A 
of Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. 97 
vers, which we Cal! Perfonata. A wonderfull thing itis to fee,what {tore they in Egypt fetby the 
commodities that their river Nilus doth affourd’: for of the leaves of this Colocafia(plaited and 
enfolded naturally one within another) theymake them cups.of divers formes and fathions, out 
of which they take no final] pleafure to drinke, And now adaies this hearbis: planted here in Ita- 
lie. Nextto Colocafia,the Zgyptians make moft account of that Cichorie,which Inamed be- 
fore,the wild and wandring Endive ;which'heatbe commeth up in that countrey after the rifing 
of the Brood-hen ftar:it flougeth notall at once, bur bloweth by braunches one after another: 
a fupple and pliable root it hath, and therefore the Agyptians ule it inftead of cordstu bind 
' withall. As for Anthalium,irgroweth not in Nilus, burnottarfrom the riversit beareth a-trnit 
in-bignefle and roundneffe refembling aMedlar; having neither kernel] within, nor huske with- 
out:and the leafe of this plantislike to Cyperus, or Englifh Galangale. This:hearbe they fe 7 
toeat, being firft * drefled and prepared in thekitchin. They feed likewifeupon Octum, aplant +5. rheophna! 
thathath few leaves andthofe veryfinall, howbeit a great root. Touching Aracidnaand; Ara, fix (sith, fod, 
€0s} they have many roots verely braunching and {preading: from them, but neither Jeafe nor oie ee 
herbage,ne yerany thing els appearing aboveigtound,And thus. much of the chiefeftand grea- ee 
teft hearbs of Aigypt, ferved up to the tablez‘Thereft are commomor vulgar, and everie mans 
meat,by name,Condrylla, Hypocliceris, Caucalis, Authrifcum,Scandix, (called by fonie Erar 
gopogon, which beareth leaveslike to Saifron;) Parthenium, Strychnum,Corchorus,and At * Thought ro 
pace, which fheweth his head about the Equinox : alfo Acinos, and that which they name be Pe éelion 
Epipetron,and irnever beareth floure ;whereas Aphace contrariwife never giveth over flouring, 
but when one foureis fadedand thed, another commeth up, and this courfelirboldeth all wia- 
tet long ; throughout the Spring alfo, even tothe heat of Summer. Many other hearbstkey ; 
have ot bafe reckoning : butaboveall, they make greateft accountof * Cuicus(anhearbe, nox | Cérshanen ct 
knowne in Italy) not for any good meat they find in it, bur forthe oylediawne: out of the {eed hicoraietiee 
thereof, Of this hearbe, there be two principall kinds,to wit,the Wild,and the Tame: the VVild fppofeth ito 
is fabdivided intotwo fpeciall forts, the one of amore mild /and ‘gentle naturethan the other, pee ) 
although the fialks of both bealike,thatis to fay, ftiffeand freight upright:and therefore wo meth ofum 
men ia old time ufed the ftems thereoffor rocks. and * diftaffs ;wherupon {ome do callthe hearb cicinwm. 
; ¢ : 3 3 S 2 HE f Ccdal« 
Atractylis:the feed is white,big,andbimer. The fecond is more rough and hairie, crecping long itioaeh fad 
onthe ground, with ftalks more mufculons and flethie,and carrieth a {mall feed. Thishearb may reed fafs, 
be raunged among thofethatbe prickly: for fo muift herbs be devided into fuch general! head; */Pnles- 
namely, that fome be full of pricks, others cleane without and{mooth. As for thofe which ftand 
upon pricks, they be fubdivided intomany members and braunches, Andto begin with akind 
of Sperage, called alfo Scorpio, ithath no leafe atall, but in Read thereof, pricks and nothing 
els, Some thiere be leafed indeed but thofe are beferwith pricks, asthe Thy{tle,Sea-holly,* Lit * Ghovbizen, 
"-quitice,and Nettle : for the leaves of all thefe heatbs be prickie and ftinging withall. Ochers,be- Dut this 2- 
: , “ithe reeth not 
fides their leaves, have prickles alfo, as the * bramble, and Reft-harrowor Whin. Some be pro- a hone 
vided of pricks both in leafe and ftalke, as Phicos, whichothers have called Stazbe. As for Hip= quiriee. 
pophacet,ithach a pricke orthorne in every joynt: butthe bramble Tribulus aforefaid, hath this Bee 8 
propertic by itfelfe, That the fruit alfo which itbeareth, isfet with pricks, Of all thefe forts, the 
Nettle is beft knowne, which carrieth certaine goblets and concavities, and the fame yeelding 
a purple kind of downein the floure; and itrifechup fometimes above two cubits high. Many 
kinds there bee of thefe Nettles; namely, the wild Nettle, which {ome would have to be the fe- 
male and this is more mild than the reft. In this wildkind isto bereckonedalfo,that which they 
call Cania, and is ofthe twaine more egre, for the verie ftalkewill {ting, and the leaves be pur- 
fied as it were and jagged. But that Nettle which cartietha ftinking favor with it, called is Her- 
culanea. All the fort of them are full of feed, andthe fame blacke. A ftraunge qualitie in thefe 
Nettles, that the verie hairie down of them (having no evident pricks fticking out) fhould be fo 
fhrewd asitis, tharifone touch it never folittle , prefently there followeth a fmarting kind of 
itch,and anon the skin rifeth up in pimples and blifters, as if it had been skalt or burnt :but well 
knowne is the remedie of thisimart,namely,to annointthe place with oile. Howbeit this biting 
propertie chat it hath,commeth notto it at the beginning when itis new come up, but it is the 
beat of the Sun that fortifieth thismordacitie. And verely in the Spring when the Netileis yong 
and peepeth firft out of the ground,they ule to cat the cropsthereof for a pleafantkind of meat, 
and many be perfuaded befidesthat it is medicinable, and therefore precifely &religioufly feed 
thereupon, 
