E68 
Of the Hiftorie of Plants. 
Li B. 2. 
pointed, which being broken do yeeld abundance of milke : the floures are white, final! and ftarre 
talfiion : the roots white and many, (hooting forth fundry other roots,whereby it mightily increa- 
t 3 This ftrange kinde of Scammonie, which 'Clufws maketh rightly to be Periploc ct (becks ' 
hath very many long branches rampingand taking hold of fuch things as do grow neerevnto them* 
of a darkifh afiie colourivvhereiipon do grow leaues (harp pointed, crooked at die fetting on of the 
ftalke like thofe of the blacke Bryonie,and likewife ofan afiie colour, fet together by couplcs-from 
the bofome whereof thru ft forth fmall tender foot-flalkes , whereon- are placed fmall white 
floures ftarrc-falhion : the feeds are contained in long coddes,and are wrapped vp in downe like a? 
thofe of Swallow-w ort.l he root is very long, (lender, and creeping,like that oftlie fmall Bindweed 
fo that if it once take in any ground, it can hardly be deftroyed. * 
f The Place. 
It doth grow in hot regions in a fat foile.as in Mifia, Syria, and other like countries of Afia-it is 
likewife found in theiland of Candia,as Bellcmus witne(Tes ; from whence I had fome feeds of which 
feed I receiued two plants that profpered exceeding well ; the one whereofl bellowed vpon a lear 
ned Apothecarie of Colchefter, which continueth to this day, bearing both floures and ripe feed" 
But an ignorant weeder of my garden plucked mine vp,and call it away in my abfence in (lead of 
a vveede: by which mifchan^ I am notable to write heereof foabfolutcly as I determined • it 
likewife growethneerevnto the fea fide about Tripolis in Syria, where the inhabitants doe call it 
Meudbcudi. 
T> 
*| TheTimc. 
it floured in my garden about S. Limes tide 3 as I rcmember } for when I went to Briftow Faire 
I left it in floure^but at my returne it was deftroyed as aforeftud. * 
•TT The Names. 
The Greekes call it nm mu .- the Latins, Sc ammonium, fonaming not onely the plant it felfe but 
alfo the hard and condenfed mice : of the Apothecaries, Scammonca^mA when it is prepared Diarri- 
durn: as though they fhould fay, which fignifietha litrleteare: both the herbe and mice 
are named Scamony:ol Rhafis } CorizioU. 1Le 
IT The T emper attire. 
The mice doth mightily purge by the floole,and is the ftrongeft purge vvhatfocuer- for as On- 
bajms faith, it is in no part ouercome by thofe things which ftirand moue the body. It worketh the 
(amenot vehemently by any hot qualitie, but by lbme other hid and fecret propercie of the whole 
lub (lance ; for there is no extremitie of hear perceiued in it by rafte : for with what liquor or thin"- 
ioeuer it is mixed, ltgiueth vntoit no bitterncir c , biting, or othervnplcafant talleatall and there- 
rately houmf drte aCC ° UntL ‘ d amo ?S the cxt ™e hot medicines, but among thofe that’are mode- 
T , r . , , , „ f The Vert ties. 
t clenfeth and draweth forth efpecially choler : alfo thinne and waterifh humours, and of- 
tenttmes Hegme, yet is it as Paulas teacheth morehurtfull to the (lomacke than any other medi- 
(JUefies thinketh that it is not onely troublefome and hurtfull to the (lomacke, but alfo that it 
(haueth the guts,gnawingand fretting the intrails; openeth the ends ofthe veins,and through the 
efience ofhis whole fubftance,it is an enemy to the heart, and to the reft of the inward parts.-if it be 
v e, immoderately and in time not conuenient,it caufeth fivounings, vomitings, and ouerturnings 
fire to the^oole C ° Ur * n ^ ,t ^ C ^ LIX and vlcers in c * le lower gut, which bring a continuall de- 
Fhefe mifclnefes are preuented if the Scammoniebe boiled in a Quince and mixed with the 
llnne or mucilage of P filhum , called Fleavvoort,the pap or pulp ofPrunes,or other things that haue 
allimm mice, with a little Mafticke added, or fome other eafie binding rhino- 
J.?\ e s' rme r 1 tha " h ? lu ' rC thereof is taken a ' vay ^ Aloes be tempered with it : [ Scammonie 
(lairp he) ouerthroweth the ftomack,purgeth choler, loofeth the belly vnlcfle twodrams of Aloes 
oe put vnto one ferup e of itjwhich alfo Or/ty&i alloweth ofin the firft booke ofhis Synoptic, and 
tile ieuenthbooke ofhis medicinall Colkaions. " ’ 
The old Pin fitions were alfo wont toboile Scammonie in a Quincc,and togiue the Quince to 
e eaten, .auingcaft away the Scammonie: and this Quince fo taken doth moue the belly with- 
? ’ f ny hurt che Aomacke.as Galen in his firft booke of the Faculties of Nourifhments doth 
(et downe, and likewife inhis third booke ofthe Faculties of fimple Medicines. 
l he Apothecaries dovfe Scammonie prepared in a Quince, which as we haue faid they name 
Dtagndmm, and do mix it in diuers compofitions. 
They 
