FLOWERS.
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Culpeper, Nicholas
Borage, and Bugloss flowers strengthen the brain, and are profitable in fevers.
Chamomel flowers, heat and assuage swellings, inflammation of the bowels, dissolve wind, are profitably given in clysters or drink, to such as are troubled with the cholic, or stone.
Stæchea, opens stoppings in the bowels, and strengthens the whole body.
Saffron powerfully concocts, and sends out whatever humour offends the body, drives back inflammations; applied outwardly, encreases venery, and provokes urine.
Clove-Gilliflowers, resist the pestilence, strengthen the heart, liver, and stomach, and provoke venery.
Schœnanth (which I touched slightly amongst the herbs) provokes urine potently, provokes the menses, breaks wind, helps such as spit or vomit blood, eases pains of the stomach, reins, and spleen, helps dropsies, convulsions, and inflammations of the womb.
Lavender-flowers, resist all cold afflictions of the brain, convulsions, falling-sickness, they strengthen cold stomachs, and open obstructions of the liver, they provoke urine and the menses, bring forth the birth and placenta.
Hops, open stoppings of the bowels, and for that cause beer is better than ale.
Balm-flowers, cheer the heart and vital spirits, strengthen the stomach.
Rosemary-flowers, strengthen the brain exceedingly, and resist madness; clear the sight.
Winter-Gilliflowers, or Wall-flowers, help inflammation of the womb, provoke the menses, and help ulcers in the mouth.
Honey-suckles, provoke urine, ease the pains of the spleen, and such as can hardly fetch their breath.
Mallows, help coughs.
Red Roses, cool, bind, strengthen both vital and animal virtue, restore such as are in consumptions, strengthen. There are so many compositions of them which makes me more brief in the simples.
Violets, (to wit, the blue ones,) cool and moisten, provoke sleep, loosen the belly, resist fevers, help inflammations, correct the heat of choler, ease the pains in the head, help the roughness of the wind-pipe, diseases in the throat, inflammations in the breast and sides, plurisies, open stoppings of the liver, and help the yellow jaundice.
Chicory, (or Succory as the vulgar call it) cools and strengthens the liver, so doth Endive.
Water lilies, ease pains of the head coming of choler and heat, provoke sleep, cool inflammations, and the heat in fevers.
Pomegranate-flowers, dry and bind, stop fluxes, and the menses.
Cowslips, strengthen the brain, senses, and memory, exceedingly, resist all diseases there, as convulsions, falling-sickness, palsies, &c.
Centaury, purges choler and gross humours, helps the yellow jaundice, opens obstructions of the liver, helps pains of the spleen, provokes the menses, brings away birth and afterbirth.
Elder flowers, help dropsies, cleanse the blood, clear the skin, open stoppings of the liver and spleen, and diseases arising therefrom.
Bean-flowers, clear the skin, stop humours flowing into the eyes.
Peach-tree flowers, purge choler gently.
Broom-flowers, purge water, and are good in dropsies.
The temperature of all these differ either very little or not at all from the herbs.
The way of using the flowers I did forbear, because most of them may, and are usually made into conserves, of which you may take the quantity of a nutmeg in the morning; all of them may be kept dry a year, and boiled with other herbs conducing to the cures they do.