Home › Sect. II › Sect. II: Chap

Sect. II: Chap

CHAP. III. Of Seeds. 1. The seed is that part of the plant which is endowed with a vital faculty to bring forth its like, and it contains potentially the whole plant in it. 2. As for the place, let them be gathered from the place where they delight to grow. 3. Let them be full ripe when they are gathered; and forget not the celestial harmony before mentioned; for I have found by experience that their virtues are twice as great at such times as at others: "There is an appointed time for every thing under the sun." 4. When you have gathered them, dry them a little, and but a little, in the sun, before you lay them up. 5. You need not be so careful of keeping them so near the fire, as the other before-mentioned, because they are fuller of spirit, and therefore not so subject to corrupt. 6. As for the time of their duration, it is palpable they will keep a good many years; yet they are the best the first year, and this I make appear by a good argument. They will grow soonest the first year they are set, therefore then they are in their prime; and it is an easy matter to renew them yearly. CHAP. IV. Of Roots. 1. Of roots, choose such as are neither rotten nor worm-eaten, but proper in their taste, colour, and smell, such as exceed neither in softness nor hardness. 2. Give me leave to be a little critical against the vulgar received opinion, which is, that the sap falls down into the roots in the Autumn, and rises up again in Spring, as men go to bed at night, and rise in the morning; and this idle talk of untruth is so grounded in the heads, not only of the vulgar, but also of the learned, that a man cannot drive it out by reason. I pray, let such sap-mongers answer me this argument: if the sap falls into the roots in the fall of the leaf, and lies there all the winter, then must the root grow only in the winter. But the root grows not at all in the winter, as experience teacheth, but only in the Summer, therefore if you set an apple kernel in the Spring, you shall find the root grow to a pretty bigness in the Summer, and be not a whit bigger next Spring. What doth the sap do in the root all this while? Pick straws? 'Tis rotten as a rotten post.

The truth is, when the sun declines from the tropic of Cancer, the sap begins to congeal both in root and branch; when he touches the tropic of Capricorn, and ascends to usward, it begins to wax thin again, and by degrees it is congealed. But to proceed. 3. The drier time you gather the roots in, the better they are, for they have less excrementitious moisture in them. 4. Such roots as are soft, your best way is to dry them in the sun, or else hang them in the chimney corner upon a string; as for such as are hard, you may dry them any where. 5. Such roots as are great, will keep longer than such as are small; yet most of them will keep all the year. 6. Such roots as are soft, it is your best way to keep them always near the fire, and take this general rule for it. If in winter time you find any of your herbs, roots, or flowers begin to be moist, as many times you shall, (for it is your best way to look to them once a month) dry them by a very gentle fire, or if you can with conveniency keep them near the fire, you may save yourself the labour. 7. It is in vain to dry roots that may commonly be had, as Parsley, Fennel, Plantain, &c. but gather them only for present need. CHAP. V. Of Barks. 1. Barks, which physicians use in medicine, are of these sorts: of fruits, of roots, of boughs. 2. The barks of fruits are to be taken when the fruit is full ripe, as Oranges, Lemons, &c. but because I have nothing to do with exotics here, I pass them without any more words. 3. The barks of trees are best gathered in the Spring, if of oaks or such great trees: because then they come easier off, and so you may dry them if you please; but indeed the best way is to gather all barks only for present use. 4. As for the bark of roots, 'tis thus to be gotten: Take the roots of such herbs as have a pith in them, as parsley, fennel, &c. slit them in the middle, and when you have taken out the pith (which you may easily do) that which remains is called (though improperly so) the bark, and indeed is only to be used.

CHAP. VI. Of Juices. 1. Juices are to be pressed out of herbs when they are young and tender, out of some stalks, and tender tops of herbs and plants, and also out of some flowers. 2. Having gathered the herb, you should preserve the juice of it: when it is very dry, (for otherwise the juice will not be worth a button) bruise it well in a stone mortar, with a wooden pestle, then, having put it in a canvas bag, press it hard in a press, then take the juice and clarify it. 3. The manner of clarifying it is this: Put it into a pipkin or skillet, or some such thing, and set it over the fire; and when the scum ariseth, take it off, and let it stand over the fire till no more scum arise; when you have your juice clarified, cast away the scum as a thing of no use. 4. When you have thus clarified it, you have two ways to preserve it all the year. (1.) When it is cold put it into a glass, and put so much oil on it as will cover it to the thickness of two fingers; the oil will swim on the top, and so keep the air from coming to putrify it. When you intend to use it, pour it into a porringer, and if any oil come out with it, you may easily scum it off with a spoon, and put the juice you use not into the glass again, it will quickly sink under the oil. This is the first way. (2.) The second way is a little more difficult, and the juice of fruits is usually preserved this way. When you have clarified it, boil it over the fire, till (being cold) it be of the thickness of honey: this is most commonly used for diseases of the mouth, and is called Roba and Saba. And thus much for the first section, the second follows.