Lib. 2. Of the Hiftcny of Plants. 
i argueth alfo that sjtiatthiolus hath vnproperly called it PfeudoaconitumjhAt is/alfe or baftard Aco- 
i! nitej for without queftion there is noworfeor morefpeedie venotnein the world, nor no Aconite 
i| or toxicall plant comparable hereunto. Andyetletvs confiderthe fatherly care ’and prOuidence 
t| of God, who hath prouided a conquerour and triumpher ouer this plant fo venomous, namely his 
'j Ant igortift^ Ant i t her a, or to fpcake in Ihorter and fewer fyllables, Anthora , which is the very antidote 
| or remedie againft thiskindeof Aconite. The ftalkeot this plant is fmalland ruihie,very fmooth 
two or three handballs high : whereupon do grow two, three,or foure Ieaues,fcldome more which 
j be fomething hard,round,!mooth,of a light greene colour tending to blewneffc, like the colourof 
j the leaues of Woad,nicked in the edges. The floures grow at the top of the ftalkes, of a yellow 
i colour, leffer than thofeofthe field Croivfoot,othervvife alike : in the place thcrof groweth a knon 
1 or round head, wherein is the feed.: the root confiftcth of nine or ten (lender clo^s, with fome final! 
: fibers alfo, and they are fattened together with little firings vnto one head, like°thofe of the white 
] Afphodill. 
2 Wolfes -bane of the mount Baldus hath one (hike, fmooth and plaineJtKhe middle where- 
: of come forth tw o leaues and no more, wherein it differeth from the other Of the Valdens, hatting 
. likewifef three or foure ifiarpe pointed leaues, narrow and fomewhat iagged at the place where the 
1 ftalke diuideth it felfe into Jfmaller branches • whereon do grow fmall yellow floures like the pre- 
; cedent, but much leffcr. * 
f rt Place. 
I Theft venomous plants doe grow on the Alpes, and the mountaines ofSauoyand Switzer' 
I land : the full grow plentifully in thecountrey of the Valdens, whoinhabite partofthofe moun' 
1 taines towards Italic, fheotheris found onBaldus, a mountaine of Italy. They areftran^ers in 
England. ° 
The Time. 
They floure in March and April!, their feed is ripe in Iune.' 
•y The Names, 
Tins kinde of Aconite or Wolfes-bane is called Thora,Tauraar\d. Turn, it is furnamed Valdenps' 
I that it may differ from Napel/ttspr Monkes hood, which is likewife named Thera. 
. . Autccn maketh mention of a certaine deadly herbe in his fourth booke,fixt Fen.called Farfiun- 
] it is hard to affirme this fame to be Thom Valdenps. J 
^ Gefner iudges this to be the AconitumpardaltanchcsoSDiofcorides, and herein is followed bv 
I Jtauhine, $ 1 
•A 
et^The Temperature and Vertues. 
The force of tliefe Wolfes-banes, is mod pernicious and poifop.fome, and (as it is reported) A 
exceedeth the malice olNJpeHus, orany of the other Wolfes-banes.,as wehaue faid. 
They fay that it is of fucli force, that ifa man efpecially.and then next any foure footed beaft g 
be wounded with an arrow or other inftrument dipped in the iutce hereof, they die within halfe an 
houre after remedileffe. 
t There were forcro* foure figures tl* chrprer, *ftnpoV m ,,t| m n B i, the plant! figure! ,„d .Itfcrlbtd were bur two rowtych numh.r 
C hap. J73* Of Winter Wolfes-bane 4 
The Vefcription; 
'Hiskinde of Aconite is callfed Aconitum hpemale Beigarum^ol Dodonaus, Aconitumiuttum minus: 
■ i 1 n A n S‘ I, ‘ 1 J Wolfes-bane, or final yellow wolfes-bane,whofe leaues come forth of the around 
; m the dead nine ofwinter,many times bearing the fnow vpon their heads of his leaues and floures- 
• yea the colder the weather is, and the deeperthat the fnow is,tlfe fairer and larger is the floure-and 
i the warmer that the weather is, the lelfer is the floure,and worfe coloured: thefe leaues I fay come 
1 ior , ch ot the ground iramediatly from the root, with a naked, foft, and llender ftem, deeply cu t oriaa 
i i A 1 C1C • ues 3°f an exceeding faire greene colour, in the midft of which commeth forth a yeb 
: low floure, in (hew or fafhion like vnto the co nmon field Crow-foot:after which follow lundry 
llofbrowne feeds like the other kindes of Aconites : the root is tliiqke, tuberous, and 
' knotue, like to the kindes of Anemone. 
IT The 
M m m m z 
