ft o 
6 74 Of the Hiftorie of Plants. L t b. 2. 
2 The middle Bafill is very likevnto the former, but it is altogether lefter.The whole plant is 
of amoft odoriferous fmell, not vnlikc the fmell of a Lirnon, or Citron, whereof it tooke his fur- 
name. 
3 Bufli Bafill, or fine Bafill, is a low and bafe plant, hauing a threddie root, from which rife vp 
many fmalland tender ftalks, branched into diners armes or boughes-, whereupon are placed many 
little leaueSjlefler than thofe of Pennie Royall. The whole plant is of a mod pleafing fweete 
fmell. 
$ 4 This which fome call Ocimttm Indicumpt rather(as Camemrim faith) Hifpanicum , fends 
vp a ftalk a foot or more high,foure fquare,and of a purple colour, fet at each ioint with two lcaues, 
and out of their bofomes come little branches : the largcft leaues are fome two inches broad, and 
fome three !ong;growingvpon long ftalks, and deepely cut in about their edges, being alfo thicke, 
fat and iuicie, and eithcrof a darke purple colour, or elfe fpotted with more or lelfe fuch coloured 
fpots . The tops of the branches end in fpokie tufts ofwhite floures with purple veines running a- 
Jongft them. The feede is contained in fuch feed veifels as that of the other Bafils,and is round, 
blacke and large. The plant perithes euery yeare as foonc as it hath perfedted the feed .Clufiut calls 
this ocintum Indicum. $ 
The rluc. 
Bafil is fowne in gardens, and in earthen pots. It commeth vp quickly, and loueth little moifture 
except in the middle ofthe day •, otherwise ifit be fowne in rainie weather, the feed will putrifie, 
and grow intoaie!lieorflime,andcometo nothing. 
The Time. 
Bafill floureth in Iuneand Inly, and that by little and little, whereby it is long a flouring, be- 
ginning firft at the top. 
The Names. 
Bafill is called in Greeke and more commonly with » in the firft fyllable .■ in Latinc, 
Ocintum. Itdiffereth from 6 cymum wh ich fome haue called Cercale aswe (faith Dodonxut) haue 
fhewed in the Hiftoricof Graine. The later Grecians haue called it in Ihops likewife Ba- 
ft Hi cum , and Return : in Spanilh, Albahaca : in French, Bafilic: in Englifh,BafilI,garden Bafill, the 
greater Bafill Royall, the Idler Bafill gentle, and bufir Bafill ■. of [oms^Bafihcum GariophylUtum, or 
Clone Bafill. 
%The Temperature. 
Bafill, as Galen teacheth, is hot in the fecond degree, but it hath adioined with it a fuperfluous 
moifture, by reafon whereof he doth not like that it fhould be taken inwardly ; but being applied 
outwardly, it is good to digeft or diftribute,and to concod. 
*^The Vertnes. 
A Viofcorides faith that if Bafil be much eaten, it dulleth the fight, it mollifieth the belly, breedeth 
windcjprouoketh vrine, drieth vp milke,and is of a hard digeftion. 
j> The iuice mixed with fine meale of parched Barly, oile ofrofes and Vineger,is good againft in- 
flammations, and the flinging of venomous beafts. 
q The iuice drunke in wine of Chios or ftrong Sacke,is good againft head ache. 
The iuice clenfeth away the dimmeneffe of the eyes, and drieth vp the humour that falleth into 
them. 
£ The feededrunkeis aremedie for melancholickepeopleifor thofe that are fihort winded, and 
them that can hardly make water. 
If the fame be fnift vp in the nofe,it caufeth often neefing : alfo the herbe it felfe doth the fame.’ 
There be that fliunne Bafill and will not eat thereof, becaufe that ifit be chewed and laid in the 
Sun, it ingendreth wormes . 
H They of A fricke do alfo affirme, that they who are ftung of the Scorpion and haue eaten of it, 
fhall feele no paine at all, 
I The Later writers, among whom Simeon Zethy is one, doe teach, that the fmell of Bafill is good 
for the heart and for the head. That the feede cureth the infirmities of the heart,taketh away for- 
rowfulneflewhich commeth of melancholy, and maketh a man merry and glad. 
Chap . 1 
