of Plintes Naturall Hiftorie. : 21 
A held andhowhighly they efteemed the hearbe Polion above the reft, Ihave fhewed alreadie. 
Certes, Orpheus and Aefiodus both have highly commended untous perfumes and {uflumigati- 
ons.And Homer likewife writcth expreflely of certaine hearbs by name,of fingular vertue,which 
I will pat downe in their due places. Alter him came ?’y#hagoras,a famous Philofopher,who was 
the firft chat compofed abookejand made a Treatife purpofely of fundrie hearbes,with their di- 
verseffe@ts ; afcribing wholly the invention and originall of them to the immortal] gods, and 
namely,to Apollo & A8(culapius, Democritus compiled a volume of the fame argument.But both 
he and Py/b2zoras+ad travelled before all over Perfis, Arabia, Athyopia, and Egypt,and there 
conferred with the Sages and learned Philofophers of that countrey,called Magi. In fumme, fo 
farre were men in old timeravifhed with the admiration of hearbes and their vertues, that they 
B bathednortoavoucheven incredible things of them, Xanthas an auncient Chronicler,writeth 
in the firftbooke of his Hiftories, of a Dragon, which finding one of her little ferpents killed, 
raifed itto life againe by a certaine hearbe,which hee nameth Balis: and with the faid hearbe, a 
man alfo named Téy/0, whom the dragon had flaine, was revived and reftored to health againe: 
Alfo King J#6a doth report, That there was a man in Atabia,who being once dead, became alive 
» againe by the vertue of acertaineheatbe, Democritus faid, and T heophraffus gave credit to his 
words, That there isan hearbe,with which a kind of foule(wherof 1 have made mention before) 
is able to make the wedge or {topple to flic out of the hole of her neaft, intowhich the fheepe- 
heards had driven it fait,in cafe fhe bring thefame hearb and but once touch the forefaid wedge 
therewith. Thefe be {trange reports and incredible, howbeit they draw men into a wonderfull opi- 
C._ nionofthe thing,and fill their headswith a deepe conceit, forcing them to confefle, I hat there 
is fone great matter in hearbs, and much true indeed which is reported fo wonderfully oi them: 
And from hence itis,that moft are of this opinion andhold certainly, That there 1s nothing im- 
poffible,but may be performed by the power of hearbs,if a man couldteach unto their vertues: 
Mary few there bee who have attained to that felicitie: and the operation of moft fimples is un- 
~ knowne.in the number of thefe, Her ophilus the renowmed Phyfician may be reckoned :who was 
of this mind, and gave it out in his ordinariefpeech, Thatfome hearbs there were, which were 
effectual] and did much good, if a man or woman chaunced but totread upon them under their 
- feet. And verely,this hath beene knowne and found true by experience, that fome dileafes would 
be more exafperat and angrie, yea,and wounds grow tofretting and inflammation, if folke went - 
D_butovercertaine hearbes in the way as they pafled on foot.Loe what the Phyfickin old time was! 
and howthe fame lay wholly couched in the Greeke language, and not elfewhere to bee found, 
But what might be the reafon that there were no more fimples knowne? Surely it proceeds from 
this, That for the inoft part they bee rufticall peafants, and altogether unlettered, wio have the 
experience and triall of hearbs, as thofe who alone live and converfe among them where they 
grow. Another thing there is,Men are careleffe and negligent,and love notto take any paines in 
feeking for them.A gaine,every place fwarmeth fo with Leechesand Phyficians,andmen are fo 
readie torun unto them for to receive fome compound medicine at their hands, that little orn 
regard there is nade of Hearbs and good Simples.Furthermore,many of them which have been 
found out and knowne,haveno name atall : as for example, that hearbe which I {pake of inmy 
E Treatifeconceraingthecure and remedies of corhe growing upon thelands: and whichwee al! 
know, if it bee enterred or buried in the foure corners of the field, will skare away all the foules of 
the aire,that they fhali not fettle upon the corne,nor once come into the ground, Butthe moft 
difhoneft and ihamefull caufe why fo few fimples in comparifon be knowne,is the naughtie na- 
ture & peevifh d:fpofition of thofe perfons whowill not teach others their skill,as if chemfelves 
° fhould loofe for ever that which they imparted unto their neighbour. Over and befides, there ts 
no certaine way or meanes to direét us to the invention and knowledge of hearbes anidthetr ver- 
tues : for if we looke unto thefe hearbes which are found alreadie,we are for {ome ofthem behol- 
“  dentomeere chaunceand fortune :and for others (to fay a truth) to the imediat revelation from 
God.For proofe hereof,mark but this one inftance which I will relate unto you.For many year + 
F untill nowof late daies,the biting of a mad dog was counted incurable sand looke who were fo 
bitten, they jell intoa certaine*dread and feare of water: neither couldthcy abide to drinke,or t0 *yp,.90@/2. 
hearetalke thereof, and then were they thought to be in a defperatcafe:It fortuned of late,that a P 
fouldionr,one of the guard about the *Pretorium was bitten with amaddog,and his mother {aw *orthe prince, 
a vifion inher fleepe, giving(as it were)ditection unto her for to fend the root unto her fonne for 
' to 
