Culpepper's [sic] family physician : the English physician enlarged, containing 300 medicines, made of American herbs / revised, corrected, and enlarged by James Scammon.

  • Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654.
Date:
1824
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Culpepper's [sic] family physician : the English physician enlarged, containing 300 medicines, made of American herbs / revised, corrected, and enlarged by James Scammon. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    is very good to help an old cough; and being parched, and a little pepper put to them and drank, digesteth the distila- tions of rheum from the head. The dried husks and shells, to the weight of two drams, taken in red wine, stayeth lasks and women's courses, and so doth the red skin that covers the kernels, which is more eifectual to stay women's courses. And if this be true, as it is, then why should the vulgar so familiarly affirm, that eating Nuts causeth shortness of breath ? than which nothing is falser. For, how can that which strengthens the lungs, cause shortness of breath 1 I confess, the opinion is far older than I am; I know tradition was friend to error before, but never that he was the father of slander: Or are men's tongues so given to slandering one an- other, that they must slander Nuts too, to keep their tongues in use 1 If any thing of the Hazel-Nut be stopping, it is the husks and shells, and no body is so mad to eat them, unless physically ; and the red skin which covers the kernel, you may easily pull off. And so thus have I made an apology for Nuts, which cannot speak for themselves. HAWK-WEED, or HIGH MILK-WEED. Eyes, Ulcers, Burnings, St. Anthony's fire, Salt Phlegm^ Freckles, Wrinkles, Gnawing in the Stomach, Dropsy, Phlegm, Spleen. j~ . , TT hath many large leaves lying upon the ground, escrip .j j|^ mucn rent or torn on tne si(Jes into gashes like Dandelion, but with greater parts, more like the smooth Sow Thistle, from among which riseth a hollow, rough stalk, two or three feet high, branched from the middle upward, where- on are set at every joint longer leaves, little or nothing rent or cut, bearing on their top sundry pale, yellow flowers, con- sisting of many small, narrow leaves, broad pointed, and nicked in at the ends, set in a double row or more, the out- ermost being larger than the inner, which from most of the Hawk-weeds (for there are many kinds of them) do hold, which turn into down, and with the small brownish seed is blown away with the wind. The root is long, and somewhat greater, with many small fibres thereat. The whole plant is full of bitter milk. Place.] It groweth in divers places about the field-sides, and the path-ways in dry grounds. Time.} It floweretb and flies away in summer months.