THE ENGLISH PHYSICIAN ENLARGED. 335 



cork in. The herb is so drying and binding that it is not 

 fit to be given inwardly. An ointment made thereof 

 stanchetii bleeding. A plaister made thereof and applied 

 to the region of the spleen which lies on the left side, takes 

 away the hardness and pains thereof. The ointment 

 is excellent good in such ulcers as abound with mois- 

 ture, and takes away the corroding and fretting hu- 

 mours. It cools inflammations, quencheth St. Anthony's 

 fire, and stayeth defluction of the blood to any part of the 

 body. 



Woodbine, orHoncy-Sucklcs. ^. in 25. (h. d. 1.) 



It is a plant so common, that every one that hafh eyes 

 knows it, and he that hath uone, cannot read a descrip- 

 tion, if I should write it. 



It.nc.'] They flower in June, and the fruit is ripe ia 

 August. 



Government and Virtues.'] Doctor Tradition, that grand 

 introducer of errors, that hater of truth, that lover of 

 fully, and that mortal foe to Dr. Reason, hath taught 

 the common ])eople to use the leaves or flowers of this 

 plant in mouth water, and by long continuance of time, 

 hath so grounded it in the brains of the vulgar, that 

 you cannot beat it out witli a beetle. All mouth wa- 

 ters ought to be cooling and drying, but iioney-Suckles 

 are cleansing, consuming and digesting, and therefore 

 no way fit for inflammations ; thus Dr. Reason. Again, 

 if you please, we will leave Dr. Reason awhile, and 

 come to Dr. Experience, a learned gentleman, and his 

 brother: Take a leaf and chew it in your mouth, and 

 you will quickly And it likelier to cause a sore mouth 

 and throat than cure it. If it be not good for this, What 

 is it good for? It is good for something, for God and 

 nature made nothing in vain. It is an herb of Mercury, 

 and appropriated to the lungs ; the celestial Crab claims 

 dominion over it ; neither is it a foe to the Lion ; if the 

 lungs be aiilicted by Jupiter, this is your cure. It is 

 fitting a conserve made of the flowers of it were kept ia 

 every gentlewoman's house : I know no better cure for 

 an asthma than this ; besides, it takes away the evil of 

 the spleen, provokes urine, procures speedy delivery of 

 women in travail, helps cramps, convulsions, and pal- 

 sies, and whatsoever griefs come of cold or stopping; 



