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Of S. Johns Wort

The Description.

SAint Johns wort hath brownish stalks beset with many small and narrow leaves, which if you behold betwixt your eies and the light, do appeare as it were bored or thrust thorow in an infinite number of places with pinnes points. The branches divide themselves into sundry smal twigs, at the top whereof grow many yellow floures, which with the leaves bruised do yeeld a reddish juice of the colour of bloud. The seed is contained in little sharp pointed huskes blacke of colour, and smelling like Rosin. The root is long, yellow, and of a wooddy substance.

The Place.

They grow very plentifully in pastures in every countrie. The Time.

They floure and flourish for the most part in July and August. The Names.

S. Johns wort is called in Latine Hypericum: in shops, Perforata: of divers, Fuga daemonum: in French Mille Pertuys: in English, S. Johns wort, or S. Johns grasse.

The Vertues.

The leaves, floures, and seeds stamped, and put into a glasse with oile olive, and set in the hot sun for certain weeks together, and then strained from those herbs, and the like quantitie of new put in and sunned in like manner, doth make an oile of the colour of bloud, which is a most pretious remedie for deep wounds and those that are thorow the body, for the sinues that are prickt, or any wound made with a venomed weapon. I am accustomed to make a compound oile hereof, the making of which you shall receive at my hands, because I know that in the world there is not a better, no not the naturall Balsam it selfe; for I dare undertake to cure any such wound as absolutely in each respect, if not sooner and better, as any man shall or may with naturall Balsam.

Take white wine two pintes, oile olive foure pounds, oile of Turpentine two pounds, the leaves, floures, and seeds of S. Johns wort of each two great handfulls gently bruised; put them all together into a great double glasse, and set it in the Sun eight or ten daies; then boile them in the same glasse per Balneum Mariae, that is, in a kettle of water, with some straw in the bottome, wherein the glasse must stand to boile: which done, strain the liquor from the herbs, and do as you did before, putting in the like quantitie of herbs, floures, and seeds, but not any more wine. Thus have you a great secret for the purposes aforesaid.