it giveth small nourishment though not bad and is withal a little statuâ—ent or windy yet Country-people in divers places of Germany and Italy do feed hereon as almost their onely bread-corn and are strong â—nd lusty Persons following hard Labor for the bread or cakes made â—herof are pleasant but do somwhat presse or lye heavy on the stomack I never knew any bread or cakes made of it for people to eat â—n this Country but it is generally used to fatten Hogs and Poultry of â—ll sorts which it doth very exceedingly and quickly The physical uses of it are these It provoketh Urine Vrine Milk Belly Melancholy Sight increaseth milk loosneth the belly and being taken in wine is good for melancholy persons the juice of the leaves dropped into the eyes cleareth the sight Bane-wort Names IT is also called in some places of England Sperewort Descript This plant hath reddish stalks full of knees or joynts upon which grow long narrow leaves almost like the leaves of Withy but longer and a little snipt or toothed round about especially those that grow lowest the flowers are yellow as Gold somwhat rough in the middle in Fashion and Colour like those of Golden Crowfoot After the flowers be past there succeed knops or heads like those of Crowfoot the reed is threddy Place It groweth in moist medows watry places and standing puddles Time It flowreth in May and yeeldeth his seed soon after Government and Vertues This is an herb of fiery Mars hot and dry in the fourth degree it blistereth the body as Ranunculus doth and is like it in complexion and operation This herb is no way to be given inwardly for it is hurtful both to man and beast the sheep which happen to eat thereof are troubled with a greivous inflamation which burneth up and consumeth their Livers whereof they dye the Dutchmen call it Egelcoolen because sheep that have eaten of it have a disease which they call Egel that is the blistering and inflamation of the Liver Spanish-Broom Names IT is also called Italian-Broom Descript The Spanish-Broom hath woodish stems from which grow up long slender and pliant twiggs which be bare and naked without leaves or at least having very few small leaves set here and there far apart from one another the flowers are yellow not much unlike the flowers of our English Broom after which it hath Cods wherein are contained brown and flat seed Place This Broom groweth in dry places in Spain and Languedoc and is not found in this Countrey but in the Gardens of Herbarists It is plentifull in the Physick Garden at Westminster Time It flowers in this Countrey in June and somwhat after the seed is ripe in August Government and Vertues It is under the planetary influence of Mars hot and dry of temperature the flowers and seed of Spanish Broom the quantity of a dram being drunk in mede or honyed-honyed-water cause strong Vomiting Vomiting but without danger the seed taken alone looseth the belly Belly loosned and bringeth forth great plenty of watry and tough humors out of the twigs or little branches being steeped in water is pressed forth a juice which taken in quantity of a little glass full fasting is good against the Squinancy and also is good against the Sciatica Base-broom Name IT is called also in English Woodwoseen Descript This is not much unlike the common broom saving that it is not so high nor so straight but lieth along almost upon the ground with many small branches proceeding from a woody stem and set with little long small leaves and at the top with small fair yellow flowers not much unlike those of the Common Broom but smaller after them come narrow husks or Cods wherein is a flat seed the root is hard and of a woodish substance Place It groweth in untilled places that lye low and is very frequent in moist clay pasture grounds Time It flowers in July and August and sometimes after and shortly after the seed is ripe Government and Virtues It is hot and dry of temperature and under the same planetary influence as the other Brooms and is in nature and operation like unto the common Broom but not so powerful It is seldom suffered to grow while the seed is ripe in the Country they gather it while it is in flower for the dyers who dye clothes yellow with it Behen Names IT is also called Been-album and Polemonium Descript Behen hath tender stalks with joynts the leaves are meetly broad set two at every Joynt one against another at the highest of the stalks grow white flowers hanging down and joyning one to another like a little nose-gay after the flowers there cometh black seed inclosed in round huskes the root is white plain and long Place Behen groweth upon mountains and rough stony places but is planted here in Gardens Time It flowers in June and July Government and Vertues It is dry in the second degree a Saturnine plant the root being drunk in wine is good against the bloudy Flux flux Venemous bitings Vrine Strangury and the bitings and stingings of Venemous beasts the same drunk in water Provokes Urine and helps the strangury and pains in the huckle bone It is good to be taken with Vinegar against the hardnesse and stoppings of the Spleen Spleen and all pains thereof being chewed in the mouth it helpeth the Tooth-ach Tooth-ach the same being pounded and applied cureth the stingings of Scorpions and is reported to have so great Antepitheticall power against Scorpions that whosoever doth but hold the same in his hand cannot be stung by any Scorpion Black-bind-weed Name IT is also called With-wind Descript Black-bind-weed hath smooth red branches very small like great threds wherewithal it wrappeth and windeth it self about trees hedges staks and all things it can lay hold upon the leaves are like to Ivy but smaller and tenderer the flowers be white and very small the seed is black tryangled or three square small and black growing thick together every seed is enclâ—sed and covered with a little skin the root is also small and tender as a thred Place It groweth in borders of Fields and Gardens and about hedges and ditches and amongst herbs Time It delivereth ' its seed in August and September and afterwards perisheth Government and Virtues Bind-weed is a plant of Mercury of a hot nature and of subtil parts having power to dissolve the juice of the leaves being drunk do loosen and open the belly and being pounded and laid to the grieved place dissolveth wasteth and consumeth hard swellings Rough bind-weed Names IT is also called prickly Bind-weed and commonly known in shops by the name of Sarsa-parilla Descript Rough or prickly Bind-weed groweth with tender stalks and branches garnished or set round about with many sharp prickles or thorns winding it self about trees hedges and bushes like our English Bind-weed taking hold with its clasping branches upon every thing stands near it the leaves be
almost woody and cutteth blackish within so that it may be very probable that the one sort with the soft white root hath flag-like-leaves and seed also like Iris. The other root which is more slender and black yet of the same fashion may be that which beareth seed like leaves described by Lobel rather to be preserved than for ordinary use with us but both sorts are preserved best while they are fresh and green and the black sort aswel also after it is dryed by steeping it and then boyling it to make it tender but the white sort will not so well serve to be preserved or candied after it is dryed but is best being preserved green Government and Vertues Ginger is a Solar plant it is of excellent use to warm a cold Stomack to help Digestion Digestion and to dissolve Wind Wind both in the Stomack Stomack and Bowels the Indians eat it in Sallads while it is fresh the root being sliced and put among the herbes and it helpeth to mollifie and loosen the Belly while it is moist much of the heat which it hath being dry being abated by the moisture the Candied or Green-ginger is most comfortable to the Stomack and is profitable for all the purposes aforesaid Guiacum Names IT is also called Lignum Sanctum Lignum-vitae and Lignum Indicum Descript The Guiacum that groweth in some parts of the Indies is better than in others yet the wood of all is hard firm close and heavy so that it will sink in water more than Ebony and not swim it is of an hot sharp and resinous tast somewhat burning in the Throat the blacker or browner is better then the yellow being in a manner all heart the yellow being as it were but the sap The tree groweth great with a reasonable thick greenish gummy bark the tree is also spread with sundry Armes and branches great and small and on them winged leaves set by couples one against another which are small thick hard and almost round with divers veines in them and continue always green at the joints and ends of the branches come forth many flowers standing in a tuft together every one on a long footstalk consisting of six small whitish yellow leaves with some threds in the middle which turn into flat yellowish gristly fruit of the fashion of the seed Vessel of Shepherds purse it yeeldeth forth also a gum or Rozen of a dark colour which will easily burn Government and Virtues Mars ownes this tree boâ—h the wood bark and gum are hot and dry and are used for all cold flegmarick and windy humors Flegm Wind Catharrhs Lungs Coughs Teeth and are effectual against the Epilepsie Falling-s ckness Catharrhs Rheums and cold distillations on the Lungs or other parts Coâ—ghs and Consumptions the Gout and all Joint-aches and many other like diseases and to make the Teeth white and firm if they be often washed with the decoction thereof but most particularly it is appropriated to the cure of the French-pox French-Pox by drinking the decoction of the wood and bark which by reason of its heat and dryness is somewhat rough in the Throat it may be mollified by adding Licoris and other proper qualifications There may an extract be made thereof which is not unpleasant to take and most effectual for the French-Pox which is made in this manner Extractum Ligni Guiaci pro morbo Gallico Take of the chips of Guiacum one ounce bark of the same half an ounce let them stand in digestion in Spirit of Wine 15 days separating it so often until all the strength thereof be extracted then evaporate the Spirit by distillation untill it come to the consistence of hony then take this matter while it is hot and cast it into an earthen pan wherein is cold water and it will forthwith coagulate into a substance like Pitch or Aloes This may be formed into pills of the bigness of Pease whereof may given two or three it is a most excellent Sudorifick and Bezo artick remedy which will so mundifie and cleanse the body and whole Mass of blood as that it will suffer no corruption to abide therein it doth wonderfully provoke Sweat and Urine and takes down the great Bellies and Swelling legs of hydropick bodies The dose is from two pills to three or at the most in strong bodies to four drinking after it some water of Carduus Benedictus The ordinary diet drink for the French Disease is thus prepared Take of Guiacum four ounces of the bark thereof one ounce and an half Sarsa-parilla eight ounces Sassafras one ounce china-China-root sliced three ounces let them stand in infusion hot in Spring water three gallons by the space of 24 hours adding towards the end Raisins of the Sun stoned half a pound Harts-horn and shavings of Ivory of each one ounce fine Cinnamon one ounce and an half Coriander-seeds prepared one ounce strain it and let the patient drink it for an ordinary drink forbearing all other Although this be appropriated chiefly to the cure of the French-Pox yet it is effectual and profitable to be used for the Scurvy Dropsie Jaundies Gout Leprosie old putrified Agues and Feavers and indeed all Chronick diseases An excellent purging Ale may also be here with made effectual not onely for all the purposes before mentioned but for Coughs Consumptions shortness of Breath Tissicks it restores natural heat helps the Memory quickens the senses helps Cramps and Palsies stiches and pains that come of Wind and is good to prevent Miscarriages and opens obstructions of the Liver Reins and Bladder It is thus made Take Guiacum 6 ounces bark of the same one ounce and an half Sarsaparilla half a pound China-root and Sassafras each two ounces Lignum Aloes Coriander-seed Annise and sweet Fennel-seeds of each three ounces Citron peeles two ounces leaves of Colts-foot Ceterach Maiden-hair Sage Rue Harts-tongue Scabious Egremony each one handful Sena and Carthamum-seeds each 6 ounces Rhubarb Hermodactils each four ounces Liquorice three ounces infuse all in 8 gallons of Ale and let it work together adding of the juice of Garden-Scurvy-grasse Water-Cresses and Brook-lime each a pint with two Orenges sliced after it is three daies old drink it a pint in the morning and asmuch at four a Clock in the Afternoon Gum Arabick Names Descript THis Gum cometh forth of a tree called Acacia seu Spina Aegyptia vera the true Acacia Aegyptian thorn or Binding-bean-tree which yeeldeth of its own accord a bright Gum in small curled peeces and greater round peeces if it be wounded which is called Gummi Arabicum and Gum Arabick which being broken is clear pure white and transparent some are very long and large peeces and cleer and transparent but reddish this gum will dissolve of it self in waters and serveth as a glew to stiffen bind and fasten things it distilleth and droppeth out of the tree in bigger or lesser peeces as either issuing forth or helped by slitting the bark and giving it
afterwards turn into small soft Cones like to Cypresse Nuts while they are close but longer than they made of many fine scales lying one upon another standing on a short stalk having seed in the inside of every scale formed like a small bird with two wings and a small sweet kernel within them like the Pine kernel the wood is very firm hard and close long in growing and long lasting It yieldeth forth a liquid Rozen being bored veâ—y clear and white which is called Venice Turpentine There is also found upon the bodies and great boughs thereof a kind of hard and dry Mushroom called Agarick Place and Time It groweth plentifully in the Woods by Trent and in many other places of Germany and between Germany and Italy It shooteth forth leaves in the Spring and the blossomes presently after and the fruit is ripe towards the latter end of Summer The Turpentine is gathered in the hottest time of the Summer but the Agarick about November and December Governments and Vertues The Larix-tree is under the dominion of Venus the leaves bark and fruit are of the same temperature as those of the Pine-tree the Turpentine thereof taken to the quantity of an ounce will gently open the belly provoke Urine and cleanse the Reines Kidneys Reines Kidneys and Bladder and helps to dissolve the Stone Bladder Stone and drive forth the Gravel and gives ease to those that have the Gout Gravel Gout if it be rouled up in Sugar and taken it helps the running of the Reins But pills most excellent for the Gonorrhaea or running of the Reins may be made thereof in this manner Turpentine Pills for the Gonorrhaea or Running of the Reins Take Turpentine-and wash it in Plaintain and Rose-water then with the powder of white Amber red Corral Mastick and a little Camphire make it into Pills which are to be taken morning and Evening for certain dayes together It is good also for the Tissick and Consumption of the Lungs Tissick Lungs being taken with hony in an Electuary it expectorates tough flegm and helps those that are troubled with a continual Cough it is of excellent use also outwardly to be used as an ingredient amongst salves It doth both draw cleanse and heal all sores or Ulcers whether new or old and green Wounds the Chymical oyl drawn from Turpentine is more drying and consolidating than the Turpentine it self so that it is singular good to be used in Wounds Wounds Vlâ—ers and to warm and ease paines in the joints and sinews caused with cold and being mixed with oyl of St. Johns-wort it is singular good against Sprains Pains Sprains Wrinches and outward Bruises Bruises-freckles caused by falls or otherwise the parts being fomented This oyl being drank the quantity of twenty drops at a time in Ale or white Wine provokes Urine cleanseth and cureth all Ulcers and Sores in the Kidney Kidneys or Bladder Bladder or Uretory passages The water that is distilled with the oyl is good for freckles and spots in the Face A scruple in weight of that water taken in white Wine procureth a Vomit and giveth much ease to those whose Stomacks are overcharged with Flegm Agarick which is the Tuberous substance which groweth upon this tree is a good purging medicine and often used by it self but more commonly is mixed with other medicines of a purging quality to open obstructions of the Liver Spleen Liver Spleen and entrails it purgteh all vitious humors which offend the body It is usually corrected wich Ginger and given with Oxymel that is a sirrup made with Vinegar and Hony otherwise of it self it is apt to trouble the Stomack and cause Vomiting It purgeth thin and rotten tough flegm both yellow hard and black burnt Choller Flegm Choler from the Head and Brain Breast Lungs Head Lungs stomack Liver Stomack Liver and Spleen Spleen Gout and from the Reins joints Sinews and Muscles whereby it helpeth such as are troubled with the Gout Dropsie Falling-sickness Jaundise Chollick Dropsie Chollick Sciatica shortness of Breath Cough Consumption of the Lungs spitting of Blood paines of the Womb Blood Womb sharpness of Urine and the Wormes It is also helpful to cure all sorts of Agues Agues to ease griping pains of the Stomack and Belly and such as have had Falls and Bruises or are bursten-Bellied Half a dram or two scruples being taken in Wine either by the infusion or in powder is good against all poisons and bitings of Serpents The most usual way of preparing it for the other diseases before mentioned is to slice a dram and put it into a gentle purging decoction or an Infusion If it be boyled in Lye with other Cephalicks and the head washed therewith it comforteth the Brain Memory Brain Memory and giddinessof the Head and stayes Rhumes and Catarrhs and cleanseth it from scurff Rhumes Scurff and Dandriff Spurge-Laurel Names IT is also called Wild Laurel and in Latine Laureola Descript The Spurge Laurel springeth up usually but with one stem but sometimes with more very tough and pliant having a whitish thick tough bark branching forth into divers parts towards the tops whereon grow many long thick somewhat broad and shining dark green leaves longer smoother and softer than Bay-leaves and without any veins therein the flowers come forth towards the tops of the stalks and branches and at the joints with the leaves many set together which are somewhat long and hollow having four small leaves of a whitish yellow green colour after which come small round and somewhat long black berries when they are ripe wherein is contained a white kernell the root groweth deep into the ground and spreadeth with long white strings and is somewhat wooddy The leaves flower bark and root are very hot in tast burning the mouth and Throat of any that shall tast them the leaves continue green all the Winter Place Spurge Laurel groweth Wild in many places of this land particularly in Cobham Park in Kent Time It floureth very early as about January if the Winter be mild and the berries are ripe about June Government and Vertues Mars rules this plant both leaves and berries hereof are violent purges of a heating burning quality so that they inflame the throat and Stomack of whosoever shall take thereof yet being given advisedly and prepared by a skilful hand it cleanseth the Stomack of Flegm Flegm Terms both by purge and Vomit it driveth down Womens Courses and being chewed in the Mouth it draweth down much corrupt matter from the Head and brain if the leavs and berries when they are fresh be boyled in oyl and the oyle strained forth this oyle looseneth the belly and helpeth the Chollick the belly being anointed therewith it provokes Urine and helpeth the Piles some give the powder of the leaves in a little broth to ease the pains of the Chollick and purge forth watry humors in the Dropsie The
many small branches whereon are large blew flowers the seed and vessels when they are ripe are like unto the last the root is also small but hath many more fibres than the others Place The first is found growing in many places of Germany and other outlandish parts and in divers places of our own land as by Gravesend neer Greenhith in a Chalk-pit not far from Dartford and at Cobham in Kent it groweth both in wet and dry grounds The second upon the hills in Naples as saith Columna The third in divers placeâ— of Kent as about South-fleet and Long-field and also in Bedfordshire and Hartfordshire neer old Verulam The rest are strangers heer Time These flower not untill August and thence got the name of Autumn-Gentian Government and Vertues These Lung-flowers or Autumn-Gentians are also under the dominion of Mars as the Gentian or Felwort is and much of the same temperature in heat and dryness and may be used both inwardly and outwardly as effectually as Gentian and where these are in plenty and the other not easie to be had may well serve instead thereof Poyson Plague They are powerful against Putrefaction Venome and Poison The Germans accompt it their Treakle and did formerly make a Treakle with it and other things at Jena which was brought unto us and called Jenes-Treakle made of these Gentians Aristolochia Bay-leaves and other things which were very good for griefs and pains in the Stomack Stomack plague and very effectual against infection of the Plague and other infectious diseases to expel the malignity thereof and to preserve the Heart and strengthen it against Fainting and Swoonings which Treakle was of a bitter tast But that which is now commonly used by the vulgar people and generally by them called Treacle which is of a sweet and pleasant tast is not any kind of Treacle but is called properly Molosses and is nothing else but the grosse dross of Sugar taken in the refining or boyling thereof and is not helpful in any disease yet usually and greedily desired and taken by the common People as an universal medicine The roots of these Gentians being made into fine powder and taken in Wine either by themselves or with other things as Myrrhe Rue Pepper or the like is an effectual remedy against the bitings or stingings of Serpents Venemous bitings Mad-Dogs Scorpions or any other Venemous Creatures and against the bitings of Mad-Dogs being taken three or four dayes together and the wound carefully kept open with Vinegar and Salt-water and orderly cleansed and dressed The same roots also being so taken in Wine open obstructions of the Liver and help such as are Liver-grown It easeth pains in the Stomack Liver grown stomack lameness Sides Stiches bruises Agues and helpeth such as cannot keep or relish their meat or have lost their appetite to meat It refresheth such as are overweary with Travail being steeped in Wine and drunk helps such as are Lame in their joints by cold or bad lodging and is effectual for pains stiches and prickings in the sides and is good for those who are bruised by falls dissolving congealed Blood and easing the pains thereof The root is held to be good also against Agues to be taken not in Wine but in some other drink or the distilled water of the herb Dead-Child Courses Vrine Stone Cramps The fresh root of the dryed made into a pessary and put into the Matrix expelleth the Dead-Child and After-birth And being taken inwardly it driveth down the Courses and provokes Urine The decoction of the root is excellent to give ease to them who are pained with the Stone the same taken in Wine is very good for those that are troubled with cramps or Convulsions and is good also for Ruptures and those that are Bursten Dioscorides commendeth the roots hereof not to help men only but also for beasts that are troubled with Coughs out-going of their entrails and that it killeth and driveth forth Worms and breaketh Wind in the body It is available in all cold diseases either inward or outward It doth extenuate and make thin thick Flegm or gross humors cleanseth corrupt and filthy sores or Ulcers purging of offensive and peccant humors Liver Lungs Gaul Spleen and opens obstructions of the Liver Lungs Gaul and Spleen and freeing the parts affected with any the diseases incident unto them The decoction of the leaves or the juice of them or the roots worketh the same effect and so doth the distilled water thereof The distilled water of the leaves flowers and roots drawn in a glasse-body in Balneo Mariae hath been found effectual in a wonderful manner to cure putrified Agues Agues Worms Green Wounds Vlcers Kings-Evil Piles Eyes and cleanses the bloud and killeth Worms in the belly the same water used to the Face cleanseth it from Spots Freckles and Morphew The powder of juice of the root healeth Green Wounds and all sorts of foul putrid and rotten Ulcers the same or the powder of the dryed roots helpeth the knots or kernels of the Kings-Evil and the soreness of the Piles the juice either fresh or condensate is good to take away inflamations and swellings of the Eyes and to cleanse them from films The decoction of the herb or root is good to drench Cattell with to free them from Bottes and Worms or if they have received any harm by licking up any Venemous Worm or Tick with their grasse as often they do the same decoction of juice of the bruised leaves is good to bath the Udders of kine which have been bitten or stung by any hurtful worm or other poisonous vermine by two or three times so bathing they are perfectly cured Lupines Kinds and Names THere are several kinds of Lupines as The great white Lupine called Lupinus sativus albus 2. The spotted white Lupine called Lupinus alter albus and the smallest blew Lupine called Lupinus minimus Coeruleus Descript 1. The great white Lupine riseth up with a strong upright round woolly stalk set confusedly with divers soft woolly leaves upon long footstalks each being divided into several parts narrow long and soft greenish on the upperside and woolly underneath the main stalk is divided into two parts after the flowers are grown from the uppermost joint and are like unto the great Garden-bean but wholly white without any spot after the flowers come long soft woolly stalks containing in them flat white leaves somewhat yellowish within of a very bitter taste The root is long hard and fibrous and perisheth every Winter Descript 2. The spotted white Lupine differeth from the former in the greatness and in the flower which is spotted with blew on the head of the inner most leaves and the hollow of the uppermost Descript 3. The smallest blew Lupine is very like unto the other blew Lupine but smaller both stalks and leaves the flowers are blew the seed a little spotted Place They grow naturally wild but in England are
only planted in Gardens Time The Lupines do flower in July and August and the seed is ripe soon after Government and Vertues Lupines are under the dominion of Mars and have an opening cleansing dissolving and digestive property but if they be steeped in water untill they have lost their bitterness they may be eaten but they are very hard to digest and breed grosse humors and passe slowly through the belly yet do not stop any flux If they be so steeped Appetite Stomack Liver Spleen Vrine Terms Dead-Child Scabbs Morphew cankers Tetters Sores and afterwards dryed and taken with Vinegar they provoke Appetite and help the loathing of the Stomack to meat The decoction of Lupines taken with hony opens obstructions of the Liver and Spleen provokes Urine and the Terms and expelleth the Dead-child if it be taken with Myrrhe The decoction of them cleanseth the body of Scabs Morphew Cankers Tetters and soul running Ulcers or Sores It also cleanseth the Face and taketh away the marks or pits which the Pox leaves behind it and cleareth the skin of Marks and black and blew Spots An oyntment of Lupines to beautifie and make the Face Amiable is made after this manner Take the meal of Lupines the gaul of a Goat or Sheep juice of Lemons and a little Alumen Saccharimum mingle them into the form of a soft oyntment The meal of Lupines being boyled in Vinegar and applied taketh away knobs and kernels or pimples The smoak of the shells being burned drives away gnats and flyes which annoy many houses in Summer Madder great and small BEsides the Garden and Wild Madder there are many other kinds hereof sound out Parkinson makes six kinds of the Rubia major or greater Madder and eight sorts of the Rubia minor or little small Madder Rubia Tinctorum is the general name of the manured Madder in Shops not onely so called from the colour of the root but also from its propety to dye a red colour The names of the other kinds follow in their Descriptions Descript 1. Culpepper hath described the Garden or manured Madder therefore I say no more of it Descript 2. Rubia sylvestris wild Madder is very like unto the manured but the stalks are smaller and not so spreading neither are they so rough or hairy the leaves are lesse the flowers are white the root groweth greater but not so red as the Garden-kind Descript 3. Wild Madder with long leaves called Rubia sylvestris longioribus foliis hath divers round jointed stalks two or three foot long or thereabout not so rough as the other wild sort the leaves that stand at the joints are somewhat rough narrower and longer than the other seaven or eight at a distance the flowers are white and stand at the tops of the stalks having four leaves apeece which turn into small round seed like the other the root is red as the former but smaller Descript 4. Smooth-leaved-Madder Rubia levis Taurinensium hath divers round smooth stalks two or three foot long whereon stand leaves not rough at all but smooth larger broader than garden Madder towards the tops of the branches and at the joints with the leaves standing round about the stalks come white flowers consisting of five or six small leaves apeece the roots are smaller then the other and run not far into the ground Descript 5. The 〈◊〉 smooth Candy-Madder called Rubia levis arborescens Cretica It hath a thick short stalk about the thickness of one's singer from whence spring many straight smooth branches with small short leaves standing at distances like the former sorts at the tops of the branches shoot out two or three slender sprigs which bear whitish flowers like those of the ordinary Madder the root is long and reddish and of a bitter harsh tast Descript 6. Sea-Madder Rubia marina hath many square hard and somewhat rough stalks full of joints and spreading round about the root upon the ground the leaves are somewhat rough small and long broadest at the bottom and pointed at the end growing lesser towards the tops the flowers are of a star-like fashion and whitish the root is more red on the outside then within more wooddy and harder then the other Place The first is manured in Gardens and large fields for the profit that is made of it for dyers as well as medicinal uses the second groweth by hedge-sides in many places of Germany and so doth the third which groweth also in many places of our own Land the fourth is found by Turin on the hills of Piemont according as Pena and Lobel say the fift in Candy and the sixt by the Sea-side in Provence and neer Mompelier Time They flower towards the latter end of Summer and the seed of some of them is ripe shortly-after Government and Vertues All the Madders are plants of Mars our Antient and modern writers have controverted each other about the properties of Madder whether it be of an opening or binding quality Galen and Dioscorides say that the root doth open and cleanse the body of thick and tough Flegm Vrine Terms Dead-Child After-Birth Yellow Jaundice Liver Spleen Melancholy Palsie Sciatica that it provoketh Urine bringeth down Womens Courses and expelleth the Dead-child and afterbirth but Dodoneus affirmeth that it is dry and astringent and hath no opening faculty at all but it is sound to have both an opening and an astringent quality even as Rhubarb hath which first opens and then binds and strengthens it turneth the Urine into a red colour as Rhubarb doth colour it yellow it is an excellent remedy for the yellow Jaundies opening obstructions of the Liver and Spleen and cleanseth those parts it abates Melancholy humor it is effectual for those that have the Palsey and Scitica the roots boyled in Ale drunk is good for those that have received any hurts by bruises or falls and for all these purposes the root may be boyled in Wine Ale or Water and some hony or Sugar put thereunto afterwards The seed taken with Vinegar and hony helps swellings and hardness of the Spleen Spleen Freckels Deformity of the skin the decoction of the leaves and branches is good so Women to sit over to drive down their Courses The leaves and roots bâ—â—â—sed and applied cleanse and take away Freckles Morphew white Scurff or any deformity of the skin Small or little Madder Descript 1. Candy-Madder with a spikey head and larger leaves called in Latine Rubia spicata Cretica latiore folio It hath divers square rough slender stalks full of joints from which shoot many branches with four or five small rough leaves compassing them the top-branches end in small long spiked four square heads with many short rough husks set close one above another which send forth small whitish green flowers scarce to be seen after which come small greenish Seed The root is fibrous and wooddy but dyeth every Winter Descript 2. Spiked-Madder with small leaves Rubia spicata angusti-folia This differeth from the former in that
and among the flowers which are whiter spreading forth into many branches and consisting of five or six small white leaves a peece hardly to be discerned from the white threds which are in the middle after which come brownish three square seed the Root groweth in time to be very great with divers and sundry great spreading branches of a dark brownish or reddish colour on the outside and with a pale yellow thin skin under it which covereth the inner substance or Root which rind and skin being pared away the root appeareth of so fresh and lively a colour with fresh coloured Veins running thorow it that the cheifest of that Rubarb brought us from the Indies doth not excell it which Root being carefully dryed will hold his colour almost aswel as when it is fresh Descript 4. The true Rubarb and Rhapontick of China and of the shops Rhabarbarum ponticum genuinum officinarum The form of the root is somewhat great round and long for the most part yet there are smaller and shorter peeces that come together the colour on the outside is not all alike for some is of better colour and sounder than other the best is firm and heavy not spongy or light somewhat brown but fresh on the outside without many blackish spots with fresh coloured veins running thorow it bitter in tast and somewhat Aromatical in smell especially if it be fresh and causing the spittle to be yellow being a little chewed in the Mouth The True Rhapontick brought to us with the Rubarbe is only the lesser and longer peeces of the Root of the true Rubarb Descript 5. The broader Elecampane leafed Rubarb Rhaponticum Enuliae folio latiore This hath divers leaves rising from the root somewhat large and long but not so large as the leaves of Elecampane greenish on the upper-side and greyish or woolly underneath every one standing on his own stalk pointed at the end and dented about the edges from amongst which riseth up a reasonable big round stalk about half a yard or a foot high bearing at the top thereof one great scaly head consisting of very broad and loose or open brown scales like a small Artichoke head at first but that the scales are much more open The flower standeth in the middle and is composed of many blewish red or purple thrums very pleasant to behold after which come blackish round and long seed the Root is somewhat long and thick blackish on the outside and of a deadish colour on the inside And hath formerly been used for Rha Ponticum Descript 6. The narrower Elecampane leafed Rhubarbe Rhaponticum alterum angustifolium This differeth not much from the last but onely in the leaves which are a little narrower and longer then it and a little unevenly waved on the edges the head flowers are alike but a little larger and so is the Root Place and Time Tragus saith that the first groweth naturally about Lausanna in Savoy but onely in Gardens with us The second groweth upon the hills not far from Caria in Germany as also neer Friburg in Switzerland and on the Mountains in Austria The third as is reported was natural in Thracia and from some seeds thereof it hath been planted both in England and other Countries The fourth groweth chiefly in China and Cataga and in the Mountains of Persia The fifth groweth on Mount Baldus neer Verona in Italy and upon the Hills in Switzerland and in some craggy places in Savoy All these sorts of Rhubarbe do grow with us in our Gardens and do flower about the beginning or middle of June and the Seed is ripe in July The Roots that are to be dryed and kept all the year following are not to be taken up before the stalk and leaves be quite withered and gone which will be about the middle or end of October Government and Vertues Culpepper with a great deal of foolish non-sense assigns all these plants to the Government of Mars But I say that they more properly are under the particular influence of Jupiter the leaves of these kinds of Docks do a little mollifie and loosen the Belly being boyled in Broth and taken but the Roots have a more opening and purging quality in them and some more or lesse then others according to their quality The round-leafed Rubarb is stronger in operation than the Garden-Patience or Moncks Rubarb but this last is of Excellent use in dyet drinks and decoctions to purge the Liver and cleanse the Blood Liver Blood Tragus saith that a dram of the dryed Roots of Moncks Rubarb with a scruple of Ginger made into powder and taken fasting in warm Broth purgeth Choler and Flegm Choler Flegm downward very gently the seed thereof contrariwise doth bind the Belly and helpeth to stay any sort of Lask or Bloody-flux The distilled Water of the leaves is used with good successe to heal Scabs and foul ulcerous Sores Lask Bloody-Flux Scabs Sores and to allay the inflamations of them the juice of the leaves or Roots or the decoction of them in Vinegar is a most effectual remedy to heal foul-Scabs and Running-Sores The round-leafed or bastard-Rubarb hath all the same properties but more effectual and is also good against the stinging of Scorpions as Dioscorides saith the decoction thereof in Vinegar dropped into the Ears Scorpions pain in the Eares taketh away the paines thereof and gargled in the Mouth taketh away the pains of the Tooth-ach Tooth-ach and being drunk healeth the Jaundice the Seed thereof taken helpeth the gnawing and Griping pains in the Stomack Jaundice gripings in stomach and taketh away the loathing thereof unto Meat which cometh by vicious sharp humors which are gathered together at the Mouth of the Stomack the Root thereof helpeth the ruggedness of the nails Rugged Nails and being boyled in wine it helpeth the Kings-Evil Swellings of the Throat and kernels Kernels of the Ears being swollen and it helpeth them that are troubled with the Stone provoketh Urine and helps the dimness of the sight The Roots of this bastard Rubarb are of good use in diet-drinks which are opening and purging or in Ale or Beer prepared for opening the Liver cleansing the blood and to allay the heat thereof The properties of the round leafed Dock or English Rubarb are the same with the former but much more effectual and hath all the virtues of the Indian Rubarb but only is not so purgative but being taken in a double quantity it worketh almost in an equal quality without bitterness or Astriction The true Indian Rubarbe doth excellently and safely purge the body of Choler and Flegm Flegm Choler either taken it self in powder in a draught of White-wine or steeped therein all night and taken fasting or mixed among other purgers cleansing the Stomack Stomack Liver and Spleen Liver Spleen and the Blood opening Obstructions Obstructions and helping those griefs that come thereof as the Jaundies Jaundies Dropsie
Tisan or Barley-water or Plantane-water wherein you are to dissolve two ounces of brown sugar and an ounce of Honey of Roses mix them and inject them warm with a Syringe if you see symptoms continue you may put in a leaden Pipe till the wound runs little and good matter then take it out and cure it up the manner of dressing such Patients is this having warmed your medicine as before cast it in with a syringe which done let your Patient betake himself to that posture that it may all come forth again after put the Pipe into the wound and lay a sponge dipt in Aqua vitae on it which will keep forth the aire and draw out the matter contained in the wound Instead of the Sponge you may make use of this Take half a pound of the clear and best Rozin and two ounces of Gum-elemy melt them over a gentle fire till they be well mixed together then add to them Oyl of Bays and common Turpentine of each one ounce boyl them a little then strain them through a thick linnen cloath which spread upon leather lay it upon the Pipe which will powerfully draw matter out of the wound Renew it once a day if in winter and twice a day in Summer remembring always to snip your plaister in the middle that the mater may have passage to flow out With this and Artificial Balsom may wounds be cured which are piercing Forget not if you see occasion to bleed first on the contrary side of the wound and if need be and strength permit afterwards in the other arm To dissolve clotted bloud give this medicine inwardly made of half a dram of Rhubarb Madder and Mummy of each one scruple half a scruple of Sealed earth Scabious and Buglos-water and the juice of Lemmons of each one ounce To help difficulty of breathing and ease pain let the Patient take a quarter of a pinte of this Decoction following Four ounces of French barley three ounces of Raisins of the Sun stoned three handfulls of Buglos roots two ounces of Liquorice scraped and bruised twenty Jujubes fifteen pruans and a handful of Parsley-roots Boyl all these in seven quarts of rain or running water to the consumption of the third part and to make it palate-able and pleasant for taste Boyl two or three drams of Cynamon in the straining dissolve three ounces of Pennids Syrup of Roses and Comfrey and of the two opening roots made without vinegar of each two ounces four ounces of Sugar Candy this nourisheth so much that he need no other food for three days unless he drink Tisan wherein you may boyl Fennel and parsley-Parsley-roots If the Patient find ease by spitting help him by the using of Vinegar water and sugar for his cough administer this Take Sugar-Candy and Pennids of each one ounce two ounces of Diatragacanthum frigidum syrup of Violets and Juiubs of each as much as is sufficient to make a Linctus or Lohoc which he is to use often with a Liquorish-stick if he spits thick matter then use syrup of Coltsfoot with Oxymel simplex or simple which is thus made Take four pound of the best honey clear water and white-wine vinegar of each one quart boyle the water and honey into a syrup afterwards add the Vinegar then boyl it to the consistance of a syrup scumming it with a wooden scummer But when the matter is coming to suppuration let the patient drink half a pint of this following in the morning which he may sleep after and the like quantity at four of the Clock in the afternoon Take Eupatorie Scabies Sanicle Clove-gilliflower Privets and Colts-foot of each one handful of the root of the greater Comfrey and Burridg of each one ounce boyl the roots first then the herbs according to Art in five quarts of water till one half be consumed afterwards put to it Sugar and Honey of each four ounces which being clarified with the whites of two eggs keep it for use which you may also use for an Injection if you please indeavouring to get out all again for what remains will be of a sharp quality and so may increase if not beget Symptoms A wound made in the lungs if it be on the skirts and without inflammation c. then giving your Patient things to hinder his coughing much and great breathing may be cured while the patient takes those Linctus's or others before described he is to lye on his back for so the medicine will fall by little and little upon the wind-pipe otherwise if they should fall down hastily or in great quantity it might cause the Patient to Cough Cows Asses or Goats-milk if they may be had with a little Honey that they corrupt not in the stomach are very good in these wounds or the mulcians of Almonds which is made by bruising the Almonds being first blanched in a stone-morter and pouring Barley-water upon them and stir them well and strain through a cloth doing this often and it will look like milk Sugar of Roses likewise is excellent in this case because it is of a cleansing and strengthening quality but when you shall think it time to close up the wound after you have cleansed it with the medicines before spoken of The Patient must use in Broths or Linctuses some sealed Earth Boll-Armonack Plantan Knot-grass Shumack Acasia or the Juice of Sloes and such like sharp and binding medicines which being mixed with Honey of Roses may carry away that filth which may hinder the closing up of the wound Wounds happen to divers parts of the Belly some whereof are piercing as you will see the Guts and Caule sometime come forth if the great Guts come out put them up again presently into the Belly But if they have been a good while out and so the cold Air hath injured them and they be full of wind and the like then they must be fomented with medicines that will discuss the wind such as is made of Thyme and Calemint Camomil Mellilot Penni-royal Origanum Wormwood and the like or else prick them with needles if after all this you cannot make it go up there is no other way but to enlarge the wound But if the Gut it self be wounded which you will know by perceiving the excrements come forth at the wound if it be wounded longwayes and little it is easily cured if overthwart-ways and great 't is difficultly cured if black 't is deadly then it must be sowed up so as Glovers use to stitch in making Gloves Then put upon it powder of Mastick Mirrhe Boll Armonack and the like after you have stitched it up you must not put up the Gut into its place all at once but by little and little the patient lying on the side opposite to the wound as if the wound be on the right side the patient shall lie on his left by which means you may more easily restore the Gut fallen down if the lower part of the guts being wounded fall through the wound
seed is long and hairy the root is small and hard Place The true Daucus groweth in Candy in stony places that stand in the Sun the other groweth in this Country about the borders of Fields in stony places and by the way sides Time This last kind floureth in July and August Government and Vertues The seeds of Daucus are hot and dry almost unto the third degree under the influence of Mercury the seed beaten and drunk in Wine is good against the Strangury Strangury and painful making of Water Gravel and Stone it provokes Urine Vrine and Womens Courses and expells the dead child and Secondine Courses Secondine It asswageth the tormenting pains of Gripings in the Guts Gripings-Cuts dissolveth Wind Wind cureth the Cholick and is good to ripen an old Cough Cholick Cough The same drunk in Wine is good against bitings of Venemous beasts and being pounded and applied it scattereth cold swellings and dissolveth Tumors The root of Daucus of Candy drunk in Wine stoppeth the Lask Lask and is a soveraign remedy against Venom and Poyson Poyson Cedar-tree Names THere be two kinds hereof the great Cedar-tree and the small Cedar out of the great tree issueth a white Rozen called in Latine Cedria and Liquor Cedrinus or Liquor of Cedar Descript The great Cedar groweth very tall high great and thick the bark from the foot of the stem unto the first branches is rough and from thence up to the top it is smooth and plain of a dark blew colour out of which there droppeth white Rozen of his own kind which is moist odoriferous or of a sweet smell and by the heat of the Sun it becomes dry and hard the Limbs and branches of this tree be long and parted into many other small branches standing directly or right one against another like those of the Firre-tree the said branches be garnished with many small little leaves thick short and having a sweet savor the fruit is like that of the Firre-tree but that it is greater thicker harder the whole tree groweth strait up like the Firre-tree Of their smaller Cedar there be two kinds the first kind of small Cedar is much like to Juniper but somwhat smaller the stem is crooked or writhed and covered with a rough bark the fruit is round berries like Juniper berries but somewhat greater of colour at the first green then yellow and at last reddish of an indifferent good tast The second kind of small Cedar groweth not high but remaineth small and low like the other the leaves of this are not prickly but somewhat round and mossey at the ends almost like the leaves of Tamarisk and Savin the fruit of this kind beareth also round berries which at first are green afterwards yellow and when they are ripe they become reddish and are bitter in tast Place The great Cedar groweth in Africa and Syria and upon the Mountains of Libanus Amanus and Taurus The second kind groweth in Phoenicia and in certain places of Italy in Calabria and also in Languedoc The third kind groweth in Lycia and is found in certain parts of France as in Provence and Languedoc Time The great Cedar perfecteth his fruit in two years and it is ever without fruit which is ripe at the beginning of Winter the small Cedar-trees be alwayes green and Loaden with fruit having at all times upon them fruit both ripe and unripe as hath Juniper Government and Vertues The great Cedar is under the dominion of the Sun the smaller of Mars the Cedar is hot and dry in the third degree the Rozen or Liquor Cedria which runneth forth of the great Cedar tree is hot and dry almost in the fourth degree and of subtil parts The fruit of the small Cedar is also hot and dry but more moderatly Cedria that is the liquor or Gum of Cedar swageth the Tooth-ach Toothach being put into the hollowness of the same also it cleareth the sight and taketh away spots and scars of the Eyes Eyes Spots Scars being laid thereon the same dropped into the Ears with Vinegar killeth the Worms of the same Worms and with the Wine of the decoction of hysop it cureth the noise and ringing in the Eares Eares and makes the Hearing good Hearing The old Egyptians did use in times past to preserve their dead bodies with this Cedria for it keepeth the same whole and preserveth them from corruption but it consumeth and corrupteth living flesh it killeth Lice Lice Mothes Moths Worms and all such Vermine so that they will not come near it The Fruit of the Cedar is good to be eaten against the Strangury strangury it provokes Urine and brings down Womens Courses Courses Cistus Kinds and Names OF this there be two sorts the first called Cistus non Ladanisera because it beareth no Ladanum the other is a plant of a woody substance upon which is found that fat liquor or gum called Ladanum The first kind which yeeldeth no Ladanum is also of two sorts viz. the Male and Female The Male beareth red flowers the Female white in all things else the one is like the other out of the root of the Female Cistus is drawn forth a sap or liquor called Hippocistis The second kind of Cistus is called also Ledum and Ladum the fat Liquor which is gathered from it is called Ladanum and in shops Lapdanum Descript The first kind of Cistus which beareth no Ladanum hath round hairy stalks and stems with knobbed joints and full of branches the leaves be roundish and covered with a cotton or soft hair not much unlike the leaves of Sage but shorter and rounder the flowers grow at the tops of the stalks of the fashion of a single Rose whereof the Male kind is of colour red and the Female white at the last they change into knops or huskes wherein the seed is contained There is found a certain excrescence or out-growing about the root of this plant which is of colour sometimes yellow sometimes white and sometimes green out of which is artificially drawn a certain juice which in shops is called Hypocistis and is used in medicine The second kind of Cistus which is also called Ledon is a plant of a woody substance growing like a little tree or shrub with soft leaves in figure not much unlike the others but longer and browner upon the leaves of this plant is found that fat substance called Ladanum which is found growing upon the leaves about Midsommer and the hotest daies Place The first kind of Cistus groweth in Italy Cicily Candy Cyprus Languedoc and other hot Countries in rough and untilled places The second kind groweth also in Crete Cyprus and Languedoc Time The first kind of Cistus floureth in June and sometimes sooner The second kind of Cistus floureth and bringeth forth seed in the spring time and immediately after the leaves fall off and about Midsommer there cometh new leaves again upon
shortness of it then with a spoon take up some of the paste which will be almost liquid and so either make it into tablets or rowles or put it into boxes and when it is cold it will be hard To make the Tablets you must put a spoonful of the paste upon a sheet of Paper the Indians put it upon a leaf where being put in the shade it grows hard and then howing the Paper the Tablets fall off by reason of the fatness of the paste but if it be put into any thing of earth or wood it will stick fast and will not come off without scraping or breaking In the Indies they take it two several wayes the one being the common way is to take it hot with Atolle which was the drink of antient Indians they call Atolle pap made of the flower of Maiz and so they mingle it with the Chocholate the other modern way which the Spaniards use is of two sorts the one is that the Chocholate being dissolved with cold water and the scum taken off and put into another Vessel they put the remainder upon the Fire with Sugar and when it is warm then they pour it upon the scum they tooke off before and so drink it the other way is to warm the water and then when you have put into a pot or dish asmuch Chocholate as you think fit put in a little of the warm water and then grind it well with the Molinet and when it is well ground put the rest of the warm water to it and so drink it with Sugar to your tast Besides these former wayes there are others one is put the Chocholate into a pipkin with a little water and let it boyl well until it be dissolved and then put in sufficient water and Sugar according to the quality of the Chocholate and then boyl it again until there comes an oyly scum upon it and then drink it There is another way to drink Chocholate which is cold and takes its name from the principal ingredient and is called Cacao which they use at Feasts to refresh themselves and it is made after this manner The Chocholate being dissolved in water with the Molinet take off the scum or crassy part which riseth in great quantity when the Cacao is older and more putrified the scum is laid aside by it self in a little dish and then put Sugar into that pan from whence you took the scum and pour it from on high upon the scum and so drink it cold but this drink doth not agree with all Stomacks by reason of its coldness There is another way to drink it cold which is called Cacao penali and it is done by adding to the same Chocholate having made the confection as is before set down so much Maiz dried and well grownd and taken from the husk and then well-mingled in the morter with the Chocholat it falls all into flower or dust and so these things being mingled as is said before there riseth the scum and so take it and drink it as before There is another way which is a short and quicker way to make it which is more wholsom that is first to set some water to warm and while it warms throw a Tablet or some Chocholate scraped and mingled with Sugar into a little cup and when the water is hot pour the water to the Chocholate and then dissolve it with the Molinet and then without taking off the scum drink it But in our colder Country most usually it is thus made with milk instead of water and some add yolks of Eggs and a sop of white Bread Such as desire to take it in milk three ounces of Chocolate will be sufficient to a quart of milk scrape the Chocolate very fine and put it into the milk when it boyles work it very well with the Spanish instrument called Molenillo between your hands which instrument must be of wood with a round knob made very round and cut ragged that as you turn it in your hands the milk may froth and dissolve the Chocolate the better then set the milk on the fire again untill it be ready to boyl having the yolk of two eggs well beaten with some of the hot milk then put your eggs into the milk and Chocolate and Sugar asmuch as you like for your tast work it altogether with the Molinet and thus drink it or if you please you may slice a little manchet into a dish and so eat it for a breakfast you may if you please make it also with water instead of milk after this manner Set a pot of conduit-water over the fire untill it boyles then to every person that is to drink put an ounce of Chocolate with asmuch Sugar into every pot whereunto pour a pint of the said water so boyling and therein work together the Chocolate and the Sugar with the Instrument called El-Molenillo until it be throughly incorporated which done pour in as many half pints of the said water as there be ounces of the Chocolate and if you please you may put in the yolks of one or two new-laid eggs which must be beaten untill they froth very much the hotter it is drunk the better it is you may likewise put in a slice of white-bread or bisket and eat that with the Chocolate which will be a very substantial and Cordial breakfast Coffee THis is reported to be the berries of certain shrubs or bushes growing in Arabia and from them into Turkey and other parts it is said of it self to be insipid having neither scent nor tast but being pounded and baked as they do prepare it to make the Coffee-liquor with it then stinks most loathsomly which is an argument of some Saturnine quality in it the propugners for this filthy drink affirm it causeth watchfulness so do both the stinking Hemlock and Henbane in their first operation if unhappily taken into the body but their worse effects soon follow They also say it makes them sober when they are drunk yet they would be alwaies accounted sober persons or at least think themselves so when they can but once sit down in a Coffee-house certainly if there had been any wâ—th in it some of the antient Arabian Physitians or others neer those parts would have recorded it But there is no mention made of any medicinal use thereof by any Author either Antient or Modern neither can it be indued with any such properties as the indulgers of it feed their fancies with but this I may truly say of it Quod Anglorum Corpora quae huic liquori tantopere indulgent in Barbarorum naturam degenerasse videntur But if any one desire to make Coffee after the manner as it is prepared and sold here in Engl. in the publick Coffee-houses it is thus Take a gallon of water and set it in a pot of Tyn or any other Vessel close cover'd set it upon the fire and let it boyl when it throughly boyles put into it a quarter of
with clothes dispose themselves for sweating But this is onely to be done in the beginnings of Feavers and in such bodies as are not full of grosse and corrupt humors otherwise it is more safe to open the passages of the whole body by Emeticks and Catharticks The purified oyl expressed out of the kernels of the berries is commended in strong and lusty bodies one dram or a dram and an half thereof being taken in the broth of flesh for it gently moveth Vomiting and loosneth the Belly The oyl made of the infused flowers and bark of the Elder from one ounce to three provokes Vomit and purgeth the Belly the same alone or in a decoction may be given in a Glister In young ones the syrrup of the juice of the berries of the buds or bark sufficeth There are some which testifie and call experience to witness that if the middle bark of Elder be pulled downward from the tree it purgeth the body downwards but if they be pulled upward it worketh by Vomit In such Feavers which are lengthened from the stopping or fullness of the Meseraick Veins and from the grosseness and toughness of the humor Oxymel Sambucinum dissolved in the distilled water of the flowers or Barly-water and dayly on the intermitting dayes drank an hour or two before supper is commended the Crystallized salt of the Elder taken from half a scruple to a whole one is profitable also six drops of the Spirit of the fame taken in the broth of flesh all these do powerfully open obstructions and cut asunder the grossenesse and roughnesse of the humor they cleanse the Bowells and Vessels and both by Urine and Sweat dissipate the Feaverish matter In the time of the Fit give the patient a spoonful or a dram and a half of the oyle pressed out of the berries-kernells in warm Ale the rob of Elder in greatness of a Walnut being mixed with half a dram of the powder of Carduus benedictus and swallowed and drinking Vinegar above it and afterwards provoking sweat in bed is a very good medicine In continual and hot burning Feavers where the heat is more intense and great drought tormenteth the Patient make this Julap Take of Fountain or river-River-water three pounds of Elder Vinegar three ounces of the finest Sugar two ounces let them boyl together a little in a fit Vessel unto which being warm add an ounce of Cinnamon in powder let them cool of themselves in a close Vessel and strain them for a Julap of which give the Patient oft in a day it extinguisheth the Feaverish heat cuts the grosse and tough matter cleanseth the thin and Bilous opens obstructions it purgeth the peccant humors and by its acidity sharpneth the appetite and refresheth the strength Of Worms The Crystalline salt of the Elder preserveth and freeth from Worms it robs them of their nourishment kills them and purgeth them out the dose is from half a scruple to half a dram or two scruples for those of riper years you may prepare in the Spring time a dish made of Elder-buds freed from their bitter nauseous tast by the infusion of boyling water with Oyl Salt and Vinegar which is to be used as a sallad before supper That this sallad may be the more pleasant you may add some tender leaves of Sorrel Briefly whatsoever I have here said in relating the properties of the Elder the Dwarff-Elder doth more strongly effect in opening and purging Choler Flegm and Water in helping the Gout the Piles and Womens diseases it coloureth the hair black helpeth inflamations in the Eyes and pains in the Eares the biting or stinging of Venemous creatures or a mad Dog the Burnings or Scaldings by fire or water the Wind Chollick the Chollick and Stone difficulty of Urine the cure of old sores and Fistulous Ulcers the Dropsie and Gout and all the other griefs before specified Eglantine Name IT is also called Sweet-bryar Descript Eglantine or Sweet-bryar is much like the Wild Rose plant having very sharp prickles shutes springes and rough branches the leaves also be not much unlike but larger and of a pleasant smell the flowers be single smaller than the flowers of the Wild Rose most commonly white and sometimes red after which there come also little knaps or long red berries like as in the other Roses wherein the seed is contained Place The Eglantine aswell as the manured Roses is planted in Gardens if it be set against a wall under a Window it will cast a most pleasant smell into the room and so will the branches thereof being set in flower-pots in Windows and Chimneys in the Summer Months Time Eglantine flowers in May and June about the time the Garden-Roses doe Government and Vertues It is under the dominion of Venus the fruit is of an astringent quality It stoppeth the Lask Lask and all other issues of blood Bloody-Issues being eaten There is a rough Spongeous ball or Excrescence that groweth on the Wild Rose bush and also on the Eglantine which is of great efficacy and virtue against the Stone Stone and Strangury strangury It bringeth forth the Gravel and Stone and provoketh Urine Vrine White Ellebore Names IT is also called Hellebore and Neese-wort Veratrum album in Latine and Helleborus albus Descript The White Ellebore hath great broad leaves with ribs or Sinews like the leaves of the great Plantain or Gentian the stalk is round two or three foot high at the uppermost part whereof grow along and round about the top the flowers one above another pale of colour divided into six little leaves the which have a green line overthwart the flowers being passed away there cometh in their places small husks wherin the seed is contained the root is round as thick as a mans finger or thumb white both within and without having many threddy strings appending unto it Place White Ellebore or Hellebore groweth in Anticyra neer about the Mountain Octa and in Cappodocia and Syria but the best groweth in Cyrene in this Country the Herbarists plant it in their Gardens Time White Ellebore flowereth in June and July Government and Virtues The root of White Ellebore is hot and dry in the third degree a plant of Mars The root causeth one to Vomit up mightily and with great force all superfluous slimy Venemous and naughty humors Slimy-humors likewise it is good against the Falling-sickness Falling-sickness Frenzies Frenzy Head-ach Melancholy old pains in the Head Melancholy the Gout Gout Sciatica and Sciatica all sorts of Dropsies Poison and against all cold diseases that he hard to cure and will not yield to any medicine But it ought not to be given to any body to be taken inwardly but from a skilful hand and with good advice and due preparation and correcting Galen adviseth not to give of this root in any medicine to be taken into the body but to be used only in outward applications Therefore Outwardly it is good
humors wherefore they may very well be given to young Children that are sick of the Small-pox Small-Pox and Wheals or Measels Measells for they bring them quickly forth without any danger they be good also for the Throat Throat Lungs Lungs and Cough Cough and those that are short Winded they ripen Flegm Flegm and cause the same to be easily spit out whether they be eaten raw or rosted or sodden with Hysop and Licoris and the decoction drunk The decoction of Figs in water is good to be drunk of those that have taken hurt by squats or bruises Bruises of or by falls Falls from high they disperse and scatter clotted Clotted and congealed blood bloud and asswage or slake the pain An Electuary made with Figs Salt Rue and Walnuts is an Antidote against all Poison and corruption of the Air. This was the preservative which Mithridates King of Pontus used against the Plague Plague Pestilence and against all Poison Poison Venome Venome The decoction of Figs gargariz'd or holden in the mouth is good against the sharpness and hoarseness Hoarseness of the Throat and also against Swellings swellings and Impostumations Imposthumes of the Mouth Throat Almonds of the Throat and Jawes and Swelling of the Tongue Figs are also good to be kept in the Mouth against Swellings and Ach and pain of the Teeth Teeth Gums Gums and Jawes Jaws being outwardly applied with Wheaten-Meal they do soften and ripen boiles Boiles Imposthumes and Phlegmons that is hot and angry Swellings Swellings and Tumors Tumors behind the Eares especially if there be put to it Linsâ—ed and Fenugreek and if Lilly roots be mixed with it and applied pultis-wise it will ripen and break Plague-Sores Plague Sores Imposthumes Buboes Buboes and Botches Botches Figs sodden in Wormwood Wine with Barly-meal is good to be applied as a Pultis or Plaister upon the Bellies of those that have the Dropsie Dropsie Figs and Mustard-seed being pounded very well together and outwardly applied amend the Hearing Hearing help Deafness and take away the ringing noise Noise or sound in the Eares Eares the dry Figs have power to dissolve consume and make subtill and may very well be used both inwardly and outwardly the leaves of the Fig-tree do wast and consume way the Kings-Evill Kings-Evil or Swelling kernels in the Throat and mollisie and wast all other Tumors being beaten small and applied thereunto The milky juice of Figs is good against all roughness of the skin Skin Leprosies Leprosie spreading Sores Sores Tetters Tetters Small-pox Measells Pushes Freckles Lentiles and other such like spots Spots and Scurviness both of the body and Face being laid thereto with parched Barly-meal and being mixed with sat or grease it taketh away Warts Warts if they be anointed therewith It cureth the Tooth-ach Tooth-ach if you dip a little Cotton in the said Milk and lay it to the Tooth or make a pellet thereof and put it into the Tooth if it be hollow It openeth the Veins of the Hemerrhoids Hemerrhoids and looseth the Belly being laid to the fundament the leaves have the same vertue being used for a suppository being mixed with the Meal of Fenugreek and Vinegar it giveth ease in the hot Gout the same juice is good to pour into Wounds made by the biting of Mad-dogs Mad-dog the Ashes of the Fig-tree mixed with oyle of Roses and Wax cureth burnings Burnings and the Lye that is made of the ashes of the fig healeth festred and foul fretting Sores Sores if they be washed therewith Fistick-Nuts Names THese Nuts are called in shops Pistacia Pistacies Fistici and Fistick-nuts Descript The Tree that heareth the Fistick-nuts hath long great leaves spread abroad consisting of five seven or more leaves growing one against another all along a reddish rib or sinew whereof the last which is alone at the top of the leaf is the greatest and largest the fruit of this tree is much like to small Hazel-nuts and like the kernells of the Pine-apple in which lyeth the kernel or nut Place This tree is a stranger in this Country it groweth in Syria and other hot Eastern Countries Government and Virtues Fistick-nuts are under the influence of Jupiter they are of a mean or temperate heat and somewhat astringent Fisticks are good to open stoppings and obstructions of the Liver and also they strengthen the same they he also good for the Stomack they also open the pipes of the Lungs Liver Lungs and Breast Breast stomack and are good against shortness of Breath Lungs Breath the Tissick Tissick and painful fetching of Breath to be eaten either alone or with Sugar Dioscorides saith that Fistick nuts given in Wine are a good medecine against the bitings or stingings of Venemous beasts Flax. Names IT is called Linum in Latine by which name it is well known in shops it is called also Lin whence the Cloth that is made thereof is called Linnen-cloth and the seed is called Linseed the oyl which is pressed out of the same seed is called Linseed-oyle Descript Flax hath a tender stalk covered with sharp narrow leaves parted at the top into small short branches the which bringeth forth fair blew flowers when the flowers are fallen away there cometh in their stead round knaps or buttons in which is contained a blackish seed large fat and shining Place Flax is sown in this Couuntry in fat and fine Ground and in low moist fields it delights to grow in Time Flax floureth in May and June and is ripe soon after Government and Vertues It is under the dominion of Venus the seed of Flax which is onely used in medecine is of temperature hot in the first degree and temperate in moisture and driness The seed called Linseed being boyled in water and applied in manner of a pultis or plaister asswageth all pains softneth cold Tumors or Swellings the Imposthumes of the Eares and Neck and of other parts of the body Linseed pounded with Figs doth ripen and break Imposthumes and boyles Pains Imposthumes swelling Eares Boyles being laid thereon and draweth forth thorns and all other things that stick fast in the body iâ— it be mingled with the root of Wild Cucumer The same seed mingled with hony and Cresses and laid unto rough rugged and il-favored Nailes aswell of the hands as the Feet cleanseth them that be corrupt and cureth the party Nailes Spots in the Face Old Sores Vlcers Sight Belly Gripings Bowells Matrix Cough Heckick Feavers the same seed being pounded and laid to the Face cleanseth and taketh away all Spots and Freckles thereof The Wine wherein Linseed hath been boyled preserveth old Sores and Ulcers from corruption if they be washed therewith and from festering and inward rankling the water wherein Linseed hath been
coldness therof if the Belly be bathed therewith the same root made into powder closeth up and healeth old running Sores Sores of the Mouth and secret parts Secret parts although they eat and wast the flesh if it be strowed thereon or laid thereupon with Wine It is also a very good ingredient to be put into hot oyntments and maturative plaisters Pliny saith that the seeds of Galangal drunk with water stoppeth the Flux of the Belly Belly the overflowings or immoderat Flux of Womens Flowers Flowers but if it be taken in too great â— quantity it causeth Head-ach Galbanum Names THe plant out of which the Gum Galbanum cometh is called by Pliny Stagonitis Descript Galbanum is a gum or liquor drawn forth of a plant in Syria called Metopium the best is gristly between hard and soft very pure fat close and firm without any stalks and splinters of wood amongst it saving a few seeds of a strong savor not too moist nor too dry Place The plant out of which Galbanum cometh doth grow upon the Mountain called Amanus in Syria Government and Vertues Gum-Galbanum is hot almost in the third degree and dry almost in the second a plant of Jupiter Galbanum is good against an old Cough Cough and for such as are Tissical Tyssick or short-Winded and cannot easily draw their Breath Breath but are subject to panting it is very good for those that are bruised Bruises inwardly and against Cramps Cramps and shrinking of Sinews Sinews-shrunk the same drunken with Wine and Myrrhe is a very good counter-Poison against any Venome taken into the body or shot received by poisoned Poison Darts or Arrows to be taken in the same manner it provokes the Terms Terms and driveth forth the Dead-birth Dead-birth it hath the same vertue if it be conveyed as a Peâ—ary into the secret Parts Secret parts or the fume thereof received up into the Matrix and the quantity of a Nut thereof given in a glass of Wine helpeth the painful travail of Women and causeth easie Delivery Eâ—sie Delivery The perfume of Galbanum doth help Women that are troubled with rising suffocation or Strangling of the Mother and them that have the Falling-sickness and being laid to the Navel it causeth the Matrix that is removed to settle in its proper place Galbanum doâ—h mollifie and soften and draweth forth thorâ—es Thorns Splinters Splinters or slivers and discusseth and disperseth cold humors and is very good to be laid upon cold Tumors Cold Tumors and Swellings Swellings and is a proper substitute in all oyntments oyles and plaisters that have power or vertue to warm digest and dissolve to ripen and break Boyls and Imposthums Boyls Imposthumes and to draw out Thorns and Splinters It is good to be laid upon the side Sides against pains thereof and against hardness and Stoppings of the Spleen Spleen the same mixed with Nitre and Vinegar and applied is very good to take away Spots Spots and Freckles Freckles of the Face or any scurff or Morphew or other discolourings of the skin It is good to stop an hollow Tooth Tooth-ach to take away Ake and pain of the same It is also good to cleanse the Eares Eares of corrupt filth and running Running matter being mixed with oyle of Roses and dropped therein There is likewise by the Antients a more than ordinary yea a miraculous vertue ascribed to this Galbanum as may be found amongst the stupendious wonders of Pliny and the imaginary miracles of Mizaldus Albertus Magnus and many more that is to say that wheresoever this Gum is burned all manner of Serpents noisome and Venemons Creatures will presently fly away and dare not come with in the seent thereof and that no Venemous Creature whether it be a flying Insect creeping Serpent or Poisonous Beast whatsoever that is any wayes inimical to mankind have any power to hurt such as be anointed with this Galbanum And that those Venemous beasts or Serpents as be but touched with Galbanum mingled with oyle and the seed or root of Spondilium or Angelica it will cause them presently to dye The same is truly reported of the New-England and Virginia Snake-weed that it will kill those Rattle-Snakes if touched therewith or come within the scent of it and it is probable that the Galbanum in the Country where is groweth naturally those parts being much subject to be infested with those Venemous Creatures it may there work the same effects upon them Stock-Gillow-flowers Kinds and Names THere are found two kinds of these Gillow-flowers the one is great and called the Castel or Stock-Gillow-flower which may be kept both Winter and Summer the other is not so big and is called the small Stock-Gillow-flower which must be sown newly every Spring and bringeth forth his flower and seed the same year they are called Leucoion and Violae albae or white violets because the leaves be white but the leaves of the flowers for they be of divers colours late writers do call them violae matronâ—les or Dames Violets Descript These two kinds of Gillow-flowers are not much unlike Wall-flowers but that their leaves are whiter and softer The great Castel or Stock-Gillow-flower his leaves be hard and straight at the height of two or three foot with long narrow and soft leaves like Molleyn far greater longer and larger then the leaves of Wall-flowers or Yellow-Gillow-flowers the flowers be of a fragrant or pleasant smell much like to those of Harts-ease or Wall-flowers but much larger of colour sometimes white and sometimes Ash-câ—lour Carnation and sometimes inclining to Scarlet and sometimes purple or violet colour after which flowers there come long husks or Cods wherein the seed is contained being flat and large The small Stock-Gillow-flower is like to the great in his stalks and whitish woolly soft leaves also in the sweet smell and fragrant savor of his flowers in the diversity of colours in his Cods and seed saving that it is smaller in all respects not exceeding the length of a mans foot in height and perisheth every year after his seed is ripe Place These kinds of Gillow-flowers are sown and planted in Gardens in this Country they are hardly sound els-where Time The great Castel Gillow-flower floureth in March and Aprill the second year after it is sown but the smaller Stock-Gillow-flower yeeldeth its flowers in July and August the same year in which it is first sown Government and Virtues The Stock-Gillow-flowers are of temperature hot and dry and of nature somewhat like unto the Yellow-Gillow-flowers or Wall-flowers they are plants of Mercury The flower of the Stock-Gillow-flower boyled in water and drunk is good against difficulty of breathing and the Cough Difficulty of breathing Cough Courses sweat these flowers do likewise drive down Womens Courses and provoke Urine and a bath made of the decoction thereof
and Spleen strengthneth the Stomach and corroborates the inward parts after purging and opening the obstructions of them It helpeth also all diseases proceeding from them as Dropsie Jaundice it rectifieth the evil constitution of the Liver openeth and dissolveth the hardness thereof as also of the Spleen and Stomach and expelleth wind It helpeth and taketh away all old and inveterate pains in the head by cleansing the brain and the nerves and purging those Rheumatick distillations and humours that are in them It helpeth also Joynt-Aches or Gout-pains in the bladder and Reins provokes Urine It helps the Chollick powerfully expelling the wind It also helps pains and windiness of the Mother shortness of breath and an old Cough It is also effectual in the French disease by taking it as often as there is cause purging old peccant humours especially if the disease be not of any long continuance It takes away also the cause of old and long lingring Agues The Jalap is in operation and purging somewhat like unto the Mechoacan but worketh more strongly and somewhat more churlishly both upon Flegmatick and watry humours yet it strengthens both the Liver and Stomach The manner to take it is being made into powder to drink it in White wine fasting or in the distilled water of Cichory or Borrage or else in broth made with cold herbs and some use to drink it in Posset-drink Millet Names Kinds THere are three sorts growing in Europe they are generally all called by the name of Millium with their Adjectives for distinction Gesner calleth it Panicum Indicum Descript 1. Common white Millet Millium vulgare album This groweth with many hard joynted tall stalks full of white pith yet soft and a little hairy or downy on the outside with long and large Reed-like Leaves compassing one another The tops of the stalks are furnished with a great many whitish yellow long Sprigs like feathers bowing down their heads set all along with small seeds inclosed in whitish husks of a shining pale yellowish colour somewhat hard little bigger than the Seed of Fleawort the Root spreadeth much in the ground but perisheth every year Descript 2. Black Millet Millium nigrum differeth from the other but little being somewhat less saving that as the tuft is brownish so is the seed blackish and shining else it is very like to the other Descript 3. Indian Millet called also Melica sive Forghium and higher than the former rising to be five or six foot high or more the stalks are full of joynts and large long leaves at them the juba or Tuft standeth upright and doth not hang down the head as the others whereon stand somewhat round seed as big but not as flat as Lentils and is either whitish yellow red or blackish hard and shining the root busheth more than the other yet endureth all Winter Place All the sorts of Millet came first into Europe out of the Eastern Countries and require a strong well watered ground they soon will impoverish a ground that is not still inriched it will not prosper in dry or hungry ground Time It is to be sown in April and the grain in the hotter Countries will be ripe in August or September Government and Vertues It is Mercurial of a cooling temperature in the first degree and dry almost in the third according to Galen and is also endued with a little tenuity of parts Theophrastus saith that if the grain be kept from wind and weather it will last always It is sometimes made into bread but it is very brittle it dryeth up moist humours In Germany they much use it boyled in milk and some sugar put to it Mathiolus saith that at Verona they eat the bread thereof with great delight while it is hot by reason of the sweetness but being cold it is hard and unpleasant Dioscorides saith that Gruel or Pottage made with it Binding of the belly Vrine Feavers thirst Chollick Sides Pains Joynts Sinews bindeth the belly and provoketh Urine the Apozeme made thereof called Syrupus Ambrosianus or Syrupus Ambrosii taken warm with white wine procureth sweat very much the party being covered in bed and is effectual to cool hot Feavers and to quench thirst Being put into a bag and fryed and applyed hot it easeth the griping pains of the Chollick and of the sides and pains in the Joynts and Sinews in Italy and other places they fat their Poultry with the grain Mathiolus saith that the Indian Millet-stalks are good to help those that are troubled with kernels under the ears or else where to be used in this manner For Kernels under the Ears or elsewhere TAke ten of the joynts of the Indian Millet of the Stalks thereof take out the pyth of them which burn with a new red Sponge take the powder of them with twelve grains of pepper and an ounce of Wheat Paste or Dowe make it up into a Cake with a new-layd egg and let it be baked under the Embers this Cake divide into six parts and let the Patients take one part of it every other night when the Moon is decreasing as they go to bed and not drink after it that night This must be repeated two or three Moons and by this he saith he hath known many to have been cured He also saith that the red flowers taken in red wine to the quantity of a dram cureth women of the Reds as the white flowers doth the Whites It is also good for all Fluxes of the belly Myrtle Names and Kinds THere are several kinds hereof whose names shall follow with their descriptions The Druggists and Apothecaries in their Shops call the berries Myrillus and we in english Myrtle-berries Descript 1. The greatest open Lawrel Myrtle Myrtus latifolia maxima This greatest Myrtle hath great and thick woody branches set with a double row of large leaves coming near unto the smaller leaves of the Baytree but of a paler green colour abiding always green and very â—weet Clusius saith that this sort in Spain seldome beareth either flowers or fruit because they prune it often being kept in Hedges for pleasure Descript 2. The strange broad-leaved close Myrtle Myrtus Latifolia Exotica This doth grow up higher than the former and shooteth from the root many strong thick stemmes more pleasantly stored with large leaves yet not fully so large as the first sort but closer set together that they almost touch one another sometimes in a double rowe and sometimes in a treble and very sweet The flowers are white like unto others but larger the fruit is somewhat longer than in the small sorts green at the first purplish before it be ripe and black when it is full ripe with many crooked white seeds in them Descript 3. The usual broad-leafed Myrtle Myrtus latifolia vulgaris This Myrtle groweth to be four or five foot high with us and in the hot Countries to be a little Tree full of branches and leaves like a small Bush the leaves are somewhat
were with blisters in divers places with thorns thereon like a Bryar or wild-Rose the leaves are not many but small like the wild hedge-bryar or rather smaller and turning red in Summer the Roses are single and small of a deep incarnate colour more than the former Descript 4. The Virginia Bryar Rose called in Latine Rosa sylvestris Virginiensis The Virginia Rose hath divers as great stems and branches as any other Rose whose young are green and the elder greyish set with many pricks and a few great thorns among them the leaves are very green and shining small and almost round many set on a middle rib one against another somewhat like unto the single yellow-Rose the flowers stand at the tops of the branches consisting of five small leaves of a pale purple or deep Carnation-colour like unto those of the sweet Bryar Descript 5. The single sweet white Rose called in Latine Rosa Campestris flore albo odora This Rose hath woody stems about three foot high set as thick with sharp thorns as any of the other and hath the like leaves but not so green at the tops of whose branches stand usually but one flower apiece consisting of five white leaves reasonable large and of a sweet smell with divers yellow threads in the middle in their places come such like round and short heads or berries as are in other Roses but are black when they are ripe and not red with white seeds lying in flocks of Down Descript 6. The Vermilion Rose of Austria Rosa sylvestris Austriaca flore phoeniceo The younger branches of this Rose are slender and reddish the elder brownish grey set with divers thorns but not very thick great or sharp the leaves are somewhat sharper than those of the single yellow Rose else not much unlike the flowers are single and as large as those of the yellow-Rose but of an excellent Orange-tawny-colour with an eye of vermilion cast over it and of a paler-yellow on the outside after which the fruit follows Descript 7. The single dwarf red-Rose of Austria Rosa pumila rubra Austriaca This Dwarf-Rose groweth not above half a yard high with slender green stems set with few or no thorns below but having many higher having whitish green leaves upon them like the other roses and greyish underneath five or seven set on a stalk together at the top of the branches come forth very great bearded husks wherein stand large flowers made of five leaves apiece somewhat sweet red at the first but decaying with standing growing much more pale before they fail away with yellow threds in the middle after which come the fruit which are red as the others but greater somewhat more like unto a pease than the others Descript 8. The small Burnet-Rose or Pimpinel-Rose Rosa Pimpinella sive pomifera minor This small Rose seldome riseth above a foot high being of two sorts whereof the one hath but few thorns and the other full of small thorns which is most frequent set with long winged stalks of leaves being many small leaves round and greenish set one against another upon the stalk finely dented about the edges seeming like unto a Burnet leaf for the form and number set together The flowers are single small and white without any scent after which come small round heads black when they are ripe and full of seed as the other Roses Descript 9. Dwarf single white Rose Rosa pumila sylvestris alba This scarce riseth above a foot above ground being set with small thorns and leaves according to the proportion of the Plant and the wildness of the kind the flowers are white and small giving heads and seed like the rest the root creepeth about more than others Descript 10. The single Dwarf-Rose without thorns Rosa simplex pumila sine spina This Dwarf-Rose groweth also very low almost upon the ground with green stalks without any thorn thereon set with small winged leaves the flower is small and of a pale reddish colour and single in some places very sweet and in others little or nothing flowring also in some places both in the Spring and Autumn Place and Time The two first grow in the Hedges of our Land every where almost yet the second not so frequent as the first the third came from Muscovy the fourth from Virginia the fifth from Germany in sundry places the sixth and seventh from Austria the eighth is found in divers places of our own land both in barren Heathy grounds and by Woods and hedges sides the ninth on some of the hills among the Switzers and the last near unto Lyons in France upon Pilates Hill there some of these Roses flower earlier than others some in May and others not until June Government and Vertues The Roses are certainly all under the dominion of Venus I shall first set down the properties of the manured-Roses Both the white and the red are of a cooling binding quality yet the white is taken to exceed the red in both these qualities but is seldom used in any inward medicine The red hath a watry substance and a warm joyned with the other Qualities The yellow threads in the middle do binde and dry more then the Rose it self The Juice of the Roses when they are fresh purgeth Choler and watry Humours Choler watry humors but being dryed they have a stopping and astringent quality The decoction of the red-Rose in wine is very good for the Headach and pains in the Ears Eyes Throat and Gums The Fundament also the lower-bowels and the Matrix being bathed or put into them The same decoction with the Roses remaining therein is profitably applyed to the Region of the Heart to ease the inflamations therein as also St. Anthonies fire and all other diseases of the Stomack and being dryed and beaten to powder and taken in steeled wine or water they stay womens Courses Headach pains in the Ears Eyes Throat Gums Fundament Lower-Bowels and Matrix Inflamation of the Heart St. Anthonies fire stomack Womens Courses Eyes and are good for the eyes being mixed with other medicines for that purpose The yellow threads in the middle of the red Roses being powdered and drunk in the distilled water of Quinces stayeth the abundant flux of womens Courses and helps the defluxions of Rheume upon the Gums and Teeth Womens Courses Rheums Gums and Teeth-loose and preserveth them from corruption and fastneth them if they be loose if they be washed and garbled therewith and some Vinegar of squils added thereto the heads with seed being used in powder or in a decoction stayeth the Laske and the spitting of Blood Red Roses do strengthen the heart the stomack and the Liver and the retentive faculties and mitigate pains that arise of heat asswage Inflamations procure sleep and rest stay womens Courses Gonorrhaea and the fluxes of the belly The husks of the Roses with the beards and the nailes of the Roses are binding and cooling and the distilled water of
fluxes from the head and braine Fluxes Head Brain Rheum Catarrhes cold Stomaks Wind Mother French-disease Aches sinews Joints Sores Swellings tetters ringworms Rheums and Catarrhes as also in all cold griefs of the stomack and expelleth wind very powerfully from the stomack and mother It helpeth not only the French disease but all manner of Aches in the Sinews or Joynts all running sores in the legs all flegmatick swellings Tetters or Ringworms and all manner of spots Spots in the Skin and foulness of the skin It is not proper to be given to those whose Livers are over-hot or to such as have Agues The manner of using it is and hath been divers in former times it was used beaten to powder and so drank others used to boyle it so long until it became tender which being beaten or broken was afterwards strained into the decoction making a kinde of thick drink like cream Some others and that most usually boyled it in water to the half or the consumption of the third part as they would have it stronger or weaker and that either by it self or with other things proper for the disease it was intended for and others also put it amongst other things into drink either Beer or Ale new tunned up to drink after it hath stood three or four dayes for Physick-drink for the remedy of those griefs it is conducible unto as aforesaid A dyet-drink with Sarsaparilla for the French-disease Aches pains or any the diseases before mentioned Take Lignum Vitae which is Guiacum nine ounces bark of the same two ounces Sassafras one ounce Sarsaparilla four ounces Juniper-berries one ounce Boyl them in two ounces of fountain-water to the Consumption of half add to the strained liquor Coriander-seeds four drams Cinamon Liquorish each two drams for an ordinary drink Saracens Consound Descript and Names There have several plants been mistaken and set forth for the true Saracens Consound The true is called Solidago Saracenica vera Salices Folia the true Saracens Consound with willow leaves This groweth very high sometimes with Brownish stalks and sometimes with green and hollow to a mans height having many long and narrow green Leaves snipt about the edges set thereon somewhat like unto those of the Almond or Peach-tree or Willow-leaves but not of such a white Green-colour The tops of the stalks are furnished with many pale yellow star-like-flowers which stand in â—green-heads which when they are fallen and the seed ripe which is somewhat long small and of a yellowish brown-colour wrapped in down is therewith carryed away with the winde the root is composed of many strings or fibres set together at the head which perish not in winter but abide though the stalks dry away and no leafe appeareth in winter the taste hereof is strong and unpleasant and so is the leaf also Place and Time It groweth in moist and wet Grounds by woods sides and sometimes in the moist-places of the shaddowy-Groves as also by water-sides It is rare to be found in England Gerrard saith it groweth by the high-way sides in Essex I have sought many wayes there but could never yet find it In July it is in flower and the seed is soon ripe and carried away with the wind Government and Vertues This singular Wound herb is a Plant of Mars so that he can sure aswell as kill It is of temperature hot and dry almost in the third degree and somewhat binding In Germany it is preferred before all other Wound-herbs being boyled in wine and drunk it helpeth the indisposition of the Liver and freeth the gall from obstructions Liver Gall obstructed Yellow Jaundise Dropsie Vlcers of the Reins Wounds and bruises and for the dropsie in the beginning thereof as also in all inward Ulcers of the Reins or elsewhere and inward wounds or bruises and being steeped in wine and then distilled the water thereof drunk is singular good to ease all gnawing in the stomach or any other pains or torments in the body as also the pains of the Mother Gnawings on the stomach Pains Mother Agues green wounds Old Sores Vlcers Sores Mouth and throat privy parts and being in wine and drunk it helpeth continual Agues This said water or the simple water of the herb distilled or the juice or decoction are all very effectual to heal any green wound or old Sore or Ulcer whatsoever both cleansing them from any corruption is in them and healing them up quickly afterwards the same also is no less effectual for the Ulcers of the mouth or throat be they never so foul or stinking by washing and gargling the mouth and throat therewith and likewise for such Sores as happen in the privy parts of man or woman and is as effectual to all the purposes as are Bugle or Sanicle Sassafras or Ague-tree Descript Names THis Indian tree is called by some Ind ans Pavame of some Winanke but its general name amongst the French Spaniards and all other Nations is Sassafras The tree groweth great and tall bare of branches unto a reasonable height covered with a greyish brown bark somewhat thick in taste hotter and quicker than the wood or root towards the top it doth spread forth many Armes and branches into a round compass or form having large dark green leaves growing thereon one at a place standing on the contrary side each to other tasting like the root but more weakly some cut into three Divisions somewhat resembling Fig-tree leaves but lesser by the half for the most part with a middle rib running through each Division and two others to the inner cuts with veins besides and some with little or no division at all upon them smooth also and not dented about the edges the flowers are small and yellow made of threads very like to the male Cornel-tree and the fruit small blackish berries set in small cups upon long footstalks many clustring together The roots are not very great neither do they grow deep but are covered with the like brownish bark that the trunk and branches are but somewhat redder which are most in use being of more force and efficacy than any other part of the tree and of a spicy taste Place This is brought unto us from the parts near Florida and other places of the West-Indies Government and Virtues This is a solar plant of temperature hot and dry in the beginning of the third degree the decoction is very useful in all cold diseases of the liver and spleen as also in cold rheums and defluxions of the head Liver Spleen cold Rheums on the teeth defluxions on the teeth eyes or Lungs eyes or lungs warming and drying up the moisture and strengthening the parts It is available in coughs Coughs Breast Stomach and other cold diseases of the breast stomach and lungs restrains castings and helpeth digestion Castings Digestion wind gravel Kidneys Vrine Terms Agues breaketh and expelleth wind the gravel and stone in the kidneys and provoketh Urine and womens
are drawn from it The branches and leaves Sarmenta Folia The leaves and branches are cooling and binding and good to be put into Lotions for sore mouths Sore mouths Feavers head-ach coming by heat Stomach Inflamations and in drinks against Feavers being bruised and with Barley-meal applyed to the temples easeth the headach coming by heat and applyed to the stomach easeth the Inflamations and heat thereof the juice of them being drunk stayeth the lask inflamations spitting of blood and womens immoderate longings Vine-ashes and the Lye of them Cineres clavellatae eorum Lixivium The Ashes of the burnt branches or pressing made into a lye and drunk is very effectual for the gravel and stone in the Kidneys Gravel Stone Kidneys warts and Inflamations of the Fundament being mixed with a little vinegar it consumeth the warts of the Fundament and inflamation thereof being bathed therewith it doth marvellously ease the pains and take away the swelling The said Lye of Vine-ashes is good to wash places out of joynt or burnt with fire Places out of joynt Burning Spleen hard tumors Fistulaes Vlcers Shrinking Sinews Falls Wens Warts and used with Rue and Vinegar is good for the swelling of the Spleen The ashes made up with axungia is good against hard tumors cleanseth Fistulaes and hollow Ulcers healeth them up afterwards helpeth the pains and shrinking of the sinews and being mixed with oyl easeth those places that are bruised by Falls or otherwise and cureth the bitings of Scorpions and dogs used with vinegar and nitre it washeth away Wens Warts and other excrescencies in the flesh The Vine-tears or bleeding Lachrymae Vitis The water that droppeth out of the grape when it is cut out of due time that is too late in the Spring when the Sap is â—un up being drunk helpeth to expell wash down â—he gravel and Stone in the kidneys And it taketh away Sun-burning and Freckles out of the face Gravel Stone Kidneys Sun-burnings Freckles being washed therewith The gum of the Vine Gummi Vitis The Gum that issueth out it self sticking to the bark being drunk in wine doth the same but that we seldome see any such in our Countrey we may safely use the water in the stead thereof and being bathed on the skin taketh away Scabs Tetters the Morphew Scabs Tetters the Morphew Leprous Scurf Hairs Warts and the leprous Scurf if the places be first washed with nitre The said Gum or the water that droppeth from the green branches when they are burned being used with a little oyl taketh away hairs and warts Grapes and Raisins Vvae Passulae The fresh Grapes being eaten do breed a little windiness which is incident unto all sorts of raw fruit but stir up the Appetite Appetite Spittings of blood Head Bladder Agues loosen the belly and are pleasant to the stomach help to stay spittings of blood but affect the head and the bladder and are forbidden in Agues being hung up and dryed a little or made into Raisins they do help to loosen the belly especially if they be taken without the kernels which are more drying and binding to be taken in Powder of themselves than any other part of the vine The Raisins of the Sun are the best for this purpose with us and for any other use in physick And herewith are made Tisane drinks to help Coughs hoarsness of the throat shortness of wind Coughs Hoarsness of the throat Shortness of breath Stomach Obstructions Liver Spleen Bladder toughness of phlegm causing it the more easily to be expectorated and do lenifie sharp and nauseous humors that offend the mouth of the stomach They serve likewise to open obstructions of the Liver Spleen and Bladder and taken by themselves they nourish much by reason of their thick sweet and temperate substance whereby they stay not long nor putrifie in the Stomach Currans Passulae Corinthiacae The small Raisins or Currans are very nourishing likewise and somewhat opening the belly especially being stewed with some other things conducible thereunto as with a decoction of Sena Rubarb and other such like things as long as occasion shall need Pssulae Damascenae or Damasco-Raisins The Damasco-Raisins have a little tartness in them whereby they are most grateful to the stomach and excell the Raisins of the Sun for all the purposes aforesaid Sapa agresta sive Omphiacum the Juice of the Grape The juice of the grape is of two sorts That is made of unripe grapes which is called varjuice or of the ripe grapes called wine The varjuice is a fine tart liquor fit to be used in broths meats or sawces to sharpen the stomach to get an Appetite and to refresh and quicken fainting spirits of this juice is made a Syrrup of especial use in the same causes the wine is of so many sundry sorts as not only the grapes but the sundry Climates and Soyls wherein they grow are The weak wines are very Rhumatick and cleanse much the strong wines are very heady and inflame the bloud very much those of a middle temper are most proper for our bodies and most wholsome for our health and most useful in physick both to boyl in drinks and to serve as the vehiculum to extract the virtues of whatsoever shall be steeped in it And is distributed into many parts for of it is made both Sapa and defrutum in English Cuite that is to say boyled wine and both made of mustum new wine the later boyled to the half the former to the third part Then there is Acetum vinegar that is sowr wine which is made by setting it in the Sun which exhaling the purer spirits and the heat causeth the other to grow acide and is of great use both in health and sickness both in meat and medicine The Sapa and defrutum differing but only in the manner of boyling they may be both comprehended under Cuite It helpeth the cough and shortness of breath Cough Shortness of breath Phlegm Chest Lungs and to expectorate tough phlegm from the Chest and Lungs It also easily passeth through the belly and maketh it soluble Vinegar contrariwise is cooling and drying as the Cuite is heating and moistning and therefore serveth to correct the heat in Feavers and to resist putrefaction it cutteth tough phlegm that is hard baked and not easily spit up and brought forth It is very sharp and penetrating and very useful in scabs Itches tetters ringworms Tough phlegm Scabs Itches Tetters Ring-worms and fretting and creeping Ulcers to correct their malignity and extirpate their corroding quality but is offensive to the sinews by its piercing and drying quality causeth them to shrink but the distilled Vinegar is of a more fiery and penetrating quality which it gaineth by the distillation thereof the manner and order in this being quite different from the distilling of wine wherein the purest and strongest spirits do first rise and come forth when as in vinegar almost two third parts