A 
| Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. | ,, 
The!Greekes in oldtime emploiedcheirrifhes.in drawing of ropes: as may appeare by the 
very word cxoruos,whichfignifiech with thema rith,andaxope,But atterwardsthey ofe their cor- 
dageof Date tree leaves,and.the thin barks ofthe Linden or Tillet tree: from whence verily, like 
and probable itis, Tharzhe Canhagians borrowed both theirufe of Spartum, and manner alfo “Si Sparsvm 
of dreffingit. “rns ¥ ie ey eae 
She He it, Cfo $P2GS : dy lantd é ana 
T heophraftus writeth, That there isabulbous plantywitharootlike an Onion-head growing +efes fin, 
aboutthe bankes of rivers  betweene the utmoftrind wherof,and thar pare withinjwhich is good Sigpagra 
to be caten,thereis acertaine cotton or woollie fubftance; ‘whereof folke uferomake *woollen * pppitia. ritu 
fockes and fomefuch flight peeces of apparel, But heneither named:the.countrey wherethey <r». 
bemade,nor fetteth downe any other particularities more than this, Tharche faid plant they cal- 
» led Etiophoron[y.Beating wooll:]fo far asiever 1 could find in any copies comming to my hand, 
Andalbeit Tacophrajfiws was otherwife a diligentand curious writer of plants,and fearched deep 
into the nature of fimples,foure hundred and ninetie yeares beforemy time, yethathheemade = 
no mention atall of Spart,a thitig that Ihave obfervedand noted in hitmonce alreadie before 
now. Whereby,evident itis,thatthe manner of drefling and ufing Spart,cameup after his daies: 
_-Antifince we areentredinto a.difcourfe of the wondetsof: Nature, I will follow on ftilland 
continue the fame,wherein this may bee one of the greateft; Thatathing fhould live and grow 
as aplant without root..Looke butto thofe Mufhroomes or Toad-ftooles, which are called:in 
Latin Tubera: outof the ground they grow,compafledabout.on every fide with the earth,withs 
our toot,without any filaments,or fo much as{mall ftrings & beards refembling a root wherup- 
on they {hould eft: the place where they breed doth not{well or beare up oneyote, nay, itfhew- 
ethnochinke or crevaffe at all out of which they fhouldiffue sandto conclude, they{eemenor 
onceto-fticke and cleave to the ground whereupon they ftand.Accertain barke or pill they feem 
to have,whicis encloferh them, {uch as (co fpeake plainely)we cannot fay is earth indeed,norany 
thing elfe buca very brawnie'skin or callofisie of the earth. Thefe breed commonly in drie & fan- 
’ - di¢ grounds, in cough places full of fhrubs andbuthes,andiightly in none elfe. Oftentimes they 
exceed the quantiue of good big Quinces,evenfuchas weigh'a pound. Two forts there bee of 
thein.Some befull of {and and grit,andfuch plague folkes teeth in the eating : othersbecleane, . 
and their meat is pure,without any fuch thingamong,. They differalfoin colour :for there be of 
them that arered ; yee {hall have chofe alfothatfeeme blacke,and yetarewhite within. Bur the 
deft fimply are thofe chatcomeout of Affricke or Barbarie, To determine refolutely whether 
they grow till from day to day,as other plants;or whether this imperfection of the earth(for bet- 
ter know nothowtocall it) commeth at one inftantto thatfull growth that ever it will have; al- 
fo,whether they live or no; I fuppofe itis aditficult and hard matter: furely this is certaine, that 
their puttifaCtion is much after the mannerof wood, and they rot both alike. Many yeares paft 
there are-not,fince Lartivs Liciniws {ometimes lord Pretour and Governour under the Romans 
in the province of Spaine,chaunced(of my knowledge)whileshee was there at Carthage, in bi- 
ting one of thefe Mufhromes,co meet with a filver Romane denier wivhin it,that curned the edge 
againe of fome of his fore-teeth,and fer them awric. WWhereby a man may perceive manifeftly, 
that they beeacertaine excrefcence of the very earth, gathering into a round forme,as all orher 
thiogs lfc that grow naturally of chemfelves,and come neither by fetting nor fowing. 
beg hb Eicher ot tie 
ee OF theexcrefcence named *Mify : and of other {uch like Puffes and Mulbromes.Ofthefe For, Mifon, 
fiat Fuffes and broad Toad -ftooles, called *Pezict.of the plant or hearbe*La- Ba Paria 
forpitinm Of M. agydaris x Of Madder.o if S ope- weed,or the *Lafer-wor, 
Fallers hearbe Radicula., 
Ithin the province of Cyrenaica in A fiticke,there is found the like excrefcence, cal- 
V led Mify,paffing {weet and pleafant,as well in regard of the {mell asthe taft,more pul- *o1, Mifonras 
pous alfo & fuller of carnofitie than the reft : ikewife,another of thatnaturein Thras er2<cords 
cia,called Ceraunium.As touching all the forts of Mufhromes,Toad-ftooles, Puffes,Fusbals or ? 
Fufles,thefe particulars following are obferved.Firft it is known for certaine,That if the Autumn 
_ bemuch difpofed toraine,and withall,the aire bee troubled and difquieted with many thunders; 
during that feafon : there wil be good ftore of fuch Mufhromes,&c.efpecially(I fay)if it chunder 
| . - much, 
2 
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