The Complete Herbal To which is now added, upwards of one...

Lepidium Piperites. Dittander, Pepperwort, or Scar-wort: A hot fiery sharp herb, admirable for the gout being applied to the place: being only held in the hand, it helps the tooth-ache, and withall leaves a wan colour in the hand that holds it.

Lingua Cervina. Hart’s-tongue: drying and binding, stops blood, the menses and fluxes, opens stoppings of the liver and spleen, and diseases thence arising. The like quantity of Hart’s-tongue, Knotgrass and Comfrey Roots, being boiled in water, and a draught of the decoction drunk every morning, and the materials which have boiled applied to the place, is a notable remedy for such as are bursten.

Lotus urbana. Authors make some flutter about this herb, I conceive the best take it to be Trisolium Odoratum, Sweet Trefoyl, which is of a temperate nature, cleanses the eyes gently of such things as hinder the sight, cures green wounds, ruptures, or burstness, helps such as urine blood or are bruised, and secures garments from moths.

Lupulus. Hops. Opening, cleansing, provoke urine, the young sprouts open stoppings of the liver and spleen, cleanse the blood, clear the skin, help scabs and itch, help agues, purge choler: they are usually boiled and taken as they eat asparagus, but if you would keep them, for they are excellent for these diseases, you may make them into a conserve, or into a syrup.

Magistrantia, &c. Masterwort. Hot and dry in the third degree: it is good against poison, pestilence, corrupt and unwholesome air, helps windiness in the stomach, causeth an appetite to one’s victuals, very profitable in falls and bruises, congealed and clotted blood, the bitings of mad-dogs; the leaves chewed in the mouth, cleanse the brain of superfluous humours, thereby preventing lethargies, and apoplexes.

Malva. Mallows. The best of Authors account wild Mallows to be best, and hold them to be cold and moist in the first degree, they are profitable in the bitings of venomous beasts, the stinging of bees and wasps, &c. Inwardly they resist poison, provoke to stool; outwardly they assuage hard swellings of the privities or other places; in clysters they help roughness and fretting of the entrails, bladder, or fundament; and so they do being boiled in water, and the decoction drank, as I have proved in the bloody flux.

Marrubium album, is common Horehound. Hot in the second degree, and dry in the third, opens the liver and spleen, cleanses the breast and lungs, helps old coughs, pains in the sides, ptisicks, or ulceration of the lungs, it provokes the menses, eases hard labour in child-bearing, brings away the placenta. See the syrups.

Matricaria. Feverfew. Hot in the third degree, dry in the second; opens, purges; a singular remedy for diseases incident to the matrix, and other diseases incident to women, eases their travail, and infirmities coming after it; it helps the vertigo or dissiness of the head, melancholy sad thoughts: you may boil it either alone, or with other herbs fit for the same purpose, with which this treatise will furnish you; applied to the wrists, it helps the ague.

Meliotus. Melilot. Inwardly taken, provokes urine, breaks the Stone, cleanses the reins and bladder, cutteth and cleanses the lungs of tough flegm, the juice dropped into the eyes, clears the sight, into the ears, mitigates pain and noise there; the head bathed with the juice mixed with vinegar, takes away the pains thereof: outwardly in pultisses, it assuages swellings in the privities and elsewhere.

Mellissa. Balm. Hot and dry: outwardly mixed with salt and applied to the neck, helps the King’s-evil, bitings of mad dogs, venomous beasts, and such as cannot hold their neck as they should do; inwardly it is an excellent remedy for a cold and moist stomach, cheers the heart, refreshes the mind, takes away griefs, sorrow, and care, instead of which it produces joy and mirth. See the syrup. Galen, Avicenna.

Mentha sativa. Garden Mints, Spear Mints. Are hot and dry in the third degree, provoke hunger, are wholesome for the stomach, stay vomiting, stop the menses, help sore heads in children, strengthen the stomach, cause digestion; outwardly applied, they help the bitings of mad-dogs: Yet they hinder conception.

Millefolium. Yarrow. Meanly cold and binding, an healing herb for wounds, stanches bleeding; and some say the juice snuffed up the nose, causeth it to bleed, whence it was called, Nose-bleed; it stops lasks, and the menses, helps the running of the reins, helps inflammations and excoriations of the priapus, as also inflammations of wounds. Galen.

Muscus. Mosse. Is something cold and binding, yet usually retains a smatch of the property of the tree it grows on; therefore that which grows upon oaks is very dry and binding. Serapio saith that it being infused in wine, and the wine drank, it stays vomiting and fluxes, as also the Fluor Albus.

Nasturtium, Aquaticum, Hortense. Water cresses, and Garden-cresses. Garden-cresses are hot and dry in the fourth degree, good for the scurvy, sciatica, hard swellings, yet do they trouble the belly, ease pains of the spleen, provoke lust. Dioscorides. Water-cresses are hot and dry, cleanse the blood, help the scurvy, provoke urine and the menses, break the stone, help the green-sickness, cause a fresh lively colour.

Nicorimi. Tobacco. It is hot and dry in the second degree, and of a cleansing nature: the leaves warmed and applied to the head, are excellently good in inveterate head-aches and megrims, if the diseases come through cold or wind, change them often till the diseases be gone, help such whose necks be stiff: it eases the faults of the breast: Asthma’s or head-flegm in the lappets of the lungs: eases the pains of the stomach and windiness thereof: being heated by the fire, and applied hot to the side, they loosen the belly, and kill worms being applied unto it in like manner: they break the stone being applied in like manner to the region of the bladder: help the rickets, being applied to the belly and sides: applied to the navel, they give present ease to the fits of the mother: they take away cold aches in the joints applied to them: boiled, the liquor absolutely and speedily cures scabs and itch: neither is there any better salve in the world for wounds than may be made of it: for it cleanses, fetches out the filth though it lie in the bones, brings up the flesh from the bottom, and all this it doth speedily: it cures wounds made with poisoned weapons, and for this Clusius brings many experiences too tedious here to relate. It is an admirable thing for carbuncles and plague-sores, inferior to none: green wounds ’twill cure in a trice: ulcers and gangreens very speedily, not only in men, but also in beasts, therefore the Indians dedicated it to their god.

Taken in a pipe, it hath almost as many virtues; it easeth weariness, takes away the sense of hunger and thirst, provokes to stool: he saith, the Indians will travel four days without either meat or drink, by only chewing a little of this in their mouths: It eases the body of superfluous humours, opens stoppings. See the ointment of Tobacco.