Arroz

Of Rice.

John Gerard, The Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes, London, 1597. Lo que dijo de arroz el herbario más conocido de Inglaterra, en su propia ortografía de 1597 (en inglés).

The vertues (las virtudes)

Galen faith, that all men vfe to ftaie the belly with this graine, being boiled after the fame maner that Chondrus is. In England we vfe to make with milke and Rife, a certaine food, or pottage which doth both meanely binde the belly, and alfo nourifh. Many other good kinds of foode is made with this graine, as thofe that are skilfull in cookerie can tell.

The place (el lugar)

It groweth in the territories of the Bactrians, in Babilon, in Sufium, & in the lower part of Syria. It groweth in thefe daies, not onely in thefe countries before named, but alfo in the fortunate Ilands, and in Spaine, from whence it is brought vnto vs, purged and prepared, as we fee after the maner of French barly. It profpereth beft in fenny and waterifh places.

The time (la época)

It is fowen in the fpring in India, as Eratosthenes witneffeth, when it is moiftened with fommer flowers.

The names (los nombres)

The Grecians call it $\text{ὄρυζα}$, or as Theophrastus faith $\text{ὄρυζον}$: the Latines keepe the Greeke worde Oryza: in French it is called Riz: in the Germaine toong Rifz, and Rys: in Englifh Rife.

Gerard escribía dentro de la medicina humoral galénica, y sus opiniones, también sobre los pueblos de América y sus cultivos, son las del Londres de 1590. Sus «virtudes» son historia, no consejo. Transcripción: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). El capítulo completo en la Sala del Herball.