into two parts which taile becommeth their hinder Legs wherefore the Aegyptians when they would describe a man that cannot moue himselfe and afterwardes recouereth his motion they decypher him by a frog hauing his hinder legges The heads of these young Gyrini which we call in English Horse-nailes because they resemble a Horse-naile in their similitude whose head is great and the other part small for with his taile he swimmeth After May they grow to haue feete and if before that time they bee taken out of the water they dye then they beginne to haue foure feete And first of all they are of a blacke colour and round and heereof came the Prouetbe Rana Gyrina sapientior wiser then a Horse-naile because through the roudndnesse and rolubility of his body it turneth it selfe with wonderfull celerity which way soeuer it pleaseth These young ones are also called by the Graecians Moluridae Brutichoi and Batrachida but the Latines haue no name for it except Ranunculus or Rana Nascens And it is to be remembred that one frogge layeth an innumerable company of Egges which cleaue together in the water in the middle whereof she her selfe lodgeth And thus much may suffice for the ordinary procreation of frogges by generation out of Egges In the next place I must also shew how they are likewise ingendered out of the dust of the earth by warme aestiue and Summer shevvers whose life is short and there is no vse of them Aelianus saith that as he trauailed out of Italy into Naples he saw diuers frogges by the way neere Putoli whose forepart and head did mooue and creepe but their hinder part was vnformed and like to the slyme of the earth which caused Ouid to write thus Semina limus habet virides generantia Ranas Et generat truncas pedibus eodem corpore saepe Altera pars viuit rudis est pars altera tellus That is to say Durt hath his seede ingendring Frogs full greene Yet so as feetlesse without Legs on earth they lye So as a wonder vnto Passengers is seene One part hath life the other earth full dead is nye And of these Frogs it is that Pliny was to be vnderstood when he saith that Frogs in the Winter time are resolued into slyme and in the Summer they recouer their life and substaunce againe It is certaine also that sometime it raineth frogs as may appeare by Philarchus and Lembus for Lembus writeth thus Once about Dardania and Paeonia it rained frogs in such plentifull measure or rather prodigious manner that all the houses and high-waies were filled with them and the inhabitants did first of all kill them but afterwards perceiuing no benifit thereby they shut their doores against them and stopped vp all their lights to exclude thē out of their houses leauing no passage open so much as a frog might creepe into and yet notwithstanding all this diligence their meat seething on the fire or set on the table could not be free from thē but continually they found frogs in it so as at last they were inforced to forsake that Countrey It was likewise reported that certaine Indians people of Arabia were inforced to forsake their countries through the multitude of frogs Cardan seemeth to find a reason in nature for this raining of frogges the which for the better satisfaction of the Reader I will here expresse as followeth Fiunt haec omnia ventorum ira and so forward in his 16. booke De subtilitate that is to say these prodigious raines of frogs and Mice little Fishes and stones and such like thinges is not to be wondered at for it commeth to passe by the rage of the winds in the tops of the Mountaines or the vppermost part of the Seas which many times taketh vp the dust of the earth congealeth them into stones in the ayre which afterwards fall downe in raine so also doth it take vp frogs and fishes who beeing aboue in theayre must needes fall downe againe Sometimes also it taketh vp the egges of frogs and fishes which beeing kept aloft in the ayre among the Whirle-windes and stormes of shewers doe there engender and bring forth young ones which afterwards fall downe vpon the earth there being no poole for them in the ayre These and such like reasons are approued among the learned for naturall causes of the prodigious raining of frogs But we read in holy Scripture among the plagues of Aegypt that frogges were sent by GOD to annoy them and therefore whatsoeuer is the materiall cause it is most certaine that the wrath of GOD and his almighty hand is the making or efficient cause and for the worthinesse of that deuine story how God maketh and taketh away frogs I will expresse it as it is left by the Holy-ghost in Cap. 8. Exod. verse 5. Also the Lord saide vnto Moses say thou vnto Aaron stretch out thy hand with thy rodde vpon the streames vpon the Riuers and vpon the ponds and cause frogs to come vpon the land of Egypt ver 6. Then Aaron stretched out his hand vpon the waters of Egypt and the frogs came vp couered the land of Egypt verse 7. And the Sorcerers did likewise with their Sorceries and brought frogs vp vpon the land of Aegypt Verse 8. Then Pharao called for Moses Aaron and said pray ye vnto the Lord that he may take away the frogs from mee and from my people and I will let the people goe that they may doe sacrifice to the Lord verse 9. And Moses saide vnto Pharao concerning me commaund when I shall pray for thee and thy seruants and for thy people to destroy the frogges from thee and from thy houses that they may remaine in the Riuer onely verse 10. Then he said tomorrow he answered be it as thou hast said that thou mayst know that there is none like the Lord our GOD. verse 11. So the frogges shall depart from thee and from thy houses from thy people and from thy Seruants onely they shall remaine in the Riuer verse 12. Then Moses Aaron went out from Pharao Moses cryed vnto the Lord concerning the frogs which he had sent vnto Pharao ver 13. And the Lord did according to the saying of Moses so the frogs dyed in the houses and in the Townes and in the fieldes ver 14. And they gathered them together by heapes and the land stanke of them c. And this was the second plague of Aegypt wherein the Lord turned all the fishes into Frogges as the booke of wisedome saith and the Frogs abounded in the Kinges chamber and notwithstanding this great iudgement of God for the present Pharao would not let the people goe and afterwardes that blind superstitious Nation became worshippers of Frogges as Philastrias writeth thinking by this deuotion or rather wickodnesse in this obseruant manner to pacifie the wrath of God choosing their owne wayes before the word of Almighty God But vain is that worship which is inuented without
of time wherein their rage sheweth it selfe by byting and when not but also the difference of place and region for that they byte in some Countries and not in other When they haue bitten there followeth a vehement payne and sâ—abbe vppon the place for the cure whereof there must be taken a decoction of Frogges and the broth must be drunke and the flesh applyed to the sore or else other common remedies against the poyson prescribed in the Treatise following The poyson hereof is great and not inferiour to the poyson of any other Serpent for sometimes by creeping vpon Apple-trees it infecteth and poysoneth all the fruite so that those which eate the same dye and languish they know not whereof and if the heele of a man doe but touch any small part or portion of the spettle of a Salamander it maketh all the hayre of the body to fall of The poyson it selfe is not cold as some haue thought but hote like to the poyson of Cantharides and therefore to be cured by the same meanes as by vomits Glysters Ephemeron and such like Onely Swyne doe eate Salamanders without harme or damage for there is in them a kinde of resistance in nature and yet if man or dogge doe chaunce to eate of that Swyne that hath eaten a Salamander it hath beene obserued that they perrished by the same And this poyson spreadeth it selfe the further when it is dead because it is strengthened by putrefaction and wine or water wherin one of these lyeth dead is empoysoned made mortall thereby to others But in our dayes Salamanders are not so venomous if there be any credite in Brasauolus howbeit I haue heard and read that if at this day a Salamander gâ—… heape of corne she so infecteth it that whatsoeuer eateth of that Corne dyetl sit were of poyson and the Kine of Helueria which are sucked by Salamanders doe euer after remaine barren and without milke and sometime also they dye of that euill And as Arnoldus writeth it casteth forth a certaine mattery white humour like milke out of the mouth wherevpon if a man or any other liuing creature doe but tread he is poysoned thereby and at the least all the hayre of their body falleth off and in like sort they inâ—ect herbes plants of the earth by theyr poyson Sometimes it happeneth that beasts or men haue swallowed Salamanders and then the tongue is inflamed and all the body falleth into grieuous torment by cold corruption and putrefaction part after part and also paines in the fundament in the stomack likewise dropsies and impostumation in the belly crampe of the guttes and relention of vrine For the cure whereof they giue sweete water Calamynts Saint Iohns-wort â—od with the shells Pine-apples leafes of Cypresse Galbanus and hony or Rozen Ammoniacke and Styrax New cow-milke the meale made of flax-seede with sweete water sweet wine and oyle to cause vomits Scammony a decoction of Calamints and figges fatte Baâ—on or hogges-flesh and also the egges of a Torteyse with the flesh thereof besides infinite other remedies ordained by the goodnesse of Almighty God as Phisitians knowe by their owne studie and daily experiments And therefore I hold it sufficient for mee to haue lightly touched them referring those that are desirous to know more vnto the learned collection of Carromus Out of the Salamander it selfe arise also some medicines for it hath a septick power to eate and corrode to take away hayres and the powder thereof cureth cornes and hardnes in the feete The hart tyed to the wrist in a blacke skinne taketh away a quartane-Ague and also Kiradides writeth that being bound vnto a womans thigh it stayeth her monthlie flowers and keepeth her barren But this is worthily reproued for vntruth and therefore I will not commend it to the Reader And thus much for the Salamander OF THE SCORPION SCorpios in Greeke is attributed both to the Scorpion of the Land and of the Sea although some-times for difference sake the scorpions of the earth be called Scorpios chersaios The deriuation is manifold according to some Writers either of Scorpizein ton+'ion that is dispersing his poyson or of Sckanoos erpein because the motion of it is oblique inconstant and vncertaine like as the flame of fire beaten with a small wind The Graecians also vse for a Scorpion Blestas because it casteth poyson octopos from the number of his eight feete And in Ethyopia there is a kind of Scorpion which the Greeks call Sybritae The Latines doe vse indifferently Scorpius Seorpio nepa Cancer also vinula and Geptaria as we find in Ponzettus The Arabians haue many words as Harrab Acrob Achrach and Satoracon Hacparab algerarat algeterat and algenat and alkatareti for little Scorpions which draw their tayles after them Howbeit among these names also Algarat signifieth that little kind of scorpions Algararat the Scorpion with bunches on his backe The Hebrewes according to the opinion of some call a Scorpion Acchabim The Italians Scurtigicio and Scorpione terrestre The French Vn scorpion the Spanyards Alacram alacrani which name they haue also giuen to an Iland in the west-Indies subiect to their dominion In Castilia it is called Escorpion and in Germany Ein scorpion The Countries which breed Scorpions are these that follow in Egypt neere the Citty Coptus are many very great and pestilent stinging Scorpions who kill as soone as they smite Also Ethyopia and Numidia abound with Scorpions especially the latter wherin as writeth Leo Affric are euery yeere found very many that die of their wounds Tenas one of the Cyclades Ilands is called Ophiessa because it yeeldes many Serpents and Scorpions Also in that part of Mauritania which is neere the vvest are Scorpions with wings and without wings likewise in Iberia Caria Lybia And it is also said that once there were many Scorpions brought into India into that part of the Country where the Rhicophagi dwell By the way betwixt Susis in Persia and Media there were wont to abound Scorpions vnder euery stone and turffe for which cause when the King of Persia was wont to goe into Media he gaue commaundement vnto his people to scoure the way by vsing all meanes to kill them giuing gifts to them that killed the greatest number of Scorpions There is an auncient towne in Affricke called Pescara wherein the abundance of Scorpions do so much harme that they driue away the inhabitants all the Sommer-time euery yeere vntill Nouember following And in like sort Diodorus declareth of many other places vtterly forsaken to auoyd the multitude of Scorpions as namely one part of Arabia and the region of India about Arrhatan or the riuer Estumenus likewise neere the Cynamolgi in Ethyopia There is also a Citty called Alabanda standing betwixt two hills or mountaines like as a chest turned inward which Apollonius calleth Cistam inuersam Scorpionibus plenam a chest turned inward full of Scorpions In an Island of
voyces The explycation of this riddle will shew the whole nature of the beast and of the Harpe called Chelys For some things are related herein of the liuing Creature and some things againe of an Instrument of Musicke made vppon his shell and couer And thus much for the Tortoyce in generall the Medicines I will reserue vnto the end of this History OF THE TORTOYCE OF THE earth whose shell is onely figured THese Tortoyces which neuer come in water either sweet or Salt cleare or muddy are called by the Graecians Chelone Chersaie by the Latines Chersinae and Testudines Terrestres Syluestres and Montanae by Nicander Orine and the French peculiarly Tortue des Boys a Tortoyce of the wood These are found in the desarts of Affrica as in Lybia Mauritania in the open fieldes and likewise in Lidia in the Corne-fieldes for when the Plow-men come to plowe their Land their shares turne them out of the earth vpon the furtowes as big as great Glebes of land And the shels of these the Husbandmen burne on the land and dig them out with Spades and Mattocks euen as they doe Wormes among places full of such vermine The Hill Parthenius and Soron in Arcadia doe yeeld many of these Land-Tortoyces The Shell of this liuing Creature is very pleasantly distinguished with diuers colours as earthy blacke blewish and almost like a Salamanders The Liuer of it is small yet apt to be blowen or swell with winde and in all other parts they differ not from the common and vulgar generall prefixed discription These liue in Corne-fieldes vpon such fruits as they can finde and therefore also they may be kept in Chestes or Gardens and fed with Apples Meale or Bread without Leauen They eate also Cockles and Wormes of the earth and three-leaued-grasse They will also eate Vipers but presently after they eate Origan for that herbe is an antidote against Viperine poyson for them and vnlesse they can instantly finde it they dye of the poyson The like vse it is sayde to haue of Rue but the Tortoyces of the Sandy Sea in Affrique liue vpon the fat dew and moystnesse of those Sandes They are ingendered like other of their kind the Males are more venerous then the Females because the female must needes bee turned vppon her backe and she cannot rise againe without helpe wherefore many times the Male after his lust is satisfied goeth away leaueth the poore Female to be destroyed of Kytes or other aduersaries their naturall wisedome therefore hath taught them to preferre life and safety before lust and pleasure Yet Theocritus writeth of a certaine Hearb that the Male-Tortoyce getteth into his mouth and at the time of lust turneth the same to his Female who presently vpon the smell thereof is more enraged for copulation then is the Male and so giueth vp her selfe to his pleasure without all feare of euill or prouidence against future daunger but this Hearb neither he nor any other can name They lay Egges in the earth and do not hatch them except they breath on them with their mouth out of which at due time come their young ones All the winter-time they digge themselues into the earth and there liue without eating any thing insomuch as a man woulde thinke they could neuer liue againe but in the Summer and warme weather they dig themselues out againe without danger The Tortoyces of India in their old and full age change their shels and couers but all other in the World neuer change or cast them This Tortoyce of the earth is an enemy to Vipers and other Serpents and the Eagles againe are enemies to this not so much for hatred as desirous thereof for Physicke against their sicknesses diseases of Nature and therefore they are called in Greeke Chelonophagoi aetoi Tortoyce-eating-Eagles for although they cannot come by them out of their deepe and hard Shell yet they take them vp into the ayre and so let them fall downe vppon some hard stone or Rocke and there-vpon it is broken all to peeces and by this means died the famous Poet Aeschilus vvhich kind of fate was foretold him that such a day he should dye wherefore to auoyd his end in a fayre Sunne-shine cleare day he sat in the fields and suddenly an Eagle let a Tortoyce fall downe vpon his head which brake his scull and crushed out his braynes whereupon the Graecians wrote Aeschulographonti epipeptoke Chelone Which may be englished thus Eschilus writing vpon a rocke A Tortoyce falling his braines out knocke The vses of this Land Tortoyce are first for Gardens because they cleare the Gardens from Snayles and Wormes out of the Arcadian Tortoyces they make Harps for their shelles are very great and this kind of Harp is called in Latine Testudo the inuentor whereof is said to be Mercury for finding a Tortoyce after the falling in of the Riuer Nilus whose flesh was dryed vp because it was left vppon the Rockes hee strucke the sinnewes thereof which by the force of his hand made a musicall sound and thereupon he framed it into a Harp which caused other to imitate his action and continue that practise vnto this day These Tortoyces are better meate then the Sea or Water-Tortoyces and therefore they are preferred for the belly especially they are giuen to Horses for by them they are raysed in flesh and made much fatter And thus much shall suffice for the Tortoyce of the earth OF THE TORTOYCE OF THE sweete-water PLiny maketh foure kindes of Tortoyces one of the earth a second of the Sea a third called Lutaria and the fourth called Swyda lyuing in Sweete-waters and this is called by the Portugalls Cagado and Gagado the Spaniards Galapag and the Italians Gaiandre de aqua There are of this kinde found in Heluetia neere to Zuricke at a Towne called Andelfinge but the greatest are found in the Riuer Ganges in India where theyr shels are as great as tuns and Damascen writeth that he saw certaine Ambassadours of India present vnto Augustus Caesar at Antiochia a Sweete-water-Tortoyce vvhich was three cubits broad They breede theyr young ones in Nilus They haue but a small Melt and it wanteth both a Bladder and reines They breede their young ones and lay their Egges on the dry Land for in the water they dye without respiration therefore they digge a hole in the Earth wherein they lay their Egges as it were in a great ditch of the quantity of a Barrell and hauing couered them with earth depart away from them for thirty dayes afterwardes they come againe and vncouer theyr Egges which they finde formed into young ones those they take away with them into the water and these Tortoyces at the invndation of Nilus follow the Crocodiles and remoue their nests and egges from the violence of the flouds There was a magicall and superstitious vse of these Sweete-water-Tortoyces agaynst Hayle for if a man take one of these in his right hand and
neere Liuonia there are great store of great serpents also so that the Heard-men are at continuall war and contention with them for defence of their flock Likewise in the Mountaines of Heluetia and Auergne whereof there are many wonders reported in the world which I will not stand vpon to relate in this place We reade also that some places haue beene disinhabited dispeopled by serpents such were the people of Scythia called Neuri who before the war of Darius were constrained to forsake theyr soyle because they were annoyed not onely with home-bred serpents but also with many other which came from other parts and so the Country remaineth desolate to this present day the ancient Inhabitants beeing all remooued to dwell among the Buditani The Cittie Amyclae in Italy as M Varro writeth was destroyed also by serpents And there be certains places of the world which haue receiued their denomination from serpents besides the Ophiusae neere Creete The Iland Tenos was called Hydrussa and Ophiussa so were Cremiuscos Aepolium and the Mountaines Macrocremnij Rhodus the long Ilands Ophiades in the Arabian coast which after it had remained a long time desart was purged and cleered from serpents by the Kings of Egypt Nicaenetus also calleth Cyprus Ophiodia And in Pausanias we read of a place name Opheos Kephale the Serpents head The like might be saide of Riuers as of Orontes called also Ophites and Ophis in Pontus which deuideth a sunder Colchis and the Country Thiamica Ebusus nourisheth no serpents and the earth thereof hath in it a secret vertue to driue away serpents wherefore it is much desired of all men to carry about them for that it hath beene often prooued that neuer any venomous beast durst aduenture vpon any man possessed thereof The like is said of Ireland as our owne Chronicles doe plentifully declare and therefore I will spare to enter into any narration thereof To come therfore to the more particular abode of Serpents especially of such as are knowne to vs we must leaue of the talke and nominaton of Kingdoms and descend to dennes holes caues dunghils sheep-coats valleys rocks hollow-walls and trees woods greene pastures hedges and such like places wherein they make their most abode And now and then in these Northerne parts of the world yet sildome they diue downe into the bottome or rootes of trees especially such as are greene all the Winter-time For they finde in them a greater heate or warmth then in other whose leaues fall off and decay in the cold weather except in the rootes of Birch And by reason of their multitude gathered together at the roote of this tree it falleth out that their breath heateth the same and so preserueth the leaues of it from falling off Wherefore in auncient time the ignorant multitude seeing a Birch-tree with greene leaues in the Winter did call it our Ladies Tree or a Holy tree attributing that greenenesse to miracle not knowing the former reason or secrete of Nature Solinus reporteth of such a like wood in a part of Affrica wherein all the Winter time the leaues of all the Trees abide greene the cause is as before recited for that the Serpents liuing at the rootes of the trees in the earth doe heate thē with their breath Neither ought any man to wonder that they should so friendly liue together especially in the winter cold time seeing that by experience in England we know that for warmth they will creepe into bed-straw about the legges of men in their sleepe as may appeare by this succeeding discourse of a true history done in England in the house of a worshipfull Gentleman vpon a seruant of his whom I could name if it were needfull He had a seruaunt that grew very lame and feeble in his legges thinking that he could neuer be warme in his bed did multiply his clothes and couered himselfe more more but all in vaine till at length he was not able to goe about neither could any skill of Phisitian or Surgeon find out the cause It hapned on a day as his Maister leaned at his Parlour window he saw a great Snake to slide along the house side and to creepe into the chamber of this lame man then lying in his bedde as I remember for hee lay in a lowe chamber directly against the Parlour window afore-said The Gentleman desirous to see the issue and what the snake would doe in the chamber followed and looked into the chamber by the window where hee espied the snake to slide vppe into the bed-straw by some way open in the bottome of the bedde which was of old bordes Straightway his hart rising therat he called two or three of his seruaunts and told them what he had seene bidding them goe take their Rapiers kill the said snake The seruing-men came first and remoued the lame man as I remember and then the one of them turned vp the bed and the other two the straw their maister standing without at the hole whereinto the said snake had entered into the chamber The bedde was no sooner turned vp and the Rapier thrust into the straw but there issued forth fiue or six great snakes that were lodged therein Then the seruing-men bestirring themselues soone dispatched them cast them out of doores dead Afterward the lame mans legges recouered and became as strong as euer they were whereby did euidentlie appeare the coldnes of these snakes or Serpents which came close to his legges euerie night did so benumme them as he could not goe And thus for heate they pierce into the holes of chimneyes yea into the toppes of hills and houses much more into the bottomes and rootes of Trees When they perceiue that winter approcheth they find out their resting places wherin they lye halfe dead foure moneths together vntill the Spring-sunne againe communicating her heate to all Creatures reuiueth and as it were raiseth them vp from death to life During which time of cold and vvinter as Seneca writeth Tuto tractari pestifera serpens potest non desunt tunc illi venena sed torpent They may bee safely handled without feare of harme not because they want poyson at that time but because they are drouzie and deadly astonished But there is a question whether when they be in this secrecie or drouzines they awake not to eate or else their sleepe be vnto them in stead of foode Olaus Magnus affirmeth of the Northerne serpents that they eate not at all but are nourished with sleep Cardan saith that they take some little foode as appeareth by those which are carried vp and downe in boxes to be seene and are fedde with branne or cheasill But this may be aunswered that serpents in boxes are not so colde as those in woods and desarts and therefore seeing cold keepeth them from eating the externall heate of the box-house or humane body which beareth them about may be a cause that inclosed serpents feede in
different from the vulgar sort so also is their byrth for they of the kingly race are not borne after the manner of a little Worme as all the comminalty are but is forthwith winged and amongst all his younglings if he find any one of his sons to be either a foole vnhandsome that none can take pleasure in rugged rough soone angry fumish or too teastie il shaped not beautifull or Gentlemanlike him by a common consent and by a Parliamentary authority they destroy for feare least the whole Swarme should bee diuided and distracted into many mindes and so at length the Subiectes vndone by factions and banding into partes The King prescribeth lawes and orders to all the rest and appointeth them their rules and measures for some he straightly chargeth and commaundeth as they tender his fauour and will auoyde his displeasure to fetch and prouide water for the whole Campe. He enioyneth others to make the Hony-combes to build to garnish and trimme vp the house well and cleanely to finish perfectly the worke to find and allow to promote and shew others what to doe Some he sendeth forth to seeke theyr liuing but being vvorne with yeares they are maintained of the common stocke at home The younger and stronger being appointed to labour and take theyr turnes as they fall And although being a King he be discharged and exempt from any mechanicall businesse yet for all that in case of necessity he will buckle himselfe to his taske neuer at any time taking the fielde or ayre abroad but either for his healths sake or when he cannot otherwise chuse by means of some vrgent businesse If in respect of his yeares he be lusty and strong then like a noble Captaine hee marcheth before his whole winged-army exposing himselfe first to all perils neither with his good will will he be carryed of his Souldiers vnlesse he be wearied and vveakened by meanes of crooked age or maistered and cleane put out of heart by any violent sicknesse so that he can neither stand on his Legges nor fly When night approcheth the signe and token being giuen by his Honny-pipe or Cornet if you will so call it a generall proclamation is made through the whole Hiue that euery one shall betake himselfe to rest so the watch beeing appointed and all thinges set in order they all make theÌ„selues ready and go to bed So long as the King liueth so long the whole svvarm enioy the benefit of peace leading their liues vvithout any disquieting disturbance vexation or feare of feuture wars For the drones do vvillingly contain theÌ„selues in their own celles the elder liuing contented with their ovvne homes and the younger not daring for their eares to breake into their father Lands or to make any inrodes or inuasion into the houses of their predecessours The King keepeth his Court by himselfe in the highest and largest part of the whole Palace his lodging being workemanlie and very cunningly made of a fine round or enclosure of Waxe beeing thus as it were fenced and paled about as with a defensible wall A little from him dwell all the Kings children beeing very obedient to their parents becke Their King being dead all his subiects are in an vprore Drones bring foorth their young in the celles of the true Bees all are in a hurly burly all being out of season and order Aristole saith that Bees haue many Kings which I would rather tearme Vizeroyes or Deputies sithence it is certaine as Antigonus affirmeth that as vvell the swarmes do dye and come to naught by hauing of many Kinges as none at all And thus to haue spoken of good Kings let this suffice Euill Kings are more rough rugged browner blacker and of more sundry colours whose natures and dispositions you will condemne in respect of their habite and manner of body and mind the one and other are thus physiogmonically described by the Poet Namque duae regnum facies duo corpor a gentis Alter erit maculis auro Squallentibus ardens Et cutilis clarus squamis insignes ore Faedior est alter multo quà m puluere abacto Quum venit sicco terram spuit ore venator Disidia latamque trahens inglorias alum Hunc Dede neci melior vacua sine regnet in aula In English thus The two aspects of kingly Bees two nations do disclose One of them Golden spotted red burning with pale hew And hauing scales both red and cleare and great about the nose The other filthy to behold like dust for it is true Which hunters spit vpon dry land when all is crusht and prest In sloth belly broad doth trauaile worser then the least Him kill let the other raigne Alone in empty Court do not disdaine And thus hetherto haue we spoken of their kinges and Dukes now will we bend our discourse to the common sort of Bees Bees are neither to be accounted wilde nor altogether calme and quiet creatures but of a nature betwixt both of all other they are esteemed most seruiceable and profitable Their sting giueth both life death to them for being depriued of it they surely die but hauing it they repell all hostility from their swarmes Of these there are none Idle although they be not all Honny-makers neither are the most sluggish of them all like vnto the Drones in their inclination and manners For they do not corrupt and marre the honie-combes neither doe they lie in waite by treachery and deceit to filtâ—h hony but are nourished by flowers and flying forth with their fellowes do get their liuing with them although some of them want the skill to make and lay vp the hony finely and safely yet notwithstanding euery one hath his proper charge and businesse to vse and practise for these bring water to the king and to the older Bees that cannot trauaile The elder sort if they be of a strong and robustious constitution are chosen for the gard of the kinges person as the fittest persons to be about him in respect of their approoued worth faithfull dealing and vprightnesse of conscience for the ordering and disposing of all matters Some giue Physicke to those that are sicke by making and giuing to them a medicinall aliment of hony that is drawne from Annise Saffron and Hiacinthes But if any thorough age or sicknesse chance to dye then they whose office it is to carry forth the dead bodies to burying do forthwith flocke together carrying the dead bodie of their brother on their shoulders as it were on a Beere least the pure Honny-combes might be fainted with any vncleanlinesse stinke or nastinesse Bees haue also their Ambassadours and Orators sent with commission or authority and put in trust to deale in their Princes affayres their old beaten Souldiours their Pypers Trumpetters horne-winders Watchmen Scout-watches and Sentinels Likewise Souldiers euen in a readinesse to defend and looke to their hony-wealth and goods as if it were a Citty committed to their trust and valiancy and these
discourse in the fourth chapter thereof There happened saith he within our memory in the Citty Pirizaea that there were two old Cockes which had layd Egges the common people because of opinion that those Egges would engender Cockatrices laboured by all meanes possible to keepe the said cockes from sitting on those egges but they could not with clubs and staues driue them from the Egges vntill they were forced to breake the egges in sunder and strangle the cockes But this point is worth inquiry whether a cocke can conceiue an Egge and after a certaine time lay the same ' without a shell I for my part am perswaded that when a cocke groweth old and ceaseth to tread his female in the ordinary course of nature which is in the seuenth or ninth yeare of his age or at the most in the foureteenth there is a certaine concretion bred within him by the putrified heat of his body through the staying of his seede generatiue which hardeneth vnto an egge is couered with such a shell as is said already the which egge being nourished by the cocke or some other beast bring eth forth a venomous worme such as are bred in the bodies of men or as Waspes Horse-flyes and catterpillers engendered of Horse-dung or other putryfied humours of the earth and so out of this Egge may such a venomous Worme proceede as in proportion of body and pestiferous breath may resemble the Affrican cockatrice or Basiliske and yet it is not the same whereof wee purpose here to intreat but will acknowledge that to be one kind of cockatrice but this kind is generated like other Serpents of the earth for as the auncient Hermes writeth it is both false and impossible that a cockatrice should be hatched of a cockes Egge The same writer maketh mention of a Bazeliske ingendered in dung whereby hee meaneth the Elixir of life wherewithall the Alchimistes conuert mettals The Aegyptians hold opinion that these cockatrices are engendered of the Egges of the Bird called Ibis and therefore they breake those Egges wheresoeuer they finde them and for this cause in theyr Hieroglyphicks when they will signifie a lawfull execution after an vpright iudgment sound institution of their forefathers they are wont to make an Ibis and a cockatrice The countries breeding or bringing forth these cockatrices are sayd to be these First Affricke and therein the Ancient seat or land of the Turkes Nubia and all the wildernes of Affrica the countries Cyrenes Gallen among the Physitions only doubteth whither there be a cockatrice or no whose authority in this case must not be followed seeing it was neuer giuen to mortal man to see know euery thing for besides the holy scriptures vnauoidable authority which both in the prophesie of Esay and Ieremy maketh mention of the cockatrice and her Egges there be many graue humainé Writers whose authority is irrefragable affirming not onely that there be cockatrices but also that they infect the ayre and kill with their sight And Mercuriall affirming that when he was with Maximilion the Emperour hee saw the carkase of a cocatrice reserued in his treasury among his vndoubted monuments Of this Serpent the Poet Georgius Pictorius writeth on this manner Rex est serpentum basiliscus quem modo vincunt Mustelae insultus saeuaque bella ferae Lernaeum vermem basiliscum foeda Cirene Producit cunctis maximè perniciem Et nasci ex ouo galli si credere fas est Decrepiti in fimo sole nitente docent Sed quoniam olfactu loedit visuque ferarum Omne genus credas nulla tenere bona That is to say The Bazeliske the Serpents King I find Yet Weasels him do ' ouercome in warre The Cyren land him breedes of Lernaes kind They to all other a destruction are And if we may beleeue that through the heat of Sunne In old Cockes Egges this beast is raised first Or beastes by fight or smell thereof are all vndone Then i st not good but of his kind the worst Wee doe read that in Rome in the dayes of Pope Leo the fourth there vvas a Cockatrice found in a Vault of Church or Chappell dedicated to Saint Lucea whose pestiferous breath hadde infected the Ayre round about whereby great mortality followed in Rome but how the said Cockatrice came thither it was neuer knowne It is most probable that it was created and sent of GOD for the punnishment of the Citty which I do the more easily beleeue because Segonius Iulius Scaliger do affirme that the sayd pestiferous beast was killed by the prayers of the said Leo the fourth I thinke they meane that by the authoritie of the sayde Byshop all the people were mooued to generall fasting and prayer and so Almighty GOD who was mooued for theyr sinnes to send such a plague amongest them was likewise intreated by their prayers and sutes not onely to reuerse the plague but with the same hand to kill the beast wherewithall it was created euen as once in Aegypt by the hand of Moses hee brought Grasse-hoppers and Lice so by the same hand he droue them away againe There is some small difference amongest the Writers about the quantity and partes of this Serpent which I will breefely reconcile First Aelianus saith that a Cockatrice is not past a spanne in compasse that is as much as a man can gripe in his hand Pliny saith that it is as bigge as twelue fingers Solinus and Isidorus affirme that it is but halfe a foot long Auicen saith that the Arabian Harmena that is the Cockatrice is two cubits and a halfe long Nicander saith Et tribus extenso porrectus corpore palmis that is it is in length but three palmes Aetius sayth that it is as bigge as three handfuls Now for the reconciliation of all these It is to bee vnderstood that Pliny and Aelianus speaketh of the Worme that commeth out of the Cockes Egge in regard of the length but not of the quantity and so confound together that Worme and the Cockatrice For it is very reasonable that seeing the magnitude and greatnesse of the Serpent is concluded to bee at the least a span in compasse that therefore the length of it must needes bee three or foure foote at the shortest else how could it bee such a terrour to other Serpents or how could the fore part of it arise so eminently aboue the earth if the head were not lifted at the least a foote from the ground So then we will take it for graunted that this Serpent is as big as a mans wrist and the length of it aunswerable to that proportion It is likewise questionable whether the Cockatrice haue Winges or no for by reason of his conceiued generation from a Cocke many haue described him in the fore-part to haue Winges and in the hinder part to haue a tayle like a Serpent And the conceit of winges seemeth to bee deriued from Holy Scripture because it is written Esay 14 verse twenty nine
by the people according to the saying of Iuuenall Crocodilon aderat parshaec Egypti Illa pauit saturam serpentibus Ibim Which may be englished thus This part of Egypt Crocodiles adore That the Ibis fed with Serpents store But the reasons of diuine worshippe or honour giuen to the Crocodiles are worth noting that the diligent Reader may the better haue some taste of that auncient blindnes whereby our fore-fathers were misleddge and seduced to forsake the most glorious and euer-blessed principles of Diuinitie for arguments of no waight First therefore the Idolatrous Priestes thought there was some diuine power in the Crocodile because it wanted a tongue for the Deitie or Diuine speech hath no neede of a voyce to expresse his meaning according to the saying of the Graecians Kai di apsophoa bainoon keleuthon kai dikes ta thueta agrikata diken For by a mute and silent way it ascendeth and bringeth all things mortall to a vocall iustice which speaketh in action though not in voyce euen as all that is in the Crocodile is action and not voyce Secondlie by reason of a certaine thinne smooth skinne comming from the midst of his fore-head where-withall it couereth his eyes so that when it is thought to be blind yet it seeth euen so is it with the Diuine power for euen then when it is not seene yet doth it see perfectly all mortall things Againe by theyr egges nests they vsually fore-shew the ouer-flowing of Nilus to the infinite benefit of their country wherein they liue for thereby the husband-men know when to till their Land and when not when to sow and plant and leade foorth theyr flockes and when not vvhich benefite is also ascribed to Diuinitie and therefore the Crocodile is honoured with diuine power Againe it layeth threescore egges layeth threescore yeeres which number of three-score was in auncient time the first dimension of heauen and heauenly things Cicero also speaking against this Egyptian vanitie saith that they neuer consecrated a beast for a God but for some apparant vtilitie as the Ibis for deuouring of Serpents and the Crocodile for beeing a terrour to theeues and therefore the Arabian and Lybian theeues durst not come ouer the Riuer Nilus to robbe the Egyptians for feare of the Crocodiles There is a tale in Diodorus Siculus of the originall of a Crocodiles diuine worshippe which although it cannot be but fabulous yet I haue thought good to insert it in this place to shew the vanitie of superstition and Idolatry There was a King of Egypt called Minas or as Herodotus calleth him Menes who following his houndes in hunting into a certaine marish of Moeris fell in with his horse and there stucke fast none of his follovvers daring to come after him to release him so that he had there perrished had not a crocodile come and taken him vp vppon his backe and sette him safe vppon the dry Land For which miracle the said King there built a Citty and caused a Crocodile to be vvorshipped which was called Sychus by all the inhabitants of that Citty and also gaue all the said Marish of Moeris for the sustenance of the same It was nourished with bread flesh wine cakes sodde flesh and sweete new wine so that when any man came to the Lake wherein it was kept the Priests would presently call the Beast out of the water and being come to the Land one of them opened his mouth and the other put in meate delicacies and VVine This Crocodile of Moeris is the same that is called Arsinoe and like to that at Thebes about which they did hang iewels of gold siluer and iemmes of earings bracelets and such other thinges of price When it dyed they did season the body thereof with salt buried it in the holy Tombes or burying Pots The same also are called Ombitae I meane the people of that Egypt which dwell in Arsinoe and for the loue of the Crocodiles they abandon all manner of Hawkes their enemies insomuch that many times they take them and hang them vp in publique vpon gallowes for that purpose erected And further they keepe certaine dayes of tryumphes like the Olympiades and games of honour and so farre they were blinded with that superstition that they thought themselues exceedingly blessed if they lost their children by them and thought themselues much honoured if they saw them with their eyes fetched out of the streetes and playing places by Crocodiles Againe all the Egyptians holde opinion that the Crocodile is a Diuinatour vvhich they prooue by the testimonie of Ptolomeus who calling one of these sacred Crocodiles which was the oldest and best of all he would not aunswere him and afterward offering him meate he also refused it whereat many wondered and some of the Priests sayde it was some prognosticall signe either of the Kings death or his owne so it fell out shortly after for the same Crocodile dyed As though a Swine might not as well be accounted diuine seeing it also refuseth all meate and prouocation at the time of theyr sicknes and before death There is a citty in Egypt called Apollinopolis the citty of Apollo where the inhabitants abhor condemne the worship of crocodiles for when they take any of them they hang thē vp and beate them to death notwithstanding their teares cryings and afterward they eate them but the reason of their hatred is because Typhon their auncient enemy vvas clothed with a Crocodiles shape Others also say the reason of their hatred is because a Crocodile tooke away and deuoured the daughter of Psamnites and therfore they enioyned all their posteritie to hate Crocodiles To conclude this discourse of Crocodiles inclination euen the Egyptians themselues account a Crocodile a sauage and cruell murthering beast as may appeare by their Hieroglyphicks for when they will decypher a mad man they picture a crocodile who beeing put from his desired prey by forcible resistance hee presently rageth against himselfe And they are often taught by lamentable experience what fraude malice to man-kind liueth in these beasts for they couer themselues vnder willowes greene hollow bankes till some people come to the waters side to draw and fetch water and then suddenly or euer they be aware they are taken and drawne into the water And also for this purpose because he knoweth that he is not able to ouer-take a man in his course or chase he taketh a great deale of water in his mouth casteth it in the path-waies so that when they endeuour to run from the crocodile they fall downe in the slippery path and are ouer-taken destroyed by him The common prouerbe also Crocodili lachrimae the crocodiles teares iustifieth the treacherous nature of this beast for there are not many bruite beasts that can weepe but such is the nature of the Crocodile that to get a man within his danger he will sob sigh weepe as though he were in extremitie but suddenly he
the fall The Gryffins are likewise said to fight with the dragons and ouer-come them The Panther also is an enemy vnto the Dragons and driueth them many times into theyr dennes There is a little bird called Captilus by eating of which the dragon refresheth himselfe when he is wearied in hunting of other beasts And to conclude he is an enemy vnto all kinde of Beastes both wilde and tame as may appeare by these verses of Lucan where he saith Arment aque tota secuti Rumpit is ingentes amplexi verbere Tauros Nec tutus spacio est Elephas Which may be englished thus And following close the Heards in fielde Great Bulls with force of might And Elephants are made to yeelde By dragons valiant sprite In the next place I will passe vnto the poyson and venome of dragons omitting all poeticall discourses about the worshipping and transmutation of dragons from one kind to another such as are the haires of Orpheus or the teeth of the dragon which Cadmus slew into Armed-men and such like fables which haue no shew nor apparance of truth but are onely the inuentions of men to vtter those things in obscure termes which they were afraid to doe in plaine speeches It is a question whether dragons haue any venom or poyson in them for it is thought that he hurteth more by the wound of his teeth then by his poyson Yet in Deuteron 22. Moses speaketh of them as if they had poyson saying Their wine is as the poyson of dragons and the cruell venome of Aspes So also Heliodorus speaketh of certaine weapons dipped in the poyson of dragons For which cause wee are to consider that they wanting poyson in themselues become venomous two maner of wayes First by the place wherin they liue for in the hoter Countries they are more apt to doe harme then in the colder and more temperate which caused the Poet in his verses to write of them in this manner following Vos quoque qui cunct is innoxi numina terris Serpitis aurato nitidifulgore Dracones Pestiferos ardens facit Affrica Ducit is altam Aëra cum pennis c. Which may be englished in this manner You shining Dragons creeping on the earth Which fiery Affrick yeeldes with skinne like gold Yet pestilent by hote infecting breath Mounted with wings in th' ayre we doe behold So that which is spoken of the poyson of Dragons infecting the ayre wherein they liue is to be vnderstood of the Metâ—or called Draco volans a Fire-drake which doth manie times destroy the fruites of the earth seeming to be a certaine burning fire in the ayre sometime on the Sea and sometime on the Land whereof I haue heard this credible storie from men of good worth and reputation happening about some twelue yeeres agoe vpon the Westerne-Seas vpon the Coastes of England which because it is well worthy to be kept in rememberance of all posteritie and containeth in it a notable worke of God I haue thought good to sette it downe in this place There was an olde Fisher-man which with his two hyred seruaunts went forth to take fish according to his accustomed manner and occupation and hauing layd theyr nettes watched them earnestly to finde the bootie they came for and so they continued in theyr labour vntill mid-night or there abouts taking nothing At the last there came by them a Fire-drake at the sight whereof the old-man beganne to be much troubled and afrayde telling his seruaunts that those sights sildome pretended any good and therefore prayed God to turne away all euill from them and withall willed his seruaunts to take vp their Nettes least they did all repent it afterward for he said he had knowne much euill follow such apparitions The young men his seruaunts comforted him telling him there was no cause of feare and that they had already committed themselues into the handes of Almightie GOD vnder whose protection they would tarry vntil they had taken some fish the old man rested contented with their confidence and rather yeelded vnto them then was perswaded by them A little while after the fire-drake came againe and compassed round about the boate and ranne ouer the Nettes so that new fâ—ares and more violent passions then before possessed both the old-man and his seruaunts Wherefore they then resolued to tarie no longer but hasted to take vp their nettes and to be gone And taking vppe theyr Nettes at one place they did hang so fast as without breaking they could not pull them out of the water wherâ—fore they sette theyr Grabbe-hookes vnto them to loose them for the day before they remembred that a Shippe was cast away in the same place and therefore they thought that it might be the Nettes were hanged vppon some of the tacklings thereof and therein they were not much deceiued for it happened that finding the place where-vppon the Net did stay they pulled and found some difficultie to remoue it but at last they pulled it vp and found it to be a chayre of beaten gold At the sight hereof their spirits were a little reuiued because they had attayned so rich a bootie and yet like men burdened with wealth especially the old-man conceiued newe feares and wished hee were on Land least some storme should fall and lay both it and them the second time in the bottome of the Sea So great is the impression of feare and the naturall presage of euill in men that knowe but little in things to come that many times they proue true Prophets of their owne destruction although they haue little reason till the moment of perrill come vppon them and so it fell out accordingly in this old-man for whilst hee feared death by stormes and tempests on the Sea it came vpon him but by another way and meanes For behold the deuill entred into the harts of his two seruants they conspired together to kill the old-man their Maister that so betweene themselues they might be owners of that great rich chayre the value whereof as they conceiued might make them Gentlemen and maintaine them in some other Country all the dayes of their life For such was the resolution that they conceiued vpon the present that it would not be safe for them to retuâ—ne home againe afâ—er the fact committed least they should be apprehended for murder as they iustlie deserued theyr maister beeing so made away by them The deuill that had put this wicked motion into their mindes gaue them likewise prespanâ—nt opportunitie to put the same in execution depriuing them of all grace pitty and pietie still thrusting them forward to performe the same So that not giuing him any warning of his death one of them in most sauage and cruell manner dashed out his braines and the other speedily cast him into the Sea And thus the feare of this old-man conceiued without all reason except superstition for the sight of a fire-drake came vpon him in a more bloody manner then hee expected but life suspected itselfe and
betwixt Frogs and Mise called Batrachomiomachia hath deuised many proper names for Frogs such as these are Lyninocharis Gracediet Peleus Dust-liuer Hidromedousa Water-haunter Phusignathos Nature-cryer Hypsiboas Loud-cryer Leuthaios Lowe-liuer Poluphonos great Labourer Krambophagos Brasile-eater Lymnesios Poole-keeper Kalaminthios Mint-eater Hidrocharis Water-child Borborokoïtes noise-maker Prassaphogos Grasse-eater Pelauseas dust-creeper Pelobates dust-leaper Krawgasides drought-hater Prassaios Grasse-greene and such other like according to the witty inuention of the Author all which I thought good to name in this place as belonging to this History In the next place wee are to consider the diuersity and kindes of Frogges as they are distinguished by the place of their abode for the greatest difference is drawn from thence some of them therefore are Water-Frogges and some are Frogges of the Land the Water-Frogges liue both in the water and on the Land in Marshes standing-pooles running streames and bankes of Ryuers but neuer in the Sea and therefore Rana Marina is to be vnderstood of a Fish and not a Frog as Massarius hath learnedly prooued against Marcellus The frogs of the land are distinguished by their liuing in gardens in Meddows in hollow Rockes and among fruites all which seuerall differences shall be afterward expressed with their pictures in their due places here onely I purpose to talke of the vulgar and common frogge whose picture with her young one is formerly expressed Besides these differ in generation for some of them are engendered by carnall copulation some of the slime and rottennesse of the earth Some are of a greene colour and those are eaten in Germany and in Flanders some againe are yellow and some of an Ashe-colour some spotted and some blacke and in outward forme and fashion they resemble a Toad but yet they are without venome and the female is alwaies greater then the male when the Aegyptians will signifie an impudent man and yet one that hath a good quicke sight they picture a frogge because he liueth continually in the Mire and hath no bloud in his body but about his eyes The tongue is proper to this kinde for the fore-part thereof cleaueth to the mouth as in a fish and the hinder part to the throat by which he sendeth forth his voyce and this is to bee vnderstood that all frogges are mute and drunke except the greene frogs and the frogs of the Water for these haue voyces And many times the voyces of frogs proceedeth from the nature of the Countreyes wherein they liue for once all the frogges in Macedonia and Cyrenia were drunke vntill there were some brought thither out of some other Countries as at this day the frogges of Seriphus are all drunke whereuppon came the Prouerb Batrachos ec Seriphou A frogge of Seriphus because the frogs of that Countrey doe neuer croake although you carry them into any other Country This Seriphus is one of the Islands of the Sporades in Greece wherein is the Lake called Pierius which doth not runne in the Summer but onely in the winter and all the frogs which are cast into that lake are perpetually silent and neuer vtter their voyce whereof there are assigned two causes one Fabulous and the other true and naturall The first the Seriphians say that when Perseus returned with the head of Medusa hauing gone very far till he was weary layd him downe beside that lake to sleep but the croaking frogs made such a noyse as he could take no rest Whereat Perseus was much offended and therefore prayed Iupiter to forbid the frogs from crying who instantly heard his prayer inioyned perpetuall silence to the frogs in that water and this is the Fabulous reason being a meere fiction of the Poets The second and more true reason is that of Theophrastus who saith that for the coldnesse of the water the frogs are not able to cry in that place The voyce of frogges is said by the Latinists to bee Corare and by the Graecians Ololugon peculiar words to set forth this crying now because their tongue cleaueth to the pallet of their mouth and theyr voyce proceedeth but from their throat to their mouth and the spirit is hindered by the tongue so as it cannot proceed directly therefore it hath two bladders vppon either side of the mouth one which it filleth with wind and from thence proceedeth the voyce Now when it croaketh it putteth his head out of the water holding the neather lip euen with the water and the vpper lip aboue the water and this is the voyce of the male prouoking the female to carnall copulation They haue but very small lungs those without bloud ful of froth like to al other creatures of the water which do lay egges and for this cause they do neuer thirst wherefore also Sea-calues and Frogges are able to liue long vnder the Water They haue a double Liuer and a very small Melt their Legges behind are long which maketh them apt to leape before they are shorter hauing deuided clawes which are ioyned together with a thinne broad skinne that maketh them more apt to swimme The most place of their abode is in fennes or in warme Waters or in fish-pooles but yellow and Ashe-coloured frogs abide in Riuers Lakes and standing pooles but in the Winter time they all hyde themselues in the earth And therefore it is not true that Pliny saith that in the VVinter time they are resolued into slyme and in Summer they resume againe their first bodyes for they are to be seene many times in the winter especially in those waters that are neuer frozen as Agrecolaana Mathiolus hath soundly obserued and they haue beene seene in certaine running streames holding small fishes in their mouths as it were sucking meat out of them Sometimes they enter into their holes in Autumne before winter and in the spring time come out againe When with their croaking voyces the Male prouoketh the femall to carnall copulatiō which he performeth not by the mouth as some haue thought but by couering her backe the instrument of geneneration meeting in the hinder parts and this they performe in the night season nature teaching them the modesty or shamefastnesse of this action And besides in that time they haue more security to giue themselues to mutuall imbraces because of a generall quietnesse for men and all other their aduersaries are then at sleepe and rest After their copulation in the waters there appeareth a thicke Ielly out of which the young one is found But the Land-frogges are ingendered out of Egges of whom wee discourse at this present and therefore they both suffer copulation lay their egges and bring forth young ones on the land When the Egge breaketh or is hatched there commeth forth a little black thing like a peece of flesh which the Latines call Gyrini from the Greeke word Gyrrinos hauing no visible part of a liuing creature vpon them besides their eyes and their tailes and within short space after their feet are formed and their taile deuided
no Serpent can be hidde when hee seeth a Scorpion he neither feareth nor spareth it It is also thought that Hares are neuer molested by Scorpions because if a man or beast be anoynted with the rennet of a Hare there is no Scorpion or Spyder that will hurt him Wild-goates are also said to liue without feare of Scorpions euen as the Affrican Psylli of whom we haue often spoken Now this vertue against Scorpions is not onely in liuing things but also in the plants of the earth therefore Sestius writeth that the seede of Nose-wort burned or scorched doth driue away Serpents and resist Scorpions and so doth the roote of the Mast-tree the seede of Violets and the same vertue is ascribed to the herbe Lychius which is englished Calucs-snout and also to the seede of Wild-parsenip The smell of Garlicke and Wild-mints set on fire or strewed on the ground Dittany haue the same operation and aboue all other one of these Scorpions burned dryueth away all his fellowes which are within the smell thereof and therefore this is a most vsuall thing in Asia and Affricke to perfume their houses with Scorpions burned and in steed thereof they make as it were little pills of Galbanume sandaracha with butter and the fatte of Goates and thereof altogether make their perfume also Bittony and wild-Pellitory with Brimstone They vse also to couer pannes with certaine things called by them Alkitran and Asa and with these they compasse the place wherein the Scorpion lodgeth and then it is found that they can neuer stir any more from that place And some in steede thereof poure oyle into their holes after them for the same effect And the Husband-men of Mauritania doe tye and fasten to their bedde-sides sprigs of White-thorne and Hasell-nuts where-withall by a secrete antipathy in nature they driue away and keepe themselues safe in their beddes from the annoyance of Scorpions By touching of Henbane they lye dead and ouer-come but if one touch them againe with white Ellebore they reuiue and are released from their former stupefaction It is also said that the leafes of water-mallowes do also astonish Scorpions and so also doth the Radish-roote The Sea-crabbe with Basill in her mouth destroyeth the Scorpion and so doth tunicle and mushrom of Trees To conclude the spettle of a man is death vnto Scorpions and therefore when a certaine fellow tooke vpon him to be a cunning Charmer and by incantation to kill a Scorpion he added to the wordes of his charme a treble spetting in the mouth of the Serpent and so it dyed where-vpon Wolphius which was present and saw this Charmer did afterward by himselfe alone at home make triall of spettle without a charme and so found that it alone killeth Scorpions especially the spettle of a man fasting or very thirsty Moreouer there be certaine Lands wherein no Scorpions 〈◊〉 liue as that about Clupea in Affricke and the dust of the Iland Gaulus neere Cercina beeing sprinckled vpon a Scorpion doth incontinently kill it And so much also writeth Hermolaus of the Region Galatha These and such like things are obserued by our painefull and industrious Auncestours about the nature of Scorpions as well that which is hurtfull vnto them they are afraid of as those to which they are enemies in nature wound mortally when they light vppon them It is remembred by Textor that Orion was slaine by a Scorpion vvherevpon the Poets haue made many tales They say that when he was growne to be a man he was a great hunter and a continuall companion of Diana who glorying much in his ovvne strength boasted that he was able to ouer-come any Serpent or other wild beast whereat the Gods beeing angry for reuenge taking downe the pride of this young man caused the earth to bring forth a Scorpion who killed Orion Whereat Diana was very sory and therefore in lamentation of her champion and for the good deedes he had done vnto her translated him into heauen close by the constellation of the Bull. Lucan on the other side saith that Diana sent this Scorpion to kill him enuying his famous successe in hunting and that afterward the Goddesse taking pitty on him translated him into heauen Others write againe that he had his eyes put out by Oenopion that he came blind into the Iland Lemnus where he receiued a horse of Vulcan vppon which hee rode to the Sun-rising in which iourney he recouered againe his eye-sight and so returning he first determined to take reuenge vpon Oenopion for his former cruelty Wherefore hee came into Creete and seeking Oenopion could not find him because he was hid in the earth by his Cittizens but at last comming to him there came a Scorpion and killed him for his malice rescuing Oenopion These and such like fables are there about the death of Orion but all of thē ioyntly agree in this that Orion was slaine by a Scorpion And so saith Anthologius was one Panopaeus a Hunter There is a common adage Cornix Scorpium a Rauen to a Scorpion and it is vsed against them thar perrish by their owne inuentions when they set vpon others they meete with their matches as a Rauen did when it preyed vppon a Scorpion thus described by Alciatus vnder his title Iusta vlcio iust reuenge saying as followeth Ruptabat volucer oaptum pede coruus in aur as Scorpion audaci praemia parta gulae Ast ille infuso sensim per membra veneno Raptorem in stygias compulit vltor aquas O risu res digna alijs qui fat a parabat Ipse perijt proprijs succubuit que dolis Which may be englished thus The rauening Crow for prey a Scorpion tooke Within her foote and there-withall aloft did flye But he impoyson'd her by force and stinging stroke So rauener in the Stygian-Lake did dye O sportfull game that he which other for bellyes sake did kill By his owne deceit should fall into deaths will There be some learned Writers who haue compared a Scorpion to an Epigram or rather an Epigram to a Scorpion because as the sting of the Scorpion lyeth in the tayle so the force and vertue of an Epigram is in the conclusion for velacriter falsè mordeat vel iucundè dulciter delectet that is eyther let it bite sharply at the end or els delight pleasingly There be many wayes of bringing Scorpions out of their holes and so to destroy and take them as we haue already touched in part vnto which I may adde these that follow A perfume made of Oxe-dung also Storax and Arsenicke And Pliny writeth that tenne water-Crabs beaten with Basill is an excellent perfume for this purpose and so is the ashes of Scorpions And in Padua they vse this Arte with small sticks or straw they touch and make a noyse vpon the stones and morture wherein they haue their nests then they thinking them to be some flyes for
carrie it with the belly vpward round about his Vineyard so returning in the same manner with it afterward lay it vpon the backe so as it cannot turne on the belly but remaine with the face vpward all manner of Clouds should passe ouer that place and neuer empty themselues vppon that Vineyard But such diabolicall and foolish obseruations were not so much as to be remēbred in this place were it not for their sillinesse that by knowing them men might learne the weakenesse of humaine wisedome when it erreth from the Fountaine of all science and true knowledge which is Diuinity and the most approoued operations of Nature And so I will say no more in this place of the Sweete-water-Tortoyce OF THE TORTOYCE OF the Sea IT were vnproper and exorbitant to handle the Sea-Tortoyce in this place were it not because it liueth in both elements that is both the water and the Land wherefore seeing the earth is the place of his generation as the Sea is of his foode and nourishment it shall not be amisse nor improper I trust to handle this also among the Serpents and creeping things of the earth Pliny calleth this Sea-Tortoyce Mus Marinus a Mouse of the Sea and after him Albertus doth so likewise The Arabians call it Asfulhasch and the Portugalles Tartaruga and in Germany Meerschiltkrott which the common Fisher-menne call the Souldier because his backe seemeth to bee armed and couered with a shield and Helmet especially on the forepart which shield is very thicke strong and triangular there being great veines and sinnewes which goe out of his Necke shoulders and hippes that tye on and fasten the same to his body His forefeet being like hands are forked and twisted very strong with which it fighteth and taketh his prey and nothing can presse it to death except the frequent strokes of Hammers And in al their members except their quantity their feet they are much like the Tortoyces of the Earth for otherwise they are greater and are also blacke in colour They pull in their heads as occasion is ministred to them eyther to fight feede or be defended and theyr whole shell or couer seemeth to be compounded of fine Plates They haue no teeth but in the brimmes of theyr beakes or snouts are certaine eminent diuided thinges like teeth very sharp and shut vppon the vnder lippe like as the couer of a Boxe and in the confidence of these sharp prickles and the strength of their hands and backes they are not afrayde to fight with men Theyr eyes are most cleare and splendant casting theyr beames farre and neare and also they are white in colour so that for their brightnesse and rare whitenesse the Apples are taken out and included in Rings Chaines and Bracelets They haue reynes which cleaue to their backes as the Reines of an Bugle or Oxe Theyr feete are not apt to be vsed in going for they are like to the feet of Seales or Sea-calues seruing in stead of Oares to swim withall Their legges are very long and stronger in their feet and nailes then are the clawes of the Lyon They liue in Rockes and the Sea-sands and yet they cannot liue altogether in the water or on the Land because they want breathing and sleepe both which they performe out of the Water yet Pliny writeth that many times they sleepe on the top of the water and his reason is because they lye still vnmooueable except with the Water and snort like any other Creature that sleepeth but the contrary appeareth seeing they are found to sleepe on the Land and the snorting noyse they make is but an endeuour to breath which they cannot well doe on the toppe of the Water and yet better there then in the bottome They feede in the night-time and the mouth is the strongest of all other Creatures for with it they crush in peeces any thing be it neuer so hard as a stone or such thinges they also come and eate grasse on the dry Land They eate certaine little Flshes in the Winter time at which season their mouth is hardest and with these Fishes they are also bayted by men and so taken Pausanius writeth that in Affrica there are Maritine Rocks called Scelestae and there dwelleth among a creature called Scynon that is Zytyron a Tortoyce and whatsoeuer he findeth on that Rockes which is a stranger in the Sea the same he taketh and casteth downe headlong They engender on the Land and the Female resisteth the copulation with the Male vntill hee set against her a stalke or stemme of some Tree or Plant. They lay their Egges and couer them in the earth planing it ouer with their breasts and in the night-time they sit vppon them to hatch them Their Egges are great of diuers colours hauing a hard shell so that the young one is not framed or brought foorth within lesse compasse then a yeere as Aristotle writeth but Pliny sayth thirty dayes And for as much as they cannot by Nature nor dare for accident long tarry vppon the Land they set certaine markes with their feete vppon the place where they lay theyr Egges whereby they know the place againe and are neuer deceiued Some againe say that after they haue hidde their Egges in the earth forty dayes the Female commeth the iust fortith day not fayling of her reckoning and vncouereth her Egges wherein shee findeth her young ones formed vvhich she taketh out as ioylfully as any man would do Gold out of the earth and carryeth them away with her to the Water They lay some-times an hundered Egges and sometimes they lay fevver but euer the number is very great There is vppon the left side of Hispaniola a little Island vpon the Port Beata which is called Altus-Bellus where Peter Martyr reporteth straunge thinges of many Creatures especially of the Tortoyces for hee writeth that when they rage in lust for copulation they come on shore and there they digge a Ditch wherein they lay together three or foure hundered Egges beeing as great as Goose-Egges and when they haue made an end they couer them with Sand and goe away to the Sea not once looking after them but at the appoynted time of Nature by the heate of the Sunne the young Tortoyces are hatched engendered and droduced into light without any further helpe of theyr Parents Great is the courage of one of these for it is not afrayde to set vppon three men together but if it can bee turned vpward vppon the backe it is made weake and vnresistable And if the head be cut off and seuered from the body it dieth not presently nor closeth the eyes for if a man shake his hand at it then vvill it winke but if hee put it neere it will also byte if it can reach it If by the heat of the Sunne theyr backes grow dry they also grow weake and inflexible and therefore they hasten to the Water to remollifie them or else they
oyle of Stellions which are sod in Oyle-oliue with Lyzards do cure all boyles and wennes consuming them without launcing or breaking And the ashes of the Stellion are most principally commended against the Falling-sicknes like as also is the skinne or truncke as we haue said before The head burned and dryed and afterward mixed with Honny-attick is very good against the continuall dropping or running of the eyes and in the dayes of Pliny he writeth that they mixed Stibum here-withall The hart is of so great force that it being eaten bringeth a most deepe and dangerous sleepe as may appeare by these verses Mande cor tantus prosternet corpora somnus Vt scindi possunt absque dolore manus Which may be englished thus Eate you the hart and then such sleepe the body will possesse That hands may from the same be cut away painelesse To conclude the Phisitians haue carefully obserued sundry medicines out of the egs gall and dunge of Stellions but because I write for the benefit of the English Reader I will spare their relation seeing we shall not neede to feare the byting of Stellions in England or expect any drugges among our Apothecaries out of them and therefore I vvill heere end the history of the Stellion OF THE TYRE THere be some which haue confounded this Serpent vvith the Viper taken them both to be but one kind or at least the Tyre to be a kind of Viper because the Arabians call a Viper Thiron of the Greeke word Therion which signifieth a wild beast whatsoeuer the Graecians write of their Echidna that is their Viper the same things the Arabians write of the Tyre and Leonicenus compiled a whole booke in the defence of that matter and from hence commeth that noble name or cōposition antidotary called Theriaca that is Triacle But Auicen in the mention of the Triacle of Andromachus distinguisheth the Triacle of the Viper from that of the Tyre and calleth one of them Trohiscos Tyri and the other Trohiscos Viperae So Gentilis and Florentinus do likewise put a manifest difference betwixt the Tyre and the Viper although in many thinges they are alike and agree together This Tyre is called in Latine Tyrus and Tyria and also among the Arabians as Syluaticus wryteth Eosmari and Alpfahex Rabbi Moses in his Aphorismes writeth that when the Hunters goe to seeke these Serpents they carry with them bread which they cast vnto them and while the Tyre doth eate it hee closeth his mouth so fast that his teeth cannot suddainely open againe to doe his hunting aduersary any harme and this thing as hee writeth is very admirable at the first to them that are ignorant of the secrete in nature Galen also writeth so much to Piso of Vipers and he saith that the Circulators Iuglers or Quacksaluers did cast certaine mazes or small cakes to them which whē they had tasted they had no power to harme any body This Tyrus is said to be a Serpent about the coasts of Iericho in the Wildernes where it hunteth Birds and liueth by deuouring of them and their egges And a confection of the flesh of this Serpent with the admixture of some few other things taketh away all intoxicate poyson which confection is called Triacle It is also reported that whereas the Dragons haue no poyson of themselues they take it away from this Serpent and so poyson with a borrowed venom For this poyson is very deadly and there is a tale which I will not tell for truth that before the comming and death of our Sauiour Iesus Christ the same was vnremediable and they died thereof whosoeuer they were that had been poysoned by a Tyre but on the day of Christ his passion one of them was found by chaunce in Ierusalem which was taken aliue and brought to the side of our Sauiour hanging vppon the Crosse where it also fastened the teeth and from that time euer since all the kind haue receiued a qualified and remediable poyson and also their flesh made apt to cure it selfe or other venoms It is reported that when the Tyrus is old he casteth or rather wresteth off his coate in this manner following First it getteth off the skinne which groweth betwixt the eyes by which it looketh as if it were blind and if it be strange to a man I meane the first time that euer he saw it he will verily take it to be blind afterward it also fleyeth off the skin of from the head and so at last by little and little the whole body at which sight it appeareth as though it were an Embryon or skinlesse Serpent They keepe theyr egges in their belly and in them breede theyr young ones as the Vipers doe for before they come out of the dammes belly they are in all parts according to theyr kind perfect creatures and so euery one generateth his like as doe foure footed-beastes I take it by the relation of Gesner that the Dypsas in Italy is called Tyrus Also Cardan writeth that there is a supposed and false conceit that with the flesh of this Tyre mixed with Hellebore and water is made a confection to restore youth but the truth is it rather weakeneth and destroyeth bodies then helpeth them and maketh a counterfeite or varnished false youth but no true youth at all Thus farre Cardan and thus much of this Serpent the other things written of it are the same that are written of the Viper OF THE TORTEYSE THe last foure-footed egge-breeding beast commeth now to bee handeled in due order and place namely the Torteyse which I haue thought good to insert also in this place although I cannot finde by reading or experience that it is venomous yet seeing other before me haue ranged the same in the number and Catalogue of these Serpents and creeping creatures I will also follow them and therefore I will first expresse that of the Torteyse which is general and common to both kindes and then that which is speciall and propper to the Land and Sea Torteyses The name of this Beast is not certaine among the Hebrewes some call it Schabhul some Kipod and some Homet whereas euery one of these doe also signifie another thing as Schabhul a Snayle Kipod a Hedge-hogge and Homet a Lyzard The Chaldeans call this Beast Thiblela The Arabians terme it Sisemat Also Kauden salabhafe and Halachalie The Italians call this Testuma testudine vel testugire tartuca enfuruma tartocha cosorona And in Ferraria Gallanae tartugellae biscae scut llariae The inhabitants of Taurinu Cupparia The Portugalls Gagado The Spanyards Galapago and Tartuga The French Tortue and Tartue And in Sauoy Boug coupe The Germaines Schiltkrot and Tallerkrot The Flemings Schilt padde which aunswereth our English word Shell-crab The Graecians call it Chelone and the Latines Testudo which wordes in their seuerall Languages haue other significations as are to be found in euery vocabular Dictionary and therefore I omit them as not pertinent to
this busines or History There be of Torteyses three kinds one that liueth on the Land the second in the sweet waters and the third in the Sea or salt-waters There are found great store of these in India especially of the Wateâ— Torteyses and therefore the people of that part of the Country are called Chelonophagi that is Eaters of Torteyses for they liue vpon them and these people are sayd to be in the East-part of India And in Carmania the people are likewise so called And they do not onely eare the flesh of them but also couer their houses with their shells and of their abundance doe make them all manner of vessels And Pliny and Solinus write that the Sea Torteyses of India are so bigge that with one of them they couer a dwelling Cottage And Strabo sayth they also row in them on the waters as in a Boate. The Islands of Serapis in the Redde-Sea and the farthest Ocean Islands towardes the East of the Red Sea hath also very great Torteyses in it and euery where in the Red-Sea they so abound that the people there doe take them and carry them to their greatest Marts and Fayres to sell them as to Rhaphtis to Ptolemais and the Island of Dioscorides whereof some haue white and small shels In Lybia also they are found and in the night time they come out of their lodgings to feede but very softly so as one can scarcely perceiue their motion And of one of these Scaliger telleth this story One night saith he as I was trauayling being ouer-taken with darkenesse and want of light I cast about mine eyes to seeke some place for my lodging safe and secure from Wild-beasts and as I looked about I saw as I thought a little â—ill or heape of earth but in truth it was a Torteyse couered all ouer with mosse vpon that I ascended and saâ—e downe to rest where-vppon after a little watching I feâ—l asleepe and so ended that nights rest vppon the backe of the Torteyse In the morning when light approched I perceiued that I was remooued farre from the place whereon I first chose to lodge all night and therefore rising vp I beheld with great admiration the face and countenaunce of this Beast in the knowledge whereof as in a new nature I went foreward much comforted in my wearisome iourney The description of the Torteyse and the seuerall partes thereof now followeth to bee handled Those creatures saith Pliny which bring forth or lay egs eyther haue feathers as Fowles or haue scales as Serpents or thicke hides as the Scorpion or else a shell like the Torteyse It is not without great cause that this shell is called Scutrem and the Beast Scutellaria for there is no buckler and shield so hard and strong as this is And Palladius was not deceiued when he wrote thereof that vppon the same might safelie passe ouer a Cart-wheele the Cart being loadâ—d And therefore in this the Torteyse is more happy then the Crocodile or any other such Beast Albertus writeth that it hath two shellâ—s one vppon the backe the other on the belly which are conioyned together in foure places and by reason of this so firme a couer and shell the flesh thereof is dry and firme also long lasting and not very easie or apt to putrefaction This shell or couer is smooth except some-times when it is growne old it hath mosse vppon it and it neuer casteth his coate in old age as other creeping thinges do In the head and tayle it resembleth a Serpent and the great Torteyses haue also shelles vpon thâ—ir heads like a shield yet is the head but short and the espect of it very fearefull vntil a man â—e well acquainted there with And by reason of the hardnesse of their eyes they mooue none but the neather eye lidde and that without often winking The Liuer of it is great yet without any blood It hath but one belly without diuision and the Liueris alwaâ—es foule by reason of the vitious temperature of the body The Melt is exceeding small comming far short of the bodies proportion Beâ—…e the common nature of other thicke-hided-creatures It hath also reynes except that kind of Tortoyce called Lutaria for that wanteth both Reynes and bladder for by reason of the softnesse of the couer thereof the humour is ouer fluent but the Tortoyâ—e that bringeth foorth Egges hath all inward partes like a perfect Creature and the Females haue a singular passage for theyr excrementes which is not in the Males The Egges are in the body of their belly which are of a party-colour like the Egges of Birds Theyr stones cleaue to theyr loynes and the tayle is short but like the tayle of a Serpent They haue foure Legges in proportion like the Legges of Lizards euery foot haâ—ing fiue fingers or diuisions vpon them with nayles vpon euery one And thus much for the seuerall parts They are not vniustly called Amphibia because they liue both in the water and on the Land and in this thing they are by Pliny resembled to Beauers but this must bee vnderstood of the general otherwise the Tortoyces of the Land doe neuer dare come into the Water and those of the Water can breath in the water but want respiration and likewise they lay theyr Egges and sleepe vppon the dry Land They haue a very slowe and easie pace and thereupon Pauuiuâ— calleth it Tardigrada and also there is a Prouerbe Testudineus incessus for a slow and soft pace when such a motion is to be expressed The Tortoyce neuer casteth his coate no not in his old age The voyce is an abrupt and broken hissing not like to the Serpents but much more loud and diffused The Male is very salacious and giuen to carnall copulation but the Female is not so for when shee is attempted by the Male they fight it out by the teeth and at last the Male ouercommeth whereat he reioyceth as much as one that in a hard conflict fight or battaile hath won a fayre Woman the reason of this vnwillingnesse is because it is exceeding paynefull to the Female They engender by riding or couering one another When they haue layde theyr Egges they doe not sit vpon them to hatch them but lay them in the Earth couered and there by the heat of the Sun is the young one formed and commeth foorth at due time without any further help from his parents They are accounted crafty and suâ—tle in theâ—r kinde for subtlenesse is not onely ascribed to thinges that haue a thinne bloud but also to those that haue thicke skinnes hides and Couers such as the Tortoyce and Crocodile haue The Tortoyce is an enemy to the Bariridge as Philes and Aelianus write Also the Ape is as frayde thereof as it is of the Snayle and to conclude whatsoeuer enemy it hath it is safe inough as long as it is couered with his Shell and clyngeth fast to the Earth beneath and therefore came the Prouerbe Oikos philos