hath two motions the greatest is Southward Let it suffice what Scaliger writes Exerc. 131. Nature saith he is at concord and agrees with her self she unites by an admirable order all things above and below that it may be one by a perpetual necessity So that there are in things seperated not only steps entrances and retreats but also minglings of those things which seem to be wholly parted Bodinus pronounceth that all the 4 parts of the world are equally respected by the Loadstone Theatr. natur l. 2. For saith he the steel needle easily rubbed upon the Loadstone from that part of the Loadstone that pointed North before it was cut out of the rock if the needle be equally ballanced the end rubbed with the Loadstone will turn to the North. The same force there is to the South part if he needle be rubbed on the South part of the Loadstone Nor is the force lesse for the East or West part of the Loadstone though the stone cannot turn it self to the Poles of the world but only the steel needle that is touched with it But this I have said cannot be understood but by experience for if you put a peice of Loadstone upon a peice of Wood swimming in the water and you apply that side of the Loadstone that looked Southward before it was cut out of the Rock to the side of another Lodstone that looked Southward also before it was hewen forth the stone that swims will fly unto the opposite part of the Vessel with water but if you turn the Northern part of the Loadstone to the Southern part of another Loadstone swimming in the water the Loadstone that swims presently comes and joyns with it so that thâ—â— both unite by an admirable harmony of nature though the Wood or the Vessell of water be between The same will be done if you put only an iron Needle thrust through a quil into a Vessell of water and hold in your hand a peice of a Loadstone one side of the Loadstone will drive off the needle the other will draw it So saith Bodin What concerns drawing that the Loadstone doth draw is maintained of the Aethiopian Loadstone Plin. l. 36. c. 16. experience hath proved it Libavius I saith he when I proved this wiped off all dust from the Loadstone and then I scraped away some powder of its own substance this was laid upon a paper or plank of wood and the powder scraped from it was laid under it the Loadstone moved and attracted The Loadstone draws the Loadstone by a certain line because there is a spirit in it like to the other and nature enclines and is carried to its like as much as may be It is as certain that it draws Iron also The hardnesse of Iron gives way and obeys and that matter which tames all things runs to I know not what empty thing and as it comes nearer it stands still and is held and sticks in imbraceings Plin. l. 36. c. 26. The vertue of it was found out when the nails of his shoos and top of his crook stuck fast for the first inventor was a Heyward Nor doth it draw Iron on each part with the same force The rule seems to be a right line Therefore where the vertue comes not the ends are turned and whilst one of them inclines to the needle the other accidentally turns from it and seems to reject it The same reason serves for divers Loadstones In the Midland Seas of Sardinia at the foot of the Mountaines that part they bend Eastward they say there is a Loadstone that draws Iron but on the opposite part one that drives it off and therefore it is called Theamedes Plin. l. 2. Wherefore do we go to Mountaines We may see it in every laboratory if we will beleive Libavius Syntagm Art Chymic Tract 1. l. 1. c. 19. There are opposite parts in one and the same stone contrary to the rest and it hath an example of sympathy and antipathy in it self as Vipers Scorpions and venemous Creatures have in themselves both their friends and their enemies I shall set down some examples of attraction Severus Milevitanus saw when Bathanarius heretofore governour of Africa put Silver under between the Stone and the Iron the Iron on the top moved and the Silver was in the middle and suffered nothing but with a most swift retrait the Man drew the stone downward and the stone drew the Iron upward August de civitat Dei lib. 21. cap. In Alexandria in Aegypt at the roof of the Temple of Serapus there was a Loadstone fastned in which held an Idol that had an Iron in the head so fast that it hung between the roof and the ground Euseb in Histor. Eccles. Agricola said he saw a round looking glasse that was three hands breadth broad and two high in the concave part whereof there was a Loadstone included above Agricola de subterâ—â—n that drew an Iron boul placed at the bottom of the glasse unto it self so that the thick body of the glasse could not hinder the force of it the Iron Globe that useth to fall down was carried up Let us come to the cause and inquire whence comes this force in the Loadstone Each man speaks diversly and so many men allmost so many opinions Libav l. 1. de Bitum c. 12 saith that there is a bituminous nature in the Loadstone reduced to the disposition of Iron by a similitude of sympathy and mixture whereby the same principles grow in Iron And he adds that there is an Iron bituminous spirit common to them both but it flows not out continually and as strong from Iron as from the Loadstone by reason of the diversity of coagulation or commisâ—ion Others attribute that to the hidden forme Others alleage a mutual harmony of naturall things There are in the great world saith Langius l. 2. Epist. 55 under the concave of the Moon some things that by a secret consent agree wonderfully together The truth is the Loadstone is some kind of vein of Iron and Iron may be generated of it Sennert l. 8. Epit. c. 4. But the Loadstone loseth its attractive force if you work it in the fire For whilest it burns the brimstony spirit of it flyes forth as Libav l. 2. singul thinks We saw saith Porta Mag. natur l. 7. c. 7. with great delight the Loadstone buried in burning Coles to cast forth a blew brimstony Iron kind of flame which being dispersed the quality of its life departed and it lost its power to attract It yields to the injuries of the weather and dies with old age The expiring of it is hindred by oyntments rub'd upon it and the tenacious juice of Leeks others add oyle of Bricks Lem. l. 4. c. 10. de occult But Cardanus l. 7. de subtil denyeth this It will not lay hold on rusty Iron and much lesse on rust Scaliger Exerc. 112. Otherwise if Iron-filings were buried in dust or the Iron be on the other side of the
violently that in one night it buds all over with a noyse so that the whole Tree will be covered with flowers Pliny l. 16. c. 25. CHAP. XXX Of Napellus NApellus kills with every part but chiefly the root For held in the hand till it wax hot it will destroy you It is certain that some shepherds that used the stalk for a spit to rost birds dyed of it Mathiolus Com. in l. 4. Dioscor c. 73. confirms this venomous quality of it by many examples I shall adde one One dram of Napellus was given to a Thief that was 27 years old He drank it down and said it tasted like pepper Most grievous symptoms followed for he vomited often something green as Leeks He felt a thing like a ball about his Navell it came upwards and sent a cold vapour to his head then he became stupified as if he had a palsie that laid hold on his left arm and leg that he could scarce stir the top of his hand all motion being lost in the other parts By and by this force of the disease forsook his left side which became sound and seized on his right side and wrought the like effects there He said That all the veins of his body were grown cold He had giddinesse in his head and his brain was so often disturb'd that he said it seem'd to him like boyling water He had Convulsions in his Eyes and Mouth and a very sharp pain in his Mandibles wherefore he often held those parts with his hands fearing they would fall off His eyes appeared outwardly swoln his face wan lips black and his belly was seen to swell like a Tympany His Arteries beat strongly and his mind was diversly troubled as the symptoms increased For sometimes he thought he should die and presently he hoped to live sometimes he spake rationally and sometimes he doted sometimes he wept and sometimes he sang He affirmed that in all this time he was thrice blind and thrice in an agony of death but his tongue was firm never troubled with any symptome Thus far Mathiolus But all these symptomes by giving him Bezars stone vanished in seven hours CHAP. XXXI Of Nyctegretum Granum Nubiae Nutmegs and Olive Trees NYctegretum was admired by Democritus amongst a few things it is hot as fire and hath thorny leafs nor doth it rise from the ground It must be dug up after the vernal Equinoctial and dryed by the Moon-light for 30 dayes and then it will shine in the night Plin. l. 21. c. 11. It is also called Chenomychon because Geese are afraid at the sight of it In Nubia which is Aethiopia by Aegypt there is a grain that swallowed will kill living Creatures A tenth part of it will kill them in a quarter of an hour Scalig. Exerc. 153. s. 11. In Banda an Island of the Molucco's the Nutmeg growes and it is covered with a cup for a shell when 't is ripe it is all covered over Under the first covering the shell is not presently that covers the kernel but a thick skin which the Arabians call Macin The Olive-Tree if it be cropped at the first budding by a Goat growes so barren that it will never bear by any means but if there be any other cause the certain cure is to lay open their roots to the Winter cold Plin. l. 7. c. 14. The Olive and the Oak so disagree that one planted by the other will shortly die The Lees of oyl mingled with Lime if walls be plaistered with it and the roofs they not onely drop down all adventitious humours that they contract but neither Moth nor Spiders will endure them Mathiol in Dioscor It flowereth in July the flowers coming forth by clusters From whence grow first green berries and they are pale as they grow ripe then they become a full purple colour and lastly black They are pulled in November and December then are they laid in pavements till they become wrinkled then are they put in under a milstone and are pressed out with presses pouring scalding water on and so they yield their oyl The wood of the Tree burns as well green as dry At Megoris a wild Olive Tree stood long in the Market-place to which they had fastned the Arms of a valiant man but the bark grew over it and hid them for many years That Tree was fatall to the Cities ruine as the Oracle foretold when a Tree should bear arms for it so fell out when the Tree was cut down spurs and helmets being found within it Plin. l. 16. c. 29. The Olive Tree lasts 200 years Plin. l. 16. c. 44. CHAP. XXXII Of the Palm-Tree THey say that the female Palm-Trees will bring forth nothing without the Males which is confirmed when a wood growes up of its own accord so about the Males many females will grow enclining toward them and wagging their boughes But the male with branches standing up as it were hairy doth marry them by the blowing on them and by standing near them on the same ground Plin. l. 13. c. 4. When the Male is cut up the females are in widowhood and are barren Hence in Egypt they so plant them that the wind may carry the dust from the Male to the Female but if they be far off they bind them together with a cord Pontanus reports that two Palm-Trees one set at Brundusium the other at Hydruntum were barren till they were grown up to look one upon the other and though it were so great a distance yet they both did bear fruit Dalechamp ad lib. cit Poets write thus of them A Tree there grew in large Brundusium Land A Tree in Idumaea much desir'd And in Hydruntum Woods one rare did stand Like Male and Female 't is to be admir'd On the same ground they did not grow but wide Asunder and they both unfruitful stood They many leaves did bear nothing beside At last they grew so high above the wood That of each other they enjoy'd the light Then they grew fruitful like to Man and Wife Each in the other seem'd to take delight And to be partners each of th' others life Cardanus reports that in Data a City of Numidia there was a Palm-Tree the fruit whereof unlesse the boughes of the flourishing male were mingled with the boughes of the female the fruit was never ripe but were lean with a great stone in them and by no help could they be kept from consuming but if any leaf or rind of the male were present then they would grow ripe Philo. l. 1. de vita Mosis saith that the vital force of it is not in the roots but in the top of the stock as in the heart and in the middle of the boughes that it is guarded about with all as with Halberdiers There is a kind of Palm-Tree growes in India out of the stock whereof the boughes being for that purpose cut in the moneth of August a liquor like wine runs forth that the Inhabitants receive in vessels
200 yeares in the water uncorrupted The Phrygians if we will credit Rhodiginus made their dainties of white fat Worms with black heads that bred from rotten Wood called Xylophagi Aelian writes that the King of the Indies used for his second course a certain Worm breeding in Plants and it was broiled at the fire Lastly in an Island call'd Talacha there are Worms like to those that breed in rotten Wood and are the chiefest dish of the Table Johannes Mandevil Tarantulae are a kind of Spiders from the City Tarentum They are harmlesse to look upon but when they bite they cause divers symptoms For those that are stung with the Tarantula some alwaies sing some laugh some cry some cry out for being infected with black Choler according as their temper is they have all these symptoms CHAP. XXIV Of Worms Article 1. Of Worms in Brute Beasts ROttennesse is the mother of Worms which whence it proceeds is known by the generall principles of naturall Philosophy Therefore because in Guiney there are great putrefactions by the continual distemper of the Ayr there are found abundance of worms Hence it appears that a hot and moyst distemper is fit to breed them that in Summer Moneths and when the blasts are warm Gardens commonly abound with Snails and flesh with Worms They are found in Cattel Plants and in men Anno 1562 There was a cruel murrain for Cattle worms breeding about the region of their Liver Cornelius Gemma A worm sticks to the forked hoofs of sheep and Rams which unlesse it be taken out when you eat the meat it causeth loathing and pain of the stomach The Mullet fish breeds but onely thrice in its life-time and is barren all the rest of the time For in the matrix of it little Worms breed that devour the seed In others some small ones breed that hinder procreation Artic. 2. Of Worms in Men. WOrms are found in Men. For sometimes the active cause is sufficient and there is matter enough in their bodies and many examples are found every where in Authors that confirm this Anno 1549 There were many men about the River Thaysa in whose bodies there were found Creatures call'd Lutrae and Lizzards Wierus saw a Country man that voided a Worm 8 foot long it had a mouth and head like to a Duck l. 3. c. 15. de praestig Daemon A Maid at Lovain saith Cornelius Gemma voided many prodigious creatures amongst the rest a living creature a foot and half long thicker than a mans thumb like to an Eagle but that the tail of it was hairy A Maid saith Dodonaeus cast forth some like to Caterpillars with many feet and they were alive Hollerius l. 1. saith he saw a Worm that bred in a mans brain Beniventus c. 100 exemp medic writes That he had a friend that was troubled with great pain in his head raving darknesse of sight and other ill symptomes at last he cast forth a Worm out of his right nostrill longer than his hand when that was gone all the pain presently ceased Theophrast hist. Plant. l. 9. c. ult writes thus of Worms in the belly Some people have belly worms naturally for the Egyptians Arabians Armenians Syrians Cilicians are in part troubled with them but the Thracians and Phrygians have none Amongst the Greeks we know that the Thebans that use to live in Schools and also the Baeotians have a worm bred in them but the Athenians have none A woman in Sclavonia cast out a very strange worm described by Amat Lusitan curat medic Cent. 6.74 It was four cubits long but not broad half so broad as ones nail of a white colour of the substance of the guts having something like an Adders skin The Head was warty and white out of which the body grew broad and grew still narrower toward the tail This Worm was but one body with many divisions the parts of this broad Worm were like to Gourd seeds that had nothing contain'd in them by reason of the compression of its broad body Artic. 3. Of Worms in Plants ALl Plants herbs shrubs and Trees have their worms a worm in the root is deadly For let the Tree be what it will and flourish yet this will make it wither saith Aldrovandus l. 6. de Insect c. 4. And there are sure witnesses that in the roots of Okes such venomous Worms will breed that if you should but tread on them with the sole of your foot it would fetch off the skin There are small white ones found in the sponge of the sweet bryer which is outwardly soft and hairy but inwardly so hard and so solid a substance that a sharp instrument will hardly peirce it In the white Daffodill some are bred which are changed into another flying and beautifull creature which when the herb begins to flourish presently eats through the cover and flyes away Pliny l. 20. c. 6. writes that some think that Basil chewed and laid in the Sun will breed Worms If you bruise the green shells of Wallnuts and put them into the water and then sprinkle them with earth Worms will breed in abundance that are good for Fishers Carol. Stephan Agricultur l. 3. c. 34. But Theophrastus 5 de caus Plant. saith that a Worm beed in one Tree and put into another will not live Joachimus Fortius reports that he saw some who affirmed that from a hazel nut that had a Worm in it there grew a Serpent for magnitude and forme For the nut being opened so farr as the Worm and the Worm not being hurt they put the nut into milk and set the vessel of milk in the Sun yet so that the Worm was not beaten upon by the Sun wherefore on that side the Sun shined they covered the Vessel and so nourished the Worm many days Afterward adding more Milk they set it to the Sun again The milk must be sheeps milk Also they report that a Worm is found in the leaves of Rue nourished the same way that lived 20 days Theophrastus writes of the cause of them plainly and fully His words are these Ill diseases happen to all seeds from nutriment and distemper of the Ayre namely when too much or too little nourishment is afforded or the Ayre is immoderately moyst or dry or else when it doth not rayne seasonably For so Worms breed in chiches vetches and pease and in rocket-seeds when as hot weather falls upon them before they be dried but in Chiches when the salt is taken from them and they become sweet For nature doth every where breed a living creature if there be heat and moysture in due proportion For matter comes from moysture for the heat to work on and concoct as we see it happens in Wheat Worms will breed in the root of it when after seed time Southern winds blow often Then the root growing moyst and the Ayre being hot the heat corrupting the root ingendreth Worms And the Worms bred eat the roots continually For nature hath appointed
within and sends forth smoak in many places and very hot brooks the shore smoaks at the foot of the Mountain the sand is hot the Sea boyles Agricol l. c. In the same place there are many ditches covered with sand into which some that have viewed these things carelesly have sunk in and were stifled This is in Europe In India there are no lesse burnings by fire In Ciapotulan a Province of the Kingdome of Mexico a Mountain casts forth stones as big as houses and those stones cast forth have flames of fire in them and seem to burn and are broke in pieces with a great noise Petrus Alvarad ad Cortesium In the province Quahutemallan of the same Country two Mountaines within two Leagues one of the other vomit out fire and tremble Petrus Hispalens p. 5. C. 23. In Peruacum also out of the Mountain Nanavata the Fire flies out at many holes and out of one boyling water runs of which salt is made In the same Peruacum in the Town Molahaâ—o fire is vomited forth and ashes is cast out for many dayes and covers many Towns There is an Island next to great Java in the middle of which land there burns a perpetuall fire Odoard Barbosa In the Island Del Moro there is a Fire cast forth with such a noise that it is equall to the loudest Cannon and the darknesse is like Night The Ashes so abound that houses have sunk down under them and Trees have been barren for three yeres their boughs being lopt off all places are fild with Ashes and living Creatures destroyed with hunger and pestilence also sweet waters have been changed into bitter Diat Jesuita Also there are concealed Fires namely there where the waters run forth hot warm or sower or where exhalations break forth good or bad and where places seem adust Strab. in Geograph There is a Country in Asia which is called Adust which is 500 furlongs long and 50 broad whether it should be called Misia or Meonia saith Strabo In this there grows no Tree but the Vine that brings forth burnt Wine so excellent that none exceeds it You may not think that those Fires stay only in one straight place for they pass many miles under ground Agricol l. 4. de nat Effl. c. 24. in Campania from Cunae thorough Baianum Puteoli and Naples Also out of Campania they seem to come as far as the Islands Aenaria Vulcania c. Hence Pindarus elegantly faigned that the Gigant Typâ—o being stricken with a Thunder-Bolt lay buried under these places Artic. 4. Of the Original of Subterraneall Fire WEe will now search out the original of these Fires and what it is that kindles and nourisheth them The Poets speak Fables concerning Aetna but of this more in the 4th Chapter Hyginius Mytholog cap. 152. Hell of the Earth begat Typhon of a vast magnitude and a wonderfull shape who had 100 Dragons heads that sprang from his shoulders He challenged Jupiter to strive for his Kingdome Jupiter hit him on the breast with a burning Thunder-bolt and having fired him he cast Mount Aetna upon him which is in Sicilia and from that time it is said to burn yet Isidor l. 14. c. 8. ascribes it to Brimstone that is kindled by the blasts of winds Justinus affirms that it is nourished by water Bleskenius relates of Hecla that no man knowes by what fire or what matter it burneth but since that brimstone is dug forth of all Islandia it should appear that a brimstony matter was sometimes kindled there Not far from Hecla are Pits of brimstone saith Bertius in Islandia That is certain that brimstone affords nourishment for this fire under ground and it is such as will burn in water For in these Mountains Writers make mention of waters and we have shew'd that it hath sometimes burned in the Sea But Lydiat L. de orig font thinks That in the gulfs of the Sea a most violent fire is contained and he demonstrates this by Earth-quakes Therefore the food of it cannot be dry and like to the Earth which we call Dorfa for that is quickly consumed by fire and is quenched by water Nor is it Marle for that will not burn unlesse it be sulphureous and bituminous Brimstone burns indeed but it is soon put out with water therefore it is Bitumen and this seems to be the subject of it Strabo writes That there are under this Cave Fountains of water and Pliny addes l. 2. c. 106. that it burns with water running from Bitumen Burning Bitumen sends forth fire in Hecla a Mountain in Islandia which consumes water The stones of Rivers and the sand burn at Hephestios a Mountain of Lycia and they are bituminous Naphta is very near akin to fire and it presently flames Pliny l. c. Wherefore we think Bitumen to be the food for these fires and they are kindled by a fiery vapour that takes fire if but cold thrust it forth as the Clowds thrust ouâ— lightnings or drives it into some narrow places where rolling it self up and down and seeking to come forth it burns in the conflict and flames Agricol lib. cit Artic. 5. Of the Miracles of Fire in duration burning and in being Extinguished SOme Fires are perpetuall The stone Asbestos once lighted can never be extinguished therefore Writers say it was placed in Idol Temples and the Sepulchres of the dead Solinus c. 12. There was a Monument once dug up wherein was a Candle that had burned above 1500 years when it was touched with the hands it went to fine ashes Vives ad lib. 21. de Civitat Dei Vives saw wicks at Paris which once lighted were never consumed In Britany the Temple of Minerva had a perpetual fire when it consumed it was turned into balls of stone Solinus c. 24. Polyhist The same thing is written of a certain Wood near to Urabia in the New-found World There are some fires that burn not either not at all or in some certain matter or else miraculously In Pythecusis saith Aristotle admirand c. 35. there is a fervent and hot fire that burns not An Ash that shadowes the Waters called Scantiae is alwayes green Plin. lib. 2. c. 107. In the Mountain of Puteoli consisting of Brimstone there is a fire comes forth that is neither kindled nor augmented by oyl nor wax or any fat matter nor is it quenched with water or kindled and it will not burn towe cast into it nor can any Candle be lighted by it Mayolus Colloq 22. he conceives it is not fire but fiery water Near Patara in Lycia flame is cast forth of a field you shall feel the heat if you put your hands to it but it will never burn The parts of the ambient ayr that are cold and moist are said to be the cause of it that by their thinnesse entring into the fire do hinder the burning of it Some napkins made of a kind of Flax will not burn and being durty they are never washed but being cast
that fresh ayr may come if Snow and water be set about the bed if the walls be compassed about with Willow leaves or with linnen cloaths dipt in vinegar and Rose-water if the floor be sprinkled and fountains made to run in the chamber if beds saith Avicenna be made over a pit of water If beds be made of Camels hair or of linnen laying the skin under them If the Bed be strewed with herbs and lastly if fragrant fruits be placed near the bed Heurn lib 2. Medic. c. 18. CHAP. III. Of the Water Artic. 1. Of the quantity and colour of Waters SO much for Ayr Now followes the Element of Water And first we shall consider the quantity and the colour of it In the Country of the great Cham near the City Simqui there is the River Quian which is 10 miles broad and waters 200 Cities and it is so long that it cannot be sailed in 100 dayes Polus writes That he told in the Haven of it 50000 Ships Also in Moscovia the Duina is so great by the melting of the Snow that it cannot be passed over in a whole day with a well sayling Ship it is at least 50 miles broad Jovius a Lake of Genebar the Portingalâ—s call it January Thuan. histor l. 16. is so large under Capricorn that men write who have sailed thither That all the Ships in the World may well harbour there As for Colours they are different in many waters Danubius is white as milk and water which divides Noricum and Windelicia from Germany Agricol de Natur. effluent The Waters of the Mayn especially where it hath passed the Francks and is fallen into the Rheyn are yellowish The Fountain Telephus is muddy near Patâ—ra and mingled with blood In Ethiopia there are red Waters that make one mad that drinks them At Neusola in the Mountain Carpathâ—s waters runing out of an old passage under ground are green At Ilza that which comes forth of the Mountains of Bohemia and runs into Danubius is black Artic. 2. Of the Taste of Water THere is no lesse variety of Waters in their tastes Some are sweet some taste like wine you shall find every where salt Allom tasted sharp bitter waters every where The Waters of Eleus Chocops Rivers are sweet The Kings of Persia drank of them and transported them to far Countries The water of Cardia in a field called Albus is sweeter then warm milk Pausanias So is Vinosa near Paphlagonia whence so many strangers come thither to drink of it In the bosome of the Adriatick Sea where it turns to Aquileia there are 7. Fountains and all of them except one are salt Polyb. in Hist. At Malta there is one that the waters running above are very sweet but the lower waters are brackish Aristobul Cassand The small River Exampeus is so bitter that it taints the great River Hypanis in Pontus In the Lake Ascanium and some Fountains about Chalcis the upper waters are sweet and the lower taste of nitre Plin. in Hist. The Fountains are sowr about Culma and because the water though it be cold boyls they seem to be mad Agricol lib. cit In the same place there is a Mineral water which they call Furious because it boyls and roars like thunder In Cepusium at Smolâ—icium it not onely eats iron but turns it into brasse But the water about Tempe in Thessaly of the River Styx can be contained in no vessel of silver brasse iron but it eats through them nothing but a hoof can hold it Artic. 3. Of the Smell of Water and of the first and second qualities THe hot Baths that are distant from Rhegium the Town of Lepidus Aemilius 26 miles smell of so gallant Bitumen that they seem to be mingled with Camphir There was a Pit in Peloponnesus near the Temple of Diana whose water mingled with Bitumen smelt as pleasant as the unguent Cyzicenum In Hildesham there are two Fountains the one flowes out of Marble that smells like stinck of rotten Eggs and taste sweet but if any man drinks of it fasting he will belch and smell like the Marble pownded The other is from Brimstone and smells like Gun-Powder The water of this brook covers with mud the stones that lie in the channel of it scrape it off and dry it and it is Brimstone Agric. lib. cit Arethusa a Fountain of Sicily is said to smoke at a certain time At Visebad there is a Spring in the Road-way the water whereof is so hot that you may not onely boyl Eggs in it but scall'd chicken and hoggs for it will fetch off feathers or hair if you dip them in or pour it upon them Ptolomy Comment lib. 7. affirms That at Corinth there is a Fountain of water which is colder than Snow Near the Sea-Banks at Cuba there is a River so continual that you may sayl in it yet it is so hot that you cannot touch it with your hands Martyr Sum. Ind. Near the Province Tapala it runneth so hot that one cannot passe over it Ramus tom 3. At Segesta in Sicily Halbesus suddenly growes hot in the middle of the River Pontus is a River that lyes between the Country of the Medes and the Scythians wherein hot burning stones are rolled yet the water it self is cold These if you move them up and down will presently cool and being sprinkled with water they shine the more bright Lastly near the City Ethama there is a River that is hot but it is good to cleanse the Lepers and such as are ulcerated Leonius Also some waters swim above others Arsanias swims above Tigris that is near unto it so often as they both swell and overflow their banks Peneres receiveth the River Eurôta yet it admits it not but carrieth it a top of it like oyl for a short space and then forsakes it Plin. hist. Natural Artic. 4. Of the Diverse running of the Water IT is said of Pyramus a River of Cappadocia which ariseth from Fountains that break forth in the very plain ground that it presently hides it self in a deep Cave and runs many miles under ground and afterwards riseth a Navigable River with so great violence that if any man put a sphear into the hole of the Earth where it breaks forth again the force of it will cast out the sphear Strabo l. 12. Not far from Pompeiopolis in the Town Coricos in the bottom of a Den of wonderfull depth a mighty River riseth with incredible force and when it hath ran with a great violence a short way it sinks into the Earth again Mela. l. 1. c. 6. The Water Marsia after it hath run along tract from the utmost Mountains of the Peligni passing through Marsius and the Lake Fucinus it disemboggs into a Cave then it opens it self again in Tiburtina and is brought 9 miles with Arches built up into Rome Plin. l. 31. c 3. The Sabbaticall River was wont to be empty every seventh day and was dry but all the six dayes it was
the other was the remedy for them Anauros of Thessaly and Boristhenes send out no vapour nor exhalation many refer the cause of it to its mixture others seek it other-where Agricola l. 2. de effl ex terr c. 17. saith In what part of the Rivers the Channels in the Fords have no veins and fibres by that they can breath forth no exhalations In the snows of Mount Caucasus hollow Clods freez and contain good water in a membrane there are Beasts there that drink this water which is very good and runs forth when the membranes are broken Strab. in Geograph Nilus makes women so fruitfull that they will have 4 and 6 at one venter Pliny in Histor. There is a Well of water that makes the inhabitants of the Alps to have swollen throats Lang. l. 5. Epist. 43. But in field Rupert neer to Argentina there is a water said to be that makes the drinkers of it troubled with Bronchocele they seem to be infected with quicksilver for this is an enemy to the brain and nervs for it not only sends back flegme to the glandulous parts of the head and neck but that which is heaped up in the head it throws down upon the parts under it Sebizius de acidul s. 1. dict 6. Corol. 1. thes 12. Diana a River of Sicily that runs to Camerina unlesse a chast woman draw its water it will not mingle with Wine Solinus C. 10. Styx in Arcadia drank of kills presently it penetrates and breaks all yet it may be contained in the horns of one kind of Asse Seneca l. 3. natur c. 25. Two Rivers runs into Niger a River in Africa one is reddish the other whitish Barrens Histor. dec 1. l. 3. c. 8. If any man drink of both he will be forced to Vomit both up but if any man drink but of one he shall Vomit leasurely but when they are both run into Niger and a man drink them mingled he shall have no desire to Vomit Narvia is a River of Lithuania so soon as Serpents tast of the water they give a hiss and get away Cromer descript Polon l. 1. A Fountain of Sardinia in the Mediterranean keeps the length and shortnesse of dayes and runs accordingly In the Island of Ferrum one of the Canaries there is no water the Ayr is fiery the ground dry and man and beast are sad for want of water But there is a Tree the kind is unknown the leaves are long narrow and allways green A Clowd allwaies surrounds it whereby the leaves are so moystned that most pure liquour runs continually from it which the inhabitants fetch setting vessells round the Tree to take it in Bertius in descript Canariar sea-Sea-waters if they be lukewarm they portend tempests before two days be over and violent Winds Lemnius de occult l. 2. c. 49. In England nere New-Castle there is a lake called Myrtous part whereof is frozen in Summer Thuan. in Histor. But I have done with these Authours have more if any man desire it especially Claudius Vendilinus whom I name for honour sake if he seek for the wonders of Nilus Artic. 7. Of some Floods or Waters and of the Universall Deluge THe Floods were signs of Gods anger and so much the more as that was greater and mens sins more grievous The greatest was that we call the generall Deluge which began about the end of the year of the World 1656. All the bars of the Channels were broken and for 40 dayes a vaste quantity of water was poured down Also the Fountains of the great Deep were cut asunder so that the Waters increased continually for 150 dayes and passed above the highest Mountains 15 Cubits At length they abated by degrees for after 70 dayes the tops began to appear The Inhabitants of the New World say they had it from their Ancestours Those of Peru say that all those Lands lay under waters and that men were drowned except a few who got into woodden Vessels like Ships and having provision sufficient they continued there till the waters were gone Which they knew by their dogs which they sent forth of doors and when the dogs came in wet they knew they were put to swim but when they returned dry that the waters were gone August Carat But they of Mexico say that five Suns did then shine and that the first of them perished in the waters and men with it and whatsoever was in the earth These things they have described in Pictures and Characters from their Ancestors giving credit to Plato's Flood which was said to have hapned in the Island Atlantis Lupus Gomara But Lydiat ascribes the cause of that universal Deluge to a subterraneal fire in a hotter degree increasing the magnitude by rarefaction so long as it could not gâ—t out of its hollow places Genesis seems to demonstrate it For the Fountains of the great Deep are said to be broken open and that a wind was sent forth after 40 dayes and the waters were quieted We must understand a wind from a dry Exhalation which a subterraneous fire much increased had most abundantly raised out of the deep of the Sea which was then thrust forth of them and did increase the motion of the ayr that it laid hold of together with the revolution of the Heavens and the vehemency of the Firmament But there were other miraculous Deluges besides this CHAP. IV. Of the Originall of Fountains Sea by passages under the Earth The Sea alone is sufficient to supply all Springs and when we see that it no wayes increaseth by the Rivers that run into it it is apparent that they run to their Fountains by secret channels But the question is of the manner how they ascend Socrates ascribes it to the Tossing of them Pliny to the wind l. 21. c. 65. Bodin l. 2. Theatr. to the weight of the Earth driving forth the water Scaliger to the Bulk of the Sea others to vapours redoubled into themselves It is a hard matter to define all things nor is it our purpose But because Thom Lydiat an English Man hath written most acutely of this Subject we will set down his opinion here contracted into a few Propositions I. The Rolling of the Water is not the cause of its ascending to the superficies of the Earth For there is no cause for its tossing and wherefore then should it not at length stand levell II. To be driven with the wind is not the cause 1. For it seems not to be raised in the Sea by a fixed Law of Nature but by way of Tempest 2. The Channels are winding and should carry it rather to the sides than to the superficies 3. If a contrary wind cannot do so much in any water what then can the wind do here Also if there were any receptacles for the waters forced upwards Miners those that dig in mines would have found them out as Vallesius saith III. The weight of the Earth squeesing out the water is not the Cause For the Earth
the Indians use They saw a place in Aprill and May abounding with all sorts of flowers The Duke of Moscovia heard of this afterwards and triall was made but the Duke died in the interim and this noble designe was hindred It is supposed that those places are nere the Indies and therefore if the River Peisida can be overpassed the passage to Cathay and Sinae were not difficult Artic. 3. Of the depth freesing and â—oloâ—ys of the Sea COncerning the depth of the Sea there are many opinions Burgensis saith it is deeper than the Earth 〈…〉 Plin. l. â— c. 22. and Solinus c. 54 that in many 〈…〉 no borrow can be found But there speak of a certain Sea in the 〈…〉 and they speak according to their days when navigation was 〈…〉 known Priscianus reports that Julius Caesar found by his Searchers 15 furlongs others give 30. But the English Portugalls 〈…〉 who now a days use most Navigation reckon 2 Italian miles and a time Olaus Magnus l. 2. Histor. septent c. 10. weâ—â—es that at the shoâ—es of Norway it is so deep thay not open can 〈…〉 but that is by reason of the hollow shores and full of cracks every where And though there be such a wonderfull force of waters in the Sea yet certain it is that it is somtimes frozen Strabo l. c. Geograph writes that in the mouth of Maeotis so great Ice was seen that in the place that King Mithridates Generall overcame the Enemy in the Ice the same he passed over with his Fleet. When 〈…〉 four the Sea of Pontus was so frozen for a 100. â—â—les that it 〈…〉 hard as a stone and was above 30 Cubiâ—s 〈…〉 Vintent l. 〈…〉 But Olaus l. 11. c. 25 saith that in the North Sea they 〈…〉 and draw along their Engins for Warts and â—aires 〈…〉 kept The condition of the Ice there is very strange Being carried on the shore it presently thawes no man furthering it Ziglerus l. â— 8. In Islandra if it be kept it vanisheth and he affirms that some will turn to a stone The Sea hath many colours Andreaâ— Causalius saith that neer the Inhabitants of the East-Indies there is a milk 〈…〉 that is seen for 300 miles Martyr also attests the same in his Sumâ—lâ—â— That which washes the Island Cabaque is somtimes green and sometimes of the yeare red for the Shel-fish every where poure much blood Petrus Hispan The red Sea though it be so called because it is rinctured with red waters yet it is not of that nature 〈…〉 for but the water is tainted by the shores that are neer and all the land about it is red and next to the colour of blood 〈…〉 l. 13. c. 1â— The Sea useth frequently to change its colour Aulâ—â—ell noct Atâ—â—l 2. c. 30 gives the cause It is faith he observed by the best Philosophers that when the South wind blows the Sea is blewish and â—â—eyish but when the North blows it is blacker and darker c. When the Doâ— days are it is troublesome Men ascribe that to the Sun that pierceth the inward parts of the Sea with its beams and stirrs the grosseâ— parts but consumes them not But this is strange that is said that the Sea Parium in the New Word is so intangled with so many green herbs that Men cannot fall in it the long branches of herbs like nâ—ts hindring them That Sea is so like a Medow that as the Waves turn all the herbs turn with it also that the storms are lesse from the Waves than from the grasse This endangers Sea-Men and first Columbus Ovetan l. 2. c. 2. For the Ships are held by the bendings of little branches that they cannot turn It is deep enough for Galleys to row in but the herbs rise from the bottom and grow together on the top and are 15 hand-breadth higher sometimes Pliny l. 13. c. 25. reports that in the red Sea Woods flourish chiefly â—he Laurel and the Olive bearing Olives and if it rain Mushromâ—â— which when the Sun shines are converted into a Pumex-stone The sprouts themselves are 3 cubits great and are stored with abundance of dog fish that it is scarse safe to look out of the Ship and they will set upon the very oars oft times The Souldiers of Alexander that sailed from India reported that the boughs of Trees in the Sea were green but taken out of the Sea were presently changed by the Sun into dry salt Also Polâ—bius reports that in the Sea of â—ortingal Oakes grow that the Thynni fishes feeding on their Acorns grow fat Athenaeus l. 7. Artic. 4. Of the Saltnesse of the Sea THe Works of God are wonderfull in Nature but two are most wonderfull the saltnesse of the Sea and its flowing and ebbing It is said that there is an Island in the Southern Ocean that is waterâ—d by a sweet Sea which also Diodorus Siculus seems to testifie and assert concerning the Scythian Sea Pliny l. 6. c. 17. But that is ascribed to the great running of Rivers into it and how small is this in respect of the other Sea Yet Philosophers argue concerning the saltnesse of the Sea Aristotle l. 2. Meteor c. 1. calls for the nature of the Sea and efficacy of the Sun to assist him For the Sea-waters by the mixture of the ground and the shores is thicker and the Sun by its heat calls forth thinner parts and resolves them into vapours which being burnt with heat and mingled with the water cause its saltnesse Mans body will help us in this wherein the native heat dissolves the sweetest meats into the saltest humours which being collected in the Reins is cast forth by urine Experience confirms it that shews us that the Sea is more salt in Summer than in Winter and more toward the East and South than elsewhere Lydiat likes not this opinion but brings another That Youth may more exactly comprehend the sense of this brave man We will set it down here in a few Propositions I. The vehement heat of the Sun doth not boyl the Sea to be salt For 1. Why is not the same done in a little water in a bason 2. The same cause of saltnesse should work upon the subject with lesse resistance II. A hot dry earthly exhalation carried by rain into the Sea iâ— not the cause of its saltnesse For 1. Why is not the same done in Fountainsâ— 2. It is too little 3. Why is it not onely salt in the superficies but in the deep For though Scaliger Exercit. 51. denyes that saying that the â—â—â—nators have proved it to be sweet yet Patricius saith it was found otherwise in the 〈…〉 between Crete and Egypt when it was very calm Philip 〈…〉 witnesseth the same III. The Sea is salt by the mixture of something with it That is clearâ— because all tasting is oâ— mixt bodies IV. That which is mingled with the Sea hath the nature of a hot and dry exhalâ—â—ion That is apparent 1. Because the Sea is such 〈…〉 will
been so glew'd that they could not easily be parted Bodin Theatr. Natur. l. 2. It hath been seen to draw strawes when it hath been hot Garzias ab Horto l. 1. arom c. 47. It was hitherto believed that the powder of it drank would breed the Dysentery but that hath been disproved Slaves have swallowed down some to hide their theft they sent them forth by stool whole without any hurt to their health Cardan 2. Tract 5. Contrad 9. saith That one dram weight drank in powder did no more harm than a piece of bread The Turkish Emperour gave 50000 Crowns for one CHAP. XXI Of the Opalus Emerald Heliotrop and Topaz OPalus is a Jewel which when you hold it downward it hath the clear fire of the Carbuncle the shining purple of the Amethyst the green Sea of the Emrald and all things else shining with an incredible mixture An Emerald doth so change the ayr about it with its own tincture that it will yield neither to candles Sun light nor shade Hence in the water it seems greater Those that are not perfectly green of them are made better by wine and oyl They are seldom so great as that you may grave a seal upon them Yet there is one not very small at Lyons in a Monastery and that which was seen at Prague in the Chappel of St. Vencessius it is above 9 parts of 12 greater than that Bodin l. 2. Theatr. There is one longer at Magdeburg which is contained in part of the spire fashioned Cabinet wherein the Host is carried some say it was the handle of the knife of Otho the first There was a Jewel once found in Cyprus the one half of it was an Emerald and half a Jaspir The Emerald hath wonderful vertue It is an Enemy to poysons and bitings of venemous beasts and it breaks if they overcome it It is said to further womens labour tyed to the hips and to hinder it laid to the belly Sennert l. 5. Epitom Scient natural c. 5. Shut in a ring or hanged about the neck if it touch the naked flesh it preserves from the Apoplex Plat. l. 1. del f. It hath been known to break off from the fingers of the Master of it that wore it when he was dead It cannot endure venery for if it touch ones body in the act it will break Albertus the King of Hungary had one that brake at that time in 3. pieces Heliotropium is a Jewel marked with bloody veins cast into a vessel of water it changeth the Sun beams falling on it by reflexion into blood colour Out of the water it receives the Sun like a burning Glasse and you may perceive the Suns Eclipses by it how the Moon moves under A Topaz is not onely transparent but also shines wonderfully and the brightnesse goes forth like gold it is greater than other Jewels for thence it was that a Statue was made for Arsinoa Wife to Ptolomaeus Philadelphus of 4 cubits high and was consecrated in the Temple that was call'd the golden Temple CHAP. XXII Of the Amethyst Hyacinth the Sardonix and the Onychite IT is called an Amethyst because it comes near the colour of wine and before it comes to it it ends in a Violet colour Plin. l. 21. c. 8. Laid to the Navel first it drawes the vapours of Wine to it self and then it discusseth them wherefore it keeps him sober that wears it Aristotle The Hyacinth in clear weather shines the brighter in clowdy weather the darker By its fast cold it condenses and refreshes bodies and preserves one that wears it from the fierce pestilence Sardonix is a Jewel compounded of a Sardonius and an Onyx It shews inverted like a nayl of a mans hand the most generous roots are from a certain blackish ground and first represent Onyxes then they are compassed with a reddish circle from thence a round line goes about them then at a greater distance the circle growes larger lastly to all those girdles another kind of basis is placed under them The Graecians made great account of this Jewel Polycrates the King of Samos esteemed it so highly that when as fortune had alwaies favour'd him that he might try the contrary fortune he cast his ring into the Sea wherein this stone was set An Onychites at Colonia in the Temple of the 3. Kings is broader than ones hand Agricola The milky veins of it so run forth that they represent two young mens heads the black veins so that they represent a Serpent descending from the forehead of the lower head and a black-Moors head with a black beard But that was placed upon the mandible of the white head Two Onyxes rubbed under a Table will so burn that you cannot hold them in your hands CHAP. XXIII Of the Jasper Nephritick stone and an Agat A Jasper bound to the thigh will stop the menstrual flux of blood and all bleedings which admit of no help otherwise It stops bleeding at the Nose being hanged about the Neck Sennert l. 5. Epitom Scient natural Bound to the mouth of the stomach and so carried all day for the Falling-sicknesse if sweat follow it frees from the fit or else the sick fall Baccius de gem Pliny saith he saw one of eleven ounces and of that was made the picture of Nero in Armour Plin. l. 37. c. 9. There is found in Silis one of a blew colour that goes 9 foot deep and then comes a dark sandy stone about 12. foot long that hath no Jasper in it Agricola l. 6. de Fossil From the authority of Thaetilis the Jew There are found some strange kinds of it There was a man seen in one that had a Buckler on his neck a Spear in his hand a Serpent under his feet It had vertue against all enemies In another there was a man with a bundle on his neck It had vertue to discover all diseases and to stop blood Lemnius de gemmis Biblicis The report is that Galen wore it on his finger There is a green one found signed with the crosse good to keep one from drowning The Nephritick stone is referred to the Jasper it is found onely in Hispaniola Sennert l. 7. Inst. l. 5. p. 1. S. 1. c. 17. The superficies of it is alwayes fat as if it were anointed with oyl The Spaniards wear them cut in divers forms Many things confirm the wonderfull vertue of it Unzer de Nephritid l. 1. c. 7. Hanged about the neck it so breaks the stones that they will seek for passage out of the body at both the Eyes and where they can find way A certain Merchant of Lipsick testifieth this who had such things happened to him and both his eyes grew red by the salt and sharpnesse of the same It will cure all distillations that fall from the head on the Chest saith the same Merchants Wife For when she had carried one 3 weeks she was cured but the Physitians could not cure her It will cause one to make water that is
upper parts being the sharpest they take hold of the ends of the weeds and are fast shut in the broader parts which afterwards open that the fruit may come out to flye Thus a thousand at least of these shell fish are fastned to the weeds at the ends which as I said are fastned to the pitcht Wood with the other end in such plenty that the Wood can hardly be seen yet those weeds do hardly exceed 12 fingers breadth in length and are so strong as thongs of leather somtimes they are longer and are some-feet-long This is the whole external description For you can see nothing but a piece of a Mast full of rotten holes and Sea Weeds thrust into them having at the other end shell-fish like to the nayle of a Mans little finger But if these shells be opened those small Birds appeare like chickens in eggs with a beck eys feet wings down of their feathers beginning and all the other parts of callow Birds As the young Birds grow so do the shells or covers of them as they do in all other Oysters Muscles shell-fish snails and the like carriers of their houses It may be asked how they get their food I answer as other Zâ—ophyta do partly from the sweeter part of the water or else as shell fish that breed pearls and Oysters do from the dew and rayn partly from the pitchy fat of the rotten Wood or the resinous substance of Pitch or Rosin For these by the intermediant grass as by umbilical Veins do yeeld nutriment to these Creatures so long as that Wood is carried by the ebbing and flowing of the Sea hither and thither For were it on the dry land it would never bring forth the said shell fish An example of this we have in places neere the Sea where those shell fish are taken alwaies with black shells sticking to Wood put into the water as also to the woodden foundations of bridges and to Ships that have been sunk And they stick either to the wood by some threds like to hayrs or Mosse or else by Sea Weeds whence it is evident that some clammy moysture is afforded to shell-fish sticking to any Wood whatsoever though it be Oke but much more to firre Wood full of Rosin whereof Masts of Ships are made For this Wood is hotter than Oke and hath much aeriall clamminesse and therefore takes fire suddenly and when it is wounded while it is green it sends forth an oily Rosin but when it is dry it will easily corrupt under water but the Oke will not because it is of a cold and dry nature It longer resists corruption and under water grows almost as hard as a stone If any man will consider the abundance and diversity of fish and living Creaturs which are bred in the Seas every where he cannot but confesse that the Element of water is wonderful ferâ—ill which breeds not only the greatest living Creatures as Whales whereof some as Pliny writes l. 32. entred into a River of Arabia that were 600 foot long and 300 foot broad and that in such abundance and variety that the same Authour reckons up 176. kinds of fish in the Sea only besides thâ—se bred in Rivers But one would chiefly admire the great diversity and beauty of Sea shell-fish for I remember that I saw aâ— â—eâ—terdam Anno 1611 with Peter Carpenter a very famous man above a thousand severall kinds of them in such plenty that he had a whole Chamber full of them which he kept as the pretious treasures and miracles of nature No doubt but these are the Ensignâ— of Natures bounty for they rather serve for the ornament of the world than for mans use wherein you may see a kind of an affected curiosity in the variety of the forms of them Hence we may conclude the great fruitfulnesse of the Sea which doth exceed the Land in breeding of living Creatures and vegetable animals which the Antients observing they ascribed to Neptune who was god of the Sea great multitudes of Children begotten from divers Concubines call'd Sea-Nymphs amongst these were Tryton and Protheus whereof he sounding a shell-fish is his Father Neptunes Trumpeter but this is changed into various forms as into fire a Serpent and such like clearly teaching that the Sea breeds divers forms These causes seemed to move them who ascrib'd the generation of these Birds in the Orcades to the Sea alone as being the Authour of fruitfulnesse and of diversity of Creatures But how rightly they did that shall be seen We deny not but that many pretty shell-fishes are bred of the Sea onely from the influence of omnipotent nature so that the Ocean affords the place and matter of them but not the form and the cause efficient All the fish except a few are bred of the seed of other fish naturally and here can be no question of these Yet we may doubt whether so many kinds of shell-fish do breed from the seed of other shell-fish It is manifest of the foresaid Bird that it breeds neither from an egge as other birds do nor yet from seed Whence then From the Ocean or must the cause be imputed to the Ocean Not at all For though the place be said to generate the thing placed yet that is understood of the matrices that are the cause of generation sine quâ non but not the efficient cause much lesse the formal material and final and not concerning every generall thing containing But to search out more exactly the nature of this wonderfull Bird we will run over those four kinds of causes not doubting but having searched out these as we ought what why and from whence it is will easily be resolved The Efficient cause therefore of this generation is external heat such as the Sun sends forth into sublunary bodies as also in the internal heaâ— in the matter corrupting For without heat nature produceth no generation but useth heat as her chief Instrument whereby homogeneous things are congregated and heterogeneous are parted the parts and bowels are formed in living Creatures and are disposed in their orders and figures In Artificiall things that men make they use divers Instruments as their Hands which may be call'd the Instrument of Instruments Hammers Anvils Files Sawes Wimbles and the like In natural things there is onely Heat as the efficienâ— cause and Nature moves it as the Artificer doth them The outward heat brings the internal into Action Without which this would be uneffectual and shut up in the matter as dead as it appears in some living creatures which when Winter comes and the outward heat fails they are as it were asleep and lye as dead as Swallows Frogs Flies and such like But so soon as the Sun beams heat the water and the earth presently these little Creatures revive as owing their lives to the Suns heat And as the heat is greater so is the efficacy thereof and their flying about and crying as we see in Flies and Frogs As for
they are drawn asunder they discover a green throat or intestine They stick to the plectrum as if there were some passage for breathing though they do not breathe But it is no doubt but there is the Seat of life though I discovered in the young ones a kind of red part as I shall shew underneath beating by it self alone like the heart when that plectrum is cut a moyst yellowish liquour comes forth and the Worms themselves do not dye but they stirr the more violently and roule and turn themselves that you will judge that they are in great pain the nervous principle being hurt The dung of them represents their meat for it is dry with six corners long as it were set with eyes whence one may collect the disposition of the gut or belly They are green from their food but because they are hard and without moysture they seem black as those that are more moyst seem more green Here if you mark you may distinguish the males from the females For the females here as the Philosopher writes of other females are greater fatter moyster softer whiter than the males which are more rude more spotted with wan spots and more slender If you handle them you shall find them all to be cold They use oft to rayse themselves on their hinder feet and to stand so like statues When they will feed they fasten on the sides and swelling veins of leaves contrary to Catterpillars I believe the appendixes of their mouths hinder them yet they afford some help for their former feet to hold their meat with They eat the leaves round that they leave a round pit When they are full they go aside and they rest many together on a heap I think they are delighted with mutuall heat you may discern those that sleep from those that cast their skin by observing the pulsation in their back For the motion in those that sleep is equall to those that wake but when they cast their skins it is slower and lesse that you would then think they were sick Also those that sleep have but one mouth but such as cast their skins shew a little mouth besides But this is not in Silk-worms but whilst they are yet Catterpillars Some of them being four times renewed have a filthy dark head and yet they feed on Some do not increase much but continue small We said before that from May 25 to May 29 the fourth change is made in divers of them From this time to June the 7th and 8th 9 10 11th they feed greedily and grow fat and great and I was forced three times a day and about the last days four times a day to give them meat or oftner For when they are almost ripe for Silk work they eat more greedily going with great courage to the leaves and biting off the nervs You shall note that about 13 days passe between their fourth change and their abstinence from meat and provision to make their Silk For the times answer one the other from the 25 of May to the 7 of June from 26 to 8 from 27 to 9 from 28 to 10 from 29 to 11 wherein I included the last except one small male that fed longer About the last days many begin to grow of a spiceous colour which begins to appeare more evidently on the hinder part and from thence to enlarge and go forward to the bunch of the breast though others are more and almost all yellow some remaine white with blew mingled with it When they must dye they go to the sides of the chest nor will they bite the leaves though they creep over them Some fasten their threds at the corners as if they were beginning the entry others creep by the outsides and seek here and there for a fit place to lye hid in I shut many of them in with paper-Coffins which I disposed of and fastned commodiously in some place in which by gnawing and rending the sides they do make a noise for a while but afterwards by voiding a dry and moyst excrement of their belly for they void out both by their hinder parts they fasten them so fast to the paper that you would think they were glewed Afterwards for 3 days continually they make a little bladder which being absolved they lay aside their fifth skin with their head and tayle and are transformed into a nympha again Some I did not shut up in papers but disposed them in a wodden chest with boughs and let them choose a nest for themselves you shall observe thence that they seek chiefly for corners and hiding places and oft times many of them make their Silk in the same place if it may be some ordering them right forward others obliquely others broad ways If the place be too narrow the wrong end of the skin is pressed together on the side nor doth it containe perfectly Oval One of these cases is longer thicker larger than another for the greatnesse and strength of the Silk-worm They differ also in colour some are Gold Silver Citron colours and they are double For some are greenish some more yellow though others call all these green The first of them all as I observed was white except some few that send a yellowish tow before Some of Gold colour have their inward coat white nor is the yellow colour certain For when the cases are unfolded in water the silk growes white and in dye yellow c. But it is worth your labour to contemplate the matter of the silk and what that is that yields a thred so long When therefore I saw a great worm to wander I put a line about his neck and dissected him He lived stoutly when his throat was tied and felt acutely For at every incision of his back the knife scarce touching him he would tosse himself violently as if he would help himself with his mouth and forefeet His skin being divided I saw his long gut as in a pike the forepart was swoln and wide the hinder part narrower On that gut did the nerves or beating arteries lye with a continuall systole and diastole and they ended on the plectrum of 〈…〉 tayl When I cut off this not onely a yellow clear humour did break forth but the heads of the nerves put themselves forth in the motion and their stirring grew weaker The Intestine hath a double coat one thick outward coat and another thin one within The thick coat feels accurately and it is near the throat covered over with much glutinous matter which afterwards becomes matter for their wings and of the hairinesse of the Silk-worm as the external excrementitious moysture becomes the Aurelia or outward shell When the thick coat is pricked the intestine comes forth yet wrapt with a thin coat and it contains much of the meat they eat the day before of green leaves Also you may see when the skin is cut and the thick coat of the Intestine that moysture will run forth in abundance that is
be troubled with the Strangury any more who quencheth in his urine the burning root of Tamarisk Physitians do diversly dispose them the Chymists teach us to know them by their signatures and Porta of Naples thinks that it is certain that what part of Man they resemble that they are good for Sennert de cons. Chym. c. 18. But of these more hereafter if God please Now let us see Nature prodigall in Plants and opening her Treasures let us admire with thanksgiving CHAP. II. Of Wormwood Woolfsbane and Snapdragon WOrmwood is in many things a wonderful Plant it is very bitter yet the distilled water of it is sweet Hence the Commentators on Mesues think that the intrinsecal parts are sweet but the matter must be ascribed to the thinnesse of the outward parts for these being soluble into a vapour being more attenuated by heat of the fire are easily resolved and abate of their bitternesse Mathiolus in Dioscor c. 24. The Lye out of which the salt of it is prepared will so benum the hands that they almost lose their feeling Mathiol de febrib pest It is credible that if Infants before they be 12 weeks old be anointed with the juice of Wormwood on their hands and feet that neither heat nor cold will ever trouble them during their life and if the whole body be anointed they shall never be scabby Guerth in Append. ad memorab Mizaldi Wolfsbane is the quickest of all venomous things for if it touch but the secrets of a woman it kills her the same day This was the poyson that Mar Coecilius objected that Calphurnius Bestia killed his Wives with when they were asleep hence it is that he so sharply declamed against him that they dyed by his hand Yet experience teacheth that this may be made use of for mans good and against the bitings of Scorpions given in hot wine the nature of it is to kill Man unlesse it find some venome in him to be destroyed Scorpions are stun'd by the touch of it and being astonished shew by their palenesse that they are subdued White Hellebore helps them by its resolving touch and Wolfsbane yields to two evils to that which is evil to it self and to all others Pliny But Snapdragon is so contrary to them that the sight of it stuns them but whilest some by this Amulet hope to procure Princes favours they are deceived Mathiol in l. 4. Dioscor c. 128. CHAP. III. Of Aloes Agallochum and Camomill SCaliger had found by above 40 years tryal that Aloes hurts the Liver Exerc. 160. Sect. 3. They whose veins swell or are opened if they take never so little of it it will certainly go thither for it will adde something of its own to open these vessels But Agalloâ—â—um is Aloes wood so excellent that cast into water it will not swim at all but sinks presently When it is cut from the Tree the Inhabitants bury it a whole year that the bark may wither under ground and the wood lose nothing and they think it will never be so sweet unlesse it first be worm-eaten Simeon Sethi citante Mathiâ—lo Camomil is so like to May-weed that you cannot know them asunder by sight but onely by smell This stinks and bound on will presently blister the skin The flowers of Camomil taken without the leaves and beat in a Mortar and made with oyl into balls if they be dissolved in the same oyl and those that have Feavers be anointed therewith from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet and be presently covered with blankets to sweat if they sweat plentifully it cures them of their Agues This is Nictessius Aegyptius his receipt Mathiol in Dioscorid l. 3. c. 1 37. CHAP. IV. Of Ammi Holly Ceterach and the Strawberry-Tree AMmi if it be the right seed that comes from Alexandria it cherisheth Womens fruitfulnesse if you drink of it a dram weight in the morning every other day 3. hours before meat Yet in those dayes they must not lie with their husbands as Mathiol in 3. Dioscor c. 61. With the flowers of Holly water congealeth and a stick made of it thrown at any living creature though it fell short by the weaknesse of him that threw it yet of it self it will fall nearer to him Plin. l. 22. Ceterach growes in Crete by the River Potereus that runs between two Cities Enosa and Cortina it destroyes the Spleen in Cattel that eat it thence it hath its name Spleenwort In a certain place that lyes toward Cortina this Spleenwort is found in great abundance but it is otherwise toward Enosa for there growes none In the wrong side of the leave of it there is found a precious powder which being given one dram weight with half a dram of the powder of white Amber in the juice of Purslane cures the Gonorrhaea The Strawberry Tree flowers in July the buds by a singular hanging together are joyned in clusters at the utmost end each of them like a long form'd Myrtil berry and as great without leaves hollow as an Egge made so with the mouth open when it fades what hindred is perforated Theophrast l. 3. c. 16. de Plantis CHAP. V. Of the Cane reed Asserall and Agnacath IN Zeilam the Reeds are so large that they make boats of them severally also they make Javelius of them As in the Kingdom of Pegu they make Masts and Oars of the Myoparones Certain it is that they are some of them 7 foot about Scaliger Exerc. 166. Mathiolus writes that in India they grow so great that between every knot they serve for Boats to sail in Lakes and Rivers for three Men to sit in them Mathiol in Dioscorid l. 1. c. 97. Between the Reed and the Fern there is a deadly feud and they say that a Reed tied to the Plough destroys all the Fern that growes there It agrees with Sparagus for if they be sowed in Reedy grounds they increase wonderfully Mathiol l. citat The Turks going to battle devoure Asseral and by that they grow merry and bold against dangers Juglers use this often on their Scaffolds They mingle a Medicament with Wine that will draw their mouths together and whom they would put a trick upon they bid him dip his finger in and suck it he putting this into his mouth cannot for pain suck it The Juglers as if they pittied him in this case annoint the arteries of his wrists and temples with some peculiar Oyntment When he is recovered like one that comes from Sea after Shipwrack he winds his hair and garments as if they were wet and wrings them out he wipes his Armes blows his Nose Scaliger Exerc. 159. Agnacath is a Tree like a Peare Tree and as great allwayes with green leaves and very clear in the outside It makes men so lusty that it is miraculous Kin to this is a root in the Western Hills of Allas the Inhabitants call that part Surnaga The eating of it gives wonderfull strength for Venus they say if
a Man make water on it he is presently provoked If Virgins do but sit on them in the fields or Urine upon them the Hymen is presently broken as if they had known a Man Scalig. Exerc. 175. s. 1. CHAP. VI. Of the Scythian Lamb the bashfull Plant and Amfiâ— THe Scythian Lamb is a Plant that come 〈…〉 seed like a Kernel but not so long The Tartars call it 〈…〉 It gâ—â—ws like a Lamb about three foot high and is like a Lamb in his feet claws ears the whole head except the Horns For Horns it hath hâ—ire is is singular like a Horn and a very thin Horn covers it the inhabitants take it off and use it for cloathing It is of a wonderfull sweetnesse Blood runs forth of the wound As long as other herbs grow about it so long it will live It dies when these are gon Wolves desire it but other beasts that feed on flesh do not Scaliâ—â—r exerc 181 sect 2. The Bashfull-Tree draws back if you but touch the leaves with your hand Apollodorus Scholler to Democritus discovered that Amfia is a medicament amogst the Iridi of wonderfull use They that are not used to it from their Childhood if they eat it afterwards it kills them also it kills those that are used to it and then 〈…〉 it but hurts not those if they continue it The women of Cambaya when they would avoid punishment feed of it and dye without pain The King of Province fed with this from his young yeares grew so Venemous that the very flies that but suckt his skin swelled and died with it It is thought to be Opium and the Turks Maslach Tthough Turnheuserus herbar l. 1. c. 29. saith that by the secret relation of the Turks he learned that this was made of the juyce of Leopards bane yet it is nothing else but Opum as Scaliger Poterius and Johannes Baptista Sylvagius interpreter for the Venetians with the Turkish Emperour do testify He being demanded by Bucretius reported that the Turks have two medicaments to make them merry Afra and Bongelie That prepared of Opium this with Honey and the leaves and seeds of hemp powdred and used frequently This will make them undergo any dangers for it makes them frantick and if they sleep they dream of the fighting of Gyants and fires and Cities burning CHAP. VII Of Balsome Tree and Betel BEfore these times in Judaea the Balsom Tree yielded great profit and there was an Orchard of it in two Kings dominions one of 20 Acres the other not so many but now there is none to be found It is probable that the Kings of Aegypt transplanted it into their own Gardens as being jealous of their greatnesse Plin. l. 12. c. 25. In grand Cairo there is a Garden of Balsom Trees the leafe is like Rue leaves alwaies green The Gum of it is gathered in the Trunk of it making incision at the upper part with Iron When the Sun is hottest that which remaines is not much For a man can hardly fill a Cockle shell in a whole day Theophrastus l. 9. c. 6. de plantis Pliny writes if it be cut with an Iron it presently dies and therefore they that gather Balsome use Glasse Stone and Bone-Knives to cut the Bark and taking the juyce in wool they collect it in little Hornes That which is Indian or Occidental is brought out of the West Indies into Spain It is the liquor of a Tree called Xilon the bark of it which is thinne being cut a clammy whitish liquor in small quantity flows forth which the Inhabitants preserve Also the boughs and roots cut into pieces very small like Chips and boyled in a Cauldron with water when it is cold yeilds the same From Shell-fish they collect an Oyle that swims at top that is red from black of a most sweet smell a sharp tast and somwhat bitter A pound of it in Spain is sold for three Dudats whereas an ounce was wont to be sold for 10 or 20. Bauhin in Dioscorid Beâ—â—l a lease called so from the River which runs not far from Gambaâ—a it grows from a Plant that is wrapt with others and wants proppingâ— it hath neither flower nor juyce The Indians feed daily on it when they are at leasure for they think when it is green that it promotes venery It makes their lips red and their teeth black Mathiol l. 4. Dioscorid c. 2. It troubles their minds if they eat of it too freely therefore the women of Tarnassarum to lament for their Husbands eat it till they grow mad and so they run into the fire and are burnt with them It is sprinkled with water made of lime from Shells of Fishes and then they eat it Scaliger Exerc. 1.46 s. 2. CHAP. VIII Of Betonie Birch and Box. BEtonie is said to defend consecrated places and graves from fearfull apparitions and is so forcible that it will draw forth broken bones bruised with a little salt and put into the nose it stops the bleeding of it Mathiol in 5 Dioscorid c. 1. Birch loves to grow in a cold and Snowy Country The stalk pierced with a piercer sends forth abundance of most clear water it is good to break stones in the Reins and Bladder if it be long drank Mathiol l. 1. c. 93. The Ananii take of the bark of it and wreath it and make Candles of it to burn at night which because they abound with a Pitchy fat they burn like Torches and give the colour of Rosin like Pitch In the Boxwood there is a kind of narcotick force and a sleepy sulphureous matter That is apparent from the stinking smel of it and the ground it delights to grow in For it breeâ—â— in Mountaines and stony grounds and prospers there and drinks in a most stinking Brimstone From the rasping of it a water is distilled like the spirit of Vitriol The greatest Tooth-ach is allayed if you dip a Tooth-picker into it and thrust it into the root of the aâ—ing Tooth and that so suddenly that by miracle allmost and by way of a Charms the pain is presently gonâ— Queâ—â— et Tetrad c. 1â— The flowers 〈…〉 said so to purge the blood that if one drain thereof be givâ—â— with field Poppy water and blood be drawn aâ— hour after it will run clear Petreius in Nosol Harm discurs 14. CHAP. IX Of Batat Baxera Brusathaer and Baaraâ— BAtat is a root like a Turnep with a black rind it spreads underneath as it were by Armes The colour of the 〈…〉 and so it is divided into divers kinds but the worst is the yellow It is planted wonderfully for it is Seâ—moâ— with the root but 〈…〉 the Olive by a Slip the twig being cut into severall parts is 〈…〉 yet some of the rind must be left They set it like the Vine and prop it up for the fibres of it run about like hops In the fifth month it is ripe Scaliger exerc 181. s. 17. Baxera◠〈…〉 a Tree in the Kingdom of Belus which