OCR Text |
Show Seat) 7eh9 | of CLHAP. 33° um. T beatrum Botanic aes Tripe17. er our, he fell intoanother asbad, takinh Jris tuberofa, the Velvet Flowerde luce himlelfe refufed ~~having tobe Hermodattiles, for the fame caule that the rootes thereof runne outlikefingers; whicharefuchfilly opinions that he may juttly be beaten with his owne rod, thatis,be taxedashedoth others, that in referring Plants dog not examine and well perpend eachpert, rather then any one, before they determine of any thing ¢. for Hermo-' dactiles notwithtanding the Etimology of the word, haveno fhew'orlikeneffe of fingers, but. aré {mall and fomewhar flat, thicke and fhort white roojes, yet fome areblackifh, which are not goodof the fafhion almoft of an heart, asitis painted on the Cardes, of fubftance firme, yet foftandeafie to be cut or made into pouther, and ot little or no tafle, bat drying, Mafter Finch our London Merchant washercin deceived. by taking the kernellsof the Tribulus aquaticus Water Calcroppe, for Hermodadtiles as Ithinke, as Ihave fhewedyou in that Chapter : Yet I would we might bebetter informed of the truth herein, that if any can finde thac bigger fruite, growingin any ofthe ponds or waters in our Land or elfewhere, by breaking the wooddy fhells of them, and comparing the kernells with our Hermoda¢tiles in hope, that fo thereby we be fully aflured ofthe cruth hereof. Iris moft ¢#@tuall in purging Aegmaticke,flimy, and watery humours fromthe joynts, and therefore conduceth to hs Ipe the goutand other ranning joyntaches, itis alfo ofmuch ufe with other things for dyet drinkes, that are made of Gaajacum, Sarfa and the like,and tovery good purpofe. one iti The Theater of Plants, ee Cuar,343 a ee humours of the dropfieyprovoketh urine and hel and fera fi firmeand dainty i ME: aiebladder, miro, Turners may y herewith herewith feca ae 1589 kidneyes fs In the Kidneyes red colour ito their Workes,by holding it eis Cuap. XXXIV. Lapis Bexar, os ge “weal i? hws ae} The Bezar ftone, He Bezar ftone that is now frequent withus, bue not chat minéral] Bezar ft i other Arabian, whofe knowledgeis now quite loft, is of fohighefteem e. a and the horne, andof fo muchand excellentnfein Phyficke that 1 could auipicaveitoaths Siac thofe efpeciall drugges we.have for ufe in our fhoppes. There are two forts thereof pe ee ountries knowne by the teverall Re andndcom Indies Welt albyt Se their y + the Ealt hs other g Indie-Bezar isthe belt,bftom oth inthe eftima tion and ,ufe,a meth tons; shicleteiez es and of fundry fizes, for fome are great, and thofe are for Princes and great perfons becaufe we anaLoris, morerare to be found, but thonght to be of the more efficac and y, therefore as Disthonds P a ene of themrifeth according to their greatneffe, Garcias faith he had one weighing almoft fi inninee eee rare to have Cuap. XXXII one of that bignefle, but I have feene fome that have wtigi teices io Lacca. Gum Lake. Spay Acca isno gumme diflilling out oftreés as other gummesdoe,althoughit will mele with heat and burné | withfire as they will butis a certaine peculiar matter, elaborate and wroughtby certaine great wing- pias) ed Ants that breed in the ground, and fucking our from great trees ofdivers forts but efpecially from ES that whichis called AZu/s Indica, hereafter fet downe, from which they take the fub{tance ofwhat they ework,about the {maller branches(as Bees doe their hony and hony combes)and makethis Lacea,whichis a’darke red {ubftance, {mewhattran{parenc, fomewhatlike, bat harder then any Gumme, which being chewed will make the fpittielooke red, andis firlt wrought on ftickes by the Natives of the Countries (the Ants Imeane) then melted being cleered from the {tickes, and the winges of the Ants,and madeinto cakes or thin peeces.which are fo brought tons as wellas on the ftickes, and isthe originall ofthe hard waxe, wherewith Letters are {ealed bythe helpe of a candle, whofe colloures ofred, greene,yellow or blacke, are added inthe new meltingof icagaine, and making into fuchroulesas webuy itto{pend, but fome to adulterate it, and makeit cheaper, put ufually waxe intoit, which maketh it fofter andrunne quicker: itiscalled as Garcias faith by the Indians in Peen,and Afartaban, where thebeft is made, Trec, butelfewhere generally by che Arabians,Perfians, and 8 T 8 1BE 17, Laeces Gum Lacke. Indians Loc, and Lee Sumutri, as though it were made in Sumatra, burthat faith he is not fo, foritis but imported thither, and exported againe into other Countries. Great controverlies are extant about chis Lecea, whether it fhould be the Cancamum of Diofcorides or no,for the name of Lacca wasneither knowne to him, nor any of the Grecians or Latines, nor yetto Parnlus Agineta, a later Grecke writer, or in the age wherein he lived, as Scaliger {erteth it downein is notes upon Gartias, although Avicen and Serapio feeme to cite Pa#/us to be of that opinion : but Garcizs faith thatneither Avices nor Serapioknew Lacca, becaufe they make it tobe like Myrthe, and that it is fweete (as Diofcorides {aith Cancamum is) and thereforeufed asa perfume, both which properties are wanting in Lacca,and furtherfaith Avicen,that it hath perties of Carabe Amber, although unlike ic in fubftance, and yet Caraée isknowne to be drying and binding, and Laccaisan opener of obfiruétions : And againc he faith that Lacee falleth fromthe aire, uponService trees, when as neither any Service nor Mcdler trees growin Indiaas Garcias {aith,andthat it A isthe pumme of a tree growing in Arabia, and tharit is brought from Armenia, which things if they be true concerning Caxcamum, they are mot fo for Lace, for fa theyfay it is the Cancamum of Diofcorides, and fromtheir opinions have the fucceeding ages been¢ led to hold the fame errour for the moft part: for the Monkes that commented upon A4é/ues, fubftituted Sanger draconis for Cancamum, whom Matthiolus confatethfafficiently : Some againe tooke Benzoin tobe Cancamam, whichis asetronions as any : Amatns Lujitanus and Garcias doe bothagree, that the true Cancamuns is the Gum Aime, called by foe Anijmum, efpecially that fort that is whitifh and cleere,like unto white Amber, for there are three forts brought from Ginny,and thofepartsby the Portwgals : The fecond fort is blackifh, fomewhat like unto Co- Jophoxy, which Amatus taketh to bethe Adyrrha Aminea of Diofcorides, The third fort is yellowith and drylike Roffin, but all {mall fweer being barned,and are good againtt cold eriefes, The Lacke or Laake,which is acolour for Painters, is madé of Braffill or other dying fuffes, & hath in former times been put veryignorantly by fome A- pothecaries into the compofition called Die/acca, but that error is well reformedfince the true Lacca was br ought and made knowne tothem. Lacca is hot in the fecond degree, it (trengtheneth both the ftomacke and liver,and freeth them from obfiructions,and diffolveth the hardnefie of the Liver, helpeth che yellow jaundife and — orth on pe ee r fome much more ( but Tamin doubt that they were counterfeir, and made fogreat by are heddyecun efteeme, for Laccountothe {mall ones or thofe of a meane fize to be the trueft andb {tif be) fone ofthe mote others long or fomewhat flat, yet all ofthemforthem ft part ofone colour, that ae ian we yout greene darke Ollive colour, and {mooth fhining, (as if they were made out of onwailvaptnn ee a with fundry coates, feales orfouldes like Onions, fome more, fomeleffe,according to the on re and the fcales thicker or thinner alfo thereafter, having in fomea ftrawor peeceof thinspeat : oe a i — Ss pouther in the middle whereabouts the ftoneis formed, andis accounted Soters clofe toge~ thers have {mall ftonesof fruites,or other thiags in the middl e of them are net though aise pelarraotha se “es = aahore being broken, I meane thewhich {cales: the belhtity a Lote be bruifed into pouther and , as fome fay Mia diffol pohme) a i infppide ace y diffolv j vine ifitly havat i pit done soe ing in water,if itlye long therei n (whic h I amin doubris 4 fend any tafte atall, 1 he Welt Indie Bezar islikeyife of divers formes, fizes, and colours, fome having feales thicker or thinner, and fome none, with either poutheror peece of aroote,or fome other thing in the middle of the {tone, butisof nothing that account withus as the Eaft Indian Bezar is, although fome thinke they are taken from one kind of beaft,and as Jo/wa Ferrws faith inhis Bookeoffecrets, Printed inthe Lapis Berar cum ungala 9 cornuario mali The Bezarftone with the hoofe and hati of he be, ee dtalian tongue, (on whole relations concerning thefe beafts, and the Bezar taken from them, Baptifta Cortefius, hath commentedinhis eighth decade Mifcelancorum medicinalinm. ) there are fix forts of thefe bealts,in the Welt Indies in whom they breed, but that thofe onelyare of moft vertue that are taken from thofe beafts that live on the hils and mountaines, and feed on the more vertuall herbes there growing, and namely Contrayerva as the Spaxiards call it, which maketh the {tone to be the moreeffectual (for as Ferrms {aith,fome of the roote hath beene found in the middle of the ftone,) they forthe moft part grow inthe Plaines and Champion grounds: tas Afonardus defcribethit,bett ing but one ofthefixe forts, is almoft as biggeasa ftagee, and of the like quickneffe and agility, but bodyed like a Goate, with hornes turned backewards (the figure whereof as C/ufins olinaa pied he hath fet forth with anes)an eatenere dtherefem orethe Nativ tescllchem » onesieatesGye * joates (ye onte tha ave errms nhisoreies ou wih he fall relation of them all, )neyvl ahd tmore propérlyperadventure as Clufius faith, Rapi Rocke Goates, (but ne “4 y is fe to Monardus de(cribing that beaft or Goate, which onelycapre as he faith breedeth in the *sorter#, andinno other Countryes* in thofe Indies befide, and out of which they gather ed their Bega |