110 THE COMPLETE HERBAL 



coloured with freckles, morphew, the white { with the cough, shortness of breath, the 



scurf, or any such deformity of the skin, | yellow jaundice, diseases of the spleen, 



cleanses thoroughly, and takes them away. ; stopping of urine, and helps exceedingly to 



. J break the stone in the kidneys, (in all which 



MAIl).hJN JH.A1K. \ ,. , -f, T ,, T> . i . /v. 



\ diseases the Wall Rue is also very effectual.) 



~Descnpt.~\ OUR common Maiden-Hair I It provokes women's courses, and stays 

 doth, from a number of hard black fibres, j "both bleedings and fluxes of the stomach 

 send forth a great many blackish shining ! and belly, especially when the herb is dry; 

 brittle stalks, hardly a span long, in many j for being green, it loosens the belly, and 

 not half so long, on each side set very thick j voids choler and phlegm from the stomach 

 with small, round, dark green leaves, and j and liver ; it cleanses the lungs, and by 

 spitted on the back.of them like a fern. ; rectifying the blood, causes a good colour 

 Place.] It grows upon old stone walls in * to the whole body. The herb boiled in oil 



and shady places, and is always green. j head from scurf, and from dry and running 



WALL RUE, OR, WHITE MAIDEN-HAIR, f^ 8 ' st ^ s the falling or shedding of the 



j hair, and causes it to grow thick, fair, and 



Descript.] THIS has very fine, pale green j well coloured; for which purpose some 

 stalks, almost as fine as hairs, set confusedly j boil it in wine, putting some Smallage seed 

 with divers pale green leaves on every short j thereto, and afterwards some oil. The 

 foot stalk, somewhat near unto the colour j Wall Rue is as effectual as Maiden-Hair, 

 of garden Rue, and not much differing in ; in all diseases of the head, or falling and 

 form but more diversly cut in on the edges, j recovering of the hair again, and generally 

 and thicker, smooth on the upper part, j for all the aforementioned diseases : And 

 and spotted finely underneath. ; besides, the powder of it taken in drink for 



Placed] It grows in many places of this I forty days together, helps the burstings in 

 land, at Dartford, and the bridge at Ash- j children, 

 ford in Kent, at Beaconsfield in Bucking- j 



hamshire, at Wolly in Huntingtonshire, on j GOLDEN MAIDEN HAIR 



Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, on the j To the former give me leave to add this, 

 church walls at Mayfield in Sussex, in and I shall say no more but only describe 

 Somersetshire, and divers other places of; it to you, and for the virtues refer you to 

 this land ; and is green in Winter as well as j the former, since whatever is said of them, 

 Summer. | may be also said of this. 



Government and virtues.] Both this and \ Dexcript] It has many small, brownish, 

 the former are under the dominion of i red hairs, to make up the form of leaves 

 Mercury, and so is that also which follows i growing about the ground from the root; 

 after, and the virtue of both are so near j and in the middle of them, in Summer, rise 

 alike, that though I have described them j small stalks of the same colour, set with very 

 and their places of growing severally, yet : fine yellowish green hairs on them, and 

 I shall in writing the virtues of them, join : bearing a small gold, yellow head, less 

 them both together as follows. : than a wheat corn, standing in a great 



The decoction of the herb Maiden-Hair \ husk. The root is very small and thready, 

 being drank, helps those that are troubled i Place.] It grows in bogs and moorish 



