266 CULPEPER's ENGLISH PHYSICIAN, 
Time. They flower very early in the year, , wanton in January and j in Febru- 
ary; before the end of April thy are no longer to be found. 
- Virtues, It is held to be an exceeding good remedy for thofe impofthumes i in 
the joints, and under the nails, which they call _whiglows, felons, adicoms, and nail- 
wheals. es 
Yo NEP, or CATMINT. 
Description. COMMON garden nep fhooteth forth hard four-fquare ftalks 
with a hoarinefs on them, a yard high or more, full of branches, bearing at every 
‘joint two broad leaves, fomewhat like balm, but longer pointed, fofter, whiter, and 
more hoary, nicked about the edges, and of a ftrong {weet {cent. The flowers grow 
in large tufts at the tops of the branches, and underneath them likewife on the 
ftalks, many together, of a whitifh purple colour. The roots are compofed.of many 
long ftrings or fibres, faftening themfelves ftrongly in the ground, and retaining 
their leaves green all the winter. 
Pxace. It is only nurfed up in our gardens. 
Time. It flowereth in July, or thereabouts. 
GoveRNMENT AND Virtues. It is an herbof Venus. Nep is generally ufed by 
“women, being taken either inwa rdly or outwardly, either alone or with other conve- 
nient herbs, in a decoction to bathe them, or to fit over the hot fumes thereof, and 
_by the frequent ufe thereof it taketh away barrennefs, and the wind, and pains of the 
mother. It is alfo ufed for pains of the head arifing from any cold caufe, fuch as 
catarrhs, rheums, &c. and for fwimming and giddinefs thereof, and is of efpecial 
ufe for expelling wind from the ftomach and belly. It is alfo effectual for the cramp 
or other pains occafioned by cold.; and is found ferviceable for colds, coughs, and ~ 
fhortnefs of breath. The juice thereof, drunk in wine, helps bruifes. The green 
herb, bruifed, and applied to the part for two or three hours, eafeth the pain arifing 
from the piles. The juice alfo, being made up into an ointment, is effectual for the 
purpofe. Wafhing the head with a decoction thereof taketh away {cabs ; me 
ufed to Eshe like effeét on — ie of the body. 
NETTLES, | 
LS eS wall: cava that they need no defcription. ‘ 
Gov ERNMENT. AND Virtu rs, This herb Mars claims dominion over. Nettle- 
tops, eaten in the foring, confume the phlegmatic iupertiunes.s in the body, ic 
t 
