by the rest of Doctors, as affording but a crass and melancholy Juice;
yet _Loosening_ if but moderately boil'd, if over-much, _Astringent_,
according to _C. Celsus_; and therefore seldom eaten raw, excepting
by the _Dutch_. The _Cymæ_, or Sprouts rather of the _Cole_ are very
delicate, so boil'd as to retain their Verdure and green Colour. In
raising this _Plant_ great care is to be had of the Seed. The best comes
from _Denmark_ and _Russia_, especially the _Cauly-flower_, (anciently
unknown) or from _Aleppo_. Of the _French_, the _Pancaliere a la large
Costé_, the white, large and ponderous are to be chosen; and so the
_Cauly-flower_: After boiling some steep them in Milk, and seethe them
again in Beef-Broth: Of old they added a little _Nitre_. The _Broccoli_
from _Naples_, perhaps the _Halmyridia_ of _Pliny_ (or _Athenæus_
rather) _Capiata marina_ & _florida_, our _Sea-keele_ (the ancient
_Crambe_) and growing on our Coast, are very delicate, as are the
_Savoys_, commended for being not so rank, but agreeable to most
_Palates_, and of better Nourishment: In general, _Cabbages_ are thought
to allay Fumes, and prevent Intoxication: But some will have them
noxious to the Sight; others impute it to the _Cauly-flower_ rather: But
whilst the Learned are not agreed about it, _Theophrastus_ affirms the
contrary, and _Pliny_ commends the Juice raw, with a little _Honey_, for
the moist and weeping Eye, not the dry or dull. But after all, _Cabbage_
('tis confess'd) is greatly accus'd for lying undigested in the Stomach,
and provoking Eructations; which makes me wonder at the Veneration we
read the Ancients had for them, calling them _Divine_, and Swearing,
_per Brassicam_. 'Tis scarce an hundred Years since we first had
_Cabbages_ out of _Holland_. Sir _Anth. Ashley_ of _Wiburg St. Giles_
in _Dorsetshire_, being (as I am told) the first who planted them in
_England_.