1-594 Cm a p,40, Tbeatrum c Botanicmn, Tr i b s 17 
ten by cutting or wounding the tree, tint the gutrmc may flow forth,in the canicular daycs, as other gnmmes 
9*e gotten. We have many forts thereof, in goodnefle fome better or worfe then others, asingrearand (mail 
peece6, fat anddry,pulverilentotts like, pale and more red all alike, crehedilcoloured, w ith (erne whitifh pce- 
CCS in ic, which is the belt, forwhereas Dio/cortdet commendeth that which is fotnewhat greene, Ihavenoe 
fecnc any fuch, nor read that any hath ever fecne it, and it is very likely that the Grceke word v"r«^«£7 ( ,which 
Diofcerides uletll, xmybzubtiprecolorepallefcente, as well as fdbviridi, and fo RenieUtitu noteth it inhisChap- 
ter de Gobtopi/ce, and to be taken here in the former fence. Myrrhe as I faid before is in fight fo like unto BdeUi. 
Km, that they are (ooue miftaken by thofe that are not expert,but hath thefe notes and differences: it is excreame 
brter, and fo is not Bdellium, it is paler,fattcr.calicr tobe broken, and of a more qnicke fharpe fent, fothat the 
beft Myrrhe, may be both knowne of it fclfc and hereby from Bdellium , that it is of a purplifh browne colour, in 
great peeces and fattifh ( for the greater pceces retaine their fatneffe longer, and are not fo foonedryed by the 
a s rc) with (ome whitifh peeces or veines therein, extreame bitter in tafle.and fmelleth fomewhat fharpe and bit- 
ttrwithall. Divers bavediveifly thought ofMyrihe, fome fuppofing Myrrhe tobe Benzoin, and Bdellium to be 
Myrrhe,and that we had no true Myrrhe,ef- e centra,tbit we had 
Mirrhe and no true 'Bdellium, becaufc fo little that was good, 
was formerly brought to beufed, that they might beplaine- 
ly diftinguifhed, and the rather becaufe that Calm faith 
Myrrhe, will be fome times changed into Opoca/pa/nm, which 
is venemous and deadly, and is fo like it,that as he faith in his 
time many were killed therewith,who yet finding it to be ve¬ 
ry effefluall for fundry dilcafes of the eyes, thought it might 
be as effeffuall for inward difeafes: the notesof which Opo- 
calpafum (as Galen calieth it,or Opccarpafum the juyceof C" r - 
pafttm as 'Dtofcondcs callcth it in hisfixth Book and 11.Chap¬ 
ter among the venemous plant' , but maktth no defeription 
thereof in any of his former Bookes)as I finde them fet down 
in iPeckers Antidotarie in the examination ofMyrthe) are 
thefe : becaufc faith tVccktr ttue Opocalpafitm is not ulually 
to be feene to com pate it with Myrrhe, yet if you (hall per¬ 
ceive in Myrrhe lome pceces tobe much differ ingboth in fent 
and tafie from true Myrr he,you may wel & not without good 
reafon judge that it is changed into Opocalpafum,{m although 
both in colour and futftance it be like to the beft Mytrhe.vvith 
whitifh veines therein like unto the nailes of ones hand, yet 
examining it mote thoroughly, it will be found not to be 
Myrrhe, and that there will likewife fome rcddifhcleere 
fpots appeare therein •• ic behoveth therefore to be cauteious 
in the choyfe of Myrrhe, that you be not deceived with the 
fhe w or likeneffe, hut obferve that ic have all the true notes 
of ttue Myrrhe, leaft while you thinkc you have the true 
Myrthe,you have this poyfon, if it be inwardly taken, which 
cenfumeth the corrupt mattering and watering of the eyes to 
beufed outwardly : which mctamorpholis (ifitbetrue, or 
that G-jAkicamfhonld be changed into Sagapenum or Cajfia into Cinamon were very miraculous yet herein the 
eld Authours are very frequent,but I thinke of thefe miracles, which arcthe converfions offubflances, asl doe 
of their tranlmigration of fouler) Din/Mwfctmakethno mention of ic,but faith that the jayceofCurpafum^ whe¬ 
ther herbeor tree) was venemous as T‘xw,£tcMta.ind many other was, and tobecured with the fame remedies 
thac ficuta was. Die; r ceridei faith that out of the fatted Myrrhe called Pediafimoi,being preffed is taken Stacie ■ yet 
Pliny faith that the trees doc fwcate out Stable, of their ownc accord before they be cut, which is accounted 
to be the Sty rex hejutda of our flxoppes,both by the Arabians and other later writers as Mattliielui faith, himfelfe 
alio being of that opinion, whereof I cannot but mervaile that be or any other duely confidering our Styrax liejm- 
da, both the forme and fent fo farre differing from Mitthe,(houldthinke it tobe preffed out of fat Myrrhe,being 
of lb fine a fharpe bitter aromaticall fent, and th eStyrax litjuida, rather loathfome then pleafant. Dtofcoridrs 
maketh mention of one fort of Mytrhe called Aminnea, which Ga/cxcalleth Mir.ea (Matthio/m taking them to be 
divers,and not one fort of Myrrhe) whichfome thinke to be the Gumtne Anime, called by the PortugaUs Cam 
Atrijmtm, comming from Ethiopia, for there is another of the Weft Indies whcreofl fhall intreate hereafter, but 
herein I thinltethcyaiedeceived. Galen faith that Myrrhe is hot and dry in the fecond degree, and therefore is 
good for wounds in the head: and by the bicterncffe which is not little.it killetb the wormes in the belly, and 
the living childe, expelling the dead: it hath in it alfo a binding quality, whereby being mingled with eye me¬ 
dicines it helpeth ulcers and great fcartes, and for the fame caufe is good to be put among thole things are good 
foranold cough and fhottneffe of bieath, the bitterneffe not harming the winde pipe or throate, 
but gently clenfing and heating, it helpeth the roughnefle of the winde pipe or throate, faith Dhfcori- 
det, and thofe thac are hoarfe,and have loft their tongue as we call it: itisgoodalfo againft the paines of the 
(ides, the laske and bloody flix, and rheumatickc deftillations; it fpeedily procurerh womens coutfes and molli¬ 
fy eih thehardneffe of the matrix; italfo taketh away the (hivering fits of agues, being taken two houres before 
ic come t but Matthiolus faith that by taking a drarnme of Myrrhe in Mufcadine, tiling it three timet, an hourc 
before his fits, he was cured of a quartaine ague.buc he did therewithal! prefently after the taking thereof (wear 
moderately in his bed:pilles likewife faith he made with it and Treakle,is cffetftuall for the fame purpofc,to take 
one at a timeasbigge as a peafe,an hourc before the fits for many dayes together: it isalfo a great preftrvative in 
the Plague or pcftiience, and againft chevenome or poyfon of Serpents and harmefull creatures, and therefore 
: put into Antidotes and counter poyfons: it is a lingular remedy for a (linking breath, fafleneth loofe teeth,and 
ftayeth 
