16 oulpxpkb's oomplxtb hxbbal. 



with leavea, which are lesser and narrower than the for- 

 mer ; they are tender, and slender, the flowers are hollow, 

 small, and of a reddish colour. 



Place, — It grows in Kent, near Rochester, and in many 

 places in the west country, both in Devonshire and 

 ComwalL 



Time, — They flower in July and beginning of August^ 

 and the seed is ripe soon after, but the root is in its prime, 

 as carrots and parsnips are, before the herb runs up to 

 stalk. 



Oovemment and Virtites. — It is an herb under the do« 

 minion of Venus, and indeed one of her darlings, though 

 somewhat hard to come by. It helps old ulcers, hot in- 

 flammations, burnings by common fire and St. Anthony's 

 fire, by antipathy to Mars ; for these uses your best way 

 is to make it into an ointment ; also if you make a vinegar 

 of it, as you make vinegar of rosei, it helps the murphy 

 and leprosy ; if you apply the herb to the privities, it 

 draws forth the dead cnild. It helps the yellow jaundice, 

 spleen, and gravel in the kidneys. Dioscorides saith, it 

 helps such as are bitten by venomous beasts, whether it 

 be taken inwardly or applied to the wound ; nay, he saitb 

 further, if any that hath newly ea^n it do but spit into 

 the mouth of a serpent, the serpent instantly dies. It 

 stays the flux of the belly, kills worms, helps the fits of 

 the mother. Its decoction made in wine, and drank, 

 strengthens the back, and easeth the pains thereof. It 

 helps bruises and falls, and is as gallant a remedy to drive 

 out the small pox and measles as anv is : an ointment 

 made of it is excellent for green wouniu, pricks or thrusts, 



ADDER'S TONGVK—iOphiogloetum Vulgatum.) 



Deacrip, — This herb hath but one leaf, which grows with 

 the stalk a finger's length above the ground, oeing flut 

 and of a fresh green colour ; broad like water plantain, but 

 less, without any rib in it ; from the bottom of which 

 leaf on the inside riseth up, ordinarily, one, sometimes 

 two or three slender stalks, the upper part whereof i^ 

 somewhat bigger, and dented with small dents of a yel- 

 lowish green colour, like the tongue of an adder serpent^ 

 (only this is as useful as they are formidable). The roou 

 continue all the year. 



Place, — It grows in moist meadows, and in such Hm 



