L 
I B. 2. 
Of the Hiftoiy of Piants. 
497 
was called of the' Talmudrfts m Kik, for in the Talmud we reade thus,* Veil befchemcn 
K,-k , chat is, in Englifh,And not with the oiJe of Kik: which oile is called in the Arabian toneue 
Jlketu<i, as Rabbi Samuel the fonne of Hophm teftifietb. Moreouer. a cerraine Rab bine mouerh a 
queftion, faying, what is Kik? Hereunto Refch Lachijb maketh anfwer ,n Ghemara, (avine Kik is 
nothing elfe but low his Kikaijon. And that this is true, it appeareth by that name JVnrluch 
the ancient GreekePhyfitions, and the aEgiptians vied, which Greeke 'word commeth of the 
Hebrew word Kik. Hereby it appeareth, that the old writers long agoe called this plant by the 
true and proper name. But the old Latme writers knew it by the name Cucurbit a, which euidentlv 
is mamfefted by an hiftory which Saint Auguflim recordeth in his Epiftle to Saint lerome where 
m effe<ft he writeth thus , That name Kikaijon is of fmall moment, yet Co frnall a matter caufed a 
great tumult in Ati ica. For on a time a certaine Bilhop hauinganoccaiiontointreatofthis 
vi hich is mentioned in the fourth chapiter of Jonas his prophccie (in a collation or (emon wh’ch 
lie made in his cathedral! church or place of aflembly) faid, that this plant was ca ! led elm bit a 
a Goiircle 3 bccaufe it encreaied vnto fo great a quantitic, in fo (Tiort a fpace 3 or elfc (faith he) it is 
called Hedera. Vpon the nouelty and vntruthof this his dodrine, the people were greatly often- 
ded, and thereof fuddenly arofe a tumult and hurly burly • fo that the Bifhon was in f orced to goe 
to the Iewes,to aske their iudgment as touching the name of this plant. And when he had recei- 
ued of them the true name, which was Kikiijia he made his open recantation andconfeifed his 
error, & was iuftly accufed for a falfifier of the holy feripture. * The Greeks called this plantalfo 
*»™’* *• Ricinnspy reafon of the fimilitudethat the feed hath with that infed,to wit, a Tik. $ 
The Nature.. 
The feed of Palma Chrifti,or rather Kik , is hot and dry in the third decree 
IT The Vert ties. 
Ricinus his feed taken inwardly, openeth the belly, and caufeth vomit, drawing (limy fle-vme a 
and choler from the places poffeiTed therewith. “ 
The broth of the meate fupped vp,wherin the feed hath been fodden,is good for the collicke and B 
the gout, and againft the paine in the hips called Sciatica: it preuailethalfoagainft the jaundife 
and dropiic. 
The oile that is madeor drawne from the feed is called oleum Cicinum : in Chons it is called c 
Oleum de Cher ua . it hcateth and drieth,as was faid before, and is good to anoint and rub all rough 
mrdnefleand fcuruindTegottenby itch. ° 
This oile,as Rabbi Dauid Chimchi writeth, is good againft extreme coldnelfe of the body. jj 
HAP. ljp. 
Of Spurge. 
The Dejcription . 
1 ^He firftkindeofSea Spurge rifeth forth of the fands,or baich of the fea,vvith fundry 
JL , lCmS ? r ‘! alkc ; s g rowin g vpon one Angle roote, of a wooddy fubftance : and 
*ro, a tlle , , c WIth Cnalljfat, and narrow leaues like vnto the leaues of Flaxe. 
The floures are yellowifh,and grow out of little di llres or faucers like the common kindeof 
opurge. After the floures come triangle feeds, as in the other Tithymales. 
2 re econd kinde(called Hdiofcopius,ox Solifequius. znA in Englifli according to his Greek 
! ia ^ e mm n |?. SpU f g r 0r Tl *y male ) of turning or keeping time with the funne) hath fundry 
f 1 ] a eso a loot high: the leaues are like vnto Purflane, not fo great nor thicke, but fnipc 
about the edges : the floures are yelIowi(h,and growing in little platters . 
i 3 The third kinde hath threke, far, and (lender branches trailing vpon the ground, befet with 
liis Hn le C ^" nee ‘ 10 mc5 or t le g reat Myrtle tree. The feed and floures are like vnto the other of 
4 The fourth is like the laft before mentioned, but it is altogether leffer, and the leaues are 
narrowest groweth more vprighr, otherwife alike. 
5 Cypies Tithymale hath round reddifh ftalkes a foot high, long and narrow likethofeof 
f r e ’i fldgr rr n ? buftle >tjncke together like asthofeofthe Cypres tree. The floures, feed, 
and root, are like the former, fometrmes yellow, oftentimes red. 
rlirf l-'nrl J llke tIle former 3, in floures, ftalkes, rootes, and (cedes, and differeth in that, 
tree ot B e e n vife itfsTik narr °' VCr:l antl mucb Aiwller, growing after rhe fafhion of thofe ofthe Pine 
7 There is another kinde that groweth to the height of a man ; the ftalke is like the laft 
T t mentioned’ 
