166 SHAKESPEARE’S [ HYSSOP. 
claw, they which are anointed therewith, it being first of 
all ‘decocted in the blood of a weasel, do fall into the 
hatred of all men. And if the nails of any beast be found 
in his maw after he is slain, it signifieth the death of some 
of his hunters. The dung or filth of an Hyzna, being 
mingled with certain other medicines is very excellent to 
cure and heal the bites and stingings of crocodiles, and 
other venomous serpents, 
Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 339-47. 
Hyssop. 
OTHELLO, i. 3, 325. 
In’ summer when Hyssop beareth flowers, ye must gather 
them, and dry them in a clean place and dark, that it be 
not smoky, and they have virtue to dissolve, to temper, 
to consume, to waste and to cleanse the lungs. 
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 85. 
Hyssop, stamped with honey, salt and cummin, and so 
reduced into a plaster, is thought to be a proper remedy 
for the sting of serpents. Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxv. ch. 11. 
Ir a man perceive that he hath either inwardly taken 
for a medicine, or applied outwardly, a radish root which 
is over strong, he must presently have Hyssop given him ; 
for this antipathy and natural contrariety there is between 
these two herbs, that the one correcteth the other. 
Ibid., bk. xx. ch. 4. 
You are, Sir, 
Just like the Indian Hyssop, prais’d of strangers 
For the sweet scent, but hated of the inhabitants 
For the injurious quality. 
Robert Davenport, “City Night-cap,” Act. i, (1624). 
Incense or Frankincense. 
Kine Lear, v. 3, 21. 
[FRANKINCENSE | is the name of a tree, and of the gum 
that oozeth and cometh out thereof. It is a tree of Arabia, 
and is great with many boughs, and with the most lightest 
