L i B. z. 
Of the Hiftory of Plants. 
835 
alfo fomething binding, which by reafon that it is adjoined with the two former qualities that is 
to fay 3 biting and bitter, is is made in like manner a lingular medicine of very great efficacy. 
The Vert ua. 
The root of Dragons doth clenfeand fcoure all the entrailes, making thinne, efpeciaily thicke A 
and tough humours ■ and it is a Angular remedy for vlcers that are hard to be cured, named in 
Greeke 
It fcoureth and clenfeth mightely, afwell fuch things as haueneed of fcouring,as alfo white 3 
and blacke morphew, being tempered with vineger. 
The leaues alfo by reaion that they are oflike qualitie are good for vlcers and greene wounds : 
andtheleifedry they are, the fitter they be to heale^or thedryerones are of a more lharpe or bi- 
ting quality than is conuenient for wounds. 
The fruit is of greater operation than either the leaues or the root : and therefore it is thought C 
to be offorce to confume and takeaway cankers and proud flefh growing in the noftrils, called in 
Greeke Polypus : alfo the juice doth clenfe away webs and fpots in the eies. 
Furthermore, Viofcoridcs writeth, that it is reported that they who haue rubbed the leaues or D 
root vpon their hands, are not bitten of the viper. 
Pliny faith, that ferpents will not come neere vntohim that beareth Dragons about him, and E 
thefe things are read concerning both the Dragons, in the twochapters of Viofcoridcs. 
Galen alfo hath made mention of Dragon in his booke of the faculties of nourifhmentSjwhere F 
he faith, that the root of Dragon being twice or thrice fod, to the end it may lofe all his acri- 
mony or fharpenelfe, is fometimes giuen as Aron, or vvake-Robin is, when it is needfuli to 
expell the more forceable thicke and clammy humours that are troublefome to the cheft and 
lungs. 
And Diofcoridcs writeth, that the root of the leffer Dragon being both fbdde and rod with q 
honie, or taken of it felfe in meate, caufeth the humours which fticke faft in the cheft tc> be eafily 
voided. 
The juice Of the garden Dragons, as faith Viofcoridcs , being dropped into the eies, doth clenfe j j 
them, and greatly amend the dimnefte of the fight. 
Thediftilied water hath vertueagainft the peftilence or any peftilentiall feuer or poifon, being j 
drunke bloud-warme with the beft treacle or m'ithridate. 
The fmell of the floures is hurrfull to women newly concerned with child. j- 
Chap. 304. Of (fockovp pint 3 or Vpalze-^Robins 
The Vefcription , 
1 A r,m 0t ^oekow P int great, large, fmoorh,fhining, fharpe pointed leaues, befpot- 
ted here and there with blackifh fpots, mixed with fome blewneffe: among which 
rifeth vpaftalke nine inches long, befpeckled in many places with certaine purple 
fpots. It beareth alfo a certaine long hofe or hood, in proportion like the care of an hare: in the 
middle of which hood commeth forth a peftle or clapper of a darke murrie or pale purple colour .- 
which being paft, there fucceedeth in place thereof a bunch or clufter of berries in manner of a 
bunch of grapes, greene at the firft,bitt after they be ripe of a yellowifh red like corall,and full of 
pith, with fome threddy additaments annexed thereto. 
2 Thereisin^Egyptakinde of c-Amm which alfo is to be feene in Africa, and in certaine 
places of Lufitania, about riuers and floods,whichdiffereth from that which groweth in England 
and other parts of Europe. This plant is large and great, and the leaues thereof are greater than 
thofeof the water Lillie : the root is thicke and tuberous, and toward the IoWer end thicker and 
broader, and may be eaten. It is reported to be without flour'e and feed, but the increafe that it 
hath is by the fibres which runne and fpread from the roots. t This planthath alfo' peftells and 
chillers, of berryes as the common Aron, but fomewhat different, the leaues are not cut into the 
ftalke, but joined before the fetting thereto: the root alfo' is very large. Thofe that defire to fee 
more of this plant, and the queftion which fome haue mooued, whither this be the Colocafia, or 
Palm vEryptja of the Antients ? let them haue recourfe to the firft chapter of Fiibius Column* his 
Minus cognitartim ftripium pars ahem, and there they (hall finde fatisfnftion.- j: 
