Colours and flavours as signs

Meaning

Colours and flavours are treated as signs of differences in the degree of a substance’s qualities and powers. In the argument about plant parts, hotter or colder, drier or moister does not mean that each part has an opposing essence. The author expressly applies more and less to actions and powers, not to essence itself.

The sensory signs therefore support a graded account of one plant, whose flowers and upper tips are said to be subtler in action than its lower portions. This is historical evidentiary reasoning, not a reliable modern method for identifying, tasting or judging the safety of an unknown material. The signs’ meaning depends upon the author’s preceding distinction of difference from contrariety.