procured themselues pale faces because they would look like their master who indeed came to that colour by continuall study and plying his booke Thus likewise not long since Iulius Vindex being desirous to be affranchised by Nero pretending by his pale visage and poore look that he had not many daies to liue made faire semblance vnto Nero by his will and testament that he should shortly be his heire which cheat the said Nero gaped after and so by that means Vindex entred so far within him as hee obtained whatsoeuer he would at his hands Cumin reduced into the form of trochisks or nose-tents put vp into the nosthrils stancheth bloud The like effect it hath being fresh gathered and applied with vinegre Being layd it selfe alone to watering and weeping eies it restraineth that humour and in case the cods be bolne or swelled it is good to mix honey withall in manner of an emplastre But it sufficeth to make a cataplasme thereof and lay it to the belly alone of little babes and infants so troubled Finally to cure the jaunise it is singular giuen in white wine when the Patient hath sweat and is come out of the Baine CHAP. XV. ¶ Of Cumin Ethyopick which restraineth the flix of vrine of Capres of Lovach or Panax and of a kind of Marjerom named Cunila-bubula BVt for the purpose a foresaid namely to cure the jaunise the Ethyopian Cumin is the best being taken after a bath with vinegre and water also licked in maner of a Loch with hony As for the Cumin of Africk it is thought to haue a singular proprietie by it selfe for to helpe those who canot contain and hold their vrin The garden Cumin if it be parched drie brought into pouder and giuen in vinegre helpeth the defects and infirmities of the liuer also it cureth the dizzinesse of the head But in case the acrimonie or sharpnesse of the vrin be such as that it fret and moue smart in the passage the pouder hereof would be tempered in sweet wine cuit For the impediments of the matrice it ought to be drunk in pure wine of the grape and withal there must be applied to the place offended a cataplasm of the leaues vpon a lock of wool Dried against the fire bruised and beaten into pouder and so incorporat with oile of roses wax and wrought in the end to the form of a Cerot and then applied it abateth the swelling of the cods But the wild Cumin is more effectuall in all the cases aboue mentioned than that of the garden Ouer and besides it hath a speciall vertue together with oile against serpents scorpions and Scolopendres Take as much of Cumin seed as you may comprehend within three fingers drink it in wine it wil stay immoderat vomit yea and the sick heauing of the stomacke as if it would cast and canot A drinke made therewith is giuen also for the colique and to that purpose a liniment thereof is very commendable or if it be applied hot in quilted bags so that the same be kept swadled down vnto the region of the gut Colon. For a woman that is giuen to the rising and suffocation of the mother let her drink it in wine after this proportion Three drams of Cumin to three cyaths of wine she shall find that it will resolue those vapors and fumosities which caused the foresaid maladie With calues tallow or sewet or with honey if it be let drop into the eares it cureth the sounding and tingling therein Being applied as a liniment with hony raisons and vinegre it resolueth the blacke and blew markes remaining after stripes Also with vinegre alone it cureth the black spots and speckles appearing in any part of the body if the place be bathed therewith An herb there is resembling Cumin for all the world which the Greeks cal Ammi although some there are who thinke it to be all one with the Cumin of Ethyopia Hippocrates calleth it the roial Cumin of Egypt the reason was no doubt for that he deemed that of Egypt to exceed all the rest in goodnes But most writers besides him do think it * an herb altogether of another nature because it is smaller and whiter and yet it serueth to the like vse for at Alexandria in Egypt they put it commonly vnder their loaues of bread in the bottom crust when they go to the ouen and ordinarily it is occupied in the kitchen about sauces Be it what it will it dissolueth ventosities it pacifieth the wringing torment of the guts it prouokes vrin and bringeth down womens moneths Being taken in wine together with Lineseed to the quantitie of two drams it cureth the venomous stings of scorpions but put thereto an equall quantitie of myrth it hath a singular vertue against the horned serpent Cerastes And like to the other Cumin before named it altereth the colour of as many as drink of it and makes them looke pale A suffumigation made thereof with raisons and rosin mundifieth the matrice natural parts of women Finally it is commonly said That if a woman smell thereto in the very act of generation she shal conceiue the rather by that means As for Capres we haue sufficiently written thereof amongst other shrubs that be strangers and yet it wil not be amisse to reiterat thus much That a man must be well aduised how he taketh any out landish Capres that come from beyond-sea but if he wil go safely to work let him hardly keep him to those of Italy for they are lesse harmelesse than the other for if all be true that is commonly reported whosoeuer daily eat Capres shall not be in danger either of palsie or pain of splene The root of capres is singular good to take away the white spotted morphue cousin german to the leprosie in case it be stamped and the place affected rubbed therewith Take the rind of the root the quantitie of two drams and drink it in wine it helpeth the swelled splene prouided alwaies that the Patient forbeare the vse of bains and hot houses for by report this course continued 35 daies will cause the said splene to purge away partly by vrine and partly by seege The same if it be taken in drink allaieth pain in the loins cureth the palsie The seed of Capres sodden in vinegre bruised applied to the teeth or otherwise the root thereof chewed only asswageth the tooth-ach A decoction of Capres in oile instilled into the ears mitigateth their pains The leaues and the root newly gathered and so applied as a Cataplasme with hony healeth the corrosiue vlcers that eat to the very bone Likewise the root resolues all those glandulous swellings which we name the Kings euil and if the same be sodden in water it discusseth the tumors behind the ears and riddeth away the worms breeding within It cureth also the infirmities of the liuer The manner is to giue the same in vinegre and honey for to chase away the vermin
cankers in the mouth and the smelling of the gums likewise it assuageth the tooth-ache The iuice of it being well sodden cureth the sores of the Amygdales if the mouth throat be washed therwith And some put to this collution a little pouder of the stone Murra And no maruell for the very chewing only thereof doth fasten the teeth that be loose in the head It doth mitigate the inconuenience of crudity and indigestion it strengtheneth the voyce and putteth by thirst A cataplasme made therewith hauing gal-nuts and line-line-seed among of equal quantity allayeth the pains and cricks in the nape or chine of the neck Tempered with hony white fullers clay it is singular for the accidents that befall to womens breasts The seed taken with honey is very wholsome for such as be short winded Eaten in sallads it strengtheneth the stomack If it be laid as a cataplasme to the belly and Hypochondrial region it allaieth the heat of ardent and burning feauers yea in other cases the very chewing of it cooleth the heat of the guts and entrails It staieth vomits eaten in vineger or taken in drink with cumin it is good for the bloudy flix and other inward imposthumes and filthy sores Being first sodden and then eaten it is singular for those that strain hard vpon the stoole and notwithstanding many prouocations and profers deliuer nothing And whether it be taken in meat or drinke it is a soueraigne thing for the falling sicknesse For a shift or immoderat course of womens termes it is giuen with great successe the quantity of one acetable measure in wine cuit A liniment made with it and salt is good for the hot gout S. Anthonies fire The juice if it be drunken helpeth the reins and the bladder It expelleth wormes and such like vermine out of the belly A good mitigatiue it is of pain if it be applied as a cataplasme to wounds with oile and Barly groats It mollifieth the stiffenesse and hardnes of the sinews Metrodorus in his book intituled the Abridgement or Breuiary of those roots that are to be cut vp or gathered gaue counsell to giue this herb to women newly laid vpon child-birth for the immoderate and excessiue purgation that many times followeth them It cooleth the heat of lust and represseth dreames of wantonnesse I know my selfe a grand signior in Spain father vnto a great personage and one who had bin aduanced to the dignity of a Pretour who carried euer about him a root of this Peplium hanging at his neck by a lace or smal thred that for the intollerable pains of the Vuvla wherto he was subiect and neuer would he leaue it off but when he went into the stoue or bayne whereby he found such ease that he was neuer troubled afterward with the said disease Moreouer I haue read in some writers That if the head be annointed or well rubbed therewith a man shall not for a yeare together find any inconuenience of a rheum distilling from the brain howbeit it is thought that the vse thereof wil make the eyes dim Concerning Coriander there is none found growing wild of it selfe without sowing by the hand But certaine it is that the very best commeth out of Egypt a speciall and peculiar vertue it hath against one kind of serpent or venomous worm which they call Amphisbaena for that it seemeth to haue an head at both ends whether it be inwardly taken in drinke or outwardly applied It healeth also other wounds It cureth the night-foes or chilblans the red angry pimples also if it be but only stamped and layd too There is not a swelling or apostemation gathering to an head but a cataplasme made with it with hony and Raisins either resolueth them or quickly bringeth to maturation If it be no more but stamped with vineger it easeth the pushes and biles that breed commonly in the ordinary emunctories Three graines of Coriander seed some prescribe to be eaten before the accesse or fit of a tertian ague or more than three to bee rubbed vpon the forehead Others there are who thinke that to the same effect they are to bee laid vnder the bolster and pillow where the patient lieth before the Sun rise and then shall he be sure to misse his fit and be warished for that feuer Indeed Coriander whiles it is green is of great force to coole the heat of agues A cataplasme thereof made with Honey or Raisins healeth vlcers also that be corrosiue and eat deep into the flesh In like manner so prepared it is very good for the priuy members for burns and scaldings for carbuncles and for the eares With womans milk it helps the eyes that water continually The seed drunkin water staieth the flux of the belly guts yea and in case of those violent euacuations vpward downward through the rage of cholerick humors being taken in drinke with Rue it setleth and knitteth the body againe If the seed of it be drunke with sallet oile and the juice of a Pomgranat it chaseth forth worms out of the entrails Xenocrates telleth a strange thing if it be true namely That if a wo man drinke one onely grain or seed of Coriander her menstruall flux will stay one day if twain they will hold vp two daies and proportionably looke how many seeds she drinketh so many daies shal she go cleare and see no token of them M. Varro was of opinion That if flesh meat were poudered or corned with Coriander grosse beaten together with vineger it would keepe sweet and it were all the Summer long As for Orach there is a wild kind of it growing of the owne accord a very weed it is and no better vtterly condemned by Pythagoras as if it bred the Dropsie ingendered the Iaundise brought folk to look ill and pale and were exceeding hard of digestion and so far hee was out of conceit with it that he thought nothing would like wel prosper no not in a garden where this grew neere but that it would sensibly decay and fade Dionysius and Diocles approoue this judgement of Pythagoras and say moreouer that most diseases are bred therby Nay they would not haue it to be put into the pot to be sodden vnlesse it had bin washed before in many waters These Physitians hold that it is a very enemy to the stomack ingendring pimples frectles and whelks But I muse and maruell much why Solon of Smyrna should write that it hath much ado to grow and come vp in Italy As for Hippocrates he is not so far fallen out with it for with it and Beets he maketh a decoction to be injected by the Metrenchyte to asswage the inflammation in the matrice the natural parts of women Lycus of Naples was wont to giue it to drink as a counterpoyson against the green flies Cantharides And he thought that a very good liniment might be made thereof either raw or sodden to lay vnto biles pushes fellons a breeding and all
being chewed staieth bleeding in a wound To conclude some haue written that it expelleth the stone and grauell CHAP. X. ¶ Of the Caltrop thistle Tribulus The sundry kinds thereof and the medicines which they yeeld SOme of these Thistles come vp in gardens others grow in and about riuers only The juice which is drawne from these is thought to be good for the eies for this herb being as it is of a cooling nature is a singular remedy for inflammations and gathering of imposthumes A good medicine for all vlcers but those especially which break out of themselues in the mouth it cureth likewise those of the Amygdales or almonds of either side of the throat If it be taken in drink it fretteth breaketh the stone The Thracians dwelling vpon the riuer Strymon feed their horses fat with the leaues of this herb and liue themselues with the kernels or fruit therof making a kind of sweet bread therewith which also bindeth the belly The root if it be gathered by the chast and pure hands of a virgin discusseth and dissolueth the kings euill The seed if it be tied to the swelling vains assuageth their pain Lastly being beaten into pouder and cast into water it killeth the fleas in any place where that water is thrown or sprinckled CHAP. XI ¶ Of Stoebe and the medicines which it affoordeth SToebe which some call Phleon boiled in wine is a soueraigne remedy for eares that run with atter likewise for bloud shotten eies especially vpon a stripe or stroke giuen Beeing ministred by way of clyster it is good for the bloudy flix and the exulceration of the guts CHAP. XII ¶ Of Hippophyes and Hippope with iheir medicinable vertues HIppophyes is an hearbe growing in grauelly and sandy places and namely along the sea-side armed with white prickes or thornes it beareth berries by clusters after the manner of Iuie and those be partly white partly red The root is ful of a certain juice which is good either to be condite and confected alone or els to be reduced into Troschs with Eruile meale this being taken to the weight of one Obolus purgeth cholericke humors and a most wholesome medicine it is especially with honied wine Another herb ther is named Hippope which neither riseth vp in stalk nor beareth floure but hath leaues only and those small The juice also of this herb is wonderfull good for those who are in a dropsie Where it is to be noted That these two herbs should haue some especiall properties respectiue to the nature of horses considering both their names are deriued from nothing else for in very truth some things there be which Nature hath brought forth as appropriat remedies for certain particular beasts whereby we may see her diuine power and how wel appointed she is and prouided for to bring forth medicines of all sorts so as the depth of her prouidence canot be sounded neither are we able sufficiently to admire her wit and descrition in disposing and digesting her remedies according to sundry kinds of creatures according to diuers causes and different seasons insomuch as the remedies seruing one are not fitted for another neither are they of the same effect and operation at all times nay there is not a day almost in the yere throughout but it yeeldeth a remedy respectiue vnto it CHAP. XIII ¶ Of the Nettle and the medicinable vertues thereof IS there any thing more hated and odious than the Nettle and yet to say nothing of the oile made of it in Egypt according as we haue shewed heretofore indued shee is and furnished with many good properties seruing for Physick For first as touching Nettle seed Nicander affirms That it is a very counterpoison against Hemlock venomous mushrums and Quick siluer Apollodorus addeth moreouer and saith That being boiled in the broth of a Tortoise it is singular good for the poison of Salamanders also that it is contrary to the pernicious nature of Henbane and the deadly poyson of serpents namely of scorpions Euen that very bitternesse and mordacity which the Nettle hath causeth the Vvula in the mouth which is falne to knit vp againe the matrice also which is ouer-loose and beareth downe to arise into the place yea and the tuill or fundament in children hanging forth of the body to return abide where it ought to be only with touching these parts therewith If the legs be rubbed and the forehead especially with Nettles it is a good meanes to awake them out of their drowsie and dead sleep who are surprised with a lethargy The same being applied with salt is passing good for the biting of dogs If it be bruised and put vp to the nosthrils it stancheth bleeding at the nose but principally the root of it If it be tempered with salt it mundifieth cancerous and foule filthie vlcers likewise it helpeth dislocations and bones out of joint it discusseth or ripeneth botches in the emunctories and the swelling kernels behind the eares and healeth vp the places where the fleshy parts be gon from the bones Nettle seed taken in wine cuit as a drinke openeth the matrice when it is ready to strangle or suffocate a woman and being applied with wine it staieth bleeding at the nose If one driake Nettle seed after supper with hony and water to the quantity of two oboles weight it openeth the passages maketh way for to womit with greater facility but the weight of one Obolus taken in wine refresheth those who haue a lassitude or wearinesse vpon them The same being parched against the fire and drunk to the measure of one Acetabulum is singular for the imperfections of the matrice and in cuit it withstandeth the ventosities and inflations of the stomack Giuen inwardly with hony in the form of a loch it doth them good who labor for wind and cannot take their breath but sitting vpright and after the same manner it cutteth fleame and clenseth the brest of it Being applied in a bag together with line-seed it taketh away the stitch and pain in the sides but some put hyssope therto and a little pepper A liniment made therewith cureth the spleen Being parched or rosted and so â—…aten with meat it keepeth the body soluble And Hippocrates affirmeth that the said seed is very good to be taken in drink for to cleanse the matrice in women and being so parched and giuen to the quantity of one Acetabulum in sweet wine cuit it allaieth the griefe and paine of the said part in case withall there be a cataplasme applied to the region thereof together with the juice of Mallows If it be taken in hydromel i. honied water together with salt it expelleth by his saying the worms in the belly Applied in a liniment to the bare and naked places of the head it causeth the haire to grow again and bringeth all to the former beauty Many do vse to make a cataplasme of Nettle-seed and old oile or els stamp the leaues together with
is to drinke it in wine next the heart fasting And as Petricus the Poet hath deliuered in verse a liniment of this herb is singular against the poisons of venomous sea-beasts Among these herbs is reckoned * Sion a plant growing in waters of it selfe with leaues like Parsly or Smallach but that they be larger fatter of a deeper blackish green it beareth seed plentifully and in tast resembleth water-Cresses It is thought to be excellent good for those that canot make water for the diseases of the reins and paine of the spleene yea and for women whose monethly termes are suppressed whether the substance thereof be taken as meat or the juice of the herb decocted or the seed drunk in wine to the weight of two drams It breaks the stones ingendred within the body and notwithstanding it groweth in water yet it euacuateth those aquosities and waterie humors which ingender the same Being clisterized it helps those that haue the bloudy flix If women anoint their faces with a liniment made of it ouer-night it doth embellish their skin at one instant and with one dressing yea it taketh away the pimples and spots that disfigure the face in maner of Lentils This ointment is held also to be good for the farsins and such sores in horses and such like beasts and to mitigat the grieuous paines and trouble of any ruptures As concerning Silybus an herbe like vnto the white Chamaeleon and as full of thornes it groweth abundantly in Cilicia Syria and Phoenice and yet in these countries they make not so much account of it as to bestow the dressing of it it asketh so much adoe in the kitchen before it be in case to be serued vp in the hall And for physicke there is no goodnesse in it at all The plant * Scolymus is vsed also much to be eaten in the East parts where they call it by another name Limonia It neuer exceedeth a cubit in height the leaues be crested the root blacke but yet sweet Eratosthenes commendeth it as a principal dish for a poor mans table and it is said that it hath a special vertue to prouoke vrine and with vinegre if it be applied to cure the soule tettars called Lichenes and the leprosie also by the testimony of Hesiodus and Alcaeus if it be taken in wine it inciteth to wantonnesse and fleshly pleasures These Poets doe write That when this hearb doth flourish and is at the best then grashoppers chaunt loudest and sing most shril and as women at such a time be most desirous of mens company and hottest in lust so contrariwise men are most loth to turn vnto them and least able to content their appetite as if Nature to satisfie the pleasure of these good wiues had prouided against that faint season the help of the Artichoke as a viand most powerful at this time to set their husbands in a heat and to enable them to that businesse Moreouer an ounce of the root cleansed from the pith sodden to the thirds in three hemines of the best Falerne wine and either taken in drinke vpon an emptie stomack presently after that one hath sweat and is new come soorth of the Baine or else to the quantitie of one cyath immediatly after euery meale doth correct and take away the stinke and ranke smell of the arme-pits And a straunge thing it is that Xenocrates affirmeth vpon his owne experience and promiseth That this decoction is of such efficacie that it causeth the said strong sent to passe away by the vrine Moreouer the Sowthistle is an hearbe for to be eaten for we read in the Poet Callimachus That the poore old woman Hecale at what time as prince Theseus fortuned on necessitie to take his repast in her simple cottage made him a feast and set before him a principal dish of Sowthistles Two kinds there be of them the white and the black both like vnto lectuce but that they are full of pricks They run vp into a stalke of a cubite in height the same is cornered and hollow within but breake it and you shall see it run out with milke plentifully The white which hath that bright colour of the milke within it is thought to bee as good as Lectuces for those that be streight winded and cannot take their breath but vpright Erasistratus sheweth plainely That if it be eaten it expelleth grauell by vrine and chewed only it correcteth the stinking sauour of the mouth and causeth one to haue a sweet breath The juice thereof drawn to the measure of three ciaths made hot in white wine and oile and so taken helpeth women in labor that they may be soone deliuered but presently after they haue drunk it they ought to stir their bodies and walke vp and down their chamber Also it is vsed to be sodden in broth and so supped vp The very stalke therof being boiled maketh milch nources to haue good store of milk and the children at their breast to be better coloured But most excellent it is for such nources as feele their milk to cruddle in their breasts The juice thereof dropped into the ears doth them much good and a measure of one cyath drunk hot is as good for the strangurie But in the fretting and gnawing of the stomack it would be taken with Cucumber seed and Pine-nut kernils Applied in form of a liniment it cureth the apostemations in the fundament A drinke is made thereof which is a countrepoison against serpents and scorpions but then the root also must be laid outwardly vnto the sore place The same root boiled with oile within the pill of a pomgranat is a good remedie for the paines and maladies of the ears Note that all these vertues must be vnderstood of the white Sowthistle And Cleemporus doth accord hereunto as touching the white but he alloweth in no wise to eat of the black for he is of opinion that it breedeth diseases Agathocles also prescribeth the juice of the white Sowthistle to them who haue drunk Bulls bloud and suspect themselues poysoned therwith Howbeit they be all agreed that the blacke is refrigeratiue in which regard it ought to be applied outwardly with Barly groats Zenon declareth That the root of the white Sow-thistle cureth the strangurie As for Chondrillon or Chondrille it hath leaues like to Endiue or Cichory leaues gnawed or eaten round about a stem not a foot high and the same full of a bitter iuice a root like vnto Beane and otherwhile there be many of them together This hearbe putteth forth close to the ground a certain kind of gum like Mastick swelling out to the bignesse of a Bean which being applied to the naturall parts of women is said to draw down their monthly courses The same hearbe being stamped root and all together and digested into trosches is thought to bee singular good against serpents and a probable reason herof is collected because the field mice and rats when they are stung by
put thereto certain pepper cornes and others drinke them in wine cuit that is sweet Fisticks are vsed in the same sort and haue the same operation and effects as the Pine-nut kernels haue ouer and aboue they are soueraigne for the sting of serpents whether they be eaten or taken in drinke Chestnuts be exceeding astringent and mightily stay all fluxes both of the stomack and the belly for such as scour ouermuch and haue a great lask vpon them also for them who reach vp bloud they be passing wholesome and withall nutritiue and breeding good fast flesh Carobs which be fresh and greene are hurtfull to the stomacke and doe loose the belly yet the same if they be dried do bind and are more wholsome for the stomacke diureticall they be also and prouoke vrine As for those Carobs or Cods of Syria some vse to seeth three of them in a sextar of water vntill halfe be consumed and drink that iuice or liquor thereof for the paine of the stomack If a man take the green twigs of a Corneil tree there will by the meanes of a red hot plate or slice of yron set vnto them sweat or fry out a certain liquid humor which must be receiued so as no wood touch it the rust of yron besmeared with this liquor cureth foul tettars and ringwormes called Lichnes if they be taken at the first before they haue run far The Arbut or Strawberry tree otherwise named Vnedo beareth a fruit hard of digestion and offensiue to the stomack The Lawrell both leafe bark and berry is by nature hot and therefore it is agreed among all writers That their decoction especially of the leaues is comfortable to the bladder and natural parts of women the same being applied as a liniment be singular good for the prick or sting of wasps hornets and bees and likewise against the poisons of serpents especially of the viper and Seps otherwise called Dipsas Boiled with oile they are good to bring down womens fleurs The tender leaues of the Bay stamped and mixed with grosse barly meale or groats cure the inflammations of the eies with Rue they help the hot tumors and swellings of the cods but incorporat with oile Rosat or with oile of Ireos or floure-de-lys they assuage the head-ach Whosoeuer doth chew and swallow downe three bay leaues for three daies together shall be deliuered by that means from the cough The same if they beaten to pouder reduced into an electuary or loch with hony are good for such as be pursie and labor for wind The bark or rind growing to the root is dangerous for women great with child and such must take heed how they meddlewith it The very root it selfe breaketh or dissolueth the stone and is wholsom for the liuer if it be taken to the weight of three oboli in odoriferous wine Bay leaues giuen to drink do prouoke vomit Bay berries bruised and so applied or otherwise pulverized and taken in drink draw down the issue of womens terms Take two Bay Berries rid or cleanse them from their huske and drinke them in wine it is a singular medicine for inueterate coughs the difficulty or straitnesse of breath when a man is forced to sit vpright for to fetch and deliuer his wind howbeit if the Patient be in a feuer it is better to take these berries in water or els by way of a loch or electuary after they haue bin sodden in honied water or sweet cuit And in this manner they be good in a phthisick or consumption of the lungs all catarrhs which fall to the pectorall parts for they ripen fleam and send it out of the chest Foure Bay berries drunk with wine are a good remedy for the sting of scorpions The same being brought to pouder and reduced into a liniment with oile so applied do heale the bloudy-fals called Epinyctides rid away freckles and pimples cure running scalls and vlcers cankers and sores in the mouth and clense the body of scurfe scals and dandruffe The juice drawn out of Bay berries killeth an itch that fretteth the skin besides the lice that crawle and swarm all ouer the body The same mingled with old wine and oile rosat and so dropped into the ears cureth their pain and deafnesse and whosoeuer be annointed all ouer therewith need feare no venomous things for they will flie from them The same iuice especially if it be drawn from the beries of that Lawrel which hath the smaller and thinner leaues may be taken in drink and so it is effectuall against all stings The berries drunk in wine withstand the venom of serpents scorpions and spiders Brought into a liniment with oile and vineger and so applied they help the spleen and liuer but with hony they heale gangrens Such as be wearied with trauel or otherwise stiffe and benummed with cold find much good by being annointed with the said liniment or iuice if some sal-nitre be put thereto Some are of opinion That if a woman in labor drink the quantity of one acetable of the Lawrell root in water shee shall haue the more speedy deliuerance and for this purpose they say that a fresh and green root is better than a dry Others prescribe to giue in drink ten bay berries against the prick of scorpions Also when the Vvula is falne some giue counsell to take three ounces of the leaues and berries and seeth them in three sextars of water to the thirds to gargarize with this decoction hot also for the head-ach to take some odde number of bay berries and stamp them with oile into a liniment therwith to annoint the fore-head temples as hot as the patient can well abide it The leaues of the Delphick Lawrel beaten to pouder and held to the nose and smelled vnto euer and anon serue for a good preseruatiue in time of the contagious pestilence and the rather if they be burnt their persume doth rectifie the infection of the aire The oile of the said baies of the Isle Delphos is good for to make those cerots which put away lassitude wearinesse to discusse resolue the cold humors which cause quiuering and quaking to moliifie and stretch the sinews to allay the pain of the sides in a pleurisie and last of all to driue away the cold fits of agues Semblably if the same be warmed in the rind of a Pomgranat instilled into the ears it eases their pain the leaues boiled in water to the consumption of a third part keepe vp the Vvula vsed by way of a gargarisme but the said decoction taken inwardly allaieth the pains of belly and guts the tendrest leaues that may be had stampt with wine into a liniment do represse keep down wheals and itching if the body be annointed therwith euery night Next vnto this the other kinds are to be ranged according to the validitie of their operation As for the Lawrell Alexandrica or Idaea if a woman in trauell of child-birth take
mixe with Fenigreek a fourth part of the seed of garden cresses wel clensed to temper them in the strongest vineger that he could come by which he took to be an excellent medicine for the leprosie Damion ordained to make a drink with half an acetable of Fenigreek seed put into 9 cyaths of cuit or sheere water and so to giue it so prouoking of womens fleurs no man doubts but the decoction of Fenigreeke is most wholsome for the matrice and the exulceration of the guts like as the seed it self is excellent for the ioints precordial parts about the heart But in case it be boiled with Mallows it is good for the matrice guts so there be put to the said decoction some honied wine then giuen in drink for euen the very vapor or fume of the said decoction doth much good to those parts Also the decoction of Fenigreeke seed rectifieth the stinking rank smel of the arm-pits if they be washed therewith The floure made of Fenigreeke seed incorporat with nitre wine quickly clenseth the head of scurfe scales dandruffe But boiled in hydromell i. honyed water and brought into a liniment with hogs grease it cureth the swelling and inflammation of the members seruing to generation likewise it is singular for the broad and flat apostems called Pani the swelling kernels and inflammations behinde the ears the gout as well of the feet as of the hands and other ioints also the putrifaction of the flesh ready to depart from the bone and being incorporat in vineger it helpeth dislocations being boiled in vineger and hony only it serueth as a good liniment for the spleen and tempered with wine it clenseth or mundifieth cancerous sores but put thereto hony it healeth them throughly in a short time The said floure of Fenigreeke seed taken in a broth or supping is an approued remedy for an vlcer within the brest and any inueterat cough but it asketh long seething euen vntill it haue lost the bitternesse and afterwards hony is put thereto and then it is a singular grewell for the infirmities before said Thus you see what may be said of those hearbes which are in comparison but of a mean account it remaineth now to discourse of those which are of more account and estimation than the rest THE TVVENTY FIFTH BOOKE OF THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE WRITTEN BY C. PLINIVS SECVNDVS CHAP. I. ¶ The nature and properties of Hearbs growing wild and of their owne accord WHen I consider the excellency of such hearbes whereof now I am to treat and which the earth seemeth to haue brought forth onely for the vse of Physick I cannot chuse but grow withall into a wonderfull admiration of the great industry and careful diligence of our Antients before-time who haue made experiments of all things and left nothing vntried neither reserued they afterwards this hidden knowledge to themselues nor concealed ought but were willing to communicate the same vnto posteritie for their good and benefit but we contrariwise in these daies are desirous to keep secret and to suppresse the labors of other men yea and to defraud the world of those commodities which haue been purchased by the sweat of other mens browes for verily we see it is an ordinary course that such as haue attained to some knowledge envie that little skil vnto their neighbours and to keepe all forsooth to themselues and teach none their cunning they thinke the onely way to winne a great name and opinion of some deepe and profound learning And so far be we off from deuising new inuentions and imparting the same to the generall profit of mankinde that for this long time men of great wit and high conceit haue studied and practised to compasse this one point That the good deeds of their Ancestours might with themselues die and be buried for euer But certes wee see and know that the seueral inuentions of some one thing or other haue caused diuers men in old time to be canonized as gods in such sort as their memoriall hath beene eternized by the names euen of hearbes which they found out so thanke full was the age insuing as to recognize and acknowledge a benefit from them receiued and by this meanes in some measure to make recompence This care and industrie of theirs if it had beene imployed in Domesticall Plants neere home which either for pleasure and delight or else for the Kitchin and Table are set and sowed could not haue beene so rare and wonderfull but they spared not to climbe vp the top of high mountaines and to rocks vnaccessible to trauell through blind and vnpeopled desarts to search euery veine and corner of the earth all to find and know the vertues of herbs of what operation the root was for what diseases the leaues were to be vsed yea and to make wholsom medicines for mans health of those simples which the very four-footed beasts of the field neuer fed vpon nor once touched CHAP. II. ¶ The Latine Authors who haue written of herbs and their natures At what time the knowledge of Simples began to be practised and proffssed in Rome The first Greeke writers who trauelâ—…d â—…n this Argument The inuention of herbs The antient Physicke and the manner of curing diseasâ—…s in old time What is the cause that Simples are not now so much vsed for remedies of diseases as they haue bin Finally of the sweet Brier or Eglantine and the herb Dragons with their medicinable vertues WE Romans haue bin more slack and negligent in this behalfe than was beseeming vs considering how otherwise there was not a nation in the world more apprehenâ—… of all vertues and things profitable to this life than ours For to say a truth M. Caâ—…o that famous clerke and great professor so well seen in all good Arts and Sciences was the first and for a long time the only author who wrate of Simples and howsoeuer he handled that argument but briefly and summarily yet he omitted not the leech-craft belonging also to kine and oxen Long after him C. Valgius a noble gentleman of Rome a man of approued literature compiled a treatise of Simples which he left vnperfect howbeit he dedicated the book to â—…ugustus Caesar the Emperor as may appeare by a preface by him begun wherein after a religious and ceremonious manner of supplication he seemeth to beseech the said prince That it might please his Majesty especially to â—…ure all the maladies of mankind And before his time the only man among our Latines as far as euer I could find who wrot of Simples was Pomâ—… us â—…aeus the vassall or freed man of Pompey the Great And this was the first time that the knowledge of this kind of learning was set on foot and professed at Rome For Mithridates the most mightie and puissant king in that age whose fortune notwithstanding was to be vanquished and subdued by Pompey was well knowne vnto the world not only by the fame that went
say Sowbread it staies any bleeding whether it be at the mouth raught vp from out of the body or at the nosthrils whether it run by the fundament or gush from the matrice of women Likewise Lysimachia stancheth bloud either in drink liniment or Errhin put vp into the nose The like effect hath Plantain seed Cinquefoile also both taken inwardly and applied outward ly Moreouer if the nose bleed take the seed of Hemlocke beat it into pouder mixe it with water and so put it vp handsomly into the nosthrils Also Sengreene and the root of Astragulus To conclude wild Hirse called in Greek Ischaemon and Achillaea do stay any issue of bloud CHAP. XIII ¶ Of the herbe Equisetum of Nenuphar Harstrang Sideritis and many more effectuall to stanch bloud Of Stephanomelis and Erisithale Also remedies against wormes and vermine HOrse-taile named in Latine Equisetum and by the Greeks Hippuris an herb which heretofore I disallowed to grow in any medows and it is esteemed the very haire proceeding out of the earth like for all the world to the haire of an Horse-taile if it bee boiled in a new earthen pot neuer occupied before so as the pot be brim full when it is set on the fire and so to continue seething vntill a third part be consumed doth wast the spleen of lackies footmen if for 3 daies together they drink one hemine of the decoction at a time and besides this charge they ought to haue in any wise to forbeare all fat and oily meats for 24 houres before they begin this diet drink In describing of this herb the Greeks do not agree but are of diuers opinions some giue that name to a certain herb with blackish leaues resembling those of the Pine tree and they report a wonderfull vertue thereof and namely that if it doe but touch a man it wil stanch any issue of bloud And as some name it Hippuris so others called it * Ephedros and there be again who giue it the name Anabasis because forsooth as they say it climes vpon trees and hangeth down from thence with many blackish slender haires in manner of rishes resembling horse tailes Small branches it hath ful of joints and few leaues which be also fine and small The * seed that it beareth is round like vnto Coriander and the root of a wooddy substance this kind say they groweth principally in thickets and groues An astringent and binding power it hath The juice if it be conueighed vp into the nosthrils stenteth bleeding at nose though it gushed out from thence it knitteth also the belly and stoppeth a lask Taken in sweet wine to the quantity of 3 cyaths it helpeth the bloudy flix Vrine it prouoketh the cough it staieth and cureth straitnesse of winde when the patient is forced to sit vpright for to draw his breath It healeth ruptures and represseth those sores that loue to spread and run ouer the body The leaues are good to be drunk for the infirmities that offend guts bladder a speciall vertue it hath to cure those that be bursten bellied and haue their guts slipping downe in the bag of their cods The said Greek writers describe also another Horse-taile by the name of Hippuris with shorter softer and whiter haires than the former and they commend it as a soueraigne herb for the sciatica and for wounds to be applied vnto the place with vineger namely for to stanch bloud in which case the root of Nenuphar serueth very well if it be stamped and laid vpon a green wound If a man or woman void bloud at the mouth which doth rise from the parts below there is not a better thing than Harstrang taken in drinke with the seed or berries of the Cypresse tree And as for Sideritis the herb it is so powerfull that way that it stancheth bloud out of hand if it be applied kept fast to the wounds of these sword fencers that fight at sharp bleed they neuer so fresh the which effect we may see in the ashes and coles of Fennell-geant but the toad stoles or Mushrums growing about the root of the said plant doth the feat more surely in case the nose gush out with bloud Hemlock seed also beaten to pouder tempered with water and so put vp is counted very effectuall to stay the bleeding in like maner * Stephanomelis if it be applied with water The pouder of Betonie dried and drunk in Goats milk stancheth bloud issuing out of womens brests by the nepples The same doth Plantaine bruised and laid too in a pultesse The juice of Plantaine is good to be giuen them that vomite bloud For a bloud that runneth vp and downe breaking out one while here and another while there a liniment made of a Burre root and a little swines grease is commended to be excellent For such as be bursten or haue any rupture within be plucked with convulsions or haue faln from on high Centaury the greater the root of Gentian being stamped into pouder or boiled the juice of Betonie be counted singular means to recouer and more than that if a vein be broken by ouermuch straining the voice or the sides Likewise Panaces Scordium and Aristolochia taken in drinke serue well for the same purpose Moreouer if any be bruised within the body or haue bin ouerturned backeward and throwne downe it is good for them to drinke the weight of two oboli of Agarick in three cyaths of honied wine or in case an ague follow them withall in honied water for which purpose serueth also that kind of Verbascum or Mullen the floure whereof resembleth gold the root also of Acorus All the kindes of Housleeke to wit Prick-madam Horse-taile or Stone-crop but indeed the iuice of the biggest is most effectuall In like manner the decoction of Comfrey root and Carot taken raw There is an herbe called Erisithales with a yellow floure and leafed much after the manner of Brankvrsine the same ought to be drunk in wine as also Chamerops in the same case As for Irio it would be giuen in some supping and Plantain may be vsed any way it matters not how which herb hath this good property ouer and besides to cure the lowsie disease whereof Scylla the Dictatour died who was eaten with lice A wonderfull thing that in the very masse of bloud there should be ingendered such creatures to consume mans body But the juice of the wild vine called Vva Taminia as also of Ellebore is soueraigne against this foule and filthy maladie in case the body be annointed all ouer with a liniment made of it and oile together As for the said Taminia if it boyled in vineger it killeth such vermine breeding in clothes or apparell so they be washed or rubbed therewith CHAP. XIIII ¶ For vlcers and wounds To take away werts Of the herbe Polycnemon VLcers as they be of many sorts so they are cured after diuers manners If they be such as run and yeeld
reduce them to the natural color of the other skin There is an herb which in Latine is named Natrix the root whereof being pulled out of the ground hath a rank smell like vnto a Goat with this herbe they vse in the Picene countrey to driue away those hob-goblins which they haue a maruellous opinion to be spirits called Fatui but for mine own part I am verily persuaded they be nothing else but fantasticall illusions of such as be troubled in mind and bestraught the which may be chased and rid away by the vse of this medicinable herbe Odontitis may be reckoned among the kinds of hey-grasse putting forth many small stems growing thicke together from one root and those knotted and ful of ioints triangled and blackish withall in euery ioint small leaues it hath resembling those of knot-grasse howbeit somwhat longer in the concauities between the said leaues and the stem there is contained a seed like vnto Barly corns the floure is of a purple colour and very small It groweth ordinarily in medow grounds The decoction of the branches and tender stalks of this herb to the quantitie of one handful boiled in some astringent wine cureth the toothach if the patient hold the same in the mouth Othonne groweth plenteously in Scythia like vnto Rocket the leaues be full of holes and the floure resembleth Safron which is the cause that some haue called it Anemone The juice of this herbe entreth very well into those medicines which are appropriate to the eies for it is somewhat mordicatiue and heateth gently besides exiccatiue it is and by that meanes astringent It clenseth the eies of those films and clouds which darken the sight and remoueth whatsoeuer hindereth the same Some ordain for this purpose that it should be washed first and after it is dried againe made into certain balls or troschisks Onosma beareth leaues wel-neare three fingers long and those lying flat vpon the ground three in number and indented or cut after the manner of Orchanet without stem without flour without seed If a woman with child eat thereof or do but step ouer it she shal cast her vntimely birth out of her wombe As for Onopordon they say if Asses eat thereof they will fall a fizling and farting Howbeit of vertue it is to prouoke vrine and the monethly sicknesse of women to stop a laske to discusse and resolue impostumes and to heale them when they be broken and do run Osyris putteth forth small branches of a browne colour slender pliable and easie to wind the same be garnished with leaues resembling those of Line or flax of a dark duskish green at first but afterwards changing colour and inclining to a red colour and the seed is contained in those branches Of these leaues are made certain washing balls to scoure womens skin and make them look faire The decoction of the root being drunk cureth those that haue the jaundise The same roots gathered before the seed be ripe cut into roundles and dried in the Sun do stop the laske but drawn after that the seed is ripe they represse all catarrhes and fluxes of the belly if the patient drink the supping wherein they are boiled Also stamped simply and so giuen in rain water they haue the same effect Oxys beareth three leaues and no more This herb is singular to be giuen for a feeble stomack which hath lost all appetite to meat They also who haue a rupture and whose guts be fallen down eat thereof to very good successe Polyanthemum which some call Batrachion hath a causticke quality whereby it doth blister any vnseemly scars by means whereof reduceth them to their fresh and former colour the same also applied scoureth away the morphew and bringeth the skin to the natiue hue answerable to the rest of the body Knot grasse is that herb which the Greeks name Polygonon and we in Latine Sanguinaria in leaf it resembleth Rue in seed common quich grasse riseth not from the ground but creepeth along the juice of this herb conueied vp into the nosthrils stancheth bleeding at the nose They who set down many kinds of Polygonon do hold that this is to be taken for the male and by reason of the multitude of seed which it beareth is called Polygonon or for that it groweth so thick in tufts Calligonon Others name it Polygonaton for the number of knots or knees which it carrieth There be again who giue it the name Theuthalis some cal it Carcinetron others Clema many Myrtopetalon and yet I meet with some writers who say this is the female knot-grasse and that the male is the greater and not altogether so dark of colour growing also thicker with knots swelling with seed vnder euery leaf wel how soeuer it it the property of them both the one as well as the other is to bind and coole and yet their seed doth loosen the belly which if taken in any great quantity is diuretical and represseth any rheums prouided alwaies that the patient be troubled therwith otherwise it doth no good The leaues are singular good to be applied vnto the stomack for to assuage the heat thereof in a liniment they mitigat the griefe of the bladder and stop the course of shingles and such like wilde-fires The juice is soueraigne to be dropped alone by it selfe into the eares that run and into the eyes to abate their pain It is vsually giuen to the quantity of 2 cyaths in tertian Agues and Quartans especially before the fit commeth likewise for the feeblenesse of the stomack when it will keep nothing for the bloudy flix and the rage of cholerick humors both vpward and downward A third kind there is which they cal Oreon growing vpon the mountains resembling a tender reed rising vp in one single stem but full of little knees or knots and those couched thrust together Leafed it is like the Pitch tree the root needlesse and of no vse and generally the whole herb of lesse strength and operation than the former Howbeit this singular propertie hath it to help the sciatica A fourth Polygonum there is called the wild and this busheth like a shrub or a prety tree rather the root is of a wooddy substance the stock or plant of a reddish colour resembling the Cedar it beareth branches much like to Spart or Spanish broome two spans long iointed into three or four knots and those of a blackish colour This also hath an astringent nature and tasteth in the mouth like to a Quince The decoction thereof in water till the third part be consumed or the pouder of it dried is commended for the sores in the mouth and for any part that is fretted and galled And the very substance thereof is good to be chewed in case the gums be sore It represseth the malignity of eating corrosiue vlcers and cankers and in one word staieth the malice of all sores that run on end and
body If it look red the bloud be sure is predominant and distempered The vrin is not to be liked but presageth danger wherin there appeare certain contents like brans blackish clouds also a white thin and waterish vrine is neuer good but in case it be thick and of a stinking smell withall it is a deadly signe and there is no way but one with the Patient As for children if their water be thin and waterish it is but ordinary and naturall The Magitians expressely forbid in making water to lay bare the nakednesse of that part against Sun and Moon or to pisse vpon the shadow of any person And therefore Hesiodus giueth a precept to make water against a wall or something standing full before vs for feare least our nakednesse being discouered might offend some god or Angell To conclude Hosthaues doth vpon his warrant assure vs That whosoeuer droppeth some of his owne vrine euerie morning vpon his feet he shal be secured against all charms sorceries and deadly poisons whatsoeuer CHAP. VII ¶ The remedies that womens bodies do minister THe medicines which are said to proceed from the bodies of women be such and the operations so miraculous that they come nearer to the nature of monstrous wonders than true reports of natural works to say nothing of much mischiefe and many wicked parts committed by the means of their vntimely births and infants stil born which haue bin dismembred and cut in pieces for some abhominable practises to let passe the strange expiations wrought by their monthly terms and a thousand more deuises which haue bin deliuered and set abroad not only by midwiues but also by secret harlots that haue slipt their conceptions and bin deliuered in corners But to speak of the foresaid remedies which are in vre and commonly known The perfume that the hairs of a womans head make whiles they burn chaseth away Serpents The smell thereof also raiseth and reuiueth women who in a fit of the mother lie speechlesse and breathlesse The ashes verily of the said hairs burnt in some earthen pan or fish-shell being applied alone or with litharge of siluer is a singular medicine for the asperity of the eies the itch Item It taketh warts away and cureth the red gum and sores that infants be subiect vnto if it be vsed with hony The same ashes mingled with Hony and Frankincense healeth wounds in the head and doth incarnat or fil vp with good flesh hollow vlcers whatsoeuer they be And incorporat with swines lard it is good for the broad biles called Pani for the gout and S. Anthonies fire it staieth also any bleeding presently and stoppeth the running of ring-wormes and such like Touching womens milke it is holden by a generall accord of all other to be sweetest most delicat whereupon it is prescribed by Physitians vnto those that haue lien of a long languishing feuer as also to such as be troubled with a fluxe occasioned by a feeble stomacke but in these cases that milk is reputed most wholsom which a nurce giueth that hath newly weaned her child besides when the appetite of women is giuen to an inordinate longing after strange things in agues also in gnawings and frettings of the stomacke it is found by experience to be most effectuall Likewise being incorporat with Frankincense it is singular good for the impostumes breeding in womens brests If the eies be bloudshotten vpon any stripe if they be in pain or troubled with a violent rheum falling into them let a nource milk it in them they shall find very much ease thereby howbeit for the accidents abouenamed it is held to be more soueraign in case it be applied to the place together with hony the juice of the daffodil or els with the pouder of frank incense where by the way this would be obserued that for what vse soeuer milk is imploied that is ordinarily of more force which a woman giueth that bare a man child but if she was brought to bed of two twins both boies then it is best and most effectuall prouided alwaies that the mother her selfe do forbeare drinking of wine eat no meat or sauces that be sharp Moreouer this is knowne for certaine that if womans milk be incorporat with the liquid white of an egge and so applied to the forehead with wooll wet in the said liquor it staieth the flux of humors into the eies Moreouer a soueraign remedy is milk against the venomous slime or spittle of roads in case they pisse or spurt into our eies Also if they haue bitten one there is not a better thing either to be drunk or dropped vpon the sore than brest milk It is a common saying That whosoeuer can meet at one time together with the milk of mother and daughter both shall neuer need to feare all their life long any infirmities of the eies so they be annointed or bathed therewith Semblably womens milk is singular for to cure the accidents befalling to the eares if it be dropped in with a little Opium put thereto but if so be the eares are pained by reason of some stripe that they haue receiued the said milke would haue some Goose grease mixed with it and so be instilled warme And say that they haue a strong and stinking smell with them as commonly it falleth out in all long diseases there is nothing better than to put wooll into them which is soked in brest milk and hony together If it happen that the eies look still yellow after the jaundise it is good to drop milk into them with the juice of the wild Cucumber This peculiar vertue it hath ouer and besides those abouenamed if it be taken in drink to help those that haue bin poisoned with the sea-Hare the worme Buprestis and as Arâ—…stotle saith with the deadly Dwale called Dorycnion In this maner also it cureth those whose brains be troubled and intoxicat with drinking Henbane Physitians likewise haue prescribed to make a liniment with milk and Hemlock for to be applied vnto the gout And some there be who vse it in that case together with Oesype i the sweat or fattinesse of vnwashed wooll and Goose-grease in which manner it serueth in a pessary to be put vp in the naturall parts of women to assuage the pain of the matrice To drink brest milk is a good meane to stop a laske as Rabirius writeth yet the same doth prouoke the monthly course of womens fleurs what is to be sayd now or a womans milk who hath born a maid child surely it is better than the other in these cases only to wit in scouring the skin of the face and taking away the pimples spots and freckles which be therein But I must not forget that any breast-milke whatsoeuer cureth the maladies incident to the lights and if there be tempered therewith the vrine of a yong lad not ful fourteen yeares old and Attick honey so there be of each one spoonfull I find
let her breasts be annointed al ouer with the bloud of a sow they will grow the lesse by that means If the paps do ake and put the woman to paine a draught of asses milke assuageth that griefe put thereto a quantitie of hony it will bring down the desired purgation of a woman The greace of the same beast which hath beene tried and long kept healeth the exulceration of the matrice and being applied to the natural parts with a lock of wool in forme of a pessarie or otherwise it mollifieth the hardnes of that place The same fresh or long kept it makes no matter whether is depilatorie for look what part is annointed with it water together the haire wil come no more there The milt of an asse kept vntil it be dry and tempered with water into a liniment for the breasts causeth them to grow and bringeth store of milke into them and if the matrice be vnsetled and turned aside any way out of order it reduceth it into the place again If a woman set ouer a suffumigation of an asses houfe and receiue the fume vp into her body she shall haue quick speed of childbirth for so strong it is that it wil cause abortion and put her to a slip before the time and therefore it is not to be vsed vnlesse a woman haue gone her full time or that the child be dead in her wombe for surely it is able to kill the child within her body without great heed and careful regard Also it is said that the dung of this beast if it be applied fresh green is of wonderfull operation to stop the extraordinarie flux of bloud in women so is the ashes of the same dung which being laid vnto their naturall parts is a soueraigne remedy for the accidents therto belonging Moreouer take the some or froth of an horse mouth and let the place be annointed therewith for twenty daies together either before the haire do come or when it beginneth to spurt it will keepe them for euer being vndergrown of the same operation is the decoction of a harts horne but it will do the feat the better in case the said horne be new and green If the matrice be syringed and washed with mares milke it will find much comfort and ease thereby If a woman perceiue the infant to be dead in her body let her take the powder of the rugged werts vpon a horse leg call Lichenes in fresh water it will exclude the said dead fruit of the wombe the perfume also of the houfe will do as much or the dung dried If the matrice be falne or slipt out of the body an injection of butter by the metrenchyte staieth the same and keepeth it vp If there be any hardnes grown in that part whereby it is stopped a beasts gall mingled with oyle of roses turpentine and so applied outwardly in a lock of wool openeth the said obstruction It is said also that a suffumigation made of ox dung staieth the matrice vp when it is readie to fail yea and helpeth a woman in labour to speady childbirth but if she vse to drink cows milk she shal be the better disposed prepared to conceiue with child Moreouer this is a thing for certain known that there is nothing bringeth a woman sooner to barrennes than hard trauaile in childbearing But to preuent this inconuenience Olympias the expert midwife of Thebes affir meth that there is nothing better than to annoint the naturall parts of a woman with ox gall incorporat in the fat of serpents verdegrece and hony mixed therwith before that she medleth with a man in the act of generation Likewise if a woman which is giuen to haue those naturall parts ouer-moist and slippery by reason of humours purging immoderately that way do apply vnto the neck of the matrice a calues gall a little before she mind to admit the carnal company of a man she will be the more apt to conceiue and in very truth the inunction therewith doth mollifie the hardnesse of the bellie represseth outragious fluxions if the nauell be annointed therwith and in one word is good euery way for the matrice Howbeit in the vse of this gal they ordain a proportion to wit that to euery denier weight of the same there be put a third part of persly seed with as much of the oile of almonds as is thought sufficient to incorporat them into a liniment and this they put vp with wooll in manner of a pessarie The gall of an ox calfe tempered with halfe as much hony is a medicine ordinarily kept in readines for the diseases of the matrice Some make great account of veale and doe promise that if women about the time that they conceiue doe eat it with the root of Aristolochia i. Birthwort they shall bring forth boies As for the marow of a calfe sodden in wine water together with the suet so conveied vp in a pessary healeth the exulceration of the matrice So doth fox greace the dung of cats but this ought to be applied with rosin and oile rosat It is thought that there is not so good a thing for the matrice as to sit ouer a suffumigation made of goats horn The bloud of the wild goat or shamois tempered with the sea-ball serueth to take away haires but the gall of other goats that be tame mollifieth the callositie in the matrice if a pessarie be strewed withall and causeth a woman to be meet for conception if shee vse it presently vpon the purgation of her monethly terms Also the same hath a depilatory vertue if a liniment be made therewith and vsed to the place where the haire is plucked forth already and kept thereto three daies together Furthermore our midwiues do warrant that if a woman drink goats vrine it will stop all fluxes of bloud be they neuer so immoderat so shee apply also outwardly the dung of the said beast The pellicle or glean wherein a kid was infolded within the dams wombe kept vntill it be drie and drunk in wine putteth forth the after-birth in women And they are of this opinion that a suffumigation of kids haire is very good to cause the matrice to return when it was falne down also that to drink their rennet or to apply outwardly henbane seed is singular for to stay any issue of bloud Osthanes saith that if the loins or small of a womans backe be annointed with the bloud of a tike taken from a blacke Bull or Cow that is of a wilde kinde it will put her out of al fansies of venereous sports He affirmeth moreouer that if she drink the vrin of a male goat with some spikenard among to take away the loth some tast thereof she will forget all loue that she bare to any man before To come now vnto little infants there is not a more proper thing for them than butyr either alone by it selfe or with hony and to speak more particularly
yong hare or leueret it is wonderfull to see how effectually they will worke Snakes bones incorporat with the rennet of any foure-footed beast whatsoeuer within lesse than 3 daies shew the same effect and draw forth any thing that sticketh within the body Finally the flies called Cantharides are much commended for this operation if they be stamped and incorporat with barly meale CHAP. XIIII ¶ Proper remedies for the cure of womens maladies and to help them for to goe out their full time and bring forth the fruit of their wombfully ripe and accomplished THe skin or secundine which an Ewe gleaneth after she hath yeaned and which inlapped the lambe within her belly prepared ordered and vsed as I said before as touching goats it is very good for the infirmities that properly bee incident vnto women and occasioned by their naturall parts The dung likewise of sheep be they rammes ewes or weathers hath the same operation But to come vnto particulars the infirmity which otherwhiles putteth them to passe their vrine with difficulty and by dropmeale is cured principally by sitting ouer a perfume or suffumigation of Locusts If a woman after that she is conceiued with child vse eft-soons to eat a dish of meat made of cock-stones the infant that she goeth with shall proue a man child as it is commonly thought and spoken When a woman is with childe the meanes to preserue her from any shift and slip that she may tarry out her full terme is to drink the ashes of Porkepines calcined also the drinking of a bitches milk maketh the infant within the womb to come on forward to grow to perfection before it seek to come forth vntimely also if the child stick in the birth or otherwise make no haste to come forth of the mothers body when the time is come the skin wherein the bitch bare her whelps within her body and which commeth away from her after she hath puppied hasteneth the birth if so be it were taken away from her before it touch the ground If women in labour drinke milke it will comfort their loins or smal of the back Mice dung delaied and dissolued in rain water is very good to annoint the brests of a woman new laied to break their kernel and to allay their ouermuch strutting presently after childbirth The ashes of hedgehogs preserueth women from abortion or vntimely births if they be annointed with a liniment made of them and oile incorporat together The better speed and more ease shall those women haue of deliuerance which in the time of their trauell drinke a draught of Goose dung in two cyaths of water or else the water that issueth out of their owne body by the natural parts a little before the child should be borne and that out of a weazils bladder A liniment made of earth-wormes if the nouch or chine of the necke and the shoulder blades be annointed therewith preserueth a woman from the pain of the sinews which commonly followeth vpon child-bearing and the same send away the after-birth if when they bee newly brought to bed they drink the same in wine cuit A cataplasme made of them simply alone without any other thing and applied to womens sore brests which are impostumat bring the same to maturation breake them when they are ripe draw them after that they runne and in the end heale them vp cleane and skin all again The said earthwormes also if they be drunk in honied wine bring down milk into their brests There be certain little wormes found breeding in the common Coich-grasse called Gramen which if a woman weare about her neck serue very effectually to cause her for to keep her infant within the wombe the ordinary terme but she must leaue them off when she drawes neere to the time when she should cry out for otherwise if they be not taken from her they would hinder her deliuerance Great heed also there must be taken that these wormes bee not laid vpon the ground in any hand Moreouer there be Physitians who giue women to drink 5 or 7 of them at a time for to help them to conceiue If women vse to eat snailes dressed as meat they shall be deliuered with more speed if they were in hard labour let them be applied to the region of the matrice or naturall parts with Saffron they hasten conception If the same be reduced into a liniment with Amylum and gum Tragacanth and laid too accordingly they do stay the immoderat flux of reds or whites Being eaten in meat they are soueraigne for their monthly purgations And with the marrow of a red Deere they reduce the matrice againe into the right place if it were turned a to-side but this regard must be had that to euery snaile there be put a dram weight of Cyperus also If the matrice be giuen to ventosities let the same snails be taken forth of their shels stamped and laid too with oile of Roses they discusse the windinesse thereof And for these purposes before named the snailes of Astypalaea be chosen for the best Also for to resolue the inflation of this part there is another medicine made with snailes especially those of Barbarie namely to take two of them and to stampe them with as much Fenigreeke seed as may be comprehended with three fingers adding thereto the quantity of four spoonfuls of hony and when they be reduced all into a liniment to apply the same to the region of the womb after the same hath been well and throughly annointed all ouer with the iuice of Ireos i. Floure-de-lis There be moreouer certaine white snailes that be small and long withall and these be commonly wandering here and there in euery place These beeing dried in the Sun vpon tiles and reduced into pouder they vse to blend with bean floure of each a like quantity And this is thought to be an excellent mixture for to beautifie their body and make the skin white and smooth Also if the itch be offensiue so as a woman be found euer and anone to scratch and rub those parts there is not a better thing therefore than the little flat snails if they be brought into a liniment with fried Barly groats If a woman with child chance to step ouer a Viper shee shall be deliuered before her time of an vnperfect birth The like accident wil befal vnto her in case she go ouer the serpent Amphisbaena if the same were dead before And yet if a woman haue about her in a box one of them aliue shee shall not need to feare the going ouer them though they were dead And one of these Amphisbaenes dead as it is and preserued or condite in salt procureth safe and easie deliuerance to a woman that hath it about her A wonderfull thing that it should be so dangerous for a woman with childe to passe ouer one of them which hath not bin kept in salt and that the same should be harmelesse and do no hurt at
docilitie and gentlenesse of some fish where they will come to hand and take meat at a mans hand in what countries fishes serue in stead of oracles 3. Of those fishes that liue both on land and water the medicines and obseruations as touching Castoreum 4. Of the sea Tortoise many vertues medicinable obserued in sundry fishes 5. Receits of medicins taken from water creatures digested and set in order according to sundry diseases first against poyson and venomous beasts 6. Of Oisters Purple shell-fishes sea-weeds called Reits their vertues medicinable 7. Medicins against the shedding of the haire how to fetch haire againe also against the infirmities of eies ears teeth and to amend the vseemely spots in the face ly 8. Many medicins set down together vnorder 9. Remedies for the diseases of the liuer and sides stomacke and bellie others also disorderly put downe 10. Against feuers and agues of all sorts and many other infirmities 11. A rehearsall of all creatures liuing in the sea to the number of 122. In summe ye hauehere medicines stories and obseruations 928. Latine Authors Licinius Macer Trebius Niger Sexitius Niger who wrote in Greeke Ovid the Poet Cassius Hemina Mecanas and L. Atteius Forreine Writers K. Iuba Andreas Salpe Pelops Apelles of Thasos Thrasillus and Nicander ¶ THE XXXIII BOOKE DECLARETH the natures of Mettals Chap. 1. In what estimation were the mines of gold at the first in the old world the beginning of gold rings the proportion of gold that our ancestors had in their treasure the degree of knights or gentlemen at Rome the priuiledge to weare gold rings and who only might so do 2. The courts and chambers of judges or justices at Rome how often the gentlemen of Rome and men of armes changed their title the presents giuen to valiant souldiours for their braue seruice in the wars the first crowns of gold that were seene 3. The ancient vse of gold besides both in men women of the golden coine when copper and brasse money was first stamped when gold and siluer was put into coine before mony was coined how they vsed brasse for exchange in old time At the first taxation and leuie made of Tribute what was thought to be the greatest wealth and at what rate were the best men sessed How often and at what time gold grew into credit and estimation 4. The mines of gold and how naturally it is found when the statue or image of gold was first seene medicinable vertues in gold 5. Of Borras and six properties of Borras in matters of Physicke the wonderfull nature that it hath to soder all mettals and giue them their perfection 6. Of Siluer Quick-siluer Antimonie or Alabaster the drosse or refuse of siluer also the scum or some of siluer called Litharge 7. Or Vermilion in what account it was in old time among the Romanes the inuention thereof of Cinnabaris or Sangdragon vsed in painting and Physick diuers sorts of vermillion and how painters vse it 8. Of Quicksiluer artificiall the maner of gilding siluer of touchstones diuers experiments to trie siluer the sundry kinds therof 9. Of mirroirs or looking-glasses of the siluer in Aegypt 10. Of the excessiue wealth of some men in money who were reputed for the richest men when it was that at Rome they began to make largesse and scatter money abroad to the commons 11. Of the superfluitie of coine and the frugalitie of others as touching siluer plate beds and tables of siluer when began fitst the making of excessiue great and massiue platters and chargers of siluer 12. Of siluer statues the grauing and chasing in siluer other workmanship in that mettall 13. Of Sil of Azur of superfice Azur named Nestorianum also of the Azur called Coelum that euery yere these kinds be not sold at one price This booke hath in it of medicines stories and obseruations 1215. Latine Authors alledged L. Piso Antius Verrius M. Varro Cor. Nepos Messula Rufus Marsus the Poet Buthus Iulius Bassus and Sextius Niger who wrote both of Physicke in Greeke and Fabius Vestalis Forreine Writers Democritus Metrodorus Sceptius Menaechmus Xenocrates and Antigonus who wrate all three of the feat and skill of grauing chasing and embossing in mettall Heliodorus who wrote a booke of the rich ornaments and oblations of the Athenians Pasiteles who wrote of wonderfull pieces of worke Nymphodorus Timaeus who wrate of Alchymie or minerall Physicke Iolla Apollodorus Andreas Heraclydes Diagoras Botryensus Archimedes Dionysius Aristogenes Democritus Mnesicles Attalus the Physician Xenocrates the sonne of Zeno and Theomnestes ¶ THE XXXIIII BOOKE TREATETH of other Mettals Chap. 1. Mines of Brasse Copper Iron Lead Tin 2. Sundry kinds of Brasse namely Corinthian Deliacke and Aegineticke 3. Of goodly candlesticks other ornaments of temples 4. The first images made at Rome the originall of statues the honour done to men by statues sundry sorts and diuers forms of them 5. Of statues pourtraied in long Robes and of many others who first erected images vpon columnes and pillars at Rome when they were allowed first at the cities charges also what maner of statues the first wer at Rome 6. Of statues without gowne or cassocke and some other the first statue pourtraied on horsebacke at Rome when the time was that all Images as well in publike places as priuat houses were abolished at Rome and put downe what women at Rome were allowed to haue their statues and which were the first erected in publike place by forrein nations 7. The famous workemen in making casting Images the excessiue price of Images of the most famous and notable colosses or gyant-like images in the citie of Rome 8. Three hundred sixtie and six peeces of work wrought in brasse by most curious and excellent artificers 9. What difference there is in Brasse the diuers mixtures with other mettals how to keepe brasse 10. Of Brasse ore called Cadmia and for what it is good in Physicke 11. The refuse or scum of Brasse Verdegris the skales of brasse and copper steele copper rust or Spanish greene of the collyrie or eye-salue called Hieracium 12. Of a kinde of Verdegris named Scolecia of Chalcitis i. red Vitrioll Mysy Sory and Copporose or Vitrioll i. blacke Nil 13. Of the foile of Brasse named white Nil or Tutia of Spodium Antispodium of Diphryges and the Trient of Servilius 14. Of Iron and mines of Iron the difference also of Iron 15. Of the temperature of Iron the medicinable vertues of Iron and the rust of Brasse and Iron the skales of Iron and the liquid plastre named of the Greekes Hygemplastrum 16. The mines of Lead of white and blacke Lead 17. Of Tin Of Argentine Tin and some other minerals 18. Medicins made of Lead refuse of Lead of Lead ore of Ceruse or Spanish white of Sandaricha of red Orpiment In summe here are contained natable matters stories and obseruations 815. Latine Authours cited L. Piso Antias Verrius M. Varro Messala Rufus Marsus the
marie that was a monstrous and prodigious token and foreshewed some heauy fortune that followed after Also in the beginning of the Marsians war there was a bondwoman brought forth a Serpent In sum there be many mis-shapen monsters come that way into the world of diuers and sundry formes Claudius Caesar writeth That in Thessalie there was borne a monster called an Hippocentaure that is halfe a man and halfe a horse but it died the very same day And verily after he came to weare the diadem we our selues saw the like monster sent vnto him out of Egypt embalmed and preserued in honey Among many strange examples appearing vpon record in Chronicles we reade of a childe in Sagunt the same yeare that it was forced and rased by Anabal which so soone as it was come forth of the mothers wombe presently returned into it againe CHAP. IIII. ¶ Of the change of one Sex to another and of Twins borne IT is no lie nor fable that females may turne to be males for we haue found it recorded that in the yearely Chronicles called Annals in the yere when Publius Licinius Crassus and C. Cassius Longinus were Consuls there was in Cassinum a maid childe vnder the very hand and tuition of her parents without suspition of being a changeling became a boy and by an Ordinance of the Soothsayers called Aruspices was confined to a certain desart Island and thither conueyed Licinius Mutianus reporteth that he himselfe saw at Argos one named Arescon who before time had to name Arescusa and a married wife but afterwards in processe of time came to haue a beard and the generall parts testifying a man and thereupon wedded a wife Likewise as he saith he saw at Smyrna a boy changed into a girle I my selfe am an eye witnesse That in Africke one L. Cossicius a citisen of Tisdrita turned from a woman to be a man vpon the very mariage day who liued at the time I wrot this booke Moreouer it is obserued that if women bring twins it is great good hap if they all liue but either the mother dieth in childbed or one of the babes if not both But if it fortune that the twinnes be of both sexes the one male the other female it is ten to one if they both escape Moreouer this is well knowne that as women age sooner than men and seeme old so they grow to their maturitie more timely than men and are apt from procreation before them Last of all when a woman goeth with childe if it bee a man childe it stirreth oftner in the wombe and lieth commonly more to the right side wheras the female moueth more seldom and beareth to the left CHAP. V. ¶ The Generation of Man the time of childe-birth from seuen moneths to eleuen testified by many notable examples out of historie ALiother creatures haue a set time limited by Nature both of going with their yong and also of bringing it forth each one according to their kinde Man only is borne all times of the yeare and there is no certaine time of his abode in the wombe after conception for one commeth into the world at the seuen moneths end another at the eighth and so to the beginning of the ninth and tenth But before the seuenth moneth there is no infant euer borne that liueth And none are borne at seuen moneths end vnlesse they were conceiued either in the very change of the moone or within a day of it vnder or ouer An ordinary thing it is in Egypt for women to go with yong eight moneths and then to be deliuered And euen in Italy also now adaies children so borne liue and do well but this is against the common receiued opinion of all old writers But there is no certainty to ground vpon in all these cases for they alter diuers waies Dame Vestilia the widow of C. Herditius wife afterward to Pomponius and last of all maried to Orfitus all right worshipful citisens and of most noble houses had 4 children by her three husbands to wit Sempronius whom she bare at the seuenth moneth Suillius Rufus at the eleuenth and seuen moneths also she went with Corbulo yet they liued all and these two Iast came both to be Consuls After all these sons she bare a daughter namely Caesonia wife to the Emperor Caius Caligula at the eighth moneths end They that are borne thus in this moueth haue much ado to liue and are in great danger for forty dayes space yea and their mothers are very sickly and subiect to fall into vntimely trauell all the fourth moneth and the eighth and if they fall in labor and come before their time they die Massurius writeth that L. Papyrius the Pretor or Lord chief Iustice when a second heire in remainder made claim and put in plea for his inheritance of the goods made an award and gaue iudgement against him in the behalfe of an Infant the right heire borne after the decease of his father vpon this That the mother came in and testified how she was deliuered of that childe within thirteene moneths after the death of the Testator the reason was because there is no definite time certaine for women to go with childe CHAP. VI. ¶ Of Conceptions and signes distinguishing the sex in great bellied women before they are deliuered IF ten dayes after a woman hath had the company of a man shee feele an extraordinary ache in the head and perceiue giddinesse in the brain as if all things went round finde a dazling and mistinesse in the eies abhorring and loathing meat and withall a turning and wambling in the stomacke it is a signe that she is conceiued and beginneth to breed if she goe with a boy better coloured will she be all the time and deliuered with more ease and by the 40 day she shall feele a kinde of motion and stirring in her wombe But contrarie it falleth out in the breeding of a girle she goeth more heauily with it and findeth the burthen heauier her legs and thighes about the share will swell a little And ninetie dayes it will be before she absolutely perceiueth any mouing of the infant But be it male or female shee breeds they put her to much paine and grieuance when their haire beginneth to bud forth and euer at the full of the Moone and euen the very infants after they are borne are most amisse and farthest out of frame about that time And verily great care must be had of a woman with child all the time she goeth therewith both in her gate and in euery thing else that can be named for if women feed vpon ouer-salt and poudered meat they wil bring forth a child without nailes and if they hold not their wind in their labor longer it will be ere they be deliuered and with more difficultie Much yawning in the time of trauell is a deadly signe like as to sneese presently vpon conception threatneth abortion or a slip CHAP. VII ¶ Of the conception and generation of
Man I Am abashed much and very sory to thinke and consider what a poore and ticklish beginning man hath the proudest creature of all others when the smel only of the snuffe of a candle put out is the cause oft times that a woman fals into vntimely trauel And yet see these great tyrans and such as delight only in carnage and bloudshed haue no better original Thou then that presumest vpon thy bodily strength thou that standest so much vpon Fortunes fauors and hast thy hands full of her bountifull gifts taking thy self not to be a foster-child and nurceling of hers but a naturall son borne of her owne body thou I say that busiest thy head euermore and settest thy minde vpon conquests and victories thou that art vpon euerie good successe and pleasant gale of prosperity puffed vp with pride and takest thy selfe for a god neuer thinkest that thy life when it was hung vpon so single a thred with so small a matter might haue miscarried Nay more than that euen at this day art thou in more danger than so if thou chance to be but stung or bitten with the little tooth of a Serpent or if but the verie kernell of a raisin go downe thy throat wrong as it did with the poet Anacreon which cost him his life Or as Fabius a Senator of Rome and Lord chiefe Iustice besides who in a draught of milk fortuned to swallow a small haire which strangled him Well then thinke better of this point for he verily that will euermore set before his eies and remember the frailty of mans estate shall liue in this world vprightly and in euen ballance without inclining more to one side than vnto another CHAP. VIII ¶ Of those that be called Agrippae TO be borne with the feet forward is vnnaturall and vnkinde and such as come in that order into the world the Latines were wont to name Agrippae as if a man should say born hardly and with much ado And in this maner M. Agrippa as they say came forth of his mothers wombe the only man almost known to haue brought any good fortune with him and prospered in the world of all that euer were in that sort borne And yet as happy as hee was and how well soeuer he chieued in some respects he was much pained with the gout and passed all his youth and many a day after in bloudy wars and in danger of a thousand deaths And hauing escaped all these harmfull perils vnfortunate he was in all his children and especially in his two daughters the Agrippinae both who brought forth those wicked Imps so pernicious to the whole earth namely C. Caligula and Domitius Nero two Emperours but two fiery flames to consume and waste all mankinde Moreouer his infelicitie herein appeared that hee liued so short a time dying as he did a strong and lusty man in the 51 yeare of his age tormented and vexed with the adulteries of his owne wife oppressed with the heauy and intolerable seruitude that he was in vnder his wiues father In which regards it seems he paid full deare for the presage of his vntoward birth and natiuitie Moreouer Agrippina hath left in writing That her son Nero also late Emperor who all the time of his reigne was a very enemy to all mankinde was borne with his feet forward And in truth by the right order and course of Nature a man is brought into the world with his head first but is carried forth with his feet formost CHAP. IX ¶ Births cut out of the wombe BVt more fortunate are they a great deale whose birth costeth their mothers life parting from them by means of incision like as Scipio Africanus the former who came into the world in that manner and the first that euer was sirnamed Caesar was so called for the like cause And hereof comes the fore-name also of the Caesones In like sort also was that Manlius borne who entred Carthage with an army CHAP. X. ¶ Who are Vopisci THe Latines were wont to call him Vopiscus or rather Opiscus who being one of two twins hapned to stay behinde in the wombe the full terme when as the other miscarried by abortiue and vntimely birth And in this case there chance right strange accidents although they fall out very seldome CHAP. XI ¶ Examples of many Infants at one birth FEw creatures there be besides women that seeke after the male and can skill of their companie after they be once conceiued with yong one kind verily or two at the most there is knowne to conceiue double one vpon the other We find in books written by Physitians and in their records who haue studied such matters and gathered obseruations that there haue passed or bin cast away from a woman at one only slip 12 distinct children but when it falleth out that there is some pretty time betwixt two conceptions both of them may carry their full time and be borne with life as appeared in Hercules and his brother Iphiclus as also in that harlot who was deliuered of two infants one like her owne husband the other resembling the Adulterer likewise in a Proconnesian bond-seruant who was in one day gotten with childe by her master and also by his Baily or Procurator and being afterwards deliuered of two children they bewrayed plainly who were their fathers Moreouer there was another who went her full time euen nine moneths for one childe but was deliuered of another at the fiue moneths end Furthermore in another who hauing dropped downe one childe at the end of seuen moneths by the end of the ninth came with two twinnes more Ouer and besides it is commonly seen that children be not alwaies answerable to the parents in euery respect for of perfect fathers and mothers who haue all their limmes there are begotten children vnperfect and wanting some members and contrariwise parents there are maimed and defectiue in some part who neuerthelesse beget children that are sound and entire and with all that they should haue It is seen also that infants are at a default of those parts their parents misse yea and they carry often times certaine markes moles blemishes and skarres of their fathers and mothers as like as may be Among the people called Dakes the children vsually beare the markes imprinted in their armes of them from whom they descend euen to the fourth generation CHAP. XII ¶ Examples of many that haue been very like and resembled one another IN the race and family of the Lepidi it is said there were three of them not successiuely one after another but out of order after some intermission who had euery one of them at their birth a little pannicle or thin skin growing ouer their eye Some haue bin known to resemble their grandsires and of two twins one hath beene like the father the other the mother but he that was borne a yere after hath bin so like his elder brother as if he had bin one of the twins Some women
the Salamander AS for example the Salamander made in fashion of a Lizard marked with spots like stars neuer comes abroad and sheweth it felfe but in great shewres for in faire weather he is not seen He is of so cold a complexion that if he do but touch the fire he wil quench it as presently as if ice were put vnto it The Salamander casteth vp at the mouth a certaine venomous matter like milke let it but once touch any bare part of a man or womans body all the haire will fall off and the part so touched will change the colour of the skinne to the white morphew CHAP. LXVIII ¶ Of those that breed of others which neuer were ingendred Also of those that being ingendred yet breed not SOme creatures there be that breed of those that neuer were ingendred themselues and yet not according to those naturall means as others which wee haue shewed before and such also as either the Summer or Spring or some certain season of the yeare do breed Among which some ingender not at all as the Salamander for there is no more distinction of sex in them than in Yeeles and in all those which neither lay egs ne yet bring forth any liuing creature Oisters likewise and all such creatures as cleaue fast either to rockes or to the shelues are neither male nor female As for such as come of themselues if there be seene in them any distinction of male and female somthing verily they ingender betweene them but an imperfect creature verily it is and not resembling them neither doth that generation breed ought any more as we see the flies that ingender certain little wormes The experience hereof is better to be obserued in those creatures called Insects whose nature is hard to be expressed and yet I haue appointed a seuerall treatise for them apart Wherefore I will go forward in the discourse begun already and namely as touching the sence and vnderstanding of the forenamed Creatures and then proceed to the rest CHAP. LXIX ¶ The outward sences of liuing Creatures MAn excelleth all other Creatures first in the sence of feeling and then of tasting In the rest many beasts go beyond him For the Aegles haue a clearer eie-sight the Geires a finer smell and the Moldwarps notwithstanding they be couered ouer with earth so heauie so thick and deafe an element as it is yet their eare is far better than ours Moreouer albeit the voice of all them that speake aboue ground doth ascend vpward still from them yet heare theâ—… when they talke yea and if a man chance to speake of them some hold that they vnderstand their speech and thereupon do fly from them A man who at first lacketh his hearing wanteth also the vse of his tongue neither are there any deafe borne but the same likewise be dumbe A man would not think neither is it likely that the Oisters in the sea do heare and yet vpon any noise and sound their manner is to sink down to the bottome And therefore when as men do fish for them in the sea they are as silent as they may be CHAP. LXX ¶ A discourse That fishes both heare and also smell FIshes verily haue no eares ne yet any holes to serue for hearing and yet plain it is that they doe heare as we may daily see in certaine fish ponds and stewes where fishes be kept for whâ—…n those that haue the charge of them make a noise with clapping of their hands as wild as they be otherwise they shall haue them come in great flocks to take their meat that is thrown in to them and this are they wont to do daily and that which more is in Caesars Fish-pooles a man may see whole skuls of fishes to repaire at their call yea and some wil part from the rest of their company and come alone to land when they be named Hereupon it is that the Mullet sea-Pike Stock-fish and Chronius are thought to heare best of all others and therfore liue very ebbe among the shelues and shallowes That fishes haue the sence of smelling it is manifest for they are not all taken ne yet delighted with one kinde of bait and this is obserued that before they bite they will smel to it Some also there be that lie in holes vnder rocks and no sooner hath the fisher besmeared and anointed the mouth and sides of the said rocks in the very entrance to their holes but he shall see them come forth as it were to auoid the sent of their own carion Let them lie in the very deep yet wil they resort to certain odors and smells namely to the Cuttill burnt and the Polype which for that purpose they vse to put into their nests And verily they cannot abide the smel of the sinke and pumpe of a ship neither wil they come neere vnto it but aboue all things they may not away with the bloud of fish The Pourcuttle hardly or not at all can be pulled from the rocks so fast cleaueth he howbeit come neer him with the herb Marjerome or Savorie he will presently leape from the rocke and away to auoid the sent thereof Purples also be caught by means of some stinking bait And for other creatures who doubteth but they haue a perfect smell Serpents are chased away with the smell and perfume of the Harts horn but aboue all with the odor of Styrax And Pismires are killed with the very fume of Origon Quick-lime or Brimstone Gnats loue all sour things and willingly will thither but to any sweet meats they come not neare CHAP. LXXI ¶ That the sence of feeling is common to all liuing creatures THere is not a liuing creature throughout the world but hath the sence of feeling though it haue none els for euen oisters and earth-wormes if a man touch them doe euidently feele I would think also that there is none but tasteth as wel as feeles For what should the reason else be hat some desire to tast this others that And verily herein is seene aboue all the singular workmanship of Nature in the frame of their bodies and the members thereof Some ye shall haue to seise vpon their prey with their teeth others snatch it with their talons and clawes some peck and pluck it with their hookt bils others pudder into their food with their broad nebs Some with the sharp point of their beaks worke holes into their meat others lie sucking at it Some lick others sup in to conclude some chew others swallow and deuoure whole as it is As touching their feet there is no lesse varietie in the vse thereof in snatching and carrying away in tearing and plucking a pieces in holding fast and in crushing their prey Some ye shall haue to hang by their feet and others neuer lin scraping and scratching the earth CHAP. LXXII ¶ What creatures liue of poison and what of earth ROe Bucks and Does yea and Quailes as we haue said before will feed fat with
pray you how artificially she hides the snares in that net of hers made into squares to catch the poore flies A man would not thinke who sees the long yarne in her web wrought serce-wise smoothed and polished so cunningly and the verie manner of the woofe so glewish and clammie as it is of it selfe that all were to any purpose and serued for that which she intends See withall how slacke and hollow the net is made to abide the wind for feare of breaking and thereby so much the better also to fold and enwrap whatsoeuer coms within her reach What a craft is this of hers to leaue the vpper part thereof in the front vndone as if she were wearie for so a man may guesse when he can hardly see the reason and as it is in hunters net and toile that so soone as those nets be stumbled vpon they should cast the flies head long into the lap and concauitie of the net To come now vnto her nest and hole Is there any Architecture comparable to the vault and arched frame And for to keep out the cold how is it wrought with a longer and deeper nap than the rest What subtiltie is this of hers to retire into a corner so far from the mids making semblance as though she meant nothing lesse than that she doth and as if she went about some other businesse Nay how close lies she that it is impossible for one to see whether any bodie be within or no! What should I speak of the strength that this web hath to resist the puffes and blasts of winds of the roughnesse to hold and not breake notwithstanding a deale of dust doth weigh and beare it downe Many a time ye shall see a broad web reaching from one tree to another and this is when she learns to weaue begins to practise and trie her skill Shee stretches a thread and warps in length from the top of the tree downe to the very ground and vp again she whirles most nimbly by the same thread so as at one time she spins and winds vp her yarne Now if it chance that any thing light into her net how watchfull how quick sighted how readie is she to run Be it neuer so little snared euen in the very skirt and vtmost edge therof she alwaies skuds into the mids for so by shaking the whole net she intangles the flie or whatsoeuer it be so much the more Looke what is slit or rent therein she presently doth mend and repaire and that so euen and small that a man cannot see where the hole was derned and drawne vp again These Spiders hunt also after the yong Lizards first they enfold and wrap the head within their web then they catch hold and tweake both their lips together and so bite and pinch them A worthy sight and spectacle to behold fit for a king euen from the stately Amphitheatres when such a combat chances Moreouer there be many presages and prognostications depend vpon these Spiders for against any inundations and ouerflowings of riuers they weaue and make their cobwebs higher than they were wont In faire and cleare weather they neither spin nor weaue vpon thicke and cloudie daies they be hard at worke and therefore many cobwebs be a signe of raine Some thinke it is the female that spins and weaues and the male which hunts and gets in the prouision for the familie thus ordering the matter equally in earning their liuing as man and wife together in one house Spiders engender together with their buttocks little worms they do lay like egs For considering that the generation of all Insects besides in a manner can be declared and shewed no otherwise I must not deferre the relation therof it being so admirable as it is Well then these egs they lay in their webs but scattering here and there because they vse to skip and leap when they thrust them forth The Phalangius only sits vpon the eggs within the very hole and those in great number which begin not so soon to peep but they eat the mother yea and oftentimes the father likewise for he helps her also to cooue And these kind of Spiders bring commonly 300 at a time wheras all the rest haue fewer They sit ordinarily thirtie daies As for yong Spiders they come to their full growth and perfection in foure weekes CHAP. XXV ¶ Of Scorpions SEmblably the land Scorpions do lay certaine little worms or grubs in maner of eggs and when they haue so done perish likewise for their labour as the Spiders Their stings be as venomous and dangerous as those of serpents and albeit there ensue not thereupon so present death yet they put folke to more paine a great deale insomuch as they languish and lie drawing on three daies before they die If a maiden be stung with one of them she is sure to die of it other women also for the most part catch their death thereby and hardly escape Yea and men also find their poison to be mortall deadly if they be stung in a morning by them when they creep newly out of their holes fasting before they haue discharged their poison by pric king one thing or other first Their sting lies in their tails and readie they are with it alwaies to strike There is not a minute of an houre but they practise and trie how they can thrust it forth so malicious they be because they would not lose and misse the first opportunity presented vnto them They strike both sidelong or byas and also crooked and bending vpward with their taile The poison that comes from them is white as Apollodorus saith who also hath set downe 9 sorts of them and distinguished them by their colours which me thinks was but superfluous and more than needed considering that a man cannot know by his discourse which of them he would haue to be least hurtfull and noisome He affirmeth that some haue double stings and that the males are more curst and cruell than the females for he auouches that they do engender together and that the males may be knowne by this That they are long and slender Moreouer that they be al of them venomous about mid-day when they be enchafed and set into an heat by the scalding and scorching sun also when they be drie and thirstie they cannot drinke their full and quench their drought This is well known that those which haue seuen joints in their tailes be more fell than the rest for it is ordinarie in them to haue but six In Affrick this pestilent creature vses to flie also namely when the Southerne winds blow which carrie them aloft in the aire and beare them vp as they stretch forth their armes like oares The same Apollodoruâ—… before-named auouches plainely that some of them haue very wings indeed The people called Psylli who making a gainfull trade and merchandise of it to bring in hither vnto vs the poisons of other countries and by that meanes haue
hath three joynts As for some sea-fishes we haue said before that they haue eight legs namely Many feet Pourcuttles Cuttles Calamaries and Crabfishes and those moue their fore-clees like armes a contrary way but their feet either they turne round or else fetch them crooked atone side and a man shall not see any liuing creature againe al round but they As for others they haue two feet to guide them and lead the way but Crabs onely haue foure There be Insects besides vpon the land that exceed this number of feet and then they haue no fewer than twelue as the most sort of wormes yea and some of them reach to an hundred No creature whatsoeuer hath an odde foot As touching the legs of those which bee whole houfed they be all full as long when they first come into the world as euer they will be well may they shoot out bigger and burnish afterward but to speake truly and properly they grow no more in length And therefore when they be yong sucking foles a man shall see them scratch the haire with the hinder feet which as they wax elder and bigger they are not able to do because their legges thriue only in outward compasse and not in length Which also is the cause that when they be new foled they cannot feed themselues but kneeling vntill such time as their neckes be come to their full growth and just proportion CHAP. XLIX ¶ Os Dwarfes and genitall parts THere are no liuing creatures in the world euen the very fowles of the aire not excepted but in each kind there be dwarfs to be found As for those males which haue their instruments of generation behind we haue sufficiently spoken In Wolues Foxes Weesils and Ferrits those genitall members be of a bonie substance and of them there be soueraigne medicines made for to cure the stone and grauell in mans bodie engendred The Beares pisle also becommeth as hard as an horn men say so soone as his breath is out of his bodie As for Camels pisles they vse in the East countries to make their best bow strings therof which they account to be the surest of all others Moreouer and besides the genitall parts put a difference between nation and nation also between one religion and another for the priests of Cybele the great mother of the gods vse to cut off their owne members and to gueld themselues without danger of death On the contrarie side some few women there be monstrous that way and in that part resemble men like as we see there are Hermaphrodites furnished with the members of both sexe In the daies of Nero the Emperor the like accident was seen and neuer before in some foure-footed beasts For he in very truth exhibited a shew of certaine mares that were of the nature of those Hermaphrodites found in the territorie of Treuiers in France and they drew together in his owne coach And verily a strange and wondrous sight this was To see the great monarch of the world sit in a charriot drawne by such monstrous beasts As touching the stones of Rams Buckes and greater beasts they hang dangling downe between their legs but in Bores they be thrust together knit vp short close to the bellie Dolphines haue these parts very long and the same lying hidden within the bottom of their bellies In Elephants likewise they be close and hidden In as many creatures as doe lay egges the stones sticke hard to their loines within the bodie and such be euer most quicke of dispatch in the act of generation and soone haue done the feat Fishes and Serpents haue none at all but in stead therof there be two strings or veines reach from their kidnies to their genitall member The * Buzzard a kind or Hawke is prouided of three stones A man hath his cods sometime bruised and broken either by some extraordinarie accident or naturally and such as be thus burst are counted but halfe men and of a middle nature betweene Hermaphrodites and guelded persons To conclude in all liuing creatures whatsoeuer the males be stronger than the females setting aside the race of Panthers and Beares CHAP. L. ¶ Of Tailes THere is not a liuing creature excepting men and Apes take as well those that bring forth their yong aliue as others that lay egges only but is furnished with a taile for the necessarie vse of their bodies Such as be otherwise rough-haired and bristly yet haue naked tailes as Swine those that be long shagged and rugged haue very little and short skuts as Beares but as many as haue long side haires be likewise long tailed as Horses If Lizards or Serpents haue their tailes cut off from their bodies they will grow againe In fishes they serue in good stead as rudders and helmes to direct them in their swimming yeathey fit their turnes as well as oares to set them forward as they stirre them to this or that hand There be Lizards found with double tailes Kine and Oxen haue the longest rumpe for their tailes of any other beasts yea and the same at the end hath the greatest tuft and bush of haire Asses haue the said docke or rumpe longer than horses and yet all such beasts either for saddle or packe haue it set forth with long haires Lions tailes are fashioned in the very tip thereof like vnto Kine or Oxen and Rats but Panthers are not after the same manner tailed Foxes and Wolues haue shag tailes like sheep but that they be longer Swine carie their tailes turned and twined round And Dogs that be of curres kind and good for nothing carrie their tailes close vnderneath their bellies CHAP. LI. ¶ Of Voices Aristotle of opinion That no liuing creature hath any voice but such only as are furnished with lungs and wind-pipes that is to say which breath and draw their wind and therefore he holdeth that the noise which we heare come from Insects is no voice at all but a very sound occasioned by the aire that gets within them and so being enclosed yeelds a certaine noise and resoundeth againe And thus it is quoth he that some keep a humming or buzzing as Bees others make a cricking with a certain long traine as the Grashoppers for euident it is and wel known that the aire entring into those pipes if I may so term them vnder their breast and meeting with a certaine pellicle or thin skin beates vpon it within and so sets it a stirring by which attrition that shril sound commeth Again it is as apparent that in others and namely Flies and Bees the buzzing which we heare begins and ends euer with their flying For no doubt that sound commeth not of any wind that these little creatures either draw or deliuer but of the aire which they hold inclosed within and the beating of their wings together As for Locusts it is generally beleeued receiued that they make that sound with clapping of their feathers and wings and thighs together In like manner among fishes
as return at their iust course from day to day euery third fourth or fifth day c. Peripneumony is the inflammation of the lungs Pessary is a deuise made like a finger or suppository to be put vp into the natural parts of a woman Phlebotomie i. bloud-letting or opening of a veine by incision or pricke Phthysicke to speak properly is the consumption of the body occasioned by the fault of exulcerat and putrified lungs But Pliny otherwhiles seemeth to take it for any other consumption Pomona a deuised goddesse amongst the Painims of apples and such fruits Prodigies bee strange sights and wonderfull tokens presaging some fearefull thing to come Propinquitie nearnesse or affinitie Proscription was a kind of outlawing and depriuing a man of the protection of the state with confiscation of his lands and goods Propagat to grow and increase after the manner of Vine branches which being drawne along in the ground from the motherstock do take root Propitious i. gracious and mercifull Proximitie neere neighbour-hood or resemblance Ptisane the decoction of husked Barley a grewell made therewith or the creame thereof Pulpous i. full of pulpe or resembling pulpe which is the soft substance in Apples or such fruits answerable to the flesh in liuing bodies Purulent yeelding filth and Attyr Putrefactiue such venomous medicines or humors as do corrupt and putrifie the part of the body which they possesse Q QVindecemvirs were certain officers fifteen in number ioined in one commission R REecptorie a vessell standing vnderneath ready to receiue that which droppeth and distilleth from something aboue it Reciproeall going and comming as the tides of the sea ebbing and flowing To Rectifie i. to set streight to reforme or amend Repercussiue i. driuing or smiting backe Residence i. the setling toward the bottome as in vrine Retentiue facultie i. the naturall power that ech part or member of the body hath to hold that which is committed vnto it the due time as the stomacke meat the bladder vrine c. Reuerberation i. rebounding or striking backe Rhagadies bee properly the chaps in the fundament or seat Rubified i. made red as when by application of mustard plastres called Sinapismes or beating a part that is benummed with nettles it recouereth a fresh colour againe whereupon such plastres be called Rubificatiue and the operation is named by the Greekes Phoenigmos Rupture the disease of bursting as when the guts or other parts fall downe into the bag of the cods S SAliuation is a drawing of humours to the mouth and a deliuerie of them from thence in manner of spittle Sarcling is the baring of roots by ridding away the earth and weeds from about them that did clog them Scarification is a kind of pouncing or opening of the skin by way of incision slightly with the fleame or launcet either to giue some issue for the bloud and humours to passe forth or prepare a place for the cupping-glasse to extract more Schirre is a hard swelling almost sencelesse Scriptule or Scruple is foure and twenty grains weight or the third part of a dram Scrophules See Kings euill Seat is the circumference or compasse about the tuill or fundament Secundine i. the afterbirth that infolded the infant within the mothers wombe Sege a stoole of easement whereupon wee sit to discharge the order and excrements of the guts Serosities or Serous humors be the thinner parts of the masse of bloud answering to the whey in milke such as we see to float vpon bloud that hath run out of a veine Sextarius a measure among the Romanes whereof six goe to their Congius wherupon it tooke that name it containes two hemines and is somewhat lesse than a wine quart with vs it beareth twentie ounces Sinapisme a practise by a plaster of mustard seed and such like to reuiue a place in manner mortified and to draw fresh humors colour to it Solstice i. the Sunnestead as well in winter as Summer when hee is come to his vtermost points North and South but vsually it is put for Mid-summer onely Sophisticated i. falsified made corrupt howbeit going for the right Thus drougs and gems are many times thrust vpon vs. Spasmes be painefull crampes or pluckings of the sinewes and cords of the Muscles Spasmaticke are such as be thus plucked Species be either the simple ingredients into a composition or else the bare pouders mingled together ready to be reduced into an electuarie liquid or Tables Speculatiue knowledge or Speculation is the insight into a thing by reading only contemplation without practise experience Sperme is naturall seed Spondyles be the turning ioints of the chine or backbone Stomachicall fluxe is the same that Coeliaca passio See Coeliaci Stomaticall medicines be such as are appropriat for the diseases incident to the mouth and the parts adioining Stypticke be such things as by a certain harsh tast doe shew that they bee astringent as medlars and alumne which thereupon is named Stypteria and such like Succedan that drug which may be vsed for default of another The Apothecaries call such Quid pro quo Suffusion See Cataract Suffumigation is the smoke that is receiued in to the body from vnder a stool for the diseases of the guts fundament or matrice Suppuration is when a bile or impostume gathereth to an head and must be broken Sympathie i. a fellow-feeling vsed in Pliny for the agreement or amitie naturall in diuers sencelesse things as betweene yron and the loadstone Symptome an accident accompanying sicknes as head-ach the ague stitch shortnesse of wind spitting bloud cough and ague the pleurisie Syringe an instrument in manner of a pipe to iniect a medicinable liquor into the blader T TEllus the earth Tenacitie clamminesse such as is in glew birdlime and Bitumen Theoricke or Theoretique contemplatiue knowledge without action and practise Tinesme an inordinat desire to the stool without doing any thing to the purpose Tonsils See Amygdals Transparent i. cleare and bright throughout as crystall amber aire and water Transvasation i. the pouring of liquor out of one vessell into another Triuial i. vulgar common and of base reckoning Triumvirat the Tripartite dominion of Antonie Octavius and Lepidus when they held all the world in their hands each one their third part Trochisques or Trosques be litle cakes or roundles into which diuers things medicinable are reduced for to be kept the better to be ready at hand when they shall be vsed Tuil the same that the Fundament or nethermost gut V VEgetatiue that power in nature which God hath giuen to creatures whereby they liue are nourished and grow Ventositie windinesse Vicinitie neernesse or neighborhood Victoriat a siluer coine in Rome Halfe a denarius so called because it had the image of victory stamped on the one side it is somwhat vnder our groat Vnction annointing Vnguent an ointment Vreters be the passages or conduits whereby the water or vrine passeth from the kidnies into the bladder Vulnerarie i. belonging to a
sort may be excused for sowing it as they doe and making saile-cloath thereof in regard of the necessarie traffique they haue into Arabia and India for to fetch in the commodities of those countries what need or reason I pray you hath France so to do Can the Gauls be sorted in the same range with the Egyptians Whether would they go Is it not sufficient that they see the mightie mountaines standing iust between them and the Miditerranean sea Will not this serue to keepe them from Nauigation that on the huge Ocean side they can discouer nothing but the vast Elements of Water and Aire together Howbeit for all this restraint the Cadurci Caletes Rutene and Bituriges the Morini also who are supposed to be the farthest people inhabiting our Continent yea and thoroughout all parts of Fraunce they weaue Line and make Sailes thereof And now adayes also the Flemmings and Hollanders dwelling beyond the Rhene I meane those antient Enemies to the State of our Empire doe the like insomuch as the women there cannot deuise to go more rich and costly in their apparell than to weare fine Linnen The obseruation whereof putteth me in mind of a thing that M. Varro doth report of the whole Race and Familie of the Serrani in which House this Order was precisely kept That there was not a woman amongst them knowne to weare any Linnen about her no not so much as in a smocke next her bare skinne Now in Germanie the spinners and weauers of Linnen doe all their worke in shrouds caues and vaults buried as it were vnder the ground so do they also in Italy and that part of Lombardie that lieth between the Poand Ticinus to wit in the Countrey Aliana where after the Setabines in Castile which is the best there is very fine workemanship of Linnen cloath and may deserue the third place for goodnesse thoroughout all Europe For the Retovines bordering hard vpon the foresaid Allianes and the Faventines who inhabit the broad port-way Aemilia are to be ranged in a second degree and next to the Setabines for the fine Linnen which they make And in very truth this Fauentine cloth is alwaies far whiter than the Allian which is ordinarily brown when it is new wouen and before it be bleached Like as the Retovine is exceeding fine thick wouen withall and besides not inferior in whitenesse to the Fauentine howbeit no nap or down it carieth a thing which as there be some who do greatly praise and like so there be others again discommend and dislike as much As touching the thred it selfe that they make of their Flax it is more euen if euener may be than that which the Spider spinneth so neruous also and strong withall that if a man list to make triall thereof with his teeth it will giue a twang and ring again like a Lute-string and therefore it carrieth a double price to other As touching the Spanish Flax and namely that which Aragon and Cartalogna doth yeeld it is passing faire and white by reason of a certain brook or running water passing vnder Tarracon wherein it is watered the nature whereof is to giue it a singular brightnesse aboue the rest Wonderous fine it is and runneth into a dainty small thred for there first was deuised the fine Cypres or Lawne and the curtains thereof It is not long ago since out of the same parts of high Spaine there was brought into Italy the flax of Zoela most commodious meet for hunters to make great nets and toile A maritime city this Zoela is in Gallitia scituat neere the ocean There is excellent good Line also to be found at Cumes in Campaine within Italy which serueth very well for snares and small nets to take fishes and to catch birds with The same also yeeldeth matter and stuffe for the great cord-nets abouesaid for wote wel this that Flax fitteth our turns as well to snare and intrap all other beasts as it doth to indanger our own selues vpon the sea But of all others the toile made of Cumes flaxen cords are so strong that the wild bore falling into it wil be caught and no maruell for these kind of nets will checke the very edge of a sword or such like weapon I my selfe haue seene so fine and small a thred that a whole net knit thereof together with the cords and strings called Courants running along the edges to draw it in and let it out would passe all through the ring of a mans finger I haue known one man also carry so many of them easily as would go about compasse a whole forest But this is not the greatest wonder of them for more than so euery one of these threds that went to the making of the mashes was twisted 150 double and euen of late daies Iulius Lupus who died Lord Deputy or Gouernor of Egypt had such This may well seem a maruell incredible to those who neither knew nor saw the net-worke Habergeon or Curet of Amasis a king somtime of Egypt which was shewed of late daies within the temple of Minerua in the Isle of the Rhodians euery thred whereof carried a twist 365 double Certes Mutianus a man of good credit as who had bin thrice confull of Rome hath related so much at Rome vpon his owne knowledge for wheras there remained yet certaine small reliques and little pieces therof it was his hap of late to meet with some of them and by his owne triall to find that true which hac bin reported by others And verily great pittie it is that such an excellent rich and rare peece of work as it was should thus come to nothing by mens iniurious handling of it raueling out the threds as they haue don for to see the proose of the thing But to returne againe to our flax of Italy That which groweth in the Pelignians countrey is at this day in great account and request how beit none vse it but the Fullers There is not a whiter flax to be found indeed resembling wool nearer than this flax Like as for quilts ticks and mattrasses the flax of the Cadurei in France had no fellow for surely the inuention therof as also of flox to stuffe them with came out of France As for vs here in Italy euen as our maner was in old time te lie and sleep vpon straw-beds chaffy couches so at this day wee vse to call our pailers still by the name of Stramenta The Line or flax of Egypt is nothing strong howbeit the people there do raise exceeding great gaine and profit thereof And foure distinct kinds thereof are knowne according to the names of the sundry countries where they grow to wit Taniticum Pelusiacum Buticum and Tentyriticum Moreouer in the higher parts of Egypt which bend toward Arabia there groweth a certaine shrub or bush carrying cotton which some call Gossypium others Xylon and the linnen therof made they therefore cal Xylina This plant
to leaue the heauen and those coelestiall Bodies in their maiestie What is the cause that as the Magnet or loadstone draweth iron vnto it so there is another stone abhorreth the same and driueth iron from it What should the reason be of the Diamond that peerlesse stone the chiefe iewell wherein our rich worldings repose their greatest ioy and delight a stone otherwise inuincible and which no force and violence besides can conquer but that it remaineth still infâ—…ngible and yet that the simple bloud of a poore Goat is able to burst it in pieces Besides many other secrets in nature as strange yea and more miraculous All which we purpose to reserue vnto their seuer all places and will speake of them in order Mean while may it please the Reader to pardon vs and to take in good part the manner of our entrance into this matter for albeit we shall deale in the beginning with the smallest and basest things of all others yet such they be as are wholsome and concerne much the health of man and the maintenance of his life And first will we set in handwith the garden and the herbes that wee finde there CHAP. I. ¶ Of the wilde Cucumber and the juice thereof Elaterium THis wild Cucumber as we haue said heretofore is far lesse than that of the Garden Out of the fruit hereof there is a medicinable juice drawne which the Physitians call Elaterium For to get this juice men must not stay vntill the Cucumber be fullâ—… ripe for vnles it be taken betimes and cut down the sooner it wil leap flurt in the handling from the stele whereto it hangeth against their faces with no smal danger of their eye-sight Now when it is once gathered they keepe it soone whole night The next morrow they make an incision and slit it with the edge of a cane They vse to strew ashes also thereupon to restrain and keep down the liquor which issueth forth in such abundance which done they presse the said juice forth andreceiue it in raine water wherin it setleth and afterwards when it is dried in the Sunne they make it vp into Trochisques And certaine these Trochisques are soueraigne for many purposes to the great good and benefit of mankind For first and foremost it cureth the dimnesse and other defects or imperfections of the eyes it healeth also the vlcers of the eye lids It is said moreouer that if a man rub neuer so little of this juice vpon vine roots there will no birds come neere to pecke or once touch the grapes that shall hang thereon The root of this wild Cucumber if it be boiled in vinegre and made into a liniment and so applied is singular good for all kinds of gout but the juice of the said root helpeth the tooth-ach The root being dried and incorporat with rosin cureth the ringworme tettar wild scab or skurf which some cal Psora and Lichenes it discusseth and healeth the swelling kernels behind the eare the angrie pushes also and biles in other Emunctories called Pani and reduceth the stooles or skars left after any sore and other skarres to their fresh and natiue colour againe The juice of the leaues dopped with vinegre into the ears is a remedie for deafenesse As for the liquor concrete of this cucumber named elaterium the right season of making it is in autumne neither is there a drug that the Apothecaries hath which lasteth longer than it doth howbeit before it be three yeres old it begins not to be in force for any purpose that a man shal vse it and yet if one would occupie it fresh and new before that time he must correct the foresaid Trosch es with vinegre dissoluing them therin ouer a soft fire in a new earthen pot neuer occupied before but the elder they be the better and more effectuall they are insomuch as by the report of Theophrastus Elaterium hath bin kept and continued good 200 yeares And for fiftie yeares it is so strong full of vertue that it wil put out the light of a candle or lamp for this is the triall and proofe of good Elaterium it being set neer therto before that it puts out the light it cause the candle to sparkle vpward and downward That which is pale of color and smooth is better than that which is of a greenish grasse color rough in hand the same also is somwhat bitter withall Moreouer it is said that if a woman desire to haue children do cary about her the fruit of this wild Cucumber fast tied to her bodie she shall the sooner conceiue and proue with child prouided alwaies that in the gathering the said Cucumber touched not the ground in any case Also if it be lapped within the wooll of a Ram be bound to the loins of a woman in trauell of childbirth so that she be not her selfware therof she shal haue the better speed and easier deliuerance but then so soon as the infant the mother be parted the said Cucumber must be had out of the house in all hast where the woman lyeth Those writers who magnifie these wild Cucumbers and set great store by them affirm That the best kind of them groweth in Arabia and the next about Cyrenae but others say That the principall be in Arcadia That the plant resembleth Turnsol That betweene the leaues and branches thereof there groweth the fruit as big as a Wallnut with a white taile turning vp backeward in manner of a Scorpions taile whereupon some there bee who giue it the name of the Scorpion Cucumber True it is indeed that as wel the fruit it selfe as the juice therof called Elaterium be most effectuall against the pricke or sting of the Scorpion as also that it is a medicine purgatiue of the bellie but especially cleanseth the wombe or matrice of women The ordinarie dose is from half an Obulus to a Solid i. an obole or half a scruple according to the strength of the patient A greater receit than one Obulus killeth him or her that taketh it but being taken within that quantitie aboue named in some broth or conuenient liquor it is passing good for the dropsie yea and to euacuat those filthie humors thar engender the lowsie diseas Being tempered with honey and old oile and so reduced into a thin ointment or liniment it cureth the Squinancie and such diseases incident to the windpipes CHAP. II. ¶ Of the Serpentine Cucumber called otherwise the Wandering Cucumber also of the Garden Cucumbers Melons or Pompions MAny there be of opinion that the Serpentine Cucumber among vs which others call the wandring Cucumber is the same that the former Cucumber which yeeldeth Elaterium The decoction whereof is of that vertue that whatsoeuer is besprinckled therewith no myce wil come neer to touch it The same being sodden in vinegre and brought to the consistence of an ointment is a present remedie to allay the pains of gout
hath S Anthonies fire allaieth the heat and bringeth the place into temper so doe the seeds also vsed in like manner The juice or liquor drawne out of the said parings being mingled with oile of roses and vinegre and then made into a liniment doth mitigate the extreme heat of burning feauers The ashes of Gourd parings burnt strewed drie vpon any part of the bodie that is burnt or skalded healeth them wonderfully C hyrsippus the Physician condemned Gourds and forbad men to eat of them Howbeit all Physicians doe resolutely agree in this That they be passing good for the stomacke as also for the exulcerations of the guts and bladder As for Rapes or Turneps they likewise are medicinable and haue their vse in Physick for to begin withall if one lay them very hot to kibed or humbled heeles they wil cure them Also if the feet be frozen and benummed with cold lay them thereto sodden in water and this fomentation will restore them to their former heat The hot decoction or broth of Rapes is passing good for to bath the goutie members yea if it were a cold gout The Rape or Turnep root raw as it grew brayed in a mortar with salt is a remedie for all diseases of the feet bee they cornes kibes bloudy falls swellings of cold or any other infirmities whatsoeuer Rape seed bruised to a liniment drunken also with wine is reported to be a soueraign medicine against the stinging of serpents and any other poison Howbeit many think that it is a preseruatiue countrepoison when it is taken in wine and oile Democritus banished turneps altogether from the bourd by reason of the ventosities or windinesse that it engender But Diocles on the other side extolled and praised them as much and affirmeth That they will pricke forward to Venus The like doth Dionysius report of them and the rather saith he if they be condite with Rocket He writeth moreouer That if they be rosted or baked vnder the ashes and so incorporate with grease will make a notable good cataplasm for the gout and joynt-ach The wild rape or turnep groweth commonly euery where among corne fields it brancheth much carieth a white seed twise as big as that of the Poppie This being incorporat with vrine of equall quantity is much vsed to take away riuils and so smooth the skin both of the face and also of the whole body besides To conclude the roots of Eruile Barley Wheat and Lupines be good for nothing at all CHAP. IIII. ¶ The diuers sorts of Nauewes of the wild Radish of the Garden Radish and the Parsnep THe Greek writers obserue two kinds of Nauews 〈…〉 for Physick The first ariseth vp with a cornered and edged stalk beareth leaues r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 g Parsely and putteth out floures like Dil this they call Bunion the decoction whereof being drunken with honied water or with a dram weight of the owne iuyce is counted soueraigne for the purgations that follow women for the defects of the bladder and vrine The seed parched and beaten to pouder and so taken in a draught of hot water to the quantitie of foure cyathes cureth the bloudy flix but it stoppeth vrine vnlesse the patient drink Lineseed withall The second kind is named Bunias and resembleth both Rape and Radish the seed of it is excellent good against poyson and therefore in antidotes and preseruatiues it is much vsed That there be Radishes wilde we haue shewed heretofore The most commended aboue all others is that which groweth in Arcadia although there are of them in other countries and those counted better only for to prouoke vrine Otherwise they purge choler and namely their rindes infused in wine do the same Now ouer and besides their vertues and properties related hertofore they discharge and clense the stomack cut and extenuate flegme and withall be diureticall and procure vrine There is a kind of garden Radish in Italy which they name Armoracia vsed also in physick the decoction whereof if a man take a draught of it in the morning to the quantitie of a cyath doth fret break and expell the stone by way of grauell Boile the same in water and Vinegre therewith bathe or anoint the place stung with any serpent and it will heale it vp Radish taken with hony in a morning next ones heart â—…asting is good for the cough The seed parched and so chewed alone without any thing els asswageth the pain of the smal guts in the flankes and hypocondriall parts The decoction of Radish leaues sodden in water and so drunk or the very iuice of the root it selfe as much as two cyathes is thought to be a singular medicine against the breeding of body-lice Radishes stamped in a mortar and brought into the forme of a liniment are thought to be excellent good for hot inflammations the rind also stamped together with hony and laid to any bruised place that looketh black and blew after a fresh stripe dissolueth that cluttered bloud and reduceth the former color The chewing of the quickest most biting Radishes keeps them awake that are giuen to ouermuch drowsinesse inclined to the lethargie The seed parched and afterwards stamped and incorporate with hony cureth them that take their wind short The same is also held for a countrepoyson A defensatiue also the Radish is against scorpions and resisteth their poisoned sting for let a man rub his hands well either with the iuyce of the root or the seeds he may handle scorpions safely Do but lay a Radish vpon a scorpon he will presently die Moreouer Nicander affirmes that Radishes be passing good for them that haue eaten either venomous Mushromes or Henbane The two Apollodores prescribe Radish to be giuen to them who suspect themselues to be poysoned with the viscous gum of the white Chamaeleon root called Ixias but taken diuersly for the one of them surnamed Citieus giueth the seed stamped and so to drink it in water the other Apollodorus of Tarentum ordains the iuice of Radish for this effect and purpose Moreouer radishes are thought good to diminsh and extenuat the swelling spleen they are wholsome for the liuer mitigate the pain of the loins Being taken with Vineger and Senvy they helpe them that are in a dropsie or falne into a lethargie Praxagoras is of iudgement That Radishes should be giuen for to eat to them that are troubled with the Iliack passion to wit the paine and ringing of the small guts And Plistonicus appointeth them to be eaten of those that be troubled with a continuall flux by reason of a feeble stomack called thereupon Coeliaci They heale the Dysenterie or exulceration of the guts they euacuate also and rid away the filthy matter and corruption of impostumes gathered about the midriffe and principal parts if they be eaten with honey But some for this purpose would haue them luted or bedawbed with clay and so rost or bake them afterwards vnder the ashes and
being thus prepared they are effectuall to bring down womens termes Being taken with vinegre and hony in maner of an oxymel they chase worms out of the guts and belly If they be sodden to the thirds and their decoction giuen to drink with wine they do much good to them who haue a rupture and their guts fallen downe into the burse of their cods and in this wise they rid and scoure away the cluttered offensiue bloud gathered in the guts and sent thither from any other part Medius the physitian prescribeth them to be boiled and giuen to the same purpose as also to those that spit and reach vp bloud yea and to women in childbed newly laid for to increase their milk Hippocrates counselleth women whose haire is giuen to shed much for to rub their heads with radish roots also to apply them bruised in manner of a cataplasme vnto the nauill when they be tormented with the paines of the matrice They will bring to the natiue liuely colour the parts that are cicatrized or newly skarred The seed bruised and tempered with water and so laid as a cataplasm stayeth the running of cancerous or eating vlcers which the Greekes call Phagedaenae Democritus is of opinion That much feeding vpon Radishes stirreth vp lust and maketh folk amorous which peraduenture is the reason that some haue thought they be hurtfull to the voice The leaues of those radishes onely that haue the longer roots are said to quicken the eye-sight but if a man perceiue that he hath either inwardly taken for a medicine or applied outwardly a radish root which is ouer strong he must presently haue Hyssope giuen him for this Antipathy and natural contrarietie there is betweene these two hearbs That the one correcteth the other For them that be hard of hearing Physicians vse to instill the juice of the Radish by drop-meale into the eares And for them that would perbreake or vomit the best way to take it is at the end of a meale with the last meat As touching Hibiscum like it is to the Parsnep some call it Moloche Agria others Pistolochia it cureth the sores and vlcers that be in gristles and knitteth broken bones The leaues thereof drunke with water loosen the belly and chase away Serpents Applied in a liniment or otherwise rubbed vpon a place stung with Bee Waspe or Hornet they are a present remedie The roots therof digged out of the ground before Sun-rising enfolded or wrapped in wooll as it grew vpon the sheepes backe without any other artificiall colour and namely of an ewe which hath yeaned likewise an ewe lambe is thought to be a singular thing for to be bound vnto the swelling kernels called the Kings euill yea although they were exulcerat and ran But some are of this mind That for to doe this deed it should be gotten vp with an instrument of gold and great heed should be taken that after it is once vp it touch not the earth againe Finally Celsus giueth counsell to lay the root thereof sodden in wine to the gouty joynts that are without tumor and shew no swelling CHAP. V. ¶ Of Staphilinus or the Parsnep Of Cheruill the Skirwort of Seseli Elecampane and Onions THere is a second kind of Parsnep named Staphylinus which commonly men call the Wandring Parsnep The seed bruised and drunke in wine is singular good for them that haue swolne bellies the rising or suffocation of the mother in women with the torments and pains thereto incident it cureth insomuch as it reduceth the matrice into the right place being applied also as a liniment with wine cuit it helps the wrings and throwes of their belly It is not amisse also for men to take it for the seed being stamped together with bread crums of each a like portion and so drunk with wine cures the belly-ach with them also It prouoketh vrine and being applied fresh and new with honey it represseth the spreading of fretting and running vlcers The pouder thereof also being drie and strewed thereupon hath the like effect Dioches aduiseth to giue the root therof in honyed water against the infirmities of liuer splene flankes small guts loines and reines Cleophantus saith that it wil helpe in that manner taken an old bloudie flix which hath continued a long time Philistio boileth the root in milke and giueth 4 ounces thereof to them who are troubled with the strangury or pisse by drop-meale but with water he giueth it for the dropsie to those also that with a cricke or cramp haue their necks drawne backward for the pleurisie and epilepsie or falling sicknes Moreouer it is commonly said that whosoeuer hath this root about them are safe enough for being stung withany Serpent nay if they doe but tast thereof before-hand they shal take no harme if they be either bitten or stung by them and say they be alreadie stung let them apply it to the wounded place with hogs grease and it will heale it vp The leaues chewed help the indigestion cruditie of the stomacke Orpheus said moreouer That this root had an amatorious propertie to win loue haply because much feeding therof as it is well knowne doth sollicit vnto the game of loue and maketh folke amorous which is the reason also that some haue put down in writing That it will helpe women to conceiue As for the Garden Parsneps they are in many other respects of great force and very powerfull but the wild is more effectuall and principally that which groweth in stonie grounds The seed of the Garden Parsnep also being drunke in wine or vinegre and wine together saueth those that are stung with Scorpions If a man pick his teeth and rub them all about with a Parsnep root he shall be eased of his tooth-ach The Syrians are great Gardeners they take exceeding paines and be most curious in gardening whereupon arose the Prouerbe in Greeke to this effect Many Worts and Pot-hearbes in Syria They vse to plant in their gardens a certaine hearb very like to a Parsnep which some call Ginidium i. Tooth-picke Cheruill more slender and smaller it is only and therewith bitterer in tast but it worketh the like effects They vse to eat it both sodden and raw and find it agree well with the stomacke for it drieth vp all the superfluous humours and excrements which be bedded and deepely rooted within it As for the wild Skirwort that grows wandring euery where it is like both in shape and operation to those of the garden It stirreth vp the appetite and skoureth the stomack of those crudities which caused dulnesse therin and loathing to meat Opion is verily persuaded that if one eat it with vinegre aromatized with Laserpitium or take it with pepper honyed wine or else with the pickle of fish named Garum it prouokes vrine and putteth him or her in mind of loue delights Of the same opinion also is Diocles. Furthermore that it is a cordiall and doth mightily corroborat and
to continue healthful strong lusty that they be good for the stomack in this regard that they cause rifting and breaking of wind vpward which is a good exercise of the stomacke and withall that they keepe the bodie loose and laxatiue yea and open the Haemorrhoid veines if they be put vp in maner of suppositories Also that the juice of onions and Fennell together be maruellous good to be taken in the beginning of a dropsie Item That their juice being incorporat with Rue and Hony is soueraigne for the Squinance As also that they will keep waking those who are fallen into a Lethargie To conclude Varro saith That if Onions be braied with salt and vinegre and then dried no woorms or vermine will come neere that composition CHAP. VI. ¶ Of cut Leekes or Porret of bolled Leeks and of Garlicke POrret otherwise called Cut-Leekes or vnset Leeks stancheth bleeding at the nose in case it be stamped and put vp close into the nosethrils or otherwise mingled with the pouder of the Gall-nut or Mints Moreouer Porret staieth the immoderat shift or fluxe of bloud that follows women vpon a slip or abortiue birth if the juice thereof be drunk in breast-milke In the same manner it helps an old cough and al other diseases of breast and lungs Burnes and sealdings are healed with a liniment made of Porret or Leek blades likewise the Epinyctides for so in this place I tearme that vlcer which in the lachrymal or corner of the eie runneth and watereth continually some call it Syce that is to say a fig. And yet others there be who vnderstand by that word Epinyctides the blackish or blew blistring wheals the bloudy fals I mean and angrie chilblanes that in the night disquiet and trouble folk that haue them But to come againe to our Porret the blades thereof stamped and laid too with Honie healeth all sores and vlcers whatsoeuer The biting of any venomous beast the sting also of Serpents are cured therwith As for the impediments of the hearing and the ears they be remedied with the juice of Leeks and Goats gall or els a like quantitie of honied wine instilled thereinto And as for the whistlings or crashing noises that a man shall heare within head otherwhiles they are discussed with the iuice of Leeks and womans milk dropped into the ears If the same be snuffled vp into the nosthrils or otherwise conueighed that way vp into the head it easeth head-ach for which purpose also it is good to poure into the eare when one goeth to bed and lieth to sleepe two spoonfuls of the said iuice and one of Honie The iuice of Porret if it be giuen to drinke with good wine of the grape against the sting of serpents and namely Scorpions likewise so taken with an Hemine of wine it cureth the pains of the loines or small of the back Such as spit or reach vp bloud such as be diseased with the Phthisick or consumption of the lungs such also as haue bin long troubled with the Pose the Murre Catarrhe and other rheums find great help by drinking the iuice of Porret or eating Leeks with their meat Moreouer Leeks are taken to be very good either for the iaundise or dropsie Drinke the same with the decoction of husked Barley called Ptisane to the quantity of one Acetable you shal find ease for the pains of the rains or kidnies The same measure and quantity being taken with honey mundifieth the Matrice and naturall parts of women Men vse to eat of Porrets or Leekes when they doubt themselues to haue taken venomous Mushroms And a cataplasm therof cureth green wounds Porret is a solicitour to wantonnesse and carnal pleasures it allaieth thirstinesse dispatcheth those fumes that cause drunkennesse But it is thought to breed dimnesse in the eie-sight to ingender wind and ventosity howbeit not offensiue to the stomack for that withall it maketh the belly laxatiue Finally it scoureth the pipes cleareth the voice thus much of Porret in blade or cut Leeks vnset These headed Leeks that are bolled and replanted are of the same operation but more effectual than the vnset Leeks The iuice therof giuen with the pouder either of Gal-nuts or frankincense or els Acacia cureth those that reject or reach vp bloud Hippocrates would haue the simple iuice therof giuen without any thing els for that purpose and hee is of opinion that it will disopilate the neck of the Matrice and the naturall parts of women yea and that they will proue fruitful and beare children the better if they vse to eat Leeks Being stamped and laid to filthie sores or vnclean vlcers with hony it clenseth them Being taken in a broth made of Ptisane or husked barly it cureth the cough staieth the rheume or catarrh that distilleth into the chist or breast-parts it scoureth the lungs and wind-pipe and healeth their exulcerations The like it doth if it be taken raw without bread 3 bols or heads of them together each other day and in this maner it will cure the patient although he raught vp and spit out putrified and corrupt matter After the same maner it cleareth the voice it inableth folk to the seruice of lady Venus and auaileth much to procure sleep If Leeke bols or heads be sodden in two waters i. changing the water twice and so eaten they wil stop the Lask and stay all inueterat fluxes whatsoeuer The pillings or skins of Leek heads if they be sodden the decoction therof wil change the haire from gray to blacke if they be washed or bathed therewith As touching Garlicke it is singular good and of great force for those that change aire and come to strange waters The very sent thereof chaseth Serpents and Scorpions away And as some haue reported in their writings it healeth all bitings stings of venomous beasts either eaten as meat taken in drinke or annointed as a liniment but principally it hath a special property against the Serpents called Haemorrhoids namely if it be first eaten and then cast vp aâ—…in by vomit and wine Also it is soueraigne against the poisonous biting of the mouse called 〈◊〉 Shrew and no maruell for why it is of power to dull and kill the force of the venomous herb Aconitum i. Libard bane which by another name men cal Pardalianches because it strangleth or choketh Leopards yea it conquereth the so poriferous deadly quality of Henbane the bitings also of a mad dog it healeth if it be applied vpon the hurt or wounded place with him As for the sting of serpents verily Garlick is exceeding effectuall if it be taken in drink but withal you must not forget to make a liniment of it the hairy strings or beard growing to the head the skins also or tails and all wherby it is bunched tempered all together with oile laid vpon the grieued place and thus also will it help any part of the body fretted or galled yea though it were
kind there is of wild Lectuce which the Greeks name Esopus The leaues thereof being beaten in a mortar and with barly floure applied as a pultesse heale all vlcers this groweth ordinarily in corn fields A third sort comming vp in the woods is named otherwise Isatis The leaues wherof being likewise beaten together with Barley-meale or floure aforesaid cureth green wounds A fourth kind there is besides of wild Lectuce named Glastum i. Woad wherewith diuers vse to colour their wooll It might be likened to the wild Dock for the leaues but that they be more in number and of a blacker green withall This hearb stancheth bloud It represseth and cureth the fierie and eating tettars the cankerous and filthy vlcers also which run and spread ouer the whole and sound parts also it dissolueth swellings before theygather to an head tend to suppuration The root or leaues thereof be good against S. Anthonies fire applied in a cataplasme or liniment It is a singular remedy also for the swelled puffed splene and thus much for their properties in particular respectiue to each seueral kind but to speak generally of them all that grow wild they agree all in this that they be white that their stem growes otherwhiles to the height of a cubit that both it and the leaues be rough in handling Of these wilde Lectuces That which hath round and short leaues some there be who call Hieracia because that Faulcons and such like Haukes are wont to scrape and scratch this herb to get forth the iuice wherewith they annoint and rub their eies and thereby recouer their sight when they perceiue it to be darkened or dim All the sort of them are full of a white iuice the same of the like vertue as is the iuice of Poppies Ordinarily is this juice gathered in haruest by incision of the stalk put vp it is in new earthen pots neuer occupied and so reserued for many excellent effects that it hath For first and formost being applied with womans milk it healeth all maladies that the eies be subiect vnto as namely it riddeth away the cloudy webs therein the cicatrices and scars all filthy sores with a burnt roof ouer them and principally disparcleth the mist and dimnesse that troubleth the eie-sight It is vsually also laid with a locke of wooll to the eies for to represse and stay the waterish humor that hath found a way thither the same iuice if one drink it to the weight of 2 Obolij in vineger and water is a good purgation Beeing taken in wine it cureth the venomous stinging of serpents To which purpose the leaues being parched dried against the fire their tender stems also being brused are drunk with vineger A liniment made of them is passing good against the pricking of scorpions but peculiarly for the sting of the venomous spiders Phalangia there must be wine and vineger mixt therwith Soueraigne defensatiues also these wild Lectuces be against other poisons saue those that kill by strangling and suffocation or such as haue a special spight to the blader neither are they of any power against Cerusse or white lead A cataplasme made therof with hony and vineger so laid to the belly purgeth the rotten humors expelleth the worms therof bred their iuice is singular good for them that pisse with gain and difficulty Cratevas prescribeth to giue the weight of 2 Oboli of the said juice in one Cyath of wine to those that be in a Dropsie Some there be who draw the juice out of the garden lectuce also for the same purpose but not with like effect The peculiar properties of which Lectuces I haue partly written of heretofore namely how they procure sleep abate fleshly lust coole intemperat heats clense and strengthen the stomacke and finally increase bloud Ouer and besides they haue other properties not a few for they resolue and discusse ventosities they breake winde vpward and make one rift and belch sweet and finally help digestion and of themselues cause no crudity in the stomack Certes I cannot say of any thing else but it that being eaten both giueth an edge to appetite and also dulleth the same and all according as it is taken more or lesse By the same reason also if a man eat liberally of them they will make the belly soluble if in a meane they will stay a Laske and bring the bodie to costiuenesse They cut and dissolue the grosse viscositie of slimie fleame and as some Physitians haue written do clarifie the senses Moreouer if a mans stomacke be quite gone so that hee neither desireth to receiue any thing into it nor can hold and keepe that which it receiueth he shall find notable comfort by eating of garden Lectuce But for this purpose they must be taken vnwashed with some sharpe sauce made with vineger to the quantitie of a certaine Oboli yet so as that the tart and harsh taste thereof be tempered with some wine cuit or other sweet liquour for to dip into Moreouer this regard ought to be had that if the fleame lying in the stomacke be very tough and grosse the Lectuce would be eaten with vineger of Squilla or the sea-Onion or else with Worme-wood Wine and if the Cough bee also busie then Hyssope Wine would be mingled withall In case there bee a fluxe occasioned by feeblenesse of the stomacke then would Garden Lectuce bee eaten together with wilde Endiue or Cichorie and so are they good also for the hardnesse and swelling in the mid-riffe and about the heart White Lectuce eaten in good quantitie helpeth the infirmities of the Bladder and agree very well with those who be troubled in their brains and ouercharged with melancholy Praxagoras aduised also That they should be eaten for to helpe the bloudy flix Moreouer if they be laid presently in manner of a liniment with salt vpon a burne or scald while it is new and before the place blister they will fetch out the fire and do very much good They keepe downe and represse cancerous vlcers that would be running and eating into the flesh if they bee applied at the beginning with falt-petre and afterwards with wine Being brused into a liniment they heale S. Anthonies fire if the place be annointed therewith If their stalkes or stemmes bee stamped with drie grout or Barley meale and laid too as a cataplasme with cold water they mitigat the pains that follow dislocations or lims out of ioint they asswage also dolorous cramps and convulsions Being applied in manner of a pultesse with wine and dry Barley groats they doallay the griefe of red and angry wheales Moreouer they were wont in times past to boile them betweene two platters and so giue them for the disease Cholera wherin choler is so outragious that it purgeth vncessantly both vpward and downeward But for this purpose there would be choise made of the fairest and greatest stemmes such also as are bitter for they bee best Some to the same
together and those small round smooth and liker indeed to the young plants of Beets than to other Coleworts whiter also it is and more rougher clad with a mossie downe than is the garden Colewort Chrysippus writeth That it is a soueraigne medicine for flatuosities and such as be oppressed with melancholy that it is a singular salue for fresh wounds being applied with hony but with this charge That the plaster be not taken off in seuen daies Also if it be stamped and applyed with water it is an excellent cataplasme for the Kings euill and fistulous inward vlcers Other Chirurgions and Physitians do affirm that it represseth running corasiue sores which eat into the flesh such as the Greeks name Nomus Item that it doth extenuate and resolue all excrescence of proud ranke or dead flesh yea and it doth incarnat heale vp and skin very faire without skar by their saying Moreouer if it be chewed or the juice therof gargarised with honey so that the herb were sodden before it cureth the sores in the mouth called cankers as also the mumps and inflammation of the kernels in the throat called amygdales or almonds Semblably if a man take three parts of this herbe with twaine of alume and together with Vinegre make a liniment thereof it will clense the inueterate dry scab and the mortified leprosie Epicharmus is of opinion That for the biting of a mad dog a man need doe no more but lay to the sore a cataplasme of this herb alone but surer it were saith he and more effectual if Laser and strong sharp vinegre were ioyned thereto He addeth moreouer and saith That if it be giuen to dogs with some piece of flesh it will kill them And yet the seed being parched is a remedie against the sting of serpents and a countre-poison to venomous Mushroms and Buls bloud The leaues boiled and giuen with meat or otherwise raw and made into a liniment together with brimstone and nitre help those that be diseased in the splene The same liniment mollifies the hard swellings of womens breasts The ashes of the root being burnt cure the uvula or swelling of the wezil in the throat if it be but touched therewith Also a liniment thereof with honey applied to the inflamed kernels behind the eares represseth them yea and healeth the stinging of serpents I haue not yet done with the Colewort and the vertues thereof but one instance more I will giue you to proue the wonderfull force and effect that it worketh If any brasse pot caldron or such like vessel wherin we vse to seeth water ouer the fire haue gathered in continuance of time a fur or crust baked within such as by no washing or scouring can be rid away bee the same neuer so hard deep setled and inueterate boile but a cabbage or Colewort in it and the same will pill and go from the pot sides Among wild worts we may place Lapsana a plant growing to the height of a cubit bearing a furred or hairy leafe like for all the world to the Navew but that the floure is whiter This herb is commonly sodden and eaten in pottage and so taken it moderatly looseneth the belly The sea Colewort otherwise named Soldanella of all others purgeth most forcibly in regard of which acrimonie that it hath to stir the belly Cookes vse to seeth it with fat meat and yet is it most contrary to the stomack Touching Squils of Sea-Onions Physitians hold that the white is the male and the blacke the female but the whitest of them be euer best and of most vse The maner of preparing and dressing them is after this sort First the dry tunicles or skins being pilled off the rest which is quick and fresh vnderneath must be cut into slices so infiled vpon a thred along with a prety distance between euery one and hanged vp to dry afterward when the morcels be sufficiently dried they are to be put hanging stil as they did by a string into a barel or vessel of the strongest and quickest vineger that can be gotten and therein they must hang so as they touch â—…o part of the said vessel but this would be set in hand with 48 daies before the summer solstice Which done the barrel of Vineger beforesaid being well luted and stopped close with plastre must be set vnder a roofe of tiles to receiue the heate of the Sun all the day long from morning to night Now when it hath bin thus sunned so many days as are before named the vessel is remoued from vnder the case of tiles the Squilla taken forth and the vinegre poured out into another vessel This vinegre clarifieth their eie-sight who vse it comfortable it is to the stomack and sides and asswageth their paine if it be taken in small quantitie once in two daies for if a man should dring ouer-liberally of it so forcible it is that it would take away his breath and cause him to seem dead for the time Squilla chewed alone by it selfe is wholsom for the gums and teeth Being drank with vineger and honey it chaseth out of the belly the long flat worms and all other such like vermin If it be but held vnder the tongue while it is greene and fresh it allaieth thirstinesse in the dropsie and causeth that the Patient shall desire no drink The boiling of Squilla or the sea-onion is after many sorts for some after they haue either well luted or els greased it all ouer with fat put it into a pot of earth and then set it into an ouen or Furnace to be baked Others slice it into gobbets and so seeth it between two platters Some take it green and dry it then they cut it in pieces and boile it in vineger and being thus vsed and prepared apply it to the places which be stung with serpents Others againe rost it first in the embres and after they haue cleansed it from the vtmost pilling take the best of it onely in the midâ—… and seeth the same again in water Being thus baked and sod both it serueth to be giuen in a dropsie And if it be drunk to the quantitie of three Oboles with hony and vinegre it prouoketh vrine with ease In like maner this composition is good for those that be troubled with the splene or haue weak and feeble stomacks or be troubled with gnawing and pain there such also as canot hold their meat but it will flote aboue and come vp again prouided alwaies that there be no vlcer within the body Moreouer it is excellent good for the wringing in the guts the jaunise the old cough with shortnesse of wind The leaues emplastred resolue the wens or swelling kernels in the neck commonly called the Kings euil but they must lie fouâ—…e daies before they be remoued Being sodden in oile and reduced to a liniment and so applied it mundifieth the skurfe or dandruffe of the head the running skalls likewise that are bred there It is vsed also
by occasion that a certaine leper minding to disguise himselfe that hee might not for very shame be knowne chaunced to annoint and besmear his face all ouer with the juice of wild Mints But fortune was better mistresse vnto him than he expected for beyond his expectation or intent his good hap was to be rid of his Leprosie by that meanes The same leaues serue for a liniment against the venome of Scolopendres and the sting of Serpents so doe they also if one drinke two drams of the leaues in two Cyaths of wine Also for to cure the prickes of Scorpions they be vsed with salt oile and vinegre But against Scolopendres commonly they drink the juice or broth of the decoction Moreouer the wiser sort of people saue the drie leaues of wild Mints to be reduced into a pouder as a very coun trepoison against all venome whatsoeuer For being strewed in the house or burnt the very air perfume therof chaseth away Scorpions A drink made therewith purgeth putrifieth women passing wel such I mean as be newly deliuered of childbirth but it killeth the fruit within the womb of as many as vse it while they go with child There is not a medicine in the world so effectuall as it is for those who are so streight winded that they cannot take their breath vnlesse they sit vpright for such also as in the cholericke passion neuer giue ouer casting vpward and purging downward It appeaseth also the paine of the loines and easeth the gout if it be applied to the place affected The juice thereof is good to be dropped into eares that haue worms within them It is vsually taken in drinke for the Iaunise A liniment made thereof helpeth the kings euill besides it is a singular remedie for them that by a strong imagination of Venus in their dreames defile and pollute themselues in their sleep If one drinke it with vinegre it excludeth the flat broad in the bellie To scoure away the founled and ruffe an Embrochation of it ad vinegre vpo the head in the Sun is counted singular As touching garden Mint as the very smell of it alone recouereth and refresheth the spirits so the tast stirreth vp the appetite to meat which is the cause that it is so ordinary in our sharp sauces wherein we vse to dip our meats Being put into milk it wil not suffer it to turn or sour it keeps it from quailing and curding which is the reason that they who vse ordinarily to drink milk take Mints therewith for fear it should coagulate or crudle in their stomack put them in daunger of suffocation Some for the same effect vse to giue it in water or honied wine and surely it is thought by that very propertie to hinder generation in that it dissolueth the due consistence and thicknesse which is required in naturall seed And yet it is a great stancher of bloud indifferently in men and women but more particularly it staieth the immoderat flux of whites that many times followes women Being taken with Amydum or starch pouder in water it restrains the inordinate flux occasioned by the imbecility of the stomacke Syriation the Physician vsed ordinarily to cure the apostumes and sores of the Matrice with Mint Also against the obstructions other accidents of the liuer he was wont to giue 3 Oboles thereof in honied wine And for them that raught vp bloud at the mouth he prescribeth to take Mints in a broth or supping The skal that little children be troubled withal it healeth wonderful well It is singular to drie vp the humors that mollifie the gristly windpipe the other instruments of the breath and voice and when they are drie knitteth and strengthneth them Taken in water and honied wine it clenseth the corruptand putrified phlegmatick humors which be offensiue to the throat and those parts The juice of Mint is excellent for to scour the pipes cleer the voice being drunk a little before that a man is to strain himselfe either in the quier or vpon the stage or at the bar and not otherwise A gargarism of milk wherein hath bin Rue Coriander besides mints is passing good to bring down the swelling of the vula Being vsed in that manner with some Allum it restraineth the mumps or inflamation of the Amygdales with Hony it cureth the roughnes furring of the tongue Being vsed alone without any other addition it is a proper medicin for inward convulsions as also for the disease of the lungs Democritus saith that to drink it with the juice of a Pomegranat is a readie means to stay the yex vomiting The juice of greene Mints drawne vp with the wind into thenosthrils helpeth the stinking vleers there The hearbe it selfe stamped represseth the rage of choler that purgeth both waies vncessantly but it must beldrunk with vinegre And in that maner it restrains all internal fluxions of bloud But applied outwardly with Barly grots to the grieued place it easeth the intollerable paine of the Iliak passion after the same sort if it be spread and emplastered it allaieth the swelling of womens breasts In case of head-ach a liniment thereof doth well to be applied to the temples Inwardly it is taken with very good effect against the venimous Scolopendres the sea Scorpions and other serpents A liniment thereof staieth the waterish humors that haue taken a course to the eies cures the skalls and breakings out of the head and all accidents offensiue to the tiwill or sundament If one doe hold Mints in his hand he shall not need to feare either chafing or galling in any part vpon trauell Beeing dropped into the eares with honied wine it is very comfortable to that part It is said moreouer that if a man come into a garden where Mints groweth and bite the leaues vpon the very plant without pluking or cropping it off and continue this course 9 daies together iterating euermore these words I doe this to cure the splene he shal find remedy indeed for the infirmity of that part moreouer let one take as much poudred mints dried as he can wel contain with his 3 fingers ends and drink the same with water it will cure the head-ach or grieuous paine of the stomack Likewise if his drink be spiced with the said pouder it will driue out of the belly the wormes there engendred The branches of Mint and penniroiall both are vsually put into glasse viols with vinegre for to be iufused therein and a man would not thinke how good this vinegre is for faintings of the heart so great is the societie that these two hearbs haue one with the other in this behalfe For which cause I remember on a time when diuers learned physicians were met together to confer in my chamber they resolued and concluded definitly That a chaplet of Penniroyal was without comparison far better for the giddinesse and swimming of the head than one of roses for a garland of Pennyroiall if it be worne
onely vpon the head allaieth by report the ach thereof More than it it is said That the very sent of Pennyroiall preserueth the brain from the offence that may come by the distemperature either of heat or cold yea and from the inconuenience of thirstinesse insomuch as whosoeuer haue two branches or sprigs of Pennyroiall put into his ears shall feele no accessiue heat though they continued in the Sun all the day long Peniroiall being applied in form of a liniment together with Barly groats and vinegre assuageth all grienous paines watsoeuer Howbeit the female of this kind is thought to be of greater operation euery way than the male Now hath this female a purple floure that you may know it thereby from the other for that of the male is white The female Penyroiall taken in a mash made with salt and barley groats in cold water staieth a kecklish stomack and keepeth it from the inordinat desire and many offers to cast In the same manner also it easeth the paine of the breast and belly Likewise the gnawings of the stomack it ceaseth being taken in water as also immoderat vomits it represseth with vinegre and barley groats Being sodden in hony with a little nitre among it cureth the maladies of the guts If one drinke it with wine it causeth abundance of vrine and if the said wine be made of the Amminean grapes it expelleth the stone and grauell yea and all things els which may engender inward pains If it be taken with honey and vinegre it prouoketh womens termes and quieteth them when they lie gnawing and fretting inwardly yea and sendeth forth the after-burden The same setleth the mother and reduceth it into the right place It expelleth also the dead child within the mothers body The seed of Peniroial if it be smelled vnto is singular good to recouer their tongue againe who be speechlesse for the falling sicknesse also it is giuen in a cyath of vinegre If it fortune that one must drink vnholesome waters the seed thereof reduced into pouder and strewed therupon correcteth all the malice thereof If the same be taken in wine it slaketh the itch in the bodie proceeding of hot and salt humors The seed of Pennyroiall mingled with salt vinegre and honey if it be wel rubbed into the bodie comforteth the sinewes in case of cramps and convulsions and particularly helpeth those who with a crieke are forced to carrie their necke much backeward The decoction therof is a soueraigne drinke against the sting of Serpents and particularly of Scorpions if it be bruised and taken with wine especially that which groweth in drie places Moreouer Penyroiall is held to be very soueraigne for the cankers or vlcers in the mouth and as effectuall to stay the cough The floures of Penyroial that be fresh and new gathered if they be burnt make a singular perfume to kill fleas Among many good receits that Xenocrates hath left vnto vs we find this for one namely That a branch of Pennyroiall wrapped within wooll and giuen to the patient for to smell vnto before the fit come of a tertian ague driueth it away as also if it be put vnder the couerlet of the bed and the Patient laid vpon it it doth no lesse For these purposes abouenamed the wild Penyroiall is of most efficacie This hearbe resembleth Origan and hath smaller leaues than the Penyroiall of the Garden some giue it the name of Dictamnus If it chance that either sheepe or goats do tast thereof it prouoketh them presently to blea whereupon certain authors changing one letter for another in Greeke call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This herb is so hot and ardent that if any part of the body be rubbed or annointed therewith it will rise into a blister If one haue taken a through-cold and thereby gotten a cough Physitians haue prescribed to vse frictions therewith before the Patient go into the bain for to sweat Also their direction is to do the like before the cold fits of agues as also in case of the crampe and torments of the guts Wonderfull good it is in all kinds of gout If it be taken in drinke with honey and salt it is singular for those who be diseased in the liuer as also for the lights for it opens their pipes and dischargeth them of the flegme that stuffed them so as they may reach vp and voyd the same with ease The decoction thereof with some salt is excellent good for the splene and the bladder yea and for all ventosities and shortnesse of breath Semblably the iuice prepared and dressed in maner a foresaid bringeth the mother into the naturall place and serueth as a countre-poison against the Scolopendre both of the sea and the land as also for the pricke of the scorpion especially against the biting of man or woman The root thereof being applied fresh and green is maruellous good to represse rank vlcers to consume the proud flesh about them The same being dry and so applied reduceth skars to their fresh colour and beautie of the faire and whole skin Thus much of Penyroyall of the garden and the field Great conformitie there is in operation between Peny-royal and Nep for being both boiled in water vnto the composition of a third part they discusse and shake off the cold in Ague fits which causeth the Patient to shake and besides are of validitie to bring downe womens monethly sicknesse In summer time they asswage the extremitie of heat Nep also is powerful against serpents for the smoke and perfume of this herbe they canot abide but will fly from it which is the cause that such as be afraid of serpents strew Nep vnder them in the place where they mean to repose and sleepe Being bruised and applied to the running fistulous vlcers between the nose and the greater corner of the eye it is counted a soveraign remedie Also being fresh gathered and mixed with a third part of bread and so temperat and incorporat with vinegre to the form of a liniment it cureth the head-ach The juice thereof being instilled into the nosthrils whiles the Patient lieth vpon his back stancheth bleeding at the nose The root also together with Myrtle seed in warm wine cuit and so gargarised helpeth the Squinancie As touching wild Cumin it is an herb exceeding small putting forth foure or fiue leaues and not aboue and those indented like a saw but the garden Cumin is of singular vse in physicke but principally for the pain in the stomack It dispatcheth the grosse vapors arising from flegme it dissolueth also vento sities if it be either bruised and eaten with bread or drunk with water and wine in which sort it asswageth the wringing torments and other pains of the guts how beit it maketh folke look pale as many as drink of it Certes by that deuise namely by ordinary drinking of Cumin as it is reported the schollers and followers of Porcius Latro that famous and great Rhetorician
engendred within the guts Boiled in vinegre it is singular for the cankers or exulcerations within the mouth howbeit all authors doe accord that they bee not good for the stomacke Touching Louage which some call Panax i is holesome for the stomack Likewise a proper medicine it is for convulsions and ventosities To conclude there are some who name it Cunila Bubula as I haue before noted but they be deceiued CHAP. XVI ¶ Of the wilde Origan Cunila Bubula of the Bastard Marjoram named Gallinacea Cunila or Hâ—…racleoticum Origanum of the tender Cunilago of Rosemarie of Garden Sauorie or Cunila and that of the mountaines OVer and besides the garden Sauorie there be many kinds of Cunila known in Physicke and first that which is called Bubula and hath seed like to Peniroiall being either chewed in the mouth or applied outwardly it is a good wound-hearb so that it be not remooued but euery fiue daies Taken in wine it is singular against the poisonous sting of serpents in case the hearbe it selfe be stamped and laid withall vpon the sore place and verily it is an ordinarie thing to rub therewith welland throughly the wounds that they make Semblably the Tortoises against the time that they should fight with Serpents vse this hearbe in manner of a defensatiue take themselues wel armed against their enemie which is the reason that some giue it the name of Panax Being dried it assuageth the pain of tumors and cures the accidents that befall to the priuie members of men or if the leaues be but stamped they haue the like effect And in one word the operation thereof is excellent and wonderfull if it be vsed in wine Another Cunila or Sauorie there is which our countreymen call in Latine Gallinacea the Greekes name it Origanum Heracleoticum If it be braied and salt joined thereto it is soueraigne for the eyes it helpeth the cough also and correcteth all faults of the liuer If a thicke grewell or sew be made thereof together with floure oile and vinegre so tempered as it may be supped it cureth the pleurisie or paines of the sides but aboue all it is singular for the stinging of Serpents A third kind there is which the Greeks tearme the male but we in Latin Cunilago a stinking smell it hath with it a woodie hard root and a rough leafe but it is generally said that the operations thereof be more effectuall than of any other kind It is verily thought that if a man cast an handfull thereof from him into any part of the house al the moths and such like vermin will gather about it But to come to particulars It hath a singular power against Scorpions if it be taken with water vinegre Also if a man or woman take 3 leaues thereof and rub his bodie thoroughly with it and oile together there is not a Serpent so hardie as dare approch neare such a bodie so perfumed Contrariwise the Cunila which is named Mollis idest Soft hath leaues and branches more hairie than the former and those sharpe pointed like prickes This hearbe if a man rub betweene his fingers resembleth honey in smell and will sticke fast too in manner of honny Another sort there is of Cunila which we for the smell that it hath of Frankincense call Libanotis But both these the one as well as the other taken in wine or vinegre cureth the biting and sting of Serpents If they be bruised or stamped into pouder and so put into water they kill all the fleas in the place where the said water is cast or spinckled As for the garden Sauorie it also hath many good properties The juice thereof with oyle of roses distilled into the ears is very comfortable vnto them The hearb it selfe taken in drink helpeth those who are stung with venomous Serpents This Sauorie oftentimes doth degenerat into a bastard kind named Mountain Sauory Like it is to wild running Thyme and is effectuall also against the poyson of serpents It prouoketh vrin and purgeth women newly deliuered if haply they haue not sufficient voidance Singular it is for to help digestion and stirreth vp appetit to meat wonderfully In summe as well the gentle Sauorie as the wild is passing wholesome for crudities in the stomacke if one spice his morning draught therewith fasting It is vsed also to very good purpose in dislocations and members out of joynt with barley meale water and vigre it is excellent for the stinging of waspes and such like pricks As touching the other kinds of Libanotis or Rosemarie write I will more fully in due place CHAP. XVII ¶ Of Piperitis and Origanum of Onitis-Prasium of Tragoriganum and Heraclium of Lepidium and Gith or Melanthium of Annise PIperitis or Calecut Pepper-wort which before we called Siliquastrum beeing taken in drinke is very good for the falling sicknesse Castor hath described it after another manner namely to be an herb rising vp with a long red stem thicke set with joynts or little knees bearing leaues resembling those of Lawrel with white seed and the same smal carying with it the tast of Pepper The vertues of which hearb be these To help the gumbs and teeth to make a sweet breath and withstand soure and stinking belches Origan or Orgament which in tast as we haue said resembleth * Sauery hath many kinds all medicinable for there is one one sort therof sirnamed Onitis or Prasion not vnlike to hyssope a peculiar propertie this hearb hath being drunke in warme water to quiet the gnawings in the stomacke and to concoct the crudities there but taken in white wine to cure the venomous pricks of Spiders and Scorpions The same applied outwardly with oile and vinegre vpon wooll is singular good for dislocations disjointures spraines contutions and bruises As for Tragoriganum it is more like vnto wild creeping Thyme it hath vertue to prouoke vrin to discusse and resolue all tumors or swellings And more particularly most effectuall it is for them that haue drunke the gum of Chamelaeon called Ixia also against the Vipers sting besides for the stomacke that belcheth soure and for the midriffe and precordiall parts It is an approued medicine for the cough the phrensie and inflammation of the lungs being with honey reduced into the forme of a Lohoch for to be sucked downe leisurely Touching the Origan named Heracleum or Heracleoticum the same also is diuided into three sorts For the first is of a blacker more duskish green with broader leaues also than the rest and besides is glutinous and will cleaue to ones fingers A second sort hath smaller leaues softer it is more tender in hand not vnlike to Majoram and this kind some would rather call Prasium The third hath leaues of a mean bignes between the other two not so large as the one nor so slender as the other but not so forcible in operation as either of them both but to return againe to our former Origanum the
to learne How all things whatsoeuer that flourish most louely and be gayest in shew soonest fade and are gon suddenly But to come again to the varietie of floures aforesaid together with their diuers mixtures verily there is no painter with all his skil able sufficiently with his pensil to represent one liuely garland of floures indeed whether they be plaited and intermedled in maner of nosegaies one with another or set in ranks and rewes one by another whether they be knit and twisted cord-wise and in chain-work of one sort of floures either to wind and wreath about a chaplet bias or in fashion of a circle or whether they be sorted round into a globe or ball running one through another to exhibit one goodly sight and entire vniformity of a crosse garland CHAP. II. ¶ Of Garlands Coronets Chaplets and Nosegaies made of floures Who deuised first the sorting and setting of sundry floures The first inuention of the Coronet or Guirland and the name of it in Latine Corollae and whereupon it was so called THe Coronets or Garlands vsed in antient time were twisted very small and thereupon they were called Strophia i. Wreaths from whence came also womens gorgets stomachers to be named Strophiola As for the word Corona a Coronet or Garland long it was first ere it came to be vulgar and commonly taken vp as a term chalenged either by priests and sacrificers in their diuine seruice or victorious captaines in their glorious triumphs But those Garlands and nosegaies being made of floures were called in Latine Serta or Seruiae à serendo i. of sorting and setling together The maner of which plaiting and broiding of herbes and floures the antient Greekes took no pleasure in for at the beginning they vsed to crowne with branches only of trees those braue men who had woon the prise in their sacred games and solemne Tournies or exercises of actiuitie But afterwards they began to beautifie and enrich their chaplets of triumph with sundry floures entermingled together And to say a truth the Sicyonians passed in this feat of sorting together one with another floures of sweet sauor and pleasant color in making of posies and garlands Howbeit the example of Pausias the cunning painter and Glycera the artificial maker of such Chaplets set them first a worke This Painter was wonderfully enamoured vpon the said Glycera and courted her by all the meanes hee could deuise among the rest he would seem to counterfeit and represent liuely with his pensil in colours what floures soeuer she wrought and set with her fingers into garlands and shee againe striued avie to change and alter her handiwork euery day for to driue him to a non-plus at the length or at leastwise to put him to his shifts insomuch as it was a very pleasant and worthie sight to behold of one side the works of Nature in the womans hand and on the other side the artificiall cunning of the foresaid painter And verily there are at this day to be seene diuers painted tables of his workmanship and namely one picture aboue the rest entituled Stephanoplocos wherein hee painted his sweet-heart Glycera twisting and braiding Coronets and Chaplets as her manner was And this fell out to be after the hundreth Olympias was come and gon by iust account Now when these Garlands of floures were taken vp and receiued commonly in all places for a certain time there came soon after into request those Chaplets which are named Egyptian and after them winter Coronets to wit when the earth affourdeth no floures to make them and those consisted of horn shauings died into sundry colours And so in processe of time by little and little crept into Rome also the name of Corollae as one would say petty Garlands for that these Winter Chaplets at first were so prety and small and not long after them the costly Coronets and attires Corollaria namely when they are made of thinne leaues and plates and Latin either guilded or siluered ouer or else set out with golden and siluered spangles and so presented CHAP. III. ¶ Who was the first that exhibited in publicke shew a Guirlandor Chaplet of gold and siluer-foile How highly Coronets were esteemed in old time Of the honour done to Scipio Of plaited Coronets And one notable Act of Queene Cleopatra CRassus the rich was the first man who at the solemn Games and Plaies which he set out in Rome gaue away in a braue shew Chaplets of gold and siluer resembling liuely floures and leaues of hearbes Afterwards such Coronets were adorned with ribband also and those were added as pendants thereto for more honour and state a deuise respectiue to those Tuscane Guirlands and Coronets which might haue no such ribbands or lace hanging vnto them but of gold And in truth those labels a long time were plaine and without any other setting forth saue only the bare gold vntill P. Claudius Pulcher came in place who exhibited in his publicke shewes the said labels wrought chased and engrauen yea and hee garnished the said plates of gold with glittering and twinckling spangles besides Howbeit were these Coronets neuer so rich and precious yet those Chaplets woon and gotten at the solemn Games for some worthy feats of actiuity performed caried alwaies the greater credit authority For to gaine this prise the Grand-siegniors and great men of the citie thought it no scorne to enter themselues in proper person into the publick place of Exercise to trie mastries yea and thither they sent euery man his seruant and slaue Hereupon grew these Ordinances specified among the laws of the twelue tables in these words Whosoeuer winneth Guirland either himselfe in person or by his monie goods and chattels is to be honoured in regard ef his vertue And certes who maketh doubt but what Prise or coronet either slaues or horses haue obtained the same by vertue of this law should be reputed as gotten by the money and goods of the master or owner of the said horses or slaues But what honor might this be which is thus atchieued by such a chaplet mary that which is right great namely that without all fraud and contradiction not only the party himselfe who woon it should be crowned therewith after his death both whiles his body lay vnder bourd within house and also all the way that it was caried forth to the place of sepulture or funerall fire but euen his parents likewise both father and mother if they were then liuing certes such Guirlands otherwise though they were not woon at games or prize but only made for pleasure pastime might not come abroad ordinarily nor be commonly worn for the law was very strict and seuere in this case we read that L. Fulvius Argentarius in the time of the second Punicke war vpon an information or speech giuen out That in the open day time he only looked forth of a gallerie which he had in the publicke Forum or common place at Rome
or their cods yea and when their bladder is pained moreouer if it be applied as a cataplasme with wine it assuageth all tumors and bringeth downe swellings it staieth also the impetuous and violent flux of any humours to a place readie to breed an impostumation But if the same be applied with vinegre it taketh away werts and hard callosities It is good for the Sciatica and other gouts for dislocations and lims out of joint being beaten to pouder and bestrewed vpon a quilt of wooll moistned and bathed with oile and so laid to the place in manner of a fomentation A potion also thereof is vsually giuen in case of the gout to wit the weight of 3 Oboles in as many cyaths of vinegre and honey Also when the stomacke riseth against meat and refuseth it a drage or pouder of it with salt brings the appetite againe The day Lillie Hemerocalles hath leaues of a pale and wannish green colour otherwise soft and gentle the root is bulbous or Onion like and odoriferous which if it bee laid to the bellie in manner of a cataplasme doth euacuat waterie humors yea and thick bloud that lieth cluttered within the bodie ready to do a mischiefe The leaues make an excellent liniment to anoint the eies and the parts about it as a defensatiue against the rheum falling thither with violence as also to be applied vnto the paps and breasts of women which ake and are pained presently after child-birth Helenium an hearbe which sprang first from the teares of lady Helena as I haue already shewed is thought to haue a special vertue to preserue beauty and to maintain the skin fair pure and delicat as well in the face of women as in other parts of their body Moreouer a deepe opinion there is of this hearb that whosoeuer vse it shall proue amiable and gracious they shall I say win loue and fauour whersoeuer they come Also there is attributed and prescribed to this herb if it be taken in wine a mightie operation to procure mirth and make the heart mery and it is thought to be as effectuall that way as was that noble drinke Nepenthes so highly commended in Homer so called for that it puts away al heauinesse sorrow and melancholy And in faith the juice of Helenium is passing sweet and pleasant the root of Helenium taken in water vpon an emptie stomacke when a man is fasting is very good for them that are streight winded and cannot take their breath but vpright Now is the root white within and sweet also as is the hearb The same is giuen to drinke in wine against the sting of serpents To conclude being beaten into pouder it is said for to kill Mice As touching Abrotonum I find that there be two kinds of it The one of the plaines which I take to be the male the other of the mountaines which I would haue to goe for the female Neither of them both there is but it is as bitter as Wormwood The best is that which growes in Sicilie next to which that of Galatia is most esteemed The leaues are much vsed but the seed much more for to heat and chaufe any part of the bodie And therfore it is good and comfortable for the sinewes it cureth the cough it procureth them libertie of breath who cannot fetch their wind lying or leaning with their heads it helpeth the crampe it consolidateth ruptures it easeth the paine of the loines and maketh free passage for vrine The right manner of the decoction as well of the one as the other is to seeth them in bunches or bundles like handfulls vntill a third part of the water be consumed and foure cyaths is an ordinarie draught of this decoction The seed also being beaten into pouder is giuen to the weight of a dram in water for a drink And indeed so taken it comforteth the matrice and the natural parts of women A poultesse made of it and Barley meale applied vnto dull and broad swellings which gather not quickely to an head doth ripen them apace and bring them to suppuration Also beeing reduced into a liniment with a quince rosted or baked it cureth the inflammation of the eyes if they be annointed therwith it hath a vertue to driue a way serpents in case one be stung with them alreadie it expelleth the poison taken inwardly in drinke or laid too outwardly in forme of an ointment draweth it forth But most effectually is the power thereof seen in those poisoned and venomous stings which cause the bodie to shake chill and quake for cold as namely those of scorpions and the spiders called phalangia Moreouer good it is also for other poisons if it be taken in drinke and so it helpeth those that be surprised with any extreme cold how soeuer This propertie likewise it hath to draw forth of the bodie all spills or any thing else that sticketh within the same It driueth out of the body the worms engendred in the guts Finally it is said that if a branch therof be laid vnder the pillow where folk lieth in bed it wil put them in mind of wantonnesse and prouoke them to lust and against all charmes enchantments and witchcrafts which cool the heat of the flesh and disable or bind any person from the act of generation it is the most powerfull hearb of all others CHAP. XXII ¶ The medicinable vertues of Leucanthemum and Sampsuchum i. Marjerom LEucanthemum mingled with 2 parts of vinegre and so giuen to drinke is good for those that be short winded As for Sampsuchum or Amacacum that of Cyprus is most commended and the sweetest of all other this hearb brought into a liniment and applied with vinegre and salt is good against the venom of Scorpions Moreouer if it be put vp into the naturall parts of a woman in forme of a pessarie it helpeth much to bring downe their monethly courses for if it be taken in drinke it is not so effectuall Appled as a liniment after it is incorporat with barley groats it restraineth the flux of humors to the eyes The juice therof when it is sodden discusseth and dissolueth the ventosities that moue pangs and wrings in the belly a good medicine it is to prouoke vrine and by consequence for those that be in a dropsie Marjoram dried mooueth sneesing Thereof is made an artificiall oile called Sampsuchinum or Amaracinum singular for to heat the sinewes and to mollifie their stiffenesse and hardnesse as also by the heat thereof to comfort the matrice The leaues applied with hony serue very well to reduce the black and blew marks occasioned by stripes or bruises to their natural and liuely colour and brought into a cerot with wax it is good for dislocations of joynts CHAP. XXIII ¶ The vertues and properties of Anemone or Windfloure requisit in Physicke WHe haue discoursed of Anemone and those kinds thereof which go to the making of chaplets and guirlands it remaineth now therefore to speake of
those which serue for good vse in Physicke But first as touching Anemone in generall some there bee who call it Phenion and two principal kinds there be of it The first groweth wild in the woods the second commeth in places wel tilled and in gardens but both the one and the other loue sandy grounds As for this later kind it is subdiuided into many speciall sorts for some haue a deepe red skarlet floure and indeed such are found in greatest plenty others bear a purple floure and there be again which are white The leaues of all these three be like vnto Parsly None of them ordinarily grow in height aboue halfe a foot and in the head of their stemme they shoot forth sprouts in manner of the tendrils of Asparagus The floure hath this property Neuer to open but when the wind doth blow wereupon it tooke the name Anemone in Greek But the wild Anemone is greater and taller the leaues also are larger and the floures are of a red colour Many writers being carried away with an error thinke this Anemone and Argemone to bee both one others confound it with that wild Poppy which we named Rhoeas but there is a great difference betweene them for that both these hearbes doe floure after Anemone neither doe the Anemonae yeeld the like juice from them as doth either Argemone or Rhoeas before-named they haue not also such cups and heads in the top but only a certaine musculositie at the ends and tips of their branches much like to the tender buds of Asparagus All the sorts of Anemone or Wind-floure bee good for the head-ach and inflammations thereof comfortable to the matrice of women and increaseth their milk Being taken inwardly in a Ptisane or barly gruell or applied outwardly as a cataplasme with wooll this hearb prouoketh their monthly tearms The root chewed in the mouth purgeth the head of fleame and cureth the infirmities of the teeth The same being sodden and laid to the eyes as a cataplasm represseth the vehement flux of waterie humours thither The Magicians and Wise men attribute much to these hearbes and tell many wonders of them namely That a man should gather the first that he seeth in any yeare and in gathering to say these words I gather thee for a remedie against tertian and quartan agues which done the partie must lap and bind fast in a red cloth the said floure and so keep it in a shady place and when need requireth to take the same and either hang it about the necke or tie it to the arme or some other place The root of that Anemone which beareth the red floure if it be bruised and laid vpon any liuing creature whatsoeuer raiseth ablisâ—… by that caustik and corrosiue vertue which it hath and therfore it is vsed to mundisie and 〈◊〉 filthie vleers CHAP. XXIIII ¶ The vertues of Oenanthe in Physicke OEnanthe is an hearb growing vpon rocky and stony grounds The leafe resembleth those of the Parsnep roots it hath many and those big The stemme and leaues of this herb if they be taken inwardly with honey and thicke sweet wine doe cause women in labor to haue easie deliuerance and withall doe clense them wel of the after-birth Eaten in an Electuarie or licked in a lohoch made with hony the said leauesdoe rid away the cough and prouoke vrine To conclude the root also is singular for the infirmities and diseases of the bladder CHAP. XXV ¶ The medicines made wich the hearbe Heliochryson HEliochryson which others name Chrysanthemon putteth forth little branches very faire and white the leaues are whitish too much like vnto Abrotomum From the tips and ends of which branches there hang down certaine buttons as it were like berries round in a circle which with the repercussion and reuerberation of the Sun-beames doe shine againe like resplendent gold These tufts or buttons doe neuer fade nor wither which is the cause that the chaplets wherewith they crowne and adorne the heads of the gods be made thereof a ceremonie that Ptolomaeus K. of Aegypt obserued most precisely This herbe groweth in rough places among bushes and shrubs If it be taken in wine it prouoketh vrine and womens fleures All hard tumors and inflammations it doth discusse and resolue without suppuration A liniment made with it honey is good to be applied to any place burnt or scalded It is giuen in drinke vsually for the sting of serpents for the paines and infirmities also of the loines If it be drunke in honyed wine it dissolueth and consumeth the cluttered bloud either in the belly and guts or the bladder The leaues taken to the weight of three Oboli in white wine do stay the immoderat flux of the whites in women This hearbe if it be laid in wardrobes keepeth apparel sweet for it is of a pleasant odour CHAP. XXVI ¶ The vertues and properties of the Hyacinth and Lychnis in Physicke THe Hyacinth loueth France very well and prospereth there exceedingly The French vse therewith to die their light reds or lustie-gallant for default of graine to color their scarlet The root is bulbous Onion-like well known to these slaue-coursers who buy them at best hand and after tricking trimming and pampering them vp for sale make gain of them for being reduced into a liniment they vse it with wine to annoint as well the share of youths as the chin and checks to keep them for euer being vnder-grown or hauing haire on their face that they may appeare young still and smooth It is a good defensatiue against the prick of venomous spiders and besides allaieth the griping torments of the belly It forciby prouoketh vrine The seed of this hearbe giuen with Abrotonum is a preseruatiue against the venome of serpents and scorpions it cureth the jaundise As touching Lychnis that fllaming hearbe surnamed Flammea the seed of it beaten to pouder and taken in wine is singular good against the sting of serpents scorpions hornets and such like The wild of this kind is hurtfull to the stomacke and yet it is laxatiue and purgeth downward Two drams thereof is a sufficient dose to purge choller for it worketh mightily Such an enemie it is to scorpions that if they doe but see it they are taken with a nummednesse that they cannot stir In Asia or Natolia they call the root of this hearbe Bolites which if it be laid vpon the eies and kept bound thereto taketh away the pin and the web as they say CHAP. XXVII ¶ The medicinable vertues of Pervincle Rusâ—…us Batis and Acinos ALso the Peruincle called by the Greeks Chamaedaphne if it be stamped drie into pouder and a spoonful thereof giuen in water to those that are full of the dropsie it doth euacuat most speedily the waâ—…y humors collected in their belly or otherwise the same root rosted in embres and well sprinkled and wet with wine discusseth and drieth vp all tumors being applied thereto The iuyce thereof dropped into
euery place But other Writers who had not sought so far into the matter nor aduisedly considered of it gaue it the name of Manicon But those that of a naughty mind cared not secretly to impoison the whole world haue hidden the danger thereof and term it by a name pretending no harm some calling it Neuris others Perisson But as I protested before I think it not good to be too curious and busie about the description of this herb notwithstanding I might seem to giue a good caueat of it by further particularizing thereof Well the very second kind which they cal Halicacabus is bad enough for it is more soporiferous than Opium and sooner casteth a man into a dead sleep that he shal neuer rise again Some name it Morion others Moly and yet it hath not wanted those that haue thought it praise-worthy for Diocles and Euenor haue highly commended it and Tamaristus verily hath not stuck to write verses in the commendation of it A wonderfull thing that men should so far ouerpasse themselues and forget all honesty and plaine dealing for they say forsooth that a collusion made of this herbe confirmeth the teeth that be loose in the head if the mouth be washed therewith And one onely fault they found in Halicacabus otherwise it might be praised without exception that if the said collution were long continued it would trouble the brain bring them that vsed it to foolerie idlenesse of head But for mine own part my meaning is not to set down any such receits and remedies which may bring a further danger with them than the very discase it selfe for which they were deuised The third kind also is commended for to be eaten as meate although the garden Morell is preferred before it in pleasantnesse of 〈◊〉 Moreouer Xenocrates auoucheth That there is no maladie incident to our bodâ—… but the â—…id Morâ—… is good for it Howbeit I make not so great reckoning and account of all the helâ—… that these and such like herbes may afford as I doe make conscience to deliuer them in writing especially seeing we haue so great store of safe and harmlesse medicines which we may be sure can do no hurt Indeed the root of Halicacabus they vse to drinke and make no bones at it who would be known for great Prophets to foretell future things and therefore it is alone for them to be seen furious and raging the better to colour their knauerie and lead the world by the nose in a superstitious conceit and persuasion of their diuine gift of prophesie and so to feed men still in their folly But what is the remedie when a man is thus ouertaken for surely I am better content to deliuer that Euen to giue the party thus intoxicate a great quantity of Mede or honied water and to cause him to drink it off as hot as he can Neither wil I ouerpasse this one thing besides That Halicacabus is so aduerse vnto the nature of the Aspis that if the root thereof be held any thing neere vnto the said serpent it will bring asleepe and mortifie that venomous creature which by a soporiferòus power that it hath also of the own casteth a man into a deadly sleep and killeth him therewith And therefore to conclude hereupon it commeth that the same root bruised and applied with oile is a soueraigne and present remedie to them who are stung by the foresaid Aspis CHAP. XXXII ¶ Of Corchorum and Cnicus THey of Alexandria in Egypt vse to eat ordinarily of Corchorum This herb hath leaues inwrapped and infolded one within another after the maner of the Mulberry Good it is as they say for the midriffe and the parts about the heart also to recouer haire that is fallen away by some infirmitie and likewise for the red pimples or fauce-flegme in the face I reade moreouer that the skab or mange in kine and oxen is most speedily cured thereby And Nicander verily doth report that it helpeth the stinging of serpents if it be vsed before it be in the floure As touching Cnicus otherwise called Atractylis an herb appropriate to the land of Egypt I would thinke it meet not to vse many words about it but that it yeeldeth a soueraigne remedie against the poison of venomous beasts yea and the dangerous Mushroms if a man haue eaten them This is certain and an approued experiment That whosoeuer are wounded by the sting of Scorpions shall neuer feele smart or paine so long as they hold that herb in their hand CHAP. XXXIII ¶ Of Persoluta THe Chaplet-makers in Egypt set great store by Persoluta also which they sow and plant in their gardens onely for to make Coronets and Guirlands Two kindes there be of it the male and the female It is said That the one as well as the other if it bee put vnder man or woman in bed they shal haue no minde nor power at all to play at Venus game and specially the man CHAP. XXXIV ¶ Of Measures and Weights ANd forasmuch as we shall haue occasion oftentimes in setting downe weights and measures to vse Greeke vocables I care not much euen in this place to interpret those words once for all First and foremost the Atticke Drachma for all Physitians in manner go by the poise of Athens doth peise iust a Roman siluer denier and the same weigheth also six Oboli now one Obulus is as much in weight as ten Chalci A Cyathus of it selfe alone commeth to ten drams in weight When you shal reade the measure of Acetabulum take it for the fourth part of Hemina that is to say fifteen drams To conclude Mna which we in Latine call Mina amounteth iust to an hundred drams Atticke THE TVVENTY SECOND BOOK OF THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE WRITTEN BY C. PLINIVS SECVNDVS The Proeme A Man would thinke who did but reade the former Booke That dame Nature and the Earth both had done their parts and shewed their wonderfull perfection sufficiently if he considered withall the admirable vertues of so many herbes which they haue brought forth and bestowed vpon mankinde as well for pleasure as profit But see what a deale of riches more is yet behind and how the same as it is harder to be found so it is in effect more miraculous As for those Simples whereof wee haue already written for the most part they are such as haue serued our turne at the bourd or else in regard of their beauty odor and smell haue enduced vs to search farther into them and to make triall of their manifold vertues and operations in Physick But yet there remain behind many more and those so powerfull that they proue euidently vnto vs how Nature hath produced nothing in vaine and without some cause although the same be occult and hidden many times from vs and reserued only in her closet and secret counsell CHAP. I. ¶ Of certaine Nations which vse herbs for procuring and preseruing of beauty CEertes I do find and obserue that
who saith that it delighteth principally to grow vnder the Yuie tree which if it be taken to the weight of 3 oboli in a sextar of water helpeth those that haue their heads bodies drawn far back and such as be troubled with the contraction and shrinking of sinues As touching Acanthus or Brankursine an herb it is cherished much is gardens proper for vinets and story-workes bearing vpright and long leaues wherewith beds-sides and borders of quarters in gardens are decked and beautified Two kinds there be of it one with pricky leaues in maner of thistles and the same jagged which is the lesse lower of the twain but the greater which some in Greek call Paederos others Melamphyllon is smooth leaued The leaues of this Brankursine being applied are wondrous good for burns and dislocations Also being sodden with meat and especially with Ptisane or husked barly it is singular for those who are bursten troubled with the crampe and subiect to the consumption of the lungs Also if they be stamped and reduced into the form of a liniment and laid too hot they cure the gouts proceeding from an hot cause The herb Bupleuron is reckoned by the Greeke writers in the number of worts that grow of themselues a stem it hath of a cubit in height many leaues and those growing long in a spoke-tuft or rundle in the head in maner of Dill highly commended by Hippocrates for good meat but Glycon and Nicander praise it as much for the vse thereof in Physick and in very truth the seed is powerfull against serpents The leaues also or the very juice incorporate with wine into the form of a liniment they imploy for to bring down the afterbirth of women newly deliuered as also the leaues with salt and Wine are vsed by way of cataplasme for to dissolue the swellings called the Kings euill As for the root it is vsually giuen in wine against venomous serpents and to prouoke vrine * Buprestis is an herb about which the Greek writers haue shewed themselues namely how inconstant and light of credit they be in that they haue so highly praised it to be a speciall wholsom meat yea and a singular remedie against poisons For the very name sheweth euidently that it is a poison it selfe of kine and oxen at lestwise And they themselues do confesse that if such cattel tast of Buprestis it wil make them inraged and fall a gadding vntil they burst in sunder And therefore I will not speak any more of this herb for there is no reason that may induce me to describe these venimous weeds among those that serue for the green garlands aforesaid made of grasse vnlesse haply it be this That some one or other would seek after this herbe to weare it in a chaplet for lust-sake which indeed they say it wil prouoke no lesse that way than if it were taken in drinke Elaphoboscon is an herb growing vp with a main stem after the maner of Fenel-geant the same is full of knots and joints as thick as a mans finger The seed is made after the fashion of berries hanging downe in maner of Sili or Siler-mountaine howbeit nothing bitter they are and the leaues resemble those of Alisanders This herb is taken for a commendable meat and in truth is kept also and preserued a long time confected and condite for a singular remedie to procure vrin to allay the pain of the sides in the pleurisie to heale ruptures to cure convulsions and cramps to discusse ventosities to asswage the dolorous torment of the collicke yea and as a very countre-poyson against the sting of serpents and all other creatures armed with stings for the report goeth That stags and hindes by feeding thereupon withstand the venom of Serpents The root also reduced into a liniment with Sal-nitrum put thereto and incorporate together cureth old sores called fistulaes But the said root ought to be dried first for those purposes to the end that it should not be full of the own juice and moisture and yet this humour dulleth not the vertue thereof nor maketh it lesse effectuall against the sting of serpents Touching the herb * Scandix the Greeks haue ranged it also among the wild worts or pot-herbs good for to be eaten according to Opion and Erasistratus The same being sodden knitteth the belly and stoppeth a laske The seed taken with vinegre presently stayeth the yox or hicquet it prouoketh vrin and serueth well in a liniment to heale vp burns The juice of it being boiled to a juleb is good for the stomack liuer kidnies and bladder This is the herb which Aristophanes the Comaedian twitted the Tragicall Poet Euripides by obiecting vnto him merily by way of a scoffe that his mother who was a gardener vsed to sit in the market and sel neuer a good wort or pot-herb indeed but made her markets only of Scandix And verily I would say that * Anthriscus were the same herb if it had smaller tenderer and sweeter leaues This peculiar praise and commendable propertie it hath that if the body be ouerlayed and wearied with the vse of women it restoreth the spirits and refresheth them again Yea such as be wel stept in yeares and begin to droup it maketh lusty and able to perform the act of generation youthfully It stayeth the flux of the whites in women Moreouer * Iasione is counted also a wilde wort comming vp of it selfe and good to be eaten This herb creepeth by the ground full of milk it is and beareth a white floure which some call Concilium The like name and commendation there goeth of this herbe for stirring vnto letcherie Being taken raw with meat in a vinegre sauce it breedeth plenty of milke in women A singular restoratiue it is for them that feele themselues wearing decaying by a consumption A liniment made therwith and applied to the head of yong infants causeth hair to come vp thicke and by shutting the pores of the skin more close it is a means to retain the hair still that it shed not easily As for * Caucalis an herb like to Fenel but that it hath a short stalke and a white floure it is good also to be eaten and is besides counted a cordial A drink likewise is made of the juice thereof passing comfortable to the stomack of power to prouoke vrin to expel grauel stone and to stay the itching within the bladder it doth subtiliat the grosse and tough flegm which causeth obstructions in the spleen liuer and kidnies The seed being taken inwardly helps forward the monthly sicknesse of women when it stayeth vpon them and drieth vp the cholericke humors which flow after child-birth or the after burden It is giuen also to men for the spilling of natural seed or the running of the reins Chrysippus is of opinion that it is singular good to help women for to conceiue if they be desirous of children But the maner
handle and declare the qualitie of Hydromel or honied water so neere a dependant thereto Of which there be two kinds the one is fresh and new made in hast vpon occasion and presently vsed the other is kept and preserued As touching the former Hydromel if it be made as it should be of dispumed and clarified hony it is of singular vse in that exquisit spary diet fit for sick persons and namely in meats of light digestion such as is a thin gruell made of naked frumenty washed in many waters also to be ioyned in restoratiues for to recouer the Patients strength much enseebled Moreouer good it is for the mouth and the stomacke to mitigat the fretting humors setled and bedded therin to cool the extremity of heat for I find in good authors that to ease and mollifie the belly it is better to be giuen cold than otherwise aâ—… also that it is a proper and conuenient drink for those who chil and quake for cold likewise for such as be heartlesse haue smal or no courage at all whom those writers cal Micropsychos Moreouer there is a reason rendred full of infinite subtiltie and the same fathered first vpon Cato Why the same things feel not alwaies bitter or sweet alike in euery mans tast for he saith that this diuersitie proceedeth from those little motes or bodies that go to the making of all things whiles some of them be smooth others rough rugged some cornered others round in sum according as they be more or lesse respectiue and agreeable to the nature of each man this is the cause that those persons who are ouer-wearied or exceeding thirsty be more cholerick and prone to anger Good reason therefore that such asperity of the spirit or rather indeed of the vital breath should be dulced and appeased by the vse of some sweet and pleasant liquor which may lenifie the passage and mollifie the conduits of the said spirit that they do not cut race and interrupt it going in out in drawing or deliuering the wind And in very truth euerie man may find by experience in his own self how meat and drink doth moderat and appease anger sorrow heauinesse and any passion or perturbation of the mind whatsoeuer And therefore those things would be obserued which make not onely to the nourishment and health of the body but also serue for to rectifie and reform the maners and demeanor of the mind Now to return again vnto our Hydromel or honied water very good by report it is for the cough and being taken warm it prouoketh to vomit put oile thereto and it is singular against the poison of Ceruse or white lead A countre-poison also it is and a preseruatiue to such as haue eaten Henbane and Dwale especially taken with asses milk as I haue obserued hertofore Instilled into the ears or poured into the fistulous sores of the secret parts it is thought to be excellent Incorporat with the crums of soft bread and reduced into the form of a pessarie and so put vp it is singular for the infirmities of the natural parts of women and being applied accordingly it taketh down all sudden swellings occasioned by windines cureth dislocations and in one word mitigateth all pains Thus much of Hydromel new made for our moderne physitians haue vtterly condemned the vse of that which is kept vntil it be stale And this they generally hold That it is not so harmlesse as water nor so solid and powerfull in operation as wine Howbeit let it be long kept it turneth into the nature of wine and as all writers do accord then is it most hurtfull to the stomack and contrary to the sinewes As for honied wine the best and most wholsome is alwayes that which is made of the oldest wine that is hard and indeed with it you shall haue it to incorporat very easily which it will neuer do with any that is new sweet and being made of green harsh or austere wine it doth not fill and charge the stomacke no more it doth being made of boiled honey and ingendreth lesse ventosities which is an vsual thing with hony This honey bringeth them to appetite of meat who haue lost their stomack Taken actually cold in many it loosneth the belly but being hot it stayeth and bindeth the same The honied wine is very nutritiue and breedeth good flesh Many haue held out a long time fresh and lusty in their old age with the nourishment of honied wine alone without any other food whereof we haue one notable example of Pollio Romilus who being aboue an hundred yeres old bare his age passing well whereat the Emperour Augustus of famous memorie maruelled much and being vpon a time lodged as a guest in his house he demanded of him what means he vsed most so to maintaine that fresh vigour both of body and mind to whom Pollio answered By vsing honied wine within and oile without Varro saith that the yellow jaundise was called a Kings disease or a sicknesse for a King because it was cured ordinarily with this honied wine called Mulse As touching another kind of honied wine named Melitites how it is made of Must or new wine hony together I haue declared sufficiently in my treatise of wines But I suppose there hath bin none of this sort confected these hundred yeares past and aboue for that it was found to be a drink which bred ventosities in the stomacke and other inward parts Howbeit the manner was in old time to prescribe it for to bee giuen in agues to make the bodie soluble prouided alwaies that it had the due age also to those who lay of the gout to such likewise as had weake and feeble sinews and to women who abstained altogether from meere wine Next after Honey the treatise of Wax which is correspondent to the nature of honey by good order followeth Corcerning the originall working and framing thereof the goodnesse the seueral kinds according to diuers countries I haue written in conuenient place This is generally obserued that al sorts of wax be emollitiue heating and incarnatiue but the newer and fresher they are the better they are thought to be Wax taken inwardly in a supping or broth is singular for the bloudy flix and exulceration of the guts so be the very honey-combes giuen in a gruell made of frumenty first parched and dried at the fire Contrarie it is to the nature of milk for take ten grains of wax made in smal pills of the bignesse of millet corns in some conuenient lipuor they will not suffer the milke to cruddle in the stomacke If there be a rising or swelling in the share the present remedie is to sticke a plastre of white wax vpon the groine Moreouer to reckon vp and decipher the sundry vses that wax is put vnto in matters of Physicke as it is mixed with other things it is no more possible for a Physician than to particularize of other simples and
Bruised and so eaten or sodden with Garlick they be excellent good against coughes that were thought past cure and remedilesse yea and imposthumes in the brest grown to suppuration but the patient ought to feed thereof continually euery day Also if one chew them fasting and so apply them to a fellon they are thought passing good either to ripen or to discusse the same Boiled in wine and so laid too they assuage the swellings of the cods and priuy parts seruing to generation Bean floure sodden in vineger doth ripen and breake all tumors in like manner it dissolueth black bruised bloud lying vnder the skin and healeth burns M. Varro is of opinion that it is good for the voice Bean stalks and bean cods burnt to ashes and so incorporat with old Swines seam is good for the Sciatica and all inueterat pains of the sinews The very husks of beans alone sodden to the thirds do stop the lask and running out of the belly The best Lentils be they that are most tender and ask least seething also such as drink much water Lentils verily do dim the eie-sight and breed ventosities in the stomacke but taken in meat they stay the flux of the guts and the rather if they be throughly sodden in rain water but in case they be not fully boiled they do open the belly and make the body laxatiue the escares or roofs remaining vpon cauterized or blistered sores they break and make to fall off those vlcers which are within the mouth they mundifie and clense Applied outwardly they appease the pains of all imposthumes especially if they be exulcerat and ful of chaps and reduced into a cataplasm with melilote or a quince they are singular for to represse the flux of humors to the eyes but for to keep impostumes and tumors from suppuration they are laied too with Barley groats or the grosse meale thereof torrified The juice of Lentils after they be sodden is good for the exulcerations of the mouth and the genitors likewise with an addition of oile Rosat or Quince for the inflammation of the seat or fundament But if the parts affected and exulcerat do require stronger and sharper remedies the same would be applied with the rind of a pomgranat and a little hony put thereto And to the end that the said cataplasme shal not dry quickly they vse to put thereto Beet leaues Lentils sodden throughly in vineger serue for a cataplasm to be laid vpon the swelling kernels called the Kings euill and other fell biles whether they be ripe or in the way only of maturation Applied with honied water they be very good for any clifts and chaps but with the pill or rinde of a pomgranat for Gangrenes In like manner with barly groats they be appropriat for the gout the kidnies the naturall parts of women for kibes and such vlcers as be hardly brought to cicatrice Thirty grains of Lentils swallowed down by way of Bole are singular for the feeblenesse and dissolution of the stomacke In dysenteries or bloudy fixes in the violent rage of cholerick humors which cause euacuations both vpward downward Lentils do effectuat their operation much more if they be sodden in three waters For which purpose also better it is to torrifie them first and then to pound or beat them small that they may be giuen to the patient as fine as may be either by themselues alone or els with a Quince with Pears Myrtle berries wild Cichory black Beets or Plantain Howbeit note thus much That Lentils are nought for the Lungs for head-ache for all neruous parts and the gall and this ill property they haue besides to keep the patient from sleep Being sodden in sea-water they are good for pushes and angry wheales for S. Anthonies fire and the accidents that befall womens breasts but if they be boiled in vineger they discusse all hard tumors the kings euil They that haue but weak and bad stomacks vse verily to put Lentils to thicken their pottage and gruels instead of Barly groats and find thereby much ease If they be halfe sodden in water afterwards braied or stamped then let passe through a tamise that the brans might be separat from the rest they are thought very good for burns but then within a while as the cure goeth forward they must be applied with honey also put thereto Finally if they be sodden in Oxycrat or water and vineger together they help the swelling bunch of the throat called Bronchocele There is a kind of marish or moory Lentils called Ducks meat growing of it selfe in standing waters This herb is by nature refrigeratiue in which regard it serueth to make a liniment vsed for inflammations and hot imposthumes but principally for all manner of gouts either alone or mingled with Barly groats The same hath vertue to knit consolidat ruptures when the bowels are fallen downe Moreouer there be wild Lentils called by the Greeks Elelisphacos by others Phacos These be lighter than the tame Lentils which are sowed bearing a smaller leafe drier also more odoriferous than the other Of which wild Lentils there is a second sort carying a strong smel in somuch as the former kind is counted the milder These Lentils haue leaues formed to the fashion of quince leaues but that they be lesse and white and commonly they are sodden branch and all together Their medicinable vertues be to bring down the monthly sicknesse of women to prouoke vrines and to heale the wounds occasioned by the venomous prick of the sea puffin or fork-fish Now the nature of this fish is to benum and mortifie the place which is strucken Of these Lentils and Wormwood there is a drink made good for the dysentery or bloudy-flix The same taken with wine draweth down womens fleurs that stay vpon them but if their bare decoction be drunk it wil stay them when they flow immoderatly The herb alone applied outwardly represseth the ouermuch bleeding of fresh wounds it cureth the sores occasioned by the stinging of serpents The decoction thereof in wine doth mitigate the itching of the cods if they be bathed and fomented therewith Our moderne Herbarists in these daies doe call that in Latine Saluia i. Sange which the Greeks name Elelisphacos An herb it is much resembling Mints of a gray and hoary colour and withall odoriferous Beeing applied to the naturall parts of women it fetcheth away the dead infant within the womb it riddeth the ears also and festered vlcers of those wormes and vermin which breed therein Moreouer there is a kind of wild Cich-pease bearing leaues like to the other of the garden and which be sowed saue that their smell is strong vnpleasant If a man feed largely of them they stir the belly and moue to the siege they breed ventosities cause the collick and wringing of the guts Howbeit if they be parched or torrified they are reputed the wholsomer The Cichling or pety Cich-pease is thought to be better and more
to foment gangrenes small pocks running vlcers A drink made thereof is singular for the spleene and if hony be put thereto it prouokes womens fleurs which make no hast downward Take raw Lupines stamp them with drie figges and vineger into a cataplasme and apply them to the spleen it is an excellent remedy The root also sodden in water prouoketh vrine forcibly Lupines boiled in water with the herb Chamaeleon do cure the diseases incident to sheep and other such smal cattell if they do but thinke of this decoction Let them be sodden in the mother or lees of wine or mingle both their decoctions therewith they do heale the farsins scab and mange of all other foure-footed beasts what soeuer The fume of them as they burne killeth gnats Concerning Irio I said before in the treatise of corne and pulse that it was like Sesama and named by the Greeks Erysimon whereas the Gaules do call it Velarum This plant brancheth very much and beareth leaues like to Rocquet but that they be somewhat narrower and brings forth seed resembling that of Cresses This Irio taken with hony in form of a lohoch is excellent good for the cough and those who reach out filthy matter from their chest Giuen it is for the jaundise the diseases of the loins for the pleurisie the torments and wrings of the collicke and the fluxes occasioned by the debility and weaknesse of the stomacke Applied in form of a liniment it is singular good for the inflammations behind the ears for the cancerous vlcers also and the symptoms thereto belonging Laid to the cods with water and otherwhiles with hony it altereth their distemperature of heat and the inflammations whereto they are subject And soueraigne it is for infants Likewise a cataplasme made of it with figs and hony is singular for the accidents and griefes of the fundament as also for the gout and pains of the joints Taken in drink it is an effectuall counterpoison It cureth those who are short winded Applied outwardly with old hogs-grease it helpeth fistulous sores so there be care had that none of it go into the vlcers As for the graine Horminum it hath a seed resembling Cumin as I haue said before otherwise it is like to Porret and groweth to the height of a span or nine inches Two kindes there be of it whereof the one hath a blacker seed than the other and somewhat long This hath power to prouoke lust and is much vsed for the pin and web for the perle also in the eye the other hath a whiter seed and rounder Both the one and the other if they be stamped draw forth pricks and thornes out of the body if a liniment be made of them alone and applied with water But a cataplasme of the leaues with vineger or alone by themselues or else with honey discusse and resolue biles without suppuration In like manner they dispatch fellons if they be taken before they grow to any head and generally all tumors proceeding from sharp and hot humors And thus much of grain A strange thing that Nature hath so ordained That the very pestilent weeds which plague corne should haue their vse in Physicke For first and formost there is Darnel which albeit Virgill termeth Infoelix i. vnhappy yet if it be ground and sodden in vineger and so applied it cureth tettars and dry scabs joined with a great itch and the sooner doth it the deed the oftner it is remoued and changed Darnell floure laid too with Oxymell cureth the gout other pains And to say a truth the manner of this cure differeth from the rest For the preparing of which medicine the said floure must be ordered in this manner after this proportion for euery sextar of vineger it sufficeth to dissolue therein two ounces of hony take then three sextars of this mixtion and put thereto two sextars of Darnell meale sodden to a thicke consistence which done temper all together and apply this cataplasme to the grieued and pained members The same meale draweth forth spils of broken and shiuered bones A weed there is called Miliaria for that it killeth the grain Millet Beat this to pouder and mingle it with wine then poure this drench with an horne downe the throat of laboring jades they say it will cure their gouts As for Bromos i. wild Otes which the Greeks take for the seed of a certain spiked or eared weed counted it is for one of the imperfections growing among corne and may be ranged with the kinds of Otes for blade and stalk it commeth neere to wheat it beareth in the haw or 〈◊〉 certain grains hanging down which resemble small locusts the seed is good to be vsed in 〈◊〉 cataplasms into which barley and such like do enter the iuice or liquor made of it is singular for the cough A weed there is which we named Orobanche for that it choketh Eruile and other pulse some call it Cynomorion for the resemblance that it hath to the cullions and pizle or genitall member of a dog It riseth vp in a small stem without any leaues or blade fatty it is and red sometimes it is eaten alone otherwhiles it is serued vp tender sodden between two dishes with other viands Moreouer there do ingender in pulse certain little venomous vermins who will pricke and sting their hands who are imploied in the plucking yea and put them in danger of their life a kind they are of these Solifugae or Solpugae The remedies for all these be the same which are set downe against Spiders and Phalangia Thus much as touching all kinds of graine as far forth as they concerne Physick But this moreouer is to be noted that of corn there be certain drinks made as namely Zythus in Egypt Coelia and Ceria in Spaine Ale and Beere and many more sorts in Gaule and other prouinces Now the froth or barme that riseth from these Ales or Beers haue a property to keepe the skin faire and cleare in womens faces But for the operation that Ale and Beere hath in them who drink thereof I mean to passe them ouer here for I thinke it better to proceed to the treatise of wine but first I will discipher the medicinable vertues of trees and begin with the vine THE TVVENTY THIRD BOOKE OF THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE WRITTEN BY C. PLINIVS SECVNDVS The Proeme THus far forth haue we gone ouer the vpper face of the earth and shewed what medicinable vertues there be in all kinds of graine as well corne as pulse as also what Physicke may be found in woorts and pot-hearbs yea and in those garden plants which by reason of their faire floures and sweet odours serue mans turne for garlands and chaplets It remaineth now to speak of lady Pomona and her gifts who certes commeth not behind dame Ceres with all her riches And verily this Nymph and goddesse Pomona not content thus to protect maintaine and nourish vnder the shade of her trees
it soone loseth the heart and force if it be not kept in a place well enclosed by the said burning it commeth to be much more stronger in operation Sodden with figgs it yeeldeth an excellent decoction to reâ—â—â—s tettars shingles and such like wildfires to scoure away also scurfe and dandruffe in that soft either applied as a cataplasme or fomentation it cureth the leprie and running skals of the head Being taken in drinke especially raw it is a soueraign countrepoison for such as haue eaten venomous mushromes Boiled and washed it is mingled with collyries which serue for the eyes A liniment thereof cureth the accidents that befall to the cods and genetoirs Taken in wine it helpeth the strangury and giueth them ease who otherwise could not pisse but by drop-meale Les of wine after it hath lost the caustick operation and life that it had wil serue very wel for a good lie or water to clense the skin of our bodies and to wash or scoure clothes and then verily it hath the astrictiue power of Acacia and serueth for the same vse The dregs of vinegre must of necessitie be much more sharpe biting and vlceratiue than wine lees in regard of the matter whereof it commeth it driueth backe impostumes or biles and keepeth them from suppuration A liniment of it helpeth the stomack belly and entrails it staieth the flux of those parts and the ouerflow of womens months it discusseth pushes and small biles and squinances if they be taken betimes before they fester and impostumat and a cerot made with it and wax together is good against S. Anthonies fire The same drieth vp the milke in womens breast who would not be nources or bee troubled with ouermuch milke It taketh away with ease the ilfauoured rugged nails and giueth roum for new to come vp in their place Applied with grosse barley meale or groats it is singular and most effectuall against the venome of the horned serpents called in Greeke Cerastae and with Gith or Nigella Romana it is vsed for the biting both of crocodile and mad dog The burning also of these dregs quickeneth fortifieth the strength therof being thus burnt and incorporat with the oile of Lentiske it coloureth the haires of the head in one night red if they bee annointed withall The same lapped in a fine linnen cloth and put vp in forme of a pessarie cleanseth and mundifieth the secret parts of women To conclude with the grounds or lees of the cuit Sapa vinegre dregs are knowne to be very good for to heale burnes and the cure proceedeth better in case they be mixed with the furry cotton or downe of reeds the same being sodden and the decoction thereof taken as drinke cureth inueterat coughs Sast of all they vse to seeth or stew it betweene two platters with salt and grease wherwith they make a liniment or ointment to take down the swelling of the chaws and the nape of the necke CHAP. III. ¶ Of Oliuetrees of the leaues of Oliues their floures and their ashes Of the white and blacke Oliue berries and of the mother or lees of Oile-oliue NExt after the Vine there is not a tree bearing fruit of so great authority and account as the Oliue The oliue leaues are exceeding restringent good to cleanse good also to restraine or stop any flux being chewed and applied to vlcers they heale them and reduced with oile into a liniment they assuage the pain of the head A decoction of their leaues together with honey is singular to bath and foment the parts cauterized by the Chirurgian according to the direction of the learned Physician the same vsed by way of a collution cureth the inflammation of the gumbs whitflaws and excrescenses of ranke flesh in filthy vlcers with honey also it stauncheth the flux of bloud proceeding from any neruous parts The juice of oliue leaues is singular for the little vlcers in manner of carbuncles with a crust or roufe vpon them rising about the eies and all other small wheals or blisters as also in case the bal or apple of the eye be readie to start forth and therefore it is vsed in collyries or eye-salues for it healeth weeping eies that haue run with water a long time and the excoriations or frettings of the eie-lids Now this juice is drawn out of the leaues first stamped and then well sprinckled and wet with wine rain water so pressed forth which being afterwards dried is reduced into trochiskes The same rolled in wooll or bombast to the forme of a pessarie and so put vp into the naturall parts of women staies the immoderat flux of their fleurs Good it is also for those who rid corrupt bloud by the inferiour parts Moreouer it easeth the swelling piles or bigs sticking out in the fundament killeth the cholerique exulcerations called S. Anthonies fire healeth corrosiue and eating sores and allaieth the paine of night-foes or childblanes called by the Greeks Epinyctides The same effects haue their floures The tendrons or young twigs of Oliues being in floure if they be burnt yeeld a kind of ashes that may serue as a succedan in stead of Spodium but the same must be burnt a second time after they haue beene well drenched and soked with wine These ashes applied as a liniment or the very leaues only stamped and tempred with honey are good for impostumes growne to suppuration and for the pushes or biles named Pani but if they be mixed with grosse barly meal or groats they are in a liniment comfortable to the eyes Take the green branches of an Oliue and burne them there will destill and drop from the wood a certaine juice or liquor which healeth ringwormes tettars and shingles scoureth away the skales of the skin and dandruffe and cureth the running skalls of the head Touching the gum that issueth from the oliue tree it self and namely that wild oliue which is called Aethiopica I cannot wonder enough at some who giue counsell therwith to annoint the teeth which ake considering that they themselues giue out That it is a poison and to be found as wel in wild oliues as others The rind or bark pared from the root of a most tender and yong oliue reduced into an electuary and often licked and let downe by leisure into the throat after the manner of a lohoch cureth those who reach vp bloud and cough out filthy and rotten matter The ashes of the very oliue it self mixed with swines grease cure all tumors draw forth corruption of fistulous vlcers and when they are thus mundified heale them vp cleane White oliues agree very well with the stomack but they are not so good for the belly A singular commoditie they yeeld before they be put vp in their compost or pickle for to be eaten greene by themselues as meat for they scoure away grauel with vrine good they are for the teeth whether they be worne rotten worme eaten or loose in the head
and therefore much eating of them causeth a man to grow corpulent and nathelesse to be strong and lusty withall which is the cause that professed wrestlers and champions were in times past fed with figs. For Pythagoras a great master and warden of these exercises was the first man who brought them to eat flesh meat Moreouer figs be restoratiue and the best thing that they can eat who are brought low by some long and languishing sicknesse and now vpon the mending hand and in recouerie In like manner they are singular for the falling euil and the dropsie Figs applied as a cataplasme are excellent either to discusse or els bring to maturity any imposthumes or swellings but they doe the seat more effectually if either quicke-lime or sal-nitre be mixt therwith Boiled with Hyssop they clense the brest break and dissolue the flegmatick humors either fallen to the lungs or there ingendred so by consequence rid away an old cough Sodden in wine so applied as a liniment they cure the infirmities incident to the seat or fundament they mollifie and resolue the swelling tumors of the paps they discusse and heale fellons pushes biles risings behind the ears A fomentationmade with their decoction is good for women And the same being sodden with Faeni-greek are excellent for the pleurisie Peripnewmony i. the inflammation of the lungs Boiled with Rue they assuage the ventosities or collicke in the guts The same being incorporat with verdi-grease or the rust of brasse cureth the morimals of the legs and with Pomgranats they heale the rising exulceration of the flesh and skin about the naile roots But made into a cerot with wax they heale burnes scaldings kibed heels Seeth Figs in wine with wormwood and barley meale and put nitre to them they are passing wholesome for those who are in a dropsie Chew them they binde the belly Make a cataplasme of Figs and salt together the same is singular for the sting of scorpions Boyle them in wine and so apply them you haue an excellent remedy to draw forth carbuncles to the outward parts and bring them to an head Take the fattest fullest Figs you can get lay them vpon the vgly and ill fauored tumor called Carcinoma i. the Canker so it be not vet exulcerat I assure you it is a soueraigne remedy and hardly can be matched againe and so it is also for the festering and eating vlcer Phagedaena There is not another tree againe growing vpon the face of the earth that yeeldeth better or sharper ashes than the wood of the Figge-tree doth either to clense vlcers or to incarnat consolidat and restrain flux of humors It is taken in drink for to resolue cluttered bloud within the body Semblably if it be giuen to drink with water oile of each one cyath it serues wel for those who are dry beaten bruised who are fallen from some high place such also as haue spasms inward rvptures And thus they vse to giue it in al cramps and namely in that vniuersall convulsion which holdeth the body so stiffe that it can stir no way nor other as if it were made of one intire piece without any ioint Likewise both taken in drink and also infused or iniected by clystre it helpeth the fluxe occasioned either by a feeble and rheumatick stomacke or els by the vlcer of the guts If a man rub the body all ouer with it and oile together it setteth it into an heat were it before benummed A liniment made of it and wrought with wax and oile Rosat together skinneth a burnt or scalded place most finely leauing no skar at al to be seen Temper it with oile and therwith annoint their eies who are pore-blind sand blind or otherwise short-sighted it amends their eie-sight to conclude rub the teeth often therewith it preserueth them white neat and from rotting Thus much of Fig-tree ashes Moreouer it is commonly said That if one come to a Fig-tree bend a bough or branch therof downward to the ground and bearing vp his head without stooping reach and catch hold of a knot or ioint with his teeth and so bite it off that no man see him when he is doing of it and then lap the same within a piece of fine leather tied fast by a thred and hang it about his necke it will dispatch the kings-euill and swelling kernels or inflammations behind the eares The bark of the Fig-tree reduced into pouder mixed with oile and so applied healeth the vlcers of the belly Green Figs taken raw stamped and incorporat with niter and meale take away all warts whether they be smooth or rough The ashes made of those shoots that spring from the root is a kind of Antispodium and may go for Spodium indeed If the same be twice calcined and burnt and then mixed with cerusse or white lead and so reduced into trochiskes they make a good collyrie or eie-salue to cure the roughnesse and exulceration of the eies As many vertues as the mild fig-tree hath yet the wild is much more effectuall in operation howsoeuer she yeeldeth lesse milke or white juice than the other doth For a branch onely of it is as good as rennet or rindles to make milk turn and run to a cheese curd Howbeit that milky liquor which it hath if it be gathered and kept vntill it be dry and wax hard serueth to season our flesh meats and giue them a good tast For which purpose it is wont to be mixed and dissolued in vineger then the flesh must be well rubbed and poudred therwith The same is vsually mingled with caustick and corrosiue medicines when there is an intention to raise blisters and make an issue It causeth the belly to be laxatiue and openeth the matrice if it be vsed with Amyl pouder Being taken in drink with the yolk of an egg it prouoketh womens fleurs Applied in a liniment with the floure of Feni-greeke it easeth the pains of the gout it clenseth the leprosie and foul wild scab it killeth ring-worms and fell tettars it scoureth away freckles and such flecks as disfauor the face likewise it cureth the parts stung with venomous serpents or bitten with mad dogs Moreouer this juice of the wild Fig-tree applied vnto the teeth with a lock of wooll allaieth their ach so it doth also if it be put into them that be worme-eaten and hollow The tender yong branches together with the leaues if they be mingled with Eruile are good against the poison of venomous sea-fishes But then according to some Physitians there must be wine added to this receit The said tender branches being put into the pot with Boeuf and so boiled together saue much fewell for lesse fire by far will serue to seeth the meat The green figs of this wild fig-tree brought into a liniment do mollifie and discusse the kings euil and all other tumors and apostemes And in some measure the leaues also haue the same operation
draw filthy matter and corruption forth of fistulous sores the same do the inward thin rinds within the bark Many are of opinion That the very bark chewed only and applied to green wounds is singular good to heale them They affirme moreouer That the leaues bruised and applied to the feet allay their swelling so there be water sprinckled among Furthermore the water or liquor which runneth from the heart or pith of the wood when the tree is lopped or disbranched as I haue said before if the head be annointed or bathed withall causeth the haire to grow again if it be lost and keepeth it on if it be ready to shed and fall As touching the Tillet or Linden tree the very wood thereof is vsed for all things in a manner that the wild oliue is imploied vnto if the same be lightly bruised or stamped howbeit the leaues only are occupied which if they be chewed and so applied do cure the cankers breeding in the mouth of small infants Being boiled and their decoction inwardly taken they prouoke vrine outwardly applied they do stay the inordinat and excessiue flux of womens fleurs but giuen in drink they euacuat the same superfluous bloud There is a second kind of Elder more wild of nature which some of the Greeke writers call Chamaeacte others Helion and it groweth much lower than the other The decoction of the leaues as well of VValwoort as Elder boiled in old wine is contrarie and noysome to the stomacke and purgeth downeward waterie humors euen so doth the decoction either of the seed or the root if it be taken inwardly to the quantity of two cyaths the same is excellent to coole any inflammation and namely to take out the fire of any new burn or scald The yong and tender leaues as well of Elder as VVall-woort reduced into a cataplasme and laied too with barly groats doe cure the biting of a dogge The juice both of the one and the other infused and conueighed accordingly into the head is a soueraigne lenitiue for all impostumes of the braine and especially those which are growing in the fine membrane or pellicle called Pia Mater which immediately lappeth and enfoldeth the braine The fruit or berries of the Elder or of Walwort are weaker in operation than the other parts of the tree or plant howbeit they serue wel to colour the haire of the head black The same also taken in drinke to the measure of one acetable be diureticall and prouoke vrin The softest and tenderest leaues are eaten ordinarily in a salad with oile and salt for to purge fleam and choler In summe the lesser plant which is the VValwort is in all things more effectuall than the elder it selfe for if the root thereof be sodden and a draught of two cyaths be giuen to them who are in a dropsie it will purge mightily and euacuat watery humors A decoction of the roots and leaues of Danewort is singular to mollifie the matrice and naturall parts of a woman if she sit ouer the same and take the vapour thereof into her body The tender sprigs of the milder Elder boiled betweene two platters do make the body soluble and moue to the seege The leaues drunke in wine resist and kil the poisoned sting of serpents The tendrons of the elder incorporate with goats tallow and reduced into a liniment are singular good for the gout if they be applied to the griued place the water of their infusion if it be cast or sprinkled in any room of the house killeth fleas and if the place be likewise sprinkled with the decoction of the leaues it will not leaue a flie aliue There is a kind of disease much like to purples or meazles when the body is bepainted all ouer with red blisters a branch of the Elder tree is excellent good to lash the said wheales or risings for to make them fal again and go down Take the inner bark or rind of the Elder beat it into pouder and so drink it in white wine it is a sufficient purgation The Iuniper of all other trees passeth either for to heat any part or to extenuat make subtill any humors in operation much like to the Cedar Of it there be two kinds the greater and the lesse a perfume made with the one as well as the other driueth away serpents the seeds or berries of Iuniper assuage the pains of stomack brest sides the same serue wel to break wind and resolue all ventosities yea and to euaporat all cold and chilnesse they ripen any cough and mollifie al hardnesse a liniment made therof applied outwardly causeth any tumor to go down and represseth the rising therof likewise if the beries be drunk in some grosse or thick red wine it will stay a lask like as they will abate the swelling of the belly if they be laid too by way of a cataplasme or liniment The Iuniper berry is reckoned among the ingredients which go into antidots or preseruatiues against poison such I mean as be penetratiue and of quick operation It is diureticall and moueth vrine In case the eies do water much by reason of a continuall rheum taking to them it is good to apply a liniment vnto them made therewith Foure Iuniper berries are giuen in white wine or 20 of them boiled in wine for convulsions crampes ruptures wrings and torments in the belly for the griefes of the matrice and the Sciatica To conclude some there be who fearing to be stung with serpents vse ordinarily to rub or annoint their bodies with a liniment made of Iuniper seed or berries CHAP. IX ¶ Of the Sallow Willow or Withy of the twig Withy or Oisier Amerina Of twigs or binding rods Of Heath or Lings THe fruit which the willow or Sallow yeeldeth if it be suffred to hang before it doth ripen is conuerted into a certaine substance resembling a cobweb but beeing gathered ere it be thus transformed it is singular good for such as reach or cast vp bloud The ashes of the rind pilled from the first branches that the willow putteth forth and tempered with water taketh away corns and callosities of the feet they serue also to rid the spots and specks which disfigure the visage the rather if they be incorporat with the juice of the willow Now there bee found in the said willow 3 sorts of juice the first sweateth out of the tree it self in manner of a gum the second issues sorth by way of incision when the tree is in the bloom prouided alwaies that the cut or gash in the bark be made three fingers broad this liquour is singular good to clense the eies and to rid away such impediments as hinder the sight likewise to incrassate or thicken where need requireth to prouoke vrine and draw forth all inward impostumes outwardly the third juice is that which distilleth from the branches presently after the bill or cuttinghook when the tree is lopped or the boughs cut from the body Take
if Silphium be mingled withal tempered with hony it cureth and healeth all running vlcers and in that maner prepared it is excellent for the roughnes of a furred tongue for places bruised looking black blew or otherwise raw where the skin is rased pilled off Nothing so soon healeth any wounds in the head and bringeth them so quickly to cicatrice And taken inwardly with other meats it stoppeth the immoderat flux of womens fleurs As touching Madder which some Greeks call Erythrodanus others Ereuthodanus and wee in Latine Rubia it is an herb different from Rhus Erythros aboue named Diers vse it much to colour their wooll woollen cloth so do curriers about their skins and leather In Physicke it serueth to prouoke vrine it cureth the jaundise if it be taken in mead or honied water and reduced into a liniment with vineger it healeth the il-fauored tettars called Lichenes Ouer besides it is good for the Sciatica and the palsie in case the patient who drinks therof do likewise bath euery day The root and seed both of Madder draw down womens months stop the laske and discusse or resolue any impostumations breeding The branches and leaues therof reduced into a cataplasme and laid too are good for the sting of serpents The leaues also haue a speciall property to colour the haire of the head I reade in some writers that if this herb be tied about the neck or some other part of the body and the patient do no more but look thereupon it is sufficient to cure the jaundise The herb Alysson differeth from this Madder in regard of the leaues and branches onely which be lesse It took that name Alysson because those that be bitten with a mad dog if they drink it with vineger or weare it tied fast about them shall not likewise run mad But it is verie strange which is said moreouer of this herb namely That the very sight thereof is enought to dry vp and consume that venomous matter or humour infused by the tooth of the said dog and which is the cause of madnesse As for the Fullersweed which the Latines cal Radicula and the Greeks Struthion as I haue beforesaid it serueth to scoure and prepare wooll and woollen cloth for the diers hand In Physick the broth or decoction thereof drunk cureth the jaundise and the infirmities or diseases of the brest It prouoketh vrine looseth the belly and cleanseth the matrice which is the cause that Physitians call it Aureum poculum i. the golden cup or golden drinke The same taken with honey in manner of an electuary to the quantity of one spoonefull at a time is of singular operation for the cough and shortnesse of breath when the patient cannot draw and deliuer his wind but sitting vpright Reduced into a liniment with parched barly groats and vineger it cureth and clenseth the foule leprosie Drunke with Panaces and Caper rootes it breaketh the stone and expelleth it out of the body Sodden with Barly meal in wine and brought to a pultesse it dispatcheth risings in the flesh or broad flat biles called Pani It is vsualy put into emolitiue cataplasmes yea and into collyries ordained for to cleare the eiesight I know few things so good to prouoke sneezing as this Radicula neither is there a better herb for the spleene and the liuer The same also if it be drunk to the weight of a Roman denier or dram in mead or honied water helpeth those that be short-winded So doth the seed therof taken with water cure the pleurisie and any stitches or pain in the sides To come now to Apocynon a shrub it is bearing leaues like vnto Ivy but that they be softer and the shoots or tendrils therof not so long the seed is sharp pointed clift or diuided full of a soft down of a strong or vnpleasant sauor Being giuen either to dogs or any other four-footed beasts in meat it is their bane and killeth them Moreouer there is the Rosemary wherof be two kinds the one is barren and bears no seed the other which riseth vp also in a stem or main stalk carieth seed or a rosinous gummy fruit called Cachrys The leaues in smel resemble Frankincense The root fresh and new gathered reduced into a salue healeth green wounds applied to the seat it reduceth the fundament when it is fallen into the right place resolueth the swelling piles and cureth the running hemorrhoids The juice both of the branches and herb it self as also of the root is singular for to scour the jaundise and al things els which haue need of clensing and mundification it cleareth and quickneth the eiesight The seed is giuen to drinke with great successe for all old accidents of the brest but with wine and pepper it is good for the matrice helpeth to send down womens monthly terms Made into a cataplasm with cocle floure it is applied with good effect vnto the gout It clenseth and scour eth away morphew it serueth wel to bring any part ot heat that hath need of chaufing yea to procure sweat if the case require so the place be anointed therwith also it helpeth any convulsion or cramp Drunk in wine it increaseth milk so doth the root likewise the very substance of the herb reduced into a liniment cureth the wens called the kings euil if it be applied vnto them with vineger and taken with hony it is good for the cough As for Cachrys there be many kinds of it as I haue shewed before But this Cachrys of the Rosemary abouesaid if it bee rubbed yeeldeth a substance or liquor of rosin Contrary it is to poisons stings of all venomous beasts but only of Snakes It moueth sweat dispatcheth the wringing torments of the belly and causeth nurces to haue plenty of milk Sauine the herb called by the Greeks Brathy is of two sorts the one in leafe resembleth the Tamarisk the other the Cypresse tree whereupon some haue giuen it the name of Candy Cypresse Many vse it in suffumigations perfumes for Frankincense But in medicines we Physitians take the double weight of it instead of Cinnamon it is thought to haue the same operations and effects It driues back keepeth down all swelling impostumes it represseth also those vlcers which be corrosiue and cankerous brought into a salue it mundifieth filthy sores Applied outwardly it drawes dead infants out of the body no lesse it worketh being but receiued by way of perfume Made into a liniment it healeth S. Anthonies fire and carbuncles Drunk with hony and wine it cureth the jaundise It is said that the very fume or smoke of this herb wil rid hens and such like pullen of the pip Much like vnto this herb Sauine is that which they cal Selago Many ceremonies are to be obserued in the gathering of this herb first and formost the party who is to gather it must bee apparelled all in white as it were in a surplice go barefoot he
fill their vats and caudrons hath the same operation that Struthium and is put to the same vse Many there be verily in all parts of Spaine who vse it both in sweet Pomanders and also in ointments calling it Aspalathus and without all doubt there is a kind of wild white thorne of this race growing in the casterly countries as I haue said among the woods and riseth to the full height of a good tree Yea and a shrubby plant there is lower than the other but as full of pricks growing in Nisyrus and the Islands of the Rhodians which some cal Erysisceptron others Adipsatheon or Dipsacon or Dracheton the best is that which groweth nothing like to the Ferula and being despoiled of the rind is of a reddish colour inclining to purple It is found in many places but not euery where odoriferous Of what sorce it is when the rainebow seemeth to rest vpon it I haue shewed already It healeth the filthy cankers or sores of the mouth and the stinking vlcers or alepocks in the nosthrils likewise the sores botches and carbuncles in the priuy parts the crenises also and clifts in the fundament or else-where applied vnto the place affected but if it be drunk it abateth all swelling of ventosities the bark or rind therof dispatcheth those obstructions and impediments which cause the strangury or pissing by drop-meale The decoction is a singular remedy for them that either pisse or vomit bloud The foresaid rinde stoppeth the flux of the belly The like effects is that thought to work which groweth in thewoods and is called Aspalathus of the Leuant There is a kind of thorny bush called Appendix for that there be red berries hanging therto which be likewise named Appendices These berries either raw by themselues or else dryed and boiled in wine do stay the flux of the belly and besides assuage the torments and wrings therof As for the berries of Pyxacanthus they be drunk to right good purpose against the sting of serpents Paliurus also is a kind of thorny bush the people of Africk call the seed of it Zura which is found to be most effectuall against scorpions and for those who are troubled with the stone and the cough The leaues haue an astringent or binding qualitie The root resolueth and dispatcheth biles impostumes and botches and if the same be taken in drink it procureth vrin if it be sodden in wine and the decoction drunk it stoppeth a laske and is a defensatiue against the poison of serpents the root especially is giuen in wine some there be who stamp the leaues putting salt thereto and beeing reduced into the forme of a cataplasme apply the same to the gout The leaues be good to stay the immoderat flux of womens termes the loosenesse of the belly occasioned by a feeble stomack the bloudy flix and the inordinat motions of cholericke humors both vpward and downward The root boiled and brought to a liniment draweth forth whatsoeuer sticketh within the body Soueraign it is and of exceeding great operation in case of dislocations and swellings As touching the Holly of Hulver tree if it be planted about an house whether it be within a city or standing in the country it serueth for a countercharm and keepeth away all ill spels or inchantments Pythagoras affirmeth that the floure of this tree wil cause water to stand all vpon an yee also that a staffe made thereof if a man doe fling it at any beast whatsoeuer although it chance to light short for default of strength in his arms who flung it wil notwithstanding etch forward and roll from the place where it fell vpon the earth and approch neere to the beast aforesaid of so admirable a nature is this Holly tree The fume or smoke of any Yeugh tree killeth mice and rats Neither hath Nature produced brambles for nothing els but to prick and do hurt for such is her bounty that the berries which they beare are mans meat besides many other medicinable properties for they haue a desiccatiue and astringent vertue and serue as a most appropriate remedy for the gums the inflammation of the Tonsils the priuy members the flours also as well as the berries of the brambles be singular against the Haemorrhoid and the Prester which are the two wickeddest and most mischieuous serpents that be The wounds inflicted by scorpions they close heale vp againe without any danger of rankling or apostemation and withall they haue a property to prouoke vrine The juice drawne and pressed out of the tendrons or yong sprouts of brambles stamped and afterwards reduced vnto the consistence of honey by standing in the Sun is a singular medicine either taken inwardly or applied outwardly for all the diseases of the mouth and eies for them that reach vp bloud for the squinancy the accidents of the matrice and fundament finally for the immoderat flux of the belly occasioned by the weaknesse of stomack As for the sores and infirmities of the mouth the very leaues alone of the bramble if they be but chewed are passing good but if they be reduced into a liniment and so applied they heale running sores or any scals whatsoeuer in the head euen so being laid alone vpon the left pap they be wholesome for such as are giuen to the fainting trembling of the heart and subject to fal into cold sweats likewise being applied accordingly they ease the pain of the stomack and such as haue their eies ready to start out of their head and to help the infirmities of the ears their iuice is excellent to be dropped into them The same juice incorporat with the cerot of roses healeth the clifts and swelling knubs in the fundament for the said infirmity the decoction of yong tendrils in wine is a present remedy in case the place be bathed and fomented therein The same yong springs earen alone by themselues in a salad in maner of the tender crops and spurts of the Colewort or boiled in some harsh grosse and greene wine do fasten the teeth which be loose and shake in the head they stop a lask and restrain an vnnaturall issue or flux of bloud and besides are good in the bloudy flix Being dried in the shade and afterwards burnt their ashes are singu ar to stay the uvula for falling The leaues also being dried and beaten to pouder are excellent good for the farcines and sores in horses and such like beasts As for the blacke berries which these brambles do beare there is a kind of Diamoron made of them which is far better for the infirmities of the mouth and more effectual than the other of the garden mulberies The same being so prepared in that stomaticall composition aforesaid or drunk only with Hypoquistis and hony be singlar to represse the fury of choler prouoking both waies they be cordiall likewise in case of faintings and cold sweats and lastly a preseruatiue against the poison of the venomous spiders Among those
still and beareth vs in hand that in the realme Ariana there is found the herbe Arianis of the colour of fire The inhabitants of that country vse to gather it when the Sun is in the signe Leo and they affirme that if it do but touch any wood besmeared and rubbed ouer with oile it will set the same a burning on a light fire What should I write of the plant Therionarca which whensoeuer it beginneth to come vp and rise out of the ground all the wilde beasts will lie benummed and as it were dead neither can they be raised or recouered again vntill they be sprinkled with the vrine of Hyaena The herb Aethiopis by his report groweth in Meroe for which cause it is called also Merois In leafe it resembleth Lectuce and being drunk in mead or honied water there is not such a remedy againe for the dropsie Ouer and besides he speaketh of the plant Ophiusa found in a country of the same Aethyopia named Elephantine of a leaden hue it is and hideous to see to whosoeuer drinke thereof shal be so frighted with the terrors and menaces of serpents represented vnto their eies that for very feare they shall lay violent hands on themselues and therefore church robbers are inforced to drink it How beit if a man take after it a draught of Date wine he shall not be troubled with any such fearfull visions and illusions Moreouer there is found saith Democritus the herbe Thalassegle about the riuer Indus and thereupon is knowne by another name Potamantis which if men or women take in drink transporteth their sences so far out of the way that they shall imagine they see strange sights As for Theangelis which by his saying groweth vpon mount Libanon in Syria and vpon Dicte a mountain in Candy also about Babylon and Susis in Persia if the wise Phylosophers whom they term Magi drinke of that herb they shal incontinently haue the spirit of prophesie and foretell things to come There is besides in the region called Bactriana about the riuer Borysthenes another strange plant named Gelotophyllis which by his report if one do drink with Myrrh and wine it will cause many fantasticall apparitions and the party shal therupon fal into a fit of laughter without ceasing and intermission and neuer giue ouer vnlesse it be with a draught of Date wine wherein were tempered the kernels of Pine nuts together with pepper and honey Touching the herb of good fellowship Syssitieteris found in Persis it tooke that name because it maketh them exceeding mery who are met together at a feast They call the same herb likewise Protomedia for that it is so highly esteemed among kings and princes And another name it hath besides to wit Acasignete because it commeth vp alone no other herbs neere vnto it yea and one more yet namely Dionysonymphas because wine and it sort so well together and make as it were a good mariage The same Democritus talketh also of Helianthe an herb leaued like to the Myrtle growing in the country Themiscyra and the mountains of Cilicia coasting a long the sea And he giues out that if it be boiled with Lions grease and then together with Safron and Date wine reduced into an ointment the forefaid Magi and the Persian kings therewith annoint themselues to seem thereby more pleasant and amiable to the people which is the reason that the same herb is called Heliocallis Ouer and besides he maketh mention of Hermesias for so he termeth not an herb but a certain composition singular for the getting of children which shall proue faire and of good nature besides Made it is of Pine nut kernels stamped and incorporat with hony Myrrh Safron and Date wine with an addition afterwards of the hearbe Theombrotium and milke and this confection he prescribeth to be drunk by the man a little before the very act of generation but by women vpon their conception yea and after their deliuery all the while they be nources and giue suck and in so doing they may be assured those children of theirs thus gotten bred and reared shall be passing faire and well fauoured of an excellent spirit and courage and in one word euery way good Of all these herbes before specified he setteth down also the very names which the said Magi call them by Thus much for the Magicke herbes found in Democritus his booke Apollodorus one of his disciples and followers comes in with his two herbs to the other before named The one he calleth Aeschynomaene because it draweth in the leaues if one come neare vnto it with the hand the other Crocis which if the venomous spiders Phalangia do but touch they will die vpon it Cratevas writeth of an herb called Oenotheris which being put in wine if any sauage beasts be sprinckled therewith they will become tame gentle and tractable A famous Grammarian of late daies made mention of another herb Anacampseros of this vertue That if a man touched a woman therewith were she departed from him in all the hatred that might be she should come again and loue him entirely The same benefit also should the woman find therby in winning the loue of a man This may suffice for the present to haue written of these wonderfull Magick herbes considering that I meane to discourse more at large of them and their superstition in a more conuenient place CHAP. XVIII ¶ Of Eriphia Lanaria and Stratiotis with the medicines which they yeeld MAny writers haue made mention of Eriphia This herb hath within the straw of the stem a certain flie like a beetle running vp and down and by that meanes making a noise like vnto a yong kid whereupon it took the foresaid name There is not a better thing in the world for the voice than this herb as folk say The herb Lanaria giuen to ewes in a morning when they are fasting causeth their vdders to strout with milk Lactoris likewise is a common herb and as well known by reason that it is so full of milk which causeth vomit if one tast thereof neuer so little Some there be who say that the herb which they cal Militaris is all one with this Lactoris others would haue it to be very like vnto it and that it should haue that name because there is not a wound made with sword or edged weapon but it healeth it within fiue daies in case it be applied thereto with oile Semblably the Greek writers make great reckoning of their Stratiotes but this hearl 〈◊〉 groweth onely in Egypt and namely in floten grounds where the riuer Nilus hath ouerflowed and like it is vnto Sengreen or Housleek but that it hath bigger leaues It is exceeding refrigeratiue and a great healer of green wounds being made into a liniment with vineger moreouer it cureth S. Anthonies fire and all apostumes which are broken and run matter if it be taken in drinke with the male Frankincense it is wonderfull to see
thereof whiles some attribute to it the Centaur Chiron others to K. Pharnaces This Panaces is vsually set and planted bearing leaues indented in the edges like a saw and those longer than any of the rest The root is odoriferous which they vse to drie in the shadow and therewith to aromatize their wine for a pleasant and delectable taste it giueth vnto it Hereof they haue made two speciall kinds the one with a thicker leafe the other with a thinner and smaller As for Heracleon Siderion a plant it is also fathered vpon Hercules It riseth vp with a slender stalk to the height of foure fingers bearing a red floure and leaues in manner of the Coriander Found it is growing neare to pooles and riuers and for a wound herb there is not the like especially if the body be hurt by sword or any edged weapon made of yron and steele There is a wild Vine named Ampelos Chironia for that Chiron was the first author thereof Of this plant I haue written in my discourse of Vines vnder the name of Vitis Nigra like as also of another herb which hath the goddesse Minerua for the inuentresse Moreouer vnto Hercules is ascribed Henbane which the Latines call Apollinaris the Arabians Altercum or Altercangenon but the Greeks Hyoscyamus Many kinds there be of it the one beareth black seed floures standing much vpon purple and this herb is full of pricks And in very truth such is the Henbane that groweth in Galatia The common Henbane is whiter and brancheth more than the other taller also than the Poppy The third kinde bringeth forth seed like vnto the graine of Irio All the sort of these already named trouble the brain and put men besides their right wits besides that they breed dizzinesse of the head As touching the fourth it carieth leaues soft full of down fuller and fatter than the rest the seed also is white it groweth by the sea-side Physitians are not afraid to vse this in their compositions no more than that which hath red seed Howbeit otherwhiles this white kinde especially if it be not throughly ripe proueth to be reddish and then it is reiected by the Physitians For otherwise none of them all would be gathered but when they be fully drie Henbane is of the nature of wine and therfore offensiue to the vnderstanding and troubleth the head howbeit good vse there is both of the seed it selfe as it is in substance and also of the oile or iuice drawn out of it apart And yet the stalks leaues and roots are imploied in some purposes For mine owne part I hold it to be a dangerous medicine and not to be vsed but with great heed and discretion For this is certainly knowne That if one take in drink more than foure leaues thereof it will put him beside himself Notwithstanding the Physitians in old time were of opinion that if it were drunk in wine it would driue away an ague An oile I say is made of the seed therof which if it be but dropped into the ears is enough to trouble the brain But strange it is of this oile That if it be taken in drink it serues for a counterpoison See how industrious men haue bin to proue experiments and made no end of trying all things insomuch as they haue found means and forced very poisons to be remedies CHAP. V. ¶ Of Mercury called Linozostis Parthenium Hermupoa or rather Mercurialis of Achilleum Panaces Heracleum Sideritis and Millefoile of Scopa regia Hemionium Teucrium and Splenium of Melampodium or Ellebore and how many kinds there be of it of the black or white Ellebore their medicinable vertues how Ellebore is to be giuen how to be taken to whom and when it is not to be giuen and how it killeth Mice and Rats THe herb Mercury called by the Greeks Linozostis and Parthenion was thought to be first found out by Mercury whereupon many of the Greeks call it Hermu-poa and wee all in Latine name it Mercurialis Of it be two kinds the male and the female howbeit the female Mercury is of better operation than the other It riseth vp with a stem a cubit high which otherwhile brancheth in the top the leaues be like vnto Basil but that they are narrower full of knots or joints the stalk is and those haue many hollow concauities like arme-pits The seed hangeth down from those ioints In the female the same is white loose in great plenty in the male it standeth close vnto those joints but thinner and the same is small and as it were wreathed The leaues of the male Mercury be of a dark and blacker green wheras in the female they be more white The root is altogether superfluous and very little Both the one and the other delight to grow in plains and champion fields well ordered and husbanded It is wonderful if it be true that is reported of both these kinds namely That the male Mercury causeth women to beare boies and the female girls For which purpose the woman must presently after that shee is conceiued drink the juice of which Mercury she will in sweet wine cuit and eat the leaues either sodden with oile salt or els greene raw in a sallad with vineger Some there be who boile it in a new earthen vessell neuer vsed before together with the hearbe Hellotropium or Turnsol and 2 or 3 cloues of Garlick vntill it be throughly sodden VVhich decoction they prescribe to be giuen to women as also the herb it self to be eaten the second day of their monthly sicknes and so to continue for 3 daies together then vpon the fourth day after they haue bathed to company with their husbands Hippocrates giueth wonderfull praise vnto Mercury as wel the male as the female for all those accidents which follow women but the maner of vsing it which he prescribed there is no Physitian hath skil of He appointed to make pessaries thereof with hony oile of Roses oile of Ireos or Lillies and so to put them vp into the secret parts and in this manner he saith that the herb is excellent good for to prouoke the monthly termes of women and to fetch away the after-birth Hee affirmeth also that a potion of fomentation therwith wil do as much Moreouer by his saying the juice of Mercury infused into the ears or applied by way of liniment with old wine is singular for them when they runne with stinking matter he ordained likewise a cataplasme of Mercury to be laid to the belly for to stay the violent flux of humors thither for the strangury also and infirmities of the bladder In which cases he gaue the decoction therof with Myrrhe and Frankincense And verily for to loosen the belly although the Patient were in a feuer there is a potion of Mercury singular good made in this wise Take a good handfull of Mercury seeth the same in two sextars of water vntill one halfe be consumed let the party
duskish and blacker colour than the former bearing bigger leaues the root of both is of singular operation against the venomous frogs or toads aboue said also against the sea-hare if it be taken in wine to the weight of one dram And since we haue mentioned the sea-hares take this withall That Cyclaminos also is soueraigne against their venom Moreouer a mad dog letteth in a dangerous poison by the wound that his tooth maketh against which there is not a better thing than dog-rose of the Eglantine called Cynorrhodon as I haue before declared Plantain is a singular herb against the biting of any ve nomous beast whatsoeuer whether it be taken inwardly in drink or outwardly applied Betonie is likewise good therfore if it be drunk in old wine Veruain which the Greeks call Peristereos is an herb bearing one main stalk of a good heigth furnished well with leaues spreading forth toward the head into other branches much sought to by doues and pigeons whereupon it took the foresaid name Peristereos They say whosoeuer carry this herb about them there dare not a dog bark at them Thus much as touching the dangers proceeding from venomous beasts What remaineth now but in the next place to treat as well of such sorceries and maleficiall poisons as men haue deuised and practised to the mischiefe of their own kind as of their remedies where in the first place there presenteth it self vnto vs that noble herb Moly so much commended by the Poet Homer as a soueraigne preseruatiue not only against all those wicked inventions but also against the secret and diuelish practises to wit charmes and inchantments wrought by Art magick and witchcraft Next vnto which the herbs Mithridation Scordotis and Centaury also the seed of Betony drunk in honied wine or sweet cuit the pouder also of the dried herb it selfe to the weight of one dram taken in 4 cyaths of old wine doth expell out of the body euacuat by the seege any poison whatsoeuer but the patient must be forced to vomit vp the first potion and then to recharge again take another draught of the foresaid medicine And verily it is a common speech That whosoeuer vse to tast euery day a little of Betony shall neuer catch harm by any poisoned cup. If a man or woman chance to haue drunk down any poison the root of Aristolochia is a present remedy vsed in that order as I haue prescribed before in case of stinging by venomous serpents The like effect hath the iuice of Cinquefoile Semblably Agarick if it be taken to the weight of one denier Roman in three cyaths of honied water or mead is of the same operation with this charge That the party do lay vp his stomack or cast before There is an herb called Calves-snout in Greeke Antirrhinon or Anarrhinon a kind of wild Lichnis like vnto Line or flax with little or no root at all carying a floure resembling the Hyacinth or Crowtoes and the seed much like a calues snout or muzzle the Magitians haue a great opinion of this herb That whosoeuer be rubbed all ouer with it or annointed throughly with the juice thereof shall looke more beautifull louely and amiable and whosoeuer weareth it in a bracelet about the wrest or arme shall take no harme by charme sorcerie witchcraft or poison The like conceit they haue of another herb called Euploea and they affirme That if any man or woman be annointed therewith they shall grow in great credit and reputation with the people Moreouer they say that the herb Artemisia or Mugwort will preall those who haue it about them from witch-craft sorcerie and poison from danger by venomous beasts yea and from the hurtfull and maligne aspect of the very Sun The same if it be taken in wine helpeth and saueth those that are poisoned with Opium being either drunke or worn about the neck or but tied to any part of the body it hath a peculiar vertue against the venom of todes There is an herb of the bulbous or onion-root kind named Pericarpum whereof be two sorts the one hath a red bark or rind about the root the other a black and is like vnto the Poppy of greater operation this is than the former but both of them be very hot which is the reason they serue to good purpose for to be giuen vnto them that haue drunk Hemlock against which venomous herb Frankincense and Panaces especially that which they call Chironium be counted singular and this Panaces also last named is an excellent antidote for them that are poisoned with venomous Mushroms CHAP. XI ¶ Proper receits and remedies for the diseases of the head SInce wee are waded so far into the deep secrets of Physick it will not be amisse to proceed forward and to set downe many good medicines for all the maladies incident either in generall to the whole body or particularly to euery speciall part and member thereof beginning first at the head There is an vnseemely accident happening otherwhiles to the head and disgraceth it much called Alopecia when as the haire vnnaturally falleth off The cure of this inconuenience is to make a liniment with the roots of Nymphaea and Hemlocke stamped together and therwith to annoint the bald and naked places for it will cause the haire to come vp again grow thick Polytricha Callitrica both capillare herbs differ one from another for that Polytrica hath white benty filaments or threds the leaues be also more in number greater with all besides the very plant it selfe spreadeth and brancheth more than the other this herb is singular to fasten the haire of the head at the root and to make it bush and grow thick being otherwise ready to shed In like manner there is an herb called in Latine Lingulaca which loueth to grow about springs or fountains is singular for the same imperfection of shedding haire if the root together with the leafe burnt and beaten to pouder be incorporate with the grease of a blacke sow but in any wise she must be a yong guilt that neuer farrowed or had pigs and so brought into a liniment and the head rubbed and annointed therwith with this charge besides That after the annointing the Patient sit bare headed in the sun for that helps forward the cure verie much And in the same case there is the likevse of the Cyclamine or Sowbread root Touching the scurse or brannie scales called Dandruffe the root of Veratrum or Ellebore sodden either in oile or water maketh a most excellent medicine to rid it away to clense the head thereof As for head-ache the roots of all the kinds of Panaces stamped and tempered with oile doe cure the same so doth Aristolochia and Iberis if they be applied in manner of a frontall and bound to the forehead the space of an houre or longer if the Patient can abide it so that a bath be vsed presently vpon it The yellow
better furnished with leaues and those more cut and indented than the former and riseth vp with greater and higher stalks The third is the least hauing a strong sent and bearing a yellow floure like vnto gold The fourth is like to this and hath likewise a yellow floure They be all of them of a causticke and burning qualitie For lay but the leaues raw and greene as they grow vpon any place they will raise blisters in the skinne as well as a light coale of fire which is the reason that they bee much vsed for leprosies and foule scabs also to take out any markes imprinted in the skinne or vnseemely scarre In summe it is one of the ingredients that go to the making of all potentiall cauteries or causticke medicines VVhere the haire is gone and the place bare and naked they vse commonly to applie these hearbes for to recouer the haire againe but they must be soone remooued For tooth-ache also it is an ordinary thing to chew of their roots but if one continue so long it will burst their teeth in pieces The same beeing cut into roundles and dried and so beaten into pouder serueth to prouoke sneezing Our Herbarists here in Italy call this hearbe Strumea because it helpeth and cureth the wens named Strumae or the Kings euill and the flat biles or pushes called Pani if the same be hanged vp afterwards in the chimney to take smoke For this opinion they haue and be verily persuaded that if it be set again into the ground the wens and biles aforesaid which were healed wil return and be sore again The like sorcery and witchcraft they vse with Plantaine but in truth the juice of Plantaine is singular good for the cankers or vlcers within the mouth so are the leaues and roots if they be only chewed yea though the patient or diseased person were troubled with the spitting rheume for they intercept all those defluctions which take a course into the mouth Cinque-foile is a very soueraigne herb for the sores of the mouth and for stinking breath Psyllium i. Fleawort is good for the vlcers thereof But since I haue named a stinking breath which is a foule and nastie disease putting man or woman to shame as no infirmitie more I will set downe one or two compound receits for that imperfection Take Myrtle Lentisk leaues of each a like weight of the Gal-nuts growing in Syria halfe as much in quantity stamp them all together and in the stamping sprinckle them with good old wine giue the patient this composition in bole to chew and eat in the morning there is not the like medicine vnto it for a sweet breath Also take Ivy beries Casia or Canell and Myrrhe of each an equall weight incorporat them with wine in manner aforesaid and vse this confection accordingly For the sores that be incident to the nose the seed of dragons made into pouder and tempred with hony is singular to be applied therunto yea though they were very cankers and had eaten deep Where the skin looketh blacke and blew whether it be vnder the eies or otherwise in any part of the visage a salue made of Hyssope applied therto restoreth it to the fresh and natiue colour To conclude a liniment of Mandragoras taketh out the markes or prints that be branded or seared in the face if it be applied presently while they be fresh THE TVVENTY SIXTH BOOKE OF THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE WRITTEN BY C. PLINIVS SECVNDVS The Proeme CHAP. I. ¶ Of medicines appropriate and respectiue to all other parts and members of the body Of certaine new maladies and namely of the ill fauored tetter called Lichenes what kinde of infection it is and when it first entred into Italy Of the blain or sore called the Carbuncle Of the filthy leprosie or wild scab named Elephantiasis And of the Collicke LOng is it not since the face and visage of men began to be annoied with certaine new and strange diseases vnknowne in our forefathers daies and neuer heard of before in Italy nor almost in any part of Europe And euen of late daies when these maladies first set foot in these parts they were not seene for to spread throughout all Italy ne yet to range greatly in Illyricum France or Spain although some little sprinckling there was in those countries but about Rome only and those quarters adioining as they raigned first so they raged most These new-come diseases verily were nothing painfull to the Patients nor dangerous any waies and deadly but so soule and filthy so loath some and ougly that a man would haue chosen rather to die any death than to be so disfigured But of them all the worst and most detestable was that which by a Greeke name they called Lichenes and in Latine because ordinarily it began about the chin Mentagra A terme giuen vnto it I assure you at the first by way of jeast and in a meriment as commonly we see many are disposed to play and make good game at other mens miseries but afterwards it went currant in euery mans mouth and by no other name than Mentagra was it known notwithstanding the disease possessed not the chin alon but in many that had it took vp the whole visage all saue the eies yea and ran downward to the neck breast spreading also to the armes and the very hands and in such sort was the skin of the poore wretches bepainted and beraied with foule scurfe and filthy scales as it would haue pittied one at the heart to see them This contagious disease our fathers and ancestors in times past neuer heard of nor knew what it meant for the first time that it crept into Italy was in the daies of Tiberius Claudius late Emperor of Rome euen about the middle of his raigne and that was by the means of a certain knight or gentleman of Rome borne at Perusium who being secretary or clerke vnto the Treasurer vnder the Romans in Asia and giuing attendance according to his place chanced there to be infected and so hee brought the disease ouer with him to Rome But will you heare the strange nature of this foule euil women were not subiect vnto it no more were slaues base and poore commoners no nor citizens of mean state and condition the greatest gentlemen and those of the nobility it made choise of and picked them from among the rest very catching it was and soone passed from one to another especially by the mouth and by the means of a kisse were it neuer so short foule and ill-fauored enough was the disease it selfe but the scar remaining after it was healed for many there were who came vnder the Chirurgians hand and indured the cure looked a hundred times worse and why no way there was to rid it but by caustick medicines or potentiall cauteries and vnlesse the flesh were eaten away to the very bones it was not possible to kill and root it out clean but it would reuiue and spring
an Asphodill root boiled as I said before then stamped together with parched barley and so applied is singular good to rectifie that default but for any sore or wound whatsoeuer Henbane leaues be singular The root of Astragalus beaten into pouder are soueraigne for such vlcers as do water much and be alwaies moist likewise the common Maidenhaire boiled in water but more particularly if the skin be newly fretted off by wearing some vneasie shooes there is not a better thing to heale and skin the place than a salue made with Veruain also with herb willow stamped or Nenuphardried made into pouder and so strewed vpon the gall As for the other Maidenhaire it is counted better to heale the same raw excoriations if they haue continued some time and are growne to be exulcerat There is as an herb named Polycnemon like vnto wild Origan how soeuer the seed resemble that of Peniroyall it shooteth forth many branches and those knotted and iointed in diuers places it beareth in the head certain berries as it were in bunches and clusters odoriferous and as they sent somwhat strong and hot so the smel is not vnpleasant take this herbe chew it with your teeth and then lay it to any wounds made by the edge of the sword or such like weapon and so let it lie and remoue it not vntill the fifth day you shal see it to heale excellent wel Camfrey applied vnto a green wound skinneth it most speedily so doth Sideritis as for this herb it should be applied with honey The seed and leaues of Mullen sodden in wine stamped to the form of a cataplasme draweth forth all thorns spils and arrow heads which sticke within the body The like effect work the leaues of Mandragoras incorporat with parched barley meale and Sowbread roots stamped and mixed with honey The leaues of Germander punned with oile are excellent to be applied vnto those vlcers which doe corrode the flesh vnder them and eat forward like as the Reiks or sea-weeds Betonie is a soueraigne herbe for cancerous vlcers also for the blacke sploches that haue continued a long time vpon the skin if there be salt put thereto Argemonia tempered with vineger taketh away warts so doth the root of Crowfoot which also is singular good to fetch off with ease the ragged and fretted nailes that be offensiue The leaues of Mercurie the male and female both or the iuice thereof brought into a liniment haue the like operation Al the sorts of the Tithymals take away any warts whatsoeuer so do they rid the troublesome risings and impostumations like whitflawes about the naile roots and all flecks spots whelks and specks whatsoeuer Ladanum reduceth any scars to look faire and fresh coloured againe CHAP. XV. ¶ Many experiments and approued receits for the prouoking or staying of womens monethly tearmes for curing the diseases of their matrice for sending out the birth or retaining the same within the bodie the full time Also sundry deuises for to amend the faults that blemish the skin of the face to colour the haire of the head or to fetch it off Last of all diuers medicines for the farcines or scab in foure-footed beasts IT is said That if a traueller or way faring man weare fast tied about him Mugwort or Sauge he shall neuer be weary nor thinke his journey long But to come now vnto the infirmities of women the black seed of the herb Paeony is generally good for all their maladies if it bee taken in mead the root also is of the same operation and besides prouoketh the ordinary course of their months The seed of Panaces drunk with wormwood moues their fleurs procureth them to sweat the like effect hath Scordotis either in drink or liniment Adram of Betony giuen to women in 3 cyaths of wine helps all the maladies incident to their natural parts but especially those that insue vpon their deliuery of childbirth Achillaea being applied accordingly staieth the excessiue flux of their monthly termes for which purpose also it is good for them to sit in a bath made with the decoction of the said herb in this case to their brests or paps there would be laid a plaster of Henbane seed tempered with wine the root also applied in manner of a cataplasme to their secret parts is counted soueraigne for that infirmitie like as Celendine the greater laid vnto the foresaid brests If the after birth when the childe is borne be loth to come away or if the infant be dead within the mothers womb the roots of Panaces applied accordingly to the priuy parts fetch forth both the one and the other The very herb it self Panaces drunk in wine or outwardly vsed to the region of the matrice clenseth the same Sauge de bois taken with wine expelleth the after-birth and by a suffumigation mundifieth the matrice The juice of Centaury the lesse bringeth women to their desired sicknesse if they drink it or foment the parts beneath therewith Likewise the root of the bigger Centaury vsed after the same maner appeaseth the pains of the mother If the same be scraped smooth put vp into the right place as a pessary it draweth away the dead child within her body for the griefe and anguish which women feele in their womb there is no better thing than to apply the juice of Plantaine in a locke of wooll and in danger of suffocation by rising of the mother to giue it in drinke But Dictamnus is soueraigne and hath no peere it prouoketh monthly fleurs it sendeth out the dead childe yea though it lay ouerthwart and stuck crosse in the birth for which purpose the woman must drink to the weight of one obolus in water and verily of such power is this herb in such cases that so long as women go with child it must not come within the chamber where they are for feare it put them to trauell before their time And not onely in drink is it thus effectual but also in a liniment yea and the very perfume and smoke therof receiued in the body will do the deed Next to it there is not a more soueraigne herb than the bastard Dictamne called Pseudodictamnus but it must be boiled to the weight of one denier with pure wine and strong of the grape and then taken in drinke it prouoketh womens desired sicknesse And yet Aristolochia is many waies good for the infirmities of women for if there be myrrh and pepper put thereto and then either taken in drink or put in a pessarie it draws downe their fleurs bringeth forth the after-birth and fetcheth away the dead infant it keepeth vp and staieth the matrice ready to fall and slip out of the body either in fomentation perfume or pessary especially the small kind thereof But in case a woman be in danger of suffocation by the ascent of the mother or otherwise diseased for want of her monethly purgation let her drinke Agaricke to
to that of the Iuy saue that the berries containing the same be soft This herb delighteth in shady cool rough and watery places Beeing giuen to the full quantity of one Acetabulum it is singular for the inward maladies which be proper to women The wild Vine called by the Greeks Ampelos-Agria is an herbe as I haue sufficiently described already in my Treatise of Vines planted and wel ordered by mans hand which putteth forth hard leaues of Ash-colour long branches and winding rods clad with a thicke skin and the same be red resembling the floure Phlox which in the chapter and discourse of Violets I called Iovis Flamma and a seed it beareth much like vnto the graines within a Pomegranate The root boiled in three cyaths of water and two cyaths of the wine comming out of the Island Coos is a gentle emollitiue of the belly and maketh the body soluble in which regard it is giuen with good successe to such as be in a dropsie A very good herb for women as well to rectifie the infirmities of the matrice as also to scoure and beautifie the skin of their face Moreouer for the sciatica it is good to stamp it leafe and all and to annoint the grieued place with the juice thereof As for Wormewood there be many kindes thereof One is named Santonicum of a city in France called Saints another to wit Ponticum taketh that name of the kingdome Pontus where the sheep feed fat with it which is the cause that they be found without gall neither is there a better Wormwood than it much bitterer than that of Italy and yet the marow or pith within of that Ponticke Wormwood is sweet to ours Meet and requisite it is that I should set down the vertues and properties thereof an herb I must needs say as common as any and most ready at hand howbeit few or none so good and wholesome to say nothing of the especiall account which the people of Rome make of it about their holy sacrifices and solemnities for in those festiuall holydaies named Latinae at what time as there is held a great running with chariots for the best game he that first attaineth to the goale and winneth the prise hath a draught of VVormwood presented vnto him And I beleeue verily that our forefathers and ancestors deuised this honourable reward for the good health of that victorious chariottier as judging him worthy to liue still And in truth a right comfortable herb it is for the stomack and doth mightily strengthen it In which regard there is an artificiall wine that carieth the strength and tast thereof named Absinthites according as I haue shewed heretofore moreouer there is an ordinary drinke made of the decoction of Wormwood boiled in water for the right making whereof take six drams weight of the leaues and sprigs together seeth them in three sextars of raine water and in the end put thereto a small quantity of salt which done the liquor ought to stand a day and a night afterwards to coole in the open aire and then is it to be vsed Certes there is not a decoction of any herbe of so great antiquitie as it and knowne to haue beene vsed so long Moreouer the infusion of VVormewood is in great request and a common drinke for so we vse to call the liquor wherein it lay steeped a certain time Now this would be considered that be the proportion of water what it will the said infusion ought to stand close couered for three daies together Seldome or neuer is there any vse of wormewood beaten to pouder ne yet of the juice drawn by way of expression And yet those that presse forth a iuice take the Wormwood when the seed vpon it beginneth to swell and wax sull and being newly gathered let it lie soking in water three daies together but if it were drie before to steep it a whole seuen night which done they set it ouer the fire in a brasen pan with this proportion namely ten hemines of the herbe to fiue and fortie sextars of water and suffer it to boyle vntill a third part of the liquor be consumed after this the decoction must run through a strainer with hearbe and all well pressed then ought it to be set vpon the fire againe and suffered to seeth gently and leisurely to the height or consistence of honey much after the order of the syrrup made of Centaurie the lesse But when all is done this juleb or syrrup of VVormewood is offensiue to the stomack and head both whereas that decoction first aboue-named is most wholsome for astringent though it be and binding the mouth of the stomack aloft yet it doth euacuat choler downward it prouoketh vrine keepeth the body soluble and the belly in good temper yea and if it be pained giueth great ease the worms ingendered therein it expelleth and being taken with Seseli and Celticke nard so there be a little vineger put thereto it dispatcheth all ventosities in the stomacke and cureth women with child of that inordinat desire and strange longing of theirs it clenseth the stomack of those humors which cause lothing of meat bringeth the appetite againe and helpeth concoction if it be drunke with Rue Pepper and salt it purgeth it of raw humors crudities occasioned by want of digestion In old time Physitians gaue wormwood for a purgatiue but then they tooke a sextar of sea water that had bin kept long six drams of the seed with three drams of salt and one cyath of hony and the better will this purgation worke in case the poise of salt be doubled but it would be puluerized as fine as possibly may be to the end that it might passe away the sooner and worke more easily Some vsed to giue the weight beforesaid in a gruell of Barley groats with an addition of Peniroyall others against the Palsie and others againe had a deuise to put the leaues of wormwood in figs and make little children to eat them so that they might not tast their bitternes Wormwood being taken with the root of Floure-de-lis dischargeth the brest of tough fleagme and clenseth the pipes For the iaundise it would be giuen in drinke raw with Parsley or Maidenhaire Supped hot by little and little in water it breaketh wind and resolueth ventosities and together with French Spikenard it cureth the infirmities of the liuer and taken with vineger or some gruel or els in figs it helpeth the spleen giuen in vineger it helpeth those that haue eaten venomous Mushrums or be poisoned with the gum of Chamaelion called Ixia In wine if it be taken it saueth those who haue drunk Hemlock it resisteth the poison inflicted by the sting of the hardishrow the sea dragon and scorpions It is holden to be singular for the clarifyng of the sight if the eies be giuen to watering it represseth the rheum or flux of humors thither so it be applied with wine cuit and laid vnto contusions and the skin
water vpon it whensoeuer it began to drie vpon him with the heat of his body seldome was it vndone or remooued and neuer but when of necessity for verie change fresh was laied too for default of the other and by this manner of cure and no other the poore wretch recouered perfectly in so smal a time that it was wonderful and almost incredible CHAP. IX ¶ Of the berrie called Coccum Gnidium Of the Tazill and Oke ferne Of Dryophonon and Elatine Of Empetrum otherwise named Calcifraga Of Epipactis or Elleborine Of Epimedium Enneaphyllon and Ferne. Of the herbe named Oxe-thigh Of Galeopsis otherwise Galeobdolon Of Glaux or Eugalactum THe berrie Coccum Gnidium in colour resembleth the Scarlet graine in quantity a pepper corne but that it is bigger of an ardent and caustick quality it is and therefore they vse to lap it in the soft crum or pith of a loaf of bread and to swallow it for feare it should burn the throat as it passeth down A present remedy this is for those who are impoisoned with Hemlocke and it hath a good propertie to stop a laske The Tazill called in Greeke Dipsacos hath leaues much resembling Lectuce sauing that in the mids of the back-part there are to be seen certain bubbles as it were or risings and those be prickly the main stem which it beareth is two cubits high and the same armed with pricks at euery ioint and knot whereof it putteth forth two leaues which do compasse and inclose the same round about in maner of wings making thereby a certaine concauitie or hollow receptacle wherein alwaies there standeth a saltish dew or water In the top of this maine stem and other branches proceeding from it it beareth certaine burry heads beset all ouer with sharpe pricks like those of an Vrchin and it loueth to grow in waterie places This herb closeth vp and skinneth the fissures or chaps in the fundament also the root boiled in wine healeth fistuloes but the same ought to be so tender sodden as it may be wrought like wax that a colyrie or tent made of it may be put into the concauitie of the sore Moreouer it cureth werts of all sorts and some there be who to take away werts wash them with the liquor found in the hollow pith of the foresaid wings The Oke fern named in Greek Dryopteris is like to other fern groweth vpon trees hauing leaues finely slit and those somewhat sweet in tast the root is rough and hairy of a caustick and fiery nature is this herb and therefore the root being punned is a depilatory and fetcheth off haire for which purpose the manner is to apply it in manner of a liniment vntill it procure sweat which course would be re-iterated twice or thrice during which time the sweat must not be wiped away Dryophonon is an herb much like to Dryopteris the stems wherof be small yet growing to the length of a cubit those be inuironed on both sides with leaues an inch broad in shape much like to Bruscus or butchers-broom called in Greek Oxymyrsine but they be whiter and softer bearing a white floure likewise in manner of the Elder The young crops and tendrils of this herb may be eaten when they are sodden and the seed is commonly vsed in stead of pepper Running Buckwheat or Bindweed named in Greek Elatine putteth forth smal leaues round and hairy much like to those of Parietary of the wal and immediatly from the root there spring fiue or six prety branches halfe a foot long furnished well with leaues This herb grows among corn soure it is and harsh in tast wherupon it is taken to be very effectuall to represse the fluxe of humors which cause watering eies if the leaues be stamped with barley groats and applied with a fine linnen cloath vnderneath The same boiled together with Lineseed cureth the bloudy flix in case the patient drinke the broth or decoction thereof As for Empetron which our countrymen in Latine name Calcifraga it groweth vpon mountains regarding the sea and commonly vpon rocks and stony cliffes the nearer it is to the sea the salter tast it hath by which means if it be taken in drink it purgeth choler fleam the farther off that it groweth from the sea and the more terrene and earthly substance that it hath the bitterer is it found to be and this doth euacuat waterish humors but the manner of taking it is in some potage or els in mead Being long kept it loseth the force if it be fresh and new gathered and then either sodden or stamped it is diureticall and breaketh the stone And verily they that promise thus much in the behalfe of Empetron and would seem to justifie and make good their word do affirme for the better credit thereof That if stones doe boile with it in the same pan they will burst in pieces Epipactis named by some Elleborine is a little herb bearing small leaues soueraign for the diseases of the liuer and against all poisons if it be taken in drinke Epimenidion putteth forth no great stem bearing ten or twelue leaues resembling the Iuie but it neuer sheweth floure the root is smal black and of a strong and stinking smel it groweth vpon moist grounds of an astringent nature it is and cooleth mightily an hearbe that women must beware of The leaues stamped and applied to the paps of maides keep them down that that they shall not grow Enneaphyllon hath long leaues in number nine neither fewer nor more and those be of a burning or causticke nature a singular hearbe for the paines of loines and the Sciatica but it ought to be applied enwrapped well in wooll for feare least it burne the flankes for presently it raiseth blisters Of Ferne be two kinds and they beare neither floure nor seed Some of the Greekes call the one Pteris others Blechnon from one root whereof there spring many branches representing wings and those exceed two cubits in length yeelding no vnpleasant sauor and this they suppose to be the male The second kind the said Greeks some call Thelypteris others Nymphaea Pteris this groweth single and brancheth not into many stems shorter it is than the former softer also and thicker of leaues and those toward the root guttered and somwhat hollow there is neither of them both but their roots will feed swine fat and the leaues of the one as well as the other are disposed on both sides so as they do represent birds wings wherupon the Greeks gaue them the name Pteris The roots of both Fernes be long and those growing bias in colour blacke especially when they be drie and dried they ought to be in the Sunne Fern groweth euery where but their most delight is in a cold soile The due time of digging them vp is about the setting of the star Virgiliae There is no vse in Physicke of their roots but when they be iust two yeres
if health consisted in this That a man should become as bloudie as a sauage beast or that be counted a remedy which indeed is cause of a mischiefe and malady And wel deserue such bloud-suckers and cruell leeches to be frustrat of their cure and thereby to worke their owne bane and destruction for if it be held vnlawfull and abhominable to prie and look into the entrails and bowels of a mans body what is it then to chew and eat them But what monster was hee who first broched this geare and deuised such accursed drugs Ah wicked wretch the inuenter and artificer of those monstrosities thou that hast ouerthrowne all law of humanity for with thee wil I haue to do against thee will I whet my tongue and turne the edge of my style who first didst bring vp this bruitish leech-craft for no other purpose but to be spoken of another day and that the world might neuer forget thy wicked inuentions What direction had he who thus began to deuoure mans body lim by lim nay what conjecture or guesse moued him so to do what might the originall and foundation be whereupon this diuelish Physick was grounded what should he be that bare men in hand and would persuade the world That the thing which is vsed as a poison in witchcraft and sorcerie should auaile more to the health of man than other knowne and approued remedies Set case that some barbarous people vsed so to do say that strange nations and far remoued from all ciuility had these manners among them must the Greekes take vp those fashions also yea and credit them so much as to reduce them into a method amongst other their goodly Arts And yet see what Democritus one of them haue done there be extant at this day books of his inditing and penning wherein you shal reade That the soul of a wicked malefactor is in some cases better than that of an honest person and in other That of a friend and guest preferred before a stranger As for Apollonius another of that brood hee hath written That if the gums be scarrified with the tooth of a man violently slain it is a most effectuall and present remedy for the tooth-ach Artemon had no better receit for the falling sicknesse than to draw vp water out of a fountaine in the night season and to giue the same vnto the Patient to drink it in the brain-pan of a man who died some violent death so he were not burnt And Antheus took the scull of one that had bin hanged and made pills thereof which he ministred vnto those who were bitten by a mad dog for a soueraigne remedy Moreouer these writers not content to vse these sorceries about men imploied the medicines also of the parts of man to the cure of foure footed beasts and namely if kine or oxen were dew-blowne or otherwise puffed vp they were wont to bore holes through their horns so to inlay or interlard them as it were with mens bones finally when swine were diseased they tooke the fine white wheat Siligo being permitted to lie one whole night in the very place where some men were killed or burnt and gaue it them to eat As for me and all vs that are Latine writers God forbid we should defile our papers with such filthinesse our intention is to put downe in writing those good and wholsome medicines which man may affoord vnto man and not to set abroad any such detestable and hainous sorceries as for example to shew what medicinable vertue there may be in brest-milke of women newly deliuered what healthfull operation there is in our fasting spittle or what the touching of a man or womans body may auaile in the cure of any malady and many other semblable things arising from naturall causes For mine owne part verily I am of this mind That we ought not so much to make of our health or life as to maintain and preserue the same by any indirect course and vnlawful meanes And thou whosoeuer thou be that doest addict thy selfe to such villanies whiles thou liuest shalt die in the end a death answerable to thy beastly and execrable life To conclude therefore let euery man for to comfort his heart and to cure the maladies of his mind set this principle before his eies That of all those good gifts which Nature hath bestowed vpon man there is none better than to die in a fit and seasonable time and in so doing this is simply the best That in his power it is and the meanes hee hath to chuse what death he list CHAP. II. ¶ Whether Words Spels or Charmes are auaileable in Physicke Also whether wonders and strange prodigies may be either wrought and procured or put by and auoided by them or no. THe first point concerning the remedies medicinable drawn from out of man which mooueth the greatest question and the same as yet not decided and resolued is this Whether bare Words Charms and Inchantments be of any power or no If it be granted Yea then no doubt ought we to ascribe that vertue vnto man But the wisest Philosophers and greatest Doctors take them one by one doubt thereof and giue no credit at all thereto And yet go by the common voice of the whole world you shall find it a generall beleefe and a blinde opinion alwaies receiued whereof there is no reason or certain experience to ground vpon For first and formost we see that if any beast be killed for sacrifice without a sett forme of praier it is to no purpose and held vnlawfull semblably if these inuocations be omitted when as men seeke to any Oracles and would be directed in the wil of gods by beasts bowels or otherwise all booteth not but the gods seem displeased thereby Moreouer the words vsed in crauing to obtaine any thing at their hands run in one form and the exorcismes in diuerting their ire turning away some imminent plagues are framed after another sort also there be proper termes seruing for meditation only and contemplation Nay we haue seene and obserued how men haue come to make suit and tender petitions to the soueraign and highest magistrats with a preamble of certain set prayers Certes so strict and precise men are in this point about diuine seruice that for fear least some words should be either left out or pronounced out of order there is one appointed of purpose as a prompter to read the same before the priest out of a written booke that hee misse not in a tittle another also set neare at his elbow as a keeper to obserue and mark that he faile not in any ceremony or circumstance and a third ordained to goe before and make silence saying thus to the whole assembly congregation Favete linguis i. spare your tongues and be silent and then the fluits and haut-boies begin to sound and play to the end that no other thing be heard for to trouble his mind or interrupt him the while And
also are of this nature that they be able to cure and ease such as are stung already either by touching only or else by a medicinable sucking of the place of which kind are the Psylli and Marsi those also in the Island Cyprus whom they call Ophugenes and of this race and house there came an Embassador out of the said Island whose name was Exagon who by the commandement of the Consuls was put into a great tun or pipe wherein were many serpents for to make an experiment and trial of the truth and in very deed the said serpents licked his body in all parts gently with their tongues as if they had bin little dogs to the great wonder of them who beheld the manner of it A man shall know those of this family if any of them remain at this day by this signe that they breath a strong and stinking sent from them especially in the Spring season Now these people beforenamed had not only a gift to cure folk with their spittle but their very sweat also had a medicinable vertue against the sting of serpents For as touching those men who are born and bred in Tentyrus an Island lying within the riuer Nilus so terrible they be vnto the Crocodiles that they wil not abide so much as their voice but flie from them so soon as they heare it Moreouer it is knowne for certaine that all the sort of these people who haue their bodies thus priuiledged by that secret antipathie in nature between them serpents are able to ease those who are stung if they do but come in place where they be like as a wound will be more angry and sore if they come neare who at any time before haue been hurt by sting of serpent or tooth of mad dog such also carry about with them in their bodies so venomous a quality that their onely presence is enough to marre the egs that a brood-hen sits vpon and make them all addle yea and to driue ewes and other cattell to cast their yong before the time such a virulent property remaineth still behind in their bodies who haue bin once stung and bitten that notwithstanding they be cured thereof yet venomous they are now and hurtfull to others who beforetime were poisoned themselues But the only way to remedy this inconuenience is to cause them to wash their hands before they enter into the roome where the patients lie and with the same water to besprinckle and wash them who are to be cured Againe this is to be obserued that whosoeuer at any time haue bin pricked with a scorpion shal neuer afterwards be stung by hornets waspes or bees A strange thing this is no doubt howbeit no great wonder vnto them who know that a garment or cloth which had bin vsed at funerals wil neuer be afterwards moth eaten and how that serpents hardly can be plucked out of their holes vnlesse it be by the left hand CHAP. IIII. ¶ Of certaine Sorceries and the properties of a mans spittle Also against Magitians THe inuentions of Pithagoras as touching numbers beare a great stroke in these matters and lightly misse not but principally in this That the said Philosopher would giue judgment by the vowels contained in the proper name of any person concerning their fortunes for in case the vowels were in number odde he pronounced that if the party euer proued lame of a lim lost an eie or met with any such like accidents the same should happen vpon the right side of the body but contrariwise if the number of vowels were euen then these infirmities should befall the left side Furthermore it is commonly said that if one take a stone dart or instrument of shot wherewith a man hath killed these three liuing creatures a man a wilde Bore and a Bear one after another that with one single stroke to euery one of them and fling the same clean ouer an house where there is a woman in hard trauell of child-birth so as it light on the other side without touching any part thereof the woman shal presently be deliueed More reason there is that a light jauelin or Pertuisan should do this feat which had bin drawn forth of a mans body so as it neuer touched the ground after for do but bring this murdering jauelin into the place where a woman is in labor it wil forthwith procure her deliuerance Orpheus and Archelaus do write much after the same maner of arrows pulled out of men bodies namely that if care be had that they touch not the earth then be laid vnder the bed where man or woman lieth they wil cause the parties to be enamored vpon them that bestowed the said arrows there and these authors report moreouer that the venison of any wild beast killed with the same weapon which was the death of a man before is singular to cure the falling sicknesse As some men there be whose bodies all throughout be medicinable so there be others who haue certain parts onely of the same vertue according as I haue written already concerning the thumbe of king Pyrrhus In the citie Elis also the inhabitants were wont to shew as a wonderfull monument the rib of Pelops which they auouched to be all of Iuory And euen at this day many there are who make great scruple to shaue or clip the haire growing in any molle or wert vpon the face As touching the fasting spittle specially of man or woman I haue shewed already how it is a soueraigne preseruatiue against the poison of serpents But that is not all for in many other cases it is found by daily experience to be of great operation and to worke effectually For first and formost if we see any surprised with the falling sicknesse we spit vpon them and by that means we are persuaded that we our selues auoid the contagion of the said disease Item an ordinary thing it is with vs to put by the danger of witch-craft by spitting in the eies of a witch so do we also when we meet with one that limpeth and is lame of the right leg Likewise when we craue pardon of the gods for some audacious and presumptuous praiers that wee make we vse to spit euen into our bosoms Semblably for to fortifie the operation of any medicines the manner is to pronounce withal a charm or exorcisme three times ouer and to spit vpon the ground as often and so we doubt not but it will do the cure and not faile Also when we perceiue a fellon or such like vncom sore a breeding the first thing that we doe is to marke it three times with our fasting spittle I will tell you of a strange effect and whereof it is no hard matter yw is to make the triall If one man hath hurt another either by reaching him a blow neare at hand or by letting flie somwhat at him farther off repent him when he hath so done let him presently spit just in
the midst of the palm of that hand which gaue the stroke the party immediatly that was smitten shall be eased from pain and take no harm thereby And verily we find this to be so by experiments oftentimes made vpon the bodies of fourfooted beasts for let them be swaied in the back or hipped by some stripe giuen them with stone or cudgel do no more then but spit into that hand which did the deed streightwaies they will goe vpright again vpon all foure Contrariwise some there be who before they either strike or discharge any thing from them against another after the same manner first spit into the bal of their hands and so they make account to do a greater displeasure to hurt more dangerously But this we may assure our selues that there is not a better thing in the world for to kil tettars ringworms the foule leprie than to rub and wet them continually with our owne fasting spittle likewise to annoint therewith euery morning our eies keepeth them from being bleared also cankerous sores are cured with the root of Sowbread which we call the earth-apple if the same be wrought into a salue with our fasting spittle Moreouer if a man haue a cricke and ach in the nape of his neck let him take the spittle of a man that is fasting some in his right hand and there with anoint the ham of his right leg and the rest with his left and do the like to the left leg and thereupon hee shall find ease If an earwig or such like vermin be gotten into the eare make no more ado but spit into the same and it will come forth anon Among countercharms preseruatiues against sorcerie these be reckoned namely that a man spit vpon his own vrine as soon as he hath deliuered it out of his body likewise to spit into the shooe that serueth his right foot before he put it on in a morning also whensoeuer he goeth ouer or passe by a place where sometime he was in danger to remember that he spit vpon it Marcion of Smyrna who wrote a Treatise of the vertues and effects of simples reporteth that the Scolopendres of the sea will burst in sunder if one spit vpon them and so will hedge toads and other venomous frogs Ophilius writeth that spittle wil do the like by serpents if one spit into their mouths as they gape As for the learned Salpe shee saith that if one perceiue any member or part of the body be asleep and benummed there is not a better thing to recouer the sence thereof than to spit into the bosome or to touch the vpper eielids with fasting spittle Now if we beleeue these things to be true we may as well giue credit to all that which followeth Wee see it is an ordinary thing that if a stranger come in place where a babe lieth in the cradle or look vpon the said infant whiles it is asleep the nource vseth to spit thrice although I am not ignorant that there is a religious opinion of this sillable Mu that it is able to defend such yong sucklings as also of the foolish puppet Fascinus both which are of power to put back any witchcraft from them and returne the mischiefe vpon the eie-biting witch And since I am light vpon this name I must let you vnderstand that this Fascinus is holden to be a god forsooth the gardian keeper not of infants only but of great captains and braue generals of the field who hath diuine seruice done to him at Rome among other gods and that by the vestall Nuns for the manner was to hang this ridiculous puppet vnder the chariots of noble victorers riding in triumph not onely to defend them by a medicinable power against the venome of enuious and spightfull tongues but also to returne all enuie vpon them bid as it were to take it among them the like vertue is in the tongue beseeching fortune to bee propitious and fauorable vnto them Fortune I say who ordinarily commeth after to whip and punish them as the scourge and tormentresse of glory and honour Ouer and besides the tooth of a man especially when he is mad is reckoned to be as dangerous and pernicious a biting as any other The excrement found in mans ears called ear wax is thought in this case to be soueraigne and let no man maruell thereof considering how it will heale the sting of Scorpions and serpents also if it be applied to the place presently but it is the better and more effectuall if it be taken out of the Patients own ears who is thus wounded and in that sort it healeth also the whitflaws and impostumations that breed about the naile roots Moreouer take a mans or womans tooth and stamp it into pouder it is thought good for the sting of a serpent The haire of yong boy-children which is first clipped off is held to be a singular remedy for to assuage the painful fits of the gout if the same be tied fast about the foot that is grieued generally their haire so long as they be vnder 14 yeres of age easeth the said anguish if it be applied vnto the place Likewise the hair of a mans head cureth the biting of a mad dog if it be laid to the place with vineger it healeth also the wounds in the head applied with oile or wine But if it were plucked from his head whiles he hangeth vpon the gallows then is it soueraign for the quartan ague but we may chuse whether we will beleeue it or no. Certainly the haire of the head burnt to ashes is known to be very good for a cancerous vlcer If a woman take the first tooth that a yong child cast set it in a bracelet and so weare it continually about her wrest it will preserue her from the pains grieuances of her matrice and naturall parts Tie the great Toe and that which is next vnto it together you shall see how it will allay any risings tumors in the share Bind gently the two middle fingers of the right hand with a linnen thred marke of what force this remedy is to represse the rheum falling into the eies and how it wil keep them from being bleared If all be true that is commonly said the stone that one hath voided thrust out of the body easeth all others that be pained with the stone if the same be kept fast tied to the share also it doth mitigat the griefe of the liuer and procureth speedy deliuerance to women in trauel with child Granius affirmed moreouer that in all these cases it would do the better if one were cut for it that it were taken forth of the bladder by way of incision If a woman be neere her time and looks euery day to fal to labour cry out let the man come by whom she is with child and after he hath vngirt himselfe gird her about the middle with his own girdle and vnloose
the other skin about them But with brimstone it cureth the raggednesse of the nails it staieth likewise the haire of the head which is giuen to shed also if it be mixed with a fourth part of gall-nuts it healeth the vlcers in a womans head but if it be well smoked it helpeth to preserue the haires of the eie-lids An ounce weight thereof boiled in one hemine of old wine vntill there be three ounces and no more of the whole remaining is giuen an ounce at once to those who are in a phthysick Some appoint a little hony to be put thereto The same together with Quick-lime reduced into a liniment is singular for the biles and impostumes called Pani as also for felons and the hard tumors of womens paps it serueth besides to cure inward ruptures and convulsions spasmes crampes and dislocations Being applied with white Ellebore it healeth corns agnels fissures chaps and callosities But incorporat with the pouder of a saltars pot-shard it heales the swelling impostumes behind the ears as also the wens called the Kings euil being ordered in like manner If the body be well rubbed and annointed therwith in the baine or hot-house it taketh away all itch red pimples wheals rising in the skin Moreouer prepared after another sort to wit with old oile together with the stone called by the Greekes Sarcophagus beaten to pouder adding thereto the herb Cinquefoile stamped in wine either with Quicklime or with ashes and so reduced into a liniment it is very good for those that be troubled with the gout Thereof also is made a singular plaster against inflammations in this wise Take of the said grease the weight of fourscore and fiue pound of white litharge of siluer one hundred pound weight mix them both together As for Bores grease if there be a liniment made of it and rosin it is thought to be excellent good for to anoint therwith vlcers that be corrosiue and giuen to spread farther In old time men vsed it most about the axletrees of their carts and wagons anointing them therwith that the wheels might turn about more easily whereupon it took the name Axungia And being emploied in this maner it serueth for a medicin to cure the vlcers of the seat priuy members seruing to generation by reason that it is mixed and coloured with the rust of the yron incorporat into it The antient Physitians made most account alwaies of the said hogs grease by it selfe which was plucked from the kidnies for after it was clensed from the strings veins and skins they washed it often and rubbed it well in rain water which done they sod it in new earthen pots shifting it out of one into another many times and beeing thus tried and clarified they kept it for their vse Howbeit all are agreed that when it hath taken salt it is a greater emollitiue it heateth also discusseth and resolueth more yea being washed in wine it is much better than otherwise As touching the fat or grease of a Wolfe Massurius writeth that in old time it was esteemed before any other had the price aboue all And he saith that new wedded wiues were wont vpon their mariage day to anoint the side posts of their husbands houses therwith at their first entrance to the end that no charms witchcrafts and sorceries might haue power to enter in thus much of grease Look what vertue grease hath the same be sure is the suet and tallow endued with which commeth from those beasts that chew cud and although it may be handled dressed otherwise yet in force it is nothing inferior But what talow soeuer it be the best way of pre paring it is after the skins or veins be rid away to wash it first either in sea water or salt brine and then within a while to stamp it in a mortar eftsoons sprinkling it with sea-water after which it ought to be sodden in many waters vntill it haue lost all the sauor rank tast that it had and then at last by setting it in the Sun continually it wil be reduced to a perfect whitenesse moreouer this is to be noted that the best suet is that which groweth about the kidnies But say that old tallow is called for and to be vsed in any cure it ought first to be melted and then anon to be well and often washed in fresh cold waters which done it must be liquified a second time casting and pouring thereupon eftsoons the best odorifeorous wine that may be gotten after which maner they vse to seeth it again and again and neuer giue ouer vntill the rank smell and sent thereof be clean gone and verily many are of opinion that particularly the fat of Buls Lions Panthers and Cammels ought thus to be ordered and prepared As for the vses properties of these Pomonades I will treat thereof in conuenient place Concerning marrow it is a thing common to all creatures like as the fat abouesaid All the kinds thereof are emollitiue and incarnatiue they dry also heat the body The best marrow simply is that of Deere as well red as fallow next to it in goodnesse is calues marrow and then in a third rank follow kids and goats marrow Prepared they ought to be and dressed before Autumne when they be new and fresh washed and dried in the shadow But afterwards they must be melted again and run through a finer sercer or pressed through linnen strainers which done they should be put vp in earthen pots and set in a cold place But of all those things which are generally to be found in euery liuing creature the gall is that which is of greatest efficacy in operation for power it hath naturally to heat bite cut draw discusse and resolue The gall of smaller beasts is taken to be more subtill and penetratiue than that of the greater and therfore supposed to be the better for to go into eie-salues Buls gall is thought to haue a speciall faculty aboue all others principally in setting a golden colour vpon skins brasse What gall soeuer it be in the preparation therof for any vse regard must be had that it be taken fresh and new and then the orifice of the burse or bag wherein it is contained ought to be tied fast with a good round pack thred thus being bound vp close it must be cast into boiling water and there remain halfe an hour within a while after so soon as it is dried out of the Sun it ought to be preserued and kept in hony The gal of horses only is vtterly condemned reputed as a very poison which is the cause that the arch-Flamin or principall sacrificer is forbidden by law expressely to touch an horse notwithstanding that in Rome it is an ordinary thing to sacrifice euen horses publickly and not their gall alone but also their bloud is corrosiue by nature and putrifactiue The bloud of Mares milke likewise vnlesse they be such as were neuer couered nor bare
of white Ellebore for the pin and web others againe with wine against cicatrices pearles obscurity of sight filmes and spots But for the eie-lids after the haire which pricked and offended the eie is pulled out they applie it with the iuice of Beets suffering the said liniment to dry vpon the eie-lids If any tunicles of the eie be broken they take womans milk to apply vnto it In sum for al infirmities of the eies whatsoeuer they hold a goats gall which is old and hath bin long kept to be more soueraigne and effectuall in operation than any other Neither doe they reiect the dung of this beast but repute a liniment made of it and honey to be as good for waterie eyes as the marrow for the paine thereof likewise the lungs of an hare And verily the gall of an hare as it is commonly reported incorporat with câ—…it or honey and so applied helpeth those that be dim-sighted Furthermore they ordaine to rub and annoint the eies against their inflammation and bleerednesse either with woolues greace or else with swines marrow And no maruell for they say That whosoeuer vse to carry about them in a bracelet a foxes tongue shall neuer be troubled with sore eies For the pain infirmities incident to the ears there is not a better nor more excellent thing than the vrin of a wild bore saued and kept in a glasse the gall likewise of a wild bore or sow as also of a boeufe mixt with Cicinie oile and oile Rosat in equall quantity is a singular remedy but especially buls gall dropped into the ears warm with the iuice of Porret or els with hony in case they be impostumat within and run with water The same alone by it selfe warmed in the rind of a pomegranate is excellent to take away the ranke and strong sauour of the eares and if any part within be broken the said gall instilled with womans milke healeth it effectually Some there be who ordaine the eares to be well washed with it so prepared for to remedy the difficulty and hardnesse of hearing others vse to put into the eares wooll washed before in hot water and inclose therewith a peece of a serpents slough with vineger but if the deafenesse be the greater they infuse the said gall into the eares tempered with Myrrhe and Rue and so made hot all together in the pill of a Pomegranate Fat lard also is good for this purpose and the greene dung of an Asse instilled with oile Rosat prouided alwaies that all these medicines be warme when they be dropped into the eares But the fome that a horse doth froth is better than all these or the ashes of horse dung fresh made and burned mixed with oile of Roses In this case likewise are commended boeufe suet goose grease and fresh butter The vrine of a Goat or bull yea and stale chamber-lie which fullers vse made hot and the vapour thereof receiued into the eare at the narrow mouth or necke of a bottle cureth the deafenesse thereof Some put thereto a third part of vineger and a quantitie of the pisse of a calfe which is yet a suckling and neuer tasted grasse yea and others there be which put thereto the dung mixed with the gall of the said calfe The skin or slough also which snakes cast off is very good to be applied vnto the ears but they ought to be well chaufed and set into an heat before Now are these medicines to be inclosed within wooll and so applied Moreouer calues tallow with Goose grease and the juice of Basill is good for the hearing also calues marrow incorporat together with the pouder of cumin and so powred into the ears The slimy sperme of a bore which passeth from the shap of a sow after she is brimmed if it may be gotten before it touch the ground is singular for the pain of the ears If the ears be crackt and hang flagging down there is nothing better than glue made of calues pizzles if the same be dissolued in water For other impediments of the ears the fat of foxes is very good In like manner Goats gall with oile of Roses warme or the juice of leeks or if there be any rupture within the ears the said gall must be applied with brest-milke For those who be hard of hearing or haue their eares running and suppurate within it is not amisse to drop into them a beasts gall with the vrine of a shee-goat or of the male it makes no matter But these medicines howsoeuer they are to be vsed are thought to be more effectual by far in case they were put into a goats horne and so hung in the smoke for the space of 20 dayes together Also there is great commendation of the rennet of an hare if there be one third part of a Roman denarius thereof and halfe a denare weight of gum Sagapene concorporat in Aminean wine As for the swelling impostumes behind the ears bears grease represseth and keepeth them downe if there be a cerot made thereof together with the equall weight of wax and bulls tallow some there be who put Hypoquist is thereto and butter alone is good to annoint them with so that they were fomented before with the decoction of Fenigreeke Howbeit of much better opperation it would be in case Nightshade were added thereto The stones of a fox buls bloud also dried and reduced to powder be commended in this case Moreouer the vrin of a she goat made warm and so dropped into the ears the dung likewise brought into a liniment with hogs grease is very good To come now to the infirmities of the teeth if they be loose and shake in their sockets the ashes of harts horn will settle them firme and fast again if they ake the same ashes are verie good to ease the paine whether the teeth be rubbed or washed therewith But some are of opinion that the pouder of the said horne not burnt at all is far better than the ashes in these cases howbeit there be dentifrices made both of the powder and also of the ashes Moreouer the ashes of a wolues head is thought to be a soueraigne remedy for the pains incident to the teeth Now it is well knowne that among the excrements of a wolfe there be many times bones found which if they be hanged about the necke arme or other parts of the body haue the same effect Likewise the crudled rendles of an hare infused into the eare are singular for the tooth-ache the ashes also which come of the head burnt is a pretty dentifrice for to rub the teeth withall but if you put Nard thereto it doth correct and palliat a stinking breath But some there be who chuse rather to mingle therewith the ashes of mice and rats heads There is found in the side of a hares head a certaine sharpe bone like vnto a needle herewith Physitians giue counsel to scarrifie the teeth and let the gums bloud for the tooth-ache Take
for carbuncles take the brains of a tame sow rost the same and apply it vnto the sores it is a soueraigne remedy Touching the scabs that men be subject vnto there is not the like medicine for killing the same to the marow of an asse a liniment made with the vrin of the said beast together with the earth vpon which he hath staled Butâ—…r likewise is very good in that case as also for the farcins sullanders and mallanders in horses if it be applied therto with rosin made hot so is strong buls gluedissolued in vineger with quick lime put thereto also goats gall tempered with the ashes of alume calcined For the red blisters and meazils likewise there is not a better medicine than the dung of a cow or oxe and therupon they tooke the name of Boae The mange in dogs is healed with beasts bloud so they be bathed therewith whiles it is fresh and warm and after the same is dried vpon the body to follow it a second time the same day the morrow after to wash them throughly with lie made of strong ashes If thorns spills bones and such like things haue gotten into the flesh and there sticke cars durg is very good to draw the same forth likewise the treddles of a goat with wine Any rendles also but especially that which is found in an hares maw serue in that case reduced into a salue with the pouder of frankincense and oile or else with the like quantity of birdlime or the cereous matter in the Bee-hiue called Propolis Furthermore the grease of an asse is singular to reduce any swe rt sploches and black skars to a fresh and natiue colour which if they ouergrow the skin about them are brought downe and made more euen and subtill by an inunction of calues gall but the Physitians prepare the sayd gall with an addition of myrrh hony and safron and then put it vp in a brasen box for their vse yet some there be who mingle with the rest verdegris or the rust of brasse CHAP. XIX ¶ Receits appropriat to the maladies of women and the diseases of sucking babes also remedies for them that are vnable to performe the act of generation TO begin with the naturall course of womens purgation the gall of a bul or oxe applied to their secâ—…et parts in vnwashed greasie wooll is very effectuall to bring the same down The skilfull midwife of Thebes Olympias vsed to put thereto hyssope and sal-nitre For this purpose harts horne burnt to ashes is very good to be taken in drinke But if the matrice be out of order and vnsetled it is not amisse to apply the same ashes vnto the naturall parts yea and buls gall together with Opium to the weigh of two oboli or else perfume their secret parts with a suffumigation of deers hair Moreouer it is said that the hinds when they perceiuethemselues to be in calf swallow down a little stone which is singular good for women with child to carry about them that they may go out their full time and therefore much seeking there is after this stone which is commonly found among their excrements at such a time or else in their womb if haply they be killed with calfe for then it is to be had there also Moreouer there are found certain little bones in the heart and matrice of an hinde and those bee passing good for great bellied women and such as be in â—…auel of child-birth As for that stony substance resembling a pumish which in like manner is found in the wombe of kine I haue spoken already in my discourse or Kine and their nature If the matrice of a woman be growne hard and haue a scirrhe in it the fat of a wolfe will mollifie it if it be grieued with paine the liuer of a wolfe assuageth the same When women be neare their time and ready to cry out it is good for them to eat wolues flesh or if when they fall first to trauell there be but one by them who hath eaten therof this is such an effectuall thing that if they were forespoken or indirectly dealt withall by sorcery witchcraft this is thought to ease them of paine and procure them speedy deliuerance But in case such a one as hath eaten wolues flesh chance to come into the chamber when a woman is in the mids of their trauell she shall surely haue a hard bargaine and die of it Moreouer great vse there is of the hare in all womens infirmities for the lungs of an hare dried made into pouder and taken in drinke is comfortable to the matrice and helpeth it in many accidents thereof the liuer drunk with Samian earth in water staieth the excessiue flux of their fleurs the rennet of their maw fetcheth away the after-birth when it staieth behind but then in any wise the woman must not bathe or sweat in bain theday before the same rennet appliedas a cataplasme vpon a quilt of wooll with Safron the juice of porret forceth the dead infant within the mothers wombe to come forth Many are of opinion that if a woman eat with her meat the matrice of an hare she shall thereupon conceiue a man child if she company with her husband And some say that the genetoirs of the male hare yea the rendles are good for that purpose And it is thought that if a woman who hath giuen ouer bearing children doe eat the young leueret taken forth of the dams belly when she is newly bagd she wil find the way again to conceiue breed freshly as before but the magitians do prescribe the husband also to drink the bloud of an hare for so say they he shall sooner get his wife with child And they affirme moreouer that if a maiden be desirous her brests or paps should not grow any more but stand alwaies at one stay knit vp round and small she is to drink 9 treddles or grains of hares dung and for the same intent they aduise a virgin to rub her bosom with a hares rennet hony together also to anoint the place with hares bloud where the haire is plucked off if they be desirous that it should not grow again As touching the ventosities and inflation of the matrice it is good to vse thereto a liniment made of bores or swines dung incorporat with oile but in this disease it were better for to represse the said windines flatuosity to spice a cup with the pouder of the same dung dried giue it to the woman to drink for whether she be vexed with wrings whiles she is with child or pained with afterthrows in childbed she shall find much ease by that potion Furthermore it is said that sows milk giuen with honied wine to a woman that is in labour helps her to speedy deliuerance Let a woman newly brought to bed drink the same milk alone she will proue a good milch nource and haue her brests strut with milke but
else but a plaine and true narration according to my first desseine and intention For well I wot that I might haue inserted here and there the rare receits which are reported to be of the ashes of the bird Phoenix and her nest but that I know all to be meere fabulous howsoeuer they â—…ie a pretence of truth Besides I count it a very mockerie and no better to deliuer vnto the world those medicins which are not to be but once in the reuolution of a thousand yeres CHAP. II. ¶ The vertues and properties of Wooll THe ancient Romans attributed vnto Wool great authoritie had therein a certain religious and reuerent opinion of holines in so much as new wedded wiues by an old custom and ordinance at Rome were wont with great ceremonie to adorn and bedeck with wooll the side-posts of the dore or entrie into their husbands house on the mariage day Now besides the vse of wool for decent apparrel defence against cold weather that which is vnwashed and full of the sheeps swet serueth in Physick and is a soueraign remedy for sundry accidents being applied with oile wine or vinegre according as need requireth either in mitigation of pain or mordicasion and coriosion and according as our purpose is to bind or to enlarge and open any part and namely it is imploied in dislocations of members and griefe of sinues if it be laid to the affected place well sprinkled wet eftsoons with the said liquors that it might be alwaies moist But more particularly for disjointed members some put thereto a little salt others take rue when they haue stamped it incorporat the same with some conuenient grease so apply it in maner of a cataplasme vpon sweatie wooll after which maner it is good for contusions or bruses swellings Also it is said that if the teeth gumbs be well rubbed with such wool and hony mingled together it will cause the breath to be the sweeter a suffumigation or perfume therof is singular for the frensie applied with the oile of roses it stanches bleeding at the nose or otherwise if the ears be well stopped therwith and a little garlick conueied withal therinto Moreouer it is laid to inueterat sores with good successe so that hony be put thereto Soake wooll in wine vinegre or cold water and oile and then wring and presse the same forth it heales any wound The wool of a ram well washed in cold water afterwards steeped in oile is singular for womens infirmities and particularly allaies the inflammation of the matrice but in case it be faln downward and readie to slip out of the bodie a perfume therof receiued beneath staieth the same and keepes it vp The fattie wooll of a sheep being either applied or put vp in maner of a pessarie drawes down the dead infantâ—… out of the mothers belly and yet the same otherwise represseth the immoderat flux of womens fleurs If it be couched hard close within the wound occasioned by the biting of a mad dog it serueth to great purpose but with this charge That it be kept bound therto not remoued vntill the seuenth day be past applied vnto whitflaws and impostimations about the naile-roots with cold water it cureth them the same if it be dipped soked in a medly made of salnitre brimstone oile vinegre and tar all dissolued together and ready to boile and so laid as a cataplasm to the loins as hot as the patient can abide it changing it twice a day appeaseth the paine of those parts Take the greasie wooll of a ram bind therwith very hard the joints of the extream parts as namely the fingers and toes you shal see how it will stanch bleeding Howbeit note this that the wooll growing vpon the sheeps neck is euer best and most medicinable and if we regard the country from whence it coms that of Galatia Tarentum Attica and Miletum is alwaies reputed better than any other Furthermore the greasie or sweatie wooll of a sheepe is proper to be applied to any raw places where the skin is fretted off to contusions bruses looking black and blew strokes crushes rushes rubs and gals as also from them who are tumbled down from some high place for the head-ach and other pains and lastly for the inflammation or heat of the stomack being decently applied with vinegre and oile rosat Reduced into ashes and vsed as a liniment it is singular for them that be crushes or squeesed wounded burnt and scalded This ashes entreth also into colyries and eie-salues it serueth for hollow vlcers fistuloes like as for the ears when they run filthie matter For these purposes aboue specified some sheare it from the sheeps back others chuse rather to plucke it and when they haue clipped off the vpmost parts or forced it lay the same forth to dry they toze card it also and then bestow it in an earthen pot not fully baked which they besmeer all ouer with hony and so burn calcine it to ashes others put vnder smal chips or slices of torchwood and lay certain beds or courses thereof between the locks of wooll and after they haue besprinkled the same with oile set all one fire which done the ashes that come therof they put into little pans or vessels poure water theron and after they haue well stirred the said ashes with their hands they suffer it to settle downe to the bottom which they do oftentimes alwaies changing the water till such time as a man may perceiue the ashes at the tongues end to be somwhat astringent but not biting and they lay vp their ashes for their vse A great scourer and cleanser this is and therefore most effectuall to mundifie the eye-lids Moreouer the very filthy excrements of sheep the sweat sticking to the wool of their flanks between their legs the concauities thereabout which they cal Oesypum is thought to haue infinit number of medicinable ptoperties but the best Oesypum simply is that which coms from the sheep bred about Athens This swet or filthy excrement cal it what you wil is prepared and ordered many waies but the principall is that which is gathered from the wooll newly taken from between the legs shoulders of the sheep and presently tozed ready for to be carded others are content to teke the sweatie filth of any wooll so it be fresh plucked or clipped from the sheep and whether it be the one sort or the other they let it dissolue ouer a soft fire in a pan of brasse which done they set it a cooling and take off the fat that swims aloft gather it into an earthen vessell As for the rest which remained behind of the first stuffe they set iton the fire again that the fatnes may boile forth of it after this the fat that floted aboue as wel the former as the later they wash in cold water let it drie in a linnen cloth expose it
all if immediatly after it hath bin so kept she stept ouer it A perfume made with a snake long kept and dried procureth the desired sicknesse of women The old slough of a snake which she hath cast applied vnto the loines of a woman that is in labour helpeth her to better speed but it must be remoued presently after that she is deliuered Many vse to giue it vnto women with child for to be drunk in wine with frank incense for being taken otherwise it causeth abortion The rod or wand whereby one hath parted or taken off a frog or toad from a snake helpeth women that be in trauell of childbirth And a liniment made with the ashes of the vnwinged Locusts called Tryxalides hony tempered together helpeth forward their monthly purgations The spider likewise that commeth downe spinning from aloft hanging by her fine thred which she draweth in a length if she be caught with the hollow of the hand bruised applied accordingly worketh the same effect but take the same spider winding vp her yearne and returning back to her nest vpward it wil worke contrariwise stay the fleurs of women The Aegle stone called A tites because it is found in an Aegles nest preserueth holdeth the infant still in the mothers womb to the ful time against any indirect practise of sorcery or otherwise to the contrary If a woman be in hard labor of childbirth put a Vultures quill vnder her feet it will helpe her to a more speedy deliuerance Great bellied women as it is well knowne found by proofe ought to be very chairy and to beware of rauens egs for if they chance to goe ouer one of them they shall fall to labour presently and slip an vntimely birth with great danger of their life It seemeth to many that the meuting of an Hawke drunke in honied wine maketh women which were barren before to be fruitfull Certes the grease of a goose or swan doth mollifie any hard tumors schirrhs and impostumations of the matrice and secret parts Goose grease mixt with the oile of roses and Ireos preserueth womens brests after they be newly brought to bed In Phrygia and Lycaonia it is found by experience that the fat of the Bistard or Horn owle is verie good for greene women lately deliuered if they be troubled with the pricking or shooting paines of their brests but for women that are in danger to be suffocated with the rising of the mother they haue a liniment also made with the beetils or worms called Blattae The ashes of Partridge egs calcined mixed with brasse ore called Cadmia and wax and so reduced into a cerot preserueth womens brests plumpe and round that they shall not be riueled or flaggie and it is thought that if a woman make three imaginary circles round about them with a partridge egg they shall continue knit vp and well trussed and not hang downward ilfauoredly let a woman vse to sup them off she shall be both a fruitfull mother of many children and also a good milch nurse for to reare them vp Also it is a generall receiued opinion that if womens paps be anointed all ouer with goose grease it will allay the griefe and paine thereof likewise there is not a better thing for to dissolue and scatter Moon-calues and such like false conceptions in the wombe or to mitigate the scurfe or manginesse incident to that member than to apply to those parts a liniment made of punaises bruised or stamped to the purpose Bats bloud hath a depilatorie facultie to fetch off haire and lett the growing thereof howbeit sufficient it is not alone to worke that feat in boies cheeks and chins whom we would keep smooth and beardlesse except the place be rubbed afterward with the seed of rocket or hemlock and in this manner if they be dressed either no haire at all will come vp there or els it wil neuer be but soft down it is thought that their brains also wil work the same effect Now these brains be of two sorts to wit red and white howbeit some giue counsell to mingle with the said brains both the bloud and the liuer Others there be who seethe in 3 hemines of oile a viper vntill her flesh be throughly sodden and as tender as may be hauing before rid her from all her bones and it they vse for a depilatorie but first they plucke vp all those haires by the roots which they would not haue to grow any more The gall of an vrchin is a depilatorie especially if it be mixed with the brains of a Bat and goats milke Item the ashes thereof simply mingled with the milk of a bitch of her first litter so that the haires which we would not haue to come againe be plucked vp or if those places be anointed therewith where neuer yet grew any none shall spring there afterwards The same effect by report hath the bloud of a tick that was taken from a dog and finally the bloud or gall of a swallow CHAP. XV. ¶ Many Receits handled together disorderly one with another for sundry maladies IT is said that Ants eggs stamped incorporat with flies likewise punned together wil giue a louely black colour to the hairs of the eie-browes also if a woman be desirous that her infant should be born with black eies let her eat a rat while she goes with childe To preserue the haire from being gray and grisle anoint them with the ashes of earth-worms and oile oliue mixt together If sucking babes be wrung or gnawne in the belly by reason of some cruddled milk which they draw from their nurses or doth corrupt so in their stomack it is good to giue them in water the rennet of a yong lambe to drink but in case this accident commeth by cailling of the milk they vse to giue vnto them the said rennet in vineger for to discusse the same For the paine that they abide in toothing the brains of an hare is soueraigne to anoint their gumbs withall It falleth out that yong infants many times be tormented with an vnnaturall heat and burning of their head called Siriasis for to ease and cure them thereof they vse to take the bones that are found in dogs dung and to hang them about their necks or arms Yong infants are subiect to ruptures and descents of the guts in which case it is good some say to apply a greene lizard vnto their bodies whiles they lie asleepe and to cause it to bite the place but then afterward the said lizard must be tied fast to a reed and hung vp in the smoke for look how it decaieth and dieth by little and little so shall the rupture knit and heale again The foamie moisture that shel-snails yeeld if childrens eies be anointed therewith doth not onely rectifie and lay streight the hairs of the eie-lids which grow crooked into the eies but also nourisheth causeth them to grow The ashes of burnt shell-snailes reduced
into a liniment with kincense and the white of an egg doth in the space of 30 daies cure those that are bursten bellied In the little horns of shell-snails there is found a certaine hard substance resembling grit or sand which if it be hanged about a youg infant is a means that it shall breed teeth with ease The ashes of snail shels when the snails are gon incorporat in wax and applied to the seat of the fundament putteth backe the end of the tiwill that is fallen down and ready to hang out of the body but you must not forget to mingle with the said ashes the bloudy substance that is let out of a vipers brains when her head is pricked The braines of a viper if they be put in a little fine skin worn by a yong child helpeth it to breed teeth without any great pain for the same purpose serue also the teeth of serpents so they be chosen the biggest that are in their heads rauens dung wrapped in wool and hung to any part of yong infants cureth the chin-cough Some things there remain as touching this argument which hardly methinks I should not handle seriously deliuer in good earnest howbeit since there be diuers writers who haue put them down in writing I must not passe them ouer in silence They are of opinion and doe giue order to cure the rupture and descent of the guts in little children with a lizard but how first it ought to be of the male kind which is taken for this purpose and that may soone be knowne if vnder the taile it haue one hole and no more then there must be vsed all means possible that the said lizard do bite the tumor of the rupture through a piece of cloth of gold cloth of siluer or purple which done the said lizard must be tied fast within a new cup or goblet that neuer was occupied so set in some smoky place where it may die If little infants pisse their beds a readie way to make them containe their water is to giue them sodden mice to eat If there be any suspition of sorcerie witchcraft or inchantment practised for to hurt young babes the great horns of beetles such specially as be knagged as it were with smal teeth are as good as a countercharm and preseruatiue if they be hanged about their necks There is as they say a little stone within the head of an ox or cow which they vse to discharge and spit out when they be in danger of death the same if it be taken out of one of their heads which is suddenly stricken off before the beast be ware therof hanged about an infants necke or other part of the body is wonderful good for breeding of teeth Semblably they prescribe their brains to be caried about them in like maner for the same purpose also the little bone or stone found in a naked snails back Moreouer the anointing of childrens gumbs with the brains of a yong sheepe is singular good and effectual to cause them to breed their teeth with facilitie like as goose grease instilled with the juice of basil into their ears cureth the infirmities therof There be in many prickly herbs certain rough hairy worms which if they be hung about the necks of yong infants do presently cure them if haply there were any thing in their meat that stucke and lay hard in their stomack for they wil cause them to puke it vp To prouoke sleep there is not a better thing than the tried grease of vnwashed wool with some myrrh be it neuer so little infused dissolued in two cyaths of wine or els incorporat with goose grease and wine of myrtles for which intent they vse to take the bird called a Cuckow and within a hares skin tie it to the patient or els to bind the bil of a yong heron to the forehead within a piece of an asse skin and they are of opinion that the same bill alone is as effectuall so it be well washed in wine contrariwise the head of a bat dried and hanged about the neck keeps one from sleep altogether A lizard drowned to death in the vrin of a man disableth him from the vse of venery who drank the liquour whereof that vrine came and no maruel for why the magitians repose a great thing in a lizard in loue matters The excrements of snailes which resemble dung as also the dung of pigeons tempered in a cup of wine and giuen to drink coole fleshly lust The right lobe or side of a vultures lungs prouoke men to Venus sports if they cary it about them enwrapped within a cranes skin In like maner the yelks of fiue pigeons egs incorporat with swines grease to the weight of one denier Roman and so supped off work the same effect Some eat sparrowes vsually for this purpose or sup their egs Also there be who carry about them the right stone of a cock inclosed fast within a piece of leather made of a rams skin and to good effect if all be true that magitians say who affirm also that those women who are anointed with a liniment made of the ashes of the bird Ibis incorporat with goose grease and the oile Ireos shal if they be conceiued with child go out their full time and they say that whosoeuer be anointed with a liniment made of the stones of a fighting cocke and goose-grease shall haue but little mind to performe the act of generation or if the same be tied vnto any part of them within a piece of leather made of a rams skinne In like manner it is said that the stones of any other dunghill cock are of the same effect if together with the bloud of the said cock they be but laid vnder ones bed If one pluck the haires out of a mules taile while the stallion couereth her and bind the same together in a wreath or knot apply them to the legs or loins during the act of generation they will cause women to conceiue whether they will or no. Whosoeuer maketh water vpon the very place where a dog hath lift vp his leg and pissed so as both vrines be mingled together folke say he shall find himselfe therby more vnlustie to the worke of Venus A wonderfull thing it is if it be true which they report likewise of the ashes of a star-lizard or Stellion that if the same be enwrapped within some lint or linnen rag held in the left hand it stirreth vp the heat of lust but shift the same into the right hand it wil coole one as much Moreouer that if one put vnder the pillow where a woman laies her head a few flockes or locke of wooll soked well in batts bloud it wil set her on to desire the company of a man or if she do take a goose tongue either in meat or drink The old skin or slough that snakes do cast off in the Spring whosoeuer drinketh in his ordinary
costly dames here And verily among them their Wisards Southsaiers Priests Prophets haue a religious opinion of them and attribute great holinesse to the vse thereof as being persuaded that whoeuer weare them shall be secured against all perils and dangers whatsoeuer and therefore a speciall reckoning they make of them as wel in regard of beautie as deuotion Before that it was known in what estimation Coral was with the Indians the Frenchmen adorned set out their swords targuets shields morrions and head peeces therewith But since time that there was a vent into India of this commoditie so vendible great searsitie there is of it and hardly shall a man meet with any Corall euen in that part of the world where it growes naturally The branches of Corall hanged about the neckes of infants and young children are thought to be a sufficient preseruatiue against all witheraft and sorcerie Calcined by fire and so reduced into ashes or pouder and giuen to drinke in water it helpeth those who are troubled with the wringing paines of the belly the griefe of the bladder and the disease of the stone The like effect it hath if it be drunk in wine or if the patient haue a feauer vpon him in water for to procure sleep This would be noted that Corall doth withstand the power of fire and long it is before it be burned and reduced into ashes But surely a singular medicine it is so prepared and vsed insomuch as by report if a man keepe to it still and continue it long the same will consume the hardnesse and schirrositie of the spleen The pouder of Corall is soueraign for such as reach and cast vp bloud at the mouth The ashes enter into many mixtures and medicines for the eies for astringent they be and cooling withall Hollow vlcers and fistulaes they incarnat and fill vp againe with new flesh Skars and cicatrices they do extenuat If I should speak of the repugnancie and contrariety in Nature which the Greekes call antipathie found in many creatures there is not to be seen in the whole world any thing more venomous and aduerse to plants than the Puffens or Forke fish of the sea called Pastinaca for as I heretofore noted it hath a pricke in the tail which is able to kill any trees that be pierced or wounded withall And yet a concurrent and enemie this hath which doth persecute plague it and namely the Lamprey called Galeos so eager is it and greedy of the venome and poyson of that fish There be other fishes also which it pnrsueth but those Puffins especially and no Weazill hunteth more after serpents In summe whosoeuer be hurt or wounded by the said Pussin this Galeos is a present remedy so is the Barble also and the gum Laser or Benjoin CHAP. III. ¶ Of certaine creatures which liue as well vpon the land as the sea Of Castoreum or the genetoirs of a Bever the medicinable vertues thereof and other properties obserued therein THe power and majestie of Nature is very conspicuous and visible euen in those creatures also which liue indifferently on land and in the water and namely in the Beuers which commonly the physicians call Castores like as their stones also Castorea Some hold that these Beuers when they be neer driuen and pressed by hunters and at the point to be taken bite off their owne stones But Sextius who hath written most exactly in Physicke denieth it flatly He saith moreouer that these cods be small knit short and trussed vp so as they stick close vnto the chine bone and canot possibly be taken from the beast but the life goes away withall By his saying also they are sophisticated and the kidnies of the Beuer which are big be obtruded and foisted to vs many times in stead of their stones which indeed are neuer found but very little slender Furthermore he affirmeth That they be not the right stones of a Beuer when they are seene without a twofold burse or skin which no liuing creature hath besides In these two bags there is found saith he a certain oleous liquor which ordinarily is kept preserued with salt And therefore among other marks to know false and sophisticat Castoreum is this If you see a paire of cods hanging as it were knit together by one string in one bag And yet the best may be falsified by the fraud and cunning of such as put gum therto with salt Ammoniack because the true Beuers stones ought to beare the colour of Ammoniacke to be enclosed also within their seuerall tunicles and to lie in a certaine liquor resembling cereous hony standing much vpon wax to haue a strong and rank smell a bitter hot and fiery tast and withall apt to crumble between the fingers The best Castoreum most effectuall is brought out of Pontus and Galatia next to it is that of Affrick or Barbarie The vertue of Castoreum is to prouoke sneesing if a man hold it to his nose and smell thereto If the head be annointed with Castoreum incorporat with oile of roses and Harstrang it will procure sleep so will it do alone by it selfe giuen in water to drinke in which respect proper it is for the frensie And yet the perfume or vapor thereof will raise those that lie in a sleepy lethergie like a suffumigation or pessarie put vp into the natural parts of women is soueraign for the rising of the mother in which fit they lie as it were in a trance and out of the world Costoreum giuen to the weight of two drams with Peniroyall in water to drink moueth womens monthly sicknes and forceth the afterbirth to com away It helpeth those that haue the dizzinesse or swimming of the braine bee drawne backeward with cramps tremble and shake are plucked with spasmes and convulsions diseased in their sinews troubled with the Sciatica sick of a weak and feeble stomacke that keepeth nothing which it takes and lie bed-rid of the palsie if they be annointed throughly therewith in parts conuenient Or if Castoreum be reduced into pouder and together with the seed of Agnus Castus be incorporat with vineger or oile rosat and so reduced to the consistence of hony which being taken as an electuarie is singular not only for the former maladies but also for the falling sicknes and if the same be giuen in drink it discusseth ventosities appeaseth the wrings and torments of the belly yea and represseth the malice of any poisons But in this case of poisons it ought to be prepared mixed and vsed diuersly according to the sundry kinds thereof for against the venome of scorpions it would be drunk in meere wine to withstand the danger of the Phalangia and such venomous spiders it ought to be giuen in honied wine especially if the intention bee to cast vp the said poysons by vomit or with Rue if the drift and purpose be to hold and retain all still To preuent the perill of the Lizards or venomous wormes
inconuenience they vse with a paire of sizzers to clip them at the very mouth as they be sucking and then shall you see the bloud spring out as it were at the cocke of a conduit and so by little and little as they die they will gather in their heads and the same will fall off and not tarrie behind to do hurt These horsleeches naturally are enemies to Punaises in so much as their perfume killeth them Furthermore the ashes of Beuers skins burnt and calcined together with tar stancheth bloud gushing out of the nose if the same be tempered mingled wel with the juice of porret The shels of cuttles applied to the body with water draw forth arrow heads pricks or spils that sticke deepe within the flesh so doth any saltfish if the fleshie side be laid therto yea and fresh-water creifishes haue the same effect likewise the flesh of the fresh water Silurus for this fish breedeth in other riuers besides Nilus applied to the place either fresh or salted it makes no matter worke with the same successe The ashes of the same fish and the fat be of the same operation and very attractiue As for the ashes of their ridge-bone and prickie finnes they are taken to bee as good as Spodium and are vsed in stead thereof As touching those vlcers which be corrosiue as also the excrescence of proud flesh growing in such sores there is not a better thing to represse and keepe them downe than the ashes of Cackerels or the fish Silurus aforesaid The heads of salted Perches be singular good for cancerous vlcers and the more effectually they will work in case there be salt mingled with their ashes and together with knopped Majoram or Sauorie and oile be incorporat into a liniment The ashes of the Sea-crab burnt and calcined with lead represse cancerous sores and for this purpose sufficient it were to take the ashes only of the riuer creifish medled with hony and lint but some chuse rather to mingle alume and hony with the said ashes As for the eating sores called in Greeke Phagedaenae they may be healed well with the fish Silurus kept vntill it be dried and so together with red orpiment reduced into a pouder Likewise morimals and other consuming cankers and those sores which be filthy and growing to putrefaction are commonly healed with the old squares of the Tunie fish Now if there chance to be wormes and vermine breed in the said vlcers the only means to cleanse them is with the gall of frogs But the hollow sores commonly knowne by the name of Fistuloes are enlarged kept open yea and brought to drines with tents made of saltfish conueied into them within fine linnen rags and within a day or two at most they will rid away all the callositie together with the dead and putrified flesh within the sores yea and represse the eating and corrosiue humor in them if they be wrought into the forme of a salue or emplaster and so applied To mundifie vlcers there is not a fitter thing than stockfish made into a tent with fine lint of rags and so put into the sore Of the same effect are the ashes of the sea-vrchins skin The pieces of the fish Coracinus salted discusse and resolue the hotapostems named carbuncles if they be applied so doe the ashes of the Barble salted and calcined Some vse the ashes of the head of the said fish onely with hony or els the very flesh of Coracinus The ashes of murrets tempered with oile delay take down any swelling The gall likewise of the Sea-scorpion taketh off the roufe of sores and bringeth skars that ouergrow the flesh vnto the leuell of the other skin The liuer of the fish Glanus causeth werts to fall off if they be rubbed withall Also the ashes of Cackerell heads do the like if they be tempered with garlick but for the thyme werts particularly they vse them raw the gall likewise of the reddish sea scorpion and the small sea fish Smarides punned and brought into a liniment do the like The grosse pickle sauce called Alex if it be made through hot cures the raggednesse of nails the ashes also which come of Cackerell heads do extenuat and make them fine The fish Glauciscus eaten in the own broth causeth women to haue store of milke so doe the small fishes called Smarides taken with ptisan or barley gruell or els boiled with fennell and in case they haue sore brests the ashes of Burrets or Purple shells incorporat with honey doe heale effectually A liniment made of Sea crabs or fresh-water Creifishes takes away the offensiue haires that grow about womens nipples or breast heads the fleshie substance also of the Burrets applied to them work the same effect A liniment made of the fish called a Skate will not suffer womens paps to grow big A candle-weike or match made of lint and greased al ouer with the oile or fat of a dolphin and so set a burning yeeldeth a smoake which will raise women againe lying as it were in a trance and dead vpon a fit of the mother the same do Macquerels putrified in vinegre The ashes either of Pearch or Cackerel heads tempered and incorporat with salt sauerie and oile serue for all the accidents of the matrice and more particularly in a perfume bring down the after-birth Semblably the fat of a Seale or Sea-calfe conueighed by meanes of fire in a perfume vp into the nosthrils of a woman lying halfe dead vpon the rising and suffocation of the matrice bringeth her to her selfe againe so doth it also if with the rennet of the same Seale it be put vp in wooll after the manner of a pessarie into the priuie parts The ashes of the Sea-fish called Pulmo applied conueniently to the region of the matrice and kept fast thereto purgeth women passing well of their monethly fleurs of the same operation are Sea-vrchins stamped aliue and drunk in some sweet wine but the riuer Creifishes likewise punned and taken in wine do contrariwise stay the immoderat flux thereof Likewise it is said that a sussumigation of the fish Silurus especially that which breedeth in Africa causeth women to haue more speedie and easie deliuerance in childbirth as also that Crabfishes drinke in water doe stop the excessiue ouerflowing of their monethly terms whereas with hyssop they set them a going and purge them away Say that the infant sticke in the birth and by reason of painfull labour be in danger of suffocation let the mother drinke the same in like manner there will present help ensue Women with child vse also either to eat them fresh or drink them dried that they may go out their full time and not slip an abortiue fruit Hippocrates vseth the same and prescribeth vnto women for the bringing down of their sicknesse and likewise to thrust out the infant dead in their wombs to drinke them in honied wine with fiue dock roots stamped together with â—…e and soot and in very
truth sodden with sorrel or docks and parsley they force womens months to come downe speedily if the broth be drunke and withall bring plentie of milke into nurces breasts If women haue an ague and the same accompanied with head-ach much twinkling or inordinat palpitation of the eies it is thought they shall find much good by drinking them in some hard and austere wine Castoreum taken inwardly in honyed wine is singular to helpe forward womens monethly purgation the same being held to their nosthrils with vinegre and pitch to smell vnto or put vp beneath in manner of a suppositorie after it is reduced into the forme of trochisques helpeth them when by rising of the mother they are in danger of strangulation For to bring away the after-bitth it auaileth much also for women to drinke the said Castoreum with Panaces in foure cyaths of wine as also it is certaine that whosoeuer take the weight of three Oboli thereof shall auoid the danger that may come to them by extremitie of cold Moreouer if a woman great with child chance to goe ouer a place where lieth Castoreum or to step ouer the Beuer it selfe which is the beast that beareth it she shal be deliuered before her time yea she shall be in great danger vpon her deliuerance if the same be but born ouer her where she lieth A wonderfull thing it is that I read of the crampfish Torpedo namely That if it be taken while the moone is in the signe Libra and be kept for three daies together abroad in the open aire so often afterwards as it is brought into the roume where a woman is in trauell of childbirth she shall haue easie and speedie deliuerance In this busines also it is thought expedient that the prick which a Puffin or Forkfish hath in the taile be applied and tied fast to the nauell of a woman prouided alwaies that if it be taken forth of the fish aliue and then the same fish be let goe againe and throwne into the sea I read in some writers of that which they call Ostracium to be the same that others name Onyx but call it what you will a suffumigation made thereof is of wonderfull effect to ease the pain and griefe of the matrice I find that it hath the smell of Castoreum and if it be burnt together therwith in a perfume the more good will ensue as also that the ashes thereof calcined heale all inueterat vlcers and such as are morimals and scorne any ordinary cure And verily the same authors doe report that for carbuncles cancers and such vntoward sores as arise sometimes about the priuities of women the most present assured remedy that is to heale them is the female Sea-crab stamped after the full of the moone with the finest powder of salt called the floure thereof and water together and so reduced into the forme of a salue or liniment The bloud gall and liuer of the fish Tunie ether taken fresh or old kept be all of them depilatories for they fetch away hair and hinder it from growing the liuer therof punned and together with the rosin or oile of cedar incorporat and kept in a leaden box hath the same effect This was the deuise that the famous midwife Salpe had for boies to make them beardlesse and appeare alwaies young and to set them out the better for sale Of the same operation is the fish called Pulmo Marinus the Sea-hare likewise I meane the bloud and gall of them both and as for the said Sea-hare being but stifled killed in oile it is as effectuall The ashes of the Sea-crab and Scolopendre both the Sea-nettle a fish so called incorporat with vinegre squillitick the brains of the crampfish Torpedo tempered with alume be all depilatories if the place be anointed therewith the morrow after the moon is at the full The bloudy moisture that coms from the little frog which I described heretofore in the cure belonging to eies is the strongest depilatorie that is and worketh most effectually in case the part be dressed therwith while it is fresh and new and the frog it selfe dried and stamped and anon after boiled in three hemins of vinegre till one of them be consumed or in oile after the same manner in some brasen pan is a sure medicine to take away haire and hinder the comming vp of it againe In the same measure of liquor some put fifteene frogs and make thereof an excellent depilatorie like as I haue said already among the remedies appropriat to the eies Moreouer horsleeches torrified in some earthen pan and brought into a liniment with oile worke the same effect in the hairs the very perfume or smoke which they cast as they be burnt or torrified killeth Punaises if they either flie or be brought into the aire thereof Furthermore diuers haue beene knowne to vse Castoreum and hony in a liniment for many daies together as a notable depilatorie But in vsing any depilatorie whatsoeuer this one point is generally to be obserued That the haires be first pulled vp by the roots in any place where they would not haue them to grow To come now vnto the gumbs of children and their breeding of teeth the ashes of dolphins teeth mixed with hony is a soueraign medicine yea or if you do but touch their gumbs with a dolphins tooth all whole as it is the effect thereof is admirable the same hanged about their necks or tied to any part of the body riddeth them of sodain frights wherunto infants are much giuen Of the same effect is the tooth also of a dogfish As for the vlcers or sores incident to their eares or any other part of their body the broth of riuer creifishes thickned with barly meale heales them For other diseases also of breaking out a liniment made of them and oyle incorporat together in a mortar is singular good if they be anointed all ouer therwith Touching the hot distemperatures and inflammations of the head wherto little babes be much subject a spunge actually cold applied to the place and oftentimes wet is a good meanes to cure the same but a frog turned inside outward hath no fellow if it be bound fast vnto the head for they say that it may be found all drie vpon the head with drawing the heat so forcibly to it A Barble drowned in wine or the fish called a Rochet or also two Eeles likewise the fish named the Sea-grape putrified in wine do infuse this vertue into the foresaid wine That whosoeuer drinke thereof shall haue no mind afterwards to any wine besides but fall into a dislike and loathing thereof The stay-ship Echeneis the skin of a Sea-horse forehead especially toward the left side wrapped within a little linnen cloth and so hanged about one or the gall of a liue Crampe-fish applied vnto the genitall members in manner of a liniment be all means to coole the wanton lust of the flesh contrariwise the flesh of riuer Creifishes powdred and
our skin leauing the gold pure and fine behind it and verily the affinitie betwixt gold quick-siluer is so great that if any vessels or pieces of brasse are to be gilded rub the same ouer first with quick-siluer before the gold soile be laid on it will hold the same most surely mary this one discommodity there is in it that if the leaues of gold be either single or very thin the whitenesse of the quicke-siluer will appeare through and make the gilding more pale and wan wherefore our cunning goldsmiths who would make their Chapmen to pay for their plate as double gilt when it is indeed but thin laid and single and so picke their purses set a rich and deep colour vpon their work for the time by laying vnder the gold in stead of quick-siluer natural the white of an egg and then vpon it artificial quick-siluer named Hydragyrum whereof I purpose to write in place conuenient And to say a truth the right quick-siluer which is of the own kind is not commonly found in great plenty Ouer and besides within the same mines and among the veines of siluer there is found a minerall which to speak properly is a stone concrete of a certain scum or some whire and shining howbeit not transparent which is called by some Stimmi by others Stibium Alabastrum or Larbason and hereof there be two kinds the male and the female but the female Antimony or Stibium is the better esteemed for the male is more rude rough and rugged yet for all that not so weighty bright and radiant besides that it is more charged with sand whereas the female contrariwise shineth and glittereth plentifully being also brittle tender apt to cleaue easily into plates or flakes and not to breake into lumps and gobbets Touching the vertues of Stibium pertinent vnto physick astringent it is and refrigerant but a principal and peculiar medicine to be imployed about the eies for therupon it was that most men called it Platyophthalmon for that being put into those ointments that are to beautifie the eies of women named thereupon Calliblephara it seemes to extend the compasse of the eies and make them appeare open faire and large withall Antimonie puluerised and incorporat with the pouder of frankincense by the means of gum withall staieth the flux of humors into the eyes and healeth the fretting and exulcerations incident thereto being otherwise a proper medicine to staunch the bloud that gusheth or issueth from the braine But for to stop the bleeding of any fresh wound the pouder of Antimony alone is thought to be more effectuall if the place be strewed withal which also is a singular thing to heal the old bitings of dogs It cureth moreouer any burn occasioned by fire in case it be tempered in some conuenient suet and wax with Litharge of siluer and Ceruse or White lead and so reduced into a salue But for to prepare Antimonie aright it ought to be well luted all ouer with a certain kinde of paste made of Cow-dung and then dunged and calcined in an ouen which beeing done to bee quenched with Womans milke and then stamped and brayed very well in a mortar putting thereunto raine water also among and euer and anon the troubled water ought to bee transfused into a vessell of brasse and clarified therein together with Sal-nitre As for that which setled in the bottome of the mortar is held to be the drosse and dregs thereof standing most vpon lead and is throwne away as good for nothing but the pot or vessell whereinto the troubled water aforesaid was poured after it is well couered and stopped with a linnen cloth must be suffred to stand all night to take a setling and the next morrow that which â—…oteth aloft is to be poured out by little and little and the rest of the liquor to be soked forth with spunges and separated from the Antimonie Now that which resteth in the bottom is taken to be the floure of Antimonie and so called which they lay forth in the Sun a drying couered with a fine linnen cloth that it should not be ouermuch dried which done they beat this fine floure againe in a mortar and so reduce it into trochiskes But in this operation of preparing antimonie aboue all things regard would be had in the burning thereof that it be not ouermuch calcined and so turne into lead Some in the burning of antimonie vse not dung as is beforesaid but rather lap the same about with some grease or tallow others after it is well beat and punned streine it with water through a threefold linnen cloth cast away the dregs remaining behind but the liquor that passed through they poure out of one vessel into another and the residence alwaies they gather and saue which they mix in the composition of plaisters and eie-salues or collyries As touching the drosse or refuse in siluer the Greeks call it Helcysma the nature thereof is restringent refrigeratiue it entreth into plaistres like as lead ore doth which is named Molybdaena and whereof I intend to write in my treatise of lead especially those that are made to heale cicatrice and skin Also being injected by way of clistre with oile of myrtles it cureth tinesms and dysenteries It is vsed much also in those lenitiue and vncteous plaistres named Lipatae and serueth likewise for the excrescence of proud flesh in vlcers for those exulcerations which come of rubbing and fretting or the running sores and scalls in the head Within the mettal mines aforesaid there is ingendred another minerall known by the name of Spuma argenti i. the some of siluer commonly called litharge three sorts there be found of it The best litharge of gold which they call Chrysitis the second of siluer named Argyritis and a third of lead which is Molybditis and many times all these kinds so distinct in color are found in one and the same lump or puffed loaf of litharge The best litharge is brought out of the region Attica the next in goodnesse comes from Spain Litharge of gold named Chrysitis is made of the very mine and vein of siluer Argyritis of siluer it selfe and Molybditis of the lead which is melted with the siluer as wee may see at Puteoli where great store of it is made and of that place took the name Puteolana All the sorts of them are made after that the mettal or matter appropriat vnto them is throughly melted and tried for it runneth downe from the vpper pan into that vnderneath out of which it is taken vp with iron broches and to the end that it might be of a small weight some wind it about the broch in the very flame of the furnace and as it may appeare by the very name it is no other thing but the scum of the ore or mettal boiling and melting ouer the furnace from drosse it differeth as much as scum or froth aboue may from dregges or
lees beneath and as the one is an excrement cast vp from a matter whiles it is purging it selfe so the other is the refuse or grounds thereof after it is purged and setled Howbeit many there bee who make but two kindes of this fome or litharge the one * Steresitis as it were solid and massiue the other * Peumene as one would say puffed vp and full of wind As for the third named Molybdaena they reckon as a thing by it selfe to be treated of in the discourse or chapter of lead Now the litharge abouesaid ought for the vse that it is emploied about for to be prepared in this manner first the lumps aforesaid are to be broken into small pieces as big as Hasel nuts and set ouer the fire againe thus when it is once red hot by the blast of bellows to the end that the coles and cinders might be separated one from another there is wine or vineger cast vpon it both to wash also withall to quench the same Now if it be Argyritis to the end it may look the whiter they vse to break it to the bignes of beans and giue order to seeth it in water within an earthen pot putting thereto wheat and barly lapped within pieces of new linnen cloth and suffer them to boil therwith till they burst which done for six dayes together they put it in mortars washing it thrice euery day in cold water and in the end with hot and so at length put to euery pound of the said Litharge the weight of one Obolus of Sal-gem The last day of all they put it vp into a pot or vessel of lead Some there be who seeth it with blanched beans and husked barly and after that dry it in the sun others think it better to seeth it with beans and white wool vntill such time as it colour the wooll no more black then they put thereto Sal-gem changing eft soones the water and dry it for the space of forty daies together in the hottest season of the Summer There be again who think it best to seeth it in water within a swines belly and when they haue taken it forth rub it wel with sal-nitre and pun it in mortars as before with salt Ye shall haue them that neuer bestow seething of it but only beat it with salt and then put water thereto and wash it Well thus prepared as is beforesaid it serueth for collyries and eie-salues in a liniment also to take away the foule cicatrices or scars the pimples and specks likewise that mar the beauty of women yea our dames wash the haire of their head withall to make it clean and pure And in very truth Litharge is of power to dry mollifie coole and attemper to clense also to incarnat vlcers and to asswage or mitigate any tumors Being reduced into the vnguents or plaisters aforesaid and namely with an addition of rue myrtles and vineger it is singular for S. Anthonies fire Semblably being incorporat with oile of myrtles and wax into a cerot it healeth kibed heeles CHAP. VII ¶ Of Vermilion and of what estimation it was among the old Romans the first inuention thereof Of Cinnabaris the vse thereof in Pictures and in Physicke The sundry sorts of Minium or Vermilion and how it is to be ordered to serue painters THere is found also in siluer mines a mineral called Minium i. Vermilion which is a colour at this day of great price and estimation like as it was in old time for the antient Romans made exceeding great acount of it not only for pictures but also for diuers sacred holy vses And verily Verrius alledgeth and rehearseth many authors whose credit ought not to be disproued who affirm That the maner was in times past to paint the very face of Iupiters image on high and festiual daies with Vermilion as also that the valiant captains who rode in triumphant maner into Rome had in former times their bodies coloured all ouer therewith after which manner they say noble Camillus entred the city in triumph And euen to this day according to that antient and religious custom ordinary it is to colour all the vnguents that are vseâ—… in a festiuall supper at a solemne triumph with Vermilion And no one thing doe the Censors giue charge and order for to be done at their entrance into office before the painting of Iupiters visage with Minium The cause and motiue that should induce our ancestors to this ceremony I maruel much at and canot imagin what it should be True it is and well known that in these daies the Aethiopians in generall set much store by this colour and haue it in great request insomuch as not onely the Princes and great Lords of those countries haue their bodies stained throughout therewith but also the images of their gods are â—…ainted with no other colour in which regard I am moued to discourse more curiously and at large of all particulars that may concerne it Thcophrastus saith that 90 years before Praxibulus was established chiefe ruler of the Athenians which falls out iust vpon the 249 yere after the foundation of our city of Rome Callias the Athenian was the first that deuised the vse of Vermilion and brought the liâ—…ely colour thereof into name for finding a kinde of red earth or sandy grit in the mines of siluer and hoping that by circulation there might be gold extracted out of it he tried what he could do by fire and so by that means brought it vnto that fresh and pleasant â—…e that it hath which was the first original of Vermilion Hee saith moreouer That euen in those daies there was found Minium in Spain but the same was hard and full of gritty sand Likewise among the Colchi in a certaine â—…ock inaccessible by reason whereof the people of the country were constrained by shooting at it to shake and driue it down howbeit the same was but a bastard Minium But the best simply saith he was gotten in the territorie of the Cilbians somewhat higher in the country than Ephesus in sum That the said Minium or Vermilion is a certaine sandy earth of a deepe scarlet colour which was prepared in this order first they pun and beat it into pouder and then washed it being thus puluerised Afterwards that which setled in the bottom they washed a second time In which artificiall handling of Minium this difference there is that some make perfect Vermilion of it with the first washing others thinke the Vermilion of that making to be too pale and weake in colour and therefore hold that of the second washing to be best And verily I wonder not that this colour was so highly esteemed for euen beforetime during the state of Troy the red earth called Rubrica was in great request as appeareth by the testimony of Homer who being otherwise spary enough in speaking of pictures colours yet commends the ships painted therwith The Greeks call our
only in this sort who had won the price in the race at those solemn sacred games which were held in Greece and those horse-runners they called Celeres howbeit afterwards the like honor obtained they who had born themselues best at the running of chariots whether they were drawn with 2 horses or four And from hence came the manner with vs of our valiant captains and victorious generalls to haue their statues made riding triumphant in their chariots Howbeit long it was first ere this fashion came to be taken vp and before the daies of Augustus Caesar late Emperour of famous memory there had not been knowne any such images at Rome riding in chariots either drawne with six steeds or Elephants as now there be The manner also of riding in coches with 2 horses about the cirque or shew place which vsually they did who had bin lords Pretors of Rome represented in their pourtraitures is not antient Concerning statues erected vpon columns or pillars they be of greater antiquity as may appeare by that of C. Menius who vanquished the antient Latines that inuaded the territory of Rome vnto which nation the people of Rome was woont by vertue of the league to allow the third part of the bootie and pillage gotten in the wars during the Consulship of which C. Menius vpon the victory atchieued of the Antiats the city of Rome ordained that the beak-heads with their brasen tines which were taken from them in a conflict at sea should be fastened vnto the pulpit of publicke pleas and Orations which thereupon was euer after called Rostra and this fortuned in the 416 yeare after the foundation of Rome The like statue vpon a column was set vp for the honour of C. Duillius who first defeated the Carthaginians by sea and for that nauall victorie entered Rome in triumph the same remaineth at this day to be seen in the Forum or grand place of the city Semblably P. Minutius obtained the same honour who being Purueior generall of corne for the city in time of a dearth behaued himselfe so well in that office that his statue of brasse was erected vpon a piller without the gate of Rome called Trigemina and that by an vniuersall contribution of the people who gaue voluntarily toward the charges therof euery man to the value of an ounce of brasse coine And I wot not whether I may boldly say that he was the first man who receiued that honour at the peoples hands for before-time I am well assured that the Senat only granted such rewards for mens good seruice Certes these were braue and honourable memorials had they not begun vpon occasion of some trifling matters to speake of For such a statue was that of Actius Nauius the Augur or Soothsayer which stood before the entrie of the Curia or Councell-chamber of Rome the base or foot of which pillar was burnt at what time as the said Curia or Senat-house caught a light fire at the funerals of P. Clodius The like image was set vp by authoritie from the State in the publicke place of elections at Rome called Comitium to the honor of Hermodorus the Ephesian who translated out of Greeke into Latine the lawes of the 12 tables which the ten Decemvirs had gathered and set down for the publicke benefit of the city As for the statue of Horatius Cocles which remaineth to this day there was another reason of it and the same of greater credit and importance for that he alone sustaining the charge and brunt of K. Porsenaes army made good the woodden bridge ouer Tybre at Rome and caused the enemies perforce to abandon the place As touching the Statues of the Prophetesses Sibyllae three of them there be neare vnto the Rostra before said but of a lesse making whereat I nothing maruell the one was repaired by Sex Pacuvius Taurus one of the Aediles of the Commons the other two by M. Messala And I assure you I would haue taken these Images and that of Actius Nauius to haue beene the most antique of all others as being set vp in the daies of K. Tarquinius Priscus but that I see the statues of the former kings within the Capitoll CHAP. VI. ¶ Statues without gowne or robe at all Of other Statues Which was the first statue on horse-backe When and whereupon all the Images as well publicke as priuat were demolished and put downe What women they were at Rome who were honoured with brasen statues and which were the first statues erected publiquely at Rome by strangers AMong the said Statues of Roman kings that of Romulus is without any coat or cassocke at all like as that also of Camillus which standeth at the pulpit Rostra As for the Image of Q. Martius Tremellius which was erected before the temple of Castor and Pollux the same was in a gowne and sitting vpon horse-backe this noble knight had vanquished the Samnites twice and by the winning of Anagnia a city not far from Rome procured thereby an easment vnto the people from paying tribute vnto the state for the maintenance of the wars In the ranke of the most antique monuments of Rome I may range the statues of Tullius Cloelius L. Roscius Sp. Nautius and C. Fulcinius which stand about the Pulpit Rostra and these were the foure Roman Embassadors who against all law of Nations were during their embassage murdered by the Fidenatians For this was an ordinary custome with the Romanes to honour those in this manner who in the seruice of the Commonwealth were vniustly killed as may appear likewise by P. Iunius and T. Coruncanus who by Teuca the queene of the Illyrians were put to death notwithstanding they came in embassade to her And here I cannot ouerpasse one point noted in the Annals that the measure of the statues erected in the common place at Rome was set down precisely to be three foot in height whereby it may appeare that this proportion and scantling in those daies was thought to be honorable Neither wil I conceale from you omit the memorable example of C. Octauius who for one word speaking lost his life this man beeing sent as Embassadour vnto king Antiochus and hauing deliuered his message vnto him according to his charge and Commission when hee saw that the king made no haste to giue him his dispatch presently but said hee would make him an answer another day made no more adoe but with a wand or rod that he had in his hand drew a circle about the king and compelled him by force to giue him his answer before he stirred his foot without that compasse But this cost him his life and for that he was killed thus in his Embassage the Senat of Rome ordained That his statue should be erected in the most conspicuous place of the city and that was in the publick pulpit for Pleas and Orations the Rostra before named I read in the Chronicles that the Senat made a decree that Taracia Caia or as some
they write much in praise of his Larissa his Apollo and one Spinarius a notable wrestler and who had won seuerall prizes in all the fiue kinds of masteries and feats of actiuitie And yet I am not ignorant that some alledge another cause of his obscurenesse and why he was no more talked of because hee was a feed workman to Xerxes and Darius and deuoted himselfe wholly to their seruice and had the work of those two Kings onely As for Praxiteles his workmanship was more seene in cutting of marble and making Images thereof wherein he had a singular grace and rare felicitie and in which regard his name was the greater Yet he shewed good proofe of his skil in foundery also for there be most beautiful cast images of brasse which he made to wit the rauishing of Proserpina by Pluto a Spinster spinning which he called Catagusa the image of Drunkennesse god Bacchus attended with one of the Satyrs a noble piece of worke and which for the great voice and bruit that went of it the Greekes sirnamed Periboetos The brasen images likewise which stood sometimes in the forefront of the temple at Rome dedicated vnto Felicity were of his making as also the goddesse Venus which when the chappel wherein she stood erected was burnt during the raign of Claud. Caesar the emperor was melted an exquisit piece of work and comparable to that Venus of his cutting in marble which all the world speakes so much of He portraied also in brasse a woman making coronets and Chaplets of floures which goes vnder the name of Stephusa a foule old trot a nasty bearing the title of Spilumene a carier also of flaggons or wine pots knowne by the addition of Oenophorus He expressed moreouer in brasse and that most liuely Harmodius and Aristogiton massacring the tyrant Pisistratus which images being with other pillage taken and caried away by Xerxes K. of Persia and recouered by King Alexander the Great when he had conquered the kingdom of Persis the said prince and conquerer sent them home to the Athenians again Furthermore he cast in brasse a youth lying in wait with an arrow to kill a Lizard which was readie to creepe close vnto him and to sting which piece of work hee termed Sauroctonus Two images there are besides of his making which people take much pleasure to behold and those in countenance shew diuers affections to wit a sober Matron weeping and a light Courtesan smirking It is thought that this Courtesan was his owne Sweet-heart Phryne for men doe note both in the curious workemanship of the Artificer the loue of him which fancied her and also in the pleasant countenance of the harlot the contentment that she took by receiuing her hire There is an image also of his making which doth expresse his own benignity bountifull mind for to a coach of Calamis his doing drawn with foure horses he set a choachman of his owne handiworke and why because the posteritie another day should not thinke That Calamis hauing done so well in pourtraying the horses failed of the like cunning in expressing the man and to say a truth Calamis was not altogether so perfect ready in personages of men and women as in the pourtraiture of horses This Calamis was he who made many other coaches and chariots as well with two steeds as foure and verily for absolute workmanship about horses wherein he neuer missed he had not his fellow againe in the world and yet because hee would not be thought vnlike himselfe but be taken for as good an imageur in expressing men and women as in representing horses one statue hee made in resemblance of Ladie Alcmena which is so exquisitly wrought as no man could euer set a better piece of worke by it To come now to Alcamenes trained vp vnder Phidias A singular workman he was wrought many pieces in marble as also in brasse and namely a brasen Pentathlus knowne also by the name of Encrinomenos But Aristides who learned his skill vnder Polycletus is famous for the chariots that he made as well with foure as two horses Iphicrates likewise cast in brasse a Lionesse which is much praised and goes vnder the name of Leaena and that vpon this occasion There was a certaine strumpet named Leaena who being familiarly acquainted with Harmodius and Aristogiton abouenamed for that she could play vpon the harpe and withal sing so sweetly to it and priuie to their plots and projects as touching the murder of the tyrant Pisistratus would neuer to die for it discouer and reueale this intention and purpose of theirs vnto the tyrant and his fauourits notwithstanding she was put to most exquisit dolorous torments about it The Athenians therfore desirous to honour this woman for her resolute constancie accordingly and yet loth to be thought for to make so much of such an harlot as she was deuised to represent the memoriall of her and her act by a beast of her name and that was a Lionesse yet for to expresse the particular motiue and reason of this honour done vnto the said Lionesse they gaue order vnto Iphicrates the workeman to leaue out the tongue in the head of this Lionesse Touching Bryaxis there be two excellent pieces of his making to wit Aesculapius and Seleucus As for Bedas he resembled in brasse old Battus adoring Apollo and Iuno And all three by him curiously wrought are now standing in Rome within the temple of Concord Ctesilas expressed in brasse a man grieuously wounded fainting and ready to die thereupon which he did so liuely that one might perceiue therin how little life breath was left within his body He made likewise the image of Pericles Olympius who for his diuine eloquence and holinesse was worthy of that heauenly name And here by the way a wonderfull gift this art hath that it alwaies hath made noble and worthy persons more noble and famous As for Cephissodorus the admirable image of Minerva which is to be see in the hauen or harbor of the Athenians was his workmanship The altar also before the temple of Iupiter surnamed Savior neer the said hauen was of his doing and few pieces of worke there be comparable vnto it Canachus made one excellent image of Apollo all naked which by the title and syrname of Philesius stands in the temple called Didymaeum And this Apollo was cast of the brasse of Aegineticke temperature There is with the said Apollo another most exquisit and curious piece of worke by him deuised and wrought to wit a stag standing so lightly vpon his feet that a man may draw a thred vnder them and the same takes hold of the floore vnderneath so daintily that he seemeth to touch it with one foot by the clea with another by the heele and the same after such a winding manner twining and turning as well with the one as the other that a man would thinke one while he were about to bounce and spring
forward and anotherwhile to start and cast himself backward by turns The same workman inuented a deuise of yong lads youths vaulting and mounting on horseback Cheraeas expressed in brasse the liuely pourtraitures of K. Alexander the Great and king Philip his father Ctesalaus represented in the same mettal one of these Doryphori which were of K. Darius his guard bearing a speare or pertuisane also one of those warlick women Amasons wounded And Demetrius woon great credit by making Lysimache in brasse who had beene the Priestresse of Minerva and exercised that ministerie threescore and foure yeares And this artisane made also the image of Minerua surnamed Musica vpon this deuise For that the dragons or serpents which serue in stead of haires vpon her Gorgon or Meduases head wrought in her targuet would ring and resound againe if one strucke the strings of an Harpe or Citron neer to them And the same imageur made the liuely pourtraiture of Sarmenes riding on horseback for that he was the first that wrote of horsemanship Daedalus moreouer who is ranged among the excellent founders imageurs of old time deuised in brasse two boies rubbing scraping and currying the sweat from their bodies in the baine And Dinomenes was the workman who cast in brasse the full proportion and similitude of Protesilaus and of Pythodemus the famous wrestler Alexander otherwise called Paris was of Euphranor his making The excellent art and workmanship wherof was seen in this that it represented vnto the eie all at once a iudge between the goddesses the louer of Helena and yet the murtherer of Achilles The image of that Minerua at Rome which is called Catuliana came out of this mans shop and it it the same which was dedicated and set vp beneath the Capitoll by Quintus Luctatius Catulus whereupon it tooke that name Moreouer the image that signifieth good lucke or happie successe carying in the right hand a boule or drinking cup in the left an eare of corne and a Poppy head was his handie worke Like as the princesse or ladie Latona newly deliuered of Apollo and Diana holding these her two babes in her armes and this is that Latona which you see in the church of Concordia in Rome He made besides many chariots drawne as well with foure as two horses as also a key-bearer or Cliduchus of incomparable beautie Semblably two other statues resembling Vertue and Vice both which were of an extraordinary stature and bignes gyant-like in manner of Colosses He made besides a woman ministring and yet worshiping withall Item King Alexander the Great and King Philip his father riding both in chariots drawne with foure horses Eutychides a renowned imageur represented the riuer Eurotas in brasse and many men that saw this worke were wont to say That the water ran not so cleare in that riuer as art and cunning did appeare in this workemanship Hegyas the imageur made Minerva and King Pyrrhus which be much praised for the art of the maker likewise boies practising to ride on horsebacke the images also of Castor and Pollux which stand before the temple of thundring Iupiter in Rome In the colonie or city Parium there is an excellent statue of Hercules the handy worke of Isidorus Buthyreus the Lycian was taught his cunning by Myron who among many other pieces beseeming the apprentise of such a master deuised in brasse to represent a boy blowing at a fire halfe out and he it was that cast in the same mettall the famous Argonautes in that voyage to Colchos Leocras made the Aegle that rauished Ganymede and flew away with him but so artificially as if she knowing what a fine dainty boy she had in charge and to whom she caried him clasped the child so tenderly that shee forbare with her tallons to pierce through the very cloths The boy Autolicos also winning the prize in all games and feats of actiuitie was of his making for whose sake Xenophon wrote his booke entituled Symposion likewise that noble image of Iupiter in the Capitoll of Rome suramed Thundering which is commended aboue all others as also Apollo with a crowne or diademe Lyciscus counterfeited Lago a boy who in maner of a page or lacquey seemed to be double diligent after a flattering and deceitfull sort performed nothing but eie-seruice Lycus also made another boy blowing the coales for to maintain fire Menechmus deuised to cast in brasse a calfe turning vp the neck head at the man that settteth his knee vpon his sides and keepes his body down This Menechmus was a singular imageur and himself wrote a book as concerning his own art Naucides was iudged to be an excellent workman by the making of Mercury of a discobole or coiter as also for counterfeiting in brasse one that was a sacrificing or killing a ram Naucerus woon credit by making of a wrestler puffing blowing for wind Nicerates had the name for the curious workmanship of Aesculapius and Hygia which are to be seen at Rome within the temple of Concord Porymachus got great reputation by a coach drawn with four steeds ruled by Alcibiades the coachman all of his making Policles was the maker of that noble piece of work that goeth vnder the name of Hermaphroditus Pyrrhus counterfeited in brasse another Hygia Minerua And Phoenix who learned his art of Lysippus liuely counterfeited the famous wrestler Epitherses Stipax the Cyprian got himselfe a name by an image resembling one Splanchnoptes This was a prety boy or page belonging to Pericles surnamed Olympius whom Stipax made frying rosting the inwards of a beast at the fire puffing and blowing therat with his mouth full of breath and wind for to make it burne Silanion did cast the similitude of Apollodorus in brasse who likewise was himselfe a founder and imageur but of all other most curious and precise in his art he neuer thought a thing of his owne making well done and no man censured his worke so hardly as himselfe many a time when he had finished an excellent piece of work he would in a mislike vnto it pash it in pieces and neuer stood contented and satisfied with any thing when it was all done how ful of art soeuer it was and therfore he was surnamed Mad Which furious passion of his when Silanion aforesaid would expresse he made not the man himselfe alone of brasse but the very image of Anger and Wrath also with him in habit of a woman Ouer and besides the noble Achilles was of his making a piece of worke well accepted and much talked of Of his doing is Epistates teaching men how to wrestle and exercise other feats of actiuitie As for Srâ—…ongylion he made one of the Amazons which for an excellent fine and proper leg that she had they call Eucnemos and in that regard Nero the Emperour set so great store by this image that it was carried ordinarily wheresoeuer he went This artificer made likewise another brasen image resembling a faire
turne red You may discouer likewise the fraud abouesaid with paper tempered beforehand and soked in gall-nuts for besmeare therewith the verdegreace that is falsified it wil quickly become black The eie also wil soon bewray the falshood that is vsed therein for if it be naught a man shall perceiue it to looke with a weak green color nothing full nor fresh But be the verdegreace true or false the best way is before it be emploied in Physick after it be dried to calcine it vpon a new earthen pan that neuer was occupied and in the burning to turne it often with a slice or spatule vntil such time as it be reduced into light cinders and then after it is finely puluerized to lay it vp for vse Others prepare it after another sort they put it in an earthen pot vnbaked and set the same into an ouen where they let it stand to be calcined so long vntill the said pot of clay be well and throughly baked Finally there be that before they vse Verdegreace put thereto the male Frankincense the best that can possibly be had The manner also is to wash verdegreace before it be occupied after the same order as Cadmia is vsed Being thus made prepared as is abouesaid it is excellent to be put into eie-salues or collyries for by a mordicatiue quality it helpeth weeping and watering eies in which regard necessarie it is that it be washed first with pencils well bathed in hot water so long vntill it haue lost that corrosiue quality As touching Hieracium a composition it is or collyrie so called and made in this manner Take foure ounces of Sal Ammoniacke of Cyprian Verdegreace two ounces of shooemakers blacke or that copperesse which the Greekes name Chalcanthum as much that is to say two ounces of Mysy or yellow vitrioll one ounce and of safron six let all these bee stamped together and tempered in the vineger of Thasos vntill they be concorporat and then reduce them into trochiques A singular collyrie or eyesalue this is to withstand the beginning of pearls cataracts and such accidents of the eies to discusse also the webs that come ouer their sight to leuigat the roughnesse of the tunicles to dispatch the white skars and in one word to cure all the infirmities of the eielids As for verdegreace that is not calcined at all it is excellent good to be put into vulnerarie or healing plasters the same also is of a wonderfull operation to cure the exulcerations of the mouth or the gumbs the lips also exulcerat it heales being reduced into a liniment with oyle but if you put wax thereto it doth mundifie and withall skin and heale perfitly Verdegreace is proper to eat away and consume the callositie growing in a fistula and in those infirmities which are incident to the seat or fundament whether it be brought into a liniment with gum Hammoniacke and so applied or else in forme of a collyrie that is to say a tent thrust into the hollow fistula The same verdegreace incorporat with a third part of the true rosin called Terpentine is soueraigne for foule leprosies and wild-fires CHAP. XII ¶ Of Scolecia and Chalcitis of Mysy Sory and Chacanthum ANother sort there is of Brasse-rust or Verdegreace which commonly is called Scolecia this is made of alume salt or salnitre of each a like weight stamped well together with the strongest white wine vinegre that can be gotten in a morter of Cyprian brasse or copper and this must not be done but in the hotest daies of the yere to wit about the rising of the Dog-starre Now must all the ingredients aforesaid be punned and incorporat together vntill such time as the masse become green and that it gather and draw together in manner of crawling wormes whereupon it taketh the name Scolecia But if so be that this manner of working and making it chance to faile and doe not well for to amend the same the two parts of vinegre which entred into the mixture ought to be tempered with as much vrine of a boy vnder fourteene yeares of age Now if you would know the medicinable effects and vertues of this kind of verdegreace both it and the artificiall Borax beforesaid which I named Santerna be of the very same operation that the ordinary rust of brasse or verdegreace called in Latin Aerugo There is a kind of Scolecia naturall or minerall of it selfe without addition of any thing els whatsoeuer whereof I purpose to speake in this place and the same is scraped from the stone or ore of which commeth brasse There is a stone lying in the mine which they name Chalcitis out of which also with burning they excoct brasse differ it doth from Cadmia for Chalcitis is hewed out of the mines that lye aboue very ebb and exposed to the aire whereas the other is digged from vnder the ground in those mines that lie hidden Item Chalcitis as being of a tender and soft nature presently will crumble into pieces so as it seemeth to be a certaine fine mosse concreat and gathered together Also there is another difference betweene these two Marcassins for that Chalcitis containeth in it three seuerall kinds of matter to wit Brasse Mysy and Sory of which I purpose to speak seuerally by themselues in their due place Now this Chalcitis lies within the brasse mine in long veins that which is of a yellowish colour like hony full of small veines running here and there brittle and apt to crumble and not of a stony hardnesse is counted the best the fresher also and more newly gathered that it is the more effectuall and wholesome men take it to be for that being long kept it will grow into the nature of Sory Being thus in the right nature it hath a facultie if it be puluerized to consume the excrescence of proud or dead flesh in vlcers to staunch bloud to represse also the accidents befalling to the gumbs uvula and tonsils the same put vp into the naturall parts of a woman within a locke of wooll in manner of pessarie helpeth the infirmities of those places but if it be tempered and incorporat with the juice of porret it serueth to put into those plasters which are appropriat to the vlcers and sores of the priuities or members of generation Now if you steepe it in vinegre and let it lie so infused within an earthen pot well luted with beasts dung for the space of forty daies it will come to the colour of saffron put then vnto it of Cadmia stone the like quantitie in weight you shall haue that medicine which is called Psoricum Also if in this composition you put two parts of Chalcitis to one third part of Cadmia so temper them together this foresaid medicine will be more quick aegre but in case you would haue it yet more mordicant and stronger in operation let the said ingredients be tempered rather with vinegre
Roset The rest be sad or duskish and as wel the one as the other be all either naturall or artificiall Among the naturall of this sort to wit the sad colours I reckon the common bole Armin Ruddel or red stone Paretonium Melinum Eretria and Orpin The rest of these kinds be artificial principally those which I haue already spoken of in the treatise of mines Moreouer of the baser sort are Ocre and Ruddel burnt Cerusse or Spanish white Sandix mineral and Scyricum Sandaracha Vitriol or Black As for Sinopis or common bole Armin found out first it was at Sinope a maritine town in the kingdom of Pontus wherof it took that name it groweth also in Egypt the Baleare Islands and Africk but the best is found in the Isle Lemnos and in Cappadocia digged out of certain caues and holes That which stucke fast vnto the rocks excelleth all the rest The pieces of this earth if a man do breake shew the owne natural colour which is not mixed without-forth they be spotted And this earth in old time was vsed for to giue a lustre vnto other colours Of this Sinopis or Bole Armin common there be three kindes the deepe red the pale or weake red and the meane between both The best Sinopis is esteemed worth thirteene denarij Roman by the pound this may serue the painters pensill yea or in grosser work if a man list to colour posts beams or wood as for that which commeth out of Africk it is worth eight asses euery pound and this they call Cicirculum that which is redder than the rest serueth better for painting of tablements as for that which is most brown and duskish called in Latine Pressior it is of the same price that the other and employed in the bases and feet of such tablements And thus much for the vse in painting Touching Physicke and the medicinable properties thereof milde it is of nature and in that regard of gentle operation whether it enter into hard emplaistres of a dry composition or into immolitiue plaisters that are more liquid and principally such as are deuised for vlcers in any moist part as the mouth or fundament This earth if it be injected by a clistre stoppeth a laske and being giuen to women in drinke to the weight of one denarius i. a dram it stayeth their immoderate fluxes of the matrice The same burnt or calcined drieth vp the fretting roughnesse of the eies principally if it be applied with vineger This kinde of red earth some would haue to be counted in a second degree of Rubrica for goodnesse for they alwaies reckoned that of Leâ—…nos to be the chiefe simply best as comming next in price to Minium i. Vermilion And in truth this Terra Sigillata or Lemnia was highly accounted of in old time like as the Island Lemnos from whence it comes neither was it lawfull to sel any of it before it was marked or sealed therupon they vsed to cal it Sphragis The painters ordinarily lay a ground of this vnder their vermillion and sophisticate it many waies In physick it is holden to be a soueraigne thing for if the eies be annointed round about therewith in manner of a liniment it represseth the flux of rheumatick humors and doth mitigat the pains incident to them the fistulous sores likewise about the angles or corners of the eies it drieth vp that they shall not run as they vse to doe Inwardly also it is commonly giuen in vineger to such as cast vp bloud at the mouth It is taken also in drink for the opilations and other accidents as wel of the spleen as kidnies and besides to stop the excessiue fluxes that be incident to women Singular it is against any poison or venomous sting of serpents either vpon land or sea and therefore is a familiar ingredient into all antidots or counterpoisons Of all other sorts of red earth the ruddle of Egypt and Africke is fittest for Carpenters for if they strike their line vpon timber with it they shall be sure that it wil take colour and be marked very well Moreouer another sort there is of this red earth minerall found with yron ore and the same is good also for painters There is a kind of ruddle also made of ochre burnt and calcined in new earthen pots well luted all ouer and the greater fire that it meeteth withall in the furnace the better it is In generall any ruddle whatsoeuer is exiccatiue in which regard it agreeth wel with salues and healing plasters and is very proper for to represse shingles such cutanean wild-fires that wil stand in drops Take of Sinopis or Bolearmin common that commeth out of Pontus halfe a pound of bright Sil or ochre 10 pound of the Greek white earth Melinum 2 pound pun them al together and mix them wel so as they may ferment 12 daies together and hereof is made Leucophorum i. a kind of gum or size to lay vnder goldfoile for to guild timber Touching the white earth Paraetonium it carieth the name of a place in Egypt from whence it commeth and many say that it is nothing but the some of the sea incorporat and hardened together with the slime mud of the shore and therfore there be winkles and such shell-fishes found therwith It is ingendred also in the Isle Candy and the country of Cyrenae At Rome they haue a deuise to sophisticat it namely by boiling fullers earth vntil it be of a fast massie consistence the price of the best is after 6 denier the pound Of al white colors it is the fattest and for that it runs out smooth in the working it is the fastest parget to ouercast walls withall As for the earth Melinum white it is likewise but the best is that which the Isle Melos doth yeeld whereupon it took that name In Samos also it is to be found but painters vse it not because it is ouer clammy and vnctuous The Islanders are wont to creep on all foure and to lie along at their work when they dig it forth of the rocks for search it they must among the veines that run therein The same operation it hath in physicke that the earth Eretria also if a man touch it with the tongue he shal find it a stringent and drying howbeit a depilatory it is in some sort and fetcheth away haire or els causeth it to grow thin A pound of it is worth a Sesterce There is of white colors a third kind and that is Cerussa or white lead the reason making whereof I haue shewed in my discourse of minerals and yet there was found of it in the nature of a very earth by it selfe at Smyrna within the land belonging to one Theodotus wherewith in old time they vsed to color and paint ships But in these daies we haue no other cerusse or Spanish white but that which is artificial made of lead
315. a. 330 h 334. i. 382. g h i. 385. a. 418. k. 419 c e. 431. a. 442. k 444. i. Scincus described 316. i Scincus medicinable ib. 433. c how he differeth from the land Crocodile 316. i one of the ingredients of antidots 316. k Scipio surnamed Serapio and why 81. f honoured with a coronet of floures by the people of Rome ib. he died poore ibid. interred by a generall contribution of the people 82. g Scipio Africanus the second how much plate and coine hee had when he died 480. m what treasure he shewed in triumph and brought into the citie chamber 481. a what Scipio Africanus gaue to his souldiers vpon the winning of Numantia 481. a Scipio Alobrogicus how much plate he had ib. L. Scipio allowed his charges by the citie of Rome for his solemne plaies 480. i Scipio Aemilianus receiued an obsidionall or grasse coronet 117. 〈◊〉 Scolecia what it is and how made 509. b why so called 509. c the vertues thereof ibid. Scolecion what it is 177. c Scolopendres their venomous pricke how to be cured 59 a 60 g. 61 b. 62 g 75 c. 127 b. 155 f. 306 k. 418 l. Scolopendres of the seaburst with fasting spittle 300. k Scolymus the herbe described 98 i. 130 m the vertues which it hath ibid. Scombri fishes how emploied 418. g Scopa Algia what floure 85. e Scopa Regia an herbe and a kind of Achillea good for the gargle and squinancie in swine 216. l Scopas a singular Imageur 566. m. his workes 567 c d e f there were two of that name both cunning workemen 504 k. wherein they excelled ibid. Scordium or Scordotis an herbe found by K. Mithridates 220 i the description by him set downe ib. the vertues medicinable ib. good for the bladder and the stone 254. g Scordotis 245. f Scoria in trying of gold ore and other mettals what it is 467. b. Scorpites a pretious stone 630. i Scorpion an herbe 230. l. why so called ibid. See Tragos Scorpions hurt with Aconitum how they be cured 270 i pricked once by a Scorpion shall neuer after bee stung by Hornet Waspe or Bee 299. c Scorpions neuer sting the ball of the hand 361. c against Scorpions and their sting remedies 36 k. 39 c. 40. m 42 h. 43 a d. 45 e. 46 l. 54 i. 55 e. 56 i m. 59 a b. 60. g 61 b. 62 g k. 63 d. 64 b. 65 b d. 69 d. 71 c. 73 b c 74 g. 75 e. 76 m. 77 c. 101 d. 103. f. 105 c. 106 k 107 b. 109 a. 110 k l. 113 c. 121 c. 126 h. k. 131 d 134 i. 138 l. 146 l. 153 b. 155 f. 166 l. 167 e. 168. m 170 k. 173 c d e. 174 i. 178 k. 179 b. 181 f. 184. k. l 194 i. 195 d. 196 g. 199 b. 206 g. 230 l m. 237. f 246 k. 270 h. 276. g. 277 c. 288 l. 289 b. 301 a e 322 k. l. 361 b. c d. 413 b. 418 g k. 424 g. 451 b. f 433 e. 434 g i. 435 b d e f. 556 m. 561 d. 624 g. sea Scorpion medicinable 438 g. 444. g Scorpionrion what herbe 126. i Scorpius an herbe 122 l. why so called ibid two kinds thereof ibid. m Scratching of the body is healthfull 303. d Scyllus an Imageur and grauer in Marble 568. h Scyricum 476 l. an artificiall painters colour how made and vsed 530 h. 528. k Scyros the Island yeeldeth a stone of a strange nature 587. d Scythica what herbe and why so called 223. e the vertues ib. from whence it commeth 269. d S E Sea waters made hot in what cases medicinable 412. k Sea waeter actually cold medicinable ib. outwardly applied for what good ibid. l Sea water ought to be had from the deepe farre from land 413 a. how to be giuen inwardly ib. how to be tempered for procuring vomit ibid. Sea water clysterized ibid. Sea water artificiall how to be made 413. d Sea a most wonderfull element 425. c. d Sea weed calledin Latine Fucus Marinus 258. h the description ib. three kinds thereof ibid. Seale ae fish his vertues medicinable 437. g Seale of the Romane Embassadour was the image of Augustus Caesar 601. d Secundarium what kind of Minium 476 k. 477. d Sedum an herbe See Housleeke Seeds of herbes how they differ 23 a b c garden Seed some more strange than other 33. a Seeds of herbes lesse effectuall after incision made in the roots 292. g Seed naturall in men what doth encrease 77. f shedding vnwillingly how cured 48. g. 72. i. 130. k Segullum what earth it is 466. l Selago an herbe like Sauin 193 d. with what ceremonious circunstances to be gathered ibid. Selecti at Rome who they were 490. g Selenites an admirable pretious stone 629. d Selinas and Selinoides what kind of Coleworts 48. k Selinus earth for what it is good 559. f Senatours of Rome how knowne from Knighs or Gentlemen 459. c Senerio what herbe 238 k. See Groundswell Sengreene See Housleeke Sences how preserued 74. h. i. how stupified against cutting or sawing off a member 314. l. m Senuie the herbe how it groweth 31 b. the temperature and kinds thereof 31. b. c. how to be dressed 31. c threee kinds thereof 73. f. the qualities that it hath 73. f. 74. g. Senuie juice how it is drawne 74. k Seps a venomous worme or a kind of Lizard 157. b. 263. d it cureth the owne bitt 363. d. it is otherwise called Dipsas 173. a. remedies against the venome thereof 157. b 434. g. Septimuleius for couetousnes of gold killed his deare friend C. Gracchus 463. e Scrapias a kind of Orchis or Stundlewort 256 m. the description 257. a Serapion a painter that loued to paint great pictures of Theatres c. but man or woman he could not draw 544 i. Seriphium Wormewood the vertues that it hath 443. d Serpents how they are known to be retired and gone 132. k Serpents when they haue stung a man neuer retire againe into the earth but die as it were for remorse of conscience 358. k Serpent hardly plucked out of their holes but by the left hand 299. c Serpents gather together by the perfume of the bone about their owne throat 321. d Serpents chased away by the fume of an Harts horn burnt 321. d. what other means there be to chase away Serpents and refist their poyson 38 k. 39 b. 40 h l. 42 g h m. 43 a d e 45 e. 47 a b. 50 g. 51 a e. 52 l. 53 c. 54 l. 56 i l. 57 a 56 a. 60 g l. 61 c. 62. g. 63 b c d e. 64 k. 65 b. 74. g m 77 c. 78 h i. 101 d. 103 a. 104 g. k. 105 c. 106 g 107 b. 108 i l. 110 i k. l. 118 m. 124 i. 125 a d. 126. h 129 d. f. 131 d. f. 134 i. 135 d. 138 k. 139 b e 142 k. l. 143 b. 148 i. 149 a. 153 b. 162 g. 165 b
in brasse most curiously wrought by Phidias 566 h Sphinx a monstrous rocke in Aegipt 577. b. the description thereof ib. b. c. thought to be the monument wherin king Amasis was entombed ib. Sphragides certain pretious stones that scale fairest 620. h Sphragis what earth 529. a Sphyraena a fish See Sudis Spicknell See Meum Spilumene an image of Praxiteles his making 500. k Spirits how reuiued and recouered 59. c. 130. h Spirits made dull by some water 403. e Spitting obserued superstitiously in auerting witch-craft 300. g. in preuenting lamenesse ibid. in turning away the displeasure of the gods for some bold petition ibid. in fortifying the operations of medicines 300. h in curing the party that one hath hurt and repented therefore ibid. in helping a beast swaied or hipped by a blow giuen 300 i. in giuing a shreuder blow to an enemie ib. Spittle conueighed backward behind the eare what it signifieth 297. d Spittle fasting of what vertue 300. g. k Spittle fasting of a woman medicinable 308. h Spittle of certaine men medicinable against serpents 299. a. Splanchnoptes an image in brasse curiously wrought by Stipax 502 l. why so called ibid. Splanchnoptes 123. e for the Spleen pained swelled hard obstructed or otherwise diseased proper remedies 39 d. 40 k. 45 c. 49 f. 51 b 52 g. 56 h i 60 g. 61 a. 62 l. 64 l. 67 d. 73 d. 75 c 101 b. 103 b. 104 g. 105 c. 119 d. 121 e. 122 g 124 l. 127 e. 128 l. 130 k. 143 b. 144 h. 146 k. 150. g i 164 g. 167 c. 169 f. 173 d. 178 g. 180 k. 187 c 188 h. 189 e f. 190 i l. 193 a. 196 l. 198 i. 207 d 208 g. 216 m. 253 d e f. 254 g. 263 c. 274 l. 275 e 277 c. 287 e. 288 h. 289 d. 290 i. 291 c. 313 b. 318 i 330 h i k. 341 d. 352 i. 381 d e. 424 h. 430 g. 431 e 443 f. 444 g. 447 a. 516 i. 529 b. Splenion what herbe and why so called 217. a Sploches swe rt in the skin how to be brought to a fresh colour 339. a Spodium of Lead 520 g. how washed ib. for Spodium a succedan 158. l Spodos what it is 511 f. the nature of it ibid. Spodos of sundry sorts 512. g. how to be washed ibid h. the vertues ibid Spodos Lauriotis ibid. the best Spodos ib. what things serue in stead of Spodos 512. i Spondylium an herbe 181 a. the vertues thereof in Physicke ib. Spondylus a fish medicinable 446. i Spongiae in Sperages what they be 27. d Spongites a pretious stone why so called 629. d Spots and speckles blacke in the skin how to be taken out 62 i. 161 e. 266 h. 314. k. 377. d. Spots or yron moles how to be taken out 47. d. 161. e Spraines of sinewes how helped 334. m of Springs and fountaines a discourse how to find them 408. i. k. l. m. 409. a. b. Springs of waters arising vpon the stocking vp and cutting downe of woods 410. k Sprots salted medicinable in some cases 434. h Spuma Argenti See Litharge Spunge of fresh water a kinde of herbe 280 g. why called Conferua ibid. h Spunge of male sex 423. a. it was wont to be died purple ibid. Spunges of female sex 423. b Spunges how they are made white ib. Spunges haue a sensible life ibid. Spunge stones what they be 589. d. why they be called Tecolithi ibid. Spunges vsed in frictions and rubbing of mens bodies 424 k. whether Spunges haue hearing or no 423 c which Spunges be best ibid. the generall vse of all Spunges 423 d e they serue in stead of Lana Succida or vnwashed greasie wooll in wounds 424. g Spunge ashes medicinable 424. i Spunges commonly diuided into Africane and Rhodiack 424. k. where the finest and most delicat Spunges be found ib. Spurge an hearbe 284 i. the description ibid. Spurges See Tithymales Spiders venome what remedies for it 65 b. 187 d. 196 i 431 f. 433 f. S Q Squatina a fish the skin whereof is medicinable 444. l Squilla or sea Onion 18 l. the description properties ib. more qualities that it hath 99 e. the sundry kinds 18. m how to be ordered 19 a Pythagoras wrote a booke of Squilla 18 m Squilla male and female 51 c. how to be prepared ib. how to be boiled or calcined 51 e Squilla the lesse See Pancration Squilliticke vineger the vertues thereof 156. l Sâ—…inancie a disease of the throat with what medicines it is cured 36 l. 39 d. 42 k. 44 g. 61 c. 66 g. 75 e. 76 i 103 e. 134 l. 135 d. 147 e. 157 b. 158. g. 172 h. 183 c e 196. g. 205 e. 212 l. 245 b d. 277 d. 287 d. 301 d e f 311 b. 328 k. 378 h k. l. 419 b. 422 k. 432 i. 442 g b 471 c. 510 i. Squinanth rish described with the kinds and vertues therof 101 f. 102 g S T Stachys the herbe described 199. c. the vertue thereof ib. Stag Hind Hart red Deere enemies euery way to serpents 321 d. their hornes ib. skin ib. e. rennet of a Hind-calfe 321 f. genetoirs of a Stag and his pizzle ib. rim of the paunch ib. teeth ib. their bloud draweth serpents together ibid. Staining of clothes in Aegypt how it is practised 550. c the commoditie of clothes so Stained by seething ibid. d Staphis or Astaphis Agria what hearbeit is 248. l Starre-fish medicinable 433 f Starch-floure the properties of it 140. l Staterae what drinking cups or mazers they were 482 h Statice what hearb 250. h stately Statues first when they came vp at Rome 482 l Romanes honoured at Rome with Statues by strangers 493 d. Statues erected for them at Rome who were killed in embassage or seruice for the state 491. f the measure ordinarily of Statues three foot 492 g Statues on foot at Rome 492. l Statues of siluer when first admitted in Rome 482. m 483 a. three Statues of Anniball euen in Rome 493 c Statues on horsebacke a deuise comming from the Greekes 490 l. women honoured with statues on horsebacke 492. l Statues riding triumphant or otherwise in charriots when they were first seene at Rome 490 m Statues erected vpon columns are of great antiquity 491. a what they signified 492 k Statues without any robe 491. e Rome full of Statues and images 494 i Statues Thuscanica ibid h Stauisacre described 148 l. it is not Vva Taminia ibid. where it loueth to grow ibid. m. the kernils dangerous inwardly taken 149 a. the medicinable vertues ibid. Steatites a pretious stone 630. h Steatomata what kind of wens and how cured 265 c Steele what it is 514 i. diuers kinds ibid. k Stellio a word odious what it importeth 388. i Stellions the Lizards their venomous spightfull and enuious nature to mankind 388 i. most aduerse to scorpions 361 b. how they cast their slough or skin 388 k. l. the same is medicinable ibid. i the diuerse names
it inflameth and setteth the beast into a great heat wherupon it swelleth vntill it burst againe So corrosiue it is as I haue said before that being incorporat with goats sewet and so reduced into a liniment it takes away the tettars called Lichenes that be in the face The bloud of a vuitur i. ageire tempered with the root of white Chamaeleon I mean the herb so called and the rosin of cedar heales the leprosie so that this liniment be couered with colewort leaues Of the same effect are the feet of locusts braied in a mortar and incorporat with goats tallow The greace of a cock capon or hen wel stamped wrought with an Onion is singular to scoure the spots and specks of the visage also the hony wherin a number of bees were stifled and killed is proper for the said purpose But aboue all the greace of a swan is commended both for to cleanse the skin of the face from all flecks and freckles and also take away wrinkles As for the markes remaining after the cauterie or hot yron there is no better means to take them out than a plastre of pigeons dung and vinegre If the rheume cause the mur the pose or heauinesse in head I find a pretie medicine to rid it away by kissing only the little hairie muzzle of a mouse As touching the uvula and paine of the throat they may be both of them eased and cured with lambs ordure which passeth from them before they haue bitten grasse dried in the shade The juice or slimie humor that shel-snails yeeld when they be pricked through with a pin or needle is singular good in a liniment for to be applied vnto the uvula prouided alwaies that those snailes do hang after in the smoke The ashes that come of swallows calcined burnt it likewise very soueraign being laid to the grieued place with hony and in that sort prepared it serueth also for the inflammation and swelling of the tonsils or amygdals of the throat For the said tonsils and other accidents of the throat a gargarisme of ewes milke is right soueraigne There is a certain creeper called a Cheeslip which if it be bruised or stamped is good for the said infirmities so is pigeons dung gargarised with wine cuit or applied outwardly with sal-nitre dried figs. If the throat be troubled with hoarsnesse occasioned by rheume or catarrhe the foresaid shel-snailes do greatly mitigat the same infirmitie being first sodden in milke all saue the earthy or muddy substance which they must be cleansed from and then giuen in wine cuit to the patient for to drink Some hold opinion that the snails found in the Isle Astypalaea are the best of all other for this purpose but principally the abstersiue substance that is sound in them The cricquet called Gryllus doth mitigat catarrhs all asperities offending the throat if the same be rubbed therewith also if a man doe but touch the amygdals or almonds of the throat with the hand wherwith he hath bruised or crushed the said cricquet it will appease the inflammations thereof To come now vnto the Squinancie a goose gall incorporat with the juice of the wild cucumber and hony together is a most speedie and present remedy for it also the brains of an owle and the ashes of a swallow drunk in water wel and hot is good for the said disease But for this medicine we are beholden to the Poët Ouid. Note that when I speak of any medicine for what maladie soeuer made of swallows the yong wild ones are alwaies the better and more effectuall in operation and those you may know easily by the fashion of their nests where they do build But if you would haue the best indeed the young ones of that kind which are called Ripariae passe al the rest for medicinable vses for so they are commonly named which build in the holes of banke sides Howbeit some there be who assure vs that we shal not need to feare that disease for a yeare together if we do but eat any young swallow it skills not of what kind soeuer it be Now the order of calcining them from their ashes is to strangle them first so to burn them in their bloud within an earthen vessell and the ashes thus made is vsually giuen either wrought in past for bread or else to be drunk and some there be who mingle withall the like quantity of the ashes which come of weazils And this kind of medicine thus prepared they giue in drink euery day against the kings euill and falling sicknesse Moreouer swallowes kept and condite in salt are passing good for the Squinancie taken in drinke to the weight of a dram at a time and it is said thet their very nest giuen in drinke cureth the said maladie It is a common opinion that a liniment made with the creepers called Sowes or Multipedes is most effectuall to cure the said Squinancie And some there be who aduise to take one and twenty of these worms stamped and to giue them in one hemine of mead or honied water for the said disease but they must be conceiued downe the throat by a pipe or tunnell for if this medicine touch the teeth once it will do no good It is said moreouer that if one drinke the decoction of mice sodden with veruaine it is a soueraign remedy for that disease as also that a leather thong made of a dogs skin put thrice about the necke will doe the deed And some there be who in this case vse pigeons dung mixed with oile and wine As touching the cricks of the nerues or sinewes that serue the nape of the necke as also for the cramps that draw the head backward they say that a twig or branch of a vine taken out of a puttocks nest and carried about one hanging to the necke or arme is a speciall remedie for the abouenamed accidents CHAP. V. ¶ Medicines for the Kings euill that is broken and doth run for the paines lying in the shoulders as also for the griefe of the bowels about the midriffe and precordiall parts THe bloud of a weazill is good for the wens called the king euill when they be exulcerat do run so is the weazill it selfe sodden in wine and applied prouided alwaies that they run not by occasion of any launcing or incision made by the Chirurgions hand And it is commonly said that to eat the flesh of a Weazill is effectuall for the cure So are the ashes of a Weazil calcined vpon a fire made of Vine-twigs if they be incorporat with Hogs grease Item Take a green Lizard and binde it to the sore but after thirty daies you must do so with another this will heale them Some make no more ado but in a little box of siluer keep the heart of a Weazil wear it about them If women or maids be troubled with the kings euil it were good to make choise of old shel-snailes and to stamp
them shels and all into a plaister or liniment but especially such as be found sticking to the roots of shrubs and bushes The ashes of the serpent Aspis calcined are likewise very good for this disease if they be incorporat with buls tallow so applied Some vse snakes grease and oil together also a liniment made with the ashes of snakes burnt tempered either with oil or wax Moreouer it is thought that the middle part of a snake after the head and taile both be cut away is very wholsome meat for those who haue the kings euill or to drink their ashes being in the same manner prepared and burnt in a new earthen pot neuer occupied mary if the said snakes chanced to be killed between two cart-tracts where the wheeles went the medicine will look much more effectually Some giue counsell to apply vnto the affected place Crickets digged out of the earth with the mould and al that commeth vp Also to apply Pigeons dung only without any thing els or at the most to temper it with Barley meale or Oatmeale in vinegre Likewise to make a liniment of a Moldwarps ashes incorporat with hony Some there be who take the liuer of a Moule crush and bruise it between their hands working it into a liniment and lay the same to the sore and there let it drie on the place and wash it not off in three daies And they affirme That the right foot af a Moule is a singular remedie for this disease Others catch some of them cut off their heads stampe them with the mould that they haue wrought and cast vp aboue ground reduce them into certain trochisks which they keep in a box or pot of tinne and vse them by way of application to all tumors and impostumes which the Greeks call Apostemata and especially those that rise in the necke but then they forbid the patient to eat porke or any swines flesh during the cure Moreouer there is a kind of earth-beetles called tauri i. Buls which name they took of the little hornes that they carry for otherwise in colour they resemble tickes some tearme them Pedunculos terrae earth lice These also worke vnder the ground like wants and cast vp mould which serueth in a liniment for the Kings euil such like swelling as also for the gout in the feet but it must not be washed off in three daies space Howbeit this is to be noted that this medicine must be renued euery year for the said mould wil continue no longer in vertue than one year In sum there be attributed to these beetles all those medicinable properties which I haue assigned vnto the crickets called Grylli Moreouer some there be who vse in manner and cases aforesaid the mould which ants do cast vp Others for the Kings euil take iust as many mads or earthworms in number as there be wens gathered and knotted together and bind the same fast vnto them letting them to drie vpon the place and they are persuaded that the said wens will drie away and consume together with them There be again who get a Viper about the rising of the Dog star cut off the head and taile as I said before of snakes and the middle part betweene they burne the ashes that come thereof they giue afterwards to be drunke for three weeks together euery day as much as may be comprehended and taken vp at three fingers ends and thus they cure and heale the kings euill Moreouer there be some that hang a Viper by a linnen thread fast tied somewhat vnder the head so long till she be strangled and dead and with that thread bind the soresaid wens or Kings euill promising vnto their patients assured remedie by this meanes They vse also the Sowes called Multipedae and incorporat the same with a fourth part in proportion to them of true Turpentine and they be of opinion That this ointment or salue is sufficient to cure any impostumes whatsoeuer As touching the paines that lie in the shoulders there is a proper medicine made in forme a liniment with the ashes of a Weazill tempered with wax which easeth the same To keepe young boies from hauing any haire growing on their face that they may seem alwaies young it is good to annoint their cheekes and chin with Ants egges Also the marchants or hucksters that buy yong slaues to sell them againe for gaine vse to hinder the growth of hair as well of the visage as in the armeholes and vpon the share that they may be taken for young youths still by annointing those parts with the bloud that commeth from lambs when they be libbed which ointment doth good also to the armpits for to take away the ranke and rammish smell thereof but first the haire there growing ought to be pulled vp by the roots Now that I am come to speake of the precordiall region of the body know this That by this one word Praecordia I meane the inwards or entrailes in man or woman called in Latine Exta whensoeuer then there shall be pain felt in these parts or any of them apply thereto a yong sucking whelpe and keepe it hard huggled to the place doubtlesse the said griefe will passe away from the part to the puppie it selfe as men say and this hath been found true by experience in one of those whelpes ripped and opened aliue and the said bowels taken forth for looke what part in man or woman was grieued the very same was seene infected thereupon in the puppie And such whelpes thus vsed for the curing and taking vpon them our maladies were wont to be enterred with great reuerence and ceremoniall deuotion As touching the pretty little dogs that our daintie dames make so much of called Melitaei in Latine if they be euer and anon kept close vnto the stomacke they ease the paine therof And in very truth a man shall perceiue such little ones to be sicke yea and many times to die thereupon whereby it is euident that our maladies passe from vs to them CHAP. VI. ¶ Of the diseases incident to the lights and liuer Of those that vse to cast and reach vp bloud at the mouth MIce are very good for the infirmities of the lungs especially those of Barbarie if they be first flaied then sodden in oile and salt and so giuen to the patient for to eat Thus prepared and vsed they cure them that either spit purulent and filthy matter or else reach vp shere bloud But a dish of meat made of snailes with shels is most excellent for the stomacke But for the better ordering and dressing of them first they ought to siver ouer the fire and take a few waulmes till they be parboiled without touching or medling one jot with their body afterwards they must be broiled vpon the coales without putting any thing in the world vnto them and then to be serued vp in wine and fish pickle or brine called Garum and so eaten But the best