. B. 1 . 
3 littphthalmum vulgar! . 
White Oxe-eie. 
vArC i-t«# °*- — ' 
Of theHiftoryof Plants. 
5J The Place, 
747 
The two firft growe of themfelues in 
Germany, Bohemia, and in the Gardens of 
the Low-countries ; of the firft I hauea 
plant rn my garden. The laft groweth in 
barren paftures and fields almoft euery 
where. 1 
£ The laft is alfo a ftranger with vs, for 
any thing that I know or can learne ; nei- 
ther can I coniedhire what our Authour 
meant here : firft in that he faid the floures 
ofthis werewhite,and fecondly inthat ic 
grew in barren paftures and fields almoft 
euery where. % 
U T be Time. 
They floure in May and Iune. The laft 
in Auguft. 
5 ]" The Thames. 
Touching the naming of the firft of 
thofe plants the late writers are of diners 
opinions: fom'e would hauc it to be a kind 
Of V centrum nigrum , blacke HeIlebor:otber 
foute Confihgo , or Bearefooc^and againe.o- 
thers, Sefamoides ; and fome, Ellebor album 
But there be found two kindes of. blacke 
Ellebor among the old writers, one with a 
leafe like vnto Laurel,with the fruit of.SV- 
famiim : the other with a leafe like that oF 
the Plane tree, with the feed of Carthimirs 
or Baftard Saffron. But it is moft euident, 
that this buphthalmttm , in Englifh, Oxe-eie, 
which in this Chapter we in the firft place haue defcribed,doth agree with neither of thefe : what 
form Conftligo is of, we finde not among the old writers . Pliny 2 6 , c*/>.7.fairh,That in his time it was 
found amongft the AfaifLand was a prefent remedy for theinfirmitieof the lungs of fivine, and of 
allkindeofcattell,though itwerebutdrawne thorow theeare.C»/»W/a in his 6 . booke,Chap. 5. 
doth alfo fay,that in the mountaines called Marti there is very great ftore thereof, and that it is ve- 
ry helpfull coallkind of cartel, and he tellech how and in what manner it muft be put into the eare 
the roots alfo of our Oxe-eie are faid to cure certain infirmities of cartel, if they be put into the flit 
or bored eare: but ic followeth not that for the famereafonit fhould be Conftligo ; and it is an or- 
dinary thing to find out plants that are of a like force and qualitie : for Pl/ny doth teftifie in his 
25 bookc,5 chapter, That the roots alfo of blacke Ellebor can do the fame: it cureth(faith he) the 
cough in cattefif it be drawn thorow the eare, and taken out again the next day at the fame hour 5 : 
which is likevvife moft certaine by experiments of the countrey men of our age ; who do cure the 
difeafesoftheircattellwith cheroots ofcommonblack Ellebor. Theroots ofwhite Elleboralfo 
do the like, as /tbfjrtm , and after him Hicrocles doth write : who notwirhftanding do not thruft rhe 
roots ofwhite Ellebor into the eare, but vnder the skin ofthebreft called the dewlap : after which 
manner alfo Vegttm Renatus doth v('e Ccmflhgo ,'mhis firft booke of the curing of cattclhchapter 1 2 . 
intituled.Of the cure of the infirmities vnder the skin although in his 3,booke,2.Chapter,ifc^/.i/- 
fe,he writeth,that they alfo muft be faftned thorow the eare:which things do fufficiently declare, 
that fundry plants haue oftentimes like faculties:and that ic doth notatall followbv the famerea 
fon, that our Oxeeie is CtmfiligoJsecauCe it doth cure difeafes in Cattelas wel as Conftligo doih But 
if we muft conicchire by the faculties, Conftligo then fhould bee White E'lebot: for Vcgctiuevfe th 
Conftligo in the very fame maner that Abfyrtm and Hterocles do vfe white Ellebor. This fufpition is 
made the greater, becaufe it is thought that Vegetius hath taken this manner of curing from the 
Grecians; for which can fie alfo moft doe take Conftligo to be nothing elfe butwhite Ellebor : the 
which if it be fo.thcnfhali this prefent Oxe-eie much differ from (fonfiligo 5 for it is nothing at a!/ 
like to white Ellebor. 
And that the fame is not Scfamoidcsjt ither the firft or the fecohd, it is better kncwne,than need- 
full to be confuted. 
This' 
