White Lilies
It were in vain to describe a plant so commonly known in every one’s garden; therefore I shall not tell you what they are, but what they are good for.
Government and virtues.] They are under the dominion of the Moon, and by antipathy to Mars expel poison; they are excellently good in pestilential fevers, the roots being bruised and boiled in wine, and the decoction drank; for it expels the venom to the exterior parts of the body: The juice of it being tempered with barley meal, baked, and so eaten for ordinary bread, is an excellent cure for the dropsy: An ointment made of the root, and hog’s grease, is excellently good for scald heads, unites the sinews when they are cut, and cleanses ulcers. The root boiled in any convenient decoction, gives speedy delivery to women in travail, and expels the afterbirth. The root roasted, and mixed with a little hog’s grease, makes a gallant poultice to ripen and break plague-sores. The ointment is excellently good for swellings in the privities, and will cure burnings and scaldings without a scar, and trimly deck a blank place with hair.