252 THE ENGLIf?H PHYSICIAN ENLARGED. 



Place.'\ It prowetli as woll iijion old rotten stump?, or 

 triiitks of tixTS, as oak, beccli, Jiaz^-I, uillow, or any 

 o lier, as in the woods under flieni, and upon old mud 

 •\valli;, as also in mossy, stony, and gravelly places near 

 iinio HOod. Tliat wliieli groweth upon oak is accounted 

 the best ; but the quantily thereof is scarce sullicient lor 

 the common nsc. 



Time.'} It being always green, may be gathered for use 

 at any time. 



Gover7imcnt and Virtues.^ Polypodium of the Oak, 

 that wliich grows npon the earth is best 'tis an iiol) of 

 Saturn, to purge melancholy ; if the humour be other- 

 wise, chuse } our I'oly podium accordingly. Meuse saith, 

 t/iat it drieth up tliiii humours, digestefh thick and tough 

 and pnrgeth burnt rholer, and especially tough and thick 

 phltcm, and thin phlegm also, even from the joints, and 

 therefore good for tliosc that are troubled w ith melancholy, 

 or quarlan agues, especially if it be taken in whey, or 

 honied water, or in barley water, or the broth of a cliicken 

 with epithymum, or wiih beets and mallows. It is good 

 tor the hardness of the spleen, and lor prickings or stitches 

 in the sides, as also for the cholic ; some use to put to it 

 some fennel seeds, or annisc seeds, or ginger, to corredl 

 that loathing it bringeth to the stomarli, which is more 

 than needeth, it being a safe and getille medicine, fit for 

 all persons, which daily experience confirmeth; and au 

 ounce of it may be given at a time in a decoftion, if there 

 be notsena, or some other strong purgcrwith it. A dram 

 or two of the powder of the dried roots taken fasting in a 

 *;up of honied water, worketh gently, and for the pur- 

 poses aforesaid. The distilled water both of roots and 

 lea\e«, is nuich more commended for the quartan ague, 

 to be taken for many days together, as also against 

 melancholy, orfearful and troublesome skips or dreams; 

 and with some sugar. candy dissolved therein, is good 

 against (he cough, shortness of breath, a\ heczings, and 

 those distillations of thin rheum upon the lungs, which 

 cause phthisics and oftentimes consumptions. The fresh 

 roots beaten small, or the powder of the dried roots 

 mixed with honey, and applied to the member that is out 

 of joint, doth much help it; and applied to the nose, 

 cureth the disease called Poly pus, which is a piece of licsb 



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