RUBE 2, 
The Theater of Tlantes , 
Chap. 19. ipy 
Chap. XIX. 
Hippopbaes, Hippopbsfttm & Hippomanes. Thornie Milkewort or Fullers thornej 
Ecaufe D iofcorides fpeaketh of Hippopbaes and Hippophaftum, making them both Thornie plants, yiel¬ 
ding milke and purging, before Ricirms and the Titbymales, and Theophraftus in his ninth booke, anti 
fifteenth chap, faith that Hippomanes is nafcofTithymalus, or laHaria Milkewort, the beft ashee 
faith,wasknownetobemadein 7 c|Mandwasheldtobe of great worth; yctiny Theophraftus in 
Latine, which is very ancient without name of the Printer or yeareof the Printing, hath ill 
that place Hippopbaes although I confeffe I have feene Greeke copies which have had Hippomanes, 
but furcly Hippomanes being declared by other authors, to bee a kinde of poyfon made of the nature or 
thinne f'perme of Mares, as you (hall hearc by and by, could not in my mindebe fo unknowne to Theophraftus 
that he fhould fay, it was made of the Titbymalls or Milkeworts, but rather that Hippopbaes was a Milkewort, 
or made thereof; for in his 6. booke and ^chapter,at the latter end he numbreth Hippophyon which Cjaxst tranfla- 
teth Uppagoflmona thole plants that bearc thornes at the leaves,and in the fame booke and 5. chapter he nameth 
Hippopheos which Gazst tranllateth lappapo likewife,to have gentle fmooth leaves,not like unto the Capers,which 
have lharpe leaves as well as ftalkes, and in his 9 booke and 1 s chapter, maketh no mention either of forme,ha¬ 
ving declared it before, or of purging or poyfonfull quality therein; but numbreth it among other things, the 
bed whereof grow in Arcadia , and nameth it next after the Elateristm, made of the Wilde Cowcumbers, fo 
that it is probable his Hippophyon,Hippopheos, Hippopbaes ,or Hippomanes, whether you will, for diverfe doe thinke 
diverfiy, was anherbeor roote, that bore thornes as is before declared, whole condenfate milke or juyee, was of 
much worth being made in Tegea ; I thinke it not a'milfe iomewhat to declare both what I thinke Dioftorides 
his Hippopbaes and Hippopbtftum are, and the derivation of the name : and what •Sngttillara and others fay of it 
alfo, that fay they have lound it, to incite fome induffrious toattaine italfo, if that which I fhall fhewyouin 
my opinion be not it, and likewife to fbew what diverfe authors doe report of Hippomanes, that thereby the di. 
verlityof things might deere Theophraftus from imputation of want of knowledge, what Hippomanes was, or 
variety from others, and that his Hippopheos and T>iofcorides Hippopbaes, was one and the fame thing : This there¬ 
fore is the text of Dioftorides concerning Hippopbaes. Hippopbaes wherewith fullers doe refrefh garments, 
groweth in gravelly grounds and neere the fea. Itis abufliing plant thicke of leaves, or well fpreade, having 
long leaves like unto the Olive tree, but fmaller and longer, and betweene them many whitifh hard thornes di- 
ftanr one from another- The flowers hand in clulters like unto thofe of Ivye, but fmaller and more gentle, 
fomewhatreddilhorblufh out of a white: the roote is thicke and tender full of juyee, like milke and bitter in 
rafle, from whence as from Thapfta, a juyee is taken, which being dryed up either by it felfe (imply, or with the 
flower of Orobus (or the bitter vetch) is kept for their life that neede it: Hippophsftum (faith Dioftorides ) which 
dome cM Hippopbaes, groweth in the lame places, and is a kinde of Fullers thorne alfo. Itisalow herbe having 
thornie fmall leaves, without either ftalke or flower, with empty heads, it hath thicke and tender rootes: a juyee 
is drawne out of the rootes, leaves, and heads, and dryed up to be ufed: Thusfarre 'Dioftorides: In comparing 
therefore‘Dw/coriiirj and Theophraftus,! doenotflnde them to vary more than in a letter or twoof the word. 
For as you heare Dioftorides faith Hippopbaes hath many branches full of leaves, and fome thornes alfo, and Then, 
phraftsts doth intimate the fame,laying that Hippopheos hath fmooth leaves, and thornes by the leaves, or is a thor¬ 
nie plant as Fhleos (of which you fhall heare in that part that fpeaketh of thornie plants) Capers, Caltrops, and 
Reftharrow are -.Dioftorides faith the roote of Hippopbaes is thicke and full of a milkic juyee,and T heophrafttis faith 
Hippopbaes (as I fayd my booke hath it, and Columna in his chapter of Hippopbaes hath foallo, or as others have 
Hippomanes, which as I fayd before cannot be) ismadeofaTir/jyiaii/'/or Milkewort, the beft being made in 7 c- 
gea, and is of great worth, Pliny maketh mention of Hippopbaes in one place, and of Hippopbaes in another, as of 
one and the fame plant, as likewife of Hippophsftum in feverall places, which as yet in one place he calleth Hip. 
papeftuc in that he doth but relate what he hath out of Diofcorides ,yet fomewhat different.-it is probable he never 
law the plant, but did deliver what he fayd onely upon the credit of the author, we fhall not neede to inlift more 
upon hiin.The Greek name imweda comtneth either of cr flat or fta which is interpreted equarum [alas ant 
lux, autab eqnisgenita,fat fo Pliny fin his 22.book, and 13.chap,faith, ‘Debent accommodate, eft er equorumnatua 
rt,ne/y,ex aha c afta nomenaccepijfe; and iormuavitex hror@- & isatia quia equortimmaniamfive furoremfanabatx but 
becaufe Diofcorides faith it was called Spina fnllonia, and that garments wereclenfcd thereby, it feemeth the 
Etymon of the word was rather derived from iVvcj taken pro adverbio accrefcentis fie pro valde or multum,&<pi al 
pro famine otnitore, ofthe clenfing quality : for fo Vlinye faith of Hippophaftnm in his 27 booke and 10 chapter 
Hippophsftum naftitur in finis ex quibus faint piUfutlonisx for with the plant or roote made into bals,thofe times of 
his ufed to fcoure garments, like as if it were done withfope. Anguillara faith he found Hippopbaes in the 
ffland Peloponefus, in the Tandy grounds by the icafidc, which had a roote of the length of ones hand or better, 
yelding a thinne juyee, being either broken or wounded, like in colour to milke, ofa very bitter tafte (but faith 
he faw then neither flower nor fruite) andftrong finell, which the inhabitants call Acantha Nacathariie, Spina 
furgatrix, the purging Thorne, which Bank inns fetteth downe in his Pinax for a kinde of Rhamnus Cathartei - 
ensfolio ales, andthinketh the Hippophs(lumqnorundam of Lugdunenfis to be the fame; Fabiut Colamna refufing 
the opinion ofothers that tooke the Rhamnus primus of‘Dio/corides, as Lobel fnppofeth that purging thornie plant 
to be,growing by the fea (ides of Italy, France, and Holland, fnppofeth that that kinde of Rhamnus which grow¬ 
eth in Campania and Apulia, by the fea (hores, called by the Italians in thofe places Spina fantti, and which is the 
fecond fort of the firft kinde of Rhamnus, fet forth by Clufttis, doth more neerely referable the Hippopbaes of 
Diofcorides : but in my minde neither of both thefe fhrubbes, wanting milke at the roote can be the Hippopbaes 
of Dioftorides called alfo Spina fnllonia. Ruellius likewife faith that HippophsShtm, was brought from Narbone 
in France, which had fmall whitifh leaves among the thornes; by Lugdunenfis it is faid that Hippophaftnm 
Was fenc to Dalechampius from Melita or Malta, and was a plant, fpread full of thornie branches 
or rather the branches being wholly but thornes themfelves, with fmall white flowers, handing clofe to- 
S 5 gethse 
