OCR Text |
Show Pbilofopbical History of Plants. Leaves of Tamarishs wt | while they grow, or when immediately gathered, are plainly s How they vary with the {ge ofthe Plant, or Part 5 as the Roots of Radifhe s, growing up to Seed, lofe the ftrength oftheir Te/?; fo moft Fruits are firlt Sowre, then Sweet. W propertothe feveral Parts ofany one Plant: {> the Leawes of Wormwood are extraordinary Bitter; the Root fearcely fo at all; of an Hot, but quitedifferent Tu/?e. What more Common,or Rare, toany Part; fo no Root that I evertafted, isSowre . And how they Alternate in feveral Plaxis; asthe Root ofSto ke Fuly-flowe ris biting, not the Leaves ; onthe contrary, the Leaves of the Weatermart, are Biting; but not the Roots and the like. To which we ry add the difference of Time wherein the Taftes of Plants are per- eived 5 asthofe of Arum, and Rape-Crowfoot, are both Biting ; but that of the firft, as it is {lowly perceived, fo it continues long ; that of the other, quickly comes, and quickly goes. Amongit the other Adjuntts of the Cowtained Parts, though not of thefe only, the Faculties of Vegetables are to be reputed. For fo the Rofiz of Falap, which is Purgative, is as truly contained in thc il Parts of that Root, as efore to makeparticulz od is in Veins: It will be requi bfervation of thefe alfo. And firft, Faculties chiefly mayrefide in Plants, above others: {o there is none of | nown ufein Salivation, except by holdin in g the mouth: h we mayask, Why fome amonett them, may not (being Ta- vardly) have a powerto evacuate by This,as well as other Violent ways? Where the Faculty is more univerfally {pread overall the Parts of a Vegetable, as inAfarum. Where belonging chiefly or wholly lar Parts or Part; as chiefly to the Root of Rhubarh: > the true and er Seed of Barbado Nuts. Whether fome may be proper to fonx Parts e{pecially. ve Ci growing; Z though fome j enfible Qualities. What conjut So, many Purgers, a but alfo Mucilaginous : Bry ! and therefore probably Rhubarb, I rs, Violets,vc. Such as are Purging and Vom tory, of them have aftrong Tufte, yet the greater part, and of the ftronger fort, have no Tafte, or not Great; as Scammony, Hellebore, Afarum, and others, Among ft although Hellebore hathavery Durable Tufte, yet is it not ve- High or Great. So alfo, thofe that are moft fenfi y tafted, are, I ‘or the moft part, more orlefS Bitter; either fimply, as Colo- 5 or Bitter and Aftringent, as Rhubarb; or Bitter and Sweet, as Aloe 5 or Bitter, Aftringent, and Sweet, as Agarick . Feware Hot, as Iris. Ox fimply Sweet. And though fome maybe Subacid, that are Mollifying or Lenitive, yetno proper Purge or Vomit is Somre. Such Plants asare of a foft and fweetith Tafte, without Vifcofi ty, may beac- counted good Antifcorbuticks, efpecially again{t the Sea, or other Salt- Scurvey 5 as are good fweet Peafe: And fometimes the Water or Spirit of the Shells ; which may eafily be drawn from them, being firft duly fermented, and hath a true Vivows Tafte ; but very mild, and not unpieatant. Thofe Plats, whofe Parts are not only Hot but Volatile, as Ovions, are generally good for Burvs. Such as have a Balfanic h, Tafte or Smell, with a little Aftringency, as Hyperic um, Golden-Rod, Laminm Lutenm,&«. the belt Wound-Herbs. Andfach asare gently Bitter. Bitter, and Penetramt uponthe Tongue, or in the Throat, as Daifj, Ana gallis,good Cleanféers, That fuch Bodys,principally,are Avodyne, which are Yellow, I think, is more than a conceit; Yelks of Eggs, Foenugreek Seeds, Lint-feed Oyl, May-Butyr, Marrow, Pinguedo Humana, Hyof: cyamus luteus, Safron, Sulphur, Opium, all Anodyne and Yelow. How likewife their Faculties and Qualities may vary their Degrees, either differently or together: fo Aloe and Colocynthis, are both Bitterin the higheft Degree; yet Aloe, which is alfo sweet, Purgeth more moderately 5 Colocynthis, which is Bitter, but not Sweet,moft Violently. How far the Faculties of Vegetables, as wellas their Qualities, may be Compounded; where, and which chiefly 5 as Aftriétive and Purgative in Rhabarb. Where this Queftion may be put, Whether divers other, and yet more extreme Faculties, as well asthefe of Aftritive and Pur. gative, may not fomewhereor other bealfo found, or made, to meet: whereby the fame Plant, or fome Preparation of it, may be moft Potent, and yet moft Innocents the Malignity thereof exerting its Power, andthe Virtue its Soveraignty at the fame time. And laftly, what Affinity there maybe betwixt them; as moft Plawts, that are {trong Purgatives, and efpecially Vomitories, I think, are alfo Sterautatory; as white Hellebore, Falap, Tobacco: and on the contrary, fuch as are Sternutatory, are fome of the moft proper and moft potent Medicines for the Head, Brain, and Genus Nervofum, Taken inwardly, as L alin convalle, ec. andthe like. 31. §. Thus far a particular obfervation of the Qualitiesand Fa- culties ofthe Contents of Vegetables mayproceed, as they are exiftent in their Natural Eftate. From which, although fomeprobable Conjectures maybe made, of their Material and Formal Effences, and ofthe Caufes of their determinate Varieties, or the Modes of Vegetation neceflary thereunto : yet will our Conceptions hereof be more facile,clear, and comprehenfive, ifby all other Waysof Obfervation, they be like- wife examined, according as Experiment may be applicable to any of them. 32. §. As by Contufions fo fome Plants give their Sel/,not without Rubbing,or not fo well; as the green Leaves of Stramoninm,Scur- zygraf, and many more: others lofe it by Rubbing, as the flowers of Violets, Carnations, Borage, Gc. others yield it both ways, as Rofé- mary, Gc. Sofome Apples mend their Tafte, by Scoaping, and Pears by Rowling, efpecially that called the Rowling Pear. 33. §. By Agitation which doth that, fometimes, byForce, which Digeftion, doth by Heat: fo any cold Oyland a Syrup being, in a due manner, agitated together, of two Fluid bodies will become one Confiftent, as is known. 34. $. By Frigifaction, howfar the Juyces of Plants, either without or within them, may be any of them, or fome more than others,{ub- je to Cold: andthereby to be deprived of their Asotion or natural Confistence, or mayfuffer alteration in their Colour, Tafte, or Sell. 35. §. By Infusion; whete I mean Infufion only in Common Wa- ter; So both Caffia Lignea, and Cinnamon are alittle Mucilaginous ; but the former moft. Someof the Contents of Plants, may be wholly diffolved in Common Water 5 fome but in part,others notat all s or ve= rylittle 5 which is proper to fome Milks, as well as Gums. The Co- fours, Smells or Tajtes they hereuponyield, are found various; and in fome ) |