76 



THE COMPLETE HERBAL 



coction of the leaves is excellently good to 

 wash sore heads with : and there is scarcely 

 a better remedy for the leprosy than it is. 

 It clears the face also of morphew, and the 

 body of white scurf, scabs, and running 

 sores. If it be dropped into old fretting 

 ulcers, it cleanses out the moisture, and 

 brings up the flesh ; because you cannot 

 have the leaves green all the year, you may 

 make an ointment of them whilst you can. 

 A decoction of the leaves being drank in- 

 wardly, or rather a syrup made of them, 

 dissolves congealed blood caused by bruises 

 or falls, and helps the bloody flux. The 

 ashes of the wood made into an ointment 

 with hog's grease, helps kibes and chilblains. 

 The juice being put into an hollow tooth, 

 eases pain : as also pain and noise in the 

 ears, being dropped into them ; and deaf- 

 ness. An ointment made of the juice and 

 hog's grease, is an excellent remedy for the 

 bitten of mad dogs, or other venomous 

 beasts as most are. A syrup made of the 

 leaves, or green fruit, is excellently good for 

 coughs, hoarseness, or shortness of breath, 

 and all diseases of the breast and lungs ; it 

 is also extremely good for the dropsy and 

 falling sickness. They say that the Fig 

 Tree, as well as the Bay Tree, is never 

 hurt by lightning ; as also, if you tie a bull, 

 be he ever so mad, to a Fig Tree, he will 

 quickly become tame and gentle. As for 

 such figs as come from beyond sea, I 

 have little to say, because I write not of 

 exoticks. 



THE YELLOW WATER-FLAG, OR FLOWER- 

 DE-LUCE. 



Descript.~\ THIS grows like the Flower- 

 de-luce, but it has much longer and nar- 

 rower sad green leaves, joined together in 

 that fashion ; the stalk also growing often- 

 times as high, bearing small yellow flowers 

 shaped like the Flower-de-luce, with three 

 falling leaves, and other three arched that 



cover their bottoms ; but instead of the 

 three upright leaves, as the Flower-de luce 

 has, this has only three short pieces stand- 

 ing in their places, after which succeed 

 thick and long three square heads, contain- 

 ing in each part somewhat big and flat 

 seed, like those of theFlower-de-luce. The 

 root is long and slender, of a pale brownish 

 colour on the outside, and of a horseflesh 

 colour on the inside, with many hard fibres 

 thereat, and very harsh in taste. 



Placed] It usually grows in watery 

 ditches, ponds, lakes, and moor sides, which 

 are always overflowed with water. 



Time."] It flowers in July, and the seed 

 is ripe in August. 



Government and virtues.] It is under the 

 dominion of the Moon. The root of this 

 Water-flag is very astringent, cooling, and 

 drying ; and thereby helps all lasks and 

 fluxes, whether of blood or humours, as 

 bleeding at the mouth, nose, or other parts, 

 bloody flux, and the immoderate flux of 

 women's courses. The distilled water of 

 the whole herb, flowers and roots, is a 

 sovereign good remedy for watering eyes, 

 both to be dropped into them, and to have 

 cloths or sponges wetted therein, and ap- 

 plied to the forehead : It also helps the 

 spots and blemishes that happen in and 

 about the eyes, or in any other parts : The 

 said water fomented on swellings and hot 

 inflammations of women's breasts, upon 

 cancers also, and those spreading ulcers 

 called Noli me tangere, do much good : It 

 helps also foul ulcers in the privities of man 

 or woman ; but an ointment made of the 

 flowers is better for those external appli- 

 cations. 



FLAX-WEED, OR TOAD-FLAX. 



DescriptJ] OUR common Flax- weed has 

 divers stalks full fraught with long and 

 narrow ash-coloured leaves, and from. the 

 middle of them almost upward, stored with 



