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
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
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
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
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
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
but that part is not of the horn but either the entrance of the pallat or some other things as I coniecture This horne was found vnder the earth not deeper then a foote in a solitary and high place as betweene two hils through which a riuer runneth by Countri'men that were digging to lay the foundation of a house But the horne was smitten with an Axe and seuered into very smal peeces but that Noble and excelent man Ioannes Frikasz in whose field the horne was founde being distaunt from Cracouia two miles by all diligence he could least that the small peeces should be cast abroad tooke deliberate heed that they should be taken out of the earth From the roote to the top it was all round and smooth but touching it with ones toongue it cleaueth fast vnto it the tooth was as big as a man could gripe in his hand being in the vpper or outward part bony or hollow within white in the middle and toward the end somewhat reddish But there was found all the beast as by the greatnesse of his bones might easily be perceived being bigger in quantity then a horse It is most certaine that it was a Foure-footed-beast by the bones of the shoulders thighes and ribs But if this Horne were the tooth of an Elephant as some doe suppose you would maruaile why two which I haue heard were neuer found together But the teeth or rather hornes of Elephants are neither so crooked that they might come almost to halfe a circle as they did The strength of this horne a penny weight thereof being put in wine or water of Borrage healeth old Feuers as also Tertian or quarterne Agues of three yeares continuance and cureth many diseases in mens bodies as asswaging the paine of the belly and making of those to vomit who can by no meanes ease their stomackes Hitherto shal suffice to haue spoken concerning one of those foure hornes which I saw The other was like vnto this but lesse pure for the colour was outwardly most blacke inwardly most white being found in the Riuer The third and fourth most hard so that a man would thinke it were by the touching thereof stone or iron being solide euen vnto the point for I haue not seene them wholly but the part of one to the length of a cubit of the other to the length of halfe a cubit with a darke colour being almost of the same thicknesse as the two former But for as much as the two former haue no riftes or chinkes in them these haue by their longitude being like hearbs bending or wreathing in their stalkes There was another found in a certaine field so much appearing out of the earth that the rude or country sort did thinke it to be some pile or stake Many also are cured and freed from shaking feauers by the medicinall force of these the cause whereof I suppose to be this because the former are softer for as much as one of them will lye in the Water for so long a time but the other vnder the earth being scarce well hid I afterwardes saw a fi lt like vnto the first none of them being straight or direct vppe but also crooked some almost vnto a halfe a circle Hitherto Schnebergerus who also addeth this That there are more of these to be found in Polonia and therefore for the most part to bee contemned There are moreouer found in Heluetia some of these hornes one in the riuer Arula against the Towne of Bruga the other in the last yeare in the riuer of Birsa but it was broken euen as the third with that famous Earle of the Cymbrians William Warner in a tower neare vnto the Citty Rottauit who gaue vnto Gesner a good peece thereof who found another peece as he was a fishing at Birsa in the riuer And it is no great maruaile that they are found there where through length of time they are broken into small pieces and carried by the force of the waters into diuers places But it is most diligently to be obserued whether they are found in the earth as also to be knowne whether that great horne be of this beast which hangs alone in the great temple at Argentaur by the piller for it hath hanged there many yeares before as now it-appeareth for that doth plainely seeme the same magnitude thicknesse and figure which Schnebergerus hath described in his own horne that we haue allowed before for wild oxen The ancients haue attributed singuler hornes to the Vnicorne whom some haue cald by other names as it is said and furthermore to the Orix a wilde beast vnknowne in our age except I be deceiued which Aristotle and Pliny call a Vnicorne Aelianus a Quadrucorne Oppianus doth not expresse it but he seemeth to make it a two horned beast Simeon Sethi doth also write that the Musk-cat or Goat at which bringeth forth Muske hath one horne Certaine later writers as Scaliger reporteth say that there is a certaine Oxe in Ethiopia which hath one Horne comming out in the middest of his forehead greater then the length of a foot bending vpwardes the point being wreathed ouerthwart and they haue red haire whereby we gather that the horne of all Vnicornes is not pure But the reason why these hornes are more found in Polonia then in any other place I cannot well ghesse whether from thence we shall suspect them to be of certaine Vries which at this day abide in the woods of Sarmatia in times past there were many more which haue liued both in greater and larger woods neither were they killed with so often Hunting some whereof it is most like haue come to great age as appeareth by their great stately hornes which things we leaue to be considered of others I suppose that the Apothe caries neuer haue the true horne of a Vnicorne but that some doe sell a kinde of false adulterated Horne other the fragments of this great and vnknowne Horne of which we haue spoken and not onely of the horne but also of the bones of the head some of which are so affected by longanimity of time that you may take a threefold substance in them although it be broken by a certain distance one being for the most part whitish and pale the other whiter and softer the third stony and most white I heare that in the new Ilands there was a Horne bought in the name of a Vnicornes horne being much praised for expelling of poyson which what it is I haue not as yet examited but it is to bee inquired whether it bee a Rhynocerots or not for both the auncient and late Writers doe mingle this with the Vnicorne I doe verily coniecture that the same strength is pertinent to both the Hornes And thus much shall suffice concerning the true Vnicornes horne and the Vertues arising there from In this place now we will proceed to the residue of the history reseruing other vses of this horne to the proper medicines These Beasts are very
life or sence as to plants and inanimate bodyes so as the inferiors do alwaies so compose themselues to the imitation of the superiours euen as their shaddowes and resemblaunces And in these doth Diuinity descend first to supernaturall things and then to things naturall and we must turne saile and ascend first by things naturall before we can attaine and reach thinges supernaturall In the meane time Diuinity it selfe remaineth one and the same without change and alteration notwithstanding the manifold increasings and decreasings of all these creatures which it vseth but as Glasses and Organs and according to the diuersity both of matter and forme it shineth and appeareth in one and other more or lesse euen as we see in our owne bodies whose soule is disseminated into euery part and member yet is there a more liuely representation thereof in one part and member then in another and the faculties more visibly and sensibly appeare in the vpper then in the neather partes But yet with this difference that the soule is so ioyned to the body as with a kind of Sympathy it suffereth harme and ioy with the subiect wherein it is circumscribed but none of these things do happen to the Diuinity for it is so communicated to creatures as it neither is any part or matter or forme of them nor yet can be affected by any thing the creature suffereth nor yet included in the creature but yet is in all and ouer all and without all and aboue all compassing filling and surpassing heauen and earth infinite and impossible and concluding the whole World visible and inuisible And truely these thinges surpasse all the wit of man for we are not able with thought and much lesse with wordes to expresse it and yet we ought not to be deterred for any cause from the consideration and contemplation thereof but rather after we haue waded in the same with all humility to acknowledge his power and to view all the helps for our infirmitimes to admire his wisedome and endeuour thereby to amend our ignorance and encrease our knowledge and in conclusion to beate downe our pride and malice by praysing and extolling his grace and goodnesse For being thus affected and conuersant in beholding these neather and backer partes of God confessing with thankes giuing that all these thinges doe proceede from his Diuinity we cannot stay but ascend vppe higher to the worker himselfe vsing all thinges in this life but as Prickes and Spurres for occasion and admonitions to thinke vppon and reuerence the prime Author For we haue continuall neede in this World to be put in mind and incited to the study and contemplation of heauenly thinges and so we shall leaue all these things behind vs after this mortal life ended and by the help of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ who by his onely death hath prepared for vs a way to the kingdome of ineffable glory where we shall partake with the forepartes and most cleare reuelation of the vnspeakeable maiesty of God for this is the end of our life for which we were created and also the scope and conclusion of all naturall knowledge of the works of God And least that any man should thinke that these thinges are ours or the heathen Phylosphers sayings and cannot be defended out of the sacred and supreme Testimony of holy Scriptures I will also adde some few sayings recorded in the booke of God First of all therefore when in the beginning of the World God was about to create man who was to vse al things and to behold them in this World as it were in a Theater he created all kind of Beastes and creatures before man that he might bring him into a house furnished and adorned with all thinges necessary and delectable Afterward he brought into his presence all the creatures to bee named by him which the Scripture recordeth for excellency sake for it is no doubt but he named all thinges that should continue to the Worldes end yet expressely there is no mention but of liuing creatures as Fishes Foules Cattell and creeping things that so they might be submitted and vassalaged to his Empire authority and gouernment which thing least it should seeme but a proud coniecture it is againe repeated in the blessing that God pronounceth to man and all his posterity and againe after the floud vnto Noah and his Childeren Euery beast saith God shall be afraid of you both the Beastes of the earth and the Foules of heauen and what soeuer is bred in the earth or brought forth in the Sea all are yours whatsoeuer liueth and moueth it is permitted to you for meate And before when the floud was at hand God commaunded Noah to suffer all beastes that could not liue in the Water to enter the Arke and of Foules and cleane Birds seuen of a kind of impure couples to the intent that as for man they were at first created and produced out of the earth so hee would that man should concerue their kindes without contempt of them that were vncleane beasts Furthermore in the booke of Kings we read of Salomon that God gaue him such wisedome that he excelled all the wise and learned men of the world and among other fruits and tokens of that wisedome there is remembred his parables three thousand his verses aboue fiue thousande his History of plantes from the high Caedar to the Hysope stalke and lastly his discourse of Beasts Birds Fishes and creeping things What is man sayth Dauid that thou shouldst so remember him or the sonne of man that thou shouldst visite him Thou hast set him ouer the works of thy hands and hast set all things vnder his feet Oxen sheep Foules Fishes and whatsoeuer moueth in the Waters And the same King and prophet in another place Psal 148. Praise the Lord Dragons and all deepes ye wilde beasts and creeping creatures But how can Beastes praise the Lord Or how could they vnderstand the Prophets exhortation Surely therefore we are commaunded to praise God for them confessing his goodnesse and wisedome in all these beastes which hee produced for the ornament of this present world And because of these creatures the works of God the Apostle S. Paule in the Epistle to the Romans Chapt. 2. telleth the Ethinckes that they are vnexcusable before God for that they knew him by the creatures of his works and yet did not glorifie him as God neither were gratefull For the inuisible thinges of God as his eternall power and wisedome are seene by the creation of the World And lastly in the History of Iob. Ch. 38 39. you shall find a large discourse to Iob from the Lords owne mouth concerning many beasts And these thinges may bee spoken concerning the excellency and dignity of the History of beasts whereunto I will adde some examples of the most famous men and Kings of the world to shew what account they made of this learning and so I will conclude this Praeface First what account heereof was
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
wilde asses in great plenty beyond Catadupa in Egypt so are there many in Caâ—da an Island neere Creet In Persis in Asia in Madera and Abasia Arabia desert Mauritania and Armenia Callistus reporteth that there are such wild Asses in that region vnder the Aequinoctiall towards the East and South of wonderfull stature Pliny their skin beside the vsuall manner being of diuers colours interlined variably with white and blacke and the Zones and strakes discending from the top of the backe vnto the sides and there diuided by their winding and turning make the folds appeare of admirable variety These Asses loue the highest Mountaines and rockes as holy scripture teacheth Ier. 14. The asses stood in the high places and drew in the wind like Dragons which words gaue occasion to some to imagine that wilde asses would quench their thirst with the winde without water whereas it is the maner of all wilde beasts in extreamity of thirst to gape wide and greedily draw in the colde refreshing ayre and they will not drinke but of pure fountaine water They liue in flocks and great companies togither but in desolate places the males going before the females and commonly one male will leade and rule a flocke of females being exceeding swift and fearfull and therfore do they often change their places of abode and yet it is obserued that the wilde Asses of Licia neuer go ouer the mountaine that diuideth them from Cappadocia They engender among themselues Their copulation their females being much more lustfull then the males and therefore doe the males obserue and watch them with a ielous eye towarde their owne soles especially after they haue conceiued and the female as warily avoideth the sight of the male especially at the time of her foling for if she bring forth a female the male receiueth it with all loue ioy and welcome but if a male then doth he with angry and enuious countenance look vpon it taking it heauily that another male is bred which in time may in the fathers place possesse his damme wherfore in a raging madnes he falleth vpon the fole seeking by al his power to bite off his stones the poor female although weakened with paine of deliuery yet helpeth her young one against the fathers rage and like a mother who seeing her sonne slain in war embraceth his bleeding corps and cryeth out with dolefull voice tearing her cheekes and bleeding betwixt her brests so would you thinke this silly female asse to mourne for her fole now ready to die by the Syres cruelty saying O my husband why is thy aspect so irefull Why are thy eyes now become so bloody which euen now were as white as light Doest thou looke vpon the face of that monster Medusa Which turneth men into stones or dost thou look vpon some new hatched horrible Dragon or the whelpe of some lyon lately littered Why wilt thou geld this our young one which nature hath giuen vnto vs both by procreation O wretched beast that I am which haue conceiued an vnhappy fole by the fathers wickednes O my poore and more vnhappy sonne which for a iealous feare art depriued of thy naturall parts not by the clawes of Lyons for that I would endure but by the vnnaturall and more then hostile teeth of thy owne father These wilde Asses haue good and stronge hoofes their swiftnes is compared to the winde and in the time that they are hunted they cast backward with their heeles stones with such violence as they pierce the brests of them that prosecute them if they be not very wary They are of a large broad tall and beautifull body long eares and a siluer colour that is as I gesse a bright cloud-colour for it is but vaine to imagine that an Asse can be all white for then were all the auncients deceiued which with one voyce affirme that he hath a blacke list on the backe at either side whereof are two white lines Aelianus Albertus Oppianus Their food is onely grasse and herbes of the earth whereby they grow very fat their hart being the fattest part of their body and they will not abide any flesh-eating-beaste especially the Lyon whom he feareth very much for all these strong beasts deuour and eat them These Asses are very fit for ciuill vses as for plowing and sowing Varro for being tamed they neuer grow wilde againe as other beasts will and they easily grow tame It is obserued that the same being tamed is most tame which before time was most wilde They loue figs and meale aboue all things wherefore the Armenians vse to take a certain blacke fish bred in their waters which is poyson Aelianus and couering it with meale the wilde asses come and licke thereof and so are destroyed The best of them are generated of a Mare and a wild Asse tamed for they are the swiftest in course of hardest hoofe a leane body but of a generous and vntierable stomack The Indian wild Asses haue one horne in their foreheade and their body all white but their heade is red So is there another beast in India very like a wilde asse which the inhabitants eat as we haue read about the streights of Magellana When these Asses are hunted with dogs they cast foorth their sime or dung with the sauour whereof the Dogges are stayed while it is hot Phyles and by that meanes the beast escapeth daunger but the Asses of Mauritania are very short winded Pliny and subiect to wearinesse and stumbling for which cause they are more easily taken and the best of all are not so swift as a Barbary-horse besides their nature is when they see a man to stand stone stil crying braying and kicking till you come at them Aelianus and when one is ready to take them they take their heeles and run away The inhabitants of Arabia desert by many gins and other deceitfull deuises take them and on horsebacke follow them till they tyre or can strike them with their darts Their flesh being hot doeth stinke and taste like an other Asses but boyled and kept two dayes hath a pleasant taste yet doth it not breede good blood because it is viscous and harde to be concocted although there be many which eat that as also the flesh of Panthers and other such beasts Pliny teacheth Medicineâ— that there is more vertue in the wilde Asses milk and bones against venome and poyson then in the tame Likewise in the heele of an Asse Milke is a principall remedy against apostemations and bunches in the flesh if it be applyed to the inner part of the thighe The gall draweth out botches and must bee annointed vpon impostumate scars It is vsed also in emplasters against Saint Antonies fire the leprosie Pliny and swelling in the legs and guts The fat with oyle of herbe Mary by annointing the raines and the backe helpeth and easeth that paine which was ingendred by wind The spleen dryed to pouder and
the vertues medicinall are very many Arnoldus Virtues medicinall and first of all the blood cureth all manner of bunches and apostems in the flesh and bringeth haire vpon the eye-lids if the bare place be annointed therewith The fat of a Lyon is most hot and dry and next to a Lyons a Leopards next to a Leopards a Beares and next to a Beares a buls The later Physitians vse it to cure conuulsed and distracted parts spots and tumors in the body It also helpeth the paine of the loins if the sicke part be annointed therewith and all vlcers in the legges or shinnes when a plaister is made thereof with bole-armoricke Also the vlcers of the feet mingled with allome It is soueraigne against the falling of the haire compounded with wilde roses â—he Spaniards burne the braines of beares when they die in any publicke sports holding them venemous because being drunke they driue a man to be as mad as a beare and the like is reported of the heart of a Lyon and the braine of a cat The right eie of a beare dried to pouder and hung about childrens neckes in a little bag driueth away the terrour of dreames and both the eyes whole bound to a mans left arme easetha quartanague The liuer of a sow a lamb and a bear put togither and trod to pouder vnder ones shoos easeth and defendeth cripples from imflamation the gall being preserued and warmed in water deliuereth the bodie from colde when all other medicine faileth Some giue it mixt with Water to them that are bitten with a mad Dogge holding it for a singular remedie if the party can fast three daies before It is also giuen against the palsie the Kings euill the falling sickenesse an old cough the inflamation of the eies the running of the eares the difficultie of vrine and deliuery in child-birth the Haemorrhods the weaknes of the backe The stones in a perfume are good against the falling euill and the palsie and that women may go their full time they make ammulets of Bears nails and cause them to weare them all the time they are vvith child OF THE BEAVER Male and Female Their quantitie is not much bigger then a countrey Dog their head short their ears very small and round their teeth very long Their seueral partes Siluius Bellouius the vnder teethe standing out beyond their lips three fingers breadth and the vpper about halfe a finger being very broade crooked strong and sharpe standing or growing double verie deep in their mouth bending compasse like the edge of an Axe and their colour yellowish red wherwith they defend themselues against beasts take fishes as it were vpon hooks and will gnaw insunder trees as big as a mans thigh they haue also grinding teeth very sharpe wherein are certaine wrinckles or foldes so that they seeme to be made for grinding some hard substance for with them they eate the rindes or barke of trees wherefore the bitinge of this beast is very deepe being able to crash asunder the hardest bones and commonly he neuer loseth his holde vntill he feeleth his teeth gnash one against another Pliny and Solinus affirme that the person so bitten cannot be cured except he hear the crashing of the teeth which I take to be an opinion without truth They haue certaine haires about their mouth which seeme in their quantity or bignesse to be rather horne they are so hard but their bones are most harde of all and without marrow Their forefeet are like a Dogs and their hinder like a Gooses made as it were of purpose to go on the land swim in the water but the taile of this beast is most strange of all in that it commeth nearest to the nature of fishes being without hayre and couered ouer with a skin like the scales of fish it being like a soale and for the most part six fingers broade and halfe a foot long which some haue affirmed the beast neuer pulleth out of the water whereas it is manifest that when it is very colde or the water frozen he pulleth it vp to his body although Agricola affirme that his hinder legs and taile freeze with the water and no lesse vntrue is the assertion that they compell the Otter in time of colde and frost to wait vpon their taile and to trouble the water so that it may not freeze round about them but yet the Beuer holdeth the Otter in subiection and eyther ouercommeth it in fight or killeth it with his teeth This taile he vseth for a sterne when he swimmeth after fishe to catch them There hath beene taken of them whose tayles haue waied foure pound waight and they are accounted a very delicate dish for being dressed they eate like Barbles they are vsed by the Lotharingians and Sauoyens for meat allowed to be eaten on fish-daies although the body that beareth them be flesh and vncleane for food Bellonius The manner of their dressing is first roasting and afterward seething in an open pot that so the euill vapour may go away and some in pottage made with Saffron other with Ginger and many with Brine it is certaine that the tayle and forefeet tast very sweet from whence came the Prouerbe That sweet is that fish which is not fishe at all These Beastes vse to builde them Caues or Dens neere the Waters so as the Water may come into them Their building of Dens or else they may quickly leape into the water and their wit or naturall inuention in building of their caues is most wonderfull for you must vnderstand that in the night time they go to land and there with their teeth gnaw down boughes trees which they likewise bite verie short fitting their purpose and so being busied about this worke they will often looke vp to the tree when they perceiue it almost asunder thereby to discerne when it is ready to fall least it might light vpon their owne pates the tree being down and prepared they take one of the oldest of their company whose teeth could not be vsed for the cutting or as others say they constraine some strange Beauer whom they meet withall to fall flat on his backe as before you haue heard the Badgers doe and vpon his belly lade they all their timber which they so ingeniously worke and fasten into the compasse of his legs that it may not fall and so the residue by the taile drawe him to the water side where these buildings are to be framed and this the rather seemeth to be true Albertus Olaus mag because there haue bene some such taken that had no haire on their backes but were pilled which being espied by the hunters in pitty of their slauery or bondage they haue let them go away free These beasts are so constant in their purpose that they will neuer change the tree that they haue once chosen to build withall how long time so euer they spend in biting downe the same it is likewise to
be obserued that they neuer go to the same during the time of their labour but in one and the same path and so in the same returne to the water againe When they haue thus brought their wood togither then dig they a hole or ditch in the banke side Albertus where they vnderset the earth to beare it vp from falling with the aforesaide timber a secret and so they proceed making two or three roomes like seuerall chambers one aboue another to the entent that if the water rise they may goe further and if it fall they may discend vnto it And as the husbandmen of Egypt doe obserue the buildings of the Crocodile so do the inhabitants of the countrey where they breed obserue the Beauers that when they build high they may expect an inundation and sowe on the Mountaines and when they build lowe they looke for a calme or drought and plow the valleys There is nothing so worthy in this beast as his stones for they are much sought after and desired by all Merchants so that they will giue for them any great price There is both in Male and Female certaine bunches vnder their bellie as great as a gooses egge which some haue vnskilfully taken for their coddes and betweene these is the secret or priuie part of both sexes which tumours or bunches are nothing else but a little fleshie bagge within a thin skinne in the middle whereof is a hole or passage out of the which the beast sucketh a certaine liquor The Cods or stones of the beast Rondoletius and afterward therewith annointeth euery part of her bodie that she can reach with her toong Now it is verie plain that these bunches are not their coddes for these reasons because that there is no passage either of the seed into them or from them into the yarde Besides their stones are found within their bodie neither ought this to seeme strange seeing that Hares haue the like bunches and also the Moschus or Musk-cat the female hath but one passage for all her excrements and to conceiue or bring forth young ones It hath beene an opinion of some that when a Beauer is hunted and is in danger to be taken she biteth off her owne stones The Beauer doth not bite off her owne stones knowing that for them only her life is sought which caused Alciatus to make this Emblem Et pedibus segnius tunuda propendulus aluo Mordicus ipse sibi medicata virilia vellet Huius ab exemplo disces non parcere rebus Hactamen insidias effugit arte fiber Atque abijcit sesegnarus ob illa peti Et vitam vt redimas hostibus aera dare Teaching by the example of a Beauer to giue our pursse to theeues rather then our liues and by our wealth to redeeme our danger for by this meanes the Beauer often escapeth There haue beene many of them founde that wanted stones which gaue some strength to this errour but this was exploded in auncient time for a fable and in this and all other honest discourses of any part of Phylosophy the onely marke wherat euerie good student and professor ought to ayme must be veritie and not tales wherin many of the ancient haue greatly offended as is manifested by Marcellius Virgilius especially Plato and this poison hath also crept into and corrupted the whole bodie of religion The Egyptians in opinion of the aforesaid Castration when they will signifie a man that hurteth himselfe they picture a Beauer biting off his owne stones Herus an Emblem But this is most false as by Sertius Plinius Dioscorides and Albertus is manifested first because their stones are verie small and so placed in their bodie as are a Boares and therefore impossible for them to touch or come by them Secondly they cleaue so fast vnto their back that they cannot be taken awaie but the beast must of necessitie loose his life and therefore ridiculous is their relation who likewise affirme that when it is hunted hauing formerlie bitten off his stones that he standeth vpright and sheweth the hunters that he hath none for them and therefore his death cannot profit them by meanes whereof they are auerted and seeke for another These Beauers eate fish fruits and the bitter rhindes of trees Their food which are vnto them most delicate especiallie Alderne Poplar and Willowe wherevpon it is prouerbiallie said of one that serueth another for gaine Sic me subes quotidie vt fiber salicem you loue me as the Beauer doth the Willow which eateth the barke and destroieth the tree They are taken for their skins tailes and cods and that manie waies Their cause of taking and first of all when their caues are found there is made a great hole or breach therein wherinto is put a little dog which the beast espying flieth to the end of her denne and there defendeth her selfe by her teeth till all her structure or building be rased and she laide open to her enimies who with such instruments as they haue present beat her to death A secret some affirm that she rouzeth vp her body and by the strong sauour of hir stones she driueth away the Dogs which may be probable if the stones could be seene These dogges are the same which hunt wilde foule and Otters It is reported that in Prussia they take them in bow-nets baited with the rinde of trees Agricola where into they enter for the food but being entrapped cannot go forth againe They cannot diue long time vnder water but must put vp their heads for breath which being espied by them that beset them they kill them with gun-shot or pierce them with Otter-speares so that one would thinke seeing such a one in the water that it was some hairy kind of fish and his nature is if he heare any noise to put his head aboue water wherby he is discouered and looseth his life His skin is pretious in Polonia either for garment or for gloues but not so pretious as an Otters yet is it vsed for the edging of all other fur-garments making the best shew and enduring longest they are best that are blackest and of the bellies which are like felt wooll they make caps and stockings against raine and foule weather The medicinall vertues of this beast are in the skin the vrine the gall and the cods The medicinall vertues Albertus Aetius and first a garment made of the skinnes is good for a paralitick person and the skinnes burned with drie Oynions and liquid pitch stayeth the bleeding of the nose and being put into the soles of shooes easeth the gowt The vrine preserued in the bladder is an antidot against poyson and the gall is profitable for many thinges Pliny but especially being turned into a glew it helpeth the falling euill The genitals of a Beauer are called by the Phisitians Castoreum Pliny and therefore we will in this discourse vse that word for expressing the nature
Patrae that all the Kye which drinke of them in the spring time doe for the most part bring forth Males wherfor their herdmen auoyd those places at that time Ky for the most part before their caluing are dry and without Milk especialy about Torona They are also purged of their mensterua in greater measure then either Goates or sheepe which especially come from them a little before or after they haue beene with the Bull howsoeuer Aristotle saith that they come from them after they haue beene fiue monthes with calfe and are discerned by their vrine for the vrine of a cow is the thinnest of all other Aelianus These beasts are very lustfull and doe most eagarly desire the company of their male which if they haue not within the space of three houres after they mourne for it their lust aswageth till another time In a village of Egypt called Schussa vnder the gouernment of the Hermopolites they worship Venus vnder the title Vrania in the shape of a cow parswading themselues that there is great affinity betwixt that Goddesse and this beast for by hir mournefull voyce she giueth notice of her loue who receiueth the token many times a Mile or two off and so presently runneth to accomplish the lust of nature and for this cause doe the Egyptians Picture Isis with a Cowes hornes and likewise a Bull to signifie hearing The signes of their bulling as it is tearmed are their cries Signes of a cowes desire to the Bul. and disorderly forsaking their fellowes and resisting the gouernment of their keeper Likewise their secret hangeth forth more then at other times and they wil leap vpon their fellows as if they were males besides after the manner of mares they oftner make water then at other times The most cunning heardmen haue meanes to prouoke them to desire the bul Secrets to prouoke lust in cattel if they be slack first of all they withdraw from them som part of their meat if they be fat for that wil make them fitter to conceiue then take they the genitals or stones of a bul and hold it to their nose by smelling whereof they are prouoked to desire copulation and if that preuaile not then take the tendrest part of Shrimps which is their fish and beat them in water til they be an ointment and therewith annoint the breastes of the Cow Collumella after they haue bene wel washed vntil it worke vpon her And some affirme that the taile of an Eele put into her hath the same vertue other attribute much force to the wild willow to procure lust and conception They are a great while in copulation Signes at the copulation to know whither the calfe wil be Male or Female and some haue gessed by certaine signes at the time of copulation whether the calfe proue male or female for say they if the bul leap downe on the right side of the cow it wil be a male if on the left it wil be a female which coniecture is no longer true then when the cow admitteth but one bul and conceiueth at the first coniunction for which cause the Egyptians decipher a woman bringing forth a maiden child by a bul looking to the left hand and likewise bearing a man child by a bul looking to the right hand They are not to be admitted to copulation before they be two yeare olde at the least or if it may be foure yet it hath bene seene that a heighfer of a yeare old hath conceiued and that another of foure moneths old hath likewise desired the Bul but this was taken for a monster and the other neuer thriued One bull is sufficient for fifteenekie although Varro saith that he had two buls for threescore and tenkie and one of them was two yeare olde the other one The best time for their copulation is about the time of the Dolphins appearaunce and so continueth for two or three and fourtye daies which is about Iune and Iulye for those which conceiue at that time will bring forth their young ones in a most temperate time of the year and it hath bene obserued that an oxe immediately after his gelding before he had forgotten his former desire and inclination his seed not dried vp hath filled a cow and she proued with calfe They go with calfe ten monethes except eighteene or twenty dayes Aristotle but those which are calued before that time cannot liue and a cowe may beare euery yeare if the country wherein she liueth bee full of grasse and the calfe taken awaye from her at fifteene dayes olde And if a man desire that the calfe should be a male Meanes to cause the calf at the time of copulatiō to be eyther male or fem then let him tie the right stone of the Bull at the time of copulation and for a female binde the left Others worke this by naturall obseruation for when they would haue a male they let their cattel couple when the North wind bloweth and when a female they put them togither when the ayre is southerly They liue not aboue fifteene yeares and thereof ten times they may engender The best time to calue in is Aprill because then the spring bringeth on grasse The length of theyr age both for themselues and to increase milke for the young ones They beare not but in their right side although they haue twins in their belly which happeneth very sildome and the beast immediately after hir deliuery must be norished with some good meat for except she be well fed shee will forsake her young to prouide for her selfe therefore it is requisit to giue her vetches Millet-seede and milke mingled with water and scorched corne and vnto the calues themselues dried Millet in milk A secret in copulation in the maner of a mash and the kie must also be kept vp in stables so as they may not touch their meat at the going foorth for they are quickly brought to forsake and loath that which is continuall before them and it is obserued that when kie in the Summer time do in greater number aboue custome goe to the bull then at other times it betokeneth and foresheweth a wet and rainy winter for it cannot be saith Albertus that a beast so dry as is a cowe can bee increased in moisture which stirreth vppe the desire of procreation except also ther be a mutation in the aire vnto abundance of moysture And to conclude this discourse of a cow in auntient time they were wont to cal light womē heighfers harlots and kine by the reason of two famous harlottes of Athens Cuina and Salamachha from this came the fiction of Io whose fable is at large prosecuted by Ouid how she being the daughter of Inachus was in a darkenes brought vpon hir by Iupiter by him rauished which mist being espyed by Iuno she discended to the earth and Iupiter fearing his wiues iealousy turned the said Io into a heighfer from which shape
hath two vdders Aristotle Pliny which haue foure speanes depending from them like a Cowes His genital part is confected and standeth vpon a sinnew insomuch as there of may a stringe be made for the bending of the strongest bow The tayle is like the taile of an Asse hangging down to their knees they haue knees in euery leg hauing in their former legs 3 bones in the hinder foure They haue an ancle like an Oxes and very small buttockes for the proportion of their great body their foot is clouen but so that in the vnder part it hath but two Fissures or cleftes opening the breadth of a finger and in the vpper part foure Fissures or cleftes opening a little and hauing a little thing growing in them like as is in the foot of a Goose The foot it selfe is fleshy like a Beares and therefore they are shod with leather when they trauaile least the gauling of their feet cause them to tyre Auicenna affirmeth that he had seene Camels with whole feet like a Horsses but their feet although fleshy are so tyed together with little lunges that they neuer weare and their manner of going or pace is like a Lyons so walking as the left foot neuer outgoeth the right whereas all other beasts change the setting forward of their feet and leane vpon their left feet while they remoue their right but these alter step after step so as the left foot behind followeth the right before and the hinder foote followeth the lefte before Those Camels which are conceiued by Bores are the strongest and fall not so quickly in to the myre as other although his load be twice so heauy Camels loue grasse called Schoennanthi and especially Barley which they eat vp wonderfull greedily vntill all be in their stomach The food of Camels and then will they chewe thereupon all the night long so that the greatnesse of their belly to lodge their meat in before concoction is better then the benefite of their vpper teeth because he can ruminate and chaw it so often as he pleaseth There is a certaine herbe which hath a seede like a mirtle seed that is poyson to wormes Siluaticus and this seede is foode for Cammels wherewith they grow fatte It is therefore called Camell-thorne and Astergar in the Aarabian toung In the prouince of Aden both Sheepe Oxen Horses and Camels eate a kinde of fish and them better being drie and stale Paul venet Philostratus Calius then new and fresh by reason the immoderate heat in that region burneth vp all pasture and fruites neither is there any beast which is so easily fed as a Camell They will not drink of cleare or cleane water but of muddy and slimie and therefore they stamp in it with their feete Their drinke must not be cleare They will indure thirst for three or foure dayes together but when they come to drink they suck in aboue measure recompensing their former thirst and prouiding against that which is to come and of all kinds the Bactrians are least trobled with thirst They stale from one side to another otherwise then any other beasts doe this beast is very hot by nature and therfore wanton and full of sport and wrath braying most fearfully when they are angred They engender like Elephants and Tigers that is the female lying or sitting on the ground which the male imbraceth like other males and continue in copulation awhole day together Their procreation When they are to ingender they goe vnto the secretst places they can finde herein excelling in modesty the ancient Massagetes who were not ashamed to lie with their wiues in the open field and publique view of one another wher as bruite beasts by instinct of nature make the procreation of their kinde to be a most secret-shamefull-honest action At the time therefore of their lust they are most vnruely and fierce yeilding to none no not to their owne keepers the best time of their copulation is in September for in Arabia they begin to ingender in the third yeare of their age and so within ten or eleuen moneths after she is deliuered of young being neuer aboue one at a time for twins come not in her greate belly so she goeth a yeare before she conceiue againe although her young be seperated or weaned before which time they doe not commonly Caelius Auicen Vnto their former modesty for their copulation we may adde another deuine instinct and most true obseruation about the same for the male will neuer couer his mother or his sister wherfore it is sincerely reported that when a certaine Camel-keeper desirous to trie this secret hauing the male sonne to a female which he also kepte he so couered the female-mother-Camell in all parts of her body except her secrets that nothing coulde be seene of her and so brought her lustfull son to couer her which according to his present rage he perfourmed As soone as he had done it his maister and owner pulled away the maske or disguise from the damme in the presence of the sonne whereby he instantly perceiued his keepers fraud in making him vnnaturally to haue copulation with his owne mother In reuenge whereof he ranne vppon him and taking him in his mouth lift him vp into the ayre presently letting him fall with noise and cry vnderneath his murdring and manquelling feete where with vnappeasable wrath and bloud desiring lyuor he pressed and trode to pieces the incest marriage-causer twixt him and his dearest mother and yet not herewith satisfied like some reasonable creature depriued of heauenly grace and caried with deadly reuenge against such vncleannes being perswaded that the gilt of such an offence could neuer receiue sufficient expiation by the death of the first deuiser except the beguiled party sufferd also som smart of penalty adiudged himselfe to death and no longer worthy to liue by natures benifite which had so violated the wombe that first conceiued him and therfore running to and fro as it were to finde out a hangman for himselfe at last found a sleepy rocke from whence he leaped downe to end his life and although he could not preuent his offence yet he thought it best to cleanse away his mothers adultery with the sacrifice of that bloud which was first conceiued in that wombe wherein hee had defiled These camels are kept in heards and are as swift as horses according to the measure of their strength not onely because of their nimblenesse but also because their strides and reach doth gather in more ground for which cause they are vsed by the Indians for race The pace agility of camels when they goe to fetch the golde which is said to be kept by the Formicae Lions which are not much bigger then Foxes Herodotus yet many times doe these Lions ouertake the camels in course and teare the riders in pieces They haue bene also vsed for battell or warre by the Arabians in the Persian warre but
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
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
in his foming extremity also scraped into powder and put into Wine and drunke it is vsed in Polonia againste the same euill In like sort they mingle it with Triacle and applie it to the heart or else hange it about their necke for an amulet to touch their skin against that disease and because that both in auncient time and also now a daies this beast is sildome seene and more sildome taken the hoofe thereof being so often approoued for the vses before said the rarity I say thereof maketh it to be sold very deare which would be if they could be found or taken in more plentifull maner Some Mounte-bankes sell in steed therof a Bugles hoofe but it may be easily descried by scraping for it is said it smelleth very sweet whereas a Bugles sauoureth very ill and strong It is obserued also that it hath not this vertue except it be cut off from the beast while he is yet aliue and that in the months of August and September at what time these Elks are most of all annoyed with the falling sicknes and then it hath strongest vertue to cure it in others Others affirme it wanteth his operation if it be cut off from a young one which neuer tasted of carnall copulation and so hath not bin dulled thereby but howsoeuer this is certaine that sometimes it cureth and sometime it faileth and as there can be giuen no good reason of the cure so I rather ascribe it to a superstitious conceite or beleefe of the partie that weareth it rather then to any hidden or assured worke of nature The skinnes of this beast are dressed by Tawyers with the fat of sishes and Alum to make brest-plates and to shelter one from raine The vse of their skins and they sell them for three or foure Nobles a piece but in Cracouia for fifteen Florens It may be discerned from a Harts skin by blowing vpon it for the breath will come through like as in a Buffe and the hairs of this beast haue also hollow passages in them when they grow vppon the backe of the beast or else soone after the skin is taken off Some also vse the nerues against the crampe Ant. Schnehergerus binding the offended member therwith and heerewith doe we conclude this storie of an Elke referring the reader to the fable of Alcida related before in Cacus if he haue desire to know it for the affinitie betwixt the name thereof and Alces an Elke OF THE FERRET I Take it to be most true without all exception that the Graecians cal a Ferret Gala Agria a wilde Weasill Ictis and Phereoikos although Etymologus and Hesychius ascribe the reason of this latter name to her lodging vnder Oakes and Oliue-trees The names in Greeke Ictis also was a common name of all Weasils to those Graecians which neuer knew or saw any other then one kinde of them or as Sclaliger against Cardan will haue it to signifie a wilde Campestriall Weasill and not a tame kind being domesticall and liuing in houses and that these differ onely from one another in place and manner of liuing and not in colour stature or qualities And where Aristophanes citeth it among other beasts which are deuourers of fish in my opinion there is no beast that more desireth fish then Ferrets and Cattes and for this cause it hath his name Ictis quasi Ichthus the etymology of Ictys a Ferret of eating of fish and yet I cannot consent vnto them which wil haue it descend and hunt fish in the waters like Otters or Beauers for it abhorreth both swimming or dyuing Ferrets swim not but neer to the waters it hunteth fish where for the most part being wilde it remaineth But heerein seemeth an vnreconcilable difference that it is reported of the Ictys by Gaza the interpretour of Aristotle that it was most greedye of Hony and for that cause it will seeke out the hyues of Bees and enter them without all feare of stings But when Pliny speaketh of Ictys he doth not cal it Viuerra or once attribute vnto it the loue of honie but rather the hatered and loathing thereof in so high a degree that if he tast of it he falleth into consumptions and hardly escapeth death And these things Scaliger alledgeth against Cardan onely to prooue that Ictys and Viuerra are two destinct beasts that Cardan was mistaken in affirming that they were but seuerall names expressing one and the same beast The answere whereunto may be very easie for althogh Pliny leaueth with out rehersal their loue of hony it doth not necessarily follow that they loue it not as Aristotle before him constantly affirmeth and Scaliger nameth no author nor bringeth any reason to demonstrate their hate of honey or any harme which insueth them by eating thereof and therefore against his authority may Strabo be opposed who in his thired booke speaking of the Conies of Spaine and of their hunters and starters out of their holes he taketh and nameth indifferently without all distinction and exception Viuerra and Ictys for the one and other Niphus translateth Ictys a Martall but without reason for the same man finding in Aristotle that there is War betwixt Locusts and Serpentes which is fitly called Ophiomachia whereas Aristotle nameth Akris a Locust hee falleth in doubt whether it were not better to be Ictys a Martell or as other copies haue it Aspis an Aspe which can by no meanes agree vnto them for there is a kind of Locusts called Ophiomachum because of their continual combats with Serpents And therefore not to stande any longer vppon this difference ommitting also the coniecture of Tzetzes which confoundeth Ictys with Miluus a Glead or Kyte which canot stand reasonable because Homer saith there was a kind of caps made of the haires of Ictys nor yet of Albertus his newe found name of Ankatinos nor Auicenna his Katyz or the french Fissau which is a Poul-cat I will descend to the description of the parts and qualities wherein the Authors themselues at variance make their owne reconcilement by attributing the same things to the Ictya and Ferret except that of an obscure authour which saith that Ictys is Ankacinor as big as a Grey-hound and that it is wiser more industrious in his youth and tender age then in his perfection of strength and yeares These Ferrets are lesser then the Maelitean or Gentlewomens Dogs and they were firste of all brought out of Affricke into Spaine and therefore are called by Strabo Affrican weasils Gâ—zâ— Their seueral partes because of their similitude with Weasils for Spaine Italy France and Germany haue not this beast bred among them but brought to them out of other Countries But in England they breed naturally of the quantity aforesaid and they are tamed to hunt Conies out of the earth Countrey of breed It is a bolde and audatious beast enemy to all other except his owne kind drinking and sucking in the blood of the beast it
and Lydians doe feede their Horsses with fishes Likewise the Paeonians which inhabit about Prasius neare the Mountaine Orbelus doe feede their Horsses and all cattell which they yoake with fishes Concerning the drinke of Horsses we haue spoken elswhere and therefore we shal not need to say anything of it heere except that the drinking much and the horsse thrusting his head in deepe into the troubled water is an vnfalible signe of his goodnesse and the custome of some is for to giue their horsses mashes made of water and corne sod together or else Beare Ale or Wine by drinking whereof they encrease their spirits and stomach Albertus saith that some to make their Horsses fat take Snailes and beate them in pieces so putting them into their meates whereby they grow to a false fatnesse which is easily disolued By eating of blacke Hellibor Oxen Horsses and Swine are killed and thus much for the foode of Horsse Concerning the voice of Horsses the Latines call him Hinnitum and the Graecians Phruma and Phrumatesta but this is certaine that from their very foaling the females haue a shrill and sharper voice then the males which is fuller and broader vntill they be two yeare old and after copulation their voice encreaseth so continuing vntill they bee twenty yeare olde after which time it falleth and decreaseth againe The length of a Horsses life according to Aristotle is eighteen or twenty yeares and if they bee well it ended and regarded in their youth It hath been found that some haue liued vnto fiue and twenty The time of theyr life or thirty year old The femals liue longer then the males because of their generation for the immoderate lust of Horsses shortneth their daies And it hath beene found that a Mare hath liued to forty or fifty yeares and a Horsse to three and thirty wherefore I do leaue the relation of Pliny and Atheneus to be censured by the Reader who affirme that horsses in their time liued threescore or seauenty yeares Albertus also affirmeth that a Souldiour told him for a certaine truth that he knew a horsse which liued till he was three score yeares olde and at that age did seruice in the field And August Niphus also affirmeth that the Riders of Ferdinand the first told him there was a horsse in their maisters stable of seuenty yeare old The age of a horsse may be known by his teeth and the Persian Bohemian Epirian Sycilian horsses liue longer then the Spanish or Numidian In their years the female neuer groweth after fiue nor the male after 6. in height or length so as the male are soner perfited in the womb then the femals on the contrary the females do sooner grow to their perfection after their foalling then the males The males haue more teeth then the females and in each sex they which haue fewest teeth liue not so long and in their old age their teeth grow white Now their age is discerned by their teeth on this manner the first foure that is two aboue and two beneath be changed after they be thirty yeare olde and a yeare after the foure next are changed in like manner againe after another yeare foure more are chaunged so that after foure yeare and six months he looseth no teeth except the canine which commeth again in the fift and sixt yeare so that afterwards their age cannot be diserned because in the seauenth yeare they are al filled An other vnfained note of their age is the hollownesse of their temples and their eye-lids beginning to wax gray and their teeth hanging out of their mouths They also haue litle blackes in the middle of their teeth Some trye the age of their horsses as a wise and learned man writeth by considering twelue teeth sixe aboue and six beneath for the old horsses haue longer and thinner teeth which are black at the top and there are certaine broaches or wrinckles in their teeth which being filled the marke is said to be out of their mouth Some try the age of their horsses by their cheekes for they pull vp the skin from the bones and if it will quickly fal backe againe into his former place they take it for an assured token of the horsses youth but if if it stande out and fal slowly downe then on the contrary they iudge the horsse to be old and thus much for the age and dyet of horsses Of the vses of Horsse-flesh Mares milke and other parts TThere were certaine people in Scythia which were called Hippophagi because they liued vpon horsse-flesh such also were the Sarmatians and the Vandals likewise in Scythia the lesse neare Taurica Chersonnessus the people do not onelie eat the flesh of horsses but also their milk and make cheese thereof Athaeneus also affirmeth that the manner of the ancient Persians was vpon the feasts of their natiuities to rost an Oxe an Asse a Horsse and a Cammell whole and so set them before their guests Inlike sort they eat horse-flesh and Camels-flesh at Damascus and in Pollonia wilde horsses especiallye that part which groweth vnder the mane The Sarmatians make meat of Millet seed and mingle it with Mares milk or with blood taken out of the vaines of their legs wherewithall they make puddings Matâ—michou Pauâ—venetus and this is their chiefe food So likewise doe the Tartarians who hauing a horsse sicke cut off his vlcer or wound and so kil him and eat his flesh The Gothes also in the daies of Virgill did drinke the blood of horsses as appeareth by these verses Profuit incensos aestus auertere inter Ima fertre pedis salientem sanguine venam Bisaltae quo more solent acerque Gelonus Cumfugit in Rhodapem atque indeserta Getarum Et lac concretum cum sanguine potat equino The poets do also faine that Pelias the Sonne of Tirus and Neptune was educated by a Mare and Metabus brought vp his Daughter Camillus with Mares milke because she was borne wilde hee also bredde her among the bushes according to these verses Hic natamindumis interque horrentia lustra Armentalis equae lacte ferino Nutribat teneris immulgens vbera labris The Tartarians drinke Mares milke which they dresse like white wine and call it Churnis whereof Paulus Venetus rehearseth this story The king of Tartar saith he nourisheth aboue ten thousand milke white horsses and Mares and euery yeare vppon the eight and twenty day of August they obserue a solemn feast wherein the milk of these white mares is dressed and set forth in comely vessels Afterward the king taketh a bowle full thereof and poureth it on the ground rounde about him being so taught by his Magitians to offer sacrifice to the goddes of his country For they perswade him that the gods licke vp that milke spilt on the ground and afterwards the king drinketh vp the residew and besides him no body that day except it be of the kings lignage or of the country of Horiach for the people of
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
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
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
that there was neuer white sheepe bred in those Countries In Gortynis their Sheepe are red and haue foure hornes In the fortunate Islands of the red-sea all their Sheepe are white and none of them haue crooked hornes In Beotia there are foure Riuers which worke strange effects vpon Sheepe after they drinke of them namely Melas Cephisus Penius and Xanthus The Sheep drinking of Melas and Penius grow black of Cephisus white and yet Pliny saith that this Riuer commeth forth from the same fountaine that Melas doth They which drinke of Xanthus grow red I might adde hereunto another speciall obseruation of difference betwixt the Sheepe of Pontus and Naxus for in Pontus they haue no gaule and in Naxus they haue two gaules In some parts of India their Sheepe and Goates are as big as Asses and bring forth 4. Lambes at a time but neuer lesse then three both Sheepe and Goates The length of their tailes reacheth downe to their hinder Legs and therefore the shepheardes cut them off by the secrets to the intent that they may better suffer copulation and out of them being so cut off they expresse certaine oile also they cut asunder the tailes of the Rams the ends whereof do afterwards close so nearely and naturally together that there appeareth not any scar or note of the section In Syria and India the tailes of their Sheepe are a cubit broad There are two kinde of sheepe in Arabia which are distinguished by the length and breadth of their tailes the one sort haue tailes three cubits long by reason whereof they are not suffered to draw them on the ground for feare of wounding and therefore the shephards deuise certaine engins of wood to support them the other kind of sheep haue tailes like the Syrian sheepe Al sheepe that liue in hot and dry regions haue larger tailes and harsher wooll but those that liue in the moyst regions and fault places haue softer wooll and shorter tailes There were two of the Arabian Sheepe brought into England about the yeare 1560. whose pictures were taken by Docter Cay and therefore I haue expressed them in the page following with their description The Arabian sheepe with a broad taile The Arabian sheepe with a long taile The description of the Arabian sheepe THis Arabian sheep said he is a little bigger then our vulgar sheepe in Enland but of the same wooll figure of body and colour onely the shins forepart of their face are a litle red the broad tail in the top was one cubit but lower it was narrower and like the end of a vulgar sheepes tayle They being brought on ship-board into England were taught thorough famine and hunger to eat not onely grasse and hay but flesh fish bread cheese and butter Heroditus saith that such kind of sheepe are no where found but in Arabia the longe-tailed sheepe he calleth Macrokercos and the broad tailed sheepe Plateukercos yet Leo Afer saith that these are of the Affrican sheepe for thus he writeth His arietibus nullū ab alijs discrimien est praeter quam in cauda quā latissimā circū ferunt quae cuique quo opinior est crassior obtigit ad eo vt nonnullis libras decem aut vigintipendat cū sua sponte impinguantur There is no difference betwixt these Rams and other except in their broad tail which euermore as it growes in fatnes groweth in bredth for if they fat of their owne accord it hath bin found that the taile of one of these sheepe haue weighed ten or twenty pound and not onely there but also in Egypt where they cram and feede theyr sheepe with Barly Corne and Bran by which meanes they growe so fatte that they are notable to stirre themselues so that their keepers are forced to deuise little engines like childrens cares whereupon they lay their tailes when they remoue their beasts and the same Leo Afer affirmeth that he saw in Egypt in a towne called Asiota standing vpon Nilus a hundred and fifty mile from Alcair a taile of one of these sheepe that weyghed fourscore pound and whilst he wondred at it scarcely beleeuing that which his eies saw there were some present that affirmed it to be an ordinary thing for they said according as he writeth Se vidisse quae semi ducentes libras expendissent That is they had seene some of them waigh a hundred pounds and except in the kingdome of Tunis in Africk and Egypt there are none such to be found in all the world and by it it appeareth that all the fatte of their bodies goeth into their tailes Among the Garamants their sheepe eate flesh and milke and it is not to be forgotten which Aristotle Dionisius Afer and Varro doe write namely that all sheepe were once wild and that the tame sheepe which now we haue are deriued from those wild sheepe as our tame goats from wild goats and therefore Varro saith Flockes of wilde sheepe that in his daies in Phrigia there were flockes of wild sheepe whereof as out of Africk the Region of the Gadits there were annually brought to Rome both males and females of strange and admirable colours and that his great Vncle bought diuers of them and made them tame But it appeareth that these wilde sheepe or Rams were Musmons of which we shall discourse afterwards For wild sheepe are greater then the tame sheep being swifter to run stronger to fight hauing more croked and piked hornes therefore many times fight with wilde Boares and kill them The Subus doth also appeare to be a kind of wild sheepe Oppianus for after that Oppianus had discoursed of the sheep of Creete he falleth to make mention of the Subus which he saith is of a very bright yellow colour like the sheepe of Creete but the wooll thereof is not so rough it hath two large hornes vpon the forehead liuing both on the water and on the land eating fish which in admiration of it in the water gather about it are deuoured as we shall shew afterwards in his due place The Colus also spoken of before called Snake seemeth to be of this kind for it is in quantity betwixt a sheep and a Hart. It hath no wooll and when it is hunted the hunters vse neither dogs nor other beasts to take it but terrifie it with ringing of little bels at the sound whereof it runneth to and fro distracted and so is taken And thus much I thought good to expresse before the generall nature of sheepe of the diuers and strange kinds in other nations that so the studious Reader may admire the wonderfull workes of God as in all beasts so in this to whom in holy Scripture he hath compared both his Sonne his Saints and for as much as their story to be mingled with the others would haue been exorbitant and farre different from the common nature of vulgar sheepe and so to haue beene mixed amongest them might haue confounded the Reader It was much
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
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
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
congeale mixed with Vineger and drunke for three daies together is an excellent remedy against the vomitting or spetting of blood The like force in it hath the blood of a Kidde The bloode of a Lambe mingled with wine doth heale those which are troubled with the falling sicknesse as also those which haue the fowle euill For the conception of a Woman take the yarde and gall of a Bucke a Kid and a Hare with the blood and sewet of a Lamb and the marrow of a Hart and mix them altogither with Nard and oyle of Roses and after her purgation Pliny let them be laied vnder her and this without all doubt wil make her apt to conceiue The skins of Serpents being annointed with water in a bath and mingled with lime and Lambes sewet doth heale the disease called S. Anthonies fire The marrow of a Lambe melted by the fire with the oyle of Nuts and white sugar distilled vpon a cleane dish or platter and so drunke doth dissolue the stone in the bladder and is very profitable for any that pisseth blood It also cureth al paines or griefes of the yarde bladder or reynes The skin of a Lambe being dawbed or annointed with liquid-pitch and applyed hot vnto the belly of any one that is troubled with excoriations of the bowels or the bloody flix wil very speedily cure him if he haue any sence or feeling of cold in him If a Virgins menstrual fluxes come not forth at the due time Hippocrates and her belly is moued it is conuenient to apply lambs skins being hot vnto her belly and they will in short space cause them to come forth A garment made of lamb skins is accounted very good for the corroborating and strengthning of yong men The skins of lambes are more hot then kids skins are more profitable for the confirming of the backe and the reines The little bone which is in the right side of a Toad being bound in a young lambes skin being hot doth heal both quartaine and al other feauers being aplied thereunto The dust of lambs bones is very much and rightly vsed for Vlcers which haue no chops or stars in them The dust of smal cattels dung being mingled with Nitre but especially of lambs hath in them great force to heal cankers the dust of lambs bones is very much commended for the healing and making of greene wounds sound and solide which thing by the Saracens is much verified in regard that at al times they go to war Marcellus Pliny they neuer forget to take of the same along with them The lungs of lambs do very effectually cure those whose feete are wrung or pinched by theyr shoo-soles The lungs of lambs or rams being burned and the dust thereof mingled with oile is very profitable for the curing of kibes or vlcers being applied thereunto It hath the same vertue being raw bound vpon the sore Marcellus The runnet of a lambe is of very great force against al other euil medicines The runnets of smal cattel but especially of a lamb is very effectual against al kinds of poyson The runnets of a kid a lambe and a hind-calfe are conueniently taken against Wolfe-bane drunke in wine The runnet of a hare a kid or a lambe taken in wine to the weight of a dram is very effectuall against the forke-fish cureth the bites or strokes of al sea-Sea-fishes The runnet of a lamb drunk in wine is an excellent cure for the bitings of a shrew Pliny The runnet of a lamb drunk in water is accounted for a safegard to young children who are vexed with thicke and concrete milke or if the default shal happen by curded milke it wil be soone remedyed by a lambes runnets giuen in Vineger A Lambs runnet hid or poured into water doth speedily cohibit the bleeding of the nose when nothing else can stay it The gal of smal Cattel but especially of a Lamb being mixed with hony are thoght to be very medicinable for the curing of the falling sicknes The places which are infected by cankers being anointed ouer with the gal of a lamb are very speedily and effectually healed There is also by the Magicians deliuered vnto vs a speedy means for the curing of the melt which is this to take a Lamb new born instantly to pluck him in pieces with ones hands Marcellus and when the melt is pulled out to put it hot vpon the melt of the party so grieued and bind it on fast with swadling cloathes and continually to say I make a remedy for the melt then in the last day the same being taken from his body to put it to the Wall of the beâ— wherein the diseased party is wont to lye it being first daubed with durt that it might the better stick and to signe the durt with seuen and twenty markes saying at euery mark I make a remedy for the melt this remedy being done three times it will heale the diseased party although he be very weake and full of danger But this is the opinion of the Magicians which I here set downe that they should rather see their folly then beleeue knowing them to be meere fopperies For making the wool to grow slower the gelders of cattel anoint the bloud which commeth from the stones of gelded Lambes which being anointed doth profit very much for haires being pulled away as also against poison Pliny The dung of Lambes before they haue tasted of any grasse being dryed in the shaddow and rubbed to powder and applyed in the manner of a plaister doth heale and ease al kindes of paines in the chaps or iawes And thus much for the medicines of the sheepe OF THE STREPSICEROS THere is in Creete neare the Mountaine Ida Bellonius a kind of sheep called by the Sheapheardes Strepsiceros which is not different from the vulgar sheep except onely in the hornes for they bend not like other but stand straight and vpright like the Vnicorne and beside are circled about with certain round speeres like a Goates horne This liueth in flockes and we haue here beside the figure of the beast expressed a double form of their hornes and forepart of their head the figure of a Harpe being fastened to one of them as it was presently drawen The description whereof was taken by Docter Cay of England in these words following The hornes of this Strepsiceros are so liuely expressed by Pliny and so fitly fitted to beare Harpes that they seeme not to aske any further narration of words I will therefore onely adde this they are hollow within and long about two Roman feet and three palmes if you measure them as they are straight but if you take their scantling and length as they crooke a little then are they about three foot long they are in breadth where they ioyne to the head three Roman fingers and a halfe and their whole compasse in that place is about two Roman palmes and a halfe In the
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
any beasts so clothed with haire as Lyons and Bores wherefore both of them are of like fierce and angry nature yet we haue shewed in the story of the Hart how they were drawne from their meat and dens by the voice of musick It is said that they are not capable of any discipline or instruction and yet Scaliger affirmeth that he saw a Bore that belonged to the Lord of Saluimont of an exceeding great stature tamed by his maister who at the sounding of the hornes would come running like a dog to hunting and go abroad with his maister among the Dogs contending with the most swift in race to attaine the prey They naturally desire to bury their owne footsteps in wet miry places that they may not bee found out by the hunters and as the rage of the Boares is greatest in the time of their lust so is it in the Sowes after their farrowing and therfore it was an excellent speech of Cyaxares vnto Syrus that Swyne when they see the Hunter although they be many yet run away with their pigs but if the Hunter follow one of the young ones then doth the dam turne againe and withall her force endeuoure to destroy him that would depriue hir of her yong ones Before the Bores do fight they go and whet their teeth but while they are in contention if it happen that a Wolfe commeth in sight then they forsake their mutuall combats and all of them ioyne together to driue away the Wolfe The Beare dareth not to enter vpon the wilde Bore except behind him and vnawares Hesiod saith that Vulcan pictured vppon the shield of Hercules the images and shapes of many wilde beastes fighting one with another neither of both yealding to other till both of them fell downe dead which caused Alciatus to make this Emblem of a vulture stāding by to see their contention and suffered them to kill one another without parting whereby afterwardes she enioyed their dead carkases Dum saeuis ruerent in mutua vulnera telis Vngue leaena serox dente timendus aper Accurrit vulter spectatum prandia captat Gloria victoris praeda futura sua est It is reported that Bores will swim single and alone like fishes and some of them two togither like Wolues Swimming of Boares and many times in flocks and heards like Roes for such is their ardent nature and desire of meat that they feare not the highest Mountains nor the deepest waters Now concerning the flesh of wilde Bores although we haue spoken aboundantly in the former discourse of Swyne yet must we adde something in this place for although generally the flesh of tame swine is viscous and colde yet the flesh of the wilde is more temperate and nourishable and therefore of lighter concoction and stronger nourishment Therefore those which had a Timpany were prescribed to eate Bores flesh and wilde Sowes for it dryeth strengthneth and moueth and men that are vexed with Saint Anthonies fire are forbidden to eate all salt meates and leauened bread yet permitted to eate of Bores flesh It is reported that Publius Seruillus Rullus was the verye first among all the Romans that did set at his table a whole Boare most delicately dressed and stuffed with variety of diuers costly dishes which Bore by Varro is cald Aper Millianius that is Millilibrarum of a thousand pound worth against which intollerable gluttony and cost Iuuenall made these verses Quanta est gula quae sibitotos Ponit Apros animal propter conuiuia natum Apitius in the beginning of his eight booke prescribeth the maner how to dresse the flesh of wilde Bores wherewithall if any be delighted let him reade that booke for it is not my purpose in this Treatise to blot any paper with any long instruction for Cooks and Belli-gods neither were it any part of this naturall History nor yet agreeable to my calling or enterprise and therefore I will onely adde this obseruation of Misaldus that Bores flesh salted in poudring tubs doth change both colour and tast at that time of yeare wherin the liuing Bores do rage vpon their females And thus much shall suffice to haue spoken of Bores flesh Of the hunting of wilde Bores Now in the next place wee will proceede to talke concerning the hunting of Boares which is not onely a pastime for Lords and Princes but also a necessary labour for meaner men for as the harme that commeth by bores is exceeding great and so much the greater by how much he is poorer that doth sustaine it so the vtility to learne the meanes of destroying this beast is more commodious because the common prouerb is more true in this then in the vulgar swine that they neuer do good till they are dead It is reported of Dioclesian when he was agent for the Romans in France there came an olde Woman called Dryas vnto him and reproued him for his couetousnesse telling him that he was ouer-sparing and persimonious to whom he answered in iest when I am Empe. I wil be more liberal Dryas replyed vnto him Noli Iocare Dioclesiane nā imperator eris cum aprū occideris That is Iest not O Dioclesian for thou shalt be Emp. when thou hast killed Aper that was a Bore as he thought and therefore he gaue himselfe to the hunting of Bores neuer sparing any time that was offred vnto him alwaies expecting the euent of that speech whereof he vvas frustrated vntill he killed Arius Aper the gouernor of the iudgement hall and then afterwards being Emperor he knew that the women did not meane a Boare but a man Now therefore the hunting of Boares and the manner of their taking is many waies either by violence in chase or by pollicie in ditches and traps or else by impoysoned baites The best time of their hunting is in the middest of winter as some say but I thinke the Winter is the worst time because then they are strongest and seeing all Swine are impacient of heate the Summer will quickly end their life if then they bee chased It behooueth therefore the hunter of Boares to be very wary and therefore the auncientes ordayned that such a one should weare a rough garment of a broune colour and likewise that his Horse should be of a yellow and firy colour and that the Boare spear shold be strong and sharp for this beast is armed with a very strong head and skin and besides they couer themselues with dryed durt as it were with a coate of male to blunt the Weapon and therefore he runneth willingly either without dread or feare vpon the hunters In which encounter if he receiueth not a deadly wound hee ouerthrovveth his aduersary except he fall flat on the ground for the Boares teeth cannot cut vpward but downevvard therefore if the Hunter be a foote-man he must seate himselfe neere some tree and then also prouide that if he misse the Boare he may easily climbe into the boughes and so saue himselfe but if the Swyne