» 194 
THE COMPLETE HERBAL 
therefore fit for inflammations; thus Dr. 
Reason. Again if you please, we will leave 
Dr. Reason a while, and come to Dr. Expe- 
rience, a learned gentleman, and_his 
brother. Take a leaf and chew it in your 
mouth, and you will quickly find it likelier 
to cause a sore mouth and throat than to 
cure it. Well then, if it be not good for 
this, What is it good for? It is good for 
something, for God and nature made 
nothing in vain. It is an herb of Mercury, 
and appropriated to the lungs; the celestial 
Crab claims dominion over it; neither is it 
a foe to the Lion; if the lungs be afflicted by 
Jupiter, this is your cure: It is fitting a 
conserve made of the flowers of it were 
kept in every gentlewoman’s house; I know 
no better cure for an asthma than this; be- 
sides, it takes away the evil of the spleen, 
provokes urine, procures speedy delivery of 
women in travail, helps cramps, convul- 
sions, and palsies, and whatsoever griefs 
- come of cold or stopping; if you please to 
make use of it as an ointment, it will clear 
your skin of morphew, freckles, and sun- 
burnings, or whatsoever else discolours it, 
and then the maids will love it. Authors say, 
The flowers are of more effect than the 
leaves, and that is true; but they say the 
seeds are least effectual of all. But Dr. 
Reason told me, That there was a vital 
spirit in every seed to beget its like; and 
Dr. Experience told me, That there was a 
greater heat in the seed than there was in 
any other part of the plant; and withal, 
That heat was the mother of action, and 
then judge if old Dr. Tradition (who may 
well be honoured for his age, but not for 
his goodness) hath not so poisoned the 
world with errors before I was born, that 
_it was never well in its wits since, and there 
is great fear it will die mad. 
WORMWOOD. 
era, Wicwetote are familiar with | 
ne I shall not describe, another I shall 
‘the devil, but she christened it, and called 
describe, and the third be critical at; and 
I care not greatly if I begin with the last 
first. 
Sea Wormwood hath gotten as many 
names as virtues, (and perhaps one more) 
Seriphian, Santomeon, Belchion, Narbin- 
ense, Hantonicon, Misneule, and a matter 
of twenty more which I shall not blot paper 
withal. A papist got the toy by the end, and 
he called it Holy Wormwood; and in truth, 
I am of opinion, their giving so much holi- 
ness to herbs, is the reason there remains so 
little in themselves. The seed of this 
Wormwood is that which usually women 
give their children for the worms. Of all 
Wormwoods that grow here, this is the 
weakest, but doctors commend it, and 
apothecaries sell it; the one must keep his 
credit, and the other get money, and that is 
the key of the work. The herb is good for 
something, because God made nothing in 
vain: Will you give me leave to weigh 
things in the balance of reason; Then thus; 
The seeds of the common Wormwood are 
far more prevalent than the seed of this, to 
expel worms in children, or people of ripe 
age; of both some are weak, some are 
strong. The Seriphian Wormwood is the 
weakest, and haply may prove to be fittest 
for the weak bodies, (for it is weak enough 
of all conscience.) Let such as are strong 
take the common Wormwood, for the others 
will do but little good. Again, near the sea 
many people live, and Seriphian grows 
near them, and therefore is more fitting for 
their bodies, because nourished by the same 
air; and this I had from Dr. Reason. In 
whose body Dr. Reason dwells not, dwells 
Dr. Madness, and he brings in his brethren, 
Dr. Ignorance, Dr. Folly, and Dr. Sick- 
ness, and these together make way fon 
Death, and the latter end of that man 1S 
worse than the beginning. Pride was the 
cause of Adam’s fall; pride begat a daugh- 
ter, I do not know the father of it, unless 
