for the lothsomnes of the stomacke and sournes of the same They are good to be layde vpon the heade / ether grene or dryed with vinegre rose oyle A plaster made of them / healeth bloudy woundes / the impostemes in the corners of the eye when they are in beginnynge / the sores of the mouth / the fretinge sores of the priuities If they be broken with hony / saffron myrr rose oyle / they saue from inflammation They are good to put in pessaries to stanche blode They are good to be layde to with wine the mele of perched barley agaynst the wateringe of the eyes / the burninge of the stomake The asshes of them / burned in a vessell with hote coles are good for medicines for the eyes / and wyth hony it healeth whit flawes / aguayles goomes bledinge / vexed with impostemes Of Lettes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Lactuca ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã LActuca is called in Greke Thridax / in Englishe Lettes or Lettuce / in Duche Lattich / in Frenche / vng Lactue Lettis is of diuerse kindes / one kinde is called Lactuca hortensis / and in English gardin Lettis / the other kinde is called lactuca syluestris / whiche is called in Englishe grene endiue / this is the herbe that the Israelites eat wyth ther passouer lambe Ther are diuers sortes of gardin lettes / for one is called Lactuca capitata / that is cabbage lett es / because it goeth all into one heade / as cabbage role doth / an other kinde is the comon lettes / som kindes of lettis haue white sede / other kindes haue black sede The description of Lettice THe commen gardin lettice hath brode leaues like vnto whyte endiue / and the stalke ryseth streight vp / about the top are diuerse branches / whych haue yelow floures The wilde lettes is like the other after Dioscorides / but the roote is shorter / the stalke is longer / the leaues are whyter / smaller and sharper and bitter in taste / and when as they perfit / they are full of prickel The properties of Lettis THe gardin lettes / whych is of a coolinge nature / is taken to be good for the stomacke it bringeth slepe / softeneth the belly called fourth mylke but when it is sodden / it norisseth more But they that haue an euell stomacke / were best to take it vnwasshed The sede were good to be dronken of them that are combred wyth vncleane dreames it is good agaynst the rage of venery Muche vse of lettes / hurteth the eysight it is good agaynst inflammationes and hote burnynges It is layde vp of som / and seasoned and sauced in brine Of Haris foot LAgopus maye be called in Englishe Haris foot / or rough clauer / the Duch call it KatzeÌkle / the Frenche call it Pede de leure The description Lagopus DIoscorides sheweth no mark wherby Lagopus differeth from other herbes / sauynge that it groweth among the corne Whiche place is comeÌ to many other herbes Wherefore we can not gather by that one worde / what herbe in our feldes is Lagopus in Dioscorides But because it hath the name of an Haris foote / and no other herbe growyng in the corne / is so like an Haris foot as thys herbe is that I set furth / I thinke not with out a cause that Fuchsius of whome I learned thys herbe as I haue learned certayn other iudged it well to be Lagopus / and chefely because it agreeth in vertue wyth it that Dioscorides speaketh of The herbe which I take for Lagopus / hath a round stalke / and roughe leaues of the form and fasshon of
testantur That is / the vse of the herbe is Iberis restoreth these men perfitly to theyr helth agayn / thys herbe is called of som LepidiuÌ / of other agrio cardamum But many experimentes or profes bere witnes that the bushy one that groweth with vs / with leues lyke bay leues but greater / answereth not only in the sciatica / but also in other old diseases Thys Lepidium that Pliny / Paul describe / groweth plentuously about the water syde that rynneth thorow Morpeth in Northumberland / in suche places as great heapes of stones are casten together wyth the myght of a great spat or floode The vertues of Lepidium I Nede not to wryte any more of the vertues of Lepidium / that I haue done before / seyng that Pliny and Paul gyue the same vertues to Lepidium that Democrates / Galene and Archigenes gyue vnto Iberis Therfore they that will know more of the vertues of Lepidium / let them rede the chapter of Hiberis The Germanes in som places take the iuice of thys herbe and menge it with vinegre salt / and make a sauce there of for rostedfleshe as in Freseland / som make a sauce of redco for sodden meat Of Rosmary LIbanotis stephanÏ matike / called in Latine Rosmarinus / is named in English Rosemari Rosemari as Dioscorides sayeth putteth furth smal braunches / and about them small leues / thyck / long / whyte in vnder / and grene aboue / with a strong sauor The vertues of Rosmary Rosmarinus ROsmary hath an hetyng nature / Rosmary healeth the iaundes / if the broth or water that it is soddeÌ in / be dronken before a man exercyse hym self / and after that he hath exercised hym self / entre into a bath / and drynke vnwatered wyne after Men vse to put Rosmari in medicines that dryue werisumnes away / and into the oyntment called Gleucinum The Arabianes as Serapio witnesseth / gyue these properties vnto Rosmari Rosmari is hote drye in the thyrde degre / it is good for the colde reum that falleth from the brayn / it heateth and maketh fyne or subtil It dryueth wynde away / stirreth a man to make water / and bryngeh down weomens floures / it openeth the stoppynges of the liuer of the milt and the bowelles Tragus the Germany writeth that Rosemary is a spice in the kitchines of Germany / and not without a cause The wyne sayeth he of Rosmari / taken of a woman / if she will fast iij. or iiij houres after / is good for the payn in the mother / and agaynst the white floures if they come of any inwarde imposteme It openeth the lung pipes / and it is good for them that are shortwynded It helpeth digestion / and withstaÌdeth poyson It stancheth the gnawyng of the belly / it scoureth the blode / and if a man will go into a warm bed after that he hath dronken of it / it will make a man swete If that Rosemary leues be soddeÌ in wyne / they will do the same The âânserue made of the floures of Rosmari / is good for them that swoun / are week harted The water of Rosemary as the same Tragus wryteth / is good for them that for horsenes haue loste theyr speche Rosemari is also goodâ withstand trynblyng of the membres / the dusines of the heade Of the herbe called Ligusticum LIgusticum which some call Panaceam / and other Panaces / groweth muche in Liguria in the mount Appennine / nere vnto the alpes / where vpon it hath the name The inhabitantes there about call it not without a cause Panaces / because both in the roote and stalck / it is lyke Panaci heracleotico / hath the same vertues that it hath It groweth in hygh and sharp or rough mountaynes / in shaddowy places / and specially about ryuers / or as other textes haue / about diches It hath a small stalk full of ioyntes / lyke vnto dill / and leues in the goyng about lyke vnto Melilote / but softer / well smellyng / smaller about the top / and much diuided In the top there is a bushy or a spoky top / where in haÌgeth black sede sound and somthyng long lyke vnto fenel / sharpe in taste / in smellyng lyke spyce The roote is white / and well smellyng lyke vnto the roote of Panacis heracleotici Thys herbe dyd I neuer se in England / nether in Germany / but it that I saw in Italy / was not lyke it / that Matthiolus setteth furth For it that I sawe / had leues thrise as byg as it that Matthiolus sheweth There grew in it that I saw / all moste in euery place thre leues together / which were lyke vnto a kynd of lotus / or a clauer / or a trifoly As far as I can mark as yet / the herbe that I saw / agreeth better wyth the description / then it that Matthiolus hath caused to be paynted / but let other that haue sene the ryght Melilote where of I meruel that Matthiolus hath not set out the figure as he doth of other herbes / which he granteth that he knoweth / be iudges which of our two herbes is lyker vnto Melilote / and let that be the ryghter herbe that hath the lyker leaues vnto Melilote The vertues of Ligusticum THe nature of the sede is to hete and to make rype It is good for inward aches and swellynges / and for inflammationes / specially of suche as haue theyr stomack swellyng vp / It remedieth styngyng of serpentes In drynk it draweth down weomens sicknes / stirreth a man to make water The root layd to / hath the same effect It is very good for the mouth / wherefor the inhabiter there / where it groweth / vse it in the sede of peper / put it in meates Of Lyuerwurt LIchen which comenly groweth vpon stones / is also called bryon / it cleueth vnto watery stones / or such as at the leste are somtyme sprynkled wyth water as a mosse The colour is for the moste parte grene / but somtyme yeloweshe grene / namely iâ the place be dryed where it groweth To thys description agreeth well the herbe which is called in Englishe Liuerwurte / in Duch Stein leberkraut or Brunleberkraut / in Frenche Hepatique / of the apothecaries hepatica If any man can not know thys Liuerworth by thys shorte description / let hym know it also by these markes It rynneth lyke a grene lefe not only vpon stones / but also vpon a moyst ground / wyth certayn bellishe swellynges / aperyng aboue the rest of the lefe There groweth out of it a certayn litle twig / lyke as it were a stalke / in the top where of are litle thynges like sterres At the first syght the hole herbe loketh lyke vnto a lefe of the crympled lettuce The vertues of Liuerwurt Lichen IF Liuerwort be laid to / it stoppeth blood / it stoppeth or holdeth back inflammationes or
oxiacantha It hath a plesant fruite / but small / whiche hath iij. stones in it / wherefore som haue called it iij. stones It is long in waxyng rype / in eatyng it byndeth It is plesant to the stomack / stoppeth the belly There is an other kynde of medler which groweth in Italy / called of som SetaniuÌ / of other epimelis The tre hath leues lyke an apple tre / but lesse It bereth a round apple / good to be eaten with a larger nauel The fruite byndeth and is long in rypyng The first kinde of mespilus groweth not in England nor Germany that euer I could se / but Matthiolus sayeth that it groweth about Naples in Italy and that it is called in Italian Azarolus The second kinde is that is comen in Itali / Germany and England / and is comenly called a medler The vertues of the Medler DIoscorides besyde that which I haue rehersed of the properties of medler before / writeth also that if medlers be condited / they are good in sommer agaynst the hote flixes of the belly Out of Galene MEdlers / sorbapples / or seruices are byndyng and astringeÌt / but medlers are more astringent / theÌ the sorb apple is Therefore the eatyng of medlers is good for theÌ that haue flix But ye must not eat to much of the se byndyng fruites / for if ye do / they will stopp your liuer and milt Of the herbe called Meon or Mew MEon whiche they call athamaÌticuÌ groweth pleÌtuously in Macedonia in Spayn It is lyke vnto dill in the stalk lefe / but it is thicker then dill It groweth vnto the hyght almoste of ij cubites The rootes are loÌg / small / well smellyng / and so hote that they hete the tong And they are scattered abrode som ryght / som a wry Thus far hath Dioscorides writen of the description of Mew The description of Mew out of Pliny MEw is not soweÌ in Itali / but of Physiciones / that but of a few There are ij kyndes of it They call the excelleÌter athamanticuÌ / som because it was fouÌd of AthamaÌte / other because the moste excelleÌt is fouÌde in Athamania It hath leues lyke anise here shoulde we rede dill that is auethuÌ not anisum a stalck somtyme ij cubites hygh It hath many loÌge black rootes som of theÌ very depe The athamaÌtik is not so rede as the other is Hetherto Pliny I would gladly coÌseÌt to theÌ that holde that the herbe wich is called of the apothecaries feniculuÌ tortuosum / of the NortheÌ Englishe meÌ spiknel / of the Duche meÌ berwurtz / is the true mew / if that I could fynd any spicknel or betwurtz that were of ij cubites hygh But allthoughe I haue sene it many tymes / yet I neuer coulde se it one cubit hyghe / wherefore ether this can not be the mew athamaÌticoÌ Dioscorides / or EnglaÌd Germany will not beare so loÌg mew as Macedonia Spayn doth But though it be not Mew AthamaÌticuÌ / it may well be the other kynde / where of Pliny maketh mention The freres that wrote of late yeres coÌmeÌtaries vpoÌ Mesue / say that they fouÌd in Itali in the mouÌtaynes of Nursia the ryght Mew / that the herbe is called of the inhabitaÌtes there about not Mew but spicula where of we haue belyke our Englishe name spicknell Thy say also that they fouÌd it in Spayn / that it is called there Sistra not Men. The same alege SymoÌ Lanuensis the paÌdectari / to proue that sistra is Mew Matthiolus one of the coÌnygest herbaries that writeth at thys tyme / writeth that allthough he were of late of another iudgemeÌt / that now he iudgeth that thys herbe whose figure I set out / is the ryght Mew in Dioscorides But besyde hys comeÌ maner he gyueth it nether any Italiane name nor any name of the apothecaries or herbaries Amatus Lusitanus taketh feniculuÌ tortuosum also to be Mew / but he saieth / the herbe which is called of the Duche roote pedlerse of Anwerp / berewurtz / is not the true Mew Where at I meruel muche seyng that most parte of all the pothecaries of all Germany both in that ouer also Netherlande / know the right Mew well call it Mew that the root cremer of Anwerpe shewed hym an herbe that was called berewurtz / was not yet the ryght Mew Belyke he was som deceytfull felow which solde false ware / or elles Amatus iudgeth not well of berewurt / or elles there are two kindes of berwurtz in Germany Alle the herbaries apothecaries of Germany call theyr berewurtz feniculuÌ tortuosum allthough / som of theÌ take berwurt for dauco / other for tordilio The berewurtz that Fuchsius Tragus do set furth are not lyke the bere wurtze that I looked vpoÌ / wheÌ as I wrote thys chapter of mew For the rootes of theyr berewurtz as they both describe theÌ / paynt theÌ haue no wrytheÌ rootes / as the berwurte had the I looked vpoÌ For allthough it had one greater root goyng right down / so there grew out aboue the streight roote certayn litle rootes writheÌ in / one with in an other lyke swynes tayles Wherefore ether theyr root gottherers digged not theyr roothes hole out of grouÌde or elles theyr berwurtz is not it that I haue sene in other places of Germany EnglaÌd But the herbe that Amatus Lusitanus describeth / in the roote is not only much vnlike vnto it that Matthiolus paynteth / but to all other that euer I coulde se ether in EnglaÌd or Germany for where as the Mew of Mattiolus / the berwurtz of Germany the spiknel of EnglaÌd which peradueÌture was ones called Spiknard haue a rough thyng like to the Iudish Spiknarde in the hyghest parte of the root / out of whiche the stalke coÌmeth first furth the mew of Amatus hath the same rough tuht lyke Spiknarde / as he writeth in infima parte in the lowest parte of the roote / wich thyng if it be so / nether Matthiolus nor I know the ryght mew And I for my parte I woulde gyue place vnto hym in the knowledge of Mew if he could shew me suche markes tokens in hys Mew as he sheweth to be in his feniculo tortuoso In the meane tyme I partely suspect that he tooke the ouer parte of the herbe / for the nether / and so was deceyued / or elles I am far deceyued Which if I shall here after perceyue / I will be conteÌt to grant to call agayn / and to vntech my error / whiche I haue taught before Feniculum tortuosum whiche I take at the leste to be a kynd of Mew / if it be not AthamaÌticum / groweth in the bisshoprik of Durram in wild mores / called felles / and viij myles aboue Bon / in Germany in a countre called caltland /
booke de simplicibus medicamentis And Paulus ioyneth rapes and Napes together in these wordes The Nape the rape if they be twyse soddeÌ / norishe no lesse then other herbes do But if they be coÌtinually eten / they make a grosse iuice Of Narcissus out of Dioscorides THer ar som that call Narcissum / as a lily / lirium It hath leues lyke vnto a leke / thyn and muche lesser narrower The stalk is empti and bare without leues / and it is hygher then a span The flour is whyte and redishe yelow within / and in som purple Narcissus The roote wtin is whyte / rounde knoppy after the lyknes of a bulb The sede is as it were in a filme or cote / blak and long The moste excellent groweth in hylles / and hath a swete sauor The other resemble a leke / and haue an herbishe stink Of Narcissus out of Pliny THe Physicianes vse ij kyndes of Narcissus / where of one hath a purple floure and the other hath the color of herbes Out of Theophrast IT is meruelus that chanseth vnto the squill or se vnyon / to Narcissus For of all other herbes / whether when they be first soweÌ / or grow agayn / after theyr fallyng / the lefe commeth in hys tyme first furth / and afterwarde the stalke But in these the stalk coÌmeth furth before the other partes / and of Narcissus the stalk of the flour commeth only furth with spede / for the flour hasteth forwarde very muche Narcissus hath a narrow lefe / many together fat Out of all these descriptiones I gather that our comen daffadil / is one kynde of Narcissus / where of Pliny maketh mention / when as he speaketh of it with the herbishe color The fasshon of the lefe / flour and stalk of our daffadil agreeth well with the description both of Dioscorides / Theophrast / only the color of the floure is contrary or besyde the description of Dioscorides But neuerthelesse I iudge that it is a kinde of Narcissus / which Dioscorides had not sene when as he wrote of the whyte floured Narcissus The description of Dioscorides agreeth well vnto the herbe which we call in som places of England white laus tibi / let them that lyste examin the mater / and they shall fynde it as I haue sayde Som take thys herbe to be violam albam Theophrasti / with whome I will not striue / except they say that it agreeth not with the description of Narcissus in Dioscorides As for the lyknes that it ought to haue as som men iudge with the floures of the lily / whose name it may seme to haue had som tyme for the lyknes that it had with the lily / hath it not / for the leues ar nether in fasshon lyke the other Narcissus nor the lily flour / for it is not hole as the lylies flour is / but deuyded I answer that Pliny sheweth that the difference betwene the kyndes of Narcissus of lilies standeth in that / that vpon the stalkes of the lilies grow leues / vpon the stalkes of the kyndes of Narcissus growe no leues at all Dioscorides writeth of ij sortes of Narcissus / one that groweth in the mountaynes / an other kynde in other places Where of I neuer saw the former kynde in any mountayn / but allwayes in gardines And as for the other kynde I reken that it is agreyng in sauor with our comen daffadill / except my memori do fayle me / I am suere that the white laus tibi hath the stynk that Dioscorides speketh of The Properties of the daffadill THe roote sodden / whether it be eaten / or dronkeÌ / maketh a man vomit It is good for burnyng The roote broken with a litle hony / maketh the cut synewes to grow together agayn / if it be layd to emplasterwyse The roote layde to with hony helpeth the ankles out of ioynte / and the old aches of the ioyntes With vinegre and nettel sede / it taketh away the spottes and morphew in the face With fiches it scoureth away the matter of woundes It breketh impostemes that will not rype / layd to with darnel mele / and hony / it draweth out of the body / suche thynges as stick fast in it It maketh fleshe grow in a wounde The roote brused layd to / is good for weomeÌs brestes that ar swelled agaynst all inflammationes Of Spikenarde NArdus is named in Greke Nardos / in Englishe Spiknarde / of the apothecaries spicanardi There ar ij kyndes of Nardus sayeth Dioscorides / the one is called Indishe / the other is called Syriac / not because it groweth in Syria / but because one parte of the hill where as it groweth / lyeth toward Syria / the other parte to the Indianes Of thys Syriak kynde / the principall is freshe / lyght / hauyng a large thyng resemblyng hare / yelow in color / very well smellyng / and much lyke Cyperus in smell / with a short eare / and a bitter taste / which dryeth the tonge / because it coÌtineweth long in the plesantnes of hys smell Of the Indishe kynde / there is one that is called Gangit of the flood GaÌges / whiche rynneth by the mountayn wher vpon it groweth Thys kynde by the reason of the grete moysture of the place is weker in vertue / an hygher in lengthe / and it bryngeth furthe many spikes or hary ere 's out of one roote / folden in one iust to an other / of a very strong sauor The Nardus of the mountayn sauoreth better / and it hathe a short eare / and cutted / the smell of it is lyke vnto Cyperus / and it hath all the other vertues of the Syriak There is also a kinde called of the place where it groweth Sam pharitik / with a shorte bushe hauyng grete eares spredyng out a whyter stalk / thys hath a rammishe or buckishe styngkyng smell wherefore it is not alowed Thus far Dioscorides Matthiolus and Amatus hys folower / do take muche labor to proue that the Spica nardi / that is the ear of Nardus is no eare growyng in the top of the stalke / but that it is the roote of Nardus And agaynst all other that holde the contrari opinion that it gtoweth in the top / they inuey very sharply / and namely agaynst iij. greater clerkes then euer they haue bene or ar like to be / that is Hermolaus Barbarus / Ioannes Ruellius / and Ioannes Manardus Which allthoughe they erred / yet for theyr other truthes that they haue taught / all Europa deserued to be handled somthyng gentlyer then these new correctores haue handled them As for me I thynk that the ear groweth not in the top of the stalk / but hard by the roote / ether partely in the grounde or very nere vnto the grounde / but I thynk rather that som parte of the ear groweth within
the ground Yet for all thys / I reken that the spike can not be properly called a roote And as for the place that they alledge out of Galene de antidotis / in Galenis wordes they must ether vnderstand Galene to calle the spike of Nardus vnproperly a roote / or ellis they muste in other places not only deny the autorite of Galene / but also of Philo / Dioscorides also / which make an open distinctione and difference betwene the roote of Nardus an the eare of the same or ellis playnly deny that the spik is a root Galene in the .ix. book de compositione medicamentorum secundum locos alledgeth in the preseruatiue or antidot of Philo ij verses amongest many other / whiche seme playnly to deny that Nardus is a roote The verses are these Et drachmam dictae falso radicis ab ipsa Terra pissae quae Ioue clara manet And Galene expoundyng these verses / sayeth these wordes folowynge Quin Nardi ipsius drachmam vnam conijciendam censet quam radicem falso dictam appellat quando quidem spica nardi verè nominatur Also he iudgeth that a dram of Nardus must be put there to / which he calleth a falsely named roote / because it is truely named the ear or spike of Nardus Dioscorides also in the description of the Nardus whiche is called gangitis / sayeth that many spikes or eares com out of one roote / where vpon it foloweth playnly by the autorite of Dioscorides that the ear of Nardus is not the root of Nardus Therefore I reken that it is playn that the spica Nardi can not be properly called a roote / without the gaynsaying of Philo / Dioscorides and Galene Matthiolus layng to other mennes charges ernestly many errours wrytyng vpon Nardus / is not very far from a manifest error if he be not wrapped within it all redy For he semeth to iudge that Nardus hath no stalk at all / and that therefore the spike or ear can not grow in the top of the stalk / which is not / or can no where be fouÌd Hys wordes are these Ego tametsi nardi quà m plurimum c. Allthough I haue examined picked out very much Nardus / in the shoppes of Venis / yet could I neuer fynd any thyng of Nardus there / sauyng only the eare Wherefore I thynk there can be found no Nardus which bryngeth furth the eares in the top But what reason is thys / he seeth nothyng of Nardus but the eare / ergo Nardus hath nothyng ellis / because he hath sene no more If thys be Matthiolusses argument as he semeth at the leste to go toward thys end then it appeareth that Nardus should haue nether any stalk / nether any other root besyde the eare / which is clene contrari vnto Dioscorides / whome he taketh in hand to expounde / who appoynteth both a stalk vnto Nardus / and also an other roote besyde the spikes or eares to the same And allthough in Germany there is not suche choyse of simples in euery place as is in Venis / yet in thys yere of our lorde 1557. I found in the shop of Iacob Diter the Apothecari of Wiseburg on pece of Nardus whiche hath a stalk a fynger long holow / and of the bygnes of a metely byg straw / which I haue to shew at thys present daye As touchyng the roote of Nardus if that Matthiolus could fynde nothing of it / sauyng the eare at Venis / I meruel where he found the litle roote that the eares grow one in hys figure whiche he hath set out in hys commentaries vpon Dioscorides Amatus holdeth also stiffly that the spyke or ear of Nardus is also the roote But it semeth by hys writyng both in the chapter of mew / and also in Nardus / that he shoulde meane that the ear of Nardus / should be the nether parte of the roote of Nardus / for in both the chapters he compareth the root of spiknard with the roote of mew And in bothe the places he sayeth that the tufty rootes that ar very lyke spiknarde in Mew / grow in infima parte radicis / in the lowest parte of the rootes In the later place he sayeth thus Where as Dioscorides sayeth that Nardus putteth furth of one roote many eares that serueth for our purpos / wheÌ as out of one principall roote as the mother of the rest / many rootes as hary eares growyng one hard to an other / do spryng out / as a man may se the lyke in the rootes of Mew / whose infinite rootes were diuided into eares that all that saw them / iudged them to be Spiknard And a litle after he sayeth / wherefore we ought to conclude that ther is no other roote found in Nardus / sauyng the spike or eare If he mean thus as by hys wrytyng he semeth to do / he is very far deceyued For besyde that I haue sene a stalk immediatly commyng from the spike the stalk commeth neuer immediatly from the lowest parte of the roote Dioscorides sheweth that the Spikes com from one roote The rootes allwayes in all plantes ar the lowest nether most partes of them / then when as the Spikes com out of one roote / that roote must be lower and benethe the Spikes Then the Spikes can not be the lowest partes of the rootes / as he sayeth that the tufty endes and lowest partes of the rootes of Mew be But where as he sayeth that there is no other root sauyng the Spike / I ask them whether it is the maner of Dioscorides to geue one thyng in one place ij sundry names / and to disseuer one thyng with ij names when as the thyng is but one If it be not hys maner so to do / then is hys glose brought in vayn / where as he sayeth the the sayng of Dioscorides that many Spikes com out of one roote / is to be vnderstand / that many rootes com out of one principal or mother roote when as Dioscorides in all hys hole worke neuer calleth a roote a Spike / nor a Spike a roote As for the other error whiche he holdeth or at the leste he semeth to hold with Matthiolus / that Nardus hath nether stalk nether other roote then the eare / nede to make no other confuratione then it that a lytle aboue I haue made vnto Matthiolus for the same opinion Then thys is my opinion of Nardus / that it hath a lytle roote in the grounde / out of the whiche the Spikes or eares spryng out / and I thynk that the lowest partes of the eares at the leste touche the ground / and that the stalke as I haue ones sene it commeth out of the middes of the Spike or eare of blak redishe color / thin and holow within The vertues of Spiknard NArdus hathe pour to hete and to dry It dryueth furth water and maketh a man pisse wel
of Horminum agreeth not with our Clare Dioscorides maketh mention but of one stalk in hys Hormino But it that Matthiolus setteth furth hath seuen stalkes at the leste / wherefore when as Dioscorides vseth not comeÌly to let such notable thynges to slip / it is lyke if hys HorminuÌ had had as many / he wold haue made som mention of them Wherefore that may make som men to dowt wheter the Horminum of Matthiolus be the ryght Orminum or no / which I wold not do / if I know that it had al other thynges belonging to Horminum besyde The vertues of Horminum MEn will that Orminum stirreth men to the gettyng of childer / with hony it scoureth away the haw in the ey / or the pin and the web And if it be layde to with water it dryueth and scattereth away swellynges with the same prickes or shiuerse may be plucked out of the body The wilde OrminuÌ is stronger then the other Allthoughe our Clare and oculus Christi which is the wilde Clare / be not the ij kindes of Orminum that Dioscorides describeth yet for al that they haue som vertues lyke vnto the kyndes of OrminuÌ / for it that we calle oculus Christi hath thys properti / that if a man put a sede of it into hys ey / vnder the ey lyd / it bryngeth furth much filthy gere out of it / if ther be any there Both the kyndes of Clare be hote dry at the leste in the second degre If ye will put Clare into new must / and let it ly in it a coÌuenient tyme / or if it be sodden with the must / it will make a good wyne and holsum for them that haue cold stomackes The same wyne as the later practicioners wryte / is good to cut fleme / for berun weomen / and for suche as ar muche cumbred with theyr white floures The pouder of clare put into a mannis nose maketh hym nese / and bryngeth doun much water out of the hede The same clare is good to bathe weomen with / that want theyr floures / when it is sodden in water with penny ryall and other herbes of lyke vertue Of the herbe called Ornithogalon Ornithogalon ORnithogaluÌ is a tendre stalk / white / smal / a foote an half loÌge with ij or thre to growyng branches in the top which ar soft / out of the which come furth floures / wtout of an herbishe color / but wheÌ as they gape ar opened furthe / they appere white / amongest the whiche / a litle hede or knop / lyke a hasel floure / which in the spryng appeareth before the leues / coÌmeth furth Thys description of Dioscorides agreeth well in all poyntes with the herbe which is called in Duche in the city of Colon / Hundis vllich / but that it neuer growethe aboue the hyght of one span / and is seldum so long But it may chance that where as our comon Greke text hath ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã / that som hath put to thys syllab di For Pliny describyng the same herbe / sayeth that it is but of the lenght of half a foote as my text of Plini hath So that it semeth that Plini red in hys Greke Dioscorides for it is playn that he had Dioscorides howsomeuer like a falslying good lesse man / he preteÌdeth as thoughe he neuer saw Dioscorides of whom he hath conueyed / so much learned stuf / into hys omnigatherum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã because there is so grete difference betwen two spannes and half a foote / whiche hath but vj. Romane inches / when as ij spannes conteyn xviij inches or a foote and an half But it maketh no grete mater whether we know it or no / seyng that it is good for nothing elles / but to be baked in brede as Nigella Romana or blak comun is / and to be eaten Matthiolus setteth furth an herbe for Ornigalo Dioscorides / which if it were ij span long / and had all other thynges agreyng with the description of Dioscorides I wold not deny but it were the ryght Ornithogalon / but because he telleth nether of the lenghth of hys herbe / nor of the qualites that it hath / I dout more of it theÌ of it that I haue hether to taken for Orinthogalo Of the tre called Ornus THere is som diuersite of opiniones about thys tre Ornus Sum hold that it is the tre whiche we call in the North countre a quicken tre or a rown tre / in the South countre a quikbeme / sum hold that it is Ornus but not fraxinus of the mountaynes as Tragus / who calleth it in Duche Han buchen or Hagen buchen / Other Duche men namely Iacob Detter the Apothecari of Wiseburg told me that Ornus is called in ryght Duche Walt eschern oder Wilder eschebauÌ But my iudgement is that Ornus is not the quicbeme / but Fraxinus montana / whiche thyng I trust I shall proue by good autorite Columella in hys booke de re rustica sayeth that Ornus is a wyld ashe or an ashe of the woldes / and that it hath no worse bughes then the elm tre Gotes shepe ete more gladly of the bughes of thys tre then of other Theophrast in hys thyrde booke of the histori of plantes / in the eleuent chapter writeth of ij kyndes of asshes / of the whiche the former kynde is in grete plenty in England / and it is called comonly an ashe tre But the second kynde groweth not in England that I know of And if I be not deceyued it is called of the Latines namely of Virgil Ouid and Columella / Ornus or Fraxinus syluestris And Theophrast wryteth of hys second kynde of ashe thus The second kynde of the asshes is lower and waxeth not so hyghe as the other / and is rougher / harder and yelower The smothe ashe groweth in low and holow places / and in watery places But the roughe one groweth in dry rocky grounde All that grow in playn groundes vse to be playn smouthe And all that grow in the mountaynes / vse to be roughe scuruy or scabbed / with vnequal partes apperyng outward after the maner of scabbes Thus far Theophrast That Ornus is a tre of the mountaynes / Virgill in the second of hys Georgikes wytnesseth in thys verse Nascuntur steriles saxosis montibus Orni That is / the Barun Orni or wild ashe trees grow in the rooky or craggi mountaynes I know also by experience that I haue of the wild or rocky ashe here in Germany / and by it that I had in the alpes of Rhetia / that the wod of the wilde ashe is very fayr yelow / and that the Germaynes make fayr tables and cupbordes and spounes and many other thynges belongyng to the house of the same ashe tre Then when as Columella sayeth that Ornus is Fraxinus montana / and Theophrast sayeth
that the rockishe ashe is of a yelow color / and the Germaynes walt ascher / that groweth in the mountaynes is yelow / I thynk that I may well conclude that the Germaynes rock ashe or wod ashe is Ornus of the Latines / and Fraxinus syluestris Theophrasti is for the quicbeme / it groweth not in hygh and wild mountaynes / but in low and watery places / wherefore it can not be Ornus / or the second kynde of ashe in Theophrast The properties of Ornus I Know no other vse of the wilde ashe but that it is good to make cupbardes / tables / spownes cuppes of And that som vse to make dagger hefters of the roote of it / for it can scarsly be knowen from dudgyon / and I thynke that the moste parte of dogion is of the root of the wilde ashe Whatsoeuer vertue the other ashe hath thys must haue the same more effectually / sauyng in such maters as more moysture is requyred in For then the comoÌ ashe is more fit for suche purposes Of Orobanche ORobanche / as Dioscorides writeth / is a redishe stalk two spannes hyghe / and som tymes hygher / tendre / roughe without any lefe / hath / with a flour somthyng whitishe / but turning toward yelow The roote is a fynger thick And when the stalk shrynkethe for dryues / it is like an holow pype It is playn that thys herbe groweth amonge certayn pulses / that it choketh strangleth them / where of it hath the name of Orobanche / that is chokefitche or strangletare Thus far Dioscorides of Orobanche The herbe whiche I haue taken and taught xv yeres ago to be Orobanche / which also now of late yeares Matthiolus hath set out for Orobanche / groweth in many places of EnglaÌd / bothe in the Northe countre besyde Morpethe / whereas it is called our lady of new chapellis flour / and also in the South countre a lytle from sheue in the broum closes But it hath no name there I haue sene it in diuerse places of Germany / and first of all betwene Colon and Rodekirch The herbe is comenly a fout long and oft longer / I haue marked it many yeres / but I colde neuer se any lefe vpon it But I haue sene the floures in diuerse places of diuerse colores / and for the moste parte where so euer I saw theÌ / they were redishe or turnyng to a purple color in som places / but in figure they were lyke vnto to the floures of Clare with a thyng in them representyng a cockis hede The roote is round and much after the fasshon of a grete lekis hede / and there grow out of it certayn long thynges lyke strynges which haue in them in certayn places sharp thynges lyke tethe / where with it claspeth and holdeth the roote that it strangleth I haue found it oft tymes claspyng holdyng meruellously soft the rootes of brouÌ / so that they looked as they had ben bound fouldeÌ oft about with small wyre And ones I found thys herbe growyng besyd the comon clauer or medow trifoly / which was all wethered / and when I had dygged vp the roote of the trifoly to se what shoulde be the cause that all other clauers or trifolies about wer grene and freshe / that that trifoly should be dede I found the rootes of Orobanche fast clasped about the rootes of the clauer / which as I did playnly perceyue / draw out all the natural moysture from the herbe that it should haue lyued with all / and so killed it / as yui and dodder in continuance of tyme do with the trees and herbes that they fould and wynde them selues about They that holde that cuscuta or doder is Orobanche in Dioscorides / ar far deceyued For Orobanche is a stalk and not a lace as doder is Orobanche is but a fout and an half long / but the laces of dodder will be som tyme iij. or iiij foote long Orobanche hath a roote a fynger thik / but there is none such in doder / for ye shall hardly fynde any ryght root at al in doder The stalk of Orobanche is hollow when it is withered / but so is not the stalk or rather the lace of doder The stalke of Orobanche is roughe / but the lace of doder is very smothe Wherefore they were very far ouersene which now of late haue writen that doder is Orobanche in Dioscorides Som other without any cause haue of late put thys herbe which I take to be Orobanche / amongest the kyndes of Satyrion The properties of Orobanche ORobanche which may well be called in our tong chokefiche or strangle wede / is eten comonly in sallates / raw or sodden after the maner of sperage Orobanche as Galene writeth is colde and dry in the firste degre Matthiolus sayethe that Orobanche is called in Italian lupa / that is a wolfe and also herba tora / that is herbe bull / because that if a cow chanse to eate of it / she rynneth streyght way after to the bull But it that Matthiolus wryteth agaynst Theophrast / because he sayeth that Orobanche kylleth Orobus and strangleth it with hys pressyng in / or thrystyng together / and that Orobanche killeth pulses only with hys presence / pleaseth me not / as a sayng agaynst reson autorite and experience It is agaynst reson that only the presence of Orobanche should kill pulses / seyng it is no venummus herbe / when euen venummus herbes kill not them amongest whome they grow except they touche them / or be so thyk amongest them that they take the norishmeÌt from them / whereby they should lyue It is also both agaynst the autorite of Theophrast / no liyng writer / and of lat agaynst Dioscorides / whome he taketh in hand to expounde For Dioscorides sayeth It is playn that Orobanche groweth amongest pulses / and that it chowketh or strangleth them / where vpon it hath gotten the name Orobanche / that is Orobstrangler Now I pray yow how can Orobanche strangle it that it toucheth not Belyke Matthiolus saw no leues in Orobanche nor any claspers aboue the grounde / therefore he thought that there was no other thyng that Orobanche had / where with it colde strangle / neuer marked the litle strynges in the roote / whiche not with out a faut hys Orobanche wanteth / and so cam into thys error that Orobanche strangled only with hys presence Tragus paynteth well Orobanch vnder the name of Satryrynoni / with such lytle strynges as it killed herbes with And as touchynge experience / I know that the freshe and yong Orobanche hath commyng out of the great roote / many lytle strynges such as we se in a phrone or se sterr / but longer / wherewith it taketh holde of the rootes of the herbes that grow next vnto it Wherefore Matthiolus ought not so lyghtly to haue defaced the autorite of Theophrast so ancient and substantiall
autor / with laiyng ignorance vnto hys charge / seyng that Theophrastus in the same place where he speaketh of Orobanche telleth playnly that sum herbes ar first strangled by the roote / and that not the only presence of suche wedes kill herbes and pulses / but the takyng away of theyr norishement that commeth partly out of the erthe and partly from the ayr and son The wordes of Theophrast ar these Orobancha vocata eruum necat amplexu compres suque suo linodorum foenum graecum interimit protinus radici adnascens Lo here may ye se that a wede may kill a pulse by the roote alone But Theophrast sayeth farther Omnia idcirco interimunt quia pabulum tollunt tam quod terra ministret quà m quòd à sole aere veniat That is all kyndes of wedes do kill / because they take away the norishment as well it that the erth geueth / as it that commeth from the ayre and the sonne Of Rise Oriza ORiza is named in English and Duche Ris / in Frenche rize Dioscorides writethe nomore of the description of Ris / put that it growes in waterishe and marrishe groundes But Theophrast describeth it more largely / after thys wyse Rys is to looke to lyke vnto Lolium or darnel / and for the moste tyme of hys growyng / it standeth in water But it putteth furth no eare / but a mane after the maner of millet and panik Thus far Theophrast / who maketh a litle aboue Rise also lyke zea / which is called spelta of the herbaries / in Duche Speltzsperk It hath comonly an ear with ij chesses or orders of corne / as barley hath / called in Greke Distichon Whiche markes all together agre with our Ryse / except that where he sayeth that oriza hath a mane and no eare / or spike But I iudge that he taketh an ere very straytly here / for that which is growyng harde to the top of the strow is not spred abrode for / and wyde from the strow that it commeth out of / and that therefore he denieth that panicum hath any eare / whiche after the comon takyng of an eare / hath an ear as well as barley or sperltz hath For Theophrast in hys eight booke de historia plantarum describeth iubam that is a mane / such as he geueth vnto Ryse mile and panik after thys maner Effusam illam harundinaceam comam iubam appello that is I call that Riedishe bushe or look that is stretched furth abrode / a mane / so the Theophrast meaneth that the hede of Ryse is not properly to be called an ere / because the cornes ar so far from the straw Thys is ones out of al dout / that lolium and zea haue eares / but Theophrast maketh Ryse lyke vnto these two / and not for the leues sake or the strawis sake / but only for the eares sake Wherefore Theophrast meaneth not that Rise is without all kynde of eare / but that it hath no suche compact ere growyng harde to the hede of the straw as other kyndes of corn haue / but louse and goyng abrode after the fasshon of an horses mane I saw Ryse growyng in plenty besyde Mylane The vertues of Rise RIse norissheth menely / but it stoppeth the belly / Rise as Galene sayeth byndeth sumthing / and that therefore it stoppeth the belly Symeon Sethi writeth that Rise is hote in the first degre dry in the second Rise sayeth he prepared with milk maketh a man looke well / and bryngeth a good color / and increseth sede Of the herbe called Osyris THe herbe which is taken of the moste parte of lerned men to be Osyris / is called of the apothecaries linaria / because it is lyke vnto line or flax / in Duche it is named Kroten flachs / that is tode flax But allthoughe it groweth plentuously in England / yet I neuer heard any English name for it If there be no other name for it / it may be called in Englishe linari or todes flax Dioscorides describeth Osyris thus Osyris is a blak lytle bushe / beryng small branches / toughe and hard to breke / and in them grow four leues together / or fyue / or six lyke vnto lint or flax / blak in the begynnynge / the color changed afterwardes redishe I know no herbe that agreeth better with the description of Osyris then linaria doth / yet for all that / the certayn nombre of leues growyng together hyndereth it to be the ryght Osyris / for our linaria hath the branches all full of leues without any certayn numbre growyng together / at no tyme redishe that I colde mark hitherto Matthiolus writeth that sum iudge the fayr herbe that is called in Italian beluidere to be the ryght Osyris / where vnto he semeth to consent But at thys present I haue not the herbe / wherefore I can not examin it with the description of Dioscorides / and therefore can giue no iudgement in thys matter The vertues of Osyris DIoscorides âriteth that the brothe of Osyris dronken is good agaynst the iaundes or guelsought Galene writeth that Osyris hath a bitter qualite ãâã ââerfore pouâ to open stoppynges / so that it can hele the stoppyng of the ãâã Of Oxyacantha OXyacantha whiche is named in Latin Spina acuta is a tre lyke vnto a wilde pere tre / very full of prickes / but lesse It bringeth furthe beries lyke Myrtilles / full rede / brekle / a kyrnel within a roote diuided many wayes / which goeth depe into the grounde Hytherto Dioscorides The moste parte of lerned men in thys parte of Europa haue iudged of late yeres that our berberes should be Oxyacantha But the description of Oxyacantha in all poyntes Berberis Oxyacantha doth not agre with our berberis First our berberis bushe looketh not lyke a wilde pere tre / for it is rather a bushe then a tre / for in all the places that euer I saw it in / it neuer rose vp to the bygnes of a tre The berries of barberis and of the Myrt tre ar not in proportion figure lyke For the berberis beris ar great in the myddes small at bothe the endes / after the maner of a loÌg eg Suche fasshoÌ of figure is not in a Mirt berry Dioscorides semeth to geue one berry OxyacaÌtha / but one stone or kirnel / but euery berri of berberies hath iiij at the leste / wherefore it is not lyke that our berberis should be Oxyacantha Thus muche I had marked before I saw Matthiolus But after that I saw Matthiolus I learned of hym an other reson to proue that our berberis cold not be OxyacaÌtha / which was thys Dioscorides describyng the former kynde of Mespilus or medler tre / sayeth that it hath a lefe lyke vnto Oxyacantha But the former kynde of Mespilus / as Theophrastus witnesseth hath indented leues / in the vtter moste parte lyke
vnto the leues of persely But there is no lykenes betwene the leues of berberis of persely wherefor berberis can not be Oxycantha The forenamed Matthiolus holdeth that our haw tre or whyte thorne tre is Oxyacantha But when as our haw thorn tre leseth hys leues euery yere / Theophrast in hys first booke de historia PlantaruÌ in the xv chapter reherseth Oxyacantham amongest the trees that haue grene leues all the yere I can not se how that our comoÌ hawthorn shoulde be Oxyacantha How that Matthiolus will answer to thys I can not tell / but I haue no other shift sauing thys In Summerset shyre about six myles from Welles / in the parke of Gassenberry there is an hawthorne which is grene all the wynter / as all they that dwell there about do stedfastly holde If the Oxyacantha be any kynde of hawthorn / it must be the kynde which abydeth grene all the hole yere throw But if that our hawthorne be not Oxyacantha / as I suppose playnly that it is a kynde of it / it is Spina alba in Columella as God willyng here after I intend to proue The vertues of Oxyacantha THe berries of Oxyacantha taken ether in meat or drynke / stop the flix of the belly and the isshue of weomen The roote of the same laide to emplasterwyse pulleth out prickes and shiuers Out of Galene in hys booke of simple medicines OXyacanthos as it is a tre lyke vnto a wilde pere tre / so it hath properties not vnlyke But the fruite of the wild pere tre is throw out byndyng and very tarte / yet the fruite of Oxyacantha is of fyne or subtile partes and a lytle cuttyng But the fruite of thys tre is not lyke vnto the fruite of a wilde pere tre / but lyke vnto myrtilles / that is to wet rede and thinne Of the herbe called Oxys Oxis OXys / as the moste parte of lerned men iudge / is the herbe whiche is called in English Alleluya / because it appereth about Easter when Alleluya is song agayn / or wodsore but it shuld be called wod four or sorell / in Duch Hasen ampfer / in FreÌche Pane de coquu Pliny writeth thus of Oxys Oxys hath thre leues growing together And further haue we of no other writer that I could yet se that telleth what Oxys is By the name we may know that it must be sour / and by the forme or fasshon thre leued Where vpon we gather that Oxys must be a sour trifoly / and when as there is no trifoly that is sour sayuyng thys / and Lotus vrbana / it can not be Lotus vrbana / because it groweth alwaies wilde in the woddes / and comonly about tre rootes / we gather that thys Alleleluya or wodsour shoulde be Oxys in Pliny The vertues of wodsour out of Pliny OXys is geuen vnto a flashe / louse or weike stomacke They rat of it also that haue the burstyng of the guttes The practicioners of Germany write that the distilled water of Alleluya cooleth well comforteth the hart / and quencheth thirst / and that it is good in all hote diseases and inflammationes They hold also that the distilled water of wodsorel / is good to be tempered with alum / for the woundes and sores of the mouthe Of the Date tre PAlma is called in Greke Phenix / in Englishe a Date tre / in Duch ein Dattel baum / in Frenche vn Palme arbre The description of the Date tre out of Pliny THe countre of Iewry is honorably commended / for nothyng more then for Date trees / of whose nature I will speake now There ar certayn Date trees in Europa / and in many places of Itali / but they bryng furthe no fruite They bere fruite well in the see costes of Spayn / but vnplesant The Date trees bryng furth a swete fruite in Africa / but it vanissheth away by and by But it chanceth contrary wyse in the Easte partes of the world / for there som peple make brede of Dates / and sum make wyne of them / som nationes make fother for cattel of Dates Wherefore it shall be moste commendable to speke of them that are in strange far cuntres Ther groweth no Date tre of it self in Itali without settyng or sowyng / nether in any other partes / but in a hote ground But it bryngeth furthe no fruite but in a burnyng hote grounde The Date tre groweth comonly in a lyght and sandy ground / for the moste parte in a saltish or nitrishe ground It loueth well watery places / where as it is desyrus to drynk all the hole yere / it is moste desyrus in the drought or dry tyme of the yere Sum iudge that dungyng hurteth Date trees And sum of the Assyrianes rekeÌ that it is ill for the Date trees / if they be not set in watery places There ar diuerse kyndes of Date trees The first kynde excedeth not the bygnes of a bushe Thys kynde in sum places bryngeth furth fruite / and in sum places it bryngeth furth no fruite And thys kinde is full of leues / hath a round circle of branches growing about Sum vse the branches leues of these to couer walles with / agaynst the fallyng of water vpon them in many places of thys countre The busshy lok / in the wild kynde is in the top / so is the fruite / not amongest the leues as it is in other kyndes But thys wild kynd hath hys fruite / as it were many berries together in hys branches / among the smaller bughes / is both of the nature of a grapi of an apple The leues haue the fasshon of a sharppoynted knyfe / the sydes beyng deuyded turned inwarde into them selues They did shew at the first goodly perles / but now the leues ar vsed to make bandes of to bynd vindes to make ropes of They ar also clouen then ther ar made certayn lyght thinges of them / for shaddowyng of mennis hedes Trees / ye all other thynges that euer the erthe bryngeth furthe / ye euen the herbes also both the male the female as the moste diligent serchers markers of nature haue taughte in theyr wrytynges And thys thyng is in no tre more manifestly tryed then in Date trees The male florissheth in hys branches / but the femal buddeth wtout any flour / only after the maner of a thistel In bothe the kindes the fleshe of the fruite groweth before the stone / that is the Date sede And thys is proued to be so that ther ar found in the same branches litle ones wtout any stones But that is long not rounde as the oliue stones be It is also cut in the bak with a long rift or cleuyng after the maner of a pillow And the moste parte haue a nauel in the myddes of theyr bellies And from that place commeth
first furthe that it diuideth it self into a roote It is best to saw it grouelyng There must be euer two sett together / as many about for euery one soweÌ alone / should bring furth to weike a plant Four of theÌ grow together The fleshe of the Date waxeth rype in a yeare In certayn other places as in-Cyprus allthough it com neuer to rypenes / yet it is swetishe with a plesant taste And there is the lefe broder / the fruite is rounder theÌ other be Nether is it takeÌ that the body of it should be eteÌ / but the iuice pressed out / that the other partes may be spitted out agayn Date trees loue to be remoued We haue saide before the Date trees loue a saltishe grouÌd Wherefore wher as there is none suche / men strow salt there / not euen vpon the rootes / but a lytle further of They bere euen in the first yere / anon after theyr plantyng But in Cyprus and in Syria / and Egypt / som of them bryng furth fruite when they ar iiij yere olde / and som when they ar fyue yere olde / when it is of the hyght of a man And as long as the tre is very yong / the fruite hath no stone within him / and therfore suche ar called geldynges There ar many kindes of Date trees Men vse the barun trees for tymber / in Assyria / all the lande of Persis / and namely for the finest and perfitest workes There ar also woddes of Date trees whiche vse to be cut down / whiche spryng agayn of the rootes And there is a swete mary or pithe in the top which they call the brayn And when that is takeÌ furth / they liue still as other do not There ar sum that ar called chame ropes / and they haue a brode lefe and soft And they ar moste mete to bynde vyndes with They grow plentuously in CaÌdy / but more pleÌtuously in Sicilia The coles that ar made of the Date trees / do ly loÌg are loÌg in dying / the fyer thereof / is a very slow fyre There ar sum Date trees in whose fruite is a stone bowyng after the fasshon of an half moon And thys sum polishe with a toothe with a certayn religion / agaynst forspekyng and bewitchyng There is one kynde of Date trees called Margarides / these ar shorte / white / rounde / and more lyke vnto round berries / theÌ to acornes / by reson where of they haue theyr name of perles Som say that there is a kynde of them / Inchora / and also that there is one of them / which ar called Syagri Where of we haue hearde a grete wonder / that is to wete / that that same kynde dieth lyueth agayn by it self / as the byrd called Phenix dothe / whiche is supposed to haue receyued hyr name of thys kinde of Date tre / for the cause aboue rehersed And whilse as I wrote these thynges that ye now rede / it brought furth fruite The fruite of it is grete / hard / roughe illfauored to looke to / and differeth from all other kyndes by a wild rammishe and rank taste that it hath The which same thynges we haue allmoste perceyued to be in bores / and thys is the moste euydent cause of the name of it There ar other Dates that grow about the hygher partes of Ethiopia / called cariote / which haue in them muche meate and muche iuice / where of the men of the Easte / make their chefe wines But they ar euel for the head-ach / where of they haue theyr name But as there is grete plenty / and the ground bereth very many / so moste excelleÌt noble Dates grow in Iewry / not euery there / but moste about Ierico There ar sum kyndes of Dates called dactyli / and they ar of the dryer sorts / and they ar long and small and somthyng croked Dates in Ethiopia ar broken into pouder such is the drought there and after the maner of mele they ar thicked vp and of them brede is made The Date there / groweth in a bushe that hath branches / a cubit long / a brode lefe / a round fruite / but greter then an apple / they call them cycas They wax ripe in thre yeres / and there is allwayes one Date vpon the bushe / other groweth vnder the same They ar fittest to be kept that grow in saltishe and sandy groundes / as in Iewry and in Africa about Syrene But they can not be kept in Egypt / Cyprus / Syria / Seleucia / therefore they fede swyne and other bestes with them Many of Alexandres souldyers was strangled with grene Dates And that chanced in Gedrosis by a certayn kynde of fruite / but in other places it chanceth by the reson of the grete plenty The leues of the Date tre neuer fall of Out of Theophrastus THe Date tre is allwayes grene / and the leues haue the fasshon of a redis lefe It desyreth a saltishe and a sandy ground and of ten wateryng / and aboue all thynges oft to be remoued If ye will sow Dates / ye must bynde two together / and other two together aboue the first cople / and lay them all grouelynges toward the grounde And as soun as they begyn to com furthe / the rootes fold in one about an other / so grow together that they make but one tre And thus do they because if one were alone / the tre wold be to weike When it is first remoued and transplanted / and also euery tyme afterwarde / men vse to cast salt about the rootes of the yong Date trees If a Date tre be topped or lopped it will lyue no longer after Out of Plutarch THe wod of the Date tre / if ye lay a weight vpon it / and therwith labor to presse it down / yet it wil not bow downwarde / but it boweth in to the contrary / as thoughe it withstod the burden / that violently pressed it The very same thyng doutles chanceth in the trying of mastries / vnto wrastlers / championis / for they bow down them by pr ssyng / which by dastardnes / and weiknes of mynde gyue place vnto them But they that continew maÌfully in that besynes / go not only forwarde / and increase in bodely streyngthe / but also in wisdome of the mynde Out of Aulus Gellius AVlus Gellius also a famous wryter / sayeth in hys thyrde booke noctium atticarum that the Date tre hath in it a certayn singulare / and speciall properti that agreeth with the disposition and maner of valiant bold men / for if ye lay / sayeth he / grete heuy weyghtes / and presse and burden it so sore / that it is not able to abyde the gretnes of the weyght / it geueth no place nor boweth downwarde / but it ryseth vp agayn / agaynst the burden and loboreth to grow vpward /
vertues of fistickes out of Dioscorides THe fistic nuttes ar good for the stomack They ar also a good remedy agaynst the bytynges of crepyng beastes / wheter they be eaten / or whether they be broken and dronken in wyne Out of Pliny THe fistickes haue the same profittes and workyng that the pineapple kirnelles haue / and besyde that they ar profitable whether they be eaten or dronken against the bytynges of serpentes Out of Galene de alimentorum facultatibus GAlene in the secoÌd booke de alimentorum facultatibus writeth that fistickes norishe but a litle / and that they ar good to streyngthen the liuer and to scouraway the humores that ar stopped in the canales of it The same Galene writeth of them thus in hys bookes of simple medicine The fruite of the fistic tre is of a finer substance or complexion / and it hath a litle bitternes and a good smell / therfore it scoureth away the stoppyng of the lyuer chefely / and also of the breste and lunges Out of Symeon Sethi FIstickes as SymeoÌ sayeth after the translatioÌ of Lilius Gregorius norish litle / and ar hote dry in the secoÌd degre They ar good for the lyuer / and sumtyme they stopp and sumtyme they driue away / because they haue iuices of ij sortes / where of the one is somthyng byndyng / and the other somthyng bitter / and of a spicie smell Galene writeth that they nether greatly help nor hurt the stomack But the later writers hold / that they ar good for the stomack They help them that ar bitten of venummus bestes They make the blood fyne / and they make thynne grosse and thoughe humores The oyl of fistickes is good for the breste / kydnees / and lunges Out of Serapio and other Arabianes THe oyle of fistickes / is good agaynst all venemus bytynges / for the ach of the lyuer / which coÌmeth of moysture It is hote drye / and of a greater heat theÌ the walnut and hasel nut be of Auerroes wryteth that fistickes ar temperatly dry and hote / and that they comfort the stomack and lyuer of theyr hole substance / that they ar of the nombre of these medicines that haue many and grete vertues to help with all Rases also an Arabiane sayeth that fistikes beyng hote / help a woman to hyr syknes Of the pease AS Dioscorides describeth not the fabam / where of he maketh mention and sheweth the vertues / so he nether describeth nether maketh any mention of the Pisi Wherefore it is as litle meruel that men haue erred in the piso as well as in the faba Sum herbaries of Germany hold that cicer anetinum is the pisum of the latines led by thys reson Cicer is called in Greke Erebinthos and the pisum of the Latines is called in som places of DuchlaÌd erweisen / so that they gather that / that the Duch erweysen cam of the Greke worde ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Other gather eueÌ by such an other reson that the Duche erbs / which is called in English a pease is the eruum of the Latines / orobus of the Grecianes / because erbs semeth to come ether of eruuÌ or orobus / by reson of the lyknes of the wordes betwene one an other But all these gessinges ar but vayn and openly agaynst the truth / as God willyng I shall proue her after But before I take that mater in hand / I thynk it best to serche out what old writers haue writen of theyr pisis Pisum Here be all the places that I can fynde at thys tyme in the old writers / which declare any thyng the forme or fashon of pisi But first before I bryng in what is my iudgement of the pisi / I thynck it mete to consule the errores which ar committed in thys pulse piso First that they erre fowly / that hold that Cicer arietinum in Dioscorides is our comon pease / and the pison of the Grekes / because the Duches erweysen is lyke in sound to erebinthus / and they that hold that pease called in som place of Duchelande erbs / is the eruum of the Latines or orobus of the Grecianes / because these wordes orobus and eruum ar lyke vnto the Duch worde erbs It may be easely proued by that it foloweth not / because a Duche worde soundeth lyke a greke or Latin worde / that therfore it that the Duche word betokeneth / that the latine and Greke wordes betokeneth the same For if that were a good maner of argument / then carabus / which soundeth lyke ein krab / should not be a lobster or eyn mer kreuet / but a krab / and vulpes which soundeth lyke vnto ein wolf / shuld not be a fore / but a wolf / where vnto it hath a lyker souÌde and name Cunila shuld not be saueray / but tyme / for the hyghe Duche call tyme quendell Puligium shuld not be pennyriall / but polium / because the Duch call pulegium poley Now may ye se how sklender the argument is which is fethched out of the lykenes of wordes in diuerse tonges / except the descriptiones and properties do agre also therwith But that the descriptioÌ and properties of pisi do not agre with Orobus and Erebinthus / I shall easely proue it / by the autorites of the autores aboue rehersed / and with other besyde them Erebinthus / as Theophrast writeth falleth not vpon the grounde but groweth a syde But the pease falleth vpon the ground / therefor erebinthus caÌ not be pisum The pisum hath long leues / but Erebinthus hath none / suche Therfor Erebinthus can not be pisum Galene writeth de Cicere Arietino / and de piso as of ij distinct and diuerse pulses / Pliny also in one chapter diuideth cicera froÌ pisis / therfore erebinthus which is called in latin cicer is not pisum Theophrast maketh orobum to grow sydlynges But all our kyndes of peasen ar ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is theyr stalkes grow by the grounde / and GaleÌ writeth that all the kyndes of orobus / sauyng the whyte ar playn bitter and taketh not all bitternes away from it vtterly / but maketh it gentler then the other as Theophrast doth also But all our kyndes of peasen all the kyndes of erweysen or erbsen in Duche / ar playne swete / wtout all bitternes Therfore there can none of our pease nether of the Duche erbsen be any kynde of orobus / sauyng the whyte / and that as it is proued before can not be orobus as one that wrote vpon the Georgikes of Virgil dyd lately teache That the moste part of our comoÌ peasen can not be pisum of the old writers / it dothe appere by bothe the descriptiones of Theophrast and Plini For Theophrast maketh hys pease with a long lefe / Plini giueth corners vnto hys pease Then when as the comon whyte pease is
apostemes behind the eares and swellynges / hauyng blaynes in them after the colour of brede They ar good to be layd to hard swellynges or wennes and wateryng of the eyes / with a sore disposed to fistelles / with salt But the herbe if it be eaten as a wurt in meate / with salt / and vinegre / it is good for the blody flix and the other flix without bloode It is also geueÌ sodden in the stede of betes / with pentilles It is also geuen to them that haue the dropsey which hath the name of whyte fleme / after the vse of dry thynges / so that the herbe sodden may be taken in the myddes It is also good to be geuen to them that haue the fallyng siknes / and to them that ar short wynded The iuice of the leues scoureth sores that ar in the mouthe / if it be oft wasshed therwith With Cimolia and whyte lead or cerusse / it healeth the inflammation called saynt Antonies fyre The same is poured in to the cares for the ach of them / and for the eysore / it is poured in to the ey / and it is menged with ey salues It is dronken of them with profit / that haue blody goumes / and of them that cast out blood It is good to be poured in vnder agaynst the blody flix It is also good to be dronken agaynst the ptisik It is also good to be layd to agaynst the stranglyng of the mother in woll / and so is it good for a waterish or to moyst mother The sede also dronken with wyne stoppeth the belly and the spittyng of bloode The roote sodden stancheth the tuthe ach / if they be wasshed there with / and it chowed in the mouthe The roote and leues ar good against the sores or blisters that ar in the bladder and kydnes / so that they be taken with swete wyne Som say that thre rootes with thre ciates of wyne with lyke portion of water will help a tertian / the four rootes help a quartyn There ar also som that vse the roote hanged in a band / to dryue away wennes and hard swellynges Out of Galene in the vij book of simple medicines PLantayn is of a menged complexion or temperature / for it hath a certayn colde waterishe tyng / and also a certayn byndyng tartish thyng / the which is erly dry and colde And therfore it coleth and dryeth / is in bothe in the second degre from the myddes But such medicines as cool bynde / ar good for sores that ar hard to be healed / for isshues in flowynges and rotten humores / so ar they good for the blody flix The roote and sede ar not so cold as the leues ar / but dryer Aetius confirmeth it that Galene and Dioscorides haue writteÌ / and sayeth also thus The sede is of moste subtil or fyne partes / but the rootes ar of grosser partes And the leues dryed / get vnto them the pour of subtiler partes / but not so cold as they had before When as these be the true vertues properties of the kyndes of playntayn / it is a folish sayng of som vnlearned persones / which hold stiffly that plantayn draweth humores out of sores When as the properties of it / is rather to dryue bak humores / and to dry vp them / that ar flowen to the hurt places / then to draw any vnto the place For al such medicines as shal draw / must haue an hote or warm propertie / and not a colde and dry / as all the kindes of plantayn haue Of the Playn tre ALlthoughe Dioscorides writeth of the vertues of Playn tre / yet he describeth it not Wherefore very mane in England and Germany haue erred in takyng of diuerse trees for the Playn tre / where of nono of them all / was the ryght Playn tre in dede Sum take the lynd tre which I with many other take for the ryght tilia for Platano because it shutteth furth long branches / bowghes / and is able to couer a grete numbre of men vnder it Sum take a tre which semeth to me / to be a kinde of acer / to be Platanum And that tre is called in Duch Ahorn That the lynd can not be Platanus / it may be gathered by diuerse places of Dioscorides / where as he maketh certayn well knowen herbes lyke to Platano Dioscorides in the fourth booke and 145. chapter / writeth of ricinus / which we call now in England palma Christi sayeth that it hath leues / like vnto a Playn tre / but greter / smother and blacker But the lynd tre hath leues lyke an asp tre / or to som Iuy leues that haue no indentyng or cuttyng / nothing lyke vnto the leues of palma Christi which ar cut out after the maner of a mannis hande Pliny also in the xvj Platanus book and xxiiij chapter / writeth that the fyg tre / playn tre / vynde / haue greatest leues of all other / therfore seyng that the leues of the lynde tre ar but small in comparyson of these now rehersed and of many other / it can not be the ryght Platanus or Playn tre They that hold that the Ahorn tre which I reken to be only a kynde of acer is Platanus / grant that it groweth in the hyghest mountaynes that ar som thyng moyste / amongest the ashe trees But Theophrastus maketh the Playn tre to grow in merrish grouÌdes with willowes by welles and water sydes And the same writeth thus of the Playn trees naturall place very clerely in the thyrd booke of the History of Plantes / in the seuenth chapter Som trees grow easely increase with spede / as they that aryse vp by ryuers or waters / as the elm tre / the Playn tre / the water asp / and the wylow tre Therfore the Platanus and the ahorn tre agre nothyng in theyr naturall place of growing Both Plini and Theophraste write also that Platanus groweth not naturally in Italy And Plini writeth that the Playn tre was fetched out of a strange worlde / only for the shaddowis sake It is lyke if ahorn had bene Platanus / and the Italianes had knowen / that it had growen so nere hand them / in Germany / as it is very like / they beyng so much so oft in Germany / dyd know what grew there / they wold neuer haue sent in to a strange wald to fetche them / seyng they myght haue had it so nere home They also that describe the ahorn tre / make it not to haue any such shaddowing boughes and branches as Plini and Theophrast write that the Playn tre hath For these and diuerse other lyke causes / I reken that the tre called in Duche Ahorn or wild asshen / can not be Platanus I haue sene the leues of that Platanus that groweth in Italy / and
tyme / the vpper parte is grene and the vnder parte is grene The rest that Pliny wryteth of the poplers / sauyng where as he taketh any thyng out of Theophrast is not worthy the wrytyng Populus nigra which is called in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and in Italian Pioponero / in Frence du tremble or Pepleur / in Duche Aspen / is not so comon in England / as it is in Italy hyghe Germany The Populus is called with vs by two names / som call it a Poppler / and other an Asp or an esp tre But not euery tre in England called Popler or Esp / is the ryght Populus nigra For it that groweth in the hylles and dry woddes both in England Germany / is not the Populus nigra but rather kerkis or Populus alpina of Theophrait / or populus lybica in Pliny For bothe Theophrast and Virgil appoynte the water sydes merrishe groundes vnto populo nigrae The popler / also that groweth in the woddes of England if my memory fale me not haue no such blak tagges as the blak popler hath / which groweth in Germany by the rene syde / hard by the city called Lauterburgh Pliny also rekeneth the popler amongest the other trees whiche haue curled veynes in these wordes Tarde illae senescunt quarum crispa materies vt acer palma populus That is those trees ar long in commyng to age / whose wod or tymbre / is curled / as the maple tre / the date tre / and the popler tre Hyther to Pliny I haue sene in Germany many well fauored thynges perteynyng vnto houshold stuff made of the blak popler / which groweth by the water sydes / as spownes / tables / dores and chistes / withe a meruelus fyne curled grayn / and pleasant to looke to But the wod of our comon popler is nothyng lyke vnto it that I haue spoken of / for it hath no such grayn or curlyng / therfore it is not the ryght blak popler of Pliny and Theophrast Therefore it were beste to calle populum nigram a blak popler or a blak asp / or a water asp / and not by thys word popler / or asp alone As touchyng the whyte Asp / I remembre not that euer I saw it in any place of England But I haue sene it in great plentye in Italy by the ryuer sede of Padus / where as it is called albera / and in hyghe Germany by the rene syde / where as it is called saurbaum If it be found in England / it may be called a whyte Asp or a whyte popler / because the vndersyde of the lefe is as whyte as any paper The whyte Asp differeth not only from the blak in the whytenes of the one syde of the lefe / but also in the form of the lefe For the whyte Asp hath a lefe somthyng indented or cut after the maner of palma Christi But if any man cast agaynst me / it that Theophrast writeth of bothe the poplers in the 14. chapter of the thyrde book de historia plantarum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That is the figure or fasshon of the lefe is lyke I answer that thys lyknes is only when as the leues com first furth / and not afterwardes / for if they shuld be lyke afterwarde / then shuld Theophrast be contrary vnto hym self / who in the first book de historia plantarum and in the xvj chapter writeth these wordes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The leues of the whyte popler of the Iuy and of it that is called palma Christi ar vnlyke and diuerse in figure For when as they ar yong they ar round / but when as they ar older they haue corners / there may ye se playnly that the leues of the whyte popler when as they ar old / ar cornered Which thyng if it be true as I haue sufficiently proued to be so / theÌ erre they very much and gyue other occasion of error / which set out in theyr herballes the whyte popler with a round lefe without any corners at all The thyrde kynde of popler which is called of Theophrast ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or as I gesse rather ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and translated of Gaza populus alpina and named of Pliny populus lybica is our comon asp in England / or ellis I know not what it is The causes that make me to thynke that our comon asp is populus lybica in Pliny / and populus montana in Theophrast ar these First bothe the lyknes of leues that it hath with the blak popler and in many other so resembleth the other poplers / that I thynke that there is no man that hath sene the other two kindes of popler / that wil deny but that thys is a kinde of popler Then when as it is nether the first kinde nor the seconde / it is very lyke that it is the thyrde kynde when as no other tre can be founde as yet for the thyrde kinde Theodor Gaza being a man of much reding / wold not cal thys kinde populum alpinam except ether som reson or autoritie that he had red / had moued hym therto Then when as thys comon asp tre is much in hyghe mountaynes / he semeth in callyng the thyrd kynde of the popler populum alpinam to meane that Theophrast vnderstaÌdeth by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that popler that groweth in hylles and mountaynes Then when as the comon asp groweth in such places / it is lyke that our comon asp shuld be kerkis / the thyrde kynde of Populus Theophrast maketh the thyrde kynde / lyke vnto the white popler in bygnes and in spredyng abrode of boughes / whych two thynges may be found in our comon asp with the scabbednes of the bark in old trees / except my memory fale / may also be founde but as touchyng the propertie that he geueth vnto the foot stalke of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã / I am sure agreeth wel with our comon asp tre But whether the leues that Theophrast geueth vnto hys ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ar agreyng with the leues of our asp or no / I leue that to be iudged of them that ar learned / but I dowt som thyng that they do not in all poyntes wel agre / or ellis I durst geue sentence that our comon asp were there ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Theophrast But though it be not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of Theophrast / it semeth vnto me that it may well be the thyrde kynd of Populus in Pliny which he called populum lybicam Pliny maketh one kynde of Populus to grow in the mountaynes and that is nether the whyte nor the blak / wherfore it semeth that it is theÌ the thyrde kynde of populus Pliny also maketh hys thyrde kynde of populus to haue grete todestoles growyng vpon it / and he maketh the pople tre to haue a trymblyng foot stalke
ar dryed may serue be profitables as dryed figges be Men say that of all pluÌmes they ar the best which grow in a city of Syria called Damascus They gyue the secoÌd prayse to theÌ that cum out of Spayne But these shew out no byndyng But som of the Damascenus bynde very muche They ar the best amoÌg theÌ / that ar great / with a mesurably byndyng and ar louse But they that ar litle ones / and harde and harrish tarte / ar sterk noughts Whether ye wold eat them / or louse the belly with them / which lousyng of the belly foloweth them / that com out of Spayn If plumbes be soddeÌ in honied water / wher in is a greater dele of hony / they louse the belly muche / allthough a man take them by them selues alone And that do they muche more if a maÌ sup mede or honyed water after them It is playn that it helpeth much to the lousyng of the belly / after that ye haue taken them to drynke swete wyne to them / and to let a certayn tyme go betwene / and not by and by after to go to dinner And ye must remembre that thys maner must be kept in all other such lyke as ar taken to soften the belly Out of Plini lib. 23. cap. 7. SYluestrium prunorum baccae c. the berryes of the wilde Prunus or plumtre / or the bark of the roote / if they be soddeÌ in tart byndyng wyne / so that of x. vnces / thre remayn / stopp the belly and the gnawyng there of / it is inough to take one cyate that is an vnce and an half / and a dram one scruple of the brothe at one tyme. Hyther to Plini / of whose wordes it is playn that Cornarius erreth in denying the sloes to be the fruyte of the wild Plumtre For if that only great plumes had growen vpon prunum syluestrem / as Cornarius semeth to meane / Plini wold neuer haue called the plumbes of Pruni syluestris baccas / that is berries / which worde agreeth not vnto so great fruites as the great bullesses ar Out of the Arabianes THe plumes bothe the white blake when they ar rype they ar colde and moyste / they swage the heat of choler they louse the belly They hurt somthyng the mouth of the stomack and take away a mannis appetite Of Psillium or fleasede out of Dioscorides Psyllium PSylliuÌ hath a lefe lyke vnto the herbe Iue / called coronopus / roughe loÌger / it hath boughes a span loÌg The hole herbe is full of twygges / lyke hay Hys busshy leues and branches / begin from the myd stalk vpwarde / It hath two or thre litle hedes drawen together in the top Where in is an harde blak sede / lyke vnto a slea It groweth in feldes and vntilled groundes Thus far Dioscorides Allthoughe I haue sene thys her be oft in Germany and in EnglaÌd / yet I neuer saw it grow wylde but onli in gardines But hither to I could neuer learn the Englishe or Ducâ name of it It may be well called fleasede or fleawurt / because the sede is very lyke vnto a fle The vertues of flesede out of Dioscorides THe nature of the fle sed is to coole If it be layd to with rose oyl / vinegre or water / it healeth the ach of the ioyntes / the swellyng about the eares / hard and soft swellynges both / and places out of ioynt / and it swageth the hed ach Fleasede layd to with vinegre healeth the burstyng of chylder / the goyng out of the nauil / ye must take about two vnces and an half of the sede / and bruse it and stepe it / and lay it in two quarte of water / and when the water is thick / then lay it on It cooleth excedyngly But if it be cast in to hote water / then will it stanche the heat very well It is good for the burnyng heat called saynt Antonies fyre / and hote cholerik inflammationes Som hold that if the herbe be brought in to the howse / it will let no flees brede there / the sede brused with grese / scoureth stingkyng greuous sores The iuice of it is good with hony for the rynnyng of the eares agaynst wormes ther in Out of the Arabianes PSyllium swageth the gwawynges and prickynges of the belly / and it swageth the sharpnes or rawnes of the goumes It taketh also away the vayn desyre of goyng to the stool It is good for the hed ach that commeth of hete The iuice of the leues softeneth the belly by the reson of coldnes and moysture that ar in it The harm that may com by the takyng of Psyllium / is remedied with hote medicines Psyllium lowseth the belly taken in raw But if it be perched or tosted at the fyre / it stoppeth the belly / two drammes of the sede of PsylliuÌ is inoughe to be put in water when it hath bene long inoughe in the water / take the water put white sugar vnto it / and so receyue it / let all men take hede that they take not to muche of it / for it wil kill a man as well as many other poysones do Galene writeth that Psyllium is colde in the second degre / that it is in a mean tempre betwene moyste dry Of the herbe called Ptarmica PTarmica as Dioscorides writeth is a small bushlyng / and hath many small rounde twigges not vnlyke vnto sothernwod / and about them grow leues lyke olyue leues / long many / and in the top a hede lyke vnto camomyle / rounde and litle / which with hys smel stereth a man to neese / where vpon it hath the name It groweth in mountaynes rocky places Hytherto Dioscorides Diuerse learned men holde that the herbe which is called in Duche Wilder bertram / is Ptarmica in Dioscorides / whose diligence iudgement ar rather to be coÌmended / then dispraysed Allthough ther be two thynges in the description of Ptarmica / which can not be well found in Wilder bertram The one is a lefe lyke an oliue / the other is to grow in mountaynes and rockie places For the wilde bertram hath not a lefe like an oliue / but much sharper / smaller / longer / for the bygner that it hath / they ar also indented all about the edges of the lefe / therfore is it vnlyke vnto the lefe of an oliue And Wylde bertram / groweth wheresoeuer I haue sene it / only about water sydes / in merrily medowes / and neuer that I could se / in rockes mountaynes / wherefore I dare not geue sentence with that fore named learned men / that the Wildbertram / is that ryght Ptarmica of Dioscorides / allthough it differ very litle or nothing at all / from the right Ptarmica / in workyng / and so litle that a man may well vse the one in the stede of the
other Ptarmica The vertues of Ptarmica THe leues of Ptarmica layd to with the fruite / haue a propertie to dryue away swellynges and old hard lumpes / and to purge brused places The floures make one neese excedingly Galene writeth that Ptarmica beyng grene is hote and drye in the second degre / and when it is dryed / that it is hote and dry in the thyrde degre Of Penny ryall PVlegium is named in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã / in English Penny ryall or puddyng grasse / in Duche Polez / in Frenche Pouliot Dioscorides describeth not Penny ryall where as he intreateth of it / but he describyng dictamnum / maketh it to haue leues lyke vnto Penny ryall / but greater Then when as dictamnus is well knowen to haue round leues / so must also Pulegium haue It crepeth much vpon the ground and hath many lytle round leues / not vnlyke vnto the leues of merierum gentil / but that they ar a litle longer and sharper / and also litle indented rounde about / and grener / then the leues of merierum ar The leues grow in litle branches / euen from the roote / out of Pulegium certayn ioyntes / by equall spaces one deuyded from an other Where as the leues grow in litle tuftes vpon the ouer partes of the braunches / if the lower partes touch the grouÌd / righte ouer agaynst the tuftes of the leues they take rootes in the grounde / and grow as well as the first rootes do our comon Penny ryall hath purple floures / but there is an other kynde mentioned in Pliny / whych hath a white flour / which he calleth the male / as he called the comon one the female Penny ryall groweth much with out any settyng besyd hundsley vpon the heth / beside a watery place It groweth also much wylde in Germany in such pooles as ar full of water in wynter / ar al or for the moste parte dryed vp in sommer The vertues of Penny ryall out of Dioscorides PEnny ryall maketh subtil / heateth maketh ripe When it is dronkeÌ / it draweth furth floures / secondes / and the birthe PeÌny ryall dronken with hony and salt / bryngeth furth such thynges as ar about the lunges And it is good for the cramp If it be dronken with vinegre and water / it swageth the lothsomnes / and the bytyng of the stomack It bryngeth furth Melancholi throughe the belly If it be dronken with wyne / it is good for the bytyng of venemus bestes It refressheth them that swowne / if it be layd to the nose with vinegre If it be dryed and broken into pouder burnt / it streyngtheneth the goumes it is good for the gout / layd to by it self / vntill the skin wex red The brothe of it / taketh away ach / if the place that acheth be wasshed with it It is good for the wyndynes / hardnes / and the turnyng or rysyng vp of the mother / if the patient sit in the brothe of it Out of Pliny PEnny ryall droweth furth dede chylder / it is good for the fallyng siknes geuen in the measur of and vnce and an half / in vinegre If thow must nedes drynk vnholsum water / then put Penny ryall in to it The floures of the grene herbe set a fyre / kylleth flees with the smell of it Out of the Arabianes PEnny ryall that groweth about watery places / is hote and dry in the thyrde degre / because it is made of a fyrie substance with som burnt erthly part And that doth the sharpnes of it shew with a litle bitternes The second workynges of it ar to dissolue / to make subtil / and to drye The thyrd ar to prouoke water Som holde that it is good agaynst the lepre and for them that ar bitten of venummes bestes / chefely / if it be layd vpon the bytynges And it killeth also wormes / which brede in the eares And it of the mountayn / is stronger and better then the other Of Pyrethro out of Dioscorides Pyrethrum PYrethrum is an herbe whiche hath a stalk leues like vnto fenell or wilde daucus / and a shaddowy or spokye top with a rouÌd circle / as dyll The roote is as great as a mannis thumb It is excedyng hote draweth out waterish fleme Thus far Dioscorides / Nether it that Fuchsius Matthiolus set furth / for Pyrethro / nether it that is comenly sold for Pyrethro / agreeth hole with the descriptioÌ of Dioscorides For it that they set out / as theyr figures shew / hath only a top and floures lyke to camomyle / and no spoky top like dyl And nether the rout of theyr herbe / nether of it that is comonly solde is so byg as a mannis thumb Therefore the other new kynde of pylletori / refused of Matthiolus / for hys great excedyng heat / lyketh me better / if it haue leues other partes agreyng with the rest of the description / then theyr PyrethruÌ doth What meruel is it if the lately found Pyrethrum be very hote / wheÌ as Galene geueth a blysteryng and burnyng nature vnto Pyrethro And Dioscorides writeth that the root of it is feruidissima / that is moste hote or burnyng Therfore I se no cause why that Matthiolus shuld refuse it / for the great heates sake / other markes and properties beyng present And therefore I wisshe that we myght haue the other Pyrethrum For it agreeth better with the description of Dioscorides / as far as I haue heard or red of it / then comon pilletori doth The vertues of Pyrethro out of Dioscorides PYlletoris is good for the tuth ach if the tuth be wasshed with vinegre where in it is sodden It bryngeth furth waterish fleme if it be chowed If the body be therewith anoynted with oyle / it stereth a man to swete It is good for long cold shakyng It is excellently good for any parte of the body that is fundied or foundered or made allmost num / with to much colde / and such as ar stycken with the palsey Of diuerse kyndes of Pear trees and Peares PYrum is named in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã / in English a Peare / in Duche in Byr / in Frenche vn Poyre Dioscorides writeth of two kindes of Pear trees of the ortiard Peartre / which is comenly called in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã / and of the wyld Pere tre or chouke Pere tre / or worry Pear tre / whych is called in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latin Pyrus syluestris / or Pyraster Bothe these kyndes / ar so well knowen that they nede no description We haue many kyndes of gardin Peares with vs in Englande / and som kyndes better then euer I saw in Germany for holsomnes / and som in Germany more pleasant and greater then euer I saw in EnglaÌd I haue red in no old writer so many kyndes of peares / as I rede of in
plenty in East Fresland / in a wod a litle from Aurike The galles of Italye come to perfection / and are at leyngth harde / but they of Freslande / beyng ones taken with cold wether / and moyste / are neuer hard but soft Not withstanding I haue proued that they serue well to make ynke of Indede the okes that haue the galles growynge vpon theyr leues in Fresland / are lesse then our okes be But I thynk that the cause is ether that they are but yong trees / and haue bene but of late set / or they are so oft hewen doune for there is very small store of wod in all FreslaÌd that they can not come vnto any perfit greatnes If there be such diuersite of okes / that som will beare galles / and som will beare none it were wel done / to fetche som from Fresland / and to plant them in som hote sunnye place of England / to se whether the ayr of the countre or kind of tre or no is the cause that galles grow vpon som oke leues / and not vpon other som It was told me by a learned man / a frende of myne / that in the year of our lorde M.D.LVII that there was a great plentye of galles found vpon oke leues in the North countre of England / and namely about Hallyfax Wherefore it appeareth that the heate helpeth much to the bringe furth of galles But howsoeuer the matter is it were good to proue whether the Frese oke wolde also wyth vs bring furth galles or no / as they do in Freseland If they will bring furth such / then shall they bring great profit to the realm if they bring not furth / there is not past an halfe crowne lost / and experience worth thre crounes should be learned therby The vertues of the oke tre and the fruyt thereof EVery kinde of oke hath a binding and stopping nature / and specially that part that groweth betwene the bole or body of the tre and the bark lyke a filme or a rim The filme also that is vnder the shelle of the akorne / bindeth also The broth of these are geuen vnto them that haue the blodye flixe / to stop blood The same made after the maner of a suppositorie / and put into the conuenient place / stoppeth the isshue of weomen The akornes are of the same vertue that the skinnes be of they make water come furth If they be eaten they brede winde and make the headach The same eaten withstande the byting of venemous beastes The broth of the barke / with kowes milke dronken / is good agaynst poyson Akornes raw if they be broken and layd to / swage hote burninges They are good with salt and swynes grese for very sore hard lumpes and sores very hard to be healed A gall is the fruite of an oke / and specially of the lefe Of galles are two sortes / the one is called omphacitis / and it is but litle / and hath the form of a mannes knockle / or of the ioynte of a man and it is sound hath no hole The other is smooth and hath no hole in it But it that is called omphacitis / is to be chosen whych hath moste streynght They binde both very much they hold doune / when as they are broken and layd to the outgrowynges of fleshe / the isshues of the mouth that childer haue moste comonlye The inner parte of the gall within the shell put into the holes of the teth / swage the ach of theÌ The same burnt vpon the cooles / and quenched wyth wyne or vinegre / or bryne made with vinegre / stoppe blood It is good for weomen to sit in the broth of them agaynst the fallyng of the mother / and agaynst the isshue of the same They are good for the blody flix / and the other also / ether layed to with wine or water To conclude ye may vse galles as oft as ye haue nede to stop and to drye Out of Galene ALl partes of the oke are bindinge or stoppinge I remembre that ones I healed a wounde / that was made with an hatchet / with the leues of an oke / wheÌ as ther was no other medicine at hand I ground the leafes vpoÌ a smoth stone / I laid that brused lefe vpoÌ the wounde / about euery place about it The fruite of the oke hath lyke pour with the leues Som vse the fruyte of the oke agaynst inflammationes at the firste beginninge of them For such inflammationes as are very great nede not bindinge medicines The gall is drye in the thyrde degre / and colde in the seconde The gall / if it be sodden by it self / and afterwarde broken / and made after the maner of an emplaster / is a good remedy agaynst the inflammation or burning heat of the fundament / and for the fallyng downe of the same When as ye will seth the gall / if the disease requyre great adstriction / or bindyng / then sethe it in wyne If it requyre but litle / then sethe it in water And if ye will haue it yet more binding / seth it in rough of harrish wyne Out of Simeon Sethi A Cornes are harde of digestion and norishe very much But they go slowly doune / and they make raw humores Wherefore we forbid the vse of them for meates Of Cinkfoly or fyue fingred grasse Quinque folium primum Quinque folium secundum Quinque folium luteum minus QVinque foliuÌ is named in Greke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã / iÌ English Cinkfoly or fyuefyn gred grasse or herbe fyue lefe / in Duch funffinger kraut / in Frenche quintefuille Herbe fyuelefe / as Dioscorides writeth / hath small strawish braunches a span longe And in them groweth the fruite or sede as som translate here in this place ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It hath leues lyke minte / fiue growing oute of euery lefe stalk / and seldom more / diuided or grapped lyke a saw / and it hath a floure whitish pale / with the lykenes of gold It groweth in watery places / besyde diches and condites it hath a loÌg redish roote / thicker then it of black hellebor Thus far Dioscorides Dioscorides maketh but one kinde of Cinkfolye / but other after him / haue founde out foure kindes / wherof they make sanicle one kinde / but without reason in my iudgemeÌt I know thre notable kindes The first is the comon fyue leued grasse that groweth euery where The second kind is many partes greater / and groweth only in pooles / and merrish grouÌdes commonly ouerflowen with water The thirde kinde is it as I gesse that Pliny speaketh of / where he maketh cinkfoly to bere strauberries / I found ones this kinde except I be deceyued growing vpon the walles of a citye called Cour / in the land of chetia / a litle from the Mayn alpes The leues and stalkes were all rough / the floures were yelow And
of the littel wild dock / the stalke is not great / the sede is somthinge sharpe / round rede / and byting / and it is found in the stalke and outgrowing twigges hetherto hath Dioscorides written To whose writing som of the later Grecianes do not fully consent / and namelye in the descriptiones of Oxilapathi and Oxalidos / for som of the later Grecianes seme to take Oxilapathum / as though it had the name of the sour and sharp taste / and not of the sharpnes of the ouermoste part of the top of the leafe Aetius in the healing of the falling sicknes / writeth these wordes after the translacion of Cornarius of Oxalis Oxallidem siue rumicem acutum / viridem presertim quotidie dato a primo luna vsque ad trigestimam / in whiche wordes he semeth to confound and make all one of Oxilapathum and Oxalis The same Aetius writeth thus of Oxalis in the healing of the iaundes Oxalis est rumex acri sapore / folijs ranulis et folijs caude quadrangulari / c. Ye may se that Aetius geueth here vnto the tast of Oxalis sharpnes / wyth bytinge as this worde Acris doth signifie / a four cornered stalke / whereof nether of both Dioscorides geueth vnto his Oxalis / nether to his Oxilapatho As for my parte I do not remember that euer I sawe anye such sorel as Aetius describeth Nowe as concerning the kindes of dockes whereof Dioscorides writeth / I am sure / we haue the same / and also more then he made mention of / we haue the great kinde of Dock / which the vnlearned toke for Rebarbe / is called of som Rubarbarum monachorum / and this do the common herbaries of this tyme take for the garding Dock of Dioscorides / we haue a kinde of Dockes that groweth in shallow diches and watery places / wyth a very sharp leafe / wyth a taste lyke vnto other Dockes / and thys do I take to be Oxalapathum in Dioscorides There is an other kind of Dockes that groweth in moyste and watery grounde / with a leafe muche rounder then it that I spake last of / it hath a very soure taste lyke sorel / and this do I take for Oxalapatho of Aetij and other of hys tyme. We haue two kindes of wild Dockes / the one with the form and lykenes of plantayn / whych groweth in middowes and in bare grenes / and an other kind with a leafe not much vnlyke the leafe of Aran and so many kindes haue we also of Oxalis or Sorell / for the one hath a rounder leafe / and the other sharper / with sharpe thinges resembling abrode arrow head We haue also an other kind of dock growing in orchards gardines / about tounes suche places as kye oxen / other beastes vse coÌmonly to haunt staÌd in Thys kinde for the form that it hath with the garding dock / maye seme to be a kinde of it But by it that groweth without settinge / or sowynge / it maye seme to be a kinde of wilde docke But it maketh no great matter of what kinde it be of / seynge it is knowen by experience to haue the vertue that other dockes haue The vertues of the Dockes THe leaues of all the kindes of dockes / when they are soddeÌ soften the belly The leafe layd to raw with rose oyl or safron / driueth awaye melicirides / which are apostemes / which haue an oylish thyng within them lyke vnto honye The sede of the wilde dockes / and of the diche dock with the sharpe leafe / and of the sorrel / is good to be dronken in water or wine agaynste the bloodye flixe or other flixes / and agaynst the lothsumnes of the stomack / and agaynst the biting of a scorpion If any man drinke any of these sedes / and after chaunce to be bitten / he shall haue no hurt of it But the routes of them / sodden wyth vinegre / and also though they be raw / if they be layd to / heale lepres / the foule scuruy euell / and rough scabby nayles But the place must be rubbed before in the sonne with nitre and vinegre The broth also if the itchinge places be bathed therwith / driueth awaye the itche They swage also the payn of the teth / if they be sodden in wyne / and the teth be washed therewith / they swage also the payn of the eares / they dryue also away harde lumpes and wennes if they be sodden in wine and layd therto The same layd to stop the ishewe of weomen / if they be sodden in wyne and dronken / they heale the iaundes / and breake stones in the bladder / and prouoke doune floures / and they are good for them that are bitten of a scorpion The great dock called in Greke Hippolampathon / which groweth in meres and great pooles / hath the same nature that other haue The old writers appoynt no certayn degre vnto the kindes of dockes / but Aetius writeth that the dock is partaker of heat / naminge no certayn kinde But Rasis vnder the name of Acetisa / whyche worde the Arabianes interpretes without all discretion vse for al kindes of dockes / sayeth that acetosa is cold and drye / but he telleth not in what degre / but I suppose that Rasis writeth of sorell rather then of any other kind But my iudgement is that sorell is colde at the least in the first degre / and that the other kindes are not manifestly hote / but rather bowynge to coldnes / then to any notable heat Of the bushe or shrub called Kneholme or Buchers browme RVscus is named in Greke myrsine agria / that is myrtus syluestris / in Barbarus latin bruscus / in English Kneholme / or Knehull / and of other Bucher broume / and of som Petigre / I neuer sawe it in Germany / therfore I know not the Duche name of it Sabina RVscus called of Dioscorides Myrtus syluestris / hath a leafe lyke vnto a myrtell tre / but broder / lyke in fashon vnto a lance / sharp in the top It hath a rounde fruyte in the middes of the lefe rede / when it is ripe with a harde kirnel within The twigges are bowing lyke vinde braunches / which come out of the route / they are tough a cubit high / full of leaues / the routes are lyke vnto grasse binding / tarte in taste / and somthing bitter This bushe groweth verye plenteously in Essex and in Kent / and in Barke shyre / but I could neuer se it in Germany The vertues of kneholme THe leaues and the berries dronken in wine / do moue a man to make water / and bring weomen theyr floures / and breake the stone of the bladder / they heale also the iaundes / the StranguriaÌ / the head ache / the broth wherin the routes are sodden / can do the same The yong stalkes vse to be eaten
/ and to be poured vpon the same the same driueth awaye scurfe and scales the tyme of taking of the iuyce of it is / when that it floureth by cutting of the barke this hath poure to scoure awaye those thinges / which bringe darcknes vnto the apple of the eye Out of Galene A Man may well vse the leaues of the willow tre for to glew woundes together / the moste part of Physiciones vse the floures of the willowe tre most of all for the preparing of a drying emplaster / for the poure therof is to drye / for besyde that it byteth not / it hath also a certayn binding / ther are certayn also / whiche presse out the iuyce of it / kepe it as a medicine without all byting and drying vp very profitable for many thinges / for ye caÌ not finde any thinge more profitable for many thinges theÌ a medicine is / which drieth without byting / doth binde a litle / but the barke hath the like poure / with the floures and the leaues but that it is of a dryer complexion as all barkes be Som men do burne the barke and vse the ashes of it / for all thinges that had nede of a mighty dryer Of Sage Saluia Veronica foemina Saluia maior Saluia minor SALuia is called in Greke Elilisphacos / in English Sage or Sauig / in Duche Salben or Selue / in Frenche Saulge Sage is a long bushe full of bowes and braunches / hauing twigges four square / somthyng whytish / and leaues lyke the Quince tre / but longer / rougher / thicker / and priuely resembling horenes of a worme cloth / whyte vnder / smellinge wounderfully / but the smell is greuous / it hath sede lyke the wilde horminum in the top of the stalke / it groweth in rough places / Hetherto Dioscorides Dioscorides maketh but one kinde of Sage / but Theophrast maketh two kindes of Sage / one wyth a rougher / and the other wyth a smoother leafe / but nowe are there founde more kindes / the whyche though they differ one from an other muche in roughnes / and smoothnes in greatnes and smallines / and in diuersite of coloures / yet in my iudgement / they do agre al in one vertue and propertye / and although som be stronger then other som be The vertues of Sage THe broth wherein the leaues and branches are sodden / dryue fourth water / and bring furth floures / and draweth furth the byrth / and it healeth the pricking of the fishe / called in Latin pastinaca marina / whych is lyke vnto a flath / with venemous prickes about hys taylâ It maketh heyre black / it is good for woundes / it stoppeth the blood / and scoureth wilde sores / the broth of the leaues and the braunches wyth wine stancheth the iche of the priuites / if they be washed therewith Out of Galene Galene writeth that Sage is of an euident hote complexion / and somthing binding The vertues of Sage out of Aetius THe heating poure of sage is euidently knowen / but the binding vertue is but small / but som wryte that if a perfume be made of sage ouer the coles / that it will stop the excessiue flowing of womens floures But Agrippa writeth that sage beyng a holy herbe / is eaten of lionesses beynge wyth yong / for it holdeth and stayeth the liuely byrth Wherfor if a woman drinke a pounde of the iuyce of it wyth a litle salte / at a certayne tyme / whiche Phisiciones can tell / if she do lye wyth her husbande / vndoutingly she shall conceyue They saye when as the pestilence was in a place of Egypt / called Coptos / that they that remayned alyue after the pestilence / compelled theyr wiues to drinke much of thys iuyce and so they had in short tyme great encrease of chyldren Orpheus sayeth that two cyates of the iuyce of sage with one vnce of honye / if it be geuen vnto a man with drink fasting / will stoppe the spitting of blood but it is good agaynst the tysick and exulceration of the lunges If it be dressed thus / take of spiknarde two drames of the sede of sage perched / beaten / and sifted xiiij drames / of pepper xij drames / menge all these together in the iuice of sage / and make pilles thereof / and geue a dram at a tyme / in the morning to the patient fasting / and so much against night / and drinke water after the pilles Of Sauerye SAtureia or Cunila is called in Greke Thymbra / in English sauerye / or saueraye / in Duche saturey / in Frenche sarriette it is hote and drye in the thyrde degre / as the taste will teache you / whensoeuer ye will trye it / for it biteth the tong myghtely Although diuerse and great learned men haue made one herbe of Thymbra and satureya / yet it is playne by the autorite of Columella / and other olde writers / that they are two seuerall herbes And because Dioscorides maketh two kindes of thymbra / it is not vnlyke / but that the one is it that is called thymbra / of the Grekes and som Latines / and the other is it that is called of the Grecianes thymbra / and of the Latines satureia Satureia satiua The wilde kinde is greater and hoter / and the gardin thymbra is lesse then the other and more gentler / and therfore more fit to be eaten as Dioscorides writeth The wilde thymbra after the iudgemeÌt of Matthiolus / is Satureia hortensis of Columel Whereof he maketh mention in hys verses As for the fyrste kinde that Dioscorides describeth / I thinke it shall be harde to fynde any suche in Englande / when as Matthiolus compleyneth that he can fynde none suche in Italy And allthough we haue here in England two kindes of sauerye / one that dyeth euery yeare / and is commonly called sauerey / and an other kinde that is called winter sauerye in English / and closter hysope in Duche / which dureth both summer winter Yet nether of these answer vnto the description of Dioscorides / for it that Dioscorides describeth it thus / described it groweth in rough places / and in a bare grounde / it is like tyme / but lesse tenderer / it beareth an eare full of floures / they of an herbish or grene color The vertues of Sauerye Dioscorides wryteth no more of the vertues of sauerye / but that it serueth for the same purposes / that thyme serueth for / wherfore if ye wil know what vertues sauery hath / loke them out in the chapter of thyme Of the herbe called Satyrion Satyrium Satyrium trifolium Satyrium regale Satyrium floribus apium similibus SAtyrion is named in latine Satyrium / it maye be named in English / whyt SatyrioÌ / or whyte hares coddes / or in other more vnmanerly speche / hares ballockes Dioscorides describeth Satyrion thus Satyrion whiche som call
skin as an vnyoÌ is Within that ar many pilles / one growing aboue an other / but not hole as vnyones be the stalke cometh first furth of the roote / afterward commeth a flour whyte yelowe And a long tyme after that come out the leues / after the maner of an vnyon / bowyng dounward the grounde It groweth much in Spayn and Apulia / by the sea syde / but no other where / sauing in suche like places without settinge or sowing For it greweth not from the sea of hym selfe The vertues of squilla SQuilla hath a sharpe and hote nature / but when it is rosted / it is made profitable for manye thynges And it ought to be rosted after thys maner Take the squilla / and couer it round about wyth clay or paste / and put it into an ouen / or couer it in the coles or asshes / vntill the past be baked inough When as ye haue taken that away / yf the squilla be not tendre / and rosted inough / couer it with new paste / or new clay / and roste it as ye dyd before It that is not thus dressed / is euel for the inner partes It maye be also baked by settinge it in a pot well couered / vse only the inner partes / and cast away the outer partes It may also be soddeÌ in water after that it is cut in peces / the fyrst water casten oute / and freshe water put vnto it / vntill the water be no more bitter Men vse it also to sklise it / and to hange it on a threde / so that one pece touche not an other / and so drye them in the shaddow And we vse it that is cut / to make oyle of it / and wyne and vinegre One parte of the raw squilla heate in oyle or melted rosen / is good to be layd vpon the riftes of the fete If it be sodden in vinegre / and layd to emplaster wyse / it is good for them that are bitten of a veper or adder We vse to take one parte of the rosted squilla / and to put vnto it viij partes of brused salt / and here of we vse to geue a spoun ful or two to a man fasting / to soften hys bellye We put it also into drinkes and spicye composiciones / and into such drinkes / wherewyth we prouoke water / and in suche drinkes as we wold helpe the dropsey with / and help them in whose stomakes the meat swimmeth aboue / or such as haue the iaundes or geelsought / and haue gnawynge in the bodye / and them that are vexed wyth a longe cough / them that ar short winded / and them that spit blood one scruple and an half is inough to be taken at one tyme wyth honye We vse to sethe it with honye / and to geue it to be eaten for the same purpose / and so dressed / it is good to help digestion It dryueth away slymye mater lyke shauinges of the guttes If it be rosted and layd to / it is good for hangyng wartes / and for kybed or mould heles The sede taken in a fyg or wyth honye / louseth the belly They that haue any exulceration or place that hath the skinne of / and raw / had nede to take hede that they vse not the squilla Som autours write / that if the squilla be hanged vp hole aboue the dore / that no wychecrafte nor sorcerye shall take any place there Out of Mesue THe sea vnyon or squilla is two wayes profitable / both because it maketh rype and redy the matter to be put furth / dryueth furth such maters as are made redy It is best that groweth wyth an other not alone For it the groweth alone besyde hote bathes / is venemous The best is bitter and sharp / and hath shyning pilles / and it groweth in a fre felde It prepareth thick and tough humores / and melancholy by cutting of theÌ making of theÌ subtile / by scouring / that they may more easely come furth / that doth most spedely the oxymel or honied vinegre / made of the squilla the same purgeth out the forsayd humores Wherfore it is good for the diseases of the head / as the head ach / for the falling siknes / for dusines of the head / for the diseases of the synewes / ioyntes / longes and breste And that doth speciallye / the electuarye made of the iuyce of it with honye / if it be licked in The same maketh a clere voice / and so doth the honyed vinegre / made with squilla / and the vinegre alone made with the same The same helpe the stopping of the milt and the swelling thereof And it hindreth putrefaction to be ingendred in a mannes body And therefore it kepeth a man in heath / and maketh a mannes body continew still in yong state / but they make a man leane The squilla helpeth the louse goomes / and the vinegre of it maketh fast teth that are louse / if the mouth be washed therewyth It taketh awaye the stinking of the mouth / and maketh the breath swete It stancheth the ache of the stomack / it helpeth digestion / and maketh a man well colored It maketh a louse body fast and compact / howsoeuer it be taken The sodden drinck of it / may be geuen from ten drammes vnto thre vnces Mesue maketh the sea vnyone hote in the thyrde degre / and drye almost in the same Out of Pliny THe vse of squilla quickeneth the eysight / if it be taken with vinegre and honye It kylleth wormes in the bellye If it be freshe layd vnder the tonge / it quencheth the thyrst of them that haue the dropsey It is good to be layd to with honye agaynst the payne of the sciatica Out of Galene THe squilla hath a meruelous cutting poure / but not for all that very hote / so that a man may iudge it to be hote in the second degre It is beste to be taken sodden or rosted / and not raw / and so is the greate vehementye or streingth abayted Auerrois also an Arabian / writeth that Squilla is hote in the second degre / though Mesue wryte that it is hote in the thyrde degre Wherefore seyng that Galene and Auerrois hold / that it is no hoter / and I haue by tasting founde it no hoter I had leuer holde with Galene / that it is hote onlye in the second degre / then with Mesue / that maketh it hote in the thyrde degre Of water Germander SCordium is named in Greke scordion / in Duche Wasser bettenich / it maye be called in English / Water germander / or merrish germander or Garleke germander It groweth in Oxforthshyre and in Cambridge shire in good plenty The description of the noble herbe called Scordium out of Dioscorides Scordium SCordium groweth in mountaines and in merrishe grounde It hath leaues lyke vnto Germander / but greater / and not so muche indented
let it growe so long / that it maye crepe vpon the ground / and so will not suffer it to take roote It is also lyke it that Pliny calleth the small kind of tyme / that is comon in our gardines in Englande / serpillum hortense / and if that be his meaninge / then is hys opinion very true / for that neuer crepeth And that there are two kyndes of tyme / and not one alone as som holde / wherof Pliny may call the one serpillum hortense / these wordes of Dioscorides in Epitimo beare wytnes Epithymum is the floure of an harder thyme / and lyke vnto sauery Plinye also maketh two kindes of thyme / but he diuideth them not as Dioscorides doth / but he diuideth the one into the whyter / and the other into the blacker / where as Dioscorides diuideth thys thymes into the harder / whych is greater / and into the softer and lesse kinde / wherefore the lesse and softer kinde may be the gardine serpillum of Pliny / no kinde of Plinyes thymes And these do I saye rather by the waye of serching for the truth / then for any determination / leuing the mater to the iudgemente of the learned and discret reader Serpillum that is in gardines / is called in the moste parte in Englande creping thyme / and about Charde pulimountayn It that is abroade in the feldes / is called wilde thyme in English / and in Duche Quendel / in Nether land / vnser lieuer frawen betstro / in Frenche du Serpolet / in Italian serpillo / in Spanish / serpolho The vertues of wilde thyme or rinning thyme RInning thyme dronken / bringeth doun a womans sikenes / and dryueth furth water It is also good for the gnawyng and wringing in the bellye / for bursten places and drawen together / against the inflammationes of the lyuer / and against serpentes / both dronken and also layd to wythout The same sodden wyth vinegre / and afterward mixed with rose oyle / will swage the head ache / of the broth be poured vpon the head It is meruelous good / for the forgetfull euell called of som letharge / and for the phrenesye The iuyce of it dronken in the quantite of iiij drammes / wyth vinegre / stoppeth the vomiting of blood SerpilluÌ is more then hote in the seconde degre a greate deale I take it to be hote in the thyrde degre Of Melilote or Italian Melilote SErta campana or Sertula campana / is named in Greke Melilotos / but howe it is called in Englishe / I can not tell / for I neuer sawe it in England / but it may be called right melilote / or Italian melilote / som Duche men though it grow no more in Duch land / then it doth in England / call it in Duche / Welsch steynklee I haue sene two kindes of Melilote / where of the one came out of Italy / whych I reken was the true Melilote / and an other kinde whych came out of Spayn / whych Matthiolus maketh his Scorpioides / wyth sede in longe hornes / throw the whych a man myght se / how euery sede dyd lye Of Melilote out of Dioscorides THe best Melilote groweth about Athenes / and in Cisik / and Chalcedonia / and it resembleth saffron / is well smelling It groweth also in Campania / aboute Nola / of the color of a quince / but of a weyk smell I fynde no larger description of melilote in Dioscorides / wherefore we muste gather the description by other meanes / then by hys description It doth appeare by the name of Melilote / that it is a kinde of Lotus / and all the kindes of Lotus haue thre leaues together / lyke a clauer / where vpon I gather that melilote ought to haue leaues lyke to clauer or trifoly Dioscorides also intreatinge of Ligustrum or appennine louage maketh the leaues of it lyke vnto the leaues of melilote But the ligusticum hath leaues speciallye them that are outermoste / thre growynge together lyke vnto a clauer or trifolye / but longer / whereby and by the former description / a man may playnely gather / that the comon herbe that is vsed for melilote / is not the ryght melilote For the ryghte melilote must haue longe leaues lyke Ligustik / whyche the comon melilote hath not / and also it must resemble saffron / and haue a good smell / whyche propertyes / because they can not be founde in the comon melilote / therefore it can not be the ryghte melilote / but a kynde of wilde lotus / whereof Theophrast maketh manye kindes The vertues of Melilote MElilote hath a poure to bynde together / and to soften euery inflammation / speciallye about the eyes / the mother / the fundament and stones / with maluasey / and so layed to / somtyme there muste be menged withall / the yolke of an egge rosted / or the mele of fenelgreke / or lintsede / or floure / or the heades of poppy / or succory / or endiue sodden in water / it healeth newe Meliceridas / that is impostemes / hauynge wythin them an humor lyke hony It healeth also the rinninge sores of the head / if it be layed to wyth the earth of Cio / and wyne / or wyth a galle / both sodden wyth wyne / and also raw / layd to wyth any of the fornamed / it swageth the ache of the stomack The rawe iuyce pressed oute and poured in wyth maluasey / healeth the ache of the eares It healeth also the head ache if it be menged wyth vinegre and rose oyle / and sprenckled vpon the head Galene wryteth that melilote is of a mixed qualite / and that it is somthyng byndynge / and that it digesteth therewyth / and maketh rype / and that the substance of it is more hote then colde Of the herbe called Sesamum SEsamum is not described of Dioscorides / therfore many erre about the knowledge of it I wil therfore gather as much as I caÌ out of other old autores / wherby it may here after be serched better found out and more perfitly knowen Theophrast rekeneth milium panicum sesamam together / in the viij boke and fyrst chapter / and in the iij. chapter / and many other places Columella where as he speaketh of the sowyng of milium and panicum / immediatlye maketh mention also of sesama as a thyng / lyke one to an other Pliny in diuerse places doth the same / as in the xviij boke and vij chapter / and in the xxij boke / xxv chapter / and Dioscorides by and by after milium and panicum writeth of sesama / as of a thyng lyke vnto them / wherevpon a man may gather that there is greate lykenes betwene milium panicum and sesama Theophrast lib. viij cap. iij. writeth the sesama hath such a stalke as the ferula hath / whiche is holowe / and lyke vnto a homlok / and in the v.
/ and as it were graye in color / for suche it is freshe and of a perfect age The vertue of mustarde is to heate / to make subtil / and to draw vnto it / and when it is chowed / to draw doune thynne fleme from the head but the iuyce of it menged wyth mede / if it be gargled wyth all / it is good for the diseases of the almondes aboute the rootes of the tonge / and for longe roughnes / and hardnes of the wynde pypes If it be broken and put into the nose thrilles / it maketh a man to nese it is good for them that haue the fallinge siknes / and it stereth vp weomen that are strangled of the mother It is also good to be layd vpon the heades of them that haue the drowsey euell / or forgetfull siknes / called lethargus / after that the heare is shauen of If it be menged wyth a fygge / and layed vpon the place vntill that it be rede / it is good for the sciatica / and for the milte / and to be shorte for euerye olde ache / where as by the greffe of an other parte / we will remoue anye thynge from the depe / vnto the skinne / it healed also scalled heades / where as the stalke is rede / and the heare falleth of If it be layd vpon the sore place / it scoureth also the face / and taketh awaye blewe markes that come of brusynge / if it be layd to wyth honye or fat / or wyth a cerote mayd of waxe If it be layed to wyth vinegre / it is good for lepres and wilde scabbes / and rynninge scurffe It is good to be dronken for agues whyche returne agayne by course at a certayne tyme / so that it be sprenkled or put into the drynke after the maner of perched barle mele It is also good to be mengled wyth drawynge emplasters / and wyth suche as are prepared agaynst scabbes And thesame broken wyth fygges / and put into the eares / it is good for them that are hard of hearinge And it is good for the soundyng or noyse of the heade The iuyce of it / if it be layed to wyth honye / is good for the dulnes of syght / and for the roughnes of the eybrees Men vse to presse out the iuyce of it / whylse it is grene / and then to drye it in the sun Galene sayeth that mustard is hote and drye in the fourth degre Out of Pliny PIthagoras dyd iudge that mustarde was moste principall of all those thynges / whose vertue were caried vp into the head / because that there is nothynge that percheth more the nose and the brayne then it doth And it setteth furth his poure and streyngth very far abrode If that to greate a slepe vexe them that haue the forgetfull syknes / it is good to be layd to emplasterwyse / ether vpoÌ the heade / or the shynnes / wyth a fygge and vinegre It healeth by making of blisteres by the reason of the burning heat / anye parte of the bodye out of the whych euel humores and faultes of the body ought to be drawen oute / from the depe vnto the skin / and taketh awaye olde aches of the breste / loynes and hippes / by the foresayd meanes In a greate hardnes it is layed on wythout a fygge / but if greater burninge be loked for / it is layd on a double cloth / goynge betwene Of the herbe called Sion THe herbe that is named in Greke Sion / and in Latin Sium / is supposed to be called of Pliny lauer The same âs called of som in English / but falsely / water cresses / and of other belragges but to haue som sure and comon name / it is best to call it water persely / or sallat persely It is named in Duch Brunnen peterlin / or wasser merk / in Italian Gorgolestro / as Matthiolus sayth / and in Spanish Rabacas / in Frenche Berle Sion as Dioscorides describeth it / groweth in the water / and is a smal bushye herbe / growynge ryghte vp and fatt / it hath brode leaues lyke vnto Allexander / but lesser / and of a spicye smell By this description they are confuted / that hold that brooklen / called in Duch Bachpungen / should be syon / when as it hath nether leaues lyke vnto Alexander / nether groweth ryght vp / but groweth low by the ground sydelinges / so are they also confuted to take water kresse or burn kresse to be syon / when as it hath no leaues lyke vnto Alexander Ether Matthiolus knoweth not the ryght syon / or ellis I knowe it not For the Sion that I knowe / hath not sede in litle coddes / but in the toppe after the maner of anise / and the roote is not lyke the rootes of water cresses I am far deceyued / except the figure that Matthiolus setteth out / be not lyke the monstre that Horace maketh mention of / whych hath a mannis head / set vpon a horse neck / and many diuerse fethers vpon them / for I haue gone thorow England / hygh Germany and low Germany / and a great deale of Italy / where as I sought diligentlye all kindes of herbes / but I could neuer fynde yet any such herbe / as Matthiolus setteth furth for sion / for his sion hath the verye true rootes and coddes of water cresses / whych neuer man / as I thynke dyd se in sion Let men that are learned in the history of herbes iudge / whether I iudge ryght or no. There are two kindes of herbes besyde this / wherof the greater is in all thynges / sauinge the bignes is like vnto sion / the other kinde is of a cubite hyght / and hath leaues verye lyke perselye in figure / sauinge that they are a great deal bigger I iudge that thys kinde is called of Pliny silans / whyche as he sayeth / nascitur in glareosis perennibus fluuijs apij similitudine The vertues of water persely called in Latin Sium or Lauer. The leaues of water persely / whether they be eaten rawe / or sodden / do breake the stone / and driue it out / and they also prouoke a man to make water / and they dryue oute of a womannis bodye / both her burdin and her floures Galene graunteth also that Sion is so muche hote / as it is well smelling / when it is tasted Of Persnepes and Skirwartes Sisarum satiuum magnum Sisarum satiuum minus Sisarum syluestre BOth Fuchsius Matthiolus set furth two kindes of Siser / but as they agre in the seconde kind / which is oure skirwurt / so they differ much in the former kinde for wher as Fuchsius maketh the former kind of siser / to be our pershepe / Matthiolus setteth furth in his figure a kinde of carot / whyche he sayeth is called in Duche / gurlin gergelim / in French cheruc gyroles / but his description afterwardes / agreeth
/ whyche are layd to agaynst sharpe flowynges of the eyes If it pe poured in / it is good for the ache of the eares if it be layd to wyth wool / it stoppeth the isshue that weomen haue Of Alkakinge or winter chirres Halicacabum vulgare THere is an other kind of Solanum / called Halicacabus and Phissalis / it hath leaues lyke vnto nyghte shade / but yet broder When hys stalkes are fully growen / they bowe to the ground it hath the fruyte in litle sede vesselles lyke vnto bladders round and rede lyke golde / and also smouth lyke a grape or wynberry / whyche the garlande makers vse in making of garlandes The vertues of Alkakinge It hath the same vertue that gardin nyghtshad hath / but that it is not to be eaten / the fruyte of it dronken / healeth the iaundes / and prouoketh water The iuice of both the herbes called Solanum / is vsed to be pressed furth / and when it is dried / it is set vp in the shadowe / and when it is dressed after this maner / it is good for all these purposes aboue named Of the kindes of Sorbus Sorbum ouatum DIoscorides maketh mention but of one kind of Sorbus / Theophrast writeth of two of the male and female / but Pliny maketh meÌtion of iiij kindes / wherof I haue sene iij. kindes / but one kinde I confesse that I neuer saw vnto my remembrance The two fyrste kindes whyche I knowe / haue leaues so lyke as can be / set wynge wyse as the asshe leaues grow / indented / but they differ in the fruit The former of them hath rede berryes lyke corall bedes / growyng in greate clusters / whych the byrdes eat in the beginning of winter / the tre groweth in moyst woddes / and it is called in Northumlande / a rowne tre / or a whicken tre / in the South partes of England / a quick beame tre The seconde kinde hath a fruyt of the bignes of a small crabbe or a wild peare / a litle longer then a crab / but not full of the fashion of a pear This tre groweth very plenteously in hygh Almany / where as the fruit is called sorbere or sorbepffel / and spierlin it may be called in English sorb appel The thyrde kinde which is called of Pliny sorbus forminalis / hath a lefe much lyke vnto a playn tre leafe Thys tre is called in English a seruyse tre / as though a man wold say a sorbus tre The fruyte is almost as small as are haw / in color broun / in taste binding / as the other two kindes are And thys kinde euen as the sorb appel is verye pleasant to be eaten vntill it be rotten / but then it is very pleasant / but not so pleasant by a greate deale as the sorb appel is The vertues of the thre kindes of Sorbus The sorb appels beyng yelow in colour before they be full rype / if they be cut in peces / and dryed in the sonne / if they be then eaten / they will stop the belly Also the pouder of them / after they be beten or ground / if it be taken in the stede of perched barley mele / and taken in / and the broth of them doth the same Of the herbe called Sparganium SParganium hath leaues lyke vnto the herbe whyche is called in Latin gladiolus / and in Greke xiphion / and that is small after the maner of a small sege or sheregrasse / called in Latin carex but the leaues are yet narrower / then the leaues of it that is called gladiolus / and more bowynge in the top of the stalk are rounde knoppes lyke bedes / where in is sede Thys herbe groweth most commonly in waters and fennes / the knoppes are full of litle tuftes Thys herbe is comon in England and in many places of Germany / but I neuer heard anye Duche nor English name of it but vntill we can happen vpon a better name / it maye be called bede sedge or knop sedge The vertues of Sparganium The roote is good to be geuen wyth wyne agaynste the poyson of serpentes Of French or Spanish brome SPartium is called in Greke spartion / in English / spanish brome oâ Frenche brome that spartium is not ginista of the Latines / I haue sufficiently proued before intreating of the brome bushe The description of Spanish brome SPartium is a bushe / hauinge longe twigges withoute leaues sounde / very tough / and som binde vyndes wyth them It beareth coddes lyke vnto phaseles / wher in are sedes lyke vnto lentilles It hath a floure lyke vnto wall gelouer / called of som Hartis ease This bushe groweth in diuerse gardines in England / in Spayn / and Italy Spartium wylde It groweth in my Lorde Cobhammes gardin at Cobham hall / and also at Shene in the gardine It hath leues in dede / but so small that I suppose that Dioscorides toke them for no leaues / because they were so litle and fewe / that they deserued not the name of leaues / or ellis Dioscorides looked vpon the braunches / whych at that tyme had no leaues And that thys is lyke to haue bene so the affirminge of Dioscorides / that Dictamnus of Candy had no floures nor sede / may bring credit vnto my gessinge For it is well knowen / that it hath bothe floures and sedes / thoughe Dioscorides neuer sawe them The vertues of Spanish brome THe sede and floures of the Spanish brome are good to be dronken wyth mede in the quantite of two scruples and an halfe / to pourge strongly / but wythout iepardye vpwarde but the sede purgeth dounward If the twigges be steped in water / and the iuyce be pressed out / after they be well brused / a ciat of it will heale the diseases of the sciatica the squynansie or chokes / if it be dronken fasting / som vse to stepe theÌ in bryne / and poure them in by a clister / to them that haue the sciatica / by this meanes it driueth furth blodye matter and full of stringes or ragged peces Of the herbe called Spartum or Sparta Spartum BEside the bushe that is called in French brome / whych is called spartum There is an herbe also called spartum / and of som writers sparta / as in thys prouerbe Spartam nactus es hanc adorna for Pliny in the xix boke and second chap. maketh mention in these wordes folowyng of the herbe spartum or sparta Herba hic sponte nascens quae non queat seri iuncus quod propriè aridi soli vni terrae dato vitio nanque id malum telluris est nec aliud ibi seri aut nasci potest c. And a litle after / in sicco praeferunt è cannabi funes spartum alitur demersum veluti natalium sitim pensans c. And a litle after Iunco Graecos ad funes vsos nomini
credamus quo herbam eam appellant postea palmarum folijs philuraque manifestum est inde translatum à poenis perque simile veri est Thus farre Plinye Out of these wordes I gather that the herbe that he writeth of / is a kind of sea bente / or sea rishe / whereof the frayles are made / that figges and rasines are caried hether in out of Spayne The same bent or sea rishe haue I sene in Northumberland / besyde Ceron Dalauale / ther they make hattes of it I haue also sene it in great plenty in ij ylandes of Easte Freslande / whereof the one is called the iust / and the other mordenie there men vse thys rishe onelye for to make ropes of it as Pliny writeth and to couer houses wyth it It may be named in Englishe Sea bent / or sea rishe / or frayl rishe I haue not rede in anye good autor / that it hath anye vertue to heale any disease Of the herbe called Spondilion Spondilium SPondilion is named in Greke Sphondilion / in Duch BereÌ klaw or wild Pasteney / it maye be called in Englishe Kow persnepe or middow persnepe It groweth in moyst middowes / about hedges sydes / but not in the hedges The description of Spondilium out of Dioscorides SPondilium hath leaues after a maner lyke vnto a playn tre leaues / drawyng very vnto the lykenes of the leaues of Ponax The stalke is a cubit long or longer lyke vnto fenels stalke it hath sede lyke vnto siseli / duble / broder / whyter / fuller of chaff / of a stronge or greuous smell It hath a roote lyke a radice / it groweth in merrish and watery groundes The vertues of Spondilium THe sede of cowe persnep dronken / scoureth oute flegmatike mater thorow the belly and guttes It healeth also them that are diseased in the liuer / the iaundes / them that are short winded / the falling siknes / the stranglinge of the mother If a man that is fallen in to depe a slepe / receyue the perfume of it / it wil waken him agayne If a mannis head be anoynted wyth the oyle wherein it is sodden / it will help them that haue the phrenesye / the drowsey or forgetfull euell / and the heade ache If it be layed to wyth rue / it holdeth and stayeth creping sores and tetters The root also is good for the disease of the lyuer / and for the iaundes The same shauen / and put in / wasteth away the hardnes of fistules oâ false woundes The iuyce of the flemes beynge grene / is good for mattery eares Thys iuyce maye be dryed in the sonne / and layd vp as other iuyces be Of certayn kindes of thistelles SPina in Latin / is properly called a thistel / and in Greke Acantha Howbeit is called vnproperly after a metaphoricall maner / spina is taken for a prick / because thistelles or spine / are most full of prickes First that acantha signifieth a thystell / and not an hawthorn / or a thorne wythout anye addition / as the most part of scoolmaysters and translatours Englishe it I am able to proue / not only by good Greke authours / but also by the best Latin wryters / that acantha in Greke signifieth a thystell / it maye be proued by the autorite of Aristotel in the viij boke of the history of liuing and sensible substances / and in the thyrd chapter / who wryteth these wordes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That is to saye / these are spiniuora / that is thistel eaters / and vnder the name of the thystell / he vnderstandeth the sede of a thistel / as wheÌ we saye / a man eateth more wheat then rye / we meane nether the blade of wheat / nether the straw nor chaff / but onlye the sede of wheate If acantha ought to be Englished a thorn or an hawthorne / let vs se which byrdes they be / that Aristotel calleth acanthophagas / and as diuerse interpretours Englishe them thorn eaters Aristotell sayeth that Linetes and Goldfinches / and Grene finches / are acanthophage who euer sawe any of these thre kindes of byrdes eat thornes / or the fruytes of thornes Therefore I maye saye vnto them / that Englishe acantham and spinam / a thorn or an haw / whych is the fruyt of a whyte thorn Erratis philosophiam plantarum historiam ignorantes For besyde this place now alledged Dioscorides in the chapter wheras he intreateth of the tre called Rododendron / wryteth thus Merion bringeth furth a fruyte lyke an Almonde / as it were a certayn horne / when as it is opened / it is full of a wolly nature / lyke vnto the down of thistelles The Greke hath ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Who heard euer tell / that anye thorn tre / had any down or anye wollye nature / lyke vnto the downe of a thistell Plinye also writynge of the herbe called Erigeron / whyche we call in Englishe Groundsell / sayth thus The head of Grounsell is diuersely diuided wyth a down / qualis est spina What is spina here an hawthorne or a thystel when haue ye sene the thorne tre haue any down by these places it is playne that acantha in Greke / and spina in Latin signifye a thistel / and no thorn / as our scoolmaisters translatours vse to English it now a dayes Thesame word acantha doth S. Luke vse in the paraââe of the sower in the viij chapt all the translatours turn acantham spinam / but the translators of the Latin in to English / not wythout a great error / turn spinam into a thorn / wheÌ as spina betokeneth not a thorne / but a thistel For Luke writeth thus Aliud cecidit super spinas simul enatae spinae suffocauerunt illud And som fell vpon what the thornes / or vpon the thistelled sede and waxed or grew vp with it / and chouked it Who vseth to sow vpon thornes / whether thornes signifye thorn trees / or the sede or fruit of the thorne tre Who dare saye that a thorne tre in one year can growe so hyghe / that it maye be aââe to choke the corne Is a thorne able to grow wyth the corne / as Luke sayeth / so hygh in one year I trow nay Therefore let men learne to Englishe acantham or spinam a thistel / when as there is nothyng put to them Of two other kindes of thystelles DIoscorides writeth of two herbes / whyche haue lyke names / but for all that / differ in description / and in substance / the one is called in Greke acantha leuke and the other is called leucacantha The former called spina alba / groweth in Italye / and in som places of Germany / besyde Sion in England I know no English name for it / but it may be called in English whyt thistel The other kind called in Greke leucacantha / in latin spina alba
diuerse places of the West countrey / where as it is called Cassidonia or spanish lauandar / and about London it is called Frenche lauander The vertues of Cassidonia oute of Dioscorides THe broth of stichados / as the broth of hysope / is profitable and good for the diseases of the breste It is also good to be menged wyth triacles preseruatiues It deliuereth from stoppinge It maketh fyne / scoureth and streyngtheneth all the bowelles or inwarde partes / and the hole bodye / and the hole complexion They that are disposed to know more of the nature of stichados / let them rede Mesue de simplicibus / ther they shal fynd inough Of Comfrey DIoscorides maketh two kindes of symphytum / wherof the former kinde is called symphiton petreon / and hereof I intend not to write / because it groweth not in England that I know of The other kinde is called symphyton alterum / in Duche swartzwurtzel / in Englishe comfrey / of the comon herbaries consolida magna Thys hath a stalke two cubites hygh or hygher / smoth / thicke / full of corners / holow empty as the stalk of sowthistel is / about the which stalke / are rough leaues great spaces goyng betwen narrow / long / and drawyng nere vnto the likenes of winter borrage The stalke also hath certayn appearinges out of thynne leaues / clening about the corners stretched furth from the holow settinge on of euery leafe The floures are yelow / the sede is about the stalk as molleu sede is The hole stalke and leaues haue a litle sharp horynes / whych when it is touched / make a man iche or yuke The rootes are wythoute black / whyte wythin / clammy / and they are also profitable and muche to be vsed Symphytum THE rootes are good if they be broken and dronken for them that spitte bloode / and are bursten The same layd to / are good to glewe together freshe woundes They are also good to be layd to inflammationes / and specially of the fundament wyth the leaues of groundsell Of the Vghe tre TAxus is called in Greke smilax / in Duche eibenholtz / in English Vghe The Vghe tre is of the bignes of a fyre tre / and hath leaues lyke vnto the same It groweth in Italy and in Narbone of France / whyche is nexte vnto Spayn The byrdes that eat the berries of the Italian Vghe / are made black and men that eate the same / are cast into a flixe The Vghe of Narbone is so full of poyson / that if any shepe nuder it / or sit vnder the shaddow of it / are hurt / ofte tymes dye Wherefore I haue written these wordes of the Vghe tre / that men should beware of it Thus far Dioscorides Virgil also in hys Egloges signifieth that the Vghe tre is full of poyson wher as he writeth thys verse Sic tua cyrneas fugiant examina taxus Galene also writeth that the Vgh tre is of a poysoned nature Of the Turpentine tre TErebinthus is named in Greke Terminthos / I haue not sene the tre in England / and therfore I haue heard no name of it but lesse it shuld be without a name / I call it Turpentine tre / because Turpentine cometh oute of it I haue sene both the leaues and berries of turpentine / whych grow in Italy / but I haue not sene the tre it selfe Because Dioscorides describeth not Terebinthum / and Theophrast describeth it at large I will translate vnto you the description of the turpentin tre out of Theophrast Of Turpentine trees one is the male / an other is the female The male is barun / of the females one bringeth furth fruyte by by rede of the bignes of a lentill / whych can not be made ripe / the other bringeth furth a grene one / dieth after rede / maketh it at the last black / when as it waxeth rype / wyth the grape / it is of the bignes of a beane full of rosin / brimstony The tymbre of the turpentine tre is tough / the rootes are mighty in the ground thys tre is taken hole to be vncorrupt It hath a floure like vnto the oliue tre / but of a rede color The leaues are for the most parte all about one litle stalke / lyke vnto bay leaues / growyng by payres together one agaynst an other / as the sorbapple tre leaues grow / it that is in the outermost ende of the payres of leaues / is od / but the leaues are not so cornered / as the sorb tre is / and in the goyng about / they are more lyke vnto the bay tre leafe / then the sorb tre leafe The vertues of the Turpentine tre and of the Turpentine The leaues / the fruyte / the bark of the turpentine tre / haue a bindinge poure / are good for all thinges that the mastik tre is good for / they are prepared after the same maner / are taken after the same maner Som eat the fruyte / but it is euel for the stomack / maketh a man pisse well / heateth / doth very much stir a man to the procreation of childer If it be dronken with wyne / it is good for the biting of the feld speder The rosin or turpentin that coÌmeth out of it / is brought from Arabia Petrea It groweth also in Iewry / Cyprus / in Africa in Ciclad ylandes / which is better then all the rest / is clere / thorow feable / whyte / like a glasse blewish gray / well smelling / and resembling in smell the turpeÌtine tre Amongest all rosines / that rosin called turpentine / is principal / mastick deserueth the second place The rosin of the pyne tre foloweth mastik in goodnes / after the which folow the rosines of the rede firre tre / of it that is called strobylus som take strobilus for a tre / other as Galene / take it for the pyne apple But euerye rosin softeneth / heateth / poureth abrode / scoureth / is good in electuaries by it selfe / or with honye for coughes It scoureth also away it that sticketh in the breste It stereth a man also to make water / maketh rype / softeneth the belly / it is good for lepres / wyth vert gresse / coperus / naturall salpeter With honye and oyle it is good for matter rinninge oute of the eares / and agaynst the itche of the priuye paâtes If it be layd to by it selfe / it is good for the ache in the syde Of Adders grasse and other of that kindes Orchis mas angustifolia Orchis foemina angustifolia Triorchis mas minor Orchidis alia species TEsticulus is called in Greke orchis / cynosorchis it hath the leaues sprede by the ground / about the stalk and the bottom / much lyke vnto a soft olyue leafe / but narrower and
anoynted oft therewyth The pouder of the leaues in the quantitye of a spoune full taken with the broth of Plantayne or horse tayle / is good for the woundes of the guttes And some hold that the same is good against the gnawynge of the bellye Of the herbe called Foxe gloue THere is an herbe that groweth very much in Englande / specially in Norfolke about the cony holes in sandy ground / in diuers woddes / which is called in Englishe Foxe gloue / and in Duche Fingerkraut It is named of some in Latine Digitalis / that is to saye Thimble wurt It hath a long and metely broad leafe / almost after the maner of Mullayne / but longer / blacker and sharper / and indented roundeaboute lyke a sawe Digitalis It hath a longe stalke and in the toppe manye floures hanginge doune like belles or thumbles of diuerse coloures / sometyme they are blewe / sometyme white / somtyme yelowish The properties of Foxe gloue I Haue heard one that sayd / that he proued that the hole herbe / stalkes / leues / and floures / brused a litle / and put betwene the horse sadle and his back / is an excellent remedye against the farcye or fassones Of Carduus benedictus ALthough diuerse of the later writers haue gone about to make Carduus benedictus a kind of Atractilis / yet for all that the description is found not perfitly to agree vnto it It is written that Carduus benedictus was sent oute of Inde vnto the Emperor Friderike / as a very precious medicine against many diseases and greses / it is called in English most commonly Cardo benedictus / and in Italian / Herba Turcha Atractilis aspera The vertues of Carduus benedictus out of the later writers IT is verye good for the head ache and the migram / for the vse of the iuyce or pouder of the leaues preserueth and kepeth a man from the head ache / and heleth it beyng present It quickeneth the sighte if the iuyce of it be layd vpon the eyes The pouder stancheth blood that floweth out of the nose or commeth out of the longes The broth of it taken with wine / maketh an appetite It is good for anye ache in the bodye It strenghteneth the members of the hole bodye / and fasteneth loose sinewes and weike It is also good for the dropsey It breaketh also the stone / and breaketh any imposteme It preserueth from the pestilence if the pouder be taken in water xxiiij houres before a man come into the infected place It is good for the dusines of the head It helpeth the memory / it amendeth thicke hearing It is good for short wind and the disease of the lunges / some write that strenghteneth the teth Other write that it bringeth doune floures / and prouoketh slepe / and helpeth the falling sicknes It is also good for falles and brusinges The leaues prouoke swete / the pouder is good against al poyson The same put into the guttes by a clister / helpeth the colike and other diseases of the guttes / and the woundes of the same They write also that the water of Cardo benedictus / healeth the rednes and itchinge of the eyes / and the iuyce doth the same The leaues brused / are good for the byting of serpentes / for burninges and for carbuncles There is nothing better for âhe cancker and olde rotten and festringe sores / then the leaues / iuyce / broth pouder and water of Cardo benedictus The leaues are good for fomentationes / and to be sitten ouer / beyng sodden in water / that the vapor may come to the diseased places / against the stone and stoppinge of floures Of the herbe called Cheruell Cerifolium CHaruel leaues when they come firste vp / are almoste lyke vnto percely / but smaller and iagged with many cuttes / and therefore it semeth to be lyke vnto Homloke It hath a whyte roote and smalle / and shorter then all the kindes of perselye haue It hath a smoth stalke / somthinge purple / hollow and full of braunches / and it beareth a floure like vnto Coriander / and a black sede / and the sede smelleth nothing at all / when as the herbe hath a verye good smell The vertues CHaruel is of a warme nature / but excedeth not the first degre The Germanes do wryte that it is proued by experience / that Charuel doth breake insunder lumpes of blood / gathered together The iuyce maketh the blood that is growen together by a drye stripe / or by a wound melt and fall insunder If it be so that the iuyce of Charuel doth not strongly inough by it selfe to dissolue and breake insunder clotted or clustered blood / that is growen together in lumpes Let the patient put thereto the pouder made of burnt crabbes eyes / and of the coles of Linde tre / and it will worke the effect stronglier a great deale They write also that this is good for the pleuresye / and against the prickinge of the syde If that it be eaten in a sallat or in a moose / it is good for the stomache and the head / by reason of the pleasant smell that it hath The leaues of Cheruel brused and layd to / are as good a remedye agaynst brused places and clustered blood / as scala celi is Of Cassia fistula CAssia fistula is called in better Latin / Siliqua Aegyptiaca we haue no other name for it in Englishe but Cassia fistula The tre that the Canes coddes of Cassia fistula groweth on / is a great tre The woode of the tre is fast / and much knit together within the barke vntil ye come to the hart / it is yelowe / but the pith or hart is black as the hart of Ebenus and Guaiacum is When it is grene / it stinketh ill / but not when it is dryed The leafe is lyke vnto Carobe / or saint Iohannis bread is tre / which maye be called in English Carob cod tre / but it groweth sharper toward the end The barke is of an ashye color The rootes are great lyke the rootes of a Walnut tre Oute of the bowes hange coddes verye long / round and thicke / when they are rype and in color black redish These are full of a black and swete mary / but it goeth not right oute / as the marye doth in a beane / but one pece is euer sundered or parted from an other / by litle thinne thinges like woddish filmes / as ye maye se in hony combes / in certaine partitiones lieth a great sede / as lyke as maye be possible vnto the sede of Carobe / or Carob cod Cassia fistula is broughte oute of diuerse places / not onlye of Cairo and Alexandria / but also oute of the Weste newe found Ilandes / out of Hispaniola / cuba paria The best is that commeth from Caire / and it hath the longest Canes thinnest barkes / and heauiest in weight / that when it is
a man want the great Gentian / that he maye for a nede occupye this herbe in the stede of it Of Quibibbes I Haue not sene the tree / nether the leaues / of Quibibbes / for it groweth not in those places of Europa that I know of / where I haue bene / and therefore I can not describe him I haue sene the berries oft tymes / for the berries are common in England and in al countreys They are of the bignes of pepper / but lighter somwhat brouner with a litle stalke / as the Iuy berries haue They are called in barbarous Latin Cubebe I thinke that the old writers knew nothing of this simple The vertues of Quibibbes THE sede is hote in the beginning of the third degree / and perfitly in the ende of the thirde degree This berrye maketh stronge the stomake / that is weike by reason of fleme or of winde / and they scoure from the breste / tough grosse humores They helpe the milte / and dryue awaye winde / and helpe the cold diseases of the mother If they be chawed longe with mastick / they drawe fleme from the head / and strengthen the brayne / and to be short / they are good against all cold diseases Of whyte Dittanye I Haue written of two kindes of Dittany alredye in my former bokes / whereof the former is called in Latine Dictamnus / or DictaÌnus creticus The second is called Lepidium This kind is called in Barbarous Latin Dictamus albus / and of some writers Fraxinella / of the likenes that it hath with an ashe in the settinge of the leaues It groweth in the high mountaines in Germanye in plentye It is a very beutuous herbe / and wel smelling The floures are purple whytish / the roote is whyte / and stinketh like a goat buck / and goeth a good lenght in the ground The taste of the roote is bitter / the sede of it is blacke / and it groweth in litle smale coddes The vertues of whyte Dittanye / or Duche Dittanye THE pouder of it is good to kill wormes The hole herbe of nature is good against poison and the bitinges of venemous beastes / and also against the pestilence It is good for them which are diseased in the stomake / and for them that are shortwinded The water distilled out of the floures / if it be poured in at the nose / is good for all diseases of the head that come of a colde cause Of Doronike Romane Doronicum Romanum DOronicum Romanum / otherwise called Carnabadium / groweth not that I knowe of in England / and that I remember I neuer sawe it growyng but ones / that was in Germanye The leafe of it was shewed me for Doronico Romano / was muche bigger and broader then a violet leafe / and muche more blackishe grene The rootes are wel knowen in the Apothecaries shoppes The vertues of Doronike Romane THE Arabian commendeth this herbe verye muche agaynst the diseases of the herte / and hold that it is good against poyson and venome Of diuerse herbes which haue the name of Eupatorium Eupatorium vulgare IN my firste boke I haue declared sufficientlye that Agrimony was the Eupatorium of Dioscorides / and of other of the Grecians Nowe because there are two other kindes of Eupatorium / whereof Mesue maketh mention of the one / and Auicenna of an other it shal be necessarye as farre forth as we caÌ to set furth it which is the Eupatorium of Mesue / and which is the Eupatorium of Auicenne Matthiolus writeth that the comon EupatoriuÌ of the Apothecaries which I haue named water hempe / is Eupatorium Auicenne / and he writeth that the herbe that is called Ageraton in Dioscorides / is Eupatorium Mesues / mockinge Fuchsius and Cordus / who held that Gratiola was Eupatorium Mesue / as muche worthy to be mocked of other his owne selfe / for the herbe that he setteth furth for Eupatorio Mesues / agreeth not with the description of Mesue / for the leaues of Mesues Eupatorium are smalle like Centorie / his herbe hath broad leaues nothing like Centorye The floures of Eupatorie of Mesue are longe or somthinge longe / as both the translations of Mesue witnes / for Siluius redeth thus / Floribus est subluteis oblongis The olde translator hath / Eleuantur super eum flores qui sunt sicut subcitrini longitudinis paruae Wherfore I meruell oute of whose translation Matthiolus describing Eupatorium Mesue / set out these wordes / Floribus aureis in vmbellam cohaeren tibus helychrysi modo Furthermore he proueth not that his Guilia purgeth / and I take that it is the herbe that we call Mandleyne Wherfore his herbe can not be Eupatorium Mesues / though it coulde purge as he hath not proued yet As for Gratiola which Cordus and Fuchsius take for Eupatorio Mesues / the extremite of purginge which Matthiolus noted well will not suffer it to be Eupatorium Mesue / for two scruples of the pouder of Gratiola as I haue oft proued purgeth strongly / when as Eupatorium Mesues purgeth very gently / and nothing stronglye Therefore nether Cordus nor Matthiolus / nether anye of vs all hath found out Eupatorium Mesues And it appereth by Mesue that his was not so verye plentuous in his tyme. For in the defaut of it he teacheth to take halfe as muche of Asarabacca / and so muche wormwode Romaine But if good Asarabacca were not at hand / I had leuer take wormwode Romane alone / or grene Cassidonia called stichados / then ether it that Matthiolus or Cordus setteth furth for Eupatorio Mesues The vertues of water hempe WAter hempe is verye bitter in taste / and it openeth all stoppinges / and cutteth in sunder all tough and clammye humores / is good for the grene sicknes / the dropsye iaundes / and for the goute that commeth of grosse fleme Of Eyebrighte EYebrighte is named in Duche Augen troost / in Latin Eufragia and of some in Greke Ophthalmica The herbe is verye shorte / and commeth not that I haue sene to the height of a span / the leaues are for the quantite of the herbe somthinge broad and indented / and in taste bitter / and in smell not pleasant / the floure is of diuerse coloures / but the whyte beareth the chefe rule Euphragia The vertues of Eyebright out of Arnoldus de noua villa THE wine of Eyebright is made for the eyes by puttinge the herbe into the must vntill it be at lenght perfit wyne / whose vse maketh the eyes of old men waxe yonge again and taketh awaye the hinderance of them / and the lacke of sight in anye man of what age soeuer he be of / chefely if there excede fat and fleme There was a man that continued blinde a long tyme / and within a yere he was restored to his sight againe / for the herbe is hote and drye / and it hath of a propertie / that if the pouder
vsed for methel nuttes / are the righte nuces vomicae that is vomite nuttes And for his proofe he alledgeth Serapion / and he maketh this difference / that the right vomike nuttes haue litle knoppes vpon them lyke eyes / and that the methel nuttes haue dounye or roughe skin all ouer them Oute of the Arabianes / and chefelye out of Serapio / and them that he citeth SErapio maketh two chapters of Nux Methel and of Nux Mechil and a seueral chapter of the fruyte called Nux vomica where they must be thre seuerall thinges and not one simple first I wil rehearse what he writeth of the vomike nut Of the Vomike nut LEum alcey or alke / is named in Latin Nux vomica This nut ether alone or with other medicines as salt / maketh a man vomite strongly / for salt furthereth perbreakinge / and stereth the humores / and maketh them more easelye go furth by casting or vomiting The quantite of them to be taken is two drammes Take twentye drammes of the drye toppes or leaues of Dill / and seth them in a wine pint of water vntill the halfe be sodden awaye / and put some honye to it / and let the medicine be made of honye / and afterward let it be menged with this sodden water and dronken / and then it maketh a man vomit easely / and it loseth the bellye sometyme One Abraham in Serapio writeth thus There is a nut whose color is betwene grayshe / blewishe / and whitishe / greater then a hasel nut / and there are knobbes in it / and if ye take a dram of the pouder of the barke of it that is sifted with two great drammes of the pouder of Dill or Fenel sede / and put vnto it a sufficient quantite of honye / and drinke it with warme water / it wil make a man vomite choler and tâeme / and it wil make some go to the stole also Here in this texte I find nothing that mislyketh me / sauing that this Abraham geueth but one dram / when as other geue two drammes / and that he compareth it vnto a hasel nut / when as there is no lykenes at al betwene an hasel nut and the vomiting nut so far as I haue rede or sene by experience Of the nut Methil oute of the 365. Chapter of Serapio De temperamentis LEum Methel / that is nut Methel / is a fruyte lyke vnto the vomiting nut / and the sede of it is lyke vnto the sede of a Citron / Haese writeth in the same chapter that the nut Methel is lyke vnto the vomike nut / and that the sede of it is lyke vnto the sede of Mandragoâa / that the barke of it is rough and the tast of it is delectable and fatty or vnctuous / that it is colde in the fourth degre / and that if one kirat of it be geuen in wine / it maketh a man wonderfully dronken / and a kirat is the weight of foure barly cornes But if it be gyuen in the quantite of two drammes and two seuen partes of a dram / it wil kill a man furth without any delaye Rasis beynge alledged in the same chapter sayth / that it maketh vnsensible / and peraduenture killeth and stoppeth and stancheth / and make a man vomit / and an other of the Arabianes sayth that fyue drammes of the Methel nut make one dronken verye sore / if there be much of it geuen / it killeth And therefore he that taketh of it / ought to take in hote butter / and to set his outwarde partes in warme water / be so ordered that he maye vomit enough / and let him be so cured as he that hath taken Mandragoram Rasis also in his Simples writeth that the Methel maketh num or vnsensible / and bringeth somtyme destruction / and engendreth dronkennes / lothsumnes and vomitinge Oute of Auicenna THE Nux methel is poyson / and maketh num or vnfelable / it is lyke vnto a vomike nut / and the sede of it is like the sede of a Citron / it maketh vnfelable the head / and maketh forgetfulnes / and is ill for the brayne / the quantite of a dauich maketh a man dronken / the poyson of it killeth in one daye Thus muche haue I translated out of the Arabianes / and so muche as I coulde finde in any Arabian / that is translated into Latine / of al that I can gather of these Arabianes / the nut Methel stereth a man to vomit muche more then Nux vomica doth / and that in lesse quantite / wherfore the working of Nux Methel deserueth more the name of the vomitinge nut / then the commonly called nut vomike doth But seynge that it is out of all dout / that they are verye perillous / I will aduise al my frendes to vse nether of both in their bodyes / but to vse them to catche fishe / byrdes / and some litle beastes therewith and it were best to take out the stomake of suche as are taken streight waye / and not to suffer them to lyue after they be dosyed or made dronken Of the fruyte called Anacardium ANacardium maye be called in Englishe Hart nut / of the likenes that it hath with an hart / for it is lyke a byrdes hart in proportion and in color also It groweth in Sicilia in the hote hilles / whiche burne continuallye vnder the ground This hart nut is hote and drye in the fourth degre / and is very good for the marring or hurting of the memory and senses / is good for al diseases of the brayne that come of colde and moystenes It is good against losing of the sinewes / and it remoueth forgetfulnes and helpeth the memorye / halfe a dram of it if it be receyued / is good for the memorye / and the inward part is best / but because it is extremely hote / it is deadly ieperdous for yong men / and for them that be of a colerike or hote complexion therefore it ought not to be geuen vnto theÌ / and it ought onlye to be geuen to them that haue the palsey / or are afrayd of the palseye Of Adders tonge O Phyoglosson is called in Latine Lingua serpentina in English Adders tonge / of some other Adders grasse / though vnproperly Adders tong hath one fat leafe a finger long like water Plantayne / but much narrower / for the quantite of it out of the lowest part / whereof there riseth a litle stalke which hath a longe tonge vpon it / not vtterly vnlike a serpentes tonge / whereof it hath the name It groweth in moyst and medowes in the ende of April / and in the beginninge of May and shortely faydeth awaye Ophioglosson The vertues of Adders tonge THis is a wounde herbe / and healeth woundes which are almost vncurable / or at the least wonderfully hard to be healed The nature of it is also to dryue away great swellinges / and to preuent
extreme inflammationes / some vse to bruse it with swynes grese / and so kepe it and laye it vpon swellinges But I councell rather to seth it when it is grene with sallet oyle / and to kepe it / and then will it be good both for swellinges and woundes also This herbe is verye hote and drye Of the herbe called Lunarye THere are two kindes of herbes which are called Lunaria / the one is called Lunaria maior whiche is an hye herbe and hath a great floure / in the which is the figure of a halfe mone / the lefe is somthinge longe and sharpe at the pointe / some call this herbe Shawbubbe But although I haue had it oft in my gardine / I neuer tried anye vertue that it hath The lesse Lunarye is a very well fauored herbe which hath leaues growing one agaynst an other / which are also muche like a halfe mone / whereof it semeth to haue the name / and hath sedes in the toppe like the sedes of oke of Ierusalem / growinge together after the maner of a cluster of grapes / wherefore the Duche men about Colon / call it Meydruben It is found in the ende of May / and in the moneth of Iune / and sone after faydeth awaye Lunaria The vertues of Lunarye THE newe writers saye that the lesse Lunarye whiche may be called wel in Englishe Cluster lunarye / or Cluster Mounwurte / is verye good for woundes / and to stoppe both the red floures of weomen and the whyte issue also It is reckened to be of a colde and drye nature The Italianes write that it is excellentlye good to heale both outwarde woundes and burstinges and also inward It is good for bursting of childer / and the pouder is good for the bloodye flixe / it stoppeth also both the bloodye and white issue of weomen Of herbe two pence Nummularia MAtthiolus nameth also Lunariam minorem the herbe that other cal Nummulariam and the Duche men Schlangenkraut / and I haue named it herbe two pence It groweth by hedge sydes / and in shaddowe ditches / and in suche holowe darke places as water hath bene in winter / and are dryed vp in the beginninge of the Summer It rinneth along by the ground with small braunches where one / growe small rounde leaues / like pennies / by coples one against an other / wherevpon it hath the name It hath yelow floures in the moneth of May. The vertues of herbe two pennies THE nature of this herbe is to binde and to drye This herbe as the later writers saye / that they haue tried if it be sodden wyth wine and honye / is good to heale the exulceracion or the sore of the lunges that haue the skin worme of them It is also good for the cough and for them that are shortwinded / and it is good for the cough that yonge childer haue called in right English / The kindt cough for kindt is a chyld in Duche / and in Frenche / Englishe / The chingcough Some vse to seth the herbe in water with sugar for the same purpose The same is good for the bloodye flixe / and for ouermuche flowynge of weomens humores The Germanes holde stedfastlye that this herbe will heale verye sore woundes / and hard otherwise to be healed They first will that the herbe shoulde be sodden in wine / and that the wounde should be washed with the wine / and that the herbes shoulde be afterwarde layde to Some geue the same vertue vnto the distilled water But I recken no. The Germanes hold also that it is found by experience / that the serpentes that are wounded / bite this herbe and are healed thereby And an Apothecary of Germanye told me / that if an horse do halt / because he is stricke in the quicke / if the nayle be plucked out / and the iuyce of the herbe / or the herbe chowed in a mans mouth / be put into the hole / will soner then a man can beleue heale the horse houe / so that he shall not be hindered of his iorneye thereby Of the herbe called Pulmonaria Pulmonaria THere are two kindes of Pulmonaria / the one is a ragged thick mosse that groweth vpon oke trees / and hath certayne spottes vpon it like as some lunges hath / wherevpon it semeth to haue the name in Latine / if it be not named in English alredy Lungwurt / it maye be named now so / or rather Lungmosse The vertues of Lungwurte LVngwurte of the oke drieth and bindeth It ioyneth together and healeth grene woundes / and speciallye them of the lunges It is also good for the outragious outflowinge of weomens floures / and for spittinge of bloode / and against great laxes that endure longe / and for the bloodye flixe This herbe is good for the coughe / shortwindines / and other diseases of the lunges / ye maye dresse it thus Take one Lungwurt halfe an vnce of Anis sede / of Fenel sede / of Licores / of eche two drammes / one dram of the lunges of a foxe / halfe a dram of Enula campana / beate them al into fine pouder / and put as muche sugar to them as all the pouders / menged do wey / and take euery morninge and eueneninge a spoundfull of this pouder Some that kepe cattell / geue this herbe in pouder with salt against the shortwindiues of beastes I thinke it were good to geue it also vnto a horse that hath bloodye gere comminge out of his lunges by the nose thrilles or mouth Matthiolus calleth the herbe which I haue iudged most lyke vnto Baccharis of al herbes that euer I saw / and is called in English Sage of Ierusalem / Pulmonariam also / as other before him haue done / by the reason of the whyte spottes that are in the leaues / beynge lyke vnto suche as are on the lunges He sayth that it is excellentlye good for vomitinge out of bloode out of the mouth / that commeth from the lunges most speciallye Sethe the floures and leaues in a sufficient quantite of water / vntill the halfe be sodden awaye / then put sugar to it and drinke it Ye maye beate the herbe and floures / and take the iuyce purified with halfe as muche sugar The same is good for diuers diseases of the lunges / as the Italianes haue left in their writinges Of Throw waxe THere is an herbe with a leafe like a pease and a yelowe floure / and a top afterward full of litle dunnishe black sedes / which is called in Latine Perfoliata because the stalke goeth thorow euery lefe I haue sene this herbe growing in great plenty in a corne field on the Northsyde of the cytie of Wormes in Germanye / and in no lesse quantite in in Somersetshire / betwene Summerton and Marlock It appereth not with the sede vntill the corne be almoste rype / and when it is a cold yere / muche after the caryinge in of corne I haue not
/ if ye gather this when it hath dewe vpon it / and strawe the chamber with it / and afterswepe the dust and the herbe out together / it killeth flees Of the bushe and fruyt called Ribes Ribes RIbes is a litle bushe and hath leaues lyke a vyne / and in the toppes of the bushe are red berries in clusters / in taste at the firste somthinge sower / but pleasant inough when they are fully rype I haue sene them growynge in gardins in Englande / and also by a waters side at Clouer in Somerset shyre in the possession of maister Horner The vertues of the common Ribes THE iuyce and syrope of Ribes / are good for hote agues and agaynst hote flixes and vomitinge of choler They stoppe laxes / prouoke appetite / and quenche thyrste Ye maye two wayes kepe Ribes / ether in there oune iuyce and verges / or ellis dried in the sunne and so kept Ribes in al poyntes hath the vertue of Barbenes Of the noble roote called Rubarbe Rabarbarum RVbarbe is called of some Rhabarbarum / of others Reubarbarum / and there are thre sortes of Rubarbe / whereof one commeth out of Inde / and it is called Rauetsceni of the Arabical writers / and an other kind is called Raued turchicum or Reuturchicum / or Rha turchicum The beste Rubarbe is that / that we call Rauetsceni that commeth out of Inde / and because it groweth in Tanguth / that is in Sinarum regione / it is called of the better Latinistes Rha siniticum or sinicum or Rha Indicum This cometh from Tanguth throw the lande Cataia into the land of the Perses / whereof the Sophia is the ruler / and from thence it is sent to Egipt / and so to Italy The seconde sorte in goodnes is it that is called in Latin Rhabarbarum and it commeth of the countre / whose inhabitours are called Troglodytae that is dwellers in holes dennes and caues / in the hyest places of Ethiopia / and this is the worst of the thre That sorte that is called Rha turcicum / is thoughte to be of some newe writers Rheon ponticum of Dioscorides and other olde writers But I can not consent vnto them / for Mesue maketh his kindes or sortes of Rauet to purge But who can shewe me any kinde of Rheon ponticum / that purgeth none I trowe / for all that they saye that they haue proued it / therefore it foloweth not that allthough that Pontus is nowe vnder the Turke / that therefore that Rauet turcicum of Mesue is Rha ponticum of Dioscorides Galene / for it maye haue the name turcicum of an other cause / then because Pontus is vnder the Turke / for there are other places vnder the Turke / where as Rauet turcicum maye growe besyde Pontus It shal be an easy matter to anye man that hath leasure to aunswere Marinus the Italian in this matter / wher he goeth aboute to proue that Rauet turcicum is Rha ponticum The beste Rubarbe of Inde is it that is freshe / somethinge blacke / and turninge to rednes rare or spoungius yet heauy withal / and if it be broken / it loketh something reddishe / and somethinge blewish / and if it be steped in liquore / it dieth it yelowe like Saffron The inhabitours of the countrey / where as it groweth / vse to stepe it fyue dayes in water / and let the water drye vp / and then make trociskes of the ground thereof / whiche they sell to kinges and princes / and then send Rubarbe vnto vs which hath bene steped / and lost his strenght for true Rubarbe / but Mesue sayth that suche Rubarbe / and it that is so marred / is more bindinge and faster compact together then the other / and the other dieth not like saffron / or ellis verye litle Ye maye knowe what figure and forme the leaues of Rubarbe haue by the figure that is set furth here / the which Andreas Marinus hath firste of all set furth / and if thou wilt knowe anye more of the description / rede it that Marinus alledgeth of Ioan Baptista / Ramusius vpon Mesue The nature and vertues of Rubarbe out of Mesue REubarbe is hote and dry in the second degre / It hath a duble substance / one waterish / and erthly geuing vnto it a bindinge substance / and an other aerishe geuing vnto it the varite or lousnes of substance / and there is a firishnes in it making it perfit The which thinge hath made it bitter by the workinge of it into the erthlynes But the erthlynes is depe in and the fyrishnes is in the outward parte And these substances may be disseuered or parted by steping / so that it that is hote and purging / may be remoued in the licor / and the erhtly and binding property abide behinde Rubarbe purgeth away choler and fleme / specialy from the stomach and liuer / and it purgeth the bloode / and putteth away stoppinges / and the deceases that arise there vpon / the iaundes / otherwise called the guelsoght / that is the yelow sicknes / the dropsye / the swelling of the milt / it heleth rotten agues and longe the prickinge ache of the midriffe toward the sides This same stoppeth the spittinge out of blood out of the lunges or of other places / and it heleth places brused by fallinge or by a stripe and inward brusinges and brekinges / if one dram be taken with two greines of mummia / and one greyne and halfe of madder sayth Mesue / but I wold aduise to take at the least half a dram or two scruples / for this mesure is a great deale to litle / it must be taken with tart or binding wine The oyle of Rubarbe is good for stripes / brusinges / and shrinking together of the muscles and synewes / and for the ache of them It is also a good medicine against the bloodye flixe / if it be perched or tosted at the fyre / and be taken in with red wine / or with the iuyce of Plantaine It is also good for agues that come about by courses The infusion of one dram and an halfe / or thre drammes is sufficient It may be taken in pouder from one dram to thre as Mesue sayth / but I would not aduise English men gladly to excede two drammes in pouder / and I would geue foure drammes in the infusion rather then two and halfe in pouder Rubarbe maye be preserued ether in good hony or in flewurt called Psyllium or in Turpentine and waxe / or waxe alone or in mile / or millet called in Duche Hirà and in Latin Milium Of Salsa perilla SAlsa perilla is named of some also Sparta perilla It is so lyke vnto the roote of Walwurte or Danwurte / that Matthiolus thought it had bene the verye roote of Danwurt / but he durste not pronunce / because he had not sene the leaues of the herbe The newe writers geue the same vertues vnto
stomack and good for the belly But the stalkes are muche better It is good for the inward partes / and for the blader The leues chowed raw / and layd to with a litle salt / and hony / he le the impostemes in the corner of the eyes / but when they begin to he le / the salt must be taken awaye Mallowes are good to be layde to / agaynst the stynginges of waspes and bees / for he that is anoynted with raw mallowes and oyl / shall be fre from the styngyng of bees and waspes With pisse it healeth the rynnyng sores / and scales / or scurfe of the heade The leues broken and layd to with oyle are good for the wilde fyre / burned places If weomen will sit in the broth of mallowes / it wil softeÌ the hardnes of the mother It is good for the grawyng and of goyng of the skin / of the blader / guttes mother and fundament / if it be put in with a clyster The broth of the mallow leues sodden with the roote / is a good remedy agaynst al poysones / if it be dronken by and by after / and be vomited out agayn It is a good help agaynst the bytyng of a felde spyder The sede of mallowes dronken in wyne with the sede of wilde lotus swageth the smerting of the blader Galen and the Arabianes agre not in the complexion of the mallow / for Galene gyueth a warm qualite vnto wallowes / as these wordes folowyng do playnly declare There is a certayn tough and shlymy iuice in mallowes / which manifestly differeth from coldnes / which thyng ye may perceyue euen before ye eat of the mallow / for if ye lay it to a fyrie inflammation after that ye haue layd lettice vnto it / ye shall fynde / that lyke wyse as the lettice hath cooled / that euen so the mallowes warme the place that they are layd to But AbeÌ Mesuai in Serapione / sayeth these wordes folowyng of the vertues of mallowes The mallow is colde and moyste in the first degre / and specially the gardin mallow / and it is euel for the stomack And whilse it is moyste / it is good for the blader / but yet the sede is muche better there to / and it is good for the roughenes or payn that commeth by going of / of the skin / and of the blader It is good for the roughnes of the lunges / and breste It is good to make a plaster of it with rose oyle / and to lay it to the impostemes of the kydnes and blader Of the Mandrage Mandragoras masc THere are two kindes of Mandrag / the black which is the female / which is called the letticer / with lesse leues and narrower then lettice / whiche haue a strong sauor / and are spred vpon the grounde And this kinde bereth apples lyke vnto sorbapples / pale in coloure and well smellyng / wherein is conteyned sede / lyke vnto the kirnelles of peres It hath rootes of a good bignes ij or iij. one foldyng it self within an other They are black with out / and whyte within / they are couered with a thick barke And thys kynde hath no stalke The other kynde is the white Mandrag / and it is called the male The leues of this are byg / white / brode and smouth as the bete lefe is The apples of thys are twyse as byg as the apples of the other be / with a color turnyng toward saffron They smell plesantly / ioyned with a certayn greuousnes This kinde of Mandrage I haue oft tymes sene in England / it is the herbe that we call comenly Mandrag The rootes whiche are conterfited made like litle puppettes mammettes / which come to be sold in England in boxes / with heir / such forme as a man hath / are nothyng elles but folishe feined trifles / not naturall For they are so trymmed of crafty theues to mocke the poore people with all / to rob them both of theyr wit and theyr money I haue in my tyme at diuerse tymes takeÌ vp the rootes of Mandrag out of the grounde / but I neuer saw any such thyng vpon or in them / as are in and vpon the pedlers rootes that are comenly to be solde in boxes The Mandrag is named in Latin Mandragoras / in Duch / alram It groweth only in gardines in England and in Germany / but it is more comen in England then it is there But it groweth not vnder gallosses as a certayn dotyng doctor of Colon in hys physik lecture dyd tech hys auditores / nether doth it ryse of the sede of man / that falleth from hym that is hanged / nether is it called Mandragoras / because it came of mans sede as the for sayd Doctor dremed The vertues of Mandrage THe iuice of Mandrag / dronken in the quantite of a scruple in honied wyne / draweth furth Melancoly and fleme by vomitynge / after the maner of Helleborus But if a man take so muche of it / it will kill hym It is good to be menged with the medicines and sawhe as suege ach Men vse to take the barkes of the freshe rootes and to stamp them and to presâe the iuice and to set it in the son vntill it be growen hard / and then to put it vp into erthen vesselles / for to be vsed when nede shall requyre They vse also to take of the bark of the roote and to put a threde throw it / and so to hang it vp / and afterwardes to vse them There is a iuice also taken out of the apples / but that is not so quick in operation as the other iuice is Som take the rootes and set them in wine vntill the thyrde parte be sodden away / and when the broth is purified / kepe it / and gyue one cyat or an vnce and an half of it / to them that can not slepe / and to them that are in great payn / to such as must be burned or cut in som place / that they should not fele the burning or cuttyng It is good to be put into the mother to soften it If it be put into the fundament after the maner of a suppository / it will make a man slepe Som wryte that the roote hath the vertue to softene euery / if it be sodden six houres with it / and that it will make it fit to receyue easely any figure or form that a man will graue in it The grene leues are good to be layd to the inflammationes of the eyes / and to gatherynges / stirred vp by sores with perched barley mele It resolueth scattereth away wennes / swellynges and hardnes The same dothe away scarres or markes of woundes without ieperdi of fretyng of the skin / if they be rubbed mesurably therw t for the space of vj. or seuen dayes The leues are kept in bryne for the same purpose The roote broken layd to with
about In smell somthing resembling Garleke / binding / and in taste bitter It hath litle stalkes / four squared / wherevpon grow floures somthinge redishe The vertues of water Germander out of Dioscorides WAter Germander hath the pour to heate / and to make a man make water The grene herbe and also dried / if it be sodden with wine / is good to be dronken against the bitinge of serpentes / and agaynst poyson If it be taken in the quantite of two drames with mede / it is good for the gnawing of the stomack agaynst the blody flixe / and for them that can not make water easely It stoureth out also thicke and watery gear out of the brest If ye will take the drye herbe / and menge it with gardin cresses / honye and rosin / and make an electuary therof / and geue it to be leked vp of the patieÌt / it will helpe the olde cough / and such places as are bursten / and shronke together Thesame herbe menged with acerat or treat / made of waxe / and sayd to the myd ryf it will swage the longe heat or inflammation of theÌ the lame is also good for the gout / if it be layd to ether with sharpe vinegre or with water / with âony Also it ioyneth together woundes / and stoureth old sores and couereth them with a skin / and when it is dried / it holdeth doune the fleshe that groweth to much Men vse also to drinke the iuyce of it / pressed out for all the forsayd diseases / the scordium or water germander that groweth in Pontus or in Candy / is of most vertue and streinght Out of Galene Scordium is made of diuers both tastes and poures / for it hath som bitternes / som tartues / and som sharpnes / which is lyke vnto garleke / called scorodon / wherevpon I thinke that scordium hath hys name It stoureth out and warmeth the inward bowelles also / it driueth oute both water and also floures Also if it be dronken / it healeth the partes that are bursten and shronken together / the payn of the syde if it come of stoppinge or of colde The same Galene in hys booke de antidotis / that is of triacle or preseruatiue medicines agaynst poyson / wryteth further of scordium thus The beste scordium is brought from Candis / howbeit it is not to be mislyked that groweth in other countrees It is writen by men of great grauite / that so many dead bodyes of certayn men that were killed in a battel / as fel vpon scordiuÌ / namely such partes as touched it / were much lesse putrified / then the other were / som came into that beleue that scordiuÌ was good against the putrifying poyson of venemous beastes / and of other poysones Of the herbe called Securidaca SEcuridaca is called in Greke Edisseron or PelikinoÌ / I haue sene this herbe only in gardines in England / wherfore I could neuer learne any English name of it but lest it should be wtout name / I call it Axsede or Axwurt / or Axsich / because Dioscorides sayeth that the sede of securidaca is lyke vnto a two edged axe The description of Securidaca out of Dioscorides Securidaca is a litle bushe hauinge leaues lyke a ciche / called in Latin Cicer / coddes lyke vnto litle hornes / wherin is rede sede / lyke vnto a two edged axe / whervpon it hath the name the sede is in tast bitter / but dronkeÌ it is pleasant to the stomack / I haue sene ij kindes of Axwurt / both wyth the leaues of a Ciche But the one grewe wilde in Germanye / and had coddes very litle / vowed in an other kinde wyth coddes so bowyng inwarde / that they might be compared vnto a bowe of ayock / this kind dyd I neuer se / but in gardins Dioscorides writeth that it groweth amoÌgest the barly wheat The nature of Securidaca Dioscorides writeth that although it be better in tast / yet it is pleasant vnto the stomack / that it is put into triacles / preseruatiues Of other good properties / he maketh no further mention Galene writeth besyde these properties / that it openeth the stopping of the inward partes / and that all the buddes and braunches do thesame Out of Aetius The sede of Axsich is most pleasant to the stomack / is most fit for all the inward bowelles In hoter complexions / the sede of Axwurt ought to be menged with the emplasters / that are made for the hardnes of the milt Howbeit also in colde complexiones / and in all other it is very excellent Of Housleke Sedum magnum Sedum foemina Sedum tertium genus Sedum minus SEdum is called also in Latin Semperuiuum / and in Greke Aeizoon There are iiij kindes of semperuiuum the fyrste kinde is called in Latin Sedum magnum / in Greke Aeizoon mega / in English Housleke / and of som Singren / but it ought better to be called Aygrene / in Duche it is called Gros hauswurtz / in French Iubarb The seconde kinde is called in English / thrift stone crop / in Latin Sedum minus The thyrde kinde is called of som late wryters Vermicularis / in English Mous tayle or litle stone crop / and in Duche Maurpfeffer The description of the kindes of Semperuiuum Housleke hath the name of Semperuiuum in Latin / and of Aeizoon in Greke / the leaues are grene wherfore me thynke that Aygrene as I sayed before / is a better name for it then Singrene The fyrst or great kinde hath a stalk a cubit hygh or hygher / as thycke as your thumb / fatt / fayre grene / hauinge litle cuttinges in it as Tithimalus characias hath the leaues are fatt / or thyck / of the bignes of a mannes thumb / at the poynt lyke a tonge The nethermoste leaues lye wyth there bellyes vpward / and the poyntes dounwarde but they that are toward the top / beyng drawen together / resemble a circle with the figure of an eye It groweth in mountaynes / and hylly places / som vse to set it vpon theyr houses But the lesse Semperuiuum / that we call thrift or great stone crop / groweth in walles / rockes / mudwalles / and shaddowy diches / it hath manye stalkes comming from one root / small / full of rounde leaues / fat and sharpe in the ende / it bringeth furth a stalk in the middes a span long / whyche hath a bushye and shaddowy top / and small grene floures There semeth to be a thyrde kinde of Aygrene / som call it Porcellayne / or Teliphium / the Romaynes call it Illicibram / it hath leaues thycker and rough drawyng nere vnto the leaues of Porcellayn / thys kind groweth in rockes The vertues of the kindes of aygrene THe great kinde hath a cooling nature and binding the leaues by them selues / and layd to wyth perched barley mele / are good for the