¶Of Cepa. chap. 42.
AN Onion is called Cepa or Cepe, & is all hearbe, that hath all his vertue, in the roote and in the seede, and is ther∣fore called Cepe, as Isidore saith, for it hath naught but a head. In lib. de plan∣tes Aristotle speaketh of the ••alon and sayeth, that the Onion and Ascolo∣ina beareth leaues twice in one yeare, and the Onion hath a stalke and beareth séede thereon, and hath a roote be clypped, with many cloues, and hath ther vnder, other rootes, as though it were hayrie.
And thereby the great roote taketh nou∣rishing and féeding, and radicall humor is sent into all thé hearbe. And in ye first yere this hearb profiteth not in the roote, but in the second yeare after that it is solved, nor séedeth commonly before the second yeare, nor beareth séed in one skin as Garlike doth and other such, but in the top of the stalke the seede springeth & spreadeth on small stalkes.
Of Onions is double kinde, tame & wilde, that Aristotle calleth Canina, as it were an Hounds Onion. This Oni∣on Canina hath white flowers towarde heauen, and somwhat gréene toward the earth; and such an onion helpeth against postlimes. And the tame Onion hath an hollow stalke without knots, and rene∣weth both ioynts and leaues, as Aristo. saith in libr. predicto. And Dioscorides saith, that the tame Onion is good & pro∣fitable both in meate & in medicine, & is gleymie and colde of kinde, and namelye that that is ruen long, and the red more than the white, and more the drye than the new, and more rawe than sodde. And doth away griefes of the wombe, and a∣bateth stinch of the mouth, and softneth the wombe and maketh meate sauourie. And the iuyce thereof helpeth them that haue the Litargio that is the sléeping e∣uill, and abaseth ofte ache of the éares, if it be with womans milke dropped there∣in. If it be eaten couenably, it foreker∣neth and departeth gleymie humours, & openeth the mouthes of the veynes, and exciteth vrine and menstruall bloud, and bringeth out venime, and quencheth bi∣ting of a mad dog, and helpeth in other venimes by bitings, and clarifieth the skinne and openeth the poores, and exci∣teth therefore sweate, & maketh it break out and giueth to ye body no nourishing, when it is eaten rawe: and it grieueth cholericke men, and accordeth to fleama∣tike men, & bréedeth thirst and swelling: & noieth & grieueth the head with sharp∣nesse, and to eate too much of them, brée∣deth madnesse and woodnes, and maketh dreadfull dreames, & namely if men that be new recouered of sicknesse, eate too much thereof. Onions when yée eate them maketh the eien watrye, and grie∣ueth the light only with sauour. Huc vs∣que Dioscorides.
(* 1.1There be diuers sorts of Onions, some white, some red, some rounde, some great, some small, but all of one fauour & propertie, sauing that the one is some∣what stronger in working, then an o∣ther, &c.)