o The fifceemli Booke of 



and Dates 1 others fticke clofe and faftthereto^ as Olives and Bay berries. And there be againe G 

 thatparticipate the nature of both, as Peaches:for inthofe chat be called Duracina^ the car- 

 nous fubftanccclcavcth hard to the ilone,foasit cannot be plucked from it 5 whereas in the 

 reft, it commeth eafily away . Now ye fhall meet with fome fruits,that neither without in Oiell, 

 nor within-forthin kernell, have any of this woodin^fTe, as a kind of Dates [named Spadones.] 

 And there be againe whofc verie kernell and wood is taken for the fruit it felic , and fo ufed • as 

 akindofAlmonds3wbich(aswefaid) doe grow in /Egypt. Moreover, yce iTiall have a kind of 

 fruits furnifhed with a double fuperfluitieofexcrement to cover thjte without-forth, as C heft- 

 nuts. Almonds, and Walnuts. Some fruits have a fubftance ofa tllRfoId nature, to wit, a bo- 

 die without s then, a ftone or wood under it 3 and within the fame, a kernell or feed,\s Peaches. 

 Somefruits grow thicke and cluftred togither upon the tree, as Grapes, andlikewife Servifes* H 

 which clafpe about the braunches a ndboughes, bearing and weighing them downe as well as 

 grapes.Others for it, hang here and there very thin, as Peaches. And there be againe that lye 

 dole, contained (as it were) within a wombeor matrice, as the kernels of the Pomegranats. 

 Some hang by finall fteles or tailes,asPeares : others in bunchesjas Grapes and Daies.Ye fhall 

 havefomefruitgrowbycluftres,andyethangbya longtailc, asthebcrriesof Ivieand Elder: 

 and others againe cleave faft to the braunch of the tree, as Bay berries : fome both waies, as O- 

 livcs jfor there be of them that have long fteles,and others again ihort tailed. Some fruits there 

 be alfo, that are formed like cups or mazers, as Pomegranats, Medlars, the ^Egyptian Bcane or 

 Lote,and that which groweth about the river Euphrates. 



As for the fingulariiies and commendable parts in fruits, they be of divers forts. Dates arc I 

 moft fct by for thcic ftsfhie fubftance 5 and yet they of Tlicbes above in high -f^gypr, are eftee- 

 mcdonclyfor their outward coat or cruft that they have. Grapes, and the Dares called Caryo- 

 tse, are in great account and eftimation for their juice and liquor : Peares and Apples be moft 

 accepted for their callous fubftance next unto their skin or parings but the honey-apples Mcli- 

 nicla, are liked for their carnofitie and fiefhie pulpe within .-Mulberries content the taft with 

 their griftle or cartilage fubftance : and the hd\ part of the nut, is the verie graine of the kernell, 

 In^gyptj fome fruits arc regarded onely for their utmoft skin, as drie Figs :whenFigges bee 

 greene, the lame is pilled off and caft afide like a (hell 5 but be they once drie,the faid skin is paf- 

 linggood. In all kind of Papyr-reeds, Ferula plants, and the white thiftle Bedegnar , the verie 

 maineftemmeisthefruitfortobeeatcn. Thefhootsalfoand tender fprigsof the Fig-tree,arc K 

 reputed for good meat, and alfo medicmable. To come unto the jlirubs kind, the fruit of Ca- 

 presis eatentogither with the ftalke. As for the Carobe, what is it clfe but a meercwoodie fub- 

 ftance that fblkedoeeat>(andyetthe feed and graines within them, are not altogitherto be 

 delpifed for the propertie that they have)3hhough to fpeakc precifely, it cannot properly 

 bee called either fiefh, wood,or griftle, neither hath ic found any other convenient name to 

 bsctcarmedby.' 



Chap. xXiX, 



^ of the ^jrtle^elevenkmdstherecf, 



NAturehath fliewed her wonderfull power and bountie,cfpeciaIly in the juice of the Myr- 

 tle, confidering that of all fruits, it alone doth yeeld two forts both of oile and wine: 

 likewifethe mixcure or compofition called Myrtidanum, asv\e have faid before. Alfo 

 there was another ufe in old time of Myrtle berries : for, before that Pepper was found and ufed 

 as it is, they fervcd in ftead thereof: from whence tooke name that exquime and daintie difh of 

 nicat, which even at this dale is called Myrtatun% And hereof came that excellent faucc fo 

 highly commended for the brawne of the wild Bore, when for the moft part Myrtle berries 

 are piit thereto to dip the meAi therein, for to give a better taft to that kind ofvenifon. 



Asforthcvcrytreeitfelfc,thefirftthatever was feenewithin the compafTe and precinds of 

 Europe (which beginneth at the mountainesCeraunia) was about Circeij, where ftood the M 

 tombefomtimes oiElpemri and ftill it rctaineth the Greeke name : whereby we may well judge, 

 thatitisa ftraungcr. Howbeit there grew a Myrtle tree in old time, when Rome was firft foun- 

 ded, even in that plot of ground where thccittie now ftandcth. For thusgoeth the hiftoriec 

 That upon a aniQ the Romanes and Sabines being raunged in battaile array, and atthepoinc 



JO 



