276 



A DISCOURSE 



BOOK I. add a third part of capon or goose-grease to it, well clarified, or oil of 

 ■^"""^'''"^ walnuts, which is better ; after incorporating the mixture on a gentle fire, 

 keep stirring it till it be cold, and thus you rcom position is finished. But to 

 prevent frosts, (which, in severe weather, will sometimes invade it on the 

 rods,) take a quarter of as much oil of Petroleum as you do of grease, and 

 no cold whatever will congeal it. The Italians make their Vischio of the 

 berries of the mistletoe of trees, (and indeed it is from this it is said of the 

 thrush, Exitium suum cacat, that bird being an exceeding devourer of 

 them,) treated much after the same manner ; but then they mix it with 

 nut-oil, an ounce to a pound of lime, and taking it from the fire, add half 

 an ounce of turpentine, which qualifies it also for the water. Great 

 quantities of bird-lime are brought to us out of Turkey, and from 

 Damascus, which some conceive to be made of Sebestens, finding some- 

 times the kernels. This lime is of a greener colour, subject to frosts, 

 and impatient of wet, nor will last above a year or two good. Another 

 sort comes also out of Syria, of a yellow hue ; likewise from Spain, whiter 

 than the rest, which will resist the water, but is of an ill scent. I have 

 been told that the Cortex of our Lantana, or Wayfaring Shrub, will make 

 as good bird-lime as the best. Eut let these suffice, being more than as 

 yet any one has published. The superior leaves of Holly-trees, dried to 

 a fine powder, and drank in white wine, are prevalent against the stone, 

 and cure fluxes ; and a dozen of the mature berries, being swallowed, 

 purge phlegm without danger : To which the learned Mr. Ray (in 

 Append. Plant. Angl.) adds a zythogalum, or posset, made of milk and 

 beer, in which is boiled some of the most pointed leaves, for assuaging 

 the torment of the colic, when nothing else has prevailed. 



COENUSK 



The Cornel-tree, though not mentioned by Pliny for its timber, is ex- 

 ceedingly commended for its durableness and use in wheel-work, pins, 



P This is the CORNUS fitf^sj arborea, umbellis involucrum aequantibus, Lin. Sp. PI. 

 171. Tree Dogwood with umbels equal to the involucrum. Cornus sylvestris mas. C. B. P. 

 447. Male cornel, or cornelian chersT'TREe. 



• As the fruit of this tree is not at present much esteemed, the nursery-men about London pro- 

 pagate it as one of the sorts which is commonly sold as a flowering shrub, and is by some 

 people valued for coming so early to flower : for if the season be mild, the flowers will appear 



