Tr ! B E. 5, 
The Theater of Plants . 
Chap.17 507 
; 1 chrifti, but mod writers now a daies doe call it Ophiogl Jfum & Lingua ferpetitii.oxferpentina, The Italians call 
it Ophiogloffo.Heriafenza cofta* LuccioU, Argentina and langue de ferpenr.She French langue de ferpent. The ( per- 
manes Nat erzunglin. The Dutch Speercruipt as Dodonaw faith. And We in Englifli Adders tongue or Serpents 
I tongue. 
! a The Vertues. 
/] Adders tongue is temperate bctweenc heat and cold, anddryinthe fccond degree; the juice of the leaves 
i'i given to drinke, with the diddled water of Horfetaile, is a fingular remedy for all manner of wounds in the 
si bread or bowels, or any other parts of the body. It is with no leffe good fucceffe given to thofe that are much gi¬ 
ll v en to calling, or vomiting, and alfo to thofe that voide blood at the mouth or nole, or otherwife downe- 
t wards; the laid j'uice or the dryed leaves made into powder, and given in the diddled water of Oaken buds,is ve- 
1 ry good for luch women as have their ufuall courfes, or the whites come downe upon them too aboundantly : 
5, thelaid powder of the herbe taken for fome time together, doth cure the rupture as Taptifta Sards,, faith. The 
>' greene herbe infufed or boyled in red wine, or white wine, and thofe eyes that are much given to water,wadi- 
ed therein or dropped therein, taketh away the watering, and cooleth any inflammation that commeth thereby ; 
|i with the leaves hereof infufed in oyle Omphacine, or of unripe Ollives, infolated or fet in the Sunne for certaine 
dayeS; or the greene leaves boyled in the faid oyle diffidently, is made an excellent greene oyle, or Balfame, 
n fingular good, not onely for all lorts of greene or frelh wounds, but for old and inveterate ulcers alfo, quickly to 
1 cure them, efpecially if a little fine cleare Turpentine, be diffolved therein; the fame alfo ftayeth and repreffeth 
I, all inflammations that rife upon paines, by any hurt or wounds. 
Chap. XVII. 
Lunaritt minor. Small Moonewort. 
Any Authours have fet forth varieties of this fmall Moonewort, which becaufe they are but from 
/ffjj the Luxurioufneffe of the Plant, in a fertile foyle and accidentall alfo, not to be found conftant, 
which fhould make a particular Jpecies. I have wholly refufed to fet downe many deferiptions of 
one herbe, but fometime degenerating; let one defeription therefore ferveinftead of many, with 
Ss&SaS the relation offomecafualties as they happen. The fmall Moonewort rifeth up ufually but with 
Lunar:a minor. Small Moonewort, 
one darke greene thicke and fat leafe, (landing upon a fhort foote- 
ftalke, not above two fingers breadch high, but when it will flower 
it may be faid that it beareth, a fmall (lender ftalke, about foure or 
five inches high,having but one leafe fet in the middle thereof, which 
is much divided on both (ides into many parts, mod ufually with five 
or feaven on a fide, yet fome have beene found with nine divifions on 
a fide, and fometimes with more, yea fome have thought that it may 
have as many leaves or parts of leaves rather, as there are dayes in 
every Moone, but this is onely opinionative; each of thofe parts is 
very fmall, next the middle ribbe, but broad forwards, and round 
pointed,refembling therein an halfc Moon, from whence it tooke the 
name,the uppermoft parts or divifions being Idle then the lowed: the 
ftalke rifeth above this leafe two or three inches, bearing many bran¬ 
ches of fmall long tongues, every one very like unto the fpiky head of 
the Adders tongue,of a brownifh colour, which whether I (hould call 
them the flowers or the feed, I well know not, which after they have 
continued a while, refolve into a mealy duft, the rote is fmall and fi¬ 
brous. This is fometimes found to have divers fuch like leaves, as 
are before deferibed, with fo many branches or toppes arifing from 
one ftalke, each divided from other. And Clufiut fetteth forth ano¬ 
ther, which he callethr* mofa, and came out otSt/eJia to him and 0- 
thers, which had more (lore of leaves, and each leafe more divided, 
and each part dented about the egdes, bearing divers (hikes, with 
branched tops like the other, which leaves, were more fat thickc and 
fappy, and with a little hairy downe upon them. 
The Place. 
It groweth upon hils and on heathes, yet where there is much 
grafle, for therein it delighteth to grow. 
The Time, 
It is to be found onely in AprilL and May for in Iune when any hot 
weather commeth, for the mod part it is withered and gone. 
The Names . 
Itisnotcertainelyknownetobe remembred by any of the anci¬ 
ent Greeke or Latine Authors, yet (ome would make it to be Ceratia 
Plinij whereof is fpoken before; fome to b tTragiumfecundumDio- 
fcor'idU, which growing on mountaines, hath the leafe of Scolopendrinw or Miltwafte ; but the roote he faith 
fmelleth ftrong, which this doth not, and therefore cannot be it, fome alfo doe thinke it to be Hemionitis altera 
and Selenitic* becaufe fome take the HemionitU to be Lunaria ma]or % Some alio as Columna to be Epimedinm of 
Tfiefcorides , but he faich with all, that the roote hath a ftrong fent, which cannot agree hereunto; Some alfo 
have called it Ophlog/ojfttm for the likenefle ofthe toppes. Clufius faith that thofe of Silefia, where that kinde 
groweth, that he calleth rmofa. , doe call it in their language, Kechter wider thon - that is as he faith, Tricbomanes 
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