AND COMPLETE HERBAL. 255 
LP wuGwort. 
Description. COMMON mugwort hath divers leaves lying upon the ground, 
very much divided, or cut deeply in about the brims, fomewhat like wormwood, 
but much larger; of a dark green colour on the upper fide, and very hoary, white, 
underneath. The ftalks rife to the height of four or five feet, having on it fimi- 
lar leaves to thofe below, but fomewhat fmaller, branching forth very much to- 
wards the top, whereon are fet very {mall pale yellowifh flowers like buttons, which 
fall away; and after them come fmall feed inclofed in round heads, The root is 
Jong and hard, with many {mall fibres growing from it, whereby it taketh ftrong 
hold in the ground ; but both ftalk and leaf die every year, and the root fhooteth 
forth anew in the{pring. . The whole plantis of a tolerably good {cent, and is more 
readily propagated by the flips than by the feed. ‘ 
Prace. It groweth plentifully in many parts of this kingdom, by the road-fide $ 
mo, by fall water-courfes ; and in divers other places. 
* Time. It flowereth and feedeth in the end of fummer. 
GovERNMENT AND Virtues. Thisis anherb of Venus; therefore maintaineth 
the parts of the body fhe rules, and remedies the difeafes of the parts that are under 
her fiens, Taurus and Libra. Mugwort is ufed with good fuccefs, among other 
herbs, in a hot decoction, for women to fit over, to provoke the courfes, help deli- 
very, and expel the after-birth; alfo, for the ob{tructions and inflammations of the 
mother. It breaketh the ftone, andcaufeth one to make water when itis ftopped. 
The juice thereof, made up with myrrh, and formed into a peffary, worketh the | 
fame effects ; the root, being made into an ointment, with hogs-lard, taketh away 
wens and hard knots and kernels that grow about the neck and throat, and eafeth 
pains about the neck more effectually, if fome field daifies be put with it. The herb 
 itfelf, being freth, or juice thereof, taken, is a fpecial rcmedy for an over-dofe ’ 
ofopium. Three drams of the powder of the dried leaves, taken in wine, isa 
fpeedy, and the moftcertain, cure for the fciatica. .A decoction thereof, made with 
tamomel and agrimony, taketh away pains of the finews and the cramp, if the - 
Place is bathed therewith while warm. 
Theleaves and flowers, and the tops of the young hots, i in this plant, are all full 
of vireue 3, they are aromatic to the talte, with a little fharpnets ; and are a moft fafe 
_ excellent medicine i in female diforders arifing from obftruction. j 
_ ‘The herb has been famous for this from the earlieft time; and Protcidencetillg ee 
Dlaced it ¢very where about our doors; fo that reafon and authority, . as beset? as the 3 if 
No. 18, 3x 
