wholsome to the belly than the other but the meale as wel of the one as the other doth heale the running sores scales of the head howbeit the wild better than the rest Moreouer these ciches are taken to be good for the falling sicknesse the swellings of the liuer and the sting of Serpents They procure womens termes and prouoke vrine and especially the grain it selfe rather than the leafe The same are singular for tettars and ring-worms for inflammations of the cods for the jaundise dropsie But all the sort of them be hurtfull to the bladder and kidnies especially if they be exulcerat For gangrenes and those morimall vlcers called Cacoethe they be better in case they bee tempered with honey Some there be who for to be ridde of all kinde of Warts take as many Cich-pease as there be warts and with euery one of them touch a wart and that vpon the first day after the change of the Moon which done they tie the foresaid Pease or Ciches in a little linnen â—…ag and fling them away backward behind them and they are persuaded that the warts will be gone by this means But our Latine Physitians are of opinion That the blacke ciches which be called Ram-ciches should be well and throughly sodden in water and salt of which decoction they prescribe vnto the patient for to drinke two cyaths in difficulty of making water for to expell the stone and rid away the jaundise Their leaues and stalks of straw being sodden in water ouer a good fire yeeld a decoction which beeing vsed as hot as may be suffered doth mollifie the callosities hardnesse growing about the feet so doth a liniment also made of the very substance it selfe stamped and applied hot The Columbine ciches sodden in water are thought to lessen and shorten the shaking fits in tertian and quartan agues The black cich-pease being beaten to pouder with halfe the quantity of gall-nuts and incorporat with sweet wine cuit called Passum and so applied cureth the vlcers of the eyes As touching Eruile somewhat I haue said already touching the properties thereof when I made mention of it among other kinds of pulse And indeed the old writers haue attributed as great power vertue vnto it as to the Colewort Being laid to with vineger it cureth the hurts that come by the sting of serpents or the teeth of man crocodile There be writers of approued authority who assirm for certain That if a man doe eat Eruile fasting euery day it will diminish and wast the swelling of the spleen The meale of Eruile as Varro reporteth taketh away the spots and moles of any part of the body And in truth this pulse is singular to represse corrosiue and eating vlcers but aboue all it is most effectuall in the sores of womens brests applied with wine it breaketh carbuncles Being torrified and incorporat with hony and reduced into an electuarie or bole and so taken as much as an hazell nut it amendeth the suppression or difficulty of voiding vrine dissolueth ventosities openeth obstructions and helpeth other accidents of the liuer the prouocations and proffers to the stoole without doing any thing reuiueth those parts that mislike and feele no benefit or nutriment of meat which they cal in Greek Atropha In like manner it cureth shingles ring-worms and tettars if it be first sodden in vineger so applied and not remoued vntil the fourth day If it be laid too with hony it keepeth biles from suppuration A fomentation made with the decoction thereof in water helps kibed heels the itch And it is generally thought That if a man drink it euery day next his heart vpon an empty stomack it will make the whole body looke with a better and more liuely colour Contrariwise the common opinion is That it is not good to be eaten ordinarily as meat for it moueth to vomit troubleth the belly lieth heauy vpon the stomack and fumeth vp into the head it breedeth ache and heauinesse in the knees But if it haue lien many daies in steepe after that imbibition of water it becommeth more mild and is a most wholsom prouender for horse and oxen The green cods of Eruile before they waxe hard if they be stamped with their stalkes and leaues together do colour and die the hairs of the head blacke As touching wild Lupines they be inferior to those which come of seed in all respects but only in biternesse And verily there is not a thing more commendable wholsome and light of digestion than white Lupines if they be eaten dry They are brought to be sweet and pleasant by hot ashes or scalding water Beeing eaten at meales vsually they make a fresh colour and chearfull countenance Bitter Lupines are very good against the sting of the Aspides Dry Lupins husked clensed from their skins applied to black mortified vlcers ful of dead flesh with a linnen cloth between reduce them to a liuely colour and to quick flesh again The same sodden in vineger discusse the kings euill and the swelling kernels impostumations behind the ears The broth or collature of them being sodden with Rue and Pepper may be giuen safely although it were in an ague to those that bee vnder thirty yeares of age for to expell the wormes in the belly As for young children who haue the wormes it is good to lay Lupines to their bellie whiles they be fasting All others are to take them torrified either by way of drink in a kind of wine cuit or els in electuary after the maner of a lohoch The same do giue an edge to the stomacke and quicken the appetite to meat The meale or pouder of Lupines wrought with vineger into a dough or paste and so reduced into a liniment and vsed in a bain or stouve represseth and keepeth down all wheales and itching pimples which are ready to breake forth and of it selfe is sufficient to drie vp vlcers It bringeth to the natiue and liuely colour al places blacke and blew with stripes Medled with Barly groats it assuageth all inflammations For the weaknesse of the huckle bone the haunch and loins the wilde Lupines are counted more effectual than the other A fomentation with the decoction of these wild Lupins maketh the skin more smooth and beautifull taking away all spots and freckles But if the same or garden Lupines be boiled to the height and consistence of hony they do clense the skin from black morphew and the leprosie These also if they be applied as a cataplasme do break carbuncles bring down or els ripen the swelling kernels named the kings euil and other biles and botches which of their nature be long ere they gather to head Boiled in vineger they reduce places cicatrized to their naturall colour and make them look faire white again But if they be throughly sodden in rain water of the collature that passeth from them there is made an abstersiue and scouring lie in manner of sope most excellent for
the heauen the fire of discord is kindled and groweth hot Neither may she abide by it and stand to the fight but being continually carried away she rolleth vp and down and as about the earth shee spreadeth and pitcheth her tents as it were with an vnmeasurable globe of the heauen so euer and anon of the clouds she frameth another skie And this is that region where the winds raigne And therefore their kingdome principally is there to be seene where they execute their forces and are the cause well neere of all other troubles in the aire For thunderbolts and flashing lightenings most men attribute to their violence Nay more than that therefore it is supposed that otherwhiles it raineth stones because they were taken vp first by the winde so as we may conclude that they cause many like impressions in the aire Wherefore many matters besides are to be treated of together CHAP. XXXIX ¶ Of ordinary and set seasons IT is manifest that of times and seasons as also of other things some causes be certaine others casuall and by chance or such as yet the reason thereof is vnknowne For who need to doubt that Summers and Winters and those alternatiue seasons which we obserue by yearely course are occasioned by the motion of the Planets As therefore the Sunnes nature is vnderstood by tempering and ordering the yeare so the rest of the starres and planets also haue euery one their proper and peculiar power and the same effectuall to shew and performe their owne nature Some are fruitfull to bring forth moisture that is turned into liquid raine others to yeeld an humour either congealed into frosts or gathered and thickened into snow or else frozen and hardened into haile some afford winds others warmth some hot and scorching vapours some dewes and others cold Neither yet ought these starres to be esteemed so little as they shew in sight seeing that none of them is lesse than the Moone as may appeare by the reason of their exceeding height Well then euery one in their own motion exercise their seuerall natures which appeareth manifestly by Saturne especially who setteth open the gates for raine and shoures to passe And not onely the seuen wandering starres be of this power but many of them also that are fixed in the firmament so often as they be either driuen by the excesse and approch of those planets or pricked and prouoked by the casting and influence of their beams like as we find it happeneth in the seuen stars called Suculae which the Grecians of raine name Hyades because they euer bring foule weather Howbeit some of their owne nature and at certaine set times do cause raine as the rising of the Kids As for Arcturus he neuer lightly appeareth without some tempestuous and stormie haile CHAP. XL. ¶ The power of the Dog-starre WHo knoweth not that when the Dogge-starre ariseth the heate of the Sunne is fiery and burning the effects of which starre are felt exceeding much vpon the earth The seas at his rising do rage and take on the wines in sellars are troubled pooles also and standing waters doe stirre and moue A wilde beast there is in Aegypt called Orix which the Aegyptians say doth stand full against the Dog-starre when it riseth looking wistly vpon it and testifieth after a sort by sneezing a kind of worship As for dogs no man doubteth verily but all the time of the canicular daies they are most ready to run mad CHAP. XLI ¶ That the stars haue their seuerall influences in sundry parts of the signes and at diuers times MOreouer the parts of certaine signes haue their peculiar force as appeareth in the Equinoctiall of Autumne and in mid-winter at what time we perceiue that the Sun maketh tempests And this is proued not onely by raines and stormes but by many experiments in mens bodies and accidents to plants in the countrey For some men are stricken by the Planet and blasted others are troubled and diseased at certaine times ordinarily in their belly sinewes head and minde The Oliue tree the Aspe or white Poplar and Willowes turne or wryth their leaues about at Mid-summer when the Sun entreth Cancer And contrariwise in very Mid-winter when he entreth Capricorne the herbe Penyroiall floureth fresh euen as it hangs within house drie and ready to wither At which time all parchments such like bladders or skinnes are so pent and stretched with spirit and wind that they burst withall A man might maruell hereat who marketh not by daily experience that one herbe called Heliotropium regardeth and looketh toward the Sun euer as he goeth turning with him at all houres notwithstanding he be shadowed vnder a cloud Now certaine it is that the bodies of Oysters Muskles Cocles and all shell fishes grow by the power of the Moone and thereby againe diminish yea and some haue found out by diligent search into Natures secrets that the fibres or filaments in the liuers of rats and mice answer in number to the daies of the Moones age also that the least creature of all others the Pismire feeleth the power of this Planet and alwaies in the change of the Moone ceaseth from worke Certes the more shame it is for man to be ignorant and vnskilfull especially seeing that he must confesse that some labouring beasts haue certaine diseases in their eyes which with the Moone do grow and decay Howbeit the excessiue greatnesse of the heauen and exceeding height thereof diuided as it is into 72 signes maketh for him and serueth for his excuse Now these signes are the resemblances of things or liuing creatures into which the skilfull Astronomers haue with good respect digested the firmament For example sake in the taile of Taurus there be seuen which they named in old time Vergiliae in the forehead other seuen called Suculae and Boötes who followeth after the wain or great Beare Septentriones CHAP. XLII ¶ The causes of raine showers winds and cloudes I Cannot denie but without these causes there arise raines and windes for that certaine it is how there is sent forth from the earth a mist sometimes moist otherwhiles smokie by reason of hot vapours and exhalations Also that clouds are ingendered by vapours which are gone vp on high or else of the aire gathered into a waterie liquour that they be thicke grosse and of a bodily consistence wee guesse and collect by no doubtful argument considering that they ouer-shadow the Sun which otherwise may be seene through the water as they know well that diue to any depth whatsoeuer CHAP. XLIII ¶ Of Thunder and Lightening DEnie I would not therefore but that the fierie impressions from stars aboue may fall vpon these clouds such as we oftentimes see to shoot in cleare and faire weather by the forceble stroke whereof good reason it is that the aire should be mightily shaken seeing that arrowes and darts when they are discharged sing and keepe a noise as they flie But when they incounter a cloud there arises
them hornes but some are nott but in those which are horned a man may know their age by the number of the knots therein more or lesse and in very truth the nott shee goats are more free of milke Archelaus writeth that they take their breath at the eares and not at the nostrils also that they be neuer cleare of the ague And this haply is the cause that they are hotter mouthed and haue a stronger breath than sheepe and more egre in their rut Men say moreouer that they see by night as well as by day therefore they that when euening is come see nothing at all recouer their perfect sight again by eating ordinarily the liuer of goats In Cilicia and about the Syrtes the people clad themselues with goats haire for there they shere them as sheep Furthermore it is said that goats toward the Sun-setting cannot in their pasture see directly one another but by turning taile to taile as for other houres of the day they keep head to head range together with the rest of their fellowes They haue all of them a tuft of haire like a beard hanging vnder their chin which they call Aruncus If a man take one of them by this beard and draw it forth of the stock all the rest will stand still gazing thereat as if they were astonied and so wil they doe if any of them chaunce to bite of a certaine hearb Their teeth kill trees As for an oliue tree if they doe but lick it they spoile it for euer bearing after and for this cause they be not killed in sacrifice to Minerua CHAP. LI. ¶ Of Swine and their natures SWine goe a brimming from the time that the Westerne wind Fauonius beginnes to blow vntill the spring Aequinoctiall and they take the bore when they be eight months old yea in some places at the fourth month of their age and continue breeding vnto the seuenth yeare They farrow commonly twice a yeare they be with pig foure months One sow may bring at one farrow twenty pigges but reare so many she cannot Nigidius saith that those pigs which are farrowed ten daies vnder or ten daies ouer the shortest day in the yeare when the sun entreth into Capricorn haue teeth immediatly They stand lightly to the first brimming but by reason that they are subject to cast their pigs they had need to be brimmed a second time Howbeit the best way to preuent that they doe not slip their young is to keepe the bore from them at their first grunting and seeking after him nor to let them be brimmed before their ears hang downe Bores be not good to brim swine after they be three yeres old Sowes when they be wearie for age that they cannot stand take the bore lying along That a sow should eat her own pigs it is no prodigious wonder A pig is pure good for sacrifice 5 daies after it is farrowed a lamb when it hath been yeaned 8 daies and a calfe being 30 daies old But Gornucanus saith That all beasts for sacrifice which chew cud are not pure and right for that purpose vntill they haue teeth Swine hauing lost on eie are not thought to liue long after otherwise they may continue vntill they be fifteen yeares old yea some to twenty But they grow to be wood and raging otherwhiles and besides are subject to many maladies more most of all to the squinancie and wen or swelling of the kernels in the neck Will ye know when a swine is sick or vnsound pluck a bristle from the back and it will be bloudie at the root also he will cary his neck atone side as he goeth A sow if she be ouer-fat soone wanteth milke and at her first farrow bringeth fewest pigs All the kind of them loue to wallow in dirt and mire They wrinkle their taile wherin this also is obserued that they be more likely to appease the gods in sacrifice that rather writh turn their tailes to the right hand than the left Swine wil be fat and wel larded in sixtie daies and the rather if before you begin to frank them vp they be kept altogether from meat three daies Of all other beasts they are most brutish insomuch as there goes a pleasant by-word of them and fitteth them well That their life is giuen them in stead of salt This is known for a truth that when certaine theeues had stolne and driuen away a companie of them the swinheard hauing followed them to the water side for by that time were the theeues imbarged with them cried aloud vnto the swine as his manner was whereupon they knowing his voice learned all to one side of the vessel turned it ouer and sunke it tooke the water and so swam againe to land vnto their keeper Moreouer the hogs that vse to lead and goe before the heard are so well trained that they wil of themselues goe to the swine-market place within the citie from thence home againe to their maisters without any guid to direct them The wild bores in this kind haue the wit to couer their tracks with mire and for the nones to run ouer marish ground where the prints of their footing will not be sene yea and to be more light in running to void their vrine first Sowes also are splaied as well as camels but two daies before they be kept from meat then hang they by the fore-legs for to make incision into their matrice and to take forth their stones and by this means they will sooner grow to be fat There is an Art also in cookerie to make the liuer of a sow as also of a goose more daintie and it was the deuise of M. Apicius namely to feed them with drie figges and when they haue eaten till they bee full presently to giue them mead or honied wine to drink vntill they die with being ouercharged There is not the flesh of any other liuing creature that yeeldeth more store of dishes to the maintenance of gluttonie than this for fiftie sundrie sorts of tastes it affordeth whereas other haue but one a peece From hence came so many edicts and proclamations published by the Censors forbidding and prohibiting to serue vp at any feast or supper the belly and paps of a sow the kernels about the neck the brizen the stones the womb and the fore-part of the bores head and yet for all that Publius the Poet and maker of wanton songs after that he was come to his freedom neuer by report had supper without an hogs belly with the paps who also to that dish gaue the name and called it Sumen Moreouer the flesh of wild bores came to be in great request and was much set by in such sort as Cato the Censor in his inuectiue orations challenged men for brawne And yet when they made three kinds of meat of the wild bore the loine was alwaies serued vp in the mids The first Romane that brought to the table a whole bore at once
like a saw ridged and chamfered between wrinkling and winding vpward to the top like Caltropes bearing out sharpe points in the edges without-forth broad and spread at large within rolled in pleits Moreouer there be other distinct shapes besides all these some be striped and raied with long streaks others crested and blasing with a bush of long haire some againe crisped and curled others made like an hollow gutter or pipe some fashioned as it were a comb others waving with plaits one aboue another tile-wise others framed in the manner of a net or lattise some are wrought crooked and byas others spred out directly in length A man shall see of them those that are made thick and mossie thrust together and compact others stretcht forth at large ye shall haue of them wrapt and lapt one within another and to conclude vee shall find them run round into a short fast knot and all their sides vnited together in one some flat and plain good to giue a clap others turning inward crooked like a cornet made as it were to sound and wind withall Of all these sorts the Pourcelanes or Venus-Winkles swim aboue the water and with their concauitie or hollow part which they set into the weather help themselues in stead of sailes and so gathering wind saile as it were aloft vpon the sea The manner of the Scalops is to skip and otherwhiles they will leap forth of the water They also can find the means to make a boat of themselues and so flote aboue and saile handsomly CHAP. XXXIV ¶ The riches of the sea BVt what meane I all this while to stand vpon these small trifling matters when as in very truth the ouerthrow of all honestie the ruin of good maners and in lieu thereof all riot and superfluity proceeds from these shel-fishes and from nothing so much for now the world is grown to this passe that there is nothing in it whatsoeuer so chargeable to mankind nothing so hurtfull and dangerous as is the very sea and that so many waies namely in furnishing the table with such varietie of dishes in pleasing and contenting the taste with so many dainty and delicate fishes and those carry the highest price that be gotten with greatest hazard and danger of those that take them otherwise they be of no regard and value to speake of CHAP. XXXV ¶ Of Pearles how and where they be found HOwbett al that before named is nothing in comparison of the Purples pretious Coquils and Pearls that come from thence It was not sufficient belike to bring the seas into the kitchen to let them down the throat into the belly vnlesse men and women both caried them about in their hands and eares upon their head and all ouer their body And yet what societie and affinitie is there betwixt the sea and apparell what proportion betwixt the waues and surging billowes thereof and wooll for surely this element naturally receiues vs not into her bosom vnlesse we be stark naked and set the case there were so great good fellowship with it and our bellies how comes our backe and sides ro be acquainted with it But wee were not contented to feed with the peril of so many men vnlesse we be clad and araied also â—…herewith O the folly of vs men see how there is nothing that goeth to the pampering and trimming of this our carcasse of so great price and account that is not bought with the vtmost hasard and costeth not the venture of a mans life But now to the purpose The richest merchandise of all and the most soueraigne commoditie throughout the whole world are these Pearles The Indian ocean is chief for sending them and yet to come by them we must go and search among those huge terrible monsters of the sea which we haue spoken of before we must passe ouer so many seas and saile into far countries so remote and come into those parts where the heate of the sun is so excessiue and extreme and when all is done we may perhaps misse of them for euen the Indians themselues are glad to seeke among the Islands for them when they haue done all they can meet with very few The greatest plenty of them is to be found in the coast of Taprobane and Toidis as hath bin said before in our Cosmographie and description of the world and likewise about Perimula a promontorie and city of India But the most perfect and exquisite of all others be they that are gotten about Arabia within the Persian gulfe This shell-fish which is the mother of Pearle differs not much in the maner of breeding and generation from the Oysters for when the season of the yeare requireth that they should engender they seeme to yawne and gape and so do open wide and then by report they conceiue a certaine moist dew as seed wherewith they swell and grow big and when time commeth labor to be deliuered hereof and the fruit of these shell fishes are the Peares better or worse great or small according to the qualitie and quantitie of the dew which they receiued For if the dew were pure and cleare which went into them then are the Pearles white faire and Orient but if grosse and troubled the Pearles likewise are dimme foule and duskish pale I say they are if the weather were close darke and threatning raine in the time of their conception Whereby no doubt it is apparant and plaine that they participate more of the aire and sky than of the water and the sea for according as the morning is faire so are they cleere but otherwise if it were misty and cloudy they also will be thicke and muddy in colour If they may haue their full time and season to feed the Pearles likewise will thriue and grow bigge but if in the time it doth chance to lighten then they close their shells together and for want of nourishment are kept hungrie and fasting and so the pearles keepe at a stay and prosper not accordingly But if it thunder withall then suddenly they shut hard at once and breed only those excrescences which be called Physemata like vnto bladders pust vp and hooued with wind no corporal substance at all and these are the abortiue vntimely fruits of these shel fishes Now those that haue their ful perfection and be sound and good indeed haue many folds and skins wherein they be lapt not vnproperly as it may be thought a thicke hard and callous rind of the body which they that be skilfull do pill and clense from them Certes I cannot chuse but wonder how they should so greatly be affected with the aire and joy so much therein for with the same they wax red and lose their natiue whitenesse and beautie exen as the bodie of a man or woman that is caught and burnt with the sun And therefore those shels that keep in the maine sea and lie deeper than that the sun-beames can pierce vnto them keep the finest and most
lies in ambush to wait when any man for his pleasure would swim and bath himselfe that so he might surprise them otherwhiles he puts out his nose aboue the water to spie any small fisher boats comming and then he swimmeth close to them ouerturneth and sinketh them CHAP. XLV ¶ Of those that haue a third or middle nature and are neither liuing creatures nor yet Plants also of the sea-Nettle-fishes and Spunges I Verily for my part am of opinion that those which properly are neither beasts nor plants but of a third nature between or compounded of both the sea-Nettles I mean and Sponges haue yet a kinde of sense with them As for those Nettles there be of them that in the night raunge too and fro and likewise change their colour Leaues they carry of a fleshie substance and of flesh they feed Their qualitie is to raise an itching smart like for all the world to the weed on the land so called His manner is when he would prey to gather in his body as close streight and stiffe as possibly may be He spieth not so soon a silly little fish swimming before him but he spratdeth and displaieth those leaues of his like wings with them he claspeth the poore fish and so deuoures it At other times he lies as if he had no life at all in him suffering himselfe to be tossed and cast too and fro among the weeds with the waues of the sea and look what fish soeuer he toucheth as he is thus floting hee sets a smart itch vpon them and whiles they scratch and rub themselues against the rockes for this itch hee sets vpon them and eates them In the night season he lieth for sea-Vrchens and Scalops When he feeleth ones hand to touch him he changeth colour and draweth himselfe in close together on a heape and no sooner toucheth he one but the place will itch sting and be ready to blister make not good hast to catch him quickly he is hidden out of hand and gone It is thought verily that his mouth lyeth in his root and that he voideth his excrements at a small pipe or issue aboue where those fleshie leaues are Of Spunges we find three sorts the first thicke exceeding hard and rough and this is called Tragos a second not all so thicke and somewhat softer and that is named Manon the third is fine and yet compact wherewith they make sponges to cleanse and scoure withall and this is tearmed Achilleum They grow al vpon rocks and are fed with wilkes or shel-fish with naked fish and mud That they are not senslesse appeares hereby for that when they feele that one would pluck them away they draw in and retire back hard so as with greater difficulty they are pulled from the rocke The like doe they when they be beaten vpon with waues That they liue vpon some food it is manifest by the little coquill muscle shels that be found within them And some say that about Torone they continue still aliue after they be pulcked frow the rocks and that of the roots which are left behind they grow againe Moreouer vpon those rocks from whence they be pulled there is to be seen as it were some bloud sticking especially in those of Africke which breed among the Syrtes The Manae which otherwise be the least become very great most soft withall about Lycia But they be more delicate which are nourished in the deep gulfes where least wind or none is stirring The rough kind are in Hellespont and the fine and ma ssie about the cape Malea In sun-shine places they will corrupt and putrifie and therefore the best are in the deep gulfs and creeks not exposed to the Sun They be of the same dusk and blackish colour when they liue as they are afterwards being soked full of moisture They cleaue to rocks neither by any one part nor yet entire and whole all ouer for there are between certain void pipes 4 or 5 commonly by which they are supposed to receiue their food and nourishment There be more of these pipes and concauities but aboue they are grown together hard and not hollow A certain pellicle or thin skin a man may perceiue them to haue at their roots For certain it is knowne that they liue long The worst kind of them all be those that are called Aplysiae because vnneth they may bee separated nor clensed and made cleane they are so foule for great pipes they haue thicke they are besides throughout and very massie CHAP. XLVI ¶ Of Hound-fishes or Sea-dogs THe dyuers that vse to plunge into the sea are annoied very much with a number of Sea-hounds that come about them and put them in great jeopardie And they say that these fishes haue a certain dim cloud or thin web growing hanging ouer their heads resembling broad flat and gristly fishes which clingeth them hard and hindreth them from retiring backe and giuing way For which cause the said dyuers as themselues say carry downe with them certaine sharp pricks or goads fastened to long poles for vnlesse they be proked at and pricked with them they will not turn their backe by reason as I suppose of a mist before their eies or rather of some feare amazednesse that they be in For I neuer heard of any man that found the like cloud or mist for this term they giue vnto that vnhappie thing what-euer it be in the range of liuing creatures But yet much ado they haue and hard hold with these Hound-fishes notwithstanding for they lay at their bellies and groines at their heeles and snap at euery part of their bodies that they can perceiue to be white The onely way and remedy is to make head directly affront them and to begin with them first and so to terrifie them for they are not so terrible to a man but they are as fraid of him againe Thus within the deepe they are indifferently euen matched but when the dyuers mount vp and rise againe aboue water then there is some ods betweene and the man hath the disaduantage and is in more danger by reason that whiles he laboureth to get out of the water he faileth of means to encounter with the beast against the streame and sourges of the water And therefore his only recourse is to haue help and aid from his fellowes in the ship for hauing a cord tied at one end about his shoulders he shaketh it with his left hand to giue signe what danger hee is whiles hee maintaineth fight with the right by taking into it the puncheon with the sharpe point before said and so at the other end they draw him to them and they need otherwise to pull and hale him but softly mary when he is neere once to the ship vnlesse they giue him a sudden jerke and snatch him vp quickly they may be sure to see him worried and deuoured before their face yea and when they are at the point to be plucked vp
neer to their hiues the very aire smel therof will kill them Ouer and besides Bees naturally are many times sick and that do they shew most euidently a man shall see it in them by their heauie looks by their faintnesse in their busines ye shall mark how some will bring forth others that be sicke and diseased into the warme sun and be readie to minister vnto them giue them meat Nay ye shall haue them to carie forth their dead and to accompanie the corps full decently as in a solemne funerall If it chance that the king be dead of some pestilent malady the commons subiects mourn they take thought and grieue with heauy cheere and sad countenance idle they be and take no ioy to doe any thing they gather in no prouision they march not forth onely with a certaine dolefull humming they gather round about his corps and will not away Then requisite it is and necessarie to seuer part the multitude and so to take away the body from them otherwise they would keep a looking at the breathlesse carcasse and neuer go from it but stil moan and mourn without end And euen then also they had need be cherished and comforted with good victuals otherwise they would pine away die with hunger To conclude a man may soon know when Bees be well in health by their cheerfulnesse and fresh hue that they carry CHAP. XIX Diseases of Beees THere be diseases also and imperfections in their worke and namely when they fill not their combs or bring not to perfection their yong Bees The first is called Cleros like as the other Blapsigonia Moreouer the sound made by reuerberation of the aire which men call Eccho is hurtfull vnto them for they feare mightily that resounding noise comming with a double stroke Mists fogs also trouble them much as for spiders they be their greatest enemies of all others in case they can preuaile so much as to enter into the hiue weaue a copweb within it for they kil all the Bees and there is no remedie against it Againe that Moth or Butterfly which vseth to fly about the snuffe of a candle burning a poore silly flie otherwise and of base account here doth much hurt and that in diuers sorts for not only it self eateth and gnaweth the wax of their combes but also doth blow and leaue behind them such excrements as afterwards proue other moths Also wheresoeuer he goes and flies within the hiue he leaues behind him a certaine substance comming most from the dusty downe of his wings with which he thickneth the threds as it were of copwebs There breed likewise euen in very wood certain worms which aboue all things make means to eat the combs What should I speake of their owne greedy feeding and glutting themselues with too much liquour of the floures in the Spring time especially whereupon ensueth a dangerous flux and loosnesse of their belly As for oile it is not bane to Bees only but also to all other Insects especially if a man dip their heads in it and then let them be in the Sun for presently they wil die of it Many times Bees are causers of their own death with getting a surfet by excessiue deuouring of hony namely when they see it ready to be taken out of the hiue for otherwise they are very thrifty ouer-great sparers and such as at other times will driue out those that wast prodigally and be gluttinous no lesse than such as be idle lusks and slow at work Nay euen their own hony doth them hurt for if they be anointed therewith in their hinderparts they will die vpon it Lo how many enemies this creature so liberall and bountifull hath see how many casualties it is subiect vnto and yet what be these I haue already rehearsed in proportion and comparison of those which are omitted Their remedies will we speak of in conuenient time and place for this present content I will my selfe to treat only of their natures CHAP. XX. ¶ How to keepe Bees to the hiue and the manner of repairing them BEes ioy in the clapping of hands and ringing of brasen basons at the sound thereof they will assemble and come together wherby it is plain that they haue the sence of hearing When they haue done their taske of worke when they haue brought forth their young ones and fully accomplished all their deuoir then they perform a solemnitie of exercise wherin after they haue flown abroad in the open aire at libertie fetched their compasse about on high gathered into rings and rounds in manner of tournament for their pleasure then at last when it is time of repast they return home again The longest time that they can liue say that they passe through all dangers and no misfortune light vpon them but euery thing that is aduerse fall out well and happily is not aboue seuen yeares And neuer was it knowne or heard of that an hiue continued aboue ten yeares Some Writers be of opinion That dead Bees if they be kept within a house all a Winter and when the Spring is come be laid forth in the hot Sun to fry and one whole day be kept couered all ouer with fig tree ashes they will reuiue and be quick again But suppose they be not only dead but their bodies also lost and gon some say they may be repaired and a new swarm ingendred by laying the fresh panches of oxen or kine newly killed with the dung garbage and all within a dunghill there to putrifie Virgil affirms that the carcasses of any yong steers will do the same like as dead horses will bred waspes and hornets and Asses carrion turne to be Beetle flies by a certain metamorphosis which Nature maketh from one creature to another And yet there be none of all these but are seen to engender howbeit the manner of their breed is much after the nature of Bees CHAP. XXI ¶ Of Wasps and Hornets WAsps vse to build them nests on high of earth and clay and therein make their roomes and cels of wax Hornets in caues and holes vnder the ground All these verily haue their chambers made with six corners and yet their nests consist of some barke and substance like cobwebs And as they be a barbarous and sauage kind of creatures so their yong is not vniforme one is ready to fly abroad while another is but yong not fledge and a third a meere worme and grub still All these breed in Autumne and neuer in the spring When the Moone is in the full they increase maruellously As for the little waspes called Ichneumones and lesse they be than others they vse to kill one kind of spiders called Phalangia and carry them into their nests they besmeare them all ouer with a liniment sit ouer them and so procreate their own kind Moreouer all the sort of these liue vpon flesh contrary to the manner of Bees which will not touch a dead carcasse But
for the male putteth forth his bloome in the branch but the female sheweth no floure at all but sprouteth and shooteth out buds in manner of a thorne howbeit both in the one and the other the pulp or flesh of the Date commeth first and after it the wooddy stone within which stands in stead of the grain and seed of the Date And this appeares euidently by a good token for that in the same branch there be found little yong Dates without any such stone at al. Now is the said stone or kernell of the Date in forme long not so round and turned like a ball as that of the Oliue Besides along the back it hath a cut or deep slit chamfered in as it were between two pillowes but in the mids of the belly on the other side for the most part it hath a round specke formed like a nauill whereat the root or chit beginneth first to put forth Moreouer for the better planting of Dates they set two together of their stones in a ranke with the bellies downward to the earth and as many ouer their heads for if one alone should come vp it were not able to stand of it selfe the root and young plant would be so feeble but foure together so ioine clasp and grow one to another that they do well enough and are sufficient to beare themselues vpright the kernel or wooddy substance within the Date is diuided from the fleshy pulp and meat thereof by many white pellicles or thin skins between neither lieth it close thereto but hollow a good distance from it saue that in the head it is fastened thereunto by a thred or string and yet there be other pellicles that cleaue fast and sticke to the substance of the Date within The Date is a yeare in ripening Howbeit in certaine places as namely in Cyprus the meat or fleshie pulp thereof is sweet and pleasant in taste although it be not come to the full ripenesse where also the leafe of the tree is broader and the fruit rounder than the rest mary then you must take heed not to eat and swallow down the very bodily substance of it but spit it forth after you haue wel chewed sucked out the iuice therof Also they say that in Arabia the dates haue but a faint weak sweetnes with them yet K. Iuba makes greatest account of those which the region of the Scenites in Arabia doth yeeld where they be called Dabula and he commends them for their delicate and pleasant tast before all others Moreouer it is constantly affirmed That the females be naturally barten and will not beare fruit without the company of the males among them to make them for to conceiue yet grow they wil neuerthelesse and come vp of themselues yea and become tall woods and verily a man shall see many of the females stand about one male bending and leaning in the head full kindly toward him yeelding their branches that way as if they courted him for to win his loue But contrariwise he a grim sir and a coy carries his head aloft bears his bristled rough arms vpright on high and yet what with his very lookes what with his breathing and exhalations vpon them or else with a certain dust that passes from him he doth the part of an husband insomuch as all the females about him conceiue and are fruitfull with his only presence It is said moreouer that if this male tree be cut downe his wiues wil afterwards become barren and beare no more Dates as if they were widows Finally so euident is the copulation of these sexes in the Date trees knowne to be so effectuall that men haue deuised also to make the females fruitful by casting vpon them the blooms and down that the male bears yea and otherwhiles by strewing the pouder which he yeelds vpon them Besides the maner abouesaid of setting date stones for increase the trees may be replanted of the very truncheons of two cubits long sliued and diuided from the very brain as it were of the green tree in the top and so couched and interred leauing only the head without the ground Moreouer Date trees wil take again and liue if either their slips be pluckt from the root or their tendrils small branches be set in the earth As for the Assyrians they make no more adoe but if it be a moist soile plash the very tree it selfe whole as it stands and draw it along and so trench it within the ground and thus it will take root and propagate but such will neuer proue faire trees but skrubs only And therefore they deuise certain Seminaries or Nource gardens of them and no sooner be they of one yeares growth but they transplant them and so againe a second time when they be two yeares old for these trees loue alone to be remoued from one place to another But whereas in other countries this transplantation is practised in the spring the Assyrians attend the very mids and heat of Summer and in the beginning of the Dog-daies vse to replant them Moreouer in that countrie they neither cut off the heads ne yet shred the branches of the yong plants with their hooks and bils but rather bind vp their boughes that they may shoot vp in height the better Howbeit when they are strong they cut their branches for to make the bodies burnish and waxe thicker but yet in the lopping they leaue stumps of boughes halfe a foot long to the very tree which if they were cut off in other places would be the death of the mother stocke And forasmuch as Date trees delight in a salt and nitrous soile according as hath bin before said the Assyrians therefore when they meet not with a ground of that nature strew salt not close about the roots but somwhat farther off In Syria and Egypt there be some Date trees that diuide themselues and are forked in twaine rising vp in two trunkes or bodies In Crete they haue three and some also fiue The nature of the Palme or Date tree is to beare ordinarily when they be three yeares old howbeit in Cyprus Syria and Egypt it is soure yeares first ere some bring fruit yea and fiue yeares before others begin and such neuer exceed a mans height neither haue they any stone or wooddy kernel within the Date so long as they be young and tender during which time they haue a pretty name for them and call them Gelded Dates and many kindes there be of these trees As for those that be barren and fruitlesse all Assyria and Persia throughout vse them for timber to make quarters and pamels for seeling wainescot and their fine ioyned workes There be also of Date trees coppey woods which they vse to fell and cut at certaine times and euermore they put forth a yong spring from the old root and stock These haue in the very head and top a certain pleasant and sweet marow which they terme The braine and
effect make a decoction of them in milke and so minister it vnto the patient in a clyster These stalkes being well and throughly boiled are said to be very wholesome for the stomacke also like as for to procure sleepe the garden Lectuce is thought most effectuall namely that which is bitter and yeeldeth store of milk which hertofore we haue termed Meconis This milke Physitians prescribe with very good successe for to clarifie the eie-sight namely if it be mingled with womans milk and the forehead annointed therwith in good season and betimes After the same manner it helpeth the infirmities and diseases of the eyes proceeding from cold causes Other vertues and commendable properties besides I finde in Lectuce of strange and wonderfull operations And namely that it cureth the diseases of the brest as well as Sothern-wood doth if it be taken with the best hony of Athens Item That if any women do eat therof they shall haue their monthly sicknesse come orderly Also that the seed of garden Lectuce is giuen to very great purpose against the pricke or sting of any venomous Scorpion Moreouer That if the seed be stamped and taken in wine it secureth one from the imaginarie fansies of Venus delights in sleepe and the pollutions also that thereof do insue Finally that certain waters which vse to intoxicat and trouble the braine shall neuer hurt them that eat any Lectuce Howbeit some are of opinion that the ouermuch vse of Lectuce at meat enfeebleth the eies and impaireth their cleare sight CHAP. VIII ¶ Of Beets and their sundrie kinds Of Endiue Diuers sorts of Cichorie Of garden Endiue and two kinds thereof THe Beets of both sorts are not without their medicinable vertues for be it the white or the blacke if one take the root thereof fresh and new out of the ground wet it throughly and soke it well in water and then carry it about him hanging by a string or lace it is a soueraigne preseruatiue against the biting of serpents The white Beet boiled and eaten with raw Garlick expelleth the broad wormes in the belly The roots of the black sodden after the same manner in water rid away the dandruffe or vnseemly skales within the haire of head or beard And indeed generally for any vse the black Beet is more effectuall than the white The iuice thereof is singular good for an old and setled head-ach For the dizzinesse or swimming in the head Also it riddeth away the singing and ringing in the eares if it be dropped into them It procureth vrine being injected by a clyster it cureth the bloudy flix it helpeth also the Iaunise Moreouer the said iuice appeaseth the intollerable pain of tooth-ach if the teeth be rubbed or annointed therewith Singular it is against the stinging of serpents but then it must be drawne from the root only And make a decoction of the said root it helpeth kibed heeles As for the juice of the white Beets it staieth the rheume or waterish humor that falleth into the eies if the forehead be therewith annointed And put but a little Allum thereto it is an excellent remedy against S. Anthonies fire White Beets only stamped although there come no oile vnto them healeth any burne or scalding if the place be therwith annointed Moreouer against the breaking out into red and angry pimples the same is very good But seeth Beets and make thereof a liniment it represseth the vlcers that run and spread abroad The same being raw rubbed vpon the bare places where the haire is shed recouereth haire yea and staieth the running skales of the head The iuice of these Beets tempered with honey and snuffed vp into the head by the nosthrils clenseth the braine There is a certain meat made with Beets Lentils boiled together which commonly is eaten with vineger for to make the body laxatiue The same being ouersodden to a thicke consistence staieth both the turning of the stomacke and flux of the belly There is a kind of wild Beet which some name Limonion others Neuroides it hath leaues much lesse and tenderer than the other howbeit growing thicker riseth vp many times with eleuen stalks The leaues of this Beet are very good for burnes and scalds they restraine and stay all Fluxes by drop meale which breed the Gout The seed being taken to the quantity of one Acetabulum cureth the bloudy flix healeth the vlcer of the guts that causeth the same Some say that if this Beet be sodden in water the decoction will scoure and take out any stain in cloths euen the very iron-mole likewise it will wash away any spots in parchment Now as touching Endiue or garden Cichorie furnished also it is with many properties effectuall in Physicke The iuice thereof mingled with oile Rosat and vineger allaieth the paine in the head The same if it be drunk with wine is good for the liuer and bladder Also if it be laid to the eies it stoppeth the humor that hath taken a course thither The wild Cichorie that groweth wandering here and there abroad some of our Latin writers name Ambugia In Aegypt they cal the wild Endiue Cichoreum the tame garden Endiue Seris the which indeed is lesse than the other fuller also of ribs and veines As for the wild which is Cichorie it hath a cooling nature being eaten as meat but applied in forme of a liniment it is good against the collection of humors that ingender imposthumes The juice of it sodden doth loosen the belly Wholesome it is for the Liuer the Kidnies and the Stomack Likewise if it be boiled in vineger it resolueth the painfull torments occasioned by the stopping or difficulty of vrine and openeth passage to make water at ease Moreouer if the juice or decoction thereof be drunk with honied wine it cureth the Iaundise so it be without a feuer It is comfortable also helpefull to the bladder Boiled in water it is so powerfull to bring downe womens termes that it is of force to send out the child if it be dead in the mothers belly The Magitians say moreouer that whosoeuer annoint their bodies all ouer with the juice of this herb and oile together they shal be right amiable and win the grace and fauor of all men so as they shal the more easily obtain whatsoeuer their heart stands vnto And verily for that it is so singular and wholesome to mans body some giue it the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 others of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As for another wild kind some call it Hedypnois that hath a broader leafe than the rest Being sodden it is astrictiue and will strengthen a weak stomack and eaten raw it bindeth the belly and staieth the lask Holesome it is for such as haue the bloudy flix the rather if it be taken with Lentils In sum as wel raw as sodden both kinds the one the other help those that haue cramps and ruptures Comfortable it is likewise to such as
by occasion that a certaine leper minding to disguise himselfe that hee might not for very shame be knowne chaunced to annoint and besmear his face all ouer with the juice of wild Mints But fortune was better mistresse vnto him than he expected for beyond his expectation or intent his good hap was to be rid of his Leprosie by that meanes The same leaues serue for a liniment against the venome of Scolopendres and the sting of Serpents so doe they also if one drinke two drams of the leaues in two Cyaths of wine Also for to cure the prickes of Scorpions they be vsed with salt oile and vinegre But against Scolopendres commonly they drink the juice or broth of the decoction Moreouer the wiser sort of people saue the drie leaues of wild Mints to be reduced into a pouder as a very coun trepoison against all venome whatsoeuer For being strewed in the house or burnt the very air perfume therof chaseth away Scorpions A drink made therewith purgeth putrifieth women passing wel such I mean as be newly deliuered of childbirth but it killeth the fruit within the womb of as many as vse it while they go with child There is not a medicine in the world so effectuall as it is for those who are so streight winded that they cannot take their breath vnlesse they sit vpright for such also as in the cholericke passion neuer giue ouer casting vpward and purging downward It appeaseth also the paine of the loines and easeth the gout if it be applied to the place affected The juice thereof is good to be dropped into eares that haue worms within them It is vsually taken in drinke for the Iaunise A liniment made thereof helpeth the kings euill besides it is a singular remedie for them that by a strong imagination of Venus in their dreames defile and pollute themselues in their sleep If one drinke it with vinegre it excludeth the flat broad in the bellie To scoure away the founled and ruffe an Embrochation of it ad vinegre vpo the head in the Sun is counted singular As touching garden Mint as the very smell of it alone recouereth and refresheth the spirits so the tast stirreth vp the appetite to meat which is the cause that it is so ordinary in our sharp sauces wherein we vse to dip our meats Being put into milk it wil not suffer it to turn or sour it keeps it from quailing and curding which is the reason that they who vse ordinarily to drink milk take Mints therewith for fear it should coagulate or crudle in their stomack put them in daunger of suffocation Some for the same effect vse to giue it in water or honied wine and surely it is thought by that very propertie to hinder generation in that it dissolueth the due consistence and thicknesse which is required in naturall seed And yet it is a great stancher of bloud indifferently in men and women but more particularly it staieth the immoderat flux of whites that many times followes women Being taken with Amydum or starch pouder in water it restrains the inordinate flux occasioned by the imbecility of the stomacke Syriation the Physician vsed ordinarily to cure the apostumes and sores of the Matrice with Mint Also against the obstructions other accidents of the liuer he was wont to giue 3 Oboles thereof in honied wine And for them that raught vp bloud at the mouth he prescribeth to take Mints in a broth or supping The skal that little children be troubled withal it healeth wonderful well It is singular to drie vp the humors that mollifie the gristly windpipe the other instruments of the breath and voice and when they are drie knitteth and strengthneth them Taken in water and honied wine it clenseth the corruptand putrified phlegmatick humors which be offensiue to the throat and those parts The juice of Mint is excellent for to scour the pipes cleer the voice being drunk a little before that a man is to strain himselfe either in the quier or vpon the stage or at the bar and not otherwise A gargarism of milk wherein hath bin Rue Coriander besides mints is passing good to bring down the swelling of the vula Being vsed in that manner with some Allum it restraineth the mumps or inflamation of the Amygdales with Hony it cureth the roughnes furring of the tongue Being vsed alone without any other addition it is a proper medicin for inward convulsions as also for the disease of the lungs Democritus saith that to drink it with the juice of a Pomegranat is a readie means to stay the yex vomiting The juice of greene Mints drawne vp with the wind into thenosthrils helpeth the stinking vleers there The hearbe it selfe stamped represseth the rage of choler that purgeth both waies vncessantly but it must beldrunk with vinegre And in that maner it restrains all internal fluxions of bloud But applied outwardly with Barly grots to the grieued place it easeth the intollerable paine of the Iliak passion after the same sort if it be spread and emplastered it allaieth the swelling of womens breasts In case of head-ach a liniment thereof doth well to be applied to the temples Inwardly it is taken with very good effect against the venimous Scolopendres the sea Scorpions and other serpents A liniment thereof staieth the waterish humors that haue taken a course to the eies cures the skalls and breakings out of the head and all accidents offensiue to the tiwill or sundament If one doe hold Mints in his hand he shall not need to feare either chafing or galling in any part vpon trauell Beeing dropped into the eares with honied wine it is very comfortable to that part It is said moreouer that if a man come into a garden where Mints groweth and bite the leaues vpon the very plant without pluking or cropping it off and continue this course 9 daies together iterating euermore these words I doe this to cure the splene he shal find remedy indeed for the infirmity of that part moreouer let one take as much poudred mints dried as he can wel contain with his 3 fingers ends and drink the same with water it will cure the head-ach or grieuous paine of the stomack Likewise if his drink be spiced with the said pouder it will driue out of the belly the wormes there engendred The branches of Mint and penniroiall both are vsually put into glasse viols with vinegre for to be iufused therein and a man would not thinke how good this vinegre is for faintings of the heart so great is the societie that these two hearbs haue one with the other in this behalfe For which cause I remember on a time when diuers learned physicians were met together to confer in my chamber they resolued and concluded definitly That a chaplet of Penniroyal was without comparison far better for the giddinesse and swimming of the head than one of roses for a garland of Pennyroiall if it be worne
which signes are neuer to be found in that which is falsified and sophisticat for this that is not right will not so soon take a light fire and besides is readie oftentimes to go out There is another experiment by water for the good and pure Opium being put into water sendeth forth a certaine mist from it like a cloud which floteth euen aloft whereas the corrupt and depraued Opium gathereth into blisters and bladders and so bubleth vpon the water And yet there is one way more admirable than the rest to try good Opium euen by the Sun-shine in a Summers day for if it be such as it ought it wil sweat and resolue into a thin liquor like as when it came first out of the plant To conclude Mnesicles is of opinion that the best means to keep and preserue Opium is to lay it in Henbane seed but others thinke it better to let it lie among beanes CHAP. XIX ¶ Of the wandering Poppy and the horned Poppy Of Glaucium or Paralium Of Heraclium or Aprhum Of the composition named Diacodium and of the Tithymal IN a middle nature betweene the garden Poppy and the wild is to be ranged a third kinde which because it commeth vp in corne fields but yet vnsown and of the own accord we haue called Rhoeas and wandering Poppy Some there be who so soon as it is gathered chew both hearb and head all whole as it grew and so eat it Fiue heads of this Poppy being sodden in three hemines of wine and so taken in drinke do both purge the belly and also bring the patient to sleep Of these wild Poppies there is one kind called in Greek Ceratitis of a dark or duskish green growing vp with a stalke a cub it high with a grosse root couered with a thicke rinde the heads or cups wherein the seed lieth bend like vnto a little horne The leaues are lesse and slenderer of this Poppy than of any other wild The seed also is smal ripe and ready to be gathered in corn haruest which being taken in drink to the quantity of half an Acetable in honied wine worketh downwards and scoureth the belly The leaues being stamped with oyle and so applyed heale the haw in horse eies The root taken to the quantity of an Acetable and sodden in two sextars of honied wine vntill halfe be consumed is giuen in drinke for the infirmities of the loins and liuer The leaues applied as a cataplasme with hony healeth Carbuncles Some call this kind Glaucium others Paralium for it growes within the aire of the sea or els in some brackish place standing much vpon Nitre Another kind of these wild Poppies is called of some Heraclion or of others Aphron with leaues resembling Sparrows if a man look a far off The root runneth very ebbe and superficially vnder the green sord and the seed seemeth charged with a certaine froth or some Herewith linnen cloths in summer time vse to be bleached and to get a bright white colour This herbe beaten in a mortar to the quantity of one Acetable and taken in white wine helpeth the falling sicknesse for it causeth the patient to vomit This kinde of Poppy is the principall ingredient or Basis to the confection named Diacodium or Arteriacum The composition or making whereof ensueth in this maner Take of this Poppy heads or of any other of the wilde sort 120 let them lie in soke or infused two daies together in three sextaries or halfe a gallon of water and in the same water boyle them wel When this decoction hath passed through a strainer or jelly bag seeth it a second time with hony vp to the height or consistence of a Syrrupt that is to say vntill halfe be consumed away ouer a soft and gentle fire Herunto the modern Physicians which came after put too of Saffron of Hypocisthis Frankincense Acacia of each six drams and in the end of grosse cuit of Candy one sextar But this later composition serued onely for a shew and vaine ostentation for the simple and plain making of it in old time with Hony and Poppy and no other addition besides was as wholesome and profitable as this But to come again to our wild Poppies there is a third kind therof named Tithymalos which some call Mecon others Paralion carrying a smooth leafe and a white with a head of the bignesse of a Bean. The time of gathering these Poppies is when the grape is in the floure then the manner is to dry them in the shade The seed if it be taken in drinke the quantitie of halfe an Acetable in mead or honied wine purgeth the belly But what Poppy soeuer it be the head either green and fresh or dry if it be applied as a liniment to the eies represseth the flux of waterish humors falling to them and mitigateth their in flammations If Opium be giuen in pure wine somwhat allaied presently after the Scorpion hath stung it is a counterpoyson Howbeit some there be who attribute this vertue only to the blacke Poppy namely if either the heads or leaues be bruised and reduced into pouder CHAP. XX. ¶ Of the wild Purcellane or Peplium Of Coriander and Orach THere is a wild Purcellane also which they cal Peplium more effectual though not much than the garden Purcellane for there be strong and wonderfull properties reported thereof for sundry vses First it is holden for certain that this herb if it be eaten as meat dulleth the poison of venomous arrows of Serpents also called Haemorrhoids and Presters and being laid to the hurt place draw forth the said poyson The juice also of this herb pressed forth and drunk in wine cuit is a remedy for those that be poysoned with Henbane Now if the herb it selfe is not to be gotten the seed hath the like effect Moreouer it is thought to be singular good for the aquosities gathered within the body and the diseases caused thereby as dropsies c. for the head-ach for rheumatick vlcers also if it be brused and applied with wine Al other sores likewise it healeth if it be chewed and laid too with honey After the same manner prepared it is good to be applied to childrens heads for to temper the heat of the brain as also to their nauils when they beare out more than they should For al vehement distillations of watery humors into the eies as well of old folke as small infants it is counted singular for to be applied to the forehead temples together with Barly groats but if it be laid vnto the very eys then would the same be tempered with milk and hony Now if it chance that the eies be ready to fall out of the head the leaues stamped with the shales of Beane cods and applied thereto is an excellent remedy A cataplasme made of it with Barly groats salt and vineger cureth angry wheales and blisters that break out in the skin The same being chewed raw represseth the
mouth the gums the Tonsils or Amygdales for gargarismes for the stomack the matrice the infirmities and accidents of the tuil or fundament and the head-ach Taken alone it is singular good for the ague with vineger for to procure sleep to restrain the heauing of the stomack and the offers to vomit The ashes of Roses burnt serue to trim the haires of the eiebrowes Roses dried and reduced into powder represse the sweat betweene the legs if it be strewed vpon the place Dried Rose leaues do represse and stay the flux of humors into the eies The floure which is the yellow in the mids procureth sleepe The same taken inwardly with vineger water staieth the immoderat flux of women and the whites especially also it represseth the reaching and spitting of bloud The pain of the stomack it appeaseth being taken in three cyaths of wine The seed or fruit of the Rose which is of a Saffron colour is best so it be not aboue a yeare old and the same dried in the shade As for the black it is nought and good for nothing To rub the teeth with this seed easeth the toothach the same prouoketh vrine Being applied to the stomack it is comfortable so it helpes S. Anthonies fire if it hath not run too long If it be drawn vp by the nosthrils it purgeth and clenseth the head As for the heads or knobs if they be taken in drinke they knit and bind the belly and withall do stay the flux of bloud vpward The whites or nails of the Rose leafe be singular for waterish eies so they be applied dry with bread crums the leaues verily if they be brought only into a liniment and outwardly applied are reputed soueraigne for the queasinesse and pain of the stomack for the gnawings and other accidents which the belly and guts be subiect vnto also for the Midriffe and other precordiall parts Moreouer they are good to be eaten if they be condite and preserued in manner of garden Dock or Patience But in keeping of Rose leaues an eie would be had to them for fear least they grow to a mouldinesse that quickly will settle vp them Drie Rose leaues are of good vse in Physick yea the very Rose cake after the iuice moisture is pressed out of the leaues serueth for some purpose For of them be made bags and quilts yea and drie pouders for to represse sweat and to palliat the strong smel therof with this charge and caueat that presently after that one is come out of the stouve or baine the pouder be suffered to dry vpon the body and then afterward washed off with cold water The wild Rose leaues reduced into a liniment with Beares grease doth wonderfully make haire to grow again where through some disease it is fallen away Lilly roots through their singular vertues and operations many waies haue ennobled their own floures for first and formost if they be taken in wine they be countrepoysons against the sting of serpents and the venom of Mushroms Sodden in wine and applied in maner of a cataplasme and so bound to the feet they mollifie and resolue the cornes but this must not be vndone and remoued in three daies Boiled with grease or oile they cause haire to come againe euen in places that were burnt If Lilly roots be drunk in honied wine they do euacuat downeward at the siege with other ordure the cluttered bruised and hurtfull bloud within the body Ouer and besides in this maner they help the spleen them that are bursten and bruised withall bring down womens terms orderly But if they be sodden in wine and so laid to in forme of a cataplasm they knit and heale sinues that were cut asunder They rectifie running tettars and lepries they scoure away dandruf and pilling skales in the face they make the skin smooth and take away riuels and wrinkles The leaues of Lillies boiled in vinegre are good to be layed to green wounds reduced into a cataplasme with Hony Henbane and wheat meale incorporate and vnited all together and so applied to the cods they represse the flux of humors falling to those parts The seed made into a liniment allayeth the heat of S. Anthonies fire And in the same sort the floures and leaues applied doe heale old sores As touching the iuice which is pressed forth of the floures of some it is called Mel i. hony of others Syrium singular good for to soften and mollifie the matrice for to procure sweat and to ripen impostumes tending to suppuration Now for Daffodils there be two kinds of them admitted by the Physitians for to be vsed in medicine the one with a purple floure the other of a grasse green This later Daffodil is aduerse and hurtfull to the stomack and therfore causeth it to ouerturn and vomit it setteth the belly also into a flux contrary it is to the sinues and stuffeth the head for which narcoticke qualitie of stupifying benumming the sences it took the name in Greek Narcissus of Narce which betokeneth nummednesse or dulnesse of sence and not of the yong boy Narcissus as the Poets do feign and fable The roots as wel of the one as the other Daffodil haue a pleasant tast as it were of honied wine the same is good for burns applied to the place with a little honey and so it helpeth dislocations and healeth wounds Moreouer a cataplasme made of it honey and oatmeale doth resolue and ripen biles and great apostemations and in that sort it drawes forth spils shiuers arrow heads and thorns and whatsoeuer stick within the body Being stamped and incorporat with barley groats and oile it cureth them that be bruised and smitten with a stone Mingled with meale it cleanseth wounds it scoureth the skin from all spots that disfigure it vea and taketh away the black morphew Of this floure is made the oile Narcissinum good to supple and soften all hard tumours good also to reuiue and heat againe whatsoeuer is stark and benummed with extreme cold And aboue all this floure is excellent for the ears howbeit it maketh the head to ake Of Violets there be some wild and of the field others domesticall and growing in our gardens The purple violets are refrigeratiue and do coole And therefore a good liniment is made of them to be applied vnto an hot stomack against burning inflammations A frontall likewise may be made of them to be laid vnto the forehead But a peculiar vertue they haue besides to stay the running and waterie eies as also to help the procidence or falling downe both of tuill and matrice and to reduce them again into their places Moreouer being applied to swellings and impostumations they resolue the same without any head or suppuration Guirlands being made of violets and set vpon the head resist the heauinesse of the head and withstand the ouerturning of the brains vpon ouer-liberall drinking yea the very smel thereof will discusse such fumes and vapors
being chewed staieth bleeding in a wound To conclude some haue written that it expelleth the stone and grauell CHAP. X. ¶ Of the Caltrop thistle Tribulus The sundry kinds thereof and the medicines which they yeeld SOme of these Thistles come vp in gardens others grow in and about riuers only The juice which is drawne from these is thought to be good for the eies for this herb being as it is of a cooling nature is a singular remedy for inflammations and gathering of imposthumes A good medicine for all vlcers but those especially which break out of themselues in the mouth it cureth likewise those of the Amygdales or almonds of either side of the throat If it be taken in drink it fretteth breaketh the stone The Thracians dwelling vpon the riuer Strymon feed their horses fat with the leaues of this herb and liue themselues with the kernels or fruit therof making a kind of sweet bread therewith which also bindeth the belly The root if it be gathered by the chast and pure hands of a virgin discusseth and dissolueth the kings euill The seed if it be tied to the swelling vains assuageth their pain Lastly being beaten into pouder and cast into water it killeth the fleas in any place where that water is thrown or sprinckled CHAP. XI ¶ Of Stoebe and the medicines which it affoordeth SToebe which some call Phleon boiled in wine is a soueraigne remedy for eares that run with atter likewise for bloud shotten eies especially vpon a stripe or stroke giuen Beeing ministred by way of clyster it is good for the bloudy flix and the exulceration of the guts CHAP. XII ¶ Of Hippophyes and Hippope with iheir medicinable vertues HIppophyes is an hearbe growing in grauelly and sandy places and namely along the sea-side armed with white prickes or thornes it beareth berries by clusters after the manner of Iuie and those be partly white partly red The root is ful of a certain juice which is good either to be condite and confected alone or els to be reduced into Troschs with Eruile meale this being taken to the weight of one Obolus purgeth cholericke humors and a most wholesome medicine it is especially with honied wine Another herb ther is named Hippope which neither riseth vp in stalk nor beareth floure but hath leaues only and those small The juice also of this herb is wonderfull good for those who are in a dropsie Where it is to be noted That these two herbs should haue some especiall properties respectiue to the nature of horses considering both their names are deriued from nothing else for in very truth some things there be which Nature hath brought forth as appropriat remedies for certain particular beasts whereby we may see her diuine power and how wel appointed she is and prouided for to bring forth medicines of all sorts so as the depth of her prouidence canot be sounded neither are we able sufficiently to admire her wit and descrition in disposing and digesting her remedies according to sundry kinds of creatures according to diuers causes and different seasons insomuch as the remedies seruing one are not fitted for another neither are they of the same effect and operation at all times nay there is not a day almost in the yere throughout but it yeeldeth a remedy respectiue vnto it CHAP. XIII ¶ Of the Nettle and the medicinable vertues thereof IS there any thing more hated and odious than the Nettle and yet to say nothing of the oile made of it in Egypt according as we haue shewed heretofore indued shee is and furnished with many good properties seruing for Physick For first as touching Nettle seed Nicander affirms That it is a very counterpoison against Hemlock venomous mushrums and Quick siluer Apollodorus addeth moreouer and saith That being boiled in the broth of a Tortoise it is singular good for the poison of Salamanders also that it is contrary to the pernicious nature of Henbane and the deadly poyson of serpents namely of scorpions Euen that very bitternesse and mordacity which the Nettle hath causeth the Vvula in the mouth which is falne to knit vp againe the matrice also which is ouer-loose and beareth downe to arise into the place yea and the tuill or fundament in children hanging forth of the body to return abide where it ought to be only with touching these parts therewith If the legs be rubbed and the forehead especially with Nettles it is a good meanes to awake them out of their drowsie and dead sleep who are surprised with a lethargy The same being applied with salt is passing good for the biting of dogs If it be bruised and put vp to the nosthrils it stancheth bleeding at the nose but principally the root of it If it be tempered with salt it mundifieth cancerous and foule filthie vlcers likewise it helpeth dislocations and bones out of joint it discusseth or ripeneth botches in the emunctories and the swelling kernels behind the eares and healeth vp the places where the fleshy parts be gon from the bones Nettle seed taken in wine cuit as a drinke openeth the matrice when it is ready to strangle or suffocate a woman and being applied with wine it staieth bleeding at the nose If one driake Nettle seed after supper with hony and water to the quantity of two oboles weight it openeth the passages maketh way for to womit with greater facility but the weight of one Obolus taken in wine refresheth those who haue a lassitude or wearinesse vpon them The same being parched against the fire and drunk to the measure of one Acetabulum is singular for the imperfections of the matrice and in cuit it withstandeth the ventosities and inflations of the stomack Giuen inwardly with hony in the form of a loch it doth them good who labor for wind and cannot take their breath but sitting vpright and after the same manner it cutteth fleame and clenseth the brest of it Being applied in a bag together with line-seed it taketh away the stitch and pain in the sides but some put hyssope therto and a little pepper A liniment made therewith cureth the spleen Being parched or rosted and so â—…aten with meat it keepeth the body soluble And Hippocrates affirmeth that the said seed is very good to be taken in drink for to cleanse the matrice in women and being so parched and giuen to the quantity of one Acetabulum in sweet wine cuit it allaieth the griefe and paine of the said part in case withall there be a cataplasme applied to the region thereof together with the juice of Mallows If it be taken in hydromel i. honied water together with salt it expelleth by his saying the worms in the belly Applied in a liniment to the bare and naked places of the head it causeth the haire to grow again and bringeth all to the former beauty Many do vse to make a cataplasme of Nettle-seed and old oile or els stamp the leaues together with
no wholsome meat for the stomack and more than that it causeth a stinking breath Howbeit they hold it excellent to withstand the venomous sting of the Stellions and the dangers that it may inferre as also to heale the old cancerous and maligne vlcers named Cacoethe i. Morimals There is an oile made thereof which as I haue before shewed is good for the eares Touching Sesamoeides which taketh that name of the resemblance that it hath to Sesama but that the graine thereof is bitter and the leafe lesse and it groweth in grauelly grounds the same being taken to drink in water purgeth chollerick humors A liniment made of the seed doth assuage the heat of S. Anthonies fire and doth discusse and resolue biles And yet there is another Sesamoeides growing in Anticyra which thereupon some do cal Anticyricon otherwise much like it is to the herb Groundswell whereof I will speake in place conuenient The graine or seed of this Sesamoeides is giuen in sweet wine as a purgatiue of chollerick and flegmatick humors to the quantity of as much as may be contained with three fingers but to quicken the same the Physitians vse to put one Obole and an halfe of the white Ellebore-root or Neesewort which purgation they vse in case of madnesse the melancholicke disease the falling sicknesse and the gout By it selfe alone the weight of one dram is a sufficient laxatiue doth euacuat the belly The best Barley is that which is whitest The iuice of Barley boiled in rain water is made vp into certain trosches which is singular good to be either conueied into the guts by way of clyster for the exulceration thereof or els injected into the Matrice by the metrenchyte for the vlcers therein The ashes of Barly burnt are good in a liniment for Burnes for places where the flesh is gone from the bones for wheales and small pocks and for the biting of the Hardishrew mouse The same with a little sprinckling of salt and some honey amongst is counted a good dentifrice to make the teeth look white and the breath to smel sweet There is an opinion commonly receiued That whosoeuer vse to eat Barly bread shall not be troubled with the gout of the feet And they say that if a man take nine barly corns with euery one of them draw three imaginary circles about a felon with his left hand and when he hath so done throw them all into the fire presently it shall be cured There is an herb which the Greeks cal Phoenicea and our countrymen in Latine Hordeum Murinum This herb or weed being beaten to pouder taken in wine is singular to bring down the course of womens fleurs Hippocrates the famous Physitian hath made one intire book in the praise of Ptisana which is a groat made of Barly but all the vertues and properties thereof are now attributed vnto our Frumenty Alica and that goeth away with all the commendation And yet a man may see how much more harmlesse it is than Alica Hippocrates commended it only for a supping as being slippery easie to be taken good to put away thirst not swelling in the belly passing quickly and easily through the body and such a kinde of meat as might alone of all others be giuen twice a day in a feuer to those who were vsed to it so farre was hee in opinion from them who would famish all diseases cure them by fasting vtter hunger Howbeit he forbad to giue it whole in substance to be supped off allowed nothing but the very simple juice and broth of Ptisane or husked Barly neither allowed he it in the beginning of an ague fit so long as the feet continued cold for during that time he would not admit so much as a thin potion therof Now besides the Alica or frumenty made of Zea there is another which commeth of the common wheat more glutinous and better indeed for the exulceration of the wind pipes As touching Amylum or starch pouder it dimmeth the eyesight is hurtful to the throat and is nothing good to be eaten contrary to the common receiued opinion It staieth the inordinat flux of the belly represseth the rheum into the eies it healeth vlcers and cureth pushes wheals and blains and restraineth fluxes of bloud It mollifieth the hardnesse growing in the eye-lids To such as cast vp bloud it is vsually giuen in an egge In pain of the bladder halfe an ounce of Amylum made hot ouer the fire vntill it siuer with one egge and as much cuit as will go into three eg-shels taken immediatly after the bath or hot house is a singular remedy moreouer oatmeale sodden in vineger taketh away moles and freckles of the skin The very ordinary bread which is our daily food hath an infinit number of medicinable faculties Bread crums being applied with water and common oile or els with oile of Roses doth mollifie impostumes with honied water assuageth any hardnes wonderfully Giuen in wine it is good to discusse and resolue It is of force also to bind and knit where need is and so much the rather if it be giuen with vineger Also it is singular against the sharp eager flux of fleam which the Greeks cal Rheumes likewise for bruised places vpon stripes or blows yea and for dislocations And in very deed for all these purposes leauened bread called of the Greeks Autopyros i. downright made is better than any other Moreouer a liniment thereof applied with vineger is good for whitflaws and the callosities of the feet Moreouer stale bread and bisket such as sea-faring men do eat being stamped sod again is good to bind the belly for singing men and choristers who are desirous to haue a cleare voice for such also as be subject to rheums falling from the head it is the wholsomest thing in the world to eat dry bread in the beginning of meals The Sitanian bread i. that which is made of three months corn being incorporat with hony is a faire medicine to cure either the black prints remaining after strokes or the scailing and pilling of the face White bread crums soked either in hot or cold water yeeld vnto sicke men a meat of light digestion The same being applied with wine cureth swelled eies And so it healeth the breaking out in the head especially if dry Myrtles be put thereto It is an ordinary thing to prescribe vnto them that are giuen to shaking for to eat fasting bread soked in water presently after they come forth of the bath The perfume of bread burnt taketh away all other euill smels that may be in a bed chamber being put into those Hippocras bags through which wines be strained it altereth the naughty tast which they haue Furthermore euen Beanes haue their properties which serue in Physicke for being fried all whole as they be and so cast piping hot into sharp vineger they help the collicke and pangs of the belly
reiect and reach vp bloud and for the Squinance Next after the wine verjuice Omphacium I cannot chuse but write of Oenanthe which is the floure that wild vines do beare whereof I haue already made mention in my discourse of ointments The best Oenanthe is that of Syria especially along the coasts and mountaines of Antiochia and Laodicea That which groweth vpon the white vine is refrigeratiue and astringent being powdered and strewed vpon wounds it doth very much good applied as a liniment to the stomack it is exceeding comfortable A proper medicine it is for the suppression of vrine the infirmities and diseases of the liuer the head-ache the bloudie flix the imbecility of the stomack and the loosenesse proceeding from it also for the violent motion of cholerick humours proceeding vpward and downeward The weight of one obolus thereof taken with vineger helpeth the loathing that the stomacke hath to meat and procureth appetite It drieth vp the running scales breaking out in the head and most effectuall it is to heale all vlcers in moist parts and therefore cureth sores in the mouth priuie members and the seat or fundament Taken with hony and saffron it knitteth the belly The scurfe and roughnesse of the eie-lids it doth clense and make them smooth it represseth rheume in waterie eies Giuen in wine to drink it comforteth and confirmeth feeble stomackes but in cold water it staies the casting and reaching vp of bloud The ashes thereof is much commended in collyries eie-salues also for to mundifie filthy and vlcerous sores to heale likewise whitflawes rising at the naile roots and either the going away of the flesh from them or the excrescence thereof remaining about them For to bring it into ashes it must be torrified in an Ouen and so continue vntill the bread be baked and readic for to bee drawne As for Massaris or the Oenanthe in Africke it is imploied onely about sweet odours and pomanders and both it as also other floures men haue brought into so great name by making haste to gather them before they could knit to any fruit so inuentiue is mans wit and so greedy to hunt after nouelties and strange deuises CHAP. I. ¶ The medicines which grapes fresh and new gathered do yeeld Of Vine branches and cuttings of grape kernels and the cake remaining after the presse Of the grape Theriace Of dried grapes or Raisins Of Astaphis of Staphis-acre otherwise called Pituitaria Of the wild vine Labrusca of the wild vine both white and blacke Of Musts or new wines Of sundry kinds of Wine and of Vineger OF Grapes that grow to their ripenesse and maturitie the blacke are more vehement in their operation than the white and therefore the wine made of them is nothing so pleasant for in very truth the white grapes be sweeter far by reason they are more transparent and cleare and therefore receiue the aire into them more easily Grapes new gathered do puffe vp the stomacke and fill it with winde they trouble also the belly which is the cause that men are forbidden to eat them in feuers especially in great quantity for they breed heauinesse in the head and induce the Patient to sleepe ouermuch vntill hee grow into a lethargie Lesse harme doe those grapes which after they be gathered hang a long time by which means they take the impression of wind and aire and so become wholsome to the stomacke and to any sicke person for they doe gently coole and bring the Patient to a stomacke againe Such grapes as haue bin condite and preserued in some sweet wine are offensiue to the head and fume vp into the brains Next in request to those aboue said which haue hanged a long time be such as haue bin kept in chaffe for as many as haue lien among wine-marc or the refuse of kernels skins remaining after the presse are hurtfull to the head the bladder and the stomacke howbeit they doe stop a laske and nothing is there better in the world for those that doe cast and reach vp bloud and yet those grapes that haue bin kept in must or new wine are much worse than such as haue lien in the marc afore said Moreouer wine cuit if they haue come into it maketh them hurtfull and offensiue to the stomack But if they must needs be preserued in some liquor the Physitians hold them most whol some which haue bin kept in rain water although they be least toothsome for they do the stomack a great pleasure in the hot distemperature thereof they be comfortable when the mouth is bitter by occasion of the regurgitation of choler from the liuer and the burse of the gal they giue great contentment also in bitter vomits in the violent and inordinat motion of cholerick humors raging vpward and downward as also in case of dropsie to those that lie sick of burning feuers As touching grapes preserued in earthen pots they refresh and season the mouth which was out of tast they open the stomack and stir vp the appetite to meat how beit this inconuenience they bring with them That they are thought to lie more heauy in the stomacke by reason of the breath and vapor which exhaleth from their kernels If hens capons cocks and such like pullen be serued among their meat with the floures of grapes so as they once tast and eat thereof they wil not afterwards peck or touch any grapes hanging by clusters vpon the vine The naked branches and bunches wherupon there were grapes haue an astrictiue vertue and indeed more effectual that way be such as come out of the pots abouesaid The kernels or stone within the grapes haue the same operation and in very truth these be they and nothing els whereby wine causeth head-ach Being torrified beaten to pouder and so taken they be good for the stomack Their pouder is vsually put into the pot in manner of barly groats for to thicken broth and suppings which are ordained for them who haue the bloudy flix who are troubled with a continual loosnesse following them by occasion of the imbecillity of the stomack and for such as are ready to keck and heaue at euery little thing Their decoction serueth very wel to foment those parts which are broken out and giuen to bleach and itch The stones themselues are lesse hurtful to the head or bladder than the little kernels within The same beeing driuen into pouder and applied with salt are good for inflammations of womens brests the decoction thereof whether it be taken inwardly or vsed by way of fomentation helpeth as well those who haue gone a long time with a dysentery or bloudy flix as them who through imbecility of stomack do scoure and purge downward continually The grape Theriace whereof we haue written in due place is good to be taken as a counterpoison against the sting of serpents it is a common receiued opinion that the burgeons and branches of that vine should likewise be taken inwardly
it soone loseth the heart and force if it be not kept in a place well enclosed by the said burning it commeth to be much more stronger in operation Sodden with figgs it yeeldeth an excellent decoction to reâ—â—â—s tettars shingles and such like wildfires to scoure away also scurfe and dandruffe in that soft either applied as a cataplasme or fomentation it cureth the leprie and running skals of the head Being taken in drinke especially raw it is a soueraign countrepoison for such as haue eaten venomous mushromes Boiled and washed it is mingled with collyries which serue for the eyes A liniment thereof cureth the accidents that befall to the cods and genetoirs Taken in wine it helpeth the strangury and giueth them ease who otherwise could not pisse but by drop-meale Les of wine after it hath lost the caustick operation and life that it had wil serue very wel for a good lie or water to clense the skin of our bodies and to wash or scoure clothes and then verily it hath the astrictiue power of Acacia and serueth for the same vse The dregs of vinegre must of necessitie be much more sharpe biting and vlceratiue than wine lees in regard of the matter whereof it commeth it driueth backe impostumes or biles and keepeth them from suppuration A liniment of it helpeth the stomack belly and entrails it staieth the flux of those parts and the ouerflow of womens months it discusseth pushes and small biles and squinances if they be taken betimes before they fester and impostumat and a cerot made with it and wax together is good against S. Anthonies fire The same drieth vp the milke in womens breast who would not be nources or bee troubled with ouermuch milke It taketh away with ease the ilfauoured rugged nails and giueth roum for new to come vp in their place Applied with grosse barley meale or groats it is singular and most effectuall against the venome of the horned serpents called in Greeke Cerastae and with Gith or Nigella Romana it is vsed for the biting both of crocodile and mad dog The burning also of these dregs quickeneth fortifieth the strength therof being thus burnt and incorporat with the oile of Lentiske it coloureth the haires of the head in one night red if they bee annointed withall The same lapped in a fine linnen cloth and put vp in forme of a pessarie cleanseth and mundifieth the secret parts of women To conclude with the grounds or lees of the cuit Sapa vinegre dregs are knowne to be very good for to heale burnes and the cure proceedeth better in case they be mixed with the furry cotton or downe of reeds the same being sodden and the decoction thereof taken as drinke cureth inueterat coughs Sast of all they vse to seeth or stew it betweene two platters with salt and grease wherwith they make a liniment or ointment to take down the swelling of the chaws and the nape of the necke CHAP. III. ¶ Of Oliuetrees of the leaues of Oliues their floures and their ashes Of the white and blacke Oliue berries and of the mother or lees of Oile-oliue NExt after the Vine there is not a tree bearing fruit of so great authority and account as the Oliue The oliue leaues are exceeding restringent good to cleanse good also to restraine or stop any flux being chewed and applied to vlcers they heale them and reduced with oile into a liniment they assuage the pain of the head A decoction of their leaues together with honey is singular to bath and foment the parts cauterized by the Chirurgian according to the direction of the learned Physician the same vsed by way of a collution cureth the inflammation of the gumbs whitflaws and excrescenses of ranke flesh in filthy vlcers with honey also it stauncheth the flux of bloud proceeding from any neruous parts The juice of oliue leaues is singular for the little vlcers in manner of carbuncles with a crust or roufe vpon them rising about the eies and all other small wheals or blisters as also in case the bal or apple of the eye be readie to start forth and therefore it is vsed in collyries or eye-salues for it healeth weeping eies that haue run with water a long time and the excoriations or frettings of the eie-lids Now this juice is drawn out of the leaues first stamped and then well sprinckled and wet with wine rain water so pressed forth which being afterwards dried is reduced into trochiskes The same rolled in wooll or bombast to the forme of a pessarie and so put vp into the naturall parts of women staies the immoderat flux of their fleurs Good it is also for those who rid corrupt bloud by the inferiour parts Moreouer it easeth the swelling piles or bigs sticking out in the fundament killeth the cholerique exulcerations called S. Anthonies fire healeth corrosiue and eating sores and allaieth the paine of night-foes or childblanes called by the Greeks Epinyctides The same effects haue their floures The tendrons or young twigs of Oliues being in floure if they be burnt yeeld a kind of ashes that may serue as a succedan in stead of Spodium but the same must be burnt a second time after they haue beene well drenched and soked with wine These ashes applied as a liniment or the very leaues only stamped and tempred with honey are good for impostumes growne to suppuration and for the pushes or biles named Pani but if they be mixed with grosse barly meal or groats they are in a liniment comfortable to the eyes Take the green branches of an Oliue and burne them there will destill and drop from the wood a certaine juice or liquor which healeth ringwormes tettars and shingles scoureth away the skales of the skin and dandruffe and cureth the running skalls of the head Touching the gum that issueth from the oliue tree it self and namely that wild oliue which is called Aethiopica I cannot wonder enough at some who giue counsell therwith to annoint the teeth which ake considering that they themselues giue out That it is a poison and to be found as wel in wild oliues as others The rind or bark pared from the root of a most tender and yong oliue reduced into an electuary and often licked and let downe by leisure into the throat after the manner of a lohoch cureth those who reach vp bloud and cough out filthy and rotten matter The ashes of the very oliue it self mixed with swines grease cure all tumors draw forth corruption of fistulous vlcers and when they are thus mundified heale them vp cleane White oliues agree very well with the stomack but they are not so good for the belly A singular commoditie they yeeld before they be put vp in their compost or pickle for to be eaten greene by themselues as meat for they scoure away grauel with vrine good they are for the teeth whether they be worne rotten worme eaten or loose in the head
Contrariwise the blacke oliue is not so friendly to the stomacke better for the belly but offensiue both to the head and the eies Both the one and the other as well the white as the black being punned and applied to burned or skalded places do cure them but the black haue this propertie That if they be chewed and presently as they be taken out of the mouth laid to the burne or scald they will keep the place from blistering Oliues in pickle are good to clense foule and filthie vlcers but hurtful to those who pisse with difficultie As touching the mother or lees of oliue I might be thought to haue written sufficiently following the steps of Cato who deliuered no more in writing but I must set down also the medicinable vertues obserued therein First and foremost therefore it helpeth the sorenesse of the gumbs cureth the cankers vlcers of the mouth and of all other medicins it is most effectuall to fasten the teeth in the head If it be dropped or poured vpon S. Anthonies fire and such other corrosiue and fretting vlcers it is of singular operation to heale them but for kibed heeles the grounds or dregs of the black oile-oliue is the better as also therewith to foment smal children As for that of the white oliues women vse to apply it with wooll to their secret parts for some accidents thereto belonging Be it the one or the other generally it is more effectuall sodden than otherwise Boiling it ought to be in a copper or brasse vessell vntill it come to the consistence of honey Vsed it is with vineger old wine or with must according as the cause requireth in curing the infirmities of the mouth teeth and eares in healing running skalls and finally in the cure of the genetoirs or priuie members of the fissures or chaps in any part of the body In wounds it is vsed with linnen cloth or lint but in dislocations it is applied with wooll And verily in these cases and in this practise it is much emploied especially if the medicine be old and long kept for being such it healeth fistulous sores And being injected by a syring into the vlcers of the fundament genetoirs or otherwise by a metrenchyte into the secret sores within the naturall parts of women it cureth them all Also a liniment thereof is singular for to be applied to the gout of the feet also in the rest whether they be in the hands knees hucklebone or any other joint so they be not setled or inueterat but taken at the first But in case it be sodden againe in the oile of green oliues vntill it come to the consistence of honey and so applied it causeth those teeth to fall out of the head without paine which a man would willingly be rid of It is wonderfull to see how it healeth the farcines and manges of horses being vsed with the decoction of Lupines and the herbe Chamaeleon To conclude there is no better thing than to foment the gout with these lees of oile raw CHAP. IIII. ¶ Of the wild Oliue leaues The oile of the floures of the wild vine Ocnanthe Of the oile Cicinumâ—… of Palma Christi The oile of Almonds of Bayes of Myrtles of Ruscus or Chamaemyrsine of Cypresse of Citrons and of Nuts THe leaues of the wild oliue haue the same nature that the leaues of the tame As for Antispodium or the ashes made of the tender branches of the wild oliue it is of greater force and operation in staying and repressing of rheume catarrhes and fluxes than that abouenamed in the former chapter Ouer and besides it assuageth the inflammations of the eies it mundifieth vlcers it doth incarnat and fill vp the void places where the flesh is gone it gently eateth away and without mordication the excrescence of ranke and proud flesh drieth the sores healeth and skinneth them vp In other cases this oliue is vsed as the other oliues yet one peculiar propertie hath the wild oliue That a spoonefull of the decoction of their leaues with hony is giuen with good successe to them that spit and reach vp bloud Howbeit the oile made hereof is more aegre and sharpe yea and mightier in operation than that of the other Oliues and a collution thereof to wash the mouth withall setleth the teeth that be loose The leaues of the wild oliue reduced into a cataplasm with wine and so applied do cure whitflawes about the root of the nails carbuncles and generally al such apostemations with hony the said cataplasme serueth well to clense and mundifie where need is The decoction of the leaues yea and the juice of the wild oliue is put into many compositions and medicines appropriat to the eies To good purpose also the same is dropped into the ears with hony yea although they ran filthy atter A liniment made with the floures of the wilde Oliue is singular for the swelling piles and the chilblanes that be angry in the night and the same applied with barley meale to the belly or with oile to the head for the ache thereof occasioned by some rheume is known to do very much good The young tendrils or springs of the wild oliue being boiled and laid to with hony do re-ioyn and re-vnite the skin of the head which was departed from the bones of the skull The same tendrils pulled ripe from the wild oliue and eaten with meat do knit the belly and stay lasks but torrified and so beaten to pouder and incorporat with honey they do mundifie the corrosiue and eating vlcers they breake also carbuncles As touching oile of oliues the natute and manner of making it I haue already treated of at large But forasmuch as there are many kindes thereof I purpose do set dogn in this place such as serue for physick only And first to begin with the oile made of vnripe oliues called in Latin Omphacinum and which commeth neere to a green colour it is thought of all others most medicinable moreouer the same is best when it is fresh and new vnlesse it be in some case when it were requisit to haue the oldest that may be found thin and subtil odoriferous and nothing at all biting which be qualities al of them contrarie to that oile which we vse with our meats This greene or vnripe oile I say is good for the sores of the gumbes and if it be held in the mouth there is no one thing preserueth the whitenesse of the teeth better it represseth also immoderat and diaphoretical sweats The oile Oenanthemum made of the floures of the wild vine Oenanthe hath the same operations that oile rosat hath But note by the way that any oile howsoeuer it doth mollifie the body yet it bringeth vigor and addeth strength thereto Contrary it is to the stomacke it encreaseth filthinesse in vlcers doth exasperat the throat and dul the strength of all poisons especially of ceruse or white lead and plastre namely if it be drunk with honied
water or the broth of dried figs but it is taken against Meconium or Opium with water against the Cantharides Buprestis Salamanders the worms Pityocampae if it be drunk alone without any thing els but if it be vomited and cast vp againe out of the gorge it hath no fellow in all those cases aboue named Moreouer in lassitudes and extreme colds oile is a present refreshing remedy Taken hot to the quantity of six cyaths it mitigateth all wrings and torments of the belly the rather if rue be sodden with it and in that maner it expelleth wormes out of the guts Drink it to the measure of one hemina with wine and hot water or els with the juice of husked barly it looseth the belly It serueth in good stead for vulnerarie salues and plastres it scoureth clenseth the skin of the face Conueyed vp into the head of kine and oxen vntill they belch deliuer it again it doth allay resolue all their ventosities but old oile doth heat more and is of greater force to resolue a body into sweats than the new as also to dissipat all hard tumors and swellings More healthfull also it is to those who lie of the lethargie and especially when the disease is in declining and wearing away Somwhat it is thought to clarifie the eies namely if it be applied with an equal quantitie of hony that neuer came neere smoke A proper remedie it is for the head-ache likewise in ardent feuers it is very good with water to allay their heat and if there cannot any old be gotten it ought to be well sodden that thereby it may seeme to haue age sufficient The oile of Ricinus or Tickseed called Cicinum taken as a drink with the like quantitie of hot water is singular to purge euacuat the belly it is said to haue a special vertue to clense the midriffe and those precordial parts neere the heart Soueraigne it is for all gouts hard tumors the infirmities of the matrice of the ears and for all burns or scaldings And if it be medled with the ashes of shell-fishes called Burrets it cureth the inflammation of the fundament and any scab or mange whatsoeuer It giueth a fresh color to the skin of the visage and causes the haire to grow plentifully where it is applied The seed wherof it is made there is no liuing creature will touch Of the grapes which this Palma Christi or Ricinus carieth there be made excellent weiks or matches for lamps and candles which will cast a most cleer light yet the oile that is drawne out of the seed giueth but a dim blaze or obscure flame by reason of the exceeding grossenesse fatnes thereof Of the leaues tempered with vinegre there is a liniment made which is good for S. Anthonies fire and of themselues alone being fresh and greene they be applied with good successe to the paps and any violent fluxion whatsoeuer the same boiled in wine and laid too with grosse barly meale or groats and saffron are singular for al inflammations and if they be applied by themselues without any other thing to the visage they do embelish and polish the skin passing wel within 3 daies Oile of Almonds is laxatiue it serueth to soften the body and make it tender the skin which was riueled it causeth to look neat smooth and cleare and being applied with hony it taketh away freckles and spots out of the face Boiled with oile rosat hony the rind of pomegranats it is comfortable to the eares it killeth the worms therein resolueth those grosse humors that were the cause of hard hearing of the thumping tinging and other inordinat sounds within the eares and withall easeth the head-ach and cureth the dimnes of the eies Reduced into a cerot with wax it healeth felons and cleereth the skin of those who be tanned and sun-burnt wash the head with it and wine together it kils the running skall and riddeth away the dandruffe applied with Melilot it discusseth the swelling piles and bigges in the fundament if the head be annointed with it alone it procureth sleepe Oile-de baies the newer that it is and greener of colour the better it is thought to be hot it is of nature and therefore good in a palsie crampe sciatica and for bruised places looking blacke and blew vpon stripes and being heat in the rind or coat of a pomgranat and so applied as a cataplasme it helpeth the head-ach old rheumes and infirmities of the eares Oile of Myrtles is made after the same manner a stringent it is and serueth to harden any part of the body it knitteth the flaggie gumbs helpeth the tooth-ach and bloudy flix it cures the exulceration of the matrice and bladder healeth all old vlcers which run and yeeld filthy matter if it be brought into a cerot with the skales of brasse and wax Also it cureth the meazles and angry wheales so it doth all burns and skalds It healeth and skinneth any gall and raw place it skoureth dandruffe and represseth the breeding thereof it cureth clifts and chaps piles and swelling bigs in the fundament it bringeth down and resolueth it knitteth dislocations of joints and taketh away the strong and rank sauor of the bodie A countrepoyson it is against the Cantharides and the Buprestis as also against all other venome which is corrosiue and hurteth by exulceration Touching the ground-Myrtle Chamaemyrsine or Oxymyrsine it hath the same nature that the other Myrtle hath and the oiles be of semblable vertues The oile of Cypresse also likewise of Citrons be not vnlike to the oile of Myrtles in operation but the oile drawne from the walnut kernels which we called Caryinum is singular to bring haire againe where it is faln away by some infirmitie and instilled into the eares it helpeth the hardnesse of hearing if the forehead be annointed therewith it cureth the head-ach Otherwise it is but dull in operation and yet a stinking smel it hath with it If but one nut kernel be corrupt and rotten it marreth all the oile that is made of the rest were there a pecke of them The oile which is made of the graine or seed of the plant Thymelaea is of the same vertue that the oile of Palma Christi or Tickseed aboue-named The oile of the Lentiske is passing good to make an ointment of against lassitude and wearinesse and verily it were aequiualent euery way to oile-rosat but that it is found to be more a stringent it is vsed much in repressing of immoderat sweats and those angrie pimples which rise after much sweat Nothing is there so effectuall to heale the farcines or skab in horses and such like beasts The oile of Ben mundifieth freckles cureth felons and biles take away spots and mols and healeth the apostemations in the gumbs As for Cypiros what a plant it is and how there is an oile made therof I haue shewed alreadie By nature it is hot and softneth sinews which be stiffe
tender rind thereof incorporat with wax and rosin healeth all maner of scales within â—…o daies The same boiled and applied accordingly cureth the accidents befalling to the cods and genetoirs The very perfume thereof coloreth the haire of the head black and the suffumigation fetcheth downe the dead infant out of the mothers belly It is giuen inwardly in drinke for the infirmitie of the kidnies bladder precordial parts how beit an enemy it is vnto the head and sinews A decoction or bathe thereof if a woman sit in it staieth the immoderat fluxe both of Matrice and belly Likewise the ashes taken in white wine are singular for the pains and torments of the collick as also a collution therewith is as effectuall to cure the fal of the Vvula and other defects incident to that part CHAP. VI. ¶ The medicin able vertues considered in the floures leaues fruit boughes branches bark wood iuice root and ashes of many trees of seuerall kinds IT remaineth now to decipher the manifold medicines which apples such like fruits tender skinned do affoord according to the variety of trees which bring them forth Of which thus much in generall is to be noted That all fruits which ripen in the Spring while they be soure and harsh be enemies to the stomack they trouble the belly disquiet the guts and bladder and withall be offen siue to the sinews but if they be ful ripe or sodden they are the better But to grow vnto particulars Quinces if they be boiled baked or rosted are sweeter and more pleasant to the tast than raw Yet being throughly ripe vpon the tree although they be eaten raw they are good for those that spit and reach bloud and are diseased with the bloudy flix such also as vpon the violent motion of vnbridled cholerick humors void vpward and downward as also for them who be subiect to continual loosnesse of the belly occasioned by the feeblenes of the stomack Being once boiled or baked they are not of the same operation for they lose therby that astringent vertue which their iuice had In hot and sharp feuers they serue for to be applied to the brest And yet if they be sodden in rain water they will do well in those cases aboue recited but for the pain of the stomack it matters not whether they be raw sodden or baked so they be reduced into the form of a cerot laid too Their down or mossinesse which they beare if it be boiled in wine and reduced into a liniment with wax healeth carbuncles And the same maketh the haire to grow again in bald places occasioned by some disease Raw Quinces condited and preserued in hony do stir the belly moue to siege They impart vnto the hony a pleasant tast whereby it is more familiar and agreeable to the stomack But such as being parboiled before are then kept and confited in honey be thought good for the stomacke in the opinion of some who ordaine and prescribe to stamp them first and then to take them in manner of a meat or consâ—…ue beeing incorporaâ—… with Rose leaues boyled for the infirmities of the Stomacke The juice of raw Quinces is a soueraigne remedy for the swoln spleen the dropsie and difficulty of taking breath when the patient cannot draw his wind but vpright The same is good for the accidents of the breasts or paps for the piles and swelling veines The floure or blossom of the Quince as well green and fresh gathered as drie is held to be good for the inflammation of the eies the reaching and spitting of bloud and the immoderat flux of womens monthly terms There is a mild juice drawn also from these floures stamped with sweet wine which is singular for the flux proceeding from the stomack and for the infirmities of the liuer Moreouer the decoction of them is excellent to soment either the matrice when it beareth down out of the body or the gut Longaon in case it hang forth Of Quinces also there is made a soueraigne oile which is commonly called Melinum but such Quinces must not grow in any moist tract but come from a sound and dry ground which is the reason that the best Quinces for this purpose be those that are brought out of Sicily The smaller Pear Quinces called Struthia are not so good although they be of the race of Pome Quinces The root of the Quince tree tied fast vnto the Scrophules or Kings-euill cureth the said disease but this ceremony must be first obserued That in the taking vp of the said root there be a circle made round about it vpon the earth with the left hand and the party who gathereth it is to say What root he is about to gather and to name the Patient for whom he gathereth it and then as I said it doth the deed surely The Pome-Paradise or hony Apples called Melimela and other fruits of like sweetnesse do open the stomacke and loosen the belly they set the body in a heat and cause thirstinesse but offensiue they be not to the sinews The round Apples bind the belly stay vomits and prouoke vrine Wildings or Crabs are like in operation to the fruits that be eaten soure in the Spring and they procure costiuenesse And verily for this purpose serue all fruits that be vnripe As touching Citrons either their substance or their graines and seed within taken in wine are a counterpoison A collution made either with the water of their decoction or their juice pressed from them is singular to wash the mouth for a sweet breath Physitians giue counsell to women with child for to eat the seed of Citrons namely when their stomackes stand to coles chalk and such like stuffe but for the infirmity of the stomack they prescribe to take Citrons in substance howbeit hardly are they to be chewed but with vineger As for Pomgranats needlesse altogether it were now to iterate and rehearse the nine kinds thereof Sweet Pomgranats all the sort of them which by another name we called Apyrena are counted hurtfull to the stomack they ingender ventosities and be offensiue to the teeth and gums But such as in pleasant tast are next vnto them which we called Vinosa hauing smal kernels within are taken and found by experience to be somwhat more wholsom they do stay the belly comfort and fortifie the stomack so they be eaten moderatly and neuer to satisfie the appetite to the full yet some there be who forbid sick persons once to tast of these last named yea and in no hand wil allow any Pomgranats at all to be eaten in a feuer forasmuch as neither their juice and liquor nor the carnous pulp of their grains is good for the patient In like maner they giue a charge and caueat not to vse them in vomits nor in the rising of choler Certes Nature hath shewed her admirable worke in this fruit for at the very first opening of the rind she presently maketh shew
and therefore much eating of them causeth a man to grow corpulent and nathelesse to be strong and lusty withall which is the cause that professed wrestlers and champions were in times past fed with figs. For Pythagoras a great master and warden of these exercises was the first man who brought them to eat flesh meat Moreouer figs be restoratiue and the best thing that they can eat who are brought low by some long and languishing sicknesse and now vpon the mending hand and in recouerie In like manner they are singular for the falling euil and the dropsie Figs applied as a cataplasme are excellent either to discusse or els bring to maturity any imposthumes or swellings but they doe the seat more effectually if either quicke-lime or sal-nitre be mixt therwith Boiled with Hyssop they clense the brest break and dissolue the flegmatick humors either fallen to the lungs or there ingendred so by consequence rid away an old cough Sodden in wine so applied as a liniment they cure the infirmities incident to the seat or fundament they mollifie and resolue the swelling tumors of the paps they discusse and heale fellons pushes biles risings behind the ears A fomentationmade with their decoction is good for women And the same being sodden with Faeni-greek are excellent for the pleurisie Peripnewmony i. the inflammation of the lungs Boiled with Rue they assuage the ventosities or collicke in the guts The same being incorporat with verdi-grease or the rust of brasse cureth the morimals of the legs and with Pomgranats they heale the rising exulceration of the flesh and skin about the naile roots But made into a cerot with wax they heale burnes scaldings kibed heels Seeth Figs in wine with wormwood and barley meale and put nitre to them they are passing wholesome for those who are in a dropsie Chew them they binde the belly Make a cataplasme of Figs and salt together the same is singular for the sting of scorpions Boyle them in wine and so apply them you haue an excellent remedy to draw forth carbuncles to the outward parts and bring them to an head Take the fattest fullest Figs you can get lay them vpon the vgly and ill fauored tumor called Carcinoma i. the Canker so it be not vet exulcerat I assure you it is a soueraigne remedy and hardly can be matched againe and so it is also for the festering and eating vlcer Phagedaena There is not another tree againe growing vpon the face of the earth that yeeldeth better or sharper ashes than the wood of the Figge-tree doth either to clense vlcers or to incarnat consolidat and restrain flux of humors It is taken in drink for to resolue cluttered bloud within the body Semblably if it be giuen to drink with water oile of each one cyath it serues wel for those who are dry beaten bruised who are fallen from some high place such also as haue spasms inward rvptures And thus they vse to giue it in al cramps and namely in that vniuersall convulsion which holdeth the body so stiffe that it can stir no way nor other as if it were made of one intire piece without any ioint Likewise both taken in drink and also infused or iniected by clystre it helpeth the fluxe occasioned either by a feeble and rheumatick stomacke or els by the vlcer of the guts If a man rub the body all ouer with it and oile together it setteth it into an heat were it before benummed A liniment made of it and wrought with wax and oile Rosat together skinneth a burnt or scalded place most finely leauing no skar at al to be seen Temper it with oile and therwith annoint their eies who are pore-blind sand blind or otherwise short-sighted it amends their eie-sight to conclude rub the teeth often therewith it preserueth them white neat and from rotting Thus much of Fig-tree ashes Moreouer it is commonly said That if one come to a Fig-tree bend a bough or branch therof downward to the ground and bearing vp his head without stooping reach and catch hold of a knot or ioint with his teeth and so bite it off that no man see him when he is doing of it and then lap the same within a piece of fine leather tied fast by a thred and hang it about his necke it will dispatch the kings-euill and swelling kernels or inflammations behind the eares The bark of the Fig-tree reduced into pouder mixed with oile and so applied healeth the vlcers of the belly Green Figs taken raw stamped and incorporat with niter and meale take away all warts whether they be smooth or rough The ashes made of those shoots that spring from the root is a kind of Antispodium and may go for Spodium indeed If the same be twice calcined and burnt and then mixed with cerusse or white lead and so reduced into trochiskes they make a good collyrie or eie-salue to cure the roughnesse and exulceration of the eies As many vertues as the mild fig-tree hath yet the wild is much more effectuall in operation howsoeuer she yeeldeth lesse milke or white juice than the other doth For a branch onely of it is as good as rennet or rindles to make milk turn and run to a cheese curd Howbeit that milky liquor which it hath if it be gathered and kept vntill it be dry and wax hard serueth to season our flesh meats and giue them a good tast For which purpose it is wont to be mixed and dissolued in vineger then the flesh must be well rubbed and poudred therwith The same is vsually mingled with caustick and corrosiue medicines when there is an intention to raise blisters and make an issue It causeth the belly to be laxatiue and openeth the matrice if it be vsed with Amyl pouder Being taken in drink with the yolk of an egg it prouoketh womens fleurs Applied in a liniment with the floure of Feni-greeke it easeth the pains of the gout it clenseth the leprosie and foul wild scab it killeth ring-worms and fell tettars it scoureth away freckles and such flecks as disfauor the face likewise it cureth the parts stung with venomous serpents or bitten with mad dogs Moreouer this juice of the wild Fig-tree applied vnto the teeth with a lock of wooll allaieth their ach so it doth also if it be put into them that be worme-eaten and hollow The tender yong branches together with the leaues if they be mingled with Eruile are good against the poison of venomous sea-fishes But then according to some Physitians there must be wine added to this receit The said tender branches being put into the pot with Boeuf and so boiled together saue much fewell for lesse fire by far will serue to seeth the meat The green figs of this wild fig-tree brought into a liniment do mollifie and discusse the kings euil and all other tumors and apostemes And in some measure the leaues also haue the same operation
fill their vats and caudrons hath the same operation that Struthium and is put to the same vse Many there be verily in all parts of Spaine who vse it both in sweet Pomanders and also in ointments calling it Aspalathus and without all doubt there is a kind of wild white thorne of this race growing in the casterly countries as I haue said among the woods and riseth to the full height of a good tree Yea and a shrubby plant there is lower than the other but as full of pricks growing in Nisyrus and the Islands of the Rhodians which some cal Erysisceptron others Adipsatheon or Dipsacon or Dracheton the best is that which groweth nothing like to the Ferula and being despoiled of the rind is of a reddish colour inclining to purple It is found in many places but not euery where odoriferous Of what sorce it is when the rainebow seemeth to rest vpon it I haue shewed already It healeth the filthy cankers or sores of the mouth and the stinking vlcers or alepocks in the nosthrils likewise the sores botches and carbuncles in the priuy parts the crenises also and clifts in the fundament or else-where applied vnto the place affected but if it be drunk it abateth all swelling of ventosities the bark or rind therof dispatcheth those obstructions and impediments which cause the strangury or pissing by drop-meale The decoction is a singular remedy for them that either pisse or vomit bloud The foresaid rinde stoppeth the flux of the belly The like effects is that thought to work which groweth in thewoods and is called Aspalathus of the Leuant There is a kind of thorny bush called Appendix for that there be red berries hanging therto which be likewise named Appendices These berries either raw by themselues or else dryed and boiled in wine do stay the flux of the belly and besides assuage the torments and wrings therof As for the berries of Pyxacanthus they be drunk to right good purpose against the sting of serpents Paliurus also is a kind of thorny bush the people of Africk call the seed of it Zura which is found to be most effectuall against scorpions and for those who are troubled with the stone and the cough The leaues haue an astringent or binding qualitie The root resolueth and dispatcheth biles impostumes and botches and if the same be taken in drink it procureth vrin if it be sodden in wine and the decoction drunk it stoppeth a laske and is a defensatiue against the poison of serpents the root especially is giuen in wine some there be who stamp the leaues putting salt thereto and beeing reduced into the forme of a cataplasme apply the same to the gout The leaues be good to stay the immoderat flux of womens termes the loosenesse of the belly occasioned by a feeble stomack the bloudy flix and the inordinat motions of cholericke humors both vpward and downward The root boiled and brought to a liniment draweth forth whatsoeuer sticketh within the body Soueraign it is and of exceeding great operation in case of dislocations and swellings As touching the Holly of Hulver tree if it be planted about an house whether it be within a city or standing in the country it serueth for a countercharm and keepeth away all ill spels or inchantments Pythagoras affirmeth that the floure of this tree wil cause water to stand all vpon an yee also that a staffe made thereof if a man doe fling it at any beast whatsoeuer although it chance to light short for default of strength in his arms who flung it wil notwithstanding etch forward and roll from the place where it fell vpon the earth and approch neere to the beast aforesaid of so admirable a nature is this Holly tree The fume or smoke of any Yeugh tree killeth mice and rats Neither hath Nature produced brambles for nothing els but to prick and do hurt for such is her bounty that the berries which they beare are mans meat besides many other medicinable properties for they haue a desiccatiue and astringent vertue and serue as a most appropriate remedy for the gums the inflammation of the Tonsils the priuy members the flours also as well as the berries of the brambles be singular against the Haemorrhoid and the Prester which are the two wickeddest and most mischieuous serpents that be The wounds inflicted by scorpions they close heale vp againe without any danger of rankling or apostemation and withall they haue a property to prouoke vrine The juice drawne and pressed out of the tendrons or yong sprouts of brambles stamped and afterwards reduced vnto the consistence of honey by standing in the Sun is a singular medicine either taken inwardly or applied outwardly for all the diseases of the mouth and eies for them that reach vp bloud for the squinancy the accidents of the matrice and fundament finally for the immoderat flux of the belly occasioned by the weaknesse of stomack As for the sores and infirmities of the mouth the very leaues alone of the bramble if they be but chewed are passing good but if they be reduced into a liniment and so applied they heale running sores or any scals whatsoeuer in the head euen so being laid alone vpon the left pap they be wholesome for such as are giuen to the fainting trembling of the heart and subject to fal into cold sweats likewise being applied accordingly they ease the pain of the stomack and such as haue their eies ready to start out of their head and to help the infirmities of the ears their iuice is excellent to be dropped into them The same juice incorporat with the cerot of roses healeth the clifts and swelling knubs in the fundament for the said infirmity the decoction of yong tendrils in wine is a present remedy in case the place be bathed and fomented therein The same yong springs earen alone by themselues in a salad in maner of the tender crops and spurts of the Colewort or boiled in some harsh grosse and greene wine do fasten the teeth which be loose and shake in the head they stop a lask and restrain an vnnaturall issue or flux of bloud and besides are good in the bloudy flix Being dried in the shade and afterwards burnt their ashes are singu ar to stay the uvula for falling The leaues also being dried and beaten to pouder are excellent good for the farcines and sores in horses and such like beasts As for the blacke berries which these brambles do beare there is a kind of Diamoron made of them which is far better for the infirmities of the mouth and more effectual than the other of the garden mulberies The same being so prepared in that stomaticall composition aforesaid or drunk only with Hypoquistis and hony be singlar to represse the fury of choler prouoking both waies they be cordiall likewise in case of faintings and cold sweats and lastly a preseruatiue against the poison of the venomous spiders Among those
to be like in leaf vnto Plantain in stem four square bringeth forth certain little cods full of seed in folded and interlaced one within another after the manner of the tufted and curled haires about the Pourcuttle fiâ—…hes called Polypi But be it what it will the juice of the herb is refrigeratiue and of great vse in Physicke As for the herb Gentian we must acknowledge Gentius king of the Illyrians for the Authour and patron therof for he brought it first into name credit and howsoeuer it grow in al places yet the best is that which is found in Illyricum or Sclauonia The leaues come neare in fashion and forme to those of the Ash tree but that they be small in manner of Lettuce the stem is tender of a thumb thicknesse hollow as a kex and void with in leafed here and there with certain spaces betweene growing vp other while 3 cubits high The root is pliable and will winde euery way somwhat blacke or duskish without any smell at all it groweth in great plenty vpon waterish hillocks that lie at the foot of great mountains such as the Alps be The juice of the herb is medicinable like as the root it selfe also which is very hot of nature and not to be giuen in drinke to women with childe Lysimachia the herbe so much commended by Erasistratus beareth the name of king Lysimachus who first gaue light of the vertues that it hath greene leaues it beareth like vnto those of the willow the floures be purple giuen much it is to branch from the root and those stalkes grow vpright a sharp smell it carrieth with it and delighteth to liue in watery places Of so effectuall vertue it is that if it be laid vpon the yoke of two beasts which will not draw gently together it staieth their strife and maketh them agree well enough Not men only and great kings but women also and queens haue affected this kind of glory To giue names vnto herbs Thus queen Artemisia wife to Mausolus king of Caria eternized her owne name by adopting as it were the herb Mugwort to her selfe calling it Artemisia whereas before it was named Parthemis Some there be who attribute this denomination vnto Diana called in Greek Artemis Ilithya because it is of speciall operation to cure the maladies incident to women It brancheth and busheth thick much like to wormwood but that the leaues be bigger fat and wel liking withal Of this Mugwort there be two kinds the one carieth broad leaues the other is tender and the leaues smaller this grows no where but along the sea coasts There be writers who call by this name Artemisia another herb growing in the midland parts of the main and far from the sea with one simple stem bearing very small leaues and plentie of floures which commonly break forth and blow when grapes begin to ripen and those cast no vnpleasant smel which herb some thereupon name Botrys others Ambrosia and of this kind there is great store in Cappadocia Nenuphar is called in Greeke Nymphaea the originall of which herb and name also arose by occasion of a certain maiden Nymph or yong lady who died for jealousie that she had conceiued of prince Hercules whom she loued and therefore by some it is named also Heraclion of others Rhopalos for the resemblance that the root hath to a club or mace But to come againe to our first name Nymphaea this quality it hath alluding and respectiue thereunto That whosoeuer do take it in drink shal for 12 daies after find no prick of the flesh no disposition I say to the act of venery or company of women as being depriued for that time of all naturall seed The best Nemphar or Nymphaea is found in the lake Orchomenus and about the plain of Marathon The people of Boeotia who also vse to eat the seed thereof commonly call it Madon It taketh great contentment to grow in waters the leaues floting vpon the face of the water be broad and large whiles others put forth from the root The floure resembleth the Lillie which when it is once shed there be certain knobs remaining like vnto the bolls or heads of Poppie The proper season to cut the stems and heads of this plant is in Autumne The root is blacke which being gathered and dried in the Sunne is counted a soueraigne remedy for those that be vexed with the flux or fretting of the belly A second Nemphar or Nymphaea there is growing in Thessaly within the riuer Peneus with a white root but a yellow flour in the head about the bignesse of a rose No longer ago than in our forefathers daies Iuba king of Mauritania found out the herb Euphorbia which he so called after the name of his own Physitian Euphorbus brother to that learned Musa Physitian to Augustus Caesar who saued the life of the said Emperor as heretofore I haue declared These two brethren Physitians ioined together in counsell and gaue direction for to wash the body all ouer in much cold water after the hot baine or stouve thereby to knit and bind the pores of the skin for before their time the maner was to bathe in hot water only as we may see plainly in the Poet Homer But now to return vnto our herb Euphorbia the foresaid K. Iuba wrote one entire book at this day extant wherin he doth nothing els but expressely set forth the commendable vertues and properties of this one herb He found the same first vpon the mountain Atlas where it was to be seen saith he bearing leaues resembling Branc-vrsin so strong and forcible it is that those who receiue the juice or liquor issuing from it must stand a good way off for the manner is to launce or wound it first and then presently to retire backe and so at the end of a long pole to put vnder it a paile or trey made of kids or goats leather for a receptory into which there runneth forth out of the plant a white liquour like vnto milke which when it is dried and growne together resembleth in shew a lumpe or masse of Frank incense They that haue the gathering of this juice called Euphorbium find this benefit thereby That they see more clearly than they did before an excellent remedy this is against the venom of serpents for what part soeuer is stung or wounded by them make a light incision vpon the crown of the head and apply therto this medicinable liquor it wil surely cure it But in that country the Getulians who commonly do gather Euphorbium for that they border vpon the mount Atlas sophisticate it with goats milke Howbeit fire will soon detect this imposure of theirs for that which is not right but corrupt when it burneth doth yeeld a lothsome fume and stinking sent The juice or liquor which in France is drawn out the herb Chamaelea the same that beareth the red grain named by the Latines Coccum commeth far short of this
tooth-ach so that the patient hold the decoction in his mouth For the Sciatica and strangurie it is good to be taken at the mouth in wine and outwardly applied it healeth burns and cureth kibed heeles in which cases the root is much commended if together with the seed it be stamped with wine and a fomentation made with the decoction thereof As touching Asplenum some there be who call it Hemionion an herbe putting forth many leaues foure inches long the root is giuen to haue cranks and holes and those full of mud or durt much-what do the leaues grow like to Fearn the root is white and rough It beareth neither stalk stem nor seed It delighteth to grow among rockes and stones vpon walls standing in the shade and in moist grounds The best is that which we haue out of Candy It is commonly said that if the decoction of the leaues boiled in vineger be drunke forty daies together it wasteth the swelled spleen The same may be applied in a liniment for that purpose so also they do stay the excessiue yex or hocket This herb would not be giuen to women for it causeth them to be barren Asclepias beareth leaues resembling Iuie long branches many small roots and those odoriferous howbeit the flours haue a strong and rank stinking smell with them the seed much like to the Axvitch It loueth to grow vpon mountains The roots of this herbe not only taken inwardly in drinke but also applied outwardly in a liniment do ease the wrings of the belly and resist the sting of serpents After is by some named Bubonium for that it is a present remedy for the tumours arising in the share This herbe putteth vp a small stemme with two or three leaues somewhat long In the top thereof it beareth certaine little heads inuironed with spokie leaues and those disposed round in manner of a starre Taken in drinke it is thought to be a preseruatiue against the venom of serpents But to make a medicine for the share beforenamed it must they say be gathered with the left hand nd then kept fast bound neere vnto the middle or girding place of the patient And surely it helpeth the Sciatica in case it be tied sure to the affected place Ascyron and Ascyroides be herbes resembling one another and both like vnto Hypericon howbeit that which is named Ascyroides hath the bigger branches and those streight and direct much after the manner of Fenell and such like red throughout and in the top thereof appeare little heads or knobs of a yellow color The seed contained in certain pretty cups is smal black and gummie bruise the said tops or knobs between your fingers they seem to stain them with bloud which is the cause that some cal this herb Androsaemon The seed is singular for the Sciatica namely if the patient drink two drams weight thereof in a sextar of Hydromel that is to say mead or honied water for it looseneth the belly and purgeth choler A liniment made therewith is much commended for a burne Apace is an herb which hath very fine and small leaues and a little taller it is than the Lentill but larger cods it beareth wherin lie three or foure seeds blacker moister and smaller than the grains of the said Lentill It groweth vpon corn lands More astringent it is by nature than the Lentill and bindeth stronger for all other matters it worketh the same effects The seed boiled staieth vomits and lasks Touching Alcibion what manner of herb it should be I neuer could yet finde in any writer But they giue direction to stamp the roots and leaues thereof and so in a cataplasme to apply them vnto any place stung with serpents and to drink them also Now they prescribe for the drink to take of the leaues one good handfull and to stamp them and so to giue them in three cyaths of meere wine ful of the grape or of the root three drams weight with the like measure of wine Alectorolophos in Greek called by vs in Latine Crista Galli i. Cocks-comb hath leaues for all the world resembling the crest or comb of a cock and those in number many a slender stem and black seed inclosed within certain cods A soueraign herb it is for them that cough if it be boiled with bruised beans and taken in maner of an electuary with hony It scattereth the cloudy films that trouble the eie-sight the maner is to take the seed whole and sound as it is and to put it into the eie it is nothing offensiue nor troubleth that part one whit but gathereth to it selfe all those grosse humors which impeached the sight And in very truth this seed whiles it is within the eie changeth colour and being black before beginneth to wax white it swelleth withall and in the end commeth out of the eie by the owne accord CHAP. VI. ¶ Of Alum THe herb which we name in Latine Alum the Greeks call Symphytum Petraeum as if one would say Comfrey of the rock and verily like it is to wild Origan The leaues be small and three or foure branches spring immediatly from the root the tops whereof resemble those of Thyme Much branched it is otherwise odoriferous in smel and sweet in tast it draws down water into the mouth and causeth spitting The root which it putteth forth is long red This herb taketh pleasure to grow in stony places among rocks in which regard it took the addition of the name Petraeum Singular good it is for the sides and flanks the spleen reines and wrings of the belly for the breast the lights for such as reject or cast vp bloud and are troubled with the asperity and hoarsnesse in the throat for which infirmities the root is to be stamped boiled in wine and so drunk yea and otherwhiles to be reduced into a liniment and so applied Moreouer the chewing of it only quencheth thirst and hath a principal vertue to coole the lungs Being applied outwardly in the form of a cataplasm it knitteth dislocations helpeth convulsions is comfortable to the spleen the bowels or guts if they be fallen by any rupture The same root rosted or baked vnder the ashes staieth a lask in case it be first shrigged from the hairy strings thereof and pilled and then after it is beaten into pouder be drunk in water with nine Pepper corns And for healing of wounds so soueraigne it is that if it be put into the pot and sodden with pieces of flesh it will souder and reioine them whereupon the Greekes imposed vpon it the name Symphytum i. Consound finally it serueth to vnite again broken bones CHAP. VII ¶ Of Reits or sea-grasse and Wallwort Of the wild vine and Wormewood THe sea-weed that looketh red named in Latine Alga is very proper for the prick and sting of Scorpions Touching Wallwort it hath leaues carrying a strong and stinking smell with them the stems be rough and parted into ioints the seed black like
leafe commeth neere vnto garden Parsley the seed thereof is good to be drunke for the stone and the infirmities incident to the bladder As for Phalaris it hath a long slender stem like vnto a reed in the top whereof it beareth a floure bending downward and the seed resembleth that of Sesama and this also breaketh the stone if it be drunke in wine or vineger or otherwise with milk and honey The same cureth the accidents of the bladder Polyrrhizon is leafed like vnto the Myrtle and hath many roots which being bruised are giuen in wine against the poison of serpents not only if men but also if fourfooted beasts be stung by them Proserpinaca likewise being otherwise a common herb is counted a soueraigne remedy against scorpions the same stamped and incorporat with fish-pickle and oile is by report a singular medicine against the prick of scorpions Ouer and besides it is said that if it be but held vnder the tongue it refresheth those who be ouertrauelled or any waies wearied so as they haue lost their speech with very faintnesse but in case it be swallowed downe the throat it procureth vomit which alwaies is good and wholsome for the Patient As touching Rhacoma it is brought vnto vs out of those countries which are beyond the kingdome of Pontus a root it is much resembling the black Costus but that it is smaller and somewhat redder also without any smell hot at the tongues end and astringent being punned it is of a wine colour inclining to safron a liniment made of this root doth mitigate all impostumes and inflammations healeth wounds and appeaseth the violence of any rheums taking a course to the eies especially if it be applied with cuit al marks remaining after stripes other places of the skin black and blew it taketh away if they be annointed with it and vineger together the pouder thereof is good to be cast vpon old morimals and vlcers vntoward to be healed being to the weight of one dram taken in water it is singular for them that cast vp bloud moreouer in case of the dysentery and the flux proceeding from imbecility of the stomacke it is an excellent medicine to be taken in wine if the Patient bee free of the ague otherwise it would be giuen in water For to pun or stamp this root more easily it had need to lie and soke in water ouernight the decoction thereof is giuen to drinke in double measure or quantity for those that be plucked with the cramp bursen bruised or to such as haue tumbled down from some high loft In pains of the brest there had need some Pepper and myrrh to be put thereto in case the stomack be feeble and clean done it ought to be taken in cold water and whether it be giuen inwardly or applied outwardly it helpes all those that void vp filthy matter from the parts beneath likewise it cureth such as haue weak liuers hard or swelled spleens and the Sciatica it healeth the infirmities of the kidnies shortnesse of wind straitnesse of breath namely when a man is driuen to sit vpright for it The hoarsnesse and roughnesse of the throat it cureth if either the pouder be taken to the quantity of 3 oboli in cuit or the decoction drunk The filthy tettars called Lichenes it scoureth away applied vnto them in a liniment with vineger In drink it dissolueth ventosities riddeth away through-colds and namely the shiuerings and shakings in cold agues it represseth the yex or hicquet appeaseth the wrings of the belly cleareth the windpipes dispatcheth the pose the murre and heauinesse of the head stilleth the dizzines of the head and turning of the brain occasioned by melancholy humors and finally assuageth all painfull lassitudes and is singular good for cramps or convulsions About the towne Ariminum there groweth an herb commonly knowne by the name of Reseda it resolueth and discusseth all impostumes it reduceth also into temperature any inflammation But they that vse to cure with this herb must when they lay it to the place say withall these words following Reseda morbos Reseda scisne scisne quis hic pullos egerit Radices nec caput nec pedes habeant That is to say Reseda cause these maladies to cease knowest thou knowest thou who hath driuen these pullets here Let the roots haue neither head nor foot This charm I say they must pronounce three times ouer and spit vpon the ground as often To conclude Stoechas groweth in those Islands onely which carry that name and be called Stoechades an odoriferous herb it is bearing leaues like vnto hyssop and is bitter in tast taken in drink it procureth womens moneths and doth mitigat the pains of the brest Also it is one of the species or ingredients entring into the preseruatiue compositions called Antidotes CHAP. XIII ¶ Of Nightshade of Smyrnium and Telephium Of Trichomanes Thalietrum and Thlaspi Of Tragonia Tragonis Tragum Tragoprgon and Spondylis Also that some diseases are not incident to certaine countries NIght shade called in Latine Solanum the Greeks name Strychnos as saith Cornelius Celsus an herbe this is which hath a vertue repercussiue and refrigeratiue Loueach named otherwise Smyrnium hath a stem like vnto Persley and the leaues be larger it putteth forth many sions or imps from about the stem and out of their concauities there spring certain fatty leaues those hanging as if they were broken toward the ground hauing an aromaticall smel joined with a certain acrimony which is not vnpleasant of a colour inclining to a weak and faint yellow The stem beareth in the head certain round spoky tufts in manner of Dill. The seed round and black which waxeth to be dry in the beginning of summer The root is likewise redolent but in tast quick and biting full of juice soft and tender the rind of which root is black without but pale within the odour which it hath testifieth the qualitie of myrrh whereupon it took the name Smyrnium This herb groweth vpon hills as well such as be rocky as those that be altogether earthy The nature of it generally is to heat and extenuat The leaues and root both prouoke vrine and the monthly terms of women the seed knitteth the belly and staieth a lask The root vsed in a liniment discusseth all impostumes as well broken as not broke so that they be not inueterat and of long continuance and in one word resolueth all hardnesse in the flesh Soueraigne it is against the prick of the venomous spiders Phalangia and the sting of serpents being drunk in wine with Cachrys Polium or Baulm with this charge That if it be taken peece meale for if it were taken entire and whole it would prouoke vomit and for this cause otherwhiles it is giuen with Rue The seed or root chuse whether you will cureth the cough and difficulty of breath when the Patient cannot take his breath but sitting vpright In like manner it helpeth those who are diseased
make cureth the whitflawes or impostumations breeding at the naile roots The trunk or muffle of an elephant if it be but touched only allaieth the head-ach the more effectuall it is in case sneezing come withall It is said moreouer if one take a piece of the right side of the same trunke carry it fast about him with the red ocre of Lemnos called Terra Sigillata it will incite him mightily to carnal lust The bloud of an elephant is singular good for those that be in a consumption wast away like as the liuer helpeth such as be giuen to the falling sicknesse The grease or fat of a Lion tempered with oile of Roses into an vnguent preserueth the skin of the face from all ilfauord spots and keepes it white and smooth The same ointment healeth th skin that is scorched and pilled with cold by trauelling ouer mountains charged with snow yea and abateth the tumors nodosities vpon the ioints Now if we list to beleeue the fooleries of Magitians they would bear vs in hand that whosoeuer be anointed all ouer with the said grease shall be gracious with princes and kings yea and win much fauor among the people and any state or nation where they shall converse but principally it must be the fat in the forehead between the eie-brows where indeed it is vnpossible to find any at all The like effects they do promise of the Lions teeth and those especially of the right side like as of the shag haire forsooth that should hang vnder their nether jaw Indeed the gal of a Lion mixed with water clarifieth the eiesight in case the eies be bathed therwith the same tempered with the own grease dispatcheth as they say the falling sicknes in case the patient tast neuer so little of it so soon as he hath taken it run a while for to digest the same A Lions heart cureth a Quartane ague if the sick person do eat thereof and their fat is a soueraigne remedy for the feuer Quotidian if it be vsed with oile rosat There is not a beast so fel and sauage but it wil run away from them that be anointed with Lions grease and it is thought to be a singular preseruatiue for to preuent any secret ambushes or practises intended against one As touching the Cammell his braine by report is excellent good against the epilepsie or falling sic knesse if it be dried and drunk with vineger so doth the gall likewise taken in drinke with hony which also is a good medicine for the Squinancy It is said that a Cammels tail dried causeth loosnesse of the belly like as the dung reduced into ashes and incorporate with oile doth curle and frizle the haire of the head The said ashes made into a liniment and so applied yea and taken in drink as much as a man may comprehend with three fingers cureth the dysentery so doth it also the falling sicknesse Cammels pisse they say is passing good for Fullers to scour their cloth withal and the same healeth any running sores which be bathed therein It is well known that the barbarous nations keep this stale of theirs vntil it be 5 yeres old and then a draught thereof to the quantity of one hemine is a good laxatiue potion likewise that the heire of their tails twisted into a wreath or cord and so worn about the left arme in manner of a bracelet cureth the Quartaneague As for the Hyaena there is not a wild beast of the field that the Magitians haue so much in admiration as it for they hold that in the Hyaena it selfe there is a certaine magicall vertue attributing a wonderfull power thereto in transporting the mind of man or woman and rauishing their sences so as that it will allure them vnto her very strangely Concerning the rare property of these beasts to chaunge the sex each other yeare i. to be male this yeare and female next as also touching other monstrous qualities obserued in their nature because I haue discoursed already of them it remaineth now that I proceed to shew the medicinable vertues that are reported to be found in them wherof this may be counted for one of the chiefe that considering they be so terrible to Panthers that they dare not quetch nor make head against them whosoeuer hath about him but a piece of the Hyaenes skin may be sure that a Panther will not set vpon him nor once come neere And that which is a wonderfull thing to be spoken in case the hides of them both be hung vp one against another the haire of the Panther will fall off When the Hyaenaes flie before the hunter and would not be taken they wind with a cariere out of the way toward the right hand and wheele about vntil the man be gotten before them this they do because they would meet with his tracts and footing which if they happen vpon and get behind him you shall see the hunter incontinently to be so intoxicat in his brain that he is not able to beare his head nor sit his horse but to fall from his back But in case that they turn on the left hand it is an euident signe that they be ready to faint and then will they quickly be taken The sooner also and with more ease be they caught if we may beleeue art Magick if the hunter tie his girdle about his middle with 7 knots and the cord of his whip likewise wherwith he ruleth and jerketh his horse with as many But see how subtil and cunning these Magitians bee to cloke and colour their vanities and deceits with superstitious circumstances This chase forsooth after the Hyaene must be iust at the very point when the moon is passing through the sign Gemini and then if they be taken the huntsman must be sure to saue euery haire of their skins and misse not one so medicinable they are By their saying also the skin that grows to the head of the Hyaene if it be applied in manner of a frontall is singular good for the headach the gall of the Hyaene cureth bleared eies if the forehead be anointed therwith but if the same bee sodden with three cyaths of Attick hony and one ounce of Safron to a liniment it is an excellent preseruatiue to keep one from euer being blear-eied if so be the eies be annointed with it The said composition likewise is singular for to rid away the cloudy films and catarracts that breed in the eie But for to clear the sight quicken it the older this medicine is the better they hold it to be And kept it must be in abrasen or copper box which eie-salue they say serues also for the mailles or spots for the asperities excrescences cicatrices dents excauations remaining in the eies The grauie or dripping likewise of the Hyaenes liuer newly taken out of the body and rosted being incorporat with clarified hony into an vnguent riddeth away the red film that ouercasteth the apple of
but that they be far bigger their heads be reddish the rest of their body black howbeit here and there marked with white spots The sting of this spider is more keene and sharpe than that of the wespe It liueth ordinarily about ouens and mils The best remedie against the prick of their sting is to present before the eies of the patient another spider of the same kind for which purpose folke vse to keepe them in store when they find any of them dead Their cases or skins brought into pouder and taken in drink haue the like effect to young weazils or kitlings as I haue declared before A second sort there is of these venomous spiders Phalangia which the Greeks distinguish from others by the name of Lupus Those that be of a third kind and yet named Phalangia are the spiders which be couered all ouer with a certain downe and of all the rest haue the biggest heads Cut one of them and rip the bellie you shall find within two little wormes or grubs which if it be true that Cecilius hath left in writing hinder women for conception in case they be knit within a peece of leather of a red deere skin and tied to their armes or other parts of their bodie before the sunne-rising but this vertue continueth not aboue one yeare Thus haue I shewed one receit only of all those that keep women from conceiuing which I may be allowed to do in regard of some wiues who being too fruitfull and ouercharged with child bearing haue some reason to play them a while and rest from teeming and therefore may be pardoned if they vse some such meanes therefore There is another kind of spiders which the Greeks call Rhagion for that it resembles a black grape kernill these haue a very little mouth vnder their belly and as short legs as if they were vnperfect and not fully made Look where they bite the pain that ensueth is much like to that which is occasioned by the sting of a fcorpion and their vrine who are hurt by them seemes to shew to the eye cobwebs floting aloft I would say that this spideâ—… were the same that Asterion another kind of them but that these haue certaineraies or streakes of white Their sting or pricke causeth loosenesse and feeblenesse of the knees As for the blew spider which carrieth a blacke downe or cotton it is worse than both the former causeth trouble and dimnesse of the eyes by their pricking yea and vomiting of matter resembling cobwebs And yet there is another Phalangium worse than it which commeth neare in shape to the Hornet but that it hath no wings at all and look whomsoeuer it biteth they are sure to become leane and pine away The venomous spider called by the Greeks Myrmecion is headed like vnto an Emmet the bellie is blacke howbeit marked with certain white spots their sting is as painefull as that of Wespes But as touching that kind of Phalangium which is called Tetragnatium there be two sorts thereof The one which is the worst of the twaine hath the head diuided directly in the middest with a white line wheras in the other the said line or seame runneth crosse ouerthwart These make the mouths to swell whom they haue bitten But those that be of a dead ash colour and yet whitish behind are not so quicke with their prick as the rest Of which colour there is another sort that be altogether harmlesse and these be our common spiders or spinners which against wals vse to stretch out their large webs as nets to catch poore flies Now concerning the remedies appropriat to any pricke or biting of the foresaid Phalangia there is not a better thing than to drink in oxycrat i. water and vinegre mingled together the braines of a Cock or Hen with a little pepper Also to take in drink fiue Pismires is thought to be a siugular medicine and withall to make a liniment of sheeps mucke ashes tempered in vinegre and therwith to annoint the grieued place Moreouer the said spiders themselues of any kind whatsoeuer resolued and putrified in oile serue for the said purpose As for the mischeeuous mouse called the Hardishrew the runnet found in a lambes maw taken in wine healeth the hurt that commeth by her biting also the application of a salue made with the ashes of a Rams cley incorporat with hony worketh the same effect so doth a young weazill or kitling prepared and vsed in manner aforesaid in the Treatise of serpents If one of these shrewes haue bitten a horse or other beast it is good to lay vnto the place a mouse or â—…t new killed with some salt or else the gall of a Bat with vineger The shrew it selfe being burst and so laid fresh and warm to the sore cureth the same for this is obserued That if one of them be with yong when she doth bite presently she cleaueth in sunder And in truth the best surest means to cure the hurt is to apply vnto the wound the very shrew it selfe that did the deed if possibly shee may be had and yet the rest are very good for which purpose they vse to be kept in oile or els to be dawbed ouer with clay to serue in time of need also the earth taken from a cart-rut where a wheele hath gon is thought to be a proper remedie for the said biting of a shrew if it be applied thereto for it is said that this creature is by nature so benummed or dull of mouing that it will neuer go ouer a cart-tract As touching Scorpions the lizard named Stellio by way of a reciprocall counterchange is the greatest enemie they haue insomuch as at the very sight only of the said lizard they wil be afrighted and astonied and fall into cold sweats and therefore people vse to putrifie resolue Stelliona in oile and therewith anoint the wounds that Scorpions haue made Some there be who make a kind of plaistre of the said oile and litharge of siluer boiled both together wherewith they rub and anoint the grieued place This lizard which we name Stellio the Greeks cal Colotes Ascalabotes and Galeotes it breeds not in Italy but call it what you will whersoeuer it is to be found full it is of little red spots like lentils a shril noise it maketh that pierceth the eares and goeth through ones head it doth eat and graze like other beasts which be marks all contrary to our Stellions or starre-lizards here in Italy But to come againe vnto the pricke of scorpions it is thought good to rub the same with the ashes of hens dung mixt with the liuer of a dragon or to take a lizard that is bursten and the same to apply vnto the affected place or a mouse likewise which is clouen in sunder also to lay to the sore the very same scorpion that did the harm or to eat him rosted and last of all to drinke it in two cyaths of pure
ashes of shell-snailes with Line seed and Nettle seed putting thereto some hony and this cure they continue vntill the patient be throughly whole It is said moreouer That a green Lizard taken aliue and hanged so in a pot iust before the dore of the patients bedchamber with this charge that euer as he goes in and out he touch the same with his hand will worke the same effect The ashes of a scritch-owls head reduced into an vnguent with oile is good for this purpose so is the honey wherein Bees were stifled and lastly a spider but especially that which they call Lycos The heart of the bird called a Houpe is highly commended for the pain of the sides Also the ashes of shell-snailes boiled in Ptisane or husked Barley water and some in this case apply the same otherwhiles in a liniment onely without any thing else The ashes of a dogs head I meane the bare skalpe or skull onely dying enraged and mad is good to spice a cup of drinke withall for this disease If the loines be pained it is said That the starre-Lizards called Stellions comming from beyond sea sodden in wine together with the seed of black Poppie to the weight of halfe a denier is very good so the decoction be drunk howbeit this care must be had that the head be cut off first and the garbage taken forth The green Lizards are good meat in this case if they be dressed accordingly and their feet and head cut away so are shell-snailes braied shels and all together and sodden in wine with fifteen grains of pepper Some vse the feet and legs of an Aegle in this disease pulling them away backeward from the knees and the right foot they apply fast to the paine of the right side but the other if the contrary side be grieued The many-foot Sowes or Cheeslips which I called before Oniscos help the same pains if they be taken to the weight of halfe a denarius in two cyaths of wine To conclude with the Sciatica the magitians giue order to put an earth-worm in a treene or wooden dish which hauing bin cleft was stitched vp again with iron wier or bound with a plate or hoope of yron then to lade vp some water therwith and in it to wash rince the said worme very well and then to enterre or burie the same again in the very place from whence it was digged forth which done to giue the said water anon to the patient for to drinke out the said wooden dish and this they hold to be a wonderfull medicine CHAP. VII ¶ Remedies for the dysenterie or bloudie flix And generally for all diseases of the belly THe decoction of a leg of mutton sodden in water with Line seed is singular good for to be supped off to stay a bloudie flix So is old Cheese made of Ews milke and sheeps suet sodden together in some austere wine The same is singular for the Sciatica passio and an old cough The starre-Lizard Stellio which breeds beyond sea being flaied garbaged and dressed for meat so that the head and feet be taken away and so sodden and eaten is commended also in this case Moreouer it is said That two snailes and one Hens egg stamped the one as wel as the other with their shels and afterwards gently sodden in a new earthen pot with some salt two cyaths of wine cuit or else with the juice of Dates 3 cyaths of water giuen to the patient to drink who is tormented with the dysentery or bloudy flix wil bring great alleuiation of the said disease It is thought also That the ashes of the said shell-snailes calcined if they be taken in wine with a little rosin are soueraign therfore As touching naked snails without any shels they be found plentifully in Affrick Passing good they be for the bloudie flix if 5 of them be burnt and calcined together with halfe a denier weight of Acacia 2 spoonfuls of their ashes taken in Myrtle wine or some other austere astringent wine and a like quantity of hot water Some there be who in this sort vse all the snailes of Barbary Others thinke it better to take fiue of the said snailes of Affricke or rather as many of the broad and flat sort and to clysterize them for the dysenterie But if the flux be exceeding vehement then they put thereto of Acacia the quantitie of a beane It is said moreouer That the spoile or slough of a serpent boiled with oile rosat in a vessell of tinne is singular for the Dysenterie and Tinesme to be injected by a clyster Or if it be sodden in any other vessell yet with an instrument or pipe of tin it is to be conueighed into the fundament that the tiwill thereby may be annoinied The broth of a Cocke cureth these infirmities but if it be of an old Cocke it is the more effectuall And yet if the said broth be any thing saltish it stirreth the bellie prouoketh to the seege The inward skin of an Hens gisier broiled and giuen with salt and oile doth mittigat and appease the wrings caused by the flux of the stomacke But then this regard must be had before That neither the Hen haue any corne giuen her nor the patient feed vpon any graine some time before Pigeons dung being burnt and the ashes taken in drinke is of great effect and vertue in these cases The flesh of a Quoist or Stock-doue sodden in vinegre is good both for the bloudie flix and also for the loosenesse proceeding from the imbecilitie of the stomacke The Thrush or Mauis rosted with Myrtle berries is soueraigne for the dysenterie so is the Merle or black-bird In which respect great account also is made of the honey boiled where in bees were killed Of all the paines that be the Iliacke passion is most sharpe and grieuous to be endured But it is said That the bloud of a Bat torne and plucked in peeces aliue is very good against it yea and if the bellie be annointed therewith it easeth the torment thereof But to come againe vnto the flux of the bellie shell-snailes prepared and made in manner aforesaid for those that be short winded are singular good for to stop the same and to knit the bodie So are their ashes if they were burnt and calcined aliue taken in some austere or astringent wine The liuer of a cocke rosted together with the skin of the gisier which ordinarily the cooke casteth away dried and kept and so taken with a little of the juice of Poppy mixed with it is of great power to remedy these accidents others take the same skin whiles it is new and fresh which they broil and torrifie for to be giuen in wine to drink A Partridge broth yea and the gisier of the bird alone beaten to pouder and taken in some grosse and a stringent wine is singular to stay a flux of the belly The wild Ring-doue or
Quoist boiled in vineger and water is of the same effect The milt of a sheep first torrified then puluerized and taken in wine helpeth much this infirmitie A liniment likewise made of Pigeons dung and hony is of great vertue if the patients belly be annointed therewith Touching those that haue feeble stomacks and cannot concoct and digest their meat It is said That the maw or gisier of that kind of Geire or Vulture which is called in Latine Ossifragus dried puluerized and drunk is right soueraigne Nay if the patient doe but hold the same gisier in his hand whiles he is at his repast it will help digestion And in truth there bee diuers that for this cause weare these gisiers ordinarily about their necks but I think it not wholsome to do so long for it maketh them leane as many as vse it and spendeth their body To stay a flux of the belly the bloud of Mallards or Drakes is thought also to be singular good The meat made of shell-snailes discusseth and scattereth ventosities The Milt of a Mutton broiled to ashes and giuen in wine is singular good to allay the wrings and torments of the belly Of the same operation is the wild Quoist or Ringdoue sodden in vineger and water The greater kind of Swallows or Martins called Apodes are no lesse powerfull if they bee sodden and taken in wine The ashes of the bird Ibis plucked burnt without his feathers so giuen to drink work the same effect But strange it is and wonderfull if that be true which is reported as touching this malady namely that if a Ducke bee applied aliue vnto the belly which is tormented with such wrings she shal draw away the disease into her own body and die of the torment but the patient shal be eased by that means These painful gripes likewise are cured with sodden hony wherein Bees sometimes were drowned to death As for the Collick there is nothing so good to assuage the paine thereof as to eat Larkes which the Latines name Galeritae Howbeit some giue aduise and think it better to burne and calcine them in their feathers within a new earthen vessel so to stamp them to ashes or pouder and to drink therof foure daies together in water by three spoonfuls at a time Others make no more ado but take the heart of a Lark and bind it to the inward part of the thigh and there be againe who would haue the same to be swallowed downe whole newly taken out of the bird while it was warme There is a family of the Asprenates men of good quality and reputation for that they had bin somtimes Consuls of Rome in which house of two brethren the one was fully cured of the collick by eating these birds and by wearing ordinarily the heart of one of them about his arme inclosed within a bracelet of gold the other being likewise troubled with the said disease found remedy by a kind of sacrifice which he offered in a little chappell made with vnbaked brickes piled vp archwise in manner of a furnace and so soon as the sacrifice was finished he stopt vp the same againe That Vulture which is called Ossifragus hath one gut of wonderfull nature for it is able to concoct and digest whatsoeuer the said foul deuoureth And for certain this is known and generally receiued that the nethermost end therof cureth the collick if the patient do but carry it about him There are other secret and hidden diseases incident to the guts wherof there be wonders told and namely that in these cases if yong whelpes before they can see be applied for 3 daies together vnto the stomack especially and the brest so that they suck milke from out of the patients mouth the while the said disease shall passe into the body of the poore whelps whereof in the end they shall die Let the same be ripped opened then it wil appear euidently what the cause was of the foresaid secret malady of the patient But such whelps ought when they are dead to be enterred buried As for the Magitians they auouch That if the belly be annointed lightly with the bloud of a Bat the party thus dressed shall not need to feare any paine of that part for one whole yeare after or if it chance that one be pained in the belly let him say they indure to drinke the water that runneth down from his feet when his legs be washed and he shall find help anone CHAP. VIII ¶ Medicines against the stone and grauell the paines of the bladder The swellings in the cods and the share Also for the biles and botches called Pani FOr them that are troubled with the stone it is good to annoint the region of the belly with Mouse dung It is said that the flesh of an Vrchin or Hedgehog is very good meat pleasant in tast if so be he were killed outright in the head at one blow before that he had time to shed his owne vrine vpon himselfe and looke whosoeuer eat this flesh shall neuer be subject to the disease of the strangury The flesh of an Vrchin killed in this sort helpeth the bladder in case the vrine passe by dropmeale from it But contrariwise if the Vrchin chance to wet and drench himselfe with his owne vrine as many as eat of the flesh shal fal into the infirmity of the strangury or pissing dropmeale Moreouer it is said That earthworms drunke either in wine or cuit is of great efficacy to breake or dissolue the stone as also that snailes prepared in that sort as they are ordained to be dressed for shortnesse of wind work the like effect Take snails naked out of their shels and stamp them giue 3 of them to the Patient to drinke in a cyath of wine the first day two the morrow after and the third day one againe you shall see how it will helpe the strangurie or pissing dropmeale But let the empty shels be burnt the ashes therof wil scoure away and expell the stone Semblably it is said that the same effect followeth vpon drinking the liuer of a water-snake the eating of the ashes of scorpions calcined either in bread or with locusts Likewise to take the little stones or grit that be found in the craw of a cocke or in the gisier or maw of a stock-doue to beat the same to pouder and therewith to spice the drinke is singular good for the infirmity aforesaid To do the like with the skin of a Cocks or Hens gisier dried or if it be new and fresh to rost and eat it Also for the stone and other difficulties or impediments of the bladder it is good to take the dung of Quoists or Stock-doues with Beane meale In like manner there is much help found by the ashes of Quoists feathers such as be of a wilder kind than the rest taken with Oxymell Moreouer the ashes of the guts of this bird giuen to the quantity of three spoonfuls as also the
nest of swallows and Cricquets infused and dissolued in hot water are commended for this purpose Some helpe themselues with the gisier of Ossifragus dried others vse the decoction of Turtles dung boiled in honied wine or els the broth of the Turtle it selfe Furthermore for the difficulty of vrine it is wholsome to eat blacke birds or Metles boiled with Myrtle berries or Grashoppers fried in a pan to drink the sows or Cheeslips called Oniscoi folke make it not strange to do themselues good But if there be pain in the bladder it is said That the broth made of Lambs feet is soueraigne If the body bee bound or costiue a Cocke-broth causeth it to be soluble and the same doth withall lenifie the acrimony of humors that cause the foresaid griefe of the bladder The dung of Swallows likewise procureth loosnesse of belly in case it be tempered with hony to the forme of a suppositarie and so put vp Touching the infirmities incident to the seat the tried grease of vnwashed wooll whereunto some adde Tutie and oile of Roses the ashes also of a dogs head are soueraign medicines the slough likewise which a serpent hath cast applied with vineger is good in case there be chaps and fissures in that part Likewise the ashes of dogs dung which looketh white incorporat with oile of Roses this receit they say was the inuention of Aeculapius and is besides most effectuall to take away werts The ashes of Mice dung Swans grease the tallow of Oxe or Cow are helpfull for this infirmity If the tuill or gut Longaon be ralaxed and hang forth it is good to annoint the same with the moisture issuing forth of shel-snails that is pricked through with a pin or needle for it driueth it back again to the right place If the seat be galled it is thought that the ashes of the wood-Mouse tempered with hony cureth the same or els the ashes of an Vrchin together with the brains of a Bat Allum and the grease tried out of vnwashed wool wil skin it againe In like manner Pigeons dung with hony for the swelling blind haemorrhoids or piles called Condylomata there is a proper remedy namely to rub the place with a spiders body after the head and legs be cast away Against the acrimony and sharpnesse of humors that they should not fret and burne those parts there is a faire liniment made with Goose grease incorporat with Barbary wax white lead and oile rosat So is the fat of a Swan These medicines also are said to heale the haemorrhoids that run For the pain of the Sciatica it is thought that raw shell-snailes bruised are good if they bee taken in Amminean wine and pepper also a greene lizard eaten as meat without the feet garbage and head so is the starre-lizard Stellio but thereto ought to be put the weight of three oboli of black poppy seed For ruptures inward spasmes and convulsions it auaileth much to take sheeps gal with brest milk In case the priuities haue an itch a fretting humor vpon them or if some offensiue werts arise in those parts the dripping or grauie that commeth from a rams lights rosted doth much good if the place be therewith annointed As touching other accidents which happen to those parts the wooll of a ram calcined and reduced into ashes euen with all the filthinesse that is therein is thought to be very good so that the ashes be applied to the affected place with water The sewet of the kell of a mutton but especially that which groweth to the kidnies incorporat with the pouder of a pumish stone and salt is much commended in this case also greasie and vnwashed wooll soked in cold water is good to be applied to the place the flesh moreouer of a mutton calcined so as the ashes be incorporat with water Item the ashes of a mules houfe and the pouder of caples teeth braied puluerized if the grieued place be strewed therewith To come lower to the infirmities of the cods the pouder of the bones of a dogs head without any flesh vpon it puluerised is singular therfore If it fal out that one of the genitoirs be relaxed hang down lower than his fellow it is good to annoint the same with the waterish slime and some that commeth from shel-snails so they say it is an excellent remedy if there be any foule and malignant vlcers in those parts running with filthy matter the ashes of a dogges head fresh killed are singular to heal the same so are the little broad and flat shel-snails bruised and incorporat with vineger if either the same or the ashes be applied thereto also the honey wherein bees haue been killed mixt with rosin the naked snailes likewise which bred as I said in Barbarie in case they be stamped incorporat with the pouder of Frankincense the white of an egg with this charge that the said cataplasme be not taken off in 30 daies by which time it will be ready to fall away of it selfe Some in stead of frankincense put the bulbous roots of small onions or scallions For those who be troubled with the waterish rupture it is thought that the star-lizards Stilliones be wonderfull good in case their head feet and guts bee taken forth and the rest of the body rosted but the patient had need to eat of this meat often and so it helpeth those who cannot hold their water The like opinion there is of dogs grease incorporat with Alume de plume if the patient take thereof to the quantity of a bean as also the snailes of Barbary burnt flesh shell and all so as the patient drink their ashes Furthermore it is said that the tongues of three geese rosted and eaten is a speciall remedy for this infirmity and Anaxilaus is he that deuised this receit Touching the biles called Pani sheepes tallow incorporat with salt torrifacted is singular good to breake them but mice dung with the fine pouder of frankincense orpiment or red Arsenicke is as proper to resolue them likewise the ashes of a lizard and the lizard it selfe split aliue and applied hot thereto In like maner cheeslips or sows stamped and incorporat with the right terpentine to the quantity of a third part so brought into a cataplasme Some there be who to shell-snailes punned adde the common bole-armoniack Also the ashes of the void shels only alone without the snailes mixt with wax are of a resolutiue and discutient facultie In like manner a liniment made either of pigeons dung only or els incorporat with barly meale or oatmeale The flies called Cantharides mixed with quicklime are a good potentiall cauterie and open such biles as well as the Chirurgians launcet The botches or swellings in the share a liniment made with the small shel-snailes and hony doth assuage and mitigate Finally to keepe down the veins from swelling which be called Varices it is good to anoint the legs of children with
in that violence and causing such trouble and broils as if the world were at war within it selfe And can there bee any thing more wonderfull and miraculous than to see the waters congealed oboue in the aire and so to continue pendant in the skie And yet as if they were not contented to haue risen thus to that exceeding height they catch and snatch vp with them into the vpper region of the aire a world of little fishes otherwhiles also they take vp stones and charge themselues with that ponderous weighty matter which is more proper to another Element The same waters falling downe againe in raine are the very cause of all those things here below which the earth produceth and bringeth forth And therefore considering the wonderfull nature thereof and namely how the corne groweth vpon the ground how trees and plants doe liue prosper and fructifie by the means of waters which first ascending vp into the skie are furnished from thence with a liuely breath and bestowing the same vpon the herbs cause them to spring and multiply we cannot chuse but confesse that for all the strength and vertue which the Earth also hath shee is beholden to the Waters and hath receiued all from them In which regard aboue all things and before I enter into my intended discourse of Fishes and beasts liuing in this Element I meane first to set down in generaility the maruellous power and properties of water it selfe and to illustrat the same by way of sundry examples for the particular discourse of all sorts of waters what man liuing is able to performe CHAP. II. ¶ The diuersitie of waters their vertues und operations medicinable and other singularities obserued therein THere is in maner no region nor coast of the earth but you shall see in one quarter or other waters gently rising and springing out of the ground here and there yeelding fountains in one place cold in another hot yea and otherwhils there may be discouered one with another neere adioyning as for example about Tarbelli a towne in Guienne and the Pyrenaean hills there do boile vp hot and cold springs so close one vnto the other that hardly any distance can be perceiued between Moreouer sources there be which yeeld waters neither cold nor hot but luke-warme and the same very holesome and proper for the cure of many diseases as if Nature had set them apart for the good of man only and no other liuing creature beside To these fountains so medicinable there is ascribed some diuine power insomuch as they giue name vnto sundry gods and goddesses and seeme to augment their number by that means yea otherwhiles great towns cities carrie their names like as Puteoli in Campane Statyellae in Liguria Aquae Sextiae in the prouince of Narbon or Piemont but in no countrey of the world is there found greater plenty of these springs and the same endued with more medicinable properties than in the tract or vale Baianus within the realm of Naples where you shall haue some hold of brimstone others of alume some standing vpon a veine of salt others of nitre some resembling the nature of Bitumen and others again of a mixt qualitie partly soure and partly salt Furthermore you shall meet with some of them which naturally serue as a stouph or hot-house for the very steeme and vapour only which ariseth from them is wholesome and profitable for our bodies and those are so exceeding hot that they heat the bains yea and are able to make the cold water to seeth boile again which is in their bathing tubs as namely the fountaine Posidianus whithin the foresaid territory Bajanus which name it tooke of one Posidius a slaue sometime and enfranchised by Claudius Caesar the Emperour Moreouer there be of them so hot that they are able to seeth an egg or any other viands or cates for the table As for the Licinian springs which beare the name of Licinius Crassus a man may perceiue them to boile and reeke again euen out of the very sea See how good Nature is to vs who amid the waues and billows of the sea hath affourded healthfull waters But now to discipher their vertues in Physick according to their seuerall kinds thus much in generality is obserued in these baths That they serue for the infirmities of the sinews for gout of the feet sciatica Some more properly are good for dislocations of ioints and fractures of bones others haue a property to loosen the bellie to purge and as there be of them which heale wounds and vlcers so there are again that more particularly be respectiue to the accidents of the head and ears and among the rest those which beare the name of Cicero and be called Ciceronianâ—… besoueraign for the eies Now there is a memorable manour or faire house of plaisance situat vpon the sea side in the very high way which leadeth from the lake Auernus to the cittie Puteoli much renowmed for the groue or wood about it as also for the stately galleries porches allies and walking places adioyning therunto which set out and beautifie the said place very much this goodly house M. Cicero called Academia in regard of some resemblance it had vnto a colledge of that name in Athens from whence he tooke the modell and patterne where he compiled those books of his which carrie the name of the place and be called Academice quaestiones and there he caused his monument or sepulchre to be made for the perpetuitie of his memoriall as who would say he had not sufficiently immortalized his name throughout the world by those noble works which he wrote and commended vnto posteritie Well soone after the decease of Cicero this house and forrest both fell into the hands and tenure of Antistius Vetus at what time in the very forefront as it were and entrie thereof there were discouered certaine hot fountaines breaking and springing out of the ground and those passing medicinable and wholesome for the eies Of these waters Laurea Tullus an enfranchised vassall of Cicero made certaine verses and those carying with them such a grace of majestie that at the first sight a man may easily perceiue how affectionat and deuout he was to the seruice of his lord and master and for that the said Epigram is worthy to be read not onely there but also in euery place I will set it downe here as it standeth ouer those baines to be seene in this Decasticon Quo tua Romanae vindex clarissime linguae Sylva loco melius surgere jussa viret Atque Academiae celebratam nomine villam Nunc reparat cultu sub potiore Vetus Hîc etiam apparent lymphae non ante repertae Lanquida quae infuso lumina rore levant Nimirum locus ipse sui Ciceronis honori Hoc dedit hacfontes cum patefecit ope Vt quoniam totum legitur sine fine per orbem Sint plures oculis quae medeantur aquae O
the said Tortoise a long while in wine Moreouer the gall of Tortoises mixed with hony amendeth all the imperfections incident to the eies if they bee annointed therewith yea if it were a cataract the gall of a sea Tortoise tempered with the bloud of a riuer Torroise and womans milk riddeth and scoureth it away The said gall is very proper to giue a yellow die or colour to womens haire Against the poison of Salamanders sufficient it is to drinke the broth or decoction of a Tortoise As touching those kind of Tortoises that liue and breed in mud and moorie waters which I reckoned to be the third kind broad they be and flat in the backe as well as vpon the brest neither doth their shell arise arch-wise in manner of a vault these are il favored to see to and yet as louelesse as they be they are not without some medicinable vertues and remedies for take 3 of them and throw them into a fire made of Vine twigs or their cuttings when their shels or couers begin to diuide in sunder and part one from another pull them hastily out of the fire pluck the flesh out of their shels seeth them in a gallon of water with a little quantity of salt put thereto thus let them boyle vntill a third part of the liquor be consumed This broth or decoction if it be drunken is thought to be soueraign for those that be troubled either with the palsie gout or paine of joints The gall of these Tortoises purgeth also phlegmaticke humours and corrupt bloud out of the body And after that this medicine hath don his part and set the belly in a loosenesse a draught of cold water knitteth it againe and staieth all To come now vnto the fourth kind of Tortoises which keepe in fresh riuers they affoord an excellent remedy for to rid away a quartane ague in this manner prepared and vsed first take certain tortoises diuide one piece from another take out the fat within stamp the same with the herb called housleek and Lineseed incorporate all into an ointment let the patients be annointed therewith before the fit commeth all ouer the body saue the head only and when they be well lapped with cloathes about them giue them some hot drink This I say is thought to be a soueraigne medicine against the said ague But a tortoise to be applied for this purpose ought to be taken at the full of the moone because there may be more fat found in her Mary the sick body must not be anointed men say at any time but two daies after The bloud of tortoises which are of this fourth kinde if it be dropped on the head by way of embrochation appeaseth the head-ach that vseth to return and come often by fits the same also applied vnto the kings euill cureth it Some are of opinion that the better to let tortoises bloud and according to art as requisit it is in such cases of physick they ought to be laid along with their bellies vpward and so their heads to be cut off with a brasen knife and then they giue order to receiue the bloud in a new earthen vessel neuer occupied before which bloud is excellent to anoint the shingles or any kind of S. Anthonies fire likewise the running scalls of the head and also werts The same Authors doe promise and warrant That with the dung of all sorts of Tortoises the biles called Pani may be discussed and resolued And although it be incredible and not to be spoken yet some there be who haue written That any ship maketh way more slowly at Sea that carrieth within it the right foot of a Tortoise And thus much shall suffice as touching Tortoises And now from henceforth as touching the fishes and other water creatures I meane to discourse of them and their medicinable properties according to euerie disease which they serue for And yet I am not ignorant that many a one will be desirous to know all at once the vertues of each liuing creature which indeed maketh them to seem more admirable a great deal Howbeit this course that I meane to take I hold to be more expedient and profitable to this life namely to set downe receits and remedies digested by order of each disease and malady considering that one thing may be good for this Patient and another for that and some medicines are sooner found and gotten than others CHAP. V. ¶ Sundry medicines and receits taken from those liuing creatures which conuerse in waters and the same digested orderly into diseases And in the first place such as be appropriat to poysons and venomous beasts HEretofore haue I written of venomous honey and the countties wherein such is gathered and made now if any be poisoned therewith good it is to eat the fish called Arata i. a Guilt-head Or say one be glutted with pure hony or haue taken a surfet thereof being of all other most dangerous wherby the appetite is clean gon and the stomack oppressed with crudities for to preuent farther danger Pelops ordained for a special antidote or defenfatiue the meat of tortoises boiled after the head feet and taile were cut away But Apelles in this case attributeth as much to Scincus Now what this Scincus is I haue declared heretofore Shewed also I haue oftentimes in many places how venomous the monthly fleurs of women are but yet as hath bin said already the fish called a Barble is a singular remedy against the poison therof like as both applied outwardly in a liniment and taken inwardly as meat it is a soueraigne thing for the prick of the Puffin or Forkfish of Scorpions as well of the land as the sea and of the malicious spiders Phalangia The ashes of a Barble fresh taken and calcined is a generall counterpoison but more particularly it helpeth those who haue eaten deadly Mushroms Also it is said That if the fish called a Sea-star wel besmeared and anointed all ouer with the bloud of a Fox be fastned to the lintell or hanged to the brasen naile or ring of a dore it will put by all charmes forceries and witchcrafts that none shall come into the house or if any doe yet they shall not worke any harme As for the pricke or sting of sea-dragons and scorpions a cataplasme of Sea-stars flesh applied thereto healeth them so it doth also the venomous bit of spiders In sum the broth of their decoction is thought to be a soueraigne remedie against all manner of poisons whether it be that a man haue taken it by the mouth or be stung and bitten by any venomous beast As touching fishes kept in salt they are not without their medicinable vertues for to eat salt fish is very good for them who are strucken with serpents or otherwise bitten or stung by any venomous beast so they drink to it eftsoons pure wine of the grape and withal be sure to cast vp again by vomit toward euening their foresaid meat which they did
Taposiris in Egypt the which is more smal and slender than that of the land it looseth the belly killeth the worms in the guts and expelleth them The Cuttil fish also is laxatiue and ordinarily giuen it is to be eaten after it hath bin sodden with oile salt and meal Salt Cackerels likewise prouoke vnto the stoole in case they be reduced into a liniment with buls gall and therewith the nauil anointed Generally the broth of fish stewed betweene two platters with Lectuce dispatcheth those sharp and fretting humors which are the cause of the Tinesm Craifishes of the riuer stamped and drunk in water stop a lask and be diureticall But yet in wine they moue appetite to the siege Take away their feet and armes whereby they crawle then pun and incorporat the rest of their body with Myrrh they driue out the stone But this proportion must be obserued that to euery dram weight of them there be put three oboli of Myrrh To appease the painefull passion called Iliaca to allay and resolue ventosities also and inflations there is not a better thing than to take in 4 cyaths of mead or honied wine hot Castoreum with carot and parsly seed as much as may be comprehended with 3 fingers The same is singular to allay the wrings and torments of the belly with vineger wine mixt together The fishes named Erythini eaten as meat stay the loosnesse of the belly For to cure the dysenterie or bloudy flix seeth frogs with the sea onion commonly named Squilla and thereof make certain trochisks to be giuen to the patient in that case The same effect hath their gall or heart stamped and incorporate with honey as Niceratus myne author doth testifie Eat salt fish with Pepper so as you abstain from all flesh besides if you would be cured of the jaundise Lay the fish named a Sole to the region of the spleene it doth cure the oppilation and hardnesse thereof so doth the cramp-fish Torpedo and a Turbet in like manner being applied aliue but afterward you must let it loose againe into the sea A sea scorpion killed in wine healeth the infirmities of the bladder is breaketh and expelleth the stone The same effect hath the stone which is found in the tail of a sea scorpion if it be drunk to the weight of one obolus the liuer also of the water snake Enhydris and the ashes likewise of those kind of Mullets called Blennij if they be taken with Rue Moreouer there be found also in the head of the fish Banchus certain little stones as it were which if they be drunke in water are soueraigne for them which be troubled with the grauel and the stone And it is commonly said That the sea fish called a Nettle taken in wine is very good therefore like as another named in Latine Pulmo Marinus boiled in water The egs of spawn that the Cuttill fish doth cast be diureticall and prouoke vrine whereby also they clense the kidnies from the phlegmatick humors there gathered Riuer crabs or craifishes stamped and taken in asses milke especially doe cure ruptures and inward convulsions And as for sea Vrchins if they be stamped prickes and all and so drunke in Wine they expell stone and grauell but to euery Vrchin there must be taken one hemine of Wine and the Patient ought to drinke it continually vntill he find help and otherwise their meat is good to be eaten ordinarily for this purpose To feed also vpon Cockles and Scalops is wholsome for to scoure the bladder Of these shel-fishes those of the male sex be called by some Donaces by others Auli wheras the female are named Onyches The male do prouoke vrin but the female are the sweeter in tast and of one colour The egs or spawn also of the Cuttill fish moue vrin as hath bin said before and purge the reins For that rupture wherein the guts fall downe into the cods it is said That the sea Hare punned and applied to the place in form of a cataplasm with hony is singular to reduce them vp into their place The liuer also of the water-snake or adder called otherwise Hydrus or Enhydris beaten to pouder and put in drink helpeth those that be giuen to breed the stone and grauel The pickle that comes of the fish Silurus salted infused or injected by a clistre into the guts so that the belly were before emptied from the grosse excrements cureth the Sciatica The ashes of Barbles and Mullets heads calcined heale and skin vp the galls and frets of the fundament Now the manner of burning or calcining them is in an earthen pot and reduced they ought to be into a liniment with hony before the place be therewith anointed The ashes also of Cackerels burnt do cure and close vp againe the chaps in the seat which also are good for the swelling piles and bigs in those parts Like as the ashes of the yong Tunies heads salted called Pelamides or the Squares named Cybia with hony If the tiwill be slipped down and ready to hang out of the body apply thereto the cramp fish Torpedo it presently reduceth it and staieth it vp The ashes of craifishes brought into a liniment with oile and wax healeth the chaps and fissures in those parts so doth the fine pouder of the Sea-crab dried and puluerised The pickle also of the fishes Coracini discusseth and resolueth the biles called Pani The same effect work the ashes of the garbage and scales of the shadow-like Sciaena The sea Scorpion also boiled in wine so that the said biles or impostumes be fomented therewith But the hard and shel-like skins of sea-Vrchins being wel stamped and with water brought into a liniment keepe the said biles downe and repercusse them in the beginning The ashes likewise of Murrets or Purple fishes serue both waies whether it be needfull to discusse them in the beginning or to ripen them and after they be brought to maturation for to break them and let them forth Some physitians for this intent compound a medicine or ointment in this maner Recipe of wax and flax 20 drams of litharge of siluer forty drams of Burrets ashes ten drams of old oile one hemin fiat vnguentum The very fishes alone by themselues salted sodden and so applied serue in this case Craifishes of the riuers punned into a cataplasme and applied vnto the secret parts resolue discusse the pushes that there arise so do the ashes of Cackerels heads their flesh also boiled and laid to the place affected In like manner the ashes of Perches heads salted and reduced into a salue with honey The ashes of yong Tunies heads whiles they are Pelamides or the rough skin of the fish called Squatina burnt This is the skin which as I said before is proper to polish wood and make smooth any workes made thereof whereby you may see that euen the sea also doth afford instruments to fit the Ioiners and Carpenters hand The small fishes named
they may see out of the said masks neuerthelesse To conclude Vermillion is vsed much in limming the titles and inscriptions of roles and books it setteth forth the letters also and maketh them more faire and beautifull which are written in tables ouer sepulchres be they enriched otherwise either with gold or marble stone CHAP. VIII ¶ Of quicksilver artificiall called Hydragyrum Of guilding siluer Of Touch-stones for to trie the diuerse kinds of siluer SO inuentiue is the wit of man that there hath beene deuised in the world a means to make an artificiall Quicksiluer in stead of the true and natural and that out of the second kind of Minium which before I called Secundarium I should erewhile haue spoken therof in the chapter of the right Quicksiluer but deferred it I haue no further than to this present place First therfore this is to be vnderstood that made it is two maner of waies somtimes of the Minium aforesaid punned with vinegre in morters and with pestles all of brasse otherwhiles it is drawn by fire for they put secondarie Vermilion in an earthen pot wel luted all ouer with cley vpon which is there set a pan of yron the same couered ouer the head with another pot well cemented vnder which earthen pot abouenamed there ought to be a good fire made the same kept continually with blowing and thus by circulation there wil appeare a dew or sweat in the vppermost vessel proceeding from the vapors resolued which being wiped off will in substance shew liquid as water and in color resemble siluer The same liquor is easie to diuide into drops and as apt again by the lubricitie thereof to run into an humor This quicksiluer being by the judgement of all men a rank poyson I suppose that al things reported of Minium as medicinable be dangerous remedies vnlesse haply that by inunction of the head or belly it staies all flux of bloud with this caution and charge notwithstanding that it neither perce and enter into the inward noble parts nor touch the wound for otherwise my conceit is that it ought not to be vsed I see that now adaies siluer only and in maner nothing els is guilded by the means of this artificiall Quicksiluer wheras gold foile should be laid also after the same maner vpon vessels or any workmanship of brasse but as I haue beforesaid the deceit fraud that is euery where in the world which makes men so wittie as they be hath deuised other means of guilding and those of lesse dispence charge than with any Quicksiluer according as I haue before declared I canot thus write as I do so much of gold and siluer but me thinks I must of necessity speak of the stone which they cal in Latin Coticula which in times past was not vsually found in any place but in the riuer Tmolus as saith Theophrastus but in these daies we find it euery where fome call it Heraclius others Lydius Now these stones all the sort of them are but small not exceeding foure inches in length and two in bredth That part or side which lies aboue toward the Sunne when it is found is thought better for touch than the other which lieth to the earth By meanes of these touchstones our cunning and expert mine-masters if they touch any ore of these mettals which with a pickax or foile they haue gotten forth of the veine in the mine will tell you by and by how much gold there is in it how much siluer or brasse and they will not misse a scruple a wonderfull experiment and the same infallible As touching siluer two degrees there be of it different in goodnesse which may be knowne and discerned in this maner For lay a piece of siluer ore vpon a sclise plate or fire pan of yron red hot if it continue white still it is very good if the same become reddish go it may for good too in a lower degree but in case it looke blacke there is no goodnes at all in it Howbeit there is some deceit also in this triall and experiment which may crosse a man in his iudgement for let the said sclise or plate lie a time in a mans vrine be the ore neuer so base that is laid thereupon when it is burning red hot it will seeme to take a white colour for the time and deceiue him that shall see it To conclude there is another pretty proofe of siluer fine if it be brought and burnished and that is by breathing vpon it for if the breath be seene thereupon presently as a sweat and the same passe away incontinently as a cloud it is a signe of perfect siluer CHAP. IX ¶ Of mirroirs or looking glasses And of the Aegyptian silver AN opinion it was somtime generally receiued and beleeued That no plates might be driuen by the hammer nor mirroirs made but of the best and purest siluer And euen this experiment is falsified and corrupted by deceit But surely a wonderful thing in Nature this is of these mirroirs of siluer that they should represent so perfectly the image of any thing that is before them as they do which must needs be as all men confesse by the reuerberation of the aire from the solid body of the mirroir which being beaten backe againe from it bringeth therwith the said image expressed therin The same reuerberation is the cause that such looking glasses as by much vsage are polished and made subtile doe in that sort gently driue backe the image represented within them that it seemes infinitely big in proportion of the body it selfe such difference there is in them so materiall it is whether they repercusse and reject the aire or receiue and entertaine it Moreouer there be drinking cups so framed and fashioned with a number of mirroirs within that if there do but one look within them he shall imagine that he saw a multitude of people euen as many images as there be mirroirs There are deuised looking glasses also which will represent monstrous shapes and such be those mirroirs that are dedicated in the temple at Smyrna but this comes by reason that the matter wherof they be made is in that sort fashioned For it skilleth much whether mirroirs be hollow either in manner of a drinking pot or of a Threcidian buckler whether the middle part lie low and inward or rise and beare out with a bellie whether they be set crosse and ouerthwart or stand bias whether they hang with their heads bending backward or bolt vpright For according as the matter which receiueth the image is disposed to this or that fashion or set one way or other so it turneth the shadowes back againe for verily the said image represented in a mirroir is nothing els but the brightnesse and clearenesse of the matter which receiueth the same returned and beaten backe againe But to go through in this place with all things concerning such looking glasses the best known in old
forward and anotherwhile to start and cast himself backward by turns The same workman inuented a deuise of yong lads youths vaulting and mounting on horseback Cheraeas expressed in brasse the liuely pourtraitures of K. Alexander the Great and king Philip his father Ctesalaus represented in the same mettal one of these Doryphori which were of K. Darius his guard bearing a speare or pertuisane also one of those warlick women Amasons wounded And Demetrius woon great credit by making Lysimache in brasse who had beene the Priestresse of Minerva and exercised that ministerie threescore and foure yeares And this artisane made also the image of Minerua surnamed Musica vpon this deuise For that the dragons or serpents which serue in stead of haires vpon her Gorgon or Meduases head wrought in her targuet would ring and resound againe if one strucke the strings of an Harpe or Citron neer to them And the same imageur made the liuely pourtraiture of Sarmenes riding on horseback for that he was the first that wrote of horsemanship Daedalus moreouer who is ranged among the excellent founders imageurs of old time deuised in brasse two boies rubbing scraping and currying the sweat from their bodies in the baine And Dinomenes was the workman who cast in brasse the full proportion and similitude of Protesilaus and of Pythodemus the famous wrestler Alexander otherwise called Paris was of Euphranor his making The excellent art and workmanship wherof was seen in this that it represented vnto the eie all at once a iudge between the goddesses the louer of Helena and yet the murtherer of Achilles The image of that Minerua at Rome which is called Catuliana came out of this mans shop and it it the same which was dedicated and set vp beneath the Capitoll by Quintus Luctatius Catulus whereupon it tooke that name Moreouer the image that signifieth good lucke or happie successe carying in the right hand a boule or drinking cup in the left an eare of corne and a Poppy head was his handie worke Like as the princesse or ladie Latona newly deliuered of Apollo and Diana holding these her two babes in her armes and this is that Latona which you see in the church of Concordia in Rome He made besides many chariots drawne as well with foure as two horses as also a key-bearer or Cliduchus of incomparable beautie Semblably two other statues resembling Vertue and Vice both which were of an extraordinary stature and bignes gyant-like in manner of Colosses He made besides a woman ministring and yet worshiping withall Item King Alexander the Great and King Philip his father riding both in chariots drawne with foure horses Eutychides a renowned imageur represented the riuer Eurotas in brasse and many men that saw this worke were wont to say That the water ran not so cleare in that riuer as art and cunning did appeare in this workemanship Hegyas the imageur made Minerva and King Pyrrhus which be much praised for the art of the maker likewise boies practising to ride on horsebacke the images also of Castor and Pollux which stand before the temple of thundring Iupiter in Rome In the colonie or city Parium there is an excellent statue of Hercules the handy worke of Isidorus Buthyreus the Lycian was taught his cunning by Myron who among many other pieces beseeming the apprentise of such a master deuised in brasse to represent a boy blowing at a fire halfe out and he it was that cast in the same mettall the famous Argonautes in that voyage to Colchos Leocras made the Aegle that rauished Ganymede and flew away with him but so artificially as if she knowing what a fine dainty boy she had in charge and to whom she caried him clasped the child so tenderly that shee forbare with her tallons to pierce through the very cloths The boy Autolicos also winning the prize in all games and feats of actiuitie was of his making for whose sake Xenophon wrote his booke entituled Symposion likewise that noble image of Iupiter in the Capitoll of Rome suramed Thundering which is commended aboue all others as also Apollo with a crowne or diademe Lyciscus counterfeited Lago a boy who in maner of a page or lacquey seemed to be double diligent after a flattering and deceitfull sort performed nothing but eie-seruice Lycus also made another boy blowing the coales for to maintain fire Menechmus deuised to cast in brasse a calfe turning vp the neck head at the man that settteth his knee vpon his sides and keepes his body down This Menechmus was a singular imageur and himself wrote a book as concerning his own art Naucides was iudged to be an excellent workman by the making of Mercury of a discobole or coiter as also for counterfeiting in brasse one that was a sacrificing or killing a ram Naucerus woon credit by making of a wrestler puffing blowing for wind Nicerates had the name for the curious workmanship of Aesculapius and Hygia which are to be seen at Rome within the temple of Concord Porymachus got great reputation by a coach drawn with four steeds ruled by Alcibiades the coachman all of his making Policles was the maker of that noble piece of work that goeth vnder the name of Hermaphroditus Pyrrhus counterfeited in brasse another Hygia Minerua And Phoenix who learned his art of Lysippus liuely counterfeited the famous wrestler Epitherses Stipax the Cyprian got himselfe a name by an image resembling one Splanchnoptes This was a prety boy or page belonging to Pericles surnamed Olympius whom Stipax made frying rosting the inwards of a beast at the fire puffing and blowing therat with his mouth full of breath and wind for to make it burne Silanion did cast the similitude of Apollodorus in brasse who likewise was himselfe a founder and imageur but of all other most curious and precise in his art he neuer thought a thing of his owne making well done and no man censured his worke so hardly as himselfe many a time when he had finished an excellent piece of work he would in a mislike vnto it pash it in pieces and neuer stood contented and satisfied with any thing when it was all done how ful of art soeuer it was and therfore he was surnamed Mad Which furious passion of his when Silanion aforesaid would expresse he made not the man himselfe alone of brasse but the very image of Anger and Wrath also with him in habit of a woman Ouer and besides the noble Achilles was of his making a piece of worke well accepted and much talked of Of his doing is Epistates teaching men how to wrestle and exercise other feats of actiuitie As for Srâ—…ongylion he made one of the Amazons which for an excellent fine and proper leg that she had they call Eucnemos and in that regard Nero the Emperour set so great store by this image that it was carried ordinarily wheresoeuer he went This artificer made likewise another brasen image resembling a faire
than wine Calcine the same or torrifie it you shal find it more effectuall in all operations aforesaid As for Sory that which is brought out of Aegypt is counted best and farre better than the Cyprian Spanish or African neuerthelesse some hold that which commeth from Cypresse to bemore appropriat to the cure of the eies But of what country soeuer it be the principall is that which to smell vnto is of the rankest and most stinking sauour the same also in the bruising will grow black and be vncteous or fatty and such lightly is hollow in manner of a spunge A minerall this is altogether hurtfull to the stomack and so contrary vnto the nature of it that to some the very smell thereof is enough to ouerturne it and to cause vomit and especially the Aegyptian Sory is of this operation That which commeth from other nations when it is broken or braied shineth againe Touching Mysy it is of a more hard and stony nature than Sory but good it is for the tooth ache if either it be held in the mouth or a collution be made therewith to wash the teeth and gums also it healeth the grieuous and irke some sores of the mouth yea though they grow to be cancerous and corrosiue The manner is to burne and calcine it vpon coles of fire as Chalcitis Some neuerthelesse haue written that Mysy is engendred by the means of a fire made with pine wood in the hollow veins or mines of brasse ore and they hold that the cinders or ashes of this pine fewell being mingled with the yellow greines or floure of the said mettall is that which begetteth Mysy But the truth is of the foresaid stone or ore it is ingendered naturally howbeit a thing it is by it selfe gathered distinct and separat from it apart and the best is that which is found in the mines and forges of Cypresse You shall know it by these signes break it for crumble it will there appeare within it certain sparks shining like gold and in the braying or stamping it runneth into the nature of a sand or earth like vnto Chalcitis This Mysy is the Minerall that they put to gold ore when it is to be tried and purified To come vnto the medicinable vertues thereof being infused or powred into the eares with oile of roses it cureth the running with matter the same being applied in a frontal within wool to the head easeth the ach thereof it doth extenuat also and subtiliat the asperities of the eies such especially as be inueterat and haue continued long but soueraigne it is found to bee for the inflammation or swelling of the tonsils for the squinancy and all impostumat sores growne to suppuration For which purpose prepared it would be in this wise and after this proportion Take of it 16 drams seeth the same in one hemin of vineger with some addition of hony vntil it begin to yeeld and relent and in this manner ordred it serueth in cases aforesaid but whensoeuer need requireth to mollifie the violence thereof and make it more mild it were good to wet it with some sprinckling of hony If there be a lotion or fomentation made with it in vineger it doth consume and eat away the hard callositie in fistuloes and fortifieth greatly the collyries or tents to be made thereof and put it into the concauity of the sore it serueth also for the colyries that be eie-salues it stancheth bloud represseth the malice of fretting humors in corrosiue vlcers and such as do putrifie the excrescence of proud or ranke flesh it taketh downe and consumeth a peculiar property it hath to cure the accidents of the members of generation in men and withall stoppeth the immoderat flux of the moneths in women As concerning Vitrioll which wee call in Latine Atramentum Sutorium â—…i Shooe-makers blacke the Greeks haue fitted it with a name respectiue vnto brasse and by a neere affinity therunto call it Chalcanthum and verily there is not a mineral throughout all the mines of so admirable a nature as it is There haue been found in Spaine certaine pits or standing pooles containing a water of the nature of Vitrioll they vsed to seeth the same putting thereto of other fresh water a like quantitie and poure it into certaine troughs or broad keelers of wood ouer these vessels there be certaine barres of yron or transoms ouerthwart lying fast that they cannot stirre at which there hang downe cords or ropes with stones at the end stretching them outright that they reach to the bottome of the sayd decoction within those keelers to the end that the viscous substance of the water may gather about those cords which you shall see sticking fast thereto in drops congealed in manner of a glasse and it doth represent as it were the forme of grapes and that is Vitrioll Being taken forth and separated from the cords aforesaid they let it dry for the space of thirtie dayes In colour it is blew and carrieth with it a most pleasant and liuely lustre so cleare as a man would take it to bee transparent glasse Of this being infused in water is made that blacke tincture which Curriers and Coruiners occupie in colouring of their leather This Vitrioll is ingendred many waies of the copperesse vein within the mine being hollowed into certaine trenches out of the sides whereof you shal see in the middest of Winter when it is a frost certaine ysickles depending as the drops destilled and grew one to another whereupon this kind of Vitrioll they call Stalagmias and a purer or clearer thing there is not But look what part thereof is whitish of colour but not transparent and the same inclining to the wall floure or white violet the same they call Leucoion There is a Vitrioll likewise made artificially in receits and concauities digged of purpose in the stonie mines of Coperose by occasion of raine water there congealed which had been conueighed into them and gathered a viscous slime or mud in the passage Also there is a cast to make it in maner of salt by letting fresh water into such hollow receptacles and permitting the same to ferment in the sun when he is at the height and full strength of his heat in the summer vntil it be gathered and hardened as salt And therefore some there be who make two sorts of Vitrioll to wit the Naturall or Minerall and the Artificiall this that is made by the industry and art of man is paler than the other and looke how much the colour is abated so much inferior it is in goodnesse The Cyprian Vitrioll is thought best to be imploied in Physicke For to expell the wormes out of the belly it is giuen vnto the patient to the weight of one dram in honey after the manner of an electuary If the same be dissolued and conueyed vp into the nosthrils it purgeth the head In like manner it purgeth the stomacke in case it be taken in hony or honied water
was hewn and erected in Egypt by Nuncoreus the son of Sesostris which Nuncoreus caused another to be set vp of 100 cubits high and consecrated it vnto the Sun after hee had recouered his sight vpon blindnesse being so aduertised by the Oracle which remaines at this day CHAP. XII ¶ Of the Egyptian Pyramides and of Sphinx HAuing thus discoursed of the Obelisks it were good to say somwhat of the Pyramids also in Egypt a thing I assure you that bewraieth the foolish vain-glory of the Kings in that countrey who abounding with wealth knew not what to doe with their money but spent it in such idle and needlesse vanities And verily most writers doe report That the principall motiues which induced them to build these Pyramides was partly to keepe the Common people from idlenes partly also because they would not haue much treasure lying by them lest either their heirs apparant or other ambitious persons who aspired to be highest should take occasion thereby to play false and practise treasons Certes a man may obserue the great follies of those princes herein That they began many of these Pyramides and left them vnfinished as may appeare by the tokens remaining thereof One of them there is within the territory vnder the jurisdiction of Arsinoe two within the prouince that lieth to the gouernment of Memphis not far from the Labyrinth whereof also I purpose to speake there are other twaine likewise in the place where sometimes was the lake Moeris which was nothing else but a mighty huge fort intrenched by mans hand in manner of a mote or poole but the Aegyptians among many other memorable and wonderfull works wrought by their princes speake much of these two Pyramides the mighty spires and steeples whereof by their saying do arise out of the very water As for the other three which are so famous throughout the world as indeed they are notable marks to be kenned a far off by sailers and directions for their course these are scituat in the marches of Affrick vpon a craggy and barren mountaine betweene the city Memphis and a certaine Island or diuision of Nilus which as I haue said before was called Delta within foure miles of Nilus and six from Memphis where there standeth a village hard vnto it named Busiris wherein there be certaine fellows that ordinarily vse to clime vp to the top of them Ouer against the sayd Pyramides there is a monstrous rocke called Sphinx much more admirable than the Pyramides and forsooth the peisants that inhabit the countrey esteemed it no lesse than some diuine power and god of the fields and forrests within it the opinion goeth that the body of K. Amasis was intombed they would bear vs in hand that the rock was brought thither all and whole as it is but surely it is a meere crag growing naturally out of the ground howbeit wrought also with mans hand polished and very smooth and slippery The compasse of this rocks head resembling thus a monster taken about the front or as it were the forehead containeth one hundred and two foot the length or heigth 143 foot the heigth from the belly to the top of the crowne in the head ariseth to 62 foot But of all these Pyramides the biggest doth consist of the stone hewed out of the Arabicke quarries it is said that in the building of it there were 366000 men kept at worke twentie yeares together and all three were in making threescore and eighteene yeares and foure moneths The writers who haue made mention of these Pyramides were Herodotus Euhemerus Duris the Samian Aristagoras Dionysius Artemidorus Alexander Polyhistor Butorides Antisthenes Demetrius Demoteles and Apion but as many as haue written hereof yet a man cannot know certainly and say This Pyramis was built by this king a most just punishment that the name and authors of so monstrous vanity should be buried in perpetuall obliuion but some of these Historiographers haue reported that there were a thousand and eight hundred talents laid out only for raddish garlicke and onions during the building of these Pyramides The largest of them taketh vp eight acres of ground at the foot foure square it is made and euery face or side thereof equall containing from angle to angle eight hundred fourescore and three foot and at the top fiue and twenty the second made likewise foure cornered is on euery side euen and comprehendeth from corner to corner seuen hundred thirty and seuen foot the third is lesse than the former two but far more beautifull to behold built of Aethiopian stones it carrieth at the foot in each face betweene foure angles three hundred threescore and three foot And yet of all these huge monuments there remaine no tokens of any houses built no apparence of frames and engins requisit for such monstrous buildings a man shall find all about them far and neare faire sand and small red grauell much like vnto Lentill seed such as is to be found in the most part of Affricke A man seeing all so cleane and euen would wonder at them how they came thither but the greatest difficultie moouing question and maruell is this What meanes were vsed to carry so high as well such mightie masses of hewen squared stone as the filling rubbish and mortar that went thereto for some are of opinion that there were deuised mounts of salt and nitre heaped vp together higher and higher as the worke arose and was brought vp which being finished were demolished and so washed away by the inundation of the riuer Nilus others thinke that there were bridges reared with bricks made of clay which after the worke was brought to an end were distributed abroad and imploied in building of priuat houses for they hold that Nilus could neuer reach thither lying as it doth so low vnder them when it is at the highest for to wash away the heapâ—… and mounts aboue-said Within the greatest Pyramis there is a pit 86 cubits deep and thither some thinke the riuer was let in As touching the heigth of these Pyramides such like how the measure should be taken Thales Milesius deuised the meanes namely by taking just length of a shadow when it is meet and euen with the bodie that casteth it These were the wonderfull Pyramides of Egypt whereof the world speaketh so much But to conclude this argument That no man should need to maruell any more of these huge workes that kings haue built let him know thus much that one of them the least I must needs say but the fairest and most commended for workmanship was built at the cost and charges of one Rhodope a very strumpet this Rhodope was a bondslaue together with Aesope a Philosopher in his kind and writer of morall fables with whom she serued vnder one master in the same house the greater wonder it is therefore and more miraculous than all I haue said before that euer she should bee able to get such wealth by playing the harlot Ouer and
Terebinthizusa ib. what be the faults and blemishes of the Iasper 620. h. how it is falsified ibid. Iasper which resembleth the Emeraud most set by in the East parts 620. i Iasper when it is called Grammatias when Polygrammos ib. vanitie of Magicians as touching the Iasper stone ib. Iasper Onychopuncta 620. k. the Iasper Capnias ibid. the bignesse of the true Iasper ibid. the whole visage of Nero pourtraied in one Iasper stone ib. Iatraleptice what course of Physicke 344. g Iaundise in a feauer when it is a deadly signe 261. e. why it is called Regius Morbus or a kings disease 136. m for the Iaundise appropriat remedies 37. a. f. 43. b. 44. g 47. b. e. 49. f. 52. g. 53. c. 54. h. 55. c. 59. b. 61. f. 64. m 71. c. 73. c. 75. c. 104. i. l. 106. g. 110. k. 124. l. 125. e 127. c. 128. k. 134. k. 136. m. 142. l. 143. a. 144. i 172. g. 175. b. c. 181. a. b. f. 189. a. 192. i. k. l. 193. b. d 238. m. 245. a. 261. e. f. 262. g. 272. k. 277. b. 279. e 286. l. 335. d. 370 l. 389. c. d. 419. c. 422. i. 443. a. f 628. g. Iberis an hearbe 234. g. the vertues ibid. I C Icades what they be 522. l Icetidas a Physician and writer 309. e Ichneumon driueth away all venomous beasts with his strong and violent breath 357. d Ichthyocolla the name of a fish 438. m Ichthyocolla fish-glew ibid. how it is made ibid. the best what markes it ought to haue 439. a the vertues both of the fish and the glew 441. a Iconicae what images 490 g Icterias a pretious stone 628. g. foure kindes thereof ibid. Icterus a bird 389. d. good for the iaundise if the patient doe but looke vpon it ibid. Ictides a kinde of Weazills 355. e. supposed to be our ferrets ibid. Ictumulum a gold mine and the Act touching it 469. c I D Idaea an hearbe described 284. h Idaei-daâ—…tyli pretious stones in Candie 628. g. their description ibid. I D Iâ—…at or Iaiet See Gagates I L Iliacke passion is most grieuous 382. m remedies against the Iliacke passion 39. d. 44. g. 58. g 59. f. 443. e. Illecebra what hearbe 237. e. the description ibid. the medicinable vertues ibid. Illusions fantasticall of bugs and goblins in the night driuing folke out of their wits how to be driuen away 214. i. 312. k. 609. b. 610. m. 387. d. 315. f. 624. l. I M Images and visages of ancestors pourtraied in wax 523. a attending funeralls ibid. Image of Emperour in Rome when it was granted to bee engrauen and worne in iewels 462. i Image of the Ox in the beast-market at Rome of Aegineticke brasse 488. i Image of Iupiter in the temple of Iupiter Tonans Deliacke brasse 488. i first brasen Image at Rome consecrated to Ceres 489. e Images of brasse in oldtime vernished with Bitumen 489. e who were at first honoured with statues of brasse 489. f an act of Messala as touching the intermingling and confusion of Images of diuerse houses 523. c Images compleat for whom at first they were made 489. f Images of writers set vp in libraries 523. e Images to be erected in priuat houses from whence it came first 490. h Images in long robes ibid. i Images naked ibid. came first from the Greekes ibid. k Images in sundry habits 496. k Imageurs of great name and cunning reckned vp 497 a. b Imageurs sorted together according to the workes wherein they excelled and delighted 503 〈◊〉 See more in Statues Imagerie in Cley who inuented 552. g. See Potterie Impendia what it signifieth 462. g Impia an hearbe why so called 205. e. the dâ—…scription and vertue ibid. Impostumes behind the eares called Parotides with what medicines to be cured 36. h. 51. b. 62. m. 64. l. 72. m 73. d 76. h. 119. d. 121. d. 128. i. 143. e. 144. i. 167. d 168. h. l. 179. a. 208. g. 238. g. 282. h. 301. f. 320. h. 326. h 371. a. 312. l. 437. d. 439. f. 441. f. Impostumes breeding how to be driuen backe and discussed 49. a. 103. e. 120. k. 138. i. 141. e. 150 g. 158. g. 161. f 167. d. 179. f. 181. c. 182. h. l. 184. g. l. 185. c. 188. l. 205. d 274. g. 278. c. 286. l. 556. l. 560. h. Impostumes about the midriffe and in the bowels or precordiall parts how to be cured 39. e. 75. d. 123. d. 154. g 186. e. 381. b. c. Impostumes betweene the eye corner and the nose how to be healed 174. i Impostumes hard how to be mollified 141. a. 162. h Impostumes painefull how to be eased 141. d. 162. h Impostumes tending to suppuration how to be ripened broken and drawne 47. e. 49. a. 54. l. 65. c. 70. k. 103. f 158. l. 166. l. 171. a. 184. l. 198. i. 205. a. 318. k. 233. b 262. i. k. 264 i. 286. l. 337. b. 356. i. 108. k. 119. d 123. c. 134. i. 138. i. 167. d. 179 a. 192. k. 195. d 233. d. 262. i. k. 274. g. 283. b. 289. c. 290. i. 265. a 510. i. for all Impostumes or swellings in generall fit remedies 194. m. 197. b. 201. a. 245. a. 379. c. c. 423. f. See more in Tumors and Inflammations the Imprecation or exorcisme in a prescript forme of the vestall Nun Tuccia 295. a. See Exorcisme I N Incarnatiue medicines 50 m. 119 d. 121 d. 134. k. 140 i 159. f. 167. f. 183 b c. 265 b. 272 g. 285 d. 303. a. 319. b 320. l. 475 a. 485 b. 529. f. Incoctilia brasse vessell so artificially tinned as that it seemeth siluer plate 517. f. whose inuention ibid. Indica a pretious stone 628. g. why so called ibid. the description thereof ibid. h Indico a rich painters colour 528 i. why so called 531 a Indico a kinde of azurâ—… or blew 485. a. the price thereof ibid. Indico the Painters colour what it is 531. b the artificiall Indico is Florey 531. b how the good Indico may be sophisticated 531. b how the deceit is sound ibid. the worth of Indico ibid. and the vse in Physicke 531. c Indish pepper See Piperitis Infants how to be kept from suddaine frights 341. c. 449. 〈◊〉 from starting and shriking in their sleepe 340. c from being froward 351. d Infants troubled with the wens or paines in the eares how to be eased 398. k. 449. e bleach or breaking out of Infants how to be helped 449. f Infant sticking in the birth how it may be borne 395. d Infants red-gumb how to be healed 559. a Infants sucking how to be eased of the grinding and wringing in the bellie 397. 〈◊〉 Infant how it shall be borne with eyes and brows blacke 397. d. the heat of the head in babes called Siriasis how to be allaied 397. e. 449. f Infants forespoken or bewitched how to be helped 398. i how to cause Infants puke that which is offensiue in the stomacke
men or women painted or died therewith in old time 114. l VVooll reuerently regarded among the ancient Romanes 349. e. the side posts of the bridegrooms doore bedecked with wooll by the bride on the wedding day 349. e the vse of VVooll ibid. 351. h VVooll vnwashed medicinable 351. k VVooll of a sheep greasie is medicinable 350. g. h. i VVooll vnwashed and greasie doth mollifie 424. g VVooll greasie of a ram is effectuall in Physicke 350. h VVooll of the necke is best ibid. from what countries ibid. Wooll greasie how to be ordered for vse in Physicke 350. i. k how it is calcined 350. k the ashes thereof is medicinable ibid. fleece VVooll washed and the vse thereof 351. b Woooll-beards or Caterpillers called Multipedae described 369. e. a Wolues snout why it is set vsually vpon the gates of countrey ferme houses 323. a VVolues dung medicinable 324. k the bones found in their dung likewise 332. i the strange operations of the VVolfe and parts of the bodie 323. a Wolues how they may be kept out of a territorie 342. l Wolues greace much esteemed in old time 320. k the bride therwith striked the dore sides of her husbands house ibid. Wolues i. sores how to be cured 149. d. 300. m. 265. d See more in Vlcers cancerous and eating deepe Wombe See Bellie and Guts Women with child longing and hauing a depraued appetite how to be helped of that infirmitie 155 d. 277 a 307 c. 164 i l. Womens breasts aking how to be assuaged 340. g Womens breasts or paps enflamed swollen hard sore and impostumat by what means cured 167 d. 143 b 148 i. 182. h. 183. e. 266 k. 279. c. 307. d. 320. g. issue of bloud out of Womens breast heads how to be stanched 263. f Womens breasts ouer big how to be brought downe 340. g haire springing about their breast nipples how to be rid away 268. i for all infirmities of Womens breasts in generall conuenient remedies 70. g. 72 h m. 104 h. 108 h. 138 m. 142 g 157 d. 161 a. 164 g. 172 h. 169 i. 274 g. Womens purgations vpon their new deliuerance how to be procured and helped forward 59 b. 63 e. 65. a. d 340. g Womens infirmities of the matrice in generall how to be remedied 266 i k. 276 h. 290 k. See more in Matrice Womens infirmities following child-birth how to be cured Womens flux of whites or reds immoderat how by what means staied 39 a. 59 d. 102 k. 110 i k. 130 h. 267 g 340 l. 396 g. 516 i. 529 b. Women with child their swawms and faintings how to be helped 146. k Women how they may preserue the skin of their faces faire 149. b. 276. h. 286. l. Women by what meanes they shall looke young faire and full without freckles and wrinkles 440. m. 559. f Women who cannot deliuer their vrine but dropmeale and with difficultie how to be cured 395. d how a Woman shall forme and bring forth a boy child 395. d. Women how they may keepe their skin supple and soft 319. e. Women by what meanes they may cleanse the skin of their face from morphew 149. b. 276. h. 286. l Women become soone barraine by hard trauaile in child-birth 340. k how a Woman may haue speedie deliuerance of childbirth 395 d. e. what comforteth a Womans backe and loines in labour 395. c. Women hauing an inordinat itch in their secret parts how to be eased 396. i hauing vlcers and vntoward sores in their priuities by what meanes to be cured 449. b Womens bodies yeeld medicines 307. a a Womans haire-lace or fillet what it is good for 308. h Women in time of their monethly sickenesse worke wonders 308 i. Womens lazie feuers how to be cured 74. l Women more skilfull in witchcraft and fitter instruments therefore than men 210. k Women and ancient matrons at their deuotions what Imageurs delighted to expresse in brasse 503 e f. 504 i Womens excesse and prodigall wast of gold in Plinies time taxed 462 g h i c Women excellent paintresses 551. a Wood-evill in sheepe how to be helped 218. k Wood-soure or wood-sorrell an herbe See Oxys Woodbind an herbe 288 g. the description ib the vertues ibid. h Words pronounced in charms or spels whether they should be strange or familiar 296. l whether Words barely vttered auaile not in curing diseases or no 294. k a set forme of Words in praier inuocations and exorcisms held to be materiall in many respects 294 k Worms of diuers sorts medicinable 393. f Worms in the bellie how to be killed and chased out 39. e 41 e. 44 i. 45 f. 47 a. 71. e. 55. e. 56 h. 59 c. 60 h. 70 i 105 b. 108 l. 122. g. 124 g. 126 i. 143 c. 160 k. 165 b 166. g. 170. g. 172 i. 179 e. 190 g. 192. g. 249. b 250 l. 253 c. 277 a. f. 281 c. 332. h. 419 c. 443 d 511. b. Wormewood an herbe 276 i. the sundry Linds ibid. Santonicum why so called ibid. Ponticum why so named ibid. Seripl ium why so named 277. e in Pontus the sheepe feed fat with wormewood 276. i Wormewoâ—…d not so common but it is as wholesome 276. i Wormewood why it was giuen in drinke to the winners at the charriot running 276. k Wormewood wine ibid. Wormewood drinke how it is made by way of decoction ib. the vertue thereof 277. a the infusion of Wormewood 276 l the iuice of wormewood by way of expression ibid. a syrrup of wormewood made of the iuice 276. m hurtfull to stomacke and head 277. a the manifold vertues of the ordinary drinke or decoction of Wormwood 277. a how it was giuen for apurgatiue 277. b Wormewood Seriphium called likewise See-wormewood 277 f. the description ib. an enemy to the stomacke ib. it looseth the belly ibid. decoction of Wormewood how to be made 278 g Wounds in the head how to be healed 183. a. 192. i. 233. 〈◊〉 301 b. 307 c. 365 e. 412 m. Wounds fresh made how to be kept from inflammation 423 e. how from swelling 338. k symptoms following vpon Wounds how cured 72. l paine or Wounds and their smaâ—…t what assuageth 302. k Wounds how to be cleansed 471. e. 511. c Wounds bleeding excessiuely stanched with a charme by Vlyxes 297. m Wound-salues or vulnerariâ—… medecins 160 l. 182. l Wounds more angry by the presence of those that haue been stung by serpents or 〈◊〉 by mad dogs 299. b Wounds-greene by what meâ—…s healed 38 h. 43 b. 45 b 49 a. 50 l. 52 i. 63 b. 68 〈◊〉 70 k. 73 a. 103 b. d. 104 i 111 d. 146 k. 159 d. 163 b. 169 f. 177 〈◊〉 178 h. 185 c d 193 b. 194 h. 197 b. 253 e. 263 c. 264 l. 265. b c. 266 g 272 i. 277. a. 283 e. 289. c. 290 k. l 305 c. 338 g 350. g i. 370 l. 393 c. f. 394 g h i. 403. b. 404 g. 418 i 516 i. 557 c. Wounds made by swordor
or berry whereof is Vvâ—…Taminia * as Theophrastus saith sâ—…dden in alc hordeaceâ—… Zytho * Thought to be Dent de lion * Carthamus or bastard safron but Turnebus supposes it to be put for Cici whereof commeth Oleum Cicinum * Colu although some read fusis i. spindles * Glycyrrhizon but this agreeeth not with our Liquorice * Tribulus Aceâ—…abulis * A kind of thistle some call it Mans bloud * S. Mary histle * Nonrâ—…ra visum est aequè in omnibus terris nascitur Ex Theop. which is clean contrary to Pliny * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Theo phrast i. like the seed of Sesama * And therfore it is called resta bonis or resta aratâ—…i because it staieth the draught of the Oxe at plough * Anthenius * Deceit so called because the bitternesse dâ—…ceiueth many a one looking like to a kind of Ci chorie * Semipedali Dioscor hath Sesquipedali i. a foot and a halfe * Cyperi of rather Xyphij or Phasgani * Napis Dioscor Glandibus i. nuts or acornes * Candoâ—… some reade Color â—…in colour * No more hath Cypirus in Aegypt by his owne saying * This Cyperis is taken to be Curcuma or Terramerita called therupon corruptly Turmericke * Igneae â—…citatis * Siccis foemina â—…sperguntur I doubt that Pli ny read in Dioscorides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Vnguenta and then it carieth this sence that dried Roses powdred enter into sweet ointments * or rather the spungiâ—… substance growing vpon the Câ—…ncre brier and wild Rose Zedoâ—…rium * Nay it is a great enemie vnto it * Dia crocis Paul 〈◊〉 * Tineâ—…rum 〈◊〉 Plinie commonly taketh Tinâ—…as for wormes in the belly although otherwise it betokeneth sores and skals in the head As namely Dioscorides * Dioscorides hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Mushromes whereof there be some that be daungerous for suffocation But Plinie as it should seeme read it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and accordingly hath translated it * So is not Inula or our Elecampane And therefore either it is not Helenium here or else Plinie doth mistake in this place as in many others * which agreeth not with ours Hereupon Aâ—…â—…ne is called Rosepaâ—…sl v * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Grâ—…k bet keneth Wind whereupon Ruellius called it Herba-veati and Gerard Wind-sloure moâ—… properly * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Dioscorides it seemeth he read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * oâ—… rather Daphnocides out of Dioscor * Taken by the most part for wild Bâ—…sill * Some take it for Kali * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dioscoâ—… somewhat brackish * Iua muscata or Arthritica * Some thinke it is Motherwoort others Feuerfew * Surely according to Dioscoridâ—…s Plinie should haue written thus Flore per ambitum candido intus melino id est with a floure white round about but within of a darke yellow like to honey this agreeth to Feuerfew * Alkakengi or winter-cherry * or ather for that the sayd berry heth within 〈◊〉 cod like a bladder * All such as be neither within Greece nor Italie * Portibus augetur aâ—…ctoritas Made of Oke leaues and branches * M. Minutius â—…ea holly * Echinatis It seemeth that Pliny neuer saw Liquorice but read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Lentisci indeed the leaues are like to those of the Lentiske tree * Inlinguae suhdit is such as be our Ecligmata or Lochs * A kinde of Matfellon or Knapweed Ervifarina * Scorpiocides * or Cypirus * Parietary of the wall * Where to say a truth he describeth Helxine for Ixine or Chamaeleon the white * Diosc. Cerato Cyprine * or Vitraria because it is vsed to scoure glasse and pipkins withall * Made with a deuise to blow coles kindle fire for to rest the inwards of beasts sacrificed or as some thinke it was the proper name of that youth * Haply hee meaneth Phoenicâ—…halonos i the Aegyptian Date or Oxyphoeâ—…ices our Tamarinds a kind of Dates appropriat for agues * This is verified of the Cichory flour rather which also doth regard the Sun * This is called Aerdor copieis by Pliny himselfe and is an hot distemperature of the head * Maidenhair * A kind of Cichorie * So are none of our Cichories * The seed of a kind of Rosemary * Alyris rather according to â—…tius * Some name it Hares care Hâ—…sycb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 olus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sectum venenatum * But they meane the venomous Iusect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * In truth the flies Buprestes which some take to be Câ—…ntharides are thought to haue some operation in that kind * Which some take for a kind of wâ—…ld angelica or Gâ—…lla dei Pecten veneris wild Cheruile or Shepheards needle Our Chervile A kinde of smooth Bindweed Bastard Parsly A kind of water Cresses or Lauer. Some take these for our Artichokes * Sonchuâ—… * Gum Sucâ—…ie * Dios. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. ful and fresh but it seemeth that Plinie read it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Betula noâ—… Ferula * Lavantur ve plumbum some read Linuntur ad plumbum i. a liniment is m. de of the for lead-shotteÌ„ eyes c. vide â—…p 1â—… lib. 25. * or Laserpitiâ—… * He meaneth by Cauterium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 medicameÌ„te 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth draw humours and the bloud to the habit and outward parts a necessarie course to be taken in Atrophia and namely after long diseases that the body may be equally nourished * Some reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of Dioscor hauing a faint weak pulse * Corpusculis rerum * Regius morbâ—… Vide Galen lib. 1. de Naturalibus facultatibus Spâ—… * Cum Menta rather Melle iâ—…hony according to Columella for Mints be hot * It groweth indeed commonly vpon new wals although the name seemeth to come from Mares i. Mice and Rats rather than Muri i. Wals. * This booke goeth now vnder this title De ratione victus in morbis acutis * Contra quanto inuocentior est alica * He glanceth at Diatritos i. fasting three daies together * For that color in old time was best esteemed and therby chaste Matrons were knowne from wanton harlots who affected yellow haire Alex. ab Alex. c. 18. l. 5. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Horehound * He confoundeth as it should seeme the vertues of Horminum i. Clarie the hearbe with the graine called also Horminum * The Earth * Much like to our 〈◊〉 * Some take it for Bryonie * 〈◊〉 â—…ther 〈◊〉 out of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * I see no reason of this clause here but thinke it superfluous according to some manuscript copies * Merum * Circa Ilia *