THE CARROT FAMILY (UMBELLIFERÆ)

...whose rays, or stalks, supporting the seeds are much thicker and longer, and form a concave surface; the seeds are likewise much larger.

Properties and powers.

Fennel is hot and dry. Its seed, boiled and drunk, is a help against the bites of serpents; it induces the monthly courses menstruation, and increases milk in nursing mothers, as Tragus the Latinized name of Hieronymus Bock, a German botanist witnesses. Consult Johannes Bauhin near the beginning of the second part of Volume 3, who teaches at quite some length the powers of fennel as handed down by various authors.

Cumin with leaves and a larger striated seed very much resembles the former (namely, Fennel). It is the lowest plant of its whole Kind, being half a foot or barely a foot in height; at the tops of the stems the seeds are long and striated, rivaling the seeds of fennel in shape and size, but it is of a sharp and most unpleasant Taste, smelling of something quite foul, and even the seed itself is very disagreeable to the palate.

Place and time.

It grows abundantly in the Mediterranean islands of Malta, Crete, Cyprus, and various regions of Eastern Syria. It flowers in Summer, and brings its seed to completion toward the end of the same.

Names.

Cumin of the shops by Caesalpinus; the cultivated by Tragus, Matthiolus, and Dodoens; the common by Parkinson; that of Dioscorides by Gerard—which cannot be ours, since it is unpleasant and disagreeable to the mouth, whereas Dioscorides says of cultivated Cumin original: "sativo Cumino" that it is "pleasant to the mouth."

Properties and powers.

Cumin is hot and dry. Its seed dispels wind original: "flatus", meaning intestinal gas and heals colicky pains. Regarding the powers of Cumin, consult Johannes Bauhin, Page 23, Part 2, Volume 3, column 1.

Meum Athamanticum known as Spignel, Meu, or Bearwort is much taller than Cumin, but lower than fennel, from which it differs in the divisions or notches of the leaves (which are indeed denser) and likewise in its very color; for it has leaves of a paler green, more finely dissected than the leaves of fennel itself, and much shorter. Above all, however, the taste and smell are completely different from fennel and cumin; the roots are sometimes single, sometimes several, longer than a span original: "dodrante", a measurement of about nine inches, sometimes thinner, sometimes thicker; from the sides of these arise other oblique roots, long enough, and they are not usually found growing attached to other roots in this way, but are mostly seen to stretch upwards.

Place and time.

It grows on the mountains of Auvergne in France, and other high places of Italy, Gaul, and Britain. It produces seed in summer, but not in great abundance, because the root is extensive, spreading itself here and there—not suddenly, but seeking the upper parts—therefore nature is not so intent upon its production through seeds.

Names.

Meum by Matthiolus, the History of Lyon original: "Hist. Lugd.", Dodoens, and Gerard; the more common by Parkinson. Common Meu or Bear-root original: "radix ursina" by J. Bauhin. Athamantic by Dioscorides; Cretan Carrot original: "daucus Creticus" by Fuchs, Tragus, and the illustrations of Lobelius.

Properties and powers.

Meum is hot and dry in the third degree; it stirs the urine and provokes the monthly courses. Its root, infused and steeped in beer original: "cervisia", cures discharges of the chest and shortness of breath; see J. Bauhin, Page 2, Part 2, Volume 3, col. 1, who treats it more extensively there. Regarding the larger striated seeds, see the General Table of Illustrations of seeds Dd, Ee, Ff, and its explanation. Regarding the giant-fennel-like leaves original: "foliis ferulaceis", see the Table of Illustrations, 4, where the leaf of fennel is depicted, after the fashion of the other Umbellifers gifted with larger striated seeds and giant-fennel-like leaves.