The fifteenth fioofee of 



ftrong fmell. Their outward huske ferveth to die wooll, and the little nuts when they come new G 

 forihjare good to give the haire of the head a reddifli or yellow colour : the experiment thdreof 

 was firft found, by Saining folkes hands as they hahdledthem. The eider that nuts be and longer 



keptjthc mote olcous andfatter they are. The oHely differenc&oftherundriekindsjConfifteth irt 

 the fhell, for that of fome it is tender and brittle, in others hard; in one fort it is tliin, in another 

 thicke rlaftly, fome havi fiiiooth and plaine fhels, others againe be as full of holes and cranies; ■ 



Walnuts be the fruit alone that Nature hath cnclofed with a cover parted in twaine, andfois 

 joined andfet togitherjfor the fhellis divided andcleft juft in themids,and cch halfe refembleth 

 a little boat*Thekerneil within is diftinguiihed into foureparts^ and betweenc everyone there 

 tunncth a membrane or skin of awoodiefubftance. As for other nuts, their meat is folide and 

 compad, as we may fee in Filberds and Hazelsjwhich alfo arc,a feind of n utjand were called here- 

 toforc Abcllinse, of their native place, from whence came good ones at firft . They came out ftf 

 PontusintoNatolia and Greece, and therefore they bee called Ponticke nuts , Thefe Filberds 

 likewifcarc covered with a foft bearded huske, andaswell thcfliale as the kerriell is round and 

 foIide,all of one entire pcece.Thefc nuts alfo Jtrc parched for to be c^ten : and within their belly 

 they have in themids a little chitoripur^as if it were a navill. . ; 



As for Almonds, they are dfihe nature of nuts, and are reckoned in a third ranked An upper 

 huske they have like as Walnuts, but it is thin: like as alfo a fecond coverture of a fhcll . The 

 kernell differeth (bmewhat ; for broader it is and flatter, and their skin more hard, more fharpc, 

 and hotcr in tal^ than that of other nuts Now whctlcr the Almond tree were in Italic during the 

 life of CaUj there is fome doubt and quelhon made ibecaufe hcnameth the Greeke nuts, which 

 fome doc hold for akind of Walnut. Mention makcth he befides of the Hazle nuts or Filberds, ^ 

 as well the * Galb^e, as the Preneftinc, commcndedby him above all othersjwhich he faith,arc 

 put up in pots and kept frefli and greene within the cirth . Nowadaies the Thafian and Albeu- 

 fiannutsbcin great account rand two forts befides the Tarentinc; whereof the one hatha 

 tender and brittle fhcll, the other as hard: and thofc irethebiggeft of all other, and nothing 

 round. He fpeaketh alfo of the foft-llialed Filberds .M<UulciE3 the kernels whereof doe fwell and 

 caufe their fliells to cleave infunder- 



But to returne againe to our Walnuts: fome to homurthem, interpret their names luglan- 

 desjas a man would fay, the nuts of lupiter. It is notlon|^ fincc I heard a knight of Romc(a gcn- 

 tlemanof high calling and who had been Confull) proi;frcandfay,That he had certaine Wal- 

 nut trees that bare twice a yeare . As for Fifticks, we hav^oken alreadic of them.To conclude, K 

 thefe kind of nuts the above-named r/Vf///«4 brought firf^nto Italy at the fame time, namely, a 

 litde before the death of Tjberm the Emperour : and uthall, f Pompeim a knight of 

 Rome, who fervid in the warres togither with him ^ carriedhem over into Spaine, 



Chap, XXiii. 

 of Chejlmt sleight kink 



^"v. ~ ^ v^":.^-->of 



fharpe pricks like the skin of anVrehin 5 whereas the Acorneari other maftis but halfe cove- 

 ted, and that defence in them, is begun only. And certes, a wonc^fuH matter it is,that we fet fo 

 little f^ore by this fruit, which Nature is fo carefull to hide and dd\|id.Vnder one of thefe husks 

 yc fhall find fometime three Cheflnuts,and thofe having certain t^^gh pills or fhells very plia- 

 ble. But the skin or filmc within, and which is next to the bodie or ibftanec of the fruit,unlcfls 

 it bee pilled offand taken away, marreth thctaft of it, like as it dotlalfo in other nut-kernels, 

 Cheflnuts,if they be roftedjare better andmorcpleafantmeat than ^herwifc. They ufc alfo to 

 grind them to meale, and thcrof is made akind of bread that poorc omen for hunger will ear. 

 The firft Cheftnuts were knowne to grow about Sardisjand from then\ were brought,& therjs- M 

 fore the Greekes call them Sardinian nuts : but afterwards they came t^e named lik jStcJa^, 

 p. //i^i^fr^ nuts] when as men began to graffc them 5 for thereby they o^ame more excellent: 

 and at this day there be many forts of them. The Tai*entine be gcntle,ai-inot hard of digeflion, 

 and in forme Hat and plainc.Thac which they callBalanitis,is rounder^ it \ foone bepilled and 



ckanfed. 



