AND ENGLISH PHYSICIAN ENLARGED. 77 
a number of pale yellow flowers, of a strong 
unpleasant scent, with deeper yellow 
mouths, and blackish flat seed in round 
heads. The root is somewhat woody and 
white, especially the main downright one, 
with many fibres, abiding many years, 
shooting forth roots every year round about, 
and new branches every year. 
Place.| This grows throughout this land, 
both by the way sides and in meadows, as 
also by hedge-sides, and upon the sides of 
banks, and borders of fields. 
Time.| It flowers in Summer, and the 
seed is ripe usually before the end of 
August. 
Government and virtues.] Mars owns the 
herb: In Sussex we call it Gallwort, and 
lay it in our chickens’ water to cure them of 
the gall; it relieves them when they are 
drooping. This is frequently used to spend 
the abundance of those watery humours by 
urine, which cause the dropsy. The decoc- 
tion of the herb, both leaves and flowers, 
in wine taken and drank, doth somewhat 
move the belly downwards, open obstruc- 
tions of the liver, and helps the yellow 
jaundice ; expels poison, provokes women’s 
courses, drives forth the dead child, and 
after birth. The distilled water of the herb 
and flowers is effectual for all the same pur- 
poses; being drank with a dram of the 
powder of the seeds of bark or the roots of 
Wall-wort, and a little cinnamon, for cer- 
tain days together, it is held a singular rem- 
edy for the dropsy. The juice of the herb, 
or the distilled water, dropped into the eyes, 
is a certain remedy for all heat, inflamma- 
tion, and redness in them. The juice or 
water put into foul ulcers, whether they be 
cancerous or fistulous, with tents rolled 
therein, or parts washed and injected there- 
with, cleanses them thoroughly from the 
bottom, and heals them up safely. The 
Same juice or water also cleanses the skin 
wonderfully of all sorts of deformity, as 
leprosy, morphew, scurf, wheals, pimples, | 
i: 
or spots, applied of itself, or used with some 
powder of Lupines. 
FLEA-WORT. 
Descript.| Orpinary Flea-wort rises up 
with a stalk two feet high or more, full of 
joints and branches on every side up to 
the top, and at every joint two small, long, 
and narrow whitish green leaves somewhat 
hairy; At the top of every branch stand 
divers small, short scaly, or chaffy heads, 
out of which come forth small whitish 
yellow threads, like to those of the plan- 
tain herbs, which are the bloomings of 
flowers. The seed inclosed in these heads 
is small and shining while it is fresh, very 
like unto fleas both for colour and bigness, 
but turning black when it grows old. The 
root is not long, but white, hard and woody, 
perishing every year, and rising again of 
its own seed for divers years, if it be 
suffered to shed: The whole plant is some- 
what whitish and hairy, smelling somewhat 
like rosin. 
There is another sort hereof, differing not 
from the former in the manner of growing, 
but only that the stalk and branches being 
somewhat greater, do a little more bow 
down to the ground: The leaves are some- 
what greater, the heads somewhat less, the 
seed alike; and the root and leaves abide 
all winter, and perish not as the former. 
Place.| The first grows only in gardens, 
the second plentifully in fields that are 
near the sea. 
Time.| They flower in July, or there- 
abouts. 
Government and virtues.| The herb is 
cold, and dry, and Saturnine. I suppose 
it obtained the name of Flea-wort, because _ 
the seeds are so like Fleas. The seed fried, 
and taken, stays the flux or lask of the » 
belly, and the corrosions that come by rea- 
son of hot choleric, or sharp and malignant oo 
humours, or by too much purging of a. oe 
vines Pe as Sei 
