THE ENGLISH PHYSICIAN ENLARGED. 285 



Government and Virtues.'] The herb is under Venus. 

 The decoction of the Wood Sage provoketh urine and 

 women's courses. It also provoketh sweat, digesteth 

 humours, and discusseth swellings and nodes in the flesh, 

 and is therefore thought to be good against the French 

 pox. The decoction of the green herb, made with wine, 

 is a safe and sure remedy for those who by falls, bruises, 

 or blows, suspect some vein to be inwardly broken, to 

 disperse and void the congealed blood, and consolidate 

 the veins. The drink used inwardly, and the herb out- 

 wardly, is good for such as are inwardly bursfen, and is 

 found to be a sure remedy for the palsy. The juice of 

 the herb, or the powder thereof dried^ is good for moist 

 ulcers and sores in the legs, and other parts, to dry 

 them and cause them to heal more speedily. It is no less 

 effectual also in green wounds, to be used upon any oc- 

 casion. 



Solomon's Seal. T2 . {h. d. 1.) 



Of these there are two kind-s, the common and the sweet 

 smelling. 



Descript.l The common Solomon'sSeal riseth up with 

 a round stalk half a yard high, bowing or bending down 

 to the ground, set with single leaves one above another, 

 somewhat large, and iike the leaves of the lily-convally, 

 or May-lily, with an eye of bluish upon the green, with 

 some ribs therein, and more yellowish underneath. At 

 the foot of every leaf, almost from the bottom up to the 

 top of the staik, come forth small, long, white and hol- 

 low pendulous flowers, somewhat like the flowers of May- 

 lily, but ending in five long points, for the most part 

 two together, at the end of a long foot-stalk, and some- 

 times but one, and sometimes also two stalks, with flow- 

 ers at the foot of a leaf, which are without any scent at 

 all, and stand on one side of the stalk. After they are 

 past, come in on Iheir places small round berries, great at 

 the first, and blackish green, tending to blueness whea 

 they are ripe, wherein lie small, white, hard, and stony- 

 seeds. The root is of the thickness of one's finger or 

 thumb, white and knotted in some places, a flat round 

 circle representing a Seal, whereof it took the name, ly- 



