long agoe the which I saw in the house of Pomponius Secundus a noble citizen of Rome and a renowmed Poet almost two hundred yeares after their death As for the writings of Cicero of Augustus late Emperour of famous memorie and of Virgill we daily see and handle them by the meanes of Paper so good and durable CHAP. XIII ¶ Of the bookes of Numa WE find many examples in stories which very directly and mightily do testifie against M. Varro as touching Papers For Cassius Hemina a most faithfull and ancient writer in the fourth booke of his Annales hath reported That one Cn. Terentius a scribe or publicke Notarie as he digged and delued in a ground which he had neare to Ianiculum light vpon a chist where in lay the bodie of Numa sometime king of Rome In the same also were found the bookes of the said king And as he affirmeth this happened in that yeare when Pub. Cornelius the sonne of Lucius surnamed Cethegus and M. Boebius sonne of Quintus surnamed Pamphilus were Consuls of Rome betweene which time and the raigne of Numa by just computation are reckoned 535 yeres He saith moreouer That those books were made of the Paper abouenamed The greater wonder it was how such kind of books should last sâ—… long especially within the earth and not putrifie The thing therefore being so strange and in manner miraculous that Paper should continue all that time I think it not amisse to set down the very words of Hemina likew I se as he deliuers them The world made a wonder quoth he how these books could possibly endure so many yeres but the party who found them yeelded this reason That within the said coffer about the mids of it there was a stone foure-square lapped all about and bound euery way with waxe candles in manner of a serecloth vpon which stone the foresaid books were laid and therefore it was as he supposed that they did not rot Moreouer the books also were embaulmed with the rosin or oile of Cedar which might be a good reason in his conceit that the moths came not to them Now these bookes contained the Philosophie and doctrine of Pythagoras and for that they treated of that Philosophical argument burnt they were by order from Q. Petilius the Pretor for that time being The same storie in effect doth C. Piso Censorinus a man who had been Censor report in the first book of his commentaries howbeit he setteth downe their number withall and saith they were fourteene in all whereof seuen treated of the Pontificall law and matters of religion and as many discoursed of Pythagoras his Philosophie But Tuditanus in the thirteeneth booke of the Annales affirmeth That they were the decretals only of Numa and contained his ordinances As for Varro himselfe he writeth in the fift booke of Humane Antiquities that they were in all but twelue And Antias in his second booke reporteth That two of them were written in Latine and contained the Pontificial diuinitie and church-matters and other twaine penned in Greeke were full of precepts in Philosophie He also affirmes in his third booke for what cause the said books by vertue of a publick decree were consumed with fire But all Historiographers agree in this That one of the Sibyls brought vnto Tarquinius the proud three books of which two were burnt by her owne selfe and the third likewise perished with fire together with the Capitol during the troubles of Sylla Ouer and besides Mutianus a man who had been thrice Consul of Rome hath left on record that of late while he was lord gouernor or Lycia he read in a certain temple an Epistle written by prince Sarpedon in Paper and bearing date from Troy And I wonder the rather at this if so be that when Homer liued and wrate his Poeme there was no land of Aegypt as now there is or why in case there was such vse of Paper then himself should write that in the very same Lycia Bellerophon had writing tables giuen him to deliuer as touching his owne death and not rather letters missiue wrot in Paper Wel howeuer that be this is certaine that there is a scarsitie otherwhiles of Paper also as well as of other commodities and this cane or reed Papyrus doth many times faile For not long since euen in the daies of Tiberius the Emperor in a dearth and want of Paper there were commissioners deputed and appointed by the Senat of Rome for the dispensing and distribution of it among the people otherwise there had been a great mutinie and tumult at Rome about Paper CHAP. XIIII ¶ Of the trees in Aethiopia AS touching Aethiopia and namely that quarter which confineth vpon Aegypt it hath in manner no trees at all of any name saue those that beare wooll or cotton concerning the nature of which trees we haue sufficiently spoken in the description of the Indians and of Arabia and yet in very truth the cotton that is brought from these trees in Aethiopia comes neerer to wool than any thing els howeuer the trees be otherwise like to the rest of that kinde and the burse or cod wherin this woollie substance lyes is greater and as big as a Pomegranat Besides these there be Date trees also like to such as we haue before described As touching other trees and especially the odoriferous woods within the Isles that lie vpon Aethiopia round about we haue said enough in the treatise of those Islands CHAP. XV. ¶ Of the trees growing in mount Atlas of Citron tables of the commendable perfections and contrariwise of the defaults thereof THe mountaine Atlas by report hath a wood in it of peculiar trees that elsewhere grow not wherof we haue already written The Mores that border vpon it are stored with abundance of Citron trees from whence commeth that excessiue expense and superfluitie about Citron tables made thereof And our dames and wiues at home by way of reuenge vse to twit vs their husbands therwith when we would seem to find fault with the costly pearls that they do weare There is at this day to be seen a board of Citron wood belonging sometimes to M. Tullius Cicero which cost him ten thousand Sesterces a strange matter considering hee was no rich man but more wonderfull if we call to mind the seueritie of that age wherein hee liued Much speech there is besides of Gallus Asinius his table sold for eleuen thousand Sesterces Moreouer there are two other which K. Iuba sold the one was prised at 15000 Sesterces and the other held little vnder Not long since there was one of them chanced to be burnt and it came with other houshold stuff but from the cottages in Mauritania which cost 140000 Sesterces a good round summe of money and the price of a faire lordship if a man would be at the cost to purchase lands so deer But the fairest and largest table of Citron wood that to this day hath beene seene came from Ptolomaee king of Mauritania the
gather as it were a compleat hody of arts and sciences which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that are either altogether vnknowne or become doubtfull through the ouermuch curiositie of fine wits again other matters are deciphered in such long discourses that they are tedious to the readers insomuch as they loath and abhor them A difficult enterprise it is therfore to make old stuffe new to giue authoritie credit to nouelties to polish and smooth that which is worne and out of vse to set a glosse and lustre vpon that which is dim and darke to grace countenance things disdained to procure beleefe to matters doubtful in one word to reduce nature to all and al to their own nature And verily to giue the attempt only and shew a desire to effect such a desseigne as this although the same be not brought about and compassed were a braue and magnificent enterprise Certes of this spirit am I that those learned men and great students who making no stay but breaking through al difficulties haue preferred the profit of posteritie before the tickling and pleasure of itching eares in these daies which I may protest that I haue aimed at not in this worke only but also in other of my bookes alreadie and I professe that I wonder much at T. Livius otherwise a most renowned famous writer who in a preface to one of his books of the Roman history which hee cōpiled from the foundation of Rome thus protested That hee had gotten glorie ynough by his former writing and might sit still now take his ease but that his mind was so restlesse and so ill could abide repose that contrariwise it was fed and nourished with trauel nothing else But surely me thinks in finishing those Chronicles he should in dutie haue respected the glory of that people which had conquered the World and aduanced the honour of the Romane name rather than displaied his owne praise and commendation Ywis his demerit had beene the greater to haue continued his story as he did for loue of the subiect matter and not for his priuat pleasure to haue I say performed that peece of worke more to gratifie the state of Rome than to content his owne minde and affection As touching my selfe forasmuch as Domitius Piso saith That bookes ought to be treasuries store houses indeed and not bare and simple writings I may be bold to say and averre That in 36 bookes I haue comprised 20000 things all worthie of regard consideration which I haue recollected out of 2000 volumes or therabout that I haue diligently read and yet very few of them there be that men learned otherwise and studious dare meddle withall for the deepe matter and hidden secrets therein contained and those written by 100 seuerall elect and approued authors besides a world of other matters which either were vnknowne to our forefathers and former writers or else afterward inuented by their posteritie And yet I nothing doubt that many things there be which either surpasse our knowledge or else our memorie hath ouerslipt for men we are and men emploied in many affaires Moreouer considered it would be that these studies wee follow at vacant times and stolne houres that is to say by night season onely to the end that you may know how wee to accomplish this haue neglected no time which was due vnto your seruice The daies we wholly employ and spend in attendance about your person we sleepe onely to satisfie nature euen as much as our health requireth and no more contenting our selves with this reward That whiles wee study and muse as Varro saith vpon these things in our closet we gaine so many houres to our life for surely we liue then only when we watch and be awake Considering now those occasions those lets and hinderances aboue-named I had no reason to presume or promise much but in that you haue emboldened me to dedicate my bookes vnto you your selfe performeth whatsoeuer in me is wanting not that I trust vpon the goodnesse and worth of the worke so much as that by this means it will be better esteemed and shew more vendible for many things there be that seeme right deare and be holden for pretious only because they are consecrate to some sacred temples As for vs verily we haue written of you all your father Vespasian your selfe and your brother Domitian in a large volume which wee compiled touching the historie of our times beginning there where Aufidius Bassus ended Now if you demand and aske me Where that historie is I answer that finished it was long since and by this time is iustified and approued true by your deeds otherwise I was determined to leaue it vnto my heire and giue order that it should be published after my death lest in my life time I might haue bin thought to haue curried fauour of those whose acts I seemed to pen with flatterie beyond all truth And therfore in this action I do both them a great fauour who haply were minded before me to put forth the like Chronicle and the posteritie also which shall come after who I make reckning and know will enter into the lists with vs like as we haue done with our predecessors A sufficient argument of this my good mind frank hart that way you shal haue by this That in the front of these books now in hand I haue set down the very names of those writers whose help I haue vsed in the compiling of thē for I haue euer bin of this opinion That it is the part of an honest minded man one that is ful of grace modesty to confesse frank ly by whom he hath profited gottē any good not as many of those vnthankful persons haue done whom I haue alledged for my authors For to tell you a plain truth know thus much from me that in conferring thē together about this worke of mine I haue met with some of our moderne writers who word for word haue exemplified copied out whole books of old authors and neuer vouchsafed so much as the naming of them but haue taken their labors trauels to themselues And this they haue not done in that courage and spirit to imitate yea to match them as Virgil did Homer much lesse haue they shewed that simplicitie and apert proceeding of Cicero who in his bookes of Policie and Common-weale professeth himselfe to hold with Plato in his Consolatorie Epistle written to his daughter confesseth and saith plainely thus I follow Crantor and Panaetius likewise in his Treatise concerning Offices Which worthy monuments of his as you know well deserue not onely to be seene handled and read daily but also to be learned by heart euery word Certes I hold it for a point of a base and seruile mind and wherein there is no goodnesse at al to chuse rather to be surprised and taken in theft than to bring home borrowed good or to repay a due debt
belongeth to true honour But surely say what they will I let their words runne by like raine water It was a prettie speech also and a pleasant apothegme that Plancus vttered in the semblable case for being informed that Asinius Pollio was deuising and framing certaine invectiue Orations against him which should be set forth either by himselfe or his children after the decease of Plancus and not before to the end that they might not bee answered by him hee said readily by way of a scoffe That none but vaine bugs and hobgoblings vse to fight with the dead with which word hee gaue those orations such a counterbuffe that by the iudgement of the learned none were accounted afterward more impudent and shamelesse than they For mine owne part being sure that these busie bodies shall neuer be able to bite me and verily Cato hath giuen such fellowes a proper name and called them Vitiligatores by a tearme elegantly compounded of vices and quarrels for to say a truth what did they else but picke quarrels and make brawls I will proceed and go one still in my intended purpose Now to conclude and knit vp mine Epistle knowing as I doe that for the good of the Common weale you should be spared and not impeached by any priuat businesse of your owne and namely in perusing these long volumes of mine to preuent this trouble therefore I haue adioyned immediatly io this Epistle and prefixed before these books the Summarie or Contents of euery one and very carefully haue I endeauoured that you should not need to read them throughout whereby all others also after your example may ease themselues of the like labour and as any man is desirous to know this or that he may seeke and readily find in what place to meet with the same This learned I of Valerius Sorranus one of our owne Latine writers who hath done the like before me and set an Index to these Bookes which he entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE INVENTORIE OR INDEX CONTAINING THE CONTENTS OF XXXVII BOOKS TOVCHING THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE WRITTEN BY C PLINIVS SECVNDVS WHICH IS RECEIVED FOR THE FIRST BOOKE OF THEM ¶ The Summarie of euery Booke THe first Booke containeth the Dedicatorie Epistle or Preface of the whole worke addressed to Titus Vespasian the Emperour Also the names of the Authors out of which hee gathered the Historie which he prosecuteth in 36 Bookes together with the Summarie of euerie Chapter and beginneth The Books c. The second treateth of the World Elements and Starres and beginneth thus The World c. The third describeth the first and second gulfe which the Mediterranean sea maketh in Europe and beginneth in this manner Hitherto c. The fourth compriseth the third gulfe of Europe beginning The third c. The fifth containeth the description of Affricke and beginneth thus Africke c. The sixt handleth the Cosmographie of Asia beginning thus The sea called c. The seuenth treateth of man and his inuentions beginning Thus as you see c. The eighth sheweth vnto vs land creatures and their kindes and beginneth after this manner Passe we now c. The ninth laieth before vs all fishes and creatures of the water beginning in this wise I haue thus shewed c. The tenth speakes of flying foules and birds and beginneth thus It followeth c. The eleuenth telleth vs of Insects and beginneth thus It remaineth now c. The twelfth treateth of drugs and odoriferous plants beginning Thus you c. The thirteenth describeth strange and forreine trees beginning with these words Thus farre forth c. The fourteenth sheweth of vine-plants c. beginning thus Thus far forth c. The fifteenth comprehendeth all fruitfull trees thus beginning There were c. The sixteenth describeth vnto vs all wild trees beginning with Hitherto c. The seuenteenth containeth tame trees within hortyards and beginneth with these word 's As touching the nature c. The eighteenth booke treateth of the nature of corne and all sorts thereof together with the profession of husbandmen and agriculture beginning after this manner Now followeth c. The nineteenth discourseth of Flax Spart and Gardenage beginning after this manner In the former booke c. The twentieth sheweth of garden herbs good to serue both the kitchin for meat and the Apothecaries shop for medicine beginneth thus Now will we c. The one and twentieth treateth of flours and garlands beginneth In Cato c. The two and twenty containeth the chaplets and medicines made of hearbes with this beginning Such is the perfection c. The three and twentie sheweth the medicinable vertues of wine and tame trees growing in hortyards beginning thus Thus haue we c. The foure and twentie declareth the properties of wild trees seruing in Physick beginning thus Nature c. The fiue and twentie treateth of the herbes in the field comming vp of their own accord and thus beginneth The excellencie c. The six and twentie sheweth of many new and strange maladies the medicinable vertues also of certaine herbes according to sundry diseases beginning thus The very face c. The seuen and twenty goeth forward to certaine other hearbes and their medicines and thus beginneth Certes c. The eight and twentie setteth downe certaine receits of remedies in Physicke drawne from out of man and other bigger creatures and it beginneth in this manner Heretofore c. The nine and twentie treateth of the first authours and inuentors of Physicke also of medicines taken from other creatures and beginneth The nature c. The thirtieth booke speaketh of Magicke and certaine medicines appropriat to the parts and members of mans bodie beginning thus The vanitie c. The one and thirtie containeth the medicinable vertues of fishes and water creatures with this beginning Now follow c. The two and thirtie sheweth other properties of fishes c. and beginneth in this manner Now are we come c. The three and thirtie treateth of gold and siluer mines and hath this beginning Time it is c. The foure and thirtie speaketh of copper and brasse mines also of lead also of excellent brasse-founders and workemen in copper beginning after this manner In the next place c. The fiue and thirtie discourseth of painting colour and painters beginning in this sort The discourse c. The six and thirtie treateth of marble and stone for building and hath this beginginning It remaineth c. The seuen and thirtie concludeth with pretious stones and beginneth at these words To the end that c. ¶ IN THE SECOND BOOKE IS CONTAINED the discourse of the World of coelestiall impressions and meteors as also of them that appeare in the Aire and vpon Earth Chap. 1. Whether the World be finite and limited within certaine dimensions or no whether there be many or but one 2. The forme and figure of Heauen and the world 3. The motion of Heauen 4. Why the world is called Mundus 5. Of
and Acacia 13. Of the common and wild thistle of Ery sisceptrum of the thorne or thystle Appendix of Pyxacanthum or the Barbarie tree of Paliurus of the Holly of the Eugh tree and other bushes with their vertues in Physicke 14. Of the sweet Brier or Eglantine of the Respâ—…ce bush of the white bramble Rhamnus of Lycium of Sarcocolla of the composition named Oporice and all their medicines 15. Of Germander of Perwinke or Lowrie of 〈◊〉 or Oliuell of Chamaesyce of ground yvie of Lauander Cotton of Ampeloprasos or Vine Porret of Stachys or wild Sauge of Clinopodium or Horse-time of Cudweed of Perwinke of Aegypt and their properties 16. Of Wake-Robin of Dragonwort or Serpentine of the garden the greater Dragon-wort of Arisaron of yarrow and Millefoile of bastard Nauew of Myrrhis and Onobrychis with their vertues 17. Of Coriacesia Callicia and Menais with three and twentie other hearbes and their properties which are held by some to serue in Magick Of Considia and Aproxis with others that reduce and reuiue loue againe 18. Of Eriphia Lanaria and water Yarrow with their vertues 19. Of the herbes that growe vpon the head of statues and Images of the hearbes that come out of riuers of the herbe called Lingua simply i. the tongue of herbes growing within sieues and vpon dnnghils of Rhodora of the herbe Impia i. the child before the parents of the herbe Pecten veneris of Nodia of Cleiuers or Goose Erith of Burs of Tordile of Dent de chien or Quiches of Dactylus and Fenigreek with their vertues In summe herein are comprised medicines stories and obseruations a thousand foure hundred and eighteene collected out of Latine Authors C. Volgius Pompeius Lenaeus Sextius Niger and Iulius Bassus who wrate both in Greeke Antonius Castor M. Varro Cornelius Celsus and Fabius Forreine Writers Theophrastus Apollodorus Democritus Orpheus Pythagoras Mago Menander the author of the booke Biochresta Nicander Homer Hesiodus Museus Sophocles and Anaxilaus Physitians Mnestheus Callimachus Phanias the naturall Philosopher Simo Timaristus Hippocrates Chrysippus Diocles Ophion Heraclides Hicesius Dionysius Apollodorus of Cittia Apollodorus the Tarentine Praxagoras Plistonicus Medius Dieuchus Cleophantus Philistio Asclepiades Cratevas Petronius Diodotus Iolla Erasistratus Diagoras Andreas Mnesicles Epicharmus Damion Sosimenes Theopolemus Solon Lycus Metrodorus Olympias the Midwife of Thebes Phyllinus Petreius Miction Glaucia and Xenocrates ¶ IN THE XXV BOOKE ARE CONTAINED the natures of hearbes and weeds that come vp of themselues The reputation that hearbes haue been of When they began first to be vsed Chap. 1. The properties and natures of wild herbes growing of their owne accord 2. What Authours haue written in Latine of the nature and vse of hearbes When the knowledge of simples began first to be practised at Rome What Greeke Authours first wrote of herbes the inuention and finding out of sundry hearbes the Physicke of old time What is the cause that Simples are not so much in request and vse for Physicke as in old time The medicinable vertues of the Eglantine and Serpentary or Dragon 3. Of a certaine venomous fountaine in Almaine the vertues and properties of the herbe Britannica what diseases cause the greatest paines 4. Of Moly of Dodecatheos of Paeonium named otherwise Pentorobus and Glycyside of Panace or Asclepios of Heraclium of Panace Chironeum of Panace Centaureum or Pharnaceum of Heraclium Siderium of Henbane 5. Of the herbe Mercurie female of Parthenium of Hermu-Poea or rather Mercurie of Yarow of Panace Heracleum of Sideritis of Millefoile of Scopa regio of Hemionium Teucrium Splenium Melampodium or blacke Ellebore and how many kinds there be of them The medicinable vertues of blacke and white Ellebore when Ellebore is to be giuen how it is to be taken to whom it is not to be giuen also that it killeth Mice and Rats 6. Of Mithridatium of Scordotis or Scordium of Polemonia otherwise called Philetaeria or Chiliodynama of Eupatorie or Agrimonie of great Centaurie otherwise called Chironium of the lesse Centaurie or Libadium called Fel Terrae i. the gall of the Earth Of Triorches and their vertues 7. Of Clymenus Gentian Lysimachia and Parthenius or Motherwort Mugwort Ambrose Nenuphar Heraclium and Euphorbia with all their vertues medicinable 8. Of Plantaine Buglosse Hounds tongue Oxe-eye or May weed of Scythica Hippice and Ischaemon of Betonie Cantabrica Settarwort of Dittander or Hiberis of Celendine the greater Celendine the lesse or Pilewort of Canaria of Elaphoboscos of Dictamnum of Aristolochia or Hartwort how fishes will come to it for loue of bait and so are soone caught The counterpoysons against stinging of serpents by these herbes abouenamed 9. Of Argemonia of Agaricke Echium Henbane Vervaine Blattaria Lemonia Cinquefoile Carot Persalata the Clot Burre Swines bread or Cyclaminus Harstrang all very good for the sting of serpents 10. Of Danewort or Walwort of Mullin of Thelyphonon Remedies against the sting of Scorpions the biting of Toades and mad Dogs and generally against all poysons 11. Receits and remedies against head-ach and diseases of the head 12. Of Centaurie Celendine Panace and Henbane and Euphorbium all soueraigne medicines for the eies 13. Of Pimpernell or Corchorus of Mandragoras or Circeium of Henbane of Crethmoagrion of Molybdaena of Fumiterre of Galengale of Floure de lis of Cotyledon or Vmbilicus Veneris of Housleeke or Sengreene of Pourcellane of Groundswell of Ephemerum of great Tazill of Crow-foot which affourd medicines against the infirmities and diseases of the eyes eares nosthrils teeth and mouth In summe this Booke doth yeeld of medicines stories and obseruations a thousand two hundred ninetie and two Latine Authours cited M. Varro C. Volgius Pompeius Lenaeus Sextius Niger and Iulius Bassus who both wrote in Greeke Antonius Castor and Cornelius Celsus Forreine Writers Theophrastus Apollodorus Democritus king Iuba Orpheus Pythagoras Mago Menander who wrote Biochresta Nicander Homer Hesiodus Musaeus Sophocles Xanthus and Anaxilaus Physitians Mnestheus Callimachus Phanias the naturall Philosopher Timaristus Simus Hippocrates Chrysippus Diocles Ophion Heraclides Hicesius Dionysius Apollodorus the Tarentine Praxagoras Plistonicus Medius Dieuches Cleophantus Philistio Asclepiades Cratevas Iolla Erasistratus Diagoras Andreas Mnesicles Epicharmus Damion Theopolemus Metrodorus Solon Lycus Olympias the midwife of Thebes Phyllinus Petreius Miction Glaucias and Xenocrates ¶ IN THE XXVI BOOKE ARE CONTAIned the medicines for the parts of mans bodie Chap. 1. Of new maladies and namely of Lichenes what they be and when they began to raign in Italie first Of the Carbuncle of the white Morphew or Leprosie called Elephantiasis and of the Collicke 2. The praise of Hippocrates 3. Of the new practise in Physicke of the Physician Asclepiades and by what meanes hee abolished the old manner of practise and set vp a new 4. The superstitious follie of Magicke is derided Also a discourse touching the foule tettar called Lichenes the remedie thereof and also the infirmities of the throat and chawes 5. Receits and remedies against the kings euil also for
may wonder the more at this matter and come to the full conceit thereof if he do but consider that it was counted an exceeding great iourny that Tiberius Nero made with three chariots shifting from one to the other fresh in a day and a night riding post haste vnto his brother Drusus then lying sicke in Germany and all that was but 200 miles CHAP. XXI ¶ Examples of good Eie-sight VVE find in histories as incredible examples as any be as touching quicknesse of Eie-sight Cicero hath recorded that the whole Poeme of Homer called Ilias was written in a piece of parchment which was able to be couched within a nut shel The same writer maketh mention of one that could see and discerne out-right 135 miles And M. Varro nameth the man and saith he was called Strabo who affirmeth thus much moreouer of him that during the Carthaginian war he was wont to stand and watch vpon Lilybaeum a cape in Sicily to discouer the enemies fleet loosing out of the hauen of Carthage and was able to tel the very just number of the ships Callicrates vsed to make Pismires and other such like little creatures out of yvorie so artificially that other men could not discerne the parts of their body one from another There was one Myrmecides excellent in that kinde of workmanship who of the same matter wrought a chariot with foure wheeles and as many steeds in so little roome that a silly flie might couer all with her wings Also he made a ship with all the tackling to it no bigger than a little bee might hide it with her wings CHAP. XXII ¶ Of Hearing AS for hearing there is one example wonderfull For the bruit of that battell whereupon Sybaris was forced sacked was heard the very same day as far as Olympia in Greece As touching the news of the Cimbrians defeature as also the report and tidings of the victorie ouer the Persians made by the Roman Castores the same day that it was atchieued were held for diuine reuelations rather than humane reports and the knowledge thereof came more by way of vision than otherwise CHAP. XXIII ¶ Examples of Patience MAny are the calamities of this life incident to mankind which haue affoorded infinite trials of mens patience in suffering paines in their body Among others for women the example of Leaena the courtisan is most rare and singular who for all the dolorous tortures that could be deuised would neuer bewray Harmodius and Aristogiton who slew the tyranous king And for men Anaxarchus did the like who being for such a cause examined vpon the racke in the midst of his torments bit off his own tongue with his teeth the only means wherby he might haply reueale and disclose the matter in question and spit it in the face of the ty rant that put him to his torture CHAP. XXIIII ¶ Examples of Memorie AS touching memorie the greatest gift of Nature and most necessary of all others for this life hard it is to iudge and say who of all others deserued the chiefe honor therein considering how many men haue excelled and woon much glory in that behalfe King Cyrus was able to call euery souldier that he had through his whole army by his owne name L. Scipio could do the like by all the citizens of Rome Semblably Cineas Embassador of king Pyrrhus the very next day that he came to Rome both knew and also saluted by name all the Senate the whole degrees of Gentlemen and Cauallerie in the citie Mithridates the king reigned ouer two and twentie nations of diuers languages and in so many tongues gaue lawes and ministred justice vnto them without truchman and when he was to make speech vnto them in publicke assembly respectiuely to euery nation he did performe it in their own tongue without interpretor One Charmidas or Charmadas a Grecian was of so singular a memory that hâ—… was able to deliuer by heart the contents word for word of all the books that a man would call for out of any librarie as if he read the same presently within book At length the practise hereof was reduced into an art of Memory deuised and inuented first by Simonides Melicus and afterwards brought to perfection and consummate by Metrodorus Sepsius by which a man might learne to rehearse againe the same words of any discourse whatsoeuer after once hearing and yet there is not a thing in man so fraile and brittle againe as it whether it be occasioned by disease by casual iniuries or occurrents or by feare through which it faileth somtime in part and otherwhiles decaieth generally and is clean lost One with the stroke of a stone fell presently to forget his letters onely and could reade no more otherwise his memorie serued him well enough Another with a fall from the roofe of a very high house lost the remembrance of his owne mother his next kinsfolks friends and neighbors Another in a sicknesse of his forgot his own seruants about him and Messala Corvinus the great Orator vpon the like occasion forgot his own proper name So fickle and slipperie is mans memorie that oftentimes it assaieth and goeth about to leese it selfe euen whiles a mans body is otherwise quiet and in health But let sleep creepe at any time vpon vs it seemeth to be vanquished so as our poore spirit wandreth vp and downe to seeke where it is and to recouer it againe CHAP. XXV ¶ The praise of C. Iulius Caesar. FOr vigor and quicknesse of spirit I take it that C. Caesar Dictatour went beyond all men besides I speake not now of his vertue and constancie neither of his high reach and deep wit whereby he apprehended the knowledge of all things vnder the cope of heauen but of that agilitie of minde that prompt and ready conceit of his as nimble and actiue as the verie fire I haue heard it reported of him that he was wont to write to reade to indite letters and withall to giue audience to suiters heare their causes all at one instant And being emploied as you know he was in so great and important affairs he ordinarily indited letters to foure secretaries or clerkes at once and when he was free from other greater businesse he would otherwise finde seuen of them work at one time The same man in his daies fought 50 set battels with banners displaied against his enemies in which point he alone out-went M. Marcellus who was seene 40 times saue one in the field Besides the carnage of citizens that hee made in the ciuill wars when he obtained victory he put to the sword 1192000 of his enemies in one battell or other And certes for mine owne part I hold this for no speciall glory and commendation of his considering so great iniurie done to mankind by this effusion of bloud which in some part hâ—… hath confessed himselfe in that he hath forborne to set downe the ouerthrowes bloud-shed of his aduersaries fellow citizens during the
old wine or vinegre Oftentimes also they make sliber-sauces of it selfe without any other mixture namely when they boile new wine sufficiently to the proportion of the strength vntill the hardnesse do euaporate and that it wax mild and sweet but being thus ordered it will not last they say aboue one yere In some countries they vse to seeth their new wine to the consumption of a third-part and make it Cuit with which they are wont to delay the sharpnes and strength of other wines make them pleasant But both in this kind of wine and in all other the vessels ought to be prepared for the purpose seasoned with pitch the treatise of which we will put off vnto the next booke where we purpose to treat thereof and the manner of making it CHAP. XX. ¶ Of diuers kinds of Pitch and Rosins the manner of the seasoning and confecture of new Wines Also of Vineger and salt AMong trees that yeeld from them a liquid substance some there be in the East countries and others in Europ which ingender Pitch and Rosin Asia likewise between both hath of either side it some such trees As for the East the Terebinths put out Turpentine the best and cleerest Rosin of all others next to them the Lentiskes also haue their Rosin which they call Mastick After which the Cipres brings forth a third rosin but it is of a most sharpe and biting taste All these trees I say carry rosin only and the same thin and liquid but the Cedar sendeth forth a thick substance and good to make pitch tar As for the rosin or gum Arabick it is white in colour strong of smell vntoward and troublesom to him that shall boile it That of Iury is harder yea and of a stronger sauor than Turpentine The Siriack gum resembleth the hony of Athens The Cyprian excelleth all others of a fleshy substance it is like in colour to hony The Colophonian is deeper of colour and reddish beat it to pouder in a mortar it proueth white but it carieth a strong smel with it which is the reason that the perfumers and makers of ointments haue no vse thereof As for that which the pitch trees of Asia do yeeld it is passing white and the Greeks call it Spagas All rosins generally will dissolue in oile Some think verily that Potters clay will likewise do the same But I am abashed ashamed to report how in these daies the same pitch whereof we speake should be in so great account as it is for making of pitch plaisters to fetch off the haire of mens bodies all to make them more smooth and effeminat Howbeit the maner of seasoning new Must therewith that when it is perfect wine it may smell of pitch and bite at the tongues end is to bestrew it with the pouder of pitch at the first working the heate whereof is commonly past and gone in nine daies And some think that the wine will be the stronger if the raw and green floure of the Rosin as it issueth fresh out of the tree be put therein for it will quicken a small and weak wine Now this mixture and medicine of wine called Crapula made thus of rosin hath contrary effects for if the wine be ouer-heady and strong it allaieth mortifieth the hurtful force therof but if it be too weak or drink dead flat it reuiueth againe and giueth it a strong taste In Liguria and principally along the Po they vse to season their wines and bring them al to their seuerall perfections in this maner If the wine when it is new be mighty and strong they put in the more of this medicine or confection called Crapula if it be mild and small then the lesse goes into it and keeping this gage with their hand they make both good Some would haue one wine brued with another the weaker with the stronger and so forsooth there must needs arise a good temperature of both together and verily there is not a thing in the world againe which hath in the nature thereof so great varietie In some countries if new wine worke of it selfe a second time it is thought to be a fault and means to corrupt it and indeed vpon such a chance vnhappy accident it loseth the verdure and quick tast whereupon it gets the name of Vappa and is clean turned to be dead or soure in which regard also we giue a man that name by way of scorne and reproch calling him Vappa when he is heartlesse void of reason and vnderstanding If it were vineger indeed it were another matter for surely though wine degenerate into it by way of corruption and putrefaction yet a vertue and force it hath good for many speciall vses and without which it were not possible to liue so delicatly at our table as we do Moreouer the world is so much giuen to keepe a bruing tempering and medicining of wines that in some places they sophisticate them with ashes as it were with plaister in other they fortifie recouer and make them againe by such deuises as are before specified But to this purpose they take the ashes to chuse of vine cuttings or of the oke wood before any other And forsooth if there be occasion to occupie sea water for this purpose they prescribe them to fetch ir far from land in the deep sea kept also from mid-March or the Spring Equinox or at leastwise from mid-Iune or summer Sunne-stead and drawn in the night when the North wind blowes but if it be got neere the time of vintage then it ought to be wel boiled before it wil serue the turn As for the pitch in Italy that of Brutium or Calabria is reputed for the best to trim those vessels which are to keep wine There is made of the rosin of the tree Picea as also in Spain there comes from the wild Pines a certain pitch which is the very worst for the rosin of those trees is bitter dry of a strong sauor The difference and sundry kinds of pitch as also the manner of making the same we will declare in the book next following in the treatise of wild and sauage trees The faults and imperfections of pitch ouer and besides those euen now rehearsed to wit bitternes drynes strong sent are known by the sournesse stinking smoke and the very adustion thereof But ye shall know good pitch by these experiments if the pieces broken from it do shine if between the teeth it relent and be clammy like glew and haue a pleasant sharpnes and soure tast withall of the vineger In Asia the pitch is thought best which comes of the trees in mount Ida. The Greeks esteem the trees of the hil Pieria chief for this purpose and Virgil commends that of Narycia before all But to returne againe to our brewing and sophistication of wines they that would seeme to be cunninger or at leastwise more curious than their fellowes do mingle therwith blacke
and beareth vs in hand that in the realme Ariana there is found the herbe Arianis of the colour of fire The inhabitants of that country vse to gather it when the Sun is in the signe Leo and they affirme that if it do but touch any wood besmeared and rubbed ouer with oile it will set the same a burning on a light fire What should I write of the plant Therionarca which whensoeuer it beginneth to come vp and rise out of the ground all the wilde beasts will lie benummed and as it were dead neither can they be raised or recouered again vntill they be sprinkled with the vrine of Hyaena The herb Aethiopis by his report groweth in Meroe for which cause it is called also Merois In leafe it resembleth Lectuce and being drunk in mead or honied water there is not such a remedy againe for the dropsie Ouer and besides he speaketh of the plant Ophiusa found in a country of the same Aethyopia named Elephantine of a leaden hue it is and hideous to see to whosoeuer drinke thereof shal be so frighted with the terrors and menaces of serpents represented vnto their eies that for very feare they shall lay violent hands on themselues and therefore church robbers are inforced to drink it How beit if a man take after it a draught of Date wine he shall not be troubled with any such fearfull visions and illusions Moreouer there is found saith Democritus the herbe Thalassegle about the riuer Indus and thereupon is knowne by another name Potamantis which if men or women take in drink transporteth their sences so far out of the way that they shall imagine they see strange sights As for Theangelis which by his saying groweth vpon mount Libanon in Syria and vpon Dicte a mountain in Candy also about Babylon and Susis in Persia if the wise Phylosophers whom they term Magi drinke of that herb they shal incontinently haue the spirit of prophesie and foretell things to come There is besides in the region called Bactriana about the riuer Borysthenes another strange plant named Gelotophyllis which by his report if one do drink with Myrrh and wine it will cause many fantasticall apparitions and the party shal therupon fal into a fit of laughter without ceasing and intermission and neuer giue ouer vnlesse it be with a draught of Date wine wherein were tempered the kernels of Pine nuts together with pepper and honey Touching the herb of good fellowship Syssitieteris found in Persis it tooke that name because it maketh them exceeding mery who are met together at a feast They call the same herb likewise Protomedia for that it is so highly esteemed among kings and princes And another name it hath besides to wit Acasignete because it commeth vp alone no other herbs neere vnto it yea and one more yet namely Dionysonymphas because wine and it sort so well together and make as it were a good mariage The same Democritus talketh also of Helianthe an herb leaued like to the Myrtle growing in the country Themiscyra and the mountains of Cilicia coasting a long the sea And he giues out that if it be boiled with Lions grease and then together with Safron and Date wine reduced into an ointment the forefaid Magi and the Persian kings therewith annoint themselues to seem thereby more pleasant and amiable to the people which is the reason that the same herb is called Heliocallis Ouer and besides he maketh mention of Hermesias for so he termeth not an herb but a certain composition singular for the getting of children which shall proue faire and of good nature besides Made it is of Pine nut kernels stamped and incorporat with hony Myrrh Safron and Date wine with an addition afterwards of the hearbe Theombrotium and milke and this confection he prescribeth to be drunk by the man a little before the very act of generation but by women vpon their conception yea and after their deliuery all the while they be nources and giue suck and in so doing they may be assured those children of theirs thus gotten bred and reared shall be passing faire and well fauoured of an excellent spirit and courage and in one word euery way good Of all these herbes before specified he setteth down also the very names which the said Magi call them by Thus much for the Magicke herbes found in Democritus his booke Apollodorus one of his disciples and followers comes in with his two herbs to the other before named The one he calleth Aeschynomaene because it draweth in the leaues if one come neare vnto it with the hand the other Crocis which if the venomous spiders Phalangia do but touch they will die vpon it Cratevas writeth of an herb called Oenotheris which being put in wine if any sauage beasts be sprinckled therewith they will become tame gentle and tractable A famous Grammarian of late daies made mention of another herb Anacampseros of this vertue That if a man touched a woman therewith were she departed from him in all the hatred that might be she should come again and loue him entirely The same benefit also should the woman find therby in winning the loue of a man This may suffice for the present to haue written of these wonderfull Magick herbes considering that I meane to discourse more at large of them and their superstition in a more conuenient place CHAP. XVIII ¶ Of Eriphia Lanaria and Stratiotis with the medicines which they yeeld MAny writers haue made mention of Eriphia This herb hath within the straw of the stem a certain flie like a beetle running vp and down and by that meanes making a noise like vnto a yong kid whereupon it took the foresaid name There is not a better thing in the world for the voice than this herb as folk say The herb Lanaria giuen to ewes in a morning when they are fasting causeth their vdders to strout with milk Lactoris likewise is a common herb and as well known by reason that it is so full of milk which causeth vomit if one tast thereof neuer so little Some there be who say that the herb which they cal Militaris is all one with this Lactoris others would haue it to be very like vnto it and that it should haue that name because there is not a wound made with sword or edged weapon but it healeth it within fiue daies in case it be applied thereto with oile Semblably the Greek writers make great reckoning of their Stratiotes but this hearl 〈◊〉 groweth onely in Egypt and namely in floten grounds where the riuer Nilus hath ouerflowed and like it is vnto Sengreen or Housleek but that it hath bigger leaues It is exceeding refrigeratiue and a great healer of green wounds being made into a liniment with vineger moreouer it cureth S. Anthonies fire and all apostumes which are broken and run matter if it be taken in drinke with the male Frankincense it is wonderfull to see how
health consisted in this That a man should become as bloudie as a sauage beast or that be counted a remedy which indeed is cause of a mischiefe and malady And wel deserue such bloud-suckers and cruell leeches to be frustrat of their cure and thereby to worke their owne bane and destruction for if it be held vnlawfull and abhominable to prie and look into the entrails and bowels of a mans body what is it then to chew and eat them But what monster was hee who first broched this geare and deuised such accursed drugs Ah wicked wretch the inuenter and artificer of those monstrosities thou that hast ouerthrowne all law of humanity for with thee wil I haue to do against thee will I whet my tongue and turne the edge of my style who first didst bring vp this bruitish leech-craft for no other purpose but to be spoken of another day and that the world might neuer forget thy wicked inuentions What direction had he who thus began to deuoure mans body lim by lim nay what conjecture or guesse moued him so to do what might the originall and foundation be whereupon this diuelish Physick was grounded what should he be that bare men in hand and would persuade the world That the thing which is vsed as a poison in witchcraft and sorcerie should auaile more to the health of man than other knowne and approued remedies Set case that some barbarous people vsed so to do say that strange nations and far remoued from all ciuility had these manners among them must the Greekes take vp those fashions also yea and credit them so much as to reduce them into a method amongst other their goodly Arts And yet see what Democritus one of them haue done there be extant at this day books of his inditing and penning wherein you shal reade That the soul of a wicked malefactor is in some cases better than that of an honest person and in other That of a friend and guest preferred before a stranger As for Apollonius another of that brood hee hath written That if the gums be scarrified with the tooth of a man violently slain it is a most effectuall and present remedy for the tooth-ach Artemon had no better receit for the falling sicknesse than to draw vp water out of a fountaine in the night season and to giue the same vnto the Patient to drink it in the brain-pan of a man who died some violent death so he were not burnt And Antheus took the scull of one that had bin hanged and made pills thereof which he ministred vnto those who were bitten by a mad dog for a soueraigne remedy Moreouer these writers not content to vse these sorceries about men imploied the medicines also of the parts of man to the cure of foure footed beasts and namely if kine or oxen were dew-blowne or otherwise puffed vp they were wont to bore holes through their horns so to inlay or interlard them as it were with mens bones finally when swine were diseased they tooke the fine white wheat Siligo being permitted to lie one whole night in the very place where some men were killed or burnt and gaue it them to eat As for me and all vs that are Latine writers God forbid we should defile our papers with such filthinesse our intention is to put downe in writing those good and wholsome medicines which man may affoord vnto man and not to set abroad any such detestable and hainous sorceries as for example to shew what medicinable vertue there may be in brest-milke of women newly deliuered what healthfull operation there is in our fasting spittle or what the touching of a man or womans body may auaile in the cure of any malady and many other semblable things arising from naturall causes For mine owne part verily I am of this mind That we ought not so much to make of our health or life as to maintain and preserue the same by any indirect course and vnlawful meanes And thou whosoeuer thou be that doest addict thy selfe to such villanies whiles thou liuest shalt die in the end a death answerable to thy beastly and execrable life To conclude therefore let euery man for to comfort his heart and to cure the maladies of his mind set this principle before his eies That of all those good gifts which Nature hath bestowed vpon man there is none better than to die in a fit and seasonable time and in so doing this is simply the best That in his power it is and the meanes hee hath to chuse what death he list CHAP. II. ¶ Whether Words Spels or Charmes are auaileable in Physicke Also whether wonders and strange prodigies may be either wrought and procured or put by and auoided by them or no. THe first point concerning the remedies medicinable drawn from out of man which mooueth the greatest question and the same as yet not decided and resolued is this Whether bare Words Charms and Inchantments be of any power or no If it be granted Yea then no doubt ought we to ascribe that vertue vnto man But the wisest Philosophers and greatest Doctors take them one by one doubt thereof and giue no credit at all thereto And yet go by the common voice of the whole world you shall find it a generall beleefe and a blinde opinion alwaies receiued whereof there is no reason or certain experience to ground vpon For first and formost we see that if any beast be killed for sacrifice without a sett forme of praier it is to no purpose and held vnlawfull semblably if these inuocations be omitted when as men seeke to any Oracles and would be directed in the wil of gods by beasts bowels or otherwise all booteth not but the gods seem displeased thereby Moreouer the words vsed in crauing to obtaine any thing at their hands run in one form and the exorcismes in diuerting their ire turning away some imminent plagues are framed after another sort also there be proper termes seruing for meditation only and contemplation Nay we haue seene and obserued how men haue come to make suit and tender petitions to the soueraign and highest magistrats with a preamble of certain set prayers Certes so strict and precise men are in this point about diuine seruice that for fear least some words should be either left out or pronounced out of order there is one appointed of purpose as a prompter to read the same before the priest out of a written booke that hee misse not in a tittle another also set neare at his elbow as a keeper to obserue and mark that he faile not in any ceremony or circumstance and a third ordained to goe before and make silence saying thus to the whole assembly congregation Favete linguis i. spare your tongues and be silent and then the fluits and haut-boies begin to sound and play to the end that no other thing be heard for to trouble his mind or interrupt him the while And verily
there haue been memorable examples knowne of strange accidents insuing both waies namely as often as either the vnlucky foules by their vntoward noise haue disturbed and done hurt or if at any time there haue bin error committed in the prescript prayer exorcisme for by this means it falleth out oftentimes that all on a sudden as the beast standeth there in place to be sacrificed the master veine in the liuer named the head thereof is found missing among other entrails and the heart likewise wanting or contrariwise both these to be double and appeare twain for one And euen at this day there remaineth a most notable precedent and example to all posterity in that prescript forme of exorcisme whereby the two Decij both the father and sonne betooke themselues to all the hellish furies and fiends infernall moreouer the imprecation of the vestall Nun Tuccia when shee was put to proue her virginity continueth extant vpon record by vertue of which charme she carried water in a sive without shedding one drop which happened in the yeare after the foundation of Rome city 609. And verily no longer ago than of late time in our own age we saw two Graecians to wit a man and a woman yea and some of other nations with whom in those daies wee maintained warres buried quicke within the beast-market in Rome in which maner of sacrifice whosoeuer readeth the prayer or exorcisme that is vsed and which the VVarden or Principall of the colledge of the Quindecemvirs is woont to reade and pronounce to the exorcist he would no doubt confesse that such charmes and execrations be of great importance and namely seeing they haue bin all approoved and found effectuall by the experience and euents obserued for the space of eight hundred and thirtie yeares As for our vestall virgins in these our daies we are certainely persuaded and beleeue that by the vertue of certaine spels and charmes which they haue they be able to arrest and stay any fugitiue slaue for running one foot farther prouided alwaies that they be not gone already without the pourprise and precinct of the city wals Now if this be receiued once as an vndoubted and confessed truth and if we admit that the gods do heare some praiers or be moued by any words then surely we may resolue at once of these conjectures and conclude affirmatiuely of the maine question Certes our ancestors from time to time haue euermore beleeued and deliuered such principle yea and that which of all other seemeth most incredible they haue affirmed constantly That by the power of such charmes and conjurations Thunder and Lightening might be fetched downe from aboue as I haue formerly shewed L. Piso reporteth in the first booke of his Annals or yearely Chronicles That Tullus Hostilius king of Rome was stricken dead with Lightening for that when hee went in hand to call Iupiter downe out of heauen by vertue of a sacrifice which king Numa was woont to vse in that case hee had not obserued exactly all the exorcismes and ceremoniall words contained in those bookes of king Numa but swarued somwhat from them And many other writers do testifie that by the power of words and osses the destinies and prodigies of great importance presaged to one place haue bin cleane altered and transferred to another as it was like to haue happened to the Romanes at what time as they laied the foundation of Iupiters Temple vpon the mount or rocke Tarpeius For when they digged there for the foundation of the said Temple and chanced to finde within the ground a mans head the Senate of Rome sent certaine Embassadours of purpose to the Sages and VVisards of Tuscane to know the signification of this strange sight and miraculous occurrent VVhereof Olenus Calenus who was reputed the most famous diuinor and prophet of all the Tuscanes hauing some intelligence and foreseeing the great felicity and happinesse that it imported and presaged intended by subtill interrogatiue to translate the benefit thereof to his owne native countrey of Tuscane Hauing therefore first with a staffe set out and described as it were the modell and forme of a Temple vpon the ground which lay before him hee came about the Roman Embassadors beforesaid and questioned with them in this wilie manner Is it so Romans as you say and are these your words indeed There must be a Temple here of Iupiter that most gracions and mighty god we haue light here vpon a mans head Vnto which interrogation of his the said Roman Embassadours according to the instructions which they had receiued beforehand from the VVisard or Diuinors sonne answered in this manner No not here in this very place but at Rome we say the head was found And verily our antient Chronicles doe all of them most constantly affirm that had they not been thus forewarned and taught what to say but had simply answered Yea here we haue found a head c. The fortune of the Roman State and Empire had gone quite away to the Tuscans and been established among them The same had like to haue happened a second time as we may see in the Records and Monuments of old date when as a certain chariot with foure horses made of clay and prepared for to be set vpon the louver or lantern of the said temple chanced as it lay baking in the furnace to grow into an extraordinary bignesse For the foresaid Wise men of Tuscan being asked what the said prodigy should betoken practised the like as Olenus did but the Romans being wise wary in their words saued and retained the same fortune still for the behoofe of Rome which was presaged vnto them by that happy foretoken These examples may suffice to shew prooue euidently that the vertues and significations of these signes and presages do lie in our own power and are no otherwise of force and effect but according as euery one of them is so taken and accepted True it is and held for an vndoubted principle in the Augures discipline learning That neither cursed execrations ominous and vnlucky birds nor any other presage by their flight singing and feeding can touch those persons who take no heed of them and do protest plainly that they regard them not what businesse soeuer they go about and be entering into a greater gift than which and testimony of the diuine indulgence and fauor of the gods to vs we cannot haue thus to subiect their secrets to our puissance Moreouer in the laws and ordinances of the 12 tables here at Rome are not in one place these very words to be found Qui fruges occentassit i. whosoeuer shall enchant or fore-speake any corne or fruits of the earth and in another place Quimalum carmen iâ—…cantassit i. What person soeuer vseth pernicious charmes to the hurt or mischiefe of any creature Ouer and besides Verrius Flaccus doth affirm vpon the credit of certain Authors which be alleadgeth and beleeueth That the first thing which
field A strang matter that we should so do considering how many thousands of nations there be that liue in health wel ynough without these Physicians and yet I canot say altogether without Physicke Like as the people of Rome also notwithstanding the Romanes were euer knowne to be forward ynough to entertaine all good arts and disciplines continued for the space of six hundred yeares and aboue after the foundation of their citie and knew not what a Physician meant but afterwards they did cast a great fancie to Physick also howbeit vpon some little experience thereof they were as ready to loath and condemne it as they were desirous before to haue a tast and triall of it And here I thinke it not amisse in this corrupt age of ours wherein we liue to discouer and relate certain principall examples of our ancestours worthy to be noted in this behalfe And to begin withall Cassius Haemina an ancient Historiographer doth report That the first Physician that euer came to Rome was one Archagathus the sonne of Lysanias from out of Peloponnesus which was when L. Aemylius and M. Livius were Consuls and in the yeare after the foundation of the citie of Rome 535. And this mine Author saith that he was enfraunchised free denizen of Rome and had a shop prouided for him standing in the carrefour of Acilius bought at the charges of the citie for to entertaine his patients and therin to exercise his cunning Called he was by report The vulnerarie Physician or Chirurgion wonderfull much seeking running there was after him and none more wealthie than he at his first comming But soon after when hee was knowne once to carry a cruell hand ouer his poore patients in cutting lancing dismembring and cauterizing their bodies they quickly began to alter his name and to terme him the bloudy Butcher or Slaughter-man whereupon not onely all Physitians but Physick also grew into a bad name and became odious as may appeare euidently by the monuments and books of M. Cato a worthy personage and in regard of whose vertues and commendable parts his triumph and Censorship as famous honorable as they were deserue the least part of his authority and reputation so much was there in himselfe aboue the gifts and graces of Fortune I will therefore insert in this place word for word an Epistle of his vnto his sonne Marcus touching this matter wherein he thus writeth Concerning these Greckes sonne Marcus I will write in place and time conuenient what I haue found out and knowne by them in Athens and namely that it were good to looke into their books and reade them as it were by the way but in no wise to study vpon them much and learn them throughly I haue already giuen the attempt and intend to conuince and put downe the wickedest race and most peruerse and obstinat kind of them And learne this of mee as from the mouth of a true Prophet That whensoeuer this Greekish Nation shall bring into Rome their Philosophie they will corrupt and marre all but let them send once their Physitians hither you shall see a greater wrecke and confusion thereby For I assure thee they haue complotted and sworne one to another for to murder all Barbarians by means of their Physicke And euen to effect and bring this about they will be fed also and take money to the end that both we should trust them the rather and they also haue the better meanes to worke the feat and dispatch folke with more facility As for vs it pleaseth them vsually to name vs Barbarians yea and they giue vnto vs more filthy termes than any others and mis-call vs Opiques Well remember thou once for all that I haue giuen thee warning of their Physitians and forbidden thee to be acquainted with them Now Cato who wrote this letter died in the six hundred and fifth yere after the foundation of our city when himselfe was fourscore yeres old and fiue whereby a man may see that he wanted not grounded knowledge when he deliuered this speech vnto his sonne for hee had both the practise of former times in publicke affaires and age sufficient of his owne to furnish him with experience of priuat examples What say we then to this resolution of his Are wee to judge and beleeue that hee hath condemned thereby a thing so necessary and profitable as Physicke is God forbid for himselfe setteth downe a little after what Physick and what medicines both he and his wife were acquainted with and by meanes whereof they came to be so aged as they were and those were no other verily but the vse of simples whereof wee now are in hand to treat He saith moreouer and professeth that he hath made one Treatise expressely containing certaine receits for the cure of his son and seruants and for the preseruation of their health the which I haue not omitted but dispersed here and there according to the occurrences of accidents and diseases of sundry sorts whereof I haue had some occasion to speak of and stil shall haue more wherby it is plain that our antient forefathers blamed not the thing it self I meane Physicke and medicines but the Art and cunning of Physitians who had the handling thereof And most of all they held off and were afraid to entertaine those amongst them who sought such exceeding gaines for their handie worke especially where they indangered their liues withall And that they made some account of Physicke may appeare by this that when they receiued Aesculapius as a canonized god into their Kalender they built one temple for him without the city of Rome yea and the second which in his honour they erected was scituate within the Island apart from other buildings Also at what time as by vertue of an edict all other Greeks were banished Italy Physitians were excepted and that was many a yeare after Cato his time And here by the way one word will I speake to the honour of our Romanes for their singular wisedome and prouidence namely That howsoeuer they are growne to good proofe and be accomplished in al other Arts and Professions of the Greeks yet their grauity hitherto hath bin such as they would not giue themselues to the practise of this only Science And notwithstanding the exceeding wealth that accrueth by Physicke yet very few or none of our naturall Roman citizens haue medled therewith And those also that haue betaken themselues vnto it presently haue forsaken their natiue language and gone to the Greek tongue For this opinion verily there is of this Art That if the Professors thereof handle it in their vulgar and mother tongue or otherwise in any other than Greeke all the authoritie grace and credit thereof is lost euen with those that be altogether vnlearned and know not so much as the Greek Alâ—…habet See the nature and foolish propertie of our Countreymen to haue lesse confidence and trust in those things which concerne their life and health
vnto the souldiers their wages and their very pay thereupon was called Stipendiam from whence commeth Stipend a word commonly receiued According to which manner and custome all buyings and sellings at this day which passe with warrantise are vsually performed by interposition of the ballance which fer ueth to testifie the realitie of the contract and bargaine on both parts Touching brasse mony Servius Tullius a king of Rome caused it first to be coined with a stampe for before his daies they vsed it at Rome rude in the masse or lumpe as Remeus mine author doth testifie And what was the marke imprinted thereupon euen a sheepe which in Latine they call Pecus and from thence proceedeth the word Pecunia that signifieth mony And note here by the way that during the reigne of that king the best man in all Rome was valewed to be worth in goods not aboue 110000 Asses in brasse and at this rate were assessed the principall houses of the city in the kings bookes and this was counted the first Classis Afterwards in the 485 yere from the foundation of the city when Q. Ogulnius and C. Fabius were Consuls fiue yeares before the first Punicke warre they began to stampe siluer mony at Rome and three seuerall pieces were coined At what time ordained it was That the Denarius or Denier should goe for tenne Asses or pounds of brasse mony the halfe Denier Quinarius should be currant for fiue and the Sesterce reckoned worth two and a halfe Now for as much as during the first Punick war against the Carthaginians the ctiy was growne much behind hand and farre indebted so as they were not able to goe through the charges which they were to defray agreed it was and ordained to raise the worth of the brasen mony by diminishing the poise wheras therfore the Asse weighed a pound of twelue ounces they made the Asse of two ounces By which deuise the Commonwealth gained fiue parts in six and the Fisque or city chamber by that means was soone acquit of all debts But if you would know what was the marke of this new brasen Asse of the one side it was stamped with a two faced Ianus on the other side with the beake-head of a ship armed with brasen pikes Other smaller pieces there were according to that proportion to wit Trientes the third part of an Asse and Quadrantes the fourth which had the print of punts or small boats vpon them As for the piece Quadrans it was before time called Triuncis because it weighed three ounces Howbeit in processe of time when Anniball pressed hard vpon the city and put them to an exigent for mony to maintaine the wars against him driuen they were to their shifts and forced when Q. Fabius was Dictator to bring downe the foresaid Asse of two ounces vnto one Yea and enected it was That the siluer denier which went before time for ten Asses should be worth sixteene the halfe Denier or Quinare eight and the Sesterce foure and by this means the State gained the one halfe full And yet I must except the mony paied to souldiers for their wages for a Denier vnto them was neuer reckoned aboue ten Asses As for the siluer Deniers stamped they were with the pourtraiture of coches drawne with two horses or foure horses whereupon they were called Bigati and Quadrigati Within a while after there passed an act promulged by Papyrius by vertue whereof the Asses weighed not aboue halfe an ounce Then came Livius Drusus in place who being one of the Prouosts or Tribunes of the commons brought in base money and delaied the siluer with one eight part of brasse Touching that piece of coine which now is called Victoriatus stamped it was by an Act proposed by Clodius for before his time those pieces of mony were brought out of Sclauonia and reckoned as merchandise and stamped it is with the image of Victorie of which it tooke that name Concerning gold coined into mony it came vp threescore and two yeres after the stamping of siluer pieces and a scriptule of gold was taxed and valued at twenty sesterces which ariseth in euery pound according to the worth of sesterces as they were rated in those daies to nine hundred Sesterces But afterwards it was thought good to cast and stampe pieces of gold after the proportion of fiftie to a pound And those the Emperors by little and little diminished stil in poise till at length Nero brought them downe to the lowest and caused them to be coined after the rate of fiue and fiftie pieces to the pound In summe the very source and originall of all auarice proceedeth from this mony and coine deuised first by lone and vsurie and continued still by such idle persons that put forth their mony to worke for them whiles they sit still and find the sweetnes of the gaine comming in so easily But this greedy desire of hauing more still is growne after an outragious manner to be excessiue and no more to be named couetousnesse but rather insatiable hunger after gold insomuch as Septimuleius an inward and familiar friend of C. Gracchus forgat all bonds of amitie and hauing cut off his friends head vpon promise to haue the weight of it in gold brought the same vnto Opimius howbeit he poured molten lead into the mouth thereof to make it more heauie and so together with this parricide and vnnaturall murtherer cousened also beguiled the Commonweale But to speak no more of any particular citizen of Rome the whole name of the Romanes hath beene infamous among forraine nations for auarice and corruption in this kind as may appeare by the conceit that king Mithridates had of them who caused Aquilius a Generall of theirs whose hap was to fall into his hands for to drinke molten gold See what couetousnesse brings home with it in the end Now when I behold and consider no more but these strange names of our vessell in plate which are newly deuised in Greek from time to time according as the siluer is either double or parcell gilt or the gold enclosed and bound within worke I am ashamed of it and the rather for that in regard of these deuised names and daintie toies such plate as well of beaten gold as guilded only should be so vendible and sell so deare especially knowing as we do full well the good order that Spartacus held in his campe expressely commanding that no man should haue any plate of gold or siluer A great reproch to vs Romans that our fugitiues banished persons should shew a more nobler spirit than we our selues Messala the great Oratour hath left in writing That M. Antonius vsed to discharge all the ordure and filthy excrements of the body into vessels of gold yea and allowed Cleopatra likewise to do the same by her monthly superfluities most shamefully Noted it was among forrein Nations for excessiue licentiousnesse and that in the highest degree that K. Philip of Macedony was neuer
strong and violent smell the better men take it to be such also is pure clear and brittle withal or easie to crumble mundificatiue it is and astrir gent heating also and exceeding corrosiue and the principal vertue that it hath is to fret and putrifie whatsoeuer it worketh vpon in a liniment with vineger it causeth the haire to come vp thicke againe in places despoiled thereof by any disease It entreth iuto collyries or eie-salues reduced into a lohoch with hony it clenseth the throat and maketh a cleare shrill and loud voice eaten by way of a bole with turpentine it is a gentle and pleasant medicine for those that be short-winded and troubled with the cough a perfume also made with it and Cedar together is good in the same cases so that the smoke be receiued vp at the mouth As for Arsenicke it is of the same stuffe that which is best of this kind resembleth burnished gold in colour the paler kind inclining to the colour of Sandaracha is thought to be the worse A third sort there is of a middle and medled color compounded as it were of gold and Sandaracha These two later kinds be skaly aloft as for the first which is dry and pure it is ful of small veins running here and there whereby it is apt to cleaue as the veine goeth Of the same operation is Arsenicke as the rest but that it is more hot and biting in which regard it is vsed in potentiall cauteries and depilatories it taketh away the carnosities and apostemations about the nailes of the fingers the superfluous flesh also within the nosthrils the bigs that hang forth of the fundament and in one word it eateth away any excrescence whatsoeuer To conclude much better it is and more powerfull in operation in case it be calcined in a new earthen pan where it must torrifie so long vntill it change the colour THE XXXV BOOKE OF THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE WRITTEN BY C. PLINIVS SECVNDVS The Proem THe discourse of Mines and Metalls wherein principally consisteth the wealth of the world of other Mineralls also growing to them with the Natures Operations and effects of them all is an argument so knit and annexed to Physicke that the handling thereof which I haue alreadie well-neare performed not onely discouereth a world of wholesome medicines profitable for the life and health of man but also inferreth a number of hidden secrets couched within the Apothecaries shops yea and openeth the way vnto the curious Art and subtill deuises of Grauers Painters and Diers inducing me withall to take them also before me and to treat thereof accordingly which when I haue done there remaineth yet for mee a new worke to take in hand namely to write of sandry kinds of Earth and Stone and those linked together carying with them a longer traine by far than the former minerals Concerning which other authors and the Greeke writers especially haue so particularized that of each one of them they haue written many volumes For mine owne part I mean not to follow their steps but by way of compendious breuitie to proceed as I haue begun and yet to omit nothing that is necessary profitable and pertinent to Nature CHAP. I. ¶ The honour of flat picture in old time TO begin then with that which remaineth as touching Picture and Painting this would be knowne That in times past it was reputed a noble and excellent art in those daies I meane when Kings and whole Sates made account thereof and when those onely were thought innobled and immortallized whom Painters vouchsafed to commend by their workmanship to posterity But now the marble and porphyrit stones haue put painting clean down the gold also laid vpon them hath woon all credit from painters colours gold I say wherewith not only plain and entire walls are richly guilded all ouer but also the polished works of marble engrauen vpon them after the manner of inlaid work and marquetage of diuers pieces resembling men beasts and floures and all things else for in these daies contented we are not with plaine squares and tables of marble nor with the riches of mighty mountains coucht vnder couert laid within our bed-chambers in that sort as they grew but come we are now to paint-stones Deuised this was first in the daies of Claudius Caesar but when Nero came to be Emperor the inuention was taken vp to giue those colours to stones in their superficiall outside which they had not of their own to make them spotted which naturally were of one simple colour that by the helpe of mans hand the Numidian red porphyrit should be set out with white spots in eg-fashion the Sinadian grey marble distinguished with marks and strakes of purple as if our delicate wantons shewed thereby how they could haue wished the stones to grow Thus would they seem to correct the works of Nature to supply the wants of mountains and quarries and to make amends for the hils clouen in sunder for gold and hewed in pieces for marble And what is the end of all this prodigious prodigality and wastfull superfluity but that the fire when it commeth may consume in one houre a world of wealth CHAP. II. ¶ The estimation and account that was made of Images in times past represented by liuely pictures THe manner was in antient time to continue and perpetuat the memorial of men by drawing their pourtraitures in liuely colours as like to their proportion and shape as possibly could be but this custome is growne now altogether out of vse in stead whereof wee haue shields and scutcheons set vp of brasse we haue faces of siluer in them without any liuely distinction of one from another and as for our sesterces the heads vpon them otherwhiles bee changed one for another which hath giuen occasion long since of many a jest and libel spred abroad in rime and sung in euery street Insomuch as all men now adaies are more desirous to haue the rich matter seene that goeth to the making of images than to be knowne by their own personage and visage as it is and yet euery man delighteth to haue his cabinet and closet well furnished with antique painted tables the statues images of other men they think it enough to honor and adore whiles they themselues measuring worship by wealth thinking nothing honorable that is not sumptuous and costly see not how by this meanes they giue occasion to their heires for to break open their counters and make spoile of all or els before that day come entice a thiefe to be hooking or twitching them away with gins and snares Considering then that no man careth for a liuely picture all the monuments that they leaue vnto their heires are images rather of their monies than resemblances of themselues Howbeit these great men take pleasure to haue their owne wrestling places and halls of exercise yea and the roomes where they are annointed beautified and adorned with
whereupon it tooke that name in weight it passeth the rest but in natue it is farre vnlike for it will not abide the hammer but breake into pieces besides another adamant will pierce it and bore a hole quite through it which also may be said of the Cyprian Diamant so as to speak in one word these two last rehearsed may go only vnder the name of Diamants for otherwise they are but bastards and not true Diamants Moreouer as touching the concord and discord that is between things naturall which the Greekes call Sympathia and Antipathia whereof I haue so much written in all my bookes and endeauoured to acquaint the readers therewith in nothing throughout the world may we obserue both the one the other more euidently than in the Diamant For this inuincible minerall against which neither fire nor steele the two most violent and puissant creatures of natures making haue any power but that it checketh despiseth both the one and the other is forced to yeeld the gantelet and giue place vnto the bloud of a Goat this only thing is the means to break it in sunder howbeit care must be had that the Diamant be steeped therin whiles it is fresh drawn from the beast before it be cold yet when you haue made all the steeping you can you must haue many a blow at the Diamant with hammer vpon the anuill for euen then also vnlesse they be of excellent proofe good indeed it wil put them to it and break both the one the other But I would gladly know whose inuention this might be to soake the Diamant in Goats bloud whose head deuised it first or rather by what chance was it found out known What conjecture should lead a man to make an experiment of such a singular and admirable secret especially in a goat the filthiest beast one of them in the whole world Certes I must ascribe both this inuention all such like to the might and benificence together of the diuine powers neither are we to argue reason how and why nature hath done this or that sufficient it is that her will was so thus she would haue it But to come againe to the Diamant when this proofe taketh effect to our mind so that the Diamant once crack you shall see it break crumble into so small pieces that hardly the eie can discerne the one from the other Wel lapidaries are very desirous of Diamants seek much after them they set them into handles of yron therby they with facility cut into any thing be it neuer so hard Moreouer there is such a naturall enmity between Diamants Loadstones that if it be laid neer to piece of yron it will not suffer it to be drawn away by the loadstone nay if the said loadstone be brought so neere a piece of yron that it haue caught hold thereof the Diamant if it come in place will cause it to let goe the hold The diamant hath a property to frustrathe malicious effects of poyson to driue away those imaginations that set folke besides themselues to expell vaine feares that trouble and possesse the mind which is the reason that some haue called it Anachites Metrodorus Scepsius affirmeth That the Diamant is found in Germanie and the Island Baltia wherein Amber is ingendred but as far as euer I could reade he is the onely man that saith so This Diamant also of Almaine he preferreth before those of Arabia howbeit no man doubteth that he lieth stoutly After the precious Diamants of India and Arabia wee in these parts of the world esteem most of pearles but as touching them I haue written sufficiently in my ninth booke where I discoursed of such matters as the seas do yeeld CHAP. V. ¶ Of the Emeraud and the sundry sorts thereof Of greene gems or precious stones and such as be lightsome and cleare all thorow EMerauds for many causes deserue the third place for there is not a colour more pleasing to the eie True it is that we take great delight to behold greene herbes and leaues of trees but this is nothing to the pleasure wee haue in looking vpon the Emeraud for compare it with other things be they neuer so green it surpasses them all in pleasant verdure Besides there is not a gem or precious stone that so fully possesseth the eie and yet neuer contenteth it with sacietie Nay if the sight hath bin wearied and dimmed by intentiue poring vpon any thing els the beholding of this stone doth refresh and restore it againe which lappidaries well know that cut and ingraue fine stones for they haue not a better means to refresh their eies than the Emeraud the mild green that it hath doth so comfort and reuiue their wearines and lassitude Moreouer the longer and farther off that a man looketh vpon Emerauds the fairer and bigger they seem to the eie by reason that they cause the reuerberation of the aire about them for to seeme green for neither Sun nor shade ne yet the light of candle causeth them to change and lose their lustre but contrariwise as they euer send out their own raies by litle little so they entertain reciprocally the visual beams of our eies and for all the spissitude and thicknesse that they seeme to haue they admit gently our sight to pierce into their bottome a thing that is not ordinary in water The same are shaped many times hollow thereby to gather vnite and fortifie the spirits that maintain our eie-sight In regard of these manifold pleasures that they shew to our eies by generall consent of all men spared they are and lappidaries be forbidden expressely to cut and ingraue them and yet the Emerauds of Scythia and Aegypt be so hard as they cannot be pierced or wounded by any instrument moreouer when you meet with a table-Emerauld hold the flat face therof against any thing it will represent the said object to the eie as well as a mirroir or looking glasse And verily Nero the Emperor was wont to behold the combats of fencers and sword-plaiers in a faire Emeraud Now this first formost is to be noted that of Emerauds there be 12 kinds The fairest and richest of all other be those of Tartarie and called they are Scythick of the nation Scythia from whence they came and in truth there be none fuller and higher in colour or haue fewer blemishes and looke how far Emerauds goe beyond other precious stones so far do the Scythian Emerauds surpasse all others The Bactrian Emerauds as they are the next neighbors so they come nearest in goodnesse to the Scythicke found these be in chinks and joints as it were of rocks in the sea and gathered by report about the dog daies when the Northeast Etesian winds do blow for then they glitter and shine within the earth that is grown about them by reason that the said winds which in those parts are strong remoue the sand away from