The herb Pantagruelion has a small, hard, roundish root, ending in a blunt white point, with few filaments, and does not sink into the earth more than a cubit.
Original French: L’herbe Pantagruelion a racine petite, durette, rõdelette, finante en poinƈte obtuſe, blãche, a peu de fillamens, & ne profonde en terre plus d’une coubtée.
Modern French: L’herbe Pantagruelion a racine petite, durette, rondelette, finante en poincte obtuse, blanche, a peu de fillamens, & ne profonde en terre plus d’une coubtée.
Notes
profonder
To sound, search, pierce, or goe deep into; to dive, or sink unto the bottom of; to press downe, or put into the deepe.
Cotgrave, Randle (–1634?), A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongue. London: Adam Islip, 1611. PBM
coubtée
Coubte. The elbow
Cotgrave, Randle (–1634?), A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongue. London: Adam Islip, 1611. PBM
strike deep
Read ne profonde, from profonder, the verb (profundare, Du Cange), a far better reading than ne est profonde (M.)
Rabelais, François (ca. 1483–1553), The Five Books and Minor Writings. Volume 1: Books I-III. William Francis Smith (1842–1919), translator. London: Alexader P. Watt, 1893. Internet Archive