CN^aturall Hi/lory - 



495 



496 



497 



498 



Experiments 

 in Conforr, 

 touching the 

 Mining Herbs 

 and Fruits 

 Medicinable. 



$99 



andfoftly, three or fourTurnes; which iscaufed by the untwining of the 

 Beard by the Moifture. You may fee it more evidently, if you ftick the 

 ' Croile between your fingers, in ftead of the Box: And therefore you may 

 j fee,that this Motion, which is Effected by fo little Wet, is ftronger than the 

 ! Cloiing or Bending of the Head of a Mangold. 



\ It is reported by fome,that the Herbe called Rofa-Solis ,(whereo£ they make 

 j Strong Waters,) will at the Noon-day, when the Sunne fhineth hot and 

 bright,have a great Dew upon it. And therefore, that the right Name is Ros 

 i Soils : which they impute to a Delight and Sympathy that it hath with the 

 j Sunne. Men favour Wonders. It were good fir it to be fure, that the Dew 

 I that is found upon it, be not the Dew ot the Morning Preferred, when the 

 j Dew of other Herbs is breathed away : For it hath a lmooth and thick Leaf, 

 I that doth not discharge the Dew fo Icon as other Herbs, that are more Spun- 

 gy and Porous. And it may be Pur (lane, or fome other Kerb, doth the like, 

 ■ and is not marked. But if it be fo, that it hath more Dew at Noon than in 

 the Morning, then fure it feemeth to be an Exudation of the Herb it felf. 

 As Plurnmes fweat when they are fet into the Oven: for you will not (I 

 hope ) think, that it is like Gideons Fleece of Wooll, that the Dew mould fall 

 upon that, and no where elfe. 



It is certain, that the Honey-dews are found more upon Oake leaves, than 

 upon Af),ov Beech, or the like : But whether any Caufe be from the Leaf it 

 felf, to concoft the Dew : Or whether it be oneJy,that the Leaf is Clofe and 

 Smooth, ( and therefore drinketh not in the Dew,but preferveth it,) may be 

 doubted. It would be well inquired, whether Manna the Drug, doth fall but 

 upon certain Herbs or Leaves onely. Flowers that have deep Sockets, do ga- 

 ther in the bottome,a kinde of Honey as Honey-Suckles^ (both the Woodbine, 

 and the Trifoile,)Lillies,3nd the like. And in them certainly the Flower bear- 

 eth part with the Dew. 



The Experience is, that the Froth, which they call Woodfare, ( being like 

 a kinde of Spittle,) is found but upon certain Herbs, and thofe hot Ones as 

 Lavender, Lavender-cotton, Sage, HyJ] ope, Sec. Of the Caufe of this enquire 

 further, lor it feemeth a Secret. There falleth alfo Mildew upon Corn, and 

 fmutteth it : But it may be, that the fame lalleth alfo upon other Herbs, and 

 isnotobferved. 



It were good, Triall were made, whether the great Confent between 

 Plants and Water, which is a principall Nourifhment of them, will make an 

 Attraction or Diftance, and not at Touch onely. Therefore take a Vef[ell,znd 

 in the middle of it make a falfe Bottome of courfe Canvafs : Fill it with 

 Earth above the Canvafs , and let not the Earth be watred : Then fow iome 

 good Seeds in that Earth: But under the Canvafs, fome half a foot in the 

 Bottome of the Veflell, lay a great Spunge, thorowly wet in Water and let 

 it lye fome ten Dayes And fee whether the Seeds will fprout, and the Earth 

 become more Moiit, and the Spunge more dry. The Experiment formerly 

 mentioned of the Cucumber, creeping to the Pot of Water, is farre ftranger 

 than this. 



THe Altering of the Sent, Colour, or Tafte of Fruit, by Infufing, Mixing,ot 

 Letting into the Barke,or Root of the Tree , Herb,ot Flower, any Coloured, 

 Aromaticall, or Medicinall Subftance, are but Fancies. The Caufe is, for that 

 thofe Things have paffed their Period, and nourim not : And all Alteration 

 of Vegetables, in thofe Qualities, mult be by fomewhat that is apt to go into 

 the Nourimment of the Plant. But this is true, that where Kine feed upon 



Wilde 



