Of the Hiftorie of Plants. 
11S0 
L IB. 2,. 
flourcs grow at the top or extreme point of the plant: after which follow fruit in Ihape like a fig, .! 
full of a red iuyee, which being touched ftameth the hands of the colour of red leade : the tafte is 
not vnpleafant. 
4 There hath been brought from the Indies a prickly reed of the bigneffe of a good big ftaf, .j 
of the length of fix or eight foot, chamfered and furrowed, hailing vpon two fides growing vnto it 
an vneuen membrane or 'skinny fubftance, as invereaiag or welt let vpon the wing of a garment, 
and vpon the very point ofeuery cut or iagge armed with moli fharpe prickles : the whole trunke 
is filled fullofafpohgeous fubftance, fuch as is in the hollownes of the brier or bramble -among!! 
the which istobefeeneasitwerethepillings of Onions, wherein are often found lining things, 
that at the firft feeme to be dead. The plant is ftrange, and brought dry from the Indies, therefore . 
weeannot write foabfolutely hereof as we defire • referring what more might be laidtoa further 
confideration or fecond edition. 
•J The Place. 
Thefe plants grow vpon Mount Atlas, in Libya, in nroft of the Iflands of the Mediterranear. 
fea, in all the coaft of Barbarie,efpecially in S.Crux neere vnto the fea fide, in a barren place there 
called by the Englifli men Halfe Hanneken ; which place is appointed for Merchants toconfcr of • 
their bufinefle, e'uen as the Exchange in London is : from which place my friend M '.William Mar- : 
tin, a right expert Surgeon, did procure me the plants of them for my garden, by his feruant that 
he fent thither as Surgeon of a Chip. Since which timelhaue receiued plants ofdiuers others 'j 
that haue trauelled intoother of thofe parts and coafts : notwith Handing they haue not endured 
the cold ofour extreme Winter. 
y rhe Time. 
They put forth their leaues in the Spring time, and wither away at theapproch of Winter. 
The Names . 
It is called both in Greeke and Latine Euphorbium Pliny in one place putteth the herbe 
in the feminine gender, naming it Euphorbia : the iuyee is called alfo Euphorbien , and lb it is like- 
wife in (hops: we are faine in Englifh to vfe the Latine word, and to call both the herbe and iuyee 
by the name of Euphorbium,for other name we hauenone : it may be called in Englifli, the Gum 
Thiftle. j 
The Temperature. 
Euphorbittm (that is to fay, the congealed iuyee which we vfe) is of a very hot, and, as Galen te- 
Ififieth,caufticke or burning facultie,and of thinne parts ; it is alfo hot and dry in the fourth de- 
gree. 
, 5) The Vertues. 
yy An emplaifter made with the gumme Euphorbium,and twelue times fo much oyle,and a little 
wax, is very Angular againft all aches of the ioynts, lamenefl'e,palfies,crampes,and flirinking offi- 
newes, as Galen, lib. 4. de medicament is / ecundumgenera , declareth at large,ivhich to recite at this pre- 
fent would but trouble you ouermuch. 
B Euphorbium mingled with oyle of Bay and Beares greafe cureth the feurfeand fealds of the 
head, and pildnefle, caufing the haire "to grow againe,andother bare places, being anointed there- 
with. 
C The fame mingled with oyle, and applied to rhe temples of fuch are very fleepie, and troubled 
with the lethargic, doth awaken and quicken their fpirits againe. 
D If it be applied to the nuque or nape of the necke,it bringeth their fpeech againe that haue loft 
it by reafon of the Apoplexie. 
E Euphorbium mingled with vinegerand applied taketh away all foule and ill fauoured fpots,in 
what part of the body foeuer they be. 
F Being mixed with oyle of Wall-floures,as Mefues faith, and with any other oyle or ointments, it 
quickly heaterh fuch parrs as are ouer cold. , ■ 
G It is likewife a remedie againft old paines in the huckle bones, called the Sciatica. 
H edits, P aulm^sAtiuarius , and CMcfue doe report, That if itbe inwardly taken it purgeth by 
fiege water and flegme-, but withall it fetteth on fire, fcortcheth and fretteth, not onely the 
throat and mouth, but alfo the ftomacke, liuer, and the reft of the intra!s,and inflames the whole 
bodie. 
j For that caufe it rnuft not be beaten final, and it is to be tempered with fuch things as allay the 
hbate and fharpeneffe thereof, and that make glib and flipperie ; of which things there muft be 
fuch a quarititie,as that it maybefufficienttocouer all ouer the fuperficiall or outward part 
thereof. 
K But it is a hard thing fo to couer and fold itvp,or to mix it, as that it willnotburneor fcortch. 
For though it be tempered with neuer fo much oyle, if it be outwardly applied it raifeth blifters, 
Specially in them that haue foft and tender flelh, and therfore it is better not to take it inwardly. 
- - Iris 
