AND ENGLISH PHYSICIAN ENLARGED. 



3 



ALKANET. 



BESIDES the common name, it is called 

 Orchanet, and Spanish Bugloss, and by 

 apothecaries, Enchusa. 



Descript.] Of the many sorts of this herb, 

 there is but one known to grow commonly 

 in this nation ; of which one take this de- 

 scription : It hath a great and thick root, of 

 a reddish colour, long, narrow, hairy leaves, 

 green like the leaves of Bugloss, which lie 

 very thick upon the ground ; the stalks rise 

 up compassed round about, thick with 

 leaves, which are less and narrower than 

 the former; they are tender, and slender, 

 the flowers are hollow, small, and of a red- 

 dish colour. 



Placed] It grows in Kent near Rochester, 

 and in many places in the West Country, 

 both in Devonshire and Cornwall. 



TimeJ] They flower in July and the be- 

 ginning 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. 



Government and virtues.'] It is an herb un- 

 der the dominion of Venus, and indeed one 

 of her darlings, though somewhat hard to 

 come by. It helps old ulcers, hot inflam- 

 mations, 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 roses, it helps 

 the morphew and leprosy ; if you apply the 

 herb to the privities, it draws forth the dead 

 child. It helps the yellow jaundice, spleen, 

 and gravel in the kidneys. Dioscorides 

 saith it helps such as are bitten by a veno- 

 mous beast, whether it be taken inwardly, 

 or applied to the wound; nay, he saith fur- 

 ther, if any one that hath newly eaten 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 eases the 

 pains thereof: It helps bruises and falls, 

 and is as gallant a remedy to drive out the 

 small pox and measles as any is ; an oint- 

 ment made of it, is excellent for green 

 wounds, pricks or thrusts. 



ADDER'S TONGUE OR SERPENT'S TONGUE. 



DescriptJ] THIS herb has but one leaf, 

 which grows with the stalk a finger's length 

 above the ground, being flat 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, rises 

 up (ordinarily) one, sometimes two or 

 three slender stalks, the upper half whereof 

 is somewhat bigger, and dented with small 

 dents of a yellowish green colour, like the 

 tongue of an adder serpent (only this is as 

 useful as they are formidable). The roots 

 continue all the year. 



Place.~\ It grows in moist meadows, and 

 such like places. 



Time.'] It is to be found in May or April, 

 for it quickly perishes with a little heat. 



Government and virtues.^ It is an herb 

 under the dominion of the Moon and Caii- 

 cer, and therefore if the weakness of the 

 retentive faculty be caused by an evil in- 

 fluence of Saturn in any part of the body 

 governed by the Moon, or under the domi- 

 nion of Cancer, this herb cures it by sym- 

 pathy : Itcures these diseases after specified, 

 in any part of the body under the influence 

 of Saturn, by antipathy. 



It is temperate in respect of heat, but 

 dry in the second degree. The juice of the 

 leaves, drank with the distilled water of 

 Horse-tail, is a singular remedy for all man- 

 ner of wounds in the breast, bowels, or 

 other parts of the body, and is given with 

 good success to those that are troubled 

 with casting, vomiting, or bleeding at the 

 mouth or nose, or otherwise downwards. 

 The said juice given in the distilled water 

 of Oaken-buds, is very good for women who 



