juyce to the plant that is engraffed in it By the like experiment we may procure as Avicenna shews that A Citron shall grow without any seed in it for saith he if we engraff it into a Quince-tree it will yeeld such a fruit Albertus promiseth to produce A Medlar without any stones by engraffing it into an Apple-tree or a Service-tree But experience proves this to be false yet surely if it be so engraffed it will have a softer kernel a great deal The reason which brought the Ancients to think and write thus was this They saw that such fruits as have in them the hardest stones do grow upon such trees as have in them the hardest pith as the Dog-tree the Olive-tree the Damosin-tree the Myrtle-tree and the like they saw also that such trees as have a soft and a spungie kind of pith in them as the Fig-tree the Alder-tree and such-like bring forth fruit without any stones in them at all and from hence they gathered and concluded that it is the pith which nourishes the kernel Which thing howsoever it hath some little shadow of truth in it yet they should not have extended it generally to all plants seeing experience proves it to fail very often Now let us come to the second means whereby fruit may be prevented of their kernels and this is by taking forth the pith or marrow As for example if you would procure the growing of A Grape without any stone in it Democritus counselleth you to take a branch or twig of a Vine and cleave it just in the middle and either with a stone or some instrument made of bone fetch out all the pith in that part which you will plant within the earth or at least as far as you can hollow it without spoil then presently bind up the parts together again with paper stiffly and tightly wrapped about them and make a trench for them in some moist and very fertile soil where you must plant them in one and fasten it to some sure prop that it may not be wreathed nor bowed so will they soon grow up together into one as they were before but it would be much better if you would put the clove or head of a Sea-onion into that part which you have robbed of the pith for this is as good as glue to fasten them together and the moisture hereof will keep them supple as also the heat hereof will cherish them much Theophrastus saith that you may procure Grapes without any stones in them if you rob the Vine-branch of the pith that is in it whereof the stones are wont to be gendred And Columella saith that if you would have Grapes without stones you must cleave the Vine-branch and take out all the pith but so that the buds be not hurt thereby then joyn it together and binde it up again so that you crush not the buds and so plant it in a well-soiled ground and there water it often and when it beginneth to shoot up into slips you must dig deep about it oftentimes and when it cometh to bear it will yeeld you Grapes with our any stones Palladius saith there is a goodly kinde of Grape which hath no kernels in it so that it may be swallowed down easily and that with no small pleasantness as if it were many Grapes stoned and supped up together The manner of the procuring it is as the Greeks record by Art assisted with Nature on this wise The set which we would plant must be cleft in the midst so far as we mean to set it within the ground and when we have picked and clean scraped out all the pith of those parts we must close them togetheâ— again and when we have bound them hard up set them in the earth but the bond wherewith they are tied up must be made of Paper or Parchment and the ground where they are set must be a moist place Some go to work more precisely and put the plant so 〈◊〉 and made up again into a Sea-onion so far as the plant was cloven for by the help thereof all plants do sooner and easier take root Pliny likewise saith there is 〈◊〉 newâ—invented kinde of Grapes when the Vine-branch that is to he planted is cloven in the middle and all the pith scraped out and the pieces knit up together again with a special care that the buds receive no harm any way then they set the Vine-branch in a well-soiled ground and when it beginneth to shoot forth they pruâ—e it and dig often about it the Grapes which it afterwards bears will have no hard kernels in them as Columella writes howbeit it is great marvel that there can be in them any kernels at all though never so soft seeing all the pith which is the mother of the kernel is quite taken away But surely I for my part marvel at those who think it strange that a tree should live when this pith is gone are perswaded that a Vine-branch can bear fruit without kernels when the pith is taken out of it seeing many men in the Country are eye-witnesses that there do many plants live without any pith in them and seeing also it is impossible almost that any tree should bear fruit without kernels because the kernel carries it self the very seed whereby one fruit may be generated of another Likewise you may procure as Democritus also sheweth Pomegranates and Cherries without any stones if in like manner you pick out the pith of the young plants that you set And Africanus saith If you deal with these as with Vine-branches plucking out the pith after you have cleft them and then plant them and after a while cut off the upper parts of the plants when they have budded forth then the Pomegranate set will yield fruit without any kernels Palladius borrows this same experiment of Africanus and sets it down word by word as he doth Likewise that A Cherry-tree may bring forth fruit without any stone within Martial sheweth more distinctly Cut off a young plant about two foot long and cleave it as it stands in the ground down to the root and then fetch out the pith on both sides and presently tie them up again fast and cover the whole cleft both on the top and on both sides with muck so shall they grow fast together again in one year then engraffe some young sprigs of a Cherry-tree such as never bare any fruit before into this stock and by this means you shall procure Cherries without any stones at all Others that they might accomplish their purpose more speedily did not cleave such tender young Cherry-trees but bored a great hole thorough Trees of good growth so that it might pierce the whole pith and cross it in the middle of the Tree then they put a stake or a wedge into it which might stop the passage of the pith that none might be ministred into the upper parts In like manner Africanus teacheth how to procure A Peach without any
haste But let us see How Toad-stools may be generated Dioscorides and others have written That the bark of a white Poplar-Tree and of a black being cut into small pieces and sowed in dunged lands or furrows will at all times of the year bring forth mushromes or toad-stools that are good to be eaten And in another place he saith that they are more particularly generated in those places where there lies some old rusty iron or some rotten cloth but such as grow neer to a Serpents hole or any noisome Plants are very hurtful But Tarentinus speaks of this matter more precisely If saith he you cut the stock of a black Poplar peece-meal into the earth and pour upon it some leaven that hath been steeped in water there will soon grow up some Poplar toad-stools He addeth further If an up-land or hilly field that hath in it much stubble and many stalks of corn be set on fire at such time as there is rain brewing in the clouds then the rain falling will cause many toad-stools there to spring up of their own accord but if after the field is thus set on fire happily the rain which the clouds before threatned doth not fall then if you take a thin linnen cloth and let the water drop through by little and little like rain upon some part of the field where the fire hath been there will grow up toad-stools but not so good as otherwise they would be if they had been nourished with a showre of rain Next we will shew How Sperage may be generated Dydimus writes That if any man would have good store of Sperage to grow he must take the horns of wilde Rams and beat them into very small powder and sow them in eared ground and water it and he shall have his intent There is one that reports a more strange matter that if you take whole Rams horns not powned into small pieces but only cut a little and make a hole in them and so set them they will bring forth Sperage Pliny is of Didymus opinion that if the horns be powned and â—igged into the earth they will yield Sperage though Dioscorides thinks it to be impossible And though I have made often trial hereof but could not find it so to be yet my friends have told me of their own experience that the same tender seed that is contained within the Rams horn hath produced Sperage The same my friends also have reported That Ivy doth grow out of the Harts horn and Aristotle writes of an Husband-man that found such an experiment though for my own part I never tried it But Theophrastus writes that there was Ivy found growing in the Harts horn whereas it is impossible to think how any Ivy seed could get in there and whereas some alledge that the Hart might have rubbed his horn against some Ivy roots and so some part of the horn being soft and ready to putrifie did receive into it some part of the root and by this means it might there grow this supposal carries no shew of probability or credit with it But if these things be true as I can say or see nothing to the contrary then surely no man will deny but that divers kinds of plants may be generated of divers kinds of living Creatures horns In like manner may plants be generated of the putrified barks and boughs of old Trees for so is Polypody and the herb Hyphear generated for both these and divers other plants also do grow up in Firre-trees and Pine-trees and such other for in many Trees neer to the bark there is a certain flegmatick or moist humour that is wont to putrifie which when it abounds too much within breaks forth into the outward shew of the boughs and the stock of the Tree and there it meets with the putrified humour of the bark and the heat of the Sun working upon it there quickly turns it into such kinds of herbs CHAP. II. How Plants are changed one of them degenerating into the form of the other TO work Miracles is nothing else as I suppose but to turn one thing into another or to effect those things which are contrary to the ordinary course of Nature It may be done by negligence or by cunning handling and dressing them that plants may forsake their own natural kind and be quite turned into another kind wholly degenerating both in taste and colour and bignesse and fashion and this I say may easily be done either if you neglect to dresse or handle them according to their kind or else dresse them more carefully and artificially then their own kind requires Furthermore every plant hath his proper manner and peculiar kind of sowing or planting for some must be sowed by seed others planted by the whole stem others set by some root others graffed by some sprig or branch so that if that which should be sowed by seed be planted by the root or set by the whole stock or graffed by some branch or if any that should be thus planted be sowed by seed that which cometh up will be of a divers kinde from that which grows usually if it be planted according to its own nature as Theophrastus writes Likewise if you shall change their place their air their ground such like you pervert their kind and you shall find that the young growing plant will resemble another kind both in colour and fashion all which are clear cases by the books of Husbandry Some examples we will here rehearse If you would change A white Vine into a black or a black into a white sow the seed of a white Garden-Vine and that which cometh of it will be a black Wilde-vine and so the seed of a black Garden-vine will bring forth a white Wilde-vine as Theophrastus teacheth The reason is because a Vine is not sowed by seed but the natural planting of it is by sprigs and roots Wherefore if you deal with it otherwise then the kind requires that which cometh of it must needs be unkindly By the like means A white Fig-tree may degenerate into a black for the stone of a Fig if it be set never brings forth any other but a wilde or a wood Fig-tree and such as most commonly is of a quite contrary colour so that of a white figtree it degenerates into a black and contrariwise a black fig-tree degenerates into a white Sometimes also of a right and noble Vine is generated a bastard Vine and that so different in kind oftentimes that it hath nothing of the right garden-vine but all meerly wilde In like manner also are changed The red Myrtle and the red Bay-tree into black and cannot chuse but lose their colour for these likewise degenerate as the same Theophrastus reports to have been seen in Antandrus for the Myrtle is not sowed by seed but planted by graffing and the Bay-tree is planted by setting a little sprig thereof that hath in it some part of the root as we have shewed in our
the Radish seed and cover them about with dung and then lay them under the ground whereby the Lettice grows up garded with the stalks of so many herbs as there were seeds put into the leaves If you would procure Party-coloured flowers to grow you may effect it by the same ground and principle You must take the seeds of divers kinds of flowers and when you have bound them up in a Linen cloth set them in the ground and by the commixtion of those seeds together you shall have flowers that are party-coloured By this means it is thought that Daisies of divers kinds were first brought forth such as are to be seen with golden leaves reddish about the edge nay some of them are so meddled with divers colours that they resemble little shreds of silk patcht together CHAP. VI. How a double fruit may be made whereof the one is contained within the other THere is also another way of Composition whereby fruits may be so meddled together not as we shewed before that one part of it should be of one fruit and the other part of another kinde nor yet that one and the same bough shall at once bear two or three several kinds of fruits but that one and the same fruit shall be double containing in it self two several kinds as if they were but one whereof I my self have first made trial But let us see how the Ancients have effected this and first How to make an Olive-grape Diophanes sheweth that the Olive being engraffed into the Vine brings forth a fruit called Elaeo-staphylon that is to say an Olive-grape But Florentinus in the eleventh book of his Georgicks hath shewed the manner how to engraffe the Olive into a Vine that so it shall bring forth not only bunches or clusters of grapes but an Olive fruit also We must bore a hole through the Vine neer to the ground and put into it the branch of an Olive-tree that so it may draw and receive both from the Vine sweetnesse and also from the ground natural juice and moisture whereby it may be nourished for so will the fruit taste pleasantly And moreover if while the Vine hath not yet born fruit you take the fruitful sprigs thereof and plant them elsewhere these sprigs will retain the mixture and composition of the Vine and the Olive-tree together and bring forth one fruit that shall have in it both kinds which therefore is called by a name compounded of both their names Eleo-staphylus an Olive-grape He reports that he saw such a tree in the Orchard of Marius Maximus and tasting the fruit thereof he thought with himself that he felt the relish of an Olive-berrie and a grape kernel both together He writes also that such plants grow in Africa and are there called by a proper name in their Country language Ubolima But we must set props under them to bear up the weight and burden of the boughs though if we engraffe them any other way but this we shall need no polls at all I suppose also that by this self-same means it may be effected That a Grape should have Myrtle in it Tarentinus writes that the Vine may be engraffed into the Myrtle-tree and the Vine-branches thereon engraffed will bring forth grapes that have Myrtle-berries growing underneath them But the manner of this engraffing he hath not set down If you engraffe the Vine-branches in the higher boughs or arms of the Mrytle then they will bring forth grapes after their ordinary manner not having any Myrtle in them but if you engraffe them as she shewed before neer to the ground as the Olive-tree must be into the Vine then you may produce Myrtle-grapes though not without some difficulty We may likewise produce Damosins that shall be of the colour of Nuts for such kind of fruit were produced by the Ancients and called Nucipruna that is Nut-Damosins as Pliny reporteth It is a peculiar property of these fruits that are engraffed into Nut-trees that they are in colour like to their own kinde but in taste like unto Nuts being therefore called by a mixt name Nuci-pruna So there may be produced as the same Pliny writes Damosins that have sweet Almonds within them There is saith he in this kind of fruit an Almond-kernel neither can there be any prettier double fruit devised The same Pliny reports also that there is a kind of Damosin that hath in it the substance of an Apple which of late was called by the Spaniards Malina which cometh of a Damosin engraffed into an Apple-tree There is also a kind of fruit called by the Apothecaries Sebesten or Mixa which hath in it a sweet Almond This same Mixa is a kind of Damosin which differs from all others for whereas others have a bitter Almond or kernel within their stone this only hath a sweet kernel It is a plant peculiar to Syria and Egypt though in Plinies time it was common in Italy and was engraffed in the Service-tree whereby the kernel was the pleasanter They engraffed it into the Service-tree likely for this cause that whereas the fruit of it self would make a man laxative the sharp taste of the Service being mixed with it might cause it to be more binding But now we will shew How to produce an Almond peach which outwardly is a Peach but within hath an Almond-kernel The former means producing double fruits which the Ancients have recorded are but vain fables not only false matters but indeed impossible to be so done for we shewed in the book of Husbandry if you engraffe the Vine into the Myrtle there will be no such fruit brought forth after that manner Besides it is impossible to engraffe the Olive-tree into the Vine or if it were engraffed yet would it not bring forth any such grapes Pliny speaks of Apple-damosins and Nut-damosins but he sheweth not the manner how they may be produced happily because it was never seen nor known But we will demonstrate the manner of it to the whole world by this example this fruit is called an Almond-Peach by the late Writers because it bears in it self the nature both of the Almond and the Peach compounded together And it is a new kind of Adultery or commixtion wrought by skill and diligence used in graffing such a fruit as was never heard of in former ages partaking both of the shape and also of the qualities of either parent outwardly it resembles the Peach both in shape and colour but inwardly it hath a sweet Almond within the kernel that both looks and tastes like an Almond and so is the Tree also a middle betwixt the Almond-tree and the Peach-tree outwardly like the Peach-tree and inwardly like the Almond-tree The manner of engraffing is by clapping the bud of one upon the bud of another either upon one of the trees that bare one of the buds or else setting them both into a third tree as we have done when the Trees have been old We may also go farther and upon that
Tree round about the roots Likewise we may colour fruit by colouring the seeds of them for look what colour we procure in the seed either by steeping it in some coloured liquor or by any other means the fruit will grow to be of the same colour which the seed is when it is set or sown As for example we may colour Peaches with Sanguinary or Vermillion If we bury a Peach-stone in the ground and take it up again seven dayes after for in that time the stone will open of it self and then put into it some Vermillion and bury it in the earth again and afterward look carefully unto it we shall thereby procure Vermillion-peaches And Dsmocritus is perswaded that if we should put into it any other colour after the same manner the Peach would be of that other colour It is a thing commonly reported among us and it is not unlike to be true that Peaches may be of a sanguine-colour by another means You must take a Peach-stone and put it into a Carrot that is then growing and the stalk which grows of that stone in the Carrot if it be carefully nourished and preserved will bring forth Peaches of a sanguine colour In like manner If you would have White kernels growing in a Pomegranate Palladius sheweth how to do it by the authority of Martial If you take chalk and white clay and with them mingle a quarter so much plastering and apply the Pomegranate-tree roots with this kind of soilage or dunging for the space of three whole years together you shall obtain your purpose Likewise if you desire Mellons of a Sanguine colour you must take Mellon-seeds and steep them in sanguine liquor for three or four daies together before you set them you may easily have your desire Or else if you open a little the skin of the seed and put within it the juice of red Roses Clove-gilliflowers and Black-berries that grow upon Brambles or of any other like thing so that it be not hurtful to the seed you may effect your purpose And I suppose that the sanguine-coloured Mellons which are seen in these Countries are thus used that they may be of this colour Consequent upon these devices is that sleight whereby A Peach may grow with any writing upon it The Greeks affirm that a Peach may be made to grow with a writing upon it if you take out the stone and bury it in the earth for seven dayes and then when it begins to open pluck out the kernel and write in it what you will with Vermillion-juice then binde up the kernel into the stone again and set it so into the ground and you shall have growing a written fruit Now as the Sun doth colour the herbs that it may well come at as we have shewed so by keeping the force of the Sun away from them we may whiten them for so A Lettice may be made white as Florentinus sheweth If you would saith he procure goodly white Lettice then must you bind together the tops of the leaves two dayes before they be gathered for so they will be fair and white Likewise you may whiten them by casting sand upon them And with us Artichocks are made white by the very same means which we speak of And if you would cause Beets to become whiter then ordinary you must cover the roots over with Cow-dung and as we spoke before concerning Leeks so here you must cleave the bud and lay a broad stone or a tile upon it as Sotion sheweth So Columella teacheth how to make Endive to grow white when the leaves are shot forth you must tie them about the tops with a small string and cover them over with an earthen vessel set fast into the ground and the herb will be white Others are at less charges and cover them over with some earth our Gardeners lay them in sand and so make them very white If you would procure White Sperage you must put the slips as soon as ever they appear out of the earth into a broken reed and there let them grow for a while and afterward when you take away the cane or reed the Sperage will be whiter then ordinary CHAP. XV. How the colour of Flowers may also be changed IN transforming and meddling the colours of flowers together we may procure such strange medleys as nothing can be more delightful to be seen Those which are of a â—eep purple colour may be meddled with azure blue those which are as white as milk may be meddled either with a duskish hew or with a green or crimson or some other compound colours in the beholding whereof the minde cannot chuse but be affected with great delight and be ravished with admiration and as it were quite overcome with the excellent beauty of them Wherefore we will set down certain Rules whereby we may be able to alter the colour of flowers as we prescribed certain rules before whereby we shewed how to alter the colour of fruits And first we will shew how by engraffing Gilliflowers that are of themselves purple or else white may become azure blue You must cut off somewhat neer the root a stalk of Endive or Blue-bottle or Bugloss but the old wilde Endive is best for this purpose and let it be grown to an inch in thickness then cleave that in the middle which is left growing in the ground and plant into it a Gilliflower new pluckt up out of the earth root and all then bind up the stalks or slips with some slâ—ght bond and lay good store of earth and dung round about it so shall it yield you a flower that is somewhat bluish of a most delightful colour to behold This many of my friends will needs perswade me though for my own part I have often made trial of it and yet never could see it effected But this I have seen that a white Gilliflower slip being engraffed into a red Carrot made hollow for the same purpose and so buried in the earth hath yeelded a Sea-coloured flower Likewise you may procure the white Gilliflower to be of a skarlet-colour if after the same manner you engraffe it into the root of Orchanet by which means also you may turn a purple Gilliflower into a skarlet If you would have A Rose as also the flower Jasmine to be of a yellow-colour you may procure it by engraffing either of them into a broom-stalk for of all other the broom-flower is most yellow and though we cannot do it so well by clapping the leaf or the bud of the one upon the leaf or bud of the other yet it may be effected by boring into the stalk after this manner You must set a Rose or a Jasmine neer to the broom and when they are somewhat grown take them up together with the earth that is about them for they will prove better when they are set again with their own earth which is about them being as it were their mother then with any other earth that
the stronger boughes that the winde may not shake them But all these practises must be used when the weather is fair and there is neither rain nor dew stirring as Columella teacheth But Beritius useth this means to make them stay long on their Tree He takes the blossoms of the Tree when they begin to wither and wraps in them every Pomegranate by it self and then binds them about with bonds thereby preventing their putrefaction and their chawns and chops which otherwise would be in them Others put them in earthen pots every one by it self and cover them well and settle them fast that they may not be broken by knocking against the stock or arms of the Tree not by hitting one against the other for by this means you shall have them alwayes better grown then by any other Varro saith that if you take Pomegranates before they be ripe as they stick upon their stalks and put them into a bottomless pot and cover them boughs and all in the ground so that no winde may come at them you shall not only finde them whole when you take them out but they will be greater also then if they had hung still upon the Tree Palladius shews Citrons may be preserved upon the Tree even by shutting them up in certain earthen vessels fit for such a purpose for so you may keep them upon their Tree almost all the year long If you would have Grapes hang upon the Vine fresh and good even till the Spring of the year Beritius prescribes you this course You must dig a pit in a very shadowy place neer to the Vines about a yard deep and fill it up with sand and set up some props in it then you must loosen the joints of the Vine-branches and winde them in together with the clusters of grapes to be tied to the props and then cover them that no water may come at them You must take heed also that the grapes do not touch the ground A thing which I have oft-times put in practise but it fell not out to my expectation for still the grapes were half rotten and their colour quite faded Columella saith There is no surer way then to prepare certain earthen vessels which may hold each of them a cluster of grapes so that they may have scope enough and they must have every one four handles whereby they may be tied to the Vine and their lids or coverings must be so framed that the middle may be the place of closing where both sides of the cover may fall close together when the clusters are in and so meeting may hide the grapes But you must see that both the vessels themselves and also their coverings be well pitched both within and without for the pitch will do good service herein When you have thus covered and shut up your grapes then you must lay good store â—f morter with straw chopt in it upon the vessels But in any case look that the grapes be so placed in the vessels that they touch no part thereof Tarentinus gives this counsel The clusters that first grow you must pluck off and then others will come up in their steads if you look carefully to the Vine now these later clusters will be very backward and long ere they be ripe take some earthen vessels and let them be somewhat open below put into them your later clusters and let the upper part of them be very close covered and then bind your vessels fast unto the Vine that so the wind may not shake them Palladius saith If you be desirous to keep grapes upon the Vine till the Spring-time you must take this course Neer unto a Vine that is laden with grapes you must make a ditch about three foot deep and two foot broad in a very shadowy place and when you have cast sand into it stick up certain props and winde the bunches daily towards them and when you have wrought them to stand that way bind them to your props without hurting the grapes and then cover them to keep them from the rain The Graecians likewise counsel you to shut up your grapes into certain earthen vessels which are somewhat open beneath but very close and fast shut above and so you may preserve them long upon the Tree If you would preserve Grapes upon the Vine till new come again so that upon one and the same Vine-branch may be seen old and new grapes both together you may effect it by this device which I my self have used for all the former experiments are the inventions of Antiquity and because there is great difficulty in working them and small profit when they are wrought therefore I esteem them as toyes and matters of little worth But this I have experienced my self and preserved good grapes upon a Vine until May and June and so have seen both new grapes and grapes also of the former year together upon one and the same branch When Vintage time is past you must take the tops and pliant twigs of such Vines as grow by the house side and winde them in at the window into the house and binde them fast to the summers or beams with the sprigs of Broom as with strings or thongs that they may be surely stayed from wagging up and down but you must let them in handsomely that the windows may be opened and shut conveniently By this means you shall keep them safe from the injury both of the cold weather and also of the devouting birds When there is any frosts or winds abroad keep the windows close shut and open them again when the air is waxed any thing calm and warm and so deal by them till the Spring come And when the Vine begins to bear new buds and new leaves then let your twigs out of prison and bring them back again into the open air and there let them take the comfort of the warm Sun So shall there grow new grapes upon the same twigs where the old grapes are I have also effected the same By another means Because it was a great trouble and a very irksome piece of work to take that course every year I have thought of another device whereby the same effect may be attained both more prettily and miraculously About the time wherein they are wont to prune Vines make choice of two special branches upon the Vine such as are most likely to bear fruit Cut off the tops of either of them but leave the branches still growing upon the Vine and leave two or three buds upon either branch Then take a vessel made of chalk or white clay and let there be a hole bored quite thorough the bottom of it and so place it that it may stand fit for the branches to be drawn thorough it so that they may stand a little out above the brims thereof When your branches are so seated then fill up the vessel with earth and that you may work more surely and speedily too you must set over your earthen
scope to swim upon the top of the Wine for by this means shall you keep your fruit fresh and good for a long time and besides the wine wherein they float will have a very fragrant savour Likewise Apples being shut up close and then put into Cisterns will last long As Palladius sheweth You must put your apples saith he into earthen vessels well pitched and made up close and when you have so done drown those vessels in a Cistern or else in a pit Pliny putteth apples in earthen Basons and so lets them swim in wine for saith he the wine by this means will yield a more odoriferous smell Apuleius saith that Apples are to be put into a new pot and the pot to be put into a Hogs-head of wine that there it may swim and play on the top of the wine for so the Apples will be preserved by the wine and the wine will be the better for the Apples So Figs being shut up close may be drowned for their better preservation As Africanus affirmeth They take figs saith he that are not very ripe and put them into a new earthen vessel but they gather them with their tails or stalks upon them and lay them up every one in a several cell by it self and when they have so done they put the vessel into an Hogs-head of wine and so preserve their figs. I have also proved it by experience that Peaches being shut up in wooden Cisterns have been well preserved by drowning And I have proved 〈◊〉 also in other kinds of Apples that if they be shut up in a small vessel that is very well pitched on the utter side and so drowned in the bottom of a Cistern of water and kept down by some weights within the water that it may not float they may be preserved many moneths without any putrefaction By a sleight not much unlike to this Pomegranates may be preserved in a Pipe or But that is half full of water as Palladius sheweth You must hang up your Pomegranates within the But yet so that they must not touch the water and the But must be shut up close that the wind may not come in And as fruit may be thus preserved if the vessels be drowned in water or other liquor so there are some of opinion that if you hide those vessels underneath the ground you may by this means also eschew the danger of the alterations that are in the air Columella sheweth that Cervises being shut up close and so laid under ground will thereby last the longer When you have gathered your Cervises charily by hand you must put them into vessels that are well pitched and lay also pitched coverings upon them and plaister them over with morter then make certain ditches or trenches about two foot deep in some dry place within doors and in them so place your pitchers that the mouth may be downward then throw in the earth upon them and tread it in somewhat hard It is best to make many trenches that the vessels may stand asunder not above one or two in a trench for when you have use of them if you would take up any one of the vessels none of the rest must be stirred for if they be the Cervises will soon putrifie Pliny reports the like out of Cato that Cervises are put into earthen vessels well pitched the covering being plaistered over with morter and then put in certain ditches or pits about two foot deep the place being somewhat open and the vessels set with the mouth downward And Palladius writes out of those two Authors that Cervises must be gathered while they be somewhat hard and laid up even when they begin to be ripe they must be put in earthen pitchers so that the vessels be filled up to the top and covered over with morter and laid in a ditch two foot deep in a dry place where the Sun cometh and the mouths of the vessels must stand downward and the earth must be trodden in upon them The same Author writeth that Pears being shut up in vessels and so laid under the ground will last the longer You must take those pears which are hard both in skin and in skin and substance These you must lay upon an heap and when they begin to wax soft put them into an earthen vessel which is well pitched and lay a covering on it and plaister it over with morter Then the vessel must be buried in a small ditch in such a place as the sun doth daily shine upon Others as soon as the pears are gathered lay them up with their stalks upon them in pitcht vessels and close up the vessels with morter or else with pitch and then lay them abroad upon the ground covering them all over with sand Others make special choice of such pears as are very sound somewhat hard and green and these they shut up into a pitcht vessel and then cover it and set the mouth of it downward and bury it in a little ditch in such a place as the water runs round about it continually In like manner also Apples being shut up close may be hidden within the ground for their better preservation As Pliny sheweth You must dig a trench in the ground about two foot deep and lay sand in the bottom of it and there put in your apples then cover the pit first with an earthen lid and then with earth thrown upon it Some put their apples in earthen basons and then bury them Others put them into a ditch that hath sand cast into the bottom of it and cover it onely with dry earth The like device it is whereby Pomegranates are preserved in small Buts which have sand in them You must fill a small But up to the middle with sand and then take your pomegranates and put the stalk of them every one into a several cane or into the bough of an Elder-tree and let them be so placed asunder in the sand that the fruit may stand some four fingers above the sand but the vessel must be set within the ground in some open place This also may be done within doors in a ditch two foot deep Others fill up the But half full of water and hang the pomegranates within the But that they may not touch the water and shut up the But close that no air may come in Cato sheweth how Filberds may be preserved within the ground You must take them while they be new and put them into a pitcher and so lay them in the ground and they will be as fresh when you take them forth as when you put them in In like manner Palladius sheweth that Chestnuts may be preserved if you put them in new earthen vessels and bury them in some dry place within the ground He saith also that Roses being shut up may be buried in the ground for their better preservation if they be laid up in a pot and well closed and so buried in some open place But now we
and set them to macerate ten days in dung being close stopt up then accomodate them to the Furnace and kindle fire an Oyl mixt with water distils out of a most pleasant sent The same may be done with Orange and Lemmon-peal In places where Flowers and Fruits are not to be had they cut off the tops of the Branches and Tindrils and slice them into four-inch-pieces and so distil them Oyl of Roses and Citron-Flowers is drawn after the same sort a most excellent Oyl and of an admirable savour But because the Oyl is very hardly distinguished from the Water pour the Water into a long Glass with a narrow neck and expose it to the Sun being close stopt the Oyl will by little and little ascend to the top which you must gather off with a Feather or pour out by inclining the Glass Sweet Oyl of Berjamin is to be made by putting Benjamin into a Glass-Retort and fitting it to the Furnace then encrease the fire without any fear of combustion and you will obtain a fragrant Oyl to be used in precious Oyntments So Oyl of Storax Calamite and Labdanum and other Gums So also Oyl of Musk Amber and Civet cannot be extracted more comodiously by any Instrument Art or Labour then by the aforesaid for they are of so thin a substance that they can hardly endure any the least heat without contracting a scurvy base stink of burning yet by this Artifice it may be drawn out very safely I see nothing to the contrary but that we may extract Oyl out of Spices also very securely by the same Artifice CHAP. X. How to extract Oyl out of Gums THere is a peculiar Extraction of Oyl out of Gums which although they require the same means almost as the former that is the mixing them with Waterâ— and macerating them for many days then putting them into a Brass pot and by a vehement fire forcing out the Oyl with the Water yet doth it come out but in a small quantity of an excellent odor and free from the stink of the fire as thus they usually deal with Opoponax Gaâ—â—anum Storax and others But they are distilled also another way by Ashes which doth require the diligent attendance of the Work-man and a singular judgement and provident dexterity in him for it is rather an ingenious then painful Operation I will set down an example How to extract Oyl out of Benjamin Macerate the Benjamin in Rose-water or omitting that put it into a Retort set the Retort into a Pot full of Sand so that it may fill up the space between the side of the Pot and bottom of the Retort put the neck of it into a Receiâ—er with a wide belly kindle the fire by little and little and without any haste or violence of heat let the Water distil by and by increase the fire that the Oyl may flow out yet not too intensely for fear of burning but moderately between both the oyly vapors will straight fill all the Receiver then will they be condensed and turn into flakes like Wool and sticking to the sides and middle of the Glass present you with a pleasant spectacle by and by they are turned into little bubbles so into Oyl and fall down to the bottom keep the fire in the same temper until all the Feces are dried then remove it or fear of ustion Oyl of Storax is drawn in the same manner but if the Storax be liquified it will run with a gentle fire it is of a strong and quick odâ—r Calamites requires a more lively fire such as was used in Benjamin and a diligent attendance for too much fire will cause adustion in it Oyl of Ladanum Beat the Ladanum and macerate it fifteen days in Aqua Vitae or Greek-Wine at least ten for the lonâ—er it infuseth the sooner it will run into Oyl draw it with a gentle fire it will distil out by drops after the Water Oyl of Turpentine is extracted easily for it floweth with a gentle fire but beware in the operation that no smoak do evaporate out of it for it presently will take fire and with a magnetick vertue attract the flame and carry it into the Retort where it will hardly be extinguished again which will happen in the extraction of Oyl of Olives and Linseed Oyl If you distil common Oyl it will hardly run yet en reasing the fire it will come out in six hours you must be very careful that the Ashes and Pot do not wax too hot for if the Oyl within take fire it will break the Vessels and flie up that it can hardly be quenched and reach the very cieling so that it is best to operate upon Oyls in arched Rooms From herce Artificers of Fire-works learned to put Oyl in their Compositions because it quickly taketh fire and is hardly extinguished CHAP. XI Several Arts how to draw Oyl out of other things THe Nature of things being diverse do require divers ways of distilling Oyl out of them for some being urged by fire are sublimed and will not dissolve into Liquor others cannot endure the fire but are presently burned From which variety of tempers there must arise also a variety in the manner of Extraction I will set down some examples of these that ingenious Artists may not despair to draw Oyls out of any thing whatever Oyl out of Honey is hard enough to be extracted for it swells up with the least heat and riseth in bubbles so that it will climbe up thorow the neck of the Retort though it be never so long into the Head and fall down into the Receiver before it can be dissolved into Liquor or Oyl There are divers remedies found out to help this Take a Glass with a short wide neck put your Honey into it and stop it in with Flax quite over-laid two fingers thick This will repress the Honey when it swelleth and froaths and make it sink down again Clear Water will drop out at first but when it beginneth to be coloured take away the Receiver and set another in the place so keep the Waters severally Or put Honey into any Vessel so that it may fill it up four large fingers above the bottom and cover it close as the manner is then dig a hole in the ground and set the Vessel in as far as the Honey ariseth then lute it and plaister it about four fingers above the Ground and drie it well kindle your Coals round about it then will the Honey grow hot and by degrees stick to the Pot but because the heat is above it it cannot swell up but very easily distilleth Water and Oyl first yellow next reddish until the Honey be turned into a very Coal There is another way which may be performed by any Woman Pour the Honey into a new Pipkin and cover it dig a hole and bury it abroad about a cubit under Ground there let it putrifie for ten days then take it up and there will swim on the top of the
Oyl and the thick Oyl sticks to her and so she is catched without snares or nets How Quails are taken with a Locking-Glass Clearchus saith that Quails spend their seed not only when they see the Females but when they hear their cry also The cause is the impression in their mindes which you shall know when they couple if you set a Looking Glass against them and before that a Gin for running foolishly to their picture in the Glass they see they are catcht Athenaeus and Eustathius CHAP. VII How Animals are congregated by sweet smells THere are many odours or other hidden qualities that gather Animals together from the particular Nature of things or of living Creatures I shall speak of the smelling odours and other aliments that they much desire As The Unicorn is allured by sent Tretres writes that the Unicorn so hunts after young Virgins that he will grow tame with them and sometimes he will fall asleep by them and be taken and bound The Hunters clothe some young lusty Fellow in Maids clothes and strewing sweet odours on him they set him right against the place where the Unicorn is that the winde may carry away the smell to the wilde Beast the Hunters lie hid in the mean time The Beast enticed with the sweet smell comes to the young man he wraps the Beast's Head in long and large sleeves the Hunters come running and cut off his Horn. To make Wheezles come together The Gall of a Stellio beaten with water will make Wheezles come together saith Pliny Also the wise Plinianists write that with the Gall of a Chamaelion cast into water Wheezles will be called together To make Mice come together If you pour thick lees of Oyl into a Dish and set it right in the house they will stick to it Palladius But Anatolins saith if you pour Oyl-Lees into a Brazen Bason and set it in the middle of the house all the Mice at night will meet together To make Fleas come together The fat of a Hedge-hog boyl'd in water and taken off as it swims on the top if you anoynt a staff with it and set it in the house or under your bed all the Fleas will come to it Rhasis To bring Frogs together The Gall of a Goat set into the earth in some Vessel is said to bring all the Frogs together if they can finde any delight therein CHAP. VIII How Creatures made drunk may be catch'd with the hand I Have said what draws them now I shall say what will make them drunk There are many simples that will do it that you may take them with your hands whilst they sleep and because there are divers Animals that are made drunk with divers things I shall speak of them in order And first How Dogs are made drunk Athenaeus saith that Dogs and Crows are made drunk with an Herb called Aenutra but Theophrastus from whom he had it saith that the Root Aenothera given with Wine will make them more tame and gentle Whence Aenutra comes by corruption of the word Theophrastus his Aenothera is Rhododaphni as I said So Asses are made drunk And when they sleep they are not onely taken but if you pull off their skins they will scarce feel you nor awake which comes by Hemlock for when they have eaten that they fall so fast asleep that they seem stupid and sensless So Horses are made stupid by Henbane seed if you give it them with Barley and they will be so fast asleep that they will be half dead half a day A certain Cheat who wanted money on his way cast this seed to some of his company and when they lay almost dead asleep and they were all much troubled for them for a reward he promised to help them which received he put Vinegar to their Nostrils and so revived them Whereupon they went on their journey So Libards are made drunk Opian teacheth the way and how they are taken when they are drunk In Africa so soon as they come to a Fountain where the Libards use to drink every morning there the Hunters in the night bring many vessels of Wine and not far from thence they sit covered in blankets The Libards very thirsty come to the Fountain and so soon as they have drunk Wine that they delight in first they leap then they fall fast asleep on the ground and so they are easily taken If you desire to know how Apes are taken being drunk Athenaeus writes that Apes will drink Wine also and being drunk are catch'd And Pliny saith that four-footed Beasts with Toes will not encrease if they use to drink Wine So Sows run mad eating Henbane-seed Aelian saith that Boars eating this Herb fall sick of a lingring disease and are troubled it is of the Nature of Wine that disquiets the minde and head So Elephants are made drunk Athenaeus reports out of Aristotle's Book de Ebrietate that Elephants will be drunk with Wine Aelian writes that they give the Elephant that must go to war Wine of the Grapes and made Wine of Rice to make them bold Now I will shew bow Birds laid asleep may be catch'd with your hands If then you would know how Birds may be catch'd with hands Pliny writes A certain Garlick grows in the Fields they call it Alum which being boyled and cast to them is a remedy against the villany of Birds that eat up the Corn that it cannot grow again the Birds that eat it are presently stupid and are catch'd with ones hand if they have staid a little as if they were asleep But if you will Hunt Partridge that are drunk Boetius teacheth you thus You shall easily hunt such Partridge if you cast unto them meal wet in wine for every Bird is soon taken with it If you make it with water and wine mingled and put that which is stronger into the vessels so soon as they have but sipt a little they grow drowsie and stupid He sheweth How to take Ducks with your hand If any one observe the place where Ducks use to drink and putting away the water place black wine in the place when they have drunk they fall down and may be easily taken Also wine-lees is best Ducks and other Birds being drunk are soon taken With some meats as are the Bur Dock seed strewed here and there in places where Birds frequent they are so light-headed when they have eaten them that you may take them with your hands Another bait Tormentil boy'ld in good wine and boyl Wheat or Barley in the same cast to Birds is good to catch them for they will eat pieces of Tormentil with the seeds and be drunk that they cannot flie and so are they catc'd with your hands This is best when the weather is cold and the Snow deep Or else strew Barley-corns in places where many Birds come then make a composition like a pultis of Barley-meal Ox-gall and Henbane-seed set this on a plank for them when they have tasted it
will not represent faces but pillars and spaces between and all ornaments Hence by the reciprocal reflection of the Glasses you shall see so many pillars basis and varieties keeping the right order of Architecture that nothing can be more pleasant or more wonderful to behold Let the perspective be the Dorick and Corinthian adorned with Gold Silver Pearls Jewels Images Pictures and such like that it may seem the more Magnificent the form of it shall be thus Let H G. be the place for the beholder to look the pillar against him shal be A in the Glass AB or AC the face of the beholder shall not be seen but AB is reflected into IH and IH into BD so by mutual reflections they are so multiplied that they seem to go very far inwardly so clearly and apparently that no spectator that looks into it unless he know it but he will thrust his hands in to touch the orders If you set a Candle in the middle it will seem so to multiply by the Images rebounding that you shall not see so many Stars in the skies that you can never wonder enough at the Order Symmetry and the Prospect I have raised and made this Amphitheatre divers ways and to shew other orders namely two ranks of pillars so that the one stuck to the Glasses the other stood alone in the middle bound with the chief Arches and with divers Ornaments that it may seem to be a most beautiful Perspective or Architecture Almost the same way is there made a little chest of many plain Glasses covered round this they call the Treasury on the ground arches and walls were there Pearls Jewels Birds and Monies hanging and these were so multiplied by the reflections of the Glasses that it reprsented a most rich Treasury indeed Make therefore a Chest of wood let the bottom be two foot long and one and half broad let it be open in the middle that you may well thrust in your head on the right and left hand erect the side-boards a foot long semicircular above that it may be arched but not exactly circular namely divided into five parts each a hand-breadth Cover this all about with Glasses where the Glasses joyn there put Pearls Precious-stones specious Flowers divers colour'd Birds above the bottom set heaps of Gold and Silver Meddals from the Arches let there hang Pearls fleeces of Gold for when the Câ—ffer is moved gently they will move also and the Images will move in the Glasses that it will be a pleasant sight CHAP. IV. Divers operations of Concave-Glasses BUt the operations of Concave-glasses are far more curious and admirable and will afford us more commodities But you can do nothing perfectly with it until you know first the point of inversion Therefore that you may do it the better and more easily Know the point of Inversion of Images in a Concave-glass Do thus Hold your Glass against the Sun and where you see the beams unite know that to be the point of Inversion If you cannot well perceive that breathe a thick vapour from your mouth upon it and you shall apparently see where the coincidence is of the reflected beams or set under it a vessel of boyling water When you have found the point of Inversion if you will That all things shall seem greater Set your head below that point and you shall behold a huge Face like a monstrous Bacchus and your finger as great as your arm So women pull hairs off their eye-brows for they will shew as great as fingers Seneca reports that Hostius made such Concave-Glasses that they might make things shew greater He was a great provoker to lust so ordering his Glasses that when he was abused by Sodomy he might see all the motions of the Sodomite behind him and delight himself with a false representation of his privy parts that shewed so great To kindle fire with a Concave-Glass This Glass is excellent above others for this that it unites the beams so strongly that it will shew forth a light Pyramis of its beams as you hold it to the Sun and if you put any combustible matter in the centre of it it will presently kindle and flame that with a little stay will melt Lead or Tin and will make Gold or Iron red hot and I have heard by some that Gold and Silver have been melted by it more slowly in winter but sooner in summer because the medium is hotter at noon rather than in the morning or evening for the same reason To make an Image seem to hang in the Air by a Concave-Glass This will be more wonderful with the segment of a circle for it will appear farther from the Glass If you be without the point of Inversion you shall see your head downwards That with fixed eyes and not winking at all you may behold the point until it comes to your very sight For where the Catheâ—us shall cut the line of reflection there the species reflected will seem almost parted from the Glass the neerer you are to the Centre the greater will it be that you will think to touch it with your hands and if it be a great Glass you cannot but wonder for if any man run at the Glass with a drawn sword another man will seem to meet him and to run through his hand If you shew a Candle you will think a Candle is pendulous lighted in the Air. But if you will That the Image of a Concave-Glass should go out far from the Centre when you have obtain'd the Image of the thing in its point if you will have it farther distant from the Centre and that the Picture of a thing shall be farther stretched forth then you shall decline from the point a little toward the right or left hand about the superficies of the Glass and the Image will come forth the farther and will come to your sight There namely where the Catherus doth the farthest off that is possible touch the line of reflection which few have observed from which principle many strange wonders may be done When you have this you may easily Reflect heat cold and the voice too by a Concave-Glass If a man put a Candle in a place where the visible Object is to be set the Candle will come to your very eyes and will offend them with its heat and light But this is more wonderful that as heat so cold should be reflected if you put snow in that place if it come to the eye because it is sensible it will presently feel the cold But there is a greater wonder yet in it for it will not onely reverberate heat and cold but the voice too and make an Eccho for the voice is more rightly reflected by a polite and smooth superficies of the Glass and more compleatly than by any wall I prove this because if a man turn his face to the Glass and his friend stand far behind his back when he beholds his face he shall decline his face