14 



THE COMPLETE HERBAL 



white and green scaly heads, very brittle or 

 easy to break while they are young, which 

 afterwards rise up in very long and slender 

 green stalks of the bigness of an ordinary 

 riding wand, at the bottom of most, or 

 bigger, or lesser, as the roots are of growth; 

 on which are set divers branches of green 

 leaves shorter and smaller than fennel to the 

 top ; at the joints whereof come forth small 

 yellowish flowers, which turn into round 

 berries, green at first and of an excellent 

 red colour when they are ripe, shewing like 

 bead or coral, wherein are contained ex- 

 ceeding hard black seeds; the roots are dis- 

 persed from a spongeous head into many 

 long, thick, and round strings, wherein is 

 sucked much nourishment out of the ground, 

 and increaseth plentifully thereby. 



PRICKLY ASPARAGUS, OR SPERAGE. 



DescriptJ] THIS grows usually in gar- 

 dens, and some of it grows wild in Apple- 

 ton meadows in Gloucestershire, where the 

 poor people gather the buds of young 

 shoots, and sell them cheaper that our gar- 

 den Asparagus is sold in London. 



Time.'] For the most part they flower, 

 and bear their berries late in the year, or 

 not at all, although they are housed in 

 Winter. 



Government and virtues.'] They are both 

 under the dominion of Jupiter. The young 

 buds or branches boiled in ordinary broth, 

 make the belly soluble and open, and boiled 

 in white wine, provoke urine, being stopped, 

 and is good against the stranguary or diffi- 

 culty of making water ; it expelleth the 

 gravel and stone out of the kidneys, and 

 helpeth pains in the reins. And boiled in 

 white wine or vinegar, it is prevalent for 

 them that have their arteries loosened, or 

 are troubled with the hip-gout or sciatica. 

 The decoction of the roots boiled in wine 

 and taken, is good to clear the sight, and 

 being held in the mouth easeth the tooth- 

 ache. The garden asparagus nourisheth 



more than the wild, yet hath it the same 

 effects in all the afore-mentioned diseases . 

 The decoction of the root in white wine, 

 and the back and belly bathed therewith, 

 or kneeling or lying down in the same, or 

 sitting therein as a bath, has been found 

 effectual against pains of the reins and 

 bladder, pains of the mother and cholic, 

 and generally against all pains that happen 

 to the lower parts of the body, and no less 

 effectual against stiff and benumbed sinews, 

 or those that are shrunk by cramps and 

 convulsions, and helps the sciatica. 



ASH TREE. 



This is so well known, that time would 

 be misspent in writing a description of it; 

 therefore I shall only insist upon the virtues 

 of it. 



Government and virtues. It is governed 

 by the Sun : and the young tender tops, 

 with the leaves, taken inwardly, and some 

 of them outwardly applied, are singularly 

 good against the bitings of viper, adder, or 

 any other venomous beast; and the water 

 distilled therefrom being taken, a small 

 quantity every morning fasting, is a singular 

 medicine for those that are subject to dropsy, 

 or to abate the greatness of those that are 

 too gross or fat. The decoction of the leaves 

 in white wine helps to break the stone, 

 and expel it, and cures the jaundice. The 

 ashes of the bark of the Ash made into 

 lye, and those heads bathed therewith 

 which are leprous, scabby, or scald, they 

 are thereby cured. The kernels within the 

 husks, commonly called Ashen Keys, pre- 

 vail against stitches and pains in the sides, 

 proceeding of wind, and voideth away the 

 stone by provoking urine. 



I can justly except against none of all 

 this, save only the first, viz. That Ash-tree 

 tops and leaves are good against the bitings 

 of serpents and vipers. I suppose this had its 

 rise from Gerrard or Pliny, both which hold 

 that there is such an antipathy between an 



