But this by the by.

 

The Way of Making Extracts.

Seeing many extol the praises of extracts up to the skies (Lammas far from College's opinion in this particular, as the zenith is from the nadir), although WE by daily experience see they never answer to those effects. Yet, that WE may not altogether be wanting to the desires of others, WE chose rather to give this general way of making them, than to stuff up our Book with idle and needless receipts (as they have done already), and out of vainglory impose them upon the unskillful. 

Take of the mass of any pill or powder whatsoever, as much you will; infuse them, or any of them, in distilled water (a blind order) such as a physician shall prescribe, a sufficient quantity; let them stand two days in a bath, or if the species be hard, three days, till the tincture have drawn out all the virtue. Which if you would try, let the first liquor run through a brown paper (i.e. filter it), and put in new liquor digesting it again, which having received its tincture, proceed as before. Let the liquor so gathered be placed in balneo Mariae, and the moisture evaporated; so will the matter remain in the bottom, of the thickness of honey, which keep for your use. That the extract may remain moist a long time, put a little salt to it, viz. two scruples or half a dram to an ounce of extract. 

If you draw it with distilled water, put in a little Oil of Vitriol or Oil of Sulphur, so the extract will be the better drawn and pleasanter to the taste; for the liquor thereby being made sharp will sooner penetrate the hard substances of the species, and set a stop to the unbridled violence of a purging medicine.

Cordial extracts, Opiates, and violent purges are usually drawn with Spirit of Wine. 

The Ways of Making the Salts of any kind of Vegetables.

The salt which is made of plants is twofold; the one volatile, which is easily discussed by the violence of the fire (and this is also called essential), the other fixed, which endures the fire and is left in the ashes.

The Way to make Volatile or Essential Salt.

Take a large quantity of any convenient plant which is fresh and full of juice. Beat it in a wooden or stone mortar, and having poured clear spring water to it, boil it till half be consumed, strain it, and press it strongly; then, boil the decoction to the thickness of honey, then set it in a glass or stone vessel glazed in a cold place for eight days at the least, and you shall find a crystalline salt at the top of it, like Sal Gem. Take that, and wash it in the water of the herb it was made, and dry it. 

In this manner is made salt of Wormwood, Carduus Benedictus, Mugwort and other bitter herbs very easily, but of sweet herbs not without much difficulty.

The Way of Making Fixed or Elementary Salt.

The way of making this consists in these four things (see the directions at the beginning of the Book): calcination, solution, filtration, coagulation. 

That this may be rightly done, first of all the ashes of those herbs you would make salt of must be made white by calcination (burning), and herein have a care lest by too much burning either they go to glass, or else the most subtle part fly out, which often chances in calcining of Scurvy Grass, and other plants of like nature.

Then, make a lye of the ashes by pouring to them clear water and hot, till all the saltness be drawn from them; filter the lye, and boil it by a gentle fire till all the water be evaporated away, and the salt left at the bottom, to which a further cleansing is requisite; therefore, dissolve it again in water and filter it, and coagulate it again, for by often so doing the salt will be cleansed from all its impurity, and remain white and clear.

Thus are salts prepared of herbs, fruits and trees of any kind, as also of parts of living creatures calcined, and some stones. But this by the by. 

Amongst fixed salts these excel: salt of Wormwood, Thyme, Rosemary, Centaury the Less, Mugwort, Carduus Benedictus, Master Wort, Parsley, Rest Harrow, Ash, Dwarf Elder or Walwort, Guajacum, Box, Chamomel, St John's Wort, Succory, Sullondine, Scurvy Grass, Betony, Eupatorium, Bawm, Cetrach etc.

Preparation of Certain Medicines Very Necessary for Apothecaries.

The Burning of Brass.

Take flakes of brass. Put them into an earthen vessel, putting between every thin plate either common salt or brimstone in powder. In this manner, lay flake upon flake till the pot be full, then burn it sufficiently, and sweeten it with warm water. It will be reddish if prepared with salt, black if with brimstone. 

The Way to Wash Aloes.

Take of Aloes beaten into very fine powder, as much as you will; put it into a glazed pot, and stir it up and down with a spatula in a sufficient quantity of boiling hot water (so much that it may swim above the Aloes the breadth of two or three fingers), so as the pure part of the Aloes may be mixed with the water. Pour off that, and put in other warm water; do so till nothing but the dross is left at the bottom. All the waters being added together, evaporate away the moisture, that the pure Aloes may be left in a mass at bottom. 

The Preparation of Spodium.

Take of choice ivory cut in big pieces. Burn them in an earthen pot in a furnace till they look white; then, being beaten to fine powder, wash it in rosewater (let there be two pound of the water to one pound of ivory). Dry it and wash it again thrice; the last time, dissolve four drachms of Camphire in the rosewater; then, having dried it, grind it fine upon a marble, and make it into troches to be kept for your use. 

The Preparation of Bole Armenick.

The preparation of this is performed by many with rosewater, by some with vinegar, by others with wine. The Bole being in fine powder, they wash so often till all the dross and sand be taken from it; then, they dry it in the air or in the sun, and keep it close covered. 

Foecula Brioniae.

Take of Briony roots as many as your will. Scrape them with a knife, and press out the juice strongly with a press, which being kept without motion in a vessel, after a few hours white foeces like starch will settle. The water swimming at top, dry those foeces in glazed vessels.

May Butter.

Take of fresh butter without any salt at all about the middle of May, or toward the latter end of the month. Place it in the sun in a broad earthen vessel well glazed, that so it may be melted one every side; which being well melted when the sun is at the hottest, strain it through a thick lien rag, but press it not. Then, let it in the sun again; at last, when it is white, you may keep it all the year.

The Washing of Quick Lime.

The lime being beaten, let it be mixed with much sweet water, especially in the Dog Days, and much stirred. And when it is settled at the bottom, change the water and mix it again with other; do so seven or eight times, filtering it every time. At last, put rosewater to it, and so dry it and keep for your use. 

The Way to burn River Crabs.

Take of river crabs alive. Stew them in a brass pan over a temperate fire so long; then, having beaten them to powder, keep them in a clean box in a dry place. So will they continue good a whole year. 

The Common Preparation of Filings of Steel.

Take of filings of steel, cleansed from the filth by a loadstone, washing them in clean water and drying them; then, sprinkle them well with sharp wine vinegar, stirring them well. Dry them in the shadow, often putting fresh vinegar to them; so let it stand thirty days. Afterwards, beat it into very fine powder and keep it for your use.

In such steel as is prepared by the fire with brimstone, you must note that unless after the burning it retains a smatch of the taste of vitriol, it has lost all its opening faculty, and is good for nothing. 

The Preparation of Coriander Seeds.

Steep Coriander seeds in sharp vinegar for twenty-four hours, and then dry them. And so, if you please, you may prepare Cumin seeds also.

The Preparation of Elatereum.

Take of Wild Cucumbers, almost ripe, as many as you will; cut them asunder in the middle, and press out the juice gently with your foremost fingers, the which let run through a very fine sieve. Then, let it stand unmoved till the thickest part be settled at the bottom; pour off what is thin and clear into another earthen glazed vessel. Set the settling at the bottom, being covered with a linen cloth in the sun till it be dry, then keep it for your use.

The Preparation of Spurge Roots.

Infuse the bark of Spurge roots, being well cleansed in sharp wine vinegar, then dry them and keep them for your use.

In the same manner is prepared the leaves of Laurel, Mezereon or Spurge Olive, and the fruit of Thymelaea.

The Preparation of Euphorbium.

Take of Euphorbium beaten into very fine powder; grind it upon a stone with oil of Sweet Almonds teill it be like an unguent, then let it be put into a Quince or Citron made hollow, rolled up in paste and baked in an oven. Keep the Euphorbium so prepared in a glass well stopped. 

The Manner of Making Gersa or Cerussa Serpentaria.

Take of Aron roots in the beginning of the spring, before their strength run up to the leaves, as many as you will; wash them and cleanse them from the outward bark, then, being beat in a stone mortar and the juice pressed through a sieve, which being covered with a linen cloth, let it be dried in the sun, afterwards washed in rosewater, dried again and kept for your use. 

The Preparation of Black Hellebore.

Take of Black Hellebore roots, as we have them with us, the woody pith being taken away. Steep them in juice of Quince three days with a moderate heat, then dry them and keep them.

The Preparation of Goat's Blood. 

Take a goat of a middle age. Feed him a month with Burnet, Smallage, Parsley, Lovage, Mallows and such like things; then, take the blood which flows out of his arteries, being opened. Let it settle, then pour the water from it, and dry the blood in a furnace. The goat must be killed towards the latter end of the summer, about the Dog Days. 

The Way to burn Swallows.

Let young swallows be so killed that the blood may run upon their wings, the sprinkle them with a little salt, and burn them in an earthen vessel well glazed, and keep the ashes for you use. 

After the same manner are burnt hedgehogs, toads and frogs, but without salt. 

The Preparation of Gum Lacca.

Take of Gum Lacca which is foul (for it were labour in vain to wash what is clean); bruise it a little, and boil it in water (in which Schoenanth and Birthwort, of each equal parts, have been boiled), till the purer part swims at top and the dross is sunk to the bottom. Evaporate away the moisture from that purer part, either in the sun or in a bath, and so keep it for your use. 

The Preparation of Lapis Lazuli.

Take of Lapis Lazuli finely bruised, and wash it in so many waters till the water remain clear after washing. And this preparation is enough when you put it in pills; but when you use it in Confectio Alkermes, it must first be burnt.

The Preparation of Earthworms.

Take of earthworms, cut and cleansed, as many as you will. Wash them so often in wine till they are cleansed from their filth, then dry them and keep them for your use. 

The Common Way of Preparing Pearls.

Beat pearls into very fine powder in an iron or steel mortar, putting to them a little rosewater that for the more subtle parts may not fly away.

In the same manner is coral and other precious stones prepared. 

The Preparation of Sows or Woodlice.

Take the sows, as many as you will; wash them in white wine, then put into a new glazed pot. Dry them in a furnace, that so they may be beaten into powder.

The Way to make Oesipus. 

Take wool cut off from the neck, ribs and under the pits of the fore-legs of a sheep, not washed but well wearied; wash it in warm water so long till it have left all its fatness in the water, then press it out and lay it by. Let that fat and foul water be poured from on high out of one vessel into another a long time till it be frothy, then let the froth settle and take of the fat that swims on the top; then, pour the water to and fro again, till neither more fat nor froth appears, then wash the froth with the fat in clear water till it be cleansed from the dross, and will not bite your tongue if you touch it with it. Then. keep it in a thick earthen pot, in a cold place.

Washed Lead - Dioscorides.

Let water, being put in a leaden mortar, be stirred up and down with a leaden pestle painfully till it look black and look thick like lime; then, strain it through a linen cloth, putting water to it, that so whatsoever is dissolved may pass through. When it is settled, pour off that water, and wash it in other clear water till no blackness remain in it. At last, make it up into balls, to be kept for your use. 

Burnt Lead.

Take very thin plates of lead. Put them in an earthen pot, putting brimstone between every plate. So pile them up till the pot be full, then set it in the fire, stirring the lead up and down till it be brought into ashes. Then, shut your nostrils (lest the steam either of the brimstone or of the lead do you mischief), take it off from the fire, then wash it as you wash Ceruss. 

Powder of Raw Lead - Fernelius.

Take very thin plates of lead and cut them very small. Then steep them three days in sharp vinegar, changing the vinegar every day; then, dry them by the fire, but burn them not. So, beat them into a fine powder. 

The Preparation of Fox Lungs.

Take of fox lungs, being fresh, the aspera arteria being taken away. Wash them diligently with white wine wherein Hyssop and Scabious have been boiled; dry it gently in an oven, but burn it not. Then, lay it up, wrapped in Wormwood, Horehound, or Hyssop dried. 

Simpe Preparation of Scammony.

Take of Scammony in fine powder, a pound; juice of Quinces, eight ounces. Mix them together, and having stood in infusion twenty-four hours, evaporate away the juice.

Or take of Scammony in powder, and put it in a Quince, the core being taken out, and so roast it in the ashes in an oven. Then, take out the Scammony, and keep it for your use. 

Or take four ounces of SCammony, put it in a glass vial, cover it over with juice of Quinces the breadth of three fingers; let it stand in a bath till it look like milk, then put out that, and put in other juice. Do so till it look no longer white; let this liquor stand and settle, and dry the settlings in the sun.

The College here set down a way to prepare Squils for troches, which they say is not unlike the former; and comparing them together, I find them as like as a Permain is like an Apple. Therefore, I pass it. 

The Way to boil Turpentine.

Take a pound of Venice Turpentine, to which add a great quantity of water (to wit, twenty-four pound), in which let it be boiled so long till it lose its smell, and be as hard as rosin, brittle as glass and white. 

The Preparation of Tutty.

Take of Tuttt. Heat red hot three times in a crucible, and as often quenched in rosewater; then, grind it very small and put it in a clean line cloth. Swing it up and down this way and that way in a vessel full of clear water, that the fine and profitable part thereof may come through into the water, and the gross and filthy part remain still in the cloth. Let it settle, and then pour off the water; let this operation be repeated till nothing worth anything be left in the cloth. 

A Conclusion.

Thus, Courteous Reader, have I gone through the whole WORK. I am not conscious to myself that I have justly given offence to any by translating this work; if any take offence, it is to be shrewdly suspected it arises from self-interest. 

Once more, let me advise the ignorant not to be too busy with what they have no skill in, for as physick (as the never-dying Hypocrates truly says) was never ordained for disorderly and disobedient persons, so was the administration of it never ordained for dunces. Therefore, let every one that administers physick seriously consider the great accompt must be made another day before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy Angels, and do nothing rashly, but upon serious consideration, as he desires it should fare well with him when the Lord comes to make inquisition for blood. 

Pure pity to the commonalty of ENGLAND (I assure you) was the motive, the prevailing argument that set my brain and pen a-work about this subject, many of whom (to my knowledge) have perished either for want of money to see a physician, or want of knowledge of a remedy happily growing in their own gardens. And if any be angry because I have stripped the daw of his borrowed feathers, I am not careful; all ingenious people that love their country will judge like themselves of whom I had rather be deservedly reproved, than of other ignorantly commended.

FINIS