take to be no other but our English Adder and all other Venemous Creatures The Leaves of Wheat Meal applied with some Salt taketh away hardness of the Skin Wharts and hard Knots in the Flesh. Starch moistned with Rosewater and laid to the Cods taketh away their Itching Wafers put in Water and drunk stayeth the Lask and Bloody Flux and is profitably used both inward and outwardly for the Ruptures in Children Boyled in Water unto a thick Gelly and taken it stayeth spitting of Blood and boyled with Mints and Butter it helpeth the hoarsness of the Throat The VVillow-tree THese are so well known that they need no no Description I shall therefore only shew you the Vertues thereof Vertues and Use. Both the Leaves Bark and the Seed are used to stanch bleeding of Wounds and at Mouth and Nose spitting of Blood and all other Fluxes of Blood in man or woman and to stay Vomiting and provocation thereunto if the Decoction of them in Wine be drunk It helpeth also to stay thin hot sharp salt Distillations from the Head upon the Lungs causing a Consumption The Leaves bruised with some Peppâ—r and drunk in Wine much helpeth the wind Chollick The Leaves bruised and boyled in Wine and drunk staieth the heat of Lust in man or woman and quite extinguisheth it if it be long used The Seed is also of the same effect The Water that is gathered from the Willow when it Flowreth the Bark being slit and a fitting Vessel set to receive it is very good for redness and dimness of Sight for films that grow over the Eyes and stay the Rhewms that fall into them to provoke Urin being stopped if it be drunk and to cleer the Face and Skin from Spots and Discolourings Galenâ—aith â—aith The Flowers have an admirable faculty in drying up Humors beeing a Medicine without any sharpness or corrosion You may boyl them in white Wine and drink as much as you will so you drink not your self drunk The Bark work the same effects if used in the same manner and the Tree hath alwaies Bark upon it though not alwaies Flowers The Burnt ashes of the Bark being mixed with Vinegar taketh away Warts Corns and Superfluous Flesh being applied to the place The Decoction of the Leaves or Bark in Wine takes away Scurf or Dandrif by washing the place with it 'T is a fine cool Tree The Boughs of which are very convenient to be placed in the Chamber of one sick of a Feaver Woad Description IT hath diverse large Leaves long and somwhat broad withal like to those of the greater Plantaue but larger thicker of a greenish colour and somwhat blew withal From among which Leaves riseth up a lusty Stalk three or four foot high with diverse Leaves set thereon The higher the Stalk riseth the smaller are the Leaves at the top it spreadeth into diverse Branches at the ends of which appear pretty little yellow Flowers and after they pass away like other Flowers of the Field come Husks long and somwhat flat withal in form they resemble a Tongue in colour they are black and they hang bobbing downwards The Seed contained within these Husks if it be a little chewed gives an Azure colour The Root is white and long Place It is sowed in Fields for the benefit of it where those that sow it cut it three ' times a yeer Time It Flowreth in June but is long after before the Seed is ripe Vertues and Use. Some People affirm the Plant to be destructive to Bees which if it be I cannot help it They say it possesseth Bees with a Flux but that I can hardly beleeve unless Bees be contrary to all other Creatures I should rather think it possesseth them with the contrary Disease the Herb being exceeding drying and binding However if any Bees be diseased thereby the cure is to set Urine by them but set it in such a Vessel that they cannot drown themselves which may be remedied if you put pieces of Cork in it I told you before the Herb was drying and binding and so drying and binding that it is not fit to be given inwardly An Oyntment made thereof stancheth Bleeding A Plaister made thereof and applied to the Region of the Spleen and I pray you take notice that the Spleen lies on the left side takes away the hardness and pains thereof The Oyntment is excellent good in such Ulcers as abound with moisture and takes away the corroding and fretting Humors It cools Inflamations quencheth St. Anthonies fire and stayeth Defluxions of Blood to any part of the Body Woodbind or Honey-suckles THe Plant is so common that every one that hath Eyes knows them and he that hath none cannot reade a Description if I should write it Time They Flower in June and the Fruit is ripe in August Vertues and Use. Doctor Tradition that grand Introducer of Errors that Hater of Truth that Lover of Folly and that mortal Foe to Doctor Reason hath taught the common People to use the Leaves and Flowers of this Plant in Mouth Waters and by long continuance of time hath so grounded it in the Brains of the Vulgar that you cannot beat it out with a Beetle All Mouth Waters ought to be cooling and drying but Honeysuckles are clensing consuming and digesting and therefore no waies fit for Inflamations Thus Doctor Reason Again If you please we will leave Dr. Reason a while and come to Dr. Experience a learned Gentleman and his Brother Take a Leaf and chew it in your Mouth and you will quickly find it likelier to cause a sore Mouth or Throat than to cure it Well then if it be not good for this What is it good for 'T is good for somthing For God and Nature made nothing in vain It is an Herb of Jupiter and apropriated to the Lungs the Coelestial Crab claims Dominion over it neither is it a Foe to the Lyon If the Lungs be afflicted by Mercury this is your Cure It is fitting a Conserve made of the Flowers of it were kept in every Gentlewomans House I know no better cure for an Asthma than this Besides It takes away the evil of the Spleen provokes Urine procures speedy Delivery to Women in Travail helps Cramps Convulsions and Palseys and whatsoever griefs comes of cold or stopping If you please to make use of it in an Oyntment it will cleer your Skin of Morphew Freckles and Sun-burning or whatsoever else discolours it and then the Maids will love it I have done when I have told you what Authors say and cavelled a little with them They say the Flowers are of more effect than the Leaves and that 's true but they say The Seeds are of least effect of all But Dr. Reason told me That there was a Vital Spirit in every Seed to beget its like and Dr. Experiense told me That there was a greater heat in a Seed than there was in any other part of a
than such as are small yet most of them will keep a yeer 6. Such Roots as are soft it is your best way to keep them alwaies neer the fire and take this general Rule If in Winter time you find any of your Roots Herbs or Flowers begin to grow moist as many times you shall especially in the Winter time for 't is your best way to look to them once a month dry them by a very gentle fire or if you can with convenience keep them neer the fire you may save your self the labor 7. It is in vain to dry such Roots as may commonly be had as Parsly Fennel Plantane c. but gather them only for present need Chap. 5. Of Barks 1. BArks which Physitians use in Medif cines are these sorts of Fruits o Roots of Boughs 2. The Barks of Fruits is to be taken when the Fruit is full ripe as Orrenges Lemmons c. but because I have nothing to do with Exoticks here I shall pass them without any more words 3. The Barks of Trees are best gathered in the Spring if it be of great Trees as Oaks or the like because then they come easiest off and so you may dry them if you please but indeed your best way is to gather all Barks only for present use 4. As for the Bark of Roots 't is this and thus to be gotten Take the Roots of such Herbs as have a pith in them as Parsly Fennel c. slit them in the middle and when you have taken out the pith which you may easily and quickly do that which remains is called though somthing improperly the Bark and indeed is only to be used Chap. 6. Of Juyces 1. Juyces are to be pressed out of Herbs when they are yong and tender and also out of some Stalks and tender tops of Herbs and Plants and also out of some Flowers 2. Having gathered your Herb you would preserve the Juyce of when it is very dry for otherwise your Juyce will not be worth a Button bruise it very well in a stone Mortar with a wooden Pestle then having put it into a Canvas Bag the Herb I mean not the Mortar for that will yield but little Juyce press it hard in a press then take the Juyce and clarifie it 3. The manner of clarifying of it is this put it into a Pipkin or Skillet or some such thing and set it over the fire and when the Scum riseth take it off let it stand over the fire till no more Scum rise then have you your Juyce clarified cast away the Scum as a thing of no use 4. When you have thus clarified it you have two waies to preserve it all the yeer First When it is cold put it into a Glass and put so much Oyl on it as will cover it the thickness of two fingers the Oyl will swim at top and so keep the Air from coming to it to purrifie it when you inâ—end to use it do no more but so powr out into a Porrenger a little more than you intend to use and if any Oyl come out with it as if the Glass be not full 't is a hundred to one it there do you may easily scum it off with a Spoon and put the Juyce you use not into the Glass again it will quickly sink under the Oyl This is the first way Secondly The second way is a little more difficult and the Juyce of Fruits is usually preserved this way when you have clarified the Juyce as before boyl it over the fire till being cold it be of the thickness of Honey this is most commonly used for Diseases of the mouth and is called Râ—b and Sapa And thus much for the first Section the Second follows SECT 2. The way of making and keeping all Necessary Compounds Chap. 1. Of Distilled Waters HItherto we have spoken of Medicines which consist in their own Nature which Authors vulgarly call Simples though somthing improperly for indeed and in truth nothing is Simple but the pure Elements all things else are compounded of them We come now to treat of the Artificial Medicines in the front of which because we must begin somewhere we place distilled Waters In which consider 1. Waters are distilled out of Herbs Flowers Fruits and Roots 2. We treat not here of strong Waters but of cold as being to act Galen's Part and not Paracelsus 3. The Herbs ought to be distilled when they are in their greatest vigor and so ought the Flowers also 4. The vulgar way of Distillation which people use because they know no better is in a Peuter Still and although Distilled Waters are the weakest of all Artificial Medicines and good for little unless for mixtures of other Medicines yet this way distilled they are weaker by many degrees than they would be were they distilled in Sand If I thought it not impossible to teach you the way of distilling in Sand by writing I would attempt it 5. When you have distilled your Water put it into a Glass and having bound the top of it over with a Paper pricked full of holes that so the excrementitious and fiery vapors may exhale which indeed are they that cause that setling in distilled Waters called the Mother which corrupts the Waters and might this way be prevented cover it close and keep it for your use 6. Stopping distilled Waters with a Cork makes them musty and so will a Paper also if it do but touch the Water your best way then is to stop them with a Bladder being first wet in Water and bound over the top of the Glass Such cold Waters as are distilled in a Peuter Still if well kept will endure a yeer such as are distilled in Sand as they are twice as strong so will they endure twice as long Chap. 2. Of Syrups 1. A Syrup is a Medicine of a Liquid form composed of Infusion Decoction and Juyce and 1. for the more grateful tast 2. for the better keeping of it with a certain quantity of Honey or Sugar hereafter mentioned boiled to the thickness of new Honey 2. You see at the first view then that this Aphorism devides it self into three Branches which deserve severally to be treated of viz. 1. Syrups made by Infusion 2. Syrups made by Decoction 3. Syrups made by Juyce Of each of these for your Instruction sake kind Country men and women I speak a word or two or three apart First Syrups made by Infusion are usually made of Flowers and of such Flowers as soon lose both colour and strength by boyling as Roses Violets Peach-Flowers c. my Translation of the London Dispensatory will instruct you in the rest They are thus made having picked your Flowers clean to every pound of them ad three pound of three pints which you will for it is all one of Spring Water made boyling hot by the fire first put your Flowers in a Peuter Pot with a cover then powr the Water to them then shutting the Pot let
it stand by the fire to keep hot twelve hours then strain it out in such Syrups as pâ—â—ge as Daâ—ask Roses Peach-Flowers c. the usual and indeed the best way is to repeat this Infusion adding fresh Flowers to the same Liquor diverse rimes that so it may be the stronger having strained it out put the Infusion into a Peuter Bason or an Eartlien one well glassed and to every pint of it ad two pound of fine Sugar which being only melted over the fire without boyling and scummed will produce you the Syrup you desire Secondly Syrups made by Decoction are usually used of Compounds yet may any Simple Herb be thus converted into Syrup Take the Herb Root or Flower you would make into Syrup and bruise it a little then boyl it in a convenient quantity of Spring Water the more water you boyl it in the weaker will it be a handful of the Herb Root c. is a convenient quantity for a pint of Water boyl it till half the water be consumed then let it stand till it be almost cold and strain it being almost cold through a woollen cloth letting it run out at leisure without pressing to every pint of this Decoction ad one pound of Sugar and boyl it over the fire till it come to a Syrup which you may know if you now and then cool a little of it in a spoon scum it all the while it boyls and when it is sufficiently boyled whilst it is hot strain it again through a woollen cloth but press it not thus have you the Syrup perfected Thirdly Syrups made of Juyces are usually made of such Herbs as are full of Juyce and indeed they are better made into a Syrup this way than any other the Operation is thus having beaten the Herb in a stone Mortar with a wooden Pestle press out the Juyce and clarifie it as you were taught before in the Juyces then let the Juyce boyl away till a quarter of it or neer upon be consumed to a pint of this ad a pound of Sugar and boyl it to a Syrup alwaies scumming it and when it is boyled enough strain it through woollen cloth as we taught you before and keep it for your use 3. If you make Syrups of Roots that are any thing hard as Parsley Fennel and grass Roots c. when you have bruised them lay them in steep some time in that Water which you intend to boyl them in hot so will the Vertue the better come out 4. Keep your Syrups either in Glasses or stone Pots and stop them not with Cork nor Bladder unless you would have the Glass break and the Syrup lost â— and as many Opinions as there are in this Nation I suppose there are but few or none of this only bind a Paper about the Mouth 5. All Syrups if well made will continue a yeer with some advantage yet of all such as are made by Infusion keep the least while Chap. 3. Of Juleps 1. Juleps were first invented as I suppose in Arabia and my reason is because that word Juleb is an Arabick word 2. It signifies only a pleasant Potion and was vulgarly used by such as were sick and wanted help or such as were in health and wanted no money to quench thirst 3. Now a daies 't is commonly used 1. To prepare the Body for Piâ—gation 2. To open Obstructions and the Pores 3. To digest tough Humors 4. To qualifie hot distempers c. 4. It is thus made I mean Simple Juleps for I have nothing to say to Compounds here all Compounds have as many several Idea's as men have crotchets in their Brain I say Simple Juleps are thus made Take a pint of such distilled Water as conduceth to the cure of your distemper which this Treatise will plentifully furnish you withal to which add two ounces of Syrup conducing to the same effect I shall give you Rules for it in the last Chapter mix them together and drink a draught of it at your pleasure If you love tart things ad ten drops of Oyl of Vitriol to your pint and shake it together and it will have a fine grateful tast 5. All Juleps are made for present use and therefore it is in vain to speak of their duration Chap. 4. Of Decoctions 1. ALL the difference between Decoctions and Syrups made by Decoction is this Syrups are made to keep Decoctions only for present use for you can hardly keep a Decoction a week at any time if the weather be hot not half so long 2. Decoctions are made of Leaves Roots Flowers Seeds Fruits or Barks conducing to the cure of the Disease you make them for in the same manner are they made as we shewed you in Syrups 3. Decoctions made with Wine last longer than such as are made with Water and if you take your Decoction to clense the passages of Urine or open Obstructions your best way is to make it with white Wine instead of Water because that is most penetrating 4. Decoctions are of most use in such Diseases as lie in the Passages of the Body as the Stomach Bowels Kidneys Passages of Urine and Bladder because Decoctions pass quicker to those places than any other form of Medicines 5. If you will sweeten your Decoction with Sugar or any Syrup fit for the occasion you take it for which is better you may and no harm done 6. If in a Decoction you boyl both Roots Herbs Flowers and Seeds together let the Roots boyl a good while first because they retain their Vertue longest then the next in order by the same Rule viz. 1. The Barks 2. the Herbs 3. the Seeds 4. the Flowers 5. the Spices if you put any in because their vertue comes soonest our 7. Such things as by boyling cause sliminess to a Decoction as Figs Quince Seeds Linseed c. your best way is after you have bruised them to tie them up in a linnen rag as you tie up a Calves Brains and so boyl them 8. Keep all Decoctions in a Glass close stopped and in the cooler place you keep them the longer will they last ere they be sowr Lastly The usual Dose to be given at one time is usually two three four or five ounces according to the age and strength of the Patient the season of the yeer the strength of the Medicine and the quality of the Discase Chap. 5. Of Oyles 1. OYL Olive which is commonly known by the name of Sallet Oyl I suppose because it is usually eaten with Sallets by them that love it If it be pressed out of ripe Olives according to Galen is temperate and exceeds in no one quality 2. Of Oyls some are Simple and some are Compound 3. Simple Oyls are such as are made of Fruits or Seeds by expression as Oyl of sweet and bitter Almonds Linseed and Rapeseed Oyl c. of which see my Dispensatory 4. Compound Oyls are made of Oyl of Olives and other Simples imagine Herbs Flowers Roots
Seeds cast upon them and taken after meat do strenthen both Stomach and Bowels especially in those that loath or hardly digest their meat or are given to casting or have a Flux or Lask Those that are a little sowr and harsh used in that manner are fittest Sweet Apples loosen the Belly and drive forth Worms Sowr Apples stop the Belly and provoke Urin 3 and Crabs for this purpose are fittest The sweet Apples as the Pippin and Pearmain help to dissolve Melancholly humors and to procure Mirth and therfore are fittest for Confectio Alkerimes and Syrupus de Pomis The Leavs boyled and given to drink in hot Agues where the heat of the Liver and Stomach causeth the Lips to break out and the Throat to grow dry harsh and furred is very good to wash and gargle it withal and to drink down som. This may to good purpose be used when better things are not at hand or cannot be had The Juyce of Crabs either Verjuyce or Cider is of singular good use in the Heat and faintings of the Stomach and against Casting to make a Posset with or taken som of it alone by it self The Juyce of Crabs or Cider applied with wet cloaths therein to scalded or burnt places cooleth healeth and draweth sorih the Fire A rotten Apple applied to Eyes blood-shotten or enflamed with heat or that are black and blue about them by any stroke or fall and bound too all day or night helpeth them quickly The distilled Water of rotten Apples doth cool the heat and inflamations of Sores and is good to bath foul creeping Ulcers and to wash the Face to take away Spots Freckles or other discolorings The distilled Water of good and sound Apples is of special good use to procure Mirth and expel Melancholly The Ointment called Pomatum if sweet and well made helpeth the Chops in the Lips or Hands and maketh smooth and supple the rough Skin of the Hands or Face parched with wind or other accidents Thus my Authors All that I can say of Apples is this 1 That they are extream windy 2 That they provoke Urin being roasted especially Pomwaters and mixed with fair Water and drunk up at night going to bed half a dozen great ones mixed with a quart of Water excellently provokes Urin if there be no material stone in the Body This I had of Gerhard and have often known it proved and alwaies with good success All Apples loosen theâ— Belly and pleasure the Stomach by their coolness Arrach wild stinking ♀ Description THis hath small and almost round Leaves yet a little pointed and without dent or cut of a dusky mealy colour growing on the slender Stalks and Branches that spread on the the Leaves and smal Seeds succeding like the rest perishing yearly and rising again with its own sowing It smels like old rotten Fish or somthing worse Place It grows usually upon Dunghils Time They flower in June and July and their Seed is ripe quickly after Vertues and use Stinking Arrach is used as a remedy to help Women painèd and almost strangled with the Mother by smelling to it But inwardly taken there is not a better Remedy under the Moon for that Disease I would be large in commendation of this Herb were I but Eloquent It is an Herb under the dominion of Venus and under the sign Scorpio It is common almost upon every Dunghil The Works of God are given freely to Man his Medicins are common and cheap and easie to be found t is the Medicines of the Colledg of Physitians that are so dear and scarce to find I commend it for an Universal Medicine for the Womb and such a Medicine as will easily safly and speedily cure any Diseas therof as the fits of the Mother Dislocation or falling our therof it cools the Womb being over-heared And let me tel you this and I wil tel you but the truth Heat of the womb is one of the greatest causes of hard labor in Childbirth It makes barren women fruitful it clenseth the Womb if it be foul and strengthens it exceedingly it provokes the Terms if they be stopped and stops them if they flow immoderatly You can desire no good to your Womb but this Herb will effect it therfore if you love Children if you love Health if you love Ease keep a Syrup alwaies by you made of the Juyce of this Herb and Sugar or Honey if it be to clens the Womb and let such as be rich keep it for their poor neighbors and bestow it as freely as I bestow my studies upon them or els let them look to answer it another day when the Lord shall come to make inquisition for Bloud ♀ Archangel To put a gloss upon their practice the Physitians call an Herb which Country people â—ulgarly know by the name of Dead-Nettles Archangèl wherein whether they savor of more Superstition or Folly I leave to the judicious Reader There is more curiosity than courtesie to my Countrymen used by others in the explaination aswel of the Names as Description of this so wel-known an Herb which that I may not also be guilty of Take this short Description first of the Red-Archangel Descriptions This hath divers square stalks somwhat hairy at the joynts whereof grow two sad green Leaves dented about the edges opposit to one another the lowermost upon long footstalks but without any toward the tops which are somwhat round yet pointed and a little crumpled and hairy Round about the upper Joynts where the Leaves grow thick are sundry gaping Flowers of a pale reddish colour after which com the Seeds three or four in a Husk The Root is smal and thriddy perishing every year the whol Plant hath a strong scent but not stinking White-Archangel hath diverse square stalks not standing streight upright but bending downward wheron stand two Leavs at a Joynt larger and more pointed than the other dented about the edges and greener also more like unto Nettle-Leavs but not stinking yet hairy At the Joynts with the Leavs stand larger and more open gaping white Flowers in Husks round about the Stalks but not with such a bush of Leavs as Flowers set in the top as is on the other wherin stand smal roundish black Seeds The Root is white with many strings at it not growing downward but lying under the upper crust of the Earth and abideth many years encreasing This hath not so strong a scent as the former Tellow-Archangel is like the White in the Stalks and Leavs but that the Stalks are more streight and upright and the Joynts with Leaves are further asunder having longer Leavs than the former and the Flowers a little larger and more gaping of a fair yellow colour in most in som paler The Roots are like the White only they creep not so much under the ground Place They grow almost every where unless it be in the middle of the street the Yellow most usually in the wet grounds of
and to expel crude and raw humors from the Belly and Stomach by the sweet savor and warming quality it dissolveth the inward congealed Blood hapning by falls or bruises and the spitting of Blood if the Roots either green or dryed be boyled in Wine and drunk as also al manner of inward Wounds or outward if they be washed or bathed therwith The Decoction also being drunk comforteth the Heart and strengtheneth the Stomach and a cold Brain and therfore is good in the Spring time to open Obstructions of the Liver and helpeth the wind Chollick it also helpeth those that have Fluxes or are bursten or have a Rupture It taketh away spots or marks in the Face being washed therwith The Juyce of the fresh Root or Pouder of the dried Root hath the same effect with the Decoction The Root in the Spring time steeped in Wine doth give it a delicat savor and tast and being drunk fasting every morning comforteth the Heart and is a good Preservative against the Plague or any other Poyson it helpeth Digestion and warmeth a cold Stomach and openeth the Obstructions of the Liver and Spleen It is very safe you need have no Dose prescribedâ— and is very fit to be kept in every good bodies house ♃ ♋ Balm THis Herb is so wel known to be an Inhabitant almost in every Garden that I shal not need to write any Description thereof although the Vertues thereof which are many may not be omitted Vertues and use The Arabian Physitians have extolled the Vertues hereof to the Skyes although the Greeks thought it not worth mentioning Seâ—apio saith It causeth the Mind and Heart to becom merry and reviveth the Heart fainting into soundings especially of such who are over taken in their sleep and driveth away al troublesom cares and thoughts out of the Mind arising from Melancholly or black Choller which Avicen also confirmeth It is very good to help Digestion and open Obstructions of the Brain and hath so much purging quality in it saith Avicen as to expel those Melancholly vapors from the Spirits Blood which are in the Heart and Arteries although it cannot do so in other parts of the Body Diascorides saith That the Leaves steeped in Wine and the Wine drunk and the Leavs externally applied is a remedy against the sting of Scorpions and the bitings of mad Dogs and commendeth the Decoction therof for Women to bath or sit in to procure their Courses it is good to wasâ—â—aching Teeth therwith and profitable for those that have the bloudy-Flux The Leaves also with a little Nitre taken in Drink are good against a Surfet of Mushromes helps the griping pains of the Belly and being made into an Electuary is good for them that cannot fetch their breath Used with Salt it takes away Wens Kernels or hard Swellings in the Flesh or Throat it clenseth foul Sores and caseth pains of the Gout It is good for the Liver and Spleen A Tansie or Cawdle made with Egs and the Juyce therof while it is yong putting to it some Sugar and Rosewater is good for Women in Childbed when the After-birth is not thronghly avoided and for their faintings upon or after their sore travel The Herb bruised and boyled in a little Wine and Oyl and laid warm on a Boil will ripen and break it It is an Herb of Jupiter and under Cancer and strengthens Nature much in al its actions let a Syrup made with the Juyce of it and Sugar as you shall be taught at the latter end of the Book be kept in every Gentlewomans house to releeve the weak stomachs and sick Bodies of their poor sickly Neighbors as also the Herb kept dry in the Hous that so with other convenient Simples you may make it into an Electuary with Hony according as the Diseas is and as you shall be taught at the latter end of the Book ♂ Barberry THe Shrub is so wel known to every Boy and Girl that hath but attained to the age of seven years that it needs no Description Vertues and use Mars owns the Shrub and presents it to the use of my Country-men to purge their Bodies of Choller The inner Rind of the Barberry Tree boyled in White-Wine and a quarter of a pint drunk each morning is an excellent remedy to clense the Body of Chollerick Humors and free it from such Diseases as Choller canseth such be Scabs Itch Tetters Ringworms yellow Jaundice Boils c. It is excellent for hot Agues Burnings Scaldings heat of Bloud heat of the Liver Bloudy-flux for the Berries are as good as the Bark and more pleasing they get a man a good stomach to his victuals by strengthning the attractive faculty which is under Mars as you see more at large in the latter end of my Ephemeris for the year 1651. The Hair washed with the Ly made of the Ashes of the Tree and Water 't wil make it turn yellow viz. of Mars his own colour The Fruit and Rind of the Shrub the Flowers of Broom and of Hâ—ath or Furz clens the Body of Choller by Sympathy as the Flowers Leaves and Bark of the Peach-Tree do by Antipathy because these are under Mars that under Venus ♄ Barly THe continual usefulness hereof hath made al in general so aquainted herewith that it is altogether needless to describe its several kinds hereof plentifully growing being yearly sown in this Land The Vertues whereof take as followeth Vertues and use Barly in al the parts and compositions therof except Malt is more cooling than Wheat and a little clensing and al the Preparations therof as Barly-water and other things made therof do give great nourishment to persons troubled with Feavers Agues and heats in the Stomach A Pultis made of Barly Meal or Flower boyled with Vinegar and Honey and a few dry Figs put into them dissolveth all hard Imposthums and aswageth Inflamations being therto applied And being boyled with Melilot and Chamomel Flowers and som Linseed Fenngreek and Rue in Pouder and applied warm it easeth the pains in the Sides and Stomach and windiness of the Spleen The Meal of Barly and Fleawort boyled in Water and made into a Pultis with Honey and Oyl of Lillies applied warm cureth swellings under the Ears Throat Neck and such like and a Plaister made therof with Tar Wax Oyl helpeth the Kings-Evil in the Throat Boyled with sharp Vinegar into a Pultis and laid on hot helpeth the Leprosie Being boyled in red-Wine with Pomgranat Rinds and Mirtles stayeth the Lask or other Flux of the Belly Boyled with Vinegar and a Quince it easeth the hot pains of the Gout Barly flower white Salt Honey and Vinegar mingled together taketh away the Itch speedily and certainly The Water distilled from the green Barly in the end of May is very good for thos that have Defluxions of humors fallen into their Eyes and easeth the pains being dropped into them or White-Bread steeped therein and bound on to the Eyes
hath many large fresh green Leavs very much torn or cut on the edges The Stalks are hard and round set with many such like Leavs but somwhat smaller and at the tops stand many single Flowers upon several smal Footstalks consisting of many smal white Leavs standing round about a yellow thrum in the middle The Root is somwhat hard and short with many strong Fibres at it The scent of the whol Plant is very strong and stuffing and the tast very bitter Place This groweth wild in some places of this Land but it is for the most part nourished in Gardens Time It Flowreth in the Months of June and July Vertues and Vse It is chiefly used for the Diseases of the Mother whether it be the strangling or rising of the Mother or Hardness or Inflamations of the same applied outwardly thereunto or a Decoction of the Flowers in Wine with a little Nutmeg or Mace put therin and drunk often in a day is an approved Remedy to bring down Womens Courses speedily and helpeth to expel the dead Birth and Afterbirth For a Woman to sit over the hot fumes of the Decoction of the Herb made in Water or Wine is effectual also for the same and in some cases to apply the boyled Herb warm to the privy parts The Decoction therof made with some Sugar or Honey put therto is used by many with good success to help the Cough and stuffing of the Chest by cold as also to clens the Reins and Bladder and help to expel the stone in them The Pouder of the Herb taken in Wine with some Oximel purgeth both Choller and Flegm and is available for those that are short winded and are troubled with Melancholly and Heaviness or sadness of the Spirits It is very effectual for all pains in the Head coming of a cold caus the Herb being bruised and applied to the crown of the Head as also for a Vertigo that is a turning or swimming in the Head The Decoction therof drunk warm and the Herb bruised with a few Corns of Bay Salt and applied to the Wrists before the coming of the Ague Fits doth take them away The distilled Water taketh away Freckles other Spots and Deformities in the Face The Herb bruised and heated on a Tyle with some Wine to moisten it or fried with a little Wine and Oyl in a frying Pan and applied warm outwardly to the places helpeth the wind and Chollick in the lower part of the Belly It is an especial Remedy against Opium taken too liberally Venus commands the Herb and hath commanded it to succour her Sisters Women and to be a general strengthner of their Wombs and remedy such infirmities as a careless Midwife hath there caused if they will be but pleased to make use of her Herb boyled in white Wine and drink the Decoction it clenseth the Womb expelleth the Afterbirth doth the Woman all the good she can desire of an Herb. And if any grumble becaus they cannot get the Herb in Winter tell them if they pleas they may make a Syrup of it in Summer ☿ Fennel EVery Garden affordeth this so plentifully that it needeth no Description Vertues and Vse Fennel is good to break wind to provoke Urine and eas the pains of the Stone and help to break it The Leavs or Seed boiled in Barley Water and drunk is good for Nurses to encreas their Milk and make it more wholsom for the Child The Leavs or rather the Seed boyled in Water staieth the Hiccough and taketh away that loathing which oftentimes hapneth to the Stomachs of Sick and Feaverish Persons and allayeth the heat therof The Seed boyled in Wine and drunk is good for those that are bitten by Serpents or have eaten Poyson full Herbs or Mushroms The Seed and the Root much more helpeth to open Obstructions of the Liver Spleen and Gall and thereby helpeth the painful and windy swellings of the Spleen and the yellow Jaundice as also the Gout and Cramps The Seed is of good use in Medicines to help shortness of breath and Wheesing by stopping of the Lungs It helpeth also to bring down the Courses and to clens the parts after delivery The Roots are of most use in Physick Drinks and Broths that are taken to clens the Blood to open Obstructions of the Liver to provoke Urine and amend the ill colour in the Face after Sickness and to caus a good habit through the Body Both Leavs Seeds and Roots hereof are much used in Drinks or Broths to make people more spare and lean that are too fat The distilled Water of the whol Herb or the condensate Juyce dissolved but especially the Natural Juyce that in hot Countries issueth out thereof of its own accord dropped into the Eyes clenseth them from mists and films that hinder the fight The sweet Fennel is much weaker in Physical uses than the common Fennel The wild Fennel is stronger and hotter than the tame and therfore most powerful against the Stone but not so effectual to encreas Milk becaus of its driness One good old fashion is not yet quite left off viz. To boil Fennel with Fish for it consumes that Flegmatick homot which Fish most plentifully afford and annoy the body by therfore it is a most fit Herb for that purpose though few that use it know why or wherfore they do it I supoose the Reason of its benefit this way is becaus it is an Herb of Mercury aâ—d under Virgo and therfore bears Antipathy to Pisces Dill is also an Herb of Mercury which I forgot to certifie you of before Sow-Fennel or Hogs-Fennel ☿ Description THe common Sow-Fennel hath divers branched Stalks of thick and somwhat long Leavs three for the most part joyned together at a place among which risethâ—â—rested strait Stalk less than Fennel with some Joynts theron and Leavs growing thereâ—â— and toward the top some Branches issuing from thence likewise on the tops of the Stâ—k and Branches stand divers tufts of yellow Flowers where after grow somwhat flat thin and yellowish Seed bigger than Fennel Seed The Root groweth great and deep with many other parts and Fibres about them of a strong scent like hot Brimstone and yielding â—orth a yellowish Milk or clammy Juyce almost like a Gum. Place It groweth plentifully in the Salt low Marshes neer by Feaversham in Kent Time It Flowreth and seedeth in July and August Vertues and Vse The Juyce of Sow-Fennel saith Dioscorides and Galen used with Vinegar and Rose-water or the Juyce with alittle Euphorbium put to the Nose helpeth those that are troubled with the Lethargy the Frensie the turning or Giddiness of the Head the Falling-Sickness long and inveterate Headach the Palsie Sciatica and the Cramp and generally all the Diseases of the Sinews used with Oyl and vinegar The Juyce dissolved in Wine or put into an Eg is good for the Cough or shortness of Breath and for those that are
c. 5. The way of making them is this Having bruised the Herbs or Flowers you would make your Oyl of put them in an Earthen pot and to two or three handfuls of them powr a pint of Oyl cover the pot with a paper and set it in the Sun about a Fortnight or less according as the Sun is in hotness then having warmed it very well by the fire press out the Herbs c. very hard in a press and ad as many more Herbs to the same Oyl bruised the Herbs I mean not the Oyl in like manner set them in the Sun as before the ostner you repeat this the stronger will your Oyl be at last when you conceive it strong enough boyl both Herbs and Oyl together till the Juyce be consumed which you may know by its leaving its bubling and the Herbs will be crisp then strain it whilst it is hot and keep it in a stone or Glass Vessel for your use 6. As for Chymical Oyls I have nothing to say in this Treatise 7. The General use of these Oyls is for pain in the Limbs roughness of the Skin the Itch c. as also for Oyntments and Plaisters 8. If you have occasion to use it for Wounds or Ulcers in two ounces of Oyl dissolve half an ounce of Turpentine the heat of the fire will quickly do it for Oyl it self is offensive to Wounds and the Turpentine qualifies it Chap. 6. Of Electuaries PHysitians make more a quoil than needs behalf about Electuaries I shall prescribe but one general way of making them up as for the Ingredients you may vary them as you please and according as you find occasion by the last Chapter 1. That you may make Electuaries when you need them it is requisite that you keep alwaies Herbs Roots Seeds Flowers c. ready dried in your House that so you may be in readiness to beat them into pouder when you need them 2. Your better way is to keep them whol than beaten for being beaten they are the more subject to lose their strength because the Air soon penetrates them 3. If they be not dry enough to beat into pouder when you need them dry them by a gentle fire till they are so 4. Having beaten them sift them through a fine Tiffany Searce that so there may be no great picces found in your Electuary 5. To on ounce of your Pouder ad three ounces of clarified Honey this quantity I hold to be sufficient I confess Authors differ about it If you would make more or less Electuary vary your proportions accordingly 6. Mix them well together in a Mortar and take this for a truth you cannot mix them too much 7. The way to clarifie Honey is to set it over the fire in a convenient vessel till the scum arise and when the scum is taken off it is clarified 8. The usual Dose of Cordial Electuaries is from half a dram to two drams of purging Electuaries from half an ounce to an ounce 9. The manner of keeping them is in a pot 10. The time of taking them is either in the morning fasting and fasting an hour after them or at night going to bed three or four hours after supper Chap. 7. Of Conserves 1. THe way of making Conserves is twofold one of Herbs and Flowers and the other of Fruits 2. Conserves of Herbs and Flowers are thus made If you make your Conserves of Herbs as of Scurvy-grass Wormwood Rue or the like take only the Leaves and tender tops for you may beat your heart out before you can beat the Stalks small and having beaten them waigh them and to â—â— pound of them ad three pound of Sugar beat them verie well together in a Mortar you cannot beat them too much 3. Conserves of Fruits as of Barberries Sloes and the like is thus made First scald the Fruit then rub the pulp through a thick hair Sieve made for the purpose called a pulping Sieve you may do it for a need with the back of a Spoon then take this Pulp thus drawn and ad to it its waight of Sugar and no more put it in a Peuter Vessel and over a Charcoal fire stir it up and down till the Sugar be melted and your Conserve is made 4. Thus have you the way of making Conserves the way of keeping of them is in Earthen pots 5. The Dose is usually the quantity of a Nutmeg at a time morning and evening or unless they be purging when you please 6. Of Conserves some keep many yeers as Conserves of Roses others but a yeer as Conserves of Borrage Bugloss Cowslips and the like 7. Have a care of the working of some Conserves presently after they are made look to them once a day and stir them about Conserves of Borrage Bugloss and Wormwood have gotten an excellent faculty at that sport 8. You may know when your Conserves are almost spoiled by this you shall find a hard crust at top with little holes in it as though Worms had been eating there Chap. 8. Of Preserves OF Preserves are sundry sorts and the Operations of all being somthing different we will handle them all apart There are preserved with Sugar 1. Flowers 2. Fruits 3. Roots 4. Barks 1. Flowers are but very seldom preserved I never saw any that I remember save only Cowslip Flowers and that was a great fashion in Sussex when I was a boy It is thus done first take a flat Glass we call them jarr Glasses strew in a lain of fine Sugar on that a lain of Flowers on that another lain of Sugar on that another lain of Flowers do so til your Glass be full then tie it over with a paper and in a little time you shall have very excellent and pleasant Preserves There is another way of Preserving Flowers namely with Vinegar and Salt as they pickle Capers and Broom Buds but because I have little skill in it my self I cannot teach you 2. Fruits as Quinces and the like are preserved two waies First Boyl them well in Water and then pulp them through a Sieve as we shewed you before then with the like quantity of Sugar boyl the Water they were boyled in to a Syrup viz. a pound of Sugar to a pint of Liquor to every pound of this Syrup ad four ounces of the Pulp then boyl it with a very gentle fire to the right consilience which you may easily know if you diâ—p a drâ—p of it upon a Trencher if it be enough it will not stick to your fingers when it is cold Secondly Another way to preserve Fruits is this First pare off the â—ind then out them in halves and take cut the Core then boyl them in Water till they are soft It you know when Beef is boyled enough you may easily know when they are theâ—â— boyl the Water with its like waight of Sugar into a Syrup put the Syrup into a Pot and put the boyled Fruit as whol as you left it when you
cut it into it and let it so remain till you have occasion to use it 3. Roots are thus preserved First scrape them very clean and clense them from the Pith if they have any for some Roots have not as Eringo and the like boyl them in Water till they be soft as we sâ—ew you before in the Fruits then boyl the Water you boyled the Roots into a Syrup as we shewed you before then keep the Roots whol in the Syrup till you use them 4. As for Barks we have but few come to our hands to be done and those of those few that I can remember are Orrenges Lemmons Citrons and the outer Bark of Walnuts which grows without the Shell for the Shels themselves would make but scurvy Preserves there be they I can remember if there be any more put them into the number Thâ—â— of Preserving these is nor all one is Authors for some are bitter some are not such as are bitter say Authors must be soaked in warm Water often times changed till their bitter tast be fled but I like not this way and my reason is because I doubt when their bitterness is gone so is their Vertue also I shall then prescribe one common way namely the same with the former viz. First boyl them whol till they be soft then make a Syrup with Sugar and the Liquor you boyled them in and keep the Barks in the Syrup 5. They are kept in Glasses or glassed Pots 6. The preserved Flowers will keep a yeer if you can forbear eating of them the Roots and Barke much longer 7. This Art was plainly and clâ—erly as first invented for delicacy yet came afterwards to be of excellent use in Physiak For 1. First Hereby Medicines are made pleasant for sick and queazy Stomiâ—â—s which else would â—â— them 2. Hereby they are preserved from dccaying a long time Chap. 9. Of Lohochs 1. THat which the Arabians call Lohoch and the Greeks Eclegma the Latins call Linctus and in plain English signifies nothing else but a thing to be licked up 2. Their first invention was to prevent and remedy afflictions of the Breast and Lungs to clense the Lungs of Flegm and make it fit to be cast out 3. They are in Body thicker than a Syrup and not so thick as an Electuary 4. The manner of taking them is often to take a little with a Liquoris stick and let it go down at leisure 5. They are easily thus made make a Decoction of any pectoral Herbs the Treatise will furnish you with enough and when you have strained it with twise its waight of Honey or Sugar boyl it to a Lohoch If you are molested with tough Flegm Honey is better than Sugar and if you ad a little Vineger to it you will do well if not I hold Sugar to be better than Honey 6. It is kept in Pots and will a yeer and longer 7. It s use is excellent for roughness of the Windpipe Inflamations of the Lungs Ulcers in the Lungs difficultie of Breath Asthmaes Coughs and distillation of Humors Chap. 10. Of Oyntments 1. VArious are the waies of making Oyntments which Authors have left to posteritie which I shall omit and quote one which is easiest to be made and therefore most beneficial to people that are ignorant in Physick for whose sakes I write this It is thus done Bruise those Herbs Flowers or Roots you would make an Oyntment of and to two handfuls of your bruised Herbs ad a pound of Hogs Grease tryed or clensed from the skins beat them very well together in a stone Mortar with a wooden Pestle then put it in a stone Pot the Herbs and Grease I mean not the Mortar cover it with a paper and set it either in the Sun or some other warm place three four or fivs daies that it may melt then take it out and boyl it a little then whilst it is hot strain it out pressing it out very hard in a Press to this Grease ad as many more Herbs bruised as before let them stand in like manner as long then boyl them as you did the former if you think your Oyntment be not strong enough you may do it the third and fourth time yet this I tell you the fuller of Juyce your Herbs are the sooner will your Oyntment be strong the last time you boyl it boyl it so long till your Herbs be crisp and the Juyce consumed then strain it pressing it hard in a press and to every pound of Oyntment ad two ounces of Turpentine and as much Wax because Grease is offensive to Wounds as well as Oyl 2. Oyntments are vulgarly known to be kept in Pots and will last above a yeer above two yeer Chap. 11. Of Plaisters 1. THe Greeks made their Plaisters of diverse Simples and put Mettals in most of them if not in all for having reduced their Mettals into Pouder they mixed them with that fatty substance whereof the rest of the Plaister consisted whilst it was yet hot continually stirring it up and down lest it should sink to the bottom so they continually stirred it till it was stiff then they made it up in rolls which when they need for use they could melt by the fire again 2. The Arabians made up theirs with Meals Oyl and Fat which needed not so long boyling 3. The Greeks Emplasters consisted of these Ingredients Mettals Stones diverse sorts of Earths Feces Juyces Liquoris Seeds Roots Herbs Excrements of Creatures Wax Rozin Gums Chap. 12. Of Pultisses 1. PUltisses are those kind of things which the Latins call Cataplasmata and our learned Fellows that if they can read English that 's all call them Cataplasms because 't is a â—rabbed word few understand it is indeed a very fine kind of Medicine to ripen Sores 2. They are made of Herbs and Roots fitted to the Disease and Member afflicted being chopped smal and boyled in Water almost to a Jelly then by adding a little Barley Meal or Meal of Lupines and a little Oyl or rough Sheep Suer which I hold to be better spread upon a cloath and applied to the grieved place 3. Their use is to case pains to break Sores to cool Inflamations to dissolve hardness to ease the Spleen to concoct Humors to dissipate Swellings 4. I beseech you take this Caution along with you Use no Pultisses if â—â—an help it that are of a heating Nature â—â—re you have first clensed the Body beâ—â—ey are subject to draw the Humors to them from every part of the Body Chap. 13. Of Troches 1. THe Latins call them Placentulae or little Cakes and you might have seen what the Greeks call them too had not the last Edition of my London Dispensatory been so hellishly printed that 's all the Commonwealth gets by one Stationer's printing anothers Coppies viz. To plague the Country with false Prints and disgrace the Author the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are