To the leader. 



lfodore. 

 *plate&fiuti 



ce,which is (when he comes to particulars) firft of medicines tempera^then of thofe 

 that are hoc and dry in the firft degree,then thofe cold and dry in the fame degree ; after 

 that, thofe hot and dry in the fecond degree, &c. and in each of thefe trafts he folkweth 

 the order of the Arabick Alphabet. 



In or after the times of the Arabians,vntill about the yere i4oo 3 there w**e diuers ob- 

 fcure and barbarous writers^hoby fight knew little whereof they writ,but tooke out of 

 the Greeks 3 Arabians 5 and one another, all that they writ, giuing com monly rude figures, 

 feldome fetting down any defcriptions. I will only name the chiefe of them that I haue 

 feen^and as necre as I can guetle 9 in that order that one of them fucedfeded another:for the 

 particular {imes of their liuing is fomewhat difficult to be found out. One of the antien- 



*/ 



Ifidorc-thcnPlateariuswhofc work is alphabetical 



Works (as 



lfod&rc$s\& mod of the reft of thofe times) treat of diuers other thin^ , 



Beafts,Birds,Fiflies 3 &c. His worke is called Be proprietatibus rerum : the Authors nam< 



^wbowas defcended of the noble family of the Earles of Suffolk 



Work 



After a& 

 H ortus fanit at is ,whofe Author I know not. But to leaiie thefe 



icuremenand their writings Jet me reckon 



ning and iudgement haue endeauored to illuftrate this part of Phy ficke. \ 



About fome 2 00 years ago learning again beginning to flourifh,diuers begau to leaue 

 and loath the confufed and barbarous writings of the middle times,and to hau? recourfe 

 to the Antients , from whence together with puritie of Language they migbtacquirea 

 more certain knowledge of the things treated of, which was wanting in the other. One of 



Utmtt. **rb. 



the 



ned. 



9fc0r/des,butwYita Commentary vpon him in fiuebookes, which 

 In this Work he hath fhewed himfelfe both iuditious and lear- 



Mtrcyitgi 



3$hn RHtU'm. 



i 



Comment vpon him. 

 Much about their 1 



Diofc 



•gilius Secretary to the State of Florence,* man of no lefle leai 

 the former, fet forth Diofcorides in Greeke and Latine, with 



alfo lobtt Rue/tius a French phyfitian,who flourifhed in theyei 



1 



Sj> 



eft. Moreouer,hc fet forth a large Worke,Oc natura Stirpi urn ,diuided into three 

 wherein he hath accuratly gathered all things out of fundry Writers, efpecially 

 eks and Latines : for firft hauing(after the maner oi~Theoj>t>raJtus) delivered fome 

 ^ precepts and aduertifements pertaining to the forme, life,generation,ordering, 

 er fuch accidents of Plants , hee then comes to the particular handling of each 



r — ^ W — W 



Much about this time the Germanes began tobeautifie this fo necefTarie part of Phy- 



ptbo mnftt. ficke j and amongft them Otb 9 Brunfdfms a phy fitian of good account, writ of Plant., 



was the firft that gaue the liuely figures of them 5 but he treated not in all of aboue 388 

 plants.He commonly obferues this method inhis particular chapters ; firft the figure(yet 

 he giues not the figures of all he writes of) then the Greeke,Latinc,and German names; 

 after that>the defcription and hiftorie out of moft former Authors- then the temperature 



Tomes, the firft 



names 



Worke 



hitronZiagui. 



Uuhif, 



Next after him was Hieronymus Tragus^ a learned ingenious and honeft writer,who fet 

 forth his works in the German tongue, which were afterwards tranflared into Latine by 

 DaaidKiber. He treats of moft of the Plants commonly growing in Germany, and I can 

 obferue no generall method he keeps,but his particular one is commonly rhis-he firft gi- 

 ueth the figure with the Latine &high Dutch namejthen commonly a good defcription* 

 after that,the names,then the temperature,and laftly the vert'ues, firft inwardly,then out- 

 wardly vfed.Hehath figured fome j^and defcribed fome 8 o o . his figures aregood,and 

 fo are moft of the reft that follow.His works were fet forth in Latine,,**. 1552. 



In his time liued Leonbarttts Fuchfms a German Phyfitian,being alfo a learned and di- 

 ligent writer,but he hath taken many of his defcriptions as alfo vertues word for word out 

 of the Antients,and to them hath put figures :his generall method is after the Greek AI- 

 phabet,and his particular one thus: Firft,the names in Greeke and Latine, together oft- 



times 



