it will kil all the vermin or lice of the body within three daies so doth the whey of milke after the cheese is gathered if one drinke the same with a little salt If the braines of a weazill be put into the rendles or rennet that goeth to the making of cheese they say that the cheese so made shall neither corrupt all summer long nor be eaten by the mouse The ashes of the same weazill giuen to chickens or young pigeons among the past that is made for to feed them secureth them from the weazill Furthermore it is said that if a batt be tied vnto a horse or mare or such labouring beasts that are pained in their staling they shall soon haue an end of that griefe and impediment if they haue the wringing of the guts or be troubled with the bots there will ensue ease of their paine presently vpon the making three turns or compasses round about their shap and naturall parts with a stockdoue But see a maruellous matter the doue being let go dieth forthwith and the beast immediatly is deliuered from paine Moreouer if you would know a remedy against drunkennesse marke this experiment Giue for three daies together to great drunkards the eggs of an owle continually in their wine they will take a loathing thereto and forbeare drinking Whosoeuer taketh the lights of a mutton rosted and eateth the same before he sit downe to drinking shall not be ouertaken or drunken how freely soeuer he powreth downe the wine The ashes of swallowes bills incorporat with myrrhe will secure any man from drunkennesse and cause him to beare his drinke well in case the wine that he drinketh be spiced therewith And Horus king of the Assyrians deuised first this receit against drunkennesse Ouer and besides all this there by many other singular properties behind worthy to be noted which are attributed vnto sundrie beasts and doe properly pertaine to this present treatise handled in this booke for these magitians tel vs of a certain bird in Sardinia called Gromphaena like vnto a crane but I beleeue verily that the Sardinians at this day know not what bird it is Within the said Island and prouince there is a beast called Ophion which in haire only resembleth a stag but in no place els doth it breed and the very same authors haue told vs of another by the name of Sirulugus but they set not downe in writing either the description what manner of beast it should be nor the place where it should breed I doubt not verily but such somtime there were considering that they haue shewed diuers medicines that they do affourd And M. Cicero writeth of a beast named Byturos which gnaweth the vines in Campania CHAP. XVI ¶ Strange wonders reported of certaine beasts THere remaines yet certain wonderfull things to be spoken of depending vpon those brute creatures of which I haue treated already namely that whosoeuer haue about them the secondine of a bitch that is to say the skin wherin her whelps lay within her belly or hold in their hands either the hair or dung of an hare no dogs will bark at them whereuer they come Also that there be a kind of gnats called Muliones which liue not aboue a day Moreouer as many as haue about them the bill of a woodspecke when they come to take hony out of the hiue shall not be stung by Bees againe let a man giue to swine among their meat or in a morcell of past or bread the brains of a rauen they will follow him whithersoeuer he goes Furthermore that if one be strewed with the dust wherin a mule hath wallowed tumbled her self he shal be wel cooled in loue how amorous soeuer he were before Ouer besides take a rat cut out his stones and so let him go againe he will make all other rats to run away Make a mash or drench of a snakes skin salt red wheat called Far with some wild running thyme stamped all together in one and the same day put all into wine and conuey the same into the throat of a cow or ox about the time that grapes begin to ripen vpon the vine the said beasts will stand to health for a whole yeare after or giue them young swallowes and cause them to let the same downe their body in some past or bread at three seuerall times Gather the dust together out of the place where you see a snake hath gone and made a tract fling the same vpon a swarme of bees they shall returne againe to their hiue Tie vp the right stone or cullion of a ram he shall get none but ram-lambs And looke whosoeuer haue about the strings or sinewes taken from the wings and legs of a crane they shall not be tired and faint in any labour that they take If you would haue mules not to winse and fling out with their heels giue them wine to drinke Last of all I cannot ouerpasse one notable and memorable example as touching the houfe of a mule when Antipater should send the venomous water of the fountaine Styx for to poyson king Alexander the great he could meet with no matter that would hold this poyson without piercing and running through it but onely the houfe of a mule and to the knowledge hereof hee came by the direction of Aristotle the Philosopher who deuised a cup to be made thereof A foule staine and blot of Aristotles name for being priuie to such vilanie and setting it forward as he did Thus much of Land-creatures it remaineth now to returne againe to those of the Waters and their vertues in Physicke THE XXXI BOOKE OF THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE WRITTEN BY C. PLINIVS SECVNDVS The Proem CHAP. I. ¶ The medicinable vertues of creatures liuing in water The admirable nature of waters NOw followeth the discourse of Water-beasts and how beneficiall they be vnto vs in regard of Physicke wherein verily dame Nature the mother and workemistris of of all things sheweth how little idle shee is not ceasing euen there also by her continuall operations to make knowne her wonderfull power among the waues and surging billowes amid the reciprocall tides of the sea ebbing and flowing in their alternatiue turnes yea and in the swift course and streames of great riuers And verily to say a truth and speak as it is there is no part of the World wherein the might and majestie of Nature more appeareth than in the waters for this one Element seemeth to rule and command all the rest Waters deuoure and swallow vp the earth waters quench and kill the flames of fire they mount vp aloft into the aire and seeme to challenge a seignorie and dominion in the heauens also whiles by a thick seeling and floore as it were of clouds caused by the dim vapours arising from them that vitall spirit which giueth life vnto all things is debarred stopped and choaked And what might the reason els be of thunder and lightnings flashing and breaking forth in
whiles it is whirled about and neuer resteth in that reuolution cannot be heard with our eares I cannot so easily resolue and pronounce no more I assure you than I may auouch the ringing of the starres that are driuen about therewith and â—…oll with all their owne spheres or determine that as the Heauen moueth it doth represent indeed a pleasant and incredible sweet harmonie both day and night although to vs within it seemeth to passe in silence That there be imprinted therein the pourtraicts of liuing creatures and of all things besides without number as also that the body thereof is not all ouer smooth and slicke as we see in birds egs which excellent Authors haue termed Tenerum is shewed bv good arguments for that by the fall of naturall seeds from thence of all things and those for the most part blended and mixed one with another there are ingendred in the world and the sea especially an infinite number of strange and monstrous shapes Ouer and besides our eie-sight testifieth the same whiles in one place there appeareth the resemblance of a waine or chariot in another of a beare the figure of a bull in this part of a letter in that and principally the middle circle ouer our head more white than the rest toward the North pole CHAP. IIII. ¶ Why the World or Heauen is called Mundus VErily for mine owne part moued I am and ruled by the generall consent of all nations For â—…he World which the Greekes by the name of ornament called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we for the pâ—…rfect nearnesse and absolute elegancie thereof haue termed Mundus Aâ—…d without all question Heauen we haue named Coelum as it were Engraueâ—… 〈◊〉 garâ—…ished according as M. Varro interpreteth it And hereto maketh much the orderâ—…y ranke of things therein and namely the circle called Signifer or the Zodiake set forth and diuided by the formes of twelue liuing creatures therein portraied together with the manner of the Sunnes race throughout them keeping euer the same course still for so many ages past CHAP. V. ¶ Of the foure Elements I Neither see any doubt made as touching the Elements That they be foure in number The highest Fire from whence are those bright eies of so many shining starres The next Spirit wâ—…ich the Greekes and our countrey men by one name called Aire Vitall this element is and as it giueth life to all things so it soone passeth through all and is intermedled in the whole by the power wherof the earth hangeth â—…oised and ballanced iust in the midst together with the fourth element of the Waters Thus by a mutuall entertainment one of another diuers natures are linked and knit together so as the light elements are kept in restrained by certain weights of the heauier that they flie not out and contrariwise the massier be held vp that they fall not downe by means of the lighter which couer to be aloft So through an equall endeuor to the contrary each of them hold their owne bound as it were by the restlesse circuit of the very world which by reason that it â—…eth euermore vpon it selfe the earth falleth to be lowest and the middle of the whole and the same hanging steadily by the poles of the heauen peiseth those elements by which it hangeth in a counterballance Thus it alone resteth vnmoueable whiles the whole frame of the world turneth about it and as it is knit and vnited by all so all rest and beare vpon the same CHAP. VI. ¶ Of the seuen Planets BEtweene the earth and heauen there hang in the same spirit or element of aire aboue named seuen stars seuered one from another and distant asunder certaine spaces which of their variable motion wee call wandring planets whereas indeed none stray and wander lesse than they In the middest of them the Sun taketh his course as being the greatest and most puissant of all the rest the very ruler not of times and seasons onely and of the earth but also of the starres and heauen it selfe Beleeue we ought this Sun to be the very life and to speake more plainely the soule of the whole world yea and the principall gouernance of nature and no lesse than a God or diuine power considering his workes and operations He it is that giueth light to all things and riddeth them from darknesse he hideth the other starres and sheweth them again he ordereth the seasons in their alternatiue course he tempereth the yeare arising euer fresh and new againe for the benefit and good of the world The lowring dimnesse of the skie he dispatcheth yea and cleareth the darke mists and clowdinesse of mans minde to other stars likewise he lendeth out his owne light Most excellent right singular he is as seeing all hearing all For this I see is the opinion of Homer the prince of learning as touching him alone CHAP. VII ¶ Of God I Suppose therefore that to seeke after any shape of God and to assigne a forme and image to him bewraieth mans weakenesse For God whosoeuer hee be if haply there be any other but the very world and in what part soeuer resiant all sense he is all sight all hearing he is all life all soule all of himselfe And verily to beleeue that there be gods innumerable and those according to mens vertues and vices to wit Chastitie Concord Vnderstanding Hope Honour Clemencie Faith or as Democritus was of opinion that there are two gods onely and no more namely Punishment and Benefit These conceits I say make mens idlenesse and negligence the greater But all commeth of this That fraile and crasie mortall men remembring wel their owne infirmitie haue digested these things apart to the end that each one might from thence chuse to worship and honour that whereof he stood in need most And hereupon it is that in sundry nations we finde the same gods named diuersly according to mens deuotion and in one region ye shall haue innumerable gods The infernall powers beneath likewise yea and many plagues haue been raunged by themselues and reckoned for gods in their kinde whilest with trembling feare wee desire that they were pacified Which superstition hath caused a chappell to be dedicated to the Feuer in the mount Palatium euen by publicke order from the State Likewise an altar to Orbona neere the temple of Lares because another erected to Bad Fortune in Esquiliae And thereby we may conceiue that there are a greater number of gods in heauen aboue than of men vpon earth since that euery one of their owne accord make so many gods as they list fitting themselues with Iunoes and Genij for their patrons Now certain Nations there be that account beasts yea and some filthie things for gods yea and many other matters more shamefull to be spoken swearing by stinking meats by garlicke and such like But surely to beleeue that gods haue contracted mariage and that in so long continuance of rime no children should be borne between them
onely in the Spring The lake Sinnaus in Asia is infected with the wormewood growing about it and there of it tasteth At Colophon in the vault or caue of Apollo Clarius there is a gutter or trench standing full of water they that drinke of it shall prophesie and foretell strange things like Oracles but they liue the shorter time for it Riuers running backward euen our age hath seen in the later yeres of Prince Nero as we haue related in the acts of his life Now that all Springs are colder in Summer than Winter who knoweth not as also these wonderous workes of Nature That brasse and lead in the masse or lumpe sinke downe and are drowned but if they be driuen out into thin plates they flote and swim aloft and let the weight be all one yet some things settle to the bottome others againe glide aboue Moreouer that heauie burdens and lodes be stirred and remoued with more ease in water Likewise that the stone Thyrreus be it neuer so big doth swim whole and intire breake it once into pieces and it sinketh As also that bodies newly dead fall downe to the bottome of the water but if they be swollen once they rise vp againe Ouer and besides that empty vessels are not so easily drawne forth of the water as those that be full that raine water for salt pits is better and more profitable than all other and that salt cannot be made vnlesse fresh water be mingled withall that sea-water is longer before it congeale but sooner made hot and set a seething That in Winter the sea is hoter and in Autumne more brackish and salt And that all seas are made calme and still with oile and therefore the Diuers vnder the water doe spirt and sprinkle it abroad with their mouthes because it dulceth and allaieth the vnpleasant nature thereof and carrieth a light with it That no snowes fall where the sea is deep And whereas all water runneth downeward by nature yet Springs leape vp euen at the very foot of Aetna which burneth of a light fire so farre forth as that for fiftie yea and an hundred miles the waulming round bals and flakes of fire cast out sand and ashes CHAP. CIIII. ¶ The maruailes of fire and water iointly together and of Maltha NOw let vs relate some strange wonders of fire also which is the fourth element of Nature But first out of waters In a citie of Comagene named Samosatis there is a pond yeelding forth a kinde of slimie mud called Maltha which will burne cleare When it meeteth with any thing solide and hard it sticketh to it like glew also if it be touched it followeth them that free from it By this meanes the townesmen defended their walls when Lucullus gaue the assault and his souldiers fried and burned in their owne armours Cast water vpon it and yet it will burne Experience hath taught That earth onely will quench it CHAP. CV ¶ Of Naphtha OF the like nature is Naphtha for so is it called about Babylonia and in the Austacenes countrey in Parthia and it runneth in manner of liquid Bitumen Great affinitie there is betweene the fire and it for fire is ready to leap vnto it immediatly if it be any thing neere it Thus they say Media burnt her husbands concubine by reason that her guirland annointed therewith was caught by the fire after she approched neere to the altars with purpose to sacrifice CHAP. CVI. ¶ Of places continually burning BVt amongst the wonderfull mountaines the hill Aetna burneth alwaies in the nights and for so long continuance of time yeeldeth sufficient matter to maintaine those fires in winter it is full of snow and couereth the ashes cast vp with frosts Neither in it alone doth Nature tyranize and shew her cruelty threatning as she doth a general consuming of the whole earth by fire For in Phoselis the hil Chimaera likewise burneth and that with a continuall fire night and day Ctesias of Gnidos writeth that the fire therof is inflamed and set a burning with water but quenched with earth In the same Lycia the mountaines Hephaestij being once touched and kindled with a flaming torch do so burne out that the very stones of the riuers yea and the sand in waters are on fire withall and the same fire is maintained with raine They report also that if a man make a furrow with a staffe that is set on fire by them there follow gutters as it were of fire In the Bactrians countrey the top of the hill Cophantus burneth euery night Amongst the Medians also and the Caestian nation the same mountaines burneth but principally in the very confines of Persis At Susis verily in a place called the white tower out of fifteene chimnies or tunnels the fire issueth and the greatest of them euen in the day time carrieth fire There is a plaine about Babylonia in manner of a fish poole which for the quantity of an acre of ground burneth likewise In like sort neere the mountaine Hesperius in Aethyopia the fields in the night time do glitter and shine like stars The like is to be seene in the territorie of the Megapolitanes although the field there within-forth be pleasant and not burning the boughes and leaues of the thicke groue aboue it And neere vnto a warme Spring the hollow burning furnace called Crater Nymphaei alwaies portendeth some fearefull misfortunes to the Apolloniates the neighbours thereby as Theoponpus hath reported It increaseth with showers of raine and casteth out Bitumen to be compared with that fountaine or water of Styx that is not to be tasted otherwise weaker than all Bitumen besides But who would maruell at these things in the mids of the sea Hiera one of the Aetolian Islands neere to Italy burned together with the sea for certaine daies together during the time of the allies war vntill a solemne embassage of the Senat made expiation therefore But that which burneth with the greatest fire of all other is a certaine hill of the Aethyopians Thoeet Ochema and sendeth out most parching flames in the hottest Sun-shine daies Lo in how many places with sundry fires Nature burneth the earth CHAP. CVII ¶ Wonders of fires by themselues MOreouer since the Nature of this onely element of fire is to be so fruitfull to breed it selfe to grow infinitely of the least sparks what may be thought will be the end of so many funerall fires of the earth what a nature is that which feedeth the most greedy voracitie in the whole world without losse of it selfe Put thereto the infinit number of stars the mighty great Sun moreouer the fires in mens bodies those that are inbred in some stones the attrition also of certain woods one against another yea and those within clouds the verie original of lightnings Surely it exceedeth all miracles that any one day should passe not al the world be set on a light burning fire since that the hollow firy glasses also set opposit against the
Sun beams sooner set things a burning than any other fire What should I speake of innumerable others which be indeed little but yet naturally issuing out in great abundance In the Promontorie Nymphaeum there commeth forth a flaming fire out of a rock which is set a burning with rain The like is to be seene also at the waters called Scantiae But this verily is but feeble when it passeth and remoueth neither indureth it long in any other matter An ash there is growing ouer his fiery fountain and couering it which notwithstanding is alwaies green In the territorie of Mutina there riseth vp fire also vpon certaine set holy-daies vnto Vulcan It is found written That if a cole of fire fall down vpon the arable fields vnder Aricia the very soile presently is on fire In the Sabines territorie as also in the Sidicines stones if they be anointed or greased will be set on a light fire In a towne of the Salantines called Egnatia if fire be laid vpon a certaine hallowed stone there it will immediatly flame out Vpon the alter of Iuno Lacinia standing as it doth in the open aire the ashes lie vnmoueable and stir not blow what stormy winds that will on euery side Ouer and besides there be fires seene suddenly to arise both in waters and also about the bodies of men Valerius Antias reporteth That the lake Thrasymenus once burned all ouer also that Serv. Tullius in his childehood as he lay asleepe had a light fire shone out of his head likewise as L. Martius made an oration in open audience to the army after the two Scipios were slain in Spain and exhorted his soldiers to reuenge their death his head was on a flaming fire in the same sort More of this argument and in better order will we write soone hereafter For now we exhibit and shew the maruells of all things hudled and intermingled together But in the mean while my mind being passed béyond the interpretation of Nature hasteneth to leade as it were by the hand the minds also of the readers throughout the whole world CHAP. CVIII ¶ The measure of the whole earth in length and breadth THis our part of the earth whereof I speak floting as it were within the Ocean as hath bin said lieth out in length most from the East to the West that is to say from India to Hercules pillars consecrated at Gades and as mine Author Artemidorus thinketh it containeth 85 hundred 78 miles But according to Isidorus 98 hundred and 18. M. Artemidorus addeth moreouer from Gades within the circuit of the sacred Promontorie to the Cape Artabrum where the front and head of Spain beareth out farthest in length 891 miles This measure runneth two waies From the riuer Ganges and the mouth thereof whereas he dischargeth himself into the East Ocean through India and Parthyene vnto Myriandrum a city of Syria scituate vpon the gulfe or Firth of Isa 52 hundred 15 miles From thence taking the next voiage to the Island Cyprus to Patara in Lycia Rhodes and Astypataea Islands lying in the Carpathian sea to Taenarus in Laconia Lilybaeum in Sicilie Calaris in Sardinia 34 hundred 50 miles Then to Gades 14 hundred and 50 miles Which measures being put al together make in the whole from the said sea 85 hundred 78 miles The other way which is more certain lieth most open and plain by land to wit from Ganges to the riuer Euphrates 50 hundred miles and 21. From thence to Mazaca in Cappadocia 244 miles so forward through Phrygia and Caria to Ephesus 400 miles 98. From Ephesus through the Aegean sea to Delos 200 miles Then to Isthmus 212 miles From thence partly by land and partly by the Laconian sea and the gulfe of Corinth to Patrae in Peloponnesus 202 miles and an halfe so to Leucas 86 miles a halfe and as much to Corcyra Then to Acroceraunia 132 miles and a halfe to Brundusium 86 miles and a halfe so to Rome 3 hundred miles and 60. Then to the Alpes as far as the village Cincomagus 518 miles Through France to the Pyrenaean hils vnto Illiberis 556 miles to the Ocean and the sea coast of Spaine 332 miles Then the cut ouer to Gades seven miles and a halfe Which measure by Artemidorus his account maketh in all 86 hundred 85 miles Now the bredth of the earth from the Meridian or South-point to the North is collected to be lesse almost by the one halfe namely 54 hundred and 62 miles Whereby it appeareth plainly how much of the one side heate of fire and on the other side frozen water hath stolne away For I am not of minde that the earth goeth no farther than so for then it should not haue the forme of a globe but that the places on either side be vnhabitable and therefore not found out and discouered This measure runneth from the shore of the Aethyopian Ocean which now is habited vnto Meroe 550 miles From thence to Alexandria 1200 and 40 miles So to Rhodes 583 miles to Gnidus 84 miles and a halfe to Cos 25 miles to Samus 100 miles to Chius 84 miles to Mitylene 65 miles to Tenedos 28 miles to the cape Sigaeum 12 miles and a halfe to the mouth of Pontus 312 miles and a halfe to Carambis the promontorie 350 miles to the mouth of Maeotis 312 miles and a halfe to the mouth of Tanais 265 miles which voiage may be cut shorter with the vantage of sailing directly by 89 miles From the mouth of Tanais the most curious Authors haue set downe no measure Artemidorus was of opinion that all beyond was vnfound and not discouered confessing that about Tanais the Sarmatian Nations do inhabit who lie to the North pole Isidorus hath added hereto twelue hundred miles as far as to Thule which is a iudgement of his grounded vpon bare guesse and coniecture I take it that the borders of the Sarmatians are knowne to haue no lesse space of ground than this last mentioned commeth vnto And otherwise how much must it be that would containe such an innumerable company of people shifting their seats euer and anon as they doe Whereby I guesse that the ouer-measure of the clime inhabitable is much greater For I know certainely that Germany hath discouered mightie great Islands not long since And thus much of the length and breadth of the earth which I thought worth the writing Now the vniuersall compasse and circuit thereof Eratosthenes a great Clerke verily for all kinde of literature in this knowledge aboue all others doubtlesse most cunning and whom I see of all men approued and allowed hath set downe to be 252000 stadia Which measure by the Romanes account and reckoning amounteth to 300 hundred and 15 hundred miles A wonderous bold attempt of his but yet so exquisitly calculated and contriued by him that a shame it were not to beleeue him Hipparchus a wonderful man both for conuincing him and all his other diligence besides addeth moreouer
vnto a ship bringing messengers from Periander with commission to gueld all the Noblemens sonnes in Gnidos and stayed it a long time notwithstanding it was vnder saile and had a strong gale of a fore-winde at the poupe And hereupon it is that these Shell fishes for that good seruice are honoured with great reuerence in the Temple of Venus among the Gnidians But to returne again vnto our Stay-Ship Echeneis Trebius Niger saith it is a foot long and fiue fingers thicke and that oftentimes it stayeth a ship And moreouer as he saith it hath this vertue being kept in salt to draw vp gold that is fallen into a pit or well being neuer so deep if it be let downe and come to touch it CHAP. XXVI ¶ The changeable nature of Fishes THe Cackarels change their colour for these fishes being white all Winter wax blacke when Summer comes Likewise the Mole or Lepo called Phycis doth alter her hue for howsoeuer all the yeare besides it be white in the Spring it is speckled This is the only fish that builds vpon the reites and mosse of the sea and layes her egs or spawneth in her nest The sea Swallow flieth and it resembleth in all points the bird so called The sea Kite doth the same CHAP. XXVII ¶ Of the fish called the Lanterne and the sea Dragon THere is a fish comes ordinarily aboue the water called Lucerna for the resemblance that it hath of a light or lantern for it lilleth forth the tongue out of the mouth which seemeth to flame and burne like fire and in calme and still nights giues light and shineth There is another fish that puts forth hornes aboue the water in the sea almost a foot and halfe long which thereupon tooke the name Cornuta Againe the sea Dragon if he be caught and let go vpon the sand worketh himselfe an hollow trough with his snout incontinently with wonderfull celeritie CHAP. XXVIII ¶ Of bloudlesse fishes SOme fishes there be which want bloud whereof wee now will speake Of them are three sorts first those which be called Soft secondly such as be couered within crusts in the last place they that are inclosed within hard shels Of the first sort counted soft be reckoned the sea Cut or Calamarie the Cuttle the Polype and the rest of that sort These haue their head betweene their feet and the belly and euery one of them haue 8 feet As for the Cuttil and Calamarie they haue two feet apiece longer than the rest and the same rough wherewith they conuey and reach meat to their mouths and with those they stay themselues as it were with anchor hold against the surging waues the rest of their feet be smal like hairs and with them they hunt and catch their prey CHAP. XXIX ¶ Of the Calamaries Cuttles Polypes and Boat-fishes called Nautili ALso the Calamarie lanceth himselfe out of the water as if he were an arrow and euen so doth little Scalops The male of the Cuttles kind are spotted with sundry colors more dark and blackish yea and more firme and steady than the female If the female be smitten with a Trout-speare or such like three-forked weapon they wil come to aid succor her but she again is not so kind to them for if the male be stricken she will not stand to it but runs away But both of them the one as wel as the other if they perceiue that they be taken in such streights that they cannot escape shed from them a certain black humor like to ink and when the water therewith is troubled and made duskish therein they hide themselues and are no more seen Of Polypes or Pourcontrels there be sundry kinds They that keep neere the shore are bigger than those that haunt the deep All of them help themselues with their fins and armes like as we do with feet and hands as for their taile which is sharp and two forked it serueth them in the act of generation These Pourcontrels haue a pipe in their back by the help wherof they swim all ouer the seas and it they can shift one while to the right side another while to the left They swim awry or sidelong with their head aboue which is very hard and as it were puft vp so long as they be aliue Moreouer they haue certain hollow concauities dispersed within their clawes or arms like to ventoses or cupping glasses whereby they will stick to and cleaue fast as it were by sucking to any thing which they clasp hold so fast lying vpward with their bellies that it cannot be plucked from them They neuer settle so low as the bottom of the water and the greater that they be the lesse strong they are to clasp or hold any thing Of all soft fishes they only go out of the water to dry land especially into some rough place for they canot abide those that are plaine and euen They liue vpon Shell-fishes and with their haires or strings that they haue they will twine about their shels and crack them in pieces wherefore a man may know where they lie and make their abode by a number of shels that lie before their nest And albeit otherwise it be a very brutish and senslesse creature so foolish withall that it will swim and come to a mans hand yet it seems after a sort to be witty and wise keeping of house and maintaining a familie for all that they can take they carry home to their nest When they haue eaten the meat of the fishes they throw the empty shels out of dores and lie as it were in ambuscado behind to watch and catch fishes that swimme thither They change their colour estsoons and resemble the place where they be especially when they be afraid That they gnaw and eat their own clees and arms is a meere tale for they be the congres that do them that shrewd turn but true it is that they will grow againe like as the taile of snakes adders lizards But among the greatest wonders of nature is that fish which of some is called Nautilos of others Pompilos This fish for to come aloft aboue the water turnes vpon his back and raiseth or heaueth himself vp by little and little and to the end he might swim with more ease as disburdened of a sinke hee dischargeth all the water within him at a pipe After this turning vp his two foremost clawes or armes he displaieth and stretcheth out betweene them a membrane or skin of a wonderfull thinnesse this serueth him in stead of a saile in the aire aboue water with the rest of his arms or claws he roweth and laboreth vnder water with his taile in the mids he directs his course and steereth as it were with an helme Thus holds he on and maketh way in the sea with a faire shew of a foist or gally vnder saile Now if he be afraid of any thing in the way he makes no more ado but drawes in water to
touching those things which are common as well to all fruit as juices and liquors first and formost we find of tasts 13 seuerall kinds to wit sweet pleasant fattie bitter harsh and vnpleasant hot and burning at the tongues end sharpe and biting tart or astringent sowre and salt Ouer and besides all these there be three others of a most strange and wonderfull nature The first is that wherin a man may haue a smacke of many tasts together as in wines for in them a man shall find an harsh sharpe sweet and pleasant rellish all at once and yet these all differ from the natiue verdure of wine A second sort there is besides which caries a strange different tast verily from the thing it self and yet it hath besides the proper and peculiar tast of the owne substance as the Myrtle for it carrieth a seuerall tast by it selfe proceeding from a certaine kind mild and gentle nature which cannot truly be called either sweet fattie or pleasant if we would speake precisely Last of all water hath no tast at all of any juice or liquor whatsoeuer and yet therein is a flat tast by it selfe which is called waterish that nothing else besides hath for if a man do tast in water a rellish of any sap or liquor it is reputed for a bad and naughtie water Furthermore a great and principall matter of all these tasts lyeth in the sauour and smell which is connaturall vnto the tast and hath a great affinitie with it and yet in water is neither one or other to be perceiued or if any be felt either by tongue or nose it is faultie that is certaine Finally a wonderfull thing it is to consider that the three principall Elements whereof the world is made namely Water Aire and Fire should haue no tast no sauor nor participation of any sap and liquor at all CHAP. XXVIII ¶ The juice and sap of Fruits and Trees their colours and odours the nature of Apples and such soft Fruits and the singular commendation of all Fruits TO begin withall The Peare The Mulberry the Myrtle-berrie haue a juice or sap within them resembling wine no maruell then of Grapes if they haue the like Oliues Bay-berries Walnuts and Almonds haue a fattie liquor in them The Grape the Fig and the Date carie a sweet juice with them Plums haue a waterish tast There is no small difference in the colour also that the juice of fruits do beare Mulberries Cherries and Corneils haue a sanguine and bloudie liquor so haue the blacke grapes but that of the white grapes is likewise white The juice of Figs toward the head or neck of the fruit is white like milke but of another color in all the bodie besides In Apples it is in manner of a froth or some in Peaches of no colour and yet the Duracina of that kind be full of liquor but who was euer able to say what colour it was of The odor and sauor likewise of fruits is as strange and admirable for the smell of Apples is sharpe and piercing of Peaches weake and waterish As for sweet fruits they haue none at all for verily we see that sweet wines likwise haue little or no smell wheras the small and thin are more odoriferous and all things in like manner of a subtill substance do affect the nosthrills more than the thicke and grosser doe for whatsoeuer is sweet in sent is not by and by pleasant and delicate in tast for sent and smacke are not alwaies of like sort which is the reason that Pomecitrons haue a most piercing and quick sauor wheras in rellish they are rough and harsh and so it fares in some sort with Quinces As for Figs they haue not any odor And thus much may suffice in generall for the sundrie kinds and sorts of fruits which are to be eaten it remaineth now to search more narrowly into their nature To begin then with those that are enclosed within cods or husks ye shal haue some of these cods to be sweet and the fruit or seed contained within bitter and contrariwise many of those graines or seeds are pleasant and toothsome enough but eaten with the huskes they be starke naught and loathsome As touching berries there be that haue their stone or wooddie substance within and the fleshy pulp without as Oliues and Cherries and there be again that within the said woody stone haue the carnositie of the berry as some fruits in Aegypt whereof we haue alreadie written As for berries carnous without-forth pulpous fruit called Apples they be of one nature Some haue their meat within their woodie substance without as nuts others their carnosity without and their stone within as Peaches and Plums So that in them we may say That the faultie superfluity is enuiroued with the good fruit wheras fruit otherwise is ordinarily defended by the said imperfection of the shell Walnuts and Filberds are enclosed with a shell Chestnuts be contained vnder a tough rind that must be pulled off before they be eaten wheras in Medlars the cornositie and it be eaten together Acornes and all sorts of mast be clad with a crust Grapes with a skin Pomegranats with a rind and a thin pannicle or skin besides Mulberies do consist of a fleshy substance and a liquor Cherries of a skin and a liquid juice Some fruits there be the substance whereof will soon part from their woodie shell without or stone within as nuts and Dates others sticke close and fast thereto as Oliues and Bay berries And there be againe that participate the nature of both as Peaches for in those that be called Duracina the carnous substance cleaueth hard to the stone so as it cannot be plucked from it wheras in the rest it commeth easily away Now ye shall meet with some fruits that neither without in shell nor within-forth in kernell haue any of this woodinesse as a kind of Dates named Spadones And there be againe whose very kernell and wood is taken for the fruit it selfe and so vsed as a kind of Almonds which as we said doe grow in Aegypt Moreouer yee shall haue a kind of fruits furnished with a double superfluity of excrement to couer them without-forth as Chestnuts Almonds and Walnuts Some fruits haue a substance of a threefold nature to wit a bodie without then a stone or wood vnder it and within the same a kernell or seed as Peaches Some fruits grow thick and clustred together vpon the tree as Grapes and likewise Seruises which claspe about the branches and boughes bearing and weighing them downe as well as grapes Others for it hang here and there very thin as Peaches And there be againe that lye close contained as it were within a wombe or matrice as the kernells of the Pomegranates Some hang by smal steles or tailes as Peares others in bunches as Grapes and Dates Ye shall haue some fruit grow by clusters and yet hang by a long taile as the Berries
and glitter like starres 47. d Filberds called Abellinae whereupon 446. h Filberds Caluae Praenestine Thasian Albensian Tarentine Molluscae ibid. i Fines passed vnder the name of sheep oxeÌ„ at Rome 550k Firrs taller than any rosin tree 465 Firrs topped die topped liue 476. i Firtrees how emploied and how to be chosen 488. l. m Firre masts for shipping 489. f Firre is good for plankes 547. a Firre how it will not putrifie in water 492. i Firre wood highly commended in carpentry and ioyners worke 493. a. b Fire bird Looke Incendiaria Fire in the hill Chimera flamed with water and quenched with earth 47. c Fire the maruailes thereof 46. m Firie glasses opposite to the sun-beames sooner inflame than fire 47. f Fire the highest element 2. l Fires about the body of men 48. h Firmament seen to chinke and open 17. g Fishes feed on land 235. e. diuided according to their sundry shapes 247. d Fishes of all sorts breath after a manner 237. e Fishes both heare and sleepe ib. 306. h. 309. b Fishes changing colour 249. d Fishes which be bloudlesse 249. c Fishes esteemed diuersly in sundry places 246. m Fishes are not all alike couered 242. h Fishes some mislike in cold others in heat 245. b a Fish leapeth out of the water at Caesars feet 244. l Fishes how and where they like and liue best 245. a Fishes of what kinde they be all spawners no milters ib. Fishes haue sense 261. d Fishes of all creatures haue the biggect heads 332. g Fishes their eies shine by night 335. c Fishing time which is best 244. m Fishes that be soft haue no bones 345. a Fishes female commonly bigger than male 244. l Fishes doe smell 306. h Fishes presage things to come 244. l Fisticke nuts and their nature 388. l F L the Flap Epiglossis 339. c Flies drowned will reuiue kept in ashes 330. l Fleas engendred of dust 329. 〈◊〉 Flies enter not into Hercules temple in the beast-market at Rome 285. d Flies breed in the fire at Cyprus 330. i Floore for threshing how to be tempered 602. d Floralia a festiuall holiday 600. g Flacci why so called 333. b Flockeworkes 277. 〈◊〉 F O Forehead sheweth the nature of man or woman 333. e Food of sundry creatures 307. d Foules distinguished generally by their feet 276. g Foules why they pecke at the eies of a man 335. c Fortune a goddesse her vniuersall power 4. k. her mutabilitie 177. a. variable fortunes of diuerse persons 177. b to bad-Fortune a temple 3. e Foules that haue crooked talons be long legged 351. d Foliatum ointment 382. k Fountaines of wonderfull and strange natures 45. a. b Fountaine from vnder the sea yeelding fresh water 110. l Forrests in Germany 455. c Foxes very quicke of hearing 222. g. how they engender 302. m. sea-Foxes 262. g strange Foules in the Island Area 120. l F R France not subiect to earthquakes and why 38. h Fraud of Toranius a merchant slane-seller 162. g Frogs force inhabitants to abandon a citie 212. h Frogs Rubetae 213. a Frogs how they make their noise 338. l Frankincense male what it is 367. d Frankincense best how it is knowne 368. i Frument what it is and of how many kindes 557. c. d Frankincense onely in Arabia 366. g Frankincense tree described ibid. k Frankincense gathered 367. a. the manner thereof ibid. b Frankincense paieth much toll 368. h. high price of Rome ibid. i. Frize mantles 227. f Fronditius passed ouer the riuer Vulturnus in spight of Anniball 499. c Frost how it is engendred 29. b Fruits how to be preserued 440. m. 441. a. b Fruits grow after diuerse sorts 450. g. h. in what regard they be set by ibid. i Frument or spike-corne 582. h Frumentie corne 559. d Frumentie bastard 568. i F V Fullers craft who found out 188. i C. Furius Cresâ—…us a notable good husbandman accused and acquit 556. g. h. Furlong how many paces 14. l Furnaceus panis what it was 566. m Furrowes direct 579. e Furrowes ouerthwart ibid. l Fusius Saluius his strength 166. l. m Fusterna in trees what it is 488. f F Y Fyre striking out of a flint who deuised 188. m G A GAbalium 314. h Gabara 165. b Gades 48. i Gagates See Aetites Gall in serpents is their venome 337. c Gall hangs at the liuer 341. c. it is not in all creatures ib. Gall of a Deere where it lieth 341. d Gall infecteth the body with the yellow iaundise ibid. e Gall of seals good for many purposes 342. g Galbanum a gum 518. i. the best how it is knowne ibid. the vertue and the price ibid. Galguli what birds and how they build 288. l Gallia the description thereof 87. a Gall-nuts of the oke Hemeris best for curriours 460. g Gall-nuts appropriate to mast trees ibid. Gall-nuts which be best ibid. Gall-nuts breake forth all in a night ibid. Gamale a territory in Phoenicia 40. m Games publique who first ordained 189. f Games solemne Olympia Isthmia Pythia Nemea 457. a Ganders and geese how they do engender 301. b Ganges the description thereof 126. h Ganges a riuer 48 k. 156. i Ganzae what geese 281. a G E Geese bashfull and modest 279. a wild-Geese in what manner they flie 282. k Geese watchfull 280. i. saued the Capitoll ibid. prouided for with the first state of Rome ibid. Geese giuen to loue mankind 280. k Geese seeme to haue vnderstanding ibid. Geese liuer is excellent meat as is it ordered 280. i. who devised the same dish ibid. Geese trauailed afoot from Terwin and Turney in France to Rome 280. m. their feathers and downe ibid. a Geese how they sit and hatch 301. b. Geirs exceed vs in smelling 305. f Geirs where they build and how they breed 274. g Geometritian who was excellent 175. a Generation of mankinde the reason thereof 162. i. k Ges-clithron a famous caue 154. k G H Ghost of Aretaeus in forme of a rauen 184. i Ghost abandoning the bodie at times ibid. h G I Giants in times past 165. a. b Giddinesse in the braine ten daies after the women hath had company with the man sheweth conception 159. a Gilthead a fish 245. b Ginney or Turkie hens 296. g G L Glandules or kernels in swine 339. b Glanis a fish her nature 262. g Glauce loued of a goose 280. k Glaucus a sea-fish 245. b Gledes See Kites Glew made of an oxe hide sodden 347. c. what woods will not be glewed 493. c. the best glew is made of bulls hides 347. c. Glo-birds or Glo-wormes what they betoken 593. c Glottis what bird 283. a Glo-wormes why they be called Lamprides 326. l when they firct appeare ibid. Glynon a kinde of Maple 466. l G N Gnats 310. l Gnat hath all the fiue senses ibid. is thirstie of mans bloud ibid. Gnat-snappers what kinde of birds 286. m. when they be called Ficedulae 287. a. when they be
property it hath moreouer to stir vp and quicken the Bees and make them more liuely and nimble about their businesse As for the Spiders aforesaid they verily are not so harmful be soon destroied but the Butterflies do the more mischiefe are not so easily rid away Howbeit there is a way to chase them also namely to wait the time when the Mallow doth begin to blossome to take the change of the Moone and chuse a faire and cleare night and then to set vp certaine burning lights just before the Bee-hiues for these Butterflies will couet to flie into the flame But what is to be done when you perceiue that the bees do want victuals then it wil be good to take dry Raisins of the Sun and Figs to stamp them together into a masse and lay it at the entry of the hiue Item It were not amisse to haue certain locks of wool well touzed and carded and those wet drenched in cuit either sodden to the thirds or to two thirds or els seked in honied wine for them to settle vpon and suck Also to set before them in their way the raw carkases of Hens naked and pulled to the bare flesh Moreouer there be certain Summers so dry and continually without raine that the fields want floures to yeeld them food and then must they be serued with the foresaid viands as well as in Winter season When hony is to be taken forth of the hiues the holes and passages for the ingresse and egresse of the bees ought to be well rubbed and besmeared with the herb Melissophyllon and Genista brused and stamped or else the hiues must be compassed about in the middest with branches of the White Vine for feare lest the Bees depart and flie away The vessels whereout hony hath been imploied yea and honey combes would be well rinced and washed in water which being throughly sodden maketh a most wholesome and excellent vineger As touching wax it is made of the combes after the hony is pressed and wrong out of them But first they must be purified and clensed with water and for three daies dried in some darke place vpon the fourth day they are to be dissolued and melted vpon the fire in a new earthen pot neuer occupied before with so much water as will couer the combs and then it should bee strained through a panier of reeds or rushes which done the wax is to be set ouer the fire a second time in the said pot and with the self-same water and sodden again and then it ought to run out of it into other vessels of cold water but those first should be al about within annointed and besmeared with honey The best wax is that which is called Punica i. of Barbary and is white The next in goodnesse is the yellowest and smelleth of hony pure and clean without sophistication such commeth from the country of Pontus and verily I wonder much how this wax should hold good considering the venomous hony whereof it is made In the third place is to be ranged the wax of Candy for this standeth much vpon that matter which they cal Propolis wherof I haue already spoken in the Treatise of Bees and their nature After all these the wax of the Isle Corsyca may be reckoned in the fourth rank which because it is made much of the Box tree is thought to haue a vertue medicinable Now the making working of the first and best Punick white wax is after this manner They take yellow wax and turne it often in the wind without the house in the open aire then they let it seeth in sea-sea-water and namely such as hath bin fet far from the shore out of the very deep putting thereto Niter this done they scum off the floure that is to say the whitest of it with spoons this cream as it wer they change into another vessell which hath a little cold water in it Then once againe they boyle it in sea-water by it selfe alone and set the vessel by for to coole After they haue done thus three times they let it dry in the open aire vpon an hurdle of rushes in the Sun and Moon both night and day and this ordering bringeth it to be faire and white Now in the drying for feare that it should melt they couer it all ouer with a fine Linnen cloth But if they would haue it to be exceeding white indeed they seeth it yet once more after it hath bin thus sunned and mooned In truth this Punick white wax is simply the best to be vsed about medicines If one be disposed to make wax black let him put therto the ashes of paper like as with an addition or Orchanet it will be red Moreouer wax may be brought into all manner of colours for painters limners and enamellers and such curious artificers to represent the forme and similitude of any thing they list And for a thousand other purposes men haue vse thereof but principally to preserue their walls and armors withall All other things as touching Hony and Bees haue bin handled already in the peculiar Treatise to them and their nature belonging Here an end therefore of Gardens and Gardinage CHAP. XV. ¶ Of hearbs which come vp of themselues and such especially as be armed with prickes IT remaineth now to speake of certain wild herbs growing of their own accord which in many nations serue for the kitchin and principally in Aegypt for this countrey although it bee most plentifull in corne yet may seem to haue least need thereof and of all nations vnder heauen best able to liue without the same so well stored it is with hearbs wherof the people doth ordinarily feed whereas in Italy here we know as few of that kind good to be eaten namely Strawberries Tanus Ruscus Crestemarine or Sampire as also Batis Hortensiana which some call French Sperage we haue also the wild Parsnep of the medowes and the Hop but wee vse them rather for pleasure and delight and to giue contentment to ourtast than for any necessary food to maintain life But to come again to Egypt there is to be found the noblest plant of all others Colocasia which some name Cyamos i. the Egyptian beane this herbe they gather and cut downe out of the riuer Nilus it putteth forth a main stem which being sodden yeeldeth in the eating and chewing a certaine threddy matter or woolly substance drawing out in manner of a cob-web but the stalk as it groweth vp amid the leaues maketh a faire and goodly shew for indeed the said leaues be exceeding large and comparable to the broadest that any tree beareth resembling those for all the world of the Clote or great Burr he growing in our rivers which we cal Personata A wonderful thing it is to see what store they in Aegypt set by the commodities that their riuer Nilus doth afford for of the leaues of this Colocasia plaited infolded naturally one within another they make
that violence and causing such trouble and broils as if the world were at war within it selfe And can there bee any thing more wonderfull and miraculous than to see the waters congealed oboue in the aire and so to continue pendant in the skie And yet as if they were not contented to haue risen thus to that exceeding height they catch and snatch vp with them into the vpper region of the aire a world of little fishes otherwhiles also they take vp stones and charge themselues with that ponderous weighty matter which is more proper to another Element The same waters falling downe againe in raine are the very cause of all those things here below which the earth produceth and bringeth forth And therefore considering the wonderfull nature thereof and namely how the corne groweth vpon the ground how trees and plants doe liue prosper and fructifie by the means of waters which first ascending vp into the skie are furnished from thence with a liuely breath and bestowing the same vpon the herbs cause them to spring and multiply we cannot chuse but confesse that for all the strength and vertue which the Earth also hath shee is beholden to the Waters and hath receiued all from them In which regard aboue all things and before I enter into my intended discourse of Fishes and beasts liuing in this Element I meane first to set down in generaility the maruellous power and properties of water it selfe and to illustrat the same by way of sundry examples for the particular discourse of all sorts of waters what man liuing is able to performe CHAP. II. ¶ The diuersitie of waters their vertues und operations medicinable and other singularities obserued therein THere is in maner no region nor coast of the earth but you shall see in one quarter or other waters gently rising and springing out of the ground here and there yeelding fountains in one place cold in another hot yea and otherwhils there may be discouered one with another neere adioyning as for example about Tarbelli a towne in Guienne and the Pyrenaean hills there do boile vp hot and cold springs so close one vnto the other that hardly any distance can be perceiued between Moreouer sources there be which yeeld waters neither cold nor hot but luke-warme and the same very holesome and proper for the cure of many diseases as if Nature had set them apart for the good of man only and no other liuing creature beside To these fountains so medicinable there is ascribed some diuine power insomuch as they giue name vnto sundry gods and goddesses and seeme to augment their number by that means yea otherwhiles great towns cities carrie their names like as Puteoli in Campane Statyellae in Liguria Aquae Sextiae in the prouince of Narbon or Piemont but in no countrey of the world is there found greater plenty of these springs and the same endued with more medicinable properties than in the tract or vale Baianus within the realm of Naples where you shall haue some hold of brimstone others of alume some standing vpon a veine of salt others of nitre some resembling the nature of Bitumen and others again of a mixt qualitie partly soure and partly salt Furthermore you shall meet with some of them which naturally serue as a stouph or hot-house for the very steeme and vapour only which ariseth from them is wholesome and profitable for our bodies and those are so exceeding hot that they heat the bains yea and are able to make the cold water to seeth boile again which is in their bathing tubs as namely the fountaine Posidianus whithin the foresaid territory Bajanus which name it tooke of one Posidius a slaue sometime and enfranchised by Claudius Caesar the Emperour Moreouer there be of them so hot that they are able to seeth an egg or any other viands or cates for the table As for the Licinian springs which beare the name of Licinius Crassus a man may perceiue them to boile and reeke again euen out of the very sea See how good Nature is to vs who amid the waues and billows of the sea hath affourded healthfull waters But now to discipher their vertues in Physick according to their seuerall kinds thus much in generality is obserued in these baths That they serue for the infirmities of the sinews for gout of the feet sciatica Some more properly are good for dislocations of ioints and fractures of bones others haue a property to loosen the bellie to purge and as there be of them which heale wounds and vlcers so there are again that more particularly be respectiue to the accidents of the head and ears and among the rest those which beare the name of Cicero and be called Ciceronianâ—… besoueraign for the eies Now there is a memorable manour or faire house of plaisance situat vpon the sea side in the very high way which leadeth from the lake Auernus to the cittie Puteoli much renowmed for the groue or wood about it as also for the stately galleries porches allies and walking places adioyning therunto which set out and beautifie the said place very much this goodly house M. Cicero called Academia in regard of some resemblance it had vnto a colledge of that name in Athens from whence he tooke the modell and patterne where he compiled those books of his which carrie the name of the place and be called Academice quaestiones and there he caused his monument or sepulchre to be made for the perpetuitie of his memoriall as who would say he had not sufficiently immortalized his name throughout the world by those noble works which he wrote and commended vnto posteritie Well soone after the decease of Cicero this house and forrest both fell into the hands and tenure of Antistius Vetus at what time in the very forefront as it were and entrie thereof there were discouered certaine hot fountaines breaking and springing out of the ground and those passing medicinable and wholesome for the eies Of these waters Laurea Tullus an enfranchised vassall of Cicero made certaine verses and those carying with them such a grace of majestie that at the first sight a man may easily perceiue how affectionat and deuout he was to the seruice of his lord and master and for that the said Epigram is worthy to be read not onely there but also in euery place I will set it downe here as it standeth ouer those baines to be seene in this Decasticon Quo tua Romanae vindex clarissime linguae Sylva loco melius surgere jussa viret Atque Academiae celebratam nomine villam Nunc reparat cultu sub potiore Vetus Hîc etiam apparent lymphae non ante repertae Lanquida quae infuso lumina rore levant Nimirum locus ipse sui Ciceronis honori Hoc dedit hacfontes cum patefecit ope Vt quoniam totum legitur sine fine per orbem Sint plures oculis quae medeantur aquae O prince of
againe is subiect no more vnto putrifaction And as for cesterne waters the Physicians also themselues confesse That they breed obstructions and schirrhosities in the bellie yea and otherwise be hurtfull to the throat As also that there is not any kinde of water whatsoeuer which gathereth more mud or engendreth more filthie and illfauoured vermine than it doth Neither followeth it by and by that all great riuer waters indifferently are the best no more than those of any brooke or the most part of ponds and pooles are to bee counted and esteemed most wholesome But of these kinds of water wee must conclude and resolue with making destinction namely That there be of euery sort thereof those which are singular and very conuenient howbeit more in one place than in another The kings and princes of Persia bee serued with no other water for their drinke but from the two riuers Choaspes and Eulaeus onely And looke how farre soeuer they make their progresse or voyage from them two riuers yet the water thereof they carry with them And what might the reason be therefore Certes it is not because they be riuers which yeeld this water that they like the drinke so well for neither out of the two famous riuers Tygris and Euphrates nor yet out of many other faire and commodious running streames doe they drinke Moreouer when you see or perceiue any riuer to gather abundance of mud and filth wote well that ordinarily the water therof is not good nor wholesome and yet if the same riuer or running streame bee giuen to breed great store of yeeles the water is counted thereby wholesome and good ynough And as this is a token of the goodnesse so the wormes called Tineae engendered about the head or spring of any riuer is as great a signe of coldnesse Bitter waters of all others bee most condemned like as those also which soone follow the spade in digging and by reason that they lie so ebbe quickly fill the pit And such be the waters commonly about Troezen As for the nitrous brackish and salt waters found among the desarts such as trauell through those parts toward the red sea haue a deuise to make them sweet and potable within two houres by putting parched barley meale into them and as they drinke the water so when they haue done they feed vpon the said barly grots as a good and wholsom gruel Those spring waters are principally condemned which gather much mud and settle grosse in the bottome those also which cause them to haue an il colour who vse to drink thereof It skilleth also very much to mark if a water staine any vessels with a kinde of greene rust if it be long before pulse will be sodden therein if being poured vpon the ground it be not quickly sucked in and drunk vp and lastly if it fur those vessels with a thicke rust wherein it vseth to be boiled for all these be signes of bad water Ouer and besides it is a fault in water not only to stink but also to haue any smack or tast at all yea though the same be pleasant and sweet enough and inclining much to the rellice of milk as many times it doth in diuers places In one word would you know a good and wholsome water indeed Chuse that which in all points resembleth the aire as neere as is possible At Cabura in Mesopotamia there is a fountaine of water which hath a sweet and redolent smel setting it aside I know not any one of that qualitie in the whole world againe but hereto there belongs a tale namely that this spring was priuiledged with this extraordinary gift because queen Iuno forsooth sometimes bathed and washed her selfe therein for otherwise good and wholesome water ought to haue neither tast nor odor at all Some there be who iudge of their wholsomnesse by their ballance and they keep a weighing and poising of waters one against another but for all their curiositie they misse of their purpose in the end for seldom or neuer can they find one water lighter than another Yet this deuise is better and more certain namely to take two waters that be of equal measure and weight for looke whether of them heateth and cooleth sooner the same is alwaies the better And for to make a trial herof lade vp some seething water in a pale or such like vessel set the same down vpon the ground out of your hand to ease your arm of holding it hanging long in the aire and if it be good water they say it will immediatly of scalding hot become warm and no more Well what waters then according to their sundry kindes in generalitie shall we take by all likelihood to be best If we go by the inhabitants of cities and great towns surely wel-water or pit water I see is simply the wholsomest But then such wels or pits must be much frequented that by the continual agitation and often drawing thereof the water may be more purified and the terren substance passe away the better by that means And thus much may suffice for the goodnesse of water respectiuely to the health of mans body But if we haue regard to the coldnesse of water necessarie it is that the Wel should stand in some coole and shadowie place not exposed to the Sun and nathelesse open to the broad aire that it may haue the full view and sight as it were of the sky And aboue all this one thing would be obserued and seen vnto that the source which feedeth it spring and boile vp directly from the bottom and not issue out of the sides which also is a main point that concerns the perpetuitie thereof and whereby we may collect that it will hold stil and be neuer drawn dry And this is to be vnderstood of water cold in the owne nature For to make it seem actually cold to the hand is a thing that may be done by art if either it be forced to mount aloft or fal from on high by which motion and reuerberation it gathers store of aire And verily the experiment hereof is seene in swimming for let a man hold his winde in he shall feele the water colder by that means Nero the Emperor deuised to boile water when it was taken from the fire to put it into a glasse bottle and so to set it in the snow a cooling and verily the water became therby exceeding cold to please and content his tast and yet did not participate the grossenesse of the snow nor draw any euill qualitie out of it Certes all men are of one opinion that any water which hath been once sodden is far better than that which is still raw Like as that after it hath been made hot it will become much colder than it was before which I assure you came first from a most subtil and witty inuention And therefore if we must needs occupy naughty water the only remedy that we haue to alter the badnesse thereof
manner is to imploy the smaller sort in their priuat buildings but the bigger serueth for greater publicke workes At Pitana in Asia and in Massia and Calentum cities of low Spaine the bricks that be made after they are once dried will not sinke in the water but flote aloft for of a spungeous and hollow earth they be made resembling the nature of the pumish stone which is very good for this purpose when it may be wrought The Greeks haue alwaies preferred the walls of bricke before any others vnlesse it be in those places where they had flint at hand to build withall for surely such brick wals if they be made plump vpright wrought by line and leuell so as they neither hang nor batter be euerlasting therfore such bricks serue for wals of cities and publick works their roial pallaces likewise be built therewith After this sort was that part of the wall at Athens laid and reared which regards the mount Hymettus so they built also at Patrae the temples of Iupiter Hercules although all the columns pillars and architraues round about them were of ashler stone thus was the pallace of K. Attalus built at Tralle is likwise that of K. Croesus at Sardis which afterward was conuerted to their Senat-house named Gerusia likewise the sumptuous and stately house of king Mausolus at Halicarnassus which goodly aedifices continue at this day Wee read in the Chronicles that Muraena and Varro when they were the high Aediles at Rome caused the outmost coat which was ouercast of the brick-wals of Lacedaemon to be cut out whole and entire and to bee set and enclosed within certaine frames or cases of wood and so to be translated from thence to Rome for to adorne and beautifie the publicke hall for elections of Magistrates called Comitium and all for the excellent painting vpon that parget The workmanship therein although it were excellent and wonderfull in it selfe yet being thus remoued and brought so far safe it was esteemed more admirable Moreouer here within Italy the walls of Aretine and Meuania be made all of bricke mary at Rome they dare not build their houses with this kind of bricke because a wall bearing in thicknesse but one foot and an halfe wil not sustain aboue one single story for the order of the city permitted not the common wals and those which were outmost to be thicker than a foot and an halfe neither wil the partition wals within abide that thicknes but are made after another sort CHAP. XV. ¶ Of Brimstone and Alume with their seuerall kinds also their medicinable properties HAuing spoken sufficiently of Bricks it remaineth that I should proceed to other kinds of earth wherein the nature of sulphur or brimstone is most wonderfull being able as it is to tame and consume the most things that be in the world it is ingendred within the Islands Aeoliae which lie between Italy and Sicily those I meane which as I haue said before doe alwaies burne by reason thereof Howbeit the best sulphur is that which commeth from the Isle Melos There is found thereof likewise in Italy within the territory about Naples and Capua and namely in the hills called Leucogaei that which is digged out of the mines is fined and brought to perfection by fire Of brimstone there be foure kinds to wit Sulphurvif or Quickebrimstone which the Greeks call Apyron because it neuer came into the fire the same is found solid of it selfe i. by whole pieces and in masse which their Physitians doe vse and none but it for all the other kindes consist of a certaine liquid substance and being boiled in oile are made vp and confected to their consistence whereas the sulphur vif is digged out of the mine such as we see that is to say transparent cleere and greenish The second kind is named Gleba good onely for Tuckers and Fullers The third sort also yeeldeth but one vse and no more and that is for tincture of wooll by reason that the smoke and perfume thereof wil bring it to be white and soft and this brimstone they call Egula As for the fourth kinde it serueth most of all for matches and wieks As touching the nature of Brimstone so forcible it is that if it be cast into the fire the verie smell and steeme thereof will driue those in the place into a fit of the falling sicknesse if they be subject thereunto As for Anaxilaus he would commonly make sport withall at a seast and set all the guests into a merriment for his manner was to set it a burning within a cup of new earth ouer a chafing dish of coales and to carry it about the table where they were at supper and in very truth the reuerberation of the flame would make all that were neere it to looke pale and wan after a most fearefull manner like as if there were as many grisly ghosts or dead mens faces And to come more neere to the properties that it hath respectiue vnto Physicke it healeth mightily and is a maturatiue it doth resolue withall and discusse any gathering of impostumes in which regard it entereth ordinarily into such plasters that bee discussiue and emollitiue A cataplasme made with it incorporate with grease or sewet and so applyed vnto the loynes and regions of the Kidnies doth wonderfully assuage the paine and griefe in those places being tempered with turpentine it riddeth away the foule tettars called Lichenes that arise in the face yea and cleanseth the leprosie The Greekes haue a pretty name for it and call it Harpacticon for the speedy remouing and snatching it from the place where it is applied for eftsoones it ought to be taken away The same reduced into a lohoch or liquid Electuarie is good to be licked and let downe softly towards the lungs in case of shortnesse and difficultie of winde in which sort it serueth for them that spit and reach out of the breast by coughing filthie matter and soueraigne it is for those that be stung with scorpions Take sulphur-vif mix it with sal-nitre grind the same together with vinegre it maketh a singular good liniment for to scoure the foule morphew let the same be tempered and prepared with vineger of Sandaracha it killeth the nits that breed in the eie-lids Moreouer brimstone is imployed ceremoniously in hallowing of houses for many are of opinion that the perfume and burning thereof will keep out all inchantments yea and driue away foule fiends and euill spirits that doe haunt a place The strength of Sulphur is euidently perceiued felt in the springs of hot waters that boile from a vain of it neither is there in all the world a thing that sooner catcheth fire wherby it is apparant that it doth participat much of that element Thunderbolts lightnings in like manner do sent strongly of brimstone the very flashes and leames thereof stand much vpon the nature of sulphur and yeeld the like light Thus much shall suffice as touching the
the Elements 6. Of the seuen Planets 7. Concerning God 8. The nature of the fixed starres and Planets their course and reuolution 9. The nature of the Moone 10. The eclipse of Sun and Moone also of the night 11. The bignesse of starres 12. Diuerse inuentions of men and their obseruations touching the coelestiall bodies 13. Of Eclipses 14. The motion of the Moone 15. Generall rules or canons touching planets or lights 16. The reason why the same planets seeme higher or lower at sundry times 17. Generall rules concerning the planets or wandring stars 18. What is the cause that planets change their colours 19. The course of the Sunne his motion and from whence proceedeth the inequalitie of daies 20. Why lightenings be assigned to Iupiter 21. The distances betweene the planets 22. The harmonie of stars and planets 23. The geometrie and dimensions of the world 24. Of stars appearing sodainly 25. Of comets or blasing stars and other prodigious appearances in the skie their nature situation and sundry kinds 26. The opinion of Hipparchus the Philosopher as touching the stars fire-lights lamps pillars or beames of fire burning darts gapings of the skie and other such impressions by way of example 27. Strange colours appearing in the firmament 28. Flames and leams seene in the skie 29. Circles of guirlands shewing aboue 30. Of coelestiall circles and guirlands that continue not but soone passe 31. Of many Suns 32. Of many Moones 33. Of nights as light as day 34. Of meteors resembling fierie targuets 35. Astrange and wonderfull apparition in the skie 36. The extraordinarie shooting and motion of stars 37. Of the stars named Castor and Pollux 38. Of the Aire 39. Of certaine set times and seasons 40. The power of the Dog-star 41. The sundrie influences of stars according to the seasons and degrees of the signes 42. The causes of raine wind and clouds 43. Of thunder and lightning 44. Whereupon commeth the redoubling of the voice called Echo 45. Of winds againe 46. Diuerse considerations obserued in the nature of winds 37. Many sorts of winds 48. Of sodaine blasts and whirle-puffs 49. Other strange kinds of tempests storms 50. In what regions there fall thunderbolts 51. Diuers sorts of lightnings and wonderous accidents by them occasioned 52. The obseruations of the Tuscanes in old time as touching lightening 53. Conjuring for to raise lightning 54. Generall rules concerning leames and flashes of lightning 55. What things be exempt and secured from lightning and thunderbolts 56. Of monstrous and prodigious showres of raine namely of milke bloud flesh yron wooll bricke and tyle 57. The rattling of harnesse and armour the sóund also of trumpets heard from heauen 58. Of stones falling from heauen 59. Of the Rain-bow 60. Of Haile Snow frost Mists and Dew 61. Of diuers formes and shapes represented in clouds 62. The particular propertie of the skie in certaine places 63. The nature of the Earth 64. The forme and figure of the earth 65. Of the Antipodes and whether there bee any such Also as touching the roundnesse of the water 66. How the water resteth vpon the Earth 67. Of Seas and riuers nauigable 68. What parts of the earth be habitable 69. That the earth is in the mids of the world 70. From whence proceedeth the inequalitie obserued in the rising and eleuation of the stars Of the eclipse where it is wherfore 71. The reason of the day-light vpon earth 72. A discourse thereof according to the Gnomon also of the first Sun-dyall 73. In what places and at what times there are no shadows cast 74. Where the shadows fall opposite and contrary twice in the yeare 75. Where the dayes bee longest and where shortest 76. Likewise of Dyals and Quadrants 77. The diuers obseruations and acceptations of the day 78. The diuersities of regions and the reason thereof 79. Of Earthquakes 80. Of the chinks and openinst of the earth 81. Signes of earthquake toward 82. Remedies and helps againg eatthquakes comming 83. Strange and prodigious wonders seen one time in the earth 84. Miraculous accidents as touching earthquake 85. In what parts the seas went backe 86. Islands appearing new out of the sea 87. What Islands haue thus shewed and at what times 88. Into what lands the seas haue broken perforce 89. What Islands haue bin ioyned to the continent 90. What lands haue perished by water and become all sea 91. Of lands that haue settled and beene swallowed vp of themselues 92. What cities haue beene ouerflowed and drowned by the sea 93. Wonderfull strange things as touching some lands 94. Of certaine lands that alwaies suffer earthquake 95. Of Islands that flote continually 96. In what countries of the world it never raineth also of many miracles as well of the earth as other elements hudled vp pell mell together 97. The reason of the Sea-tides as well ebbing as flowing and where the sea floweth extraordinarily 98. Wonderfull things obserued in the sea 99. The power of the Moone ouer Sea and land 100. The power of the Sun and the reason why the sea is salt 101. Moreouer as touching the nature of the Moone 102. Where the sea is deepest 103. Admirable obseruations in fresh waters as well of fountaines as riuers 104. Admirable things as touching fire and water ioyntly together also of Maltha 105. Of Naphtha 106. Of certaine places that burne continually 107. Wonders of fire alone 108. The dimension of the earth as well in length as in breadth 109. The harmonicall circuit ond circumference of the world In sum there are tn this boooke of histories notable matters and worthy obseruations foure hundred and eighteene in number Latine Authours cited M. Varro Sulpitius Gallus Tiberius Caesar Emperour Q. Tubero Tullius Tiro L. Piso T. Livius Cornelius Nepos Statius Sebosus Casius Antipater Fabianus Antias Mutianus Cecina who wrote of the Tuscane learning Tarquitius L. Aquila and Sergius Paulus Forreine Authours cited Plato Hipparchus Timaeus Sosigenes Petosiris Necepsus the Pythagoreans Posidonius Anaximander Epigenes Gnomonicus Euclides Ceranus the Philosopher Eudoxus Democritus Crâ—…sodemus Thrasillus Serapion Dicearchus Archimedes Onesicritus Eratosthenes Pytheas Herodotus Aristotle Ctesius Artemidorus the Ephesian Isidorus Characenus and Theopompus ¶ IN THE THIRD BOOKE ARE COMPREHENded the Regions Nations Seas Townes Hauens Mountains Riuers with their measures and people either at this day known or in times past as followeth Chap. 1. Of Europe 2. The length and breadth of Boetica a part of Spaine containing Andalusia and the realme of Grenado 3. That hither part of Spaine called of the Romans Hispania Citerior 4. The Prouince Nerbonencis wherin is Dauphine Languedoc and Provance 5. Italie Tiberis Rome and Campaine 6. The Island Corsica 7. Sardinia 8. Sicilie 9. Lipara 10. Of Locri and the frontiers of Italie 11. The second gulfe of Europe 12. The fourth region of Italie 13. The fifth region 14. The sixth region 15. The eighth region 16. Of the riuer Po. 17. Of Italie beyond the Po counted the eleuenth
heauen the fire of discord is kindled and groweth hot Neither may she abide by it and stand to the fight but being continually carried away she rolleth vp and down and as about the earth shee spreadeth and pitcheth her tents as it were with an vnmeasurable globe of the heauen so euer and anon of the clouds she frameth another skie And this is that region where the winds raigne And therefore their kingdome principally is there to be seene where they execute their forces and are the cause well neere of all other troubles in the aire For thunderbolts and flashing lightenings most men attribute to their violence Nay more than that therefore it is supposed that otherwhiles it raineth stones because they were taken vp first by the winde so as we may conclude that they cause many like impressions in the aire Wherefore many matters besides are to be treated of together CHAP. XXXIX ¶ Of ordinary and set seasons IT is manifest that of times and seasons as also of other things some causes be certaine others casuall and by chance or such as yet the reason thereof is vnknowne For who need to doubt that Summers and Winters and those alternatiue seasons which we obserue by yearely course are occasioned by the motion of the Planets As therefore the Sunnes nature is vnderstood by tempering and ordering the yeare so the rest of the starres and planets also haue euery one their proper and peculiar power and the same effectuall to shew and performe their owne nature Some are fruitfull to bring forth moisture that is turned into liquid raine others to yeeld an humour either congealed into frosts or gathered and thickened into snow or else frozen and hardened into haile some afford winds others warmth some hot and scorching vapours some dewes and others cold Neither yet ought these starres to be esteemed so little as they shew in sight seeing that none of them is lesse than the Moone as may appeare by the reason of their exceeding height Well then euery one in their own motion exercise their seuerall natures which appeareth manifestly by Saturne especially who setteth open the gates for raine and shoures to passe And not onely the seuen wandering starres be of this power but many of them also that are fixed in the firmament so often as they be either driuen by the excesse and approch of those planets or pricked and prouoked by the casting and influence of their beams like as we find it happeneth in the seuen stars called Suculae which the Grecians of raine name Hyades because they euer bring foule weather Howbeit some of their owne nature and at certaine set times do cause raine as the rising of the Kids As for Arcturus he neuer lightly appeareth without some tempestuous and stormie haile CHAP. XL. ¶ The power of the Dog-starre WHo knoweth not that when the Dogge-starre ariseth the heate of the Sunne is fiery and burning the effects of which starre are felt exceeding much vpon the earth The seas at his rising do rage and take on the wines in sellars are troubled pooles also and standing waters doe stirre and moue A wilde beast there is in Aegypt called Orix which the Aegyptians say doth stand full against the Dog-starre when it riseth looking wistly vpon it and testifieth after a sort by sneezing a kind of worship As for dogs no man doubteth verily but all the time of the canicular daies they are most ready to run mad CHAP. XLI ¶ That the stars haue their seuerall influences in sundry parts of the signes and at diuers times MOreouer the parts of certaine signes haue their peculiar force as appeareth in the Equinoctiall of Autumne and in mid-winter at what time we perceiue that the Sun maketh tempests And this is proued not onely by raines and stormes but by many experiments in mens bodies and accidents to plants in the countrey For some men are stricken by the Planet and blasted others are troubled and diseased at certaine times ordinarily in their belly sinewes head and minde The Oliue tree the Aspe or white Poplar and Willowes turne or wryth their leaues about at Mid-summer when the Sun entreth Cancer And contrariwise in very Mid-winter when he entreth Capricorne the herbe Penyroiall floureth fresh euen as it hangs within house drie and ready to wither At which time all parchments such like bladders or skinnes are so pent and stretched with spirit and wind that they burst withall A man might maruell hereat who marketh not by daily experience that one herbe called Heliotropium regardeth and looketh toward the Sun euer as he goeth turning with him at all houres notwithstanding he be shadowed vnder a cloud Now certaine it is that the bodies of Oysters Muskles Cocles and all shell fishes grow by the power of the Moone and thereby againe diminish yea and some haue found out by diligent search into Natures secrets that the fibres or filaments in the liuers of rats and mice answer in number to the daies of the Moones age also that the least creature of all others the Pismire feeleth the power of this Planet and alwaies in the change of the Moone ceaseth from worke Certes the more shame it is for man to be ignorant and vnskilfull especially seeing that he must confesse that some labouring beasts haue certaine diseases in their eyes which with the Moone do grow and decay Howbeit the excessiue greatnesse of the heauen and exceeding height thereof diuided as it is into 72 signes maketh for him and serueth for his excuse Now these signes are the resemblances of things or liuing creatures into which the skilfull Astronomers haue with good respect digested the firmament For example sake in the taile of Taurus there be seuen which they named in old time Vergiliae in the forehead other seuen called Suculae and Boötes who followeth after the wain or great Beare Septentriones CHAP. XLII ¶ The causes of raine showers winds and cloudes I Cannot denie but without these causes there arise raines and windes for that certaine it is how there is sent forth from the earth a mist sometimes moist otherwhiles smokie by reason of hot vapours and exhalations Also that clouds are ingendered by vapours which are gone vp on high or else of the aire gathered into a waterie liquour that they be thicke grosse and of a bodily consistence wee guesse and collect by no doubtful argument considering that they ouer-shadow the Sun which otherwise may be seene through the water as they know well that diue to any depth whatsoeuer CHAP. XLIII ¶ Of Thunder and Lightening DEnie I would not therefore but that the fierie impressions from stars aboue may fall vpon these clouds such as we oftentimes see to shoot in cleare and faire weather by the forceble stroke whereof good reason it is that the aire should be mightily shaken seeing that arrowes and darts when they are discharged sing and keepe a noise as they flie But when they incounter a cloud there arises
of colours by the mixture of clouds aire and firie light together Certes they neuer are knowne but opposite to the Sun nor at any time otherwise than in forme of a Semicircle ne yet in the night season although Aristotle saith there was a Rain-bow seen by night howbeit he confesseth that it could not possibly be but at the full of the Moone Now they happen for the most part in winter namely from the Autumne Equinoctiall as the daies decrease and wax shorter But as daies grow longer againe that is to say after the Spring Equinoctiall they be not seene no more than about the Summer Sunstead when daies are at longest But in Bruma namely when they bee shortest they chance very often The same appeare aloft when the Sun is low and below when he is aloft Also they be of narrower compasse when the Sun either riseth or setteth but their body spreadeth broad and at noone narrower it is and smal yet greater and wider in circumference In Sommer time they be not seene about noon-tide but after the Autumne Equinoctial at all houres and neuer more at once than twaine The rest of the same nature I see few men doe make any doubt of CHAP. LX. ¶ Of Haile Snow Frost Mist and Dew HAile is ingendred of Raine congealed into an Ice and Snow of the same humor growne together but not so hard As for frost it is made of dew frozen In winter Snowes fall and not haile It haileth oftner in the day time than in the night yet haile sooner melteth by farre than snow Mists be not seene neither in Summer nor in the cold weather Dewes shew not either in frost or in hot seasons neither when winds be vp but only after a calm and cleere night Frosts dry vp wet and moisture for when the yce is thawed and melted the like quantitie of water in proportion is not found CHAP. LXI ¶ Of the shapes of Clouds SVndry colours and diuers shapes are seene in clouds according as the fire intermingled therein is either more or lesse CHAP. LXII ¶ Of the properties of weather in diuers places MOreouer many properties there be of the weather peculiar to certain places the nights in Africke bedewie in Winter In Italy about Locri and the lake Velinus there is not a day but a Rainbow is seene At Rhodes and Syracusae the aire is neuer so dimme and cloudy but one houre or other the Sun shineth out But such things as these shall be related more fitly in due place Thus much of the Aire CHAP. LXIII ¶ Of Earth and the nature thereof THe Earth followeth next vnto which alone of all parts of the world for her singular benefits we haue giuen the reuerend and worshipfull name of Mother For like as the Heauen is the mother of God euen so is she of men She it is that taketh vs when wee are comming into the world nourisheth vs when we are new borne and once being come abroad euer sustaineth and beareth vs vp and at the last when wee are reiected and forlorne of all the world besides she embraceth vs then most of all other times like a kinde mother she couereth vs all ouer in her bosom by no merit more sacred than by it wherwith she maketh vs holy and sacred euen bearing our tombes monuments and titles continuing our name and extending our memorie therby to make recompence and weigh against the shortnes of our age whose last power we in our anger wish to be heauy vnto our enemy and yet she is heauy to none as if wee were ignorant that she alone is neuer angry with any man waters ascend vp turn into clouds they congeale and harden into haile swel they do into waues and billows down they hasten headlong into brooks and land-flouds The aire is thickened with clouds rageth with winds and stormes But she is bountifull mild tender ouer vs indulgent ready at all times to attend and wait vpon the good of mortall men See what she breeds being forced nay what she yeeldeth of her owne accord what odoriferous smells and pleasant sauors what wholesome iuices and liquors what soft things to content our feeling what louely colors doth she giue to please our eie how faithfully and iustly doth she repay with vsury that which was lent and credited out vnto her Finally what store of all things doth shee feed and nourish for our sake Alas poor wretch pestiferous and hurtfull creatures when the vitall breath of the aire was too blame to giue them life she could not otherwise chuse but receiue them after they were sown in her and being once ingendred and bred keepe and maintain them But in that they prooued afterwards bad and venomous the fault was to be laid vpon the parents that ingendred them and not to be imputed vnto her For shee entertaineth no more a venomous serpent after it hath stung a man nay more than that she requireth punishment for them that are slow and negligent of themselues to seeke it She it is that bringeth forth medicinable herbes and euermore is in trauell to be deliuered of some thing or other good for man Ouer and besides it may be thought and beleeued that for very pittie of vs she ordained and appointed some poisons that when we were weary of our life cursed famine most aduerse and crosse of all other to the merits of the earth should not consume and waste vs with languishing and pining consumption and so procure our death that high and steepe rockes should not dash and crush our bodies in pieces nor the ouerthwart and preposterous punishment by the halter wreathe our necks and stop that vital breath which we seek to let out and be rid of last of all that we might not worke our owne death in the deep sea and being drowned feed fishes and be buried in their bellies ne yet the edge and point of the sword cut and pierce our bodie and so put vs to dolorous paine So that it is no doubt but in a pittifull regard and compassion of vs shee hath ingendred that poyson by one gentle draught whereof going most easily downe we might forgoe our life and die without any hurt and skin broken of our body yea and diminish no one drop of bloud without grieuous paine I say and like onely to them who be athirst that being in that manner dead nether foule of the aire nor wilde beast prey vpon or touch our bodies but that he should be reserued for the earth who perished by himselfe and for himselfe and to confesse and say the troth the earth hath bred the remedy of all miseries howsoeuer we haue made it a venome and poison to our life For after the like sort we imploy iron and steele which we canot possibly be without And yet we should not do well and iustly to complain in case she had brought it forth for to do hurt and mischiefe Now surely to this only part of Nature and the world
we are vnthankfull as though shee serued not mans turne for all dainties not for contumely and reproch to be misused Cast she is into the sea or else to let in peeres and frithes eaten away with water With yron tooles with wood fire stone burdens of corne tormented she is euery houre and all this much more to content our pleasures and wanton delights than to serue vs with naturall food and necessary nourishment And yet these misusages which she abideth aboue and in her outward skin may seeme in some sort tolerable But we not satisfied therewith pierce deeper and enter into her very bowels we search into the veines of gold and siluer we mine and dig for copper and lead mettals And for to seek out gemmes and some little stones we sinke pits deep within the ground Thus we plucke the very heart-strings out of her and all to weare on our finger one gemme or precious stone to fulfill our pleasure and desire How many hands are worne with digging and deluing that one ioynt of our finger might shine again Surely if there were any diuels or infernall spirits beneath ere this time verily these mines for to feed couetousnes and riot would haue brought them vp aboue ground Maruell we then if she hath brought forth some things hurtfull and noisome But sauage beasts I well thinke ward and saue her they keepe sacrilegious hands from doing her iniurie Nay ywis it is nothing so Dig we not amongst dragons and serpents and togethet with veines of gold handle we not the roots of poisoned and venomous herbes howbeit this goddesse we finde the better appaied and lesse discontented for all this misusage for that the end and issue of all this wealth tends to wickednesse to murder and wars and her whom we drench with our bloud we couer also with vnburied bones Which neuerthelesse as if she did reprooue and reproch vs for this rage and furie of ours she her selfe couereth in the end and hideth close euen the wicked parts of mortall men Among other imputions of an vnthankfull minde I may well count this also That we be ignorant of her nature CHAP. LXIIII. ¶ Of the forme of the earth THe first and principall thing that offereth it selfe to be considered is her figure in which by a generall consent we doe all agree For surely we speake and say nothing more commonly than the round ball of the earth and confesse that it is a globe enclosed within 2 poles But yet the forme is not of a perfect and absolute roundle considering so great heigth of hills and such plaines of downs howbeit if the compasse therof might be taken by lines the ends of those lines would meet iust in circuit and proue the figure of a iust circle And this the very consideration of naturall reason doth force and conuince although there were not those causes which we alledged about the heauen For in it the hollow bending conuexitie boweth and beareth vpon it selfe and euery way resteth vpon the centre thereof which is that of the earth But this being solid and close compact ariseth still like as if it swelled stretching and growing forth The heauen bendeth and inclineth toward the centre but the earth goeth from the centre whiles the world with continnall volubilitie and turning about it driueth the huge and excessiue globe thereof into the forme of a round ball CHAP. LXV ¶ Of the Antipodes whether there be any such Also of the roundnesse of water MVch adoe there is here and great debate betweene learned men and contrariwise those of the leaud and ignorant multitude for they hold that men are ouerspread on all parts vpon the earth and stand one against another foot to foot also that the Zenith or point of the heauen is euen and alike vnto all and in what part soeuer men be they go still and tread after the same manner in the middest But the common sort aske the question and demand How it happeneth that they opposite iust against vs fall not into Heauen as if there were not a reason also ready That the Antipodes againe shall maruell why we fell not downe Now there is reason that commeth betweene carrying a probabilitie with it euen to the multitude were it neuer so blockish and vnapt to learne That in an vneuen and vnequall Globe of the Earth with many ascents and degrees as if the figure thereof resembled a Pine-apple yet neuerthelesse it may be well enough inhabited all ouer in euery place But what good doth all this when another wonder as great as it ariseth namely That it selfe hangeth and yet falleth not together with vs as if the power of that Spirit especially which is enclosed in the World were doubted or that any thing could fall especially when nature is repugnant thereto and affordeth no place whither to fall for like as there is no seat of Fire but in fire of Water but in water of Aire and Spirit but in aire euen so there is no roome for Earth but in earth seeing all the Elements besides are ready to put it backe from them Howbeit wonderfull it remaineth still How it should become a Globe considering so great flatnesse of Plaines and Seas Of which doubtfull opinion Dicaearchus a right learned man as any other is a fauourer who to satisfie the curious endeauours of Kings and Princes had a charge and commission to leuell and take measure of mountaines of which he said that Pelion the highest was a mile and a halfe high by the plumbe rule and collected thereby that it was nothing at all to speake of in comparison of the vniuersall rotunditie of the whole But surely in my conceit this was but an vncertaine guesse of his since that I am not ignorant that certaine tops of the Alpes for a long tract together arise not vnder fiftie miles in heigth But this is it that troubles the vulgar sort most of all if they should be forced to beleeue that the forme of water also gathers round in the top And yet there is nothing in the whole world more euident to the sight for the drops euery where not onely as they hang appeare like little round bals but also if the light vpon dust or rest vpon the hairy downe of leaues we see they keep a perfect and exquisite roundnes Also in cups that are filled brim full the middle part in the top swell most Which thing considering the thinnes of the humour and the softnes thereof setling flat vpon it selfe are sooner found out by reason than by the eie Nay this is a thing more wonderfull that when cups are filled to the ful put neuer so little more liquor thereto the ouerplus will run ouer all about but contrariwise it falleth out if you put in any solid weights yea and it were to the weight of twenty deniers or French crowns in a cup. Forsooth the reason is this for that these things receiued within lift vp the liquor aloft to the top but poured
Island distant Northward from Britaine six daies sailing Yea and some affirme the same of Mona an Island distant from Camalodunum a towne of Britaine about 200 miles CHAP. LXXVI ¶ Of Dials and Quadrants THis cunning and skill of shadowes named Gnonomice Anaximines the Milesian the disciple of Anaximander aboue named inuented and hee was the first also that shewed in Lacedemon the Horologe or Dial which they call Sciotericon CHAP. LXXVII ¶ How the dayes are obserued THe very day it selfe men haue after diuers manners obserued The Babylonians count for day all the time betweene two Sun-risings the Athenians betweene the settings The Vmbrians from noone to noone But all the common sort euery where from day light vntill it be darke The Roman Priests and those that haue defined and set out a ciuil day likewise the Egyptians and Hipparchus from midnight to midnight That the spaces or lights are greater or lesse betwixt Sun risings neere the Sunsteds than the equinoctials it appeareth by this that the position of the Zodiake about the middle parts therof is more oblique and crooked but toward the Sunsted more streight and direct CHAP. LXXViij ¶ The reason of the varietie and difference of sundry Countries and Nations HEreunto we must ioyne such things as are linked to celestiall causes For doubtlesse it is that the Aethiopians by reason of the Sunnes vicinitie are scorched and tanned with the heate thereof like to them that be adust and burnt hauing their beards and bush of haire curled Also that in the contrarie Clime of the world to it in the frozen and icie regions the people haue white skins haire growing long downeward and yellow but are fierce and cruell by reason of the rigorous cold aire howbeit the one as well as the other in this mutabilitie are dull and grosse and the very legs do argue the temperature for in the Aethiopians the iuice or bloud is drawne vpward againe by the naturall heate But among the nations Septentrionall the same is driuen to the inferior parts by reason of moisture apt to fall downward Here breed noisome and hurtfull wilde beasts but there be ingendred creatures of sundry and diuers shapes especially birds Tall they are of bodily stature as well in one part as the other in the hot regions by the occasionall motion of fire in the other by the moist nourishment But in the midst of the earth there is an wholesome mixture from both sides the whole Tract is fertill and fruitfull for all things the habit of mens bodies of a mean and indifferent constitution the colour also shewing a great temperature The fashions and manners of the people are ciuill and gentle their sences cleare and lightsome their wits pregnant and capable of all things within the compasse of Nature they also beare soueraigne rule and sway empires and monarchies which those vttermost nations neuer had Yet true it is that euen they who are out of the temperate Zones may not abide to be subiect nor accomodate themselues to these for such is their sauage and brutish nature that it vrgeth them to liue solitarie by themselues CHAP. LXXiX ¶ Of Earthquakes THe Babylonians were of this opinion that earthquakes and gaping chinks and all other accidents of that nature are occasioned by the power and influence of the planets but of those three only to which they attribute lightnings and by this means namely as they keepe their course with the Sun or meet with him and especially when this concurrence is about the quadratures of the heauen And surely if it be true which is reported of Anaximander the Milesian naturall Philosopher his prescience and foreknowledge of things was excellent and worthy of immortalitie who as it is said forewarned the Lacedemonians to looke wel to their city and dwelling houses for that there was an earthquake toward which hapned accordingly when not only their whole city was shaken and fell downe but also a great part of the mountain Taygetus which bare out like to the poupe of a ship broken as it were from the rest came down too wholly couering the foresaid ruines There is reported another shrewd guesse of Pherecydes who was Pythagoras his master and the same likewise diuine and propheticall he by drawing water out of a pit both foresaw and also foretold an earthquake there Which if they be true how far off I pray you may such men seeme to be from God euen while they liue here on earth But as for these things verily I leaue it free for euery man to weigh and deeme of them according to their owne iudgement and for mine owne part I suppose that without all doubt the windes are the cause thereof For neuer beginneth the earth to quake but when the sea is still and the weather so calme withall that the birds in their flying cannot houer and hang in the aire by reason that all the spirit and winde which should beare them vp is withdrawne from them ne yet at any time but after the windes are laid namely when the blast is pent and hidden within the veines and hollow caues of the earth Neither is this shaking in the earth any other thing than is thunder in the cloud nor the gaping chinke thereof ought else but like the clift whereout the lightning breaketh when the spirit inclosed within strugleth and stirreth to go forth at libertie CHAP. LXXX ¶ Of the gaping chinks of the earth AFter many and sundry sorts the earth therefore is shaken and thereupon ensue wondrous effects in one place the walls of cities are laid along in another they be swallowed vp in a deepe and wide chawne here are cast vp mighty heaps of earth there are let out Riuers of water yea and somtimes fire doth breathe forth and hot springs issue abroad in another place the course and chanell of riuers is turned clean away and forced backward There goeth before and commeth with it a terrible noise one while a rumbling more like the loowing and bellowing of beasts otherwhiles it resembles a mans voice or else the clattering and rustling of armor and weapons beating one vpon another according to the qualitie of the matter that catcheth and receiueth the noise or the fashion either of the hollow cranes within or the cranny by which it passeth whiles in a narrow way it taketh on with a more slender and whistling noise and the same keepeth an hoarse din in winding and crooked caues rebounding againe in hard passages roaring in moist places wauing and floting in standing waters boiling and chasing against solid things And therefore a noise is often heard without any earthquake and neuer at any time shaketh it simply after one and the same manner but trembles and waggeth to and fro As for the gaping chink sometimes it remaineth wide open and sheweth what it hath swallowed vp otherwhiles it closeth vp the mouth and hideth all and the earth is knit together so againe as there remaine no marks and tokens to be
seene notwithstanding many times it hath deuoured cities and drawne into it a whole tract of ground and fields Sea coasts and maritime regions most of all other feele earthquakes Neither are the hilly countries without this calamitie for I my selfe haue known for certain that the Alps and Apenine haue often trembled In the Autumne also and Spring there happen more earthquakes than at other times like as lightnings And hereof it is that France and Egypt least of all other are shaken for that in Egypt the continuall Sommer and in France the hard Winter is against it In like manner earthquakes are more rife in the night than in the day time but the greatest vse to be in the morning and euening Toward day light there be many and if by day it is vsually about noon They fortune also to be when the Sun and Moone are eclipsed because then all tempests are asleepe and laid to rest But especially when after much raine there followes a great time of heate or after heate store of raine CHAP. LXXXj ¶ Signes of Earthquake comming SAilers also haue a certaine foreknowledge thereof and guesse not doubtfully at it namely when the waues swel suddenly without any gale of wind or when in the ship they are shocked with billowes shaking vnder them then are the things seen to quake which stand in the ship as well as those in houses and with a rustling noise giue warning before-hand The foules likewise of the aire sit not quietly without feare In the sky also there is signe thereof for there goeth before an earthquake either in day time or soon after the Sun is gon downe a thin streake or line as it were of a cloud lying out in a great length Moreouer the water in wels and pits is more thicke and troubled than ordinary casting out a stinking sent CHAP. LXXXij ¶ Remedies or helps against Earthquakes toward BVt a remedie there is for the same such as vaults and holes in many places do yeeld for they vent and breathe out the wind that was conceiued there before a thing noted in certain townes which by reason they stand hollow and haue many sinks and vaults digged to conuey away their filth are lesse shaken yea and in the same towns those parts which be pendant be the safer as is well seen in Naples where that quarter thereof which is sollid and not hollow is subiect to such casualties And in houses the arches are most safe the angles also of walls yea and those posts which in shaking will jog to and fro euery way Moreouer walls made of brick or earth take lesse harme when they be shaken in an earthquake And great difference there is in the very kinde and manner of earthquakes for the motion is diuers the safest is when houses as they rocke keep a trembling and warbling noise also when the earth seemeth to swell vp in rising and again to settle down and sink with an alternatiue motion Harmlesse it is also when houses run on end together by a contrary stroke and butt or jur one against another for the one mouing withstandeth the other The bending downward in maner of wauing and a certain rolling like to surging billowes is it that is so dangerous and doth all the mischiefe or when the whole motion beareth and forceth it selfe to one side These quakings or tremblings of the earth giue ouer when the winde is once vented out but if they continue still then they cease not vntill forty daies end yea and many times it is longer ere they stay for some of them haue lasted the space of a yeare or two CHAP. LXXXIII ¶ Monstrous Earthquakes seene neuer but once THere hapned once which I found in the books of the Tuscanes learning within the teritorie of Modena whiles L. Martius and S. Iulius were Consuls a great strange wonder of the earth for two hils encountred together charging as it were and with violence assaulting one another yea and retyring againe with a most mighty noise It fell out in the day time and between them there issued flaming fire and smoke mounting vp into the sky while a great number of Roman Gentlemen from the highway Aemylia and a multitude of seruants and passengers stood and beheld it With this conflict and running of them together all the villages vpon them were dashed and broken to pieces very much cattell that was within died therewith And this hapned the yeare before the war of our Associates which I doubt whether it were not more pernicious to the whole land of Italy than the ciuil wars It was no lesse monstrous a wonder that was knowne also in our age in the very last yeare of Nero the Emperour as we haue shewed in his acts when medows and oliue rowes notwithstanding the great publique port way lay betweene passed ouerthwart one into anothers place in the Marrucine territorie within the lands of Vectius Marcellus a gentleman of Rome Procurator vnder Nero in his affaires CHAP. LXXXIV ¶ Wonders of Earthquakes THere happen together with earthquakes deluges also and inundations of the sea being infused and entring into the earth with the same aire and wind or else receiued into the hollow receptacle as it setleth down The greatest earthquake in mans memory was that which chanced during the empire of Tiberius Caesar when twelue cities of Asia were laid leuell in one night But the earthquakes came thickest in the Punick war when in one yeare were reported to be in Rome 57. In which yeare verily when the Carthaginians and Romans fought a battell at Thrasymenus lake neither of both armies tooke notice of a great earthquake Neither is this a simple euill thing nor the danger consisteth only in the very earthquake and no more but that which it portendeth is as bad or worse Neuer abode the city of Rome any earthquake but it gaue warning thereof before hand of some strange accident and vnhappie euent following CHAP. LXXXV ¶ In what places the seas haue gone backe THe same cause is to be rendred of some new hill or piece of ground not seen before when as the said winde within the earth able to huffe vp the ground was not powerful enough to breake forth and make issue For firme land groweth not only by that which Riuers bring in as the Isles Echinades which were heaped and raised vp by the riuer Achelous and by Nilus the greater part of Egypt into which if wee beleeue Homer from the Island Pharus there was a cut by sea of a day and a nights sailing but also by the retiring and going backe of the sea as the same poet hath written of the Circeiae The like by report hapned both in the bay of Ambracia for ten miles space and also in that of the Athenians for fiue miles neere Pireaeum also at Ephesus where somtime the sea beate vpon the temple of Diana And verily if we giue eare to Herodotus it was all a sea from aboue Memphis to the Ethyopian hills
Verbanus Ticinus in Benacus Mincius in Seuinus Ollius in Lemanus lake the riuer Rhodanus As for this riuer beyond the Alpes and the former in Italy for many a mile as they passe carry forth their owne waters from thence where they abode as strangers and none other and the same no larger than they brought in with them This is reported likewise of Orontes a riuer in Syria and of many others Some riuers again there be which vpon an hatred to the sea run euen vnder the bottom thereof as Arethusa a fountaine in Syracusa wherein this is obserued that whatsoeuer is cast into it commeth vp againe at the riuer Alpheus which running through Olimpia falleth into the sea shore of Peloponnesus There go vnder the ground and shew aboue the ground againe Lycus in Asia Erasinus in Argolica Tygris in Mesopotamia And at Athens what things soeuer are drowned in the fountain of Aesculapius be cast vp againe in Phalericus Also in the Atinate plaines the riuer that is buried vnder the earth twentie miles off appeareth againe So doth Timavus in the territory of Aquileia In Asphaltites a lake in Iury which ingenders Bittumen nothing will sinke nor can be drowned no more than in Arethusa in the greater Armenia and the same verily notwithstanding it be full of Nitre breedeth and feedeth fish In the Salentines countrey neere the towne Manduria there is a lake brim full lade out of it as much water as you will it decreaseth not ne yet augmenteth poure in neuer so much to it In a riuer of the Ciconians and in the lake Velinus in the Picene territory if wood be throwne in it is couered ouer with a stony barke Also in Surius a riuer of Colchis the like is to be seen insomuch as ye shall haue very often the bark that ouergrowes it as hard as any stone Likewise in the riuer Silarus beyond Surrentum not twigs onely that are dipped therein but leaues also grow to be stones and yet the vater thereof otherwise is good and wholesome to be drunk In the very passage and issue of Reatine meere there growes a rocke of stone bigger and bigger by the dashing of the water Moreouer in the red sea there be oliue trees and other shrubs that grow vp green There be also very many springs which haue a wonderfull nature for their boiling heat yea and that vpon the very mountains of the Alpes and in the sea between Italy and Aenaria as in the Firth Baianus and the riuer Liris and many others For in diuers and sundry places ye may draw fresh water out of the sea namely about the islands Chelidoniae and Aradus yea and in the Ocean about Gades In the hot waters of the Padouans there grow greene herbes in those of the Pisanes there breed frogs and at Vetulonij in Hetruria not far from the sea fishes also are bread In the territory Casinas there is a riuer called Scatebra which is cold and in Summer time more abounding and fuller of water than in winter in it as also in Stymphalis of Arcadia there breed come forth of it little water-mice or small Limpins In Dodone the fountain of Iupiter being exceeding chill and cold so as it quencheth and putteth out light torches dipped therein yet if you hold the same neere vnto it when they are extinct and put out it setteth them on fire againe The same spring at noon-tide euermore giueth ouer to boile and wants water for which cause they call it Anapauomenos anon it begins to rise vntill it be midnight and then it hath great abundance and from that time againe it faints by little and little In Illyricum there is a cold spring ouer which if ye spread any clothes they catch a fire and burne The fountaine of Iupiter Hammon in the day time is cold all night it is seething hot In the Troglodites countrey there is a fountaine of the Sunne called the sweet Spring about noon it is exceeding cold anon by little and little it growes to be warm but at midnight it passeth and is offensiue for heate and bitternes The head of the Po at noon in Summer giueth ouer as it were and intermits to boile and is then euer drie In the Island Tenedus there is a spring which after the Sommer Sunsteed euermore from the third houre of the night vnto the sixt doth ouerflow And in the isle Delos the fountain snopus falleth and rises after the same sort that Nilus doth and together with it Ouer against the riuer Timavus there is a little Island within the sea hauing hot wels which ebbe and flow as the tide of the sea doth and iust therwith In the territory of the Pitinates beyond Apenninus the riuer Nouanus at euery midsummertime swelles and runnes ouer the bankes but in mid-winter is cleane dry In the Faliscane countrie the water of the riuer Clitumnus makes the oxen and kine white that drinke of it And in Baeotia the riuer Melas maketh sheepe blacke Cephyssus running out of the same lake causeth them to be white and Penius again giues them a black colour but Xanthus neere vnto Ilium coloureth them reddish and hereupon the riuer tooke that name In the land of Pontus there is a riuer that watereth the plaines of Astace vpon which those mares that feed giue blacke milke for the food and sustenance of that nation In the Reatine territorie there is a fountaine called Neminia which according to the springing and issuing forth out of this or that place signifyeth the change in the price of corne and victuals In the hauen of Brind is there is a Well that yeeldeth vnto sailers and sea-fering-men water which will neuer corrupt The water of Lincestis called Acidula i. Soure maketh men drunken no lesse than wine Semblably in Paphlagonia and in the territory of Cales Also in the Isle Andros there is a fountaine neere the temple of Father Bacchus which vpon the Nones of Ianuarie alwaies runneth with water that tasteth like wine as Mulianus verily beleeueth who was a man that had beene thrice Consull The name of the spring is Dios Tecnosia Neere vnto Nonacris in Arcadia there is the riuer Styx differing from the other Styx neither in smell nor colour drinke of it once and it is present death Also in Berosus an hill of the Tauri there be three fountaines the water whereof whosoeuer drinketh is sure to die of it remedilesse and yet without paine In the Countrey of Spaine called Carrinensis two Springs there bee that runne neere together the one rejecteth the other swalloweth vp all things In the same countrey there is another water which sheweth all fishes within it of a golden colour but if they be once out of that water they be like to other fishes In the Cannensian territory neere to the lake Larius there is a large and broad Well which euery houre continually swelleth and falleth downe againe In the Island Sydonia before Lesbos an hot fountaine there is that runneth
are saith he by these markes In one of their eies they haue two sights in the other the print or resemblance of an horse He reports besides of these men that they wil neuer sinke or drowne in the water be they charged neuer somuch with weighty and heauy apparel Not vnlike to these there are a people in Aethiopia called Pharnaces whose sweat if it chance to touch a mans body presently he falleth into a phthisick or consumption of the lungs And Cicero a Romane writer here among vs testifieth that generally all women that haue such double apples in their eies haue a venemous sight and doe hurt therewith See how nature hauing engraffed naturally in some men this vnkind appetite like wild beasts to feed commonly vpon the bowels and flesh of men hath taken delight also pleasure to giue them inbred poisons in their whol body yea venom in the very eies of some that there should be no naughtinesse in the world againe but the same might be found in man Not farre from Rome city within the territory of the Falisci there be some few houses families called Hirpiae which at their solemne yearely sacrifice celebrated by them in the honour of Apollo vpon the mount Sorecte walke vpon the pile of wood as it is on fire in great iolity and neuer a whit are burnt withall For which cause it is ordained by an expresse arest or act of the Senat that they should be priuiledged and haue immunity of warfare and all other seruices whatsoeuer Some men there be that haue certaine members and parts of their bodies naturally working strange and miraculous effects and in some cases medicinable As for example king Pyrrhus whose great toe of his right foot was good for them that had big swelled or indurate spleenes if he did but touch the parties diseased with that toe And they say moreouer that when the rest of his body was burnt after the manner in the funerall fire that great toe the fire had no power to consume so that it was bestowed in a litle case for the nones and hung vp in the temple for a holy relique But principally aboue all other countries India and the whole tract of Aethiopia is full of these strange and miraculous things And first formost the beasts bred in India be very big as it may appeare by their dogs which for proportion are much greater than those in other parts And trees grow there to that tallnesse that a man cannot shoot a shaft ouer them The reason hereof is the goodnesse and fatnesse of the ground the temperat constitution of the aire and the abundance of water which is the cause also that vnder one fig tree beleeue it that list there may certaine troupes and squadrons of horsmen stand in couert shaded with the boughes And as for reeds they be of such a length that between euery ioint they will yeeld sufficient to make boats able to receiue three men apeece for to row therein at ease There are to be seene many men there aboue fiue cubits tall neuer are they known once to spit troubled they are not with pain in the head tooth-ach or griefe of the eies and seldome or neuer complaine they of any sorance in other parts of the body so hardy are they and of so strong a constitution thorough the moderat heat of the Sun Ouer and besides among the Indians be certain Philosophers whom they call Gymnosophists who from the Sun rising to the setting thereof are able to endure all the day long looking full against the Sunne without winking or once mouing their eies from morning to night can abide to stand somtimes vpon one leg and sometimes on the other in the sand as scalding hot as it is Vpon a certaine mountaine named Milus there be men whose feet grow the tother way backward and of either foot they haue eight toes as Megasthenes doth report And in many other hils of that countrey there is a kind of men with heads like dogs clad all ouer with skins of wild beasts who in lieu of speech vse to bark armed they are and well appointed with sharp and trenchant nailes they liue vpon the prey which they get by chasing wild beasts fowling Ctesias writes that there were discouered and knowne of them aboue 120000 in number By whose report also in a certaine country of India the women beare but once in their life and their in fants presently waxe grey so soone as they are borne into the world Also that there is a kind of people named Monoscelli that haue but one leg apeece but they are most nimble and hop wondrous swiftly The same men are also called Sciopodes for that in hotest season of the Summer they ly along on their back and defend themselues with their feet against the Suns heate and these people as he saith are not farre from the Troglodites Againe beyond these Westward some there be without heads standing vpon their necks who cary eies in their shoulders Among the Westerne mountains of India the Satyres haunt the country wherein they be is called the region of the Cartaduli creatures of all other most swift in footmanship which one whiles run with all foure otherwhiles vpon two feet only like men but so light footed they are that vnlesse they be very old and sick they can neuer be taken Tauron writeth That the Choromandae are a sauage and wild people distinct voice and speech they haue none but in stead thereof they keep an horrible gnashing and hideous noise rough they are and hairy all ouer their bodies eies they haue red like the houlets and toothed they be like dogs Eudoxus saith That in the Southern parts of India the men kind haue feet a cubit long but the wome so short smal that thereupon they be called Struthopodes i. sparrow footed Megasthenes is my Author that among the Indian Nomades there is a kind of people that in stead of noses haue only two smal holes and after the manner of snakes they haue their legs feet limmer wherwith they crawle and creep and named they are Syrictae In the vtmost marches of India Eastward about the source head of the riuer Ganges there is a nation called the Astomes for that they haue no mouths all hairy ouer the whole body yet clothed with soft cotton and down that come from the leaues of trees they liue only by the aire and smelling to sweet odors which they draw in at their nosthrils No meat nor drinke they take only pleasant sauours from diuers and sundry roots floures and wild fruits growing in the woods they entertaine and those they vse to carry about with them when they take any farre journey because they would not misse their smelling And yet if the sent be any thing strong and stinking they are soone therwith ouercome dy withal Higher in the country and aboue these euen in the edge and skirts of the mountains the Pygmaei
yet are mares sufficient to beare euery yeere vntill they came to fortie It is reported that an horse hath liued 75 yeeres Mares only of all other females are deliuered of their foles standing on their feet but loue them more than any other doe their young These foles verily by report haue growing on their forehead when they be newly come into the world a little blacke thing of the bignesse of a fig called Hippomanes it is thought to haue an effectuall vertue to procure and win loue The dam hath not so soon foled but she bites it off and eats it her selfe and if it chance that any bodie preuents her of it and catcheth it from her she will neuer let the fole sucke her The verie smell and sent thereof if it be stollen away will driue them into a fit of rage and madnesse If peraduenture a young fole lose the damme the other mares of the common heard that are milch nurses giue their teates to this poore orphane and reare it vp in common They say that for 3 daies after they be newly foled the yong colts canot lay their mouth to the ground and touch it Moreouer the hotter stomacked that a horse is the deeper he thrusteth his nose into the water as he drinkes The Scythians chuse rather to vse their mares in war-seruice than their stone-horses the reason is this that their staling is no hinderance to their pace in running their carriere as it doth the horse who must needs then stand still In Portugall along the riuer Tagus about Lisbon certaine it is that when the west-wind blowes the mares set vp their tailes and turne them full against it and so conceiue that genitall aire in steed of naturall seed in such sort as they become great withall and quicken in their time bring forth foles as swift as the wind but they liue not aboue three yeres Out of the same Spain from the parts called Gallicia and Asturia certaine ambling iennets or nags are bred which wee call Thieldones and others of lesse stature proportion euery way named Asturcones These horses haue a pleasant pace by themselues differing from others For albeit they be put to their full pace a man shall se them set one soot before another so deftly and roundly in order by turnes that it would do one good to see it and hereupon horse-breakers masters haue an art by cords to bring a horse to the like amble A horse is subiect to the same diseases in maner that a man is besides to the running of the bladder like as all other beasts that labour either in draught or carriage CHAP. XLIII ¶ Of Asses VArro writes that Q. Axius a Roman Senator bought an Asse which bought him 400000 Sesterces a price in my conceit aboue the worth of any beast whatsoeuer yet doubtlesse he was able to do wondrous good seruice in carrying burdens plowing of ground and principally in getting of mules The chapmen that vse to buy these Asses haue a speciall regard to the place from whence they come and where they be bred for in Achaia or Greece those of Arcadia be in greatest request and in Italy those of Reate This creature of all things can worst away with cold which is the cause that none of them are bred in Pontus Neither do they ingender as other such like beasts in the Spring Aequinoctiall i. about mid-March but in mid-Iune about the time of the Sun-stead when daies be at the longest He Asses the more you spare them in their worke the worse they are for it The females are at the least 30 months or two yeares and halfe old before they bring any yong but 3 yeares is the ordinarie and due time indeed They go as long as mares and iust so many moneths and after the same maner do they fole But after they be couered they must be forced to run presently with beating laying on them or else they will let go their seed again so slippery is their wombe and so vnapt to keep that which once it hath conceiued They are seldome seene to bring forth two at once The she Asse when she is about to fole seeketh some secret blinde corner to hide her selfe that she might not be seen of any man She breeds all her life time which commonly is vntill shee be 30 yeares old They loue their yong foles exceeding well but as ill or rather worse can they abide any water To their little ones they will go through fire but if there be the least brooke or rill between they are so afraid of it that they dare not once dip their feet therein And verily drinke they will not but of their accustomed fountaines within the pastures where they vse to go but they will be sure to chuse their way and go dry-foot to their drinke and not wet their hoofe neither will they go ouer any bridges where the planks are not so close drawn together and ioynted but that they may see the water through vnder their feet or the railes of each side so open that the riuer is seen A strange nature they haue by themselues Thirsty they are but be they neuer so dry if you change their watering place as in trauelling vpon the way they must be forced to drinke with cudgels or else vnloden of their burdens Wheresoeuer they be stabled they loue to lie at large and haue roome enough For in their sleep they dream haue a thousand phansies appearing to them insomuch as they fling about them with their heeles euery way now if they were not at libertie and had not void space enough but should beat against some hard thing in their way they would soone be lame and halt withall They be very gainfull and profitable to their masters yeelding more commoditie than the reuenues of good farme It is well knowne that in Celtiberia a she Asse ordinarily with very breeding may be worth vnto them 400000 Sesterces For the foling and bringing forth of the mules the chief thing to be regarded in the she Asse is the haire about the eares and eie lids For howsoeuer the whole body besides be of one and the same colour yet shall the mules foled haue as many colours as were there all ouer the skin Mecoenas was the first that at feasts made a daintie dish of yong Asse foles and preferred their flesh in his time before the venison of wild Asses But he being dead they were not thought so good meat nor accepted at all If an Asse be seene to die looke soon after that the whole race and kind of them will follow to the very last CHAP. XLIV ¶ Of Mules BEtween the he Asse and a Mare is a Mule ingendred and foled in the 12 moneth a beast of exceeding strength to beare out all labor and trauell For breeding of such Mules Mares are chosen that are not vnder foure yeres old nor aboue ten Men say that they will driue away one another in both
a saw ridged and chamfered between wrinkling and winding vpward to the top like Caltropes bearing out sharpe points in the edges without-forth broad and spread at large within rolled in pleits Moreouer there be other distinct shapes besides all these some be striped and raied with long streaks others crested and blasing with a bush of long haire some againe crisped and curled others made like an hollow gutter or pipe some fashioned as it were a comb others waving with plaits one aboue another tile-wise others framed in the manner of a net or lattise some are wrought crooked and byas others spred out directly in length A man shall see of them those that are made thick and mossie thrust together and compact others stretcht forth at large ye shall haue of them wrapt and lapt one within another and to conclude vee shall find them run round into a short fast knot and all their sides vnited together in one some flat and plain good to giue a clap others turning inward crooked like a cornet made as it were to sound and wind withall Of all these sorts the Pourcelanes or Venus-Winkles swim aboue the water and with their concauitie or hollow part which they set into the weather help themselues in stead of sailes and so gathering wind saile as it were aloft vpon the sea The manner of the Scalops is to skip and otherwhiles they will leap forth of the water They also can find the means to make a boat of themselues and so flote aboue and saile handsomly CHAP. XXXIV ¶ The riches of the sea BVt what meane I all this while to stand vpon these small trifling matters when as in very truth the ouerthrow of all honestie the ruin of good maners and in lieu thereof all riot and superfluity proceeds from these shel-fishes and from nothing so much for now the world is grown to this passe that there is nothing in it whatsoeuer so chargeable to mankind nothing so hurtfull and dangerous as is the very sea and that so many waies namely in furnishing the table with such varietie of dishes in pleasing and contenting the taste with so many dainty and delicate fishes and those carry the highest price that be gotten with greatest hazard and danger of those that take them otherwise they be of no regard and value to speake of CHAP. XXXV ¶ Of Pearles how and where they be found HOwbett al that before named is nothing in comparison of the Purples pretious Coquils and Pearls that come from thence It was not sufficient belike to bring the seas into the kitchen to let them down the throat into the belly vnlesse men and women both caried them about in their hands and eares upon their head and all ouer their body And yet what societie and affinitie is there betwixt the sea and apparell what proportion betwixt the waues and surging billowes thereof and wooll for surely this element naturally receiues vs not into her bosom vnlesse we be stark naked and set the case there were so great good fellowship with it and our bellies how comes our backe and sides ro be acquainted with it But wee were not contented to feed with the peril of so many men vnlesse we be clad and araied also â—…herewith O the folly of vs men see how there is nothing that goeth to the pampering and trimming of this our carcasse of so great price and account that is not bought with the vtmost hasard and costeth not the venture of a mans life But now to the purpose The richest merchandise of all and the most soueraigne commoditie throughout the whole world are these Pearles The Indian ocean is chief for sending them and yet to come by them we must go and search among those huge terrible monsters of the sea which we haue spoken of before we must passe ouer so many seas and saile into far countries so remote and come into those parts where the heate of the sun is so excessiue and extreme and when all is done we may perhaps misse of them for euen the Indians themselues are glad to seeke among the Islands for them when they haue done all they can meet with very few The greatest plenty of them is to be found in the coast of Taprobane and Toidis as hath bin said before in our Cosmographie and description of the world and likewise about Perimula a promontorie and city of India But the most perfect and exquisite of all others be they that are gotten about Arabia within the Persian gulfe This shell-fish which is the mother of Pearle differs not much in the maner of breeding and generation from the Oysters for when the season of the yeare requireth that they should engender they seeme to yawne and gape and so do open wide and then by report they conceiue a certaine moist dew as seed wherewith they swell and grow big and when time commeth labor to be deliuered hereof and the fruit of these shell fishes are the Peares better or worse great or small according to the qualitie and quantitie of the dew which they receiued For if the dew were pure and cleare which went into them then are the Pearles white faire and Orient but if grosse and troubled the Pearles likewise are dimme foule and duskish pale I say they are if the weather were close darke and threatning raine in the time of their conception Whereby no doubt it is apparant and plaine that they participate more of the aire and sky than of the water and the sea for according as the morning is faire so are they cleere but otherwise if it were misty and cloudy they also will be thicke and muddy in colour If they may haue their full time and season to feed the Pearles likewise will thriue and grow bigge but if in the time it doth chance to lighten then they close their shells together and for want of nourishment are kept hungrie and fasting and so the pearles keepe at a stay and prosper not accordingly But if it thunder withall then suddenly they shut hard at once and breed only those excrescences which be called Physemata like vnto bladders pust vp and hooued with wind no corporal substance at all and these are the abortiue vntimely fruits of these shel fishes Now those that haue their ful perfection and be sound and good indeed haue many folds and skins wherein they be lapt not vnproperly as it may be thought a thicke hard and callous rind of the body which they that be skilfull do pill and clense from them Certes I cannot chuse but wonder how they should so greatly be affected with the aire and joy so much therein for with the same they wax red and lose their natiue whitenesse and beautie exen as the bodie of a man or woman that is caught and burnt with the sun And therefore those shels that keep in the maine sea and lie deeper than that the sun-beames can pierce vnto them keep the finest and most delicate
cockles that will shut and open be ready to snap such as we see these limpins be called Mituli Halfe dead they should be first that being new put into the sea again desirous to reviue and liue they might gape for water and then the Purples make at them with their pointed tongue which they thrust out to annoy them but the other feeling themselues pricked therewith presently shut their shels together bite hard Thus the Purples for their greedinesse are caught and taken vp hanging by their tongues CHAP. XXXVIII ¶ The fishing time for Purples THe best time to take Purples is after the dog star is risen before the Spring for when they haue made that viscous muscilage in manner of wax their iuice and humour for colour is ouer liquid thin waterish And yet the purple diers know not so much nor take heed thereof whereas indeed the skill thereof is a speciall point of their art and wherein lreth all in all Well when they are caught as is abouesaid they take forth that vein before mentioned and they lay it in salt or else they do not well with this proportion ordinarily namely to euery hundred weight of the Purple liquor a Sestier or pint and halfe of salt Full three dayes and no more it must thus lie soking in powder For the fresher that the colour is so much is it counted richer and better This don they seeth it in leads to euery Amphore i. which containeth about eight wine gallons they put one hundred pound and a halfe just of the colour so prepared Boile it ought with a soft and gentle fire and therfore the tunnel or mouth of the furnace must be a good way off from the lead and câ—…awdron During which time the workemen that tend the lead must eftsoones skim off and clense away the fleshie substance which cannot chuse but stick to the veines which containeth the iuice or liquour of purple beforesaid And thus they continue 10 daies by which time ordinarily the lead or vessell wil shew the liquour cleere as if it were sufficiently boiled And to make a triall thereof they dip into it a fleece of wool wel rensed washt out of one water into another till such time that they see it giue a perfect die they stil ply the fire giue it a higher seething That which staineth red is nothing so rich as that which giueth the deep sad blackish color When it is come to the perfection they let the wooll lie to take the liquor 5 houres then they haue it forth touse and card it and put it in againe vntil it hath drunke vp all the colour as much as it will Now this is to be obserued that the sea cornet Buccinum makes no good colour of it selfe for their dye wil shed lose the lustre And therfore vsually they ioine to it the sea Purple Pelagium which maketh too deep and brown a colour vnto which it giueth a fresh liuely teinture as it were in grain and so maketh that sad purple which they desire Thus by mixing medling the force of both together they mend one another while the lightnesse or sadnesse of the one doth quicken and raise or els dorr and take downe the colour of the other To the dying of a pound of wooll they vse this proportion of two hundred Buccina or sea Cornets ioined with a hundred and eleuen Pelagian Purples so commeth that rich Amethyst or purple violet colour so highly commended aboue all other But the Tyrians make their deep red purple by dipping their wool first in the liquor of the Pelagian purples only whiles it is not throughly boiled to the heigth but as it were green yet and vnripe and therof they let it take what it can drinke Soone after they change it into another caudron or lead where the colour of the sea Cornets alone is boiled And then it is thought to haue a most commendable and excellent dye when it is as deep a red as bloud that is cold and setled blackish at the first sight but looke between you and the light it carieth a bright and shining lustre And hereupon it is that Homer calleth bloud Purple CHAP. XXXIX ¶ When they began at Rome to weare Purple first I Find in Chronicles that Purple hath bin vsed in Rome time out of mind Howbeit K. Romulus neuer ware it but in his roial habit or mantle of estate called Trabea And wel known it is that Tullus Hostilius was the first Roman king who after he had subdued the Tuscanes put on the long purple robe named Pretexta and the cassock broched studded with scarlet in broad guards Nepos Cornelius who died in the daies of Augustus Caesar the Emperor When quoth he I was a yong man the light violet purple was rife and in great request a pound of it was sold for a 100 deniers and not long after the Tarentine red purple or skarlet was much called for and of the same price But after it came the fine double died purple of Tyros called Dibapha and a man could not buy a pound of it for a 1000 deniers which was the price of ten pound of the other P. Lentulus Spinther in his Aedileship of the chaire first ware a long robe embroidered with it and was checked and blamed therefore But now adaies quoth Nepos what is he that will not hang his parlour and dining chamber therewith and haue carpets cushins cupbord clothes thereof And it is no longer ago when Spinther was Aedile than in the seuen hundreth yeare after the foundation of Rome euen when Cicero was Consull This purple in those daies was called Dibapha i. twice died that was counted a matter of great cost very stately withall and magnificent But now ye shall haue no purple cloths at all of any reckoning but they haue their double die As for the cloth died with the purple of the shel-fish Conchylia the maner of making the colour and dying in all respects is the same saue that there be no sea Cornets vsed thereto Moreouer the iuice or liquor for that colour is tempered with water in stead of the filthy pisse and vrine of a man altogether vsed in the other and therein is sodden but the halfe proportion of colours to the foresaid tinctures And thus is made that light pale stammel so highly commended for being short of the deep rich colour and the lesse while that the wooll is suffered to drinke the fill the more bright and fresh it seemeth CHAP. XL. ¶ The prices of wooll died with these colours AS for these colours they are valued dearer or cheaper according to the coasts where these fishes are gotten more or lesse Howbe it it was neuer known that in any place a pound of the right purple wooll died with the Pelagian colour or of the colour it selfe was more worth than 500 Sesterces nor a pound of the Cornets purple
noble person died and no man euer solemnized their funerals in that city I say which affoorded not one man to reuenge the vnworthy death of that renowned Scipio Aemylianus after he had woon both Carthage and Numantia This happened the fifth day before the Calends of Aprill in the yeare when M. Seruilius and C. Cestius were Consuls of Rome Moreouer euen at this very present when I wrote this historie I saw my selfe a Crow belonging to a certain knight of Rome who brought him out of the realm of Grenado in Spaine which was a very strange and admirable bird not only for the exceeding blacke colour of his feathers but also for that he could pronounce and expresse so perfectly many words and sentences together and learned still new lessons euery day more than other It is not long since that there went a great bruit and fame of a notable hunter in Erizena a countrey of Asia whose name was Craterus Monoceros that vsed to hunt by the meanes and helpe of Rauens His manner was to carry with him these Rauens into the Forrest perching vpon his shoulders his hunting hornes and these would seeke out and put vp other wilde ones and bring them to him Thus by custom vse he brought his hunting to this good passe that when he returned homeward out of the forest the wild as well as the tame would accompany him Some haue thought it worth the setting downe vpon record how there was a Rauen seene in time of great drought when water was hard to come by for to cast stones into the bucket belonging to a sepulchre wherein there was some rain water remaining toward the bottome but so deepe that he could not reach vnto it and being afraid to go downe into it by heaping vp many stones hee brought the water to rise so high as he might drinke sufficient with ease CHAP. XLIV ¶ Of Diomedes his birds NEither will I ouerpasse the birds called Diomedeae which K. Iuba nameth Cataractae Toothed they are as he saith and they haue eies as red and bright as the fire otherwise their feathers be all white Who also affirmes that they euermore haue two captains the one for to lead the vaward and the other for the reregard With their bils they dig little trenches gutters in the ground ouer which from side to side they lay sticks acrosse like hurdles artificially and then couer the same ouer with the earth they cast forth before vnder which they breed Euery of these trenches hath two dores the one regarding the East at which they go forth to their meat and the other looking toward the West by which they come in againe after their returne Whensoeuer these birds would meut they flie euer full into the winde because they would not file themselues Found they be in one place of the world and but in one namely in a certaine Island innobled as we haue written before for the tombe and Temple of Diomedes and it lieth vpon the coast of Apulia These birds are like vnto the white sea Mewes with a blacke cop Their manner is to cry with open mouth vncessantly at any strangers that come aland saue only Grecians vpon whom they wil seem to fawn and make signes of loue and amitie in all flattering wise A wonderfull thing that they should discerne one from another and giue such friendly welcome to them as discended from the race of Diomedes Their manner is euery day to charge their throat and wings full of water and all to drench therewith the said temple of Diomedes in token of purification Whereupon arose the fable That the companions of Diomedes were turned into these birds CHAP. XLV ¶ What Birds are not apt to learne and will not be taught ANd now that we are in this discourse of wit and capacitie I must not omit to note That of birds the Swallow and of land beasts the Mouse and the Rat are very vntoward and cannot be brought to learn Whereas we see great Elephants ready to do whateuer they are commanded the furious Lions brought to draw vnder the yoke the Seals within the sea and so many sorts of fishes grow to be tame and gentle CHAP. XLVI ¶ The manner of Birds in their drinking BIrds drinke sucking and those that haue long necks make stayes betweene and euery while hold vp their bil from the water as if they would poure the water down their throat The bird Porphyrio alone seems to bite the water as he drinketh And this bird hath this propertie by himselfe to dip and wet all his meat euer and anon in water and then with his foot in lieu of an hand to reach it vnto his bil The best of this kind are in Comagene Their bils and long shanks that they haue be red CHAP. XLVII ¶ Of the Foule Himantipus the Onocrotali and other strange fowles LIke in that respect vnto the Porphyrio is the Himantipus a bird far lesse in body but full as long legged and stalking as high They are bred in Aegypt and go vpon three toes to a foot Their most feeding is vpon flies In Italy they liue not many daies All great heauie birds liue on seeds and corn they that fly on high prey vpon flesh Among water fouls the Cormorants vse to deuoure that which other birds either disgorge or meute The Onocrotali much resemble swans and surely they might be thought the very same and no other but that they haue within their throat another kind of gizzar besides their craw in which these fowles being vnsatiable bestow all that euer they can get whereby it is of a wonderfull great capacitie and will receiue very much Now when they haue done the rauening and filled this poke soon after they conuey it from thence by little and little into their mouth and there chew the cud vntill after it be well prepared they swallow it downe into the very craw and belly indeed These fowles are to be found in the parts of Picardie and Normandy in France lying vpon the North Ocean In Hircinia a forrest of Germanie we haue heard that there be strange kinds of birds with feathers shining like fire in the night season In other respects I haue nothing to say of them worth the writing saue only they are of some name for being far fetched CHAP. XLVIII ¶ The names and natures of many Birds OF water fowls the Phalerides are thought in Seleucia of the Parthians and also in Asia to be the daintiest Likewise the Fesant hens of Colchis which haue two ears as it were consisting of feathers which they will set vp and lay down as they list The Ginnie or Turkey hens in a part of Africke called Numidia be in great request as also throughout all Italy now adaies Apicius the most riotous glutton and belly-god of his time taught men first that the tongue of Phoenicopterus was a most sweet and delicat piece of meat The Moore-hen of Ionia is much commended and highly esteemed
Chamelaea Tragacanth of Tragium or Scorpio Also of Myrice Brya and Galla. THe shrub or bush which beares the graine Gnidium that some call Linum is after some writers named Thymelaea according to others Chamelaea there be that call it Pyrosachne some again giue it the name of Cneston others of Cneoros This plant how soeuer it be named resembleth the wild Oliue but that the leaues be narrower and gummy to the teeth if a man bite them for height and bignesse answerable to the myrtle the seed thereof is for colour and fashion like to the grain of wheat and serueth only for physicke As touching the plant Tragium it is to be found in the Isle Candy onely It hath a resemblance of the Terebinth like as the seed also which by report is most excellent and effectuall to heale wounds made by darts and arrowes The same Isle hath the bush Tragacanth growing in it the root whereof is like to that of Bedegnar and the same Tragacanth is much preferred before that which growes either in Media or Achaia A pound of Tragacanth is worth 30 deniers Roman As for the plant Tragium or Scorpio it grows likewise in Asia A kind of bramble or brier it is without any leaues bearing fruit of berries much like to red grapes whereof there is good vse in physicke Touching Myrice which others call Tamarix and Achaia Brya the wilde Italy brings it forth this special propertie it hath that the tame kind thereof only namely that which grows in gardens beareth fruit like galls In Syria Egypt this groweth plenteously and the wood thereof we cal Vnhappy but the more vnluckie and vnfortunate be those of Greece for there groweth Ostrys named also Ostrya a solitary tree about watery and moist rocks hauing barke and branches like to the Ash but Peare-tree leaues saue that they be somwhat longer thickker with long cuts or lines wrinkled and riuiled thoroughout and the seed in forme and color is like to barley The wood of it is hard and strong and some say if any peece therof be brought into an house where a woman is in trauaile of child-birth she shall haue difficult labour and hardly be deliuered and whosoeuer lyeth sicke there shall die a miserable death CHAP. XXII ¶ Of Euonymus or the Spindle tree of Adrachne Congygria and Thapsia IN the Island Lesbos there groweth a tree named Euonymos no better nor more lucky than Ostrya before said Much vnlike it is not the Pomegranat tree As for the leafe that it beares it is of a middle size between that of the Pomegranat and the Bay otherwise for shape and softnesse it resembles that of the Pomegranat the floure is whiter the smell and tast wherof is pestiferous and menaces present death it beares cods like to Sesama within which be grains or seeds foure square and thick but deadly vnto all creatures that eat them The leafe also is as venemous as the graine yet otherwhiles there ensues therof a fluxe and gurrie of the belly which saues their life or else there were no way but one Alexander Cornelius called that tree Eone whereof the famous ship Argo was made and like it was by his saying to the Oke that carries Misselto the timber whereof neither water wil putrifie nor fire consume no more than the Misselto it selfe But so far as euer I could learn no man knew that tree but himselfe As for the tree Adrachne all the Greeks in manner take Porcellaine for it whereas indeed Porcellaine is an hearb called in Greeke Andrachne so as they differ in one letter but Adrachne is a tree of the wild forrests growing vpon mountaines and neuer in the plaines beneath resembling the Arbut or Strawberrie tree saue that the leaues be lesse and neuer fade nor fall And for the barke rough and rugged indeed it is not but a man would say it were frozen and al an yee round about so vnpleasant it is to the eye Like in leafe to Adrachne is the tree Congygria but otherwise it is lesse and lower This propertie it hath To lose the fruit wholly together with the soft downe that it beareth which they cal Pappus a qualitie that no other tree hath beside it Like to Andrachne also is Apharce and beares fruit twice in one yeare as well as it The former is ripe when the grape begins to bud and bloom the latter in the beginning of winter but what manner of fruit this should be I haue not found written As touching the Ferula it will not be amisse to speake therof among sorrain plants yea and to range it among trees for as herafter we wil distinguish in the diuision of trees some plants are of this nature To sâ—…ew al the wood they haue where the bark should be that is to say without sorth and where the heart of the wood ought to be they haue nought but a light and spongeous pith as the Elder or else nothing at all as Canes and Reeds But to come to our Ferula aboue named it growes in hot countries beyond-sea with a stalk or stem full of knotty joints Two kinds be knowne of them for that which the Greeks call Marthex groweth tall but Narthecia is always low The leaues that put forth at the joints be euer biggest toward the ground this plant otherwise is of the nature of Dill and the fruit is not vnlike There is not a plant in the world lighter than it for the bignesse being easie therfore to weld and carrie the stem therof serues old men in stead of staues to rest vpon The seed of this Ferula or Fennell-gyant some haue called Thapsia but herin they be deceiued for that Thapsia doubtlesse is a kind of Ferula by it selfe leafed like Fennel with an hollow stalke and neuer exceeds in hight the length of a walking-staffe the seed is like to that of the Ferula and the root white cut it there issues forth milke stampe it you shall see it yeeld plenty of juice Neither is the barke of the root rejected and cast aside although both it the milke and the juice â—…e very poisons for surely the root is hurtfull to them that dig it vp and if neuer so little of the aire therof breath vpon them so venomous it is their bodies will bolne and swell their faces will be all ouerrun with a wild fire to preuent which mischifes they are forced to anoint their bodies with a cerot Howbeit as dangerous as they be Phisicians make vse thereof in the cure of many inward diseases so they be wel corected and tempered with other safe medicines In like maner they say that the juice of Thapsia is singular good for the shedding and falling of the haire also against the blacke blew markes remaining after stripes as if Nature furnished not Physicians sufficiently with other wholsom remedies but that needs they must haue recourse to such poisonful and mischieuous medicines But this is the cast of them all to pretend
Daucus or yellow Carot Sauge Panace Acorus or Galangal Conyza or Cunilago Thyme Mandragoras and Squinanth More such wines there were yet which the Greeks called Scyzinum Itaeomelis and Lectispagites but as they be growne now out of vse so the manner of making is vnknown As touching wines made of trees shrubs their maner was to seeth the berries of the green wood of both the Cedars the Cypres the Bay Iuniper Terebinth Pine Calamus and Lentisk in new wine In like maner the very substance of Chamelaea Chamaepithys and Germander Last of all the floures also of the said plants serue to make wines namely by putting into a gallon of new wine in the vat the weight of ten deniers or drams of the floures CHAP. XVII ¶ Of Hydromel and Oxymel i. Honied water and Honied vineger THere is a wine called Hydromel made of water and hony onely but to haue it the better some do prescribe rain water and the same kept fiue yeares for that purpose Others who are more wise and skilfull herein do take raine water newly fallen and presently seethe it vntill a third part be boiled away then they put therto a third part also of old hony in proportion to it and so let them stand together in the Sun for forty daies together from the rising of the Dog-star Others after they haue remained thus mingled and incorporate together ten daies put it vp reserue it close stopped for their vse and this is called Hydromel which being come to some age hath the very tast of wine no place affords better than Phrygia Moreouer Vineger was wont to be tempered with hony See how curious men haue bin to try conclusions in euery thing which they called Oxymel and that in this manner Recipe of hony ten pounds or pints of old vineger fiue pints of sea salt one pound of rain water fiue Sextares i. a gallon within one quart boile them al together at a soft fire vntil they haue had ten plawes or walmes which done poure them out of one vessell into another and so let the liquor stand and settle a long time vntil it be stale All these wines compositions thus brued Themison an Author highly renowned hath condemned and forbidden expressey to be vsed And to say a very truth it seems that the vse of them was neuer but in case of necessity vnlesse a man would beleeue and say that Ipocras spiced wines those that be compounded of ointments are Natures work or that she brought forth plants and trees to no other end but that men should drink them down the throat Howbeit the knowledge surely of such experiments be pleasant and delectable vnto men of great wit and high conceit whose noble spirits cannot be at rest but euer inuentiue and searching into all secrets Now to conclude this point certain it is and past all question that none of all these compositions vnles it be those which come to their perfection by age and long time will last one yeare full out nay most of them will not keep good one moneth to an end CHAP. XVIII ¶ Certaine strange and wonderfull sorts of wine WIne also hath prodigious and miraculous effects for by report in Arabia there is a wine made which being drunk will cause barren women to beare children and contrariwise driue men into madnes But in Achaia principally about Carynia the wine makes women fall into vntimely trauell nay if a woman great with childe do eat but the verie grapes they will slip the fruit of their wombe before their time and yet both grape and wine differ not in tast from others They that drinke the wine comming from the cape Troezen ate thought vnable for generation It is reported that the Thasiens do make two kinds of wine of contrarie operations the one procures sleep the other causeth watching Among them there is a vine called Theriace the grape whereof as also the wine cureth the stings and biting of serpents as it were a most especiall Treacle As for the vine Libanios it carrieth the odour and smell of Frankincense and therefore is vsed in sacrifices to the gods But contrariwise another named Aspendios is vtterly condemned for that purpose and no wine thereof is imployed at the altar they say also that no fowle will touch the grapes thereof There is a kind of grape in Egypt which they call Thasia exceeding sweet it is and looseth the belly But contrariwise there be in Lycia that binde as much and cause costiuenesse The grapes Ecbolides in Egypt if they be eaten cause women with child to be deliuered before their time Some wines there be that as they lie in the very cellar will turn and proue soure about the rising of the Dog-star but afterward wil recouer their verdure and become quick and fresh again In like maner there be wines which vpon the sea will change howbeit the agitation thereof causeth those Wines which endure it to the end to seem twice as old as they be indeed CHAP. XIX ¶ What Wines they be that may not be vsed in sacrifices and what waies there are to sophisticate new wines FOrasmuch as our life stands much vpon religion and diuine seruice wee are to vnderstand That it is held vnlawfull to offer vnto the gods before sacrifice the Wine of any vine that hath not bin cut and pruned or that hath bin smitten or blasted with lightening or standing neere to a jebbit or tree whereon a man hath hanged dead or the grapes whereof haue bin troden by men whose legs or feet haue been wounded neither is that wine allowable for this purpose which hath bin pressed and run from the refuse of grape stones and skins once bruised and crushed in the presse or last of all if the grapes haue bin filed by any ordure or dung fallen from aboue thereupon Moreouer Greeke Wines are reiected from this holy vse because they haue water in them Furthermore the vine it self is holden good to be eaten namely when the burgens and tendrils be first sodden and afterwards preserued and kept in vineger brine or pickle Ouer and besides it were very meet and conuenient to speake also concerning the manner of preparing and ordering of wine seeing that the Greeks haue trauailed in that point seuerally and reduced the rules belonging therto into the form of an Art and namely Euphronius Aristomachus Coniades Hicesias are therein great professors The Africans vse to mitigate and allay the tartnesse of their wines with plastre yea and in some parts of their country with lime The Greeks contrariwise do fortifie and quicken them with clay with pouder of marble with salt or sea water and in some places of Italy they vse to the same effect the shauings and scrapings of stone-pitch Also it is an ordinary thing in Italy and the prouinces thereto confining for to condite their new wines to season them with rosin yea and in some places they mingle therewith the lees of other
gather an oile thereof the manner is to seeth the seeds in water the oile wil swim aloft and so it is scummed off But in Egypt where there is abundance thereof they neuer vse any fire or water about it only they corn it well with salt and then presse out the oile which is very fulsome and naught to be eaten good only for lamps The oile of Almonds which some cal Metopium is made of the bitter Almonds dri'd stamped and reduced into a masse or lumpe which being sprinkled and soked with water and then beaten againe in a mortar is put into a presse or mill and the oile drawne therout There is an oile made also of the Bay together with the oile of ripe oliues ready to drop from the tree Some take the Bay berries only and thereout presse oile de-Baies others vse the leaues and nothing els and there be againe who with the leaues take also the rind of the Bay berries yea and put thereto Storax Calamita and other sweet odors Now for this purpose the Laurell with broad leaues growing wild and bearing blacke berries is the best Like vnto this oile is that which they make of the blacke Myrtle and the broad leafed kind thereof is the better the berries of it ought to lie infused first in hot water and afterwards to be boiled Some seeth the tenderest leaues that it hath in Oile-Oliue and then presse them forth Others put the leaues first in the oile then let them stand confected in the sun and there take their ripening After the same manner is the oile made of the garden Myrtle but that of the wilde which hath the smaller seed is the better and this Myrtle some call Oxymyrsine others Chamaemyrsine and some againe name it for the smalnesse Acaron for short it is and full of little branches Moreouer there be oiles made of the Citron and Cypresse trees likewise of wall nuts which they call Caryinon also the fruit of the Cedar named Cedrelaeon Semblably of the graine called Gnidium to wit the seed of Chamelaea and Thymelaea well elensed and stamped In like manner of the Lentisk As for the oile Cyprinum how it should be made of the Egyptian nut and of Ben for to serue perfumers hath bin shewed before The Indians by report do make of Chest-nuts of Sesame seed Rice The people Ichthyophagi as they liue by eating fish only so they make oile of fishes And in case of necessity otherwhiles men vse to draw an oile out of the berries of a Plane tree also beeing steeped in water and salt which serues for lamp oile Yea and there is an oile made of the wild vine Oenanthe as we haue said already in the treatise of Ointments As touching the oile which the Greeks call Gleucinum it is made with new wine and oile-oliue boiled at a soft fire Others there be that let the wine consume all into oile and without any fire at all do compasse the vessell wherein this composition is made with the cake and the refuse of grapes when they be pressed and couer it all ouer for the space of 22 daies so as twice a day they be all mixed throughly together Some there be who put therto not only Majoram but also the most precious and exquisite odors that they can meet withal and our common fencing-halls and places of publick exercises be perfumed with these sweet oiles and do smell of them but such they be as are the cheapest of all other Ouer and besides there is made an oile of Aspalathus sweet Calamus Balme Iris or Flour-de-lis Cardumome or grains of Paradise Melilot French Nard Panace Marjoram Elecampane and the root of Cinamon taking all these and letting them lie infused in oile and so pressing out the iuice thereof So is oile Rosat made of Roses the oile of Squinanth of the â—…eet rush which is most like to the Oile Rosat Likewise of Henbane Lupines and the Daffaâ—… the Egyptians get great store of oile out of Raddish seed or the grasse called Gramen which is Dent-de-chien or Quich-grasse and this oile they call Chortinon After the same manner the Sesame-seed doth yeeld an oile as also the Nettle which in Greeke they call Cnecinon or rather Cnidinum As for the oile of Lillies it is made in some places where they feare not to let it stand abroad in the aire infused to take both Sun and Moon-shine yea and frosty weather They that inhabit between Cappadocia and Galatia do compound a certain oile of herbes growing among them which is a soueraigne remedy for sinewes either wounded or otherwise grieued and they callit Selgiticum it is much in effect like to that oile which is made in Italie of Gums by the people Eguini Now for the oile of Pitch which they call Picinum it is made of the vapors and smoke that arise from Pitch whiles it boileth and receiued in fleeces of wooll spread ouer the pots mouth wherein the said Pitch is sodden which fleeces afterwards are well wrung and the oile is pressed out thereof The best oile is that which commeth from the Brutian or Calabrian pitch the same is most fat of all others and fullest of Rosin The colour of the oile is reddish Vpon the coasts and maritime parts of Syria there is an oile engendereth of it selfe which the Greeks call Elaeomeli a fatty and greasie substance it is thicker than honey and thinner than Rosin of a sweet tast issuing out of trees and is onely medicinable and good in Physicke As touching old oile it serues in right good stead for sundry sorts of maladies It is thought also very singular for to preserue Iuory from putrefaction for this is certaine that the image of Saturne at Rome is full of oile-oliue all within CHAP. VIII ¶ Of the lees or dregs of Oile-oliue called Amurca CAto hath highly commended aboue all the lees of Oile-oliue for he would haue the barrels hogsheads and other vessels which hold oile to be therewith besmeared that they should not drink vp the oile He deuised also that the threshing floors should be wrought and tempered with oile lees that they might not chawn gape nor no Ants breed within the chinks and cranies thereof Moreouer he thinks it very good that the mortar plaister and parget vsed about the wals of corn barns as also their floors should be well sprinkled and tempred with the said lees yea and the presses and wardrobes where apparell is kept ought to be rubbed therewith to keep out mothes worms spiders and such vermine that do hurt to cloths He affirmeth besides that is good against certain diseases of four-footed beasts as also to preserue trees yea and excellent for inward vlcers of a mans body but especially those of the mouth Being sodden it is singular good as he saith for to annoint and make gentle and supple all bridle reins leather thongs shooes and axletrees of carts and wagons likewise to keepe all vessels of brasse from rust
sodden in wine and water they serue in stead of a broth or grewell so do no fruit els but Pome and Peare-Quinces CHAP. XVI ¶ The manner how to preserue Apples THe generall rules to keep and preserue Apples are these Imprimis That the solars be wel planked and boorded in a cold and drie place prouided alwaies that the windows to the North do stand open especially euery faire day Item to keep the windows into the South shut against the winds out of that corner and yet the North winds also where they blow doe cause Apples to shrink and riuell ill fauouredly Item That Apples be gathered after the Aequinox in the Autumne and neither before the full of the Moone nor the first houre of the day Moreouer that all the Apples which fell be seuered from the other by themselues and laid apart also that they be bedded vpon straw mats or chaffe vnder them that they be so couchedas that they touch not one another but haue spaces between to receiue equall aire for to bee vented To conclude this is well knowne that the Amerine Apples doe last and keepe good long whereas the honie Apples will abide no time CHAP. XVII ¶ How to keep Quinces Pome-granats Peares Sorvises and Grapes FOr the good keeping and preseruing of Quinces there must be no aire let into them where they are enclosed or else they ought to be confected in sodden honey or boiled therein Pomegranats should be plunged into sea-sea-water boiling and so hardened therein and after that they be dried in the Sun three daies so as they be not left abroad in the night to take dew they would be hanged vp in a solar and when a man list to vse them then they must be wel washed in fresh water M. Varro sets downe the manner to keep them within great earthen vessels in sand And if they be not ripe he would haue the earthen pots bottomes broke off and so the Pomegranates to be put in and couered all ouer with mould but the mouth therof must be well stopped for letting any aire in prouided alwaies that the steele and the branch wherto the fruit groweth be pitched For so quoth he they will not giue ouer to grow still yea and proue bigger than if they had remained vpon the tree As for other Pomegranats i. that are ripe they may be wrapped and lapped one by one in fig-leaues such as are not fallen but plucked from off the tree greene and then to be put into twigge paniers of oisiers or else daubed ouer with potters blay He that would keep Peares long must put them in earthen vessels turned with the bottomes vpward well varnished or annealed within couered also with saw dust or fine shauings and so enterred As for the Tarentine Peares they abide longest on the tree ere they be gathered The Anitian Peares be well preserued in cuit-wine As for Soruisses they are kept also in trenches within the ground but the couer of the vessel whereinto they are put ought to be well plastered all ouer and so stand two foot couered with earth also they may be set in a place exposed open to the Sun with the bottome of the vessells vpward yea and within great barrels they may be hung vp with their branches and all after the manner of grape-clusters Some of our moderne writers handle this argument more deepely than others and fetch the matter farre off giung out rules in this manner saying That for to haue Apples or Grapes de garde that is to say fit to be preserued and to last long the trees that beare the one and the other ought to be pruned and cut betimes in the waine of the Moone in faire weather and when the winds blow drie Likewise they affirme That fruits to be preserued would be chosen from drie grounds gathered before they be full ripe and this would be looked vnto in any hand that the Moon at the gathering time be vnder the earth and not appearing in our hemisphaere And more particularly for Grape bunches they would be gathered with a foot or heele from the old hard wood and the Grapes that are corrupt and rotten among the rest be clipped off with a paire of sheers or plucked out with pincers then to be hung vp within a great new earthen vessell well pitched with the head or lid thereof thoroughly stopped and plastered vp close to exclude all aire After which manner they say Soruisses and Peares may be kept but so as in any case the twigs ond steeles whereby they hang be well besmeared with pitch Moreouer order would be giuen that the barrels and vessells wherein they are kept be far ynough from water Some there be again who keep Grapes together with their branch after the same maner in plaster but so as both ends of the said branch sticke in the head of the sea-Onion Squilla and others let Grape-clusters hang within hogsheads and pipes hauing wine in them but so as the Grapes touch not the wine in any case There be also that put Apples and such fruits in shallow pans or pancheons of earth and let them swim and flote aloft vpon the wine within their vessels for besides that this is a way to preserue them the wine also as they think will thereby get a pleasant odoriferous tast Others ye haue besides that chuse rather to preserue al these fruits as well Apples Pears c. as Grapes couered in Millet seed Howbeit the most part dig a trench or ditch two foot deep in the ground they floore it with sand in the bottome and lay their fruits thereupon then they stop the top with an earthen lid and afterwards couer al with earth Some there are which smeare their bunches of Grapes all ouer with potters clay and when they are dried in the Sun hang them vp in solars for their vse and against the time that they should occupie them steep them in the water and so wash off the foresaid clay But for to keep Apples that are of any worth they temper the same clay with wine and make a morter thereof wherein they lap the said Apples Now if those Apples be of the best kind and right soueraigne after the same sort they couer them with a crust of the like past or morter or else clad them within a coat of wax and if they were not fully ripe afore they grow by that means and break their crust or couer what euer it be But this would not be forgotten that they vse alwaies to set the Apple or fruit vpright vpon the taile howsoeuer they be kept Some there are who gather Apples and such like fruit with their slips and sprigs hide them within the pith of an Elder tree and then couer them in earth as is before written And others there are who for euery Peare or Apple haue a seuerall earthen pot and after that their lids be well closed and stopped with pitch then they enclose them again with great vessels or
the carpenter must goe euery way about it with axe and plaine contrariwise that of the female is more frim and gentle And commonly the axe or the hatchet wil tell the difference of male and female in any tree for what wood soeuer it be it will soone find and feele the male for hardly is it able to enter but either turnes edge or rebounds again and whether a man hew or cleaue withall it maketh more crashing and a greater noise where it setleth and taketh hold it sticketh also faster and with more ado is plucked forth Moreouer the very wood of any male tree is of a more brown and burnt colour yea and the root of a blacker hew About the forrest Ida within the territory of Troas there is another distinction of trees in the same kind for some grow vpon the mountaines others toward the coast on the sea side In Macedony Arcadia and about Elis these trees eftsoons change their names so that the Greek writers are not agreed how to distinguish their seueral sorts and range them in their due kind I therefore haue exprest them according to the iudgment of Roman and Latine Authors Of al the trees aboue named the Firs surpasse for bignesse and the femals are the taller The timber also is more frim and soft more profitable also and easier to be wrought the tree it self rounder and so it brancheth archwise the boughes as they resemble wings stretched out and displaied so they stand so thicke with leaues that they will beare off a good shower insomuch as no rain is able to pierce through In sum the female Firre is far more louely and beautifull euery way than the male All the sort of these foresaid trees saue onely the Larch beare certain knobs like Catkins or Chats composed as it were of many scales wrought one ouer another and those hang downe dangling at the branches These knobs or clogs in the male Firre haue in the vpper end a kernel within but those of the femal haue no such thing Moreouer the pitch tree as it hath such catkins lesse and slenderer so all within from one end to the other the kernels be passing little and black withall like to lice or fleas which is the reason that the Greekes call it Phthirophoâ—…os The said catkins of the male pitch trees are more flat and nothing so round as those of the females lesse gummie aâ—…so and not so moist of the rosin To come now to the Yugh because we would ouerpasse none it is to see to like the rest but that it is not so green more slender also and smaller vnpleasant and fearefull to looke vpon as a cursed tree without any liquid substance at all and of these kind of trees it alone beares berries The fruit of the male is hurtful for the berries in Spain especially haue in them a deadly poison And found it hath bin by experience that in France the wine bottles made thereof for wavfaring men and trauellers haue poisoned and killed those that drunke out of them Sestius saith That the Greekes call it Smilax and that in Arcadia it is so venomous that whosoeuer take either repose or tepast vnder it are sure to die presently And hereupon it commeth that those poisons wherewith arrow heads be invenomed after some were called in times past Taxica which wee now name Toxica But to conclude it is seen by good proofe that if a brasen wedge or spike be driuen into the very body of the tree it loseth all the venomous nature and becommeth harmlesse CHAP. XI ¶ How to make all kinds of Pitch The maner how Cedrium is made Also of thicke Pitch how it is made and in what sort Rosin is boiled THe liquid Pitch or Tar throughout all Europe is boiled out of the Torch tree and this kind of pitch serueth to calke ships withall and for many other vses Now the manner of drawing Tarre out of this tree is to cut the wood thereof into pieces and when they are piled vp hollow into an heape to make a great fire within as it were vnder a furnace being claied without-forth thus with the heate of the fire it doth fry and seeth again The first liquour that sweateth and issueth forth runneth cleare as water in a channell or pipe made for the purpose and this the Syrians cal Cedrium which is of such force and efficacy that in Egypt they vse to embalme the dead bodies of men and women departed and keep them from putrefaction At the next running it is thicker and this second liquor is very pitch Howbeit this is cast again into certaine coppers or cauldrons of brasse and together with vineger sodden a second time vntill it come to a thick consistence and when it is thus thickened it taketh the name of Brutian pitch good only for tuns barrells and other such vessels Much like it is to the former pitch but that it is more glutinous and clammy redder also of colour and more fatty And thus much concerning the pitch made of the Torch tree As for that which comes of the pitch tree the rosin thereof is drawne with red hot stones in certain vessels made of strong and thick oken planks or in default thereof the wood is clouen into pieces and piled together after the order of a charcole hearth so the pitch boiles forth The vse hereof when it is beaten into a kind of meale or pouder is to be put into wine and it is of a blacker colour than the rest The same pitch-rosin if it be boiled more lightly with water and be let to run through a strainer comes to a reddish colour and is glewie and thereupon it is called stilled Pitch And for this purpose lightly is set by the more grosse and faultie substance of the rosin together with the bark of the tree But there is another composition and maner of making of pitch that serueth for heady wine called Crapula For the floure of the Rosin is taken green and fresh as it distilleth from the tree together with a good quantitie of small thin and short spils or chips of the tree plucked away with the same the same are minced or shred so small as they may passe through a sieue or a riddle which don all is put into scalding water and there boileth vntill it be incorporate with the water The fat substance that is strained and pressed from hence is the excellent pitch Rosin hard to come by and not to be found in Italy vnlesse it be in few places vnder the Alps and very good it is in physick Now to make it passing white there must be taken one galon of the rosin sodden in two gallons of rain water But some think it the better way to seeth it a whole day together at a soft fire without any matter at all in a pan or vessell of Latton Others there be likewise that boile Turpentine in a hot frying pan and are of opinion that this is
all good workmen That the best time to cut downe any timber is in the coniunction of the Moon with the Sun euen in the very day of the change before she sheweth new Certes Tiberius Caesar the Emperor gaue order to fel the Larch trees that came out of Rhoetia to repaire and re-edifie the bridge that serued to represent the shew of a naual battell vpon the water which fortuned to be consumed with fire iust at the change of the Moon Some say that we must precisely obserue the point of the conjunction and that the Moon withall be vnder the earth when such trees should be felled which cannot be but in the night But if it fall out besides that this conjunction or change of the Moone and the last day of the Winter Sun-stead meet together at one instant the timber then cut downe will last a world of yeares Next vnto it is that timber which is fallen in the daies and signes aboue rehearsed Others affirme moreouer that the rising of the Dog-star would be considered and chosen for this purpose for at such a time was that timber felled which serued for the stately hall or pallace of Augustus Moreouer for to haue good and profitable timber the trees would be cut down that are of a middle age for neither yong poles nor old runts are fit for durable building Furthermore there be that hold opinion that for to haue the better timber the trees should haue a kerfe to the very heart and pith round about and so let it stand an end still that all the humor by that means might run out before they be ouerthrowne and laid along And verily a wonderfull and miraculous thing is reported in old time during the first Punicke war against the Carthaginians namely that all the ships of that fleet which was conducted by Generall Duellius the high Admiral were shot into the sea and vnder saile within sixty daies after the timber whereof they were built was cut downe in the wood And L. Piso hath left in writing That against king Hiero there were 220 ships made furnished in 45 daies after the timber grew Also in the second Punick war the Armado which Scipio imploied was set aflote and bare saile forty daies after the fall of the timber See how forcible and effectuall in all things is the season and opportunitie of time duly taken especially when need driueth to make speed and hasten apace Cato the chiefe and only man of all others for experience and knowledge in euery thing in his treatise of all kind of timber to be imploied in building giues these rules following Make thy pressing plank especially of the black Sapine or Horn-beam tree Item Whensoeuer thou meanest to storke vp either Elme Pine Walnut tree or any other whatsoeuer for timber see thou dig it out of the ground in the wane of the Moon and that in the afternoon and take heed in any wise that the wind be not South Item The right season to fell a tree for timber is when the fruit is ful ripe Item Beware in any case that thou neither draw forth of the ground nor yet square a tree when the dew falleth And a little after Beware thou meddle not with timber trees but either at the change or full of the Moon And in no hand neither stork it vp then nor hew it hard to the ground But within foure daies after the full Moone plucke vp trees hardly for that is the best time Item Be well aduised that thou neither fell square nor touch with the ax any timber that is black vnlesse it be dry And meddle not with it if either it be frozen or full of dew Tiberius the Emperor aboue named obserued likewise the change of the Moon for cutting the haire both of head and beard And yet M. Varro gaue a rule That to preuent baldnesse and the shedding of haire the Barber should be sent for alwaies after the full Moon But to come again vnto our timber trees The Larch and Fir both but the Fir especially if they be cut down bleed a long time after and yeeld abundance of moisture Indeed these twain of all others be the tallest and grow most streight and vpright For Mast-poles and crosse saile-yards in ships the Fir or Deale is commended and preferred before all other for the smoothnes and lightnesse withall The Larch the Fir and the Pine haue this propertie common to them all To shew the graine of their wood running either parted in foure forked in twaine or single one by one For fine carpentry and Ioiners seeling within house the heart of the tree would be clouen or rent The quarter timber or that which runneth with foure grains is simply the best and more pleasant to be wrought than the rest They that be skilfull woodmen and haue experience in timber wil soon find at the first sight the goodnes of the wood by the very bark That part of the Fir tree which groweth next to the earth is without knots euen and plain the same is laid to soke and season in the water and afterwards the barke is taken off and so it commeth to be called Sapinus The vpper part is knotty and harder than the nether and the Latins name it Fusterna In sum what tree soeuer it be that side which regardeth the North is more strong and hard than the other And generally the wood of those trees that grow in moist and shadie places is worse contrariwise that which commeth from ground exposed to the Sun-shine is more fast and massie and withall endureth a long time And herupon it is that at Rome the Fir trees that come from the nether sea side out of Tuscane be in better request than those from Venice side vpon the coast of the vpper sea Moreouer there is great ods between Firre trees in regard of diuers Countries and Nations where they grow The best are those of the Alps and the Apennine hills Likewise in France there are excellent good Firs vpon the mountains Iura and Vogesus as also in Corsica Bithinia Pontus and Macedonia A worse kind of them grow in Arcadia and about the mountaines neare Aenea The worst be those of Pernassus Euboea for in those parts they be ful of boughs and grow twined besides they soone doe putrifie and rot As for Cedars the best simply be those that grow in Candy Affricke and Syria This vertue hath the oile of Cedar That if any wood or timber be thoroughly anointed therewith it is subject neither to worme nor moth ne yet to rottennesse The Iuniper hath the same propertie that the Cedar They proue in Spaine to be exceeding big and huge the Berries also greatest of all others And wheresoeuer it grows the heart thereof is more sound than the Cedar A generall fault and imperfection there is common to all wood When the graine and the knots run into round balls and such they call in Latin Spirae Also in some kind
odoriferous any wood is the more durable also it is and euerlasting Next to these trees aboue rehearsed the wood of the Mulberrie tree is most commended which in tract of time as it growes to be old waxes also blacke Moreouer some kinds of wood as they be more lasting than other so they continue better being emploied in one kind of work than they do in another The Elme timber will well abide the aire and the wind The wild Oke Robur loueth to stand within the ground and the common Oke is good in the water let it bee vsed aboue ground to take the aire and the weather it will cast warpe and cleaue too bad The Larch wood agreeth passing wel with water works and so doth the black Alder. As for the Oke Robur it will corrupt and rot in the sea The Beech will doe well in water and the Walnut tree likewise but to stand within the earth they are principall good and haue no fellow And for the Iuniper it will hold the owne being laid vnder ground but for building aboue in the open aire it is excellent good The Beech and the Cerus wood rot quickly The smal Oke called Esculus canot abide the water The Cherrie tree wood is firme and fast the Elme and the Ash are tough how beit they will soone settle downward and sag being charged with any weight but bend they will before they break and in case before they were fallen they stood a while in the wood after they had a kerfe round about for their superfluous moisture to run out vntill they were well dried they would be the better and sure in building It is commonly said that the Larch wood if it be put into ships at sea is subject to wormes like as al other kinds of wood vnlesse it be the wild and tame Oliue For to conclude some timber is more readie to corrupt and be marred in the sea and others againe vpon the land CHAP. XLI ¶ Of wormes that breed in wood OF vermine that eat into wood there be 4 kinds The first are called in Latine Teredines a very great head they haue for the proportion of the body and with their teeth they gnaw These are found only in ships at sea and indeed properly none other be Teredines A second sort there be and those are land wormes or mothes named Tineae But a third kind resembling gnats the Greeks tearme by the name of Thripes In the fourth place bee the little wormes whereof some are bred of the putrified humor and corruption in the very timber like as others againe engender in trees of a worme called Cerastes for hauing gnawne and eaten so much that he hath roume enough to turne him about within the hole which he first made hee engendreth this other worm Now some wood there is so bitter that none of these wermin will breed in it as the Cypresse others likewise so hard that they cannot eat into it as the Box. It is a generall opinion that if the Firre be barked about the budding times at such an age of the Moon as hath been before said it will neuer putrifie in the water Reported it is by those that accompanied Alexander the great in his voiage into the East that in the Isle Tylos lying within the red sea there be certain trees that serue for timber to build ships the which were known to continue two hundred yeares and being drowned in the sea were found with the wood nothing at all perished They affirmed moreouer that in the same Island there grew little plants or shrubs no thicker than would wel serue for walking staues to cary in a mans hand the wood whereof was massie and ponderous striped also and spotted in manner of a Tygres skin but so brittle withall that if it chanced to fall vpon a thing harder than it selfe it would breake into fitters like glasse CHAP. XLII ¶ Of timber good for Architecture and Carpentrie what wood will serue for this or that worke and which is the strongest and surest timber for roufes of building WEe haue here in Italie wood and timber that will cleaue of it selfe For which cause our Maister Carpenters giue order to besmeare them with beasts dung and so to lie a drying that the wind and piercing aire should not hurt them The joists and plankes made of Firre and Larch are very strong to beare a great weight although they bee laid in length ouerthwart Contrariwise the Rafters made of the wild Oke Robur and Oliue wood wil bend yeeld vnder their load whereas the other named before do resist mainly withstand neither will they easily break vnlesse they haue much wrong nay sooner do they rot than faile otherwise in strength The Date-tree wood also is tough and strong for it yeeldeth not but curbeth the contrarie way The Poplar setteth and bendeth downeward whereas the Date-tree contrariwise rises vpward archwise The Pine and the Cypres are not subject either to rottennesse or worme-eating The Walnut tree wood soone bendeth and is saddle-backt as it lieth for thereof also they often vse to make beames and rafters but before that it breaketh it will giue wâ—…ing by a cracke which saued many a mans life in the Island Antandros at what time as being within the common baines they were skared with the crack that the floore gaue and ran forth speedily before all fell Pines Pitch trees and Allar are very good for to make pumps and conduit-pipes to conuey water and for this purpose their wood is boared hollow lying buried vnder the ground they will continue many a yeare sound and good let them bee vncouered without any mould and lie aboue ground they will quickly decay But if water also stand aboue the wood a wonder it is to see how they will harden therewith and endure Firre or Deale wood is of all other surest and strongest for roufes aboue head the same also is passing good for dore leaues for bolts and barres also in all seelings and wainscot or whatsoeuer it bee whether Greekish Campaine or Sicilian it is best and maketh very faire worke A man shall see the fine shauings thereof run alwaies round and winding like the tendrills of a vine as the Ioyner runneth ouer the painels and quarters with his plainer Moreouer the timber of it is commendable for coaches and chariots and there is not a wood that makes a better and stronger joynt with glew than it doth insomuch as the sound plank will sooner cleaue in any other place than in the joynt where it was glewed CHAP. XLIII ¶ Of glewing timber of rent clouen and sawen painell GReat cunning there is in making strong glew and in the feat of joyning with it as well in regard of seelings and wainscot made of thin bourd and painell as of marquetry other inlaid workes and for this purpose Ioyners doe chuse the mistresse threadie grain that is most streight which some call the Fertill veine because ordinarily it breedeth others and
is most commended only Columella condemneth it Some praise the mucke of any foure-footed beasts whatsoeuer so they were fed with Tree-trifolie called Cytisus Others prefer the doung of Pigeons before any other in the second place that of Goats thirdly of sheepe then of kine and oxen and lastly of cart-jades mules asses and such like Thus you see as well what difference there was in times past between this dung and that as also what were the rules so farre as I can guesse and learne whereby they went in the vse and ordering thereof for to say a truth the old way is best euen herein as well as in other matters Ouer and besides the practise hath bin already seen in some of our prouinces where there is so great store of cattell bred to riddle and sift their dung ouer their ground through sieues in manner of meale and so in processe of time it loseth not only the stinking sent and ill-fauored sight that it had but also turneth into a pleasant smel and looketh louely withall Of late found it hath been by experience that Oliue trees doe like and prosper very well if the ashes of lime-kills especially be laid to their roots Varro among many other precepts addeth and saith That corne grounds would be manured with hors-dung because it is the lightest but medowes require compost that is heauier and namely made by beasts that haue barley for their prouender for that such soile bringeth plentie of grasse Some there bee aâ—…so that preferre the dung made by horses before the mucke of kine and Oxen likewise sheeps treddles before Goats dung but Asses mucke before all other because they eat and chew their meat most leisurely But daily experience teacheth the contrary and testifieth against the one and the other And thus much as touching compost of mucke Furthermore all men are of opinion that nothing is better for the ground than to sow Lupines therupon prouided alwaies that before it cod it be turned into the ground by the plough spade or two-piked yron forke also when it is cut down to make it into wads or bottles and so to bury them at the roots of trees and vines especially In countries where there are no cattell to better the lands it is thought good to manure the same in stead of beasts dung with very hawme straw and ferne Cato hath a deuise to make an artificiall mucke or compost of litter lupine straw chaffe beane stalks leaues and branches both of Mast-holm and oke He saith moreouer to the same purpose Weed out of the standing corn Walwort otherwise called Danewort and Hemlock also from about oâ—…er-plots plucke vp ranke weeds or ground Elder also Reeke or Sea-grasse and dead leaues or branches lying rotten vnder trees when thou haste so done strew and lay a course of them vnder sheep where they be folded Item If the Vine begin to decay and wax leane burne the shreads and cuttings of the owne and turne the ashes vnder ground hard to the roots thereof Item where thou meanest to sow any wheat or such like bread-corn draw thy sheep thither and there fold them He saith moreouer that the sowing of some graine is as good as a dunging to the ground for these be his very words The fruit it selfe of the earth is a batling to the earth and namely Lupines Beans and Vetches for they muck the lands like as on the contrary side Chiches do burn the ground both because they are plucked and also for that they stand vpon salt Semblably doth Barley Foenigreeke Eruile and generally all kind of pulse which are pulled and not mowne downe Item Take heed quoth Cato that you set no pepins or kernels where you meane to sow corne As for Virgil he is of opinion that the sowing of Line-seed for flax likewise of Otes and Poppies do burne corne-ground and pill it out of heart He also giueth rules as touching mucke-hills That they should be made in the open aire within some hollow place where it may gather water that they be couered ouer with straw and litter for feare they should dry in the Sun and last of all that they haue a good strong stake of Oke pitched and driuen in about the mids thereof for so there will no snakes nor such like serpents breed and ingender therein Moreouer as touching the spreading of mucke and mingling it with the mould of a land it is exceeding good to do it when the winde setteth full West so that the Moon then be past the full and in the Waine But this rule many haue mistaken and not construed aright supposing that they should so do when the Western wind Fauonius beginneth to rise and namely in the moneth of Februarie only whereas indeed most cornlands require this point of husbandry in other moneths as wel But looke what time soeuer you list to do it be sure in any hand that the wind do then blow from the Equinoctiall point of the West and that the moone then be in the waine and drie withall Haue regard to these rules and obseruations you will wonder to see the effects thereof and what increase the earth thereby will yeeld CHAP. X. ¶ The planting and setting of trees the manner how trees do grow by a Sion sliued and plucked from the root NOw that we haue already sufficiently treated of the considerations as well of the aire and skie as of the earth belonging vnto plants and trees me thinks it were to good purpose to discourse of the industry and artificiall meanes that men haue vsed to make trees grow and verily we shall find no fewer kinds of them that come by mans hand than of such as nature it selfe hath brought forth so kind and thankfull we haue bin to her as to make recompence in this behalfe First and formost therefore this is to be noted That all trees do grow either of seed sowne or of branches growing to the tree and couched in the ground or of an old stocke from whence new imps may sprout also either of a slip or sprig plucked from another tree and so laid in the ground or of a young shoot twig impe or Sion engraffed in the very trunk of a tree slit and clouen for that purpose For I cannot chuse but maruell much at Trogus who was verily persuaded That about Babylon the leaues onely of Date trees beeing set or sowne would prooue trees Now whereas there be so many deuises abouesaid for to nourish trees this you must vnderstand that some trees there be which will grow by many of these waies before specified and others by them all And verily the most part of this knowledge hath beene taught by Nature her selfe for first of all we haue learned by her for to sow seed by occasion that we haue seen some to fall from trees which being receiued by the ground haue chitted taken root and liued And in very truth some trees there be that grow no otherwise as Chestnut and Walnut-trees excepting
for it on the left hand in that next aboue it and thus they keep order the whole length of the branch These sprouts when they are come once to some bignesse and do branch there be called of the Latines by a prety name Gemmae as it were precious stones but so long as they are no other than buds sprouting forth vnder the concauity or pit-hole of the foresaid ioints they term them Oculos i. Oilets or Eies marie in the very top they be named by them Germina i. Sprigs or Burgeons After this order are ingendered the maine branches the smaller sprigs yearly cut away the grapes leaues and yong tendrils of Vines But hereat I wonder most that the burgeons comming forth on the right side be alwaies more tough and firm than those of the left To come now vnto the planting of these vines the shoots or branches must be cut iust in the midst between the foresaid knots or ioints so as the marrow in no wise run out And if you would plant fig-sets or sions they ought verily to be a span long and then to be prickt into the ground but first there should bee a hole made with a little stake with the greater end that grew next to the body of the tree downward prouided alwaies that two oilets or buds stand aboue ground Now these oilets are properly in twigs or sets of trees those buds called where the new spring first shooteth forth And herupon it is that these sions or cuttings being set in nource-gardens beare the same yere that very fruit which they would haue borne vpon the tree if they had not been cut off and namely if they be set in the right season whiles they be plump and full for hauing conceiued on the Tree they do consummat the sad conception so begun and are deliuered thereof elswhere And look what Fig-sets be in this manner planted may be easily and without danger remoued and translated the third yere after For certes as this tree of all others soon ageth and indureth not long so in recompence of short life this one gift it hath of Nature That it comes forward apace quickly groweth to the full bignesse and beareth fruit As for the Vine there is not a tree that is planted more sundrie waies nor affourdeth greater store of sions or sets than it For first and formost nothing thereof is planted but that which is vnprofitable hurtfull superfluous and of necessitie to be pruned and cut away But in the pruning this rule must be obserued that those branches bee cut off which were portoirs and bare grapes the yere before The manner in old time was to plant or set a sion headed as it were and taking hold on both sides of the old wood and hard stock whereupon because it was fashioned like a little mallet or hammer head it was and is at this day called in Latine Malleolus But afterwards they began to slip off a twig with a heele only of the old wood as they vse to doe in a Fig-tree there is not a better way to make a Vine surely to take and liue than this A third sort there is besides of sions or sets which are more readily gotten without any such heele of the hard wood and therefore they be wreathed and twined when they be set into the ground whereupon they be called in Latine Sagittae i. Shafts for the same sions only cut off and not wreathed are named Trigemmes as a man would say twigs with 3 buds or spurts therefore of one and the same vine-branch a man may in this sort make many kinds of sions or sets Howbeit that is to be noted that if you set any yong sprigs that neuer bare fruit but leafe onely the Vines comming thereof will be euer barren and therefore none ought to be planted but such as are fruitfull A vine-set or cutting that hath ioints standing thin but here there is thought to be fruitlesse but contrariwise if it be set thick with buds by all likelihood it will beare plentifully Some are of opinion that no sions should be put into the ground but those that haue floured already also that to set such cuttings as be called shafts which haue no part of the old wood is not so fit for that in remouing they are in danger to break whereas they were writhen Now when you haue gotten such sets as be meet for planting let them be a foot long at the least and carry fiue or six knots and at this length they cannot possibly haue fewer than three buds Moreouer the best way is presently to set them the very same day that they be gathered But in case a man be driuen to keep them long before they be put into the ground great heed would be taken according to the rule before said that they be not laid aboue ground that they dry not in the Sun that they take no wind nor loose their fresh vigor by cold And if it chance that they lie out any while in the dry aire they would be laied to soke in water many daies together vntill they be refreshed and look green again before they be set into the earth The plot or quarter within the nource-garden or vineyard ought to be wel exposed to the Sun of a good largenesse and sufficiently moulded also it must be well digged for 3 foot broad with a grubbing double toothed forke then must you goe deeper and cast vp the earth with a broad spade or shouell after that the same hath bin broken vp with a mattocke or yron toole carying foure foot in the head so as the ditch may go two foot directly deep into the ground Which done the ditch is to be clensed the mould to be spread abroad not left lying raw in that maner but to take a kind concoction in the weather And herein must the labourer proceed and be ruled by measure and trie his worke thereby for iâ—… the earth be not well delued it will be soone found out by the vneuen balks or beds There would be a iust measure taken also of the allies that lie between the beds All things being thus prepared let vs come now to the planting of the sets a foresaid which would be couched either in trenches made of purpose or in long furrowes and then the finest and most delicate mould that can be found is to be cast aloft But all this preuaileth not in a leane and hungry ground vnlesse fatter earth be laied as a pallet vnderneath Moreouer this is tobe looked vnto that two sets at the least be moulded and laid within the earth together in one range also they must be so couched that they leane with their heads close vpon the earth next about them yea and with one and the same stake the said earth ought to be driuen close and fast about them Ouer ane besides throughout the whole plot or quarter of this nource-garden regard is to be had that between euery
tree grew out of the base or foot of a Columne that Caesar Dictator caused there to be erected Semblably at Rome also twice during the war between the Romans and K. Perseus there was a Date tree known to grow vpon the lanterne or top of the Capitoll temple foreshewing those victories and triumphs which afterward ensued to the great honor of the people of Rome And when this was by stormes and tempests ouerthrowne and laid along there sprung vp of it selfe in the very same place a Fig tree at what time as M. Mâ—…ssala and Caius Cassius the two Censors held their Quinquennall solemne sacrifices for the assoiling and purging of the city of Rome From which time Piso a renowmed Historiographer and Writer of good credit hath noted that the Romans were giuen ouer to voluptuousnesse and sensuality and that euer since all chastitie and honest life hath bin exiled But aboue all the prodigies that were euer seen or heard there is one that passeth and the same hapned in our age about the very time that Nero the emperor came to his vnhappy end and fall for in the Marrucine territorie there was an oliue garden belonging to Vectius Marcellus a right worshipfull knight of Rome which of it selfe remoued all and whole as it stood ouer the broad highway to a place where lay tillage and earable ground and the corn lands by way of exchange crossed ouer the said causey againe and were found in lieu of the Oliue plot or hortyard aforesaid CHAP. XXVI ¶ The remedies for the maladies and diseases of Trees NOw that I haue declared the diseases of Trees meet it is that I should set down the cure and remedies thereto Where this one thing would be first noted That of Remedies some be common to all trees others appropriate to certain Common be these following To bare and clense the roots to hil and bank them again that is to say to giue aire vnto the roots let the wind into them and contrariwise to couer them keep both wind weather from them to water them or to deriue diuert water from them to refresh their roots with the fat liquor of dung to discharge them of their burden by pruning their superfluous branches Item to giue their humors issue and as it were by way of phlebotomie to let them bloud and to skice and scrape their bark round about in maner of scarification To take downe their strength and keep them vnder that they be not too lusty proud Also if the cold hath caught their buds or burgeons therby caused them to look burnt rough and vnpleasant to slick polish smooth them again with the pumy stone These verily be the diuers helps to cure trees howbeit vsed they must be with great discretion for that which is very good for one is not so good for another and some trees require this course others that to be taken with them As for example the Cypres tree canot abide either to be dunged or watered it hateth all digging and deluing about it it may not away with cutting and pruning it is the worse for all good physick nay all remedies to others are mischiefs to it and in one word go about to medicine it you kil it All Vines and Pomegranat trees especially loue alife riuer sides desire to be watered for thereby will they thriue and prosper The Fig tree also it selfe is nourished and fed in waterie grounds but the fruit that it beareth is the poorer by that means Almond trees if they be plied with digging will either not bloome at all or else shed their floures before due time Neither must any yong plants or trees newly graffed be digged about their roots before they haue gathered sufficient strength and begin to beare fruit Most trees are willing enough to be disburdened of their superfluous and ouer-â—…ank branches like as we men can spare our nails to be pared and bush of hair to be cut when they be ouergrowne As for old trees they would be cut down hard to the ground for vsually they rise again of some shoot springing from the root and yet not all of them Regard therefore must be had that none be so vsed but such as we haue noted before as are able of nature to abide it For trees to be watered at the roots in the heate of summer it is good but in winter it is as bad In the fal of the leaf it may be wholsom it may also be hurtfull and therefore the nature of the soile would be considered for the grape-gatherer in Spain meeteth with a good vintage notwithstanding the Vines stand in a marish and fennie ground howbeit in most parts of the world besides it is thought good husbandry to draine away from the roots the very rain water that falls from aboue in Autumne About the rising of the Dog-star trees desire most of all to be wel watered and yet they would not haue too much thereof euen in that time for in case their roots be ouer-drenched and drowned therewith they will catch harm Herein also the age of trees is to be respected which in this case prescribeth what is meet and sufficient for yong trees be lesse thirsty than others also Custome is a great matter For such as haue beene vsed vnto watering must not change their old woont but they require most of all others to be vsed so still Contrariwise Those Trees which grow vpon dry grounds naturally desire no more moisture than that which is needful In the territory about Sulmo in Italy and namely within the Liberties of Fabianum the Vines which doe beare the harder and sowrer Grapes must of necessitie be watered And no maruaile for the verie lands and Corne-fields vse to haue water let in vnto them And here a wonderfull thing is to be obserued This water cherisheth the Corne but killeth all the hurtfull Grasse among and the riuer ouer flowing the lands is as good as a weeding In the same countrey the maner is in midwinter to open a sluce or draw vp their floodgates for to ouerflow their vine roots with the riuer and so much the rather if either it be an hard frost or snow lie vpon the ground And why so because the pinching cold should not burne them and this they call there by the name of Tepidare i. to giue them a kindly warmth as in a stouve see the memorable nature of this only riuer to be warme in winter and yet the same in summer is so cold that hardly a man can endure his hand in it CHAP. XXVII ¶ Of caprification or scarifying trees also the maner of dunging them TOuching the remedies for blasting as well by heat as cold I will treat in the booke next following Meane while I cannot omit one manner of cure by way of Scarification For when the bark is poore and lean by reason of some disease or mislike so as it clengs together pressing and binding the quick wood
he contained in long and flat according to the forme and figure of the seed which they hold Pease by themselues haue a long round cod in forme of a Cylinder The Pulse called Phasâ—…oli i. Kidney Beans vse to be eaten cod and al together These may be set or sowne in what ground you list from the Ides of October to the Calends of Nouember Finally all kinds of Pulse so soone as they begin to ripen are to be gathered or plucked hastily for stay neuer so little they leape out of their cods and shed and being once fallen they lie hidden in the ground like as the Lupine also CHAP. XIII ¶ Of Rapes or Neuewes of Amiternium Turneps NOw let vs proceed and passe to other matters and yet in this discourse it were meet to write somwhat as touching Rapes or Nauews The Latin writers our countreymen haue slightly passed by and touched them only by the way The Greeks haue treated of them somwhat more diligently and yet among pot-hearbes and worts growing in gardens whereas indeed according to good order they would be spoken of immediatly after Corne or Beanes at least wise considering there is not a plant of more or better vse than is the Rape or Nauew First and formost they grow not only for beasts of the earth and the Foules of the aire but also for men For all kinds of Pullen about a Farme-house in the countrey doe feed vpon the feed thereof as much as of any thing else especially if they be boiled first in water As for four-footed beasts they eat the leaues thereof with great delight and wax fat therewith Last of al men also take as great pleasure and delight in eating the leaues and heads of Rapes or Nauewes in their season as they do of young Coly-flories Cabbages or any tender crops of hearbs whatsoeuer yea when they are faded flaggie and dead in the Barn they are esteemed better than being fresh and green As for Rapes or Nauewes they will keep long and last al Winter both within the ground where they grew and being well wintered they will continue afterwards out of the earth lying abroad euen almost till new come so as they yeeld men great comfort to withstand hunger and famin In Piemont Lombardie those countries beyond the Po the people make the most account of gaine by gathering Rapes next to wine vintage and corne haruest It is not choise and daintie of the ground where it will grow for lightly it wil prosper where nothing els can be sowed In foggy mists hard frosts and other cold weather it thriues passing wel and grows to a wonderfull bignes I haue seene one of their roots weigh aboue fortie pounds As touching the handling and dressing of them for our table there be many waies and deuises to commend and set them out Preserued they may be till new come specially condite with sharp and biting Senuie or Mustard seed Moreouer our Cooks know how to giue them six other colours besides their owne which is pure and naturall they haue the cast to set euen a purple hew vpon them And to say a truth there is no kind of viands besides that being thus painted colored hath the like grace The Greeke writers haue diuided them by the sexe and therby made two principal kinds therof to wit the male and the female Nay more than that out of one and the same seed according as it is sowed they can make male or female whether they please For if they sow thicke and chuse therto a hard and churlish ground it will proue of the male kind Also the smaller that the seed is the better it is esteemed But of al Rapes male or female three especiall sorts there be no more For some roots spread flat and broad others are knit round like a ball the third sort that runs downe into the ground with a long root in manner of a Raddish they cal the wild Rape or Nauew this bears a rough lease and ful of angles or corners the juice that it yeelds is sharp hote and biting which being gathered in haruest time reserued mundisieth the eies and cleareth the sight especially being tempered with brest-milke If the weather be cold they are thought not only to thriue in bignesse of the root but also to prooue the sweeter whereas contrariwise in a warm season they run vp all to stalke and leafe The best simply are those that grow in the Nursine territory For they are sold by the weight and euery pound is worth a Roman Sesterce yea and otherwhiles twaine if there be any scarcity of them Next to these in goodnes be those that come out of Algidum Thus much of Rapes Navews As for the Turneps of Amiternum they be in a manner of the same nature that the Rapes aforesaid cold they loue as well Sown they are before the Calends of March foure quarts of their seed will take vp a whole acre of ground The best Husbandmen and such as are more exquisite in their practise of Agriculture giue order That the ground for Turneps should haue fiue tilthes whereas Rapes or Nauewes are content with foure but both the one and the other had need of a soile well inriched with dung or compost By their sayings also Rapes will prosper the better and come vp thicker if they be sowed in their huls chaffe and all together Moreouer they would haue the seeds-man to be naked when he sowes them and in sowing to protest that this which he doth is for himselfe and his neighbors and withall to pray as he goeth The proper season for the seednesse of them both is between the feasts of the two gods to wit Neptune and Vulcan To conclude there is a subtill and curious obseruation that many go by and do hold namely this To marke how many daies old the Moon was when the first snow sel the winter next before for if a man do sow Rapes or Turneps within the foresaid compasse of that time the moon being so many daies old they will come to be wondrous great and increase exceedingly Men vse to sow them also in the Spring but then they make choise of moist and hot grounds CHAP. XIIII ¶ Of Lupines AFter Rapes and Turneps the Lupines haue greatest vse and serue to be raunged next for that they indifferently serue both men and also all foure footed beasts that be houfed either whole or clouen Now for that the stalke is very shittle in mowing and therefore flyeth from the edge of the syth the onely remedie therefore that the mower may catch it is to goe to worke presently after a good shower And verily there is not a plant growing vpon the earth I meane of such as are sowne of seed more admirable than the Lupine in regard of the great amity and sympathie betweene the earth and it Looke how the Sun keepeth his course in our Horizon aboue so doth it turne and go withall insomuch as the
els will the Millet proue bitter in tast The like experiment they say is of a Moldwarps shoulder for if any corn be sowed or touched therewith before it will come vp the better and bring more increase Democritus had a deuise by himselfe for all seed corn whatsoeuer namely to temper soke the same corn in the iuice of the herb housleeke or Sen-greene growing vpon houses either tiled or shindled which in Greeke is called Aizoon and in Latine Sedum or Digitellum for this medicine will serue for all maladies The common practise of our husbandmen is this in case through the ouersweet sap or juice in greene corne wormes take to the roots for to sprinkle them with simple oile lees pure and clean without any salt afterwards to rake it in Also when the corn begins to ioint and gathet into knots then to clense the ground and put off no longer for feare least the weeds do get head ouergrow This I am sure vpon mine owne knowledge that there is an herbe but what proper name it hath I wote not which if it be interred in the foure corners of a field that is sown with Millet it wil driue away Stares and Sparrows which otherwise would by whole flights and flocks lie thereupon and do much harme nay I will speake a greater word and which may seeme wonderfull There is not a bird of the aire one or other that dare enter or approch such a field Field-mice and Rats are skared away and will not touch corne which before the sowing was either bestrewed with the ashes of weasels or cats or els drenched with the liquor and decoction of water wherein they were boiled howbeit this inconuenience insueth hereupon That bread made of such corn will haue a smach and sent strongly of such cats and Weasels and therefore it is supposed a more expedient and safer way to medicine our seed corne with oxe gall for to preserue it from the said Mice and Rats But what remedy against the blast and mildew the greatest plague that can befall vpon corn Mary prick downe certaine Lawrell boughes here and there among the standing corne all the said mists and mildewes will leaue the corne and passe to the Bay leaues and there settle What shall we do then to corne when it is ouer-rank Eat it me downe with sheep and spare not whiles it is young and in the blade onely before I say it be knotted and neuer feare harm by the sheeps teeth as neere as they go to the ground for let it be thus eaten many times the corn will be the better yea and the head will take no harme thereby but prooue the fairer If such rank corne be once cut down with the syth no more certain it is that the grain in the eare will be the longer to see to howbeit void and without any floure within it for sow such seed again it wil neuer grow nor come vp And yet about Babylon the maner is to mow it twise first and the third time to put in sheep to it for to eat it down otherwise the corn would neuer spindle but blade still and run all to leafe But being thus cut and cut again and eaten in the end ye shall haue it to increase and multiply 50 for one so fertile is the soile and if the owner be a good husband besides and vse the ground accordingly he shall reap thrice as much euen a 150 sold. And what carefull diligence is that which is here required Surely neither much nor difficult only he must be sure to keep the ground well with watering for a long time together to the end that it may be discharged of the ouermuch fat within it which by this means will be washed all away and the ranknesse delaied Yet as rich and fertile as this soile is the two riuers Euphrates and Tigris which vse to ouerflow and water the country bring no slimy mud with them as Nilus doth in Egypt wherby the ground is made so fat as it is neither is the nature of the earth there giuen to breed herbs that it should need any weeding and yet so plenteous and fruitfull it is that it soweth it selfe against the next yere for the corne that sheddeth in the reaping and mowing being troden vnder foot into the ground is as good as a sowing and riseth of it selfe without any further labor Seeing then there is so great difference in the soile I am put in minde thereby to fit euery ground with seed respectiuely according to the nature and goodnesse thereof This therfore is the opinion of Cato that in a grosse and fat soile there would be wheat and such like hard corne sown and if the same be subiect also to mists and dews there may be sown therein raddish millet and Panick must be sowne first in a cold and waterish ground and afterwards for change in a hot soile Item the red bearded wheat Far or Adoreum requireth a chalkie and sandy ground and namely if it be well watered Item the common wheat loueth a drie soile exposed to the Sun and not giuen much to breed superfluous weeds Item Beanes will doe well in a sound and fast soile As for Vetches they care not how little they be sowed in a moist piece of ground and such as is apt to run to grasse Moreouer for the fine winter wheat Siligo whereof the best manchet is made and also for the common frumenty wheat there would be chosen an open high ground lying pleasantly vpon the Sunne that it might haue the heat thereof to parch it as long and as much as is possible As for Lentils they doe like a good rough and shrubbie soile full of red earth so as it be not apt quickly to gather a green-sord Barly would gladly grow vpon a restie ground new broken vp or else such as be in heart to beare euery yeare And as for Summer barley of three moneths it would be sowne in a ground where it could not haue an earely or timely Seednes which is so fat and rich as it may affoord to beare crop yere by yere finally to speak to the purpose indeed this also is Catoes witty resolution in one word for all if the soile be light and lean seed it with such grain or forage seed as require no great nourishment as for example with Cytisus and excepting the Cich-pease with all pulse that are vsed to be plucked out of the earth and not mowed downe and thereupon indeed are these pulse called in Latine Legumina because they are plucked and gathered in that sort but in case the ground be good and fat sow such things as require fuller food and nutriment and namely all garden worts and pot-herbes wheat both the common and the fine and Linseed Then according to this rule a leane and hungry soile will well agree with barly for the root is contented with lesse nutriture wheras contrariwise we allow both
circles still about any planets there will be much raine soone after In Summer time if there chaunce to be more thunder than lightning it threatneth winds from that coast where it thundreth contrariwise if it lighten much thunder little looke for rain plentie when you see it lighten and the skie otherwise cleare faire it is a token that rain and thunder will follow thereupon yea and rigorous cold weather besides but the cruellest and most bitter impressiions of the aire ensue vpon such lightnings as come from all the foure quarters of heauen at once if it lighten from the Northwest only it betokens rain the day following if from North it is a signe of wind from thence if from the South Northwest or full West it happen to lighten in the night the same be faire it sheweth wind and rain from out of those coasts morne thunders foreshew winds but if they be heard at noon they presage rain As touching clouds if you see the rack ride apace in the aire the weather being faire drie looke for wind from that quarter whence those clouds doe come and if they seeme to gather thick in that place dispearsed they will be and scattered when the Sun approacheth but more particularly if this happen from the Northeast they portend rain if from the South storm and tempest if at the Sun setting the rack seeme to ride from both sides of him into the open aire they shew of tempests toward if the clouds be very blacke flying out of the East they threaten rain against night but if they come out of the West it will surely raine the morrow after if the clouds be disparkled many together out of the East and flie like fleeces or flocks of wooll they shew rain for 3 daies after when clouds flie low and seeme to settle vpon the tops of the hills looke shortly for cold weather contrariwise if you perceiue those tops of mountaines cleare without moist or cloud the weather will soone take vp and turne to be faire when the clouds seeme to be heauily charged and full and yet looke white withall which constitution of the aire is called commonly the white weather there is an haile-storme at hand moreouer be the skie neuer so cleer the least cloud appearing therein is enough to engender and foreshew wind and storme mists if they come downe and fall from the mountaines or otherwise descend from heauen and settle vpon the vallies promise a faire and drie season Leauing the stars and clouds aboue let vs come to our fires that we make and keepe in our houses here beneath for they are to be raunged in the next place of our prognostication If the fire then burne in the chimney pale and keep there with a huzzing noise we find by experience it foreshewes tempest and stormie weather as also wee may be sure of rain in case we see a fungeous substance or foot gathered about lampes and candle snuffs if you see the flame either of fire or candle mount winding and wauing as it were long you shall not be without wind The like is to be said of fire and candle light if either they seem to go out of themselues or to kindle and take fire with much adoe Also when we discern in the fire a number of sparkles gathered together and hanging one to another or if when the pot is taken off from the fire the coles sticke to the bottome and sides or when the fire being raked in embres keepeth a spitting and sparkling from it also if the ashes lying vpon the hearth grow together and last of all when the liue-cole shineth brighter or scorcheth more than ordinarie all these be signes of rain Goe we a little lower to the water for that element also giues signes of the weather and first of all if you see the sea within the hauen after the floud is gone in a low and ebb water to bee calme and yet heare it keep a rumbling noise within it foreshews wind if it doe thus by times and fits one after another resting stil and quiet between whiles it presages cold weather rain Item if in calme and faire weather the sea strond or water banks resound and make a noise it is a token of a bitter tempest so it fares also with the very sea it selfe for if it be calm yet make 〈◊〉 roaring or if the fome thereof be seen to scatter to fro or the very water to boile buble you may be bold to foretell of tempests the Puffins also of the sea i. fishes named in Latin Pulmones if they appear swimming aboue water foresignifie cold weather for many daies together oftentimes the sea being otherwise calme swells by hoouing higher than ordinarie shewes she had wind good store enclosed within her which soon after will breake out into a tempest Let vs come aland againe and marke the disposition of woods and hills you shall heare the mountains and forrests both keep a sounding and rumbling noise and then they foretell some change of weather nay you shall mark the leaues of trees to moue flicker and play themselues yet no wind at all stirring but be sure then you shall not be long without The like prediction is to be gathered by the light downe of either poplars or thistles flying too and fro in the aire also of plumes and feathers floting vpon the water Goe down lower to the vales plains if a man chance to heare a bustling there he may make account that a tempest will follow As for the rumbling in the aire it is an vndoubted signe and token thereof Moreouer the verie bruit and dumb creatures presage and giue warning what weather there will be To begin with the fishes of the sea the dolphins playing disporting themselues in a calme water doe certainely fore-shew wind comming from that coast whence they fetch these friskes and gambols contrariwise if they fling and dash water this way and that way the sea at that time being rough and troubled it is an infallible signe of a calm and of faire weather toward The Cuttle or little Calamarie Loligo launching it selfe and flying aboue the water the Cockles winkles cleauing and sticking hard to the grauell the Sea-vrchins thrusting themselues into the owse and mud or otherwise balaised couered with sand be all signes of tempests neare The like may be said of Froggs when they crie more than their custome is and of Seamews also when they gaggle in a morning betimes extraordinarily semblably the Cormorants Gulls Mallards and Ducks when they keep a proining of their feathers with their bills foreshew wind and generally when you see other water-foule to gather and assemble together and then combat one with another or Cranes make hast to flie into the midland parts of the maine The Cormorants and Guls flying from the sea and standing lakes and Cranes soaring aloft in the aire still without any noise doe put in comfort of
peaches 436. k. why so called ibid. D W Dwarfes in both sexes 165. c Dwarfes there be in all kinde of creatures 352. g D Y Dying wooll who deuised 188. i Dyals by whom deuised 191. b water Dyals or Clepsidres whose inuention 191. d E A EAle what kinde of beast it is 206. h Eares tokens of courage 333. d Earth what portion thereof is habitable 33. c. how it appeareth that the earth is in the mids of the world 34. h Earth in the middest thereof an wholesome mixture from both sides 37. b Earthquakes the reason thereof 37. c. when they commonly happen 38. h. signes of earthquakes comming ibid. remedies against it ib. strange and monstrous earthquakes 39. a. wonders of earthquakes ibid. Earth hath deuoured her selfe and what lands haue swallowed vp themselues 40. m. parts of the earth that euer tremble and shake 41. e the measure of the earth in length and breadth 48. k Earth element 2. l Earth lowest and in the midst earth hangeth by the poles of the heauens 2. m Earth peiseth all other elements 3. a. earth vnmoueable ib. Earth lesse than the Sun 8. i Earth no place therof inhabited which lieth vnder the Zodiacke 11. b Earth defended by an apologie of the author 548. i. k. Earth scorneth and repineth to be tilled by slaues 552. h Earth engrauen in Achilles his armour 504. l Earth how it is subiect to old age 504. k Earth the nature thereof requisite to be knowne 515. b Earth desireth the act of generation 523. a Easie is the deliuerance of a man child 159. a E B Ebene a tree of India 360. g. the wood paid as tribute ibid. Ebene of two kindes 360. h Ebene a tree shewed in a triumph ibid. Ebene wood maketh a sweet perfume ibid. Ebrus riuer 503. d E C Echetae a kinde of grashoppers 325. e Echinometrae fishes 253. b Echineis a fish 248. m. it staieth the flux of women ib. a Echini vrchins of the sea 253. a Echo and the reason thereof 21. d Eclipse of the Sun and Moone 7. d. why they are not eclipsed at set times ibid. Eclipse who were the first findes out thereof 8. l Eclipses much feared and of whom 9. a Eclipse of the Moone thought to be by enchantment and to be helped by dissonant ringing of basons ibid. Eclipses in what time they haue their returne to the former points 9. g Eclipse of the Sun when it happeneth 9. g Eclipse of the Moone alwaies in the full ibid. Eclipses how often in what space and the first finder out thereof 9. d Eclipse longer than ordinary when Caesar Dictatour was murdred 17. e E G Egs diuerse in colour 298. g Egs of birds of two colours within the shell ibid. Egs of fishes of one colour ibid. Egs of birds serpents and fishes how they differ ibid. Egs best for an hen to sit vpon 299. a Egs hatched without a bird 299. c. onely by a kind heat ib. Egs how they be marred vnder an hen 299. b wind-Egs called Hypenemia 300. l. how they be engendred 301. e. wind-Egs Zephyria ibid. Egs drawne through a ring ibid. Egs how they he best kept ibid. Egnat Mecennius killed his wife for drinking wine 418. k of Eye plucking out vomit followeth 334. d E L Elaterium what it is 369. a Elate 379. e Electrum a kinde of mettall 260. l Elements three Water Aire and Fire haue neither sauour nor taste 449. b Elenchi what pearles 255. f Elaeomeli what it is 435. a Elephants cure themselues by the wild oliue 211. 〈◊〉 Elephants bring forth but one at once 303. d Elephants tooth See Yuorie Elephants haue broad tongues 339. a Elephants haue foure bellies or paunches 343. b Elephants most industrious and wittie 346. l how they bend their hams 350. g Elephants capacitie vertue religion desire of glory 192. i The biggest of land beasts ibid. they adore the new Moone 192. k. subiect to sickenesse 197. f. their docilitie 192. l. 193. b. they plough the ground ibid. they draw in a chariot ibid. their manner of dauncing ibid. their feats of actiuitie and nimblenesse 193. a. an Elephant goeth vp and downe ropes 193. b. writing Greeke characters ibid. embarked and their manner of landing 193. c. their armes called hornes or teeth ibid. they hide their teeth ibid. Elephants young how they be knowne 193. d. how they order their teeth ibid. what vse they make of them ibid. they know wherefore they are hunted 193. e. their clemencie to man 193. f. their feare of mans footing 194. g Elephant how he vttereth his voice 353. e. their manner of march 194. i. their passage ouer riuers ibid. Elephants bashfull and shamefull ibid. k. l Elephants two of K. Antiochus ibid. Elephants their time of generatior 194. l. their affection in loue 194. l. m. 195. a. both to their owne and also to mankind ibid. their memorie 195. a. their iustice ibid. when they were first seene in Italy 196. b. baited in the cirque of Rome 195. c Elephants fight in the cirque of Rome ibid. c an Elephant of wonderfull courage 196. g. their industrie ibid. mooue people to pittie ibid. h. Elephants fight ib. i. k Elephants gentle to weaker beasts ibid. k Elephants harmelesse vnprouoked ib. their maner of fight ibid. how they be tamed ib. l. 197. d Elephants how they be taken 196. l. 197. a. b Elephants mad in time of rut 197. c. how they serue in warre ibid. d Elephants affrighted at the grunting of swine ibid. Elephants how long they goe with young 197. e. Elephants in India bigger than African 197. e. 198. k they loue waters 191. i. can abide no cold ibid. their food 198. g. their trunke and the vse thereof ibid. they cannot abide a mouse ibid. they take harme by swallowing a horse-leech ib. h. their skin ib. it serueth to kill flies ibid. Elephants teeth of great price ib. and the vse of them ibid. Elephants trunk vsed for meat 198. i. where they breed ib. k their policie and the reason thereof in nature 199. a Elder tree good for pipes 485. e. the berries for what vse 486. g. their stakes best to prop vines 526. g Elegia 483. g Elme seed when to be gathered 512. g. how to be sowne ib. Elmes of diuerse kindes 467. e. f Elme Atinia not good for vines 535. a Elmes husbands to vines 512. b Elops a fish 245. 〈◊〉 Elpis taketh a bone from betweene a Lions teeth 203. d Elleborine 398. i. the leaues medicinable ibid. E M Emperour Nero drawne by monstrous beasts 352. i Embrodered workes whose deuise 228. i Emerita a place in Portugall 261. b Emplastration what manner of grafting 519. d. e E N Endimion when that fable first sprang vp of being in loue with the Moone 7. 〈◊〉 what beasts engender backeward 302. k Engines of battery whose inuention 189. b. c English oysters best of all others 267. a Enhaemon a soueraigne salue 370. l Enuious persons are venomous 548.
grapes good for courriours 420. k Vine props and railes which be best 525. b Vine tendrils and burgens how to be ordered for the table 423. c. Vines afford most plants of all other trees 527. a Vine tree how to be graffed 520. h Vines draw into them the tast of herbes and plants growing neere vnto them 422. g Vineyard how to be bounded 529. b. how to be ordred with smallest expense ibid. f. ought to be exposed to the Sun 527. c. Vineyards Statanae 414. h Vinegre how it is made and the vses thereof 424 k Vinegre of Cypresse figs. 412. a Vinegre of Alexandrine figs. ibid. L. Vitellius stores his ferme with fig trees 445. a Vis maior what it is 599. a V L Vlysses ship turned into a rocke 79. d V N Vnedo the fruit of the Arbute tree 447. e V O Voluox a worme hurtfull to Vines 547. c Volta the name of a monster 26. k Vopisci who be so called 160. h Vortex the name of a stormie blast 25. b V R Vrchins of the sea 253. a Vrinum what kinde of addle egge 300. k V T Vtorus or loci in a woman what part 344. h V V Vulcans temple built by Romulus 495. a Vulturnus what wind 22. l Of Voices a discourse 353. a. b. c W A VVAgons and chariots who first made 188 l Walwort a weed naught for ground 508. g Walnuts emploied at weddings 445. e. and why ibid. Walnut trees brought out of Persia by commandement of kings 445. f. Walnut why called Persicon and Basilicon ibid. Walnut named in Greeke Caryon and why ibid. Walnut huskes and the young nuts how to be vsed 446. g Walnuts differ onely in the shell ibid. Walnut shels diuided in twaine ibid. Walnuts called Inglandes and why ibid. i Walnuts brought first into Italy by L. Vitellius ibid. k Walnut tree wood cracketh before it breaketh 492. m Water an element 2. l. the roundnesse thereof 31. e. the benefit it hath by the earth and the earth by it 32. h Water of what tast 449. a Waters fresh run aloft the sea and why 44. m Watering cherisheth corne and killeth grasse about Sulmo in Italy 544. m Water bringeth forth greater liuing creatures and more plentie than the earth 134. m Water verie materiall for corne fields 581. f ouerflowing corne fields as good as a weeding in some place 545. a Warden peares 439. d Wax made of all hearbs saue Dockes and Goosefoot 313. d W E Weauing whose deuise 188. i Weeding of corne 580. l Weeds choking corne and pulse 545. a Weights and measures whose deuise 188. l Weapons and armour whose inuention 189. a. b Wesps how to be kept from preserued fruits 441. f Wesps feed greedily vpon serpents 355. e Westerne wind Fauonius a husband to all plants and to certaine mares 471. d Wezando what it is 339. c W H Whales and Whirlepoles 235. b. c. as long as foure acres of land 235. c Wheat sold at Rome for one As by the Modius 551. b. c Wheat how it is spiked eared and ioynted 558. k Wheat of Italie best 559. e. other countries compared with ibid. Wheat of Bâ—…otia commended 559. e Wheat of Italie praised by Sophocles the Poet. 560. h Wheat esteemed by weight and so compared 560. h. i Wheat different in the straw or stalke 560. i Wheat of Thrace a three moneths corne ibid. m Wheat of Thrace a two moneths corne 561. a Wheat subiect to the mieldew 562. k Wheat of sundry kindes different in name 562. k Wheat what proportion it should yeeld in meale and floure 563. e. f. common Wheat Triticum exceeding fruitfull 564. m. the wonderfull and incredible encrease of wheat in Africke 565. a. Wheeles a kinde of fishes 236. g W I Wilding apples 438. m a wedded Wife turned to he a man and a husband and contrariwise 158. h Willowes of many sorts 484. l. their manifold vses in pearches trailes props and bindings ibid. red-Willowes good both to wind and bind 484. m Willowes fit for wicker workes ibid. as gainefull to the master as corne fields medowes and oliue rows 485. b. See more in Withies Wings of Bâ—…ts diuided into ioints 347. a Winds raigne in the region of the aire 19 c. how they arise and whence 21. c. their natures and obseruations 22. 23. c. Windpipe what it is 339. c the obseruation of winds good in husbandrie 608. i Winds who first distinguished 189. d Winds how they may be knowne distinctly one from another 608. g Wine a most pleasant liquor to be vsed inwardly 428. i of Wines 195 sorts 428. i Wine who first delaied with water 189. m Wine congealed into yee 425. d Wine lees maintaineth fire ibid. e Wine how it is knowne to decay ibid. b Wines how to be seasoned and medicined 425. a. b. how to be ordered prepared and seasoned 425. d Wines allowable for sacrifice and the seruice of the gods 423. c. Greeke wines reiected in sacrifice ibid. Wines when they grew in request at Rome 418. h Wines turne sower and recouer of themselues 423. b Wines reduced into 80 kindes 418. g of Wines foure principall colours 416. l Wine how to be tunned and kept 425. c. d Wine-cellers how to be ordered ibid. e Wine vessels how to be placed in the cellar ibid. Wine vessels how to be made and chosen 427. d drinking Wine fasting ibid. Wine of strange and wonderfull effects 422. l Wine causing women to be fruitfull ibid. procuring madnesse ibid. driuing women to slip their birth 422. m disabling for the act of generation ibid. Wines spiced and compound forbidden by Themison 422. k Wines of trees and shrubs ibid. h Wines of sundry hearbes and roots ibid. g Wine Phorinean 416. k Wine Cicibeliâ—…es ibid. l Wine Halyntium ibid. Wines sweet of diuerse sorts 417. a. b. c. d Wine Aigleuces 417. b Wine Dulce ibid. Wine Diachyton ibid. Wine Melitites 417. d. how it is made ibid. Wines alter according to the climat and soile where the Vines grow 415. b Wine spared among the Romanes 418. k. l. Forbidden in sacrifice ibid. h Women in Rome not allowed to drinke wine 418. k Women punished for drinking wine 418. k. l Wines aromatized 419. a Wines Greeke 419. f Greeke wine giuen in a congiarie by L. Lucullus at Rome 420. g. Wine of Chios prescribed for the Cardiaca passio 420. g left by Hortensius to the quantitie of 10000 barrels when he died ibid. Wines giuen in a congiarie by Iul. Caesar Dictatour 420. h Wines artificiall 420. i Wine Omphacium ibid. Wine Oenanthinum ibid. Wine Adynamon 420. l. how it is made ibid. the vse thereof ibid. Wine of Millet 420. l Date wine 420. m. how it is made ibid. Fig wine Sycites 421. a. wine of Lotus ibid. Wine of Carobs ibid. Wine Rhoites of Pomegranats ibid. of Gorneil or wild cherries ibid. of Medlers ibid. of Cervoises ibâ—…d of Mulberies ibid. of Pen-nuts ibid. Wine of Myrtles how it is made 421. b
as some think fifteen drams which grow neere to two ounces of which capacitie our small saucers are but as others suppose it receiues two ounces and an halfe the measure of ordinary saucers Acrimonie i. Sharpenesse Actually i. sensibly and presently as fire is actually hot Aditiales or Adijciales epulae were great and sumptuous feasts or suppers held by the Pontifices or high Priests in testimony of publique ioy Almonds see Amygdals Amphora a measure in Rome of liquors only it seemes to haue taken that name of the two ears which it had of either side one it contained 8 Congios which are much about 8 Wine gallons or rather betweene seuen and eight so as in round reckoning it may go for a ferkin halfe kilderkin or half sestern with vs. Amygdals be kernils at the root of the tongue subiect to inflammations swellings occasioned by deflux or falling down of humors from the head they be called Antiades Paristhmia Tonsillae the foresaid infirmities also incident vnto them doe likewise cary the same denominations A Antidotes i. countrepoysons properly defensatiues or preseruatiues against poyson pestilence or any maladie whatsoeuer Antipathie i. contrarietie enmity and repugnancie in nature as between fire and water the vine and the Colewort c. S. Anthonies fire is a rising in the skin occasioned by hot bloud mixt with abundance of choler and such be the shingles and other wild fires called in Greek Erysipelas Aquosities be waterish humors apt to engender the dropsies called Ascites and Leucophlegmatia Aromatised i. Spiced Arthriticall griefes such as possesse the ioints as all the sorts of gout Astrictiue or Astringent be such things as bind the body or any part thereof Attractiue i. drawing as the loadstone draweth iron amber straws or bents Dictamnus arrow heads or spils out of the bodie and cupping glasses or ventoses humours and wind Austere harsh or hard as in fruits vnripe and hard wines of hedge grapes Axinomantie a kind of magicke diuination by an ax head red hot B BAsis in a compound medicine is that drug or simple which is predominant and carrieth the greatest force in it as the ground thereof whereupon the whole taketh the name as Poppy in Diacodion Quinces in Diacydonium c. Bole is the form of a medicine when it may be giuen in grosse manner at a kniues point to the quantitie of a nutmeg at a time vntill the whole receit be taken Browning a term vsuall in the mouths of mariners and winnowers of corne when they are calmed and do call for wind Bulbes although Pliny seemed to giue that name vnto some one speciall hearbe yet it signifieth generally all those as haue round roots as Onions Squilla Wake-robin and such like whereupon these and other of that kind are said to haue bulbous roots Cacochynne is that indisposition of the body in which there is aboundance of humors Calcining i. the burning of a minerall or any thing for to correct the malignitie of it or reduce it into pouder c. Callositie thicknesse and hardnesse of skinne in maner senslesse as in fistulaes and vnder our heeles to Carminat is to make more fine and thin the grosse humours by such medicines as by their heat are apt to cut and dissolue them wherupon they likewise be called Carminatiue a terme receiued by Apothecaries and borrowed from those that card wooll Cancer is a swelling or sore comming of melancholy bloud about which the vems appeare of a blacke or swe rt colour spread in manner of a Creifish clees whereupon it tooke that name in Latine like as in Greek Carcinoma And such vlcers as in that sort be maintained and fed with that humor are called cancerous and be vntoward to heal worse commonly for the handling Carnositie i. fleshly substance Cataplasm a pultesse or grosse maner of plastre Cartilage in man and beast is a gristle in roots and fruits that substance which we obserue in the radish root and the outward part of a cucumber as Pliny seems to take it which thereupon be called Cartilagineous Cataract is a dimnesse of sight caused by an humor gathered and hardned betweene the tunicle of the eye called Cornea and the Crystalline humour it is next cousine to blindnesse Caustick i. burning blistering or scalding to Cauterise is to seare or burne by a Cauterie Cauterie actuall is fire it self or scalding liquor and so a searing iron gold or other mettall made red hot is called an Actuall cauterie which without the help of our natural heat doth work presently Cauterie potentiall is that which will raise blisters and burn in time after it is once set on work by the heat of our body as Cantharides Sperewort c. Ceres the first inuentresse of the sowing vse of corne Cerote is of a middle nature betweene an ointment and a plaister not so hard as the one nor so soft as the other Cicatrices in eyes be whitish spots otherwise called pearls they be the skars also remaining after a sore is healed vp and so a place is said to be cicatrised when it is newly skinned vp and healed Circulation is the deuise of subliming or extracting water or oile by a stillatorie a lembick or such because the vapor before it be resolued into water or oile seemes to go round circlewise Clysterized i. conueyed vp by a clyster into the guts Caeliaci be those that through weakenesse of stomacke are troubled with a continuall flux of the belly Colature a thin liquour that hath passed thorow a strainer or colander Colliquation is a falling away and consumptiof the radicall humour or solid substance of the body Collyries are properly medicines applied to the eies in liquid forme whereas the dry kind be rather called Sief Alcohol especially in pouder howbeit Pliny attributeth this terme to all eye-salues whatsoeuer Also it seemeth that hee meaneth thereby tents to be put in a fistulous vlcer as in pag. 509 b. 510 k. Collution a liquour properly to wash the mouth teeth and gums withall Concocted i. altred to that substance by natural heate as either in health may serue to nourish or in sicknes is apt to be expelled Consolidat to knit vnite make sound again that which was broken or burst Concrete i. hardned and grown thicke Cond te i. preserued in some conuenient liquor to Concorporate i. to mix and vnite together into one masse Consistence i. substance or thicknesse Constipate i. to harden and make more fast and compact Contraction of sinews a shrinking or drawing of them in too short Contusions i. Bruises Convulsions painfull cramps Criticall daies be such as in short diseases those of quicke motion do giue light vnto the physitian of life or death Pliny obserues the od daies to be most significant and those vsually determinof health and the euen days contrariwise so that the seuenth is Rex i. a gratious prince the sixth Tyrannus i. a cruell tyrant Cruditie See Indigestion Cyath a small measure both of liquid and
return at their iust course from day to day euery third fourth or fifth day c. Peripneumony is the inflammation of the lungs Pessary is a deuise made like a finger or suppository to be put vp into the natural parts of a woman Phlebotomie i. bloud-letting or opening of a veine by incision or pricke Phthysicke to speak properly is the consumption of the body occasioned by the fault of exulcerat and putrified lungs But Pliny otherwhiles seemeth to take it for any other consumption Pomona a deuised goddesse amongst the Painims of apples and such fruits Prodigies bee strange sights and wonderfull tokens presaging some fearefull thing to come Propinquitie nearnesse or affinitie Proscription was a kind of outlawing and depriuing a man of the protection of the state with confiscation of his lands and goods Propagat to grow and increase after the manner of Vine branches which being drawne along in the ground from the motherstock do take root Propitious i. gracious and mercifull Proximitie neere neighbour-hood or resemblance Ptisane the decoction of husked Barley a grewell made therewith or the creame thereof Pulpous i. full of pulpe or resembling pulpe which is the soft substance in Apples or such fruits answerable to the flesh in liuing bodies Purulent yeelding filth and Attyr Putrefactiue such venomous medicines or humors as do corrupt and putrifie the part of the body which they possesse Q QVindecemvirs were certain officers fifteen in number ioined in one commission R REecptorie a vessell standing vnderneath ready to receiue that which droppeth and distilleth from something aboue it Reciproeall going and comming as the tides of the sea ebbing and flowing To Rectifie i. to set streight to reforme or amend Repercussiue i. driuing or smiting backe Residence i. the setling toward the bottome as in vrine Retentiue facultie i. the naturall power that ech part or member of the body hath to hold that which is committed vnto it the due time as the stomacke meat the bladder vrine c. Reuerberation i. rebounding or striking backe Rhagadies bee properly the chaps in the fundament or seat Rubified i. made red as when by application of mustard plastres called Sinapismes or beating a part that is benummed with nettles it recouereth a fresh colour againe whereupon such plastres be called Rubificatiue and the operation is named by the Greekes Phoenigmos Rupture the disease of bursting as when the guts or other parts fall downe into the bag of the cods S SAliuation is a drawing of humours to the mouth and a deliuerie of them from thence in manner of spittle Sarcling is the baring of roots by ridding away the earth and weeds from about them that did clog them Scarification is a kind of pouncing or opening of the skin by way of incision slightly with the fleame or launcet either to giue some issue for the bloud and humours to passe forth or prepare a place for the cupping-glasse to extract more Schirre is a hard swelling almost sencelesse Scriptule or Scruple is foure and twenty grains weight or the third part of a dram Scrophules See Kings euill Seat is the circumference or compasse about the tuill or fundament Secundine i. the afterbirth that infolded the infant within the mothers wombe Sege a stoole of easement whereupon wee sit to discharge the order and excrements of the guts Serosities or Serous humors be the thinner parts of the masse of bloud answering to the whey in milke such as we see to float vpon bloud that hath run out of a veine Sextarius a measure among the Romanes whereof six goe to their Congius wherupon it tooke that name it containes two hemines and is somewhat lesse than a wine quart with vs it beareth twentie ounces Sinapisme a practise by a plaster of mustard seed and such like to reuiue a place in manner mortified and to draw fresh humors colour to it Solstice i. the Sunnestead as well in winter as Summer when hee is come to his vtermost points North and South but vsually it is put for Mid-summer onely Sophisticated i. falsified made corrupt howbeit going for the right Thus drougs and gems are many times thrust vpon vs. Spasmes be painefull crampes or pluckings of the sinewes and cords of the Muscles Spasmaticke are such as be thus plucked Species be either the simple ingredients into a composition or else the bare pouders mingled together ready to be reduced into an electuarie liquid or Tables Speculatiue knowledge or Speculation is the insight into a thing by reading only contemplation without practise experience Sperme is naturall seed Spondyles be the turning ioints of the chine or backbone Stomachicall fluxe is the same that Coeliaca passio See Coeliaci Stomaticall medicines be such as are appropriat for the diseases incident to the mouth and the parts adioining Stypticke be such things as by a certain harsh tast doe shew that they bee astringent as medlars and alumne which thereupon is named Stypteria and such like Succedan that drug which may be vsed for default of another The Apothecaries call such Quid pro quo Suffusion See Cataract Suffumigation is the smoke that is receiued in to the body from vnder a stool for the diseases of the guts fundament or matrice Suppuration is when a bile or impostume gathereth to an head and must be broken Sympathie i. a fellow-feeling vsed in Pliny for the agreement or amitie naturall in diuers sencelesse things as betweene yron and the loadstone Symptome an accident accompanying sicknes as head-ach the ague stitch shortnesse of wind spitting bloud cough and ague the pleurisie Syringe an instrument in manner of a pipe to iniect a medicinable liquor into the blader T TEllus the earth Tenacitie clamminesse such as is in glew birdlime and Bitumen Theoricke or Theoretique contemplatiue knowledge without action and practise Tinesme an inordinat desire to the stool without doing any thing to the purpose Tonsils See Amygdals Transparent i. cleare and bright throughout as crystall amber aire and water Transvasation i. the pouring of liquor out of one vessell into another Triuial i. vulgar common and of base reckoning Triumvirat the Tripartite dominion of Antonie Octavius and Lepidus when they held all the world in their hands each one their third part Trochisques or Trosques be litle cakes or roundles into which diuers things medicinable are reduced for to be kept the better to be ready at hand when they shall be vsed Tuil the same that the Fundament or nethermost gut V VEgetatiue that power in nature which God hath giuen to creatures whereby they liue are nourished and grow Ventositie windinesse Vicinitie neernesse or neighborhood Victoriat a siluer coine in Rome Halfe a denarius so called because it had the image of victory stamped on the one side it is somwhat vnder our groat Vnction annointing Vnguent an ointment Vreters be the passages or conduits whereby the water or vrine passeth from the kidnies into the bladder Vulnerarie i. belonging to a wound
transplanted but principally Leeks and Nauews nay this remouing and replanting of them is the proper cure of many sorances for from that time forward subiect they will not be to those iniuries that vse to infest them and namely Chibbols Porret or Leeks Radish Parsly Lectuce Rapes or Turneps and Cucumbers All herbs which by nature grow wild lightly haue smaller leaues and slenderer stalks in tast also they be more biting and eagre than such of that kinde as grow in gardens as wee may see in Saverie Origan and Rue Howbeit of all others the wild Dock is better than the garden Sorrell which the Latines call Rumex This garden Sorrell or soure docke is the stoutest and hardiest of all that grow for if the seed haue once taken in a place it wil by folks saying continue euer there neither can it be killed do what you will to the earth especially if it grow neere the water side If it be vsed with meats vnlesse it be taken with Ptisane or husked Barly alone it giueth a more pleasant commendable tast thereto and besides maketh it lighter of digestion The wild Dock or Sorrell is good in many medicines But that you may know how diligent and curious men haue been to search into the secrets of euerie thing I will tell you what I haue found contriued in certaine verses of a Poet namely That if a man take the round treddles of a goat and make in euery one of them a little hole putting therein the seed either of Leeks Rocket Lectuce Parsly Endiue or garden Cresses and close them vp and so put them into the ground it is wonderfull how they will prosper and what faire plants will come thereof Ouer and besides this would be noted that all herbs wild be drier and more keen than the tame of the same kind For this place requireth that I should set downe the difference also of their iuice and tasts which they yeeld and rather indeed than of Apples and such like fruits of trees The tast or smack of Saverâ—… Origan Cresses and Senvie is hot and biting of Wormwood and Centaurie bitter of Cucumber Gourds and Lectuce waterish Of Maâ—…oram it is sharp only but of Parsly Dill and Fennell sharpe and yet odorant withall Of all smacks the salt tast only is not naturall And yet otherwhiles a kinde of salt setleth like dust or in manner of roundles or circles of water vpon herbs howbeit soon it passeth away and continueth no longer than many such vanities and foolish opinions in this world As for Panax it tasteth much like pepper but Siliquastrum or Indish Pepper more than it and therfore no maruel if it were called Piperitis Libanotis smelleth like Frankincense Myrrhis of Myrrh As touching Panace sufficient hath been spoken already Libanotis commeth naturally of seed in rotten grounds lean subiect to dews it hath a root like to Alisanders differing little or nothing in smell from Frankincense The vse of it after it be one yeare old is most wholsome for the stomacke Some terme it by another name Rosemary Also Alisanders named in Greeke Smyrneum loueth to grow in the same places that Rosemary doth and the root resembleth Myrrh in tast Indish Pepper likewise delighteth to be sowed in the same maner The rest differ from others both in smell and tast as Dil. Finally so great is the diuersitie and force in things that not only one changeth the naturall taste of another but also drowneth it altogether With Parsly the Cooks know how to take away the sourenesse and bitternesse in many meats with the same also our Vintners haue a cast for to rid wine of the strong smell that is offenfiue but they let it hang in certain bags within the vessels Thus much may serue concerning garden herbs such I mean onely as be vsed in the kitchen about meats It remaineth now to speake of the chiefe work of Nature contained in them for all this while we haue discoursed of their increase and the gain that may come thereof and indeed treated we haue summarily of some plants and in generall termes But forasmuch as the true vertues and properties of each herb cannot throughly and perfectly be known but by their operations in physick I must needs conclude that therein lieth a mighty piece of work to find out that secret and diuine power lying hidden and inclosed within and such a piece of worke as I wot not whether there can be found any greater For mine own part good reason I had not to set down and anex these medicinable vertues to euery herb which were to mingle Agriculture with Physick and Physicke with Cookerie and so to make a mish-mash and confusion of all things For this I wist ful well that some men were desirous only to know what effects they had in curing maladies as a study pertinent to their profession who no doubt should haue lost a great deale of time before they had come to that which they looked for in running thorough the discourses of both the other in case wee had handled altogether But now seeing euery thing is digested ranged in their seueral ranks as well pertaining to the fields as the kitchen and the Apothecaries shop an easie matter it will be for them that are willing and so disposed to sort out each thing and fit himselfe to his owne purpose yea and ioine them all at his pleasure THE TVVENTIETH BOOKE OF THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE WRITTEN BY C. PLINIVS SECVNDVS The Proeme SInce we are come thus far as to treat of the greatest and principall work of Nature we will begin from hence-forward at the very meats which men put into their mouthes and conuey into their stomacks and vrge them to confesse a truth That hitherto they haue not well knowne those ordinarie means whereby they liue And let no man in the mean time thinke this to be a simple or small piece of knowledge and learning going by the base title bare name that it caries for so he may be soon deceiued For in the pursute and discourse of this argument we shall take occasion to enter into a large field as touching the peace and war in Nature we shall handle I say a deep secret euen the naturall hatred and enmitie of dumbe deafe and senselesse creatures And verily the main point of this theame and which may rauish vs to agreater wonder admiration of the thing lieth herin That this mutual affection which the Greeks call sympathie wherupon the frame of this world dependeth and whereby the course of all things doth stand tendeth to the vse and benefit of man alone For to what end else is it that the element of Water quincheth fire For what purpose doth the Sun suck and drink vp the water as it were to coole his heat and allay his thirst and the Moon contrariwise breed humors and engender moist vapors and both Planets eclipse and abridge the light one of the other But to
continue healthful strong lusty that they be good for the stomack in this regard that they cause rifting and breaking of wind vpward which is a good exercise of the stomacke and withall that they keepe the bodie loose and laxatiue yea and open the Haemorrhoid veines if they be put vp in maner of suppositories Also that the juice of onions and Fennell together be maruellous good to be taken in the beginning of a dropsie Item That their juice being incorporat with Rue and Hony is soueraigne for the Squinance As also that they will keep waking those who are fallen into a Lethargie To conclude Varro saith That if Onions be braied with salt and vinegre and then dried no woorms or vermine will come neere that composition CHAP. VI. ¶ Of cut Leekes or Porret of bolled Leeks and of Garlicke POrret otherwise called Cut-Leekes or vnset Leeks stancheth bleeding at the nose in case it be stamped and put vp close into the nosethrils or otherwise mingled with the pouder of the Gall-nut or Mints Moreouer Porret staieth the immoderat shift or fluxe of bloud that follows women vpon a slip or abortiue birth if the juice thereof be drunk in breast-milke In the same manner it helps an old cough and al other diseases of breast and lungs Burnes and sealdings are healed with a liniment made of Porret or Leek blades likewise the Epinyctides for so in this place I tearme that vlcer which in the lachrymal or corner of the eie runneth and watereth continually some call it Syce that is to say a fig. And yet others there be who vnderstand by that word Epinyctides the blackish or blew blistring wheals the bloudy fals I mean and angrie chilblanes that in the night disquiet and trouble folk that haue them But to come againe to our Porret the blades thereof stamped and laid too with Honie healeth all sores and vlcers whatsoeuer The biting of any venomous beast the sting also of Serpents are cured therwith As for the impediments of the hearing and the ears they be remedied with the juice of Leeks and Goats gall or els a like quantitie of honied wine instilled thereinto And as for the whistlings or crashing noises that a man shall heare within head otherwhiles they are discussed with the iuice of Leeks and womans milk dropped into the ears If the same be snuffled vp into the nosthrils or otherwise conueighed that way vp into the head it easeth head-ach for which purpose also it is good to poure into the eare when one goeth to bed and lieth to sleepe two spoonfuls of the said iuice and one of Honie The iuice of Porret if it be giuen to drinke with good wine of the grape against the sting of serpents and namely Scorpions likewise so taken with an Hemine of wine it cureth the pains of the loines or small of the back Such as spit or reach vp bloud such as be diseased with the Phthisick or consumption of the lungs such also as haue bin long troubled with the Pose the Murre Catarrhe and other rheums find great help by drinking the iuice of Porret or eating Leeks with their meat Moreouer Leeks are taken to be very good either for the iaundise or dropsie Drinke the same with the decoction of husked Barley called Ptisane to the quantity of one Acetable you shal find ease for the pains of the rains or kidnies The same measure and quantity being taken with honey mundifieth the Matrice and naturall parts of women Men vse to eat of Porrets or Leekes when they doubt themselues to haue taken venomous Mushroms And a cataplasm therof cureth green wounds Porret is a solicitour to wantonnesse and carnal pleasures it allaieth thirstinesse dispatcheth those fumes that cause drunkennesse But it is thought to breed dimnesse in the eie-sight to ingender wind and ventosity howbeit not offensiue to the stomack for that withall it maketh the belly laxatiue Finally it scoureth the pipes cleareth the voice thus much of Porret in blade or cut Leeks vnset These headed Leeks that are bolled and replanted are of the same operation but more effectual than the vnset Leeks The iuice therof giuen with the pouder either of Gal-nuts or frankincense or els Acacia cureth those that reject or reach vp bloud Hippocrates would haue the simple iuice therof giuen without any thing els for that purpose and hee is of opinion that it will disopilate the neck of the Matrice and the naturall parts of women yea and that they will proue fruitful and beare children the better if they vse to eat Leeks Being stamped and laid to filthie sores or vnclean vlcers with hony it clenseth them Being taken in a broth made of Ptisane or husked barly it cureth the cough staieth the rheume or catarrh that distilleth into the chist or breast-parts it scoureth the lungs and wind-pipe and healeth their exulcerations The like it doth if it be taken raw without bread 3 bols or heads of them together each other day and in this maner it will cure the patient although he raught vp and spit out putrified and corrupt matter After the same maner it cleareth the voice it inableth folk to the seruice of lady Venus and auaileth much to procure sleep If Leeke bols or heads be sodden in two waters i. changing the water twice and so eaten they wil stop the Lask and stay all inueterat fluxes whatsoeuer The pillings or skins of Leek heads if they be sodden the decoction therof wil change the haire from gray to blacke if they be washed or bathed therewith As touching Garlicke it is singular good and of great force for those that change aire and come to strange waters The very sent thereof chaseth Serpents and Scorpions away And as some haue reported in their writings it healeth all bitings stings of venomous beasts either eaten as meat taken in drinke or annointed as a liniment but principally it hath a special property against the Serpents called Haemorrhoids namely if it be first eaten and then cast vp aâ—…in by vomit and wine Also it is soueraigne against the poisonous biting of the mouse called 〈◊〉 Shrew and no maruell for why it is of power to dull and kill the force of the venomous herb Aconitum i. Libard bane which by another name men cal Pardalianches because it strangleth or choketh Leopards yea it conquereth the so poriferous deadly quality of Henbane the bitings also of a mad dog it healeth if it be applied vpon the hurt or wounded place with him As for the sting of serpents verily Garlick is exceeding effectuall if it be taken in drink but withal you must not forget to make a liniment of it the hairy strings or beard growing to the head the skins also or tails and all wherby it is bunched tempered all together with oile laid vpon the grieued place and thus also will it help any part of the body fretted or galled yea though it were risen
there is of wild Lectuce which the Greeks name Esopus The leaues thereof being beaten in a mortar and with barly floure applied as a pultesse heale all vlcers this groweth ordinarily in corn fields A third sort comming vp in the woods is named otherwise Isatis The leaues wherof being likewise beaten together with Barley-meale or floure aforesaid cureth green wounds A fourth kind there is besides of wild Lectuce named Glastum i. Woad wherewith diuers vse to colour their wooll It might be likened to the wild Dock for the leaues but that they be more in number and of a blacker green withall This hearb stancheth bloud It represseth and cureth the fierie and eating tettars the cankerous and filthy vlcers also which run and spread ouer the whole and sound parts also it dissolueth swellings before theygather to an head tend to suppuration The root or leaues thereof be good against S. Anthonies fire applied in a cataplasme or liniment It is a singular remedy also for the swelled puffed splene and thus much for their properties in particular respectiue to each seueral kind but to speak generally of them all that grow wild they agree all in this that they be white that their stem growes otherwhiles to the height of a cubit that both it and the leaues be rough in handling Of these wilde Lectuces That which hath round and short leaues some there be who call Hieracia because that Faulcons and such like Haukes are wont to scrape and scratch this herb to get forth the iuice wherewith they annoint and rub their eies and thereby recouer their sight when they perceiue it to be darkened or dim All the sort of them are full of a white iuice the same of the like vertue as is the iuice of Poppies Ordinarily is this juice gathered in haruest by incision of the stalk put vp it is in new earthen pots neuer occupied and so reserued for many excellent effects that it hath For first and formost being applied with womans milk it healeth all maladies that the eies be subiect vnto as namely it riddeth away the cloudy webs therein the cicatrices and scars all filthy sores with a burnt roof ouer them and principally disparcleth the mist and dimnesse that troubleth the eie-sight It is vsually also laid with a locke of wooll to the eies for to represse and stay the waterish humor that hath found a way thither the same iuice if one drink it to the weight of 2 Obolij in vineger and water is a good purgation Beeing taken in wine it cureth the venomous stinging of serpents To which purpose the leaues being parched dried against the fire their tender stems also being brused are drunk with vineger A liniment made of them is passing good against the pricking of scorpions but peculiarly for the sting of the venomous spiders Phalangia there must be wine and vineger mixt therwith Soueraigne defensatiues also these wild Lectuces be against other poisons saue those that kill by strangling and suffocation or such as haue a special spight to the blader neither are they of any power against Cerusse or white lead A cataplasme made therof with hony and vineger so laid to the belly purgeth the rotten humors expelleth the worms therof bred their iuice is singular good for them that pisse with gain and difficulty Cratevas prescribeth to giue the weight of 2 Oboli of the said juice in one Cyath of wine to those that be in a Dropsie Some there be who draw the juice out of the garden lectuce also for the same purpose but not with like effect The peculiar properties of which Lectuces I haue partly written of heretofore namely how they procure sleep abate fleshly lust coole intemperat heats clense and strengthen the stomacke and finally increase bloud Ouer and besides they haue other properties not a few for they resolue and discusse ventosities they breake winde vpward and make one rift and belch sweet and finally help digestion and of themselues cause no crudity in the stomack Certes I cannot say of any thing else but it that being eaten both giueth an edge to appetite and also dulleth the same and all according as it is taken more or lesse By the same reason also if a man eat liberally of them they will make the belly soluble if in a meane they will stay a Laske and bring the bodie to costiuenesse They cut and dissolue the grosse viscositie of slimie fleame and as some Physitians haue written do clarifie the senses Moreouer if a mans stomacke be quite gone so that hee neither desireth to receiue any thing into it nor can hold and keepe that which it receiueth he shall find notable comfort by eating of garden Lectuce But for this purpose they must be taken vnwashed with some sharpe sauce made with vineger to the quantitie of a certaine Oboli yet so as that the tart and harsh taste thereof be tempered with some wine cuit or other sweet liquour for to dip into Moreouer this regard ought to be had that if the fleame lying in the stomacke be very tough and grosse the Lectuce would be eaten with vineger of Squilla or the sea-Onion or else with Worme-wood Wine and if the Cough bee also busie then Hyssope Wine would be mingled withall In case there bee a fluxe occasioned by feeblenesse of the stomacke then would Garden Lectuce bee eaten together with wilde Endiue or Cichorie and so are they good also for the hardnesse and swelling in the mid-riffe and about the heart White Lectuce eaten in good quantitie helpeth the infirmities of the Bladder and agree very well with those who be troubled in their brains and ouercharged with melancholy Praxagoras aduised also That they should be eaten for to helpe the bloudy flix Moreouer if they be laid presently in manner of a liniment with salt vpon a burne or scald while it is new and before the place blister they will fetch out the fire and do very much good They keepe downe and represse cancerous vlcers that would be running and eating into the flesh if they bee applied at the beginning with falt-petre and afterwards with wine Being brused into a liniment they heale S. Anthonies fire if the place be annointed therewith If their stalkes or stemmes bee stamped with drie grout or Barley meale and laid too as a cataplasme with cold water they mitigat the pains that follow dislocations or lims out of ioint they asswage also dolorous cramps and convulsions Being applied in manner of a pultesse with wine and dry Barley groats they doallay the griefe of red and angry wheales Moreouer they were wont in times past to boile them betweene two platters and so giue them for the disease Cholera wherin choler is so outragious that it purgeth vncessantly both vpward and downeward But for this purpose there would be choise made of the fairest and greatest stemmes such also as are bitter for they bee best Some to the same
and those small round smooth and liker indeed to the young plants of Beets than to other Coleworts whiter also it is and more rougher clad with a mossie downe than is the garden Colewort Chrysippus writeth That it is a soueraigne medicine for flatuosities and such as be oppressed with melancholy that it is a singular salue for fresh wounds being applied with hony but with this charge That the plaster be not taken off in seuen daies Also if it be stamped and applyed with water it is an excellent cataplasme for the Kings euill and fistulous inward vlcers Other Chirurgions and Physitians do affirm that it represseth running corasiue sores which eat into the flesh such as the Greeks name Nomus Item that it doth extenuate and resolue all excrescence of proud ranke or dead flesh yea and it doth incarnat heale vp and skin very faire without skar by their saying Moreouer if it be chewed or the juice therof gargarised with honey so that the herb were sodden before it cureth the sores in the mouth called cankers as also the mumps and inflammation of the kernels in the throat called amygdales or almonds Semblably if a man take three parts of this herbe with twaine of alume and together with Vinegre make a liniment thereof it will clense the inueterate dry scab and the mortified leprosie Epicharmus is of opinion That for the biting of a mad dog a man need doe no more but lay to the sore a cataplasme of this herb alone but surer it were saith he and more effectual if Laser and strong sharp vinegre were ioyned thereto He addeth moreouer and saith That if it be giuen to dogs with some piece of flesh it will kill them And yet the seed being parched is a remedie against the sting of serpents and a countre-poison to venomous Mushroms and Buls bloud The leaues boiled and giuen with meat or otherwise raw and made into a liniment together with brimstone and nitre help those that be diseased in the splene The same liniment mollifies the hard swellings of womens breasts The ashes of the root being burnt cure the uvula or swelling of the wezil in the throat if it be but touched therewith Also a liniment thereof with honey applied to the inflamed kernels behind the eares represseth them yea and healeth the stinging of serpents I haue not yet done with the Colewort and the vertues thereof but one instance more I will giue you to proue the wonderfull force and effect that it worketh If any brasse pot caldron or such like vessel wherin we vse to seeth water ouer the fire haue gathered in continuance of time a fur or crust baked within such as by no washing or scouring can be rid away bee the same neuer so hard deep setled and inueterate boile but a cabbage or Colewort in it and the same will pill and go from the pot sides Among wild worts we may place Lapsana a plant growing to the height of a cubit bearing a furred or hairy leafe like for all the world to the Navew but that the floure is whiter This herb is commonly sodden and eaten in pottage and so taken it moderatly looseneth the belly The sea Colewort otherwise named Soldanella of all others purgeth most forcibly in regard of which acrimonie that it hath to stir the belly Cookes vse to seeth it with fat meat and yet is it most contrary to the stomack Touching Squils of Sea-Onions Physitians hold that the white is the male and the blacke the female but the whitest of them be euer best and of most vse The maner of preparing and dressing them is after this sort First the dry tunicles or skins being pilled off the rest which is quick and fresh vnderneath must be cut into slices so infiled vpon a thred along with a prety distance between euery one and hanged vp to dry afterward when the morcels be sufficiently dried they are to be put hanging stil as they did by a string into a barel or vessel of the strongest and quickest vineger that can be gotten and therein they must hang so as they touch â—…o part of the said vessel but this would be set in hand with 48 daies before the summer solstice Which done the barrel of Vineger beforesaid being well luted and stopped close with plastre must be set vnder a roofe of tiles to receiue the heate of the Sun all the day long from morning to night Now when it hath bin thus sunned so many days as are before named the vessel is remoued from vnder the case of tiles the Squilla taken forth and the vinegre poured out into another vessel This vinegre clarifieth their eie-sight who vse it comfortable it is to the stomack and sides and asswageth their paine if it be taken in small quantitie once in two daies for if a man should dring ouer-liberally of it so forcible it is that it would take away his breath and cause him to seem dead for the time Squilla chewed alone by it selfe is wholsom for the gums and teeth Being drank with vineger and honey it chaseth out of the belly the long flat worms and all other such like vermin If it be but held vnder the tongue while it is greene and fresh it allaieth thirstinesse in the dropsie and causeth that the Patient shall desire no drink The boiling of Squilla or the sea-onion is after many sorts for some after they haue either well luted or els greased it all ouer with fat put it into a pot of earth and then set it into an ouen or Furnace to be baked Others slice it into gobbets and so seeth it between two platters Some take it green and dry it then they cut it in pieces and boile it in vineger and being thus vsed and prepared apply it to the places which be stung with serpents Others againe rost it first in the embres and after they haue cleansed it from the vtmost pilling take the best of it onely in the midâ—… and seeth the same again in water Being thus baked and sod both it serueth to be giuen in a dropsie And if it be drunk to the quantitie of three Oboles with hony and vinegre it prouoketh vrine with ease In like maner this composition is good for those that be troubled with the splene or haue weak and feeble stomacks or be troubled with gnawing and pain there such also as canot hold their meat but it will flote aboue and come vp again prouided alwaies that there be no vlcer within the body Moreouer it is excellent good for the wringing in the guts the jaunise the old cough with shortnesse of wind The leaues emplastred resolue the wens or swelling kernels in the neck commonly called the Kings euil but they must lie fouâ—…e daies before they be remoued Being sodden in oile and reduced to a liniment and so applied it mundifieth the skurfe or dandruffe of the head the running skalls likewise that are bred there It is vsed also boiled
signes are neuer to be found in that which is falsified and sophisticat for this that is not right will not so soon take a light fire and besides is readie oftentimes to go out There is another experiment by water for the good and pure Opium being put into water sendeth forth a certaine mist from it like a cloud which floteth euen aloft whereas the corrupt and depraued Opium gathereth into blisters and bladders and so bubleth vpon the water And yet there is one way more admirable than the rest to try good Opium euen by the Sun-shine in a Summers day for if it be such as it ought it wil sweat and resolue into a thin liquor like as when it came first out of the plant To conclude Mnesicles is of opinion that the best means to keep and preserue Opium is to lay it in Henbane seed but others thinke it better to let it lie among beanes CHAP. XIX ¶ Of the wandering Poppy and the horned Poppy Of Glaucium or Paralium Of Heraclium or Aprhum Of the composition named Diacodium and of the Tithymal IN a middle nature betweene the garden Poppy and the wild is to be ranged a third kinde which because it commeth vp in corne fields but yet vnsown and of the own accord we haue called Rhoeas and wandering Poppy Some there be who so soon as it is gathered chew both hearb and head all whole as it grew and so eat it Fiue heads of this Poppy being sodden in three hemines of wine and so taken in drinke do both purge the belly and also bring the patient to sleep Of these wild Poppies there is one kind called in Greek Ceratitis of a dark or duskish green growing vp with a stalke a cub it high with a grosse root couered with a thicke rinde the heads or cups wherein the seed lieth bend like vnto a little horne The leaues are lesse and slenderer of this Poppy than of any other wild The seed also is smal ripe and ready to be gathered in corn haruest which being taken in drink to the quantity of half an Acetable in honied wine worketh downwards and scoureth the belly The leaues being stamped with oyle and so applyed heale the haw in horse eies The root taken to the quantity of an Acetable and sodden in two sextars of honied wine vntill halfe be consumed is giuen in drinke for the infirmities of the loins and liuer The leaues applied as a cataplasme with hony healeth Carbuncles Some call this kind Glaucium others Paralium for it growes within the aire of the sea or els in some brackish place standing much vpon Nitre Another kind of these wild Poppies is called of some Heraclion or of others Aphron with leaues resembling Sparrows if a man look a far off The root runneth very ebbe and superficially vnder the green sord and the seed seemeth charged with a certaine froth or some Herewith linnen cloths in summer time vse to be bleached and to get a bright white colour This herbe beaten in a mortar to the quantity of one Acetable and taken in white wine helpeth the falling sicknesse for it causeth the patient to vomit This kinde of Poppy is the principall ingredient or Basis to the confection named Diacodium or Arteriacum The composition or making whereof ensueth in this maner Take of this Poppy heads or of any other of the wilde sort 120 let them lie in soke or infused two daies together in three sextaries or halfe a gallon of water and in the same water boyle them wel When this decoction hath passed through a strainer or jelly bag seeth it a second time with hony vp to the height or consistence of a Syrrupt that is to say vntill halfe be consumed away ouer a soft and gentle fire Herunto the modern Physicians which came after put too of Saffron of Hypocisthis Frankincense Acacia of each six drams and in the end of grosse cuit of Candy one sextar But this later composition serued onely for a shew and vaine ostentation for the simple and plain making of it in old time with Hony and Poppy and no other addition besides was as wholesome and profitable as this But to come again to our wild Poppies there is a third kind therof named Tithymalos which some call Mecon others Paralion carrying a smooth leafe and a white with a head of the bignesse of a Bean. The time of gathering these Poppies is when the grape is in the floure then the manner is to dry them in the shade The seed if it be taken in drinke the quantitie of halfe an Acetable in mead or honied wine purgeth the belly But what Poppy soeuer it be the head either green and fresh or dry if it be applied as a liniment to the eies represseth the flux of waterish humors falling to them and mitigateth their in flammations If Opium be giuen in pure wine somwhat allaied presently after the Scorpion hath stung it is a counterpoyson Howbeit some there be who attribute this vertue only to the blacke Poppy namely if either the heads or leaues be bruised and reduced into pouder CHAP. XX. ¶ Of the wild Purcellane or Peplium Of Coriander and Orach THere is a wild Purcellane also which they cal Peplium more effectual though not much than the garden Purcellane for there be strong and wonderfull properties reported thereof for sundry vses First it is holden for certain that this herb if it be eaten as meat dulleth the poison of venomous arrows of Serpents also called Haemorrhoids and Presters and being laid to the hurt place draw forth the said poyson The juice also of this herb pressed forth and drunk in wine cuit is a remedy for those that be poysoned with Henbane Now if the herb it selfe is not to be gotten the seed hath the like effect Moreouer it is thought to be singular good for the aquosities gathered within the body and the diseases caused thereby as dropsies c. for the head-ach for rheumatick vlcers also if it be brused and applied with wine Al other sores likewise it healeth if it be chewed and laid too with honey After the same manner prepared it is good to be applied to childrens heads for to temper the heat of the brain as also to their nauils when they beare out more than they should For al vehement distillations of watery humors into the eies as well of old folke as small infants it is counted singular for to be applied to the forehead temples together with Barly groats but if it be laid vnto the very eys then would the same be tempered with milk and hony Now if it chance that the eies be ready to fall out of the head the leaues stamped with the shales of Beane cods and applied thereto is an excellent remedy A cataplasme made of it with Barly groats salt and vineger cureth angry wheales and blisters that break out in the skin The same being chewed raw represseth the cankers
humor called S. Anthonics fire also to places scorched burnt or scalded but for the accidents and Symptomes concurrent with wounds they be rather laid raw with crums of bread The juice of mallows boiled is comfortable to the sinews the bladder and the fretting or grinding of the guts Mallows being either eaten or their decoction ministred by way of injection with a metrenchyte mollifieth the said tumors in the matrice The juice of mallows wel sodden either taken in drinke or applyed by way of fomentation in largeth the Vretere conduits and giueth good and easie passage for the vrine The root of Althaea is more effectual to all these infirmities and purposes aboue named than of any other Mallow but especially in case of convulsions cramps and ruptures If it be sodden in water it bindeth the belly Boyled in white wine and applyed as a cataplasme it resolueth the swelling kernels commonly called the Kings euil those also that appeare behind the ears yea and the inflammations of the paps and breasts As for the byles or risings called Pani the leaues of Althaea or the Marish Mallow sodden in Wine and brought to the forme of a liniment doe discusse and rid away The same after they bee drie and sodden in milke cure the Cough how tough and shrewd soeuer it were and that most speedily Hippocrates gaue counsell to them that were wounded for losse of bloud exceeding thirstie for to drink the juice of Althaea roots sodden He saith moreouer That the root it selfe emplastred with hony and rosin is good for wounds bruises dislocations and swellings comfortable also to muscles sinews or joints He gaue it likewise to those that were troubled with difficulty of taking wind and with wheezing for the dysentery also or bloudy flix to be drunken in wine A wonderfull thing of this root that if it be put into water and the same let to stand abroad in the open aire the water will gather to a thicknesse and cruddle yea turne white it wil like milk To conclude the newer and fresher Althaea is the more effectuall you shal haue it in operation Touching the Dock the properties therof are not vnlike to those of the marsh Mallow there is a wild kind thereof which some call Oxalis in Greek i. wild Sorrel or Soure-dock this herb resembleth very neere that of the garden in regard of the sharpe pointed leaues in colour like the white Beet hauing a very small root our countrymen name it in Latine Rumex other Lapathum Cantherinum this herb being incorporat with hogs grease is singular to mollifie all the swelled kernels which some call the Kings euill A second sort there is which commonly is called Oxylapathum i. Sharp pointed Docke this commeth yet neerer to the garden Docke than the former for it hath leaues sharper at the point and redder and groweth not but in marish grounds There is another kind of Dock comming vp in the very water as some say Hydrolapathum Yet is there one more called Hippolapathum bigger than the garden Docke or Sorrell white also and of a more fast and pulpous substance As for all the wild Dockes or Sorrells they be holden medicinable to cure the sting of Scorpions and whosoeuer hath any of them about him is secure from the sting or prick of Scorpions The root if it be sodden in vineger and strained the juice thereof if the mouth be washed therewith helpeth the teeth-ach and if the same be taken in drink it cureth the jaundise The seed of this hearbe remooueth the tough humors bedded in the stomack how hard impacted soeuer they be the roots of Patience haue this peculiar property To cause the nailes to fall off that grow rugged and vneuen The seed taken to the weight of two drams in wine riddeth away the bloudy flix The seed of the sharp Dock being washed in rain water is singular good for those that reach and cast vp bloud if there be added thereto as much Acacia as the bignesse of a Lentill There be most excellent Trochisques made of the leaues and root thereof with the addition of nitre and some little quantity of conuenient liquor to incorporat and vnite them and these must bee infused and dissolued in vineger at the time that they are to be vsed As touching the garden Sorrell there is a liniment made thereof which being applied in manner of a frontall to the forehead cureth the distillation of the watery humours to the eies The root is singular for the wens or imposthumes called Melecerides and likewise of the Lepry The decoction in wine is as good for the stone and grauell as also to resolue the Kings euill and the swelling kernels behind the ears If the seed be drunk in wine it helpeth the spleen and the tumors thereof the bloudy flix likewise the stomachicall flux and the vaine desire to the stoole without effect But for all these purposes the juice of the Dock is more effectual Ouer and aboue it breaketh wind vpward it prouoketh vrine and discusseth the cloud and Mist that troubleth the eies If this herbe be put vp vnder the bathing tub within the baine or otherwise if the body be annointed with a liniment thereof without oyle before one enter into the bath it taketh away the itch If the root be but chewed only it fasteneth the teeth that shake in the head The same root sodden in wine staieth the flux of the belly and bindeth it and yet the leaues make the body soluble Finally because I would willingly omit nothing Solon hath made mention of another Docke called Bulapathum nothing different from other Dockes but that the root runneth deeper into the ground which if it be taken in wine cureth the bloudy flix CHAP. XXII ¶ Of three kinds of Senvey of Horehound and wilde running Thyme of water Cresses of water Mints otherwise called Thymbraeum of Lineseed and Bleets THe herbe Senvey whereof there be three kinds as I haue already obserued in my treatise of garden plants Pythagoras hath placed in the highest ranke of those simples that sume vp aloft for there is not a thing that sooner biteth one by the nose pierceth and mounteth more quickly into the brains than doth Senvey The seed thereof commonly called mustard seed being stamped with vineger reduced into a liniment cureth the sting of serpents and namely the prick with the Scorpion It hath besides a singular vertue to mortifie kil the venomous quality of mushrums If it be but held in the mouth vntill it melt and resolue or otherwise be gargarised with honied water it draweth waterie fleame out of the head Beeing chewed it easeth the toothach For the falling down of the Vvula a gargarisme made of it with vineger and honey is excellent There is not a medicine so singular for the stomack and all the infirmities thereof ne yet for the lungs Being eaten at meat it doth loosen superfluous fleame and causeth a man to reach and fetch it vp
prouoketh vrine Howbeit where there is danger of any exulceration in kidnies or bladder it must be vsed with great warinesse if it be vsed at all Moreouer the juice of Horehound is said to clarifie the eie-sight Castor putteth downe two sorts of Horehound to wit the black and the white but he setteth greater store by the white than the other He prescribeth to take an empty egg-shel and to put into it the juice of Horehound and hony by euen portions when the said egge is warm to minister the same by way of clyster or syringe promising vs that the said iniection will breake all inward imposthumes and when they be broken clense and heale them throughly Also a liniment saith hee made of Horehound stamped together with old swines grease cureth all wounds occasioned by the biting of mad dogs Touching running Thyme some think it is called Serpyllum in Latine a serpendo i. of creeping because it runneth and creepeth by the ground a property indeed of the wild kind and especialy among rocks and stony grounds The garden Serpyllum which commeth of seed creepeth not but groweth to the height of four-fingers bredth The wilde Thyme which commeth vp of the own accord liketh and thriueth better hauing whiter leaues and branches than the other this I say is thought to haue a speciall vertue against serpents and namely the Cenchris the Scolopendres also as well of the sea as the land likewise the Scorpions in case the sprigs and leaues thereof be sodden in wine and so taken inwardly if the same be burned it yeeldeth a perfume which with the very sent chaseth them all away A singular power it hath against all venomous creatures of the sea Boiled in vineger reduced into a liniment with oile of roses it cureth the head ach if it be applied as a frontall to the forehead and temples In like manner it helpeth the phrensie and lethargy but if it be giuen to drink the weight only of four drams it easeth the wrings torments of the belly it giueth free passage with ease to the vrine it resolueth squinancy or bringeth them to maturity and staieth vomits And if one drinke it with water it is excellent good for the opilation heat inflammations and other accidents of the liuer The leaues to the weight of four oboli are giuen in vineger for the inflation and hardnesse of the splene If it be beaten to pouder and giuen in 2 cyaths of vineger and hony it is thought a good medicine for them that spit and reach vp bloud The wild Sisymbrium or Cresses called of some Thymbraeum groweth to a foot in height and no higher That which commeth vp in watery places is like vnto garden Cresses but both sorts are effectuall against all pricks and stings of Hornets and such like creatures That which springeth vp in dry ground hath the narrower leafe of the twain and carrieth a sweet smel with it whereupon it is commonly plaited amongst other odoriferous herbes in chaplets and guirlands But both the one and the other allaieth head-ach likewise they doe stay the flux of waterish humors which distill into the eyes Some put crums of bread thereto others seeth them alone in wine and vse the decoction Being reduced into a cataplasme and so applied euery night and taken off in the day time it heals within foure times laying on the angry chilblanes and bloudy-fals that trouble the feet in the night season yea and taketh away the spots pimples arising in womens faces which marreth their beauty whether it be eaten with meat in substance or the juice only taken in drink it staieth vomits yexes wringings gnawings and the dissolution or feeblenesse of the stomack which causeth inordinat flux Women going with child must take heed how they eat Sisymbrium vnlesse the fruit of their bodies be dead within them for if it be but applyed outwardly it will send it forth If one drinke it with wine he shall find that it prouoketh vrine and the wild kind ouer and besides expelleth the stone and the grauell Such as had need to wake and watch namely those that be giuen to drowsinesse and lethargie will be raised from their sleep and throughly wakened if it be distilled aloft vpon their heads with vineger Line-seed is imployed with other matters in diuers medicines to many vses but of it selfe alone it cleareth the skin of womens faces taketh out spots freckles pimples wems and molls that be eye-sores if it be applied as a liniment thereto The juice therof quickneth and helpeth the eye-sight With Frankincense and water or els with Myrrhe and wine it represseth the violent flux of humors to the eyes Reduced into a cataplasme with honey grease or waxe and so applyed it resolueth the swelling kernels behind the ears The meale thereof in manner of drie barley groats if it be strewed vpon the stomack helpeth the weaknesse and queasinesse thereof which maketh it ready to ouerturn If it be sodden in water and oile and so reduced into a liniment with Annise-seed and applyed it cureth the squinancie It must be wel dried and parched at the fire in case it be giuen to stay the running out of the belly As for those that be troubled with the stomachicall flux or the exulceration of the guts a cataplasme thereof with vineger and so applied bringeth them present ease For the griefe of the liuer it ought to be eaten with raisons This seed is passing good for lohoches or electuaries to be made thereof in the cure of the Phthisick and consumption of the lungs Lineseed growing into floure and mingled with nitre or salt or els with ashes put thereto is of great operation to mollifie the hardnesse of muscles sinews joints and the nape or chine of the neck yea and to mitigat the inflammations of the membrans or pellicles of the brain The same applyed with figs is an excellent maturatiue and ripeneth all impostumes But if it be laid too with the root of the wild Cucumber it draweth forth any thing that sticketh within the body euen the very spils shiuers of broken bones The said pouder or floure made of Line-seed sodden in wine and applied as a cataplasme stayeth cancerous vlcers that they run no further the same also with hony ripeneth apostemations of flegmatick humors and the breaking forth of the small pox Being mingled with an equall portion of garden Cresses it cureth the rough nailes that grow vntowardly and fetcheth them off without any inconuenience Incorporat with rosin and Myrrhe and so laid to the cods it helpeth their swelling and inflammations it is good also for ruptures of all sorts with water it healeth the gangrene Take of Line-seed Fenigreek seed of each one sextar seeth them in honied water and make a liniment thereof it easeth the paine of the stomack Line-seed ministred in a clystre with oile and hony cureth the deadly maladies of the guts and breast parts Bleets seeme to be dull
who forbiddeth expressely to take Cypirus inwardly in any drink and yet he protesteth that it is most effectuall for them that be troubled with the stone and full of grauel but by way of fomentation onely He affirmeth moreouer that without all doubt it causes women to trauell before their time to slip their vntimely fruit But one miraculous effect therof he reports namely that the Barbarians vse to receiue the fume of this herb into their mouth and thereby wast and consume their swelled Spleens also they neuer go forth of dores before they haue drunk a pipe therof in that maner for persuaded they are verily saith he that by this means they are more youthful liuely and strong He saith moreouer that if it be applied as a liniment with oile it healeth all merry-gals and raw places where the flesh is rubbed off or chafed it helpeth the rank rammish smel vnder the arm-holes and without faile cureth any chilling numnesse and through cold Thus much of Cypirus As for Cyperus a Rush it is as I haue said growing square and cornered neere the ground it is white toward the top of a dark blackish green and fattish the vnder leaues that be lowest are slenderer than leek-blades the vppermost in the head are smal among which is the seed the root is like vnto a black oliue which if it grow long-wise is called Cyperis and is of singular operation in Physick The best Cyperus is that which groweth amongst the sands in Africke neere the temple of Iupiter Ammon in a second rank is that of Rhodes in a third place may bee ranged the Cyperus in Thracia and in the lowest degree that of Egypt And hereupon came the confounding of these two plants Cyperus and Cypirus because both the one and the other grow there But the Cyperus of Egypt is very hard and hath no smell at all whereas in the other there is a sauor resembling the very Spikenard There is another herb also comming from the Indians called Cyperis of a seuerall kind by it selfe in forme like vnto ginger if a man chew it in the mouth it coloureth the spittle yellow like as Saffron But to come again to Cyperus and the medicinable properties therof It is counted to haue a depilatory vertue for to feth off haire In a liniment it is singular good for the excrescence of the flesh about the naile roots or the departure and loosenesse therof about them which both imperfections be called Pterygia it helpeth the vlcers of the secret parts and generally all exulcerations proceeding of rheumatick humors as the cankers in the mouth The root of Cyperus is a present remedy against the stinging of serpents and scorpions specially Taken in drink it doth desopilat open the obstructions of the matrice but if a woman drink too much therof it is so forcible that it will driue the matrice out of the body It prouoketh vrine so as it expelleth the stone and grauell withall in which regard also it is an excellent medicine for the dropsie A liniment thereof is singular for cancerous and eating sores but especially for those that be in the stomack if it be annointed with wine or vineger tempered with it As concerning the rushes beforesaid their root sodden in three hemines of water vntill one third part be consumed cureth the cough The seed parched against the fire and so drunk in water staieth the flux of the belly and stoppeth the immoderat course of womens moneths but it procureth head-ach As for the rush called Holoschoenos take that part of it which is next the root and chew it then lay it to the place that is stung with a venomous spider it is an approoued remedie I find one sort more of Rushes which they cal Euripice and this property withal That it bringeth one to sleepe but it must be vsed with moderation for otherwise it breedeth drowsinesse sib to the lethargy Now seeing I am entred into the treatise of rushes I must needs set down the medicinable vertues of the sweet Rush called Squinanth and the rather because as I haue already shewed it groweth in Syria surnamed Coele The most excellent Squinanth commeth out of Nabataea and the same is knowne by the addition or syrname Teuchites In a second place is that of Babylon The worst of all is brought out of Africke and it is altogether without smell Squinanth is round of an hote and fiery taste biting at the tongues end The true Squinant indeed which is not sophisticated if a man rub it hard yeeldeth the smel of a Rose and the fragments broken from it do shew red As touching the vertues thereof It resolueth all ventosities and therefore comfortable it is and good for the wind in the stomack also it helpeth them that puke vp choler or reach and spit bloud it stinteth the yex causeth rifting and breaking wind vpward it prouoketh vrine helpeth the bladder The decoction thereof is good for womens infirmities if they sit therein A cerot made therewith and dry rosin together is excellent against spasmes and cricks that set the neck far backward As concerning Roses the temperature thereof is hot howbeit they knit the matrice by an astrictiue quality that they haue and coole the naturall parts of women The vse of Roses is twofold according to the leafe of the floure and the floure it selfe which is the yellow The head of the Rose leafe to wit the white part thereof is called in Latine Vnguis i. the Naile In the yellow floure aforesaid are to be considered seuerally the seed the hairy threds in the top the husk and pellicle that couereth the Rose in the bud the cup within euery one of these haue their proper qualities vertues by themselues The leaues are dried or the iuice is drawn and pressed out of them three waies either all whole as they be without clipping off the white nailes for therein lyeth the most moisture or when the said nails are taken off and the rest behind is infused in the sun lying either in wine or oile within glasses for oile rosat or wine rosat Some put thereto salt others mingle withall either Orchanet or Aspalathus or els Squinanth and this manner of juice thus drawne and prepared is very good for the matrice and the bloudy flix The same leaues with the whites taken away are stamped then pressed through a thicke linnen cloth into a vessell of brasse and the said juice is sodden with a soft fire vnto the consistence of hony and for this purpose choise would be made of the most odoriferous leaues CHAP. XIX ¶ The medicinable vertues of Roses of the Lilly and Daffodill called Laus tibi Of the Violet of Bacchar Combretum and Azarabacca HOw wine of Roses should be made I haue shewed sufficiently in the treatise of diuers kinds of wines The vse of the juice drawn out of Roses is good for the eares the cankers and exulcerations in the mouth
chewed staieth bleeding in a wound To conclude some haue written that it expelleth the stone and grauell CHAP. X. ¶ Of the Caltrop thistle Tribulus The sundry kinds thereof and the medicines which they yeeld SOme of these Thistles come vp in gardens others grow in and about riuers only The juice which is drawne from these is thought to be good for the eies for this herb being as it is of a cooling nature is a singular remedy for inflammations and gathering of imposthumes A good medicine for all vlcers but those especially which break out of themselues in the mouth it cureth likewise those of the Amygdales or almonds of either side of the throat If it be taken in drink it fretteth breaketh the stone The Thracians dwelling vpon the riuer Strymon feed their horses fat with the leaues of this herb and liue themselues with the kernels or fruit therof making a kind of sweet bread therewith which also bindeth the belly The root if it be gathered by the chast and pure hands of a virgin discusseth and dissolueth the kings euill The seed if it be tied to the swelling vains assuageth their pain Lastly being beaten into pouder and cast into water it killeth the fleas in any place where that water is thrown or sprinckled CHAP. XI ¶ Of Stoebe and the medicines which it affoordeth SToebe which some call Phleon boiled in wine is a soueraigne remedy for eares that run with atter likewise for bloud shotten eies especially vpon a stripe or stroke giuen Beeing ministred by way of clyster it is good for the bloudy flix and the exulceration of the guts CHAP. XII ¶ Of Hippophyes and Hippope with iheir medicinable vertues HIppophyes is an hearbe growing in grauelly and sandy places and namely along the sea-side armed with white prickes or thornes it beareth berries by clusters after the manner of Iuie and those be partly white partly red The root is ful of a certain juice which is good either to be condite and confected alone or els to be reduced into Troschs with Eruile meale this being taken to the weight of one Obolus purgeth cholericke humors and a most wholesome medicine it is especially with honied wine Another herb ther is named Hippope which neither riseth vp in stalk nor beareth floure but hath leaues only and those small The juice also of this herb is wonderfull good for those who are in a dropsie Where it is to be noted That these two herbs should haue some especiall properties respectiue to the nature of horses considering both their names are deriued from nothing else for in very truth some things there be which Nature hath brought forth as appropriat remedies for certain particular beasts whereby we may see her diuine power and how wel appointed she is and prouided for to bring forth medicines of all sorts so as the depth of her prouidence canot be sounded neither are we able sufficiently to admire her wit and descrition in disposing and digesting her remedies according to sundry kinds of creatures according to diuers causes and different seasons insomuch as the remedies seruing one are not fitted for another neither are they of the same effect and operation at all times nay there is not a day almost in the yere throughout but it yeeldeth a remedy respectiue vnto it CHAP. XIII ¶ Of the Nettle and the medicinable vertues thereof IS there any thing more hated and odious than the Nettle and yet to say nothing of the oile made of it in Egypt according as we haue shewed heretofore indued shee is and furnished with many good properties seruing for Physick For first as touching Nettle seed Nicander affirms That it is a very counterpoison against Hemlock venomous mushrums and Quick siluer Apollodorus addeth moreouer and saith That being boiled in the broth of a Tortoise it is singular good for the poison of Salamanders also that it is contrary to the pernicious nature of Henbane and the deadly poyson of serpents namely of scorpions Euen that very bitternesse and mordacity which the Nettle hath causeth the Vvula in the mouth which is falne to knit vp againe the matrice also which is ouer-loose and beareth downe to arise into the place yea and the tuill or fundament in children hanging forth of the body to return abide where it ought to be only with touching these parts therewith If the legs be rubbed and the forehead especially with Nettles it is a good meanes to awake them out of their drowsie and dead sleep who are surprised with a lethargy The same being applied with salt is passing good for the biting of dogs If it be bruised and put vp to the nosthrils it stancheth bleeding at the nose but principally the root of it If it be tempered with salt it mundifieth cancerous and foule filthie vlcers likewise it helpeth dislocations and bones out of joint it discusseth or ripeneth botches in the emunctories and the swelling kernels behind the eares and healeth vp the places where the fleshy parts be gon from the bones Nettle seed taken in wine cuit as a drinke openeth the matrice when it is ready to strangle or suffocate a woman and being applied with wine it staieth bleeding at the nose If one driake Nettle seed after supper with hony and water to the quantity of two oboles weight it openeth the passages maketh way for to womit with greater facility but the weight of one Obolus taken in wine refresheth those who haue a lassitude or wearinesse vpon them The same being parched against the fire and drunk to the measure of one Acetabulum is singular for the imperfections of the matrice and in cuit it withstandeth the ventosities and inflations of the stomack Giuen inwardly with hony in the form of a loch it doth them good who labor for wind and cannot take their breath but sitting vpright and after the same manner it cutteth fleame and clenseth the brest of it Being applied in a bag together with line-seed it taketh away the stitch and pain in the sides but some put hyssope therto and a little pepper A liniment made therewith cureth the spleen Being parched or rosted and so â—…aten with meat it keepeth the body soluble And Hippocrates affirmeth that the said seed is very good to be taken in drink for to cleanse the matrice in women and being so parched and giuen to the quantity of one Acetabulum in sweet wine cuit it allaieth the griefe and paine of the said part in case withall there be a cataplasme applied to the region thereof together with the juice of Mallows If it be taken in hydromel i. honied water together with salt it expelleth by his saying the worms in the belly Applied in a liniment to the bare and naked places of the head it causeth the haire to grow again and bringeth all to the former beauty Many do vse to make a cataplasme of Nettle-seed and old oile or els stamp the leaues together with Bears
Kings euill with oile and Fenigreeke it helpeth the tumors of the midriffe and precordiall parts or in case the feuer be busie with the Patient then it must bee vsed with honey or old grease But if those swellings tend to maturation then wheat meale is commonly more lenitiue and assuageth pain better The same being reduced into a liniment with the juice of Henbane is good for the nerues but with honey and vinegre it taketh away the red pimples and spots appearing in the skin called Lentils Touching * Zea whereof is made the ordinary frumenty as I haue said the meale of it is counted better in operation than the other of barley but that of the three-moneth corn is more moist and emollatiue Tempered with red wine and so applied warm it is commended for the pricke of Scorpions also for them that reach and spit vp bloud and all accidents happening to the throat and windpipes but with goats suet or butter it is good for the cough The floure or meale of Fenigreek is the softest of al other it healeth running vlcers it skoureth dandruffe or skales in any part of the body it appeaseth and assuageth the pains of the stomack it cureth the maladies incident to the feet and paps if it be sodden with sal-nitre and wine and so applied accordingly The meale of Yurain or Darnell doth clense old vlcers and gangrenes more than any other Tempered with raddish salt and vineger it cureth ring-worms tettars shingles and such like with Sulphur-vis or quick brimstone it scoureth away the leprosie Applied in a frontall to the forehead with Goose-grease it helpeth the head-ache Boiled in wine with Pigeons dung and Line-seed it digesteth and bringeth to maturation the swelling kernels named the Kings-euil and other biles which be long ere they gather to an head and do ripen Of the sundry sorts of Barly groats or grosse meale called Polenta I haue said enough in my Treatise of corn which did require also the discourse of such things as be made of corn It differeth from Barly meale in that it is torrified or parched in which regard it doth the stomack good It bindeth and staieth the flux of the belly it represseth also and smiteth back the flushing of humors to the breeding of red and angry tumors It serueth for a liniment to the eies and easeth head-ach if it be applied with Mints or some other cooling herb In like manner it cureth kibed heels and the wounds occasioned by serpents also it healeth burnes and scalds if it be laid too with wine and in that sort it keepeth them from blistering If meale be driuen through a sercer or boulter and so reduced to floure and afterwards made with dough or paste it is a great drawer of noi som humors to the outward parts which is the cause that being applied to such places which look dead mortified by reason of the bloud spread vnder the skin it draweth out the same so that the very linnen bands wherwith they be lapped rolled become bloudy again But if wine cuit be ioined therewith the operation is more effectuall Moreouer the said floure is good to be laid vnto the callosities and corns of the feet For the fine floure of meale being sodden with old oile and pitch and applied so hot as the patient may abide it doth wonderfully cure the swelling piles and all other griefs about the fundament As touching the thick gruell or paps made with floure it nourisheth much and causeth the body to feed wel the past made of meale wherewith they vse to glew Papyr is ordinarily giuen warm to good effect for the reaching and spitting of bloud As for the frumenty called Alica it is a meere Roman inuention and not long ago first deuised for otherwise the Greeks if they had known of it would neuer haue written as they did in the commendation of husked Barly named Ptisana rather than of it And I thinke verily that the vse thereof was not taken vp in the daies of Pompey the great and therefore the followers and disciples of Asclepiades haue left little or nothing therof in writing That it is a soueraign and most wholsom thing no man verily maketh doubt or question whether it be washed and so giuen in honied water or whether it be sodden and so vsed in a thin supping or boiled higher to the consistence of a thick gruel or pottage The same for to stay the belly and stop a lask is torrified and then afterwards sodden with virgin-wax as before I haue shewed But a peculiar vertue it hath by it selfe to restore those that are consumed and fallen away through a long languishing sicknesse and then it must be ordered thus Take three cyaths of the said Frumentie seeth it in a sextar of faire water ouer a soft fire gently vntill by little and little all the water be consumed now after this imbibition when that the Frumenty hath thus drunk vp all the water there must be added thereto a sextar of Ewes milk or Goats milk and in the end a little hony This the patient is to take for certain daies together And in truth such a broth or supping is this as there is not in the world a more soueraigne restoratiue for all colliquations and consumptions whatsoeuer nor that will sooner set vpon their feet again those who be far gone and spent that way To come now to Millet it is a grain which being torrified aforehand for the purpose stoppeth the lask and dispatcheth all collick pains and torments of the belly Being fried and laied too hot in a bag there is not a better thing for the griefe of thesinews or to alay any other pain for most soft it is and lightest of all other and nothing in the world retaineth heat so well No maruell then if Millet be vsed ordinarily in those cases where heat is to do good To conclude the meale or pouder thereof incorporat with tar is a singular plaister to be laid vpon sores occasioned by the sting of Serpents or the prick of the vermine named Multipeda As for the Panick Diocles the Physitian called it Mel-frugum The same operations and effects it hath that Millet Being taken in wine it is good for the dysentery or bloudy flix to such tumors as need to euaporat and be resolued it is singular good for to be applied hot by way of fomentation Sodden in Goats milk and giuen twice a day to drink it bindeth the belly staieth flux and in that manner it assuageth the torments and wrings in the collicke Sesama stamped or beaten into pouder and so taken in wine restraineth immoderat vomits Reduced into a liniment and so applied it doth mitigat the inflammation of the ears cureth any burne or scalt place of the body The same effects it hath when it is green growethin the field Ouer and besides a cataplasme made thereof being boiled in wine is good for sore eyes To be eaten it is no
wholsome meat for the stomack and more than that it causeth a stinking breath Howbeit they hold it excellent to withstand the venomous sting of the Stellions and the dangers that it may inferre as also to heale the old cancerous and maligne vlcers named Cacoethe i. Morimals There is an oile made thereof which as I haue before shewed is good for the eares Touching Sesamoeides which taketh that name of the resemblance that it hath to Sesama but that the graine thereof is bitter and the leafe lesse and it groweth in grauelly grounds the same being taken to drink in water purgeth chollerick humors A liniment made of the seed doth assuage the heat of S. Anthonies fire and doth discusse and resolue biles And yet there is another Sesamoeides growing in Anticyra which thereupon some do cal Anticyricon otherwise much like it is to the herb Groundswell whereof I will speake in place conuenient The graine or seed of this Sesamoeides is giuen in sweet wine as a purgatiue of chollerick and flegmatick humors to the quantity of as much as may be contained with three fingers but to quicken the same the Physitians vse to put one Obole and an halfe of the white Ellebore-root or Neesewort which purgation they vse in case of madnesse the melancholicke disease the falling sicknesse and the gout By it selfe alone the weight of one dram is a sufficient laxatiue doth euacuat the belly The best Barley is that which is whitest The iuice of Barley boiled in rain water is made vp into certain trosches which is singular good to be either conueied into the guts by way of clyster for the exulceration thereof or els injected into the Matrice by the metrenchyte for the vlcers therein The ashes of Barly burnt are good in a liniment for Burnes for places where the flesh is gone from the bones for wheales and small pocks and for the biting of the Hardishrew mouse The same with a little sprinckling of salt and some honey amongst is counted a good dentifrice to make the teeth look white and the breath to smel sweet There is an opinion commonly receiued That whosoeuer vse to eat Barly bread shall not be troubled with the gout of the feet And they say that if a man take nine barly corns with euery one of them draw three imaginary circles about a felon with his left hand and when he hath so done throw them all into the fire presently it shall be cured There is an herb which the Greeks cal Phoenicea and our countrymen in Latine Hordeum Murinum This herb or weed being beaten to pouder taken in wine is singular to bring down the course of womens fleurs Hippocrates the famous Physitian hath made one intire book in the praise of Ptisana which is a groat made of Barly but all the vertues and properties thereof are now attributed vnto our Frumenty Alica and that goeth away with all the commendation And yet a man may see how much more harmlesse it is than Alica Hippocrates commended it only for a supping as being slippery easie to be taken good to put away thirst not swelling in the belly passing quickly and easily through the body and such a kinde of meat as might alone of all others be giuen twice a day in a feuer to those who were vsed to it so farre was hee in opinion from them who would famish all diseases cure them by fasting vtter hunger Howbeit he forbad to giue it whole in substance to be supped off allowed nothing but the very simple juice and broth of Ptisane or husked Barly neither allowed he it in the beginning of an ague fit so long as the feet continued cold for during that time he would not admit so much as a thin potion therof Now besides the Alica or frumenty made of Zea there is another which commeth of the common wheat more glutinous and better indeed for the exulceration of the wind pipes As touching Amylum or starch pouder it dimmeth the eyesight is hurtful to the throat and is nothing good to be eaten contrary to the common receiued opinion It staieth the inordinat flux of the belly represseth the rheum into the eies it healeth vlcers and cureth pushes wheals and blains and restraineth fluxes of bloud It mollifieth the hardnesse growing in the eye-lids To such as cast vp bloud it is vsually giuen in an egge In pain of the bladder halfe an ounce of Amylum made hot ouer the fire vntill it siuer with one egge and as much cuit as will go into three eg-shels taken immediatly after the bath or hot house is a singular remedy moreouer oatmeale sodden in vineger taketh away moles and freckles of the skin The very ordinary bread which is our daily food hath an infinit number of medicinable faculties Bread crums being applied with water and common oile or els with oile of Roses doth mollifie impostumes with honied water assuageth any hardnes wonderfully Giuen in wine it is good to discusse and resolue It is of force also to bind and knit where need is and so much the rather if it be giuen with vineger Also it is singular against the sharp eager flux of fleam which the Greeks cal Rheumes likewise for bruised places vpon stripes or blows yea and for dislocations And in very deed for all these purposes leauened bread called of the Greeks Autopyros i. downright made is better than any other Moreouer a liniment thereof applied with vineger is good for whitflaws and the callosities of the feet Moreouer stale bread and bisket such as sea-faring men do eat being stamped sod again is good to bind the belly for singing men and choristers who are desirous to haue a cleare voice for such also as be subject to rheums falling from the head it is the wholsomest thing in the world to eat dry bread in the beginning of meals The Sitanian bread i. that which is made of three months corn being incorporat with hony is a faire medicine to cure either the black prints remaining after strokes or the scailing and pilling of the face White bread crums soked either in hot or cold water yeeld vnto sicke men a meat of light digestion The same being applied with wine cureth swelled eies And so it healeth the breaking out in the head especially if dry Myrtles be put thereto It is an ordinary thing to prescribe vnto them that are giuen to shaking for to eat fasting bread soked in water presently after they come forth of the bath The perfume of bread burnt taketh away all other euill smels that may be in a bed chamber being put into those Hippocras bags through which wines be strained it altereth the naughty tast which they haue Furthermore euen Beanes haue their properties which serue in Physicke for being fried all whole as they be and so cast piping hot into sharp vineger they help the collicke and pangs of the belly
Bruised and so eaten or sodden with Garlick they be excellent good against coughes that were thought past cure and remedilesse yea and imposthumes in the brest grown to suppuration but the patient ought to feed thereof continually euery day Also if one chew them fasting and so apply them to a fellon they are thought passing good either to ripen or to discusse the same Boiled in wine and so laid too they assuage the swellings of the cods and priuy parts seruing to generation Bean floure sodden in vineger doth ripen and breake all tumors in like manner it dissolueth black bruised bloud lying vnder the skin and healeth burns M. Varro is of opinion that it is good for the voice Bean stalks and bean cods burnt to ashes and so incorporat with old Swines seam is good for the Sciatica and all inueterat pains of the sinews The very husks of beans alone sodden to the thirds do stop the lask and running out of the belly The best Lentils be they that are most tender and ask least seething also such as drink much water Lentils verily do dim the eie-sight and breed ventosities in the stomacke but taken in meat they stay the flux of the guts and the rather if they be throughly sodden in rain water but in case they be not fully boiled they do open the belly and make the body laxatiue the escares or roofs remaining vpon cauterized or blistered sores they break and make to fall off those vlcers which are within the mouth they mundifie and clense Applied outwardly they appease the pains of all imposthumes especially if they be exulcerat and ful of chaps and reduced into a cataplasm with melilote or a quince they are singular for to represse the flux of humors to the eyes but for to keep impostumes and tumors from suppuration they are laied too with Barley groats or the grosse meale thereof torrified The juice of Lentils after they be sodden is good for the exulcerations of the mouth and the genitors likewise with an addition of oile Rosat or Quince for the inflammation of the seat or fundament But if the parts affected and exulcerat do require stronger and sharper remedies the same would be applied with the rind of a pomgranat and a little hony put thereto And to the end that the said cataplasme shal not dry quickly they vse to put thereto Beet leaues Lentils sodden throughly in vineger serue for a cataplasm to be laid vpon the swelling kernels called the Kings euill and other fell biles whether they be ripe or in the way only of maturation Applied with honied water they be very good for any clifts and chaps but with the pill or rinde of a pomgranat for Gangrenes In like manner with barly groats they be appropriat for the gout the kidnies the naturall parts of women for kibes and such vlcers as be hardly brought to cicatrice Thirty grains of Lentils swallowed down by way of Bole are singular for the feeblenesse and dissolution of the stomacke In dysenteries or bloudy fixes in the violent rage of cholerick humors which cause euacuations both vpward downward Lentils do effectuat their operation much more if they be sodden in three waters For which purpose also better it is to torrifie them first and then to pound or beat them small that they may be giuen to the patient as fine as may be either by themselues alone or els with a Quince with Pears Myrtle berries wild Cichory black Beets or Plantain Howbeit note thus much That Lentils are nought for the Lungs for head-ache for all neruous parts and the gall and this ill property they haue besides to keep the patient from sleep Being sodden in sea-sea-water they are good for pushes and angry wheales for S. Anthonies fire and the accidents that befall womens breasts but if they be boiled in vineger they discusse all hard tumors the kings euil They that haue but weak and bad stomacks vse verily to put Lentils to thicken their pottage and gruels instead of Barly groats and find thereby much ease If they be halfe sodden in water afterwards braied or stamped then let passe through a tamise that the brans might be separat from the rest they are thought very good for burns but then within a while as the cure goeth forward they must be applied with honey also put thereto Finally if they be sodden in Oxycrat or water and vineger together they help the swelling bunch of the throat called Bronchocele There is a kind of marish or moory Lentils called Ducks meat growing of it selfe in standing waters This herb is by nature refrigeratiue in which regard it serueth to make a liniment vsed for inflammations and hot imposthumes but principally for all manner of gouts either alone or mingled with Barly groats The same hath vertue to knit consolidat ruptures when the bowels are fallen downe Moreouer there be wild Lentils called by the Greeks Elelisphacos by others Phacos These be lighter than the tame Lentils which are sowed bearing a smaller leafe drier also more odoriferous than the other Of which wild Lentils there is a second sort carying a strong smel in somuch as the former kind is counted the milder These Lentils haue leaues formed to the fashion of quince leaues but that they be lesse and white and commonly they are sodden branch and all together Their medicinable vertues be to bring down the monthly sicknesse of women to prouoke vrines and to heale the wounds occasioned by the venomous prick of the sea puffin or fork-fish Now the nature of this fish is to benum and mortifie the place which is strucken Of these Lentils and Wormwood there is a drink made good for the dysentery or bloudy-flix The same taken with wine draweth down womens fleurs that stay vpon them but if their bare decoction be drunk it wil stay them when they flow immoderatly The herb alone applied outwardly represseth the ouermuch bleeding of fresh wounds it cureth the sores occasioned by the stinging of serpents The decoction thereof in wine doth mitigate the itching of the cods if they be bathed and fomented therewith Our moderne Herbarists in these daies doe call that in Latine Saluia i. Sange which the Greeks name Elelisphacos An herb it is much resembling Mints of a gray and hoary colour and withall odoriferous Beeing applied to the naturall parts of women it fetcheth away the dead infant within the womb it riddeth the ears also and festered vlcers of those wormes and vermin which breed therein Moreouer there is a kind of wild Cich-pease bearing leaues like to the other of the garden and which be sowed saue that their smell is strong vnpleasant If a man feed largely of them they stir the belly and moue to the siege they breed ventosities cause the collick and wringing of the guts Howbeit if they be parched or torrified they are reputed the wholsomer The Cichling or pety Cich-pease is thought to be better and more wholsome to
the belly than the other but the meale as wel of the one as the other doth heale the running sores scales of the head howbeit the wild better than the rest Moreouer these ciches are taken to be good for the falling sicknesse the swellings of the liuer and the sting of Serpents They procure womens termes and prouoke vrine and especially the grain it selfe rather than the leafe The same are singular for tettars and ring-worms for inflammations of the cods for the jaundise dropsie But all the sort of them be hurtfull to the bladder and kidnies especially if they be exulcerat For gangrenes and those morimall vlcers called Cacoethe they be better in case they bee tempered with honey Some there be who for to be ridde of all kinde of Warts take as many Cich-pease as there be warts and with euery one of them touch a wart and that vpon the first day after the change of the Moon which done they tie the foresaid Pease or Ciches in a little linnen â—…ag and fling them away backward behind them and they are persuaded that the warts will be gone by this means But our Latine Physitians are of opinion That the blacke ciches which be called Ram-ciches should be well and throughly sodden in water and salt of which decoction they prescribe vnto the patient for to drinke two cyaths in difficulty of making water for to expell the stone and rid away the jaundise Their leaues and stalks of straw being sodden in water ouer a good fire yeeld a decoction which beeing vsed as hot as may be suffered doth mollifie the callosities hardnesse growing about the feet so doth a liniment also made of the very substance it selfe stamped and applied hot The Columbine ciches sodden in water are thought to lessen and shorten the shaking fits in tertian and quartan agues The black cich-pease being beaten to pouder with halfe the quantity of gall-nuts and incorporat with sweet wine cuit called Passum and so applied cureth the vlcers of the eyes As touching Eruile somewhat I haue said already touching the properties thereof when I made mention of it among other kinds of pulse And indeed the old writers haue attributed as great power vertue vnto it as to the Colewort Being laid to with vineger it cureth the hurts that come by the sting of serpents or the teeth of man crocodile There be writers of approued authority who assirm for certain That if a man doe eat Eruile fasting euery day it will diminish and wast the swelling of the spleen The meale of Eruile as Varro reporteth taketh away the spots and moles of any part of the body And in truth this pulse is singular to represse corrosiue and eating vlcers but aboue all it is most effectuall in the sores of womens brests applied with wine it breaketh carbuncles Being torrified and incorporat with hony and reduced into an electuarie or bole and so taken as much as an hazell nut it amendeth the suppression or difficulty of voiding vrine dissolueth ventosities openeth obstructions and helpeth other accidents of the liuer the prouocations and proffers to the stoole without doing any thing reuiueth those parts that mislike and feele no benefit or nutriment of meat which they cal in Greek Atropha In like manner it cureth shingles ring-worms and tettars if it be first sodden in vineger so applied and not remoued vntil the fourth day If it be laid too with hony it keepeth biles from suppuration A fomentation made with the decoction thereof in water helps kibed heels the itch And it is generally thought That if a man drink it euery day next his heart vpon an empty stomack it will make the whole body looke with a better and more liuely colour Contrariwise the common opinion is That it is not good to be eaten ordinarily as meat for it moueth to vomit troubleth the belly lieth heauy vpon the stomack and fumeth vp into the head it breedeth ache and heauinesse in the knees But if it haue lien many daies in steepe after that imbibition of water it becommeth more mild and is a most wholsom prouender for horse and oxen The green cods of Eruile before they waxe hard if they be stamped with their stalkes and leaues together do colour and die the hairs of the head blacke As touching wild Lupines they be inferior to those which come of seed in all respects but only in biternesse And verily there is not a thing more commendable wholsome and light of digestion than white Lupines if they be eaten dry They are brought to be sweet and pleasant by hot ashes or scalding water Beeing eaten at meales vsually they make a fresh colour and chearfull countenance Bitter Lupines are very good against the sting of the Aspides Dry Lupins husked clensed from their skins applied to black mortified vlcers ful of dead flesh with a linnen cloth between reduce them to a liuely colour and to quick flesh again The same sodden in vineger discusse the kings euill and the swelling kernels impostumations behind the ears The broth or collature of them being sodden with Rue and Pepper may be giuen safely although it were in an ague to those that bee vnder thirty yeares of age for to expell the wormes in the belly As for young children who haue the wormes it is good to lay Lupines to their bellie whiles they be fasting All others are to take them torrified either by way of drink in a kind of wine cuit or els in electuary after the maner of a lohoch The same do giue an edge to the stomacke and quicken the appetite to meat The meale or pouder of Lupines wrought with vineger into a dough or paste and so reduced into a liniment and vsed in a bain or stouve represseth and keepeth down all wheales and itching pimples which are ready to breake forth and of it selfe is sufficient to drie vp vlcers It bringeth to the natiue and liuely colour al places blacke and blew with stripes Medled with Barly groats it assuageth all inflammations For the weaknesse of the huckle bone the haunch and loins the wilde Lupines are counted more effectual than the other A fomentation with the decoction of these wild Lupins maketh the skin more smooth and beautifull taking away all spots and freckles But if the same or garden Lupines be boiled to the height and consistence of hony they do clense the skin from black morphew and the leprosie These also if they be applied as a cataplasme do break carbuncles bring down or els ripen the swelling kernels named the kings euil and other biles and botches which of their nature be long ere they gather to head Boiled in vineger they reduce places cicatrized to their naturall colour and make them look faire white again But if they be throughly sodden in rain water of the collature that passeth from them there is made an abstersiue and scouring lie in manner of sope most excellent for to
of our viands meats but also many other things for the very hard rocks which otherwise it was vnpossible to cleaue before with the violence of fire soone breake and giue way when vinegre is poured aloft This singular gift moreouer it hath that no liquor in the world giueth a better tast to our meats and sauces or quickneth them more than vinegre doth for which purpose if it be ouersharp and strong there is a means to mitigat and dull the force thereof either with a tost of bread or some wine again if it be too weake and apalled the way to reuiue it againe is with Pepper or the spice Laser but nothing moderateth it better than salt And to knit vp and close this discourse of vinegre I cannot forget nor ouerpasse one rare and singular accident that befell of late M. Agrippa in his later days was much troubled and afflicted with a grieuous gout of his feet and being not able to endure the intollerable paines therof took counsell of a certaine leaud leech some bold and venterous Emperick who made great boast of his deep skill and admirable knowledge for the Emperour Augustus Caesar whose daughter he had espoused he made not acquainted with the matter who gaue him counsell to bath his legs with hot vinegre and to sit therein aboue his knees at what time as his disease tormented him most true it is indeed that he was eased of his paine by this means for he lost the very feeling of his feet Howbeit Agrippa chose rather to be paralyticke in some sort and to want both vse and sence of his legges than to abide the extremitie of his gout CHAP. II. ¶ Of vinegre Scylliticke Of Oxymel Of the double cuit wine Sapa The lees of wine dregs of vinegre and of the foresaid cuit THe vinegre of Squilla or sea-Onions called Scillinum the elder it is and longer kept the more is it esteemed This vinegre ouer and aboue the other vertues of common vinegre before rehearsed hath this property To helpe the stomacke in case the meats lie souring and corrupting therein for no sooner doth a man tast thereof but it dispatcheth and riddeth away the foresaid inconuenience moreouer it is good for them that are giuen to vomit fasting in a morning for it hardeneth the throat the mouth of the stomacke which is ouer sensible knitteth the same It causeth a sweet breath confirmeth the flesh about the gums fasteneth the teeth which are loose and maketh a bodie look with a fresh and liuely color Being gargarized it draweth away and doth euacuat those grosse humors which caused hardnesse of hearing and openeth the auditory passages of the ears and so by consequence clarifies the sight of the eies Soueraigne it is besides for those who haue the falling sicknesse and who are troubled in mind by occasion of melancholy It cureth the turning and dizzinesse of the braine the suffocation or rising of the mother It helpeth such as be sore and bruised with dry blowes such as are falne headlong from high places and thereby haue cluttered bloud gathered within their bodies as many also as haue the infirmity or weaknesse of sinews or otherwise be diseased in the kidnies howbeit offensiue it is to those that haue any vlcer either within or without Touching the syrrup Oxymel Dieuches saith That the auncients in old time prepared and tempered it in this manner They tooke of honey ten pounds of old vinegre fiue hemines of bay salt one pound of Sauerie three ounces of sea water fiue sextars These together in a kettle they did set to boile and let them haue tenne walms ouer the fire then they lifted the pan from the fire poured this liquor out of one vessell into another so kept it for their vse but Asclepiades comes after disproueth all the maner of this composition and withall condemneth the vse thereof for the physicians before his time feared not to prescribe it to be drunk euen in feuers and yet both he and all do confesse and agree that this was a good drink against the venomous serpent called Seps also for them who were poysoned with Opium i. the juice of Poppey or with the gum Ixia which commeth from the hearb Chamaeleon Moreouer they all commend it to be gargled hot for the squinancy for the paine and deafnesse of ears for the accidents and infirmities of the mouth and throat like as at this day we vse in all these cases the sharpe brine or pickle called Oxalme which if it be made of salt and new vinegre that is fresh and quick it is better in operation As for the cuit named in Latine Sapa it commeth neere to the nature of wine and in truth nothing els it is but Must or new wine boiled til one third part and no more do remain this cuit if it be made of white Must is counted the better Vse there is of it against the flies Cantharides and Buprestes against the worms breeding in Pine trees named thereupon Pityocampae against Salamanders and generally all those beasts whose sting or tooth is venomous If a woman drink thereof together with scallions or such bulbs it sendeth downe the after-burden and expelleth the dead infant out of the womb And yet Fabianus mine author saith That it is no better than a very poison if a man drink it fasting presently after he is come out of the bain A consequent and appendant to these foresaid things is the lees of wine that is to be considered according to the wine from whence it commeth and verily the lees of wine are so strong that oftentimes it ouercommeth and killeth those who go downe into the vats vessels wherin the wine is made But to know and preuent the daunger thereof this experiment is found namely to let down a candle into the said vat for so long as it will not abide light but goe out still daungerous it is for a man to enter into those vessels And yet wine lees without any washing at all goe into the composition of many medicines Take wine lees a certaine quantity and of the floure-de-lis or Ireos root a like weight concorporat them together into a liniment singular it is to annoint the small pocks and such like cutanean eruptions The same either drie or wet may be applied with very good successe to the places stinged with the venomous spiders called Phalangia to the inflammations also of the genetoirs or priuy members to the paps or any other part of the body whatsoeuer Now for the better preparing therof it ought to be sodden in wine together with barley meale and the pouder of frank incense which done to be burned and so dried And to know whether it be sufficiently sodden or no make this triall If you touch it neuer so little at your tongues end and so tast therof when it is throughly cold it will seeme to bite and burne it if it haue had sufficient boiling as it ought but it
which they cal Styptick or astringent there is not a better thing than to boile the root of this blackberry bramble in wine to the thirds and namely to make a collution therwith to wash the cankers or sores breeding in the mouth or to foment the vlcers growing in the fundament And verily of such a binding and astringent force is this bramble that the very spungeous bals that it beareth will grow to be as hard as stones Another kind of brier or bramble there is vpon which groweth a rose some cal it Cynosbatos others Cynospastos it beareth a leafe like to the print or sole of a mans foot A little bal or pill it breedeth furred or bristled much after the maner of the Chestnut which serueth as a speciall remedy for those that be subiect to the stone As for Cynorrhonos it is another plant different from this wherof I will speak in the next book CHAP. XIV ¶ Of Cynosbatos and the Raspice of the Rhamnos and of Lycium and Sarcocolla Of a certaine composition in Physicke called Oporice AS for the bramble named Chamaebatos it beareth certain black berries like grapes within the kernell wherof it hath a certain string like a sinew whereupon it came to be called Newâ—…ospastos it is a different plant from the Caper which the Physitians haue named also Cynosbatos Now the tender stems of the foresaid Cynosbatos or Chamaebatos condite in vineger are good for them to eat who are troubled with the opilation of the spleen with ventosities for it is a singular remedy for those infirmities The string or sinew thereof chewed with Mastick of Chios purgeth the mouth The wild roses that grow vpon this brier being incorporat with swines grease are excellent for to make the haire grow againe when it is shed by some infirmity The beries of these brambles if they be tempred with oile oliue made of green and vnripe oliues colour the haire black The proper season to gather the floures of these brambles that cary beries like to mulberies is in haruest time the white kind of them drunk in wine is a soueraign remedy for the pleurisie the flux of the stomack the root sodden to thethirds stoppeth a lask and staieth the flux of bloud likewise a collution made therwith fastneth loose teeth if they be washed withall The same decoction or liquor is good to foment the vlcers of the seat priuy parts The ashes of the root burnt keep vp the uvula from falling The Raspis is called in Latin Rubus Idaeus because it groweth vpon the mountain Ida and not elswhere so plenteously Now is this bramble more tender lesse in growth it putteth forth also fewer stalkes vpright and those more harmelesse and nothing so pricky as the other brambles before named besides it loueth well to grow vnder the shade of trees The floures of this bramble reduced into a liniment with hony restrain the flux of rheumaticke humors into the eies and keepeth down the spreading of S. Anthonies fire and giuen in water to drink it cureth infirmities of the mouth In all other cases it hath like operations to the former brambles Among the diuers kinds of brambles is reckoned the Rhamne which the Greeks cal Rhamnos notwithstanding that it is whiter more branching than the rest This Rham beareth many flours spreading forth his branches armed with pricks not crooked or hooked as the rest but streight and direct clad also with larger leaues A second kind there is of them growing wilde in the woods blacker than the other yet inclining in some sort to a red colour this carieth as it were certain little cods Of the root of this Rham boiled in water is made the medicine that is called Lycium The seed of this plant draws down the after-birth The former of these two which also is the whiter hath a vertue more astringent and cooling than the other therfore better for impostumations and wounds howbeit the leaues of both either green or boiled are vsed in liniments with oile for the said purpose But as touching Lycium the best of all other is by report made of a certain Thorne tree or bush which they cal Pyxacanthos Chironia the form wherof I haue described among the Indian trees indeed the most excellent Lycium by many degrees is that Indian Lycium thought to be The manner of making this Lycium is in this wise they take the branches of this plant together with the roots which be exceeding bitter after they be well punned and stamped seeth them in water within a brasen pan for three daies together or therabout which don they take forth the wood set the liquor ouer the fire again where it taketh a second boiling so long till it be come to the consistence or thicknes of hony howbeit sophisticated it is many times with some bitter juices yea and with the lees of oile beasts gall The very froth scum in maner of a flory that it casteth vp some vse to put into colyries medicines for the eies The substance of the juice besides is abstersiue it mundifieth the face healeth scabs cureth the exulcerations or frettings in the corners of the eies it represseth old rheumes distillations clenseth ears running with filthy matter represseth the inflammations of the almonds in the mouth called Tonsillae of the gums staieth the cough restraineth the reaching casting of bloud if it be taken to the quantity of a bean being spred in maner of a plaster or liniment and so applied it drieth vp running and watery sores it healeth the chaps and clifts in any part of the body the vlcers of the secret parts seruing for generation any place fretted or galled new and green vlcers yea and such as be corrosiue and withall growing to putrefaction it is singular for the calosities werts or hardcorns growing in the nosthrils and all impostumations moreouer women find great help by drinking it in milke for any violent shift or immoderat flux of their monthly sicknes the best Indian Licium is known by this That the masse or lump therof is black without-forth red within when it is broken but soon it commeth to a black colour An astrictiue medicine this is and bitter withal and hath the same effects which the other Lycium is reported to haue but specially if it be applied to the priuie members of generation As touching Sarcocolla some be of opinion that it is the gum or liquor issuing from a certain thorny plant or bush and they hold that it resembleth the crums of frankincense called Pollen or Manna Thuris in tast seemeth to be sweetish yet quick and sharpe withall This Sarcocoll stamped with wine and so applied represseth all fluxes in a liniment good it is for yong infants This gum also by age and long keeping waxeth black but the whiter is the better thereby is the goodnesse knowne But before I depart from this treatise of Trees
giue ouer flapping with their tailes and beating their own sides vntill they haue killed themselues Now for their sting it is an vsuall practise to giue inwardly one dram weight of the seed of Betonie in three cyaths of wine or els to incorporate 3 drams of the pouder in one sextar of water and lay it as a cataplasme to the fore Cantabrica Dictamnum and Aristolochia serue likewise for good counterpoisons in case a dram weight of their root be giuen in one hemine of wine But then the Patient must vse to drink it often And verily Aristolochia worketh the same effect if it be reduced into a liniment and so applied so doth Pistolochia which herb is so aduersatiue vnto serpents that if you doe but hang it vp in the chimney ouer the hearth it will chase away all kind of serpents out of the house CHAP. IX ¶ Of Argemonie Agarick and Echium Of Henbane and Veruaine Of Blattaria and Lemonia Of Cinquefoile Carot and the Clot or great Bur. Of Cyclaminus or Sow-bread and Harstrang hearbs all singular against the sting of Serpents THe root of Argemonia taken to the weight of one Roman denier in 3 cyaths of wine is singular against the sting of serpents And since I am come to mention this herbe I thinke it conuenient to discourse farther thereof like as of other simples also which I meane to name first before that I treat of their vertues and effects And in this course of setting downe medicines euer as I meet with any herb of any singularity I will range it there whereas I know it to be most soueraigne and effectuall Wel this Argemony aforesaid hath leaues like to Anemony i. Rose Persly or Windfloure jagged they be in maner of garden Parsly Heads it beareth in the top of euery stalke or branch resembling those of wild Poppy or Corne-rose and a root also not vnlike to that of the said herb A juice it yeeldeth yellow as Safron hot sharp and biting in tast VVith vs here in Italy it groweth vpon corn lands Our countrymen haue described three kinds therof but they allow and commend that only which hath a root senting much of Frankincense Touching Agaricke it is a fungous excrescence growing out of certain trees neare vnto the straits of Bosphorus much like vnto a white Mushrum The ordinary dose or receit thereof to be giuen bruised and beaten small into pouder is to the weight of two drams in two cyaths of Oxymel or honied vineger That which is found in Gaule or France is thought to be weaker in operation Moreouer that Agaricke is counted the male which is more massiue or compact and bitterer withall but one ill quality it hath namely to make the head to ake The female is of a more loose and softer substance which at the first when you tast it seemeth sweet but within a while it turneth to be bitter Echium is of two kinds One of them is like to Peniroyall garnished crowned as it were with tufts of leaues in the head which being giuen to the weight of two drams in 4 cyaths of wine is singular good for the venome of serpents inflicted by their sting The like effect hath the other also which is distinctly knowne from the other by the rough and prickie downe that the leaues do beare and it carieth in the top little knobs resembling vipers heads and this may be taken either in wine or in vineger chuse you whether The great Clot-bur called in Greek Arcion some haue named in Latine Personata There is not a plant in the field that carieth a broader leafe and besides furnished it is with as big Burs The root of this hearb boiled the Physitians prescribe to be giuen in vineger to drinke against the sting ofserpents Henbane stamped leaues and all singular to be taken in wine especially against the sting of the Aspides But of all other herbs there is none more honored among the Romans than Hierobotane called also otherwise in Greek Peristereon which we in Latine name Verbenaca This is that hearb which as I haue declared heretofore our Embassadors vse to cary with them when they go to denounce war and to giue defiance vnto our enemies VVith this herbe the feastiuall table of Iupiter is wont to be swept and clensed with great solemnitie our houses also be rubbed and hallowed for to driue away ill spirits And hereof be two kinds That which they take to be the female is stored well with leaues the male hath them growing but thin yet both of them put forth many small and slender branches commonly a cubit long and cornered The leaues be lesser and narrower than those of the Oke but deeper they be indented and the partition wider the floures be of a gray colour the root long and small It groweth euery where vpon plains subiect vnto waters Some writers make no distinction at all of male female but hold them all to be of one and the same kind because they work the same effects In France the Druidae vse them both indifferently in casting lots telling fortunes foreshewing future euents by way of prophesie But the wise-men or sages called Magi ouerpasse themselues mightily in this herb and shew their foolery and vanity without all sence and reason They would beare vs in hand forsooth that whosoeuer be rubbed all ouer the body therewith shall obtaine whatsoeuer their heart desireth be able to cure and driue away all manner of agues reconcile them that be fallen out make friendship between whom they list and in one word giue remedy to any di sease whatsoeuer they giue moreouer expresse order that it be gathered about the rising of the great dog-star but so as neither Sun nor Moon be at that time aboue the earth to see it with this especiall charge besides that before they take vp the herbe they bestow vpon the ground where it groweth honey with the combes in token of satisfaction and amends for the wrong and violence done in depriuing her of so worthie an hearbe They rest not so but when these ceremonious circumstances be performed they inioine them also who are to dig it vp for to make a circle round about the place with some instrument of yron and then to draw and pluck it vp with the left hand in any wise so to fling it aloft ouer their heads vp into the aire which done they appoint precisely that it be dried in the shade leaues stalkes and roots euery one apart by themselues To conclude they adde moreouer and say that if the ball or dining chambe sprinckled with the water wherein Veruaine lay steeped all that sit at the table shall be very pleasant and make merrie more jocundly VVell to leaue these toies and fooleries the truth is this stamp and beat it giue the juice or pouder therof in wine it is a good defensatiue against the poison of serpents An herb there is much resembling Mullen or Langwort
Panaces especially that which is called Chironia if it be chewed in the mouth assuageth the tooth-ach so doth the iuice thereof if there be a collution made therewith The root of Henbane hath the like vertue if one chew it with vineger as also of Polemonia or sauge de bois for which purpose it is passing good to chew the Plantain root or to wash the mouth and teeth with the iuice or decoction thereof boiled in vineger And the very leaues of Plantain be singular for the pain of the teeth yea though the gums were putrified with rank corrupt bloud or in case there owsed or issued out of them filthy bloudy matter And the seed of Plantain cureth the impostumations of the gums albeit they gathered to suppuration and ran matter Moreouer Aristolochia doth knit and consolidat the gums yea and fasteneth the teeth in the head For these infirmities of gums and teeth the root of Veruain is highly commended if it be chewed or if it be boiled in wine or vineger and the mouth washed with that decoction The roots of Cinque-foile sodden likewise either in wine or vineger to the consumption of a third part worke the same effect But looke that before you boile them they be wel rinced and washed either in sea water or salt water at the least and when you vse this collution see you hold the liquor or decoction in your mouth a long time But some there be who thinke it better to rub the teeth with the ashes of Cinquefoile burnt leaues root and all Moreouer the root of Mullen or Taperwort sodden in wine maketh a singular collution for the teeth Likewise if the teeth be washed with the decoction of Hyssop or the iuice of Harstrang together with Opium or Poppie iuice much good and ease will insue thereupon As also by the iuice of a Pimpernell root and the rather of that which is counted the female if the same be conueighed vp into the nosthril of the contrary side to the tooth that aketh There is an herb called Groundswel which the Greeks name Erigeron and we the Latines Senecio they say if a man make a circle round about it with some instrument of yron and then dig it out of the ground and therewith touch the tooth that is pained three seueral times and between euery touching spit vpon the ground and then bestow the said herb root and all in the very same place where he drew it so as it may liue and grow again the said tooth shall neuer ake afterwards This Groundswell is an hearbe much like in shape vnto Germander as soft also and tender as it the small stalkes or braunches whereof incline to a reddish colour and it loueth to grow vpon tiled houses or VValles The Greekes imposed that name Erigeron because in the Spring it looketh hoarie like an old gray beard in the top it diuideth it selfe into a number of heads betweene which there commeth forth a light plume much like vnto Thistle-downe VVhich is the reason that Callimachus calleth it Acanthius and others Pappos But in the farther Description of this Hearbe it seemeth that the Greekes agreed not for some haue sayd that it is leafed like to Rocket others to an Oke but that they bee much lesse There bee VVriters also who hold the root to bee good for nothing in Physicke and there bee againe that commend it to bee singular for the sinewes besides some others are of opinion That it strangleth and choaketh as many as drinke it Contrariwise certaine Physitians prescribe it for the Iaundise to bee taken in Wine for all the diseases likewise of the bladder and against the infirmities of the Heart and Liuer And they assure vs That it scoureth the Reines or Kidneies of all grauell In case of the Sciatica they haue ordayned it to bee drunke to the weight of a dramme with Oxymell presently after some exercise by walking giuing out that there is not a better thing in the World for the gripes and torments of the guts if it be taken in sweet wine cuit esteeming it a singular herbe for the griefe of the midriffe and precordiall parts about the heart if it be eaten with meat in a sallad with vineger and in regard of these manifold commodities they sow and nourish it in their gardens for to be alwaies ready at hand And some authours I find who haue made a second kind thereof but they haue not described what manner of herbe it is only they appoint it to be giuen in water against the sting of serpents and to be eaten for the falling sicknesse For mine own part I will set down the vse thereof in some cases according as I haue found it by experience to work in the practise here at Rome The plume or downe which it beareth if it be stamped and reduced into a liniment with Saffron and a few drops of cold water and so applied cureth the inordinat flux of waterish humors into the eies The same dried and parched against the fire or otherwise fried with some cornes of salt and laid to the swelling wens called the Kings euil healeth them The May-Lillie called in Greeke Ephemeron is leafed like vnto the Lillie but that the leaues be lesse the stem is semblable and equall vnto it vpon which it beareth a blew floure The seed which it carrieth is nothing medicinable One single root it hath of a finger thickenesse which is soueraigne for the teeth if it be cut and minced small and afterwards sodden in vineger for a collution to wash the teeth with it warme The very substance also of the root is singular good to confirme the teeth standing loose in the head and to be put into those that be hollow and worme eaten Moreouer the root of Celendine is good for the teeth if it be bruised or stamped and so with vineger held in the mouth If teeth be rotten and corrupt the black Ellebore is singular to be put into their concauities And both of them as well the blacke as the white serue in a collution to strengthen and keep them fast in their sockets if they be boyled in vineger As touching the Tazill which is called in Latine Labrum Veneris it grows in riuers and waters within the heads or burs which it beareth there is found a little worme or grub which for the tooth-ache they vse to binde about the teeth or to put it in their holes and close them vp with wax But when that herbe is pulled out of the ground great heed must be taken that it touch not the earth The herbe Crowfoot is called in Latine Ranunculs in Greeke Batrachion whereof be foure kindes The first beareth leaues like vnto Coriander but that they be farter and as broad as those of the Mallow of a swe rt colour the stalke is whitish or grisled and slender the root also white it groweth ordinarily along great rode waies especially in cold shadowie moist places The second is better
the root either after it hath lien a time infused or simply stamped without any such preparation yea and the substance of the root reduced into pouder and giuen in a draught of water made hot with a gad of steel quenched in it Some haue appointed in this kind of ague 3 of those roots and 3 cyaths of water precisely and the same Physitians for a Quartaine haue prescribed foure of either and by their saying if when Borage beginneth to fade vpon the ground one take out the pith or marow within the stem and whiles he is so doing name withal the sick party and say hee doth it for to rid him or her from the ague and withall bestow it in 7 leaues neither more nor lesse of the said herbe and hang all tied fast about the patient before the time that the sit should come the feuer wil neuer returne again Also a dram of Betony or Agaricke taken in three cyaths of mead driueth away any intermittent ague especially those that begin with quiuering and quaking Some are wont to giue of Cinquefoile three leaues in a tertian and foure in a quartan and so rise to more according to the period or type of the rest others ordain indifferently for all agues the weight of 3 oboli with some pepper in mead or honied water Veruaine verily giuen in wine as a drench to horses cureth them of their feauers but in Tertians it must be cut just aboue the third joint where it brancheth but for Quartanes at the fourth The seed of both kinds of Hypericon is good to be drunk in Quartans And the pouder of Betony dried is singular for the quaking fits and in very deed the herb it selfe represseth all shiuering and whatsoeuer proceeding of cold In like maner Panaces is of so hot a nature that Physitians giue direction to them who are to trauell ouer high mountains couered with snow for to drink it annoint their bodies all ouer with it Semblably Aristolochia doth withstand all chilling and through colds The best cure of those who be in a frensie is by sleepe and that may be procured easily by the juice of Peucedanum vineger together infused vpon the head by way of imbrocation or by rubbing the same with it likewise with the juice of both the Pimpernels Contrariwise there is more adoe with those that are in a lethargy to awaken them and keep them from drowsinesse and yet may that be affected some say by rubbing their nosthrils with the juice of the said * Harstrang in vineger For those that be out of their right wits or bestraught Betony is singular good to be giuen in drink Panaces breaks the Carbuncle also the pouder of Betony in water healeth it or the Colewort with Frankincense if the patient drinke often therof hot Some take a burning cole of fire and when it is extinguished or gon out in the presence of the patient with their finger gather vp the cindres or light ashes which settle therupon and apply them vnder the carbuncle others stamp Plantain and lay it to the sore the Tithymall called Characites cureth the dropsie Also Panaces and Plantaine taken as a meat in bole with this regard That the patient haue eaten some dry bread before without any drinke at all In which case Betony likewise is singular if two drams thereof be giuen in as many cyaths of wine simply or wine honied Moreouer Agaricke or the seed of Lonchitis drunke to the quantitie of two Ligulae or spoones full in water Flea-woort beeing vsed with wine the juice of Pimpernels both the red and the blew the root of Vmbilicus Veneris in honied wine the root of Walwoort newly drawne out of the ground so that the earth bee onely shaken off without any washing at all in case as much thereof as two fingers will comprehend be taken in one hemine of old wine hot the root of Clauer or Trefoile drunke in wine to the weight of two drams Tithymall named Platyphillon the seed of Hypericon and namely that which otherwise is called Coris Chamaeacte which some think to be Wall-wort if either the root be beaten to pouder and ministred in three cyaths of wine so the patient haue no feuer hanging vpon him or the seed giuen in thick red wine be appropriat remedies euery one for a dropsie In like maner Vervaine if a good hand full thereof be boiled in water vnto the consumption of the one halfe But principally the juice of Wall-wort is thought to be the meetest medicine for to fit this malady For the bleach or breaking out in wheales for small pocks swine pocks and such like eruptions of flegmatick humors Plantain is a proper remedy to rid them away so is the root of sowbread applied with hony The leaues of Walwort or ground Elder stamped incorporat in old wine and so laid too doe heale the meazels purples or red blisters which some call Boa The juice of Nightshade or pety Morell vsed as a liniment killeth the itch The shingles and such hot pimples called S. Anthonies fire are cured by nothing better than by Housleek by the leaues of Hemlock stamped into an vnguent or the root of Mandragoras Now the manner of prâ—…paring and ordering it thus take the said root drie it abroad in the open aire like as they do Cucumbers but principally let it hang first ouer new wine afterwards in the smoke this don stamp it and temper it with wine or vineger Good it is also in this case to make a fomentation with wine of Myrtles and therwith to bathe the grieued place Also take of Mints two ounces of sulphur-vif one ounce pouder them both and mingle them together with vineger vse this mixture for the said S. Anthonies fire And some take soot vineger tempred together for the same purpose Now of this disease which we terme * S. Anthonies fire there be many kindes whereof there is one more daungerous than the rest which is called * Zoster for that it coueteth to goe round about the middle of a man or woman in manner of a girdle and in case both ends meet together indeed it is deadly and incureable To meet with it therefore by the way to preuent this extremity Plantaine is thought to be a soueraign remedy if it be incorporate with Fullers earth Also Veruaine alone by it selfe and the root of the great Bur. Now for other corrosiue vlcers and tettars it is very good to vse the root of Vmbilicus veneris with honied wine Sengreen the juice of Mercurie also with vineger CHAP. XII ¶ For dislocations or members out of ioint Against the Iaundise Felons hollow sores called Fistula's Tumors Burnes and Scaldings Against other diseases For to comfort the sinewes and stanch bloud THe root of Polypodium brought into a liniment is a proper remedy for any dislocation The seed of Fleawort the leaues of Plantaine punned with some few cornes of salt put therto
that of the Iuy saue that the berries containing the same be soft This herb delighteth in shady cool rough and watery places Beeing giuen to the full quantity of one Acetabulum it is singular for the inward maladies which be proper to women The wild Vine called by the Greeks Ampelos-Agria is an herbe as I haue sufficiently described already in my Treatise of Vines planted and wel ordered by mans hand which putteth forth hard leaues of Ash-colour long branches and winding rods clad with a thicke skin and the same be red resembling the floure Phlox which in the chapter and discourse of Violets I called Iovis Flamma and a seed it beareth much like vnto the graines within a Pomegranate The root boiled in three cyaths of water and two cyaths of the wine comming out of the Island Coos is a gentle emollitiue of the belly and maketh the body soluble in which regard it is giuen with good successe to such as be in a dropsie A very good herb for women as well to rectifie the infirmities of the matrice as also to scoure and beautifie the skin of their face Moreouer for the sciatica it is good to stamp it leafe and all and to annoint the grieued place with the juice thereof As for Wormewood there be many kindes thereof One is named Santonicum of a city in France called Saints another to wit Ponticum taketh that name of the kingdome Pontus where the sheep feed fat with it which is the cause that they be found without gall neither is there a better Wormwood than it much bitterer than that of Italy and yet the marow or pith within of that Ponticke Wormwood is sweet to ours Meet and requisite it is that I should set down the vertues and properties thereof an herb I must needs say as common as any and most ready at hand howbeit few or none so good and wholesome to say nothing of the especiall account which the people of Rome make of it about their holy sacrifices and solemnities for in those festiuall holydaies named Latinae at what time as there is held a great running with chariots for the best game he that first attaineth to the goale and winneth the prise hath a draught of VVormwood presented vnto him And I beleeue verily that our forefathers and ancestors deuised this honourable reward for the good health of that victorious chariottier as judging him worthy to liue still And in truth a right comfortable herb it is for the stomack and doth mightily strengthen it In which regard there is an artificiall wine that carieth the strength and tast thereof named Absinthites according as I haue shewed heretofore moreouer there is an ordinary drinke made of the decoction of Wormwood boiled in water for the right making whereof take six drams weight of the leaues and sprigs together seeth them in three sextars of raine water and in the end put thereto a small quantity of salt which done the liquor ought to stand a day and a night afterwards to coole in the open aire and then is it to be vsed Certes there is not a decoction of any herbe of so great antiquitie as it and knowne to haue beene vsed so long Moreouer the infusion of VVormewood is in great request and a common drinke for so we vse to call the liquor wherein it lay steeped a certain time Now this would be considered that be the proportion of water what it will the said infusion ought to stand close couered for three daies together Seldome or neuer is there any vse of wormewood beaten to pouder ne yet of the juice drawn by way of expression And yet those that presse forth a iuice take the Wormwood when the seed vpon it beginneth to swell and wax sull and being newly gathered let it lie soking in water three daies together but if it were drie before to steep it a whole seuen night which done they set it ouer the fire in a brasen pan with this proportion namely ten hemines of the herbe to fiue and fortie sextars of water and suffer it to boyle vntill a third part of the liquor be consumed after this the decoction must run through a strainer with hearbe and all well pressed then ought it to be set vpon the fire againe and suffered to seeth gently and leisurely to the height or consistence of honey much after the order of the syrrup made of Centaurie the lesse But when all is done this juleb or syrrup of VVormewood is offensiue to the stomack and head both whereas that decoction first aboue-named is most wholsome for astringent though it be and binding the mouth of the stomack aloft yet it doth euacuat choler downward it prouoketh vrine keepeth the body soluble and the belly in good temper yea and if it be pained giueth great ease the worms ingendered therein it expelleth and being taken with Seseli and Celticke nard so there be a little vineger put thereto it dispatcheth all ventosities in the stomacke and cureth women with child of that inordinat desire and strange longing of theirs it clenseth the stomack of those humors which cause lothing of meat bringeth the appetite againe and helpeth concoction if it be drunke with Rue Pepper and salt it purgeth it of raw humors crudities occasioned by want of digestion In old time Physitians gaue wormwood for a purgatiue but then they tooke a sextar of sea water that had bin kept long six drams of the seed with three drams of salt and one cyath of hony and the better will this purgation worke in case the poise of salt be doubled but it would be puluerized as fine as possibly may be to the end that it might passe away the sooner and worke more easily Some vsed to giue the weight beforesaid in a gruell of Barley groats with an addition of Peniroyall others against the Palsie and others againe had a deuise to put the leaues of wormwood in figs and make little children to eat them so that they might not tast their bitternes Wormwood being taken with the root of Floure-de-lis dischargeth the brest of tough fleagme and clenseth the pipes For the iaundise it would be giuen in drinke raw with Parsley or Maidenhaire Supped hot by little and little in water it breaketh wind and resolueth ventosities and together with French Spikenard it cureth the infirmities of the liuer and taken with vineger or some gruel or els in figs it helpeth the spleen giuen in vineger it helpeth those that haue eaten venomous Mushrums or be poisoned with the gum of Chamaelion called Ixia In wine if it be taken it saueth those who haue drunk Hemlock it resisteth the poison inflicted by the sting of the hardishrow the sea dragon and scorpions It is holden to be singular for the clarifyng of the sight if the eies be giuen to watering it represseth the rheum or flux of humors thither so it be applied with wine cuit and laid vnto contusions and the skin blacke and
next vnto which goats milk is thought to nourish most whereupon haply arose the fable that Poets fained who deuised that Iupiter was suckled therewith Howbeit setting womans milke a side the sweetest of all other is that which the Camels giue but asses milk is supposed to haue most vertue and efficacie in it Moreouer this is to be noted that the bigger bodied beasts be more glad-milch and their milk sooner passeth away through the belly and is easier digested than that of the smaller kind Goats milk agreeth best with the stomack the reason is this because they brouse rather than graze but cow milk is held to be more aromaticall and medicinable howbeit ews milk is the pleasanter yeeldeth more nourishment notwithstanding it be not so wholsom for that it is more fatty and grosse than any other And generally the milke which any beast giueth in the Spring is more waterish fuller of whey than in summer time like as the milke of any young thing is thinner than other But simply the best milk is that held to be which sticketh to ones naile and wil not run off Milk is least offensiue and hurtfull when it is sodden especially with little grauell stones among Cow milk of all other is thought meetest for to make the body soluble But what milk soeuer it be lesse ventosities it ingendreth boiled than raw In sum this property hath milk in generall To heal all inward vlcerations but chiefely of the kidnies bladder guts throat lungs applied outwardly after a spare diet or abstinence from meat it cureth the itch of the skin any wheals breakings forth occasioned by phlegmatick humors As for the diet drink made of cow milk which they vse in Arcadia for the phthysick or consumption of the lungs for those that be giuen to colliquations and to weare away as also in case of misliking when the habit of the body receiueth no benefit by food I haue written already in my treatise of herbs We shall find vpon record in the Chronicles diuers who by drinking asses milk haue bin deliuered from the gout as wel of hands as feet The Greek Physitians besides the generall kinds of milk haue made mention of one more which is artificiall and they name it Schiston the maner of making it is thus Take what quantity you will of any milke but let it be of a goat especially if you can come by it seeth the same in a new earthen pan neuer occupied before with certaine branches of fig-tree such as be fresh and new gathered but you must put to euery hemine of milke one cyath of mead or honied wine while it doth seeth keepe it from running ouer the vessell by plundging into it a siluer gobblet or boll full of cold water and take heed that none thereof doe run out after it is throughly sodden take it from the fire for when it is cooled you shall see how the parts therof wil diuide and the whey depart from the milky substance Some there be who take the very whey againe being now very strong of the mead or Must aboue sayd and boile the same vntill a third part thereof be consumed and then set it a cooling abroad in the open avre The vse heereof is very effectuall and commodious if for fiue daies space together the Patient take at times with some rest between one hemine thereof in a day but after the drinking of this whey if some exercise by gestation be presently vsed it will haue the better operation This drinke is vsually giuen to those that be subiect vnto the falling sicknes the passions of melancholy and the palsie also for the leprosie elephansie and all gouts or diseases of the ioynts But to returne againe vnto milk a clystre made therewith is excellent good against any inward gnawings and frettings occasioned by the taking of some strong purgatiue medicines Also in case of the dysentery or hot exulceration of the bowels the decoction of milk sodden together with the grauell stones about the sea-side or with barly ptisan is passing good to be clysterized but for the corrosian of the guts the milke of kine or ewes is better than any other Also for the dysentery or bloudy flix the milk that is injected by way of clystre would be fresh and newly drawne from the vdder for the cholique it ought to be ministred raw without any boiling in like maner is it to be vsed raw for the diseases of the matrice the sting of serpents the phthysick the poisons of the Cantharides Salamander Buprestis Pityocampe But to grow vnto more particulars cow milk is singular for them who be poisoned with drinking Colchicon hemlock Dorycnium or the venome of the Sea-hare As for asse-milk it is soueraign good for those who haue taken inwardly any plaster ceruse brimstone or quick siluer also to loosen the belly that is costiue in a feuer moreouer if the throat be exulcerat within it is an excellent thing to gargarize therewith The same is a very good restoratiue for them to drink who after great weaknes are vpon their recouerie and would gather strength againe such also as the Greekes call Atrophos who haue no feeling nor benefit of their meat also it may be allowed in an ague so that the patient haue no head-ach It was held in old time for a notable secret in Physick to giue vnto children before meat one hemine of asses milke or at the end of a meale if they felt any fretting or gnawing occasioned by their meat but for default hereof they vsed goats milke in stead of the other The whey of cow-milke is aboue all soueraigne for those that be troubled with straitnesse of breath so as they cannot fetch their wind but sitting vpright if there be put to it a little cresses also it is good therewith to anoint bleared eies adding to euery hemine of milk foure drams of Sesame beaten to pouder Goats milk cureth the hardnesse and swelling of the spleen especially if the goats being kept from meat two daies were the third day fed with Ivy of which milk the patient must drink three daies together and forbeare all other food and yet milk otherwhiles is contrary to those who be giuen to head-ach subiect to the debility of the liuer and the opilation of the spleen to such as haue the ague occasioned by some infirmitie of the sinews or be troubled with dizinesse with the murre pose and stuffing in the head with the cough also and bleared eies vnlesse it be giuen as a purgation Sows milk is of al other most excellent for the inordinat desire to the stoole and straining thereupon without doing any thing for the bloudy flix also and the phthysicke or consumption of the lungs And some Authors there be who affirme that it is most wholesome for a woman to drink in any of the afore-named infirmities Of Cheese and the sundry kinds thereof I haue spoken sufficiently in that discourse wherein I treated
of Vdders and the seuerall parts or members of liuing creatures And verily Sestius attributeth the same effects to the cheese made of mares milk as he doth to that which is gathered of cow-milk that kind of cheese he calleth Hippace Generally all cheese vnsalted i fresh and greene is good for the stomack Old cheese stoppeth a laske abateth flesh and maketh the body lean yea is hurtfull to the stomack In sum all salt meats take down those that be corpulent whereas soft and tender viands do feed and nourish the body Fresh cheese applied with hony reduceth the skin which is black and blew by reason of stripes to the fresh and naturall color againe Old cheese maketh the body costiue and assuageth the torments of the belly if it be made into trosches and those sodden in some stypticke or austere wine and afterwards fried in a pan again with hony and so applied There is a kind of rotten putrified cheese which the Greeks call Sapron the same being punned with salt and drie Seruoises and so giuen in wine to drinke cureth the flux of the belly caused by the infirmitie of the stomack The cheese made of goats milke stamped into a cataplasme and so applied healeth the carbuncles engendred about the priuy parts so doth the soure cheese also with oxymell The same reduced into a liniment with oile taketh away all spots in the skin if the body be therewith annointed in a stouph or hot-house As touching Butyr it is made likewise of milk and among barbarous nations is held for the daintiest meat and which doth distinguish the rich and better sort from the poore commons The milk of kine yeeldeth most butyr whereupon it tooke that name but the fattest Butyr is made of Ewes milke Also there is a kind of Butyr gathered of Ewes milke but in Winter the milke ought to be heated whereas in summer time there needs no more to do but to presse it forth from the milk after much shaking often agitation in certain long vessels called cherns hauing in the very mouth a little narrow hole to receiue aire and giue vent to that within or els otherwise stopped close and bound vp with some cloth Now in the cherning they vse to put thereto a little water to the end that the milke may soure the sooner After this beating and working of the milk the thickest part which is Butyr floteth aloft is naturally of an oily substance The rest they vse to boile in certain pans that which swims aboue they take from the other putting salt to it they cal it Oxygala Buttyr the stronger sent or smacke that it hath the better it is esteemed to be in very truth stale butyr that hath bin long kept is mingled in many compositions for by nature it is a stringent emollitiue incarnatiue mundificatiue Moreouer there is another way to make Oxygala namely to put sour milk into the fresh and sweet which you would haue to be soure and this kind of chern milk sour-milke or butter-milk call it what you will is thought to be most wholsom for the stomacke But the properties and effects thereof I will set down in another place Among the medicinable parts which be common to all liuing creatures their fat deserueth greatest commendation bute specially swines grease which in old time they vsed with great ceremony and religion Certes euen at this day there is a solemne ceremony that the bride newly wedded as she entreth into her husbands house should strike the side posts therewith for good luck sake Hogs lard or grease may be kept two maner of waies either with salt or as it is of it selfe vnsalted and indeed the older the better The Greeks in their books called it Axungia But that there should be such strength in swines grease it is no maruell for the reason is plain because it is a beast that feedeth much of herb roots Which is the cause also that their dung is much vsed for a number of purposes And therefore take my words thus that I meane no other swine but such as feed and root in the field among which the female especially a guelt that neuer farrowed is more effectuall than a tame bore barrow hogge or a breeding sow But the grease and dung both of the wild bore is preferred before al. Swines grease then is imploied to mollifie to heat to discusse and mundifie And some Physitians there be who prescribe for the gout an ointment made of it with goose grease buls tallow and the greasie sweat of wool called Oesypus But in case the pain continue still they giue direction to vse it with wax myrtle rosin and pitch Hogs grease alone vnsalted and simply as it is healeth burns and scaldings yea though one were scortched and sendged with snow It cureth also kibed heels if it be tempered with the ashes of burnt barly and gall nuts pulverized of each a like quantity and so reduced into a salue Also it is good to anoint merigals therwith namely when one part of the body is fretted chafed against another likewise it refresheth those that be weary tired with much trauell for an old cough seeth of fresh hogs grease that is sweet the quantity of three ounces in as many cyaths of wine putting hony thereto and let the patient drinke it Old seame also that is tried and kept vnsalted made into pils and taken inwardly cureth the phthisick consumption of the lungs For surely if it haue taken salt once there is no vse therof vnlesse it be to mundifie and cleanse or els before the part is exulcerat Some there be who ordaine to seeth hogges lard hony of each three ounces in three cyaths of wine for a medicine to cure the consumption of the lungs with this charge that the fift day after the patient take a quantity of tarre in a rere egge hauing his side breast and shoulders well swadled before and emplastered with the said composition for so forcible it is that if a plaster thereof be but bound to the knees the very sent thereof will come vp to the mouth and cause a kind of saliuation whereby the patient shal seeme to spit it vp againe The grease of a young guelt which neuer had pigs is a very proper medicine for women to make their skin supple and euen without wrinckles But any hogs seam tempered with beasts tallow or suet to the quantity of a third part some pitch all melted together made somwhat hot is soueraigne for scabs Swines grease that is pure and vnsalted if it be put vp beneath in manner of a collyrie or pessary giueth comfort to the infant within the mothers wombe which otherwise would haue bin ready to slip forth before-time and proue an abortiue fruit The same being tempered with cerusse or litharge of siluer into a salue and so applied reduceth any skars to the naturall colour of the
boeufe suet the pouder of frank incense reduced into a liniment But kibed heels are best healed with the ashes of lether burnt especially if it were an old shoe Again if the feet haue bin wronged by strait shoes take the ashes of a goats skin tempered with oile As for the painfull swelled veins named in Latin Varices there is a soueraign cataplasm to assuage their griefe made with the ashes of calues dung boiled with lilly roots a little hony put therto the same is singular for al impostumat inflammations that tend to suppuration This medicin is good also for the gout in the feet for all diseases of the ioints if so be the said dung came from an ox calf The ioints if they haue gotten a sprein by any rush find remedy by the dung of bore or sow if it be laid to hot in a linnen cloth The dung also of a calf that yet sucks neuer did eat grasse hath the same effect euen as goats dung boild with hony in vineger the raggednes of nails haue a proper remedy of calues dung of goats treddles likewise if there be red Arsnick or Orpinent mixed therwith As touching werts there is not a better thing to take them away than the ashes of Calues dung tempered with vineger or the durt that is made by the vrine of an Asse For those that be subiect to the falling euill it is singular good to eat the genetoirs of a bear or to drinke the stones of a Bore either out of Mares milk or plain water also the vrine of a bore mingled with oxymell But more effectuall in operation is that vrin which hath bin suffered to dry as it lieth in the own bladder The stones likewise of a sow which are taken from her when she is splaied if they be kept vntill they be dried and so brought into pouder are excellent in this case taken in the milk of a sow with this charge that the patient abstain from wine for certain daies together both before and after the receiuing of this medicine For this infirmity also they vse to giue the lungs of a hare poudred or kept in salt with a third part of frankencense in white wine for 30 daies together Also the rennet or cruds found in the maw The braines of an Asse first dried in the smoke within certain leaues drunk to the weight of half an ounce euery day in honied water or the ashes of the said beasts houfe taken to the quantity of 2 spoonfulls daily for a months space are appropriat medicines for this malady In like manner their stones preserued dry and reduced into pouder serue to spice their drink whether it be the milk of Asses which is the best or shere water the pellicle wherein the yong fole was lapped in the dams womb specially if it were a male that was foled is of great force to withstand this disease if the patient do but smell thereto when the fit is comming Some giue counsell to eat the heart of a black he asse together with bread but in any wise it must be done abroad in the open aire and when the moon is but one or two days old at the most Others prescribe to eat the flesh there be againe who aduise to drink their bloud dilaied with water for 40 daies together Some take horse stale mingling it with smiths water fresh out of the forge for the said purpose with the said drink cure those that be lunatick mad at certain seasons Mares milk is ordinarily giuen with good successe to those that be troubled with the falling euill so are the rugged werts growing vpon horse legs to be drunk in oxymel And to this effect the Magitians would haue a dish of meat made with goats flesh rosted against a funeral fire where some dead corps is burnt who ordain besides their tallow and buls gall of each an equall weight to be sodden and then to be put vp again into the bladder or burse of the said gall that it touch not the ground in any case and being thus prepared the patient forsooth must drink it in water standing vpon the dore fill and vnder the very lintell thereof Now if you would know whether a man be subiect to this sicknes or no do but burn before him either a Goats or Stagges horne the very smoke or fume thereof will bring the fit vpon him if he be tainted therewith Concerning those that be suddenly taken with a dead palsie of the one side of their body it is said that the vrin of an Asse-fole incorporat with Spikenard into the form of a liniment is very good for them if the inunction therewith be vsed For the jaundise Harts horn burnt and reduced into ashes is a very proper medicine so is the bloud of an asse fole drunk in wine Likewise the dung of an asses fole which came first from it after it was foled giuen to the quantity of a bean in a draught of wine cureth the iaundise within three daies The same operation and effect there is in the first ordure that a colt maketh after it is come into the world If any bone be broken or brused there is not a more present remedy than the ashes of a cheek either of a wild bore or tame swine In like maner their lard sodden tied round about the broken bone doth consolidat and souder it again wondrous soon And verily if there be any ribs in the side broken the soueraigne and only remedy commended is goats dung tempered with old wine for it openeth draweth and healeth the fracture throughly As touching feuers the feeding vpon the venison of red Deere driueth them all away as I haue before shewed but more particularly if it be any of these Typicke and Periodicall agues which be intermittent and return by fits there is not a better thing if we may beleeue Magitians than to take the right eie of a wolfe salt it and so tie it about the necke or hang it fast to any part of the patient Of these feuers there is one called a quotidian which the Greeks name Amphemerinos from it by their saying a man shal be throughly rid in case he let an asse bloud in the eare vein and drink three drops thereof iust in 3 hemines of water But against the Qâ—…artan ague the Magitians giue order to weare about the neck or hanging to the arme cats dung together with the claw or toe of a scriche Owle but so as they may not fall off nor bee remoued before seuen fits be past Now tell me I pray you what was he that could find out this secret first Gladly would I learne what reason there is in this mixture and why an owles claw or toe was chosen aboue all other for this purpose Certes there be some of them yet more modest than their fellows and they haue giuen out That the liuer of a Cat killed in the wane of the Moone
heat of the Sun that it may frie therein vntill it be blanched white and look pure and cleare then is it put vp in tin boxes or peuter pots and reserued for vse The true mark to know which is good Oesypum after it is thus tried putrified is thus if it haue a rank smel stil of the first filthines which it had from the sheep also if when you rub it with your hand in water it melt not but in the working look whitish like vnto cruse or white lead a soueraigne thing it is for the inflammation of the eies for the hard callosities also that grow vpon the eye-lids Some there be who torrifie the foresaid greasie wooll into an earthen pot or pan so long vntill it haue forgone and yeeldeth forth all the sweet and fattinesse the which they suppose to be the best Oesypum that is for any erosion fretting or hardnesse of the eyelids or to cure the scabs and sores yea and the watering of the angles of the eies Well this fatty excrement thus clarified incorporat with goose grease cureth not only the vlcers of the eies but of the mouth also and members of generation the same tempered with Melilot and Butyr maketh an excellent linement for all inflammations of the matrice the chaps also and swelling piles or biggs in the fundament Many other vertues it hath which I will digest into their seuerall places and speake of them accordingly As touching the filthy excrements hanging to sheeps tailes and baltered together into round pils or bals if they be dried and so beaten to pouder are singular for the teeth yea though they shooke in the head if they be rubbed therwith also for the gums though there were gotten into them a cankerous sore Now concerning fleece wooll that is pure and washed either by it selfe alone or else with sulpher vif it is passing good to be applied to any place in paine whereof the cause is not euident and known which also being reduced into ashes is soueraign for the accidents which happen vnto the priuie parts In sum of such vertue is wooll that there is no cataplasme pultesse or plaister in manner applied to a grieued place but the same hath wooll laid ouer it The same also hath a singular vertue aboue all things to recouer the appetite of meat in the very sheep that beare it in case they haue lost their stomacks and feed not for pluck the wooll that groweth to their tailes and therwith tie the same as hard as is possible you shall see them presently fall to their meat But it is said withall that the rest of the taile which is vnderneath the said knot where it was bound will quickly become mortified and die CHAP. XIII ¶ The nature and properties medicinable of Eggs. GReat societie and affinitie there is between wooll egs in this regard That if they be applied both together in a frontall to the forehead they represse all violent flnxes rheums falling into the eies but you need not take for this purpose any wool that hath bin dressed or clensed with the Fullers scouring weed neither is it required that in this case there should be vsed any more but the white of an egg and the same ought to be infused or spread vpon the foresaid wooll with the pouder of Frankincense in very truth the white of an egg alone if it be instilled or dropped into the eies is sufficient to restraine the flux of humors thither yea and to coole any hot rheume or inflammation incident to them Howbeit some think it better to put saffron therto and vse this gleere or white of the egg beaten in stead of water for all collyries or medecins appropriat to the eies The white of an eg incorporat whit fresh butyr is so soueraign for the red and bloud shotten eies which put little children to pain as none in the world better nay there is not in a maner any other vsed in that case The same beaten and tempered with oile assuageth the heat of S. Anthonies fire if there be leaues of beets laid vpon the place and kept bound thereto The white of an egg incorporat with salhormoniacke finely puluerized doth extend and turn backward the haires of the eielids which grow inward into the eies the same with pine nut-kernels a little hony mingled withall and so reduced into a liniment takes away the pimples that arise in the face annoint the visage therwith it will keep it from being sun-burnt If one be scalded with hot water lay quickly an egg to the place yelke white and altogether it will take out the fire and preserue it from blistering some put thereto barley meale and a little salt but say the place be blistered exulcerat with any burne or scald parched barley with the white of an egg and swines grease is an excellent medicine to heale the sore and the same cataplasme is much vsed in the cure of the haemorroids piles and chaps of the fundament and especially in children for to reduce the tiwill into the right place if it hang forth for the rifts and chaps which appeare in the feet take the white of an egg sodden or rosted the weight of two deniers of ceruse as much of letharge of siluer and myrrhe with a little quantitie of wine incorporat all together into a cataplasme there is not a better medicine for them and for the inflammation called S. Anthonies fire the white of an eg beaten together with Amydum or starch-floure is right soueraign It is said moreouer that the white of an egg is very good to conglutinat or sowder any wound yea and two expell the stone and grauell out of the body The yelke of an egg sodden vntill it be hard and tempred with a little saffron with hony also and brest-milke and so reduced into a liniment allaieth the pain of the eies if they be anointed or fomented therewith or if the same be incorporat with oile rosat honied wine and so spred vpon a quilt of wooll and applied it workes the same effect Others there be who take the yelke or an hard egg mix therwith the pouder of persley seed adding thereto fried barly meale dried and honied wine with which composition they annoint the sore eies Also the yelk of a soft egg alone supped off and swallowed down cleare that it touch not the teeth by the way is singular good for those that be troubled with the cough with the rheume or catarrhe that hath taken a way to the brest or pectorall parts yea and the roughnesse of the throat pipes which causeth hoarsenesse but principally if one be bitten with a worme or serpent called Haemorrhois let him both sup off the yelke of an egg raw or soft and apply it also to the wounded place It helpeth the infirmities of the reins it healeth the fretting excoriation and vlcers of the bladder yea and cureth those that reach cast vp bloud Fiue
Magicke abouesaid there was a second Osthanes in the daies of K. Alexander the Great who by reason that he attended vpon him in his train during his journies and voiages that he made was himself in great reputation abroad and by meanes thereof gaue no small credit and authoritie to his profession for that hee had opportunity thereby as no man need to doubt to trauell and compasse the globe of the earth and so to spread and divulge this learning in all parts And verily that this doctrine hath bin heretofore receiued in some nations of Italy it appeareth as well by good euidences and records extant at this day in the body of our Law written in the 12 Tables as by other arguments and testimonies which I haue alledged in the former Booke Certes in the 657 yeare after the foundation of Rome citie and not before which fell out to be when Cn. Cornelius Lepidus and P. Licinius Crassus were Consuls there passed a decree and act of the Senat forbidding expressely the killing of mankinde for sacrifice whereby we may euidently see that vntill this inhibition or restraint came forth our progenitors and ancestours were giuen to those inhumane and monstrous sacrifices No question there is verily but that this Art of Magicke was professed in France and continued vntill our daies for no longer is it agoe than since the time of Tiberius Caesar that their Druidae the Priests and Wisemen of France were by his authority put down together with all the pack of such Physitians prophets wizards But what should I discourse any longer in this wise of that Art which hath passed ouer the wide ocean also gone as far as any land is to be seene even to the vtmost bounds of the earth and beyond which there is nothing to be discouered but a vast prospect of Aire and Water And verily in Brittaine at this day it is highly honored where the people are so wholly deuoted vnto it with all reuerence and religious obseruation of ceremonies that a man would think the Persians first learned all their Magick from them See how this Art and the practise thereof is spread ouer the face of the whole earth and how those nations were conformable enough to the rest of the world in giuing entertainment thereto who in all other respects are far different diuided from them yea and in manner altogether vnknowne to them In which regard the benefit is inestimable that the world hath receiued by the great prouidence of our Romanes who haue abolished these monstrous and abhominable Arts which vnder the shew of religion murdred men for sacrifices to please the gods and vnder the colour of Physicke prescribed the flesh to bee eaten as most wholsome meat CHAP. II. ¶ The sundry kinds of Magicke The execrable acts of Nero and the detestation of Magitians MAgicke may be practised after diuers sorts according as Osthanes hath set downe in writing for it worketh by the means of Water Globes or Balls Aire Starres Fire-lights Basons and Axes yea and many other means there bee that promise the foreknowledge of things to come besides the raising vp and conjuring of ghosts departed the conference also with Familiars and spirits infernall And all these were found out in our daies to be no better than vanities false illusions and that by the Emperor Nero and yet was he neuer more addicted to play vpon the cythern nor took greater pleasure to hear sing tragicall songs than to study art Magick and no maruell if he were giuen to such strange courses hauing wealth world at wil and his fortunes besides attended vpon accompanied with many deep corruptions of the mind But amid those manifold vices whereunto he had betaken and sold himselfe a principall desire he had to haue the gods forsooth and familiar spirits at his command thinking that if he could haue attained once to that hee had then climbed vp to the highest point and pitch of magnanimity Neuer was there man that studied harder and followed any Art more earnestly than he did Magick Riches he had enough vnder his hands and power he wanted not to execute what he would his wit was quicke and pregnant to apprehend and learn any thing ouer and besides other means that he practised to bring about this desseine of his which were so intollerable that the world could not indure them and yet he gaue it ouer in the end without effect an vndoubted peremptory argument to conuince the vanity of this Art when such an one as Nero rejected it But would to God he had conferred with familiars spirits yea taken counsel of all the diuels in hell for to be resolued of those suspitions which were gotten into his head rather than giuen commission as he did to the professed bawds and common harlots in stinking stewes and brothell houses for to make inquisition from house to house after those whom he had in jealousie Certes no bloudy and detestable sacrifices how inhumane and barbarous soeuer he could haue performed but they had beene far more easie and tollerable than those cruel imaginations which he conceiued and wherupon he murdered most piteously so many good citizens filled Rome with their restlesse ghosts But to return again to Art Magick which Nero would so fain haue learned what might be the reason that he could not reach vnto it Surely these Magitians are not without their shifts meanes of euasion to saue the credit of their art if haply they misse and come short at any time of their purpose for otherwhiles they beare vs in hand that ghosts and spirits will not appeare nor yeeld any seruice to those persons who are freckled full of pimples and haply Nero the Emperor was such an one As for his lims otherwise he had them all sound they were besides the set daies and times fit for this practise and prescribed by Magitians he might chuse at his good will pleasure Moreouer an easie matter it was for him to meet with sheep cole black such as had not a speck of white or any other colour for him I say who when he list could sacrifice men and took greatest delight in those sacrifices furthermore he had about him Tyridates the K. of Armenia a great Magitian to giue him instructions This prince Tyridates being vanquished and subdued by the Romane captains vnder Nero and forced by their capitulations to present himselfe personally at Rome for to do homage vnto the Emperour trauelled thither all the way by land which was a sore charge to the countries prouinces through which he passed bringing with him as he did the whole pompe and train for the triumph ouer Armenia and himselfe came vnto Caesar. And why would not this Tyridates passe the seas and saile ouer into Italy the nearest and most expedit way Forsooth so precise he was that he made
to some part of the patient or els the snails which be found naked without their shels Others put a liue Stellion or star-lizard in some little casket or box lay the same vnder the pillow or bolster where the patient laieth his head but when the ague beginneth to decline and is like to go away they let the Stellion go againe at liberty They prescribe likewise to swallow downe the heart of a sea-gull or cormorant taken forth of the bodie without any knife or instrument of yron if not so to keepe the same dried to beat it to pouder and then to drink it in hot water The hearts of swallows condite in hony and so eaten bee excellent good for the quartane ague as our Magitians say And yet some of them make no more ado but giue of their dung to the weight of one dram in 3 cyaths of goats milke and ews milk or els of wine cuit before the accesse come Howbeit others would haue the Swallowes themselues to be eaten whole without any dressing at all The people of Parthia drink for the quartan ague the sixt part of a denier weight of an Aspis skin with the like poise of pepper they hold it to be a soueraigne remedy Chrysippus the Phylosoper was of opinion and so he hath put down in writng That to carry one Phryganium tied to some part of the body is excellent for the quartan But what liuing creature he would meane by that same Phryganium neither hath he himselfe described nor euer could I meet with any man that knew it howbeit I thought it good to set downe this remedy being thus deliuered by so graue an Author as Chrysippus was to stir vp the diligence of others if haply there be any so industrious as will take paines to search farther into the thing and learne what it might be In any of these long diseases which be called Chronique it is commonly thought That to eat the flesh of a Crow to apply vnto their body their nest is most excellent to bring them to an end As for Tertian agues it were an easie matter to try the experiments of such receits as are giuen out for them considering how the poore patients in hope of ease are willing enough delighted to be doing and working conclusions and namely to see whether the copweb nest and all of that spider which they cal Lycos incorporat with rosin and wax so appliedas a frontale to the forehead and temples on both sides of the head will do any good to rid them away Certes some vse to wear about them the spider it selfe inclosed within a quil or piece of a reed in which sort it is reported to auaile much in the cure of other feuers Also it is thought That a green lizard hung about the neck aliue in some box sufficient to receiue it is as effectuall And these kind of medicines they affirm to be of great efficacy for to driue away those agues which by way of relapse vse often to return againe when they were thought to be cleane gone Touching the dropsie the tried grease of sweaty wooll taken in wine with a little Myrrh so that the whole arise to the quantity of an Hazel nut is supposed to be a singular receit but some put there to Goose grease also and oile of Myrtles The filthy ordure that gathereth about Ewes vdders hath the same effect Likewise the flesh of an vrchin long kept in pouder or otherwise and eaten doth much good To conclude it is thought that if the belly be rubbed well and annointed with that which a dog doth vse to cast by way of vomit it helpeth those that bee in a dropsie for it is reported to haue a speciall vertue to draw a water and to drie vp the superfluous humidity ingendring that disease CHAP. XII ¶ Medicines for S. Anthonies fire Carbuncles fellons burns crampes or contractions of sinewes THe suet or grease of vnwashed wooll incorporat with oile of Roses and Tutie is a proper liniment for S. Anthonies fire so is the bloud of a tike and earth-wormes reduced into an vnguent with vineger but especially these Cricquets crushed and wrought within ones hand to the consistence of an vnguent and so applied And this medicine last mentioned is passing effectuall for the party himselfe that hath the handling of it for it assureth him afore hand that he shall not fal into the said disease in a whole yere following but this Criquet must bee digged out of the ground with some instrument of yron and the earth all to be taken vp with it for to serue in this cure Moreouer it is said That goose grease is very good in this case so are the ashes of a Vipers head kept dried then calcined if the same be afterwards applied in form of a liniment with vineger The old sloughs that snakes cast off reduced into an vnguent with Bitumen and Lambs suet quencheth this burning humor of S. Anthonies fire if the body be annointed therewith tempered in water presently after the baine As for Carbuncles the means to rid them away is to annoint them either with Pigeons dung alone or els mixed with Lineseed and honied vineger likewise it is good to make a cataplasme of those Bees which haue bin drowned or killed in their own honey and lay the same vpon the sore Others apply vnto them either a pultesse of fried Barley groats or else a pouder made with their meale If there be a carbuncle risen in their priuities the fattinesse of greasie and vnwashed wooll incorporat in hony and the skales refuse or cinders of lead into a salue cureth it and the same healeth generally all other botches or vlcers in those parts Sheeps dung that is fresh and greene they hold to be singular for carbuncles taken in the very beginning All tumors and hard swellings which had need to be mollified are made soft and brought downe most effectually with Goose grease or the fat of a Swan Moreouer it is said That a spider laid to any fellon before it be once named what thing it is eureth the same but it must not be remoued from the place before the third day The mouse called an Hardishrew hanged vp aliue vntill it be dead is very good for these fellons in case it touch not the ground afterward and that there be 3 circles or turnes made with it round about the sore so that withall both the patient and the party that hath this cure in hand spit vpon the floore three times in the doing thereof Also the dung of Cocke or Henne that which looketh reddish especially tempered with vineger laid to a fellon healeth it but the said dung ought to be fresh and newly meuted Of the same operation and effect is the gisier of a Storke boiled in wine Some there be that take certain flies of some odde and vneuen number bruise and work them into the consistence of a saue with their
Romane Eloquence loe here thy Groue in place How greene it is where planted first it was to grow apace And Vetus now who holds thy house Faire Academie hight Spares for no cost but it maintains and keeps in better plight Of late also fresh fountains here brake forth out of the ground Most wholesome for to bath sore eies which earst were neuer found These helpfull springs the Soile no doubt presenting to our view To Cicero her ancient lord hath done this honour due That since his books throughout the world are read by many a wight More waters still may cleare their eyes and cure decaying sight In the same tract of Campaine and namely toward Sinuessa there be other fountains called Sinuessan waters which haue the name not only to cure men of lunacie and madnes but also to make barrain women fruitfull and apt to conceiue In the Island Aenaria there is a spring which helpeth those that be troubled with the stone and grauell like as another water which they call Acidula within 4 miles of Teanum in the Sidicins country and the same is actually cold also there is another of that kind about Stabij called by the name of Dimidia like as in the territory of Venafrum that which proceeded from the source Acidulus and gaue name to the foresaid water Acidula The same effect they find who drink of the lake Velinus for it breakes the stone Moreouer M. Varro maketh mention of such another fountain in Syria at the foot of the mountaine Taurus So doth Callimachus report the foresaid operation of the riuer Gallus in Phrygia howbeit they that take of this water must keep a measure for otherwise it distracts their vnderstanding driues them besides their right wits which accident hapneth to those saith Ctesias who drink of the red fountain for so it is called in Aethiopia as touching the waters neer Rome called Albulae they are known to heale wounds these waters are neither hot nor cold but those which go vnder the name of Cutiliae in the Sabins country are exceeding cold by a certain mordication that they haue seem to suck out the humors superfluous excrements of the body being otherwise most agreeable for the stomacke sinewes and generally for all parts There is a fountain at Thespiae a city in Boeotia which doth great pleasure to women that would fain haue children for no sooner drinke they of the water but they are ready to conceiue and of this propertie is the riuer Elatus in Arcadia In which region also the Spring Linus yeeldeth water which if a woman with child do drink she shall go out her full time not be in danger to slip an vnperfect birth Contrariwise the riuer Aphrodisium in Pyrrhaea causeth barrennesse The lake or meere Alphion is medicinable and cures the foule Morphew Varro mine author makes mention of one Titius a man of good worth and sometime lord Praetour who was so bewraied painted all ouer his face with spots of Morphew that he looked like an image made of spotted marble Cydnus a riuer of Cilicia hath a vertue to cure the gout as appeareth by a letter written from Cassius the Parmezan vnto M. Antonius Contrariwise the waters about Troezen are so bad that all the inhabitants are thereby subject to the gout and other diseases of the feet There is a citie in Gaule named Tungri much renowned for a noble fountaine which runneth at many pipes a smacke it hath resembling the rust of yron howbeit this tast is not perceiued but at the end loose only This water is purgatiue driues away tertian agues expels the stone and cureth the Symptomes attending thereupon Set this water ouer the fire or neare to it you shall see it thick and troubled but at the last it looketh red Between Puteoli and Naples there be certain wels called Leucogaei the water wherof cureth the infirmitie of the eies and healeth wounds Cicero in his booke entituled Admiranda i. Wonders among other admirable things hath ranged the moores or fens of Reate for that the water issuing from them hath naturally a propertie from all others to harden the houfes of horses feet Eudicus reporteth That in the territorie of Hestiaea a citie in Thessalie there be two springs the one named Ceron of which as many sheepe as drinke proue black the other Melas the water wherof maketh black sheep turn white let them drink of both waters mingled together they will proue flecked and of diues colours Theophrastus writeth That the riuer Crathis in the Thuriaus countrie causeth both kine and sheep as many as drink thereof to looke white whereas the water of Sybaris giueth them a black hew And by his saying this difference in operation is seene also vpon the people that vse to drink of them for as many as take to the riuer Sybaris become blacker harder and withall of a more curled hair than others contrariwise the drinking of Crathis causeth them to look white to be more soft skinned their bush of haire to grow at length Semblably in Macedony they that would haue any cattell to grow white bring them to drinke at Aliacmon the riuer but as many as desire they should be brown or black driue them to water at Axius The same Theophrastus hath left in writing That in some places there is no other thing bred or growing but brown and duskish insomuch as not only the cattel is all of that lere but also the corne on the ground other fruits of the earth as among the Messapians Also at Lusae a city of Arcadia there is a certain wel wherin there keep ordinarily land-mice As for the riuer Aleos which passes through Erythrae it makes them to grow hairie all their bodies ouer as many as drink therof In Boeotia likewise near to the temple of the god Trophonius hard by the riuer Orchomenas there be two fountains the one helps memory the other causeth obliuion wherupon they took their names In Cilicia hard at the town Crescum there runs a riuer called Nus by the saying of M. Varro whosoeuer drink therof shall find their wits more quicke and themselues of better conceit than before But in the Isle Chios there is a spring which causeth as many as vse the water to be dull and heauie of spirit At Zamae in Affrick the water of a certain fountain makes a cleare shrill voice Let a man drink of the lake Clitorius he shall take a misliking and loathing of wine saith M. Varro And yet Eudoxus Theopompus report That the water of the fountains beforesaid make them drunk that vse it Mutianus affirmes That out of the fountain vnder the temple of father Bacchus within the Isle Andros at certaine times of the yere for 7 daies together there runneth nothing but wine insomuch as they call it the wine of god Bacchus howbeit remoue the said water out of the prospect and view as it were
of the said temple the tast wil turn to be waterish again Polyclitus writeth of a certaine fountaine of Cilicia neere vnto the citie Soli which yeeldeth an vnction or oleus water that serueth in stead of oile Theophrastus reports the same of another fountain in Aethyopia which hath the like quality And Lycus saith That among the Indians there is a fountaine the water whereof is vsed in lampes to maintaine light And the like is reported of an â—…ther water about Ecbatanâ—… the capitall citie of Media Theopompus writeth That neere to Scotusa in Macedonie there is a lake the water wherof is soueraign for the healing of wounds Moreouer king Iuba hath left in writing That in the Troglodites country there is a lake for the hurtful water that it beareth called the Mad lake which thrice a day becommeth bitter and salt and as many times for it turneth to be fresh and sweet which course it keeps also in the night season breeding otherwise white serpents twenty cubits long of which it is crawling full The same Prince mine author reports That in Arabia there is a spring boiling out of the ground with such a force that it scorneth and checketh any thing that is throwne into it and canot be kept downe with any weight whatsoeuer Theophrastus maketh mention of the fountain Marsyas in Phrygia neere vnto the town Celaenae which casteth vp great stones And not farre from it be two other springs Claeon and Gelon so called by the Greeks for the contrary effects which they worke At Cizicum there is a fountain of Cupid and whosoeuer drinke of the water thereof shall lay aside and forget all affection of loue as Mutianus doth both report and beleeue At Cranon there is a hot spring and yet not so boyling as many others be the water thereof if it be put into a bottle or flaggon of wine will maintain the heat thereof for three daies together that it shall drinke hot In Germany beyond the riuer Rhene there be waters so hot that whosoeuer drinketh therof shall sensibly find the heat in his body 3 daies after The springs that yeeld this water be called Mattiaci This peculiar property besides hath this water that about the edges and brims thereof there engender pumish stones Mow if any man suppose some of these strange reports to be incredible let him learne know that in no part of the world Nature hath shewed more admirable works than in this element of Water And albeit in the beginning of this mine historie I haue written in ample manner of many a wonder obserued in the waters yet somewhat remaineth still to be related For Ctesias saith That the Indians haue a lake or poole wherin nothing will swim but all sinks to the bottome And Coelius also our countryman auoucheth That the leaues which fall into the lake Avernus will settle downeward and not flote aboue And Varro auoucheth moreouer That what birds soeuer flie ouer it or approch the aire and breath thereof they will die presently Contrariwise in Apuscidamus a lake of Affrick nothing goes down but all swims aloft The like doth Appion report of Phinthia a fountain in Sicilie as also of a lake in Media and namely the pit or well of Saturne The fountaine Limyra is wont ordinarily to change his seat and to passe into places adjoyning but neuer for nought presaging alwaies thereby some strange accident to ensue And wonderfull it is that the fishes therein should follow and do the like Now when this water is thus remoued the inhabitants of the country desirous to know the issue of things to come repaire thither as to an Oracle and seek to be resolued by the foresaid fishes and therwith offer to them some meat if they come vnto it and swim away with all it is a good token this they take for an affirmatiue answer as if they said Yea to their demands but in case they refuse the meat and flirt it away with their tailes they collect the contrary and this is their flat nay There is a riuer in Bithynia called Olachas running close to Briazus which is the name both of a temple and also of the god therein honoured the water whereof will discouer and detect a perjured person for if he that drinketh thereof feele as it were a burning fire within his body take him for a false forsworne villaine Furthermore in Cantabria or Biscay the fountains of the riuer Tamaricus are endued with a secret vertue to presage and foretell future euents and three heads or sources there be of them eight foot distant one from another they meet all at length in one channell and maintaine the great and mighty riuer Tamaricus Howbeit twelue times euery day yea and otherwhiles twenty times they are dry and haue no shew at all or appearance of water notwithstanding there be another fountain or well neere to them that yeeldeth plenty of water and neuer giueth ouer running And this is held for an ominous and fearefull presage if when folke are desirous to see them they seeme not to run at all as it was seene of late daies by Lartius Licinius sometime lord Pretour and afterwards Lieutenant Generall vnder the Consuls For within a seuen-night after a great misfortune happened vnto him In Iurie there is a riuer which euery Sabbath day is dry Thus much of waters medicinable and miraculous and yet not simply hurtfull Contrariwise there be others of as wonderfull a nature but dangerous they are and deadly withall Ctesias writeth That there is a fountaine in Armenia breeding and bringing forth black Fishes wherupon as many as feed are sure to die for it immediatly I haue heard the like reported of such dangerous fishes about the head of the riuer Danubius vntill a man come to a fountaine which presently dischargeth it selfe into the channell of the said riuer for beneath that place such fishes go not nor enter lower into the riuer And hereupon the fountaine is by the generall voice of people taken to be the very source and head of Danubius aforesaid The selfe-same accident as touching fish is reported by a poole in Lydia called the poole of the nymphs In Arcadia neere vnto the riuer Pheneus there floweth a water out the rockes called Styx which is present death to as many as drink thereof as heretofore I haue shewed And Theophrastus saith moreouer that in this water there be certaine small fishes a thing that a man shall neuer see in any other venomous fountains and those likewise are as deadly as the water Thâ—…opompus writeth That in Thrasia there be waters about the place called Chropsos which kill those that drinke thereof And Lycus maketh report of another fountaine in the Leontines countrey wherof as many as drink die within three daies Varro hath left in writing That neare to the hill Soracte there is a fountaine foure foot large which at the rising of the Sunne ouerfloweth like boyling water but the birds that haue tasted
of the â—…ater die presently and are there to be seen lying dead For this secret mischiefe there is besides in many of these waters that they are faire and cleare to see to and thereby seeme to allure both man and beast to drinke thereof for their owne bane and destruction as we may see by Nonacris in Arcadia for surely this fountaine giueth no suspition at all wherby we should mistrust a venomous quality and yet some are of opinion That the hurt which commeth thereby proceedeth from excessiue cold and they ground their reason vpon this That the water issuing out of it into riuerets and rils will congeale and grow to a stony substance It fareth otherwise about the vale of Tempe in Thessalie where the water of a certaine fountaine is fearfull to see to and there is no man but abhorreth the sight therof besides the corrosiue quality that by folks saying it hath to fret and eat into brasse and yron the best is that as I haue shewed before it runneth not farre and the course that it holdes is but short But wonderfull it is that a certaine wild Carob should enuiron this source round about with his roots and the same continually beare purple flours as it is roported to do Also in the very brinke and edge of this fountaine there is another herbe of a kind by it selfe which abideth fresh and greene from one end of the yeare to another In Macedonie not far from the tombe of Euripides the Poët there be two riuers run together the one yeelds water most wholesome for to be drunke the other is as noisome and deadly Neare to Perperenae a towne in Troas there is a spring the water whereof giueth a stonie coat or crust to all the earth that it either ouerfloteth or runneth by of which nature are the hot waters issuing out of a fountaine neare Delium in Euboea for look what way soeuer the riuer runs you shal see the stones to grow still in height About Eurymenae which is in Thessalie there is a well cast into it any chaplets or guirlands of floures they will turne to stones There runneth a riuer by Colossi a city in Phrygia into which if you throw brickes or tiles that be raw and vnbaked you shall take them forth againe as hard as stones Within the mines of the Isle Scyros there is a riuer which conuerteth into stone all the trees that it runneth by or toucheth as well the boughs as the bodies In the famous and renowned caues called Corycia all the drops of water that distill from the rocke turne to be as hard as stones and no maruell for at Meza in Macedonie a man shall see the drops of water become stone as they hang to the very vaults of the rocke much like to ysickles from the eaues of houses in Winter time whereas at Corycum abouenamed the said drops turn into stone when they are fallen downe and not before In certain caues they are to be seen conuerted into stones both waies and some of them are so big as they serue to make columnes and pilastres of and those otherwhiles of diuers colours to the eye as may be seen in the great caue of Phausia which is within the Chersonese of the Rhodians Thus much may suffice by way of examples to shew the varietie of waters with their sundry vertues and operations CHAP. III. ¶ The qualitie that is in waters How a man may know which be good and wholesome from such as be naught and vnwholesome MVch question there is controuersie among physicians What kind of water is best and yet with one generall consent they condemne and that iustly all dead and standing waters supposing those that run to be better for it standeth with good reason that the very agitation and beating vpon the banks as they beare streame in their current maketh them more subtile pure and cleare and by that meanes they get their goodnesse Which considered I maruaile very much at those who make most account of the * water gathered and kept in cesternes But they ground their opinion vpon this reason because raine water is of all others lightest as consisting of that substance which was able to rise and mount vp aloft and there to hang aboue in the aire Which is the cause also that they preferre Snow water before that which commeth downe in shoures and the water of yce dissolued before the other of melted Snow as if the water were by yce driuen together and reduced to the vtmost point of finenesse They collect hereby that these waters to wit raine snow and yce bee all of them lighter than those that spring out of the earth and yce among the rest farre lighter than any water in proportion But this opinion of theirs is to bee reputed as erronious and for the common good and profit of mankinde to be refuted For first and formost that leuitie whereof they spake can hardly and vnneath bee found and knowne by any other meanes than by the sence and feeling of the stomacke for if you goe to the weighing of waters you shall perceiue little or no difference at all in their poise Neither is it a sufficient argument to prooue raine water to be light because it ascendeth on high into the aire for wee may see stones likewise drawne vp into the clouds and besides as the raine falleth downe againe it cannot chuse but be infected with the grosse vapours of the earth Whereby it commeth to passe that wee find raine water ordinarily to bee most charged and corrupted with ordure and filthinesse and by reason thereof it heateth most quickly and corrupteth soonest As for snow and yce that they should bee thought to bee composed of the subtile parts of this Element and yeeld the finest water I wonder much considering the neare affinitie which is betweene them and haile which might induce vs also to thinke the same of it but all men confesse and hold that the same is most pestilent and pernicious for to bee drunke Moreouer there are amongst them not a few who contrary vnto the opinion of other Physicians their fellowes affirme flatly and confidently the water of snow and yce to bee the vnwholesome drinke that is for that all the puritie and finenesse thereof hath beene drawne and sucked out And in very truth wee find it by experience that any liquor whatsoeuer doth diminish and consume greatly by beeing frozen and congealed into an yce Wee see besides That ouer-grosse and foggie deawes breed a kinde of scurfe or scab in plants white frosts burne and sendge them and both of these the hore frost as well as the deaw proceed from the same causes in a manner that snowes doe Certes all Philosophers agree in this one point That raine water putrifieth soonest of any other and least while continueth good in a ship as saylers know full well Howbeit Epigenes auoucheth and affirmeth That the water which hath beene seuen times putrified and as often purified
is to seeth it wel vntil the one halfe be consumed Now if a man desire to know the vertue and commoditie of cold water first it ordinarily stancheth any flux of bloud if it be cast vpon the place Also if one be not able to endure the heate in a bain or hot-house the best way to auoid this inconuenience is to hold in his mouth cold Water all the while Moreouer many a man hath found by a verie familiar experience that the coldest water in the mouth is not alwaies the coldest in the hand And contrariwise when it is exceeding cold without to be felt it is not so sensibly cold within to be drunk Of all Waters in the world that which wee call here in Rome Martia carrieth the greatest name by the generall voice of the whole City in regard both of coldnesse and wholesomnesse And verily we may esteeme this water for one of the greatest gifts that the gods haue bestowed vpon our city In times past it was called Auffeia and the very fountaine from whence it commeth Piconia The head or source thereof ariseth at the foot of the vtmost mountains of the Pelignians it runneth through the Marsians country and passing through the lake Fucinus it tendeth no doubt euen then directly toward Rome but anon it is swallowed vp within a hole vnder the ground so as it is no more seen vntill it shew it selfe again in the territorie of the Tiburtines from which place it is conueyed vnder vaults and so carried through to Rome by arch-worke for the space of nine miles The first that began to bring this water to the city was Ancus Martius one of the Roman Kings Afterwards Qu. * Martius Rex in his Pretorship finished the said worke and when in processe of time it was fallen to decay M. Agrippa repaired it againe who also brought the water named Virgo to the city which hath her head eight miles from Rome in a certaine nouke or by-corner about two miles turning from the great port way leading to Praeneste Neere vnto it runneth the riuer Herculaneus but this water keepeth stil behinde as though it fled from it whereupon it tooke the name Virgo Compare these two riuers together which are conueyed to Rome you shall see the difference beforesaid as touching the coldnesse of waters for looke how cold Virgo is to the hand so much is Martia in the mouth But long ago haue wee of Rome lost the pleasure and commoditie of these two Rills through the ambition and auarice of some great men who haue turned away these waters from the City where they yeelded a publique benefit to the Commonwealth and deriued them for their priuat delight and profit into their owne mannors and houses in the country for to water their gcrdens and serue to other vses And here in this place I thinke it not impertinent to adioine to this present treatise the maner and skill of searching and finding out waters And first to speake in general terms springs ordinarily be found in Vallies in the pitch or crest of some little hill where it hath a fall and descent or else at the foot of great mountaines Many are of opinion That in any tract whatsoeuer that side or coast which regardeth the North is giuen to haue water in it And verily it were not amisse to shew how Nature disporteth her selfe and worketh variably in this behalfe First a man shall neuer see it raine on the South side of the mountaines in Hyrcania which is the reason that on that part onely which lieth to the North they are giuen to beare wood and be full of forrests But Olympus Ossa Pernassus Apenninus and the Alpes be replenished with Woods on all sides and are furnished with their Springs and Riuers euerie where In some countries the hills be greene and watered on the South side onely As for example in Candy the mountaines called Albi so that there is no heed to be taken by this for the rule holdeth not alwayes But to come now vnto particulars Looke where you see growing Rushes Reeds or the Herbe whereof I made relation before be sure you shall find water vnderneath Item Wheresoeuer you finde Froggs lying in any place vpon their breasts make account of good store of water there As for the wilde and wandering Sallow the Aller tree Agnus-Castus or Yvie they come vp many times of their owne accords in some low grounds where there is a setling or stay of raine water fallen from higher places insomuch as they that goe by these signes to finde some Spring may soone be deceiued A surer aime yet by farre is a mist or exhalation which a man may discouer a farre off a little before the Sunne rising And for to espie it the better some there be who get vp into an high place and lay themselues grouelong with their chinnes touching the ground and by that meanes discerneth where any such smoke or vapor doth arise There is also another speciall means besides to find out Waters but knowne it is vnto those onely who be skilfull and expert in this feat For they that are guided by this direction to Water goe forth in the hottest season of the yeare and about the noone-tide of the day to marke the reuerberation of the Sunne beames in any place for if this repercussion and rebounding appeare moist and namely when the face of the earth looketh dry and thirstie they then make nodoubt but to finde Water there But they had need to looke so intentiuely and earnestly that oftentimes their eyes ake and be pained withall For auoiding which trouble and inconuenience some betake themselues to other experiments and namely they dig a trench or ditch fiue foot deep within the ground the mouth wherof they couer all ouer with earthen vessels of potters worke vnbaked or els with a barbars brasen bason well enhuiled and withall a lamp burning ouer all which they make a little arch-work of leaues and boughs and mould thereupon Now if they come within a while after to this place and either see the earthen pots broken or wet or perceiue a dew or sweat standing vpon the brasse or finde the lamp aforesaid gon out and yet no want of oile to maintaine light or if they feele a lock of wool which they hung within the trench to be moist they assure themselues they shall find water if they sink the pit deeper Some there be who for better assurance hereof make a fire in the place and burne it throughly for then the vessels aforesaid if they proue to be wet giue a more infallible hope of a spring Moreouer the very leire it selfe of the soile if it be spotted with white specks or be altogether of a reddish bright colour promiseth spring water to be vnderneath for if the ground look black lightly the water wil soon fail if there be any spring there found If you chance to light vpon a vein of potters clay or chalk make
account you shall meet with no spring there sink as deep as you will and therfore workmen when they come to it giue ouer presently For a great regard they haue to obserue the change of euery coat as I may so say of the earth as they dig to wit from the black delfe vntil they meet by degrees with the veins aforesaid Furthermore it is to be noted that the water which is found in cley grounds is alwaies sweet and potable like as that which a stony and gritty soile doth yeeld is commonly colder than any other and such a kinde of ground also is allowable for the proofe of good waters for it ingendreth sweet and wholsome water light also of digestion and pure withal by reason that as it passeth by a soft grit as it were through a strainer all the grossenesse thereof it leaueth behind sticking thereto As for thicke sand grauell it affordeth small and slender springs and those not durable besides the water wil quickly gather mud Ground giuen to beare pibbles or the grosser sort of grauell giue vs no security that the springs therein wil hold all the yeare long howbeit the water is very good pleasant The hard and compact grauell called the male grauel and the land which seemeth ful of black and burnt carbuncle stones bringeth forth wholsome waters and the sources be sure and perdurable But red stones yeeld the best simply and those that we may be sure will neuer giue ouer and faile And therefore when wee shall perceiue the foot of a mountaine standing vpon such stone or vpon flint wee may boldly reckon of wholesome and euerlasting springs and this gift they haue beside to be passing cold Moreouer in digging and sinking pits marke this for an assured and infallible signe that you approch vnto water namely if the earth appeare and shew moist more and more still as you go lower and lower also if the spade enter more willingly and goe downe with ease and facilitie When pioners haue wrought deepe vnder the ground and then chance to meet with a veine of brimstone or alume the dampe will stop their breath and kill them presently if they take not the better heed and therefore to foresee and preuent this danger they vse to let downe into the pit a candle or lampe burning for if it goe out they may be sure it hath met with the dampe Therefore if pits be subiect to the rising of such vapours cunning and expert workemen make on either side of such pits both on the right hand and the left certaine out-casts tunnels or venting holes to receiue those hurtfull and dangerous vapours whereby they may evaporat and breathe forth another way Otherwhiles it falls out that the aire which they meet with in digging very low doth offend the pioners albeit there be no brimstone nor alume neere but the ready meanes to amend the some and auoid the danger is to make winde and fresh aire with continuall agitation of some linnen cloathes Now when the pit is sunke and digged as far as to the water the bottome must be layd and the lowest sides of the wall reared of stone simply without any mortar made of lime and sand for feare lest the veines of the source be stopped Some waters there are which in the verie prime and beginning of the spring are of this nature That they grow to be exceeding cold namely such as haue their source or spring lying but ebb for they are maintained only of winter rain Others againe begin to be cold at the rising of the Dog-starre And verily we may see the experience both of the one and the other about Pella the capitall city of Macedonie for the water of the meere or marrish there before the towne in the beginning of Summer is cold and afterward when the weather is at the hotest the spring water in the higher parts of the Citie is so extreame cold that it is readie to bee frozen The semblable happeneth in Chios where there is the same reason of the hauen and towne it selfe At Athens the great and famous fountain named Enneacrunos in a rainy or stormy summer is colder than the pit water or wel in Iupiters garden within that city and yet the said Well water if it be a dry season will stand with an ice at Midsummer CHAP. IV. ¶ The reason of certaine Waters that appeare and be hid againe suddenly BVt aboue all others the waters of pits or wels be ordinarily most cold about the retreat or occultation of Arcturus yea and many times they faile in the mids of summer and all of them in maner grow very low for the space of foure daies at the time of the setting of the foresaid star Many there be which haue little or no water in them all winter long and namely about the hil Olympus where it is spring first ere the waters return and find the way into their pits And verily in Sicilia about the cities Messana and Mylae during winter the springs are altogether dry but in summer time they run ouer the brinks of their Wels and pits maintaining pretty riuers At Apollonia a city in Pontus there is a fen neere the sea side which in Summer only ouerfloweth and especially about the rising of the great Dog-star mary if the summer be colder than ordinarie it is not so free and plentifull of water Some Springs haue this qualitie with them to be drier for shoures and raine water as for example in the territorie of Narnia a city in the duchy of Spoleto which M. Cicero hath not forgot to insert among other admirable things in his treatise of Wonders for of this territorie hee writeth in these tearmes That in a drought it was durty and in rainy weather dusty Moreouer this is to be noted That all waters are ordinarily more sweet in winter than in summer but in autumn least of all and in a dry season lesse than at other times Neither are the riuer waters most times of like taste by reason of the great difference that is in their chanels for commonly the water is such as the earth soil through which it passeth and doth participat the qualitie and tast of those herbs always which it passeth and runneth by No maruell therefore if the water of one and the selfe-same riuer be found in one place more vnwholsome and dangerous than in another It falls out many times that the brooks and rills which enter into great riuers do alter their water in the very taste as we may see by experience in the famous riuer Borysthenes insomuch as such great riuers be ouercome with the influence of such riuerets and either their owne taste is delaied by them or clean drowned and lost And some riuers there be which change by occasion of rain the proofe wherof was thrice seen in Bosphorus when by reason of the fall of some salt shoures the flouds that ouerflowed the fields destroyed all the
corne vpon the ground The like also fell as often in Egypt for the rain that fel caused all the washes arising from the riuer Nilus which watred the grounds to be bitter whereupon insued a great plague and pestilence to the whole region It chanceth many times that presently vpon the cutting and stocking vp of Woods there arise and spring certaine fountaines which beforetime appeared not but were spent in the nourishment of the tree roots as it fell out in the mountain Haemus when as Cassander held the Gallogreeks besieged for when the woods thereupon were cut down to make a palaisad for a rampier presently there issued forth springs of water in their place Moreouer it hath bin oft times known that by occasion of spoiling some hils of the wood growing therupon the springs haue met altogether in one streame and done much hurt in sudden ouerflowing the vaile beneath whereas the trees before-time had wont to drink vp digest and consume all the moisture wet that fell and fed the said waters And verily it auaileth much for the maintenance of water to stirre with the plough and to till a ground thereby to break vp and loose the vppermost callositie and hide as it were of the earth that kept it clunged and bound Certes it is recorded for a truth that vpon the rasing and destroying of Arcadia a towne so called in Creet wherby the place was dispeopled all the fountaines waxed dry and the riuers in that tract which were many came to nothing but six yeares after when the said town was re-edified euen as the inhabitants fell to earing and ploughing any grounds within their territorie the foresaid fountains appeared again and the riuers returned to their former course CHAP. V. ¶ Divers historicall obseruations touching this point MOreouer Earthquakes as they discouer sometimes new springs and sources of water so otherwhiles they swallow them vp that they are no more seene like as it hapned as it is well knowne 5 times about the riuer Pheneus in Arcadia And in manner abouesayd there issued forth a riuer out of the mountaine Corycus so soone as the peisants of the country began to break it vp for tillage But to return again to the change and alteration of waters wonderfull they must needs be no doubt when there is no euident cause thereof to be knowne as namely in Magnesia where al the hot waters of the bains suddenly became cold without any other change besides of the tast also in Caria where standeth the temple of Neptune the riuer which was knowne before to be fresh and potable all on a sudden turned into salt water Ouer and besides is not this a strange miracle that the fountain Arethusa in Syracuse should haue a sent or smell of dung during the solemne games and exercises at Olympia But there is some probable reason to be rendred hereof Because the riuer Alpheus passeth from Olympus vnder the very bottom of the sea into that Island of Sicily where Syracuse standeth and so commeth to the foresaid fountain The Rhodians haue a fountain within their Chersonese which euery ninth yere purgeth it self sends out an infinit deale of ordure and filthines And as the tast smell of waters do alter so their colours also do change as for example there is a lake in the country of Babylon which euery summer for the space of 11 daies looketh red and Borysthenes also in the summer time runneth with a blewish colour like violets or the sky and yet a most pure and subtill water it is of all other which is the reason that it swims aloft and floteth naturally vpon Hypanis the riuer In which two riuers there is another maruell reported That all the while a Southern wind bloweth the riuer Hypanis is discerned aboue it But there is one argument more besides that proueth the water of Borysthenes to be passing light thin for that there arise no mists out of it nay it is not perceiued to yeeld any exhalation or breath at al from it To conclude they that would seem to be curious and skilfull in these matters do obserue and affirme That generally all waters grow to be heauier after that mid-winter is once past CHAP. VI. ¶ The maner of water-conduits How and when those waters which naturally are medicinable ought to be vsed Also for what diseases it is good to saite and take the aire of the Sea The vertues and properties of sea waters as touching Physicke IF a man would convey water from any head of a spring the best way is to vse pipes of earth made by potters art and the same ought to be 2 fingers thick and one jointed within another so as the end of the vpper pipes enter into the nether as a tenon into a mortaise or as a box into the lid the same ought to be vnited and laid euen with quicklime quenched and dissolued in oile The least leuell for to carry and command water vp hill from the receit is one hundred foot but if it be conueyed but by one canel and no more it may be forced to mount the space of two Actus i. 240 foot As touching the pipes by means whereof the water is to rise aloft they ought to be of lead Furthermore this is to be obserued That the water ascend alwaies of it self at the deliuerie to the heigth of the head from whence it gaue receit if it bee fetched a long way the worke must rise and fall often in the carriage thereof that the leuell may bee maintained still As for the pipes ten foot long apiece they would bee if you do well Now if the said pipes of lead be but fiue fingers in compasse ordinarily they should weigh sixty pound if they be of eight fingers size they must carry the weight of one hundred pound but in case they bear a round of 10 fingers their poise would be at the least 120 pound and so the rest more or lesse according to this proportion Those pipes be called properly in Latine Denariae the web or sheet whereof beareth ten fingers in breadth before it be turned in and brought to the compasse of a pipe like as Quinariae when the same is halfe so broad Moreouer this is to be obserued That in euery turning and twining of an hill the pipe ought of necessity to be fiue fingers round and no more for to represse and breake the violence of the water in the current Likewise the vaulted heads which receiue and contain water from all the sources meeting together musâ—… be of that capacity as need requireth And since I am falne into the treatise and discourse of fountains I wonder much at Homer that he hath made no mention at all of hot springs and yet otherwise throughout his whole poëme hee bringeth in oftentimes those who bathed and washed in hot baines But it may verie wel be that the reason therof is because in those times there was
a candied dew howbeit that which is found in the rocks is more quicke and biting than the other There is besides of salt naturall a third distinct sort from the former for in the Bactrians country there be two great and huge lakes which naturally do cast vp a mighty quantity of salt the one lieth toward the Scythians and the other bendeth to the Arians country like as neere to Citium a city in the Isle Cypros and about Memphis in Aegypt they draw forth salt out of lakes and afterwards dry the same in the sun Moreouer there be certain riuers which beare salt and the same congealed aloft in their vpper part in manner of yce and yet the water runneth vnderneath and keepeth the course wel enough As for example about the sluces and straits of the mount Caspius and thereupon they be called the Riuers of salt as also in other riuers of Armenia and about the Mardians countrey Moreouer Oxus and Othus two riuers passing through the region Bactriana carry ordinarily downe with them in their streame great peeces and fragments of salt which fall from the mountaines adjoining vnto them There are besides in Barbary other lakes and those verily thicke and troubled which ingender and beare salt But what will you say if there bee certaine Fountaines of hote Waters which breed Salt And yet such bee the Baynes or Springs called Pagasaei Thus far forth haue I proceeded in those kinds of salt which come of waters naturally There are besides certain hils also which are giuen by nature to bring forth salt and such is the mountain Oromenus among the Indians wherein they vse to hew salt as out of a quarry of stone and yet the same groweth still insomuch as the kings of that country make a greater reuenue by far out of it than either by their mines of gold or the pearles which those coasts do yeeld Furthermore it is euident that in Cappadocia there is salt Minerall digged out of the earth and it appeareth plainly that it is a salt humor congealed within And verily they vse to cut it out of the ground after the maner of glasse stone in lumps and those exceeding heauy which the peasants commonly call crums of salt At Carrhae a city of Arabia all the walls thereof as also the housen of the inhabitants be reared built of hard stones and the same be laid by Masons worke and the joints closed and soudered by no other morter but plain water K. Ptolomaeus at what time as he incamped about Pelusium a city of Egypt and cast vp a trench to fortifie the same found such a mine or quarrey of salt as these which was a president to others afterward to sinke pits betweene Aegypt and Arabia euen in the waste and dry quarters where vnder the delfe of sand they met with salt After which manner also they practised to dig in the desart dry sands of Africk and found more as they went euen as far as to the Temple and Oracle of Iupiter Ammon And verily they might perceiue this salt to grow in the night season according to the course of the Moone As for all the tract and country of Cyrenae famous it is and much spoken of for the salt Ammoniacum so called by reason that it is found vnder the sands In colour and lustre it resembleth that Alume de Plume which the Greeks call Schistos It groweth in long lumps or pieces and those not transparent the tast is vnpleasant howbeit this salt is of good vse in Physicke The clearest thereof is taken for the best especially when it wil cleaue directly into streight flakes A strange and wonderfull nature it hath if it be right for so long as it lyeth vnder ground within the mine it is passing light in hand and may be easily welded take it forth once and lay it abroad aboue ground a man would not beleeue or imagine how exceeding heauy it is But surely the reason thereof is evident for the moist vapors contained within those mines where it lieth beare vp the said pieces of salt and are a great ease to those that deale therwith much like as the water helpeth much to the stirring and managing of any thing within it be it neuer so weighty Well this Ammoniacke salt is corrupted and sophisticate as well with the pit salt of Sicily called Cocanicus as also with that of Cypresse which is wonderfull like vnto it Moreouer neare Egelasta a city in high Spaine there is a kind of sal-gem or Minerall salt digged the peeces or lumps wherof are so cleare as a man may in a maner see through them and this hath of long time bin in great request and of such name as the Physitians giue vnto it the price and praise aboue all other kinds But here is to be noted that all places where salt is found are euer barren and will beare no good thing els And thus much may bee said concerning salt that commeth of the own accord As touching salt artificiall made by mans hand there be many kinds thereof Our common salt and whereof we haue greatest store is wrought in this manner first they let into their pits a quantity of sea-water suffering fresh water to run into it by certain gutters for to bee mingled therewith for to help it to congeale whereto a good shower of raine auaileth very much but aboue all the Sun shining therupon for otherwise it wil neuer dry harden About Vtica in Barbary they vse to pile vp great heaps of salt in manner of Mounts which after that they bee hardened and seasoned in the Sun and Moone scorne all raine and foule weather neither will they dissolue insomuch as folke haue enough to doe for to break and enter in with pick-axes Howbeit in Candy the Salt is made in the like pits but of Sea-water onely without letting in any fresh water at all Semblably in Aegypt the Sea it selfe ouerfloweth the ground which as I take it is already soked and drenched with the water of Nilus and by that means their Salt is made After the same manner they make salt also out of certain wels which are discharged into their Salt-pits And verily in Babylon the first gathering or thickening of the water in their salt-pits is a certain liquid Bitumen or Petroleum an oleous substance which they vse in their lamps as we do oile and when the same is scummed off they find pure salt vnderneath Likewise in Cappadocia they do conuey and let in water out of certain wels and fountaines into their Salt-pits In Chaonia there be certaine Springs of saltish water which the people of that countrey doe boile and when it is cooled againe it turneth into Salt but it is but dull and weak in effect and besides nothing white In France and Germany the maner is when they would make salt to cast sea-sea-water into the fire as the wood burneth In some parts of Spain there be salt
springs out of which they draw water in maner of that brine which they cal Muria But thoseverily of France and Germany be of opinion that it skilleth much what wood it is that serueth to the making of such fire Oke they hold the best as being a fewell the simple ashes whereof mixt with nothing els may go for salt And yet in some places they esteeme Hazell wood meeter for this purpose Now when the said wood is on fire and burning they poure salt liquor among wherby not only the ashes but the very coales also will turne to be salt But all salt made in this sort of wood is black I reade in Theophrastus That the Islanders of Imbros were wont to boile in water the ashes of reeds and canes vntill such time as there remained little moisture vnconsumed and that which was left they vsed for salt The brine or pickle wherein flesh or fish hath bin kept salt if it be boiled a second time vntil the liquor be spent and consumed returneth to the own nature and becommeth salt again Certes we find That the salt thus made of the pickle of Pilchars or Herings is of all others most pleasant in tast As touching the salt made of sea-water that of the Isle Cypres and namely that which comes from Salamis is commended for the best But of poole salt there is none comparable to the Tarentine and Phrygian especially that which they cal Tatteus of the lake Tatta and in truth both these kinds of salt be good for the eies The salt brought out of Cappadocia in little earthen pipes hath the name to make the skinne slick and faire but for to lay the same plain and euen and make it look full and plump without riuels the salt which I called Cittieus hath no fellow And therefore women after they be newly deliuered of child vse to annoint and rub their bellies with this salt incorporat together with Gith or Nigella Romana The driest salt is euermore the strongest in tast the Tarentine salt is taken for to be most pleasant and whitest withal Otherwise the whiter that salt is the more brittle it is and readier to crumble and fal to pouder There is no salt but raine water wil make it sweet and fresh The more pleasant it wil be delicat to the tast in case the dew fal therupon but Northeast winds ingender most plenty therof In a Southerly constitution of the weather and namely when the wind is ful south you shall see no salt ingendred The floure of salt commonly called Sperma-Ceti is neuer bred but when the Northeast winds do blow The salt Tragasaeus wil neither spit crackle leap nor sparkle in the fire no more will Acanthius so called of a towne of that name neither doth the fome of salt nor the gobbets and fragments ne yet the thin leaues or flakes thereof The salt of Agrigentum a city in Sicily will abide the fire and make no sparkling put it into water it will keep a spitting and crackling Great difference there is in salt in regard of the colour At Memphis i. Caire in Egypt the salt is of a very deep red but about the riuer Oxus in Bactriana more tawny or inclining to a russet And the Centuripine salt within Sicily is purple About Gela in the same Island the salt is so bright and clear that it wil represent a mans face as in a mirroir In Cappadocia the Minerall salt which they dig is of a yellow Safron colour transparent and of a most redolent smell For any vse in Physicke the Tarentine salt was in old time highly commended aboue the best after which they esteemed most all the sea salts and of that kind the lighter and that which especially is of the nature of fome for the eies of horses and Boeufes they made great reckoning of the Tragasaean salt and that of Granado or Boetica in Spaine For dressing of viands and cates for to be eaten also with meat the better is that salt which sooner melteth and runneth to water That also which by nature is moister than others they hold to be better for the kitchin or the table for lesse bitternesse it hath and such is that of Attica and Euboea For to pouder and keep flesh meat the dry salt quicke at tongues end is thought to be meeter than other as we may see in the salt of Megara Moreouer there is a certain confite or condited salt compounded also with sweet spices aromaticall drugs which may be eaten as a dainiy kind of gruel or sauce for it stirreth vp and whetteth appetite eat the same with any other meats insomuch as amongst an infinit number of other sauces this carrieth away the tast from them all for it hath a peculiar smatch by it selfe which is the cause that the pickle Garum is so much sought after for to giue an edge to our stomack not only we men are solicited moued by salt more than by any thing els tooâ—…r meat but muttons Boeufes and horses also haue benefit therby in that respect they feed the better giue more store of milke and the cheese made thereof hath a more dainty and commendable taste by that means And to conclude all in one word the life of mankind could not stand without salt so necessary an element if I may so say it is for the maintenance of our life that the very delights pleasures of the mind also are expressed by no better term than Salt for such gifts and conceits of the spirit as yeeld most grace and contentment we vse in Latine to call Sales All the mirth of the heart the greatest cheerfulnesse of a lightsome mind the whole repose contentment that a man findeth in his soule by no other word can be better shewed Moreouer this terme in Latine of Sal is taken vp and vsed in war yea and diuers honours and dignities bestowed vpon braue men for some worthy seruice go vnder this name and be called Salaries And how highly our ancestors accounted therof it may appeare by the name of that great port-way or street Salariae so called because all the salt that went into the Sabines country passed that way Moreouer it is said that Ancus Martius K. of Rome was the first that erected the salt-houses and gaue vnto the people a congiary or largesse of 6000 Modij of salt And Varro writeth That our ancestors in times past vsed salt ordinarily in stead of an houshold gruell for they were wont to eat salt with their bread cheese as may appeare by the common prouerb that testifieth so much But most of all we may gather in what request and account salt was in sacrifices and oblations to the gods by this that none are performed and celebrated without a cake of meale and salt Furthermore where salt is truly made without any sophistication it rendereth a certain fine and pure substance as it were the most subtill cinders of ashes
singular for to cure the dysentery or bloudy flix yea though there were an eating vlcer within the guts for the Sciatica and inueterat fluxes of the stomack it is soueraign and to conclude those that dwell far from the sea in the midland parts of a country vse to bath and foment themselues with it in lieu of sea water CHAP. X. ¶ The nature of Salt and the medicinable vertues thereof SAlt by nature standeth much vpon fire yet an enemy it is and contrary vnto fire it flieth from it eating and consuming al things whatsoeuer astringent it is desiccatiue binding and knitting It keeps from putrifaction bodies that be dead and causeth them to indure so a world of yeares In physick it is held for mordant burning caustick and mundificatiue It doth subtiliat extenuat and dissolue Contrary it is to the stomack and serueth not but only to prouoke appetite With origan hony and hyssope it is singular against the sting of serpents and more particularly of the horned serpent Cerastes if it be applied with origan cedar-rosin pitch or hony Being drunk with vineger it helpeth those that be pricked with the Scolopendre and applied as a liniment with oile or vineger and a fourth part of line seed it is good against the sting of scorpions also with vineger alone for the sting of hornets or wasps such like Incorporat with calues tallow it serues much to cure the migrim skals in the head small pocks measels werts which begin to breed also for the accidents of the eies to wit the excrescence of superfluous flesh in those parts or the turning vp of skin about naile roots of fingers or toes Bu principally for the eyes and therefore it entreth into collyries and eie-salues Howbeit for these purposes aboue named it is thought that the salt named Tattaeus of the lake Tatta is most commended as also the other lake like it called Caunites If the eies be bloud shotten or look black and blew vpon some stripe apply salt with an equal weight of Myrrh with hony or els with Hyssop hot water with this charge to foment or bath the place afterward with a kind of salt brine But aboue all Spanish salt would be chosen for this effect it is also good against cataracts and suffusions of the eies if it be ground with milke vpon some touch-stone whetstone or hard porphyrit marble More particularly it is singular for the black bloud gathered in the eies if it be folded within a little linnen cloth so applied but the same ought to be dipped eftsoons in hot water and so the place to be oft times patted withall For the cankers or sores in the mouth it is good to lay salt vpon fine lint In case the gumbs be swelled it were not amisse to rub them therewith Being beaten and reduced into small pouder it serueth for the roughnesse of the tongue Moreouer it is said That whosoeuer hold euery morning vnder his tongue while hee is fasting a little salt vntill it be melted hee shall by that meanes preserue his teeth from being worm-eaten or rotten The same incorporat in raisins without stones and in boeuf suet with a little origan leuen or bread is soueraign for the leprosie fellons tettars ringworms and the wild scab But in all thâ—…se accidents the salt of Thebais in high Egypt is most commended and of this they make choice also to kil the itch A gargarism or collution therof with hony is passing good for the inflammation of the amygdals and the uvula There is no kind of salt but it helpeth the squinancie and the rather if it be vsed inwardly with oile and vineger so as at the same time it be applied without the throat also in a liniment with tar If a cup of wine be dressed therewith it softneth the belly being costiue The same also taken in Wine chaseth out of the body all worms and any hurtful vermin besides Held vnder the tongue it inableth them that haue bin weakned with some long disease and newly recouered to indure the heate of bains or stoues the longer Singular it is for the grief of the sinues but in the practise and vse of this receit it would be obserued especially that there be applied about the shoulders and reins of the back sachels or bags full of salt and the same made hot oftentimes in seething water for so it easeth the pain Being giuen in drink or laid to exceeding hot in the said bags it asswageth the collique and other wrings in the belly yea and the sciatica Beaten small and applied in manner of a cataplasme with meale honey and oile it is soueraigne for the gout in the feet Where I may not forget the obseruation of this soueraign receit which putteth vs in mind that there is nothing better for the whole body of such especially as be subiect to the gout than salt and Sun together For thus we see That our fishers at sea ordinarily haue bodies as hard and tough as horne A principall thing this is therefore to be nominated and set downe for the gout in the feet But salt moreouer takes away cornes of the feer and kibes in the heels Being chewed in the mouth and so applied or els with oile it healeth any burn or skald and keeps the skin from rising into blisters With vineger and hyssop it cureth S. Anthonies fire and all vlcers that be corrosiue It heals likewise cankerous sores if it be applied with wild vine grapes Reduced into fine pouder and laid to with barly meale it is souerain for vlcers corrosiue such as be called Wolues and do eat deep to the very bone so there be laid ouer the same and the part affected a linnen cloath well soked and bathed in wine A proper remedy it is for the jaundise and riddeth away the itch occasioned thereby if the patient be rubbed all the bodie ouer with it oile and vineger against a good fire vntill hee doe sweat But with oile alone it serues for those that feel themselues weary Many physitians haue cured those that be in a dropsie with salt and haue ordained to rub their bodies with oil salt together who are in an ague for to auoid the extremitie of heat and they hold opinion That there is not a better thing to dispatch an old cough than to be licking euer and anon of salt They haue giuen order also by way of clistre to minister salt vp into the body for the Sciatica To apply the same also to eat away proud or dead flesh in any vlcers Being lapped within a linnen cloath and applied to the biting of Crocodiles it is souerain so that the place affected were well patted withal and pressed hard before Moreouer good it is to be taken in honied vineger against the dangerous Opium Brought into a cataplasme with honey and meale it is of great effect to rectifie any dislocation of bones which be out of joint and in that
here And verily among them their Wisards Southsaiers Priests Prophets haue a religious opinion of them and attribute great holinesse to the vse thereof as being persuaded that whoeuer weare them shall be secured against all perils and dangers whatsoeuer and therefore a speciall reckoning they make of them as wel in regard of beautie as deuotion Before that it was known in what estimation Coral was with the Indians the Frenchmen adorned set out their swords targuets shields morrions and head peeces therewith But since time that there was a vent into India of this commoditie so vendible great searsitie there is of it and hardly shall a man meet with any Corall euen in that part of the world where it growes naturally The branches of Corall hanged about the neckes of infants and young children are thought to be a sufficient preseruatiue against all witheraft and sorcerie Calcined by fire and so reduced into ashes or pouder and giuen to drinke in water it helpeth those who are troubled with the wringing paines of the belly the griefe of the bladder and the disease of the stone The like effect it hath if it be drunk in wine or if the patient haue a feauer vpon him in water for to procure sleep This would be noted that Corall doth withstand the power of fire and long it is before it be burned and reduced into ashes But surely a singular medicine it is so prepared and vsed insomuch as by report if a man keepe to it still and continue it long the same will consume the hardnesse and schirrositie of the spleen The pouder of Corall is soueraign for such as reach and cast vp bloud at the mouth The ashes enter into many mixtures and medicines for the eies for astringent they be and cooling withall Hollow vlcers and fistulaes they incarnat and fill vp againe with new flesh Skars and cicatrices they do extenuat If I should speak of the repugnancie and contrariety in Nature which the Greekes call antipathie found in many creatures there is not to be seen in the whole world any thing more venomous and aduerse to plants than the Puffens or Forke fish of the sea called Pastinaca for as I heretofore noted it hath a pricke in the tail which is able to kill any trees that be pierced or wounded withall And yet a concurrent and enemie this hath which doth persecute plague it and namely the Lamprey called Galeos so eager is it and greedy of the venome and poyson of that fish There be other fishes also which it pnrsueth but those Puffins especially and no Weazill hunteth more after serpents In summe whosoeuer be hurt or wounded by the said Pussin this Galeos is a present remedy so is the Barble also and the gum Laser or Benjoin CHAP. III. ¶ Of certaine creatures which liue as well vpon the land as the sea Of Castoreum or the genetoirs of a Bever the medicinable vertues thereof and other properties obserued therein THe power and majestie of Nature is very conspicuous and visible euen in those creatures also which liue indifferently on land and in the water and namely in the Beuers which commonly the physicians call Castores like as their stones also Castorea Some hold that these Beuers when they be neer driuen and pressed by hunters and at the point to be taken bite off their owne stones But Sextius who hath written most exactly in Physicke denieth it flatly He saith moreouer that these cods be small knit short and trussed vp so as they stick close vnto the chine bone and canot possibly be taken from the beast but the life goes away withall By his saying also they are sophisticated and the kidnies of the Beuer which are big be obtruded and foisted to vs many times in stead of their stones which indeed are neuer found but very little slender Furthermore he affirmeth That they be not the right stones of a Beuer when they are seene without a twofold burse or skin which no liuing creature hath besides In these two bags there is found saith he a certain oleous liquor which ordinarily is kept preserued with salt And therefore among other marks to know false and sophisticat Castoreum is this If you see a paire of cods hanging as it were knit together by one string in one bag And yet the best may be falsified by the fraud and cunning of such as put gum therto with salt Ammoniack because the true Beuers stones ought to beare the colour of Ammoniacke to be enclosed also within their seuerall tunicles and to lie in a certaine liquor resembling cereous hony standing much vpon wax to haue a strong and rank smell a bitter hot and fiery tast and withall apt to crumble between the fingers The best Castoreum most effectuall is brought out of Pontus and Galatia next to it is that of Affrick or Barbarie The vertue of Castoreum is to prouoke sneesing if a man hold it to his nose and smell thereto If the head be annointed with Castoreum incorporat with oile of roses and Harstrang it will procure sleep so will it do alone by it selfe giuen in water to drinke in which respect proper it is for the frensie And yet the perfume or vapor thereof will raise those that lie in a sleepy lethergie like a suffumigation or pessarie put vp into the natural parts of women is soueraign for the rising of the mother in which fit they lie as it were in a trance and out of the world Costoreum giuen to the weight of two drams with Peniroyall in water to drink moueth womens monthly sicknes and forceth the afterbirth to com away It helpeth those that haue the dizzinesse or swimming of the braine bee drawne backeward with cramps tremble and shake are plucked with spasmes and convulsions diseased in their sinews troubled with the Sciatica sick of a weak and feeble stomacke that keepeth nothing which it takes and lie bed-rid of the palsie if they be annointed throughly therewith in parts conuenient Or if Castoreum be reduced into pouder and together with the seed of Agnus Castus be incorporat with vineger or oile rosat and so reduced to the consistence of hony which being taken as an electuarie is singular not only for the former maladies but also for the falling sicknes and if the same be giuen in drink it discusseth ventosities appeaseth the wrings and torments of the belly yea and represseth the malice of any poisons But in this case of poisons it ought to be prepared mixed and vsed diuersly according to the sundry kinds thereof for against the venome of scorpions it would be drunk in meere wine to withstand the danger of the Phalangia and such venomous spiders it ought to be giuen in honied wine especially if the intention bee to cast vp the said poysons by vomit or with Rue if the drift and purpose be to hold and retain all still To preuent the perill of the Lizards or venomous wormes Chalcidicae
in salt giuen in wine to drinke do stir and prouoke the appetite vnto venerie Moreouer to feed vpon the fishes called Erythrines ordinarily at the table to hang about the necke the liuer of the frog called Diopetes or Calamita within a little piece of a cranes skin or the jaw tooth of a Crocodile fastened to any arme either els the Sea-horse or the sinewes of a Toad bound to the right arme incite greatly to wantonnesse and lecherie Put a toad within a piece of a sheeps skin newly flaied and let one weare it tied fast about him he shall forget all loue and amitie for euer The broth of froggs boiled in water do extenuat the scuruie thicke roufe in the farcins or mange of horses and make way that they may be bathed and anointed and verily it is credibly affirmed that if they be cured after this manner the scab will neuer returne againe The expert midwife Salpe affirmeth for certain That doggs will not barke if there be giuen vnto them in a morcell of bread or gobbet of flesh a liue frog In this discourse of Water and the things concerning it somwhat ought to be said as touching Calamochnus which otherwise in Latine is named Adarca it groweth about small canes or reeds and is engendred of the froth of sea water and fresh water together where they both meet and are intermingled a causticke qualitie it hath in regard whereof it entreth into the compositions called Acopa which serue for lassitude and those that are benummed with cold It is emploied also in taking away the pimples or spots in womens faces like to lentils As for Reeds and Canes this is their very proper place also wherein they should be treated of And to begin with that reed or cane called Phragmitis which is so good for mounds hedges the root thereof greene gathered and punned is singular for dislocations and the paine of the backebone if the place affected be annointed with it incorporat in vinegre But the rind of the Cyprian cane which also is named Donax burnt into ashes is singular for to recouer haire againe where it was shed by occasion of sicknesse and to heale old vlcers The leaues also serue very well to draw forth any spills pricks or arrow heads that sticke within the flesh yea and to extinguish S. Anthonies fire As for the floure or downe of their catkins if it chance to enter into the eares it causeth deafenesse The blacke liquor resembling inke which is found in the cuttle-fish is of that force that if it be put to the oile of a lamp burning Anaxilaus saith it will drown and put out the former cleare light and make all those in the room to looke like blackamores or Aethiopians The hedge frog otherwise called a toad boiled in water and giuen to swine among other draffe to drinke cureth all their diseases and of the same effect are the ashes of any other frogs besides Rub a piece of wood with the fish called Pulmo Marinus it will seem as though it were on a light fire in so much as a staffe so rubbed or besmeared with it may serue in stead of a torch to giue light before one CHAP. XI ¶ That there be of fishes and other creatures liuing in the Sea one hundred seuentie and six seuerall and distinct kinds HAuing thus treated before sufficiently of the natures and properties of Fishes and such creatures as the water doth yeeld it remaineth now for a finall conclusion to present vnder one view all those fishes name by name which are engendred and nourished not only in those mediterranean and inland arms of the sea which for many a mile take vp a great part of the continent and firme land but also in that vast and wide ocean without the main bounded as it were limited onely by the compasse and circumference of the heauen and those namely as many as be knowne may be reduced all into 176 kinds a thing which cannot be done either in the beasts of the land or foules of the aire For how is it possible to decipher particularize the wild beasts and foules of India Aethyopia of the desarts and of Scythia which we are not come to the knowledge of seeing we haue found so many different sorts in men of whom wee haue some notice and intelligence to say nothing of Ta probane and other Islands lying within the Ocean whereof so many fabulous reports are deliuered certes there is no man but hee must needs confesse and agree to this that it was not possible in this historie of Nature to comprise all sorts of creatures which the earth aire do yeeld Howbeit those that are bred in the Ocean as huge and vast as it is may be comprehended vnder a certaine number a wonderfull matter that we should be better acquainted with those considering how Nature hath plunged and hidden them in the deepe gulfes of the maine sea To begin then with the greatest monsters and beasts that this vnruly Element of the water doth breed we find therin the sea-Trees Whirlepooles greater Whales Priests Tritons i. sea Trumpetters Nereides i. Meremaids Elephants sea Men and Women Wheeles sea Tuns or Pipes Rams and smaller Whales accompanying the bigger Besides other Rams that resemble the ordinary shape of fishes Dolphins and the sea Calues or Seales whereof the Poët Homer writeth so much Furthermore the sea Tortoises which serue for roiot wantonnesse and excesse the Beuers which are so much in request among Physicians As for the Otters albeit a kind of Beuers they are yet because I neuer heard that they came into the salt water I make no great reckoning of them for my purpose is to rehearse those only which inhabit or haunt the sea moreouer the sea Dogs the Curriors Posts or Lacquies of the sea the horned fishes the Swordfish or Emperour of the sea and the Sawfish Ouer and besides those which liue indifferently in the sea the land the riuer to wit the water Horses and the Crocodiles others again that ordinarily keepe in the sea and yet come vp into the riuers but neuer land to wit the Tunies as well the growne Thunnies as the yonger sort Thunnides or Pelamides The Siluri the blacke Coracini and Perches As touching those that neuer came forth of the sea the Sturgeon the Guilthead the cod the Acarne Aphya Alopecias the Yeels and Araneus The billowing fish Box Batis Banchus Barrachus and Belone with all the kind of those which wee call Needle fishes and also Balanus The sea Rauen Corvus and Cytharus all the sorts of the Chrombi the Carpe Chalcis and Cobio Callarius of the Cods kind but that it is lesse Colias whether it be Parianus of Parium the Colony or Sexitanus so called of a city in Granado or Baetica a fish resembling Lizards of which and of the young Tunie Pelamis both bred in Moeotis being chopped and cut into pieces
that is thus vndermined perceiues the earth when it begins to chink and cleaue menacing by that token a ruin thereof anon Whereupon presently he giues a signe either by a loud cry or some great knock that the pioners vnderneath may haue warning thereby to get them speedily out of the mines and runneth himselfe apacedown from the hil as fast as his legs will giue him leaue Then all at once on a sudden the mountain cleaueth in sunder and making a long chink fals downe with such a noise and crack as is beyond the conceit of mans vnderstanding with so mighty a puf and blast of wind besides as it is incredible Wherat these miners pioners are nothing troubled but as if they had done some doughty deed and atchieued a noble victorie they stand with ioy to behold the ruin of Natures workes which they haue thus forced And when they haue all don yet are they not sure of gold neither knew they all the whiles that they labored and vndermined that there was any at all within the hill the hope only that they conceiued of the thing which they so greatly desired was a sufficient motiue to induce them to enterprise and endure so great dangers yea to go through withall and see an end And yet I cannot wel say that here is all for there is another labor behind as painfull euery way as the other and withall of greater cost and charges than the rest namely to wash the breach of this mountaine that is thus clouen rent and laid open with a currant for which purpose they are driuen many times to seek for water a hundred miles off from the crests of some other hils and to bring the same in a continued channel and stream all the way along vnto it These Riuers or furrows thus deuised and conueyed the Latines expresse by the name of Corrugi a word as I take it deriued à Corrivando i. of drawing many springs and rils together into one head chanel And herein consisteth a new piece of worke as laborious as any that belongs to mines For the leuel of the ground must be so taken aforehand that the water may haue the due descent currant when it is to run and therefore it ought to be drawn from the sources springing out of the highest mountains in which conueiance regard would be had as well of the vallies as the rising of the ground between which requireth otherwhiles that the waters be commanded by canels and pipes to ascend that the carriage thereof be not interrupted but one piece of the work answer to another Otherwhiles it falleth out that they meet with hard rockes and crags by the way which do impeach the course of the water and those are hewed through and forced by strength of mans hand to make room for the hollow troughs of wood to lie in that carrie the foresaid water But a strange sight it is to see the fellow that hath the cutting of these rockes how he hangeth by cables and ropes between heauen and earth a man that beheld him afar off would say it were some flying spirit or winged diuell of the aire These that thus hang for the most part take the leuel forward and set out by lines the way by which they would haue the water to passe for no treading out is there of the ground nor so much as a place for a mans foot to rest vpon Thus you see what ado there is And these good fellowes whiles they bee aloft search with the hands and pluck forth the earth before them to see whether it be firme and fast able to beare the trunks or troughs for the water or otherwise loose and brittle which defect of the earth they call Vrium for the auoiding whereof the fountainers feare neither rocks nor stones to make passage for their pipes or trunks aforesaid Now when they haue thus brought the water to the edge brow of the hils where these mines of gold should be from whence as from an head there is to be a fall thereof to serue their purpose they dig certaine square pooles to receiue the water 200 foot euery way and the same ten foot deep in which they leaue fiue seuerall sluces or passages for the deliuerie of water into the mines and those commonly three foot square When the said pools stand full as high as their banks they draw vp the floud-gates and no sooner are the stopples driuen and shaken out but the water gusheth forth amaine with such a force and carrieth so violent a streame therewith that it rolleth downe with it any stones be they neuer so big lying in the way And yet are we not come to an end of the toile for there remaineth a new piece of work to do in the plaine beneath Certain hollow ditches are to bee digged for to receiue the fall of the water both from the pooles that are aboue and the mines also These trenches the Greekes tearme Agogae as a man would say Conduits and those are to be paued by degrees one vnder another Besides there is a kinde of shrub or bush named Vlex like to Rosemarie but that it is more rough and prickely and the same is there planted because it is apt to catch and hold whatsoeuer pieces of gold do passe beside The sides moreouer of these canals or trenches are kept in with planks and bourds and the same borne vpon arches pendant through steep places that by this means the canale may haue passage and void away at length out of the land into the sea Lowhat a worke it is to search out and meet with gold and verily by this means Spaine is grown mightily in wealth and ful of treasure In the former work also of sinking pits for gold an infinit deale of labour there is to lade out the water that riseth vpon the workemen for feare it choke vp the pits for to preuent which inconuenience they deriue it by other drains As touching the gold gotten by cleauing and opening mountains which kind of work I called Artugia it needeth no trying by the bloome-smithie for fine it is naturally pure of it selfe and found there be whole lumps and masses of this kind and in this manner In pits likewise ve shal haue such pieces weying otherwhiles ten pounds and more These grosse and massie pieces of gold the Spaniards call Palacrae or Palacranae but if they be but small they haue a prety name for them and that is Baluces But to come again to the shrub or plant Vlex whereof I spake before after it is once dried they burn it and the ashes that come thereof they wash ouer turfs of greene grasse that the substance of gold may rest and settle therupon Some writers haue reported that the countries of Asturia Gallaecia and Lusitania were wont to yeeld euery yere 20000 pound weight of good gold gotten after this sort yet so as they all doe attribute the greatest
siluer and is therefore called Argentosum This kind of gold may be known thus namely if it will look bright and cleare vpon the putting of Santerna to it whereas contrariwise if it hold much vpon brasse and such gold is named Aerosum it will haue no lustre at all but looke dim and duskish vpon the laying of Borax vpon it and besides will hardly be sodred But to soder such gold there is a proper glue or soder made with an addition of gold and the seuenth part of siluer to the rest abouenamed and all the same stamped and vnited together And since I am entred into the feat of sodring it were very meet and conuenient to annex vnto this present discourse all things els concerning it that we may vnder one view behold the admirable works of Nature in this kind The soder of gold then is Borax which I haue shewed already Iron is sodred with the stiffe potters cley Argilla Brasse ore or Chalamine called Cadmia serues to vnite and knit pieces of brasse together in masse Alume is good to hold plates of brasse one to another Rosin doth soder lead and besides is the proper cement of marble but black lead will joine well by the means of the white and one piece of tin with another with the helpe of oile In like manner tin will hold sure with a soder of brasse file-dust and siluer with tin Both brasse or copper also yron ore melt best with an yron made of Pine-wood as also with the Papyr reed in Aegypt but contrariwise gold soonest melts with a fire of chaffe and huls Quickelime will catch an heat and burne if water be cast vpon it and so doth the Thracian stone but the same oile doth quench Fire is most of all extinguished and put out with vinegre with bird lime and the white of an egg No kind of right earth will burn light or flame Finally charcole which hath beene once one fire then quenched and afterwards set a burning againe is of more force and giueth a greater heat than that which commeth new from the earth CHAP. VI. ¶ Of Siluer Quick-siluer naturall Stibium or Alabastrum The drosse or refuse of siluer and litharge of siluer IT followeth by good order to write in the next place of siluer mines from whence proceedeth the second rage that hath set men a madding where first and formost this is to be noted that there is but one means to find siluer and that is in pits sunke of purpose for it neither is there any shew at all of siluer to giue light thereof and to put vs in hope of finding no sparkes shining like as there be in gold mines which direct vs to it The earth that engendreth the veine of siluer is in one place reddish in another of a dead ash color But this is a generall rule that it is not possible to melt and trie our siluer ore but either with lead or the veine and ore of lead This minerall or mettall they call Galena found for the most part neer to the veins and mines of siluer Now by the means of fire when these are melted together part of the siluer ore setleth downeward and turneth to be lead the pure siluer floteth aloft like as oile vpon water In al our prouinces yea and parts of the world to speake of there be mines of siluer to be found howbeit the fairest be in Spaine and yeeld the finest and most beautifull siluer and the same also like as gold is engendred in a barraine soile otherwise and fruitlesse and euen with in mountains look also where one vein is discouered there is another alwaies found not farre off which is a rule obserued not in mines of siluer only but also in all others of what mettals soeuer and hereupon it seemeth that the Greekes doe call them Metalla And verily strange it is and wonderfull that the mines of siluer in Spaine which were so long agoe begun by Anniball should continue still as they do and retaine the names of those Carthaginians who first found discouered and brought them to light of which one named then Bebelo so called at this day yeelded vnto Anniball daily 300 pound weight which mine euen at that time had gone vnder the ground and hollowed the mountain a good mile and a halfe and all that way the Aquitans at this day standing iu water lade the same vp labouring night and day by the candle or lampe-light euery man in his turne and during the burning of a certaine measure of oile in such wise as they diuert the water from thence and make a good big riuer thereof to passe and run another way A veine of siluer which lieth but ebb within the ground and is there discouered the miners call Crudaria as it were a raw vein In old time those that digged for siluer if they met once with allum were wont to giue ouer their worke and seeke no farther but of late daies it happened that vnder alume there was found a veine of white brasse or laton which fed mens hopes still and cause them now to sink lower and neuer rest so far as they can dig And yet there is a damp or vapor breathing out of siluer mines hurtfull to all liuing creatures and to dogs especially Moreouer this point is well to be marked that gold and siluer both the softer that they be and tender the better they are esteemed and siluer being white as it is most men maruell how it commeth to passe that if one rule paper or any thing therewith it will draw black lines sully as it doth Furthermore within these veines and mines aboue said there is a certaine stone found which yeelds from it an humor continually the same continues alwaies liquid men cal it Quick-siluer howbeit being the bane and poison of all things whatsoeuer it might be called Death-siluer well enough so penetrant is this liquor that there is no vessel in the world but it wil eat and breake through it piercing and passing on stil consuming and wasting as it goes it supports any thing that is cast into it and wil not suffer it to settle downward but swim aloft vnlesse it be gold only that is the only thing which it loueth to draw vnto it and embrace very proper it is therefore to affine gold for if gold and it be put together into earthen pots and after often shaking be poured out of one into another it mightily purifies the gold casts forth al the filthy excrements thereof and when it hath rid away all the impurities and grosse refuse it selfe ought then to be separated from the gold for which purpose poured forth the one the other ought to be vpon certaine skinnes of leather well tewed and dressed vntill they be soft through which the quick-siluer may passe and then shall you see it stand in drops vpon the other side like sweat sent out by the pores of our
Tarquinius Priscus sent for one Turianus to no other purpose in the world but to agree with him for to make the image of Iupiter in earth to set it vp in the capitoll for surely no better he was than made of clay and that by the hand of a porter which was the reason that they vsed to colour him ouer with vermillon yea and the charriots with foure horses which stood vpon the lanterne of the said temple were of no other stuffe concerning which I haue spoken in many places The same Turianus also made the image of Hercules which at this day retaineth still in the city that name which testifieth what matter he is made of Lo what kind of images there were in those daies made in the honour of the gods by our ancestors for the most excellent neither haue we cause to be ashamed of those our noble progenitors who worshipped such and no other As for siluer and gold they made no reckoning therof either about themselues or the very gods whom they worshipped and verily euen at this day there continue still in most places such images of earth As for the festiers and lanterns of temples there be many of them both within the city of Rome and also in diuers burrough townes vnder the Empire which for curious workmanship as it were chased and ingrauen are admirable and for continuance of time more lasting and durable than our louvers of gold and for any harme they do lesse subject I am sure to injurie Certes in these daies notwithstanding the infinit wealth and riches that we are growne vnto yet in all our diuine seruice and solemne sacrifices there is no assay giuen or tast made to the gods out of Cassidoine or cristallbols but only in earthen cups If a man consider those things aright weigh them duly in particular he shall find the bounty and goodnesse of the earth to be inenarrable though he should not reckon her benefits that she hath bestowed vpon mankind in yeelding vs so many sorts of corne wine apples and such like fruits herbs shrubs bushes trees medicinable drugs mettals and mineralls which I haue already treated of for euen in these works of earth and pottery which we are glutted with they be so vsuall and ordinary how beneficiall is the earth vnto vs in yeelding vs conduit pipes for to conuey water into our bains tyles flat yet hooked and made with crochets at one end to hang vpon the sides of the roofe chamfered for to lie in gutters to shoot off water curbed for crests to clasp the ridge on both sides brickes to lie in wals afront for building and those otherwhiles to serue as binders in parpine-worke with a face on both sides to say nothing of the vessels that be turned with the wheele and wrought round yea and great tuns and pipes of earth deuised to contain wine and water also In regard of which stone and earthen vessels K. Numa ordained at Rome a seuenth confraternitie of potters Ouer and besides many men there haue bin of good worth and reputation who would not be burnt to ashes in a funerall fire after they were dead but chose rather to haue their bodies bestowed entire within coffins of earth lying among leaues of myrtle oliue and blacke poplar after the Pythagorean fashion in which manner M. Varro tooke order for to be interred And if we looke abroad into the world most Nations vnder heauen do vse these earthen vessels and euen still those that be made of Samian earth and come from that Isle are much commended for to eat our meats out of and to be serued to the bourd and Eretum here in Italy retaineth yet the name for such vessell but for drinking-cups onely Surrentum Asia and Pollentia within Italy Saguntum in Spaine and Pergamus in Asia be in credit at Tralleis also a city in Sclauonia and Modenna to goe no farther than Lombardie in Italy there is made much faire vessell of earth appropriat vnto those places for euen in this respect some nations are innobled and growne into name This earthen ware is of that price besides that it is thought a commodity worth the transporting too and fro ouer land sea by way of merchandise But if we speak of that kind that is wrought by turners craft with the wheele the daintiest vessels come from Erythrae And in very truth such may the earth be that much art and fine workmanship is shewed therein in testimony whereof there be two stone vessels or earthen call them whether you wil within the principal temple of that city to be seen at this day thought worthy to be consecrated there in regard of their clean worke and their thinnesse besides which a master and his prentise wrought in a strife and contention whether of them could driue his earth thinnest howeuer it be they of the Island Cos are most commended for the fairest vessels of earth and yet those of Hadria beare the name to be more durable and of a more fast and firme constitution And since I am entred thus far I will obserue vnto you some examples of seueritie not impertinent to this discourse I find vpon record That Q. Ceponius was condemned and fined for an ambitious man onely for this because hee had sent an earth amphor of wine as a present vnto one who was to giue him his voice when he stood for an office And that you may certainly know that vessels of earth haue in some sort been in request among riotous gluttons and wastfull spend thrists listen what Fenestella saith as touching this point the greatest exceeding quoth he and gaudiest fare at a feast was serued vp in three platters and was called Tripatinum the one was of Lampreys the second of Pikes the third of the fish Myxon whereby it may appeare that euen in those daies men began at Rome to grow out of order and to giue themselues to riot and superfluity yet were not they so bad but we may prefer them euen before the Philosophers of Greece for it is written that in the sale of Aristotles goods which his heirs made after his decease there were sold 60 platters which were wont ordinarily to go about the house As for that one platter of Aesop the plaier in tragoedies which cost six hundred thousand sesterces I doubt not but their stomackes rise thereat when they reade thereof in my treatise as touching birds But this is nothing I assure you to that charger of Vitellius who whiles he was Emperor caused one to be made and finished that cost a million of sesterces for the making wherof there was a furnace built of purpose in the field the which I rather note because they should see the monstrous excesse in these daies that vessels of earth should be more costly than of Cassidonie Alluding to this monstrous platter Mutianus in his second Consulship when he ripped vp in a publicke speech the whole life of Vitellius now dead vpbraided the
vpon the shore and the very sands but for that they wanted other stones to serue as treuets to beare vp their pans and cauldrons ouer the fire they made shift with certaine pieces of sal-nitre out of the ship to support the said pans and so made fire vnderneath which being once afire among the sand and grauell of the shore they might perceiue a certaine cleare liquor run from vnder the fire in very streams and hereupon they say came the first inuention of making glasse But afterwards as mans wit is very inuentiue men were not content to mix nitre with this sand but began to put the Load-stone among for that it is thought naturally to draw the liquor of glasse vnto it as well as yron Then they fell to calcine and burne in many other places shining grauell stones shels of fishes yea and sand digged out of the ground for to make glasse therewith Moreouer diuers authors there be who affirme That the Indians vse to make glasse of the broken pieces of Crystall and therefore no glasse comparable to that of India Now the matter whereof glasse is made must be boiled or burnt with a fire of dry wood and the same burning light and cleare without smoke and there would be put thereto brasse of Cypros and nitre especially that which commeth from Ophyr The furnace must bee kept with fire continually after the manner as they vse in melting the ore of brasse Now the first burning yeeldeth certaine lumps of a fatty substance and blackish of colour This matter is so keen and penetrant whiles it is hot that if it touch or breath vpon any part of the body it will pierce and cut to the very bone ere one be aware or do feele it These masses or lumps be put into the fire againe and melted a second time in the glasse houses where the colour is giuen that they shall haue and then some of it with blast of the mouth is fashioned to what form or shape the workman will other parcells polished with the Turners instrument and some againe engrauen chased and embossed in manner of siluer plates in all which feats the Sidonians in times past were famous artificers for at Sidon were deuised also mirroirs or looking glasses Thus much as touching the antique maner of making glasse But now adaies there is a glasse made in Italy of a certain white sand found in the riuer Vulturnus for six miles space along the shore towns from the mouth where he dischargeth himselfe into the sea and this is between Cumes and the lake Lucrinus This sand is passing soft and tender whereby it may be reduced very easily into fine pouder either to be beaten in morter or ground in mill to which pouder the manner is to put three parts of nitre either in weight or measure and after it is the first time melted they vse to let it passe into other furnaces where it is reduced into a certain masse which because it is compounded of sand and nitre they call Ammonitrum this must be melted againe and then it becomes pure glasse and the very matter indeed of the white clear glasses in this sort throughout France and Spain the maner is to temper their sand to prepare it for the making of glasse Moreouer it is said That during the reigne of Tiberius the Emperor there was deuised a certain temper of glasse which made it pliable and flexible to wind and turne without breaking but the artificer who deuised this was put downe and his work-house for feare lest vessels made of such glasse should take away the credit from the rich plate of brasse siluer and gold and make them of no price and verily this bruit hath run currant a long time but how true it is not so certain But what booted the abolishing of glasse-makers seeing that in the daies of the Emperor Nero the art was growne to such perfection that two drinking cups of glasse and those not big which they called Pterotos were sold for 6000 sesterces There may be ranged among the kinds of glasses those which they call Obsidiana for that they carry some resemblance of that stone which one Obsidius found in Aethyopia exceeding blacke in colour otherwhiles also transparent howbeit the sight therein is but thicke and duskish It serueth for a mirroir to stand in a wall and instead of the image yeeldeth back shadows Of this kind of glasse many haue made jewels in maner of precious stones and I may selfe haue seene massiue pourtraitures made thereof resembling Augustus late Emperor of famous memory who was wont to take pleasure in the thicknes of this stone insomuch as he dedicated in the temple of Concord for a strange and miraculous matter foure Elephants made of this Obsidian stone Also Tiberius Caesar sent back again to the citizens of Heliopolis a certain image of prince Menelaus found among the moueable goods of one who had bin lord gouernor in Aegypt which he had taken away out of a temple among other cerimoniall reliques and the said statue was all of the Iaiet called Obsidianus And by this it may appeare That this matter began long time before to be in vse which now seemeth to be renued again and counterfeited by glasse that resembleth it so neare As for the said Obsidian stone Xenocrates writeth That it is found naturally growing among the Indians within Samnium also in Italy and in Spaine along the coast of the Ocean Moreouer there is a kind of Obsidian glasse with a tincture artificiall as blacke as Iaiet which serueth for dishes and platters to hold meat like as other glasse red throughout and not transparent called for that colour Haematinon By art likewise there be vessels of glasse made white and of the colour of Cassidony resembling also the Iacinct and Saphire yea any other colors whatsoeuer In sum there is not any matter at this day more tractable and willing either to receiue any forme or take a color than glasse but of all glasses those be most in request and commended aboue the rest which be white transparent and cleare throughout comming as neare as it is possible to Crystall And verily such pleasure do men take now adaies in drinking out of faire glasses that they haue in maner put downe our cups and boules of siluer or gold but this I must tell you that this ware may not abide the heat of the fire vnlesse some cold liquor were put therin before and indeed hold a round bal or hollow apple of glasse ful of water against the Sun it will be so hot that it is ready to burne any cloth that it toucheth As for broken glasses well may they be glued and sodered againe by a warme heat of the fire but melted or cast again they cannot be whole vnlesse a man make a new furnace of pieces broken one from another like as we see there be made counting rundles thereof which some call Abaculos whereof some are of
be like vnto a Lions skin they haue the name to be powerfull against scorpions In Persia they are persuaded That a perfume of such Agaths turneth away tempests and all extraordinarie impressions of the aire as also stayeth the violent streame and rage of riuers But to know which be proper for this purpose they vse to cast them into a cauldron of seething water for if they coole the same it is an argument they be right but to be sure that they may do good they must bee worne tied to the haires of a Lions mane for as touching those Agates which seeme to haue the print of an Hyaenes skin the Magitions cannot abide them as causing discord in an house But they hold That the Agath of one simple colour causeth those wrestlers to be inuincible who haue it about them And a proof hereof they take by seething it in a pot full of oile with diuers painters colours for within one two houres after it hath sivered and boiled therein it will bring them all to one entire colour of vermilion Thus much of Achates or the Agath The stone which is named Acopis resembleth Sal-Nitre hollow and light it is in manner of the pumish stone howbeit spotted with golden spots or drops in manner of starres Seeth this gently in oile and therewith anoint the body it riddeth away all wearinesse and lassitudes if wee may beleeue the Magitions The stone Alabastrites is found about Alabastrum a city in Egypt and Damasco in Syria white of colour it is and intermedled with sundry colours This beeing calcined with Sal-gem and reduced into pouder is said to correct a stinking breath and strong sauor of the teeth In the gesiers of cocks there be found certaine stones called thereupon Alectoriae which in shew resemble Crystall and be as big as beans Milo that great Wrestler of Crotone vsed to carry this stone about him whereby he was inuincible in all the feats of strength or actiuitie that hee tried as Magitions would seem to persuade vs. Androdamas is a stone of a bright colour like siluer and in manner of a Diamant square and alwayes growing in a table Lozenge-wise The Magitions suppose that it tooke that name of repressing the anger and furious violence of men As touching Argyrodamas whether it be the same or another stone Authors haue not resolued Antipathes is a stone all blacke and nothing at all transparent You shall find whether it bee a true stone or no by seething it in milke for no sooner is it put in but it causeth the milke to look like Myrrh The Magitions would haue vs to thinke That it is good against Witchcraft and eye-biting especially Arabica is passing like vnto Ivorie and for Ivorie might it go but that it is so hard which bewraieth it to be a stone It is thought that as many as haue it about them shall finde ease of the paine of the sinues The stone Aromatites is thought principally to grow in Arabia and yet it is found in Egypt about Pyrae but wheresoeuer it is to be had a hard stone it is in colour and smell both resembling Myrrhe in which regard it is much vsed of queenes and great ladies Asbestos is ingendred within the mountaines of Arcadia and is of an iron gray colour As for Aspilate Democritus saith that it is bred in Arabia and of a fiery colour which by his saying ought to be tied with camels haire and so hung fast about them that be troubled with the schirrosities of the spleen also if he say true it is found in the neast of certain Arabian birds Another also of that name groweth there in the cape Leucopetra but it is of a siluer colour and glittereth withall excellent to be worne about one against the phantasticall feares and imaginations in the night season The same Democritus saith That in Persis India and the mountaine Ida there is a stone found named Artizoë glistering bright as siluer three fingers thicke formed in manner of a Lentil and of a pleasant and delectable sauor The Sages of Persia neuer go about the election and ordering of a King but they thinke it necessarie to haue it about them As for the Augites many be of opinion that it is no other stone than Callais to wit the Turquois Amphitane is a stone knowne by another name also Chrysocolla found it is in that part of India where the Pismires-Volant do take out gold where it resembles gold and is in fashion foursquare It is reported constantly that it hath the same force naturally that the Loadstone hath but that it draweth gold to it as well as iron Aphrodisiace is partly white and partly reddish Asyctos being once heat at the fire will continue a seuen-night after hot blacke it is and ponderous hauing certaine veins that diuide it it is thought to be good against cold As touching Aegyptilla Iacchus taketh it for a white stone with a veine partly of a Sard or Cornalline and partly blacke passing through it ouerthwart howbeit the common sort take Egyptilla to be blew with a black mote in the bottome As for the stone Balanites there be two kinds thereof to wit of a greenish colour and resembling Corinth brasse the former commeth from Coptos the other out of the region Troglodytica and they haue a fierie vaine cutting them just in the mids The same Coptos sendeth other stones to vs besides to wit those which be called Batrachitae the one like in colour to a frog a second to yvory the third is of a blackish red Baptes how soeuer otherwise it be soft and tender yet an excellent odor it hath The stone called Belus eie is white and hath within it a black apple the mids wherof a man shall see to glitter like gold this stone for the singular beautie that it hath is dedicated to Belus the most sacred god of the Assyrians There is another stone named Belus growing as Democritus saith about Arbelae to the bignesse of a wall-nut in manner and forme of glasse As for Baroptenus or Baroptis it is black interlaced as it were with certain knots both white and also of a sanguine red after a strange and wonderfull manner Botrytes is found somtime black otherwhiles red like it is to a cluster of grapes when it beginneth first to knit As for it which is more like to the hair of women Zoroastres calleth it Bostrychites Bucardia resembleth an oxe heart and is to be found onely about Babylon Brotia is shaped in manner of a Tortoise head it falleth with a crack of thunder as it is thought from heauen and if we wil beleeue it quencheth the fire of lightning Bolae are found after a great storm or tempest resembling a clod Cadmitis were the very same which they cal Ostracitis but that otherwhiles it is compassed about with certain blew bubbles Callais comes very neere to the Saphir but that it is whiter and resembleth rather
and dreams in the night all that hee is desirous to know euen as well as an oracle As for Eumetres the Assyrians call it the stone or gem of Belus the most sacred god among them whom they honor with greatest deuotion as green it is as a leeke and serueth very much in their superstitious inuocations sacrifices and exorcisms Eupetalos hath foure colors to wit of azur fire vermilion and an apple Eureos is like the stone of an oliue chamfered in manner of winkle shels but very white it is not Eurotias seemeth to haue a certain mouldines that couers the black vnderneath Eusebes seemeth to be that kind of stone whereof by report was made the feat in Hercules temple at Tyros where the gods were wont to appear and shew themselues Mereouer any precious stone is called Epimelas when being of it selfe white it is ouercast with a blacke colour aloft The gem Galaxias some call Galactites like vnto those last before-named but that it hath certain veins either white or of a bloud color running between As for Galactites indeed it is as white as milk and therupon it took that name Many there be who call the same stone Leucas Leucographias Synnephites which if it be bruised yeeldeth a liquor resembling milk both in color and tast in truth it is said that it breeds store of milke in nources that giue suck also that if it be hung about the necks of infants it causeth saliuation but being held in the mouth it melteth presently Moreouer they say that it hurteth memory and causeth obliuion this stone commeth from the riuer Achelous Some there be who call that Emeraud Galactires which seemeth as it were to be bound about with white veins Galaicos is much like to Argyrodamus but that it is somewhat souler commonly they are found by two or three together As for Gasidanes we haue it from the Medians in colour it resembleth blades of corne and seemes beset here and there with floures it groweth also about Arbelae this gem is said likewise to be conceiued with young and by shaking to bewray and confesse a child within the wombe and it doth conceiue euery three moneths Glossi-petra resembleth a mans tongue and groweth not vpon the ground but in the eclipse of the Moone falleth from heauen and is thought by the magitians to be very necessary for pandors and those that court faire women but we haue no reason to beleeue it considering what vaine promises they haue made otherwaies of it for they beare vs in hand that it doth appease winds Gorgonia is nothing els but Coral the name Gorgonia groweth vpon this occasion That it turneth to be as hard as a stone it assuageth the trouble of the sea and maketh it calme the magitians also affirme that it preserueth from lightning and terrible whirlewinds As vaine they be also in warranting so much of the hearbe Guniane namely that it will worke reuenge and punishment vpon our enemies The pretious stone Heliotropium is found in Aethiopia Affricke and Cyprus the ground thereof is a deepe green in maner of a leeke but the same is garnished with veins of bloud the reason of the name Heliotropium is this For that if it be throwne into a pale of water it changeth the raies of the Sun by way of reuerberation into a bloudie colour especially that which commeth out of Aethiopia the same being without the water doth represent the body of the Sun like vnto a mirroir and if there be an eclipse of the Sun a man may perceiue easily in this stone how the moone goeth vnder it and obscureth the light but most impudent and palpable is the vanity of magitians in their reports of this stone for they let not to say that if a man carrie it about him together with the herbe Heliotropium and besides mumble certaine charmes or prayers he shall goe inuisible Semblably Hephaestites is of the nature of a looking-glasse for although it be reddish or of an orenge colour yet it sheweth ones face in it the meanes to know this stone whether it be right or no is this in case being but into scalding water it presently cooleth it or if in the Sun it wil set on fire any dry wood or such like fewel this stone is found growing vpon the hill Corycus Horminodes is a stone so called in regard of the greene colour that it hath resembling the herbe Clarie for otherwhiles it is white and sometime againe blacke yea and pale now and then howbeit hooped about it is with a circle of golden colour Hexecontalithos for bignesse is but small and yet for the number of colours that it hath it got this name found it is in the region of the Troglodytes Hieracites changeth colour all whole alternatiuely by turns it seemeth to be blackish among kites feathers Hamnites resembleth the spawne of fishes and yet some of them be found as it were composed of nitre and otherwise it is exceeding hard The pretious stone called Hammons-horne is reckoned among the most sacred gems of Aethyopia of a gold colour it is and sheweth the forme of a rams horne the magicians promise that by the vertue of this stone there will appeare dreames in the night which represent things to come Hormesion is thought to be one of the loueliest gems that a man can see for a certaine fiery colour it hath and the same spreadeth forth beams of gold and alwaies carrieth with it in the edges a white and pleasant light Hyenia tooke the name of the Hyens eie sound they are in them when they be assailed and killed and if we may giue credit to Magitians words if these stones be put vnder a mans tongue hee shall presently prophesie of things to come The bloud-stone Haematites is found in Aethiopia principally those be simply the best of al others howbeit there are of them likewise in Arabia and Affrick in colour it is like vnto bloud and so called a stone that I must not ouerpasse in silence in regard of my promise that I made to reproue the vanities and illusions of these impudent barbarous magicians who deceiue the world with their impostures for Zachalias the Babylonian in those books which he wrote to king Mithridates attributeth vnto gems all the destinies and fortunes that be incident vnto man and particularly touching these bloud-stones not contented to haue graced them with medicinable vertues respectiue to the eies and the liuer he ordained it to be giuen vnto those for to haue about them who carry any Petition to a king or great prince for it would speed and further the suit also in case of law matters it giueth good issue and sentence on their side yea and in wars victory ouer enemies There is another of that kinde called by the Indians Henui but the Greekes name it Xanthos of a whitish colour it is vpon a ground of a yellow tawnie The stones called Idaei Dactyli be found in Candy
483 e. sundry peeces of his handy-worke ibid. Acro who was the first Empericke Physician that euer was 344. h Acrocorios a kinde of Bulbe 19 a Act of generation how it is helped 130 h. 131 a 132 g. See more in Venus how it is hindered 58. k 59 d. 187 a. 190 h. 221 d. 256 l. See more in Venus L. Actius the Poet. 490. l L. Actius being of low stature caused his statue to be made tall ibid. Actius Nauius the Augur 491 b Actius Nauius his statue erected vpon a Columne at Rome ibid. A D Adad the Assyrian god 630. h Adad-Nephros a pretious stone ibid. Adamantis a magicall hearbe 203. c. why so called ibid. the strange vertues and properties thereof ibid. A arca See Calamochnus Adarce what it is 74 l. the vertues and properties that it hath ibid. Adders tongue See Lingulaca Aditiales Epulae or Adijciales what feasts they be 355. c Admiranda the title to a booke of M. Ciceroes 403. b Adonis garden 91. c Adonium a floure ibid. in Adoration of the gods what gesture obserued 297. e Adulterie how a woman shall loath and detest 434. k A E Aegilops a kinde of bulbe 19. b Aegilops an hearbe 235. a. the qualitie that the seed hath 99. c. Aegilops what vlcer ibid. Aegina an Island famous for brasse founders 488. h in great name for the branchworke of brasen candlestickes there made ibid. k Aegipt stored with good hearbes 96. l. what they be ib. 97. b Aegypt famous for singular hearbes and commended therefore by Homer 210. l Aegiptian beane 111. c. the vertues ibid. Aegiptilla a pretious stone 625. a. the description ib. Aegles why they hatch but two at one airie 590. k Aegle stone See Aëtites Aegophthalmus a pretious stone 630. i Aegolethron an hearbe 94 h. why so called ibid. Aegonichon See Greimile Aegypios a kinde of Vulture or Geere 365. d Aera Militum what 486. i Aerarium the treasurie of Rome why so called ibid. l Aerarij Tribuni what officers in Rome ibid. Aëroïdes a kinde of Berill 613. d Aerosum what gold 472. g Aechines a Physitian af Athens 301. e Aeschynomene a magicall hearbe 204. i. why so called ib. the strange qualitie that it hath ibid. Aesope the player his earthen platter 554. g Aesope the Philosopher 578 g. a bondslaue together with Rhodope the harlot ibid. Aeëtites a pretious stone why so called 396. l. 590. k. foure kindes thereof ibid. male and female ibid. their description ibid. the vertues of them all ibid. m Aeëtites a pretious stone 630. i Aethiopis a magicall hearbe 244 g. the incredible effects thereof ibid. from whence we haue it 269. d the description of it 271. c. the roots medicinable ibid. d A F Africa the word is a spell in Africke 297. d A G Agaricke what it is 227 d. male and female ibid. d e the ill qualitie that the male hath ibid. Agath a pretious stone 623 d. why called Achates ibid. the sundry names that it hath ibid. Indian Agaths represent the forme of many things within them 623 f the Agath serueth well to grind drougs into fine powder 623 f. diuerse kindes of Agaths 624. g the chiefe grace of an Agath ibid. incredible wonders reported of the Agath by Magicians 623 h. Agath of King Pyrrhus with the nine Muses and Apollo therein naturally 601 a b Agathocles a Physician and writer 131. e Agelades a famous Imageur in brasse 497 e. hee taught Polycletus ibid. his workes ibid. he taught Myro 498. h Ageraton an hearbe 271. d. the description ibid. why so called and the vertues ibid. Aglaophotis a magicall hearbe 203 a. why so called ibid. why named Marmaritis ibid. vsed in coniuring and raising spirits ibid. b Agnels how to be cured 38 i. See more in Cornes Agnus Castus a tree 257. c Agogae what conduits they be 468. m Agoracritus an Imageur in Marble 565 d. beloued exceedingly by his master Phidias ibid. Agrimonie an hearbe 220 k. why called Eupatoria ibid. the description ibid. the vertues ibid. l Agrion a kinde of Nitre 420. h Agrippa Menenius enterred at the common charges of the Romane Citizens 480. i M. Agrippa how he cured the gout with vinegre 156. k his admirable workes during the yeare of his Aedileship 585 e. how he conueighed seuen riuers vnder Rome 582. h Agues what medicines they do require 137. a. See more in Feuers A I Aire of sea water wherefore good 412. k Aire which is good to recouer strength after long sicknesse 181. d. change of Aire for what diseases good 303. c A L Alabastrum See Stimmi Alabastrites what kinde of stone 574. g. what vses it serued for ibid. the degrees thereof in goodnesse ibid. h Alabastrites a pretious stone 624 i. the place where it is found ibid. the description and vertue ibid. Alabastrites a kinde of Emeraud 613. a Albicratense a goldmine in France yeelding the best ore with a 36 part of siluer and no more 469. c Albi hils in Candie 408. k Albucum what it is 100 g Albulae what waters about Rome 402. m Alcamenes a fine Imageur and engrauer in brasse and marble 501 a. his workes ibid. 565. d Alcaea an hearbe 249. b Alcaea an hearbe 272 k. the description ibid. l Alcaeus a Poet and writer 131. a Alcibiades honoured with a statue at Rome 492. i. reputed the hardest wariour ibid. Alcibiades most beautiful in his youth childhood 568. g Alcibion an hearbe 275. e. the vertues ibid. Alcimachus a feat painter 549 c. his workemanship ibid. Alcisthene a woman and a paintresse 551. a Alcmena hardly deliuered of Hercules 304 m. the cause thereof ibid. Alcon the Imageur 514. g. he made Hercules of yron and steele ibid. Alcontes a rich Chirurgian 348. g. well fleeced by Claudius Caesar ibid. Alder tree what vertues it hath in Physicke 189. â— Alectoriae pretious stones 624. i. why so called ib. the vertues ib. why Milo the wrestler caried it about him ibid. Ale an old drinke 145 b. what nourishment it yeelds 152. g Alectorolophos an hearbe 275. c. the description and vertues ibid. Alâ—…x wâ—…at kinde of sauce 418 g. how made ibid. the vertue and vse thereof in Physicke ibid. i Aleos a riâ—…er of a strange nature 403. d Alexander otherwise called Paris excellently wrought in brasse by Euphraner resembling a iudge a louer and a murderer 502. g K. Alexander the great vsed to visit Apelles the painter his shop 538. m. he gaue away his concubine faire Campaspe to Apelles 539. a. a conqueror of his owne affections ib. b Alexipharmaca what medicines they be 106. h Aliacmon a riuer 403. d Alica what it is 139. c. compared with Ptisane 140. k See Frumentâ—…e Alincon described 128. l. m. two kindes thereof and their vertues 129. a Alisanders an bearbe 24. g. how strangely it groweth 30. g the vertues thereof 54. i. See Hipposelinum Alisma what hearbe 231. a. the names that it hath ibid. the description ibid. the two
Salt for the kitchen which is best 416. k. l Salt artificiall how it is made 415. d. of sea water ib. out of certaine springs or wels ibid. e. f Salt Spring 416. g Salt for the table which is best 416 k. l Salt made by fire 416. g Salt blacke ibid. Salt made of ashes ib. of fish pickle or brine ibid. h Salt water for what garden seed it is good 33. b poole-Salt which is best 416. h sea-sea-water Salt which is best ibid. the nature and temperature of Salt 418. l in what seasons and constitutions of weather Salt engendreth most 416. i Salt not sparkling in fire but in water 416. i Salt of sundry colours 4â—… 〈◊〉 stoure of Salt 417. b c. the properties thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how sophisticated 〈◊〉 the nature of Salt 418 〈◊〉 Sales in Latine what they signifie 416. m. 417. a Salaries what they be 417. a Salaria Uia a street why so called ibid. Salustius Dionysius a famous Physitian 440. g Salutio a surname or addition to the family of the Scipioes 523. d Samian earth of two kinds 559. d Samian stone 591. a. good to burnish gold good also in Physicke ibid. Samolus an herbe with what ceremonious circumstances to be gathered 193. f Samothracia what they be 458 i Samothracia a pretious stone why so called 629. d Sampier what herbe 236. k. the description 254. k the manifold vses that it hath 254. l Sampier Sauage 256. l Sand of the sea shore for what medicinable 414. i Sand vsed to slit and saw marble with 572. h. i. k Sand for mortar which is good 594 k Sand of Puteoli of a wonderfull nature 554. l Sand of Nilus wherfore vsed at Rome elsewhere 555 a Sandaracha a painters colour artificiall 528. k Sandaracha artificiall how made 530. g the right colour and the price ibid. Sandaracha naturall where it is found 520. m. which is best ibid. the qualities thereof ibid. Sandaresos a kind of gem 617. d Sandaser and Sandareson 617. c Sandastros a kind of gem or pretious stone of the baser sort 617. c. called by some Garamantites ib. the description thereof and why it is much regarded by the Chaldaeans 617. d. male and female ibid. Arabian and Indian ibid. which Sandastros is best 617. e how Sandastros Sandaser Sandareson and Sandaresos be distinguished ibid. Sandauer 416. k Sandix minerall a painters colour 528. k Sandix artificiall how made 530. g the price of Sandix 530. h Sandix Virgil tooke to be an herbe 530. g Sandragon a colour of painters 528. i Sangenon a kind of Opal 614. l Sanguis Draconis or Sandragon what it is 476. g how it is sophisticated 476 i Sanguin-Rod what plant 189. b the medicinable vertues that it hath ib. Santerna See Borax of goldsmiths the vertues medicinable that it hath 509. c Sapa See Cuit Samphire a pretious stone 620. l diuers sorts and which be best ib. hard to be cut ib. which be the male ib. Sapron what it is 318. l Sarcion a fault in gems 612. m Sarcocolla what it is 197. c the medicinable vertues thereof ibid. Sercophagus a stone why so called and the nature thereof 587. d. Sarda or Sardoine a pretious stone called the Cornalline 615. b. it is the one halfe of Sardonyx 616. g Sardoins or Cornalines seale fairest of any other 618. h they be found much about Sardeis and thereupon tooke their name ibid. from India there came Sardoins of three sorts 618. h their seuerall differences ibid. male and female 618. i in what regard this stone is accepted ibid. Sardachates a pretious stone 623. e Sardonyx of K. Polycrates 601. a Sardonyx a pretious stone highly esteemed by Scipio Africanus 615. a. why so called ibid. Sardonyches blind which they be 615. b Sardonyches the best to seale withall ibid. Sardonyches of sundry kinds Arabicke Indian Armenian 615. b. c. d Sardonyches artificiall 613. e Sarmeus wrote first of Horsemanship and therefore pourtraied on horsebacke in brasse by Demetrius 505. f Sata what they are 6. g Saturns well 404. i Satyrion what it signifieth 257. d Satyrion an herbe 257. a. b. 226. l. the description ibid. Satyrus a great architect 575. c Satyrus a writer in Naturall Philosophie 615. a Sauce fleame what cureth 128. b Savorie the herbe described 30. k Sauge an herbe 246. k. the description and medicinable properties thereof 142. k Sauge de Bois an herbe See Polemonia Savine a plant of two sorts 193. c the names that it hath ibid. vsed in Physicke for Cinamon 193. d Saurites a preiious stone 629. d Sauroctones an image of Praxiteles his making why so called 500. l Sauros and Batrachos two excellent workemen See Batrachos Saxifrage one of the names of Maiden-haire and whereupon 127. b Saxum the ordinarie white chanlke 560. i Sayles for ships of purple and other colours 5. c Sayling into Aegipt wherefore wholesome 412. l Sayling vpon the seas for what diseases good 303. d against Sayling and navigation an inuectiue 1. f 2. g. h. c. S C Scales See Dandruffe Scall of the head how to be cured 52. g. 56. i. 43. f. 52. i 59. d. 60. g. 72. g. 104. g. 105. e. 127. c. 133. c. 141. b 142. l. 147. b. 155. f. 157. e. 158. m. 161. b. f. 163. b 177. f. 178. g. 180. g. 191. c. 196. h. 201. c. 207. f 232. l. 249. e. 277. d. 287. e. 306. i. 324. h. 341. d 353. a. Scalds with seething water how the fire may bee taken forth and the place kept from blistering 351. e See Burns Scalops medicinable 438. k good to cleanse the bladder 444. h Scammonie an herbe 251. b the iuice of this herbe ibid. c how it is drawne and to be chosen 251. d how to be vsed in purging ibid. e how sophisticated and discerned ibid. petie Scammonie what herbe 199. 〈◊〉 how it is eaten and what effect it worketh ibid. Scandix the herbe 130. g a base woort ibid. Scarites a pretious stone 630. i M. Scaurus his excesse in marble pillers vncontrolled 563 b his sumptuous building compared with Nero and Caligula 583. d. e Sceletyre what disease 112. k See Stomacace Scepsius a Philosopher and writer in Physicke 308. k Schista what onions 20. h Schista what egs 352. k Schiston what kind of milke 317. c the making of it ibid. the vertues thereof ib. Schistos a kind of Alume 558. h Schistos a stone of saffron colour 367. d Schistos a kind of bloudstone 590. g the vertues medicinable ibid. i Schytanum what it is 471. b Sciatica the gout in the hucklebone what medicines itâ—… cured with 50. i. 56. k. 74. i. 105. c. 108. g. 134. m 141. d. 155. d. 161. c. 180. g. k. 185. a. 186. k. 188. h 190. k. 192. k. 199. a. 219. e. 224. k. 238. m. 248. i 255. e. 263. c. 271. d. 273. c. 274. k. 275. a. b. 276. i 281. c. 284. k. 287. c. f. 289. d. 290. k. 291. b. 315. a.
Waters brackish how to be made fresh and sweet 176. i drinke of Water how it nourisheth 152. g offence by vnwhole some waters how to be helped 60. l Waters running how to be diuided that the same may bee seene bare 316. h Water how to be laden out of pits where it commeth vpon the pioners 469. a good Waters from bad how trauailers may discerne and know 414. g Waters change their colour at certaine times 411. c Waters when heauiest ib. Water maintained and cherished by ploughing of the ground 410. l Water creatures are medicinable 400. l Waters some coldin the Spring others in the Dogge daies 409. e. f. Water a powerfull element 400. l. m. 401. a. b Water suspected how it may be altered and made good 407. e. of well VVaters or pit waters 407. c Waters where they be exceeding hot actually 404. h Waters deadly 405. a. b Water faire to sight yet hurtfull both to man and beast 405. b. Waters growing to a stonie substance 405. b. c. d Water cold what operation it hath 407. f Waters of a corrosiue and fretting qualitie 405. c Water how it may be made most cold actually 407 d e standing VVaters condemned 405. f a discourse what VVater is best 406. g Waters which are knowne to be cold ibid. m Waters which are to be reiected 406. g. 407. a Waters salt and brackish how they may be soone made potable 407. a Water ought to haue no tast at all ib. b Water best which commeth nearest to the nature of aire 407. b. Waters not to be tried by the ballance 407. c how the triall is to be taken ibid. Watery humors what medecines purge downeward out of the body 108 g. 110 m. 130 l. 149 b. 174 g. 181. c 182 g. 185 c e. 186 g. 190 g. 252 g. 253 a. 281 b c 284 i. 442 l. Wax how it is made 96. g Wax Punica therbest 96. h Wax of Pontica ib. Wax of Candic ibid. Wax of Corsica ibid. the white wax Punica how it is wrought ib. best for medicines ibid. i how wax may be made blacke ib how it may be coloured ibid. how wax may be brought to any colour ibid the vses of wax 96. k the properties of Wax 137. a b Wax contrary in nature to milke ib. i W E Wearie vpon trauell or otherwise how to be refreshed 64. m 66. l. 121. e. 160. k. 161. e. 173. d. e. 180. k. 187. c. 289. b 319. d. 400. g. 419. e. 422. i. 624. h. how to be be preuented 266. i Weazils armed with rue against they should fight with serpents 56. m Weazils how they are brought together from far 316. g Weazils of two kinds 533. e Weazils fetides their gall is both a poyson and also a countrepoison ibid. Weazils flesh medicinable ibid. Weazils wild be venomous 363. e what remedy therefore ibid. Wens called Ceria by what means cured 37 c. 167 a 168 k. Wins named Melicerides how to be cured 73 d. 107 a Wens Stratomata how cured 265. c Werts what meanes to take away and cause to fall off 55. d 58 h. 105 d. 108 g. 125 h l. 127 e. 142 m. 146 i 166 l. 168 h. 185 b. 198 m. 218 k. 266 h. 280 l 302 k. 307 b. 335 a. 370 k. 386 l m. 414 h. 448 h 470 k. Werts beginning to breed how repressed 418. m Wertwals what doth cure 75. c Wesand appropriat remedies therefore 167. c See Throat against the enuie of the Wesps sting 40. h. 56. m. 63. f. 71. c 106. k. 153. b. 166. l. 173. b. 361. d. 418. m. W H VVhales and such other fishes fat how emploied by merchants 427. c Wheales angry small pocks and such like eruptions how to be cured 46. k. 70 g. 140. i. l. 161. c. 173. f. 174. k 178. g. 183. b. 187. c. 219. f. 317. d. 320. h. 337. a. 421. e 443. b. 437. d. 558. i. 559 b. 589. b. Wheazing in the chest how helped 134. l. 154. g Whey of cows milke for what medicinable 318. i Whelpes or young puppies sucking were thought fine meat at Rome 355. b they serued there for an expiatory sacrifice ib. they made a dish of meat at their solemne feasts 355. c VVhet stones of sundry kinds 593. a which be vsed with water which with oyle 593. a. b Spanish VVhite See Ceruse burnt Spanish VVhite or Ceruse naturall 529. e VVhites in women how repressed 516. h. See more in VVomen VVhite flaws about the nailes how to be healed 75. c. 105. d 141. a. 147. b. 158. k. 160 g. 174. l. 177. f. 272. k. 300. l 516. h. VVhite stones 588. i W I VVild-fires and such like fretting humors how to be extinguished 72. g. 75. b. 106. i. 124. h. 146. k. 157. e. 265. d 287. b. 529. b. VVildings or crab apples and their nature 164. i Wild-vine called Ampelos Agria described 149. b. 276. h the vertues ibid. VVild-vine Labrusca 149. b VVild white vine Ampeloleuce 149. c the root hath many vertues 149. d herbe VVillow See Lisimachia Willow or Withie what medicinable vertues it hath 186. l VVillow yeeldeth a juice of three kinds 186 l VVine of Bacchus what 403. a VVines how they may be soone refined and made readie to draw 176. 〈◊〉 See more in VVyne for co cleanse and discharge the VVindpipes being stuffed appropriat remedies 133 e. 148 k. 194 g. 277 b. 329. e Windpipes enflamed and exulcerat how to be cured 140. l. 328. i. for all infirmities of the Windpipes conuenient remedies 122 g. 134 k. 138 m. 170 h. 289 e. how a horse will proue broken Winded 342. h. i broken Wind in horses how to helped 246. h holding of the Wind in what cases good 305. d shortnes of Wind by what medicines it may be helped 37. a 39 c. 44 g. 52 g. 56 h. 57 d. 58 h. 61 b. 65 c. 70 g. 73. a 104 h. 105 d. 107 e. 109 a. 127. c. 144 i. 150 g. 154. g 162 g. 164 g. 167 c. 173 b. 180 g k. 183 e. 192. l 193 a. 200 l. 201 f. 247 a b d. 248 h. 263 d. 274 g 289 d. 329 c. 359 c. 381 a. 422 k. 432 i. 442. h. 521. a 556 m. 557 d. what mooueth to breake Wind vpward 237. a. 253 e 277 b. 290 k. Winter-cherrie why called Versicaria 112. h the description thereof ibid. Wisards prophets and Phisicians put downe by Tiberius Caesar 374. g Wit helped by some water 403. e bereft of Wit how to be cured 52 l. 260 l. 306. k. l Withwind an herbe and the floure thereof described 84. l Withie See Willow Witchcraft condemned by Pliny 213. c Witchcraft and enchantments forbidden expressely by the lawes at Rome 296. h Witchcraft and sorcerie auaile not nor be of force where no regard is made thereof 296. g against the practise of Witches good preseruatiues 108. m 300 g. W O Woad an herb the properties medicinable that it hath 45. c bodies of men
i. Riding on hoâ—…sebacke carrying in coach litter barge c. * Hibisci some take it for the Hollyhoâ—…ke * Uisci some read Hibisci * Our coâ—…mon 〈◊〉 erwort * Whiâ—…h sâ—…me take to be wild Popâ—… callâ—…d Râ—…as * â—…lcea in some readings * i. Cough wort * Striato haply for stricto i. slender as Oribassus describeth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Dioscorides describeth his Moly with such a head vpon the top of the stem * By these names he calleth also Horstaile * A kind of Turbit * Or Polemonium * Ceterach * â—…gle oâ—… Symâ—…m Petraeâ—… * AcoruÌ„ which some â—…ake for our Calamus Aramaticis * Ad bileÌ„ some read noâ—…ile * Pinguedine roscida * Myriophyllon aquaticum Dodonaei * Dodon Ophiegâ—… of Adders tongue * Our ladies Mantle * Dalechampius maruelleth how this may stand and yet we see it ordinarie in the cure of dysenteries and outragious Diarrhaes to purge choler with Rubarbe Myrabolanes c. and with them also to bind * Which some take for grouÌ„d Iuie * Here Pliny is deceiuÌ„d for it is a kind of lace winding about Thyme as Doder about Flax. * Cuius contrarium verâ—… est for it is a binder * how is it then called Pycnocomon * I see not how this should stand here * Yea in the head of old doddle Okes. * I beareth neâ—…her flourâ—… not seed * or Spurges * Ramis rather caulibus the stems out of Dioscor * Rugosis Diosâ—… hath succâ—…s i. full of sap * or rather the seed or milk is to be put into the â—…ulty and hoâ—…low teeth and the rest which be sound aâ—…e to be defended wâ—…th wax according to Dioscorides Ex Theophrast * If it be punned into ponder strewed on â—…he wateâ—… as saith Diose * Herbosis Theâ—…rastus hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thaâ—… is to say craggâ—…e oâ—… slâ—…ntie it see mâ—…n that Punâ—…â—…slated â—…slated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Aâ—… 〈◊〉 me saith Dioscor * Which some take for Ga langale oâ—…rs for our Calamus * 〈◊〉 With vinegre and oile Radices * To wit when they be hard or swolne * Or Crestmarine * To prince Theseus * Becabunga * S. Iohns wort * Surculacâ—… fiutice * Tamaricis but Dios. saith Ericae l. Hâ—…ath * Paâ—…umo non altius ex Diose * Acutum * Inflationem facit aliter ad inflationem facit * Potum * Water cresses * Olus acidum or rather Olus atrum i. Alisanders * Some take it for Aristolochia the round which in the 8 chap. of the 25 booke hee named venenâ—… terrae others for wildings or crabs Or Calamus Aromations * Some call it 〈◊〉 wort oâ—…â—…od wort otheâ—…s take it to be wild â—…ansie and some for Rhoeas * Some take it for Fistula pastoris Pestem haply 〈◊〉 â—…aneth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a plague soâ—…c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Howsoeuer Dalecampius and others haue laboured to restore this place after this manner yet there remaineth some confusion by intermingling O chis and Satyrion together both in their descriptions and properties Vititis Diosc. hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est Line or Flax not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…odagra vsed ordinarily in Latine for the gout is a Greeke name and signifieth the griefe or maladie of the feet * Glader or Flags * i. Fleawort * Anagallidi Diose 〈…〉 〈…〉 Rose of Iecho So called for that it representeth the maiesty of the twelue principall gods and goddesses callâ—…d Maiorum gentiÌ„u oâ—… Consentes whom the Painims imagined to sit in counsell together with Iupiter their President and those hath Ennius comprised in this Distichon Iuno Uesta Minerua Câ—…res Diana Venus Mars Mercurius Iovis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apollo * 〈◊〉 Robeâ—…t as some thinke or the first kind by 〈◊〉 * Doues foot or Momordica * The Carot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Centunculus * Bacca Some read fâ—…sces i. bunches but in mine opinion cymae i. tops or spikes agree best to the sence * He meaneth intermittent such as begin with cold fits more or lesse * Taken for Herba Iudaica * Horrore as Qâ—…artanes * â—…amely quintans sextanes Septimanes Nonanes c. Harstrang or rather with Euphorbium as some haue corrected the place i. Bread leafed Erisypelas i. A girdle and it is our shingles Terra Cimolia Some take it for the May Lillie or â—…lly convally * Nay rather before the 7 day for then it iâ—… Symptomaticall and signifieth irregular humours whereas vpon thâ—… 7 9 11 and such Decretorie daâ—…es it is criticall and giâ—…th hope of recouery As Hippocrates himseâ—…fe teacheth Aphoris 62 and 64 li. 4. Baccâ—… rather cymae i. the tops as before Hippuris Horstaile A kind of Housleeke Our Ladies Mantle * Or Coris Darnell as some thinke * i Sanchbloud a kind of Yarrow Or rather Ephydros And tâ—…at is just none * Dulci rather austero i. hard or green wine Which some take to â—…e Argentina i. white Tansey * He meaneth 〈◊〉 although he attribute vnto it this wrong name * Sauge de bois * Coliculi * Some take it for water Betony * Mollita Why not Molâ—…a i. ground to pouder against the fire since that he vseth farina so commonly for the pouder of drie hearbs * Fistulae pastoris or water Plantaine * Steatomatae * Harstrang * Orchis * Sanatis that is to say when the skar riseth above the flesh is not euen with the rest of the skiâ—…or if you reaâ—…e Praesanatis skinned too soon healed onely in shew and apparance outwardly * 〈◊〉 whiâ—…h is Trichomâ—…nes or Capillus Ueneris * Iâ—… their matrice as namely the rising of the mother c * To wit the stay of the after burden after-throwes suppression of their purgatioÌ„ or immoderat shifts c. * Swelled and hard * Purgat some read better in mine opinâ—…on corrigit i. redu ceth it into the right place being vnsetled and peruerted * Clematis * With 〈◊〉 yellow flâ—… * Sâ—… Crestâ—… * Hab R * Sistiâ—… * I maâ—… how thâ—… shoulâ—… considâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 geâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 coâ—… pâ—… 〈◊〉 i to sâ—… cret vertue * Some think this is meant of hairs within the paps which should be swâ—…llowed downe by 〈◊〉 in a cup of dâ—…inke and so rankle in the brâ—…st c. a disease called by Aristotle Trichia And 〈◊〉 is or an opinion thâ—…t â—…ome uâ—…h thâ—…g resâ—…mbling an haire may brâ—…ed wâ—…thin the brest â—…f putrified humours oâ—… corrupt mâ—…ke Bâ—…t it seemeth by that whiâ—…h fol loweth that Plâ—…e meant no such matteâ—… out rather soâ—…e outward eye-sore * i. Femalbane * or Myâ—…phonon * Ab a. priuativapartâ—…ulo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. dust whe upoÌ„ bare stones without any mould vpon them be also called in Grâ—…ek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so be whetstones likewise Yet Theophrastus is of opinion That it tooke the name Aconâ—…uÌ„
a vapor with a dissonant sound like as when a red hot yron maketh an hissing being thrust into water a smokie fume walmeth vp with many turnings like waues Hereupon stormes do breed And if this flatuositie or vapour doe struggle and wrestle within the cloud from thence it commeth that thunderclaps be heard but if it breake through still burning then flieth out the thunderbolt if it be longer time a strugling and cannot pierce through then leams and flashes are seene With these the cloud is clouen with the other burst in sunder Moreouer thunders are nothing els but the blows and thumps giuen by the fires beating hard vpon the clouds and therefore presently the firy chinkes and rifts of those clouds do glitter and shine Possible it is also that the breath and winde eleuated from the earth being repelled back and kept downe by the stars so held in and restrained within a cloud may thunder whiles Nature choketh the rumbling sound all the while it striueth and quarelleth but sendeth forth a crack when it breaketh out as we see in a bladder puffed vp with winde Likewise it may be that the same wind or spirit whatsoeuer is set on fire by fretting and rubbing as it violently passeth headlong downe It may also be stricken by the conflict of two clouds as if two stones hit one against another and so the leams and flashes sparkle forth so as all these accidents happen by chance-medley and be irregular And hereupon come those bruitish vain lightenings such as haue no natural reason but are occasioned by these impressions aboue said With these are mountains and seas smitten and of this kind be all other blasts and bolts that do no hurt to liuing creatures As for those that come from aboue and of ordinary causes yea and from their proper stars they alwaies presage and foretell future euents In like manner as touching the windes or rather blasts I would not denie but that they may proceed from a dry exhalation of the earth void of all moisture neither is it impossible but that they do arise out of waters breathing and sending out an aire which neither can thicken into a mist nor gather into clouds also they may be driuen by the lugitation and impulsion of the Sun because the winde is conceiued to be nought els but the fluctuation and waiuing of the aire and that by many means also for some we see to rise out of riuers firths and seas euen when they be stil and calme as also others out of the earth which winds they name Altani And those verily when they come backe againe from the sea are called Tropaei if they go onward Apogaei CHAP. XLIIII ¶ What is the reason of the resounding and doubling of the Eccho BVt the windings of hils and their often turuings their many tops their crests and ridges also bending like an elbow or broken and arched as it were into shoulders together with the hollow noukes of vallies do cut vnequally the aire that reboundeth them fro which is the cause of reciprocall voices called Ecchoes answering one another in many places when a man doth holla or houpe among them CHAP. XLV ¶ Of Windes againe NOw there be certaine caues and holes which breed windes continually without end like as that is one which we see in the edge of Dalmatia with a wide mouth gaping leading to a deep downfall into which if you cast any matter of light weight be the day neuer so calm otherwise there ariseth presently a stormie tempest like a whirle puffe The places name is Senta Moreouer in the prouince Cyrenaica there is reported to be a rock consecrated to the South-wind which without prophanation may not be touched with mans hand but if it be presently the South wind doth arise and cast vp heaps of sand Also in many houses there be hollow places deuised made by mans hand for receipt of wind which being inclosed with shade and darknesse gather their blasts Whereby we may see how all winds haue one cause or other But great difference there is betweene such blasts and winds As for these they be setled and ordinarie continually blowing which not some smal tracts particular places but whole lands do feele which are not light gales nor stormy puffes named Aurae and Procellae but simply called winds by the Masculine name Venti which whether they arise by the continuall motion of the heauen and the contrary course of the Planets or whether this winde be that spirit of Nature that engendreth all things wandering to and fro as it were in some wombe or rather the aire beaten and driuen by the vnlike influences and raies of the straying starres or planets and the multiplicitie of their beames or whether all winds come from their owne stars namely these planets neerer at hand or rather fall from them that be fixed in the firmament Plaine and euident it is that guided they by an ordinary law of Nature not altogether vnknowne although it be not yet throughly knowne CHAP. XLVI ¶ The Natures and obseruations of the Windes THe old Greeke writers not so few as twentie haue set downe and recorded their obseruations of the Winds I maruell so much the more that the World being so at discord and diuided into kingdomes that is to say dismembred as it was so many men haue had care to seek after these things so intricate and hard to be found out and namely in time of wars and amid those places where was no safe lodging nor abode and especially when pyrats and rouers common enemies to mankinde held welneere all passages I maruell I say that at this day each man in his owne tract and countrey taketh more light and true knowledge of some things by their commentaries and bookes who neuer set foot there than they doe by the skill and information of home-born inhabitants whereas now in time of so blessed and ioious peace and vnder a prince who taketh such delight in the progresse of the State and of all good arts no new thing is learned by farther inquisition nay nor so much as the inuentions of old writers are throughly vnderstood And verily it cannot be said that greater rewards were in those daies giuen considering that the bountie of Fortune was dispersed and put into many mens hands and in truth most of these deepe Clerkes and learned men sought out these secrets for no other reward or regard than to doe good vnto posteritie But now mens manners are waxen old and decay now all good customes are in the waine and notwithstanding that the fruit of learning be as great as euer it was and the recompences as liberall yet men are become idle in this behalfe The seas are open to all an infinite multitude of saylers haue discouered all coasts whatsoeuer they saile through and arriue familiarly at euery shore all for gaine and lucre but none for knowledge and cunning Their mindes altogether blinded and bent vpon nothing
three joynts As for some sea-fishes we haue said before that they haue eight legs namely Many feet Pourcuttles Cuttles Calamaries and Crabfishes and those moue their fore-clees like armes a contrary way but their feet either they turne round or else fetch them crooked atone side and a man shall not see any liuing creature againe al round but they As for others they haue two feet to guide them and lead the way but Crabs onely haue foure There be Insects besides vpon the land that exceed this number of feet and then they haue no fewer than twelue as the most sort of wormes yea and some of them reach to an hundred No creature whatsoeuer hath an odde foot As touching the legs of those which bee whole houfed they be all full as long when they first come into the world as euer they will be well may they shoot out bigger and burnish afterward but to speake truly and properly they grow no more in length And therefore when they be yong sucking foles a man shall see them scratch the haire with the hinder feet which as they wax elder and bigger they are not able to do because their legges thriue only in outward compasse and not in length Which also is the cause that when they be new foled they cannot feed themselues but kneeling vntill such time as their neckes be come to their full growth and just proportion CHAP. XLIX ¶ Os Dwarfes and genitall parts THere are no liuing creatures in the world euen the very fowles of the aire not excepted but in each kind there be dwarfs to be found As for those males which haue their instruments of generation behind we haue sufficiently spoken In Wolues Foxes Weesils and Ferrits those genitall members be of a bonie substance and of them there be soueraigne medicines made for to cure the stone and grauell in mans bodie engendred The Beares pisle also becommeth as hard as an horn men say so soone as his breath is out of his bodie As for Camels pisles they vse in the East countries to make their best bow strings therof which they account to be the surest of all others Moreouer and besides the genitall parts put a difference between nation and nation also between one religion and another for the priests of Cybele the great mother of the gods vse to cut off their owne members and to gueld themselues without danger of death On the contrarie side some few women there be monstrous that way and in that part resemble men like as we see there are Hermaphrodites furnished with the members of both sexe In the daies of Nero the Emperor the like accident was seen and neuer before in some foure-footed beasts For he in very truth exhibited a shew of certaine mares that were of the nature of those Hermaphrodites found in the territorie of Treuiers in France and they drew together in his owne coach And verily a strange and wondrous sight this was To see the great monarch of the world sit in a charriot drawne by such monstrous beasts As touching the stones of Rams Buckes and greater beasts they hang dangling downe between their legs but in Bores they be thrust together knit vp short close to the bellie Dolphines haue these parts very long and the same lying hidden within the bottom of their bellies In Elephants likewise they be close and hidden In as many creatures as doe lay egges the stones sticke hard to their loines within the bodie and such be euer most quicke of dispatch in the act of generation and soone haue done the feat Fishes and Serpents haue none at all but in stead therof there be two strings or veines reach from their kidnies to their genitall member The * Buzzard a kind or Hawke is prouided of three stones A man hath his cods sometime bruised and broken either by some extraordinarie accident or naturally and such as be thus burst are counted but halfe men and of a middle nature betweene Hermaphrodites and guelded persons To conclude in all liuing creatures whatsoeuer the males be stronger than the females setting aside the race of Panthers and Beares CHAP. L. ¶ Of Tailes THere is not a liuing creature excepting men and Apes take as well those that bring forth their yong aliue as others that lay egges only but is furnished with a taile for the necessarie vse of their bodies Such as be otherwise rough-haired and bristly yet haue naked tailes as Swine those that be long shagged and rugged haue very little and short skuts as Beares but as many as haue long side haires be likewise long tailed as Horses If Lizards or Serpents haue their tailes cut off from their bodies they will grow againe In fishes they serue in good stead as rudders and helmes to direct them in their swimming yeathey fit their turnes as well as oares to set them forward as they stirre them to this or that hand There be Lizards found with double tailes Kine and Oxen haue the longest rumpe for their tailes of any other beasts yea and the same at the end hath the greatest tuft and bush of haire Asses haue the said docke or rumpe longer than horses and yet all such beasts either for saddle or packe haue it set forth with long haires Lions tailes are fashioned in the very tip thereof like vnto Kine or Oxen and Rats but Panthers are not after the same manner tailed Foxes and Wolues haue shag tailes like sheep but that they be longer Swine carie their tailes turned and twined round And Dogs that be of curres kind and good for nothing carrie their tailes close vnderneath their bellies CHAP. LI. ¶ Of Voices Aristotle of opinion That no liuing creature hath any voice but such only as are furnished with lungs and wind-pipes that is to say which breath and draw their wind and therefore he holdeth that the noise which we heare come from Insects is no voice at all but a very sound occasioned by the aire that gets within them and so being enclosed yeelds a certaine noise and resoundeth againe And thus it is quoth he that some keep a humming or buzzing as Bees others make a cricking with a certain long traine as the Grashoppers for euident it is and wel known that the aire entring into those pipes if I may so term them vnder their breast and meeting with a certaine pellicle or thin skin beates vpon it within and so sets it a stirring by which attrition that shril sound commeth Again it is as apparent that in others and namely Flies and Bees the buzzing which we heare begins and ends euer with their flying For no doubt that sound commeth not of any wind that these little creatures either draw or deliuer but of the aire which they hold inclosed within and the beating of their wings together As for Locusts it is generally beleeued receiued that they make that sound with clapping of their feathers and wings and thighs together In like manner among fishes in
the waters the great Scallops make a certaine noise as they shoot out of the water But soft fishes and such as lie couered with a crust or shell neither vtter voice nor yet yeeld sound As for other fishes although they be without lungs and pipes yet are they not quite mute but deliuer a certaine sound Howbeit they that would maintaine that fishes are dumbe indeed doe cauill and say that such a noise commeth of crashing and grinding their teeth together But what will they say then to the water-Goat the riuer Bore which in the riuer Achelous do euidently grunt as also others wherof we haue spoken Againe such as lay egs do hisse and Serpents draw their hissing out in length The Tortoise hisses likewise but after a broken manner with staies and rests between Frogs keep a croaking after their kind as hath been said before and yet a man may seem well to doubt therof how it should be considering that the noise which they make comes but from their teeth and mouth outward and is not framed in their breast or stomacke Howbeit in them there is great difference by occasion of the nature of diuers countries For in Macedonie by report they are mute and there also the Swine be dumbe As for birds the least euermore be most full of chirping chaunting and singing and most of all about the treading time Some of them keepe a singing when they fight as Quailes others when they goe to fight as Partridges and some again after victorie as cocks And they haue a crowing by themselues differing from the cackling of hens whereas in other birds you canot discerne the male from the female by the singing as we see in Nightingales Some sing all the yeare long others at certaine times as we haue more at large declared in the particular treatise of each bird The Elephant he sends out at his very mouth somwhat short of his muffle a certaine sâ—…nd like to sneesing but thorough that muffle or trunke of his he sounds as it were out of a trumpet Kine only of females haue a bigger voice than Buls for in euery kind else the female hath a smaller voice than the males like as we see in mankind the gelded Eunuchs As an infant is comming into the world it is not heard to crie all the while that it is in the birth before it be fully born When it is a yeare old it begins to prattle and talke but not before King Croesus had a sonne who lying swoddled in his cradle spake by that time he was 6 months old but this was a prodigious signe and presaged the finall ruine of that kingdome Those children that begin with their tongue betime are later ere they find their feet The voice in man or woman beginneth to change and waxe greater at 14 yeares old The same in old age growes again to be smaller and in no other creature doth it more often alter Moreouer as touching the Voice there be strange and wonderfull matters reported and those worth the rehearsal in this place For first and foremost we do see That vpon the skaffold or stage in publick Theatres if the floore be strowed ouer well and thicke with saw-dust or sand the voice of the actors will be drowned and lost yea and remain stil aboue the skaffold if it were there buried also where there be hollow and vneuen wals round about or emptie drie-fats and tuns set the voice will be taken vp in them and passe no farther But the same voice betweene two wals directly set one by another runs apace yea and through a vault it may be heard from the one end to the other be the sound neuer so low prouided that all be smooth and euen between and nothing to hinder the passage thereof To speake yet somwhat more of the Voice In it doth rest a great part of the countenance and visage of man wherby he is discerned and knowne For we know a man by hearing his voice before we see him euen as well as if our eies were fixed vpon him And see how many men and women there are in the world so many sundrie voices there bee for each one hath a seuerall voice as well as a face by himself And hereof arises that varietie of nations that diuersitie of languages all the world through From hence come so many tunes in song so many notes in Musick as there bee But aboue all the greatest thing to be noted in Voice is this That wheras the vtterance of our mind therby doth distinguish vs from brute and wild beasts the same euen among men maketh as great a difference betweene one and another as the other is betweene man and beast CHAP. LII ¶ Of the excrescence and superfluitie of some members Also the discourse and sayings of Aristotle as touching mans life LOoke what part is more than ordinarie by nature in any liuing creature the same â—…erues to no vse As for example the sixt finger in a mans hand is euermore superfluous and therefore fit for nothing It was thought good in Aegâ—…pt once to nourish and keep a monstrous man who had foure eies wherof two stood in the backe part of his head behind but surely he saw neuer a whit with them I wonder verily thâ—…t Aristotle not only beleeued but also sticked not to set downe in writing that there were certaine signes in mans bodie whereby we might foreknow whether he were long liued or no. Which albeit I take to be but vanities not rashly to bee vttered without good aduisement because I would not haue men amused and busily occupied in searching Prognostications in themselues as touching their owne life yet will I touch the same and deliuer them in some sort since so great a clerk as Aristotle was held them for Resolutions and thought them worth the penning He putteth downe therefore as signes of short life thin teeth long fingers a leaden hew many lines in the palme of the hand with crosse bars or short cuts Contrariwise he saith That those who are Lute backed thicke shouldered and bending forward who also in one hand haue two long life lines and aboue 32 teeth in their head and besides are wel hanged and haue large eares bee long liued And as far as I can guesse he requires not that all these signes should concurre and meet together for to signifie as is beforesaid but as I suppose his meaning is that euery one of them by it selfe is significatiue and sufficient Surely these Physiognomers Chiromantines or Palmestrie as friuolous and foolish as they be yet now adaies are in credite and euery man is full of them Trogus a most graue and renowmed Author among vs is of opinion moreouer That there is judgment to be giuen not only of mens complexions but also of their conditions by their very sight countenance and surely I think it not amisse to set downe his very words A large and broad forehead saith he is a token of a
in colours the common people of Athens and a solemne sacrifice of Oxen. There was also one Mechopanes apprentise likewise vnto the same Pausias who is highly commended by some for his curious and exquisit workmanship but such it is as none but cunning artists can conceiue for otherwise I assure you his colours are vnpleasant and hee loued to lay on too much of one thing and that was Sil. As for Socrates the painter his pictures were liked very well of all that saw them and in truth they deserued no lesse for of his doing are these and such like to wit Aesculapius with his daugh ters Hygia Aegle Panacea and Iaso and an idle lazy â—…ubber knowne by a deuised name Ocnos whom he pourtraied twisting a cord of Spart and euer as he did it an asse behind him gnawed it asunder Thus much may serue concerning the principall painters that haue been knowne to excell in both kinds to wit with the pensill and with fire it remaineth now that I should discourse of those who were next vnto the principall and so reputed In this second course of painters I must range Aristoclides who beautified with his pictures the temple of Apollo in Delphos as for Antiphilus he is as much praised for painting a boy blowing hard at the coles in which table it is a prety sight to see how all the house which was faire enough besides shineth by the fire that he makes as also what a mouth the boy makes likewise for the picture of a company of Spinsters so liuely that one would imagin he saw euery woman making hast to spin off her distaffe striuing avie who shal haue don her task first He deuised also to portray Ptolomae hunting this they call Aposcopon for which he is much commended but principally for a braue Satyr of his workmanship clad in a Panthers skin Aristophon woone much credit by painting Ancaeus wounded to death by a wild bore his wife Astypale standing hard by who seemeth to lament for his sake and as it were to feele part of his paine he made also one faire table inriched with a number of personages to wit K. Priamus faire Helena dame Credulitie Vlixes Deiphobus and Dolori Androbius got himself a great name by a picture representing one Scyllis a cunning diver cutting in two the anker cables of the Persian fleet riding at sea Artemon likewise was renowned for the counterfeit of lady Danae found floting in the sea by rouers or men of war who seemed to wonder at her beauty and to behold her with much contentment also for picturing queene Statonice Hercules and Deianira his wife but the most excellent pieces of his work manship be those which are to be seene in the galleries of Octauia among other of her stately buildings to wit Hercules ascending vp into heauen from the mountaine Oeta within the region of Doris where he changed this mortall life and by the generall consent of all the gods was receiued into their society the whole history also of Laomedon as touching his falshood to Hercules and Neptune Alcimachus the painter was renowned for the picture of hardy Dioxippus who carried away the prize in all feats of actiuity at the solemn games of Olympia and neuer sweat nor touched dust for it which easie victory the Greekes call Aconiti As for Caenus he was excellent at painting Coronets Garlands also at drawing coats of arms in scutchions of gentlemen and noble persons with the stile of their titles dignities Ctesilochus an apprentice to Apelles became very famous for one picture aboue the rest although it were but a wanton one and offensiue to chast eies wherein forsooth hee depainted Iupiter attired in a caule or coife about his head like a woman groning and crying out also as women do in trauell of childe birth among the goddesses for their helping hand who plaied the midwiues about him vntil he was deliuered of god Bacchus and brought to bed Cleon was much spoken of for the picture which hee made of K. Admetus Ctesidamus for pourtraying the winning of Oechalia by Hercules And for drawing the picture of lady Laodamia the wife of Protesilaus Clesides was notorious for one picture which he made in despight of queene Stratonice wife to K. Antiochus and to be reuenged of her for a disgrace that he had receiued at her hands for being in the court and perceiuing that the queen did him no honour at all nor gaue him any countenance he made no more ado but painted her in her colours tumbling and wallowing along full vnseemly with an odde base fisherman whom as the voice went she was inamored vpon and when he had done set it vp in the very hauen of Ephesus recouered a barke presently and away he went vnder sale as fast as wind and tide would carry him When the queene heard of it she made but a jeast and mocke of it neither would shee suffer the picture to be taken away in regard of the wonderfull workmanship which-expressed her and him so like and liuely Craterus was a Comoedian and plaier in Enterludes howbeit a fine Painter as may appeare by his handy worke at Athens within the publicke place Pompeium Eutychides pourtraied a charriot drawne with two horses and Victorie to guid and driue the same Eudoxus had the name for his pictures which are seen at stage-plaies to beautifie the place who also was a good imageur and cast many faire pieces in brasse Iphis was well thought of for Neptune and Victorie of his painting and Abron was no lesse esteemed for the pictures resembling Amity and Concord as also for the pourtraitures of the gods Leontiscus pictured Aratus the Generall of the Achaeans returning with victory and triumphing with his trophy He painted also a minstrel wench playing vpon a Psaltry and seeming to sing to it which was thought to be a daintie piece of worke As for Leon he painted Sappho the Poetresse And Nicaearchus was much bruited abroad for a picture shewing Venus accompanied with the Graces and the pretty Cupids And of his workemanship is Hercules sad and pensiue penitent also and repentant for that which he had done in his furious madnesse Nealoes made one picture of Venus most curiously for passing witty hee was full of inuention and exquisit in his art When he painted the nauall battell betweene the Aegyptians and the Persians which was fought vpon the riuer Nilus the water whereof is rough and like the sea because he would haue it knowne that the fight was vpon the said riuer he deuised another by-worke to expresse the same which all the Art of painting otherwise could not performe for he painted an Asse vpon the banke drinking at the riuer and a Crocodile lying in wait to catch him whereby any man might soone know it was the riuer Nilus and no other water Oenias the painter made one pictiure aboue the rest which he called Syngenicus Philiscus became renowned
by a painters shop of his painting where he deuised a prentice boy blowing the coles to kindle a fire Phalerion pourtraied Scylla transformed into a monstrous Meeremaid Simonides got credit by the picture of Agatharrhus who woon the best game at running and of the goddesse of Memory named Mnemosyne Simus took pleasure in painting a yong boy lying asleep in a waulke-mill or Fullers worke-house another sacrificing vnto Minerva at the feast Quinquatrus and of the same mans doing there is an excellent picture of Nemesis representing Iustice and Reuenge Theodorus drew one snetting his nose and the same painter represented in a table how Orestes murdered his owne mother Clytemnestra and Aegysthus the Adulterer that kept her The warre of Troy hee depainted in many seuerall tables and these hang in the galleries of Philip at Rome Of his handy-worke is lady Cassandra the Prophetesse which is to bee seen in the Chappell of Concord Also Leontium the courtisane belonging to Epicurus and his followers was of his painting like as king Demetrius musing and standing in a deepe studie As for Theon the painter hee described with his pensill the madnesse of Orestes and pourtrayed Tamyras the Harper or Musitian Tauriscus made one table representing a man flinging a coit and another resembling queene Clytemnestra He pictured also a little Pan whom he called Panniscus in manner of an Anticke Polynices also making claime to his kingdome and marching in warlike manner to recouer the possession thereof againe and last of all signieur Capaneus who lost his life in skaling the walls of Thebes And here commeth to my minde one notable example as touching Erigonus which I cannot passe with silence This Erigonus seruant somtime to Nealces the Painter and employed onely in grinding colours profited so much by seeing his master worke that he became a Painter himselfe and left behinde him an excellent workeman of his owne teaching Pausias brother to Aegineta the Imageur But one thing more there is of rare admiration and worthie to be remembred That the last peeces of excellent Painters and namely such tables as bee left vnperfect are commonly better esteemed than those that bee fully finished as wee may see by the Raine-bow or Iris which Aristides was entered into the two brethren Castor and Pollux begunne by Nicomachus the Picture of Medea killing the children that shee had by Iason which Timomachus was in hand with and the Venus that as I sayd before Apelles liued not to make an end of for in these and such like imperfect tables a man may as it were see what traicts and lineaments remayne to bee done as also the very desseignes and cogitations of the Artificers and as these beginnings are attractiue allurements to mooue vs for to commend those hands that began such Draughts so the conceit that they be now dead and missing is no small griefe vnto vs when wee behold them so raw and fore-let But to come againe vnto our Painters therebe more yet behinde and those of verie good regard in their time howbeit I will runne them ouer sleightly and as it were passing and glauncing by them namely Aristonides Anaxander Aristobulus the Syrian Arcesilas the sonne of Tisicrates Corybas Apprentice to Nicomachus Carmanides to Euphranor Dionysodorus the Colophonian Diogenes who followed the Court of King Demetrius Euthymedes Heraclides the Macedonian Mydon of Solae brought vp vnder Pyromachus the Imageur Mnasithemus of Sicyone Mnasithemus the sonne of Aristonides who was Apprentice likewise vnto him and Nessus the sonne of Abron Polemon of Alexandria Theodorus of Samos and Stodius all three trayned vp vnder Nicosthenes and Xenon of Sicyone who learned his Craft of Neocles Moreouer women there were also excellent Paintresses to wit Timarete the daughter of Nicon who made that excellent pourtraiture of Diana at Ephesus a most antique picture Irene the daughter of Cratinus the painter who learned vnder her father drew the picture of a yong damosell which is at Eleusine Calypso of whose workemanship there is the picture of an old man and of Theodorus the juglar Alcisthene painted a dauncer and Aristarete both daughter and apprentise to Nearchus made proofe how well she had profited by the picture of Aesculapius And M. Varro saith That when he was a yong man there was at Rome one Laela a Cyzecene borne who passed her whole life in virginity and she was skilful both in painting with the pensill and also in enamelling with hot steele in yuorie her delight was principally in drawing women and yet there is a Neapolitane of her pourtraying in a faire long table last of all shee took out her owne counterfeit at a mirroir or looking glasse This one thing is reported of her that no painter had a quicker hand or went faster away with his worke than she and look what pictures soeuer came out of her hands they were so artificially done that they did out-sell a great deal the works of Sopylos and Dionyfius the most famous painters in that age notwithstanding their pictures and tables were so faire as that they take vp whole cabinets and wel was he before that her pictures came abroad who could be furnished out of their two shops There was yet one paintresse more to wit Olympias howbeit I heare no great matter of her but this onely that she taught Autobulus the art of painting To come now to painting by the means of fire I find this agreed vpon by all that practised it was in old time but two waies only that is to say with wax and in yuorie with a little steele or punching yron vntill such time as they fell to paiâ—…ting ships also with wax and fire and in this third sort the manner is to vse great pensils or brushes dipt in wax molten ouer the fire and this kind of painting ships is so fast and sure that neither sun will resolue nor salt water eat and fret ne yet wind and weather pierce and chinke it Moreouer iu Aegypt they haue a deuise to staine cloths after a strange and wonderful maner They take white clothes as sailes or curtaines when they haue bin worne which they besmeare not with colours but with drugs that are apt to drinke and take colour when they haue so don there is no apparence in them at all of any dye or tincture These clothes they cast into a lead or cauldron of some colour that is seething and scalding hot where after they haue remained a pretty while they take them forth againe all stained and painted in sundry colours An admirable thing that there being in the said cauldron but only one kind of tincture yet out of it the cloth should be stained with this and that colour and the foresaid boiling liquor change so as it doth according to the quality nature of the drugs which were laied vpon the white at first And verily these stains or colours are set so sure as they can neuer be washed off afterwards thus the scalding liquor