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Show Ofthe Hittorie of Plants. "aEY Lis. 2. Ofthe Hiftory ofPlants. ———————— was firft of late difcouered by thelearned Projper Alpinuswho writ a peculiar trad thereof, and it is alfoagainefigured and defcribed in his worke de Plantis exoticis, Our Countryman M' Tohn Pay. kinfon hathalfofet forth verywell boththefigure anddefcription hereof,in his Paradifus terrefris, This plant hath manylarge roots diuerfly {preading in the ground,of a yellow colour,from which 4 Rha Ponticum Sitcatum, Rubarb ofPontus dried, Gq The Tecmperature, Rubarb is ofa mixt fubftance , temperature andfaculties : fome ofthe parts thereof are earthy, binding and drying : others thin, growvp many very great leaues like thofeof the Butter-burre, but of a frefh greene colour, With great and manifeft veines difperfed ouerthem. The ftalke alfo is large and cre fted, fending forth fundry branches bearing many {mall white floures,which are fucceeded by feeds three fquare and airious,hor,and purging. brownifh,like as thofe of other Docks. D*.Lifter one of his Maiefties Phyfitions was thefirft ther enricht this kingdome withthis elegant and vfefull plant, by fending the {eedes thereofto Mt GQ The Vertues. ParkinfonsProfper Alpinus proues this tobe the true R42 of the Anticnts,defcribed by Diofcorides, Lib.3.cap.2.yet neither he nor any other (that I know of)haue obferued afault, whichI morethan Rubarb is commended by Dioftorides a. A gainft windinefleweakneffe of the ftomack and all griefes thereof, convulfions, difeafes ofthe fpleene, liuer, and kidnies, gripings probably fufpedcttobee in the text of Diofcorides in that placewhichis in the word edrere, Which] tudge fhould be snin,that is,yellow, and not blacke, as Ruelliws and others haue tranflated it: no pianis a word frequently vied by Déo/corides as may appeare by the Chapters ofAicracinmmagnum & parvum,Conyra,Peucedanum, Ranunculzs, and diuers others, and I fu {peat the like fault may bee and inward gnawingsofthe guts, infirmities found in fome other places of the fame Authour. But I willnofurther infift vpon this,feeingthe ofthe bladder and cheft,fwelling about the heart, difeafes of the matrix, paine in tHe thingit felfe in all other refpeas,asalfo in ycllowneffe fhewes it felfe to be that deferibed by 2i. ofcorides,and that my coniectute muft therefore be true. And befides,the root wherto he compares huckle bones, {pitting of bloud, fhortneffe It is voter, that is Rubefcems,or ratherexflauo rubefcens, as any verfed in reading Diofcorides mayer ofbreath, yexing, or the hicket, the bloudie flix, the laske proceeding ofraw humors,fits in Agues, and againft the bitings of veno- . mousbeafts. Moreouer he faith, that it taketh away fily gather by diuets places in him.NowI here omit his words sbecaufe they are in the nextde. fcription alledged by our Authour,as alfo the defcription ofour ordinarily vfed Rubarb, for that it is fufficiently deferibed vnder the followingtitle of the choife thereof. M*. Parkinfon is ofopi. nien thatthis is the true Rubarbe vfed in thops,onelyleffe heauy,bitter,and ftrong in working,by reafon ofthe diuerfity of our climat from that whereas the dried Rubarb broughtvsv fually grows, This his opinionis very probable , and ifyou compare the roots together,you maycafily bee induced tobe ofthe fame beleefe. + blacke and blewfpots, and tetters or Ring- wormes, ifit be mixed with vineger, and the place anointed therewith. t+ 4 The Ponticke Rubarbe is leffer and flenderer than that of Barbarie. TouchingPontick Rubarbe D/ofcorides writeth thus : Rha that diuerscall Rheon,which growethin thofe places that are beyond Bofphorus,from whenceit is brought,hath yellowroots like to the great Centorieput leffer and redder, eves, that is to fay,without {mell (Dodoneus thinkes it fhould beetous,thatis, well fmelling){pongie,and fomething light. That is the beft which is not worme-eaten,and tated is fomewhat vifcide with alight aftriGtion, and ee becomes of a yellow or Saffron colour. The Place. It is broughtout of the Countrey ofSina eMohm called China) which is toward the Eaft in the vpperpart of Indiasand that India which is without the riuer Ganges : and notat all Ex Scenitarum prouincia,(as many do vnaduifedly thinke)whichis in Arabia the Happie,and far from China:it groweth on thefides of the riuerRha nowcalled Volga,as Amianus Marcellus {aithyrhich riuer {pringeth out ofthe Hyperborean mountaines, and running through Mufcouia,falleth into the Cafpian or Hircanfea. : + The Rha of the Antients growes naturally,as Alpinus faith,vponthe hill Rhodope in Thrace, now called Romania. Itgrowesalfoas I haue beeninformed vpon fome mountaines in Hung rie.It is alfo to be found growing in fome ofour choice gardens. $ The choice ofRubarbe. : The beft Rubarbe is that whichis brought from China frefh and new, of a light purplifhe, withcertaine veines and branches, of an vncertainevarietie of colour, commonly whitifh :but when it isoldthe colour becommeth ill fauored by turning yellowith or pale, but more,ifit bee worme eaten :being chewedin. the mouthit is fomewhat gluie and clammie,andof a faffronco lour,whichbeing rubbed vpon paperor fome white thing fheweththe colour naore plainely: fubftance thereofis neither hard or clofely compaéted, nor yet heauy;but fomething light,andas it were ina middlebetweene hard and loofeand fomething fpungie: it hath alfo a pleafing fmell. Thefecond in goodneffe is thatwhich commeth from Barbarie, Thelaft and worft fromBofphorus and Pontus. c @ The Names. te Itis commonlycalled in Latine Rha Barbarum,or Rha Barbaricum-of diyers,Rhew Barbarum: Moores and Arabians doe more truely nameit RanedSeni, a Sinenfi pronincia ; from whence * : broughtinto Perfiaand Arabia,and afterwards into Europe: and likewife from Tanguth,throug" the land ofCataia intothe land ofthe Perfians,whereofthe Sophie is the ruler, and from thete into Agypt,and afterwardsinto Europe. Itis called ofthe Arabians andthe people ofco ’ the parts adiacent, Rawend Cini,RauedSeni, and Rawed Scenisin fhops,Rhabarbarum : in Englifh, barb,and Rewbarbe. qt Galen affixmesit to begood for burftings, C ctamps, and convulfions, and for thofe that are fhort winded,and that {pit bloud. But touching the purging facultie nei- D ther Diofcorides nor Galen hath written any ~ thing, becaufe it was not vfed in thofe daies to purge with. Galez held opinion, that the thinne airious patts doe make the binding qualitie of more force ; not becaufe it doth refit the cold and earthy fubftance, but by reafon thatit carrieth the fame, and maketh it deeply topierce, and thereby toworkethe greater effect ; the dry and thinneeffence containingin it felfea purging force and qualitie to open obftruations, but helped and made morefacile by the fubtil and airious parts. Paulus -Agineta eemeth to be thefirft that madetriall of the purging facultie of Rubarb , forin his firft booke,Chap.43. hemaketh mention thereof,wherehe reckoneth vp Turpentine amongthofe medicines which make the bodies offuchas are in health foluble: But when we purpofe,{aith he, to make the turpentine more ftrong, weadde vntoit alittle Rubarb. The Arabians that followed himbroughtit toa further vie in phyficke,as chiefely purging downward choler, and oftentimes flegme. : The purgation whichis made with Rubarbis profitable and fit for all fich as be troubled with & choler, and for thofe that areficke offharpe andtertianfeucrs, or haue the yellowjaundice,or bad livers, Itis a good medicineagainft thepleurifie, inflammation ofthe lungs, the fquinancieor Squin- F cie, madnefle,frenfie, inflammation ofthe kidnies,bladder,and all the inward parts, and efpeciallyagainft S. Anthonies fire, as well outwardly as inwardly taken. : Rubarb is vndoubredlyan efpeciall good medicinefor the liuer and infirmities ofthe gall ; for G belies’ that it purgeth forth cholericke and naughty humors, it remoueth ftoppings out of the conduits, _Italfo mightily ftrengthneth theintrals themfelues : infomuch as Rubarbis iuftly termed of H diuers the life of the liuer ; for Galen in his eleuenth booke of the method or manner of curing, af- firmeth that fuch kinde ofmedicines are moft fit and profitable for the liuer, as haute ioyned with 2 purging and opening qualitieanaftringent or binding power. The quantitic that is robe giuen is from onedram totwo ; andthe infufion fromoneand a halfe to three. Ttis giuen or fteeped, andthat in hot difeafes, with the infufionordiftilled water of Succory, Endiue, or fomeother ofthe like nature ; and likewife in Whay; and ifthere be noheate it may begiuenin Wine, 1 t I |