of Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. 
roms or Puts, they are of all others moft perilous, and have the beft warrant to poifon folke. Iris 
not long fince that in one place there died thereof, all that were of one houfhold; and in ange 
ther, as many as metata feaft and did eat thereof atthe fame bourd. Thus 4uaeus Sevenms cap- 
taine of the Emperour Nero his guard,came by his death, with divers coronels and centurions, 
at onedinner. AndIwoonder much, what pleafure men fhould take thus to venture upon fo 
doubtfull and dangerous a meat. Some have puta difference of thefe mufhroms , according to 
the feverall trees from which they feeme to fpring, & have made choice of thofe that come irom 
the Fig-tree, the * Birch,and fuch asbeare gum. For mine own part,as I have faid before;! hold 
thofe good that the Beech,Oke, and Cyprefle trees do yeeld. But what aflurance can aman bave 
hereof, from their mouths who fitin the marker to fell them ?for all the fort of thofe Pufts and 
Toadftools looke with a leaden hew and wan colour, Howbeit, the nearer that a Mufbrom or 
Toadftoolecommeth to the colour of a fig hanging upon thetree, the lefle prefumption there 
isthatitisvenomous. uss hob 
Touching the remedies forto help thofe who fufpeé they have eaten thefedangerousthuth- 
roms, I have {aid fomewhat alreadie, and willfay more hereafter. Meane while this would be no- 
ted, that as perilousasthey be, yetfome goodneffe there isin them, and divers medicines they 
doeyeeld. Firftand foremoft,G/sucias thinketh and affirmeth, That the mufbroms Boleti be 
good for the ftomacke. As for the {wine mufhroms, named in Latine Suilli, they are hanged up 
todric enfiled upon arufhrunning through them,as we may fee in thofe which come ourof Bi- 
thynia. And thefearefuppofed to be fingular forthofe fluxes and catarthes which take a.courfe 
tothe belly and breed fluxes, called by the Greeks Rheumatifms : thefe cure the excrefcentes of 
the flefh,which rife inthe fundament;for they eat them down,and in tract of time confumethem 
quite: likewife they ate good to take away the pimplesand freckles which appeare upon the skin 
dike to Lentils, yea and the deformities and {potsin womens faces which disfigure theirbeautie, 
Thefe mufhroms be* wafhed as lead, for to enter intocollyries and eye falves: and a liniment 
is made thereof, which beeing applied with water, cleanfeth filthie fores and ulcers, cureth the 
skalls which breake out in the head, and healeth the wounds occafioned bythe biting of dogs. 
And now for that our fine-mouthed and daintiewantons who fer {uch {tore by their tooth, 
take fo great delight to drefle this onely difhwith their owne hands, that they may feed cherupon 
in conceit and;cogitation all the while they bee handling and preparing the fame, furnifbedin 
this their bufinefle wich their fine knivesand rafors of amber, and other veffels of filver plate a- 
bout theim:] formy part alfo am content toframe and accommedat my felfe to their humorous 
fanfie,and will thew unto them in generall, certain obfervations and rules how to order and ufe 
them, that they may be eaten with fecuritie, Marke then thofe mufhroms, which in the feething 
proove hard and tough fuch be all of them hurtful: Lefle daungerous they be, if fome fal:niere 
be put unto them whiles they be 2 boiling over the fire , provided alwaies, that they be fully fod- 
den before theybe taken off. Alfo,a man may be more bold to eatthofe which befodden toge- 
ther with flefhmear, or with the tailes or fteles of peares. The eating alfo of peares, immediatly 
aftet one hazh fed upon mufhroms,doth kill or dull all che malice thar they may have. Alfo vie 
negre is ofa contrarie nature unto them,and doth extinguith or mortifie their venomous qua- 
litie. To conclude,all hefe mufhroms do come up and are engendred in raine.Semblably,gcod 
fhowres doe breed Silphium. : ectahs 
This Silphinm came atthe firft from Cyrenz, (as] have before written) but now adaies,fince 
time that all the Cyrenaick Silphivm is deftroyed and gone (as hath been faid)tbe greareft {tore 
therofis brought out of Syria sbowbeit fo good itis notasthatwhich Parthiayeeldeth,akhough 
it be berter than that which the merchants bring over with them outof Media. This* Silphiuns 
is of great ufe in Phyficke ; for the Jeavesare fodden in white odoriferous wine: of whichdeco- 
tion, there is made a drinke for rocleanfe and purifie the matricejand to expel the dead infants 
therein ; fo it be taken tothe meafure of one Acetabulum, immediatly afterthe woman hath ben 
in the ftouve,and there {wet. The root is fingular for tocleare the windpipes, and to take. away 
+ alltheafperitie & roughnefic in thofe parts: and being applied in forme ofa liniment, it helpeh 
impoftumac iaflammations proceeding from the ranknefie and ebullition of bloud: and yet as 
many astake it. at themouthand eat thereof, find thativishardof digeftion; for it breedech ven- 
tolities and caufeth much belching. Hurtfull alfoir is and contrarie to the ftee paflage of urine. 
A. liniment made thercof,together with wine'and oile,is a moftfamiliarandagrecable medicine 
N for 
* Petula,non 
Ferua. 
* Lavantur ue 
plumbum, some 
read: Linuniue 
ad plumbum :id 
ef, Alinimene 
ismadeck 
themforJeadé 
fhortcneyes; 
&e. vide cap. 
13.16.25 
“or Laferpitit. 
