49^ Tliefixteench Bookeof 



frefli againcfroni the root. Well then^the Olive trees hold out life and live very long : for afcer q 

 the common opinion and agreement of all writers, they continue ordinarily 200 years. There 

 is a little hill named Came within the territorie of Tufculum, not far from Rome cide fide^ cbd 

 and beautified with a goodly grove and tuft of Beech trees, (b even and round in the head , as if 

 they were curioufly kept, cut, and fhorne artificially with garden ilieares ; which grove was con- 

 fccrated in old time to Diana, by the common confent of all Latium jwhich did their devotions 

 there. In it there was one efpeciall fairc tree above the reftjwhich Pajfienm man in our 



daiesof great authoritie (as having been twice Confullinhis time, and reputed an excellent 

 Oratour^whoalfo afterward mounted to higher place of reputation by marrying ^^gr/ppma 

 theEmprcfle,by which match he bccamcfather in law to Nero the Emperour) cait a fancie and 

 cxtraordinatie liking unto :infbmuch as he was wont not onely to take his repofe and lie under n 

 it,to fprinkle and caft wine plentifully upon it, but alfo to clip,embracejand kifle it otherwhiles. 

 Nearcadjoyning as a neighbour to the laid grove, there is an Holme^ which of it felfe alone is 

 much rcnowmed:itbcarethincompaflc about the butt thereof 35 foot, and fendeth out ten 

 monffrousbig armes from the bodiCj which may goe well enough for as many trees, and thofe 

 every one fo great as it is wondertulL Surely this one tree alone (a man would fay) rcfembled a 

 whole woood. 



Moreover, there is nothing more ccrtaine than this, that Ivie killcth trees . The like is to be 

 faid (in fome fort) of the Miflelto, although it is generally thought, that the harme thereby is 

 not (o (bon feen. And this you muft thinke, that this Miflelto is not to be taken for the fruit of a 

 tree, andtherefore as great a wonder it is in nature, as any other : for fome things there be , that | 

 not willing to grow out of the earth,engender in trees jand having no proper place of their own 

 habitation to feat themfelves in^fojourne as it were and make their abode with others, and of this 

 * Some take nature is the Miflelto. Alfo^in Syria there is a certainc hearbe named^Cady tas,which windcth 

 ^^halrlur^'*' ^^^"tj "Octrees onely, but alfo very bufhes and thornes : likewifcj all about the pleafantvale 

 1 Dodct.' Tempc in ThefTalie, you fhall have a kind of Feme called Polypodie, to doe the fame: alfojthe 

 Pulfe named Dolychos5which is Fafels or Kidney beancsj and the wild running-laced Thyme, 

 Serpyllum.Semblablyjthat which the Greeks call Pliaunos: the very failie,that altera man hath 

 cut and proined the wild Olive, engendreth thereupon. The like is to be faid of Hippophefion, 

 which groweth upon the Fullers thorncor thyftle : it bcareth certaine httle heads and hollow 

 knobs with nothing in them/niall leaves,and a white root :the juice whereof is fingular good to ^ 

 cvacuateand purge thebodie,forthcdiver{ion of ill humorsjinthefallingficknefle. But to rc-^ 

 turne againc to MifIelto,there bee three kinds thereof. For that which groweth on the Firre and 

 Larch tree,is called^telis in Euboea,and Hyphear in Arcadia. And as for thatjwhich properly 

 is MifTeko indeed, moft men are ofopinion, that it groweth faftto the common Oke, the wild 

 Robur,the Holme,wildPlumiree,and the Tcrebinth,& not lightly upon any other trees. How- 

 beit,in greateft plentie it is feene upon the Oke^and that is named Dryos Hyphear.A difference 

 there is in the Hyphear and Miflelto,on what tree foever they are found (except the Holme and 

 common Oke)in regard of the favor, which is fhong & ftinking in the one more than the other. 

 The leafe in them both hath no pleafant f mell, and in the Miflelto it is bitter, clammie, and vif 

 cous befidcs.Of thefwaine,Hyphear yet is the better to feed llieepe and fuchcattell fat: only at |^ 

 the firfl it purgeth yll humors,and maketh them to fcoure apace, but afterwards itfatteth diem 5 

 I meane fuch as were able to beare the faid purgation.But in cafe any of them were deepely tackc 

 and infedcd with the rot, or other inward confumingdifeafe, they can neverendure the taking 

 of the faid flyphear,but they die upon it.Thc onely fit time for this kind of curing them, by the 

 tvay of purging,is in Summer, & that fot fottie daies fpace together.Therc is morcover,by mens 

 laying,another difference in Miflelto : for that which groweth upon trees, fliedding their leaves 

 in vwinter^loofeth alfo his owneleaves ; but contrariwife,it continueth alwaics greenc upon fuch 

 trees as hold their leaves all the yeare long. Moreover, fet or fow this Miflelto which way foe vei 

 you willjit will never take and grow: it commeth onely by the meeting of birds, efpeciajly of the 

 Stockdove orQuoifij and the Blackbird, which feed thereupon, and let it pafTc through their 

 bodie. And this is the nature of it, unlefTe it bee mortified, altered and digefted in the ff omacke 

 and belly of birds, it will never grow. It exceedeih not at any time a cubit in heigth,notwiih- 

 flanding it be alwaies greene and full of braunches.The malcbeareth a certainc graineor berry: 

 the female is barrain and fruitleffe. Butfometimes neither the onenorthe other bearetliatall. 



Now 



