

I. 



Of the Hiftorie of Plants. 



ihcr !cafc,biu only from the fruit dowiv.var Js,whercas it is fomwhat thicker,and not fo broad, but 

 almoft triangular. The Houre is a long thing rcfembling the Cats-tailes which grow on Hafels. It 

 »s .-. out the thick ncfle of an ordinary Rced,fbmc inch and halfe long^fagreenifh yellow colour, 

 curioufly checquercd as if it were wrought with a needle with green and yellow filkintermixt.f 

 I haue c : as vet feenc it beare his tuft in mv garden, hauing read that it is barren , and by proofe 

 haue fecn it fo: yet for all that I beleeue C/«/?*/, who faith he hath feene itbearehis flourein that 



iAJIv 



red 



t 



3 Calamus Aromatictts ^Anii 'quorum. 



The true Aromaticall Reed of the Antients. 



I 



T 



. 





I think it very fitting in this place to acquaint you with a PIant,which by theconjc&ure 

 of the moft learncd,and that not without good rcafon, is judged to be the true Calamus of the An- 

 tients. Cluftis giues vs the hiftorie thereof in his notes vpon Garc/as ab Hortojib. i. ca. 3 2 . in thefe 

 words : W hen as (faith he) this hiftorie was to be the third time printedj very opportunely came 

 to the knowledge of the true CdUmus Aromatictts ; the which the learned Bernard Palttdanus the Fri- 

 fian, returning from Syria and Egypt, freely beftowed vpon mc 5 rogetherwith the fruit Habhel, 

 and many other rare feeds,about the beginning of the yeare 1 57p.Now we hauccaufc^ a figure to 

 be exactly drawnc by the fragments thcreofjfor that it feemes fo exquifitly to accord with Diofco- 



ides his defcripdon. In mine opinion it is rather to be iudged an vmbelliferous plant than a ree^ 

 die 3 toi it hatha ftraight ftalke parted with many knots or ioynts,6therwife fmoothJholJow with- 

 in audinueftcd on the in- fide with a flender filme like as a Reed , and it breaketh into jfhiuefs or 



'$\ititQXsjft Diofcorides hath written. It hathafmellfufficiently ftrong, and thetaftenotvngrate- 

 fuiljbut bictcr,and pertakingoffomcaftri&ion : the leaues^s by remains of them might appeare, 

 fecme by couples at cucry io nt to ingirc the ftalke : the root at the top is fomewhat tuberous,and 

 then ends in fibres. Twenty fine yearcs after Paludanus gaue mc this Calamus^ the learned Anthonit 

 Colin* the Apothccaric (who lately tranflated into French thefe Commentaries, the fourth time 

 fet forth, Anno 15930 fent me from Lyons pieces of the like Reed ^ certifying me withall/That he 

 had made vfe thereof in his com pofition of Treacle. Now thefe pieces 3 though they in forme re- 

 fembled thofe I had from Palttdan us, yet had they a more bitter tafte than his,neither did they per- 

 take of any aftndion } which peiaduenture was tobe attributed to the age of one of the two. Thus 





much C lupus. 



f The Place. 



The true Calamus Ar$maticus growe th in Arabia,and Iikcwife in Syria^efpecially in themoorifh 

 ,rounds betwixt the foot of Libanus | and another little hill 3 not tnc mountaine Antilibanus, as 



bme haue thought, in a fmali vally neerc to a lake whofe plafhes are dry in Summer. Vlin. 12.2-2. 



Baftard or falk- Calamus grovves naturally at the foot of a hill neere Prufa a city of Bithynia,noc 



far from a great lake. It profpers exceeding well in my gardcn,but as yet it beareth neither floure 



nor ftalke. It groweth alfo in Candy as Pltny reporteth ; in Galatia Iikcwife , and in many other 

 places. ' 



€$ The Time. 



■ They I 

 the yeare 



fe their leaues in the beginning of Winter 

 $ In May this yeare r 6\t. I receiued from 



ft! 



I could neuer fee here about London,though it gtoweth with vs in many gardens,and th^t in great 



* 



* 



^J" 7 be Names. 



e want of the true Calamus being fupplied by t^corus as a (uccedweum, was the caufe (as 

 ten* and Lobsl probably conjedure) that of a fubftitute it tooke the prime place vpon it 5 and be- 

 ing as it were made a Vice-Roy, would needs be a King. But the falfcneffe of the title was difco- 



uered 



