put into the Nostrils purgeth the Head helpeth the nois in the Ears and the Tooth-ach the Juyce snuffed up the Nose helps a stinking Breath if the caus lies in the Nose as many times it doth if any bruis have been there as also want of smel coming that way Water-Betony ♃ ♋ Description FIrst of the Water-Betony which riseth up with square hard greenish Stalks and somtimes brown set with broad dark green Leavs dented about the edges with notches somwhat resembling the Leavs of the Wood-Betony but much larger two for the most part set at a Joynt The Flowers are many set at the tops of the Stalks and Branches being round bellied and open at the Brims and divided into two parts the uppermost being like a Hood and the lowest like a Lip hanging down of a dark red colour which passing away there comes in their places smal round Heads with smal points in the ends wherin lie smal and brownish Seeds The Root is a thick Bush of strings and threds growing from an Head Place It groweth by Ditchsides Brooks and other Water-courses generally through this Land and is seldom found far from the Waters sides Time It Flowreth about July and the Seed is ripe in August Vertues and Use. It is of a clensing quality the Leavs bruised and applied are effectual for all old and filthy Ulcers and especially if the Juyce of the Leavs be boyled with a little Honey and tents dipped therin and the Sores dressed therwith as also for Bruises or Hurts whether inward or outward The distilled water of the Leaves is used for the same purposes as also to bath the Face or Hands spotted or blemished or discolored by Sunburning I confess I do not much fancy distilled Waters I mean such Waters as are distilled cold some vertue of the Herb they may happliy have it were a strange thing else but this I am confident of that being distilled in a Pewter Stil as the vulgar and apish fashion is both Chymical Oyl and Salt is left behind unless you burn them and then all is spoiled Water and al which was good for as little as can be by such a Distillation You have the best way of Distillation in my Translation of the London Dispensatory The Colledg of Physitians having as much skil in Distillations as an Ass hath reading Hebrew Water-Betony is an Herb of Jupiter in cancer and is apropriated more to Wounds and Hurts in the Breast than Wood-Betony which follows ♃ ♈ Wood-Betony Description THe Common or Wood-Betony hath many Leavs rising from the Root which are somwhat broad and round at the ends roundly dented about the edges standing upon long Footstalks from among which rise up smal square slender but yet upright hairy Stalks with some Leaves thereon two apiece at the Joynts smaller than the lower whereon are set several spiked Heads of Flowers like Lavender but thicker and shorter for the most part and of a reddish or purple colour spotted with white spots both in the upper and lower part The Seeds being contained within the Husks that hold the Flowers are blackish somwhat long and uneven The Roots are many white threddy strings the Stalk perisheth but the Root with some Leavs theron abides al the Winter The whol Plant is somwhat smal Place It groweth frequently in Woods and delighteth in Shady-places Time And it flowreth in July after which the Seed is quickly ripe yet in its prime in May. Vertues and Vse Antonius Musa physitian to the Emperor Augustus caesar wrote a peculiar Book of the Vertues of this Herb and amongst other Vertues saith of it That it preserveth the Lives and Bodies of Men free from the danger of Epidemical Diseases and from Wicchcrafts also It is found by daily experience to be good for many Diseases It helpeth those that loath or cannot digest their Meat those that have weak Stomachs or sower belchings or continual rising in their Stomach using it familiarly either green or dry either the Herb the Root or the Flowers in Broth drunk or Meat or made into Conserve Syrup Water Electuary or Pouder as every one may best frame themselvs unto or as the time or season requireth taken any of the aforesaid waies It helpeth the Jaundice Falling-sickness the Palsie Convulsions or shrinking of the Sinews the Gout and those that are inclined to Dropsies those that have continual Pains in their Head although it turn to Phrensie The Pouder mixed with pure Honey is no less available for al sorts of Coughs or Colds Wheesing or shortness of Breath Distillations of thin Rhewm upon the Lungues which causeth Consumptions The Decoction made with Mead and a little Penyroyal is good for those that are troubled with putrid Agues whether Quotidian Tertian or Quartan and to draw down and evacuate the Blood and humors that by falling into the Eyes do hinder the Sight The Decoction therof made in Wine and taken killeth the Worms in the Belly openeth Obstructions both of the Spleen and Liver careth Stitches and Pains in the Back or Sides the Torments and griping pains of the Bowels and the wind Chollick and mixed with Honey purgeth the Belly helpeth to bring down Womens Courses and is of especial use for those that are troubled with the falling down of the Mother and pains therof and causeth an easie and speedy delivery of Women in Childbirth it helpeth also to break and expel the Stone either in the Bladder or Kidneys The Decoction with Wine gargled in the Mouth easeth the Toothach It is commended against the sting or biting or Venemous Serpents or Mad Dogs Being used inwardly and applied outwardly to the place A dram of the Pouder in Betony taken with a little Honey in some Vinegar doth wonderfully refresh those that are overwearied by travail it staieth bleedings at the Mouth or Nose and helpeth those that pise or spit Blood and those that are Bursten or have a Rupture and is good for such as are bruised by any fall or otherwise The green Herb bruised or the Juyce applied to any inward hurt or outward green Wound in the Head or Body wil quickly heal and close it up as also any Veins or Sinews that are cut and will draw forth any broken Bone or Splinter Thorn or other thing gotten into the Flesh It is no less profitable for old Sores or filthy Ulcers yea though they be Fistulaus and hollow but some do advise to put in a little Salt to this purpose Being applied with a little Hogs Lard it helpeth a Plague-Sore and other Boyls and Pushes The fumes of the Decoction while it is warm received by a Funnel into the Bars caseth the pains of them destroyeth the Worms and cureth the running Sores in them The Juyce dropped into them doth the same The Root of Betony is displeasing both to the tast and Stomach whereas the Leavs and Flowers by their sweet and spicy tast are comfortable both in Meat and Medicine There are some of the many
may be found in my Translation of the London Dispensatory and it may be I may give you again in plainer terms at the latter end of this Book ♀ Bishops-weed Description COmmon Bishops-weed riseth up with a round straight Stalk somtimes as high as a Man but usually three or four foot high beset with divers smal long and somwhat broad Leavs cut in som places and dented about the edges growing one against another of a dark green colour having sundry Branches on them and at the top smal umbels of white flowers which turn into smal round brown Seed little bigger than Parsly-seed of a quick hot scent and tast The Root is white and stringie perishing yearly after it hath seeded and usually riseth again of its own sowing Place It groweth wild in many places in England and Wales as between Greenheath and Gravsend Vertues It digesteth Humors provoketh Urin and Womens Courses dissolveth Wind and being taken in Wine easeth pains and griping in the Bowels and is good against the biting of Serpents It is used to good effect in those Medicins which are given to hinder the poysonful operation of Cantharides upon the passages of the Urin Being mixed with Honey and applied to black and blue marks coming of blows or bruises it takes them away and being drunk or outwardly applied it abateth an high colour and makes it pale and the Fumes therof taken with Rozin or Raisons clenseth the Mother It is hot and dry in the third degree of a bitter tast and somthing sharp withal it provokes Lust to purpose I suppose Venus owns it Bistort or Snakeweed ♄ Description THis hath a thick short knobbed Root blackish without and somwhat reddish within a little crooked or turned together of an harsh astringent tast with divers black threds hanging there from whence spring up every year divers Leaves standing upon long Footstalks being somwhat broad and long like a Dock-leaf and a little pointed at the ends but that it is of a blewish green colour on the upper side and of an Ash colour gray and a little purplish underneath with divers Veins therin from among which rise up divers smal and slender Stalks two foot high and almost naked and without Leavs or with very few and narrow bearing a spiky Bush of pale Flesh colour'd Flowers which being past there abideth smal Seed somwhat like unto Sorrel Seed but greater There are other sorts of Bistort growing in this Land but smaller both in height Root and Stalks and especially in the Leavs The Root blackish without and somwhat whitish within of an austere binding tast as the former Place They grow in shadowy moist Woods and at the foot of Hils but are chiefly nourished up in Gardens The narrow leaved Bistort groweth in the North in Lancashire yorkshire and Cumberland Time They Flower about the end of May and the Seed is ripe about the beginning of July Vertues and use Both the Leavs and Roots have have a powerful faculty to resist al Poyson The Root in Pouder taken in drink expelleth the Venem of the Plague the smal Pox Meazles Purples or any other infectious Diseas driving it out by sweating The Root in Pouder or the Decoction therof in Wine being drunk stayeth al manner of inward bleedings or spittings of Blood and any Fluxes in the Body of either Man or Woman or Vomitings it is also very available against Ruptures or Burstings or all bruises or fals dissolving the congealed Blood and easeth the pains that happen thereupon it also helpeth the Jaundice The Water distilled from both Leavs and Roots is a singular remedy to wash any place bitten or stung by any venemous creature as also for any of the purposes before spoken of And is very good to wash any running Sores or Ulcers The Decoction of the Root in Wine being drunk hindreth Abortion or Miscarriage in Child-bearing The Leavs also kil the Worms in Children and is a great help for them that cannot keep their Water if the Jayce of Plantane be added therto And outwardly applied much helpeth the Gonorrhea or running of the Reins A dram of the Pouder of the Root taken in the Water thereof wherein som red hot Iron or Steel hath been quenched is also an admirable help thereto so as the Body be first prepared and purged from the offensive humors The Leaves Seed or Roots are al very good in Decoctions Drinks or Lotians for inward or outward Wounds or other fores and the Pouder strewed upon any cut or wound in a Vein stayeth the immoderat bleeding thereof The Decoction of the Roots in Water whereunto som Pomgranate Pils and Flowers are added injected into the Matrix stayeth the access of humors to the Ulcers therof and bringeth it to its right place being fallen down and stayeth the immoderat flux of the Courses The Root hereof with Pellitory of Spain and burnt Allum of each a like quantity beaten smal and made into Past with some Honey and a little Picce thereof put into an hollow-Tooth or held between the Teeth if there be no hollowness in them stayeth the defluxion of Rhewm upon them which causeth pains and helps to clense the Head and avoid much offensive Water The Distilled Water is very effectual to wash Sores or Cankers in the Nose or any other part if the Pouder of the Root be aplied therunto afterwards It is good also to fasten the Gums and to take away the heat and inflamations that happen in the Jaws Almonds of the Throat or Mouth if the Decoction of the Leavs Roots or Seeds be used or the Juyce of them but the Roots are most effectual to all the purposes aforesaid ☉ One-Blade Description THis smal Plant never beareth more than one Leaf but only when it rises up with its Stalk which thereon beareth another and seldom more which are of a bluish green colour broad at the bottom and pointed with many Ribs or Veins like Plantane At the top of the Stalk grow many smal white Flowers Star-fashion smelling somthing sweet after which come smal reddish Berries when they are ripe The Root is smal of the bigness of a Rush lying and creeping under the upper crust of the Earth shooting forth in diverse places Place It groweth in moist shadowy grassie places of Woods in many places of this Realm Time It flowreth about May and the Berries be ripe in June and then quickly perisheth until the next year it springth from the same again The Vertues Half a dram or a dram at most of the Roots hereof in Pouder taken in Wine and Vineger of each a like quantity and the party presently laid to swear is held to be a sovereign remedy for those that are infected with the Plague and have a sore upon them by expelling the Poyson and defending the Heart and Spirits from danger it is also accounted a singular good Wound-Herb and therfore used with other
Grass Called in some Countries Five finger'd Grass Description THis spreadeth and creepeth far upon the ground with long slender strings like Strawberries which take Root again and shooteth forth many Leavs made of five parts and somtimes of seven dented about the edges and somwhat hard The Stalks are slender leaning downwards and bear many smal yellow Flowers theron with some yellow threds in the middle standing about a smooth green head which when it is ripe is a little rough and containeth smal brownish Seeds The Root is of a blackish brown colour seldom so big as ones little finger but growing long with some threds therat and by the smal strings it quickly spreadeth over the ground Place It groweth by Wood sides Hedg sides the Pathwaies in Fields and in the Borders and Corners of them almost through all this Land Time It Flowreth in Summer some sooner some later Vertues and use It is an especial Herb used in all Inflamations and Feavers whether Infectious or Pestilential or among other Herbs to cool and temper the Blood and humors in the Body As also for all Lotions Gargles Injections and the like for sore Mouths Ulcers Cankers Fistulaes and other corrupt Foul or running Sores The Juyce herof drunk about four ounces at a time for certain daies together cureth the Quinsie and the yellow Jaundice and taken for thirty daies together cureth the Falling-sickness The Roots boyled in Milk and drunk is a most effectual remedy for all Fluxes in Man or Woman whether the Whites or Reds as also the Bloody Flux The Roots boyled in Vinegar and the Decoction therof held in the Mouth easeth the pains of the Toothach The Juyce or Decoction taken with a little Honey helpeth the hoarsness of the Throat and is good for the Cough of the Lungs The distilled Water of both Roots and Leavs is also effectual to all the purposes aforesaid and if the Hands be often washed therin and suffered at every time to dry in of it self without wiping it wil in short time help the Palsy or shaking in them The Root boyled in Vinegar helpeth all Knots Kernels hard swellings and lumps growing in any part of the Flesh being therto applied as also al Inflamations and St. Anthonies Fire all Imposthumes and painful Sores with heat and putrefaction the shingles also and all other sorts of running and soul Scabs Sores and Itch. The same also boyled in Wine and applied to any Joynts full of pain and achâ—or the Gout in the Hands or Feet or the Hip-gout called the Sciatica and the Decoction therof drunk the while doth cure them and easeth much pains in the Bowels The Roots are likewise effectual to help Ruptures or Burstings being used with other things available to that purpose taken either inwardly or outwaâ—dly or both as also for Bruises or Hurts by Blows Falls or the like and to stay the bleeding of Wounds in any part inward or outward This is an Herb of Jupiter and therfore strengthens the parts of the Body that he rules let Jupiter be angular and strong when it is gathered and if you give but a scruple which is but twenty grains of it at a time either in white Wine or white Wine Vinegar you shal very seldom miss the cure of an Ague be it what Ague soever in three Fits as I have often proved to the admiration both of my self and others let no Man despise it becaus it is plain and easie the waies of God are all such 't is the ungodliness and impudency of Man that made things hard and hath by so doing made sport for al the Devils in Hell and grieved the good Angels and when you reade this your own Genius if you be any thing at al acquainted with it may dictate to you many as good Conculsions both of this and other Herbs Some hold that one Leaf cures a Quotidian three a Tertian and four a Quartan Ague and a hundred to one if it be not Dioscorides for he is ful of such Whimseys The truth is I never stood so much upon the number of the Leavs nor whether I gave it in Pouder or Decoction If Jupiter were strong and the Moon applying to him or his good aspect at the gathering of it I never knew it miss the desired effects ♀ Clary Description OUr ordinary Garden Clary hath four square Stalks with broad â—ough wrinkled whitish or hairy green Leavs somwhat evenly cut in on the edges and of a strong sweet sent growing some neer the ground and some by couples upon the Stalks The Flowers grow at certain distances with two smal Leavs at the Joynts under them somwhat like unto the Flowers of Sage but smaller and of a whitish blue colour The Seed is brownish and somwhat Flat or not so â—ound as the wild the Roots are blackish and spread not far and perish after the Seed time It is usually sown for it seldom riseth of its own sowing Place This groweth in Gardens Time It Flowreth in June and July some a little later than others and their Seed is ripe in August or therabouts Vertues and use The Seed is used to be put into the Eyes to cleer them from Moats or other such like things gotten within the Lids to offend them as also to clear them from white or red spots in them The Muccilage of the Seed made with Water and applied to Tumors and swellings disperseth and taketh them away as also draweth forth Splinters Thorns or other things gotten into the Flesh. The Leavs used with Vinegar either by it self or with a little Honey doth help hot Inflamations as also Boyls Felons and the hot Inflamations that are gathered by their pains if it be applied before they be grown too great The Pouder of the dried Leavs put into the Nose provoketh neesing and therby purgeth the Head and Brain of much Rhewm and Corruption The Seed or Leavs taken in Wine provoketh to Venery It is of much use both for Men and Women that have weak Backs to help to strengthen the Reins used either by it self or with other Herbs conducing to the same effect and in Tansies often The fresh Leavs dipped in a Batter of Flower Egs and a little Milk and fried in Butter and served to the Table is not unpleasant to any but exceeding profitable for those that are troubled with weak Backs and the effects therof The Juyce of the Herb put into Ale or Beer and drunk bringeth down Womens Courses and expelleth the After-birth It is an usual cours with Men when they have gotten the running of the Reins or Women the Whites then run to the bush of Clary Maid bring hither the Frying Pan fetch me some Butter quickly then to eating fryed Clary just as Hogs eat Acorns and this they think wil cure their Diseas forsooth wheras when they have devoured as much Clary as wil grow upon an Acre of ground their Backs are as much the better as
that Women will not put it in the Pot becaus it makes the Pottage black Pride and Ignorance a couple of Monsters in the Creation preferring Nicity before Health Dodder of Time or Epithimum and other Dodders ♄ Description THis first from Seeds giveth Roots in the Ground which shooteth forth threads or Strings grosser or finer as the property of the Plant wherein it groweth and the Climate doth suffer creeping and spreading on that Plant wheron it fastneth be it high or low These Strings have no Leavs at all upon them but wind and interlace themselves so thick upon a smal Plant that it taketh away all comfort of the Sun from it and is ready to choke or strangle it After these Strings are risen up to that Height that they may draw Nourishment from the Plant they seem to be broken off from the ground either by the strength of ther rising or withered by the heat of the Sun Upon these Strings are found clusters of small Heads or Husks out of which star◠forth whitish Flowers which afterwads give smal pale colour'd Seed somwhat flat and twice as big as Poppy Seed It generally participates of the Nature of that Plant which it climbeth upon but the Dodder of Time is accounted the best and is the only true Epithimum Vertues and use This is accounted the most effectnal for Melanchollick Diseases and to purge black or burnt Choller which is the caus of many Diseases of the Head and Brains as also for the trembling of the Heart faintings and Swounings It is helpful in all Diseases and Griefs of the Spleen and of that Melancholly that ariseth from the windiness of the Hypochondria It purgeth also the Reins or Kidneys by Urin. It openeth Obstructions of the Gall wherby it profiteth them that have the Jaundice as also of the Liver and Spleen purging the Veins of Chollerick and Flegmatick Humors and helpeth Childrens Agues a little Wormseed being put therto The other Dodders do as I said before participate of the Nature of those Plants whereon they grow As that which hath been found growing upon Nettles in the West Country hath by experience been found very effectual to procure plenty of Urin where it hath been stopped or hindred And so of the rest All Dodders are under Saturn Tell not me of Physitians crying up Epithimum or that Dodder which grows upon Time most of which comes from Hymettus in Greece or Hybla in Sicilia becaus those Mountains abound with Time he is a Physitian indeed that hath wit enough to chuse his Dodder according to Nature of the Diseas and Humor peccant we confess Time is the hottest Herb it usually grows upon and therfore that which grows upon Time is hotter than that which grows upon colder Herbs for it draws Nourishment from what it grows upon as well as from the Earth where its Root is and thus you see old Saturn is wise enough to have two Strings to his Bow Sympathy and Antipathy are the two Hinges upon which the whol Moddel of Physick turns and that Physitian which minds them not is like a Door off from the Hooks more likely to do a man a mischief than to secure him then all the Diseases Saturn causeth this helps by Sympathy strengthens al the parts of the Body he rules such as caused by Sol it helps by Antipathy what those Diseases are see my Judgment of Diseases by Astrology and you be pleased to look the Herb Wormwood you shal find a Rational way for it ♃ Dogs-Grass OR Quich-Grass Description IT is well known that this Grass creepeth far about under ground with long white joynted Roots and smal fibres almost at every Joynt very sweet in tast as the rest of the Herb is and interlacing one another from whence shoot forth many fair long grassy Leavs small at the ends and cutting or sharp on the edges The Stalks are joynted like Corn with the like Leavs on them and a long spiked Head with long Husks on them and hard rough Seed in them Place It groweth commonly through this Land in divers plowed grounds to the no smal trouble of the Husbandman as also of the Gardiners in Gardens to weed it out if they can for it is a constant Customer to the place it gets footing in Vertues and use This is the most Medicinable of all the Quith-grasses Being boyled and drunk it openeth Obstructions of the Liver and Gall and the Stoppings of the Urin and easeth the griping pains of the Belly and Inflamations wasteth the matter of the Stone in the Bladder and the Ulcers thereof also The Roots brused and applied doth consolidate Wounds The Seed doth more powerfully expel Urin and stayeth the Lask and Vomitings The distilled Water alone or with a little Wormseed killeth the Worms in Children The way of use is to bruis the Roots and having well boyled them in white Wine drink the Decoction 't is opening but not purging very safe 't is a Remedy against all Diseases coming of Stopping and such are half those which are incident to the Body of man and although a Gardiner be of another opinion yet a Physitian holds half an Acre of them to be worth five Acres of Carrots twice told over Dovesfoot or Cranes-bill ♂ Description THis hath divers small round pale green Leavs out in about the edges much like Mallows standing upon long reddish hairy Stalks lying in a round compass upon the ground among which rise up two or three or more reddish Joynted slender weak and hairy Stalks with some such like Leavs thereon but smaller and more cut in up to the tops where grow many very smal bright red Flowers of five Leavs apiece after which follow smal Heads with smal short bea◠pointing forth as all other sorts of these Herbs do Place It groweth in Pasture Grounds and by the Path sides in many places and wil also be in Gardens Time It Flowreth in June July and August some earlier and some later and the Seed is ripe quickly after Vertues and use It is found by experience to be singular good for the Wind Chollick and pains thereof as also to expel the Stone and Gravel in the Kidnies The Decoction there of in Wine is an exceeding good Wound Drink for those that have inward Wounds Hurts or Bruises both to stay the bleeding to dissolve and expel the congealed Blood and to heal the parts as also to clens and heal outward Sores Ulcers and Fistulaes and for green Wounds many do but bruise the Herb and apply it to the place and it healeth them quickly The same Decoction in Wine fomented to any place pained with the Gout or to Joynt-aches or pain of the Sinews giveth much eas The Pouder or Decoction of the Herb taken for some time together is found by experience to be singular good for Ruptures and Burstings in People either yong or old ☽ Ducksmeat THis is so well known to swim on the top of standing Waters
upward stored with a number of pale yellow Flowers of a strong unpleasant scent with deeper yellow mouths and blackish flat Seeds in round Heads The Root is somwhat woody and white especially the main downright one with many fibres abiding many yeers shooting forth Roots every way round about and new Branches every yeer Place This groweth throughout this Land both by the way sides in Meadows as also by Hedg sides and upon the sides of Banks and Borders of Fields Time It Flowreth in Summer and the Seed is ripe usually before the end of August Vertues and use This is frequently used to provoke Urine being stopped and to spend the abundance of those watery Humors by Urine which caus the Dropsie The Decoction of the Herb both Leavs and Flowers in Wine taken and drunk doth somwhat move the Belly downwards openeth Obstructions of the Liver and helpeth the yellow Jaundice expelleth Poyson provoketh Womens Courses driveth forth the dead Child and Afterbirth The Distilled water of the Herb and Flowers is effectual for all the same purposes especially being drunk with a dram of the Pouder of the Seeds or Bark of the Root of Walwort and a little Cinnamon for certain daies together is held a singular Remedy for the Dropsie The Juyce of the Herb or the distilled Water dropped into the Eyes is a certain Remedy for all heat Inflamations and redness in them The Juyce or water put into foul Ulcers whither they be Cancrous or Fistulous with tents rouled therin or the parts washed or injected therwith clenseth them throughly from the bottom and healeth them up safely The same Juyce or Water also clenseth the Skin wonderfully of all sorts of deformity thereof as Lepry Morphew Scurff Wheals Pimples or any other Spots or Marks in the Skin applied of it self or used with some Pouder of Lupines Mars owns the Herb in Sussex we call it Gall-wort and lay it in our Chickens water to cure them of the Gall I think I am sure it releevs them when they are drooping Fleawort Description THe ordinary Fleawort riseth up with a Stalk two Foot high or more full of Joynts and Branches on every side up to the top and at every Joynt two small long and narrow whitish green Leavs somwhat hairy At the tops of every Branch stand divers small short scaly or chaffy Heads out of which come forth small whitish yellow threds like to those of the Plantane Herbs which are the Bloomings or Flowers The Seed inclosed in those Heads is smal and shining while it is Fresh very like unto Fleas both for colour and bigness but turning black when it groweth old The Root is not long but white hard and woody perishing every yeer and rising again of its own Seed for divers yeers if it be suffred to shed The whol Plant is somwhat whitish and hairy smelling somwhat like Rozin There is another sort hereof differing not from the former in the manner of growing but only that his Stalk and Branches being somwhat greater do a little more bow down to the ground The Leavs are somwhat larger the Heads somwhat lesser the Seed alike and the Root and Leavs abide all the Winter and perish not as the former Place The first groweth only in Gardens the second plentifully in Fields that are neer the Sea Time They Flower in July or thereabouts Vertues and use The Seed fried and so taken staieth the Flux or Lask of the Belly and the corrosions that come by reason of hot Chollerick Sharp and malignant Humors or by the too much purging of any violent Medicine as Scammony or the like The Muccilage of the Seed made with Rose Water and a little Sugar Candy put therto is very good in all hot Agues and burning Feavers and other Inflamations to cool the thirst and lenify the dryness and roughness of the Tongue and Throat It helpeth also hoarsness of the voice and Diseases of the Breast and Lungs caused by heat or sharp salt humors and the Pluresie also The Muccilage of the Seed made in Plantane Water whereunto the Yolk of an Egg or two and a little Populeon is put is a most safe and sure Remedy to eas the sharpness prickings and pains of the Hemorrhoids or Piles if it be laid on a cloath and bound therto It helpeth also all Inflamations in any parts of the Body and the pains that come thereby as the Head-ach and Megrim and all hot Imposthumes or Swellings or breakings out of the Skin as Blains Wheals Pushes Purples and the likes as also the pains of the Joynts and of those that are out of joynt the pains of the Gout and Sciatica the Bursting of yong Children and the swelling of the Navel applied with Oyl of Roses and Vinegar It is also very good to heal the Nipples and Sore Breasts of Women being often applied thereunto The Juyce of the Herb with a little Honey put into the Ears helpeth the running of them and the Worms breeding in them The same also mixed with Hogs Greas and applied to corrupt and filthy Ulcers and Sores clenseth and healeth them The Herb is cold and dry Saturnine I suppose it obtained the name Fleawort becaus the Seeds are so like Fleas Flixweed Description THis riseth up with a round upright hard Stalk four or five Foot high spread into sundry Branches wheron grow many grayish green Leavs very finely cut and severed into a number of short and almost round parts The Flowers are very smal and yellow growing Spike fashion after which come very smal long Pods with very smal yellowish Seed in them The Root is long and woody perishing every yeer There is another sort differing in nothing save only it hath somwhat broader Leaves They have a strong evil savor being smelt unto and are of a drying tast Place They grow wild in the Fields by Hedg-sides and High-waies and among rubbish and in many other place Time They Flower and Seed quickly after namely in June and July Vertues and use Both the Herb and Seed of Flixweed is of excellent use to stay the Flux or Lask of the Besly being drunk in Water wherein gads of Steel heated have been often quenched and is no less effectual for the said purpose than Plantane or Comfry and to restrain any other Flux of Blood in man or Woman as also to consolidate Bones broken or out of Joynt The Juyce therof drunk in Wine or the Decoction of the Herb drunk doth kill the Worms in the Stomach or Belly or the Worms that grow in putrid and filthy Ulcers And made into a Salve doth quickly heal all old sores how foul or Malignant soever they be The distilled water of the Herb worketh the same effects although somwhat weaker yet is a fair Medicine and more acceptable to be taken It is called Flixweed becaus it cures the Flux and for its uniting broken Bones c. Paracelsus extols it to the Skies It is fitting Syrups
or of the Belley but the Roots are most used some chusing the one and some the other to be more effectual to cool bind and restrain all Fluxes in Man or Woman as also the running of the Reins and the passage away of the Seed when one is asleep but the frequent use hereof extinguisheth Venereous actions The Root is likewise very good for those whose Urine is hot and sharp to be boyled in Wine or Water and the Decoction drunk The Distilled water of the Flowers is very effectual for al the Diseases aforesaid both inwardly taken and outwardly applied and is much commended to take away Freckles Spots Sun-burn and Morphew from the Face or other parts of the Body The Oyl made of the Flowers as Oyl of Roses is made is profitably used to cool hot Tumors and the Inflamations of Ulcers and Wounds and to eaâ— the pains and help the Sores The Herb is under the Dominion of the Moon and therefore cools and moistens like the former Liquoris Description OUr English Liquoris riseth up with divers woody Stalks whereon are set at several distances many narrow long green Leavs set together on both sides of the Stalk and an od one at the end very wel resembling a yong Ash-tree sprung up from the Seed This by many yeers continuance in a place without removing and not else will bring forth Flowers many standing together Spike fashion one above another upon the Stalks of the form of Pease Blossoms but of a very pale blue colour which turn into long somwhat flat and smooth Rods wherein is contained smal round hard Seed The Root runneth down exceeding deep into the ground with divers other smaller Roots and Fibres growing with them and shoot out Suckers from the main Roots al about wherby it is much encreased of a brownish colour on the outside and yellow within Place It is planted in Fields and Gardens in divers places of this Land and thereof good profit is made Vertues and use Liquoris boyled in fair Water with some Maidenhair and Figs maketh a good Drink for those that have a dry Cough or Hoarceness Wheesing shortness of breath and for al the Griefs of the Breast and Lungs Phtisick or Consumptions caused by the Distillation of Salt humors on them It is also good in all pains of the Reins the Strangury and heat of Urine The fine Pouder of Liquoris blown through a Quil into the Eyes that have a Pin and Web as they cal it or Rhewmatick Distillations into them doth clens and help them The Juyce of Liquoris is as effectual in al the Diseases of the Breast Lungs the Reins and Bladder as the Decoction The Juyce dissolved in Rose Water with some Guâ—-Tragacanth is a fine licking Medicine for Hoarceness Wheesings c. ♃ ♋ Liverwort Description THe Common Liverwort groweth close and spreadeth much upon the ground in moyst and shadowy places with many sad green leaves or rather as it were sticking flat one to another very unevenly cut in on the edges and crumpled from among which arise smal slender stalks an Inch or two high at most bearing smal Starlike Flowers at the tops The Roots are very fine and smal Vertues and use It is a singular good Herb for all the diseases of the Liver both to cool and clense it and helpeth the Inflamations in any part and the yellow Jaundice likewise Being bruised and boyled in small Beer and drunke it cooleth the heat of the Liver and Kidneys and helpeth the runing of the Reins in men the Whites in Women It is a singular remedy to stay the spreading of Tetters Ringworms and other fretting and running Sores Scabs and is an excellent remedy for such whose Livers are corrupted by sursets which causeth their bodies to break out for it fortifies the Liver exceedingly and make it impregnable It being under the command of Jupiter and under the sign Cancer Loos-strife or WillowHearb Discription THe Common yellow Loos-strife groweth to be four or five foot high or more with great round stalks a little crested diversly branched from the middle of them to the tops into great long Branches on al which at the Joynts ther grow long and narrow Leavs but broader below and usually two at a Joynt yet somtimes three or four somwhat like Willow Leaves smooth on the edges and of a faint green colour from the upper Joynts of the branches and at the tops of them also stand many yellow Flowers of five Leaves a piece with diverse yellow threeds in the middle which turn into small round heads containing small cornered Seeds The Roote creepeth under ground almost like Couchgrass but greater and shooteth up every Spring brownish heads which afterwards grow up into stalks It hath no scent nor tast but only astringent Place It groweth in many places of this Land in moyst Meadowes and by water sides Time It Flowreth from June to August Vertues and use This Hearb is good to stay all manner of Bleeding at Mouth or Nose or Wounds and all Fluxes of the Belly and the bloody Flux given either to drinke or taken by Clyster it stayeth also the abundance of Womens Courses It is a singular good wound Hearb for green wounds to stay the bleeding and quickly to close together the lips of the Wound if the herb be bruised and the Juyce only applyed It is often used in Gargles for sore mouthes as also for the secret parts the smoke herof being burned driveth away Flyes and Gnats which use in the night-time to molest people inhabiting neere Marshes and in the Fenney Countryes Loos-Strife with Spiked Heads of Flowers ☽ ♋ Description THis groweth with many woody square stalkes full of Joynts about three foot high at least at everyone wherof stand two long Leaves shorter narrower and of a deeper green colour than the former and some brownish The stalkes are branched into many long stemmes of spiked Flowers half a foot long growing in Rundles one above another out of smal husks very like the Spiked heads of Lavender each of which Flowers have five round pointed Leaves of a Purple Violet Colour or somwhat inclining to redness in which husks stand small round heads after the Flowers are fallen wherein is contained small seed The Root creepeth under ground like unto the yellow but is greater than it and so is the heads of the Leaves when they first appear out of the ground and more brown than the other Place It groweth usually by Rivers and Ditches sides in wet grounds as about the Ditches at and neer Lambeth and in many other places of this Land Time It Flowreth in the months of June and July Vertues and Use. This Herb is no whit inferior unto the former it having not only all the vertues which the former hath but some particular vertues of its own found out by experience as namely The distilled water is a present remedy for hurts and blows on the eyes and for
blindness so as the Christaline humor be not perished or hurt and this hath been sufficiently proved true by the experience of a man of judgment who kept it long to himself as a great sccret It also cleareth the Eyes of dust or any other thing gotten into them and preserveth the Sight It is also very much available against Wounds and Thrusts being made into an Oyntment on this manner To every ounce of the Water ad two drams of May Butter without Salt and of Sugar and Wax of each as much also let them boyl gently all together Let Tents be dipped in the Liquor that remaineth after it is cold and put into the Wounds and the place covered with a Linnen cloth doubled and anointed with the Oyntment and this is also an approved Medicine It likewise clenseth and healeth all foul Ulcers and Sores wheresoever and staieth their Inflamations by washing them with the Water and laying on them a green Leaf or two in the Summer or dry Leaves in the Winter This Water gargled warm in the Mouth and somtimes drunk also doth cure the Quinsie or Kings Evil in the Throat The said Water applied warm taketh away all Spots Marks and Scars in the Skin And a little of it drunk quencheth thirst when it is extraordinary The Herb is an Herb of the Moon and under the Sign Cancer neither do I know a better Preserver of the Sight when 't is well nor a better Curer of sore Eyes than Eyebright taken inwardly and this used outwardly 't is cold in quality ☉ ☿ Lovage Description THis hath many long and great Stalks of large winged Leavs devided into many parts like Smallage but much larger and greater every Leaf being cut about the edges broadest forwards and smallest at the Stalk of a sad green colour smooth and shining from among which rise up sundry strong hollow green Stalks five or six foot yea somtimes seven or eight foot high full of Joynts but lesser Leavs set at them than grow below and with them toward the tops come forth long Branches hearing at their tops large Umbels of yellow Flowers and after them flat brownish Seed The Root groweth thick great and deep spreading much and enduring long of a brownish colour on the outside and whitish within The whol Plant and every part of it smelleth strong and Aromatically and is of an hot sharp biting tast Place It is usually planted in Gardens where if it be suffered it groweth huge and great Time It Flowreth in the end of July and seedeth in August Vertues and Use. It openeth cutteth and digesteth Humors and mightily provoketh Womens Courses and Urine Half a dram at a time of the dried Root in Pouder taken in Wine doth wonderfully warm a cold Stomach helping digestion and consuming all raw superfluous moisture therein easeth al inward gripings and pains dissolveth wind and resisteth Poyson and infection It is a known and much practised Remedy to drink the Decoction of the Herb for any sort of Ague and to help the pains and Torments of the Body and Bowels coming of cold The Seed is effectual to al the purposes aforesaid except the last and worketh more powerfully The distilled water of the Herb helpeth the Quinsie in the Throat if the Mouth and Throat be gargled and washed therewith and helpeth the Pluresie being drunk three or four times Being dropped into the Eyes it taketh away the redness or dimness of them it likewise taketh away Spots or Freckles in the Face The Leavs bruised and fried with a little Hogs Lard laid hot to any Botch or Boyl wil quickly break it It is an Herb of the Sun under the Sign Taurus if Saturn offend the Throat as he alwaies doth if he be occasioner of the Malady and in Taurus in the Genesis this is your cure Lungwort Description THis is a kind of Moss that groweth on sundry sorts of Trees especially Oaks and Beeches with broad grayish tough Leavs diversly folded crumpled and gashed in on the edges and somtimes spotted also with many smal spots on the upper side It was never seen to bear any Stalk or Flower at any time Vertues and Use. This is of great use with many Phystians to help the Diseases of the Lungs and for Coughs Wheesings and shortness of breath which it cureth both in Man and Beast It is very profitably put into Lotions that are taken to stay the moist Humors that flow to Ulcers and hinder their healing as also to wash all other Ulcers in the privy parts of Man or Woman It is an excellent Remedy boyled in Beer for broken-winded Horses Iuâ—â— seems to own the Herb. Madder Description THe Garden Madder shooteth forth many very long weak four square reddish Stalks trailing on the Ground a great way very rough or hairy and full of Joynts At every of those Joynts come forth divers long and somwhat narrow Leavs standing like a Star about the Stalks rough also and hairy toward the tops whereof come forth many smal pale yellow Flowers after which come smal round Heads green at first and reddish afterwards but black when they are ripe wherin is contained the Seed The Root is not very great but exceeding long running down half a mans length into the grouund red and very clear while it is fresh spreading divers waies Place It is only manured in Gardens or larger Fields for the profit that is made thereof Time It Flowreth towards the end of Summer and the Seed is ripe quickly after Vertues and Use. It hath an opening quality and afterwards to bind and strengthen It is an assured Remedy for the yellow Jaundice by opening the Obstructions of the Liver and Gall and clensing those parts It openeth also the Obstructions of the Spleen and diminisheth the Melanchollick humor It is available for the Palsey and Sciatica and effectual for Bruises inward or outward and is therfore much used in Vulnerary Drinks The Root for all those aforesaid purposes is to be boyled in Wine or Water as the caus requireth and some Honey or Sugar put therunto afterwards The Seed herof taken with Vinegar and Honey helpeth the Swellings and Hardness of the Spleen The Decoction of the Leaves and Branches is a good Fomentation for Women to sit over thar have not their Courses The Leavs and Roots beaten and applied to any part that is discoloured with Freckles Morphew the white Scurf or any such deformity of the Skin clenseth them throughly and taketh them away Maidenhair Description OUr common Maidenhair doth from a number of hard black Fibres send forth a great many blackish shining brittle Stalks hardly a span long in many not half so long on each side set very thick with smal round dark green Leavs and spotted on the back of them like other Ferns Place It groweth much upon old Stone Wals in in the West parts and Wales in Kent and divers other places of this Land It joyeth
wherunto a little Honey and Allum is put is an excellent Gargle to wash clens and heal any sore Mouth or Throat in a short space If the Feet be bathed or washed with the Decoction of the Leavs Roots and Flowers it helpeth much the Defluxions of Rhewm from the Head If the Head be washed therewith it staieth the falling and shedding of the Hair The green Leavs saith Pliny beaten with Nitre and applied draweth out Thorns or Pricks in the Flesh. The Marsh Mallows are more effectual in al the Diseases before mentioned The Leavs are likewise used to loosen the Belly gently and in Decections for Clysters to eas al pains of the Body opening the strait Passages and making them slippery whereby the Stone may descend the more easily and without pain out of the Reins Kidneys and Bladder and to eas the torturing pains thereof But the Roots are of more especial use for those purposes as well as for Coughs Hoarsness shortness of Breath and Wheesings being boyled in Wine or Honeyed Water and drunk The Roots and Seeds hereof boyled in Wine or Water is with good success used by them that have Excoriations in the Guts or the bloody Flux by qualifying the violence of the sharp fretting Humors easing the pains and healing the Soreness It is profitably taken of them that are troubled with Ruptures Cramps or Convulsions of the Sinews and boyled in white Wine for the Impostumes of the Throat commonly called the Kings Evil and of those Kernels that rise behind the Ears and inflamations or Swellings in Womens Breasts The dried Roots boyled in Milk and drunk is special good for the Chin-Cough Hippocrates used to give the Decoction of the Roots or the Juyce therof to drink to those that were wounded and ready to faint through loss of Blood and applied the same mixed with Honey and Rozin to the Wounds As also the Roots boyled in Wine to those that had received any Hurt by Bruises Falls or Blows or had any Bone or Member out of Joynt or any Swelling pain or ach in the Muscles Sinews or Arteries The Muccilage of the Roots and of Linseed and of Fennugreek put together is much used in Pultises Oyntments and Plaisters to mollifie and digest all hard Swellings and the Inflamation of them and to eas pains in any part of the Body The Seed either green or dry mixed with Vinegar clenseth the Skin of the Morphew and al other discolourings being bathed therewith in the Sun You may remember that not long since there was a raging Diseas called the Bloody Flux the Colledg of Physitians not knowing what to make of it called it the Plague in the Guts for their wits were at ne plus ultra about it My son was taken with the same Diseas and the excoriation of his Bowels was exceeding great my self being in the Country was sent for up the only thing I gave him was Mallows bruised and boyled both in his Milk and Drink in two daies the blessing of God being upon it it cured him and I here to shew my thankfulness to God in communicating it to his Creatures leav it to posterity ☿ ♈ Sweet Marjerom THis is so wel known being an Inhabitant in every Garden that it is needless to write any Description thereof neither of the Winter Sweet Marjerom nor Pot Marjerom Place They grow commonly in Gardens some sorts there are that grow wild in the Borders of Corn Fields and Pastures in sundry places of this Land but it is not my purpose to insist upon them The Garden kinds being most used and useful Time They Flower in the end of Summer Vertues and use Our common Sweet Marjerom is warming and comfertable in cold Diseases of the Head Stomach Sinews and other parts taken inwardly or outwardly applied The Decoction thereof being drunk helpeth al the Diseases of the Chest which hinder the freeness of breathing and is also profitable for the Obstructions of the Liver and Spleen It helpeth the cold Griefs of the Womb and the windiness thereof and the loss of Speech by resolution of the Tongue The Decoction thereof made with som Pellitory of Spain and long Pepper or with a little Acorus or Origanum being drunk is good for those that are beginning to fall into a Dropsie for those that cannot make Water and against pains and torments in the Belly it provoketh Womens Courses if it be put up as a Pessary Being made into Pouder and mixed with Honey it taketh away the black marks of Blows and Bruises being therto applied It is good for the Inflamations and watering of the Eyes being mixed with fine Flower and laid unto them The Juyce dropped into the Ears easeth the Pains and singing nois in them It is profitably put into those Oyntments and Salves that are made to warm and comfort the outward parts as the Joynts and Sinews for Swellings also and places out of Joynt The Pouder thereof snuffed up into the Nose provoketh neezing and thereby purgeth the Brain and chewed in the Mouth draweth forth much Flegm The Oyl made thereof is very warming and comfortable to the Joynts that are stiff and the Sinews that are hard to mollifie and supple them Marjerom is much used in all odoriferous Waters Pouders c. that are for Ornament or delight It is an Herb of Mercury and under Aries and is therfore an excellent Remedy for the Brain and other parts of the Body and Mind under the Dominion of the same Planet ☉ ♌ Marigolds THese being so pelentifull in every Garden are so well known that they need no Description Time They Flower al the Summer long and somtimes in the Winter if it be mild Vertues and Use The Flowers either green or dryed are used much in Possets broths and drinkes as a comforter of the Heart and spirits and to expell any malignant or pestilential quality which might annoy them It is an Herb of the Sun and under Leo they strengthen the heart exceedingly and are very expulsive and little less Effectual in the smal pox and measles than Saffron The Juyce of Marigold Leaves mixed with Vinegar and any hot swelling bathed with it instantly giveth ease and asswageth it A plaister made with the dry Flowers in pouder hogs greas Turpentine and Rozin and applyed to the breast strengthens and succours the heart infinitly in feavers whether pestilential or not pestileutiall ♂ Masterwort Description Common Masterwort hath divers stalks of winged Leaves devided into sundry parts three for the most part standing together at a small footstalk on both sides of the greater and three likewise at the end of the stalk somwhat broad and cut in on the edges into three or more devisions all of them dented about the brims of a dark green colour somwhat resembling the Leaves of Angelica but that these grow lower to the ground on lesser stalks among which
Vertues and Use. The Juyce of Hors-Radish given in drink is held to be very effectual for the Scurvy It killeth the Worms in Children being drunk and also laid upon the Belly The Root bruised and laid to the place grieved with the Sciatica Joynt-ach or the hard Swellings of the Liver and Spleen doth wonderfully help them all The Distilled water of the Herb and Roots is more familiar to be taken with a little Sugar for all the purposes aforesaid Garden Radishes are in wantonness by the Gentry eaten as Sallet but they breed but scurvy Humors in the Stomach and corrupt the Blood and then send for a Physitian as fast as you can this is one caus makes the owners of such nice Pallars so unhealthful yet for such as are troubled with the Gravel Stone or stoppage of Urine they are good Physick if the Body be strong that takes them you may make the Juyce of the Roots into a Syrup if you pleas for that use they purge by Urine exceedingly I Know not what Planet they are under I think none of all the Seven will own them Ragwort Description THe greater common Ragwort hath many large and long dark green Leavs lying on the ground very much rent and torn on the sides into many pieces from among which rise up somtimes but one and somtimes two or three square or crested blackish or brownish Stalks three or four foot high somtimes branched bearing diverse such like Leavs upon them at several distances unto the tops where it brancheth forth into many Stalks bearing yellow Flowers consisting of diverse Leaves set as a Pale or Border with a dark yellow thrum in the middle which do abide a great while but at last are turned into Down and with the smal blackish gray Seed are carried away with the wind The Root is made of many Fibres whereby it is firmly fastned into to the ground and abideth many yeers There is another sort hereof different from the former only in this That it riseth not so â—igh the Leavs are not so finely jagged nor of so dark a green colour but rather somwhat whitish soft and woolly and the Flowers usually paler Place They grow both of them wild in Pastures and untilled grounds in many places and oftentimes both of them in one Field Time They Flower in June and July and the Seed is ripe in August Vertues and Use. Ragwort Clenseth Digesteth and Discusseth The Decoction of the Herb to wash the Mouth or Throat that have Ulcers or Sores therein and for Swellings hardness or Impostumations for it throughly clenseth and healeth them as also the Quinsie and the Kings Evil It helpeth to stay Catarrrhes thin Rhewms Defluxions from the Head into the Eyes Nose or Lungs The Juyce is found by experience to be singular good to heal green Wounds and to clense and heal all old and filthy Ulcers in the Privities and in other parts of the Body as also inward Wounds and Ulcers and stayeth the Malignity of fretting or running Cankers and hollow Fistulaes not suffering them to spread further It is also much commended to help Aches and pains either in the Fleshy parts or in the Nervs and Sinews as also the Sciatica or pain of the Hips or Huckle-Bone to bath the places with the Decoction of the Herb or to anoint them with an Oyntment made of the Herb bruised and boyled in old Hogs Suet with some Mastich and Olibanum in Pouder added unto it after it is strained forth In Sussex we call it Ragweed Rattle-grass OF this there are two kinds which I shall speak of Viz. The Red and yellow Description The common red Rattle hath sundry reddish hollow Stalks and somtimes green risâ—ng from the Root lying for the most part on the ground yet some growing more upright with many smal reddish or greenish Leavs set on both sides of a middle Rib finely dented about the edges The Flowers stand at the tops of the Stalks and Branches of a fine purplish red colour like smal gaping hoods after which come flat blackish Seed in small Husks which lying loos therein will Rattle with shaking The Root consists of two or three small whitish strings with some fibres thereat The common Yellow Rattle hath seldom above one round green Stalk rising from the Root about half a yard or two foot high and but few Branches theron having two long and somwhat broad Leavs set at a Joynt deeply cut in on the edges resembling the Comb of e Cock broadest next to the Stalk and smaller to the end The Flowers grow at the tops of the Stalks with some shorter Leavs with them hooded after the same manner that the others are but of a fair yellow colour in most or in some paler and in some more white The Seed is contained in large Husks and being ripe will rattle or make a nois with lying loose in them The Root is small and slender perishing every yeer Place They grow in our Meadows and Woods generally through this Land Time They are in Flower from Midsummer until August be past somtimes Vertues and use The Red Rattle is accounted profitable to heal up Fistulaes and hollow Ulcers and to stay the Flux of Humors to them as also the abundance of Womens Courses or any other Flux of Blood being boyled in red Wine and drunk The Yellow Rattle or Cocks Comb is held to Be good for those that are troubled with a Cough or with Dimness of Sight if the Herb being boyled with Beans and some Honey put thereto be drunk or dropped into the Eyes The whol Seed being put into the Eyes draweth forth any skin Dimness or Film from the sight without trouble or pain Rest-Harrow or Cammoak Description THe common Rest-Harrow riseth up with divers rough woody twigs half a yard or a yard high set at the Joynes without order with little roundish Leavs somtimes more than two or three at a place of a dark green colour without thorns while they are yong but afterwards armed in sundry places with short and sharp Thorns The Flowers come forth at the tops of the twigs and Branches whereof it is ful fashioned like Peas or Broom Blossoms but lesser flatter and somwhat closer of a faint purplish colour after which come smal Pods containing smal flat and round Seed The Root is blackish on the outside and whitish within very tough and hard to break when it is fresh and green and as hard as an Horn when it is dried thrusting down deep into the ground and spreading likewise every piece being apt to grow again if it be left in the ground Place It groweth in many places of this Land as well in the Arable as wast ground Time It Flowreth about the beginning or middle of July and the Seed is ripe in August Vertues and use It is singular good to provoke Urine when it is stopped and to break and drive forth the Stone which the Pouder of the
fasting or put among other Purgers as shall be thought convenient clensing the Stomach Liver and Blood opening Obstructions and helping those griefs that come thereof as the Jaundice Dropsie swelling of the Spleen Tertian and day Agues and the pricking pain of the sides and also it stayerh spitting of Blood The Pouder taken with Cassia dissolved and a little wash'd Venice Turpentine clenseth the Reins and strengthneth them afterwards and is very effectual to stay the running of the Reins or Gonorrea It is also given for the pains and swellings in the Head for those that are troubled with Melancholly and helpeth the Sciatica the Gout and the Cramp The Pouder of Rubarb taken with a little Mummia and Madder Roots in some red Wine dissolveth clotted Blood in the Body hapning by any fall or bruise and healeth burstings and broken parts as well inward as outward The Oyl likewise wherein it hath been boyled worketh the like effects being anointed It is used to heal those Ulcers that happen in the Eyes and Eyelids being steeped and strained as also to asswage the Swellings and Inflamations and applied with Honey or boyled Wine it taketh away all black and blue Spots or Marks that happen therein Whey or white Wine are the best Liquors to steep it in and thereby it worketh more effectually in opening Obstructions and purging the Stomach and Liver Many do use a little Indian Spicknard as the best Correcter thereof Mars claims Predominancy over all these wholsom Herbs you cry out upon him for an infortune when God created him for your good only he is angry with Fools what dishonor is this not to Mars but to God Himself Meadow Rue Description THis riseth up with a yellow stringy Root much spreading in the ground and shooting forth new sprouts round about with many Herby green Stalks two foot high crested all the length of them set with Joynts here and there and many large Leavs on them as well as below being devided into smaller Leavs nicked or dented in the forepart of them of a sad green colour on the upperside and pale green underneath Toward the top of the Stalk there shooteth forth divers short Branches on every one thereof there stand two three or four smal round Heads or Buttons which breaking the skin that incloseth them shew forth a tuft of pale greenish yellow threds which falling away there comes in their places small three cornre'd Cods wherein is contained smal long and round Seed The whol Plant hath a strong unpleasant scent Place It groweth in many places of this Land in the Borders of moist Meadows and by Ditch sides Time It Flowreth about July or the beginning of August Vertues and Use. Dioscorides saith that this Herb bruised and applied perfectly healeth old Sores and the distilled water of the Herb and Flowers doth the like It is used by some among other Pot-herbs to open the Body and make it soluble but the Roots washed clean and boyled in Ale and drunk provoketh to the Stool more than the Leavs but yet very gently The Root boyled in Water and the places of the Body most troubled with Vermine or Lice washed therewith while it is warm destroyeth them utterly In Italy it is used against the Plague and in Saxony against the Jaundice as Camerarious saith Garden Rue THis is so well known both by this name and the Name Herb of Grace that I shal not need to write you any further Description of it But shall only shew you the Vertues of it as followeth Vertues and Use. It provoketh Urine and Womens Courses being taken either in Meat or Drink The Seed thereof taken in Wine is an Antidote against all dangerous Medicines or deadly Poysons The Leavs taken either by themselves or with Figs and Walnuts is called Metbridates his Counter poyson against the Plague and causeth all Venemous things to become harmless Being often taken in Meat or Drink it abateth Venery and destroyeth the ability to beger Children A Decoction made thereof with some dried Dill Leavs and Flowers easeth all pains and torments inwardly to be drunk and outwardly to be applied warm to the place grieved The same being drunk helpeth the pains both of the Chest and Sides as also Coughs hardness of breathing the Inflmations of the Lungs and the tormenting pains of the Sciatica and the Joynts being anointed or laid to the places as also the shaking Fits of Agues to take a draught before the Fit come Being boyled or infused in Oyl it is good to help the wind Chollick the hardness or windiness of the Mother and freeth women from the strangling or suffocation thereof if the Share and the Parts thereabouts be anointed therewith It killeth and driveth forth the Worms of the Belly if it be drunk after it is boyled in Wine to the half with a little Honey It helpeth the Gout or pains in the Joynts of Hands Feet or Knees applied thereunto and with Figs it helpeth the Dropsie being bathed therewith being bruised and put into the Nostrils it staieth the Bleeding thereof It helpeth the swelling of the Cods it they be bathed with a Decoction of Rue and Bay Leaves It taketh away Wheals and Pimples if being bruised with a few Mirtle Leavs if it be made up with Wax and applied It cureth the Morphew and taketh away all sorts of Warts if boyled in Wine with some Pepper and Nitre and the places rubbed therewith and with Allum and Honey helpeth the dry Scab or any Tetter or Ringworm The Juyce thereof warmed in a Pemegranate Shel or Rind and dropped into the Ears helpeth the pains of them The Juyce of it and Fennel with a little Honey and the Gall of a Cock put thereto helpeth the dimness of the Eyelight An Oyntment made of the Juyce therof with Oyl of Roses Ceruss and a little Vinegar and anointed cureth St. Anthonies Fire and all foul running Sores in the Head and the stinking Ulcers of the Nose or other parts The Antidote used by Methridateâ— every morning fasting to secure himself from any Poyson or Infection was this Take twenty Leavs of Rue a little Salt a couple of Walnuts and a couple of Figs beaten together into a Mass with twenty Juniper Berries which is the quantity appointed for every day Another Electuary is made thus Take of Nitre Pepper and Cummin Seed of each equal Parts of the Leaves of Rue clean picked as much in weight as all the other three weighed beat them well together and put to as much Honey as will make it up into an Electuary but you must first steep your Cummin seed in Vinegar twenty four hours and then dry it or rather toast it in a hot Fire-shovel or in an Oven and it is a Remedy for the pains or griefs of the Chest or Stomach of the Spleen Belly or Sides by Wind or Stitches of the Liver by Obstructions of the Reins and Bladder by the stopping of Urine and helpeth also to
extenuate fat corpulent Bodies What an Infamy is cast upon the Ashes of Methridates or Methradates as the Augustanes read his name by unworthy people they that deserve no good report themselves love to give nonâ— to others Viz. That that renowned King of Pontus fortified his Body by Poyson against Poyson He cast out Devils by Beelzebub the Prince of Devils what a sot is he that knows not if he had accustomed his Body to cold Poysons hot Poysons would have dispatch'd him or the contrary if not corrosions would have done it the whol world is at this very time beholding to him for his Studies in Physick and he that useth the quantity of but a Hazel Nut of that Recept every morning to which his name is adjoyned shall to admiration preserve his Body in health if he do but consider that Rue is an Herb of the Sun and under Leo and gather it and the rest accordingly Rupture wort Description THis spreadeth very many threddy Branches round about upon the ground about a span long devided into many other smaller parts full of small Joynts set very thick together whereat come forth two very small Leavs of a fresh yellowish green colour branches and all where groweth forth also a number of exceeding smal yellowish Flowers scarce to be discerned from the Stalks and Leavs which turn into Seed as smal as the very dust The Root is very long and smal thrusting down deep into the ground This hath neither smel nor tast at first but afterward hath a little astringent tast without any manifest heat yet a little bitter and sharp withal Place It groweth in dry sandy and Rockie places Time It is fresh and green all the Summer Vertues and use Rupture wort hath not his name in vain for it is found by experience to cure the Rupture not only in Children but also in Elder Persons if the Diseas be not too inveterate by taking a dram of the Pouder of the dried Herb every day in Wine for certain daies together Or the Decoction made in Wine and drunk Or the Juyce or distilled water of the green Herb taken in the same manner and helpeth all other Fluxes either in men or Women Vomitings also and the Gonorrhea or running of the Reins being taken any of the waies aforesaid It doth also most assuredly help those that have the Strangury or have their Urine stopped or are troubled with the Stone or Gravel in their Reins or Bladder The same also helpeth much all Stitches in the Side all griping pains in the Stomach or Belly the Obstructions of the Liver and cureth the yellow Jaundice likewise It killeth also the Worms in Children Being outwardly applied it conglutineth Wounds notably and helpeth much to stay Defluxions of Rhewm from the Head to the Eyes Nose and Teeth being bruised green and bound thereto Or the Decoction of the dried Herb to bath the Forehead and Temples or the Nape of Neck behind It also drieth up the moisture of Fistulous Ulcers or any others that are foul and spreading They say Saturn causeth Ruptures if he do he doth no more than he can cure if you want wit he will teach you though to your cost this Herb is Saturns own and is a notable Antivenerian Rushes ALthough there are many kinds of Rushes yet I shall only here insist upon those which are best known and most Medicinal as the Bulrushes and other of the soâ—t and smooth kinds which grow so commonly in almost every place of this Land and are so generally noted that I suppose it needless to trouble you with any Description of them Briefly then take the Vertues of them as followeth Vertues and Uices The Seeds of these soft Rushes saith Dioscorides and Galen toasted saith Pliny being drunk in Wine and Water stayeth the Lask and Womens Courses when they come down too abundantly but it causeth Headach It provoketh sleep likewife but must be given with caution lest the party that takes it wake not until the Resurrection Pliny saith The Root boyled in water to the consumption of one third helpeth the Cough Thus you see that Conveniences have their Inconveniences and Vertue is seldom unaccompanied with some Vices What I have written concerning Rushes is to satisfie my Country-mens Question Are our Rushes good for nothing Yes and as good let alone as taken There are Remedies enough without them for every Diseas and therforo as the Proverb is I care not a Rush for them or rather they will do you as much good as if one had given you a Rush. Rye THis is so well known in all the Countries of this Land and especially to the Country people who feed much thereon that if I should describe it they would presently say I might well have spared that Labor Its Vertues follow Vertues and use Rye is more digesting than Wheat The Bread and the Leaven thereof ripeneth and breaketh Impostumes Boyls and other Swellings The Meal of Rye put between a double cloth and moistned with a little Vinegar and heated in a Pewter dish set over a Chafing-dish of coals and bound fast to the Head while it is hot both much eas the continual pains of the Head Mathiolus saith That the ashes of Rye straw put into Water and suffered therein a day and a night and the Chops of the Hands or Feet washed therewith doth heal them Saffron THe Herb needs no Description it being known generally where it grows Place It grows frequently at Walden in Essex and in Cambridg-sbire Vertues and use It is an Herb of the Sun and under the Lion and therfore you need not demand a reason why it strengthens the heart so exceedingly Let not abov ten grains be given at one time for if the Sun which is the Fountain of Life may dazle the Eyes and make them blind a Cordial being taken in an immoderate quantity may hurt the Heart instead of helping it It quicken the Brain for the Sun is exalted in V as well as he hath his House in SL it help Consumption of the Lungs help difficulty of breathing it is an excellent thing in Epidemical Diseases as Pestilences smal Pox and Measles It is a notable expulsive Medicine and a notable Remedy for the yellow Jaundice My own Opinion is but I have no Author for it that Hermodactils is nothing else but the Roots of Saffron dried and my reason is that the Roots of all Crocus both white and yellow purge Flegm as Hermodactils do and if you please to dry the Roots of any Crocus neither your eye nor your tast shal distinguish it from Hermodactils Sage OUr ordinary Garden Sage needeth no Description Time It Flowreth in or about July Vertues and use A Decoction of the Leavs and Branches of Sage made and drunk saith Dioscorides provoketh Urine bringeth down Womens Courses helpeth to expel the dead Child and causeth the hairs to become black It staieth the bleeding of Wounds and clenseth foul Ulcers or Sores The seid
forth The Root in Pouder and given in Wine and drunk is good against the Plague or Pestilence and drunk in the mornings fasting for some time together is very profitable for a Fistula in any part of the Body Baptista Sardus doth much commend the distilled Water hereof being drunk to help the French Disease to open Obstructions of the Liver and clense the Blood from corrupted Humors and is profitably given against Quotidian or Tertian Agues Strawberries THese are so well known through this Land that they need no Description Time They Flower in May ordinarily and the Fruit is ripe shortly after Vertues and use Strawberries when they are green are cold and dry but when they are ripe they are cold and moist The Berries are excellent good to cool the Liver the Blood and the Spleen or an hot Chollerick stomach to refresh comfort the fainting Spirits to quench Thirst They are good also for other Inflamations yet it is not arniss to refrain them in a Feaver lest by their putrefying in the Stomach they encrease the Fits The Leavs and Roots boyled in Wine and Water and drunk do likewise cool the Liver and Blood and asswage all Inflamations in the Reins and bladder provoketh Urine and allayeth the heat and sharpness thereof The same also being drunk stayeth the Bloody Flux and Womens Courses and helpeth the Swellings of the Spleen The Water of the Berries carefully distilled is a Soveraign Remedy and Cordial in the panting and beating of the Heart and is good for the yellow Jaundice The Juyce dropped into foul Ulcers or they washed therewith or the Decoction of the Herb and Root doth wonderfully clense and help to cure them Lotions and Gargles for sore Mouthes or Ulcers therin or in the privy Parts or elswhere are made with the Leaves and Roots hereof which is also good to fasten loose Teeth and to heal spungy soul Gums It helpeth also to stay Catarrhs or Desluxions of Rhewm into the Mouth Throat Teeth or Eyes The Juyce or Water is singular good for hot and red Inflamed Eyes if dropped into them or they bathed therewith it is also of excellent property for all Pushes Wheals and other breakings forth of hot sharp Humors in the Face and Hands or other parts of the Body to bath them therewith and to take away any redness in the Face or Spots or other Deformities in the Skin and to make it cleer and smooth Some use this Medicine Take so many Strawberries as you shall think fitting and put them into a Distillatory or body of Glass fit for them which being well closed set it in a bed of Horsdung for twelve or fourteen daies and afterwards distill it carefully and keep it for your use It is an excellent water for hot inflamed Eyes and to take away any film or Skin that beginneth to grow over them and for such other defects in them as may be helped by any outward Medicine Venus owns the Herb. Succory Description THe Garden Succory hath longer and narrower Leaves than Endive and more cut in or torn on the edges and the Root abideth many yeers It beareth also blew Flowers like Endive and the Seed is hardly distinguished from the Seed of the smooth or ordinary Endive The wild Succory hath diverse long Leaves lying on the ground very much cut in or torn on the edges on both sides even to the middle rib ending in point somtimes it hath a red Rib down the middle of the Leaves from among which riseth up a hard round woody stalk spreading into many Branches set with smaller and lesser devided Leaves on them up to the tops where stand the Flowers which are like the Garden kind as the Seed is also only take notice that the Flowers of the Garden kind are gone in one Sunny day they being so cold that they are not able to endure the Beams of the Sun and therfore most delight in the shadow The Root is white but more hard and woody than the Garden kind The whol Plant is exceeding bitter Place This groweth in many places of our Land in wast untilled and barren Fields The other only in Gardens Vertues and Use. Garden Succory as it is more dry and less cold than Endive so it openeth more An handful of the Leavs or Roots boyled in Wine or Water and a draught thereof drunk fasting driveth forth Chollerick and Flegmatick Humors openeth Obstructions of the Liver Gall and Spleen helpeth the yellow Jaundice the Heat of the Reins and of the Urine the Dropsie also and those that have an evil disposition in their Bodies by reason of long sickness evil Diet c. which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cachexia A Decoction thereof made with Wine and drunk is very effectual against long lingring Agues and a dram of the Seed in Pouder drunk in Wine before the Fit of an Ague helpeth to drive it away The Distilled Water of the Herb and Flowers if you can take them in time hath the properties and is especial good for hot Stomachs and in Agues either Pestilential or of long continuance for swounings and Passions of the Heart for the heat and Headach in Children and to the blood and Liver The said water or the Juyce or the bruised Leaves applied outwardly allayeth Swellings Inflamations St. Anthonies Fire Pushes Wheals and Pimples especially used with a little Vinegar as also to wash pestiferous Sores The said Water is very effectual for sore Eyes that are inflamed with redness and for Nurses Breasts that are pained by the abundance of Milk The wild Succory as it is more bitter so it is more strengthning to the Stomach and Liver English Tobacco Description THis riseth up with a thick round Stalk about two foot high whereon do grow thick fat green Leaves nothing so large as the other Indian kinds somwhat round pointed also and nothing dented about the edges The Stalk brancheth forth and beareth at the tops divers Flowers set in green Husks like the other but nothing so large scarce standing above the Brims of the Husks round pointed also and of a greenish yellow colour The Seed that followeth is not so bright but larger contained in the like great Heads The Roots are neither so great nor woody and perishing every yeer with the hard Frosts in Winter but riseth generally of its own sowing Place This came from some parts of Brassiile as is thought and is more familier to our Country than any of the other sorts early giving ripe Seed which the others seldom do Time It Flowreth from June somtimes to the end of August or later and the Seed ripeneth in the mean time Vertues and Use. It is found by good experience to be available to expectorate tough Flegm from the Stomach Chest and Lungs The Juyce thereof made into a Syrup or the distilled water of the Herb drunk with some Sugar or without if you will Or the smoke taken by a
the times change is the way to live secure and that Flatterers and Weather-cocks know wel enough The Woolley or Cotton Thistle Description THis hath many large Leaves lying on the ground somwhat cut in and as it were crumpled on the edges of a green colour on the upper side but covered over with long hairy Wool or Cottony Down set with most sharp and cruel pricks from the middle of whose heads of Flowers come forth many purplish crimson threds and somtimes white although but seldom The Seed that followeth in these white downy heads is somwhat large long and round resembling the Seed of Ladies Thistle but paler The Root is great and thick spreading much yet usually dieth after Seed time Place It groweth on diverse Ditch Banks and in the Cornfields and High-wayes generally throughout the Land and is often found growing in Gardens Time It Flowreth and beareth Seed about the end of Summer when other Thistles do Flower and Seed Vertues and Use. Dioscorides and Pliny write That the Leavs and Roots hereof taken in drink helpeth those that have a Crick in their Neck that they cannot turn it unless they turn their whol Body Galen saith That the Root and Leaves hereof are good for such persons that have their Bodies drawn together by some Spasm or Convulsion or other Infirmities as the Rickets ' or as the Colledg of Physitians would have it the Rachites about which name they have quarrel'd sufficiently in Children being a Disease that hindereth their growth by binding their Nerves Ligaments and whol structure of their Body The Fullers Thistle or Teasel THis is so well known that it needeth no Description being used by the Cloath-workers The wild Teasel is in all things like the former but that the prickles are smal soft and upright not hooked or stiff and the Flowers of this are of fine blush or pale Carnation colour but of the Manured kind whitish Place The first groweth being sown in Gardens or Fields for the use of Cloathworkers The other neer Ditches and Cills of water in many places of this Land Time They Flower in July and are ripe in the end of August Vertues and Use. Dioscorides saith That the Root bruised and boyled in Wine until it be thick and kept in a brazen Vessel or Pot and after spread as a Salve and applied to the Fundament doth heal the clefts thereof as also Cankers and Fistulaes therein as also taketh away Warts and Wers The Juyce of the Leaves dropped into the Ears killeth Worms in them The distilled water of the Leaves dropped into the Eyes taketh away redness and mists in them that hinder the sight and is often used by women to preserve their beauty and to take away redness and Inflamations and all other heat or discolourings Treacle Mustard Description THis riseth up with a hard round stalke about a foot high parted into some branches having divers soft green leaves somewhat long and narrow set thereon waved but not cut in on the edges broadest towards the ends end somewhat round pointed The flowers are white that grow at the tops of the branches spike fashion one above another after which come large round pouches parted in the middle with a furrow having one blackish brown seed in either side somewhat sharp in tast and smelling of Garlick especially in the fields where it is naturall but not so much in gardens The roots are small and threddy perishing every yeare And here give me leave to adde Methridate Mustard although it may seem more properly by the name â—â— belong to the Alphabet M. Methridate Mustard THis groweth higher then the former spreading more and longer branches whose leaves are smaller and narrower sometimes unevenly dented about the edges the Flowers are smal and white growing on long branches with much smaller and rounder seed vessels after them and parted in the same manner having smaller browne seeds then the former and much sharper in taste The root perisheth after seed time but abideth the first winter after the springing Place They grow in sundry places of this Land as halfe a mile from Hatfield by the river side under a hedge as you go to Hatfield and in the street of Peckham on Surry side Time They flowre and seed from May to August Vertues and Use. These Mustards are said to purge the body both upwards and downwards and procureth Womens Courses so abundantly that it suffocateth the birth It breaketh inward Imposthumes being taken inwardly and used in Glisters helpeth the Sciatica the seed applied outwardly doth the same It is an especiall ingredient unto Methridate and Treacle being of it selfe an Antidote resisting poyson venome and putrefaction It is also availeable in many causes for which the common Mustard is used but somewhat weaker The Black-Thorne or Sloe-Bush THis is so well knowne that it needeth no description Place It groweth in every place and Countrey in the hedges and borders of fields Time It flowreth in Aprill and sometimes in March but ripeneth the fruit after all other plums whatsoever and is not fit to be eaten until the Autumne frost have mellowed it Vertues and Use. All the parts of the Sloe-Bush are binding cooling and drying and all effectuall to stay bleeding at the nose and mouth or any other place the Lask of the beily or stomach or the Bloody Flux the two much abounding of womens Courses and helpeth to ease the paines in the sides bowels and guts that come by over-much scowring to drink the decoction of the barke of the roots or more usually the decoction of the Berries either fresh or dried The Conserve is also of very much use and most familiarly taken for the purposes aforesaid But the distilled water of the Flowers first steeped in Sack for a night and drawne there-from by the heat of Balneum Angliceabaths is a most certaineremedy tried and approved to ease all manner of gnawings in the stomach the sides and bowels or any griping pains in any of them to drink a smal quantity when the extremety of pain is upon them The Leaves also are good to make Lotions to gargle and wash the Mouth and Throat wherein are Swellings Sores or Kernels and to stay the Defluxions of Rhewm to the Eyes or other parts as also to cool the heat and Inflamations in them and to ease hot pains of the Head to bath the Forehead and Temples therewith The simple distilled water of the Flowers is very effectual for the said purposes and is the condensate Juyce of the Sloes The distilled water of the green Berries is used also for the said effects Thoroughwax Description THe common Throughwax sendeth forth one straight round Stalk and somtimes more two foot high and better whose lower Leaves being of a blewish green colour are smaller and narrower than those up higher and stand close thereto not compassing it but as they grow higher they do more and more encompass the Stalk until it wholly as it were pass through them branching
toward the top into many parts where the Leaves grow smaller again every one standing singly and never two at any Joynt The Flowers are very smal and yellow standing in tufts at the heads of the Branches where afterwards grow the Seed smal and blackish many thick thust together The Root is smal long and woody perishing every yeer after Seed time and rising again plentifully of its own sowing Place It is found growing in many Corn Fields and Pasture grounds in this Land Time It Flowreth in July and the Seed is ripe in August Vertues and Use. Thoroughwax is of a singular good use for all sorts of Bruises and Wounds either inward or outward and old Ulcers and Sores likewise if the Decoction of the Herb with water or Wine be drunk and the places washed therwith or the Juyce or green Herb bruised or boyled either by it self or with other Herbs in Oyl or Hogs Grease to be made into an Oyntment to serve all the yeer The Decoction of the Herb or the Pouder of the dried Herb taken inwardly and the same or the green Leaves bruised and applied outwardly is singular good to cure Ruptures and Burstings especially in Children before it be two old Being also applied with a little Flower and Wax to Childrens Navils that stick forth it helpeth them Tormentil Description THis hath many reddish slender weak Branches rising from the Root lying upon the ground or rather leaning than standing upright with many short Leaves that stand closer to the Stalks than Cinkfoyl doth which this is very like with the Footstalk encompassing the Branches in several places but those that grow next to the ground are set upon long Footstalks each whereof are like the Leaves of Cinkfoyl but somwhat longer and lesser and dented about the edges many of them devided but into five Leaves but most of them into sevens whence it is also called Setfoyl yet some may have six and some eight according to the fertility of the Soyl At the tops of the Branches stand diverse smal yellow Flowers consisting of five Leaves like those of Cinkfoyl but smaller The Root is smaller than Bistort somwhat thick but blacker without and not so red within yet somtimes a little crooked having many blackish fibres thereat Place It groweth as well in Woods and shadowy places as in the open Champion Country about the borders of Fields in many places of this Land and almost in every Broom Field in Essex Time It Flowreth all the Summer long Vertues and Use. Tormentil is most excellent to stay all kind of Fluxes of Blood or Humors in man or woman whether at Nose Mouth Belly or any Wound in the Veins or elswhere The Juyce of the Herb or Root taken in drink not only resisteth all Poyson and Venom of any Creature but of the Plague it self and Pestilential Feavers and contagious Diseases as the Pox Measels Purples c. expelling the Venom and Infection from the Heart by sweating if the green Root be not at hand to be had the Pouder of the dry Root is as effectual a dram thereof being taken every morning The Decoction likewise of the Herbs and Roots made in Wine and drunk worketh the same effect and so doth the distilled water of the Herb and Root being steeped in Wine for a night and then distilled in Balneo Mariae This Water thus distilled taken with some Venice Treacle and the party presently laid to sweat will certainly with Gods help expel any Venom or poyson or the Plague Feaver c. for it is an ingredient of especial respect in all Antidotes or Counterpoysons There is not found any Root more effectual to help any Flux of the Belly Stomach Spleen or Blood than this to be taken inwardly or applied outwardly The Juyce taken doth wonderfully open Obstructions of the Liver and Lungs and thereby in short space helpeth the yellow Jaundice Some use to make Cakes hereof as well to stay all Fluxes as to restrain all Chollerick Belchings and much Vomitings with Loathings in the Stomach The Pouder of the dâ—â—ed Root made up with the white of an Egg and baked upon a hot Tile will do it Andreus Valesius is of opinion That the Decoction of this Root is no less effectual to cure the French Pox than Guajacum or China and 't is not unlikely because it so mightily resisteth putrefaction Lobel saith That Rondelitius used it as Hermodactils for Joynt-aches The Pouder also or Decoction to be drunk or to sit therein as a Bath is an assured Remedy against abortion in Women if it proceed from the over Fluxibility or weakness of the inward retentive faculty as also a Plaister made therewith and Vinegar applyed to the Roins of the Back doth much help not only this but also those that cannot hold their Water the Pouder being taken in the Juyce of Plantane and it is also commended against the worms in Children It is very powerful in Ruptures and Burstings as also for Bruises and Falls to be used as well outward as inwardly The Root hereof made up with Pellitory of Spain and Allum and put into an hollow Tooth not only asswageth the pain but staieth the Flux of Humors which caused it Tormentil is no less effectual and powerful a Remedy for outward Wounds Sores and Hurts than for inward and is therefore a special Ingredient meet to be used in all Wound drinks Lotions and Injections for foul corrupt rotten Sores and Ulcers of the Mouth Secrets or other parts of the Body And to put either the Juyce or Pouder of the Root into such Oyntments Plaisters and such things that are to be applied to Wounds and Soe 's it also dissolveth all Knots Kernels and hardness gathered about the Ears the Throat and Jaws and the Kings Evil if the Leaves and Roots be bruised and applied thereto The same also easeth the pains of the Sciatica or Hip-gout by restraining the sharp Humors that flow thereto The Juyce of the Leaves and Roots used with a little Vinegar is also a special Remedy against the running Sores of the Head or other parts Scabs also and the Itch or any such eruptions in the Skin proceeding of Salt and sharp Humors The same also is effectual for the Piles or Hemorrhoids if they be washed and bathed therwith or with the Distilled water of the Herb and Roots It is found also helpful to dry up any sharp Rhewm that distilleth from the Head into the Eyes causing redness pain waterings Itchings or the like if a little prepared Tutia or white Amber be used with the Distilled water hereof Many Women use this Water as a secret to help themselves and others when they are troubled with the too much flowing of the Whites or Reds both to drink it and inject it with a Syringe And here 's enough only remember the Sun challengeth the Herb. Turnsole or Heliotropium Description THe greater Turnsole riseth
away there followeth small brownish white Seed that is easily carried away with the wind The Root smalleth more strong than either Leaf or Flower and is of more use in Medicine Place It is generally kept with us in our Gardens Time It Flowreth in June and July and continueth Flowring until the Frosts pull it down Vertues and Use. Dioscorides saith That the Garden Valcrian hath a warming Faculty and that being dryed and given to drink it provoketh Urine and helpeth the Strangury The Decoction therof taken doth the like also and taketh away pains of the sides provoketh Womens Courses and is used in Antidotes Pliny saith That the Pouder of the Root given in drink or the Decoction thereof taken helpeth all stoppings and stranglings in any part of the Body whether they proceed of pains in the Chest or sides and taketh them away The Root of Valerianboyled with Liquoris Raisons and Annis Seed is singular good for those that are short winded and for those that are troubled with the Cough and helpeth to open the passages and to expectorate Flegm easily It is given to those that are bitten or stung by any Venemous Creature being boyled in Wine It is of especial Vertue against the Plague the Decoction thereof being drunk and the Root being used to smell unto It helpeth also to expel the wind in the Belly The green Herb with the Root taken fresh being bruised and applied to the Head taketh away the pains and prickings therein staieth Rhewms and thin Distillations and being boyled in white Wine and the drop thereof put into the eye taketh away the dimness of the sight or any Pin or Web therein It is of excellent property to heal any inward Sores or Wounds as also for outward Hurts or Wounds and draweth any Splinter or Thorn out of the Flesh. Vervain Description THe common Vervain hath somwhat long and broad Leaves next the ground deeply gash'd about the edges and some only deeply dented or cut all alike of a blackish green colour on the upper side and somwhat gray underneath The Stalk is square branched into several parts rising about two foot high especially if you reckon the long spike of Flowers at the tops of them which are set on all sides one above another and somtimes two or three together being small and gaping of a Purplish blew colour and white intermixt after which come small round Seed in small and somwhat long Heads The Root is small and long but of no use Place It groweth generally throughout this Land in diverse places by the Hedges and way sides and other wast grounds Time It Flowreth about July and the Seed is ripe soon after Vertues and Use. Vervain is hot and dry bitter opening Obstructions clensing and healing It helpeth the yellow Jaundice the Dropsie and the Gout the defects of the Reins and Lungs and generally all inward pains and torments of the Body the Leaves being boyled and drunk The same is held to be good against the bitings of Serpents and other Venemous Beasts and against the Plague and both Tertian and Quartane Agues killeth and expelleth Worms in the Belly and causeth a good colour in the Face and Body strengthneth as well as correcteth the Diseases of the Liver and Spleen is very effectual in all Diseases of the Stomach and Lungs as Coughs shortness of Breath and Wheesings and is singular good against the Dropsie to be drunk with some Peony Seeds bruised and put thereto and is no less prevalent for the defects of the Reins and Bladder to clense them of those Humors that ingender the Stone and helpeth to break the Stone and to expel Gravel It consolidateth and healeth also all Wounds both inward and outward and stayeth bleedings and used with some Honey healeth all old Ulcers and Fistulaes in the Legs or other parts of the Body as also those Ulcers that happen in the Mouth or used with old Hogs grease it helpeth the Swellings and pains of the secret parts in man or Woman as also for the Piles and Hemorrhoidsâ— Applied with some Oyl of Roses and Vinegar unto the Forehead and Temples it easeth the inveterate pains and ach of the Head and is good for those that are Frenetick The Leaves bruised or the Juyce of them mixed with some Vinegar doth wonderfully clense the Skin and taketh away Morphew Freckles Pustulaes and other such like Inflamations and deformities of the Skin in any part of the Body The distilled water of the Herb when it is in his full strength dropped into the Eyes clenseth them from Films Clouds or mists that darken the sight and wonderfully strengtheneth the Optick Nerves The said Water is very powerful in all the Diseases aforesaid either inward or outward whether they be old corroding Sores or green Wounds This also is an Herb of Venus and an excellent Herb for the Womb to strengthen it and remedy all the cold griefs of it as Plantane doth the hot the Herb bruised and hung about the Neck helps the Headach The Vine THe Leaves of the English Vine I do not intend to send you to the Canaries for a Medicine being boyled make a good Lotion for sore Mouths being boyled with Barley Meal into a Pultis it cools Inflamations of Wounds the droppings of the Vine when 't is cut in the Spring which Country people call Tears being boyled into a Syrup with Sugar and taken inwardly is excellent to stay Womens longings after every thing they see which is a Disease many Women with Child are subject too the Decoction of Vine Leaves in white Wine doth the like also the Tears of of the Vine drunk two or three spoonfuls at a time breaks the Stone in the Bladder This is a very good Remedy and it is discreetly done to kill a Vine to cure a Man but the Salt of the Leaves is held to be better The Ashes of the burnt Branches will make Teeth that are as black as a coal to be as white as snow if you do but every morning rub them with it Violets THese both Tame and Wild are so well known that they need no Description Time They Flower until the end of July but are best in March and the beginning of April Vertues and Use. All the Violets are cold and moist while they are fresh and green and are used to cool any heat or distemperature of the Body either inwardly or outwardly as Inflamations in the Eyes in the Matrix or Fundament in Impostumes also and hot Swellings to drink the Decoction of the Leaves or Flowers made with Water or Wine or to apply them Pultiâ— wise to the grieved place it likewise easeth pains in the Head caused through want of sleep or in any other place arising of heat being applied in the same manner or with Oyl of Roses A dram weight of the dried Leaves of the Flowers of Violets but the Leaves more strongly
several Books of Mr. William Bridg Collected into one Volumn Viz. 1 The great Gospel-Mystery of the Saints Comfort and Holiness opened and applied from Christs Priestly Office 2 Satans Power to Tempt and Christs Love to and Care of His People under Temptation 3 Thankfulness required in every Condition 4 Grace for Grace or the Overflowings of Christs Fulness received by all Saints 5 The Spiritual Actings of Faith through Natural Impossibilities 6 Evangelical Repentance 7 The Spiritual-Life and In-Being of Christ in all Beleevers 8 The Woman of Canaan 9 The Saints Hiding-Place in time of Gods Anger 10 Christs Coming is at our Midnight 11 A Vindication of Ordinances 12 Grace and Love beyond Gifts Cum multis aliis THE English Physitian Adders Tongue ☽ Description THis small Herb hath but one Leaf which grows with the Stalk a fingers length above the ground being fat and of a fresh green colour broad like the Water Plantane but less without any middle Rib in it from the bottom of which Leaf on the inside riseth up ordinarily one somtimes two or three small slender stalks the upper half wherof is somwhat bigger and dented with smal round dents of a yellowish green colour like the Tongue of an Adder or Serpent only this is as useful as they are formidable The Root continues all the year Place It groweth in moist Meadows and such like places Time And is to be found in April and May for it quickly perisheth with a little heat Vertues and use It is temperate in respect of heat but dry in the Second Degree The Juyce of the Leaves drunk with the distilled Water of Horstail is a singular Remedy for all manner of wounds in the Breast Bowels or other parts of the Body and is given with good success unto those who are troubled with Casting Vomiting or bleeding at the Mouth or Nose or otherwise downwards The said Juyce given in the distilled Water of Oaken Buds is very good for Women who have their usual Courses or the Whites flowing down too abundantly It helps sore Eyes The Leaves infused or boyled in Oyl Omphacine or unripe Olives set in the Sun for certain daies or the green Leaves Sufficiently boyled in the said Oyl is made an excellent green Balsom not only for green and fresh Wounds but also for old and invererate Ulcers especially if a little fine clear Turpentine be dissolved therin It also stayeth and represseth all inflamations that arise upon pains by Hurts or Wounds It is an Herb under the Dominion of the Moon in Cancer and therfore if the weakness of the Rententive Faculty be caused by an evil influence of Saturn in any part of the Body governed by the Moon or under the Dominion of Cancer this Herb cures it by Sympathy It cures those Diseases before specified in any part of the Body under the influence of Saturn by Antypathy What parts of the Body are under each Planet and Sign and also what Diseases may be found in my Astrological Judgment of Diseases and for the internal Work of Nature in the Body of Man as Vital Animal Natural and Procreative Spirit of Man The Appreâ—â— Judgment Memory the external Sences viz. Seeing Hearing Smelling Tasting and Feeling the Vertues Attractive Retentive Digestive Expulsive c. under the Dominion of what Planets they are may be found in my Ephemerâ—s for the yeer 1651. in both which you shall find the Chaff of Authors blown away by the Fame of Dr. Reason and nothing but Rational Truths left for the Judgment of the Ingenious to feed upon Lastly To avoid blotting Paper with one thing many times and also to ease your Purses in the price of the Book and withal to make you Studious in Physick you have at the latter end of the Book the way of preserving all Herbs either in Juyce Conserve Oyl Oynâ—ment or Plaister Electuary Pill or Troches Agrimony ♃ Description THis hath divers long leaves some greates some smaller set upon a Stalk all of them dented about the edgesâ— green above and grayish underneath and a little hairy withal Among which ariseth up usually but one strong round hairy brown Stalk two or three Foot high with smaller Leaves set here and there upon it at the top wherof grow many smal yellow Flowers one above another in long Spikes after which come rough heads of Seeds hanging downwards which wil cleave to and stick upon Garments or any thing that shal rub against them The Root is black long and somwhat woody abiding many yeers and shooting afresh every Spring which Root though smal hath a reasonable good scent Place It ' groweth upon Banks near the sides of Hedges or Pales Time And it Flowreth in July and August the Seed being ripe shortly after Vertues and uses It is of a clensing and cutting faculty without any manifest heat moderately drying and binding It openeth and clenseth the Liver helpeth the Jaundice and is very beneficial to the Bowels healing all inward Wounds Bruises Hurts and other distempers The Decoction of the Herb made with Wine and drunk is good against the stinging and biting of Serpents and helps them that have foul troubled or bloody waters and makes them piss cleer spedily It also helpeth the Chollick clenseth the Breast and rids away the Cough A draught of the Decoction taken warm before the Fit first removes and in time rids away the Tertian or Quartan Agues The Leaves and Seed taken in Wine Stayeth the Bloody Fluâ— â—â— appâ—â—â— being stamped with old Swines grease it helpeth old sores Cancers and inveterate Ulcers and draweth forth Thorns Splinters of Wood Nails or any other such thing gotten into the Flesh it helpeth to strengthen the Members that be out of joynt and being bruised and applied or the Juyce dropped in it helpeth foul and imposthuâ—ned Ears The distilled Water of the Herb is good to all the said purposes either inward or outward but a great deal weaker It is an Herb under Jupiter and the Sign cancer and therfore strengthens those parts under that Planet and Sign and removes Diseases in them by Sympathy and those under Saturn Mars and Mercury by Antipâ—thy If they happen in any part of the Body governed by Jupiter or under the Signs Cancer Sagitary or Pisces and therfore must needs be good for the Gout either used â—outwardly in an Oyl or Oyntment or inwardly in an Electuary or Syrup or concreated Juyce for which see the latter end of the Book It is a most admirable remedy for such whole Livers are annoyed either by heat or cold The Liver is the former of Blood and Blood the Nourisher of the Body and Agrimony and Strengthner of the Liver I cannot stand to give you a Reason in every Herb why it cureth such Diseaess but if you please to peruse my Judgment in the Herb Wormwood you shall find them there and it will be well worth your while to consider it in every Herb you shall find them true
this to three Gallons more and let them work together and drink a draught of it every morning half a pint or there aocuts It is an excellent Purge for the Spring to consume that Flegmatick quality the Winter hath left behind it and withal keep your Body in health and consume those evil humors which the heat of Summer will readily stir up esteem it as a Jewel ♀ The Common Alder-Tree Description GRoweth to a reasonable heighth and spreads much if it like the place It is so generally wel known unto Country People that I conceive it needless to tel them that which is no news Place and Time It delighteth to grow in moist Woods and watry places Flowring in April or May and yeilding ripe Seed in September Vertues and Use. The Leaves and Bark of the Alder-Tree are cooling drying and binding The fresh Leaves laid upon swellings dissolveth them and staieth the Inflamations The Leaves put under the bare Feet gauled with travelling are a great refreshing to them The said Leaves gathered while the morning dew is on them and brought into a Chamber troubled with Fleas wil gather them therinto which being suddenly cast out wil rid the Chamber of those troublesom Bed-fellows It is a Tree under the Dominion of Venus and of some warry Sign or other I suppose Pisces and therfore the Decoction or distilled Water of the Leaves is excellent against Burnings and Inflamation either with Wounds or without to bath the place grieved with and especially for that inflamation in the Breast which the vulgar call an Ague If you cannot get the Leaves as in Winter â—tis impossible make use of the Bark in the same manner ☉ ♌ Angelica TO write a Description of that which is so well known to be growing in almost every Garden I suppose is altogether needless yet for its Vertues it is of admiaable use In times of Heathenism when men had found out any excellent Herb c. they dedicated it to their gods As the Bay-trce to Apello the Oak to Jupiter the vine to Bacchus the Poplar to Hercules These the Papists following as their Patriarchs they dedicate them to their Saints as our Ladies Thistle to the Blessed Virgin St. Johns Wort to St. John and another Wort to St. Peter c. Our Physitians must imitate like Apes though they cannot come off half so cleverly for they Blasphemously call Pansies or Hartseas an Herb of the Trinity becaus it is of three colours and a certain Oyntment an Oyntment of the Apostles becaus it consisteth of twelve Ingredients Alas poor Fools I am sorry for their folly and grieved at their Blasphemy God send them the rest of their Age for they have their share of Ignorance already O! why must ours be Blasphemous becaus the Heathens and Papists were Idolatrous certainly they have read so much in old rustie Authors that they have lost all their Deomity for unless it were amongst the Ranters I never read or heard of such Blasphemy The Heathens and Papists were bad and ours wors the Papists giving Idolatrous Names to Herbs for their Vertues sake not for their fair looks and therfore some called this an Herb of the Holy Ghost others more moderate called it Angelica becaus of its Angelical Vertues and that name it retains still and all Nations follow it so near as their Dialect will permit Vertues and use It resists Poyson by defending and comforting the Heart Blood and Spirits it doth the like against the Plague and all Epidemical Diseases if the Root be taken in pouder to the waight of half a dram at a time with some good Triacle in Cardâ—s Water and the party therupon laid to sweat in his Bed If Treacle be not at hand take it alone in Cardus or Angelica Water The Stalks or Roots candied and eaten fasting are good Preservatives in time of Infection and at other times to warm and comfort a cold Stomach The Root also steeped in Vineger and a little of that Vineger taken somtimes fasting and the Root smelled unto is good for the same purpose A water distilled from the Root simply or steeped in Wine and distilled in Glass is much more effectual than the Water of the Leaves and this Water drunk two or three spoonfuls at a time easeth all Pains and Torments coming of Cold and Wind so as the Body be not bound and taken with some of the Root in Pouder at the beginning helpeth the Pluresy as also all other Diseases of the Lungues and Breast as Coughs Phthisick and shortnefs of Breath and a Syrup of the Stalks doth the like It helps pains of the Collick the Strangury and stopping of the Urin procureth Womens Courses and expelleth the After-birth openeth the stoppings of the Liver and Spleen and briefly easeth and discusseth al windiness and inward swellings The Decoction drunk before the fit of an Ague that they may sweat if possible before the fit come wil in two or three times taking rid it quite away It helps digestion and is a remedy for a Surfet The Juyce or the Water being dropped into the Eyes or Ears helps dimness of sight and deafness The Juyce put into the hollow Teeth easeth their pains The Roots in Pouder made up into a Plaister with a little Pitch and laid on the biting of a mad-Dog or any other venemous creature doth wonderfully help The Juyce or the Water dropped or tents wet therin and put into old filthy deep Ulcers Or the Pouder of the Root in want of either doth clens and caus them to heal quickly by covering the naked Bones with Flesh. The distilled Water applied to places pained with the Gout or Sciatica doth give a great deal of ease The wild Angelica is not so effectual as the Garden although it may be safly used to al the purposes aforesaid It is an Herb of the Sun in Leo let it be gathered when he is there the Moon applying to his good Aspect let it be gathered either in his hour or in the hour of Jupiter let Sol be angular Oâ—serve the like in gathering the Herbs of other Plants and you may happen do wonders In al Epidemical Diseases caused by Saturn this is as good a Preservative as grows ♀ Apples A Word or two of the most usual kinds of Apples though the colledg of Physitians make use of none but such as Vulgò vulgati Pearmains vel Pippins Apples in general are cold and windy and being of sundry tasts Galen sheweth thereby how to distinguish them Som have a sharp tast and are good for fainting Stomachs and loos Bellies others sowr good to cool and quench thirst som sharp fit to cut gross flegm som sweet soon destributed in the Body and as soon passed away yet sooner corrupted is the Stomach if they be staid The best sorts before they be throughly ripe are to be avoided then to be roasted or scalded is the best way to take them and a little Spice or
Seeds cast upon them and taken after meat do strenthen both Stomach and Bowels especially in those that loath or hardly digest their meat or are given to casting or have a Flux or Lask Those that are a little sowr and harsh used in that manner are fittest Sweet Apples loosen the Belly and drive forth Worms Sowr Apples stop the Belly and provoke Urin 3 and Crabs for this purpose are fittest The sweet Apples as the Pippin and Pearmain help to dissolve Melancholly humors and to procure Mirth and therfore are fittest for Confectio Alkerimes and Syrupus de Pomis The Leavs boyled and given to drink in hot Agues where the heat of the Liver and Stomach causeth the Lips to break out and the Throat to grow dry harsh and furred is very good to wash and gargle it withal and to drink down som. This may to good purpose be used when better things are not at hand or cannot be had The Juyce of Crabs either Verjuyce or Cider is of singular good use in the Heat and faintings of the Stomach and against Casting to make a Posset with or taken som of it alone by it self The Juyce of Crabs or Cider applied with wet cloaths therein to scalded or burnt places cooleth healeth and draweth sorih the Fire A rotten Apple applied to Eyes blood-shotten or enflamed with heat or that are black and blue about them by any stroke or fall and bound too all day or night helpeth them quickly The distilled Water of rotten Apples doth cool the heat and inflamations of Sores and is good to bath foul creeping Ulcers and to wash the Face to take away Spots Freckles or other discolorings The distilled Water of good and sound Apples is of special good use to procure Mirth and expel Melancholly The Ointment called Pomatum if sweet and well made helpeth the Chops in the Lips or Hands and maketh smooth and supple the rough Skin of the Hands or Face parched with wind or other accidents Thus my Authors All that I can say of Apples is this 1 That they are extream windy 2 That they provoke Urin being roasted especially Pomwaters and mixed with fair Water and drunk up at night going to bed half a dozen great ones mixed with a quart of Water excellently provokes Urin if there be no material stone in the Body This I had of Gerhard and have often known it proved and alwaies with good success All Apples loosen theâ— Belly and pleasure the Stomach by their coolness Arrach wild stinking ♀ Description THis hath small and almost round Leaves yet a little pointed and without dent or cut of a dusky mealy colour growing on the slender Stalks and Branches that spread on the the Leaves and smal Seeds succeding like the rest perishing yearly and rising again with its own sowing It smels like old rotten Fish or somthing worse Place It grows usually upon Dunghils Time They flower in June and July and their Seed is ripe quickly after Vertues and use Stinking Arrach is used as a remedy to help Women painèd and almost strangled with the Mother by smelling to it But inwardly taken there is not a better Remedy under the Moon for that Disease I would be large in commendation of this Herb were I but Eloquent It is an Herb under the dominion of Venus and under the sign Scorpio It is common almost upon every Dunghil The Works of God are given freely to Man his Medicins are common and cheap and easie to be found t is the Medicines of the Colledg of Physitians that are so dear and scarce to find I commend it for an Universal Medicine for the Womb and such a Medicine as will easily safly and speedily cure any Diseas therof as the fits of the Mother Dislocation or falling our therof it cools the Womb being over-heared And let me tel you this and I wil tel you but the truth Heat of the womb is one of the greatest causes of hard labor in Childbirth It makes barren women fruitful it clenseth the Womb if it be foul and strengthens it exceedingly it provokes the Terms if they be stopped and stops them if they flow immoderatly You can desire no good to your Womb but this Herb will effect it therfore if you love Children if you love Health if you love Ease keep a Syrup alwaies by you made of the Juyce of this Herb and Sugar or Honey if it be to clens the Womb and let such as be rich keep it for their poor neighbors and bestow it as freely as I bestow my studies upon them or els let them look to answer it another day when the Lord shall come to make inquisition for Bloud ♀ Archangel To put a gloss upon their practice the Physitians call an Herb which Country people â—ulgarly know by the name of Dead-Nettles Archangèl wherein whether they savor of more Superstition or Folly I leave to the judicious Reader There is more curiosity than courtesie to my Countrymen used by others in the explaination aswel of the Names as Description of this so wel-known an Herb which that I may not also be guilty of Take this short Description first of the Red-Archangel Descriptions This hath divers square stalks somwhat hairy at the joynts whereof grow two sad green Leaves dented about the edges opposit to one another the lowermost upon long footstalks but without any toward the tops which are somwhat round yet pointed and a little crumpled and hairy Round about the upper Joynts where the Leaves grow thick are sundry gaping Flowers of a pale reddish colour after which com the Seeds three or four in a Husk The Root is smal and thriddy perishing every year the whol Plant hath a strong scent but not stinking White-Archangel hath diverse square stalks not standing streight upright but bending downward wheron stand two Leavs at a Joynt larger and more pointed than the other dented about the edges and greener also more like unto Nettle-Leavs but not stinking yet hairy At the Joynts with the Leavs stand larger and more open gaping white Flowers in Husks round about the Stalks but not with such a bush of Leavs as Flowers set in the top as is on the other wherin stand smal roundish black Seeds The Root is white with many strings at it not growing downward but lying under the upper crust of the Earth and abideth many years encreasing This hath not so strong a scent as the former Tellow-Archangel is like the White in the Stalks and Leavs but that the Stalks are more streight and upright and the Joynts with Leaves are further asunder having longer Leavs than the former and the Flowers a little larger and more gaping of a fair yellow colour in most in som paler The Roots are like the White only they creep not so much under the ground Place They grow almost every where unless it be in the middle of the street the Yellow most usually in the wet grounds of
Woods and somtimes in the dryer in divers Countries of this Nation Time They flower from the begining of the spring all the summer long Vertues and use The Archangels are somwhat hot and dryer than the stinking Nettles and used with better success for the stopping and hardness of the Spleen than they by using the Decoction of the Herb in Wine and afterwards applying the Herb hot unto the Region of the Spleen as a Plaister or the Decoction with Spunges The Flowers of the White Archangel are preserâ—ed or conserved to be used to stay the Whitâ—s and the Flowers of the Red to stay thâ— Reds in Women It makes the Heart merry drives away Melancholly quickens the Spirits is good against Quartan Agues stancheth bleedings at Mouth or Nose if it be sâ—amped and applied to the nape of the Neck The Herb also brused and with some Salt and Vinegar and Hogs Greas laid upon any hard tumor or swelling or that which is vulgarly called the Kings Evil doth help to dissolve or discuss them and being in like manner applied doth much allay the pains and give eas to the Gout Sciatica and other aches of the Joynts and Sinews It is also very effectual to heal all green Wounds and old Ulcers also to stay their fretting gnawing and spreading It draweth forth Splinters and such like things gotten into the flesh and is very good against bruises and burnings But the yellow Archangel is most commended for old filthy corrupt Sores and Ulcers yea although they grow to be hollow and to dissolve tumors The chief use of them is for Women it being an Herb of Venus and may be found in my Guide for Women ♂ Arsmart Description of the Mild. THis hath broad Leaves set at the great red Joynts of the Stalks with semicircular blackish marks on them usually yet somtimes without The Flowers grow in long Spikes usually either blush or whitish with such like Seed following The Root is long with many strings thereat perishing yeerly this hath no sharp tast as another sort hath which is quick and biting but rather sowr like Sorrel or els a little drying or without tast Place It grows in watery Plashes Ditches and the like which for the most part are dry in Summer Time It Flowreth in June and the Seed is ripe in August Vertues and use It is of a cooling and drying quality and very effectual for purrified Ulcers in Man or Beast to kill the Worms and clens the putrified Places The Juyce therof dropped in or otherwise applied consumeth all cold Swellings and dissolveth the congealed Blood of bruises by strokes falls c. A piece of the Root or some of the Seed bruised and held to an aching Tooth taketh away the pain The Leaves bruised and laid to the Joynt that hath a Fellon theron taketh it away The Juyce deâ—royeth Worms in the Ears being dropped into them if the hot Arsmart be strewed in a Chamber it will soon kill all the Fleas and the Herb or Juyce of the cold Arsmart put to Horses or other Cattels sores will drive away the Flie in the â—ottest time of Summer A good handful of the hot biting Arsmart put under a Horses Saddle will make him travel the better although he were half tired before The mild Arsmart is good against hót Imposthumes and Inflamations at the beginning and to heal green Wounds All Authors chop the Vertues of both sorts of Arsmart together as men chop Herbs for the Pot when both of them are of clean contrary qualities The hot Arsmart groweth not so high or tall as the mild doth but hath many leaves of the colour of Beach leaves very seldom or never spotted in other particulars it is like the former but may easily be known from it if you will be but pleased to break a Leaf of it cross your Tongue for the hot will make your Tongue to smart so will not the cold if you see them both together you may easily distinguish them becaus the mild hath far broader Leaves And out Colledg of Physitians out of their learned care for the publick good Anglice their own gain mistake the one for the other in their New-Master-Piece wherby they discover 1. Their Ignorance 2. Their Carelesness and he that hath but half an eye may see their pride without a pair of Spectacles I have done what I could to distinguish them in their Vertues and when you find not the contrary named use the cold The truth is I have not yet spoken with Dr. Reason nor his Brother Dr. Experience concerning either of them both ♂ Asarabacca Description A Sarabacca hath many Heads rising from the Roots from whence come many smooth Leaves every one upon his own Footstalk which are rounder and bigger than Violet Leaves thicker also and of a darker green shining colour on the upper side and of a paler yellow green underneath little or nothing dented about the edges from among which rise smal round hollow brown green husks upon short stalks about an inch long divided at the brims into five divisions very like the Cups or Heads of the Henbane Seed but that they are smaller and these be all the Flowers it carrieth which are somwhat sweer being smelled unto and wherein when they are ripe is contained smal cornered rough Seeds very like the Kernels or Stones of Grapes or Raisons The Roots are small and whitish spreading divers waies in the ground and encreasing into divers Heads but not running or creeping under ground as some other creeping Herbs do They are somwhat sweet in smell resembling Nardus but more when they are dry than green and of a sharp but not unpleasant tast Place It groweth frequently in Gardens Time They keep their Leaves green all Winter but shoot forth new in the Spring and with them come forth those Heads or Flowers which give ripe Seed about Midsummer or somwhat after Vertues and use This Herb being drunk not only provoketh vomiting but purgeth downward and by Urin also purging both Choller and Flegm if you ad to it some Spicknard with the Whey of Goats Milk or Honeyed Water it is made more strong but it purgeth Flegm more manifestly than Choller and therfore doth much help pains in the Hips and other parts it being boyled in Whey it wonderfully helpeth the Obstruction of the Liver and Spleen and therfore profitable for the Dropsie and Jaundice being steeped in Wine and drunk It helps those continual Agues that come by the plenty of stubborn humors An Oyl made therof by setting it in the Sun with some Laudanum added to it provoketh sweating the rige of the Back being anointed therwith and therby driveth away the shaking Fits of Agues It will not abide any long boyling for it loseth its chiefest strength therby nor much beating for the finer Pouder doth provoke Vomits and Urin and the courser purgeth downwards The common Use herof is to take the Juyce of five or seven
Herbs in making such Balms as are necessary for the curing of Wounds either green or old and especially if the Nervs of Sinews be hurt ♀ ♈ The Bramble OR Black-Berry-Bush THis is so wel known that it needeth no Descrption The Vertues therof are as followeth Vertues and use The Buds Leavs and Branches while they are green are of a good use in the Ulcers and putrid sores of the Mouth and Throat and for the Quinsie and likewise to heal other fresh Wounds and Sores but the Flowers Fruit unripe are very binding and so profitable for the Bloudy-flux Lasks and are a fit remedy for spitting of Bloud Either the Decoction or Pouder of the Root being taken is good to break or drive forth Gravel and the Stone in the Reins and Kidnies The Leavs and Brambles aswel green as dry are excellent good Lotions for sores in the Mouth or secret parts The Decoction of them of the dried Branches do much bind the Belly and are good for the too much flowing of Womens Courses The Berries or the Flowers are a powerful remady against the Poyson of the most venemous Serpents as wel drunk as outwardly applied helpeth the sores of the Fundament and the Piles The Juyce of the Berries mixed with Juyce of Mulberries do bind more effectually and help fretting and eating sores and Ulcers whersoever The Distilled Water of the Branches Leaves and Flowers or of the Fruit is very pleasant in tast and very effectual in Feavers and hot distempers of the Body Head Eyes and other parts and for al the purposes aforesaid The Leaves boyled in Ly and the Head washed therewith healeth the Itch and the running sores therof and maketh the Hair black The Pouder of the Leaves strewed on cankrous and running Ulcers doth wonderfully help to heal them Some use to condensate the Juyce of the Leaves and some the Juyce of the Berries to keep for their use all the year for the purposes aforesaid It is a Plant of Venus in Aries You shall have som Directions at the latter end of the Book for the gathering of al Herbs and Plants c. If any ask the Reason why Venus is so prickly Tel them 't is because she is in the house of Mars ♀ Blites Description OF these there are two sorts commonly known Viz. White and Red. The White hath Leavs somwhat like unto Beets but smaller rounder and of a whitish green colour every one standing upon a smal long Footstalk The Stalk riseth up two or three foot high with such like Leavs theron The Flowers grow at the top in long round tufts or clusters wherein are contained smal and round Seed The Root is very full of threeds or strings The red Blites is in all things like the white but that his Leavs and tufted heads are exceeding red at first and after turn more Purplish There are other kinds of Blites which grow wild differing from the two former sorts but little only the wild are smaler in every part Place They grow in Gardens and wild in many places of this Land Time They seed in August and September Vertues and use They are all of them cooling drying and binding serving to restrain the Fluxes of Bloud in either man or woman especially the Red which also stayeth the overflowing of women's Reds as the white Blite stayeth the Whites in Women It is an excellent secret you cannot wel fail in the use they are al under the Dominion of Venus There is one other sort of wild Blites like the other wild kinds but having long and spike heads of greenish Seed seeming by the thick setting together to be al Seed This sort the Fishes are delighted with and it is a good and usual Bait for Fishes will bite fast enough at them if you have but wit enough to catch them when they bite ♃ ♌ Borrage Bugloss THese are so wel known to be Inhabitants in every Garden that I â—old it needless to describe them Time They flower in June and July and the Seed is ripe shortly after Vertues and use They are very Cordial The Leaves or Roots are to very good purpose used in putrid and Pestilential Feavers to defend the Heart and hlp to resist and expel the Poyson or the Venom of other Creatures the Seed is of the like effect and the Seed and Leavs are good to encrease Milk in Womens Breasts The Leavs Flowers and Seed all or any of them are good to expel Pensiveness and Melancholly it helpeth to clarifie the Bloud and mitigate heat in Feavers The Juyce made into a Syrup prevaileth much to all the purposes aforesaid and is put with other cooling opening clensing Herbs to open obstructions and help the yellow-Jaundice and mixed with Fumitory to cool clens and temper the Blood therby it helpeth the Itch Ringworms and Tetters or other spreading Scabs or Sores The Flowers candied or made into a Conserve are helping in the former causes but are chiefly used as a Cordial and is good for those that are weak with long sickness and to comfort the Heart and Spirts of those that are in a consumption or troubled w th often swoonings or passions of the Heart The Distilled Water is no less effectual to all the purposes aforesaid and helpeth the redness and inflamation of the Eyes being washed therewith The dried Herb is never used but the green yet the Ashes therof boyled in Mead or Honyed Water is available against Inflamations and Ulcers in the Mouth or Throat to wash and gargle it therewith The Roots of Bugloss are effectual being made into a licking Electuarie for the Cough and to condensate thin flegm and Rhewmatick Distillations upon the Lungs They are both Herbs of Jupiter and under Leo both great Cordials great strengthners of Nature ♄ Bluebottles THese are so wel known generally unto my Country men to grow among their Corn that I suppose it needless to write any Description therof There are other kinds which I purposely omit both in this and others my intent being only to insist most principally upon the vulgarly known and commonly growing Flowers and Herbs Time They Flower and Seed in the Summer Months Vertues and use The Pouder or dried Leavs of the Bluel ottle or Cornflower is given with good success to those that are bruised by a sal or have broken a Vein inwardly and void much Blood at the Mouth being taken in the Water of Plantane Horstail or the greater Comfry It is a Remedy against the Poyson of the Scorpion and resisteth al other Venoms and Poysons The Seed or Leavs taken in Wine is very good against the Plague and al infectious Diseases and is very good in Pestilential Feavers The Juyce put into fresh or green Wounds doth quickly soder up the Lips of them together and is very effectual to heal al Ulcers and Sores in the Mouth The Juyce dropped into the Eyes taketh away the heat and inflamation in
red tending to a Carnation colour consisting of five somtimes six small Leavs very like those of St. Johns Wort opening themselvs in the day time and closing at night after which come Seed in little short Husks in form like unto Wheat Corns The Leavs are smal and somwhat round The Root smal and hard perishing every year The whol Plant is of an exceeding bitter tast There is another sort in al things like the former save only it beareth white Flowers Place They grow ordinarily in Fields Pastures and Woods but that with the white Flowers not so frequent as the other Time They Flower in July or there abouts and Seed within a Month after Vertues and use This Herb boyled and drunk purgeth Chollerick and gross humors and helpeth the Sciatica It openeth Obstructions of the Liver Gall and Spleen helping the Jaundice and easing pains in the Sides and hardness of the Spleen used outwardly and is given with very good effect in Agues It helpeth those that have the Dropsie or the green Sickness being much used by the Italians in pouder for that purpose It killeth the Worms in the Belly as is found by experience The Decoction therof viz. the tops of the Stalks with the Leavs and Flowers is good against the Chollick and to bring down Womens Courses helpeth to avoid the dead birth and easeth pains of the Mother and is very effectual in al old pains of the Joynts as the Gout Cramps or Convulsions A dram of the Pouder therof taken in Wine is a wonderful good help against the biting and poyson of the Adder The Juyce of the Herb with a little Honey put to it is good to cleer the Eyes from dimness mists and clouds that offend or hinder the Sight It is singular good both for green and fresh Wounds as also for old Ulcers and Sores to close up the one and clens the other and perfectly to cure them both although they be hollow or Fistulous the green Herb especially being bruised and laid therto The Decoction therof dropped into the Ears clenseth them from Worms clenseth the foul Ulcers and spreading Scabs of the Head and taketh away al Freckles Spots and Marks in the Skin being washed therwith The Herb is so safe you cannot fail in the using of it only give inwardly for inward Diseases use it outwardly for outward Diseases 'T is very wholsom but not very toothsom Dr. Reason and Dr. Experience could not agree the last time I spake with them whether the Herb were under the Dominion of the Sun or Mars ♀ The Cherry-Tree I Suppose there are sew but know this Tree for his Fruits sake and therfore shal spare the writing a Description therof Place For the place of its growth it is afforded room in every Orchard Vertues and Vse Cherries as they are of different tasts so they are of divers qualities The sweet pass through the Stomach and Belly more speedily but are of little Nourishment The tart or sowr are more pleasing to an hot Stomach procuring appetite to meat and help to cut tough Flegm and gross humors but when these are dryed they are more binding the belly than when they are fresh being cooling in hot Diseases and welcom to the Stomach and provoke Urin. The Gum of the Cherry-Tree dissolved in Wine is good for a cold Cough and boarsness of the Throat mendeth the colour in the Face sharpneth the Eye-sight provoketh appetite and helpeth to break and expel the Stone The Black Cherries bruised with the Stones and distilled the Water therof is much used to break the Stone expel gravel and break the Wind. ♀ Winter Cherries Description THe Winter Cherry hath a running or creeping Root in the ground of the bigness many times of ones little Finger shooting forth at several Joynts in several places wherby it quickly spreadeth a great compass of gronnd The Stalk riseth not above a yard high wheron are set many broad and long green Leavs somwhat like Night shade but larger at the Joynts wherof come forth whitish Flowers made of five Leavs apiece which after turn into green Berries inclosed with thin Skins which change to be reddish when they grow ripe the Berry likewise being reddish and as large as a Cherry wherin are contained many flat and yellowish Seeds lying within the pulp which being gathered and strung up are kept all the yeer to be used upon occasion Place They grow not naturally in this Land but are cherished in Gardens for their Vertues Time They Flower not until the middle or latter end of July and the Fruit is ripe about the end of August or beginning of September Vertues and use They are of great use in Physick The Leavs being cooling may be used in Inflamations but not opening as the Berries and Fruit are which by drawing down the Urine provoke it to be avoided plentifully when it is stopped or grown hot sharp and painful in the passage it is good also to expel the Stone and Gravel out of the Reins Kidnies and Bladder helping to dissolve the Stone and avoiding it by greet or gravel sent forth in the Urin It also helpeth much to clens inward Impostumes or Ulcers in the Reins or Bladder or in those that avoid a Bloody or foul Urin. The distilled Water of the Fruit or the Leavs together with them or the Berries green or dry distilled with a little Milk and drunk morning and evening with a little Sugar is effectual to al the purposes afore specified and especially against the heat and sharpness of the Urin. I shal only mention one way amongst many others which might be used for ordering the Berries to be helpful for the Urin and the Stone which is thus Take three or four good handfuls of the Berries either green and fresh or dried and having bruised them put them into so many Gallons of Beer or Ale when it is new tunned up This Drink taken daily hath been found to do much good to many both to eas the pains and expel Urin and the Stone and to caus the Stone not to ingender The Decoction of the Berries in Wine or Water is the most usual way but the Pouder of them taken in drink is more effectual ♃ Chervil Description THe Garden Chervil doth at first somwhat resemble Parsly but after it is better grown the Leavs are much cur in and jagged resembling Hemlocks being a little hairy and of a whitish green colour somtimes turning reddish in the Summer with the Stalks also It riseth little above half a Foot high bearing white Flowers in spoked tufts which turn into long and round Seed pointed at the ends and blackish when they are ripe of a sweet tast but no smel though the Herb it self smelleth reasonable wel The Root is smal and long and perisheth every yeer and must be sowen anew in the Spring for Seed and after July for Autumn Sallet The wild Chervil groweth two or three foot high with yellow
Stalks and Joynts set with broader and more hairy Leavs divided into sundry parts nicked about the edges and of a darker green colour which likewise grow reddish with the Stalks at the tops wherof stand smal white tufts of Flowers afterwards smaler and longer seed The Root is white hard and enduring long This hath little or no scent Place The first is sown in Gardens for a Sallet-Herb The second groweth wild in many of the Meadows of this Land and by the Hedg-sides and on Heaths Time They flower and seed early and thereupon are sown again in the end of Summer Vertues and use The Garden Chervil being eaten doth moderately warm the Stomach and is a certain remedy saith Tragus to dissolve congealed or clotted Bloud in the Body or that which is clotted by bruises fals c. The Juyce or distilled Water therof being drunk and the bruised Leavs laid to the place being taken either in meat or drink it is held good to provoke Urin to expel the Stone in the Kidnies to send down Womens Courses and to help the Plurisie and prickings of the Sides The wild Chervil bruised and applied dissolveth Swellings in any part of the Body and taketh away the Spots and Marks of congealed Blood by Bruises or Blows in a little space Sweet Chervil OR ♃ Sweet Cicely Description THis groweth very like the greater Hemlock having large spread Leavs cut into diverse parts but of a fresher green colour than the Hemlock tasting as sweet as the Anniseed The Stalk riseth up a yard high or better being crested or hollow having the like Leavs at the Joynts but lesser and at the tops of the branched Stalks Umbels or Tufts of white Flowers after which com large and long crested black shining Seed pointed at both ends tasting quick yet sweet and pleasant The Root is great and white growing deep in the ground and spreading sundry long Branches therein in tast and smel stronger than the Leavs or Seed and continuing many years Place This groweth in Gardens Vertues This whol Plant besides its pleasantness in Sallets hath also his Physical Vertues The Root boyled and eaten with Oyl and Vinegar or without Oyl doth much pleas and warm an old and cold Stomach oppressed with wind or flegm or those that have the Phtisick or Consumption of the Lungs The same drunk with Wine is a preservative from the Plague it provoketh Womens Courses and expelleth the After-birth procureth and appetit to meat and expelleth Wind. The Juyce is good to heal the Ulcers of the Head and Face The candied Roots hereof are held as effectual as Angelica to preserv from Infection in the time of a Plague and to warm and comfort a cold weak Stomach It is so harmless you cannot use it amâ—ss ♀ Chickweed Description THis is generally known to most People I shal therfore not trouble you with the Description therof nor my self with setting fourth the several kinds sith but only two or three are considerable for their usefulness Place These are usually found in moist and watry places by Wood sides and els-where Time They flower about June and their Seed is ripe in July Vertues and use It is found to be as effectual as Purslane to al the purposes whereunto it serveth except for meat only The Herb bruised or the Juyce applied with cloaths or spunges dipped therein to the Region of the Liver and as they dry to have fresh applied doth wonderfully temper the heat of the Liver and is effectual for all Imposthums and Swellings wheresoever for all redness in the Face Wheals Pushes Itch Scabs the Juyce either simply used or boyled with Hogs-Greas and applied the same helpeth Cramps Convulsions and Palsies The Juyce or distilled Water is of much good use for al heat and redness in the Eyes to drop som therof into them as also into the Ears to ease pains in them and is of good effect to ease the pains the heat and sharpness of Blood in the Piles and generally al pains in the Body that arise of heat it is used also in hot and virulent Ulcers and sores in the privy parts of Man or Woman or on the Legs or els-where The Leavs boyled with Marsh-Mallows and made into a Pultis with Fenugreek and Linseed applied to Swellings or Imposthumes ripeneth and breaketh them or swageth the swellings and easeth the pains It helpeth the Sinews when they are shrunk by Cramps or otherwise and to extend and make them pliable again by this Medicine Boyl an handful of Chickweed and a handful of Red-Rose Leavs dryed but not distilled in a Quart of Muscadine until a fourth part be consumed then put to them a pint of the Oyl of Trotters or Sheeps-feet let them boyl a good while still stirring them wel which being strained anoint the grieved place herewith warm against a fire rubbing it wel in with ones hand and bind also some of the Herb if you wil to the place and with Gods blessing it will help in three times dressing Cich-Peas or Cicers ♀ Description THe Garden sorts whether Red Black or White brings forth Stalks a yard long wheron do grow many smal and almost round Leavs dented about the edges set on both sides of a middle Rib at the Joynts come forth one or two Flowers upon short Footstalks Peas fashion either white or whitish or purplish red lighter or deeper according as the Peas that follow will be that are contained in smal thick and short Pods wherin lie one or two Peas more usually a little pointed at the lower end and almost round at the Head yet a little corner'd or sharp The Root is smal and perisheth yeerly Place and Time They are sown in Gardens or the Fields as Peas being sown later than Peas and gathered at the same time with them or presently after Vertues and use They are no less windy than Beans but nourish more they provoke Urine and are thought to encreas Sperm they have a clensing faculty wherby they break the Stones in the Kidneys To drink the cream of them being boyled in Water is the best way it moveth the Belly downwards provoketh Womens Courses and Urin and encreaseth both Milk and Seed One ounce of Cicers two ounces of French Barley and a smal handful of Marsh-Mallow Roots clean washed and cut being boyled in the broth of a Chicken and four ounces taken in the morning and fasting two hours after is a good Medicine for a pain in the Sides The white Cicers are used more for Meat than Medicine yet have they the same effects and are thought more powerful to encreas Milk and Seed The wild Cicers are so much more powerful than the Garden kinds by how much they exceed them in heat and driness whereby they do more open Obstructions break the Stone and have al the properties of cutting opening digesting and dissolving and this more speedily and certainly than the former Cinkfoyl or Five Leaved ♃
as Ponds Pools and Ditches that it is needless further to describe it Vertues and use It is effectual to help Inflamations and St. Anthonies fire as also the Gout either applied by it self or in a Pultis with Barley Meal The distilled Water herof is by some highly esteemed against all inward Inflamations and Pestilent Feavers as also to help the redness of the Eyes the Swellings of the Cods and of the Breasts before they be grown too much The fresh Herb applied to the Forehead easeth the Pains of the Head-ach coming of heat Cancer claims the Herb and the Moon wil be Lady of it a word is enough to a Wise man Down or Cotton-Thistle ♂ Description THis hath many large Leavs lying on the ground somwhat cut in and as it were crumpled on the edges of a green colour on the upper side but covered over with a long hairy Wool or Cottony Down set with most sharp and cruel pricks from the middle of whose Heads of Flowers thrust forth many Purplish Crimson Treds and sometimes although more seldom white ones The Seed that followeth in these Heads lying in a great deal of fine white Down is somwhat large long and round like the Seed of Ladies Thistle but somwhat paler The Root is great and thick spreading much yet it usually dieth after Seed time Place It groweth on divers Ditches Banks and in the Corn-fields and High-waies generally every where throughout the Land Time It Flowreth and beareth Seed about the end of Summer when other Thistles do Flower and Seed Vertues and use Pliny and Dioscorides write That the Leavs Roots hereof taken in Drink helpeth those that have a Crick in their Neck wherby they cannot turn their Neck but their whol Body must turn also Sure they do not mean those that have got a Crick in their Neck by being under the Hangmans Hands Galen saith that the Root and Leavs hereof are of an heating quality and good for such Persons as have their Bodies drawn together by some Spasme or Convulsion as it is with Children that have the Rickets or rather as the Colledg of Physitians will have it the Rachites for which name for the Diseas they have in a particular Treatise lately set forth by them Learnedly Disputed and put forth to the publick view that the World may see they took much pains to little purpose Mars owns the Plant and manifests to the World that though it may hurt your Fingers it will help your Body for I fancy it much for the Premises ♀ The Elder-Tree I Hold it needless to write any Description of this sith every Boy that plaies with a Potgun will not mistake another Tree instead of Elder I shall therfore in this place only describe the Dwarf Elder called also Danewort and Walewort ♀ The Dwarf Elder Description THis is but an Herb every yeer dying with his Stalks to the ground and rising again afresh every Spring and is like unto the Elders both in form and quality rising up with a four square rough hairy Stalk four foot high or more somtimes The winged Leavs are somwhat narrower than the Elder but els very like them The Flowers are white with a dash of Purple standing in Umbels very like the Elder also but more sweet in scent after which come smal blackish Berries full of Juyce while they are fresh wherein there lie smal hard Kernels or Seed The Root doth creep under the upper crust of the ground springing afresh in divers places being of the bigness of ones finger or Thumb somtimes Places The Elder-Tree groweth in Hedges being planted there to strengthen the Fences and Partitions of Grounds and to hold up the Banks by Ditches and Water-courses The Dwarf Elder groweth Wild in many places of England where being once gotten into a Ground it is not easily gotten forth again Times Most of the Elder-Trees Flower in June and their Fruit is ripe for the most part in August But the Dwarf Elder or Wallwort Flowreth somwhat later and his fruit is not ripe until September Vertues and Vse The first Shoots of the common Elder boyled like Asparagus the yong Leavs Stalks boyled in Fat Broth doth mightily carry forth Flegm and Choller The middle or inner Bark boyled in Water and given to drink worketh much more violently and the Berries either green or dry expel the same humors and is often given with good success to help the Dropsie The Bark of the Root boyled in Wine or the Juyce therof drunk worketh the same effects but more powerfully than either the Leavs or Fruit. The Juyce of the Root taken doth mightily provoke Vomit and purgeth the watery Humors of the Dropsie The Decoction of the Root taken cureth the biting of the Adder and biting of Mad Dogs It mollifieth the hardness of the Mother if Women sit therin â—nd openeth the Veins and bringeth down their Courses The Berries boyled in Wine performeth the same effect and the hair of the Head washed therwith is made black The Juyce of the green Leavs applied to the hot Inflamations of the Eyes asswageth them The Juyce of the Leavs snuffed up into the Nostrils purgeth the Tunicles of the Brain The Juyce of the Berries boyled with a little Honey and dropped into the Ears helpeth the pains of them The Decoction of the Berries in Wine being drunk provoketh Urine The distilled Water of the Flowers is of much use to clear the Skin from Sunburning Freckles Morphew or the like and taketh away Headaches coming of a cold caus the Head being bathed therwith The Leavs or Flowers distilled in the Month of May and the Legs often washed with the said distilled Water it taketh away the Ulcers and Sores of them The Eyes washed therewith it taketh away the redness and Blood-shot And the Hands washed morning and evening therwith helpeth the Palsey and shaking of them The Dwarf Elder is more powerful than the Common Elder in opening and purging Choller Flegm and Water in helping the Gout the Piles and Womens Diseases coloreth the Hair black helpeth Inflamation in the Eyes and pains in the Ears the biting of Serpents or a Mad Dog Burnings and Scaldings the wind Chollick Chollick and Stone the difficulty of Urine the cure of old Sores and Fistulous Ulcers Either Leavs or Bark of Elder stripped upward as you gather it causeth Vomiting but stripped downward it purgeth downwards Also Dr. Butler in a Manuscript of his commends Dwarf Elder to the Sky for Dropsies viz. to drink it being boyled in white Wine to drink the Decoction I mean not the Elder ♄ The Elm-Tree THis Tree is so well known growing generally in all Countries of this Land that it is needless to describe it Vertues and Vse The Leavs herof bruised and applied healeth green Wounds being bound thereon with its own Bark The Leavs or the Bark used with Vinegar cureth Scurf and Lepry very effectually The
hath many large fresh green Leavs very much torn or cut on the edges The Stalks are hard and round set with many such like Leavs but somwhat smaller and at the tops stand many single Flowers upon several smal Footstalks consisting of many smal white Leavs standing round about a yellow thrum in the middle The Root is somwhat hard and short with many strong Fibres at it The scent of the whol Plant is very strong and stuffing and the tast very bitter Place This groweth wild in some places of this Land but it is for the most part nourished in Gardens Time It Flowreth in the Months of June and July Vertues and Vse It is chiefly used for the Diseases of the Mother whether it be the strangling or rising of the Mother or Hardness or Inflamations of the same applied outwardly thereunto or a Decoction of the Flowers in Wine with a little Nutmeg or Mace put therin and drunk often in a day is an approved Remedy to bring down Womens Courses speedily and helpeth to expel the dead Birth and Afterbirth For a Woman to sit over the hot fumes of the Decoction of the Herb made in Water or Wine is effectual also for the same and in some cases to apply the boyled Herb warm to the privy parts The Decoction therof made with some Sugar or Honey put therto is used by many with good success to help the Cough and stuffing of the Chest by cold as also to clens the Reins and Bladder and help to expel the stone in them The Pouder of the Herb taken in Wine with some Oximel purgeth both Choller and Flegm and is available for those that are short winded and are troubled with Melancholly and Heaviness or sadness of the Spirits It is very effectual for all pains in the Head coming of a cold caus the Herb being bruised and applied to the crown of the Head as also for a Vertigo that is a turning or swimming in the Head The Decoction therof drunk warm and the Herb bruised with a few Corns of Bay Salt and applied to the Wrists before the coming of the Ague Fits doth take them away The distilled Water taketh away Freckles other Spots and Deformities in the Face The Herb bruised and heated on a Tyle with some Wine to moisten it or fried with a little Wine and Oyl in a frying Pan and applied warm outwardly to the places helpeth the wind and Chollick in the lower part of the Belly It is an especial Remedy against Opium taken too liberally Venus commands the Herb and hath commanded it to succour her Sisters Women and to be a general strengthner of their Wombs and remedy such infirmities as a careless Midwife hath there caused if they will be but pleased to make use of her Herb boyled in white Wine and drink the Decoction it clenseth the Womb expelleth the Afterbirth doth the Woman all the good she can desire of an Herb. And if any grumble becaus they cannot get the Herb in Winter tell them if they pleas they may make a Syrup of it in Summer ☿ Fennel EVery Garden affordeth this so plentifully that it needeth no Description Vertues and Vse Fennel is good to break wind to provoke Urine and eas the pains of the Stone and help to break it The Leavs or Seed boiled in Barley Water and drunk is good for Nurses to encreas their Milk and make it more wholsom for the Child The Leavs or rather the Seed boyled in Water staieth the Hiccough and taketh away that loathing which oftentimes hapneth to the Stomachs of Sick and Feaverish Persons and allayeth the heat therof The Seed boyled in Wine and drunk is good for those that are bitten by Serpents or have eaten Poyson full Herbs or Mushroms The Seed and the Root much more helpeth to open Obstructions of the Liver Spleen and Gall and thereby helpeth the painful and windy swellings of the Spleen and the yellow Jaundice as also the Gout and Cramps The Seed is of good use in Medicines to help shortness of breath and Wheesing by stopping of the Lungs It helpeth also to bring down the Courses and to clens the parts after delivery The Roots are of most use in Physick Drinks and Broths that are taken to clens the Blood to open Obstructions of the Liver to provoke Urine and amend the ill colour in the Face after Sickness and to caus a good habit through the Body Both Leavs Seeds and Roots hereof are much used in Drinks or Broths to make people more spare and lean that are too fat The distilled Water of the whol Herb or the condensate Juyce dissolved but especially the Natural Juyce that in hot Countries issueth out thereof of its own accord dropped into the Eyes clenseth them from mists and films that hinder the fight The sweet Fennel is much weaker in Physical uses than the common Fennel The wild Fennel is stronger and hotter than the tame and therfore most powerful against the Stone but not so effectual to encreas Milk becaus of its driness One good old fashion is not yet quite left off viz. To boil Fennel with Fish for it consumes that Flegmatick homot which Fish most plentifully afford and annoy the body by therfore it is a most fit Herb for that purpose though few that use it know why or wherfore they do it I supoose the Reason of its benefit this way is becaus it is an Herb of Mercury aâ—d under Virgo and therfore bears Antipathy to Pisces Dill is also an Herb of Mercury which I forgot to certifie you of before Sow-Fennel or Hogs-Fennel ☿ Description THe common Sow-Fennel hath divers branched Stalks of thick and somwhat long Leavs three for the most part joyned together at a place among which risethâ—â—rested strait Stalk less than Fennel with some Joynts theron and Leavs growing thereâ—â— and toward the top some Branches issuing from thence likewise on the tops of the Stâ—k and Branches stand divers tufts of yellow Flowers where after grow somwhat flat thin and yellowish Seed bigger than Fennel Seed The Root groweth great and deep with many other parts and Fibres about them of a strong scent like hot Brimstone and yielding â—orth a yellowish Milk or clammy Juyce almost like a Gum. Place It groweth plentifully in the Salt low Marshes neer by Feaversham in Kent Time It Flowreth and seedeth in July and August Vertues and Vse The Juyce of Sow-Fennel saith Dioscorides and Galen used with Vinegar and Rose-water or the Juyce with alittle Euphorbium put to the Nose helpeth those that are troubled with the Lethargy the Frensie the turning or Giddiness of the Head the Falling-Sickness long and inveterate Headach the Palsie Sciatica and the Cramp and generally all the Diseases of the Sinews used with Oyl and vinegar The Juyce dissolved in Wine or put into an Eg is good for the Cough or shortness of Breath and for those that are
whence to the top it is stored with large and long hollow reddish Purple Flowers a little more long and eminent at the lower edg with some white Spots within them one above another with smal green Leavs at every one but all of them turning their Heads one way and hanging downwards having some threds also in the middle from whence rise round Heads pointed sharp at the ends wherein smal brown Seed lieth The Roots are many smal Huskie Fibres and some greater strings among them The Flower hath no scent but the Leavs have a bitter hot tast Place It groweth on the dry sandy Grounds for the most part and as well on the higher as lower places under Hedg-sides in almost every County of this Land Time It seldom Flowreth before July and the Seed is ripe in August Vertues and use This Herb is familiarly and frequently used by the Italians to heal any fresh or green Wound the Leavs being but bruised and bound thereon and the Juyce therof is also used in old Sores to clens dry and heal them The Decoction hereof made up with some Sugar or Honey is available to clens and purge the Body both upwards and downwards somtimes of tough Flegm and clammy Humors and to open Obstructions of the Liver and Spleen It hath been found by experience to be available for the Kings Evil the Herb bruised and applied or an Oyntment made with the Juyce thereof and so used And a Decoction of two handfuls therof with four Ounces of Polipody in Ale hath been found by late experience to cure divers of the Falling-sickness that have been troubled with it above twenty yeers My self am confident that an Oyntment of it is one of the best Remedies for a Scabby Head that is Fumitory Description OUr common Fumitory is a tender sappy Herb sending forth from one square slender weak Stalk and leaning downwards on all sides many Branches two or three foot long with finely cut and jagged Leavs of a whitish or rather Blewish Seagreen colour At the tops of the Branches stand many small Flowers as it were in a long spike one above another made like little Birds of a reddish Purple colour with whitish Bellies After which come small round Husks containing smal black Seed The Root is yellow smal and not very long ful of Juyce while it is green But quickly perishing with the ripe Seed In the Corn Fields in Cornwal this beareth white Flowers Place It groweth in the Corn Fields almost every where as well as in Gardens Time It Flowreth in May for the most part and the Seed ripeneth shortly after Vertues and Vse The Juyce or Syrup made thereof or the Decoction made in Whey by it self with some other purging or opening Herbs and Roots to caus it to work the better it self being but weak is very effectual for the Liver and Spleen opening the Obstructions thereof and clarifying the Blood from Saltish Chollerick and Adust Humors which caus Lepry Scabs Tetters and Itches and such like breakings out of the Skin and after the Purging doth strengthen all the inward parts it is good also against the yellow Jaundice and spendeth it by Urin which it procureth in abundance The Pouder of the dried Herb given for some time together cureth Melancholly but the Seed is strongest in operation for all the former Diseases The dististilled Water of the Herb is also of good effect in the former Diseases and conduceth much against the Plague and Pestilence being taken with good Treacle The Distilled Water also with a little Water and Honey of Roses helpeth all the Sores of the Mouth or Throat being gargled often therwith The Juyce dropped into the Eyes cleareth the Sight and taketh away redness and other defects in them although it procure some pain for the present and cause Tears Dioscorides saith it hindreth any fresh springing of hairs on the Eyelids also they be pulled away if the Eyelids be anointed with the Juyce hereof with Gum Arabick dissolved therin The Juyce of Fumitory aud Docks mingled with Vinegar and the places gently washed or wet therwith cureth all sorts of Scabs Pimples Itches Wheals or Pushes which arise on the Face or Hands or any other part of the Body Saturn owns the Herb and presents it to the World as a Cure for his own Diseases and a strengthner of the parts of the Body he rules If by my Astrological Judgment of Diseases from the Decombiture you find Saturn Author of the Diseas or if by Direction from a Nativity you fear a Saturnine Diseas approaching you may by this Herb prevent it in the one and cure it in the other and therfore 't is fit you keep a Syrup of it alwaies by you The Furs-Bush THis is so well known as well by this name as in some Countries by the name Gors that I shal not need to write any Description therof my intent being to teach my Country men what they know not rather than to tell them again of that which is generally known before Place They are known to grow on dry barren Heaths and other wast gravelly or sandy grounds in all Countries of this Land Time They also Flower in the Summer Months Vertues and use They are hot and dry good to open Obstructions of the Liver and Spleen A Decoction made with the Flowers therof hath been found effectual against the Jaundice as also to provoke Urine and clens the Kidneys from Gravel or Stones ingender'd in them It is a Plant of Mars and doth all this by Sympathy Garlick THe offensivenes of the breath of him that hath eaten Garlick will leade you by the Nose to the knowledg hereof and in stead of a description direct you to the place wher it groweth in Gardens which kinds are the best and most Phisical Vertues and use This was antiently accounted the Poormans Treacle it beeing a remedy for all diseases or hurts except those which it self breeds It provoketh Urine and womens Courses helpeth the biting of a Mad Dog and of other Venemous Creatures killeth Wormes in Childern cutteth and avoydeth tough flegm purgeth the head helpeth the Lethargie is a good preservative against a remedy for any Plague sore or soul Ulcer taketh away spots and blemishes in the Skin easeth pains of the eares ripeneth and breaketh Impestumes or other swelling And for all these diseases the Onyons are also effectual But the Garlick hath some more peculiar vertues besides the former Viâ— It hath a speciall quality to discuss the inconveniences coming by corn pt Agues or Mineral Vapours or by drinking corrupt and stinking waters As elso by taking of Wolf-bane Henbane Hemlock or other poysonfull and dangerous herbs It is also held good in Hydropick diseases the Jaundice falling-sickness Cramps Convulsiers the piles or Hemorrhoids or other cold diseases My Author quotes here many â—â—â—ases this is good for but conceals it services its heat is very vehement and al
of Choller which it may well do by a Vomit as daily experience sheweth the Juyce hereof taken in Drink or the Decoction of it in Ale gently performeth the same It is good against the Jaundice and Falling-sickness being taken in Wine as also against difficulty of making Water it provoketh Urin expelleth Gravel in the Reins or Kidneys a dram thereof given in Oximel after some walking or stirring the Body It helpeth also the Sciatica griping of the Belly and the Chollick helpeth the defects of the Liver and provoketh Womens Courses The fresh Herb boyled and made into a Pultis and appled to the Breasts of Women that are swollen with pain and heat as also to the privy parts of Man or Woman the Seat or Fundament or the Arteries Joynts and Sinews when they are inflamed and swoln doth much eas them and used with some Salt helpeth to dissolve Knots or Kernels in any part of the Body The Juyce of the Herb or as Dioscorides saith the Leavs and Flowers with some fine Frankincense in Pouder used in Wounds of the Body Nervs or Sinews doth singularly help to heal them The Distilled Water of the Herb performeth well all the aforesaid Cures but especially for Inflamations or watering of the Eyes by reason of the Defluxion of Rhewm into them This Herb is Venus her Mrs. piece and is as gallant an Universal Medicine for all Diseases coming of heat whatsoever they be or in what part of the Body soever they lie as the Sun shines upon 't is very safe and friendly to the Body of Man yet causeth Vomiting if the Stomach be afflicted if not it purging and it doth it with more gentleness than can be expected 'T is moist and somwhat cold withal thereby causing expulsion and repressing the Heat caused by the motion of the internal parts in Purges and Vomits Lay by your Learned Receipts Take so much Senna so much Scammony so much Colocynthis so much Infusion of Crocus Metallorum c. This Herb alone preserved in a Syrup in a distilled Water in an Oyntment shal do the deed for you in all hot Diseases and it shall do it 1. Safely 2. Speedily Harts-Tongue Description THis hath divers Leavs â—â—ing from the Root every one severally which fold themselvs in their first springing and spreading when they are full grown are about a foot long smooth and green above but hard and with little Sap in them and straked on the back athwart on both sides of the middle Rib with smal and somwhat long brownish marks the bottoms of the Leavs are a little bowed on each side of the middle Rib somwhat narrow with the length and somwhat smal at the end The Root is of many black threds folded or interlaced together Time It is green all the Winter but new Leavs spring every yeer Vertues and Vse Harts-Tongue is much commended against the hardness and stoppings of the Spleen and Liver and against the heat of the Liver and Stomach and against Lasks and the Bloody Flux The Distilled Water therof is also very good against the Passions of the Heart and to stay the Hiccough to help the falling of the Pallat and stay the bleeding of the Gums being gagled in the mouth Dioscorides faith it is good against the stinging or biting of Serpents Jupiter claims Dominion over this Herb therfore is a singular Remedy for the Liver both to strengthen it when weak and eas it when afflicted 't is no matter by what you should do well to keep it in a Syrup all the yeer for though my Author say 't is green all the yeer I scarce beleev it As for the use of it my Directions at latter end will be sufficient and enough for those that are studious in Physick to whet their Brains upon for one year or two The Hazel Nut. THese are so well known to every Boy that they need no Description Vertues and Vse The parched Kernels made into an Electuary or the Milk drawn from the Kernels with Mead or Honeyed Water is very good to help an old Cough and being parched and a little Pepper put to them and drunk digesteth the Distillations of Rhewm from the Head The dried Husks and Shels to the weight of two drams taken in red Wine staieth Lasks and Womens Courses and so doth the red Skin that covers the Kernels which is more effectual to stay Womens Courses And if this be true as it is then why should the Vulgar so familiarly affirm that eating Nuts causeth shortness of Breath than which nothing is falser for how can that which strengthens the Lungues cause shortness of breath I confess the Opinion is far older than I am I knew Tradition was a Friend to Ertors before but never that he was the Father of Slanders or are mens tongues so given to slandering one another that they must slander Nuts too to keep their tongues in â—re If any thing of the Hazel Nut be stopping ' t is the Husks and Shels and no body is so mad to eat them unless Physically and the red Skin which covers the Kernel which you may easily pull off And thus have I made an Apology for Nuts which cannot speak for themselves Hawkweed Description This hath many large hairy leaves lying on the ground much rent or torn on the sides into many gashes like Dandelion but with greater parts more like the smooth sow Thistle from among w th ariseth a hollow rough stalk two or three foot high branched from the middle upward wherin are set at every Joynt longer leaves little or nothing rent or cut in bearing at their top sundrypale yellow Flowers consisting of many small narrow leavs broad pointed and nicked in at the ends set in a double row or more the outermost beeing larger than the inner which form most of the Hawkweeds for there are many kinds of them do hold which turne into down and with the small brownish seeds is blown away with the wind The Roote is long and somwhat greater with many small fibres thereat The whole is full of bitter milke Place It groweth in divers places about Field sides and the path waies in dry grounds Time It flowreth flies away in the SuÌ„merMonths Vertues and use Howkweed saith Dioscorides is cooling somwhat drying and binding and therfore good for the heat of the stomach and gnawings therein for Inflamations and the hot fits of Agues The Juice therof in wine helpeth digestion discusseth wind hindreth crudities abiding in the stomack and helpeth the difficulty of making Water the biting of Venemous Serpents and sting of the Scorpion if the herb be also outwardly applyed to the place and is very good against all other Poysons A scruple of the dryed Juyce given in wine and vinegar is profitable for those that have the Dropsie The decoction of the Herb taken with Honey digeisteth thin flegm in the chest or lungs and with Hysop helpeth the cough The Decoction therof and of wild
Succory made with wine and taken helpeth the wind chollick and hardness of the spleen it procureth rest and sleep hindereth venery and venercous dreams cooleth heats purgeth the stomach encreaseth blood helpeth the diseases of the Reins and Bladder Outwardly applied it is singular good for all the defects and diseases of the eyes used with some womens Milke and is used w th good success in fretting or creeping ulcers elpecially in the beginning The green Herb bruised and with a little Salt applyed to any place burnt with fire before blisters do arise helpeth them as also inflamations St Anthonies fire and al Pushes and eruptions heat and salt Flegm The same applyed with Meal and fair water in manner of a Poultis to any place affected with convulsions and the Cramp or such as are out of Joynt doth give help and ease The distilled water clenseth the skin and taketh away freckles Spots the Morphew or Wrinkles in the face The Hawthorn It is not my intent to trouble you with a Description of this Tree which is so well known that it needeth none It is ordinarily but a Hedg Bush although being pruned and dressed it groweth to be a Tree of a reasonable height As for the Hawthorn tree at Glastenbury which is said to flower yearly on Christmas Dry it rather shews the superstition of those who observe it for the time of its Flowring than any great wonder sith the like may be found in diverse other places of this land as in Whey-street in Rumney Marsh and neer unto Nantwiche in Cheshire by a place called White-Green where if the Winter be milde they will be white blossomes all over before and about Christmas as in May if the weather be frosty it Flowreth not until January or that the hard weather be over Vertues and use The Berries or the seeds in the Berries beaten to pouder and drunk in wine are held singular good against the stone and are good for the dropsy The distilled water of the Flowers stayeth the lask The seeds cleared from the Down bruised and boyled in wine drunk is good for inward tormenting pains If cloathes and spunges be wet in the said distilled water and applyed to any place wherin thornes splinters or the like do abide in the Flesh it will notably draw them forth And thus you see the thorn gives a medicine for his own pricking and so doth almost every thing else Hemlock Description The Common great Hemlock groweth up with a green stalk four or five foot high or more ful of red spots somtimes and at the Joynts very large winged leavs set at them which are divided into many other winged leaves one set against another dented about the edges of a sad green colour branched towards the top where it is full of Umbles of white Flowers and afterwards with whitish flat Seed The Root is long white and somtimes crooked and hollow within the whol Plant and every part hath a strong heady and ill favor'd scent much offending the Senses Place It groweth in all Countries of this Land by Wals and Hedges sides in wast Grounds and untilled places Time It Flowreth and Seedeth in July or thereabouts Vertues and Vse Hemlock is exceeding cold and very dangerous especially to be taken unwardly It may safely be applied to Inflamations Tumors and Swelling in any part of the Body save the Privy parts as also to St. Anthonies fire Wheals Pushes and creeping Ulcers that rise of hot sharp Humors by cooling and repelling the heat The Leavs bruised and laid to the Brow or Forehead is good for their Eyes that are red and swollen as also to take away a Pin and Web growing in the Eye this is a tried Medicine Take a smal Handful of the Herb and half so much Bay Salt beaten together and applied to the contrary Wrest of the Hand for twenty four Hours doth remove it in thrice dressing If the Root hereof be roasted under the Embers wrapped in double wet Papers until it be soft and tender and then applied to the Gout in the Hands or Fingers it will quickly help this evil If any shall through mistake eat the Herb Hemlock instead of Parsly or the Root instead of a Parsnip both which it is very like whereby hapneth a kind of Phrensie or Perturbation of the senses as if they were stupified or drunk The Remedy is as Pliny saith to drink of the best and strongest pure Wine before it strike to the Heart or Gentian put into Wine or a draught of good Vinegar wherewith Tragus doth affirm that he cured a Woman that had eaten the Root Saturn claims Dominion over the Herb yet Iwonder why it may not be applied to the privities in a Priapismus or continual standing of the Yard it being very beneficial for that Diseas I suppose my Authors Judgment was first upon the opposit Disposition of Saturn to Venus in those Faculties and therfore he forbid the applying of it to those parts that it might not caus Barrenness or spoil the Spirit Procreative which if it do yet applied to the Privities it stops lustful thoughts Hemp. THis is so well known to every good Huswife in the Country that I shal not need to write any Description of it Time It is sown in the end of March or beginning of April and is ripe in August or September Vertues and use The Seed of Hemp consumeth Wind and by the much use there of disperseth it so much that it drieth up the natural Seed for Procreation yet being boyled in Milk and taken helpeth such as have a hot dry Cough The Dutch make an Emulsion out of the Seed and give it with good success to those that have the Jaundice especially in the beginning of the Diseas if there be no Ague accompanying it for openeth Obstructions of the Gall and causeth digestion of Choller The Emulsion or Decoction of the Seed staieth Lasks and continual Fluxes easeth the Chollick and allayeth the troublesom Humors in the Bowels and staieth bleeding at the Mouth Nose or other place some of the Leavs being fried with the Blood of that bleed and so given them to eat It is held very good to kill the Worms in man or Beast and the Juyce dropped into the Ears killeth Worms in them and draweth forth Earwigs or other living Creatures gotten into them The Decoction of the Root allayeth Inflamations in the Head or any other parts the Herb it self or the Distilled Water thereof doth the like The Decoction of the Roots easeth the pains of the Gout the hard Tumors or Knots in the Joynts the pains and shrinking of the Sinews and the pains of the Hips The fresh Juyce mixed with a little Oyl and Butter is good for any place that hath been burnt with fire being thereto applied It is a Plant of Saturn and good for something els you see than to make Halters only Henbane Description
OUr common Henbane hath very large thick soft woolly Leavs lying upon the ground much cut in or torn on the edges of a dark ill grayish green colour among which rise up divers thick short Stalks two or three foot high spread into divers smaller Branches with lesser Leavs on them and many hollow Flowers scarce appearing above the Husks and usually torn on the one side ending in five round points growing one above another of a deadish yellow colour somwhat paler toward the edges with many purplish Veins therein and of a dark yellowish purple in the bottom of the Flower with a smal pointel of the same colour in the middle each of them standing in hard close Husk which after the Flower is past groweth very like the Husk of Asarabacca and somwhat sharp at he top Points wherein is contained much smal Seed very like Poppy Seed but of a dusky grayish colour The Root is great white and thick branching forth divers waies under ground so like a Parsnip Root but that it is not so white that it hath deceived divers The whol Plant more than the Root hath a heavy ill soporiferous smell somwhat offensive Place It commonly groweth by the way sides and under Hedg sides and Wals. Time It Flowreth in July and springeth again yeerly of its own Seed I doubt my Author mistook July for June if not for May. Vertues and Vse The Leavs of Henbane do cool all hot Inflamations in the Eyes or any other part of the Body and are good to asswage all manner of Swellings of the Cods or Womens Breasts or els where if they be boyled in Wine and either applied themselves or the Fomentation warm it also asswageth the pain of the Gout the Sciatica and all other pains in the Joynts which arise from an hot caus And applied with Vinegar to the Forehead and Temples helpeth the Headach and want of sleep in hot Feavers The Juyce of the Herb or Seed or the Oyl drawn from the Seed doth the like The Oyl of the Seed is helpful for the Deafness Nois and Worms in the Ears being dropped therein the Juyce of the Herb or Root doth also the same The Decoction of the Herb or Seed or both killeth Lice in Man and Beast The fume of the dried Herb Stalks and Seed burned quickly healeth Swellings Chilblains or Kibes in the Hands or Feet by holding them in the fume thereof The Remedy to help those that have taken Henbane is to drink Goats Milk Honyed Water or Pine Kernels with Sweet Wine or in the absence of these Fennel Seed Nettle Seed the Seed of Cresses Mustard or Radish as also Onions or Garlick taken in wine do all help to free them from danger and restore them to their due temper again Take notice that this Herb must never be taken inwardly outwardly an Oyl Oyntment or Plaister of it is most admirable for the Gout to cool the Venerial heat of the Reins in the French Pox to stop the Tooth-ach being applied to the aching side to allay all Inflamations and to help the Diseases before premised I wonder in my Heart how Astrologers could take on them to make this an Herb of Jupiter and yet Mizaldus a man of a penetrating Brain was also of this Opinion as wel as the rest the Herb is indeed under the Dominion of Saturn and I prove it by this Argument All the Herbs which delight most to grow in Saturnine places are Saturnine Herbs But Henbanc delights most to grow in Saturnine places and whol Cart loads of it may be found neer the places where they empty the common Jakes and scarce a stinking Ditch to be found without it growing by it Ergo 't is an Herb of Saturn Herb Robert Description THis riseth up with a reddish stalk two foot high having divers leaves thereon upon very long and reddish footstalkes divided at the ends into three or five divisions each of them cut in on the edges some deeper then others and all dented likewise about the edges which often tims turn reddish At the tops of the stalk come forth divers flowers made of five leavs much larger then the Doves foot and of a more reddeish colour after which come beak heads as in others The Roote is small and threddy and smelleth as the whole plant very strong almost stinking Place This groweth frequently every where by way sides upon ditch banks and wast grounds whersoever one goeth Time It flowreth in June and July chiefly and the seed is ripe shortly after Vertues and use Herb Robert is commended not only against the stone but to stay bloud where or howsoever flowing it speedily healeth all green wounds and is effectual in old ulcers in the peivy parts or else where You may perswade your self this is true and also conceive a good reason for it if you you doe but consider 't is an herb of Venus for al it hath gotten a mans name Herb True-love OR One-berry Description THe ordinary Herb True-love hath a small creeping Root running under the upper crust of the ground somwhat like a Coutchgrass Root but not so white shooting forth stalks with leavs some wherof carry no berries though others do every stalk smooth without Joynts and blackith green rising about half a foot high if it bear berries otherwise seldom so high bearing at the top four leaves set directly one against another in maner of a Cross or a Riband tied as it is called on a True-loues Knot which are each of them a part somwhat like unto a Nightshade Leaf but somwhat broader having somtimes but three Leavs somtimes five somtimes six and these somtimes greater than in others In the middle of the four Leavs fiseth up one smal slender Stalk about an inch high bearing at the top thereof one Flower spread open like a Star consisting of four small and narrow long pointed Leavs of a yellowish green colour and four other lying between them lesser than they in the middle wherof standeth a round dark purplish Bâ—tton or Head compassed about with eight smal yellow Mealy thâ— eds with three colours make it the more conspicuous and lovely to behold This Button or Head in the middle when the other Leavs are withered becometh a blackish Purple Berry full of Juyce of the bigness of a reasonable Grape having within it many white Seeds The whol Plant is without any manifest tast Place It groweth in Woods and Copseâ— and somtimes in the corners or borders of Fields and wast Grounds in very many places of this Land and abundantly in the Woods Gopses and other places about Chisselhurst and Maidstone in Kent Time They spring up in the middle of April or May and are in Flower soon after The Barries are ripe in the end of May and in some places in June Vertues and Vse The Leavs or Berries hereof are effectual to expel poyson of all sorts especially that of the Aconites as also the
bad Livers and for such as have Itches and running Tetters The Pouder hereof taken or the Decoction killeth Worms The green Leavs bruised and boyled in old Hogs Greas unto an Oyntment healeth the biting of Dogs abateth the Swellings of Womens Breasts and taketh away the Swelling and Pains that come by any pricking of Thorns or such like means and used with Vinegar it clenseth and healeth Tetters There is a Syrup made of Horehonnd to be had at the Apothecaries very good for old Coughs to rid the tough Flegm as also to avoid cold Rhewm from the Lungs of old Folks and for those that are Astmatick or short winded Horstail Description OF this there are many kinds but I shall not trouble you nor my self with any large Description of them which to do were but as the Proverb is to find a knot in a Rush All the kinds hereof being nothing else but knotted Rushes some with Leavs and some without Take the Description of the most eminent sort as followeth The greater Horstail at the first springing hath Heads somwhat like those of Asparagus and after grow to be hard rough hollow Stalks joynted at sundry places up to the top a foot high so made as if the lower part were put into the upper whereat grow on each side a Bush of smal long Rush-like hard Leavs each part resembling a Hors Tail from whence it was so called At the tops of the Stalks come forth smal Catkins like to those of Trees The Root creepeth under ground having Joynts at sundry places Place This as most of the other sorts hereof groweth in wet grounds Time They spring up in April and their blooming Catkins in July seeding for the most part in August and then perish down to the ground rising afresh in the Spring Vertues and use Horstail the smoother rather than the rough and the Leaved rather than the Bare are most Physical It is very powerful to stanch bleedings whersoever either inward or outward the Juyce or Decoction thereof being drunk or the Juyce Decoction or distilled Water applied outwardly It staieth also al sorts of Lasks and Fluxes in Man or Woman and the pissing of Blood and healeth also not only the inward Ulcers and excoriations of the Entrails Bladder c. but al bther sorts of foul moist and running Ulcers and soon sodereth together the tops of green Wounds It cureth also Ruptures in Children The Decoction hereof in Wine being drunk provoketh Urin and helpeth the Stone and the Strangury and the distilled Water thereof drunk two or three times in a day a smal quantity at a time as also easeth the Intrails or Guts and is effectual against a Cough that cometh by distillation from the Head The Juyce or distilled Water being warmed and hot Inflamations Pustules or red Wheals and other breakings out in the Skin being bathed therewith doth help them and doth no less eas the Swellings heat and Inflamations of the Fundament or Privy parts in Man or Woman The Herb is belonging to Saturn yet is very harmless and excellent good for the Premises Houfleeks or Sengreen ♃ THese are so wel known unto my Country Men that I shal not need to write any Description of them Place It groweth commonly on Walls and Houssides and flowreth in July Vertues and use Our ordinary Housleek is good for all inward heats as wel as outward and in the Eyes or other parts of the Body A Posset made with the Juyce of Housleek is singular good in al hot Agues for it cooleth and tempereth the Blood and Spirits and quench the thirst and is also good to stay al hot Defluxions of sharp and salt Rhewms in the Eyes the Juyce being dropped into them or into the Ears helpeth them It helpeth also other Fluxes of Humors into the Bowels and the immoderate Courses of Women It cooleth and restraineth also all other hot Inflamations St. Anthonies Fire Scaldings and Burnings the Shingles fretting Ulcers Cankers Tetters Ringworms and the like and much easeth the pain of the Gout proceeding from an hot caus The Juyce also taketh away Warts and Corns in the Hands or Feet being often bathed therwith and the Skin of the Leavs being laid on them afterwards It easeth also the Head-ach and distempered heat of the Brain in Phrensies or through want of sleep being applied to the Temples and Forehead The Leavs bruised and laid upon the Crown or Seam of the Head staieth bleeding at the Nose very quickly The distilled Water of the Herb is profitable for all the purposes aforesaid The Leavs being gently rubbed on any place stung with Nettles or Bees doth quickly take away the Pain It is an Herb of Jupiter and it is reported by Myzaldus to preserve it grows upon from Fire and Lightning ☿ Houndstongue Description THe great ordinary Houndstongue hath many long and somwhat narrow soft hairy darkish green Leavs lying on the ground somwhat like unto Bugloss Leavs from among which riseth up a rough hairy Stalk about two foot high with some smaller Leavs thereon and branched at the top into divers parts with a smal Leaf at the Foot of every Branch which is somwhat long with many Flowers set along the same which Branch is crooked or turned inwards before it Flowreth and openeth by degrees as the Flowers do blow which consist of four smal purplish red Leavs of a dead colour scarce rising out of the Husk wherein they stand with some threds in the middle It hath somtimes a white Flower After the Flowers are past there cometh rough flat Seed with a smal pointel in the middle easily cleaving to any Garment that it toucheth and not so easily pulled off again The root is black thick and long hard to break and ful of a clammy Juyce smelling somwhat strong of an evil scent as the Leavs also do Place It groweth in most places of this Land in wast grounds and untilled places by high way sides Lanes and Hedg sides Time It Flowreth about May and June and the Seed is ripe shortly after Vertues and Use. The Root is very effectually used in Pills as wel as in Decoctions or otherwise to stay al sharp and thin Defluxions of Rhewm from the Head into the Eyes or Nose or upon the Stomach or Lungs as also for Coughs or shortness of breath The Leaves boyled in Wine saith Dioscorides but others do rather appoint it to be made with Water and to ad thereto Oyl and Salt mollifieth or openeth the Belly downwards it also helpeth to cure the biting of a mad Dog some of the Leavs being also applied to the Wound The Leavs bruised or the Juyce of them boyled in Hogs Lard and applied helpeth the falling away of the Hair which cometh of hot and sharp humors as also for any place that is scalded or burnt The Leavs bruised and laid to any green Wound doth heal it up quickly The Root baked under the Embers wrapped in Past or wet
containing very smal brownish Seed which falling on the ground wil plentifully spring up before Winter if it have moisture The Root is round and most usually smooth grayish without and white within having smal fibres at the head of the Root and bottom of the Stalk Place It groweth very plentifully in many places of this Land but especially in all the West parts thereof upon stone and mud Wals upon Rocks also and in stony places upon the ground at the Bottom of old Trees and somtimes on the Bodies of them that are decayed and rotten Time It usually Flowreth in the begining of May and the Seed is ripening quickly after sheddeth it self so that about the end of May usually the Leavs and Stalks are withered dry and gone until September that the Leavs spring up again and so abide all Winter Vertues and Use. The Juyce or the distilled water being drunk is very effectual for al Inflamations and unnatural heats to cool a fainting hot Stomach or a hot Liver or the Bowels The bruised Herb or the place bathed with the Juyce or distilled Water thereof and outwardly applied healeth Pimples Redness St. Anthonies Fire and other outward heats and Inflamations The said Juyce or Water helpeth much also to heal sore Kidneys torn or fretted by the Stone or exulcerated within and easeth the pâ—ns It also provoketh Urine and is available for the Dropsie and helpeth to break the Stone cooling the Inflamed parts and other pains of the Bowels and the bloody Flux It is singular good to cool the painful Piles or Hemorrhoidal Veins the Juyce being used as a Bath unto them or made into an Oyntment It is no less effectual to give eas of pains to the hot Gout the Sciatica and the Inflamations and Swellings in the Cods It helpeth the Kernels or Knots in the Neck or Throat called the Kings Evil healeth Kibes and Chilblains if they be bathed with the Juyce or anointed with an Oyntment made thereof and some of the skin of the Leaf laid upon them It is also used in green Wounds to stay the Blood and to heal them quickly Venus challengeth the Herb under Libra ♄ Knapweed Description The common sort herof hath many long and somwhat broad darke green leaves rising from the Root deeply dented about the edges and somtimes a little rent or torne on both sides in two or three places and somwhat hairy withal among which riseth up a strong round stalk four or five foot high devided into many branches at the tops wherof stand great scalygreen heads from the middle of them thrust forth a number of dark purplish red thrumms or threds which after they are withered and past ther is found divers black Seeds lying in a great deal of down somwhat like unto a Thistle Seed but smaller The Root is white hard and woody with divers fibres annexed therunto which perisheth not but abideth with leavs theron all the winter shooting out fresh every Spring Place It groweth in most Feilds and Meadows and about their borders and Hedges and in many wast grounds also almost every where Time It usually flowreth in June and July and the seed is ripe shortly after Vertues and Use. This Knaproeed helpeth to stay Fluxes both of blood at the mouth or nose or other outward parts and those veins that are inwardly broken or inward wounds as also the Fluxes of the belly It stayeth the distillations of thin and sharp humors from the head upon the stomach and Lungs it is good for those that are bruised by any fall blowes or otherwise It is very profitable for those that are bursten and have a Rupture by drinking the decoction of the Hearbe and roots in wine and applying the same outwardly to the place It is singular good in al running sores cankrous and fistulous drying up the moysture and healing them up gently without sharpness it doth the like to running sores or scabs of the head or other parts It is of special use for the soreness of the Throat swelling of the Vvula and Jawa and excellent good to stay the bleeding and heale up all green wounds Saturn challengeth the herb for his own ♄ Knot-grass Description THis is generally so wel known that it needeth no Description Place It groweth in every County of this Land by the High-way sides and by foot paths in Fields as also by the sides of old Walls Time It springeth up late in the Spring and abideth until Winter when all the branches perish Vertues and Use. The Juyce of the common kind of Knot-grass is most effectuall to stay bleeding at the mouth being drunke in steeled or red Wine and the bleeding at the Nose to be applyed to the Forehead and Temples or to be squirted up into the Nostrils And no less effectuall to coole and temper that heat of the blood stomach and to stay any Flux of the blood or humers as Lask Bloodyflux Womens courses and Running of the Reins It is singular good to provoke Urine helpe the strangurie and allay the heate that cometh therby and it is powerful by Urin to expel the Gravell or stone in the kidneys or Bladder a dram of the pouder of the Herb being taken in wine for many dayes together Being boyled in wine and drunke it is profitable to those that are stung or bitten by venemous creatures and very effectual to stay al defluxions of rhewmatick humors upon the stomach killeth Worms in the belly or stomack quieteth inward paines that arise from the heat sharpness corruption of blood and Choller The distilled water herof taken by it self or w th the pouder of the Herb or seed is very effectual to al the purposes aforesaid and is accounted as one of the most Soveraign remedies to cool all manner of inflamations breakings out through heate hot Swellings and Impostumations Gangrenes and Fistulous Cankers or foule filthy Ulcers being applyed or put into them but especially for all sorts of Ulcers and sores happening in the privie parts of men or women It helpeth all fresh and green Wounds and speedily helpeth them The Juyce dropped into the Ears cleanseth them being soule and having running matter in them Saturn seems to me to own the Hearb and yet some hold the sun out of doubt 't is Saturn it is very prevalent for the premises as also for btoken Joynts and Ruptures ♀ Ladies-Mantle Description THis hath many leavs rising from the Root standing upon long hairy footstalkes being almost round but a little cut in on the edges into eight or ten parts more or less making it seem like a Star with so many corners and points and dented round about of a light green colour somwhat hard in handling and as if it were folded or plaited at first and then crumpled in divers places and a little hairy as the Stalk is also which riseth up among them to the height of two or three foot with such like Leavs thereon but smaller and being weak
is not able to stand upright but bendeth down to the Ground devided at the top into two or three smal Branches with smal yellowish green Heads and Flowers of a whitish colour breaking out of them which being past there cometh smal yellow Seed like Poppy Seed The Root is somwhat long and black with many strings or fibres thereat Place It groweth naturally in many Pastures and Wood sides in Harfordshire wiltshire and Kent and other places of this Land Time It Flowreth in May and June and abideth after Seed time green al the Winter Vertues and Use. Ladies-Mantle is very proper for those Wounds that have Inflamations and is very effectual to stay Bleedings Vomitings Fluxes of al sorts in man or woman and Bruises by Fals or otherwise and helpeth Ruptures and such Women or Maids as have over great Flagging Breasts causing them to grow less and hard being both drunk and outwardly applied The distilled water drunk for twenty daies together helpeth Conception and to retain the Birth if the Woman do somtimes also sit in a Bath made of the Decoction of the Herb. It is one of the most singular Wound Herbs that is and therfore highly prized and praised by the Germans who use in al Wounds inward and outward to drink the Decoction thereof and wash the Wounds therewith or dip Tents therein and put them into the Wounds which wonderfully drieth up al humidity of the Sores and abateth Inflamations therein It quickly healeth al green Wounds not suffering any corruption to remain behind and cureth old Sores though Fistulous and hollow Venus claims the Herb as her own ☿ Lavender THis is so wel known being an Inhabitant in almost every Garden that it needeth no Description Time It flowreth about the end of June and beginning of July Vertues and Use. Lavender is of special good use for all the Griefs and pains of the Head and Brains that proceed of a cold caus as the Apoplexy Falling-sickness the drowsie or sluggish Malady Cramps Convulsions Palseys and often Faintings It strengtheneth the Stomach and freeth the Liver and Spleen from Obstructions provoketh Womens Courses and expelleth the dead Child and Afterbirth The Flowers of Lavender steeped in Wine helpeth them to make water that are stopped or are troubled with the Wind or Chollick if the places be bathed therewith A Decoction made with the Flowers of Lavender Horehound Fennel and Asparagus Roots and a little Cinnamon is very profitably used to help the Falling-sickness and the giddiness or turning of the Brain To gargle the Mouth with the Decoction thereof is good against the Toothach Two spoonfuls of the distilled Water of the Flowers taken helpeth them that have lost their voice as also the tremblings and passions of the Heart and faintings and swounings not only being drunk but applied to the Temples or Nostrils to be smelt unto but it is not safe to use it where the Body repleat with Blood and Humors becaus of the hot and subtil spirits wherewith it is possessed The Chimical Oyl drawn from Lavender usually called Oyl of Spike is of so fierce and piercing Spirits that it is cautiously to be used some few drops being sufficient to be given with other things either for inward or outward Griefs Mercury owns the Herb and it carries his effects very potently Lavender Cotten hath the same Vertues with Southernwood which shal be shewed you when I come to speak of it ☽ ♋ Lettice THis is so wel known being generally used as a Sallet Herb that it is altogether needless to write any Description thereof Vertues and Use. The Juyce of Lettice mixed or boyled with Oyl of Roses and applied to the Forehead and Temples procureth Sleep and easeth the Headach proceeding of an hot caus being eaten boyled it helpeth to loosen the Belly It helpeth digestion quencheth thirst encreaseth Milk in Nurses easeth griping pains of the Stomach or Bowels that come of Choller It abateth Bodily lust represseth Venereous Dreams being outwardly applied to the Cods with a little Camphire Applied in the same manner to the Region of the Heart Liver or Reins or by bathing the said place with the Juyce or distilled Water wherein some white Sanders and red Roses are put also it not only represseth the heat and Inflamation therein but comforts and strengthens those parts and also tempereth the heat of Urine Galen adviseth old men to use it with Spices and where Spices are wanting to ad Mints Rocket and such like hot Herbs or els Citron Lemmon or Orange Seeds to abate the cold of one and heat of the other The Seed and distilled Water of the Lettice work the like effects in al things but the use of Lettice is chiefly forbidden to those that are short winded or have any imperfection in their Lungs or spit Blood The Moon owns them and that 's the reason they cool and moisten what heat and driness Mars causeth because Mars hath his fall in Cancer and they cool the Heart becaus the Sun rules it between whom and the Moon is a Reccption in the Generation of Man as you may soe in my Guide for women The VVater-Lilly ☽ Description OF these there are two principally noted kinds Viz. Thewhite and the Yellow The white Lilly hath very large round and thick dark green Leavs lying on the Water sustained by long and thick Footstalks that rise from a great thick round and long tuberous black Root spungy or loos with many Knobs thereon like Eyes and whitish within from amidst the which rise other the like thick and great Stalks sustaining one large white Flower thereon green on the outside but as white as Snow within consisting of divers rows of long and somwhat thick and narrow Leavs smaller and thinner the more inward they be encompassing a head within w th many yellow threds or thrums in the middle where after they are past stand round Poppylike Heads ful of broad Oyly and bitter Seed The yellow kind is little different from the former save only it hath fewer Leavs on the Flowers greater and more shining Seed and a whitish Root both within and without The Roots of both being somwhat sweet in tast Place They are sound growing in great Pools and standing Waters and somtimes in slow running Rivers and lesser Ditches of Water in sundry places of this Land Time They Flower most commonly about the end of May and their Seed is ripe in August Vertues and use The Leavs and Flowers of the Water-Lillies are cold and moist but the Root and Seed is cold and dry The Leavs do cool al Inflamations and both outward and inward heats of Agues and so doth the Flowers also either by the Syrup or Conserve The Syrup helpeth much to procure rest and to settle the Brains of Frantick persons by cooling the hot distemperature of the Head The Seed as wel as the Root is effectual to stay Fluxes of Blood or Humors either of Wounds
be put together in Clisters to expel Wind to eas pains also into Pultices for the same purpose and to asswage Swellings or Tumors in the Spleen or other parts helpeth Inflamations in any part of the Body The Juyce dropped into the Eyes is a singular good Medicine to take away any Film or Skin that cloudeth or dimmeth the Eyesight The Head often washed with the distilled Water of the Herb and Flowers or a Ly made therwith is effectual for those that have suddenly lost their senses as also to strengthen the Memory to comfort the Head and Brains and to preserve them from pains and the Apoplexie French and Dogs Mercury Description THis riseth up with a square green stalk full of Joynts two foot high or ther abouts with two Leaves at every Joynt and branches likewise from â—oth sides of the stalk set with fresh green Leaves somwhat broad and long about the bigness of the Leaves of Bassell finely dented about the edges towards the topps of the stalks and branches come forth at every Joynt in the Male Mercury two small round green heads standing together upon a short footstalk which growing ripe are the seeds not having any Flower In the female The stalk is longer spike fashion set round about with smal green husks which are the Flowers made like smal branches of Grapes which give no seed but abide long upon the stalks without shedding The Root is composed of many smal Fibres which perisheth every year at the first approach of winter and riseth again of its own sowing and where it once is suffered to sow it self the ground will never want it afterwards even both sorts of it Dogs Mercury Discription HAving described unto you that which is called French Mercury I come now to shew you in a Description this kind also This is likewise of two kinds Male and Female having many stalks slenderer lower than Mercury and without any branches at all upon them The Male is set with two Leavs at every Joynt somwhat greater than the Female but more pointed and full of Veins and somwhat harder in handling of a darker green colour and less dented or snip'd about the edges At the Joynts with the Leavs come forth longer Stalks than the former with two hairy round Seeds upon them twice as big as those of the former Mercury The tast hereof is Herby and the smel somwhat strong and Virulent The Female hath much harder Leavs standing upon longer Foot-stalks and the stalks are also longer From the Joynts come forth Spikes of Flowers like the French Female Mercury The Roots of them both are many and full of smal Fibres which run under ground and mat themselves very much not perishing as the former Mercuries do but abiding the Winter and shoot forth new Branches every yeer for the old die down to the ground Place The Male and Female French Mercury are found wild in divers places of this Land as by a Village called Brookland in Rumney Marsh in Kent The Dogs Mercury in sundry places of Kent also and elswhere but the Female more seldom than the Male. Time They flourish in the Summer months and therein give their Seed Vertues and Use. The Decoction of the Leavs of Mercury or the Juyce thereof in Broth or Drunk with a little Sugar put to it purgeth Chollerick and waterish Humors Hippocrates commendeth it wonderfully for Womens Diseases and applied it to the secret parts to eas the pains of the Mother and used the Decoction of it both to procure Womens Courses and to expel the Afterbirth And gave the Decoction thereof with Mirrh or Pepper or used to apply the Leavs outwardly against the Strangury and Diseases of the Reins and Bladder He used it also for sore and watering Eyes and for the Deafness and pain in the Ears by dropping the Juyce therof into them and bathing them afterwards in white Wine The Decoction thereof made with Water and a Cock Chicken is a most safe Medicine against the hot fits of Agues It also clenseth the Breast and Lungs of Flegm but a little offendeth the Stomach The Juyce or distilled Water snuffed up into the Nostrils purgeth the Head and Eyes of Catarrhes and Rhewms Some use to drink two or three ounces of the distilled water with a little Sugar put to it in the morning fasting to open and purge the Body of gross viscuous and Melancholly Humors It is wonderful if it be not Fabulous that Dioscorides and Theophrastus do relate of it Viz. That if Women use these herbs either inwardly or outwardly for three daies together after Conception and their Courses be past they shal bring forth Male or Female Children according to that kind of Herb they use Mathiolus saith That the Seed of both the Male and Female Mercury boyled with Wormwood and drunk cureth the yellow Jaundice in a speedy manner The Leavs or the Juyce rubbed upon Warts taketh them away The Juyce mingled with some Vinegar helpeth all running Scabs Tetters Ringworms and the Itch. Galen saith that being applied in manner of a Pultis to any Swelling or Inflamation it digesteth the Swelling and allayeth the Inflamation and is therfore given in Clysters to evacuate the Belly from offensive Humors The Dogs Mercury although it be less used yet may serve in the same manner to the same purpose to purge waterish and Melanchollick Humors Mercury they say owns this Herb but I rather think ' t is Venus and am partly confident of it too for I never read that Mercury ever minded Womens businesses so much I beleev he minds his study more Mint Description OF all the kinds of Mints the Spear-Mint or Heart-Mint being most useful I shal only describe it as followeth Spear-Mint hath divers round Stalks and long but narrowish Leavs set thereon of a a dark green colour The Flowers stand in Spiked Heads at the tops of the Branches being of a pale blush colour The smel or scent hereof is somwhat neer unto Bassilâ— It encreaseth by the Root under ground as all the others do Place It is an usual Inhabitant in Gardens And becaus it seldom giveth any good Seed the defect is recompensed by the plentiful encreas of the Root which being once planted in a Garden will hardly beâ—rid out again Time It Flowreth not until the beginning of August for the most part Vertues and Use. Dioscorides saith It hath an heating binding and drying quality and therefore the Juyce taken with Vinegar staieth Bleeding It stirreth up Venery or Bodily lust Two or three Branches thereof taken with the Juyce of sowr Pomegranates stayeth the Hiccough Vomiting and allayeth Choller It dissolveth Impostumes being laid too with Barley Meal It is good to repress the Milk in Womens Breasts and for such as have swollen flagging or great Breasts applied with Salt it helpeth the biting of a Mad Dog with Mead or Honeyed Water it easeth the pains of the Ears and taketh away the roughness of the Tongue
made of five Leavs narrow and pointed at the ends with some yellow thredssn the middle which being past there stand in their places smal round Heads of Seed Place It groweth plentifully in almost all places of this Land commonly in moist grounds by Hedg sides and in the middle of grassy Fields Time They Flower in June and July and their Seed is ripe quickly after Vertues and use Moneywort is singular good to stay all Fluxes in Men or Woman whether they be Lasks Bloody Fluxes the Flowing of Womens Courses Bleedings inwardly or outwardly and the weakness of the Stomach that is given to casting It is very good also for all Ulcers or Excoriations of the Lungs or other inward parts It is exceeding good for all Wounds either fresh or green to heal them speedily and for old Ulcers that are of a spreading nature For all which purposes The Juyce of the Herb or the Pouder drunk in Water wherein hot Steel hath been often quenched Or the Decoction of the green Herb in Wine or Water drunk Or the Seed Juyce or Decoction used to the outward places to wash or bath them or to have Tents dipped therein and put into them are effectual Moonwort Description This riseth up usually but with one dark green thick and fat Leaf standing upon a short footstalk not a bove two fingers breadth but when it will flower it may be said to beare a small slender stalk about four or five Inches high having but one leaf set in the middle therof which is much devided on both sides into somtimes five or seven parts on a sid somtimes more each of which parts is small next the middle rib but broad forwards and round pointed resembling therein an half Moon from whence it took the name the uppermost parts or divisions being less than the lowest The Stalk riseth above this Leaf two or three inches bearing many Branches of small long Tongues every one like the spiky Head of Adders-Tongue of a brownish colour which whether I shall call them Flowers or the Seed I well know notâ— which after they have continued a while resolve into a Mealy dust The Root is smal and Fibrous This hath somtimes divers such like Leavs as are before Described with so many branches or tops arising from one Stalk each devided from the other Place It groweth on Hills and Heaths yet where there is much Grass for therein it delighteth to grow Time It is to be found only in April and May for in June when any hot weather cometh for the most part it is withered and gone Vertues and use Moonwort is cold and drying more than Adders-tongue and is therefore held to be more available for all Wounds both inward and outward The Leavs boyled in red Wine and drunk stayeth the immoderate Flux of Womens Courses and the Whites It also staieth Bleeding Vomitings and other Fluxes It helpeth all Blows and Bruises and to consolidate all Fractures and Dislocations It is good for Ruptures But it is chiefly used by most with other Herbs to make Oyls or Balsoms to heal fresh or green Wounds as I said before either inward or outward for which it is excellent good Moonwort is an Herb which they say will open Locks and unshoo such Horses as tread upon it this some laugh to scorn and those no smal Fools neither but Country people that I know call it Unshoo the Horse besides I have heard Commanders say That on White Down in Devon neer Tiverton there was found thirty Hors shoos pulled off from the feet of the Earl of Essex his Horses being there drawn up in a Body many of them being but newly shod and no reason known which caused much admiration and the Herb described usually grows upon Heaths The Moon owns the Herb. Mosses I Shal not trouble the Reader with any Description of these sith my intent is to speak only of two kinds as the most principal Viz. Ground-Moss and Tree-Moss both which are very well know Place The Ground-Moss growing in our moist Woods and the bottoms of Hills in boggy grounds and in shadowy Ditches and many other such like places The Tree-Moss groweth only on Trees Vertues and use The Ground-Moss is held to be singular good to break the Stone and to expel and drive it forth by Urin being boyled in Wine and drunk The Herb bruised and boyled in Water and applied easeth all Inflamations and pains coming of an hot caus â— and is therfore used to eas the pains of the hot Gout The Tree-Mosses are cooling and binding and partake of a digesting and mollifying quality withal as Galon saith But each Moss doth partake of the Nature of the Tree from whence it is taken therefore that of the Oak is more Binding and is of good effect to stay Fluxes in man or Woman as also Vomitings or Bleedings the Pouder thereof being taken in Wine The Decoction thereof in Wine is very good for Women to be hathed with or to sit in that are troubled with the overflowing of their Courses The same being drunk stayeth the Stomach that is troubled with casting or the Hiccough and as Aâ—â—iâ—â—nna saith it comforteth the Heart The Pouder thereof taken in Drink for some time together is thought available for the Dropsie The Oyl of Roses that hath had fresh Moss steeped therin for a time and after boyled and applied to the Temples and Forehead doth Merveilously eas the Headach coming of a hot caus as also the Distillations of hot Rhewm or Humors to the Eyes or other parts The Antients much used it in their Oyntments and other Medicines against Lassitude and to strengthen and comfort the Sinews For which if it was good then I know no reason but it may be fonnd so still Motherwort Discription THis hath a hard square brownish rough strong Stalk rising three or four foot high at the least spreading into many Branches whereon grow Leavs ou each side with long Footstalks two at every Joynt which are somwhat broad and long as it were rough or crumpled with many great Veins therein of a sad green colour and deeply dented about the edges and almost devided From the middle of the Branches up to the tops of them which are very long and smal grow the Flowers round about them at distances in sharp pointed rough hard Husks of a more red or purple-colour than Balm or Horehound but in the same manner and form as the Horehounds after which come smal round blackish Seed in great plenty The Root sendeth forth a number of long Strings and smal Fibres taking strong hold in the Ground of a dark yellowish or brownish colour and abideth as the Horehound doth the smell of this being not much different from it Place It groweth only in Gardens with us in England Vertues and use Motherwort is held to be of much use for the trembling of the Heart and in faintings and swounings from whence it took
to gargle but outwardly also for Scabs Itch or other like Infirmities and clenseth the Face from Morphew Spots Freckles and other Deformities It is an excellent Sawce for such whose Blood wants clarifying and for weak Stomachs being an Herb of Mars but naught for Chollerick people though as good for such as are aged or troubled with cold Diseases Aries claims somthing to do with it therfore it strengthens the heart and resisteth poyson let such whose Stomachs are so weak they cannot digest their meat or appetite it take of Mustard Seed a dram Cinnamon as much and having beaten them to Pouder ad half as much Mastich in Pouder and with Gum Arabick dissolved in Rose Water make it up into Troches of which they may take one of about half a dram weight an hour or two before meals let old men and women make much of this medicine and they will either give me thanks or manifest ingratitude Hedg-Mustard Description THis groweth up usually but with one blackish green Stalk tongh easie to bend but not break branched into diverse parts and somtimes with divers Stalks set full of Branches whereon grow long rough or hard rugged Leavs very much torn and cut on the edges into many parts some bigger and some lesser of a dirty green colour The Flowers are smal and yellow that grow at the tops of the Branches in long Spikes flowring by degrees so that continuing long in Flower the stalks will have smal round Cods at the bottom growing upright and close to the Stalk while the top Flowers yet shew themselvs in which are contained smal yellow Seed sharp and strong as the Herb is also The Root groweth down slender and woody yet abiding and springing again every yeer Place This groweth frequently in this Land by the Waies and Hedg sides and somtimes in the open Fields Time It flowreth most usually about July Vertues and Use. It is singular good in all the Diseases of the Chest and Lungs hoarceness ef voice and by the use of the Decoction therof for a little space those have been recovered who had utterly lost their voice and almost their Spirits also The Juyce threof made into a Syrup or licking Medicine with Honey or Sugar is no less effectual for the same purpose and for all other Coughs Weesings and shortness of Breath The same is also profitable for those that have the Jaundice the Pluresie pains in the Back and Loyns and for torments in the Belly or the Chollick being also used in Clysters The Seed is held to be a special Remedy against Poyson and Venom It is singular good for the Sciatica the Gout and all Joynt-aches Sores and Cankers in the Mouth Throat or behind the Ears and no less for the hardness and Swelling of the Testicles or of Womens Breasts Mars owns this Herb also Nep or Catmint Description THe common garden Nep shooteth forth hard four square Stalks with a hoariness on them a yard high or more full of Branches bearing at every Joynt two broad Leavs somwhat like Balm but longer pointed softer whiter and more hoary nicked about the edges and of a strong sweet scent The Flowers grow in large tusts at the tops of the Branches and underneath them likewise on the Stalks many together of a whitish Purple colour The Roots are composed of many long strings or Fibres fastning themselves strongly in the ground and abide with green Leavs thereon all the Winter Place It is only nursed up in our Gardens Time And it flowreth in July or thereabouts Vertues and Use Nep is generally used for Women to procure their Courses being taken inwardly or outwardly either alone or with other convenient Herbs in a decoction to bath them or sit over the hot fumes therof and by the frequent use thereof it taketh away barrenness and the wind and pains of the Mother It is also used in pains of the Head coming of any cold caus as Catarrh's Rhewms and for swimming and giddiness thereof and is of especial use for the windiness of the Stomach and Belly It is effectual for any Cramps or cold aches to dissolve the cold and wind that afflicteth the place and is used for Colds Coughs and shortness of breath The Juyce thereof drunk in Wine is profitable for those that are bruised by any accident The green Herb bruised and applied to the Fundament and lying there two or three hours easeth the pains of the Piles The Juyce also being made up into an Oyntment is effectual for the same purpose The head washed with a Decoction thereof it taketh away Scabs and may be effectual for other parts of the Body also It is an Herb of Venus Nettles THese are so well known that they need no Description at all they may be found by the feeling in the darkest night Vertues and Use. The Roots or Leavs boyled or the Juyce of either of them or both made into an Electuary with Honey or Sugar is a safe and sure Medicine to open the Pipes and passages of the Lungs which is the caus of wheesing and shortness of breath and helpeth to expectorate tough Flegm as also to raise the impostumated Pleurefie and spend it by spitting The same helpeth the swelling of the Almonds of the Throat the Mouth and Throat being gargled therewith The Juyce is also effectual to settle the Pallate of the Mouth in its place and to heal and temper the Inflamations and soreness of the Mouth and Throat The Decoction of the Leavs in Wine being drunk is singular good to provoke Womens Courses and settle the suffocation or strangling of the Mother and all other Diseases thereof as also applied outwardly with a little Mirrh The same also or the Seed provoketh Urine and expelleth the Gravel and Stone in the Reins or Bladder often proved to be effectual in many that have taken it The same killeth the Worms in Children easeth pains in the sides and dissolveth the windiness in the Spleen as also in the Body although others think it only powerful to provoke Venery The Juyce of the Leavs taken two or three daies together staieth bleeding at the Mouth The Seed being drunk is a Remedy against the stinging of Venemous Creatures the biting of Mad Dogs The poysonful qualities of Hemlock Henbane Nightshade Mandrake or other such like Herbs that stupifie or dull the senses as also the Lethargy especially to use it outwardly to rub the Forehead and Temples in the Lethargy and the places bitten or stung with Beasts with a little Salt The distilled water of the Herb is also effectual although not so powerful for the Diseases aforesaid as for outward Wounds and Sores to wash them and to clens the Skin from Morphew Lepry and other discolourings thereof The Seed or Leaves bruised and put into the Nostrils staieth the bleeding of them and taketh away the Flesh growing in them called Polipus The Juyce of the Leavs or the Decoction of them or of the Roots is singular
the upper crust of the Earth shooting forth in diverse places Place It groweth in moist shadowy and grassy places of Woods in many places of this Land Time It â—â—â—wreth about May and the Berries be â—ipe in June and then quickly perisheth until the next yeer it springeth from the same Root again Vertues and use Half a Dram or a Dram at most in Pouder of the Roots hereof taken in Wine and Vinegar of each equal parts and the party laid presently to sweat thereupon is held to be a Soveraign Remedy for those that are infected with the Plague and have a Sore upon them by expelling the poyson and infection and defending the Heart and Spirits from danger It is a singular good Wound Herb and is therupon used w th other the like effects in making Compound Balms for the curing of Wounds be they fresh and green or old and Malignant and especially if the Sinews be hurt Onions THese are so well known that I need not spend time about writing a Description of them Vertues and Vices Onions are Flatulent or Windy yet they do somwhat provoke appetite encreas thirst eas the Belly and Bowels provoke Womens Courses help the biting of a mad Dog and of other Venemous Creatures to be used with Honey and Rue and encreaseth Sperm especially the Seed of them They also kill the Worms in Children if they drink the Water fasting wherein they have been steeped all night Being roasted under the Embers and eaten with Honey or Sugar and Oyl they much conduce to help an inveterate Cough and expectorate the tough Flegm The Juyce being snuffed up into the Nostrils purgeth the Head and helpeth the Lethargy yet the often eating of them is said to procure pains in the Head It hath been held with divers Country people a good preservative against Infection to eat Onions fasting with Bread and Salt as also to make a great Onion hollow filling the place with good Triacle and after to roast it well under the Embers which after taking away of the outermost skin thereof being beaten together is a Soveraign Salve for either Plague-Sore or any other putrid Ulcer The Juyce of Onions is good for either scalding or burning by fire water or Gunpouder and used with Vinegar taketh away all Blemishes Spots and Marks in the Skin and dropped into the Ears easeth the pains and nois of them Applied also with Figs beaten together heâ—peth to ripen and break Impostumes and other Sores Leeks are as like them in quality as a Pomewater is like an Apple They are a Remedy against a Surfeit of Mushroms being baked under the Embers and taken and being boyled and applied warm helpeth the Piles In other things they have the same property as the Onions although not so effectual Mars owns them and they have gotten this quality to draw any corruption to them for if you pill one and lay him upon a Dunghil you shall find him rotten in half a day by drawing putrifaction to it then being bruised and applied to a Plague-Sore 't is very probable 't will do the like Orpine Description COmmon Orpine riseth up with diverse round brittle Stalks thick set with fat and fleshy Leavs without any order and little or nothing dented about the edges of a pale green colour The Flowers are white or whitish growing in tufts after which come small chaffy Husks with Seed like dust in them The Roots are diverse thick round white tuberous clogs and the Plant groweth not so big in some places as in others where it is found Place It is frequent almost in every Country of this Land and is cherished in Gardens with us where it groweth greater than that which is wild and groweth in the shadowy sides of Fields and Woods Time It Flowreth about July and the Seed is ripe in August Vertues and Use. Orpine is seldom used in inward Medicines with us although Tragus saith from experience in Germany that the distilled water thereof is profitable for gnawings or excoriations in the Stomach or Bowels and for Ulcers in the Lungs Liver or other inward parts as also in the Matrix and helpeth all those Diseases being drunk for certain daies together And that it stayeth the sharpness of Humors in the Bloody Flux and other Fluxes in the Body or in Wounds The Root thereof also performeth the same effect It is used outwardly to cool any heat or Inflamation upon any Hurt or Wound and easeth the pains of them as also to heal Scaldings or Burnings The Juyce thereof beaten with some green Sallet Oyl and anointed The Leaf also bruised and laid to any green Wound in the Hands or Legs doth heal them quickly and being bound to the Throat much helpeth the Quinsie It helpeth also Ruptures and Burstiness If you pleas to make the Juyce into a Syrup with Honey or Sugar you may safely take a spoonful or two at a time let my Author say what he will for a Quinsie and you shall find the Medicine more pleasant and the Cure more speedy than if you took a Dogs-turd which is the Learned Colledges vulgar Cure The Moon owns the Herb and he that knows but her Exaltation knows what I say is true Parsley THis is so well known to be an Inhabitant in every Garden that it is needless to write any Description of it The vertues of it being many are as followeth Vertues and use It is very comfortable to the Stomach and helpeth to provoke Urine and Womens Courses and to break wind both in the Stomach and Bowels and doth a little open the Body but the Root much more and openeth Obstructions both of the Liver and Spleen and is therfore accounted one of the five opening Roots Galen commendeth it against the Falling-sickness and to provoke Urine mightily especially if the Roots be boyled and eaten like Parsnips The Seed is effectual to provoke Urine and Womens Courses to expel wind to break the Stone and eas the pains and torments thereof or of any other part in the Body occasioned by Wind. It is also effectual against the Venom of any poysonfull Creature and the danger that cometh to them that have taken Litharge and is good against the Cough The distilled water of Parsley is a familiar Medicine with Nurses to give their Children when they are troubled with wind in the Stomach or Belly which they call the frets and is also much available to them that are of greater yeers The Leavs of Parsley laid to the Eyes that are inflamed with heat or swoln doth much help them if it be used with Bread or Meal and being fryed with Butter and applied to Womens Breasts that are hard through the curdling of their Milk it abateth the hardness quickly and also it taketh away black and blue marks coming of Bruises or Falls The Juyce thereof dropped into the Ears with a little Wine easeth the pains Tragus setteth down an excellent Medicine to help the Jaundice and Falling-sickness
Milk or Cream of these Kernels being drawn forth with some Vervain Water and applied to the Forehead and Temples doth much help to procure rest and sleep to sick persons wanting it The Oyl drawn from the Kernels the Temples being therewith anointed doth the like The said Oyl put into Clysters easeth the pains of the wind Chollick and anointed on the lower part of the Belly doth the like and dropped into the Ears caseth the pains of them The Juyce of the Leavs doth the like being also anointed on the Forhead and Temples it helpeth the Megrim and all other pains in the Head If the Kernels be bruised and boyled in Vinegar until they become thick and applied to the Head it merveilously procure the Hair to grow again upon bald places or where it is too thin Lady Venus owns this Tree and by it opposeth the ill effects of Mars and indeed for Children and yong people nothing is better to purge Choller and the Jaundice than the Leavs and Flowers of this Tree being made into a Syrup or Conserve let such as delight to please their lust regard the Fruit but such as love their health and their Childrens let them regard what I say they may safely give two spoonfuls of the Syrup at a time 't is as gentle as Venus her self The Pear-tree THese are so well known that they need no Description Vertues and Use. For their Physical use they are best discerned by their tasts All the sweet or lushious sorts whether manured or wild do help to move the Belly downward more or less Those that are harsh and sowr do on the contrary bind the Belly as much and the Leavs do so also Those that are moist do in some sort cool but harsh or wild sorts much more and are very good in repelling Medicines as if the wild sorts be boyled with Mushroms it maketh them the less dangerous The said Pears boyled with a little Honey helpeth much the oppressed Stomach as al sorts of them do some more some less but the harsher sorts do most cool and bind serving well to be bound to green wounds to cool and stay the Blood and heal up the wound without further trouble or Inflamation as Galen saith he hath found by experience And wild Pears do sooner close up the Lips of green Wounds than the others Schola Salerni adviseth to drink much Wine after Pears or els they say they are as bad as poyson nay and they curs the Tree for it too but if a poor man find his Stomach oppressed by eating Pears 't is but working hard and it will do as wel as drinking Wine The Trce belongs to Venus and so doth the Apple-tree Pellitory of the Wall Description THis riseth up with many brownish red tender and weak clear and almost transparent stalks about two foot high upon which grow at the several Joynts two Leavs somwhat broad and long of a dark green colour which afterwards turn brownish smooth on the edges but rough and hairy as the Stalks are also At the Joynts with the Leavs from the middle of the stalks upwards wher it spreadeth into some branches stand many smal pale purplish Flowers in hairy rough Heads or Husks after which come smal black and rough Seed which will stick to any cloth or Garment that shall touch it The Root is somwhat long with many smal Fibres thereat of a dark reddish colour which abideth the Winter although the Stalks and Leavs perish and spring afresh every yeer Place It groweth wild generally through this Land about the borders of Fields and by the sides of Walls and among Rubbish It will endure well being brought into Gardens and planted on the shady side where it will spring of its own sowing Time It flowreth in June and July and the Seed is ripe soon after Vertues and Use. The dried Herb Pellitory made up into an Electuary with Honey or the Juyce of the Herb or the Decoction thereof made up with Sagar or Honey is a singular Remedy for any old or dry Cough the shortness of breath and Wheesing in the Throat Three ounces of the Juyce thereof taken at a time doth wonderfully help stopping of the Urine and to expel the Stone or Gravel in the Kidneys or Bladderâ— and is therfore usually put among other Herbs used in Clisters to mitigate pains in the Back Sides or Bowels proceeding of wind stopping of Urine the Gravel or Stone as aforesaid If the bruised Herb sprinkled with some Muskadine be warmed upon a Tile or in a Dish upon a few quick coals in a Chasing-dish and applied to the Belly it worketh the same effect The Decoction of the Herb being drunk easeth pains of the Mother and bringeth down Womens Courses it also easeth those griefs that arise from Obstructions of the Liver Spleen and Reins The same Decoction with a little Honey added thereto is good to gargle a sore Throat The Juyce held a while in the Mouth easeth pains in the Teeth The distilled water of the Herb drunk with some Sugar worketh the same effects and clenseth the Skin from Spots Freckles Purples Wheals Sunburn Morphew c. The Juyce dropped into the Ears easeth the noise in them and taketh away the pricking and shooting pains therein The same or the distilled Water asswageth hot and swelling Impostumes Burnings and Scaldings by fire or Water as also all other hot Tumors and Inflamations or breakings out of Heat being bathed often with wet Cloathes dipped therein The said Juyce made into a Liniment with Ceruss and Oyl of Roses and anointed therewith clenseth foul rotten Ulcers and stayeth spreading or creeping Ulcers and the running Scabs or Sores in Childrens Heads and helpeth to stay falling of the Hair from off the Head The said Oyntment or the Herb applied to the Fundament openeth the Piles and easeth their pains and being mixed with Goats Tallow helpeth the Gout The Juyce is very effectual to clens Fistulaes and to heal them up safely or the Herb it self bruised and applied with a little Salt It is likewise so effectual to heal any green Wound that if it be bruised and bound thereto for three daies you shall need no other Medicine to heal it further A Pultis made hereof with Mallows and boyled in Wine with Wheat Bran and Bean Flower and some Oyl put thereto and applied warm to any bruised Sinew Tendon or Muscle doth in a very short time restore them to their strength taking away the pains of the Bruises and dissolveth the congealed Blood coming of Blows or Falls from high places The Juyce of Pellitory of Wall clarified and boyled into a Syrup with Honey and a spoonful of it drunk every morning by such as are subject to the Dropsie if continuing that cours though but once a week if ever they have the Dropsie let them come but to me and I will cure them gratis Peny-royal Description THis is so well known unto all I
mean the common kind that it needeth no Description There is a greater kind than the ordinary sort found wild with us which so abideth being brought into Gardens and differeth not from it but only in the largeness of the Leavs and Stalks in rising higher and not creeping upon the ground so much The Flowers whereof are Purple growing in Rundles about the Stalk like the other Place The first which is common in Gardens groweth also in many moist and watery places of this Land The second is sound wild in Essex in divers places by the High-way from London â—to Colechester and thereabouts more abundantly than in other Countries and is also planted in their Gardens in Essex Time They Flower in the latter end of Summer about August Vertues and Use. Dioscorides saith That Peny-royal maketh thin tough Flegm warmeth the coldness of any part whereto it is apylied and digesteth raw or corrupt matter Being boyled drunk it provoketh Womens Courses and expelleth the dead Child and afterbirth and staieth the disposition to Vomit being taken in Water and Vinegar mingled together And being mingled with Honey and Salt it avoideth Flegm out of the Lungs and purgeth Melancholly by the Stool Drunk with Wine it helpeth such as are bitten or stung with Venemous Beasts and applied to the Nostrils with Vinegar reviveth those that are fainting and swouning Being dried and burnt it strengtheneth the Gums It is helpful to those that are troubled with the Gout being applied of it self to the place until it wax red and applied in a Plaister it taketh away spots or marks in the Face Applied with Salt it profiteth those that are Splenetick or Liver-grown The Decoction doth help the Itch if washed therwith Being put into Baths for Women to sit therein it helpeth the Swelling and hardness of the Mother The green Herb bruised and put into Vinegar clenseth foul Ulcers and taketh away the marks and bruises of blows about the Eyes and all discolourings of the Face by fire yea and the Leprosie being drunk and outwardly applied Boyled in Wine with Honey and Salt it helpeth the Toothach It helpeth the cold Griefs of the Joynts taking away the pains and warming the cold parts being fast bound to the place after a bathing or sweating in an hot hous Pliny addeth that Penny-royal and Mints together help faintings or swounings being put into Vinegar and put to the Nostrils to be smelled unto or a little thereof put into the Mouth It easeth the Headach and the pains of the Breast and Belly stayeth the gnawing of the Stomach and inward pains of the Bowels being drunk in Wine it provoketh Womens Courfes and expelleth the dead child and afterbirth Being given in Wine it helpeth the Falling-sickness Put into unwholsom or stinking Water that men must drink as at Sea and where other cannot be had it maketh them the less hurtful It helpeth Cramps or Convulsions of the Sinews being applied with Honey Salt and Vinegar It is very effectual for the Cough being boyled in Milk and drunk and for Ulcers or Sores in the Mouth Mathiolus saith The Decoction thereof being drunk helpeth heâ—Jaundice and Dropsie and all pains of the Head and Sinews that come of a cold caus and that it helpeth to clearâ— and quicken the Eye-sight Applied to the Nostrils of those that have the Falling-sicknessâ— or the Lethargy or put into the Mouth it helpeth them much being bruised and with Vinegar applied And applied with Barley Meal it helpeth Burnings by fire and put into the Ears easeth the pains of them The Herb is under Venus Peony Mas. Femina Description THe Male Peony riseth up with many brownish Stalks whereon grow many fair green and somtimes reddish Leavs one set against another upon a Stalk without any particular devision in the Leaf at all The Flowers stand at the tops of the Stalks consisting of five or six broad Leavs of a fair purplish red colour with many yellow threds in the middle standing about the Head which after riseth to be the Seed Vessels devided into two three or four rough crooked Pods like Horns which being ful ripe open and turn themselves down one edge to another backward shewing within them divers round black shining Seed having also many red or Crimson grains intermixed with the black whereby it maketh a very pretty shew The Roots are great thick and long spreading and running down reasonable deep in the Ground The ordinary Female Peony hath many Stalks and more Leavs on them than the Male the Leavs not so large but nicked diversly on the edges some with great and deep others with smaller cuts and devisions of a dark or dead green colour The Flowers are of a strong heady scent most usually smaller and of a more purple colour than the Male with yellow thrums about the Head as the Male hath The Seed Vessels are like Horns as in the Male but smaller the Seed also is black but less shining The Roots consist of many thick and short tuberous clogs fastned at the ends of long strings and all from the Head of the Root which is thick and short and of the like scent with the Male. Place and Time They grow in Gardens and Flower usually about May. Vertues and Use. The Root of the Male Peony fresh gathered hath been found by experience to cure the Falling-sickness but the surest way is besides hanging it about the Neck by which Children have been cured to take the Root of the Male Peony washed clean and stamped somwhat smal and lay it to infuse in Sack for twenty four Hours at the least after strain it and take first and last morning and evening a good draught for sundry daies together before and after a full Moon and this will also cure older persons if the Disease be not grown too old and past cure especially if there be a due and orderly preparation of the Body with Posset drink made of Betony c. The Root is also effectual for Women that are not sufficiently clensed after Childbirth and such as are troubled with the Mother for which likewise the black Seed beaten to Pouder and given in Wine is also available The black Seed also taken before bed time and in the morning is very effectual for such as in their sleep are troubled with the Diseas called Ephialtes or Incubus but we do commonly cal it the Night-Mare a diseas which Melancholly persons are subject unto It is also good against Melanchollick Dreams The Distilled water or Syrup made of the Flowers worketh the same effects that the Root and the Seed do although more weakly The Female is often used for the purposes aforesaid by reason the Male is so scarce a Plant that it is possessed by few and those great Lovers of Rarities in this kind It is an Herb of the Sun and under the Lyon Physitians say Male Peony Roots are best but Dr. Reason told me male Peony was best for men and
is a good Remedy against the Plague and other Pestilential Feavers if the Party after taking it warm lie in his bed and sweat for two hours after and use the same twice at least It helpeth also all stingings and bitings of Venemous Beasts or mad Dogs being used inwardly and applied outwardly The same also openeth the Obstructions of the Liver and is very available against the Infirmities of the Reins it provoketh Urine and helpeth to expel the Stone and Gravel out of the Kidneys and Bladder and helpeth much in all inward Wounds and Ulcers The Decoction or distilled Water is no less effectual to be applied to all Wounds that are fresh and green or old filthy fretting and running Ulcers which it very effectually cureth in short spaces A little Honey mixed with the Juyce and dropped into the Eyes clenseth them from cloudy mists or thick Films which grow over them and hinder the sight It helpeth the Toothach being dropped into the Ear on the contrary side of the pain It is also effectual to eas the pains of the Hemorrhoids or Piles Ground Pine or Chamepitys Description OUr common Ground Pine groweth low seldom rising above an handbreadth high shooting forth divers smal Branches set with slender smal long narrow grayish or whitish Leavs somwhat hairy and devided into three parts many times many bushing together at a Joynt and somtimes some growing scatteredly upon the Stalks smelling somwhat strong like unto Rozin the Flowers are somwhat smal and of a pale yellow colour growing from the Joynts of the Stalks all along among the Leavs after which come small long and round Husks The Root is smal woody perishing every yeer Place It groweth more plentifully in Kent than in any other Country of this Land as namely in many places from on this side Dartford along to Southfleet Cotham and Rochester and upon Chattam down hard by the Beacon and half a mile from Rochester in a Field nigh a Hous called Salsey Time It Flowreth and giveth Seed in the Summer Months Vertues and Use. The Decoction of Ground Pine drunk doth wonderfully prevail against the Strangury or any inward pains arising from the Diseases of the Reins and Urine and is especial good for all Obstructions of the Liver and Spleen and gently openeth the Body for which purpose they were wont in former times to make Pills with the Pouder thereof and the Purple Figs. It marveilously helpeth all the Diseases of the Mother used inwardly or applied outwardly procuring Womens Courses and expelling the dead Child and afterbirth yea it is so powerful upon those Feminine parts that it is utterly forbidden to Women with Child in that it will caus abortment or delivery before the time It is as effectual also in all pains and Diseases of the Joynts as Gouts Cramps Palseys Sciatica and Aches either the Decoction of the Herb in ' Wine taken inwardly or applied outwardly or both for some time together for which purpose the Pills made with the Pouder of Ground Pine and of Hermodactils with Venice Turpentine are very effectual These Pills also are special good for those that have the Dropsie to be continued for some time The same is a special good help for the Jaundice and for griping pains in the Joynts Belly or inward parts It helpeth also all Diseases of the Brain proceeding of cold and Flegmatick Humors and Distillations as also for the Falling-sickness It is an espcial Remedy for the Poyson of the Aconites of all sorts and other poisonful Herbs as also against the stinking of any Venemous Creature It is a good Remedy for a cold Cough especially in the beginning For all this purposes aforesaid the Herb being tunned up in new Drink and drunk is almost as effectual but far more acceptable to weak and dainty Stomachs The Distilled Water of the Herb hath the same effects but more weakly The Conserve of the Flowers doth the like which Mathiolus much commendeth against the Palsey The green Herb or the Decoction thereof being applied dissolveth the hardness of Womens Breasts and all other hard Swellings in any other part of the Body The green Herb also applied or the Juyce thereof with some Honey not only clenseth putrid stinking foul and Malignant Ulcers and Sores of all sorts but healeth and sodereth up the lips of green Wounds in any part also Let Women forbear it if they be with Child for it works violently upon the Foeminine part and Mars owns it I tell them but so Plantane THis groweth so familiarly in Meadows and Fields and by Pathways and is so well known that it needeth no Description Time It is in its beauty about June and the Seed ripeneth shortly after Vertues and Use. The Juyce of Plantane clarified and drunk for divers daies together either of it self or in other drink prevaileth wonderfully against all torments or Excoriations in the Guts or Bowels helpeth the distillations of Rhewm from the Head ond staieth all manner of Fluxes even Womens Courses when they flow too abundantly It is good to stay spitting of Blood and all other Bleedings at the Mouth or the making of foul or bloody water by reason of any Ulcer in the Reins or Bladder and also staveth the too free bleeding of Wounds It is held an especial Remedy for those that are troubled with the Phtisick or Consumption of the Lungs or Ulcers in the Lungs or Coughs that come of heat The Decoction or Pouder of the Roots or Seed is much more binding for all the purposes aforesaid than the Leavs Dioscorides saith That three Roots boyled in Wine and taken helpeth the Tertian Ague and four the Quartan Ague But letting pass the number as Fabulous I conceive the Decoction of divers Roots may be effectual The Herb but especially the Seed is held to be profitable against the Dropsie the Falling-sickness the yellow Jaundice and stoppings of the Liver and Reins The Roots of Plantane and Pellitory of Spain beaten to Pouder and put into hollow Teeth taketh away the pains of them The clarified Juyce or distilled Water dropped into the Eyes cooleth the Inflamations in them and taketh away the Pin and Web and dropped into the Ears easeth pains in them and helpeth and restoreth the Hearing The same also with Juyce of Housleek is profitable against all Inflamations and breakings out in the skin and against Burnings or Scaldings by fire or Water The Juyce or Decoction made either of it self or other things of like nature is of much use and good effect for old and hollow Ulcers that are hard to be cured and for Cankers and Sores in the Mouth or privy parts of Man or Woman and helpeth also the pains of the Piles in the Fundament The Juyce mixed with Oyl of Roses and the Temples and Forhead anointed therewith easeth the pains of the Head proceeding from heat and helpeth Lunatick and Phrenetick persons very much as also the bitings of Serpents or a Mad Dog The same
Poplars which are most familiar with us Viz. The Black and the White both which I shall here describe unto you The white Poplar groweth great and reasonable high covered with a thick smooth white Bark especially the Branches having large Leavs cut into several devisions almost â— a Vine Leaf but not of so deep a green on the upper side and hoary white underneath of a reasonable good scent the whol form representing the Leaf of Coltsfoot The Catkins which it bringeth forth before the Leavs are long and of a faint reddish colour which fall away bearing seldom good Seed with them The Wood hereof is smooth soft and white very finely waved whereby it is much esteemed The Black Poplar groweth high â— straiter than the White with a grayish Bark bearing broad and green Leaves somwhat like Ivy Leavs not cut in on the edges like the White but whol and dented ending in a point and not white underneath hanging by slender long Footstalks which with the Air are continually shaken like as the Aspin Leavs are The Catkins hereof are greater than of the White composed of many round green Berries as it were set together in a long Cluster containing much downice matter which being ripe is blown away with the wind The clammy Buds hereof before they spread into Leavs are gathered to make the Unguentum Populeon and are of a yellowish green colour and smal somwhat sweet but strong The Wood is smooth tough â—and white and easie to be cloven On both these Trees groweth a sweet kind of Musk which in former times was used to be put into sweet Oyntments Place They grow in moist Woods and by water sides in sundry places of the Land yet the white is not so frequent as the other Time Their time is likewise expressed before The Catkins coming forth before the Leavs and ripen in the end of Summer Vertues and Use. The White Poplar saith Galen is of a clensing property The weight of one ounce in Pouder of the Bark thereof being drunk saith Dioscorides is a Remedy for those that are troubled with the Sciatica or the Strangury The Juyce of the Leavs dropped warm into the Ears easeth the pains in them The yong clammy Buds or Eyes before they break out into Leavs bruised and a little Honey put to them is a good Medicine for a dull Sight The Black Poplar is held to be more cooling than the White and therefore the Leavs bruised with Vinegar and applied helpeth the Gout The Seed drunk in Vinegar is held good against the Falling-sickness The Water that droppeth from the hollow places of this Tree taketh away Warts Pushes Wheals and other the like breakings out in the Body The yong black Poplar Buds saith Mathiolus are much used by Women to beautifie their hair bruising them with fresh Butter and straining them after they have been kept for some time in the Sun The Oyntment called Populeon which is made of this Poplar is singular good for all heat or Inflamation in any part of the â—â—â—â—â—y and tempereth the heat of Wounâ—â—his much used to dry up the Milk in Womens Breasts When they have weyned their Children Poppy OF this I shal describe three kinds Viz. The Whites and Black of the Garden and the Erratick wild Poppy or Corn Rose Discription The white Poppy hasth at first four or five whitish green Leavs lying upon the ground which rise with the Stalk compassing it at the bottom of them and are very large much cut or torn in on the edges and dented also besides The Stalk which is usually four or five foot high hath somtimes no Branches at the top usually but two or three at most bearing every one but one Head wrapped in a thin Skin which boweth down before it be ready to blow and then rising and being broken the Flower within it spreadeth it self open and consisteth of four very large White round Leavs with many whitish round threds in the middle set about a small round green Head having a Crown or Star-like cover at the Head thereof which growing ripe becometh as large as a great Apple wherein are contained a great number of smal round Seed in several partitions or devisions next unto the shell the middle thereof remaining hollow and empty All the whol Plant both Leavs Stalks and Heads while they are fresh yong and green yield a Milk when they are broken of an unpleasant bitter tast almost ready to provoke casting and of a strong heady smel which being condensate is called Opium The Root is white and woody perishing as soon as it hath given ripe Seed The Black Poppy little differeth from the former until it beareth his Flower which is somwhat less and of a black Purplish colour but without any purple spots in the bottom of the Leaf The Head of Seed is much less than the former and openeth it self a little round about the top under the Crown so that the Seed which is very black will fall out if one turn the Head thereof downwards The wild Poppy or Corn Rose hath long and narrow Leavs very much cut in on the edges into many devisions of a light green colour and somtimes hairy withal The Stalk is blackish and hairy also but not so tall as the Garden kinds having some such like Leavs thereon as grow below parted into three or four Branches somtimes whereon grow smal hairy Heads bowing down before the Skin break wherein the Flower is inclosed which when it is ful blown open is of a fair yellowish red or crimson colour and in some much paler without any spot in the bottom of the Leavs having many black soft threds in the middle compassing a smal green Head which when it is ripe is not bigger than ones little finger end wherin is contained much black Seed smaller by half than that of the Garden The Root perisheth every yeer and springeth again of its own sowing Of this kind there is one lesser in all the parts thereof and differeth in nothing els Places The Garden kinds do not naturally grow wild in any place but are all sown in Gardens where they grow The Wild Poppy or Corn Rose is plentiful enough and many times too much in the Corn Fields of all Countries through this Land and also upon Ditch Banks and by Hedg sides The smaller wild kind is also found in Corn Fields and also in some other place but not so plentiful as the former Time The Garden kinds are usually sown in the Spring which then Flower about the end of May and somwhat earlier if they spring of their own sowing The Wild Kinds Flower usually from May until July and the Seed of them is ripe soon after the Flowring Vertues and use The Garden Poppy Heads with Seeds made into a Syrup is frequently and to good effect used to procure rest and sleep in the sick and weak and to stay Catarrh's and Defluxions of hot thin Rhewms from the Head into the Stomach
and upon the Lungs causing a continual Cough the Fore-runner of a Consumption It helpeth also Hoarsness of the Throat and when one hath lost their voice which the Oyl of the Seed doth likewise The black Seed boyled in Wine and drunk is said also to stay the Flux of the Belly and Womens Courses The empty thels of the Poppy Heads are usually boyled in water and given to procure rest and sleep so do the Leavs in the same manner as also if the Head and Temples be bathed with the Decoction warm or with the Oyl of Poppies the green Leaves or Heads bruised and applied with a little Vinegar or made into a Pultis with Barley Meal or Hogs Greas it cooleth and tempereth al Inflamations as also the Diseas called St. Anthonies Fire It is generally used in Treacle and Methridate and in all other Medicines that are made to procure rest and sleep and to eas pains in the Head as well as in other parts It is also used to cool Inflamations Agues or Phrensies and to stay Defluxions which caus a Cough or Consumption and also other Fluxes of the Belly or Womens Courses It is also put into hollow Teeth to eas the pain and hath been found by experience to eas the pain of the Gout The Wild Poppy or Corn Rose as Mathiolus saith is good to prevent the Falling-sickness The Syrup made with the Flowers is with good effect given to those that have the Pluresie and the dried Flowers also either boyled in water or made into Pouder and drunk either in the Distilled Water of them or in some other Drink worketh the like effect The Distilled Water of the Flowers is held to be of much good use against Surfets being drunk evening and morning It is also more cooling than any of the other Poppies and therefore cannot but be as effectual in hot Agues Phrensies and other Inflamations either inward or outward the Syrup or Water to be used therein or the green Leavs used outwardly either in an Oyntment as it is in Populeon a cooling Oyntment or any other wales applied Galen saith the Seed is dangerous to be used inwardly The Herb is Lunar and of the Juyce of it is made Opium only for lucre of Money they cheat you and tell you 't is a kind of Tear or some such like thing that drops from Poppies when they weep and that is some where beyond the Sea I know not where beyond the Moon Purslane THe Garden Purslane being used as a Sallet Herb is so well known that it needeth no Description I shal therefore only speak of its Vertues as followeth Vertues and use It is good to cool any heat in the Liver Blood Reins and Stomach and in hot Agues nothing better It stayeth hot and Chollerick Fluxes of the Belly Womens Courses the Whites and Gonorrhea or running of the Reins the Distillations from the Head and pains therein proceeding of heat want of sleep or the Phrensie The Seed is more effectual than the Herb and is of singular good use to cool the heat and sharpness of Urine and the outragious Lust of the Body Venerious Dreams and the like insomuch that the overfrequent use hereof exinguisheth the Heat and Vertue of Natural Procreation The Seed bruised and boyled in Wine and given to Children expelleth the Worms The Juyce of the Herb is held as effectual to all the purposes aforesaid as also to stay Vomitings and taken with some Sugar or Honey helpeth an old and dry Cough shortness of Breath and the Phtisick and stayeth immoderate Thirst. The Distilled water of the Herb is used by many as the more pleasing with a little Sugar to work the same effects The Juyce also is singular good in the Inflamations and Ulcers of the secret parts in man or woman as â—â— of the Bowels and Hemorrhoids â—hen they are Ulcerous or Excoriations in them The Herb bruised and applied to the Forehead and Temples allayeth excessive heat therein hindring rest and sleep and applied to the Eyes taketh away the redness and Inflamation in them and those other parts where Pushes Wheals Pimples St. Anthonies Fire and the like break forth especially if a little Vinegar be put to it And being laid to the Neck with as much of Galls and Linseed together taketh away the pains therein and the Crick in the Neck The Juyce is used with Oyl of Roses for the said causes or for Blastings by Lightning and Burnings by Gun-Pouder or for Womens sore Breastss and to allay the heat in all other Sores or Hurts applied also to the Navels of Children that stick forth it helpeth them It is also good for sore Mouths and Gums that are swollen to fasten loos Teeth Camerarius saith That the distilled water used by some took away the pain of their Teeth when all other Remedies failed and that the thickned Juyce made in Pills with the Pouder of Gum Tragacanth and Arabick being taken prevaileth much to help those that make a bloody water Applied to the Gout it easeth pains thereof and helpeth the hardness of Sinews if it come not of the Cramp or a cold caus 'T is an Herb of the Moon See Lettice Primroses THese are so well known that they need no Description Of the Leavs of Primroses is made as fine a Salve to heal green Wounds as any is that I know you shall be taught to make Salves of any Herb at the latter end of the Book make this as you are taught there and do not you that have any Ingenuity in you see your poor Neighbors go with wounded Limbs when a Halfpenny cost will heal them Privet Description OUr common Privet is carried up with many slender Branches to a reasonable height and breadth to cover Arbours Bowrs and Banquetting Houses and brought wrought and cut into many forms of Men Horses Birds c. which though at first supported groweth afterwards strong of it self It beareth long and narrow green Leavs by couples and sweet smelling white Flowers in tufts at the ends of the Branches which turn into smal black Berries that have a Purplish Juyce within them and some Seeds that are flat on the one side with a hole or dent therein Place It groweth in this Land in divers Woods Time Our Privet Flowreth in June and July The Berries are ripe in August and September Vertues and Use. It is little used in Physick with us in these times more than in Lotions to wash Sores and Sore Mouths and to cool Inflamations and dry up Fluxes Yet Mathiolus saith it serveth to all the uses for which Ciprus or the East Privet is appointed by Dioscorides and Galen He further saith That the Oyl that is made of the Flowers of Privet infused therin and set in the Sun is singular good for the Inflamations of Wounds and for the Headach coming of an hot caus There is a sweet water also distilled from the Flowers that is good for all those Diseases
Bark of the Root taken in Wine performeth effectually Mathiolus saith the same helpeth the Diseas called Hiernia Carnosa the Fleshy Rupture by taking the said Pouder for some Months together constantly and that it hath cuted some which seemed incurable by any other means than by cutting or burning The Decoction thereof made with some Vinegar and gargled in the Mouth easeth the Toothach especially when it comes of Rhewm and the said Decoction is very powerful to open Obstructions of the Liver and Spleen and other parts A Distilled Water made in Balneo Mariae with four pound of the Roots hereof first sliced smal and afterwards steeped in a Gallon of Canary Wine is singular good for all the purposes aforesaid and to clens the passages of the Urine The Pouder of the said Root made into an Electuary or Lozenges with Sugar as also the Bark of the fresh Roots boyled tender and afterwards beaten Into a Consetve with Sugar worketh the like effect The Pouder of the Roots strewed upon the Brims of Ulcers or mixed with any other convenient thing and applied consumeth the hardness and canseth them to heal the better Rocket IN regard the garden Rocket is rather used as a Sallet Herb than to any Physical purposes I shall omit it and only speak of the common wild Rocket The Description whereof take as followeth Description The common wild Rocket hath longer and narrower Leavs much more devided into slender cuts and jags on both sides of the middle Rib than the Garden kinds have of a sad overworn green colour from among which riseth up divers stiff Stalks two or three foot high somtimes set with the like Leavs but smaller and smaller upwards branched from the middle into divers stiff Stalks bearing sundry yeilow Flowers on them made of four Leavs apiece as the others are which afterwards yield smal reddish Seed in smal long Pods of a more bitter and hot biting tast than the Garden kinds as the Leavs are also Place It is found wild in divers places of this Land Time It Flowreth about June and July and the Seed is ripe in August Vertues and Use. The Wild Rocket is more strong and effectual to encreas Sperm and Venereous qualities whereunto also the Seed is more effectual than the Garden kinds It serveth also to help Digestion and provoketh Urine exceedingly The Seed is used to cure the bitings of Serpents the Scorpion and the Shrew-Mouse and other Poysons and expelleth Worms and other noisom Creatures that breed in the Body The Herb boyled or stewed and some Sugar put thereto helpeth the Cough in Children being taken often The Seed also taken in drink taketh away the ill scent of the Armpits encreaseth Milk in Nurses and wasteth the Spleen The Seed mixed with Honey and used on the face clenseth the Skin from Spots Morphew and other discolourings therein and used with Vinegar taketh away Freckles and redness in the Face or other parts and with the Gall of an Ox it amendeth foul Scars black and blew Spots and the marks of the smal Pox. The Wild Rockets are forbidden to be used alone in regard their sharpness fumeth into the Head causing ach and pain therein and are no less hurtful to hot and Chollerick persons for fear of inflaming their Blood and therefore for such we may say a little doth but a little harm For angry Mars rules them and he somtimes will be testy when he meets with Focls Winter Rocket or Cresses Description VVInter Rocket or winter Cresses hath diverse somwhat large sad green Leavs lying upon the ground torn or cut into divers parts somwhat like unto Rocket or Turnep Leavs with smaller pieces next the bottom and broad at the ends which so abide all Winter if it spring up in Autumn when it is used to be eaten from among which riseth up divers smal round Stalks full of branches bearing many smal yellow Flowers of four Leavs apiece after which come smal long Pods with reddish Seed in them The Root is somwhat stringy and perisheth every yeer after the Seed is ripe Place It groweth of its own accord in Gardens and Fields by the way sides in diverse places and particularly in the next Pasture to the Conduit-Head behind Grayes-Inne that brings Water to Mr. Lamb's Conduit in Holbourn Time It Flowreth in May and Seedeth in June and then perisheth Vertues and Use. This is profitable to provoke Urine and helpeth the Strangury and to expel Gravel and the Stone It is also of good effect in the Scurvey It is found by experience to be a singular good Wound Herb to clense inward Wounds the Juyce or Decoction being drunk or outwardly applied to wash foul Ulcers and Sores clensing them by sharpness and hindring or abating the dead Flesh from growing therein and healing them by the drying quality Roses I Hold it altogether needless to trouble the Reader with a Description of any of these sith both the Garden Roses and the Wild Roses of the Bryars are well enough known Take therefore the Vertues of them as followeth And first I shal begin with the Garden kinds Vertues and Use. The White and the Red Roses are cooling and drying yet the White is taken to exceed the Red in both those properties but is seldom used inwardly in any Medicine The bitterness in the Roses when they are fresh especially the Juyce purgeth Choller and watery Humors but being dried and that heat which caused the bitterness being consumed they have then a binding and astringent quality Those also that are not ful blown do both cool and bind more than those that are full blown and the White Roses more than the Red. The Decoction of Red Roses made with Wine and used is very good for the Headach and pains in the Eyes Ears Throat and Gums as also for the Fundament the lower Bowels and the Matrix being bathed or put into them The same Decoction with the Roses remaining in it is profitably applyed to the Region of the Heart to eas the Inflamation therin as also St. Anthonies fire and other Diseases of the Stomach Being dried and beaten to Pouder and taken in steeled Wine or Water it helpeth to stay Womens Courses The yellow threds in the middle of the red Roses which are erroniously called the Rose Seeds being poudered and drunk in the distilled water of Quinces stayeth the overflowing of Womens Courses and doth wonderfully stay the Defluxions of Rhewm upon the Gums and Teeth preserving them from corruption and fastning them if they be loose being washed and gargled therewith and some Vinegar of Squils added thereto The Heads with Seed being used in Pouder or in a decoction stayeth the Lask and spitting of Blood Red Roses do strengthen the Heart the Stomack and the Liver and the retentive Faculties they mitigate the pains that arise from Heat asswage Inflamations procure rest and sleep stay both Whites and Reds in Women the Gonorrhea running of the
stay Defluxions from the Head upon the Stomach drying up the moisture thereof and helpeth digestion The Pulp of the Heps dried unto a hard consistence like to the Juyce of Liquoris or so dried that it may be made into Pouder and taken in drink stayeth speedily the Whites in Women The Bryar Ball is often used being made into Pouder and drunk to break the Stone to provoke Urine when it is stopped and to eas and help the Chollick some appoint it to be burnt and then taken for the same purpose In the middle of these Balls are often found certain white Worms which being dried and made into Pouder and some of it drunk is found by experience of many to kill and drie forth the Worms of the Belly What a quarter have Authors made with Roses what a racket have they kept I shall ad Red Roses are under Jupiter Damask under Venus and White under the Moon and Province under the King of France RosaSolis or Sun-dew Description THis hath diverse sinal round hollow Leavs somwhat greenish but full of certain red hairs which makes them seem red every one standing upon its own Fooststalk reddish hairy likewise The Leavs are continualty moist in the hottest day yea the hotter the Sun shines on them the moister they are with a certain sliminess that will rope as we say the smal hairs alwaies holding this moisture among these Leavs rise up small slender stalks reddesh also three or four fingers high bearing diverse smal white Knobs one above another which are the flowers after which in the Heads are certain smal Seeds the Root is a few small hairs Place It groweth usually on Bogs and in wet places and somtimes in moist Woods Time It Flowreth in June and then Leavs are fittest to be gatrhered Vertues and Use. Rosa Solis is accounted good to help those Distillatithat have salt Rhewm distilling on their Lungs on s oâ—â— which breedeth a Consumption and therefore Rhewm the Distilled water thereof in Wine is held fit and profitable for such to drink which Water will be of a gold yellow colour The same Water is held to be good for all other Diseases of the Lungs as Phtisicks Wheesing shortness of Breath or the Cough as also to heal the Ulcers that happen in the Lungs and it comforteth the Heart and fainting Spirits The Leavs outwardly applied to the Skin will raise Blisters which hath caused some to think it dangerous to be taken inward but there are other things which will also draw Blisters yet nothing dangerous to be taken inwardly There is an usual Drink made hereof with Aqua vitae and Spices freuently and without any offence or danger but to good purpose used in qualms and passions of the Heart The Sun rules it and 't is under the Sign Cancer Rosemary OUr Garden Rosemary is so well â—â—own that I need not here describe it Time It Flowreth in April and May with us and somtimes again in August Vertues and Use. It is an Herb if as great use with us in these daies as any whatsoever not only for Physical but Civil purposes The Physical use of it being my present Task is very much both for inward and outward Diseases For by the warming and comforting heat thereof it helpeth all cold Diseases both of the Head Stomach Liver and Belly The Decoction thereof in Wine helpeth the cold Distillations of Rhewm into the Eyes and all other cold Diseases of the Head and Brain as the Giddiness or swimming therein Drowsiness or Dulness of the mind and senses like a stupidness the dumb Palsey or loss of speech the Lethargy and Falling-sickness to be both drunk and the Temples bathed therewith It helpeth the pains in Gums and Teeth by Rhewm falling into them or by putrefaction causing an evil smel from them or a stinking Breath It helpeth a weak Memory and quickneth the Senses It is very comfortable to the Stomach in all the cold Griefs thereof helping both retention of meat and digestion the Decoction or Pouder being taken in Wine it is a Remedy for the windiness in the Stomach or Bowels and expellerh it powerfully as also Wind in Spleen It helpeth those that are Livergrown by opening the Obstructions thereof It helpeth dim Eyes and procureth cleer sight the Flowers thereof being taken all the while it is Flowring every morning fasting with bread and Salt Both Dâ—oscorides and Galen say That if a Decoction be made thereof with Water and they that have the yellow Jaundice do exercise their Bodies presenty after the taking thereof it will certainly cure it The Flowers and the Conserve made of them is singular good to comfort the Heart and to expel the contagion of the Pestilence to burn the Herb in Houses and Chambers correcteth the Air in them Both the Flowers and the Leavs are very profitable for Women that are troubled with the Whites if they be daily taken The dried Leavs shred smal and taken in a Pipe like as Tobacco is taken helpeth those that have any Cough or Phtisick or Consumption by warming and drying the thin Distillations which caus those Diseases The Leavs are much used in Bathing and made into Oyntments or Oyls is singular good to help cold benummed Joynts Sinews or Members The Chimical Oyl drawn from the Leavs and Flowers is a Soveraign help for all the Diseases aforesaid to touch the Temples and Nostrils with two or three drops for all the Diseases of the Head and Brains spoken of before as also to take a drop two or three as the caus requireth for the inward griefs yet must it be done with Descretion for it is very quick and piercing and therefore but a very little must be taken at a time There is also another Oyl made by insolation in this manner Take what qunatity you will of the Flowers and put them into a strong Glass close stopped tie a fine linnen cloth over the Mouth and turn the Mouth down into another Strong Glass which being set in Sun an Oyl will distil down into he lower Glass to be preserved as precious for divers uses both inward and outward as a Sovereign Balm to heal the diseases before mentioned to clcer a dim sight and to take away spots marks and scars in the skin The Sun claims Priviledg in it and 't is under the Coelestial Ram. Rubarb or Rhapontick DO not start and say this grows you know not how far off and then ask me How it comes to pass that I bring it among our English Simples for though name may speak it Forreign yet it grows with us in England and that frequent enough in our Gardens and when you have throughly perused its Vertues you will conclude it nothing inferior to that which is brought us out of China by that time this hath been as much used as that hath been the name which the other hath gotten wil be eclipsed by the same of
Decoction made in Wine taketh away the itching of the Cods if they be bathed therwith Agrippa saith That if Women that cannot conceive by reason of the moist slipperiness of their Wombs shall take a quantity of the Juyce of Sage with a little Salt for four daies before they company with their Husbands it will help them not only to Conceive but also to retain the Birth without miscarrying Orpheus saith Three spoonfuls of the Juyce of Sage taken fasting with a little Honey doth presently stay the spitting or casting up of Blood For them that are in a Consumption these Pills are much commended Take of Spicknard and Ginger of each two drams of the Seed of Sage toasted at the fire eight drams of long Pepper twelve drams all these being brought into fine Pouder put thereto so much Juyce of Sage as may make them into a Mass for Pills taking a dram of them every morning fasting and so likewise at night drinking a little pure Water after them Mathiolus saith it is very profitable for all manner of pains of the Head coming of cold and Rhewmatick Humors as also for all pains of the Joynts whether used inwardly or outwardly and therfore helpeth the Falling-sickness the Lethargy such as are dull and heavy of spirit the Palsey and is of much use in an Defluxions of Rhewm from the Head and for the Diseases of the Chest or Preast The Leavs of Sage and Nettles bruised together and laid upon the Impostume that riseth behind the Ears doth aslwage it much The juyce of Sage taken in warm water helpeth a Hoarsness and the Cough The Leavs sodden in Wine and laid upon the place affected with the Palsey helpeth much if the Decoction be drunk also Sage taken with Wormwood is used for the bloody Flux Pliny saith it procureth Womens Courses and stayeth them coming down too fast helpeth the stinging and biting of Serpents and killeth the Worms that breed in the Ears and in Sores Sage is of excellent use to help the Memory warming and quickning the senses and the Conserve made of the Flowers is used to the same purpose and also for all the former recited Diseases The Juyce of Sage drunk with Vinegar hath been of good use in the time of Plague at all times Gargles likewise are made with Sage Rosemary Honeysuckles and Plantane boyled in Wine or Water with some Honey and Allum put thereto to wash sore Mouthes and Throats Cankers or the secret parts of man or woman as need requireth And with other hot and comfortable Herbs Sage is boyled to bath the Body or Legs in the Summer time especially to warm cold Joynts or Sinews troubled with the Palsey or Cramp and to comfort and strengthen the parts It is much commended against the Stitch or pains in the side coming of Wind if the place be fomented warm with the Decoction thereof in Wine and the Herb after the boyling be laid warm also thereunto Jupiter claims this and bid me tell you it is good for the Liver and to breed good Blood VVood-Sage Description VVood-Sage riseth up with square hoary Stalks two foot high at the least with two Leavs set at every Joynt somwhat like other Sage Leavs but smaller softer whiter and rounder and a little dented about the edges and smelling somwhat strongly At the tops of the Stalks and Branches stand the Flowers on a slender long Spike turning themselves all one way when they blow and are of a pale and whitish colour smaller than Sage but hooded and gaping like unto them The Seed is blackish and round four usually set in a husk together The Root is long and stringy with diverse Fibres thereat and abideth many yeers Place It groweth in Woods and by Wood-sides as also in diverse Fields and by-Lanes in this Land Time It Flowreth in June July and August Vertues and Use. The Decoction of Wood-Sage provoketh Urine and Womens Courses it also provoketh Sweat digesteth Humors and discusseth Swellings and Nodes in the Flesh and is therefore thought to be good against the French Pox. The Decoction of the green Herb made with Wine is a safe and sure Remedy for those who by falls bruises or Blows doubt some Vein to be inwardly broken to disperse and avoid the congealed blood and to consolidate the Vein It is also good for such as are inwardly or outwardly bursten the drink used inwardly and the Herb applied outwardly The same used in the same manner is found to be a sure Remedy for the Palsey The Juyce of the Herb or the Pouder thereof dried is good for moist Ulcers and sores in the Legs or other parts to dry them and caus them to heal the more speedily It is no less effectual also in green Wounds to be used upon any occasion Solomons Seal Description THe common Solomons Seal riseth up with a round Stalk about half a yard high bowing or bending down to the top set with single Leavs one above another somwhat large and like the Leavs of the LillyConvalley or May Lilly with an eye of blewish upon the green with some ribs therein and more yellowish underneath At the foot of every Leaf almost from the bottom up to the top of the Stalk come forth small long white and hollow pendulous Flowers somwhat like the Flowers of May-Lilly but ending in five long points for the most part two together at the end of a long Footstalk and somtimes but one and sometimes also two Stalks with Flowers at the Foot of a Leaf which are without any scent at all and stand all on one side of the Stalk After they are past come in their places smal round Berries green at the first and blackish green tending to blewness when they are ripe wherein lie smal white hard and stony Seed The Root is of the thickness of ones finger or Thumb white and knobbed in some places with a flat round circle representing a Seal whereof it took the name lying along under the upper crust of the Earth and not growing downward but with many fibres underneath Place It is frequent in diverse places of this Land as namely in a Wood two miles from Canterbury by Fishpool-Hill as also in a bushy Close belonging to the Parsonage of Alderbury neer Clarindon two miles from Salisbury in Chesson Wood on Chesson Hill between Newington and Sittingborn in Kent and in diverse other places in Essex and other Counties Time It Flowreth about May The Root abideth and shooteth anew every yeer Vertues and Use. The Root of Solomons Seal is found by experience to be available in Wounds Hurts and outward Sores to heal and close up the lips of those that are green and to dry up and restrain the Flux of Humors to those that are old It is singular good to stay Vomitings and Bleedings wheresoever as also al Fluxes in man or woman whether the Whites or Reds in Women or the running of the Reins in men also to knit any Joynt
which by weakness useth to be often out of place or will not stay in long when it is set also to knit and joyn broken Bones in any part of the Body the Roots being bruised and applied to the place Yea it hath been found by late experience that the Decoction of the Root in Wine or the bruised Root put in Wine or other drink and after a nights infusion strained forth hard and drunk hath holpen both man and Beast whose Bones have been broken by any occasion which is the most assured refuge of help to people of diverse Countries of this Land that they can have It is no less effectual to help Rupture and Burstings the Decoction in Wine or the Pouder in Broth or Drink being inwardly taken and outwardly applyed to the place The same is also available for inward or outward Bruises Falls or Blows both to dispel the congealed blood and to take away both the pains and the black and blew Marks that abide after the hurt The same also or the distilled water of the whol Plant used to the Face or other part of the Skin clenseth it from Morphew Freckles Spots or Marks whatsoever leaving the place fresh fair and Lovely for which purpose it is much used by the Italian Dames Saturn owns this Plant for he loves his Bones well Sampire Description THe Rock Sampire groweth up with a tender green Stalk about half a yard or two foot high at the most branching forth almost from the very bottom and stored with sundry thick and almost round somwhat long Leavs of a deep green colour somtimes three together and somtimes more on a Stalk and are sappy and of a pleasant hot or spicy tast At the tops of the Stalk and Branches stand Umbels of white Flowers and after them come large Seed bigger than Fennel Seed yet somwhat alike The Root is great white and long continuing many yeers and is of a hot spicy tast likewise Place It groweth on the Rocks that are often moistened at the least if not overflown with the Sea water Time And it Flowreth and Seedeth in the end of July and August Vertues and Use. It is a safe Herb very pleasant both to the tast and Stomach helping digestion and in some sort opening the Obstructions of the Liver and Spleen provoking Urine and helping thereby to wash away the Gravel and Stone ingendred in the Kidneys or Bladder Sanicle Description THe ordinary Sanicle sendeth forth many great round Leavs standing upon long brownish stalkes every one somewhat deeply cut or divided into five or six parts and some of those also cut in somwhat like the Leaf of a Crowfoot or Doves-foot and finely dented about the edges smooth and of a dark green shining colour and somtimes reddish about the Brims from among which riseth up smal round green Stalks without any Joynt or Leaf thereon saving at the top where it brancheth forth into Flowers having a Leaf devided into three or four parts at that Joynt with the Flowers which are smal and whit starting out of smal round greenish yellow heads many standing together in a tuft in which afterward are the Seeds contained which are smal round rough Burs somwhat like the Seeds of Cleavers and stick in the same manner upon any thing that they touch The Root is composed of many black strings or fibres set together at a little long head which abideth with the green Leavs all the Winter and perish not Place It is found in many shadowy Woods and other places of this Land Time It Flowreth in June and the Seed is ripe shortly after Vertues and Use. It is exceeding good to heal all green Wounds speedily or any Ulcers Impostumes or bleedings inwardly It doth wonderfully help those that have any Tumors in any part of their Bodies for it represseth and dissipateth the Humors if the Decoction or Juyce thereof be taken or the Pouder in drink and the Juyce used outwardly For there is not found any Herb that can give such present help either to Man or Beast when the Disease falleth upon the Lungs or Throat and to heal up all the putrid Malignant Ulcers in the Mouth Throat and Privities by gargling or washing with the Decoction of the Leavs and Root made in Water and a little Honey put thereto It helpeth to stay Womens Courses and all other Fluxes of Blood either by the Mouth Urine or Stool and Lasks of the Belly the Ulceration of the Kidneys also and the pains in the Bowels and the Gonorrhea or running of the Reins being boyled in Wine or Water and drunk The same also is no less powerful to help any Ruptures or Burstings used both inwardly and outwardly and briefly it is effectual in binding restraining consolidating heating drying and healing as Comfry Bugle Self-heal or any other of the Consounds or Vulnerary Herbs whatsoever This is one of Venus her Herbs to cure either Wounds or what other mischiefs Mars inflicteth upon the Body of Man Sarasens Consound Description THis groweth very high somtimes with brownish Stalks and other whiles with green and hollow to a mans height having many long and narrow green Leavs snip'd about the edges somwhat like those of the Peach-Tree Tree or Willow Leavs but not of such a white green colour The tops of the Stalks are furnished with many pale yellow Starlike Flowers standing in green heads which when they are fallen and the Seed ripe which is somwhat long smal and of a yellowish brown colour wrapped in down is therewith carried away with the wind The Root is composed of many strings or fibres set together at a head which perish not in Winter but abide although the Stalks dry away and no Leaf appeareth in Winter The tast hereof is strong and unpleasant and so is the smel also Place It groweth in moist and wet grounds by Wood sides and somtimes in the moist places of shady Groves as also by the water side Time It Flowreth in July and the Seed is soon ripe and carryed away with the wind Vertues and Use. Among the Germans this Wound Herb is preferred before all others of the same quality Being boiled in Wine and drunk it helpeth the indisposâ—ion of the Liver and freeth the Gall from Obstructions whereby it is good for the yellow Jaundice and for the Dropsie in the beginning of it for all inward Ulcers of the Reins or elswhere and inward Wounds and Bruises And being steeped in Wine and then distilled the Water thereof drunk is singular good to ease all gnawings in the Stomach or other pains of the Body as also the pains of the Mother And being boyled in Water it helpeth continual Agues And this said Water or the simple Water of the Herb distilled or the Juyce or Decoction are very effectual to heal any green Wound or old sore or Ulcer whatsoever clensing them from corruption and quickly healing them up It is no less effectual for the Ulcers in the mouth or Throat
to be taken inwardly with a little Sugar which Medicine the daintiest Stomach will not refuse but outwardly by applying Cloathes or Spunges wetted therein It is wonderful good for Women to wash their Faces therewith to cleer the Skin and give a lustre thereto Southernwood THis is so well known to be an Ordinary Inhabitant in our Gardens that I shall not need to trouble you with any Description thereof The Vertues are as followeth Time It Flowreth for the most part in July and August Vertues and use Dioscorides saith That the Seed bruised heated in warm Water drunk helpeth those that are Bursten or troubled with Cramps or Convulsions of the Sinews the Sciatica or difficulty in making water and bringeth down Womens Courses The same taken in Wine is an Antidote or Counter poyson against all deadly Poyson and driveth away Serpents and other Venemous Creatures as also the smel of the Herb being Burnt doth the same The Oyl thereof anointed on the Backbone before the Fits of Agues come taketh them away it taketh away Inflamations in the Eyes if it be put with some part of a roasted Quince and boyled with a few crums of bread and applied Boyled with Barely Meal it taketh away Pimples Pushes or Wheals that rise in the Face or other part of the Body The Seed as well as the dried Herb is often given to kill the Worms in Children The Herb bruised and laid to helpeth to draw forth Splinters and Thorns out of the Flesh. The Ashes thereof dryeth up and healeth old Ulcers that are without Inflamation although by the sharpness thereof it biteth sore and putteth them to sore pains as also the Sores in the privy Parts of man or woman The Ashes mingled with old Sallet Oyl helpeth those that have their hair fallen and are bald causing the hair to grow again either on the Head or Beard Diâ—rantes saith That the Oyl made of Southernwood and put among the Oyntments that are used against the French Diseas is very effectual and likewise killeth Lice in the Head The Distilled Water of the Herb is said to help them much that are troubled with the Stone as also for the Diseases of the Spleen and Mother The Germans commend it for a singular Wound Herb and therefore call it Stabwort It is held by all Writers Antient and Modern to be more offensive to the stomach than Wormwood Spignel Description THe Roots of common Spignel do spread much and deep in the ground many strings or branches growing from one Head which is hairy at the top of a blackish brown colour on the outside and white within smelling well and of an Aromatical tast from whence rise sundry long stalks of most fine cut Leaves like hairs smaller than Dill set thick on both sides of the Stalks and of a good scent Among these Leaves rise up round stif stalks with few Joynts and Leaves at them and at the tops an Umbel of fine pure white Flowers at the edges whereof somtimes will be seen a shew of reddish blush colour especially before they be full blown and are succeeded by smal somwhat round Seed bigger than the ordinary Fennel and of a browner colour devided into two parts and crested on the back as most of the Umbelliferous Seeds are Place It groweth wild in Lancashire Yorkshire and other Northern Countries and is also planted in Gardens Vertues and Use. Galen saith The Roots of Spignel are available to provoke Urine and Womans Courses but if too much thereof be taken it causeth Headach The Roots boyled in Wine or Water and drunk helpeth the Strangury and stoppings of the Urine the Wind swellings and pains in the Stomach pains of the Mother and all Joynt Aches If the Pouder of the Roots be mixed with Honey and the same taken as a licking Medicine it breaketh tough Flegm and drieth up the Rhewm that falleth on the Lungs The Roots are accounted very effectual against the stinging or biting of any Venemous Creature and is one of the Ingredients in Methâ—idate and other Antidotes for the same Spleenwort or Ceterach Description THe smooth Spleenwort from a black threddy and bushy Root sendeth forth many long single Leaves cut in on both sides into round dents almost to the middle which is not so hard as that of Pollipodie each devision being not alwaies set opposite unto the other but between each smooth and of a light green on the upper side and a dark yellowish roughness on the back folding or rolling it self inward at the first springing up Place It groweth as well upon stone walls as moist and shadowy places about Bristol and other the West parts plentifully as also on Framingham Castle on Beckonsfield Church in Bakshire at Strowde in Kent and elswhere and abideth green all the Winter Vertues and Use. It is generally used against infirmities of the Spleen it helpeth the strangury and wasteth the Stone in the Bladder and is good against the yellow Jaundice and the Hiccough but the use of it in Women hindreth Conception Mathiolus saith That if a dram of the dust that is on the back side of the Leaves be mixed with half a dram of Amber in Pouder and taken with the Juyce of Purslane or Plantane it will help the running of the Reins Speedily and that the Herb and Root being boyled and taken helpeth all Melanchollick Diseases and those especially that arise from the French Disease Camerarius saith That the Distilled water thereof being drunk is very effectual against the Stone in the Reins and Bladder and that the Ly that is made of the Ashes thereof being drunk for some time together helpeth Splenetick persons It is used in outward Remedies for the same purpose Star-thistle Description THe common Star-thistle hath diverse long and narrow Leaves lying next the ground cut or torn on the edges somwhat deeply into many almost even parts soft or a little woolley all over the green among which rise up diverse weak stalks parted into many Branches all lying or leaning down to the ground that it seemeth a pretty Bush set with diverse the like devided Leaves up to the tops where severally do stand long and small whitish green heads set with very sharp and long white pricks no part of the Plant being else prickly which are somwhat yellowish out of the middle whereof riseth the Flower composed of many small reddish purple threds and in the Heads after the Flowers are past come small whitish round Seed lying in down as others do The Root is small long and woody perishing every yeer and rising again of its own sowing Place It groweth wild in the Fields about London in many places as at Mile-end-Green in Finsbury Fields beyond the Wind-mils and many other places Time It Flowreth early and Seedeth in July and somtimes in August Vertues and use The Seed of this Star-thistle made into Pouder and drunk in Wine provoketh Urine and helpeth to break the Stone and drive it
Pipe as is usual but fasting The same helpeth to expel Worms in the Stomach and Belly and to case the pains in the Head or Meagrim and the griping pains in the Bowels It is profitable for those that are troubled with the Stone in the Kidneys both to ease pains and by provoking Urine to expel Gravel and the Stone ingendred therein and hath been found very effectual to expel windiness and other Humors which cause the strangling of the Mother The Seed hereof is very effectual to help the Toothach and the Ashes of the burnt Herb to clense the Gums and make the Teeth white The Herb bruised and applied to the place grieved with the Kings Evil as they call it helpeth it in nine or ten daies effectually Monardus saith it is a Counter-poyson for the biting of any Venemous Creature the Herb also being outwardly applied to the hurt place The distilled water is often given with some Sugar before the Fit of an Ague to lessen them and take them away in three or four times using If the Distilled fieces of the Herb having been bruised before the Distillation and not distilled dry be set in warm dung for fourteen daies and afterwards hung up in a Bag in a Wine Celler that liquor that distilleth therefrom is singular good to use for Cramps Aches the Gout and Sciatica and to heal Itches Scabs and running Ulcers Cankers and foul Sores whatsoever The Juyce is also good for all the said griefs and likewise to kill Lice in Childrens Heads The green Herb bruised and applied to any green Wound cureth any fresh Wound or cut whersoever and the Juyce put into old Sores both clenseth and healeth them There is also made hereof a singular good Salve to help Impostumes hard Tumors and other swellings by blows or falls The Tamarisk-Tree THis is so well known in the places where it grows that it needeth no Description Time It Flowreth about the end of May or in June and the Seed is ripe and blown away in the beginning of September Vertues and Use. If the Root Leaves or yong Branches be boyled in Wine or Vinegar and drunk and applied outwardly it is very powerful against the hardness of the spleen The Leaves boyled in Wine and drunk is good to stay the bleeding of the Hemorrhoidal Veins the spitting of Blood and Womens too abounding Courses and helpeth the Jaundice the Chollick and the bitings of all Venemous Serpents except the â—â—p The Bark is as effectual if not more to all the purposes aforesaid and both it and the Leaves boyled in Wine and the Mouth and Teeth washed therewith helpeth the Toothach being dropped into the Ears easeth the pains and is good for the redness and watering of the Eyes The said Decoction with some Honey put thereto is good to stay Gangrenes and sretting Ulcers and to wash those that are subject to Nits and Lice The Wood is very effectual to consume the Spleen and therefore to drink out of Cups and Cans made thereof is good for Splenetick persons The Ashes of the Wood are used for all the purposes aforesaid and besides doth quickly help the Blisters raised by Burnings or Scaldings by fire or water Alpinus and Veslingius do affirm That the AEgyptians do with as good success use the Wood hereof to cure the French Disease as others do Lignum Vitae or Gujacum and give it also to such as are possessed with Lepry Scabs Pushes Ulcers or the like and is available also to help the Dropsie arising from the hardness and Obstruction of the Spleen as also for Melancholly and the black Jaundice that ariseth thereof Garden Tansie THis also is so well known that it needeth no Description Time It Flowreth in June and July Vertues and Use. Thee Decoction of the common Tansie or the Juyce drunk in Wine is a singular Remedy for all the griefs that come by stopping of the Urine helpeth the Strangury and those that have weak Reins and Kidneys It is also very profitable to dissolve and expel Wind in the Stomach Belly or Bowels to procure Womens Courses and expel windiness in the Matrix If it be bruised and often smelled unto as also applied to the lower part of the Belly it is very profitable for such Women as are given to miscarry in Childbearing to caus them to go out their full time It is used also against the Stone in the Reins especially to men The Herb fried with Eggs as is accustomed in the Spring time which is called a Tansie helpeth to digest and carry downward those bad Humors that trouble the Stomach The Seed is very profitably given to Children for the Worms and the Juyce in Drink is as effectual Being boyled in Oyl it is good for the sinews shrunk by Cramps or pained with cold if thereto applied Dame Venus was minded to pleasure Women with Child by this Herb for there grows not an Herb fitter for their uses than this is it is just as though it were cut out for the purpose the Herb bruised and applied to the Navil staies miscarriage I know no Herb like it for that use boyled in ordinary Beer and the Decoction drunk doth the like and if her Womb be not as she would have this Decoction will make it as she would have it or at least as she should have it let those Women that desire Children love this Herb 't is their best Companion their Husband excepted 〈…〉 Also it consumes the Flegmatick Humors the cold and moist coustitution of Winter most usually infects the Body of Man with and that was the first reason of eating Tansies in the Spring at last the world being over run with Popery a Monster called Superstition perks up his head and as a just Judgment of God obscures the bright beams of Knowledge by his dismal looks Pysitians seeing the Pope and his Imps selfish they began to be so too and now forsooth Tansies must be eaten only on Palm and Easter Sundaies and their neighbor daies as last Superstion being too hot to hold and the selfishness of Physitians walking in the clouds after the Fryars and Monks had made the people ignorant the Superstion of the time was found out but the Vertue of the Herb hidden and now 't is almost if not altogether left off Surely our Physitians are beholding to none so much as they are to Monks and Fryars for want of eating this Herb in Spring make people sickly in Summer and that makes work for the Physitian If it be against any man or womans Conscience to eat a Tansie in the Spring I am as unwilling to burden their consciences as I am that they should burden mine they may boyl it in Wine and drink the Decoction it will work the same effect VVild Tansie or Silver-weed THis also is so well known that it needeth no Description Place It groweth almost in every place Time It Flowreth in June and July Vertues and Use.
up with one upright Stalk about a foot high or more deviding it self almost from the bottom into diverse smaller Branches of a hoary colour at each Joynt of the Stalk and Branches grow two smal broad Leaves somwhat white or hoary also At the tops of the Stalks and Branches stand many small white Flowers consisting of four and somtimes five very small Leaves set in order one above another upon a smal câ—ooked spike which turneth inwards like a bowed finger opening by degrees as the Flowers blow open after which in their places come smal corner'd Seed four for the most part standing together The Root is smal and threddy perishing every yeer and the Seed shedding every yeer raiseth it again the next Spring Place It groweth in Gardens and Flowreth and Seedeth with us in England notwithstanding it is not natural to this Land but to Italy Spain and France where it groweth plentifully Vertues and Use. Dioseorides saith That a good Handful of this which is called the greater Turnsole boyled in Water and drunk pnrgeth both Choller and Flegm And boyled with Cummin and drunk helpeth the Stone in the Reins Kidneys or Bladder provoketh Urine and Womens Courses and causeth an easie and syeedy delivery in Childbirth The Leaves bruised and applied to places pained with the Gout or that have been out of joynt and newly set are full of pain do give much case The Seed and the Juyce of the Leaves also being rubbed with a little Salt upon Warts Wens and other hard Kernels in the Face Eyelids or any other part of the Body will by often using take them away 'T is an Herb of the Sun and a good one too Meadow Trefoyl or Honeysuckles THese are so well known especially by the name of Honeysuckles White and Red that I need not describe them Place They grow almost every where in this Land Vertues and Use. Dodoneus saith The Leaves and Flowers are good to ease the griping pains of the Guts the Herb being boyled and used in a Clyster If the Herb be made into a Pultis and applied to Inflamations it will ease them The Juyce dropped into the Eyes is a familier Medicine with many Country people to take away the Pin and Web as they call it in the Eyes it also allayeth the Heat and bloodshooting of them Country people do also in many places drink the Juyce hereof against the biting of an Adder and having boyled the Herb in water they first wash the place with the Decoction and then lay some of the Herb also to the hurt place The Herb also boyled in Swines Grease and so made into an Oyntment is good to apply to the biting of any Venemous Creature The Herb also bruised and heated between two Tiles and applied hot to the share causeth them to make water who had it stop'd before It is held likewise to be good for Wounds and to take away Scars The Decoction of the Herb and Flowers with the Seed and Root taken for some time helpeth Women that are troubled with the Whites The Seed and Flowers boyled in Water and after made into a Pultis with some Oyl and applied helpeth hard Swellings and Impostumes Of Tefoyl or three leaved Grass there are very many sorts described by Authors but one I have found out which I never red of the Leaf is but small and it beareth a small yellow Flower in the midst of each Leaf of the Herb is a perfect picture of a Heart in red colour it grows plentifully in a Field between Longford and Bow also I found one Root in the High-way between Chadwel and Rumford in Essex as also another in the High-way between Horn-Church and Upminster in the same County the tast is somthing more hot and spicy than the tast of the rest is Tutsan or Park Leaves Description THis hath many brownish shining round Stalks crested all the length thereof rising to be two and somtimes three foot high branching forth even from the bottom having diverse Joynts and at each of them two fair large Leaves standing of a dark blewish green colour on the upper side and of a yellowish green underneath turning reddish towards Autumn but abiding on the Branches all the Winter At the tops of the Stalks and Branches stand large yellow Flowers and Heads with Seed which being greenish at the first and afterwards reddish turn to be of a blackish purple colour when they are through ripe with smal brownish Seed within them and then yield a reddish Juyce or Liquor of a reasonable good scent somwhat resinous and of an harsh or stiptich tast as the Leaves also and the Flowers be although much less but do not yield such a cleer Claret Wine Liquor as some say it doth The Root is brownish somwhat great hard and woody spreading well in the ground Place It groweth in many Woods Groves and Wooddy Grounds as Parks and Forrests and by Hedg sides in many places of this Land as in Hampsted Wood by Railey in Essex in the Wild of Kent and in many other places needless to recite Time It Flowreth later than St. Johns or St. Peters wort Vertues and Use. Tutsan purgeth Chollerick Humors as St. Peters wort is said to do for therein it worketh the same effects both to help the Sciatica and Gout and to heal burnings by fire It stayeth also the bleeding of Wounds if either the green Herb be bruised or the pouder of the dry be applied thereto It hath been accounted and certainly is a soveraign Herb to heal any Wound or Sore either outwardly or inwardly and therfore alwaies used in Drinks Lotions Balms Oyls Oyntments for any sort of green Wound or old Ulcers and Sores in all which the continual experience of former Ages hath confirmed the use thereof to be admirable good though it be not so much in use now as when Physitians and Chirurgeons were so wise as to use Herbs more than now they do It is an Herb of Saturn and a most noble Antivenerian Garden Valerian Description THis hath a thick short grayish Root lying for the most part above ground shooting forth on all sides other such like small pieces or Roots which have all of them many long and great strings or fibres under them in the ground whereby it draweth nourishment From the Heads of these Roots spring up many green Leaves which at first are somewhat broad and long without any devision at all in them or denting on the edges but those that rise up after are more and more devided on each side some to the middle Rib being winged as made of many Leaves together on a Stalk those upon the Stalk in like manner are more devided but smaller towards the top than below The Stalk riseth to be a yard high or more somtimes branched at the top w th many smal whitish Flowers somtimes dash'd over at the edges with a pale purplish colour of a little scent which paffing
doth purge the Body of Chollerick Humors and asswageth the heat being taken in a draught of Wine or any other Drink The Pouder of the purple Leaves of the Flowers only pick'd and dried and drunk in Water is said to help the Quinsie and the Falling-sickness in Children especially in the beginning of the Disease The Flowers of the White Violets ripeneth and dissolveth Swellings The Herb or Flowers while they are fresh or the Flowers when they are dry are effectual in the Plurisie and all Diseases of Lungs to lenesie the sharpness of hot Rhewms and the Hoarsness of the Throat the heat also and sharpness of Urine and all pains of the Back or Reins and the Bladder It is good also for the Liver and the Jaundice and in al hot Agues to cool the Heat and quench the Thirst But the Syrup of Violets is of most use and of better effect being taken in some convenient Liquor and if a little of the Juyce or Syrup of Lemmons be put to it or a few drops of the Oyl of Vitriol it is made thereby the more powerful to cool the heat and to quench the Thirst and giveth to the drink a Clarret Wine colour and a fine tart â—ellish pleasing the tast Violets taken or made up with Honey doth more clense than cool and with Sugar contrary-wise The dryed Flowers of Violets are accounted among the Cordial Drinks Pouders and other Medicines especially where cooling Cordials are necessary The green Leaves are used with other Herbs to make Plaisters and Pultisces for Inflamations and Swellings and to ease pains wheresoever arising of heat and for the Piles also being fried with Yolks of Eggs and applied thereto Pansies or Heartsease are like unto Violets in all their operations but somwhat hotter and dryer yet very temperate and by viscuous Juyce therein doth somwhat mollifie yet less than Mallows It is conducing in like manner as Violets to the hot Diseases of the Chest and Lungs for Agues Convulsions and Falling-sickness in Children The Decoction helpeth Itch and Scabs being bathed therwith It is said also to soder green Wounds and to help old Sores the Juyce or distilled Water thereof being drunk Vipers Buglofs Description THis hath many long rough Leaves lying on the ground from among which rise up diverse hard round Stalks very rough as if they were thick set w th prickles or hairs wherin are set such like long rough hairy or prickly sad green Leavs somwhat narrow the middle Rib for the most part being white The Flowers stand at the tops of the Stalks branched forth into many long spiked Leaves of Flowers bowing or turning like the Turnsole all of them opening for the most part on the one side which are long and hollow turning up the Brims a little of a Purplish Violet colour in them that are fully blown but more reddish while they are in the Bud as also upon their decay and withering but in some places of a paler purple colour with a long pointel in the middle feathered or parted at the top After the Flowers are fallen the Seeds growing to be ripe are blackish cornered and pointed somwhat like unto the Head of a Viper The Root is somwhat great and blackish and woolly when it groweth toward Seed time and perisheth in the Winter There is another sort little differing from the former only in that it beareth white Flowers Place The first groweth wild almost every where That with white Flowers about the Castle Walls of Lewes in Sussex Time They Flower in Summer and their Seed is ripe quickly after Vertues and Use. It is an especial Remedy against the biting of the Viper and of all other Venemous Beasts or Serpents as also against poyson and poysonful Heâ—â—s Dioscorides and others say That whosoever shall take of the Herb or Root before they be bitten shall not be hurt by the poyson of any Serpent The Roots or Seeds are thought to be most effectual to comfort the Heart and expel Sadness or cause less Melancholly it tempers the Blood and allayeth the hot Fits of Agues The Seed drunk in Wine procureth abundance of Milk in Womens Brests The same also being taken caseth the pains in the Loyns Back and Kidneys The distilled Water of the Herb when it is in Flower or his chiefest strength is excellent to be applied either inwardly or outwardly for all the Griefs aforesaid There is a Syrup made hereof very effectual for the comforting of the Heart and expelling Sadness and Melancholly VVall-Flowers or Winter Gilly-flowers THe Garden kinds are so wel known that they need no Description Description The common single Wall-Flowers which grow wild abroad hath sundry smal long narrow and dark green Leaves set without order upon smal round whitish wooddy Stalks which bear at the tops diverse single yellow Flowers one above another every one having four Leaves apiece and of a very sweet scent after which come long Pods containing reddish Seed The Root is white hard and threddy Place It groweth upon old Church Walls and old Walls of many Houses and on the other stone Walls in diverse places The other sorts in Gardens only Time All the single kinds do Flower many times in the end of Autumn and if the Winter be mild all the Winter long but especially in the Months of February March and April and until the heat of the Spring do spend them But the double kinds continue not Flowring in that manner all the yeer along although they Flower very early somtimes and in some places very late Vertues and Use. Galen in his seventh Book of Simple Medicines saith That the yellow Wall-flowers worketh more powerfully than any of the other kinds and is therefore of more use in Physick It clenseth the Blood and freeth the Liver and Reins from Obstructions provoketh Womens Courses expelleth the Secondine and dead Child helpeth the hardness and pains of the Mother and of the Spleen also stayeth Inflamations and Swellings comforteth and strengthneth any weak part or out of Joynt helpeth to clense the Eyes from mistiness and Films on them and to clense foul and filthy Ulcers in the Mouth or any other part and is a singular Remedy for the Gout and all Aches and Pains in the Joynts and Sinews A Conserve made of the Flowers is used for a Remedy both for the Apoplexie and Palsey The VValnut-Tree THis is so well known that it needeth no Description Time It Blossometh early before the Leaves come forth and the Fruit is ripe in September Vertues and Use. The Bark of the Tree doth bind and dry very much and the Leaves are much of the same temperature but the Leaves when they are older are heating and drying the Second Degree and harder of digestion than when they are fresh which by reason of their sweetness are more pleasing and better digesting in the Stomach and taken with sweet Wine they move the Belly downwards but being old they grieve the
Stomach and in hot Bodies cause Choller to abound and the Headach and are an enemy to those that have the Cough But are less hurtful to those that have colder Stomachs and are said to kill the broad Worms in the Belly or Stomach If they be taken with Onions Salt and Honey they help the biting of a Mad Dog or the Venom or infectious poyson of any Beast c. Oneus Pompeius found in the Treasury of Methridates King of Pontus when he was overthrown a Scrowl of his own Hand-writing containing a Medicine against any Poyson and Infection which is this Take two dry Walnuts and as many good Figgs and twenty Leaves of Rue bruised and beaten together with two or three Corns of Salt and twenty Juniper Berries which taken every morning fasting preserveth from danger of Poyson or Infection that day it is taken The Juyce of the outer green Husks boyled up with Honey is an excellent gargle for sore Mouths the Heat and Inflamations in the Throat and Stomach The Kernels when they grow old are more Oyly and therfore not so fit to be eaten but are then used to heal the Wounds of the Sinews Gangrenes and Carbuncles The said Kernels being burned are then very astringent and will then stay Lasks and Womens Courses being taken in red Wine and stay the falling of the Hair and make it fair being anointed with Oyl and Wine The green Husks will do the like being used in the same manner The Kernels beaten with Rue and Wine being applied helpeth the Quinsie and bruised with some Honey and applied to the Ears easeth the pains and Inflamations of them A piece of the green Husk put unto a hollow Tooth easeth the pains The Catkins hereof taken before they fall off dried and given a dram thereof in Pouder with white Wine wonderfully helpeth those that are troubled with the rising of the Mother The Oyl that is pressed out of the Kernels is very profitably taken inward like Oyl of Almonds to help the Chollick and to expel wind very effectually an ounce or two thereof may be taken at a time The yong green Nuts taken before they be half ripe and preserved with Sugar are of good use for those that have weak Stomachs or Defluxions thereon The distilled water of the green Husk before they be half ripe is of excellent use to cool the heat of Agues being drunk an ounce or two at a time as also to resist the Infection of the Plague if some thereof be also applied to the Sores thereof The same also cooleth the heat of green Wounds and old Ulcers and healeth them being bathed therewith The distilled Water of the green Husks being ripe when they are shelled from the Nuts being drunk with a little Vinegar is also found by experience to be good for those that are infected with the Plague so as before the taking therof a Vein be opened The said Water is very good against the Quinsin being gargled and bathed therewith and wonderfully helpeth Deafness the Noise and other pains in the Ears The Distilled water of the yong green Leaves in the end of May performeth a singular cure on foul running Ulcers and Sores to be bathed with wet Cloathes or Spunges applied to them evening and morning VVold VVeld or Dyers VVeed Description THe common kind groweth bushing with many Leaves long narrow and flat upon the ground of a dark blewish green colour somwhat like unto Woad but nothing so large a little crumpled and as it were round pointed which do so abide the first yeer And the next Spring from among them rise diverse round Stalks two or three foot high beset with many such like Leaves thereon but smaller and shooting forth some smal Branches which with the Stalks carry many smal yellow Flowers in a long spiked Head at the tops of them where afterwards come the Seed which is small and black inclosed in Heads that are devided at the tops into four parts The Root is long white and thick abiding the Winter The whol Herb changeth to be yellow after it hath been in Flower a while Place It groweth every where by the way sides in moist grounds as well as dry in Corners of Fields and by Lanes and somtimes all over the Field in Sussex and Kent they call it Greenweed Time It is in Flower about June Vertues and Use. Mathiâ—lus saith That the Root hereof cutteth tough Flegm digesteth raw Flegm thinneth gross Humors dissolveth hard Tumors and openeth Obstructions Some do highly commend it against the bitings of Venemous Creatures to be taken inwardly and applyed outwardly to the hurt place as also for the Plague or Pestilence The People in some Countries of this Land do use to bruise the Herb and lay it to Cuts or Wounds in the Hands or Legs to heal them Wheat THe several kinds hereof are so well known unto almost all people that it is altogether needless to write any Description thereof Vertues and Use. Dioscorides saith That to eat the Corns of green Wheat is hurtful to the Stomach and breedeth Worms Pliny saith That the Corns of Wheat toasted upon an Iron Pan and eaten is a pleasant Remedy for those that are chilled with cold The Oyl pressed from Wheat between two thick Plates of Iron or Copper heated healeth all Tetters and Ring-worms being used warm and hereby Galen saith he hath known many to be cured Mathiolus commendeth the same Oyl to be put into hollow Ulcers to heal them up and it is also good for Chops in the Hands or Feet and to make a rugged Skin smooth The green Corns of Wheat being chewed and applied to the place bitten by a mad Dog healeth it Slices of Wheat Bread soaked in Red Rose-water and applied to the Eyes that are hot red and inflamed or blood-shotten helpeth them Hot Bread applyed for an hour at a time three daies together perfectly healeth the Kernels in the Throat commonly called the Kings Evil. The Flower of Wheat mixed with the Juyce of Henbane stayeth the Flux of Hurhors to the Joynts being laid theron The said Meal boyled in Vinegar helpeth the shrinking of the Sinews saith Pliny and mixed with Vinegar and Honey boyled together healeth all Freckles Spots and Pimples on the Face Wheat Flower mixed with the Yolk of an Eg Honey and Turpentine doth draw clense and heal and Boyl Plague Sore or foul Ulcer The Bran of Wheat Meal steeped in sharp Vinegar and then bound in a Linnen Cloth and rubbed on those places that have the Scurf Morphew Scabs or Leprosie wil take them away the Body being first well purged and prepared The Decoction of the Bran of Wheat or Barley is of good use to bath those places that are Bursten by a Rupture and the said Bran boyled in good Vinegar and appled to swollen Breasts helpeth them and stayeth all Inflamations it helpeth also the bitings of Vipers which I
take to be no other but our English Adder and all other Venemous Creatures The Leaves of Wheat Meal applied with some Salt taketh away hardness of the Skin Wharts and hard Knots in the Flesh. Starch moistned with Rosewater and laid to the Cods taketh away their Itching Wafers put in Water and drunk stayeth the Lask and Bloody Flux and is profitably used both inward and outwardly for the Ruptures in Children Boyled in Water unto a thick Gelly and taken it stayeth spitting of Blood and boyled with Mints and Butter it helpeth the hoarsness of the Throat The VVillow-tree THese are so well known that they need no no Description I shall therefore only shew you the Vertues thereof Vertues and Use. Both the Leaves Bark and the Seed are used to stanch bleeding of Wounds and at Mouth and Nose spitting of Blood and all other Fluxes of Blood in man or woman and to stay Vomiting and provocation thereunto if the Decoction of them in Wine be drunk It helpeth also to stay thin hot sharp salt Distillations from the Head upon the Lungs causing a Consumption The Leaves bruised with some Peppâ—r and drunk in Wine much helpeth the wind Chollick The Leaves bruised and boyled in Wine and drunk staieth the heat of Lust in man or woman and quite extinguisheth it if it be long used The Seed is also of the same effect The Water that is gathered from the Willow when it Flowreth the Bark being slit and a fitting Vessel set to receive it is very good for redness and dimness of Sight for films that grow over the Eyes and stay the Rhewms that fall into them to provoke Urin being stopped if it be drunk and to cleer the Face and Skin from Spots and Discolourings Galenâ—aith â—aith The Flowers have an admirable faculty in drying up Humors beeing a Medicine without any sharpness or corrosion You may boyl them in white Wine and drink as much as you will so you drink not your self drunk The Bark work the same effects if used in the same manner and the Tree hath alwaies Bark upon it though not alwaies Flowers The Burnt ashes of the Bark being mixed with Vinegar taketh away Warts Corns and Superfluous Flesh being applied to the place The Decoction of the Leaves or Bark in Wine takes away Scurf or Dandrif by washing the place with it 'T is a fine cool Tree The Boughs of which are very convenient to be placed in the Chamber of one sick of a Feaver Woad Description IT hath diverse large Leaves long and somwhat broad withal like to those of the greater Plantaue but larger thicker of a greenish colour and somwhat blew withal From among which Leaves riseth up a lusty Stalk three or four foot high with diverse Leaves set thereon The higher the Stalk riseth the smaller are the Leaves at the top it spreadeth into diverse Branches at the ends of which appear pretty little yellow Flowers and after they pass away like other Flowers of the Field come Husks long and somwhat flat withal in form they resemble a Tongue in colour they are black and they hang bobbing downwards The Seed contained within these Husks if it be a little chewed gives an Azure colour The Root is white and long Place It is sowed in Fields for the benefit of it where those that sow it cut it three ' times a yeer Time It Flowreth in June but is long after before the Seed is ripe Vertues and Use. Some People affirm the Plant to be destructive to Bees which if it be I cannot help it They say it possesseth Bees with a Flux but that I can hardly beleeve unless Bees be contrary to all other Creatures I should rather think it possesseth them with the contrary Disease the Herb being exceeding drying and binding However if any Bees be diseased thereby the cure is to set Urine by them but set it in such a Vessel that they cannot drown themselves which may be remedied if you put pieces of Cork in it I told you before the Herb was drying and binding and so drying and binding that it is not fit to be given inwardly An Oyntment made thereof stancheth Bleeding A Plaister made thereof and applied to the Region of the Spleen and I pray you take notice that the Spleen lies on the left side takes away the hardness and pains thereof The Oyntment is excellent good in such Ulcers as abound with moisture and takes away the corroding and fretting Humors It cools Inflamations quencheth St. Anthonies fire and stayeth Defluxions of Blood to any part of the Body Woodbind or Honey-suckles THe Plant is so common that every one that hath Eyes knows them and he that hath none cannot reade a Description if I should write it Time They Flower in June and the Fruit is ripe in August Vertues and Use. Doctor Tradition that grand Introducer of Errors that Hater of Truth that Lover of Folly and that mortal Foe to Doctor Reason hath taught the common People to use the Leaves and Flowers of this Plant in Mouth Waters and by long continuance of time hath so grounded it in the Brains of the Vulgar that you cannot beat it out with a Beetle All Mouth Waters ought to be cooling and drying but Honeysuckles are clensing consuming and digesting and therefore no waies fit for Inflamations Thus Doctor Reason Again If you please we will leave Dr. Reason a while and come to Dr. Experience a learned Gentleman and his Brother Take a Leaf and chew it in your Mouth and you will quickly find it likelier to cause a sore Mouth or Throat than to cure it Well then if it be not good for this What is it good for 'T is good for somthing For God and Nature made nothing in vain It is an Herb of Jupiter and apropriated to the Lungs the Coelestial Crab claims Dominion over it neither is it a Foe to the Lyon If the Lungs be afflicted by Mercury this is your Cure It is fitting a Conserve made of the Flowers of it were kept in every Gentlewomans House I know no better cure for an Asthma than this Besides It takes away the evil of the Spleen provokes Urine procures speedy Delivery to Women in Travail helps Cramps Convulsions and Palseys and whatsoever griefs comes of cold or stopping If you please to make use of it in an Oyntment it will cleer your Skin of Morphew Freckles and Sun-burning or whatsoever else discolours it and then the Maids will love it I have done when I have told you what Authors say and cavelled a little with them They say the Flowers are of more effect than the Leaves and that 's true but they say The Seeds are of least effect of all But Dr. Reason told me That there was a Vital Spirit in every Seed to beget its like and Dr. Experiense told me That there was a greater heat in a Seed than there was in any other part of a
c. 5. The way of making them is this Having bruised the Herbs or Flowers you would make your Oyl of put them in an Earthen pot and to two or three handfuls of them powr a pint of Oyl cover the pot with a paper and set it in the Sun about a Fortnight or less according as the Sun is in hotness then having warmed it very well by the fire press out the Herbs c. very hard in a press and ad as many more Herbs to the same Oyl bruised the Herbs I mean not the Oyl in like manner set them in the Sun as before the ostner you repeat this the stronger will your Oyl be at last when you conceive it strong enough boyl both Herbs and Oyl together till the Juyce be consumed which you may know by its leaving its bubling and the Herbs will be crisp then strain it whilst it is hot and keep it in a stone or Glass Vessel for your use 6. As for Chymical Oyls I have nothing to say in this Treatise 7. The General use of these Oyls is for pain in the Limbs roughness of the Skin the Itch c. as also for Oyntments and Plaisters 8. If you have occasion to use it for Wounds or Ulcers in two ounces of Oyl dissolve half an ounce of Turpentine the heat of the fire will quickly do it for Oyl it self is offensive to Wounds and the Turpentine qualifies it Chap. 6. Of Electuaries PHysitians make more a quoil than needs behalf about Electuaries I shall prescribe but one general way of making them up as for the Ingredients you may vary them as you please and according as you find occasion by the last Chapter 1. That you may make Electuaries when you need them it is requisite that you keep alwaies Herbs Roots Seeds Flowers c. ready dried in your House that so you may be in readiness to beat them into pouder when you need them 2. Your better way is to keep them whol than beaten for being beaten they are the more subject to lose their strength because the Air soon penetrates them 3. If they be not dry enough to beat into pouder when you need them dry them by a gentle fire till they are so 4. Having beaten them sift them through a fine Tiffany Searce that so there may be no great picces found in your Electuary 5. To on ounce of your Pouder ad three ounces of clarified Honey this quantity I hold to be sufficient I confess Authors differ about it If you would make more or less Electuary vary your proportions accordingly 6. Mix them well together in a Mortar and take this for a truth you cannot mix them too much 7. The way to clarifie Honey is to set it over the fire in a convenient vessel till the scum arise and when the scum is taken off it is clarified 8. The usual Dose of Cordial Electuaries is from half a dram to two drams of purging Electuaries from half an ounce to an ounce 9. The manner of keeping them is in a pot 10. The time of taking them is either in the morning fasting and fasting an hour after them or at night going to bed three or four hours after supper Chap. 7. Of Conserves 1. THe way of making Conserves is twofold one of Herbs and Flowers and the other of Fruits 2. Conserves of Herbs and Flowers are thus made If you make your Conserves of Herbs as of Scurvy-grass Wormwood Rue or the like take only the Leaves and tender tops for you may beat your heart out before you can beat the Stalks small and having beaten them waigh them and to â—â— pound of them ad three pound of Sugar beat them verie well together in a Mortar you cannot beat them too much 3. Conserves of Fruits as of Barberries Sloes and the like is thus made First scald the Fruit then rub the pulp through a thick hair Sieve made for the purpose called a pulping Sieve you may do it for a need with the back of a Spoon then take this Pulp thus drawn and ad to it its waight of Sugar and no more put it in a Peuter Vessel and over a Charcoal fire stir it up and down till the Sugar be melted and your Conserve is made 4. Thus have you the way of making Conserves the way of keeping of them is in Earthen pots 5. The Dose is usually the quantity of a Nutmeg at a time morning and evening or unless they be purging when you please 6. Of Conserves some keep many yeers as Conserves of Roses others but a yeer as Conserves of Borrage Bugloss Cowslips and the like 7. Have a care of the working of some Conserves presently after they are made look to them once a day and stir them about Conserves of Borrage Bugloss and Wormwood have gotten an excellent faculty at that sport 8. You may know when your Conserves are almost spoiled by this you shall find a hard crust at top with little holes in it as though Worms had been eating there Chap. 8. Of Preserves OF Preserves are sundry sorts and the Operations of all being somthing different we will handle them all apart There are preserved with Sugar 1. Flowers 2. Fruits 3. Roots 4. Barks 1. Flowers are but very seldom preserved I never saw any that I remember save only Cowslip Flowers and that was a great fashion in Sussex when I was a boy It is thus done first take a flat Glass we call them jarr Glasses strew in a lain of fine Sugar on that a lain of Flowers on that another lain of Sugar on that another lain of Flowers do so til your Glass be full then tie it over with a paper and in a little time you shall have very excellent and pleasant Preserves There is another way of Preserving Flowers namely with Vinegar and Salt as they pickle Capers and Broom Buds but because I have little skill in it my self I cannot teach you 2. Fruits as Quinces and the like are preserved two waies First Boyl them well in Water and then pulp them through a Sieve as we shewed you before then with the like quantity of Sugar boyl the Water they were boyled in to a Syrup viz. a pound of Sugar to a pint of Liquor to every pound of this Syrup ad four ounces of the Pulp then boyl it with a very gentle fire to the right consilience which you may easily know if you diâ—p a drâ—p of it upon a Trencher if it be enough it will not stick to your fingers when it is cold Secondly Another way to preserve Fruits is this First pare off the â—ind then out them in halves and take cut the Core then boyl them in Water till they are soft It you know when Beef is boyled enough you may easily know when they are theâ—â— boyl the Water with its like waight of Sugar into a Syrup put the Syrup into a Pot and put the boyled Fruit as whol as you left it when you
the Dropsie and Stone in the Kidneys in this manner Take of the Seeds of Parsley Fennel Annis and Caraways of each an ounce of the Roots of Parsley Burnet Saxifrage and Carawaies of each one ounce and an half let the Seeds be bruised and the Roots washed and cut smal Let them lie all night in sleep in a pottle of white Wine and in the morning be boyled in a close earthen Vessel until a third part or more be wasted which being strained and cleared take four ounces thereof morning and evening first and last abstaining from drink after it for three hours This openeth Obstructions of the Liver and Spleen and expelleth the Dropsie and Jaundice by Urine Parsnip THe Garden kind hereof is so well known the Root being commonly eaten that I shal not trouble you w th any Description of it But the wild kind being of more Physical use I shall in this place describe unto you Discription The wild Parsnip differeth little from the Garden kind but groweth not so fair and large nor hath so many Leavs and the Root is shorter more woody and not so fit to be eaten and therefore the more Medicinable Place The name of the first sheweth the place of its growth Viz. In Gardens The other groweth wild in divers places as in the Marshes by Rochester and elswhere and flowreth in July the Seed being ripe about the beginning of August the second yeer after the sowing for if they do flower the first yeer the Country people call them Madneps Vertues and use The Garden Parsnep nourisheth much and is good and wholsom Nourishment but a little windy whereby it is thought to procure bodily lust but it fatneth the Body much if much used It is conducible to the Stomach and Reins and provoketh Urine But the wild Parsnep hath a cutting attenuating clensing and opening quality therein It resisteth and helpeth the bitings of Serpents easeth pains and Stitches in the sides and dissolveth wind both in the Stomach and Bowels which is the Chollick and provoketh Urine The Root is often used but the Seed much more The wild being better than the tame shews Dame Nature is the best Physitian Cow-Parsnep Description THis groweth with three or four large spread winged rough Leavs lying often on the Ground or else raised a little from it with long round hairy footstalks under them parted usually into five devisions the two couples standing each against other and one at the end and each Leaf being almost round yet somwhat deeply cut in on the edges in some Leavs and not so deep in others of a whitish green colour smelling somwhat strongly among which ariseth up a round crested hairy Stalk two or three foot high with a few Joynts and Leavs thereon and branched at the top where stand large Umbels of white and somtimes reddish Flowers and after them flat whitish thin winged Seed two alwaies joyned together The Root is long and white with two or three long strings growing down into the ground smelling likewise strongly and unpleasant Place It groweth in moist Meadows and the borders and corners of Fields and neet Ditches generally through this Land Time It Flowreth in July and Seedeth in August Vertues and Use. The Seed hereof as Galen saith is of a sharp and cutting quality and is therefore a fit Medicine for the Cough and shortness of Breath the Falling-sickness and the Jaundice The Root is available to all the purposes aforesaid and is also of great use to take away the hard skin that groweth on a Fistula if it be but scraped upon it The Seed hereof being drunk clenseth the belly from tough Flegmatick matter therein easeth them that are Liver-grown and Womens passions of the Mother as well being drunk as the smoke thereof received underneath and likewise raiseth such as are fallen into a deep sleep or have the Lethargy by burning it under their Nose The Seed and Root boyled in Oyl and the Head rubbed therewith helpeth not only those that are fallen into a Frenzy but also the Lethargy or Drowsie evil and those that have been long troubled with the Headach if it be likewise used with Rue It helpeth also the running Scab and the Shingles The Juyce of the Flowers dropped into the Ears that run and are ful of matter it clenseth and healeth them The Peach-tree Description THe Peach-tree groweth not so great as the Apricock-tree yet spreadeth Branches reasonable well from whence spring smaller reddish twigs whereon are set long and narrow green Leavs dented about the edges The Blosloms are greater than the Plum and of a light Purple colour The Fruit round and somtimes as big as a reasonable Pippin others are smaller as also differing in colours and tasts as russer red or yellow waterish or firm with a frieze or Cotton all over with a cleft therein like an Apricock and a rugged surrowed great Stone within it and a bitter Kernel within the Stone It sooner waxeth old and decayeth than the Apricock by much Place They are nursed up in Gardens and Orchards through this Land Time They Flower in the Spring and Fructifie in Autumn Vertues and use The Leavs of Peaches bruised and laid on the Belly killeth Worms and so they do also being boyled in Ale and drunk and open the Belly likewise and being dried is a safe Medicine to discuss Humors The Pouder of them strewed upon fresh bleeding Wounds stayeth their bleeding and closeth them up The Flowers steeped all night in a little Wine standing warm strained forth in the morning and drunk fasting doth gently open the Belly and move it downwards A Syrup made of them as the Syrup of Roses is made worketh more forcibly than that of Roses for it provoketh Vomiting and spendeth waterish and Hydropick Humors by the continuance thereof The Flowers made into a Conserve worketh the same effect The Liquor that droppeth from the Tree being wounded is given in the Decoction of Coltsfoot to those that are troubled with the Cough or shortness of breath by adding thereto some sweet Wine and putting some Saffron also therein it is good for those that are hoarce or have lost their voice helpeth all defects of the Lungs and those that vomit or spit blood Two drams thereof given in the Juyce of Lemmons or of Radish is good for those that are troubled with the Stone The Kernels of the Stones do wonderfully eas the pains and wringings of the Belly through wind or sharp Humors and help to make an excellent Medicine for the Stone upon all occasions on this manner Take fifty Kernels of Peach Stones and one hundred of the Kernels of Cherry Stones a handful of Eldor Flowers fresh or dried and three pints of Muscadine set them in a closed pot into a bed of Horse dung for ten daies which after distill in Glass with a gentle fire and keep it for your use you may drink upon occasion three or four ounces at a time The
cut it into it and let it so remain till you have occasion to use it 3. Roots are thus preserved First scrape them very clean and clense them from the Pith if they have any for some Roots have not as Eringo and the like boyl them in Water till they be soft as we sâ—ew you before in the Fruits then boyl the Water you boyled the Roots into a Syrup as we shewed you before then keep the Roots whol in the Syrup till you use them 4. As for Barks we have but few come to our hands to be done and those of those few that I can remember are Orrenges Lemmons Citrons and the outer Bark of Walnuts which grows without the Shell for the Shels themselves would make but scurvy Preserves there be they I can remember if there be any more put them into the number Thâ—â— of Preserving these is nor all one is Authors for some are bitter some are not such as are bitter say Authors must be soaked in warm Water often times changed till their bitter tast be fled but I like not this way and my reason is because I doubt when their bitterness is gone so is their Vertue also I shall then prescribe one common way namely the same with the former viz. First boyl them whol till they be soft then make a Syrup with Sugar and the Liquor you boyled them in and keep the Barks in the Syrup 5. They are kept in Glasses or glassed Pots 6. The preserved Flowers will keep a yeer if you can forbear eating of them the Roots and Barke much longer 7. This Art was plainly and clâ—erly as first invented for delicacy yet came afterwards to be of excellent use in Physiak For 1. First Hereby Medicines are made pleasant for sick and queazy Stomiâ—â—s which else would â—â— them 2. Hereby they are preserved from dccaying a long time Chap. 9. Of Lohochs 1. THat which the Arabians call Lohoch and the Greeks Eclegma the Latins call Linctus and in plain English signifies nothing else but a thing to be licked up 2. Their first invention was to prevent and remedy afflictions of the Breast and Lungs to clense the Lungs of Flegm and make it fit to be cast out 3. They are in Body thicker than a Syrup and not so thick as an Electuary 4. The manner of taking them is often to take a little with a Liquoris stick and let it go down at leisure 5. They are easily thus made make a Decoction of any pectoral Herbs the Treatise will furnish you with enough and when you have strained it with twise its waight of Honey or Sugar boyl it to a Lohoch If you are molested with tough Flegm Honey is better than Sugar and if you ad a little Vineger to it you will do well if not I hold Sugar to be better than Honey 6. It is kept in Pots and will a yeer and longer 7. It s use is excellent for roughness of the Windpipe Inflamations of the Lungs Ulcers in the Lungs difficultie of Breath Asthmaes Coughs and distillation of Humors Chap. 10. Of Oyntments 1. VArious are the waies of making Oyntments which Authors have left to posteritie which I shall omit and quote one which is easiest to be made and therefore most beneficial to people that are ignorant in Physick for whose sakes I write this It is thus done Bruise those Herbs Flowers or Roots you would make an Oyntment of and to two handfuls of your bruised Herbs ad a pound of Hogs Grease tryed or clensed from the skins beat them very well together in a stone Mortar with a wooden Pestle then put it in a stone Pot the Herbs and Grease I mean not the Mortar cover it with a paper and set it either in the Sun or some other warm place three four or fivs daies that it may melt then take it out and boyl it a little then whilst it is hot strain it out pressing it out very hard in a Press to this Grease ad as many more Herbs bruised as before let them stand in like manner as long then boyl them as you did the former if you think your Oyntment be not strong enough you may do it the third and fourth time yet this I tell you the fuller of Juyce your Herbs are the sooner will your Oyntment be strong the last time you boyl it boyl it so long till your Herbs be crisp and the Juyce consumed then strain it pressing it hard in a press and to every pound of Oyntment ad two ounces of Turpentine and as much Wax because Grease is offensive to Wounds as well as Oyl 2. Oyntments are vulgarly known to be kept in Pots and will last above a yeer above two yeer Chap. 11. Of Plaisters 1. THe Greeks made their Plaisters of diverse Simples and put Mettals in most of them if not in all for having reduced their Mettals into Pouder they mixed them with that fatty substance whereof the rest of the Plaister consisted whilst it was yet hot continually stirring it up and down lest it should sink to the bottom so they continually stirred it till it was stiff then they made it up in rolls which when they need for use they could melt by the fire again 2. The Arabians made up theirs with Meals Oyl and Fat which needed not so long boyling 3. The Greeks Emplasters consisted of these Ingredients Mettals Stones diverse sorts of Earths Feces Juyces Liquoris Seeds Roots Herbs Excrements of Creatures Wax Rozin Gums Chap. 12. Of Pultisses 1. PUltisses are those kind of things which the Latins call Cataplasmata and our learned Fellows that if they can read English that 's all call them Cataplasms because 't is a â—rabbed word few understand it is indeed a very fine kind of Medicine to ripen Sores 2. They are made of Herbs and Roots fitted to the Disease and Member afflicted being chopped smal and boyled in Water almost to a Jelly then by adding a little Barley Meal or Meal of Lupines and a little Oyl or rough Sheep Suer which I hold to be better spread upon a cloath and applied to the grieved place 3. Their use is to case pains to break Sores to cool Inflamations to dissolve hardness to ease the Spleen to concoct Humors to dissipate Swellings 4. I beseech you take this Caution along with you Use no Pultisses if â—â—an help it that are of a heating Nature â—â—re you have first clensed the Body beâ—â—ey are subject to draw the Humors to them from every part of the Body Chap. 13. Of Troches 1. THe Latins call them Placentulae or little Cakes and you might have seen what the Greeks call them too had not the last Edition of my London Dispensatory been so hellishly printed that 's all the Commonwealth gets by one Stationer's printing anothers Coppies viz. To plague the Country with false Prints and disgrace the Author the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are