Of Sciatica Cresses.
The description.
Sciatica Cresses hath many slender braunches, growing from a stalke of a cubite high, with small, long, and narrowe leaues, like those of garden Cresses. The flowers be very small, and yellow of colour, the seede vessels be little flat chaffie huskes, wherein is the seede of a reddish golde colour, sharpe and very bitter in taste. The roote is small, tough, white within and without, and of a biting taste.
The place.
It groweth vpon olde wals and rough places by high waies sides, and such like: I haue founde it in corne fieldes about Southfleete neere to Grauesend in Kent.
The time.
It flowreth according to the late or earely sowing of it in the fieldes, in Iune and Iuly.
The names.
Sciatica Cresse is called in Greeke ἰβερὶς, and καρδαμαντική: in Latine Iberis: of Plinie Hiberis, and Nasturtium syluestre, and in like maner also Lepidium. There is another Lepidium of Plinie: in English Sciatica Cresse.
The temperature.
Sciatica Cresse is hot in the fourth degree, and like to garden Cresses both in smell and taste.
The vertues.
The rootes gathered in Autumne, saith Dioscorides, do heate and burne, and are with good successe with swines grease made vp in manner of a plaister, and put vpon such as are tormented with the Sciatica: it is to lie on the grieued place but fower howers at the most, and then taken away, and the patient bathed with warme water, and the place afterwards annointed with oile and wooll laide on it; which things Galen in his ninth booke of medicines, according to the place grieued, citeth out of Democrates in certaine verses tending to that effect.
Text in Gerard's own spelling (the long s is printed as s), transcribed by the Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). A chapter may run onto pages not yet transcribed. Gerard wrote within Galenic medicine; nothing here is advice.