HERBS AND THEIR LEAVES.
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Culpeper, Nicholas
Cicuta. Hemlock: cold in the fourth degree, poisonous: outwardly applied, it helps Priapismus, the shingles, St. Anthony’s fire, or any eating ulcers.
Clematis Daphnoides, Vinca provinca. Periwinkle. Hot in the second degree, something dry and binding; stops lasks, spitting of blood, and the menses.
Consolida major. Comfrey, I do not conceive the leaves to be so virtuous as the roots.
Consolida media. Bugles, of which before.
Consolida minima. Daises.
Consolida rubra. Golden Rod: hot and dry in the second degree, cleanses the reins, provokes urine, brings away the gravel: an admirable herb for wounded people to take inwardly, stops blood, &c.
Consolida Regalis, Delphinium. Lark heels: resist poison, help the bitings of venomous beasts.
Saracenica Solidago. Saracens Confound. Helps inward wounds, sore mouths, sore throats, wasting of the lungs, and liver.
Coronepus. Buchorn Plantane, or Sea-plantain: cold and dry, helps the bitings of venomous beasts, either taken inwardly, or applied to the wound: helps the cholic, breaks the stone. Ægineta.
Coronaria. Hath got many English names. Cottonweed, Cudweed, Chaffweed, and Petty Cotton. Of a drying and binding nature; boiled in lye, it keeps the head from nits and lice; being laid among clothes, it keeps them safe from moths, kills worms, helps the bitings of venomous beasts; taken in a tobacco-pipe, it helps coughs of the lungs, and vehement headaches.
Cruciata. Crosswort: (there is a kind of Gentian called also by this name, which I pass by) is drying and binding, exceeding good for inward or outward wounds, either inwardly taken, or outwardly applied: and an excellent remedy for such as are bursten.
Crassula. Orpine. Very good: outwardly used with vinegar, it clears the skin; inwardly taken, it helps gnawings of the stomach and bowels, ulcers in the lungs, bloody-flux, and quinsy in the throat, for which last disease it is inferior to none, take not too much of it at a time, because of its coolness.
Crithamus, &c. Sampire. Hot and dry, helps difficulty of urine, the yellow jaundice, provokes the menses, helps digestion, opens stoppings of the liver and spleen. Galen.
Cucumis Asininus. Wild Cucumbers. See Elaterium.
Cyanus major, minor. Blue bottle, great and small, a fine cooling herb, helps bruises, wounds, broken veins; the juice dropped into the eye, helps the inflammations thereof.
Cygnoglossam. Hound’s-Tongue, cold and dry: applied to the fundament helps the hemorrhoids, heals wounds and ulcers, and is a present remedy against the bitings of dogs, burnings and scaldings.
Cypressus, Chamœ Cyparissus. Cypress-tree. The leaves are hot and binding, help ruptures, and Polypus or flesh growing on the nose.
Chamæ cyparissus. Is Lavender Cotton. Resists poison, and kills worms.
Disetamnus Cretensis. Dictamny, or Dittany of Creet, hot and dry, brings away dead children, hastens delivery, brings away the placenta, the very smell of it drives away venomous beasts, so deadly an enemy it is to poison; it is an admirable remedy against wounds and gunshot, wounds made with poisoned weapons, it draws out splinters, broken bones, &c. The dose from half a dram to a dram.
Dipsacus, sativ. sylv. Teazles, garden and wild, the leaves bruised and applied to the temples, allay the heat in fevers, qualify the rage in frenzies; the juice dropped into the ears, kills worms in them, dropped into the eyes, clears the sight, helps redness and pimples in the face, being anointed with it.
Ebulus. Dwarf Elder, or Walwort. Hot and dry in the third degree; waste hard swellings, being applied in form of a poultice; the hair of the head anointed with the juice of it turns it black; the leaves being applied to the place, help inflammations, burnings, scaldings, the bitings of mad dogs; mingled with bulls suet is a present remedy for the gout; inwardly taken, is a singular purge for the dropsy and gout.
Echium. Viper’s-bugloss, Viper’s-herb, Snake bugloss, Wal-bugloss, Wild-bugloss, several counties give it these several names: It is a singular remedy being eaten, for the biting of venomous beasts: continually eating of it makes the body invincible against the poison of serpents, toads, spiders, &c. however it be administered; it comforts the heart, expels sadness and melancholy. The rich may make the flowers into a conserve, and the herb into a syrup, the poor may keep it dry, both may keep it as a jewel.
Empetron, Calcifragra, Herniaria, &c. Rupture-wort, or Burst-wort. The English name tells you it is good against ruptures, and so such as are bursten shall find it, if they please to make trial of it, either inwardly taken, or outwardly applied to the place, or both. Also the Latin names hold it forth to be good against the stone, which whoso tries shall find true.
Enula Campana. Elicampane. Provokes urine. See the root.
Epithimum. Dodder of Time, to which add common Dodder, which is usually that which grows upon flax: indeed every Dodder retains a virtue of that herb or plant it grows upon, as Dodder that grows upon Broom, provokes urine forcibly, and loosens the belly, and is moister than that which grows upon flax: that which grows upon time, is hotter and dryer than that which grows upon flax, even in the third degree, opens obstructions, helps infirmities of the spleen, purgeth melancholy, relieves drooping spirits, helps the rickets: That which grows on flax, is excellent for agues in young children, strengthens weak stomachs, purgeth choler, provokes urine, opens stoppings in the reins and bladder. That which grows upon nettles, provokes urine exceedingly. The way of using it is to boil it in white wine, or other convenient decoction, and boil it very little. Ætias, Mesue, Actuarius, Serapio, Avincena.
Eruch. Rocket, hot and dry in the third degree, being eaten alone, causeth head-ache, by its heat procures urine. Galen.
Eupatorium. See Ageratum.
Euphragia. Eyebright is something hot and dry, the very sight of it refresheth the eyes; inwardly taken, it restores the sight, and makes old men’s eyes young, a dram of it taken in the morning is worth a pair of spectacles, it comforts and strengthens the memory, outwardly applied to the place, it helps the eyes.
Filix fœmina.
See the roots.
Filicula, polypidium.
Filipendula.
Malahathram. Indian-leaf, hot and dry in the second degree, comforts the stomach exceedingly, helps digestion, provokes urine, helps inflammations of the eyes, secures cloaths from moths.
Fæniculum. Fennel, encreaseth milk in nurses, provokes urine, breaks the stone, easeth pains in the reins, opens stoppings, breaks wind, provokes the menses; you may boil it in white wine.
Fragaria. Strawberry leaves, are cold, dry, and binding, a singular remedy for inflammations and wounds, hot diseases in the throat; they stop fluxes and the terms, cool the heat of the stomach, and the inflammations of the liver. The best way is to boil them in barley water.
Fraxinus, &c. Ash-trees, the leaves are moderately hot and dry, cure the bitings of Adders, and Serpents; they stop looseness, and stay vomiting, help the rickets, open stoppages of the liver and spleen.
Fumaria. Fumitory: cold and dry, it opens and cleanses by urine, helps such as are itchy, and scabbed, clears the skin, opens stoppings of the liver and spleen, helps rickets, hypochondriac melancholy, madness, frenzies, quartan agues, loosens the belly, gently purgeth melancholy, and addust choler: boil it in white wine, and take this one general rule. All things of a cleansing or opening nature may be most commodiously boiled in white wine. Remember but this, and then I need not repeat it.
Galega. Goat’s-rue: Temperate in quality, resists poison, kills worms, helps the falling-sickness, resists the pestilence. You may take a dram of it at a time in powder.
Galion. Ladies-bed straw: dry and binding, stanches blood, boiled in oil, the oil is good to anoint a weary traveller; inwardly it provokes venery.
Gentiana. See the root.