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(note: herbs/plants ref. w/"The English Physitian", Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654. -- where possible.)
or (Botanical.com, A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M. Grieve)
"...Another Perfume...annoint the Pill of Citron or Lemon with a little Civet. Stick it with Cloves and Races of Cinnamon...."
"...And these being thus Racked and Toffed with great pains, at the journeys end you shall find them dead, and very tender..."
"...if they are pound with Mastick. Columella says, that the Olives which are called Orchites, and those which are called Panfiae, and the little round Olive called Radiolus, are to be knocked and beaten, and so cast into Brine..."
"...If you take, says he, a Truttle of Goats Dung , and bore it through, and make it hollow cunningly with a Bodkin, and then fill it up with the seed of Lettuce, Cresses, Basil, Rotchet, and Radish, and when you have so done, lap them up in more of the same Dung..."
"...As in some cold places of Germany there are Radishes growing as big as a little child..."
"...In a Crystal Pillar see many Rainbows..."
"... Rainoldus, Raimundus, and other Physicians of the best esteem, do attribute to Gold, a power to corroborate and strengthen the heart, to dry up superfluities and ill Humors..."
"...Take equal parts of them all, and boil them in Rainwater, and Foment the Privities..."
"... Make little Pills thus. Of burnt Allome, Mastick, with a little Vitriol and Orpiment. Make them into very fine powder, that you can scarce feel them. When you have made them Pills with Rainwater..."
"...So you may procure the same, by steeping the seeds in new sweet Wine, or else in the juice of Raisins..."
"...Pour into a Brass caldron seven vessels of water, put in two pounds of Raisins, let them boil till they be wasted in the water, and the water be sweet as Mead..."
"The English Physitian", Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654. --"The greater common Ragwort hath many large and long dark green Leavs lying on the ground, very much rent and torn on the sides into many pieces, from among which rise up somtimes but one, and sometimes two or three square or crested blackish or brownish Stalks three or four foot high, sometimes branched bearing diverse such like Leavs upon them at several distances unto the tops, where it brancheth forth into many Stalks bearing yellow Flowers, consisting of diverse Leaves set as a Pale or Border, with a dark yellow thrum in the middle, which do abide a great while, but at last are turned into Down, and with the smal blackish gray Seed are carried away with the wind. The Root is made of many Fibres, whereby it is firmly fastned into to the ground, and abideth many yeers.
"...the Herb Ragwort is forcible unto; for they grow double, a greater and a smaller, the greater helps generation, and the smaller hinders it. And this Herb is called Testiculus..."
"... if you smear the tops of apples with the juice of green Ragwort , it will preserve them from putrefaction..."
"...The Elephant is afraid of a Ram, or an engine of war so called. For as soon as ever he sees it, he waxeth meek, and his fury ceaseth. Hence the Romans by these engines put to flight the Elephants of Pyrrhus King of the Epyrotes, and so got a great victory..."
An Engine of war.
"...The Elephant is afraid of a Ram, or an engine of war so called..."
"...But Albertus calls them Musini or Musimones, which are gendered of a Goat and a Ram..."
"...This we heard came to pass by chance, and without any such intented purpose, tha a little Bitch lying continually in a Ram fleece, when she came to be with whelp, she brought forth puppies of the like hair as the fleece was..."
Rammer - Gunstick - A stick to ram down the charge of a musket, etc.; a rammer or ramrod.
See: Gunstick
"...It is thus: Wrap a paper three or four times about the Rammer that is put into the hollow mouth of the Gun, and drawing out the Gunstick..."
"...For if they were seen, they were in the likeness of Dogs. And this was done until the enemy found out the trick, and compassed the Rampart round about..."
Rape - A name given to a variety or to varieties of a plant of the turnip kind, grown for seeds and herbage.
"...old seed is of so great force in some things, that it quite changes the nature, for the old seed of Coleworts being sown, brings forth Rape, and contrariwise, old Rape-seed degenerates into Coleworts , by labour also and dressing..."
"...water is mingled with the oil, that the fraud may not be known. Let it be done with troubled waters, as with the decoction of Wood, Rapes, Asphodills, that it may the harder be discerned from it..."
"...Pliny says, that this Chaos, which by the French is called Raphium, was first set forth for a show in the games of Pompeii the Great..."
Rasp - . A coarse file, on which the cutting prominences are distinct points raised by the oblique stroke of a sharp punch, instead of lines raised by a chisel, as on the true file.
"...Let it cool, for you shall find the Silver at the bottom, and the Brass on the top. Part one from the other with an Iron Rasp or file..."
Rasping - Remains from the use of a Rasp - . To rub or file with a rasp; to rub or grate with a rough file; as, to rasp wood to make it smooth; to rasp bones to powder.
See: Rasp
"...Shells of Oranges, the Raspings of Guaiacum, a good deal of wild Saffron and Liquorish..."
"...Take Vinegar twice Distilled, and cast into it the Raspings of red Sanders, as much as you please..."
"...Music charms the tender ears of children, and Rattles will make them quiet, and hold their peace when they cry. Wherefore Chrysippus is reported to have written a peculiar song for Nurses..."
"...The Doves, for a preservative against enchantments, first gather some little Bay tree boughs, and then lay them upon their nests, to preserve their young, so do the Kites use White Brambles, the turtles Swordgrass, the Crows Withy, the Lapwings Venus-hair, the Ravens Ivy, the hens Carrot, the Partridges Reed-leaves, the Blackbirds Myrtle, the larks grass, the Swans Park-leaves, the Eagle uses Maidenhair, or the stone Etites for the same purpose..."
"...Pliny discussing the Osprey, says, that they have no proper kind of their own, but are descended from different sorts of eagles mingled together. And that which comes out of the Osprey, is of the kind of Ossisragi, and that which comes of the Ossifragi, is a kind of little Raven..."
"...When the fisherman sees the Pastinaca, or Ray, swimming, he leaps ridiculously in his boat, and begins to play on the pipe..."
"...Draw out a Frogs tongue, take away from the Ray or Fork-fish his dart, the eyes or stones out of any creatures head, or any such operative thing, not after they are dead, but while they are yet alive, and throw them into the water again, that if it be possible they may live still, left their virtue should decay, but rather that by their living, they might quicken those their natural properties, and so you may work better thereby..."
"...These we must divide again into two parts, that they may be hammered more easily. Take forty and beat them, as artificers do Gold, when they beat it out into thin Rays..."
"...The wild cucumber, and Coloquintida, kill mice. If mice eat Tithymal, cut into small pieces, and mingled with flour and Metheglin, they will be blind. So Chamaelion, Myacanthus, Realgar, namely, of live Brimstone, quicklime and Orpiment will do the same..."
"...Rear Eggs are good. Twenty of them boiled hard cut in the middle, and the yolks taken forth. Fill up the hollow places in the whites, with Oil of sweet Almonds and Rosin of Turpentine..."
A vessel connected with an alembic, a retort, or the like, for receiving and condensing the product of distillation. A vessel for receiving and containing gases.
"...Let Sublimate Quicksilver boil in Distilled Vinegar, then mingle Quicksilver, and in a Glass Retort, let the Quicksilver evaporate in a hot fire, and fall into the Receiver..."
"... Set the Receiver under the nose to take the water which flows down. .."
Receipt - A formulary according to the directions of which things are to be taken or combined; a recipe.
"...the Ancients have been very careful and painful in seeking out, how to mix Wine with diverse kinds of Antidotes or preservatives against Poison. And how to use it best in such Receipts, if need should be..."
"...And surely I would counsel that these kinds of Confections should be ministered to those that are timorous and uneasy in the taking of medicinal Receipts..."
"...The blind leads the blind, and both fall into the pit. Truth must be searched, loved and professed by all men. Nor must any man's authority, old or new, hold us from it. But to return from whence those Reconcilers idleness drew me..."
"... If they are first dipped into hot water, then Reconded in Wheat, till they become Rugous..."
"...Take Tylhimalus, or Spurge, roots of wildflowers, Horseradish Bryonica and obtain of each equal quantities. Pound all together so that you may get a least one pound of Red Haired Childs Water..."
"... For if you rub a Steel Needle on a Diamond, and then put it into a boat, or thrust it through a Reed, or hang it up by a thread, it will presently turn to the North..."
"...the Comet. It is made thus; Make a quadrangle of the small pieces of Reeds, that the length may be to the breadth, on and half in proportion..."
Refraction - The deviation of a moving body, chiefly rays of light, from a direct course. This is occasioned by the different densities of the mediums through which light passes.
"...The next day, cast it into a Hutch, and add more Meal to it, which again being raised by its heat, and coming back again by the same, and meeting with the lump as flowing back again, it joins into the Refracted Elements, and so into Clotters of Meal. .."
"...Or else, let her wash the place with Aquafortis, or Regia, and the skin grows very black..."
See: Antimony
"...For, that kind of Antimony which the Alchemists are wont to call by the name of Regulus, if it be oftentimes burned in the fire..."
"...Others do it with Regulus of Antimony. But Cinnaber as big as Dice, into a long Linen bag, hanging equally from the pot sides..."
"...Afterwards, take the whites of two Eggs, and mix them with Bole-armenick and Sanguis-draconis, and dip some Flax into it, and apply it to the Reins..."
"...It helps the Quinsie. By anointing the Reins of the back and the belly, or by drinking the water or Oil in Wine, it will break the Stone and bring it down, and assuages Poison..."
"...Some preserve them (Apples) by lapping them up in Reits or Sea-weed, and so shutting them up into earthen pitchers..."
"...And the same trees were garnished with two sorts of leaves, and nourished with two sorts of juices, and the fruit had a double Relish, according to both the kinds whence it was Compounded. .."
"... Columella would have such Apples to be preserved, which have a good Relish, and are gathered when they are reasonably ripe..."
"... Albertus writes, that a bird called a Ren, that is the smallest of birds, if you put him on a spit, made of hazelwood, and put the fire under, he will turn as if he turned himself..."
"...Likewise Pismires shun the wings of a Rere-mouse, but her head and heart they do not shun. So they shun the heart of an Houpe, but neither the head, nor yet the wings..."
Retort - A retort is a spherical container, generally of glass, with a long, angled neck. It is used for distilling substances or decomposing them by heat.
"...Let Sublimate Quicksilver boil in Distilled Vinegar, then mingle Quicksilver, and in a Glass Retort, let the Quicksilver evaporate in a hot fire, and fall into the Receiver..."
"...Macerate the leaves of Mastick, Sage, Rosemary, and Bramble, in Greek-Wine. Then Distill it with a gentle fire through a Retort..."
"...But, because it is most hard, lest the rings of a coat of mail should be broken, and fly in pieces, there must be strength added to the hardness. Workmen call it a Return..."
Reverberate - To deflect flame or heat, as in a reverberatory furnace. To reduce by reverberated heat; to fuse.
"...Take Saltpeter and Alom in equal quantity, beat them in a Mortar, and put them into a glass Retort Luted over three double. When it is well dried, set it in the circulating fire, that is, which is Reverberated on the top and bottom also..."
"...The fat of a Hedgehog boiled in water, and taken off as it swims on the top, if you anoint a staff with it, and set it in the house, or under your bed, all the Fleas will come to it. Rhasis..."
"...Rhases reports, that he saw a dog, having three heads..."
"...But Rhases, out of whom he took it, says, that wine, wherein the seeds of Ricinus are infused, if anyone drink it, it will inebriate them... "
"...But that the force is almost lost may be restored, it must be washed in Goat blood. Rhennius the interpreter of Dionysius..."
"...And out of Aristotle, Pliny reports, that no fish of different kinds mingle their seeds, save only the Skate and the Ray, of both which is gendered the fish Rhinobatos, which is like the Ray in all his former parts, and has his name in Greek answerable to his nature..."
"...And you must counterfeit Stags, Boar, Rhinocerets, Elephants, Lions, and what other creatures you please..."
"...If we Engraff them upon a Plane tree, as Africanus witnesses. Of whom Palladius learned that the way to make Rhodacens look red, is to Engraff them into a Plane tree..."
"...Under the tree he would often set Roses, which did lend there goodly hue to the Apples that grow upon the tree above them. Democritus practised the like device not upon Apples, but upon Rhodacens..."
"... Athenaus says, that dogs and crows are made drunk with an herb called Aenutra. But Theophrastus, from whom he had it, says, that the root of Aenothera, given with wine, will make them more tame and gentle. Whence Aenutra comes, by corruption of the word. Theophrastus, his Aenothera is Rhododaphne..."
"...Shepards make a shepherds pipe of Rhododaphne, and by piping on this, they will so delight horses, that they will run after them..."
"...Nardum kills sheep. Dioscorides. Cattle and goats, if they drink the water where Rhododendron is steeped, will die. Pliny and Ononymus, an author nameless. Flea Bane kills Goats and Sheep. So does Savin..."
"...Add to the Expression an ounce of Saffron, Myrrhe, Aloes, Spikenard, and Rhubarb, all bruised. And let them boil in it for a day in B.M. at last Treacle and Mithridate..."
"...Or make a lye of oak ashes, put in the quantity of a Bean of Rhubarb, as much as Tobacco, a handful of barley straw and Feny-Graec. Shells of oranges, the raspings of Guaiacum, a good deal of wild Saffron and Liquorish..."
"...called Dradella. It has plaited leaves as wild Rochet, which they sow among Pulse. The same may be said of the seeds of Nettles, Mustard, Flax, and Rice..."
"... Aelian writes, that they give the Elephant that must go to war, Wine of the Grape, and made Wine of Rice, to make them bold. .."
Ricinus - A genus of plants of the Spurge family, containing but one species (R. communis), the castor-oil plant. The fruit is three-celled, and contains three large seeds from which castor oil iss expressed.
"...Oil may be made of Ricinus, called Cicinum.... Dioscorides makes it thus. Let ripe Ricini, as many as you please, wither in the hot sun, and be laid upon hurdles. Let them be so long in the sun, till the outward shell break and fall off..."
"...But Rhases, out of whom he took it, says, that wine, wherein the seeds of Ricinus are infused, if anyone drink it, it will inebriate them... "
"...And that it may stick up the vessel the better, your glass must not be smooth but full of Rigoles, as if it were wrested or writhed..."
Rind - The external covering or coat, as of flesh, fruit, trees, etc.; skin; hide; bark; peel; shell.
"...Of old, they made a decoction of Sage leaves, the green husks of Walnuts, Sumac, Myrtle berries, Blackberries, Cypress nuts, Rinds of the roots of the Halm tree, and such-like. For the rind of the root of Halm tree..."
"...For the Rind the root of Halm tree, boiled till it be soft, and consumed, and then smeared on all night, blacks the hair, first made clean with Fullers Earth..."
"...Ringworms will so deform the face, that nothing can do it more..."
"...Such (Rochet) as will yield leaves that shall be more toothsome, if you water it with Salt Liquor..."
"...Oil is made of the seed of Cameline...it is made for lights, but those of Lomardy make great plenty of a golden colored oil of a seed like to this, called Dradella. It has plaited leaves as wild Rochet, which they sow among Pulse..."
"...This is called a simple Rocket.."
"...The falcon, seagull, the turtle, the blackbird, the vulture, the nightbird, called Scopes, perish with pomegranate kernels. The Titling by the flower of willows. The crow with Rocket seed..."
"... Theophrastus writes that Parsley will grow frizzled, if you pave the ground where you have sown it, and ram it with a Roller. .."
"...We read that he set the Roman Navy on fire, when Marcellus besieged Syracuse, his Country..."
"...Also in old monuments and histories it is declared, that there was a King of Egypt, whose name was Marrhes, who bred up a tame Rook, and this he made use of for a winged messenger, so often as he had need..."
"...The Rook with the remains of flesh the Wolf has fed on..."
Rose - A flower and shrub of any species of the genus Rosa, of which there are many species, mostly found in the morthern hemispere &hand; Roses are shrubs with pinnate leaves and usually prickly stems. The flowers are large, and in the wild state have five petals of a color varying from deep pink to white, or sometimes yellow. By cultivation and hybridizing the number of petals is greatly increased and the natural perfume enhanced. In this way many distinct classes of roses have been formed, as the Banksia, Baurbon, Boursalt, China, Noisette, hybrid perpetual, etc., with multitudes of varieties in nearly every class.
"...Wherefore we must lay their leaves only in the best Aqua Vita, that is, the leaves of Lilies, Jasmine, Musk, Roses, and the rest, hanging them on a thread, that when the water has sucked out their odour, we may pluck them out, because their odor lies only on their superficies..."
"...For Theophrastus records, that Violets, Roses, and Gilli-flowers, if they be not well heeded, in three years will wax white, and the experience thereof I myself have plainly seen..."
"...Also as much of the Flowers of Sage, Rosemary, olive and plantaine leaves, two handfuls of Hypocistis, Horehound, and the tops of Bramble, one pound of the Flower of Myrtle, half a pound of the seed, two handfuls of Rosebuds, with their stalks, two Drachms of Saunders, Corriander prepared, and Citron Pill..."
"... Theophrastus has told us that the herb Oenothera will tame wild beasts, and make them drunk. And as I said elsewhere, Theophrastus his Oenothera is our Rose-Laurel, against Discorides..."
"The English Physitian", Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654. --It is an Herb of as great use with us in these daies, as any whatsoever, not only for Physical but Civil purposes. The Physical use of it (being my present Task) is very much, both for inward and outward Diseases; For by the warming and comforting heat thereof it helpeth all cold Diseases, both of the Head, Stomach, Liver, and Belly. The Decoction thereof in Wine helpeth the cold Distillations of Rhewm into the Eyes, and all other cold Diseases of the Head and Brain, as the Giddiness or swimming therein, Drowsiness, or Dulness of the mind and senses, like a stupidness, the dumb Palsey, or loss of speech, the Lethargy, and Falling-sickness, to be both drunk and the Temples bathed therewith. It helpeth the pains in the Gums and Teeth, by Rhewm falling into them.
"...Take therefore three handfulls of Sage, Nettles, Rosemary, Mallows, and the rind of the roots of Walnut. Wash them well, and beat them..."
"... And to be short, in the same manner are extracted the oils out of the seeds of Carrot, Angelica, Marjoram, Rue, Rosemary, Parsley, Smallage and Dill, and suchlike..."
"...Take the flowers of Sage, Origanum,...Rose of Jerusalem, Doronicum, Ammoniac, Opoponax, Spodium, Schaeinanthus, Bdellium, Mummy..."
"...I will add one more excellent composition. Take eight parts of Iris, one of Sander, two of Benjamin, four of Rose Powder, and one and a half of Lignum Aloes, half a one of Cinnamon, or rather less, soften them all with Rose water and Gum-Tragacanth, and grind them on a Porphyretick Marble.."
Rose-water is a liquid with a pleasant smell made from roses, used on the skin as a perfume or to flavour food.
"...Take two bottles of Greek Wine, half a pint of white Rosewater, of Celendine, two ounces, of Fennel, Rue, Eye-Bright, as much, of Tutty, half an ounce, of Cloves as much, Sugar-Candy of Roses, one Drachm, Camphire, half a Drachm, and as much Aloes..."
"... I have practiced an easier and slighter way, besmearing the branches that are to be Engrafted, with Musk, or else steeping them in Rosewater, if the Musk did not stay upon them..."
"... Fill this with Quicksilver, and lute the joints with the white of an Egg, or some Pine tree Rosin, as it is commonly done..."
"...As it came to touch the wood that was newly smeared with Rosin, when it was corrupted, and grew hot, and vapored in the the midsummer, by heat of the Sun, it fired the Rosin, and the window, then other places smeared with Rosin, took fire, and by degrees part of the house began to take hold..."
"...The most skilful Glassmakers do labor very much, in coloring Smalt of a rose color, which is commonly called Rossiclere..."
"...Pliny shows, that onions increase desire of copulation in beasts, as the herb Rotchet does in men..."
"...If you take, says he, a Truttle of Goats Dung , and bore it through, and make it hollow cunningly with a Bodkin, and then fill it up with the seed of Lettuce, Cresses, Basil, Rotchet, and Radish, and when you have so done, lap them up in more of the same Dung..."
"...The beast Cynocephalus rejoices at the rising of the moon, for then he stands up, lifting his fore-feet toward heaven, and wears a Royal Ensign upon his head..."
See: Asphodils, Daffodil, Navews
"...This is so fruitful of Round-heads with us, that no plant has more, for often eighty heads will be heaped together..."
"...These Round-heads are like to Navews of moderate bigness..."
See: Aqua Fortis
"...Know therefore, that the Tincture cannot be Extracted, but by perfectly dissolving it in strong waters. And that it cannot be dissolved, as the work requires, in common Aqua Fortis, or Royal Waters..."
"...To stain Crystal with the color of Jacinth, or a Ruby, without breaking, or wearing it....take six parts of Stibium, four of Orpin, three of Arsenic, as much of Sulphur, two of Tutty..."
"... Of clarified Sugar, thirteen pounds. Of Honey two. I exclude Pearl, Rubies, Jacinths, Sapphires, Emeralds and leaf Gold from the composition, because, as I have proven before, they have no operation..."
"The English Physitian", Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654. --"This riseth up with a yellow stringy Root, much spreading in the ground, and shooting forth new sprouts round about, with many Herby green Stalks two foot high, crested all the length of them, set with Joynts here and there, and many large Leavs on them as well as below, being devided into smaller Leavs, nicked or dented in the forepart of them, of a sad green colour on the upperside, and pale green underneath: Toward the top of the Stalk there shooteth forth divers short Branches, on every one thereof there stand two, three, or four smal round Heads or Buttons, which breaking the skin that incloseth them shew forth a tuft of pale greenish yellow threds, which falling away there comes in their place small three cornre'd Cods, wherein is contained smal, long, and round Seed. The whol Plant hath a strong unpleasant scent."
"...Hemlock and Rue are at enmity, they strive each against each other. Rue must not be handled or gathered with a bare hand, for then it will cause ulcers to arise, but if you do chance to touch it, with your bare hand, and so cause it to swell or itch, annoint it with the juice of hemlock ..."
"...If it is Engraffed into a Fig tree. You must only set it into the bark somewhat near the root, that you may cover it with Earth. And so you have a most excellent Rue..."
"... The Queen of India sent to Alexander a very beautiful maid. Anointed and fed with the poison of Serpents, as Aristotle says, and Avicenna from the testimony of Rufus..."
Rugous - Having many wrinkles or creases; ridged or wrinkled. Having a rough, wrinkled surface, as in certain prominently veined leaves.
"... If they (Pomegranates ) are first dipped into hot water, then reconded in Wheat, till they become Rugous..."
"...If one ground did not differ from another, then we should have odoriferous Reeds, Ruses, Grass, Frankincense, Pepper, and Myrrh, not only in Syria and Arabia, but in all other countries..."
"... There was a certain young man in Sybaris, who was called Crachis, a luster after Goats. And being over-ruled by his lust, coupled himself with a fair Goat, the fairest he could light upon, and lived with her as his love and Concubine, bestowing many gifts upon her, as Ivy and Rushes to eat, and kept her mouth very sweet, that he might kiss her. ..."
"...and they let them consume in that Liquor, until it tastes sharp enough like Vinegar, then they strain all through Rush baskets..."
"...First, you must clense and purge your Iron of the Dross and refuse that is in it. And of that poisoned corruption of Rust that it is generally infected with..."
"To make red Smalt, add the Rust of Iron, very finely beaten..."
"...Then wash it with Lye made of Cabbage stalks, ashes, and Barley straw. But Rye straw is the best..."
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