Palsie Fevers and consumes the Liver and inward parts Violets Viola BOth the Garden kindes and wilde Violets are generally known Names Viola is the common Latine name for a Violet and Herba Violaria There is also a kinde called Viola tricolor having three colours in the flower which in English is called Hartsease Pansies and three faces under a hood They begin to flower in March and the beginning of April and are then in prime The Pansies flower till the end of July Nature and Vertues Both Garden and wilde kindes while they are fresh and green are cold and moist under the milde influence of Venus the flowers are accounted one of the chief cordial Flowers and are much used in cooling Cordials and so is the syrrup they are good to cool any heat or distemper of the body either inward or outward as inflammations of the Eyes falling down or pain of the Womb or Fundament Imposthumes and hot Swellings To drink the decoction of the leaves and flowers made in water and Wine or to apply them pultiswise to the grieved place it also easeth pains of the Head which are caused by want of sleep The powder of the flowers drunk with water is said to help the Quinzy and Falling Sickness in Children if taken in the beginning of the Disease A dram of the dryed flowers taken in Wine or other drink doth purge the Body of chollerick humors and asswageth heat The flowers of the white Violets ripen and dissolve swellings The seed resists poison of the Scorpion The green or dry herb and flowers are effectual to abate the heat and sharpness of Vrine and hot Rheumes to ease pains of the Back Reins and Bladder and to help the plurisie and other diseases of the Lungs and hoarseness of the Throat The syrrup is good for the Liver and Jaundies and in hot Agues to cool the heat and quench thirst being taken in some convenient liquor and a little juyce or syrrup of Lemons added to it or a few drops of oyl of Vitriol put therein it doth more powerfully cool the heat and quench thirst they are more cooling being made up with Sugar and with Honey more cleansing ☞ See further in Adam in Eden written by Will. Coles Vipers Bugloss Echium COmmon Vipers Bugloss hath many long rough leaves lying upon the Ground Description amongst which rise up divers round stalks very rough as if they were set with prickles or hairs having many black spots on them like a Vipers skin whereon are set such long rough hairy or prickly sad green leaves somewhat narrow the middle rib for the most part being white The flowers stand at the tops of the stalks branched forth into many spiked leaves of flowers bowing or turning like the Turnsole all of them opening for the most part on the one side which are long and hollow turning up the brims a little of a purplish violet colour in those that are full blown but more reddish while they are in the Bud but in some places of a paler purple colour with a long pointel in the middle feathered or pointed at the top after the flowers come blackish cornered and pointed seed somewhat like the head of a Viper inclosed in round heads the root is somewhat great blackish and woody and perisheth in Winter Names It is called by most Authours in Latine Echium and of some Buglossum sylvestre Viperinum Place and Time It groweth wilde on Hills and dry Grounds almost every where that with white flowers about the Castle Walls at Lewes in Sussex and the other about Rochester Castle and elsewhere they flower and seed in the Summer Moneths Nature and Vertues Vipers Bugloss is cold and dry in temperature a Solar Herb the roots and seeds are a good Cordial to comfort the Heart and to expell Sadness and Melancholly it tempers the Blood and mitigates hot sits of Agues The seed drunk in Wine procures Milk in Womens Breasts easeth pains in the Loins Back and Kidneys and is a special remedy against the bitings of Vipers and venomous Beasts and against poison and poisonous herbs Dioscorides saith that whosoever shall take of the herb or root before they be bitten shall not be hurt by the poison of any Serpent There is a syrrup made thereof after this manner Take of the clarified juyce of Vipers Bugloss four pound of the infusion of the flowers one pound fine Sugar three pound boil it to a syrrup which is effectual to comfort the Heart and expell sadness and Melancholly The distilled water made of the herb and flower when it is in its full strength is effectaul for all the griefs aforesaid inwardly or outwardly applyed Wall Flowers or Winter Gillow-Flowers Viola lutea BOth those which are planted in Gardens and those which grow wilde upon old Walls are very well known Names They are called in Latine Viola lutea in Spanish Violettas Amarillas and in French Violieres des murailles from their growing on Walls Place and Time They grow wilde as I said upon old stone Walls mighty plentiful upon the Castle Walls of Rochester and the double kindes are planted in Gardens they flower very early in the Spring Nature and Vertues They are Lunar and of temperature meanly hot of thin parts and of a cleansing faculty the yellow Wall Flowers according to Galen are of most use in Physick it cleanseth the Blood and opens obstructions of the Liver and Reins helps hardness and pains of the Mother and Spleen comforts and strengthens any part that is weak or out of joynt and stayeth Inflammations and Swellings it is a good remedy for the Gout and Aches and Pains in the Joynts it clears the Eyes from Films and Mistiness and cleanseth Vlcers in the Mouth or other parts and provokes the Tearms and expells the secondine or dead Childe and a Conserve of the Flowers is good for the Apoplexy and Palsie The Walnut Tree Juglans THis Tree is very well known the Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jovis glans and the Latines Juglans they blossom early before the leaves shoot forth and the fruit is ripe in September Nature and Vertues It is a Solar Plant. Dodoneus saith the fresh Nuts are cold and moist but others say and that 's most likely that they are drying and heating the Bark doth dry and binde very much and the leaves are much of the same nature the old Nuts are hot and dry in the second degree and of harder digestion then the fresh The kernels of Walnuts do comfort the brain and resist poison or being bruised with the quintissence of Wine and applyed to the Crown of the Head they comfort the Head and Brain The peels being taken off they comfort the Stomach and are said to kill broad Worms in the Belly being old they offend the Stomach and increase Choller King Mithridates medicine against poison was to take in the morning two dry Walnuts as many Figs twenty leaves of Rue and two or three corns of Salt beaten and
yellow Jaundies Barley IT is needless to say any thing more of this Grain here but onely of the Physical use it 's other vertues being sufficiently known to the Husbandman and to the Brewer and Alewife too but these latter gain more by the Vices attending it then by its Vertues Temperature and Vertues It is cooling and drying in the first degree of a cleansing quality Culpepper as I remember ascribes it to Venus he would lay all the fault of drunkenness upon women But c. Barley indeed the water made thereof and other things doth much nourish such as are troubled with Agues Feavers and hot Stomachs The French Barley is much used for diseases of the Breast and likewise in Feavers and other inward heats as heat of the Vrine in a Gonorrhea or otherwise it doth provoke Vrine The preparation of the Barley water is thus Take French Barley two ounces boil it in two several waters casting the water away then boil it the third time in a quart of water to a pint and a half adding Liquorish half an ounce Violet leaves and Strawberry leaves of each an handful sweeten it with Sugar or syrrup of Violets this is excellent in a Fever or Surfeit being timely used Barley meal and Fleawort being boiled in water and made into a pultis with honey and oyl of Lillies cures Tumors and Swellings being applyed warm A plaister made thereof with Tar Wax and Oyl helpeth the hard swelling of the Kings Evil in the throat it easeth pains of the sides and stomach and windiness of the Spleen being boiled with Melilot Cammomil flowers and some Linseed Fennigreek and Rue in powder and applyed warm to the sides Barley meal boiled in Vinegar with some honey and some dry Eigs added thereunto dissolveth hard Imposthumes and excrescences growing upon the eye-lids and asswageth inflammations being applyed thereunto Basil Basilicum BAsil springeth up with one stalk Description shooting forth branches on every side at the joynts grow the leaves two at every joynt which are of a pale green colour and of a strong smell they are somewhat round a little pointed and dented a little about the edges the flowers stand at the tops of the branches and are small and white the seed is black Names It is called in Latine Ocymum and Basilicum in English Basil Place and Time Basil is nourished onely in Gardens with us and flowers in the heat of Summer the seed is soon ripe the root perisheth at Winter it must be new sowen every year Nature and Vertues It is said to be hot in the second degree but having a superfluous moisture Culpepper rails at large against this herb that it ought not to be taken inwardly yet it may be corrected with oyl and vinegar and eaten by women to dry up their milk the same effect it hath being bruised and applyed outwardly to the breasts the much smelling thereunto causeth the Head ache to those who have a weak brain yet to those whose brains are stronger it comforts the brain and purges the head it procures speedy delivery and provokes Vrine and the Terms it is good against pains of the head and the Lethargy being applyed with oyl of Roses Mirtles and Vinegar the seeds are used to expel melancholly and comfort the heart and the juyce or seeds being bruised and put into the nostrils procureth sneezing The Herb used with honey takes away spots in the face The Bay-Tree Laurus THis is so well known it needs no description Names It is called in Latine Laurus and the berries Bacca Laurt Places and time It grows frequently in our Gardens and is planted against Walls delighting rather in the shade then the Sun it keeps green all the year the berries are ripe towards Winter Nature and Vertues Bayes both the leaves and berries are hot and dry a plant of Jupiter the berries taken in powder with honey is good against infirmities of the Breast as Consumptions and shortness of breach and likewise helps Winde and the Chollick and griping pains of the Belly they provoke Vrine and are good against the Stone and the windiness of the Mother they are good against poisons and the stinging of venomous beasts they open the Liver and Spleen procure an appetite provoke womens Terms cause speedy delivery and purge down the Aster-birth A bath made of the Decoction of the Leaves and Berries is good for women to fit in for diseases of the Womb and Mother and obstractions of the Courses the oyl of the berries is good to comfort the joynts against cold Aches Cramps Palsies and benummedness of any parts the oyl or juyce of the berries dropped into the ears helps deafness and pains in the ears Quicksilver killed in the oyl or juyce helps the Itch and Wheals or Scabs in the skin the powder of them taken in white wine is good against Cramps and contractions of the Sinews The leaves may also be used for many of the purposes aforesaid and are excellent good three or four leaves in broth to comfort the stomack Beans Faba I Shall not need describe these neither there being not scarce a boy or girle but well enough knows both the garden and field Beans that is able to eat a Bean. Names In Latine a bean is called Faba Places and Time The greater sort is planted in Gardens the other small Beans are sown in Fields and are meat for horses and hogs and good to make malt with too The Garden beans are ripe in June and July some earlier and some later according as they are planted serving for good strong food in harvest Temperature and Vertues They are more used with us for food then Physick and while they are green they are held to be cold and moist when dry cold and dry and the Physical uses are these the distilled water of the green shells is excellent good against the Stone to be drunk in the mornings and a little butter unsalted eaten therewith Bean meal helpeth Fellons Boils Bruises Imposthumes and Swellings of Kernels about the Ears being mixed with Fennugreek and Honey and applyed to the place grieved The distilled water of the flowers cleanseth and beautifieth the face and skin and takes away spots and wrinkles thereof A pultis made of bean flower oyl and vinegar and applyed to the breasts of women which are swelled by abundance of milk helpeth the swelling and represseth the milk dissolving the curdling thereof A pultis bieng made with bean flower wine oyl and vinegar helpeth the swelling of the Cods and being used with Rose leaves the white if an Egge and a little Frankincense it helps swellings stripes and watering eyes Beans are also a friend to Venus And thus I shall leave them hastning to proceed to their affinity viz. French Beans Phaseolus HAving now done with the English Bean Description the French or Kidney Bean in order follows which also scarce needs a description being now ordinary in Gardens they grow up at first with one stalk but afterwards
and the berries are ripe towards Michaelmas Temperature and Vertues The Leaves Root and Berries of the Bramble are all of an astringent quality it s a plant of Mars and is good to stop Fluxes and Lasks and the decoction of the Flowers or unripe fruit helps spitting of Blood they also help Vlcers and Sores of the Mouth and Throat the Leaves likewise are good to make Lotions for the sores of the Mouth and privy parts and to heal a cut finger too the powder of the root expells the Stone and Gravel of the Reins and Kidneys the berries or flowers are good against the poison of venomous Serpents The decoction of them binde the Belly and stop the over-flowing of womens Courses the juyce of the ripe berries being drunk and the pumish of them out of which it is strained being outwardly applyed to swellings in the Neck and Throat is a speedy remedy for those Distempers The distilled water of the flowers and fruit is good in Feavers and heat of the Body A syrrup of the ripe berries may be kept all the year for the purposes aforesaid ☞ See further in The Expert Doctors Dispensatory by P. Morellus Bryony Brionia THere are two sorts of Bryony growing here in England Description the white Bryony or wilde Vine and the black Bryony the white Bryony springeth up with long tender stalks with many clasping tendrells by which it catcheth hold and clambreth on those things that are near it the leaves are like our Vine leaves but more hairy and whiter of colour the flowers be white and small consisting of five leaves apiece the berries grow in clusters and are green at first but red when they are ripe the root groweth very big and is bitter Names The Latine name is Bryonia in English Bryony and wilde Vine Some call the white root English Jollap and use it instead thereof Place and Time It growes in Hedge-rowes and Coppices in many of our Countreys and flowers in May and the berries be ripe in Autumne Quality and Vertues The white Bryony is chiefly used in Physick and is hot and dry in the third degree or more an herb of Mars it purgeth with great violence being taken alone but a scruple or two of the powder of the root with a third part of Cynamon and Ginger being drunk in white Wine draweth away water abundantly both by Vomit and Stool and therefore is good for the Dropsie The compound water of Bryony a spoonful being taken at a time easeth the fits of the Mother expells the After-birth and cleanseth the Womb so likewise doth a Pessary of the root and also draweth forth the dead Childe it provokes Vrine and purgeth the Reins and Bladder opens obstructions of the Spleen draweth away Phlegm and Rheumes from the Head and Brain and therefore is profitable in the falling Sickness and swimming of the head the juyce applyed cleanseth the skin from the Morphew and Leprosie the root is good against the bitings of venomous Creatures kills Worms and is good against the Kings Evil the juyce being taken with equal parts of Wine and Honey the Berries and distilled water are good to take away spots and freckles in the face ☞ See more of this in The Art of Smpling by W. C. Brookelime Becabunga BRookelime groweth up with thick stalks Description parted into divers branches the leaves are broad thick and smooth like Purslane leaves but of a darker green colour growing by couples upon the stalks the flowers are of a blue colour and grow upon tender foot stalks the root is white having five strings fastned thereto at every joynt Names It is usually called in Latine Becabunga in English Brookelime Place and Time It groweth in small Brooks Ditches and standing Waters it flowers in June and July Temperature and Vertues It is of a temperate moist quality some say dry Culpepper ascribes it to Mars but I am sure then his Logick is false for it groweth not in martial places I rather give Venus the rule of it It is good against Dropsies and Scurvies and is used in Spring time in water Gruel to purge the body from ill homours and to cleanse the Blood it is also used with Water-cresses and other Herbs for the same purpose it is helpful to break the Stone in the Kidneys and Bladder provokes Vrine and womens Courses and expells the dead Birth it helps the Strangury and heals inward Scabs in the Bladder the juyce being drunk in Wine being fryed with butter and vinegar and applyed warm it helps Tumors and St. Anthonies fire being often renewed Butchers Broom Bruscus THis groweth up somewhat more then a foot high Description with a tough round stalk which spreadeth into divers green branches the leaves are of a dark green colour hard and prickly at the ends it giveth a whitish green flower consisting of four round pointed leaves after which comes a round berry which is red when it is ripe the root is thick white and great at the head from whence shooteth divers thick white tough strings Names In Latine it is called Ruscus and Bruscus in English it is called Knee-holme Knee-holly and Butchers broom because Butchers use it to cleanse their Stalls and keep Flyes away from the meat Places and Time It grows plentifully in dry waste grounds and near Holly Bushes you may often finde it in most places of this Land in dry light ground The berries are ripe about September and the leaves abide green all Winter Quality and Vertues The roots which are chiefly used in Physick are moderately hot and dry with a thin quality it is one of the five opening roots and doth open obstructions provokes Vrine expels Gravel and the Stone helpeth the Strangury drives down the Terms cleanseth the Breast of Phlegm and the Chest of clammy humours being taken with Honey the berries may be used in Electuaries for the same purpose The juyce being drunk and a pultis made of the berries and leaves being applyed is effectual in knitting broken Bones or parts out of joynt In diseases of the Reins and Bladder a Decoction of the sive opening roots is thus made Take of this root and the roots of Parsley Fennel Smallage and Grass of each a like quantity and boil them in White Wine and drink the decoction respect being had to the strength of the Pattent in making it stronger or weaker It may also be made in water for want of wine and sweetned with Sugar Broom and Broomrape Genista TDe Broom needs no description the Broomrape springeth up from the roots of the Broom in form like unto Bastard Orchis called Birds-nest having a root like a Turnip or Rape Names It is called in Latine Genista and the broom-rape Rapum Genistae Place and Time Broom delights to grow in dry grounds and quickly over runs whole Fields if they lie a little untilled My Fathers Grounds at Holshot in Hampshire are never free from it altogether it flowers about the latter end of Summer Quality and
dwarf Elder Humilis Sambucus and Ebulus and in English is known by the names of Walwort Danewort and Dwarf Elder Place and Time There is scarce a Town or Village but the common Elder grows in its Hedges the Dwarf Elder grows wilde in many places of England particularly in the grounds of Mr. Hinde at Hedsor in Buckinghamshire The Elder Flowers in June the fruit is usually ripe in August the Dwarf Elder is somewhat later Nature and Vertues Elder is hot and dry in the second and third degree the Danewort something hotter both under Mars it is profitable for the Dropsie and to remove watry humours between the skin and the flesh the young buds boiled in broth purges Phlegm and Choller the inner bark is commended for the yellow Jaundies medicines prepared of the bark opens obstructions six drops of the spirit of Elder salt taken in broth is good in the Scurvy The decoction of the root in wine cures the bitings of venomous Beasts and mad Dogs mollifies hardness of the Mother opens the Veins and provokes the Terms the berries work the same effects the juyce of the green leaves helps inflammations of the Eyes there is hardly a disease from the head to the foot but Elder is effectual for it it is good for Melancholly Madness the Falling Sickness Palsie Apoplexy catharrs Tooth-ache Deafness diseases of the Lungs Mouth and Throat Hoarseness Ptisick sore Breasts swoonings and Faintings Gout Worms Stone Plague Pox Measles and diseases of the Stomach Cùm multis aliis c. The Dwarf Elder is stronger then the other for all the said purposes and hath besides particular vertues viz. the juyce of the root cures the Kings Evil and Quinzy being applyed to the Throat and being put into the Fundament stayes it from falling down The root being steeped in Wine all night helps Agues a dram of the seeds in powder with a little Cinamon taken in the decoction of ground Pine is good against the French Disease Gout Sciatica and joynt Aches by drawing away peccant humours An Oyntment made of the green leaves with May Butter mollifies starkness of the Nerves and Sinews and remedies outward Pains Aches Cramps and Lameness ☞ See further in Adam in Eden by W. Coles Elecampane Enula IT groweth up with a long hairy stalk Description bearing great large leaves pointed at the ends it gives a large yellow flower the root is white and increaseth much every year spreading under the ground 't is well known therefore I forbear any further description Names Enula Campana is the Latine Appellation Place and Time It delights in Meadows and fertile ground flowers in June and July and the leaves fall in Autumne Nature and Vertues It is hot and dry in the third degree a Solar herb a great friend to the Breast and Lungs and a helper of shortness of Breath it opens the Liver and Spleen and is good against poisons and venomous bitings and helps Cramps Ruptures and inward bruises the decoction of the root being drunk the roots candied warm a cold Stomach helps the Cough and Wheesings An oyntment made of the roots with Hogs grease and a little flower of Brimstone is an excellent remedy for the Itch. The root chewed fastens loose Teeth and preserves them from rotting The distilled water of the green leaves makes the face fair cleanses the skin and helps the Morphew The decoction thereof provokes Vrine and the Terms and cleanses the Breast and Lungs Elme-Tree Ulmus THis Tree is so well known for its Timber it needs no description but we proceed to the Physical use of it Names Vlmus the Latines call it Nature and Vertues The Leaves and Bark are moderately hot having a cleansing and glewing quality and I believe Saturnine The water in the bladders upon the leaves are said to be good to help burstness cloathes being wet in the water and applyed and the parts bound up with a Truss it also cleanses the Skin The decoction of the Bark of the Root softens hard swellings the decoction of the middle bark is good to bathe places burnt or scalded and being boiled in wine and some syrrup of Mulberries added to it causes the pallat of the mouth to ascend being fallen the decoction in water helps the Dandriff Scurfs and Leprosie The leaves heal green Wounds and the water of the bladders that grow upon the leaves being put in a glass and set in Horse-dung for five and twenty dayes the mouth of the glass being stopt and a lay of salt underneath so that the feces may settle and the water become very clear is a sovereign Balsome for green wounds being applyed with sofe Tents it may be set in the ground if you be not provided of Dung An Vnguent being made of Elme Bark by boiling it to that consistence is a sovereign remedy to allay the pains of the Gout Endive Endivia MAster Coles comprehends the Succory Description Dandelion and Endive all together as not differing in Nature though in Form and one Greek name goes for them all namely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet Succory is called Cichoreum and Cichorea in Latine and the Endive Endivia which Endive bears a larger leaf then Succory and the root perishes every year it bears blue flowers and seed like Succory The names I have given you in the Description Place and Time It is an inhabitant onely in Gardens if it be sown in the Spring it quickly flowers and seeds Nature and Vertues It is cold and dry cleansing Jovial saith Mr. Culpepper but I judge rather under Venus it cools the sharpness of Vrine and cleanses the uretory parts The decoction of it or the distilled water is good in hot Agues and Inflammations to mittigate the heat it helps the great heat of the Stomach and Liver stoppings of the Gall and Vrine lack of sleep in hot burning Fevers being outwardly applyed it allayes Swellings Pushes and Pimples and is good to wash pestiferous sores and Vlcers ☞ See further in The expert Doctors Dispensatory by P. Morellus Eringo or Sea-holly Eringium THe Sea-holly cometh up with tender leaves at the first Description but as they grow old they grow hard and prickly crumpled about the edges with here and there a sharp prickle they are of a blueish green colour and stand every one upon a long foot stalk after comes a long crested stalk having several joynts beset with leaves sharp and prickly it bears round prickly herds out of which shoot blue flowers with whitish threads in the middle the root grows very long and is about the bigness of a mans little finger having a pleasant taste brownish without but white within with some pith in the middle Names The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latines Eringium the Shop Eringus and Eringo in English we call in Sea-holly Place and Time It grows about the Sea sides in most Countreys of England as upon the Sea Sands by Yarmouth in Norfolk and about Shuberry in Essex it flowers about
of England Nature and Vertues It is a Venerial Plant saith Culpepper but he forgets his Logick when he ascribed all bitter plants to Mars Fox-Gloves are bitter in taste hot and dry having a cleansing quality The Italians call this Herb Aralda and use this proverb concerning it Aralda tutte piaghe salda Aralda salveth all Sores they use it to heal green Wounds cutting the leaves and applying them they use also the juyce to cleanse and dry up old Sores it is found helpful for the Kings Evil the flowers stamped with fresh Butter and applyed or the juyce in an Oyntment the bruised leaves are also good being applyed but not so powerful being boiled in water or wine it consumes thick phlegm and viscous humours in the Chest and Stomach A syrrup may be made thereof with Sugar or honey for the same purpose and to cleanse the body of clammy humours and open the Liver and Spleen by later experience it hath been found to cure many of the falling Sickness taking the decoction of two handfuls thereof with four ounces of Pollipody of the Oak bruised Mr. Culpepper magnifies an Oyntment thereof for a Scabby Head Fumitory Fumaria IT is a tender sappy Plant Description sending forth from one square slender stalk leaning downwards many branches two or three foot long with fine jagged leaves of a pale blueish or Sea-green colour the flowers stand like a long spike one above another on the tops of the branches of a reddish purple colour with whitish bellies commonly yet in Cornwal it bears perfect white flowers it bears a small black seed contained in small round husks the root is yellow and small full of juyce while it is green but quickly perishes with the ripe seed Names The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latines Fumus terrae and Fumaria in English Fumitory Places and Time It grows in Corn Fields almost every where as well as in Gardens It flowers for the most part in May and the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues It is a bitter herb which sheweth it to be hot and is hot in the first degree and dry in the second it gently purges melancholly and salt humours opens and cleanses the Entrails and strengthens those parts it purges chollerick humours by Vrine and helps soul diseases of the skin as the Itch c. arising from adust bumours and the French Pox it prevails in chollerick Fevers the Jaundies and Quartain Agues and chronical diseases arising from stoppings of the viscerous parts three or four ounces of the distilled water drunk morning and evening cures the yellow Jaundies and is good against the Itch and Leprosie A dram or two of London Treacle and a scruple of Bole-Armonick taken in two ounces of the water is good in the Pestilence it provokes the Terms and dissolves congealed blood The decoction helps the Gout the feet being bathed therewith The distilled Water with some honey of Roses helps Sores and Vlcers of the Mouth the juyce dropped into the Eyes clears the sight and the juyce having a little Gum-Arabick dissolved therein and applyed to the Eye-lids where the hair hath been pulled off will keep it from growing again the juyce mixed with the juyce of Docks Oximel and Vinegar cures the Morphew and a bath made of the same with Barley Bran Mallows Violets Nep and Dock Roots cures Scabs Itch and Leprosie Wheals and Pimples in the Face or elsewhere Fursbush or Furres THese are so well known they need no description Names In Norfolk they are called Whinns in some Countreys Goss and in Hampshire Furres Place and Time They plentifully grow in dry barren Heaths and sandy Grounds and flower in the middle of Summer and are seldom without flowers at any time of the year Nature and Vertues They are under the dominion of Mars hot and dry the flowers are effectual to open obstructions of the Liver and Spleen and the decoction thereof is good against the yellow Jaundies provokes Vrine and cleanses the Kidneys and Bladder from the Gravel and Stone Galanga THis plant grows in the East Indies and China from whence it is brought to us Nature and Vertues It is hot and dry almost in the third degree it is profitable in all cold Diseases of the Stomach it helps concoction expells winde from it being boiled in Wine and taken morning and evening it helps a moist brain and the Vertigo trembling of the Heart and knawings of the Stomach it cleanses the passages of the Vrine provokes Venery helps conception and remedies cold and windy distempers of the Womb being drunk with the water or juyce of Plantain it stops the bloody Flux and strengthens nature helps the trembling of the Heart and comforts the brain half a dram of the powder thereof is the dose at one time to be taken in the morning or an hour before meat Garlick Allium IF you smell ones breath that hath eaten it you may know it by the scent Names Allium the Latines call it and Gallen Theriaca Rusticorum Countreymans Treacle in English Garlick It is planted in small cloves in Gardens which grow to great heads by the latter end of Summer Nature and Vertues It is hot and dry in the fourth degree a Martial Plant it heats the body being eaten digesting and consuming tough and clammy humours opens obstructions remedies cold poisons and the bitings of venomous Beasts it helps old Coughs provokes Vrine kills Worms breaks Winde helps the Chollick and Dropsie proceeding of cold it stirs up natural heat and helps a cold and moist Stomach it is good against the biting of mad Dogs for shortness of breath the cold Head-ache Consumption of the Lungs and pissing of Blood being tempered with Honey and the parts anointed with it cures scabbed Heads Scurff Morphew and Tetters the Ashes strewed in Vlcers heals them being applyed with Figs and Commyn it cures the biting of a Shrew-Mouse Vices Many are the Vertues of Garlick yet accompanied with some Vices it is hurtful for young men and chollerick persons for women with Childe and such as give suck and being eaten raw too liberally it dims the sight offends the Stomach and burns the Blood it is good for old cold and phlegmatick persons the best way of preparing it is to boil it well either in milk or otherwise and eat it with Oyl or Vinegar Gentian or Felwort Gentiana MAster Coles reckons six sorts hereof to grow within Great Brittain Description Master Culpepper but two which I shall onely describe The first hollow leaved Felwort or English Gentian hath small long roots deep in the ground and abiding all Winter having stalks of a brownish green colour with long narrow dark green leaves set by couples up to the top the flowers are long and hollow of a purple colour with five corners The other smaller sort hath many stalks not a foot high with several branches the leaves very like those of the lesser Centaury of a
swelling of the Cods and womens Breasts and asswageth pains of the Gout Sciatica and other pains in the joynts which proceed from a hot cause being applyed with Vinegar to the Temples it helps the Head-ache and causeth sleep the oyl of the seed helps deafness and noise in the Ears being dropped therein the decoction of the herb or seed kills Lice in man or beast if any one be distempered by taking it inwardly unawares let them drink Goats milk or Fennel seed Mustard seed Nettles seed Onions or Garlick in Wine Hagtaper Vide Mullein Hysop Hysopus IT needs no description Description and Names and Hysopus is both the Greek and Latine name and Hysop with us Places and Time It is most frequent in Gardens but I have seen it grow upon Walls it flowers in June or July and the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues It is an herb of Jupiter of temperature hot and dry in the third degree and of a cleansing quality it is excellent good for shortness of breath and diseases of the Liver and Lungs helpeth wheesings and rheumatick distillations it helps the Dropsie and Spleen it is good against the falling Sickness provokes Vrine and womens Courses The distilled water decoction and syrrup is very good for all stoppings and infirmities of the Lungs it takes away spots and bruises in the skin being boiled and the place bathed therewith it is good for the Quinzy boiled with Figs and the throat gargled therewith and boiled with Vinegar it helps the Tooth-ache being bruised and mixed with Salt Honey and Commyn seed it helps stinging of Serpents the green herb bruised with Sugar or fresh Butter soon heals a green Wound The oyl kills Lice and helps the Falling Sickness expectorates tough Phlegm and is good in all cold Diseases of the Breast and Lungs being taken in syrrup or other Medicines Take two handfuls of the tops of unset Hysop as much of the tops of Rosemary a few Anniseeds and some Liquorish sâ—eed boil it in two quarts of running water till a third part be consumed then sweeten it with Sugarcandy and drink it for an ordinary drink This I have often proved effectual for the Ptisick Coughs Rheumes Astma's and Catarrhs Holly Aquifolium IT is well enough known Description and Names the Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it s called in Latine Aquifolium and Agrifolium we call it Holme or Holly Bush in English Place and Time Hedges Woods and Commons are well acquainted with it they flower about June the berries ripe about Christmas the leaves green all the year There is one kinde called the Free Holly because it hath a smooth leaf the other prickly Holly which most commonly beareth the most berries Nature and Vertues The berries are by temperature hot and dry saith Dodoneus the plant Saturnine saith Culpepper but I believe he forgot himself ten or twelve of the green berries taken inwardly purge clammy and phlegmatick humours and help the Chollick but being dryed and taken in powder in wine or other drink they binde the Belly and stop Fluxes the Bark doth the same more powerfully A decocoction of the Bark of the roots is good to mollifie hardness and tumours where bones have been out of Joynt and helps to consolidate broken bones An handful of the berries boiled in a pint of Ale till half be consumed and then strained and a little butter added to it and five or six spoonfuls taken at once is said to be good to provoke Vrine and remedy the stopping of the Stone The Birdlime which is made of the Bark of Holly is good to draw out Thorns and Splinters that are in the flesh ☞ See further in Adam in Eden written by Will. Coles Holy-Thistle or Carduus Benedictus IT needs no description Description and Names growing not wilde in England the names are in Latine Carduus Benedictus in English Holy and blessed Thistle Places and Time It s natural soil is Lemnos and many of the Grecian Isles and being brought hither it is diligently preserved in our Gardens and obtained its name from its singuler vertues it is in flower about July or August which is the best time to gather it to keep all the year If it be sowen or sowe it self in August as sometimes it doth it will make its flower in April Nature and Vertues Carduus Benedictus is hot and dry in the second degree having a cleansing opening quality it is a bitter Martial Plant yet Cordial a resister of Poison the decoction thereof in posset drink is good against Stitches in the Sides and the Plurisie it provokes Vrine and the Courses cleanses the Stomach strengthens the Memory helps Deafness and swimming in the Head it expells pestilential humours by sweat and sometimes doth good in the beginning of Agues in regard it resists putrefaction it may be one of the Sub-Committee in curing the French Pox but it can never cure it of it self neither by Sympathy nor Antipathy as Culpepper affirms but his Ballad-monger hath contradicted all by adding the coupling of the Song viz. for Cure of al Diseases read my Riverius and Riolanus in English when as he pretends in the title to cure all Diseases for three pence charge and in truth was never acquainted with those Authours which are reported to be his Translation But to avoid any further digressions the herb is indeed somewhat Antivenerial the green herb hath also notable effects bruised and outwardly applyed to Plague Sores Botches and venomous bitings the powder thereof stops bleeding at Nose and the juyce and distilled water clears the sight it is good also in Gangreens and Vlcers being mixed with Hogs grease and a little wheat-flower Honey Suckles or Woodbinde Peryclymenum IT is very well known Description and hath no other English Names but what are in the Title the Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Periclymenum and Caprifolium by some Sylvae matter and Lilium inter Spinas Place and Time It plentifully grows almost in every hedge and is planted upon Arbours and house Walls where it will give a fragrant smell in at the Windows It begins flowring in April and so continues all the Summer till the latter end of October if the season be milde as the last October about the latter end the hedges were full of then all the way from Tilbury to Stanford in Essex Nature and Vertues It is an herb of Mercury and hath a cleansing and digesting quality and is a very good herb in Mouth Waters for sores in the Mouth let Culpepper say what he will experience proves it A Syrrup or Conserve of the flowers or a decoction made of the herbs and flowers a good against diseases of the Lungs and Spleen and to expectorate tough Phlegm it likewise doth provoke Vrine and cause speedy delivery in Women and helps Cramps Convulsions and Palsies the distilled water is good to dry up Vlcers and cleanse the face from Sun-burnings
Rhabarb be stewed amongst them for then they become more purging and evacuate chollerick humours do help weak stomachs and are good in Feavers and other hot diseases The Gum that issues out of the trees being drunk in wine is good against the Stone the said gum or the leaves being boiled in vinegar and applyed kills Tetters Ring-worms and the Leprosie A decoction of the leaves in wine is good to gargle and wash the mouth and throat and to dry up the flux of Rheum that falleth down to the Pallat Gums or Almonds of the Throat Poley-Mountain Polium montanum THis Plant grows not naturally in England but may be had at the Apothecaries shop to which I refer you It is called in Latine Polium but more usually with the Epithet montanum Nature and Vertues Poley is dry in the third degree and hot in the end of the second of a loathsome bitter taste It is useful to open obstructions especially of the Liver and Spleen and the decoction thereof drunk helps swelling of the Spleen the Jaundies and Dropsie being boiled in Vinegar and Water It resists poison and is used in Antidotes for that purpose the fumigation thereof drives away Vermin it moves the belly and the tearms and being applyed green it soders up the lips of wounds and being dry it healeth foul sores or ulcers Polipody of the Oak Polipodium POlipody of the Oak is a small Herb Description consisting of nothing but roots and leaves bearing neither flower nor seed from the root groweth up three or four leaves singly by themselves winged and about a handful high having many small narrow leaves on each side the stalk large below and growing smaller and smaller towards the top cut into the middle rib but not dented on the edges as the male Fern is of a sad green colour smooth on the upper side but rough on the under side by reason of some yellowish spots thereon The Root is smaller then ones little finger but long and creeping asloap and hath a sweetish harshness in the taste Names It is called in Latine Polipodium in English Polipody of the Oak Places and Time That which grows upon Oaks is the best yet Polipody is also found upon old stumps of other trees as Beech Hazle and Willow and sometimes in the woods under them upon old walls and slated Churches and in many other places It is alwayes green and may be gathered at any time yet it shoots forth fresh leaves in the Spring Nature and Vertues It is hot and dry in the second degree and that which growes upon the Oak partakes of the nature of the Oak and is an herb of Jupiter whatever others say The herb taken in decoction broth or infusion purgeth burnt choller tough and thick Phlegm and dryeth up thin humours and is good for Melancholly and Quartain Agues for which it may also be taken in Whey Barley-water or honied water or the broth of a Chicken with Epithymum or Beets and Mallows added thereto The distilled water of the roots and leaves taken with Sugarcandy is good against wheazings Coughs and distillations of thin Rheum upon the Lungs which cause Ptisicks and Consumptions It is good to soften the Spleen and ease Stitches in the sides and the Chollick A dram or two of the Powder of the dryed Roots taken in honeyed water worketh gently for the purposes aforesaid the distilled water is likewise commended for Quartain Agues and against melancholly Dreams it cures the disease in the Nose called Polipus and helpeth clefts or chops that come between the fingers or toes being applyed thereunto The fresh roots beaten small or the powder of the dryed root mixed with honey and applyed to a member that hath been out of joynt and is newly set again doth much strengthen it some put Fennel seeds Anniseeds or Ginger to it to correct it which it needs not being a gentle medicine of it self and an Ounce of it may be taken at a time in a decoction if there be not Sena or some other stronger purger with it I have found it very effectual in decoctions with other Pectoral Herbs for opening and cleansing the Liver and Lungs Pome-Citron Tree Malus Citria THis Outlandish Tree is called in Latine Malus Persica and Malus Assyria and also Malus Citria Pomum Citrium and in English Citron Place and Time They grow in Spain and other hot Countreys and flower and bear fruit all the year Nature and Vertues Avicen saith the Seed is hot in the first degree and dry in the second the Bark hot in the first and dry in the end of the second the inner white substance hot and moist in the first degree and the Juyce cold and dry in the third degree It is a Solar Plant and a sovereign Cordial for the Heart an Antidote against Poison and Infections the outer rinde being dryed and taken it also warms and comforts a cold Stomach expells and disperses Winde and indigested humours therein and in the Bowels and helps digestion and melancholly it helps a stinking breath being chewed in the mouth The outward rindes preserved are a good Cordial and very effectual against melancholly and infection There is an Electuary made thereof which purgeth cold phlegmatick humours the Syrup of the Rindes strengtheneth the stomach and heart and helps faintings thereof and resists poison and strengthens nature and is good for such as are in Consumptions or Hectick Feavers The Syrup of the juyce is effectual for most of the same purposes the seeds preserve the heart from infection of the Plague Pox and venomous Bitings they kill Worms provoke the Tearms and cause Abortion They dry up and consume moist humours in the body or outwardly in moist Sores or Vlcers The sowre juyce is good in Pestilential Feavers suppressing the violence of Choller and hot distempers in the Blood corrects the Liver quenches thirst stirs up an appetite resists venome and infection and refreshes fainting spirits The Pomegranate-Tree Malus Granata THis Plant groweth also in hot Countreys as in Spain and Italy but chiefly in Granado yet it is useful in Medicine with us therefore I shall not omit its Vertues It is called in Latine Malum Granatum or Punicum and Granatum the Flower Balaustium the Rinde Sidium but more generally Cortex Granatorum Nature and Vertues Those that are sweet are helping to the stomach and are somewhat hot but the sowre ones and seeds of each are cold and astringent it is an Herb of Venus The flowers and shells in powder help to stay blood in Wounds and the Kernels dryed in the sun stop fluxes of the Belly and Matrix and helps spitting of blood being drunk in raw water and so do the flowers and rindes The Juyce and the Kernels or the Syrup is good to quench thirst in burning Fevers and hot diseases a Gargarisme or Lotion made of the Rindes is good to bring down the hot swellings of the Almonds in the Throat the juyce of the Kernels sodden with Honey
is good for sores of the Yard Mouth and Fundament and for looseness of the skin about the nails and swellings and knots in any part of the body a decoction of the seeds is good to strengthen and fasten the Teeth Poplar Vide Aspen Tree Poppy Papaver THere be divers kindes of Poppies Description as white Garden Poppy black Garden Poppy red wilde Poppy or Corn-rose the two first grow onely in Gardens where they are sown the other is so well known in almost every Corn field that it needs no description Names Papaver is the general Latine Name for Poppy yet to the wilde red Poppy is added the Adjectives erraticum rubrum or sylvestre and it is generally known by the English Names of Redweed Corn-rose and Cheesebouls There is another kinde called Papaver spumeum Spatling Poppy being usually found with a froth like spittle upon the stalks and leaves more then upon any other Plant It hath many weak tender stalks full of joynts about a foot or half a yard long usually lying on the ground whereon grow many pale whitish green leaves two alwayes set together at the joynts one against another having many times upon the leaves but more often upon the stalks at the joynts a white frothy substance like that which is called Cuckow-spittle or Wood-seer at the tops of the stalks upon many slender foot-stalks stand divers white slowers composed of five small leaves a piece with a deep notch in the middle of every one of them standing in a thin loose striped husk wherein afterwards is contained black seed The Root is white and spreadeth in the ground continuing many years but the roots of all the other Poppies dye every Winter Place and Time The two first as I told you grow onely in Gardens where they are sown the red weed almost in every Corn Field the spatling Poppey grows also in Corn Fields sometimes in Pastures and by high-way sides they begin flowring in May and continue till the end of July The seed is ripe presently after Nature and Vertues The Moon claims particular dominion over these Herbs and assigneth them these Vertues A syrrup made of the Garden Poppey heads with the seeds procures rest and sleep in sick persons and stayeth Catarrhs and defluxions of thin Rheumes from the Head upon the Stomach and Lungs which cause a continual Cough the sore-runner of a Consumption The seed of black Poppey drunk in Wine stops the Flux of the Belly and the overflowing of the Tearms A pultis made of the green knops with Barley Meal and Barrows Grease helps St. Anthonies sire and the green knops being stamped with Vinegar womans Milk and Saffron mightily easeth the Gout and cureth another kinde of St. Anthonies fire called Erysipelas and put into the Fundament as a Glister it causeth sleep The condensate juyce is called Meconium and is many times used in Narcotick Medicines instead of the true opium which is brought from Thebes but it is weaker it is an ingredient in Treacle and Mithridate and other Medicines made to procure rest and sleep and to ease pains of the Head and other parts and is used to cool Inflammations Agues and Phrenzies but it must be carefully used inwardly for too great a quantity causeth the Lethargy and sometimes death it giveth much ease in the Gout being outwardly applyed and easeth the pain of hollow Teeth being put therein The Syrrup made of the Redweed Flowers or wilde Poppey is good against Surfeits cools the Blood and may be safely given in Fevers Phrensies and hot Agues and other Inflammations The distilled water of the said flowers is good to drink morning and evening against Surfeits and is effectual in the Plurifie and all other griefs of the Breast and Head The dryed flowers boiled in water or the powder of them drunk in the distilled water or in some other drink worketh the same effect The Syrrup of Meconium or Diacodium which is made of the heads of white and black Poppeys may safely be given to those which are troubled with hot and sharp Rheumes According to Gallen the seeds of spatling Poppey purgeth Phlegm and Dioscorides saith it causeth Vomiting but being taken in Mead or Honeyed Water it is good for them that are troubled with the Falling Sickness Purslain Portulaca IT is a well known Garden Sallet Herb and needs no description Names It is called Portulaca in Latine Place and Time It may be sown in March or April and flourisheth from June till Michaelmas Nature and Vertues Purslain is cold in the third degree and moist in the second and is also a Lunar Herb it is a good Sallet eaten with Oyl and Vinegar to provoke Appetite and cool a hot Stomach it fastneth the Teeth asswageth the swelling of the Gums and cooleth the Mouth and easeth the pains of the Teeth it is good in hot Agues and to cool the Liver Blood and Reins so that it stops Chollerick Fluxes of the Belly Womens Courses and the Gonorrhea distillations from the Head and caseth pains proceeding from Heat want of sleep or the Phrenzy The seed cools the heat and sharpness of Vrine abates the heat of Lust and Venerious Dreams and the overmuch use thereof extinguisheth the natural seed the seed bruised and boiled in Wine and given to Children killeth Worms The juyce is singular good for all the said purposes and for Inflammations or Vlcers in the secret parts and helpeth excortations in the Bowels and the Hemorrhoides The said juyce used with Oyl of Roses is good for Blastings by Lightning burnings with Gun-powder to-allay the heat of sore Breasts or of any other Sores It is likewise effectual to stay Vomitings and taken with Sugar or Honey it quencheth immoderate thirst helps an old and dry Cough shortness of Breath and the Ptisick and the thickned juyce made into Pills with Gum Traganth and Arabick helps such as make bloody water The bruised herb being applyed to the Forehead and Temples allayeth excessive heat therein and applyed to the Eyes it helps redness and Inflammations in them and Pushes and Wheals and St. Anthonies fire in other parts especially having a little Vinegar put to it and being mixed with the like quantities of Galls and Linseed it helpeth the Crick in the Neck and taketh away pains therein being applyed thereunto Potatoes Battata THese came originally to us from the Indies and those which we call Jerusalem Artechokes from Canada The Spanish Potatoes are called Battata Amotes Camotes Pappus and many other names The Jerusalem Artichoke Heliotropium Indicum tuberosum c. Nature and Vertues The leaves are hot and dry the roots of a temperate quality under the influence of Venus Potatoes do much nourish and strengthen the Body and increase and stir up bodily lust being eaten which way soever they are dressed They are used in Pyes and are excellent good Preserved and Candied or roasted under the Embers and eaten with Sack and Sugar The Virginia Potatoes are not so pleasant as the other
effectual for inward and outward bruises falls and blows to disperse the congealed blood and take away the pains and black and blue marks that abide after the hurt and the distilled water of the whole herb cleanseth the skin from Morphew Freckles and Spats making it fair and smooth Sampire Feniculum marinum ROck Sampire springeth up with a tender green stalk Description about half a yard high or two foot at the most branching forth almost from the bottom set with many thick almost round and somewhat long leaves of deep green colour three together and sometimes more on a stalk full of sap and of a pleasant hot or spicy taste at the tops of the stalks and branches stand Umbels of white flowers after which come large seed somewhat like Fennel seed but bigger The root is great white and long of a pleasant smell and taste and abideth many years Names The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latines Feniculum Marinum and in Shops Creta marina in English Sampire and Sea Fennel Place and Time The Cliffts in the Isle of Wight abound with it where it is incredibly dangerous to gather yet many adventure it though they buy their sauce with the price of their lives It groweth also about the Rocky Cliffts upon the Sea coast in most parts of England It flourisheth in May and June and is fittest to be gathered in the beginning of August It flowers and seeds in August Nature and Vertues Sampire is of a cleansing faculty and is hot and dry about the second degree and herb attributed to the influence of Jupiter Pickled Sampire is an excellent sauce for digestion of meats it breaks the Stone and expells Gravel out of the Reins and Bladder and provokes Vrine and womens Courses The decoction of the leaves seeds and roots in wine being drunk helps ill digestion and opens obstructions of the Liver and Spleen and of the Entrails which are the causes of most diseases it is grateful both to the taste and stoâ—◠〈◊〉 and helps to whet a dull appetite by the saltness and spiciness that is in it The way to preserve it in pickle is to boil it in water till it be tender and then pickle it up in a Barrel with a liquor made of Vinegar Water and Salt Saunders Santalum THere are three sorts of this plant brought unto us Kindes and Names viz. Santalum Rubrum Red Saunders Santalum Album or white Saunders and Santalum Citrinum or Flavum yellow Saunders they are all brought unto us from the East Indies where they naturally grow about the River Ganges and in the Isle of Timor and provinces adjacent Nature and Vertues Of all these three kindes of Saunders the yellow is the best the next is the white the red is least in use they are Solar Plants yet by temperature cold and dry in the second degree the red is more cooling and binding they open and cool the Liver and ease pain of the Head and are good to strengthen and revive the Spirits for which purpose they are used in Jellies Sauces and Broths c. they are likewise good in hot burning diseases as Fevers and such like The red Saunders applyed to Maids or Womens great Breasts mixed with the juyce of Purslain abateth their greatness and represseth their growing too big it is likewise effectual to stanch Blood at the Nose or other place being taken in red Wine and is used to slay defluctions of thin Rheume from the head and to cool and temper the heat in hot Agues hot Gouts and Insflammations In cordial medicines the white and yellow Saunders are most effectual by reason of their sweetness they help faintings of the Heart and weak Stomachs caused by heat they divert Melancholly and procure Mirth they stay the spermatical flux in man or woman The powder taken in a rear Egge or mixed with other things for that purpose or being infused in red Wine all night in Balneo or hot Embers and the Wing strained and drunk morning and evening for all inflammations it is very effectual being mixed with the juyce of Housleek Nightshade or Purslain outwardly they are good in Fomentations and Epithems against the intemperate heat of the Liver and being applyed with Rose water to the Temples they ease pains of the Head and stay the flowing of humours into the Eyes Sanile Sanicula SAnicle springeth up with many leaves of a middle size Description deeply cut or divided into five or six parts and some of them cut also sometimes standing upon brownish foot stalks about a handful high somewhat like the leaves of Crow-foot or the broadest sort of Anemonies finely dented about the edges smooth and of a dark green shining colour and sometimes reddish about the brims amongst which rise up small round green stalks without any joynt or leaf but at the top where it brancheth into flowers having a leaf divided into three or four parts at that joynt with the flowers which are small and white growing out of small round greenish yellow heads standing on a tuft together which afterwards contains small round burry seeds sticking unto any thing like the seeds of Cleavers The root consists of many black strings set together at a little long head which abideth with the green leaves all the winter Names It is called in Latine Sanicula from its efficacy in healing Wounds and by Lobel Diapensia in English Sanicle There is a sort called Pinguicula Eboracensis Butter-wort and Butter-root because of the oyliness of the leaf Place and Time It grows in woody shadowy places and under hedges in many places of this Land it flowers in July and the seed is ripe soon after nature and Vertues Sanicle is hot and dry in the second degree bitter in taste and somewhat astringent Culpepper ascribes it to Venus but I judge Mercury hath the greater influence upon it but the Sun most of all It is an excellent herb for any infirmity of the Lungs and is a singular good wound herb speedily healing all green Wounds and also Vlcers Imposthumes and bleeding inwardly and it dissipateth and represseth Tumors in any part of the Body if the decoction or juyce be taken or the powder in drink and apply the juyce outwardly The decoction of the leaves and root with a little honey added to it heals putrid and malignant Vlcers in the Mouth Throat and Privities by gargling and washing them therewith it helps to stay womens Courses and and all other Fluxes of blood and Lasks of the Belly ulcerations of the Kidneys pains in the Bowels and the running of the Reins being boiled in wine or water and drunk it is effectual to heal Burstings or Ruptures either inwardly or outwardly as well as any of the Consounds or other vulnerary herb whatsoever Of it also may be made an oyntment good for obstructions of the Liver and a syrrup or conserve for the Lungs Sauce alone or Jack by the Hedge THis herb as well as Wood-Sage is by some
bastard or water Agrimony called also water-hemp Wood Agrimony groweth up with a long and hairy stalk the leaves green above and grayish underneath parted into divers other small leaves and jagged about the edges the flowers are small and yellow growing one above another towards the top of the stalk the seeds are somewhat long and rough it hath a large blackish root Place and Time It grows frequently in Hedge-rowes of Corn Fields and by high-way sides and in Woods and Copses in the fields and Woods near Rochester and towards Dulwich in Surry you may gather loads of it about July it is in its prime the seed is ripe towards the latter end of Summer you may gather the herb any time of the year Names It is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Eupatorium and Eupatoria in Italian and Spanish Agrimonia The Germans call it Odermeng Bruckwurtz The Low Dutch French and English call it Agrimony and Egrimony Nature and Vertues Agrimony is an Herb of Jupiter and is of temperature moderately hot and dry having a fine binding quality it removes obstructions of the Liver and strengthens the same and therefore is profitable in dyet drinks for naughty Livers and Consumptions the decoction thereof is good for infirmities of the Kidneys and for such as piss blood by any inward bruise as experience hath taught me The leaves made into an unguent with Hogs Lard healeth and closeth up Vlcers and the herb or seed boiled in Wine helps Fluxes which proceed from weakness of the Liver especially if you boil a little Scabious with it Water Agrimony Eupatorium IT hath stalks of a dark purple colour Description a foot and a half high sometimes higher the leaves jagged like the other it hath many branches upon a stalk the flowers grow at the top of a dark yellow colour Place and Time It grows almost in every Ditch it flowers about the middle of Summer the leaves and stalks wither in Winter The Latines call it Eupatorium Cannabium and Hepatorium because it 's good for the Liver It 's called in English Water-hemp Bastard and Water Agrimony Nature and Vertues This Plant is hot and dry in the second degree and of a bitter taste it hath a scouring opening quality it cleanses the blood and attenuates gross humors purging them by Vrine Agarick Vide Larch tree Ague-tree Vide Sassasras Agnus or the Chaste-tree THis Plant groweth up somewhat higher then a Shrub Description having many dark coloured branches being very flexible like Willow the leaves are long and narrow somewhat smaller then Willow leaves and jagged like those of hemp The flowers are of a white colour and grow in spikes on the tops of the Branches the seeds are round almost like pepper having also a biting taste Place and Time It grows in moist grounds and by waters sides in hot Countreys as in Spain and Italy and other hot Countreys the seeds are brought hither and sold by our Druggists and Apothecaries Temperature and Vertues It is reputed by Authours to he hot and dry in the third degree of a subtle essence and of a sharp astringent quality This Herb hath a great antipathy to Venus and by its nature must needs be judged to be under the dominion of Mars in Capricorn for the seeds of Agnus taken in any manner do dry up the natural seed and restrain all venerious motions and yet it is of the temperature of Pepper which incites thereunto A Pultis being made of the leaves of Agnus Castus and Vine leaves stamped together with Butter and applyed to the Cods dissolveth and asswageth the hard swelling thereof The seeds being parched or fryed and eaten dissolve winde and being taken with penny-royal in powder in wine it 's effectual against the Dropsie and Spleen and provokes Vrine and resists the poisons of venomous Beasts An Oyntment may be made therewith to heat and mollisie benummea Members Being used with honey it 's good for sores of the mouth and throat it takes away freckles being used with Niter and Vinegar The hot sumes of the decoction of the leaves and seeds is good for women to sit over who are subject to fits of the Mother or troubled with inflammations in their privy parts And a pultis made therewith easeth pains of the head and being mixed with oyl and vinegar it is effectual against the Frenzy and Lethargy Alecoast Maudlyn or Costmary Costus hortorum THere are found six sorts of this herb The kindes and Description three whereof are common to us viz. Ale-cost or Cost-mary common Maudlin and white Maudlyn Place and Time Alecost is a sweet herb having pale long green leaves jagged finely about the edges and flowers are yellow the seeds small flat and long it grows plentifully in our Gardens and I think is known to most housewifes it flowers about July Names The first is called in Latine Costus hortorum Balsamita major or Mas Mentha Graeca Sacracenica officinarum Salvia Romana Herba lassulata Herba Sanctae Mariae In English Costmary and Alecost And Maudlyn is called in Latine Costus hortorum minor and in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Temperature and Vertues Alecoast and Maudlyn are both of a nature hot and dry in the second degree and qualified by Jupiter to help cold and weak Livers for which purpose it 's a singular herb or to be used in Ale it will make it drink both pleasant to the taste and far exceeding Coffee and Chocolate for health It may also be used in an Electuary for the purposes aforesaid it opens obstructions of the Breast Liver Spleen Kidneyes and Bladder provokes Vrine womens courses expells Choller and Phlegm a Conserve made thereof helps Defluxions of Rheumes flowing from the brain The decoction of the flowers kills Lice in the head and cures Scabs therein they being washed therewith It helps also the Rickets and worms in Children strengthens the stomach and stayes vomiting and is good for them that have eaten Hemlock or the like Alehoof or Ground-Ivy Hedera terrestris THis Plant creeps along upon the ground Description having a round leaf dented about the edges of a dark green colour the flowers are hollow and long of a blueish purple colour the root small and fibrous Place and Time It grows almost under every hedge and also under-house sides it flowers betimes in the year the leaves are to be found usually all the Winter Names In the Countrey especially in Hampshire it 's generally known by the name of Hay-hoe and Gill-go-by-ground it is also called Ale-hoof Ground-ivy and in Latine Hedera Terrestris Temperature and Vertues It hath an opening cleansing quality of temperature hot and dry in taste bitter Culpepper ascribes it to Venus I rather judge it to be Solar The Countrey people often make use of it to sweeten and cleanse musty Bottles by filling them with the decoction thereof it 's a singular herb for the Eyes The juyce therof with the juyces of Celandine and Daisies being
an oyntment of it thus Take of Oyl Olive one pint the root of Alkanet two ounces Earthworms purged twenty in number boil them together and keep it as a singular remedy for the use aforesaid Amara dulcis Bitter-sweet and Woody Nightshade is all one therefore Vide Bitter-sweet Amaranthus Vide Blites and Flower Gentle Anemonies Herba venti THese are of various kindes Descri ∣ ption altering as they are often and frequently transplanted out of one Garden into another for whose adornment they are most used so that a further description is needless Names It is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Anemone and Herba venti because it reported these flowers never open but when the winde bloweth The Gardners commonly call them Emonies and they are likewise called in English Winde flowers Nature and Vertues They are of a sharp hot quality biting the tongue and of a binding quality the wilde ones called Pulsatilla's being stamped and applyed will eat into the skin they are all taken to be a kinde of Crowfoot The leaves of Anemonies boiled in white Wine and the decoction drunk powerfully provokes the Terms the leaves and stalks being boiled with clean blanched Barley increaseth milk in Nurses if they eat thereof the juyce of the leaves snuffed up into the nose or the root chewed in the mouth purgeth the head mightily of watery and phlegmatick humours by spitting and being so used is good for the Lethargie they cure the Leprosie the body being bathed with the decoction thereof and an oyntment thereof helps Inflammations of the Eyes the eye-lids being anointed with it and cleareth the sight by taking away the Web or other spots therein the same oyntment also cleanseth corroding Vlcers being used for that purpose Artechokes Cinara OF this Plant I need make no description it 's very well known to all that desire it Names Place and Time It is called in Latine Cinara in English Artechokes They are plentifully nourished by our Gardners about London and in Gentlemens Gardens in the Countrey They are ripe in June and will flower at the latter end of the Summer if they be suffered to stand Temperature and Vertues They are of a temperate nature inclining to heat certainly under the dominion of Venus being great friends to venerious persons by whom they are dressed after all the luxurious wayes as may be thought on they do mightily stir up lust by increasing seed and therefore are good for married persons who are weak in the act of generation they restore nature and strengthen the stomach The Decoction of the young buds in wine provoke Vrine and though they increase seed yet they stay the involuntary flowing thereof in dreams or otherwise Assarabacca Asarum THis plant riseth up with many heads shooting from the roots Descri ∣ ption from whence spring the leaves which are round much like a Violet leaf but larger they are of a dark green shining colour on the upper side but paler underneath There springeth up likewise amongst them round husks upon stalks wherein are contained many small seeds much like the seeds of Violets but somewhat bigger Names Place and Time It is called by us commonly Asarum and Assarabacca It is planted frequently in our Gardens Their seed is ripe about the beginning of July Temperature and Vertues The leaves are hot and dry and purging having likewise a binding quality after it the roots are more hot and dry then the leaves a plant sure under the dominion of Mars It is commonly given to Maids who are inclinable to the Green Sickness to take the juyce of five or seven leaves in a little posset drink or white wine doth both cause Vomiting and purgeth downwards and by Vrine cleansing the body of Choller and Phlegm being steeped in wine and drunk it is good against the Dropsie and Jaundies and helps continual Agues A dram of the root in powder given in white Wine a little before the fit of an Ague at twice taking drives it away A Conserve made of the flowers hereof strengthens the memory and the hearing It helps likewise obstructions of the Liver and Spleen being boiled in Whey and the juyce thereof with a little Tutia prepared and added to it and dropped into the corners of the Eyes helps the dimness and mistiness of them and sharpens the sight Asparagus Corruda IT groweth up at first with a round greenish head Descri ∣ ption much like hops so near that they may easily be mistaken one for another afterwards they run up in long stalks shooting out green leaves like Fennel but smaller at the joynts come forth yellowish flowers after which come round green berries which are red when they are ripe and the seed is black the roots are spongious and full of small strings Names It is called in Latine Corruda Asparagus and in English Sperage and Sparagus by some Sparagrasse Places and Time It is nourished for a pleasant Sallet in our Gardens the tender shoots being in their prime to be eaten in April and May. They flower about July and have berries towards Michaelmas Temperature and Vertues Sparagus is of a fine temperate nature a procurer of lust yet expelling the Stone and Gravel from the Reins and Kidneys provokes Vrine and helps the Strangury helps pains in the Reins and Back The root is good against the yellow Jaundies falling Sickness and fits of the Mother and easeth pains of the Breast and Stomach being boiled in white Wine and the decoction drunk The root doth much open and provokes Vrine by which means it hath acquired the title of one of the five opening Roots The young shoots are as pleasant meat as any grows in Venus Garden and are effectual for most of the purposes before-mentioned The Ash-Tree Fraxinus THis is so well known to every one it needs no Description Names It is called in Latine Fraxinus and the fruit is called Kitkeyes Place and Time The Ash grows plentifully in most Woods and other places of this Land as in hedges and walks where they have been planted yet of late they have been wastefully destroyed as well as other wood and timber The leaves and flowers come forth about April and the keyes are ripe about September Temperature and Vertues This is a plant of Jupiter the leaves and bark are temperately hot and dry the seed hot and dry in the second degree A Lye made of the Ashes of Ashen Bark cureth Scald Scabby and Leprous heads they being bathed therewith the juyce of three or four leaves taken constantly every morning prevents mens bodies from growing corpulent or gross and makes them lean that are fat the leaves and bark being boiled in vinegar and water stayes vomiting being laid upon the stomach The leaves bark and tender crops being boiled in wine and drunk are singular good for the Dropsie the roots boiled in Ale and drunk morning and evening doth the same the leaves and bark being boiled in wine and drunk do open the Liver and Spleen and
ease pains of the Sides and being boiled in oyl and applyed outwardly they work the same effect the Keyes are good to be used in dyet drinks for the purposes aforesaid The decoction of the leaves in white Wine do help the Jaundies and break the Stone the seeds also the husks being taken off are good against Winde and provoke Vrine Aspe or Poplar Tree Populus I Shall not need to describe this Tree Descri ∣ ption you may know it well enough by the shaking of the leaves which will quiver and tremble though there be no winde and from thence comes a proverb to say when one is affrighted that he trembles like an Aspen leaf There is two kindes the white and black Poplar the black is most useful in Physick Names It is called Poplar Asp and Aspen Tree in Latine Populus Place and Time It groweth plentifully in our Land but in low and watry grounds the clammy buds thereof are gathered about the beginning of April to make the Oyntment called Vnguentum Populeon Temperature and Vertues The clammy substance of the black Poplar is hot and dry the white is of a watery warm nature and of a cleansing quality the Moon rules them both in Aries the first The oyntment made of this plant before spoke of is a fine cooler of Inflammations in any part of the body it temperates the heat of Wounds and is good to dry up milk in womens Breasts The juyce of the leaves of white Poplar being extracted and dropped into the Ears easeth pains of them and cures Vlcers in the Ears The seed drunk in Vinegar is held good against the Falling Sickness and the water that drops from hollow places of the black Poplar takes away Wheals Pushes Warts and other such breakings out in the body Avens Garyophillata THe Avens rise up from the root with many dark green leaves Descri ∣ ption winged and jagged about the edges the stalks rise about a foot high and are long and hairy and shoot forth leaves at every joynt which are not so long as the lower leaves but cut in on the edges into three parts or more on the tops of the branches sprout forth the flowers which are yellow and have five leaves like the flowers of Cinquefoil but they are larger when the flower is fallen it leaveth a small green head which after groweth to be rough and round and consisteth of many long purple greenish seeds which will stick to your cloathes the root hath many brownish fibres smelling almost like Cloves Names It is called in Latine Garyophillata from the scent of the Roots in English Avens and Herb Bennet Place and Time Avens delight to grow most in shadowy places and is to be found in many places under hedge sides They flower in May and June and the seed is ripe in July Quality and Vertues Avens is hot and dry of a purging quality a Plant of the Sun and a great comforter of the heart it is a good preservative against the Plague or any other poison it helps digestion warms a cold Stomach and opens the Liver and Spleen the roots thereof in the Spring being steeped in Wine and drunk thereof every morning fasting it also helpeth the Winde Chollick Fluxes and is good for such as are troubled with Ruptures The Decoction of the herb takes away spots in the face it being washed therewith the root may be dryed and kept in powder having the same vertue as the Decoction It expells crude humours from the Breast Belly and Stomach it dissolves congealed Blood and helps the spitting of Blood and heals inward Wounds and outward Wounds if they be bathed with the decoction thereof Assafoetida Vide Laserwort Balme Melissa BAlme groweth up with divers square green stalks Descri ∣ ption the leaves are dark green pointed at the ends and a little dented round about the edges having a fragrant smell the flowers are small and gaping of a pale Carnation colour the leaves and stalks dye every year but the root abides in the ground sprouting out fresh every Spring Names It is called in Latine Melissa and in English Balme Place and Time It groweth almost in every Countrey Housewifes Garden and flowers about August Nature and Vertues This is another Solar herb hot and dry in the second degree of some thinness of parts and 4 purging quality an herb appropriated to the Heart against the passions whereof it is an Antidote It maketh the heart merry strengthens the Spirits and is good against Swoonings and Faintings it drives away passions arising from Melancholly and burnt Phlegm the water thereof or rather a Conserve of the flowers strengthens the Brain helps Digestion and comforts a cold Stomach and is good against the Plague it provokes the Terms is good to sweeten a stinking Breath it is good in an Electuary for such as are troubled with difficulty of Breathing The Sirrup of Balm is good in Feavers strengthning the Heart and Stomach the juyce thereof with a little honey is good to clarifie the sight it is good to be used in baths to comfort the Joynts and Sinews and easeth pains of the Gout it is good against bitings of mad Dogs and stinging of Venemous Creatures In Oyls or Salves it is a good ingredient to heal green Wounds The Barberry-Tree Oxyacantha IT ariseth up with many slender stalks from the root Descri ∣ ption which grow sometimes to a great height and of an ordinary bigness the Bark is whitish in the outside and yellow next the wood it is full of prickly sharp thorns the flowers are yellow the fruit hangs in clusters upon a stalk or string and are red when they be ripe of a sowre taste the root is yellow Names The Latines call it Oxyacantha a term not well befitting it in English Barberries Place and Time It groweth plentifully in Gardens Orchards and Closes near dwelling houses where it hath been planted it hath been also found wilde in hedge-rowes but I believe some Ditcher planted it there to mend his hedges instead of Thorns They blossom in May and the fruit is ripe in September about the latter end or beginning of October Quality and Vertues Venus owns this plant whatever Culpepper sayes it is cold and moist in the second degree and of the fruit are made gallant cooling medicines both Conserves and Preserves the leaves beat like to Green sauce while they be young cools hot Stomachs and hot burning Agues procures appetite cools the Liver and helps Belchings so likewise doth the Conserve or Preserve of the Fruit it represseth Choller helps them that loath their meat by procuring an appetite it cools Inflammations of the mouth and throat the mouth being gargled with some of the Conserve dissolved in a little water and vinegar it stayeth Rheumes and Distillations and fastens the Gums and loose Teeth it stayes the immoderate Flux of Womens Courses kills Worms being taken with a little Southernwood and Sugar the decoction of the inner Bark is effectual against the
first rubbed over with salt Peter it helps running Sores Wheals and Inflammations They are likewise good against obstructions of the Liver and Spleen and the juyce of them is good against the Head-ache and Swimmings of the Brain being snuffed up into the nostrills it purgeth the head by drawing forth Rheume and being applyed to the Temples it easeth pains and helps inflammations of the Eyes but if Beets be too frequently eaten they offend the Stomack and therefore are most effectual and best being seldom used The Beech-Tree I Shall not need to take up room to describe this tree he is very well known it is called in Latine Fagus and the fruit Nuces fagi in English Beech mast the fruit is ripe towards Michaelmas Temperature and Vertues The leaves are cooling and astringent the fruit hot and moist in the first degree very astringent a plant of Jupiter The leaves are good for Vlcers being boiled to a pultis or made into an oyntment when they are green they are good for to take away Blisters and Gauls of the skin and to discuss hot swellings There is a water found standing in the hollow of old Beeches which cureth the Itch * I have taken water out of an hollow Beech in Bramsil Park in Hampshire which hath cured the Itch R. Turner Anno 1644. as I have proved The leaves are good to chew against inflammations of the Gums and Lips The decoction of the Leaves Bark Buds or Husks in running water stoppeth the overflowing of womens Courses being sate over and causeth the Mattix and Fundament that are fallen down to go up to their right places the decoction thereof in red Wine with Cynamon and Sugar being drunk doth the like the mast or fruit being burned to ashes and mixed with honey is good for a scald Head Water-Betony Betonica Aquatica WAter-Betony springeth up with a square hard stalk Description of a darkish green colour shooting also forth broad dark green leaves dented about the edges commonly two at a joynt at the joynts and at the top come forth flowers of a dark red colour like a hood at top and the lowermost part hanging gaping down after which come small brownish round heads the root is fibrous and perisheth every winter Names It is called in Latine Betonica Aquatica in English Water-Betony and Brook-Betony Place and Time It groweth plentifully by Brooks and Rivers sides in moist Ditches in watery places as about the Rivers side between Hollshot-Bridge and the Mill in Hampshire The flower in July and August and the seed is ripe in September Temperature and Vertues Some write that Water-Betony is hot and dry but I rather judge it to be cold and dry a Plant of Saturn as its vertues and operations will demonstrate I am sure it is a good cooler in Burnings and Scaldings with it I cured ones Leg scalded all over making the Medecine thus Take fresh Hogs Lard new Sheeps Dung and the leaves of Water-Betony pound them in a Mortar and make them into an Oyntment It is likewise good to dissolve swellings and hard knobs being stamped with Vinegar and applyed three times a day The seed is good for the Sciatica being taken in Wine with Myrrhe and Pepper The decoction of the leaves in Spring Water is good for all unkinde heats and is excellent to cure the Itch Wheals and Pushes The distilled water taketh away Sun-burnings Spots and Redness of the Face ◠so do the leave being stamped and made into an Oyntment with Cream the juyce boiled with Honey and Tents dipped therein is effectual to cure old and new Sores The seed is effectual to expel Worms out of the Belly a dram thereof at a time being taken in Wine the Leaves stamped and applyed to old Spreading and corrupt Sores and Pocks healeth them and the juyce of the Herb being drunk helps bleeding at Nose and them that spit Blood and cures the botch in the Throat It is also commended for the Piles and Hemorrhoides either applyed outwardly or the powder thereof drunk or strewed upon the grieved place Wood-Betony Betonica WOod-Betony springeth up with many leaves from the root running up with a tender stalk of about an handful Description and sometimes more the leaf growing at the end thereof and is somewhat broad and round at the end of a darkish green colour finely dented about the edges the stalk runs up in the middle of these leaves a foot high or more upon which grow leaves by two and two at a joynt which are far smaller then the lower leaves the flowers grow with spiked heads on the top of the stalks of a purple colour the root is fibrous the stalk perisheth but the leaves growing from the root are to be found all Winter Names In Latine it's called Betonica Betony in English Place and Time It delights to grow in Woods and shady Hedge rowes in which places if it be dry ground you shall not miss of it and flowers in June and July Nature and Vertues This herb is hot and dry almost to the second degree a plant of Jupiter in Aries and is appropriated to the Head and Eyes for the Infirmities whereof it is excellent as also for the Breast and Lungs being boiled in milk and drunk it takes away pains in the Head and Eyes Probatum It would seem a miracle to tell what experience I have bad of it Some write it will cure those that are possest with Devils or Frantick being stamped and applyed to the forehead being boiled in white Wine with Vervain Horehound and Hysop and applyed hot it cures the Megrim The powder of the leaves drunk in Wine or Beer or being eaten with slices of bread steeped in Wine doth restore the Brain helps noises and giddiness of the Head or being taken in pottage it comforts the Stomack and helps Digestion A conserve of the slowers or an Electuary thereof helps the Jaundies Palsie falling Sickness Convulsions Gout Dropsies and a continual Head-ache The leaves or flowers may also be boiled in broth for the same purposes An Electuary made of the powder with honey cures Colds Coughs and the droppings of Rheume upon the Lungs which causeth Consumptions The decoction of the Herb in Metheglin with a little Penny-royal is good against Quartan Agues and purgeth away superfluous humours falling into the Eyes it likewise kills Worms opens the Liver and Spleen cures Stitches and Gripings in the Bowels being boiled in Wine it likewise provokes the Terms and purges the Belly being mixed with Honey it helps fits of the Mother and causes speedy delivery and the quantity of a dram of it in powder taken in Syrrup of Vinegar doth refresh those that are wearied by Travel stayeth bleeding at the Nose and helps those that spit or piss Blood Many are the Vertues of Betony so that I shall conclude with the words I found in an old Manuscript under the Vertues of it More then all this hath been proved of Betony ☞ See more of this
Vertues Broom is hot and dry in the second degree cleanseth and openeth purgeth phlegmatick and watry Humors is very good for the Dropsie and Green Sickness and for the Gout Sciatica and other pains of the Joynts helps the swellings of the Spleen provokes Vrine and thereby cleanseth the Reins Kidneyes and Bladder and breaketh the Stone the powder of the leaves and seeds taken in Wine cures the black Jaundies and a Conserve of the flowers is good against the Kings Evil the distilled water is good for the same The flowers made into an Oyntment with Hogs Grease cures pains in the Knees the swellings of the Kings Evil Winde and Stitches in the sides being applyed thereto and the bitings of venomous Creatures The Oyl of the Roots cleanseth the body from Freckles the pickled buds stir up an appetite to meat opens the Spleen and provokes Vrine the Broom Rape infused in Oyl and set in the Sun for certain dayes makes an oyl to take away Wheals and pushes from the face or any other part of the Body Buckshorn Plantain Herbastella IT groweth up at first with small long narrow green leaves like Grass Description the leaves that follow are gashed on each side like the snags of a Bucks Horn and when they are thorow grown they lie upon the ground round the root like a Star from which rise up divers stalks with spiky heads like common Plantain the root is small with divers fibres hanging thereto Names It 's called in Latine Cornu Cervinum Herb stella and Sanguinaria Place and Time It delights to grow in dry sandy Grounds and flowers in the Summer moneths the leaves keep green all the Winter Quality and Vertues It is cooling drying and astringent the decoction in Wine strengthneth the Reins and Back and cooleth the heat of the Reins and Kidneys wherefore it is good for those that are troubled with the Stone it helps the Bloody Flux and Lasks of the Belly and other bleeding helps the Chollick breaks the fits of Agues stayeth bleedings at the Nose and the decoction either in ale or wine stayeth the distillations of hot and sharp Rheumes from the Head to the Eyes it is a Plant under the dominion of Saturn Of Bugle Consolida media BUgle hath larger leaves then Self-heal Description but not much different some green on the upper side others more brownish somewhat hairy and dented about the edges the stalk is square and hairy about a foot high the leaves stand by couples and from about the middle of the stalk to the top stand the flowers which are blueish and some of an ash colour like those of ground Ivy the seeds are small round and blackish the roots like those of penny-royal Names It is called in Latine Consolida media Buglum and Bugula Place and Time It groweth in wet Copses and moist Fields and flowers from May to July the root abides many years Quality and Vertues It is temperately hot and dry and somewhat binding an herb of Venus it wonderfully cures Vlcers and Sores whether new or old the leaves being bruised and applyed the juyce made into a Lotion with honey and allome cures sores of the Mouth and Gums and all sores and ulcers of the privy parts The decoction in wine dissolves congealed blood and helps inward Bruises and Wounds and is a special herb in wound Drinks and for those that are Liver grown Take Bugle Scabious and Sanicle boil them in hogs grease till the herbs be dry then strain it and keep it for a singular oyntment for all sorts of hurts in the body Bugloss Buglossum THis needs no description it 's Latine name is Buglossum and for it's Vertues I shall refer you to Borrage they are both excellent cordial herbs under the dominion of Jupiter strengthners of the heart and lungs and breast An Electuary may be made of Bugloss roots for the Cough and to condensate and expectorate thin Phlegm and Rheumatick distillations upon the Lungs Vipers Bugloss Echium THis springeth up with many rough leaves lying on the ground Description the stalks are rough hard and prickly spotted like a Vipers skin the leaves long rough and hairy of a sad green the middle rib for the most part white the flowers grow in spiky heads on the tops of the stalks of a purple violet colour the seeds are blackish cornered like a Vipers head the root is woody but perisheth every Winter Names The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some Latines Echium and Buglossum silvestre Viperinum Vipers Bugloss Place and Time It grows wilde in many places of this Land flowers and seeds about the middle of Summer Temperature and Vertues It is cold and dry yet the seeds and roots are good to expel Melancholly temper the Blood and allay hot fits of Agues procures milk in womens Breasts easeth pains of the Reins and Kidneys helps bitings of venomous creatures is effectual against poison and poisonous Herbs The distilled water being used inwardly or outwardly as occasion serves a syrrup may likewise be made thereof which is good to expel sadness and comfort the heart ☞ See further in The Art of Simpling by W. Coles Burnet Pimpinella THis small herb sendeth forth divers long winged leaves finely dented about the edges Description green on the upper side and grayish underneath set on each side with a middle rib the stalks rise about a foot high of a brown colour the flowers are small of a purplish colour the seed cornered the root small long and blackish with some fibres Names Some call it in Latine Pimpinella and Pampinula and Sanguisorba Place and Time It groweth wilde in most dry hilly grounds as all along the way almost between Gravesend and Rochester and is also nourished in Gardens it flowers in June and July and the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues Burnet is hot and dry in the second degree a plant of the Sun a great friend to the heart and principal members quickens the spirits and expells melancholly defends the heart from infection the juyce being taken in some proper drink and the party sweating thereupon It stops fluxes of Blood Scourings and the overflowings of womens Courses and the whites helps chollerick belchings of the Stomach and is a singular good wound herb and in Summer a little of this herb being put in a glass of Claret gives it a pleasing relish Burdock and Butter-burre Bardana BUtter-burre sendeth forth his flowers before the leaves like Coltsfoot Form which grow upon a thick stalk of a deep red colour they quickly fall away then come the leaves which grow bigger then the Burdock of a pale green colour above and hoary underneath the root is blackish without and white in the inside of a bitter taste Names The Burdock is called in shops Bardana and Lappa major the Butter-burre Petasites Place and Time They grow plentifully by Brooks Ditches and High-way sides delighting in good ground the flowers and burrs come forth in July and
Lappa minor and Asperugo in English Cleavers Clivers and Goosegrass because young Goslings feed on it Place and Time It runs up by hedge sides and hangs to what grows next it it flowers in June and July and the seed is ripe in August which soweth it self Nature and Vertues Cleavers are of thin parts indifferently hot and dry an herb of Mars the young herb boiled in Water-Gruel in the Spring cleanses the Blood and strengthens the Liver An unguent made of the herb with Hogs Suet helps Wens the Kings Evil and Paps swollen with curdled milk The distilled water and the decoction helps the yellow Jaundies drunk twice a day and stops Fluxes The juyce dropped into the Ears takes away the pains of them the juyce or bruised leaves applyed to a green Wound stops the Bleeding and closes it up so doth the powder thereof and helpeth old Vlcers Cloves Caryophillus THis aromatical Indian Fruit doth much comfort the Head Heart and vital parts they strengthen Nature break Winde and stir up Venery helps Fluxes of the Belly is good against Infection and stayes Vomiting the chymical oyl is good in a Quartain Ague and weakness of the Stomach and for the Head-ache two or three drops given in Beer or Wine or other drink it easeth the Tooth-ache let old and phlegmatick persons use it young people and chollerick are to refrain it Clove Gilly-flowers Caryophylleus flos THis cordial flower is well known Nature and Vertues It is a temperate slower no way exceeding in heat or dryness cold or moisture a plant of Sol the Conserve and Syrrup of the slowers are gallant cordials comforting the Heart it resisteth the Plague or any Venome it strengthens Nature and is good against Consumptions the flowers pickled are an excellent sauce and stir up appetite being set in a glass in the Sun in vinegar they make a good vinegar to preserve from the Pestilence and revive one in a Swoon the Temples and Nostrils being washed therewith ☞ See further in Adam in Eden by W. Coles Clowns Woundwort Sideritis IT springs up with square rough green stalks near two foot high Description at every joynt grow two long narrow dark green leaves sharp at the point and bluntly dented about the edges the flowers compass the stalks towards the top and grow to a spiky head of a purplish colour having long gaping hoods with some white spots in them the seeds are round and blackish the root is fibrous with some tuberous knobs among them both herb and root have a strong smell much like stinking horehound Names Gerhard as I remember saith he gave it the name of Clowns-wort from a clownishianswer he had of a man that had cut his Leg with his Sithe and it is called Panax Coloni in Latine and Sideritis Places and Time It grows by Ditches sides in most places of this Land flowers in August and the seed is ripe in September Nature and Vertues It is dry in the first degree and reputed hot in the second of an earthy Saturnine quality it doth cure green Wounds and closes them up to admiration being stamped with Hogs Lard and applyed thereunto it stanches Blood and dryes up Fluxes of humours in old Vlcers a syrrup made thereof and taken inwardly heals inward Wounds Veins broken spitting pissing or vomiting blood and stayes the bloody Flux A Plaister or Vnguent of the Herb and some Comphrey with it helps swollen Veins and consolidates a cut muscle and is excellent for Ruptures of the Belly being applyed to the place Columbines Aquilina THere are Columbines of several colours Description as white flowers purple and carnation colour with divers others but they are so generally known I shall describe it no further Names No good Latine name can I finde for it yet it is termed Aquileia Aquilina and Aquilegia the onely English name Columbines Place and Time I have seen both the white and purple coloured grow wilde in our Meadows in Hampshire where the ground is somewhat dry as in a place called Gassen Mead in Holshot but they frequently grow in Gardens they flower about the beginning of May and are gone by the end of June Nature and Vertues They are temperately cold and dry moderately digestive a plant of Venus and sympathizingly cures sore Throats Canker and the Kings Evil the leaves boiled in milk and given to the party affected the seeds drunk in Ale is good for the Quinzy it also heals inflammations of the Mouth and Jaws a dram of the seed and half a penny weight of Saffron drunk in wine and the party covered to sweat opens the Liver and is good against the Janudies The decoction of the herb and root with some Ambergrease added helps Swoonings The seed drunk in wine causes speedy delivery and the juyce is good in the beginning of a Phrenzy the patient eating with it pottage of Sage Valerian and Rue Of Coloquintida or the bitter Gourd THis out-landish Indian Plant is hot and dry in the third degree very bitter of taste and strongly purging it may be taken to purge Phlegm by strong bodies being corrected with oyl of Roses Gum Tragacanth and Ginger which will help the griping pains it will cause if taken alone but being thus made up with Rose-water into pills or trochis it purges viscous humours tough Phlegm and Choller and water from the Brain Lungs and Breast and therefore is good against Fluxes of Rheume Apoplexy Falling Sickness and swimming of the Head the Jaundies old Coughs and rotten putrid Fevers the Chollick and Dropsie the decoction thereof in Vinegar easeth pains of the Teeth they being washed therewith being steeped in vinegar it helps the Morphew Scurf and Scabs in Glisters which is the safest way it may be given thus take the pulp hereof two drams Camomile flowers M. 1. Anniseed Comminseed of each ℥ ss make hereof a decoction fair water and in a pint thereof dissolve honey of Roses and oyl of Cammomile each ℥ iii. The dose otherwise is from five grains to ten Colts-foot Tussilago THis pectoral plant is well known onely hardly observed in this that it sendeth forth its flowers before the leaves Names Tussilago is the common Latine name Foals-foot and Colts-foot the English because the leaves resemble a Horses foot Place and Time It loves to grow in moist and low Grounds in good Ground it flowers in the end of March and beginning of April the flowers and stalks quickly fade away afterwards come the leaves which abide green all Summer Nature and Vertues It is cooling and drying being fresh but when the moisture is evaporated it inclines to heat and driness it is an herb of Venus very effectual for infirmities of the Lungs wheesing and shortness of Breath the leaves taken like Tobacco draws away thin Rheumes distilling upon the Lungs and helps the Cough the distilled water with Elder Flowers is good against hot Agues to drink about two ounces at a time it likewise helps hot Swellings inflammations as St. Anthonies
fire and cools the heat of the Piles clothes being wet therein and applyed it likewise takes away hot Pushes and Wheals ☞ See further in Adam in Eden by W. Coles Comfrey Consolida THis herb I suppose needs no description being generally known Names It is called Consolidae of which there is major and minor the greater and lesser Consound Comfrey is the greater and is so called from consolidating or knitting together which faculty it hath and is therefore called also Knit-back or Backwort because it bindes and strengthens the Back Place and Time It grows in Meadows by rivers sides and ditches in fruitful grounds as near Debtford in Kent it grows in abundance it is also planted in Gardens they flower in May and June and seed in August Nature and Vertues It is of a cold drying binding Saturning quality it is very good for the Back and the running of the Reins being boiled and eaten with Butter and Vinegar it is a very good Sallet some boil it and eat it with Bacon which way it is also effectual for the aforesaid purpose it stops Fluxes inward or outward Bleeding and the Terms the decoction of the roots being drunk it heals inward Wounds and Vlcers of the Lungs it stops the Reds and Whites the syrrup is effectual for all the said purposes and the distilled water is good to wash Wounds and Sores The Roots bruised and applyed is good to close together the lips of green Wounds and stayeth the bleeding of the Piles and Hemorrhoides and cools the Inflammations thereof it likewise eases the pains of the Gout being so applyed Walter Caltrops Tribulus Aquaticus THey rise with long slender stalks from the bottom of the water Description and float above the water the root is long and greater towards the top of the water then the bottom having tassels full of small strings on the stem the leaves are large and round notched a little about the edges somewhat resembling Poplar or Elme leaves the fruit groweth in prickley heads which are hard sharp and trianguler wherein is contained a white kernel in taste like Chestnuts Names The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latines Tribulus Aquaticus Tribulus Lacustris and the Apothecaries Tribulus Marinus in English Caltrops Saligot and Water Nuts and the fruit is called Castania Aquatiles or Water Chesnuts Place and Time It groweth in lakes standing waters and Springs in Germany Brabant and the Low Countreys so that being an outlandish Plant I would not have troubled the Reader with a description but to acquaint him that it is thrust in by the writer of that Book called Culpeppers English Physician enlarged amongst the English Plants as a great many more are both Outlandish and useless yet there is a small kinde hereof called small Frogs Lettice which bears small whitish flowers consisting of four leaves apiece which groweth in the River by Droxford in Hampshire alwayes continuing under the water and is green both Winter and Summer they all flower in June and July Nature and Vertues Caltrops are of a cold and moist nature so that a pultis made thereof is good against inflammations and hot swellings and being boiled with honey and water it cures Cankers of the Mouth sore Gums and the almonds of the Throat knobs and swellings and the Kings Evil The green Nuts drunk with wine is good for the Stone and Grayel and a powder thereof bindes the Belly and is good for them that piss Blood The same drunk wich wine resists poison venome and bitings of venomous creatures and the herb applyed outwardly helps venomous bitings Campions Wilde Lychnis THere are divers kindes hereof both wilde and in Gardens Lychnis sylvestris purpurea called red Batchelors Buttons and Lychnis alba white Batchelors Buttons they are useless in Physick yet Culpeppers writer will ascribe them to Saturn and saith The decoction stayes inward bleedings and the herb outwardly applyed doth the like and that being drunk it provokes Vrine expells the Gravel and Stone in the Reins and Kidneys and two drams of the seed drunk in wine purgeth chollerick humours helps venomous bitings and may be effectual for the Plague and that the herb is useful in old sores Vlcers and the like to cleanse and heal them All this may be true for any thing either he or I know to the contrary Indeed most of the kindes hereof except the two first named are strangers in England and are onely planted in Gardens for the beauty of the flowers Carduus Benedictus Vide Holy Thistle Carawayes Carui CAraway hath fine cut leaves much like Carrot leaves Description but not so bushing lying on the ground in divers stalks of a quick taste among which riseth up a square stalk not so high as the Carrot having the like leaves at the joynts but smaller and finer having at the top small open umbels of white slowers which produce a small blackish seed less then Anniseed and hotter in taste the root is somewhat like a Parsnip but is much less and hath a more wrinckled bark and a little hottish taste Names The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Caros Carum and Caruum and in the Shops Carui in English Caraway and Carawayes Place and time It is sown in our English Gardens flowers in June and July and the seed is ripe soon after Nature and Vertues The seeds are most used in Physick and according to Gallen are hot and dry almost in the third degree of a moderate sharp quality the herb may be eaten raw with other herbs in Sallets or boiled and the roots may be boiled and eaten as Parsnips they break winde comfort the Stomach and help Digestion The herb or seed and herb bruised and applyed hot in a cloth or bag to the bottom of the Belly eases the winde Chollick and is good against hot swellings The seeds eaten alone or mixed with meat or medicine comfort the Stomach break Winde and help digestion for which purpose also they are used to be put into bread they also help cold griefs in the head windiness in the Bowels and Mother and used to be mixed with purgative medicines to correct their windiness it also provokes Vrine helps the Cough and is good against the Phrensey and venomous bitings being put into a poultis it takes away black and blue spots which come by blows or bruises and used with allom it helps Scabs Tetters and falling off the hair Earth Chest-nuts Nucula terrestris THis root is round and knobbed Description with some bunchings out brown without and white within tasting much like a Chesnut but sweeter from whence springeth up small cressed stalks about a foot high whereon grow leaves next the ground like Parsley leaves but finer and towards the top like dill The flowers are white and stand at the tops of the stalks in spoky rundels like the tops of dill The seeds not much unlike Fennel seed but much smaller growing together by couples having a good smell
the latter end of Summer and seeds about a month after Nature and Vertues Sea-holly is temperate of a cleansing drying nature a Venerial plant the roots confected stir up the affection to Venery and are a restorative against the consuming of old age being decocted in Wine they open obstructions of the Spleen and Liver provoke Vrine expell the Stone and move the Terms helps the yellow Jaundies Dropsie pain in the Loins and winde Chollick The roots bruised and applyed to the Throat helps the Kernels there and heals bitings of Serpents being taken inwardly and applyed to the place and if the roots be boiled in Hogs Lard and applied to thorns in the flesh it draws them out and heals the place the juyce of the leaves helps Imposthumes in the Ears The distilled water of the whole herb being young drives away Melancholly and helps Quartane and Quotidian Agues the young tender shoots may be eaten fresh or pickled they are a good Venerial Sallet ☞ See more of this in the Art of Simpling written by W. Coles Eye-bright Ocularia IT is a small low herb rising seldom above a span high Description having a blackish green stalk which spreadeth from the bottom into sundry branches whereon grow small dark green leaves finely snipt about the edges growing two together very thick the flowers are small and white striped with purple and yellow spots and grow at the joynts with the leaves from the middle upwards the seeds are very small growing in small round heads which succeed the flowers The root is long small and threddy Names Euphrasia is both a Greek and Latine name for it it is also called in Latine Opthalmica and Ocularia in English Eye-bright Places and Time It grows plentifully in many places of this Land by Hedge rowes and on Hills sides it groweth in the High way between Gravesend and Rochester and in the Fields about Gravesend They flower in August which is the best time to gather it before it seeds Nature and Vertues It is a Solar herb hot and dry it is excellent to clarifie and preserve the sight from dimness either the powder of the dry herb being used or the juyce of the green plant the distilled water clears the dimness of the Eyes either being dropped into the Eyes or drunk in Wine or Broth a Conserve of the Flowers works the like effects being eaten It restoreth a decayed Memory and helps a weak Brain and Memory being used any of the aforesaid wayes if it were tunned up with Bear or Ale it will work the like effects Some Authours write that Birds make use of it to repair their sight and Arnoldus saith that it did restore their sight who had been blinde a long while Ferne. Filix IT s very well known there is accounted a Male and Female and Water Ferne or Osmond Royal. Names The Latine name for Ferne is Filix the Water Fern Osmunda Regalis and St. Christophers Herb. Place and Time Fern grows too plentiful in many places and can hardly be rooted out where it hath possession the seeds are small trebble pointed black and shining and may be gotten on Midsummer-eve at night at which time I have gathered it my self The Water Ferne grows by wet Ditiches sides bogs and watrish places Nature and Vertues Ferne is hot and dry bitter and somewhat astringent a Mercurial Plant the roots of Ferne boiled in Mead kills worms in the Belly and abates swelling and hardness of the Spleen and being bruised and boiled in Oyl or Hogs Grease they make a good Oyntment to heal Wounds and Bruises and cases the Chollick and Diseases of the Spleen especially those of the Water Fern A bath made of the leaves is good to strengthen the Sinews the powder of the root dryes up the watry humours of Vlcers A dyet Drink being made of it with other Capillary Herbs is good for the Rickets The water Fern is effectual for Ruptures an Oyntment being made thereof and the decoction of the root in white Wine provokes Vrine and opens the uretory passages Feathersew Parthenium IT grows up with many large green leaves Description very much torn or cut about the edges the stalks are hard and round beset with smaller leaves the flowers stand fingle upon several foot stalks at the cop consisting of finall white leaves standing round about a yellow thrum in the middle the root is tough hard and short having many fibres thereat the whole Plant of a strong scent and bitter taste Names Parthenium from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Matricaria and Febrisuga in Latine Place and Time It grows by divers Walls and Hedges and frequently in Gardens they continue in flower the gratest part of Summer Nature and Vertues Featherfew is hot and dry in the third degree having a quality of cleansing and opening its temperature scent and taste attributes it to Mars but its vertues are ascribed to Venus it is an excellent herb for womens Diseases for all Diseases of the Mother the decoction being drunk or the fume set over helps fits of the Mother it drives down the Courses expells the dead Childe and After-birth The juyce with the juyce of Motherwort taken in old Ale with a little gross Pepper is good to prevent fits of the Mother The decoction with Sugar or HOney helps the Cough and short Windedness and cleanses the Reins and Bladder so doth the powder of the herb and expells Melancholly helps the swimming of the Head and windiness in the Stomach and is good against the Dropsie it is good for cold and moist bodies to stir up the procreative vertue but it is naught for hot and dry bodies it s a good remedy for such as have taken too much opium being fryed with Oyl and Wine it eases the griping pains of winde being applyed to the Stomach and Belly The distilled water cleanseth the Skin Fellwort Vide Gentian Fennel Feniculus FEnnel is well known its Latine name Feniculus Gardens are his habitation he flowers in June and July and the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues Most affirm Fennel to be hot in the third degree and dry in the first and according to Gerrard the seed is hot and dry in the third degree it is a Mercurial herb saith Culpepper but I suppose rather Solar it is used to be boiled with Fish and other viscous meats to digest their crude and phlegmatick qualities and the seed is used in bread to break Winde and strengthen the breath The distilled water cleanseth the Eyes being dropped therein and the condensate juyce cleanseth them from Mists and Films It is good to increase milk in Nurses it provokes Vrine and eases the pains of the Stone The leaves or rather the seeds boiled in water stay the Hiccock helps loathings of the Stomach of sick persons and allayeth the heat thereof and is a remedy for such as have eaten poisonous herbs and against bitings by Serpents The seed and root opens obstructions of the Liver Spleen and
Gall helps shortness of breath The roots in dyet drink or broth cleanseth the Blood opens the Liver provokes Vrine and helps the evil colour of the face after long Sickness and causeth a good habit throughout the body the juyce kills worms in the Ears being dropped therein The ordinary Fennel is stronger then the sweet Fennel and therefore better for the purposes aforesaid Fennel Giant Ferulago THis plant grows in Cyrene Description and place and brings forth the Gum called Ammoniacum which is hot and dry in the second degree which is good to dissolve Tumors and taken inwardly it purges Phlegm opens stoppings of the Liver helps Astma's and stoppings of breath it provokes Vrine and the Terms eases the Gout and Sciatica softens Corns and hard Swellings ☞ See further in Adam in Eden written by Will. Celes Sow-Fennel or Hogs-Fennel Peucedanum IT hath divers branched stiff stalks Description full of knees of thick long leaves three for the most part joyned together at a place among which riseth a crested stalk less then Fennel somewhat joynted and leaves thereon and towards the top some branches on the tops whereof grow tufts of yellow flowers the seeds are thin flat and yellowish almost twice as big as Fennel seed the root is great and grows deep with many fibres smelling like hot brimstone and yielding a yellowish juyce like a Gum. Names Peucedanus and Peucedanum are the Latine names in English Hogs-Fennel Sow-Fennel Hore-strange and Hore-strong Sulpher-wort or Brimstone-wort Places and Time It grows in salt low Marshes as by Whitstable and Feaversham in Kent and many other places they flower and seed towards the end of Summer Nature and Vertues It is a Mercurial herb hot in the second degree and dry in the beginning of the third The juyce dissolved in Wine and dropped into the Ears helps such griefs thereof as proceed from a cold cause the same used with Vinegar and Rose-water or the juyce with a little Euphorbium put to the Nose helps the Phrenzy Lethargy Giddiness falling Sickness long and inveterate Head-ache the Palsie Sciatica Cramp and generally all diseases of the Nerves and Sinews if it be used with Oyl and Vinegar as saith Dioscorides and Gallen the juyce dissolved in Wine or put in an Egge is good for the Cough shortness of Breath and winde in the body it gently purges the Belly dissolves winde and hardness of the Spleen gives ease to women that have hard Labour and easeth pains of the Reins Bladder and Womb the juyce put into a hollow tooth easeth the pain and so doth the root but more slowly The powder of the dried root cleanseth foul Vlcers and removes splinters or broken bones out of the flesh dryes up inveterate Sores and is of a great force in green Wounds Fig-wort Vide Throat-wort Flax. Linum THis needs no description good Housewifes know it well enough it is called in Latine Linum which is somewhat near our English word Linnen fine linnen cloth being made thereof it flowers from Midsummer till August it is sown in divers places of this Land Nature and Vertues The seed thereof which we call Linseed which is onely used in Physick is hot in the first degree and in a mean between moist and dry but Dodoneus saith it hath a superfluous moisture and causes winde and that the Inhabitants of Middleborough in Zealand for want of Corn eat thereof to the great prejudice of thier healths but the seed being boiled in water and some honey put to it is said to case the Chollick Stitches and Inflammations I fancy not that medicine but the seed is a good ingredient in pultisses with Fenugreek and Mallows to mollisie and discuss Tumors in any part of the body and being used with Myrrhe and Rozen it helps Ruptures and swellings of the cods the decoction thereof in wine is good to stay the spreading of silthy Sores being used thereto and being mixed with honey or suct and wax and applyed it helps hard swellings under the Ears and Throat and remedies spots and discolourings of the skin Fig-Tree Ficus THe Fig-tree seldom grows in England but as it is planted against a Wall yet at the house of Rowland Hinde Esquire at Hedsor in Buckinghamshire grows or lately did grow a Fig-Tree in his Court having a body as big as an ordinary Elme or Oak growing low and spreading much ground wiht great Boughs Names The Greeks call the Tree 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the fruit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine both tree and fruit is called Ficus Place and Time They grow plentifully in Spain and Italy and bear fruit both in the Spring and in August and September Nature and Vertues Figs are hot and moist almost in the third degree and yield good nourishment but being immoderately eaten they ingender crude humours in the Stomach and hurt hot Livers and chollerick Stomachs they are therefore best for old phlegmatick persons being eaten with Almonds they cleanse the Breast and the Lungs A decoction of them with Hysop and Liquorish is good for the Cough of the Lungs and for the Reins and Bladder and to recover a good colur to them that have lost it by Sickness it also cleanses the Womb and is useful for the Dropsie Quinzy and the falling Sickness they are a good Antidote against the Plague Poison and infections Air being stamped together with Salt Rue and Nut Kernels and eaten fasting in the mornings a Fig sliced and toasted and applyed to an aking Tooth sometimes gives ease The decoction of the leaves is good to wash sore heads for the Leprosie Morphew and running Sores and a syrrup made thereof is good against Coughs shortness of Breath and all diseases of the Breast and Lungs Filberd Vide Hazel Nut. Fistick Nuts Pistacia THis tree grows in the East Indies Persia and Arabia and the hot parts of Italy Names It is called in Latine Pistacia and Pistacium in English the fruit is called Pistacies and Fistick Nuts Nature and Vertues They are under the dominion of Jupiter of temperature hot and moist they increase seed and stir up Venery being eaten condited or otherwise they recover strength in those bodies which are in Consumptions and are grateful to the Stomach they are good against bitings of venomous creatures they open obstructions of the Liver Chest and Lungs concocting and digesting raw humours that offend them they are a little astringent strengthening the Liver and Stomach used either in meats or medicines they remove Sand and Gravel out of the Reins and Kidneys asswage their pain and are good for Vlcers Fleawort Herba pulicaria ORdinary Fleawort groweth up with a stalk two foot high Description or more full of branches on every side up to the top and at every joynt grow two small long and narrow whitish green leaves at the tops of every joynt stand divers short small scaly or chaffy heads out of which come small whitish yellow threds like those of plantain which are the bloomings or
flowers the seed is small and shining while it is fresh very like Fleas but turning black when it grows old the root is white hard and woody perishing every year The whole plant is whitish hairy and smelling somewhat like Rozin Names It s called in Latine Herba pulicaria and in Shops Psyllium in English Fleawort Place and time It grows with us no where but in Gardens but there is another kinde much like the former which grows in Fields near the Sea-coasts they flower in July or thereabouts with us but in thier natural Countreys all the Summer Nature and Vertues The seed of Fleawort which is chiefly used in Physick is cold in the second degree and temperate in moisture and driness according to Gallen and Serapio it is a Saturnine Plant. The muscilage made with Rose water and taken with syrrup of Violets or a little Sugar purges Choller and Phlegm is useful in burning Fevers to lenisie chirst and driness of the mouth and throat it helps also Hoarseness Inflammations of the Breast Lungs and Head and hot pains in the joynts the muscilage of the seed in an Electuary with Marmalade of Quinces and Sugarcandy hath the same effects and stayes the fluxions of hot Rheumes The seeds dryed and taken with Plantain water stayes fluxes of the Belly and helps the gripings thereof caused by Chollerick humours or the over-working of violent Medicines the seeds bruised or the herb mixed with juyce of Night-shade or Housleek oyl of Roses and Vinegar easeth the hot Gout and hot Imposthumes the water wherein the seeds have been steeped is good against St. Anthonies fire the juyce with Honey put into the Ears stayes the running thereof and is good for sore Breasts being often applyed thereunto being mixed with Hogs Grease and applyed to corrupt Sores and Vlcers it heals them The muscilage of the seed made in Plantain water and mixed with the yolk of an Egge or two and a little of the Vnguent Populeon easeth the pains of the Piles and Hemorrhoides being bound thereto It is not safe for cold and moist bodies Flixweed Thalictrum FLixweed springs up with a round upright hard stalk about two foot high Description spread into many branches whereon grow many grayish green leaves finely jagged like Roman Wormwood the flowers are small of a dark yellow colour and grows in a spiky fashion on the tops of the spriggy branches after which grow long pods with small yellowish seed in them The root is long weedy and perishes every year Names It is called in Latine Pseudonasturtium Sylvestre Thalictrum and Sophia Chirurgorum Places and Time It grows by Hedge sides High wayes upon old walls in many places of this Land and flowers from the beginning of June till the end of September Nature and Vertues It s a drying astringent Saturnine Herb the seed drunk in Wine or water wherein Steell hath been often quenched stops the Lask Bloody Flux and all other issues of Blood the Herb boiled performs the same effects and also it consolidates Bones broken or out of Joynt from which vertue it obtained the name of Sophia Chirurgorum a syrrup of it may be made to be taken inwardly for the former purposes The juyce drunk in Wine or the decoction of the Herb kills Worms in the Stomach and Belly and Worms which sometimes breed in Vlcers the juyce or bruised herb put into Oyntments or Salves quickly heals old Sores how foul or malignant soever they be They whose Stomachs cannot brooke any of the former Medicines may take the distilled water which worketh the same effects but not so effectually or powerfully Fluellin or Lluellin Veronica Mas. OF this plant there is a male and a female kinde Description called male and female Speedwell before the Welch-man gave it her Countrey name Lluellin The common Speedwell hath divers soft leaves about the breadth of a two pence of a hoary green colour a little dented about the edges set by couples at the joynts of the hairy brownish stalks which lean upon the ground never standing upright but shooting forth roots as they lie upon the ground at divers joynts the flowers grow one above another at the top and are of a blueish purple colour sometimes white the seed is small and blackish contained in small flat husks The root is fibrous Names In Latine it hath been called Veronica Mas and Veronica Femina and Betonica Pauli in English Male and Female Speedwel and Pauls Betony but the Shentleman of Wales hath given it the name of Lluellin because it saved her Nose which the French Pox had almost gotten from her Place and Time They grow upon dry Banks and Wood sides and in sandy grounds in many places of this Land They flower in June and July and the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues The Male is temperately hot and dry the Female cooling and drying the Male is most common and of greatest use they are both good wound Herbs a Salve being made therewith with wax oyl and Turpentine it also hinders the fretting of old Vlcers stayes Bleeding of Wounds dissolves Swellings it strengthens the Heart and expells Poison and Venome from thence it strengthens the Memory eases swimmings and pains in the Head The decoction given in Wine it cleanses the Blood and helps the Leprosie as is said A dram of it in powder in its own distilled water helps the Cough and diseases of the Lungs and Breast It opens the Liver and Spleen cleanses Vlcers in the Reins and Bladder the distilled water is good to wash Wounds and Sores and helps Morphew Scabs and Freckles a little Coper as being dissolved therein and bathed therewith The Female Speedwel or Fluellin bruised and applyed with Barley Meal helps watring Eyes caused by hot Rheumes flowing from the Head it stops the overflowing of the Terms and all Fluxes of Blood it helps the inward parts which need consolidating and strengthning the leaves being sod in broth with a Hen or piece of Veal It is effectual to heal green Wounds and to cleanse and heal old soul Vlcers and fretting Cancers the juyce and decoction of the herb taken inwardly and the herb used outwardly ☞ See more of this in The Art of Simpling written by W. Coles Fox Gloves Digitalis IT is known so commonly almost to every Childe in my Countrey of Hampshire that I shall forbear to make any large description of it Names Authours call it by many strange Latine names as Digitalis Virga Regia Campanula silvestris and many other affected names We in English call it Fox-Gloves and in Hampshire it is very well known by the name of Poppers because if you hold the broad end of the flower close between your finger and thumb and blow at the small head as into a bladder till it be full of winde and then suddenly strike on it with your other hand it will give a great crack or pop Place and Time They grow generally in dry grounds and under Hedges sides in most Countreys
water is comfortable for the Brain and is good for the Palsie and cold diseases of the Head the Temples Nape of the Neck and place behinde the Ears being washed therewith it is good against the Megrim and falling Sickness and two or three spoonfuls being drunk recovers lost speech A decoction of the flowers of Lavender Horehound Fennel and Asparagus roots with a little Cynamon is good against the Falling Sickness and Giddiness of the Brain it is good also for Convulsions Apoplexies Cramps Lethargies and gripings of the Body coming of cold it helps the stoppings of the Milt heats the Belly provokes the Terms and being holden in the Mouth it helps Vlcers and pains in the Teeth the water helps blisters of the Mouth being washed therewith the smell thereof comforts the sight it is not to be used where the Body is full of Blood and humours The lesser Lavender is good against diseases of the Mother for Women to be bathed with and to help forward their Travel and is good against venomous bitings The chymical Oyl of Lavender called Oyl of Spike is good for the falling Sickness Palsie Gout and aches of the Joynts being taken inwardly and the parts anointed but a few drops of it amongst other things is sufficient to be taken inwardly or outwardly Lavender Cotten Chamaecyparissus IT is an Herb well known in Gardens it is called by some in Latine Chamaecyparissus and some take it to be the Abrotanum Faemina of Dioscorides it flowers about July or August Nature and Vertues Both herb and seed are hot and dry in the third degree the plant is also Mercurial the seeds or the herb stamped and strained with milk and given fasting kills Worms in the Belly both of elder persons as well as Children half a dram of Lavender Cotten taken in Fether-few water every morning ten dayes together is good to stay the Whites in Women and the running of the Reins in men the leaves drunk in Wine is good against the Jaundies and opens the Liver and Kidneys it is good against all venomous bitings and the smell thereof drives away vermine The decoction is good to help Scabs and Itch it is good in Bathes and Oyntments to help Burstness Cramps Convulsions shrinking of Sinews to provoke Vrine and womens Courses Spurge Laurel Laurcola IT riseth up with one Description and sometimes more stalks about three foot high with a whitish Bark and branching into many stalks which are tough and pliant the leaves are long and smooth of a shining dark green colour like bay-leaves but lesser softer and smoother at the joynts with the leaves toward the tops come forth the flowers set many together long and hollow of a whitish yellow green colour after which comes round and somewhat long black berries when they are ripe wherein lieth a black Kernel the root runs deep into the ground and spreadeth with tough white strings somewhat woody the whole plant is very hot in taste It continues green all the year Names In Latine it is called Laureola in English Spurge Laurel Place and Time There grows abundance of it in Cobham Park in Kent some set it in Gardens the berries be ripe about June Nature and Vertues It is of a very hot and biting temperature a churlish Martial plant fourteen or fifteen of the berries or five or six of the leaves taken purge slimy Phlegm and waterish humours and is good for the Dropsie but it purges very violently and therefore must carefully be used it provokes vomiting procures womens Courses and easeth pains of the Chollick It may be thus prepared steep the leaves four and twenty hours in good Vinegar then dry them and drink their powder in wine with Anniseeds and Mastick or else in sweet Whey or Capon Broth. The dose is ℈ ii or ʒi A Glister may be made of the flowers for the Dropsie in this manner ℞ the flowers of Laurel ʒii roots of Polipody and Agarick ana ʒi ss Dodder ʒiii boil them in Wine or Water to the consumption of a third part then take of the decoction lb. i. of Benedicta laxativa ʒss honey of Roses ℥ i. oyls of Rue Camomile and Flower de Luce ana ℥ i. sal gem ʒi ss mix them for a Glister Leeks and Cives Porrum I Shall not need to describe either of them the Latine name of a Leek is Porrum they grow plentifully in our Gardens the Cives abide the coldest Winter Nature and Vertues Leeks are hot and dry in the third degree of subtle parts one of Mars his plants which infuseth much valour into the Welshmen they are very unwholesome being eaten raw but the boiling abates their evil qualities whereby used in pottage they are good for phlegmatick Bodies and help the Chollick and Stone the distilled water drunk morning and evening a good draught or two opens a costive Belly helps pain of the Hips purges the Kidneys and Bladder provokes Vrine and helps to break the Stone The seeds are good to kill worms in Children they are also held good to expell rotten Phlegm from the Chest and Lungs The juyce drunk with honey is good against the bitings of venomous Beasts and the herb stamped and laid thereon being boiled and eaten often they make women fruitful and increase lust in men Lettice Lactuca IT is a common Sallet manured in our Gardens there is also a wilde kinde called Lambs Lettice or Corn Sallet Names Lactuca is the Latine name thereof the place I have told you already it is sown usually in the Spring and may be had all the year if it be sowne at several seasons Nature and Vertues Lettice is cold and moist almost in the third degree a Lunar herb it tempereth driness and heat in the body and increases milk in Nurses who have hot dry bodies it is good for a hot Stomach and yields good nourishment to the body it causeth sleep and rest it loosens the belly either raw or boiled it helps digestion quenches thirst and easeth pains of the Stomach and Liver that come of Choller it abates lust and cools the Vrine which likewise doth the seeds and distilled water the juyce of Lettice with Oyl of Roses applyed to the forehead and Temples easeth the Head-ache and procures rest and applyed with Camphire to the Cods it abates the heat of Lust The Lambs Lettice is a pleasant Sallet to be eaten with Oyl and Vinegar Liquorice Liqueritia THe root is very well known and it is needless to describe the branches Liqueritia and Glycyrrhyza are the Latine names thereof Place and Time It is planted in our Gardens which yield the best Liquorice that is it will flower in July and yield a seed in September if it be suffered to grow many years without removing Nature and Vertues It is temperate in heat and moisture an excellent pectoral Plant Mercury rules it the root is a great opener of the Pipes of the Lungs it ripens a Cough and brings forth Phlegm it is good
against the heat of the Mouth and Stomach and quenches thirst being boiled in water with some Maidenhair and Figs it helps a dry Cough wheesing and shortness of Breath Hoarseness digests and expectorates Phlegm and is good for all griefs of the Chest and Lungs Ptisick and Consumptions it helps pain of the Reins Strangury and heat of Vrine The juyce of Liquorice dissolved in Rose-water with some Gum Trajacanth is a fine Lohoch for Hoarseness Wheesing roughness in the Mouth and Throat it expectorates tough Phlegm and condensates thin Rheumes which fall on the Lungs Lemon-Tree Malus Limonia LEmons seldom come to maturity in our cold Countrey therefore I shall not describe the Tree but proceed to the vertues of the fruit which is well known to us Nature and Vertues The rinde of Lemmons is hot in the first degree and dry in the second and the juyce cold in the second degree and dry in the first the Sun hath dominion over it the juyce of Lemons drunk two or three times a week in white or Rhenish Wine with some Sugar strengthens the heart stomach and head resists poison expells melancholly makes a sweet Breath and cleanses the Reins and bladder and helps to expel the Stone out of the Kidneys it kills and drives forth worms out of the belly An Angel of gold or the weight thereof in leaf Gold steeped four and twenty hours in four ounces of the juyce of Lemons and some of that juyce given in a Cup of Wine with some powder of Angelica root is very good to be given to such as are infected with the Plague The juyce is good in Fevers to quench thirst and so is the posset made of it A water distilled in a glass from the pulp of Lemons provokes Vrine being drunk and helps to break the Stone it likewise cleanses the skin kills lice in the Head helps running Scabs and Wheals in the Skin The seeds preserve the Heart and vital Spirits from poison and resists infection of contagious diseases ☞ See further in Adam in Eden written by Will. Coles Lilly Convally Lilium Convallium IT hath leaves somewhat like unto white Lillies Description or rather those of the smallest water Plantain it hath a slender small stalk at the top of which grow little small white flowers like little Bells with turned edges of a pleasant smell after which come small red berries much like the berries of Asparagus wherein the seed is contained the root is small creeping far abroad in the ground Names Lillium Convallium is the Latine name in English Lilly of the Valley Conval Lilly May Lilly Wood Lillies and Lilly Confancy Place and Time It groweth upon Hamsted Heath in Cobham Park in Kent and many other places of this Land it flowers in May and the fruit is ripe in September Nature and Vertues It is temperately hot and dry an herb of Mercury it cures the Apoplexy and the flowers distilled with Wine and a spoonful thereof given at a time restoreth lost speech to them that have the dumb Palsie it strengthens the Brain helps a weak Memory comforts the vital Spirits and is good against the Gout the distilled water helps Inflammations of the Eyes The flowers steeped in new Wine and drunk helps trembling of the Heart and other Members and stops the spreading of the Leprosie The flowers steeped in new Wine a moneth and then the Wine distilled five times over in a Limbeck is a precious water for the Apoplexy being taken with a little Lavender water and six grains of Pepper it eases the Chollick comforts the brain and is good against the Falling Sickness it likewise helps the Strangury pricking about the Heart and Inflammations of the Liver and stayes the overmuch flowing of the Terms ☞ See further in Adam in Eden by W. Coles Water-Lilly Nymphaea IT hath large round leaves Description thick and fat of a dark green colour which stand upon long round spongy foot stalks and alwayes float upon the water there rise also from the root other round stalks each of them bearing a white flower containing divers rowes of narrow white leaves with many yellow thrums in the middle standing about a little head which after the leaves are fallen off becomes like a Poppey head containing in it broad blackish oyley and glittering seed of a bitter taste the root is round long and tuberous with many knobs thereat loose and spongy in substance black without and white within fastned with many strings to the ground under the bottom of the water There is also another kinde which bears yellow flowers Names Both Latines and Greeks call it Nymphaea it is called also in Shops Nenuphar it is called in English Water Rose and Water Lilly Place and Time They grow alwayes in standing Waters and slow running Rivers and very plentifully in Holshot River in Hampshire my native soil all along the River by Danmore Mead They flower in May and June and the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues The leaves and flowers are cold and moist the seed and roots cold and dry an herb of Venus The decoction of the seed cools and bindes restrains lust and nocturnal pollutions but the frequent use thereof extinguishes motions to Venery it is available for the Running of the Râ—ins and the Whites and to cool the heat of Vrine the leaves cool Inflammations and the decoction thereof helps the inward heats of Agues being drunk they also expell the After-birth the syrrup of the Flowers allayes the heat of Choller and distempers of the Head provokes sleep and heap hot distempers of the Heart Liver Reins and Matrix the conserve and distilled water worketh the same effects The distilled water takes away spots Sun-burning and Freckles of the Skin The oyl that is made of the flowers helps the Head-ache causeth sleep prevents Venereous dreams and takes down the standing of the Yard the head and privities being anointed therewith it also cures hot tumours and the Inflammations of Vlcers Liver-wort Lichen LIverwort groweth close upon the ground Description and upon stony places spreading much upon it with sad green leaves cleaving flat upon one another unevenly cut in the edges and crumpled amongst which arise small slender stalks an inch or two high at most bearing small star-like flowers at the top the roots are very fine and small Names It is called in Latine Lichen Jecoraria and of some Hepatica in English Liverwort Place and time Liverwort grows in moist and shadowy places by the heads of Springs and Ponds and sometimes on the stones in the insides of Wells it is green all the year and flowers in June and July Nature and Vertues It is a plant of Jupiter and under the sign Cancer by temperature cold and dry and somewhat binding it is very good to help all distempers of the Liver and is effectually used in diet drinks for that purpose it cools and cleanses it and helps Inflammations of that part and the yellow Jaundies being bruised and boiled
alone in beer and drunk it cools the heat of the Liver and Kidneys and helps the running of the Reins in men and the whites in Women it is good against Hectick Fevers and all other Fevers and Agues coming of Choker and all other heats of the Liver and takes away the cause of Scabs Blains and Blisters being stamped with Hogs Grease and applyed it heals Sores Tetters Ringworms and fretting Vlcers ☞ See further in Adam in Eden written by Will. Coles Loose-strife or Willow-herb Lysimachia THere are many kindes of it Description I shall describe onely the purple spike headed Loose-strife which groweth with many wooddy square stalks full of joynts about three foot high having two leaves at every joynt like Willow leaves but shorter and of a deeper green colour some of them being sometimes brownish the stalks branch forth into many long stems of spiky flowers half a foot long growing in rundles one above another out of small husks somewhat like the heads of Lavender but far bigger every flower consisting of five round pointed leaves of a purplish violet colour somewhat inclining to redness in the husks lies the seed after the flowers are fallen the root creeps under ground almost like Couch-grass but is greater Names The Latines call it Lysimachia in English Loose-strife and Willow-herb Place and Time It groweth by Rivers and Ditches sides and in wet grounds almost in every Countrey of this Land the yellow Willow herb is more rare They flower about June and July Nature and Vertues They are all hot dry and binding yet Culpepper saith they are cold and ascribes them to the Moon the distilled water of both the purple and the yellow is excellent good for green Wounds being thus applyed to every ounce of water adde two drams of May Butter unsalted as much Sugar and wax boil them gently to an Oyntment then dip tents in the Liquor that remains after it is cold and put them into the Wound covering it over with a linnen cloth doubled and anointed with the Oyntment it also cleanseth foul Vlcers The distilled water very much preserves the sight helps hurts and blowes in the Eyes and cleareth them of dust it is good to gargle the Mouth and Throat therewith against the Quinzy and Kings Evil it is also good to take away Warts and Scars of the Skin it quencheth thirst is good to stay Fluxes of the Belly the overflowing of Womens Courses and to bathe Sores and Vlcers of the privy parts Lovage Levisticum LOvage hath many long great stalks of large winged leaves Description divided like smallage but larger of a dark green colour smooth and shining every leaf cut about the edges and broader forward then toward the stalk the stalks are green and hollow towards the tops of them come forth other smaller branches bearing at their tops large Umbels of yellow flowers which turn into flat brownish seed like Angelica seed the root is large brownish without and white within the whole Plant is of a strong smell and in taste hot sharp and biting Names It is called Levisticum in Latine Places and Time It is an inhabitant of the Garden flowers in July and seeds in August Nature and Vertues Lovage is a Solar herb hot and dry in the third degree and of thin parts the dryed root in powder drunk in Wine is good for a cold Stomach consuming superfluouus moisture in the Stomach and Belly and expelling winde and helps digestion it likewise resists poison and infection The decoction of the root in Wine or Barley water cleanseth the Lungs provokes Vrine and Womens Courses and heals inward wounds The decoction of the herb is good for any sort of Ague and to help cold pains of the Bowels The seeds drunk in powder in white Wine fasting or boiled therein purges upwards and downwards and opens the stoppings of the Spleen take with the seeds the like quantity of Anniseeds and Fennil seeds to qualifie them The distilled water is good for the Quinzy and helps the plurisie being drunk three or four times it takes away the redness of the Eyes and helps the dimness of them being dropped therein and takes away spots and Freckles of the face The leaves bruised and fryed with Hogs Lard and applyed to a Botch or Boil will quickly break it Lungwort Pulmonaria IT is a kinde of Moss that grows on many Trees Description especially old Oaks and Beeches in dark shady old Woods and upon the old Oaks in Forrests grows abundance of it it hath broad grayish rough leaves diversly folded crumpled and gashed on the edges and sometimes spotted on the upper side it bears no stalk nor flower Names Pulmonaria Physicians call it in Latine and of some Lichen Arborum or wood Liverword and tree Lungwort Nature and Vertues It is of a cold and dry quality but I suppose that Jupiter rules it it is very effectual for all diseases of the Lungs for all obstructions Vlcers and inward inflammations of the same and also for Coughs Wheesing spitting and pissing of Blood it is good for Vlcers in the privy parts to stay Fluxes Looseness and Vomiting the bloody Flux and other Scowrings especially if they proceed of Choller Lupines Lupinus THey grow onely in Gardens here where they are planted Description therefore I shall not further describe them Lupinus is the Latine name and Lupines in English and of some they are called Fig beans being flat like a Fig that is pressed they flower in June and July and the beans are ripe quickly after Nature and Vertues Lupines are very bitter in taste by reason of their bitterness they open dissolve digest and cleanse I suppose they are under the dominion of Mars the decoction thereof is good for the Spleen being taken with Rue and Pepper it will be the pleasanter but if they be steeped two or three dayes in water they lose their bitterness The said decoction is good to kill worms and so is the meal taken with Honey or water and Vinegar or mixed with an Oxe gall and applyed to the Navel they also cleanse the Stomach help digestion and provoke appetite being first steeped in water and then dryed and powdered and taken with Vinegar The decoction also provokes Vrine and womens Courses and being taken with Myrrhe it expells a dead Childe it is also good to cleanse Scabs Vlcers Morphew and Tetters and cleanseth the Face and Skin from spots and other marks The meal boiled in Vinegar discusseth hard Swellings breaks Carbuncles and Imposthumes ☞ See more of this in The Expert Doctors Dispensatory by P. Morellus Ladies Smock Cuckow Flowers or wilde Water Cresses Cardamine THose kindes of these flowers which grow naturally with us in England are a kinde of Water-cresses for which cause they are called Nasturtium aquaticum minus and also Flos cuculi because they flower in April about the time the Cuckow uses to sing without hoarseness but for the Vertues if they have any they are of the nature of Water Cresses to
which I refer you White Lillies Lilium THe English white Lilly groweth in most Gardens of England and will increase much by the root where it is planted it is so vulgarly known as needs no further description They flower from May to the end of June Names The white Lilly is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Lilium and Rosa Junonis or Juno's Rose it being reported that it sprung up of her milk which she spilt upon the ground after Hercules had sucked her in her sleep Nature and Vertues The white Lilly is hot partaking of a subtil substance the root dry in the first degree and hot in the second the leaves boiled in red Wine and applyed to old Wounds or Vlcers doth them much good in expediting the cure as saith Gallen The distilled water being drunk causeth easie deliverance and expelleth the After-birth saith Alexandrinus The flowers steeped in oyl Olive and set in the Sun in Summer in a glass and repeated two or three times is good to harden the softness of the Sinews and help the hardness the Matrix The root stamped and strained with Wine-and drunk two or three dayes together expelleth the Pestilence causing it to break out and the juyce thereof tempered with barley Meal and baked in Cakes and eaten ordinarily for a moneth or six weeks together forbearing all other bread in the mean time helps to the cure of the Dropsie the same root roasted in the Embers and stamped with some leaven of Rye Bread and Hogs grease breaketh Plagues Sores and Pestilential Botches and ripens Venerial Imposthumes and Buboes in the Flank or elsewhere The same root stamped with Honey and applyed gleweth together Sinews that be cut it consumeth and cleanseth away the Vlcers of the head called Achores and all scurviness of the Beard and Face and being stamped with Vinegar Henbane Leaves or Barley Meal it cures Humours and Imposthumes of the privy parts Laserwort and its Assa Faetida Laserpitium THis is an Outlandish Plant growing in Syria America and Libia There issueth a Gum or liquor out of the same called Laser but that which is gathered from those Plants in Media and Syria is that stinking Gum called in our Shops Assa Faetida which is good to be applyed unto the Navels of such Women as are troubled with the rising of the Mother and for them to smell unto for that purpose the reason whereof you may read in my Womens Counsellour The root of Laserpitium is hot and dry in the third degree and so is Laser The root well pounded with Oyl scattereth clotted Blood cureth the Kings Evil and takes away black and blue marks that come by stripes or bruises the places being anointed or plaistered therewith The same root chewed in the Mouth asswageth the Tooth-ache A plaister made thereof with the oyl of Ireos and Wax is good to help the Sciatica The Laser or Gum of Laserpitium dissolved in Water and drunken taketh away a sudden Hoarseness being supt up with a rear Egge it cures the Cough and taken in broth is good against an old Plurisie being taken with dryed Figs it cureth the Jaundies and Dropsie A scruple thereof taken with a little Pepper and Myrrhe is good against the shrinking of Sinews and taken with syrrup of Vinegar it is good against the Falling Sickness The same drunk in Wine with Pepper and Frankincense is good against the shaking's of Agues being applyed with Copperas and Verdigrease it takes away superfluous out-growings of the Flesh Polypus in the Nose and nianginess and applyed with vinegar pepper and wine it cures the Scurf of the Head and hinders the falling off the Hair Lignum Aloes Vide Xylo-Aloe White Maiden-hair or Wall Rue Ruta Muraria IT brings forth many small round slender leaves Description cut into two or three parts very hard in handling on the outside smooth and green and of an ill-favoured dead colour underneath set with little fine spots the root is black and full of strings Names It s called in Latine Ruta muraria and Salvia vitae in English Wall Rue Stone Rue or white Maiden-hair Place and Time It grows upon old Walls near unto Waters and Wells is green as well Winter as Summer and beareth neither flower nor seed Nature and Vertues Wall Rue is much like the other Maiden-hair both in temperature and vertue it is commended against Ruptures in young Children and affirmed to be good if the powder be taken continually for forty dayes together it is likewise good for the Cough shortness of breath pains and stitches in the sides the decoction of it being drunk digesteth raw humours which stick in the Lungs takes away the pain of the Kidneys and bladder gently provokes Vrine and expelleth the Stone ☞ See further of this in Culpeppers School of Physick Sweet Maudlin Vide Alecoast Dogs Mercury Cynocrambe IT is like the Garden Mercury Description but that the leaves hereof are greater the stalk not so tender but very brittle growing about half a yard high having no branches at all the flowers are small and yellow Names Dogs Mercury is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Cynocrambe Canina Mercurialis Sylvestris in English Dogs Cole and Dogs Mercury Place and Time It grows about Green Hithe and Gravesend in Kent and about Hamsted near London and in many Woods Copses and Borders of Fields flourishes all the Summer Nature and Vertues Dogs Mercury comes near the other Mercury in Nature and quality though seldom used it is also reported to cure the biting of mad Dogs from whence it is thought to obtain the name of Dogs Mercury Naile-wort Vide Whitlow-grass Madder Rubia Tinctorum THere be six kindes Description whereof I shall describe the Garden Madder which shoots forth many stalks standing upright at first and so continue if they be kept cut but if they grow without cutting they become weak and trailing upon the ground unless they grow by some hedge and then they climb thereon being four square rough and full of joynts at every of which come forth long and somewhat narrow leaves standing about the stalks like the rowel of a Spur at the tops whereof come forth many small pale yellow flowers after which come small round heads green at the first and reddish afterward but black when they are ripe wherein is contained the seed the root is long growing deep and creeping far about the ground fat full of substance and of a very clear red colour Names In Latine it is called Rubia Tinctorum in English Madder Place and Time It is manured in Gardens and flowers in June and July and the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues Madder roots are hot in the second degree and dry in the â—â—rd an Herb of Mars it hath an opening quality and also a binding The decoction in Wine provokes Vrine Womens Courses and also brings away the Birth and After-birth it cures the Jaundies purges melancholly and opens the Spleen and Gall
it is good for inward bruises and to dissolve congealed Blood wherefore it is much used in Wound drinks and is good for the Dropsie Palsie Sciatica and Hip-Gout the seeds taken with Vinegar and Honey helps hardness and swelling of the Spleen The decoction with Allome and Honey helps Vlcers of the Mouth The juyce or decoction helps venomous bitings and preserves the body from putrefaction The fresh roots bruised and applyed helps discolouring of the Skin as the Morphew and Freckles The juyce of the root eases pains of the Ears being dropped therein it is said also to stay the Reds in Women and the Bloody Flux Give it not to women with Childe nor often to hot and dry bodies and then the dose is about ℈ ii in powder and half an ounce in decoction Maidenhair Capillus Veneris THere is several kindes hereof reckoned up amongst Herbarists here we shall mention onely three English Maidenhair Wall Rue or white Maidenhair and golden Maidenhair Description Common Maidenhair doth from many hard black fibres shoot forth many blackish shining brittle stalks scarce a span long at the most set on each side with small round dark green leaves spotted on the back of them Names Capillus Veneris is the usual Latine name the Wall Rue is called Ruta muraria and the Golden Maiden-hair Adiantum Aureum Place and Time Maiden hair groweth much upon old Stone Walls by Springs and in rocky shadowy places it is green all the Winter but never yields any flower Nature and Vertues It is in a mean between heat and coldness it doth dry make thin and waste away as Gallen saith All the kindes are under Mercury and alike in Temperature and faculty A Lye made of Maidenhair is good in cleanse the head from Scurf and keep the hair from falling it is good against all diseases of the Breast and Lungs Liver and Reins the decoction of the herb being drunk it helps the Cough and shortness of Breath yellow Jaundies diseases of the Spleen provokes Vrine and the Courses and yet being dry it stayes Bleeding and Fluxes of the Stomach and Belly but being green it looseneth and drives Choller and Phlegm from the Stomach and Liver and cleanseth the Lungs and the Blood they are said to be good against venomous bitings the Kings Evil and other hard swellings and the powder drunk constantly forty dayes together is good for Ruptures in Children ☞ See more of this in Adam in Eden written by Will. Coles Mallows Malva MAllows and Hollihocks too which are a kinde of them are so commonly known they need no description Names Mallows are called in Latine Malva which name most think it obtained because it softens the Belly and hard tomours Place and Time They grow plentifully in every County they slower about June and July Nature and Vertues To Venus they are all ascribed The common mallows are moderately hot and moist they are to be preferred before the Hollyhock Mallows are generally held to make the Belly solluble they increase milk in Nurses being used in pottage or boiled and buttered as other Sallets being applyed pluâ—â—s-wayes they asswage hardness of the Breasts and other Tumours Inflammations Imposthumes and Swellings of the Cods and hardness of the Liver and Spleen a Pultis being made with some Bean or Barley Flower and oyl of Roses added to them The decoction of the leaves and roots with Parsley and Fennel Roots in Wine Water or Broth do open the Body and are good in hot Agues and Chollerick Distempers The decoction of the same and of the seeds in milk or Wine help exceriations of the Bowels Ptisick Plurisie and other diseases of the Chest and Lungs coming of hot causes it likewise procures speedy delivery to women the leaves bruised with a little honey and applyed to the Eyes helps impostumations of them The head washed with the decoction takes away Scurf Dandriff helps dry Scabs and the falling off the hair it is also good against Scaldings Burnings hot and painful swellings in any part of the Body The decoction of the flowers in Water having a little honey added to it is good to gargle a sore mouth Pliny saith that whosoever shall take a spoonful of the juyce of any of the Mallows in a morning shall that day be free from all diseases and it is especial good for the falling Sickness The Syrrup and Conserve of the flowers in effectual for the same diseases Marsh-Mallows Althaea MArsh-Mallows riseth three or four foot high with divers soft hairy white stalks Description spreading forth many branches the leaves are soft hoary or wooly lesser then Mallow leaves but longer pointed cut for the most part into some few divisions not very deep the flowers are much like the common Mallows but not so big nor so red but commonly white or tending to a blush colour after which come cases and seed like the other The roots are many and long shooting from one head of the bigness of ones finger very plyant rough and bending like Liquorice whitish on the outside but whiter within Names The Latines from the Greeks have gotten in the name of Althaea it is also called Bismalva being twice as good in effects as any other in English Marsh-Mallow from the places where it grows Place and Time It groweth in Marshes and Moors as in the salt Marshes from Woolwich to the Sea both on the Essex and Kentish Shores they flourish in July and August continuing flowring till the Frost kills the stalks springing fresh every spring at which time the roots are fittest to be gathered for physical uses Nature and Vertues Marsh Mallows are moderately hot but dry in the first and second degree of a softning quality the roots and seeds are more dry and of thinner parts it is likewise an herb of Venus They abound with a slimy viscous juyce whereby they are excellent good against excoriations of the Guts Reins Bladder and Yard it openeth the stait Passages and makes them slippery easing thereby the pains of the Stone it also helps diseases of the Breast and Lungs as Coughs Hoarseness and Plurisie it is good for those that are troubled with Ruptures Convulsions or Cramps the decoction or syrrup being drunk is good for all the said diseases The dryed Roots boiled in milk and drunk are good for the Chin Cough The decoction of the roots in Wine are good for inward Bruises Pains and Aches in the Muscles The leaves and roots are of excellent use in decoctions for Glisters to ease gripings in the Belly and pains in the Reins and Bladder being boiled in wine and applyed they help swellings in Womens Breasts in the Throat and other Inflammations The muscilage of the Roots and of Linseed and Fenugreek together is good in Pultisses and Oyntments to mollifie hard Tumours and digest inflammations The root boiled in Vinegar and holden in the Mouth easieth the Tooth-ache The leaves applyed with oyl helps Burnings Scaldings and bitings of Men or Dogs all sorts of Currs and
Maudlin Vide Alecoast or Costmary Mechoacan and Jalap Mechoacana THis plant groweth in the West Indies there are two kindes white and black they are both not in the first degree and dry in the second of an airy substance and also an earthly quality Mechoacan is effectual for the Dropsie purging water and phlegm and strengthens the Liver it purgeth the Brain and Nerves and is good for a long continued Head-ache it helpeth pains in the Joynts and also in the Bladder and Reins by provoking Vrine it expells Winde easeth the Chollick and pains of the Mother it is said to have all the Vertues that are either in Agarick or Rhabarb and therefore is commended in the French Pox Kings Evil Scurvy and Gout and in inveterate Agues and also in the Falling Sickness Catharre old Cough shortness of Breath Jaundies and stoppings of the Liver and Spleen it may be given to Children a scruple or a scruple and a half of the powder in white Wine to strong bodies a dram or two Jalap purgeth Phlegm Choller and Melancholly and watry humors The dose thereof may be a dram in white Wine with a little Anniseeds and Ginger to correct it otherwise it troubles the Stomach making it subject to Vomit Meadsweet Vide Queen of the Meadows The Medlar Tree Mespilus THis Tree is generally well known being a companion in Orchards and Gardens amongst other fruit Trees it is called Mespilus and the fruit Mespilum in Latine the Tree in English is called the Medlar or Open-arse Tree and the fruit Mediars and Open-arses They flower in May and the fruit is ripe about Michaelmas and then when they are gathered they must lye till they are rotten before they be fit to eat Nature and Vertues Both leaves and fruit of the Medlar Tree are cold dry and astringent a plant of Saturn The decoction of Medlars is good to gargle the Mouth and Throat it stayes defluxions of humors which might cause pains and swellings there it is also good to drink and to bathe the Stomach warm that is subject to loathing or vomiting for it fortifies digestion and strengthens the retentive faculty A pultis or a plaister may be made for the same purpose with dryed Medlars mixed and beaten together with the juyce of red Roses a few Cloves Nutmegs and a little red Corral The said decoction is a good bath for women to sit in whose courses flow overmuch and to stay the bleeding of the Piles The powder of the leaves is good to stay the bleeding of fresh Wounds The stones bruised to powder and drunk in liquor wherein some Parsley roots have been steeped all night or a little boiled doth expel stones and gravel from the Kidneys The fruit is good to stay womens longings and is good for those that are apt to miscarry Melilot Corona Regia COmmon Melilot springeth up with many green stalks about half a yard high Description or more from a tough long white root which dyeth not every year set round about at the Joynts with small and somewhat long strong and well smelling leaves standing three together dented about the edges unevenly the flowers are yellow and well scented standing in long spikes one above another a hand breadth long or better after the flowers come long crooked Cods wherein are contained brownish flat seeds Names The Latines call it Corona Regia because the flowers crown the tops of the stalks but it is generally called Melilota from the Greek and in English Melilot Kings Claver and Harts Claver because Deer delight to feed upon it Place and Time It is found plentifully in many places of this Land in Corn Fields the Corners of Meadows and by Ditches sides Nature and Vertues It is a Plant of Mercury and hath mixt qualities like him binding and yet digesting and the hot faculty abounding more therein then the cold The seed thereof applyed with Linseed Fenugreek and Camomile flowers asswages Tumors and hard swellings provokes the Courses opens obstructions of the Veins and strengthens the parts The compound Plaister of Melilot is effectual to dissolve Tumors windiness and swellings of the Spleen Liver and Belly it eases the Hypocondria or any other pain and is good for the Rickets The other Plaister of Melilot is good to draw such sores and wounds as need cleansing The juyce dropped into the ears easeth pains of them and being dropped into the eyes it clears them of pearls and spots and takes away the Web and clears the sight being steeped in Rose water and vinegar and applyed it easeth the Head-ache it mollifieth all Tumors and Inflammations either in the privy parts or other places of the body being boiled in wine and applyed and sometimes the yolk of a roasted Egge or the powder of Linseed Fenugreek Poppy seed Endive or fine flower is added to it The flowers of Melilot and Camomile are much used in Glisters to ease pains and expel winde and likewise in pultisses to asswage Swellings and Tumors being boiled in water it helps Wens and running Vlcers of the Head being applyed with Chalk Wine and Galls it is effectual for those who have suddenly lost their senses by any fit and to strengthen the Memory and comfort the Head and Brain to preserve them from pains and the Apoplexy the head being often washed with the distilled water of the Herb and Flowers or with a Lye made thereof French and Dogs Mercury Mercurialis BOth these kindes of Mercury have a male and a female Description The French Mercury riseth up with square green stalks full of Joynts about two foot high with two leaves at every joynt and branches on both sides the stalks with fresh green leaves somewhat broad and long finely dented about the edges In the male at the Joynts towards the tops of the stalks and branches come forth two small round green heads standing together upon a short foot stalk which growing ripe are the seeds without yielding any flower The stalk of the female is longer and of a spike fashion set round about with small green husks which are the flowers made like small branches of Grapes which yield no seed but continue long upon the stalks the root consists of many fibres which dyeth every Winter and springs again of its own sowing The Dogs Mercury hath many stalks smaller and lower then the other and without branches the male hath two leaves at every joynt somewhat greater then the female more pointed and harder at the joynts with the leaves come forth longer stalks then the former with two round hairy seeds on them twice as big as those of the other Mercury from the joynts of the female come forth spikes of flowers like the female French Mercury The root is fibrous yet abideth the Winter the stalks dying down to the ground and springing every year Names It is known in Latine by the name of Mercurialis and the dogs Mercury Mercurialis Canina and Cynocrambe Place and Time The French Mercury grows in Kent and divers other places
drink it it will not curdle in the Stomach and some say a Cheese will not come if it be put into the milk or Runnet The distilled water is available for all the aforesaid purposes though more weakly but the Chymical Spirit drawn from the herb is most effectual Chollerick persons must abstain from Mint for much of it taken makes the Blood thin and turns it into choller The horse Mints are good to expell winde in the Stomach to help the Chollick and short windedness and is good to help nocturnal pollutions being applyed to the Cods Myrtles Myrtilli THis Outlandish plant cannot endure the Winter with us unless it be kept in pots within doors The Tree is called in Latine Myrtus and the berries Myrtilli Nature and Vertues The myrtle hath contrary qualities cold and earthy warm and thin powerfully binding and drying The dry leaves beaten and boiled in water and drunk is good against Cathars the Whites Vlcers and creeping Sores The berries and seed is good against passions of the Heart stingings of Serpents and venomous Creatures and the poison of Toadstools being drunk in Wine it helps a stinking Breath diseases of the Bladder and provokes Vrine The decoction is good for the falling down of the Fundament and the Piles being mixed with oyl of Roses and applyed it helps swelling of the Cods Imposthumes of the Fundament and St. Anthonies fire The decoction of the berries makes the Hair black and keeps it from falling cures sores of the Head and helps those that are Bursten The syrrup of Myrtles is good against the Cough and Vlcers of the Lungs And although I have not told you where this Tree grows because I doubt you will not go so far to fetch it you may have it near home at the Druggists and Apothecaries Myrobalanes MYrobalanes are an East Indian Fruit and are called in English by Mr. Parkinson purging Plums My Authour reckons up five kindes of them viz. Cytrina Chebula Bellerica Emblica Indica Nature and Vertues They are all cold in the first degree and dry in the second and do purge and also strengthen the Stomach The Citrine Myrobalanes purge Choller strengthen the Stomach Heart and Liver help such as have the Hemorrhoides and Piles they are good in Tertian Agues cause a good colour and hinder old Age the Chebule purge Phlegm quicken the brain and sight and strengthen the Stomach They are good in the Dropsie and for long continued Agues The Embellick and Bellerick purge Phlegm from the Stomach strengthens the Brain Joynts Heart and Liver helps passions of the Heart provokes Appetite allayes Thirst stayes Vomiting qualifies inward heat and allayes Choller and gives ease to those that have the Piles The Indies or Black Myrabolanes purge Melancholly and adust Choller and cause a good colour and are good against Quartain Agues the Leprosie and all Paralytical Diseases The Citrine are also often used in Cholleries with the juyce of Fennel or Rose water against Inflammations and flowing of humours to the Eyes and likewise in powder with Mastick or Rose water to dry and heal Vlcers Misleto Viscum I Think Misleto is so well known that its needless to describe it The Latines call it Viscus and Viscum and so is the Birdlime called that is made of the Berries The Misleto of the Oak is called Viscus Quercini and so of the rest Places and Time Misleto groweth plentifully upon Fruit Trees as Apples Pear Trees and Crab Trees in divers Counties of the Land sometimes on Ashes and Oaks but that of the Oak is most rare in England It flowers in the Spring and the Berries are ripe in October abiding on the branches all the Winter unless the Birds devour them Nature and Vertues Misleto is hot and dry in the third degree the leaves and berries do heat and dry and are of subtle parts and questionless participates of the nature of that Tree it grows upon as that which grows upon the Oak partakes of the nature of the Oak and therefore is ascribed to Jupiter and is the most effectual It is held to be very effectual for the curing of the Falling Sickness and is by some prescribed to be taken in Pills thus prepared ℞ Visci Quercini seeds and roots of Piony ana ʒi § Nutmeg Anniseeds ana ʒi § Sacchari Buglossati ʒvii make Pills thereof Mathiolus saith that the Misleto of the Chesnut Tree made into powder and given in drink cures the Falling Sickness Some attribute so great vertue unto it as they have called it Lignum sanctae Crucis and believe it to help the Falling Sickness Palsie and Apoplexy being onely hung about their Necks Tragus saith that the juyce of fresh Misleto dropped into the Ears of them that have Imposthumes in them easeth them and helps them in few dayes The Birdlime which is made of the Berries ripens and discusses Tumors and Imposthumes and mollifies hard knots and draweth forth both thick and thin Humors from the remote places of the Body digesting and separating them and being mixed with equal parts of Wax and Rozen it mollifieth the hardness of the Spleen being applyed thereunto Gerrard saith being taken inwardly it is mortal I never did prove any of it but onely the Birdlime upon Birds and I am sure that hath proved mortal to them Money-wort or Herb two pence Nummularia MOney-wort shooteth forth many long Description weak slender branches lying and running upon the ground with two leaves at each joynt equally opposite one to another almost as round as a Penny but that they are pointed a little at the ends smooth and of a yellowish green colour at the joynts with the leaves from the middle forward come forth sometimes one sometimes times two yellow flowers standing each upon a small foot stalk consisting of five narrow leaves pointed at the ends with some yellow threds in the middle after which come small round heads of seed the root is small and threddy Names It is called in Latine Nummularia and Serpentaria in English Two Penny Grass Herb Two-Pence and Money-wort Place and Time It grows by Ditches sides low Meadows and watry places flowers about June and July and the seed is ripe soon after Nature and Vertues Money-wort is an herb of Venus and cold drying and astringent The flowers and leaves are good to heal green Wounds speedily and for old spreading Vlclers especially if it be bruised and boiled in Sallet Oyl with some Rozen Wax and Turpentine added to it or Tents dipped in the juyce and put into the Wounds The juyce taken in Wine or the decoction thereof stayes the overflowing of Womens Courses and the Whites and also Lasks bloody Fluxes inward and outward Bleedings helps weakness of the Stomach that is subject to Vomiting being boiled in Wine and Honey and taken it cures inward Wounds and Vlcers of the Lungs and is a remedy against the Chin-Cough in Children Moonwort Lunaria IT riseth up with one dark Description green thick fat
leaf standing upon a small foot stalk about an inch high unless when it is in flower and then it hath a small slender stalk about three inches high the upper part whereof groweth out of the bosom as it were of the said leaf which is divided on each side into five sometimes seven or more parts on a side each whereof is small next the middle rib but broad forwards and round pointed much resembling an half Moon The stalk riseth above this leaf about two inches bearing many branches of small long tongues much like the spiky head of Adders Tongue of a brownish colour which afterwards resolve into a mealy dust so that you may call them flowers or seed which you please the root is small and threddy Names It is called in Latine Lunaria in English by some Unshooe the Horse but rightly Moon-wort Place and Time It delights to grow upon Hills and Heaths amongst grass and dry mossy places and in divers places of Kent as near Maidstone It may be found about April and May the heat of June banisheth it away Nature and Vertues Many idle Fables have been told of this Herb by lying Cachochymists such as Culpeppers Commanders were that he prates on for I believe they never saw the Herb in their lives and I am confident though it be the Moons herb yet it is neither Smith Farrier nor Picklock but is of Temperature cold and dry somewhat more then Adders Tongue and is a good Wound Herb either for inward or outward Wounds Blowes or Bruises it likewise helps to consolidate Fractures and is good for Ruptures and Cancers of the Breast It may excellently be used with other wound herbs to make Oyls and Balsoms for fresh and green Wounds and being boiled in red wine and drunk it is excellent to stay the overflowing of womens Courses and the Whites Bleeding Vomiting and other Fluxes The learned Grollius saith that it is good for the Cancers in Womens Breasts its Signature speaking so much Moss Muscus THere is Moss of Trees Description and Names and Ground Moss but neither of them want a description The Apothecaries call itVsnea it is likewise called in Latine Muscus Places and Time I have told you before where they grow Nature and Vertues The ground Moss is cold dry and astringent that of the Trees is cool and binding yet it partakes somewhat of the nature of the Tree whereon it grows yet all Saturns pot-herbs as saith Culpepper The ground Moss is held good to break the Stone being boiled in Wine and the decoction drunk it is likewise good being boiled in water to allay Inflammations and hot pains The Oak Moss is good to stay Fluxes and Lasks in man or woman Vomitings Bleedings spitting and pissing of Blood and the Terms the powder thereof being boiled in Wine and drunk The same being drunk stayes the Hiccough as saith Avicen And it procures deep sleep saith Serapio and some say the powder thereof for some time together taken in drink is good against the Dropsie Fresh Moss steeped a while in Oyl of Roses and then boiled therein and applyed to the Temples and Forehead helps the Head-ache that cometh of a hot cause and distillations of hot Rheumes to the Eyes or other parts It was anciently used in Oyntments against Weariness and to strengthen the Sinews There is a Moss that grows upon dead Mens Sculls which is a principal ingredient in the Weapon Salve but the receipt is it should be taken from the Skull of one who dyed a violent death I lately saw one which was brought out of Ireland all grown over with Moss Cup Moss if it be powdered and given in sweet Wine for certain dayes together is a remedy against the Falling Sickness and the Chin cough in Children Motherwort Cardiaca THis herb riseth up with hard Description square rough strong stalks of a brownish colour shooting two or three foot high and sometimes more spreading into many branches whereon grow the leaves on each side with long foot stalks two at every joynt broad and long rough and crumpled with great veins of a dark green colour deeply jagged about the edges almost torn or divided the flowers grow in sharp pointed rough husks from the middle of the branches to the top round about them at distances somewhat like Balme or Horehound but of a more red or purple colour after which comes plenty of small round blackish seed which shedding fills the place about it with their young growth The root is fibrous the plant of a rank smell and bitter taste Names It is called Cardiaca in the Latine though Matricaria which is used for Fetherfew might be more proper for it for it is effectual to help the Mother as well as the Heart and therefore with good reason is called in English Motherwort Place and Time It groweth rarely with us but onely in Gardens yet delighteth to grow by Walls sides and amongst rubbish it flowers and seeds from the Spring till Winter and then perisheth but the root abideth all the Year Nature and Vertues Motherwort is of temperature hot and dry in the second degree of a cleansing and astringent faculty and is by Astrologers reputed to be subject to the influences of Venus and the Sign Leo so that it is excellent for the fits of the Mother and diseases of the Womb and also for the trembling of the Heart the Cramp Convulsion and Palse it helps the hard labour of Women a spoonful thereof in powder being taken in Wine For the fits of the Mother let little Bags of Motherwort Camomile Wormwood Penntroyal and Lovage be applyed warm to the bottom of the Belly of the Patient The said powder used as aforesaid provokes Vrine and Womens Courses it may also be made into a Syrrup and Conserve and being so used it chears the Heart expelling Melancholly from thence Expectorates Phlegm opens obstructions of the Entrails and kills Worms in the Belly it is likewise good being bruised and applyed to green Wounds to stop the Blood cleanse and cure them and is a remedy against the Cough Murrain and other Diseases in Cattle ☞ See further in The Art of Simpling written by W. Coles Monsear Pilosella COmmon Mousear creeps upon the ground by strings or wires much like the Strawberry Description the strings taking root as they run and shooteth forth small short leaves set in a round form together hollowish in the middle where they are broadest of a hoary colour all over and very hairy out of which issues a white milk being broken from amongst these leaves spring up divers small hairy stalks about a handful high with a few smaller leaves thereon standing one at a place as the flowers do usually one at the top which consists of many pale yellow leaves much like a Dandelion flower but smaller and a little reddish underneath near the edges turning into Doun which with the seed is blown away by the Winde The root is small and fibrous Names It is called
infusing fresh flowers in the liquor six or seven times still straining it and then boil it to a syrrup with a convenient quantity of Sugar and take two spoonfuls thereof and it will purge waterish humours without trouble to the Stomach or lower parts of the body A conserve made of the said flowers provokes Vomiting and wasteth hydropick humors The liquor that droppeth from the Tree being wounded is given in the decoction of Colts-foot for the Cough and shortness of Breath by adding thereto some sweet Wine and Saffron and it is good for Hoarseness and all diseases of the Lungs and for them that vomit or spit blood two drams thereof taken in the juyce of Lemons or Radish is good for the Stone The Pear Tree Pyrus THere are divers sorts of them but all so well known they need no description Names The Latine name is Pyrus and the wilde Pear Pyraster the Warden Volema Nature and Vertues Culpepper ascribes all Pears and Apples to Venus but he might allow Jupiter some of them they are said to be cold and moist in the first degree having an earthy substance and binding quality but the sweet Pears do move the Belly the harsh and sowre binde as much the Warden is most commendable and may be given to those that are sick being first baked stewed or roasted Pears being boiled and taken with a little Honey helps the pains and oppression of the Stomach Pears outwardly applyed are good for hot Tumors and close and heal new Wounds and so do the leaves for which the wilde Pear is most effectual Perry is a cordial drink reviving the Spirits comforting the Heart and is a healthy drink Pease Pisum THey are very well known and are called in Latine Pisum in English Pease and Peason Nature and Vertues They are of a mean temperature less flatuous then Beans yet pass not so soon through the body they help the generative and procreative faculty very much they increase the seed and bodily lust and also milk in womens breasts The dryed pease sodden in water and a lye made therewith helps spreading sores of the head spots of the face and other discolourings of the skin The broth wherein they have been boiled is good to take purgations in to cleanse the Stomach of cold and moist humors The pottage is good for the Strangury and to take with Sena morning and evening for the Ague and Rhabarb for the Jaundies The powder of them stops bleeding at the Nose The red Ciches have a cleansing faculty they provoke Vrine and break the Stone Pellitory of Spain THis beareth long leaves Description finely cut upon the stalks lying upon the ground larger then the leaves of Camomill at the top it bears one large flower at a place white on the upper side and reddish underneath having a yellow thrum in the middle The root runs down right into the ground There is another kinde which riseth up with divers brittle stalks a yard high and more having narrow long leaves finely dented about the edges standing one above another to the top and hath many white flowers which stand in tufts like those of Yarrow with a small yellowish thrum in the middle which yields a small seed the root is of a sharp biting taste Places and Time The first groweth onely in Gardens the latter by hedges sides and paths in many places it flowers in the latter end of June and July Nature and Vertues It is hot and moist particularly ruled by Mercury so that it is a purger of the Brain the herb or the root chewed in the mouth draweth away phlegmatick humors and easeth pains of the Teeth and hinders distillations of the brain upon the Eyes and Lungs and by that means prevents Coughs Prisicks and Consumptions the Apoplexy and Falling Sickness and is good for the Lethargy The herb made into an Oyntment with Hogs Grease takes away black and blue spots caused by blows or falls It is said an ounce of the juyce taken in a draught of Muscadel an hour before the fit will drive away an Ague at the second or third time taking at furthest Pellitory of the Wall Herba muralis COmmon Pellitory of the Wall hath many brownish red tender stalks Description rising not above a foot high at most upon which grow at the several joynts two leaves of a dark green colour afterwards turning brownish smooth on the edges and rough or hairy like the stalks at the joynts with the leaves from the middle of the stalks upwards come many small pale purplish flowers in hairy heads or husks after which come small black rough seed which will stick to any Garment or cloth the root is somewhat long with many fibres of a dark reddish colour which abideth all Winter though the stalks and leaves perish springing fresh every year Names It is commonly called Parietaria and of some Herba muralis Place and Time It grows upon old stone Walls as upon the Walls of Rochester Castle in Kent and amongst rubbish and such like places flowers in June and July and the seed is ripe soon after Nature and Vertues Pellitory of the Wall is reputed to be cold and moist yet it is thought to be hot because it is effectual against Winde and the Stone it is also ascribed to Mercury The decoction of the herb taken with a little honey is a good Gargle for a sore Throat and being drunk without Honey it easeth pains of the Mother provokes the Terms and helps obstructions of the Liver Spleen and Reins three ounces of the juyce taken at a time helps stopping of Vrine and expells the Stone and Gravel out of the Reins and Kidneys and is good in Glisters to ease pains of the Sides and Back proceeding of Winde The juyce held in the mouth easeth the Tooth-ache The powder of the dryed herb made into an Electuary with Honey or the juyce or decoction taken with Sugar or Honey is good for an old dry Cough shortness of Breath and Wheesing The bruised herb being sprinkled with some Muscadine and warmed upon a Tyle or a Chasing-dish of Coals and applyed to the Belly works the same effect The leaves mixed with Oyl of sweet Almonds is good for the Stone Winde or gripings being laid to the pained parts the juyce dropped into the ears ceaseth the noise and easeth the pains thereof The juyce applyed with a little salt doth cleanse and heal Fistula's the bruised herb bound to a green wound healeth it in two or three dayes A Pultis made hereof with Mallows boiled in wine with wheat-bran bean-flower and some oyl and applyed warm to any bruised Sinew Tendon or Muscle it restores them to their strength in a short space and caseth pains of bruises and dissolves congealed blood of beatings or falls The juyce or the distilled Water is useful for many of the aforesaid purposes and also to cleanse the skin from spots and freckles wheales sun-burn and morphew and doth asswage hot Imposthumes burnings scaldings or
inflammations as St. Anthonies fire being often bathed with wet cloathes dipped therein or the juyce made into an oyntment with Ceruse and Oyl of Roses and anointed therewith which also doth cleanse soul Vlcers and running Scabs in childrens heads and helpeth to stay the falling off of the hair from the head Pennyroyal Pulegium Regale THis is so well known to be a very wholesome herb that it needs no other report but onely of its Vertues Names It is called in Latine Pulegium Regale in English Pudding-grass because it is used in Hogs-puddings Pulial-Royal and of some Organy Place and Time It grows upon Commons and other moist watry places and is also cherished in Gardens and flowers about August or later Nature and Vertues Penniroyal is hot and dry in the third degree as Gallen saith of subtle parts making thin warming and digesting and governed by Venus A decoction of it in beer or wine provokes the Courses and being boiled in wine it will expel a dead Childe and the after-birth It stayeth vomiting and helps gnawing of the stomach being taken with water and vinegar the decoction is good in the Falling sickness Dropsie Jaundies stopping of Vrine and the Leprosie being mixed with honey and salt it clears the breast opens the Lungs helps Cramps and purges melancholly humours by stool and being drunk in wine it helps such as are stung by venomous beasts being beaten with mint and some vinegar added to it it is profitable against fainting and swooning being smelled to or held in the mouth and so it is good for the Lethargy and Falling-sickness The powder of the Herb or the ashes of it strengthens the gums and being boiled in wine with honey and salt helps the tooth-ache It also easeth the Gout and profits those that are spleenatick or liver-grown being applyed with some salt A bathe made of it for women to sit in helps hardness of the Mother and so it helpeth the Itch The green herb bruised with vinegar takes away black and blue marks about the eyes or other places and discolourings in the face and cleanseth and healeth foul Vlcers it helps cold griefs in the joynts being fast bound to the place after a bathing The distilled Water is effectual for many of the same purposes Piony Pionia OF this Plant there are generally accounted these two kindes the male and the female which are both so well known that they need not a particular description onely this the male is that which is called a single Piony bearing a single flower and the female the double Piony which hath a very thick flower Names Pionia is the common Latine name for it yet it 's called by some Lunaria because of its efficacy in curing the Falling-sickness and Lunacy Place and Time They grow onely in Gardens and flower in May and the seed is ripe in July Nature and Vertues It is temperately hot and dry the root doth gently binde it is a Solar Herb The heads roots and seeds but especially the roots are very effectual for the Falling-sickness being taken up and hung fresh about Childrens necks it cures them the root infused in Sack twenty four hours and strained and a good draught drunk first and last several dayes before and after the full of the Moon the body being first well prepared and Betony Posset being used it effectually helps the Falling-sickness both in children and elder people The powder of the male Piony root drunk in wine or posset drink will do the same and so doth an extraction made of the roots and the syrrup made of the flowers The root comforts and cherishes the body provokes urine purges the Liver and Kidneys and being boiled in wine and drunk it purges the blood the terms and secondine the quantity of an Almond being taken at a time it helps gripings of the belly and pain of the Kidneys and Bladder and the overflowing of the Gall the Chollick and cleanses the guts passions of the brain and the Strangury being boiled in wine and drunk The powder of the root with Saffron is good against the yellow Jaundies the black seed provokes the Terms and helps those that are troubled with the Night-mare being taken night and morning the same in powder drunk with wine comforteth the senses and restoreth lost speech Pepper Piper I Shall not describe this forreign Tree but onely tell you the Vertues of the fruit being all that part of it which is to be seen in England Nature and Vertues There is brought to us black Pepper white Pepper and long Pepper It is hot and dry in the third degree well near the fourth The black Pepper is most used and is good to consume crude and moist humours in the stomach to provoke appetite help digestion and warm a cold stomach it dissolves winde provokes urine helps the Cough and diseases of the Breast and is good against poisons and venomous bitings being drunk in Posset-drink before the fit of an Ague it abates the shaking thereof and being taken with honey it abates the swelling of a Quinzie The powder snuffed up purges the brain by sneazing it consumes the Pin and Web in the Eye and helps dimness of the sight It strengthens the Nerves and Muscles dissolves the Kings Evil and hard cold swelling being applyed with pitch it draws out thorns The powder of long Pepper and Cinquefoil drunk in Ale easeth the Chollick But such as are of hot constitutions must forbear the much use thereof ☞ See further of this in Culpeppers School of Physick Periwinckle Vinca Pervinca THere be divers sorts of Periwinckle Description some with white flowers some with blue and others with purple flowers the common sort of Periwinckles hath many branches running upon the ground shooting out small fibres at the joynts by which it taketh hold on the ground and rooteth at divers places At the joynts of the branches stand two small dark green shining leaves somewhat like Bay-leaves but smaller and with them come the flowers one at a joynt upon a tender foot-stalk being somewhat long and hollow parted at the brims into four and sometimes five leaves of a pale blue colour the root is not much bigger then a Rush creeping with his branches far about in the ground Names It is most known by the names of Vinca Pervinea though it is also called Clematis Daphnoides both in Greek and Latine in English Pervinckle and Periwinckle Place and Time The common sort with the blue and that with the white flowers grow under hedges in many places of this Land the other onely in curious Gardens They flower in March April and May. Nature and Vertues It is hot almost in the second degree and somewhat dry and astringent it is appropriated to Venus and said to encrease milk in womens breastâ—â— and to cause mutual love between man and wife the leaves being eaten by them both and likewise the herb chewed stayes bleeding at mouth and nose and is used by the French to stop the Tearms It
but the Jerusalem Artichokes which you may have plentiful enough if you will let them once take root in your Gardens being boiled tender and then stewed with Butter and Wine or how you please taste much like the bottom of an Artichoke and are no less nourishing then they ☞ See further of this in Culpeppers School of Physick Primrose Primulae Veris THese are very well known to be the Ladies of the Spring being the first that flower wherefore they are called in Latine Primulae Veris They are somewhat dry and astringent of temperature The leaves are good to apply to Inflammations and to heal burnings and scaldings and an Oyntment made thereof is excellent to heal green Wound they are very near in nature unto Cowslips to whose particular Vertues I refer you Privet THis is seldom used in Physick therefore I shall onely read to you its Uses because they that have it near them may use it when they cannot get other helps It is usually planted in Hedges in Gardens to make walks and knots and groweth wilde in many Woods and Parks of this Land It flowers in June and July and beareth ripe berries in September Nature and Vertues Privet is a Lunar Herb of temperature cold and dry the decoction of it is a good Lotion to wash sores and sore mouths to cool inflammations and dry up Fluxes The distilled water of the flowers is good for the same purposes and to stay womens Courses and Fluxes of the belly bleeding at mouth and distillations of Rheums in the Eyes being used with Tutia An Oyl made by infusion of the Flowers is good for inflamed Wounds and the Head-ache proceeding of an hot cause as saith Mathiolus Queen of the Meadows or Meadsweet Regina Prati MEadsweet springeth up with divers broad winged leaves Description deeply dented about the edges set on each side of a middle rib and are somewhat rough hard and crumpled like Elm-leaves having lesser leaves with them like Agrimony of a sad colour on the upper side and grayish underneath of a pleasant scent and taste like unto Burnet the stalks are reddish and grow two or three foot high having on them such leaves as those below but somewhat lesser at the tops whereof and of the branches stand many tufts of small white flowers thick together smelling sweeter then the leaves after which come crooked and cornered seed The Root is somewhat wooddy blackish on the outside but reddish within and is nourished by fibres so that it continues many years and hath also a good smell Names It is called in Latine Vlmaria because of the likeness between its leaves and Elm-leaves and also Regina prati Place and Time It grows frequently in moist Meadows by watery ditches and rivers sides it flowers in some place or other all the Summer Quarter Nature and Vertues Meadsweet is cold and dry with an astringent quality and ascribed to Venus Two or three of the leaves put into a cup of Claret giveth it a fine rellish and also maketh the heart merry and chearful The decoction thereof in wine helpeth the Chollick and taken warm with a little honey it opens the belly but being boiled in red wine and drunk it stayes Looseness The decoction thereof is good to heal sores in the mouth or secret parts The distilled water helps Inflammations of the Eyes and clears the Sight The smell of the flowers make the heart chearful and therefore are excellent to adorn houses the root helps horses of the Bots and Worms and so it would do in men if they drink the decoction thereof and therefore the Germans call it Wormkrant the worm-plant The root likewise made into powder or boiled and drunk powerfully sâ—â—yes Womens Courses the Whites the Bloody Flux Lâ—â—k and all other Fluxes of Blood and is good against vomiting and it is said that if it be boiled in wine and drunk it first altereth and afterwards taketh away the fits of Agues Quince-Tree Malus Cydonia I Suppose the Tree but especially the fruit to be so well known they need no description Names It is called in Latine Malus Cydonia and Cotonea The Spaniards call it Membrillio and Marmello from whence comes the word Marmalade Place and Time They delight to grow near ponds and waters sides and are plentiful in this Land It flowers in April and May and the Fruit is ripe about Michaelmas Nature and Vertues They are cold in the first and dry in the second degree they are earthy and binding the Fruit is not durable and is harsh and unpleasant to eat raw but being scalded roasted baked or preserved they become very pleasant They are Saturnine The Syrrup of the Juyce of Quinces strengthens the heart and stomach relieves nature stayes looseness and vomiting for looseness take a spoonful of it before meat for vomiting after meat It corrects Choller and Phlegm and helps Digestion To make Quinces purging put honey to them instead of sugar and if you would have them more laxative then to purge Choller adde Rhabarb for Phlegm Turbith and for watry humours Scammony If you would have them binde forceably use the unripe Quinces with Roses Acacia or Hypocistis and some Rhabarb torrefied The juyce of raw Quinces is accounted an Antidote against deadly poyson and it hath been found certain that the smell of a Quince hath taken away the strength of white Hellebore outwardly to binde and cool hot fluxes the Oyl of Quinces or other medicines made thereof are available to anoint the belly or other parts therewith It also strengthens the stomach belly and sinews and restrains immoderate sweatings The muscilage of the seeds boiled in water is good to allay the heat and heal the sore breasts of women and with Sugar it is good to lenifie the hoarseness and harshness of the throat and roughness of the tongue The Marmalade is both toothsome and wholesome and a decoction of the doun that grows upon the Quinces is good to restore lost hair and being made up with Wax and applyed as a plaister it bringeth hair to them that are bald and keepeth it from falling if it be ready to shed Radish Rhaphanus THe Garden Radish needs no description it is called in Latine Rhaphanus Nature and Vertues Radishes are rather a sawce then a nourishment they are hot in the third degree and dry in the second and do open and make thin and is governed by Mars The roots do provoke urine and so doth the distilled water the root stamped with honey and the powder of a sheeps heart causeth hair to grow The seed causeth vomiting and provoketh urine and being drunk with Oximel or honied water it drives forth Worms The root boiled in broth is good against an old Cough it moveth womens Courses and increases milk and is good for the Dropsie the Chollick gripings in the belly and griefs of the Liver It is good for them which are sick with eating Toadstools or other poison they are much used as sawce with meat to
procure appetite but they breed ill blood and cause belchings in the stomach Horse-Radish Raphanus Rusticanus HOrse Radish riseth with long leaves somewhat broad Description and much cut on the edges as if it were torn of a dark green colour with a great rib in the middle and after these have been up a while which are greater rougher broader and longer and not divided as the first but a little roundly dented about the edges it doth seldom bear flowers but when it doth there riseth up a great stalk three or four foot high with a few lesser leaves thereon spreading at the top into many small branches of whitish flowers consisting of four leaves a piece after which come small pods like those of Shepherds-purse but seldom any seed in them the root is long white and thick of a biting taste like Pepper Names Raphanus major some call it and also Raphanus Rusticanus and Vulgaris in English Mountain Radish and Horse Radish Place and Time It is usually planted in Gardens yet may be found naturally growing in divers moist and shadowy places of this Land the way of propagating it is by the root for it seldom bears flower or seed but when it doth it flowers in July or August and the seed is ripe in September Nature and Vertues Horse Radish is also under the dominion of Mars and is hot and dry in the third degree of a drying cleansing and digesting quality the juyce taken in drink is held to be effectual for the Scurvy the root being eaten for a sawce with Fish and other meats as Mustard is heateth the Stomach and causeth good digestion The root bruised helpeth the Sciatica Gout Joynt-ache or hard swelling of the Liver and Spleen being applyed to the grieved place The leaves boiled in Wine and made in manner of a pultis with a little oyl Olive doth also mollifie and take away hard swellings of the Liver and Spleen and being applyed to the botom of the Belly helpeth the Strangury and so do the roots sliced thin and eaten with Vinegar as a sauce and are also a remedy for the Chollick The juyce of the green root or the powder of the dry root given in Wine or other convenient liquor killeth and expelleth 〈◊〉 in Children and so doth an oyntment made thereof the Childes Belly being anointed therewith The root being boiled in honey and vinegar into an Electuary is a good remedy in strong bodies for the Cough Ptisick and other diseases of the Lungs and provokes womens Courses If any think it too strong for their bodies the distilled water may be taken with Sugar for all the aforesaid purposes Ragwort Jacobaea Senecio THere is the greater and the lesser the greater common Ragwort hath many long and large green leaves lying on the ground Description of a dark green colour rent and torn in the sides into many pieces from amongst which riseth up sometimes one and sometimes two or three square crested blackish or brownish stalks two or three foot high sometimes branched bearing divers such leaves upon them to the top where it shooteth forth into many branches bearing yellow flowers consisting of many leaves set as a pale or border which do abide a great while but when they are ripe are turned into doun and with the blackish gray small seed is carried away with the winde the root consists of many fibres some greater and others lesser whereby it is fastned firmly into the ground and abideth many years Names Lobel calleth it Jacobaea Senecio others Herba Sancti Jacobi and Jacobaea in English Ragwort Rag-weed and St. James-wort Place and Time They may be plentifully found in Pastures and untilled grounds they flower in June and July and the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues Ragwort is hot and dry in the second degree and of a bitter discussing and cleansing quality and if Mars love bitter herbs let him take this too The decoction thereof cleanseth and healeth Vlcers and Sores in the Mouth and Throat they being washed therewith and also swellings hardness and Imposthumations the Quinzy and Kings Evil and stayes Catarrhs and defluctions of thin Rheumes upon the Fyes Nose or Lungs the juyce healeth green Wounds and cleanseth and healeth old Vlcers in the â—rivities or other parts and inward Wounds or Vlcers and dayes the spreading of running Cankers and hollow Fistula's it helps also aches and pains in the fleshy parts Nerves or Sinews and the Sciatica the parts being bathed with the decoction of the herb or anointed with an oyntment made of the herb bruised and boiled in Hogs grease and after it is strained some Mastick and Olibanum added to it in powder It is also by some called Staggerwort being found effectual to cure the Staggers in Horses Rest-harrow Vide Camock Red Rattle Grass or Lousewort Pedicularis IT hath small brownish red jagged leaves and tender stalks Description whereof some lie along upon the ground in moorish Meadows they grow about half a yard high but in barren grounds exceed not an handful the flowers resemble those of the dead Nettle and grow round the stalk from the middle to the top after which come little flat pouches having in them a flat and blackish seed the root is small white and tender Names It s called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Pedicularis because it fills Cattle that feed where it grows full of Lice it s also called Pistularia and Cristi galla and in English Rattle Grass and Lousewort Place and Time It grows in morst Meadows to which it is an annoyance and also on wet Heaths flowers in May and June Nature and Vertues Red Rattle grass is of temperature cold dry and astringent and is accounted good for Fistula's and hollow Vlcers and being boiled in red Wine and drunk to stay the Tearms or any other Flux of Blood There is also another kinde of Rattle Grass that bears yellow flowers at the top of its stems after which come flat pouches covered over with little bladders open before like the mouth of a Fish in the pouches are contained flat yellowish seed which when they are dry will rattle when they are shook from whence it took the name of yellow Rattle it s called also Crista galli Cocks-comb and Penny-grass It is a great annoyer of dry Meadows and Pastures which is all the properties are yet known of it Rocket Eruca THere are many kindes hereof mentioned by Authours Description but I shall mention onely two viz. the Garden Rocket and the wilde Rocket the Garden Rocket is generally known the wilde Rocket hath long narrow and much divided leaves slenderly cut or jagged on both sides of the middle rib of a sad over-worn green colour amongst which rise up divers stiff stalks about a foot high having the like leaves but smaller branched from the middle into many lesser stalks bearing sundry yellow flowers on them consisting of our leaves apiece as the others are which afterwards yield small reddish seeds in
Blood in the Body occasioned by any fall or bruise Rubarb steeped in white Wine or any other convenient liquor and strayned is good to heal Vlcers in the Eyes and Eye-lids and to asswage swellings and inflammations and being applyed with Honey or boiled in Wine it takes away all black and blue spots that happen therein The seed of Bastard Rubarb helpeth gripings knawings and loathings of the Stomach The roots help ruggedness of the nails and being boiled in Wine it helps the Kings Evil and swellings of the Kernels of the Ears it also provokes Vrine helps such as are troubled with the Stone and dimness of sight it is effectually used with other things in opening and purging dyet drinks to open the Liver and cleanse and cool the blood The root of Monks Rubarb also purgeth but more weakly then either of the other but the root thereof bindeth the Belly and stayeth Lasks and the bloody Flux and so doth the root of the true Rubarb if it be toasted and taken in Plantain water red-Wine or in conserve of Roses or Marmalade of Quinces as I have often found to my great comfort the distilled water hereof is effectual to heal Scabs and foul Sores and to allay the inflammations of them for which purpose also the juyce of the leaves or roots or the decoction thereof in Vinegar is an effectual remedy some use Indian Spikenard with Rubarb to correct it yet it doth not much need any corrigent ☞ See further in The Art of Simpling by W. Coles Meadow Rue Ruta Aquatica THis Herb springeth up from a yellow stringy root Description spreading much in the ground and shooting forth new sprouts round about with many green stalks about two foot high crested all the length of them set with joynts here and there and many large leaves on them divided into smaller leaves nicked or dented in the fore-part of them of a sad green colour on the upper side and pale green underneath toward the top of the stalk there shooteth forth many short branches whereon stand three or four small round heads or buttons which open and appear like a tust of pale greenish yellow threads after which there come small three cornered Cods wherein is contained small long round seed the whole plant hath a strong unpleasant scent Names Ruta Aquatica or Ruta Palustris may be the Latine names thereof Places and Time It grows by Ditches sides and in the borders of moist Meadows in many places of this Land Nature and Vertues The Meadow Rue is doubtless under the influence of Mars and is something of his temperature hot and dry Camcrarius reports that it is used in Italy and in Saxony against the Plague And Dioscorides saith that the bruised herb being applyed healeth old Sores and the distilled water of the herb and flowers doth the same some use it amongst other Pot-herbs to make the body solluble The roots washed clean and boiled in Ale and drunk provoke to Stool gently and being boiled in water and the body bathed therewith warm it destroyeth Lice ☞ See more of this in The Expert Doctors Dispensatory by P. Morellus Garden Rue or Herb-Grace Ruta THis herb is familiarly known the Latine name is Ruta in English Rue Herb Grace and Serving-mens joy it is planted in Gardens and propagated by slips seldom flowring with us and therefore scarce ever bears any good seed Nature and Vertues Rue is hot and dry in the latter end of the third degree and of thin subtle parts a Solar Herb it preserves Chastity being eaten it quickneth the Sight stirs up the Spirits and sharpneth the Wit it provokes Vrine and Womens Courses being taken either in meat or drink it is an excellent antidote against poisons and infections the very smell thereof is a preservative against the Plague in the time of infection The seed thereof taken in Wine is a special Antidote against dangerous Medicines or deadly Poisons A decoction made thereof with some Dill-leaves and flowers easeth pains and torments being drunk inwardly and applyed outwardly to the grieved place The same decoction being drunk helps pains of the Chests and Sides Coughs difficulty of breathing and inflammations of the Lungs and easeth the Sciatica and pains of the Joynts being applyed thereto or the parts anointed with an oyntment made hereof it helps also the shakings of Agues a draught of the decoction being drunk before the coming of the sit an oyl made of Rue by infusion or decoction helps the winde Chollick hardness windiness and suffocation of the Mother the share and parts about it being anointed therewith A decoction thereof in Wine with a little Honey added to it killeth and driveth forth Worms out of the Body Mithridates used a Counter-poison to preserve himself against infection made thus take twenty leaves of Rue two Figs two Walnuts twenty Juniper berries and a little Salt which being beaten together into a Mass was his dese appointed for every morning There is another Electuary made of it which is a remedy for pains or griefs of the Chest and Stomach Spleen Belly and Sides Winde Stitches and Obstructions of the Liver Reins and Bladder by stopping of Urine and extenuates the grossness of fat corpulent Bodies and is thus made Take of Niter Pepper and Commin seed each equal parts leaves of Rue clean picked as much in weight as all the other beat them well together and adde as much Honey as will make thereof an Electuary but first correct the Commin seed by steeping it twenty four hours in Vinegar and then dry it in a hot Fireshovel or in an Oven The leaves of Rue boiled and kept in pickle are a good sauce to meat to warm a cold Stomach and quicken the Sight A decoction of Rue easeth the Gout being bathed therewith and being bruised and put into the Nostrils it stayes bleeding at Nose A decoction of Rue and Bay leaves helps swellings of the Cods it takes away Wheals and Pimples being bruised with Myrtle leaves and made up with wax and applyed being boiled in Wine with some Pepper and Nitre and the places rubbed therewith it taketh away Warts and cureth the Morphew and with Allome and Honey it helps the dry Scab or any Tetter or Ring-worm The juyce thereof warmed in a Pomegranate shell helpeth pain of the Ears being dropped therein An oyntment made of the juyce of Rue with Oyl of Roses Ceruss and Vinegar cures St. Anthonies fire foul running Sores in the Head and Vlcers in the Nose and other parts they being anointed therewith The distilled water is very effectual for many of the said purposes Rupture-wort Herniaria Description THis plant shooteth up with many threddy branches spread round upon the ground about a span long divided into many other smaller parts full of small joynts set thick together whereat come forth two small leaves of a fresh green colour as the branches are whereat grow forth abundance of small yellowish flowers but scarce discernable from the stalks and
leaves which turn into leaves as small as dust the root is small and long growing deep into the ground the taste hereof is not perceivable at first but after a little while there may be perceived a somewhat astringent taste a little bitter and sharp withal but without any manifest heat Names This plant hath acquired several names according to the various opinions of Authours as Polygonum minus by Mathiolus and Castor durantes Herba Turca by Lobel but the most usual and known Latine name is Herniaria from Hernia a Rupture and in English Rupture-worb Place and Time It delights to grow in barren sandy and rocky grounds as upon the dry chalky and sandy grounds in Kent and elsewhere and flowers and flourishes in the four Summer Moneths which are spelled sine littera R. Nature and Vertues Rupture-wort is very drying binding closing and sasting Saturnine It s name speaks its Vertues that is to cure the disease called the Rupture or Burstness which is the falling down of the Guts into the Cods A dram of the herb in powder taken in wine for many dayes together or the decoction of the herb in Wine or the juyce or distilled water drunk in the same manner marvellously helps that Disease and being so taken it stayes Fluxes Vomiting and the Gonorrhea it helps the Strangury stopping of Vrine Stone or Gravel in the Reins or Bladder stitches in the Side griping pains in the Stomach or Belly and obstructions of the Liver and cures the yellow Jaundies and killeth Worins in Children it conglutinates Wound cheing outwardly applyed and helpeth to stay defluctions of Rheumes from the head to the eyes nose and teeth the temples and nape of the Neck being bathed with the decoction of the dryed herb or the green herb being bruised and bound thereto it dryes up the moisture of foul spreading and fistulous Vlcers and is good to be bruised and applyed to the place of a Rupture having a Truss bound thereunto Rice Oriza THis is an East-Indian grain and groweth up there much like the stalk of Wheat but in regard it groweth not with us I shall describe it no further but proceed to declare its vertues we having it plentifully brought hither by industrious Merchants Names The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latines following them call it Oryza Nature and Vertues Rice is binding and drying temperate and not exceeding in heat or cold the pottage made thereof with milk and spiced with Sugar and Cynamon is pleasant and easie of digestion and is reputed to increase seed it is very useful to stay all Lasks or Fluxes being so eaten or beaten to powder and mixed with yolks of Eggs and fryed with fresh Butter and eat morning and evening and being so taken it helps the bloody Flux it is good to put in Cataplasms to repeli humors and being boiled in running Water and the face bathed therewith it takes away spots and pimples it is an excellent and wholesome food and in great estimation amongst the Indians though not so much in repute with us Perhaps because it is too cheap for the wanton rich and too dear for the pining poor c. Rye Secale THis Grain is well known in England more for food then Physick but the bread and leaven of it is good to ripen Imposthumes and Boils or other swellings Mathiolus saith that water wherein the Ashes of Rye straw hath been infused four and twenty hours heals chops of the hands and feet being washed therewith Meal of Rye put between a double cloth and moistned with Vinegar and heated in a pewter Dish over a Chafing dish of Coals ond applyed hot to the head easeth continual pains thereof Rye is more digesting then Wheat but it is windy and griping in the Bowels Saffron Crocus THe Chives of the Flower commonly called Saffron are generally well known so that a description is needless Names It s Latine names are Crocus and Crocum it is also termed Filius ante patrem because it putteth forth flowers before the leaves Place and Time It is plentifully manured in Fields in Essex and Cambridge-shire Saffron-Walden takes her name from its growing there it begins to flower in September and presently after the leaves shoot forth and abide green all the Winter dying again in April when it puts forth another Crop of Flowers which must be gathered as soon as it is blown or else it is lost so that Jack Presbyter for covetousness of the profit can reach his Sabbatarian Conscience to gather it on Sunday and so he can to do any thing else that redounds to his profit though it destroy his Brother Nature and Vertues Saffron is hot in the second degree and dry in the first of a little astringent quality it is an Herb of the Sun a great Cordial and comforter of the spirits it expells venome from the Heart strengthens the Stomach helps concoction preserves the Entrails and is very useful in the Plague Pestilence small Pox and such contagious diseases the Tincture thereof is profitable in fits of the Mother it strengthens the Memory Head Stomach Spleen Bladder animal vital and natural spirits and helps cold diseases of the Brain and Nerves it is profitable for the Lungs Consumption and shortness of Breath it is best for eld phlegmatick and melancholly persons it is good against melancholly and the Jaundies and stoppings of the Liver and Gall and is profitable for the Plurisie and provokes Vrine and Venus take ten grains of Saffron two ounces of Walnut Kernels Figs two ounces Mithridate one dram and a few Sage leaves stamp them into a mass with a sufficient quantity of Pimpernel water and keep it for use twelve grains thereof taken fasting is an excellent Antidote against the Plague and expelleth it from those that are infected Some write that two or three drams hereof taken brings death doubtless too great a quantity cannot do otherwise it is not safe to be given to women with childe Sage Salvia TO avoid prolixity we proceed to its vertues The Latine name of it is Salvia and so wholesome an Herb reputed by Schola salerni that they say Cur moritur homo dum Salvia crescit in horto Nature and Vertues Sage is hot and dry in the third degree an herb of Jupiter it restores natural heat and comforts the vital spirits and helps the Memory and quickens the sences it is very healthful to be eaten in May with Butter and also to be drunk in Ale it is good for women that are apt to miscarry or cannot conceive by reason of the over-much moisture-or slipperiness of their Wombs Sage Rosemary Honey-suckles and Plantain boiled in water or wine and some Honey and Allome added thereto is a good gargle for Cankers or Sores in the Mouth or Throat and for sores in the privy parts of Man or Woman and is good to be boiled with other comsortable and hot herbs to bathe the cold Sinews and to warm the Joynts and help
reckoned amongst the kindes of Scordium Description but I shall describe it being different therefrom it groweth up with round broad leaves pointed at the ends and dented about the edges somewhat like Nettle leaves but of a fresher green colour and not rough nor prickling and are set singly one at a joynt the lower leaves being rounder then those that grow towards the top at the tops of the stalks grow very small white flowers one above another after which follow small long round pods wherein is contained small round and somewhat blackish seed the root is stringy and fibrous perishing when it hath given seed and riseth again of its own sowing This Plant being bruised smelleth strong like Garlick but more pleasant and tasteth hot and sharp almost like Rocket Names It is called in English Poor mans Treacle and English Treacle and so is Scordium Place and Time It grows in many places by Pathwayes and under Walls and hedges and flowers in the Summer Moneths Nature and Vertues Jack by the hedge warmeth the stomach and causeth digestion and therefore is a good sauce to salt Fish to digest the crudities and corrupt humors it ingenders the juyce thereof boiled with honey is good for the Cough and to cut and expectorate tough Phlegm The decoction of the seed in wine being drunk is good to help the winde Chollick and the Stone and for fits of the Mother to drink the decoction and apply the seeds warm in a cloath The green leaves are accounted good to heal Vlcers in the Legs and the leaves and seed boiled is good to be used in Glisters to ease pains of the Stone Sarsa-parilla Smilax-aspera IT is called Smilax-aspera also in Latine and in English Prickly Binde-weed it grows in the West-Indies as Peru and Virginia Nature and Vertues It is of thin parts and provokes sweat and of temperature hot and dry near the second degree Mars his herb surely whereby he cures himself when Venus hath clapt him The decoction being excellent for the French Pen and likewise is good in Rheumes Gouts and cold Diseases of the Read and Stomach and expelleth winde from the Stomach and Mother it helpeth aches in the Sinews and Goynts running sores in the Legs cold swellings tetters ringâ—â—â—â—â—s spâ—ts and foulness in the skin and helpeth Catharrs and salt distillations from the head is good in Tumors and the Kings Evil and a dram of the powder being taken in Ale or wine with the the like qnantity of Tamarisk is good for Tumors of the Spleen Sarsa doth purge the body of humors by its driness and diaphoretical quality and is a good antidote against poisons but is not proper to be given to such as have Agues or hot Livers Sassafras or Ague-Tree THis plant was first discovered by the French about Florida Place and Time where it groweth as also in most parts of the West Indies and is green all the year Nature and Vertues The wood is hot and dry in the second degree and the rinde hot and dry in the third it purgeth watry and phlegmatick humors and therefore is good in the Dropsie the decoction thereof being drunk morning and evening for certain dayes together which decoction is thus made take of Sassafras four ounces steep it four and twenty hours in a Gallon and a half of fair water then boil it to the consumption of half and strain it this decoction doth open obstructions of the Liver and Spleen and is good in cold diseases and Rheumes which fall from the head upon the teeth eyes and Lungs and is available in Coughs and cold diseases of the Lungs Breast and Stomach and procures a good appetite and consumes windiness and makes a sweet breath it is likewise commended to provoke Vrine and Womens Courses and to expell Gravel and the Stone out of the Kidneys it dryes up overmuch moisture of the Womb and causeth women to Conceive it is good in Fevers and tertian and quotidian Agues and also for the French Disease and other diseases coming of corrupt humors to be used in dyet drinks it may be given in powder from a scruple to two scruples ☞ See further of this in Culpeppers School of Physick Satyrion or Orchis Testiculus Canis SAtyrion riseth up with many large Description long smooth green leaves lying on the ground somewhat spotted like Dragons amongst which riseth up a round stalk with some such leaves on it bur lesser towards the top grows a large head of many purple flowers and some are white spotted with a deeper purple colour each flower having a heel of the same colour behinde it They have all a double Root whereof some kindes are flat and broad like unto hands the other round like unto stones These roots alter every year by course when one waxeth full the other perisheth and groweth lank the full one will sink and the other swim if put into water Names As there are many kindes of this Plant so it hath many names It is called Satyrion and Orchis Testiculus Canis Testiculus Capri Priests Ballocks Fools stones Dogs stones Cullians Fox stones Standard-grass and many other names c. Place and Time They grow in Pastures Meadows and moist grounds as in Danmore Copse and Danmore Mead at Holshot in Hampshire and in Cobham Park in Kent it groweth so abundantly that it may serve to pleasure Seamens wives in Rochester for there they may be sure to finde it in great plenty from the beginning of April to the latter end of August Nature and Vertues They are hot and moist the full roots I mean the lank ones are hot and dry Venus claims all she can get of them The full roots do powerfully provoke to Venery but the lank ones are said to mortisie Lust being boiled in milk and eaten with white Pepper they nourish such as are in Consumptions or have an Hectick feaver The flowers are likewise effectual to merease and stir up nature The Roots boiled in wine and drunk stop the Flux and being applyed green they consume Tumours and cleanse rotten Sores and Vlcers and the powder thereof stayes the fretting and festring of devouring Vlcers being put therein The same Root being bruised and applyed is good against Inflammations and Swellings and being boiled in wine with a little honey it helps Vlcers and Sores in the Mouth Savory and the sorts Thymbra I shall not need to say more in the Description Description but onely that the common kindes are two Winter and Summer Savory which are both common in Gardens Names The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it is also called Thymbra in Latine and by some Satureia Nature and Vertues Savory is hot and dry in the third degree and openeth and maketh thin being subject to the influence of Mercury It provokes Womens Courses and expells Winde being boiled in wine or water and drunk and it is commended for women with childe to take it inwardly and smell often to it
it helps rising of the Mother provokes Vrine and expells Winde It takes away loathing of the Stomach and procures a good appetite it cuts tough Phlegm in the Chest and Lungs and is good to season stewed meat or broaths The juyce being snuffed up into the nostrils quickens the dull spirits in the Lethargy and being dropped into the eyes it clears the sight which is dulled by thin humours distilling from the brain The juyce heated with a little Oyl of Roses helps deafness and noise in the ears being dropped into them It helpeth to ease the Sciatica and members that have the Palsie being applyed pultisswise with Wheat-flower It is good against the stingings of Wasps and Bees and being laid in Chambers it killeth Fleas Savin Savina IT is nursed up in Gardens and abides green all the year being so well known it needs no further description Names It is called in Latine Sabina and Savina Nature and Vertues The leaves of Savin are hot and dry in the third degree and of subtle parts under the Influence of Mars The decoction of Savin is powerful to provoke Womens Courses and it also expells the Birth and After-birth and causeth Abortion It expelleth blood by Vrine and is good for the Kings Evil the powder thereof mixed with honey cleanseth filthy Vlcers and Fistula's but is unapt to heal them and being mixed with Cream and Childrens heads anointed therewith which have scabs or running sores it cleanseth and healeth them and also St. Anthonies fire a dram of Savine in powder mixed with three ounces of Nitre and two of Honey helps such as are short-winded as saith Mathiolus It kill Worms in Children being applyed to the Navel or the belly anointed with the Oyl thereof The powder of the leaves mixed with honey takes away spots and freckles in the face or body and helps blisters of the Yard gotten by a Lady of Pleasure they being first bathed with the decoction of the leaves and is good to heal Scabs and Itch Tetters and Ring-worms and to break Carbunckles and Plague-sores being spread upon a piece of leather and applyed to the place The distilled Water cleanseth the skin and helpeth such as have the Worms Saxifrage Saxifragia THere be accounted nine kindes of this Plant which grow in England Description I shall describe three of them as the most useful viz. English Saxifrage or Mead-Parsley White Saxifrage and Barnet Saxifrage English or Meadow Saxifrage called Mead-Parsley groweth with many green winged leaves like Fennel but thicker and broader amongst which rise up divers crested stalks of a Cubit high having thereupon divers smaller stalks of winged leaves also finely cut but harsh to the seeling bearing at the top Umbels of white Flowers tending a little to yellow after which come seed much like Fennel-seed but browner and of a small taste The Root is thick black without and white within and of a good savour White Saxifrage hath many round faint yellowish green leaves but grayish underneath spread upon the ground unevenly dented about the edges and somewhat hairy every one upon a little foot-stalk from whence riseth up a round brownish hairy green stalk about a foot high with a few leaves like the former but smaller branched at the top whereon stand pretty large white flowers of five leaves apiece with some yellow threds in the middle standing in a long crested brownish green husk after which ariseth sometimes a round hard head biforked at the top wherein s contained blackish small seed The Root is composed of black strings or fibres whereunto are fastned many reddish grains about the bigness of Pepper-corns which are called by the Apothecaries white Saxifrage seed Burnet Saxifrage springeth up with divers stalks of winged leaves set one against another each being somewhat broad and a little dented about the edges of a sad green colour at the tops of the stalks come Umbels of white Flowers and after them small blackish seed The Root is long and whitish Names Saxifraga and Saxifragia are the Latine Names Place and Time The first groweth commonly in Meadows and Pastures and flowers from May till the end of August The second grows in Fields and corners of Meadows and in grassie sandy places and the third grows in moist Meadows and flowers about July and the seed is ripe in August Nature and Vertues They are all hot and dry in the third degree and said to be herbs of the Moon but I can finde no reason for it the decoction of the seeds or roots of Mead-Parsley made in white wine helps the Strangury provokes the Courses and expells the secondine or dead Childe and breaks the Stone in the Bladder and Kidneys half a dram or a dram of the root in powder taken with sugar warmeth and comsorteth the stomach and easeth griping pains of the belly and the Chollick and expelleth Winde and outwardly it is good in somentations and bathes to provoke Vrine and ease pains of the belly which proceed from Winde The decoction of the seed or root of white Saxifrage or the powder thereof drunk in wine is good against the Stone Strangury and stoppings of the Kidneys and Bladder The distilled water of the whole herb is good for the same purposes and to cleanse the Stomach and Lungs from tough and thick Phlegm The same water is given by Nurses to their Children for the frets and stopping of Vrine The Burnet Saxifrage hath the same properties as the other in expelling Vrine Winde and helping the Chollick and to ease pains of the Mother to procure Womens Courses to break the Stone in the Kidneys and to digest cold and tough Phlegm in the stomach and is a good remedy against venome The dryed roots are as hot as Pepper and may be used for it being more wholesome as saith Tragus The root and seeds in powder taken with Sugar purgeth the brain restoreth lost speech and is good for Convulsions Cramps Apoplexies and cold Feavers The distilled Water when in Castoreâ—â— hath been boiled is good for the same and also for the Palsie and other cold griefs The same drunk with wine and vinegar is good in the Plague and preserves from infection and corrupted air being chewed in the mouth The distilled water beautifieth the face and cleanseth it from spots and freckles and causeth a good colour and is good for all the purposes aforesaid being taken with sugar the juyce of the leaves doth the same and being dropped into wounds in the head or any other place it dryeth up the moisture and heals them quickly The seeds being made into Comfits like Carraway seeds are good for all the aforesaid purposes Scabious and the kindes Scabiosa THere are many kindes of this Plant mentioned by Authours Description I shall onely name three viz. Common Scabious small common Scabious Corn Scabious The onely difference between the two first is that the leaves of one are bigger then those of the other and the Corn Scabious is greater then the other the flowers more
in Fields upon old Walls by Paths sides and High wayes Nature and Vertues Sow-thistles are cold and binding and consisting of a watery and earthly substance being under the influence of Venus they are familiarly eaten beyond the Seas while they are young and tender especially the roots the juyce heated with a little Oyl of bitter Almonds in a Pomegranate Pill and dropped into the Ears helps noise therein and deafness and other diseases of the Ears the bruised herb or juyce is good to apply to Inflammations of the eyes or elsewhere and to help Wheals and Blisters in the skin and is good to help the heat and itchings of the Piles and the heat and sharpness of humors in the privy parts of man or woman the herb is eaten by some as a Sallet in the Spring to cool a hot stomach and ease the gnawing pains thereof The decoction in Wine helps to stay the dissolutions of the Stomach and the milk that comes from the stalk is good for such to drink as are short winded and are troubled with Wheesing Three spoonfuls of the juyce taken in some Wine warmed and a little Oyl with it causeth easie and speedy delivery it is said to avoid the Gravel and Stone by Vrine and the juyce taken in warm drink helps the Strangury The decoction of the leaves given to Nurses causeth abundance of Milk and suffereth it not to curdle in their Breasts The distilled water is effectual for all the diseases before named to be taken with Sugar inwardly and outwardly by applying cloathes or spunges wetted therein and is good for women to wash their faces to clear the skin The bruised herb or juyce applyed to Warts is said to take them away Sow-bread Panis Porcinus I Cannot finde that it is growing any where naturally in England but is brought to us from France and Italy so that I shall not describe it Names It is called in shops Cyclamen Panis porcinus and Artanita in English Sow or Swine-bread because the Swine love to feed on it in those Countreys where it grows Nature and Vertues It is hot and dry in the beginning of the third degree and cutteth cleanseth and digesteth it is an herb of Mars The distilled Water of the roots snuffed up into the Nostrils stayeth bleeding at nose saith Mathiolus and that six ounces of the water being drunk with one ounce of fine Sugar it stayeth the blood that cometh from the breast stomach or liver or a vein that is broken in them It purgeth violently and therefore is to be corrected with Mastick Nutmeg or a scruple of Rubarb and so it helps hardness and swelling of the Spleen and easeth the Chollick The juyce opens the Hemorrhoids and Piles and strongly moveth to stool The fresh root put into a cloth and applyed to the secret parts of a woman that is in long travel procures and easie and speedy delivery but if women with childe meddle with it before their due time it causeth Abortion The juyce of Plantain and the juyce of Sowbread of each a like quantity mixed together with Aloes Myrrhe and Olibanum stoppeth the bleeding of the Nose being applyed to the nostrils and forehead The juyce mingled with vinegar helpeth the falling down of the Fundament it being somented therewith ☞ See further of this in Culpeppers School of Physick Southernwood Abrotanum mas IT is generally known in Gardens so that it needs no description Names The Latines call it Abrotanum adding the Epithet mas to it to distinguish it from Abrotanum faemina which some hold to be Lavender Cotton Place and time The Gardens as I told you nourish it the time of its flowering is in June and July sometimes later Nature and Vertues It is a Plant of Mercury having a rarifying discussing quality and is hot and dry in the end of the third degree The tops of Southernwood stamped and drunk raw in water provoketh the Courses and is profitable for such as cannot breath without holding their necks straight up and for the Cramp shrinking of sinews and the Sciatica and for stopping of Vrine which effects the seeds and flowers do most powerfully perform if they can be had It destroyeth worms and is good against poison and venome being drunk in wine The seed if it can be had digests and consumes cold humours and tough Phlegm which stop the Spleen Kidneys and Bladder The tops boiled in wine or water and a little honey or sugar added to it helps difficulty of breathing being drunk three or four times a day and is good for the Cough Cardiack Passion and other inward griefs The ashes thereof mixed with Oyl of Palma Christi or old Oyl Olive restoreth lost hair and causth the beard to come forth speedily if it be anointed therewith twice a day against the sun or the fire The tops stamped with a roasted Quince and applyed to the eyes helps the inflammations thereof A Salve made of the leaves being boiled and stamped with Barley-meal and Barrows-grease dissolveth cold humours and swellings being applyed upon a piece of cloth or leather It helps also benummed or bruised Limbs being stamped with Oyl and applyed and takes away the shivering fits of Agues the back-bone being anointed with it before the fit come The bruised herb helps to draw forth splinters and thorns out of the flesh being applyed thereunto the ashes dryeth up old sores and ulcers The Oyl of Southernwood is good in those Oyntments that are used for the French Pox and kills lice in the head The distilled Water is said to help the Stone and diseases of the Spleen and Mother It is held more offensive to the stomach then Wormwood being taken inwardly but the dryed herb being put in a linnen bag and applyed to the stomach next the skin comforteth a cold stomach The herb boiled with Barley meal helps to take away pimples pushes and wheals in any part of the body Speedwell vide Fluellin Spignell Meum COmmon Spignell springeth up with sundry long stalks of leaves Description cut very finely like unto hairs smaller then Dill set thick on both sides of the stalk of a light or yellow green colour and of a good scent from amongst which rise up round stiff stalks with joynts having a few leaves at them at the tops whereof grow an Umbel of white flowers the edges whereof do sometimes give a shew of reddish or blush colour especially before they be full blown after which come little roundish seed of a brownish colour The Roots are thick and long in respect of the leaves growing out from one head which is hairy at the top of a blackish brown colour on the outside and white within Names The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latines Meum and in English it is called of some Mew Bald-money or Bearwort Place and Time It grows in Yorkshire Westmoreland and other Northern Countreys flowers in June and July and yields seed in August Nature and Vertues The roots of Spignel
are hot in the third degree and dry in the second and said to be under the influence of Venus an Electuary made of the roots with honey consumes winde in the stomach and guts and easeth gripings in the belly and is good against Catharrs Rheumes and Aches of the Joynts and phlegmatick humours that fall upon the Lungs The decoction in wine or water being drunk opens stoppings in the Kidneys and Bladder helps the Strangury provokes Vrine and stirs up Lust It also provokes the Tearms and helps griefs of the Mother but too great a quantity thereof causeth the head-ache The Roots which are onely used in Physick are effectual against the stinging or biting of any venomous creature and is an Ingredient in those main Antidotes Venice Treacle and Mithridate Spikenard Nardus Indica IT is naturally an Indian Plant called Nardus Indica therefore I shall proceed to declare its Vertues not troubling you at all with its description Nature and Vertues Spikenard is of a heating drying faculty as saith Dioscorides it is good to provoke urine and easeth pains of the stone in the Reins and Kidneys being drunk in cold water it helps loathing swelling or knawing in the stomach the yellow Jaundies and such as are liver-grown It is a good Ingredient in Mithridate and other Antidotes against poison to women with childe it is sorbidden but a decoction thereof may be a good bathe for others to sit over that are troubled with Inflammations of the Mother The Oyl of Spikenard is good to warm cold places and to digest crude and raw humours It worketh powerfully on all cold griess of the Head and Brain Stomach Liver Spleen Reins Bladder and of the Mother It purgeth the brain of Rheum being snuffed up into the nostrils being infused certain dayes in wine and then distilled in a hot bathe the Water is good inwardly and outwardly to be used for any coldness of the members It comforts the brain and helps cold pains of the head and the shaking Palsie Two or three spoonfuls thereof being taken helps passions of the heart swoonings and the Chollick being drunk with wine it is good against venomous bitings and being made into Trochis with wine it may be reserved for an Eye-medicine which being aptly applyed represseth obnoxious humours thereof Spinage Spinachia I Shall say but little of this it being more used by the Cook then the Physician for it is seldom used in physick and I believe not very substantial food though some greedily eat it some Latine Authours call it Spinachia and some say that the broth thereof makes the belly solluble easeth pains of the back clears the breast and strengthens the stomack Spleenwort or Ceterach Asplenium SPleenwort beareth many leaves near a span long Description jagged on both sides almost to the middle rib set in several orders not one against the other but one besides another being slippery and green on the upper side and of a dark yellowish roughness underneath which is conceived to be the seeds at its first coming up it rowleth and foldeth it self as Fern doth with many hairs on the outside The Root is small black and rough much platted or interlaced having neither stalk nor flower Names Caterach is the usual name of it in shops yet it is called Asplenium and Splenium in English Spleenwort and Milt-waste Place and Time It groweth upon stone walls and rocks and in moist and shadowy places in the West Countrey on the Church of Beconsfield in Barkshire and at Strowd in Kent and other places It continues green all the year Nature and Vertues It is hot and dry in the first degree of thin subtle parts no way Saturnine but rather Mercurial It is profitable for all diseases and infirmities of the Spleen especially such as cause it to grow too big for it diminisheth it it is effectual for the yellow Jaundies stoppings of the Liver and the Hiccough It helps the Strangury and Stone in the Bladder it helps the Running of the Reins a dram of the dust scraped from the back side of the leaves and taken with half a dram of Amber in powder in the juyce of Plantain or Purslain The decoction helps Melancholly Diseases and such as arise from the French Pox but if it be boiled over long the strength will be lost The distilled water is good for the Stone and the lye made of the Ashes being drunk some time together helps spleenatick persons and so doth the herb being boiled a little and applyed to the region of the Spleen The use of this plant hinders Conception and therefore women that desires Children must forbear it Squinant Sweet Rush or Camels Hay Schaenanthos SChaenanthos or Juncus Odoratus are the Latine names hereof it is an Arabian Plant. Nature and Vertues The whole Plant hath an astringent saculty the roots do binde most and the flowers are more hot it gently cutteth humors and digesteth them The decoction of the flowers being drunk stayeth spitting of Blood and is conducible to diseases of the Scomach Lungs Liver and Reins The root is held effectual for the loathing of the Stomach a dram thereof in powder with the like quantity of Pepper being taken fasting certain mornings together and is a good remedy for the Dropsie Convulsions and Cramps being boiled in the broth of a chicken it is effectual for pains of the Womb and pains after Childe-bearing Dioscorides saith it provoketh Vrine and Womens Courses discusseth Swellings and Winde but troubles the head a little Starwort Bubonium THere be many kindes of this Herb Description yet that which grows most naturally in England is the Attick or yellow Starwort which groweth about a foot high with three or more hairy stalks with long rough hairy brownish dark green leaves on them divided into two or three branches at the tops whereof stand a flat scaly head compassed underneath with five or six long brown rough geeen leaves like a Star the flower standing in the middle consists of narrow long pale yellow leaves set with brownish yellow thrums which turning into doun are carried away with the Winde the root is fibrous and of a binding sharp taste Names This kinde is called Aster Atticus and Bubonium in Latine Place and Time It is said to grow upon Hampsted Heath One sort of Starwort or other is in flower from June to October Nature and Vertues Starwort is said to be cooling and drying and doth moderately waste and consume an herb of Venus the leaves and flowers boiled in water helps pains and sores in the Groin and so doth an oyl made by infusion thereof the dryed flowers being bound to the grieved place takes away Inflammations thereof it helps the Quinzy and Falling Sickness in Children An oyntment made of the green Herb and Hogs Grease is good to anoint a hot Stomach and inflamed Eyes to help falling down of the Fundament and such as are bitten by a mad Dog it consumes swellings of the Throat and the herb being burnt
made into a syrrup or the distilled water drunk with Sugar or the smoke taken fasting in a Pipe it easeth gripings in the Bowels pains in the Head and expells Worms and is profitable to provoke Vrine and expel the Stone and Gravel out of the Kidneys to expel windiness which causes strangling of the Mother the seed is good to ease the Tooth-ache and the ashes of the Herb cleanseth the Gums and Teeth and makes them white the bruised herb is profitably applyed to swellings of the Kings Evil four or five ounces of the juyce taken fasting purges the body upwards and downwards and is effectual for the Dropsie The distilled water taken with Sugar before the fit of an Ague lessens the fit The distilled faeces of the Herb having been bruised before the distillation and not distilled dry but set fourteen dayes in hot dung and then hung up in a bag in a Wine Cellar there will drop a liquor therefrom good for Cramps Aches the Gout and Sciatica and to heal Itches Scabs Cankers and foul Sores The juyce is good to kill lice in Childrens Heads The green herb bruised and applyed is good to cure any fresh wound and the juyce put into old Sores cleanseth and healeth them There is an excellent Salve made of Tobacco good for Imposthumes hard Tumors swellings by blows and falls old and new Sores and is to be had at the Apothecaries by the name of Unguentum Nicotianum or oynment of Tobacco Tamarinds Tamarindus THis Tree groweth in Arabia and the Indies and the fruit is brought hither for Medicine whose vertues follow Nature and Vertues Tamarinds are cold and dry in the second degree or in the beginning of the third a plant of Venus The pulp of Tamarinds open obstructions of the Liver and Spleen and taken with Borrage water it quickens the spirits and mitigates the fits of Frenzy and madness it is good in acute Fevers it purgeth Choller and adust humors stayeth vomiting and cools inflammations of the Liver Stomach and Reins and helps the running of the Reins it is good against the Scab Itch and Leprosie and salt humors breaking out in the skin it is good in hot burning Agues it quencheth thirst and procures appetite an ounce thereof being dissolved in fair water and taken with a little Sugar it stayes bleedings at nose arising from Choller and womens Fluxes and is good against the yellow Jaundies Tamarisk Tamarix IT is well known in Gardens where it onely grows in England so that a description is needless Names Mytica Tamarix and Tamariscus are the Latine names the Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. infinitus from its abundance of leaves Place and Time It groweth about Mompelier and Narbone in France and is planted in Gardens with us they flower about the end of May or in June and the seed is ripe and blown away in September Nature and Vertues Tamarisk is drying and astringent having also a cutting and cleansing quality a Saturnine Plant. The leaves or roots boiled in Wine drives forth Melancholly helps spitting of blood and stayes the overflowing of the Terms the bleeding of the Hemorrhoides and other Fluxes and is good against the Jaundies and other diseases which are caused by obstructions The roots sodden with Wine and drunk cleanseth the milt and thereby it helps the Lepry the decoction of the root or young branches in Wine or Vinegar drunk and outwardly applyed helps hardness of the Spleen The decoction of the bark and leaves in Wine helps the Tooth-ache the mouth and Teeth being gargled therewith it also helpeth redness and watring of the Eyes and easeth pains of the ears being dropped therein and is good to wash those that are subject to Lice and Nits and is good to stay gangrous and fretting Vlcers being mixed with honey it is good for spleenatick persons to drink out of Cups or Cans made of the Wood thereof A good quantity of the leaves boiled in water is a good bath for women to sit over whose Matrix is in danger of coming down it fastneth the same and the ashes of the Wood applyed to the place stops the excessive flowing thereof A Lye made of the Ashes is good for many of the said Diseases and to help blisters raised by burning or scalding The Egyptians use the Wood hereof to cure the French Disease Leprosie Scabs Pushes Vlcers and the like it is likewise good to help the Dropsie proceeding from hardness or stopping of the Spleen and is available against Melancholly and the black Jaundies the Bark with the Barks of Ash and Ivy being infused in Beer or Ale some use Ling or Heath where Tamarisk is not to be had instead thereof Garden Tansie Tanacetum THis needs no description Names It is called both in Greek and Latine Athanasia and also in Latine Tanacetum the French call it Tanaisie and our English Tansie Place and Time It is nourished in Gardens sendeth forth green leaves in March and April and flowers in June and July Nature and Vertues It is said to be hot in the second degree and dry in the third attributed to the particular influence of Venus The decoction of Tansie or the juyce thereof drunk in Wine or Beer doth dissolve and expell Winde in the Stomach or Bowels The eating of it in Spring time purgeth the Body of moist and phlegmatick humors ingendred in the foregoing Winter and by eating Fish in Lent before it became superstition to our gluttonous Religion-pretenders whose lustful guts cannot forbear the Flesh-pots on Frydayes the decoction before mentioned provokes Vrine helps the Strangury expells Winde out of the Matrix and procures womens Courses and is good for those that have weak Reins and Kidneys it is profitable for such women as are apt to miscarry being bruised and often smelled unto and applyed to the lower part of the Belly it is used against the Stone in the Reins especially to men being boiled in Oyl it is good against the Cramp and shrinking of Sinews if applyed to the affected part it avoideth Phlegm dryeth the Sinews and therefore is good for the Palsie Wilde Tansie or Silver Weed Argentina IT is much like unto the ordinary Garden Tansie a little also resembling the leaves of Agrimony Description it creeps upon the ground taking root at the joynts so that it will quickly spread a great deal of ground the leaves are of a fair green colour on the upper side and a silver colour underneath it beareth no stalks but the flowers stand singly upon a short foot stalk which are yellow much like those of Cinque foâ—l Names It is called in Latine Argentina Agrimonia sylvestris and Tanacetum sylvestre in English Wilde Tansie and Silver weed Place and Time It groweth in moist grounds near High Wayes sides at the foot of Hills and such like places it flowers in June and July Nature and Vertues Wilde Tansie especially the root is dry near the third degree without much manifest heat having also an
astringent quality and said to be a Plant of Venus The decoction of the herb in Wine being drunk easeth pains of the Bowels and is good for the Sciatica and Joynt Aches The bruised herb applyed to the hand-wrists and soles of the feet cooleth the violent hot fits of Agues The distilled water dropped into the Eyes or a Cloth wet therein and applyed takes away heat and Inflammations thereof The said water or the leaves steeped in Wine Butter milk or strong white Wine Vinegar cleanseth the skin and face from Morphew Sun-burning Freckles Pimples and the like Wilde Tansie boiled in Vinegar with Honey and Allome and the mouth gargled therewith easeth the Tooth-ache fastneth loose Teeth helpeth sore Gums and reduceth the pallat of the Mouth to its place when it is fallen down it also cleanseth and healeth Vlcers in the mouth or secret parts and is good for inward Wounds and to close the lips of green Wounds and to heal old running corrupt sores in the Legs or elsewhere being boiled in Wine and drunk it stops the Lask bloody Flux and all other fluxes of Blood the green herb onely worn in the shooes stops the Terms and its possible the Whites but the powder of the herb will certainly do it being taken in some of the distilled water with a little Corral and Ivory in powder added to it it also stayes spitting or vomiting of Blood and is good for Children that are bursten or have a Rupture being boiled in water and salt and applyed Tarragon Draco Herba THe Sallet Herb called Tarragon Description shooteth forth long and narrow leaves of a deep green colour greater and longer then those of common Hysop having slender brittle round stalks about two foot high about the branches hang little round flowers which do never perfectly open they are of a blackish yellow colour like those of common Wormwood and yields no seed but a chaffy matter which is carried away with the winde but is propagated by the root which is long and fibrous creeping under the ground like unto Couch-grass shooting forth in divers places by which it increaseth Names The Latines call it Draco herba and Dracunculus Hortensis and in French Dragon in English Tarragon Place and Time It is cherished onely in Gardens with us and as I said is increased by the young shoots Nature and Vertues Tarragon is hot and dry in the third degree à good Sallet Herb to be eaten with Lettice Purslain and other cool herbs it is grateful and comfortable to the Stomach and tempers their coldness but to be eaten alone it is too hot The root held between the Teeth draweth down Rheume and easeth the Tooth-ache Thistles Carduus THough there be many kindes they are all well known Names The general Latine name of a Thistle is Carduus Place and Time They grow frequently almost every where and flower in July and August the seed ripening soon after Nature and Vertues Common Thistles are of Temperature hot and of a drying quality They are held good to provoke Vrine and remedy the stinking smell thereof and the rank smell of the Arme-pits and whole body being boiled in Wine and drunk and they are said to be good to help a stinking Breath and to strengthen the Stomach though I believe it hath been seldom proved The juyce restores lost hair the place being bathed therewith as Pliny reporteth Our Ladies Thistle Carduus Mariae LAdies Thistle hath divers large leaves lying on the ground Description cut in and crumpled somewhat hairy on the edges of a white green shining colour having many streaks of a milky colour and set with sharp prickles round about the stalk is strog round and prickly set full of like leaves at the top of every branch cometh forth a prickly head with brigh purple thrums in the middle after which comes flattish brown shining seed lying in the said heads in soft white Doun The root is great spreading in the ground with many fibres fastned thereunto the whole plant is biter in taste Names It is called in Latine Carduus Lacteus and Carduus Mariae in English Striped milky Thistle and Ladies Thistle Place and Time It is frequent upon Banks of be Fields about London about such places it delight to grow they flower and seed in June till August as other Thistles do Nature and Vertues Our Ladies Thistle is hot and dry in the second degree and somewhat binding especially the root an herb of Jupiter the decoction thereof or the herb taken in powder is good for Stitches and other diseases in the Sides for Agues and to prevent infection it opens obstructions of the Liver and Spleen and is good against the Jaundies The tender leaves having the prickles taken off are a good Sallet in Spring to cleanse the Blood the young stalks dressed are also good meat especially for Nurses to increase their Milk the root is good for the Lask and bloody Flux it stayeth Bleedings wasteth away cold swellings and easeth pain of the Teeth if they be washed with the decoction thereof The decoction of the herb is good to provoke Vrine and breaketh and expelleth the Stone and is good for the Dropsie The seed is as effectual if not better for the same purposes and also for the Cramp and so is the distilled water which is also used inwardly to drink and outwardly to cool distempers of the Liver Swoonings and passions of the Heart being applyed with Spungâ—s or wet cloathes to the region thereof Thorow-wax Perfoliata THorow-wax riseth up with one streight round stalk Description about half a yard high or more having leaves of a blueish green colour the lower leave being smaller and narrower then those that grow highr standing close thereto but not quite compassing it buts they grow higher they do more and more encompass the stalk until they close so together that it passeth almst through the middle of them branching towards the top into many parts where the leaves grow smaller again sanding every one singly The flowers are very small and yellow standing in tufts at the tops of the branches the seed is small and blackish many of them thrust together The Root is small long and woody perishing every year after it hath perfected its seed and the seed which it sheds riseth again the next year Names It is called in Latine Perfoliata in English Thorow-wax and Thorow-leaf Place and Time It groweth in Corn fields and Pastures in many places of this Land flowers about July and the seed is ripe in August or soon after Nature and Vertues Thorow-wax is hot and dry somewhat bitter and astringent and I judge rather Martial then Saturnine It is a good remedy against Ruptures and Burstings in Children especially before it grow too old the decoction of the Herb or the herb in powder taken inwardly and the green leaves bruised and outwardly applyed It is a good remedy for Children that have their Navels sticking out being applyed thereunto with a little Honey and
in wine and drunk It aeseth the Strangury stayes the Hiccough and vomiting of Blood helps gripings in the belly Cramps the Lethargy and Inflammations of the Liver and is comfortable to the head stomach and Reins and helps to expell Winde being taken in decoction or in an Electuary with Honey Liquorice and Anniseeds Tormentil Tormentilla IT springeth up with many reddish Description slender weak branches from the root leaning or lying on the ground having many short leaves that stand closer to the stalks as Cinquefoil doth with the foot-stalks encompassing the branches in several places they which grow next the ground are set upon longer foot-stalks much like Cinquefoil leaves but longer and lesser dented about the edges having five six or seven divisions and sometimes eight at the tops of the branches stand yellow flowers consisting of five leaves like Cinquefoil but smaller The Root is smaller then Bistort somewhat tuberous thick and knobby blackish without and reddish within sometimes a little crooked having many blackish fibres Names It is called in Latine Tormentilla because it easeth torments of the Guts and Heptaphyllum or Septifolium and Stellaria in English Tormentil Setfoil or Seven-leaves Place and time Tormentil groweth in Woods and shadowy places and also in Pastures and Closes as in Pray Wood near St. Albans in Cobham Park in Kent and in the Fields and Common near Horsham in Sussex and many other places Nature and Vertues Tormentil roots are dry in the third degree not very hot but of a binding quality under the Solar Influence It is effectual to stay all fluxes of blood or humors in man or woman either in wound or elsewhere it resists poison provokes sweat and is good to cure wounds It is good in the Pestilence Small Pox spotted Fevers and other contagious Diseases especially if the Patient have a flux of the belly withal It is a special Ingredient in Antidotes and Counterpoisons and excellent in Dyet-drinks against the French Disease and to dry up Rheums and Catarrhes The distilled Water taken fasting is good against Venome and Infection Two or three ounces thereof taken both morning and evening cures inward Vlcers and Fluxes of the belly especially the Disentery or bloody Flux The best way to distill it is to steep the herb all night in wine and then distilled it in Balneo Mariae which water taken with some Venice Treacle and the party sweating after it will expell any venomous poison the Plague and other contagious Diseases Cakes made with the powder of the dryed root and the white of an Egg and baked upon a hot tyle stayes Fluxes restrains Chollerick Belchings Vomiting and loathings in the Stomach The leaves and roots bruised and applyed dissolves knots and kernels of the Kings Evil and hardness about the Ears Throat and Jaws and easeth pains of the Sciatica The juyce of the leaves and roots used with vinegar is effectual for the Piles and Hemorrhoids Sores of the head or other parts Scabs or Itch being washed therewith or with the distilled Water of the herb or roots A little prepared Tutia or white Amber used with the distilled water hereof is helpful to dry up sharp Rheums that distill from the Head into the Eyes causing redness pain waterings or itchings therein Turnsole Heliotropium IT s natural Soil is in Italy Spain and France yet may be found in England in some curious Gardens but more plentifully at the Druggists shops Names It is called Heliotropium in Latine and herba Cancri because it flowers about the time when the Sun enters Cancer Nature and Vertues It is of temperature hot and dry and of a binding faculty a Solar Herb A handful thereof boiled in water and drunk purgeth Choller and Phlegm as saith Dioscorides and the decoction thereof with Commin breaks the Stone in the Reins Kidneys or Bladder provokes Vrine and the Tearms and causeth speedy delivery in Childe-bearing The seed and juyce of the leaves rubbed with salt upon Warts Wens and other hard kernels in the face eye-lids or other parts of the body will take them away by often using it The bruised leaves easeth pains of the Gout or places that have been out of joynt and are newly set and are full of pain being appled thereto Turpentine Terebinthina THere is a Turpentine which drops out of the Fire Tree Description and Names but this I speak of is a liquid substance issuing from the Larch Tree called in Latine Larix from whence also proceeds a tuberous excrescence called Agaricus or Agarick of which we have treated of The Turpentine in Latine is Terebinthina Place and Time It grows about Trent in Italy and the Turpentine is to be gathered in the hottest part of Summer Nature and Vertues Turpentine is moist and without sharpness of a cleansing quality an ounce thereof taken will gently open the Belly provoke Vrine and cleanseth the Reins Kidneys and Bladder being taken with Honey it expectorates tough Phlegm and is good for an old Cough the Ptisick and Consumption of the Lungs it is an excellent ingredient in Salves for Vlcers or green Wounds The chymical oyl of Turpentine is singular good in Wounds and to warm and ease cold pains in the Joynts and Sinews take Turpentine and wash it in Plantain Water and then make Pills thereof with the powder of white Amber red Corral Mastick and a little Camphire they will purge and cleanse the Reins and stay their running Turmerick Curcuma THis Plant groweth in the East Indies and is called by some Crocus Indicus but the common Latine Name is Curcuma Nature and Vertues Turmerick is hot and dry in the second or near the third degree it is excellent for the yellow Jaundies and obstructions of the Gall and for the Dropsie and Greeen Sickness to open stoppings of the Stomach Womb and Bladder and to bring down Womens Courses it is useful in old Diseases and the ill habit of the body it is good likewise in Medicines for the Itch and Scabs used with juyce of Oranges The Indians use it to colour meats and broths instead of Saffron and we to colour Wooden Dishes and Cups Turnips Rapum THese need no description they are called in Latine Rapum and Rapa Nature and Vertues Turnips are cold moist and windy but being boiled they are hardly perceived to cool The decoction of Turnips taken with Sugar is good to clear the Voice A syrrup made of the juyce when they are baked mixed with Honey or honey of Roses and a spoonful thereof taken at night helpeth a Cough and Hoarseness opens the Breast and is good for those that have a Vein broken Oyl of Roses boiled in a hollow Turnip under hot Embers cures kibed Heels The young Turnip tops boiled and eaten are a good Sallet to provoke Vrine The seed mixed with Treacle and drunk is good against poison Turnips being baked ingender less winde then when they are boiled but howsoever dressed they provoke Vrine increase seed and milk in Womens Breast ☞ See
further in The Art of Simpling written by W. Coles Tutsan or Park leaves Siciliana TUtsan groweth up with brownish Description shining round stalks crested hard and woody about two foot high branching out from the bottom having divers joynts and two fair large leaves at every joynt of a dark blueish green colour on the upper side and yellowish underneath turning reddish toward the Autumne and abiding on the branches all the Winter at the tops whereof stand large yellow flowers after which come heads of seed at first greenish then reddish and last of a darkish purple colour wherein are contained a small brownish seed and also a reddish juyce like unto blood of a reasonable scent and a harsh stiptick taste like as the leaves and flowers are though in a lower degree The root is brownish great hard and woody spreading in the ground and continueth a long time Names The Latines call it Androsaemum and some call it Dionysia and Siciliana in English it is called Park-leaves because it familiarly grows in Woods and Parks and Tutsan from the French word Toutsaine it being a good Wound Herb. Place and Time It delights to grow in Woods and woody Grounds Parks and Forrests flowers in July and August and the berries are ripe in September Nature and Vertues Tutsan is moderately hot and dry yet abstersive a Saturnine Plant The leaves and flowers of Tutsan abate lust and venerial motions being taken in drink or otherwise and the seeds more powerfully being toasted and then eat or drunk Castory boiled in the juyce of Tutsan and drunk helps the Gonorrhea The Green herb bruised and applyed helps burnings by fire and the same or the powder of the dry herb stayes bleeding of Wounds it is a sovereign Wound herb for any Wound either inwardly or outwardly it may be used in drinks lotions balms or oyntments for any green Wound or old Sores or Vlcers Two drams of the seed in powder taken in the morning or after supper in Mead Wine or fair water purgeth chollerick Humors and helpeth the Sciatica or Hip-Gout Throat-wort Trachelium THroat-wort groweth with many large hairy leaves Description somewhat rough a little dented about the edges and of an overworn green colour the stalk is also hairy about half a yard high whereon stand leaves from the bottom almost to the top after the fashion of Nettles towards the top on a short foot stalk come forth hollow flowers bell fashion of a blueish purple colour and hairy within the root is white thick and endureth long Names The Latines call it Trachelium Cervicaria and Vvularia some likewise call them Campanula the flowers being like Bells in English Throat-wort Canterbury-bells and Haskwort Place and Time It groweth in Stow Wood by Oxford and doubtless in many other places in England though Germany and Italy be their more natural places they flower in June and July scarce perfecting their seed but increase by the root Nature and Vertues This Plant is cold and dry and so are most Bell Flowers the roots are sweet and therefore eaten in Sallets as Rampions are they have an astringent quality and are effectual for all Vlcers in the Mouth and Throat and also for the Vvula or Pallat of the Mouth being swollen or fallen down and also for all Sores in the privy parts of man or woman or elsewhere to be used in a decoction with Honey Wine and Allome and likewise to close up the lips of Cuts and green Wounds Valerian Phu majus VAlerian hath a thick short grayish root Description lying for the most part above ground shooting out such like roots on all sides having long strings or fibres under them in the ground which nourish them from these roots spring up many green leaves which at first are somewhat broad and long without any dent or division in them but those that come after are more and more divided on each side some to the middle rib being winged as made of many leaves together on a stalk and those upon the stalk are more divided but smaller towards the top then below the stalk riseth to be two or three foot high sometimes branched at the top with many small whitish flowers sometimes dashed over at the edges with a pale purplish colour of a small scent after which followeth small brownish white seed which is carried away with the winde the root smelleth more strong then either leaf or flower and is of more use in Physick Names The ordinary sort is called Phu majus and Valeriana major hortensis and of some Herba Benedicta and Theriacaria it being an ingredient in Treacle Place and Time It is nourished and kept in our Gardens it flowers in June and July and so continueth till the Frosts destroy it Nature and Vertues Valerian hath little heat while it is green but the dryed roots are hot and dry near unto the second degree it is a Mercurial plant The Garden Valerian is used in Antidotes and being dryed and taken in drink it helps pains in the Sides provokes Vrine helps the Strangury procures womens Terms helps chokings or stranglings in any part caused by pains in the Chest or Sides and the decoction thereof doth the same the root taken in wine is good against venomous bitings the Plague and expelleth Winde The decoction of the root with Liquorice Raisins and Anniseeds helps such as are short winded and have the Cough opens the Breast and expectorates Phlegm The green Herb is excellent to heal any inward Sore or Wound and to draw any Thorn or Splinter out of the Flesh The green herb and root bruised taketh away pains and prickings of the Head being applyed thereunto and stayeth rheumes and distillations and being boiled in white Wine and a drop thereof put into the Eye takes away any Pin Haw or Web therein and helps dimness of the Sight The decoction thereof in Wine is profitable to asswage swelling of the Cods caused of cold or Winde The distilled water of the Herb and root made in May is singular good for all the aforesaid purposes and is good in time of the Plague it killeth Worms in the Belly and is good to wash green Wounds or old Vlcers The decoction of the leares is good to gargle a sore mouth or Gums Vervain Verbena COmmon Vervain hath divers leaves towards the bottom Description of a middle size deeply gashed at the bottom and the other part deeply dented about the edges and some onely dented and cut all alike somewhat like an Oak leaf and of a dark green colour on the upper side and grayish underneath The stalk is square and branched into divers parts and riseth abour half a yard high having a spike of flowers at the top set on all sides thereof one above another and sometimes two or three together being small and gaping of a whitish colour intermixt with some blue and purple The seed being small and round is contained in somewhat long heads The root is small and long and of no
bruised together the distilled water cools and resists the Pestilence two or three ounces of it being drunk The water of the outer husks being distilled in September is good against the Plague to be used with a little Vinegar The juyce thereof boiled with Honey is good for sore Mouths Heat and Inflammations in the Mouth Throat and Stomach The old kernels mixed with Figs and Rue cures old Vlcers of the Breast and cold Imposthumes and are used to heal Wounds of the Sinews Gangreens and Carbuncles and mixed with Rue and Oyl they are good to be laid to the Quinzy A piece of the green husk put into a hollow tooth easeth the pain thereof The leaves or green husks used with Bores-grease stayeth the hair from falling The Oyl of walnuts made as Oyl of Almonds is maketh the hands and face smooth and takes away scales scurf and black and blue marks that come of blows and bruises and being inwardly taken it expells winde and helps the Chollick The young green nuts before they be half ripe preserved whole in Sugar do streng then weak stomachs and help defluxions thereon The bark of the root having the upper skin scraped off being made into powder and tempered with vinegar and then strained two or three times till it be thin and clear and drunk liberally cleanseth the body very much and cureth the Ague The kernels being burned and taken in red wine doth stop Lasks and womens Courses The Catkins taken before they fall and dryed and a dram thereof taken in powder in white wine helpeth those that are troubled with rising of the Mother Wold Weld or Dyers Weed Lutea IT groweth with many long narrow bushing leaves Description flat upon the ground of a dark blueish green colour somewhat like Woad but not so large a little crumpled and round-pointed abiding so the first year and the next Spring amongst them rise up divers round stalks two or three foot high having many such like leaves thereon but smaller and shouting forth some branches at the tops whereof and of the stalks stand small yellow flowers in spiked heads after which cometh small black seed inclosed in heads divided at the tops into four parts The Root is long white and thick abiding all the year The whole Plant becometh yellow after it hath been a while in flower Names It is called by Pliny Lutea and so by Virgil of Mathiolus Pseudostruthium and of Tragus Antirrhinum Place and Time It groweth commonly by wayes sides both in moist and dry grounds in corners of fields and by-lanes and sometimes all over the fields It flowers about June Nature and Vertues The temperature of it is hot and dry in the third degree some people use to bruise the Herb and lay it to Cuts and Wounds in the Hands and Legs to heal them It is commended against the bitings of venomous Creatures to be taken inwardly and outwardly applyed to the place The Root as saith Mathiolus cuiteth and digesteth tough and raw Phlegm rarifieth gross humours openeth obstructions and dissolveth hard tumours Wheat Triticum THere are many kindes hereof which are all well known for food I shall therefore set down the Medicinal Uses hereof Names It is called in Latine Triticum Nature and Vertues Wheat is hot in the first degree and drying as saith Pliny but Gallen saith it neither dryeth nor moisteneth evidently Venus hath particular Influence over it as saith Culpeper I rather believe it to be Solar Bread made of Wheat taken hot out of the oven and applyed to the throat helpeth kernels of the Kings Evil and applyed to the ear it is good to draw out an Imposthume of the head being stale and steeped in red Rosewater and applyed to hot red inflamed or blood-shot Eyes it helpeth them Wheat flower mixed with the white of an Egg Honey and Turpentine doth draw cleanse and heal any Byle Plague-sore or foul Vlcers The flower mixed with the juyce of Henbane and applyed to the Joynts stayeth the flux of humours thereto The Meal boiled in Vinegar helps shrinking of the Sinnews and being boiled with Vinegar and Honey it helps Spots and Pimples in the Face The Corns of green Wheat being eaten hurt the stomach and breed worms but cures the biting of a mad dog being chewed and applyed to it as saith Dioscorides The Bran of Wheat-meal being boiled in the decoction of a Sheepshead is good in Glisters to cleanse and open the body and ease griping pains of the Bowels The decoction of the Bran is good to bathe such places as are broken by a Rupture and being boiled in Vinegar and applyed it stayeth Inflammations in swollen Breasts It helpeth the bitings of venomous Creatures The said Bran steeped in Vinegar and bound in a linnen cloth and rubbed on the Morphew Scurf Scab or Leprosie will take them away the body being also well purged Starch which is made of one kinde of Wheat moistned in Rosewater and laid to the Cods takes away their itching Wafers made of the fine flower being put into wate and drunk stay the Lask and bloody Flux and is good for the Rupture in Children and boiled with Roses dry Figs and Jujubes it makes a good Lotion to wash sore mouths and throats The same boiled in water unto a thick Jelly stayes spitting of blood being taken and boiled with Mynts and butter it helps Hoarseness Wheat-corns parched upon an iron pan and eaten are good for those that are chilled with cold saith Pliny The Oyl pressed from Wheat between two hot plates of iron or copper and used warm heals Tetters and Ring-worms and Mathiolus commendeth the same Oyl to heal hollow Vlcers and Chops in the Hands and Feet and to make the skin smooth The leaven of Wheat-meal is very drawing it rarifieth hard skin in the hands or feet warts and hard knots in the flesh being applyed with some salt Whitlow-Grass or Nailwort Paronychia THis is a very little Plant Description having small leaves growing in little tufts somewhat like those of Chickweed amongst which riseth up a small stalk about eight or nine inches long at the top whereof come very little white flowers growing one above another after which come in their place small flat pouches consisting of three films which when they are ripe the two outsides fall away the middle part remaining a long time after which is like white Sattin wherein is the seed which is very small and of a sharp taste The Root is onely a few strings Names The Grecians call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the same name it 's known in Latine and in English Nailwort and Whitlow-grass Place and Time It grows upon brick and stone walls and old tyled houses such as have good store of Moss upon them and upon shaddow and dry muddy walls flowers in January and February and vanisheth away at the approach of hot weather Nature and Vertues No other properties have been found hereof save onely it hath been accounted very good for those
Imposthumes in the Nails and Joynts called Felons and Whitlows from the essectual curing of which it took its Name The Willow Tree Salix THe several kindes hereof are very well known save onely in their Physical Uses Names Salix is the Latine Name in English Sallow Willow Withy and Osier Nature and Vertues The Plant is Lunar of temperature cold and dry in the second degree and astringent both the leaves bark and catkins are used to stay bleeding of wounds and at the mouth and nose spitting of blood and other Fluxes and to stay vomiting and the desire thereunto if the decoction of them in wine be drunk It also helps to stay thin sharp hot and salt distillations from the head upon the Lungs which cause a Consumption The leaves bruised with Pepper and drunk in wine do help the Winde Chollick The leaves or catkins which we in Hampshire call Goss-chicken I suppose because they bud forth at such time when Geese have young bruised and boiled in wine and drunk often doth abate the heat of lust and by much usage doth extinguish it either in man or woman If you slit the bark of a Willow so that you may fit a vessel to it to receive a water that will flow or issue from it at the time when it flowereth the same water is good to clear the sight and take away redness of the Eyes and Films that begin to grow over them and to stay Rheums that fall into them to clear the face and skin from spots and to provoke Vrine The flowers boiled in white wine and drunk dry up humours and so doth the bark the ashes of the bark mixed with Vinegar takes away warts and corns and callous stesh in the hands and feet or other parts The decoction of the bark and leares in wine is good to bathe the sinnews and places pained with the Gout to cleanse the head of scurf and dandriff The juyce of the leaves and barks mingled with Rosewater and heated in a Pomegranate shell is good to drop into the ears to help Deafness a bathe made of the decoction of the leaves and bark doth strengthen restore and nourish withered and dead members Woad Glastum IT groweth up with many large long smooth Description greenish leaves amongst which riseth up a stalk two or three foot high having divers smaller leaves thereon it brancheth at the top whereon appear small yellow flowers after which come long and somewhat flat husks wherein the seed is contained black and hanging downwards The seed being a little chewed gives an Azure Colour The Root is white and long Names Mannured Woad is called Glastum sativum and wilde Woad Glastum silvestre and Isatis Glaslum Indicum Indico or Indian Woad Place and Time It is planted in Fields and Gardens for the benefit of it being used by Dsers it yields three Crops a year and a stinking scent after it is gathered before it is made up for use It flowers about June if it be suffered to run up to flower Nature and Vertues It is cold and dry an astringent Saturnine Plant so drying and binding that it is not fit to be used in any inward medicine but an Oyntment made thereof stancheth bleeding and a Plaister thereof takes away hardness and swelling of the Spleen being applyed to the Region thereof The said Oyntment is good to dry moist Vlcers to take away fretting and corroding humours to cool Inflammations St. Anthonies fire and stay defluxions of blood to any part of the body It is affirmed to be destructive to Bees to prevent which if it grow near any Bees the way is to set urine by them putting it in a vessel with slices of Cork therein that thereon they may save themselves from drowning Woodbynde vide Honey-suckles Wormwood Absynthium THere are three kindes usual with us Common Wormwood Sea Wormwood and Roman Wormwood Names Common Wormwood is called in Latine Absynthium and the Sea Wormwood Seryphium and Santonicum Place and Time They are all well enough known the Roman Wormwood is planted in Gardens the Sea Wormwood groweth by the Sea-Coasts and the common Wormwood groweth wilde in all Countreys in England and generally near Smiths Forges They all flower about August Nature and Vertues Common Wormwood is hot in the second degree and dry in the third of a cleansing binding and strengthening quality it is subjected to the Influence of Mars It strengthens the Stomach like Aloes drawing from the Stomach and Intestines Choller and Phlegm whether it be taken in powder or decoction or the juyce by it self or the infusion in wine or beer but it offends the head causing drowsiness and sleepiness and that drink called Purle offends the head of some causing it to ake It is not good for hot Stomachs nor for those that are subject to the Consumption of the Lungs Falling-Sickness Apoplexy Lethargy and continual Feavers I have known many receive much hurt by drinking Wormwood Beer and Ale therefore it ought to be used cautiously and moderately and given to bodies fitting for it and so being discreetly used it purgeth Choller from the Reins and Bladder by Vrine It is good in the Green Sickness Jaundies and Dropsie helps Obstructions in the Liver and Stomach the Chollick and gripings of the Belly it preserves the Blood from putrefaction resists Drunkenness helps vomiting at Sea and killeth Worms It cleanseth the Womb and Vterine parts drives away the Hiccough procures a good appetite expells Winde helps Crudities and prevails in intermitting Agues and Obstructions of the Entrails Vinegar wherein Wormwood hath been boiled helps a stinking breath proceeding from the teeth or stomach and provokes Womens Courses and helps such as have hurt themselves by eating Toad-stools being but steeped in vinegar and drunk Wormwood-wine is good for all the forementioned purposes except for such as have Fevers Being outwardly applyed it kills worms in the belly or stomach the juyce with honey helpeth dim Eyes and mixed with Nitre it helps the Quinzie being anointed therewith and likewise mingled with Honey and anointed it takes away black and blue spots in the skin The decoction thereof received by a Funnel helpeth sore and running Ears and the Tooth-ache and the Temples bathed therewith it helps the Head-ache proceeding from a cold cause being bruised and applyed with Rosewater to the stomach it comforts such as have been long sick Being used with Figs Vinegar and Darnel-meal it helps hardness of the Spleen and a hot sharp water running between the flesh and the skin if the skin be rubbed with the juyce or oyl of Wormwood it keepeth away Fleas and Knats and the Herb laid in Presses or Chests amongst Clothes preserves them from Moaths and Worms Xylo Aloe THis Indian Tree is called by the Grecians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine also Xylo aloes and Lignum Aloes In English Wood of the Aloe-tree Lign Ales and Wood Aloes It groweth in Malana and Sumatra places in the East Indies
very dangerous being mach haunted by Tygers Temperature and Vertues It is hot and dry in the second and according to the judgement of some in the third degree of subtle parts a little astringent and bitter This wood is used as a main Ingredient in those Powders and Electuries which are used to strengthen the heart and inward parts to resist saintings and cold diseases of the heart and corroborate the spirits for which it is very essectual It is also useful in the Apoplexy Palsie Lethargy and left Memory by strengthning and drying the brain and stopping rheumatick defluxions which cause those Diseases It helps faint Swetings Dysenteries Lasks and Pleurisies expells Winde dryeth up Crudities fortisies a weaks Stomach and resists Putrefaction for which it is used in drivers Cordials and Antidotes The Extract thereof it good for the forementioned Diseases It is used outwardly in sumigations to dry up Rheum and in Quilts for that purpose it helps also cold diseases of the Womb The fumigation thereof is said also to provoke the Tearms it helps told diseases of the Womb and killeth Worms by reason of its bitterness as much of the powder thereof as will lye upon a groat being taken three mornings together either in broth or wine is profitable in diseases of the Liver and Spleen openeth their obstructions and strengtheneth them Yarrow Millefolium IT hath many long leaves lying upon the ground Description which are divided or finely cut into many small parts finer then Tansie a little jagged about the edges amongst which rise up two stalks round and green with such leaves but smaller and finer the nearer the tops where stand many small white flowers upon a tuft or umbel each flower having five leaves with a yellowish thrum in the middle somewhat strong in scent but not unpleasant The Root is deep and spreading consisting of many white fibres Names It is called in Latine Millefolium and of some Supercilium Veneris in English Millefoil Yarrow Nose-bleed and thousand leaf Place and Time There are very few Pasture-grounds free from it they flower in July and August Nature and Vertues Yarrow is meanly cold and dry and somewhat astringent an Herb of Venus and is excellent good for Vlcers and Inflammations of the Privities and for inward Excoriations of the Yard the juyce being injected with a Seringe Mathiolus commends it against pissing of blood an ounce of the powder of the herb and flowers with a dram of fine Bole-Armonick being taken three dayes together fasting in a draught of milk The same powder taken in Comphrey or Plantain-water is excellent to staqy inward bleadings and stayeth the bleeding of fresh wounds being strewed thereon and being put into the nostrils stayeth bleeding at rose The juyce put into the Eyes cleareth them of blood and redness and the rox or green leaves chewed in the mouth easeth the Tooth-aches The juyce of the herb and flow 〈◊〉 taken in Goats milk or the distilled water stayeth the running of the Reins in men especially if taken with a little powder of Corral Amber and Ivory The decoction of Yarrow in white wine being drunk stoppeth womens Courses and the bloody Flux and a good quantity thereof boiled in water and made into a bathe and sate over performeth the same It is good to close up the stomachs of those in whom the Retentive Faculty is so weak that they disgorge or vomit up whatsoever they eat It is a good Medicine for an Ague a draught thereof being drunk before the fit come and used for two or three fits together An Oyntment made of the herb is good for green wounds and also for Vlcers and Fistula's especially such as abound with moisture The said Oyntment or Oyl is good to stay the shedding of hair the head bieng anointed therewith Yew Tree Taxus THis Tree is well known for hard timber and good to make strong Bowes the Latine name thereof is Taxas but it is not mentioned by me for any medicinal Vertue that is in it though the bark thereof is by some used instead of that of Tamarisk I say not how judiciously Nature and Vertues Yew is hot and dry in the third degree and hath such an attractive quality that if it be set in a place subject to poysonous vapours the very branches will draw and imbibe them Hence it is conceived that the judicious in former times planted it in Church-yards on the West side because those places being fuller of putrefaction and gross oleaginous Vapours exhaled out of the Graves by the setting Sun and sometimes drawn into those Meteors called Ignes fatui divers have been frighted supposing some dead bodies to walk others have been blasted c. not that it is able to drive away Devils as some superstitious Monks have imagined nor yet that it was ever used to sprinkle Holy-Water as some quarrel some Presbyters altogether as ignorant of natural Causes as the signification of Emblems and useful Ornaments have fondly conceived Wheresoever it grows it is dangerous and deadly both to man and beast according to most Authours how much more then if it be encompassed with Graves into which the lesser Roots will run and suck nourishment poisonous mans flesh being the rankest poison that can be yet a certain Vicar unwilling to own the effects thereof upon his Cows would fain deny it to be so Other Creatures as Rabbits have been poisoned with it and the very lying under the shadow hath been found hurtful Yet the growing of it in a Church-yard is useful and therefore it ought not to be cut down upon what pittiful pretence soever Zedoary Zedoaria IT is a Root growing in the East Indies Description called in Latine Zedoaria growing much like unto Ginger Nature and Vertues It is hot and dry in the second degree It stops Lasks and is good against venomous bitings stoppings and pains of the Stomach It stayes vomiting helps the Chollick amends a stinking Breath and is a very good Antidote against the Plague and other contagious Diseases FINIS An Alphabetical Table of all the Herbs and Plants contained in this Book with their several Latine Appellations directed to their several Pages A. ADders Tongue Ophioglossum Page 1 Adders-grass idem Page 1 Agrimony Eupatoria Page 2 Water-Agrimony Eupatorium Page 3 Agarick Agaricus Larix Page 172 Ague tree Sassafras Page 295 Agnus castus Chaste tree Page 4 Alecoast Costus hortorum Page 5 Alehoof Hedera terrestris Page 6 All-heal Panax Herculeum Page 7 Alexanders Hipposelinum Page 8 Black Alder-tree Alnus nigra Ibid. Alleluia Page 311 Almond-tree Amigdalum Page 9 Alkekengi Page 10 Angelica Page 11 Apple-tree Pomus Page 12 Apricock-tree Malus Armeniaca Page 13 Archangel Lamium Ibid. Aron Page 92 Arrach Atriplex Page 14 Arsmart Persicaria Page 15 Alkanet Fucus Herba Page 16 Amara dulcis Page 41 Amaranthus Page 346 Anemonies Herba venti Page 18 Artechokes Cinara Page 19 Assarabacca Asarum Page 20 Asparagus Corruda Ibid. Ash-tree Fraxinus Page 21 Asp or
of this Land The Dogs Mercury grows by hedges sides in many places they flower and seed in the Summer moneths Nature and Vertues Mercury is hot and dry about the second degree having a cleansing and digesting faculty Mercury claims it for his names sake Mercury is much commended for Womens Diseases the secret parts being fomented therewith it easeth the pains of the Mother the decoction thereof being taken procures the Terms expells the After-birth it is also good for the Strangury and diseases of the Reins and Bladder Hypocrates commendeth it for sore and watry Eyes deafness and pains in the Ears by dropping the juyce thereof into them and bathing them afterwards in white Wine the juyce taken in Broth or drink or the decoction of the leaves with a little Sugar purgeth chollerick and waterish humors Broth made thereof with a Cock Chicken is good against hot fits of an Ague and cleanseth the Breast and Lungs of phlegm but is a little offensive to the Stomach The juyce or water thereof snuffed up into the nostrils purgeth the Head and Eyes of Rheume and Cathars Two or three ounces of the distilled water with a little Sugar taken fasting opens and purgeth the body of gross viscous and melancholly humors Mathiolus saith That the seed of the male and the flowers of the female Mercury boiled with Wormwood and drunk speedily cures the yellow Jaundies The leaves or juyce rubbed upon Warts takes them away The juyce mixed with vinegar helps the Itch running Scabs Tetters and Ring-worms being applyed pultis-wise to Swellings and Inflammations it digesteth the humors which cause the same It is commonly used amongst other things in Glisters to evacuate the Belly from offensive humors Dogs Mercury may be likewise used to purge waterish and melancholly humours in the same manner as the former There are some fables reported of this Plant which I shall forbear to relate Mill-Mountain Linum sylvestre I Am induced to publish this plant Description by the commendation I have had of it from some special friends who have found singular use of it and commend it to do all things which Sena doth The description Gerrard reports to have had from a friend of his called Mr. Goodyer which is as followeth It riseth up from a small white threddy crooked root sometimes with one but most commonly with five or six or more round stalks about a foot or nine inches high of a brown on reddish colour every stalk dividing it self near the top from the middle upward into many branches or parts of a greener colour then the lower part of the stalk the leaves are small smooth of colour green of the bigness of Lentil leaves and have in the middle one rib or sinew and no more that may be perceived and grow along the stalk in good order by couples one opposite against the other at the tops of the small branches grow the flowers of a white colour consisting of five small leaves apiece the nails whereof are yellow in the inside are placed small short chieves also of a yellow colour after which come up small little knobs or buttons the top whereof when the seed is ripe divides it self into five parts wherein is contained small smooth flat slippery yellow seed when the seed is ripe the herb perisheth the whole herb is of a bitter taste and herby smell Names Gerrard saith when he first found this plant he inserted it in his Catalogue amongst the kindes of Lines or Flaxes and called it Linum sylvestre pusillum candidis floribus until he had a further relation thereof from Mr. Goodyer who called it Linum sylvae Catharticum because it was used to purge and in English it had acquired the name of Mill-Mountain Place and Time It groweth plentifully in the unmanured Inclosures of Hampshire on chalkly Downs and on Purfleet Hills in Essex and many other places I have been told it grows near Wickomb in Buckinghamshire and in July about four years since Mr. Dixon and I met a Chyrurgeon with some of it in his hand in Kingston which he said he had gathered by the way as he came from London It riseth forth of the ground at the beginning of the Spring and flowreth all the Summer Nature and Vertues It s bitter taste argues the temperature thereof to incline to heat The use of it as the same Mr. Goodyer reports is as follows Take a handful of Mill Mountain the whole plant leaves seeds flowers and all bruise it and put it in a small Pipkin with a pint of white Wine and set it on the Embers to infuse all night and drink that wine in the morning fasting This he saith he was told by a servant of one Dr. Lake who lived at St. Cross near Winchester would give eight or ten stools This Dr. Lake was afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells and alwayes used this herb for his purge as his man affirmed Thus saith Gerrard by the relation of Goodyer but lately I have heard it commended by some Physicians to be equalent in vertue to Sena Therefore I have put it down for the benefit of the studions to make further tryal and use of it accordingly Mynts Mentha BOth the Garden and wilde Mint are well enough known Description and Names wherefore I shall pass by their description to their names and vertues Mentha is the Latine common name and Mint or Spearmint for the Garden kinde in English Place and Time The wilde Mints grow in warry Ditches the other onely in Gardens they all flower in August the plant increaseth much by the root the seed being seldom good Nature and Vertues Mynt is hot and dry in the beginning of the third degree bitter binding and of thin parts and is said to be an herb of Venus The decoction cureth a sore Mouth and Gums the mouth being gargled therewith and helps a stinking breath being applyed with honied water it eases pains in the Ears and the roughness of the Tongue it being rubbed therewith The decoction thereof is good to wash Childrens Heads against Scabs and breakings out and heals chaps of the Fundament Two or three branches thereof taken with the juyce of Pomgranates stayes the Hiccough Vomiting and allayes Choller being applyed with Barley meal it dissolves Imposthumes it is good to repress the milk in Womens Breasts and helps swollen or flagging Breasts it causes digestion helps a cold Liver strengthens the Belly and Stomach helps gnawings of the heart procures appetite opens the Liver and provokes to Venery being bruised with salt it is good for the biting of a mad Dog The mouth being gargled with a decoction thereof and Rue and Coriander bringeth the pallat of the mouth that is down to its right place the powder of it taken after meat helps digestion and those that are spleenatick and taken in wine it helps women in their sore Travel in Childe bearing it is good against the Strangury and Gravel and Stone in the Kidneys being boiled in milk before you