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This volume catalogs remedies derived from forest trees and wild plants, presenting systematic entries for dozens of species with prescribed treatments and applications. It enumerates specific uses for resins, barks, leaves, berries, and sap, and gives instructions on preparation, dosage, and testing of potency. The text also records variations among species, regional observations on growth and harvesting, and anecdotes on how certain plants were discovered or associated with animals and human practices. Overall it functions as a practical herbal compendium combining botanical description with medicinal recipes and empirical notes.
“Natrix”1942 is the name of a plant, the root of which, when taken out of the ground, has just the rank smell of the he-goat. It is used in Picenum for the purpose of keeping away from females what with a singular credulity they call by the name of “Fatui.”1943 For my own part, however, I should think that persons requiring to be treated with such medicaments as these, must be labouring under a sort of mental hallucination.