Tribe*. 
The Theater of Tlants. 
fHAP.4.2. 
is extrafted a clcare liquid Rofin or Turpintinc, called in ihoppes 
Venice Turpentine, by boring the tree to the heart, andrecei. 
ving it intoveffclls, and from the body of the tree when it is 
growne!greatandold in many places, and from the greater 
armesand boughes alfo, groweth certaine excreffcnces like 
Muihromes but greater, called Agaricke of divers and feverall 
fifes, that is from the bignefle of ones hand lcfl'e or more, to be 
as bigge as any mans head, and iometimes greater, covered 
with 1 a" hard blackifh barke,which being cut and pared away, the 
fubftance under it appeareth very white, and if it be of the beft 
fort,very light alfo, eafie to breake, loofe or fpnngie and without 
firings through it, fomewhat fweete in take at the firft, but very 
bitter afterwards.and not having any hard barke on the outfide: 
the blacke, heavy, and hard, is utterly unfit to be ufed in 
Phyficke. 
The Tlace. 
The Larch tree groweth in many woods about Trent and 
Srixia in Italy, and neare the rivers Hcxmus and Padus, and in 
(jalatia a Province of Afia, as Diofcondes and Cjden doe record, 
and in Agaria a country of Sarmatia, from whencethe Aga¬ 
ricke tooke the name; in Silejia alfo Moravia,Lufatia ; And the 
Agaricke is gathered in moll of thefe places, foisthe Turpen¬ 
tine likewife, butefpecially from the woods about Trent,&c. 
The Time, 
The Rofin or Turpentine is gathered in the hotted time of the 
yeare,and the Agaricke at the latter end thereof, that is Novem¬ 
ber and December efpecially. 
The Names. 
This tree is called MeA :in Greek and Larix or Larkein Latin, 
T/i*/hath in no one thing in all his Hiftory, fhewed hisincon- 
ftancie and repugnancie,tnore than in this one tree, not onely in 
not knowing that whereof he writeth,but denying that which is 
found true by good experience, and faying that in one place, 
which hee contrarieth in an other, as in his 15 . Booke and 21. 
Chapter, hee reckoneth the Larch tree among thofe wild trees, 
that doe not died their leaves, and are fharpe pointed, where it 
feemeth he tooke die Larch tree, for the Pine tree, as hee doth 
sgaricus ex tarice. 
Agaricke growing on rhe Larch tree. 
the 20. of the fame 16. Booke: and whereas Theofhrajhu in his third Booke, and tenth Chapter, fpeakingof 
the difference betweene the Pine and Pitch tree, faith, thatthe Pine tree being burnt downe to the rootes fprin- 
geth not from them againe, but as fome (ay the Pitch tree doth as it hapned ill Lesbos , when the wood Pyrrhcus 
was fired, which wasflored with Pitch trees. This very narration Flirty lib. 16.cap. 1 -,9. in citing, applieth to 
the Larch tree, which Theophrafius doth to the Pine tree. And in another place Theophrafius faith, thatakinde 
of femall Pine is called Egin or Egida- and Tliny faith the femall Larix is called Egida, by all which places it 
may beplainely feene,that Pliny miftooke the Larch tree for the Pine tree. For Theophrafius hath not made men¬ 
tion of the Larix, in all his Hidory, whereby many did judge that it did not grow in Greece, for elfe he would 
have knowne it, and fpokenof it. In one place againe Pliny maketh the leaves ofthe Larch tree to be foft, woolly, 
thicke and fat,and in another place hard & drier againe he faith that the Larch tree hath not flowers nor any cones 
to commend it, when as they have cones, and the bloffomes on them are very beautifull: and Iaftly T/iny faith 
fit fhould feeme following Vitruvius, who before him faid the fame) that the wood ofthe Larch tree, will not 
burne, nor make a cole, nor will confume in the fire, any otherwife than a done, when as himfelfe faith and ac¬ 
knowledged!, as Vitruvius alfo doth, that it yeeldeth forth a Roden ; and how could anv man thinke, that a tree 
yeelding Roden fhould not burne, when as the very earth and ftones that have any bituminous or relinous qualitie 
in them, will burne exceedingly, as is plainely feene in our turfe, in pitandfea coales which maintaineour fires i 
in many places of our Land, and elfewhere alfo. This I thought good to fet downe, not fo much todedaime a- 
gaind Pliny, as to forewarne others that tranflate or write others opinions,to be judicious and examine by reafonj 
whether that which others have written, agree with the truth of the matter, and not handover head either be- 
leeve or fet downe, whatfoevet others have written, be it true or falfe. Concerning the cleare Turpentine, of 
this tree called Venice Turpentine, there is fome controverfie among Writers, fomealleadging it to be taken from 
the Firre tree, as Fufchim and others, and Matthiolus contending there againd, that of his owne knowledge and 
experience, it is onely taken from the Larch tree and no other, for no other Turpentine was to be had in the for- 
mertimes formany ages, becaufethe Merchants neglected to bring the true Turpentine ofthe Terebinthus Tur¬ 
pentine tree, and therefore this onely was ufed : and no other fort of Turpentine was fit to be taken inwardly in 
ftead ofthe true Pom the Turpentine tree, which we doeufually call ChwjffTurpentinefoecaufeas it is thoughc 
the beft is gathered in the Hand Cyprus, thofe about Trent as t^Iatthioltis faithllfc to call it Antsy!,derived as is 
likely from Laricea, yet Pliny, Cjalen, and others of the ancients have fet downe, that the Larch yeeldeth whitifhl 
yellow Rolfen, like unto the hony of Athens or Spaine,but in little quantitie and foone waxing drie, which is that 
Gumme or Roffen that fweatech out of the tree in Summer of its owne accord without boring : There is alfo 
fome controverfie and contrarietie both in the ancient and moderne Writers, concerning Agaricke, Tito [cor ides 
and Galen thinking it to be a toote, like unto that oiSilphium, yet doubting fomewhat thereof. T iofcondes faith 
that fome hold it to be a Mufhrome, or Excrefcence engendred from the rottenneffe ofthe trees, as Mulhromes 
ate from the earth. Pliny writeth, A£.i 6 .r<y>, 8 .thatitwasfaidthatthofetrees,thatbareAcarnes in the coun- 
