Crocus · vehicle not stated

Original passage

It is an Herb of the Sun, and under the Lion, and therfore you need not demand a reason why it strengthens the heart so exceedingly: Let not abov ten grains be given at one time, for if the Sun which is the Fountain of Life, may dazle the Eyes and make them blind, a Cordial being taken in an immoderate quantity may hurt the Heart instead of helping it. It quicken the Brain, for the Sun is exalted in V as well as he hath his House in SL it help Consumption of the Lungs, help difficulty of breathing: it is an excellent thing in Epidemical Diseases, as Pestilences, smal Pox, and Measles: It is a notable expulsive Medicine, and a notable Remedy for the yellow Jaundice. My own Opinion is (but I have no Author for it) that Hermodactils is nothing else but the Roots of Saffron dried, and my reason is, that the Roots of all Crocus¹ both white and yellow purge Flegm as Hermodactils do, and if you please to dry the Roots of any Crocus, neither your eye nor your tast shal distinguish it from Hermodactils.

Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physitian, or An Astrologo-Physical Discourse of the Vulgar Herbs of this Nation (1652 edition) · Entry “Saffron.” · vertues and use · lines 16998–17020 · passage culpeper-1652:herbal:saffron:005