208 
THE COMPLETE HERBAL 
CHAPTER IX. 
Of Lohochs. 
1. Tuat which the Arabians call Lo- 
hocks, and the Greeks Eclegma, the Latins 
call Linctus, and in plain English signifies 
nothing else but a thing to be licked up. 
2. They are in body thicker than a syrup, 
and not so thick as an electuary. 
3. The manner of taking them is, often to 
take a little with a liquorice stick, and let it 
go down at leisure. 
4. They are easily thus made; Make 
a decoction of pectoral herbs, and the trea- 
tise will furnish you with enough and when 
you have strained it, with twice its weight 
of honey or sugar, boil it to a lohock; if 
you are molested with much phlegm, honey 
is better than sugar; and if you add a little 
vinegar to it, you will do well; if not, I hold 
sugar to be better than honey. 
5. It is kept in pots, and may be kept a 
year and longer. 
6. It is excellent for roughness of the 
wind-pipe, inflammations and ulcers of the 
lungs, difficulty of breathing, ashmas, 
coughs, and distillation of humours. 
CHAPTER X. 
Of Ointments. 
1. Various are the ways of making oint- 
ments, which authors have left to posterity, 
which I shall omit, and quote one which is 
easiest to be made, and therefore most 
beneficial to people that are ignorant in 
physic, for whose sake I write this. It is 
thus done. 
Bruise those herbs, flowers, or roots, you 
will make an ointment of, and to two hand- 
fuls of your bruised herbs add a pound of 
hog’s grease dried, or cleansed from the 
_ skins, beat them very well together in a 
a Stone mortar with a wooden pestle, then put 
i aeteai toed scorn: 
mean, not the mortar,) cover it with a 
paper and set it either in the sun, or some 
other warm place; three, four, or five days, 
that it may melt; then take it out and boil 
it a little; then whilst it is hot, strain it out, 
pressing it out very hard in a press, to this 
grease add as many more herbs bruised as 
before; let them stand in like manner as 
long, then boil them as you did the former; 
If you think your ointment is not strong 
enough, you may do it the third and fourth 
time; yet this I will tell you, the fuller of 
juice the herbs are, the sooner will your 
ointment be strong; the last time you boil 
it, boil it so long till your herbs be crisp, 
and the juice consumed, then strain it 
pressing it.hard in a press, and to every 
pound of ointment add two ounces of tur- 
pentine, and as much wax, because grease 
is offensive to wounds, as well as oil. 
2. Ointments are vulgarly known to be 
kept in pots, and will last above a year, 
some above two years. 
CHAPTER XI. 
Of Plaisters. 
1. Tue Greeks made their plaisters of 
divers simples, and put metals into the most 
of them, if not all; for having reduced their 
metals into powder, they mixed them with 
that fatty substance whereof the rest of the 
plaister consisted, whilst it was thus hot, 
continually stirring it up and down, lest it 
should sink to the bottom; so they con- 
tinually stirred it till it was stiff; then they 
made it up in rolls, which when they needed 
for use, they could melt by the fire again. 
2. The Arabians made up theirs with 
oil and fat, which needed not so long 
3. The Greeks emplaisters consisted of 
these ingredients, metals, stones, divers 
sorts of earth, feces, juices, liquors, seeds, 
roots, herbs, excrements of creatures, wa%; 
rosin, gums, 
