enter into the castle of Athens Isle of Delos bycause of their publique and shamelesse copulation and also that no man might be terrified by their presence from supplication in the temples The foolishnesse of a Dogge appeareth in this that when a stone or other thing is cast at him he followeth the stone and neglecteth the hand that threw it according to the saying of the Poet Marcellus Arripit vt lapidem catulus morsuque fatigat Nec precussori mutua damna facit Sic plerique sinunt reros clabier hostes Et quos nulla grauant noxia dente petant Likewise men of impudent wits shamlesse behauiors in taking and eating meat were called Cynicks for which cause Athenaeus speaketh vnto Cynicks in this sort You do not O Cynici leade abstinent and frugall liues but resemble Dogges and whereas this foure-footed beast differeth from other creatures in foure things Porphyrius you only follow him in his viler and baser qualities that is in barking and license of railing in voracity and nudity without all commendation of men The impudency of a Dogge is eminent in all cases to be vnderstood Homer Horace for which cause that audatious Aristogiton sonne of Cidimachus was called a Dogge and the furies of ancient time were figured by blacke Dogges and a Dog was called Erinnis Cerberus himselfe with his three heads signified the multiplicity of Diuels that is a Lyons a Wolfes and a fawning Dogges one for the earth another for the Water and the thirde for the aire for which cause Hercules in slaying Cerberus is said to haue ouercome all temptation vice and wickednesse for so did his three heads signifie other by the three heads vnderstand the three times by the Lyon the time present by the wolfe the time past and by the fawning Dog the time to come It is deliuered by authors that the roote of Oliander or else a Dogs tooth bound about the arme do restraine the fury and rage of a Dogge also there is a certain litle bone in the left side of a Toade called Apocynon for the vertue it hath in it against the violence of a Dogge It is reported by Pliny that if a liue Rat be put into the pottage of Dogges after they haue eaten thereof they will neuer barke any more and Aelianus affirmeth so much of the Weasils taile cut off from him aliue and carried about a man also if one carry about him a Dogges hart or Lyuer Constantius or the skinne wherin Puppies lye in their dams belly called the Secundine the like effect or operation is attributed to them against the violence of dogs There is a little blacke stone in Nylus about the bignesse of a Beane at first sight whereof a dog wil run away Such as these I saw at Lyons in France which they called Sea-beanes Stobaeus and they prescribed them to be hanged about a Nurses necke to encrease her milke but to conclude the discourse of the basenesse of a Dogge those two prouerbes of holy Scripture one of our Sauiour Mat. 7. Giue not that which is holy to Dogs and the other of Saint Peter 2. Epistle Cap. 2. the Dogge is returned to the vomit doe sufficiently conuince that they are emblems of vile cursed rayling and filthy men The vse of their parts which esteeme not holy things but eate vp againe their owne vomits The skinnes of Dogges are dressed for gloues and close Bootes the which are vsed by such as haue vlcerous and swelling Legges or Limbes for by them the aflicted place receiueth a double reliefe first it resisteth the influent humors and secondly Blondus it is not exasperated with Woollen The Turkes colour their Dogs tailes withred and it is a custom of Hunters to take Dogges and tie them in the Woods vnto trees by their stones for by crying they prouoke the Panther to come vnto them It is not to be doubted but that the flesh of dogges is vsed for meate in many places although the opinion of Rasis be true and consonant to reason that all deuouring Creatures as Dogges Foxes and Wolues haue no good flesh for meate bycause they engender melancholy and yet Galen thinketh that it is like to the flesh of a Hare especially young Whelpes were held amonge the Romanes a delicate meate and were vsed by their priestes and amonge Whelpes they attrybuted most vertue to their flesh which were eaten before they did see Oppianus The flesh of Dogs eaten for by them came no euill humor at al as is often set down in Plautus Instaurionâ— Peter Martir and Scaliger doe affirme of Cozumella and Lucatana and other Islands of the new World that the people there doe eate a kind of Dogge which cannot barke These Dogges are vile to looke vpon like young Kyds The inhabitants of Corsica which are fierce angry Wilde cruell audatious dissemblers actiue and strong do also seede vpon Dogges both wilde and tame and it is thought that their meate is a little furtherance to their inclination for such is the naturall disposition of Dogs and Sciltbergerus in the booke of peregrinations affirmeth also that the Tartarians in Ibissibur doe after the same manner feede vpon the flesh of Dogges from hence it commeth that men resemling a Dog in a plaine forhead and narrow are said to be foolish in a smooth and stretched out flatterers those which haue great voyces like a Ban-dog are strong they which raile much like often barking Dogges are of a doggish angry disposition He which hath a great head like a Dog is witty Admantius hee which hath a little head like an Asses is blockish they which haue fiery eyes like Dogs are impudent and shamelesse Thinne lips with narrow folding corners in Dogs is a token of generosity and in men of magnanimity they whose lippes hange ouer their canine teeth are also adiudged raylers and virulent speakers and as Carnarius obserueth vaine glorious braggarts A wide mouth betokeneth a cruell madde and wicked disposition a sharpe nose an angry mind as a round blunt and solide Nose signifieth a Lyons stomach and worthinesse A sharpe chin vaine babling and wantonnesse they which are small in their girting steade about their Ioynes doe much loue hunting Stobaeus in his wicked discourse or dispraise of women affirmeth that the curst sharp smart curious daynty clamorous implacable and wanton-rowling-eyed Women were deriued from Dogges and Hesiode to amend the matter saith when Iupiter had fashioned man out of the earth he commaunded Mercury to infuse into him a Canine minde and a clamorous inclination but the Prouerbe of Salomon Cap. 30. concludeth the excellency of a Dog saying There be three things which goe pleasantly and the fourth ordereth his pace aright The Lyon which is the strongest among Beastes and feareth not the sight of any body Munsterus a hunting Dog strong in his loynes a Goate and a King against whom there is no rysing vp by all which is deciphered a good
to the right hand or yealding toward the left In making mencion of fowles my meaning is of the Patridge and the Qâ—aile when he hath found the bird he keepeth sure and fast silence he stâ—ieth his steps and wil proceede no further and with a close couert watching eie layeth his belly to the ground and so creepeth forward like a worme When he approcheth neere to the place where the bird is he lies him down and with a marke of his pawes betrayeth the place of the birds last abode wherby it is supposed that this kind of dog is called Index Setter being indeede a name most consonant agreeable to his quality The place being knowne by the meanes of the Dog the fowler immediatly openeth and spreedeth his net intending to take them which being done the dog at the customed becke or vsuall signe of his Maister riseth vp by and by and draweth neerer to the fowle that by his presence they might be the authors of their own insnaring and be ready intangled in the prepared net which cunning and artificiall indeuor in a dog being a creature domesticall or houshold seruant brought vp at home with offals of the â—rencher and fragments of victuals is not so much to be marueiled at seeing that a Hare being a wild and skippish beast was seene in England to the astonishment of the beholders in the yeare of our Lorde God 1564. not only dauncing in measure but playing with his former feete vpon a tabberet and obseruing iust number of strokes as a practitioner in that Art besides that nipping and pinching a dog with his teeth and clawes and cruelly thumping him with the force of his feete This is no trumpery tale nor trifle toy as I imagine and therefore not vnworthy to be reported for I recken it a requital of my trauaile not to drowne in the seas of silence any speciall thing wherein the prouidence and effectuall working of nature is to be pondered Of the Dog called the water Spaniell or finder in Latine Aquaticus seu Inquisitor THat kind of dog whose seruice is required in fowling vpon the water partly through a naturall towardnes and partly by diligent teaching is indued with that property This sorte is somewhat big and of a measurable greatnes hauing long rough and curled haire not obtained by extraordinary trades but giuen by natures appointment yet neuerthelesse friend Gesner I haue described and set him out in this manner namely powled and notted from the shoulders to the hindermost legs and to the end of his taile which I did for vse and customs cause that being as it were made somewhat bare and naked by shearing off such superfluity of haire they might atchiue the more lightnesse and swiftnes and be lesse hindred in swimming so troublesome and needelesse a burthen being shaken off This kind of dog is properly called Aquaticus a water spaniel because he frequenteth and hath vsuall recourse to the water where al his game lyeth namely water fowles which are taken by the help and seruice of them in their kind And principally ducks and drakes whereupon he is likewise named a dog for the duck because in that quality he is excellent With these Dogs also we fetch out of the water such fowle as be stounge to death by any venemous Worme we vse them also to bring vs our boultes and arrowes out of the Water missing our marke whereat we directed our leuell which otherwise we should hardly recouer and oftentimes they restore to vs our shaftes which wee thought neuer to see touch or handle againe after they were lost for which circumstaunces they are called Inquisâ—tores searchers and finders Although the Ducke otherwhiles notably deceiueth both the Dog and the Maister by dyuing vnder the Water and also by naturall subtilty for iâ— any man shall approch to the place where they builde breede and sit the hennes goe out of their neasts offering themselues voluntarily to the handes as it were of such as drawe neere their neastes And a certaine weakenesse of their Wings pretended and infirmity of their feet dissembled they goe slowly and so leasurely that to a mans thinking it were no maisteries to take them By which deceiptfull tricke they doe as it were entise and allure men to follow them til they be drawn a long distance from their nestes which being compassed by their prouident cunning or cunning prouidence they cutte of all inconueniences which might grow of their returne by vsing many careful and curious caueats least their often hunting bewray the place where the young duklings be hatched Great therefore is their desire and earnest is their study to take heede not only to their brood but also to themselus For when they haue an inkling that they are espied they hide themselues vnder turfes or sedges wherewith they couer and shroud themselues so closely and so craftely that notwithstanding the place where they lurk be found and prefectly perceiued there they will harbor without harme except the water spaniel by quick smelling discouer their deceiptes Of the Dogge called the Fisher in Latine Canis Piscator THe Dog called the fisher whereof Hector Boethus writeth which seeketh for fish by smelling among rockes and stones assuredly I know none of that kind in England neither haue I receiued by report that there is any such albeit I haue beene diligent and busie in demaunding the question as well of fishermen as also of hunts-men in that behalfe being carefull and earnest to learne and vnderstand of them if any such were except you hold opinion that the Beauer or Otter is a fish as many haue beleeued and according to their beleefe affirmed as the bird Pupine is thought to be a fish and so accounted But that kinde of Dog which followeth the fish to apprehend and take it if there be any of that disposition and property whether they do this thing for the game of hunting or for the heate of hunger as other Dogs doe which rather then they will be famished for want of foode couet the carcases of carrion and putrified flesh When I am fully resolued and disburthened of this doubt I will send you certificate in writing In the meane season I am not ignorant of that both Aelianus and Aelius call the Beauer kunapotamion a water dog or a Dog-fish I know likewise thus much more that the Beauer doth participate this propertie with the dog namely that when fishes be scarce they leaue the water and range vp and downe the land making an insatiable slaughter of young lambes vntill their paunches be replenished and when they haue fed themselues full of flesh then returne they to the water from whence they came But albeit so much be granted that this Beauer is a Dog yet it is to be noted that we recken it not in the beadrow of English Dogs as we haue done the rest The sea Calfe in like manner which our contry men for breuity sake cal a Seele other more largely name a Sea
the farther end whereof is placed a piece of flesh so that when the hungry foxe commeth to bite at the meate and thrusteth in his head the pikes sticke fast in his necke and he ineuitably insnared Moreouer as the harmefulnesse of this beast hath troubled many so also they haue deuised moe engins to deceiue and take him for this cause there is another pollicy to kill him by a bowe full bent with a sharpe arrow and so tenderly placed as is a trap for a Mouse and assoone as euer the foxe treadeth thereon presently the arrow is discharged into his owne bowels by the waight of his foote Againe for the killing of this beast they vse this sleight they take of Bacon-grease or Bacon as much as ones hand and rost the same a little and therewith annoint their shoesoles and then take the Liuer of a Hogge cut in pieces and as they come out of the wood where the beast lodgeth they must scatter the said pieces in their foote-steps and drawe the carcasse of a dead Cat after them the sauour whereof will prouoke the beast to follow the foot-steps then haue they a cunning Archer or handler of a Gunne who obserueth and watcheth in secret till the Beast come within his reach and so giueth him his great deadly wound But if the Fox be in the earth and they haue found his denne then they take this course to worke him out They take a long thing like a Bee-hiue and open at one end and yron wiers at the other like a grate and at the open end is set a little doore to fall downe vppon the mouth and to inclose the Fox when he entereth in by touching of a small rod that supporteth that doore This frame is set to the Foxes dens mouth and all the other passages watched and stopped The Fox hauing a desire to go forth seeing light by the wiers misdeemeth no harme and entereth into the hiue which is wrought close into the mouth of his den and being entered into it the rodde turneth the dore fast at the lower end or entraunce and so the fox is intrapped to be disposed of at the will of the taker The beast â—s 〈◊〉 â—miesf 〈◊〉 Foxes are annoied with many enemies and to beginne with the least the small flies and called gnats do much trouble and infect them against whome the foxe vseth this policie He taketh a mouthful of straw or soft hay or haire and so goeth into the water dipping his hinder parts by litle and litle then the flies betake themselues to his heade which he keepeth out of water which the fox feeling dippeth or diueth also the same vnder water to his mouth Albertus wherein he holdeth the hay as aforesaid whereunto the flies runneth for sanctuary or dry refuge which the fox perceiuing suddenly casteth it out of his mouth and runneth out of the water by this meanes easing himselfe of al those enemies In like manner as al beasts are his enemies and hee friend and louing to none so with strength courage and policie he dealeth with euery one not onely against the beastes of the land but also against the monsters of the sea When he findeth a neast of waspes in the earth or in other places as in Trees he laieth his taile to the hole and so gathereth into it a great many of them which he presently dasheth against the Wall or Tree or stones adioyning and so destroyeth them and thus he continueth vntill he haue killed them al and so maketh himselfe execute to their heapes of hony Gillius His manner is when he perceiueth or seeth a flocke of foule to flye in the aire to rowle himselfe in red earth making his skin to looke bloody and lie vpon his backe winking with his eie and holding in his breath as if he were dead which thing the birds namely Crows Rauens and such like obseruing because of the hatred of his person they for ioy alight triumph at his ouerthrow and this the fox indureth for a good season till oportunity seruing his turne and some of the fowle come neare his snowt then suddenly hee catcheth some one of them in his mouth feeding vpon him like a liuing and not a dead foxe and so doth deuoure and eate him as the Leopard doth deuoure and eate Apes and the Sea-frog other little fishes In like sort he deceiueth the Hedgehogge for when the hedghog perceiueth the foxe comming to him he rowleth himselfe togither like a foote-ball and so nothing appeareth outward exeept his prickles which the fox cannot indure to take into his mouth and then the crafty fox to compasse his desire licketh gently the face and snowt of the Hedgehogge by that meanes bringing him to vnfold himselfe againe and to stand vpon his legs which being done he instantly deuoureth or else poisoneth the beast with the vrine that he rendereth vpon the Hedgehogges face and at other times hee goeth to the waters and with his taile draweth fishes to the brimme of the Riuer and when that he obserueth a good booty hee casteth the Fishes cleane out of the water vppon the dry lande and then devoureth them All kinds of Hawkes are enemies to foxes and foxes to them because they liue vppon Carrion and so in the prouince of Vla. Auicen saw a fox and a Crow fight together a longe season and the Crow with his talentes so bee gripling the foxes mouth that he coulde not barke and in the meane time she beat and picked his head with her bill vntil he bled againe The Eagles fight with foxes and kil them and Olaus Magnus affirmeth that in the Northern Regions they lay Egges and hatch their young in those skinnes which they themselus haue stripped off from foxes and other beasts The Kites Vultures and wolues are enemies to foxes because they are al flesh-deuouring-creaturs but the fox which hath so many enemies by strength or subtilties ouer commeth al Whereupon Persius calleth a subtill man a Foxe saying Astutam vapido seruas sub pectore vulpem The medicinall vses of this beast are these first as Pliny and Marcellus affirme a Fox sod in water till nothing of the Foxe be left whole except the bones The medicines arising out of Foxes and the Legges or other parts of a gouty body washed and daily bathed therein it shall driue away all paine and griefe strengthning the defectiue and weake members so also it cureth all the shrinking vp and paines in the sinnewes and Galen attributeth the same vertue to an Hyaena sod in Oyle and the lame person bathed therein for it hath such power to euacuate and draw forth whatsoeuer euill humour aboundeth in the body of man Sextus that it leaueth nothing hurtfull behinde Neuerthelesse such bodies are soone againe replenished through euill dyet and relapsed into the same disease againe The Fox may be boyled in fresh or salt water with annise and time and with his skin on whole and not slit or
the English Mole and Molewarpe The Heluetitians Schaer and Schaermouse and the Molehil they cal Schaerufen of digging The Hollanders and the Flemmings call it Mol and Molmuss in imitation of the German worde the Illyrians Krtize And generally the name is taken from digging and turning vp the earth with her nose backe according to the saying of Virgill Aut oculis capti fodere cubilia Talpae Some are of opinion that it is called Talpa bycause it is appointed to an euerlasting darknesse in the earth of which sort Isidorus writeth thus Talpa dicta est eò quòd perpetua caecitate tenebris damnata est enim absque oculis It is called also in Greeke Indouros and Siphneus of Siphnon the earth because it liueth in the earth and turneth it vpward to make it hollow for passage The like I might say of his other names Ixliocha and Orthoponticos but this shall suffice for his name Countries of Moles Aristotle Aelianus In Boeotia about the Champaignes called Orchomenius ager there are the greatest store of Moles in the world for by digging they vnder-myne all the fieldes and yet in Lebadia another country of Boeotia there are none at all and if they be brought thither from any other place they wil neuer dig but die Rodolphus Oppianus and Albertus affirme Pliny Generation of Moles that they are created of themselues of wet earth and raine water for when the earth beginneth to putrifie the Mole beginneth to take life They are all for the most part of a blacke dusky colour with rough short and smoth soft haire as wooll and those haires which were whitest when they are young are most glistering and perfect blacke when they are old and Gesner affirmeth that hee saw in the end of October a Mole taken which was very white mixed with a little red and the red was most of all vpon her belly betwixt her forelegs and the necke and that it could not be a young one bycause it was two palmes in length betwixt his head and taile These beasts are all blind and want eies Blindnesse of Moles and therefore came the prouerbe Talpa caecior Tuphloteros aspalacos blinder then a Mole to signifie a man without all iudgment wit or fore-sight for it is most elegantly applyed to the minde Yet if any man looke earnestly vpon the places where the eies should grow he shall perceiue a little passage by drawing vp the membrane or little skinne which is black and therefore Aristotle saith of them in this manner probably All kinds of Moles want their sight because they haue not their eies open and naked as other beasts but if a man pull vp the skinne of their browes about the place of their eies which is thicke and shawdoweth their sight he shal perceiue in them inward couered eies for they haue the blacke circle and the apple which is contained therein and another part of the white circle or skinne but not apparantly eminent neither indeede can they because nature at the time of generation is hindered for from the braines there belong to the eies two stronge neruy passages which are ended at the vpper teeth and therefore their nature being hindered it leaueth an imperfect worke of sight behinde her Yet there is in this Beast a plaine and bald place of the skin where the eies should stand hauing outwardly a little blacke spot like a Millet or Poppey-seede fastened to a Nerue inwardly by pressing it there followeth a blacke humor or moystnesse and by dissection of a Mole great with young it is apparant as hath beene prooued that the young ones before birth haue eies but after birth liuing continually in the darke earth without light Albertus they cease to grow to any perfection for indeede they neede them not because being out of the earth they cannot liue aboue an houre or two Esope hath a pretty fable of the Asse Ape and Mole each once complaining of others natural wants the Asse that he had no Hornes and was therefore vnarmed the Ape that he had no taile like other beastes of his stature and quantity and therefore was vnhandsome to both which the Mole maketh aunswer that they may well be silent for that she wanteth eies and so insinuateth that they which complaine shall find by consideration and comparision of their owne wantes to others that they are happy and want nothing that were profitable for them Oppianus saith that there was one Phineus which was first depriued of his eie-sight and afterward turned into a Mole It should seeme he was condemned first to loose his eies and afterward his life Their seural parts members These Moles haue no eares and yet they heare in the earth more nimbly and perfectly then men can aboue the same for at euery step or small noise and almost breathing they are terrified and run away therfore Pliny saith that they vnderstand al speaches spoken of thēselues they hear much better vnder the earth then being aboue out of the earth And for this cause they dig about their lodging long passages which bringeth noises and voices to them being spoken neuer so low and softly like as the voice of a man carried in a trunke reed or hollow thing Their snowt is not like a Weasils as Suidas saith but rather like a shrewe-mouses or if it be lawfull to compare small with great like to a Hogges Their teeth are like a shrews and a Dogges like a shrewes in the neather teeth and furthermost inner teeth which are sharpe pointed and lowe inwardly and like a dogges because they are long at the sides although onely vpon the vpper-iaw and therefore they are woorthily called by the Graecians Marootatous that is daungerous-biting-teeth for as in swine the vnderteeth stand out aboue the vpper and in Elephants and Moldes the vpper hang ouer the neather for which cause they are called Hyperphereis The tong is no greater then the space or hollowe in the neather chap and they haue in a manner as little voice as sight and yet I marueile how the prouerbe came of Loquax Talpa a pratling mould in a popular reproach against woordy and talkatiue persons which Ammianus saith was first of all applyed to one Iulianus Capella after hee had so behaued himselfe that he had lost the good opinion of all men The necke seemeth to bee nothing it is so short standing equall with the forlegges The lights are nothing else but distinguished and seperated Fibres and hang not togither vpon any common root or beginning and they are placed or seated with the hart which they enclose much lower toward the belly then in any other beast Their gal is yellowish their feet like a beares and short legges wherefore they moue and runne but slowly their fingers or toes wherewithall they digge the earth are armed with sharp nailes and when she feeleth any harme vpon her backe presently she turneth vpwarde and defendeth her selfe with her snowt and
those whose eye-lids are pilled and bald Auicen to make haire to grow again vpon them being spreade or annointed thereuppon The dunge of mice being dryed and beaten into small dust or pouder and put into the teeth of any one which are hollow will presently expell away all paine from them Marcellus and also confirme and make the teeth strong The dust or pouder which proceedeth from mouse-dung is also very good to cure any disease in the fundament of either man or woman The vrine of a mouse is of such strong force that if it shal but touch any part of a mans body it will eate vnto the very bones The bitings of mice are healed by no other means but by greene figes and Garlike being mixed or mingled together and so annoynted thereupon OF THE RAT THere is no doubt that this beast belongeth also to the rank of mice The vulgar Rat or great domesticall Mouse the name thereof we haue shewed already is commoÌ„ both to the French Spanish Italian and English it may seeme to be deriued from the Greeke word Rastes or Heurex or Riscos for the Gretians vse al those words And this beast is 4. times so big as the commoÌ„ Mouse The quantity of Rats their parts being of a blackish dusky colour more whit on the belly hauing along head not much vnlike the head of the Martin short and round eares a resonable rough skin short legs and long clawes exceeding great eies such as caÌ„ see very perfectly in the darke night and more perfectly then by candle light with their nails they climbe vp steepe and hard wals their taile is very long almost naked void of haire by reason whereof it is not vnworthily counted venomous for it seemeth to partake with the nature of Serpents The quantity of their body is much like a weasels sometimes you shall see a Rat exceeding the common stature which the Germans cal Ratzen Kunig the king of Rats because of his larger greater body and they say that the lesser bring him meat and helieth idle But my opinion is that as we read of the Dormous she nourisheth hir parent when she is old so likewile the younger Rats bring food vnto the elder because through their age they are not able to hunt for themselues are also growne to a great and vnweeldy stature of body Sometimes you shal see white Rats as was once seene in Germany taken in the middle of Aprill hauing very red eyes standing forth of their head and a rough and long beard And at Auspurg in Germany about the Temple called the Church of S. Hulduic they abound in greater number then in other places They do not lye in the earth like Mice except in the vally of Ioachim where for the summer time they forsake houses and go into cony holes but in the winter time they returne to the houses againe They are more noysome then the little Mouse for they liue by stelth and feed vpon the same meat that they feede vpon and therefore as they exceede in quantity so they deuoure more and doe farre more harme They are killed by the same poysons and meates that the common Mice are killed except wolfe-baine for if they eate thereof they vomit it vp againe and are safe They are also taken in the same traps but 3. or foure times so big Their flesh is farre more hot and sharp then the flesh of the vulgar Mouse as we haue gathered by the dissection of it and therefore in operation it is very like that it expelleth and dryeth more then the other Medicins by Rats Poyson of Rats The excrements are also of the same vertue and with the dung of Rats the Physitians cure the falling off of the haire And it is saide also that when they rage in lust and follow their copulation they are more venemous and dangerous then at other times For if the vrine do fall vpon the bare place of a man it maketh the flesh rot vnto the bones neither will it suffer any scar to bee made vppon the vlcer and thus much of the vulgar Rat. OF THE WATER RAT SEeing there are two kinds of Rats one of the earth called Rattus terrestris Names of Water-Rats and the other of the water called Rattus Fluuiatilis of which we are now to entreat being also called of the Latins Mus aquaticus by the Germans Twassermaus and Wafferrat by the Italians Sorgomogange Meate of Water-Rats by the French Rat d eau This beast hunteth fishes in the winter and haue certaine caues in the water sides and bankes of the riuers or ponds For which occasion it being seene in the waters deceiueth their expectation which looke for the returne of it to the land And this beast hath beene forgotten by the ancients for they haue left of it no discription nor story because it liueth partly in the water and partly on the land and therfore he said true that spake of the habitation and place of aboade of this beast in this sort Ego non in fluuijs Places of water rats abod nec alijs aquis magnis sed paruis tantum riuis atque herbosis omnium â—ipis hoc animal frequentissimum versari audio That is to say That this beast doth not keepe in great waters or riuers but in small and little currents and pondes where aboundance of grasse and other weedes doe grow on the sides and bankes Pliny attributeth that to the warer-rat A wonder in the parts of a female Rat which is proper to the Tortise for indeed there is some similitude of natures betwixt these beasts with this exception that the females in this kind haue three visible passages for their excrements one for their vrine another for the dung and the third for the young ones that is a peculiare place for the littering of their young ones and this water-rat ouer and beside her common nature with other Rats doth swim ouer riuers and feed vpon herbs and if at any time she be hunted from her natiue biding accustomed lodging then also she goeth among vulgar common Rats and mice and feedeth vpon such as they eate and Bellonius saith that there are great store of these in Nilus and Strymâ—n and that in calme nights when there are no winds they walke to the shores get vp vpon the bankes eating and gnawing such plants as grow neare the waters and if they heare any noise they suddenly leape into the Waters againe He expresseth also the figure of this Rat which we haue omitted because it resembleth in all partes the common Rat excepting the snout or beake which is rounder blunter Among some of the ancients also there is mention made of this beast and no more Therfore Aristotle saith in the Arcadian Lusae which is a city so called as Stephanus writeth where Malampus did wash the daughters of Proetus and deliuered them from their madnesse There is
demaunded the cause why hee laughed not before aunswered that men do but faine merriments whereas Apes are naturally made for that purpose Moreouer Apes are much giuen to imitation and derision and they are called Cercopes Qualities of apes because of their wicked crafts deceipts impostures and flatteries wherefore of the Poets it is fained that there were two bretheren most wicked fellowes that were turned into Apes and from their seate or habitation came the Pithecusan Islands which Virgill calleth Inarime for Arime was an old Hetrurian word for an Ape and those Islands being the seates of the * Varinus Docibility of apes Gyants who being by God ouerthrowen for their wickednes in derision of them Apes were planted in their roomes Apes haue beene taught to leape singe driue Wagons raigning and whipping the Horses very artificially and are very capable of all humaine actions hauing an excellent memory either to shew loue to his friends or hatefull reuenge to them that haue harmed him but the saying is good that the threatning of a flatterer and the anger of an Ape are both alike regarded Hurts receiued by apes It delighteth much in the company of dogs and young Children yet it will strangle young Children if they be not well looked vnto A certaine Ape seeing a Woman washing her Child in a basen of warme water obserued her diligently An History and getting into the house when the Nurse was gone tooke the childe out of the Cradle and setting water on the fire when it was hot stripped the Childe naked and washed the childe therewith vntill it killed it The countries where Apes are found are Lybia and all that desart Woods betwixt Egypt Aethiopia and Libia and that parte of Caucasus which reacheth to the red Sea Countries breeding Apes In India they are most aboundant both Redde blacke greene dust-colour and white ones which they vse to bring into Citties except Red ones who are so venereous that they will rauish their Women and present to their Kings which grow so tame that they go vp and downe the streetes so boldly and ciuilly as if they were Children Booke of Voyages frequenting the Market places without any offence whereof so many shewed themselues to Alexander standing vpright that he deemed them at first to be an Army of enemies and commaunded to ioyne battell with them vntill he was certified by Taxilus a King of that Countrey then in his Campe they were but Apes In Caucasus there are trees of Pepper and Spices whereof Apes are the gatherers Labour of Apes liuing among those trees for the Inhabitants come and vnder the trees make plaine a plotte of ground and afterward cast thereupon boughs and braunches of Pepper and other fruites as it were carelesly which the Apes secretly obseruing in the night season they gather togither in great aboundance all the braunches loaden with Pepper and lay them on heapes vppon that plot of ground and so in the morning come the Indians and gather the Pepper from those boughes in great measure reaping no small aduantage by the labor of Apes who gather their fruites for them whiles they sleepe for which cause they loue them and defend them from Lyons dogges and other wilde Beasts In the region of Basman subiect to the great Cham of Tartaria are many and diuers sorts of Apes very like mankinde which when the Hunters take they pull off their haires al but the beard and the hole behinde and afterward dry them with hot spices and poudering them sell them to Marchants who carry them about the world preswading simple people that there are men in Islands of no greater stature To conclude Diuersity of apes there are Apes in Trogloditae which are maned about the necke like Lyons as big as great Bel-weathers So are there some called Cercopitheci Munkyes Choeropitheci Hog-Apes Cepi Callitriches Marmosits Cynocephali of a Dog and an Ape Satyres and Sphinges of which we will speake in order for they are not all alike but some resemble men one way and some another Chymaera as for a Chymaera which Albertus maketh an Ape it is but a figment of the Poets The same man maketh Pigmaees a kinde of Apes and not men but Niphus proueth that they are not men bycause they haue no perfect vse of reason lib. 7.1 de animal no modesty no honesty nor iustice of gouernment and although they speake yet is their language imperfect and aboue all they cannot bee men because they haue no Religion Pygmaeys which Plato saith truely is propper to euery man Besides their stature being not past three foure or fiue spans long their life not aboue eight yeares and their imitation of man do plainely proue them rather to be Apes then men and also the flatnesse of their Noses Onesicritus their Combats with Cranes Partridges for their egges and other circumstances I wil not stand vpon but follow the description of Apes in general Apes do outwardly resemble men very much and Vesalius sheweth that their proportion differeth from mans in moe things then Galen obserued as in the muscles of the breast those that moue the armes The anatomy of apes the elbow and the Ham likewise in the inward frame of the hande in the muscles mouing the toes of the feete the feete and shoulders in the instrument mouing in the sole of the foote also in the fundament mesentary the lap of the liuer the hollow vain holding it vp which mē haue not yet in their face nostrils eares eye-lids breasts armes thumbes fingers nailes they agree very much Their haire is very harsh short and therfore hairy in the vpper part like men and in the neather part like Beasts they haue teeth before and behinde like mē hauing a round face and ey-lids aboue and beneath which other Quadrupedes haue not Politianus saith that the face of a Bull or Lyon is more comely then the face of an Ape which is liker a mans They haue two Dugs their breasts armes like men but rougher such as they vse to bend as a man doth his foote So their hands fingers and nails are like a mans but ruder and nimbler and nature hauing placed their Dugs in their breast gaue them armes to lifte their young ones vp to sucke them Their feete are propper and not like mans hauing the middle one longest for they are like great handes and consist of fingers like handes but they are alike in bignesse except that which is least to a man is greatest to an Ape whose sole is like the hand but that it is longer and in the hinder part it is more fleshie somewhat resembling a heele but put backward it is like a fist They vse their feete both for going and handling the neather parts of their armes and their thighes are shorter then the proportion of their elbowes and shins they haue no Nauel but ther is a hard thing in that place the
Bohemians Nedwed the Polontans Vuluuer and the attributes of this beast are many among authors both Greeke and Latine Epithites of the beare as Aemonian beares armed filthy deformed cruell dreadfull fierce greedy Callidonian Erymanthean bloody heauy night-ranging lybican menacing Numidian Ossaean headlong rauening rigide and terrible beare all which serue to set forth the nature heereof as shall be afterward in particular discoursed First Of the kind of Beares Agricola Albertus therefore concerning seuerall kinds of beares it is obserued that there is in generall two a greater and a lesser and these lesser are more apt to clime trees then the other neither do they euer grow to so great a stature as the other Besides there are Beares which are called Amphibia because they liue both on the land and in the sea hunting and catching fish like an Otter or Beauer and these are white coloured In the Ocean Islands toward the North there are bears of a great stature fierce and cruell who with their forefeet do breake vp the hardest congealed yse on the sea or other great Waters and draw out of those holes great aboundance of fishes Olâ—uis and so in other frozen seas are many such like hauing blacke clawes liuing for the most part vpon the seas except tempestuous weather driue them to the land In the Easterne parts of India there is a beast in proportion of body verie like a Beare yet indued with no other quality of that kind being neither so wild nor rauenous nor strong and it is called a Formicarian Beare A Formicarian Beare Cardanus for God hath so prouided that whereas that countrey is aboundantly annoyed with the Emmets or Ants that beast doth so prey and feede vpon them that by the strength and vertuous humour of his tongue the sillie poore inhabitants are exceedingly relieued from their greeuious and daungerous numbers Beares are bred in many countries as in the Heluetian alpine region where they are so strong and full of courage Countrey of breed that they can teare in pieces both Oxen and Horsses for which cause the inhabitants study by all means to take them Likewise there are Beares in Persia which doe rauen beyond all measure and all other so also the beares of Nâ—midia Marcellinus which are of a more elegant forme and composition then the residue Profuit ergo nihil misero quod communius vrsos Figebat Numidas Albena nudus arena And wheras Pliny affirmeth that there are no beares in Affrick he mistook that country for Creet and so some say that in that Island be no Wolues vipers or other such venemous creatures whereof the Poets giue a vaine reason because Iupiter was borne there but we know also that there be no beares bred in England In the countrey of Arabia from the promontory Dira to the South are beares which liue vpon eating of flesh Volaterranâ— being of a yellowish colour which do farre excel all other bears both in actiuity or swiftnes and in quantity of body Among the Roxolani and Lituanians are beares which being tamed are presents for princes Aristotle in his wonders reporteth a secret in the natures of Beares that there are white beares in Misia which being eagerly hunted do send forth such a breath that putrifieth immediately the flesh of the Dogges and whatsoeuer other beast commeth within the sauour thereof it maketh the flesh of them not fit to be eaten but if either men or dogs approach or come nigh them they vomit forth such aboundance of Plegme that either the hunters are thereby choaked or blinded Thracia also breedeth white Beares and the King of Aethiopia in his Haebrew Epistle which he wrote to the Bishop of Rome affirmeth that there are Beares in his countrey In Musconia are Beares both of a snow white yellow and dusky colour and it hath bene seene that the Noble womens chariots drawne by six horsses haue beene couered with the skinnes of white beares from the pasterne to the head and as all other creatures doe bring forth some white and some blacke so also do Beares who in generall doe breede and bring forth their young in all cold countries some of a dusky and some of a browne blacke colour A Beare is of a most venereous and lustfull disposition Lust of beare for night and day the females with most ardent inflamed desires doe prouoke the males to copulation and for this cause at that time they are most-fierce and angry Phillippus Cosseus of Constance did most confidently tell mee that in the Mountaines of Sauoy a Beare carried a young maide into his denne by violence Gillius A History where in venereous manner he had the carnall vse of her body and while he kept her in his denne he dailye went foorth and brought her home the best Apples and other fruites he coulde get presenting them vnto her for her meat in very amorous sort but alwaies when hee went to forrage hee rouled a huge great stone vppon the mouth of his denne that the Virgin shoulde not escape away at length her parentes with long search founde their little Daughter in the Beares den who deliuered her from that sauage and beastuall captiuity Time of their copulation The time of their copulation is in the beginning of winter althogh sometime in Summer but such young ones seldome liue yet most commonly in February or Ianuary The manner of their copulation is like to a mans the male mouing himselfe vpon the belly of the female which lyeth on the earth flat vpon the backe and either embraceth other with their forefeet they remaine verie long time in that act inasmuch as if they were verie fat at their first entrance they disioine not themselues againe till they he made leane Immediately after they haue conceiued they betake themselues to their dennes Pliny where they without meate grow very fat especially the males onely by sucking their fore-feet When they enter into their denne they conuey themselues in backward a secret that so they may put out their footsteps from the sight of the hunters The males giue great honor to the females great with young during the time of their secrecie so that Honor to the female although they lie togither in one caue yet doe they part it by a diuision or small ditch in the midst neither of them touching the other The nature of all of them is to auoid cold and therfore in the winter time do they hide themselues chusing rather to suffer famine then cold auoiding of cold lying for the most part three or foure moneths togither and neuer see the light whereby their guts grow so empty that they are almost closed vp and sticke togither When they first enter into their denne they betake themselues to quiet and rest sleeping without any awaking for the first fourteene daies so that it is thought an easie stroke cannot awake them But how long the females go
it is good against al venim of Serpents and against the chamelaeon but with this difference against the scorpion with wine against spiders with sweet water against the Lizzards with Mirtire against Dipsas and cerastes with Opponax or wine made of Rew and against other serpentes with wine simply Take of euery one two drams for a cold take it a scruple and a halfe in foure cups of wine vsed with Ladanum it cureth the Fistula and vlcers Castoreoque graui mulier sopita recum bit prouoketh neezing by smelling to it procureth sleepe they being annointed with it maiden-weed conserue of Roses and being drunke in Water helpeth Phrensie and with the roses and Maiden-weed aforesaid easeth head-ache Being layd to the head like a plaster it cureth all colde and windy affections therein or if one drawe in the smoake of it perfumed though the paine be from the mothers wombe and giuen in three cups of sweete vineger fasting it helpeth the falling sicknes but if the person haue often fits the same giuen in a glister giueth great ease Then must the quantity be two drams of castoreum one sextary of honey and oyle and the like quantity of water but in the fit it helpeth with vineger by smelling to it It helpeth the palsie taken with Rew or wine sod in Rew so also all heart trembling ache in the stomack and quaking of the sinewes It being infused into them that lie in Lethargies with vineger and conserue of roses doth presently awake them for it strengthneth the braine and mooueth sternutation It helpeth obliuion comming by reason of sicknes the party being first purgd with Hiera Ruffi castoreum with oyle bound to the hinder part of the head and afterward a dram drunke with Mellicrate also taken with oyle cureth all conuulsion proceeding of cold humors if the conuulsion be full and perfect not temporall or in some particular member which may come to passe in any sicknes The same mixed with hony helpeth the clearnes of the eies and their inflamations likewise vsed with the iuyce of Popie and infused to the eares or mixed with honey helpeth all paines in them With the seed of hemlockes beaten in vineger it sharpneth the sence of hearing if the cause be colde and it cureth tooth-ach infused into that eare with oyle on which side the paine resteth for Hippocrates sent vnto the wife of Aspasius complayning of the paine in her cheeke and teeth a little castoreum with pepper aduising her to hold it in her mouth betwixt her teeth A perfume of it drawne vp into the head stomacke easeth the paines of the lights and intrals and giuen to them that sigh much with sweet vineger fasting it recouereth them It easeth the cough and distillations of rhewme from the head to the stomacke taken with the iuyce of blacke Popye It is preseruative against inflamations pains in the guts or belly although the belly be swolne with colde windy humors being drunke with vineger or Oxycrate it easeth the colicke giuen vvith annisse beaten smal and two spoonfuls of sweet water and it is found by experiment that vvhen a horsse cannot make vvater let him be couered ouer vvith his cloath Vegetins and then put vnderneath him a fire of coles vvherein make a perfume vvith that castoreum till the horses belly and cods smell thereof then taking avvay the coles vvalk the horsse vp dovvn couered and he vvill presently stale To soften the belly they vse Castoreum with sweet water two drams and if it be not forcible enough they take of the root of a set cucumber one dram and the some of salt Peter two drams It is also vsed with the iuice of Withy and decoction of Vineger applied to the rains and genitall parts like a plaster against the Gonorrhaean passion It will stir vp a womans monethly courses and cause an easie trauaile two drammes being drunke in water with Penny-Royall And if a Woman with childe goe ouer a Beauer she will suffer abortment A secret and Hypocrates affirmeth that a perfume made with Castoreum Asses dunge and swines greace openeth a closed wombe There is an Antidot called Diacostu made of this castoreum good against the Megrim falling sicknesse apoplexies palsies and weakenesse of limmes as may be seene in Myrepsus against the impotency of the tongue trembling of the members and other such infirmities These vertues of a Beauer thus described I will conclude this discourse with a History of a strange beast like vnto this related by Dunranus campus-bellus a noble kni who affirmed A miraculus history of a Monster that there are in Arcadia seuen great Lakes some 30. miles compasse and some lesse whereof one is called Garloil out of which in Anno 15.0 about the midst of Summer in a morning came a Beast about the bignes of a water dog hauing feet like a Goose who with his taile easily threw downe small trees and presently with a swift pace he made after some men that he saw and with three strokes he likewise ouerthrew three of them the residue climbing vp into trees escaped and the beast without any long tarrying returned backe againe into the water which beast hath at other times bene seene and it is obserued that this appearance of the monster did giue warning of some strange euils vpon the Land which story is recorded by Hector Boethius OF THE BISON. Of the name A Bison called of some Latines though corruptly Vrson and Veson of the Graecians Bisoon of the Lituanians Suber of the Polonians Zuber from whence some Latines deriued Zubro for a Byson Of the Germanes Visent and Vaesent Wisent a beast very strange as may appear by his figure prefixed which by many authors is taken for Vr. â—â— some for a Bugle or wild Oxe other for Rangifer and many for the beast Tarandus a Buffe By reason whereof there are not many things which can by infallible collection be learned of this beast among the writers yet is it truely and generally held for a kind of wild Oxe Places of their breed bred in the Northern parts of the world for the most part and neuer tamed as in Scythia Moscouia Hercynia Thracia and Brussia But those tall wilde Oxen which are said to be in Lapponia Philostephan The reason of their nam and the Dukedome of Angermannia are more truely saide to be Vrt as in their story shall be afterward declared Their name is taken from Thracia Varinus Stephanus a secret in the laâ—e Dicaea which was once called Bistonia and the people thereof Bistones from Bisto the sonne of Cicas and Terpsicores and thereof came Bistonia Grues cranes of Thracia and Bistonia Lâ—eus for the lake or sea of Dicaea neere Abdera where neuer liuing thinge or other of lesse weight was cast in but it presently sunke and was drowned This Bison is called Taurus Paeonicus the Paeonian-Bull whereof I find two kinds one of greater Seural kinds
strange horne in Argentine which is coniectured to be the horne of some Vrus or rather as I thinke of some Bugill it hath hung there at the least two or three generations and by scraping it I found it to be a horne although I forgat to measure the compasse thereof yet bycause antiquity thought it worthy to be reserued in so honorable a place for a monument of some strange beast I haue also thought good to mention it in this discourse as when Phillip King of Macedon did with a Dart kill a Wilde Bull at the foote of the Mountaine Orbelus and conse cated the hornes thereof in the Temple of Hercules which were fifteene yards or paces long for posterity to behold The Picture of the Affrican Bugill described in the former page OF THE BVLL A Bull is the husband of a Cow and ring-leader of the heard for which cause Homer compareth Agamemnon the great Emperour of the Graecian Armye to a Bull reserued onely for procreation and is sometimes indifferently called an Oxe as Oxen are likewise of authors taken for Buls Verg Pingue solum primus extemplo mensibus anni fortes inueâ— tant houes The Haebrewes call him Tor or Taur which the Chaldes cal Abir for a strong Oxe so the Arabians Taâ—â— the Graecians Tauros the Latines Taurus the Itallians Toro the French Toreau the Germans ein Stier ein vuncherstier das vucher ein mummelstier ein hagen The true aetymology oâ— the name Taurus and ein hollen the Illirians Vul and iunecz by all which seuerall appellations it is euident that the name Taurus in Latine is not deriued from Tannouros the stretching out the tayle nor from Gauros signifieng proud but from the haebrew Tor which signifieth great vpon which occasion the Graecians called all large great and violent thinges by the name of Taurot and that word Taurus among the Latines hath giuen denomination to men starres Mountaines Ryuers trees ships and many other things which caused Ioachimus Camerarius to make thereof this aenigmaticall riddle A Riddle vp on the word Taurus Maechus eram regis sed lignea membra sequebar Et Cilicum mons sum sed mons sum nomine solo Et vehor in coelo sed in ipsis ambulo terris But there are foure reasons giuen why riuers are called Taurocrani that is bul-heads Reasons why riuers are called Taurocrani First because when they empty themselues into the Sea they roare or bellow like buls with the noise of their falling water secondly because they furrow the erth like a draught of oxen with a plow and much deeper Thirdly because the sweetest and deepest pasturs vnto which these cattell resort are neare the riuers Fourthly because by their crooking and winding they imitate the fashion of a horne and also are impetuous violent and vnresistable The strength of the head and necke of a bul is very great The strength and seuerall parte of Buls and his forehead seemeth to be made for fight hauing hornes short but strong and piked vppon which he can tosse into the aire very great and weighty beasts which he receiueth againe as they fall downe doubling their eleuation with renewed strength and rage vntill they be vtterly confounded Their strength in all the parts of their body is great and they vse to strike backward with their heeles yet is it reported by caelius Titormus a Neat-heard of Aetolia The prodigious streÌ„gth of tritormos that being in the field among the cattell tooke one of the most fierce and strongest buls in the heard by the hinder leg and there in despight of the bull striuing to the contrary held him with one hand vntill another bull came by him whome he likewise tooke in his other hande and so perforce held them both which thing being seene by Milo Crotoniates hee lifted vppe his handes to heauen crying out by way of interogation to Iupiter and sayinge O Iupiter hast thou sent another Hercules amongest vs Whereupon came the common prouerbe of a strong armed man This is another Hercules The like storie is reported by Suidas of Polydamas who first of all slew a Lyon and after held a bull by the legge so fast that the beast striuing to get out of his handes left the hoofe of his foote behinde him The Epithites of this beast are many among writers as when they call him brâ—â—â—n-footed wilde chearefull sharpe plower warriour horne-bearer blockish great glistering fierce valiant and louring which seemeth to be natural to this beast insomuch as the Grammarians deriue Toruitas grimnes or lowring from Taurus a Bul whose aspect carieth wrath and hatered in it wherfore it is proverbially saide in Westphalia of a lowring and scouling countenance The seuerall parts Eir sich al 's ein ochs der dem fleschouwer Entloffen ist That is he looketh like a bul escaped from one stroke of the butcher Their hornes are lesser but stronger then Oxen or kie for all beasts that are not gelded haue smaller hornes and thicker sculs then other but the buls of Scithia as is said else-where haue no horns Their heart is full of nerues or sinnewes their blood is ful of smal vaines for which cause he ingendreth with most speed and it hardneth quickly In the gal of a Bul there is a stone called Guers and in some places the gal is called Mammacur They are plentiful in most countries as is said in the discourse of Oxen Countries of their best breed but the best sort are in Epirus next in Thracia then Italy Syria England Macedonia Phrigia and Belgia for the buls of Gallia are impayred by labor and the buls of Aethiope are the Rhinocerotes as the buls of the woodes are Elephants Their time of copulatioÌ„ They desire the Cow at eight monthes olde but they are not able to fill her til they be two years old and they may remaine tolerable for breeders vntil they be 12. and not past Euery bul is sufficient for ten kie and the buls must not feed with the kie for 2. months before their leaping time and then let them come together without restraint and giue them pease Their food for procreation or barley if theyr pasture be not good The best time to suffer them with their females is the midst of the spring and if the bul be heauy take the taile of a hart and burne it to pouder then moâ—sten it in wine and rubbe therewith the genitals of a bul and he wil rise aboue measure into lust Wherefore if it bee more then tolerable it must be alayed with oyle The violence of a bul in the act of copulation is so great that if he misse the females genital entraunce Quintilius he woundeth or much harmeth her in any other place sending forth his seed without any motion except touching and a Cowe being filled by him hee wil neuer after leape her during the time she is with calfe wherefore the Egiptians decipher by a
great store of treasure hee was slaine by Pigmalion secretly in hope to get his wealth After which time it is saide that he appeared to his wife Dido bidding her to saue her life from her cruell brother who more esteemed money then nature she fled into Lybia taking with her some Tyrians among whome she had dwelled and a competent sum of money who being come thither craued of Iarbas King of Nomades to giue her but so much land as she could compasse in with an oxes hide which with much ado she obtained and then did cut an Oxes skinne into smal and narrow thongs or listes wherewithall shee compassed in so much as builded the large citty of carthage and firste of all was called the newe cittye and the castle thereof Byrsa which signifieth a Hyde Eustathius also reporteth another story to the building of this citty namely that it was called carthage of one of the Daughters of Hercules and that when Elisa and the other companions of Dido came thither to digge for the foundation of the citty they found an Oxes head whereupon they were discouraged to build there any more supposing that Omen betokened euill vnto them and a perpetuall slauery in labour and misery such as Oxen liue in but afterward they tryed in another corner of that grounde wherein they found a Horsses head which they accepted for a good signification of riches honor magnanimity and pleasure because Horsses haue al food and maintainance prouided for thē Clemens Among the Egyptians they paint a Lyon for strength an Oxe for labor and a horse for magnanimity and corage the Image of Myrtha which among the Persians signifieth the Sunne is pictured in the face of a Lyon holding the hornes of a striuing Oxe in both hands whereby they signifie that the Moon doth receiue light from the Sunne Gyraldus when she beginneth to be seperated from her beames There is in the coastes of Babylon a gemme or precious stone like the hearte of an Oxe and there is another called Sarcites which representeth the flesh of an Oxe Pliny The auncientes had likewise so great regarde of this Beast that they would neither sacrifice nor eate of a labouring Oxe wherefore Hercules was condemned when he had desired meate of Theodomantis in Dyropia for his hungry companion the Sonne of Hyla because by violence he tooke from him one of his Oxen and slewe him A crowned Oxe was also among the Romanes a signe of peace for the Souldiors which kept the Castle of Anathon neere the riuer Euphrates against Iulianus and his Army when they yeelded themselues to mercy Marcellus they discended from the Castle driuing before them a crowned Oxe from this manifold necessity and dignity of this beast came the Idolatrous custome of the Heathens and especially the Egytians for they haue worshipped him instead of God calling him Apis and Ephaphus Idolatry cōmitted with Oxen and Kye of the choise of Apis whose choyse was on this sort He had on his right side an exceeding splendant white spot and his Hornes crooking togither like the newe Moone hauing a great bunch on his tongue which they call Cantharus neither do they suffer him to exceed a certaine number of yeares or grow very big for these causes they giue him not of the water of Nilus to drinke but of another consecrated well which hindereth his growth and also when hee is come to his full age they kill him by drowning him in another consecrated well of the Priests which being done they seeke with mourning another hauing shaued their heades to substitute in his place wherein they are neuer very long but they finde one and then in a holy shippe sacred for that purpose they transport and conuey him to Memphis And the Egyptians did account him a blessed and happy man out of whose folde the Priestes had taken that Oxe-God He hath two Temples erected for him which they cal his chambers where he giueth foorth his augurisms aunswering none but children and youthes playing before his Temples and refusing aged persons especially Women and if any not sacred happen to enter into one of his Temples he dieth for it and if into the other it fore-sheweth some monstrous curssed euent as they fondly imagine The manner of his answeres is priuately to them that giue him meat taking it at theyr hands and they obserue with great religion that when Germanicus the Emperour came to aske counsell of him he turned from him and woulde not take meate at his hande for presently after he was slaine Once in a yeare they shew him a Cow with such markes as he hath A history and alway they put him to death vpon the same day of the weeke that he was founde and in Nilus neere Memphis there was a place called Phiala where were preserued a Golden and a siluer dish which vpon the birth or caluing daies of Apis they threw down into the riuer and those daies were seauen wherein they affirme that neuer man was hurt by Crocodils The Egyptians do also consecrate an Oxe to the Moone and a Cow to Vrania It is reported that Mycerinus K. of Egypt fell in loue with his own Daughter and by violence did rauish her Herodotus a history shee not able to endure the conscience of such a fact hanged her selfe whereupon the King her impure father did bury her in a wooden Oxe and so placed her in a secret place or chamber to whome daily they offer many odours but the mother of the maiden did cut off the hands of those Virgins or women that attended on her Daughter and would not rescue her from so vile a contempt There were also many other picturs of Oxen Of the pictures of Oxen. as in corcyra and Eretria and most famous was that of perillus which he made and presented to Phalaris the Tyraunt of Agrigent shewing him that if he would torment a man he should put him into that Oxe set ouer a fire and his voice of crying shoulde bee like the loughing of a Heighfer which thing being heard of the Tyraunt to shew his detestation of more strange inuented torments then he had formerly vsed he caused Perillus that presented it vnto him to be put into it aliue so setting it ouer a fire made experiment of the worke vpon the workeman who bellowed like a Cow and was so tormented to death for that damnable and daungerous inuention which caused Ouid to write thus Et phalaris Tauro violentus membra perilli Torruit infoelix imbuit author opus When an Oxe or a Cow in auntient time did die of themselues Viz if it were an Oxe they buried him vnder the wals of some Citty leauing his Hornes sticking visibly out of the earth to signifie the place of his buriall for when his flesh was consumed they tooke it vp againe and buried the bones in the Temples of Venus in other places but the body of a deade cowe they cast into some
to be almost as sweete as a Cony It must needes be an vncleane and impure beast that liueth onely vpon vermin and by rauening for it is commonly said of a man when he neezeth Perottus that he hath eaten with Cats likewise the familiars of Witches do most ordinarily appeare in the shape of cats which is an argument that this beast is dangerous in soule body It is said that if bread be made wherin the dung of cats is mixed it wil driue away Rats and Mice But we conclude the story of this beast with the medicinal obseruations and tary no longer in the breath of such a creature compounded of good and euil It is reported that the flesh of cats salted sweetned hath power in it to draw wens from the body being warmed to cure the Hemorrhoids and paines in the raines and backe according to the verse of vrsinus Et lumbus lumbis praestat adesus opem Galenus The medicinall vertues of a cat Aylsius prescribeth a fat cat sod for the gout first taking the fat and annoynting therewith the sicke part and then wetting Wooll or Towe in the same and binding it to the offended place For the paine and blindnesse in the eye by reason of any skinnes Webs or nailes this is an approued medicine Take the head of a blacke Cat which hath not a spot of another colour in it and burne it to pouder in an earthen pot leaded or glazed within then take this poulder and through a quill blow it thrice a day into thy eie and if in the night time any heate do thereby annoy thee take two leaues of an Oke wet in cold water and binde them to the eye and so shall all paine fly away and blindnes depart although it hath oppressed thee a whole yeare and this medicine is approued by manye Physitians both elder and later The liuer of a cat dryed and beate to poulder is good against the stone Galen the dung of a female cat with the claw of an Oule hanged about the necke of a man that hath had seuen fits of a quartane Ague cureth the same Sextus a neezing poulder made of the gall of a black cat and the waight of a groate thereof taken and mingled with foure crownes waight of Zambach helpeth the conuulsion and wrynesse of the mouth Aetius Rasis Albertus Pliny and if the gall of a Cat with the black dung of the same cat be burned in perfume vnder a woman trauailing with a dead child it will cause it presently to come forth and Pliny saith that if a pin or thorne or fish bone sticke in ones mouth let him rub the outside against it with a little cats dung and it will easily come forth Giuen to a Woman suffering the fluxe with a little Rozen and Oyle of Roses it stayeth the humour and for a Web in the eie of an horse euening and morning blow in the poulder of cats dung and it shall be cured OF THE WILDE CAT. ALl Cats at the beginning were Wilde and therefore some doe interpret ijm Esay 34. for wilde cats and the Germans call it Bonumruter that is a tree-rider because she hunteth Birds and foules from tree to treee The Spaniard calleth it Gato-montes and in some places of France it is called chat-caretz There are great store of them in Heluetia especially in the Woods and sometime neere the Waters also being in colour like tame cats but blacker such as in Englang is called a Poolcat I saw one of them which was taken in September and obserued that it was in length from the forehead to the toppe of the taile foure full spannes and a blacke line or strake all along the backe and likewise some blacke vpon the Legges betwixt the breast and the necke there was a large white spot and the colour of her other parts was dusky red and yellow especially about the buttocks the heeles of her feet were blacke her tayle longer then an ordinary house cats hauing two or three blacke circles about it but toward the top all blacke They abound in Scandinauia where the Linxes deuoure them otherwise they are hunted with Dogges or shot with Gunnes Olaus mag and many times the countrey men seeing one in a tree doth compasse it about with multitude and when she leapeth downe kill hir with their clubs according to the verse of Neuersianus Felemque minacem Arboris in trunco Longis perfigere telis In the prouince of Malabar these cattes liue vpon trees because they are not swift to run but leape with such agility that some haue thought they did flye and verily they do flie for they haue a certaine skin which when they lie in quiet cleaueth or shrinketh vp to their bellies but being stirred the same spreadeth from their forefeet to their hinder like the Wing of a Bat by vertue whereof they stay vp themselues in the aire passing form tree to tree like a foule as also doth the Pontique mouse as shall be declared afterward The skinnes of wild cats are vsed for garments for there is no skinne warmer as by experience appeareth in Scithia and Moscouia where their women are clothed with the furre of cats but especially for buskins and sleeues with their haire turned inward not only against cold but for medecine against contracted sinnewes or the gout The fat of this beast is reserued by some for heating softening and displaying tumours in the flesh and whatsoeuer Rasis or any other said of the house Cat before in the medicinall partes that also appertaineth to this except as in all other so it falleth forth heerin that the vertues of the wild kind is more effectuall then the tame There are some among the Rhaetians and Germans which eate the flesh heerof accounting it delicate hauing first cut off the head and taile they cannot abide the fume of rue or of bitter almonds there is nothing memorable in the nature of this beast that I can learne except that which is related by Aetius that when men are bitten by Crocodils this beast by a naturall instinct hating a Crocodill will come about the wounded persons otherwise fearing the presence of man We may heerunto adde the beast which is bred in Armerica called Heyratt spoken of by Theuetus which name signifieth a beast of Hony and the reason is because it desireth hony aboue measure for it will climbe the trees and comming to the caues of Bees it will with such dexterity take out the Hony with their nailes that it neither hurteth the Bees or receiueth harme by them It is about the bignesse of a Catte and of a Chesse-nut colour OF THE COLVS The name THere is among the Scithians and Sarmatians a foure-footed wild Beast called Colus and of some Sulac in Latine of the Polonians Sothac Of the colour of the Moscouites Seigak of the Tartarians Akkijk and Snak of the Turkes Akomi being in quantity and stature betwixt a Ramme and a
that these are greater and stronger then Harts Agricola Of their strength and colour their vpper part of the backe being blacke and the neather neere the belly not White as in a Hart but rather blackish but about his genitals very blacke I haue seene the hornes to haue seauen spires or braunches growing out of one of them being palmed at the top These are like to those which are called Achaeines in Greeke by reason of their paine and sorrow and Kummerer in Germane by cause they liue in continuall sorrow for their young ones while they are not able to runne out of their dennes belike fearing by some instinct of nature A secret in their paâ—sion least their tender and weake age should betray them to the hunters before they be able to runne away THE FIGVRE OF ANOTHER Tragelaphus or Deere-goate expressed by BELLONIVS THere is another Tragelaphus saith he whereof I finde no name among the French it wanteth a beard The description of his seuerall parts and the Haire thereof resembleth an Ibex-goate whose description followeth afterward among Goates the hornes heereof are like a Goats but more crooked and bending compassing behinde as a Rammes doe which he neuer looseth His face Nose and eares are like a sheepes the skinne of his Cods being very thicke and hanging downe His Legs are white like a sheepes his taile white his haires are so long about his necke and stomacke that you would thinke it were bearded His haire on the shoulders and brest blacke and it hath two gray spots on his flanks on either side the Nostriles are blacke the beake or face White so also is the belly beneath but the description heereof seemeth rather to agree with a Pygargus or Musmon of which I shall speake afterward Either sexe loose euery yeare their hoofes and Harts doe their Hornes that nature may shew their resemblance in their feet to a Hart as he doth in their head to a Goat His eare is short like a Goats but his eie genitall stones and taile like a Harts though somwhat shorter The hornes like a Rammes crooked and distinguished in the middle by a blacke line all their length which is two Roman feete and one finger and in compasse at the roote one foot one palme and a halfe standing one from another where they differ most not aboue one foote three palmes one finger and a halfe The rugged circles going about them toward the top are bunchy and toward the bottom or roote they are low with beaten notches or impressions Their quantity in length and breadth They are not at the top distant one point from another aboue one foote and a palme The length of their face from the Crowne to the tip of the Nose one foote and three fingers the breadth in the forehead where it is broadest two palmes and one finger The height of this beast not aboue three foote and a halfe except where his mane standeth and the whole length heere of from the crown of the head to the taile is foure feet and a halfe and two fingers It hath onely teeth beneath on the neather chap and those in number not aboue sixe neither did I obserue any defect in them It cheweth the cud like other clouen-footed beasts The Nostrils are blacke from whom the vpper lip is deuided by a long perpendicular line It is a gentle pleasant and wanton beast in the disposition Of the description of this beast rather resembling a Goate then a Hart desiring the steepest and slipperyest places whereon it leapeth and from whence it is reptored that it doth cast downe it selfe headlong vpon the hornes naturally that by them it may breake the violence of his fall or leape and then stayeth his body vpon the sore-knees It will runne apace but it is most excellent in leaping for by leaping it ascendeth the highest Mountaines and rockes The females are greater then the males but not in Horne or Haire it eateth Grasse Oates Cheasâ—ill Hay and Bread they bring forth twinnes euery time and this we call in England a Barbary-Deere Thus farre Doctor Cay OF THE HART AND HINDE THe male of this beast is called in Haebrew Ajal Deut. 14. The names of a Hart. and the Arabians doe also retaine that word in their translations the Persians cal him Geuazen the Septuagints Elaphos the Graecians at this day Laphe Pelaphe and Saint Ierom for the Latins Ceruus the Chaldees Aielah the Italians Ceruo the Spaniards Cieruo the French Cerf the Germans Hirtz of Hirs and Hirsch the Plimmings Hert the Polonians Gelen the Illirians Ielijelij The female or Hinde likewise termed in Haebrew Aial and sometime Alia and Aielet The names of a Hinde the Latines and Italians Cerua the Spaniards Cierua the Germans Hinde and Hindin and the Germans more speciallye Hin and Wilprecht the French Biche and the Polonians Lanij The young faunes or calfes of this Beast they call in Latine Hinnuli the Graecians Anebros the Haebrewes Ofer the Germans Hindcalb The nams of a hinde-calfe Also it is not to be forgotten that they haue diuers other names to dinstinguish their yeares and countries as for example when they begin to haue hornes which appeare in the second yeare of their age like Bodkins without braunches which are in Latine called Subulae Aristotle Pliny Oâ— Spittards Subulous they are also cald Subulones for the similitude they haue with bodkins and the Germans cal such an one Spirzhirtz which in English is called a Spittard and the Italians corbiati but the french haue no proper name for this beast that I can learn vntil he be a three yearing and then they call him ein Gabler which in Latine are called Furcarij And indeed I was once of this opinion that these Subulones were only two-yearing Harts vntil I consulted with a Sauoyen of Segusium Of Brocardes who did assure me from the mouths of men traind vp in hunting wild beasts from their youth that there are a kind of Subulones which they call also Brocardi with straight and vnforked hornes except one branch in the mountaine of Iura neare the lake Lemanus and that these also do liue among other Hartes for there was seene neere a monastry called the Roman Monasterie by certaine hunters in the yeare 1553. a vulgar Hart with branched hornes and his female and likewise with a Subulon or Brocarde which when in pursuit he was constrained to leape from rocke to rock to get to the Water he brake his legge and so was taken These Brocards are as great in quantity as other vulgar Hartes The quantity of Brocards but their bodies are leaner and they swifter in course Of their horns They haue but one braunch growing out of the stem of their horne which is not bigger then a mans finger and for this cause in the rutting time when they ioyne with their females they easily ouercome the vulgar Hart with his branched and forked hornes The
hunters call this Brocard the shield-bearer to the residue for by him they are deliuerd being hunted for whereas it is the nature of the vulgar Hart to get into ditches and hide himselfe in hollow places when he heareth the hounds this beast neuer coueteth any secret place to couer himselfe but runneth stil in the sight of dogs who leaue the other that hide themselues because they keepe this on foot and so when the hunters are passed by the lurking harts they returne back againe being safe both from nets and dogs while the poore Brocard is chased vnto death These being old are also known by their teeth and horns for they neuer change them but it is questionable whether they haue any hinds or females although my Authour informeth me that he heareth ther be also hinds with horns like these being not aboue one finger long which if it be true it is not improbable that these are the femals of that kind wherunto I yeeld more easily because the vulgar hinds wil not admit copulation with the Brocard except they be constraind and as it were rauished against their wil from whence it commeth that they are so rare and seldom bred their flesh is much sweeter then the vulgar harts The figure of the face and hornes The reason why I call this Burgundian hart or Subulon Anamynta is because it not onely wanteth the manifolde braunches of vulgar Hartes but that also which is called Amynta There are another sort of Harts called Achaini bred in Creet neere Achaea Aristotle Of the Achaian harts whereas in all other partes of creet there are no Harts wherof it is affirmed by Gaza that there was one of them which had a bough of greene Iuy growing in his hornes it was coniectured that when it was young some sprig of that Iuy was taken in a slifter of the horne Gaza a myracle in the horne of this beast Athaeneus which by reason of some nourishment it found in the horn naturall to that tree being like a rockye substance it there grew to more perfection These are also called Spathenae although that terme be also giuen vnto vulgar Harts to signifie their full age yet some are of opinion that this Achaenie Hart was but an inuention or figment made in bred for there was in antient time a kind of loafe called Achaines in the likenesse of a Hart. The picture of another face and hornes Harts are bred in most countries Of the regions breeding Harts Solinus but the auncients do celebrate and preferre those of Britaine before other where they are of diuers colours both white and blacke as Pausanias affirmeth In Oedor a region of Asia toward the Northerne Ocaean they ride vpon Harts likewise there are â—arts in Scythia and the people cald Meditae which are subiect to the kings of Tartaria make their Harts so tame that they also ride vppon them there are none in creet except in the region of the cydonites there are also in the woods of Helvetia but not so many as in time past because Democraties do not nourish game and pleasures like vnto Monarchies and therefore they are daily killed by the vulgar sort there being no law against it The Harts of Hellespont and about Arginussa haue one of their eares slit or cut asunder Aelianus Aristotle A secret in the eares of Harts Amianus A hystory by nature in their dams belly and therefore they neuer go ouer the Mountaines into other regions as indeed it is the property of all Harts to loue their natiue soiles aboue all other places There is a citty called Dora in Assiria neere the banks of Euphrates where are many flockes of Harts of whom many times some are slaine with Darts and others as they swim away to their accustomed solitudes are oppressed in the water by the weight of Oares and so taken They are for the most part sand-coloured and intermingled with some white spots especially the Hinds and their calues and sometimes milk-white Pollux Varinus Of the colour Aristotle Buellius Philostratus a history Plutarch Gellius which happeneth vnto them by some defect in their nourishment before they be calued and for natural imbecillity so haue I seen white Bears Hares Quailes Partridges and Swallows When Appolonius and his Colleagues trauelled by Paraca a citty of India they suddenly heard a noise like the sound of a pipe and while they looked about to see what it signified they perceiued that it was the pipe of a keeper or Forrester which gouerned a whole flocke of white Harts such an one was the was the hart of Sertorius that Noble Captain whereby he led his army as they were perswaded by it who affirmed that it was a Spanish Prophet or wizard giuen to him by a certain Lusitanian whom he took in an Island of Portugall saying moreouer that she was inspired by Diana and that shee had authority from that Goddesse to admonish him and make the harts of his souldiors cleaue fast vnto him and therefore if at any time he miscaried in his proceedings he could easily pacifie them from mutinies in saying that his hart set him vppon that enterprize so putting off the fault cunningly from himselfe to the beast for feare of defection wherfore also these wer vsed in the Bacchanals of Cracouia and their flesh being softer is peculiarly termed by the French Venaison Of their horns the beauty of them These do excell all other in the beauty of hornes which are very high yet grow they not to their bones or skalps but to their skin branching forth into many spieres being solide throughout and as hard as stones and fall off once euery yeare but if they remaine abroad in the aire where some wind and raine fall vpon them so as now they are wet and anon dry againe they grow as light as any vanishing or softer substance as I haue proued by experience finding some which haue bin lost by them in the woods wherefore I gather that they are of an earthly matter concrete and hardned with a strong heat made like vnto bones It must be vnderstood that the males onely are horned and yet haue they small benefite by them because as I saide they growe but within theyr skin and these also they loose euery yeare in the spring time At one yeare old they haue nothing but small bunches as it were significations of their hornes to come growing on their head at two yeares old they appeare more perfectly but straight and simple at three yeares they grow forked into two spieres at foure into three and so increase euery yeare in their branches till they be six and aboue that time you cannot certainly discerne their age by their heade for their hornes or spieres grow not more in number although their years make them greater in quantity yet the old Harts do want these two branches which the Graecians call Amynterai and the Latines Adminicula because they first come forth and I
like as in some iugling Appollonian trick as though the hart had cleane forsaken the earth and with the wings of some foule had bene flewne away or as if the earth had opened her mouth to receiue him into her protection and had closed againe ouer her heade or else some Witchcraft had cast a miste before the Dogges and hunters eyes At last by casting about as it is vsuall in such cases they founde the fraud of the horned beast which is worth the memory There was a great whit-thorne which grew in a shadowie steepe place as high as a tree and was inuironed with other small shrubs about it into the which the said hart leapt and there stood aloft the boughes spreading from one another and there he remained whether because he could not get off againe or else for that he was stifled in that place but surely he was there thrust thorough and so dyed and so had they all rather perish anye other way then by the teeth and tearing in pieces of angry and greedy Hounds Yet their maner is that when they see themselues euery where intercepted to make force at him with their hornes that commeth first vnto him except he be preuented by some sword or speare which being done the hunter with his horn soundeth the fal of the beast and then euery one approcheth luring with triumph for such a conquest of whom the skilfullest openeth the beast giuing vnto the hounds such parts as belongeth to them for their incouragement against another time and for that purpose the hunters dippe bread in the skinne and blood of the beast to giue vnto the hounds their ful satisfaction and many such other things may the reader desirous of this knowledge finde in the Authors aforesaide to whome I will commende him rather then spend more time in this busines better manifested by experience then by any written document yet I woulde wish men to be sparing in this exercise seeing it hath beene sildome found that a man giuen to hunting but he perished in his pleasure as Actaeon did by his owne Dogges and therefore Alciatus doth fitly compare togither hunters and receiuers of theeus and robbers calling them new Actaeons who after they had receiued horns must be destroyed by their owne Dogges which they haue nourished The best vse of these beastes is to keep them tame as in Heluetia where they hunt seldom and to make good vse of them for norishment rather then for sport as it is reported of a holy man who kept a hind so familiar with him that in the wildernes he liued vpon her milke Concluding this discourse with the words of the poet for the instruction of Dogs to this pastime and the practise of the beasts Veloces Spartae catulos acremque molossum Pasce sero pingui c. And againe montesque peraltos Ingentem clamore premes ad retia ceruum Confertoque agmine cerui Torpent mole noua summis vix cornibus extant Hos non immissis canibus non cassibus vllis Punicaeue agitent pauidos formidine pennae Sed frustra oppositum trudentes pectore montem Comminus obtruncant ferro grauiter que tudentes Caedunt magno laeti clamore reportant Of the Dyctyes HErodotus in his fourth book affirmeth that among the Affrican Shepherds towarde the East there are bredde in Bassaria Hystriches wilde Rammes Thoes and Dyctyes of which last there is not any mention among all other writers except in Varinus and Hesychius who affirme that among the Lacedemonians a Glead or Kite was called Dyctis but this spoken of Herodotus I coniecture to be some four-footed beast being led with no other reason then that the other with whom he placeth it are generaly known to be creaturs of that kind and nature wherefore I thought good to expresse the name of it in this place desiring the reader to accept so much thereof as is already knowne and to search farther for the description of it at the handes of them who are eie-witnesses of the wonders of Affrica OF THE DOGGE In generall A Dogge is called in Haebrew Keleb and Lamas according to Munster in Caldee Kalba in Arabique Kalbe in Persia Sag The name deriration thereof The Saracens Kep or Kolph the Graecians Kuon because of his loue to man and vulgarly at this day Skilos and Skule the Medians Spaco the Germanes Hund the Italians Cane The French Chien the Spaniardes Perro or cauendo because his barking is as lowd as an Artificiall song also Catellus the Illyrians Pes or Pas and the Latines Canis There is no region or countrey in the world The coūtries and diuersities of Dogs where these are not bred in some store as shall be declared afterwarde in the particular discourse of euery kind of Dogges For as shall be manifested more at large there are Dogges very great some for hunting some for Warre and defence some for the Bore Bull or Bear some for the Hare Cony or Hedge-hog againe some are smaller which are called Hounds Braches Beagles Shepheardes Dogges House-curres Spagnels both for the Water and Land and some foysting Dogges for the pleasure of the rich In the first place there are to be handled the nature of Dogges in generall The general nature of dogs wherein they agree and their common properties of nature such as are not destroyed in the destinction of kindes but remaine like infallible and invariable truths in euery kinde and country of the world To begin with that which is outward it is to be obserued that Dogs are generally rough Their outward parts Aristotle Albertus A secret in the braine and their haire indifferently long which in winter they loose euery yeare is a signe of a good constitution but if it grow ouer long the mangie scab will follow the outward proportion of the head altereth as the kind altereth being sometime like a Lyon sometime like a Hedge-hog some long with a broad snowt and sometime with a piked snowt but the braine decreaseth and increaseth with the moon there is no commissure or seame in his scull like as is in a mans but it is a continued bone without seperation inward or out-ward Aristotle Pliny The breast of a Dogge is narrow and piked his ventricle small and narrow for which cause he neuer easeth his bodily excrements without paine his bowels are like a Lyons He hath a long spleene like a man and a Hogge his yard and stones hange outward betweene his hinder legges a base natured curre striketh his taile betwixt his legges his fore-legges bend like the armes of a man and he vseth them in stead of Armes hauing fiue distinct fingers Aristotle Blondus Pliny commonly called clawes vpon each foote before and foure vpon each foot behind which also haue straight nailes vpon them and that which hangeth higher vpon the leg is crooked The parts of a female dog The females because they bring forth many whelpes at a time haue vnderneath their
betwixt the going of the Hare and the hunting time you cannot hunt till the water be dryed vp for the drops disperse the scent of the Hare and the drye weather recollecteth it againe The Summer time also is not for hunting by reason the heate of the earth consumeth the sauour and the night being then but short the Hare trauaileth but little feeding onely in the euening and morning Likewise the fragrancy of euery greene herbe yeeldeth such a sauour as doth not a little obliterate and ouersway the sauour of the beast and therefore Aristotle in his wonders sheweth that in Aetna in the summer time there are such plenty of sweete smelling flowers especially of violets which ouercome the Nostrils of the houndes so as in vaine they follow the Hare The best time therefore for hunâ—ing with these hounds is the Autumne or fall of the leafe bycause that then the odours of herbs are weakned and the earth barer then at other times The best manner to teach these hounds The first training of hounds is to take a liue Hare and trayle her after you vpon the earth now one way now another and so hauing drawen it a conuenient space hide it in the earth afterward set forth your hound neere the traile who taking the winde runneth to and froâ— through Woods fields pastures path-wayes and hedges vntill he finde which way the Hare is gon but with a soft and gentle pace vntill at length comming neer the lodged Hare he mendeth his pace and bestirreth himselfe more speedily leaping vpon his prey like some serpent or as an arrow shot out of a bow and so tearing it in peices or killing it with ioy loadeth himselfe with his conquest and bringeth it to his maister with triumph who must receiue both dog and it with all tokens of loue into his owne bosome which thing caused Nemesian to write thus Quia freta si Morinum dubio refluentia ponto O quanta est merces quantum impendia supra Protinus haec vna est catulis iactura Britannis Veloces nostrique orbis venatibus aptos There are diuers Country Dogges like vnto these as the Geloni and Gnosij Of the houÌ„ds of sundry countries which caused Ouid to reckon and cal Ichnobates one of Actaeons Dogs Gnosius whom Oppianus compareth to the Polipus fish which smelling in the waters the leaues of Oliues by the sent is drawne to the land to eate them The Spanish Dogs whome the French call Espagneulx haue long eares but not like a Braches and by their noses hunt both Hares and Conies they are not rough but smooth haired The Tuscan Dogs are commended by Nemesian notwithstanding they are not beautifull to looke vpon hauing a deepe shaggy haire yet is their game not vnpleasant Soepe Canum forma est illis licet obsita villo Haud tamen in iucunda dabunt tibi munera praeda Atque etiam leporum secreta cubilia monstrant Quin et Tuscorum non est extrema voluptas The Vmbrian Dogge is sharpe nosed but fearefull of his sporte as Gratius expresseth Aut exigit Vmber nare sagax e calle feras At fugit aduersus idem quos efferent hostes Tanta foret virtus tantum vellet in armis The Aetolian Dogs haue also excellent smelling Noses and are not slow or fearefull whom Gratius expresseth as followeth Aetola quaecunque canis de stirpe malignum Seu frustra ruinis properat furor et tamen illud Mirum quam celeres quantum nare merentur Et clangore citat quos nondum conspicit apros officium c. The French Dogges are deriued or propagated of the Dogges of great Brittaine and are swift and quike sented but not all for they haue of diuers kindes as Gratius expresseth in these words Magnaque diuersos extollit gloria celtas They are very swift and not sharp nosed wherefore they are mingled in generation with the Vmbrian Dogges and therefore he celebrateth in many verses the praise of the first Hunter as he taketh him Hagno Baeonius and his Dog Metagon and afterward the Dog Petronius but it may be that by Metagon he meaneth the dogs of Lybia because there is a Citty of that name and by Petronius the dogs of Italy for Petronia is a riuer that falleth into Tiber. The Gramarians cal a Dog engendered of a hound and an ordinary French Dog Vertagus a tumbler bycause he setteth himselfe to hunting and bringeth his pray to his maister whereupon Martiall made this Distichon Non sibi sed domino venatur vertagus acer Illaesum leporem qui tibi dente feret Such be also other smelling Dogges called in the German tongue Lochhundle that is Terriors or Beagles these will set vpon Foxes and Badgers in the earth and by biting expell them out of their Denns whereof Aristotle reporteth a wonder that one of them followed a Foxe vnder the ground in Boeotia and there made so great anoyse by barking that the hunters went also into the caue where they saw many strange things which they related to the chiefe magistrate The water Spagnell Vnto all these smelling Dogs I may also adde the water Spagnell called in French Barbeti and in Germany Wasserhund who is taught by his maister to seeke for thinges that are lost by words and tokens and if he meet any person that hath taken them vp he ceaseth not to bay at him and follow him til he appeare in his maisters presence These also will take water-foule and hunt Otters and Beauers although houndes also will doe the same and watch the stroke of a gunn when the fouler shooteth and instantly run into the water for the dead fowle which they bring to their Maister They vse to sneare their hinder parts that so they may be the lesse annoyed in swimming whose figure is in the bottome of the former page described Of the mixt kind of Dogs called in English Mangrels or Mongrels THose we call Mangrels which though they be on both sides propagated by Dogges yet are they not of one kind for as once doggs coupled with Asses Leopards Lyons Tigres Apes or any such beasts according to the old verse Cani congeneres lupus vulpes Hyaena Tygris So now it is ordinary for the greyhound to couple with the mastiue the hound with the Grey-hound the mastiue with the Shepherds dog and the shepherds dog with anie other cur or Beagle of these kinds we will now speak in order And it is not to be omitted that this comixtion of kinds haue bin inuented by hunters for the amendment of some natural fault or defect they found in the Monophyli that is one single kind and so heereby they added some qualities to their kind which they wanted before either in strength of body or craft of wit for they deriue both of these from their sires CommixtioÌ„ of kinds in procreation Pliny wherfore Oppianus declareth that in the Commixtion of dogs the ancients coupled together these kinds the Arcadians with
Vele maketh a spoile of fishes betweene rockes and banckes but it is not accounted in the catalogue or number of our English Dogs notwithstanding we call it by the name of a sea Dog or a sea-Calfe And thus much for our Dogs of the second sort called in Latine Aucupatorij seruing to take fowle either by land or water Of the delicate neate and pretty kind of dogges called the Spaniell gentle or the comforter in Latine Melitaeus or Fotor THere is besides those which wee haue already deliuered another sort of gentle dogs in this our English soile but exempted from the order of the residue the Dogs of this kind doth Callimachus call Melitaeos of the Iseland Melita in the sea of Sicily which at this day is named Malta an Iseland indeede famous and renowned with couragious and puisaunt souldiers valliantly fighting vnder the banner of Christ their vnconquerable captaine where this kind of dogs had their principall beginning These dogs are little pretty proper and fine and sought for to satifie the delicatenes of dainty dames and wanton womens wils instruments of folly for them to playe and dally withall to tryfle away the treasure of time withdraw their mindes from more commendable exercises and to content their corrupted concupiscences with vaine disport A selly shift to shunne yrkesome idlenesse These puppies the smaller they be the more pleasure they prouoke as more meete play-fellowes for minsing mistrisses to beare in their bosomes to keepe company withal in their chambers to succour with sleep in bed and nourish with meate at bourde to lay in their lappes and licke their lips as they ride in their Waggons and good reason it should be so for coursenesse with finenesse hath no fellowship but featnesse with neatnesse hath neighbourhood enough That plauâ—ible prouerbe verified vpon a Tyrant namely that he loued his Sow better then his son may well be applyed to these kind of people who delight more in Dogs that are depriued of all possibility of reason then they do in children that be capeable of wisedome and iudgment But this abuse peraduenture raigneth where there hath beene long lacke of issue or else where barrennes is the best blossom of beauty The vertue which remaineth in the Spaniel gentle otherwise called the comforter NOtwithstanding many make much of those pritty puppies called Spanyels gentle yet if the question were demaunded what property in them they spye which should make them so acceptable and precious in their sight I doubt their answer would belong a coyning But seeing it was our intent to trauaile in this treatise so that the reader might reape some benefit by his reading we will communicate vnto such coniectures as are grounded vpon reason And though some suppose that such dogs are fit for no seruice I dare say by their leaues they be in a wrong boxe Among all other qualities therefore of nature which be knowne for some conditions are couered with continuall and thick clouds that the eie of our capacities cannot pearse through theÌ„ we find that these litle dogs are good to asâ—wage the sicknes of the stomack being oftentimes thereunto applied as a plaster preseruatiue or borne in the bosom of the diseased and weake person which effect is performed by their moderate heat Moreouer the disease and sicknes changeth his place and entreth though it be not precisely marked into the dog which to bee truth experience can testifie for these kind of dogs sometime fall sicke and sometime die without any harme outwardly inforced which is an argument that the disease of the gentleman or gentlewoman or owner whatsoeuer entreth into the dog by the operation of heare intermingled and infected And thus haue I hetherto handled dogs of a gentle kind whom I haue comprehended in a triple diuision Now it remaineth that I annex in due order such dogs as be of a more homely kind Dogges of a course kind seruing for many necessary vses called in Latine Canis rustici and first of the Shepherds dog called in Latine Canis Pastoralis THe first kind namely the shepherds hound is very necessary and profitable for the auoyding of harmes and inconueniences which may come to men by the meanes of beastes The second sort serue to succour against the snares and attemptes of mischieuous men Our shepherds dog is not huge vaste and big but of an indifferent stature and growth because it hath not to deale with the blood thirsty wolfe sythence there be none in England which happy and fortunate benefit is to be ascribed to the puisaunt Prince Edgar who to the intent that the whole countrey might be euacuated and quite cleered from wolfes charged and commaunded the Welshmen who were pestered with these butcherly beasts aboue measure to pay him yearely tribute which was note the wisedome of the king three hundred Wolfes Some there be which write that Ludwall Prince of Wales paid yeerely to king Edgar three hundred wolfes in the name of an exaction as we haue said before And that by the meanes hereof within the compasse and tearme of foure years none of those noysome and pestilent beastes were left in the coastes of England and Wales This Edgar wore the crowne royall and bare the Scepter imperiall of this kingdome about the yeare of our Lord nine hundred fifty nine Since which time we reade that no Wolfe hath beene seene in England bred within the bounds and borders of this country mary there haue beene diuers brought ouer from beyond the seas for greedines of gaine and to make money for gasing and gaping staring and standing to see them being a strange beast rare and seldome seene in England But to returne to our shepherds Dog This dog either at the hearing of his maisters voice or at the wagging and whisteling in his fist or at his sâ—rill and horse hissing bringeth the wandering weathers and straying sheepe into the selfe same place where his maisters will and wish is to haue them wherby the shepherd reapeth this benefit namely that with little labour and no toyle or mouing of his feete he may rule and guide his flock according to his own desire either to haue them go forward or to stand still or to draw backward or to turne this way or take that way For it is not in England as it is in France as it is in Flaunders as it is in Syria as it is in Tartaria where the sheepe follow the shepherd for heere in our Countrey the shepherd followeth the sheepe And sometimes the straying sheepe when no Dog runneth before them nor goeth about and beside them gather themselues together in a flock when they heere the shepherd whistle in his fist for feare of the dog as I imagine remembring this if vnreasonable creatures may be reported to haue memory that the Dog commonly runneth out at his maisters warrant which is his whistle This haue we oftentimes diligently marked in taking our iourney from towne to towne when we haue hard a shepherd whistle we
This kind of dog is so called In Latine Canis Laniarius in English the Butchers dog So called for the necessity of his vse for his seruice affoordeth great benefit to the butcher as well in following as in taking his cattell when neede constraineth vrgeth and requireth This kind of Dog is likewise called In Latine Molossicus or Molossus After the name of a countrey in Epirus called Molossia which harboureth many stoute strong and sturdy Dogs of this sort for the Dogs of that countrey are good indeede or else there is no trust to be had in the testimony of writers This dog is also called In Latine Canis Mandatarius a Dog messenger or Carrier Vpon substanciall consideration because at his maisters voice and commaundement he carrieth letters from place to place wrapped vp cunningly in his lether collar fastned thereto or sowed close therein who least he should be hindred in his passage vseth these helpes very skilfully namely resistance in fighting if he be not ouermatched or else swiftnesse and readinesse in running away if he be vnable to buckle with the Dog that would faine haue a snatch at his skinne This kinde of Dog is likewise called In Latine Canis Lunarius in English the Mooner Because he doth nothing else but watch and ward at an inch wasting the wearisome night season without slombering or sleeping bawing and wawing at the Moon that I may vse the word of Nonius a quality in mine opinion strange to consider This kind of dog is also called In Latine Aquarius in English a water drawer And these be of the greater and the waighter sort drawing water out of wels and deepe pits by a wheele which they turne round about by the mouing of their burthenous bodies This dog is called in like manner Canis Sarcinarius in latine and may aptly be Englished a Tynkers Curre Because with marueilous patience they beare big budgets fraught with Tinkers tooles and mettall meete to mend kettels porrige-pots skellets and chafers and other such like trumpery requisite for their occupacion and loytering trade easing him of a great burthen which otherwise he himselfe should carry vpon his shoulders which condition hath challenged vnto them the forsaid name Besides the qualities which we haue already recounted this kind of Dogs hath this principall property ingrafted in them that they loue their maisters liberally and hate straungers despightfully whereupon it followeth that they are to their maisters in traueiling a singuler safegarde defending them forceably from the inuasion of villayns and theeues preseruing their liues from losse and their health from hazzard their flesh from hacking and hewing with such like desperate daungers For which consideration they are meritoriously tearmed In latine Canes defensores defending dogs in our mother tongue If it chance that the maister be oppressed either by a multitude or by the greater violence and so be beaten downe that he lie groueling on the ground it is proued true by experience that this dog forsaketh not his maister no not when he is starke dead But induring the force of famishment and the outragious tempestes of the weather most vigilantly watcheth and carefully keepeth the deade carkasse many daies indeuouring furthermore to kill the murtherer of his maister if he may get any aduantage Or else by barking by howling by furious iarring snarring and such like means betrayeth the malefactor as desirous to haue the death of his aforsaid maister rigoriously reuenged An example heerof fortuned within the compasse of my memory The Dog of a certaine wayfaring man trauailing from the Citty of London directly to the Towne of â—ingstone most famous and renowned by reason of the triumphant coronation of eight seuerall Kings passing ouer a good portion of his iourney was assaulted and set vpon by certaine confederate theeues lying in waight for the spoyle in Come-parcke a perillous bottom compassed about with Woods too well knowne for the manifold murders and mischeeuous robberies their committed Into whose handes this passieger chaunced to fall so that his ill luck cost him the price of his life And that Dog whose syer was English which Blondus registreth to haue beene within the bankes of his remembrance manifestly perceiuing that his maister was murthered this chanced not farre from Paris by the hands of one which was a suiter to the same woman whom he was a wooer vnto did both bewray the bloody Butcher and attempted to teare out the villains throat if he had not sought meanes to auoid the reuenging rage of the dog In fyers also which fortune in the silence and dead time of the night or in stormy weather of the saide season the older dogs barke ball howle and yell yeâ— notwithstanding they be roughly rated neyther will they stay their tongues till the houshould seruants awake rise search and see the burning of the fire which being perceiued they vse voluntary silence and cease from yolping This hath bin and is found true by triall in sundry parts of England There was no fainting faith in that Dog which when his maister by a mischance in hunting stumbled and fel toppling downe a deepe ditch being vnable to recouer of himselfe the dog signifying his maisters mishap rescue came and he was hailed vp by a rope whom the Dog seeing almost drawne vp to the edge of the ditch cheerefully saluted leaping and skipping vpon his maister as though he would haue imbraced him being glad of his presence whose longer absence he was loath to lacke Some Dogs there be which will not suffer fierie coales to ly scattered about the hearth but with their pawes will rake vp the burning coales musing and studying first with themselues how it might conueniently be done And if so be that the coales cast to great a heat then will they bury them in ashes and so remoue them forward to a fit place with their noses Other dogs be ther which execute the office of a Farmer in the night time For when his maister goeth to bedde to take his naturall sleepe And when A hundred bars of brasse and yron boltes Make all things safe from startes and from reuolts When Ianus keepes the gate with Argos eye That dangers none approach ne mischiefe nie As Virgill vaunteth in his verses Then if his maister biddeth him goe abroad he lingereth not but raungeth ouer all his lands there about more diligently Iwys then anie farmer himselfe And if he find any thing ther that is strange and pertaining to other persons besides his maister whether it be man woman or Beast he driueth them out of the ground not meddling with any thing that do belong to the possession and vse of his master But how much faithfulnes so much diuersity there is in their natures For there be some which barke onely with free and open throat but wil not bite some which do both bark and bite and some which bite bitterly before they barke The first are not greatly to be feared because they themselues are fearefull and fearefull dogs as
Locum disignare the reason is rehersed before more largely it shall not therefore need to make a new repetition Of the water Spaniell or Finder THe water Spaniell consequently followeth called in Latine Aquaticus in English a water Spagnell which name is compound of two simple words namely Water which in Latine soundeth Aqua wherein he swimmeth And Spaine Hispania the Country from whence they came not that England wanteth such kind of Dogs for they are naturally bred and ingendred in this country but because they bear the general and common name of these Dogs since the time they were first brought ouer out of Spaine And we make a certaine difference in this sort of dogs either for somthing which in their qualities is to be considered as for an example in this kind called the Spaniel by the apposition and putting to of this word water which two coupled together sound water Spaniell He is called a finder in Latine Inquisitor because that by serious and secure seeking he findeth such things as be lost which word Find in English is that which the latins mean by this verbe Inuenire This dog hath this name of his property because the principall point of his seruice consisteth in the premisses Now leauing the surueiwe of hunting and hawking dogs it remaineth that we run ouer the residue whereof some be called fine dogs some course othersome mungrels or Rascals The first is the Spaniell gentle called Canis Melitaeus because it is a kind of dog accepted among Gentils Nobles Lords Ladies c. who make much of them vouchsafing to admit them so farre into their company that they will not onelie lul them in their laps but kisse them with their lips and make them their pretty play-fellowes Such a one was Gorgons little puppy mentioned by Theocritus in Siracusis who taking his iourney straightly charged and commaunded his maid to see to his dog as charily and warely as to his childe To call him in alwaies that he wandred not abroad as well as to rock the babe asleepe crying in the cradle This puppitly and pleasant Curre which some frumpingly tearme fysting houndes serue in a maner to no good vse except as we haue made former relation to succor and strengthen quailing and quamming stomackes to bewray bawdery and filthy abhominable leudnes which a little Dog of this kinde did in Sicilia as Aelianus in his 7. booke of beasts and 27. chapter recordeth Of dogs vnder the courser kind we will deale first with the Shepherds Dog whome we call the Bandog the Tydog or the Mastiue the first name is imputed to him for seruice Quoniam pastori famulatur because he is at the Shepheards his maisters commandement The second a Ligamento of the band or chaine wherewith hee is tied The thirde a Sagina of the fatnes of his body For this kind of Dog which is vsually tyed is mighty grosse and fat fed I know this that Augustinus Niphus calleth this Mastinus which we call Mastiuus and that Albertus writeth howe the Lyciscus is ingendred by a Beare and a Woolfe Notwithstanding the selfe same author taketh it for the most parte pro Molosso A Dog of such a country Of Mungrels and Rascals somewhat is to be spoken and among these of the Wappe or Turnespet which name is made of two simple wordes that is of Turne which in latine soundeth Vertere and of spete which is Veru or spede for the English word inclineth closer to the Italian imitation Veruuersator Turnespit He is called also Waupe of the naturall noise of his voice Wau which he maketh in barking But for the better and readiner sound the vowell u is changed into the consonant P so that for waupe we say wappe And yet I wot well that Nonius borroweth his Baubari of the naturall voice Bau as the Graecians doe their Bautein of wau Now when you vnderstand this that Saltare in latine signifieth Dansare in English And that our Dogge thereupon is called a Daunser and in the latine Saltator you are so farre taught as you were desirous to learne and now I suppose there remaineth nothing but that your request is fully acomplished THus Friend Gesner you haue not onely the kindes of our countrey Dogges but their names also as well in Latine as in English their Offices Seruices Diuersities Natures and Properties that you can demaund no more of me in this matter And albeit I haue not satisfied your mind peraduenture who suspectest al speed in the performance of your request imploied to be meere delaies because I staid the setting forth of that vnperfect pamphlet which fiue yeares agoe I sent to you as a priuate friend for your owne reading and not to be printed and so made common yet I hope hauing like the Beare lickt ouer my young I haue waded ouer in this worke to your contentation which delay hath made somewhat better and Deuterai phrontides Of the diseases of dogs their cures Blondus after wit more meete to be perused Now it is conuenient to shut vp this treatise of Dogges with a recitall of their seuerall diseases and cures thereof for as all other creatures so that this beast is annoyed with many infirmities First therefore if you giue vnto a dog euery seuenth day or twice in seuen daies broath or pottage wherein Iuy is sod it will preserue him sound without any other medicine for this hearbe hath the same operation in Dogs to make wholesom their meat that it hath in sheepe to clense their pasture Pliny Tardinus The small roots of Ellebor which are like to Onions haue power in them to purge the belly of Dogs Other giue them goats-milk or salt beaten small or Sea-crabs beaten small and put into water or Staues-acre imediatly after his purgation sweet milke If your dog be obstructed and stopped in the belly which may be discerned by his trembling sighing Albertus and remoouing from place to place giuen vnto him Oaten meal and water to eat mingled together and made as thick as a pultisse or leauened oten-bread and sometime a little whay to drinke The ancients haue obserued that Dogs are most annoyed with three diseases the swelling of the throat the gowt and madnes but the later writers haue obserued many noysome infirmities in them First they are oftentimes wounded by the teeth of each other and also of wilde beasts for cure whereof Blondus out of Maximus writeth these remedies following First let the sinnewes Fibres or gistles of the wound be layed togither then sow vp the lips or vpper skin of the wound with a needle and thred and take of the haires of the dog which made the wound and lay thereupon vntil the bleeding be stanched and so leaue it to the dog to be licked for nature hath so framed the Dogs tongue that therby in short space he cureth deepe wounds And if he cannot touch the sore with his toong then doth he wet his foot in his mouth
Albertus and so oftentimes put it vpon the maime or if neither of these can be performed by the beast himselfe then cure it by casting vpon it the ashes of a dogs heade or burned salte mingled with liquid pitch powred therupon When a dog returning from hunting is hurt about the snowt Blondus by the venemous teeth of some wilde beast I haue seene it cured by making incision about the wound whereby the poysoned blood is euacuated and afterward the sore was annointed with oile of Saint Iohns wort Wood-worms cureth a dog bitten by serpents Plinyus When he is troubled with vlcers or rindes in his skin pieces of Pot-sheardes beaten to powder and mingled with vineger and Turpentine with the fat of a Goose or else waterwort with new Lard applyed to the sore easeth the same and if it swel anoint it with Butter For the drawing forth a thorne or splinter out of a Dogs foote take coltes-foote and Lard or the pouder there of burned in a new earthen pot and either of these applyed to the foot draweth forth the thorne and cureth the sore for by Dioscorides it is said to haue force to extract any point of a Speare out of the body of a man For the wormes which breede in the vlcers of their heeles take Vnguentum Egiptiacum and the iuice of peach leaues There are some very skilfull hunters which affirme that if you hang about the Dogs necke sticks of Citrine as the wood drieth so will the wormes come forth and dy Again for thâ—s euil they wash the wounds with water then rub it with pitch time and the dung of an Oxe in Vineger Tardinus afterward they apply vnto it the powder of Ellebor When a dog is troubled with the maungie itch or Ring-wormes first let him blood in his fore legs in the greatest veyne afterward make an ointment of Quick siluer Brimstone nettle-seed Albertus Rasis and twice so much olde sewet or Butter and therewithal all anoint him putting thereunto if you please decoction of Hops and salt water Some do wash maungy Dogs in the Sea-water and there is a caue in Sicily saith Gratius that hath this force against the scabs of Dogs if they be brought thither and set in the running water which seemeth to be as thicke as oyle Flegme or melancholly doth often engender these euils and so after one Dog is infected all the residue that accompany or lodge with him are likewise poisoned for the auoyding thereof you must giue them Fumitory Sorrel and whay sod together it is good also to wash them in the sea or in Smiths-water or in the decoction aforesaid For the taking awaie of warts from the feet of Dogs or other members first rub and friccase the wart violently and afterward anoint it with salt Oyle Vineger and the powder of the rind of a Gourd or else lay vnto it Alloes beaten with mustard-seed to eat it off and afterward lay vnto it the little scories or iron chips which flie off from the Smithes hotte iron while he beateth it mingled with Vineger and it shall perfectly remooue them Against Tikes Lyce and Fleas annoint the Dogs with bitter Almonds Staues acre or Roots of Maple or Cipers or froth of Oile and if it be old and annoint also their ears with Salt-water and bitter Almondes then shall not the flies in the Summer time enter into them If Bees or Waspes or such Beasts sting a Dogge lay to the sore burned Rue with Water and if a greater Fly as the Hornet let the Water be warmed A Dog shall be neuer infected with the Plague if you put into his mouth in the time of any common pestilence Blondus the powder of a Storks craw or Ventrickle or any part thereof with Water which thing ought to be regarded for no creature is so soone infected with the plague as is a Dogge and a Mule and therefore they must either at the beginning receiue medicine or else bee remooued out of the ayre according to the aduise of Gratius Sed varij mitus nec in omnibus vna potestes Disce vices quae tutela est proxima tenta Woolfe-wort Pliny and Apocynon whose leaues are like the leaues of Iuye and smell strongly will kill all Beasts which are littered blind as Wolues Foxes Beares and Dogs if they eat thereof So likewise will the root of Chamaeleon and Mezereon in water and oyle it killeth Mice Discorides Swine and Dogs Ellebor and Squilla and Faba Lupina haue the same operation There is a Gourd called Zinziber of the Water because the tast thereof is like to Ginger the Flower Fruite and Leafe thereof killeth Asses Mules Dogs and manie other Foure-footed beastes The nuts Vomicae are poison to Dogges except their care be cut presently and made to bleed It will cause them to leape strangely vp and downe and kill him within two houres after the tasting if it be not preuented by the former remedy Theophrastus Chrysippus affirmeth that the water wherein Sperrage beene sodde giuen to Dogges killeth them the fume of Siluer or Leade hath the same opperation If a Dog grow lean and not through want of meat Albertus it is good to fill him twice or thrice with Butter and if that doe not recouer him then it is a signe that the worme vnder his tongue annoieth him which must be presently pulled out by some Naule or Needle if that satisfie not he cannot liue but will in short time perish And it is to be noted that Oaten bread leauened will make a sluggish dog to become lusty agile and full of spirit Blondus Dogs are also many times bewitched by the onely sight of inchaunters euen as infants Lambes and other creatures according to Virgils verse Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos For bewitching spirit entereth by the eie into the hart of the party bewitched for remedy whereof they hang about the necke a chaine of Corrall as for holy hearbs I hold them vnprofitable To cure the watry eyes of Dogs take warme water and first wash them therewith and then make a plaister of meale and the white of an Egge and so lay it thereunto By reason of that saying Eccles 20. cap. Bribes and gifts blind the eies of Iudges Vnicentius euen as a dumbe dog turneth away Correction Some haue deliuered that greene Crow-foote forced into the mouth of a Dog maketh him dumbe and not able to barke When a Dog becommeth deafe the oile of Roses with new pressed wine infused into his eares cureth him and for the wormes in the eares make a plaister of a beaten spunge and the white of an Egge Tardinus and that shall cure it The third kind of Quinancy called Synanche killeth Dogs Pollux Niphus because it bloweth vppe their chaps and includeth their breath The cough is very noisome to Dogs wherefore their keepers must infuse into their Nostrils two cuppes of wine with brused sweete Almonds
foure daies together being well beaten and stirred so as the Wine be as thicke as a Cawdell and there is nothing more forcible then Sea-crabs Hiera Diascincum poulder of Walnuts in warme raine Water Triacle Castoreum pilles spurge-seede and a decoction of Indian thorne with veruine giuen in water These may serue for seuerall compound inward remedies against these poysons and now follow the simple First eating of garlike in our meate drinking of wormwood rams flesh burned and put into wine and so drunk There is an hearb called Alysson by reason of the power it hath against this euill which being bruised and drunke cureth it The liuer of a Boare dried and drunk in wine hath the same operation Iewes lime drunk in water leeks onions in meat dogs blood the head the vaine vnder the tongue commonly supposed to be a worme and the liuer of the dog which hath don the hurt are also prescribed for a remedy of this euill but especially the liuer or rennet of a young puppy the rinde of a Wilde figtree a dâ—am of Castoreum with oyle of roses Centaury or Chamaeleon the roote of a wild rose called Cynorrhodon and Cynosbaton Ellebor the braine of a hen drunke in some liquor sorrel Hony mints and plantine but Pimpinella Germanica is giuen to all cattell which are bitten by a mad Dog Besides many other such like which for breuity sake I omit concluding against all superstitious curing by inchantments or supposed miracles such as is in a certaine church of S. Lambert in a citty of Picardye where the masse priestes when a man is brought vnto them hauing this euill they cut a crosse in his forehead and lay vpon the wound a piece of S. Lamberts stole burning which they say though falesely is reserued to this day without diminution then do they sow vp the wound again lay another plaister vpon it prescribing him a diet which is to drink water and to eat hard Egs but if the party amend not within forty daies they binde him hand and foote in his bed and laying another bed vpon him there strangle him as they thinke without all sinne and for preuentings of much harme that may come by his life if â—ee should bite another This story is related by Alysius and it is worth the noting how murther accompanieth superstitious humane inuentions and the vaine presumptuous confidence of crosse-worshippers and thus much of the madnesse of dogs and the cure thereof in men and beasts In the next place the conclusion of this tedious discourse followeth which is the naturall medicines arising out of the bodyes of dogs and so wee will tye them vp for this time The naturall medicines Whereas the inward partes of men are troubled with many euils it is deliuered for truth that if little Melitaean Dogs or young sucking puppies be layed to the brest of a child or man that hath infectious passions or pains in his entrals the paine wil depart from the man into the beast for which cause they burned them when they were dead Serenus doth expresse this very elegantly saying Qâ—in etiam catulum lactentem apponere membris Conuenit omne malum transcurrere fertur in illum Cui tamen extincto munus debetur humandi Humanos quia contactus mala tanta sequntur Et iunctus vitium ducit de coniuge coniux Amatus If a Whelpe be cut asunder aliue and layed vpon the head of a mad melancholike Woman it shall help her and it hath the same power against the spleene If a woman growe barren after she hath borne children Hippocrates let her eate young Whelp-flesh and Polypus fishe sod in Wine and drinke the broath and she shall haue ease of all infirmities in her stomach and wombe Furnerius Water destilled out of Whelpes causeth that pieled or shauen places shall neuer more haue haire grow vpon them With the fat of whelps bowelled and sod til the flesh come from the bones then taken and put into another vessell and the weake resolute or paralitike members being therewith anoynted they are much eased if not recouered Alysius saith he made experience of puppies sod aliue in oyle whereby he cured his gouty legd horses and therefore it cannot chuse but be much more profitable for a man The skin of a dog held with the fiue fingers stayeth distillations it hath the same operation in gloues and stockins and it will also ease both Ache in the belly head and feet and therefore it is vsed to be worne in the shooes against the gout Pliny The flesh of madde Dogges is salted and giuen in meate to them which are bitten by mad Dogs for a singular remedy The blood is commended against all intoxicating poysons and paines in the small guts and it cureth scabs The fat is vsed against deafenesse of the eares the gout nits in the head and incontinency of vrine giuen with Alumme A plaister made of the marrow of a Dog and old wine is good against the falling of the fundament The haire of a blacke Dog easeth the falling sicknesse the braines of a Dog in linte and Wooll layed to a mans broken bones for foureteene dayes together doeth consolidate and ioyne them together again which thing caused Serenus to make these excellent verses Infandum dictu cunctis procull absit amicis Sed fortuna potens omen conuertat in hostes Vis indigna noue si sparserit ossa fragore Conuentet cerebrum blandi canis addere fractis Lintea deinde superque inductu nectere lauas Saepius succos conspergere pinguis oliui Bis septem credunt reuatescere cuncta diebus The braine-pan or scul of a Dog cloue asunder is aplied to heale the paine in the eies that is if the right eie bee grieued thereunto apply the right side of the scull if the left eie the left side The vertues of a Dogs head made into poulder are both many and vnspeakeable by it is the biting of mad Dogs cured it cureth spots and bunches in the head and a plaister thereof made with Oyle of Roses healeth the running in the head it cureth also tumours in the priuy parts and in the seate the chippings in the fingers and many other diseases The poulder of the teeth of Dogges maketh Childrens teeth to come forth with speed and easie and if their gums be rubd with a dogs tooth it maketh them to haue the sharper teeth and the poulder of these Dogs teeth rubbed vpon the Gummes of young or olde caseth tootache and abateth swelling in the gummes The tongue of a Dogge is most wholesome both for the curing of his owne woundes by licking as also of any other creatures The rennet of a Puppy drunke with Wine dissolueth the Collicke in the same houre wherein it is drunke Rasis Sextus and the vomit of a Dog layed vpon the belly of a hydropick man causeth Water to come forth at his stoole The gall healeth all wheales and blisters after
they be pricked with a Needle and mingled with Hony it cureth pain in the eies and taketh away white spots from them likewise infused into the eares openeth all stoppings Pliny Aesculapius reth all inward paines in them The Spleene drunke in vrine cureth the spleenatick the melt being taken from the Dog aliue hath the same vertue to help the melt of man The skinne of Bitches wherein they conceiue their puppies which neuer touched the earth is pretious against difficulty in childbirth and it draweth the infant out of the wombe Dioscoridâ—â— The milk of a Bitches first whelping is an antidote against poyson and the same causeth haire neuer to come againe if it be rubbed vpon the place where haires are newly pulled off Also infused into the eyes driueth away the whitenes of them Likewise there is no better thing to annoint the gums of young Children withall before they haue teeth for it maketh them to come forth with ease it easeth likewise the paine of the eares and withall speed healeth burnt mouthes by any whot meate Ora ambusta cibo sanabis lacte canino The vrine of a dog taketh away spots and wartes and being mingled with salt of nitre wonderfully easeth the Kings euill The dung of dogges called by the Apothecaryes Album Graecum because the white is best being engendered by eating of bones and therefore hath no ill sauour Galen affirmeth that his maisters in Physicke vsed it against old sores bloody flixes and the Quinensie and it is verye profitable to staunche the blood of Dogs and also against inflamations in the brests of Women mingled with turpentine It was well prescribed by Auicen to expell congeled bloode out of the stomacke and bladder being taken thereof so much in powder as will lye vppon a Golden Noble Of the Ethiopian Eale THere is bred in Ethiopia a certaine strange Beast about the bignesse of a Sea-horse being of colour blacke or brownish it hath the cheekes of a Boare Pliny Solinus the tayle of an Elephant and hornes aboue a Cubit long which are mooueable vpon his head at his owne pleasure like eares now standing one way and anone mouing another way as hee needeth in fighting with other Beastes for they stand not stiffe but bend flexibly and when he fighteth he alway stretcheth out the one and holdeth in the other of purpose as it may seeme that if one of them be blunted and broken then hee may defend himselfe with the other It may well be compared to a Sea-horse for aboue all other places it loueth best the Waters OF THE ELEPHANT The great vâ—â— of the coÌ„sideration of an Elephant THere is no creature among al the Beasts of the world which hath so great and ample demonstration of the power and wisedome of almighty God as the Elephant both for proportion of body and disposition of spirit and it is admirable to behold the industry of our auncient forefathers and noble desire to benefit vs their posterity by serching into the qualities of euery Beast to discouer what benefits or harmes may come by them to mankind hauing neuer beene afraid either of the Wildest but they tamed them the fiercest but they ruled them and the greatest but they also set vpon them Witnesse for this part the Elephant being like a liuing Mountain in quantity outward appearance yet by them so handled as no little dog became more seruiceable and tractable An Elephant is by the Haebrewes called Behemah by way of excellency as the Latines for the same cause cal him Bellua Of the seueral names in diuers languages the Chaldeans for the same word Deu. 14. translat Beira the Arabians Behitz the Persians Behad and the Septuagints Ktene but the Graecians vulgarly Elephas not Quasi elebas because they ioine copulation in the Water but rather from the Haebrew word Dephill signifieng the Iuory tooth of an Elephant as Munster wel obserueth The Haebrewes also vse the word Schen for an Elephants tooth Moreouer Hesychius called an Elephant in the Greek tongue Perissas the Latines doe indifferently vse Elephas and Elephantus and it is said that Elephantus in the Punicke tongue signifieth Caesar wherupon when the Graundfather of Iulius Caesar had slain an Elephant he had the name of Caesar put vpon him The original of the Caesars The Italians call this Beast Leofante or Lionfante the French Elephante the Germans Helfant the Illirians Slon We read but of three appellatiue names of Elephants that is of one called by Alexander the great Aiax because hee had read that the buckler of great Aiax was couered with an Elephants skin about whose necke he put a Golden collar and so sent him away with liberty Antiochus one of Alexander successours had two Elephants one of them he likewise called Aiax in imitation of Alexander and the other Patroclus of which two this story is reported by Antipater That when Antiochus came to a certaine foorde or deepe Water Aiax which was alway the captaine of the residue hauing sounded the depth thereof refused to passe ouer and turned backe againe then the King spake to the Elephants pronounced that he which would passe ouer should haue principality ouer the residue whereupon Patroclus gaue the aduenture and passed ouer safely and receiued from the king the siluer trappings and al other prerogatiues of principality the other seeing it which had alway beene chiefe till that time preferred death before ignominy and disgrace and so would neuer after eate meate but famished for sorrow They are bred in the whot Esterne countries for by reason they can endure no cold they keepe onely in the East and South Countries of the breed of Elephantâ— Among all the Indian Elephants are greatest strongest and tallest and there are among them of two sorts one greater which are called Prasij the other smaller Diodorus called Taxilae They be also bred in Africa in Lybia much greater then a Nysaean Horsse Aelianu and yet euery way inferiour to the Indian for which cause if an Affrican Elephant do but see an Indian he trembleth and laboureth by all meanes to get out of his sight Philostratus Solinus as being guilty of their owne weakenesse There are Elephants also in the I le Taprobane and in Sumatra in Affrican They are bred in Lybia in Aethiopia among the Trogloditae and in the Mountaine Atlas Syrtes Zames Vertomannus and Sala the seuen Mountaines of Tingitania and in the Countrey of Basman subiect to the great Cham. Some Authors affirme that the Affrican Elephants are much greater then the Indian Leo Afer Paul venetus but with no greater reason then Columella Writeth that there bee as great beastes found in Italy as Elephants are whereunto no sound Author euer yealded Of all earthly creatures an Elephant is the greatest for in India they are nine cubits high The heigh stature of elephants and fiue cubits broad in Affrica foureteen or fifteene ful spans
bands they remaine quiet peaceable and obedient taking their meate which is layed before them Pliny and Solinus prescribe the iuyce of Barly to be giuen to them for their mitification whereunto also agreeth Dioscorides calling that kind of drinke Zythus and the reason heereof is bycause of the tarte sharpnesse in barly water if it stand a little while and therfore also they prescribe vineger and ashes to rub the beasts mouth for it hath power in it to pierce stones Plutarch al sharp things penitrate deepe into his flesh and alter his nature the inuention whereof is attributed to Democritus Being thus tamed they grow into ciuill and familiar vses for Caesar ascended into the Capitall betwixt foure hundred Elephants carring at either side burning Torches and Heliogobalus brought foure Waggons drawne with Elephantes in Vaticanum and men commonly ride vpon them 〈◊〉 for Apollonius sawe neere the Ryuer Indus a Boy of thirteen yeare old ryding alone vpon an Elephant spurring and pricking him as freely as any man will do a leane Horsse They are taught to bend one of their hinder legges to take vp their Ryder who also must receiue helpe from some other present standers by The taking vp of their riders or else it is impossible to mount on the backe of so high a palfrey They which are not accustomed to ride vppon these beastes are affected with vomiting and casting like men when they first of all take the Sea vacâ—omanus Giâ—lius They are ruled without bridle or raines onely by a long crooked piece of Wood bending like a Sickle and nayled with sharpe Nayles no man can sitte more safely and more softly vppon a Horsse or Mule then they doe which Ryde vppon the Elephants Nâ—â—chus Strabo Elephants for the plowe The Indians with their lesser Elephantes which they call bastard Elephantes plow their ground and corne The common price of Elephantes is at the least fiue hundred Nobles and sometimes two thousand The price of Elephants The Indian Women are most chast and continent yet for an Elephant they take a great pride to be hired for Whoores for they imagine that the fame and receiued oppinyon of their beautye doeth connteruayle and couer the shamefull losse of their honesty as Arrianus wryteth in his booke of Indians Since the time that Elephants haue been tamed their natures dispositions haue beene the better obserued and discouered for they willingly obey their keepers learning all feates of Armes Their obedience and trâ—c tâ—â—le gentlenesse to take vp stones and cast them and to swimme so that Strabo affirmeth there was no possession or wealth comparable to a chariot or Waggon of Elephants Mutianus which was thrice Consull affirmed to Pliny that he saw an Elephant which learned the Greeke letters Pliny Their learning in leters and was able with his tongue to Write these wordes Autos egoo Tadegrapsa laphura te kelt'anetheca that is I Wrote these thinges and dedicated the Celtican spoyls but in these actions of Writing the hand of the teacher must be also present to teach him how to frame the Letters and then as Aelianus sayeth they will Wryte vppon Tables and followe the true proportion of the Characters expressed before their face whereupon they looke as attentiuely as any Grammarian In India they are taught many sportes as to Daunce and Leape which caused Martiall to Wryte thus Turpes esseda quod trahunt bisontes Et molles dare iussa quod chore as Nigro bellua nil legat magistro Quis spectacula non putet deorum When the Prizes of Germanicus Caesar were played there were many Elephantes which acted strange feates or partes foure of them went vppon Ropes and ouer the Tables of meate where on they set their feete so warily that they neuer touched any of the ghests the boardes or standing Cuppes being fully furnished And also they learned to daunce after Pipes by measure sometime Dauncing softly and sometime apace and then againe leaping vpright according to the number of the thing sung or played vpon the instrument and they are apt to learne remember meditate and conceiue such things as a man can hardly performe Their industrious care to performe the thinges they are taught appeareth heerein bycause when they are secret and alone by themselues they will practise leaping dancing and other strange feats which they could not learn suddenly in the presence of their maisters as Pliny affirmeth for certaine truth of an Elephant which was dull and hard of vnderstanding his keeper found him in the night practising those thinges which hee had taught him with many stripes the day before and cold not preuaile by reason of the beasts slow conceit Their was an Elephant playing vpon a Cymball Plutarch and others of his fellowes dauncing about him for there was fastened to either of both of his forelegs one Cymball and another hanged to his trunke the beast would obserue iust time and strike vppon one and then the other to the admiration of all the beholders There was a certaine banquet prepared for Elephants vpon a low bed in a palour set with diuers dishes and poâ—s of Wine whereinto were admitted twelue sixe males apparelled like men and sixe females apparelled like women when they saw it they sat downe with great modesty taking heere and there like discreet temperat ghests neither rauening vppon one dish or other and when they should drinke they tooke the cup receiuing in the liquor very manerly and for sport festiuity would through their trunks squirt or cast a litle of their drink vpon their attendants Aelianus so that this beast is not onely of an admirable greatnes but of a more wonderful meakenesse and docibility Aristotle The reuerence of Elephants to Kings They are said to diseerne betwixt kings and common persons for they adore and bend vnto them poynting to their Crownes which caused Martiall to Write this Tetrastichon Quid pius supplex elephas te Caesar adorat Non facit hoc iussus nulloque docente magistro Hic modo qui tauro tam metuendus erat Crede mihi numen sentit ille tuum The King of Indians was watched with foure and twenty Elephants 3. kindes of Elephants who were taught to forbeare sleepe and to come in their turnes at certaine houres and so were they most faithfull carefull and inuincible And as there be of them three kindes the Palustrians or Marishye Elephantes are hare-brained and inconstant the Elephantes of the Mountaines are subtill and euill natured lying in waite to destroy and deuoure but the Campestriall Elephants are meeke Gentle Docible and apt to imitate men In these is the vnderstanding of their country language of obedience to Princes gouernment and offices the loue and pleasure of glory and praise and also that which is not alway in men namely equity wisedome and probity They haue also a kinde of Religion for they worshippe reuerence and obserue the course of the Sunne
â—ellonius especially the marishes or land neere the waters for the steepe rocky mountaines they cannot endure Isidorus And these Cardan taketh for to be of the Weasill kind because the forme and disposition thereof especially to the tame and Domesticall Weasill and in Spaine they are cald Foinai Vincentius â—â—linac being blacke and ash-coloured distinguished and variably interlined with many spots Of the skinne The skinne smelt sweetly and somewhat like to a Mosk-cat and from Lyons in France they are brought into Germany three or foure of them being sold for a Noble It is very probable that it is a little kind of Panther or Leopard for there is a little Panther which hath such spots and besides of such a stature and harmeles disposition whose skin in olde time was pretiously vsed for Garments and the sauor thereof was very pleasant and therfore I superseed any further discourse heereof till we come to the declaration of the greater beast OF THE GOAT Male and Female The seueral names THe male or great Goat-Bucke is called in Haebrew Atud and the lesser Seir and Zeir The Chaldee translateth it Gen 13. Teias-iâ—ij and Numb 15 Ize the Arabians Teus and Maez the Persians Asteban and Busan the Graecian Tragos of deuouring or rauening in meat according to the verse Tragus ab Edendo quod grana fracta pane Also Chimaron and Enarchan the Latines Hircus and somtime Caper which word properly signifieth a gelded-goat as Martiall vseth it in this verse Dum iugulas hircum factus es ipse Caper The Italians Beccho the Germaines Bock and for distinction sake Geissbocke and Reechbock and Booeck the Spaniards Cabron the French Bouc the Illyrians Kozell The reason of the Latine word Hircus is deriued of Hirtus signifying rough by reason of the roughnes of their bodies And it is further to be vnderstoode that the generall kind of goats which the Latines distinguish by Hircus Capra and Hoedus that is by their sex or by their age the Haebrewes cal them singularly Ez and plurally Izim Numb 15 for a goat of a yeare old you shall read Izbethsch neth The Chaldee vseth also the general word Oza the Arabian Schaah the Persian Buz and whereas Leuit 16 Seir is put for Caper a gelded goate there the Chaldee rendereth it Zephirah the Arabians Atud and the Persian Buzgalaie And in the same chapter you shal read Azazel which Dauid Kimhi rendereth for the name of a mountaine nere Sinai where goats vse to feede and lodge and the Septuagints translate it Apopompaion signifying emission or sending away and for this cause I suppose that when the scape-goaâ— was by the priest sent out of the Temple hee went to that mountaine and therefore the word Azazel seemeth to be compounded of Ez a goat Azal Iuit that is he went for the scape-goat went carried away the euil The Graecians cal the female goat Aix which seemeth to be deriued of Ez the Haebrew word The Arabians Dakh and Metaham as I find in Autcen the Saracens An se the Italians Artumnus Peccho changing B. from the male into P. and the Spaniards Capron the French Cheure or Chieure the Germaines Geiss the Illyrians Koza and the Tuscanes at this day call a female goat Zebei And this may suffice for the names of both male and female Their nature is to be declared seuerally except in those thinges wherein they agree without difference and first of all the male is rightly termed Dux maritus Caprarum the guide and husband of the females and therefore Virgill saith of him not improperly Vir gregis ipse Caper The heeâ—goat is the husband of the flock and except in his genitals and horns he differeth not in any proportion or substance from the female His hornes are longer and stronger then are the females Their seuerall partt and therefore vpon prouocation he striketh through an ordinary peece of armor or shield at one blow his force and the sharpenes of his hornes are so pregâ—able He hath many attributes among the learned as left-sided aged The epithets of Goats greedy bearded swift long legged horne-bearer captaine of the flocke heauy rough hoarse-voiced rugged vnarmed vncleane strong-smelling lecherous bristleâ— wanderer vile wanton sharpe stinking two-horned and such like whereby his nature and qualities are so deciphered as it needeth no long treatise of explication There is no beast that is more prone and giuen to lust then is a Goate The venerious disposition of Goats for he ioyneth in copulation before all other beastes Seuen daies after it is yeaned and kiddened it beginneth and yealdeth seede although without proofe And seuen monthes old it engendereth to procreation and for this cause that it beginneth so soone it endeth at 5. yeares Aelianus and after that time is reckoned vnable to accomplish that worke of nature When the Egyptians wil describe fecundity or ability of generation they do it by picturing of a male Goate That which is most strange and horrible among other beastes is ordinary and common among these for in them scarce the Brother ioyneth with the Sister and a Camell can neuer he brought to couer his dam but among these the young ones being males Columella couer their mothers euen while they sucke hir milke If they be fat they are lesse venerous then being macilent or leane Herodotus declareth that in his time a Goat of Mendesia in Egypt had carnal copulation with a woman in the open sight of men and afterward was led about to be seene When they desire copulation they haue a proper voyce wherewithall as it seemeth they prouoke the female to loue This is called in Italy Biccari Biccarie which the Venetians apply to al lecherous companions as commonly as a prouerb and this they neuer vse but at that time By reason of his lust his eies sink deepe into the corners of their holes called Eirqui and Apuleius with other Grammarians do deriue the word Hircus wherby this beast is called from that disposition By drinking salt water they are made desirous and apt to procreation At that time they fight mutually one with another for their females and it is a terme among the late writers to call those men Hirci-Goats which are contented to permit other men to lye with their Wiues in publique before their owne faces for gaine Coelius because they imagine that such is the property of Goates But I know not with what reason they are moued heereunto for there is a memorable story to the contrary In Sibaris there was a young manne called Crathis which being not able to retaine lust but forsaken of God and giuen ouer to a reprobate sence A memorable story of the punishment of buggery committed buggery with a female Goate the which thing the maister Goate beheld and looked vpon and dissembled concealing his mind and iealousie for the pollution of his female Afterward finding the said young man a
sleepe for he was a shepherd he made all his force vpon him and with his hornes dashed out the buggerers braines The man being founde dead on this manner and the Goat which he had rauished deliuered of a monster hauing a mans face and a Goates legs they called it Siluanus and placed it in the rank of idoll Gods but the wretched man himselfe was buried with more honor then beseemed for they gaue him a Noble funerall and finding a riuer in Achaia which mingled water with another they called it Crathis after the name of that vnnatural and beastly monster wherupon also came the Italian Crathis which Strabo remembreth By which story it is euident that iealous riuality resteth as wel in Goats as in men of more reasonable capacity and vnderstanding Coelius Strabo The females desire of copulation is no lesse then the males for while they suck they admit the male and at the seuenth month they conceiue The best time of their admission to procreation is about the end of Autumne according to Columella his opinion The lust of the females and their copulation They are not filled the first day of copulation but the second or third and those which are ioyned in Nouember doe bring forth their young in the spring when all thinges grow fresh and greene wherefore if they chance to be slack and not willing to engender or couple Meanes to stir vp the goats to copulation their keepers vse this sleight or pollicy to procure and stir vp their lust They rub their vdders with Nettles vntil they constrain blood afterward with a handful of salt and nitre or else with pepper or Myrrhe after which rubbing their desire of copulation much increaseth and it maketh the female to prouoke the male and vndergo him more willingly Aelianus and this thing also procureth in them aboundance of milke as Aristotle affirmeth he had seene tryed by making experiment thereof vpon the brests of Women virgins and widdowes And generally all the keepers of Cattell doe heerewith rubbe their genitals for the furthering and prouoking in them carnall copulation with the things aforesaid Concerning the time that they beare yong it is in Italy 8. years The time of their young bearing and being fat they are not apt to conceiue wherefore they make them leane before they admit them to their bucks One male is sufficient for ten femals and som saith Varro prouide but one for 15. as Menas and other but one for 20. as Murus Ther is no creatur that smelleth so strongly as doth a male Goat by reason of his immoderate lust The strong smell or â—auor of a goat In Mercat and in imitation of them the latines call men which haue strong breaths Hircosi Coatish whereupon Plautus saiteh to an old lecherous fellow which could not keepe his lips from slauering of women Cum sis iam aetatis plenus anima foetida Senex hircole tu osculere mulierem And therefore Tiberius Caesar who was such a filthy and greasie-smelling old man was called Hircus Vetolus an olde Goate in the Atellanican comaedie They coniecture of men that haue hairy legs to be vnchast and full of lust by reason of their similitude with a goat and those which haue shril and clamorous voice the Grecians cal Margoi that is Block-heads Those which haue eies like to goats they call Aegopoi Goat-eies Plutarch that is very red eies The Egyptians affirm that their femal goats when Sirius the star in the beginning of dog-daies riseth with the sun do continually looke vpon the east and that their attentiue obseruation is a most certaine argument of the reuolution A secret in female goats that is the appearance and departure of the said dog-daies The like things do the Libians report of their Goates concerning that star and moreouer that they foresee and foreshew chaunge of weather Aelianus for they depart from their stables and run wantonly abroad before showers and afterwarde hauing well fed of their owne accord returne to their folds againe Concerning the description of their seuerall parts The descripon of goates and thâ—ir best properties it is good to follow the direction of Cossinius first to looke to their age as is before said if men desire to prouide Goates for heard-breed and profit so as their Kids may be like them and they beare young or continue procreation eight yeareâ— at the least And for their outward parts let them be firme great well compacted full of muscles and the superficies of their whole body be soft and equall without bunches or indentures therefore a thicke haire Lorentius two dugges hanging vnder their snout or chin are good signes of the best Goats The lesser kind I coniecture to be the right Mambrine or Syrian Goat although some of the late writers call it an Indian Goat the reason is because as hath been said they cal al strange beasts by the names of Indians if they find them not in their owne countrey The eares of it are large and broad as the picture describeth and such eares haue the Goates of Gallia-Narbon being at the least as broade as a mans spanne they are of colour like wilde-Goates their hornes verye sharpe and standing not farre distant one from the other and haue stones like a stone horse being in al other parts not vnlike to the vulgar and common Goat Albertus How Goates â—â—ke breath Varro Some curious heardsmen as Alcmaeon and Archelaus haue deliuered to the world that goats take breath thorough their eares and Phyles approueth their concept because hee had scene an experiment of a Goat that his mouth and nostrilles being stopped fast neuerthelesse he seemed not to be troubled for want of breath and for this also is alleadged the authority of Oppianus who writeth of certaine wilde goats called Aegari that they haue a certaine hole or passage in the middle of their heade betwixt the hornes which goeth directly vnto the liuer and the same stopped with liquid Waxe suffocateth or stifleth the beast If this be true as I woulde not any way extenuate the authority of the writer then it is very likely that some haue without difference attributed to all kinds of Goats that which was propper to this kinde alone for the former opinion is not reasonable Neuerthelesseâ— leaue euery man to his owne liberty of beleeuing or refusing The quicke sence of heaâ—ing There is no beast that heareth so perfectly and so sure as a Goat for he is not only holp in this sence with his eares but also hath the organ of hearing in part of his throate wherefore when the Egyptians describe a man which hath an excellent eare they expresse him by a goat 〈…〉 Mind There are some kind of goates in Illyria which haue whole hooues like a horse and these are onely founde in that Region In all other Nations of the worlde they are clouen-footed The vse of â—â—â—ir seuerall 〈◊〉 The
fashions which euery Cooke is able to practise without the knowledge of learning And thus I might conclude the discourse of Kiddes with a remembraunce of their constellation in the Waggoner vppon the Bulles Horne which the Poets obserue for signes and tokens foreshewing Rayn and Clowdy weather according to Virgils verse Quantus ab occasu veniens pluuialibus Hoedi These Starres rise in the Euening about the Nones of October and in December they were wont to sacrifice a kid with wine to Faunus There is a byrd called Captilus which is a great deuourer of kiddes and Lambes and the same also is hunted by a Dragon for when she hath filled hir selfe with these beastes being wearied and idle the Dragon doth easily set vpon hir and ouer take her Also when they fish for the Worm seuen Cubits long in the Riuer Indus they bait their hooke with a lambe or Kid as is reported by Aelianus and the auncientes were wont by inspection into the intrals of Kiddes to declare or search into thinges to come as Gyraldus amongst other their superstitious vanities rehearseth The manifold medicinall properties of Goates come now in the end of this story to be declared and first of all it is to bee noted that these properties are seuerall both in the Male female and Kidde and therefore they are not to be confounded but as the delygence of learned Authors hath inuented and left them seuerally recorded so they require at our hands which are the heyres of such benificiall helpes the same care and needfull curtisie There are some which doe continually nourish Goates in stables neere their dwelling Houses with an opinion that they help to continue them in health Plinyus The medicines arising out of male Goates for the ancientes ordained that a man which had beene bitten or stroke by Serpents and could not easily be cured thereof should bee lodged in a Goates stable The haires of a Goate-bucke burned and perfumed in the presence or vnder a man whose genitall is decayed it cureth him Sextus The poulder of a Wine bottell made of a Goates skinne with a little Rozen doeth not onely stanch the bloode of a greene-wounde but also cure the same The powder of the Horne with Nitre and Tamariske seede butter and Oyle Pliny after the head is shauen by annointing it therewith strengthneth the haire from falling off when it groweth againe and cureth the Alopecia and a horne burnt to powder and mingled with meale Sextus cureth the chippings in the head and the scabs for taking away the smell of the arme-pits they take the Horne of an old Goat and either scrape or burne the same then adde they to it a like quantity of Mirrhe the Goates gall and first scrape or shaue off the haire and afterward rub them therewith euery day and they are cured by that perfrication Dioscorides The bloud fryed in a panne and afterwardes drunke with Wine Aetius is a preseruatiue against intoxications and cureth the bloody-flixe and the bloode in a Seare-cloath is applyed against the goute and clenseth away all Leprosies and if the bloode come forth of the Nose without stay then rubbe the Nose with this bloud of a Goate It being fitted to meate cureth all the paines of the inward partes being sodde vppon coales stayeth the loosenesse of the belly and the same applyed to the belly mixed with fine flower Marcellus and Rozen easeth the paine in the small guts the same mixed with the marrow of a Goate which hath beene fed with Lentiles cureth the Dropsie and being drunke alone breaketh the stone in the reines and with Parsly drunke in Wine also dissolueth the stone in the bladder and preuenteth all such calculating grauell in time to come There is a Medicine called by the Apothecaryes Diuina manus Gods hand against the stone and they make it in this manner When Grapes begin to waxe ripe Albertus they take a new earthen pot and poure into it Water and seeth the same till all the scumme or earthy substance thereof be eiected the same pot clensed then take out of the flock a Male Goat of foure year old or thereabouts and receiue his blood as it runneth forth of his slaughtered body into that pot so as you let goe the first and last streame thereof to the ground and saue the residue then let it thicken in the pot and so being therein congealed break it into many pieces with a reede and then couering it with some linnen cloth and set it abroad in the day time where it may gather dew and then the next day set it abroad in the Sunne againe to exhale the same dew if in the meane time there fall no raine then let it dry and afterward make thereof a powder and preserue it in a boxe and when the euill pincheth vse a spoonefull of it with Wine of Creete and Philagrius commendeth the manifold benefit heereof for he had often tryed it and with a medicine made of an Affrican Sparrow mixed with this he procured one to make water and to void a great stone which had not vented his vrine in many daies and liued in the meane time in horrible paynes and the same vertue is attrybuted heereunto if it bee annointed neere the bladder and one be bathed in the warme aire and so oftentimes both the bath and the ointment be reiterated Marcellus teacheth how one may make tryall of the vertue of this blood for if he take a Male-goate and put him vp close seuen daies feeding him in the meane time continually with baies and afterward cause a young Boy to kil him and receiue his bloud in a bladder and put in the said bladder sandy stones like vnto those that are engendered in the bladder of man within short time he shall see those stones dissolued and scarce to be found in the bladder of blood by which he confidently affirmeth that nothing in the World is of like power to remooue the stone but withal he willeth some superstitious obseruations as namely that he be killed by a chast person and on a thursday or sunday or such like but the conclusion is that the saide blood must bee dryed to powder in an Ouen and afterward prescribeth that three ounces heereof one ounce of Time one ounce of Peniroyall three ounces of burned Polypus one ounce of white Pepper one ounce of Apian and one ounce of Loueage-seede to be giuen to the party in sweet wine fasting and hauing no meat in his stomack vndigested and hauing digested the medicine he must eat presently And therefore if it be true as all antiquity and experience approueth that the Goates blood breaketh and dissolueth the Adamant stone then much more saith Iacobus Siluius may it worke vppon the stone in a mans bladder The flesh of Goats decocted in Water take away all bunches and kernels in the body Pliny The fat of this beast is more moysT then a females or a kids
gal of Goose-grease and the yolke of an Egge and these being all mingled together let the offended place be rubbed therewith The same with the iuyce of Cyclamyne and a litle alum looseneth the belly Marcellus and Wool being well dipped therein and bound to the Nauell of the belly expelleth the worms it cureth the faults in the seat by anointment it hath also another vertue in it expressed by the Poet in this verse Languidus antiquo purgatur penis Iaccho Ac super illi nitur foecundae felle capellae The melt sod cureth the bloody-flixe and the bladder burnt and giuen in posset drinke is good for them that cānot containe vrine in their sleepe Sextus the secunds of a female goat being drunk in wine of women after their deliuery Plinius eiecteth casteth forth their secunds also The milke is many waies auaileable for Demcerates the Physitian in the recouery of Confidia the daughter of Seruilius which had beene Consull vsed the milke of Goats along season which he fed with Lentiles sea-crabs mixed with this milke expelleth poyson and the first milke of a Goat which is milked from her after the weaning of the Kid drunke by him that hath a quartane ague easeth the fits thereof And some of the ancient Phisitians gaue as much dunge of swallowes as will lie vpon three groats Columella mixed with this milke against a quartane Ague and when young lambes were sicke the shepherds cured them by infusing into their chaps the milke of goates the powder of Betony drunke out of Goates milke stayeth bleeding Plinius The holy fire is a disease of sheepe almost incurable because if any remedy doe but touch them they fall mad but they onely in this Malady admit for the recreation or remedy goats milke The roote of the greater Siler decocted in Goats milke cureth those cold vstions in the flesh or belly when the place looketh blacke or looseth sence and Aesculapius taught his followers and patients to drinke it against the ytche or any biting and if at any time there be any straine in any member of the body so that the Article seemeth to decline and loose his former strength and humour it is recouered againe by binding vnto it lyne-seede sod in Goates milke Funerius aduiseth to wash the face therewith that the beauty of it may be more splendant Take seuen Sea-crabs and being beaten to powder mingle them with one pinte of Goates milke and a cup of Oyle and so straine them diligently and infuse them into a Horsses mouth which is sicke of the headache and it shal cure him The milke also by the counsell of Philistion with the iuyce of Cabages Salt and Hony is giuen against the shortnesse of breath and if the right eie of a Chamaelion be pulled out of her aliue and put into Goats milke and applyed to the eyes it cureth the whitnesse of the eies The fat of a Bull mixed with this milke and infused into the eares cureth their mattery euils and causeth them to heare more assuredly and fiermely The gummes of children annoynted therewith causeth their teeth to come forth with lesse paine and it fasteneth the loose teeth by often rubbing the corners in the throat and the arteries are deliuered from exulcerations by gargarizing this milke either warmed at the fire or else as it commeth forth of the vdder The seede of Cresses decocted in this milke and drunke Plinyus Marcellus easeth the paines in the stomach and also purgeth being mixed with salt and Hony Marcellus prescribeth this excellent purgation which shall neuer make the party sicke that is a pinte of Goates milke two ounces of salt Ammoniacke and one ounce of the best Mecis beate them altogether and giue them to the patient fasting Hippocrates and so let him walke a good while till the mdicine be wrought in his body and if a woman be with child and oppressed with headache or haue an Ague she may safely take this milke sod with Hony The Physitians make a speciall drinke of this milke which they cal Schiston it is sod in a new earthen pot and hath put into it the branches of a fig-tree and so many cuppes of sweet water as there were pintes of milke and when it boyleth keepe it from seething ouer by putting into it a siluer vessell with colde water and being taken from the fire deuide it into many vessels till it be cold so the whay wil part from the milke and some take the whay and seeth it againe till the third part be onely left and afterward set it abroad in the Sunne to coole and this may be safely drunke fiue dayes together euery day a pint at fiue seueral times against the falling euil melancholy palsies in Leprosies gowtes or paines in the Articles and the sicknesse of the liuer which is like to a plereusie Or let him drinke the Goats milke the third part thereof mingled with hony as Hippocrates prescribeth or with the seed of Mathrum as Serenus counselleth in this verse Stomacho medentur Semina Mathrifactae cum lacte capella A draught of Goats milke sodden with mallowes and a little salt put to it represseth the gripings of the belly Plinius and if you put a little rennet vnto it it wil be more profitable Goats milk tempered with rennet before it be altogether strained while it is warme it must be giuen to those that haue the bloodie flix to drinke and it will helpe them presently put also to a good potion of sweet Wine mingled with goates milke Marcellus and a little rennet of a kid as much as a nut kernell is which being tempred with the hand let it be giuen to the patient laboring with the bloody flix before it be strained for the space of three daies Let this drinke be giuen one that is fasting about the time he riseth and being boyled put sufficient Barly flower to it Marcellus and being in like manner like pap or pottage you must giue it to the patient to drinke for the same disease Goats milke being sodden halfe away may be giuen to those that haue the bloody flix If they that be troubled with fretting of the guts and the flix are weakened by reason of their often going to the stoole Plinius The broath of a fat Henne sod with Butter or goats milke or Sheepes warmed by it selfe or else sod with Butter is very good to be giuen vnto them Take three ounces of Amylum Marcellus being a kind of meat three moneths olde into as much goats milke sod as you shall thinke fit and so giue it the patient by svppository meanes for the bloody Flix Oxen Dioscorides Sheepes or goats milke staieth the exulcerations and flowings of the belly so it bee sod on the coales after the vse of glisters if a mans secret inwards do abound with filth but if not after the foments be laid to the roots and stocke of the yard fresh
olde Cough let him take the dryed trindles and put them into the best wine and drinke it off so shall he presently auoid his fleame and filthy humor and be healed The remedies out of a wilde Goat The same vertue which are in the Goats before spoken of do also belong to the wilde Goats the blood taketh away bunches in the flesh and being mingled with Sea-palme causeth the hair to fall off An ointment made of the fat of Goates is profitable to them which haue webs in their eies and the fat of mountaine Goats helpeth infected Lightes His liuer broiled vpon coales and taken alone helpeth the Flix but most certainely when it is dried and drunke in wine the gawle is good for many things especially it is a Treacle against poison suffusions whitnesse and blindnesse of the eies by annointing it cureth the purblind and the webs in the eie and generally it hath the same properties in euery part as the tame goats before spoken of The like may be said of the Kyds or young goats and first of all a Kyd being slit assunder aliue and his warme flesh laide to a poisoned wound doeth most assuredly heale the same Others take the warm flesh of kyds and perfume them with hair by the sauor whereof they driue away Serpents the skinne newly pulled off and put vppon the body beaten with stripes taketh away their paine others againe vse it against the Crampe and not without reason for the tender skinnes of Lambes and Goates being sprinkled or dipped in Warme Oyle giueth very much strength and patience to endure the convultion Praxagoras prescribeth the flesh against the falling euil and by gargarizing the broath when it was sod cureth the Quinsie and sorenesse of the throat Demetrius saith that the braine being drawne thorough a gold ring and giuen to a Hawke which hath the fallinge sicknes it will worke admirably vpon her The blood being dried and decocted with marrow is good against all intoxicat passions and being mingled with sharpe Vineger before it be congealed it helpeth the spitting of blood the same being eaten cureth all kinde of Flixes being taken three daies together Gallen rehearseth in the Antidot of Vrbane among other things the blood of Kyds to draw the deade young ones out of the dammes belly With the fatte there is an ointment made with rose water to heale the fissures of the lippes and nose which is much desired of women not onely for the before rehearsed virtue but also because by annointing they keepe by it their face from Sunne-burning The French and Italians call it Pomato because it smelleth like Apples they put also into it muske and rose-Rose-water a pound of kyds sewet and warme it in a Bath vntill all bee white and so wash it with the saide rose water and afterward repose it in a glasse The ointment which is caled Vnguentum album is like vnto it the ashes of the thighes of a kyd healeth burstnes and stancheth blood the rennet is also commendable against Hemlocke or toad-stoole and against al the poisonfull strokes of Sea-beasts Being drunke in Wine it stayeth bleeding and refresheth excreations of bloode being taken with Vineger it helpeth also the flix being drunk fasting it hath some operation to stay womens flowers The lights of a kydde sod and eaten fasting preserueth from drunkennesse that day and the powder of it burned easeth the itching of the eies and pield eyelids if it be applyed like Stibium likewise the bladder of a female kyd drunke in powder helpeth the inconstancy of vrine the melt laide vppon the Spleene of an infant asswageth the paine and tumors thereof the liuer is not fit for temperate men but for weake colliricke men The inhabitants of the mount Atlas do gather Euforbium and corrupt it with Kyddes milke but it is discerned by fire for the good Euforbium being burned yeeldeth an vnacceptable sauor and so we conclude this storie with the two Emblems of Altiatus One against them that take much paine and make good beginninges but euell endes like a goat which giueth a good messe of milke and ouerturneth it with hir foot Quod fine egregios turpi muculaueris orsus Innoxamque tuum verteris officium Fecisti quod Capra sui mulctraria lactis Cum ferit proprias calce pro fundit opes The other Emblem is vpon a Goat the which by her keeper was constrained to giue a young wolfe suck who afterward notwithstanding that good turn deuoureth his nurse and it maie be applied vnto them which nourish their owne harmes and saue a theef from the gallowes Capra lupum non sponte meo nunc vbere lacto Quod male pastoris prouida cura iubet Ceruerit ille simul mea me post vbere pascit Improbitas nullo flectitur obsequio There is a prettie comparison of a Harlottes loue to a fisherman which putteth vpon him a goats skin with the hornes to deceiue the Sargus-fish for that fish loueth a goat aboue all other creatures and therefore the fisher-man beguileth her with a false appearance as the flattering loue of Harlots do simple minds by fained protestations OF THE GVLON THis beast was not known by the ancients but hath bin since discouered in the Northern parts of the world and because of the great vorasity thereof it is called Gulo that is a deuourer in imitation of the Germans who call such deuouring creatures Vilsruss and the Swedians Cerff in Lituania and Muscouia it is called Rossomokal It is thought to be engendered by a Hyaena a Lionesse for in quality it resembleth a Hyaena Mathias it is the same which is called Crocuta it is a deuouring and an vnprofitable creature hauing sharper teeth then other creatures Some thinke it is deriued of a wolfe and a dog for it is about the bignesse of a dog it hath the face of a Cat the body and taile of a Foxe being black of colour his feet and nailes be most sharp his skin rusty the haire very sharp and it feedeth vpon dead carkases These things are reported by Olaus Magnus and Mathias Michou But I would to God that this same more then beastly intemporate gluttony had beene circumscribed and confined within the limets of those vnchristian or hereticall-apostaticall-countries and had not spred it selfe and infected our more ciuell and christian partes of the World so should not nobility society amity good fellowship neighborhood and honesty be euer placed vpon drunken or gluttonous companions or any man be comended for bibbing and sucking in wine and beere like a swine When in the meane season no sparke of grace or christianity appeareth in them which notwithstanding they take vppon them being heerein worse then beastes who stil reserue the notes of their nature and preserue their liues but these loose the markes of humanity reason memory and sence with the condicions of their families applying themselues to consume both patrimony and pence in this voracity and forget the Badges of
yeare old but also to thirty or forty yeares as in some countries hath beene often proued They are not to bee admitted to couer aboue fifteene in one yeare at the most and a young Horsse not aboue ten or twelue in one yeare the residue may be suffered with obseruation of their strength and nature The King of Babilon beside his Horsses War had eight hundreth Stalions which were admitted to couer sixe thousand Mares so that euer one had twenty a peece Palladius ther is also a place in Syria neare Apamia where in one plot of ground were nourished thirty thousand Mares three thousand Stalions as Coelius saith so that euery Stalion had an hundreth Mares to couer in that place which number exceedeth the proportion of nature It is also to be remembred that Stalions are to be seperated from Mares al the yeare long except at the time of procreation and then also he must be largely fed according to these verses His animaduersis instant sub tempus omnes Impendunt cur as denso distendere pingui Quem legere ducem pecori duxere maritum Florentesque secant herbas fluuiosque mini strant Farraque ne blando nequeant superesse labori Inualidique patrum referant ieiunia nati Ipsa autem macie tenuant armenta volentes Atque vbi concubitus primos iam nota voluptas Sollicitat frondesque negant fontibus arcent Saepe etiam cursu quatiunt Sole fatigant Cum grauiter tunsis gemit area frugibus cum Surgentum ad Zephyrum paleae iactantur inanes Hoc faciunt nimio ne luxu obtusior vsus Sit genitali aruo sulcos oblimet inertes Sed rapiat sitiens Venerem interiusque recondat Absyrtus It is also to be obserued that the males which are designed for procreation be not ouer much labored for then he wil be the more weake for generation nor yet suffered to bee to idle for then a certaine fleamie humour is increased in them which likewise disableth them in copulation and thus much for the males Almost al the same things which haue bin said of the male belong to the female except the belly of the female ought to be greater The choise of Mares but if there be any whit speckles or spots in the eies of the female such as are not contracted by accident but breede in them by nature such a one is refused for breede for a Horsse borne of such a Mare when he commeth to be olde will likewise be affected with the same-blindesse but if it bee a female by reason of her yearely purgation she may peraduenture auoid that mischiefe It behooueth therefore that the Mares appointed for race be wel compacted of a decent quality being faire and beautifull to looke vpon the belly and loines being great â— age not vnder three nor aboue ten yeares old The copulation of horses and Mares Concerning their admission to generation it is to be remembred that the Latines haue a proper tearme to signifie the appetite of the female to the male which they call Equire that is Horssing and they continue in that lust sixty daies together the signes whereof are these They forsake their company running not toward the East and West but the contrary to the North and South neither permit they any body to come neare them vntill they either bee wearied or meete with the male and if they meet with a female like themselues they ioyne neare to her and seeme to reioyce at her society lifting vp the taile changing of the voice and sending forth of her secretes a certaine thin humour somewhat like the seede of a horsse which is called Hippomanes They also make water more often then at other times so that among al the females of the world Aristotle Albertus there is none beside a woman that is more greedy of procreation then a Mare because they want a menstruous purgation and yet eat aboundance of meat which Virgill expresseth setting downe their vnlimitable rage which carrieth them ouer mountaines and riuers in the time of this fury Scilicet ante omnes furor est insignis equarum Et mentem venus ipsa dedit quo tempore Glauci Potniades malis membra absumpsere quadrigae Illas ducit amor traus Gargara transque sonantem Ascantum superant montes flumina tranant Also at that time their genital hangeth forth more then at other times but if their manes be shorne off their lust is extinguished It is reported also by Columella that in Spaine in the Mountain Tagro which reacheth into Portugall vpon the Ocean there be Mares which rage so far in lust that by their ardent desire of copulation they conceue by the Southwest wind without the company of a horsse euen as Hens do lay Egges being not trode by a Cocke which are called Hypenemia but those Foales liue not till they be aboue three year old And it is the property of these Mares saith Auicen by kicking against the wind with their hinder legs to open their owne wombe and to receiue in that delectable aire wherwithall they are satisfied Also he saith that he heard of an old man which was borne in the I le of Pealtupha that the Mares therof neuer cease running from th one end of the Iland to the other when the rage of their lust is vppon them which thing is elegantly described by a Poet how they turne themselues to the West standing vpon the rockes and there draw in the cold aire which oftentimes maketh them conceiue wondering that they conceiue not rather by the east sunrising or South then by the westerly wind bordering vpon the north the Poets words are these Continuoque auidis vbi subdita flamma medullis Vere magis quia vere calor redit ossibus illae Ore omnes versae in Zephyrum stant rupibus altis Exceptamque leues auras saepe sine vllis Coniugijs vento grauidae mirabile dictu Saxa per scopulos depressas conualles Diffugiunt non Eure tuos neque Solis adortus In Boream Caurumque aut vide Nigerrimus auster Nascitur pluuio contristat frigore coelum Sometimes Horsses and Mares admit copulation at two yeare old but those Foales neuer proue excellent but at three yeare old or thirty monthes they suffer coniunction safely and with profit because they cease to loose their teeth Pliny They continue in their generation bearing euery second yeare the male vntill he be thirty yeare olde and the female as long as she liueth but the male ingendereth yearely And it is reported of a horse in Opus that couered a Mare after he was forty yeare old being onely holp vp and down from the Mare Pliny Oppianus Aelianus and Aristotle doe confidently affirme A history of a stallion to his own dam that when the King of Scythia had all his generous breede of Horsse destroyed by a pestilence except one of his best Mares and a Stallion which was a
Foale of that Mares being desirous to continue the breede caused his horsse-keeper to put the Sonne and Mother together but the Horsse refused copulation with his owne parents Afterward the Horsse-keeper couered the Mare with artificiall skinnes and likewise dressed the Horsse in such manner as one could not know the other wherupon being brought together the second time the Stallion couered his owne mother Afterward the Horsse keeper discouered them the one to the other whereby they knew the fraude and grew guiltye in themselues of incestious commixtion Whereupon they tooke no other reuenge vppon themselues but ranne to the top of a high rocke and there successiuely threw downe themselues one after another so ending their miserable daies preuenting their Maisters hopes to teach al mankind that they ought not to seeke to thriue by sins against nature the like is before rehearsed of a male Camell The very like story is reported of a Horsse in the coasts of Rea yet this is not held to be generall for beasts as Aristotle saith do promiscuously couer one another the father the Daughter the Sonne the mother the Brother the Sister and this maketh them to be perfect beasts and the stories before recited may be true yet are they extraordinary otherwise the common rule of Ouid remaineth true That it is not a filthy thing for beasts to obserue no degrees of nature Coeunt ani malia mullo Caetera delectu nechabetur turpe iuuencae Ferre patrem tergo fit equo sua filia coniux The best time of the yeare for the ioyning of Horsses and Mares for copulation is from the vernall aequinoctiall to the summer solstice because then the Coults which are foaled in due time haue the greene herbes and all the warme weather for the succour of their infancy and if the Mare after shee hath beene once couered refuse the male let her rest tenne daies and then bring her to the male againe if shee refuse the second time you may take it for graunted that she is filled already Wherfore seeing it is knowne certainly that a Mare goeth twelue months with young it is an easie matter so to order the time of her copulation The meanes to procure horsses to copulation that her foale may alwaies be deliuered in a warme and seasonable time of the year for which cause there is an invention for stiring vp of the lust both in the male and female the Hymenaean shepherds by the sweetnesse of songs vpon their pipes stirred vp their Horsses and Mares to copulation but the more assured way is to follow the direction of Columella and Absyrtus to prouoke them by naturall meanes like as Buls and Kyne And first of all for the male giue him the taile of a Hart burned mingled with wine and annoint therewithall his stones and generall member and so shal the dul Stallion be more prone to venery also there is a kind of Satirium which they giue to them in drinke or the powder of a horsses stones likewise if the female refuse take shrimpes beaten softe with water as thicke as hony therewithal touch the nature of the Mare in hir purgation and afterwards hold it to her Nose or else take hennes dunge mixed with Rozen and Turpentyne and annoynt the secrets of the Mare which shall so far increase her lust as it cureth the lothsomnesse better then the shrimps and increaseth lust But you must regard that no leane and ill fauoured Mare be annointed because the horse is quickly wearied from his lust and so delighteth only to be tickled therewith without doing any thing Other againe doe first of all bring some vulger horsse to the Mare who prouoketh and stirreth her to lust and when he is neare the very facte of filling her they lead her away to a more generous Stallion to be couered by him And so if none of these meanes do preuaile with her they doe rub her secrets with a Nettle and that causeth her to suffer the Horsse to enter Democritus also saith that it is in our power to cause our Horsses to bring forth males or females To ingender a male or female for if we suffer them to couple when the North winde bloweth or the third day before the full Moone or bind his leaft stone hee shall get a male but if when the South wind bloweth or three daies after the full Moone or binde the right stone of the Horsse it will proue a female Also if at the time of copulation the Horsse leape off from the Mare on the right side it is a token it will be a male but if on the left side it wil be a female Carnall copulation is most acceptable to Horsses and lesse grieuous vnto them then to Neate for there is no kind man only excepted that is so venereous and nimble in generation as is a Horsse or Mare The males know their females with whom they liue although they haue bine but a few daies together and if strange females fall into their company they expell them away by biting feeding single and alone with their female by themselues but if any male or other stone Horsse come within their walke then presently they make force at him if their female stir from them they restraine her by biting and in this time of their rage they neither regard the rider nor their aduersary nor the bridle nor cruell stripes nor steep hills nor rocks or caues of the earth if they wind the amorous sauour of their fellowes according to the saying of Virgill in these verses Nonne vides vt tota tremor pertentet equorum Corpora si tantum not as odor attulit auras Ac neque eos iam frena virum nec verbera saeua Non scopuli rupesque cauae atque obiect ae retardant Flumina correptos vnda torquentia montes It hath beene also receiued that a barren mare shal conceiue if you take a bunch of leeks bruised small and put into a cup of Wine and twelue French flies called Cantarides in water put them two daies together into the genitall of a mare like a Glyster and afterwards put her to a Horsse anointing her secreâ—s with the said ointment two seuerall times when the horse leaps down from her or else they take Nyter Sparrows dung Rozen and Turpentine thrusting the same into the mares genitall whereby it hath been proued that fecundity oftentimes followed Also some vse Syler of the mountaines to procure conception in Mares and Cowes and the true signe of conception is when their nature that is the fluent humour out of their secrets ceaseth for a month or two or three and Pliny saith that when a mare is filled she changeth her colour and looketh more red which is to be vnderstood not of her haire but of her skinne lips and eies her haire standing more full then before Then let them be seperated from the males The ordring of a Mare with foale Varro Palladius exempting them from moist places cold and
Cornipedes arcentur equi quod litore currum Et iuuenem Monstris pauidi effudere marinis The Poets also do attribute vnto the night blacke horsses and vnto the day white Homer saith that the names of the day-horsses are Lampus Phaethon to the moon they ascribe two horsses one blacke and another white the reason of these inuentions for the day and the night is to signifie their speedy course or reuolution by the swiftnes of horsses and of the darkenes of the night by the blacke horsses and the light of the day by the white and the Moone which for the most part is hidde and couered with earth Textor both encreasing and decreasing they had the same reason to signifie her shadowed part by a black horse and her bright part by a white one The like fixtion they had of Hâ—câ—te whom Ausonias calleth Tergemina because shee is described with the heade of a Horsse Heltodorus a Dogge and a wilde Man the horsse on the right hand the Dogge on the left hand and the wilde man in the middle whereby they declared how vulgar illiterate and vnciuilized men do participate in their conditions the labors and enuy of brute beasts We may also read in the Annales of Tacitus that in his time there was a Temple raised to Equestriall fortune that is for the honor of them which managed horsses to their owne profit and the good of their countrey and that Fuluius the Praetor in Spaine because he obtained a victory against the Celtiberians by the valiant diligence of his horssemen was the first that builded that temple Likewise there was another temple in Baeotis for the same cause dedicated vnto Hercules Coelius The auncient Pagans call the Godde of Horsses Hâ—ppona as the Godde of Oxen Bâ—bona It is also apparant that many Nations vse to Sacrifice horsses for at Sâ—lentinuma horsse was cast aliue into the fyre and offered to Iupiter Likewise the Lâ—cedemonians sacrifyced a horse to the winds Gyraldus at Rome also they sacrificed a horse to Mars therof cam the terme of Equus October which was sacrificed euery yeare in October in Campus Martius This horsse was often taken out of a chariot which was a Conqueror in race stood on the right hand assone as he was killed som one caried his taile to a place called Regia and for his head there was a continuall combate betwixt the inhabitants of the streetes Suburra and Sâ—câ—auia which of them should possesse it for the Suburans would haue fastened it to the wal of Regia and the Sacrauiens to the Tower Mamillia The reason why they sacrifyced a horse some haue coniecturd because the Romans were the off spring of the Troyans and they being deceiued by a horsse their posterity made that Sacrifice for punishment of horsses but it is more reasonable that because they Sacrificed a conquering horsse 〈◊〉 they did it onely for the honour of Mars the god of victorie or els because they would signifie that flying awaie in battell was to be punished by the example of sacrificing of a swift horsse The Carmani did also worship Mars and because they had no horsses to vse in warre they were forced to vse Asses for which cause they Sacrificed an Asse vnto him There is another fable amongst the Poets that the Methimnaeans were commaunded by the Oracle to cast a Virgin into the Seâ— to Neptune which they performd now there was a yong man whose name was Ennallus which was in loue with the said Virgin and seeing hir in â—he Waters swum after her to saue her but both of them were couered with the waters of the Sea yet after a certaine space Ennallus returned backe again and brought newes that the virgin liued among the pharies of the Sea and that he after that he had kept Neptunes horses by the helpe of a great waue escaped awaie by swimming for the poets fain that Neptunes chariot was drawn by horsses of the sea acording to these verses of Gilius Non aliter quotiens perlabitur aequora curru Extremamque petit Phaebaea cubilia Tethyn Fraenatis neptunus equis They also faine that the Sunne is drawne with two swift white Horsses Idolatry by the pictures of Horsses from whence came that abhomination that the Kings of Iudaea had erected Horsses and Chariots in honor of the Sunne which were set at the entrance of the Temple of the Lord which Horsses were destroyed by Iosias as we reade in holy Scripture Munster And the manner of their abhomination was that when they did worship to the Sunne they roade vpon those Horsses from the entrance of the Temple to the chamber of Nethan-melech The Persians also sacrificed a Horsse to Apollo according to these verses of Ouid Placat equum Persis radij hyperiona cinctus Ne detur sceleri victima tarda deo And for this cause the Masagetes sacrificed a horsse the swiftest of all Beasts vnto the sun the swiftest of all the Gods Philostratus also recordeth that Palamedes gaue charge to the Graecians to sacrifice to the Sunne rising a white horsse The Rhodians in honor of the Sun did cast yearly away into the Sea the Chariots dedicated to the Sunne in imagination that the Sunne was carried about the World in a Chariot drawen by sixe Horsses As the Army of the Persians did proceede forward on their iournie The ceremony of the Persians going to war the fire which they did call holy and eternall was lifted vp on Siluer alters Presently after this there followed the Wise-men and after those wise-men came 165. young men being cloathed with as many red little-garments as there are daies in the year Instantly vpon the same came the holy Chariots of Iupiter which was drawne by white Horsses after which with a resplendant magnitude the Horsse of the Sun was seene to appeare for so it was called and this was the manner of their sacrifice Coelius The King of Indians also as is said when the daies began to waxe long he descended downe to the Riuer Indus and thereunto sacrificed black Horsses and Buls for the Buls in ancient time were consecrated to the riuers and horsses also were throwne therinto aliue Varrmus as the Troians did into Xanthus The Veneti which worshiped Diomedes with singuler honor did sacrifice to him a whit horsse when the Thebanes made war on the Lacedaemonians Strabo it is said that Caedasus apeared in a vision to Pelapidas one of the Thebane Captaines and told him that now the Lacedaemonians were a Laeuctra and would take vengance vpon the Thebanes and their Daughters Whereupon Pelapidas to auert that mischiefe caused a young foale to be gallantly attired and the day before they ioyned battel to be led to a Sepulcher of their virgins and ther to be killed and sacrificed The Thessalians obserued this custome at their marriges and nuptial sacrifices the man tooke a Horsse of War armed and furnished which he led into the
wel sodden and also mundified that is to say the huske pulled awaye like as when you blanch Almonds Of diuers sorts of Feuers according to Vigetius and first of that which continueth but one day THe Feauer of one day called by the Geeek name Ephemera or els by the Latin name Diaria chaunceth many times through the rashnesse and small discretion of the keeper or some other that letteth not to ride a horsse vnmeasurably either before or after watering whereby the horsse afterward in the stable entreth into an extreame heate and so falleth into his Feuer which you shall know partly by his waterish and bloodshotten eyes and partly by his short violent and hot breathing and panting Moreouer he will forsake his meate and his Legs wil wax stiffe and feeble The cure Let him haue rest all the next day following and be comforted with warme meate then let him be walked vp and downe saite and softly and so by little and little brought againe to his former estate Of the Feauer continuall THe Feuer continuall is that which continueth without intermission and is called in Italian by the Latine name Febris continua which springeth of some inflamation or extreame heate bredde in the principall members or inwarde partes about the heart which is knowne in this sort The Horsse doth not take his accustomed rest whereby his flesh dothfal away euery day more and more and sometime there doth appear hot inflamations in his flankes and aboue his withers The cure Purge his head by squirting into his Nostrils mans vrine or the Water of an Oxe that hath beene rested a certaine time to the intent such water may be the stronger and then giue him the drinke writen in the next Chapter Of the Feuer taken in the Autumne that is to say at the fall of the leafe IF a Horsse chance to get a Feauer at the fall of the leafe cause him immediatly to be let blood in the necke vaine and also in the third furrow of the roofe of his mouth and then giue him this drinke Take of Iermander foure ounces of Gum dragant and of dryed roses of each one ounce beat them all into fine powder and put them into a quart of Ale adding thereunto of Oyle oliue foure ounces and of Hony as much and giue it the Horsse lukewarme Of the Feuer in Summer season A Feuer taken in Summer season is much worse then in any other time and especially if it be taken in the Dogge daies for then the accidents be more furious Blundevile The signes be these his artires wil beate euidently and hee will shed his seede when he staleth and his going wil be vnorderly The cure Let him blood in a vaine that he hath in his hinder hanch about foure fingers beneath the fundament or if you cannot finde that vaine let him blood in the necke vaine toward the withers and if it be needefull you may giue him also this drinke Take the iuyce of a handfull of Parslein mingled with Gum dragant with Ensens and a fewe Damaske roses beaten all into fine powder and then put thereunto a sufficient quantity of ale made sweete with Hony Of the Feuer in winter FOr the Feauer in Winter it shall be good to take the powder of the drugs last mentioned and with a quill or reede to blowe it vp into his left Nostrill to make him to neese It shall be good also to let him bloode in the necke vaine Blundevile and in the palat of the mouth and then to giue him one of these drinkes heere following Take of Ireos sixe ounces of round Pepper one ounce of Bay-berries and of the seede of Smallage of each one ounce and let him drinke them with sodden Wine Or else take a pint of good Milke and put therein of Oyle foure ounces of Saffron one scruple of Myrrhe two scruples of the seede of Smallage a spoonefull and make him drinke that or make him this drinke Take of Aristoloch otherwise called round Hartwoâ—t one ounce of Gention of Isop of Wormwoode of Sothernwood of each one ounce of dry fat Figs sixe ounces of the seede of Smallage three ounces of Rue a handfull boile them all in a cleane vessell with Riuer Water vntill the third part be consumed and when you see it looke blacke and thicke take it from the fire straine it and giue the Horsse to drinke thereof lukewarme As touching his dyet let his water be alwaies lukewarme wherein would be put a little Wheat meale and remember to giue him no meate so long as his fit continueth And because in all Agues it is good to quicken the naturall heate of the Horsse by rubbing and fretting his body it shall not be amisse in some faire day to vse this friction called of the ancient writers Apotorapie which is made in this sort Take of Damaske Roses one pound of olde Oyle a pinte of strong vineger a pinte and a halfe of Mintes and Rue beaten into powder of each one ounce and a halfe together with one olde dry Nut beate them and mingle them together then being strained and made lukwarme rub and chafeal the horses body therewith against the haire vntill he beginneth to sweate then set him vp in the warmest place of the stable and couer him well Of the Feuer which commeth of raw digestion or of repletion YOu shall know if the Feuer proceedeth of any such cause by these signes heere following The Horsse will blow at the nose more then hee is accustomed to doe seemeth to fetch his winde onely at his nose and his breath will bee short hot and dry you shall see his flanks walke and his backe to beate The cure Cause him to be let blood aboundantly in the head and palat of his mouth and by squirting warme vineger in the morning into his nostrils force him to neese and if hee bee costiue let his fundament be raked or else giue him a glister to ease the paine in his head And as touching his dyet giue him but little prouender or hay neither let him drink much nor often but betwixt times But in any wise let him be well rubbed and chafed and that a good while together and if you vse the friction declared in the last chapter before in such sort as there is said it shall do him very much good Of the Feuer accidentall comming of some vlcer in the mouth or throat THe Horsse not being well kept and gouerned after that he hath beene let blood in the vpper partes yea and also besides that of his owne nature is subiect vnto the distillation in his throate or partes there about the painefull swelling or vlcer wherof causeth the Horsse to fall into a grieuous Ague Whereof besides the former remedies apt to purge humors it shall be necessary also to let him bloode in the vaine of the head and in the palat of his mouth and to bee short in all those places where the disease causeth most griefe And if
the Horsse bee so sore pained as he cannot swallow downe his meate it shall bee good to giue him lukewarme water mingled with Barly meale or wheat meale and besides that to make him swallow downe seuen sops sopped in wine one after another at one time some vse at the second time to dip such sops in sweet sallet oile Thus far Vegetius Of the Pestilent Ague IT seemeth by Laurentius Russius that Horsses be also subiect to a pestilent feuer which almost incureable Blundevile is called of him Infirmitas Epidimialis that is to say a contagious and pestiferous disease whereof there dyed in one yeare in Rome aboue a thousand Horses which as I take it came by some corruption of the aire whereunto Rome in the chiefe of Summer is much subiect or else corrupt humors in the body ingendered by vnkinde food by reason perhaps that the City was then pestered with more horse-men then there could be conueniently harbored or fed Laurentius himselfe rendereth no cause therof but onely sheweth signes how to know it which be these The Horsse holdeth down his head eateth little or nothing his eyes waterish and his flanks doe continually beat The cure First giue him this glister Take of the pulpe of Coloquintida one ounce of Dragantum one ounce and a halfe of Centuary and Wormwood of each one handfull of Castoreum halfe an ounce boile them in water then being strained dissolue therein of Gerologundinum sixe ounces of salt an ounce and a halfe and halfe a pound of Oyle oliue and minister it lukewarme with a horne or pipe made of purpose Make also this plaister for his head take of Squilla fiue ounces of Elder of Castoreum of Mustard seed and of Euforbium of each two ounces dissolue the same in the iuyce of Daffodill and of Sage and laie it to the Temples of his head next vnto his eares or else giue him any of these three drinks heere following take of the best Triacle two or three ounces and distemper it in good wine and giue it him with a horne or else let him drinke euery morning the space of three daies one pound or two of the iuyce of Elder rootes or else giue him euery morning to eate a good quantity of Venus haire called of the Latines Capillus Veneris newly and fresh gathered but if it be old then boile it in water and giue him the decoction thereof to drink with a horne Martins opinion and experience touching a Horsses Feuer THough Martin haue not seene so many seuerall kindes of feuers to chance to Horsses Blundevile yet he confesseth that a Horsse will haue a feauer and saith that you shal know it by these signes For after the Horsse hath beene sicke two or three daies if you looke on his tongue you shall see it almost raw and scalt with the heate that coms out of his body and he wil shake and tremble reele and stagger when his fit commeth which fit wil keepe his due howers both of comming and also of continuance vnlesse you preuent it by putting the horsse into a heat which would be done so soone as you see him begin to tremble either by riding him or tying vp his Legs and by chasing him vp and downe in the stable vntil he leaue shaking and then let him be kept warm and stand on the bit the space of two houres that done you may giue him some hay by a little at once and giue him warme water with a litle ground mault twice a day the space of three or foure daies and once a day wash his tongue with Alom water vineger and Sage But if you see that all this preuailes not then purge him with this drinke after that he hath fasted al one night Take of Aloes one ounce of Agaricke halfe an ounce of Lycoras and Annis seedes of each a dram beaten to powder and let him drinke it with a quart of white wine lukewarme and made sweet with a little Hony in the morning fasting and let him be chafed a little after it and be kept warme and suffered to stand on the bit meatlesse two or three houres after and he shall recouer his health againe quickly Of sicknesse in generall and the Feuer IN general sicknes is an opposit foe to nature warring against the agents of the body and minde seeking to confound those actions which vphold and maintaine the bodies strength and liuely-hood Markham Who coueteth to haue larger definition of sicknesse let him reade Vegesius Rusius or excellent Maister Blundiuile who in that hath bin admirably well-deseruing plainefull For mine owne part my intent is to write nothing more then mine own experience and what I haue approued in Horsses diseases most auaileable and first of the Feuer or Ague in a Horsse though it bee a disease seldome or not at all noted by our Mechannicall Horsse Farriors who cure many times what they know noâ— and kill wher they might cure knew they the cause yet I haue my selfe seene of late both by the demonstrate opinions of others better learned and by the effects of the disease some two Horses which I dare auouch were mightily tormented with a Feauer though diuers Leeches had thereof giuen diuers opinions one saying it was the bots by reason of his immoderate languishment another affirmed him to be bewitcht by reason of his great shaking heauinesse and sweating but I haue found it and approued it to be a Feuer both in effect nature and quality the cure whereof is thus for the originall cause of a Feuer is surfet breeding putrifaction in the blood then when his shaking beginneth take three new laide Egges breake them in a dish and beate them together then mixe thereto fiue or sixe spoonefuls of excellent good Aqua vitae and giue it him in a horne then bridle him and in some Close or Court chafe him til his shaking cease and he beginne to sweat then set him vp and cloath him warme And during the time of his sicknesse giue him no water to drinke but before he drinke it boile therein Mallowes Sorrell Purslaine of each two or three handfuls As for his foode let it bee sodden Barly and now and then a little Rye in the sheafe to clense and purge him chiefely if he be drye inwardly and grow costiue This I haue proued vneffectlesse for this disease and also much auaileable for any other inward sicknesse proceeding either of raw digestion too extreame riding or other surfet Diuers haue written diuersly of diuers Agues and I coulde prescribe receiptes for them but since I haue not been experimented in them al I meane to omit them intending not to exceede mine owne knowledge in any thing Of the Pestilence THe Pestilence is a contagious disease proceeding as Pelagonius saith somtime of ouermuch labour heate colde hunger aad sometime of sudden running after long rest or of the retention or holding of stale or vrine Blundevile or of drinking colde water whiles the Horsse
foreheade and of his temples and also of his taile with a sharpe hot yron that the corrupt humours may yssue outward That done take hot brickes or else a pan of fresh burning coales and hold it nigh vnto his belly and flankes to the entent that they may bee thoroughly warmed and being so warmed annoint them al ouer with oyle de Bav or Dialthea to defend his body from the cold and let his head be well couered and al his bely kept warme Yea and it were good to bath his head sometime as Russius saith with a bath made of Rew Wormewoode Sage Iuneper Bay leaues and Hysop And let his drinke be warme water mingled with Wheat meale yea and to make it the more comfortable it were good as Russius saith to put thereunto some Cinamon Ginger Galingale such hot pieces And his meat in Winter season would bee no other but sodden corne or warme mashes made of ground Malt and wheat bran in summer season if he went to grasse I think it would do him most good so that he go in a dry warm ground for by feeding alwaies downeward he shall purge his head the better as Russius saith Thus much of the Glanders and mourning of the Chine Now we wil speake somwhat of the strangullion according to the opinion of the Authors though not to the satisfaction perhaps of our English Ferrers Of the strangullion or Squinancy THe Strangullion called of the Latines Angina according to the Physitians is an inflamation of the inward partes of the throate and as I saide before is called of the Greeks Synanchi which is as much to say in English as strangling wherof this name strangullion as I thinke is deriued for this disease doth strangle euery man or beast and therefore is numbred amongst the perilous and sharp diseases called of the Latines Morbi accuti of which strangilng the physitians in mans body make foure differences The first and worst is when no part within the mouth nor without appereth manifestly to be inflamed and yet the patient is in great perill of strangling The second is when the inwarde parts of the throat onely be inflamed The third is when the inward and outward partes of the throat be both inflamed The fourth is when the muscles of the necke are inflamed or the inward ioynts thereof so loosened as they straiten thereby both the throat or wesand or wind-pipe for short breath is incident to all the foure kinds before recited and they proceede all of one cause that is to say of some collerick or bloody-fluxion which comes out of the branches of the throat-vaines into those parts and there breedeth some hot inflamation But now to proue that a horse is subiect to this disease you shall hear what Absirtus Hierocles Vegetius and others doe say Absirtus writing to his friend a certaine Ferrer or horse-leach called Aistoricus speaketh in this manner When a Horse hath the strangvllion it quickly killeth him the signes whereof be these His temples will be hollow his tong will swell and hang out of his mouth his eies also will be swollen and the passage of his throat stopt so as he can neither eat nor drinke All these signes be also confirmed by Hierocles Moreouer Vegetius rendereth the cause of this disease affirming that it proceedeth of aboundance of subtile blood which after long trauell will inflame the inward or outward muscles of the throat or wisand or such affluence of blood may come by vse of hot meats after great trauell being so alteratiue as they cause those parts to swell in such sort as the Horse can neither eat nor drinke nor draw his breath The cure according to vegetius is in this sort First bath his mouth and tongue well with hot water and then annoint it with the gal of a Bull that done giue him this drinke Take of old oyle two pound of olde wine a quart nine figs and nine Leekes heads well stamped and braied together And after you haue boiled these a while before you straine them put therunto a little Nitrum Alexandrinum and giue him a quarte of this euery morning and euening Absirtus and Hierocles would haue you to let him blood in the palate of his mouth and also to poure wine and oile into his nostrils and also giue him to drinke this decoction of Figs and Nitrum sodden together or else to anoint his throat within with nitre oyle and hony or else with hony hogs dung mingled together which differeth not much from Galen his medicine to be giuen vnto man For he saith that hony mingled with the powder of hogs dung that is white and swallowed downe doth remedy the squanancy presently Absirtus also praiseth the oyntment made of Bdellium and when the inflamation beginneth somwhat to decrease he saieth it is good to purge the horse by giuing him wild Cocumber and Nitre to drink Let his meat be grasse if it may be gotten or else wet hay and sprinkled with Nitre Let his drinke also be lukewarme water with some barly meale in it Of the Cough OF Coughes some be outward and some be inwarde Those bee outward which doe come of outward causes as by eating a feather or by eating dusty or sharpe straw and such like things which tickling his throate causeth him to cough you shal perceiue it by wagging and wrying his head in his coughing and by stamping somtime with his foote laboring to get out the thing that grieueth him and cannot The cure according to Martin is thus Take a Willow wand rowled throughout with a fine linnen clout and then annoint it all ouer with hony and thrust it downe his throat drawing your hand to and fro to the intent it may either driue down the thing that grieueth him or else bring it vp and do this twice or thrice annointing euery time the sticke with fresh hony Of the inward and wet cough OF inward Coughs some be wet and some be dry The wet cough is that commeth of cold taken after some great heat giuen to the Horsse dissoluing humors which being afterward congealed do cause obstruction and stopping in the lungs And I call it the wet cough because the Horse in his coughing will voide moist matter at his mouth after that it is once broken The signes be these The Horsse will be heauy and his eies wil run a water and he wil forsake his meate and when he cougheth he thrusteth out his head and reacheth with great paine at the first as though hee had a dry cough vntill the fleame be broken and then hee will cough more hollow which is a signe of amendment And therfore according to Martins experience to the intent the fleam may breake the sooner it shal be necessary to keepe him warme by clothing him with a double cloth and by littering him vp to the belly with fresh straw and then to giue him this drinke take of barly one peck and boile it in 2. or 3. gallons of
that which our Ferrers cal the yellowes The signs wherof according to Martin be these The Horse will bee faint and sweat as hee standeth in the stable and forsake his meat and his eies and the inside of his lips and all his mouth within will be yellow The cure whereof according to him is in this sort Let him bloode in the Necke vaine a good quantity and then giue him this drinke take of white wine of Ale a quart and put thereunto of Saffron turmericke of each halfe an ounce and the iuyce that is wroong out of a handfull of Celendine and being lukewarme giue it the Horse to drinke and keepe him warme the space of three or foure daies giuing him warme water with a little bran in it Of the Yellowes THe yellowes is a general disease in horsses and differ nothing from the yellow-iandise in men it is mortall and many horses die thereof the signes to know it is thus Markham pull downe the lids of the horsses eies and the white of the eie will bee yellow the inside of his lips wil be yellow and gums the cure followeth First let him bloode in the palat of the mouth that he may suck vp the same then giue him this drink take of strong Ale a quart of the greene ordure of Geese strained three or foure spoonefuls of the iuyce of Salendine as much of saffron halfe an ounce mix these together and being warme giue it the horse to drinke Of the euill habit of the body and of the dropsie AS touching the drines and consumption of the flesh without any apparant cause why Blundevile called of the Physitians as I said before Atrophia I know not what to say more then I haue already before in the chap. of consumption of the flesh and therefore resort thither And as for the euil habit of the body which is to be euil colored heauy dul of no force strength nor liuelines commeth not for lack of nutriment but for lack of good nutriment for that the blood is corrupted with flegme choler or melancholy proceeding either fro the spleene or else through weakenesse of the stomach or Liuer causing euill digestion or it may come by foule feeding yea also for lacke of moderate exercise The euill habit of the body is next cosin to the dropsie whereof though our Ferrers haue had no experience yet because mine old Authors writing of horselcach-craft do speak much thereof I thinke it good heere briefely to shew you their experience therein that is to say how to know it and also how to cure it But sith none of them do shew the cause whereof it proceedes I thinke it meete first therefore to declare vnto you the causes therof according to the doctrin of the learned Physitians which in mans body do make three kinds of dropsies calling the first Anasarca the second Ascites and the third Timpanias Anasarca is an vniuersall swelling of the body through the aboundance of water lying betwixt the skin and the flesh and differeth not from the disease last mentioned called Cachexia that is to say euill habit of the bloode sauing that the body is more swoln in this then in Cachexia albeit they proceede both of like causes as of coldnesse and weakenesse of the liuer or by meanes that the hart spleene stomack and other members seruing to digestion by grieued or diseased Ascites is a swelling in the couering of the belly called of the Physitians Abdomen comprehending both the skin the fat eight muscles and the filme or panicle called Peritoneum through the aboundance of some whayish humor entred into the same which besides the causes before alledged proceedeth most chiefely by means that some of the vessels within be broken or rather cracked out of the which though the blood being somewhat grosse cannot yssue forth yet the whayish humor being subtil may run out into the belly like water distilling through a cracked pot Timpanias called of vs commonly the Timpany is a swelling of the aforesaid couering of the belly through the aboundance of wind entred into the same which wind is ingendered of crudity and euill digestion and whilest it aboundeth in the stomach or other intrals finding no yssue out it breaketh in violently through the smal cundits among the panicles of the aforesaid couering not without great paine to the patient and so by tossing to and fro windeth at length into the space of the couering it selfe But surely such wind cannot be altogether void of moisture Notwithstanding the body swelleth not so much with this kinde of dropsie as with the other kind called Ascites The signs of the dropsie is shortnes of breath swelling of the body euil colour lothing of meat and great desire to drinke especially in the dropsie called Ascites in which also the belly wil sound like a bottle halfe ful of water but in the Timpanie it wil sound like a Tabar But now though mine authors make not so many kinds of dropsies yet they say al generally that a horse is much subiect to the dropsie The signs according to Absirtus and Hierocles be these His belly legs and stones wil be swollen but his back buttocks and flanks wil be dryed and shrunke vp to the very bones Moreouer the vaines of his face and temples and also the vaines vnder his tong wil be so hidden as you cannot see them and if you thrust your finger hard against his body you shal leaue the print therof behind for the flesh lacking natural heat wil not returne again to his place and when the horselyeth down he spreadeth himselfe abroad not being able to he round together on his belly and the haire of his back by rubbing wil fal away Pelagonius in shewing the signs of the dropsie not much differing from the Physitians first recited seemeth to make two kinds therof calling the one the Timpany which for difference sake may be called in English the wind dropsie and the other the water dropsie Notwithstanding both haue one cure so farre as I can perceiue which is in this sort Let him bee warme couered and walked a good while together in the sun to prouoke sweat and let all his body be wel and often rubbed alongst the haire let him seed vpon Colworts smallâ—ge and Elming boughs and of al other thinges that may loosen the belly or prouoke vrin and let his common meat be grasse if it may be gotten if not then hay sprinkled with water and Nytrum It is good also to giue him a kinde of pulse called Cich steeped a day and a night in water and then taken out and laid so as the water may drop away from it Pelagonius would haue him to drink Parsly stampt with wine or the root of the herb called 〈◊〉 Latin Panax with wine But if the swelling of the belly wil not decrease for al this then slit a litle hole vnder his belly a handful behind the nauil put into that hole a hollow reed
or â—ome other pipe that the water or wind may go out not al at once but by litle and little at diuers times and beware that you make not the hole ouer wide least the caule of the belly fal downe thereunto and when al the water is cleane run out then heale vp the wound as you do al other wounds and let the horse drinke as little as is possible Of the euill habit of the stomacke IF your horse either by inward sicknes or by present surfet grow to a loath of his meate Markham or by weakenesse of his stomak cast vp his meat and drinke this shall be the cure for the same first in all the drinke he drinks let him haue the powder of hot spices as namely of Ginger Annis-seeds Lycoras Sinamon and Pepper then blow vp into his Nostrils the powder of Tobacco to occasion him to neese instantly after he hath eaten any meat for an houre together after let one stand by him and hold at his Nose a piece of sower Leuen steept in vineger then annoint all his breast ouer with the Oyle of Ginnuper and Pepper mixt together Of the diseases of the guts of a Horse and first of the Colike THe guttes of a Horse may be diseased with diuers griefes as with the Collick Blundevile with costiuenesse with the Lax with the bloody-flixe and wormes The collick is a greeuous paine in the great gut called of the Physitians Colon whereof this disease taketh his name which gut because it is very large and ample and ful of corners it is apt to receiue diuers matters and so becommeth subiect to diuers griefes For somtime it is tormented with the aboundance of grosse humors gotten betwixt the panicle of the said gut and sometime with winde hauing no yssue out sometime with inflamation and sometime with sharp fretting humors But so far as I can learn a horse is most commonly troubled with the colike that commeth of wind and therefore our Ferrers do tearm it the wind colike The signes whereof be these The Horse will forsake his meat and lie downe and wallow and walter vpon the ground and standing on his feet he will stamp for very paine with his fore-feet and strike on his belly with his hinder foot and looke often towards his belly which also towards the flanks wil swell and seeme greater to the eie then it was wont to be The cure wherof according to Martin is in this sort take a quart of Malmesie of cloues pepper Sinamon of each halfe an ounce of Sugar halfe a quarterne and giue it the horse lukewarme and annoint his flanks with oyle of Bay and then bridle him and trot him immediately vp and downe the space of an houre vntil he dung and if he will not dung then rake him and if neede be prouoke him to dung by putting into his fundament an onyon pilled and iagged with a knife crosse-wise so as the iuyce thereof may tickle his fundament and for the space of three or foure daies let him drinke no cold water and let him be kept warm Russius was wont to vse this kind of cure take a good big reede a span long or more and being annointed with oyle thrust it into the horses fundament fastning the outward end therof vnto his taile so as it cannot slip out and then hauing first annointed chafed al the horses belly with some hot oyle cause him to be ridden hastily vp down some hilly ground and that will make him to voide the winde out of his belly through the reed which done let him be kept warm and fed with good prouender and warm mashes made of wheat meale and fennell seed and let him drink no cold water vntil he be whole Absirtus would haue you to giue him a glister made of wilde Cucumber or else of hens dung Nitrum and strong wine Of Costiuenesse or belly-bound COstiuenesse is when a horse is bound in the belly and cannot dung which may come by glut of prouender or ouermuch feeding and rest whereof we haue talked sufficient before also by wind grosse humors or cold causing obstruction and stopping in the guts The cure whereof according to Martin is in this sort Take of the decoction of Mallowes a quarte and put thereunto halfe a pinte of Oyle or in stead thereof halfe a pinte of fresh Butter and one ounce of Benedicte laxatiue and poure that into his fundament with a little Horne meete for the purpose that doone clappe his taile to his fundament holding it still with your hand whilest another doth leade him in his hand and trot him vp and downe Blundevile that the medicine may worke the better and hauing voyded all that in his belly bring him vnto the stable and there let him stand a while on the bitte wel couered and warme littered and then giue him a little hay and let his drinke be warmed it shall not be amisse also to giue him that night a warme mash Of the Laxe THe Italians call this disease Ragiatura and the Horse that hath this disease Cauallo Arragiato or Sforato It may come through the aboundance of cholerike humors discending from the Liuer or gall downe to the guts But Russius saith that it commeth most commonly by drinking ouermuch colde water immediately after prouender or by sudden trauelling vpon a ful stomach before his meat be dygested or by hasty running or galloping immediately after water If this disease continue long it wil make the Horse very weake and feeble so as he shall not be able to stand on his legs Notwithstanding sith nature feeling her selfe oppressed endeuoureth thus to ease her selfe by expelling those humors that grieue her I wold not wish you suddenly to stop it least som worse inconuenience grow thereof But if you see that the Horse looseth his flesh and waxeth more dul and feeble then he was wont to be then giue him this drinke often experimented by Martin and that shal stop him take of beane-flower and of bole Armony of each a quarterne mingle these things together in a quart of red wine and giue it him lukwarm and let him rest and be kept warme and let him drinke no cold drinke but lukewarm and put therein a little beane flower and let him not drinke but once a day and then not ouer much for the spece of three or foure daies Of the bloody-flixe IT seemeth by the old writers that a horse is also subiect to the bloody Flixe For Absirtus Hierocles and Democritus say all with one voice that the guts of a horse may be so exulcerated that he wil voide bloody matter at his fundament yea and his fundament therwith will fal out which disease they cal Disenteria which is is as much to say as a painful exulceration of the guts vnder the which the old men as it seemeth by the wordes of Hierocles and Absirtus would comprehend the disease called of the Physitians Tenasmus that is to say a desire to
dung often and to do but little and that with great paine And also another disease called Procidentia ani that is to say the falling out of the fundament which the Physitians do account as seueral diseases Notwithstanding for somuch as Dysenteria and Tenasmus do spring both of like causes yea and also for that the falling out of the fundament hath some affinity with them I wil follow mine Authors in ioyning them altogether in this one chapter The Physitians make diuers kindes of bloody-flixe for sometime the fat of the slimy filth which is voided is sprinkled with a little blood sometime the matter that voydeth is mixt with the scraping of the guts and sometime it is waterish bloode like water wherein flesh hath beene washed and sometime blood mixt with melancholy and sometime pure blood and by the mixture of the matter you shall know in mans body whether the vlceration be in the inner smal guts or no if it bee the matter and blood wil be perfectly mixt togither but if it be in the outward guts then they be not mingled together but come out seuerall the blood most commonly following the matter Of this kind is that disease called before Tenasmus for that is an vlcer in the right gut seruing the fundament and doth proceede euen as the Flixe doth of some sharpe humors which being violently driuen and hauing to passe through many crooked and narrow waies do cleaue to the guts and with their sharpenesse fret them causing exulceration and grieuous paine The flixe also may come of some extreame cold heat or moistnesse or by meane of receiuing some violent purgation hauing therein ouer much Scamony or such like violent simple or through weakenesse of the Liuer or other members seruing to digestion Now as touching the falling out of the fundament the Physitians say that it commeth through the resolution or weakenesse of the muscles seruing to draw vp the fundament which resolution may come partly by ouer-much straining and partly they may be loosened by ouermuch moisture for which cause children being ful of moisture are more subiect to this disease then men And for the selfe same cause I thinke that Horsses hauing very moyst bodyes be subiect thereunto Thus hauing shewed you the causes of the diseases before recited I wil shew you the cure prescribed by the old writers Absirtus would haue the fundament on the outside to be cut round about but so as the inward ringe thereof be not touched for that were dangerous and would kil the horse for so much as his fundament would neuer abide within his body and that done he would haue you to giue him to drinke the powder of vnripe Pomgranat shels called in Latine Malicorium together with wine and water which indeede because it is astringent is not to be misliked but as for cutting of the fundament I assure you I cannot iudge what he should meane thereby vnlesse it be to widen the fundament by giuing it long slits or cuts on the outside but well I know that it may cause more paine and greater inflamation And therefore methinkes it were better in this case to follow the Physitians precepts which is first to consider whether the fundament being fallen out bee inflamed or not for if it bee not inflamed then it shall bee good to annoynt it first with Oyle of Roses somewhat warmed or else to wash it with warme red wine But if it be inflamed then to bath it wel first with a spunge dipt in the decoction of Mallowes Camomile Lineseede and Fenegreek and also to annoint it wel with oyle of Camomile and Dill mingled together to asswage the swelling and then to thrust it in againe faire and softly with a soft linnen cloth That done it shall be good to bathe all the place about with red wine wherein hath beene sodden Acatium Galles A corne cups parings of Quinces and such like simples as be astringent and then to throw on some astringent powder made of bole Armony Frankincens Sanguis Draconis Myrrh Acatium and such like yea and also to giue the Horsse this drinke much praised of all the old writers Take of Saffron one ounce of Myrrh two ounces of the hearb called in Latine Abrotonum named in some of our English herbals Sothernwood three ounces of Parsly one ounce of garden Rue otherwise called herb Grace three ounces of Piritheum otherwise called of some people spittlewort and of Isope of each two ounces of Cassia which is like Cynamon one ounce Let al these things be beaten in fine powder then mingled with chalk and strong vineger wrought into paast of which paast make little cakes and dry them in the shadow and being dryed dissolue some of them in a sufficient quantity of barly milk or iuyce called of the old writers and also of the Physitians Cremor Ptisane and giue to the Horse to drinke thereof with a horne for the medicine as the Authors write doth not onely heale the bloody-flixe and the other two diseases before recited but also if it be giuen with a quart of warme water it will heale al griefe and pain in the belly and also of the bladder that commeth for lacke of staling And being giuen with sweete wine it will heale the biting of any Serpent or mad dog Of the Wormes IN a Horsses guts do breed three kindes of wormes euen as there doth in mans body Blundevile though they be not altogether like in shape The first long and round euen like to those that children do most commonly voyde and are called by the generall name wormes The second little worms hauing great heads and small long tailes like a needle and be called Bots. The 3. be short and thick like the end of a mans little finger and therefore be cald Troncheons and though they haue diuers shapes according to the diuersity of the place perhaps where they breed or else according to the figure of the putrified matter whereby they breede yet no doubt they proceede all of one cause that is to say of a raw grosse and flegmatike matter apt to putryfaction ingendred most commonly by foule feeding and as they proceede of one selfe cause so also haue they like signes and like cure The usignes be these The Horse wil forsake his meate for the Troncheons and the Bots wil couet alwaies to the maw and paine him sore He will also lye downe and wallow and standing he will stamp and strike at his belly with his hinder foote and looke often toward his belly The cure according to Martin is thus take of sweet milke a quart of hony a quarterne and giue it him lukewarme and walke him vppe and downe for the space of an houre and so let him rest for that day with as little meate or drinke as may bee and suffer him not to lye downe Then the next day giue him this drinke take of berbe Grace a handful of Sauin as much and being wel stampt put therunto a little
Brimstone and a little foote of a Chimny beaten into fine powder and put all these things together in a quart of wort or Ale and there let them lye in steepe the space of an houre or two then straine it well through a faire cloath and giue it the Horsse to drinke lukewarme then bridle him and walke him vp and downe the space of an houre that done bring him into the stable and let him stand on the bit two or three houres and then giue him a little Hay Laurentius Russius saith that it is good to giue the Horse the warme guts of a young hen with a salt three daies together in the morning and not to let him drinke vntill it bee noone Some say that it is good to ride him hauing his bit first annointed with dung comming hot from the man some againe vse to giue him a quantity of Brimstone and halfe as much Rozen beaten into powder and mingled together with his prouender which he must eate a good while before he drinketh I haue found by often triall that if you giue the horse with a horne a good pretty dishfull of salt brine be it flesh brine or cheese brine it wil kil any of the three kinds of worms and make the horse to auoide them dead in short time after Of Wormes in generall BEsides the Bottes there are other Worms which lie in the great paunch or belly of a Horse and they bee shining of colour like a Snake sixe inches in length Markham great in the midst and sharpe at both endes and as much as a spindle they cause great paine in a Horsses belly as you shall perceiue by his continuall striking of himselfe on the belly with his foot the cure is thus Giue him two or three mornings together new Milke and Garlike boyled together or chopt hay in his prouender either of both will serue it killeth the wormes and maketh them to void Of the paine in the kidneynes MEthinkes that the Kidnies of a Horse should be subiect to as many griefes as the kidnies of a man as to inflamation obstruction Apostumes and Vlcers Blundevile and specially to obstruction that commeth by meanes of some stone or grauell gathered together in the kidnies whereby the Horse cannot stale but with paine for I haue seene diuers horsses my selfe that haue voided much grauell in their stale which without doubt did come from the kidnies but my Authors doe referre such griefes to the bladder and vrine and write of no disease but onely of the inflamation of the kidnies which is called of them Nephritis and so it is cald of the Physitians It commeth as they say by some great straine ouer some ditch or else by bearing some great burthen The signes whereof be these The Horse will go rolling behinde and staggering his stones will shrinke vp and his stale will be blackish and thick I think this disease differeth not from that which we called before the swaying of the back when we talked of the griefes in the backe and loines and therefore resorte thither The cure of this disease according to the best of the old writers is in this sort Bath his backe and loines with wine Oyle and Nitrum warmed together after that you haue so bathed him let him be couered with warme cloathes and stand littered vp to the belly with straw so as he may lye softe and giue him such drinkes as may prouoke Vrine as those that bee made with Dill Fennell Annis Smallage Parsly Spikenard Myrrhe and Cassia Some say it is good to giue him a kind of pulse called Cich with Wine Some againe doe praise Ewes Milke or else Oyle and Deeres sewet molten together and giuen him to drink or the roote of the herbe called Asphodelus Englished by some Daffadill sodden in wine Of the diseases belonging to the bladder and vrine of a Horse HIerocles saith that a horse is subiect to three kinds of diseases incident to the bladder or vrine the firste is called Stranguria the second Dysuria the third Iscuria Stranguria otherwise called in Latine Stillicidium and of our old Ferrers according to the French name Chowdepis is when the horse is prouoked to stale often and voideth nothing but a few droppes which commeth as the physitians say either through the sharpenes of the vrine or by some exulceration of the bladder or else by meanes of some Apostume in the liuer or kidnies which Apostume being broken the matter resorteth downe into the bladder and with the sharpenes thereof causeth a continuall prouocation of pissing Dysuria is when a horse cannot pisse but with great labour and paine which for difference sake I wil cal from hence forth the paine-pisse It may come sometime through the weakenesse of the bladder and colde intemperature thereof and sometime through the abundance of flegmatike and grosse humours stopping the necke of the bladder Ischuria is when the horsse cannot pisse at all and therefore may be called the pissupprest or suppresseion of vrine whether you will methinkes alwaies that the shorter and the more proper the name is the better and more easie it is to pronounce It may come as the Phisitians say by weaknesse of the bladder or for that the Water conduit is stopt with grosse humors or with matter discending from the liuer or kidnies or with the stone yea and sometimes by meanes of some inflammation or hard knobbe growing at the mouth of the conduit or for that the sinnewes of the bladder is nummed so as the bladder is without feeling or it may come by retention and long holding of the water most of which causes Hierocles also reciteth adding thereunto that it may chaunce to a horse thorough ouer-much rest and ydlenes and also by meanes of some extreame cold and especially in winter season for the which warmth of the fire is a present remedy But now mine Authors do not shew for euery one of these three kinds of diseases seuerall signes but onely say that when a horse cannot stale he wil stand as thogh he would stale and thrust out his yard a little and also for very paine stand beating his tail betwixt his thighes Neither do they seeme to appoint seuerall cures but do make a hochpoch mingling them altogither some of them praising one thing and some another For some say it is good to mingle the iuice of leekes with sweete smelling wine and oile together and to his right nostrill and then to walke him vp and downe vpon it and that will make him to stale Some say it is good to giue him Swallage seed or else the root of wilde Fennell sodden with wine to drinke or to put fine sharpe Onions cleane pilled and somewhat brused into his fundament and to chafe him immediately vppon it either by riding him or otherwise and that shall cause him to stale presently It is good also to bath al his back and loines with warme water The scraping of the inward parts of his
owne hooues beaten into powder and mingled with wine and powred into his right nostril will make him to stale if you chafe him vpon it and the rather as Hierocles saith if you carry him to some sheepes coat or other place where sheepe are wont to stand the smel of whose dung and pisse without any other medicine as he saith will prouoke him to stale Some will giue the horsse white Dogges dung dried and mingled with salt wine and Amoniacum to drinke some hogges dunge onely with Wine and some the dregges of horse-pisse with wine and many other medicines which I leaue to rehearse for feare of being too tedious and especially sith Martins experience doeth follow heere at hand agreeing in all points with Laurentius Russius cure which is in this sort First draw out his yard and wash it well in white wine and scoure it well because it will be many times stopped with durt and other baggage togither and hardned like a stone and then put a little oile of Cammomile into the conduit with a wax candle and a brused cloue of Garlick and that will prouoke him to stale And if that will not helpe Take of Parsly two handfuls of Coriander one handfull stampe them and straine them with a quart of white wine and dissolue therein one ounce of cake-Sope and giue it luke warme vnto the horse to drinke and keepe him as warme as may be and let him drinke no cold water for the space of fiue or six dayes and when you would haue him to stale let it be eyther vpon plenty of strawe or vpon some greene plot or els in a sheeps coat the sauor whereof wil greatly prouoke him to stale as hath bin aforesaid Of pissing blood PElagonius saith that if a horse be ouermuch laboured or ouercharged with heauy burthen or ouer fat he will many times pisse blood and the rather as I thinke for that some vaine is broken within the horses body and then cleere blood will come forth many times as the Physitians say without any pisse at all But if the blood be perfectly mingled togither with his stale then it is a signe that it commeth from the kidnies hauing some stone therein which through vehement labour doeth fret the kidnies and vaines thereof and so cause them to bleed through which while the vrine passeth must needs be infected and died with the blood It may come also by some stripe or from the muscle that incloseth the necke of the bladder The cure according to Pelagonius Absirtus Hierocles and the rest is thus Let the horse blood in the palate of the mouth to conuert the blood the contrary way then take of Tragagant that hath been steeped in wine halfe an ounce and of Poppy seede one dram and once scruple and of Stirax as much and twelue Pineaple kirnels let all these things be beaten and mingled wel togither and giue the horse thereof euery morning the space of seauen daies the quantity of a hasell-nut distempered in a quart of wine methinkes that the quantity of a Walnut were too little for so much wine Some write that it is good to make him a drinke with the root of the hearbe Asphopelus which some call Daffadil mingled with wheat flower and Sumach sodden long in water and so to bee giuen the horse with some wine added thereunto or make him a drinke of Goats milk and oile straining thereunto a little Fromenty Anatolius saith that it good to giue the horse three daies togither sodden beanes cleane pilled whereunto would be added some Deeres sewet and a little wine Of the Colt euill Blundevile THis name Colt euil in my iudgement doeth properly signifie that disease which the physitians cal Priapismus which is a continual standing together with an vnnatural swelling of the yarde proceeding of some winde filling the artires and hollow sinnew or pipe of the yard or else through the abundance of seed which do chance oftentimes to man and I think sometime to stoned horses Notwithstanding Martin saith that the colt euil is a swelling of the sheathe of the yard and part of the belly thereabout caused of corrupt seed comming out of the yard and remaining within the sheath where it putrifieth And geldings most commonly are subiect to this disease not being able for lacke of natural heat to expel their seed any further For horses as Martin saith are sieldome troubled with this disease because of their heat vnlesse it be when they haue beene ouer trauailed or otherwise weakened The cure according to him is thus Wash the sheath cleane within with Luke-warme Vineger then draw out his yard and wash that also that done ride him into some running streame vppe to the belly tossing him therein too and fro to alay the heat of the members and vse him thus two or three daies and hee shal be whole Another of the Colt euill THe Colt euill is a disease that commeth to stoned horses through rankenes of nature and want of vent it appeareth in his cod and sheathe which wil swell exceedingly Markham the cure is nothing for if you wil but euery day twice or thrice driue him to the mid-side in some Pond or running riuer the swelling will fall and the horse wil doe wel If the horse be of yeeres and troubled with this griefe if you put him to a Mare it is not amisse for standing stil in a stable without exercise is a great occasion of this disease Of the mattering of the yard IT commeth at couering time when the horse and mare both are ouer-hot and so perhaps burne themselues The cure according to Martin is thus Take a pinte of white wine and boile therein a quarterne of roche Alome and squirt thereof into his yarde three or foure squirtfuls one after another and thrust the squirt so far as the liquor may pierce to the bottome to scowre away the bloody matter continuing thus to do once a day vntil he be whole Of the shedding of seed THis disease is called of the Physitians Gonorrhea Blundevile which may come sometime thorough aboundance and rankenesse of seed and sometime by the weakenes of the stones and seed vessels not able to retaine the seed vntill it be digested and thickned Vegetius saith that this disease will make the horse very faint and weake and especially in Summer season For cure whereof the said Vegetius would haue the horse to be ridden into some cold water euen vp to the belly so as his stones may bee couered in water and then his fundament being first bathed with warme water and oile he would haue you to thrust in your hand and arme euen to the very bladder and softly to rubbe and claw the same and the parts thereabouts which be the seed vessels that done to couer him warm that he take no cold and euery day he woulde haue you to giue the horse hogges dung to drinke with red wine vntil he be whole I for my part if I
thought it came of weakenes as is aforesaide which I would iudge by the waterishnesse of the seed and vnlustines of the horse would giue him red wine to drinke and put therein a little Acatium the iuyce of Plantaine and a little Masticke and bath his backe with redde Wine and oyle of Roses mingled togither Of the falling of the yard IT commeth as I take it through the weakenes of the member by meanes of some resolution in the muscles and sinnewes seruing the same caused at the first perhaps by some great straine or stripe on the backe It may come also by wearines and tiring For remedy whereof Absirtus was wont to wash the yard with salt water from the sea if it may be gotten and if not with water and salt and if that preuailed not he would al to pricke the outmost skinne of the yard with a sharpe needle but not deepe and then wash all the prickes with strong Vineger and that did make the horse as he saith to draw vp his yarde againe immediately yea and this also will remedy the falling out of the fundament Pelagonius would haue you to put into the pipe of his yard hony and salt boiled togither and made liquid or else a quicke fly or a graine of Frankencense or a cloue of Garlicke clean pilled and somewhat brused and also to powre on his back oile wine Nitre made warm and mingled togither But Martins experience is in this sort First wash the yarde with warm white wine and then anoint it with oyl of Roses and hony mingled togither and put it vp into the sheath and make him a cod-peece of Canvas to keepe it still vp and dresse him thus euery day once vntil it be whole And in any case let his backe be kept warme either with a dubble cloath or else with a charge made of bole Armonie Egges wheate-flower Sanguis Draconis Turpentine and Vineger or els lay on a wet sacke which being couered with another dry cloath wil keepe his backe very warme Of the swelling of the Cod and stones ABsirtus saith that the inflammation and swelling of the cod and stones commeth by meanes of some wound or by the stinging of some Serpent or by fighting one horse with another For remedy whereof hee was woont to bath the cod with water wherein hath beene sodden the roots of wilde Cucumber and salt and then to annoint it with an ointment made of Cerusa oile Goates greace and the white of an Egge Some againe would haue the cod to be bathed in warme Water Nitrum and Vineger togither and also to be annointed with an ointment made of chalke or of potters earth Oxe dung cumin Water and Vineger or else to be annointed with the iuice of the herb Solanum called of some night-shade or with the iuyce of Hemblocke growing on dunghils yea and also to be let bloud in the flankes But Martin saith that the swelling of the cods commeth for the most part after some sicknesse or surfetting with colde and then it is a signe of amendment The cure according to his experience is in this sort First let him blood on both sides the flanke veines Then take of oile of Roses of Vineger of each halfe a pinte and halfe a quarterne of Bole Armony beaten to powder Mingle them togither in a cruse and being luke-warme annoint the cods therewith with two or three feaâ—hers bound togither and the next day ride him into the water so as his coddes may be within the water giuing him two or three turnes therein and so returne faire and softly to the stable and when he is dry annoint him againe as before continuing thus to do euery day once vntil they be whole The said Martin saith also the cods may be swollen by meanes of some hurt or euil humors resorting into the Cod and then he would haue you couer the cods with a charge made of Bole Armony and Vineger wrought togither renewing it euery day once vntil the swelling go away or that it breake of it selfe and if it breake then taint it with Mel Rosatum and make him a breech of Canuas to keepe it in renewing the taint euery day once vntil it be whole Of incording and brusing THis terme incording is borrowed of the Italian word Incordato which in plain English is as much to say as bursten Blundevile and might be more rightly tearmed of vs vncodded For when a horse is bursten his guts falleth downe into the cod making it to swell The Italians as I take it did cal it Incordato because the gut followes the string of the stone called of them Ilcordone or Lachorda whereof Incordato seemes to be deriued with some reason According to which reason we should cal it rather instringhed than inchorded for Chorda doth signifie a string or chord Notwithstanding sith that incording is already receiued in the stable I for my part am very well content therewith minding not to contend against it But now you haue to note that either man or beast may be bursten diuersly and according to the names of the partes greeued the Physitians doe giue it diuers names for you shall vnderstande that next vnto the thicke outward skinne of the belly there is also another inward thin skin couering al the muscles the Caule and the guts of the belly called of the Anatomists Peritoneum which skin commeth from both partes and sides of the backe and is fastened to the midriffe aboue and also to the bottome of the belly beneath to keepe in al the contents of the neather belly And therefore if the skin be broken or ouer sore strained or stretched then either some part of the caule or guts slippeth downe sometime into the cod sometime not so farre If the gut slip downe into the cod then it is called of the Physitians by the Greek name Enterocele that is to say gut-bursten But if the caule fall downe into the cod then it is called of the Physitians Epiplocele that is to say Caule-bursten But either of the diseases is most properlie incident to the male kind for the femal kind hath no cod Notwithstanding they may be so bursten as either gut or caule may fal downe into their natures hanging there like a bag But if it fal not downe so lowe but remaineth aboue nigh vnto the priuy members or flankes which place is called of the Latines Inguen then of that place the bursting is called of the physitians Bubonocele whereunto I knowe not what English name to giue vnlesse I should cal it flanke-bursten Moreouer the cod or flanke may bee sometime swollen by meanes of some waterish humour gathered together in the same which is called of the physitians Hydrocele that is to say water-bursten and sometime the cod may be swollen by meanes of some hard peece of flesh cleauing to the thin skins or panicles of the stones and then it is called of the physitians Sarcocele that is to say flesh-bursten But forasmuch as
none of mine Authors Martin nor anie other Ferrer in these daies that I knowe haue intermedled with anie kind of bursting but onely with that wherein the gut falleth downe into the cod leauing all the rest apart I wil onely talke of this and that according to Martins experience which I assure you differeth not much from the precepts of the old writers But first you shal vnderstand that the gut bursten and flanke bursten doth proceed both of one cause that is to say by meanes that the skinne called before Peritoneum is either sore strained or else broken either by some stripe of another horse or els by some strain in leaping ouer an hedge ditch or pale or otherwise yea and many times in passing a carier through the carelesnes of the rider stoping the horse sodenly without giuing warning wherby the horse is forced to cast his hinder legs abroad so straineth or bursteth the skin aforesaid by meanes whereof the gut falleth downe into the cod The signes be these The horse will forsake his meat and stand shoring and leanning alwaies on that side that he is hurt and on that side if you search with your hande betwixt the stone and the thigh vpward to the body and somewhat aboue the stone you shall find the gut it selfe big and hard in the feeling whereas on the other side you shal find no such thing The cure according to Martin is thus Bring the horse into some house or place that hath ouer head a strong balk or beame going ouerthwart and strew that place thicke with strawe then put on foure pasternes with foure ringes on his feete and then fasten the one end of a long rope to one of those Ringes then thread all the other rings with the loose end of the Rope and so drawe all his foure feete togither and cast him on the straw That done cast the rope ouer the baulke and hoise the horse so as he may lye flatte on his backe with his legs vpward without struggling Then bath his stones well with warme Water and Butter molten togither and the stones being somewhat warme and wel mollified raise them vp from the body with both your hands being closed by the fingers fast togither and holding the stones in your hands in such manner worke downe the gut into the body of the horse by striking it downward continually with your two thumbs one labouring immediately after another vntill you perceiue that side of the stone to bee so so smal as the other and hauing so discorded that is to say returnd the gut into his right place take a list of two fingers broad throughly annointed with fresh butter and tie his stones both togither with the same so nigh as may bee not ouer hard but so as you may put your finger betwixt That done take the horse quietly down and lead him faire and softly into the stable whereas he must stand warme and not be stirred for the space of 3. weekes But forget not the next day after his discording to vnloosen the list and to take it away and as wel at that time as euery day once or twice after to cast a dish or two of cold water vp into his cods and that wil cause him to shrinke vppe his stones and thereby restraine the gut from falling downe and at the three weekes end be sure it were not amisse to geld the stone on that side away so shall he neuer be encorded againe on that side But let him not eat much nor drinke much and let his drinke be alwayes warme Of the botch in the graines of a horse IF a horse be full of humours and then suddenly laboured the humours will resort into the weakest parts and there gather together and breede a botch and especially in the hinder parts betwixt the thighes not farre from the cods The signes be these The hinder legges wil be al swollen and especially from the houghes vpwarde and if you feele with your hand you shal find a great kind of swelling and if it be round and hard it wil gather to a head The cure according to Martin is thus First ripe it with a plaister take of Wheat-flower of Turpentine and of hony of each like quantity stirring it together to make a stiffe plaister and with a cloth lay it vnto the sore renewing it euery day once vntil it breake or waxe soft and then launce it as the matter may runne downeward Then taint it with Turpentine and Hogges greace moulten togither renewing it euery daye once vntil it be whole Of the diseases incident to the wombe of a Mare and specially of barrennesse IT seemeth by some writers that the wombe of a Mare is subiect to certaine diseases though not so many as the wombe of a Woman as to ascent descent falling out convulsion barrennesse aborsment yea Aristotle and others do not let to write that menstrual blood doth naturally void from the Mare as from the Woman though it bee so little in quantity as it cannot be well perceiued But sith none of mine Authors haue written thereof to any purpose nor any Ferrer of this time that I knowe haue had any experience in such matters I wil passe them all ouer with silence sauing barrennes whereof I promised before in his due place to declare vnto you the causes and such kind of cure for the same as the old writers haue taught A Mare then may be barren through the vntemperatenesse of the wombe or matrix aswell for that it is too hot and fiery or else to cold and moist or too dry or else too short or too narrow or hauing the necke thereof turned awry or by meanes of some obstruction or stopping in the matrix or for that the mare is too fat or too leane and many times mares goe barren for that they be not well horsed Wel the cure of barrennesse that commeth through the fault of the matrixe or wombe according to the old writers is thus Take a good handful of Leekes stamp them in a morter with halfe a glasseful of wine then put thereunto twelue Flies called of the Apothecaries Cantharides of diuers colours if they may be gotten then straine altogether with a sufficient quantity of water to serue the mare therewith two daies together by powring the same into her nature with a horn or glister-pipe made of purpose and at the end of three daies next following offer the horse vnto her that should couer her and immediately after that she is couered wash her nature twice together with cold water Another receipt for the same purpose TAke of Nitrum of sparrowes dung and Turpentine of each a like quantitye well wrought together and made like a suppository and put that into her nature and it wil cause her to desire the horse and also to conceiue Hippocrates saith that it is good also to put a nettle into the horses mouth that should couer her Of the Itch Scabbe and manginesse in the taile and falling
garter him aboue the houghes and then force him to go awhile to put him in a heat and being somewhat warme let him bloode in the thigh vaines reseruing of that blood a pottle to make him a charge in this sort Put vnto that blood of Wheat-flower and of Beane-flower of each a quarter of a pecke of Bole Armony one pound of Sanguis Draconis two ounces six Egges shels and al of Turpentine halfe a pound of Vineger a quart Mingle al these thinges togither and therewith charge both his hinder Legges his Reynes and Flankes al against the haire And if the horse cannot dung lette him be raked and giue him this glister take of Mallowes three handfuls and boile them wel in faire Water from a pottle to a quart Then straine it and put thereunto halfe a pounde of Butter and of Sallet Oyle a quarter of a pinte and hauing emptied his belly giue him also this drinke to comforte him take of Malmesie a quart and put thereunto a little Cinamon Mace and Pepper beaten into fine powder and of Oyle a quarter of a pinte and giue the horse to drinke of that Luke-warme with a horne That don let him be walked vp and downe a good while togither if he be able to go if not then tie him vp to the racke and let him be hanged with Canuas and ropes so as he may stand vppon the ground with his feet For the lesse he lieth the better and pare his hinder feet thin vntill the deaw come out and tacking on the shooes againe stoppe the hooues with bran and hogs greace boiled togither and let both his feet hauing this geere in it be wrapped vp in a cloath euen to his pasternes and there tie the clout fast Let his diet be thinne and let him drinke no colde water and giue him in winter wet hay and in Summer grasse Of the dry Spauen Blundevile THe dry Spauin called of the Italians Spauano or Sparauagno is a great hard knob as big as a Walnut growing in the inside of the hough hard vnder the ioynt nigh vnto the maister vaine and causeth the horse to halt which sorance commeth by kind because the horses parents perhaps had the like disease at the time of his generation and sometime by extreame labour and heat dissoluing humors which do descend thorough the maister vaine continually feeding that place with euil nutriment and causeth that place to swel Which swelling in continuance of time becommeth so hard as a bone and therefore is called of some the bone-Spauen It needeth no signes or tokens to knowe it because it is very much apparant to the eie and therefore most Ferrers doe take it to be incurable Notwithstanding Martin saith that it may bee made lesse with these remedies heere following Wash it with warme water and shaue off the haire so farre as the swelling extendeth and scarifie the place so as it may bleed Then take of Cantharides one dozen of Euforbium halfe a spoonefull breake them into powder and boile them togither with a little oile de Bay and with two or three feathers bound togither put it boiling hot vpon the sore and let his taile be tyed vp for wiping away the medicine and then within halfe an houre after set him vp in the stable and tie him so as he may not lie downe al the night for feare of rubbing off the medicine and the next day annoint it with fresh butter continuing thus to do euery day once the space of fiue or sixe daies and when the haire is growne againe draw the sore place with a hot yron Then take another hot sharpe yron like a Bodkin somewhat bowing at the point and thruste it in at the neather end of the middle-line and so vppeward betwixt the skinne and the flesh to the compasse of an inch and a halfe And then taint it with a little Turpentine and Hogges-greace moulten together and made warme renewing it euery day once the space of nine daies But remember first immediately after his burning to take vppe the maister vaine suffering him to bleed a little from aboue and tie vp the vper end of the vaine and leaue the neather end open to the intent that hee may bleede from beneath vntil it cease it selfe and that shal diminish the Spauen or else nothing wil do it Of the Spauen both bone and blood DOubtlesse a Spauen is an euil sorance and causeth a horse to hault principally in the beginning of his griefe Markham it appeareth on the hinder Legges within and against the ioynt and it will bee a little swolne and some horses haue a thorough Spauen which appeareth both within and without Of the Spauen there are two kindes the one hard the other soft That is a bone-Spauen and a blood-Spauen for the bone-Spauen I holde it harde to cure and therefore the lesse necessary to be dealt withal except very great occasion vrge and thus it may be holpen Cast the horse and with a hot yron slitte the flesh that couereth the Spauen and then lay vpon the Spauen Cantharides and Euforbium boyled together in oile de Bay and annoint his legges round about either with the oile of Roses and with Vngueâ—tum album camphiratum Dresse him thus for three daies togither then afterwarde take it awaye and for three daies more lay vnto it onely vpon Flaxe and vnsleact lime then afterward dresse it with Tarre vntil it be whole The Cantharides and Euforbium wil eat kil the spungy bone the lime wil bring it clean away and the Tarre wil sucke out the poison and heale al vp sound but this cure is dangerous for if the incision be done by an vnskilful man and he either by ignorance or by the swaruing of his hand burne in twaine the great vaine that runnes crosse the Spauen then the horse is spoiled Now for the blood Spauen that is easily helpt for I haue knowne diuers which haue beene but newly beginning helpt onely by taking vppe the Spauen vaine and letting it bleed wel beneath and then stop the wound with Sage and Salt but if it be a great blood Spauen then with a sharpe knife cut it as you burnt the bone Spauen and take the Spauen away then heale it vp with Hogges-greace and Turpentine onely Of the wet Spauen or through Spauen THis is a soft swelling growing on both sides of the hough and seemes to goe cleane through the hough and therefore may bee called a through Spauen But for the most part the swelling is on the inside because it is continually fed of the master vain is greater than the swelling on the outside The Italians cal this sorance Laierda or Gierdone which seemeth to come of a more fluxible humor and not so viscous or slimy as the other Spauen doeth and therefore this waxeth not so harde nor groweth to the nature of a bone as the other doeth and this is more curable then the other It needes no signes because it is apparant
to the eie and easie to know by the description thereof before made The cure according to Martin is thus Firste wash shaue and scarifie the place as before Then take of Cantharides halfe an ounce of Euforbium an ounce broken to powder Oyle de Bay one ounce mingle them wel together colde without boiling them and dresse the sore therewith two daies togither and euery day after vntil the haire be growne againe annoint it with fresh Butter Then fire him both without and within as before without tainting him and immediately take vp the maister veine as before and then for the space of nine daies annoint him euery daye once with Butter vntil the fiered place beginne to scale and then wash it with this bath Take of Mallowes three handfuls of Sage one handful and as much of red nettles boile them in water vntil they be soft and put thereunto a litle fresh butter and bath the place euery day once for the space of three or foure daies and vntil the burning be whole let the horse come in no wet Of the Selander THis is a kind of scab breeding in the ham which is the bent of the hough and is like in al points to the Malander proceeding of like causes and requireth like cure and therefore resort to the Malander Of the hough boonie or hard knob THis is a round swelling boony like a Paris bal growing vpon the tippe or elbow of the hough and therefore I thought good to cal it the hough-boonie This sorance commeth of some stripe or bruse and as Martin saith is cured thus Take a round hot yron somewhat sharpe at the ende like a good bigge bodkin and let it be somewhat bending at the point Then holding the sore with your left hande pulling it somewhat from the sinnewes pierce it with the yron being first made red hot thrusting it beneath in the bottome and so vpward into the belly to the intent that the same ielly may yssue downeward out at the hole and hauing thrust out al the ielly taint the hole with a tainte of Flaxe dipt in Turpentine and Hogges greace moulten together and also annointe the out-side with Hogges greace made warme renewing it euery daye once vntill the hole be ready to shut vp making the taint euery day lesser and lesser to the intent it may heale vp Of the Curbe Blundevile THis is a long swelling beneath the Elbow of the hough in the great sinnewe behind and causeth the horse to halt after that he hath been a while laboured and thereby somewhat heated For the more the sinnew is strained the greater griefe which againe by his rest is eased This commeth by bearing some great weight when the horse is younge or else by some straine or wrinch whereby the tender sinnewes are greeued or rather bowed as Russsius saith whereof it is called in Italian Curba a Curuando that is to say of bowing for anguish whereof it doth swel which swelling is apparant to the eie and maketh that legge to shew bigger than the other The cure according to Martin is thus Take of wine-Leeze a pinte a porringer ful of Wheat flower of Cumin halfe an ounce and stirre them well togither and being made warme charge the sore 3. or 4. daies and when the swelling is almost gone then draw it with a hot yron and couer the burning with Pitch and Rozen moulten together and lay it on good and warme and clap thereon some flockes of his owne colour or so nigh as may be gotten and remoue them not vntil they fal away of themselues And for the space of nine daies let the horsse rest and come in no wet Another of the Curbe Markham A Curbe is a sorance that maketh a horse to halt much and it appeares vpon his hinder legges straight behind vpon the cambrell place and a little beneath the Spauen and it wil be swolne as big as halfe a Walnut the cure followeth Take a small cord and bind his legges hard aboue it and beneath it then beat it and rub it with a heauy sticke til it growe soft then with a fleame strike it in three or foure places and with your thumbes crush out the filthy brused matter then loose the corde and annoint it with Butter vntil it be whole Of the paines Blundevile THis is a kinde of scabbe called in Italian Crappe which is full of fretting matterish water and it breedeâ—h in the pasternes for lacke of cleane keeping and good rubbing after the horse hath beene iournied by means wherof the sand dirt remaining in the haire fretteth the skin and flesh and so breedeth a scab And therefore those horses that haue long haire and are rough about the feet are soonest troubled with this disease if they be not the cleanlier kept The signes be these His legs wil bee swollen and hot and water wil yssue out of the scab which water his hot and fretting as it wil scalde off the haire and breed scabs so farre as it goeth The cure according to Martin is thus First wash wel al the pasternes with Beere and Butter warmed togither and his legs being somewhat dried with a cloth clip away al the haire sauing the fewter lockes Then take of Turpentine of Hogges-greace of hony of each like quantity mingle them togither in a pot and put thereunto a little Bole Armony the yelkes of two Egges and as much Wheat-flower as wil thicken the things aforesaid and make it plaister-like and for that cause it had need to be very wel wrought and stirred togither Then with a slice strike some of the plaister vpon such a peece of linnen cloath as wil serue to go round about the pasterne and bind it fast on with a rowler renewing it once a day vntil it be whole and let not the horse be trauelled nor stand wet Another of the paines PAines is a sorance that commeth of hot ill humors of il keeping it appeareth in the Fetlockes Markham and wil swel in the Winter time and wil send foorth a sharpe water the haire wil stare and the cure is thus Wash them euery day twice or thrice with gun-pouder and Vineger and they wil be whole in one weeke at the most Of Mules or kibed heeles called of the Italians Mule THis is a kind of scab breeding behind somewhat aboue the neather ioynt growing ouerthwat the fewterlock which commeth most commonly for being bred in cold ground or else for lack of good dressing after that he hath bin labored in foule mire and dirty waies which durt lying stil in his legs fretteth the skin and maketh scabby rifts which are soone bred but not so soone gotten away The anguish wherof maketh his legs somtime to swell and specially in winter and spring time and then the horse goeth very stifly and with great pain The sorance is apparant to the eie and is cured according to Martin in this sort Take a piece of linnen cloth and with the salue
haire and not against the haire in what forme and in what manner of lines hath beene taught you before for those must be made either long short deepe shallow right-crooked or ouer-thwart according as the disease doeth require you haue learned also how to alay the heat of the fire after such drawing And therfore I haue no more to say heere but onely to admonish you acccording to Vegetius precepts not to fire anie sinnewie place nor bone that is broken or out of iointe for feare of weakening the whole member nor to bear so heauy or vneuen hand as you should thereby deforme or misfashion any part of the horse nor be too hasty in giuing the fire but to attempt first all other conuenient remedies and when nothing else will helpe to make the fire your last refuge and yet not so much to neglect it and abhorre it like the ignoraunt sort as you will not vse it when need requireth for lack whereof many horses go lame and vncured of diuers diseases Pâ—â—ctise your selus therefore in giuing the fire at needful times with iudgement and discretion so shall you do it to the horses benefit and to your owne great praise and profit Of Cauteries potentiall CAuteries potentiall as Iohannes Vigo saith are medicines Corosiue Putrifactiue and Causticke This word Corosiue is deriued of the Latine word Corrodo which is as much to saie as to gnaw and frette and of such Corosiues some be simple and some compounde The simple as Vigo saith be such as these be Roche Alum as well burnte as not burnt spunge of the Sea somewhat burnt Lime redde corall powder of Mercury Compound corosiues be these Vnguentum Apostolorum Vnguentum aegyptiacum Vnguentum Ceraceum Medicines putrifactiue called of the learned sort Septica according to Auicen be those that haue strength to corrupte the complexion of the member and to induce any scarre like dead flesh causing great pain yea and Feuers therefore ought not to be ministred but to strong bodies and in strong diseases as in Carbuncles Cankers Vlcers and such like and they bee these Arsenicke sublimat resalgar and other medicines compound therwith Siluius also addeth thereunto Sandaraca Chrysocolla and Aconitum but he doth not agree with Auicen in the description of the putrifactiue medicines For he saith that they haue little paine or none neither bee they so hot and drie as those that are called Escharotica that is to say crustiue which be hot in the forth degree and do breed a crust and scarre and cause great paine as vnslect lime and the burned dregges of wine wherefore it seemeth that Auicens description belongeth rather to the crustiue than to the putrifactiue medicines Notwithstanding I must needs say that our Chirurgions and also Ferrers do find both Arsenicke and Resalgar to be so sharpe hotte and burning things as when they minister the same to any part of the body they are forced to alay the sharpenesse thereof the chirurgians with the iuyce of Plantaine or Daffadill or else of House-leeke the Ferrers with Hogges-greace Medicines causticke that is to say burning are those whose operation are most strong and inclineth to the natute of the fire and yet more easily alayed as Vigo writeth than the medicines putrifactiue and therefore may be more safely vsed They bee made as he saith of strong lie called Capitellum or Magistra of Vitriolae Romanae Sal Nitri Aqua fortis of this sort be al those which Vigo calleth the blistering medicines as Apium Cantharides Ciclamine Onions strong Garlicke Melanacardinum the stones or graines of Vitis alba otherwise called Brione Moreouer Vigo maketh euery one of these cauteries potentiall to excel one another as it were by certaine degrees saying that corosiues bee weaker then putrifactiues and putrifactiues be weaker then causticke and therefore corosiues worke in the vpper part and in soft flesh Putrifactiues in hard flesh and deepe But caustickes haue power to breake the skin in hard flesh and do enter most deepely The vse of the moste part of which thinges haue beene taught you before in sundry places according to Martins experience And therefore I leaue to trouble you any further wishing you that are desirous to know any more of those matters to read Taugantius writing De piroticis And Siluius de medicamentorum compositione And Iohn Vigo writing of surgerie Englished but few yeares since But the old writers so farre as I can iudge by the wordes of Absirtus and others that write or horseleachcraft do applie this worde causticke to such medicines as are astrictiue and binding called of Martin and other Ferrers in these daies binding charges as may well appeare by the composition and vse heere following recited by Vegetius in this sort The receipt of a Causticke vsed by Chiron to dry vp the superfluous moisture and to bind parts loosened and to strengthen parts weakened TAke of Bitumen Iudaicum two pounde of Bitumen Apolonij two pounde of the purest part of Frankencense six ounce of Bdellium Arabicum two ounces of Deares sewet 2. pound of Populeum two ounces of Galbanum two ounces of the drops of Storax two ounces of common wax two pound of Resin Gabial one pounde of Viscus Italicus three ounces of Apoxima two ounces of the iuice of hipsop two ounces of the drops of Armoniake two ounces of pitch one pound Another Causticke vsed by Pelagonius to dry vp swellings Bladders Windgals and splents in the Legges and ioynts TAke virgin wax one pound of Rozen two pound and a halfe of Galbanum three ounces of Asphaltum Iudaicum two pound of Mirrhe secondary two pounde of Bitumen one pound of Armoniacke six ounces of Costus six ounces Boile all these things together in an earthen pot sauing the Asphaltum Armoninack Costum which being first ground like fine flower must be added vnto the other thinges and after that they haue been boiled and cooled and then boiled al together againe and well stirred so as they may bee incorporated together and made all one substance These kindes of emplaisters or ointmentes ought in my iudgement to be so called as I said before rather binding charges than causlike medicines because there be no such extreame corosiue or burning simples in these as are before recited Notwithstanding I refer my iudgment to those that be better lerned and so end for being ouer tedious For if I would I could take very good occasion heere to speake of diuers others other medicines whereof some are called Anodina easing paine and griefe Martin calleth them Linoges which are made of Lineseede Cammomile soft greace and such like things as are hot in the first degree some againe are called Narcotica that is to say astonying or bringing to sleepe as those that are made of Opium Mandragoâ—a Popie and such like cold and grosse things And some are called Sarcotica that is breeding flesh as Barly flower and Frankencense And many other kinds of emplaisters ointments waters and salues which would
horse they will be so venemous and full of poison that if a man or woman be smitten or pricked therewith Rasius they wil neuer cease from bleeding as long as life doth last If a horse be wounded with an arrow and haue the sweat of another horse and bread which hath bene brent being mingled in mans Vrine giuen him to drink and afterwards some of the same being mingled with horse-grease put into the wounde it will in short time procure him ease and helpe There are some which wil assure vs that if a man be troubled with the belly wormes or haue a Serpent crept into his belly if hee take but the sweate of a horse being mingled with his vrine and drinke it it will presently cause the wormes or the Serpent to yssue forth Dioscorides Pliny The dung of a horse or Asse which is fedde with grasse being dried and afterward dipped in wine and so drunke is a very good remedy against the bitings and blowes of Scorpions The same medicines they doe also vse being mingled with the genital of a Hare in Vineger both against the Scorpion and against the shrew-mouse The force is so great in the poyson of a madde Dogge or Bitch that his pargeted Vrine doth much hurt especially vnto them that haue a sore bile vpon them the chiefest remedy therefore against the same is the dung of a horse mingled with Vineger and being warmed put into the scab or sore The dung aswel of Asses as of horses either raw colde or burned is excellent good against the breaking forth or yssues of the blood Marcellus The dung of Horses or Asses being newe made or warme and so clapped and put to a green wound doth very easily and speedily stanche the bleeding If the vaine of a horse bee cut and the blood doe yssue out in too great aboundance apply the dung of the same horse vnto the place where the veine is cut Russius and the bleeding wil presently cease wherefore the poet doth very wel expresse it in these verses following Pellâ—ganius Sine fimus manni cum testis vritur oui Et reprimit fluidos miro medicamine cursus Albertus The same doth also very wel driue away the corruption in mens body which doth cause the blood to stinke if it be well and iustly applyed vnto the corrupt place The same also beeing mingled with oyle of Roses Aesâ—ulapius and new made and so applied vnto the eares doeth not onely driue away the paine but also doth very much helpe for hearing There is another remedy also for the hearing which is this to take the dunge of a horse which is new made and to make it hot in a furnace Marcellus and then to poure it on the middle of the heade against the Vâ—â—la and afterward to tie the aforesaid dunge in a linnen or wollen cloath vnto the toppe of the head in the night time Pliny The dung of a young Asse when he is first foaled giuen in Wine to the quantity or magnitude of a Beane is a present remedy for eyther man or Woman who is troubled with the Iaundice or the ouer-flowing of the gall and the same property hath the dung of a younge horse or Colte when hee is new foaled But the dunge of an olde horse being boiled in faire water Sextus and afterward strained and so giuen to the party to drinke who is troubled with Water in his belly or stomacke doth presently make vent for the same There is also an excellent remedy against the Collicke and stone which is this to take a handfull of the dung of a horse which hath bene fedde with Oates and Barley and not with grasse Empiricâ—s and mingle verye vvell it with halfe a pinte of Wine all which I do gesse will amount vnto the waight of eighteene ounces and then boyle them altogether vntil halfe of them bee boyled or consumed away and then drinke the same by little and little vntil it bee all drunke vp but it will be much better for the party that is troubled to drinke it vp altogether if he be able There is moreouer a very good and easie way by horse-dung to cure the Ague or quarterne feauer which is thus to burne the aforesaid dung Marcellus and to mingle the very dust it selfe thereof in old wine and then beat it vnto small powder and so giue it vnto the party who is troubled therewith to drinke or suck without any water in it and this wil very speedily procure ease and helpe If that a woman supposeth her childe which is in hir wombe to be dead Pliny let her drinke the milt or spleene of a horse in some sweet water not to the smel but to the tast and she wil presently cast the childe The same vertue is in the perfume which is made of a horses hoof as also in the dry dung of a horse There are some which do vse this means against the falling sicknes or the sicknes called Saint Iohns euil Plinyus that is to mingle the water or vrine which a horse doth make with the water which commeth from the Smiths trough and so to giue it the party in a potion There is a very good helpe for cattell which do void blood through their Nostrils or secret parts which is this Empiricus to make a paast of Wheat-flower and beat it and mingle it togither with Butter and Egges in the vrine of a horse which hath lately drunke and afterward to giue that paast or poultes baked euen into ashes to the beast so grieued To prouoke vrine when a mans yard is stopt there is nothing so excellent as the dung or filthe which proceedeth from the vrine which a horse hath made being mingled with wine and then strained and afterwards poured into the nostrils of the party so vexed There are certaine Tetters or Ring-wormes in the knees of horses and a little aboue the hooues in the bending of these parts there are indurate and hardned thicke skins Dioscorides which being beaten into small powder and mingled with Vineger and so drunke are an exceeding good preseruatiue against the falling sicknes Galen the same is also a very good remedy for them which are bitten with any wilde Beast whatsoeuer By the Tetter or Ring-worme which groweth in a horses knees or aboue the hoofes beaten and mingled with oyle and so poured in the eares the teeth of either man or woman which were weake and loose will be made very strong and fast The aforesaid Tetter without any mingling with oyle pliny doth also heal and cure the head-ache and falling sicknes in either man or woman The same also being drunk out of Clarret Wine or Muscadel for forty daies togither doeth quite expel and driue away the collicke and stone If that any man do get and putte vp the shooe of a horse beeing stroake from his hoofe as he trauaileth in his pace
rid himselfe from danger of death by leaping vpon his back and taking fast hold on his hornes whereby he escapeth In the house of Pompey where the memorable forrest of Gordianus was painted there were amonge other beastes two hundred Ibices which Pompey gaue vnto the people at the day of his tryumph for to make spoile thereof at their owne pleasure The medicines of the Ibex Some do commend the blood of the Ibex to be a very good remedy against the stone of the bladder being vsed in this manner first they deuide it in partes and put one part of the blood and about some sixe parts of wine Apiat and Hony mixed together and doe boile them both together lukewarme and afterwardes they reserue it in a cleane vessell and the third day in the morning they giue it vnto the party to drinke who is grieued and then they put him into a Bath about noone time and in the euening and this order is to obserued for three daies together for it will come to passe that in that space the stone will be dissolued and turned into sand or grauell and so by that meanes will haue vent together with the vrine There is also by the dung of the aforesaid beast an excelent remedy against the Sciatica or hippe-gout by which that most excellent Physitian Ausonius himselfe was healed and many other lying disperate of remedy which is this to gather the dunge of this beast in the seuenteeneth day of the Moone neither is it any great matter whether you gather it in some part of the old Moone for it wil haue the same operation you shal therfore take as much of this dung as you can hold in your hand or fist at one time so that the quantity of the dung be vnlike and you shall put it in a morter and beate it to powder cast twenty grains of pepper into the same fime being very diligently pounded or bruised and then you shall adde nine ounces of the best hony vnto the aforesaid mixture and foure pounds of the best wine and mixe the potion in the manner of a compound wine and the dung or durt being dryed and beaten first you shall mingle all the rest and put them together in a vessell made of glasse that when you haue any need you may haue the medicine ready prepared to comfort him or her which is so afflicted OF THE ICHNEVMON MArcellus and Solinus doe make question of this beast Ichneumon to be a kind of Otter The kindes and names with the reason thereof or the Otter a kinde of this Ichneumon which I find to be otherwise called Enydros or Enhydrus because it liueth in water the reason of this name I take to be fetched ab infestigando because like a dog or hunting-hound it diligently searcheth out the seates of wilde beasts especially the Crocodile and the Aspe whose egges it destroyeth And for the emnity vnto Serpents it is called Ophiomachus Isidorus is of opinion that the name of this beast in the Greeke is giuen vnto it because by the sauour thereof the venom and wholsomenesse of meates is descryed Whereof Dracontius writeth in this manner Predicit suillus vim cuiuscunque veneni The Ichneumon foretelleth the power and presence of all poyson And it is called Suillas in Latine because like a hog it hath bristles in stead of haire Albertus also doth call it Neâ—mâ—n mistaking it for Ichneumon Hermolaus Gyllius There be some that call it an Indian Mouse because there is some proportion for similitude in the outwarde forme betweene this beast and a mouse But it is certaine that it is bred in no other Nation but onely in Egypt about the riuer Nilus and of some it is called Mus Pharonis Pharoes Mouse For Pharo was a common name to all the Egyptian kings There be some that call it Thyamon Albertus Vincentius and Anschycomon and also Damula mistaking it for that Weasell which is an enemy to Serpentes called by the Italians Donola yet I know no learned man but taketh these two names to signifie two defferent Beastes The quantity of it or â—â—â—ture is sometimes as greate as a small Catte or Ferret and the haires of it like the haires of a Hogge The quantity and seuerall partes the eyes small and narrow which signifie a malignant and crafty disposition the taile of it very long like a Serpentes the end turning vppe a little hauing no haires but scales not much vnlike the taile of a Mouse Aelianus affirmeth Their procrâ—ation and fights one with another that both sexes beare young hauing seed in themselues whereby they conceiue For those that are ouercome in combates one with another are branded with a warlicke marke of Villanage or subiection to their Conquerors and on the contrary side they which are conquered and ouercome in fight do not only make vassals of them whom they ouercome but in token thereof for further punishment fill them with their seede by carnall copulation so puttnig off from themselus to them the dolours and Torments of bearing yong This first picture of the Ichneumon was taken by Bellonius except the backe be too much eleuated The second picture taken out of Oppianus poems as it was found in an old manuscript The taming of Ichneumons And because it is a great enemy and deuourer of Serpents the common people of that Country do tame them and keepe them familiarly in their houses like Cats for they eat Mice and likewise bewray all venemous beastes for which cause as is said before they cal it Pharoes Mouse by way of excellency At Alexandria they sell their young ones in the Market and nourish them for profit It is a little beast and maruelously studious of purity and clenlinesse Bellonius affirmeth that he saw one of them at Alexandria amongst the ruines of an olde castle which suddenly tooke a Hen and eate it vp for it loueth all manner of foules especially Hens and chickens Their foode being very wary and crafty about his prey oftentimes standing vpright vpon his hinder Legs looking about for a fit booty and when it espieth his prey neare him Their subtilty in obtaining their prey it slideth so close to the grounde as is very admirable vntill it bee within the reach then leapeth vpon it with incredible celerity dying to the throat like a Lyon killeth al by strangling It eateth indifferently euery liuing thing as Snales Lizardes camelions all kinds of Serpents Frogs Mice and Aspes For Strabo saith when he findeth an Aspe by the water side it ketcheth hold on the taile and so draweth the beast into the Water receiueth help from the fluds to deuour her enemy and whereas we haue saide already that the Ichneumon entreth into the belly of the crocodil Ammianus Marcelinus Strabo Pliny and Oppianus maketh thereof this discourse following When the crocodile hath filled his belly and ouerglutted himselfe with meate he commeth to the land
is called by a speciall worde in Latine Orcare or Corcare which I may English croaking or whining for the voice thereof is not great and therefore the Author of Philomela saith dum linxes orcando fraemunt vrsus ferus Vncat while the Linxe croaketh the wilde beare whineth And Arlunus saith Corcare vox lupae Ceruarij to croake is the voice of a Linx the voice of Linxâ—s 〈◊〉 sight of Linxes It is thought that of all beastes they seeme most brightly for the poets faine that their eie-sight pierceth through euery solid body although it be as thicke as a wall yet if you offer vnto it any thinge which is transparent it is much offended and sometimes blinded but I cannot tell whether the sight be attributed to the Linxe truely accordinge to nature or fabulously in imitation of the poeticall fiction of Lynceus of whome it was saide in auncient time that hee sawe thorough stone Walles of whome Horace writeth thus Non possis oculo quantum contendere lynceus Non tamen id circo contemnas lippus in vngi Marcus Tullius also saith in this manner Oâ—pheus in the admiration of Lynceus eye-sight as thogh darkenes did not hinder it quis est tam lynceus qui in tantis tenebris nihil offendat Apollonius saith that so great was the perfection of this mans eye-sight as he was beleeued to see perfectly downe into the earth and what was don in Hell Plutarch saith that he could see thrugh trees rocks Pausanias writeth that he was a king and raigned after Danaouita Pyndarus writeth that Ida and Lynceus were the sons of Aphaneus and that a contention growing betwixt Ida and Castor and Pollux at the marriage of Helena because they twaine would haue rauished Phoebe and Ilayra the wiues of Ida The Fables of the Poets about Linceus and Lynceus did therefore slay Castor and afterwards Lynceus slew Pollux when he spyed him lie vnder an Oake from the mountaine Taygetus Wherefore Iupiter slew Ida with lightning and placed Castor and Pollux in heauen among the stars There was another Lynceus husband of Hypermnestra Theocritus Daughter of Danaus which Danaus hauing commanded all his daughters in the night time to kill their husbands she onely spared hir husband Lynceus But the truth is that Lynceus of whom there is so many fables of his eiesight was the first that found out the mines of gold Coelius siluer and Brasse in the earth and therefore simple people seeing him bring golde and siluer out of the earth and comming now and then vpon him while he was a digging deepe for it vsing the light of Candles which he neuer brought out of the pits they foolishly imagined that by the sight of his eies he was first of all led to seeke for those treasures Palaephatus and from hence came the common prouerb Lynceo perspicacior for a man of excellent eye-sight and to conclude others say that Lynceus could see the new Moone the same day or night that she changed and that therefore the fame of his eye-sight came so to be celebrated because neuer any mortall man saw that sight himselfe excepted And from these fables of Lynceus came the opinion of the singular perspicacity of the beast Linx of whom as I said before as the sight is very excellent and so farre excelling men as Galen saith like as is also the sight of Egles so I do not hold any such extraordinarie and miraculous sence to be in this beast after any other manner then the Poets did feigne it to be in Lynceus except as before said Omnes imbeciliore sumus cernendi potestate si aquilarum et Lyncis acuminibus conferamur And therefore the prouerb before spoken of may as well bee applyed metaphecically to the beast Linxe as poetically to the man Lynceus and so much may suffice for the sight It is reported also that when they see themselues to be taken they do send forth teares and weepe very plentifully Their vrine they render all backewards N. Spreng Their vrine and teares or weeping Vrine congeled into a medicinal stoâ—e not onely the female but the male also wherein they differ from all other beasts and it is said of them that they knowing a certaine vertue in their vrine do hide it in the sand and that thereof commeth a certaine pretious stone called Lyncurium which for brighnesse resembleth the Amber and yet is so congealed and hardned in the sand that no carbuncle is harder shining like fire wherewithall they make sealing rings which caused Ouid to write thus Victa racemifero Lyncas dedit India Baccho Equibus vt memorant quicquid vesicaremisit Vertitur in lapides congelat aere tacto But they say that of the male commeth the fiery and yellowe Amber and of the female commeth the white and pale Amber In Italy they call it Langurium and the beast Languria and Lange This Lyncurium is called of some Electrum Pterygophoron and they say it is the same which will draw vnto it leaues strawe and plates of Brasse and yron according to the opinions of Diocles and Theophrastus and that being drunke out of Water is good for the stomacke and very conuenient for the fluxe of the belly according to Dioscorides and that it cureth the paines of the reines and healeth the kings euill according to Solinus And Theophrastus goeth about to establish this opinion by reason and laboreth to perswade it as probable that the vrine of a Linx should congeale into a stone among sand as well as the vrine of a man to ingender a stone in the raines or in the bladder And of this opinion is Pliny Theophrastus Hesychius Varinus Zenothimis Plutarch and Aristotle But in my opinion it is but a fable For Theophrast himselfe confesseth that Lyncurium which he caleth Lyngurion and Amber Hualos is digged out of the earth in Lyguria Sudines Metradorus say that there is a certain tree in Lyguria out of which amber is taken this tree is the blacke Popler it is also very probable that seeing this Amber was first of all brought into Greece out of Lyguria according to the denomination of all strange things they called it Lyngurium after the name of the country whereupon the ignorant Laâ—ines did feigne an etimology of the worde Lyncurium quasi Lynxis vrinam and vppon this weake foundation haue they raised that vaine buildinge and for further demonstration of this truth Dioscorides saith in his discourse of the Popler that it growing about the riuer Euridanus sendeth forth a certaine humor like teares which groweth hard whereof they make that which is called Electrum being rubbed it smelleth sweete and for that it hath not onely power to draw vnto it Brasse Iron and such thinges but aâ—so gold It is also called Chrysophoton vnto this Lucianus subscribeth and whereas it was said that in Italy this Amber stone is begotten neare the riuer Padus where stand many white Poplers my coniecture is
that Mice which liue in a house if they perceiue by the age of it Presages and for knoledge of mice it be ready to fall downe or subiect to any other ruin they foreknow it and depart out of it as may appeare by this notable story which happened in a towne called Helice in Greece wherein the inhabitantes committed this abominable acte against their neighbours the Greekes For they slew them and sacrificed them vpon their altars Whereupon followed the ruin of the citty which was premonstrated by this prodigious euent For 5. daies before the destruction thereof all the Mice Weasels and Serpentes and other reptile creatures went out of the same in the presence of the inhabitants euery one assembling to his owne ranke and company where at the people wondered much for they cold not conceiue any true cause of their departure and no maruaile For God which had appointed to take vengance on them for their wickednes did not giue them so much knowledge nor make them so wise as the beasts to auoid his iudgement and their owne destruction and therefore marke what followed For these beasts were no sooner out of the citty but suddenly in the night time came such a lamentable earth-quake and strong tempest that all the houses did not onely fall down and not one of them stood vpright to the slaughter of men women and children contained in them but least any of them should escape the strokes of the timber and house tops God sent also such a great floud of waters by reason of the tempestuous wind which droue the Waters out of the sea vpon the Town that swept them al away leauing no more behind then naked and bare significations of former buildings And not only the citty and Cittizens perished Aelianus but also there was ten ships of the Lacedemonians in their port all drowned at that instant The wisedome of the Mouse apeareth in the prepararion of her house for considering shee hath many enemies Their natural wisdome and therefore many means to be hunted from place to place she commiteth not herselfe to one lodging alone but prouideth many holes so that when she is hunted in one place shee may more safely repose her selfe in another Which thing Plautus expresseth in these wordes Sed tamem cogitato Mus pusillus quam sapiens sit bestia aetatem qui vni cubili nunquam committit suam cum vnum obsidetor aliunde perfugium quaerit that is to say it is good to consider the little mouse how wise a beast she is for she will not commit her life to one lodging but prouideth many harbors that being molested in one place she may haue another refuge to fly vnto And as their wisedome is admirable in this prouision so also is their loue to be commended one to another for falling into a vessell of Water or other deepe thing Their natural loue to one another out of which they cannot ascend againe of themselues they help one another by letting downe their tailes and if their tailes be to short then they lengthen them by this meanes they take one anothers taile in their mouth and so hang two or 3. in length vntill the Mouse which was fallen downe take hold on the neathermost which being performed they al of them draw her out Euen so Wolues holding one another by their tailes do swim ouer great riuers and thus hath nature graunted that to them which is denyed to many men Aelianus Their disposition and their flesh Procâ—pâ—â—s Aristeas namely to loue and to be wise both together But concerning their maners they are euil apt to steale incideous and deceitefull and men also which are of the same disposition with these beasts fearing to do any thing publikely yet priuatly enterprise many deceits are iustly reproued in imitation of such beasts For this cause was it forbidden in gods law vnto the Iewes not only to eat but to touch mice the prophet Esa ch 66 saith Comedentes carnem suillaÌ„ abominationem atque murem simul consumentur inquit Dominus that is they which eat swins flesh abomination the Mous shal be destroyed together saith the Lord wherein the prophet threatneth a curse vnto the people Arnaldus that broke the first law of God in eating flesh forbidden and the Physitians also say that the eating of the flesh of Mice engendereth forgetfulnesse abomination and corruption in the stomacke The eating of bread or other meate which is bitten by Mice doth encrease in men and children a certaine disease in their face huâ—t by mice to the bodies of mankinde and in the flesh at the rootes of the nails of their fingers certaine hard bunches called by the Venetians Spelli and by the Germans Leidspyssen and by the Latins Dentes Muris yet it is affirmed that the flesh of Mice is good for Haukes to be giuen them euery day or euery each other day together with the skin for it helpeth their entrals purgeth fleame and choller restraineth the fluctions of the belly Medicine of Hawkes Demetrius driueth out stones and grauell stayeth the distillation of the head to the eyes and finall corroborateth the stomacke Yet we haue hard that in the kingdome of Calechut they do eate Mice and Fishes roasted in the sun And it is said by some Physitians and Magicians that the flesh is good against melancholy and the paine of the teeth but the medicinall vertues we reserue to his proper place Pliny affirmeth a strange wonder worthy to bee remembred and recorded Eating of Mice that when Hanniball besieged Casselinum there was a man that sold a Mouse for two hundred pieces of quoine so great was the extremity of famine that the man which sold it dyed for hunger and as it should seeme through the want of it but he which bought it liued by eating therof the which thing argueth that necessity hunger and famin maketh men for the safegard of life to make more reckoning in extremity of the basest creaturs then in prosperity they do of the best For that person which gaue so much mony for a Mouse at another time woulde haue scorned to haue giuen so much for foure Oxen. And on the other side the wretched loue of gaine which causeth a man to endanger his owne life for loue of siluer But I rather thinke that it was the hand of God himselfe taking vengance of such a couetous disposition which would not suffer him to liue that like Midas had gotten so much gold Enemies of Mice The enemies of Mice are many not onely men which by sundry artificiall deuises kill them because of harme but also beasts and wilde foule doe eat their flesh and liue vpon them And first of all Cats Weasels do principally hunt to catch Mice and haue bin therefore by the late writers called Murilegi for their taking of Mice And the nature of the Weasell is not onely more enclined to hunt after them
three peeces of woode being thus made ready thou shalt erect a little piller so that the wedge may be downeward whereby the mouse may see the meate euery where and let the meate be hung in the former corner of the piller so if the mouse shall touch the meate he shall bee pressed downe with the fall of the board Mice also by the fall of a cleft board are taken which is held vp with a piller and hauing a little spattular of wood whereon the meate shall lye so made that the piller doth not open being parted except when the mouse commeth to touch the meate and so by that meanes she is taken There is also another manner of mouse-trap vsed among vs which is let there bee a hole made and compassed about with a boord of a foot long and fiue or six fingers broad the compasse whereof must be foure fingers into this hole let there be put a vessell made of wood the length of ones fist but round and very deepe and in the middle of each side of this vessell let there be made a hole wherein there is put in a thread made of yron with meat and let it be compassed about with a small thread which must be fastned ouerthwart the hole and the part of the thread which hangeth downe must be crooked that the meat may be fastned thereto and there must bee a peece of the thread without to the which may be tyed a stronger peece of wood which is the thread whereon the meat is hanged by the which the mouse is taken by putting her head into the vessel to ketch at the meat And also mice are taken otherwise with a great Cane wherein there is a knot and in the top of it let there be made a little bow with a lute string and there sticke a great needle in the middle of the pole of the Cane and let the pole be made iust in the middle and let there be bound a peece of flesh beneath so prepared that when the mouse shall bite and mooue the skin that then the string slippeth downe and so the needle pearceth through his head and holdeth him that he cannot run away But among all the rest there is an excellent peece of workmanship to ketch mice which I will heer set down Take a peece of wood the length of both thy fists one fistbroad and two fingers thicke and let there be cut off about some two fingers a little beyond the middle of halfe the breadth And that breadth where it was cut ought to be more declining and lower after the manner of this letter A. And you must put to the side of this a peece of wood halfe a circle long bending and in the middle part of each side holes pearced through so that the halfe circle may be streight and plainely placed to the foundation of the woode that the trap being made it may rest vpon the same halfe circle and vpon this halfe circle let there be placed iron nailes very sharp so that the instrument by falling downe may couer the irons of the halfe circle as soone as euer they touch the same Furthermore there is another manner of trap when a vessell out of which they cannot escape is filled halfe vp with water and vpon the top thereof Otmell is put which will swim and not sinke making the vppermost face of the water to seeme white and solid whereunto when the mouse commeth she leapeth into the oate-mell and so is drowned And the like may be done with chaffe mingled with oat-mell and this in all traps must be obserued wherein mice are taken aliue that they be presently taken forth for if they make water in the place their fellowes will for euer suspect the trap and neuer come neareâ—t till the sauour of the vrine be aholished Palladius saith that the thicke froth of oyle being infused into a dish or brasen caldron and set in the middle of the house in the night time will draw all the mice vnto it wherein they shall sticke fast and not be able to escape Anatolius Pliny saith that if a mouse be gelded aliue and so let go she will driue away all the residue but this is to be vnderstoode of the Sorex If the head of a mouse be flaied or if a male mouse be flaied all ouer or her taile cut off or if her legge be bound to a post in the house or a bell be hung about her necke and so turned going she will driue away all her fellowes And Pliny saith that the smoke of the leaues of the Ewe-tree because they are poyson will kill mice so also will libbards-baine and henbaine-seede and Wolfe baine for which cause they are seuerally called Myoctonos and the rootes of Wolfe bane are commonly sold in Sauoy vnto the Country people for that purpose In Germany they mingle it with oat-mell and so lay it in bals to kill mice The fume of wall-wort calcauth parcely origanum and deaths-hearb doe also kill mice you may also driue them away with the fume of the stone Haematites and with greene tamarisk with the hoofe of a mule or of nitre or the ashes of a Weasell or a cat in water or the gall of an Oxe put into bread The seede of Cowcumbers being sod and sprinckled vpon any thing mice will neuer touch it likewise wilde coucumber and coloquintida kill mice To keepe mice from corne make morter of the froth of oyle mingled together with chaffe and let them well dry and afterwards be wrought throughly then plaster the wals of your garnery therewith and when they are dry cast more froth of oyle vpon them and afterwards carry in your corne and the mice will neuer annoy it Cato Wormewood laid among cloathes and skinnes defend them from mice And also the water of wormewood sod sprinckled vpon cloathes hath the same operation Tragus Inke tempered with water wherein Wormewood hath beene washed or sod causeth that the Parchment and Paper written therewith shall neuer be eaten or touched with mice Auicen Anatolius and Tarentinus in the discourse of the grauery or barm do write that milk-thistle mingled with hony water and fine flower or mil-dust made into little balles and laied where mice my eat of it doth make them blind if they taste thereof White Hellebore mixed with pottage Paxausus or the seedes of wilde Cowcumber Coloquintida and meale mingled with blacke Hellebore and put into Cheese or bread or any kind of fat meat killeth both Rats and mice So likewise a white camelion sod in broth mingled with water and oyle killeth Dogges swine and mice The iuyce of the roote of the hearbe Camelion mixed with water and oyle draweth mice vnto it and killeth them by tasting thereof if they drinke not presently so also doth Henbane The roots of the bramble Tree mingled with Butter Breade or Honey Elecampaine and sea Onions Scamoney wild Sparradge Arsenicke Mug-wort otherwise cald mouse-wort mingled
with Lard in small peeces with Auri pigment killeth Wolues and mice Croscentiensis and in some countries for the better dispersing of the poyson set drinke beside the same whereof as soone as they tast they swel and die but I haue seen them die without drinking at all Mice and wolues if they tast of the wilde Rose and drinke after it doe not not onely dye but also fall into madnesse and bite their fellows communicating the quality of the disease to euery one they bite Flesh cut into little peeces fryed with butter in a frying pan Cardon and afterwards when it is colde adde halfe so much soft pitch thereto and mingle t together rowling vp the flesh in the pitch then distribute it vpon little boords and set it in the place and places whereunto the mice do much resort and water beside it and when that they haue tasted of it a little they are so eagerly a thirst that they drinke and dye The like I may say of Rats-bane Quicke-siluer Sublimate and Precipitate and diuers other thinges and thus much may suffice for the ketching taking and killing of myce whereunto I may adde the vse of their members and parts not medicinall but naturall although I haue touched it heeretoforein part The Scythians were woont to be clad with the skinnes of mice and Wolues and it is obserued that when mice cry and screeketh aboue their ordinary custome it presageth an alteration and change of the Weather and thus much shall suffice for their naturall discourse Hauing thus discoursed of the nature of the vulgar mouse The morrall story of mice I may also adde the morral vse thereof as I find it recorded among learned writers deliuered eyther in Historie or in prouerbe It is reported of Glaucus the sonne of Minos and Pasiphae that while he followed a mouse to take her he fel into a vessel of hony but after Polyades the prophet by laying an herb on him raised him againe to life Hatto an Arch Bysh of Metz in the frontiers of Germany was destroyed by mise or as other say by Rats Tzetzes but the words of Textor are Hatto Archiepiscopus Moguntinus à muribus fertur deuoratus And the error may proceed because that Mus is a generall word for the Rat and mouse and therefore they which haue thought it an vnreasonable thinge that so small beastes should destroy so mighty a prince haue rather attributed it to the Rats then to the mice but they ought to haue rememberd that it was an extraordinary iudgement of God to punish a cruell couetous wretch and that therefore it was as easie for him to make the little mouse his instrument as the great Rat for we read that Herod was deuourd by worms and other haue beene eaten vp with lyce Adrian the Pope was strangled by a flye and therefore Hatto an Archbishop might aswel perish through the afflicting hand of God by a multitude of mice Heliogabalus that wretch among other his monstrous desires and Tyrannicall commaundes Lampridius affirmeth that vpon a time he commaunded that there should bee brought vnto him ten thousand mice aliue a thousand weasils and a thousand Sorices or wilde fielde-mice so base were his thoughts that while he should haue attended his Emperiall calling and hearkened to the suits and complaints of poore distressed subiects he was busied in killing of mice and therefore in ancient time a mouse-killer was taken for an opprobrious speech for a base sluggish and idle companion The like is reported of a Moscouian Emperour who to afflict his people and to gather money from them commanded the Cittizens of Musco to bring him a pecke full of fleas whereunto the people answered that if they could take so many yet could not they keepe them together from leaping away And mice haue beene brought into publique spectacle because at Lauinium they gnawed asunder the shields of siluer and it was afterward iudged a prodigie for there followed the Marsicke war When the Scythians vnderstoode that Darius with his great army stoode in neede of vittailes they sent vnto him a Prouant-master with these presents or gifts a birde a mouse a frog and fiue darts At the receipte whereof the Persians wondered what should be meant thereby and demaunded of the messenger the meaning of the mystery But the Ambassador answered he knew not any signification of his presents but onely receiued charge to deliuer them and make hast backe againe and to bid the Persians if they were wise to lay their wits together to know and vnderstand the meaning thereof When the Persians heard him say so they fell to consultation Darius gaue his opinion that the mouse signified the earth Herodotus the frog the waters the bird horses and the darts warlike furniture and strength of forces and that the Scythians by sending all these vnto them yeelded that the Persians should be Lords of their land sea horses and themselues and that therefore they ought to be of good courage But one Gobrias a graue Councellor who was one of the seuen that slew the Magi or Wizards aunswered otherwise for his coniecture was more true for said he O persae nisi effecti vt aues subuoletis in coelum aut vt mures subeatis terram aut vt ranae insiliatis in paludes non remeabitis vnde venistis his sagittis confecti O ye Persians except ye become like birds to flye vp into heauen or like mice to creepe into the earth or like frogs to leap into the waters you shall not returne back againe vnto the place from whence you came and so indeede it came to passe We reade 1. Sam. 5. that when the Arke of God was taken by the Philistimes and they kept it in their Temple at Hazzah the hand of the Lord fell vppon their Princes and hee smote them with Emrods in the bottome of their belly that is God punished them with mice for he afflicted their bodies and the fruites of the earth for which cause Cap. 6. they aduise with themselues to send back againe the Arke of the Lord with a present of Golden Mice Ouid Homer and Orpheus call Apollo Smyntheus for the Cretians in auncient time called Mice Smynthae Now the fained cause thereof is thus related by Aelianus There was one Crinis which was a Priest of Apollo who neglected his dayly sacrifice for the which through aboundance of mice he was depriued of the fruites of the earth for they deuoured all At which losse Apollo himselfe was moued and taking pittie of the miserie appeared to one Horda a Neate-heard commaunding him to tell Crinis that all the cause of that penury was for that he had omitted his accustomed sacrifice and that it was his duetie to offer them againe diligently or else it would be farre worse afterward Crinis vpon the admonition amended the fault and immediatly Apollo killed all the deuouring Mice with his darts whereuppon he was called Smyntheus Other againe
a certaine fountaine wherein do liue Rats of the earth they should say Rats of the water for hereunto agree both Pliny and Theophrastus Likewise in a riuer of Cassinus the auncient wise-men which were followers of Zoroastres made great account of the Hedghog but hated deadly the water-rats and said that he that could kil most of them was most deare and acceptable to God And furthermore they said that dogs hens and hedghogs did proceed and were attended from and by good angels and water-rats by euill And thus much shal suffice for the discourse of the Rat. The story which ensueth is of strange and lesse knowne Mice and therefore I wil disttibure them after an alphabiticall order according to their seueral names Of the Alpine-Mouse These Alpin Mice are in the tops of the Apenine hils and none of the Auncientes except Pliny make mention thereof and it is doubtfull whether he doeth describe it or no. For his words are Sunt his Muribus Alpinis pares in Egypto similiterque residunt in clunibus binis pedibus gradiuntur prioribusque vt manibus vtuntur that is to say there are mice in Egypt like to the Alpin Mice for they sit vpon their Buttocks and goe with their foremost two feet which also they vse insteed of hands by which we collect that they are not the same but like the Alpine mice The quantity of this beast and the seuerall parts The Alpine mouse is in quantity like a Hare or at the least betwixt a Hare and a Cony being more fat and of a thicker body then a Cat but shorter legges in outward appearance most like a mouse and therefore it is called an Alpine mouse The backe of it is very broad and the haire harder and harsher then a Conies The colour for the most part is yellow Mathaeolus which in some is more cleare and in others more obscure and browne Their eyes of a reasonable quantity standing farre out of their heads Their eares very short like cropt eares The head like a Hares and their feet with long nails his foreteeth like a squirrels two aboue and two beneath but long and sharpe like a Beuers in colour yellowe about the nose and vpper-lippes he hath long-blacke-bristle-haires like a cat The taile is halfe a cubit long according to Stumpsius but two palmes according to Agricola His legges very short and thicke couered with long deep thicke haire like to the bottome of his belly The toes of his feet are like a Beares and his clawes long and blacke wherewithall be diggeth the earth to make his denne he goeth vpon his hinder feete like a Beare or like an Ape by iumpes and with his forefeet he taketh his meat like a squirrell an Ape sitting in the meane time vpon his buttockes His backe is also very fatte although all the other parts of his body be leane and yet that on his backe cannot be said to be fat but rather like a cowes vdder neither fat nor flesh and they encrease or grow more in bredth then in length The description of the great Alpine mouse Scaliger describeth them in this manner a Marmot saith he for so he tearmeth an Alpine mouse in French is a Beast about the bignesse of a Badger hauing haire and tayle much like it and after the same manner short legges and little or no eares long sharp firme crooked strong and blacke clawes which is numbred amongst the kinds of mice with whom it holdeth little correspondence except that like a squirell it taketh his meate in the forefeet as with hands and eateth sitting vppon his taile They agree also with the Dormouse in their sleepe for they passe ouer winter sleeping Their teeth are like to the teeth of hares and mice after that they are made tame they are not hurtfull to men or children except they be prouoked Being kept in houses they will eat and gnaw all linnen and woolen cloath Thus farre Scaliger But we haue shewed already that the outward appearance of it is like a mouse and that therefore it is safer to follow Pliny Albertus Mathaeolus Stumpsius and others then his sole and singular opinion they keepe as we haue said already in the tops of the mountaines wherein they make their caue with woonderfull art and circumspection The places of their abod and then singular art in making their caue making two different passages into their denne one aboue another a poles length which meete in the middle like a forke or the coniunction of two riuers or pathe-waies making the seate of their rest to be very deepe in the Mountaine and therein they remaine fiue seauen nine or eleuen of them together They play many times before the mouth of their denne together and in their sport or pastime Their obseruation of watch barke like little Dogges When they go out of their caue into the mountaines to gather foode or to playe or to fetch in grasse alwaies one of them remaineth like a Watchman neare the mouth of the caue vpon some high place looking most diligently and vigilantly both farre and neare and if he see eyther a man or wilde beast comming towardes them then hee suddainely cryeth out and with his voice giueth the warning word whining like the whisling of a pipe if his fellowes be farre off or else barking like a Dogge if they be neare at hand When the residue heare it they presently repaire home and he which kept the watch entereth into the denne last of all And it is reported by a certaine Greeke writer that if their speculator doe not giue them the watch-worde but that they are endaungered by any man or Beaste thorough his negligence they teare him in pieces with their teeth There is no beast which is so strong as this Stumsius considering the quantity for it hath beene seene that when a lusty young man tooke one of them by the hinder leg as it ran into the den he could not withall his might plucke it backe againe The strength of this beast The clawes of it are exceeding sharpe and fit to dig so that it is thought if a man find them in the earth and seeke to take them by digging vnto them he shall labour in vaine because the beast diggeth faster from him then he can follow her they cannot run very fast in the plaine ground but are easily killed by a man except they get into the earth with their teeth they bite deepe for they can shere asunder wood with them like Beauers Their vsuall foode they eate or liue vpon fruits especially being tamed when they are young they refuse not bread flesh fish or pottage and aboue all they desire milk Butter and cheese for in the Alpes they will breake into the little cottages where milk is kept and are oftentimes taken in the manner sucking vp the milke for they make a noise in sucking of milke like a pig In the month of May they are
conuenient to be broken for the performing of the same take the skinne of a baked or roasted Pomgranate and spread it vpon the aforesaid red pimples as whot as possible may be suffered for some small time and it will cause the vlcers to breake and all the corruption to yssue forth If it grow vnto an Impostume Auicenna take the little berries or pellets which are within the Pomgranate being very well baked and apply them vnto the sore some short time Aeginetta and they will very easily cure the same Mustard-seede being mingled with Vineger annointed vpon the bites of a Shew doth very effectually heale them A Moule being bruised into small pieces and applyed vnto the bites of a Shrew in the forme of a plaister is a very excellent remedy for the curing of them Pitch and trifoly being baked and rubbed verye whotte vppon the bites of a Shrewe is accounted a very medicinable cure but it is requisite that this fomentation be giuen vnto none but such as are of a stronge and powerfull body and are also able to endure paine The liquor of the Herb called Southernwood being giuen in Wine to drinke doth very much profit those which are troubled Dioscorides and pained in their limbs with the bites of Shrewes Wormwood being vsed in the like manner will cure those which are bitten by a Shrew The genitall of a Lambe or Kidde being mingled with foure drams of the Hearbe called Aristologia or Hart-wort and sixe drams of the sweetest Myrth is very good and medicinable for curing of those which are bitten or stung with Shrewes Scorpions and such like vnemous Beastes The leaues of Coleworts being dryed mingled with flower and tempered together vntill they come into the form of a plaister will very much help against the venemous bites of the Shrew The seede of Colewortes and the leaues of the same Hearbe being mingled with Vineger and the Hearbe called Assa foetida beate or pounded together do very well and speedily cure the bites of the Shrewes Ruellius as also of a rauenous Dogge if the same in due time be applyed thereunto The liquor also of the leaues of Coleworts being giuen in any kind of drinke is good and wholsome for the curing of the aforesaid bites or woundes Dioscorides The Nuts of a young Cypres Tree being mixed with a certaine sirrep or potion made of Hony Water and Vineger and afterwardes drunke doth very speedily procure ease and help for those which are bitten by a Shrew The roote of a white or blacke Thistle being beaten or bruised and giuen in drinke doth very effectually help or cure those which are bitten by a Shrew The like vertue hath the Hearbe called Rocket in it and also the seede thereof being giuen in any kinde of drinke Aegenetta The gum or liquor which proceedeth from a kinde of Ferula being giuen in wine to drink doth very much helpe and cure those which are bitten by a Shrew The same vertue also in it hath the roote of the hearbe called Gentian or bitterwort being giuen in wine to drink One or two drams of the yoongest or tendrest leaues of the Laurell tree being beaten small and giuen in wine to drinke doth speedily cure the sores or woundes which are bitten by a Shrew Aeâ—ius the same being also vsed in the said manner and giuen in some certaine potion vnto horses to drinke doth quickly help and heale them But there are some which before all other medicines doe commend this for the best and chiefest that is Auicenna to take the iuice which proceedeth from the leaues of the laurell tree the leaues themselues being moist and new growing and to boyle them in wine and being once cooled to giue it to any which is bitten by a Shrew and this will in very short space altogether helpe them A yoonge Weasell being giuen in wine to drinke is accounted very medicinable for those which are bitten by a Shrew Pliny or stung by a Scorpion or any other venemous creature The hearbe called Baltsamint or Costmary the hearbe called Bartram Aegmetta or wilde Pellito the hearbe called Betonie the hearbe called water-minte or water Cresses the sweete and delicious gum called Storax as also the hearbe called Veruin being each of them seuerally by themselues either giuen in wine to drinke or applyed in the manner of a plaister or annointed vpon the bits or wounds which come by the venemous teeth of a Shrew Auicenna will very effectually cure the paine thereof The biting of a field mouse or Shrew is very troublesome and grieuous to all labouring beastes for instantly after her bitinges there doe little red pimples arise and there is most daunger of death in those beastes which she biteth when she is great with yonog for the aforesaid pimples will then presently breake after which the beast so bitten will instantly die The Shrew doth also kill some laboring beasts with poyson Albertus as chiefly horses mules but especially for the most part mares which are great with yong There are some which do affirme that if horses or any other laboring creature do feede in that pasture or grasse in which a Shrew shall put forth her venome or poyson in Absyrtus they will presently die In what place soeuer a Shrew shall bite in any creature it will be compassed with an exceeding hard swelling the beast also being so bitten doth expresse his griefe or sorrow with much paine straining his body doth likewise swell all ouer his eyes doe in a manner weepe the swelling in his body doth squize out matter Hierocles or filthy putrefaction he voydeth poyson out of his belly and doth vomite all sustenance vp as soone as euer he receaueth it If an Asse being great with yoong be bitten by this beast it is a very great chaunce if she scape death But if the Shrew doe bite any beast when she is great with yong it is knowen by these signes or marks there will certaine red pimples compasse the sore round about and also spread themselues ouer all the body of the bitten beast and will in short space destroy him except there be procured some present remedy The Normans in Fraunce do suppose the Shrew to be a beast so full of venome and poyson that if he shall but passe ouer either an Oxe Vâ—getius or a horse lying downe along vpon the ground it will bring such a dangerous disease vpon them that the beast ouer which she shall passe shall be lame about the loines or shall seeme as if he were immoueable and that he can be cured by no other meanes but by the same Shrew who either of his owne accord or by compulsion must passe ouer the contrary side of the beast and that then he will be cured which thing I doe hold to be very vaine and not to be beleeued For the curing of beastes which are bitten by a Srew thou shalt
come the inhabitants and in little bottels made of the skinns of these beasts which before they haue killed and so put the muske into them This they sell for a great price because it is thought and that worthily to be a gift fit for a king But if this muske be taken out of the creature by violence then wil hee bringe forth no more yet expresse it by his own naturall art he beareth againe and againe The greatest cause of this humour is the sweetnes of his foode and the ayre wherein they are bredde therefore if one of them be brought into this part of the worlde with muske in his cod it wil grow to ripenes in a temperate aire but if it bee brought without muske in the cod then it wil neuer yeeld any among vs And besides that it liueth but a little while And therefore my opinion is that this excrementall humor is vnto it like a menstruous purgation for the want whereof it dieth speedily Euery part of this beast is called muske which commeth forth of his vlcerous yssue for although the other partes smell sweete yet we will shew afterwardes more at large that it is not of themselues but by reason of this humour The pretiousnes of this thing deserueth a further treatise for thy better direction and instruction of the knowledge heereof The best muske declared by these seueral countries both for the choice of that which is best and for the auoyding and putting awaye of that which is adulterate At Venice at this day it is sold in the cods and the Indian muske is better then the Affrican The browne is alwaies better then the blacke except it be of Catha for that of Catha is blacke and best of all There is some that is yellowish or betwixt redde and yellowe after the verye same coulour of Spicknard this also is of the best sort because the beastes that render it do feed vpon Spicknard Syluius Therefore this is good to be chosen because it cannot be adulterated and besides the tast of it is bitter and as soone as euer it is tasted it presently ascendeth to the braine where it remaineth very fragrant without resistance and is not easily dissolued It is not bright within Auicen but muddy hauing broad graines and equall throughout like the wood of Baulme But according to the regions they chuse muske in this sort Of the Indian muske that of the Region of Sceni called Antebeuus they set in the first place and next vnto it the beastes of the Sea side The muske of Cubit is knowne by the thinne bladder of the beast wherein it is contained Elluchacem but that of Gergeri is lesse Aromaticall and more thicke The muske of Caram is in the middle place betwixt both wherwithall they mingle powder of Gold and Siluer to encrease the waight The muske of Salmindy is worst of all because it is taken out of his blather or cod and put into a glasse There are some which preferre the Tumbascine muske and they say that the odor thereof commeth from the sweete hearbes whereupon the beast feedeth and the like is said of the Region of Sceni but the odor is not equall to the other And the Tumbascines doe not gather the muske after the fashions of others For they draw not forth this matter out of the cod nor yet gather it in calme weather The Cenians they presse foorth the matter out of the ventricle and when they haue it forth mingle it with other things and that in cloudy and tempestuous weather afterwards they put them vp in glasses and stop the mouth close and so they send it to be sold vnto the Sarizines and to Amanus and to Parsis and to Haharac as if he were a Tumbescine When this beast goeth furthest from the sea and feedeth toward the desart vpon Spikenard then is his muske sweeter but when they feede neare the Sea it is not so fragrant because they feede vpon myrh Auicen sayeth there is some kinde of muske like a Citron but such hath not been seene in this part of the world for our muske is most commonly like the colour of iron and the sauour of it Serapto like a Cirenian Apple but stronger and consisteth of little peeces but it is better that hangeth together and hath a sauor of the wildernesse but if it be adulterated with Snakes or Byrds-dung then will it be lesser pleasant in the sauor and also pinch and offend the nose The hunters of Tebeth and Seni as we haue shewed already do kil their sweet Rose and afterwards take out from them their bladder of muske which musk being exerped before it be ripe smelleth strongly and vnpleasantly And then they hang it vp a little while in the open and free ayre wherein it ripeneth as it were by concoction in the sun and therby receiueth an admirable sweetnesse And the like doe diuers Gardeners vse towardes Apples and fruites of trees which are gathered before they be ripe For by laying them vp in a dry place they weare away their sharpnesse and become pleasant But it is to be remembred that musk is the best which doth ripen in his owne cod before it be taken out of the beast for before it is ripe it smelleth displeasantly There is not much perfect muske brought into this part of the world but the strength of it commeth from the vertue of the cod wherein it is put and so it is brought to vs but the best is brought out of the East where groweth Spicknard and sweet Hearbs Rodericus Lucitanus saith that our muske is compounded of diuers things the ground whereof is the bloud of a little beast like a Cony which is brought out of Pegun a prouence of India But the meanes whereby to try it may be this after it is waied they put it into some moist or wet powder and after a little while they waigh it the second time The tryall of Muske and if it exceed the former waight then do they take it for sound perfect and good but if it doe not exceed then do they iudge it adulterate Some Marchants when they are to buy muske stop it to their noses Simion Sethi Syluius and holding their breath run halfe a stones cast afterwards they pul it from their Nose and if they perceiue the sauor of the muske then do they but it and take it for good but if not they refuse it for corrupted In some Churches they make perfumes with muske and by mingling Stirax Alloes Amber and iuyce of Roses they make a perfume called Regium Suffimigium the Kings perfume likewise vnto sweet waters drawne out of the furnaces of Chymis whereunto they adde simple Rose Water and for the richer sort of people muske and Camphory Andreus Furnerius in his French booke of adorning mans nature teacheth a composition to be made of certaine Oyles Sope and Muske And also ointmentes and musked oyles He also sheweth how
of a mule being taken to the quantity of eight pounds with two pounds of the scumme or refuge of siluer and a pound of old and most cleare oile al these being beaten or pounded together vntil they come to the thicknesse of the fat or sweat which falleth from mens bodies and boiled vntill they come vnto so liquid and thinne a iuyce Aegiâ—eta that they will speedily and effectually cure and helpe those which are troubled with the gout or swelling in the ioynts If a woman shall take the sweat which proceedeth from a horse and annoint it vpon a wollen cloath and so apply it as a plaister or suppositary vnto her secret parts it will make her altogether barron Raâ—â—â— There is an excellent remedy for those which are pursie or short-winded which commeth also by the mule which is this to take or gather the froath or fome of a mule and to put it into a cup or goblet and giue it in warme water for a certain space or time to be drunke either to the man or woman which is troubled with this enormity Marcelâ—â—s and the party which doth so vse it shall in short space haue remedy but the mule will without any lingring of time or consuming of time in paine and sorrow dye The milt of a male or female Mule being drunke in a potion or iuice made of hony water and vinegar to the value or quantitie of three cruces or cups full Pliny is commended for an excellent cure and medicine for those which are troubled and grieued with that pestiferous and deadly disease called the falling sicknesse otherwise Saint Iohns euill There is an excellent remedie for those which are troubled in the voyding of their water which is this to take the ring-wormes or Tetters which doe grow vppon both the legges of a Mule aboue their knees and which doe sticke thereupon in the manner of a dryed thicke skinne and to burne or parch them Marcellus and afterwards to put or place them vpon him which is troubled with the strangurie or can not voide his water but by dropsmeale so that there be great care had to couer close with clouen or clefted cloathes or garments the suffumigation thereof least that the smell or fume doe fade and voide away and this being so vsed will be very effectuall for the curing and driuing away of the aforsaid disease The haires of a Mule and an Asse being mingled together dryed Trallianus and put into some certaine perfume and so giuen to any one to drinke which is troubled with the falling sicknesse will presently expell and driue it quite away In the place or part of mans body wherein a male or female mule shall bite Ponzettus affirmeth there will presently arise and grow small pushes or little blisters which are alwaies full of red and pale humors and filthie corruption which can almost be healed and cured by no salue potion or medicine by any meanes applyed thereunto There are some also which doe suppose the biting of mules to be poyson for truely there doth not onely follow those aforesaid pushes and biles but also an extreame and almost indurable inflammation and burning through all the parts of the body which doth greatly distemperate and vex the same But it is affirmed by others that the biting of mules is to be cured after the same maner as the biting of a Cat which is thus First to wash and clarifie the wound or bitings where the corruption is with vinegar mingled with oyle of roses and then to take penyroiall or the hearbe called Neppe and boile it and stroke or rub the wound very softly with it and it will in time wholy cure it And thus much shall suffice at this time concerning the cures and medicines of mules Of the Neades Neides or Naides HEraclides Coelius Volateranus and Euphorion do all write that once the Isle of Samos was a desert place and that there were in it certaine beastes called Neades whose voice was so terrible that they shooke the earth therewith and from those strange and great voyces came the vulgar Greeke prouerbe Meizoon mia toon Neaedoon maius vna Neadum That is One of the Neades was a greate wonder for it was vsed in ostentation to shew that there was nothing in the whole World comparable to their vast and huge quantity Of the parts of these beasts there is no memory but only in Suidas and Aelianus who affirme that their bones were to be seene in their daies And this title I thought good to insert into this history leauing the Reader to consider whither he wil take them for Elephants or for any other greater beast for my opinion if it be desired I thinke them rather if there euer were any such that they were Elephants of greater stature then euer since were seene and not any generation of beasts now lost and vtterly perished Of the Ounce the description whereof was taken by Doctor Cay in England THere is in Italy a beast called Alphec which many in Italy France The name of this beast and Germany cal Leunza and some Vnzia from whence Albertus and Isidorus make the Latin word Vnctia and I take it to be the same beast which is called Lozanum and for the description of it I can follow no better author then Doctor Cay The description of Doct. Cay who describeth it in this fashion The Ounce saith he is a most cruel beast of the quantity of a village or mastiffe Dog hauing his face and ears like to a lyons his body taile feet and nails like a Cat of a very terrible aspect his teeth so strong and sharpe that he can euen cut wood in sunder with them he hath also in his nailes so great strength that he onely fighteth with them and vseth them for his greatest defence The colour of the vpper partes of his body being like whitish Oake the lower being of the colour of ashes being euery where mixed with a blacke and frequent spot but the taile more blacke then the rest of his body and as it were obscured with a greater spot then the residue His eares within are pale without any blacknesse without black without any palenesse if you do but take away one dark yellow spot in the midst thereof which is made of a double skin rising meeting in the top of the eare that is to say that which ariseth from the outward part of the iaw on the one side and commeth from the vper part of the head on the other side and the same may be easily seene and seperated in the head being dried The rest of the head is spotted all ouer with a most frequent and black spot as the rest of the body except in that part which is betwixt the nose and the eyes wherein there are none vnlesse onely two and they very small euen as all the rest are lesser then the rest in the extreame and lowest parts the spots
ipsius Leonis vehementem rugitum horret neque item hominum robore mouetur ac saepe robustum venatorem occidit That is to say He feareth not the barking of the Dogge nor the foaming wrath of the wilde Boare he flyeth not the terrible voyce of the Bull nor yet the mournefull cry of the Panthers no nor the vehement roaring of the Lyon himselfe and to conclude he is not moued for all the strength of man but many times killeth the valiantest hunter that pursueth him When he seeth a Boare a Lyon or a Beare presently he bendeth his hornes downe to the earth whereby he conformeth and establisheth his head to receiue the brunt standing in that manner till the assault be made at which time hee easily killeth his aduersary for by bending downe his head and setting his hornes to receiue the beast he behaueth himselfe as skilfully as the hunter that receiueth a Lion vpon his speare For his hornes do easily runne into the brests of any wilde beast so piercing them causeth the blood to issue whereat the beast being moued forgetteth his combate and falleth to licking vp his owne blood and so he is easily ouerthrowne When the fight is once begunne there is none of both that may runne awaie but standeth it out vntil one or both of them bee to the ground and so their dead bodies are many times found by wilde and sauage men They fight with all and kil one another also they are annoyed with LYNCES I meane the greater LYNCES of the cruelty of this beast Martiall made this distichon Matutinarum non vltima praeda ferarum Saevus Oryx constat qui mihi morte canum It is reported of this beast Oppianus Pliny Albertus that it liueth in perpetual thirst neuer drinking by reason that there is no water in those places where it is bred and that there is in it a certaine bladder of lickor whereof whosoeuer tasteth shall neuer neede to drinke This beast liueth in the wildernesse and notwithstanding his magnanimious and vnresistable strength wrath and cruelty yet is hee easily taken by snares and deuices of men for God which hath armed to take Elephants and tame Lyons hath likewise iudewed them with knowledge from aboue to tame and destroy al other noisome beast Concerning the picture of this beast and the liuely vissage of his exterior or outward parts I cannot expresse it because neither my owne sight nor the the writinges of anye credible Author doth giue me sufficient direction to deliuer the shape thereof vnto the world and succeeding Ages vppon my credit and therefore the Reader muste pardon me heerein I do not also read of the vse of the flesh or any other partes of this beast but onely of the hornes as is already expressed whereunto I may adde the relation of Strabo who affirmeth the Aethiopians Silli do vse the hornes of these beastes in warres insteed of swords and speares for incredible is the hardnes and sharpenes of them which caused Iuvenall to write thus Et Getulus Oryx hebeti lautissima ferro Coeditur For althogh of the owne length they are not able to match a pike yet are they fit to be put vpon the tops of pikes as well as any other artifical thing made of steel or yron and thus I will conclude the story of this beast OF THE OTTER THere is no doubt but this beast is of the kind of Beuers because it liueth both on the Water and on the land and the outward form of the parts beareth a similitude of that beast The Italians doe vulgarly call this beast Lodra of the naâ—es 〈…〉 thereof and the Latines besides Lutra Fluuiatulis Canicula A Dogg of the Waters and some cal them cats of the waters The Italians besides Lodra call it also Lodria and Lontra The French Vne Loutre or Vnge Loutre The Sauoyans Vne Leure the Spaniards Nutria and the Ilyrians Widra the Graecians Lytra because it shereth assunder the roots of the trees in the bankes of the riuers Some of the Graecians cal it enhydris although properly that bee a snake liuing in the Waters called by Theodorus and Hermolaus Lutris Albertus calleth it Luter and Anadrz for Enydris Also Boatus by Syluacicus and the Graecians cal filthy and thicke waters Lutrai for which cause when their Noble ancient Women went to bathe themselues in water Stephanus they were bound about with skinnes called Oan Loutrida that is a sheepes skin vsed to the water The French men call the dung of an OTTER Espranite de loutres Pliny the steppes of an OTTER Leise Marches the whelpes of an OTTER Cheaux by which word they call also the whelpes of Wolues Foxes and Badgers Although it liue in the waters yet it doth no sucke in water but aire that is The framing of their den it doth not breath like fishes through the benefit of water and therefore it maketh his dens neer the water wherein also they are wont to bring forth their young ones They make their dens so artificially euen as the Beuer with bowes and sprigs or sticks couching together in excellent order wherein he sitteth to keepe him from wetnesse It hunteth fishes and although it breatheth like another foure-footed-beast yet will it remain a great while vnder the water without respiration for the greedinesse of fishes it runneth many time into nets which are set by men in waters to take fish whereinto being entered His prey and foode it is suffocated for want of breath before it can sheare asunder the nets and make way for himselfe to come out For in the hunting of fish it must often put his nose aboue the water to take breath it is of a wonderfull swiftnesse and nimblenesse in taking his prey and filleth his den so full of fishes that he corrupteth the aire or men that take him in his den and likewise infecteth himselfe with a pestilent and noysome sauour whereupon as the Latins say of a stinking fellow he smels like a Goat so the Germans say of the same He smels like an Otter Agricola In the winter time he comes out of the caues and waters to hunt vpon the land wher finding no other foode he eateth fruits and the barke of trees Bellonius writeth thus of him Albertus he keepeth in pooles and quiet waters and riuers terrifieng the flockes of fish and driuing them to the bank-sides in great number to the holes and creekes of the earth where hee taketh them more copiously and more easie but if he want prey in the waters then doth he leape vpon the land and eate vpon greene hearbs he will swim two miles together against the streame putting himselfe to great labor in his hunger that so when his belly is full the currant of streame may carry him downe againe to his designed lodging The females nourish many whelps together at their vdders vntill they be almost as big as themselues for whom the hunters search as for the
dams among the leaues boughes which the ouerflowings of waters in the winter time haue gathered together and laide on heapes It is a sharp-biting-beast hurtfull both to men and dogs neuer ceasing or loosing hold after he hath laid his mouth vpon them vntill he make the bones to cracke betwixt his teeth whereupon it was well said by Olaus Mag. Lutrae mordaces quadrato ore Otters are most accomplished biters Thereof also in Germany they make caps or else line other caps with them and also make stocking-soles affirming that they bee good and wholsome against the Palsie Vse of their Skins the megrim and other paines of the head The bloud of an OTTER is prescribed against the swelling of the Nerues The Liuer dryed in an Ouen against the bloody-flixe and against the collick being drunke in wine The stones are also prescribed to be giuen against the falling sicknesse and all paines in the belly And thus much for the OTTER There be certaine beastes which are kindes of OTTERS which because they liue in the Waters and yet being vnknowne to vs in England I haue thought good to expresse them in this place by their Greeke and Latine names In the first place that which the Graecians call Latax broader and thicker then an Otter and yet liueth in the Waters or else goeth to the waters for his food yet breatheth aire and not water like Otters The haire of this beast is very harsh betwixt the similitude of a Sea-Calfe and a Hart and it hath also strong and sharp teeth wherewithal in the night season they shere asunder smal boughes and twigs It is called also Fastoz Lamyakyz and Noertza There is another called Satyrium and Fassuron and Chebalus whose skin is black and very pretious and very much vsed for the edging of the best garments these liue also in ponds lakes and still waters There is a third kinde called Satherium Kacheobeon and Kachyneen and Martarus hauing a white throate and being as bigge as a Cat and finally vnto these may be added Porcos a foure-footed-beaste liuing in the Waters in the Riuer Isther And Maesolus another foure-footed-beast liuing in some Ryuers of INDIA being as big as a Calfe Of the Panther commonly called a Pardall a Leopard and a Libbard THere haue beene so many names deuised for this one beast that it is growen a difficult thing either to make a good reconciliation of the authors which are wed to their seueral opinions or else to define it perfectly and make of him a good methodicall History yet seeing the greatest variance hath arisen from wordes The seuerall names of Panthers and that which was deuised at the first for the better explication and discription of it hath turned to the obscuration and shaddowing of the truth I trust it shall be a good labour to collect out of euery writer that which is most probable concerning this Beast and in the end to expresse the best definition thereof wee can learne out of all In this controuersie the Hebrew and Arabian names which are generally indifferently translated Panthers or Libbards doe take vp the strife and almost end the controuersie for Namer in Hebrew and Alphec or Alfhed in Arabique are so translated both in holy scripture and also in Auicen as may appeare by these places following Esa 11. Habitabit Lupus cum agno Namer Pardus cum hedo aâ—cubabit That is to say The Wolfe shall dwell with the Lambe and the Pardall Libbard and Panther shall lye with the Kid. So in the vision of Daniel chap. 7. among the foure beastes comming out of the Sea the prophet seeth Namer a Leopard In the 13. Reuela of S. Iohn he seeth another beast rising out of the sea hauing ten hornes and hee saith it was like Pardalet which Erasmus translateth Pardo a Leopard Ieremy 5. Pardus Namer vigelat super ciuitatem corum vt omnen inde egredientem discrepat That is a panther or Pardal watcheth at the gates of the Citty that he may teare in pieces euery one that commeth forth Factus sum eis sicut Leo sicut Pardus sicut Namer directus ad viam suam For Namer in that place the Graecians translate Pardalis a Pardall In the 13. Ieremy Si mutare potest Aethiops pellem suam aut Pardus maculas suas vos poteritis bene facere cum didiceritis malum If the Blackamoore can change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may you do wel which haue learned to do it Canticles 4. Coronaberis de vetrice saner hermon de cubilibus Leonem de montibus Pardorum That is Thou shalt be crownd froÌ„ the top of Siner and Hermon from the dens of the Lyons and the Mountains of the Leopards Now according to Brocardus the Mountaine of the Leopards is distant from Tripolis in the holy land two leagues Rasis Auicen two Arabians do cal the Panther and Leopard by one name Alpheth or Alphil so that by comparing all these together the Panther Pardall Libbard and Leopard are but one beast called by diuers names A more exaâ—t definition of Paâ—dâ—lâ— and Leopardâ— For the farther manifesting heerof it is good to examine what is said of the Pardal and Leopard in particular that so hauing expressed that it may be cleare by the discourse succeeding that there is no difference betwixt them and the Panther or very small First of all therefore it said of the Pardus that it differeth not from the Panther but onely in sexe and that the skin hath receiued a naturall tincture of diuers spots Aristotle writeth thus of it Cutis chamaeliontis distincta maculis vt Pardalia The skin of the Chamaelion is spotted like a Pardals and in the relation of Lampridius where hee sheweth how Heliogabalus was wont to shut vp his drunken friendes Cum Leonibus Leopardus vrsis ita vt experge facti in cubiculo eodem Leones vrsos Pardos cum luce vel quod est grauius nocte inuenierent ex quo plerique ex animati sunt and so forth By which words it is apparant that those which in the first place he calleth Leopards in the last place he calleth Pardals and the onely difference betwixt the Leopard Pardall and Lyon is that the Leoparde or Pardal haue no manes and therefore they are called Ignobiles leones Isidorus and Solinus write in this maner Pardus secundum post Pantheraâ—est genus varium ac velocissimum praceps ad sanguinem saltu enim ad mortem ruit ex ad vlterio Pardi Leenis Leu pardus nascitur tertiam originem efficit That is to say the Pardal is the next kind to a Panther being diuers coloured very swift greedy after blood and ketcheth his prey by leaping the Leopard is bred betwixt the Pardal and the Lionesse and so that maketh a third kind by which testimony it apeareth that these names make three seuerall kinds of beastes not distinct in nature but in quantity through commixture of
generation The greatest therefore they call Panthers as Bellunensis writeth The second they call Pardals and the third least of all they call Leopards which for the same cause in England is called a Cat of the Mountain And truely in my opinion vntill some other can shew me better reason I will subscribe hereunto namely that they are all one kinde of beast and differ in quantitie onely through adulterous generation For in Affrick there is great want of waters and therefore the lyons Panthers and other beasts doe assemble themselues in great numbers together at the running riuers where the Pardals and the lyons doe engender one with another I meane the greater Panthers with the lyonesses Baytius and the greater lyons with the Panthers and so likewise the smaller with the smaller thereby it commeth to passe that some of them are spotted and some of them without spots The Pardal is a fierce and cruell beast very violent Pliny hauing a body and mind like rauening birds and some say they are ingendred now and then betwixt dogs and Panthers or betwixt leopards and dogges euen as the Lycopanthers are ingendred betwixt wolues and panthers It is the nature of these pardals in Affrick to get vp into the rough and thicke trees where they hide themselues amongest the boughes and leaues and doe not onely take birds but also from thence leape downe vpon beasts and men when they espie their aduantage and all these things doe belong vnto the panthers Concerning the Leopard the word it selfe is new and lately inuented Of the Leopard for it is neuer found among any of the auncients before Iulius Capitolinus or Sparsianus Syluaticus maketh no difference betwixt pardalis and Leopardus and the Italians generally call a pardal Leopardo and neuer pardo except some of the Poets for breuitie sake in a verse The leopard is like to a lyon in the head and forme of his members but yet he is lesser and nothing so strong by the sight of a leopards skinne Gesner made this description of the beast The length saith he from the head to the taile was as much as a mans stature and halfe a cubite The taile of it selfe three spans and a halfe the breadth in the middle three spans the colour a bright yellow distinguished into diuers spots the haire short and mossie The price of the skin was about fiue nobles or fortie shillings for they differ in price according to the regions out of which they are brought they which come furthest are sold dearest and they which come lesse way are sold cheapest It is a wrathfull and an angry beast and whensoeuer it is sicke it thirsteth after the blood of a wilde cat and recouereth by sucking that blood or else by eating the dung of a man Aboue all other things it delighteth in the Camphorey tree and therefore lieth vnder neath it to keepe it from spoile and in like sort the panther delighteth in sweet gums and spices and therefore no maruel if they cannot abide garlicke because it annoyeth their sence of smelling And it is reported by S. Ambrose that if the wals of ones howse or sheep-coat be anointed with the iuice of Garlicke both panthers and Leopards will run away from it Albertus but of this matter we shal saie more afterwards The Leopard is sometimes tamed and vsed in stead of a Dog for hunting both among the TARTARIANS and other Princes for they carry them behinde them on Horsebacke and when they see a Deere or Hart or conuenient prey they turne them downe vppon them suddainely who take them and destroy them yet such is the nature of this beast as also of the PARDALL that if hee doe not take his prey at the fourth or fift iump he falleth so angry and fierce that he destroyeth whomsoeuer he meeteth yea many times his hunter Therefore the hunters haue alwaies a regard to carry with them a lambe or a kid or some such liue thing wherewithall they pacifie him after he he hath missed his game for without blood he will neuer be appeased and thus much shall suffice to haue spoken of the difference betwixt Panthers Pardals and Leopards and their seuerall names in Greeke and Latine from whom almost all nations doe deriue their denomination The names in other languages for the Italians call it Leonpardo the French Leopard and Lyopard the Germans Leppard and Lefarad and Pantherthier the Spaniards Leonpardal Leopardo The Illyrians Leuhart the Caldeans Nimra and some make no differenc betwixt this and the Arabian Wolfe The reason of the Greeke word Pardalis or Pordalis for they signifie both one seemeth to me in most probabilitie to be deriued from the Hebrew word Pardes signifying a Garden because as colours in a Garden make it spotted and render a fragrant smell so the Panther is diuers coloured like a Garden of sundry flowers and also it is said to carry with him a most sweete sauour whither soeuer he goeth and therfore in auncient time they made their Iuory tables standing vpon pictures of Panthers whereof Iuvenall writeth thus in one of his Satyres Olim ex quauis arbore mensa fiebat At nunc diuitibus caenandi nulla voluptas nisi sustinet orbes Grande ebur magno sublimis Pardus biatu Dentibus ex illis quos mittit porta Hyenes Iam nimios capitique graues c. For the same cause Pardalis was the name of a notable Harlot for as the Panthers by their sweete smels drawe the beastes vnto them and then destroy them so also doe harlots decke and adorne themselues with all alluring prouocations as it were with inchaunted odors to drawe men vnto them of whom they make spoyle and rapine Ther is a pretious stone also called Lapis Pantherus brought out of India Euax. Syluaticus Albertus Vartoman whereupon if a man looke before the Sunne rising he shall see diuers colours namely blacke red greene russet purple and rose colour and they say it hath as many vertues as it hath colours but I list not to follow the name any further Countries of Panthers The Countries breeding Panthers are Abasia in the kingdome of Melacha in the I le Sumatra Likewise in ASIA especially Syria for there are none in Europe all Affricke ouer they are plentiful as in Lybia and Mauritania where abound al store of wilde beasts Likewise beyond Catadupa for Apollonius and his companions saw there many Lyons Panthers In Arabia the furthest part namly the promontory of Dyra towards the south are the strongest Pardals of the world as saith Strabo Likwise in the Mediteranean region beyond Barygaza toward the South vnto Dachinabades and towards the East are al sorts of wilde beasts both Tygres and panthers and Diodorus writeth that in that part of Arabia ioyning vpon Syria there Lyons and pardals are both more in number and greater in quantity then in Lybia Also it is said by Volateranus and Gyllius that the panther of
signified a happy coniunction of the Rammes and Ewes together Pliny writeth that if the right stone of a Ram be tyed or bound fast when he leapeth vpon an Eew Meanes to make the Rams get males or females he will engender a male but if the left stone be tyed he will beget a female Neare the Citty Patrae there are two Riuers one of them called Milichus and the other Charadrus and the cattle that drinke of this water in the spring time do beget males and therfore the shepheards when they bring their Sheep and Goats to that Riuer they driue them to the farther side of the Riuer because they would haue more females then males for that vertue lyeth in one of the sides but their Kyne they suffer to drinke on that side because among their heards the male is best for Buls and Oxen serue them for sacrifice and to till the earth and therefore the male in that kind but in al other the female is more acceptable Both males and females are begotten as wel by the vertues of waters as by the vertue of the Rammes and likewise by the vertue of the winde for when the North wind bloweth for the most part males are conceiued but when the South wind females and therefore Aristotle saith In admissur ae tempore obseruare siccis diebus habitus septentrionales vt contra ventum gregem pascamus eum spectans admittatur pecus at sifeminae generandae sunt austrinos flatus captare vt eadem ratione matrices ineantur That is to say In the Ramming time you must obserue the blowing of the Northerne wind in dry dayes and not onely feede the flocke against the wind but also cause the Ram to leape the Eew with his face to the North but if you would engender females then must you in like manner obserue the South winde Vnto this experiment doe Palladius Aelianus and Colâ—umella agree and these thinges are necessary to bee obserued about the engendering of Lambs Now after that the Ewe is filled by the Ram the diligent shephard must haue as great regard to keepe her from abortement or casting of her Lamb therefore Aristotle saith if presently after copulation there fal a shower or if when they are great with young they eat Wall-Nuts or Acorns they wil cast their Lambs and likewise if in time of thunder the Ewe with yoong be alone in the fielde the claps of thunder wil cause abortment Albertus and the remedy thereof for the auoyding of that mischiefe is prescribed by Pliny Tonitrus saith he Solitarijs ouibus abortus inferunt remedium est congregare eas vt coetu inventur that is to call them together in times of thunder is a remedy against abortment Therefore he requireth of a skilfull shepheard a voyce or whisell intelligable to the sheepe whereby to call them together if they bee scattered abroad feeding at the first appearance and note of thunder It is also reported that there are certaine vaines vnder the tongue of a Rambe the colour whereof doe presadge or fore-shew what will be the colour of the lambe begotten by them for if they be all white or all blacke or all party coloured such also will be the colour of it that they engender The yeaning of lambes Bathius Ewes bring foorth for the most part but one at a time but sometimes two sometimes three and sometimes foure the reason whereof is to be attributed either to the qualitie of the foode whereof they eate or else to the kinde from which they are deriued For there bee certaine sheepe in the Orchades which alwaies bring foorth two at one time and many of them sixe There are also sheepe in Magnetia and Affrick that bring foorth twice in the yeare And Aristotle in his wonders writeth that the sheepe of Vmbria bring foorth thrice in a yeare and among the Illirians there are sheepe and Goates that bring forth twice in the yeare two at a time yea sometimes three or foure or fiue and that they nourish them altogether with their aboundance of milke and besides some of their milke is milked away from them Egypt is so plentifull in grasse that their sheepe bring foorth twice in a yeare and are likewise twice lipped so likewise in Mesapotamia and in all moist and hot countries Many times it falleth out that the Ewe dyeth in the yeaning of hir lambe and many times they bring foorth monsters so also doe all other beastes that are multipara betwixt a Goate and a Ramme Albertus is a Musmon begottten and betwixt a Goate bucke and an Ewe is the beast Cinirus engendred and among the Rhaetians many times there are mixed monsters brought foorth for in the hinder partes they are Goates and in the fore-parts sheepe for Rammes when they growe strong olde and wanton leape vppon the female Goates vpon which they beget such monsters but they die for the most part immediatly after the yeaning Sometimes wilde Rammes come to tame sheepe and beget vppon these Lambes which in colour and wooll doe most of all resemble the father but afterward when they beare yongue their wooll beginneth to be like to other vulgar sheepe when the Ewe is ready to be deliuered she trauaileth and laboureth like a woman and therefore if the Shepheard haue not in him some mid-wiues skill that in cases of extremitie he may drawe out the lambe when the members sticke crosse in the matrix or else if that be vnpossible because it is dead in the dams belly yet to cut it out without perill and daunger to the Ewe in such cases the Graecians call a Shepheard Embruoulcos Custody of Ewes and yoong lambs and meanes to encrease their milke Hauing thus brought the sheepe to their deliuery for the multiplication of kinde it then resteth to prouide that the new borne lambe may be secured from Dogs Wolues Foxes Crowes Rauens and and all enemies to this innocent beast and also to prouide that the Ewe may render to her yongue one sufficient foode out of her vdder therefore they must bee well and extraordinarily fed We haue shewed alreadie the vse of Salt and then also it is very profitable when the Ewe is newly deliuered of her lambe for it will make her eate and drinke more liberally In the Winter time for the encrease of their milke in steede of greene pastures and such other things as we haue expressed it is requisite to giue them corne and especially plenty of beanes For this cause some prescribe to bee giuen to their sheepe the hearbe Lanaria which they affirme to be profitable to be giuen to encrease milke some the stone Galacites to be beaten to powder and annointed vppon the Ewes vdder and some prescribe to sprinckle water and salt vppon them euery morning in the house or fielde before the Sunne rising But herein I leaue euery man to his owne iudgement hoping it will not be offensiue to any to relate those things before expressed and resting
Gentian but narrower leaues and standing vpright the Nearue whereof in the middle is red and it groweth about the waters and therefore I coniecture it may be Water-Sorrell or Water-planton whereof when Sheep haue eaten they fall into a disease called also Duua for there is bred in their liuer certain litle black Worms or Leeches growing in smal bagges or skinnes being in length halfe a finger and so much in breadth wherewithall when the beast is infected it is vncurable and therefore there is no remedy but to take from it the life and that this is true the Butchers themseles affirme how many times they doe find such little Wormes in the Sheepes Lyuer and they say they come by drinking of Fenny or marshy-water And to conclude there is a kinde of Pannicke also whereof when Sheepe haue eaten it destroyeth them and there be other Hearbes which euery common Sheapheard knoweh are hurtfull vnto Sheepe and the beast it selfe though in nature it bee very simple yet is wise enough to chuse his owne foode except the vehement necessity of famine and hunger causeth him to eate poysoned hearbs In cases when their bellyes swell or when they haue Wormes in their belly which they haue deuoured with the Herbs they eat then they poure into their bellies the Vrin of men and because their bellies presently swell and are puffed out with wind the Sheapheards cut off the tops of their eares and make them bleede and likewise beate their sides with their Staffe and so most commonly they are recouered If Sheep chaunce to drink in their heate so as their greace be cooled in their belly which Butchers do find many times to be true then the Sheaphard must cut off halfe the Sheepes eare and if it bleede the beast shall be well but if it bleed not he must be killed and eaten or else he will starue of his owne accord If at any time a Sheep chance to deuoure a leach by pouring in oyle into his throat he shall be safe from danger Of the colds of Sheepe SHeep are knowne to be subiect to cold not onely by coughing after they haue taken it but also by their strength before they take it for the Sheapheards do diligently obserue that when any frost or yce falleth vppon a Sheepe if hee endure it and not shake it off it is a great hazzard but the same Sheep will die of cold but if he shake it off and not endure it it is a signe of a strong sound and healthy constitution Likewise for to know the health of their Sheep they open their eies and if the vaines appeare red and small they know they are sound but if they appeare white or else red and ful they know they are weake and will hardly liue out Winter or cold weather also when they are taken in their hands they presse their backe bone neare the hips and if it bend not they are sound and strong but if they feele it bend vnder their hand they hold them weake and feeble Likewise if a man take them by the head or by the skinne of the Necke if he follow him easily when he draweth him it is a signe of weakenesse and imbicility but if it doth striue and follow with great difficulty then it is a token of health and soundnesse Of Scabs and the causes of them The original cause of Scabs THe true originall of Scabs is either as we haue said already leanenesse or else cold or wet or wounds in the flesh by clipping or to conclude by the heate of the beast in summer not washed off by thornes and prickings of bushes or by sitting vpon the dung of Mules Horsses or Asses Now when this first of al beginneth it is easie for the sheapheard to obserue by these signes and tokens for the tickling or itching humour lying betwixt the skin and the flesh causeth the poore sheep either to bite the place with his teeth or to scratch it with his horne or to rub it vpon a tree or wall or if he can do none of these stamp hard vppon the ground with his forefeet for which it is good presently to separate the sheepe so affected from the flocke The discription and cure whereof is thus expressed by Virgill Turpis oues tentat scabies vbi frigidus hymber Altius ad vivum persedit horrida cano Bruma gelu vel cum tonsis illotus ad haesit Sudâ—r hir suti secuerunt corpora vepres Dulcibus id circo fluuijs pecus omne magistri Per fundunt vdisque aries in gurgite villis Mersatur missusque secundo defluit amni Aut tonsum tristi contingunt corpus amurca Et spumas miscent argenti viuaque sulphura Idaasque pices pingues vnguine ceras Scillamque helleborosque graues nigrumque bitumen Non tamen vlla magis praesens fortuna laborum est Quam si quiâ— ferro potuit rescindere summum Vlceris os alitur vitium viuitque tegendo Dum medicas adhibere manus ad vulnera pastor Abnegat which may be englished in this maner When the poore sheep throgh wet shewers cold winter summers sweate or prickings of thornes doth incurre the filthy disease of scabs then it concerneth his maister to wash him in sweet riuers ouer head and eares yea to cast him in to swimme for his owne life or else to annoint his body after it is clipped with the spume or froth of oyle and of siluer with Brimstone and soft Idean Pitch with wax Hellibor black-earth or the flesh of shrimps or if it be possible to cut off the top of the wound with a knife Of the Scabs of Sheepe the first remedy THis disease the French-men call Letac and of all other it is one of the most contagious for our english prouerbe iustifieth one scabbed sheepe infecteth a whole flocke and Textor writeth thus of it Oues frequentius quam vllum aliud animal infestantur scabie quam facit macies vt maciem exiguitas cibi huic morbo nisi occurratur vnica totum pecus coinquinabit nam oues contagione vexantur That is to say Sheep are more oftentimes infected with scabs then any other creature whereinto they throgh for leanes as they fall into leanesse through want of food and therefore if a remedy be not prouided for this euill one of them infected will defile all the residue for sheep are subiect to contagion for remedy wherof in France they vse this medicine First of all they sheare the sheep and then they mingle together the pure froath of oyle and water wherein Hops haue bin sod and the leeze of the best wine and so let it soke in two or three daies together afterwardes they wash them in sea-sea-water and for want of sea water in salt water and this medicine is approued wherby both scabs and tikes are remoued from the sheep and also the wooll groweth better afterwards then euer it did before but it is better if a man can cure them without shearing
then by shearing as Varro writeth and furthermore to wash sheep oftentimes with this medicine doth preserue them from scabs before they be infected and others adde vnto this medicine little stickes of Cypresse wood soked in water and so wash them therewith some again make another medicine of Sulphur or Brimstone Cypresse white lead and Butter mingled altogether and so annoint their sheep therewith Some again take earth which is as soft as durt being so softned with the stale of an Asse but euermore they shaue the scabbed place first of all and wash it with cold or stale vrin and generally in Arabia they were neuer wont to vse other medicine then the gum of Cedar wherwithall they purged away by ointment all scabs from sheep Camels and Elephants but to conclude there is no better medicine for this euill then vrin Brimstone and oyle as Diophones writeth Another medicine for the Scabs TAke the leeze of wine the froath of Oyle white Hellibor mingled with the liquor of sod hops also the iuyce of greene Hemlock which is expressed out of the stalke before it hath seede after it is cut downe and put into an earthen vessell with any other liquor mingled with scorched salt so the mouth of the vessel being made vp close set it in a dunghill a whole year together that so it may be concocted with the vapor of the dung then take it forth and when you will vse it warme it first of al scraping the vlcerous or scabbed part with an Oyster shell or else with a sharp pumise stone vntill it be ready to bleed and so annoint it therewith Another medicine for the same TAke the froath of oile sod away to two parts I mean 3. parts into two put therinto the stale vrin of a man which hath bin heated by casting into it hot burning Oyster-shels and mingle a like quantity of the iuyce of Hemlock then beat an earthen pot to powder and infuse a pinte of liquid Pitch and a pinte of fryed or scorched salt al which being preserued together do cure the scabs of sheep so often as they are vsed Another medicine A Drinke being made of the iuyce of hops and the hearb Camaelion and giuen vnto them cureth them Likewise the same being sod with the roots of black Camaelion annointed warm vpon the place according to Dioscorides haue the same operation Likewise Pliny writeth that the scabs of sheepe may be cured by salt water alone either taken out of the sea or made by art forasmvch as there is great danger in the decoction thereof least that the water ouercome the salt of the salt ouercome the water he prescribeth a mean how to know it namely the equall and iust temperament thereof for saith he if it will beare vp an Egge then is it well tempered so that the Egge will swim and net sinke which you shall find by addition of aequall and iust quantity of water and salt that is two pints of water a pinte of salt and so lesse to lesse and more to more But if there be any bunch or great scab which couereth any part of the skinne then open the scab and bunch and poure into it liquid pitch and scortched salt and thus much for the disease of the scabs Of the holy fire which the Sheapheards call the Pox or the Blisters or Saint Anthonies fire THis euill is vncurable for it neither admitteth medicine nor resication by knife and therefore whensoeuer a beast is infected therewith it ought presently to be seperated from the residue of the flocke for there is nothing that spreadeth it selfe more speedily whensoeuer you aduenture to apply any thing vnto it it presently waxeth angry and perplexeth the whole body except it bee the milke of Goates and yet my Author speaketh thus of it Quod infusum tantum velet vt blandiatur igneam saeuitiam differens magis occisionem gregis quam prohibens That is It seemeth to close with raging fire as it were to flatter it a little rarher deferring the death of the beast then doing away the disease It is therefore prescribed by the most memorable Author of al the Egyptians that men doe oftentimes looke vpon the backes of their sheep to see the beginning of this sicknesse and when they find a sheep affected herewith they dig a ditch or hole fit for him at the entering in of the sheepe-coate or stable wherin they put the sheep aliue with his face vpward and backe downeward and cause all the residue of the flocke to come and pisse vpon him by which action it hath bin often found as Columella writeth that this euill hath bin driuen away and by no other meanes Of the warts and cratches of Sheepe THis disease is called by the vulgar sheapheardes the Hedghog and it doth anoye the sheep two manner of waies first when some gauling or matter ariseth vppon the paring of the hoofe or else a bunch arise in the same place hauing a hayre-growing in the middle like the haire of a dog and vnder that a little worme the worme is best drawne out with a knife by cutting the top of the wound wherein must bee vsed great warinesse and circumspection because if the worme bee cut asunder in the wound there issueth out of her such a venemous pustulate matter that poysoneth the wound and then there is no remedy but the foot must be cut off But the wound being opened and the worme taken out aliue presently with a wax-candle you must melt into it hot burning sewet and if there be no bunch but onely scabs take Allum liquid Pitch Brimstone and Vineger mingled all together and apply it vnto the wound or else take a young Pomgranate before the graines grow in it and bake it with Allum casting vppon it vineger sharp wine and the rust of yron fryed altogether Of the falling sicknesse IT commeth to passe sometimes that sheepe are infected with the falling sicknesse but the cure hereof can neuer be knowne nor yet the sicknesse well til the beast be dead and then as Hippocratus writeth by opening of the braine it wil euidently appeare by the ouer great moystnesse thereof Of the paines in the eies IT is reported by Theophrastus and Pliny that for cloudes and other paines in the eie of a sheepe horned-poppy and Chamaelia are very wholsome Of phlegme in Sheepe FOr the remedy of this disease take Peniroial or Margerum or wild Nep made vp togither in wooll and thrust into the nose of the sheepe there turned round vntill the beast begin to neeze also a stalk of blacke Hellibor boared through the eare of the sheepe and there tyed fast for the space of foure and twenty hours and then taken out at the same time of the day that it was put in by Pliny and Collumella is affirmd to be an excelent remedy against the Phlegme Of the swelling in the iawes THere is sometimes an inflammation or swelling in the iawes of sheepe which the Latins
call tonsillae comming by reason of a great flux of humours from the head vnto that place which may be cured two manner of waies first by incision or opening the skin where the bunch lyeth wherby all the watery tumors are euacuated and the beast cured or else if through the coldnes of the weather or some other accident you list not to cut the skin then annoint it with liquid pitch prepared in such manner as is before expressed for the scabes by operation whereof it will be dissolued and dispersed When this euill ariseth in the beginning of the spring many times it is cured without all remedie because the beast for the greedinesse of the sweete grasse stoopeth downe her head and stretcheth her necke by which the straining and sorenesse of her iawes and throat departeth and this sicknesse in a sheepe is like the Kings euill in a man There be some that cure it by putting salt among the meate of these beasts or by Guniper berries and Harts-toong leaues beaten to powder For the cough and paine in the lungs SHepheards for these diseases do take the powder of the root of Foale-foot and mingle it with salt so giue it vnto the sheepe to lick whereby they are perswaded that the lungs of the beast are much comforted and strengthned and furthermore against the cough they take blanched Almonds and beat them to powder and so tempering them in two or 3. cups of wine do infuse it in at the sheeps nostrilles and likewise veruine which is called a kind of Germander but falsely because it hath no good smel is giuen by shephards at this day vnto their sheep against the cough Of sighing and shortnesse of breath FOr sheepe that are affected with much sighing they vse to bore a hole with an yron through their eares and remoue the sheepe out of the place where they feed to some other place and if it come from the sicknes of the lungs then the hearb called Lungwort or Creswort is the most present remedy in the world If the root therof be drunke in water or a piece thereof tyed vnder the sheepes tongue or as Celsus saith giue vnto it as much sharp vineger as the beast can endure or halfe a pint of a mans stale vrine warmed at the fire and infused into the nostril with a little horn this also is a remedy against flegme in the summer time Of the loathing of Sheepe and encreasing of their stomacke IF at any time the sheepe forsake his meate then take his taile and pull off from it all the wooll afterwards binde it as hard as euer you can and so he will fall hard to his meat againe and Pliny affirmeth that the same part of his taile which is beneath the knot wil die after such binding and neuer haue any sence in it againe Of the fluxes of sheepe and loosenesse of the belly FOr this disease the Sheapheardes take no other thing but the Hearbe Tormentia or Set-foyle wherwithall they stop all manner of laxes but if they cannot get the same Hearb then they take salt and giue it vnto them and so hauing encreased their thirst they giue vnto them black wine whereby they are cured Of the melt of Sheepe IN Aprill and May through the aboundance of thicke grosse blood the melt of sheepe is stopped and filled then the sheaphards will take two of their fingers and thrust them within the nostriles of the sheep there rubbing them vntill they make them bleed and so draw from them as much blood as they can Of the sicknesse of the Spleene FOr as much as a Horse a Man and a Sheep are troubled with the same diseases they are also to be cured with the same remedies and therefore Spleen-wort giuen vnto sheep as to a man and a Horse as wee haue already expressed is the best remedy for this Malady Of the Feauers of Sheepe SOmetimes a shaking rage through an incensed and an vnnaturall heat of the blood in the sheepe begetteth in him a Feauer the best remedy whereof is to let him bloud according to these verses Quin etiam iam dolor balantum lapsus ad ossa Cum furit atque artus depascitur arida febris Profuit incensos aestus auertere inter Ima ferire pedes salientem sanguine venam Quam procul aut molli succedere saepius vmbrae Videris aut summas carpentem ignauius herbas Extremamque sequi aut medio procumbere campo Pascentem serae solam decedere nocti Continuò ferro culpam compesce priusquà m Dira per in cautum serpant cantagio vulgus In which verses the Poet defineth the signes of this disease and the cure The signes he saith are solitarinesse and a carelesse feeding or biting off the top of his meat following alwaies the hindmost of the flock and lying down in the middle of the field when others be a feeding also lying alone in the night time and therefore he wisheth to let them bloud vnder the pasterne or ankle bone of their foot but by often experiment it hath bin proued that to let them bloud vnder the eies or vpon the eares is as availeable as in the legs but concerning the Feauer we will say more in the discourse of the Lambes Of the pestilence or rottennesse of Sheepe THis sicknesse first of al commeth vnto Sheepe out of the earth either by some earthquake or else by some other pestilent humor corrupting the vitall spirit for Seneca writeth that after the Citty Pompeij in Champania was ouerthrowne by an earth-quake in the winter time there followed a pestilence which destroyed sixe hundered sheep about that citty in short time after and this he saith did not happen through any naturall feare in them but rather through the corruption of water and aire which lyeth in the vpper face of the earth and which by the trembling of the earth is forced out poysoning first of all the beasts because their heads are downeward and feede vpon the earth and this also will poyson men if it were not suppressed and ouercome by a multitude of good aire which is aboue the earth It were endlesse to describe all the euils that come by this disease how some consume away by crying and mourning filling both fields and hils with their lamentations leauing nothing behinde them no not their skins or bowels for the vse of man For the cure whereof First change the place of their feeding so that if they were infected in the woods or in a cold place driue them to the hils or to sunny warme fields and so on the contrary if in warme places clementaire then driue them to more turbulent and cold pastures remoue and change them often but yet force them gently waying their sicke and feeble estate neither suffering them to dye through lazinesse and idlenesse nor yet to be oppressed through ouermuch labour When you haue brought them to the place where you would haue them there deuide them asunder not permitting aboue
which vntill his time was there sincerely preserued Now concerning the times and seasons of the yeare for the shearing of sheepe it is not onely hard but also an impossible thing to set downe any general rule to hold in al places The best that euer I read is that of Didimus Nec frigido ad huc nec iam aestiuo tempore sed medio vere Oues tondendae sunt That is sheepe must neither bee shoarne in extreame colde Weather nor yet in the extreame heate of Summer but in the middle of the spring In some hot countries they sheere their sheepe in Aprill in temperate countries they sheere them in Maie but in the cold countries in Iune and Iuly and generally the best time is betwixt the vernall equinoctium the summers solstice that is before the longest day and after the daies nights be of equall length there be some that sheere their sheep twice in a yeare not for any necessitie to disburden the beast of the fleece but for opinion that the often shearing causeth the finer wooll to arise euen as the often mowing of grasse maketh it the sweeter Columella In the hot countries the same day that they sheere their sheepe they also annoint them ouer with oyle the leeze of old wine and the water wherein hops are sod and if they be neere the sea side three daies after they drench them ouer head and eares in water Palladius Celsus but if they be not neere the sea side then they wash them with raine water sod with salt and hereby there commeth a double profit to the sheepe First for that it will kill in them all the cause of scabs for that yeare so as they shall liue safe from that infection and secondly the sheepe doe thereby grow to beare the longer and the softer wooll Some do sheare them within doores and some in the open sunne abroad and then they chuse the hottest and the calmest daies and these are the things or the necessary obseruations which I can learne out of the writings of the auncients about the shearing of sheepe Sharing time in England Now concerning the manner of our English nation and the customes obserued by vs about this businesse although it be needlesse for me to expresse yet I can not containe my self from relating the same considering that we differ from other nations First therefore the common time whereat we sheare sheepe is in Iune and lambes in Iuly and first of all we wash our sheepe cleane in running sweete waters afterward letting them dry for a day or two for by such washing all the wooll is made the better and cleaner then after two daies we sheare them taking heede to their flesh that it be no maner of way clipped with the sheares but if it be then doth the shearer put vpon it liquid pitch commonly called Tarre whereby it is easily cured and kept safely from the flies The quantitie of wooll vpon our sheep is more then in any other countrey of the world for euen the least among vs such as are in hard grounds as in Norfolke the vpper most part of Kent Hertfort-shier and other places haue better and weightier fleeces then the greatest in other nations and for this cause the forraine and Latine Authors doe neuer make mention of any quantitie of wooll they sheare from their Sheep but of the quallitie The quantitie in the least is a pound except the sheep haue lost his wooll in the middle sort of sheepe two pounds or three pounds as is vulgar in Buckingham Northampton and Leicester shieres But the greatest of all in some of those places and also in Rumney marsh in Kent foure or fiue pounds and it is the manner of the Shepheards and sheepe masters to wet their Rams and so to keepe their wooll two or three years together growing vpon their backs and I haue credibly heard of a Sheepe in Buckingham-shiere in the flocke of the L.P. that had shorne from it at one time one and twentie pound of wooll After the shearing of our sheepe we doe not vse either to annoint or wash them as they doe in other nations but turne them foorth without their fleeces leauing them like meadowes new mowen with expectation of another fleece the next yeare The whole course of the handling of our sheepe is thus described by the flower of our English-Gentlemen husbands master Thomas Tusser Wash Sheepe for the better where water doth runne And let him goe clanely and dry in the Sunne Then sheare him and spare not at two daies an end The sooner the better his corps will amend Reward not thy Sheepe when yee take off his coate With twitches and flashes as broad as a groat Let not such vngentlenesse happen to thine Lest flie with her gentles doe make him to pine Let Lambes goe vnclipped till Iune be halfe worne The better the fleeces will grow to be shorne The Pye will discharge thee for pulling the rest The lighter the Sheepe is then feedeth it best And in another place of the husbandry of sheepe he writeth thus Good farme and well stored good housing and dry Good corne and good dairy good market and nigh Good Sheapheard good till man good Iack and good Gill Makes husband and huswife their coffers to fill Let pasture be stored and fenced about And tillage set forward as needeth without Before you do open your purse to begin With any thing doing for fancy within No storing of pasture with baggagely tit With ragged and aged as euill as it Let carren and barren be shifted away For best is the best whatsoeuer you pay And in another place speaking of the time of the yeare for gelding Rams and selling of wooll which he admonisheth should be after Michelmas he writeth thus Now geld with the gelder the Ram and the Bull Sew ponds amend dams and sell Webster the wool But of the milking of sheepe he writeth thus Put Lambe fro Ewe to milk a few Be not to bold to milke and fold Fiue Ewes alow the euery Cow Sheepe wrigling taile hath mads without faile And thus far Tusser The value of English wool and the vse thereof besides whom I find little discourse about the husbandry of Sheepe in any English Poet. And for the conclusion or rather farther demonstration of this part concerning the quallity of our English wooll I can vse no better testimony then that of worthy M. Camden in his Brittania for writing of Buckinghamshire he vseth these words Hac tota fere campestris est solo item argillacos tenaci foecundo Papulosis pratis innumeros ouium greges pascit quarum mollia tenuissima vellera ab Asiaticis vsque gentibus expetuntur That is to say The whole county of Buckingham is of a clammy champaigne fertile soile feeding innumerable flocks of sheep with his rich and well growen pastures or meddowes whose soft and fine fleeces of wooll are desired of the people of Asia For we know
true and naturall strength and also their artificial imitation by men Now on the otherside the wise shepheards want not deuises to restraine the wrath of these impetious beasts For Epicharmus the Syracusan saith if ther be a hole bored in the backer part of his crooked horn neer his eare it is very profitable to be followed for seeing that he is captaine of the flock and that hee leadeth all the residue it is most necessary that his health and safeguarde be principally regarded and therefore the auncient shepheards were woont to appoint the captaine of the flocke from the prime and first appearance of his hornes and to giue him his name whereof he tooke knowledge and would leade and goe before them at the appointment and direction of his keeper When he is angry he beateth the ground with his foot and they were woont to hange aboord of a foote broad wherein were drouen many sharp nailes with the points toward the head so that when the beaste did offer to fight with his owne force he woundeth his forehead They were wont also to hange a shrimpe at the horne of the ram and then the Wolfe will neuer set vpon their flockes Morral vses of ramshorns Aelianus And concerning their hornes which are the Noblest parts of their body most regarded yet I must speake more for there was wont to be euery yeare amonge the Indians a fight betwixt men wilde beasts bulles and tame rams and a murtherer in auncient time was wont to be put to death by a ram for by art the beast was so instructed neuer to leaue him till he had dashed out his braines It is reported of a rams hornes consecrated at Delos Plutarch broght from the coasts of the red sea that weighed twenty and six poundes being two cubits and eight fingers in length There was a ram in the flocks of Pericles that had but one horn wherupon when Lampon the poet had looked he saied Ex duabas quae in vrbe vigerent factionibus fore vt altera obscurata ad vnum periclem apud quem visum foret portentum resideret ciuitatis potentia Coelius That whereas there were two contrary-raging-factions in the citty it should happen that Pericles from whose possessions that monster came shuld obscure the one and take the whole gouernment of the citty Cardan It is reported by Rasis and Albertus that if the hornes of a ram bee buried in the earth they will turne into the hearbe sperrage for rottennesse and putrification is the mother of many creatures and hearbes There was as Aristotle reporteth in his wonders a childe borne with a rams head and it is affirmed by Ouid that Medea inclosed an old decrepite ramme in a brazen vessell with certaine kinde of medicines and afterwards at the opening of the saide vessell she receiued a young lambe bred vpon the metamorphosis of his body Concerning Phrixus whereof wee haue spoken in the former part of our discourse of the sheepe there is this story He was the â—he sonne of Athaman and Nepheles Afterward his mother being dead he feared the treachery of his mother in law and step-dame Inus The story of Phrixus and the ram with a golden fleece Apollonius and therefore with his sister Helle by the consent of their father he swam ouer a narrowe arme of the sea vpon the backe of a ram carrying a golden fleece which before that time his father had bestowed vpon him His sister Helle being terrified with the great roaring of the Water fell off from the rams back into the sea and thereof came the name of Hellesponte of Helle the Virgin and Pontus the sea but he came safely to Colchis to king Hetes where by the voice of a Ram who spake like a man hee was commaunded to offer and dedicate him to Iupiter surnamed Phryxus and also that golden â—eece was hanged up and reserued in the Temple of Colchis vntill Iason by the helpe of Medea aforesaid did fetch it away and the ram was placed among the stars in his true shape and was called Phrixeus of Phrixus who was the father of the Phrygian Nation Of this fabulous tale there are many explications and coniecturall tales among the lerned not vnprofitable to bee rehearsed in this place Coelias and Palaphatus say that the ram was a ship whose badge was a ram prouided by Athaman for his sonne to saile into Phrygia and some say that Aries was the name of a man that was his foster-father Hermolâ—us by whose counsell and charge he was deliuered from the step-mother Inus Other say that there was a booke of parchment made of a rams skin containing the perfect way to make golde called Alchymye and that thereby Phrixus got away But in Athens there was reserued the ymage of this Phrixus Apollonius Gyraldus The fleece of Colchis offering the ram vpon which hee was borne ouer the Sea to the God Laphystius and whereas there are in Colchis certaine riuers out of which there is gold growing and oftentimes founde whereuppon some of them haue receiued their name as Chrysorrhoa and the men of that country sayed to bee greatly inriched thereby Tzetzes they gaue occasion of al the poeticall fictions about the golden fleece There are in some places of Affricke certaine sheepe whose wooll hath the colour of gold and it may be that from this occasion came the talke of golden fleeces It is said that when Atreus raigned in Pelopomesus hee vowed to Diana the best whatsoeuer should be brought foorth in his flocke and it fortuned that there was yeaned a golden lambe and therefore he neglecting his vow did not offer it but shut it vp in his chest Afterward when he gloried and boasted of that matter his brother Thrystes greatly enuied him and counterfetting loue to his wife Aerope receiued from her the golden lambe Then being in possession thereof he contradicted Atreus before the people affirming that he that had the golden Lambe ought to be king and to raigne among them and so layed a wager of the whole gouernment or kingdome thereof with Atreus whereunto he yeelded but Iupiter by Mercury discouered the fraud and so Thyestes took him to flight and the lambe was commaunded to bee offered to the sunne and so I conclude this discourse with the verses of Martiall Mollia Phryxei secuisticolla mariti Hoc meruit tunicam qui tibi saepe dedit And seeing that I haue entered into the discourse of these poeticall fables or rather Riddles which seeme to bee outwardly cloathed with impossibilities Transmutation of rams I trust that the Reader will giue mee leaue a little to prosecute other Narrations as that Neptune transforming himselfe into a ram deceiued and deflowred the Virgin Bisabpis and the auncients when they swore in iest and merriment were wont to sweare by a Ram or a Goose When the Gyants waged warre with the Goddes all of the Gods as the poets write took vnto
Also Hippocrates prescribeth this medicine following for a remedy or purgation to the belly Plinie first make a perfume of Barly steeped in oyle vpon some coles and then seeth some mutton or sheeps flesh very much and with decoction of Barley set it abroade all day and night and afterwaâ—d seeth it againe and eat or sup it vp warm and then the next day with hony Frankincense and Parsely all beaaen and mingled togither make a suppository and with wooll â—ut it vp vnder the party and it shall ease the distresse The same flesh burned and mixâ—â— in water by washing cureth all the maladies or diseases arising in the secrets and the â—roath of Mutton Goose or Veale wil help against the poison by biting if it be not drawn â—â—t by cupping glasse nor by horse-leach The sewet of a sheepe melted at the fire and with a linnen cloath annointed vpon a burned place doth greatly ease the paine thereof The liuer with the suet and Nitre causeth the scars of the flesh to become of the same coâ—â—ur that it was before the wound it being mixed with toasted salt scattereth the bunches in the flesh and with the dust of womens haire cureth fellons in the fingers or any parte of the bodies The sewet of sheepe or goats being mingled with the iuice of rennish wine grape and shining horse-flies doeth without all scruple or doubt ease the paine of the 〈…〉 bee annointed theâ—â— upon The fâ—â— of sheepe doeth very easily expel the roughnes of tâ—e â—ailes The â—ewet of sheepe or any other small beast being mixed with the herbe called Melander and pounded with Alum afterward baked together and wrought into the maner of a â—eare-cloath Marcellus doeth verie much ease those which are burned by fire in any parts of their body being wel applied thereto The sewet of a sheepe being also applyed to those which â—â—ancâ—kibes in the heeles or chilbâ—anes in their feet wil presently heale them The sewet of a sheepe mixed with womens haire which is burnt to pouder doeth very effectually cure those which haue their ioynts or articles loose beeing annointed thereupon Pliny The fat of Goats or sheepe moistned with warme water and boiled togither being annointed vppon the eies doth speedily cure all paines spots or blemishes in the same whatsoeuer The fat of a sheepe boiled and drunke with sharpe wine is an excellent remedy against the cough The same medicine is also effectually vsed for the expelling of horses coughes The sewet of a sheep being boiled with sharpe wine doth very speedily cure the obstruction of the small guts bloody flixe and any cough of what continuance soeuer Marcellus The same being in like manner drunke while it is hot is accounted for an excellent remedy against the collicke passion The sewet of a sheepe or of a male-Goat being mingled with the fime or dung of a female goat and Saffron doth very effectually cure those which are troubled with the gowt or swelling of the ioynts being anointed vpon the place so greeued It is alâ—o reported that the outward sewet of sheepe betweene the flesh and the skinne betweene the hinder legges is very wholesome for the curing of sundry paines and diseases dioscorides Sheepes sewet or the fat of any other small beast being gathered from the reynes mixed with salt and the dust of a pumeise stâ—ne being applyed vnto the yard of any man doth very speedily cure all paines Aches or swellings therein The fat of sheepe which is gathered from the caule or cell being mingled with the aforesaid medicines do heale all other paines in the priuy members of man or Woman whatsoeuer The same sewet doeth stay the great excesse of bleeding in the nose being anoynted therevppon Sheepes sewet mixed with Goose greace and certaine other medicines being taken in drinke doth helpe abortments in women The liuer of a Sheepe is accounted an excellent remedy against the shedding of the haire on the eye liddes being rubbed thereuppon The same being also baked or boyled is accounted verye profitable for sheepes eies if it be well rubbed thereon The marrow of sheepe is very good to annoint all aches and swellings whatsoeuer Hippocrates The hornes of sheep or of goats pounded to powder mingled with parched barley which hath bene well shaled and altogither mixed with oile being taken in a certaine perfume doth helpe women of their seconds and restoreth to them their menstruall â—uxes Sheepes hornes burned and beaten in wine vntill they be tempered like a pill the right foot being annointed with the right horne and the left foote with the left will mittigate the sorrow of those which are very sore pained and troubled with the gowt Rasis Rhewmaticke or watry eies being annointed with the braines of sheep are very speedy and effectuaâ—ly cured The braines of the same beast is exceeding profitable for the breeding of young childrens teeth being annointed vppon the gums The lungs or light of small beasts but especiallie of a ram doe restore the true skinne and colour of the flesh in chose whose bodies are full of chops and scarres Plinie The lunges or lights of the same beast concocted vppon the vppermost skinne of anye man and applyed verie hot thereunto doe diminish the blacke or blew places therein which haue bin receeiued by the occasion of any stripes or blowes The lungs of sheepe being new taken out of their bellies and applied while they are hot vnto beaten or bruised places Marcellus doeth quite abolish the signes thereof and in shortspace procure remedy The lungs of sheepe or smal Cattle being roasted and taken by any man before hee drinketh wil resist all kind of drunkennesse The lunges of sheepe taken out of their bellies and bound about the heads of those which are phâ—eâ—sie while they are hot will verie speedily ease them of their trouble The lungs of sheep being hot and bound to the head is acounted very profitable for those which are troubled with the pesteferous disease called the drowsie euill The lungs of sheepe being boild with Hempe seed so that the flesh be eaten and the water wherein it is sod be drunke doth very effectually cure those which are greeued with excoriations in their bellies and the bloody flixe The lunges of sheepe being applyed while they are hot doth heale the gowt The liuer of white sheepe well boiled made moist with water thoroughly beaten and applyed vnto the eye-lids doth purge Rhewmatick eies Hippocrates and cause them to be of a more cleare and ample sight If a woman bearing young shall be puffed vp with winde giue her the liuer of a sheepe or goat beaten into small powder while it is hot being pure and without mixture for foure daies togither to eate and let her drinke onely wine and this will very speedily cure her The gall of a sheepe mingled with hony healeth the Vlcers of the eares and procureth easie hearing The gall of a sheepe mingled with sweet wine
Pliny if it be tempered in the manner of a glister and afterwards rubbed vpon the eare-lappes the vlcers being quite purged will procure a speedy cure and remedy The gall of the same beast dystilled with a womans milke doth also most certainely heale their eares which are broken within and ful of mattery corruption The gall of a sheep being mixed with common oyle or oyle made of Almonds doth also heale the paines of the eares being powred thereinto Cankers or the corusion of the flesh being annointed with the gall of a sheep is very speedily and manifestly cured Albertus the Dandraffe or scurfes of the head being annointed with the gall of a sheep mixed with fullers-earth which is hardned togither while the head burneth are very effectually abolished and driuen quite vway The gal of little cattle but especially of a lamb being mixed with hony is verily commended for the curing of the falling euil The melt of a sheepe new taken out by magical precepts is accounted very good for the curing of the paine in the melte Pliny hee saying which may be healed that he maketh a remedy for the melt After these things the magitians commaund that the greeued party be included in his Doctor or Bed-chamber that the doores be sealed vp and that a verse be spoken thrice nine times The melte of a sheepe being parâ—hed and beaten in wine and afterward taken in drinke doeth resiste al the obstructions or stopping of the smal guts The same being vsed in the like manner is very medicinable for the wringing of the guts The dust of the vppermost of a sheepes thigh doth very commonly heale the loosenes of the ioynts but more effectually if it be mixed with wax Marcellus The same medicine is made by the dust of sheepes iawes a Harts-horne and wax mollified or asswaged by oile of roses The vpper partes of the thighes of sheepe decocted with Hempe-seed doe refresh those which are troubled with the bloody flix the water whereof being taken to drink For the curing of a horsse waxing hot with wearinesse and longitude of the way mingle goats or sheepes sewet with Coriander and old dil the Coriander being new gathred and diligently pounded in the iuice of Barley and so giue it throughly strained for three daies together The huckle-bone of a sheepe being burned and beaten into smal duste is very much vsed for the making of the teeth white and healing al other paines or aches therein The bladder of a goat or sheepe being burned and giuen in a potion to drinke made of Vineger and mingled with water doth very much auaile and helpe those which cannot holde their water in their sleepe Galen The skinnes which commeth from the sheepe at the time of their young doth very much helpe very manye inormities in women as we haue before rehearsed in the medicines arising from goats The milk of sheepe being hot is of force against al poisons except in those which shal drinke a venemous fly called a Wag-legge and Libbards bane Otmell also doeth cure a longe lingering disease a pinte of it being sodden in three cups of water vntill al the water be boiled away but afterwards you must put thereunto a pinte of sheepes milke or Goates and also Honey euery day together Some men do commaund to take one dram of swallowes dung in three cups ful of Goats milke or sheepes milke before the comming of the quartern Ague Goates milk or sheepes milke being taken when it is newly milked from them and gargarized in the mouth Plinie is very effectual against the paines and swellings of the Almondes Take a 〈◊〉 of sheeps milk and a handful of sifted Anni-seeds and let them seeth togither and when it is somwhat cold let it be drunk and it is very good to loosen the belly Medicine being made of Goats milke and sheepes milke and so being drunke is very good for the shortnesse of breath Marcellus A hot burning grauel stone being decocted in sheepes milk and so giuen to one that hath the bloody flixe is very profitable to him Goats milke or sheeps milke giuen alone luke warme Furnerius Crescontien or sodden with Butter is very profitable to those that are brought very weak with the passions of the stone and fretting of the guts To wash ones face with sheepes milke and goats milke is very good to make it faire and smooth Euenings milk of sheep that is the last milke that they giue that day is very good to loosen the belly and to purge chollor Pliny The haires of the head of a Dog burned into ashes or the gut of the priuy place sodden in oyle is a very good and soueraign remedy for the loosenesse of the flesh about the nails and for swelling of flesh ouer them being anointed with butter made of sheepes milke and hony An oyle sodden in hony and butter made of sheepes milke and honey melted therein is very profitable to cure Vlcers Old Cheese made of sheepes milke is very good to strengthen those which haue bin troubled and made weake with the bloody flix Againe old Cheese made of sheepes milke taken in meate or scraped vppon it and being drunke with wine doth ease the passion of the stone There was a certaine physitian being skilful in making medicines dwelling in Asia by Hellespont Marcellus which did vse the dung of a sheepe washed and made cleane in Vineger for to take away warts and knots rising on the flesh like warts and kernels and hard swellings in the flesh Also hee did bring Vlcers to sicatrising with that medicine which were blasted or scaulded round about but he did mingle it with an emplaister made of wax rosin and pitch dioscorides The dung of sheepe also doeth cure pushes rising in the night and burnings or scauldings with fire being smeared ouer with Vineger without the commixture of any other things The dung of sheepe being mixed with hony doeth take away smal bumpes rising in the flesh and also doth diminish proud flesh and also it 〈◊〉 cure a disease called an emmot Pliny as Rasis and Albertus say The dung that is new come from the sheepe being firste worked in thy hands and applyed after the manner of an emplaister doth eat away many great warts growing in any part of thy body The dung of a sheepe being aplyed to thy feete Vegetius doth consume or wast away the hard flesh that groweth thereon Sheeps dung doth also cure al kind of swellings that are ready to go into carbuncles It is also good being sodden in oyle and applied after the maner of an emplaister for all new wounds made with a sword as Galen saith Aut si conclusum seruauit tibia vulnus Pliny Stercus ouis placidae iunges adipesque vetustos Pandere quae poterunt hulcus patuloque mederi The dung of sheepe and Oxen being burned to powder and smeared with Viniger is very good against the bitings and
and restore them to their former wits Spleene-wort being boyled in Hony and mixed with vnwashed wool which was steeped in Oyle or Wine is very good for the aforenamed disease being bound about the forepart of the head in a broad linnen cloath Sheeps wooll being also applyed in the same manner is an excellent cure for those which are troubled with a certaine watery rheume or running in the eies as also the ache in the forepart of the head Galen Vnwashed wooll boyled in Vineger and applyed vnto the eares doth expell all filth or moysture therein and the issue thereof being afterwardes stopped with the same kinde of wooll is very speedily cured Sheepes wooll is also very good and effectuall for the curing the paines of the eares which are but new comming vpon them Vnwashed wooll being mixed with Oyle of Roses and put into the Nostrils of any man the eares being stopped close with the same kind of wooll will stay the yssuing of the bloud at the Nose how fluent soeuer it be The same being also steeped in Oyle and put in the Nose doth restraine the bleeding thereof Wooll being plucked or wrested from the backe of Sheep and kept vnwashed doth cohibite the aboundance of blood being steeped in pure liquid Oyle of Roses The same being taken from the backe of a Ramme doth stay ouer much bleeding at the Nose the ioynts of the fingers being bound as hard as possible can be suffered Vnwashed wool steeped in Hony and rubbed vppon the teeth or Gummes doth make the breath of any man more sweete and delightfull then it hath beene accustomed The same being vsed in the said manner doth procure a very great whitenesse and clearenesse in the teeth Vnwashed VVooll being parched and bound in a linnen cloath a third part or portion of salt being afterwardes added thereunto and all beaten together into small dust or powder and rubbed vpon the teeth will keepe them from any paine or griefe therein Vnwashed VVooll being dipped in Nitre Brimstone Oyle Vineger and Liquid Pitch being all boyled together doth aswage all paines in the hanches or loines whatsoeuer being twice a day a hot as possibly may be suffered applyed thereunto Sheeps dung mingled with vnwashed wooll and certaine other things is very much applyed against that troublesome and painefull disease called the stone or grauell Vnwashed VVooll in cold water doth cure diseases in the priuy parts of any man or VVoman whatsoeuer The VVooll of blacke Sheeps is commonly reported to be a very commodious and helpfull for those whose Cods or stones are much swelled The gall of an Oxe being mixed with vnwashed wool doth help the purgation or menstruall fluxes of women but Olympies the Thebane affirmeth that Isope and Nitre ought to be mixed with this wooll for the helping of the same Vnwashed wooll being applyed vnto the secret parts of women doth cause a dead child to come forth The same doth also stay the issues of women The pure or cleare fleeces of sheep either applyed by themselues or mingled with Brimstone do cure al hidden or secret griefes whatsoeuer and Pliny commendeth them aboue al other medicines whatsoeuer Fleeces of wool mingled with quicksiluer Serenus are very profitable to be taken for the same diseases in certaine perfumes The roote of a Mallow being digged vp before the rysing of the sun and wrapped in vndyed wooll doth cure the Wens or mattry impostumes of those sheepe which haue lately brought forth young Sheepes wooll being died in purple colour doth very much profit the eares Pliny but some do steep it in vineger and Nitre to make the operation more effectuall The dust of wool being burnt doth bring forth the matter or corruption lying hid vnder scabs restraine the swellings in the flesh and bringeth all vlcers to a chop of scar Wooll being burnt hath a sharp force and likewise hot together with the slendernes of the parts it doth therefore very speedie clense and purge the sores in the flesh which are moist and to much full of matter It is also put in drying medicines It is burned as if there were many other things in it filling a new pot which may be couered with a couer which is bored through with many holes like vnto a siue The powder of vnwashed wooll is anointed vpon diuers sores and is very curable for them as bruised new wounded sores halfe burnt Galen and it is vsed for the curing of the diseases in the eies as also for the healing of the fistulaes and corrupt and mattery sores in the eares The power of the powder of vnwashed wool is clensing and it doth very effectually purge the eye-lides or cheeke-bals It doth also clense and cure for the most part all diseases as Serenus saith in these verses Succida cum tepido nectetur lana Lyaeo Ambust aeue ciuis complebit vulneris ora Aut tu succosae cinerem perducito lanae The haires which grow about the secret hole of sheep being burned beaten and drunke in sweet wine doth help the shortnesse of the breath and ease the pursines of the stomacke The wooll of a little sheep being pulled from betwixt his thighes and burnt afterwards dipped in vineger doth very speedily cure those which are troubled with the head-ach being bound about the temples The dust of sheepes fleeces is very medicinable for the curing of all diseases in the genitall parts whatsoeuer The dust of sheeps wooll Marcellus doth heale all passions in cattell The Graecian plaister called Encapharmacum consisted of nine seueral things and amongst the rest of vnwashed wooll The filth which sticketh to the sheeps wool groweth therunto from which the thing which the Graecians cal Oesypon is made hath the force of digestion like vnto butter and also alike ability of concoction In a certaine medicine of Andromachus for the curing of the disease of the secret parts vnwashed wool is added to the rest but Lepas as Galen saith for vnwashed wool doeth adde goose greace in the same quantity Some do also for vnwashed wool vse the marrow of a young calfe and apply it in the aforesaid manner but this vnwashed wooll is termed of the Graetians Aesypus and therefore being by diuers Authors set downe diuersly concerning the making and vertue thereof I haue thought good to set downe the truest and excellentest way to make the same as Dioscorides whom in this I suppose best to follow reporteth First to take new shorne wooll which is very soft and not trimmed with sope-weed and wash it with hot water then to presse al the filth forth of the same and cast it into a cauldron which hath a broad lip and afterwards to poure the water in and to stir it vp and down with a certaine instrument with such great force as it may foame againe or with a wooden rod still greatly to turne and trouble it so that the filthy froath or spume may more largely be gathered together afterwards
to sprinkle it ouer with sea water and the fat remaining which did swim vpon the top being gathered togither in an earthen vessel to poure the water into the cauldron then must the froath be poured againe into the sea water lastly taken out again this is so often to be done that the fat being consumed there wil not any froath be left remaining the Aesypus then being gathered togither is to be mollified with mens hands if there be any filth therin it must out of hand be taken away and all the water by little and little excluded and being fresh poured in let it be mingled with ones hands vntill the Aesypus being touched with the tongue of any one may lightly bind it but not sauor either sharp or tartly and the fat may seeme very white and then let it be hid in an earthen vessell but let there be great care had that they be done in the hot sun But there are some which vse another manner of way to make the same which is this to clense the fleeces and wash away all filth and presse it forth of the same and boile them in water ouer a soft fire in a brazen vessel then to wash the fat which swimmeth on the top being gathered together with Water and being strained in another platter which may haue some hot water in it to hide or ouercast it with a linnen cloth and lay it forth in the sun vntil it be very white and thick enough Some also do vse another way as this to wash the fat being strained with cold water and to rub it with their hands not much otherwise then women doe a seare-cloth for by that meanes it is made more white and purer There is yet another kind of way to make Aesypus described by Aetius in these words take saith he the greasie wooll which groweth in the shoulder pits of sheepe and wash them in hot water being thick and soft and squize al the filth forth of the same the washing wherof you shall put in a vessell of a large mouth or brim casting afterwards hot water in the same then take the water in a cup or in some other such like instrument and poure it in and out holding it vp very high vntill there come a froath vpon it then sprinkle it ouer with sea water if you shall get any if not with some other cold water and suffer it to stand still when it shall waxe cold take that which shall flow on the top away with a ladle and cast it into any other vessell afterwards hauing put a little cold water in it stir it vp and downe with your handes then hauing poured out that water put new hot water in it and repeate againe the same thing altogether which we haue now taught vntill the Aesypus be made white and fat containing no impute or filthy thing in it at al then dry it in the sun being hid for some certain daies in an earthen vessell and keepe it But all these things are to be done when the sun is very hot for by that meanes it will be more effectual and whiter and not hard or sharp There are moreouer some which gather it after this manner They put new shorne wooll which is very filthy and greasie in a vessel which hath hot water in it and burne the water that it may somewhat wax hot afterwards they coole it and that which swimmeth aboue in the manner of fat they scum it off with their handes and put it away in a vessell of Tinne and so do fill the vessell it selfe with raine water put it in the sun couered with a thin linnen cloth and then we must moysten it again and put vp the Aesypus for it hath strength mollifieng and releasing with some sharpnes but it is counterfeited with wax sewet and Rozen and it is straight waies perceiued for as much as the true Aesypus reserueth the scent of the vnwashed wooll and being rubbed with any ones hands is made like vnto Ceruse or white lead Euen the filth and sweat of sheep cleauing to their wooll hath great and manifold vse in the world and aboue all other that is most commended which is bred vpon the Athenian or Graetian sheep which is made many waies and especially this way first they take off the wooll from those places where it groweth with all the sewet or filth there gathered together and so put them in a brasen vessel ouer a gentle fire wher they boile out the sweat so take of that which swimmeth at the top and put it into an earthen vessel seething againe the first matter which fat is washed together in cold water so dryed in a linnen cloth is scorched in the sun vntill it become white and transparent and so it is put vp in a box of tinne It may be proued by this if it smell like the sauour of sweat and being rubbed in a wet hand doe not melt but waxe white like white lead this is most profitable against al inflammation of the eies and knots in cheeks or hardnesse of skin in them Of this Aesypus or vnwashed wooll the Graetians make great account and for the variety of dressing or preparing it they cal it diuersly somtime they call it Oesupum Pharmaicon sometime Oesupon Keroten Oesupon Kerotoeide sometime Oesupon Hugron and such like Of it they make plaisters to asswage the Hypochondriall inflammations and ventosity in the sides Some vse Aesopus for Oesypus but ignorantly and without reason it is better to let it alone but in the collection heereof it must be taken from the sound not from the scabby sheep But when we cannot come by the true Oesypus then in stead thereof we may take that which the Apothecaries and ointment-makers do ordaine namely Meliloti vnc 4. Cardamomi vnc 2. Hysopiherb vnc 2. with the vnwashed wooll taken frō the hams or flanks of a sheep Myrepsus vseth this Oesipus against all gouts and aches in the legs or articles and hardnesse of the spleene Galen calleth it Ius Lanae and prescribeth the vse of it in this sort Make saith he a playster of Oesypus or ius lanae in this sort take waxe fresh-greace Scammonie old oile one ounce of each of Fenny-greeke sixe ounces then seeth or boile your oile with the ius lanae and Fenny-greeke very carefully vntill it equall the oyle and bee well incorporated together and then againe set it to the fire vntill with the perscription aforesaide and also he teacheth how to make this Ius lanae for saith he take vnwashed wooll and lay it deepe in faire water vntill it be very soft that is by the space of sixe daies and the seuenth day take it and the water together that seeth wel taking off the fat which ariseth at the top and put it vp as is aforesaid these things saith Galen The vse of this by reason it is very hot is to display vlcers and tumors in wounds Dioscorides
bough with a shot to the ground If they be driuen to the ground from the trees to creepe into hedges it is a token of their wearinesse for such is the stately mind of this little Beast that while her limbes and strength lasteth she tarrieth saueth her self in the tops of tal trees then being discended she falleth into the mouth of euery curre and this is the vse of Dogges in their hunting The admirable witte of this beast appeareth in her swimming or passing ouer the Waters for when hunger or some conuenient prey of meat constraineth her to passe ouer a riuer shee seeketh out some rinde or smal barke of a Tree which shee setteth vppon the Water and then goeth into it and holding vppe her taile like a saile letteth the winde driue her to the other side and this is witnessed by Olaus Magnus in his description of Scandinauia where this is ordinary among Squirrelles by reason of many riuers that otherwise they cannot passeouer also they carry meate in their mouth to preuent famine whatsoeuer befall them and as Peacockes couer themselues with their tailes in hot Summer from the rage of the sunne as vnder a shaddow with the same disposition doth the Squirrell couer her body against heate and cold They growe exceeding tame and familiar to men if they be accustomed and taken when they are young for they runne vp to mens shoulders and they will oftentimes â—it vpon their handes creepe into their pockets for Nuttes goe out of doores and returne home againe but if they be taken aliue being olde when once they get loose they will neuer returne home againe and therefore such may wel bee called Semiferi rather then Cicures They are very harmeful and wll eat al manner of woollen garments and if it were not for that discommodity they were sweete-sportful-beastes and are very pleasant play-fellowes in a house It is saide that if once they tast of Garlicke they wil neuer after bite any thinge and this is prescribd by Cardan to tame them their skins are exceeding warm wel regarded by skinners for their heat is verie agreeable to the bodies of men and therefore they are mixed also with the skins of Foxes Their flesh is sweet but not very wholesome except the Squirrel were a blacke one It is tender and comparable to the flesh of Kids or Conies andl their tailes are profitable to make brushes of The medicins are the same for the most part which are before expressed in the Dormous sauing that I may adde that of Archigenes who writeth that the fat of a Squirrell warmed on a rubbing cloath and so instilled into the eares doeth wonderfully cure the paines in the eares And so I conclude this history of the Squirrell with the Epithets that Martiall maketh of a Peacocke a Phoenix and a Squirrel in a comparison of a bewtifull Virgin Erotion Cui comparatus indecens erat pauo Inamabilis sciurus frequens Phoenix Of the Getulian Squirrell described and figured by Doctor Cay THis Getulian or Barbarian Squirrell is of mixt colour as it were betwixt black and red and from the shoulders all along to the taile by the sides there are white and russet strakes or lines which in a decent and and seemely order stand in ranks or orders and there be some of these Squirrels which haue such lines of white and blacke with correspondent lines in the taile yet they cannot be seene except the taile bee stretched out at length by reason there is not much haire vpon it The belly seemeth to be like a blew colour vpon a white ground It is a little lesse then the vulgar Squirrel and hath not any eares extant or standing vp as that but close pressed to the skin round and arysing a little in length by the vpper face of the skinne The head is like the head of a Frog and in other things it is very like the vulgar Squirrell for both the outward shape the manner and behauiour the meat and means of life agree in both and she also couereth her body like other Squirrels This picture and description was taken by him from one of them aliue which a Marchant of London brought out of Barbary They are very pleasaunt and tame and it is very likely that it is a kind of Egyptian or Affrican mouse whereof there are three sorts described by Herodotus the first called Bipedes the second Zegeries and the third Echines of which we haue already spoken in the story of diuers kinds of mice and therefore I will heere end the discourse of this beast OF A WILDE BEAST IN THE new-found world called Su. THere is a region in the new-found world called Gigantes and the inhabitants thereof are called Pantagones now becaus their countrey is cold being far in the South they cloath themselues with the skins of a beast called in theyr owne toong Su for by reason that this beast liueth for the most part neere the waters therefore they cal it by the name of Su which signifieth water The true image therof as it was taken by Theuetus I haue heere inserted for it is of a very deformed shape and monstrous presence a great rauener and an vntamable wilde beast When the hunters that desire her skinne set vpon her she flyeth very swift carrying her yong ones vpon her back and couering them with her broad taile now forsomuch as no Dogge or man dareth to approach neere vnto her because such is the wrath therof that in the pursuit she killeth all that commeth neare hir the hunters digge seuerall pittes or great holes in the earth which they couer with boughes sticks and earth so wealty that if the beast chance at any time to come vpon it she and her young ones fall down into the pit and are taken This cruell vntamable impatient violent rauening and bloody beast perceiuing that her naturall strength cannot deliuer her from the wit and policy of men her hunters for being inclosed shee can neuer get out againe the hunters being at hande to watch her downfall and worke her ouerthrow first of all to saue her young ones from taking taming she destroyeth them all with her owne teeth for there was neuer any of them taken aliue and when she seeth the hunters come about her she roareth cryeth bowleth brayeth and vttereth such a fearefull noysome and terrible clamor that the men which watch to kill her are not thereby a little amazed but at last being animated because there can be no resistance they approch and with their darts and speares wound her to death and then take off her skin and leaue the carcasse in the earth And this is all that I finde recorded of this most sauage beast Of the Subus a kinde of wilde Water-sheepe THis beast is called by Oppianus Soubos and thereof the Latines call it Subus Bodine in his interpretation of Oppianus doth make it one beast with the Strepsiceros but because he expresseth no reason thereof I take
it that he was deceiued by his coniecture for we shall manifest that either the colour or seate of liuing cannot agree with the Strepsiceros for he saith only it is the same beast which Pliny calleth a Strepsiceros But we know by the discription of Oppianus that this beast is of red-gold-colour hauing two strong armed hornes on the head and liueth sometimes in the Sea and water sometime on the land Of all kinds of sheepe this is the worst and most harmefull rauening after life and blood for it goeth to the water and therein swimmeth when the silly simple Fishes see this glorious shape in the waters admiring the horns and especially the Golden colour they gather about it in great flocks and abundance especially Shrimps Lobsters Mackarell and Tenches who follow him with singular delight on either side both the right and the left pressing who shall come nearest to touch and haue the fullest sight of him so they accompany him in rankes for loue of his so strange proportion But this vnkinde and rauening beast despising their amity society and fellowship maketh but a bait of his golden outside and colour to drawe vnto him his conuenient prey and beguile the innocent fishes for he snatcheth at the nearest and deuoureth them tarying no longer in the Water then his belly is filled and yet these simple foolish fishes seeing their fellowes deuoured before their faces haue not the power or wit to auoid his deuourers society but still accompany him and weary him out of the Waters till he can eate no more neuer hating him or leauing him but as men which delight to be hanged in silken halters or stabbed with siluer and golden Bodkins so do the fishes by this golden-colored-deuouring-monster But such impious cruelty is not left vnreuenged in nature for as she gathreth the fishes together to destroy them so the fisher men watching that concourse do entrappe both it and them rendering the same measure to the rauener that it had done to his innocent companions And thus much shal suffice for the Subus or water-sheepe Of the Swine in generall BEing to discourse of this beast The seuerall names althogh the kinds of it be not many as is in others yet because there are some thinges peculiar to the Bore and therefore he deserueth a speciall story by himselfe I will first of all deliuer the common properties in a generall Narration and afterward discend to the speciall For the names of this beaste there are many in all languages and such as belong to the seuerall sex and age of euery one For as in English we call a young swine a Pigge A weaning Pigge a sheate a Yealke and so foorth likewise a Hogge a Sow a Barrow a Libd-Hog a libd-Sow a Splayed Sow a Gelt Sow a Basse for the elder swine so in other Nations they obserue such like titles The Haebrewes cal a Bore Chasir and a Sow Chaserah the Chaldees Deut. 4. for Chasir translate Chasira the Arabians Kaniser the Persians Mar-an-buk the Septuagints Hus and S. Hierome Sus. The Arabians also vse Hazir and Acanthil for a hog Achira and Scrofa The Graecians do also vse Sus or Zus Choiros and Suagros The wilde hog is called Kaproâ— from hence I coniecture is deriued the Latine word Apex Siluâ—â—â—â— The Italians do vulgarly call it Porco and the Florentines peculiarly Ciacco and also the Italians call a sow with pig Scrofa and Troiata or Porco fattrice The reason why that they cal a Sow that is great with Pigge Troiata or Troiaria is for the similitude with the Troian horse Alunâ—uâ— Erythraeus because as that in the belly thereof did include many armed men so doth a sow in her belly many young pigs which afterward come to the table and dishes of men A Barrow hog is called Maialis in Latine and the Italians Porco castrato and Lo Maiale The French call a swine Porceau a sow Truye Coche a Bore Verrat a pig Cochon Porcelet and about Lyons Caion The barrow hog they cal Por-chastre The Spaniards cal swine Puerco the Germans saw or suw su schwin schwein a sow they call Mor and looss a Bore Aeber which seemeth to be deriued from Aper a barrow hog Barg a splaied sow Gultz a pig Farle and Seuwle and a sucking pig spanfoerle In little Brittaine they call a hog Houch and therof they cal a Dolphin Merhouch The Illyrians call Swine Swinye and Prase The Latines Sus Porcus and Porcellus Scrofa and these are the common and most vulgar tearmes of swines If there be any other they are either deuised or new made or else deriued from some of these Macrobius telleth the occasion of the name of the family of Scrofa somewhat otherwise yet pertaining to this discourse Tremellius saith hee was with his family and children dwelling in a certaine village and his seruants seeing a stray Sow come among them the owner whereof they did not know presently they slew her and brought her home The Neighbour that did owe the Sow called for witnesses of the fact or theft and came with them to Tremellius demaunding his Scrofa or Sow againe Tremellius hauing vnderstood by one of his seruants the deed layed it vp in his Wiues bed couering it ouer with the cloaths caused her to lye vpon the Sowes carkase and therefore told his neighbour hee should come in and take the Scrofa and so had brought him where his wife lay Coelius Names of men taken from swine and swore he had no other Sow of his but that shewing him the bed and so the poore man was deceiued by a dissembling oth for which cause he saith the name of Scrofa was giuen to that family There was one Pope Sergius whose christen and first name was Os porci Hogges snowt and therfore he being elected Pope changed his name into Sergius which custome of alteration of names as that was the beginning so it hath continued euer since that time among all his successours Likewise we read of Porcellus a Grammarian of Porcellius a Poet of Naples who made a Chronicle of the affaires of Fredericke Duke of Vrbine Porcius Suillus Verres the Praetor of Sycilia Syadra Sybotas Hyas Hyagnis Gryllus Porcilla and many such other giue sufficient testimony of the original of their names to be drawen from Swine and not onely men but people and places as Hyatae Suales Chorreatae three names of the Dori in Greece Hyia a Citty of Locris Hyamea a Citty of Mesene Hyamaion a Citty of Troy Hyampholis a Citty of Phocis whereby to all posterity it appeareth Alex. ab alex that they were Swineheardes at the beginning Exul Hyantaenos inuenit regna per agros Hyâ—pe Hyops a Citty in Iberia Hysia a Citty of Boeotia and Pliny calleth the tall people of Ethiop which wer 8. cubits in height Sybotae and the like I might adde of many places Cities people fountaines Plants Engins and deuises plentifull in many Authors but I
be no appearance of these vpon their tongue then the chap-man or buyer pulleth of a bristle from the backe and if blood follow it is certaine that the Beast is infected and also such cannot well stand vppon theyr hinder legs Their taile is very round For remedy hereof diuers daies before their killing they put into their wash or swill some ashes especially of Hasell trees But in France and Germany it is not lawfull to sel such a Hogge and therefore the poore people do onely eat them Howbeit they cannot but engender euill humours and naughty blood in the body The rootes of the bramble called Ramme beaten to powder and cast into the holes where swine vse to bath themselues do keepe them cleare from many of these diseases and for this cause also in ancient time they gaue them Horse-flesh sodden and Toads sodden in water to drinke the broath of them The Burre pulled out of the earth without yron is good also for them if it be stamped and put into milk and so giuen them in their wash They giue their Hogges heere in Englande red-lead red-Oker and in some places red-loame or earth And Pliny saith that he or she which gathereth the aforesaid Burre must say this charme Haec est herba argemon Quam minerua reperit Suibas his remedium Qui de illa gustauerint At this daie there is great-praise of Maiden-haire for the recouery of swine also holy Thistle and the root of Gunhan and Harts tongue Of leannesse or pyning SOmetime the whole heard of swine falleth into leannes and so forsake their meat yea although they be brought forth into the fielde to feede yet as if they were drunke or weary they lie downe and sleepe all the day long For cure whereof they must be closely shutte vp into a warme place and made to fast one whole day from meat and water and then giue them the roots of wilde Cucumber beaten to powder and mixed with Water let them drinke it and afterward giue them beanes pulse or any drie meat to eat and lastlie warme water to procure vomit as in men whereby their stomackes are emptyed of al thinges both good and bad and this remedy is prescribed against all incertaine diseases the cause whereof cannot be discerned and some in such cases doe cut off the tops of the tailes or their eares for there is no other vse of letting these beastes bloode in theyr vaines Of the Pestilence THese beasts are also subiect to the Pestilence by reason of earth-quakes sudden infections in the aire and in such affection the beast hath sometime certaine bunches or swellings about the necke then let them be seperated and giue them to drinke in water the roots of Daffadill Quatit agros tussis anhela sues Ac faucibus angit obesis tempore pestis Some giue them night shade of the wood which hath great stalkes like cherry twiggs the leaues to be eaten by them against all their hot diseases and also burned snailes or Pepper-woort of the Garden or Lactuca foetida cut in peeces sodden in water and put into their meate Of the Ague IN auncient time Varro saith that when a man bought a Hogge he couenaunted with the seller that it was free from sicknes from danger that he might buy it lawfully that it had no maunge or Ague The signes of an Ague in this beast are these WHen they stop suddenly standing stil and turning their heads about fal downe as it were by a Megrim then you must diligently marke their heads which way they turne them that you may let them bloode on the contrary eare and likewise vnder their taile some two fingers from their buttockes where you shall finde a large veine fitted for that purpose which first of all we must beat with a rodde or peece of wood that by the often striking it may be made to swell and afterwardes open the saide veine with a knife the blood being taken away their taile must be bound vp with Osier or Elme twigges and then the swine must be kept in the house a day or two being fed with Barly meale and receiuing warme water to drinke as much as they will Of the Crampe VVHen swine fall from a great heat into a sudden colde which hapneth when in their trauel they suddenly lie downe through wearinesse they fall to haue the Crampe by a painefull convulsion of their members and the best remedye thereof is for to driue them vp and downe till they wax warme againe and as hot as they were before and then let them bee kept warme stil and coole at great leisure as a horsse doth by walking otherwise they perish vnrecouerably like Calues which neuer liue after they once haue the crampe Of Lice THey are many times so infested and annoied with lice that their skinne is eaten and gnawne through thereby for remedy whereof some annoint them with a confection made of Cream Butter and a great deale of salt Others again annoint them after they haue washed them all ouer with the Leeze of wine and in England commonly the country people vse staues-aker red-Oaker and grease Of the Lefragey BY reason that they are giuen much to sleepe in the summer time they fall into Lethargies and die of the same the remedy whereof is to keepe them from sleepe and to Wake them whensoeuer you finde them asleepe Of the head-aches THis disease is cald by the Graecians Scotomia and Kraura and by Albertus Fraretis herewith all swine are many times infected and their eares fall downe their eies are also deiected by reason of many cold humors gathered together in their head whereof they die in multitudes as they do of the pestilence and this sickenesse is fatal vnto them if they be not holpen within three or foure daies The remedie whereof if their be anie at al is to hold Wine to their Nostrils first making them to smel thereof and then rubbing it hard with it and some giue them also the roots of white Thistle cut smal and beaten into their meat but if it fall out that in this paine they loose one of their eies it is a signe that the beast wil die by and by after as Pliny and Aristotle write Of the gargarisme This disease is called by the Latins Raucelo and by the Graecians Brancos which is a swelling about their chaps ioyned with Feauer and Head-ach spredding it selfe all ouer the throat like as the squinancy doth in a man and many times it begetteth that also in the swine which may be knowne by the often moouing of their feet and then they dy with in three daies for the beast cannot eat being so affected and the disease creepeth by little and little to the liuer which when it hath touched it the beast dieth because it putrifieth as it passeth For remedy hereof giue vnto the beast those things which a man receiueth against the squinancy and also let him blood in the root of his tongue I mean in
the veine vnder the tongue bathing his throate with a great deale of hot Water mixed with Brimstone and salt This disease in hogges is not knowne from that which is called Struma or the Kinges euill at the first appearance as Aristotle and Pliny write the beginning of this disease is in the Almonds or kernels of the throate and it is caused through the corruption of water which they drinke for the cure wherof they let them bloud as in the former disease and they giue them the yarrow with the broadest leaues There is a hearbe called Herba impia all hoary and outwardly it looketh like Rosemary some say it is so called because no beast will touch it this being beaten in peeces betwixt two tiles or stones groweth marueilous hot the iuyce thereof being mixed in milke and Wine and so giuen vnto the Swyne to drink cureth them of this disease and if they drinke it before they be affected therewith they neuer fal into it and the like is attributed to the hearb Trimity and Viola Martia likewise the blew flowers of Violets are commended for this purpose by Dioscorides Of the kernels THese are little bunches rising in the throate which are to bee cured by letting bloud in the shoulder and vnto this disease belongeth that which the Germans cal Rangen and the Italians Sidor which is not contagious but very dangerous for within two daies the beast doth dye thereof if it bee not preuented this euill groweth in the lower part or chap of the swines mouth where it doth not swel but waxing white hardeneth like a peece of horne through paine whereof the beast cannot eate for it is in the space betwixt the sore and hinder teeth the remedy is to open the Swines mouth as wide as one can by thrusting into it a round bat then thrust a sharp needle through the same sore and lifting it vp from the gum they cut it off with a sharp knife and this remedy helpeth many if it be taken in time some giue vnto them the roots of a kind of Gention to drinke as a speciall medicine which the Germans for that cause cal Rangen crute but the most sure way is the cutting it off and like vnto this there is such another growing in the vpper chappe of the mouth and to be cured by the same remedy the cause of both doth arise from eating of their meate ouer hot and therefore the good Swineheard must labour to auoid that mischiefe the mischiefe of this is described by Virgill Hinc canibus blandis rabies venit quatit aegros Tussis anhela sues as faucibus angit abesis Of the paine in their lunges FOr all maner of pain in their lungs which come by the most part from want of drink are to haue lung-wort stamped and giuen them to drinke in water or else to haue it tyed vnder their tongues two or three daies together or that which is more probable because it is dangerous to take it inwardly to make a hole in the eare and to thrust it into the same tying it fast for falling out and the same vertue hath the roote of the white Hellibor but the diseases of the lunges are not very dangerous and therefore the Butchers saith that you shall sildome find a Swyne with sound lungs or Liuers sometime it falleth out that in the lightes of this beast there wil be apparant certain white spots as big as halfe a Wallnut but without danger to the beast sometimes the lightes cleaue to the ribs and and sides of the beast for remedy whereof you must giue them the same medicines that you giue vnto Oxen in the same disease Sometimes there appeare certaine blathers in the liuer of water which are called water-gals sometimes this is troubled with vomiting and then it is good to giue them in the morning fryed pease mingled with dust of Iuory and brused salt fasting before they go to their pastures Of the diseases in the Spleene BY reason that this is a deuouring beast and through want of Water it is many times sicke of the Spleene for the cure whereof you must giue them Prewnes of Tameriske pressed into water to be drunke by them when they are a thirst this disease commeth for the most part in the summer when they eat of sweet and greene fruites according to this verse Strata iacent passim seuia quaeque sub arbore porna The vertue of these Prewnes of Tameriske is also very profitable agaynst the diseases of the Melte and therefore it is to be giuen to men as well as to Beastes for if they do but drinke out of pots and cups made out of the wood of the tree Tameriske they are easily cleared from all diseases of the Spleene and therefore in some Countries of this great tree they make hog-troughes and mangers for the safegard of their beastes and where they grow not great they make pots and cups And if a Hog do eat of this Tameriske but nine daies together at his death hee shall be found to bee without a Spleene as Marcellus writeth When they become loose in their bellies which happeneth to them in the spring time by eating of greene Hearbes they either fall to bee leane or else to dye when they cannot easily make water by reason of some stoppage or sharpnesse of Vrin they may be eased by giuing vnto them spurge-seed And thus much for the diseases of Swine For conclusion whereof I will adde heereunto the length of a Swynes life according to Aristotle and Pliny if it be not cut off by sicknesse or violent death for in their daies they obserued that Swyne did liue ordinarily to fifteene yeares and some of them to twenty And thus much for the natvre of Swyne in generall The medicines of the Hogge The best remedy for the bitings of venomous Serpents is certainly beleeued to be this to take some little creatures Aâ—â—us as pigs Cocks Kyds or Lambes and teare them in pieces applying them whiles they are hot to the wound as soone as it is made for they will not only expell away the poyson but also make the wound both whole and sound For the curing of Horsses which are troubled with the inflammation of the lungs Take a sucking pig and kill him neare vnto the sicke horse that you may instantly poure the blood thereof into his iawes and it wil proue a very quick and speedy remedy The panch of a sucking pig being taken out and mingled with the yolke which sticketh to the inner parts of the skin Marcellus and moystned both together doth very much ease the paine of the teeth being poured into that eare â—n which side the griefe shall lye The liquor of swines flesh being boiled doth very much help against the Buprestis The same is also a very good antidote against poyson and very much helpeth those which are troubled with the gout Cheese made of Cowes milke being very old so that it can scarce be eaten
the fat of other beastes the cheefe vse of it is to moysten to fasten to purge and to scatter and heerein it is most excellent when it hath beene washed in Wine for the stale salt Grease so mixed with wine is profitable to annoint those that haue the pleurifie and mingled with ashes and Pitch easeth inflammations fistulaies and tumours and the same vertue is ascribed to the fat of Foxes except that their fat is hotter then the Swynes and lesse moyst likewise ashes of Vines mingled with stale grease of Hogs cureth the wounds of Scorpions and Dogs and with the spume of Nitre it hath the same vertue against the biting of Dogges It is vsed also against the French disease called the French Poxe for they say if the kneese of a man bee annointed therewith and he stand gaping ouer it it will draw a filthy matter out of his stomacke and make him vomit By Serenus it is prescribed to be annointed vpon the kneese against the stifnesse of the Necke Mingled with Quick siluer and Brimstone it is sufferant against the itch and scabs This Lard being sod with the fat and applyed to the body doth mightily expell corruptions that cleaue to the skin The fat of Swyne with Butter and Oyle of Roses is instilled into the broken skinnes of the braine for the cure of them Likewise Buglosse plucked vp by the roote and the rootes cut off and curiosly washed beaten and pounded into a ball and mixed with Swynes greace is good to be layed to any incurable wound It is also profitable for the wounded Nerues of the body beaten together with Wormes of the earth according to these verses of Serenus Terrae lumbricos inretritos Queis vetus ranis sociari exungia debet When bones are broken if they be annointed with the sod greace of Swine and so bound vp fast together after they be well set and closed grow wonderfull fast sure and solide againe Serenus writeth thus of it Si cui forte lapis teneros violauerit artus Necte aedipes vetulos tritam chamaecisson By this fat he meaneth the fat of Swyne because presently after he maketh mention of the dung of Swyne to be good for the same cure Being mingled with pitch it scattereth all bunches and fellons The hardnesse of the breasts ruptures conuulsions Cramps and with whit Helsibor it closeth vp clifts and chinks in the flesh maketh the hard skin to be soft againe It is very profitable against inflamations of vlcers especially the fat of the boare pig mixed with liquid gum Women do also vse the fat of a Sow that neuer bore pig to cleare their skinne and to mixe it with pitch and one third part of Asse-grease against the scabs The same mixed with white Lead and the spume of siluer maketh the scares of the body to be of the same colour with the residue and with Sulphur it taketh away the spots in the Nailes mingled with the powder of Acornes if the greace bee salt it softneth the hardnesse of the flesh Rue mixed with Swines sewet or Buls-greace taketh away spottes and freckles out of the face and it is also profitable against the Kings euell being mixed with the powder of a sea Oyster-shell and being annointed in a bath it taketh away the itch and blisters Featherfew and stale swines greace is also prescribed against the Kings euill This same alone or with snow easeth the paine of burnings in the flesh and when there is an vlcer by reason of the burning mixe it with tosted barly and the white of an Egge according to these verses Combustis igni Hordea vel friges atque oui candida iunges Ad sit adeps porcae mira est nam forma medelae Iunge chelidonias ac sic line vulnera succis Quodque recens vssit glacies axungia simplex Mulcet ex facili grata est medicamina cura Fresh grease is very profitable for those members that are surboted or riuen of their skin and likewise to anoint them that are weary with long iournies The ashes of womens haire burned in a shell and mingled with the fat of Swine are said to ease the paine of S. Anthonies fire and to stanch bloud and to cure ring-wormes The gall of a Swine or of a Bore and the lights with the fat filleth vp the â—ibes and the stalkes of Cabiges with the rootes burned and mingled with Swines grease being applyed to the sides doe cure the daily paines thereof And thus far of the vse of this grease for the bodies of men Now also it followeth in a word to touch the vse thereof for the bodies of beasts When the hornes of Oxen or Kine are broken they take a little Lint Salt Vineger and Oyle and lay them vpon the broken horne pouring in the liquid and binding the rest close on the outside and this they renew three daies together The fourth day they take the like quantity of swines grease and liquid pitch and with a smooth rind or barke of pine they binde it too close and so it is fastened againe When the hoofe or ancles of an Oxe are hurt with the plough share then take hard pitch swines grease and Sulphur roul them vp altogether in vnwashed wooll and with a hot burning Iron melt them vpon the wound or horne The eares of Dogges in the summer time are exulcerated by flyes into the which sores it is good to instill liquid pitch sod with swines greace and this medicine also is good to deliuer beastes from the tickes for they fall off as many as touch it When Lambes or Kyds are troubled with the Sheepe pox some vse to annoint them with Swines grease and the rust of Iron that is two partes of Swynes greace and one part of rust and so warme them together Also for the scabs vppon Horsses heeles that are called the scratches which come for the most part in the Winter time they cure them on this manner They take the fat of Swyne and melt it on the fire and poure it into cold Water which afterwardes they take it out and beate it well together at last they mingle it with Brimstone beaten small and so annoint the place therewith three dayes together and the third day they open the scabs and so continue annoynting till it be cured When a Horsse cannot hold his Neck right it is good to anoynt him with Oyle wine Honny and Hogges-greace the manner of some Leeches is when they haue made a suppuration by Oxen in burning they first of all wash it with stale Vrine and afterwardes mingle an equall quantity of pitch and Hogs greace together wherewithall they annoint and cure the sore Sometine the blood of Oxen falleth downe into their feete wherein it congealeth and breaketh forth into scabbes then must the place first of all be scraped with a knife and the scabs cut away afterwardes with cloathes wet in Vineger Salt and Oyle moystened and pressed hard and last of all by
to bee of opinion that their spottes are sometimes of diuers colours both yellow and blacke and those long like rods in these sayings Tibi dant variae pectora Tigres And againe Vhera viergata faraecaspia And Cilius saith Corpore virgato Tigris It were needlesse to speake of their crooked clawes their sharpe teeth and deuided feet their long taile Oppianus agilitye of body and wildenesse of nature which getteth all their foode by hunting It hath beene falsely beleeued that all Tigers be females and that there are no males among them and that they engender in copulation with the wind whereupon Camerarius made this witty riddle in his Rhetorical exercises A fluuio dicor fluuius vel dicitur ex me Iunctaque sum vento vento velotior ipso Et mihi dat ventus natos nec quaero maritos The Epithits The Epithites of this beastes are these Armenian Tigers sharpe Ganietican Hercanian fierce cruell and wicked vntamed spotted diuers-coloured straked bitter rauenous Affrican greedy Caspian Carcesian Caucasean Indean Parthean Marsian streight-footed madde stiffe fearefull strong foaming and violent with many such others as are easie to be found in euery Author The voice of this beast is cald Ranking according to this verse Tigrides indomitae rancant rugiuntque leones Now because that they are strangers in Europe as we haue saide already neuer breeding in that part of the world and as sildome seen we must be constrained to make but a short story of it because there are not many diuers thinges concerning the nature of it and in the physicke none at all Their food For the manner of their foode they prey vppon all the greatest beasts and sildome vpon the smaller as Oxen Harts and Sheepe but Hares and Conies they let alone It is reported by Plutarch A history of a tame Tiger that was brought vp with a Kid the said kid was killed and laide before him to eat but he refused it two daies together 〈◊〉 the third day opressed with extremity of hunger by her ranking and crying voice 〈◊〉 made signes to her keeper for other meate who cast vnto her a cat which presently it pulled in peeces and deuoured it The like story vnto this we haue shewed already in the Panther Generally the nature of this beast is according to the Epithites of it sharpe vntamed cruell and rauenous neuer so tamed but sometimes they returne to their former natures yet the Indians do euery year giue vnto their king tamed Tigers and Panthers and so it commeth to passe that sometimes the Tiger kisseth his keeper as Seneca writeth In the time of their lust they are very raging and furious according to these verses of Virgill Per sylvas tum saeuus aper tum pessima Tigris Heu male cum libyae solis erratur in agris Their copulation and generation They ingender as Lyons do and therefore I maruell how the fable first came vppe that they were all females and had no males amonge them and that the females conceiued with young by the West wind we haue shewed already in the story of the Dogs that the Indian Dogge is engendered of a Tiger and a Dogge and so also the Hercanian dogs Whereby it is apparant that they do not onely conceiue among themselues but also in a mingled race The male is sildome taken because at the sight of a man hee runneth away leaueth the female alone with her yong ones for he hath no care of the Whelps and for this occasion I thinke that the fables first came vp that there were no males among the Tigers The female bringeth forth many at once like a Bitch which she nourisheth in her den very carefully louing them and defending them like a Lionesse from the Hunters whereby she is many times ensnared and taken It is reported by Aelianus that when they heare the sound of Bels and Timbrils they grow into such a rage and madnesse that they teare their owne flesh from their backes For the taking of Tigers The taking and killing of Tygers Plutarch Calistines the Indians neare the Riuer Ganges haue a certaine Hearb growing like Buglosse which they take and presse the iuyce out of it this they preserue beside them and in still silent calme nights they poure the same down at the mouth of the Tigers den by vertue whereof it is said the Tigers are continually enclosed not daring to come out ouer it through some secret opposition in nature but famish and dye howling in their caues through intollerable hunger so great is the swiftnesse of this beast as we haue shewed already that some haue dreamed it was conceiued by the wind For as the swiftest horses and namely the horsses of Dardanus are likewise fabled to be begotten by the Northern wind so the Tigers by the West wind Therfore they are neuer taken but in defence of their yoūg ones neither is there any beast that liueth vpon preying so swift as they Solam Tigrim Indis in superabilem esse dicunt Philostratus quoniam fugiendi celeritate quae ventos equare dicitur è conspectu aufugit Onely the Tiger the Indians say can neuer bee conquered because when he is hunted he runneth away out of sight as fast as the wind For this cause they diligently seeke out the caues and dens of the Tigers where there young ones are lodged and then vpon some swift Horsses they take them and carry them away when the female Tiger returneth and findeth her den empty in rage she followeth after them by the foot whom she quickly ouertaketh by reason of her celerity The Hunter seeing her at hand casteth downe one of her Whelpes the distressed angry beast knowing that shee can carry but one at once first taketh vp that in her mouth without setting vpon the Hunter contented with that one returneth with it to her lodging hauing layd it vp safe backe againe she returned like the wind to pursue the Hunter for the residue who must likewise set her downe another if hee haue not got into his ship for except the Hunter be neare the Water side and haue a ship ready she will fetch them all from him one by one or else it wil cost him his life therfore that enterprise is vndertaken in vaine vpon the swiftest Horses in the World except the Waters come betwixt the hunter and the Tiger And the maner of this beast is when she seeth that her young ones are shipped away and shee for euer depriued of seeing or hauing them againe she maketh so great lamentation vpon the Sea shoare howling braying and rancking that many times she dyeth in the same place but if shee recouer all her young ones againe from the hunters shee departeth with vnspeakeable ioy without taking any reuenge for their offered iniury For this occasion the hunters do deuise certaine round spheares of glasse wherein they picture their young ones very apparant to be seene by the damme one of these they cast
to deface the colour of an adulterated Vnicornes horne being made by some with Iuory either macerated or boyled with certaine medicines by Set-foile as I suppose and other things by which meanes hauing scraped it I found within the true substance to be yuory Antonius Brasauolâ—s writeth that all men for the most part doe sell a certaine stone for Vnicornes horne which truely I deny not to be done who haue no certainty there in my selfe notwithstanding also it may come to passe that a very hard and solid horne about the point of a sword especially which part is preferred to inferior as also in Harts horns to which either stones or yron may yeild such as authors attribut to the Rhinocerot And other Vnicornes may bear the shape of a stone before it selfe For if Orpheus concerning Harts horns rightly doubted whether the same or stones were of greatest strength I think it more to be doubted in the kind of Vnicornes for the hornes of Harts are not onely solide as Aristotle supposed but also the hornes of Vnicornes as heere I haue said The horne of an Vnicorne is at this day vsed although age or longinquity of time bath quite abolished it from the nature of a horne There are some which mingle the Rhinoceros with the Vnicorne for that which is named the Rhinoceros horne is at this day in phisical vse of which notwithstanding the Authours haue declared no effectual force Some say that the Vnicornes horn doth sweat hauing any poison comming ouer it which is false it doth perhaps sometimes sweat euen as some solide hard and light substance as also stones and glasse some external vapor being about them but this doeth nothing appertaine to poison It is in like manner reported that a kind of stone called the serpents toong doth sweat hauing poison come ouer it I haue heard and read in a certaine booke written with ones hands that the true horne of a Vnicorne is to be proued in this maner To giue to two Pigeons poyson red Arsnick or Orpin the one which drinketh a litle of the true Vnicorns horne will be healed the other will die I do leaue this manner of tryall vnto rich men For the price of that which is true is reported â—â— this day to bee of no lesse vallew then Gold Some do sel the waight thereof for a floren or eight pence some for a crowne or twelue pence But the marrow thereof is certainely of a greater price then that which is of harder substance Some likewise do sel a dram thereof for two pence halfe penny so great is the diuersity thereof For experience of the Vnicornes horne to know whether it be right or not put silke vpon a burning cole and vpon the silke the aforsaid horne and if so be that it be true the silke will not be a whit consumed The hornes of Vnicorns especially that which is brought from new Islands being beaten and drunk in water doth wonderfully help against poyson as of late experience doth manifest vnto vs a man who hauing taken poison and beginning to swell was preserued by this remedy I my selfe haue herd of a man worthy to be beleeued that hauing eaten a poisond cherry and perceiuing his belly to swell he cured himself by the marrow of this horne being drunke in wine in very short space The same is also praised at this day for the curing of the falling sicknes and affirmed by Aelianus who called this disease cursed The ancient writers did attribute the force of healing to cups made of this horne wine being drunke out of them but because we cannot haue cups we drinke the substance of the horn either by it selfe or with other medicines I happily sometime made this Sugar of the horne as they call it mingling with the same Amber iuory dust leaues of gold Corall and certaine other things the horne being included in silke and beaten in the decoction of razens and Cinamon I cast them in water the rest of the reason of healing in the mean time not being neglected It is morouer commeÌ„ded of Physitians of our time against the pestilent feauer as Aloisius Mundella writeth against the the bitings of rauenous Dogs and the strokes or poyson some stings of other creatures and priuately in rich mens houses against the belly or mawe wormes to conclude it is giuen against all poyson whatsoeuer as also against many most grieuous diseases The King of the Indians drinking out of a cuppe made of an Indian Vnicorns horne and being asked wherefore he did it whether it were for the loue of drunkennesse made answer that by that drinke drunkennesse was both expelled and resisted and worser things cured meaning that it cleane abolished al poyson whatsoeuer The horne of an Vnicorn doth heale that detestable disease in men called S. Iohns euill otherwise the cursed disease The horne of an Vnicorne being beaten and boyled in wine hath a wonderful effect in making the teeth white or cleare the mouth being well clensed therewith And thus much shall suffice for the medicines and vertues arising from the Vnicorne OF THE VRE-OXE THis Beast is called by the Latins Vrus by the Germans Aurox The seueral names and Vrox and Grosse vesent by the Lituanians Thur the Scythians Bubri and these beastes were not knowne to the Graecians as Pliny writeth of whom Seneca writeth in this manner Tibi dant variae pectora tigres Tibi villosi terga Bisontes Latisque feri cornibus vri In outward proportion of the body it differeth little from the Bull It is very thick and his back somewhat bunched vp and his length from the head to the taile is short no waies answerable to the proportion of his stature and sides the horns as some say are but short yet blacke The seueral partes broad and thicke his eies red a broad mouth and a great broade head his temples hairy a beard vpon his chin but short and the colour thereof blacke his other parts as namely in the face sides legs and taile of a reddish colour These are in the wood Hercynia in the Pyreney Mountaines and in Mazouia neare Lituania Places of their abode They are cald Vri of Oron that is the Mountaines because their sauage wildnes is so great that they sildome discend from those sauegardes They far excell Buls and other wild Oxen comming neerer to the quantity or stature of Elephants then to the Bull. In resemblance a man would thinke them to be compounded of a Mule and a Hart for their outward resemblance so seem It is said they could neuer be tamed by men although they were taken when they were young yet they loue other heardes of cattel and will not forsake them easily after they haue once ioyned themselues vnto them wherby many times they are deceiued and killed 20. 30. or forty at a time Caligula Caesar brought of these aliue to Rome and did shew them in publike spectacle to the people and at that time they were taken for
the iaws which is this to take a weasel vpon a Thursday in the old moone and put him aliue in an vnburned pot that in the boiling he may be torne and dried into pouder which pouder being gathred togither and wel tempred with hony to giue it to the diseased person euery day in a spoone fasting to the quantity of three drams and it wil in short space wonderfully ease him A Weasell being brent and the powder thereof wrapped in some seare-cloath which is annointed ouer with the oile of Flower-de luces doth helpe and heale al sores or impostumes proceeding from the head to the eares being applyed thereunto A Weasell being beaten to powder mingled with wax and in the manner of a seare-cloath applied vnto the shoulders doth expell al paines aches or greefes therein whatsoeuer it doth also purge or clense sores very effectually 〈◊〉 according to these verses of Serenus following Obscaenos si pone locos noua vnlner a carpant Horrentum mansa curantur fronde ruborum Et si iam veteri succedit fistula morbo Mustelae cinere immisso purgabitur vlcus Sanguine cum recini quem bos gestauerit anti A Weasell being burned in an earthen pot is verie medicinable for the curing of the gout The pouder thereof being mingled with Vineger and in that manner thereunto aplied Dioscorides The dust of a liuing Weasell brent mingled with wax and rose-water and annointed with a Feather vpon gouty legs cureth the same disease The braine of a Weasel being kept very long and thorougly dried afterwards mingled with vineger and so drunke doth very effectually cure the falling sicknes Rasis The braines of a Cammell mingled with the braines of a weasel being both well dryed and drunke in Vineger speedily helpeth those which are troubled with the disease called the Foule-euill If a horse shal fal into a sudden disease being for the most part tearmed daungerous which our Countrey-men cal Raech concerning which I haue spoken in the Horse he is cured by some Horse-coursers by a small quantity of a Weasels skinne being about the bignesse of a foresaide golden crowne which is giuen to him inwardly whether in a potion by some horne or cut small and mingled with chaffe I knowe not Some doe giue to the horses troubled with the aforesaide disease the taile of a white weasell being halfe blacke and halfe white cut exceeding smal in their chaffe or prouender If a serpent or any other venomous creature shal stinge or bite an Oxe let the wounded place be stroked or smoothed with the skin of a weasel it shal in short time be perfectly cured The same they do in a maner commannd to be done to horses which are so stunge or bitten rubbing the wound which the Weasels skin vntill it wax hot ministring in the meane time some certaine Antidote within the horses body There are some also which are of opinion that the skin being in the saide manner applyed is of no efficacy but that the whole beast being cut aplyed while it is hot wil rather profit which both in a shrew as also in many other creatures is manifest The bloode of a Weasel being annointed vppon any impostume arising behinde the eare Aâ—â—higines doth instantly cause the swelling to cease or being broken doth speedily heale the sore The same also being anointed vpon any impostumes in the head either whole or broken doth very effectually cure them The blood of a weasell being anointed vpon wenâ— or bunches of flesh in any part of the body doth instantly expel them The same doth also helpe those which are troubled vvith the falling sicknesse which disease is also cured by the whole body of a Weasel either brent or imbowelled with salte The heade and feete of a Weasel being castaway and the body taken in any kind of drink doth perfectly heal those which are troubled with that pestiferous disease called S. Iohns euil The bloode of the same beast is an excellent remedy for the expelling of the Fowle-euil The blood of a weasel being annointed vpon broken or exulcerated bunches in the flesh doth not only mittigate the paine but also heale the wounds The blood of a weasel being anointed vppon the iawes doth heale all paines or sores therein whatsoeuer The pouder and blood of a weasel being both mingled together and anointed vpon the body of any leprous man doth in short time driue away al scabs or scurffes thereon The blood of a weasel being anointed with a plantaine vpon the legs or feet of any one that is troubled with the gout doth very speedily mittigate or asswage the paine thereof 〈◊〉 The same being annointed vppon the nerues or sinnewes which are shrunke togither doth easily mollifie them againe and loosen the greeuous paine eyther in the ioynts or articles The liuer of a weasel mingled with his own braines being both well dryed and taken in any kind of drinke doth very much profit those which are troubled with the disease called S. Iohns euill The liuer of a weasell being throughly dryed and afterwardes taken in water to drinke doth heale the disease called the foule euill taking hold of sence mind together but there must great care be had that this medicine be ministred vnto the sicke party euen when the disease is comming on him The gal of a hare being mingled with the liuer of a weasel to the quantity of three drams one dram of oyle of Beauers stones foure drams of Myrrhe Galen with one dram of vineger and drunk in hony or bastard wine doth heale those which are troubled with a dizzinesse or certaine swimming in the head The liuer of a weasell is reported to be very good and medicinable for the curing of the lethargy or dropsie euill Sextus The liuer of a weasel being bound to the left foot of a woman doth altogether hinder her from conception The gall of a weasell is a very excellent and effectuall remedy against the venom or poyson of aspes being taken in any kind of drink The yard of a weasell Hart or Doe being dryed beaten to powder and taken in wine or any other drink is an excellent medicine for the curing of the bites or stings of serpents The yard of a weasell or Ferret is commended for a very excellent remedy against the strangury or disease called the collike and stone The stones of a male weasell or the secret parts of a female weasel Pliny is reported by some to be very medicinable for the curing of the falling sicknesse The stones of a weasell being bound vnto any part of e woman while she is in trauaile of child birth doth altogether hinder her from her deliuery By the left stone of a Weasell being bound in a piece of a mules hid there is a certaine medicine made which being drunke by any Woman not being with child causeth barrennesse as also by Women being with child hard and grieuous paine in deliuery The efficacy or force
weake creatures but there are also wild common wolues who lie in waite to destroy their heards of cattell and flocks of sheep against whom the people of the country do ordaine general huntings taking more care to destroy the young ones then the old that so the breeders and hope of continuance may be taken away And some also do keepe of the whelps aliue shutting of them vp close and taming them especially females who afterwards engender with dogs whose Whelpes are the most excellent keepers of flocks and the most enimies to wolues of all other Wolues are â—oâ— wilde dogges There be some haue thought that Dogs and Wolues are one kind namely that vulgar Dogs are tame Wolues and rauening wolues are wilde dogs But Scaliger hath learnedly confuted this opinion shewing that they are two distinct kinds not ioyned together in nature nor in any naturall action except by constraint for he saith that there are diuers wilde dogs are not wolues and so haue continued for many yeares in a hill cald Mountfalcon altogether refusing the society and seruice of men yea sometimes killing and eating them and they haue neither the face nor the voyce nor the stature nor the condicions of wolues for in their greatest extremity of hunger they neuer set vpon flocks of sheep so that it is vnreasonable to affirme that wolues are wilde dogs although it must needs be confessed The voyces of wolues that in outward proportion they are very like vnto them Some haue thought that wolues cannot bark but that is false as Albertus writeth vpon his owne knowledge the voice of wolues is called Vulatus howling according to these verses Ast lupus ipse vlulat frendet agrestis aper And againe Per noctem resonare lupis vlulantibus vrbes It should seeme that the word Vlulatus which the Germans translate Heulen the French Hurler and we in English howling is deriued either from the imitation of the beasts voice or from a night whooping Bird called Vlula I will not contend but leaue the Reader to either of both for it may be that it commeth from the Greek word Ololeuzein which signifieth to mourne and howle after a lamentable manner and so indeed wolues doe neuer howle but when they are oppressed with famin And thus I leaue the discourse of their voyce with the annotation of Seruius Vlulare canum est furiare To howle is the voyce of dogs and furies Although there be great difference of colours in wolues as already I haue shewed yet most commonly they are gray and hoary that is white mixed with other colours and therefore the Graecians in imitation therof do cal their twie-light which is betwixt day and night as it were participating of black and white Licophos wolfe-light because the vpper side of the wolues haire is browne and the neather part white It is said that the shaggy haire of a wolfe is full of virmin and wormes and it may well be for it hath beene proued that the skin of a sheep which was killed by a wolfe breedeth wormes The braines of a wolfe do decrease and encrease with the Moon and their eies are yellow black and very bright sending forth beames like fire The seueral partes carrying in them apparant tokens of wrath and mallice and for this cause it is said they see better in the night then in the day being herein vnlike vnto men that see better in the day then in the night for reason giueth light to their eyes and appetite to beasts and therfore of ancient time the wolfe was dedicated to the Sun for the quicknesse of his seeing sence and because he seeth far And such as is the quicknesse of his sence in seeing such also it is in smelling Coelius Stumpsius for it is reported that in time of hunger by the benefit of the wind hee smelleth his prey a mile and a halfe or two mile off for their teeth they are called Charcharodontes that is sawed yet they are smooth sharp and vnequall and therefore bite deepe as we haue shewed already for this cause the sharpest bits of horses are called Lupata All beasts that are deuourers of flesh doe open their mouths wide that they may bite more strongly and especially the wolfe The necke of a wolfe standeth on a straight bone that canot well bend therefore like the Hyaena when he would looke backwards he must turne round about the same necke is short which argueth a trecherous nature It is saide that if the heart of a wolfe be kept dry it rendreth a most fragrant or sweet smelling sauor The liuer of a VVolfe is like to a horses hoofe and in the blather there is found a certaine stone cald Syrites being in colour like Saffron or Honny yet inwardly containe certaine weake shining stars this is not the stone called Syriacus or Indiacus which is desired for the vertue of it against the stone in the blather The forefeet haue fiue distinct towes and the hinder feet but 4. because the forefeet serue in stead of hands in Lyons dogs wolues and Panthers VVe haue spoken already of their celerity in running and therefore they are not compared to Lions which go foot by foot but vnto the swiftest Dogs It is sayd they will swim and go into the water two by two euery one hanging vpon anothers taile which they take in their mouthes and therefore they are compared to the daies of the yeare which do successiuely follow one another being therfore called Lucabas For by this successiue swimming they are better strengthned against impression of the flouds and not lost in the waters by any ouerflowing waues or billowes The meat voracity of Wolues Great is the voracity of this beast for they are so insatiable that they deuoure haire and bones with the fleshe which they eat for which cause they render it whole againe in their excrements and therefore they neuer grow fat It was well sayd of a learned man Lupus vorat potius quam commedit carnes pauco vtitur potu That is A wolfe is rather to rauen then to eat his meat VVhen they are hungry they rage much although they be nourished tame yet can they not abide any man to look vpon them while they eat when they are once satisfied Aelianus Philes they endure hunger a great time for their bellies standeth out their tongue swelleth their mouth is stopped for when they haue droue away their hunger with aboundance of meate they are vnto men and beasts as meeke as lambs til they be hungry again neither are they moued to rapine though they go through a flock of sheep but in short time after their bellies and tongue are calling for more meat and then saith mine Author In antiquaÌ„ frigraÌ„ redit iterumque lupus existit That is They returne to their former conditions and become as rauening as they were before Neither ought this to seem strange vnto any man for the like things are formerly reported
being anointed vppon those whose ioyntes are broken Some of the later writers were wont to mingle the fat of the woulfe with other ointments for the disease of the goute Some also doe mingle it with other ointments for the paulsey It doth soften also the Vula being anointed thereon The same also being rubbed vppon the eies is very profitable for the bleardnesse or bloudshot of the eies Plinie Sextus The head also of a woulfe is very good for those that are weake to sleepe vppon beeing layed vnder ther pillowe The head of a woulfe being burned into ashes is a speciall remedie for the loosenes of teeth The right eie of a woulfe being salted and bound to the body doth driue away all agues ad feauers The eie of a woulfe being rubbed vppon the eie doth diminish all diseases that rise in the sight of the eie and it doth also take away al markes or prints being made with hot irons The right eie of a wolfe also is profitable for those that are troubled with stiches on the right side of the belly and the left eye of a wolfe for pains on the left side The right eie of a wolfe is very good against the bitings of dogs Also the eye of a wolfe is much commended for those that are lunaticke by the bitinges of dogges The teeth of a wolfe being rubbed vpon the gums of young infants doth open them whereby the teeth may the easier come forth Slundus Againe the gums of children are loosened with the tooth of a Dog being gently rubbed theron but they are sooner brought forth with the teeth of a Wolfe Some men do commend the tongue of a wolfe to bee eaten of those that are troubled with the falling sicknesse The artery which springeth in the throat of a wolfe being taken in drink is a most certaine cure against the Squincy The throat of a Wolfe taken in drinke is very much commended for those that are troubled with the falling sicknesse The lungs or lights of a Wolfe being sodden and dryed and mingled with pepper and so taken in milke is very profitable for those that are puffed vp or swollen in the belly The heart of a wolfe being burned and beaten to powder and so taken in drinke doth help those that are sicke of the falling sicknesse Take one ounce of the gum of an Oake and halfe an ounce of the gum of a peare tree and two drams of the powder made of the top of a Harts horne and one dram of the hart of a wolfe al which being mingled togither and made into medicine is alwaies vsed for the cure of al vlcers but it wil be more effectual if thou dost adde thereto the hinder part of the skull of a man beaten to powder The Lyuer of a wolfe is of no lesse vertue then the lungs or lights which I haue manifested in the medicines of the Foxe The liuer of a Wolfe helpeth or profiteth those that are sick of the falling sicknesse The liuer of a wolfe being washed in the best white and so taken is very good for those diseases that arise in the liuer The liuer of a wolfe mixed in the medicine made of Liuerwort is very much commended for the diseases in the liuer Galen also doth say that he hath holpen those which haue bin diseased in the liuer only vsing the medicine made of Liuerwort and he saith if he did apply any other medicine thereto it did little or nothing at all profit him The Lyuer of a Wolfe is very profitable for those that are troubled with the skurfe in the mouth The Lyuer or laps of a wolfe is much vsed for those that are troubled with diseases in the liuer but you must dry it and afterwards beat it to powder and so giue the party so affected one dramme of it in sweet wine The liuer laps of a Wolfe saith Marcellus being dryed and beaten to powder and a little part of it mingled in like portions with the powder made of Fene greeke of Lupines Wormewood and of the Hearbe called Herba mariae and so mingled that it may be about the quantity of a cup full and so giuen him that day which hee is not troubled with the feauer but if he shall be troubled with it let him take it in water for the space of three dayes and after hee hath drunke it let him lie for the space of halfe an houre with his armes spread abroad and afterwardes let him walk very often but eate very sildome and let him be sure he keepe himselfe for the spact of those three daies well ordered and from drinking any cold drinke or eating any salor sweet thing and within a little space after he shall bee freed from that disease The liuer laps of a Wolfe being wrapped in bay leaues and so set to dry at the Sunne or at the fire and being dryed beate it to powder in a Morter first taking away the leaues very warily which being powdered you must keepe it in a cleane vessell and when you giue it him to drinke you must adde thereto two leaues of Spoonewort with tenne graines of pepper beaten very small and as much clarified Hony as is needfull and also made hot with a hot burning Iron and mingled very diligently in a Morter which being so warmed you must giue him to drinke sitting right vp in his bed that after he hath taken the potion he may lye downe on his right side for the space of an houre Auicen drawing his knees together and after that hee hath done so let him walke vp and downe for the space of an houre and this will likewise cure him of the same disease Auicen doth set downe a medicine concerning the cure of the hardnesse of the Liuer which is take Opium Henbane Oyle made of Beauers stones Myrrhe Saffron Spicknard Agrimony the Lyuer of a Wolfe and the right Horne of a Goat burned Dioscorides of each equall partes and make thereof a Medicine The Lyuer of a Wolfe being made in the forme of a dry electuary and giuen as a lozeng doth also very much profit against the diseases of the liuer Gugir a Phylosopher doth affirme Galen Pliny that the Lyuer of all liuing Beastes doth very much profit against all paines of the Lyuer The Liuer of a Wolfe being througly dryed and drunke in sweete VVine doth mitigate all griefes or paines of the Lyuer The Liuer of the same beast to the quantity of a penny taken in a pinte of sweete VVine is very medicinable for the curing of all paines in the Liuer whatsoeuer The Liuer of a VVolfe being taken in hot VVine doth perfectly cure the cough If an intollerable Cough doth vex any man let him take of the liuer of a wolfe either dried or burnt as much as he shall thinke conuenient and therewith let him mingle VVine Honny and warme water and afterward drinke the same fasting euery day to the quantity of foure spoonefuls and hee shall in
Alexander the great and last of all with his owne Syclis the king in the citty of the Boristhenites had a faire house about which there were sphinges and Gryphins wrought out of white stone At Athens in the Temple Parthenona there is described the contention betwixt Pallas and Neptune about the earth and the image of Pallas made of Yuory and gold hath in the midst of hir shield the picture of a sphinx Amasis the king of Egypt built in the porch of Pallas an admirable worke called Sai where he placed such great colosses and Andro-sphinges that it was afterward supposed he was buried therein Horodotus and was liuely to be seene imputrible To conclude the Egyptians in the porches of their Temples painted a Sphinx wherby they insinuated that their diuine wisdome was but darke and vncertain and so couered with fables that there scarce appeared in it any sparkles or footsteps of verity Of the SAGOIN called Galeopithecus This figure of the Sagoin I receiued of Peter cordenberg a very learned Apothecary of Antwerpe which is three times as big as my pictur and Iohn say that famous English Doctor hath aduertised me that it no way resembleth the Sagoin it selfe which is not much greater than a Rat a little conny The qualitie or a young Hedghog for he had seene seuerall ones of that bignesse of a gryseld colour a neate beard Colour and somewhat ash-coloured a tayle like a Rat but hayry the feet of a Squirrell the face almost like a Martine or Satyre a round eare but very short and open Partes the hayre blacke at the root and white at the end and in other conditions like a Munkey They are much set by among women and by the Brasilians where they are bred and called Sagoines it being very propable that they are conceiued by a small Ape and a Weasell for in that countrey by reason of the heat thereof there are many such vnnaturall commixtions Procreation of Sagoines It is a nimble liuely and quicke spirited beast but fearefull it will eate white-bread Their meate apples sweet-grapes dried in the sunne figges or peares There was one of them at Antwerpe solde for fifty crownes The price of a Sagoin in France they call a Sagoni a little beast not much bigger than a Squirrell and not able to endure any cold Some other affirme that a Sagoin is a bearded creature but without a taile of an ash-colour not much bigger then a fiste but of this beast there is not any author writeth more then is already rehearsed OF THE BEAR-APE ARCTOPITHECVS THere is in America a very deformed beast which the inhabitants call Haut or Hauti Theuetus Of the name the Frenchmen Guenon as big as a great Affrican Monkey His parts His belly hangeth very low his head and face like vnto a childes as may be seen by this liuely picture and being taken it wil sigh like a young childe His skin is of an ash-colour and hairie like a Beare he hath but three clawes on a foot as longe as foure fingers and like the thornes of Priuet whereby he climbeth vp into the highest trees and for the most part liueth of the leaues of a certain tree being of an exceeding heigth which the Americans call Amahut and thereof this beast is called Haut Their tayle is about three fingers long hauing very little haire thereon it hath beene often tried that though it suffer any famine it will not eate the fleshe of a liuing man and one of them was giuen me by a French-man which I kept aliue sixe and twenty daies and at the last it was killed by Dogges and in that time when I had set it abroad in the open ayre I obserued that although it often rained A secret in Nature yet was that beast neuer wet When it is tame it is very louing to a man and desirous to climbe vppe to his shoulders which those naked Amerycans cannot endure by reason of the sharpenesse of his clawes Of the Simivulpa or Apish FOXE THose which haue trauay led the contry of Payran doe affirme Pisonius Gillius The description that they haue seene a four-footed beast called in Latine Simivulpa in Greek Alopecopithecos in German Fuchssaff in the forpart like a Foxe and in the hinder part like an Ape except that it had mans feet and eares like a Bat Description and vnderneath the common belly there was a skinne like a bagge or scrip wherin she keepeth lodgeth and carrieth her young ones vntill they are able to prouide for themselues without the helpe of their damme neyther do they come foorth of that receptacle except it be to sucke milke or sport themselues so that the same vnderbelly is her best remedie against the furious Hunters and other rauening beasts to preserue her young ones for she is incredibly swift running with that carriage as if she had no burthen It hath a tayle like a Munkey there was one of them with three young Whelpes taken and brought into a ship but the whelpes dyed quickly the olde one liuing longer was brought to Syuill and afterward to Granado where the King of Spaine sawe it which soone after by reason of the change of ayre and incertainty of dyet did also pyne away and die The like things doeth Cardan report of a beast called Chiurca in Hispania noua and Stadinius of a Seruuoy in America but I coniecture that the former is this Fox ape Aelianus called in Greeke Alopecopithecos and of the Germans Fuschsaffe the latter the Female Cynocephall which carryeth her wombe wherin lye her young ones without hir belly a miraculous thing of a fish There is a fish called Glaucus whereof the male swalloweth vppe all the young ones when they are indangered by other and afterward yeeldeth them forth againe safe and sound OF THE ASSE THe Asse is called in Latine Asinus in Greeke Oros and Killos by reason of his labour in bearing burthens and of some Megamucos because of his vnpleasant voyce Of the name and the reasons thereof Of other Cochutons or Canthon from whence commeth Cantharus that is a Scarabee or Flâ—e bred of the dung of Asses The Haebrues call it Chamor Deuteron 5. and the Persyans Care the latter Haebrues doe indifferently take Gajedor Varinus Tartak and caar for an Asse the Italyans Lasino the Spaniardes Asno Epethites of in Asse the French Vng asne the Germans Esel Mul Mulle-resel and the Illyrians Osel the which beast is intituled or phrased with many epithites among Poets as slow burthen-bearing back-bearing vile cart-drawing mill-labouring sluggish crooked vulgar slow-paced long-eared blockish braying ydle deuill-haired filthy saddle-bearer slow-foot four-foot vnsauoury and a beast of miserable condition beside many other such titles in the Greeke Yet this silly beast hath among the Astronomers found more fauour for in the signe Cancer there are two starres called the two Asses placed there as
some say by Bacchus Pliny Asses in coelestial signes Hyginus who in his fury which Iuno laid vpon him trauailing to the Dodanaean Temple of Apollo to recouer his wits by the counsel of the Oracle came to a certaine lake of water ouer which he could not passe and meeting there two Asses tooke one of them vpon whose backe hee was safely carried ouer dri-foote Afterward when he had recouered his wits in thankfulnesse for that good turne he placed the two Asses among the starres Howsoeuer this may be a fabulous commendation of this beast Numb 22 yet holy Writ teacheth vs that an Asse saw an Angell and opened his mouth in reproofe of his mayster Balaam and our most blessed Sauiour rode on an Asse to Ierusalem to shew his humility and Sampson out of the iaw-bone of an Asse quenched his thirst Morals of the discourses of asses Apuleius in his eleuen bookes of his golden Asse taketh that beast for an Emblem to note the manners of mankind how some by youthfull pleasures become beasts and afterward by timely repentant old-age are reformed men againe Some are in their liues Wolues Proclus som Foxes some Swine some Asses and so other may be compared to other beasts and as Origen saith onely by pleasure is a man a horse or Mule when a beastly soule liueth in a humaine shape This world is vnto them an inchanted cup of Circes Beroaldus wherein they drinke vp a potion of obliuion error and ignorance afterwards brutizing in their whole life till they tast the Roses of true science and grace inlightning their minds which is theyr new recouery of humane wit life and vnderstanding Asses are bred in Arcadia wherefore prouerbially Countries breeding asses the best Asses are signified by the Arcadian Asse and the greatest Asses by the Acharnican Asse In Timochain of Persya are very beautifull Asses whereof one hath beene sold for thirty pounds of siluer Paul veneâ— Pondera Likwise in Rea in Italy in Illiria Thracia and Epirus there are Asses but very small ones although all other cattell there are very large In India among the Psillians they are not greater then Rams and generally all their cattell are of a very small growth In Scythia Pontus Aelianus Celta and the regions confining them are no Asses bred by reason of extreamity of cold for Asses are very impatient of cold In Misia there are also asses but their flankes are crooked and indented as if they were broken whereupon a prouerbiall common speech ariseth one hauing a broken flanke for a Missian Asse Asses are ingendred both by their owne kind and also by horses for they choose stallions and put them to their Asses who haue large bodies wel set legs strong neckes Their breed broad and strong ribbes brawny and high creasts thighes full of sinewes and of black or flea-bitten colour for a Mouse-colour is not approued wherefore he that will haue a good flocke of Asses must looke that the male and female be sounde and of a good age that they may breed long time and out of a good seminary as of Arcadia or Rea Palladius for as the best Lampreyes are in Sicilia and the delicate fish Helops in Rhodos and not else where so are best Asses in these forenamed places When they make choise of a Stallion they looke principallie that he haue a great head An asse is more desirous of copulation then a horse and both male and female doe couple at thirtie moneths Absirtus although it proue not vntill three yeares or three and a halfe Aristotle Pliny Men say that Anna the father in law of Esau did first inuent the copulation of horses and Asses togither for as a horsse doth couer a shee asse so an asse will couer a Mare and an asse will sooner fill the lust of a Mare then a horsse If a horsse couer a female asse which hath beene entred by a male asse he cannot alter the seed of the asse but if an asse couer a Mare which a horsse formerly entred Pliny he will destroy the seed of the horsse so that the Mare shall suffer abortment Leonicenâ—â— by reason that the seed genitall of an Asse is more frigide then a horses The Mares of Elis cannot at all conceiue by asses copulation and there is more aborments falleth out by commixtion of horsses with asses or asses with Mares then when euery kind mingleth amongst themselues It it but a superstition of some Pliny Aristotle which affirme that an asse cannot conceiue for so many yeares as she hath eaten graines of barly corne defiled with womens purgation but this is certaine that if an asse conceiue not at the first loosing of hir teeth she remayneth barren They are not coupled in generation in the Spring aequinoctium like Mares and other beasts but in the Sommer Solstice by reason of their colde natures that they may bring forth their yong ones about the same time for in the twelfe month after their copulation Aristotle Varro they render their foles If the males be kept from labour they are the worse for generation wherefore they are not to be suffered ydle at that time but it is not so with the female she must rest that the Fole may be the stronger but presentlie after she is couered she must be coursed and driuen to and fro or else she will cast forth againe the receiued seed Pliny The time that she goeth with yong is according to the male kind by which shee is couered for so long as the male lay in the belly of his damme so long will the Asse carrie her yong before deliuerance but in the stature of body strength and beauty the yong one taketh more after the female then the male The best kind of Asses are the foles of a wilde Asse and a tame female-Asse They vse when an asse is foaled to take it from the damme and put it to sucke a Mare that it may be the greater which fole is called Hippothela Pliny that is a Horse-suckling and Mares will not be couered by Asses except by such an one as was a horse-suckling A she-asse will engender till she bee thirty yeares olde which is her whole life long Aelianus but if she conceiue often she will quickly be barren wherof their keepers must take such care that they cause them to be kept from often copulation They will not fole in the sight of man or in the light but in darknesse they bringe forth but one at a time for it hath not been heard of in the life of man that an asse hath euer brought forth twinnes Assoone as they are conceiued they haue milke in theyr vdders but some hold not vntill the tenth moneth They loue their yong ones very tenderly for they will run through fire to come at them but if there be any water betwixt them it cooleth their affections for of all things they loue not
I thinke bee companion with Alexanders Dog which came out of India But of these thus much and thus farre may seeme sufficient A start to outlandish dogges in this conclusion not impertinent to the Authors purpose VSe and custome hath entertained other dogs of an outlandish kind but a fewe and the same being of a pretty bignes I meane Island dogs curled and rough all ouer which by reason of the length of their haire make shew neither of face nor of body And yet these curs forsooth because they are so strange are greatly set by esteemed taken vp and many times in the roome of the Spaniell gentle or comforter The natures of men is so moued naie rather married to nouelites without all reason wit iudgement or perseuerance Erromen allotrian paroromen suggeneis Outlandish toyes we take with delight Things of our owne nation we haue in despight Which fault remaineth not in vs concerning Dogs onely but for artificers also And why it is manifest that we disdaine and contemne our owne workemen be they neuer so skilfull be they neuer so cunning be they neuer so excellent A beggerly beast brought out of barbarous borders from the vttermost countries Northward c we stare at we gaze at we muse we meruaile at like an Asse of Cumanum like Thales with the brazen shanks like the man in the Moone The which default Hippocrates marked when he was aliue as euidently appeareth in the beginning of his booke Peri agmon so intituled and named And we in our worke intituled De Ephemera Britanica to the people of England haue more plentifully expressed In this kind looke which is most blockish and yet most waspish the same is most esteemed and not among Cittizens onely and iolly Gentlemen but among among lusty â—ordes also and noblemen Further I am not to wade in the foorde of this discourse because it was my purpose to satisfie your expectation with a short treatise most learned Conrade not wearisome for me to write nor tedious for you to peruse Among other things which you haue receiued at my hands heretofore I remember that I wrote a seuerall description of the Getullian dog because there are but a few of them and therefore very sildome seene As touching dogs of other kinds you your selfe haue taken earnest paine in writing of them both liuely learnedly and largely But because we haue drawne this libell more at length then the former which I sent you and yet breefer then the nature of the thing might well beare regarding your most earnest and necessary studies I will conclude making a rehearsall notwithstanding for memories sake of certaine specialties contained in the whole body of this my breuiary And because you participate principall pleasure in the knowledge of the common and vsuall names of Dogs as I gather by the course of your letters I suppose it not amisse to deliuer vnto you a short table containing as well the Latine as the English names and to render a reason of euery particular appellation to the intent that no scruple may remaine in this point but that euery thing may be sifted to the bare bottome A Supplement or Addition containing a demonstration of Dogs names how they had their Originall THe names contained in the generall table forsomuch as they signifie nothing to you being a stranger and ignorant of the English toong except they be enterpreted as we haue giuen a reason before of the Latin words so meane we to do no lesse of the English that euery thing may be manifest vnto your vnderstanding Wherein I intend to obserue the same order which I haue followed before SAgax in English Hund is deriued of our English word hunt One letter changed in another namely T into D as Hunt Hund whom if you coniecture to be so named of your country word Hund which signifieth the generall name Dogge because of the similitude and likenes of the words I will not stand in contradiction friend Gesner for so much as we retaine among vs at this day manie Dutch words which the Saxons left at such time as they enioyed this countrie of Britaine Thus much also vnderstand that as in your language Hund is the common word so in our naturall tongue Dogge is the vniuersall but Hund is perticuler and a speciall for it signifyeth such a dog onely as serueth to hunt and therefore it is called a Hund. Of the Gasehound The Gasehound called in latine Agasaeus hath his name of the sharpenes and stedfastnes of his eie-sight By which vertue hee compasseth that which otherwise he cannot by smelling attaine As we haue made former relation for to gase is earnestly to view behold from whence floweth the deriuation of this Dogs name Of the Grey-hound The Grey-hound called Leporarius hath his name of this word Gre which word soundeth Gradus in latine in English Degree Because among al dogs these are the most principall hauying the chiefest place and being simplie and absolutelie the best of the gentle kind of hounds Of the Leuyner or the Lyemmer This dog is called a Leuyner for his lightnes which in latine soundeth Leuitas Or a Lyemmer which word is borrowed of Lyemme which the Latinnists name Lorum and wherefore wee call him a Leuiner of this worde Leuitas as we doe manie things besides why we deriue and draw a thousand of our tearmes out of the Greeke the Latine the Italian the Dutch the French and the Spanish tongue Out of which fountaines indeede they had their Original issue How many words are buried in the graue of forgetfulnesse growne out of vse wrested awry and peruersly corrupted by diuers defaults we will declare at large in our booke intituled Symphonia vocum Britannicarum Of the Tumbler Among hounds the Tumbler called in Latine Vertagus which commeth of this word Tumbler flowing first from the French fountaine For as we say Tumble so they Tumbier reseruing our sence and signification which the Latinnists comprehend vnder this word Vertere So that we see thus much that Tumbler commeth of Tumbier the Vowell I changed into the Liquid L after the maner of our speech Contrary to the French the Italian tongue In which two languages A Liquid before a Vowell for the most part is turned into another Vowell As may be perceiued in the example of these two words Implere plano for Impiere panio L before E changed into I and L before A turned into I also This I thought conuenient for a tast After such as serue for hunting orderly do follow such as serue for hawking and fowling Among which the principall and cheefest is the Spaniell called in Latine Hispaniolus borrowing his name of Hispania wherein we Englishmen not pronouncing the Aspiration H nor the Vowell I for quicknes and readinesse of speech say roundly a Spagnell Of the Setter The second sort is called a Setter in Latine Index Of the word Set which signifieth in English that which the Latinist meane by this word
are as sound as sheepe should be without fault of winde or limbe without blindnesse without deafenesse without peild bellies not comming out of any infected flocke and so as it shall be lawfull for me to inioy them without all mens contradiction If these things be true then I will strike vp the bargaine and yet doth not the seller change the propertie of his sheepe nor loose his lordship ouer them vntill the money be paid And hereupon it commeth to passe that the buyer may condemne the seller if the cattell be not so good as his bargaine or if he doe not deliuer them euen as the buyer is subiect to the same iudgement if he doe not deliuer the price And concerning Shepheards and the custodie of flockes I may adde a word or two more First of all for the number of the sheepe how many may safely be kept in euery flocke There is no neede that I should giue any rules about this businesse for the auncients were wont to set one Shepheard ouer a hundred rough or course wolled sheepe and two Shepheards ouer a hundred fine wolled sheepe the common flockes were seauentie or foure-score and the Shepheard that followed them was charged to be both vigilant and gentle The generall disciplin of Shepheards and therefore his discipline was Duci propior esse quam domino incogendis recipiendisque ouibus ad clamatione ac baculo minetur nec vnquam telum emittat neque ab his longius recedat nec aut recubet aut concidat nam nisi procedit stare debet quoniam grex quidem custodis officium sublimem celsissimamque oculorum veluti speculam desiderat vt neque tardiores grauidas dum cunctantur neque agiles foetas dum procurrunt seperari à cateris sinat ne fur aut bestia hallucinantem pastorem decipiat saith Columella He must rather be a guide vnto them then a Lord or master ouer them and in driuing them forward or receiuing them home after they haue stragled he must rather vse his chiding voice and shake his staffe at them then cast either stone or dart at them neither must he goe far from them at any time nor sit downe but stand stil except when he driueth them because the flocke desireth the direction of their keeper his eye like a loftie watch-tower that so he suffer not to be separated asunder either the heauy Ewes great with yong because of their slow pace nor yet the light nimble ones which giue sucke are deliuered of their yoong which are apt to run away lest that some rauening beast or theefe deceaue the loytering shepheard by taking away frō him the hinmost or the formost There may also be more in a flock of sheep then in a flock of goats bicause the goats are wanton so disperse themselues abroad but the sheep are meeke and gentle and for the most part keepe round together Yet it is better to make many flockes then one great one for feare of the pestilence In the story of the Dogges we haue shewed already how necessary a sheapheards Dog is to the flocke to defend them both from Wolues and Foxes and therefore euery shepheard must obserue those rules there expressed for the prouision choyce and institution of his Dogge and to conclude this discourse of the sheapheard when the Lambs are young he must not driue their dams farre to pasture but feede them neare the Towne village or house and his second care must bee to picke and cull out the aged and sicke Sheepe euery yeare and that in the Autumne or Winter time least they dye and infect their fellowes or least that the whole flocke do go to decay for want of renewing and substitution of others and therefore he must still regard that when one is dead he supply the place with one or two at the least and if he chance to kil one at any time for the houshold the counsell of Antiphanes is profitable to bee followed Illar tantum mactare debes oues ex quibus nullus amplius fructus vel casij vel veleris vel lactis vel agnorum perniet That is to kil those sheepe from whom you can neuer expect any more profit by their Lambs milke Cheeses or fleeces Of the diseases of Sheepe and their causes in generall IN the next place it is necessary for the wise and discret sheapheard to avoide all the meanes whereby the health of his flocke should be endangered and those are either by reason of their meate and foode that they eat Of the diseases of sheep or else by reason of naturall sicknesses arising through the corruption of blood and a third way is by the biting of venomous beastes as Serpents and Wolues and such like and a fourth way Scabbes Gowtes swellings and such like outward diseases Of venomous meates or Hearbes vnto Sheepe THere is an herb which the Latins cal Herba Sanguinaria pilosella numularia and by the Germans English cald Faenegreek and by the French because of the hurt it doth vnto sheepe they vse this circumscription of it L'herbe qui tue les brebis The Hearbe that destroyeth Sheepe It is called also Serpentine because when Snakes and Adders are hurt therewith they recouer their woundes by eating therof when a Sheep hath eaten of this Hearbe the belly thereof swelleth aboundantly and is also drawen together and the Sheepe casteth out of his mouth a certaine filthy spume or froath which smelleth vnsauourly neither is the poore beast able to eseape death except presently hee be let blood in the vaine vnder his taile next to the rumpe and also in the vpper lip yet is this Hearbe wholsome to all other cattle exeept Sheepe alone wherefore the Sheapheards must diligently auoide it It is a little low Hearbe creeping vpon the ground with two round leaues not much vnlike to Parsly it hath no sauour with it or smelleth not at all the flower of it is pale and smelleth strong and the stalke not much vnlike the flower It groweth in moist places and neare hedges and woods If in the spring time Sheeepe do eate of the dew called the Hony-dew it is poyson vnto them and they dye thereof Likewise canes in the Autumne do make their belly swell vnto death if they drinke presently after they haue eaten thereof for that meat breaketh their guts asunder The like may be said of Sauine Tamariske Rhododendron or Rose-tree and al kindes of Hen-bane The female Pimpernell doth likewise destroy Sheepe except assoone they haue eaten of it they meete with the Hearbe called Ferus oculus Wilde-eye but heerein lyeth a wonder that whereas there are two kinds of this Hearb a male and a female they should earnestly desire a male and eagerly avoyde a Female seeing that both of them haue the same tast in the pallate of a man for they tast like the raw roots of Beets There is an Hearbe in Normandy called Duua not much vnlike Rubarbe or great