thou and he said A Rod of an Almond Tree Then said the Lord unto me Thou hast well seen for I will hasten the Word to perform it I will be quick and forward like the Almond Tree to produce the effects of my word and hasten to display my judgments upon them And we may hereby more easily apprehend the expression in Ecclesiastes When the Almond Tree shall flourish That is when the Head which is the prime part and first sheweth it self in the world shall grow white like the Flowers of the Almond Tree whose Fruit as Athenaeus delivereth was first called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Head from some resemblance and covering parts of it How properly the priority was confirmed by a Rod or Staff and why the Rods and Staffs of the Princes were chosen for this decision Philologists will consider For these were the badges signs and cognisances of their places and were a kind of Sceptre in their hands denoting their supereminencies The Staff of Divinity is ordinarily described in the hands of Gods and Goddesses in old draughts Trojan and Grecian Princes were not without the like whereof the Shoulders of Thersites felt from the hands of Ulysses Achilles in Homer as by a desperate Oath swears by his wooden Sceptre which should never bud nor bear Leaves again which seeming the greatest impossibility to him advanceth the Miracle of Aaron's Rod And if it could be well made out that Homer had seen the Books of Moses in that expression of Achilles he might allude unto this Miracle That power which proposed the experiment by Blossomes in the Rod added also the Fruit of Almonds the Text not strictly making out the Leaves and so omitting the middle germination the Leaves properly coming after the Flowers and before the Almonds And therefore if you have well perused Medals you cannot but observe how in the impress of many Shekels which pass among us by the name of the Jerusalem Shekels the Rod of Aaron is improperly laden with many Leaves whereas that which is shewn under the name of the Samaritan Shekel seems most conformable unto the Text which describeth the Fruit without Leaves 25. Binding his Foal unto the Vine and his Asses Colt unto the choice Vine That Vines which are commonly supported should grow so large and bulky as to be fit to fasten their Juments and Beasts of labour unto them may seem a hard expression unto many which notwithstanding may easily be admitted if we consider the account of Pliny that in many places out of Italy Vines do grow without any stay or support nor will it be otherwise conceived of lusty Vines if we call to mind how the same Authour delivereth that the Statua of Jupiter was made out of a Vine and that out of one single Cyprian Vine a Scale or Ladder was made that reached unto the Roof of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus 26. I was exalted as a Palm Tree in Engaddi and as a Rose Plant in Jericho That the Rose of Jericho or that Plant which passeth among us under that denomination was signified in this Text you are not like to apprehend with some who also name it the Rose of S. Mary and deliver that it openeth the Branches and Flowers upon the Eve of our Saviour's Nativity But rather conceive it some proper kind of Rose which thrived and prospered in Jericho more than in the neighbour Countries For our Rose of Jericho is a very low and hard Plant a few inches above the ground one whereof brought from Judaea I have kept by me many years nothing resembling a Rose Tree either in Flowers Branches Leaves or Gorwth and so improper to answer the Emphatical word of exaltation in the Text growing not onely about Jericho but other parts of Judaea and Arabia as Bellonius hath observed which being a drie and ligneous Plant is preserved many years and though crumpled and furdled up yet if infused in Water will swell and display its parts 27. Quasi Terebinthus extendi ramos when it is said in the same Chapter as a Turpentine Tree have I stretched out my Branches it will not seem strange unto such as have either seen that Tree or examined its description For it is a Plant that widely displayeth its Branches And though in some European Countries it be but of a low and fruticeous growth yet Pliny observeth that it is great in Syria and so allowably or at least not improperly mentioned in the expression of Hosea according to the Vulgar Translation Super capita montium sacrificant c. sub quercu populo terebintho quoniam bona est umbra ejus And this diffusion and spreading of its Branches hath afforded the Proverb of Terebintho stultior appliable unto arrogant or boasting persons who spread and display their own acts as Erasmus hath observed 28. It is said in our Translation Saul tarried in the uppermost parts of Gibeah under a Pomegranate Tree which is in Migron and the people which were with him were about six hundred men And when it is said in some Latin Translations Saul morabatur fixo tentorio sub Malogranato you will not be ready to take it in the common literal sense who know that a Pomegranate Tree is but low of growth and very unfit to pitch a Tent under it and may rather apprehend it as the name of a place or the Rock of Rimmon or Pomegranate so named from Pomegranates which grew there and which many think to have been the same place mentioned in Judges 29. It is said in the Book of Wisedom Where water stood before drie land appeared and out of the red Sea a way appeared without impediment and out of the violent streams a green Field or as the Latin renders it Campus germinans de profundo whereby it seems implied that the Israelites passed over a green Field at the bottom of the Sea and though most would have this but a Metaphorical expression yet may it be literally tolerable and so may be safely apprehended by those that sensibly know what great number of Vegetables as the several varieties of Alga's Sea Lettuce Phasganium Conferua Caulis Marina Abies Erica Tamarice divers sorts of Muscus Fucus Quercus Marina and Corallins are found at the bottom of the Sea Since it is also now well known that the Western Ocean for many degrees is covered with Sargasso or Lenticula Marina and found to arise from the bottom of that Sea since upon the coast of Provence by the Isles of Ere 's there is a part of the Mediterranean Sea called la Prery or the Meadowy Sea from the bottom thereof so plentifully covered with Plants since vast heaps of Weeds are found in the Bellies of some Whales taken in the Northern Ocean and at a great distance from the Shore And since the providence of Nature hath provided this shelter for minor Fishes both for their spawn and safety of their young ones
Indicus Floribus racemosis Asphodelus Americanus Syringa Lutea Americana Bulbus unifolius Moly latifolium Flore luteo Conyza Americana purpurea Salvia Cretica pomifera Bellonii Lausus Serrata Odora Ornithogalus Promontorii Bonae Spei Fritallaria crassa Soldanica Promontorii Bonae Spei Sigillum Solomonis Indicum Tulipa Promontorii Bonae Spei Iris Uvaria Nopolxoch sedum elegans novae Hispaniae More might be added unto this List and I have onely taken the pains to give you a short Specimen of those many more which you may find in respective Authours and which time and future industry may make no great strangers in England The Inhabitants of Nova Hispania and a great part of America Mahometans Indians Chineses are eminent promoters of these coronary and specious Plants and the annual Tribute of the King of Bisnaguer in India arising out of Odours and Flowers amounts unto many thousands of Crowns Thus in brief of this matter I am c. TRACT III. OF THE FISHES Eaten by OUR SAVIOUR WITH HIS DISCIPLES After His Resurrection from the Dead SIR I Have thought a little upon the Question proposed by you viz. What kind of Fishes those were of which our Saviour ate with his Disciples after his Resurrection and I return you such an Answer as in so short a time for study and in the midst of my occasions occurs to me The Books of Scripture as also those which are Apocryphal are often silent or very sparing in the particular Names of Fishes or in setting them down in such manner as to leave the kinds of them without all doubt and reason for farther inquiry For when it declareth what Fishes were allowed the Israelites for their Food they are onely set down in general which have Finns and Scales whereas in the account of Quadrupeds and Birds there is particular mention made of divers of them In the Book of Tobit that Fish which he took out of the River is onely named a great Fish and so there remains much uncertainty to determine the Species thereof And even the Fish which swallowed Jonah and is called a great Fish and commonly thought to be a great Whale is not received without all doubt while some learned men conceive it to have been none of our Whales but a large kind of Lamia And in this narration of S. John the Fishes are onely expressed by their Bigness and Number not their Names and therefore it may seem undeterminable what they were notwithstanding these Fishes being taken in the great Lake or Sea of Tiberias something may be probably stated therein For since Bellonius that diligent and learned Traveller informeth us that the Fishes of this Lake were Trouts Pikes Chevins and Tenches it may well be conceived that either all or some thereof are to be understood in this Scripture And these kind of Fishes become large and of great growth answerable unto the expression of Scripture One hundred and three great Fishes that is large in their own kinds and the largest kinds in this Lake and fresh Water wherein no great variety and of the larger sort of Fishes could be expected For the River Jordan running through this Lake falls into the Lake of Asphaltus and hath no mouth into the Sea which might admit of great Fishes or greater variety to come up into it And out of the mouth of some of these forementioned Fishes might the Tribute money be taken when our Saviour at Capernaum seated upon the same Lake said unto Peter Go thou to the Sea and cast an Hook and take up the Fish that first cometh and when thou hast opened his mouth thou shalt find a piece of money that take and give them for thee and me And this makes void that common conceit and tradition of the Fish called Fabermarinus by some a Peter or Penny Fish which having two remarkable round spots upon either side these are conceived to be the marks of S. Peter's Fingers or signatures of the Money for though it hath these marks yet is there no probability that such a kind of Fish was to be found in the Lake of Tiberias Geneserah or Galilee which is but sixteen miles long and six broad and hath no communication with the Sea for this is a mere Fish of the Sea and salt Water and though we meet with some thereof on our Coast is not to be found in many Seas Thus having returned no improbable Answer unto your Question I shall crave leave to ask another of your self concerning that Fish mention'd by Procopius which brought the famous King Theodorick to his end his words are to this effect The manner of his Death was this Symmachus and his Son-in-law Boëthius just men and great relievers of the poor Senatours and Consuls had many enemies by whose false accusations Theodorick being perswaded that they plotted against him put them to death and confiscated their Estates Not long after his Waiters set before him at Supper a great Head of a Fish which seemed to him to be the Head of Symmachus lately murthered and with his Teeth sticking out and fierce glaring eyes to threaten him being frighted he grew chill went to Bed lamenting what he had done to Symmachus and Boëthius and soon after died What Fish do you apprehend this to have been I would learn of you give me your thoughts about it I am c. TRACT IV. AN ANSWER To certain QUERIES Relating to Fishes Birds Insects SIR I Return the following Answers to your Queries which were these 1. What Fishes are meant by the Names Halec and Mugil 2. What is the Bird which you will receive from the Bearer and what Birds are meant by the Names Halcyon Nysus Ciris Nycticorax 3. What Insect is meant by the word Cicada The word Halec we are taught to render an Herring which being an ancient word is not strictly appropriable unto a Fish not known or not described by the Ancients and which the modern Naturalists are fain to name Harengus the word Halecula being applied unto such little Fish out of which they were fain to make Pickle and Halec or Alec taken for the Liquamen or Liquor it self according to that of the Poet Ego faecem primus Alec Primus inveni piper album And was a conditure and Sawce much affected by Antiquity as was also Muria and Garum In common constructions Mugil is rendred a Mullet which notwithstanding is a different Fish from the Mugil described by Authours wherein if we mistake we cannot so closely apprehend the expression of Juvenal Quosdam ventres Mugilis intrat And misconceive the Fish whereby Fornicatours were so opprobriously and irksomely punished for the Mugil being somewhat rough and hard skinned did more exasperate the gutts of such offenders whereas the Mullet was a smooth Fish and of too high esteem to be imployed in such offices I cannot but wonder that this Bird you sent should be a stranger unto you and unto those who had a
savour may be allowed denotable from several humane expressions and the practice of the Ancients in putting the dried Flowers of the Vine into new Wine to give it a pure and flosculous race or spirit which Wine was therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 allowing unto every Cadus two pounds of dried Flowers And therefore the Vine flowering but in the Spring it cannot but seem an impertinent objection of the Jews that the Apostles were full of new Wine at Pentecost when it was not to be found Wherefore we may rather conceive that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that place implied not new Wine or Must but some generous strong and sweet Wine wherein more especially lay the power of inebriation But if it be to be taken for some kind of Must it might be some kind of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or long-lasting Must which might be had at any time of the year and which as Pliny delivereth they made by hindring and keeping the Must from fermentation or working and so it kept soft and sweet for no small time after 22. When the Dove sent out of the Ark return'd with a green Olive Leaf according to the Original how the Leaf after ten Months and under water should still maintain a verdure or greenness need not much amuse the Reader if we consider that the Olive Tree is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or continually green that the Leaves are of a bitter taste and of a fast and lasting substance Since we also find fresh and green Leaves among the Olives which we receive from remote Countries and since the Plants at the bottom of the Sea and on the sides of Rocks maintain a deep and fresh verdure How the Tree should stand so long in the Deluge under Water may partly be allowed from the uncertain determination of the Flows and Currents of that time and the qualification of the saltness of the Sea by the admixture of fresh Water when the whole watery Element was together And it may be signally illustrated from the like examples in Theophrastus and Pliny in words to this effect Even the Sea affordeth Shrubs and Trees In the red Sea whole Woods do live namely of Bays and Olives bearing Fruit. The Souldiers of Alexander who sailed into India made report that the Tides were so high in some Islands that they overflowed and covered the Woods as high as Plane and Poplar Trees The lower sort wholly the greater all but the tops whereto the Mariners fastned their Vessels at high Waters and at the root in the Ebb That the Leaves of these Sea Trees while under water looked green but taken out presently dried with the heat of the Sun The like is delivered by Theophrastus that some Oaks do grow and bear Acrons under the Sea 23. The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a grain of Mustard-seed which a Man took and sowed in his Field which indeed is the least of all Seeds but when 't is grown is the greatest among Herbs and becometh a Tree so that the Birds of the Air come and lodge in the Branches thereof Luke 13. 19. It is like a grain of Mustard-seed which a Man took and cast it into his Garden and it waxed a great Tree and the Fowls of the Air lodged in the Branches thereof This expression by a grain of Mustard-seed will not seem so strange unto you who well consider it That it is simply the least of Seeds you cannot apprehend if you have beheld the Seeds of Rapunculus Marjorane Tobacco and the smallest Seed of Lunaria But you may well understand it to be the smallest Seed among Herbs which produce so big a Plant or the least of herbal Plants which arise unto such a proportion implied in the expression the smallest of Seeds and becometh the greatest of Herbs And you may also grant that it is the smallest of Seeds of Plants apt to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 arborescere fruticescere or to grow unto a ligneous substance and from an herby and oleraceous Vegetable to become a kind of Tree and to be accounted among the Dendrolachana or Arboroleracea as upon strong Seed Culture and good Ground is observable in some Cabbages Mallows and many more and therefore expressed by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it becometh a Tree or arborescit as Beza rendreth it Nor if warily considered doth the expression contain such difficulty For the Parable may not ground it self upon generals or imply any or every grain of Mustard but point at such a grain as from its fertile spirit and other concurrent advantages hath the success to become arboreous shoot into such a magnitude and acquire the like tallness And unto such a Grain the Kingdom of Heaven is likened which from such slender beginnings shall find such increase and grandeur The expression also that it might grow into such dimensions that Birds might lodge in the Branches thereof may be literally conceived if we allow the luxuriancy of Plants in Judaea above our Northern Regions If we accept of but half the Story taken notice of by Tremellius from the Jerusalem Talmud of a Mustard Tree that was to be climbed like a Figg Tree and of another under whose shade a Potter daily wrought and it may somewhat abate our doubts if we take in the advertisement of Herodotus concerning lesser Plants of Milium and Sesamum in the Babylonian Soil Milium ac Sesamum in proceritatem instar arborum crescere etsi mihi compertum tamen memorare supersedeo probè sciens eis qui nunquam Babyloniam regionem adierunt perquam incredibile visum iri We may likewise consider that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not necessarily signifie making a Nest but rather sitting roosting covering and resting in the Boughs according as the same word is used by the Septuagint in other places as the Vulgar rendreth it in this inhabitant as our Translation lodgeth and the Rhemish resteth in the Branches 24. And it came to pass that on the morrow Moses went into the Tabernacle of witness and behold the Rod of Aaron for the House of Levi was budded and brought forth Buds and bloomed Blossomes and yielded Almonds In the contention of the Tribes and decision of priority and primogeniture of Aaron declared by the Rod which in a night budded flowred and brought forth Almonds you cannot but apprehend a propriety in the Miracle from that species of Tree which leadeth in the Vernal germination of the year unto all the Classes of Trees and so apprehend how properly in a night and short space of time the Miracle arose and somewhat answerable unto its nature the Flowers and Fruit appeared in this precocious Tree and whose original Name implies such speedy efflorescence as in its proper nature flowering in February and shewing its Fruit in March This consideration of that Tree maketh the expression in Jeremy more Emphatical when 't is said What seest
And this might be more peculiarly allowed to be spoken of the Red Sea since the Hebrews named it Suph or the Weedy Sea and also seeing Theophrastus and Pliny observing the growth of Vegetables under water have made their chief illustrations from those in the Red Sea 30. You will readily discover how widely they are mistaken who accept the Sycamore mention'd in several parts of Scripture for the Sycamore or Tree of that denomination with us which is properly but one kind or difference of Acer and bears no Fruit with any resemblance unto a Figg But you will rather thereby apprehend the true and genuine Sycamore or Sycaminus which is a stranger in our parts A Tree according to the description of Theophrastus Dioscorides and Galen resembling a Mulberry Tree in the Leaf but in the Fruit a Figg which it produceth not in the Twiggs but in the Trunck or greater Branches answerable to the Sycamore of Aegypt the Aegyptian Figg or Giamez of the Arabians described by Prosper Alpinus with a Leaf somewhat broader than a Mulberry and in its Fruit like a Figg Insomuch that some have fancied it to have had its first production from a Figg Tree grafted on a Mulberry It is a Tree common in Judaea whereof they made frequent use in Buildings and so understood it explaineth that expression in Isaiah Sycamori excisi sunt Cedros ' substituemus The Bricks are fallen down we will build with hewen Stones The Sycamores are cut down but we will change them into Cedars It is a broad spreading Tree not onely fit for Walks Groves and Shade but also affording profit And therefore it is said that King David appointed Baalhanan to be over his Olive Trees and Sycamores which were in great plenty and it is accordingly delivered that Solomon made Cedars to be as the Sycamore Trees that are in the Vale for abundance That is he planted many though they did not come to perfection in his days And as it grew plentifully about the Plains so was the Fruit good for Food and as Bellonius and late accounts deliver very refreshing unto Travellers in those hot and drie Countries whereby the expression of Amos becomes more intelligible when he said he was an Herdsman and a gatherer of Sycamore Fruit. And the expression of David also becomes more Emphatical He destroyed their Vines with Hail and their Sycamore Trees with Frost That is their Sicmoth in the Original a word in the sound not far from the Sycamore Thus when it is said If ye had Faith as a grain of Mustard-seed ye might say unto this Sycamine Tree Be thou plucked up by the roots and be thou placed in the Sea and it should obey you it might be more significantly spoken of this Sycamore this being described to be Arbor vasta a large and well rooted Tree whose removal was more difficult than many others And so the instance in that Text is very properly made in the Sycamore Tree one of the largest and less removable Trees among them A Tree so lasting and well rooted that the Sycamore which Zacheus ascended is still shewn in Judaea unto Travellers as also the hollow Sycamore at Maturaea in Aegypt where the blessed Virgin is said to have remained which though it relisheth of the Legend yet it plainly declareth what opinion they had of the lasting condition of that Tree to countenance the Tradition for which they might not be without some experience since the learned describer of the Pyramides observeth that the old Aegyptians made Coffins of this Wood which he found yet fresh and undecayed among divers of their Mummies And thus also when Zacheus climbed up into a Sycamore above any other Tree this being a large and fair one it cannot be denied that he made choice of a proper and advantageous Tree to look down upon our Saviour 31. Whether the expression of our Saviour in the Parable of the Sower and the increase of the Seed unto thirty sixty and a hundred fold had any reference unto the ages of Believers and measures of their Faith as Children Young and Old Persons as to beginners well advanced and strongly confirmed Christians as learned men have hinted or whether in this progressional assent there were any latent Mysteries as the mystical Interpreters of Numbers may apprehend I pretend not to determine But how this multiplication may well be conceived and in what way apprehended and that this centessimal increase is not naturally strange you that are no stranger in Agriculture old and new are not like to make great doubt That every Grain should produce an Ear affording an hundred Grains is not like to be their conjecture who behold the growth of Corn in our Fields wherein a common Grain doth produce far less in number For Barley consisting but of two Versus or Rows seldom exceedeth twenty Grains that is ten upon each 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Row Rye of a square figure is very fruitfull at forty Wheat besides the Frit and Uruncus or imperfect Grains of the small Husks at the top and bottom of the Ear is fruitfull at ten treble Glumoe or Husks in a Row each containing but three Grains in breadth if the middle Grain arriveth at all to perfection and so maketh up threescore Grains in both sides Yet even this centessimal fructification may be admitted in some sorts of Cerealia and Grains from one Ear if we take in the Triticum centigranum or fertilissimum Plinii Indian Wheat and Panicum which in every Ear containeth hundreds of Grains But this increase may easily be conceived of Grains in their total multiplication in good and fertile ground since if every Grain of Wheat produceth but three Ears the increase will arise above that number Nor are we without examples of some grounds which have produced many more Ears and above this centessimal increase As Pliny hath left recorded of the Byzacian Field in Africa Misit ex eo loco Procurator ex uno quadraginta minus germina Misit Neroni pariter tercentum quadraginta stipulos ex uno grano Cum centessimos quidem Leontini Sicilioe campi fundunt aliique tota Boetica imprimis Aegyptus And even in our own Country from one Grain of Wheat sowed in a Garden I have numbred many more than an hundred And though many Grains are commonly lost which come not to sprouting or earing yet the same is also verified in measure as that one Bushel should produce a hundred as is exemplified by the Corn in Gerar Then Isaac sowed in that Land and received in that year an hundred fold That is as the Chaldee explaineth it a hundred for one when he measured it And this Pliny seems to intend when he saith of the fertile Byzacian Territory before mentioned Ex uno centeni quinquaginta modii redduntur And may be favourably apprehended of the fertility of some grounds in Poland wherein after the account of
sight thereof for though it be not seen every day yet we often meet with it in this Country It is an elegant Bird which he that once beholdeth can hardly mistake any other for it From the proper Note it is called an Hoopebird with us in Greek Epops in Latin Upupa We are little obliged unto our School instruction wherein we are taught to render Upupa a Lapwing which Bird our natural Writers name Vannellus for thereby we mistake this remarkable Bird and apprehend not rightly what is delivered of it We apprehend not the Hieroglyphical considerations which the old Aegyptians made of this observable Bird who considering dering therein the order and variety of Colours the twenty six or twenty eight Feathers in its Crest his latitancy and mewing this handsome outside in the Winter they made it an Emblem of the varieties of the World the succession of Times and Seasons and signal mutations in them And therefore Orus the Hieroglyphick of the World had the Head of an Hoopebird upon the top of his Staff Hereby we may also mistake the Duchiphath or Bird forbidden for Food in Leviticus and not knowing the Bird may the less apprehend some reasons of that prohibition that is the magical virtues ascribed unto it by the Aegyptians and the superstitious apprehensions which that Nation held of it whilst they precisely numbred the Feathers and Colours thereof while they placed it on the Heads of their Gods and near their Mercurial Crosses and so highly magnified this Bird in their sacred Symbols Again not knowing or mistaking this Bird we may misapprehend or not closely apprehend that handsome expression of Ovid when Tereus was turned into an Upupa or Hoopebird Vertitur in volucrem cui sunt pro vertice Cristae Protinus immodicum surgit pro cuspide rostrum Nomen Epops volucri facies armata videtur For in this military shape he is aptly phancied even still revengefully to pursue his hated Wife Progne in the propriety of his Note crying out Pou pou ubi ubi or Where are you Nor are we singly deceived in the nominal translation of this Bird in many other Animals we commit the like mistake So Gracculus is rendred a Jay which Bird notwithstanding must be of a dark colour according to that of Martial Sed quandam volo nocte nigriorem Formica pice Gracculo cicada Halcyon is rendred a King-fisher a Bird commonly known among us and by Zoographers and Naturals the same is named Ispida a well coloured Bird frequenting Streams and Rivers building in holes of Pits like some Martins about the end of the Spring in whose Nests we have found little else than innumerable small Fish Bones and white round Eggs of a smooth and polished surface whereas the true Alcyon is a Sea Bird makes an handsome Nest floating upon the Water and breedeth in the Winter That Nysus should be rendred either an Hobby or a Sparrow Hawk in the Fable of Nysus and Scylla in Ovid because we are much to seek in the distinction of Hawks according to their old denominations we shall not much contend and may allow a favourable latitude therein but that the Ciris or Bird into which Scylla was turned should be translated a Lark it can hardly be made out agreeable unto the description of Virgil in his Poem of that name Inde alias volucres mimóque infecta rubenti Crura But seems more agreeable unto some kind of Hoemantopus or Redshank and so the Nysus to have been some kind of Hawk which delighteth about the Sea and Marishes where such prey most aboundeth which sort of Hawk while Scaliger determineth to be a Merlin the French Translatour warily expoundeth it to be some kind of Hawk Nycticorax we may leave unto the common and verbal translation of a Night Raven but we know no proper kind of Raven unto which to confine the same and therefore some take the liberty to ascribe it unto some sort of Owls and others unto the Bittern which Bird in its common Note which he useth out of the time of coupling and upon the Wing so well resembleth the croaking of a Raven that I have been deceived by it While Cicada is rendred a Grashopper we commonly think that which is so called among us to be the true Cicada wherein as we have elsewhere declared there is a great mistake for we have not the Cicada in England and indeed no proper word for that Animal which the French nameth Cigale That which we commonly call a Grashopper and the French Saulterelle being one kind of Locust so rendred in the Plague of Aegypt and in old Saxon named Gersthop I have been the less accurate in these Answers because the Queries are not of difficult Resolution or of great moment however I would not wholly neglect them or your satisfaction as being Sir Yours c. TRACT V. OF HAWKS AND FALCONRY Ancient and Modern SIR IN vain you expect much information de Re Accipitraria of Falconry Hawks or Hawking from very ancient Greek or Latin Authours that Art being either unknown or so little advanced among them that it seems to have proceeded no higher than the daring of Birds which makes so little thereof to be found in Aristotle who onely mentions some rude practice thereof in Thracia as also in Aelian who speaks something of Hawks and Crows among the Indians little or nothing of true Falconry being mention'd before Julius Firmicus in the days of Constantius Son to Constantine the Great Yet if you consult the accounts of later Antiquity left by Demetrius the Greek by Symmachus and Theodosius and by Albertus Magnus about five hundred years ago you who have been so long acquainted with this noble Recreation may better compare the ancient and modern practice and rightly observe how many things in that Art are added varied disused or retained in the practice of these days In the Diet of Hawks they allowed of divers Meats which we should hardly commend For beside the Flesh of Beef they admitted of Goat Hog Deer Whelp and Bear And how you will approve the quantity and measure thereof I make some doubt while by weight they allowed half a pound of Beef seven ounces of Swines Flesh five of Hare eight ounces of Whelp as much of Deer and ten ounces of He-Goats Flesh. In the time of Demetrius they were not without the practice of Phlebotomy or Bleeding which they used in the Thigh and Pounces they plucked away the Feathers on the Thigh and rubbed the part but if the Vein appeared not in that part they opened the Vein of the fore Talon In the days of Albertus they made use of Cauteries in divers places to advantage their sight they seared them under the inward angle of the eye above the eye in distillations and diseases of the Head in upward pains they seared above the Joint of the Wing and at the bottom of the Foot against the Gout and the chief time for these cauteries
an exigency shall in process of time be so advanced as to be able to send forth Ships and Fleets as to infest the American Spanish Ports and Maritime Dominions by depredations or assaults for which attempts they are not like to be unprovided as abounding in the Materials for Shipping Oak and Firre And when length of time shall so far encrease that industrious people that the neighbouring Country will not contain them they will range still farther and be able in time to set forth great Armies seek for new possessions or make considerable and conjoined migrations according to the custom of swarming Northern Nations wherein it is not likely that they will move Northward but toward the Southern and richer Countries which are either in the Dominions or Frontiers of the Spaniards and may not improbably erect new Dominions in places not yet thought of and yet for some Centuries beyond their power or Ambition When Jamaica shall be Lady of the Isles and the Main That is When that advantageous Island shall be well peopled it may become so strong and potent as to over-power the neighbouring Isles and also a part of the main Land especially the Maritime parts And already in their infancy they have given testimony of their power and courage in their bold attempts upon Campeche and Santa Martha and in that notable attempt upon Panama on the Western side of America especially considering this Island is sufficiently large to contain a numerous people of a Northern and warlike descent addicted to martial affairs both by Sea and Land and advantageously seated to infest their neighbours both of the Isles and the Continent and like to be a receptacle for Colonies of the same originals from Barbadoes and the neighbour Isles When Spain shall be in America hid And Mexico shall prove a Madrid That is When Spain either by unexpected disasters or continued emissions of people into America which have already thinned the Country shall be farther exhausted at home or when in process of time their Colonies shall grow by many accessions more than their Originals then Mexico may become a Madrid and as considerable in people wealth and splendour wherein that place is already so well advanced that accounts scarce credible are given of it And it is so advantageously seated that by Acapulco and other Ports on the South Sea they may maintain a communication and commerce with the Indian Isles and Territories and with China and Japan and on this side by Porto Belo and others hold correspondence with Europe and Africa When Mahomet's Ships in the Baltick shall ride Of this we cannot be out of all fear for if the Turk should master Poland he would be soon at this Sea And from the odd constitution of the Polish Government the divisions among themselves jealousies between their Kingdom and Republick vicinity of the Tartars treachery of the Cossacks and the method of Turkish Policy to be at Peace with the Emperour of Germany when he is at War with the Poles there may be cause to fear that this may come to pass And then he would soon endeavour to have Ports upon that Sea as not wanting Materials for Shipping And having a new acquist of stout and warlike men may be a terrour unto the confiners on that Sea and to Nations which now conceive themselves safe from such an Enemy When Africa shall no more sell out their Blacks That is When African Countries shall no longer make it a common Trade to sell away their people to serve in the drudgery of American Plantations And that may come to pass when ever they shall be well civilized and acquainted with Arts and Affairs sufficient to employ people in their Countries if also they should be converted to Christianity but especially unto Mahometism for then they would never sell those of their Religion to be Slaves unto Christians When Batavia the Old shall be contemn'd by the New When the Plantations of the Hollanders at Batavia in the East Indies and other places in the East Indies shall by their conquests and advancements become so powerfull in the Indian Territories Then their Original Countries and States of Holland are like to be contemned by them and obeyed onely as they please And they seem to be in a way unto it at present by their several Plantations new acquists and enlargements and they have lately discovered a part of the Southern Continent and several places which may be serviceable unto them when ever time shall enlarge them unto such necessities And a new Drove of Tartars shall China subdue Which is no strange thing if we consult the Histories of China and successive Inundations made by Tartarian Nations For when the Invaders in process of time have degenerated into the effeminacy and softness of the Chineses then they themselves have suffered a new Tartarian Conquest and Inundation And this hath happened from time beyond our Histories for according to their account the famous Wall of China built against the irruptions of the Tartars was begun above a hundred years before the Incarnation When America shall cease to send forth its Treasure But employ it at home for American Pleasure That is When America shall be better civilized new policied and divided between great Princes it may come to pass that they will no longer suffer their Treasure of Gold and Silver to be sent out to maintain the Luxury of Europe and other parts but rather employ it to their own advantages in great Exploits and Undertakings magnificent Structures Wars or Expeditions of their own When the new World shall the old invade That is When America shall be so well peopled civilized and divided into Kingdoms they are like to have so little regard of their Originals as to acknowledge no subjection unto them they may also have a distinct commerce between themselves or but independently with those of Europe and may hostilely and pyratically assault them even as the Greek and Roman Colonies after a long time dealt with their Original Countries When Men shall almost pass to Venice by Land Not in deep Waters but from Sand to Sand. That is When in long process of time the Silt and Sands shall so choak and shallow the Sea in and about it And this hath considerably come to pass within these fourscore years and is like to encrease from several causes especially by the turning of the River Brenta as the learned Castelli hath declared When Nova Zembla shall be no stay Unto those who pass to or from Cathay That is When ever that often sought for Northeast passage unto China and Japan shall be discovered the hindrance whereof was imputed to Nova Zembla for this was conceived to be an excursion of Land shooting out directly and so far Northward into the Sea that it discouraged from all Navigation about it And therefore Adventurers took in at the Southern part at a strait by Waygatz next the Tartarian Shore and sailing forward they found that Sea frozen
and full of Ice and so gave over the attempt But of late years by the diligent enquiry of some Moscovites a better discovery is made of these parts and a Map or Chart made of them Thereby Nova Zembla is found to be no Island extending very far Northward but winding Eastward it joineth to the Tartarian Continent and so makes a Peninsula and the Sea between it which they entred at Waygatz is found to be but a large Bay apt to be frozen by reason of the great River of Oby and other fresh Waters entring into it whereas the main Sea doth not freez upon the North of Zembla except near unto Shores so that if the Moscovites were skilfull Navigatours they might with less difficulties discover this passage unto China but however the English Dutch and Danes are now like to attempt it again But this is Conjecture and not Prophecy and so I know you will take it I am Sir c. TRACT XIII MUSAEUM CLAUSUM OR Bibliotheca Abscondita Containing Some remarkable Books Antiquities Pictures and Rarities of several kinds scarce or never seen by any man now living SIR WITH many thanks I return that noble Catalogue of Books Rarities and Singularities of Art and Nature which you were pleased to communicate unto me There are many Collections of this kind in Europe And besides the printed accounts of the Musaeum Aldrovandi Calceolarianum Moscardi Wormianum the Casa Abbellita at Loretto and Threasor of S. Dennis the Repository of the Duke of Tuscany that of the Duke of Saxony and that noble one of the Emperour at Vienna and many more are of singular note Of what in this kind I have by me I shall make no repetition and you having already had a view thereof I am bold to present you with the List of a Collection which I may justly say you have not seen before The Title is as above Musaeum Clausum or Bibliotheca Abscondita containing some remarkable Books Antiquities Pictures and Rarities of several kinds scarce or never seen by any man now living 1. Rare and generally unknown Books 1. A Poem of Ovidius Naso written in the Getick Language during his exile at Tomos found wrapt up in Wax at Sabaria on the Frontiers of Hungary where there remains a tradition that he died in his return towards Rome from Tomos either after his pardon or the death of Augustus 2. The Letter of Quintus Cicero which he wrote in answer to that of his Brother Marcus Tullius desiring of him an account of Britany wherein are described the Country State and Manners of the Britains of that Age. 3. An Ancient British Herbal or description of divers Plants of this Island observed by that famous Physician Scribonius Largus when he attended the Emperour Claudius in his Expedition into Britany 4. An exact account of the Life and Death of Avicenna confirming the account of his Death by taking nine Clysters together in a fit of the Colick and not as Marius the Italian Poet delivereth by being broken-upon the Wheel left with other Pieces by Benjamin Tudelensis as he travelled from Saragossa to Jerusalem in the hands of Abraham Jarchi a famous Rabbi of Lunet near Montpelier and found in a Vault when the Walls of that City were demolished by Lewis the Thirteenth 5. A punctual relation of Hannibal's march out of Spain into Italy and far more particular than that of Livy where about he passed the River Rhodanus or Rhosne at what place he crossed the Isura or L'isere when he marched up toward the confluence of the Sone and the Rhone or the place where the City Lyons was afterward built how wisely he decided the difference between King Brancus and his Brother at what place he passed the Alpes what Vinegar he used and where he obtained such quantity to break and calcine the Rocks made hot with Fire 6. A learned Comment upon the Periplus of Hanno the Carthaginian or his Navigation upon the Western Coast of Africa with the several places he landed at what Colonies he settled what Ships were scattered from his Fleet near the Aequinoctial Line which were not afterward heard of and which probably fell into the Trade Winds and were carried over into the Coast of America 7. A particular Narration of that famous Expedition of the English into Barbary in the ninety fourth year of the Hegira so shortly touched by Leo Africanus whither called by the Goths they besieged took and burnt the City of Arzilla possessed by the Mahometans and lately the seat of Gayland with many other exploits delivered at large in Arabick lost in the Ship of Books and Rarities which the King of Spain took from Siddy Hamet King of Fez whereof a great part were carried into the Escurial and conceived to be gathered out of the relations of Hibnu Nachu the best Historian of the African Affairs 8. A Fragment of Pythaeas that ancient Traveller of Marseille which we suspect not to be spurious because in the description of the Northern Countries we find that passage of Pythaeas mentioned by Strabo that all the Air beyond Thule is thick condensed and gellied looking just like Sea Lungs 9. A Sub Marine Herbal describing the several Vegetables found on the Rocks Hills Valleys Meadows at the bottom of the Sea with many sorts of Aiga Fucus Quercus Polygonum Gramens and others not yet described 10. Some Manuscripts and Rarities brought from the Libraries of Aethiopia by Zaga Zaba and afterward transported to Rome and scattered by the Souldiers of the Duke of Bourbon when they barbarously sacked that City 11. Some Pieces of Julius Scaliger which he complains to have been stoln from him sold to the Bishop of Mende in Languedock and afterward taken away and sold in the Civil Wars under the Duke of Rohan 12. A Comment of Dioscorides upon Hyppocrates procured from Constantinople by Amatus Lusitanus and left in the hands of a Jew of Ragusa 13. Marcus Tullius Cicero his Geography as also a part of that magnified Piece of his De Republica very little answering the great expectation of it and short of Pieces under the same name by Bodinus and Tholosanus 14. King Mithridates his Oneirocritica Aristotle de Precationibus Democritus de his quae fiunt apud Orcum Oceani circumnavigatio Epicurus de Pietate A Tragedy of Thyestes and another of Medea writ by Diogenes the Cynick King Alfred upon Aristotle de Plantis Seneca's Epistles to S. Paul King Solomon de Umbris Idaearum which Chicus Asculanus in his Comment upon Johannes de Sacrobosco would make us believe he saw in the Library of the Duke of Bavaria 15. Artemidori Oneirocritici Geographia Pythagoras de Mari Rubro The Works of Confutius the famous Philosopher of China translated into Spanish 16. Josephus in Hebrew written by himself 17. The Commentaries of Sylla the Dictatour 18. A Commentary of Galen upon the Plague of Athens described by Thucydides 19. Duo Caesaris Anti-Catones or the two notable
excelling the original White and Red Beauty with this Subscription Sed quandam volo nocte Nigriorem 27. Pieces and Draughts in Caricatura of Princes Cardinals and famous men wherein among others the Painter hath singularly hit the signatures of a Lion and a Fox in the face of Pope Leo the Tenth 28. Some Pieces A la ventura or Rare Chance Pieces either drawn at random and happening to be like some person or drawn for some and happening to be more like another while the Face mistaken by the Painter proves a tolerable Picture of one he never saw 29. A Draught of famous Dwarfs with this Inscription Nos facimus Bruti puerum nos Lagona vivum 30. An exact and proper delineation of all sorts of Dogs upon occasion of the practice of Sultan Achmet who in a great Plague at Constantinople transported all the Dogs therein unto Pera and from thence into a little Island where they perished at last by Famine as also the manner of the Priests curing of mad Dogs by burning them in the forehead with Saint Bellin's Key 31. A noble Picture of Thorismund King of the Goths as he was killed in his Palace at Tholouze who being let bloud by a Surgeon while he was bleeding a stander by took the advantage to stab him 32. A Picture of rare Fruits with this Inscription Credere quae possis surrepta sororibus Afris 33. An handsome Piece of Deformity expressed in a notable hard Face with this Inscription Ora Julius in Satyris qualia Rufus habet 34. A noble Picture of the famous Duel between Paul Manessi and Caragusa the Turk in the time of Amurath the Second the Turkish Army and that of Scanderbeg looking on wherein Manessi slew the Turk cut off his Head and carried away the Spoils of his Body 3. Antiquities and Rarities of several sorts 1. CErtain ancient Medals with Greek and Roman Inscriptions found about Crim Tartary conceived to be left in those parts by the Souldiers of Mithridates when overcome by Pompey he marched round about the North of the Euxine to come about into Thracia 2. Some ancient Ivory and Copper Crosses found with many others in China conceived to have been brought and left there by the Greek Souldiers who served under Tamerlane in his Expedition and Conquest of that Country 3. Stones of strange and illegible Inscriptions sound about the great ruines which Vincent le Blanc describeth about Cephala in Africa where he opinion'd that the Hebrews raised some Buldings of old and that Solomon brought from thereabout a good part of his Gold 4. Some handsome Engraveries and Medals of Justinus and Justinianus found in the custody of a Bannyan in the remote parts of India conjectured to have been left there by the Friers mentioned in Procopius who travelled those parts in the Reign of Justinianus and brought back into Europe the discovery of Silk and Silk Worms 5. An original Medal of Petrus Aretinus who was called Flagellum Principum wherein he made his own Figure on the Obverse part with this Inscription Il Divino Aretino On the Reverse sitting on a Throne and at his Feet Ambassadours of Kings and Princes bringing presents unto him with this Inscription I Principi tributati da i Popoli tributano il Servitor loro 6. Mummia Tholosana or The complete Head and Body of Father Crispin buried long ago in the Vault of the Cordeliers at Tholouse where the Skins of the dead so drie and parch up without corrupting that their persons may be known very long after with this Inscription Ecce iterum Crispinus 7. A noble Quandros or Stone taken out of a Vulture's Head 8. A large Ostridges Egg whereon is neatly and fully wrought that famous Battel of Alcazar in which three Kings lost their lives 9. An Etiudros Alberti or Stone that is apt to be always moist usefull unto drie tempers and to be held in the hand in Fevers instead of Crystal Eggs Limmons Cucumbers 10. A small Viol of Water taken out of the Stones therefore called Enhydri which naturally include a little Water in them in like manner as the Aetites or Aëgle Stone doth another Stone 11. A neat painted and gilded Cup made out of the Confiti di Tivoli and formed up with powder'd Egg-shells as Nero is conceived to have made his Piscina admirabilis singular against Fluxes to drink often therein 12. The Skin of a Snake bred out of the Spinal Marrow of a Man 13. Vegetable Horns mentioned by Linschoten which set in the ground grow up like Plants about Goa 14. An extract of the Inck of Cuttle Fishes reviving the old remedy of Hippocrates in Hysterical Passions 15. Spirits and Salt of Sargasso made in the Western Ocean covered with that Vegetable excellent against the Scurvy 16. An extract of Cachundè or Liberans that famous and highly magnified Composition in the East Indies against Melancholy 17. Diarhizon mirificum or an unparallel'd Composition of the most effectual and wonderfull Roots in Nature ℞ Rad. Butuae Cuamensis Rad. Moniche Cuamensis Rad. Mongus Bazainensis Rad. Casei Baizanensis Rad. Columbae Mozambiguensis Gim Sem Sinicae Fo Lim lac Tigridis dictae Fo seu Cort. Rad. Soldae Rad. Ligni Solorani Rad. Malacensis madrededios dictae an ℥ ij M. fiat pulvis qui cum gelatinâ Cornu cervi Moschati Chinensis formetur in massas oviformes 18. A transcendent Perfume made of the richest Odorates of both the Indies kept in a Box made of the Muschie Stone of Niarienburg with this Inscription Deos rogato Totum ut te faciant Fabulle Nasum 19. A Clepselaea or Oil Hour-glass as the Ancients used those of Water 20. A Ring found in a Fishes Belly taken about Gorro conceived to be the same wherewith the Duke of Venice had wedded the Sea 21. A neat Crucifix made out of the cross Bone of a Frogs Head 22. A large Agath containing a various and careless Figure which looked upon by a Cylinder representeth a perfect Centaur By some such advantages King Pyrrhus might find out Apollo and the nine Muses in those Agaths of his whereof Pliny maketh mention 23. Batrachomyomachia or the Homerican Battel between Frogs and Mice neatly described upon the Chizel Bone of a large Pike's Jaw 24. Pyxis Pandoroe or a Box which held the Unguentum Pestiferum which by anointing the Garments of several persons begat the great and horrible Plague of Milan 25. A Glass of Spirits made of Aethereal Salt Hermetically sealed up kept continually in Quick-silver of so volatile a nature that it will scarce endure the Light and therefore onely to be shown in Winter or by the light of a Carbuncle or Bononian Stone He who knows where all this Treasure now is is a great Apollo I 'm sure I am not He. However I am Sir Yours c. AN ALPHABETICAL INDEX A AGath 214. Alfred 's Epistles 199. Almond-Tree 31. America 189 190. Apollo 's answers to Croesus 168 c. to Attalus