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Show 1404. Cwar.68, Theatram Botanicum. 1 Ficus vulgar, The ordinary Figge tree. Trips, Trese 16, The Theater of Plants, Cua P.69. 7495 Beefe that ishard, ic will thereby becometender and foft, the wilde Figge tree, and the milke thereofis more effe@uall chen that ofthe manured : ifthe leaves of the Figge tree be rubbed overthepiles, they will open a- 4. Chameficus, ‘The dwarfe Figge tree. gaineand bleede: the Figges them(elves are hot and moift,and nourith well, the dryed better then the greene to they be temperatety taken, for che continuall sK ufe of them breedill blood, puffe up the body with loofe Aeth,and caufe themtobecomeloufie; yet Galen faith that the ufe of Figges and Grapes,in bis old age,aboveall otherfruic did him leattharme: ifthey be eaten while they are frefh and greene, they loofen trouble the ftomacke : the dryed Figgesdoe heate the ftomacke, and caufe cbirlt, the belly, but doe fomewhat for the throate, and arteries, the reignes and bladder, and to rcgaine a good colouryet they nourifh and are good to themthat by long ficke: neffe have loftit: Figges are one-of Mirbridates three ingredievt: into his antidote, againtt both poyfon and Plague, as you have heard before in Wallnutsand Rue: che decoftion of Figges, Hiffope and Licoris, is avery good Ptifane drinke to hetpe an old cough, hoarfeneffe and thortneffe of breath, and all the difeates ofthe bret and lungs, and is good al(o in dropfies,and thefalling ficknefle, and for the Quine alfo, a flit figge tofted and Yi 2 oY held to an aking tooth, dothoften cafe the paines; twoor three Figges flit, and laid all Fitsee nightin agua vite, are very good for thofe that are purfie and fhort winded, totskethem in the m arming. Figges bruifed and applyed with Barley meale, and the pouther of Fenugrecke fecde doe moliifie the hard tumouts and kernells, und.t the throate and eares,and elfewhere, as alfo the hardneffe of the Mother, andiffomel eaven and fale be putto them, it breaketh Plague fores,and it may be was the fame Hezechias ufed : they are mixed alfo, not as Pliny batt it, With ware «Sus, sd effflore aris ( but with travCalcanths, that is, Copperas, as Diofeorides hath the word being miftaken by Pfny,) againft che inveterate fores of the legges, andall other foule running ulcers : being boyled in Wine with W ormewood, and then appiyed with barly meale,are very profitably of thofe thathaveadropfie : and beaten wich fale and applyed, taketh awaythe itch and applyed to the belly {cab, and the afhes alia of them being madeup intoa falve and applyed,healeth kibes,andchilblaines : the dryed milke of the wild Figge y t tree,as well asthe tame doth curdle milke like rennet, and diffolveth it being curdled, as vinegar + this milke of the juyce taken fromthe young lancke branches,is moilt fit to ufe inwardly againit the poyfon of Gypfam, and the Phalanginns Spider, but outwardly applyed it is good for many things, as put intoan hollow tooth, it cafeth the paine, the fame mingled with the juyce ofMultard, and droppzd into the eares,eafeth the paines, noife, and itch in them, and helpeth the deafenefle ; applyed toa place bitten or ltung, by any mad dogge or venemous creature, taketh away the paine and danger together: the {ame alfo made up with Barley meale, healeth the running fores of the head, and likewife helpeth the Lepry,Morphew,the white fcurfe,and moilt fcabbes, pufhes; wheales, and all other eruptionsin the skinne, of difcolourings in the face: the lye that is made of the branches ofthe wilde or tame Figgetree, being burncto afhes, after it is cleered, is accounted among caufticke medicines: ding downewards : thefruite or Figges are {maller,even in our Country thénthe laft, but of the fainé colour; andreafonably well tored on them, this is tenderer then the other,andi s ufually planted in boxes,to be removed into ftoves for the Winter time,and fet abroad in Summer like our Orengetrees, The Place and Time, ‘The manuted Figgehath beeneas I fuppofe alwayes planted whereit inany Country, the wild being found fo in {undry places, it is thought that both the other came out of gtew Barbaryinto Spaine, Italy, and other places where they grow,and beare ripe finite bothinthe Spting and c4ngufP, or September, which in Spaine are after the gathering laid in the Sunne todry, that they maythe better be kept all the yeare after, The Names. The trée is called in Greeke oxi and the fruite odxov,in Latine Ficus both tree and frnite : the wild Figge tree is called in Greeke wi) 29 eizand eerveds by,Galen and others, in Latine Ficus fylvefiris, eo Caprific us + the unripe fruite of the manured, as alfo of the wilde kinde is called in Greeke 2avSS-, and in Latine Groff, but pro Olnthus, aswellas Groffus doe fignifie the earelyripe of each fort : the dryed Fi 2gesare called in Greeke! and of fome #0,2s Paulus e£ginetws and others, in Latine Carice, yet Pliny faith that Caricaisa peculiar kinde ofFigge, growing in Syria, fo you fee the word is ufed both by Greekes nells within the Figgeis called by the Greekes xyyesyidhs, and bythe and Latines, the eraines or {mall kerLatines Ficaria, Pviny lib,1$.c.19,call them Frumenta,the earely Figges are called in Greeke wess2-teot quali precurfores, in Latine precoes and Gr fomeas is before {aid, the branches of the tree are called Crade both in Greeke and Latine, yer Nicaw terpreter dothcall the Figgesthemfelves fo, In the Welt Indies where it hath beene planted by neverloofeth the leaves,God fo providing them a remedy ar all times again{t the venome of their Spide is the milke comming from the tree,when theleaves are broken off, The firft is ufually called Fic communis by all; In our Summer Iflands they growfo mellow, as that theywill be dryed arnohand to | long,as thofe in Spaine are (which commech to paffe as I hinke, for want ofskill in taking them in th that is,before they grow too ripe and mellow.) The fecond as [ faid before iscalled Ficus /ylve(tre Thethird iscalled Fices nigra,or perpurea, and of fome or dwarfe Fig is more truely called fo, and fome that they Ficus de eAlgarva, yet fome do may be both called’ Ficus de va: itisgenerally called Chameficus,or humilis Ficus,and Ficus pumila bydiverfe, Lugdunenfis callethir C {yce ar Bore: The 4. rabians call it Sixor Fin, orTiny the Italians Fichi, the Spaniards Hygos, the French Pigues,and the tree Figsier, the Germanes Feighenbaum,the DutchFeigenboom, ; and we in Englife Figges, and Figgetree, The Fertues, ee ? The Figgetree ishot, and ofthinne parts,which the milke ken, and the juyce taken from them, whenthey are young thar iffueth from the leaves and branches,being broand preffed forth, doe Plainely declare, being exceeding hot,not onelybiting and fharpe, or forcibly clenfing, : Hie veines,and taking away wartes, asalfo that it purgeth, bureven exulcerating and offending the mout yerisitnot fafeto cake it inway ly, for feare of exulcerating inwardly, yea the branches of the tree are of fuchan hot temper, that ifthey be put to. boyle with Beefe , é it helpeth running cankers and Gangrenes,and confiwmeth W arts and Wennes,by dipping fome Wooll or Spung therein, and dayly applying it thereto, andis fometimes dropped into heliow Vicers, that fret and and are fullofmoift humours, forit clenfeth, fodereth,and bringeth up flefh therein, and clofethup the creepe, lippes thereof, likethofé plaifters that are es to preene wounds : itis likewile drunke by them that have the bloody flixe and old defluétions; to difperfealfothe congealed blood inthe body, by any bruife or fall, adding thereto alitcle oyle and water,andfo it is taken by them thac haveeither mprure or convulfion. ‘Reekins faith, tharif a Bull,be he never fo mad,be tyed to a Figgetree,he will quickely become tame and gentle: and fome have affirmed,that the Figge tree and the Bay,are not blafted with lightning. The blewFigge is nodoubt of the fame operation with the white toall purpofes, bur che fruice commeth moft to maturity with usjand eaten with great pleaftre with fale and Pepper, Cuarp. LXIX. Mafaarbor, The Indian Figgeor Plantainc tree, Bye: doe make this tree (or plant,whichfoever you pleafe to call it,in that it dyeth yearely) one of the forts of Dates, but very erronioufly,for it may in my judgement be moretruely referred tothe Figges, as divers others dot,and therefore I rhinke meeteft tobe joyned unto them, {erifeth ap tothe heighth of fixe or feyen cubits, witha ftreight ftemme or ftalke, asbiege as ones thigh or arme, net wooddy at all, but of a foft fubftance, and as ic were compofed of a number of foulded leaves together, fo thar it mayeatily be curdowne withthe blow of afword, or withaknife, witha pith like marrow within, not{preading any branch at all,but compaffed about with many very large leaves,foulding themfelves asthey rile, like the leaves of the fowring Indian Reede;_ which when they are {pread openat large, are each of thema fathome fometimes or more,and ufually foure or five foote long, and two foote; or fometimes a yard broad; hanging almoft quite downe,with a great thicke rib running through the middle, and not cut inon the edges in anyplace: the lower leaves ftill falling away being dryed, and broken off with the winde, leaving the ftemmeorftalke bare, untill ic haveatrained untoabove a mans height, where itbufheth fortha many thelike large leaves, that are of a darke greene colour onthe upperfitle, and paler anderneath;in the midit whereof thrufteth forth a great long bunch of flowers; as bigge asan Eftridge egge,of a ruffetifh purple colour, divided into many clufters, each flower where- stinoy & of faith ene is Letionarci{fo mayor, foliorumextrema (ubjftringens colore pheniceus, after which fucceede the fruite/a growing in the fame manner tn clufters, at feverail {paces or diftances of the great long {talkes, two of three hundred many times together,cach whereof is long and round, in fome places greater and {maller then in others, fomea {pan long or more (and onefort in the Kingdome of Congo, is {maller, but better rellithed then the ordinary, yet rate and motto be found but in very few places elfethat®I can learne) fomewhat refembling a {mall Cowcumber, of a firmer fubftance then a Figge whenitis cut, and without any graine or kernell withimit, havinga little hollowneffe in the middie, where it may feeme tobe parred intwaine, andareofadarke greenifh colour being unripe, but ofa whicith yellow if they: be fuffered togrow to the full maturity, ‘but many doe cut them downebeforethey are throughripe, andeither hang them up in their houfes toripen; or to carry to Seato tpend afterwards, for bejng gathered ripe, they will not laft long the outer skinneis tobe pared or agar |