110 
THE COMPLETE HERBAL 
beaten and applied to any part that is dis- 
coloured with freckles, morphew, the white 
scurf, or any such deformity of the skin, 
cleanses thoroughly, and takes them away. 
MAIDEN HAIR. 
Descript.] Our common Maiden-Hair 
doth, from a number of hard black fibres, 
send forth a great many blackish shining 
brittle stalks, hardly a span long, in many 
not half so long, on each side set very thick 
with small, round, dark, green leaves, and 
spitted on the back of them like a fern. 
Place.| It grows upon old stone walls in 
the West parts in Kent, and divers other 
places of this land; it delights likewise to 
grow by springs, wells, and rocky moist 
and shady places, and is always green. 
WALL RUE, OR, WHITE MAIDEN-HAIR. 
Descript.| Tuts has very fine, pale 
green stalks, almost as fine as hairs, set con- 
fusedly with divers pale green leaves on 
every short foot stalk, somewhat near unto 
the colour of garden Rue, and not much dif- 
fering in form but more diversly cut in on 
the edges, and thicker, smooth on the upper 
part, and spotted finely underneath. 
Place.| It grows in many places of this 
land, at Dartford, and the bridge at Ash- 
ford in Kent, at Beaconsfield in Bucking- 
hamshire, at Wolly in Huntingtonshire, on 
Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, on the 
church walls at Mayfield in Sussex, in Som- 
ersetshire, and divers other places of this 
land; and is green in Winter as well as 
Summer. - 
_ Government and virtues.] Both this and 
the former are under the dominion of 
_ Mercury, and so is that also which fol- 
lows after, and the virtue of both are so 
near alike, that though I have described 
them and their places of growing severally, 
tienes: ieee peicad asi 
Lair he soot yey eal i Needy : 
being drank, helps those that are troubled 
with the cough, shortness of breath, the 
yellow jaundice, diseases of the spleen, 
stopping of urine, and helps exceedingly to 
break the stone in the kidneys, (in all which 
diseases the Wall Rue is also very effec- 
tual.) It provokes women’s courses, and 
stays both bleedings and fluxes of the 
stomach and belly, especially when the herb 
is dry; for being green, it loosens the belly, 
and voids choler and phlegm from the 
stomach and liver; it cleanses the lungs, 
and by rectifying the blood, causes a good 
colour to the whole body. The herb boiled 
in oil of camomile, dissolves knots, allays 
swellings, and dries up moist ulcers. The 
lye made thereof is singularly good to 
cleanse the head from scurf, and from dry 
and running sores, stays the falling or shed- 
ding of the hair, and causes it to grow thick, 
fair, and well coloured; for which purpose 
some boil it in wine, putting some Smallage 
seed thereto, and afterwards some oil. The 
Wall Rue is as effectual as Maiden-Hair, 
in all diseases of the head, or falling and 
recovering of the hair again, and generally 
for all the aforementioned diseases: And be- 
sides, the powder of it taken in drink for 
forty days together, helps the burstings in 
children. 
GOLDEN MAIDEN HAIR. 
To the former give me leave to add this, 
and I shall say no more but only describe 
it to you, and for the virtues refer you to 
the former, since whatsoever is said of them, 
may be also said of this. 
Descript.| It has many small, brownish, 
red hairs, to make up the form of leaves — 
growing about the ground from the root; 
and in the middle of them, in Summer, rise 
small stalks of the same colour, set with 
very fine yellowish green hairs on them, and 
| bearing a small gold, yellow head, lesseT 
Sts host coe ening ix gret ha 
