HERBS AND THEIR LEAVES.
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Culpeper, Nicholas
Genista. Brooms: hot and dry in the second degree, cleanse and open the stomach, break the stone in the reins and bladder, help the green sickness. Let such as are troubled with heart-qualms or faintings, forbear it, for it weakens the heart and spirit vital. See the flowers.
Geranium. Cranebill, the divers sorts of it, one of which is that which is called Muscata; it is thought to be cool and dry, helps hot swellings, and by its smell amends a hot brain.
Geranium Columbinum. Doves-foot; helps the wind cholic, pains in the belly, stone in the reins and bladder, and is good in ruptures, and inward wounds. I suppose these are the general virtues of them all.
Gramen. Grass: See the root.
Gratiola. Hedge-Hyssop, purges water and flegm, but works very churlishly. Gesner commends it in dropsies.
Asphodelus fœm. See the root.
Hepatica, Lichen. Liverwort, cold and dry, good for inflammations of the liver, or any other inflammations, yellow jaundice.
Hedera Arborea, Terrostris. Tree and Ground-Ivy. Tree-Ivy helps ulcers, burnings, scaldings, the bad effects of the spleen; the juice snuffed up the nose, purges the head, it is admirable for surfeits or headache, or any other ill effects coming of drunkenness. Ground-Ivy is that which usually is called Alehoof, hot and dry, the juice helps noise in the ears, fistulas, gouts, stoppings of the liver, it strengthens the reins and stops the menses, helps the yellow jaundice, and other diseases coming of stoppings of the liver, and is excellent for wounded people.
Herba Camphorata. Stinking Ground-pine, is of a drying quality, and therefore stops defluxions either in the eyes or upon the lungs, the gout, cramps, palsies, aches: strengthens the nerves.
Herbu Paralysis, Primula veris. Primroses, or Cowslips, which you will. The leaves help pains in the head and joints; see the flowers which are most in use.
Herba Paris. Herb True-love, or One-berry. It is good for wounds, falls, bruises, aposthumes, inflammations, ulcers in the privities. Herb True-love, is very cold in temperature. You may take half a dram of it at a time in powder.
Herba Roberti. A kind of Cranebill.
Herba venti, Anemone. Wind-flower. The juice snuffed up in the nose purgeth the head, it cleanses filthy ulcers, encreases milk in nurses, and outwardly by ointment helps leprosies.
Herniaria. The same with Empetron.
Helxine. Pellitory of the wall. Cold, moist, cleansing, helps the stone and gravel in the kidnies, difficulty of urine, sore throats, pains in the ears, the juice being dropped in them; outwardly it helps the shingles and St. Anthony’s fire.
Hyppoglossum. Horse-tongue, Tongue-blade or Double-Tongue. The roots help the stranguary, provoke urine, ease the hard labour of women, provoke the menses, the herb helps ruptures and the fits of the mother: it is hot in the second degree, dry in the first: boil it in white wine.
Hyppolapathum. Patience, or Monk’s Rhubarb: see the Root.
Hypposclinum. Alexanders, or Alisanders: provoke urine, expel the placenta, help the stranguary, expel wind.
Sage either taken inwardly or beaten and applied plaister-wise to the matrix, draws forth both menses and placenta.
Horminum. Clary: hot and dry in the third degree; helps the weakness in the back, stops the running of the reins, and the Fluor Albus, provokes the menses, and helps women that are barren through coldness or moisture, or both: causes fruitfulness, but is hurtful for the memory. The usual way of taking it is to fry it with butter, or make a tansy with it.
Hydropiper. Arsmart. Hot and dry, consumes all cold swellings and blood congealed by bruises, and stripes; applied to the place, it helps that aposthume in the joints, commonly called a felon: strewed in a chamber, kills all the fleas there: this is hottest Arsmart, and is unfit to be given inwardly: there is a milder sort, called Persicaria, which is of a cooler and milder quality, drying, excellently good for putrified ulcers, kills worms: I had almost forgot that the former is an admirable remedy for the gout, being roasted between two tiles and applied to the grieved place, and yet I had it from Dr. Butler too.
Hysopus. Hysop. Helps coughs, shortness of breath, wheezing, distillations upon the lungs: it is of a cleansing quality: kills worms in the body, amends the whole colour of the body, helps the dropsy and spleen, sore throats, and noise in the ears. See Syrup of Hysop.
Hyosciamus, &c. Henbane. The white Henbane is held to be cold in the third degree, the black or common Henbane and the yellow, in the fourth. They stupify the senses, and therefore not to be taken inwardly, outwardly applied, they help inflammations, hot gouts: applied to the temples they provoke sleep.
Hypericon. St. John’s Wort. It is as gallant a wound-herb as any is, either given inwardly, or outwardly applied to the wound: it is hot and dry, opens stoppings, helps spitting and vomiting of blood, it cleanses the reins, provokes the menses, helps congealed blood in the stomach and meseraic veins, the falling-sickness, palsy, cramps and aches in the joints; you may give it in powder or any convenient decoction.
Hypoglottis, Laurus, Alexandrina. Laurel of Alexandria, provokes urine and the menses, and is held to be a singular help to women in travail.
Hypoglossum, the same with Hypoglossum before, only different names given by different authors, the one deriving his name from the tongue of a horse, of which form the leaf is; the other the form of the little leaf, because small leaves like small tongues grow upon the greater.
Iberis Cardamantice. Sciatica-cresses. I suppose so called because they help the Sciatica, or Huckle-bone Gout.
Ingumalis, Asther. Setwort or Shartwort: being bruised and applied, they help swellings, botches, and venerous swellings in the groin, whence they took their name, as also inflammation and falling out of the fundament.
Iris. See the roots.
Isatis, Glastum. Woad. Drying and binding; the side being bathed with it, it easeth pains in the spleen, cleanseth filthy corroding gnawing ulcers.
Iva Arthritica. The same with Camæpytis.
Iuncus oderatus. The same with Schœnanthus.
Labrum veneris. The same with Dipsacus.
Lactuca. Lettice. Cold and moist, cools the inflammation of the stomach, commonly called heart-burning: provokes sleep, resists drunkenness, and takes away the ill effects, of it; cools the blood, quenches thirst, breeds milk, and is good for choleric bodies, and such as have a frenzy, or are frantic. It is more wholesome eaten boiled than raw.
Logabus, Herba Leporina. A kind of Trefoil growing in France and Spain. Let them that live there look after the virtues of it.
Lavendula. Lavender: Hot and dry in the third degree: the temples and forehead bathed with the juice of it; as also the smell of the herb helps swoonings, catalepsis, falling-sickness, provided it be not accompanied with a fever. See the flowers.
Laureola. Laurel. The leaves purge upward and downward: they are good for rheumatic people to chew in their mouths, for they draw forth much water.
Laurus. Bay-tree. The leaves are hot and dry, resist drunkenness, they gently bind and help diseases in the bladder, help the stinging of bees and wasps, mitigate the pain of the stomach, dry and heal, open obstructions of the liver and spleen, resist the pestilence.
Lappa Minor. The lesser Burdock.
Lentiscus. Mastich-tree. Both the leaves and bark of it stop fluxes (being hot and dry in the second degree) spitting and evacuations of blood, and the falling out of the fundament.