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IT is orderered after this maner. The wod must first be made as smalle as maye be / whiche thynge some do, at a torne, and than without any more ado / they lay the shauynges a water / And som do fyrst broile or stampe them in a morter so moche that they brynge them into pouder and duste, ••o thintent they maye the sooner be throughe soked, and theyr strength sodden out. But
I wote not, whether that make any mater / I haue sene some, that haue cut it fyrst with a sawe, and than raped the peeces with a rape / and haue taken and putte them in∣to water. Howe so euer it be / whether it be tourned / raped, or beaten to duste / they soke a day and a nyght one pounde weyght in eyght / of water, taken eyther of a well or of a ryuer, or as I dyd / of a pyt: than they sethe it in a newe glased pot, and clene was••hed, with a softe fyre of coles / by the space of sixe houres, and more / vntyll it come to the one halfe, with great hede ta∣kynge and diligence, leefte hit runne ouer through moche heate. For that whiche ouer runneth loseth (they say) moche of his ver∣tue, and is of lesse power. And therfore it may not be soddē in the flame, but it requi∣reth fewe coles / and a potte not fylled all moste by the .iij. parte. The skome that flo¦weth aboue, they taken away to anoynt the sores with: for we knowe it to haue moche power to drye. After it is thus sodden, they streyn it / & powre it in to a glasse. And than they put to the grondes eyght pound water and sethe it agayne (as before) as it were a seconde messhynge. This thynner they gyue them to drynke with their meate: the
fyrste is dronke in the stede of a medicine. And this is all to gether, that delyuerethe vs from so great and greuous disease, this deco••tion is it. This is the chiefe poynt and anker of our helth. And it hath so lytel nede of any other thynge, that it wyll not abyde any maner mixture, or mynglynge, as I wyll shortly after declare. Somme wolde, that lyght water and clere shulde be gotten for this purpose. Some admytte all maner swete water indifferently, bycause in sething what so euer it be, it is purified. All wold that good diligence and hede shulde be ta∣ken in time of sething, that it rūne nat ouer / or boyle to fast, & they byd that the potte be close stopped, that nothynge brethe out: but whā the skom is perceiued to ryse, it must be softely opened, and the skomme taken out, and so couered agayne. They putte this de∣coction (whan it is strayned) into a glasse / onely bycause it shulde be sene, and bycause a glasse of al vessels is purest and clennest. The colour of this decoction is somewhat lyke muddye water, whan hit is somewhat troubled. Wete lynnen in it, and it wexeth grene of a meruaylous shewe. The relesse therof at the fyrste tastynge, is some what soure, but to hym that vseth hit, by lyttell
and lyttel it waxeth pleasant. The phisiti∣ons were so bolde, as to put, to a pounde of this .iiij. vnces of hony. Whiche thynge, as I do not improue, so do I denye it to be ne∣cessarie. And I wolde nothynge shulde be added vnto suche a thynge, beinge of suche power, where as it nedeth not. For what nedeth a man there to bestowe his labour, where as no nede is: And to say the trouth the relesse of Guaiacum is not so greuous that it requireth to be tempred with hony: Yea were it not for my maysters the phisy∣tions all men wolde be contented therwith. Howe be it what nedeth me to name phisy∣tions, whan I speke onely but of tryflers? For they that be connnynge and expiert, as is O moste noble prince, Stromer thy phisition (and throughe frendeshyppe myne also) and thy other phisition Coppus, suche I saye, vnderstode and knewe, howe hit is not conuenyente, eyther to meddle it with vnknowen thynges, and myngle theym / or elles to adde oughte vnto these thyn∣ges, whiche as yet are not perceyued to lacke oughte. The whiche thynge as hit chaunced vs to haue communycacyon of this woode Guaiacum, at the citie of Au∣gust, whan many had auysed me to commyt
my selfe to this maner to cure: and I, for newnes of the thynge wolde here none of them: Stromer spekynge after this maner of this wodde with great grauitie of wor∣des sayde, that he feared leest the helth som and excellent power of Guaiacum shulde be diffamed through the superfluous addi∣tions of vnlerned phisitions: whiche thyng if hit were not done, nothynge coude be founde better agaynste this syckenes. And with his word is caused me streight without any taryeng to caste my selfe hedlynge into this experiēce of Guaiacum. And therfore I wold this, now ones spokē, shuld be gene¦rally vnderstond, that as often as I shal cō¦playne in this small treatise of phisitions, al men shulde thynke me to meane them, that haue no erudition nor experience: and that boste them selfe amongest the common peo∣ple / of the title & name of theyr doctorship, which they bought, that knew nother greke nor latyn / and yet no science requireth more erudicion or knowledge of the tonges than phisike: the whiche beynge moste ignorant, do lyghtly abuse the symple people of Ger¦maynie, seinge there is no doubte made of his lernynge, that is ones garnysshed with the name of Mayster doctoure. But why
haue I vsed in this thyng so many wordes? Verily to make my cause good with the, excellent prince, and to defende my selfe agaynst them, that by this occasion mought accuse me, as one that spake wordes more snappysshe than besemed me. Whiche thyng whan somme of the lawyers and diuines dyd of late, agaynste whose lernynge they sayde I inueyed without good maner, whan I dydde snybbe but onely the vnlerned, and them whiche were sore greued and were bytter ennemies vnto suche good lernynge, they caused many a good manne to thynke, that I was agaynst them, and yet was that thynge far from my maners, and also the purpose, wherin I than was occupied. whi∣che thynge seinge, I perceyue your excellēt¦nes to knowe well ynough, I wyl leue these runne agate anoynters, and theuysshe phisi∣tions, and also these vntaughte doctours, and come vnto Guaiacum: the whiche in medicine must thus be vsed.